The focus of OCEC

StageStairs

Stairs

Screen

Levels

2

3

1

Auditorium foyer

Stage

en

The auditorium, designed to attract world-class entertainers and performers, will be the highlight of Omran's iconic project

Roof

Graphics

Capacity

people3,200

Area

square m.4,909

48

SUNDAY, March 1, 2015 /10 Jumada Al Ula 1436 AH timesofoman.com wtimesofoman.com facebook.com/timesofoman twitter.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company

6

DIGEST VIDEO

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

Top stories in one minute with our new daily Digest

Oman convention centre will add 24,000 new jobs

RAHUL DASrahuldas@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre (OCEC) project is expected to generate OMR295 million in local spend-ing, create an additional 24,000 direct and indirect jobs and con-tribute between OMR200 million and OMR240 million to the econ-omy, a major chunk coming from the tourism sector by 2030, says a Booz & Co study.

More than 12,000 workers will be required when the construc-tion of the convention centre pro-ject reaches its peak in 2015, ac-cording to an impact assessment study by the group.

“OCEC will not only bolster Oman’s image and accessibil-

ity as a tourist destination, but it will also generate significant economic stimulus and revenue and in doing so, contribute to the national economy,” Eng. Wael Ahmed Al Lawati, CEO of Omran, told the Times of Oman in an exclusive interview.

The OCEC is committed to the Omanisation process with a target of 60 per cent by the end of 2015. The number of new recruits is

147 and they are expected to join OCEC by the end of 2015. With 20 employees already on board, the total number of employees will reach 167 in 2015.

Project on timeThe work for the OCEC pro-gressed on schedule in 2014 and as per the budget, it is on track for 2015.

“The concourse roof steelwork

has been completed and the con-course mechanical equipment has been placed. The service trenches in the exhibition halls have also been completed together with the car park retaining walls, which feature lobbies in the foreground and exhibition halls in the back-ground. The energy centre struc-ture has also been completed with major MEP equipment having been already delivered. Chilled

water piping from the energy cen-tre to the staff accommodation plot has also been installed,” said Al Lawati.

He said that there has been significant engagement with the international and regional or-ganisations for securing business prior to the opening of the OCEC in 2016 and many more exhibi-tions and conventions will be an-nounced in due course.

“The official opening of the con-vention centre, including both, the four-star Crowne Plaza Hotel and five-star JW Marriott Hotel are scheduled for 2017,” he added.

Tourism impactRegarding the tourism impact, the official said that Oman has been actively involved with in-ternational and regional associa-tions, societies and organisations for decades.

With 50 per cent of the world’s population within only seven hours flying time from the Mus-cat airport, the Sultanate has in recent times captured the world’s attention, being named as one of the world’s most exciting, emerg-ing tourist destinations.

“In fact, the Sultanate has been approached to host many of the world’s most prestigious world congresses and events but did not have a suitable venue to do so. That is, of course, until the devel-opment of the new OCEC. It is be-ing developed by Omran as a fully integrated convention precinct, supported by four hotels — a five-star, two four-star and a three-star, with a combined capacity of 1,000 rooms,” said the CEO of Omran. >A5

The project will not

only bolster Oman’s

image as a top tourist

destination but also

earn huge revenue,

said the CEO of

Omran

OMANJebel Shams freezes in sub-zero weather

3 Jebel Shams, the highest mountain in Oman, recorded sub-zero

temperatures on Friday evening and Saturday morning, according to sources. “It was shivering cold on Friday evening and today morning. On the summit, we heard that there was snowfall. Here the temperature dipped to -3 degree Celsius,” an official from one of the resorts said. >A5

OMANFirms compromising on safety of workers

1As the government continues to spend hundreds of millions

of Omani rials on awarding contracts to companies to build the infrastructure, companies push their workers to increase productivity and compromise on their safety. >A3

OMANNational in custody of Indian police

2An Omani national and a Saudi national are in police custody in Mumbai

for allegedly molesting an American woman, said Indian police officials. “Both the Arab nationals will be in custody until March 2. The consulate officials are in touch,” an officer from the Colaba police station in Mumbai, where the molestation case has been lodged, told the Times of Oman over phone. >A5

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

Graphics

Caapacitypacity

people3,200

AreaArea

square m.4,909 A6Omran’s iconic

project to be ready by 2017

TEAM ORGANISED CHAOS WINS SOUQ TREASURE HUNTMarquite Holmes, Suzanne Weiss and Ruth Wilford of Team Organised Chaos became the

winners of the Mutrah Souq Treasure Hunt organised by Centre for Omani Dress in asso-

ciation with Times of Oman and Al Shabiba, on Saturday. Krishna Udani, Prem Kumar and

Sameer Gadgil of Team Macho Muscateers were declared the first runners up and Team

GE Oilers comprising Nat Vora, Puranjay, Murali Ramaswamy and Yasser Khalid were the

second runners up. More than 59 teams participated in the event that was held at the

Mutrah Souq and Riyam Park. Read full report in Monday’s edition. Photo-Cio Datan

Post-budget, flying becomes costlier for NRIs

REJIMON K reji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Non-resident Indi-ans (NRIs) will have to pay more for their tickets as the Indian government hiked marginally the service tax on airfares in its union budget for the financial year 2015-2016, on Saturday.

According to the budget, fly-ing is set to become margin-ally dearer in the next financial year thanks to the hike in ser-vice tax from 12.36 per cent to 14 per cent, but it will be appli-cable only for tickets purchased in India.

Airlines officials and travel agents say that the hike will be nearly 2 per cent of the ticket price. >A3

B U D G E T B L U E S

PRESTIGIOUS PROJECT: An artist’s impression of the proposed Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre.

SCAN THIS TO VISIT

PHOTO GALLERYARTICLE, VIDEO,

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

A2 S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

OMAN Almost three-quarters, or 72 per cent, of respondents

believe it is likely that their companies will expand

or invest in Oman in the coming three years

EMIR e-poll of multinationals

Ensure proper disposal of garbage.

Don’t litter a beautiful country like OMAN. Oil price slump fails to

hit business prospects

Times News Service

MUSCAT: A recent Emerging Markets Intelligence & Research (EMIR) Boardroom briefing hosted at the Burj Al Arab brought together more than 120 senior ex-ecutives from some of the world’s largest multinational companies for a private meeting with a high-profile Omani delegation led by Dr. Salem bin Nasser Al Ismaily, chairman of Ithraa.

The purpose of the briefing was to create a conducive environ-ment where CEOs and senior public sector officials could candidly discuss Oman’s busi-ness climate and investment opportunities.

“The EMIR Boardroom was a hugely effective platform for us to talk directly to business lead-ers on their perceptions of do-

ing business in Oman, while at the same time highlighting the Sultanate’s future development plans, particularly the plethora of investment opportunities,” said Dr. Al Ismaily.

According to an EMIR e-poll of multinationals, almost three-quarters, or 72 per cent, of re-spondents believe it is likely that

their companies will expand or invest in Oman in the coming three years.

When asked to what extent lower oil prices would impact their decision, the same num-ber of respondents said crude receipts are important, but not a deal breaker when it comes to in-vesting in the Sultanate.

Almost one-fifth, or 19 per cent, of the respondents said they would invest irrespective of oil prices. “Many of our clients said this was the best EMIR briefing to date because it had the right bal-ance between strategy insights, government interaction and high-profile networking,” said Trevor McFarlane, founder and CEO of EMIR.

More investmentDr. Al Ismaily spoke to EMIR’s C-suite audience about the Omani government’s strategy to attract more investment to the Sultan-ate, while the private sector also heard from key Omani busi-ness representatives, including Ahmed Akaak, deputy CEO of Salalah Port, Jamal Aziz, CEO of Sohar Free Zone (and deputy CEO of Sohar Port) and Ismael Al Bal-ushi, vice CEO of Duqm Special Economic Zone.

Oman’s delegation also used the opportunity to better under-stand the views of multination-als, all of whom participated in EMIR’s electronic pulse survey. The findings of the poll will help Omani government officials shape policy on foreign direct investment and empower the private sector to the benefit from the national economy.

Not only will these insights of-fer the government better input for policy outcomes, but they will also form the foundation for on-going collaboration between EMIR and Ithraa on other issues of importance to the growing Omani economy.

Regional bosses

of multinational

companies expect to

invest in Oman in the

coming three years

despite lower oil

prices, according to

an EMIR briefing

Source: Emerging Market Intelligence & Research (EMIR) board room Graphics

Investments in Oman

Government regulationQuality of the Labour force

Size of the regional business baseSize of the regional consumer market

International market accessTransport infrastructure

Incentives offered by the government

Obtaining Skilled Employees 45

Omanisation 45

Oman’s and the region’seconomic performance 38

Regulatory environment 38

26Gaining the necessary permits

21Labour costs

Political stability 24

TaxesEnergy supply / price

Access to capital markets / financingProximity to your headquarters

Commercial / industrial land

551000

3131

2824

2214

108777

In your opinion which of the following factors will most likely impact your decision to invest in Oman?

Which of the three following issues concerns you most about investing in Oman?

To what extent are you confident thatOman’s economy is heading in the right direction?

Not confident7

Confident44

Moderatelyconfident

49

(In %)

Ship with cattle sinks off Ras Al HaddFAHAD AL MUKRASHIfahad@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: An overloaded ship with cattle on board sank near the Ras Al Hadd shore of South Shar-qiyah governorate on Saturday afternoon.

According to the information available, the ship, carrying more than 350 cattleheads, sank due to strong winds and rough waves. All the cattle and the crew were rescued by the residents of Ras Al

Hadd. No causalities were report-ed, an official at the ROP, told the Times of Oman.

Witnesses said that most of the cattle swam to the shore — a sight that left many amazed.

Sources said the owner of the ship, which was coming from So-malia and heading to United Arab Emirates, is an Emirati national, while the crew comprised Paki-stani nationals. The ship turned into a wreckage due to the water that entered its deck.

R O U G H S E A S

WEATHER WOES: The ship, carrying more than 350 cattleheads,

sank due to the strong winds and rough waves.–Supplied photo

A3

OMANS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Stay ahead of the curve with

WhatsNews

SCAN THIS TO DOWNLOAD OUR FREE WHATSNEWS APP

As the government continues to spend hundreds of mil-lions of rials a year awarding contracts

to companies to build the infra-structure, companies push their workers to increase productiv-ity and compromise their safety standards. Most companies are practically interested in staying ahead of their competi-tors and making huge turnover and in doing so put the welfare of their staff on a low priority. There is no official statistics of how many company workers get hurt in the course of their duties but according to the individual Health and Safety Environment’s (HSE) records of top 10 contractors, more than 3,700 of them needed medical treatment in 2014. The injured workers who get hospitalised made up nearly 10 per cent of the total workers on this list. Sadly, about 18 per cent of them died either at the sites or in hospitals last year.

In comparison to the previ-ous year, 246 more workers got injured in 2014 but for obvious reason, company directors do not want this part of the record to be made public.

In this scale of seriousness,

it is obvious that top contrac-tors who get big money from the government must do much more to protect their most important stakeholders. For the sake of productivity and compe-tition, company directors make their staff work longer, pay them little and many times, in harsh environments.

For example, four years ago the government introduced a longer summer afternoon break, but very few companies follow the rule. To avoid paying penalties for not completing the project in time, workers have only one-hour lunch break. They go back to work at 2pm when the sun is the hottest and stay at work up to 8pm. At construction companies, their day begins at 6am.

According to doctors in most hospitals, majority of the work-ers sustained injuries while carrying out their duties after collapsing, due to dehydration from intense heat. Fatigue and

exhaustion are the other two items on the list. Another fact company directors would not like to publicise and on the dan-ger list of HSE, is psychological problems workers go through. Doctors treating some of these cases, say workers go through trauma of working in a long stretch in unhealthy environ-ment. Such workers rarely receive treatment because it is not a physical injury but a mental one.

They are simply packed back home for their families to deal with the problem with very little compensation. Most of them, according to the word trickling down back to their colleagues, never recover from the ordeal.

These workers would also tell you that they get very little comfort after long punishing hours when they go back to their sleeping quarters. It is not uncommon that hundreds of workers sleep in limited place,

packed up like sardines in a tin. There are also sanitation and dietary problems, both in and out of the construction sites.

In many countries, this negligence by directors of contracting companies would be put down to human rights abuse. Perhaps, more is needed to be done about it. Govern-ment’s project supervisors say it is not their problem if workers are subjected to harsh working environment. It is the problem of the contractors. We know contractors only care for the profit margin and how much money they would save from cutting safety corners. In any contract, about 80 per cent of total workers are labourers and they are the ones who get abused the most — most of the time from their own compatri-ots. If the government does not give them protection they need and their companies are only interested to exploit them, then who is on their side?

Overworked workers also make easy mistakes. Such accidents make up the bulk of all incidents at construction sites. Walk to any construction site and you would see half of the workers not wearing hard helmets or safety boots. Some of them go in higher elevations without safety harness. If a con-tractor has thousands of work-ers toiling at a site such as at the Muscat airport, oil wells or road constructions, buying each one safety boots and helmets are expenses that would erode the profitability.

In conclusion, it is the re-sponsibility of the government to send out inspectors to every site to make sure that safety is adhered to and the contrac-tors, who abuse it, must be severely punished without any exception.

saleh@timesofoman.com

Companies compromise safetyof workers for higher production

C O M M E N T A R Y

SALEH AL SHAIBANY

SUNDAYBEAT

H AV E YOU R SAY AT T W I T T E R.CO M /T I M ES O F O M A N O R S CA N T H E CO D E TO I N STA N T LY P O ST YOU R T H O U G H TS .

Air India Express to add new flights

Times News Service

MUSCAT: More Indian cities will be connected by Air India Express, the low-cost arm of the national carrier of India, Air India from Muscat.

Speaking to Times of Oman, B B Kulkarni, country manager of Air India and Air India Express, said that they are planning to add a few more destinations from Muscat.

“These destinations will be add-ed once they lease new aircraft,” he said.

It was learnt that Air India Ex-press may add Lucknow and Am-ritsar to its growing network from Muscat. While Oman Air current-ly flies to Lucknow, there are no direct flights to Amritsar which is home to Sikhism’s holiest shrine, the Golden Temple, one of India’s most serene and humbling sights.

“No time period has been fixed but we are planning to add Luc-know while a route study for an Amritsar-Muscat flight is under way,” added Kulkarni.

Air India Express will lease eight new aircraft between 2016 and 2017, increasing its fleet strength to 25. Officials said that while the low cost carrier has already signed three leases, five more are in the pipeline. “They will be taking these brand new aircraft from leasing companies,” said an official.

Officials said that Air India Ex-press is looking at a fleet of 36 air-craft in the next five years, adding 11 more planes which have been approved by the government.

Air India Express is deploying new economy class 189-seater aircraft and is increasing des-tinations from India to South-east Asia and the Gulf countries including Muscat.

With a load factor of about 90 per cent, the airline is witnessing a strong growth in passenger traf-fic, averaging around 2.6 million passengers a year, he added.

Air India Express currently flies 19 times a week from Mus-cat to destinations like Calicut, Cochin, Trivandrum and Manga-lore. From Salalah, it flies twice a week to Calicut and once a week to Trivandrum and Cochin (which is a combined fight). “From the summer we will be increasing one more flight from Salalah,” said the country manager.

Air India Express

may add Lucknow

and Amritsar to its

growing network

from Muscat

Indian air fares hikedWhich means, a Kochi–Muscat one-way economy fare costing around OMR199 on an airline on Saturday, will cost around OMR4 more.

The impact on business and first class travel will be more due to high base fares which would lead to heftier hikes.

“The increase in service tax will result in a marginal increase in the price of air tickets. Now, citing this reason, if airlines had any plans to cut the airfare due to dip in oil prices they will not do it,” said Raji Demonte, general manager at Universal Travels.

According to Raji, hotels and tour packages in India will also cost more.

“Again, the union budget pro-posed to increase service tax, without a guarantee that we will get better service from providers. The service tax hike will increase

the burden on ordinary people. This will have a marginal effect on airline tickets as they also have a component of service tax,” said Jose Chacko, a financial ex-pert in Muscat.

Generally, the cost components of an air ticket issued by an air-line operator broadly cover base fare, fuel surcharge to compen-sate aviation turbine fuel (ATF), service tax on base fare and ATF and passenger service fee (PSF), apart from user development fee (UDF), which is collected on behalf of the Airport Authority of India.

The base fare is essentially col-lected towards transportation of passengers from one location to another and as per the definition, it is a taxable service and, accord-ingly, service tax is payable on such base fares.

Charges collected by airlines

towards domestic and interna-tional travel originating from In-dia are subject to service tax at an effective rate of 4.94 per cent.

Even though there is no ser-vice tax on airfares and charges collected by airlines for journeys originating from outside India, all other incidental services such as ticketing, ground handling, cater-ing, etc. provided by airline opera-tors are also subject to service tax.Purchase of air-tickets through agents involves two elements of service tax and also service tax on the commission earned by agents from airline operators.

Service tax laws clearly state that airfares are excluded from the value of taxable services pro-vided by agents for the purpose of discharging service tax, thereby confirming that service tax on airfare is the liability of airline operators and not agents.

N A T I O N A L B U D G E T

< FROM

A1

A4 S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

OMAN

YOUR BIGGEST ROAD HAZARD IS IN YOUR HAND A TIMES OF OMAN

HANDS-FREE DRIVING

GUtech team clears track tech test

SARAH MACDONALDsarah@timesofoman.com

MANILA: A year of hard work by a dozen GUtech students paid off on Saturday when they became the first Omani team to pass the tech-nical inspections and test their car’s fuel-efficiency at the Shell Eco-Marathon Asia in Manila.

The GUtech students, called Team Megalodon, as well as teams from SQU and Caledonian College of Engineering are competing in the event with 126 other teams from Asia, the Middle East and Australia. The aim of the contest is to design and build a car that will drive the furthest distance on the smallest amount of fuel or battery power.

Extra effort Mohammad Mohammadi, from Team Megalodon, said it took some extra effort to make sure their diesel-powered car made it onto the track. Following the first round of inspections on Friday

the team had to fix some problems with the seatbelt, brakes, sharp edges and fuel lines. Luckily their hard work paid off and after the second round of inspections Team Megalodon was given the green light to take their car to the track.

“It was unbelievable! Everyone was so happy because from the beginning after shipping the car (to Manila) we were worried about the inspection. We’ve heard a lot of stories about people losing just because not passing the inspec-tion after building a car for eight months. Now it’s all on the driv-ers,” Mohammadi said.

Around 1pm Saturday afternoon Team Megalodon was finally ready to make their first attempt driving around the track, with Mobashar Kabir at the wheel. His mission was to complete 10 laps of the track within 29 minutes, which he did with ease. The first attempt re-sulted in a fuel efficiency of 88 km per litre.

“It’s one year of work and it comes down to 30 minutes. It’s in-

tense. It gives you that adrenaline overdose, but we like it. That’s why we came,” said Kabir.

SQU’s Eco Wheel team had to change the location of the gas tank in their car before it became the second Omani-made car to pass the inspections and be allowed onto the track. It didn’t take long before the excited students took their car out to the practice area for a short spin.

Driver Marwan Al Mamari was confident that he had the proper techniques to drive the car as effi-ciently as possible. “I should follow the direction of the wind and when I accelerate it should be constant. I’m feeling good. Inshallah it will be good,” he commented.

Caledonian College of Engineer-ing’s Team Sadarah struggled a bit with the computer system that controls the battery-electric sys-tem that powers their car, but they passed the safety inspections with flying colours.

As they spent much of Saturday trying to fix the complex system,

they also turned to other students for advice since 35 teams are com-peting in the batter-electric cat-egory and they weren’t the only ones with problems.

“It’s a very good learning experi-ence for us. There are teams which have already participated for the past four or five years and they’ve really done a good job,” explained team member Osama Mazher.

Each team which passes the technical and safety inspection has four attempts to drive around the track and their best results will be included to determine the winners in the on-track awards. There are also six off-track awards for com-munications, design, technical in-novation, safety, spirit and use of Shell Helix Tribology lubricant.

Team Sadarah’s Sloum Al Shukery said their team applied for the design and safety awards.

“I think we’ve got a good posi-tion for designing. We hope to get a prize,” he said before join-ing the team for another round of inspections.

Hard work of the

GUtech students

paid off and after

the second round of

inspections, Team

Megalodon was given

the green light to take

their car to the track.

Now, it’s all on the

drivers on the track

ECO-TESTS: GUtech students, called Team Megalodon, as well as teams from SQU and Caledonian College of Engineering are competing in the event with 126 other teams from Asia, the Middle East and Australia. –Photos, videos by Sarah MacDonald/TIMES OF OMAN

SCAN THIS TO VIEW

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

A5

OMANS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Tweet all about it

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH TWITTER PAGE

Convention centre will boost tourism

He believed that destinations such as the OCEC have an im-portant role to play in the govern-ment’s strategy to increase do-mestic tourism in Oman.

“Omran is committed to pro-viding more attractive hospital-ity, retail and recreation facilities for residents here in Oman, to further develop the home tour-ism market as well as catering to increasing visitors from outside. Developments such as the OCEC, our joint ventures such as Saraya Bandar Jissah and the recently announced Ras Al Hadd project will help transform the hospital-ity and tourist offerings for visi-tors to Oman, and will also give residents greater lifestyle desti-nations, rather than have them travelling outside Oman.”

He also said, “The OCEC may not be the largest convention cen-tre in the Middle East, but it will be by far one of the most advanced in the region. It is a world-class purpose built convention and ex-hibition centre with flexible space and the very latest in communi-cations and audio visual technol-ogy - for conferences, exhibitions, meetings, weddings and special events. It is also a fully integrated precinct offering one of the most comprehensive lists of facilities, features and on-site accommo-dations in the region. The centre is architecturally advanced in design and capability, and will be among the first to be built to meet the rigorous LEED certification. Furthermore, the OCEC is locat-ed only four kilometres from the Muscat International Airport, a

highly sought-after feature that few convention centres world-wide provide.”

OCEC will also include several other facilities that will signifi-cantly augment its operational capabilities and functionality.

“It will include a 3,200 tiered lyric-style auditorium set over three levels with advanced pro-jection and riggings, orchestra pit and acoustic systems de-signed to attract world-class en-tertainers and performers, while also catering to international congress delegations.

In addition, this versatile venue offers the flexibility to host meet-ings, seminars or gala banquets both small and large thanks to 14 meeting rooms which can seat between 70 and 360 delegates. It also has two ballrooms.

The grand ballroom seats up to 2,300 people in theatre style, 1,400 in classroom style or 1,350 in banquet style, using a system of acoustically rated movable walls. There is also an additional jun-ior ballroom that splits into two equal spaces and caters for up to 1,000 people in theatre style, 600 in classroom style and 570 for a banquet.

The design of the centre will ensure a flow of meeting space to suit the most discerning confer-ence and exhibition organisers. It has also incorporated expan-sive concourse areas to enable ease of large delegations with floor to ceiling windows over-looking landscaped gardens and water features.

Finally, OCEC provides more

than 22,000 square metres of column-free exhibition space, divided into five separate halls. Of these, Halls 1 and 2 have a su-perior fit out.

They offer specialised acous-tic treatment, advanced light-ing and rigging requirements to act as a multipurpose space for larger plenary sessions, concerts or performances seating up to 10,000 in theatre style. Each in-dividual hall also offers a dedi-cated registration desk, hospital-ity suites and separate offices for conference organisers.

The CEO also said that it is the cultural diversity, rich heritage and political stability of Oman that makes it such an attractive tourist destination.

“The natural beauty of Oman and the range of unique and breathtaking destinations are an enticing draw for tourists all year round, and we believe this is an aspect of the Sultanate that will no doubt tempt OCEC visitors to extend their stay. As a result, it is Oman’s hotel and infrastructure projects that will work to comple-ment not just OCEC but tourism as a whole here in Oman,” he said.

“In this respect, the expansion of the Muscat International Air-port is well placed to handle the influx of greater visitor numbers, together with other airports being built in other regions of the coun-try. This is further complemented by several other road infrastruc-ture improvements including the widening and reconstruction pro-jects of several roads across the country,” he summed up.

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

Jebel Shams freezes at -5.5 Celsius

REJIMON K reji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Jebel Shams, the high-est mountain in Oman, at 3005 metres, recorded sub-zero tem-peratures on Friday evening and Saturday morning, according to forecast data and sources.

“It was very cold on Friday even-

ing and this morning. Above the summit, we heard that there was snowfall. Here, the temperature dipped to -3°Celsius,” said an of-ficial from one of the resorts in Jebel Shams.

The Oman meteorological data reveals that on Friday evening, the

temperature at Jebel Shams was -5.5°Celsius.

Meanwhile, sources in Jebel Akdhar said that even though there was no snowfall, it is ex-tremely foggy.

“It is cold and the visibility is also very poor,” said residents.

In its latest forecast for Sunday, the meteorological department has predicted chances of rain over the coastal areas of Oman Sea and over Al Hajar Mountains with a noticeable drop in the tempera-ture and horizontal visibility due to dust-generating wind over most

of the Sultanate. “Muscat, Rustaq, Madha and, Khasab in addition to Sohar, Saiq, Samail and Qal-hat will witness rain. The other areas that will see rain are Dibba, Muttrah, Suwaiq, Saiq and Ras Al Hadd along with Amerat, Baushar, Shinas and Saham. Buraimi, Fa-

hud, Ibra and Yaaloni along with Thumrait, Ibri and Ibra will wit-ness dust and sandstorms,” added the forecast.

On Friday evening, rains lashed the northern parts of Oman flood-ing the wadis and slowing down traffic on the roads for a while.

Met forecastThe Sultanate’s meteorological department had forecast rain on Friday and Saturday due to low pressure in the Sea of Oman in Muscat, Musandam, north and south Batinah, north Sharkiyah and Al Hajar mountains.

Dark clouds brought much-needed respite from the heat to residents who have been advised caution during the adverse weath-er conditions particularly while crossing wadis.

Fishermen have also been ad-vised against venturing out to sea during the rains as the sea will be rough.

Last week, Oman witnessed re-duced visibility as a result of the dust storm and cloudy weather due to strong and moderate winds. After 48 hours, the sandstorms started dissipating bringing in cooler weather. From February 20 to 24, the temperature dipped from 38°Celsius to 20° Celsius.

In its latest forecast

for Sunday, the

meteorological

department has

predicted chances of

rain over the coastal

areas of Oman Sea

and over Al Hajar

Mountains, with a

drop in temperature

COLD AND FOGGY: Even though there was no snowfall in Jebel Akdhar, it is extremely foggy. ‘It is cold and the visibility is also very poor,’ said residents.– TIMES OF OMAN

Omani national arrested in India over woman’s alleged molestation REJIMON Kreji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: An Omani national and a Saudi national are under police custody in Mumbai for allegedly molesting an American woman, said Indian police officials.

“Both the Arab nationals will be under custody until March 2. The consulate officials are in touch,” an officer from the Colaba police station in Mumbai, where the mo-lestation case has been lodged, told

the Times of Oman over phone.The incident took place early

on Thursday at a five-star hotel in South Mumbai.

“In her statement, the Saudi na-tional, introduced by the Omani, grabbed and molested the woman in her room. Somehow, she man-aged to call the hotel employees who helped her to call the police. The Saudi national was arrested first and the Omani national was arrested later on,” said the official.

According to Indian media re-

ports, the woman, a resident of Florida, is the owner of a big firm in the US. She arrived at the hotel on February 22 and during her stay met the Omani national who in-troduced her to the Saudi national early in the morning last Thursday.

O V E R S E A S C R I M E

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

< FROM

A1

T I M E S O F O M A NS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5 T I M E S O F O M A NA6

OMAN

Al Jama Al Akhbar St.

Wadi bridge

Seeb

Ghala Al Ansab

Al Azaiba

Gubrah

Wadi Kabir

RuwiMuttrah

Al Kuwair

Madinat Sultan Qaboos

Sea of Oman

Qurum

Darsait

To Nizwa

MUSCAT

Muscat International Airport

MASTER PLAN DEVELOPMENT

LOCATION AND CHARACTERISTICS

AUDI

A PILLAR IN OMAN'S TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

The Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre (OCEC) will serve as a key pivot in developing a thriving meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions industry in the country. The Centre is situated within a well organised, fully integrated business precinct and has been designed to accommodate world congresses, exhibitions, regional meetings, banquets, gala events and concerts. It will also include 1,000 hotel rooms and is set to become an iconic landmark for Oman.

From OCEC to:

The Retail Mall will be strategically located adjacent to the convention & exhibition centre. It includes the first IKEA store in Muscat and other global brands. It will also include a food court complex.

Set on an area of 40 hectares, will offer around 100,000 square meters of office space

Retail Mall

Business Park 1

BUSINESS PARK

Business Park 2

West Bank Hotel apartments

East Bank Hotel apartments

Wadi Park

Crowne Plaza Hotel

4-star Hotel 3-star Hotel

To Muscat International Airport

To Bank Muscat roundabout

5km

100m

WADI PARK

SUSTAINABILITY

All the precinct is split by a Wadi which will be a perfect place for exotic bird life A Dam will allow to have a lagoon in the middle of the complex surrounded by the different tree species.

The focwill be a 3,200theatre

Located in the Hayy Al Irfan district, four kilometres from Muscat International Airport, and overlooks a nature reserve and wadi.

Helicopter Pad

Dam

OMAN CONVENTION & EXHIBITION CENTRE

MuttrahCorniche

28 km

QurumR/A

18.9 km

Al KhuwairR/A

12 km

GrandMosque

7.5 km

Airport 4 km

DIMENSIONS & CAPACITYCONVENTION CENTRE

Buildings for conventions and events have an enormous capacity and space efficient distribution, the numbers here are not including hotels, Business Park buildings and shopping mall

Squaremeters

Capacity

Building Name

720 730 630 900 1,490 4,880

Hall A Hall B Hall C

Grand Ballroom

2,590900 910 780

Junior Ballroom

1,120

Meeting rooms (14)

1,520

Exhibition Halls:Hall 1

Exhibition Halls:Hall 1

Total Area (Square meters)

1,690,000

OCEC limits

All LED Street lights for all internal roads is a first in Oman.

Shade trees Fruit trees Featu

Brazilian PepperIndian LilacLebbek treeSavannah Oak

OliveLemon treePomergranateCommon fig

CraIndJavPin

Buildings are designed to meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) sustainability standard.

(296 rooms)

JW Marriott Hotel(300 rooms)

5,490

4,210

Hall 2Hall 2

4,730

4,210

Hall 3Hall 3

4,730

Source: OMRAN, Oman Convention & Exhibition Center reports, Booz & Company analysis

Omran's iconic OCEC project

Stairs

Auditorium

Levels

2

3

1

Designed to attract world-class entertainers and performers, while also catering for international congress delegations.

Set over three levels with advanced projection and riggings, orchestra pit and acoustic systems

35,000refrigeration

tons

final capacity of the District Cooling Plant to be built in 3 phases to meet the phased completion of the precinct.

Treated sewage effluent is being used for plant irrigation and for the cooling tower water makeup.

Solar heating will power the industrial kitchen hot water supply, and measures have been introduced to make sure buildings are reflective and well-insulated.

SCAN THIS TOINSTANTLYLOCATE THE PROJECTIN YOUR PHONE

T I M E S O F O M A N S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5T I M E S O F O M A N A7

OMAN

UDITORIUM

IMPACT ON SULTANATE'S ECONOMY

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

The project, with strategic significance, promises to spawn socio-economic benefits. It will help in creation of direct and indirect jobs, and development of medium and small enterprises.

Potential is measured by assessing the opportunity size, number of jobs created and quality of jobs

2013 2015 2017 2020 2025 2030

Omani

YEAR

12

Expats

88

11

89

17

83

32

68

32

68

32

68

Construction

Business

Real Estate13 12 11

49 46 42

DIRECT JOBS CREATION (IN THOUSANDS)

Annual direct GDP contribution

2

44

6

4

6

4

6

5.5

7.5

12

14

17%Tourism

sector

73%Business

operations

99%Constructionsector

94%Constructionsector

Highest potential

Facility managementEvent managementPrinting & StationeryRetail ShopsTaxi/Limo servicesMaintenance & operationsMarketing FirmStand DesignRestaurants , Coffe shopsTravel AgentsSecurityIT ServicesEquipment RentalCatering ServicesPostage & Courier

Medium potential Lowest potential

Exhibitionhalls

Hospitality BusinessPark

Tourism/SightseeingEntertainment servicesCar RentalsAdventure CentresConvenience ServicesFood SupplyLegal Firms

Shop Design

ClinicsLogistic Services

Shop Fit-Out

Fitness Centre

Mall

2013 2015

100

2017 2020 2025

112

2030

15

20

6060

8085

105

(OR Millions)

130

150

100 86

44

5

8

Tourism

33 37 41

ConventionCentre 5 5 65

38

Bysector

From

To

RENT

Meetingrooms

Grand and Junior

Ballrooms

Exhibition Halls

Multi- storey Car park

To MuscatExpress Highway

EXHIBITION HALLS

Hall 1

Hall 2

Hall 3

Hall 4

Hall 5

Include 22,000 square metres of column-free exhibition space, divisible into five separate halls.

e focus of the OCEC l be the auditorium, 200-seat tiered atre

Halls 1 and 2 have specialised acoustics plusadvanced lighting and rigging to serve as a multi- purpose space for plenary sessions, concerts, performances, and gala events for up to 10,000.

Each Hall is around 4,800 sqm divided by a vertically folding partitions, which allows to modify the capacity of the building

Concourse

Outdoor exhibition space 12,000 sqm, the concourse has floor to ceiling windows that look out over Muscat and Sea of Oman. (carpark is dropped down for uninterrupted views)

2015 2016 2017 2018

folding walls

TOTAL

4,909 31,769

33,600Auditorium

3,200

Truck Marshalling yard

EnergyCentre

Outdoor Exhibition

Garden

Parking

direct and indirect jobs to be generated

24,000

million Rial annual contribution to Oman GDP by 2030

200-240

Completion date

Business Park 1

Auditorium, Meeting Rooms and Ballrooms

Five star JW Marriott hotel

Four star Crowne Plaza hotel

Exhibition Halls, Car Park and Energy Centre

Road Infrastructure and Utilities(completed)

ature trees Wadi trees Datepalm

Crape myrtleIndian BeechJava CassiaPink Shower

Acacia ArabicaFrankinsense TreeMexican Palo Verde

4,880

Hall 5Hall 5

5,490

0

33

30

4,210

4,730Hall 4

From

To

Graphics

Auditorium

The identity for the OCEC is based on the roof design of the auditorium.

It is an interpretation of the Sultan Qaboos Rose, the image is a graphic intricate symbol, reminiscent of arabesque artwork which has a strong and obvious tie-in to the building itself

A discovered rose has been named after him, to be known as ‘Sultan Qaboos Rose’. It is an initiative of the World Rose Society (based in the Netherlands) in recognition of His Majesty's personal contribution for the progress and welfare of his people.

SULTAN QABOOS ROSE

Stage

Stairs

um foyer

Interior view

Screen

The roof structure allows the output of the inner light

Nocturnal view

EC m,

Tisof

S

The roof structurthe output of the

Nocturnal v

srsairsStair

Roof

4,200Cars

%

%

A8

REGIONS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Iraq reopens museum as IS razes artefacts

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s national mu-seum officially reopened on Sat-urday after 12 years of painstak-ing efforts during which close to a third of 15,000 stolen pieces were recovered.

The much-delayed reopening was brought forward in what of-ficials said was a response to the destruction of priceless artefacts by IS group extremists in the northern city of Mosul.

“We have been preparing to reopen for the past couple of months, the museum should be open to everyone,” Deputy Tour-ism and Antiquities Minister Qais Hussein Rashid said.

“The events in Mosul led us to speed up our work and we wanted

to open it today as a response to what the gangs of Daesh did,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for the IS group.

On Thursday, the extremists who have occupied Iraq’s second city of Mosul since June last year released a video in which mili-tants smash ancient statues with sledgehammers.

Militants are also seen defacing a colossal Assyrian winged bull in an archaeological park in Mosul with a jackhammer.

The destruction sparked global outrage, calls for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council and fears over the fate of other major heritage sites in areas under IS control.

The destruction was the worst disaster to strike Iraq’s treasure since the national museum in Baghdad was looted in the chaos that followed the US-led toppling of Saddam Hussein.

The destruction of priceless Assyrian and other artefacts from the main museum and an archeological site in Mosul drew comparisons with the 2001 dyna-miting of the Bamiyan buddhas in Afghanistan.

Archaeologists and herit-age experts on Friday called for urgent action to protect the re-mains of some of oldest civilisa-tions in the world. After demand-ing an emergency meeting of the Security Council, the head of the United Nations’ cultural body said the International Criminal Court should also take action.

UNESCO chief Irina Bokova de-scribed the destruction as “cul-tural cleansing”.

Some of the statues destroyed in the video were likely replicas of pieces that had been moved to safety or are kept in museums in the West, experts say.

But several were originals, in-cluding the colossal granite As-syrian winged bull at Nergal gate in central Mosul which extrem-ists armed with a jackhammer can

be seen defacing. After wrecking the giant statue, IS militants re-portedly told the guards of the vast archaeological site that the ancient city of Nimrud, south of Mosul, was next on their list.

“It is one of the very impor-tant Assyrian capitals. There are reliefs and winged bulls there... This would be a real disaster,” said Abdelamir Hamdani, an Iraqi ar-chaeologist at New York’s Stony Brook University. -AFP

The much-delayed

reopening was

brought forward in

what officials said

was a response to

the destruction of

priceless artefacts by

IS group extremists

in Mosul

SENDING A SIGNAL: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi, second left, at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad on Saturday. -Reuters

DESTRUCTION: A man topples a statue in a museum at a location

said to be Mosul in this still image taken from an undated video

published by IS on Thursday. -Reuters/Social media Web site via Reuters TV

IS fighters attack Samarra ahead of army offensiveBAGHDAD: IS suicide bomb-ers and fighters struck targets on Saturday in the northern Iraqi city of Samarra, where security forces and their majority sect militia allies have been gathering for an offensive against the radi-cal minority sect militants.

Security sources and residents said the attack on Samarra was launched at 5.30 am (0230 GMT) when two IS suicide bombers blew up their cars in the north-ern area of Sur Shnas. At the same time a man drove a Humvee rigged with explosives into the south of the city and detonated it, while IS fighters attacked secu-rity forces to the west with sniper fire, mortars and rocket-pro-pelled grenades. Medical sources said Samarra hospital received the bodies of 14 majority sect mi-litia fighters and policemen.

Residents reported seeing black smoke over parts of the city and hearing powerful explosions. After heavy clashes in the morn-ing, the fighting appeared to have subsided by the afternoon.

Thousands of troops and fight-ers from majority sect militias known as Hashid Shaabi (Popu-lar Mobilisation) have gathered around Samarra for a campaign

to drive IS out of nearby strong-holds on the Tigris River, includ-ing the city of Tikrit 50 km (30 miles) to the north.

The army shelled northern and western districts of Tikrit on Saturday, but did not send troops into the city, security sources said. Army helicopters had also fired rockets at IS militants around Sur Shnas, they said.

In the town of Ishaaqi, about 20 km (10 miles) southeast of Samarra, snipers shot dead two Hashid Shaabi men as they tried to set up a sand barrier on the main highway linking Samarra to the capital Baghdad.

Twin car bombingFurther east in Diyala province, 11 people were killed in a twin car bombing in the town of Balad Roz on Saturday. One of those killed was a judge, security and medical sources said. The army and majority sect militias have driven IS out of nearly all of Di-yala province, which lies to the north-east of Baghdad, on the border with Iran. But Saturday’s blasts showed that militants could still launch attacks there, just as they regularly do in the Iraqi capital itself. -Reuters

I R A Q

Iran shrugs off Netanyahu bid to block nuclear dealTEHRAN: Iran on Saturday shrugged off a bid by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ne-tanyahu to abort a nuclear deal between Tehran and world pow-ers by lobbying opposition in a speech to the US Congress.

“I believe this effort is fruitless and it should not be an impedi-ment to an agreement,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said at a joint press conference with his visiting Ital-ian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni.

“It is unfortunate that there is a group which sees its interests in tension and crisis.” Netanyahu’s bid was “an attempt to utilise a fabricated crisis to cover up reali-ties in the region, including occu-pation, the suppression of Pales-tinians and the violation of their rights”, he said.

“It is an on old policy to intimi-date and spread lies ... in order to prevent peace in the region,” said Zarif. Netanyahu will travel next week to Washington to denounce a possible agreement in the Iranian nuclear talks, which he considers contrary to the interests of Israel. The Israeli leader said Wednes-day that his speech before Con-gress was part of his “duty” to pro-tect his country’s security.

“Under the agreement that is being prepared, we have reason to worry ... if the world powers have apparently found common ground with Iran,” he said. The so-called P5+1 group of Britain,

China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany are trying to strike an accord that would pre-vent Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb.

The next round of talks is to start next week in Switzerland. In return, the West would ease curbs imposed on Tehran over its nuclear programme, which Iran insists is purely civilian. A March 31 deadline for a political frame-work for the deal is looming with negotiators saying they will aim to pin down the final technical de-tails by June 30.

Zarif said that Iranian and US delegations meeting in Geneva last week had made “significant

progress” on technical issues.“But still differences remain on

many other topics, both on nucle-ar issues and on sanctions ... The United States and the West must realise that sanctions are an ob-stacle to reaching an agreement,” he said. Italy’s foreign minister, for his part, called for “a solution on the nuclear issue” to allow for “ex-panded relations” between Tehran and Rome, according to a Persian translation of his remarks.

“Iran’s help will be effective in finding solutions to regional prob-lems, including the fight against the extremism of Daesh,” said Gentiloni, using the Arabic acro-nym for the IS group. -AFP

D I P L O M A C Y

PUSHING AHEAD: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad

Zarif, right, and his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni at a press

conference following a meeting in Tehran on Saturday. Gentiloni is

on a two-day visit for talks with Iranian officials. -AFP

VIGIL: Iraqis take part in a candlelight vigil in Iraq’s central city

of Najaf on Friday, in memory of those killed by the IS group. IS is

accused of multiple abuses against minorities in the areas under

its control in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere. -AFP

A9

INDIAS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Love us on Facebook

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH FACEBOOK PAGE

Heavy security in Jammu ahead of Mufti swearing-in

JAMMU: A multi-tier security cover has been put in place in the city for the swearing-in today of the Mufti Mohammed Sayeed-led BJP-PDP government with the ceremony to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Massive security arrangement has been made in and around Jammu city for the swearing-in ceremony and Prime Minister’s visit tomorrow,” said Senior Su-perintendent of Police (SSP),

Uttam Chand. The swearing-in-ceremony will be held at General Zorawar Singh Auditorium at Jammu University.

The venue has been declared out of bounds for the public and sanitation operations with metal detectors and sniffer dogs have been launched while an SPG team is already in Jammu for the function. A meeting was held by the Chief Secretary on Satur-day to review the measures, said Shant Manu, Divisional Commis-sioner, Jammu Division.

Watched by Modi, 79-year-old Sayeed will take oath as the Jam-mu and Kashmir chief minister

along with 12 members each from PDP and BJP.

BJP’s Nirmal Singh is expected to be the deputy chief Minister. The two parties were engaged in intense negotiations since De-cember, after the elections threw up a hung Assembly, as part of efforts to put together a coali-tion government on the basis of a Common Minimum Programme (CMP), which will be released on Sunday.

The Common Minimum Pro-gramme will cover all controver-sial issues like Article 370, Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and resettlement of refugees. - PTI

Watched by Modi,

79-year-old Mufti

Mohammed Sayeed

will take oath as the

J&K chief minister

along with 12

ministers each from

PDP and BJP today

Trinamool Congress sacks Mukul Roy as general secretaryKOLKATA: The Trinamool Con-gress on Saturday sacked Mukul Roy — once party supremo Mama-ta Banerjee’s second-in-command — as its national general secretary.

Mamata’s close aide Subrata Bakshi, who was appointed na-tional general secretary a few days back, will be the only one to hold the post.

“Subrata Bakshi has been ap-

pointed as the national general secretary,” Trinamool secretary general Partha Chatterjee an-nounced after the party’s working committee meeting at Mamata’s residence here.

“There is only one general sec-retary — Subrata Bakshi,” replied Chatterjee to media queries about Roy’s fate. Bakshi has also been en-trusted with the responsibility of

representing the party at the Elec-tion Commission.

“All matters relating to the EC will be handled by Bakshi. He will represent the party at the Election Commission,” senior party leader and state Panchayat Minister Sub-rata Mukherjee said.

Former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi and Sultan Ahmed have been made national vice presidents,

while MPs Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Subhendu Adhikari, Rajya Sabha chief whip Derek O’Brien, and state Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim have been made na-tional joint secretaries.

The development comes a day after Roy - a former union minis-ter - was replaced as the leader of Trinamool in the Rajya Sabha by Derek O’Brien.

Roy, a former railway minis-ter, has seemingly fallen out with Mamata Banerjee after his inter-rogation by the CBI in connection with the multi-crore-rupee Saradha ponzi scam.

A founding member of the Tri-namool, he has distanced himself from the party and shied away from attacking the Bharatiya Ja-nata Party of late.- IANS

F A L L E N O U T

SHOWN THE DOOR : Mukul Roy

VIGIL: Security personnel keep vigil during high alert on eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit, in Jammu, on Saturday. - PTI

A10

INDIAS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Budget seeks to boost investment, growth; fails to address deficit

NEW DELHI: Finance Minis-ter Arun Jaitley on Saturday an-nounced a budget that put boost-ing growth before painful reforms, slowing the pace of fiscal deficit cuts and seeking to put domestic and foreign capital to work.

In his first full-year budget since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s landslide election victory last May, Jaitley said India’s economy was about to take off. Modi tweeted that the budget would “further re-ignite our growth engine”. Billed as a test of the nationalist premier’s willingness to reform a $2 trillion economy with a bloated public sec-tor and weak private investment, the budget was short on structural reforms and contained revenue targets some called unrealistic.

It drew a mixed reception from

economists, with some calling it a path to an investor-friendly In-dia, but others seeing a missed opportunity to tackle deep-seated structural problems. “Definitely far from what some were hoping would be an event similar to the game-changing budget of 1991 which ushered in India’s eco-nomic liberalisation,” said Devika Mehndiratta, senior economist at ANZ research. Apparently an-ticipating such barbs, Jaitley, 62, said his government had acted “rapidly” to right the course of Indian economy.

Infrastructure in focus“People who urged us to under-take ‘big bang’ reforms also say the Indian economy is a super gi-ant, which moves slowly but sure-ly,” Jaitley told parliament as he wrapped up a 90-minute speech.

Jaitley promised higher invest-ment in India’s decrepit roads and railways, offered the carrot of tax cuts to global companies and the stick of tighter rules to get Indian tycoons to invest at home rather than stash wealth abroad.

10-year jail for tax evasionTax evaders face jail sentences of up to 10 years, he warned. The tax changes and tougher enforcement would raise $2.5 billion next year, he said. Tax receipts overall would rise 15 per cent and government asset sales would raise $11 billion — goals that past experience shows may be hard to meet.

Although Jaitley forecast that growth would accelerate to 8-8.5 per cent in the fiscal year starting in April, up from 7.4 per cent this year, the budget contained little obvious support for Modi’s call

to “Make in India”. “It assumes a questionable growth rate, relies too heavily on divestment to meet fiscal targets, does not address the revenue deficit issue head on and leaves the good things for the future,” said Arvind Sethi, CEO of Tata Asset Management.

Capitalising on windfall savings stemming from cheaper oil im-ports, Jaitley was able to ramp up infrastructure investment without slashing spending on politically sensitive subsidies and welfare schemes. Jaitley forecast inflation at 5 per cent by the end of the fiscal year ending March 2016, under-shooting the Reserve Bank of In-dia’s 6 per cent target and creating room to cut interest rates.

Annual inflation was 5.1 per cent in January. But he pushed back by a year, to 2017/18, a deadline for cutting the fiscal deficit to 3 per

cent of gross domestic product.

Credit neutralIn 2015/16, the deficit will be 3.9 per cent of GDP, above the 3.6 per cent target inherited from the last government. In volatile trading, India’s NSE share index ended 0.7 per cent higher after having briefly fallen into the red on his comment that the fiscal deficit would slip. Ratings agency Moody’s gave the budget a cool reception, saying it was neutral for India’s credit and left stabilising government fi-nances at the mercy of economic growth. Moody’s rates India at the lowest notch of investment grade.

“We were not expecting big bang reforms,” said Atsi Sheth, a Moody’s sovereign ratings analyst.”The big bang reforms are also not desirable because they have a higher chance of rollback.”

India’s budget concentrates a year’s economic policymaking into a single speech, and the range of measures Jaitley announced included a monetary policy over-haul, a bankruptcy code and the creation of a public debt manage-ment agency.

Range of measuresIn a key passage, Jaitley said he would cut the tax on company profits to 25 per cent over four years from the current 30 per cent, high by international standards.

Simplified regulationA national goods and services tax would enter force, as planned, in April 2016 and a controversial set of new rules to fight tax avoidance would be delayed by two years, he said. Jaitley scrapped a distinction between direct and portfolio inves-tors, in a move to encourage foreign investors to take strategic stakes in Indian firms. He also simplified regulation of financial markets.

“This clear statement of intent should bring cheer to industry,” said Krupa Venkatesh, a partner at Deloitte. The government shied away from politically sensitive cuts in its $37 billion subsidy bill, seeking instead to boost ef-ficiency of a rural jobs scheme that is India’s costliest welfare programme. It will also boost di-rect welfare payments into bank accounts, and gradually replace benefits in kind.

“My proposals... lay down the roadmap for accelerating growth, enhancing investment, passing on the benefit of growth process to the common man, woman, youth and child,” said Jaitley. “This is the path we will doggedly and relent-lessly pursue.” - Reuters

Capitalising on

windfall savings

stemming from

cheaper oil

imports, Jaitley

was able to ramp

up infrastructure

investment without

slashing spending on

subsidies and welfare

schemes

BUDGET AT A GLANCE Economy seen growing 8.0-8.5% in 2015/16

Next year‘s fiscal deficit set at 3.9% of GDP, not 3.6%

Promises cut in corporate tax to 25%, over four years

Hikes road and rail investment by $11 billion

Subsidy regime to be made more efficient

Personal income tax rates unchanged

Atal Pension Yojna for economically disadvantaged

Wealth Tax to be abolished and additional two per cent

tax on super rich to yield Rs90 billion annually

Government to soon launch National Skills Mission

UPBEAT: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presenting the Union

Budget 2015-16 at the Lok Sabha in New Delhi on Saturday. - PTI

Congress calls budget NDA’s ‘return-gift’ to the corporatesNEW DELHI:Dubbing the Union Budget as “pro-corporate and anti-poor,” Congress on Saturday said it was a “dhanwapsi (repayment)” by the National Democratic Alliance to the big corporates for their sup-port in Lok Sabha polls.

“It is a pro-corporate budget,” Congress President Sonia Gandhi said when asked about her reac-tion on it.

Slamming the budget as one that promises nothing new, party lead-ers said the plan to bring a new law on black money meant that the government was not bringing illegal money stashed abroad on which it had made tall promises.

“Finance Minister Arun Jaitely

is a good lawyer.But he presented the govern-

ment’s case on Saturday as a very bad lawyer,” remarked Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikar-jun Kharge.

He charged that the budget was a “repayment by the BJP govern-ment to the rich and corporates who had supported them during Lok Sabha polls”. Former Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said the budget was a “dhanwapsi” programme.” You (BJP) had taken in elections. You are paying back,” he charged.

The allusion was to the contro-versial “gharwapasi” programme by saffron parties.

Ramesh also said the “budget has (SIMI) in it...Skill India, Make India.”

The Congress President’s po-litical secretary Ahmed Patel said, “The hype over the budget had cre-ated lot of hope but the outcome is disappointing”.

“Allocation for Sarvashiksha Abhiyan is cut. Farmers get noth-ing. Service tax increase hurts the poor and the rich will pay less tax,”

Patel said. Holding that the budget lacked any substantial invest-ment in the social sector, Kharge charged that it was “pro-indus-trialist”, “pro-corporate” and not meant for the poor.

“The government got a lot of money because of the fall of prices in crude oil. But you did not use it for the poor for inclusive develop-ment. The budget was also made keeping in mind the future state elections in Bihar and West Bengal in mind,” he said.

“The budget fills the coffers of the rich and empties that of the poor. It has not launched any new programme and repackaged old schemes with cosmetic changes.

“The budget does not give an answer sheet. He has only given a question paper,” Kharge said, adding that Jaitley’s promise for special packages for states raises doubts as they have been an-nounced for states where elections are due.

Former Parliamentary Affairs Kamal Nath said the budget does not bring the stimulus that should have come in the country’s economy.

“The budget is a great disap-pointment. It does nothing that stimulates the rural economy or growth or generate employment.It’s a budget that promises setting up committee, commissions.

“This is a hollow budget, a budget

of event management. There is nothing in this budget which will increase the purchase capacity of the youth. Corporate tax has been reduced, which will only benefit the rich,” he said, adding he will not give more than 2 or 3 out of 10 to Jaitley if the budget is rated like this.

All India Congress Commit-tee General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi said the budget is “very ordinary”.

“The budget is not special from any point of view. Government talks a lot about poor but nothing has been done in the budget about the poor. Common man will have to pay for service tax and other similar proposals of the government.” - PTI

R E A C T I O N

SCAN THIS QR CODE TO INSTANTLY VISIT

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

The budget is not special from any point of view. Government talks a lot about

poor but nothing has been done in the budget about the poor. Common man will

have to pay for service tax and other similar proposals of the government

Janardan Dwivedi, All India Congress Committee General Secretary

A11

INDIAS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Though I was chief minister for nine

months, I actually worked only for 12

days from February 7 to 19

Jitan Manjhi, Former Bihar chief minister

Petrol, diesel costlier

NEW DELHI: Petrol price was on Saturday hiked by Rs3.18 per litre and diesel by Rs3.09, the sec-ond increase in rates this month on rising international oil rates.

The increase was effective from midnight on Saturday.

A litre of petrol in Delhi will cost Rs60.49 from today as against Rs 57.31 currently while diesel will cost Rs 49.71 per litre as against Rs 46.62 at present, oil companies announced here on Saturday.

Prior to the increases this month, petrol price had been cut on ten occasions since August 2014 and diesel six times since October 2014.

Cumulatively, petrol price had been cut by Rs17.11 per litre in ten reductions since August and diesel by Rs12.96 a litre since its deregulation in October.

This trend was reversed when rates were raised on February 16.

“Prices of petrol and diesel were last revised upwards with effect from February 16 by Rs 0.82 per litre and Rs 0.61 a litre respectively (including state lev-

ies at Delhi)... Since the above price revision, there has been further steep increase in inter-national prices of both petrol and diesel,” Indian Oil Corp (IOC) said in a statement.

Also, the slight depreciation in rupee-dollar exchange rate to-gether with firming international rates warrant increase in retail selling price of petrol and diesel, it said.

Fuel prices would have been lower but for four consecutive ex-cise duty hikes since November totalling Rs 7.75 a litre on petrol and Rs 7.50 on diesel.

Congress on Saturday reacted sharply to the hike in petrol and diesel prices saying that govern-ment has added insult to injury to the common man by the steep post-Budget increase.

“Modi government has added insult to injury by first ignoring the common man and farmer in the Union Budget and then giving a steep shock by the post budget increase.... It is arrogance of ‘achhe din’,” party spokesman Randeep Surjewala said. - PTI

R I S E I N C R U D E P R I C E S Manjhi launches new party to ‘expose’ Nitish

PATNA: Nearly a week after he was forced to quit as Bihar’s chief minister, Jitan Ram Manjhi Satur-day launched a new political front to “expose the real face” of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The Hindustani Awam Morcha

(HAM) is being seen as the first step to counter Nitish Kumar and his Janata Dal-United ahead of state elections to be held this year.

“We have decided to launch HAM after marathon meetings and discussions with support-ers and sympathisers including former ministers,” said Manjhi,

expelled from the JD-U before he resigned as chief minister.

Manjhi’s supporters mostly belong to Mahadalits — his caste — and backward and extreme backward castes.

Manjhi said he and his support-ers would “expose the real face of Nitish Kumar and the JD-U”.

He said he could work as chief minister for just 12 days out of his nine-month tenure because verbal fights claimed most of his time.

“Though I was chief minister for nine months, I actually worked only for 12 days from February 7 to 19,” Manjhi said.

Earlier, he said that after becom-ing the chief minister last year, he had to be “a rubber stamp” for two to three months.

“I used to get a list of transfer and posting of officials from Nitish Ku-mar on which I had to simply put my signature. I was not even con-sulted who would be my ministers.

“Then I realised that I shouldn’t compromise on the issue of self respect and then from there the problems started,” he said.

Manjhi, who was made chief minister in May 2014, resigned on February 20 this year after a bitter leadership row involving Nitish Kumar. - IANS

The Hindustani Awam

Morcha is being seen

as the first step to

counter Nitish Kumar

and his JD(U) ahead

of state elections to be

held this year

REALIGNMENT: Former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and

other leaders at a meeting in Patna on Saturday. - PTI

Court extends Lokesh’s police custody

NEW DELHI: Names of pri-vate secretaries and private assistants of bureaucrats have cropped up in corporate es-pionage case which need to be probed, Delhi police told a court here which extended by three days the police custody of a person arrested for allegedly procuring sensitive documents from ministries.

Lokesh Sharma, an employee of a Noida-based consultancy firm, was produced before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Satish Kumar Arora after completion of his five-day police remand. -PTI

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

Flu claims 36 more lives, over 19,000 affected

NEW DELHI: Flu has claimed 36 more lives raising the toll to 1,041 even as the number of peo-ple affected by the H1N1 virus in the country breached the 19,000 mark on Saturday.

As per data collated by the Health Ministry, the total num-ber of deaths due to flu was 1,041 till Friday while the number of people affected were 19,046.

The Health Ministry had on Friday given the figure of those affected to be 18,105.

In Rajasthan, the death toll has climbed to 257 while the number of those affected stood at 5,403. As many as 256 people have died of the disease in Guja-rat, which is among the worst af-fected states. So far, 4,162 people have been affected in the state.

In Madhya Pradesh and Ma-harashtra, the total number of deaths has been reported to be 151 and 131 respectively.

The disease has claimed 56 and 42 lives in Telangana and Punjab respectively.

Shortage of laboratoriesHealth Minister J. P. Nadda had on Friday admitted that the country was facing a shortage of laboratories for testing swine flu and had assured that efforts were being made to set up such facilities in all states.

The government has been re-peatedly asserting that it is“very serious” on combating the chal-lenge and has asked people not to panic but be alert. -PTI

S E A S O N A L I N F L U E N Z A

PRECAUTIONARY STEP: A health official gives flu

vaccine drops to students

at a school at Bikaner in

Rajasthan on Friday. - PTI

COMMEN ARYT I M E S O F O M A N

Founder: Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali Chairman and Editor-in-Chief: Mohamed Issa Al ZadjaliDeputy Editor-in-Chief: Anees bin Essa Al Zedjali Chief Executive Officer: Ahmed Essa Al Zedjali

Printed and published by: Muscat Media GroupP.O. Box 770, Ruwi, Postal Code: 112, Sultanate of Oman.

Subscription: RO70 per year.

Editorial: 24726666, Fax: 24813153; E-mail: editor@timesofoman.com

Advertising: 24726666, Fax: 24812624

Circulation: 24726600, Fax: 24818270; E-mail: circulation@timesofoman.com

ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company

S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5 T I M E S O F O M A NA12

In Ethiopia they live like animals, relent-lessly persecuted, hunted down like games, killed at will and incarcerated en masse. No mercy is shown even to women and children. They are the Oromos — the largest ethnic group, the most marginal-ised in Ethiopia and arguably one among

the most oppressed people in our planet. Despite their numerical majority, the Oromos, much like the Palestinians, are facing xenophobic oppression.

Amnesty International’s report on the state of existence of the Oromos, published last year, has been damning. It painted a chilling picture of the brutality unleashed by Ethiopian government on the hapless community to which the country’s President, Mulatu Teshome, belongs. The rights group, based in London, said: “At least 5,000 Oro-mos have been arrested based on their actual or suspected peaceful opposition to the govern-ment”. And most of them have been “subjected to treatment amounting to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”.

Amnesty researcher Claire Beston has been scathing. She said, “The Ethiopian government’s relentless crackdown on real or imagined dissent among the Oromo is sweeping in its scale and of-ten shocking in its brutality. This is apparently intended to warn, control or silence all signs of ‘political disobedience’ in the region”. Beston, in her report, said in no uncertain terms that she saw “signs of torture, including scars and burns, as well as missing fingers, ears and teeth” on those Oromos she interviewed.

The scenario in the country is perhaps far more terrifying. The United States, in its 2013 Human Rights Report, has pointed out that at least 70,000 persons, including some 2,500 women and nearly 600 children are incarcerated with their mothers, in severely overcrowded six fed-eral and 120 regional prisons. “There also were many unofficial detention centres throughout the country, including in Dedessa, Bir Sheleko, Tolay, Hormat, Blate, Tatek, Jijiga, Holeta, and Senkele,” the report added further.

Plurality, respect for basic democratic values and tolerance for dissent have never been the fortes for which Ethiopia is known in the world. It is for rea-sons on the contrary the country has already earned a massive notoriety internationally. Corruptions are rampant and behind the façade of development the government in Ethiopia is infamous for selling out the country to the western world and foreign corporations and, of course, for its blatant violation of basic human rights.

What defines Ethiopia today is the greed and cor-ruption of its politicians, especially those in power. The brazenness with which the government is try-ing to sell out Omo Valley to foreign corporation is a shame and a heinous crime. Twice the size of France and UNESCO World Heritage Site, Omo

Valley is known as the ‘cradle of mankind’ which, according to ancient-origins.net, has the world’s largest alkaline lake as well as the world’s largest permanent desert lake.

The Ecologist says, Lake Turkana in Omo Valley was a prehistoric centre for early hominids. Some 20,000 fossil specimens have been collected from the Turkana Basin. Anthropological digs have led to the discovery of important fossilised remains, most notably, the skeleton of the Turkana Boy, (or Nariokotome Boy). Finding Turkana Boy was one of the most spectacular discoveries in palaeoanthro-pology. His reconstruction comes from the almost perfectly preserved skeleton found in 1984 at Nar-iokotome near Lake Turkana.

Discovery of the fossilised Turkana Boy, aged be-tween seven and fifteen who lived approximately 1.6 million years ago was a milestone in the study of our origin and ancestry. Yet, to the corrupt, shame-less and avaricious Ethiopian government it is of no significance. And neither is the welfare of the indig-enous people of the valley who are believed to be the living descendants of the early hominids.

Alas! Ethiopian government wants to sell out this important archaeological treasure trove to foreign corporations where they want to develop sugar, cot-ton and biofuel plantations. A shameless land grab is underway in Omo Valley where hundreds of more fossilised skeletons of our forefathers are expected to be found and retrieved.

Misrule, human rights violations, hubris, arro-gance and corruption plagues Ethiopia. Continuous demagoguery against the Oromos has made Ethio-pia sit atop a huge mound of gun powder waiting for a spark to explode. The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), the armed wing of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) is getting ready for yet another armed struggle to overthrow the present political dispen-sation in power. And given the history of insurgency in Ethiopia the country today seems to be heading fast towards a fresh bout of armed insurrection.

A low intensity struggle has already started as the Oromos are no more in mood to take the op-pression, they are in no mood to suffer in silence their marginalisation. The ethnic fire the Ethio-pian government has been stoking is gradually turning into an inferno.

We know human stupidity is endless and that of Ethiopia is infinite and dark. It cannot achieve growth and progress keeping its people delegiti-mised and aggrieved. The oppressed and tortured shall one day erupt to claim what legitimately be-longs to them as well.

The author is the Opinion Editor of Times of Oman. All the views and opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not reflect those of Times of Oman. He can be reached at opinioneditor@timesofoman.com

Oromos face chilling oppression in Ethiopia

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

MATTER OF FACT

The fight to make Pakistan polio-free is bitter, bloody and far from over. As recently as eight years ago victory seemed to be within reach, but no longer. Every polio vaccination drive that

gets under way is attacked somewhere in the country, lives are lost both of the vaccinators and those whose job is to provide them with security. Now there is a report that in the second nationwide polio drive of 2015 as many as 367,181 children have missed out for a range of reasons. On the up side there was an eight per cent decline in the number of children who could not be vaccinated, but taken as a whole the picture is bleak and bleaker in some parts than others. Of those children under the age of five years who missed out, 35,818 were direct refusals and 331,363 were simply not at home when the vac-cinators came calling. The decline in the number of refusals is be-ing taken as a good omen, but there have been good omens in the past that came to naught.

Within the welter of data one figure stands out — there was not a single parental refusal in the whole of Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B). Given the difficulties of terrain and the remoteness of many mountain com-munities as well as thin health service coverage generally, this is wor-thy of note. As is usual Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa topped the list of paren-tal refusals with 27,742, and there is clearly a mountain to climb in turning around the mindset that underlies the high refusal rate.

The province is a significant obstacle to those tasked with eradi-cation, and the global community that is following the battle closely rightly expresses concern via United Nations agencies about Pa-kistan’s proliferation of the virus. The Ministry of National Health admits that there is a lack of accurate data on the number of chil-dren living in 497 high-risk union councils, adding to the dif-ficulty of formulating strategies to reach them and not only for polio vaccination but other childhood diseases as well. But the bat-tle continues and has to be won — for the sake of all our children. - The Express Tribune

A long and slow battle

North Korea could be on track to have an arsenal of 100 nuclear weapons by 2020, according to a new research report. The pre-diction, from experts on North Korea, goes well beyond past

estimates and should force renewed attention on a threat that has been eclipsed by other crises. At the moment, the United States and five other major powers are negotiating an agreement that would constrain the nu-clear programme in Iran, which does not possess any nuclear weapons. North Korea, on the other hand, is estimated to have already produced 10 to 16 weapons since 2003. The new assessment comes from Joel Wit, a former American negotiator with North Korea who is now a senior fellow with the US-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and David Albright, head of the Institute for Science and International Security. They conclude that North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes have been growing since 2009 and are now “poised for significant expansion over the next five years.” That poses serious threats for other countries in Asia and for the United States.

Details about the programmes are hard to come by given North Ko-rea’s closed system. As a result, the researchers have outlined possible scenarios for the next five years, ranging from 20 nuclear weapons to 100, which would put North Korea on a par with India, Pakistan and Israel. Independently, China has also estimated the programme to be capable of producing the higher range of weapons, another expert on North Ko-rea said. North Korea already has 1,000 ballistic missiles including the medium-range land-based Nodong missile, which is mobile and accurate enough to attack cities, ports and military bases in Japan and South Ko-rea. The country may also possess limited long-range missiles that can reach targets in the United States, the report said. It has also succeeded in miniaturising nuclear weapons so they can fit on both medium-range and long-range missiles.

Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a speech in Tokyo, called North Korea “the most significant source of instability in the region” and denounced its “reckless pursuit of a larger and larger nuclear programme and the missiles to deliver those weapons around the world.”

The more missiles and nuclear weapons North Korea produces, the more likely the government will seek to sell them. Just this week, Reu-ters reported that United Nations experts have found new evidence that a North Korean shipping company has renamed most of its vessels to disguise their origin and continue illicit shipments in violation of United Nations sanctions.. The Obama administration and its partners (China, the North’s major supplier of food and fuel; South Korea; Japan; and Rus-sia) have failed to find a way to address the problem or engage the North in sustained negotiations to curb its nuclear weapon and missile pro-duction. They cannot merely keep talking about having talks. Wit’s and Albright’s research shows the growing danger if they cannot bring North Korea back to the bargaining table- The New York Times News Service

Businessmen are often forced to hire illegal expats This refers to the news story, Deportation raids back on for expats (February 26). Illegal expatriate workers are bane for any country as they eat into the employment opportunities of legal workers and nationals. Therefore, if the authorities are undertaking raids to flush them out of the Sultanate, the move certainly deserves all praise. At the same time we have to re-member why there are so many expat workers in Oman doing jobs not mentioned on their resi-dent cards. Many are often seen doing odd jobs. In a way, they are keeping many works going and flushing them out of the country may lead to serious problems. There are many businessmen, locals and foreigners, who are

denied of the actual number of manpower that they need. They are often forced to hire such expatriates so as to keep their businesses running.NadeemAl Ghubra

Some employers also flout laws and abuse contractsThis refers to the news story, De-portation raids back on for expats (February 26). Where can one report the acts of contract abuse because I have been brought into the country as a waiter, and even my resident card says so, but I am made to work as a cleaner. I am also being denied a full day off as indicated in my contract and for the half day that I work on my day off day, I am not compensated adequately. The

supervisor insists that it is the policy of the company.JosephMuscat

The runaway workers pose even bigger problems This refers to the news story, De-portation raids back on for expats (February 26). Illegal expatriate workers are problems everywhere and not just in Oman. The runa-ways are even a bigger problem for the employers as they cannot hire a replacement until the man or the woman who has run away is not traced and deported. What hap-pens is that the visa gets blocked. Even in the UK and Australia, they conduct regular raids against such illegal expat workers.Aziza Al BusaidyDubai

India denied opportunity to create new ODI recordIndia was denied of an opportunity to create a world record. It was unfortunate that Dhoni lost the toss and the UAE opted to bat first. I am sure that if India had batted first, the men in blue would have certainly scored at least 500 runs against UAE and set a new world record. Never ever has 500 runs been scored in an ODI. By batting first the UAE were bowled out for a paltry 102. We all knew that the UAE would be no match to the mighty Indians but there still was an academic interest in the match because India could have created a world record if they had batted first. The UAE should have invited Dhoni and his boys to bat first and make history.CenthilRuwi

READERS’ FORUM

website: www.newindiaoman.com

NEW INDIA ASSURANCEProtect your properties/assets through New India’s FIRE INSURNCE POLICIES.

Courage is the power to let go of the familiarRAYMOND LINDQUIST

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

Threats posed by North

Korea’s nuclear expansion

Plurality, respect for basic democratic values and tolerance for dissent have never been the fortes for which Ethiopia is known in the world. It is for reasons on the contrary the country has already earned a massive notoriety internationally

PERSPEC IVET I M E S O F O M A N S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5T I M E S O F O M A N A13

I am not a crook. This infa-mous statement was broad-cast over live television by US

President Richard Nixon during the 1970s when he was suspected to be involved in spying on rival party campaign headquarters. Ironically, it was his next sen-tence, “I earned everything I got” that proved more truthful since he was forced to resign when White House audiotapes revealed his in-volvement in a cover-up. The topic of ‘national security’ was used multiple times to hinder the inves-tigation into Nixon’s involvement.

If Nixon’s people were willing to plant physical bugs in order to gain political advantages, it’s reckless to assume that instant access to global data today won’t be exploit-ed. US administrations, along with their Five Eyes partners, have tak-en it upon themselves to intrude deeper into the personal lives of their citizens along with perceived threats around the world.

This month, the Russian-based Kaspersky lab has exposed new complex cyberespionage tac-tics conducted by the West. The Kaspersky report implied that the NSA hides spyware deep within hard drives produced by popular manufacturers such as

Toshiba, Seagate, etc., allowing them to spy on the world’s com-puters. Some of the countries that are highly targeted include Iran, Pakistan and Russia, due to their nuclear programmes.

The report mentioned that the techniques used were similar to those of Stuxnet, a cyber-weapon that was used to attack Iran’s nu-clear programme. The Stuxnet worm was a joint effort between Israel and the US.

US-based tech firms have suf-fered immediate drops in busi-ness since the leaks began in 2013. When a government has posses-sion of a large amount of data, it poses a threat to progress as well. The impressive civil rights ad-vancements over the last century would have faced much stronger resistance from governments had they been armed with the tools that the present-day powers have amassed. Changing the status quo will prove difficult when they can read your messages and track every movement.

Regarding the time-tested ‘na-tional security’ justification, the NSA only claims 54 instances which have contributed to the US government’s understanding of terrorism activities. Ensuring that

your nation is protected from at-tacks is an understandable respon-sibility. However, the NSA appears to be going above and beyond that duty. The agency targeted a Brazil-ian oil company, Chinese universi-ties and the World Bank.

Those headlines were bold, but are damaging when coupled with the discovery of a 2009 US intel-ligence report, which discusses stealing proprietary information from foreign targets to evaluate usefulness for the US industry. The recently retired NSA head is selling his services for a rumoured amount of $1 million per month.

The combined negative effect that this news is having on the US tech industry, media and personal sense of freedom is significant. Nearly two years have passed since Edward Snowden began leaking details of NSA capabilities and leaders have yet to respond with any meaningful reforms.

We can hope that the conse-quences of intelligence agencies running amok will motivate them to dial back their operations, but there are no signs of that thus far. For now, we can only be thankful that the details of their deceit are finally available and open to public scrutiny.- The Express Tribune

TODAY IN HISTORY

OPINION POLL

1776 French minister Charles Gravier advises his Spanish counterpart to support the American rebels against the English.

1808 In France, Napoleon creates an

imperial nobility. 1871 German troops enter Paris, France,

during the Franco-Prussian War.

1915 The Allies announce their aim to cut off all German supplies and assure the safety of the neutrals.

1992 Bosnian Serbs begin sniping in Sarajevo, after Croats and Moslems vote for Bosnian independence.

AGREEMENT FOR SEWAGE PLANT IN BARKAMUSCAT: Dr Khamis bin Mubarak Al Alawi, minister of regional municipalities and environment, in his office signed an agreement for the construction of a sewage processing plant in wilayat of Barka. The project is part of a number of infrastructure projects the ministry plans to implement during this year. In a statement, after the signing ceremony, the minister said, new sewage plant would have an initial process-ing capacity of 250 cubic metres per day and would be constructed on 40,000 square metres of land.

FROM OUR ARCHIVES

It would seem outlandish to apportion the blame of a cricketing nation’s misfortunes on her prime minister, for instance, but Pakistan regularly contrives to make headlines for the ridiculous upending the sublime in how it approaches the sport

In a general sense, where the stakes are high some sort of power play in political form is inevitable. It is evident more so in the

developing world, and certainly in the South Asian region, a quartet of which — Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — are the cur-rent full members of the International Cricket Conference (ICC).

Political intrusion in sport in these countries is a stark reality; in some, it dominates the sport per se; in others, it is just standard fare.

It would seem outlandish to apportion the blame of a cricketing nation’s misfortunes on her prime minister, for instance, but Pakistan regu-larly contrives to make headlines for the ridicu-lous upending the sublime in how it approaches the sport — with an unabashed political mien.

Even as the world has descended upon Aus-tralia and New Zealand — tens of thousands as spectators and millions of others tuning into tel-evision — for the sport’s greatest show, Pakistan has become a laughing stock with the conduct of its officials and team on and off the field. It re-sembles a near-nadir with politics of all shades dwarfing the sport itself.

Consider. Shahryar Khan, the current chair-man of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), is a respected former diplomat who served as am-bassador to Jordan, Britain and France before assuming charge as the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative to Rwanda at the peak of conflict in the African nation. He retired as the country’s foreign secretary in 1994 and has already served one term as the PCB chief from 2003-2006.

Because of his diplomatic nous, Nawaz Sha-rif in his last term as prime minister, also ap-pointed him the manager of the touring Paki-stani cricket team for a breakthrough series with India in 1998.

However, in his latest stint, Khan is encum-bered by the presence of Najam Sethi, a contro-versial media figure, who now refuses to fade after tasting ‘political power’ as the interim chief minister of Punjab during the 2013 general elec-tions that led to allegations of him fixing results in 35 constituencies from Imran Khan, chairman of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf(PTI).

The general impression is that Sethi, as Prime Minister Sharif ’s pointman, is undercutting Khan and it was no more evident as when Sethi recently astonished Pakistani fans livid over the team’s dismal performanceat the World Cup by

advising them “not to have expectations from a seventh ranked outfit”.

As if this spectacle was not enough, the ‘politi-cal sport’ was compounded by commotion over finding that Moin Khan, the team’s chief selec-tor and a blue eyed of Sethi, who appointed the ex-wicketkeeper to the post before being forced to give up the PCB stewardship in favour of a court-ordered election at the board — had been to a casino ahead of an important fixture against the West Indies.

Moin Khan has since returned home after be-ing recalled to explain the casino visit that he claims was undertaken only for dinner with his wife and the couple’s friends. Khan was summoned after some senators offended by the act took to the floor of the Upper House of the parliament even as the media went into a predictable overdrive.

Clearly, the gloves are off in a fading winter of discontent with some ‘enterprising’ folks even knocking the doors of the Lahore High Court and making the prime minister a respondent in seek-ing an explanation for Pakistan cricket’s woes!

Hopefully, the premier, who has fendedoff a more demanding — and mentally, draining — challenge posed to his office last year by arch rival Imran Khan, the country’s only World Cup winning captain, would eventually survive the ire.

But whether Shaharyar Khan and Najam Sethi, the other political appointees, will also es-cape the rising mercury depends considerably on how an embattled captain Misbah-ul-Haq leads his green shirts in a do-or-die battle to save face.

It is a measure of how politicised the sport and its administration is in this part of the world that Colonel (retired) Naveed Akram Cheema, who retired as the Punjab chief secretary, was reap-pointed the team’s manager for the World Cup, and after Moin Khan’s recall, will discharge du-ties as the chief selector, too!

Cheema is close to Shahbaz Sharif, the prime minister’s brother, and chief minister of Pun-jab province. Rumours are already rife that the Sharifs may be paving the way for Cheema to helm the PCB, if the cookie crumbles post-World Cup!

The author is a senior journalist based in Islama-bad. All the views and opinions expressed in the article are solely his and not of Times of Oman.

PM faces ire as ‘political sport’ mars the fortunes

HISTORYNET.COM

Cyprus deal allows Russian navy to use ports

GraphicsGraphic News /Source: Wire agencies

HungaryKremlin-friendly government has securedmore favourable terms for supplies ofRussian gas

Greece Leftist, anti-austerity Syriza-ledgovernment has distanced itself from callsto broaden sanctions on Moscow. Couldseek Russian aid if EU bailout talks fail

Warming eu-russia relations

Military equipmentCypriot National Guard has replaced manyof its French AMX-30 tanks with Russianmade T-80, and purchased 11 Russian Mi-35 attack helicopters

FinanceRussia has restructured €2.5bn ($2.8bn)loan to Cyprus signed in 2011, cuttingannual interest rate from 4.5 to 2.5 %

C Y P R U SLarnaca

Akrotiri

Paphos

Limassol

50km

Nicosia

Dhekelia

Northern CyprusUnder Turkish militaryoccupation since 1974

Sovereign Base Areas UK military facilitiesUnited Nations buffer zone

Cypriot ports Russian navy ships allowed regular access,primarily for international counterterrorism and anti-piracy missions

LimassolPort already used by Russian ships forrefuelling and astransit station for supplyof arms to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

AirportsRussian military aircraft able to usePapandreou Air Base, adjacent toPaphos International Airport, forhumanitarian efforts

Cyprus-russia agreements

LAST POLL RESULT

Do you fear outbreak of a major health hazard in Oman due to sudden changes in weather?

Will deportation of illegal expat workers streamline labour market and create fresh job opportunities in Oman?

Visit timesofoman.com to cast your vote

Yes53%

Can't say4 %

No43%

There is a bit of a her-metic feel to Pakistan these days, as if the

country that lies on the an-cient road from the West to Asia, a natural bridge, had somehow contorted itself into a self-imposed isolation. The border with India, dividing the Punjab, lies not far from this great city. It is a barrier rather than a gateway. The border with Afghanistan is problem-atic in its nonexistence.

The beast nurtured in the name of Islamabad’s policy of “strategic depth”, the Taliban in its Pakistani iteration, mas-sacred 134 children at Pesha-war’s Army Public School late last year.

Not surprising then that tourism is down to a trickle. I made my way to the Badshahi Mosque and the Lahore Fort — high-walled, dusky-red, mag-nificent in extent. There was not a foreigner in sight, not a camera clicking.

President Obama goes to India and Pakistan is way down on his agenda — if it is there at all. Nobody in Wash-ington frets any longer about balancing visits to New Delhi and Islamabad.

Oh, yes, Afghanistan, Amer-ican treasure and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence directorate (ISI), or top spy agency: Well, the less said about that, the better.

India is a democracy and a great power rising. Pakistan is a Muslim homeland that lost half its territory in 1971, bounced back and forth be-tween military and nominally democratic rule, never quite clear of annihilation angst de-spite its nuclear weapons, its prime ministers as susceptible to a violent end as Henry VIII’s wives, struggling to define its identity almost 68 years after it came into being. The fog of war is rivalled only by the fog of Pakistan, in which Osama bin Laden lived and paced for several years.

But perhaps something new is stirring in the penumbra. There is much chatter about Beijing. China needs Pakistan to keep India busy; it does not want an India freed of its Pa-kistani headache. So Beijing helps Pakistan with military technology. It builds nuclear power stations.

Interests shift, however. China needs Pakistan on an-other front now. This month a Uighur bomber killed as many as eight people in the volatile Chinese region of Xinjiang, near the border of Pakistan. It was the latest in a series of attacks by Uighurs resentful of domination by the Han Chinese.

Some Uighurs have em-braced extremism, an ideology for which plentiful schooling and terrorist training is avail-able in both Pakistan and Af-ghanistan. In this light, rein-ing in the Taliban looks a little more attractive to the Chi-nese than it once did. And, as the United States learned long ago, if you want to do something about the Taliban, you’d better do something about Pakistan.

All this forms the backdrop to an interesting question: Does rising China make its formal entrance to the world diplomatic stage by trying to mediate talks between the Af-ghan Taliban, the Afghan gov-ernment of President Ashraf Ghani, and a Pakistani ally sobered by the very belated realisation that the Taliban it has fostered for “strategic depth” is also a mortal dan-ger to Pakistan itself ? Is it here that President Xi Jin-ping’s China begins to punch its strategic weight?

The United States cannot carry the weight of the world; it has other priorities right now. China could be helpful as American combat troops withdraw. Ghani wants to be-gin talks with the Taliban. An Afghan-Pakistani thaw has begun since he took office.

That Peshawar school at-tack has focused minds on the costs to Islamabad of imagin-ing there could be a “good Tali-ban” in Afghanistan and “a bad Taliban” in Pakistan: One of course feeds the other. China is talking to the Taliban. It has leverage over Pakistan.

Scepticism is in order. The Afghan war is a long story now. But the change in American strategic priorities, the change of government in Afghanistan, the change of mood in Islama-bad, and the change of needs in China have created space. This is an issue on which Pres-ident Obama and President Xi can find common cause.

Pakistan will not extri-cate itself from dysfunction through an Afghan resolu-tion, but it would help. The nonsense of “strategic depth” must give way to the wisdom of commercial breadth — and not just on the western border. Chinese-Indian pragmatism can be a beacon for Pakistani-Indian pragmatism — maybe.

There is a wealth of tal-ent and energy in Pakistan. A Taliban suicide bomber killed five people in Lahore this month. The people of Lahore responded by bravely hosting the Lahore Literary Festival, a wonder of creativity, eclecti-cism, ideas and dialogue.

Openness is what Pakistan needs. It is time to emerge from the fog and lay to rest outdated ghosts. - The New York Times News Service

Pakistan stilltrapped in its labyrinth

Is privacy dead in today’s world?

KA M R A N R E H M AT

S A B I N A K H A N

R O G E R C O H E N

A14

PAKISTANS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Parents to face arrest if found obstructing polio vaccination

PESHAWAR: In a bid to fight polio in the province, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) police offi-cials said on Friday that they have started issuing arrest warrants for parents refusing to vaccinate their children, The New York Times reported.

“We had 13,000 to 16,000 re-fusal cases,” the deputy police

commissioner for Peshawar Riaz Khan Mahsud said in an interview.

“There is total determination on our part. We shall convince parents of the good of vaccinat-ing their children, but if they re-fuse, we shall detain them. There is no leniency.”

In other districts of the prov-

ince, the police has also reported issuing warrants, though no offi-cial figure was released.

“The number keeps fluctuat-ing,” said a senior government of-ficial, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

“We are applying different laws. You have to resort to coercive measures when persuasion fails.”

The official further said that “the application of laws is work-ing. Some parents readily agree to vaccinate children to avoid detention. Others take a few days behind the bars to see reason. We take an affidavit from them and let them go if they bring kids for vaccination.”

In 2014, 306 new polio cases

were reported in the country, breaking the previous record of 199 new cases in 2000.

“This was due to complacency and a very bad security situation,” said head of the government’s polio monitoring group in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Dr Imtiaz Ali Shah.

Shah said the outbreak of the disease was particularly bad in North and South Waziristan.

The refugees “took the virus with them everywhere they went — in K-P, Balochistan and Sindh,” Shah said.

“There was a ping-pong, cases popping up here, cases popping up there.”

Military operationHowever, Dr Shah said the recent military operation in the Feder-ally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) gave officials a chance for polio teams to make progress.

So far, there have been 13 new cases in all of Pakistan this year, 11 of which are from Khyber-Pakh-tunkhwa or Fata.

“We have better access and bet-ter monitoring now,” Shah said. “The quality of the campaign has improved. I am confident the cas-es would come down to less than 100 this year.” — Express Tribune

There is total

determination on

our part. We shall

convince parents

of the good of

vaccinating their

children, but if they

refuse, we shall

detain them, said

a Peshawar police

officialTOUGH TASK: A Pakistani child receives polio vaccination drops from a medical volunteer

at a school in Rawalpindi on January 21, 2014. — AFP file photo

Pakistan sends relief goods to Afghan avalanche victimsISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sat-urday dispatched two C-130 aircraft loaded with relief goods for victims of the avalanches in Afghanistan.

“To express solidarity with the Afghan brethren affected by the avalanche, two C-130 aircraft were dispatched today from Nur Khan airbase to Panjsher prov-ince,” says an Inter Services Pub-lic Relations (ISPR) press release.

The goods included tents, blan-kets, bottled water, stoves and foodstuff.

On February 26, avalanches triggered by heavy snow killed more than 100 people in moun-tainous areas of northern Af-ghanistan, officials said as rescu-ers battled to save dozens more trapped in the snow.

More than 250 people have been killed in a series of avalanch-es triggered by heavy snowfall around Afghanistan this week, provincial authorities said.

Almost all of the victims were in Panjshir province, approxi-

mately 150 kilometres north of Kabul, acting governor Abdul Rahman Kabiri told AFP.

The avalanches came after two days of heavy snow de-stroyed more than 100 homes in the province and blocked main roads, making it difficult for rescue workers to reach the stricken villages.

“Ordinary people and govern-ment employees are using shov-

els and bare hands to rescue those who are still trapped under the snow,” Kabiri said, warning that the toll could rise without emergency help.

“We have gathered 300 peo-ple to help with the rescue, but we don’t have the equipment we need,” he added.

As temperatures plunged well below freezing, workers contin-ued to toil into the night to rescue at least 28 people still believed to be trapped in their houses buried under the snow.

Around 30 people also suffered from frostbite and other injuries after being rescued, the acting governor said.

“We will continue the rescue operation throughout the night,” Kabiri added. — Express Tribune

H E L P

More than 250 people have been killed in a series of avalanches triggered by heavy snowfall around Afghanistan this week

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

To express solidarity with the Afghan brethren affected

by the avalanche, two C-130 aircraft were dispatched

today from Nur Khan airbase to Panjsher province, said

an Inter Services Public Relations press release

12 security personnel injured in blastPESHAWAR: Twelve security personnel were injured on Satur-day when a security forces convoy came under an improvised explo-sive device (IED) attack in the Sar-wakai area of South Waziristan, a security official confirmed to The Express Tribune.

No group has claimed responsi-bility for the attack so far, and the injured have been shifted for treat-ment. Assistant Political Agent South Waziristan Nawab Safi told The Express Tribune that repatria-tion of the internally displace peo-ple (IDP) is set to commence from March 16 this year after a gap of about 15 months. The IDPs’ fami-lies will be sent back to 14 villages of the Sarwakai and Sarrarugha Tehsils (collection of towns) of South Waziristan.

Operation Reh-a-NejatThey will be registered from March 8 to March 11 at the Politi-cal Compound South Waziristan, the official added. The official says that in the new phase about 8,000 families will be repatriated to their homes in South Waziristan.

The five tehsils of the Mehsud area of South Waziristan, the Sara-rogha, Sarwakai, Tayarza, Makin, and Lahda tribes got displaced as a result of Operation Reh-a-Nejat in 2009. — Express Tribune

I N S U R G E N C Y

A15

GLOBAL EYES U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

HONG KONG: Pedestrians are seen walking on a promenade that runs along Victoria harbour in Hong Kong on Friday. —AFP

JAPAN: Britain’s Prince William, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, wearing ‘yukata’,

or kimono-style pajamas, pose together before a dinner in Koriyama, Japan’s northeastern prefecture

of Fukushima on Saturday. Prince William is on a four-day visit to Japan. — AFP/JAPAN POOL

THE MALDIVES: Maldives police arrest an opposition supporter

during a rally to protest the detention of former President Moham-

ed Nasheed in Male on Friday. Maldives police said on Saturday

they arrested 31 supporters of Nasheed during a mass rally in the

capital to protest his detention on terror charges. —AFP

FRANCE: A van drives past a huge rock that fell on Friday on the

N117 main road leading to the ski resorts of Moutiers, Les Menuires

and Val Thorens in the Tarentaise valley on Saturday. As vacation-

ers are expected to cross, some departing and others reaching the

resorts in the French Alps, the road has been closed to traffic. — AFP

UNITED STATES: A man dresses up as ‘Statue of Liberty’ at Times

Square in New York on Friday. Dozens of men and women earn

their livelihood dressing up as cartoon characters and super heroes

every day to pose with customers, mostly tourists, and then coax

them for tips at Manhattan’s Times Square. — AFP

AFGHANISTAN: Afghan and foreign competitors cross the finish line of the 5th Afghan Ski Challenge

in the Chapdara Valley of the Bamiyan province. The 5th annual ski challenge event, funded by Agha

Khan Foundation, was held in Bamiyan with more than 31 skiers including 14 foreigners from US, UK,

Belgium, France, Switzerland and New Zealand taking part and some 300-400 locals walking up the

hills to support and watch the ski event. — AFP

IRAQ: An Iraqi driver takes part in a drift race in Arbil, in the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq, on

Friday. — AFP

People wear masks of Uruguayan President Jose

Mujica as they attend his farewell ceremony in

Montevideo on Friday, two days before the swearing in

ceremony of the president-elect Tabare Vazquez. — AFP

A16

WORLDS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Ensure proper disposal of garbage.

Don’t litter a beautiful country like OMAN.

REMEMBRANCE: People gather at the site where Boris Nemtsov

was murdered, in central Moscow, on Saturday. St. Basil’s Cathe-

dral and the Kremlin walls are seen in the background, — Reuters

Hamas is a ‘terrorist’ movement: Egypt court CAIRO: An Egyptian court on Saturday called the Palestinian movement Hamas a “terrorist” group over its alleged links with extremists behind deadly at-tacks on security forces in the Sinai Peninsula.

The ruling took ties between Hamas and the authorities which ousted Egypt’s elected extremist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 to a new low.

Hamas condemned what it called “a great disgrace which soils the reputation of Egypt”.

It came almost a month after a court on January 31 desig-nated Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, a “terrorist” group.

Attacks in SinaiSince the military toppled Morsi, the authorities in Egypt have accused Hamas of aiding extremists who have staged a string of bloody attacks on secu-rity forces in the Sinai.

Egypt also accuses Hamas, which controls the neighbour-ing Gaza Strip, of supporting Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement. Last March, Egypt banned all Hamas activities on its soil and froze its assets. — AFP

‘ G R E A T D I S G R A C E ’

Putin foe Nemtsov murdered

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Saturday vowed to bring the “vile” killers of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov to justice as Western leaders and Russia’s opposition roundly condemned the drive-by shooting near the Kremlin walls.

Putin, who earlier blamed the assassination on foes trying to discredit the Kremlin, said in a message to Nemtsov’s mother: “Everything will be done so that the organisers and perpetrators of a vile and cynical murder get the punishment they deserve,”

The 55-year-old former deputy premier who was a vocal critic of Putin, was shot in the back several times shortly before midnight Friday as he walked across a bridge a stone’s throw from the Kremlin.

Hours later on Saturday a steady stream of mourners, many in tears, filed by on the bridge, heaping flowers and photos of Nemtsov at the spot where he fell.

Police closed off a lane of traffic to let them through.

Shot in the backInvestigators said Nemtsov was shot in the back while walking with a woman, who was not in-jured. She was later identified as 23-year-old Ukrainian model, Anna Duritskaya, by Russian state television.

The murder, investigators add-ed, was the work of one or more gunmen who shot seven or eight times at the opposition figure who in the 1990s served as depu-ty premier under then president Boris Yeltsin.

He “left his trace in Russia’s history, in politics and public life,” Putin said in the message to his 86-year-old mother, Dina Eidman.

“He always directly and hon-estly announced his position, stood up for his point of view,” Putin added.

Prime Minister Dmitry Med-vedev praised Nemtsov as a “principled person” who “acted openly, consistently and never betrayed his views.”

Hours earlier the Putin critic and anti-corruption crusader had called on Russians to join an op-position rally on Sunday against the Kremlin stance in Ukraine.

US President Barack Obama condemned a “brutal” and “vi-

cious murder” and urged a probe and British Prime Minister David Cameron said the “callous murder” must be investigated “fully, rapidly and transparently”.

ProvocationThe brazen assassination is one of the highest-profile killings in Putin’s 15 years in power and re-calls the shooting of anti-Krem-lin reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who was gunned down on Putin’s birthday in October 2006.

Earlier, Putin and other officials suggested the crime was aimed at smearing the authorities.

It “had all the hallmarks of a contract killing and is entirely provocative in nature,” he was quoted as saying by the Kremlin.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Kommersant FM radio station that the crime “can look very much like a provoca-tion” since “Boris Nemtsov was known as being in opposition to the Russian leadership.”

Malicious intentEven the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev believed the killing was aimed at “destabilis-ing the situation in the country, at heightening confrontation” with the West.

And the powerful Investiga-tive Committee leading the probe said it was looking into a possible “provocation to destabilise the political situation in the country.”

Nemtsov could have been “of-fered as a sacrifice” by those who are “not averse to using such a method to reach their political aims,” it suggested. — AFP

The 55-year-old former deputy premier

during Boris Yelstin’s era was shot in the

back several times shortly before midnight

on Friday as he walked across a bridge a

stone’s throw from the Kremlin

Boris Nemtsov

Legendary Turkish writer Kemal diesISTANBUL: Yasar Kemal, who was one of Turkey’s most cel-ebrated writers, a traditional sto-ryteller and an outspoken cham-pion of the Kurdish cause, died on Saturday at the age of 92, state media reported.

Kemal died in an Istanbul hos-pital where he was being treated

for pulmonary complications, respiratory problems and car-diac arrhythmia since January 14, the official Anatolia news agency said.

Turkish President Recep Tayy-ip Erdogan, said he was “deeply saddened” to hear of the death of Kemal. — AFP

T R A D I T I O N A L S T O R Y T E L L E R

Yasar Kemal began writing poetry when he was at primary

school but burst on to the Turkish literary scene in 1955 with

his first novel ‘Memed, My Hawk’ which was translated into

about 40 languages and earned him rapid international fame

A17

WORLDS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Police teargas Nepal charter change protests

KATHMANDU: Nepalese police on Saturday fired teargas and wa-ter cannon at thousands of oppo-sition supporters who converged on the capital to protest contro-versial plans to vote on a disputed new national constitution.

Amid growing anger over the planned vote, protesters threw bricks and stones in brief clashes with security forces who re-sponded with about 20 rounds of teargas, police and an AFP reporter on the scene said.

“We estimate that around 35,000 people are participating in today’s rally,” Kathmandu police spokesman Dinesh Acharya told AFP, while another officer said 4,000 police were lining the route through Kathmandu.

Years of squabbling have seen Nepal’s politicians miss a series of deadlines to draft the charter

which was designed to draw a line under a decade of civil war.

The government’s push last month to hold a vote, rather than seek agreement on dis-puted terms of the constitution, sparked protests including in-side parliament itself, deepen-ing discord between ruling par-ties and the opposition led by former Maoist rebels.

Based on consensusOn Saturday, flag-waving dem-onstrators, riding motorcycles and travelling on foot, packed Kathmandu’s narrow streets and shouted slogans calling for a con-stitution based on consensus.

An AFP reporter said the situ-ation briefly turned violent when protesters tried to enter a re-stricted area near parliament and police moved in to disperse them.

Gopal KC, a doctor at Kath-mandu’s Civil Service Hospital, said “24 people have been admit-

ted here, all with minor injuries”. Police spokesman Acharya told AFP that four officers were also wounded after protestors threw stones at them.

Not to be underestimatedAs thousands poured into an open meeting ground in the heart of Kathmandu, Maoist chief Push-pa Kamal Dahal, known better as Prachanda, addressed cheer-ing supporters and said, “today’s demonstration clearly shows how powerful we are”.

“Our strength should not be underestimated, otherwise the ruling parties should be prepared to face the upcoming challenge,” he said.

Man Bahadur Khadka, a 52-year-old farmer from eastern Nepal, took an overnight bus to the capital to join the rally and pressure lawmakers to draft a charter that is “friendly to the poor”. — AFP

Amid growing

anger over the

planned vote,

protesters threw

bricks and stones

in brief clashes

with security forces

who responded

with about 20

rounds of teargas,

eyewitnesses said

Million dollar bash for Mugabe

VICTORIA FALLS (ZIMBA-BWE): Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Saturday cel-ebrated his 91st birthday with a lavish million-dollar bash that was slammed by the opposi-tion as “obscene” in a country wracked by poverty.

Thousands of supporters of the ruling ZANU-PF, sang and danced as he arrived for the jamboree at a

luxury hotel in the famed Victoria Falls resort.

Assisted by his wife Grace, the elderly liberation leader, who wore a black suit, white shirt and red tie, threw 91 balloons into the air.

The party, which comes a week after Mugabe’s birthday, was held on the hotel golf course, with white marquees housing the guests. — AFP

9 1 S T B I R T H D A Y

Greece PM sees anti-Athens ‘axis’ in Madrid, LisbonATHENS: Greece’s leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused Spain and Portugal on Saturday of leading a conservative conspir-acy to topple his anti-austerity government, saying they feared their own radical forces before elections this year.

Tsipras also rejected criticism that Athens had staged a climb-down to secure an extension of its financial lifeline from the euro zone, saying anger among German conservatives showed that his government had won concessions.

Greeks have directed much of their fury about years of aus-terity dictated by international creditors at Germany, the biggest contributor to their country’s 240-billion-euro bailout.

But in a speech to his Syriza party, Tsipras turned on Madrid and Lisbon, accusing them of taking a hard line in negotiations which led to the euro zone ex-tending the bailout programme last week for four months.

Spain’s new anti-establish-ment Podemos movement has topped some opinion polls, mak-ing it a serious threat to the con-servative People’s Party of Prime

Minister Mariano Rajoy in an election which must be held by the end of this year.

Rajoy went to Athens less than a fortnight before the Greek election to warn voters against believing the “impossible” prom-ises of Syriza. His appeal fell on deaf ears and voters swept the previous conservative premier from power.

Portugal will also have elec-tions after the summer but no anti-austerity force as potent as Syriza or Podemos has so far emerged there.

In an interview published be-fore Tsipras made his speech, Prime Minister Pedro Pas-sos Coelho denied that Por-tugal had taken a hard line in negotiations on the Greek deal at the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers.

“There may have been a politi-cal intention to create this idea, but it is not true,” he told the Ex-presso weekly newspaper.

Passos Coelho aligned him-self with euro zone governments which have called for policies to promote economic growth but without trying to walk away from austerity as in Greece. — Reuters

H A R D L I N E I N N E G O T I A T I O N S

SHOW OF SUPPORT: People gather to hear their leaders give

a speech during the mass demonstration organised by the

opposition alliance led by Unified Communist Party of Nepal

(Maoist) in Kathmandu on Saturday. — Reuters

Robert Mugabe

ON A MISSION: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, left, speaks

to Deputy Prime Minister Giannis Dragasakis, right, before

delivering a speech at the Syriza party headquarters, in Athens

on Saturday. — AFP

We found opposing us an axis of powers ... led by the governments of Spain and Portugal which for

obvious political reasons attempted to lead the entire negotiations to the brink. Their plan was and is

to wear down, topple or bring our government to unconditional surrender before our work begins to bear

fruit and before the Greek example affects other countries. And mainly before the elections in Spain

Alexis Tsipras, Greece’s Prime Minister

A18

WORLDS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Southern Yemen separatists pull out of UN-backed talks

ADEN: Separatists from southern Yemen suspended their partici-pation in UN-sponsored talks on the future of the crisis-hit country as nine soldiers were wounded Saturday in a clash with secessionist fighters.

The violence coincided with a drone strike that killed three sus-pected Al Qaeda militants in south-ern Yemen, tribal sources said.

An official in the southern prov-ince of Lahij told AFP that separa-tists opened fire on an army convoy and three soldiers were wounded in a gunbattle.

The separatists last week ab-ducted 12 soldiers and threatened to kill them unless the army handed over a military base to offset the growing influence of the Houthi militia that has seized Sanaa.

Soaring tensionsTensions in Yemen have soared since the Houthis overran the pres-idential palace in the capital in Feb-ruary and placed Western-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, a southerner, under house arrest. Hadi escaped last week to Aden, where he has been reconsoli-dating his grip on power buoyed by support from Gulf countries which

have relocated their embassies to the southern city.

Several countries, including Brit-ain and the United States, closed their embassies in Sanaa over se-curity fears following the Houthi takeover. Yemen has never man-aged to achieve stability since long-time president Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down in early 2012 after a bloody year-long popular uprising.

Hadi’s escape to Aden has turned what was the capital of an inde-pendent south Yemen before uni-fication in 1990 into a diplomatic hub. Kuwait became the latest na-tion to reopen its Yemeni embassy

in Aden, instead of the militia-con-trolled capital, following similar moves by Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

Aden was the capital of an in-dependent south Yemen before unification in 1990. The Southern Movement, which seeks the seces-sion of the regions of the formerly independent south, announced overnight Friday that it was pulling out of UN-brokered talks.

“We have suspended our partici-pation in the (UN-backed) national dialogue until it is moved out of the country,” Southern Movement member Yassin Mekkawi told AFP.

He said negotiators were facing mounting “political and psycho-logical pressure”.

Widespread disagreementUN envoy Jamal Benomar has been shuttling between Yemeni parties to secure an end to the country’s political deadlock and to persuade them to return to the negotiating table in Sanaa. But there has been widespread disa-greement on the venue.

Benomar met Hadi in Aden on Thursday and said the latter want-ed the talks moved to a “safe place to which the parties should agree”.

Saleh’s party, however, insists the talks resume in Sanaa, warning of a boycott.

The Houthis, who have long clashed with central authorities, descended from their power base in northern Yemen to seize Sanaa in September.

The militia were checked by fierce resistance from Al Qaeda and from majority sect tribesmen when it moved to expand into southern and central Yemen. On Saturday, three suspected Al Qaeda militants were killed in a drone strike in the southern province of Shabwa, tribal sources said. — AFP

We have suspended

our participation

in the (UN-backed)

national dialogue

until it is moved

out of the country,

Southern Movement

member Yassin

Mekkawi said

NO TO COUP: Yemeni protesters hold a banner reading in Arabic ‘No to the coup’ during a demonstration against the Houthi movement,

which overran the capital in September, on Saturday in Sanaa. — AFP

Thousands protest Boko Haram militants in CameroonYAOUNDE: Thousands of people marched in Cameroon’s capital on Saturday to protest against Nige-ria’s Boko Haram insurgency and support the central African nation’s army, which is fighting alongside regional neighbours to defeat the extremist group.

The march in Yaounde was aimed at informing the public, especially

in the southern regions, about the threat posed by Boko Haram, which has carried out regular cross-border raids in the far north, one of the or-ganisers said. Yaounde is located in the central region of the country.

“It was important to tell Cam-eroonians that we are at war and a part of the country is suffering,” said Gubai Gatama, a newspaper editor

who was among the march’s organ-isers. “About 150,000 people have been displaced by the conflict.”

In addition to its own citizens forced to flee the violence, thou-sands of refugees have poured into Cameroon from northeastern Nige-ria, where Boko Haram is seeking to carve out an extremist emirate.

“Some 170 schools in Cameroon’s

northern region have been closed,” Gatama said.

Burning villagesBoko Haram’s six-year insurgency in Nigeria has spread to neigh-bouring countries, where the group has launched attacks over the past year, burning villages and kidnapping residents.

The Lake Chad region nations threatened by Boko Haram, Nigeria along with Cameroon, Niger and Chad, have launched a joint offen-sive to quell the rebellion and claim to have retaken territory from group in recent weeks.

Muhamadou Labara Awal, 27, was among the 5,000 people who organisers estimated marched on

the May.20 boulevard in Yaounde, chanting and waving the flags of the regional coalition.

“It was important for me to be here because I’m not a soldier to be deployed to Fotokol. The only way I could pay homage to our troops was to be here,” Awal said, referring to a northern town regularly targeted by Boko Haram. — Reuters

C O N F L I C T

Former China president’s aide expelled from key bodyBEIJING: China expelled a dis-graced senior aide to former presi-dent Hu Jintao from a high-profile advisory body on Saturday, the offi-cial Xinhua news agency reported on its website, marking the latest step in a significant political scandal.

Ling Jihua heads a Communist Party body charged with reaching out to non-Communists and holds a rank equivalent to vice premier. The largely ceremonial advisory council also dismissed former spy boss Ma Jian and Zhu Mingguo, once a sen-ior official in the southern export powerhouse province of Guang-dong, according to media reports. Both have been accused of graft.

Ling was demoted in September 2012 after sources said his son was involved in a deadly crash involving an expensive sports car in an em-barassment to the party, which is sensitive to public criticism that its officials and their families lead life-styles of excess.

Ling was dropped from his post as head of the party’s General Office of the Central Committee, a power-ful post similar to cabinet secretary in governments modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom, such as Australia and Canada.

The country’s National People’s Congress, a largely rubber-stamp parliament, also cast out Liu Zheng, a former deputy director of the powerful General Logistics Department of the People’s Lib-eration Army, who is being inves-tigated for corruption, state media reported on Saturday.

Anti-corruption driveThe development, which comes as China’s leadership pursues a cam-paign to weed out corruption and excess in its armed forces, is sig-nificant because it means Liu has been stripped of immunity from prosecution as a member of par-liament. Liu is being probed, the Ministry of Defence said in Janu-ary, accused of “seriously violat-ing party discipline”, a euphemism for graft. — Reuters

P O L I T I C A L S C A N D A L

The Lake Chad region nations threatened by Boko Haram,

Nigeria along with Cameroon, Niger and Chad, have

launched a joint offensive to quell the rebellion and claim

to have retaken territory from group in recent weeks

A19

WORLDS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Colombo to renegotiate China loansBEIJING: Sri Lanka is concerned with the roughly $5 billion in Chi-nese loans it has and will send its fi-nance minister to Beijing to discuss the issue, the foreign minister said on Saturday, as he also ruled out future Chinese submarine visits to the country.

New Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has un-nerved China with his re-exam-ination of certain projects that China has invested in, including a $1.5 billion “port city” project in the capital Colombo.

India, which lost out to China in infrastructure development on the Indian Ocean island, was in particu-lar concerned about the security

threat posed by Chinese ownership of land, aggravated by the docking of Chinese submarines in Colombo last year.

India had grown increasingly wary of former president Mahi-nda Rajapaksa’s pursuit of closer ties with China, which became a

key supporter of the island’s econ-omy after its 26-year-civil war ended in 2009.

Speaking in Beijing at the end of a two-day visit, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said there were concerns about the manner in which the some $5 billion

Chinese loans for his country had been raised.

“During the run up to the last presidential campaign the people of Sri Lanka raised many, many questions about the interest rates especially, and also in certain cases about the manner in which these loans were raised,” he told a news conference.

“So we will, as a government com-mitted to transparency, want to go into each of these matters.”

The country’s finance minister will visit Beijing after President Sirisena’s state visit to China, slated for March 26-28, Sa-maraweera said.

China has built a seaport and air-

port in the south of the country, rais-ing fears it is seeking influence in a country with which India has tradi-tionally had deep ties.

India’s concern grew after the Rajapaksa government allowed the Chinese submarines to dock.

Asked whether there would be any Chinese submarine visits in the near future, Samaraweera said: “I don’t see any”.

“I really don’t know which cir-cumstances lead to some subma-rines coming to the port of Colombo on the very day the Japanese prime minister was visiting Sri Lanka, but we will ensure that such incidents -- from whatever quarters -- do not happen during our tenure.” — Reuters

New Sri Lankan

President Sirisena

is re-examining

certain projects that

China has invested

in, including a $1.5

billion ‘port city’

project in the capital

The country’s finance minister will visit Beijing after President Sirisena’s state visit to China, slated for March 26-28

Thief returns Lupita’s Oscar gown

LOS ANGELES: The $150,000 Oscar gown worn by actress Lu-pita Nyong’o that was stolen two days ago was returned on Friday by the thief, who tipped off ce-lebrity news site TMZ.com after learning the pearls on the dress were fake, according to officials and the website.

TMZ said the thief took the Calvin Klein dress from Nyong’o’s hotel room on Wednes-day after finding the door ajar.

The Kenyan actress had worn the dress adorned with 6,000 pearls to Sunday’s Academy Awards in one of the most com-mented looks of the night. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Depart-ment Lieutenant Michael White told reporters at a Friday news conference that they received a call around 3pm local time from a media outlet who reported hearing from an anonymous caller that the dress had been returned to the London Hotel.

Not realThe media source said the thief removed two pearls from the dress and took them to the Gar-ment District in downtown Los Angeles where they were told they were not real, according to White. Nicole Nishida, a spokes-woman with the department, later confirmed that the media source was TMZ.

The thief then took the dress back to the London West Hol-lywood hotel and said it was in a garment bag inside a trash bag in a bathroom, White said.

Grand theftTMZ then tipped off the Los An-geles County Sheriff’s Depart-ment in West Hollywood, which was investigating the theft. The website shows grainy footage of an unidentified person opening the bag and finding a white dress.

White said the investigation into the theft would continue whether the jewels were authen-tic or fake. “If we found out that they were not real, we still have a burglary and we still have a grand theft,” White said. — Reuters

W O R T H $ 1 5 0 , 0 0 0

Lupita Nyong’o

Toddler shoots himself by accident, diesWASHINGTON: A three-year-old Texas boy died after acciden-tally shooting himself in the head at home on Friday, US media said.

The little boy, who was home in Houston with his mother and brother at the time, was rushed by helicopter to a hos-pital in critical condition but later died, said the NBC news station KPRC.

“I think it’s horrible. I think it’s horrible when any child gets shot,” said neighbour Kristine Longwood. — AFP

U N I T E D S T A T E S

During the run up to the last presidential campaign the people of Sri Lanka raised many, many questions about the interest rates especially, and also in certain cases about the manner in which these loans were raisedMangala Samaraweera, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister

A20

WORLDS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Stay ahead of the curve with

WhatsNews

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY INSTALL WHATSNEWS

YOUR BIGGEST ROAD HAZARD IS IN YOUR HAND A TIMES OF OMAN

HANDS-FREE DRIVING INITIATIVE

Ocalan calls on Kurdish rebels to lay down arms

ISTANBUL: The jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Saturday urged the separatists to take a “historic” de-cision to lay down arms, a key step in efforts to end Turkey’s long-running Kurdish insurgency.

Reading a statement live on television, Sirri Sureyya Onder, a lawmaker from the pro-Kurd-ish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), relayed a message from Abdullah Ocalan calling on the Kurdish rebels to hold a congress on disarmament in the spring.

“We are in the process of end-ing the 30-year conflict in the form of a perpetual peace, and our primary goal is to reach a demo-cratic solution,” Onder quoted Ocalan as saying in a joint press conference with Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan.

“I’m calling on the PKK to hold an extraordinary congress in the spring months to take the strategic

and historic decision on disarma-ment,” Ocalan’s message said.

“This is a historic call to re-place armed struggle with demo-cratic politics.”

Closer than ever to peaceOnder, who spoke alongside Akdogan and Interior Minister Efkan Ala following a brief meet-ing with the two ministers in Is-tanbul, said the both sides were “closer than ever to peace.”

The press conference was of significance because it was the first time a message by Ocalan was read out in the presence of Turkish government officials.

Akdogan emphasised the im-portance of a ceasefire and said: “We have reached an important and historical phase in the peace process. Silencing arms will con-tribute to the development of de-mocracy,” he said.

The statement came after an HDP delegation met with PKK rebels for talks at their base in the Kandil Mountains in Iraq on Feb-ruary 23 and met Ocalan himself

on his prison island of Imrali on the Marmara Sea on Friday.

The statement also listed 10 measures that the government must agree to ensure peace, includ-ing drafting a new constitution.

“Today, a critical point has been reached in Turkey’s democratisa-tion, the expansion of freedoms and for lasting peace,” said HDP chairman Selahattin Demirtas.

Demirtas said that the congress would be held after a consen-sus on the measures cited in the statement was reached but did not make clear who would attend the conference nor whether it would bring about an immediate disarmament.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davu-toglu also hailed the statement as the start of a new phase, saying the language of violence would now “cease to exist.” In 2013, Ocalan called for a “historic” ceasefire, after months of secret negotiations with the Turkish government aimed at ending a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people since 1984. - AFP

We are in the

process of ending

the 30-year conflict

in the form of a

perpetual peace,

and our primary

goal is to reach a

democratic solution,

Onder quoted

Ocalan as saying

CONCILIATORY MOVE: People’s Democratic Party (HDP)

representative and Istanbul MP Sirri Sureyya Onder, right, speaks

as Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan looks on

during a meeting at the Prime Minister’s office in Istanbul. The

handout picture was issued by the Turkish prime minister’s press

office on Saturday. - AFP

BMARKE

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

BankDhofar’s board approves hike in capital to $300 million

Times News Service

MUSCAT: BankDhofar share-holders unanimously approved options for raising the bank’s capi-tal up to $300 million at its recently held extraordinary meeting.

The meeting — which took place on February 26, 2015 — approved the option of issuing Additional Tier 1 (AT1) Capital Securities in the form of perpetual bonds with a coupon to be determined at the time of issue based on mar-ket conditions to raise up to $300 million or equivalent in Omani Rial outside Oman, subject to reg-ulatory approvals.

If the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) and regulatory approvals are not obtained for the proposed Additional Tier 1 Issue or if it be-comes apparent that the Bank is not able to finalise the Additional Tier 1 Issue by March 31, 2015, the Bank will consider increas-ing its regulatory capital by issue of convertible bonds to raise up to OMR100 million with a coupon to be determined at the time of is-sue based on market conditions, subject to regulatory approval.

Third optionThe third option for capital rais-ing that was approved during the

meeting was to consider the es-tablishment of the programme of Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) in the next 12 months to issue non-capital instruments up to $500 million with a likely term of up to five years and with a coupon to be determined at the time of issue based on market conditions and to be listed outside Oman within the next four years, subject to Regula-tory Approvals as applicable.

BankDhofar shareholders at the extraordinary meeting unani-mously authorised the Board of Directors to take the required pro-cedures and actions to implement the above.

Stakeholders of the

bank unanimously

approved the

options, subject to

regulatory approvals,

and authorised the

Board of Directors to

take action – Supplied picture

Oman’s ratings reflect robust monetary systemMUSCAT: Oman maintained its advanced position at the credit ratings published by a number of reputable international rating agencies that monitors the eco-nomic developments in various countries of the world.

Moody’s credit rating main-tained the Sultanate’s rating at A+, an advanced level equal to the rat-ing earned by some advanced Euro-pean countries with stable outlook. The rating reflects the sound fi-nancial position for the Sultanate’s government and forecasts of con-tinuous economic growth.

The agency’s report, which was published by the end of 2014 said that the rating took into consid-eration the efforts made by the government to diversify sources of national economy through the vari-ous economic activities and reduce reliance on oil and gas revenues.

Non–oil sectorMoody’s report also pointed out that the non–oil sector has ma-jor contribution to the growth of the national economy due to the government’s constant focus on investment in infrastructure.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects that the growth of the Omani economy will take an upward trajectory starting from 3.6 per cent during the period from 2014 to 2018.

Standard & Poor’s Agency af-firmed that the Sultanate’s foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on long and short term at A/A-1 with stable outlook.

At a statement that was re-cently published, the agency at-tributed the rating to the good government assets and the sound investment policies.

The statement added that as-suming the oil prices will re-main below $100 up to 2017, the per capita share of GDP in the Sultanate of Oman and the fiscal and foreign assets will re-main unaffected.

The rating by the international credit rating agencies is based on the stability and credibility of the Sultanate’s public finance and that the Sultanate’s finance provided a high added value to the GDP and fosters economic strength of the state. It was also based on the fact that the mon-etary system of the Sultanate is one of the most trusted systems

in the world; thanks to the politi-cal stability of the Sultanate.

This confidence is affirmed by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO), which made the local banks liable to maintain the Sultanate’s curren-cy strength inside and outside the Sultanate. CBO also promotes the development of the financial sector to ensure the growth of the national economy and ensure that the Sul-tanate’s fiscal policies are sound.

The production, service and business activities are directed to diversify its activities supported by the sound fiscal system. The monetary swap is the dominate practice of the market. This ac-tivity is the basic factor that regu-larise this type of economic activ-ities. The CBO tends to regularise money exchange operations to ensure the growth and develop-ment of the national economy.

Rules of money exchangeIt may be said that the rules of money exchange in the Omani economic environment develops in line with the developments witnessed by the market and economic activities.

The Sultanate’s ability to maintain its high ranking on the global level is attributed to the sound management of the mon-etary system. This contributed to achieving the aims of the eco-nomic policy namely ensuring economic stability in general and enhancing the economic growth. It was also achieved by ensuring the stability of the val-ue of the currency at the Omani Riyal exchange market. — ONA

E C O N O M Y

This confidence is affirmed by the CBO, which made the local banks liable to maintain the Sultanate’s currency strength inside and outside the Sultanate

DIGEST VIDEO

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

Top stories in one minute with our new daily Digest

B2

MARKETS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Forum to discuss WTO rules and impact on Gulf industriesDOHA: Gulf Organisation for In-dustrial Consulting (GOIC) will organise a training course titled “WTO Rules and their Impact on the Industrial Sector in the GCC Countries” at the Organisation’s headquarters in Doha, Qatar from May 25 till May 28, 2015.

GOIC organises this course as part of its endeavour to build

capacities of workers in the in-dustrial sector in GCC countries. Participants will get to know the rules and regulations of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and their repercussions on the sectors of industries and services in GCC countries. It will also be a suitable opportunity for representatives of the private sector and officials

from institutions in charge of standards in the area of under-standing and using WTO rules and mechanisms to exchange opinions and expertise.

This course targets representa-tives of the private sector and of institutions in charge of specifica-tions and standards, in addition to parties interested in WTO rules.

The training course includes various topics, such as introduc-ing WTO rules that affect the in-dustrial sector the most during all phases related to production, marketing, importing and export-ing, going through detailed rules of WTO agreements and aspects related to understanding and us-ing the available rules and mecha-

nisms by government institutions and organisations in charge of standards and specifications and the private sector for the benefit of the industrial sector and the services sector.

Furthermore, the course focus-es on available capabilities within the context of the WTO, notably in terms of developing the indus-

trial sector and adopting export-ing strategies. Participants will familiarise themselves with the available mechanisms to protect branches of industrial production in the GCC countries, and they will become familiar with methods al-lowing them to access information on the markets and the capacity to access new markets. — ONA

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

Muzn Islamic Banking holds review meeting

Times News Service

MUSCAT: National Bank of Oman’s Sharia-compliant win-dow, Muzn Islamic Banking, held its 12th Sharia Supervisory Board (SSB) meeting in Muscat, Oman.

The meeting was led by the Chairman of the SSB, Sheikh Dr Mohamed bin Ali El-Gari, and at-tended by SSB Member, Sheikh Datuk Dr Muhammad Daud Bakar.

Amjad Bangash, Head of Sha-ria at Muzn Islamic Banking, presented important agenda items including the Sharia Audit

review conducted for the previ-ous quarter. It was affirmed that Muzn Islamic Banking was Sha-ria compliant in its day-to-day financings, operations, deposit management and services.

New productsThe SSB also reviewed the new Islamic financing product pa-per and concepts presented by the Muzn Islamic Banking team, while examining efforts for de-veloping new Sharia compliant products which will serve the various segments of the market.

The 12th Sharia Superviso-ry Board meeting will provide further momentum for Muzn Islamic Banking in the com-ing months. The Muzn Islamic Banking window has shown ro-bust growth in 2014, the Sharia Supervisory Board is extremely well-placed to oversee this impor-tant objective and will continue to ensure that customers receive the very best that Muzn Islamic Banking has to offer.

The meeting was also attend-ed by Sayyidah Rawan Al Said, Member of the Board; Nasser Salim Said Al Rashdi, General Manager, chief SME officer and head of international busi-ness; as well as Muzn’s senior management team.

Sharia Supervisory

Board also reviewed

the new Islamic

financing product

paper and concepts

presented by the

Muzn Islamic

Banking team Times News Service

MUSCAT: National Bank of Oman (NBO) opened a new Muzn Islamic Banking out-let, in Sohar. The Muzn So-har Branch, will be operating Sunday to Thursdays and the opening hours are 8:00am to 2:00pm. The branch will serve all Islamic banking customers in Sohar and the surrounding areas, providing a complete range of Sharia compliant products and services.

The branch was inaugu-rated under the auspices of the Wali of Sohar, Sheikh

Ali Bin Ahmed bin Mishari Al Shamsi and attended by senior officials from the bank. The branch will have expe-rienced staff and robust sys-tems in place to offer services to institutional, corporate and retail customers.

Ahmed Al Musalmi, Chief Executive Officer of NBO, said: “Muzn Islamic Banking continues to be a key growth area for the Bank and, by pro-viding an all-encompassing range of Sharia compliant banking services to deliver financial solutions to a grow-ing customer base.”

New branch opens in Sohar

– Supplied picture

Phone firms look

beyond the handset

MADRID: Phone makers will seek to seduce new buyers with even smarter Internet-connected watches and other wireless gadg-ets as they wrestle for dominance at the world’s biggest mobile fair starting on Monday.

Along with the launches of numerous new smartphones — dominated by South Korean giant Samsung — tech firms are trying to conquer users’ bodies and con-nect their environments.

Several makers are set to un-veil new “smartwatches”, some of which will have users chatter-ing into their cuffs or getting on-wrist email updates, at the four-day Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in northeastern Spain.

Tech executives and regulators will meanwhile seek to chart a course for a new age of wireless networks that could lead to bil-lions of objects being connected, from cars to refrigerators.

‘Wearable’ gadgetsOn Sunday evening, Samsung is expected to unveil its Galaxy S6 smartphone, the larger Galaxy S6 Edge “phablet”, and the latest in its series of watches. Samsung is the world’s biggest seller of smartphones but saw its share of the world market fall in 2014 from 34 per cent to 20 per cent, according to research group IDC.

It faces a squeeze by Chinese

phone makers on one side and on the other by US titan Apple, which released its iPhone 6 last year.

Apple, as usual, is steering clear of the show in Barcelona, but is set to launch its own smart-watch in April.

Several other Asian heavy-weights also plan launches of “wearable” gadgets on the eve of the congress, such as Korean firm LG, Chinese contender Huawei and Taiwanese makers Asus and HTC.

Designers have come up with numerous gadgets that can con-nect to an application on your mobile, from popular “fitness tracker” wristbands to measure your heart rate.

Now they hope some big product launches this year can make smartwatches a main-stream gadget and boost sales of other wearables.

This year could be a “tipping point for wearables”, research firm CCS Insight said in a report.

In Barcelona, “low-cost smart-phones will feature prominently, as will wearables”, it said. “We expect an avalanche of new products,” it further added. — AFP

M O B I L E W O R L D C O N G R E S S

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

B3S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

MARKET

27 new fuel filling stations openedMUSCAT: Total number of fuel filling stations in the different governorates of the Sultanate of Oman as of the end of 2014 in-creased to 520 with the addition of 27 new stations during the year.

The three companies operat-ing in fuel products marketing doubled their efforts to diversify their investments, increase their sales and enhance the size of their investments.

The three companies benefited from the growing demand for oil products and increasing the number of vehicles. The statistics point out that the number of vehi-cles that have been registered in the Sultanate stood at more than 143,000 — a growth by 8.6 per

cent compared to the numbers registered in 2013.

Growth rateStatistics also showed that the oil price decline starting from the last quarter of 2014 has not affected the performance of these compa-nies. They expect to maintain the growth rates achieved last year this year as well. They attributed this to the government commit-ment to spend on the infrastruc-ture projects and provide new job opportunities, in addition to the expected growth rates in the pas-senger and cargo traffic through Muscat International Airport and Salalah Airport, as well as the in-crease in the number of incoming

vessels to the Sultanate. The value of the gross sales of

the three companies increased to more than OMR1.09 billion compared to OMR1.05 billion in 2013. The net profits increased from OMR32.6 million in 2013 to OMR34.2 million in 2014.

The value of the assets of the three companies, as of the end of last year, increased to OMR279.5 million compared to OMR250.5 million as of the end of 2013. The gross capital of the three compa-nies is OMR23.3 million.

Al Maha Oil Marketing Com-pany said that during 2014, it has expanded its station network to meet the growing demand for oil products. It pointed out that the

commercial sales sector perfor-mance has been good at a com-petitive environment.

Positive outlookThe three companies have posi-tive outlook toward the future with forecasts of growth in de-mand for oil products, in line with the expected growth in the national economy. They also said that despite the positive forecasts, they expect tough competition at the different sectors.

Shell Oil Marketing said that the fuel products sale sector is al-ways correlated with the macro-economic conditions therefore it expects further growth with economic activities. - ONA

L A S T Y E A R

Capital Markets Forum to stress sustainability

MUSCAT: Third Capital Mar-kets Forum, organised by Mus-cat Securities Market (MSM), will be held on Monday at the Grand Hyatt Muscat under the title ‘Empowering private businesses towards long-term sustainability’.

Dr Ali bin Masud Al Sunaidi, minister of commerce and in-dustry will grace the occasion.

Ahmed bin Saleh Al Mar-hoon, director general of MSM said that the forum aims to em-power private and family com-panies in achieving growth and ensuring sustainability.

He further said that private sector plays a pivotal role in world economies. Statistics point out that the sector con-tributes 70 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

The contribution of this sec-tor in the Sultanate is very low, therefore, he said, these compa-nies should maximise the role they play in economic growth to be in line with the Sultanate’s aspirations.

He pointed out that the pri-vate sector can play a bigger role in the national economy, especially since the Sultanate is offering various opportuni-ties that can be utilised by the private sector. He said that the message of the forum fo-cuses on inviting private com-panies to consider the best practices that ensure their sustainability.

The official called upon the private companies to expand their businesses by getting more liquidity through initial public offerings (IPOs) and by circulating their funds. This will ensure establishing a new entity that maximises its in-terests and serves the national economy with its new projects, he added. - ONA

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

Seminar on free tradeMUSCAT: A seminar on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Sultanate and the United States will be held on Tuesday at the Oman Cham-ber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) under the patronage of Said bin Saleh Al Kayoumi, chairman of OCCI.

The seminar aims at shedding more light on the opportunities of the two countries under the agreement in the areas of trade and investment.

It will address the legal pro-visions in the FTA between the two countries. - ONA

O M A N - U S

B4

MARKETS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Google to redesign its headquarters campus

WASHINGTON: Google un-veiled plans on Friday for a new campus headquarters integrating wildlife and sweeping waterways, aiming to make a big statement in Silicon Valley — which is already seeing ambitious projects from Apple and Facebook.

The design also includes lush public gardens, looping covered bikeways and futuristic-looking buildings that can be moved about like toy blocks.

The redesign on the Google property in Mountain View, Cali-fornia, by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels and London-based Thomas Heatherwick, was submitted to lo-cal officials, with details released on the company’s official blog.

The latest huge design project in Silicon Valley comes as Ap-ple is in the midst of building its ‘spaceship’ campus and Facebook is using renowned architect Frank

Gehry for its campus expansion.Google —which has faced op-

position from locals — said its new design is aimed at ‘rethinking office space’.

“As we’ve inhabited a variety of workplaces — including a garage in California, a farmhouse in Den-mark and an entire New York city block — we’ve learned something about what makes an office space great,” Google vice-president for real estate David Radcliffe said in a blog post. Radcliffe said the new campus will “lead to a better way of working.”

He added that “instead of con-structing immoveable concrete buildings, we’ll create lightweight block-like structures which can be moved around easily as we in-vest in new product areas.”

The plan includes large cano-pies over the campus which “regu-late climate, pollution, and sound,

while freeing spaces from tradi-tional architectural limitations like walls, windows and roofs.”

It aims “to blur the distinction between our buildings and na-ture,” added Radcliffe.One rendering shows a loop for bicycles and pedestrians going through the centre of one build-ing, connecting with cafes and local shops.

Concerns The New York Times, which first reported on the Google campus plan this week, said the project has raised concerns in the once-sleepy community of Mountain View about being overrun by the technology behemoth. The expan-sion of the wealthy tech giants in the region has led to increased congestion as well as an explosion in the area’s real estate prices.

Radcliffe said the new Google

campus will see it do “more with the local community.” “We’re add-ing lots of bike paths and retail op-portunities, like restaurants, for local businesses,” he noted.

“We also hope to bring new life to the unique local environment, from enhancing burrowing owl habitats to widening creek beds.”

In nearby Cupertino, Apple won approval in 2013 for a shim-mering flying-saucer-shaped headquarters after a tax break granted the technology titan was trimmed. “Apple Campus 2” is described as a 21st Century crea-tion designed for research, col-laboration, and innovation.

Apple enlisted world-famous architect Norman Foster to trans-form a 176-acre site dominated by asphalt and old buildings into “sustainable, state-of-the-art of-fice, research and development facilities.” - AFP

Company’s new plan

includes lush public

gardens, looping

covered bikeways

and futuristic-

looking buildings

that can be moved

about like toy blocks

Fixed phones in Oman increase by 6.8% in 2014MUSCAT: Subscribers of fixed phone service in the Sultanate crossed 375,000 in 2014. GSM lines touched more than 6 million, while the number of subscribers in broadband internet rose to reach more than 2.8 million.

The latest statistics issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) said that subscribers of fixed phone service in the Sultanate stood at 375,196 at the end of 2014 against 351.411 subscribers at the end of 2013, constituting a rise of 6.8 per cent.

Subscribers of pre-paid fixed phone service (Sahl) stood at 33,066 against 25,829 at the end of 2013, a rise by 2.8 per cent. The billed fixed phone lines stood at 287,995 in 2014, compared to 271,400 in 2013.

The number of public phones all over the Sultanate stood at 6,801. The number of integrated services digital networks (ISDN) and the number of fixed wireless lines wit-nessed a slight decline.

Subscribers of billed GSM ser-vice stood at 6,194.169 by the end of 2014 against 5,617.426 during 2013, constituting an increase of 10.3 per cent.

Pre-paid GSMSubscribers of pre-paid GSM ser-vice stood at 5,665,471 at the end of 2014, compared to 5,121.723 by the end of 2013, constituting a rise of 10.6 per cent.

The statistics also pointed out that the total subscribers of in-

ternet at the end of 2014 stood at 180,144 compared to 158,678 sub-scribers at the end of 2013. Sub-scribers of DSL, leased lines and wimax stood at 177.063 at the end of 2014, compared to 154,290 at the end of 2013, a rise by 14.8 per cent.

The number of active subscrib-ers of mobile broadband stood at 2,893,561 at the end of 2014 com-pared to 2,443,296 at the end of 2013, constituting an increase of 18.4 per cent. — ONA

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

BP Oman project to assist 32 entrepreneurs

to develop small and medium businesses

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Khazzan growth finance project will provide 32 entrepreneurs with business mentorship for two months at Falaj Daris Hotel in Nizwa, as part of BP Oman’s social invest-ment programme.

The programme, which offi-cially started this week, aims to empower local entrepreneurs and small and medium enter-prises (SMEs) sector as a part of BP Oman’s commitment to developing Oman’s In Coun-try Value (ICV). The project is managed by implementing part-ners Sharakah.

Abdullah Al Jufaili, general manager of Sharakah, said, “The Khazzan growth finance project is the flagship of the BP Oman enterprise development projects. Thirty-two candidates from the governorates of Al Dakhiliya and Al Dhahirah will undergo exten-sive two- to three-month entre-preneurship training.

Business planBy the end of the programme, each of them will have a complete business plan focused on the fi-nancial aspects of the business, a brand for the company, social media accounts and email ser-vices. Further, 22 candidates will be awarded OMR5,000 grant from BP Oman to set up the business.

Inspired Solutions, an SME consultancy in Oman and the

project’s associate implementing partner, have worked on selecting, training, evaluating and now men-toring a segment of entrepreneurs in Oman, with a particular em-phasis on the Al Dakhiliyah and Al Dhahirah regions.

William R. Crew, chief execu-tive of Inspired Solutions, said, “Inspired Solutions is excited to be able to bring world class MBA style entrepreneur training to the small

business owners of the Al Dakh-iliyah and Al Dhahirah areas. The trainees are from all sectors and all ages. We are very impressed to see the level of motivation which we see in these areas.”

Training workshopsThe first phase of the project in-cluded the application and com-munity outreach in Nizwa and Ibri, which registered 140 people from across Al Dhakhiliyah and Al Dhahirah. The second phase nar-rowed down 45 of the top eligible candidates that were interviewed. Now in their third phase, Inspired Solutions will conduct training workshops for the entrepreneurs.

The participating entrepre-neurs in the project have been in business for approximately 36 months and are therefore classi-fied as a start-up.

According to Crew, this stage is a very sensitive time in the life cy-cle of small businesses as most fail within 60 months. Inspired Solu-tions will offer training.

S O C I A L I N V E S T M E N T

HONING SKILLS: The participating entrepreneurs in the project have

been in business for approximately 36 months and are therefore

classified as start-up. - Supplied photo

Subscribers of fixed phone service in the Sultanate stood at 375,196 at the end of 2014 against 351.411 subscribers at the end of 2013, constituting a rise of 6.8 per cent

FUTURISTIC PLAN: This architectural rendering shows the company’s plan for a new headquarters

campus in California. - AFP

B5S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

ROUND-UPLove us on Facebook

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH FACEBOOK PAGE

Lexus RC wins kbb.com best resale value title

MUSCAT: The brand-new Lexus RC is the first Lexus coupe in more than 15 years, and it’s already a predicted resale value champion. That’s the power of a good reputa-tion. The latest award won by the Lexus RC was in the Entry Level – Luxury Car Segment in kbb.com’s ‘2015 Best Resale Value’ awards, says a press release.

The 2015 Best Resale Value

Awards are based not on a feeling or a guess or a simple calculation, but instead on what we consider to be the best research and analysis process in the industry. kbb.com’s resale value projections take into account current vehicle data, sales data, market conditions for each vehicle, competition within vehicle segments, expectations of the fu-ture economy and the combined ex-perience of Kelley Blue Book’s team of market and pricing analysts.

The design of the RC coupe is described by Lexus as “coolness over utility”. It has deeply con-toured body lines - never before seen in the Lexus line-up - with the widest and lowest application yet of the Lexus spindle grille which is evidence of the brand’s aggressive new design direction.

Producing power output per litre second only to the LFA su-percar in the Lexus range, the RC

signals the next evolution of Lex-us powertrain engineering. The 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine produc-es maximum power of 314 HP at 6,400 rpm, and peak torque of 38.5 Kg.M at 4,800 rpm, to provide a passionate driving experience. It is matched to direct-shift transmis-sions with Manual Mode, allowing full torque-converter lock-up from second to eighth gears for ‘clutch-less’ manual shifting.

An eight-speed Sports Direct Shift with paddle shift transmis-sion optimises power delivery and economy. In manual mode, full torque converter lock-up from second to eighth gears allows for down changes in just 0.2 sec. The spirit of the RC is audible in the note of its engine, specially tuned to deliver an evocative sports car sound.

A new five-layer paint process used for the first time in true mass

production is at the heart of the brilliant colours of Lexus RC. The extraordinarily complex multi-layered, twice-baked process has been used before – but only on the very best of show cars, such as con-cept vehicles at motor shows or at specialty show-and-shine exhib-its. Radiant Red Contrast Layer-ing has been chosen by Lexus as the signature colour for RC. Lexus developed 10 exterior colours for RC which is the white nova, radi-ant red, radiant blue, lava orange, white pearl, platinum silver, sonic titanium, mercury gray, starlight black, and black.

The RC benefits from the same comprehensive array of safety features that is characteristic of today’s Lexus range, and comes equipped with airbags which in-cludes a dual-stage driver’s air-bag, dual-stage and dual-chamber front passenger airbag, driver’s and front passenger’s knee airbags, front-seat side airbags and full-length side curtain-shield airbags. The side-curtain airbag size has been enlarged for increased side-collision compatibility. Additional safety features include remote anti-theft alarm system, front and rear parking sensors, child seat anchors, engine immobiliser, and stability and traction control.

The 2015 Best

Resale Value Awards

are based not on a

feeling or a guess or

a simple calculation,

but instead on what

we consider to be the

best research and

analysis process in

the industry

Spring surprises await customers at ‘Twenty4’MUSCAT: Fashion is all about constantly changing ideas and moods and with each season the desire to add the latest trends or the season’s best pieces to our wardrobes becomes essential. This spring, Twenty4 interprets the trends that have been the talk of the town and launches them with an all-new perspective.

From florals to bold geometric patterns, head-to-toe monotones to bespoke sporty the Twenty4 collection is an interesting mix of dramatic atmosphere and varied styles. With this, Twenty4 also launches a limited period offer exclusively on the latest spring collection for shopaholics and fashionistas, says a press release.

“The spring season calls for lighter textures and materials but not without a dose of iridescent coatings and embellishments,”

explains Nasser Kunnummal, Country Head of Twenty4.

“It’s true when said that women trends are a revolution season af-ter season, while fashion for men is an evolution; we hence invite one and all to come experience this spring’s revolution and evo-lution at our store. With the ush-ering of the spring month, cus-tomers who purchase full price merchandise worth OMR20 and more will be eligible to get OMR4 voucher. With Twenty4’s latest offering, we want to make shop-ping during this month even more fun and satisfying for customers. At Twenty4, shoppers will find all the amazing savings on spring merchandise we are known for, in addition to finding all our stores across Oman refreshed with new, bright and colourful must-have items,” Nasser added.

N E W C O L L E C T I O N

‘Yamaha Music Festival’ held at MGM

MUSCAT: Omasco’s Music Sales and Services (MSS) division, au-thorised distributor of Yamaha Music and AV, organised a 'Yama-ha Music Festival 2015' on Feb-ruary 25 and 26 at Muscat Grand Mall (MGM).

This event displayed some of the latest products from the Yama-ha Stable and feature performanc-es from ace European drummer Patti Ballinas and Oman’s favour-ite music son, Nadeem Al Balushi performed songs from his recently launched album.

Patti Ballinas is the first drum-mer from Spain representing Yamaha Drums worldwide. Patti started to play drums at the age of 8. She played many concerts in Scotland and her band ‘An-gels’ Delight’ appeared on Scot-

tish television. By the time Patti moved to Mallorca (Spain) the band was working under the name ‘Aqua Vitae’. In a few good years of concert experience Patti Ballinas worked with several musicians and bands in Mallorca and Madrid and became a well-known drummer in Spain. At the same time Patti formed a ‘Mo-town Show’ singing with her sis-ters she also started her career as a session drummer and soon be-came a Yamaha Drums Endorser.

Nadeem Al Balushi has grown to become a popular singer and keyboard performer amongst both local as well as expatriate population of Oman. Nadeem’s incredible ability to sing in six dif-ferent languages and perform as a One-Man-Band has made him a

sought after musician. Nadeem’s amazing keyboard playing and singing in Arabic, Hindi, English, Punjabi and Baluchi, showcases his versatility.

In line with Yamaha’s philoso-phy to provide platforms and op-portunities to increase awareness about music and promote local talent in Oman, Omasco has con-ducted free drum clinics at the In-dian School Muscat and the Brit-ish School Muscat where, young and aspiring music and percus-sion students witnessed Patti’s skill and talent on the latest Yamaha electronic and acoustic drum kits.

For the music enthusiast, en-tire range of Yamaha Music and AV is available at its flagship store in MQ.

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

— PHOTOS; A. R. RAJKUMAR/TIMES OF OMAN

B6 S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

ROUND-UPVarun Bahl, Masaba Gupta: The finale designers at couture show

MUSCAT: The Signature Cou-ture Show is all set to be held at the Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa on March 5, and will once again draw attention to new emerging talent and give way to growth of the industry across the capital. Internationally-renowned designers will dress some of the region’s top models — handpicked from six countries. For the first time ever, Varun Bahl and Masaba Gupta will debut their creations in the Sultanate of Oman, says a press release.

Masaba creates waves in Indian fashion sceneMasaba a diffusion line – unique and revolutionary in essence is one of the most successful fash-ion labels under Masaba Gupta. ‘Masaba’, launched in 2009 has created waves in the Indian fash-ion scene showcasing outfits for women from 18-30 years of age. The strength of the label lies in the ability to marry traditional Indian sensibilities and aesthetics while keeping the modern context alive. The label currently retails in India from four stores in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.

Masaba’s accolades and achieve-ments are numerous which in-clude being featured by Forbes as a young achiever in the category “Forbes India 30 under 30” and be-ing covered by Vogue Italia as one of India’s most promising talents. She collaborated with automobile heavy weight Tata Motors to de-sign a limited edition Nano. She was the youngest Creative direc-tor of India’s oldest iconic label Satya Paul. In 2014 Masaba was appointed as creative director by ecommerce giant Myntra and is expected to bring across ‘Anouk’ their new Indian apparel brand. Masaba’s journey in fashion has been documented on Star World in a show – ‘Lakme Fashion Week Designer.

Masaba designed an all new, af-fordable line ‘Masaba Lite’ to reach out to her teenage audience. It is a vibrant, young, peppy but pocket friendly line of chic and affordable clothing and accessories, catering to “young girls on tight budgets”. Masaba’s style is always fierce and bold with a strong play of colour and cut, but traditionally rooted. Masaba works with organic fab-rics, bright colours and the classi-cal Indian weaves.

In an interview, Masaba Gup-ta shares her excitement about showcasing her work in Oman.

What is different about your collection for the Signature Couture Show as compared to your other lines?

We are bringing in the festive mood in the collection, through a touch of gold! Also, we have made sure that the styles and silhouettes have been altered and created keeping in mind the body type of women in Oman, and their specific tastes in fashion.

Oman is a very different mar-ket when compared to its neighbours. What is your ini-tial impression of this market?It’s my first time in Oman, so I am quite excited to do a show there. I have been to Dubai and we’d thought that people would be very conservative, but I found that they are open to fashion and I was elated to bring my collection. I am expecting Oman, too, will embrace our style! The Middle East on the whole is a very fashion-forward market. Women may be conserva-tive when it comes to dressing, but they are still very particular about what they wear.

Prints and bold colours are your forte. How do you constantly engage new consumers?At House of Masaba, we constantly work on developing new statement prints and different colour lines with every collection. Our motto is to give our clients new quirky prints and styles every time we launch a new collection. We aim to keep the design philosophy of the brand the same and, yet, we want to keep finding interesting motifs from everyday life that we can evolve and

showcase in a new way.

Varun Bahl designs embody glamour, sophisticationVarun Bahl, is one of the few re-maining true artists and couturi-ers’ in the Indian fashion industry. He is one of a handful of design-ers who has stuck true to his style and artistry in the onslaught of tasteless commercialisation of the fashion design business. He is best known for creating style sig-natures within global styling cues so that his clothes are fashionable but unique.

Best known for his expertise in blending the classic with the con-temporary, the antique with the new and innovative use of fabrics to create a dreamy love affair for today’s kind of customer- a re-flection of elegance, avant-garde, non-conformist yet rooted in clas-sics. Most of his clients swear his clothes are their heirlooms like jewellery because of their classic sensibility and incredible quality.

Varun Bahl designs embody glamour, sophistication and are an inherently sexy luxe style state-ment. A design graduate from the National Institute of fashion Technology, New Delhi, Varun launched his label in 2001.

Varun showcased his Spring/Summer 2004 collection at White in Milan to international acclaim and great commercial success. He was also chosen by Camera Nazi-onale Della Moda Italiana, Milano to showcase his SS ‘07 and AW ‘07/’08 at Milan Fashion Week, making him one of the first few Indian designers to have partici-pated in the event.

Varun Bahl has a commercially successful menswear prêt label with acclaimed Indian filmmaker Karan Johar called Karan Johar + Varun Bahl since 2010.

In an interview Varun talks about his signature styles.

What’s so special about your collection for the Signature

Couture Show?The collection has some of my signature styles, with intricate embroidery and floral motifs per-fectly blending the vintage with the modern. It will be a visual treat for the audience to experience the trails of India through this care-fully curated collection.

We have an array of 30 couture pieces in the womenswear seg-ment and 12 menswear outfits from the Karan Johar + Varun-Bahl (KJ+VB) label. My signature rose motif and the latest from the French Floral Story collection will make their way to the ramp in Muscat, and I will add that the collection emphasises elegance. The show is divided into three segments, starting with black and transitioning towards ivory, and

then giving way to a burst of col-ours – old rose, pinks, etc.

Oman is a traditional market where we feel your silhouettes and your embellishments will be highly appreciated. What are your initial reactions to this market?I think the Asian community as well as the local Diaspora of Oman will appreciate the collection. The Abaya-inspired silhouettes, the anarkalis, sarees, saree gowns, le-hengas, gowns, kurtas and jump-suits signify the beauty of the re-gion and its people.

In addition, I feel that the fab-rics – silks, net, georgette, velvet appliqué and satin – are also quite well-suited to the region’s overall style sensibilities.

Internationally-

renowned designers

will dress some of the

region’s top models

— handpicked from

six countries at the

Signature Couture

Show to be held on

March 5

MUSCAT: Varun Bahl’s de-signs will be a visual treat for the audience to experience the trails of India through a carefully curated collection by the designer.

His collection would showcase an array of almost 30 couture pieces in the women’s wear segment and 12 men’s wear outfits from the Karan Johar + Varun Bahl (KJ+VB) label. The designer’s signature rose motif and the latest from the French Floral Story Collection make their way to the ramp in Muscat.

The collection for the Signature Couture Show em-phasises on elegance and is focused on intricate embroi-dery, embellishments with

clean cuts and silhouettes. The show is divided into

three segments, starting with Black and transition-ing towards Ivory, and then giving way to a burst of colours on the runway with the ‘French Floral Story’ in shades of old rose, pinks, gold and peach etc.

The collection consists of Anarkalis, sarees, saree gowns, gowns and lehengas, and a capsule collection of Sherwani’s and Indian men’s wear.

The show is on March 5 at the Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jis-sah Resort & Spa in Muscat, followed by a trunk show on March 6 and 7 at the Mrunal’s Boutique, Muscat.

Varun’s trunk show on March 6, 7 at Mrunal’s Boutique

Sadolin adds a splash of colour to IDF show

MUSCAT: AkzoNobel Oman’s flagship brand Sadolin was a plati-num sponsor at the recently con-cluded second edition of the In-terior Design, Décor & Furniture Exhibition (IDF) show in Muscat.

As the only global paints and coatings brand to participate in the event, the Sadolin exhibit attracted a large number of visi-tors. On display was an attrac-tive range of special effect pre-mium wall finishes by Sadolin’s Velvet Touch range, launched recently in the Sultanate, says a press release.

“Specialised trade fairs such as IDF give us an effective platform to exhibit our world-class prod-ucts and finishes to our local busi-ness customers and to the general consumer at large. The attractive panels in our stand showcase a range of colours and premium finishes that effectively dem-onstrate AkzoNobel’s strides in Research & Development(R&D)

in the decorative coatings field,” commented, N. Balachandran, GM, AkzoNobel Oman.

Sadolin’s ‘Let’s Colour’ cam-paign is all about Creating Brighter Futures. So, whether it is offering the customer an imag-inative colour palette or creating premium textures and decorative finishes that express individual-ity and aesthetics, Sadolin’s wall coatings inspire customers to bring colour into their living and working environment.

“As a market leader, AkzoNobel is committed to introducing new products that reflect our focus on R&D and offering customer de-light. Oman is a growing market for us. Our manufacturing facil-ity here gives us the advantage of keeping pace with the increasing demand of our customers, as we continue to introduce new and improved products,” added, Peter Tomlinson, Managing Director AkzoNobel Middle East.

T R A D E F A I R

Taageer holds branch managers’ conferenceMUSCAT: Taageer Finance recently held its branch manag-ers’ conference at its head office in Al Khuwair in line with its vi-sion to be the best Non-Banking Finance Company for the cus-tomers. The branch managers and the department heads met to discuss mutual ways to fur-ther stream line their approach-es to accomplish the company’s goals and objectives, says a press release.

The prevailing market de-velopments were discussed in detail. CEO, Mohammed Redha Jawad addressed the conference and stressed upon the importance of quality busi-ness, good customer service and the development of human resources to help them achieve the business targets. Jawad also emphasised on Taageer Finance’s continuous efforts in supporting the SME sector based on proper due diligence and credit policies/norms.

M E E T I N G

B7S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

ROUND-UPLove us on Facebook

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH FACEBOOK PAGE

ahlibank hosts first Risk Officers Committee meet of yearMUSCAT: ahlibank hosted the first meeting of the Risk Officers Committee (ROC) in 2015 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel recently.

The banking sector in Oman formed the ROC in 2011 compris-ing Chief Risk Officers of local as well as foreign banks operating in the country, with a view to fa-cilitate the exchange of knowledge and keep abreast with the latest

developments in the ever-evolving field of risk management, says a press release.

The committee meets every quarter and discusses topics rang-ing from operational risk, credit risk, liquidity risk, market risk and business continuity management. External consultants, as well as members make presentations in various risk management areas on

the latest happenings in risk, and each aspect of risk management is discussed and deliberated thor-oughly in the ROC meetings.

“The ROC has been established with the aim to create a platform to bring together Chief Risk Offic-ers of the major banks in Oman. We understand that effective risk management is the foundation for a robust banking system, and are

pleased to host the ROC’s meet-ings this year,” said Lloyd Mad-dock, CEO of ahlibank, on the side-lines of the meeting.

The ROC’s meeting came to a close with the forum’s par-ticipants thanking ahlibank for hosting the first meeting of this year, and acknowledging that the meeting’s deliberations will be beneficial to all.

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

Mistal showcases new De Bethune watches

MUSCAT: Skilled with su-preme technical mastery and blessed with the artistic vein of the rare few, De Bethune, the Swiss watchmaking wonders have launched the DB25T Zodiac, DB28 GSAnglais and the DB28 Maxichrono Titane that add to their noble 2015 collection.

For the connoisseurs who re-spect the true quintessence of mechanical horology, De Bethune has found its place in the world of the aristocrats. Each timepiece

is a work of art created from in-spirations drawn from the centu-ries lapsed while simultaneously infusing the highest technical standards brought about by years of cautious research and develop-ment, says a press release.

The three new models were showcased in the zenith of its glorious conception at the Mistal showroom in Darsait. To show-case these exclusive watches, Pierre Jacques, CEO, De Bet-hune himself attended the occa-sion with his presence alongside Dharmesh Ajit Khimji, Managing Director, Mistal Watches as they addressed the media in a one to one interactive press conference held at the same venue amidst much enthused reporters.

“De Bethune speaks of only the finest craftsmanship and aes-

thetic excellence that embodies each authentic timepiece,” said Dharmesh Ajit Khimji. “With only a limited few manufactured worldwide, we are indeed proud to display three of these exclusive creations at our showroom.”

The Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix honoured De Bet-hune with the most coveted title, the ‘Aiguille d’Or’ or the ‘Golden Hand’ that has been sought after by esteemed watch manufactur-ers from the world over. Awarded for their exceptional brilliance in combining with supreme perfec-tion the art and science of watch-making, De Bethune has produced timepieces that combine com-fortable sturdiness along with the innovations that surround the sheer weightlessness, impeccable accuracy and distinct readability

of each piece. The DB25 Zodiac and its el-

egantly openworked lugs frame a polished and blued titanium sky adorned with hand-engravings on solid gold representing the 12 zo-diac signs. These symbols lend a sense of infinity to the depth of the De Bethune star-studded sky. The radiance instilled by the silver-toned guilloché decoration radi-ating from the dial centre contrib-utes to the multiple shimmering light effects on the finely grained rings, and on the open-worked polished yellow gold hands.

On the occasion, Pierre Jacques, CEO, De Bethune said, “At De Bet-hune we stand by the belief - ‘Not Doing More, but Instead Doing Better’. Each of our creations is timeless and bears no relation to the ephemeral trends and demands of the market. Our work is centred on innovation as we endeavour to create materials that are still being discovered in the watch industry. Each watch is conjured with ut-most precision, paying attention to the minutest detail perfecting it to its most magnificent form.”

Mistal, a part of the Ajit Khimji group, with its showrooms locat-ed at Sabco Commercial Centre, Qurum and Darsait, Mistal hous-es the most prized watch brands made for the elite fortunate few.

The DB25T Zodiac,

DB28 GSAnglais

and the DB28

Maxichrono Titane

were showcased

in the zenith of its

glorious conception

at the Mistal

showroom in Darsait

B8

ROUND-UPS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Love us on Facebook

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH FACEBOOK PAGE

Zubair’s ‘For Them’ holds training for parents of autistic children

MUSCAT: The Zubair Corpora-tion has begun to implement com-munity workshops for families’ who have children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The training programme called ‘For Them’ provides workshops on ways parents can positively com-municate and engage with chil-dren diagnosed with ASD, says a press release.

The workshops are held under the supervision of specialised trainers who themselves are par-ents of children living with ASD and who have undergone numer-ous comprehensive training ses-sions in well-known institutions overseas. The trainers share their insights and experiences with the families raising children with ASD. The initiative was officially launched in early February in the presence of Khalid M. Al Zubair – Managing Director of The Zubair Corporation, together with Corpo-ration’s Social Advisory Commit-tee, and a group of autistic children and their families.

The ‘For Them’ initiative was championed by the social advisory committee of The Zubair Corpo-ration, and the corporation then sent parents of children diagnosed with ASD to undertake a training course at a specialised institute in the USA and return to share their

knowledge and experience with fellow Omani families.

This was followed by the social advisory committee’s formation of a supervision team to track, super-vise and evaluate the implementa-tion of the project.

The programme teaches par-ents how to deal and communicate with autistic children, and will run throughout 2015 in different prov-inces of the Sultanate, helping par-

ents to effectively communicate with their children and cope with their challenges more rationally.

Ibrahim Al Salmi, Social Com-munication Manager noted, “It’s an essential aim of The Zubair Corpo-ration to achieve a meaningful so-cial responsibility strategy, through the ‘For Them’ initiative, we not only aim to help parents raise chil-dren with ASD but spread aware-ness about this neurodevelopmen-

tal disorder throughout society.”He added, “We encourage fami-

lies of autistic children to join the training programme and learn from experiences of prior train-ees in dealing with their autistic children. It is indeed a beneficial initiative for our autistic children, and I would like to thank all mem-bers of social advisory committee in The Zubair.”

Twenty families have regis-tered initially, and parents from each family will join a work-shop to ensure a benefit their autistic children.

Zahra Al Jardani, member of the Social Advisory Committee at The Zubair Corporation com-mented, “After we finished the first workshop, which is the first of many throughout the Sultanate, I’m very proud to see hope in the trainees and trainers faces, this pushes us to pursue the rest of the programme for 2015, hoping that

we see further good results for this initiative adopted by The Zubair Corporation. I hope all my col-leagues who have an autistic child will participate, the programme will continue with various train-ing workshop in many provinces, each session will have 20 people, comprised two parents or siblings for each autistic child. As parents of children diagnosed with ASD we all know that we can’t provide such workshops without the sup-port from the private sector.

Walid Al Blushi, who is the fa-ther of an autistic child noted, “One of the things I learned from the sessions is that it was de-scribed to me like a climbing a mountain, with the choice of many different paths to take to reach your goal, and the one I chose was the easiest for me to deal with my child. We are all expected to trans-fer our experience and knowledge to our beloved country.”

Initiative from The

Zubair comes within

the framework of

social responsibility

and community duty

Mercedes-Maybach S-Class offers extrovert luxuryMUSCAT: The Mercedes-May-bach S-Class melds the perfection of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class with the exclusivity of Maybach, from impressive spaciousness and elegant design to premium craftsmanship and extrovert lux-ury, says a press release.

At 5453 mm long and with a wheelbase of 3365 mm, the flag-ship of the Mercedes-Benz model range is 20 cm larger in both di-mensions than the S-Class Saloon with long wheelbase.

Rear passengers benefit from this increased size as well as from standard equipment that includes executive seats on both left and right, innovative voice amplifica-tion and the extended rear trim el-ements with ambient lighting. In the rear, the Mercedes Maybach S-Class is also the world’s quiet-est production saloon vehicle.

Mercedes-Maybach vehicles epitomise peerless exclusivity. Some of the features that distin-guish these vehicles from produc-tion models include extra spa-ciousness with lavishly designed, prestigious interiors offering extensive scope for individualisa-tion. As a result, the vehicles fulfil the requirements of even the most discerning customers worldwide.

Mercedes-Maybach is not an equipment line – it is a sub-brand that in future will provide Mer-cedes-Benz vehicles in an even more exclusive form. Alongside Mercedes-AMG, Mercedes-May-bach is thus the second sub-brand

in the Mercedes-Benz brand world. Providing both prestige and exclusivity, it is aimed at custom-ers for whom status is important.

To enhance the exclusivity, all Mercedes-Maybach S-Class ve-hicles will be S 600 fitted with its top of the range V12 biturbo en-gine and output of 390kW (530 hp). It completes the sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.0 seconds. With a displacement of 5980 cc, the maximum torque of 830 Nm is available from 1900 rpm. As standard, the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class is fitted with a panoramic sliding sunroof. This roof system and its large glass areas make an especially bright and friendly ambience in the interior. For the first time, the sliding sunroof is available with optional MAGIC SKY CONTROL technology from Mercedes-Benz: the glass can be switched to light or dark at the touch of a button.

“The Mercedes-Maybach S-Class is a vehicle that creates its own niche in the luxury segment,

outside the existing market divi-sions, raising the benchmark to an entirely new level. This is also a car that delivers in equal meas-ure the comfort of being chauffer driven or driven by our customers themselves. Strictly speaking, the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class has no direct competitors because it is positioned in a class of its own. We are confident this vehicle will have immediate appeal for our Middle East markets customers, offering all the technologies and features that our customers are used to from the new S-Class, plus significantly extra on lux-ury, exclusivity and space,” said Dirk Fetzer, Director of Sales & Marketing at Daimler Middle East & Levant.

A sense of spaciousnessThe Mercedes-Maybach S-Class is not necessarily to be chauffeur-driven. Owners can also enjoy the comfortable driving of this special vehicle. On the other hand, the benefits of extending the wheel-

base by 200 mm are felt entirely in the back of the vehicle where the specification has been refined even more. Due to the roofline, it was also possible to further raise the head clearance.

Interior designIn the interior of the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class, passengers are enveloped in lounge-style, mod-ern luxury. With its clear architec-ture, refined materials and stylish controls, the vehicle embodies a sensuous elegance.

For an exclusive look, the front centre armrests with nappa leath-er or exclusive nappa leather up-holstery feature embossed May-bach crests (and also the armrests in the rear in conjunction with the First-Class rear suite). An-other special feature in the dash-board is the analogue clock with an IWC design. The high quality standards of the Mercedes-May-bach S-Class are evident from the doors, which even have hand-stitched door trim as part of the standard equipment.

As part of its exclusive interior touches, the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class comes with the bespoke Maybach perfume AGARWOOD as part of the AIR-BALANCE package. It also has Voice am-plification which makes it much easier for occupants in the front to communicate with the rear passengers as well as HD Voice for telephone calls which provides better, more natural voice quality.

T R E N D - S E T T I N G E X C L U S I V I T Y

alizz bank organises meeting of Sharia Supervisory BoardMUSCAT: alizz islamic bank, a leading full-fledge Islamic bank in the Sultanate, held recently its first Sharia Supervisory Board meeting for 2015 in its head of-fice located in Ruwi, Central Business District area.

The meeting was chaired by Sheikh Dr Mohammed Abdul Rahim Sultan Al Olama and at-tended by Sheikh Dr Osama Mo-hammed Saad Bahar and Sheikh Nasser Al Azri, in addition to Sufyan Maysara Yassin, Head of Sharia Audit and Compliance and Moosa Al Jadidi, Head of Retail Banking at the bank, says a press release.

During the meeting, the board established the guidelines for both the Wakala and Mudraraba financing for corporate bank-ing, approved the Annual Sharia Audit plan for 2015, and issued

the Annual Sharia report. The Board also reviewed the Sha-ria audit reports for 2014, Sharia audit and compliance policy, and the financial statements of 2014.

On the occasion, Salaam Al Shaksy, Chief Executive Of-ficer of alizz islamic bank com-mented, “This meeting is held regularly to obtain the Sha-ria Supervisory Board’s opinion about the bank’s commitment to its decisions and to ensure the avoidance of any violations to the Sharia principles.

“I would like to thank the Sha-ria Supervisory Board for all their efforts aiming to ensure that the transactions at alizz islamic bank are not conflicting with the vari-ous Islamic principles, enhanc-ing the value of our products and the transparency of our transac-tions and performance.”

F I N A N C I A L R E P O R T

A’Saffa supports Teacher’s Day celebration at Al Waha School

MUSCAT: In reinforcing its commitment to support com-munity initiatives, A’Saffa Foods supported the Teacher’s Day celebration held recently at the Al Waha School in Al Hail, says a press release.

A’Saffa is always keen in sup-porting initiatives that support and strengthen the community.

“As a leading Omani com-pany we are fully committed to supporting a broad range of community and corporate social responsibility initia-tives – especially those that are related to the family and children. All of our products are designed to help create fit, healthy and happy families and this is why we are always keen to support events like Teach-er’s Day organised at the Al Waha School,” said, Sidhartha Lenka, A’Saffa Foods, Head of Sales and Marketing.

S O C I A L S U P P O R T

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

SPOR SY O U R G A M E

SECTIONC S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

NEW ZEALAND DEFEAT AUSTRALIA IN THRILLER New Zealand reached the World Cup quarterfinals on Saturday after a nail-biting one-wicket victory over Australia in an Eden Park classic which saw them almost suffer an embarrassing collapse in pursuit of just 152 runs. >C5

Al Harthy unlucky to retire after

great start in Dubai Autodrome

DUBAI: Ahmed Al Harthy was extremely unlucky to have to re-tire from Race 1 of Round 5 in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Mid-dle East having made a blistering start to the race which saw the Omani driver claim fourth before ultimately being forced out at the Dubai Autodrome.

The drivers took to the track in full knowledge that the Round 5 weekend could be the most criti-cal yet as the penultimate of Sea-son 6. With the slightest margins between every spot in both the drivers’ and teams’ competitions, each race represents a crucial opportunity to gain points in the race to victory.

Al Harthy built on his solid sixth place finish in qualifying by steam rolling to fourth early in the first lap. With his Al Nabooda Racing teammate Clemens Schmid start-ing from pole position, the early signs were extremely promising for the UAE based team.

The Omani driver was showing the sort of form and rhythm he is usually so accustomed to and will feel extremely unlucky to have been forced from the race in after a spin which ultimately led to his retirement.

Speaking after Race 1 in Round 5 Al Harthy said: “It’s not the easi-

est position to have to find myself in. After such a great start here on home soil I was really setting my sights on a great finish but luck just wasn’t on my side today.

“I had a wonderful start after beginning from sixth position in the grid and was hoping to make a push for the top three places af-ter securing fourth so early on but it wasn’t to be my day. I am opti-mistic though and look forward to tomorrow’s challenge as I hope to find some more luck in Race 2.”

In blustery conditions Race 1 of Round 5 got off to a flying start with Clemens Schmid taking an early lead from first with Zaid Ashkanani close behind.

Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum of the Skydive Dubai Falcons will feel he suffered most from the start as Fahad Algosaibi and Ahmad Al Harthy immediately closed on his third position, the three steam-ing towards the first corner side by side. Powerful moves saw Al-gosaibi steal third with Al Harthy fourth and the Skydive duo in-cluding Saeed Al Mehairi fifth and sixth in the first lap.

Up front Ashkanani pressured Schmid hard with the front three, including Algosaibi powering away from the pack. Lap three saw championship leader Schmid

drop down to third as Algosaibi led with Ashkanani close behind pressuring for the top spot.

So often the scene of drama the third-to-last corner saw both Al Nabooda Racing cars lock up with Schmid recovering well while his teammate Ahmad Al Harthy dropped down to fifth.

After leading for a number of laps Fahad Algosaibi was forced from first to third with Zaid Ash-kanani securing the lead ahead of Clemens Schmid.

Huge pressure from Schmid forced a mistake as Ashkanani gave up his lead and slipped down to third, but it was Algosaibi who snatched the lead ahead of Schmid. The Al Nabooda man was on a mission for the win and even-tually squeezed past to take lead.

Further down the pack in the closing stages Ahmad Al Harthy was forced from the track and un-able to return in a scene which also cost Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum five places as he fell down to ninth.

The Porsche GT3 Cup Chal-lenge Middle East returns for Race 2 of Round 5 on Sunday ahead of the final and most deci-sive round of racing at the Bah-rain International Circuit in April as the support race for the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix.

M O T O R S P O R T

OPTIMISTIC: After unlucky outing, Ahmad Al Harthy is hoping for ‘some more luck’ in Race 2.

AL MUSANNAH, SUR WINAl Musannah defeated Bausher by a solitary goal in

an Omantel Professional League match played at the

Seeb Sports Stadium on Saturday. The win helped Al

Musannah to take their points tally to 22 and oc-

cupy the eighth place in the standings. Meanwhile,

Sur edged Al Nasr 2-1 at Al Saada Sports Complex in

Salalah. Sur, with 29 points, are now in second place

behind leaders Al Arouba, who have 32 points. Al Nasr

are in third with 26 points. — JUN ESTRADA/Times of Oman

Crowe inducted into Cricket’s Hall of Fame

AUCKLAND: New Zealand great Martin Crowe was induct-ed into Cricket’s Hall of Fame on Saturday, the terminally ill former batsman describing it as a “great honour” and prompting a standing ovation from 40,000 fans at Eden Park.

Known as one of the game’s most stylish batsmen, the 52-year-old became the third New Zealander behind Richard Hadlee and Debbie Hockley, and 79th in the world, to receive the honour. “I am pleased to get this prestigious award, espe-cially joining my friend Richard Hadlee,” said Crowe, after being awarded his commemorative cap from International Cricket Council (ICC) director and chairman of Cricket Australia, Wally Edwards.

Crowe dedicated the award to his father Dave and mother Audrey. “I wish to dedicate this award to my father and mother who supported the game for 40 years,” said cancer-stricken Crowe who had been diagnosed with a rare blood disease, dou-ble-hit lymphoma.

Crowe made his international debut against Australia in Wel-lington in February 1982 at the age of 19. He retired 13 years lat-er after playing 77 Tests, having scored 5,444 runs at an average of 45.36. This included 17 centu-ries, the most by a New Zealand cricketer, while his 299 against Sri Lanka in Wellington in Jan-uary 1991 stood as a national re-cord until Brendon McCullum scored 302 against India in Wel-lington last year.

Crowe also played 143 ODIs scoring 4,704 runs at an average of 38.55 with four centuries. - AFP

‘ G R E A T H O N O U R ’

Federer stuns Djokovic to clinch Dubai crown

DUBAI: Roger Federer scored the 84th title win of his career, kept his nose in front in his personal rivalry with Novak Djokovic, and equalled his best achievement at any tournament by winning the Dubai Open for the seventh time.

The Grand Slam record-holder from Switzerland beat the world

No. 1 from Serbia 6-4, 7-5 in a colourful success which took Federer’s title haul here equal to those of Halle and Wimbledon. It also put him 20-17 up against Djokovic

Federer served superbly, his 12 aces taking his career total past 9,000, something only three other players have done since 1991. - AFP

T E N N I S

Suarez shines in Barca victory

MADRID: Barcelona closed with-in a point of leaders Real Madrid after in-form forward Luis Suarez played a part in all three of their goals in a scrappy 3-1 victory at Granada in La Liga on Saturday.

Barca took the lead when Ivan Rakitic smashed the ball into the net from close range in the 25th minute. Suarez ran on to a chipped

Rakitic pass and slipped the ball under home goalkeeper Oier to make it 2-0 three minutes into the second half.

Granada pulled a goal back five minutes later when Marc Bartra felled Lassane Bangoura in the penalty area. Fran Rico confident-ly stroked his spot kick past Clau-dio Bravo before Barca restored

their two-goal lead in the 70th minute when Suarez set up Messi to find the empty net.

Barca have 59 points from 25 matches with Real on 60 from 24 ahead of their game at home to sixth-placed Villarreal on Sunday.

Champions Atletico Madrid are six points adrift of Barca in third and visit Sevilla on Sunday. - Reuters

L A L I G A

Rooney strikes, United go third

LONDON: Wayne Rooney ended his eight-game English Premier League scoring drought with a brace as Manchester United climbed back above Arsenal into third with a 2-0 victory against a dogged Sunderland on Saturday.

United were booed during stag-es of another underwhelming first half at Old Trafford but Rooney, restored to his favoured forward position, dispatched a 66th minute penalty after Radamel Falcao was impeded by John O’Shea.

Fellow former United man Wes Brown was wrongly shown the red card instead of O’Shea despite the

remonstrations of Sunderland’s players before Rooney added his second with a simple finish in the 84th minute. United’s top-four rivals Southampton continued their recent slump after they were beaten 1-0 at improving West Bro-mwich Albion courtesy of Saido Berahino’s early goal.

Earlier Glenn Murray scored twice and was sent off as resurgent Crystal Palace registered a 3-1 Pre-

mier League win at a toothless West Ham United to heap more woe on the stuttering east London side.

Newcastle United extended As-ton Villa’s winless Premier League run to 12 games with a 1-0 victory at St James’ Park thanks to Papiss Cisse’s goal.

Swansea City climbed to eighth after a 1-0 win at struggling Burnley while Stoke City were 1-0 victors at home against Hull City. - Reuters

Rooney ended his

scoring drought as

Manchester United

beat Sunderland 2-0

NEAT CONVERSION: Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney celebrates

after scoring a penalty during their English Premier League match

against Sunderland at Old Trafford on Saturday. – AFP

C2

SPORTSS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Stay ahead of the curve with

WhatsNews

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY INSTALL WHATSNEWS

Bank Muscat presents green playground to Al Watan TeamMUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the flag-ship financial services provider in the Sultanate, handed over a green playground developed as part of the Green Sports initiative to Al Watan Team in the wilayat of Shinas under the auspices of Dr. Said bin Khamis Al Kaabi, Chairman of the Public Authority for Consumer Protection.

Dr. Al Kaabi congratulated Bank Muscat for the success achieved by the greening initiative. He said: “The Green Sports initiative com-plements the government efforts in building a sporting nation by providing the youth the required infrastructure facilities.”

“The initiative benefiting communities, especially youth, contributes to sustainable de-velopment and protection of the environment, thereby ensuring all-round development in Oman,” he added.

Aimed at promoting Oman as a sporting nation, the Green Sports CSR programme was launched by the bank in 2012 to lay the foun-dation at the grass-root level for a sustainable sports infrastructure.

In a record time, the bank has achieved notable success in devel-oping green fields in all parts of the Sultanate, thus contributing to re-

alising the sporting dreams of clubs and teams. Till date in the first three years of the programme, 34 sports clubs have been given support to green their playing fields.

Saif Al Flaiti, Acting Regional Manager — North Batinah Region, said: “The inauguration of the green playground in Shinas endorses the bank’s commitment to support the

youth representing the country’s future. We congratulate Al Watan Team for seizing the opportunity to green their playing field, thereby setting a fine example for other clubs and teams in Oman to pro-mote Oman as a sporting nation.”

The funding criteria for the pro-gramme include that sports clubs/teams should have been in exist-ence for three years with a mini-mum membership of 300 youth from the local community. Bank Muscat will lay turf grass and hand over the fields to beneficiary clubs/teams. The bank recognises that local clubs wield immense influ-

ence on neighbourhood communi-ties, especially youth, hence clubs with modern infrastructure facili-ties can help raise sporting heroes for the country.

Dr. Abdullah Ali Al Farsi, Deputy President of Al Watan Team, said: “The Green Sports initiative has made vital contributions to create an environment encouraging Om-ani sports talents.

“The unique initiative is a big support for the country’s youth and we are confident that many youngsters will benefit from this programme and become sporting heroes for the country.”

G R E E N I N G I N I T I A T I V E

Fairtrade down Z-Axis

MUSCAT: Fairtrade registered an 18-run win against Z-Axis Media in an Al Ansari Group of Companies-sponsored C Division T20 match.

Opting to bat first, Fairtrade scored 178 for five wickets in 20 overs thanks to a brilliant 89 from opening batsman Salim Shaikh. Z-Axis Media, in reply, managed to score to 160 for eight in 20 overs.

Brief scores: Fairtrade 178 for 5 in 20 overs (Salim Shaikh 89, Ganesh Sada-siva 24; Vijeesh C.Velunni 2/27) bt Z-Axis Media 160 for 8 in 20 overs (Kimberly G. Bentick 40, Krishna Chaitanya 28, Mel-win Mathew 26, Wajid Ali 25; Anoop 2/18, Arun Kumar S. 2/30, Neelakandan Arjun 2/35). Points: Fairtrade - 2 (6 games, 6 pts), X-Axis Media - Nil (7 games, 10 pts).

Al Daam International winIn an F Division T20 match, Al Daam International recorded a one-wicket win against a 10-mem-ber Oasis Water team. Biju Krishnan ended with bowling fig-ures of three for 36 in four overs.

Brief scores: Oasis Water 159 in 18.5 overs (Rohan Kurian Alex 37, Kannan 23, Nazer 22; Biju Krishnan 3/36, Deepesh O.K. 2/28) lost to Al Daam Interna-tional 160 for 9 in 19.5 overs (Jayakumar 32; Ratheesh P.P. 2/13, Shibin 2/18, Shyju 2/20). Points: Al Daam International - 2 (7 games, 7 pts), Oman Oasis – Nil (6 games, 4 pts).

Easy for Powertech In an Al Ansari Group of Com-

panies-sponsored C Division T20, Powertech Engineering de-feated Arrow Overseas easily by seven wickets.

Brief scores: Arrow Overseas 136 in 18.1 overs (Abdul Rahim 27, Anil Lalji 23; N. Anantha R. 3/10, A. Anburaj 3/20, K. Prabhakaran 2/26, S. Aravindan 2/39) lost to Powertech Engineering 139 for 3 in 18.2 overs (K. Prabhakaran 66 n.o., A. Anburaj 43 n.o., Aroan D. 20; Vijay Mad-hav 2/22). Points: Powertech Engineer-

ing - 2 (6 games, 6 pts), Arrow Overseas - Nil (7 games, 6 pts).

Abu Maather post winAbu Maather defeated Prime Trading by four wickets in a H Di-vision T20 match.

Brief scores: Prime Trading 129 for 9 in 20 overs (Anoop V. 28; Mohammed Rizwan 3/21, Zahirul Islam 2/9, Wasim Jamadar 2/16) lost to Abu Maather 131 for 6 in 17.4 overs (Wasim Jamadar 33, Suhail Khot 29 n.o., Mohammed Rizwan 23; Brijish Kumar 3/31). Points: Abu Maather - 2 (7 games, 9 pts), Prime Trad-ing - Nil (7 games, 5 pts).

Kiran Joshi shinesOpening batsman Kiran Joshi scored a brilliant unbeaten 94 off 73 balls to steer ISC Kutchi Wing to a massive nine-wicket win against OCT Al Nahdha in a J Division T20 match.

Brief scores: OCT Al Nahdha 161 for 6 in 20 overs (Faisal Al Balushi 66, Khalil Al Balushi 28 n.o.; Narshis Ganpat 2/25) lost to ISC Kutchi Wing 162 for 1 in 19.2 overs (Kiran Joshi 94 n.o., Ashish Jethwa 41 n.o). Points: ISC Kutchi Wing - 2 (8 games, 2 pts), OCT Al Nahdha - Nil (7 games, 1 pt).

King Travels beat TeejanKing Travels & Tours defeated a 10-man Teejan Beatrice team by five wickets in a G Division T20 match.

Brief scores: Teejan Beatrice 186 for 7 in 20 overs (Feroz O.V. 55, Muhammad Akthar Sharfeer 26, Shanavas Ummer 24; Anup Rajan 2/19) lost to King Travels & Tours 187 for 5 in 18 overs (Anup Ra-jan 59, Jayson Delboy 48, Praveen Shetty 20; Saif Ur Rehman 2/29). Points: King Travels & Tours - 2 (8 games, 9 pts), Tee-jan Beatrice - Nil (7 games, 1 pt).

Opting to bat first,

Fairtrade scored 178

for five in 20 overs.

Z-Axis Media, in

reply, managed to

score to 160 for eight

in 20 overs

C DIVISION: Fairtrade pose for a group photo after their victory

over Z-Axis Media. – Supplied photo

VOR supports SATT with launch of Rookie Award

MUSCAT: The Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) has recognised EFG Sailing Arabia - The Tour (SATT) as a lead-ing development race for young off-shore sailors by launching a Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) Rookie Award for the two best under-30 sailors competing in the event.

The new Volvo Ocean Race Rookie Award was announced at the prize-giving for the in-shore racing in Doha.

“We are thrilled that EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour has attracted this recognition from the Volvo Ocean Race as being a valuable feeder event for young offshore sailors and we look for-ward to working closely together to promote the sport of sailing

among young local and regional audiences,” David Graham, CEO of Oman Sail, said.

The Volvo Ocean Race will offer an economy return trip to Newport, accommodation and hospitality for the full stopover race weekend and pro-am day to the two top EFG SATT Under 30 sailors .

“We are delighted to launch this award since the Volvo Ocean Race works hard to promote the development of young offshore sailors and also fully supports the initiatives and programmes that are being launched by emerging nations in the sport of sailing,” said Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad.

S A I L I N G

MUSCAT: V.S. Shiju claimed eight wickets as Assarain A recorded a nine-wicket win against winless OCT Muscat A in a Muscat Pharmacy & Stores-sponsored A Division 50 overs-a-side league match.

Brief scores: OCT Muscat A 68 in 23.1 overs (V.S. Shiju 8/19) lost to Assarain A 70 for 1 in 5.5 overs (M. Nadeem 37 n.o., Arun Poulose

30 n.o). Points: Assarain A - 5 (7 games, 25 pts), OCT Muscat A - Nil (7 games, Nil).

Shiju stars for Assarain A

MAN OF THE MATCH: As-

sarain team manager Vinu,

left, honours Shiju.

SINDO IS PLAYER OF THE MONTHAssarain A team’s Sindo Michael was adjudged the

‘player of the month’ for January following his century

against NYDT and 58 runs against OCT Muscat A.

The award was presented to Sindo Michael by Oman

Cricket Secretary Madhu Jesrani in the presence of

Chief Development Officer Duleep Mendis and Office

Manager Rex Berhardt. — Supplied photo

IFAB rejects fourth sub proposalBELFAST: Football’s rule-mak-ing body, the International Foot-ball Association Board (IFAB), rejected the idea of a fourth sub-stitution in extra-time on Satur-day but is considering dropping the one-match ban for so-called “triple punishments”.

The body also wants more time to discuss video trials be-ing carried out in the Nether-lands by the Dutch FA (KNVB).

The fourth substitute propos-al, requiring a change to Law 3, did not get approval but will be referred back for further analy-sis by IFAB’s newly-introduced advisory panels.

The controversial triple pun-ishment applies when a player concedes a penalty, is sent off and is then banned for one match for denying a clear scor-ing chance in the penalty area.

IFAB agreed, in principle, that the one-match ban was too strong a sanction and could be dropped. - Reuters

F O O T B A L L

C3S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

TODAY’SMATCHES

POOL A: SRI LANKA V ENGLAND (2:00AM OMAN TIME)POOL B: PAKISTAN V ZIMBABWE (7:30AM OMAN TIME)

BOWLERS DAY IN AUCKLAND

THRILLER

TRENT BOULT

5wickets for 27

6wickets for 28

MITCHELL STARC

MATCH REPORT ON C5

C4 S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

India enjoy a stroll at Perth

PERTH: India’s World Cup con-fidence continued to climb as they thrashed the United Arab Emir-ates by nine wickets in their Pool B match at Perth’s WACA Ground on Saturday.

The UAE managed just 102 after winning the toss and electing to bat, the lowest ever total against India at a World Cup.

The defending champions then made it three wins from as many matches in the tournament when they cruised to their meagre vic-tory target in just 18.5 overs.

Although opener Shikhar Dha-wan fell cheaply to a brilliant catch in gully, Rohit Sharma (57 not out) and Virat Kohli (33 not out) enjoyed some batting practice out in the mid-dle as they guided India to the win.

India’s impeccable form is a far cry from their indifferent efforts leading into the World Cup.

The Indians were at long odds to defend the title they won in 2011 after failing to reach the final of the triangular One-day series against Australia and England just prior to this tournament.

However, their title defence has been flawless so far, with emphat-ic wins over Pakistan and South Africa prior to beating the United Arab Emirates.

While they weren’t expected to be troubled by the amateurs from the Middle East on Saturday, even on a pitch that has rarely been kind to Indian teams, the way they dis-mantled the UAE batting line-up was impressive. UAE skipper Mo-hammed Tauqir won the toss and batted, hoping his side could set India a competitive target. How-ever, that rarely looked likely from the time they lost opener Andri Be-renger in just the second over.

Berenger failed to cope with the typical WACA bounce and top-edged a short ball from Umesh Ya-dav through to wicketkeeper Ma-

hendra Singh Dhoni to fall for just four. Amjad Ali and Krishna Chan-dran, the other two batsmen in the UAE top three, both fell for the same score as their side slumped

to 28 for three in the 11th over.Ali, like Berenger, fell victim to a

short ball, caught behind by India captain Dhoni off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who replaced injured fel-

low seamer Mohammed Shami (knee). Just when it seemed pace would be the undoing of the UAE, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin tore the heart out of their batting

order. Spin rarely plays a signifi-cant role at the WACA, but man-of-the-match Ashwin claimed the wickets of Chandran, Khurram Khan (14) and Swapnil Patil (7) in quick succession as the UAE collapsed to 44 for five, a position from which they could not recover.

Ashwin finished with career-best figures of four for 25 from his 10 overs as the UAE added at least a hint of respectability to their bat-ting performance with an innings-high last wicket stand of 31.

Dhawan, coming off a blaz-ing century against South Africa, made just 14 before he was bril-liantly caught with one hand by Rohan Mustafa off Mohammad Naveed in a lone match highlight for the UAE. - AFP

The defending

champions made

it three wins from

as many matches

when they cruised to

their meagre victory

target in 18.5 overs

SCAN THIS QR CODE TO INSTANTLY VISIT

PHOTO GALLERY

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

JOB DONE: India’s batsmen Rohit Sharma, left, and Virat Kohli embrace after defeating United Arab

Emirates at their Cricket World Cup match in Perth. – Reuters

UNITED ARAB EMIRATESAmjad Ali c Dhoni b Kumar 4A. Berenger c Dhoni b Yadav 4K. Chandran c Raina b Ashwin 4Khurram Khan c Raina b Ashwin 14S. Patil c Dhawan b Ashwin 7Shaiman Anwar b Yadav 35R. Mustafa lbw b Sharma 2Amjad Javed c Raina b Jadeja 2Mohammead Naveed b Ashwin 6Mohammed Tauqir b Jadeja 1M. Guruge not out 10Extras: (lb-4, w-9) 13Total: (all out, 31.3 overs) 102Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-13, 3-28, 4-41, 5-44, 6-52, 7-61, 8-68, 9-71, 10-102Bowling: Kumar 5-0-19-1 (2w); Yadav 6.3-2-15-2 (3w); Ashwin 10-1-25-4 (1w); Sharma 5-1-16-1 (2w); Jadeja 5-0-23-2;INDIAR. Sharma not out 57S. Dhawan c Mustafa b Naveed 14V. Kohli not out 33Extras 0Total (1 wkt, 18.5 overs) 104Did not bat: A. Rahane, S. Raina, M.S . Dhoni, R. Jadeja, R. Ashwin, B. Kumar, U. Yadav, M .SharmaFall of wicket: 1-29 (Dhawan)Bowling: Naveed 5-0-35-1; Guruge 6-1-19-0; Javed 2-0-12-0; Chandran 3-0-17-0; Tauqir 2.5-0-21-0;Result: India won by nine wicketsMan of the match: R. AshwinToss: UAEUmpires: Billy Bowden (NZL), Michael Gough (ENG)Tv umpire: Nigel Llong (ENG)Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRL)

S C O R E B O A R D

Dhoni hails bowlersPERTH: India captain Ma-hendra Singh Dhoni admitted Saturday that his bowling at-tack, so often over-shadowed by the team’s legion of batting superstars, will be key if they are to successfully defend their World Cup title. India hardly broke sweat at Perth’s WACA ground as they cruised past the part-timers of the United Arab Emirates by nine wickets.

But unlike their two opening wins at the tournament which yielded totals of 300 and over against Pakistan and South Africa, Saturday gave India’s bowlers the chance to make de-cisive contributions against a UAE side who won the toss and chose to bat. “The bowlers have really stepped up and this has led to improvements in other parts of the side,” said Dhoni.

“When we were losing games outside the sub-continent it was a concern and we couldn’t get wickets in the middle overs,” he added. “Now we are getting wickets with the new ball and the spinners are able to put more pressure on in the middle overs. As a unit they are doing well. They have shown they can do it game after game.”

Ravichandran Ashwin took a career best of four for 25 with fellow spinner Ravindra Jadeja claiming two wickets.

Ashwin said he was delight-ed to have his moment in the spotlight after his team’s bat-men had ran riot in the first two games, with Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan making centu-ries against Pakistan and South Africe respectively.

Suresh Raina and Dhawan also hit half-centuries against Pakistan while Ajinkya Rahane went past the 50 mark against South Africa. In a reminder of the team’s batting strength, Sat-urday saw opener Rohit Sharma make an undefeated fifty. “I usu-ally bowl at phases of the game when you are trying to buy wick-ets or cut the runs down but to-day went well,” said Ashwin.

UAE skipper Mohammed Tauqir had seen his team lose two close games to Zimbabwe and Ireland but on Saturday they were simply outclassed by the champions with only Shaiman Anwar, who hit a cen-tury against the Irish, showing any resistance with a tidy 35 be-fore being last man out. - AFP

P L E A S E D

Ashwin makes most use of bouncy pitchPERTH: The bouncy WACA track traditionally offers the fast bowlers extra help but it was tall India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who made most use of the conditions against United Arab Emirates on Saturday.

Ashwin came on early and bowled unchanged for his 10-over spell, picking up four for 25 to inspire India to a nine-wicket victory.

The 28-year-old mixed up his pace, length and flight to scythe through the UAE middle order and post his best figures in One-day Internationals as UAE were skittled for 102 in 31.3 overs after batting first.

Ashwin had played just one of the four matches India lost in the Tri-series against Australia and England in the build-up to the defence of their World Cup ti-tle, signalling he might not be an automatic choice.

But he silenced the crit-ics with three wickets against South Africa in Melbourne last weekend and underlined his worth with a match-winning performance on Saturday.

It was the bounce Ashwin found in Perth, widely considered the fastest in the world, that cre-ated most problems for the UAE.

“He bowled extremely well,” beaten captain Mohammed Tau-qir told reporters. “More than his turn I think it was the bounce that created the problems for us.

“He won them the game,” added off-spinner Tauqir.

India have often preferred left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja to

Ashwin overseas but his displays against South Africa and UAE have shown that he has figured out the right strategy to bowl Down Under.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dho-ni was pleased with Ashwin’s line and length and lauded the spinner for his variety and pace.

“My wrist is much better po-sitioned right now. I am able to vary my pace at will and as a re-sult of that the seam position of

the arm ball was much better,” Ashwin said.

“The breeze across the ground also helped a bit today. You’ve got to be perfect with your length here in Australia.

“If you are just a wee bit forward or back you are going to get scored off plenty. That’s something I have worked plenty on.” - Reuters

I N F A S T B O W L E R S P A R A D I S E

S T A N D I N G SP O O L A

P O O L B

Teams M W L T N/R Pts Net RRNew Zealand 4 4 0 0 0 8 +3.589Sri Lanka 3 2 1 0 0 4 +0.047Bangladesh 3 1 1 0 1 3 +0.130Australia 3 1 1 0 1 3 -0.305Afghanistan 3 1 2 0 0 2 -0.760England 3 1 2 0 0 2 -1.415Scotland 3 0 3 0 0 0 -1.735

India 3 3 0 0 0 6 +2.630South Africa 3 2 1 0 0 4 +1.260Ireland 2 2 0 0 0 4 +0.338West Indies 4 2 2 0 0 4 -0.313Zimbabwe 3 1 2 0 0 2 -0.827UAE 3 0 3 0 0 0 -1.326Pakistan 2 0 2 0 0 0 -2.260 MATCH-WINNER: Ravichandran

Ashwin, centre, scalped four

UAE wickets to shine. – AFP

C5S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Black Caps clinch nail-biter

SYDNEY: New Zealand reached the World Cup quarterfinals Sat-urday in a nail-biting one-wicket win over Australia in an Eden Park classic which saw them almost suffer an embarrassing collapse in pursuit of just 152. Sitting com-fortably at 78-1, the Black Caps were crippled by sudden stage-fright as their next eight wickets fell for just 68 runs with 40,000 fans on the edge of their seats.

But Kane Williamson (45 not out) smashed the winning runs with a mighty six off Pat Cummins from the first ball of the 24th over, having watched helplessly as Aus-tralian left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc wreaked havoc with a ca-reer-best six for 28.

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum had hit a 21-ball fifty at the top of the innings as the home side cruised towards their total and even at 131 fore four, they were still in pole position. But the slide started with Glenn Maxwell dismissing Corey Anderson for 26. Starc then took the wickets of Luke Ronchi (six), Daniel Vettori (two), Adam Milne (0) and Tim Southee (0) to give Australia a sniff of an unexpected win before Williamson held his nerve.

Earlier, Trent Boult claimed career-best figures of five for 27 as New Zealand dismissed the four-time champions for just 151. From 80 for one, Australia lost eight wickets for 26 runs before Brad Haddin (43) and Cummins (seven not out) put on 45 for the last wick-et. “Trent Boult was outstanding for us, and so was Mitchell Starc for Australia,” said McCullum.

“Some of the batting wasn’t as good as it should have been but that can happen when you are up against high-class seam bowling.”

Australia captain Michael Clarke, back in the team for the

first time since December after a hamstring injury, said the batting had let his side down. “It was hor-rendous,” he said. “The tension was there all game. It was very en-tertaining and we would have liked the result to go the other way but

credit to New Zealand.”Left-arm seamer Boult’s five

wickets came in the space of 18 balls for just one run as New Zea-land condemned Australia to their second-lowest World Cup total.

Southee took two for 65 while

left-arm spinner Vettori finished with two for 41 as New Zealand’s bowling maintained the same mo-mentum which helped them dis-miss England for 123 in Wellington.

Australia, who beat England in their opener two weeks ago before

seeing the clash with Bangladesh rained off in Brisbane, are now fourth in the pool with three points, five behind New Zealand, with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh also ahead of them. The top four in each pool qualify for the quarterfinals. - AFP

Sitting comfortably at

78-1, the Black Caps

were crippled by

sudden stage-fright

as their next eight

wickets fell for just

68 runs with 40,000

fans on edge of seats

AUSTRALIAA. Finch b Southee 14D. Warner lbw b Southee 34S. Watson c Southee b Vettori 23M. Clarke c Williamson b Boult 12S. Smith c Ronchi b Vettori 4G. Maxwell b Boult 1M. Marsh b Boult 0B. Haddin c Taylor b Anderson 43M. Johnson c Williamson b Boult 1M. Starc b Boult 0P. Cummins not out 7Extras (b-4, lb-2, w-6) 12Total (all out, 32.2 overs) 151Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-80, 3-80, 4-95, 5-96,

6-97, 7-104, 8-106, 9-106.Bowling: Southee 9-0-65-2 (4w); Boult 10-3-27-5 (2w); Vettori 10-0-41-2; Milne 3-0-6-0, Anderson 0.2-0-6-1.NEW ZEALANDM. Guptill c Cummin s b Starc 11B. McCullum c Starcb Cummins 50K. Williamson not out 45R. Taylor b Starc 1G. Elliott b Starc 0C. Anderson c Cummins b Maxwell 26L. Ronchi c Haddin b Starc 6D. Vettori c Warner b Cummins 2A. Milne b Starc 0T. Southee b Starc 0

T. Boult not out 0Extras (w-10, nb-1) 11Total (9 wkts, 23.1 overs) 152Fall of wickets: 1-40, 2-78, 3-79, 4-79, 5-131, 6-139, 7-145, 8-146, 9-146.Bowling: Johnson 6-1-68-0 (1nb); Starc 9-0-28-6 (4w); Cummins 6.1-0-38-2 (6w); Marsh 1-0-11-0; Maxwell 1-0-7-0.Result: New Zealand won by one wicketMan of the match: Trent BoultToss: AustraliaUmpires: Marais Erasmus (RSA), Richard Illingworth (ENG)TV umpire: Sundaram Ravi (IND)Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)

TROPHY BEFORE THE PRIZED PENNANT: New Zealand celebrate with the Chappell–Hadlee Trophy after beating Australia during their 2015 Cricket World Cup Pool A match

at Eden Park in Auckland. – AFP

BRAVE SHOT: Kane Williamson

hits the winning runs. – AFP

ALL AGGRESSION: Brendon McCullum’s aggression gave New

Zealand a perfect start to run chase. – AFP

FROM THE LEGEND: Sir Richard Hadlee presents Brendon

McCullum with the Chappell–Hadlee Trophy. – AFP

Williamson, Boult delighted to be last men standingAUCKLAND: New Zealand’s last pair of Kane Williamson and Trent Boult said their edge-of-the-seat, one-wicket World Cup triumph over Australia on Satur-day will live in the memory for a long time. Chasing a modest 152-run target, New Zealand were fac-ing an improbable defeat at 146-9 with number 11 batsman Boult walking in to face the last two de-liveries from a rampaging Mitch-ell Starc who had nearly turned the tables with a career best 6-28.

But Boult survived both balls leaving it to Williamson to hit Pat Cummins for a straight six to bring up the win as a packed 40,000 Eden Park crowd gave them a standing ovation.

“I was looking to hit a boundary, ideally a six after the new bats-man came in. It was tough so my plan was to hit it and I did,” said Williamson, who made 45 not out as New Zealand sealed victory

after 23.1 overs. Boult, who had earlier taken a career best 5-27 which sent Australia crashing to 151, said he was desperate not to let his side down. “I was pretty pumped up but Kane quickly slowed it down for me, simplified it for me that if I play the two balls then we could move forward.”

New Zealand were cruising along with Williamson and Co-rey Anderson (26) involved in a 52-run stand for the fifth wicket before Starc pushed them back as five wickets fell for just 15 runs.

“I was just trying to keep that total out of my mind, I suppose, and just bat long enough to have a chance of getting across the line,” said Williamson.

“I think Australia bowled out-standingly and made it difficult for us. Starc was superb and swung the ball throughout but it was nice to cross the line, it doesn’t matter how you do it. We

had a scare but it’s nice to win.”Williamson said he didn’t real-

ise the damage Starc would cause when he took a single in the 23rd over and the Australian dismissed Adam Milne and Tim Southee.

“Every run looked quite significant and with three wickets left I thought it was okay to get a single but obviously it became tough,” he said. “But Trent showed a cool nerve and kept out those two balls and gave me an op-portunity, so it was a team effort.”

Boult said he just tried to bowl in the right areas when he ripped through the Australians. “I am just trying to do what I have been doing for the last five or six months. I swung the ball and had some luck with some drag-ons, but definitely I will remember it as it set up a reasonably low total and we chased that down.”

Williamson said the win over Australia means a lot to New Zealand. - AFP

F E E L I N G P R O U D

SCAN THIS QR CODE TO INSTANTLY VISIT

PHOTO GALLERY

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

C6 S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

The two games played on Saturday had contrasting features.

While India reeled off an easy win over United Arab Emirates, the clash between the Trans Tasman neighbours Australia and New Zealand was nail biting stuff. UAE were simply no match for the Indians and looked clueless not only against pace but also against spin. Ashwin finished with figures of 4 for 25 and with Yadav and Jadeja also chipping in, the UAE were dismissed for just over 100.

Just like the India-Pa-kistan rivalry is legendary, the rivalry between New Zealand and Australia goes back a long way too. In fact, it is difficult to say who the Australians love to beat more, England or New Zealand.

England, of course, tech-nically still rules Australia, with the Queen being the head of the country which bugs many Aussies, while the Aussies have treated New Zealand as younger brothers and that has riled the Kiwis no end.

The Australians batted first, and the opening overs were full of action with boundaries and a huge six coming from the Austral-ian openers.

Then Tim Southee, who seemed a bit nervous and excited in his first over, soon found the line and length which had helped him dismiss England for not too many and knocked back Finch’s stumps.

Thereafter, with Vettori being brought into the at-tack cleverly by McCullum, the Kiwis were able to pick two important wickets. Mc-Cullum once again showed how good a skipper he is by stationing a fielder at short cover for Michael Clarke, and the Aussie skipper per-ished at that very position.

Trent Boult was get-ting the ball to swing quite nicely, and he attacked the stumps relentlessly to grab five wickets, and but for the last wicket partnership between Haddin and Cum-

mins, the Australians would have ended up with an even lesser score. The manner in which McCullum began the chase for the Kiwis, it ap-peared that he was keen on smashing the record for the fastest 50, but after he was dismissed for exactly 50, the Kiwis slumped to the pace and swing of Mitchell Starc.

Starc made good use of his height to get the ball to dip in to bowl four batsmen and get two others caught. His six wicket haul brought Australia close to an im-probable win, and it took a bold six from Kane Wil-liamson to finish the match with just one wicket left.

He smashed the six going down the pitch to pacer Cummins, and that takes some courage. That is what the Kiwis have showed in this tournament, and it is this fearless approach that now makes them the favourites, especially after their win against the in-form Australians.

The Aussies had no cricket for almost two weeks, since their game against Bangladesh was washed out, and they were definitely unprepared for such a fine bowling per-formance from the Kiwis. The Kiwis are now pretty sure to finish on top of their group, and India, after their performance against UAE, also look as if they will top theirs. — PMG

Another fearless show by McCullum’s New Zealand

C O M M E N T A R Y

The Kiwis are now pretty sure to finish on top of their group, and India, after their performance against UAE, also look as if they will top theirs

Shoaib feels onus on Misbah to change Pakistan’s fortunesKARACHI: Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar believes that the national team can win the World Cup despite enduring a poor start but for that to hap-pen skipper Misbah Ul-haq has to play a bigger role.

“Pakistan can still win this World Cup but for this to happen Misbah Ul-Haq has to play a lead role and take total responsibility for the team. He must come up to bat at number three,” Akhtar said.

Pakistan, searching for their first points in the World Cup, play a do-or-die match against Zimba-bwe on Sunday in Brisbane.

“This team is down right now and we don’t have the batsmen to play for say 30 to 40 overs.

They are more comfortable playing T20 style cricket. So Mis-bah must bat at number three and hold the innings together for atleast 30 overs to give the others a chance to play freely,” he said.

“The others are struggling and need to be protected in the bat-ting order. Our mantra should be

to not lose wickets in the first 30 overs and then adapt T20 style cricket in the last 20 overs.”

Akhtar said Misbah had a gold-en opportunity to become a leg-end for Pakistan by changing his attitude and taking charge start-ing against Zimbabwe.

“He can bring joy to millions of Pakistanis. And I tell you once this team reaches the quarter-finals anything can happen.”

He pointed out that in 1992 Im-ran Khan had taken responsibil-ity and shown the way to the other players. “Misbah has to spearhead a change in attitude in this team. We need a fearless attitude like the other teams have displayed so far,” he said.

Akhtar pointed out that Ma-hendra Singh Dhoni had with his aggressive and positive captaincy turned the Indian team around in the World Cup. “I tell Misbah take our criticism positively learn from it because we also want to see you doing well and Pakistan winning the World Cup,” Akhtar

said. Akhtar had described Mis-bah as a “selfish” and “coward” captain after Pakistan were thrashed by the West Indies by 150 runs.

Meanwhile, former cricketers on Saturday lashed out at Mis-bah as the Pakistan captain spoke about the difficulties he was find-ing in selecting a right combina-tions in the World Cup.

“A lot is being said about the performance and what combina-tion should have been played. Also references are given to the 1992 World Cup. I just think people should look at the 1992 squad and understand how difficult it is for us to settle on a combination right now,” Misbah said in Brisbane.

But his remarks irked a num-ber of former players including Mohammed Yousuf. “If he is say-ing it is difficult to select the team or combination whose fault is it. He has been captain for last four years and why couldn’t he settle upon a World Cup combination until now,” Yousuf questioned. - PTI

F O R M E R P A K I S T A N P L A Y E R S R E A C T

Dhoni slams door on minnows’ big dreams

PERTH: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni dealt a huge blow to cricket’s non-Test nations Satur-day when he warned that his world champions have no plans to play regular fixtures against them.

With controversy over the make-up of the 2019 World Cup —where the number of teams is set to be slashed from 14 to 10 — threat-ening to overshadow the ongoing tournament, Dhoni slammed the door on minnows’ aspirations.

The 10 teams who will feature in England in 2019 will be based on a rankings system with the top eight as of September 30, 2017, booking their places with the other two slots decided by a qualifying tour-nament.

As all the Test nations play regu-lar fixtures against each other in one-dayers, it will leave the likes of Afghanistan and Ireland strug-gling to make the tournament as the major teams are not obliged to play Associate sides.

After brushing aside the United Arab Emirates by nine wickets on Saturday to record their third win in three games at this World Cup, Dhoni said demands on Indian cricketers were too high to add any more fixtures.

“I don’t see India playing any more games,” he said. “We can’t, unless we play two games in one day, which is just not possible. In-dia can’t play any more games.”

Despite the magnitude of Satur-day’s defeat, UAE skipper Moham-mad Tauqir said it was important for his side to get the opportunity

to test themselves against the best.“I think the more we play against

these bigger nations, the more we learn and the more we perform,” said Tauqir, whose team have been beaten in all three games although they pushed Zimbabwe and Ire-land before losing narrowly.

“The more we play, the better for the associate nations.”

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has been widely criticised for the decision to re-duce the number of teams in fu-ture World Cups with claims that the tournament will become a ‘closed-shop’ for the games major powers. It has also been seen as a regressive move for a body expect-ed to grow the game globally.

On Friday, however, ICC chief executive David Richardson told AFP that the size of the 2019

World Cup has yet to be decided.“I’ve learnt never to say never

to anything. I’m sure the format of the next World Cup will be debated after this one has finished,” he said.

Ireland beat one of the elite Test match nations for the third suc-cessive World Cup when they defeated the West Indies by four wickets in their 2015 opener. On Thursday, tournament debutants Afghanistan beat Scotland by one wicket to record their first World Cup win.

“I’m pleased with the perfor-mances of the qualifiers so far, but the bigger tests are still to come,” said Richardson.

“The question is what do you want the World Cup to be? Do you want it to be a jamboree of world cricket or the pinnacle of the one-day game?” - AFP

With controversy

over the make-up of

the 2019 World Cup

—where the number

of teams is set to be

slashed from 14 to

10 — threatening

to overshadow the

ongoing tournament,

Dhoni slammed the

door on minnows’

aspirations

I don’t see India playing any more games. We can’t, unless we play two games in one day, which is just not possible

MS DhoniIndia captain

MISMATCH: United Arab Emirates captain Mohammed Tauqir leads his players off the ground after their defeat to India. – AFP

C7S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Plastic takes 1,000 years or more to break downWHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW. DON’T WASTE A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY LIKE OMAN.

Beleaguered Pakistan summon spirit of Imran Khan and 1992

BRISBANE: Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq summoned up the spirit of Imran Khan and his 1992 World Cup warriors on Saturday as the strife-hit Asian giants look to salvage their 2015 campaign.

Pakistan, engulfed by a series of on and off-field controversies, have lost both of their opening two games — by 76 runs to India and 150 runs against the West Indies.

They are bottom of Pool B and defeat by Zimbabwe at the Gabba

on Sunday will virtually condemn them to an early exit.

But Pakistan have been down this road before.

Twenty-three years ago, when the World Cup was last played in Australia and New Zealand, Imran Khan’s team were also staring at early elimination.

They lost by 10 wickets to West Indies, beat Zimbabwe, had a no-result when about to be defeated by England before two more losses to India and South Africa.

They then went on a roll, seeing off Australia, Sri Lanka and New

Zealand to make the semifinals.New Zealand were defeated

again in the last-four before the title was clinched in Mel-bourne courtesy of a 22-run win against England.

“The important lesson is never give up,” said Misbah.

“That’s what you need to do as a player and as a team. That’s what Imran Khan usually says about 1992. Even when the team was in difficult times, they never gave up.

“They just kept trying, kept try-ing, and kept trying. At last they just managed to do what they real-

ly wanted to do in that World Cup. “So, that’s what we are trying to

do. We just have to do the things and we have to work hard, and that’s what we’re trying to do”.

Misbah insists that his team are trying to forget their two defeats as well as off-field diversions which have seen eight players fined for breaking a curfew, reports of a bust-up in training and chief selec-tor Moin Khan being sent home in disgrace for visiting a casino.

“It’s always like that,” said Mis-bah, when asked to reflect on the deluge of criticism his team has

endured for their woeful form.“They always say that they are

with the team all the time, but never do it. You could say it’s al-ways like that in Pakistan. We are always with the winning team, but when our team is in difficult times, we’re here (on their own.)”

Misbah added that Pakistan’s slow start could be partly attrib-uted to the damage caused by the late withdrawals of three key men — spinner Saeed Ajmal, veteran batsman Mohammed Hafeez and seamer Junaid Khan.

As a result, Pakistan’s tactics

and strategy had to be tweaked.“We are playing with a different

set-up. We were relying on spin and different bowlers, especially Junaid Khan. He was a main bowl-er for us,” said Misbah. - AFP

Twenty-three years

ago, Imran Khan’s

Pakistan team were

also staring at early

elimination. They

lost to West Indies,

beat Zimbabwe, had a

no-result when about

to be defeated by

England before two

more losses to India

and South Africa.

They then went on

a roll, seeing off

Australia, Sri Lanka

and New Zealand to

make the semifinals

Whatmore’s inside knowledge key for Zimbabwe: Chigumbura

BRISBANE: Zimbabwe are pin-ning their hopes on coach Dav Whatmore’s inside knowledge of Pakistan’s talent and well-known frailties when the teams meet in the World Cup on Sunday.

Whatmore was at the helm of Pakistan for two years from 2012.

But the much-travelled coach was signed up by Zimbabwe for the 2015 World Cup and has so far overseen a win over the United Arab Emirates and two losses to South Africa and West Indies.

Defeat for either side at Bris-bane’s Gabba ground on Sunday

is likely to be fatal to their hopes of reaching the quarterfinals from Pool B.

Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura believes the 60-year-old Whatmore, who coached Sri Lanka to the 1996 world title, knows where Pakistan are at their most vulnerable.

“He knows almost everyone on the team, so when it comes to strategies and stuff, it’s much bet-ter to have someone who has been working with Pakistan guys,” said Chigumbura.

“So we’ve got more information.

We just have to go and execute our plans tomorrow.,” he added.

“He’s brought a lot of positives into the team, and everyone is comfortable in the way he’s shar-ing his experience, it’s been good,” Chigumbura said of Whatmore.

“Everyone just wants to ex-press themselves and play the best cricket that they’re capable of.”

Zimbabwe have serious con-cerns over their own bowling at-tack, having been punished in all three matches so far.

West Indies, on the back of Chris Gayle’s World Cup record

double century, piled up 372, South Africa helped themselves to 339 while even the amateurs of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) managed a respectable 285.

“Yeah, these couple of days we’re working hard on finishing off with the ball,” said Chigum-bura, concerned by the runs his bowlers have been giving away in the closing stages.

“Hopefully, tomorrow we can execute our plans. Obviously it was a big concern looking at the games that we’ve played and where we didn’t bowl well.” - AFP

A L O T O F P O S I T I V E S

INSIDE INFO: Zimbabwe’s Chamu Chibhabha listens to coach Dave

Whatmore during their training session on Saturday. – AFP

PAKISTANCaptain: Misbah-ul HaqCoach: Waqar YounisSquad: Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shehzad, Younus Khan, Misbah, Haris Sohail, Umar Akmal, Sohaib Maqsood, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Irfan, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz, Ehsan Adil, Rahat Ali, Yasir ShahResults so far at 2015 World Cup: Lost to India by 76 runs; lost to West Indies by 150 runsRemaining Pool B matches: vs United Arab Emirates (March 4); vs South Africa (March 7); vs Ireland (March 15)Top performers: Misbah (83 runs); Sohail Khan (six wickets)

* * *ZIMBABWECaptain: Elton ChigumburaCoach: Dav WhatmoreSquad: Elton Chigumbura, Sikandar Raza, Regis Chakabva, Tendai Chatara, Chamu Chibhabha, Craig Ervine, Tafadzwa Kamungozi, Hamilton Masakadza, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Solomon Mire, Tawanda Mupariwa, Tinashe Panyangara, Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya, Sean WilliamsResults so far at 2015 World Cup: Lost to South Africa by 62 runs; beat United Arab Emirates by four wickets; lost to West Indies by 73 runsRemaining Pool B matches: vs Ireland (March 7); vs India (March 14)Top performers: Sean Williams (160 runs), Brendan Taylor (124 runs); Tendai Chatara (four wickets)

* * *Head to head: Total played: 47; Pakistan won 42; Zimbabwe won 3; Tied 1; No result 1Last match: August 31, 2013 - Pakistan won by 108 runs in Harare

F A C T B O X

IN GOOD SPIRITS: Pakistan players, from left, Mohammed Irfan, Rahat Adil and Ehsan Adil get themselves photographed during a training

session on the eve of their Pool B match against Zimbabwe at the Gabba Cricket Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday. – AFP

C8 S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

England out to silence critics

WELLINGTON: England are determined to restore their World Cup credibility in a crunch Pool A match Sunday against an improving Sri Lanka.

Eoin Morgan’s men return to Wellington’s Westpac stadium for the fixture, scene of a humiliating eight-wicket loss to New Zealand on February 20.

That defeat, a day-nighter in which England folded so quickly that ground staff did not need to turn on the floodlights, followed a 111-run drubbing by Australia in their opening match.

A subsequent win over minnows Scotland was greeted with relief rather than jubilation, and open-ing batsman Moeen Ali said Eng-land needed to make a statement against Sri Lanka. Ali said victory against the 1996 champions would restore the battered self-belief of the team, which has been flayed in the British media.

“(It’s) a very important game, if we can win that it will give the team a lot more confidence of being a very good one-day side and a major side in the competition.” he said.

Sri Lanka made a shaky start to their own campaign, suffering a 98-run loss to New Zealand and a real scare against Afghanistan.

But they clicked in a 92-run win over Bangladesh last Thurs-day which included centuries for Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara.

Sri Lanka defeated England 5-2 on home soil late last year in a se-ries that prompted Morgan’s pre-decessor Alastair Cook to be axed as one-day captain.

But paceman Steve Finn said England would not be dwelling on that series as conditions in Wel-lington would be completely dif-ferent. “We got beat by Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka so it’s important we go out there and try to stamp our au-thority in conditions that should favour us,” he said.

Finn said England’s poor start

meant they were treating all their remaining pool fixtures — against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Af-ghanistan — as must wins.

“It’s very important for us and

these three games are almost each like a quarterfinal, but we thrive on that sort of pressure and hopefully it will bring the best out of us.”

After three matches, England

are placed beneath Bangladesh and Afghanistan on the Pool A ta-ble. A loss to Sri Lanka would leave them facing an early exit if the group throws up any upset results.

Sunday’s match will be Sri Lanka’s third in eight days, having played Afghanistan last Sunday and Bangladesh on Thursday.

Former Sri Lanka great Muttiah

Muralitharan said the schedule was “not ideal” preparation for a dangerous encounter against an England side keen to prove a point.

But he said Sri Lanka’s batting looked “ominous” against Bang-ladesh and sling-arm fast bowler Lasith Malinga finally appeared to be finding form.

“He looked much more like his old self, his bowling had some of that old zip about it and that is a great sign for a team that really needs him to fire,” he said. - AFP

A loss to Sri Lanka

would leave England

facing an early exit if

the group throws up

any upset results

PEP TALK: England players listen to coach Peter Moores during training ahead of their 2015 Cricket World Cup Group A match against Sri Lanka. – AFP

ENGLANDCaptain: Eoin MorganCoach: Peter MooresSquad: Morgan, Moeen Ali, James Ander-son, Gary Balance, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Joe Root, James Taylor, James Tredwell, Chris Woakes

* * *Results so far at 2015 World Cup: Lost to Australia by 111 runs, Lost to New Zealand by eight wickets, Beat Scotland by 119 runs

Top performers: Moeen Ali (158 runs), James Taylor (115 runs); Steve Finn (eight wickets), Chris Woakes (five wickets); Joe Root (three catches)Remaining Pool A matches: v Bangla-desh (March 9); v Afghanistan (March 13)

* * *SRI LANKACaptain: Angelo MathewsCoach: Marvan AtapattuSquad: Mathews, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Thisara Perera, Upul Tharanga (replaced Jeevan Mendis), Sachithra Senanayake, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera (replaced Dhammika Prasad)

* * *Results so far at 2015 World Cup: Lost to New Zealand by 98 runs, Beat Afghani-stan by four wickets, Beat Bangladesh by 92 runs

Top performers: Tillakaratne Dilshan (185 runs), Kumar Sangakkara (151 runs); Suranga Lakmal and Lasith Malinga (six wickets); Jeevan Mendis and Rangana Herath (three catches)

Remaining Pool A matches: v Australia (March 8); v Scotland (March 11)* * *Head to head: Total played: 63England won 30, Sri Lanka won 33Last match: December 16, 2014 - Sri Lanka won by 87 runs in Colombo

F A C T B O X

WELLINGTON: Sri Lanka coach Marvan Atapattu has in-sisted his side won’t underesti-mate a faltering England when the teams meet in the World Cup in Wellington on Sunday.

England have yet to beat a Test nation at the tournament so far, having been thrashed by co-hosts Australia (111 runs) and New Zealand (eight wick-ets) before seeing off Scotland last time out.

Sri Lanka, the 1996 cham-pions, were also beaten by New Zealand before defeat-ing Afghanistan and Bang-ladesh to leave them second in Pool A heading into this weekend’s matches.

“They have a fantastic seam bowling line-up there,” Atapattu said Saturday of England’s attack.

“The format is such that we’ve got to guard against being complacent. We’ve just got to play the best cricket that we can on the day.

“They (England) are a balanced side. It is just that I don’t think they can be very happy about how things have unrolled for them in the recent past,” the former Sri Lanka batsman added.

“Having said that, they have made it to the (tri-series) final against Australia in Australia. That’s always a positive.

“Having mentioned about peaking at the right time, I think India is a classic example,” Atapattu said of the defending champions, who have put poor pre-tournament form behind them with Pool B wins over Pakistan and South Africa

“A victory against good op-position, a good performance would obviously boost, and I’m sure England is looking forward to that.

“It can be their batting — they’ve got some terrific batsmen in their first seven, and if not, they’ve got the best seaming attack on the day.”

So far so goodReflecting on Sri Lanka’s form, Atapattu said: “The last two games have been good for us, although it was a very close game against Afghanistan.

“Having said that, we would expect our No. 8 to score the way he scored in the Dunedin game.”

When England played at Wel-lington’s Westpac Stadium last week they were shot out for just

123 by New Zealand, with Tim Southee getting plenty of swing on his way to a stunning haul of seven for 33.

England captain Eoin Morgan has suggested he hopes there’s as much swing on offer on Sunday, although the Sri Lankans could yet do some damage in those condi-tions if Lasith Malinga is at his best.

“Any batsman wouldn’t like the ball swinging too much, our batsmen, their batsmen,” said Atapattu.

“At the end of the day, it’s the skill Southee had. Not too many bowlers in that line-up apart from Southee swung the ball on that day.

“If it swings, I think any bats-man would struggle. He won’t be in his comfort zone.” - AFP

Sri Lanka coach Atapattu wary of England threat

Malinga gamble starting to pay dividends for Sri LankaWELLINGTON: The toe-crush-er is hitting the target, the bounc-er is coming out well and, most importantly, the wicket column is swelling again. Three games into the World Cup and Sri Lanka’s calculated gamble on Lasith Mal-inga appears to be paying off.

Sanath Jayasuria knew exactly what he and his colleagues on the selection committee were doing when they picked the paceman with bleached, straw-coloured hair in the World Cup squad even though he was still recovering from ankle surgery.

“A player like Malinga, we have to take a gamble because he is a match-winner,” Jayas-uriya explained after naming the 15-strong squad. The 31-year-old pacer with a weird low-slung ac-tion has not let him down and three games into the campaign, Jayasuriya has grounds for feel-ing some vindication.

True, the rust showed in Sri Lanka’s tournament opener

against New Zealand in which Malinga bled 84 runs in his 10 wicketless overs. Against Afghan-istan, while not the strongest of opponents, Malinga took 3-41 and looked more in control of his craft.

The three wickets he claimed against Bangladesh on Thursday, however, suggested a return to his once devastating best was not that far away.

“He’s getting there. He and Sri Lanka will be encouraged by what he did,” Sunil Gavaskar told STAR Sports channel.

Gavaskar was impressed by Malinga’s last few overs, particu-larly the way he sealed Sri Lanka’s comprehensive win by trapping Taskin Ahmed plumb lbw, leaving the tail-ender with some sore toes in the process. “Towards the end, he was really bowling quick, he was getting those yorkers on tar-get as we saw with the poor, hap-less number 11,” the former India captain said.

Angelo Mathews has seen the toil behind the turnaround from close quarters. “If you watch Ma-linga in the nets, he’s the one who is working the hardest,” Mathews said on Wednesday of his pace spearhead.

“He bowls three types of deliv-eries. The bouncer, the fast yorker and then the slow yorker. It’s very, very difficult to pick up,” former Australia batsman Dean Jones said. “He bowls two lengths -- it’s very full or very, very short. Bril-liant bowler, best in the world bowling in the death.” - Reuters

X F A C T O R

Lasith Malinga.

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMSECTIONC S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5LIFE & STYLE

The actor, famous for playing the role of logical science officer Mr Spock in the long-running sci-fi series, passed

away at his Bel Air home on Friday. His wife Susan confirmed the news. Nimoy was tak-en to UCLA Medical Centre in Los Angeles on Thursday 19 February. He has entered hospital a number of times over the last few months. In a tweet from Nimoy's account, his grandson Dani paid tribute to the well-loved actor, which signed off using Spock's phrase "Live Long and Prosper".

"He was an extraordinary man, husband, grandfather, brother, actor, author-the list goes on- and friend. Thank you for the warm condolences." Dani added that the family will be selling special commemora-tive shirts online, with proceeds going to the COPD Foundation.

Last year, he revealed he was suffering from chronic lung disease, despite stopping smoking more than 30 years ago.

Nimoy was recently pictured looking frail and using an oxygen cylinder as he was wheeled through JFK airport.

Though he stopped attending Star Trek conventions in 2011, he made a cameo as

Spock in the 2013 film Star Trek Into Dark-ness, and a number of guest appearances in the science fiction series Fringe, which ran until 2012. Nimoy has played the famous Vulcan character since 1966 and was the only actor from the original series to re-turn for JJ Abrams’ recent film versions. Born in Boston, Nimoy was raised in the city's Italian quarter.

At age 17 he was cast in a local production of Clifford Odets' Awake and Sing as the son in a Jewish family, and went on to win a dra-ma scholarship at Boston College. However he later decided to drop out and moved to California and where he took acting lessons at the Pasadena Playhouse. The budding ac-tor quickly lost his Boston accent, enlisted the help of an agent and began playing small

roles in TV series and movies.In 1954 he married Sandra Zober, a fel-

low student at the Pasadena Playhouse, and they had two children, Julie and Adam. The couple divorced, and in 1988 he married Su-san Bay, a film production executive. After service in the Army, he returned to Holly-wood, where he worked as a taxi driver, vac-uum cleaner salesman, movie theatre usher and other jobs while looking for acting roles.

The actor found his big break as Spock in TV series Star Trek, which ran from 1966 to 1969. After the cult series ended in 1969, he immediately joined the adven-ture show Mission Impossible as the mas-ter of disguise, Paris.

Starring as Mr Spock in the original TV series of Star Trek. Starring as Mr Spock

in the original TV series of Star Trek. From 1976 to 1982 he hosted the syndicated TV series In Search of... which attempted to probe such mysteries as the legend of the Loch Ness Monster and the disappearance of aviator Amelia Earhart. Other roles in-cluded Israeli leader Golda Meir's husband opposite Ingrid Bergman in the TV drama A Woman Called Golda. Nimoy also turned his talents to director, including the hit com-edy Three Men and a Baby, as well as tread-ing the boards in plays such as A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tim Roof, Fiddler on the Roof, The King and I, My Fair Lady, Equus and Vincent van Gogh in one-man stage show Vincent.

More recently, he played the moneyed genius William Bell in the Fox series Fringe.

As a writer he penned poems, children's stories, and also enjoyed photography. But while the actor enjoyed a rich career, fan’s would always remember his first as Spock. Trekkies often greet one another with the Vulcan salute and the Vulcan motto, “Live Long and Prosper” - both of which Nimoy was credited with bringing to the character.

He pointed out, however, that the hand gesture was actually derived from one used by rabbis during Hebraic benedictions. In 2009, he returned to play an older version of his iconic character in the film Star Trek, who meets his younger self, played by Zach-ary Quinto. Critic Roger Ebert called the older Spock “the most human character in the film.”

When the movie was released, Nimoy told The Associated Press that in his late 70s he was probably closer than ever to be-ing as comfortable with himself as the logi-cal Spock always appeared to be.

"I know where I'm going, and I know where I've been," he said. A touching mes-sage the actor sent on Twitter last Sunday has now become his last public words. - Jenn Selby/The Independent

Star Trek legend Leonard Nimoy, has passed away at the age of 83.

C10

FIND-IT-ALLS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

PHARMACIESRound the clockAl Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24783334; Appolo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24782666; Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24702542, Salalah: 23291635; Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra: 24503585Muscat RegionApollo, Al Hamriya. Tel: 24787766Muscat, A Seeb Market. Tel: 24421691Muscat, Al Khuwair. Tel: 24485740Muscat, Al Hail South. Tel: 24537080Dhofar RegionMuscat, Al Nahdha Road, Salalah. Tel: 23291635

HOSPITALSAl Amal Medical & Health Care Centre: 24485052Atlas Hospital: Ruwi: 24811743/ Ghubra: 24504000Al Musafir Specialised Medical Clinic: 24706453Hatat Polyclinic LLC,Ruwi: 24563641, Azaiba: 24499269, Sohar: 2683006Al Raffah Hospital: 24618900/1/2Al Massaraat Clinic & Laboratory: 24566435Al Makook Medical Coordinance Centre: 24499434Apollo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24787766, 24787780Capital Polyclinic: 24707549Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic, Ruwi: 24799760/1/2Capital Clinic, Seeb: 24420740Ceregem National Raak: 24485633Dr Harub’s Clinic: 24563217Elixir Health Centre: 24565802Emirates Medical Centre: 246045401st Chiropractic Centre: 24472274Hamdan Hospital: 23212340International Medical Centre LLC: 24794501/2/3/4/5Kims Oman Hospital: 24760100

24 Hrs Emergency: 24760123Lama Polyclinic, Sohar: 26751128, MBD: 24799077, Al Khuwair: 24478818Magrabi Eye and Ear Hospital: 24568870Muscat Private Hospital: 24583600Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, Al Khuwair: 24477666Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC: 22004000

ROYAL OMAN POLICEEmergencies and inquiries: 9999General Directorate of Passport and Residence: 24569603Directorate General of Customs: 24521109Traffic violations inquiries: 24510228Public Relations Admin: 24560099

ACCOMMODATIONAl Bahjah Hotel: 24424400Al Bustan Palace: 24764000 Al Khuwair Hotel Apartments: 24478171Al Madina Holiday Inn: 24596400Al Maha International Hotel: 24494949Al Fanar Hotel: 24712385Al Falaj Hotel: 24702311Al Qurum Resort: 24605945Azaiba Hotel Apartments: 24490979Beach Hotel: 24696601Bowshar Hotel: 24491105Coral Hotel Muscat: 24692121Crowne Plaza Muscat: 24660660Crystal Suites: 24826100Golden Tulip Seeb: 24510300Grand Hyatt Muscat: 24641234Haffa House Hotel: 24707207Hotel Muscat Holiday: 24487123InterContinental Muscat: 24680000Majan Continental Hotel: 24592900Marina Hotel: 24711711Midan Hotel Suites: 24499565Mina Hotel: 24711828Muttrah Hotel: 24798401

Nuzha Hotel Apartments: 24789199Oman Dive Centre: 24824240Park Inn: 24507888Qurum Beach House Hotel: 24564070Radisson Blu Hotel: 24487777Ramee Dream Resort Seeb: 24453399Ramee Guestline Hotel: 24564443Ruwi Hotel: 24704244Safeer Hotel Suites: 24691200Sheraton Oman Hotel: 24772772Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa: 24776666The Chedi Muscat: 24524400The Treasurebox Muscat Hotel: 24502570

AIRLINE OFFICESMuscat Airport Flight information (24 hours): 24519456/24519223Aeroflot: 24704455, Air Arabia: 24700828, Air France: 24562153, Air India: 24799801, Air New Zealand: 24700732, Biman Bangladesh Airlines: 24701128, British Airways: 24568777, Cathay Pacific: 24789818, Egypt Air: 24794113, Emirates Air: 24404400, Ethiopian Airlines: 24660313, Gulf Air: 80072424, Indian: 24791914, Iran Air: 24787423, Japan Airlines: 24704455, Jazeera Airways: 23294848, Jet Airways: 24787248, Kenya Airways: 24660300, KML Royal Dutch Airlines: 24566737, Kuwait Airways: 24701262, LOT Polish Airlines: 24796387, Lufthansa: 24796692, Malaysian Airlines: 24560796, Middle East Airlines: 24796680, Oman Air: 24531111, Pakistan International Airlines: 24792471, Qatar Airways: 24771900, Qantas: 24559941, Royal Jordanian: 24796693, Saudi Arabian Airlines: 24789485, Singapore Airlines: 24791233, Shaheen Air: 24816565, SriLankan Airlines:

24784545, Swiss International Airlines: 24796692, Thai Airways: 24705934, Turkish Airlines: 24703033

MUSEUMSBait Al Baranda: Corniche (seafront opp fish market), Open from Saturday to Thursday 9am to 1pm and 4 to 6pmNatural History Museum: Al Khuwair, Tel: 24604957, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm; Thursday: 9am to 1pmMuseum of Omani Heritage: (former Omani Museum), Madinat Al Alam, Sat-Wed 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday - 9am to 1pm, Tel: 24600946Armed Forces Museum: Bait Al Falaj, Tel: 24312651, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm; Thurs 9-12pm and 3-6pm; Fri 9-11am and 3-6pm. Al Hoota Caves 24498258; Turtle Beach 96550606/96550707Children’s Science Museum: Shatti Al Qurum, Tel: 24605368, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pmOman-French Museum: near Muscat Police Station, Tel: 24736613, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm, Thurs: 9am to 1pmBait Al Zubair, Muscat: Tel: 24736688, Al Saidiya St., Muscatmuseum@baitalzubairmuseum.comOpen from Sat to Thurs: 9:30am to 6pm.National Museum Ruwi: Tel: 24701289, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pmSohar Fort Museum: Tel: 26844758, Open from Saturday to Wed: 8 to 1:30pm Thurs: 9am to 1pmMuscat Gate Museum: at Al Bahri Road, Muscat open from Sat to Wed 8am to 2pm

PRAYER TIMINGS

W E A T H E R

Dhuhr 12.24pm

Asr 3.45pm

Maghrib 6.14pm

Isha 7.25pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 5.14am

Sunset 6:09pm

Sunrise (Tomorrow) 6:29am

High tide 7:27pm 6:18am

Low tide 12.10pm 1:1oam

OMAN

Max 26Min 16

Max 24Min 14

Max 24Min 18

Max 27Min 11

Max 25Min 13Max 27

Min 10

Max 28Min 11

Max 29 Min 19

Clear to partly cloudy skies over the coastal areas of Oman sea and over al-Hajar mountains with chance of isolated rain with noticeable decreasing in temperature and

horizontal visibility due to dust rising wind over most of the Sultanate.EXPECTED WINDS: Over most of the Sultanate winds will be northerly to northeasterly moderate to fresh during day changing to become light to moderate at night.SEA STATE: Rough along coastal area of Oman sea and

southern al-Sharqiya governorate with maximum wave height of 3.0 meters and moderate over rest of the coast with maximum wave height of 2.0 meters.HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY: Moderate over most of the sultanate becoming poor during rain and dust raising.THE NEXT 48 HOURS OUTLOOK: Mainly clear skies and hazy conditions over most of the sultanate. Slight to moderate sea along most of the coast with maximum wave height of 1.5 meters.

Max Min

GULFAbu Dhabi 28 18Doha 25 17Dubai 24 14Kuwait 28 13Manama 24 18Riyadh 32 16

WORLDAthens 16 6Baghdad 24 9Beijing 12 -4Berlin 7 3Boston 1 -2Cairo 23 9Colombo 31 23Frankfurt 9 8Hong Kong 23 16Istanbul 12 6Johannesburg 23 12Kuala Lumpur 32 23Lisbon 17 13Paris 12 1Perth 29 17Singapore 31 24Tokyo 9 6Toronto -5 -6

WORLD

Max 3Min -1

Max 18Min 17

Max 10Min 2

Max 23Min 13

Max 17Min 8

Max 35Min 19

Max 3Min 0

Max 32Min 21

SUNDAYFLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA WY406 CAIRO  0005WY682 RIYADH  0005WY676 JEDDAH  0005WY648 KUWAIT  0010WY816 BANGKOK  0015WY910 SALALAH  0030WY916 SALALAH  0125NL669 SIALKOT  0200PK225 KARACHI  0210TK776 ISTANBUL-BAHRAIN  0255QR1132 DOHA  0345ET624 ADDIS ABABA  0350EK866 DUBAI  0355GF560 BAHRAIN  0405EY384 ABU DHABI  0405FZ041 DUBAI  0415WY114 FRANKFURT  0630CV732 LUXORE  0635WY658 BAHRAIN  06404H562 JEDDAH  0645WY638 ABU DHABI  0650WY902 SALALAH  0655WY686 RIYADH  0700WY324 KARACHI  0700WY144 MALPENSA  0720WY154 ZURICH  0720WY692 DAMMAM  0725WY674 JEDDAH  0730WY644 KUWAIT  0735WY668 DOHA  0735WY132 PARIS  0800WY602 DUBAI  0805WY3932 SOHAR  0815WY202 BOMBAY  0815WY102 LONDON HEATHROW  0820FZ043 DUBAI  0850WY272 JAIPUR  0855NL768 LAHORE  0900G9114 SHARJAH  0915WY342 LAHORE  0920WY236 HYDERABAD  0920WY242 DELHI  0920WY226 COCHIN  0930WY212 TRIVANDRUM  0940WY252 MADRAS  0940EK862 DUBAI  0940WY282 BANGALORE  1000QR1128 DOHA  1010EY382 ABU DHABI  1015IX549 TRIVANDRUM  1020WY3922 DUQUM OMAN  1045WY3302 MUKHAIZNA  1045WY604 DUBAI  1110WY918 KHASAB  1115G9841 RAS AL KHAIMA  1120FZ037 DUBAI  1200WY384 MALE  1205IX337 CALICUT  1210WY904 SALALAH  1215WY818 BANGKOK  1305WY606 DUBAI  1330WY906 SALALAH  1445WY920 KHASAB  1445WY920 KHASAB  1445WY632 ABU DHABI  1530FZ045 DUBAI  1555WY664 DOHA  1600WY348 ISLAM ABBAD  1625WY204 BOMBAY  1710WY292 CALICUT  1720WY610 DUBAI  1730WY246 DELHI  1730WY264 LUCKNOW  1735WY232 HYDERABAD  1740QR1126 DOHA  1745EK864 DUBAI  1750GF564 BAHRAIN  1810WY3306 MUKHAIZNA  1845WY822 KUALA LUMPUR  1910G9116 SHARJAH  1915WY254 MADRAS  1920WY646 KUWAIT  1925TG507 BANGKOK-KARACHI  1935WY434 TEHRAN  1940FZ047 DUBAI  1945WY338 KATHMANDU  2010WY614 DUBAI  2030WY848 JAKARTA  2055WY124 MUNICH  2105WY386 MALE  2110KL441 AMSTERDAM-DOHA  2120AI973 DELHI  2125WY624 DUBAI  21256.00E+81 BOMBAY  2130WY374 COLOMBO  2140WY312 CHITTAGONG  2140FZ049 DUBAI  2145AI907 MADRAS  2200WY414 AMMAN  2205QR1134 DOHA  2210UL205 COLOMBO  2225GF566 BAHRAIN  2240WY672 MEDINA  2250WY672 MEDINA  2250EY388 ABU DHABI  2250WY326 KARACHI  2255BA073 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI  2255WY908 SALALAH  2305AI985 AHMEDABAD-BOMBAY  2310WY662 DOHA  2315LX242 ZURICH-DUBAI  23209W540 BOMBAY  2325LH618 FRANKFURT-ABU DHABI  2330WY612 DUBAI  2335WY612 DUBAI  2335WY654 BAHRAIN  2340WY696 DAMMAM  2350WY696 DAMMAM  2350WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM  2355

MONDAYFLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA

WY682 RIYADH  0005WY406 CAIRO  0005WY636 ABU DHABI  0005WY648 KUWAIT  0010WY816 BANGKOK  0015WY910 SALALAH  0030BG021 DACCA-CHITTAGONG  01004H583 DACCA  0145WY3916 SALALAH  0205PK229 LAHORE  0215TK776 ISTANBUL-BAHRAIN  0255QR1132 DOHA  0345EK866 DUBAI  0355EY384 ABU DHABI  0405GF560 BAHRAIN  0405FZ041 DUBAI  0415WY114 FRANKFURT  0610WY658 BAHRAIN  0640WY638 ABU DHABI  0650WY902 SALALAH  0655WY154 ZURICH  0720WY144 MALPENSA  0720WY674 JEDDAH  0730WY668 DOHA  0735WY644 KUWAIT  0735WY602 DUBAI  0805WY202 BOMBAY  0815WY102 LONDON HEATHROW  0820FZ043 DUBAI  0850WY272 JAIPUR  0855G9114 SHARJAH  0915WY342 LAHORE  0920WY242 DELHI  0920WY236 HYDERABAD  0920WY346 ISLAM ABBAD  0930WY226 COCHIN  0930WY212 TRIVANDRUM  0940EK862 DUBAI  0940WY252 MADRAS  0940WY282 BANGALORE  1000QR1128 DOHA  1010EY382 ABU DHABI  10159W530 TRIVANDRUM  1035WY604 DUBAI  1110WY844 MANILA  1110WY918 KHASAB  1115GF562 BAHRAIN  1130WY372 COLOMBO  1140FZ037 DUBAI  1200WY384 MALE  1205IX337 CALICUT  1210WY902 SALALAH  1215PA450 LAHORE  1215WY716 ZANZIBAR  1225WY3302 MUKHAIZNA  1230WY324 KARACHI  1230WY818 BANGKOK  1305WY606 DUBAI  1330WY906 SALALAH  1445WY920 KHASAB  1445WY632 ABU DHABI  1530FZ045 DUBAI  1555WY204 BOMBAY  1710WY292 CALICUT  1720WY3304 MUKHAIZNA  1730WY610 DUBAI  1730WY246 DELHI  1730WY264 LUCKNOW  1735WY284 BANGALORE  1740WY232 HYDERABAD  1740WY664 DOHA  1745QR1126 DOHA  1745EK864 DUBAI  1750WY3922 DUQUM OMAN  1755GF564 BAHRAIN  1810WY822 KUALA LUMPUR  1910WY694 DAMMAM  1910WY684 RIYADH  1910G9116 SHARJAH  1915WY254 MADRAS  1920WY646 KUWAIT  1925WY434 TEHRAN  1940FZ047 DUBAI  1945WY338 KATHMANDU  2010WY614 DUBAI  2030WY848 JAKARTA  2055WY124 MUNICH  2105AI977 BANGALORE-HYDERABAD  21054H561 DACCA  2115KL441 AMSTERDAM-DOHA  2120WY624 DUBAI  2125AI973 DELHI  21256.00E+81 BOMBAY  2130WY312 CHITTAGONG  2140WY914 SALALAH  21409W534 COCHIN  2140FZ049 DUBAI  2145AI907 MADRAS  2200WY414 AMMAN  2205QR1134 DOHA  2210WY928 SALALAH  2220GF566 BAHRAIN  2240BA073 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI  2250EY388 ABU DHABI  2250WY326 KARACHI  2255SG061 AHMEDABAD  2300WY908 SALALAH  2305AI985 AHMEDABAD-BOMBAY  2310WY662 DOHA  2315LX242 ZURICH-DUBAI  23209W540 BOMBAY  2325LH618 FRANKFURT-ABU DHABI  2330WY612 DUBAI  2335WY654 BAHRAIN  2340WY696 DAMMAM  2350

FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD AI986 BOMBAY  0005LX243 DUBAI-ZURICH  00209W539 BOMBAY  0025BA072 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW  0025LH619 ABU DHABI-FRANKFURT  0050WY685 RIYADH  0105WY211 TRIVANDRUM  0110WY251 MADRAS  0110WY201 BOMBAY  0120WY225 COCHIN  0125WY235 HYDERABAD  0135WY341 LAHORE  0150WY281 BANGALORE  0150WY601 DUBAI  0150WY241 DELHI  0155WY271 JAIPUR  0200WY643 KUWAIT  0200WY637 ABU DHABI  0205WY821 KUALA LUMPUR  0205WY657 BAHRAIN  0205WY123 MUNICH  0210WY667 DOHA  0225WY323 KARACHI  0225WY691 DAMMAM  0235WY383 MALE  0235WY901 SALALAH  0240WY847 JAKARTA  0245PK260 PESHAWAR  0310NL772 PESHAWAR  0330TK777 BAHRAIN-ISTANBUL  0350ET625 ADDIS ABABA  0450EK867 DUBAI  0455FZ042 DUBAI  0510QR1133 DOHA  0520EY385 ABU DHABI  0525WY3931 SOHAR  0600WY3301 MUKHAIZNA  0715WY3921 DUQUM OMAN  07454H562 DACCA  0745GF561 BAHRAIN  0745WY903 SALALAH  0800WY603 DUBAI  0800CV732 HONG KONG  0805WY917 KHASAB  0815WY291 CALICUT  0920WY263 LUCKNOW  0920WY347 ISLAM ABBAD  0920FZ044 DUBAI  0935WY385 MALE  0940WY231 HYDERABAD  0955WY245 DELHI  0955WY843 MANILA  1000G9115 SHARJAH  1005WY815 BANGKOK  1010NL769 LAHORE  1030WY905 SALALAH  1030WY203 BOMBAY  1030WY605 DUBAI  1030WY373 COLOMBO  1040WY253 MADRAS  1040WY337 KATHMANDU  1040WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM  1045EK863 DUBAI  1055WY311 CHITTAGONG  1100EY383 ABU DHABI  1105IX554 TRIVANDRUM  1110QR1129 DOHA  1115WY3303 MUKHAIZNA  1115WY919 KHASAB  1145WY663 DOHA  1145G9842 RAS AL KHAIMA  1210WY631 ABU DHABI  1220IX350 CALICUT  1310FZ038 DUBAI  1315WY433 TEHRAN  1330WY113 FRANKFURT  1400WY101 LONDON HEATHROW  1400WY413 AMMAN  1405WY645 KUWAIT  1405WY153 ZURICH  1405WY143 MALPENSA  1415WY927 SALALAH  1415WY609 DUBAI  1420WY405 CAIRO  1430WY3305 MUKHAIZNA  1515WY671 MEDINA  1535WY675 JEDDAH  1630WY613 DUBAI  1700FZ046 DUBAI  1700WY913 SALALAH  1810WY623 DUBAI  1820WY325 KARACHI  1830QR1127 DOHA  1845WY681 RIYADH  1845WY907 SALALAH  1850GF565 BAHRAIN  1855WY647 KUWAIT  1900WY661 DOHA  1900EK865 DUBAI  1905WY695 DAMMAM  1910G9117 SHARJAH  2005WY909 SALALAH  2015WY611 DUBAI  2025WY635 ABU DHABI  2040FZ048 DUBAI  2040TG508 KARACHI-BANGKOK  2040WY915 SALALAH  2110FZ050 DUBAI  2225KL442 DOHA-AMSTERDAM  2230WY817 BANGKOK  22356.00E+82 BOMBAY  2245AI908 MADRAS  2300AI974 DELHI  2310QR1135 DOHA  2320GF567 BAHRAIN  2325UL206 COLOMBO  2335EY381 ABU DHABI  2350

FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD AI986 BOMBAY  0005LX243 DUBAI-ZURICH  00209W539 BOMBAY  0025BA072 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW  0025WY715 ZANZIBAR  0040LH619 ABU DHABI-FRANKFURT  0050WY211 TRIVANDRUM  0110WY251 MADRAS  0110WY201 BOMBAY  0120WY225 COCHIN  0125WY235 HYDERABAD  0135WY601 DUBAI  0150WY281 BANGALORE  0150WY345 ISLAM ABBAD  0150WY341 LAHORE  0150WY241 DELHI  0155WY271 JAIPUR  0200WY643 KUWAIT  0200WY637 ABU DHABI  0205WY657 BAHRAIN  0205WY821 KUALA LUMPUR  0205WY123 MUNICH  0210WY371 COLOMBO  0210WY667 DOHA  0225WY383 MALE  0235WY901 SALALAH  0240WY847 JAKARTA  02454H584 DACCA  0245BG022 CHITTAGONG-DACCA  0250PK230 LAHORE  0315TK777 BAHRAIN-ISTANBUL  0350EK867 DUBAI  0455FZ042 DUBAI  0510QR1133 DOHA  0520EY385 ABU DHABI  0525GF561 BAHRAIN  0745WY603 DUBAI  0800WY3301 MUKHAIZNA  0800WY903 SALALAH  0800WY323 KARACHI  0800WY917 KHASAB  0815WY263 LUCKNOW  0920WY291 CALICUT  0920FZ044 DUBAI  0935WY283 BANGALORE  0940WY245 DELHI  0955WY231 HYDERABAD  0955G9115 SHARJAH  1005WY815 BANGKOK  1010WY203 BOMBAY  1030WY905 SALALAH  1030WY605 DUBAI  1030WY337 KATHMANDU  1040WY253 MADRAS  1040EK863 DUBAI  1055WY311 CHITTAGONG  1100EY383 ABU DHABI  1105QR1129 DOHA  11159W533 COCHIN  1135WY919 KHASAB  1145GF563 BAHRAIN  1215WY631 ABU DHABI  1220IX350 CALICUT  1310FZ038 DUBAI  1315PA451 LAHORE  1315WY683 RIYADH  1320WY3303 MUKHAIZNA  1330WY433 TEHRAN  1330WY663 DOHA  1330WY113 FRANKFURT  1400WY101 LONDON HEATHROW  1400WY645 KUWAIT  1405WY413 AMMAN  1405WY153 ZURICH  1405WY143 MALPENSA  1415WY131 PARIS  1420WY609 DUBAI  1420WY405 CAIRO  1430WY693 DAMMAM  1430WY3921 DUQUM OMAN  1455WY675 JEDDAH  1630WY613 DUBAI  1700FZ046 DUBAI  1700WY913 SALALAH  1735WY623 DUBAI  1820WY325 KARACHI  1830QR1127 DOHA  1845WY681 RIYADH  1845WY907 SALALAH  1850GF565 BAHRAIN  1855WY647 KUWAIT  1900WY661 DOHA  1900EK865 DUBAI  1905WY695 DAMMAM  1910WY653 BAHRAIN  1920WY653 BAHRAIN  1920G9117 SHARJAH  2005WY909 SALALAH  2015WY611 DUBAI  2025FZ048 DUBAI  2040WY635 ABU DHABI  2040WY915 SALALAH  2110AI978 HYDERABAD-BANGALORE  22004H561 JEDDAH  2215FZ050 DUBAI  2225KL442 DOHA-AMSTERDAM  2230WY817 BANGKOK  22359W529 TRIVANDRUM  2240WY411 AMMAN  22406.00E+82 BOMBAY  2245AI908 MADRAS  2300AI974 DELHI  2310WY677 MEDINA  2310QR1135 DOHA  2320GF567 BAHRAIN  2325WY673 JEDDAH  2350EY381 ABU DHABI  2350

A I R L I N E S

LONG DISTANCE BUS TIMINGS (OMAN NATIONAL TRANSPORT COMPANY SAOC) *SUBJECT TO CHANGE

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (Route 36)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (Route 36)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41)06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri13:00 Sohar 15:45 Daily13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily 16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily 16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41)07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily07:00 Ruwi 11:40 Daily13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri13:00 Sohar 14:55 Daily13:00 Ruwi 17:40 Daily 13:00 Sohar 19:20 Daily 17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily

TO SINAW (Route 52)17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily

TO SINAW (Route 52)07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54)14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54)06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54)08:00 Nizwa 10:20 Daily08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54)15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily

TO SUR (Route 55)07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily

TO SUR (Route 55)06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (Route 62)06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (Route 62)12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201)06:00 Sohar 08:30 Daily06:00 Dubai 11:30 Daily13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur15:00 Sohar 17:35 Daily15:00 Dubai 20:55 Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201)07:30 Sohar 10:50 Daily07:30 Ruwi 13:40 Daily13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri15:30 Sohar 18:45 Daily15:30 Ruwi 21:35 Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (Route 100)07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily10:00 Salalah 23:30 Daily19:00 Salalah 07:40 Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (Route 100)07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily10:00 Ruwi 22:30 Daily19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101)06:00 Marmul 16:50 Daily

SALALAH TO DUBAI (Route 102)15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101)06:00 Marmul 16:30 Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (Route 102)15:00 Salalah 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily 07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily 07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily 16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI) TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

LISTINGS

-www.met.gov.om

BORN today, you are likely to live your life exclusively in a single sphere, doing one thing throughout the years and enjoying tremendous success as a result of that singular, all-consuming dedication. Of course, it is anyone’s guess what that sphere will turn out to be; you are likely to stumble into something when you are young that develops quickly into the very thing that shapes and defines your life — and neither you, nor your parents, nor anyone else may be able to anticipate what this will be. Indeed, you may not even recognize it for what it is until you have traveled very far down life’s path. Only by looking back and seeing where you came from and where you have traveled will you know what you’ve really been doing!

Your success in life is sure to be unequaled. You have been endowed with a great talent — or set of talents — that will enable you to soar to the heights of your chosen profession. Indeed, you may redefine what kinds of success are possible in your line of work. The sky’s the limit!

Also born on this date are: Ron Howard, actor and filmmaker; Justin Bieber, singer; Daniella Monet, actress; Frederic Chopin, composer; Roger Daltrey, singer; Alan Thicke, actor; Robert Conrad, actor; Harry Belafonte, singer; George Eads, actor; Catherine Bach, actress and model; Glenn Miller, musician and bandleader; Harry Caray, announcer; David Niven, actor; Russell Wong, actor.

Your ability to process information quickly will come in very handy, as a great deal of it comes at you all at once.

VIRGO [AUG. 23-SEPT. 22]

LIBRA [SEPT. 23-OCT. 22] LLLLLLLLLLLLLLL[S[S[S[S[[[S[[S[S[S[[S[S[SSS[SS[SSSS

SCORPIO [OCT. 23-NOV. 21] S[

SAGITTARIUS [NOV. 22-DEC. 21] S[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

AQUARIUS [JAN. 20-FEB. 18]

You must be clear about what you are willing to do — and, more important, what you’re not willing to do. Lines must be drawn.

You and a longtime partner are not in sync the way you usually are, but this is an obstacle that is easily surmounted.

Your choice of words may be much more important than anticipated. You’re ready to deliver a message, but don’t be in a hurry.

You may be able to fit in a little something extra just for yourself, but it all depends on how you use the time available to you.

Gather your available resources and take stock of what is possible before heading off on a journey of discovery and accomplishment.

A newcomer may put everyone to shame by performing well above par, though you are sure to give him a run for his money.

An early start affords you the opportunity to stop and reverse course if necessary, without sacrificing all forward motion.

PISCES [Feb. 19-March 20]

You can have a great deal of fun with someone else, and not at his or her expense. The laughter is likely to be quite contagious.

GEMINI [MAY 21-JUNE 20]

CANCER [JUNE 21-JULY 22]

LEO [JULY 23-AUG. 22]

CAPRICORN [DEC. 22-JAN 19]

Y O U R B I R T H D A Y

ARIES [March 21-APRIL 19]

TAURUS [APRIL 20-MAY 20]

Though you don’t wish to put anyone in a tight spot, you’re going to have to demand a decision one way or the other before nightfall.

You can help someone in charge make the decisions that will affect everyone involved for the duration of a developing project.

The rules may be quite simple, but you are not likely to find many of them conducive to the creative endeavor you wish to begin.

ERIK Weihenmayer, who, on May 25, 2001, became the only blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, said, “People get trapped into thinking about just one way of doing things.”

That applies to a lot of inexperienced bridge players. They learn “rules” like cover an honor with an honour or third hand high and always follow them, even when it is wrong. Yes, all right, that is what sorts out the good players from the less capable, but usually, especially in the card play, you have only two choices — Play high or low, or discard or ruff. Take a few moments to consider both, and you are likely to realise which is correct.

In this deal, South is in four spades. West leads his diamond two. South takes East’s seven with his ace and leads the spade queen. East wins with his ace and returns the diamond jack. How should South continue?

South’s three-spade rebid was game-invitational.

Declarer seems to have 10 easy tricks: five spades, two hearts, two diamonds and one club. So, when East returns the diamond jack, it looks obvious for South to win the trick with his king. Here, though, West ruffs away the king, and declarer later loses two diamond tricks to go down one.

Instead, South should let East take the trick. Then declarer’s 10 tricks are safe, South being sure of a second diamond trick even if East leads a third diamond.

Finally, note that if West could overtake his partner’s diamond jack from an initial holding of queen-third and give his partner a ruff, the defenders would take only those three tricks.

Phillip Alder

C11

ENTERTAINMENT

It is an easy trap to fall into

B I G N A T E

B O R N L O S E R

M A R M A D U K E

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

K I D S P O T H E A L T H C A P S U L EC R O S S W O R D

Ans

wer

to p

revi

ous

puzz

le

2 3 1 5 9 7 6 4 8 7 8 5 3 6 4 2 1 9 6 9 4 8 2 1 7 5 3

5 4 8 1 7 9 3 6 2 3 6 9 2 5 8 1 7 4 1 7 2 4 3 6 8 9 5

4 2 7 6 8 5 9 3 1 9 5 3 7 1 2 4 8 6 8 1 6 9 4 3 5 2 7

WITH LOVE1 4 1 5 7 2

9 1 5 4 3 2 6 1 3 9 4 5 8

4 5 8 6

5 8 3 9 1 4 3 8 3 6 1 9

Previous puzzle Solution

HOW TO PLAY Fill the empty cells with the numbers 1 to 9, so that each number appears once in each row, column and area. — Seven Galaxies

S U D O K U

S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 16 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to extra@timesofoman.com

25 Talks to a beat26 Confound it!27 Four-letter word28 “Norma —”29 Get wrong30 Mother rabbit33 Not play fair37 Civil War soldier39 Like a he-man40 Annoying

42 Scottish philosopher

43 Hang onto44 Make public45 Mini-peninsula46 Berry product47 Ms. Thurman48 Thumbs-down

vote49 Lawyer’s thing

ACROSS

1 Male cat or turkey 4 Online auction

site 8 Recover from an

injury12 “Scandal” network13 Insignificant14 Sherpa’s sighting15 Photo16 NASA’s cape18 Made waterproof20 She broods a lot21 Grain crop22 Consumer

advocate Ralph —26 Fawn on28 Change the decor31 401(k) cousin32 Kept in shape33 Billiards shot34 Just a taste35 Gulped down36 This place37 Tpks.38 Kitchen herb40 Apiece41 Murmur of

contentment

43 Meat on skewers46 Crossroads50 Mushroom morsel51 Bombay nanny52 Too compliant53 Hex halved54 Famous clinic55 Glimpse56 Arm the alarm

DOWN

1 Knocks gently 2 NYC theater

award 3 Paul of the Fab

Four 4 Show host 5 One on a string 6 Prince Valiant’s

son 7 Slangy affirmative 8 “Laughing” animal 9 Always, in poems10 — — loss11 Mae West role17 Rattler’s defense19 Strong alkali23 Sidetracks24 Pennsylvania port

C I N E M A S C H E D U L E

SYED AYAAN RIZVIMarch 1, 2009

S.HAEMAL DANUSHMarch 1, 2007

VAISHNAVI PRAVEENMarch 1, 2006

BAHJA CINEMA

STARS CINEMA

Film Information - 24540856 / Advance Booking - 24540855Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com

For More Information 24789032, 24786776 Website: www.isurf.co.om

Film information 24791641 / 24786776

FOCUS ( Comedy ) Cast: Will Smith, Margot Robbie2.00, 6.00, 10.00 & 11.55 pmCP No: 559 ( 18+ )FORT BLISS : (Drama ) Cast: Michelle Monaghan, 10.00 & 11.55 pm; CP No: 560 ( 15+ )COMBUSTION ( Action ) Cast: Adriana Ugarte, Alex Gozales4.00 & 8.00 pm; CP No: 562 (15+)SERENA ( Drama ) Cast: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Sam Reid2.00, 5.45 pm; CP No: 558 (15+)THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE OUT OF WATER : (Animation ) Cast: Tom Kenny, Glancy Brown4.00 pm; CP No: 474 ( PG )DRAGON BLADE: ( Action ) Cast: Jackie Chan,John Cusack7.45 pm; CP No: 473 ( PG 12 )

Fire Man (Mal ) (Act/ Thriller ) Cast: Mammootty,Unni Mukundan & Nyla Usha 3:30 & 9:30 pm at Cinema Main 6:45pm at Cinema -3 Kakki Sattai (Tamil) (Com/Rom ) Cast: Shiva Karthikeyan, Sri Diya; 3:45 & 9:45 at Cinema -36:30pm at Cinema Main Temper -Telugu (Act) 3:30, 6:30 & 9:30pm at Cinema 2 Badlapur (Hindi) (Act) Cast: Varun Dhawan, Yami Gauthami 3:45, 9:45pm at Cinema 4 Yennai Arindhaal(Tamil)(Act) Cast: Ajit Kumar,Trisha, Anushka Shetty, 6:45 pm at Cinema- 4

Focus (2D) (Comedy | Crime) (18+)Cast: Will Smith, Margot Robbie3:00, 7:15, 9:30, 11:45 PMCombustion (2D) (Action) (15+)Cast: Adriana Ugarte, Álex González11:45 PMProtector 2 (2D) (Action) (15+)Cast: Tony Jaa, RZA, 9:30, 11:30 PMCaptain Sabertooth (2D)(Act)(PG12)Cast: Fridtjov Såheim, Tuva Novotny, 3:30, 7:45 PMBlack or White (2D) (Drama) (PG12)Cast: Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer, 5:30 PMFort Bliss (2D) (Drama/War) (15+)Cast: Michelle Monaghan, 7:15 PMThe SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2D) (Animation) (PG)1:45 PMBoys of Abu Ghraib (2D) (Dr) (15+)Cast: Luke Moran, Sara Paxton9:30 PMThe Wedding Ringer (2D) (Co) (TBC)Cast: Kevin Hart, Josh Gad,5:15 PMPlan B (2D) (Thriller) (12+)Cast: Khaled El Nabawy, 5:15 PMKingsman: The Secret Service (2D) (Action | Adventure) (15+)Cast: Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson2:45 PM

Boys Of Abu Gharib (2D)(War) (15+)Gold Class: 07:00 PMThe Protector (2D) (Action) (15+)Cast: Tony Jaa, RZA03:30 PM & 11:45 PMCombustion (2D)(Act/Adv) (15+)Cast: Adriana Ugarte, Álex González05:30 PMZarafa (2D): (Animation) (PG)Cast: Max Renaudin Pratt, 10:30 AM, 12:00 PM & 01:30 PMThe SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water (2D) (Animation/Co) (PG)11:30 AM & 01:30 PMSerana (2D) (Drama) (15+)Cast: Bradley C, Jennifer Lawrence,05:15 PMBlack or White (2D) (Drama) (PG12)Cast: Kevin Costner; 07:15 PMFort Bliss (2D) (Drama/War) (15+)09:30 PMCaptain Sabertooth (2D)(Act)(PG12)Cast: Fridtjov Såheim11:45 PM

The Wedding Ringer (2D)(Com)(15+)Cast: Kevin Hart, Josh Gad,Gold Class: 05:00 PMFocus (2D)(Comedy/Crime) (18+)Cast: Will Smith, Margot Robbie03:00 PM, 07:15 PM & 09:30 PMGold Class: 2:45, 9:00 & 11:15 PM

SCREEN 1Ab Tak Chhappan 2 – Hindi(Act)12+Cast: Nana Patekar, Gul Panag3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PMSCREEN 2Badlapur – (Action | Drama) – 15+Cast: Varun Dhawan, Huma Qureshi, Yami Gautam3.45 pmKaaki Sattai – Tamil(Act) – PG12Cast: Sivakarthikeyan, Prabhu, Sri Divya 6.45, 9.45 PMSCREEN 3Shamitabh - Hindi (Drama) - (PG)Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Dhanush,

The Protector 2 – 2D (15+) ActionCast: Tony Jaa, RZA, 03:30 , 07:45 , 09:45 , 11:45 PMFort Bliss – 2D (15+) Drama | WarCast: Michelle Monaghan, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Pablo05:30 , 11:30 PMZarafa – 2D (PG) Animation | FamilyCast: Max Renaudin Pratt, Simon Abkarian, 2:45 , 05:15 PMFocus– 2D (18+) Comedy | CrimeCast: Will Smith, Margot Robbie04:15 , 09:45 , 11:45 PMCombustion – 2D (15+) ActionCast: Adriana Ugarte, Álex González03:15, 06:15 PMCaptain Sabertooth and the Treasure of Lama Rama– 2D (PG12) Action | AdventureCast: Fridtjov Såheim, Tuva Novotny08:00 , 09:45 PMSerena – 2D (15+) DramaCast: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Sam Reid ; 3:15 PMKaaki Sattai – 2D (PG12) Act | ComCast: Sivakarthikeyan, Sri Divya, Prabhu Ganesan, Imman; 06:45 PMFireman – 2D (PG) Act | Dr | Cast: Mammootty, Andrea Jeremiah, Salim Kumar; 07:15 PMYoum Malosh Lazma– 2D (12+) (Arb) Comedy

The Protector 2 – 2D (15+) ActionCast: Tony Jaa, RZA, 03:45, 05:45, 07:45, 09:45, 11:45PM

Focus – 2D (18) Com | Crime Cast: Will Smith, Margot Robbie03:15, 05:15, 09:30, 11:30PM

Dragon Blade – 2D (PG12) Act | Ad Cast: John Cusack, Jackie Chan07:15, 11:45 PM

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water – 2D (PG) Animation | Cast: Tom Kenny, Antonio Banderas, 03:45, 05:30 PM

Fireman – 2D (PG) Act | ThrillerCast: Mammootty, Nyla Usha, Andrea Jeremiah, Salim Kumar, Siddique07:15, 09:30 PM

Dragon Blade ( Act / Adv ) (PG12) Cast : John Cusack, Jackie Chan7:00 PMThe Protector 2 ( Action) (15+) Cast : Tony Jaa, RZA, 5:00, 9:00, 11:15 PM

Focus (2D) (18+) (Com| Crime) Cast: Will Smith, Margot Robbie,11:00 AM /5:00/ 9:00/11:15 PMDragon Blade (2D/PG12) (Act | Adv) Cast: John Cusack, Jackie Chan1:00/4:30 PMCombustion (2D/15+) (Action) Cast: Adriana Ugarte, Álex5:30/11:45 PMThe Protector 2 (2D/15+) (Action) Cast: Tony Jaa, RZA, 11:30 AM/2:30/7:00/9:30 /11:30Zarafa (2D/PG) (Animation) Cast: Max Renaudin Pratt, Simon Abkarian, 11:30AM/1:00/3:15 PMCaptain Sabertooth and the Treasure of Lama Rama (2D/PG) (Action | Adventure Comedy) 1:30 /3:30 PMFireman (2D/PG) (Act | Drama ) 9:30 PMKaaki Sattai (2D/PG12) (Act | Co) Cast: Sivakarthikeyan, Prabhu Ganesan, Imman; 6:45 PMYoum Maloush Lazmah(2D)(12+)(Comedy) Cast: Noah Taylor, Jacki Weaver7:15 PM

Focus ( Comedy / Crime ) (18+)

Cast : Will Smith, Margot Robbie

5:00, 7:00, 9:15 PM

Fireman (Malayalam – Act(PG)

Cast : Mammootty, Nyla Usha, Andrea

Jeremiah, Salim Kumar, Siddique

11:15PM

Akshara Haasan, 3.45 pmBadlapur – (Action | Drama) – 15+Cast: Varun Dhawan, huma qureshi, Yami Gautam6.45 pmDragon Blade – English (Act) – PG12Cast: Jackie Chan, Adrien Brody, John Cusack9.45 pm

Cast: Noah Taylor, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jacki Weaver; 5:15 PMAb Tak Chhappan 2 – 2D (12+) Action | CrimeCast: Nana Patekar, Ashutosh Rana, Gul Panag; 9:30 , 11:35 PM

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

CONNECT H E D A I LY G U I D E

D

D4 VACANCY CARGO D7

S U N D AY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

RENT D2

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon

for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

DAILY GUIDE Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

2BHK /1BHK Commercial & residen-

tial flat at Honda road.

Contact 98087644

Prime location Showroom in Qurum

Available for Rent. Main roan facing.

Please contact: 92944717

We have entire building for rent

comprising of 7 bedrooms front villa

and three flats attachments in the

same compound. It is suitable for

office / clinic or affiliated accommo-

dation. The building is located along

the vicinity area of North Ghobra

commercial area (behind private

preparatory Science School) Inter-

ested party. Contact 99411607

3BHK, 2BHK and 1 BHK flats with

split air conditioners are available

for rent in new building in Al Qurum,

near rose Garden. Interested persons

may contact on 99244577

Villas & flats at Ansab.

Contact 98458542

1bedroom attached toilet Al Khu-

wair area only for ladies or husband

and wife without children. Contact

9:00 pm to 7:00 am 95765719

4 BHK Wadi Kabeer near Lulu

Hypermarket. Contact 97007934 /

92629232

2BHK in Muttrah near Oman

house with split ac. Contact

97007934 / 92629232

Attached single bedroom with A/C

at Al Khuwair for Exe - bachelors.

Contact 99636550

Furnished room with AC

for expatriate in Al Khuwair.

Contact 99689315

2BHK Al Hail North near main

road. Contact 99330385

Deluxe apartments in Azaiba

villas & office space.

Contact 99120014. E mail:

www.dreamhomesoman.com

Flats in Mumtaz 2 bedrooms sit-

ting room, kitchen, toilet, Way no

3352 building no 3447 & 3668 .

Contact 98003444

Villa with 6 rooms + 2hall, Majlis,

7 toilets, studio in Shatti Al Qurum

2500/- R.O.

Contact + (968) 99738881

1BHK new bldg with A/C

curtains, near Khimji Mart MBD.

Contact 99061408 / 99024039

Flat at Athaiba near Al fair, 3BHK

living room, 3bath rooms, split ac

for family only 430/- R.O Ground

floor. Contact 92479515

D2 S U N D AY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

Studio with A/C Darsait R.O 200/-.

Contact 92144045

Studio commercial / Darsait,

RO 200/-. Contact 92144045

1,2,3 BHK Flats & villas.

Contact 92144045

1 bedroom attached toilet in

Al Khuwair bachelors / family

R.O 140/- . Contact 95154331

New flats Wadi Kabeer 1BHK, hall,

kitchen, bathroom with split a/c for

family only 250/- R.O.

Contact 92479515

2BHK with A.C Darsait R.O 300/-.

Contact 92144045

1BHK Al Falaj R.O 200/-.

Contact 92144045

House for rent in behind Oman

house Muttrah R.O 120/- BHK.

Contact 99354340

2BHK Wadi Kabeer R.O 300/-.

Contact 92144045

4 & 5 Bhk Villa for Rent in Qurum.

Contact 99792181

Flat at Athaiba near Horizon Gym,

first floor 3BHK, hall living room,

3bathrooms split ac 550/- R.O

family only. Contact 92479515

1 & 2 Bhk Flat in Ruwi.

Contact 99792181

Labour Camp for Rent in Wadi

Kabir. Contact 99792181

2 Bhk flat in bowsher.

Contact 99792181

Shop in Wadi Kabeer behind Sana

Fashion, ground & mezzanine floor,

bathroom & store. 350 Riyals.

Contact: 99445192

New Building in Mutrah, 2 B/D

Room Flat + Setting Room,3 Baths+

Kitchen with split unit Ac’s. Be-

hind Khimiji’s main office/opposite

to Oman House Call 99419712

2BHK flat in Muttrah for rent (R.O

290/-) immediate occupancy.

Contact 99321580

Separate room sharing with a Hy-

derabadi family in flat plus separate

bathroom and small kitchen ,

Al Ghubra South, near Sultan

Qaboos sports complex R.O 150/-.

Contact 99310551 (Said)

1BHK, 2BHK at Honda road Ruwi

at Muscat services building no.

2324 Way - 4331.

Contact 99224748 / 99332297

5 BHK villas for rent at Al Ghoubra

North 18th November Street near

new Mars Hypermarket.

Contact 97681599

2BHK bldg #1619 Way # 1322

adjacent to Indian Nursery Darsait

RO 340/-. Contact 99476728

1 & 2 bhk flat in Alkhuwair.

Contact 99792181

For rent 2 shops area 4 x 10 mtr

good location main road new bldg

in whole sale Al Amerat.

Contact 92877449

OFFICES FOR RENT

Contact: 97377355 / 97307476, Email id: aaleem@ggcoman.com

Premium offices to let a very good location on the main road very close to Zakher Mall, Al Khawiar. Business Center has offices with sizes of 50m2, 110m2, 180m2, 207m2, 230m2, 437m2.Showroom also available at Business Center, Area 500m2 with central A/c. Offices with Central Air-conditions, Security System with CCTV cameras, and Security presence in the building.

Showroom, 1BHK, 2BHK, Al – Azaiba

North behind Al - Fair. Contact

99565364 / 95497323

Industrial /commercial shops at

Wadi Kabir 4 x 5.6 x 4.6 MTR height.

Showroom with mezzanine & office

at Al Noor Street near Switz bakery

& Al Masa hall corner building all on

roads & parkings in front of shops &

show room. Contact 99065900 or

99354975

For rent 2 bed room, flat 1 sitting,

2 toilets, 1 kitchen new bldg good

location behind in whole sale

Al Amerat. Contact 92877449

1000 sq mtrs industrial land

for rent in Ghala suitable for

Ware house workshop. Contact

24700120 / 92584715

Flats room, hall, kitchen, toilet in

Bowsher. Contact 96961306

2 B/R Luxury Fully Furnished

@ AZAIBA. 2 B/R Luxury Fully

Furnished @ Al Khuwair 33.

1 B/R Luxury Fully Furnished @

Al Khuwair. 5 B/R Fully Furnished

villa @ Madinat Al Ilam.

3 B/R Furnished flat at Al Khuwair

25. Available for Daily, Weekly

and Yearly Lease Contract.

Contact: Atlas Real Estate &

Rent A Car LLC. 99249069 /

93201688/92888376, Email:

info@alshahiintl.com

4 Bedrooms villa with 2 hall,

4 bathrooms in Darsait, behind

Kimijis mart. Contact 92584715/

24700120

Flat located in Al Muhaj Square

Al Amerat on the main road.

Contact 98895553

480 sqm commercial / residential

land for rent in Bawshar Phase 2,

near Express Highway.

Contact 92788004 / 92269674

Villa in Al Khuwair, rent R.O

1300/-. Contact 99776071 /

99057348

Furnished flats in taqah (salalah)

for ro 150/-only. the offer is limited.

contact - 97035662 / 94268564

Full furniture for rent for family.

Contact 99251975

Fully furnished 1 bedroom pent-

house Wadi Kabir behind

Sana Hassan, monthly RO 300/-.

Contact 99349990

Villa for rent with 4 bedroom at

Al Khodh, Rent 950/-RO.

Contact 92888115

We have commercial villa in Al Khu-

wair 33 New villa 2 floor bedroom,

with lift very nice location, ideal for

big company. Contact 93782735

We have 150 sqm office in Ghubra

main road prime location Glass par-

tition ready with 2 toilets & pantry,

ideal for office. Contact 93782735

2BHK with split A/C in W.K behind

Sana furnishing. Contact 96708000

We have brand new villa in ANSAB,

for rent 4 bedroom, sitting hall, ma-

jlis, dining hall, maid room laundry

room covered car parking.

Contact 93782735

We have 2BHK, 3BHK, flats, office

& 4 BHK villas available for rent at

Ghubra, Ghala, Ruwi , Mabela7 and

Darsait. Contact 93329476

We have all kind of crockery items

for rent. Items include: tables, buffet

tables, chair, buffet, plates, glasses,

spoons, table clothes, carpets.

Call 97180999

Commercial Building in Al Khodh,

35 Apartments and shops.

Contact 95202340

Prim location, nice finishing villa

for RENT. 2 big bedrooms . Main

large sitting room. Small maid

room. Kitchen and 3 bathrooms.

At Alkhuwair. near Holiday Inn &

Oman Club. 99426662, PDC only.

For families & college girls.

85 SQM shops in Ruwi only on

350/- OMR. Contact – 95122188 /

96441499

Spacious 2 BHK flats in Ruwi MBD

area only on 350/- OMR.Contact –

95122188 / 96441499

Beautiful office space available in

Ruwi MBD area only on 2/- OMR

per sqm.Contact – 95122188 /

96441499

DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5 D3

We are dealing with sale of all

beauty salon equipments, furnitures

& cosmetics. Contact 942 888 61 /

942 888 63

AVAILABLE

FOR SALE

Established Restaurant for rent

with sponsorship.

Contact 97628242

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.

www.tunesoman.com,

E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

Looking for purchase of Used Portable Compressor (350 CFM,

7 Bar Pressure) powered with

Diesel run Generator.

Kindly Contact 99014686 or

operation@khancogroup.com

BUYING/SELLING

ACC. AVAILABLE

M.V. FOR SALE

Car sale Land Rover L.R 3 & model

2008 K.M 140000, company mainte-

nance. Single person Use

(doctor). Contact 99372860

Trucks & cars for sale quantity:

16 vehicles. Contact 96724225 /

99513419 office: 24614949

Hyundai full star, hatch back white

color model 2015, manufacturing

2014, 22,000 km. Contact 99318585

Toyota corolla XLI 2012 model 1.8

L, 38500 KM, automatic for sale.

Contact 99501046

Prado TXL 2.7L, 2014 km, 27 k for

sale. Contact 96498674

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text,

should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication.

* Subject to space availability

Toyota car sale 2011, kms 80000,

fully automatic 1.6.

Contact 99354340

Vehicles /Equipments, Toyota

Camry 2007, Toyota Corolla 2003,

Daihatsu Charade 2006, Nissan X-

Trail 2008, Forklift Hyster, all agen-

cy maintained. Contact 99202278 /

94652485 / 99273774

Nissan Sunny Auto 2009, 100 k, RO

2500. Contact 93289652

Brand new highly finished luxury

twin villa for sale in Mawaleh Phase

-1 land area for each villa 300,00 m2

builtup area for each villa 433.50

sqm both villas with separate

krooki. Contact 99164959

Want Company engaged in selling

food to sell coolers non repairable

(scrap) quantity: 192 pieces. Contact

93650084 Offices: 24614874

Dental Clinic with license for sale in

Sohar. Contact 92816015

Steel fabrication work shop for

sale, 1500 sqm ready for use with all

equipment . serious buyers. Loca-

tion: Falaj Al Ouhi . Ind Area. Contact:

+971558662772 /95179637

Commercial registration with

excellent name Grade A for business

software for sale. Contact 92959251

Barbar shop in Al Khuwair good

running business, location :

near Al Akhtham Restaurant.

Contact +968- 99616650

Shop for sale prime location at

Al Khoud Souq Tejari.

Contact 99083308

Running super market & coffee

shop for sale in Muscat.

Contact 93471848

Commercial land 1100 m in Ghoubra

North good for hyper market.

Contact 99070093

Lands, villas & buildings.

Contact 99070093

USED construction material for sale

scaffolding tower hoist steel cutting

& bending machine

Contact 99209181

Building materials shop for sale on

20% discount. Items only or full shop

for sale at Ruwi including jotun paint

mixing machine. Contact 99421228

Office space (100sq.m) for sale on

service road to exhibition centre

Ghala. Contact 91277703

A well running coffee shop with

4 clearance for sale at Wadi Kabir

Sanayya. Brokers also.

Contact 94159356

Coffee Shop for sale in North

Al Ghubrah. Contact 95256009

Port cabins – New & refurnished

Porta cabin for sale and rent.

Contact 96723468

Shop for sale at Ruwi.

Contact 99103077

NOTICE

CHANGE OF NAME

FOR RENT

Al Munjiz Trading & contract-ing L.L.C. It is informed that our

administrative office is shifted

from Hamariyah to Ruwi. New

address is as follows: Sadik house,

building No. 488, Mezzanine floor,

Office No. 13, Ruwi. Our new tel-

ephone numbers are : 24705660/

24705662. Our new fax number

is – 24705661

Email id is: almunjiz@yahoo.com

2 bedrooms flat with hall, 2bath-

rooms in Darsait near Muscat

Municipality. Contact 24700120 /

92584715

2BHK apartment fro at Qurum near

PDO, Gate 2. Contact 94057023

2BHK apartment for rent at

Al Khuwair 33. Contact 94057023

Covered workshop in Misfa near

NCPT 100 sq mt with separate of-

fice and accom. Contact 93965831

Well maintained 3 BHK (R.O 350/-)

2 BHK (R.O 300/-) for rent in

Rex Road. Contact 92227165

3BR Top class fitting flat ideal for

top executives Mumtaz area, Ruwi.

Contact 91287824

For rent flat and showroom in

Al Khuwair, Ghala, Ghubrah and

Darsait. Contact 24485240,

24485241, 93651633, 92109563

Flat deluxe in Al Amerat Mahaj

4,3 rooms with 3 toilets.

Contact 99672604

1 / 3 BHK Flat Ghobrah, close to

ISG Way 4041, building 4390.

Contact 99319880

3 B/R flat in Ruwi Mumtaz in-

dustrial land in Misfah. Contact

99776071 /99057348

Flat at Darsait. Contact 99326879

Villa Al Khuwair, 8 bedroom,

7 bathroom, 3kittchen. 950/-.

Contact 99358589/

5121126/95570288

6 bedroom villa for rent at

Al Mawalah near City Center Seeb.

Contact 99654252

2BHK flat Al Khuwair with

split A/C. 350/- Contact

95121126/99358589/97079146

1BHK flat available at

Darsait near medical. Contact

24705742/24705639

One bedroom flats @Al Khuwair

33. Owner - 92800007

Villa OPP Grand Mall 2 living room,

2 hall + 3 rooms, kitchen &

maid room with AC.

Contact 99738881

Family flats and villas at Ansab.

Contact 98458542

1B/R available for Bachelors in REX

ROAD, Ruwi. Contact 99889590

Industrial shops in Misfah

RO 150/-, RO 350/-, RO 500/-.

Contact 99876161

Industrial Land in Misfah.

Contact 93009999

Flats and shops. Contact 93009999

Flats/villas owned by ROP pension

fund available for rent in Muscat.

Contact 99349526

If require flats for rent in Wadi

Kabir please send messages through

Whatsapp or call – 99376454

Spacious room with attached bath

available for Executive bachelor in

Ruwi near Al Maha filling station.

Contact 98290299

Furnished 1 bed room available near

Indian School, Seeb for small family.

Contact 91354846

Ro-130, big room in Darsait for

family / ladies with Kerala family.

Contact 95323562

Room for executive bachelors

(no Kitchen) including W/E. 125 RO.

Contact 98949724

Furnished room with attached bath

for non-cooking bachelor in Ruwi,

R.O 150/-. Contact 92478852

Flats in Darsait of 1 room, hall,

2 toilets and kitchen.

Contact 99357586 / 97500025

Full furnished Executive bachelor at

W.Kabir. Contact 99325387

Single room with attached bathroom,

kitchen near Muscat Palace family or

bachelor OMR 90/-. #95094028

Furnished single /sharing room for

EXE bachelor at Rex Road (Kannada,

Telugu, Tamil). Contact 92873832

Single furnished room in Ruwi.

Contact 24833609

Rooms for bachelors with A/C bed

near CBD/ ONTC, Ruwi R.O 100/-.

Contact 96585123

Excellent room, kitchen available

near ONTC bus station (Ruwi).

Contact 95569740

Sharing family flat near Indian

School Wadi Kabir. Contact 99335057

Independent rooms in Qurum/Al

Hail. Contact 95529970

Staff accommodation available

for rent in Azaiba, 15 rooms with

attached bath and kitchen including

big store / full office space / parking

and yard. Contact 95526871

Accommodation available for South

Indian family, one bedroom with

attached toilet, kitchen, hall in a

villa, Al Ghubrah. Contact 99209160

Room for SRI LANKAN Executive

at Al Khuwair. Tel 96536307

Fully furnished at W. Kabir.

Contact 99325387

Furnished room + bath Darsait

R.O 140/-. Contact 93289652

3 rooms, 3 bath flat. Darsait coast

near Indian School like new.

Contact 99715042

ACC. AVAILABLE

LOST

Aswathy Punnackal Anilkumar has lost her Indian Passport No. L

3749240 expiring on 28.07.2023,

issued from Cochin, Kerala. Finder

please handover to ROP

Roopel Mayh has lost Bangladeshi

Passport No. E 1399949. Finder

please handover to ROP.

I Medabala Salini (holder of

Indian passport No. K9230058)

daughter of M. Prakash having per-

manent residence in Ponnamanda,

Razole, East Godavari Dist, A.P, Pin

: 533248 (complete postal address

in India) and presently residing

in Al Ansab, near Bank Muscat,

P.O . Box: 723, P.C 130, Sultanate of

Oman (complete postal address

in Oman) intend to change my

name from Medabala Salini (old

name) to Medabala Shalini (new

name) for all practical purposes.

Any objection towards my name

change may please be communi-

cated to Embassy of India, Muscat,

Diplomatic Quarters, Al Khuwair, P.

Box No, 1727 Postal Code 112, Ruwi,

Sultanate of Oman.

ACC. WANTED

Wanted a 2 bedroom flat in around

Ruwi area. Gsm 99761216

DAILY GUIDED4 S U N D AY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

IT

SITUATION WANT-ED

SIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

DRIVER

DESIGNER

ADVOCATE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

ENGI./ELECT./TECH..

DOMESTIC HELPER

DRAUGHTSMAN

Indian male MBA 32 yrs having

10 yrs of exp seeking suitable place-

ment in Admin/ HR/ Operations/

Coordination/ Logistics etc. Holding

valid Oman D/L .Contact - 99054786

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

BEAUTICIAN

ADMIN/HR

ARCHI./ DRAUGHTSMAN

CATERING

Looking for a House Driver with

at least 3 years experience.

Contact : 92807807

Requires Indian Light Duty driver for a Omani family. Visa will be

provided. Contact 95225662

Required Omani driver for 3

ton vehicle. Contact 99247218 /

92248407

Required light driver, present in

Oman for a mechanical company

in Ghala 170+ accommodation no

food. Contact 99454425

Wanted driver. Contact 95112461

Required a private driver from

India. Contact 92345861

DRIVER

CATERING

Urgently required a leading

construction company required

qualified male Accountant with

experience between 10 – 15 years

and possibility to join immediately.

Email: alfayafy@outlook.com

Fax: 24479675

Required an experienced Account-ant for a reputed supermarket chain,

preference for the relevant arena, visa

available. Contact +968- 99462429

Looking for an employee with has experience in AutoCad, basic Micro-

soft office and can handle accounts preference to who had worked in

decoration field. Contact 95342240

Email CV at :

venice.decoration@gmail.com

SALES / MARKETING

SALES / MARKETING

TOURS

Indian B.Com Graduate having 7

years of experience in logistics in

Dubai and 2 years of Oman experi-

ence in accounts with valid D/L is

looking for a suitable placement.

Contact 00968 91234320

Indian male (34), B. Com with

computer application , 3 years ex-

perience in Muscat as Accountant .

Having valid Oman D/L, looking for a

part time job. Contact 91586632

MBA HR&FINANCE Indian Female

with 2 years work experience in

leading MNC looking for suitable

placement in HR / FINANCE,

Contact: 99791008 / 93888576

Part time Accountant, up to finali-

zation, looking for job after 5 pm

(location prefer - Qurum to Al

Khoudh). Contact 92917574

Indian male Accountant looking

for a suitable placement in Salalah.

More than 20 yrs experience in Ac-

counting job (upto the finalization of

accounts), 8 yrs working experience

in Middle East in Dubai, Muscat &

Salalah. Contact 91325029

Finance Manager, CPA, with more

than 15 yrs. of experience in GCC.

Fully knowledgeable in Finance,

General & Management Accounting .

NOC available. Contact 96209331

Accountant (B.Com, MBA pursuing)

Indian male, 25 years, 2 years ex-

perience as an Accountant in India

seeking better placement on visit

visa. Contact 97709327

12 years Oman experience Chief

Accountant looking for immediate

placement. Contact 97385562

Indian male 9 years experience in

Accounts seeks suitable placement.

Contact 94080452

Young Indian male, holder of MBA

from Whales University London

(Finance and Information system)

seeks suitable placement in Oman.

Contact 99594132

C.A with 11 years experience

(6 years in Oman) with NOC.

Contact 93731296

Indian 34 yrs B.Com CA Inter pass

12 yrs exp in Audit A/C, Finance

on visit seeks suitable placement.

Contact 95585069

Indian Chartered Accountant 15

years Gulf experience in EPR Tally,

Peachtree, SAP FOCUS Oracle MS.

Contact India mobile

0091 8086469422.

Email: rahmanacc123@gmail.com

Indian female B.Com CA INTER, 3

years internship completed, 2 years

Accounting experience currently

on visit visa seeking for suitable

job. Contact 94682798/ 95736496

Email: giby2605@gmail.com

Indian male, 25 yrs,MBA (Finance) 3 years experience as Accountant im-

mediately available. #: 968 99485943,

Email : hyd.mushu@gmail.com

Sudanese Accountant & Coordinator

looking for suitable job.

Contact 97325835

Indian male 28 yrs, B.Com 5 yrs

experience in Oman in finance & ac-

counting, Tally ERP. NOC is available

with valid D/L. Contact 95960600

Sudanese male, Architect 3 years

experience in Oman as an Architec-

tural designer and Site Supervisor,

designing software known (Auto

CAD, 3D Max, revit, ArchiCAD, photo

shop and primavera.

Contact 92327536

Email: ahmedstar89@hotmail.com

Autocad D/man freelancer / part

time experienced in MEP, security

systems. Contact 96741935

Auotcad knows 3D,REVIT, MAX

Ph : 97103168

Indian cook, Tandoori cook, male, 32 yrs, having 4 yrs of experi-

ence in Muscat in India, looking

for a cook job in Hotel. Contact

93753523 / 98744307 / 92175119.

Accountant B.Com CIMA finalist

8 yrs experience. Contact 95522109

M. Com with Tally, 7 yrs exp in

audit (sales tax conslt) and Account-

ing. Ph : 93213138

Pakistani male, 25 yrs, MBA

Finance, 1.6 yrs exp in Accounts

seeking placement in Accounts,

Administration or Business

Management. Contact 92651927 /

94250149

Accounts part time works finaliza-

tion, monthly report, P& L report, and

balance sheet by 10 year Oman exp.

Contact 96247295

Indian male 26 years, with 4 years

experience in accounts and adminis-

tration looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact 93008891

Accountant with bachelor degree in

Business Administration & Account-

ing from Majan College with 1 year

experience in Oman.

Contact 96132149

Accountant B.Com MBA, Indian

male having 5 yrs GCC exp in similar

field with valid Omani D/L & NOC

available. Contact: 91719385 Email:

shinuyesodharan@gmail.com,

Female with MBA finance, financial

and tax professional four and half

years of experience seeks suitable

opportunities in reputed organiza-

tions. Contact- 99792457 Email:

msparveen1@gmail.com

Indian male, B.Com, Accountant

– 6yrs exp in Oman, NOC available-

Ready to join.contact: 98162671 ;

email: prasanths3@gmail.com

Indian Male, 25 yrs currently in

Oman on visit looking for suitable va-

cancies in accounts, B.Com completed

1 yr experience. Contact 92024380

Keralite Bachelor professional build-

ing designer with AutoCAD, 3D Max &

Accounts. Contact: 96535497,

email : bhaviwky90@gmail.com

Indian female, 25yrs Bsc-

FASHION DESIGNING, 3yers

experience in designing field and

teaching. looking for a sutable

placement. Contact: 98785310.

Email: vinaya.m.nair@gmail.com

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ADMIN/HR

ADMIN/HR

Required male Admin & Secretary to work under Senior Management with Min. 3 to 5

years exp. with excellent com-

puter knowledge and good office

co-ordination and capable to work

independent. Basic Accounts

knowledge will be preferable. Email:

vacancyinoman123@gmail.com Required Business Development Executive for a clearing and for-

warding company. Please mail CV to

wisal.international@gmail.com

Urgently required SALES EX-ECUTIVES for a reputed company

dealing in TRUCK SPARE PARTS.

Fresh graduates are also welcome.

Attractive salary packages. Send

CV: Jibalmansur@gmail.com

97988908/ 95415900

Reputed building materials

company looking for Outdoor Sales Executive having valid Omani

driving license with more than 2

years local sales experience in tiles /

sanitary ware. Please fax your CV to

24798709

Email: united@omantel.net.om

Wanted young and energetic Sales Executive for a Muscat based com-

panies sales operations in Dubai.

Work experiences in Dubai preferred.

Contact 92269674

Email: info@mwpoman.net

A well reputed trading company urgently requires experienced

sales executive for their Curtain

Division having at least 5 years of

relevant experience in retail with

good communication and negotia-

tion skills and age not more than 40

years. Interested candidates may

send CV’s to Fax 24482231

Urgently required an excellent

grade construction firm based in

Muscat has immediate vacancy for

Marketing Executive minimum 5

years experience with D/L. Email

your CV to info@omannc.com

Required IT Technician for

computer shop. Send your CV at

khalid@rayyancomputer.com

Require House maid in Mabela.

Contact. 95200180

Required a Filipino Housemaid for

two months work (March & April) in

Ruwi for husband and wife, no chil-

dren. Contact Vivian : 99130693

Hala Medical Center, Sinaw

require G.P, Gynecologist, Pediatrician, Staff Nurse, Lab Technician Radiographer & Lady Receptionist. Contact 99795113 Email: halamedicalgroup@gmail.com

Required Nurse for a clinic in

Al Buraimi, S. of Oman. Contact

00968 92737149. Send CV to

drpkabbas@yahoo.co.in

Required for a reputed medical

center in Al Khuwair, General Practitioner Doctor, Gastroenter-ologist , Neurophysiology Techni-cian (EEG, EMG), X- Ray Techni-cian, Marketing Executive. Please

send CV: absmc2013@gmail.com

Fax: 24488660

Wanted Doctor with or without

MOH license for a Polyclinic.

Excellent salary with accommodation

and commission.

Contact: 97091664.

Email: mmcmuscat@gmail.com

MEDICAL

AutoCAD Draftsman having Oman

experience. Contact 99370565

Urgently required, AutoCAD Draughts man with knowledge of

interior design. Minimum 1-2 years

experience. Interested

candidate may please send CV to

fax: 24694998

Email: fareedadesign@gmail.com

Urgently required experienced

Staff for a reputed hotel apart-

ments in muscat Arabic Cook.

e- mail : noronhagj27@gmail.com,

tel # 97677211

Chef / Cook (Muslim) - at least (3) years experience, experience in cooking (Arab European and In-

dian). Please send your CV to email

address: info@albatnapp.com,

please call GSM: 99202531

Shawarma BBQ, Tandoor makers

wanted. Contact 95529970

Indian, Male, 30 Years, B.COM, 8

Years’ Experience as HR / Admin-

istration in Oman, seeks suitable

placement, NOC Available,

Contact No. 00968 94652591

Smart personality, professional,

qualification excellent English, 10+

years Oman exp – operations, admin,

management, business develop-

ment, commercial available immedi-

ately. NOC. Contact 91229392

Indian male 8 yrs exp in travel ar-

rangements & 13 yrs exp in admin,

purchase, import & export business

available on visit.

Contact # 96142830 / 94015234

Indian male MBA 35 years having

12 years of experience in Oman

seeking placement in Admin /HR

operations / accounts holding valid

Oman D/L. Contact 96055815. NOC

available can join immediately .

Email: shaiks111@gmail.com

Young Indian male with 5 years

Muscat experience in admin,

purchase & Masters from UK seeks

placement. Possess driving license.

Contact 94400671

Temporary boatman wanted for

month of April and May 2015.

Contact 99466062

Experienced Travel and Tourism Staff (IATA Certificate holder) 2 nos, Senior Accountant (male) 1 no. Send CV :

atsanildev@gmail.com / naushad_

sulaiman@yahoo.com

MISCELLANEOUS

Required tailor, barber. Contact 96964767

Beautician available Indian

33 yrs, female having 24 years

experience in India now in Muscat

looking for suitable position.

Contact 92003136

Indian male 24 yrs M.B.A having

2 yrs of experience in financial ac-

counting up to finalization having

knowledge of tally ERP 9, focus,

wings, peach tree, MS Excel, Pay roll

currently on visit visa seeking suit-

able placement available immedi-

ately. Contact 91058205 Email:

aslammohammed10@gmail.com

B.com doing CA Accounts/ office

job male now working in Oman Noc,

release available. Contact 92715465

Email: alsabathehm@gmail.com

Indian male- B.Com/B.Ed/15 years

Exp – 5 in Oman, seeks job in

Accts/Sales/Logistics have NOC

and Oman D/L with car.

Contact – 92919625/93511425/

93424828; Email-

seshadricpioman@gmail.com

Male, total 17 years experience

in India & Oman - India - 9 years

& Oman - 8 years In the field of

procurement, material controller

and accountancy - Local release

available (Noc) Cont no. 91680124 ,

98606546

Sales Manager for luxury yacht in

Muscat. Experience in Oman market

preferred. Email cv and photo:

alibadawy@gmail.com.

Experienced Indian Lawyer BA (Arabic) LLB,MBA on visit seeks

opportunity. Contact 97351649,

Email : advocatesharaf@gmail.com

Light Driver having own visa looking

for job as driver.Contact 92303692

Tower crane operator having visa

NOC. Contact Atthar har 97377834

Light driver looking for job, 15+ years

in Oman. Contact 95938733

Driver light foreman, construction

experience 6 years in Oman.

Contact 94001751

Crane operator. Contact 99186264

Indian male 35 yrs Qatar GCC

heavy equipment license knows

Arabic, Hindi & English looking

for a driver placement. Contact

98739710 now on visiting visa.

Light driver looking for job.

Contact 94035746

Light driver looking for job.

Contact 92791678

Driver light, Gulf exp, GCC license

knows Arabic, Hindi, English.

Ph: 99505934

Light duty driver looking for job,

2 yrs exp. Contact 98356230

Light driver looking for a job

2 yrs Exp in Oman language Hindi &

Arabic . NOC available.

Contact: 92108930 / 97002682

Light driver looking for job 15 yrs in

SKA and 2 Qatar. Contact 95043437

Light driver looking for job.

Contact 91376612

Light driver looking for job, 3 yrs

exp. in Oman, 5 yrs exp in Saudi Ara-

bia, English, Arabic. #96088707

LV Driver- 2 yrs Exp-know

English- Contact 95292064

IT Sales Executive GCC Experi-

ence - 2+ Years Valid Driving

license Graduate in IT With MBA or

Marketing back ground in IT field.

E mail : towers70@gmail.com,

info@towersinternationalgroups.

com

Required Sales Engineer for the

sale of building Material, with 3-5

years experience in Oman, hold-

ing a valid Omani driving license.

Qualified candidates mail in your

CV to migc.vacancies@gmail.com

Leading metal fabrication group requires Sales Engineer, mini-

mum 2 yrs exp. with valid Oman

D/L. Contact: hr@khancogroup.com

99102383

Civil Engineer (1 No.) , Electrical Engineer (1No) 5- 10 years experi-

ence with Omani driving license.

Contact 99222137

Required Civil Foreman with

electrical / plumbing experience

having valid Omani driving license

with 5 years experience. Contact

99202278 / 94652485/ 99273774

Required Structural Engineer, graphic designer and accountant. Email: alasalaheng@gmail.com

Sohar based manufacturing com-

pany is looking for an experienced

Young Sales Person with MBA

qualification. Only candidates with

immediate local release & D/L need

apply. Email CV to –

edelweissprasad@rediffmail.com.

Wanted Salesman with driving

licence and car. Gsm : 98805474 or

email id: jobssales2015@gmail.com

India Accountant: Male, M com,

7 Yrs experience in Accounts up to

finalization, having knowledge of

ERP, Tally, seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact:93950138

Email: lijinrajan123@gmail.com

Indian male, 32 years, M. Com.

7 out of 9 years experience in Oman

in Accounts/finance. Having NOC and

valid Oman D/L. Contact 98277143,

Email: anzarks@gmail.com

Indian Male, MBA 2 yrs experience

in Accounts, Admin & HR on visit

visa. Contact 92045306

Accountant 8 yrs experience look-

ing for part time job. # 99867456

Accounting up to finalization, audit-

ing & contact for tally ERP software

Contact– 91720465

Indian female with excellent

communication skills, confident,

dedicated to work and enthusiastic.

Knowledge about ms office. Has

6 years of experience in cus-

tomer service, telecommunication,

HR.Looking for immediate place-

ment. Contact # 97348819

Indian male, 27 yrs, MBA(HR &

Finance) having 3 yrs experience

in advertising company and have

through knowledge in office co-

ordination & administration, good

computer proficiency on visit visa

looking for suitable placement

Contact 91361534,

sreejith.mv63@gmail.com

ACCA finalist and BSc from Oxford

Brookes University UK, having 18

months working experience, cur-

rently in Muscat on visit, seeking

immediate and suitable position.

Contact : 95375282

DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5 D5

DAILY GUIDESITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

EDUCATION

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

Indian male M. Sc Graduate with

telecom AV experience for 6 years

looking for suitable position. Contact

00971-557041574 / 95135218

email: nazid83@gmail.com

Store keeper 26 yrs, 6 yrs experi-

ence 4 yrs in Oman NOC/release

available. Contact 97657823

Indian male young & enrject exp

marine seaman with Indian CDC

holder .oil tanker exp & V.L.O.O.C.

NOC available. Contact: 94179164,

Email: vivekkpushkaran@gmail.com

Logistics Officer, Experience in

Store keeping. Contact : 99505934

INFORMATION TECH

B.E Civil Engineer Indian male 16

years exp in project mgmt site and

construction mgmt computer skills

valid Oman D/L seeking suitable

placement with NOC can join imme-

diately. Contact : 99446335

Civil Engineer, male 25 yrs, 3 years

experience in site CAD, 3D, MS pro-

ject, seeking job in Oman.

Contact 92887561

Email: jubincivileng@gmail.com

Instrumentation Design Engineer degree holder having experience

in smart plant Instrumentation (IN

TOOLS 9.0) AutoCAD seeking place-

ment in best position and having

industrial maintenance experience.

Contact 97261387

Civil Engineer (Diploma) presently

working as Project Manager having

experience over 20 years in Oman

seeks suitable placement. NOC

available kindly Contact 95705980

Email: riyaspmd@yahoo.com

Chemical engineer B.Tech Indian male

2+ years of experience seeking suitable

placement. Contact 92545630

Email: vkarun77@gmail.com

Sudanese Engineer bachelor of

Mechanical Engineer have 8 years

experience desalination water plant

(design, operation and maintenance

pump stations all rind of water pump

and water line calculation.

Contact 97873794

Indian male, 28 diploma in fire

and safety Engineering computer

hardware net working 1 yr customer

service experience trouble shooting

technical support on visit visa.

Contact 91025050 / 98856803

Email: purujith8797@gmail.com

Civil Engineer (B.E) Indian male,

1 year experience, (India) with

knowledge of AutoCAD MS project

MS Office seeking for suitable job in

construction industry.

Contact 94350900

Omani Citizen Mechanical Engineer

with 1 yer exp looking for job .

Contact:95993315

email: eaz-s@hotmail.com

Electrical Engineer Indian male 29

years, having 5 years of experience

in Industrial Automation & utility

maintenance in India (MRF Tyres)

seeking suitable placement.

Contact 92789995

Email: akhilabrahamlktr@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer B.E Engineer, 6 years experience in Dubai, Bahrain

with G.C.C. professional licenses

holding GCC driving license.

Contact 98063081

Email: imran.engr08@gmail.com

Arabic /English fluent Mechanical Engineer, MBA, PMP 8 yrs of experi-

ence, 5 yrs in project field (manage-

ment and supervision familiar with

primavera P6 on visit visa looking

for a challenging job position . Email:

abdelgader1982@gmail.com

Contact 94687010

Bachelor in Telecommunication Engineering from CCE ,CCNA certifi-

cate IELTS, score 7 experience cer-

tificate from Central Bank of Oman.

Contact 95331455 / 92210958

Mechanical engineer (B.Tech in

Mechanical) with certified quality

controller –NDT level 2 qualified as

per ASNT – SNT - TC - IA having

experience in sales and marketing

in India, presently on visiting visa

seeks suitable placement.

Contact 92417032

Email: joel.aries@gmail.com

B.Tech Electronics and Biomedical

Engineering, female with approxi-

mately 2 years in medical field is

seeking any job position.

Contact 94652908

mail id: aswathiraviraj@gmail.com

Telecom Engineer with 4.5 years

Oman experience looking for a suit-

able opportunity, interested even in

Marketing also. Possess valid Oman

driving license. Contact 94145460

Automobile Engineer (B.Com,

PGDCA) Indian male 9 years experi-

ence 2 years in India technician

7 years in Saudi as coordinator in

Quality controller seeking suitable

placement with visiting visa. Contact

93973989/ 99572029. Email:

sangeethvm4004@gmail.com

Indian male Graduate with 20+

years of Administration, Operations &

Management experience in IT, Oil &

Gas & Hospitality Industry. 12 years in

Oman with vast contacts, very strong

management, operational, com-

munication and interpersonal skills,

can handle any size of business and

projects whether it’s in initial stage

or established. Can join immediately.

Local release available on request.

Contact: 9906 4589

11years Oman exp, diverse respon-

sibilities in reputed companies,

smart, highly qualified, results

oriented. Immediate joining, NOC.

Contact 98179887

Qualified Manager: (12+ yrs. Oman

Exp.) Vast knowledge in A/c & Admin,

Costing, Banking, Credit Control,

Insurance, International Purchase/

Logistics & Finance, With D/L looking

for suitable position. Gsm: 93826090

Email: jskanchan01@gmail.com

Indian female with nine years of

experience in 5 Star hotels as As-

sistant Food & Beverage Manager

looking for a suitable placement in a

reputed Star hotel.

Contact: 91219787

Indian English teacher B.A, Tesol

4 years exp in India 3 years exp in

Ministry School or Oman needs job.

Contact 99839385 / 95265767

Experienced Librarian seeks suit-

able position. Contact 92887119

Indian English Teacher male eligible

for Senior Secondary College levels

(MA, B.Ed, SET) 5+ years experience

seeks placement in schools, colleges.

# 95526395 now on visiting visa.

1 year experience in teaching all

subject to KG classes, currently

working as a teacher in Oman, seek-

ing suitable placement, Family visa.

Contact 92178304 / 99036256

Civil Engineer B.Tech , MBA Indian

male 7 years experience , Oman in

project management and quantity

survey and skilled with primavera

6 MS Project MS Office AutoCAD

seeking suitable placement having

Noc valid Oman driving license.

Immediately joining. Contact

98145441 / 97647060

Project Manager BSC Civil En-

gineering with MBA have Oman

experience with 9+ years.

Contact 97046565

Quality Assurance Design, BTech Elec, MBA (TQM) , IT

Infrastructure(WLAN , TETRA) Se-

curity systems(CCTV AACS),Project

control Engineering, Document

Control / CAD Managing /Change

management, Exp in Major projects,

NOC available Ph : 99506977

BE 2 yrs exp electrical projects

AutoCAD design/ commission avail-

able attested. Contact 97835922

Email: anascadd11@gmail.com

B.E Mechanical Engineer, Indian

male, 4 yrs experience in sales,

Seeking suitable job on visit visa.

Contact 96137079 , 93095565,

Email : elangovivek@yahoo.co.in

Manager project /construction

management M.Tech in Civil Engi-

neering, PMP trained total 18 yrs ex-

perience, 4 yrs experience in Dubai

and 3 yrs in Oman profit centre head

experience in handling multimillion

projects, NOC available ready to join.

Contact 91158903 Email:

luminousmercury@gmail.com

BE/EEE Electrical Engineer Indian

male 25 years having 2.5 years

experience currently on visit visa

looking for suitable placement.

Contact 00968-96522624 /

92770316 contact India

+91- 9994024477 / 9597539520

Looking Part time Job in HVAC-

Contact - 93198128

Quantity Surveyor (Civil Building)

looking for Part time job Contact

no:-94391712 E-mail address-

inayathhussain@yahoo.com

Indian B.Tech Mechanical Engi-neer, 26 yrs, 4 yrs experience in

HVAC/MEP. Contact 94669629,

rajeevhpd15@yahoo.com

M. Sc Mechanical Engineer

5 years experience in crusher plants

production manufacturing release

visa CAD/CAM. Contact 92156387 /

97838220

BTECH ( ELECTRONICS), Automa-

tion Engineer,exp in control panels,

test & commn ph : 93841820

Civil Engineer (Diploma) 7 yrs exp,

4 yrs work Oman, looking for job

valid transferrable ID card.

Contact 98776073

Email: eng.naju@ymail.com

Sudanese Civil Engineer Diploma,

2 years experience in construction

markets seeking suitable placement.

Contact 98972282

Project / Contracts Manager, 31 yrs

(with 25 yrs Oman) experience, in

Govt / private sector on Multimillion

R.O .Projects, Post Graduate in Civil

Structural Engineering with Struc-

tural & QS background.

Contact 91400599

Electronics & Communication Engi-

neer with 4 years Oman experience

in telecom field looking for a suitable

opportunity. Interested in marketing

also. Possess valid Oman driving

license. Contact 94145460

Indian female 24 yrs Computer

Engineering Diploma, 2 yrs exp data

entry MS Office, admin now on visit

visa. Contact 96314974

DAE (Civil) having 3.5 years Experi-

ence 2 years from Oman with driving

licences, seeking for suitable position

in Construction field NOC and release

available . Contact 96968554 Email:

mehranahmad26@yahoo.com

B. Tech Purchase Engineer 2 yrs

experience in sales & purchasing cur-

rently on visit visa. #93629269

Email: amair4v@gmail.com

Aeronautical Engineer 24 yrs, BE,

Indian excellent knowledge in Auto-

Cad, PRO - E. Contact 97847986

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text,

should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication.

* Subject to space availability

Civil Engineer B Tech, Site Engi-

neer Experienced, Drafting on Visit

Visa Ph : 91642050

Indian Male, 5 yrs exp.

Hardware & net working Engineer

on short visit requires suitable place-

ment. Contact 92458622

Quantity Surveyor, B.Tech & H.N.D

with 4 yrs experience looking for

suitable placement on visit visa.

Contact 96978752, 95751278,

email : hmirfan527@gmail.com

Sudanese Mechanical Engineer 11 years exp in oil & gas industry.

Contact - 95928035

Mechanical Engineer BE, 4 years

experience in welding & inspection

& erection in power oil & gas sector

having CSWIP3.1 certificate seeking

good placement.Contact : 92803878

Email: vijayanand.kvp@gmail.com

24 years Indian female diploma in

computer science and engineering

now on visit visa seek suitable place-

ment. Contact 96314974/99107369

Sudanese Telecom Engineer work-

ing in Oman for two years, total

experience 5 years experience on

VSAT, installation and maintenance

for towers also. Contact 93391008

Electrical Eng. Degree (MEP) need

suitable job of construction 12 yrs exp.

Email: mohd.ateeq.khan@gmail.com

Mechanical Engineer, Gulf Exp in

Design and Manufacturing

Ph: 97097688

Generator maintenance in charge

with 4 yrs experience with

Cummins, caterpillar, kirloskar

and voltas. Contact - email:

shibinmundakkal@gmail.com

Aircraft Maintenance Technician with one year experience seeks

suitable placement. Contact

amaljohn2002@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer experience

2008-2015 in Oman and experience

2004- 2008 outside Oman, 34 years.

Contact 96968275 / 97445304

Email: alsada_1981@yahoo.com

B.Sc Electrical Engineer, more than

16 years experience, 3 years in Oman

experience in EPC contract, power

plant – grid station – primary substa-

tion – SCADA system – test and com-

missioning engineer – DCRP approval.

Contact 96964917 Muscat Arabic and

English / Oman driving license

Telecom Engineer with 4 yrs experi-

ence in Engineering & Sales VOIP.

Contact 92577245

Diploma of Associate Civil Engi-

neering, Diploma of AutoCad, having

3.5 yrs experience, 2 yrs experience

of Oman in Building Construction,

valid transferrable ID Card.

Contact 94378581

Experienced female Electrical

Engineer. Contact 93800906

Civil Engineer with 12 years

Experience Looking For Job.

Contact 98162295

Indian Male, IT Support Engineer,

2 yrs in Oman & 5 yrs Indian experi-

ence. Contact 97311847

Indian male, 26 yrs B-Tech (ECE)

with MBA in Marketing / HR looking

for a suitable placement. Currently

on visit visa valid up to 30 January

2015. Contact 93754428,

email : shijosirius709@gmail.com

MCA, MBA, CCNA, MCSE, Indian

male with 10 years of experience,

holding Oman driving license on

visit visa seeks any suitable place-

ment. Contact 92716116 / 91266535

Email: sijuayur@gmail.com

MEDICAL

Female Dentist Indian, 28 years

Dental Surgeon, 3 years of experi-

ence, Oman prometric passed with

64%, looking for a suitable place-

ment in Muscat region.

Contact 91377681

Email: hashmisarwat@gmail.com

Female pharmacist with 3 years ex-

perience and MOH license currently

in Oman , CONTACT 92455124

Medical- Indian female, 27 yrs,

masters in hospital administra-

tion, fellowship in HTA studied in a

super specialty medical sciences

and research center in India and

done project in an established

hospital in sultanate of Oman.

Contact 93200827, 91026506

Indian female 29 years GNM Nurse

with Oman prometric pass

7.8 experience in India currently on

visit visa in Oman. Contact 93281598

Indian male Pharmacist (B.Pharma) 5 1/2 years experience

in Oman seeking suitable placement

in Muscat. NOC from the present

employer available.

Contact +968 98525100

Lab Technician, Civil (8yrs Gulf

experience) looking for a suitable job

(NOC available) Contact-93344378

BSc. Computer Engineer having

skills in IT Support, Networking and

Technical Sales. Looking for a job

opportunity. Mobile: 9127 9617,

Email: Javaid_iqbal1@hotmail.com

Indian male IT prof, MCA, 2 yrs exp

as System Administrator in Oman

3+ yrs exp in (hardware, network-

ing, widows server, exchange server,

SharePoint) and 1 yr exp in (PHP,

CSS, HTML, JavaScript, Ajax, My

SQL in India). NOC available.

Contact 97496998

ERP Software professional, Indian

male, 20 yrs (5 yrs Oman) experi-

enced. Interested in ERP/ CRM, De-

velopment, Implementation, support

position. Contact 93501977

Email: go4nadeem@gmail.com

Indian male 25 B.Tech (IT) Engineer

2.5 yrs exp in hardware networking.

Currently on visit visa looking for

suitable job. Contact – 94359564

IT Professional (25) (Srilankan), B.

Tech dip, MCTS, MCP, CCNA, LINUX

having 4 years experience, looking

for suitable position (on visit visa).

Contact 93354526

Email: jamsith.pc@gmail.com

MCITP Certified B. Sc Computer

Science Indian male with 5 years

experience in system administrator,

active directory, hyper-v virtualiza-

tion, SAN, storage and SCOM. Con-

tact 95540976, 91- 8425879797.

Email: is_tombe@hotmail.com

SAP BO/BODS consultant 6 years

experience with EMBA (IT) B. Tech

(IT) OCP, OCA, ITIL & AIX qualified

seeks suitable posting.

Contact 92532996 / 95740250

Email: elango2840@gmail.com

Sudanese computer Information

System (CIS) Bachelor The Ameri-

can University in London 2.5 years

experience. Contact 98178276

Email: khalidsme@gmail.com

Hardware specialist B.Tech

M.Tech electronics with 10 years

experience seeks suitable oppor-

tunities in reputed organizations.

Contact 91289459

Email: shrn.shrf@gmail.com

B.Tech IT Professional, Indian

Male with 3 yrs of Exp. In System

Admin, IT Support, Networking,

Installing Active Directory, DHCP,

DNS,RAS, configuring maintaining

and managing servers, configur-

ing cisco routers, Exp in handling

SQL database, With Valid Driving

Licence. Contact - 968 98863507

IT Prof, MCA having 6+ yrs exp,

seeks suitable position.

Contact 94543668

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

SECRETARIAL/OFFICE

Indian female with 10 yrs of experi-

ence in HR/Banking/Operations

seeks a suitable placement. Can be

contacted on 98919015 or

sherianne.coelho@gmail.com

Indian female, well experienced

in secretarial, administration,

customer care & supervisory jobs.

5 years experience in Muscat.

Immediately available for joining.

Contact: 92139298

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

Paki male 26, 4 yrs experienced

want job in Mechanic ac & electri-

cian, driving job. Contact 93291664

WELDER, GULF EXP IN 6G 3G TIG,

XRAY PH : 99506977

Welder, 3G, 6G, TIG, Exp in Fabri-

cation , Gulf Exp Ph : 97103168

Care taker, Gulf Exp knows Hindi,

Arabic Ph: 94238840

MBA (marketing & operations) with 2 years experience in market-

ing & operations looking for suitable

placement, presently on visit visa.

Contact 97920125 Email: ha-

reeshg111@gmail.com

Purchase Manager with 14 years

experience in construction industry

with valid D/L & NOC.

Contact 92884811,

Email : bati.rajesh@gmail.com

19 years of UAE experience in sales,

management & business

development with UAE D/L pres-

ently on express visa in Oman

seeking for a suitable job.

Contact 91602809 Email

thomasalexander210@gmail.com

Indian male, MBA-Operations &

Marketing (Amity University) with

approx 2 years exp and graduate in

computer applications, seeking suit-

able jobs in Oman. Now on visit visa.

Contact: 99146720 ;

Email: pmmahesh42@gmail.com

Young female, having experience

of working in Oman with expertise

in the field of Event Management,

Advertising, Marketing and Hotel

Management. Currently on a visit

visa. Seeking for a suitable Job.

Contact 96153578

6 years Oman experience in Sales

seeking suitable placement. NOC

available. Contact 99669137

Indian male 22, holding BCA, seek-

ing jobs in Desktop Supporting, data

cable termination, cum Office Asst

now on visit. Contact 95110487

Indian male 23 years BMS qualified

with 2 years experience in Mar-

keting is looking for suitable job,

presently on express visa in Oman.

Contact 96724358,

Email : asifrockz@yahoo.com

Indian male 29 yrs having two yrs

exp in sales seeking suitable replace-

ment in sales store keeper back office

support, warehouse assistant admin.

NOC available. Contact 94142747

Email: oasis0987@outlook.com

33 yrs Indian male, 8 yrs exp in

Oman, 2 yrs sales & marketing exp

have Oman driving license seeks suit-

able placement. Contact 99107369

Indian female 27 yrs BA English

literature PG Mass communication

basic computer knowledge looking

for suitable position part-time full

time. Contact 97497106 Email:

namithashamjith@gmail.com

Indian female 7 yrs experience in

Admin /Sales Coordination in Oman

with valid Oman driving license

urgently seeks suitable placement.

Contact 94176308

Indian male, B.Com, 20 yrs experi-

ence in Sales & Marketing having

UAE light D/L looking for suitable

post. Contact +91 9946699062,

email : sajim40@gmail.com

Indian Male, 7 yrs experience in

building materials trading having

Oman D/L, immediate release avail-

able. Contact 98676713

SALES / MARKETING

Tunisian women looking for

job, knows english, frensh, Italian

and arabic. Contact: 91171838

Indian Male, MBA in Marketing and

Finance, 10 years’ Sales & Business

Development Experience with valid

D/L of Oman & UAE looking for a

suitable placement. NOC Available.

Contact 93969961

e-mail abhilash.pvrk@gmail.com

Indian female, 25 yrs, bachelors of

businesses management, having

experience of 5 years as a fund/

financial administration, on visit

visa,looking for suitable placement.

Contact 94662416

Apurwaverma@gmail.com

Indian Female (M.Com, B.ED) 2Yrs

Experience in teaching seeks

suitable placement . Specialization

in ( Accounting, Business stud-

ies, Human resource management,

Economics). Presently in Visit Visa

Status. Contact:97342709,

Email: sininair27@gmail.com

EDUCATION

Indian Male having 7 yrs in experi-

ence in Oman Sales & Marketing Of-

fice Automation Printer, Copier, MFP,

IT products & Stationery. Looking for

Suitable Placement NOC Available

Contact :97384748

Van Salesman cum driver, 38 yrs,

10 yrs GCC exp. Contact 97265733

SALES / MARKETING

B.Tech Mechanical Engineer (Automobile)&Diploma in QC with

2yrs experience in oil & gas com-

pany seek suitable placement job

currently on Visit Visa.

Contact no.96071081,

99214308 ,

Email: rahulvarikkat@gmail.com

CAT (UK) , ACCA (UK) , 3 year

experience. (including one year

experience in EY world 3rd largest

audit firm) looking for reputed

company for a job of Internal

Audit, Finance and Accounting.

Contact no: 00923008833525

Indian female, 24yrs, M.COM (Ac-

counts) having 3yrs experience

in Accounts, HR, Administration,

Customer Service. Good Computer

Proficiency seeking Suitable Posi-

tion. Visa Transfer/NOC Available.

Contact: 99654913

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.comDAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D6 S U N D AY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

ACCA-UK, having 2.5 years of

experience in Accounts, Boo-

keeping and Audit. Looking

for job in Accounts/Finance or

Internal Audit department. Also

worked on Oracle R12, Tally, Quick

Books and PeachTree. Email:

mr.shoaibaslam@gmail.com

Gsm: +968-95459488

ACCA-UK and B.Sc (OBU-UK)

Experienced, Male 25, looking

for permanent job in Account-

ing, Finance and Auditing field. 2

years of practical experience with

an audit firm in Pakistan. Email:

AliRiazMughal@Outlook.com

Gsm:+968-95459936

Job seeker with ten years of expe-

rience in management, banking,

and marketing. Muscat, mobile

number: 91262609

Male 24,looking for permanent

job in Computer, IT, or Communi-

cation field ,BSC in Computer and

Communication Engg. from Dofar

University, Salalah. Have some

exp. in Telecom field. 4-month

Practical training in Hayyat Com-

municatin company

(subcontractor of ooredoo).

Email:adilbutt102@gmail.com.

Gsm:+968-92328726.

Indian Female, 24 yrs MS. Soft-

ware Engg. Currently on family

visa, 1 year experience in SAP WM

& IT seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 95490105

B.Tech Mechanical Engineer (Automobile) & Diploma in QC

with 2yrs experience in oil & gas

company seek suitable placement

job currently on Visit Visa. Contact

no.96071081, 99214308

Email: rahulvarikkat@gmail.com

Diploma in Fire and Safety

Engineering, Completed IOSH,

have PDO Passport.3.5 year

experience as a Safety Advi-

sor in Carillion Alawi 27 year

Indian male also having valid

Omani driving license, looking

for job. Email:govindansreejit@

gmail.com >Contact:

9689808527,96896176872

Indian female, B.Com. knowledge

of Ms .Office & Tally, 4yrs expe-

rience in A/Cing & admin dept

.looking for good placement in any

field. Contact.98928220

Part Time Accounting Job Com-

plete Data Entry, Reporting and

Finalization. Any Time Available.

Location Ruwi to Bharka. Please

Contact- +968-92049215

Email:- aiafe.oman@gmail.com

Indian female B.Com Graduate,

4yrs experience in accounts, ad-

min dept looking for placement in

any field 98928220

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

BUSINESS

Coffee shop sponsor with

clearance available please call:

94542865

Investor required for about 5,000

Sq mtrs Industrial land in Buraimi

industrial area. The owner/ sponsor

have all the necessary approval and

permits to start any industry/busi-

ness. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

ACCA-UK, having 2.5 years of

experience in accounts, Bookeep-

ing and audit. Looking for job in

Accounts/Finance or Internal

Audit department, also worked

on Oracle R12, Tally, Quick

Books and PeachTree. Email:

mr.shoaibaslam@gmail.com

Gsm: +968-95459488

Diploma in Fire and Safety Engi-

neering, 3.5 year experience as a

Safety Advisor in Carillion Alawi

27 year Indian male also having

valid Omani driving license,

looking for job

Email:govindansreejit@gmail.

com, Contact:968 9808527, 968

96176872

Sudanese/Bsc IT/ 2 years experi-

ence/ excellent English-Arabic

speaking/ Omani driving license/

Contact: 96387227,

henrykarrar@gmail.com

Indian female, 24yrs, M.Com

(Accounts) having 3 yrs experi-

ence in Accounts, HR, Adminis-

tration, Customer Service. Good

Computer Proficiency seeks suit-

able Position. Visa Transfer/NOC

Available. Contact: 99654913

Indian Female, B.tech bio-technol-

ogy graduate. Knowledgeable in

food processing techniques, hav-

ing 2 yrs experieince as associate

research analyst(media monitor-

ing)in Nasdaq Omx,

seeking for growth oriented job.

Contact 92044603,

angeline.babithac@gmail.com.

Female, MSc Chemistry, BEd, with

1.5yrs of experience as research

officer in a chemical manufacturing

company in India. Ph: 95243584

Male 24, looking for job in

Accounts/Finance or Internal

Audit department. ACCA-UK.

Experience: 2 years of experi-

ence from an audit firm, also

worked on Oracle R12, Tally, Quick

Books and PeachTree. Email:

mr.shoaibaslam@gmail.com, Gsm:

+968-95459488

Omani Citizen Mechanical Engi-

neer with 1 yr exp looking for job.

Contact:95993315

email:eaz-s@hotmail.com

ACCA-UK, having 2.5 years of

experience in accounts, Bookeep-

ing and audit. Looking for job in

Accounts/Finance or Internal

Audit department, also worked

on Oracle R12, Tally, Quick

Books and PeachTree. Email:

mr.shoaibaslam@gmail.com,

Gsm: +968-95459488

37 years Indian Male with 10

years PDO experience Store

Keeper seeking suitable place-

ment.Contact: 95849804

Experienced, male 25, hardwork-

ing, looking for permanent job in

Accounting, Finance and Auditing

field, ACCA UK and B.Sc in applied

accounting (OBU-UK). 2-years

of practical experience with an

audit firm in Pakistan. Email:

AliRiazMughal@Outlook.com,

Gsm:+968-95459936

Accountant , Indian Male,24 years

, 3+ years experience in Finance

and Accounts, M.com Finance , Ex-

posure in SAP & Tally ERP 9 , Good

communication skill, on visit Visa.

Contact ( 95366407 ,96921443)

IT support 6 yrs experience, male,

Filipino Desktop Support, Backup

administrator, Wireless Network-

ing, server admin,

laptop support, DB admin.

Contact +96896126502

Indian Male, 31 years of Rich Oman

experience in Multifunctional Man-

agement, Admistration, Business

Development, Purchase & Opera-

tions. Seeking suitable Manager/

Supervisory Position. Visa transfer/

NOC Available. GSM: 95036410

Indian male, 31 years of Rich

Oman experience in Multifunction-

al Management, Administration,

Business Development, Purchase

& Operations seeking suitable

Manager/Supervisory Position.

Visa transfer/NOC Available.

GSM: 95036410

Young Indian with 8 years experi-

ence in Multi faceted exposure in

various ITES domains is looking

for job in IT client/sales/delivery

relationship manager. Immediate

availability 98885188,

fahad079@gmail.com

Male 24, looking for permanent

job in Computer, IT, or Commu-

nication field ,BSC in Computer

and Communication Engineering.

Have some experience in Telecom

field. 4-month Practical training in

Hayyat Communication com-

pany (subcontractor of ooredoo).

Email:adilbutt102@gmail.com.

Gsm:+968-92328726.

Pakistani, Male 24, looking for job

in Accounts, Finance or Internal

Audit department. ACCA-UK. 2

years of experience from an audit

firm, also worked on Oracle R12,

Tally, Quick Books and PeachTree.

Email: mr.shoaibaslam@gmail.

com, Gsm: +968-95459488

Male 24, looking for permanent

job in Computer, IT, or Commu-

nication field ,BSC in Computer

and Communication Engineering.

Have some experience in Telecom

field. 4-month Practical training in

Hayyat Communication company

(subcontractor of ooredoo).

Email: adilbutt102@gmail.com.

Gsm:+968-92328726.

Accountant, Indian male, 24

years. Presently working in Oman

as Accountant. 2 years experience

in Accounts with Oman Driving

license. NOC available seeks

suitable opportunity.

GSM: 93409315

MBA graduate having more than

2 years of experience in event

management company as event

coordinator. Looking for a suitable

job in your esteemed organization

which will commensurate with

my qualifications. Contact no:-

+96894560161, Email id:-

qaisebukhari@gmail.com

Indian male 28 years, 4year exp in

Oman .now on free visa looking for

job as freelancer. Any field

Contact 95642297

Indian male executive secretary

having vast experience in admin,

logistics & procurement well

versed with computer .seek suita-

ble placement. Contact: 99514286,

email: azimmohd@yahoo.co.in

Indian male graduate with 9 years

of experience in Procurement /

Contract Management SAP/ARIBA

on a visit visa seeking position.

Contact: 98483858.

Young, hardworking, Male 24,

looking for permanent job in Com-

puter and Communication field,

BSC in Computer and Communica-

tion Engineering. 4-month Practi-

cal training in Hayat Communica-

tion company (subcontractor of

ooredoo).Email:adilbutt102@gmail.

com.Gsm:+968-92328726.

Indian Male, 31 years of Rich

Oman experience in Multifunction-

al Management, Administration,

Business Development, Purchase

& Operations seeking suitable

Manager/Supervisory Position.

Visa transfer/NOC Available.

GSM: 95036410

Male 25, hardworking, looking

for permanent job in Accounting,

Finance and Auditing field, ACCA

UK and B.Sc in applied account-

ing (OBU-UK). 2-years of practical

experience with an audit firm in

Pakistan. Gsm: 95459936 Email:

AliRiazMughal@Outlook.com

Indian Female, B.Tech-IT, Fresher,

currently in Visiting Visa, Having

Computer Knowledge and Excel-

lent Communication Skill,

Seeking Suitable Position in IT

also in other related fields.

Contact 97232497, 99108857,

EMAIL: psharan24@gmail.com,

parthipan61@gmail.com

Pakistani, Male 24, looking for job

in Accounts, Finance and Internal

Audit department.Qualification:

ACCA-UK. 2 years of audit and

financial services experience

from an audit firm. Also worked on

Oracle R12, Tally, Quick Books and

PeachTree. Gsm: +968-95459488

Email: mr.shoaibaslam@gmail.

com

ELECTRICIAN : Indian male, 24

years old, a well experienced, ITI

qualified, holding wireman license,

4 years experience in India, pres-

ently working in India, looking for

a job in Oman. Ready to join imme-

diately. Contact :99087175

Indian Female, as an Account-

ant. having +5 years experi-

ence in Oman till Nov 2014.

Seeking suitable placement.

NOC available. Currently in

family visa. Contact:98447045

email:anilavandika@gmail.com

PLANNING ENGINEER, 7 years

of Experience in project planning

and control in oil and gas, PDO &

QP Approved Planner,PRIMAVERA-

6,B.Tech in Mechanical engineer-

ing from CUSAT. CONTACT- mail:

ullasprabhakaran@yahoo.co.in,

ph-00974 70230223

Srilankan male, 23 yrs, CIMA part

qualified (completed Manage-

ment level), 3 yrs experience in an

American Company as an Internal

Auditor/ management Trainee

seeks suitable placement in Oman,

good command of English in writ-

ten & spoken. Contact 94633968

Indian male having valid Oman

D/L, exp. in Accounts work seeks

suitable placement. #95731665

B.E. Electronics & Telecom, Hav-

ing one year experience in Muscat

in Electronic field of AV System

Design and installation with good

Pre-sales experience. Looking for

more better opportunity on execu-

tive and managing level.

Contact 97423932Email:

mzeeshanshaikh89@gmail.com

Male 24, looking for permanent

job in Computer and Communica-

tion field ,BSC in Computer and

Communication Engineering.

4-month Practical training in

Hayyat Communication company

(subcontractor of ooredoo).

Gsm: 92328726.

Email: adilbutt102@gmail.com.

Male 24, looking for permanent

job in Accounts, Finance or Inter-

nal Audit department, Qualifica-

tion: ACCA-UK. Having experience

of 2 years from an audit firm.

Worked on Oracle R12, Tally, Quick

Books and PeachTree. Email:

mr.shoaibaslam@gmail.com,

Gsm: +968-95459488

DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5 D7

DAILY GUIDESITUATION WANTEDCARGO

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise

with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain

Marine Tours Contact- 98029602,

92808636

RENT A CAR

RENT A CAR

RENT A CAR

TOURS

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D8 S U N D AY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

MANPOWER

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

SITUATION WANT-SERVICES

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing,

Contact 99314807/24792998

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your

marble. # 24793614/ 99314807

Cheapest prices all types window,

curtains and Blinds.

Contact 99539521

Pest Control Treatments!! Termites!!Cockroaches!!Bedbugs!!

Ocean Centre LLC. Contact

99344723

Carpet & sofa shampooing. Ocean

Centre LLC. Contact 99884591 /

92682970

Cleaning services, carpet & sofa

shampooing, marble restoration

(grinding) and polishing, pest

control, fogging service. Contact

99448057, 95401996

Cheapest Prices, all types win-

dow, curtains and blind.

Contact 99539521

Computer service/ AMC/ Net-

working. Contact 91339882

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. Contact ABU QA-

BAS- 99320217 /24788722

For All Your Maintenance Solutions,

A/c Servicing & Fixing, Painting,

Cleaning, Electric.Contact 99002390

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. Contact ABU QA-

BAS- 99320217 /24788722

Door to Door Computers repair

specialist laptop software Website

cartridges. Contact 99199376

We serve Oman, all kind of build-

ing maintenance & stainless steel

fabrication. Contact 91452233

Marble polishing & crystalliza-

tion, building cleaning floor, floor

polishing, carpet, sofa shampooing,

pest control, anti termite shifting,

maintenance. Contact 99504275

Water proofing ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile pol-

ishing, pest control & anti-termite

treatment, general cleaning paint-

ing, Plumbing, Electrical, shifting.

Contact Mundhir Al-Rizaiqi trading.

L.L.C. # 24810137, 99450130

House shifting packing.

Contact 99657644, 98518013

CLASSES

WEBSITE

WEB, ERP and Business Intelli-

gence (BI) creation and man-

agement at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

COMPUTER

GOOD NEWS

Ayurvedic treatment for joint pain,

backache, paralysis massage, steam

bath, obesity, spondylitis IDEAL ,

CARE Ayurvedic Clinic 18 November

street, Azaiba.Contact 99639695 /

99117987

FREE INFORMATION ABOUT IS-LAM. If you would like to know more

about Islam, please call: 99425598,

96050000, 99353988, 99253818,

99341395, and 99379133.

For ladies: 99415818, 99321360,

99730723 Orvisit:

www.islamfact.com

Ayurvedic treatment for backache,

paralysis, arthritis etc & massage,

All Season (Vaidyaratnam).

Contact 24475280 / 95371554 /

92504980 ,

www.siddhayur.com

MATRIMONIAL

Tutoring ACCA/CAT subjects,

passing exams by expert lectures.

Contact +( 968) 99229700

Split & window unit A.C servicing &

repairing. Contact 99557080

Pest control & cleaning services

professionals in pest control ser-

vice bedbugs treatment, rodent,

treatment, snake treatment and

termite treatment, pre and post

construction. Contact 93098450,

96408964, fax : 24472116

House shifting. Contact 99708138

For logistics & Container services

for international exporting.

Contact 94697259

GULF INTERNATIONAL LLC.

all kind of pest control. Contact

92326955

Feasibility study, market

research, financial analysis of

companies. (968) 99229700

NRI

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation. Contact 93405941

Transport available.

Contact. 95356877

Pick & drop anytime in al Khuwair.

Contact 99764307

Transportation available. Contact

95570429

Office staff & labour pick& drop 7,

15, 25 sites a vehicle auble any time.

Contact 92218001

School Transporter ISM Contact

96581664/ 92271238

Transportation. Contact

91310107

Transportation. Contact

91379976

Pick & Drop any time.

Contact 97014786

Window & spilt unit A.C servicing &

maintenance. Contact 96236476

New ready to occupy building

1,73000 sqft / 95 cents in M.G.

Road, Kochi- Kerala. Contact

Rajesh Mohan , +91 9446062636

/+ 91 9526692719 or mail to

info@kenrichoverseas.com

New 74,000 sqft building in N.H

47 ideal for hotel /hospital /service

apartments 6 Kms from

Kochi Airport. Contact Rajesh

Mohan , +91 9446062636 /+ 91

9526692719 or mail to

info@kenrichoverseas.com

4.85 acre waterside plot in

Vyttila, Kochi adjacent to Sobha

Isle project ideal for luxury

apartments. Contact –

Rajesh Mohan , +91 9446062636 /

+ 91 9526692719 or mail to

info@kenrichoverseas.com

Five star hotels /hi- tech malls

in kochi & bangalore. Contact –

Rajesh mohan , +919446062636 /+

91 9526692719 or mail to

info@kenrichoverseas.com

Indian Sunni family with Omani

nationality seeking proposals from

Indians with Omani nationality for

their daughter aged 23. Contact

99641047

Keralite RC boy, 27 years, Kanjirap-

pally dioces, BHM Graduate Sales

and Marketing professional seeks

suitable alliance from parents of RC

girls please. #99336720

Ezhava girl , 30, BTech, MBA, work-

ing in Kerala as deputy manager in

a nationalized bank looking for a

professionally qualified boys.inter-

ested please contact: 9727 1526

FOR HIRE

TRUCK FOR HIREIsuzu 10 ton cargo body truck

(2012 FVR) with UAE experienced driver

available for long term / short term rent.

Contact: 95346950

DRIVING

Running truck wash for rent in

Ouhi Sunia Sohar. Serious people

can. Contact on 97864747

50 seater bus with PDO specifica-

tion for rent or lease. # 99839898