times of oman - december 27, 2015

44260

Before The Opening of The Annual Session of The Council of Oman

FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTYTHE SULTAN

‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’

SUNDAY, December 27, 2015 / 15 Rabi Al Awal 1437 AH timesofoman.com wtimesofoman.com facebook.com/timesofoman twitter.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company

We also urge Omani youths, both male and female, to take advantage of these opportunities and endeavour to settle and stay in an available job in order to gain experience and skills that will be of mutual benefit, and in the public interest. This will prove that the Omani worker is serious, dedicated, punctual and capable of shouldering responsibilities. Only through this the Omanisation policies and plans will bear fruit, God willing.

TARIQ AL HAREMI [email protected]

MUSCAT: For the avid cyclist Suleiman Saleh Al Maawali, the National Day celebrations are continuing. He has embarked on another trip on his bicycle across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, starting from the Sultanate on December 22, with the final stop in Kuwait.

Al Maawali started his jour-ney from his hometown of Izki and headed west with the goal of passing through all the GCC countries — starting with Oman, to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and ending in Kuwait.

He will cover 2,000 kms dur-ing his journey, which is expect-ed to take 25 days. Al Maawali intends to cover at least 80 kms per day before he finds a spot to camp for the night.

The avid cyclist had completed a similar journey during the summer earlier this year, where he travelled more than 1,000

kms through several parts of the Sultanate with the purpose of raising awareness about blood donation.

According to his Facebook updates, Al Maawali had experi-enced a minor fault with his bike, on Friday, which prompted him to take a detour to Dubai to get it fixed. This had resulted in him having to cover extra distance

and he also lost a day due to this.“There was a minor fault in

the bike. I bought the bike from Dubai and it was still under war-ranty, so I made a detour from Al Ain to Dubai non-stop to get it fixed. I will continue the journey the day after,” said Al Maawali in a Facebook post, which suggested that he would resume his travel on Sunday.

M A N O N A M I S S I O N

MAN OF METTLE: Suleiman Saleh Al Maawali started his journey

from his hometown of Izki and headed west with the goal of pass-

ing through all the GCC countries. Photo-Supplied

OMANOman wins GCC environment award

2Oman has won the GCC Environment and Wildlife Award for 2013-

2014. >A5

MARKETOpal boosts efforts to mitigate impact of oil

3Opal has been stepping up its efforts to help address the challenges facing the oil and

gas sector in 2016. >B1

OMANNew tax plans could deter investors in Oman

1 The Economic and Financial Committee debate on the amendment of the Tax Law following the recommendation of the Shura would undoubtedly send nervous jitters to investors in the Sultanate. >A4

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

Avid cyclist sets out on GCC trip for a noble cause

Revenge motive for damaging cameras

HASAN SHABAN AL [email protected]

MUSCAT: Revenge after be-ing caught is the prime motive behind the recent vandalism of speed cameras in the Sultanate, according to a senior official of the Royal Oman Police (ROP).

Speaking to the Times of Oman, the official said that over-speeding drivers, who in-cur heavy fines after getting caught by speed radars, are be-hind the damage caused to se-curity equipment.

“Vandals smash speed camer-as with rocks and sticks, and even ram their cars into them,” the of-ficial said. Sometimes they are destroyed by fires or gunshots.

Each camera costs OMR18,000 in Oman.

The probe comes after the po-lice arrested four people on charg-es of vandalizing three speed

cameras on the Hafeet-Dhank highway in Dhahirah on Tuesday.

“They are not just harming themselves; they are harming the entire population because the cameras have been installed to improve their safety,” Dar-yleHardie, CEO of Safety First Oman, said. He also said that only a bunch of bored youngsters commit such acts. “They think of radars as revenue makers while they were installed for public safety. Just drive in a responsible manner and you will not have to

pay a single rial fine, it’s that sim-ple,” he said.

Damaged speed radarsThis week, social media was abuzz with pictures of damaged speed radars clicked in the wilay-at of Sinina near Ibri north of the Sultanate.

Mohammed, a resident of Ibri, said: “There is only one rea-son for the vandalism: nobody has money. So what can we do? Every time, a fine of OMR10 to OMR50 is imposed. If it happens

four times in a day, it may cross OMR100. Not everyone has mon-ey to pay these fines.”

Al Kandi, who received four speeding tickets last year, said his peers had supported strong laws against overspeeding and were in favour of radar cameras.

“A radar is for safety of other people. It helps us,” he said. “For me, a radar is no problem. If it’s 120 km per hour (kph) I go at 120, if it’s 80 kph I go at 80. But for other people, it’s different,” he added. >A6

Over-speeding

drivers, who incur

heavy fines after

getting caught by

speed radars, are

behind the damage

caused to the speed

cameras, says ROP

MISCHIEF: Vandals smash speed cameras with rocks and sticks, and even ram their cars into them.

The three speed cameras (in the pictures) were damaged by the vandals on the Hafeet-Dhank high-

way in Dhahirah recently. – Supplied photo

WATER CRISIS IN MUSCATParts of Ruwi, Hamriyah and Hallat Al Sadd are facing

water shortage after the main pipeline supplying water

to the wilayat of Muttrah burst on Friday, said the Public

Authority for Electricity and Water (PAEW). It will take

24 hours to complete the repair work. The PAEW has

advised all citizens and residents to optimise their water

use and take necessary measures to ensure they do not

have to go without water. — PACDA

A4Poland to open embassy in Muscat

A2 S U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

A3S U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Don’t waste a beautiful country like OMAN.Ensure proper disposal of garbage.

A4 S U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

OMAN

SEND US YOUR VIEWS AND COMMENTSwww.facebook.com/timesofoman

The Economic and Financial Com-mittee opening up a discussion on the amendment

of the Tax Law on Wednesday, following a recommendation for the same by the Majlis Al Shura, is expected to make international investors in the Sultanate nervous.

The Committee also dis-cussed increasing corporate taxes imposed on petrochemi-cal industries and non-oil natural resources to 55 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively. If this is implemented, then the foreign companies operating in the Sultanate would be forced to shed a big slice of their prof-its. The news would definitely raise a red flag among potential investors, who are planning to do business here.

With the insistence of the government on not dropping the Rial-to-Dollar peg, Oman’s economy appears to be heading for the doldrums. Oman has called for income diversifica-

tion for decades, but the efforts to achieve the same have not re-ally taken off. The truth is that for many years, the government squandered opportunities to broaden its economy and steer it away from the reliance on the petrochemical industry.

There are murmurs drifting in the corridors of power that there is a possibility of devalu-ing the Rial as the state coffers will begin to dwindle very fast. The logic of devaluing the Rial will help state finances by mak-ing the local currency attractive for oil exports. However, it will also increase the cost of all im-ports on which the country de-pends. Not to mention, it would shake investor confidence since many foreign companies import raw materials for their production.

Pegged to US dollarOman had set its peg to the US currency in 1986 at 0.3849 rials to the US dollar and since then the government has weathered extreme periods of oil price weaknesses. But currently, the rial is going through its ultimate test in the history of its turbu-lent relationship with the dollar during the past three decades.

The dollar itself has lost dominance as a powerful trad-ing currency of the world, after having gotten stiff competition from the Euro. With the Chi-nese Renminbi now pushing for global trading, the US currency

and even the Euro have been pressured further.

Years of failure of not push-ing ahead with economic reforms has prompted the credit rating agency Fitch to cut its long-term issuer default ratings for five Omani banks, saying the government had become less able to support the banking system.

A flicker of good news is that local banks are still stable and may not face significant finan-cial pressures. But that is only a short-term outlook.

With oil prices falling to its lowest level since June 2014 at current levels of around $35 a barrel, the government would find it better to borrow than de-value the Rial or increase taxes.

But the real reinvigoration in the economy, in the present circumstances, must come from expenditure cuts aimed at balancing the fiscal books.

To give the economy a shot in the arm, 2016 is not the right time to hike spending by invest-ing on diversification projects. The government must put all its diversification plans on hold. It simply cannot afford to do it. During next year’s budget, it

has to concentrate on financing essential services, such as edu-cation, health, infrastructure maintenance and security.

With oil prices unlikely to go back to $115 per barrel when it was traded in the summer of last year, the government must be realistic and must not project any growth in 2016. The state’s general reserve funds have already taken a severe knock and it will not be pru-dent to reduce them to a bare minimum. So to keep drawing money from the reserves to finance ‘white elephant’ invest-ments must be resisted.

Hopefully, by now, fiscal planners should know what is in the economic stakes. Oil production is not reliable anymore and will not ever be the way it once was. The government will need to dig deep into its resources, other than petrochemicals, without hurting investors or breaking its bank balance.

Meanwhile, unreasonable hikes in corporate or indus-trial concession taxes are not desirable, and Oman may be forced to look at other taxation regimes. The introduction of personal income tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) will be hotly debated by people in the streets.

However, this is the govern-ment that may now have to resort to untested territories of earning new income to keep the economy afloat.

New tax plans could deter investors in OmanC 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 .

‘Embassy of Poland to open soon in Muscat’

STAFF REPORTER

MUSCAT: Embassy of Poland will start functioning in Muscat soon, said Jakub Slawek, counsel-lor and deputy head of Mission at the Embassy of Poland in Riyadh.

According to him, bilateral re-lations between the Sultanate of Oman and the Republic have steadily grown.

“During the last couple of years, we have noticed a huge improve-ment in our relationship,” Slawek told the Times of Oman.

“We are looking to strengthen our relationship in two ways, one is to collaborate in the culture and higher education field and the second one is to encourage busi-ness and economical contact,” he added. Slawek is currently in Muscat for an exhibition, which is being conducted by the Embassy in Riyadh in cooperation with the Omani Society for Fine Arts.

The exhibition, which is tak-

ing place at the Omani Society for Fine Arts, has 14 pictures of ar-chitectural and historical places of Poland, which are part of UN-ESCO’s World Heritage list.

“These are the 14 treasures of Poland, which have been officially recognised by UNESCO,” he stat-ed. According to him, these exhi-bitions are not only for tourism promotion, but also to showcase the culture and historical places of Poland before Omani Society.

“Most of the places selected by UNESCO are either architec-tural or historical. It shows what Poland has to offer to the world,” Slawek noted. He also appreci-ated the work of the honorary consulate in Muscat. According to Slawek, there are 50 Omani stu-dents, who are currently pursu-ing their studies in Poland. “This exhibition will help us to know more about Poland and its histori-cal places,” said Abdul Salim, who visited the exhibition hall.

Bilateral relations between Oman and Poland

have steadily grown, said Jakub Slawek,

counsellor and deputy head of Mission at the

Embassy of Poland in Riyadh

HISTORICAL PLACES: The exhibition has 14 pictures of architec-

tural and historical places of Poland, which are part of UNESCO’s

World Heritage list. - Picture by AR Rajkumar/Times of Oman

Schade to be the star soloist at ROHMTimes News Service

MUSCAT: World-renowned German-Canadian tenor Mi-chael Schade will be the star so-loist at ROHM’s Gala New Year’s Eve Celebration.

Schade will share the stage with two young award-winning artists, Egyptian soprano Fatma Said, First Prize winner at the 2012 Leyla Gencer Voice Competition in Italy, and Grand Pix winner at the International Giulio Perotti—Gesangswettbewerbs in Germa-ny, along with acclaimed Italian violinist Anna Tifu, winner of the important 2007 George Enescu Competition in Bucharest.

Based in Canada, Schade has

appeared at the world’s most prestigious concert halls and op-era houses, including New York’s Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburg Festival, the National Opera of Paris, and the Canadian Opera Company in To-ronto’s Roy Thompson Hall.

Schade has achieved interna-tional success in concerts, recit-als, and opera. He is also a sought-after Mozart leading man who is noted for his work with Schubert, Brahms and Strauss. Schade’s wider repertoire includes Wagner, Verdi, Rossini, Donizetti, along with others.

Multifaceted voiceThis leading tenor’s multifaceted voice is appreciated for its versa-tile colours, especially in soft and mezza voce singing, as well as for its powerful galvanising quality at full volume.

His virtuosity includes seam-lessly blending several vocal shades within the same phrase.

Rising star Fatma Said, just 24 years-old and maturing with a clear soprano voice, has been fa-vourably compared with the young Maria Callas.

David Levi, the celebrated American conductor who has been described by critics as“inspired and creative”, will direct the Bel-grade Philharmonic.

R O Y A L O P E R A H O U S E M U S C A T

During the last couple of years, we have noticed

a huge improvement in our relationship

Jakub Slawek, Counsellor and deputy head of

Mission at the Embassy of Poland in Riyadh

Michael Schade. — Supplied picture Anna Tifu. — Supplied picture

A5

OMANS U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Tweet all about it

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH TWITTER PAGE

MUSCAT: New commemorative coins were issued by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO), on the occa-sion of the 45th National Day 2015.

The new coins of 100, 50, 25, 10, and 5 baizas, will be offered for sale at OMR6.500.

Legal tender These new coins will circulate as legal tender along with the existing

circulation coins, the ONA said in the press statement.

The new coins on the front side depict the name and title of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, national emblem, name of the Central Bank of Oman, year of minting, and denomination in Arabic and English.

The back side of the coin depicts the 45th National Day Logo. — ONA

4 5 T H N A T I O N A L D A Y 2 0 1 5

– ONA

Programme to improve quality of products completedTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Oman’s largest processor and exporter of fish and seafood products, Oman Fisheries Co., has completed a quality improvement pro-gramme in a bid to put in place world-class quality control practices throughout its out-lets and plants.

The programme was launched as part of the Quality Month initiative in November, in con-junction with World Quality Month celebrations. The quality enforcement programme under-scored Oman Fisheries’ commit-ment to maintaining world-class quality standards throughout its range of products and services.

Under the Quality Month pro-ject, the company introduced programmes involving all de-partments, to expand awareness about quality and operating with advanced quality control systems.

International quality“The brand called Oman Fish-eries is built on an uncompro-mising adherence to interna-tional quality standards across diverse products and process-es, and also the entire spec-trum of corporate management practices. It is in celebration of this spirit and culture of qual-ity that Oman Fisheries joined the global business world in observing November as World Quality Month. We used the occasion to promote the use of quality tools in production, such as flowcharts, checklists and others, with the objective of producing high quality prod-ucts by eliminating or minimis-ing errors,” a spokesperson for Oman Fisheries said.

Further, during Quality Month, the company carried out vari-ous quality-centred activities in accordance with international guidelines on promoting greater quality awareness and use of quality control tools in business, he added.

Quality control staff from all departments shared their in-sights on quality principles and discussed strategies to further put in place quality systems in the company. Also, best per-forming employees from vari-ous departments and outlets who have consistently applied Oman Fisheries Quality System practices were honoured.

O M A N F I S H E R I E S C O .

Oman wins environment awareness GCC awardMUSCAT: Oman, represented by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs, has won the GCC Environment and Wildlife Award for 2013-2014 in the field of environment awareness on natural calamities.

The achievement came in re-sponse to the ministry’s efforts extended by the various depart-ments and directorates general of environment and climate af-fairs in the various governorates of the Sultanate in the field of environment awareness, under the supervision of the ministry’s awareness and information de-partment.

Farida bint Salim Al Balushi, acting director of ministry’s awareness and information de-partment, said the ministry’s awareness programme and the participation of a wide sector of the community have con-tributed to this achievement, thanks to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the leader and founder of environment work in the Sultanate.

The GCC Environment and Wildlife Award came in re-sponse to the decision of the GCC environment ministers taken in their meeting held in Abu Dhabi in 1994 . The award also translates the environment awareness role in preservation of environment and natural re-sources. —ONA

C L E A N I N I T I A T I V E

Central bank issues new commemorative coins

A6

OMANS U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Yes, of course…everybody needs to acquire new

skills and behaviour to meet the requirements

of work and life and keep abreast with changes

Malik Al Bahri, Interior Ministry staff

Job change figures among New Year resolutions: Poll

BABA UMAR [email protected]

MUSCAT: For Hussain Moham-med Al Lawati, a banker with the pioneer of Islamic banking in the Sultanate, Meethaq Islamic Bank-ing, 2015 was a thriving year in which he “stuck” to the promises he had made to himself.

“Those (pledges) were suc-cessful,” he told the Times of Oman (TOO).

CareerIn 2016, he plans to “simply grow up and advance in his career,” which includes reaching a mana-gerial position in the bank.

“Family-wise, I’m planning on having my first child, Inshallah,” he said.

For Malik Al Bahri, who works in the Sultanate’s Interior Minis-

try, the New Year will involve “re-inventing.”

“Yes, of course…everybody needs to acquire new skills and behaviour to meet the require-ments of work and life and keep abreast with changes,” she said.

Jewellery artist Nadia Al Sham-si is looking forward to participat-ing in upcoming international jewellery exhibitions after having met her goals for 2015.

“I also look forward to continu-ing holding volunteer workshops in jewellery design and art for students of government schools,” she said.

Young Omanis are among the hundreds of thousands of profes-sionals in the Middle East and

North Africa (MENA), who are looking forward to the New Year with poise.

Career resolutionsAccording to the “Holidays in the MENA Workplace Poll” con-ducted by Bayt.com—a top online job site in the region—hard work, switching jobs, and travelling are top on the list of resolutions for the New Year.

The poll revealed that profes-sionals in the MENA region are looking forward to the New Year, with the vast majority or 79.6 per cent of the respondents making career resolutions.

“In fact, 30.4 per cent of them have already resolved to work

harder next year. 17.8 per cent have decided to change their jobs or career, while 17.2 per cent of the respondents would prefer to travel more,” Bayt.com said in a statement on Tuesday.

The online survey in which 7,708 respondents participated said 8.1 per cent of the partici-pants would like to take a course, 6 per cent would like to become more organised, while joining a gym or losing weight remained a resolution for 5.4 per cent of the people.

“79.8 per cent of the respond-ents also claimed to have stuck to last year’s resolutions, however, 48.9 per cent admitted to ‘only sticking to their resolutions to some extent,” the survey revealed.

Boon for workplacesBayt.com officials said the fact that employees are resolving to improve their working habits and working harder in the New Year is a “boon” for workplaces through-out the MENA region.

“At Bayt.com, it is our mission to provide professionals with the tools and knowledge to discover the regional trends and use these to make better decisions when it comes to hiring and retaining top talent,” said Suhail Masri, vice president of Sales at Bayt.com.

The survey indicated that 38.7 per cent of the respondents de-scribed their feelings as “very positive” and 33.2 per cent as “excited,” compared with only 19 per cent describing their feel-ings as “anxious” and 9.2 per cent as “neutral.”

57.1 per cent said the new cal-endar year would affect their lev-

els of excitement towards work, while 31 per cent would “not be affected at all.”

An impressive 93 per cent of professionals believe in “reinvent-ing oneself, career or life” and 83.1 per cent said they would like their career and life to be “very differ-ent” next year.

Holiday activitiesWhen it comes to favourite holi-day activities for employees around the MENA region, travel topped the list for 30.1 per cent of those surveyed.

22.2 per cent claimed to travel during “almost every holiday,” while 30.3 per cent travelled once or twice a year.

“Almost a third admitted that they ‘rarely’ travelled during the holidays, while 18 per cent claimed to ‘never travel’ at all,” the polls revealed.

Other favourite holiday activi-ties included “spending time with family (21.3 per cent); “going out with friends” (15.2 per cent); and “partaking in outdoor activities” (10.9 per cent), the survey said.

All the respondents were from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Alge-ria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen.

No respondents were chosen from Palestine, Israel, Sudan or Syria though.

The poll reveals that

professionals in the

MENA region are

looking forward to

the New Year, with

the vast majority or

79.6 per cent of the

respondents making

career resolutions

Source: Holidays in the MENA Workplace Poll, Bayt.com Graphics

COMMON ANSWERS IN BAYT.COM POLL7,708total

respondents100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0

6% would like to get organised8.1% would like to take a course

17.2% pledge to travel more17.8% have decided to change their jobs

19% are ‘anxious’30.4% resolved to work harder33.2% are ‘excited’38.7% feel ‘very positive’ about 2016

48.9 ‘only stuck’ to their resolutionsto some extent’

93% believe in ‘reinventing oneself,career or life’

83.1% see their career and life to be‘very different’

79.6% have made career resolutions

79.8% stuck to last year’s resolutions

9.2% are ‘neutral’

5.4% pledge to lose weight

Breaking radars will invite jail

Hatred for the speed cameras is not restricted to Ibri. “We have gotten reports of a large number of vandalism cases from Muscat and Al Batinah too,” the ROP of-ficial said.

But not everyone is in favour of radar cameras. “It is a mere tool to increase government revenue and is a form of indirect taxation,” one of them said.

However, Hardie said: “Damag-ing radars will not erase their fines.”

Sultan Al Abri, member of the Shura Council said: “No one ac-cepts these unethical acts.”

According to the Omani Penal Law, people who are caught van-dalising public properties are li-able to face a jail term of three months to three years in addition to a fine ranging between OMR10 and OMR500.

Speed cameras Another senior ROP official has linked the significant decline in the number of road accidents in 2015, compared with the last year to the wide installation of speed cameras.

“Speeding is the main cause of road deaths in Oman,” he said, adding that vandals are probably frequent speeders.

Over the last 11 months of 2015, the total number of road accidents slipped to 5,254 from 6,171 cases reported during the same period last year, reflecting a drop of 14.9 per cent, according to the latest fig-ures issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information.

The ROP official said Oman is known to have the lowest traf-fic fines among Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

U N E T H I C A L A C T S

< FROM

A1

HAVE YOUR SAY Send us your comments at facebook.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com [email protected]

Al Hazm Fort has big tourism potentialTimes News Service

MUSCAT: After the Tourism Department carried out its res-toration work, the Al Hazm Fort was officially opened for public earlier this week by the Ministry of Tourism (MoT).

The Al Hazm Fort, which is located in the wilayat of Rustaq in the Al Batinah South Gover-norate, is one of the most beauti-ful Omani forts. It had remained closed for quite some time, and has now been renovated and re-stored by the MoT. The fort will be open to visitors from 9am to 4pm on all days, except Fridays. Visitor timings on Fridays will be from 8am to 11am.

The Al Hazm Fort has high tourism potential, owing to its solid defence features and unique architecture. This has encouraged the MoT to showcase this histori-cal treasure for visitors in ways that will facilitate an appreciation of the history of the fort and its ar-chitecture among them.

The MoT, represented by the Directorate of Historical Sites Development, has carried out

many projects to conserve this historical landmark and highlight the valuable beautiful collections inside it for different segments of visitors to view and appreciate the same. It recently held an exhibi-tion that outlined the historical legacy of the fort.

Significantly, the Ministry also

introduced a modern museum-oriented lighting system that highlights the beauty of the fort, especially in the evening.

The lighting enhances the fort’s Omani architectural splen-dour manifold. In addition, the Ministry has introduced an audio guide service in five languages for

the benefit of those who do not understand Arabic. The audio guide accompanies the tourist on a splendid trip inside the fort. As a result, the visitor can listen to stories and tales in every cor-ner of the fort, and gain valuable historical knowledge. These ef-forts by the ministry to utilize the fort’s tourism potential are sure to yield significant benefits.

The Sunaislah Fort was also opened to the public in this week. It is located in the wilayat of Sur. It had been extensively refur-bished as part of a renovation project jointly financed by the MoT and Oman LNG, which aims to develop various facilities for visitors. The fort’s theatre was also significantly renovated and its capacity enhanced.

The renovation projects at the Sunaislah and Hazm forts were part of the MoT’s visionary pro-gramme aimed at the restoration and development of all castles and forts managed by the Ministry.

The programme has been de-signed to enhance the tourism val-ue of such historical sites through scientific restoration works.

H E R I T A G E S I T E S

UNIQUE ARCHITECTURE: The Ministry has carried out many

projects to conserve this historical landmark and highlight the

valuable beautiful collections inside it. – Supplied photo

Airport traffic at Muscat, Salalah growsMUSCAT: Air passenger traffic through Muscat International Airport until the end of Novem-ber 2015 recorded an increase of 17 per cent to 9,321,617 pas-sengers, while it rose by 21 per cent at the Salalah Airport, compared to the figures in the same period in 2014.

Data shows an 18 per cent increase in the number of arriv-als to 4,708,379 until November 2015, compared to 3,991,125 passengers for the same period in 2014. The number of depart-ing passengers also increased by 16 per cent to 4,583,962 from 3,941,684 passengers a year ago.

The increase in the arrival and departure at the Muscat International Airport is attrib-uted to the growing number of flights operated by the existing airlines, such as Kuwait Air-ways, Ethiopian Airlines, and SpiceJet.

In terms of airfreight traffic at the Muscat International air-port, aviation data indicates an increase in the total unloaded and loaded freight by 10 per cent. -ONA

R I S I N G F L I G H T S

A7

REGIONS U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Several former ministers from the cabinets of two ex-presidents, Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, are among the candidates.

Record 12,000 register for Iran’s February parliamentary pollsDUBAI: Almost 12,000 candidates have registered for Iran’s February parliamentary election, state tel-evision said on Saturday, breaking participation records at a time of political uncertainty in Iran.

President Hassan Rouhani, a centrist who won election by a landslide in 2013 and championed Iran’s July nuclear deal with world powers, is hoping his supporters

can take control of the 290-seat assembly and end years of domi-nance by conservative factions.

A supportive legislature could give Rouhani a stronger mandate to push through domestic reforms to increase social and political lib-erties -- an area where his efforts have so far been checked by the ju-diciary and security forces.

But hardliners have warned of

potential “sedition” at the polls, a word used to describe reform-ist protests following disputed presidential elections in 2009 that touched off a wave of repres-sion and arrests. Rouhani and his ally, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, are hoping to win a majority by cashing in on the popularity they gained from the deal to restrain Iran’s nuclear programme in ex-

change for a lifting of sanctions crippling the economy.

Several former ministers from the cabinets of two ex-presi-dents, Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, are among the candidates. The Guard-ian Council, an unelected judicial body that vets candidates on tech-nical and ideological grounds, is likely to disqualify several thou-

sand of them before voters go to the polls on February 26. To pass the vetting procedure, candidates must have a Masters degree and support the principles of the Is-lamic Republic. Grounds for dis-qualification include rejecting religion or having links to banned political parties.

Around 5,200 candidates signed up for the last parliamentary elec-

tions in 2012, but more than a third were disqualified, leaving around 3,400 candidates on polling day.

Elections to the Assembly of Experts, an 88-seat clerical body that will select Iran’s next cleri-cal Supreme Leader, will be held on the same day; 801 candidates including Rouhani and several of his prominent allies have signed up. — Reuters

B R E A K I N G P A R T I C I P A T I O N R E C O R D S

A8

INDIAS U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

As per our information, they don’t have any

such plans...however, if there is something such

in their minds we need to ascertain it

Hyderabad Police official

Three youths ‘planning to join terror groups’ picked upNAGPUR/HYDERABAD: Three Hyderabad-based cousins, who allegedly planned to join “terror groups”, were on Saturday picked up from Nagpur international airport while on their way to Sri-nagar, months after they were put under watch for being influenced by online IS propaganda.

Earlier reports had said that the trio was arrested as they were planning to join the dreaded terror outfit. Police said the three were rounded up in a joint operation by west-Indian state Maharashtra

Anti-Terrorist Squad and Telanga-na Police at the airport when they were trying to board a morning flight to Srinagar after arriving in Nagpur from Hyderabad on Friday.

The youths, in their 20s, were counselled by police last year after they were caught while allegedly planning to join IS and have been under watch since then.

“They have a extremist kind of mindset. They were going to Sri-nagar. But they do not have any connection with IS as of now. We do not know of anything which can

suggest that they were in touch with IS people,” a senior Intelligence Of-ficial of Telangana Police said.

“The trio wanted to reach Sri-nagar from where they wanted to explore (the idea of ) joining some terror organisation. They did not have any well prepared plan but they wanted to explore ways to join some terror organisation,” he said.

All three, who are students, were counselled earlier and they were under watch of police.

About two days ago, they ran away from their homes here about

which the police were informed by their family members.

Police tracked them down at Nagpur and alerted the Maharash-tra ATS following which they were picked up, a senior Special Branch Official of Hyderabad Police said.

Asked on reports that the trio were planning to join IS, the offi-cial said, “As per our information, they don’t have any such plans...however, if there is something such in their minds we need to as-certain it.” Last year, they had got attracted to IS propaganda online

and when police came to know about it, they were caught and counselled following which they stopped the activity.

“All three are being brought back to Hyderabad. Once we get them back to Hyderabad we will ques-tion them to check from them on their plans. Only after questioning them we will come to know about if they had any other intentions ( joining IS or any other terror out-fits)...then we will proceed further accordingly,” the official said.

“There is no case against the trio

and they have not been arrested. They have been only picked up,” he said clarifying on reports that they have been arrested.

The youths are related to late president of Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) Syed Salahuddin, who died in a car ac-cident in October last year in Tel-angana. Recently, four youths went ‘missing’ from suburban Malwani in Mumbai, allegedly lured by the IS ideology. While two of them have returned home, two others are still intraceable. - PTI

I N F L U E N C E D B Y O N L I N E I S P R O P A G A N D A

Air India will now serve only vegetarian

meals in 60-90 minutes domestic flights

NEW DELHI: Come January 1, loss-making government-run Air India will not serve non-vegetar-ian food to its economy class pas-sengers on flights upto 90 min-utes duration.

The national carrier has also decided to strike off both tea and coffee from its lunch and dinner menu. As of now, Air India serves sandwich (both vegetarian and non-vegetarian) and cake on its flights, which are up to 90 minutes of duration, which will be discon-tinued from January 1, 2016, re-placed with “all vegetarian” hot meal, an airline circular said.

“It has been decided to provide all Indian vegetarian hot meals in economy class on all domestic sector flights between 61 and 90 minutes duration from January 1, 2016.” the circular issued late last week said.

Flights to most of the non-met-ro routes fall in this category.

While Air India has defended the move saying it has upgraded the meals, a travel industry expert said the decision is unilateral.

“We have, in fact, upgraded

and improved the meals. So far, we were serving only sandwiches and cakes, which have now be re-placed with hot meals,” a senior airline official said.

He said, with 150-odd passen-gers onboard and just two crew cabin members to serve, “at times it becomes difficult to cater as per the passenger’s choice in such short-duration flights.”

However, according to travel industry expert Rajji Rai, the state-owned airline should have

first carried out a passenger sur-vey, which is an industry prac-tice, before affecting any change in the menu.

“Airlines world over carry out customer surveys before taking such decisions. Unfortunately, Air India is very poor in such prac-tices. This decision to discontinue non-vegetarian food on these non-metro flights is just one-sid-ed,” he said.

Air India had flown 1.18-mil-lion passengers with a market

share of 16.2 per cent in the pre-vious month.

In a statement, Air India said it presently provides cold vegetar-ian snacks on flights of 61 to 90 minutes flights duration.

“Air India will now be serving proper hot vegetarian meals on these 60 to 90 minutes flights.

“There will be a review after ob-taining passengers’ feedback. On flights exceeding 90 minutes, the present choice of veg and non-veg meals will continue,” it said. - PTI

F R O M J A N U A R Y 1

CHANGE IN MENU: The national carrier has also decided to strike off both tea and coffee from its

lunch and dinner menu. - PTI file photo

BJP says PM’s Lahore visit a ‘transformative moment’

NEW DELHI: Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sur-prise visit to Pakistan a “trans-formative moment” in the sub-continent, BJP on Saturday said it has provided yet another oppor-tunity to write a new chapter in the difficult Indo-Pak relationship and rejected Congress’ criticism as“childish”.

The party hailed Modi for his “courage, vision, skill and imagi-nation”, saying pursuit of peace in the complex region with its histo-ry of fraught ties between the two countries required such courage.

BJP spokesperson M. J.Akbar also noted at a press conference that it required “two authors read-ing from the same page” to write a new chapter while asserting that the peace process between the two neighbours has been revived in an “extraordinary” manner.

Warm personal relation be-tween Modi and his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif is “symptomatic” of the “diplomatic thaw” that has taken place, he said.

Vision“The party expresses its deep ad-miration for the prime minister for his courage, vision, imagina-tion and skill in creating a trans-formative moment on the subcon-tinent. Search of peace does not meant that we have already found

it. But the process particularly in a region with as many complex problems as ours, history as ours; the pursuit of peace, always a frag-ile commodity, requires kind of courage shown in Lahore,” Akbar said and also admired Sharif for his leadership.

“We also extend our congratu-

lations to Pakistan prime minister for his vision and leadership in this pursuit of peace,” he said.

Congress’ chargeAsked about Congress’ charge that an industrialist had arranged the meeting in Lahore and that Modi’s visit was meant to promote

private business interests, he shot back, “What can be an answer to such childishness.... This is not only absolutely incorrect but also reflects on the brains of people raising such questions.”

“Unfortunately, there are one or two parties which are preferring partisan politics over national in-

terest. Hope they will understand that the prime minister’s vision is for common good,” he said, adding that the prime minister will visit Pakistan next year for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC ) Summit “if all goes well”.

Akbar said the depth and ex-tent of positive response to the meeting between the two govern-ment heads has been “extremely reassuring” and noted that main-stream political parties in Pakistan and the Left in India had also wel-comed it besides the outside world.

Modi has been a “master” of such transformative moments, he said, recalling his decision to invite all the government heads of SAARC countries for his oath-taking ceremony and noted that subsequent developments indi-cated the difficulties in the India-Pakistan relation. The Lahore meet, he said in a lighter vein, can be called an effective example of climate change except that it wanted to make the subcontinent warmer and not colder.

Modi has a great vision not only for Indo-Pak ties but for the whole SAARC region, Akbar said, suggesting that he want-ed it like the European Union, which was a “frozen war zone” 70 years back.

Quoting his own article, he said SAARC is the larger circle around which the prime min-ister was trying to untangle the “vicious” Indo-Pak circle. Asked about what transpired between the talks between the two heads, he said it was not a structured di-alogue but an attempt to build at-mosphere which was successful.

AllegationsTo a question about allegations against Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, he strongly defended him, saying truth is with him and those attacking him are either “misled” or lying. - PTI

BJP spokesperson

M.J. Akbar said warm

personal relation

between Modi and his

Pakistan counterpart

Nawaz Sharif is

‘symptomatic’ of the

‘diplomatic thaw’ that

has taken place

BOOSTING TIES: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif at a

meeting in Lahore on Friday. - PTI

NEW DELHI: The Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan will meet on Janu-ary 15 in Islamabad to draw a roadmap to carry forward the engagement under the newly- announced “Bilateral Comprehensive Dialogue”.Though there was no of-ficial announcement from either India or Pakistani side, sources said Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar will travel to Is-lamabad to hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry.

During the meeting, the two secretaries will discuss mo-dalities and other schedule-re-lated aspects to carry forward the dialogue which was announced during the visit of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to Islamabad earlier this month.

On December 23, the neigh-bouring country had proposed talks between their foreign secretaries in Islamabad on January 15 to discuss all out-standing issues.

According to sources, India

had accepted the proposal.The process of resumption

of talks was set in motion after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart in Paris on November 30 on the sidelines of Climate Change Conference.

The meet was followed by the national security advisers’ meeting in Bangkok a week later following which the Ex-ternal Affairs Minister visited Pakistan to attend Heart of Asia Conference. - PTI

Foreign secretaries of India, Pakistan to meet on January 15 to draw roadmap for dialogue


Congress slams minimum education rule for civic polls in Punjab, Haryana

NEW DELHI: A new law in BJP-ruled Haryana and Rajasthan states mandating that only those having minimum educational qualifications can contest pan-chayat elections, has found lit-tle support from Congress which dubbed the move as one “hurting constitutional rights”.

But the BJP hit back at Congress saying that while efforts are being made to take country forward, the opposition party was “setting the clock backward.”

One of the clauses in the law passed by the two states makes it clear that only those having mini-mum educational qualifications will be eligible to contest panchay-at elections.

Haryana’s law has been upheld by the Supreme Court.

“It hurts the constitutional right. All have right to vote and thus contest. No pre-condition can be imposed,” Congress leader and former Union minister Anand Sharma said slamming the law.

But Environment Minister and senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar said while efforts are being made to take the country forward, Congress was “setting the clock backward” by opposing the law which has been upheld by the judiciary.

IrrationalHe said since it pertains to local polls, states have framed the law and it is not an all India decision.

Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said the pre-condition imposed is “ir-rational” as those having a right to vote should also be free to contest.

He said such a law is “practi-cal” when the level of literacy is anywhere between 90 per cent and 100 per cent.

Otherwise it will “deny people a level playing field”.

BJP Secretary Siddharth Nath Singh said there was need to spread education in the country and such laws work as incentive for people regarding literacy.

He said efforts should not be made to take the country “back-ward”. - PTI

N E W L A W

A9

INDIAS U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Love us on Facebook

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH FACEBOOK PAGE

Corruption is core value of BJP’s ideology: AAP leader

NEW DELHI: Corruption was the core value of the BJP’s ide-ology because people attacking corruption were being suspended from the party in the name of anti-party activity, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national spokesperson Ashutosh said on Saturday.

“The way the Bharatiya Janata Party is saving its ‘Kalmadi’, peo-ple of this country are clear that the BJP and the Congress are two faces of the same coin,” Ashutosh

said at a press conference.He was referring to Finance

Minister Arun Jaitley, who is embroiled in a row over alleged fi-nancial bungling in Delhi’s cricket board, and Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi who was also allegedly involved in corruption during the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Hit-ting out at the BJP, he said party MP Kirti Azad, who fought a bat-tle against corruption in the Delhi

and District Cricket Association (DDCA) for nine years, was first ignored, then humiliated and fi-nally suspended from the party.

He said the Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday organised a nation-wide protest against Jaitley over his alleged involvement in finan-cial irregularities in the DDCA.

The AAP said the protest was organised in over 275 districts and 17 state capitals.

Ashutosh said that investiga-tions have revealed that com-panies and vendors were paid Rs16,900 per day by the DDCA for taking laptops on rent, Rs3,000 were paid as daily rent for printers and “pooja thalis” were taken on rent for up to Rs5,000 per day.

As a way of their protest, AAP volunteers from across the coun-try on Saturday set up stalls to rent out their laptops and printers

to the DDCA. “We will orgnise a massive protest at Jantar Mantar on January 10 against Jaitley. It will be to expose the BJP’s corrup-tion,” he added.

Jaitley has sued Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other leaders of the AAP for linking him with the alleged corruption.

The BJP has suspended Azad for campaigning against Jaitley on the same issue.

Meanwhile, asserting that Jaitley is suffering the backlash of backing Arvind Kejriwal dur-ing his anti-corruption move-ment against Congress alongwith Anna Hazare, the Shiv Sena on Saturday said the Bharatiya Ja-nata Party (BJP) should at times listen to its ally, which had op-posed any sort of support to the AAP leader then.

“We remember the time when Anna Hazare and Kejriwal com-pany was creating chaos against Congress government at Ram-lila ground (in Delhi). At that time, Kejriwal was garnering praise by levelling absurd allegations against the Congress leadership.

“There was a tug of war (be-tween political parties) to sup-port Kejriwal’s hooliganism,” the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana. - Agencies

AAP spokesperson

Ashutosh said the

way BJP is saving its

‘Kalmadi’, people of

this country are quite

clear that the BJP

and the Congress are

the two sides of

the same coin DEMANDING RESIGNATION: Aam Aadmi Party activists stage a protest demanding the resigna-tion of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over the alleged irregularities in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), in Bhopal on Saturday. - PTI

‘India is most tolerant country in the world’

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amidst the raging debate on growing ‘intolerance’ in the coun-try, violin virtuoso and composer Dr L Subramaniam on Saturday took a varying point of view, say-ing India was one of the most tol-erant countries in the world.

India had tolerated several at-tacks and invasions in the past and that itself had been a proof of the great tolerance of the country, the maestro told reporters here.

“India is one of the most tolerant countries in the world. Here, any-body can speak against anyone and it can be broadcast and published in newspapers. That itself shows the tolerance of the country,” he said on the debate on intolerance in the country.

The Padma Bhushan awardee said he had performed in certain countries where “you say one word, and people have disappeared.”

Subramaniam is in the city along with his singer-wife Kavi-tha Krishnamurthi to perform at the Lakshminarayana Global Mu-sic Festival.

Stating that it was “not appro-priate to call a country intolerant taking into consideration one or two isolated instances”, he said, “We are highly cultured and we should focus on making our coun-try a powerful one.” - PTI

G L O B A L M U S I C F E S T I V A L

‘BJP creating wrong perception about Congress role on GST bill’AHMEDABAD: Senior Congress leader Madhusudan Mistry on Sat-urday said BJP is trying to create a wrong perception among people that Congress is not allowing the Goods and Service Tax (GST) bill to pass in the Parliament.

“We are not against the GST bill. The BJP is trying to create a wrong perception among people that the Congress is not allowing the bill in the Rajya Sabha,” Mis-try told reporters here.

“I was member of the Select Committee of Rajya Sabha which had vetted the bill. The original bill of GST tabled by UPA government and the new GST bill brought by NDA government has many differ-ences,” the Congress MP in Rajya Sabha from Gujarat, said.

“We had raised three issues with the NDA government re-garding putting 18 per cent cap on tax in the bill, removal of levy of one per cent additional GST by states and change in grievance rederessal mechanism,” he said.

“The NDA government gave

positive response on only one point and that was of removal of levy one per cent additional GST by states. However, they did not give positive response on other two issues. That is the reason GST bill has not passed,” he claimed.

Mistry said non-functioning of Parliament is directly related

to the “actions of Pirme Minister Narendra Modi-led government” like raiding and sealing office of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Ke-jriwal and “arbitrary behaviour” of Arunachal Pradesh Governor Jyoti Prakash Rajkhowa who at-tempted toppling the Congress government in that state. - PTI

P A S S A G E O F B I L L I N R A J Y A S A B H A

I was member of the Select Committee of Rajya

Sabha which had vetted the bill. The original bill of

GST tabled by UPA government and the new GST bill

brought by NDA government has many differences

Madhusudan MistrySenior Congress leader

Two arrested as gold worth Rs70m seized

IMPHAL: Gold bars smuggled from Myanmar and worth over Rs70 million were seized by As-sam Rifles in Manipur and two smugglers arrested, an official said on Saturday.

Assam Rifles spokesman Akhil Dhawan said a mobile check post of 2 Assam Rifles intercepted a truck near Lilong area in Thoubal district. During a search of the truck, gold bars weighing 28kg and worth Rs7.1 million were seized. The gold bars were hidden inside the bat-tery cabinet of the truck. A cus-toms official said the gold was smuggled from Myanmar. -IANS

S M U G G L I N G

A10

PAKISTAN S U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

There’s a conflict of interest in Modi-Sharif talks: Imran

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman, Imran Khan, on Saturday took to Twit-ter, saying that there was a “con-flict of interest” for a business associate to arrange a meeting

between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counter-part Narendra Modi.

Imran, however, welcomed the revival of relationships between the longstanding arch rivals.

“We welcome the thaw in Pak-India relations, but to have a busi-ness associate arrange the two prime ministers’ meetings has an underlying conflict of interest,” the PTI chairman tweeted.

Referring to an earlier secret meeting between the two lead-ers, he said, “Meetings of the two prime ministers, from the secret meeting in Kathmandu to the one in Lahore, must be done through

institutional frameworks with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the loop for sustainability.”

Further, Imran said that such meetings held between the prime ministers undermines a process whereby tensions can be eased, and raises questions and conflict of interest.

The remarks come a day after Modi made a brief surprise visit to Lahore where he met with PM Nawaz and visited his residence in Raiwind.

It was the first time an Indian premier had stepped foot on Pa-kistani soil in more than 10 years and was seen by analysts as a step towards normalising ties be-tween the two neighbours which have fought three wars. — Express Tribune

Pakistan Tehreek-

e-Insaf chairman

Imran Khan said that

to have a business

associate arrange

the two prime

ministers’ meetings

has an underlying

conflict of interest

Meetings of the two prime ministers, from

the secret meeting in Kathmandu to the one

in Lahore, must be done through institutional

frameworks with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

in the loop for sustainability

Imran KhanPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman


30 INJURED IN EARTHQUAKEPakistani relatives tend to

an earthquake survivor as

he is treated at a hospital

in Peshawar on Saturday. A

6.2 magnitude earthquake

rocked northeast Afghani-

stan on late Friday close to

the country’s borders with

Pakistan and Tajikistan,

leaving at least 30 people

injured, according to the

US Geological Survey. The

quake, which measured

203.5 kilometres (126

miles) deep, struck about

280 kilometres northeast

of the Afghan capital

Kabul at 11:44pm (1914

GMT), the USGS said on its

website. — AFP

Bilawal visits deceased infant’s family KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto on Saturday visited the home of Bisma, the girl who died as a result of high security meas-ures in place for his visit to Civil hospital a day earlier, Express News reported.

Bilawal went to the residence of the deceased infant, where he expressed grief over the incident and condoled with the bereaving family. Speaking with the girl’s father, Muhammad Faisal, Bila-wal said he was deeply saddened by the death and expressed grief over the loss of the child’s life.

The girl died on Wednesday when her family was unable to enter Civil Hospital due to secu-rity measures in place for Bila-wal’s arrival at the healthcare facility, drawing stern criticism and a public outrage against PPP and VIP protocol.

Later, Bilawal and co-chair-man PPP Asif Ali Zardari or-dered an impartial inquiry into the death and asked for the find-ings to be made public. — Express Tribune

B A R R E D F R O M H O S P I T A L

Two rebels killed in attack on checkpostPESHAWAR: Two suspected militants were killed and five others injured in the early hours of Saturday, as security forces repulsed a militant at-tack carried out in Kurram Agency on the Pakistan-Af-ghanistan border.

Unidentified militants initi-ated the attack on the security forces check-post after which two militants were killed in re-taliatory firing.

Five other suspected mili-tants were injured in the cross-fire and were arrested and moved to an unidentified place for further interrogation, offi-cials said.

Officials at Parachanar, head-quarters of Kurram Agency, confirmed the clash between security forces and militants in border region. — Express Tribune

K U R R A M A G E N C Y

Need to address causes of falling textile exportsKARACHI: Pakistan’s textile ex-ports are taking a hit because of the high cost of utilities, said Pa-kistan Apparel Forum Chairman Muhammad Jawed Bilwani.

“The government has not given due attention to the rising cost of utilities during the last two and a half years and this has now be-come a big hurdle in the way of increasing exports,” he said, add-ing unless the government evalu-ated the difference in the cost of manufacturing with regional tex-tile exporting countries, it would not be able to understand fully the causes of declining exports.

He said if the major causes were not addressed, the situation would not improve. “The value-added sector requires a level play-ing field to compete with regional rivals, but due to the rising cost of manufacturing, the grievances of exporters, especially those pro-ducing finished goods, are reach-ing new heights.”

“If the problems are not ad-dressed properly, exports would continue to fall and would result-antly create a serious issue of em-ployment,” he added.

He remarked that despite hav-ing a business-friendly govern-ment, the country’s business community was facing such criti-cal economic problems.

The textile industry constitutes more than 50 per cent of the coun-try’s exports. The value-added textile sector has been providing millions of jobs to skilled and un-skilled workers. However, instead of supporting export strategies of the value-added textile sector, the government now depends on raw material exporters.

“The cost of electricity in Pa-

kistan is 86 per cent higher than Sri Lanka and 45 per cent higher than India and Bangladesh, while the gas price is 173 per cent high-er than Bangladesh and 44.2 per cent higher than India,” claimed Bilwani.

More surprisingly, Pakistan’s gas prices for industries are 90 per cent higher than the United States, which is one of the biggest buyers of Pakistani textile. Ap-proximately, 50 per cent of Paki-stan’s textile exports go to the US.

During the first five months

(July-November) of fiscal year 2015-16, textile exports declined 8.4 per cent to $5.2 billion from $5.7 billion in the same period of last year.

It seems, he said, that the gov-ernment was solely interested in increasing the export of raw ma-terial.

“The export of raw material is encouraged while the export of value added goods that fetch higher foreign exchange with val-ue addition are discouraged.” — Express Tribune

H I G H U T I L I T Y C O S T S

The value-added sector requires a level playing field

to compete with regional rivals, but due to the rising

cost of manufacturing, the grievances of exporters,

especially those producing finished goods, are reaching

new heights, said Pakistan Apparel Forum Chairman

Muhammad Jawed Bilwani

A11

ASIAS U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Stay ahead of the curve with

WhatsNews

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY INSTALL WHATSNEWS

Dozens feared dead in Myanmar landslide

YANGON: Dozens of people were feared dead in Myanmar after a landslide hit a jade mining region, workers at a local mining firm said, the second such incident in just over a month.

The landslide took place on Fri-day in Hpakant in the country’s northern Kachin State, a rugged region sandwiched between Chi-na and India and the heart of My-anmar’s multi-billion dollar jade industry controlled by its power-ful military.

“We heard about 50 people were buried in the collapsed dump and four or five bodies were found this morning,” Sai Lon, who works at a jade mining company in the area, told Reuters on Saturday.

Police in Hpakant, in Mohnyin district, said the landslide took place on Friday afternoon but that they could not confirm casualties.

“We haven’t heard anything from the rescue team yet,” said a duty officer at Hpakant Town-

ship Police Station who declined to be named. On November 22, a massive landslide in the same mountainous area in Kachin State killed 114 people. The area pro-duces some of the world’s highest-quality jade.

Lax safety rulesDeaths in Myanmar’s jade mines, where small time prospectors and massive firms vie for the precious stone, underscore the sector’s lax safety rules and lack of account-ability. Much of the jade mined in Hpakant is believed to be smug-gled to neighbouring China, where the green stone is highly prized and is widely believed to

bring wealth and longevity. About 800 jade mining firms operate around the town, but activity is dominated by about 10 firms, mostly Chinese-led ventures, ac-cording to the Ministry of Mines.

Miners have been tearing into Myanmar’s northern hills in re-cent months, in a rush to excavate more jade from the world’s richest deposits of the gemstone before a new government, which has promised clean governance, takes office next year. The rush has led to thousands of ethnic villagers being forced off their land.

The newly elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party said

last month it plans to tighten con-trol over jade mines. A US ban on Myanmar jade remains in place over concerns that jade mining benefits military figures and fu-els corruption and rights abuses, despite Washington easing most of its ban on imports from the country after a quasi-civilian government took power in 2011 following five decades of military dictatorship. - Reuters

The landslide took

place on Friday

in Hpakant in the

country’s northern

Kachin State, a

rugged region

sandwiched between

China and India

and the heart of

Myanmar’s multi-

billion dollar jade

industry

RESCUE OPERATION: Rescue workers are pictured at the site of a landslide on Saturday in Hpakant,

Kachin State, the war-torn area that is the epicentre of Myanmar’s secretive billion dollar jade in-

dustry. Rescuers were searching through mud and rubble after a new landslide buried workers in the

remote jade mining region in northern Myanmar, the second such incident in just over a month. - AFP


French journalist to be forced to leave China for her reportPARIS/BEIJING: China will force a French journalist who crit-icised its treatment of its Uighur minority to leave the country, her employer, the weekly L’Obs news magazine, said on Friday.

The press visa of Ursula Gauth-ier, the magazine’s Beijing corre-spondent, expires on December 31 and Beijing has refused to grant an extension, saying a report she wrote supports acts of violence by Uighurs that China considers ter-rorist activity.

The story, dated November 18, suggested that China was using last month’s Paris attacks to jus-tify crackdowns on Uighur people in northwest China’s Xinjiang re-gion. Hundreds have been killed in recent years in the region, beset by ethnic tensions which Uighur groups blame on repressive gov-ernment policies while China de-nies any human rights abuses and says it faces a campaign from radi-cals and separatists.

L’Obs said Gauthier was the subject of editorials in state-controlled media and even death threats after her article was pub-

lished. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, said the arti-cle “openly supports terrorist ac-tivity, the killing of innocents and has outraged the Chinese public”.

His comments appeared in a question-and-answer posted on the ministry’s website on Satur-day. Lu added that because Gauth-ier did not make a public apology, she could not work in China.

L’Obs, which changed its name from Le Nouvel Observateur in October 2014, said it stood by its correspondent.

‘Major incident’It wrote in an editorial that Chi-na’s refusal to extend her visa rep-resented a “major incident” at a time when France and China were strengthening their economic, cul-tural and diplomatic ties.

The French foreign ministry on Friday issued a terse statement in which it regretted that her visa was not renewed.

“France would like to remind how important it is for journalists to be able to work everywhere in the world,” it said. - Reuters

L ’ O B S N E W S M A G A Z I N E

IN TROUBLE: Ursula Gauthier, the Beijing-based correspondent for

French news magazine ‘L’Obs’, works at her desk in her apartment

in Beijing on Saturday. - AFP

Breakaway rebel group kills nine

civilians in southern Philippines

MANILA: A breakaway rebel group killed nine civilians in the southern Philippines in a series of attacks on Christmas eve, officials said on Saturday, in a reminder that the region remains volatile despite recent gains in the peace process.

Army troops killed four mem-bers of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a faction op-posed to a peace deal between government and the mainstream rebel group, after they attacked a farming town in Sultan Kudarat province on the southern island of Mindanao.

Miriam Ferrer, the govern-ment’s chief negotiator in peace talks with the Moro Islamic Lib-eration Front (MILF), said seven farmers were shot at close range while working in their rice pad-dies and two other civilians were killed in a grenade attack on a chapel in nearby North Cotabato

province. Ferrer said the rebels had also taken civilian hostage in the Sultan Kudarat attack and used them as human shields when soldiers pursued them, but the hostages were later freed.

The Bangsamoro group broke away from the main rebel group in 2011 to fight for the creation of a state in the south of the country, a goal shared by another small mili-tant group, Abu Sayyaf, which has gained notoriety for bombings, beheadings and kidnappings of foreigners in the western part of Mindanao.

The ceasefire with the main MILF is holding, however, while both the government and com-munist guerrillas declared a 12-day ceasefire from December 23 nationwide to mark the Christ-mas and New Year’s holidays.

On Saturday, the Maoist-led rebel group is also celebrating its 46th anniversary.

Security forces are on height-ened alert around shopping malls, churches, bus stations and ferry terminals during the holidays to guard against possible attacks.

Police officials said the group behind the Christmas eve attacks in Mindanao had pledged alle-giance to IS militants in the Mid-dle East in videos posted to You-Tube but they had no evidence linking them directly to militants from IS in Iraq and Syria.

They also had no evidence that any Filipinos had travelled to the Middle East to fight with IS.

In March 2014, the Philip-pines signed a peace deal with the main rebels granting the mi-nority Moro people autonomy in exchange for dismantling the 11,000-strong guerrilla army and turning over their weapons, end-ing a 45-year conflict that killed 120,000 people and displaced two million. - Reuters

S E R I E S O F A T T A C K S

FLEEING TO SAFETY: People drive past an armoured personnel carrier (APC) in Kauran, Ampatuan

in the southern Philippines province of Maguindanao on Thursday. - AFP

Founder:Chairman / Editor-in-Chief:

Deputy Editor-in-Chief:Chief Executive Officer:

Telephone: Fax:

E-mail:

Telephone: Fax:

E-mail:

Telephone: Fax:

E-mail:

Printed and published by: Post Box:

Postal Code:

E D I T O R I A L

A D V E R T I S I N G

C I R C U L A T I O N

Essa bin Mohammed Al ZedjaliMohamed Issa Al ZadjaliAnees bin Essa Al Zedjali Ahmed Essa Al Zedjali

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Muscat Media Group 770112

#TRENDING

The echoes of Libya Independence DayRichard J. C. Galustian

This year marks the 64th anniversary of Libya’s independence. Of course, in 1951, King Idriss came to power with a UK and

US mandate to unite what were three distinct ar-eas, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fezzan after the wreckage of fascism in Europe. A former Italian possession, Libya holds the interesting distinc-tion of being the first country to become inde-pendent through the UN, in 1951, after a brief pe-riod of UN ‘trusteeship’.

Seems history is repeating itself in a modern context. Sixty-four years after King Idriss be-gan his reign, the international community, led by the United Nations, established a National Unity Government (NUG) choosing themselves a Prime Minister Faiez Serraj as the leader of Libya this month.

There’s a problem, however. Seems to me that in the 21st Century, by international law, such ac-tions by the UN, are illegal certainly immoral. But maybe that’s just me.

UN Special Representative Martin Kobler wants to use this historical link as part of the importance of the NUG and to gain a consensus for it. Kobler stated “Some of the lessons from the birth of Libya can help us today. Like now, Libya was then faced with the task of creating and uniting behind new common institutions.”

The day after Kobler’s speech, the US President Barack Obama sent a timely and important mes-sage to the Libya people on this 64th anniversary of the Libyan State that had been under UN tute-lage in the wake of World War II. Obama stated “We have an opportunity for all Libyans to come together to resolve the many challenges you face, including insecurity and economic difficulties. IS’ presence in Libya has caused incredible suffering and all Libyans must join together to remove this scourge from your country.

The United States is fully committed to working with the new Government of National Accord to address the urgent economic and counterterror-ism problems facing Libya today. We stand with the Libyan people and fully support your coura-geous efforts to build a stable, prosperous, and peaceful Libya.”

Sounds like America is ready to back up the NUG at all costs.

Simultaneously, armed force to quell terror-ist activity in Libya is still on the table. The New

York based Permanent Libyan Ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Omar Dabbashi, is clev-erly saying that Libya will not be inviting anytime soon foreign armed forces to help but now wants General Khalifa Haftar’s Libya National Army to receive arms with the immediate lifting of the UN arms embargo on Libya. He argued that although “Italy, France, Britain and the United States are preparing air raids to hit IS bases in Sirte.... I think they will enter into action as soon as political con-ditions will allow.”

Those conditions are based on the NUG. Impor-tantly, Dabbashi said, Libyan forces would conduct the ground fight against the IS, Ansar Al Sharia and other extremists, but added that “the government will need air support.” Enter Haftar, the head of the Libyan National Army will do the heavy lifting against the violent extremists in Libya’s central, coastal terrain.

It should be noted that Haftar uses his army base not that far from the Green Mountains to attack Benghazi’s militant extremists.

It is the same city from which King Idriss broad-casted a radio address in 1951 to proclaim Libya in-dependent. The issue of arms, instead of an inter-national coalition to bomb the hell out of IS, seems to be the preferred Libyan solution. It is General Khalifa Hafter’s very public display of power with Kobler that has mouths wagging ever since their face to face meeting last week. Thus, the mistake that King Idriss made with UK and US military basing rights in Libya is being rejected by the NUG and its minions.

Serraj’s Christmas Day speech, delayed by one day to fall on the 64th anniversary, appeared to try to channel King Idriss’s spirit. Serraj argued that “We share a common past, in the resistance of our fathers and grandfathers against colonisation and their long battle for independence and the building of their nation.” He added that the road ahead will be tough: “This battle (for a unity government) is a responsibility shared between all Libyans without exception. Media, civil society, businessmen, poli-ticians, Intellectuals, tribal chiefs, dignitaries and the youth – whom we believe are the foundation of our nation-building, and above all this Govern-ment.” Patriotic and inspiring to include Libyan-wide inclusiveness. Sound realistic?

Scan this QR for full story online

Mwasalat bus service is great news for all This refers to the news report, Buses expand services to Dubai and Salalah, (December 26, 2015). I congratulate the government of the Sultanate of Oman and ‘Mwasalat’ for providing an excellent trans-

port facility in the country. The selection of the red colour shows the brilliant idea of those behind Mwasalat. “Love at first sight” is true for the ‘Red Beauty’, as when one looks at the coming bus, the heart says, “Get on the bus”. Although ‘Mwsalat’ has opted for the strategy on the basis of “slow and steady wins the race” for its progress, on the roads of Oman, they have an excellent frequency without delays. The name ‘Mwasalat’ is supported by its slogan “Your destination is ours”, which greets us emphatically. That’s why all locals and expatriates love Oman. — Munawar Hameed Mangalwala, Barka

US economy is getting a boost from a destabilised world This refers to the news report, US jobless

claims near 42-year low as labour market tightens, (December 26, 2015). This is indeed a good news for the world’s economy. How-ever, as the US is propagating instability globally, this development means it is benefitting while other countries fall victim to wars. — Randy Bill, Seeb

T I M E S O F O M A NS U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5A12

ONLINE HOT PICKS

READERS’ FORUM

CLIPPINGS PICTOGRAPH

OCO donates RO100,000 for social security schemeMUSCAT: Sheikh Amer bin Shuwain Al Hosni, minister of social affairs, labour and vocational training, received yester-day a cheque for RO100,000 from the Omani Charitable Or-ganisation (OCO) for the benefit of families awaiting social security support. The cheque was handed over by Mohammed bin Ali Al Alawi, minister of legal affairs and chairman of the OCO director board. Alawi said the sum was meant for distri-bution to the families during the holy month of Ramadan. He said the OCO had distributed over RO50,000 during this year to the needy.

1933: Josef Stalin calls tensions with Japan a grave danger.

1950: The United States and Spain resume relations for the first time since the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s.

1956: Segregation on buses in Tallahassee, Florida, is outlawed.

2007: Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto killed.

M O S T R E A DTIMESOFOMAN.COM

M O S T P O P U L A R V I D E O

M O S T S H A R E DFACEBOOK.COM/TIMESOFOMAN

Pakistan has momentum in its bid to revive the peace process as evident in the excited reaction to

the Indian PM’s visit and the open expression of welcome from all the major opposition parties as

well as the mediabit.ly/nawazmodimeet

KAMRAN REHMAT

Despite huge subsidies for renewable energy in many

European countries, and despite the existence of the world’s first and

largest carbon emissions market utilities found it cheaper to use the

dirtiest of fuels than to speed up the move to wind and solar

bit.ly/europeusecoal

LEONID BERSHIDSKY

Immigration restriction won’t be enough to solve the cultural

problems of the American working class. When white and black and Asian working- class Americans

are all suffering family breakdown, keeping out low-skilled immigrants

isn’t going to put a dent in the problem

bit.ly/illegalmigrants

NOAH SMITH

F R O M O U R A R C H I V E S

T O D A Y I N H I S T O R Y

A 26-year-old Philippines contestant is crowned Miss Universe 2015...after the host first mistakenly awards it to Miss Colombia

DECEMBER 2000Scan this QR code to send letters to the Readers’ Forum, containing not more than 200 words with full name, address and telephone number, may be sent by mail (Times of Oman, P.O. Box 770, P.C. 112, Ruwi).

I N S T A G R A M O F T H E D A Y INSTAGRAM.COM/TIMESOFOMAN

TIMESOFOMAN.COM/VIDEOS

1 When an astronaut dialed the wrong number from space

bit.ly/astronautphone

2 New system for customs clearance in Omanbit.ly/customsclearance

3 US jobless claims near 42-year low as labour market tightens

bit.ly/joblessclaimsus

4 New fleet of luxury public buses introduced in Oman

bit.ly/luxurybuses

5 Blame game begin after hospital fire kills 24 in Saudi Arabia

bit.ly/saudihospital

1 Oman buses expand services to Dubai and Salalah

bit.ly/dubaisalalahbus

2 Rain falls in Musandam, showers expected in Muscat and Al Batinah

bit.ly/musandumrain

3 A hug and high tea: Indian PM makes surprise visit to Pakistan

bit.ly/modinawazhugtea

4 Water shortage hits Muscat bit.ly/watershortagemuscat

5 Muscat International Book Fair opening date announced

bit.ly/muscatbookfair

T I M E S O F O M A N . C O M / O P I N I O N

TOTAL PAGE LIKESTOTAL VIEWS

38,996,403 280,517

T W E E T W E L I K E

@chuckspeakerThe #shoreline blasted by #rough #sea and #waves #Salalah #Oman #mothernature #gulf #IndianOcean… https://t.co/dR9y3zMQSf

«

SHARE THIS!

Source: National Centre for Statistics and Information

STUDENTS IN COLLEGESOF TECHNOLOGY(2013-2014)

Management & Commerce

4,4523,294

2,8091,460

3,53611,663

1,052320

444

13,596 19,716

1,308

8301,479

249131

578

16753

Information Technology

Engineering & Related Technologies

Natural and Physical Science

Health

Society and Culture

Architecture and Building

Creative Arts

Others

MaleFemale

33,312

Total

Photo: Sreejith

NEW INDIAASSURANCE

“Insure withNew India andbe secure”

Evil is obvious only in retrospect.

GLORIA STEINEM

I N V I T A T I O N T O W R I T E R S

We invite our readers to write articles on topics

related to Oman. The articles should not exceed 800 words.

Send us your article along with your picture to

[email protected]

Tel: 24838800 | Fax: 24838899 | Email: [email protected] | Website: www.newindiaoman.com

A13

WORLDS U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

EERIE SILENCE: Damaged buildings are pictured at night in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret Al

Numan town in Idlib province, Syria on Friday. – Reuters

Iraqi forces all set for final assault

BAGHDAD: Iraqi troops have pushed deeper into the heart of the last remaining district held by IS militant group in the city of Ram-adi, despite being slowed by bombs and booby traps, army spokesmen said on Saturday.

Recapturing Ramadi, which fell to the militants in May, would be one of the most important victo-ries achieved by Iraq’s armed forc-es since IS swept across a third of the country in 2014.

Soldiers advanced overnight in the Hoz neighbourhood that houses the provincial government compound, the target of an attack that started on Tuesday, joint op-

erations command spokesman Brigadier Yahya Rasool said.

“The counter-terrorism forces are within 800 metres (0.5 mile) from the government complex,” advancing by about 1 km in the past day, Rasool said. “Air strikes helped detonate explosive devices and booby-trapped houses, facili-tating our advance,” he added. Spe-

cial operation commander Sami Al Aridhi said the plan was “to liber-ate all of Ramadi from three sides”.

“Our troops are now advancing towards their targets but were de-layed because the criminals have booby-trapped everything,” he said. Ramadi is a provincial capi-tal in the fertile Euphrates River valley, just two hours drive west

of Baghdad. Most remaining civil-ians in the IS-held central district have taken shelter in the city’s hos-pital, knowing that the army will not target it, Rasool said.

He declined to give a time frame for the final onslaught to dislodge the militants.

“The campaign’s priority is to avoid casualties among civilians

and the troops, no matter how long it takes,” he said.

About 120 families were rescued from the combat zone on Saturday after securing safe routes for their exit and they were taken to a camp near Habbaniya, north of Ramadi, according to a military statement broadcast on state TV.

Military officials had said on

Wednesday the offensive to retake the central district should take several days.

The Iraqi government forces are backed by air support from an international coalition led by the United States. Militia units, which have played a major part in other government offensives, have been kept away from the battlefield in Ramadi to avoid angering resi-dents. The city is the capital of An-bar province. The government said it would be handed over to the local police and to a tribal force once it was secured.

Ramadi was IS’s biggest prize of 2015, abandoned by govern-ment forces in May in a major set-back for Baghdad and for the Iraqi troops that have been trained by the United States since the over-throw of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

After Ramadi, the army plans to move to retake the northern city of Mosul, the biggest population centre under IS control in Iraq and Syria. Dislodging the militants from Mosul, which had a pre-war population close to 2 million, would effectively abolish their state structure in Iraq and deprive them of a major source of fund-ing, which comes partly from oil and partly from fees and taxes on residents. “The liberation of dear Mosul will be achieved with the cooperation and unity of all Iraqis after the victory in Ramadi,” Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi said on Friday. — Reuters

Soldiers advanced

overnight in the Hoz

neighbourhood of

Ramadi that houses

the provincial

government

compound, the target

of an attack that

started on Tuesday

IS militants, rebels’ evacuation from south Damascus delayedBEIRUT: A UN-sponsored deal to evacuate more than 2,000 IS fighters and other militants from rebel-held parts of south Damascus has been delayed, a body that monitors the war said on Saturday, a day after a rebel leader was killed.

Buses were due to transport the fighters to Raqqa, the de facto capital of IS in northern Syria, Lebanese Hezbollah’s Manar TV station said.

But the deal fell through after the Jaysh Al Islam rebel group’s leader Zahran Alloush, through whose territory the convoy had been granted safe passage, was killed in an air strike on Friday, the broadcaster said.

The arrangement was the first of its kind between the Syrian au-thorities and IS.

It would have marked a signifi-cant show of strength by the gov-ernment of President Bashar Al Assad, increasing its chances of reasserting control over a strate-gic area 4 km (2.5 miles) south of the centre of the capital.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an independent British-based monitoring group that tracks violence across Syria, said the evacuation had been ex-pected to take place early Satur-day but was delayed as there was now no secure territory for the militants to pass through.

Manar TV said buses arrived on Friday to pick up the fighters and at least 1,500 family members but had turned back.

The broadcaster is the official mouthpiece of Hezbollah.

IS has a large presence in sev-eral southern neighbourhoods of Damascus, including the Pales-tinian refugee camp of Yarmouk.

HostilityLocal hostility towards the mili-tant group - which controls large swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq - has grown.

“We have had enough with their presence and the fighting that goes and the siege that has caused a lot of hardship,” said Yousef, a resident of the nearby

neighbourhood of Hajar Al As-wad, who declined to give his full name for security reasons.

A years-long government siege of parts of Damascus controlled by a patchwork of rebel groups - of which Jaysh Al Islam is the largest - has impeded the flow of food and humanitarian aid, starving many people to death in what rights group Amnesty International has described as a war crime. The United Nations and foreign gov-ernments have stepped up efforts to broker local ceasefires and safe-passage agreements towards a wider goal of ending Syria’s civil war, in which more than 250,000 people have been killed in nearly five years of fighting.

The UN Security Council on December 18 unanimously ap-proved a resolution endorsing an international road map for a Syr-ian peace process, a rare show of consensus among major powers.

In contrast to other non-Jihad-ist rebels, Islamic State has been totally opposed to any deal with the Assad government. — Reuters

K I L L I N G O F R E B E L C O M M A N D E R

INTO THE HEART OF IS MILITANTS-HELD CITY: A member of Iraq’s counter-terrorism forces monitors his surrounding in a street in

Ramadi’s Dhubbat neighbourhood, adjacent to Hoz neighbourhood, on Thursday. – AFP

About 120 families were rescued from the

combat zone on Saturday after securing safe

routes for their exit and they were taken to a

camp near Habbaniya, north of Ramadi.

A14


Share your world with us on Instagram

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY SHARE YOURPHOTOGRAPHS

Illegal immigrants facing US expulsion offered refuge

LOS ANGELES: Leaders of the church-based Sanctuary Move-ment vowed on Friday to offer their places of worship as refuge for immigrants facing deportation under an Obama administration crackdown on Central American families who entered the United States illegally.

The statement came two days after The Washington Post first reported the US government was planning a series of raids to remove hundreds of undocumented fami-lies as early as January in the first such large-scale effort targeting the recent flood of border crossers.

The Department of Homeland Security preparations to intensify deportations of Central American migrants, confirmed by US govern-ment sources, drew immediate fire

from Democratic presidential can-didates and human rights groups.

Sanctuary MovementLeaders of the multi-denomi-national Sanctuary Movement, which has sheltered at least 10 im-migrants from deportation over the past 18 months, joined in the criticism on Friday.

The Sanctuary Movement, which Harrington said encom-passes about 50 congregations in

a dozen US cities, made headlines in January by providing refuge in Philadelphia to a Honduran wom-an whose two children were born in the United States.

She ultimately won a two-year reprieve from deportation.

The Reverend Noel Anderson, a coordinator for the affiliated Church World Service, put the

overall number of congregations supporting the sanctuary network at about 300 in more than 20 states nationwide.

Immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua have been streaming into the United States from Mexico by the thou-sands since early 2014 - many of them unaccompanied minors and families - fleeing extreme poverty, gangs and drug violence in their home countries. Most were de-tained after turning themselves in at the border seeking asylum, but were released to surrounding com-munities after initial screening to await further proceedings.

Anti-human trafficking lawA 2008 US anti-human traffick-ing law bars undocumented Cen-tral American children from be-ing summarily sent back, as they could be if they were from Mexico or Canada.

Government sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said the new campaign by the US Immigration and Customs En-forcement (ICE) agency marks an expansion from mostly targeting individuals to pursuing families with undocumented members who have already been ordered to leave. — Reuters

The offer came

two days after ‘The

Washington Post’

first reported the

US government

was planning a

series of raids to

remove hundreds

of undocumented

families as early as

January

DIRE STRAITS: Immigrants who have been caught crossing the

border illegally are housed inside the McAllen Border Patrol Station

in McAllen, Texas, in this file photo taken July 15, 2014. — Reuters/ Rick

Loomis/Pool/Files

The Department of

Homeland Security

preparations to

intensify deportations

of Central American

migrants drew

immediate fire from

Democratic presidential

candidates and human

rights groups

Turkey PM cancels meeting with Kurd leadersANKARA: Turkey’s prime minister on Saturday cancelled a planned meeting with the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), saying its politics was rooted in violence, as gov-ernment forces pursued a se-curity operation in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

A two-year ceasefire between Kurdish militants and Ankara fell apart in Jul.

Prime Minister Ahmet Da-vutoglu had been due to hold meetings this week with the leaders of all three opposition parties in parliament to dis-cuss planned constitutional reform. His meeting with the HDP leader was scheduled for Wednesday.

“Recent statements by HDP officials reflect a politics that benefits from violence and ten-sion. There is no longer any point in sharing the same table with this attitude,” the prime minis-ter’s office said in a statement. Separately on Saturday, one militant group called the Kurd-istan Freedom Falcons claimed responsibility for an attack that killed one person at Istan-bul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport on Wednesday. — Reuters

‘ R O O T E D I N V I O L E N C E ’

US wildfire burns over 1,000 acres, forces evacuationsLOS ANGELES: A wildfire in Southern California burned over 1,000 acres of land, forced the closure of parts of two major highways and led to evacuations on Saturday, fire officials said.

More than 500 firefighters were at the scene or en route to battle the blaze in the Solimar Beach area of Ventura County, and parts of the 101 and Pacific Coast highways have been closed, according to the county fire de-partment’s Facebook page.

Ventura is about 65 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

No injuries have been reported, but the fire has not been contained, according to local media reports.

Fire officials could not be reached for an update.

Grow rapidlyThe fire started at around 1030 pm local time on Friday, and strong winds and dry vegetation caused it to grow rapidly, accord-ing to KABC, the ABC TV station in Los Angeles.

At around 2 am local time on Saturday in a video posted on Fa-cebook, Venture County Fire De-partment Captain Steve Kaufman said the fire was near the beach, “bumping up against the roadway.

We’re getting a bunch of em-bers in Solimar east.”

The Solimar Beach commu-nity is under a mandatory evacu-ation order, while a voluntary one has been issued for the nearby Faria Beach community, fire of-ficials said. — Reuters

C A L I F O R N I A

More than 500 firefighters

were at the scene or en

route to battle the blaze

in the Solimar Beach area

of Ventura County, and

parts of the 101 and Pacific

Coast highways have been

closed, according to the

county fire department’s

Facebook page

SCAN THIS QR CODE TO INSTANTLY VISIT

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

ANTI-POLLUTION MARCH Environmental activists dressed as trees attend a

demonstration to demand the Taiwan government

for reductions in air pollution in Taipei on Saturday.

Hundreds of local residents marched on the streets in

protest against the government’s energy policies. — AFP

A15S U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

A16


Tablet lovers add us on Google +

dd +

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY ADD IN GOOGLE+

100 homes lost in Australia blaze

MELBOURNE: More than 100 homes burned down in a leading Australian tourist area in bush-fires on Christmas Day and the situation remained dangerous on Saturday, as officials predicted more blazes to come later in the hot southern summer.

While around 500 firefighters

and 13 firefighting aircraft bat-tled the flames along parts of Vic-toria state’s picturesque Great Ocean Road, teams moved in to assess damage from fires that had lit up the night sky along the coast on Christmas.

A spokesman for the state’s emergency services said 98 homes

had been confirmed burned in the community of Wye River and another 18 in nearby Separation Creek, for a total of 116 in the two townships, located about 120 kilometres (75 miles) southwest of Melbourne.

Top emergency officials warned that dry conditions posed a threat of more fires for the Great Ocean Road area and the rest of Victoria. “This fire doesn’t go away,” Craig Lapsley, the state’s emergency ser-

vices commissioner, told a news conference. “We will be back into hot, windy weather in Janu-ary without a doubt. Everything’s available to burn.”

The Great Ocean Road is one of Australia’s biggest tourist draws with its spectacular scenery and unusual offshore rock formations. It remained mostly closed to traffic on Saturday during what is typically one of its busiest times of the year.

Although an evacuation alert was lifted for the popular tourist town of Lorne and rain overnight had helped the firefighting operation, officials said the situation remained potentially dangerous with many hotspots. Images from the scene showed hillsides charred to the

ground all the way down to the coast.State Premier Daniel Andrews

surveyed the area from the air and commended emergency services, noting that there had so far been no loss of life, but he warned that the number of homes destroyed could rise. Meetings were held on Saturday for hundreds of victims urgently moved out of affected

towns on Friday, many spending Christmas night in hurriedly or-ganised shelters.

Andrews said financial grants had already been issued to help those who had lost their homes. The fires started with a lightning strike on December 19 and, fanned by winds, have burned more than 2,000 hectares. — Reuters

Bushfires southwest of Melbourne are still

dangerous as scenic Great Ocean Road is

mostly closed in the busy Christmas season

SCAN THIS QR CODE TO INSTANTLY VISIT

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

MARKEWWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMS U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5B

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

Opal boosts efforts to mitigate impact of oil fall on companies

ELHAM [email protected]

MUSCAT: Oman Society for Pe-troleum Services (Opal) has been stepping up its efforts to help ad-dress the challenges facing the oil and gas sector in 2016 in the light of lower oil prices, said a senior official.

One of the issues that Opal has to deal with is the contracts that are highly Omanised, mainly in the field of drilling, which are the first to get affected by the decline in oil prices, said Musallam Al Mand-hari, Opal’s chief executive officer.

“It is unfortunate the more you

are Omanised, the more problem you get when you get a downturn in oil prices,” the official told Times of Oman in an exclusive interview. The other issue is obviously the projects, he said, adding, “If pro-jects are stopped, then that will be an issue. Maintenance also be-comes an issue.”

Redeployment According to Al Mandhari, anoth-er challenge would be the rede-ployment of the Omanis released from the affected companies. The right company has to be identified for them and, perhaps, they have

to be retrained, said Opal’s CEO, who believes that the time of cri-sis is when the society can show its true capabilities.

Opal, the first society in Oman’s petroleum industry to be officially approved and registered in the Sul-tanate in 2001, will also continue to pursue the objectives it had pre-viously set for itself.

Al Mandhari said that when he took over as CEO in Novem-ber 2014, he embarked on a mis-sion to bring back the company’s ‘reputation’ and put the society on track. Opal has also been seeking to work on communication, capa-

bility development and customer focus through various initiatives, the official explained. As part of its efforts, the society has been building on its portfolio, engaging stakeholders and motivating its own personnel through creating a lively office environment and oth-er measures, Al Mandhari noted.

He added that Opal has revamped its website, has started to publish a monthly newsletter and plans to an-nounce the launch of its magazine next year. In addition, the society is engaging actively with customers and is seeking to increase its cus-tomer base, he noted. >B3

Opal has to deal

with contracts that

are highly Omanised,

mainly in the field of

drilling which are the

first to get affected by

oil price fall, says CEO Musallam Al Mandhari,

CEO of Opal. – SHABIN E./Times of Oman

Oman’s premium petrol production grows 7%MUSCAT: Oman’s super petrol production in the first 11 months of 2015 registered a growth of 7.4 per cent compared to the same period of last year. Regular pet-rol output, on the other hand, fell 40.6 per cent, according to lat-est data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Infor-mation (NCSI).

During the period, the Sultan-ate produced as much as 21.36 million barrels of super petrol as against 19.90 million barrels last year while regular petrol saw production falling to 1.91 million barrels from prior year’s 3.22 million barrels.

The total output from Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum In-dustries Company (Orpic), which includes petrol, jet fuel, gas and fuel oil, LPG, residual, propyl-ene, naphtha and others posted a 4.4 per cent rise during January -November period of 2015, with volume touching 78.3 million barrels as against 75.02 million barrels posted in the comparable period last year.

Aviation fuel production grew by 2.6 per cent in the first eleven months of 2015 with volume ris-ing to 4.57 million barrels from last year’s 4.45 million barrels. Gas oil rose by 14.3 per cent with a total output of 20.25 million barrels compared to 17.73 million barrels in 2014.

LPG production fallsFuel oil, however, declined by 5.7 per cent to 2.28 million barrels from 2.42 million barrels for the same period of last year.

Significantly, LPG output fell by

2.9 per cent with total production during January-November period sliding to 3.41 million barrels from 3.51 million barrels recorded for the same period last year.

Residual oil witnessed a pro-duction surge of 5.8 per cent, with output rising to 17.66 million bar-rels from 16.70 million barrels a year ago. Propylene also went up 0.9 per cent to touch 2.51 million barrels from previous year’s 2.49 million barrels.

There had been a rise of 0.7 per cent in the production of SR Naphtha which increased to 3.64 million barrels from 3.61 million barrels earlier.

Production of other products and the refinery fuel declined by 29.3 per cent to 702,600 barrels in the first eleven months of 2015, compared to 994,200 barrels for the same period in 2014. – ONA

E L E V E N M O N T H S

fall in regular petrol

production, according

to data released by

the National Centre

for Statistics and

Information. LPG output

also fell by 2.9 per cent

41%


ORPIC OUTPUT RISES: Total output from Orpic, which includes

petrol, jet fuel, gas and fuel oil, LPG, residual, propylene, naphtha

and others, posted a 4.4 per cent growth for the first 11 months of

2015 between January and November. – Times file picture

B2

MARKETS U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

GASSAN AL KIBSI

Over the past few weeks, the government of Saudi Arabia has been engaged

in an unprecedented strategic policy review that could have ramifications for every aspect of the country’s social and economic life. The full details are expected to be announced in January, but it is already clear that the kingdom — the world’s nineteenth-largest economy — is in desperate need of far-reaching reform.

There are two reasons why change has become urgent. The first is the dramatic drop in global oil prices, from above $100 per barrel in the middle of 2014 to below $40 today. With oil exports accounting for nearly 90 per cent of government revenue, the pres-sure on Saudi finances has been intense; the fiscal balance has swung from a small surplus in 2013 to a deficit of more than 21 per cent of GDP in 2015, accord-ing to projections by the Interna-tional Monetary Fund (IMF).

The second reason is demo-graphic. In the next 15 years, some six million young Saudis will reach working age, put-ting enormous pressure on the labour market and potentially doubling its size.

It is easy to be pessimis-tic about this confluence of circumstances, and many inter-national commentators are. But there are also good reasons for optimism, most notably the new Saudi leadership’s recognition of the challenge and the pos-sibilities that addressing them could create.

Six million jobsAccording to research by the McKinsey Global Institute, Saudi Arabia has the potential to double its GDP and create six million additional jobs by 2030, enough to absorb the influx of young men – and, increasingly, young women – entering the labour market.

To accomplish this however, the Kingdom will have to dra-matically reduce its unhealthy

dependence on oil – a strategic goal that has been long dis-cussed, but never implemented.

Saudi Arabia has many sectors with strong potential for expan-sion. The country has substan-tial untapped deposits of metals and non-metallic minerals, including phosphate, gold, zinc, bauxite, and high-quality silica. Its retail sector is already grow-ing quickly, but it lags behind in areas like e-merchandising and supply-chain efficiencies.

The country’s tourism sector could be developed and up-graded, not only for the millions of Muslim pilgrims who visit the

holy sites of Mecca and Medina every year, but also for leisure tourists. Saudi Arabia has a long coastline on the Red Sea, as well as other unspoiled areas of natural beauty that could attract visitors. The manufacturing sec-tor, too, could be built up; at the moment, the Kingdom has only small-scale domestic manufac-turing, despite being one of the largest markets in the region for cars, machinery, and other capital goods.

Exploiting these opportunities will require trillions of dollars in investment, radical improve-ments in productivity, and the

government’s firm, sustained commitment. Doubling GDP over the next 15 years will neces-sitate about $4 trillion in invest-ment, two-and-a-half times the amount of money that flowed into the kingdom’s economy dur-ing the 2003-2013 oil boom.

Attaining this level of invest-ment will require radical policy reforms. During the oil boom, the state increased public-sector wages and social-welfare transfers – and thus was a major contributor to households’ growing prosperity. The public sector continues to dominate most aspects of the economy, especially employment; about 70 per cent of Saudi nationals work for the state.

Private sectorBut transforming the economy will require the participation of investors and businesses; indeed, we calculate that by 2025, at least 70 per cent of the investment should come from the private sector. Achieving this will require overhauling the

country’s regulatory and legal framework.

It will also require large improvements in productiv-ity. Saudi Arabia’s productivity growth has lagged behind that of most other G-20 countries, rising by just 0.8 per cent in the past decade.

Labour practicesJump-starting productivity growth will require reworking the kingdom’s restrictions on business and labour practices.

For now, the Saudi economy relies heavily on low-wage and low-productivity foreign work-ers on limited contracts; indeed, such workers hold more than half the jobs in the country. That will have to change if the econ-omy is to raise productivity and modernise its non-oil sectors.

If the government is able to sustain its resolve over the years it will take to set the economy firmly on a new trajectory, the kingdom will be thoroughly transformed – for the better.

– Project Syndicate

Saudi Arabia needs radical policy reforms C O M M E N T A R Y

Nigeria to scrap fuel subsidy from JanuaryABUJA: Nigeria will reduce gaso-line costs and scrap a fuel subsidy under a pricing mechanism to come into effect from January, Pe-troleum Minister of State Emma-nuel Kachikwu said.

Prices will fall to 85 naira ($0.44) per liter from 87 naira, Kachikwu, who is also the group managing director of state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., told reporters while on a visit to a re-finery in the country’s southern oil hub of Port Harcourt on Friday, ac-cording to a statement sent by the petroleum ministry.

Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil pro-ducer, relies on fuel imports to meet domestic needs since its re-fineries produce a fraction of their 445,000 barrels-per-day capacity after decades of poor maintenance, corruption and mismanagement. The refinery in Port Harcourt will begin production next week after repairs are completed, according to Kachikwu.

To keep the country supplied, the NNPC, as the state oil compa-ny is known, has relied on imports by other fuel retailers, who get refunded the difference between their costs and the fixed pump prices. It also has agreements with several offshore refiners to swap refined products for crude.

While tumbling oil prices have slashed Nigeria’s revenue and roiled its currency and stock mar-ket, it’s also provided an opportu-nity for the government to end the subsidies that cost as much as $7 billion a year. The finance ministry said last year that $60 per barrel was the break-even point at which there is no more need to subsidize fuel costs. Widespread fraud and corruption and declining oil rev-enue have made it imperative for the government to cancel the sub-sidies, Kachikwu said. An attempt by the previous government to end them in 2011 led to a week of strikes. - Bloomberg News

P R I C I N G M E C H A N I S M

Bank Muscat wins major award for funds transfer

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the leading financial services pro-vider in the Sultanate, has won a prestigious award from J P Mor-gan Bank in recognition of its op-erational excellence in the field of dollar payments processing.

Bank Muscat won the J P Mor-gan Elite award for an outstand-ing performance of 99.03 per cent

straight-through-processing (STP) in dollar denominated fund trans-fer and commercial payments.

The award recognised Bank Muscat’s exceptional quality of SWIFT messages on dollar pay-ment and maintaining an out-standing error-free rate for remit-tances. The award was based on evaluation of the quality and accu-racy of SWIFT payment messages routed through J P Morgan Bank.

The award highlighted the bank’s commitment to high standards of quality in meeting the stringent criteria for fund transfer. The bank’s exceptional quality in the delivery of commercial payments and transfers, facilitated by a state-of-the-art in-house payment architecture, which helps to con-sistently maintain high SWIFT standards for automated process-ing throughout the payment chain resulting in extremely high STP rates, was also acknowledged.

The bank’s central operations electronic payments department, Treasury back office and Global Trade Services Department are handling fund transfer operations while the technical and security issues are handled by the Systems and Procedures Department.

The Financial Institutions Group, reckoned as one of the leading FI teams in the region,

has established more than 500 correspondent banking rela-tionships across the world. J P Morgan Bank is among Bank Muscat’s prominent correspond-ent banks for dollar payments. Representatives of J P Morgan Bank commended the operational teams involved in processing dol-lar payments at Bank Muscat for the error-free rate maintained consistently throughout the high volume of remittances processed during 2014.

Bank Muscat’s STP performance has been consistently lauded by the international financial and bank-ing community.

The bank won J P Morgan Elite award for an

outstanding performance of 99.03% straight-

through-processing in dollar denominated

fund transfer and commercial payments


Saudi has the potential to double its GDP and create six million additional jobs by 2030, enough to absorb the influx of young men – and, increasingly, young women – entering the labour market

Vietnam growth rises

on industrial output

HANOI: Vietnam’s economic growth quickened in the fourth quarter helped by rising indus-trial output and record-high for-eign investment.

Gross domestic product rose 7.01 per cent in the fourth quar-ter from a year earlier, quicken-ing from a revised 6.87 per cent gain in the three months through September, according to data re-leased by the General Statistics Office in Hanoi on Saturday.

In 2015, the economy grew 6.68 per cent, beating the govern-ment’s 6.2 per cent target. That compares to a median estimate of 6.6 per cent in a survey.

Vietnam’s economic growth “has gained momentum gradu-ally and is now being supported both by exports of foreign-in-vested enterprises and domestic demand,” Jonathan Dunn, the International Monetary Fund’s resident representative in Viet-nam said in a statement released on December 5 in Hanoi.

The State Bank of Vietnam weakened the dong three times this year to spur exports after

China depreciated the yuan, dragging exchange rates lower across Asia. Vietnam’s economic growth in 2015 may be the fastest among six major Southeast Asian countries tracked by the Asian Development Bank, the ADB said in a recent report.

Currency weakenedThe central bank weakened the dong’s reference rate by 1 per cent in August, and widened the cur-rency’s trading band. The country is also benefiting from cheaper energy costs as a low inflation rate aids domestic demand.

The government will focus on steps to bolster businesses, par-ticularly the private sector, as part of its attempt to increase the country’s productivity in 2016-2020, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said December 5.

Vietnam’s legislature last month passed a 2016 GDP target of 6.7 per cent.

The economy will face chal-lenges in 2016 include falling global oil prices and rising pres-sure on the dong. - Bloomberg News

F O U R T H Q U A R T E R

B3S U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

MARKET‘Development

of local workforcealways a priority’Commenting on capability devel-opment, Al Mandhari said that Omanisation and developing the local workforce has always been a priority for Opal since its estab-lishment. “We want to train the maximum number of people given the fund we can get,” he said, add-ing that Opal has two main train-ing programmes, namely Train-ing for Development (TFD) and Training for Employment (TFE).

TFD is dedicated to staff and employees while TFE is for Oma-nis seeking to enhance their ca-pabilities, he explained.

Target According to him, around 400 individuals received training in 2015 under both programmes, with 168 Omanis receiving TFE. The society had set a target of 200 for its TFE programme and seeks to achieve it in 2016, Al Mandhari stated.

He expressed hope that Opal’s training programmes will get a boost next year through closer cooperation with the Ministry of Manpower.

Asked about Opal’s role in bringing efficiency and produc-tivity to the oil and gas sector in Oman, the CEO said that the so-

ciety has been doing it in a number of ways. Opal has over 400 mem-bers so the ‘power of numbers’ should help the society create efficiency, he added. The official cited group training and ensur-ing common standards as some of the ways to enhance efficiency and productivity.

Future vision Commenting on Opal’s vision for the future, Al Mandhari said that the society has sat with its mem-bers and have decided to be their voice of the industry, continue creating best practices and stand-ards, and enhance human re-sources development. There will also be a focus on In-Country Val-ue (ICV), the CEO of Opal noted.

O I L & G A S Private deposits in Omani banks grow to OMR11.8b

MUSCAT: Private deposits of commercial banks in the Sultanate as at the end of October 2015 rose by 8.10 per cent to OMR11,786.1 million compared to OMR10,902.6 million in the corresponding pe-riod last year, according to the monthly statistical bulletin pub-lished by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO).

These deposits as of the end of October 2015 includes the time deposits that stood at OMR3,236.2

million, savings deposits of OMR4,349.8 million and demand deposits of OMR3,930.2 million, added the report. These deposits include OMR10, 860.9 million and OMR925.2 million in foreign cur-rencies. As for the banking indica-tors for the commercial banks are concerned, the bulletin said that the broad money and clearance to the deposits in Omani rials was 27.7 per cent.

The combined money and clear-

ance to the gross deposits was 24.4 per cent. The total percentage of loans to deposits was 100.8 per cent.

The rate of foreign currency deposits to the total deposits was 12.2 per cent.

The rate of foreign assets to the total loans was 13.8 per cent. The rate of foreign assets to the total assets was 9.7 per cent. The foreign liabilities to the total liabilities were 16.5 per cent.

The on-demand deposits to the

total private deposits were 33.1 per cent. The capital and reserves to the total deposits was 18.1 per cent. The rate of allocations and the re-tained interests to the total credit was 3.4 per cent. – ONA

Private deposits

at the end of October

2015 rose by 8.10%

to OMR11,786.1

million compared

to OMR10,902.6

million for

the same period

of last year

Mars opens outlet in Al MudhaibiTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Mars Hypermarket recently opened an outlet in Al Mudhaibi. It was inaugurated by Sheikh Salim bin Sultan bin Ra-bia bin Khamis Al Sinedi, wali of Mudhaibi.

V. T, Vinod, managing director; Naveej Vinod, executive director; Unnikrishna Pillai, general manag-er; Saif Al Malki, general manager (administration) and other senior management staff of Mars Group, a number of high-ranking govern-ment officials, and representatives from the local business commu-nity were present on the occasion, according to a press release.

It is the fifteenth outlet of Mars International in Oman, conveni-ently located at Al Mudhaibi, near round about. An assortment of amusement, including the tra-ditional Omani cultural pro-grammes, dances, comedy shows and coffee sampling were organ-ised for the visitors. A huge crowd assembled at the gate of the new Mars Hypermarket at the time of the opening, giving a tough time to the security guards manning the entrance of the hypermarket.

“Indeed this is the happiest mo-ment in my life. With its right mix of quality products, competitive prices and convenient shopping atmosphere was a perfect model for Oman market, and, in turn, Oman was the perfect market for Mars. We are very grateful to all our customers for their support; it

is this patronage and confidence in Mars that has over the years encouraged and motivated us to open fifteen branches across the Sultanate,” said V T Vinod.

“Mars has always represented the best in retail concepts and provided maximum convenience to our valuable shoppers. Let us all work together towards excel-lence and make shopping a differ-ent experience where customers feel that they have obtained the quality service for the money they shell out,” added Naveej Vinod.

Unique retail experienceMars Hypermarket Mudhaibi offers customers a unique retail experience and the store has a refreshing look and feel with con-temporary interiors and a layout based on convenience.

The ample space ensures an uncluttered, fast and hassle free shopping environment.

The outlet will be a complete

shopping destination that will ca-ter to the growing consumer de-mands. Keeping up with the con-venience and standards of Mars outlets across the Sultanate, the new hypermarket will feature the widest choice of renowned brands at the fairest prices. Mars’s win-ning formula of value for money quality shopping will be a mat-ter of delight for the residents of Mudhaibi who will cherish the pleasurable shopping experience and the economy it offers.

Mars has become a name that has embossed in the minds of the customers for its unique service and convenience since its incep-tion. The popularity of Mars has infused new activity into the lo-calities, changing the whole to-pography around it.

With more than 25 year’s pres-ence in the Sultanate, Mars has firmly established itself as a pre-ferred retail destination for both locals and expats.

I N A U G U R A T I O N

< FROM

B1

individuals received training in 2015 under both programmes, with 168 Omanis receiving

training for employment programme

400

ROBUST GROWTH: Central Bank of Oman report says that these deposits includes time deposits, which stood at OMR3,236.2 million, savings deposits of OMR4,349.8 million and demand deposits of OMR3,930.2 million. – Times file picture


Euro area bonds to get €1.5tr supportLONDON: As the European Central Bank (ECB) wound down its asset purchases for the year, the amount of euro-region gov-ernment bonds that yield less than zero was at about $1.68 tril-lion, indicating investors see the potential for further easing of monetary policy in 2016.

With quantitative easing (QE)

acquisitions set to resume on Jan-uary 4, bonds of governments from Portugal to Germany will be sup-ported again by the €1.5-trillion programme, which is scheduled to keep running until at least March 2017. Begun in March this year, the purchases continue to push an increasing number of securi-ties off the table. — Bloomberg News

D E B T

Indian stocks head for worst in four yearsMUMBAI: After a roller-coast-er ride, Dalal Street is headed for its worst performance in four years in 2015 — when foreign investors pushed the bench-mark Sensex to a life-time high before puncturing the rally by pulling out billions of dollars from their ‘favourite’ market.

With just four days of trad-ing to go, the Sensex has lost 1,660 points or over six per cent in 2015, after gaining nearly 30 per cent in the previous year. The index had last registered an yearly loss in 2011 when it fell 24 per cent. The index is also sharply down from its life-time peak of 30,024 points. - PTI

M U M B A I S T O C K S

B4

FEATURES U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Here’s a nice way to stump your companions: Ask them what part of the world has had the fastest economic growth over

the last 10 years. And whose governments and countries have enjoyed the greatest investment returns among the world’s emerging markets. Did anybody say sub-Saharan Africa? Buy her a drink!

During the past 10 years, the gross do-mestic product of the 11 largest sub-Saha-ran countries increased 51 per cent, more than twice the world’s 23 per cent and al-most four times the 13 per cent expansion of the US, the largest economy, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The robust expansion been accompa-nied by stabilising inflation on the African continent, with the consumer price index for all of Africa declining to 7.8 per cent from more than 13 per cent in 2008, and the continent’s CPI remaining less than 8 per cent since 2013, Bloomberg data show.

That combination of torrid growth and diminished inflation is proving an irre-sistible lure for global investors, who have seen the opposite trends plague the big-gest emerging-market countries, Brazil, Russia, India and China.

For evidence of investor enthusiasm, look no further than Kenya and Nigeria, whose government debt has been out-

performing most of the world’s. In the past five years, bonds issued by those two countries had total returns (income plus appreciation in local currencies converted to US dollars) of 56 per cent and 40 per cent respectively, according to Bloomberg data. By comparison, the index of government debt of developed countries provided a dollar-equivalent return of 2 per cent during the past five years, and a similar basket of emerging-market debt returned 12 per cent.

When the benchmark government bonds of 32 countries in the emerging markets are compared since 2010, Kenya and Ni-geria are among the top five, Bloomberg data show.

Five-year bondsAmong the bottom performers: Russia lost 36 per cent, Brazil lost 29 per cent, Colombia lost 26 per cent and Turkey lost 23 per cent. South Africa is the only big loser among the sub- Saharan countries, mostly because its currency, the rand, de-clined 51 per cent.

Part of Africa’s expansion can be ex-plained by its explosive population growth. Since 2000, the population of the 11 largest sub-Saharan countries grew 41 per cent, to 634 million, or more than twice the US’s 318 million, according to

data compiled by Bloomberg. During the same period, India grew 23 per cent, the world 18 per cent, the US 13 per cent and China 7 per cent.

That demographic trend won’t abate soon simply because sub- Sarahan Afri-cans are so young. In Nigeria, for example, 43.7 per cent of the population is under 15 years old. In Kenya, it’s 42.1 per cent; in Ghana, 35.3 per cent; and South Africa, 28.3 per cent. The world average is 25.8 per cent. The percentage of Nigerians old-er than 65 is 3 per cent, compared to 14.5 per cent for in the US and 8.3 per cent for the world, according to Bloomberg data.

Thus global investors are focused on the region’s new consumers, who have helped the five major industries there outperform their peers in emerging mar-kets since June 2014, when oil began a 58 per cent plunge. The sub-Saharan finan-cial industry outperformed its emerging-market counterpart by 11 per cent; con-sumer discretionary companies did so by 18 per cent; consumer staples by 5 per cent and materials by 16 per cent. Only energy companies were losers, underper-forming by 0.5 per cent.

The sub-Saharan companies include 200 firms in the seven major stock ex-changes with a minimum market capital-isation of $200 million: South Africa, Ni-

geria, Kenya, Botswana, Zambia, Ghana and Malawi. Their market capitalisation is now $533 billion, greater than Brazil’s $505 billion and less than Italy’s $637 billion. Technology stocks returned the most with 10 per cent, followed by com-munications and consumer discretionary companies, most of which are based in South Africa, the country with the best-performing companies since June 2014.

And while the value of its currency and debt has deteriorated since 2011, South Africa’s GDP of $328 billion is 28 per cent greater than it was 10 years ago, when it was equivalent to Denmark and Greece. While Denmark expanded 1.4 per cent since 2005 and the Greece contracted 18 per cent, South Africa today is a much big-ger economy.

Nigeria’s horrors and hopesStill not convinced? Ok, look at Nigeria. Oil accounts for 90 per cent of its world-wide trade and almost 35 per cent of its GDP, and crude oil prices have famously crashed. The currency, the naira, has failed to recover from its own collapse late last year. Yet global investors, convinced there’s a lot more to Nigeria than its com-modities, are driving up its bond prices anyway. It seems the same could be said of half a continent. – Bloomberg News

WHERE'S THE GROWTH?

AFRICAA combination of torrid growth and diminished inflation in Sub-Saharan Africa is proving an irresistible lure for global investors

Sub-Saharan financial industry outperformed

its emerging-market counterparts by 11 per cent;

consumer discretionary companies did so by 18 per cent; consumer staples by

5 per cent and materials by 16 per cent.

Was the GDP growth of sub-Saharan

countries in the last 10 years

Was the world GDP growth in the last

10 years

Was the United States GDP growth in the last

10 years

51%

23%13%


ROUND-UPLove us on Facebook


Infiniti re-launches Azaiba service centre

MUSCAT: Infiniti from Suhail Bahwan Automobiles announced the re-launch of the Azaiba service centre in the Sultanate of Oman.

The Azaiba centre aims to main-tain the brands premium stand-ards, with state-of-the-art facilities for Infiniti’s premium customers, says a press release.

The facility has been renovated as per IREDI (Infiniti Retail En-vironment Design Initiative) con-cepts. The IREDI concept creates a highly distinctive, original In-finiti branded retail environment

which provides a welcoming and hospitable environment for buying and servicing vehicles, primarily in fashionable, convenient metro-politan locations.

The concept of IREDI establish-es a unique, new exterior and in-terior look of the sales and service facility which aligns perfectly with Infiniti’s brand identity — one that encompasses Infiniti’s dynamic vehicle line-up, Infiniti’s Total Ownership Experience customer care philosophy.

Latest technologyInfiniti’s service facility is equipped with the latest technology that meets international standards. Equipped with service bays, paint

booth facility, qualified and skilled technicians, Infiniti’s service fa-cility caters to the needs of the discerning customer base in the region, for all kinds of periodic maintenance service and body paint cash jobs.

A senior SBA official said: “At Infiniti Suhail Bahwan, we employ and train skilled engineers and technicians to ensure that when our customers purchase our pre-mium vehicles, they continue to enjoy the same level and quality of service on the aftersales front as well. We are not only focused on merely selling cars, but rather building and sustaining long term relationships with our customers.”

Egemen Adiyaman, deputy gen-

eral manager – After Sales said: “At Infiniti we always aim to offer our customers the most premium motoring experience. We are con-fident that with the re-launch of the Azaiba facility together with our partners Suhail Bahwan Auto-mobiles, we will be able to deliver on this promise.”

Infiniti goes beyond the imagi-nation to offer top notch service and packages making it one of the most admired and desirable brand of vehicles.

Infiniti has its facilities spread across the Sultanate located stra-tegically all across the country in Muscat, Sohar, Sur, Salalah, Ibra, Ibri, Nizwa, Buraimi, Barka, Bani Bu Ali, Sinaw and Bidiya.

The Azaiba centre

aims to maintain the

brand's premium

standards, with state-

of-the-art facilities

for Infiniti’s premium

customers

ahlibank conducts

mock fire, safety drill

MUSCAT: ahlibank’s headquar-ter in Wattayah conducted a fire and safety drill as part of its plan to raise the level of awareness on fire safety and security proce-dures at its workplace.

The purpose of the drill was to provide tactical experience, suf-ficient knowledge and training for the employees to calmly face and handle all circumstances that might arise during emergencies, especially fire, says a press release.

“As part of the drill, the emer-gency response team at ahli-bank evacuated all employees and visitors to the designated assembly point located in the parking lot outside the build-ing,” Lloyd Maddock, ahlibank’s

CEO said. “Every head of depart-ment performed a head count to make sure all employees were ac-counted for and safe. At ahlibank, we constantly adhere to interna-tional standards, particularly in safety and security procedures. We have never underestimated safety and security protocols and such measures are not optional to us as they are amongst the many objectives that we have laid down at the bank.”

Being a responsible corporate entity, ahlibank’s buildings are equipped with the latest security and safely equipment that are in accordance with international standards and guarantee the safe-ty of individuals and property.

S A F E T Y A W A R E N E S S

Oman Association for the Disabled honours Bank SoharMUSCAT: In recognition of its continual support to the Oman Association for the Disabled and its various activities across the Sultanate, Bank Sohar received a token of appreciation from the association at a special ceremony held recently at the Al Noor Hall in Madinat Al Sultan Qaboos.

In its most recent contribution this year, Bank Sohar had extend-ed its support to the association’s Muscat and Sohar branches. The event was held under the patron-age of Dr Yahya bin Mahfoudh Al Mantheri, Chairman of the State Council, and was attended by Yahya Al Amri, chairman of Oman Association for the Disabled and other members of the association. Receiving the token of apprecia-tion from the chief guest on behalf of the bank was Mazin Mahmood Al Raisi, Sr. AGM - Head of Mar-keting and Customer Experience at Bank Sohar, says a press release.

Commenting on the bank re-ceiving the token of appreciation, Munira Abdulnabi Macki, GM of HR and Corporate Support at Bank Sohar said, “It is truly an honour to be recognised and ap-preciated by Oman Association for the Disabled. However, we believe that our contributions have only supplemented their unending ef-forts and hard work. It is them that should be commended, for

it is their efforts that have truly touched the lives of thousands in Oman. We at the bank recognise their efforts and will continue to be a strong supporter of the asso-ciation and their initiatives for the foreseeable future.”

The event, which took place recently, began with the playing of the Omani National Anthem, a recitation from the Holy Quran and a welcome speech by Yahya Al Amri. This was followed by a short video outlining the association’s plans and targets for year 2016. Members of the Al Tawashiya Group presented guests with a stunning visual performance and was followed by an equally stun-ning performance as a token of appreciation by the children of

the Child Care Center. The event concluded with the presentation of tokens of appreciation to all companies and institutions that supported the Oman Association for the disabled over the course of the year.

Thanking Bank Sohar for its contributions, Yahya Al Amri said, “Everyone at the Oman Associa-tion for the Disabled are extremely grateful to Bank Sohar for their support; not just this year, but also for their support over the past years. Were it not for contributions from them and other like-minded companies, we would never have been able to achieve our goals and targets. It is only with their help that we have been able to better the lives of so many across Oman.”

T O K E N O F A P P R E C I A T I O N

Geely Emgrand GT wins 2016

‘China Car of the Year’ award

MUSCAT: Geely Emgrand GT, Geely’s new flagship sedan, has recently won the coveted 2016 ‘China Car of the Year’ award af-ter beating major international rivals in a tough competition.

This award is judged by a panel of industry experts, automotive journalists, CEOs and chairmen of major automotive companies. This is the first time that a domes-tic Chinese model has received this award and the Emgrand GT was particularly appreciated for its modern Chinese design lan-guage and state-of-art-the-tech-nology, says a press release.

A senior spokesperson of Tow-ell Auto Centre, the sole distribu-tors of Geely range of cars in Oman comments: “The Emgrand GT is the first China-made car to enter into and win the China Car of the Year competition. It just shows that the brand Geely has really come of age. With technical sup-port from European partners and excellent designers, the Chinese automaker is now producing in-creasingly competitive and award-winning cars. The Emgrand GT — designed using the innovative KC concept — has proven to be the game changer for the brand. In terms of design, engineering and performance, the Emgrand GT is sure to win the hearts of the auto-motive enthusiasts in Oman.”

Oman launch“The Emgrand GT has received wide recognition from media and consumers in the GCC as well as internationally, especially for its design and power. In Oman, we are launching this #SuperSe-dan with 2.4L version in January 2016,” the spokesperson adds.

Stylish and artistic exteriorThe Emgrand GT #SuperSedan is a four-door ‘fastback’ sedan with an aggressive profile, an overall length of 4956mm and wheelbase of 2850mm, giving an elegant and solid stance. It features an artistic innovation that borrows heavily from classical Chinese aesthetic needs and international styling philosophy. The distinctive side shoulder line arches over the front wheel and then sweeps cleanly around the vehicle’s length, combining a sense of speed with character and elegance. The wide shoulder surface gives a strong and confident feel. The headlights

and grille form a unified graphic, with the arched curve of the grille inspired by the distinctive profile of historic Chinese stone bridges.

Modern interiorThe graceful and modern inte-rior design of the Emgrand GT reflects a mix of technology and quality. The steering wheel, door armrests and front control dis-play have a lightweight and el-egant appearance.

The central console arches from the front to the rear pas-senger area.

The seats are well-designed, floating on bridge-like supports and dressed in the style of Chi-nese clothing. Fine red wood, jade, traditional patterns and am-bient lighting works together to enhance the interior quality.

By bringing the Geely range to the Sultanate, TAC has reinforced its commitment to provide high-quality products and services to its customers in Oman.

C O V E T E D A C C O L A D E

Oman Pumps, Grundfos host seminar on energy challenges

MUSCAT: A seminar titled ‘Meet the Energy Challenge Now’, was held recently in Muscat.

It was jointly hosted by Oman Pumps, part of the widely respect-ed Al-Riyami Group and Grund-fos International, Denmark. The seminar was very well attended in great numbers by the leading names from the industry, the gov-ernment as well as the private sec-tor, says a press release.

Smart E-technology and clean energy sources have now become increasingly important for all of us. Hence it comes as a surprise to a lot of people that pumps account for nearly 10 per cent of the global electricity consumption. At the same time, pumps also have the potential to save a lot of electrical energy and actually represent one of the best opportunities to reduce CO2 emissions using existing technology. This subject was the focus of attention in the seminar.

Speaking at the seminar, Basim Hamed Al Riyami, senior ex-ecutive director of the Al-Riyami Group stated: “Inspired by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said’s vision of industrialising the na-tion, our Chairman Dr Hamed Bin Abdullah Al Riyami established Oman Pumps in 1988 with Grund-fos International, Denmark to con-vert this vision into a reality. The

bond between both the companies is based on strong cooperation and a track record of over 30 years.

"We believe that a solid indus-trial base is the key to the success of economic diversification and development of the society in the Sultanate. Based in Rusayl Indus-trial Estate, Oman Pumps pro-vides water pumps and pumping systems solutions for application in various areas including agri-culture, manufacturing, construc-tion and infrastructure, etc. The company has been licensed by Grundfos for the manufacture, as-sembly, testing and repair of their pumpsets in Oman.”

He further said, “Over the dec-ades, we have successfully man-aged to provide comprehensive training and employment job op-portunities to Omanis. We are proud to state that our current Omanisation level stands at 43 per

cent. We have also earned the trust of our customers due to our high quality products and international service standards.”

On the future growth plans, he said: “Keeping pace with the chang-ing market trends, we are forging ahead with our growth plans to introduce new technologies and products, and further elevate our customer service standards.”

Dwelling further on the growth path, Girish Bhagat, general man-ager, Oman Pumps said: Oman Pumps is embarking on a factory expansion strategy; a major up-grade is on the cards and we have already procured the necessary equipment to meet the growing demand. We have also diversified into the retail segment with the inauguration of our new show-room in Ruwi. It provides easier access for our customers and in-tegrates seamlessly into our ex-

pansion plans.”Andrea Benvenuti, sales direc-

tor Grundfos Middle East detailed out the energy efficiency of Grund-fos pumps in a team presenta-tion. He informed that if everyone switches to high efficiency pump systems, the world’s total electric-ity consumption could be reduced by as much as 4 per cent.

He also spoke about the remote management feature which ena-bles the users to monitor and con-trol the pump performance from their mobile phones from any-where in the world.

The highlight of the evening was a live demonstration of a pump in action being remotely controlled via a mobile phone. This demon-stration is the first of its kind in the pump industry Oman.

The event ended with a vote of thanks speech by PR Subrama-nian, executive director, Business & Finance of the Al-Riyami Group who thanked the entire Grundfos team for their excellent presenta-tion on energy conservation and remote management of pumps.

He also elaborated on the fact that between the group companies comprising Oman Pumps, Owatco and Fluid Engineering, the Al Riy-ami Group is a one-stop-shop for all water and waste water pump-ing solutions.

I N F O R M A T I V E S E S S I O N

Al Nakheel project wins Arabian Property AwardDUBAI: At an incredible dinner hosted recently by the Arabian Property Awards at the JW Mar-riott Marquis Hotel, Dubai, Alar-gan International Real Estate Company collected awards for two of the group’s real estate de-velopment projects in the region: Al Nakheel project in Oman, and Argan Village in Bahrain, send-ing Alargan through to the inter-national finals, to be held in Lon-don as part of the International Property Awards.

In the Mixed-Use Develop-ment Award category, Al Nakheel project was commended with the ‘Highly Commended’ Award, for its innovative design and commu-nity setting, says a press release.

The project is a 500,000 square metre development situated on the gorgeous coastal area of Al Ra-mees on the shores of the Gulf of Oman. This community is being developed in a mixed-use commu-nity style, including a man-made recreational lagoon created by world-renowned lagoon develop-er Crystal Lagoon, a promenade, a shopping mall, a traditional souq,

a number of international hotels, as well as residential and com-mercial properties.

Khaled Al Meshaan, CEO and vice chairman of the Board of Di-rectors of Alargan International Real Estate Company,said: “These awards are due recognition of the levels of quality and luxury we aspire to every day. The Arabian Property Awards recognise only the very best projects in the mar-ket, so we are very pleased to be so highly rewarded in such a com-petitive region.”

He added, “We are also excep-tionally proud to be selected to represent the region in the inter-national awards that will be held in London, and we will strive for the title the ‘world’s best’.”

Hussain Jawad, chairman of Alargan Towell Investment Company, the majority owner of Al Nakheel project said: “Al Nakheel is a new and unique ad-dition to the future map of tour-ism development in the Sultan-ate; once established it will offer thousands of job opportunities to young Omanis.”

R E C O G N I T I O N

B6 S U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

ROUND-UPAlizz Islamic bags Best Retail Bank 2015 award

MUSCAT: alizz Islamic bank was named ‘Best Retail Bank’ for 2015 by Islamic Business and Finance Awards 2015, the preeminent re-gional Islamic finance awards, at its annual awards ceremony.

Moosa Al Jadidi, deputy general manager and head of Retail Bank-ing of alizz Islamic bank collected the awards in the presence of sen-ior bank executives at an exclusive gala dinner, says a press release.

Speaking on the occasion, Al Jadidi said, “Winning this award is a significant recognition of the bank’s commitment to continu-ously provide customers with the best products and services. alizz is a customer friendly institution with commitment at its core. We make smart decisions for our cus-tomers and welcome all individu-als to experience the alizz way of banking. This award shows that we are well on our way and that we are achieving for the best.”

The winners of the 10th Islamic Business & Finance Awards were announced at a gala dinner held at Emirates Towers Hotel, Dubai recently, attended by some 200 Is-lamic bankers and financiers from around the world. A total of nearly 40,000 votes were cast across 64

categories in the online poll. The Islamic Business & Finance

Awards were established in 2005. The aim of the process is to recog-nise the best performing institu-tions in a variety of regions where Islamic finance is either already developed or is rapidly expanding. The global event attracts nomi-nations and submissions from Europe, Americas, Africa, Middle East and Asia.

alizz continues to be a highly in-novative bank with customer ex-perience at its core. The bank has many firsts including was the first in the country to market the Inter-active Teller Machine.

This one of a kind innovation lets customers have a face-to-face connection with the bank teller without having to actually step into a branch. In addition the re-tail banking has launched multiple saving products that have greatly benefited the customers.

The winners of the

10th Islamic Business

and Finance Awards

were announced

at a gala dinner

held at Emirates

Towers Hotel, Dubai

recently. It was

attended by some

200 Islamic bankers

and financiers from

around the world

MEC students compete

in Robotics Challenge

MUSCAT: A team of four stu-dents from Middle East College (MEC) participated in the first round of GCC (Gulf Coopera-tion Council) Robotics Challenge organised in Modern College of Business and Science which saw participation from higher educa-tion institutions from across the gulf countries.

The event aimed to gather the undergraduate students and young professionals across GCC to give them an opportunity to showcase their skills in emerging technologies, says a press release.

Hamida Abdullah AlMamari, a member of MEC student’s group expressed her satisfaction over their participation in the chal-lenge: “We are very proud of our participation in the GCC Robot-ics Challenge as we are the first robotic group in the Middle East College. During the challenge, we learned how we can build an innovative robust robot and compete in a pre-designed arena

with space and time constraints by utilising our diverse academic and technical exposure.”

“It was a challenge that indeed requires at least two to three months of preparation to build up a robot which deserves to be a part of the competition.

“We had a full support from everyone in the Department of Electronics and Telecommuni-cation Engineering in MEC from the beginning and that made me thankful for being one of this great educational institution’s students,” Sami Saif Al Rashdi, another participant, said.

It is worth to be mentioned that MEC provides all the sup-port needed by its students in order to develop their talents in technology and other areas of their interest. In addition, it al-ways supports students in find-ing opportunities to showcase their practical skills which would effectively make them more em-ployable in the job market.

S H O W C A S I N G S K I L L S

Bahwan Cybertek completes third module of certificate courseMUSCAT: The Indian School of Business (ISB), a leading man-agement and executive educa-tion provider in Asia along with Bahwan Cybertek, Global Busi-ness Group, completed success-fully third module on ‘Strategic Thinking and Execution Excel-lence’ under the Certificate Pro-gramme in General Management for Business Executives in Oman span over six months.

Today’s aspiring leaders need to be equipped with the right skill set to manage effectively and thrive in increasingly complex leadership roles. This certificate programme is specifically tailored for tomor-row’s leaders, to help them be-

come better leaders and business decision makers. Participants will have a holistic understanding of the general management under-standing that will help them to enhance their personal effective-ness, lead and motivate their team for greater performance and take strategic business decision, says a press release.

The programme essentially em-phasised: For a manager to be ef-fective, it is imperative to bridge the gap between planning and execution. The module focused on how to make managers bet-ter at strategic decision-making and executioners of plans. The discussion revolved around fun-

damental pillars of competitive strategy, identifying the barriers to effective execution of plans, how to integrate execution during plan-ning stage and role of feedback in effective execution.

After the successful comple-tion of this module, participants are currently applying their class-room learning at their respective organisations, through the action learning projects and are looking forward to the next module that fo-cuses on ‘Effective Business Com-munication’ due to start in Janu-ary of 2016.

The ideal candidates for this programme are executives with more than 10 years of experience

who aspire to reach the next level of leadership through enhancing their general management competen-cies. As the programme is spread over six months, this ensures that working professionals can con-tinue their learning without any disruption of their work schedules. Successful candidates will receive the ‘Certificate Programme in Gen-eral Management for Business Ex-ecutives’ from the ISB’s Centre for Executive Education.

Bahwan Cybertek announced one more new batch on ‘Certificate Programme in General Manage-ment’ in Oman span over 6 months for the same target audience, com-mencing April, 2016.

E X E C U T I O N E X C E L L E N C E

Bank Sohar picks winners of ‘Guess the Movie’ competition

MUSCAT: Concluding the ‘Guess the Movie’ Facebook Competition, Bank Sohar presented gift certifi-cates to each of the five winners totalling OMR500.

The competition was an-nounced in commemoration of the launch of the fourth and final leg of the Al Mumayaz Savings Scheme 2015 under the theme of block-buster movies; allowing the bank’s social media followers to join in the action and excitement, says a press release.

The prize distribution ceremo-ny was conducted at the bank’s head office in MBD where Mazin Mahmood Al Raisi, Senior AGM and head of Marketing and Cus-tomer Experience at Bank Sohar, handed over the gift certificates to Abdul Wahab Rasool Bakhsh Al Balushi, Razwan Khan, Yousef Said Al Abdul Salam and Ali Al Buraiki who came to the bank to receive their prize.

Titled ‘Guess the Movie’, the Facebook competition ran from

October 11 to November 12 on Bank Sohar’s facebook page (www.facebook.com/excel.banksohar). It saw participants identify the original movie the savings scheme poster in competition related post was inspired from on a weekly basis. The first correct entry from each user per question was then entered into a computerised draw that was conducted shortly after the competition ended to pick the five lucky winners.

Commenting on the success-ful completion of the contest and congratulating the winners of the contest, Mazin Mahmood Al Raisi said, “Social media platforms have proved time and again to be a fan-tastic medium through which we can build a closer and more per-sonal relationship with our cus-tomers and followers. This contest was no different and was most def-initely a grand success with hun-dreds of entries over the course of four-weeks. I would like to thank all the participants for their en-

tries and enthusiasm as well as to congratulate each of our five winners of this contest. With this contest behind us, we look forward to conducting many more similar competitions in the future.”

In the past year, Bank Sohar’s social media platforms have wit-nessed a tremendous growth, in addition to a high level of engage-ment from fans through questions, comments and responses.

F A C E B O O K C O N T E S T

The competition

was announced in

commemoration of the

launch of the fourth

and final leg of the

Al Mumayaz Savings

Scheme 2015 under the

theme of blockbuster

movies; allowing the

bank’s social media

followers to join in the

action and excitement

Nissan Tiida comes with benefits

MUSCAT: The Nissan Tiida from the house of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles comes with best-in-class fuel economy, advanced technology and features typically expected from far more expen-sive vehicles.

With dynamic styling and class-leading spaciousness, the Nissan Tiida’s refreshed aerody-namic body shape blends sophis-tication with a sporty influence, complemented by widened and lowered stance, electric-folding mirrors and 17” alloys wheels. Inside, a sleek, modern cabin wel-comes the driver and passengers featuring quality materials and lifestyle-accommodating design, says a press release.

Offer lasts till December 31 Auto enthusiasts can now avail exciting benefits on the Nissan Tiida that includes cash gift of OMR500, free service for two years or 20,000km (periodic maintenance only), free registra-tion, six years unlimited mileage warranty and easy and conveni-ent financing options. Flexible EMI’s can also be tailor made for any individual requirement from in-house Auto Finance team.

Versatility at its best No matter what the day has in store, the Nissan Tiida’s owners can be sure of being able to take it in their stride. Class-leading spaciousness provides comfort-able accommodation for up to five adult passengers while the stand-ard 60/40 split rear bench offers the option of tackling bulky loads.

Impeccable featuresThe Nissan Tiida 5-door hatch-back is available with the choice of two engines and five well-equipped grades. Starting with the 1.6-litre ‘S’, which comes as standard with 60/40 rear split bench, dual front airbags, Anti-lock Braking System, Electronic Brake Distribution, Brake Assist, next Generation Xtronic CVT and keyless entry, rising to the 1.8-li-tre SL Plus, with leather seats, 6 airbags and electrically-con-trolled sunroof.

Available options include satel-lite navigation, 5.8” QVGA colour display and rear view camera and iPod connectivity.

The Tiida offers numerous segment defining attributes that enhance the ownership experi-ence and provide real customer value, including: Aerodynami-cally curved body and distinctive racy contours. Every line and curve has been carefully consid-ered to make the best-looking Tiida yet. It’s all new design also has a lower stance giving an ag-gressive edge to an already stun-ning shape.

Roomy interior: The Nissan

Tiida is spectacularly spacious from inside. The interior design and expansive windows give an incredible level of visibility.

Power-train efficiency: equipped with either 116hp (154Nm) HR16DE 1.6-litre or 131hp (174Nm) MRA8DE 1.8-litre engines and the new generation Xtronic CVT transmission, Tiida provides per-formance and fuel efficiency.

Safety efficiency: Tiida is equipped as standard with Anti-Lock braking system, brake as-sist and electronic brakeforce distribution, and dual airbags

An attractive multimedia pack-age is available with All-new Nis-san Tiida including Push to start engine, Bluetooth Hands-Free Phone System and Streaming Audio with iPod or portable MP3 player through USB port. 5.8” col-our touch display, Navigation, rear view camera, auto and rear A/C vents with dual climate control.

Suhail Bahwan Automobiles is largely committed to support-ing Nissan’s growth in the Sul-tanate through major emphasis on customer satisfaction and by providing world-class after-sales services in Oman.

P R O M O T I O N


ROUND-UPLove us on Facebook


Pakistan community celebrates Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s birthday

MUSCAT: A grand event, ‘My Leader is great’, was organised by Muttrah Tourism Trade & Services in Al Falaj Hotel to cele-brate the 139th birthday of Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan.

Auriya Maqbool Jaan, a re-nowned columnist, poet, scholar and a senior bureaucrat along with Zaheer Abbas, a singer, came all the way to Muscat from Pakistan to be a part of the event, says a press release.

Quite a large number of Paki-stanis residing in Muscat marked their presence to pay homage to the great leader.

Syed Ayaz Hussain, ambassa-dor of Pakistan to the Sultanate of Oman attended the occasion. Mian Muhammad Riaz, Mu-hammad Yaseen Bhtti, chairman Pakistan Schools, Muhammad Adnan Shahzad, Chaudhry Mu-hammad Rafeeq, vice chairman, Social Club, Raja Akhmat Hayat, Community Welfare Attaché, Shahid Javaid, Defence Atta-ché Capt. Altaf Hussain, Abdul Hussain Ismail Ajmee, Dr Asad Mahmood, senior principal Pa-kistan School System, Ata Ullah Niazi, Zia ul Haq Siddiqi, Syed Sakhawat Bukhari, Members, Board of Directors, Pakistan School Muscat, Sardar Usman Lakhan, Waseem Iqbal and Mu-hammad Irfan, Members, Direc-

tors Pakistan Social Club, Syed Aftab Gilani, Saleem Akhter, Principal Junior School, Mun-nazza Ghafoor, principal Mus-sannah School Nasir Nawaz, Mu-hammad Tufail, Ameer Hamza and other dignitaries also attend-ed the event.

The event was hosted by Rida Shahzad Khan. Hafiz Faisal Sul-tan recited few verses of the Holy Quran. A special prayer for the martyrs of Army Public School was held. Saleeha Iftikhar, a stu-dent of Class V from PSM, re-ceived a remarkable applaud for her speech.

A documentary prepared by Aumir Shbbir and Dr Furqan was also played. Usman Mjaeed pre-sented the national song ‘AeRooh e Qaid’.

Later, Ahmad Shahzad, Zakir Hussain, Maqbool Ahmad Sheikh and Marwat Ahmad paid tribute to Qaid e Azam in their poetry. Zaheer Abbas, a famous singer, chanted few melodious songs.

The guest of the event, illustri-ous columnist Orya Maqbool Jan, engrossed the audience with his eloquent and unique style of put-ting forward his view point which earned exquisite applauds from the audience.

The event concluded by giving away the souvenirs to the guests, the special guest and to the Am-bassador of Pakistan.

T R I B U T E S

Lexus CT200h — a luxurious hybrid hatchbackMUSCAT: As Lexus continues to dominate the luxury hybrid market, the CT200h premium hybrid dem-onstrates the brand’s commitment to unparalleled quality, sophistica-tion and technology. All the while being distinctively responsible to-wards the environment.

The CT200h’s size, packaging, full hybrid technology and ultra-low emissions perfectly meet the requirements of a young, highly discerning, environmentally con-scientious customer base. Yet it of-fers no compromise on the refine-ment and driving pleasure which hallmark the progressive luxury inherent in every Lexus. Lexus has been the hybrid luxury leader since it introduced the first luxury hybrid more than 10 years ago, says a press release.

The CT200h broke new ground for Lexus, introducing the brand to a younger generation of highly discerning customers. They, too, quickly discovered the refinement and driving pleasure that char-acterise the progressive luxury inherent in every Lexus. A sporty chassis keeps the CT200h con-nected to the road’s curves, and the dashing look is enhanced with

a chrome surround grille. In the CT200h, a 1.8-litre in-line four-cylinder gas engine is teamed to a 650-volt motor/generator for a combined output of 134 horse-power. A second motor in the hy-brid system serves as both engine starter and generator to charge the hybrid battery pack.

The powertrain is mated to an Electronically Controlled Con-tinuously Variable Transmission (E-CVT) that makes the best use of the instant torque of the electric motor and quickly finds the opti-mal gear ratio to enhance the driv-ing experience.

It’s the unseen engineering de-tails that really make a difference in the CT’s fuel efficiency. For ex-ample, an exhaust heat recovery system uses the heat of spent ex-haust gases to speed engine cool-ant warm-up. That in turn allows the hybrid system to stop the en-gine earlier and more often in the driving cycle when it’s not needed, i.e. in low-power-demand city driving conditions. The CT200h braking system is augmented by regenerative braking which also helps recharge the hybrid battery pack and improve fuel economy.

Like other Lexus models, the CT200h puts a wide range of ve-hicle control at the driver’s finger-tips through the Lexus Drive Mode Select system. You can choose from four distinct modes: Normal, Sport, Eco or EV. Normal mode has an essentially linear throttle response that gives naturally pro-gressive power. Sport mode yields a more responsive and dynamic driving experience.

In Eco mode, air condition-

ing settings are adjusted and the throttle response is reduced rela-tive to the pedal angle to empha-sise fuel economy. Under certain circumstances, the EV mode can allow the CT200h to be driven short distances using only the electric motors.

Compact, sporty and shockingly thrifty with fuel, the CT200h is of course a pure Lexus. That means a considerably higher level of luxury than you’ll see in anything

this size. Standard features in-clude a 8-way power driver’s seat and dual-zone automatic climate control. The dashboard is divided into two distinct zones: an upper, Display Zone, with an seven-inch, LCD multi-display screen located at an ideal distance for at-a-glance viewing, and a lower, Operation Zone, which allows access to the uniquely designed shift lever and system controls. The front seats feature pronounced side bolsters engineered with internal wire framing for additional lateral sup-port during high-G cornering. Ex-tensive use of metallic finishes and dark, soft touch materials rein-forces the premium quality of the cockpit. Ecological Plastics with 30 percent plant-based Polyeth-ylene terephthalate (PET) mate-rials are used for the floor mats, deck side and deck board trim. The CT is more than 80 percent recyclable and is designed to be easily dismantled. Recycle marks have been placed on the front, rear and tailgate trim to facilitate optimum recycling.

The standard six-speaker audio system features the world’s first automotive speakers constructed

with sustainable bamboo and res-in. You may hear voices with great-er clarity than you have before. A 10-speaker system is available. Both systems, of course, live up to the brand’s reputation for stel-lar sound. The Display Audio and Navigation systems both employ Bluetooth 3.0 and dual USB ports to ensure you can connect your music any way you like.

Standard 10-airbag Supplemen-tal Restraint System (SRS) with dual-stage driver and front pas-senger airbags and knee airbags, side curtain airbags, and front seat-mounted side airbags.

Encouraged by innovation, the process to create a Lexus vehicle is unique within the automotive industry. Taking inspiration from fields as diverse as the fashion in-dustry, architecture, the arts and medicine, each vehicle is painstak-ingly crafted to meet Lexus’ exact-ing standards.

In Oman every Lexus vehicle comes with special benefits and privileges such as 6 years unlim-ited extended mileage protection and Lexus Prestige Club Card that offers 24 hours on-road assistance from AAA.

P R I Z E D P O S S E S S I O N

Genesis, Tucson earn coveted safety awards

MUSCAT: Hyundai Motor’s Gen-esis and Tucson have been recog-nised by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) 2016 Top Safety Pick+ awards.

This prestigious awards body helps consumers select vehicles that offer the highest level of crash protection by conducting extensive testing and awarding those which are worthy, says a press release.

Jin (James) Kim, vice president and head of Operations at Hyun-dai Motor Company Africa and Middle East said: “Our company’s emphasis on safety is once again highlighted as two very different models, one an SUV and one a lux-ury sedan, are internationally rec-ognised for their advanced safety technologies.

“The features which I think have helped us secure these awards are elements such as the autonomous emergency braking feature, lane departure warning with lane keep assist and the emergency brake as-sist offering.”

Adrian Lund, IIHS president commented on the rationale be-hind the Hyundai recognition: “The Genesis is equipped with Elec-tronic Stability Control (ESC), nine airbags and energy-absorbing front airbags, while the Tucson has AEB, helping these vehicles earn our top

rating. Both earned a required good rating in the small overlap front crash evaluation and a superior-or advanced-rated front crash preven-tion system with automatic braking capabilities, a key criteria to qualify for a Top Safety Pick+ award.”

Hyundai Motor’s Genesis is

equipped with many advanced safety technology options, includ-ing ESC, lane departure warning system, tyre pressure monitoring system, brake assist and electronic brake distribution, and rear-view camera. In addition, the vehicle includes around view monitoring

system, smart cruise control, head up display that help driver alert-ness and focus on total occupant safety, and even the safety of other drivers nearby.

Multiple advanced safety tech-nology options are also available on Hyundai Motor’s Tucson, includ-ing, blind spot detection, backup warning sensors and safety win-dow rear-view camera. In addition, advanced high-strength steel rep-resents more than 50 percent of the vehicle’s structure, for enhanced crash safety.

IIHS rates vehicles in a small overlap front crash, moderate overlap front crash, side and roof strength, and head restraint tests, as well as a standard or optional front crash prevention system. Winners of the Top Safety Pick+ award must earn good ratings for occupant protection in all five of the evaluations. For the first time, a good rating in the small overlap front crash test is required to earn the award.

Insurance Institute

for Highway Safety

helps consumers

select vehicles that

offer the highest level

of crash protection

by conducting

extensive testing and

awarding those that

are worthy

Our company’s emphasis on safety is once again highlighted as two very different models, one an SUV and one a luxury sedan, are internationally recognised for their advanced safety technologies

Jin (James) KimVice president and head of Operations at Hyundai Motor Company Africa and Middle East

B8

ROUND-UPS U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Love us on Facebook


Toyota Prius: An iconic ‘green car’

MUSCAT: When the Toyota Pri-us debuted in Japan in 1997, no-body knew about it or really cared about its qualities. Indeed, it took a little while to catch on. By 2003, the Prius was becoming generally recognised for what it was… a car of the future.

At first, the critics insisted that

the American consumer would never buy a fuel-efficient vehicle powered only by a small 1.5 litre gasoline engine. In 2000, Toyota started exporting the Prius to North America and Europe sold 6,500 in the first year itself, says a press release.

Toyota had faith in the poten-tial of the Prius and within a few years, the situation started to turn in favour of the Prius. It started in Hollywood, California. The government of California had de-cided that low emissions vehicles would get preferential treatment. As a result, the drivers in priority lanes were restricted to vehicles with two or more persons; how-ever, the Prius could enter the lane with just one person in it. This was due to the low emissions from a Prius.

When people started to whizz by in a Prius through traffic jams, everybody started to notice and the demand for the Prius started to escalate. Soon, the Toyota Pri-

us became a very popular car in California.

All of a sudden, the Prius was in the spotlight and became an icon. At the 2003 Academy Awards ceremony, Hollywood celebrities rode up to the red car-pet in the Prius…!

The same year, the second generation Prius debuted. It had a renewed hybrid system called the Hybrid Synergy Drive, which not only conferred greater ben-efits to the environment, but also featured improved power and overall performance. This new Prius was also more stylish, in-side and out. People began saying that the “The Prius is not only ‘Cool’ … but also ‘Hot’ “

Now, the fourth generation Prius that has debuted this year will be introduced in more than 30 countries worldwide including the Middle East. The popularity of the Prius is now spreading to all corners of the globe and it has be-come a truly iconic “Green Car”.

The fourth generation

Prius that has

debuted this year will

be introduced in more

than 30 countries

worldwide including

the Middle East

[email protected]@timesofoman.com

SEND US YOUR VIEWS AND COMMENTS

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

SPOR SY O U R G A M E

SECTIONC S U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

KHAWAJA, BURNS SPARKLE AS AUSSIES PUNISH WINDIES>C3

INSIDE LIFESTYLE

TRY AN AYURVEDIC DETOX DIET

Taylor, Compton lead England revival

DURBAN: James Taylor and Nick Compton compiled gritty half cen-turies to lead England to 179 for four on a rain-disrupted first day of the opening Test against South Africa at Kingsmead on Saturday.

The pair took advantage of a flat track to pull England out of early trouble with a 125-run partnership after the touring side had slumped to 49 for three soon after lunch.

The diminutive Taylor played some aggressive strokes as he an-swered questions about his ability to play quick bowlers but he was caught behind for 70 off Dale Steyn just before the close.

Perfect startSouth African-born Compton, showing dogged application on his return to the side, finished unbeat-

en on 63 with Ben Stokes on five.The home team welcomed their

top bowler Steyn back after injury and he delivered a fiery burst to take the wickets of England cap-tain Alastair Cook and debutant opener Alex Hales.

After winning the toss in over-cast conditions, South Africa made the perfect start to the series by claiming the key wicket of Cook in the third over as the left-hander was tempted by a delivery outside off-stump from Steyn and edged to Dean Elgar at second slip.

Five balls into the second ses-sion, Steyn struck again when Hales chased a ball that was not the right length to drive and wick-etkeeper AB de Villiers pouched the catch.

Joe Root played some fluent strokes but a quick knock of 24 runs was abruptly halted by the first ball of spinner Dane Piedt’s opening over. Root played right back on his stumps and got caught leg before wicket, a decision up-held after a review.

As the ball grew older and the pitch flatter, however, it was Eng-land who began to dominate be-fore Taylor edged a Steyn delivery through to De Villiers. - Reuters

The pair took

advantage of a flat

track to pull England

out of early trouble

with a 125-run

partnership after

the touring side had

slumped to 49 for

three soon after lunch

England 1st innings A. Cook c Elgar b Steyn 0 A. Hales c de Villiers b Steyn 10 N. Compton (not out) 63J. Root lbw Piedt 24 J. Taylor c de Villiers b Steyn 70 B. Stokes (not out) 5 Extras (b-1, lb-2, nb-3, w-1) 7 Total (4 wkts, 65.1 overs) 179 Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-12, 3-49, 4-174.To bat: J. Bairstow, C. Woakes, S. Broad, M. Ali, S. Finn.Bowling: D. Steyn 15.1-3-29-3; K. Abbott 16-2-40-0 (nb-1); M. Morkel 15-1-44-0 (nb-2, w-1); D. Piedt 11-2-39-1; S. van Zyl 2-1-2-0; D. Elgar 6-1-22-0.Umpires: Aleem Dar, Rod TuckerTV umpire: Bruce OxenfordMatch referee: Ranjan Madugalle

S C O R E B O A R D

FIGHTING KNOCK: England’s James Taylor, left, raises his bat after completing his half century during

the first day of their first Test against South Africa at the Kingsmead in Durban on Saturday. – AFP

Ahli-Sidab, Seeb to square off in HM’s Cup final

MUSCAT: Ahli-Sidab and Seeb booked their places in the final of His Majesty’s Cup Hockey Cham-pionship with contrasting victo-ries at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex (SQSC) on Saturday.

In the first semifinal, India’s K.K. Poonacha-coached Ahli-Sidab had a measure of revenge against Al Nasr in their 2-0 victory.

In the last year’s final, Al Nasr had defeated Ahli-Sidab to lift

the coveted trophy. In the second semifinal on Saturday, Seeb de-feated Salalah 5-2.

Al Nasr and Salalah will now play for the third place at the SQSC on Monday. The match is scheduled to start at 7.00 p.m.

The final match between Ahli-Sidab and Seeb will be played at the same venue from 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday.

- Photos: JUN ESTRADA/Times of Oman

H O C K E Y

>C7

C2

SPORTSS U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 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

A day after a tragic struggle that fetched him disgusting nine

runs off 21 balls in the final of the ICC T20 World Cup held in Dhaka last year, and hours after getting seemingly humiliated by Virat Kohli who appeared to have given the cold shoulder to the man torn apart by pain and shame as he walked up to him to say sorry as soon as Thisara Perera hit Ravichandran Ashwin out of the ground in the 18th over of the Sri Lankan innings to seal a comfortable win, Yuvraj Singh was advised by a media man to get married to put the bitter, haunting memories behind him.

“Don’t add to my stress” was Yuvraj’s response then but, now that he has got another opportunity to make, in his own words, “a fresh start for a new beginning” soon after his engagement to model-actor Hazel Keech last month, it seems there’s noth-ing seriously wrong about cricketers taking in the sug-gestions made by the media with an open, unbiased frame of mind, at least in matters related to the heart and the knot, perhaps.

The recall of old warhorses Yuvraj and Ashish Nehra was a surprise, but how and why they got a fresh, perhaps the last, lease of their interna-tional life is a matter of guess at the moment.

And my guess centres on just one guy, and that’s skip-per MS Dhoni.

If domestic performance was the reason that Nehra got picked up now, he should have been in the team a long time ago.

He played his last game for India in 2011, in the World Cup semifinal against Paki-stan, with a broken finger, and has been left since then to

twiddling his fingers despite good performances in do-mestic games as well as in the Indian Premier League.

Australia is a difficult place to go and prove yourself, and if Indian selectors thought Yuvraj was the guy Dhoni needed Down Under, they should have made their choice months ago. And that was when they sat together to name the Indian team for the 2015 ODI World Cup.

True, Yuvraj has been do-ing consistently good on the domestic cricket circuit, and his performances in the Vijay Hazare Trophy have really stood out, but all that can’t be the whole truth about his recall.

We get a hint of reason for the recall in one of Yuvraj’s post-selection chats with the media when he talked about his positive mindset and demand-ed that “the dressing room needs to have belief in me”.

That comment could lead you to more hints that might help unravel a heady mix of mystery, curiosity and surprise surrounding the selection.

Yuvraj requires support from his teammates to get going. He is no stranger to the crowd in the current dressing room, but quite a lot of things had happened in the last few months when he hadn’t been part of the select gang.

The faces are familiar, but the equations aren’t.

There is another guy who might be feeling a bit like Yuvraj. That’s Dhoni.

In the couple of months he hadn’t been part of the team,

the team regrouped under the leadership of Kohli and redefined their approach and attitude, individually and col-lectively.

It’s no easy task for Dhoni now to walk back into the dressing room and command the guys the way he did a couple of years ago.

The problem is neither with the familiar guys in the dressing room nor with the same old Dhoni.

Rather, it could be the nag-ging doubts in the mind of the skipper about him and how he could get things done by a group of young things relish-ing a hangover from their recent Test series bravado.

Under the circumstances, it made sense to have a few people in the dressing room who are just as uncertain and lonely as Dhoni himself is.

For the 34-year-old Yuvraj and nearly 37-year-old Nehra, the Australian trip could be their last chance to extend their international career for a little while, and if they do good in a match or two in Australia they could be in the team for the ICC T20 World Cup scheduled for March-April in India.

If everything goes to plan, Dhoni will have a match-winner in Yuvraj and the best death-over bowler in Nehra — unless he breaks another bone before the first T20 match against Australia which is still a month away.

Together, the three could rediscover the dressing room fun they seem to miss at the moment.

The writer is a freelance con-tributor based in India. All the views and opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not reflect those of Times of Oman

The man and motive behind Yuvraj, Ashish Nehra recall

C O M M E N T A R YYoung Kohli leads new dawn of Indian cricket

NEW DELHI: Indian cricket’s fortunes ebbed and flowed in 2015 with Virat Kohli successfully lead-ing the national side in Tests and Mahendra Singh Dhoni appearing to be losing his midas touch, while in off the field drama Shashank Manohar returned as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) boss.

Kohli, who had already taken charge of the Test team in Decem-ber last year post Dhoni’s surpris-ing exit after the Sydney game, led the Indian side with aplomb.

The Delhi batsman not only won his maiden Test as captain in his

first full-fledged series as the lead-er of the Indian side in Sri Lanka but also went on to defeat the Is-landers on home turf after 22 years post a 2-1 series win.

The young leader then made his-tory after he led India to a 3-0 se-ries win at home against the No.1 Test side South Africa, who were made to taste an overseas loss after nine years.

But the four-match series was surrounded by pitch-talk after two games finished in under three days as Indian spinners created havoc in Mohali and Nagpur.

Though the BCCI, Indian man-agement and captain Kohli played down the debate over turning pitches, the ICC did term the ‘Jam-tha’ track as “poor” and gave an of-ficial warning.

Controversy followed Indian cricket off the field as well when the board finally dethroned un-der-fire N Srinivasan as the ICC chairman and newly-elected BCCI President Manohar took charge of the post for the remaining period.

The decision to remove Srini-vasan was taken at the BCCI’s 86th Annual General Meeting in Mum-bai, virtually signalling the end of his hold over Indian cricket.

Earlier, the Vidarbha-based lawyer Manohar’s re-election to

the top post in the world’s most powerful cricket board was a smooth transition of power after the unfortunate demise of Jagmo-han Dalmiya.

The Indian Premier League con-tinued to churn out on and off field drama with franchises Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Roy-als suspended from the cash-rich T20 league for two years for the in-volvement of their key officials Gu-runath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra in betting-related activities during the 2013 season.

Meiyappan, the former Team Principal of CSK, and RR co-owner Kundra were suspended for life for indulging in betting and bringing the IPL and the game into disrepute. The justice RM Lodha-led committee declared the quan-tum of punishment on the officials and the teams.

But the players of the two teams were not made to suffer even as they had to split ways with new inductees Pune and Rajkot pitch-ing for the big guns from the sus-pended sides.

If Pune got the prized catch in Dhoni then Rajkot bagged Suresh Raina, the two CSK veterans, who had seen the champion side win three editions of the cash-rich league. - PTI

Kohli, who had

already taken charge

of the Test team

in December last

year post Dhoni’s

surprising exit after

the Sydney game,

led the Indian side

with aplomb. The

Delhi batsman not

only won his maiden

Test as captain in

his first full-fledged

series as the leader

of the Indian side in

Sri Lanka but also

went on to defeat the

Islanders on home

LEADING WITH APLOMB: Virat Kohli.

C3


Khawaja, Burns sparkle as Aussies punish West Indies on Boxing Day

MELBOURNE: Usman Khawaja and Joe Burns rewarded the Aus-tralian selectors’ faith with a pair of sparkling centuries as the hosts dominated a limp West Indies at-tack on the opening day of the sec-ond Test on Saturday.

Having recovered from a ham-string strain, Khawaja celebrated his recall with a glittering 144, with Queensland teammate Burns mak-ing 128 in front of a festive Mel-bourne Cricket Ground crowd to drive Australia to 345-3 at stumps.

The pair’s 258-run stand re-mained unbroken until well into the final session, with captain Steve Smith (32 not out) and Adam Voges (10) untested during the final overs.

After a run of modest scores, Burns was widely tipped to make way for the returning Khawaja but it was middle order batter Shaun Marsh making way for the stylish left-hander.

“It was just a nice feeling to make a 100 for Australia on Boxing Day,” Burns told reporters.

“Certainly something to savour ... Hopefully we can go on and win the Test match and win the series,” Burns added.

Australia won the opener em-

phatically in Hobart and took a big stride toward sealing the three-match series with a game in hand after being sent in to bat by West Indies captain Jason Holder.

Holder’s decision was a poor one in hindsight, with the green-tinged MCG pitch flattening out in bright sunshine after rain held up play for an hour.

His players again failed to rally, however, with the bowling tepid at best and fielding at times abysmal.

Khawaja was dropped on 23 shortly after lunch after nicking

a half-chance to the gully and spooned the simplest of chances to Marlon Samuels at cover to again be reprieved on 142.

He and Burns came together early after opener David Warner was dismissed for a quickfire 23 and they erased any lingering con-fidence the Caribbeans nursed after their innings and 212-run thrashing in Hobart.

‘Decent day’Unbeaten at tea, Burns and Kha-waja ramped up their attack in the final session and raced to reach their centuries.

Burns made his ton and second test century first with a punch for three through point.

Khawaja followed two balls later, scrambling for a single pre-sented by a misfield.

The pair ploughed on steadily to guide Australia past 250, with their opponents’ hopes seemingly fixed on the batsmen suffering a lapse in concentration rather than suc-cumbing to any sustained pressure.

As it happened, Burns duly de-livered after the drinks break, get-ting stumped after charging down the wicket at part-time spinner Kraigg Brathwaite.

Khawaja appeared to succumb to fatigue rather than the bowler’s guile as he tickled Taylor down the leg-side to be caught behind.

Kraigg Brathwaite said it was a “decent day” for the tourists.

“Obviously (have to) try to be build some pressure to not let them score so freely,” said the spinner. - Reuters

Having recovered

from a hamstring

strain, Usman

Khawaja celebrated

his recall with

a glittering 144,

with Queensland

teammate Joe Burns

making 128 in front of

a festive Melbourne

Cricket Ground crowd

to drive Australia

to 345 for three

at stumps on the

opening day of the

second Test

Australia 1st innings J. Burns st Ramdin b K. Brathwaite 128 D. Warner c Samuels b Taylor 23 U. Khawaja c Ramdin b Taylor 144 S. Smith (not out) 32 A. Voges (not out) 10 Extras (lb-3, nb-2, w-3) 8 Total (3 wkts, 90 overs) 345 Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-287, 3-328.To bat: M. Marsh, P. Nevill, J. Pattinson, P. Siddle, J. Hazlewood, N. Lyon.Bowling: J. Taylor 18-2-83-2; K. Roach 10-1-53-0; J. Holder 17-6-33-0 (nb-2); C. Brathwaite 20-1-71-0 (w-3); J. Warrican 16-1-71-0; K. Brathwaite 9-1-31-1. Umpire: Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney.TV umpire: Ian Gould.Match referee: Chris Broad.

S C O R E B O A R D

SUPERB COMEBACK: Australia’s Usman Khawaja celebrates after

completing his century against the West Indies on the first day of

their second Test in Melbourne on Saturday. – AFP

‘NICE FEELING’: Australia’s Joe Burns celebrates after scoring a

century against the West Indies during the first day of their second

Test match in Melbourne on Saturday. – AFP

144runs from 227 balls

6 fours, 1 six

USMAN KHAWAJA


16 fours, 1 six

JOEBURNS

FIFA gave Russia 12 on 10-point scale for 2018 World Cup preparation, says official

MOSCOW: FIFA has graded Russia 12 on a scale of 10 for its work in 2015 in preparing for the 2018 World Cup, Sports Minister and Local Organising Committee (LOC) head Vitaly Mutko has said.

“FIFA is annually evaluating the work of the organising com-mittees on its 10-point system,” Mutko, who is also the president of the Russian Football Union (RFU) and a member of the FIFA Executive Committee, said on Friday, reports Tass.

“We were graded 12 for our work in 2015. The advanced grade was awarded for our ahead-of-schedule work.”

He said the LOC had already approved a total of 64 training bases to accommodate the par-ticipants of the global football championship and introduced an electronic database, which pro-vides information about each of the facilities.

“We have completed the pro-jects concepts concerning secu-rity, communications and trans-portation,” the minister said.

“Back in 2013 the Russian government already adopted a special program, which included about 300 facilities,” he said.

“They are all currently under construction payed by the fed-eral budget. In addition we have added up approximately the same amount of regional infrastructure facilities. In general - the work is currently underway in all possible directions, everything goes in line with the announced schedule and everything is under our control,” Mutko added.

Last week Mutko announced the budget of Russia’s LOC in charge of the World Cup organi-sation would stand in 2016 at four billion rubles ($57 million).

“Two billion, or maybe less, were allocated by FIFA. The rest of the money comes from the state budget and donations of our business partners,” Mutko an-nounced last week.

Russia won the bid to host the 2018 World Cup at the FIFA Con-gress in Guatemala on December 4, 2010, in a tight race against the

bid from England, the joint bid from Portugal and Spain and the joint bid on behalf of Belgium and the Netherlands.

The country selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Pe-tersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yeka-terinburg and Samara.

The matches will be held be-tween June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in the 11 afore-mentioned cities across Russia. Two of the stadiums are located in the Russian capital.

In September, a total of 33 cit-ies across Russia involving over 450,000 people were celebrating the 1,000-day countdown of the tournament. Main celebrations of Russia’s countdown were held in Moscow. This summer Russia’s second largest city of St. Peters-burg was the venue for the tour-ney’s preliminary draw, which is the first major kick-off event ahead of the global tournament. - IANS

F O O T B A L L

C4


Run machine Guptill guides New Zealand to win over Sri Lanka

CHRISTCHURCH: Martin Gup-till became the highest run scorer in One-day International (ODI) cricket this year as he guided New Zealand to a comprehensive sev-en-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the first game of their five match series on Saturday.

Guptill, who scored 237 not out in the World Cup quarterfinal against West Indies in March and was the highest run-scorer at the tourna-ment, was dismissed for 79 within sight of the 189 needed for victory at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

Ross Taylor was on five with debutant Henry Nicholls hitting the winning runs to move to 23 as New Zealand raced to 191 for three in 21 overs.

Captain Brendon McCullum scored 55 from 25 balls in an 108-run opening partnership with Guptill, who moved to 1,366 runs from 30 matches in 2015.

Compatriot Kane Williamson, who has a knee injury and missed

the match, has scored 1,317 runs this year, with South Africa’s AB de Villiers third on 1,193.

While Guptill and McCullum made light work of the run chase, victory had been set up in Sri Lan-ka’s innings when opening bowl-ers Adam Milne and Matt Henry reduced the visitors to 27 for five inside the first 10 overs with the latter taking four wickets.

“I thought the wicket was out-standing so for us to take five for 30 up front was a truly outstanding bowling performance,” McCullum said in a televised interview.

“I guess that was the winning of the game.”

Disciplined lineBoth Henry and Milne, who start-ed in place of the rested regular new-ball pair of Trent Boult and Tim Southee, were consistently faster than 140km per hour in their opening spells with the fiery Milne exceeding 150 kph on sev-eral deliveries.

The pair also produced a disci-plined line and length on a pitch

that Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews described as “a belter” when he won the toss and elected to bat.

“It was good to have Adam bowl-ing well at the other end and cre-ating pressure,” said Henry, who finished with four for 49.

“We are pretty pleased with the way things went and as a bowling group we were fairly happy.”

Some credibilityMilinda Siriwardana (66), who was dropped at deep midwicket by Nicholls on 10, and Nuwan Ku-lasekara (58), however, combined for a 98-run seventh-wicket part-nership to give Sri Lanka some credibility.

“We just had to bat and put runs on the board to put pressure on the Kiwis but unfortunately we kept losing wickets in the first 10 overs (and) that was really tough going,” said Mathews.

“They just bowled well and we couldn’t handle it.”

The second match is at the same venue on Monday. - Reuters

While Guptill (79)

and McCullum (55)

made light work of

the run chase, victory

had been set up in Sri

Lanka’s innings when

opening bowlers

Milne and Henry

reduced the visitors

to 27 for five inside

the first 10 overs

SRI LANKAD. Gunathilaka c Ronchi b Milne 8 T. Dilshan c Nicholls b Henry 9 L. Thirimanne lbw Henry 1 D. Chandimal c Taylor b Henry 5 A. Mathews c Latham b Henry 0 M. Siriwardana c McCullum b Bracewell 66 C. Kapugedera c Santner b Bracewell 8 N. Kulasekara c Ronchi b McClenaghan 58 A. Mendis c Ronchi b McClenaghan 4 D. Chameera (not out) 13 S. Lakmal c Latham b Bracewell 8 Extras (w-8) 8Total (all out, 47 overs) 188 Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-20, 3-23, 4-23, 5-27, 6-65, 7-163, 8-164, 9-167. Bowling: A. Milne 10-0-30-1 (w-3); M. Henry 10-1 -49-4 (w-2); M. McClenaghan 10-2-40-2 (w-3); D. Bracewell 9-1-37-3; M. Santner 8-0-32-0.

NEW ZEALANDM. Guptill c N. Kulasekara b Siriwardana 79 B. McCullum c Lakmal b Siriwardana 55 T. Latham b Dilshan 18 R. Taylor (not out) 5H. Nicholls (not out) 23 Extras (lb-1, w-10) 11Total (3 wkts, 21 overs) 191 Fall of wickets: 1-108, 2-162, 3-164.Did not bat: M. Santner, L. Ronchi, D. Brace-well, A. Milne, M. Henry, M. McClenaghan

Bowling: N. Kulasekara 3-0-27-0; S. Lakmal 3-0-24-0 (w-1); A. Mathews 1-0-17-0 (w-1); A. Mendis 5-0-49-0 (w-2); M. Siriwardana 5-0-45-2; D. Chameera 2-0-18-0 (w-3); T. Dilshan 2-0-10-1 (w-1). Umpires: Michael Gough, Phil Jones.TV umpire: Richard Illingworth.Match referee: Andy Pycroft.

S C O R E B O A R D

HIGHEST RUN SCORER: Martin Guptill of New Zealand plays a shot during their first One-day Interna-tional match against Sri Lanka at Hagley Park in Christchurch on Saturday. – AFP


9 fours, 4 sixes

MARTIN GUPTILL

New Zealand’s ‘outstanding’ bowling production line a concern for Sri LankaCHRISTCHURCH: Just when Sri Lanka thought batting would be easier without new-ball pair Tim Southee and Trent Boult af-ter the Test series, a more damag-ing New Zealand duo stepped up to the plate in the first one-dayer between the sides in Christch-urch on Saturday.

Matt Henry and Adam Milne reduced the visitors to 27 for five inside 10 overs at Hagley Oval in the opener of the five-match se-ries as New Zealand cruised to a seven-wicket victory.

Henry, who struggled in Aus-tralia last month and took just two wickets for 158 runs in the drawn second Test in Perth, produced an outstanding opening six-over spell on Saturday with figures of four for 26. He finished with four for 49 from 10 overs.

Both he and Milne regularly clocked in excess of 140 km per hour, with the fiery Milne exceed-ing 150 kph on several deliveries, a far cry from the 130-140 kmph range that Southee and Boult de-livered in the Test series against Sri Lanka. What was most im-portant for New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, however, was that with Test seamer Doug Bracewell, who impressed on Saturday with three for 37, and left-arm quick Mitchell McClena-ghan, he now has a deep pace bowling unit to choose from.

“I think both Adam Milne and Matt Henry with the new ball back in their hands were out-standing for us,” McCullum said in a televised interview.

“I thought Mitchell McClena-ghan and Doug Bracewell were outstanding as well,” he added after McClenaghan picked up two wickets with his aggressive bowl-ing rearing off a length on a pitch

that was described as a “belter” by both captains. Southee and Boult have been rested for at least the first two matches, with left-armer Boult not available until the fourth match in Nelson on January 2.

McCullum, however, was not overly concerned.

“We have two outstanding bowlers in Trent Boult and Tim Southee, who are vastly experi-

enced and have been the kingpins for us for a long time,” he said.

“For them not to be in this lineup and for the guys to have stepped up like they did today was very pleasing for everyone.

“We are lucky at the moment that we are building some depth and the boys are going okay.

“Nobody would want to be ro-tated out of the squad.” - Reuters

C R I C K E T

We are lucky at the moment that we are building some depth and the boys are going okay. Nobody would want to be rotated out of squad

Brendon McCullumNew Zealand captain

C5


Love us on Facebook


NYDT rout OCT Al Amerat, Ooredoo prevail over ISC

MUSCAT: National Youth Devel-opment Team (NYDT) recorded a big win against OCT Al Amerat in a Khimji Ramdas-sponsored A Division match at the Municipal-ity Ground II during the morning session on Friday.

After winning the toss and electing to field first, NYDT bowled out OCT Al Amerat for 74 in 22.4 overs. For Al Amerat, Aiman Al Sabri was the lone bats-man to reach double figures, scor-ing 22 runs in 23 balls. NYDT bowlers Shuaib Ismail and Yousuf Rahim took two wickets each.

In reply, NYDT reached their target in 8.1 overs losing just one wicket. Indunil Umra smashed 40 off 29 balls with the help of six fours. Indunil Umra and wicket-keeper Majid Hussain were de-clared the joint winners of man of the match award.

Brief scores: OCT Al Amerat 74 in 22.4 overs (Aiman Al Sabri 22; Sh-uaib Ismail 2/13, Yousuf Rahim 2/7) lost to NYDT 77 for 1 in 8.1 overs (Ind-unil Umra 40 n.o., Mohammed Ali 22; Aiman Al Sabri 1/26). Points: NYDT – 3 , OCT Al Amerat– 0.

Ooredoo win thrillerIn another Khimji Ramdas-spon-

sored A Division match, Ooredoo defeated Indian Social Club (ISC) by two runs at the Municipality Ground I. ISC required 8 runs to win in last over .

Ooredoo, after being asked to bat first, scored 241 for seven wickets in 30 overs. Vijeesh G V smashed 110 runs off 79 deliveries with the help of 16 fours. Pillila Krishna remained not out on 66. Chetan-Mallya claimed two wickets for ISC . In reply, ISC were bowled out for 230 in 30 overs. Amandeep Singh scored 89 and Mahek Asher made 60. Krishna Sanoop claimed three wickets for Ooredoo.

Brief scores: Ooredoo 241 in 30 overs (Vijeesh 110, Pillila Krishna 66 n.o.; Chetan Mallya 2/46) bt ISC 239 in 30 overs (Amandeep Singh 89, Mahek-asher 60). Points: Ooredoo-2, ISC - 0.

Easy for OCT Al Nahdha In an Al Ansari Group of Compa-nies-sponsored B Division match, OCT Al Nahdha eased to a six-wicket victory over Design Unit Engineering at the Municipality Ground I.

Batting first, Design Unit put on 108 for the loss of seven wick-ets in 20 overs. Nishanth Menon top scored with an unbeaten 32. Muhammed Kamran took two wickets for OCT Al Nahdha. In

reply, OCT Al Nahdha raced to 111 for four in 12.1 overs. Babar Ma-lik remained not out on 32 while, Muhammed Kamran scored 31. Samash Rana claimed two wick-ets for Design Unit.

Brief scores: Design Unit Engg 108 for 7 in 20 overs (Nishanth Menon 32 no., Shamas Rana 25; Muhammed Kamran 2/11) lost to OCT Al Nahdha 111 for 4 in 12.1 overs (Babar Malik 32 n.o., Muhammed Kamran 31, Imran Na-sir 27; SamashRana 2/16). Points: COT Al Nahdha – 3 , Design Unit Engg - 0.

Majees A beat Abu MaatherMajees A recorded their win with a bonus point against Abu Maather in an E Division match played at Municipality Ground IV.

Batting first, Majees A scored 187 in 20 overs. Muhammed Naz-am top scored 53 runs while Ad-nan Mehboob and Mubashar Iqbal scored 40 and 35 respectively.

Qamar Nazir and Mujahid Surve claimed three wickets each for Abu Maather.

Majees A restricted Abu Maather to 144 runs all out in 19.3 overs to win comfortably with a bonus point. Sohail Khot top scored with 32 and QamarNazir made 28. Abdul Ghani of Majees A took three wickets.

Brief scores: Majees A 187 in 19.4

overs (Muhammed Nazam 53, Ad-nan Mehboob 40, Mubashar Iqbal 35; QamarNazir 3/35, Mujahid Surve) bt Abu Maather 144 in 19.3overs (So-hailKhot 32, QamarNazir 28; Abdul Ghani 3/14). Points: Majees A – 3, Abu Maather – 0.

White Lotus down MCCCIn an F Division match, White Lo-tus registered a comfortable win against Muscat Cricket Coaching Centre (MCCC) at Municipality Ground III.

Batting first, MCCC managed to score 160 for six in 20 overs. Mohammed Mohsin scored 79 off 56 deliveries with the help of nine boundaries. Rajan Berry made 33. Sachin KP and Mustafa Sadigali took one wicket each.

In reply, White Lotus cruised to 161 for three in 17.2 overs thanks to an unbeaten 50 by Zafarullah. Nitin Hegde scored 47 not out. Mohammed Mohsin took two wickets for MCCC.

Brief scores: MCCC 160 for 6 in 20 overs (Mohammed Mohsin 79, Rajan Berry 33, Mohammed Shaijad Younus 28; Sachin KP 1/29, Mustafa Sadigali 1/32) lost to White Lotus 161 for 3 in 17.2 overs (Zafarukkah 50 n.o; Nitin Hegde 47 n.o.; Anup Ra-jan 22; Mohammed Mohsin 2/27). Points: White Lotus – 2; MCCC - 0.

After winning the

toss and electing

to field first, NYDT

bowled out OCT Al

Amerat for 74 in 22.4

overs. In reply, NYDT

reached their target

in 8.1 overs losing

just one wicket

BIG WIN: National Youth Development Team players pose for a group photo after defeating OCT Al Amerat. – Supplied photo

OOREDOO STARS: Krishna Chaithanya and Vijesh CV. – Supplied photo IN VAIN: ISC’s Amandeep Singh.

‘Russian lifter had permission to use banned substance’YEKATERINBURG: World cham-pion weightlifter Alexey Lovchev had a permit to use a banned medi-cation, Russian Sports Minister Vi-taly Mutko has said.

“This is a huge disappointment,” Mutko said on Friday, reports Tass.

“On the whole, we will keep working on Lovchev, as he had normal blood indicators. We need to clarify matters. The medication was declared. Lovchev had a lat-eral ligament rupture.”

“The team left for the tourna-ment clean and checked,” he added.

Russian weightlifter, world cham-pion in the weight category over 105 kilograms Alexey Lovchev has been suspended from compe-titions on suspicion of violating antidoping regulations, the Inter-national Weightlifting Federation (IWF) said on Thursday.

Besides Lovchev, Olga Zubova, Alexey Kosov and Olga Afanasyeva were suspended from competitions over positive doping tests taken from the athletes during their per-formance at the 2015 World Cham-pionship in Houston. - IANS

D I S A P P O I N T M E N T

Eugenio Figueredo bribes ‘ruined’ South American football: ProsecutorRIO DE JANEIRO: Former FIFA vice-president Eugenio Figueredo participated in a dec-ades-old bribery scheme that “ru-ined South American football”, a prosecutor said on Friday.

Figueredo was one of the seven FIFA officials arrested at a Zurich hotel in May after being charged with corruption by US authori-ties, reports Xinhua.

The 83-year-old Uruguayan was this week extradited to his homeland, where he will be tried for money laundering and fraud. He is fighting extradition to the US. Prosecutor Juan Gomes said Figueredo took part in cor-ruption “from the moment” he joined the executive committee of South American confedera-tion Conmebol.

“Through contracts he signed after becoming president, he sought to legalise dirty money that was divided among a corrupt network that ruined South Amer-ican football with an impunity that was maintained for decades,” prosecutor Gomez said in a pre-liminary report.

“He received large amounts of money from a scheme involving

several members of the entity. The aim was to maintain the sta-tus quo with perverse corruption.”

Figueredo headed the Uruguay-an football association from 1997 to 2006 before being appointed Conmebol chief in 2013.

Conmebol’s last three presi-dents have all been arrested as part of the US-led corruption probe. - IANS

F O O T B A L L

Messi for Bosnia’s aid

SARAJEVO: FC Barcelona’s Ar-gentine superstar Lionel Messi sent a signed jersey to be auctioned for providing aid to a Bosnian hospital.

The jersey will be put under the hammer for the pediatrics depart-ment of a hospital in the central Bos-nian town of Travnik, reports Efe.

Bosnian humanitarian activist Jasmina Fajkic said on Friday the funds to be raised in the auction through the sale of shirts of sev-

eral sportsmen will be allocated to purchase new medical equipment. Fajkic was able to contact Messi through Catalan humanitarian ac-tivists, and said that Messi, upon hearing that it was for children, im-mediately offered support and sent a signed shirt. The auction also in-cludes the signed shirts of Croatian Real Madrid player Mateo Kovacic and Bosnians Miralem Pjanic and Edin Dzeko of AS Roma. - IANS

F O O T B A L L

C6


Tweet all about it

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH TWITTER PAGE

ISC Marathi Wing clinch Dhofar Insurance Cup

MUSCAT: The Marathi Wing got the better of Malayalam Wing B team to win the top hon-ours at the Inter Wing Under-arm Cricket Tournament organ-ised by the Indian Social Club (ISC) Salalah recently.

In a thrilling final, after being asked to bat first, Marathi Wing managed to score 55 runs. But

they successfully defended their target as Malayalam Wing lost the match by by just one run.

ISC A team was adjusted as the best supporting team. Shoaib of Marathi Wing was the man of the match and Asif of Karnataka Wing was adjusted as the man of the series.Payal of Punjabi Wing was awarded with best lady

player trophy. Mandana, Regional Manager of Dhofar Insurance Company, presided over the final in the presence of ISC Salalah chairman Manpreet Singh, Joint General Secretary Vinay Kumar, Sports Secretaries Sunny Jacob and Benoy Joseph, Cultural Sec-retary Mohandas and treasurer Rakesh Kumar Jha.

C R I C K E T

Leicester suffer defeat at Liverpool, Man United slump to another loss

LONDON: Leicester City were given a Premier League reality check when the unlikely leaders lost 1-0 at Liverpool on Saturday after Manchester United slumped to a third consecutive league de-feat to pile more pressure on man-ager Louis van Gaal.

Christian Benteke’s second-half goal sealed the points at Anfield as Leicester suffered their first league defeat since September when they lost to Arsenal.

Third-placed Manchester City closed in on Leicester by crush-ing lowly Sunderland 4-1 although they suffered a blow when captain Vincent Kompany limped off with a calf injury.

Tottenham Hotspur consoli-dated fourth place as Harry Kane scored twice in a 3-0 home victory over Norwich City.

Leicester, who failed to score for the first time this season and suf-fered only their second loss, have 38 points from 18 matches with Arsenal on 36, Manchester City 35 and Tottenham 32.

All eyes were on Manchester United’s under-pressure manager Louis van Gaal in the first game of the hectic holiday period and Stoke comfortably won 2-0 at the Britan-nia Stadium to condemn United

to another damaging defeat. Goals from Stoke forwards Bojan Krkic and Marko Arnautovic left United down in sixth place after they lost four consecutive matches in a single season for the first time since 1961.

Van Gaal had left captain Wayne Rooney out of his starting line-up and by the time the Eng-land striker was introduced as a second-half substitute United were in deep trouble.

The Dutchman hinted that his days in the Old Trafford hot seat might be numbered. “The club doesn’t have to fire or sack me — sometimes I do it by myself,” he said.

Having criticised the media

and stormed angrily out of his pre-match news conference on Wednesday, there was an air of resignation about Van gaal’s com-ments after the loss — United’s fourth in a row in all competitions.

“The club doesn’t have to fire or sack me — sometimes I do it by myself,” the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager told reporters.

Minutes earlier, he had been asked if he still thought he was the man to turn around United’s sea-son and whether he had the sup-port of United’s hierarchy.

“It’s more difficult because I’m also part of the four matches we

have lost and so people are looking at me,” van Gaal said. “It’s another situation, we have lost the fourth game, we will have to wait and see,” he added with a lingering glare to-wards the reporter.

Late penaltyGuus Hiddink’s second spell as Chelsea’s interim manager began with a 2-2 draw at home to Wat-ford. Oscar wasted the chance to secure victory for the champions when he missed a late penalty at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea re-mained in 15th place.

Spain striker Diego Costa scored twice for Chelsea but Wat-

ford had led 2-1 through Troy Deeney’s first-half penalty and Odion Ighalo’s deflected shot in the 56th minute.

Oscar’s 80th-minute blunder meant Chelsea remained just two points above the relegation zone with a trip to Manchester United to come on Monday.

Leicester topped the Christmas standings, a year after being rooted to the bottom, but they were not at their best against a Liverpool side who had gone four matches with-out a win. Benteke struck in the 63rd minute, steering in Roberto Firmino’s pull-back.

“We started too late to play our

football,” Leicester manager Clau-dio Ranieri told Sky Sports. “Now we have to re-start.”

Crystal Palace drew 0-0 with Bournemouth, moving above Manchester United into fifth spot.

Bottom club Aston Villa drew 1-1 at home to West Ham United thanks to Jordan Ayew’s penalty, leaving manager Remi Garde still awaiting a first win since taking over from Tim Sherwood.

Managerless Swansea City won for the first time since October, beating West Bromwich Albion 1-0 to climb out of the relegation zone above Norwich and Newcas-tle United. - Reuters

While Leicester

were beaten 1-0

by Liverpool,

Manchester City

closed in on Leicester

by crushing lowly

Sunderland 4-1 and

Manchester United

slumped to a third

consecutive league

defeat to pile more

pressure on manager

Louis van Gaal

FEELING IN THE HEAT: Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal looks as a Stoke fan wearing a Jose Mourinho mask and dressed as the Grim Reaper poses with a P45

banner for Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal during their Premier League match against Stoke City at at Britannia Stadium in Stoke-on-Trent on Saturday. – Reuters

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

HealthSECTIONC L I F E S T Y L E S U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Is it different for dif-ferent people? On what basis is it decided? It is different for different people. There are two types of detox diet. One is a general detox diet, which is common for everyone and it helps everyone. The second type is a detox diet, which is different for different people. It is de-cided according to the amount of toxins the person has, (toxin in Ayurveda is called “aama”), i.e., how much aama they have, and, which organ and, which system it has affected. It is also decided on, which type of constitution the person has — vata, kapha or pitta — you can have vaat aama, kapha ama, and pitta aama.

To find out how much toxin is there in the body, what kind of aama — vata, pitta, and what personality type you are, an expert has to check the naadi (pulse), and through other methods.

Why does one need to detox? Because we live in an environ-ment where we are exposed to different types of toxins, different types of environment, different types of food. It is not always that we eat healthy food and always follow a healthy lifestyle. The environment and the radiation in the environ-ment affect us, and the stress, which events give also affects us. All these form toxins in the body. Generally the body has the capability to flush out these toxins. In fact detox is hap-pening in our body on a daily basis. But this may not happen effectively and sometimes you may not be supporting the body sufficiently to allow it to happen. If you follow the body clock daily and live according to nature, you allow the detox to happen effectively. If you drink a lot of water and exer-cise sufficiently, it supports the detox process, as flushing

out and sweating are essential. Even if you eat well it supports the detox of vata. This is a very different concept, which Ayurveda has.

How often should it be done? It depends on how much of toxins you have. For some people, they may need to detox once in a year. But generally it is good to plan a detox once in three months. We give a sam-ple diet, which you can do once in three months.

What is the diet like? When people have chronic diseases, a general detox may not help for such people. They will need an expert who will plan a specific detox diet. There is a programme called Panchakarma, which is a detox programme. It includes certain types of diet pro-cesses, but the focus is not on diet, but on processes for detox. In chronic diseases you have to go for that. For a diabetic it is always good to consult their own diabe-tologist before taking up any special diet, who will give a specific diet.

But the diet, which we are going to prescribe here is very safe, which anyone can follow. You may make a few changes in the diet according to your specific conditions. The sam-ple diet has, for the first three days, fruits, fruit juices, veg-etables and vegetable juices. This is all raw and what is important is that fruits and vegetables have detox proper-ties, are light on the body and digestion is very easy.

You follow only this diet for three days and then gradu-ally you can switch to cooked foods, like soups, you can have cooked moong dal, or moong- dal soup and then you can add khichadi for the next three days, in addition to the above diet of fruits, vegetables and

their juices. This is a proper ten-day diet you can follow. The person is not fasting, so this is a general detox diet anybody can follow.

If she/he is a diabetic, in-stead of fruits and fruit juices, they can have only vegetables and vegetable juices, and if their diabetologist has al-lowed them to have certain foods, they can incorporate them into the diet. Generally you know about your body, and if you have to eat every three hours, you can do so.

The other type of diet- the non-general type - is very per-sonal. You have to get profes-sional guidance on that.

For how long or how often should a person do this diet? One can go on this diet once every three months. That is, in a year four times, ten days each time. And it is always good if you can do it at the junction of the seasons, like when summer changes into the monsoon season. Because when the climate changes, the body, and the person’s diet too goes through a lot of changes and this is a period when tox-ins can accumulate.

What should a person do after they have finished the course? It is always good, after the ten days, to slowly go back to your old diet. It in fact makes sense to follow and stick to a healthy diet pattern. And if you can-not, then you can wait for another session of detox. The body cannot handle certain kinds of food. When you plan your food, it is always better to have food, which is local, sea-sonal, natural, freshly-cooked, and organic. So if we bear this in mind, it is very good for us, and for our health. And people are coming back to that.

Because India is a country where throughout the year

you have food, which is fresh, we do not have to go for im-ported or tinned/canned food unlike other countries where there is no agriculture and they have to import food.

What are the benefits of this diet? Your digestion will improve, sleep will be better, skin will gradually get clearer, and the skin-tone improves. Your energy levels go up.

When you have a chronic condition, for some people there can be what is called a “healing crisis”. So you have to be a little careful about that. It is better to do the detox while being monitored. Lots of people have diabetes, hyper-tension and other chronic conditions. Healing crises are rare, but if it does happen it can be handled. Keeping that in mind, and if it does happen, the person can go back to the normal diet.

How do you know you need a detox?You may have digestive problems, sleep disturbances, skin problems or you may feel bloated, or have back-pain, joint-pain, hair-loss, irritabil-ity, or eye-problems (that is a pitta toxin). In these condi-tions, if you visit a doctor, he might tell you do not have any problem, but you are facing these problems. And this is a clear sign that you have some accumulation of toxins.

In Ayurveda, they know when there is accumulation of toxins, and, which organ/system it is going to affect, because it is a very different approach. That is why it is important to get the naadi (pulse) checked so you know and prevent what you know is going to happen.

Dr Nisha Manikanthan is an Ayurvedic Expert at The Art of Living

LIFESTYLEC8 S U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

DIETWhat we eat plays a major

role in our state of health.

That is why eating local,

seasonal, freshly-cooked

natural, and organic food

gains so much importance.

The body can handle such

food, as it is lighter on the

digestive system, and it

contributes to your health,

and not go against

your health.

LIFESTYLENature has a rhythm: the

daytime is for activity and

night is for resting. The

body-clock or bio-clock

follows the sun, and knows

when it should be active

and when it should rest.

Again in the day, the body

acquires nourishment, is

active and it uses the night

to detox itself, especially

for vital organs like liver,

gall-bladder, which detox

only at night. If the person

is not in deep-sleep then,

the detox does not happen.

Living according to the

body-clock is so impor-

tant that it forms a huge

topic in Ayurvedic medi-

cal literature, known as

“Dinacharya”.Those whose

career disallows them from

following the body-clock,

can be helped with profes-

sional guidance so as to

compensate for the altera-

tion in their life-style.

LIFESTYLEC9S U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Eat Sprouts to aid DigestionSprouts contain an unusually high number of enzymes which help boost the various metabolic processes and chemical reactions within the body, specifically concerning digestion. Enzymes are an important part of the digestive process as they help to break down food effectively and increase the absorption of nutrients by the digestive tract.

Use Vegetable Oil for Cracked HeelsTo get rid of cracked heels during winter, here’s an easy remedy: At night, soak your feet in soapy water and scrub well with a pumice stone. Then wash your feet and dry them. Apply any vegetable oil liberally on the heels and soles, put on socks, and leave them overnight. Repeat for a few days till the cracks disappear and feet become softer.

Here are a few simple, time-tested foods, techniques,

and remedies to try, and a bit about why. Have you tried any of these

tricks? How did you like them? Do you have a favourite remedy of

your own? Tell us about it at [email protected]

Try

Why

Bioactive glass fillings to prolong tooth life

Bioactive glass can be used in tooth fillings to reduce the ability of bac-teria to attack composite tooth

fillings, and perhaps even provide some of the minerals needed to replace those lost to tooth decay, engineers from Oregon State University said.

Some studies suggest the aver-age lifetime of a posterior dental composite is only six years.

“Bioactive glass, which is a type of crushed glass that is able

to interact with the body, has been used in some types of bone healing for decades,” said lead re-searcher professor Jamie Kruzic. “This type of glass is only begin-ning to see use in dentistry, and our research shows it may be very promising for tooth fillings,” he said.

“The bacteria in the mouth that cause cavities are less likely to colonize on fillings that incorpo-rate it,” he added. Bioactive glass is made with compounds such as silicon oxide, calcium oxide and phosphorus oxide, and looks like

powdered glass.It’s called “bioactive” because

the body notices it is there and can react to it, as opposed to other bio-medical products that are inert.

Bioactive glass is very hard and stiff, and it can replace some of the inert glass fillers that are current-ly mixed with polymers to make modern composite tooth fillings.

“Almost all fillings will even-tually fail. New tooth decay often begins at the interface of a filling and the tooth, and is called sec-ondary tooth decay. The tooth is literally being eroded and

demineralised at that interface,” Kruzic explained.

Bioactive glass may help prolong the life of fillings, researchers said, because the new study showed that the depth of bacterial penetra-tion into the interface with bioac-tive glass-containing fillings was significantly smaller than for com-posites lacking the glass.

Fillings made with bioactive glass should slow secondary tooth decay, and also provide some minerals that could help re-place those being lost, research-ers said. — IANS

BR I E FS

Horror films can curdle your blood

Love watching horror mov-ies? Well, the fear or horror can curdle your blood for real, preparing the body for blood loss during life-threatening situations. The results suggest that using the term “blood-curdling” to describe feeling extreme fear while watching horror films is justified, say researchers, adding that scary movies result in an increase in the clotting protein - blood co-agulant factor VIII. To under-stand this further, researchers in The Netherlands set out to assess whether acute fear can curdle blood. The study involved 24 healthy volun-teers aged 30 years or younger recruited from Leiden Univer-sity Medical Centre. Fourteen were assigned to watch a frightening (horror) movie followed by a non-threatening (educational) movie) and 10 to watch the movies in reverse order. Before and after each movie, blood samples were taken and analysed for mark-ers or “fear factors” of clotting activity. The horror movie was perceived to be more fright-ening than the educational movie, with a 5.4 mean differ-ence in fear rating scores.

Parent-led autism therapy benefits Indian kidsParent-led intervention has been found promising in help-ing children suffering from autism in India and Pakistan initiate communication with their parents, a new study says. Autism is one of the world‘s fastest growing devel-opmental health challenges, with up to 70 million people affected, causing a severe effect on the social develop-ment of children. In developed countries children are able to receive specialist treatment to improve their interaction with their families, but in many lower income countries, this is not available. “This study is the first to have adapted a treatment so as to allow it to be delivered by non-specialist health workers in south Asian communities,” said one of the study authors Atif Rahman from University of Liverpool. “It has been successful in showing that such adaptation is possible and can produce changes that are equal or even better that we achieved in UK,“ Rahman noted. — IANS

Grapes protect your heartThe high polyphenol content in grapes helps in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease by preventing platelet build-up. The fibre and potassium content in grapes also support heart health. An increase in potassium intake along with a decrease in sodium intake are key dietary changes for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

FIND-IT-ALLC10 S U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Dhuhr 12.13pmAsr 3.13pmMaghrib 5.33pmIsha 6.49pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 5.26am

PRAYER TIMINGS

CITY CINEMAContact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68 www.citycinemaoman.netfacebook.com/citycinemaoman

SHATTIStar Wars: The Force Awakens (3D) (Action | Adventure) (PG12) Cast: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher6:00, 11:30 PMPoint Break (2D) (Action | Crime (12+) Cast: Édgar Ramírez, Luke Bracey6:45 PMPoint Break (3D) (Action | Crime (12+) Cast: Édgar Ramírez, Luke Bracey2:30, 9:15, 11:45 PMDilwale (Action | Crime) (PG12) Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Kriti Sanon4:30, 8:30 PMMorning Star (Action | Adventure) (12+) Cast: Adrian Bouchet, Mike Mitchell5:00, 9:45, 11:30 PMRoom (Drama) (PG12) Cast: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay2:15, 7:30 PMThe Peanuts Movie (2D) (Animation | Adventure | Comedy) (PG) Cast: Voice (Noah Schnapp, Bill Melendez2:30, 4:15 PM

MUSCAT GRAND MALLPoint Break -3D (Action | Crime | Sport) 12+Cast : Édgar Ramírez, Luke Bracey9:15PM & 11:45PMGold Class - 3:15PM & 11:00PMBelle and Sebastian 2 - (Adventure) PGCast : Félix Bossuet, Tchéky Karyo3:15PMThe Peanuts Movie - (Animation) PGVoice Overs: Noah Schnapp, Bill Melendez, Hadley Belle Miller11:30AM, 1:30 & 7:15PMStar Wars: The Force Awakens -3D (Action | Adventure | Fantasy ) PG12Cast : Oscar Isaac, Harrison Ford12:30PM, 6:15 & 11:30PM

Gold Class - 8:30PMDilwale (Action | Romantic | Comedy) PG12Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Kriti Sanon 3:15 & 8:45PMGold Class: 5:30PMThe Good Dinosaur-3D (Animation) UVoice Overs: Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand5:15PM

PANORAMA MALLStar Wars (Action, Adventure)(3D)(PG12)Cast : Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac6:45, 9:15, 11:45 pmStar Wars (Action)(VIP LOUNGE)(PG12)5:15 pmPoint Break (Action, Crime)(MX4D)(12+)Cast : Édgar Ramírez, Luke Bracey, Ray Winstone2:45, 6:00, 8:45, 11:00 PMPoint Break (Action, Crime)(3D)(12+)3:15, 9:30, 11:45 pmPoint Break (Action, Crime)(3D)(VIP Lounge)(12+)3:00, 11:00 pmDilwale (Action, Romance)(2D)(PG12)

Cast : Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Kriti Sanon2:30, 8:30, 11:30 pmDilwale (Action, Romance)(2D)(PG12)-VIP LOUNGE7:45 pmBajirao Mastani (Drama)(2D)(PG12)Cast : Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone5:30 pmThe Peanuts Movie (Animation)(2D)(PG)Voice Overs : Noah Schnapp, Bill Melendez, Hadley Belle Miller2:45, 5:30 pmRoom (Drama)(2D)(PG12)Cast : Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers4:30, 7:15 pm

AZAIBA Point Break – 3D (12+) Action | Sport 2:15, 4:15, 11:45 PMDilwale – 2D (PG12) Action,Romantic Cast – Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhavan11:45 AM, 2:00, 5:00, 6:30, 8:00, 11:00, 11:45 PM Bajirao Mastani – 2D (PG12) Drama, HistoryCast – Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone2:15, 5:15, 8:15, 11:15PM Thanga Magan – 2D (PG12) Comedy/Drama

Cast – Dhanush, Amy Jackson, Samantha.11:45 AM, 12:00, 7:00, 9:25 PMSanta Claws – 2D (PG) Animation/ FamilyCast – Ezra James Colbert, Nicola Lambo12:30, 2:30 PM Star Wars – 3D (PG12) Action | Adventure Cast – Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy4:30, 9:15 PM

RUWIScreen 1Dilwale (Action/Romance) – PG12Cast : – Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PMScreen 2Bajirao Mastani (Romance/Drama) – PG123.45, 6.45 , 9.45 PMScreen 3Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (Family/Dra) – PGCast : – Salman Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Neil NitinMukesh3.45 PMBajirao Mastani (Romance/Drama) – PG126.45, 9.45 PM

SURThe Peanuts Movie ( Animation) ( U )

Cast: Voice:- Noah Schnapp, Bill Melendez3:30, 6:20 PMMorning Star ( Action ) ( 12+ ) Cast: Adrian Bouchet, Mike Mitchell12:45, 7:30, 11:45 PMPoint Break (3D) ( Action) (12+ ) Cast: Edgar Ramirez, Luke Bracey 4:15, 9:15 PMStar Wars : The Force Awakens (3D) (Action | Fantasy) (PG12) 5:00 PMDiwale (Action | Romance ) (PG12) 2:00, 11:30 PMBajirao Mastani (Action) ( PG12) Cast : Ranbir Singh, Dipika Padkone8:30 PM

SOHARStar Wars: The Force Awakens - 3D (PG12) Action | Adventure | Fantasy Cast : Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill2:30, 11:30 PMDilwale - 2D (PG12) Action | Comedy Cast : Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan2:45, 8:30, 10:45 PMBajirao Mastani - 2D (PG12) Drama Cast : Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone5:30, 8:45 PMPoint Break - 3D (12+) Action | Crime | SportCast : Édgar Ramírez, Luke Bracey3:15, 9:10, 11:30 PMThe Peanuts Movie - 2D (PG) Animation Cast : Voice (Noah Schnapp, Bill Melendez3:00, 5:00 PMRoom - 2D (PG12) DramaCast : Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay4:50, 6:50 PMMorning Star - 2D (12+) Action | Adventure Cast : Adrian Bouchet, Mike Mitchel7:00, 11:45 PMHeidi - 2D (PG) Family | Comedy |DramaCast : Bruno Ganz, Katharina Schüttler5:30 PMAl Laila Al Kabeera - 2D (Arabic) (15+) Drama7:45 PM

BURAIMIStar Wars: The Force Awakens– 2D (Action, Adventure, Fantasy) (PG12)Cast: Daisy Ridley, Oscar Issac, Harrison Ford3:00, 6:00PMPoint Break – 3D (Action, Crime, Spot) (12+)

Cast: Edgar Ramirez, Luke Bracey3:00, 7:15, 9:30, 11:30PMMorning Star – 3D (Action, Adventure) (12+)Cast: Adrian Bouchet, Mike Mitchell5:25, 9:45, 11:30PMHeidi – 2D (Family, Comedy, Drama) (PG)Cast: Bruno Ganz, Katharina Schüttler5:15PMDilwale – 2D (Action, Romantic, Comedy) (PG12)Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Kriti Sanon3:15, 6:00, 11:30PMBajirao Mastani– 2D (Drama) (PG12)Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh8:30PM

SALALAHPoint Break (3D) (12+) (Action/Crime/Sport) Cast: Édgar Ramírez, Luke Bracey1:15, 2:10, 9:25, 11:45PMPoint Break (2D) (12+) (Action/Crime/Sport) 11:30AMStar Wars: The Force Awakens (3D) (PG12) (Action| |Fantasy) Cast: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac10:45 AM, 11:55 PM Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2D) (PG) (Action|Adventure) 5:55PM Dilwale (2D) (PG12) (Action | Romantic) Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Kriti Sanon3:35, 6:35, 8:45, 11:30PM Bajirao Mastani (2D) (PG12) (Drama)Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone8:30PMBelle and Sebastian 2 (2D) (PG) (Family) Cast: Félix Bossuet, Tchéky Karyo12:20, 3:55PM The Peanuts Movie (2D) (PG) (Animation) 10:30, 2:00PMRoom (2D) (PG12) (Drama) Cast: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers 4:25PMThanga Magan (2D) (PG) (Tamil)( Comedy/Drama/Romance) Cast: Dhanush, Amy Jackson6:25PM

CINEMA SCHEDULE CHILDREN BELOW THE AGE OF 3 YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE CINEMA | BOX-OFFICE COUNTER OPENS 30-MINUTES PRIOR TO THE SCREENING OF THE FIRST SHOW

ROYAL OMAN POLICE

Emergencies and inquiries: 9999

General Directorate of

Passport and Residence 24569603

Directorate General

of Customs 24521109

Traffic violations inquiries 24510228

Public Relations Admin 24560099

EMBASSIES IN OMAN

Afghanistan 24698 791/4

Algeria 24605 593

Bahrain 24 605 074/133

Bangladesh 24 698 660

Brazil 24640100

Brunei 24 603533

China 24 696782

Cyprus 24 699815

Egypt 24 600 982/411

France 24681 800

Germany 24835000

India 24684500

Indonesia 2469 1050

Iran 24 696 944/7

Iraq 24603642

Italy 24693727

Japan 24 601 028

Jordan 24692760/1/3

Kazakhstan 24 692418

Kenya 24 697664

South Korea 24 691490

Kuwait 24 699628

Lebanon 24 693208

Libya 24603466

Malaysia 24698329/643

Morocco 24696152/3

Nepal 24696177

Netherlands 24603706

Pakistan 24603439

Palestine 24601312

Philippines 24605335

Qatar 24 691 153/2/4

Russia 24602894

Saudi Arabia 24601705

Senegal 24694139

Somalia 24697977

South Africa 24647300

Spain 24691101

Sri Lanka 24697841/2

Sudan 24697875

Switzerland 24603267

Syria 24697904

Tanzania 24601 174

Thailand 24 602684/5

Tunisia 24603486

Turkey 24697050/1/2

UAE 24400000

United Kingdom 24609000

United States 24643400

Yemen 24600815

PHARMACIES

Round the clock

Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi 24783334

Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24782666

Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi 24702542

Salalah 23291635;

Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra 24503585

Muscat Region

Apollo, Al Hamriya 24787766

Muscat, A Seeb Market 24421691

Muscat, Al Khuwair 24485740

Muscat, Al Hail South 24537080

Dhofar Region

Muscat, Al Nahdha Road,

Salalah 23291635

HOSPITALS

Al Amal Medical & Health Care

Centre 24485052

Atlas Hospital

Ruwi 24811743/

Ghubra 24504000

Al Musafir Specialised

Medical Clinic 24706453

Hatat Polyclinic LLC,

Ruwi 24563641

Azaiba 24499269

Sohar 2683006

Al Raffah Hospital 24618900/1/2

Al Massaraat Clinic &

Laboratory 24566435

Al Makook Medical

Coordinance Centre 24499434

Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24787766, 24787780

Capital Polyclinic 24707549

Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic,

Ruwi 24799760/1/2

Capital Clinic, Seeb 24420740

Ceregem National Raak 24485633

Dr Harub’s Clinic 24563217

Elixir Health Centre 24565802

Emirates Medical Centre 24604540

1st Chiropractic Centre 24472274

Lifeline Hospital Salalah 23212340

International Medical

Centre LLC 24794501/2/3/4/5

Kims Oman Hospital 24760100

24 Hrs Emergency 24760123

Lama Polyclinic, Sohar 26751128

MBD 24799077

Al Khuwair 24478818

Magrabi Eye and

Ear Hospital 24568870

Muscat Private Hospital 24583600

Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment

Centre, Al Khuwair 24477666

Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC 22004000

AIRLINE OFFICES

Muscat Airport Flight information

(24 hours) 24519456/24519223

Aeroflot 24704455

Air Arabia 24700828

Air France 24562153

Air India 24799801

Air New Zealand 24700732

Biman Bangladesh Airlines 24701128

British Airways 24568777

Cathay Pacific 24789818

Egypt Air 24794113

Emirates Air 24404400

Ethiopian Airlines 24660313

Gulf Air 80072424

Indian 24791914

Iran Air 24787423

Japan Airlines 24704455

Jazeera Airways 23294848

Jet Airways 24787248

Kenya Airways 24660300

KML Royal Dutch Airlines 24566737

Kuwait Airways 24701262

LOT Polish Airlines 24796387

Lufthansa 24796692

Malaysian Airlines 24560796

Middle East Airlines 24796680

Oman Air 24531111

Pakistan International

Airlines 24792471

Qatar Airways 24771900

Qantas 24559941

Royal Jordanian 24796693

Saudi Arabian Airlines 24789485

Singapore Airlines 24791233

Shaheen Air 24816565

SriLankan Airlines 24784545

Swiss International

Airlines 24796692

Thai Airways 24705934

LISTINGS

LONG DISTANCE BUS TIMINGS (OMAN NATIONAL TRANSPORT COMPANY SAOC) *SUBJECT TO CHANGE

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (ROUTE 36)

15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily

15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily

15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily

06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily

08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri


13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily

16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily

16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily

14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)


08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55)

07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily

14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (ROUTE 62)

06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily

06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (ROUTE 100)

07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily

10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily



TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)


SALALAH TO DUBAI (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)



13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur

13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur



TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily

07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily

07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (ROUTE 36)

05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily

05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily

05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)



13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri





TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)


TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)



TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)



TO SUR (ROUTE 55)



TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)

12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily


TO SALALAH -MARMUL (ROUTE 100)





TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)


DUBAI TO SALALAH (ROUTE 102)


TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)



13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri

13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri



FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH/SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily

16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily

16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

@PANORAMA MALL @SHATTI

The Peanuts Movie (Animation)(2D)(PG)Voice Overs : Noah Schnapp, Bill Melendez, Hadley Belle Miller2:45, 5:30 pm

@MGM

Point Break -3D (Action | Crime | Sport) 12+Cast : Édgar Ramírez, Luke Bracey9:15PM & 11:45PMGold Class - 3:15PM & 11:00PM

Morning Star (Action | Adventure) (12+) Cast: Adrian Bouchet, Mike Mitchell5:00, 9:45, 11:30 PM

BAHJA CINEMAFilm information 24540856 / Advance Booking 24540855Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com

Point Break (Action / Crime)Cast: Edgar Ramirez, Luke Bracey, Ray Winstone2:00, 6.00, 10.00 & 11.55 p.m. CP No: 3051 (12+)Morning Star (Action / Adventure / Fantasy) Cast: Adrian Bouchet, Mike Mitchell4.00 & 11.55 p.mCP No: 3052 (12+)Dilwale (Action / Comedy) Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan1.00, 6.00 & 9.00 p.mCP No: 3047 (PG12)Belle & Sebastian 2 (Adventure / Family)Cast: Félix Bossuet, Tchéky Karyo, Thierry Neuvic4.00 & 8.00 p.mCP No: 3053 (PG)

STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776Website: www.isurf.co.om

Pasanga 2 ( Tamil) ( Drama) Cast:Surya & Amala Paul 3-30 and 9-30 pm Cinema MainDilwale (Hindi) (Act\Com) Cast : Shah Rukh Khan , Kajol & Varun Dhawan 3-45 & 9-45 pm Cinema -3 Bajirao Mastani (Hindi) (Rom\ Act \ Drama ) Cast : Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone 6-45 pm Cinema-3 Amar Akbar Anthony ( Mal) ( Act\ Drama)Cast : Prithviraj & Jaya Surya 6-45 & 9-45pm Cinema -4Thanga Magan (Tamil) (Act) Cast: Dhanush, Samantha Ruth & Amy Jackson 6-30 pm Cinema Main; 9-30 Pm Cinema-2 Rangi Taraga ( Kannda) (Act) Cast: Nirup Bhandari & Radhika Chetan 3-30 & 6:30 pm Cinema -2 Soukhyam (Telugul) (Act) Cast : Gopichand & Regina Cassandra 3-45 pm Cinema -4 Next Change: Su Su Sudi Vathmeekam (Mal)Nenu Sailaja (Telugu)

WEATHER

260

Maximum

190

Minimum

TEMPERATURE

50-70%RELATIVE HUMIDITY

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 17 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to [email protected]

WITH LOVE

LIFESTYLEC11S U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

I t is not uncommon to receive an insect bite or a sting in any part of the world. However, timely treatment helps in re-ducing the symptoms

and complications. So instead of dashing off to find a doctor, one needs to adopt some home rem-edies for immediate relief and to neutralise the effect of the bite.

Insect bites can often bring on life-threatening infections or al-lergic reactions to the entry of the venom through the bite. The most common symptoms are redness of the skin, swelling, pain or itching at the site of the bite.

For insect bites Crush a handful of basil leaves to make a paste. Add 2 tsp of tur-meric powder and mix well before applying on the affected area. Apply honey on the affected part. Honey has powerful anti-

microbial properties that help to relieve the itching sensation and prevent infection.

Papaya has medicinal enzymes that can heal insect bites. Slice a raw papaya and apply on the af-fected part to control swelling.

For bee stings Wash the site properly and ap-ply ice or an ice pack. Ice con-stricts the blood vessels so that the venom may not freely flow into the bloodstream. It also numbs the skin, relieving pain and itching.

Cut some slices of onion and place them on the sting site. Hold it tight or wrap a cloth around it for about an hour. Make a paste of baking soda and water, and apply on the affected area. Also, dab toothpaste, which is alkaline, and helps neutralise the acid left by bee venom.

— Hubert Vaz

ASK DR. GERRY

F A M I L Y A D V I C E

Dr Gerry D’Costa has an MD in psychiatry and a special interest in the areas of anxiety, depression, addiction, and children’s psychiatry. He has practiced as a specialised psychiatrist at Badr Al Samaa hospital in Ruwi for the last 9 years. Dr D’Costa offers his advice and professional insights to the readers of Times of Oman. Send your mental health questions to: [email protected]

ALTERNATIVEMEDICINE

By Hubert Vaz

Dear Dr GerryLast month, there was a death of a relative in my family and ever since my wife has become very silent and remains to herself. She seems to be very sad all the time, though she does all her daily work faithfully. My kids and I have tried talking to her to cheer her up, but she is in no mood to open up. How should we handle this situation to make her come out of this grief?— N.K.

Dear N.K.,Bereavement is a period of grief and mourning after a death. How long it lasts depends on how close she was to the person who died and if the person’s death was expected and other factors. Your wife seems to be mourning your family member and it appears to be a normal reaction to her loss. Different cultures and different people grieve in different ways, but are vital to the coping of the loss. I would advise you to give her space and allow her the chance to grieve. Support her and take her out when she feels like going. If there are any ceremonies she would like to do, help her to complete them. The warm support of her family will help her to heal. Complicated grief with symptoms of depression like worthlessness and suicidal ideas need professional help. However in your case, I would sug-gest keep supporting her and allow her to complete her mourning.

All the best,Dr G

Home Remedies For Insect Bites

M O V E O F T H E W E E K

HOW TO OVERCOME GRIEF

This is an excellent move for the entire upper body, especially the triceps. You can best perform them on your toes. Stretch out across the floor, place your hands close together and balance your body on your toes and hands. Perform push-ups, squeezing at the top of the movement. You may begin with hands a little apart to make it easier.

CLOSE HAND PUSH-UP If you weigh

150 POUNDS

The world record for the mostnumber of non-stop push ups is

by Minoru Yoshida of Japanin October 1980

10,507

100 CALORIES10 minutes

of vigorous push ups burns up to

60 CALORIES10 minutes

of push ups burns

WORLD RECORD

while

Insect bites can cause redness of the

skin, swelling, pain or itching. So it is

better to adopt quick remedies that

neutralise the effect

LIFESTYLEC12 S U N DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Make sleep a priorityGetting seven to eight hours of sleep each night is criti-cal for the body to produce hormones that trigger hap-

piness. Do what you can before bed to reset your mood. Read, take a bath, exercise or talk face-to-face. Try to avoid screen time.

1Make more time for familyFamily face-to-face time is the most important part of a healthy family relation-ship and happiness. Plan-

ning family dinners two to three times a week is a good idea.

2Carve out whitespaceWhitespace is time you dedicate to yourself to re-fresh, unplug and rejuve-nate. This could be mak-

ing time to do yoga, enjoy a hobby, read, meditate or take a bath.

3Achieve work-life balanceConnectedness can get out of control when answering e-mails 24/7. So, work-life balance is very important

for the overall happiness. Don’t check your e-mails after 8pm, walk during lunch.

4Embrace gratitude Thinking of the things you are grateful for can have a dramatic effect on your satisfaction and overall

happiness. Do this daily as you wake up or make it a conversation you have with your children right before bed. - brandpointcontent.com

5

5 IDEAS FOR LIVING HAPPIER IN

Saving money and staying fit are traditional New Year's resolutions, but overly packed schedules and the materialistic

focus of modern day life are inspiring a new goal for many people: to live happier in 2016 and beyond. To make 2016 the

happiest year ever, think about how you rest, eat, and move. If you want optimal physical health, you need optimal mental

health and happiness. When people are happier they tend to improve all aspects of their life. Here are five surprisingly

simple, yet profoundly effective ways to boost mood and overall happiness in the new year:

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 D6

S U N D AY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

RENT D2

*Tourist visa arranged

Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

D2 S U N D AY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

FLATS FOR RENT In a luxury building in

Al Seeb Market near

Police Station.Contact

99888007 / 99473500

DAILY GUIDE

Flat villa type for rent - in al

khuwair 33/, 4 Bed Rooms .4 bath

Rooms, 1 Family Hall, 1 Dining

Room, 1 Living Room, 1 Kitchen,

Store. Contact 99315515

1/2/3 BHK Flats & Showrooms at

FOR RENT2BHK,

3 washroom Flat with

Split Air Conditioners -

Near Lulu Darsait

CONTACT : 93202733

Brand new 1 & 2 BHK flats avail-

able in Ruwi, Darsait, CBD area &

Bausher. Contact: 94776771

At Al Athaiba ground floor with

split AC, 2beds, 2bathrooms,

kitchen & sitting room Behind

AL Zubair rent 350/-PDC.

Contact: 99879939

2 bedroom centrally Ari con-

ditioned flat in CBD, central

bank Area. Contact: 24714625

/99053493

1BHK, R.O 170/- & 2BHK R.O 220/-

near Medical Darsait.

Contact: 95076261

Wadi Kabir, one bedroom flat.

Contact: 99313274

2 BHK flat with air conditions

at Ruwi MBD area,

near Al Adil supermarket.

Contact: 93211557/24814853

Show room / shop for rent area

155 sqm at 600/-R.O shops at

160/- R.O. Contact: 97714433 /

92822437

Flat 3 bed room, 1drawing room,

2 toilets / kitchen & balcony Hilat

sad /off. Al Nahda Hospital near

Abu Zaki Bldg. rent R.O 300/-.

Contact: 99489548

Shop for rent behind building be-

hind whole center Al Amerat good

for offices or stores only space

11x4 meters R.O 250/- PER month.

Contact : 92877449

In a Luxury Building

in Al Seeb Market

Near Police station

FLATS FOR RENT

Call: 99888007 - 99473500

One & Two bedroom apartments

available for rent near grand mall,

opposite panorama mall, next to

Diwans office, at south Ghobrah.

Contact: 99833747

3 Bed with split A/C near Hojar

roundabout R.O 275/-. Contact:

99326048/ 95250986

02 BHK commercial / residential

(with split AC) flats at Honda Road.

Contact: 99342733 / 99795241

Villa for rent in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 95562646

2 BHK near Oman house behind

Khimji H.O. Contact – 95865686

Villas available for rent at Al

Hail close to the wave (Al Mouj)

compound swimming pool & gym.

Contact: 99833747

2 BHK flat for rent near (ISM)

Indian School Muscat.

Contact: 99489594

One / two B/R RES / comm. flat

near Oman Medical College direct-

ly from owner. Contact: 92158031

2 BHK with split / AC in MSQ op-

posite Al Fair. Contact: 96708000

Flat /Office for rent in CBD

Contact: 92820734

Room available Walja. Contact:

96246625 / 99886469

Two apartments for rent in

Wadi Al Kabeer near the Kuwaiti

Mosque. Contact: 99425958

Small hall with 2 bedrooms and 2

bathrooms and a kitchen for 220

R.O per month. Contact: 99425958

Flats shops and store for rent

in Honda road Ruwi MBD area.

Contact: 92589235 / 97103695 /

94579531

Profs / jack. Contact 93219378

V. Nice flat in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 95755953 /95555162

3bedrooms with 2 bathrooms and

a kitchen for 250/- R.O per month.

Contact: 99425958

Semi furnished spacious room

with attached washroom separate

entrance near Indian school

Al Ghobrah for non cooking

Executive Indian bachelor.

Contact: 95146361/92657598

For rent 1bed room flat, near In-

dian school (ISD) at Darsait.

Contact: 94776771/ 99669216

Flat new Al Wadi Kabir. Contact:

92130703 / 99733992

Store for rent in Mabela, road

no. 10, total area 700 sq.mt, built

up area 200 sq.mt with covered

shed, open area 500 sq.mt. With

boundary wall. Contact -98273761

/96677134.

3 BHK flat near Darsait ID medical.

RO 420/- Contact – 99358589 /

97079146 / 95570288

Two floor beautiful villa for rent

at AL Khoud – VIP neighborhood,

close to all amenities , ground floor

consist of sitting rooms , two toilets

, hall & kitchen, first floor , three

bedrooms , balcony & hall with

two toilets, shaded garage for two

cars , monthly rental OMR 600/-.

Contact: 95348567

DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5 D3

FOR SALE

FOR SALE

FOR RENT

ACC. AVAILABLE

ACC. AVAILABLE

1 Bedroom with bathroom for fe-

male in Al Hail including electric-

ity & water. Contact - 92817777

Acc at Wadi Kabir couple or

Executive bachelor.

Contact: 91165580

Furnished room in new building

for working Muslim lady/

Muslim couple only. Location

AINT, Darsait. Contact - 99008069

Room for rent available in a flat

for Executive bachelor at Azaiba,

behind Al Meera Hypermarket

with attached bath with cot & A/c,

rent inclusive of water & electric-

ity. Contact 96404166 / 97433992

MV SALE

Mitsubishi L 300 Delivery Van

2005 & Mitsubishi Rosa bus 18

Seat 2005 & Mitsubishi Pajero GL

4WD MT - 2006 all vehicles are

as is where is condition & sale

procedures are by submitting

quotation only. Contact: 24400750

/ 24400752 (During office hours)

Mazda 2.5 CC No 2, 2014 model,

KM 35000, Warranty still,

R.O 6900/-. Contact: 97984466

Hyundai Tucson No.1 2013, KM ,

1,27,000, R.O 5800/-.

Contact: 97984466

Hyundai Velostar new model

2015, KM 3000, 5 years warranty,

full insurance R.O 6800/-.

Contact: 97984466

Santafe No.1 2015, new model,

KM 5800, warranty still.

Contact: 99666059

Nissan Tiida H/B 1.8 CC No.1, 2014,

Km 5300, warranty & full insur-

ance R.O 5400/-.

Contact: 99666059

Izuzu 3.5 ton model 2013-3nos.

Contact: 99719124

Izuzu 5 ton model 2009 – 1nos.

Contact: 99719124

Expat used Ford Escape 2012,

102000 kms insurance Oman /

UAE Mulkiya 10-2016. OMR

4850/-. Contact - 93264005

Toyota Yaris model 2011 M/T, km

165000. Price RO.2150/-.

Contact: 95286741

Toyota Corolla Oct 2012 Regd

MY. Excellent condition, km done.

33,000/- Contact - 97717152

Hummer H2 model 2006, 178000

km, Full options Number 1 Army

edition.OMR 7200. Contact

-99466773

Chaverlet Epica 2004 model

RO -700, for sale. Contact 92194205

BMW 318/ 2003 for sale.

Contact 96364990

FOR SALEDozer Kom 355A -3Dozer Kom 155A- 3

Grader Champion 780Excavator PC 400 with breaker

Man green water tanker 5000 IGAll are in good condition

99310448/99612010/95208455

A well working restaurant for sale

at Al Khuwair, behind hotel Radis-

son Blue. Contact - 98494366

Used super market shelving’s

Gondolas. Contact: 97752395

Exercise cycle for sale.

Contact – 92847957

Al Qurum, 2 bedrooms,

3 bathrooms, sitting, kitchen,

split ACs price 65,000 R.O.

Contact 9987 9939

Running restaurant with seven

clearance for sale Awabi Muscat.

Contact: 95497007

Marble factory for sale, location

Misfah. Contact – 98586828

Cradle lift for external build-

ing painting hundred mtr height

almost new. Contact 99235701

/97747705

Beauty Salon for urgent sale in

Azaiba prime location behind

Al Fardan building. With sponsor

and 1 staff and 1 ready visa clear-

ance. Call: 95318629 / 95169411

Shop for sale in CBD area prime

location call 97449011

Mangalorean restaurant at Wadi

Kabir & shop at Ruwi for sale.

Contact: 98428507 / 93655003

Villas in Al Khoud. Contact -

95056808-97201688

Barber shop for sale in Ghubra.

Contact 92955874

USED EXCAVATORS

FOR SALE

99855374 / 98517544

Luxury Apartments in Boucher

(35). Contact - 95056808-

97201688

Fully Furnished apartments in

Boucher (35) Contact -95056808-

97201688

3Ton Forklift, Special made for

Oman market, Japanese Isuze

C240 Engine, Cascade side shifter,

High amount exhaust, 3m lifting

height, Solid tyres, One year war-

ranty. Contact: 98883445

Shop for sale at Ghala Sanaya

main junction (prime location)

shop for sale Contact Kamil

92696479

Window AC 30 Nos (general make

all good conditions), refrigera-

tor, freezer & mess equipments

for sale. Contact: 98064113/

99315878 Quotation fax on:

24448101 /24448103

Grade one, non residential

civil construction company, seven

months old, with all approvals, in

Sohar, for immediate sale.

Contact: 98236616

Accommodation available one big

bedroom, bath room, kitchen rent

R.O 150/- opposite Al Nahdha Hos-

pital rear Ruwi. Contact: 97943523

Big room bath attach kitchen near

Riyam Park O.R 90/-.

Contact: 95094028

Room for rent in AL Khuwair 120/-

O.R for bachelor furnished with Ele-

water. Contact: 95190627

Family sharing accommodation

for rent at Honda Road 2 room

bathroom, sharing, kitchen Indian

only O.R 130/-. Contact: 99519161

Furnished single rooms available

for bachelors at Ruwi.

Contact: 98650994

Single room available in Mumtaz

area Ruwi. Contact: 91978472

Spacious semi furnished room

with separate bathroom for execu-

tive bachelor Opp. O.C Center Ruwi.

Contact: 92273779

Furnished room, attached bath in

Mumtaz area. Contact - 99743709

For rent independent room with

attach B/room & kitchen near BP

Petrol pump & Seeb Indian School,

Mabela for RO.100 /- without Elect

& Water. Contact 91516775

Single room bathroom in Darsait

R.O 140/-. Contact: 93289652

Big room available near Hamriya

R/A for Muslim couple / small

family / Executive bachelor rent

150/- per month including W+ E.

Contact : 99495131

Room for rent with furniture.

Al Bustan villeage. .

Contact 93687466

Single room for expat Indian

bachelors near Al Aktham restau-

rant Al khuwair for RO 120. Water

and electricity included. Contact

98803261

3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, sitting

room, Kitchen & store including

utilities bills at Al hail.

Contact 92817777

Room available with kitchen near

Muscat Bakery at Rex Road Ruwi.

Contact: 99768952

1 Bedroom with attached Bath,

fully furnished, separate entrance

at Mabela for ladies only.

Contact: 99634841

FOR HIRE

Bobcat available for rent.

Contact 97623299

Flat for rent, 2 room, 2 bathroom

with AC 250/-. Contact: 94447825

New villa at south Mawalah 5 bed-

room, family hall, Majlis, 5 twl for

RO.650/- Contact - 99332367

House for rent in Al Amerat .

Contact: 92532371 / 92294259

1BHK flat near Star Cinema 220/-

Contact 99358589 /95570288

Flat for Rent 1/2 BHK Flat at

Muttrah, near Oman flour mills,

10 min. from Corniche.Equipped

with split unit ACs, internet points,

free-to-air dish connection, CCTV

monitored, basement parking. Rent

RO.250/350 per month. Contact:

99229263; 93221054; 95215289

Flats for rent at Al Mablah block

eight. Contact: 99445177

Flats shops & store for rent in

Ruwi Honda road Mumtaz.

Contact: 97293708 / 92433127

At Al Athaiba (2nd floor) 2 bed,

sitting room , 1 bathroom , kitchen ,

split AC rent 310/- PDC.

Contact: 99879939

2bed rooms flat with hall, 2

bathrooms in Darsait near Muscat

Municipality. Contact: 92584715 /

24700120

Open showroom AL Ghobrah 18

November 175SQM & office space Al

Qurum next to Al Araimi Complex.

Contact: 94300909

At Wadi Kabir Industrial two

floor showrooms, 80 sm each,

rent 450/- R.O (PDC). Contact:

99879939

1000sqmtrs industrial land for

rent in Ghala suitable for ware-

house workshop etc. Contact

24700120 /92584715

1& 2 BHK flats for rent at Hamriya

Mabela and Al Khoud shop at

Al Khoud. Contact: 24834644 /

GSM : 93994401 /02/03/3lines

2 bedroom luxury fully furnished

flat for rent at Ghala short or long

term basis. Contact: 99886386 /

99881653

Flats for rent in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 99376454

02 BHK residential flat opposite

to Al Nadha hospital. Contact:

99342733 / 99795241

Fully Furnished apartments in

Boucher (35) Contact - 94051789-

97201688

1,2 BHK Ghubra R.O 300/-, 325/- &

350/-. Contact: 97799175

Single BHK flat available in

Honda road Ruwi. Contact -

24833972/ 24833974/99367448

Villa, 2 flats at Al Khuwair (17/2)

Contact: 99444786

Offices & Showrooms in Al Khoud.

Contact - 94051789-97201688

600 SQT commercial flat for rent

opposite Oman flourmill Darsait

more details. Contact: 91214849/

99364735

1000 sqm industrial land with com-

pound wall & two rooms at Misfah.

Contact: 99342733 / 99795241

7 Bedrooms villa in Ghobrah

North. Contact - 96420432

Offices in Qurum opposite City

Center. Contact - 94051789-

97201688

One flats for rent 2 bedroom all

with bath al Ghobrah north near

Indian school (hot burger restau-

rant) Tel. 9976610

1.2.3 BHK & villa. Contact: 97799175

1BHK Darsait R.O 225/-.

Contact: 92144045 /97799175

1BHK Mumtaz R.O 250/-.

Contact: 92144045 /97799175

1BHK M.B.D R.O 280/- & 250/-.

Contact: 92144045/97799175

2BHK available near Hamriya

round about main road rent R.O

170/- PM. Contact: 99513510

Flats in Darsait. Contact 94051789-97201688

Flats in Wadi Kabir. Contact -

94051789-97201688

Flats in Muttrah. Contact -

94051789-97201688

Offices in Ghala. Contact -

94051789-97201688

Brand new villas in Al Ansab.

Contact - 94051789-97201688

Offices & Showrooms in Muttrah.

Contact - 94051789-97201688

Mini Furnished Apartment in

Qurum. Contact - 94051789-

97201688

Duplex villa in QURUM 29.

Contact - 94051789-97201688

MITSHUBISHI L200 – PICKUP - 12 No

MITSHUBISHI 3T CANTER - 8No

MITSHUBISHI Lancer 1.3 L - 7 No

MITSHUBISHI ROSA MINIBUS - 1 No

MITSHUBISHI Pajero - 1No

Ford focus, automatic, 2010

model, silver colour, expat driven,

58000 kms, dealer serviced, regis-

tration till sep 2016, price ro 2750.

Contact- 93207590

DAILY GUIDED4 S U N D AY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

SKILLED

ENGINEER

MANAGER

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

DRIVER

BEAUTY

MEDICAL

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

DOMESTIC HELPER

EDUCATION

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

CATERING

SALES / MARKETING

ADMIN

ARCHITECT

Urgently looking for secondary school Omani Graduates for Cashier

position. Interested candidates can

come for an interview from 27th

Dec, 9am onwards. Kindly contact

22092223 / 97127266.

A leading shipping & logistics firm wishes to recruit persons for the following posts Accountant with knowledge in tally & working

experience & Sales Executive with

GCC license & good experience in

shipping industry.

Fax: 24700973 Email:

[email protected]

Wanted Indian Accountant with

experience in Oman-

Contact 91339401

We are looking for Chief Finan-cial Officer, Male 40- 45 years old,

Bachelor of Science in Account-

ancy with 5 - 15 yrs. of experience.

Contact: +968 24702133

Email: [email protected]

Wanted experienced driver for rent

a car and tourism. Email:

[email protected]

Required Indian driver to work in a

house. Salary RO 150/-

Contact – 96255558

Projects Manger Engineer wanted

to manage a construction com-

pany, experience required. Contact

99441122, [email protected]

Looking for a Quantity Surveyor for a construction company in

Oman. Contact : 94069402

Wanted B.Tech Civil Engineer for

Oman Muscat minimum experi-

ence five years gulf.

Contact 97380467

Wanted Chemical Engineer with

5-10 years experience in

STP Operations and Maintenance.

Kindly send your resumes to

[email protected] or

Fax us at +968-24792175.

Wanted Market Research Expert with experience in Feasibility

Studies. Kindly send your resumes to

[email protected] or

Fax us at +968-24792175.

Civil Site Supervisor for telecom

tower projects across Oman. Send CV

to [email protected] or

call +968 9946 7227

Experienced Petrol Mechanic, denter required.

Contact: 98045373

Cook waiters, must know Indian & Arabic food to cook. Contact: .97158376 Email:

[email protected]

Need cook Arab food sandwich

suitable salary, with visa.

Contact: 98292846

Indian male , B.Com, 21 yrs, ac-

countant with 1 and half years

experience looking for suitable job

for more discussion.

Contact: 96512733


Indian male 25 yrs, Graduate in

commerce, overall 5 yrs exp in ac-

counts/ finance field. On visit visa.

Immediately available.

Contact – 92836216 /

[email protected]

Chief Accountant looking for

full / part time job. Contact:

95598477/98803439

ACCA /B.com (3.7 years experi-

ence) looking for accounts / audit

job. Contact: 97769145


Indian male 11 yrs exp in account-

ant (4 yrs in Oman with D/L &

NOC) seeking suitable placement

in Sohar area .Contact: 91212471 /

94049967


Part time Accountant services,

yearly finalization works, monthly

report, profit& loss report,

consulting and audit works.

Contact: 96247295

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, with

13yrs experience, 6 yrs Oman in

manufacturing, trading & contract-

ing Cos, capable of handling all

accounting, finance, banking, L/C,

import, export & finalization seeks

placement. NOC Available.

Call+968-98932752,

mail:[email protected]

28/ male MBA – finance /B.com –

accountant with 4 years of Dubai

/ India experience looking for a

suitable placement.

Contact: 90187483 Email:

[email protected]

Indian male 25 yrs MBA finance/

marketing. Over all 2 yrs of exp in

accounts/ finance field. Currently

on visit visa in Oman, immediately

available. Contact – 92989197 /

94786544 Email:

[email protected]

Accountant looking part time job.

Contact: 99867456


Accountant Indian female, 26 yrs,

B.Com 2 yrs experience in

accounting, purchase vouchers,

bank reconciliation.

Contact: 95690207


Finance Controller 15 yrs exp in

Oman. Contracting, consultancy,

trading oil & gas, tourism, IT etc.

Project financing feasibility

ERP cost control.

Contact – 98571309

Urgently required House Maid full time for small Omani family.

Contact: 99339502

Urgently required for full time a Gujarati House maid for small

family (2 members), aged around

40-50, Visa Available.

Contact 99370306,

after 08:00 pm only or

Whats app.

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT-M.Com

Finance-Indian employed in Oman

with 7 years experience in Finance

& Accounts up to finalization. Hav-

ing D/L & NOC. Mob: 94122464,

[email protected]

B.Com, doing M.Com, Diploma in

IATA, Tally PGDCA 2 years experi-

ence as Accountant seeking for

placement currently in Oman NOC

available. Contact: 99055820

Email Id:

[email protected]

Indian male Accountant looking

for a suitable placement in Sala-

lah/ Muscat. More than 20 yrs ex-

perience in Accounting job (upto

the finalization of accounts). 8

yrs working experience in Middle

East in Dubai, Muscat & Salalah.

Contact 91325029

ASSISTANT MANAGER Finance-

M Com Finance, 7 years experience

in Finance & Accounts Department.

Currently employed in Oman. Having

D/L, NOC available. Cont: 98278801,

[email protected]

M.Com CMA with 15 years experi-

ence in Oman for finance / audit/

accountants /banking looking for

suitable manager position.

Contact: 95694737


Indian male good experienced in

accountant ERP Tally 9 and admin

in Indian &Oman currently on visit

visa looking for suitable job.

Contact: 94834687

Indian Male 32, MBA (Marketing &

Finance) with 10 years experience

in Marketing of Banking Products &

Insurance Industry.

Seeking for a job in Oman.

Contact: 93576980, 97750460


Indian male 22 BBM graduate

with tally certified 5 month expe-

rience as accounts officer 2 look-

ing for suitable job immediately

now on visit visa.


[email protected]

Male 24 MBA fresher in marketing

and finance seeking immediate

placement. Contact: 96112920

Indian male B.com accountant job

6 years experience in Oman looking

suitable placement.

Contact: 95741442

[email protected]

Accountant senior looking suit-

able job please call 91422074

Chief Accountant / finance of-

ficer , Indian male , M.com 15 yrs

experience , Qatar , Saudi good

at account finalization statement

analysis , budgeting , variable

analysis, well versed in tally &

accounting packages. Currently in

Doha, seeking suitable position in

Muscat. Contact: 0097455075643


Indian Male, Chartered Account-

ant and Cost Accountant, CISA

from USA, 25 Years of experience,

10 Years in Dubai, Seeking Job in

Accounts, Finance, Audit, Bank-

ing, Project IT etc. Contact Pawan

Gupta on 00971504273221,

0096896123649. E mail address

is [email protected] and

website is www.pawanpraind.com

Indian CA, 8 yrs + Exp (6 yr in

Oman & UAE) in Finance, Accounts

& Auditing, seeking suitable posi-

tion in Muscat/Dubai, Can Join

Immediately, NOC Available,

Contact #: 98707434 /

[email protected]

ACCA, 8 years comprehensive

experience of audit, Engineering/

Manufacturing & Trading-FMCG is

looking for a change.NOC available

Contact: 91147885

Chartered Accountant 15 yrs- UAE

exp, seeking suitable job in Oman.

Contact – 0091 9446230586 /

[email protected]

Chief / Senior Accountant having

12 years of Oman experience in

reputed firms. Looking for suitable

placement. Contact – 99513082

Experienced male accountant

available 3 yrs & 9 months exp in

Oman as accountant NOC available

ready to join. Contact - 95368181

ACCOUNTS AND ADMIN

MANAGER Degree in Accounts

with minimum 8 years of experi-

ence in accounts/finance and ad-

ministrative work. Good analytical

and managerial skill to control and

operate the department

independently. Contact-

[email protected]

A construction company in Muscat urgently requires sub contractors for: plastering, tiling, and painting.

Interest parties Contact: 99344279


Looking for experienced con-struction laborers as a subcon-tractor for a villa construction in

Mawaleh.Contact: 96203333

Urgently require a Female Beauti-cian for a saloon in Sur, must have

exceptionally good skills in thread-

ing ,waxing ,haircuts & facial treat-

ments .Hair styling & bridal make

ups would be added advantage

.(Visa available)For more details

please contact on 95214535

Staff Nurse required for a reputed

dental centre in Muscat. Send the CV

to [email protected]

Immediate Opening for Laborato-ry Technician. Should have MOH

License to work in Medical centre

in capital area. Excellent Package,

Flexible Timings, Accommodation

will be offered.

Contact Urgently: 99340135

Wanted GP Doctor with MOH

license, job location in Muscat with

good salary and benefits. Drop your

cv at [email protected].

Need one Nurse for private clinic

scientific clinic Salalah.

Contact: 99082092

Wanted a Male Nurse with MOH

license, ACLS, BLS for desert posting

(permanent) and a Dentist to work a

Locom near Seeb both with NOC as

soon as possible. Contact 96386388

Deams Clinic - Muscat-Al Khoudh

urgently required Medical

Laboratory Technician salary +

Accommodation, Minimum 3 years

Experience in Sultanate of Oman

GP Nurse salary +Accommodation

minimum 5 years Experience in

Sultanate of Oman.

Contact - [email protected]

Wanted Medical Lab Technician (male or female) for a reputed poly

clinic. Kindly contact – 97101062

or send email to [email protected]

Dot Muscat Company LLC is

looking for:

Languages: English, Arabic

(optional)

Employment type: full time

Must have experience.

For inquires please contact us on:

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

D and Staff

Excellent remuneration and growth opportunities

for selected candidates.

Site Supervision, Testing & Commissioning, Protection & Control

Experience:10 – 20 years

Th e fi eld of these Projects are:

HV/MV/LV Electrical Neworks including Grid Stations, Distribution

Networks, OHTL, U/G Power Cables.

CVs mentioning Oman tel. No. to be submitted to:

A fast food restaurant in Muscat

required experience

Motor Cycle Drivers with license

Contact; 96447979. Forward CV: -

[email protected]

Instrumentation & controls Technician with 2-3 years experi-

ence preferably in water sector and

having valid driving license Send

CV to [email protected] or

call Ph:+968 99450811

Urgently required for a reputed

company in Oman (Tyre, Battery

& Lubricant division) Sr. Execu-tives/Executive-5 nos (Sohar, Ni-

zwa & Muscat), Techno Commer-cial Professional-5nos, Driver (Omani)-1no. Required minimum

3-5 yrs experience in the same

field with market exposure hold-

ing valid Omani driving license

or GCC. Kindly fwd your CV’s to

[email protected]

Contact: (+968)93891700

Urgent Staff requirement for

Omar Al Khayyam Group of restau-

rant (restaurant manager, restaurant cashier, waiters, Indian / Chinese / Tandoor cooks. Contact: +96893798969 or

email: [email protected]

Sales Ladies wanted for Ladies Boutique. Age: 20-35 yrs. Al

Khoudh. Send CV to

[email protected]

or call 91159905

Travel agent in Muscat require experience Counter Staff (male/ female) Sales & Marketing (male/

female) interested send CV on

[email protected]

Kitchen cabinet manufacturing company is looking sales person, most have Oman D/L and must

know any kitchen designed soft-

ware and two years experience.

Contact: 93326636

Business coordinator with valid

Oman driving license.

Contact: 95327813

Insurance agency company require Sales Executive with

experience Oman driving license.

Clearance available. Send CV to:

[email protected]

Urgently required Graphic Designer & marketing executive please forward your CV

[email protected]

We are looking for a Visa Consult-ant/sales consultant male for

our office. Freshers can also apply.

Arabic and English speaking male.

Email CV at

[email protected]

Wanted Marketing personnel for

tours and rent a car. Email:

[email protected]

Fax: 24796040

Wanted building Materials sales exp sales executive male /female

with D/L for an LLC Company.


Looking for Salesman (outdoor)

experience in building material,

consulting, Contraction Company.

Should have Driving license,

must have good spoken English,

should have working knowledge of

computers. Please send your CV to

[email protected]

Kindly Email your cv @:

[email protected]

Architect looking for freelance

work in (design plans and 3dmax).

Contact: 96041201

Urgently Required: Project Manager with an experience 15

years in building construction,

MUST have NOC and immediately

join. Project Coordinator with an

experience 10 years in building

construction, MUST have NOC and

immediately join.

Apply, fax 00968–24605955,

emails [email protected],

[email protected]

Teacher maths and science, computer required for

Omani private school. Contact:

95141554/958225772

15 years GCC experienced in

finance treasury management CPA,

CMA, ACCA, MBA qualified char-

tered accountant available for im-

mediate joining. Contact: 94872345


Indian male B.com, 47 years old,

25 years, GCC experience in

Finance, HR & Admin with valid

Omani driving license looking for

a suitable placement (NOC avail-

able) Contact: 93238378

Indian lady, bachelor degree in

Preparatory Programme (BPP) and

Bachelor of Commerce (BCom),

completed training course in MS

Word, Excel, Power Point and Out-

look from KTI looking for full time /

part time job opportunity in Oman.

Contact 92437568, 96795853,


Young 24, ACCA affiliate, ad-

vanced diploma in Accounting and

business, seeking suitable place-

ment in accounts, finance or audit

with valid driving license.

Contact: 92430152


An Excellent Grade Construction Firm based in Muscat

has immediate vacancy for the following position

Capable to develop details of concept design of id projects,

preparation of joinery/ detail drawing.

with minimum Of 3 to 5 years GCC Experience with

valid Omani Driving License - 1 Nos

Fitout Estimator capable to handle joinery estimation,

fi tout tender etc, with minimum 3 to 5 years GCC Experience

with valid Oman Driving License - 1 Nos

Interested Candidates May forward their CV, To

Required building material sales man, CCTV Technician, Mainte-nance supervisor & Mason. Contact - 99383044

SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED

Indian male 12 yrs exp in Oman

as administrator/ HR/ operation

manager with D/L & NOC.

Contact – 96055815 /

[email protected]

Indian having more 15 years of

experience (7 years in UAE) in con-

struction as site administrates for /

document controller / HR assistant

/ store assistant presently on visit

seek suitable placement.

Contact: 92196001/98598099

10 years experience in secretarial

/ Admin job. Contact: 94868626

Indian male MBA- UK 18 yrs Gulf

exp in Administration/ HR & Pub-

lic relationship. Fluent in Arabic/

English with D/L. Looking for

suitable position.

Contact - 99897280

Indian female, Masters in HR,

having 4 + years Oman experience

in media management and HR,

looking for openings in HR, Educa-

tion, Admin, Corporate communi-

cations. Contact 98252030

Indian Female, MBA-HR having

8+ experience in Administration/

HR, Customer Support, Office Coor-

dinator with good Computer skill,

Now on Visit Visa, looking for suit-

able position. Contact: 90196235


SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

CATERING

DRIVER

ADMIN

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

DESIGNER/DRAUGHTSMAN

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

Cooks (Arabic Indian) gulf exp

looking job. Contact: 99531802

Well experienced team available to provide feasibility reports & business solutions, product

development, risk management methods for startups, progressive,

defunct operations. Creating of ERP modules.

Contact - 93343251 E

HOSPITALITY

IT

MISCELLANEOUS

Indian male 42 B.A Degree & di-

ploma in hotel management with

16 yrs experience in India Abroad

having V/L Oman D/L looking for

suitable placement.

Contact: 91575956


Hospitality/Hotel/ Restaurants

Dynamic result oriented hospital-

ity professional with 20 years of

international exp. MBA in Hotel

Management, specializing in

Hotel/Restaurant start ups, con-

cepts & Franchise development

with proven records. Seeking for

Challenging positions in reputed

groups as GM/COO/CEO/Business

Head. (NOC available)

Contact: 96059470

Dutch male qualified commer-

cial pilot (Faa-ME-IR certified) is

looking for job openings in middle

east. [email protected]

Indian male, Mechanical

Engineer having 1Year experi-

ence, on visit visa looking for

suitable job. Contact:97416564,

Email:[email protected]

Seven years experienced Civil En-

gineer in A .C. Company in Egypt,

good experience in concrete

works and site management and

technical office works seeking

for challenging opportunity in

Muscat in supervision or contract-

ing field. Contact: 98834533 +2

01002433377 emails: eng_m_

[email protected]

B.Tech (Eng. AMIEI) Electrical Engineer with 5years experience in

the field of electrical power system

(transmission & distribution) aver

expertise in design Ele-slid prepar-

ing BOQ, LS & estimation transform-

ers switchgear selection installa-

tion testing & commissioning in all

sectors. Contact: 94638744


Civil Engineer 5 Years exp 2 years

in Oman as QS. Seeking part time

job as QS. Contact - 91507508

Mechanical Engineer ( B.E) passed out in 2014 first class ,

who has done certificate course in

AutoCAD 2D , seeks employment in

core mechanical field.

Contact: 93850221/97400106

M.Tech (Civil Engg) graduate ,

Indian male , 19 years experience

in construction field , 8 years gulf

experience , 4 yrs in Dubai and 4

yrs in Oman , handled luxurious

hotels and waterfront properties

is looking for project manager job.

Contact: 91158903


NOC is available

Indian male Electrical Engineer, having 6 years gulf experience in

designing, assembling, commis-

sioning execution etc having valid

GCC license too looking for a suit-

able. Contact: 00968-98052942


Indian 43 yrs B.E Civil experience

16 yrs gulf exp 4 yrs Saudi Arabia

Qatar Oman skill project coordina-

tion supervisory quality control

planning & procurement monitoring

the work activities NOC available

seeking suitable area.


[email protected]

Indian male Mechanical Engineer

with 6 yrs experience in MEP field

seeking a job have GCC license.

Contact: 98086267


Dynamic Indian chemical Engi-

neer (NITW) with 1years experi-

ence in business development &

valid Oman D/L. Seeks suitable op-

portunity. Contact: +96896141612


Diploma in Mechanical Engineer-

ing, 36 years, Male, Indian, having

16 years of experience in machine

maintenance & machine break-

down, worked with reputed compa-

nies in India, currently on visit

visa seeking suitable placement.

Contact - 99011507

E-mail: [email protected]

Indian Male, 28 Yrs, M.Tech hav-

ing 5+ years experience (3 Year

Industry+2 years Lecturer), Now on

visit visa, looking for suitable posi-

tion, please contact: 99249131

Indian male, 26 yrs, 4yrs expe-

rienced as Telecom engineer in

ooredoo FTTX project in Qatar with

valid GCC driving license, currently

in Oman, seeks suitable placement.

Contact 90194856


Indian female, 31 yrs, 7 yrs expe-

rienced as AutoCAD civil drafts-

man (2 yrs experience in Oman)

currently in Oman seeks suitable.

Contact 96789441


Sudanese Civil Engineer with

5 years experienced AutoCAD

primavera & GIS Arabic & English

language looking for a suitable job.

Contact: 91340584

Experienced Light Duty Driver,

Fluent in English, Arabic Well

knowledge of Oman Areas Seeking

Suitable placement 97950869

Looking for light driving job

3 years exp. Contact: 92819475

Looking for light driving job,

2 years exp. Contact: 91625977

Looking for job driver with car.

Contact: 99154473

Light driver with car.

Contact: 96379697

Looking for driving job.

Contact: 98219182

Exp driver (Keralite).

Contact: 93412587

Indian light driver having 2

years experience in Oman Know

language Hindi, English , Arabic

need job. Contact: 97366822

B.Com Qualification experience

Saudi 5 years Saudi light driving

license. Contact: +919994321140


Driver with Car looking for Job.

Contact 95560701.

Bangladeshi male 48 yrs, light

driver 14 yrs of exp, need job &

visa. Contact - 98236656 Driver looking for a job with visa

NOC available.

Contact: 91039598

Indian light driver.

Contact: 92279370

Driver with experience of 10 years

in Oman seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact: 92191698

Driver with car. Contact: 91452930

Light driver. Contact:

96313100

Driver with car available.

Contact: 93015630

10 yrs exp in GCC driver.

Contact: 93722881

Looking for Job driving.

Contact: 97418036

Driver with new car looking for

job.contact: 95873286

Driver (light & heavy duty) valid

gulf /Indian) looking job.

Contact: 95175192

Indian Female, 24 Years - MSc

Biotechnology. Worked in Interna-

tional Crops Research Institute For

The Semi Arid Tropics for project

work as trainee. Looking for suit-

able job. Mobile: 92619048,


Indian male 23 years BE degree

in electronics & telecommunica-

tion, diploma in industrial control

& automation, holding valid Oman

D/L. Contact: 95726383 Email:

[email protected]

Indian male, 25years, B-Tech

Graduate with two years expe-

rience in Oman as Civil Engi-

neer in a reputed construction

company. Looking for suitable

jobs. Resident card will expired

on 06-01-2016.NOC available.

Seeking immediate placements.

Contact: 96179737/97076972,

email:[email protected]

B.SC civil Engineer having 10 years

experience s, 7 years in Oman in

building construction with Oman

valid D/L, looking for suitable place-


Civil Engineer, Indian, 10 years

GCC experience with Oman D/L.

Contact: +919961800496

Electrical engineer Indian male 30

years , having 5 years of experi-

ence in industrial automation and

utility maintenance in Indian ( MRF

Tyres) seeking suitable placement.


[email protected]

Mechanical Engineer M.Tech

2 years experience HVAC design

& site Engg revit MEP Auto CAD.


[email protected]

Civil Engineer having total

5 years experience in building

construction, looking for suitable

placement. D/L available.

Contact – 94450270

Indian 27 years, Procurement

Engineer with 7 years of experience

including 3 years in Oman looking

for a suitable. NOC & driving license

available. Contact: 95852033.

Diploma in Electrical Engineer-

ing with 6 years’ experience in

Electrical Automation , Program-

ming, Project, Power, Energy

and Supervision in Civil Work.

Currently in Oman and looking for

suitable position, Please contact

94873560/92406652

Electrical Engineer with 18 years

exp in UAE. Contact: 98148034


Indian, looking for work building

maintenance electrical & plumb-

ing. Contact: 99365092

An Indian male HSE professional

9yrs experience out of 6yrs in

Oman 3 yrs in India. Graduate,

safety diploma, IOSH & NEBOSH

. Working as Sr. HSE officer in a

reputed MNC in MCT. NOC avail-

able, seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 90187224

7 Yrs Exp. PM in Mech. Engg in

the field of Building Const. Oil &

Gas Seeking Job.94625598

29 yrs Indian male B.E (ECE) with

more than 5 yrs experience in

Oman with valid D/L.

Contact: 96652145

Sudanese male with a college

degree looking for suitable place-


Seeking suitable job for QA/QC

Inspector multi discipline, having

8 yrs exp with CSWIP 3.1 AWS-

CWI BGAS Grade II B.E Mech. NOC

available. Contact – 97312558 /

[email protected]

Indian male 42 years 13 years

experience with Oman driving

license in MEP contracting looking

job store keeper / purchaser.

Contact 95197065

Indian 28 yrs, 5 years experience

in purchase looking for a suitable

NOC available, driving license


Indian male having more than

10 yrs exp in sea fright & air

freight, having GCC D/L looking

for suitable placement. Contact –

91714980/ [email protected]

Indian female on visit MBA

(International Business- Market-

ing & Logistics), BE (Computers &

Science Engg.) Trained in SAP-BI/

BW with 1 year experience seek-

ing for job Contact: 90228586


Graduate, computer literate,

experienced in sales, credit con-

trol, accounts, Omani D/L ,

seeks suitable placement.

Gsm 9880-5474

Civil Engineer 8 years experience

in Oman as a project engineer for

governmental & private projects.

Contact – 90164912

Civil Engineer (B.Tech), Indian

male 24 years with 1+years Indian

experience,(Certified in Staad

Pro/ Quantity Survey/ Auto Cad).

Looking for a Suitable position.

Available In Sultanate of Oman

(Muscat) on Visit Visa.

Contact: 92835952. E-mail:

[email protected]

Indian male, Mechanical Engineer

having 1Year experience, on visit

visa looking for suitable job.

Contact: 97416564,


Building construction site supervi-

sor with Omani D/L since Mar .2010

in Oman looking placement in good

company. Contact: 93061107

B.Tech (IT) Indian Male 2 years

Oman experience in I.T & Network-

ing, holding Oman Driving License,

presently on employment visa,

seeks for a suitable placement.

Ready to join immediately. NOC


Indian female B.Tech IT with 2

years experienced in HCL pres-

ently on family visa.


[email protected]

Indian male MCA, Oracle , orion ,

ERP, 15 years experience , 5 years

in Oman with NOC.

Contact: 95398567 /


10 years Oman experience ICT

Sector, capable of handling large

accounts, looking for suitable

Senior Executive position.

Contact: 98987654

7 years Gulf experienced Auto-

matic door system technician. All

type of automatic door, gate bar-

rier, Access control, CCTV, working

in Oman (NOC available).

Contact 96707646


An Indian male 27yrs, B. Tech in

(Computer Science) 6 years of exp

in technical support, troubleshoot-

ing and managing seeks suitable

placement. Contact:- 97483775,

email:- [email protected]

MCA graduate Indian male 2

years experience in software

development knowledge of JAVG

net C# ASP NEP V.B CTT currently

working in Techno Park Trivan-

drum Kerala. Contact: 99210940

NEBOSH, IOSH Indian male HSE

officer experience 8 yrs, 6 yrs GCC.


[email protected]

Network Professional, CCNP with

6 years experience and Bachelors

degree on visit visa looking for

suitable job. Contact: 96760618,

[email protected]

Female 26 years B.Tech computer

science with 4 yrs exp in India

Tableu Qlik view hive and software

testing. Looking for suitable

placement. Contact – 97139075

[email protected]

B.Tech (IT) Indian Male 2 years

Oman experience in I.T & Network-

ing, holding Oman Driving License,

presently on employment visa,

seeks for a suitable placement.

Ready to join immediately. NOC


Civil Engineer diploma, 4 yrsexp

seeks suitable position ina reputed

company. NOC available.

Contact – 96789711

B.E Civil Engineer having 10 years

experience (04 years in Oman)

looking for a suitable placement

NOC available. Contact: 98065360


Mechanical Engineer with 2 yrs

exp in the field of manufacturing,

on visit visa, looking for suitable

job. Contact – 91417949 /

[email protected]

B.Sc Civil Engineer. Work Experi-

ence 11 years 11 Months. Last 7

years have been working in Oman

in the field of Civil Construc-

tion. Present Position: Resident

Engineer of a Consulting Company.

Looking for the post of Project

Manager/Coordinator/Resident

Engineer. Have driving license.

Visa could be transferable.

Contact: 93592334,

e-mail: [email protected]

B.Tech Civil Indian female(2 years

of teaching exp;on family visa)

looking for engineering job.

Contact: 96289945;


Electrical Engineer Indian male

having 5 yrs of exp in designing,

execution & planning in electri-

cal field. Having valid GGC driving

license. Looking for a suitable job.

Contact – 98052942 /

[email protected]

Egyptian woman resident has

considerable experience in the

administration and secretarial

executive for companies.

Contact: 97221126

Indian male ,age 24, MBA –UK, 2

years exp in administration, fluent

in English. Searching for a suitable

position. Contact: 00968 -90369501


HR & HSE (Nebosh & IOSH) experi-

ence 6 years in Oman with NOC &

D/L. Contact: 00 971502550480

Indian female 20, 2 yrs experi-

ence in Oman in finance & office

admin & sales & marketing seek-

ing suitable placement.

Contact: 94440115

Indian female, MBA HR & Finance,

having 1 year experience, seeking

suitable placement. Currently in

Oman. Contact: 96052366.

Electronics & Communication Engineer : Master degree in VLSI

& Embedded systems , looking for

electronics/telecom/embedded jobs

or teaching in colleges or schools

or institutions . Currently on family

visa. #97092459 or 91342287

[email protected]

Electrical Project Engineer 5

years experience in primacy

substation cables and OHL valid

driving license. NOC available.

Contact: 91204243

Indian Male 23 years B.Tech

Civil having 2 years experience in

quantity survey and site manage-

ment looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact:- 95042656

Diploma in Mechanical Eng piping system in AutoCAD work,

21+ years experience with Driving

license. Contact: 95267113


Mechanical Engineer M.Tech 2

years experience as HVAC design

engineer rev IT M.E.P AutoCAD.


[email protected]

Road and Construction Engineer with 5 years exp in Oman.

Contact: 97646908

Mechanical Engineer with 3 Yrs

experience in international Oil

& Gas company looking for job

Contacts: Tel: 90164236 Email:

[email protected]

Civil Engineer (BE) having total

5 years experience in building

construction looking for a suitable

placement. D/L available

Contact# 94450270

Indian female civil engineer B.Tech

having 3 years experience sound

knowledge of software, REVIT STAD

PRO structural detailing currently

on family visa seeks suitable place-


Civil maintenance painting,

tile works decor works, plumb-

ing, electric, shop furnishing

carpentary works and all other

maintenance. Contact 97897831,

92112094 (Indian, Keralite)

Bachelor Civil Engineer 6 Years

in Oman experience Valid Driving

License seeks suitable placement

Phone 97619722

Email – [email protected]

Civil Engineer 6 yrs Exp in Oman

with license. Contact: 98975518

Sri Lankan Engineer (27 Years

old) – B.Sc Engineering (Hon)

Mining / Geotechnical Presently

in Muscat, 1.5 years experience.

Contact 91295802 /

[email protected]

25 years experience, holding

GCC driving license

(Oman, UAE, Bahrain)

With NOC. Looking for suitable openings.

Contact - 91283701

IT

MEDICAL

Prometric passed male nurse with

ACLS & BLS closured, looking for

suitable placemen.

Contact: 93831951

Indian young male B.Tech Gradu-

ate with strong academic history

six month experience in biomedi-

cal seeks suitable placement in

instrumentation field preferred

presently under visiting visa.

Contact: 91053004

Indian female M.Sc. Biotechnol-

ogy, 1st rank holder, NET qualified,

SRF -doing PhD in Biochemistry

Amala cancer research Centre

(Calicut University) on family visa

seeking suitable placement.

Gsm-90153917

MOH Licensed Indian Female

Dentist, presently available in

Oman seeking a suitable place-

ment anywhere in Muscat.

Contact: 91410733 / 99310630.

Experienced Indian female Dentist with MOH licence looking

for job. Contact 98437191

An experienced Sudanese female Dentist with MOH license look-

ing for job. Contact: 96436517

/97396088

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

Scaffolding Manager 16 yrs

experience in Oil & Gas projects &

constructions.

Contact: 99789507/99551437

Result oriented hospitality profes-

sional with 20 years management

experience in Oman and other gulf

countries looking for a suitable

vacancy in hotels, restaurants and

catering companies.

Contact: 968 97204636

Result oriented hospitality profes-

sional with 20 years management

experience in Oman looking for a

suitable vacancy hotels, res-

taurants & catering companies.

Contact 97204636

Restaurant Manager having

13 years experience in fast food

restaurant in Oman & UAE, seeking

for suitable placement, holding NOC

letter & Oman driving license.

Contact: 99874953

Building maintenance foreman

looking for suitable position with

driving license. Contact: 99526958

Multimedia and graphic designer Filipino male 25 , looking for job

in Muscat 3 years experience in 6

graphic and 3D design on visit visa

immediately available.

Contact: 95844940


Interior designer 4+ exp, turnkey

projects & freelancing for flats, of-

fice & corporate.

Contact – 93140552/

[email protected]

25 years male BA. English ,

Qualified as mast in digital

animation having 5 yrs ex in

character animation specialized

Auto Desk mago and motion

building software knowledge,

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 97917357

IT support 9 years experience

servers network, hard / software

maintenance Web design CMS.

Contact: 97603094

Hardware & net working, 2 years

exp. Contact: 96244031

EDUCATION

IT Lecturer 5 Yrs Exp with

MCSE,CCNA Ph. 93594114 /

[email protected]

Sri Lankan female 26 years of

age, seeking suitable position

in a reputed firm .Holds BSC in

computer applications. 3 years of

experience. Has experience in the

teaching field too.

Contact: 92006612

Indian female M.SC B.ED qualified

TEFL two years experience in gulf

seeking suitable job in teaching.

Contact: 91706466

Computer Teacher M.SC Indian

male 10 years teaching exp in

Maldives as O level computer

teacher presently located at Berha

on family visa. Contact: 94867456 /

95262691

DAILY GUIDED6 S U N D AY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTED

SITUATION WANTED

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be

done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication.

* Subject to space availability

o

GENERAL ELECTRONICS SERVICES LLC

CONTACT: 99627299 / 93327841

BRING HOME - LIVE MUSIC & CINEMA

HOME THEATER&

KARAOKE

SALES / MARKETING

Indian male, MBA , 25 Yrs, 1 years

experience in auditing and 10

month in sales. Currently on visit

visa seeking suitable placemen.

Contac: 92054304

Indian male 23 years with 4 years

experience in Purchase and Sales,

graduate in EC, currently on visit-

ing visa, seeking suitable job in

Oman. Contact: 96761020. Email:

[email protected]

Male B.com 8 month experience

in sales seeking suitable place-


Indian male graduate with

7 yrs exp in sales & marketing

immediate join NOC available.

Contact : 96746107

Indian male 28, 6 yrs experience

in Oman, in sales & marketing &

office admin, seeking for suitable

placement (valid driving license)

Contact: 99142314

Sales & Marketing Executive MBA

with 3 years experience in sales

looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 91345727.

Indian male with Oman driving

license and 27 years’ Oman expe-

rience in FMCG sales /newspaper

distribution across the Sultanate

seeks job. No objection certificate/

release letter is available from the

present employer.

Contact: 98962949

Graduate, computer literate,

experienced in sales, credit control,

accounts, Omani D/L , seeks suit-

able placement. Gsm 9880-5474

12 years of experience in Oman;

marketing strategies & operations,

logistics, government tenders,

public relations & dealing with

international companies -4 years

of experience in UK, engineering

CNC & industrial areas, have dual

nationality, fluent in English &

Arabic speaking and writing ,

(I can travel abroad easily without

visa, for finalizing business or any

other purpose). Contact: 94123939

Indian Male 32, MBA (Marketing

& Finance) with 10 years experi-

ence in Marketing of Banking

Products & Insurance Industry.

Seeking for a Job in Oman.

Contact: 93576980, 97750460


Indian male, MBA Marketing

having 2.5 years Sales experience

immediately looking for a suitable

position. Contact: 91415145,


Indian male 46 years, Sales

Manager experience in modular

kitchens & furnitures. Contact

94522616

Indian male, 24, MBA Marketing

and HR, I year experience. On visit

visa. Looking for suitable job.

Contact 94014073

Marketing Executive/Merchan-

diser, Omani License, BA 8 years

Experience in Multinational

Groups. Contact 97601343

TOURS & TRAVELS

Indian female BSC IATA, 14 years

exp in travel & tourism in Oman


Contact: 96433490


TECHNICIAN /MECH.

Instrumentation & controls Technician with 2-3 years

experience preferably in water

sector and having valid driving

license call Ph:+968 99450811

Send CV to [email protected]

SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED

Indian male, 26, BCom with

tally, 2-year exp in marketing and

2-year exp as restaurant manager

looking for suitable job.

NOC available. Ph. No: 97707953

DME (Diploma in Mechanical

Engineering) with overall 7+ year

experiences in the field of Industri-

al and Plant Maintenance seeking

placements. Contact 97460974

Bangladeshi Male, University MA,

5 years experience in IT sales &

marketing working as sales coor-

dinator in Oman; searching better

job. Phone:91997605, email:

[email protected]

Indian female, ME in CSE with

2 years’ experience in teaching

seeking suitable Job Opportunity.

Contact: 94263445,

E mail – [email protected]

HR Manual, Employee Hand-

book, Recruitment, Training, HR

Consultancy, Are you looking for

freelancer HR professional.

Contact on 97914669

Indian male auto cad draughts-

man (civil) 8 years experience

.Seeking for part time job.Mobile

no: 0096899070584 /


Sudanese male, 31 year old, have

3 year Diploma in electrical engi-

neer 5 year experience in different

activities. Contact - 94549609

MBA - (F), M.Com,B.COM. Indian fe-

male having knowledge of accounts

with Tally looking for part time or

full time job. presently on family

visa. Contact :- 91892264. Email:

[email protected]

Indian Male, 26 years, with 7

years of experience in Sales Field

in Shipping company in Dubai


Experienced working in safety

Marine equipment and well versed

with MS Office. Contact: 90182494

[email protected]

Indian male B.Eng. in IT, CCNA,

MCSA, MCSE, 3yrs exp. In IT/

networking/server support, valid

Omani D/L seeking suitable place-

ment in IT/Network/Server sup-

port. Contact 92607532

HR & Admin Executive ( MBA)

Indian male 26 year old, with more

than 4 years of experiences in HR&

Admin (16 month in Oman) looking

for suitable placement, NOC avail-

able.Contact: +968-98757304


Indian Accounts professioanl with

2 years of experience currently on

visit visa looking for suitable job

openings Contact: Gsm: 92395449

[email protected]

Looking for Network Engineer Job, NOC Available Can join imme-

diately. Qualification: BE Telecom-

munication, CCNA, CCNP Voice.

Driving License: Oman, Current

Company: Global Solutions, Client:

Diwan Experience: 3.5 Years.

Contact – 97312044 /

[email protected]

Mechanic Diesel Engines &

Hydraulic, 25 years Experience in

Multinational Companies.

Contact - 91685048

Indian Male, 28, MBA Finance &

Mcom. more than 5yrs exp. in A/c &

Finance (Including 2 yrs in Oman),

NOC available, Seek Suitable Place-

ment, Contact: 93939421,


Post graduate master of social

work having 5 years experience at

present visit visa seeking suitable

opportunity. Contact 99876307

Planning Engineer: B.E(Electrical

and Electronics Engineer-

ing): Indian Male 33 yrs with

10 years of experience in UAE &

Muscat. Skilled in the areas of

project coordination, planning

& procurements. Contact:

00971503529608 Email Id:

[email protected]

SITUATION WANT-ED

BUSINESS

We supply gift items Dairies

safety Items. Contact: 98796982


We will register LLC. trade license

for foreign investors and do all

actions. Contact: 92833566

MATRIMONIAL

Rose Mary age 25 yrs Born Oman,

B.com 2 years ACCA, MBA. Con-

tact: 92841175 T.C.R. EKM .DT. Only

Kerala RC boy 31 yrs paramedical

working in Oman hailing from

Tellichery Dioces.

Contact:92866673

23 Years Malayalee Christian

girl born & educated in Bangalore,

seeking suitable alliances from

well settled Keralite Malayalee

Christian boys. Contact - 99494371

Keralite, Thiruvananthapuram

based “Young and Handsome

Boy”, Hindu – Viswakarma (Car-

penters), Birth Star – Pooyam,

MCA, 29 years(05/11/1985, 01.30

AM), 176 cm height, Wheatish

colour, Moderate family, Work-

ing as ‘Commercial Assistant’ in

a reputed automotive company.

seeking alliance of girls from

the suitable family. Contact:

Rejeesh - 92801583, 94238934,

Shanmughan - +919895891202,

+914712619230

ACC. WANTED

Single room required with reason-

able rent. Contact - 95405033

Single room required for an

Executive with reasonable rent.

Contact 95405033

Sharing Accommodation Re-

quired for Non cooking Executive

Lady in Darsait /Ruwi/Wadikabir.

#99360615

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

Looking for job as Mason, steel

fixer, electrician. Contact: 93015630

Masonry / finishing foreman 20

years experience NOC available.

Contact: 98435309/

India + 91 9446958838

Mason, SH / carpenter, steel fitter

gulf & Indian exp looking job.

Contact: 95175192

Electrician, plumber (exp gulf / In-

dian) looking job. Contact 95175192

SALES / MARKETING

Capable confident hard working

Indian male B.Com MBA looking

suitable jobs. Contact – 93279943

Indian male 34 Yrs, Dual MBA

Finance and Marketing with IT

skills, 7+ yrs of experience, looking

for suitable placement.

Contact : 94879615. Email-

[email protected]

25 yrs exp-Shipping, freight for-

warding, Marketing & Operations,

valid Oman D/L & NOC available

- seek suitable position-

Contact 93040366

MBA graduate having 6 years exp

in Sales & Marketing, 2 years with

PEPSI, India, having international

driving license permit seeks suit-

able placement. Cont : 95405033,

Email : [email protected]

5 years experience in Sales cur-

rently looking for a placement.

Contact: 93458869

34years experienced Sales Oman

Marketing in Oman NOC available.

Contact: 99868330


Looking for immediate Sales &

Marketing Job, 10 Years Experi-

ence, MBA Peter -93747126/

E-mail [email protected]

American Male (speaks Arabic)

looking for a job in Marketing &

Sales, Contact 94076032

Indian, 38 years with 15 years in

sales & marketing filed with GCC

valid license. Contact: 94744746

28 years old Indian male look-

ing for job in Oman six years of

marketing experience in India

currently staying on visiting visa

qualification, BSC degree.

Contact: 94855667/92255983

Omani employee looking for a job

as Sales with experience in this

field .Contact: 91161736

Indian male, MBA Finance &

Marketing 28 yrs,6+ Exp, with

Driving license, Hospital Phrma

Herbal Marketing, construction

A/c & sales , F&B industry,

Contact : 93379044

Indian male 29 yrs, BHM, 3 yrs

exp in Oman in sales with D/L &

NOC. Contact: 92594055

Indian young male BBA graduate

with good academics seeks suit-

able placement in marketing sales

finance mainly prefers white col-

lared jobs driving license issued in

Muscat. Contact: 97853013

X’Mas gift items- many varie-

ties candles, fresh flowers, roses,

jasmine, marigold. Many varie-

ties Indian biscuits, namkeens &

homemade sweets, glace cherries,

dry fruits, tutti-frutti & charcoal

for barbecue. Haridas Nensey

Supermarket. Contact – 24750784

/ 23291825

Ayurvedic treatment for back-

ache, paralysis, arthritis etc

& massage, All Season (Vaid-

yaratnam). Contact 24475280

/ 95371664 / 92504980 www.

siddhayur.com

FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know

more about Islam, please call:

99425598, 99250777, 99353988,

99253818, 99341395, and

99379133. For ladies: 99415818,

99321360, 99730723

Orvisit:www.islamfact.com

Ayurvedic treatment for joint

pain, backache, paralysis, massage

steambath, obesity, Spondylitis,

Ideal Care Ayurvedic Clinic,

18 November Street Azaiba.

Contact: 99639695 / 98342990

Balloons beautiful design &

Archie’s works for party, birthday

& New Year functions all events.

Contact 95194801/

96594592

GOOD NEWS

20 yrs experienced MEP Man-

ager seeks suitable placement

(NOC available).

Contact: 97892269

Manager Post of Family Visa,

MBA 14 years Experience in

Multinational Groups in Sales &

Marketing. M.Z. 96220975

Indian male, with experience in

operations management, informa-

tion security, purchase & stores

mgmt, hold UAE driving license,

on visit visa, seeks suitable job.

Contact 91904541


MBA (marketing) with 17 years

experience in freight forwarding/

logistics industry in GCC & Oman.

Presently working as branch

manager in Muscat. Looking for

a suitable position. Release and

NOC available. Contact: 99856331

The Business Development Man-

ager, Iraqi, Experience 15 Years

Inside and outside Oman follow-

ing activities: construction(Very

strong and qualified to bringing

business for civil work Or any

type of the construction work for

many million per year with a good

experience in pricing and collect

payment and cash management

of the company & marketing pro-

jects & investments& tenders &

real estate. Contact: - 92385033

The Business Development Manager, Iraqi, Experience 15

Years Inside and outside Oman

following activities: tenders& real

estate& construction & marketing

projects& investments& transpor-

tation & Marine services& com-

panies management& develop

business. Contact :- 92385033

Indian male 8 yrs exp in Oman

working as housekeeping

supervisor in star hotel,

seeking for a job NOC available.

Contact – 91753210

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

Part- Time Accountant, well

experience senior accountant ,do-

ing all type of accounting works,

Finalization, Budgeting available.

Contact 98803439

29 year Indian male B-Tech Engi-

neering, with 6 yrs of Professional

experience in Manufacturing Oil &

Gas Industries seeking for a

suitable placement (NOC Avail-

able).Kindly contact me on

94628362, email-

[email protected]

MBA (F), B.COM. Indian female

having knowledge of accounts

with Tally looking for job. pres-

ently on family visit visa.

Contact :- 94704661. Email:-

[email protected]

Indian-male 34yrs,m.Com with

14 yrs exp.( 8 Yrs in oman) work-

ing as procurement officer in

contg & trdg co llc.( Worked for

road,civil,electro-mechanical,corr

osion,scaffolding,insulation & Oth-

ers Projects in Oman ) and having

Oman LT D/L, Looking for suitable

placement- M:94064650,


Indian youth BA warehouse man-

ager/sales in Oman 1 year provide

NOC, OMAN Driving license holder

seeks jobs.94 525213

[email protected].

Indian Expat female, BSc Physics

and Tally ERP 9, educated with

valid Oman Driving license seeks

suitable position. Please contact:

0096894864575

Civil Engineer 5 Years EXP 2

years in Oman as a QS Seeking for

part time job as QS.

Contact - 91507508

B Sc. Computer Application + M B

A from UK With 3 years of Experi-

ence, Mumbai, India Available

on Visit Visa (27Years)looking

for a suitable Placement. Contact:

94030166/ 96739581 Email ID:

[email protected]

Part time accountant available,

well experienced in accounting up

to finalization. Knowledge in tally

also. contact. 92643875

31 year Indian male PG in HR

with 5 yrs Professional experi-

ence in HR in Construction Oil &

Gas Oman seeking for a suitable

placement(NOC Available).Kindly

contact me on 93488914, email-

[email protected]

Driver Cum Salesman Profes-

sional, Indian male having 7 Years

of Experience in Oman Having

Valid Driving License working as a

Office Driver, Looking for a

suitable Position, NOC available.

Contact: 99680429


Indian male, totally 8+ years

experience in IT Assistant, 5 Years

in Oman, Looking for a suitable

position in Oman, Holding Oman

Driving license & also NOC is

available. Contact: 98248024,

email- [email protected]

Indian male B.Eng. in IT, CCNA,

MCSA, MCSE, 3 yrs exp. in IT

/ networking/ server support,

valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement in IT/Network/Server

support. Contact 92607532

Indian male, QA/QC Instrument

Inspector, 8 years exp in GCC,

on visit visa. # 92430370 Email:

[email protected],

Indian female, MBA HR & Finance,

having 1 year experience, seeking

suitable placement. Currently in

Oman. Contact: 96052366.

Indian male 23yr BA TTM(Travel

and Tourism Management) with

Advanced Diploma in Supply

Chain Logisitics and Shipping

Management, Experienced in

Logisitics (Customs Clearance)

seeking in suitable placement,

currently on visit visa(Oman)

Contact; 90291092

email:[email protected]

ACCA (Associate Certified

Chartered Accountant) with 2

years experience. Looking for op-

portunities in Finance, Accounts.

Presently Available in Oman for

Personal interviews -

Contact: 96124257, 93692578.

Email at [email protected]

Indian Male, 26 years, With 7

years of experience in Sales Field

in shipping company in “Dubai”


Experienced working in safety Ma-

rine equipment and well versed

with MS Office.Contact 90182494,

[email protected]

Male 27, BCA, Diploma in Net-

working, CCNA certified engineer,

4 years experience in IT support &

networking seeks job.

Contact-90193811

Indian female, 27, food tech-

nologist (MSc Food Technology),

2years experience in research and

development - instant foods, sea-

sonings. Contact -93987174 email

:[email protected]

Project Manager in Mechanical

Engg. (M.sc.) with 8 years experi-

ence in Building Construction,

oil & gas seeking job- # 94625598

([email protected])

Indian male 23yr BA TTM(Travel

and Tourism Management) with

Advanced Diploma in Supply

Chain Logistics and Shipping

Management, Experienced in

Logistics(Customs Clearance)

seeking in suitable placement.

Currently on visit visa (Oman)

Contact; 90291092


31 year Indian male PG in HR

,with 5 yrs Professional experi-

ence in HR in Construction Oil &

Gas Oman seeking for a suitable

placement(NOC Available).Kindly

contact me on 93488914, email-

[email protected]

Software Engineer , Oracle EBS

R-12 Technical Consultant 9

Years Experience. HRMS/ Payroll,

Education, Hotel, Textile,

Shipping Container Terminal.

Email: [email protected].

Contact 97912264

Classes for Spoken EnglishTOEFL / GRE / GMAT / SAT

Excellent Guidance and Coaching Satisfaction Guaranteed

92325542 | 93657915 | 93657917 |


SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

CLASSES

IELTS & TOEFL

Academic / General

Target Band 8

TQT Institute.

Ph # 24480800 / 99347202

Karate and self defense classes

at Azaiba 18 Nov Street. RO 10 per

month twice a week Monday and

Tuesday 6. 30 TO 7. 30. PM.

CONTACT 98294551

Spoken Arabic class for Non Arabic Speakers & English

class for Malayalam Speakers in Azaiba and Ruwi

earn in two monthstion guaranteed

Tel: 95244310

WEBSITE

WEB, ERP and Business Intel-

ligence (BI) creation and manage-

ment at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

COMPUTER

SERVICES

Pest Control Treatments. Ocean Center LLC.

Contact: 99344723

Water proofing ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with

Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain

Marine Tours contact 98029602,

92808636

TOURS

Contact96609857

TRANSPORTATION

Transport. Contact: 99077395

Transportation. Contact: 99664703

Transportation taxi mini bus.

Contact: 93091106

Transportation. Contact 99508282

Transportation & tours.

Contact: 99324045

Pick & drop anytime in Al Khuwair.

Contact 99764307

Transportation available Ruwi to

Al Khuwair, Ghubra & Azaiba.

Contact: 91103909

Transportation. Contact: 99099714

Transportation available Ruwi

Seeb. Contact 99867456

Transportation. Contact:

98505294

Al farzdaq Al Fedi Trad and Cont

Maintenance services electric,

plumbing and A/C.

Contact: 96524904 / 94285064

Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile

polishing, pest control & anti-ter-

mite treatment, general cleaning

painting,Plumbing, Electrical,

shifting. Contact Mundhir

Al-Rizaiqi trading. L.L.C.

Contact: 24810137, 99450130

Debt collection services your

money we collect value com-

mercial services. Fax: 00968-

24783669 Contact: 00968-

2479815 /00968- 24701422

/00968- 94665476 Email:

[email protected]

House shifting. Contact:

99657644/98518013

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. contact ABU QABAS-

99320217 /24788722

Enetstorage offer!! Cloud based

software & mobile responsive

websites locally developed, host-

ing, hardware & cctv/networking

solutions. Contact 94369696 or

[email protected]

Repair desktop laptop, printer,

scanner, networking &all software

inst. Contact 99876547

Marble grinding resurfacing &

ceiling crystallization / polishing

general cleaning of villas & flats.

Terrazzo floor scrubbing,

ceiling, polishing & buffing.

Contact: 98598280 /94134784

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing,

Contact 99314807/

24792998

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of

your marble. Contact 24793614/

99314807

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

Split & window A/c servicing &

maintenance. Contact : 93769089 /

95323517

DRIVING

Learn driving with professional.

Contact: 94022250

FOR LADIES

Home service for ladies only facial, waxing, body massage, (if you

not waxing menicure pedicure) only

20 Riyal, Contact 9243 0239

NRI

Plot for sale Shadnagar

Municipality, Mahboob Nagar

District, walk able distance to

existing colonies,

national highway and basic

amenities at reasonable price.

Contact – 0091 8686631669

Land for sale in Goa indian verna

near big mosque rs 30 lakh

negotiable. Contact: 99468166

A House of 2150 sq.Ft in Padmana-

banagar Bangalore facing south

east on a corner plot of 2315 Sq.Ft

for sale , serious buyer. Contact:

00919845195766, 968 99770173

Plot, propeties for sale in prime

location in pune

95272138,(+918390982975)

Luxurious villas in a Gated community with all the modern facili�es at

Vakathanam By-Pass (MC road-NH 220)Web: www.royalcastles.inemail: [email protected]

+968 92855909, +91 9961 11 9988

royal castles vakathanam, kottayam

D8 S U N D AY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

RENT A CAR

Rental car. Contact: 92516090

AVAILABLE

CHANGE OF NAME

AVAILABLE

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirt-

ing, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery,

Crockery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes,

Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound

Systems and spectacular lighting.

Call Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering

and Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound &

Light. ww.tunesoman.com,


Available office space in Prime location on 18th November Street, Azaiba

Kindly. Contact: 99288664

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

Silver car, car rental at good rate. Contact: 96166155/93530540

I Azad Ahmad (name exactly as in

present passport) son of Ali Hasan

presently residing at the following

address in Mabela P.B No. 158 P.C

No.124 Sultanate of Oman and hav-

ing following permanent address

in India Vill Inderwan Abadullah

P.O Thawe, Dist, Gopalganj (Bihar)

(as per present passport) , holder

of passport No. K 3688059 date

of issue 23/07/2012 place of issue

Muscat Hereby solemnly affirm

and declare that, Sanjeeda Per-

ween (name of my wife appearing

as my passport) and the name of

my wife Sanjeeda Khatoon ap-

pearing as per her Indian Passport

No. M 8668372 are the same

individuals and not two different

individuals. Any objection towards

my name change of my wife may

please be communicated to

Embassy of India, Muscat, Diplo-

matic Quarters, Al Khuwair, P.Box

No, 1727, Postal Code 112, Ruwi ,

Sultanate of Oman.

I Sulakshana Narayan Satardekar (holder of Indian

passport No. H 2628679)

Daughter of Narayan A.Satardekar

having permanent residence in

H.NO.2520 Housing Board Colony,

bicholim Goa 403504 (complete

postal address in India ) and

presently residing in P.O.Box 2861,

P.C 112 Ruwi , Sultanate of Oman ,

Muscat (complete postal address

in Oman) intend to change my

name from Sulakshana Narayan

Satardekar (old name) to Mrs .

Nishita Niteen Pole ( new name)

for all practical purpose. 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.

times of oman - december 27, 2015

Documents