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TUESDAY, October 13, 2015 / 29 Dhul Hijja 1436 AH timesofoman.com wtimesofoman.com facebook.com/timesofoman twitter.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com ISO 9001:2008 Certifi ed Company

Not one of us can perform his duty properly unless he is armed with knowledge. By this I mean `genuine knowledge,’ not just the outward and visible forms of knowledge; in other words, deep knowledge and a real knowledge about things, matters and aff airs.

Address to SQU students

FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTYTHE SULTAN

‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’

UAE visa rule to hit million-plus expats

REJIMON Kreji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: More than one mil-lion expatriates in Oman — re-gardless of their professional sta-tus — will now have to apply for an e-visa to obtain entry into the United Arab Emirates (UAE), say travel agents.

Visa on arrival “Earlier, depending on their pro-fession, many people were able to procure visas-upon-arrival. How-ever, now everyone, barring pass-port holders of certain countries, will have to apply for an e-visa to travel to the UAE,” Raji DeMonte, general manager at Universal Travel and Tourism in Oman, told the Times of Oman, citing a travel alert sent to them.

The new rule came into eff ect this month and an e-visa is need-ed for entry through road, air and sea ports.

“Citizens from European coun-tries and a few South East Asian countries, who have a treaty with

the UAE, can still get a visa-on-arrival free of charge for 30 days,” DeMonte added.

Under the previous rules, busi-nessmen and women, and their families from countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or the Philippines living in Oman- whose countries don’t have a trea-ty with the UAE could claim visa on arrival if their job titles were of senior roles, such as accountants, doctors, lawyers or engineers. But now all have to seek an e-visa.

European Union countries with whom the UAE has a treaty are unaff ected by the new ruling, as are countries such as New Zea-land, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Andorra, that all have national agreements with the UAE. >A6

Crossing the

border is now more

complicated for

many expatriates

in Oman who now

need an e-visa

Staff Reporter

MUSCAT: A unifi ed visa for the six-member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) may be available from the middle of next year, Saudi media reported quoting GCC offi cials.

The GCC General Secretariat is working on the ambitious proposal to

introduce the visa that would allow foreigners to visit all the GCC countries, more or less similar to Europe’s Schengen visa.

“The unified GCC visa could soon become a real-ity following the meeting of the GCC tourism ministers in Doha last week,” the report said quoting a Gulf official. >A6

Schengen-like tourism visa in GCC planned by 2016

Website to show crash history of old vehicles

His Majesty issues two Royal Decrees

FAHAD AL GHADANIfahadnews@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Buying a used vehi-cle is likely to become less stren-uous, with an exclusive website dedicated to showing the com-plete accident history of vehicles being planned by the authorities in Oman.

The Public Authority for Consumer Protection (PACP), in coordination with the Royal Oman Police (ROP) and insur-ance companies, is working on the website, which will carry the

information on used vehicles.The website, which will be

open to the public, will have sev-eral details, including if the ve-hicle has met with an accident and also the extent of damage the vehicle might have suff ered, ac-cording to a press release.>A6

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said on Monday issued two Royal Decrees as follows:

Royal Decree No. 38/2015 promulgates Muscat Municipal-ity Law.

Article (1) states that Muscat Municipality Law attached to this Decree shall be applied.

Article (2) stipulates that the Chairman of Muscat Municipal-ity shall issue the regulations and decisions necessary for the implementation of this Law. Till such a time that these bylaws are issued, the regulations and deci-sions in force shall continue to be applied without prejudice to the provisions of this decree and the attached Law.

Article (3) cancels the Muscat Municipality Law issued under Royal Decree No. 8/92, as well

as all that contradicts this de-cree (No. 38/2015) or the Law at-tached herewith or contravenes their provisions.

Article (4) says that this De-cree shall be published in the Of-fi cial Gazette and be enforced on the day following its date of pub-lishing.

Royal Decree No. 39/2015 ap-proves the Organisational Struc-ture of Muscat Municipality.

Article (1) stipulates that the Organisational Structure of Muscat Municipality shall be approved in accordance with the Annex attached to this Decree.

Article (2) cancels all that con-tradicts this decree or contra-venes its provisions.

Article (3) says that this De-cree shall be published in the Of-fi cial Gazette and enforced on its date of issue. -ONA

P A C P , R O P

M U S C A T M U N I C I P A L I T Y

ADDITIONAL ENTRY CLAUSE: The new rule on entry to UAE came into eff ect this month.

REGIONCourt orders release of Mubarak’s sons

2An Egyptian court on Monday ruled that former president Hosni

Mubarak’s two sons could be released from prison while awaiting an appeal for a case involving the theft of state funds, judicial sources said. >A7

TRENDING‘People are paid for their experience’

3The Times of Oman this week has been quite vocal on the two-year ban, fi rst

running the story that ‘Bosses should be generous in issuing NOCs (October 11) and then running the story of the OCCI chairman, Said bin Saleh Al Kayoumi. >A12

OMANBad weather hitsOmani sailor search

1Bad weather is hampering the search and rescue operation in Croatian

waters for Mohammed Al Alawi, the 26-year-old MOD70 crew member, who went missing last Wednesday. Al Alawi went missing last Wednesday, just south of Pula in Croatia. >A3

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

A3India to attract 100,000 tourists from Oman

Expect rain in Oman on Thursday, FridayREJIMON Kreji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Rain is expected in Muscat and interior areas on Thursday and Friday as the Ara-bian Sea tropical depression is moving towards the Oman coast, an offi cial from Oman meteorol-ogy department said.

“The deep tropical depres-sion which has weakened into a tropical depression, is some 1,150km away from the Oman

coast. It may bring rain to Oman on Thursday and Friday,” the of-fi cial told Times of Oman.

“The system’s superfi cial wind speed around the centre is be-tween 20 and 25 knots,” the offi -cial added.

“Former TC 03A cyclone over Arabian Sea will tap system to bring rain to Oman, South Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan on Thursday and Friday,” Jason Nicholls, the senior meteorolo-gist at Accuweather.com said.

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

Announcement today on Islamic New Year

Times News Service

MUSCAT: A decision on when Oman will observe the fi rst day of Muharram, the Islamic New Year, will be taken on Tuesday evening, according to a reliable source at the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Aff airs.

Whether public and private sector workers will be off on Wednesday or Thursday will come after the Muharram moon sighting committee sets off at 6pm on Tuesday. The committee, which is going to meet on Tues-day, is not the main committee but a sub-committee.

M O O N S I G H T I N G C O M M I T T E E

A2 T U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

OMANTo me, it seems that the LNG imported from Oman has been ploughed into the engine of cooperation and friendship between our peoples, and generated a huge fl ame of success and mutual benefi t.

Kim Daesik, Ambassador of South Korea to Oman

‘New building of South Korea embassy soon’

MOBIN MATHEW BLESSONmobinmathew@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: The South Korean embassy will soon be housed in a new building in Muscat.

Speaking at an event held to cel-ebrate the National Foundation Day of the Republic of Korea here on Sunday, South Korea’s ambas-sador to Oman, Kim Daesik, said, “Our new embassy building is now under construction in the diplo-matic quarter, and will be com-pleted around the end of this year. We may be able to hold an opening ceremony in February next year and the building will remain there forever to mark our close and ever-growing relations.”

Stressing on the potential of fu-ture cooperation between South Korea and Oman, the ambassador said, “Since 1974, our relations have developed to the great sat-isfaction of both peoples in every fi eld. Last year, our trade volume reached at $5.8 billion. Many Ko-rean business people have been participating in the process of de-

velopment of the Omani economy, and more will come in the future.”

Oman has been an important partner for South Korea, the am-bassador said.

Pointing out that South Korea is the number one country, which imports LNG from Oman, he said that the annual worth of the im-port is $4 billion.

“To me, it seems that the LNG imported from Oman has been ploughed into the engine of coop-eration and friendship between our peoples, and generated a huge fl ame of success and mutual ben-efi t,” he stated.

Expressing his appreciation for His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the ambassador said, “His excellent guidance has advanced the country’s relations to today’s excellent level.”

The ambassador also wished His Majesty good health and longevity for his continued leadership.

Further commenting on Oman-Korea ties, he said, “Forty-one years ago, when the Muscat airport opened, our diplomatic ties were

knotted. As an Oman airplane took off into the sky, our relations also took off with a bang and to an en-ergetic start.

“Now, a new Muscat airport is about to realise its new start. I be-lieve that our relations will also progress full steam for another takeoff and development during the next 40 years.”

Speaking about Korea’s recent history and future, the ambassa-dor said, “We Koreans have striv-en to maintain our proud national identity, and developed a rich cul-ture and heritage. As is the case with every nation, with a long his-tory, Koreans have gone through the vicissitudes of life.”

He added, “From the 1960s on-wards, Koreans have worked hard and desperately for survival and resurrection. We rose to achieve economic success and liberal democracy. In nearly two gen-erations’ time, we have succeeded in obtaining the two objectives that a modern society aspires to achieve. I would like to point out that support and cooperation from many friendly countries has made a great contribution to our success. We are always very much grateful to them.”

He said Koreans are actively participating in the United Na-tions’ peace-keeping missions around the world, and have estab-lished a governmental aid agency to share their experiences with people in developing countries.

The new embassy building is now under

construction in the diplomatic quarter, and

will be completed around the end of this year

STRONG TIES: Oman has been an important partner for South Korea, said Kim Daesik, South Korea’s

ambassador to Oman, at an event held to celebrate the country’s National Foundation Day, in Muscat

on Sunday. – AR Rajkumar

Alawi receives

credentials

MUSCAT: Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Aff airs, received cop-ies of credentials of Ali bin Fahad Al Hajri, appointed-ambassador of the sisterly State of Qatar to the Sultanate, and Andreas Pa-nayiotou, appointed-ambassa-dor of the friendly Republic of Cyprus to the Sultanate.

Alawi welcomed the ambas-sadors and wished them a pleas-ant stay and success in their tour of duties as their countries’ ambassadors to the Sultanate. He also wished the good rela-tions between the Sultanate and their countries further pro-gress and growth. -ONA

Q A T A R , C Y P R U S

Real estate deals worth OMR291m transactedMUSCAT: A total of 29,802 trans-actions worth OMR291,292.488 were conducted in the real estate sector during September 2015, Ab-dallah bin Salim Al Makhini, Sec-retary of the Real Estate Registry at the Ministry of Housing, said.

The fee collected amounted to OMR4,299,000, he added. The contracts included inheritance, donation, mortgage and mortgage redemption. A total of 6,394 sale contracts worth OMR82,998,998 were signed in all the governorates with OMR2,464,204 collected from fees, he said.

Al Makhini added that the Governorate of North Al Batinah

recorded the highest rate of real estate sale contracts with 1,329 contracts followed by the Gover-norate of Muscat with 1,224 con-tracts.

A total of 1,044 sale contracts were signed in the Governorate of South Al Batinah, 759 in the Gov-ernorate of Al Dakhiliyah, 468 in the Governorate of North Al Shar-qiyah, 457 in the Governorate of Dhofar, 392 in South Al Sharqiyah Governorate, 336 in the Governo-rate of Al Dahirah, 215 in the Gov-ernorate of Al Buraimi, 151 in the Governorate of Al Wusta and 19 sale contracts in the Governorate of Musandam. -ONA

S E P T E M B E R D A T A

Deal signed for

autism centre

SOHAR: Two agreements were signed between the Ministry of Social Development and Jusoor Foundation for the establish-ment of an autism centre in the Wilayat of Sohar and a reha-bilitation centre for children with physical challenges in the Wilayat of Liwa.

The signing ceremony was held at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Sohar under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Sa’ayid Al Kalbani, Minister of Social Development. The two projects are subsidised by Jusoor Foun-dation. The agreements were signed by A’amer bin Moham-med Al Hajri, Director General of the Directorate General for Social Development in North and South Al Batinah Governo-rates on behalf of ministry and Sheikh Ali bin Saleh Al Hashar CEO of Jusoor on behalf of the foundation. The ceremony was attended by Sheikh Muhanna bin Saif Al Lamki, Governor of North Al Batinah, a number of Walis, members of Majlis Al Shura among others. -ONA

S O H A R

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India to attract 100,000 Omani tourists in 2015

RAHUL DASrahuldas@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: India is looking at at-tracting 100,000 tourists from Oman in 2015, a senior offi cial of the Indian Embassy in Muscat said on Sunday.

Between January and Septem-ber this year, the embassy issued 69,000 visas to Omanis.

“This signifi es a robust fl ow of tourists from Oman to India,” said Indra Mani Pandey, India’s ambassador to Oman. In 2014, around 88,000 Omanis visited In-dia, according to the Bureau of Im-migration, India.

“Medical tourism remains an attraction as India off ers state-of-the-art medical facilities and ex-cellent healthcare at a fraction of the cost elsewhere,” said Manas Pattanaik, regional director, India Tourism, Dubai.

Realising the importance of Oman, which is an important mar-ket in the region, the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India organised a tourism roadshow on Sunday. “The roadshow has been organised with the help of the Em-bassy of India, Muscat to provide a glimpse of the attractive tourism products as well as the countless cultural, spiritual and travel expe-riences that India off ers as a tour-ist destination,” he said.

The highlight of the Incredible India tourism road show was to depict India as a multi-faceted all-the-year-round tourist desti-nation for culture, luxury, wildlife, wellness and medical tourism.

For this, a delegation of offi cials of leading Indian tour operators, hotels and airlines showcased the tourist attractions of India.

“The roadshow in Muscat is a part of the three events being or-ganised in the region, that is Abu Dhabi, Muscat, followed by Am-man to promote the Indian tour-ism products in these important

markets,” added Pattanaik.The number of foreign tourist

arrivals (FTAs) during 2014 was 7.46 million (provisional fi gures) registering a growth of 7.1 per cent over 2013.

Important market“The Gulf and the Middle East region are an important market for India. There has been a con-sistent and positive growth of foreign tourist arrivals from this region to India over the last three years with 2014 having registered an overall growth of around 19 per cent over the previous year,” he added.

India continues to attract visi-tors with its natural beauty, vivid festivals, exotic beaches and ar-chitectural marvels;from palaces and heritage hotels, to deserts,

and skiing in the mountains. There are also swimming and

diving facilities, beautiful beach-es and boat houses in Kerala and Kashmir, luxurious camps in na-tional parks, and luxurious train journeys, as well as a diverse range of accommodation from budget to high end 5-star proper-ties, heritage and spa resorts.

Pattanaik also said that India has emerged as a destination for medical and wellness travel in GCC countries.

“The percentage of foreign tourists visiting India for medi-cal treatment has been increas-ing over the years and growing rapidly since the year 2005. In-dia is poised to become a hub for medical tourism because of sev-eral factors such as world class hospitals with latest technology, highly skilled Indian physicians and surgeons, low cost of treat-ment, and excellent quality of care and nursing in addition to comparatively less waiting time for availing of medical services. India’s traditional healthcare therapies like Ayurveda and Yoga combined with allopathic treat-ment provide a holistic wellness destination,” he added.

The Ministry of Tourism is also stepping up its eff orts to at-tract new target groups such as eco and adventure travellers and highlight the tourism potential of relatively less known products and areas.

In 2014, around

88,000 Omanis

visited India,

according to the

country’s Bureau of

Immigration

ARRIVALS IN INDIA FROM MIDDLE EAST

Source: India’s Bureau of Immigration

2012 2013 2014

10,045

38,82641,664

32,127

22,98618,654

47,64949,759

13,136 Bahrain

48,321 Iraq

24,294 Turkey

34,207 Yemen

55,487 Saudi Arabia59,332 UAE

88,512 Oman

10,531

0

41,218

25,022

25,019

48,737

51,513

42,892

62,252

Graphics

Bad weather hits search for Oman Sail memberREJIMON K reji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Bad weather is ham-pering the search and rescue op-eration in Croatian waters for Mo-hammed Al Alawi, the 26-year-old MOD70 crew member, who went missing last Wednesday.

“Saturday’s bad weather con-tinued into Sunday and the high winds, bad visibility and rough seas grounded the search aircraft. On Monday, conditions are ex-pected to improve and we aim to continue searching from the air,” a statement from Oman Sail said.

“After fi ve days of searching for

Al Alawi, the area of focus has been extended into Italian waters.

Coordinated eff ort“The Croatian and Italian coast-guard are in contact and are coor-dinating for the next phase. The Croatian coastguard has worked tirelessly since Wednesday, along with the Oman Sail search team being on standby on Sunday, to continue looking for Mohammed,” the statement added.

Al Alawi went missing last Wednesday, just south of Pula in Croatia, while the MOD70 was en route from France to Trieste in Italy for the Barcolana.

M O H A M M E D A L A L A W I

Manas Pattanaik, regional di-

rector, India Tourism, Dubai

Civil Service Ministry signs agreement for archiving

MUSCAT: An agreement for cooperation in documention was signed by the Ministry of Civil Service and National Re-cords and Archives Authority (NRAA), on Monday.

The agreement was signed by Sheikh Khalid bin Omar bin Said Al Marhoon, Minister of Civil Service and Dr Hamad bin Mohammed Al Dhoyani, Chair-man of the National Records and Archives Authority (NRAA) at the NRAA.

Sheikh Khalid bin Omar bin Said Al Marhoon, Minister of Civil Service, said the agreement with NRAA documents the ef-forts made to produce a book on the evolution and development of the civil service sector.

The book titled ‘The evolu-tion and development of the civ-il service sector’, was published by the Ministry of Civil Service in 2014.

The book documents the phases of development wit-nessed by the civil service sec-tor since the beginning of the Blessed Renaissance, under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said.

Dr. Hamad bin Mohammed Al Dhoyani, Chairman of NRAA, said the Authority would take over the task of developing the book which was initiated by the Ministry of Civil Service.

The Authority will moni-tor all developments related to archiving and documentation therefore and will provide a comprehensive methodology in coordination with the Ministry of Civil Service to monitor this development.

As per the agreement, NRAA will receive a soft copy of the book to update the data, the names and pictures of the offi -cials mentioned in the book eve-ry three years to ensure that it keeps pace with developments in the civil service sector. -ONA

A D M I N I S T R A T I O N

Call to step up fight against human trafficking

MUSCAT: There is a need to boost international and re-gional cooperation in the fi ght against human traffi cking, it was stressed at a seminar here.

The seminar, highlighting successful legislations and measures taken to combat hu-man traffi cking, was organised by the Ministry of Justice at the Higher Judiciary Institute in Nizwa on Monday.

Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, Secretary General of the Foreign Minis-try, Chairman of the National Committee for Combating Hu-man Traffi cking, sponsored the event in the presence of Sheikh Abdul Malik bin Abdullah Al Khalili, Minister of Justice and Dr Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad bin Hilal Al Sa’ad, Governor of Al Dakhilya.

Sayyid Badr said the semi-nar refl ects the concerns of the Sultanate in general and the concept of law for combating human traffi cking in particular and has the participation of de-cision-makers .

Issa bin Hamad Al Azri, Un-dersecretary of the Ministry of Justice delivered a speech in which he pointed out that the seminar is being held to high-light some of the successful ef-forts in the Sultanate to combat human traffi cking. -ONA

M I N I S T R Y O F J U S T I C E

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OMAN

Dar Al Atta’a equips classes in six schools

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Six classrooms have been equipped with school essen-tials across fi ve schools in some of the governorates by Dar Al Atta’a, Oman’s charitable organisation, at a cost of OMR13,720.

“Given the importance of learn-ing in children’s lives, Dar Al Atta’a has adopted the needs of several schools, in remote areas in particular, where kindergarten is not facilitated within elementary schools,” a press release from the association said.

Dar Al Atta’a has funded six pre-school classrooms in fi ve schools for two classes each at the Safi a Al Thaqafi a Elementary School in the wilayat of Liwa and in the Al-Batinah North Governorate, and one class in each at the Al Jeela Elementary School, wilayat of Samail in Al Dakhiliya Gover-norate, at the Al-Lakby School for Elementary Education, Wilayat of Al Jazir in the Central Gov-ernorate, at the Malik lbn Anas School for Elementary Education in the Wilayat of Al Buraimi and at the Wadi Al Meeh School for Elementary Education in Wadi Al Meeh, Muscat.

Maryam Al Zadjali, chairper-son, Dar Al Atta’a said, “We are very happy to support such kind of an initiative, which targets chil-dren of KG (kindergarten) classes,

because we do believe that off er-ing the right environment to them would be considered a motiva-tion for receiving knowledge that develops their abilities and helps them mingle with other kids of the same age group in an organ-ised school atmosphere that will prepare them for future study. I would like to take this opportu-nity to extend my thanks and ap-preciation to the sponsors of this project: the Dutch community in Muscat and Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa.”

The project has been coordinat-ed by Dar Al Atta’a since 2010 and is based on the voluntary eff orts of school principals and teachers in each region of the Sultanate. The

association provides furniture and supplies to classrooms in the afore-mentioned schools after coordinat-ing with the personnel in charge.

Essential stageThese supplies include chairs, ta-bles, storage units, mobile desks, tables for storing art supplies, separators, curtains, personal computers, copy machines, car-pets and educational school bags that contain all that a child needs, such as learning material and games that develops their intel-lectual abilities.

“Early childhood years are the most essential stage in the life of every human being; its impact ex-tends throughout one’s life. They

constitute the highest pace of a child growth, development and ability to intensively learn over the span of a short period of time. The fi rst eight years, and particu-larly the fi rst three years, hold major importance and will have a great impact on children, as the ef-fect of care and attention provided to them moulds them at this stage and continues into adolescence,” an association spokesperson said.

“The aim of the pre-school stage is to create an environment of care and safety so that the child can explore his interests and learn multiple basic skills, while being around and playing with his peers can build his confi dence and his own personality,” he added.

The charitable

organisation has

adopted the needs

of several schools,

in remote areas

in particular

International jazz fusion concert set for October 17Times News Service

MUSCAT: An international jazz fusion concert, “String Struck 2”, will be held in the Sur Ballroom of Muscat Holiday Hotel at Al Khu-wair on October 17.

The event is being held as part of the October Festival organised by Light & Shadow Enterprises. “The October Festival is being held to celebrate the 45th National Day of Oman,” organisers said.

Musicians Purbayan Chatterjee, Gino Banks, Anubrata Chatterjee, Sangeet Haldipur and Sheldon D’Silva will perform at the concert.

“Three renowned Omani musi-cians will also be performing at the event,” an organiser added.

Contemporary touchPurbayan Chatterjee is a Sitarist, who learnt playing Sitar from his father Parthapratim Chatterjee. His music combines the tone and richness of the Nikhil Banerjee style and a contemporary touch of his own urbane sensitivity.

He became the recipient of the President of India award for Best Instrumentalist of the country at the age of 15 years. He has per-formed at many prestigious ven-ues during his international career spanning 25 years.

Chatterjee has also designed the “Dwo,” which is a doppelganger of the Indian Sitar and is a manifes-tation of the contemporary, urbane personality of his music. Chatter-jee’s music has been internation-ally appreciated by jazz greats, such as Chick Corea, Bella Fleck and Pat Metheney. He has also performed many times with Tabla stalwart Ustad Zakir Hussain.

At the concert, drums will be played by Gino Banks, who has been playing drums since he was 8 years old and took it up seriously at the age of 15. He is the son of Louiz Banks, India’s legendary jazz pia-nist and composer.

Gino is a versatile player and has performed with numerous artists and bands. He has also played with international musi-cians, like Tony Lakatos, George Brooks, Leni Stern.

Tabla will be played by Anubrata Chaterjee, who made his debut as an accompanying artist with the legendary Pt. Hari Prasad Chau-rasia and since then, has gone on to successfully accompany living legends of Indian classical music, such as Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Ustad Rais Khan, Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma, and other respected mu-sicians globally.

Contemporary needsInternationally, he made his debut with a solo performance at the BBC World Radio, United Kingdom in 1991. While being deeply rooted in the traditional style of playing, An-ubrata also understands the need for his art to be contemporary. He actively collaborates on projects that are traditional yet new age, which especially strike a chord with the youth.

Based on this thought process, he has formed a unique percus-sion group named “Taal-India,” wherein every region of the coun-try is represented by a percussion instrument.

B I G S H O W

MAJLIS HALL INAUGURATEDA Majlis (sitting hall) with all the amenities has been constructed in Al Jufrah by Jindal Shadeed Iron & Steel as part of its

corporate social responsibility project. Ali bin Ahmed bin Mushari Al Shamsi, Wali of Sohar, inaugurated the Majlis in the

presence of Naushad Ansari, chief executive offi cer of Jindal Shadeed, on Monday. Jindal Shadeed Iron & Steel LLC plant is

located in Sohar Industrial Port Area. -Supplied photo

Training session for writing, adding articles on Wikipedia organisedTimes News Service

MUSCAT: A training session to provide practical insight into writing and adding articles in Wikipedia was organised by the Information Technology Author-ity (ITA), on Monday evening.

The session introduced WikiO-man contest terms and condi-tions, its objectives, and the evalu-ation criteria.

Aiming to enrich the Arabic content on the Internet, the ITA organised the session in part-nership with Badr Albayan for Translation at the Cultural Club at Alqurum.

The training session, which witnessed wide participation from social media users, bloggers, and students, was conducted by Abdullah bin Hammad Almaani and Badr bin Salim Alkassabi, two Omani translators, who have wide experience in writing in the free encyclopaedia, from Badr Albay-an for Translation, which is one

of the Omani SMEs that provides translation and localisation ser-vices along with various services related to the fi elds of linguistics and communications.

Welcoming the participants at the beginning of the session, Ham-

dan bin Mohammed Al’Alawi, projects specialist at ITA said, “According to the 2012 ITU report on measuring Information Soci-ety, the existing Arabic eContent does not exceed 3 per cent from the overall eContent. Moreover,

the total Arabic eContent in the Free Encyclopaedia “Wikipe-dia” is about 0.82, which is less than 1 per cent.”

“We tend to be knowledge con-sumers only and the knowledge sharing and production in our Arab world is relatively poor. It is our responsibility to contribute in developing and increasing the Arabic eContent,” he added.

The training session focussed on the theoretical and practical aspects in the process of sharing free and open articles in Wikipe-dia. The theoretical aspect gave a brief about Wikipedia, its incep-tion, development and uses in education and in gaining general knowledge about a certain topic. It also discussed the terms and conditions of publishing in the free encyclopaedia and how to search for a good article to write about as well as the way of select-ing and diff erentiating between reliable and non-reliable sources and references.

I T A I N I T I A T I V E

NEW SKILLS: The session introduced WikiOman contest terms

and conditions, its objectives and evaluation criteria. – Supplied photo

OFFERING THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT: Early childhood years are the most essential stage in the life

of every human being and its impact extends throughout one’s life. – Supplied photo

Anubrata Chaterjee

We are very happy to support such kind of an initiative, which targets children of KG (kindergarten) classes

Maryam Al Zadjali, chairperson, Dar Al Atta’a

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Oman’s population crosses 4.25 million

MUSCAT: Oman’s population stood at 4,254,416 as of Septem-ber 2015, recording a 0.7 per cent growth from August, according to data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Informa-tion (NCSI), the Sultanate’s offi -cial statistical agency.

Expatriates made up 44.4 per cent of the total population, with their numbers crossing 1,888,479, while the Omani population was counted at 2,365,937.

The highest population density was recorded in the Governorate

of Muscat at 1,320,464, refl ecting an increase of 0.7 per cent. The number of expatriates in the Gov-ernorate of Muscat was pegged at 828,510, compared with 491,954 Omanis. Expatriates outnum-bered Omanis by a signifi cant margin of 336,556.

Expat population exceedsNotably, Muscat is the only gov-ernorate in the Sultanate, where the expatriate population exceeds that of Omani nationals.

The data also showed that the governorates of Dakhiliyah, South Sharqiyah, North Sharqiyah, Dha-hirah, South Al Batinah and Al Wusta recorded a growth rate of 0.4 per cent for each governorate.

The Governorate of North Al

Batinah came in second on the list of the governorates with a consid-erable population in the Sultan-ate. The governorate’s population was estimated to be 690,780, showing an increase of 0.4 per cent. The number of Omanis re-siding in the governorate was 467,224, compared with 223,556 expatriates.

The population in the Governo-rate of South Sharqiyah reached 279,076, including 190,118 Oma-nis, while the Governorate of Dhakiliyah’s population was 421,303, including 325,247 Oma-nis, compared to 96,056 expatri-ates. The population in the Gover-norate of North Sharqiyah reached 251,729, including 164,534 Oma-nis and 87,195 expatriates.

In the Governorate of Dha-hirah, the population reached 193,687, including 143,695 Oma-nis and 49,992 expatriates, while the population of the Governorate of Al Wusta reached 41,439, in-cluding 23,018 Omanis and 18,421 expatriates.

The residents of the Gover-norate of Dhofar logged a 0.6 per cent increase, with the popula-tion touching 392,517, including 198,318 Omanis, in addition to 194,199 expatriates.

The Governorate of Musandam saw the same percentage increase as Dhofar, with its population reaching 41,531, including 26,468 Omanis and 15,063 expatriates.

Comparable population The population of the Gover-norate of Al Buraimi reached 103,593, refl ecting an increase of 0.3 per cent, which is somewhat comparable with expatriate and Omani populations of 51,588 and 52,005, respectively.

Data indicated that there was a 6.5 per cent increase in the number of expatriates, who are classifi ed as not belonging to any particular governorate, with the corresponding numbers in Sep-tember and August recorded as 137,285 and 128,947. -ONA

Expatriates make

up 44.4 per cent of

the total population,

with their numbers

crossing 1,888,479,

while the Omani

population touched

2,365,937

‘Stem cell research must

ensure human health’

Times News Service

MUSCAT: There is a need to ensure that stem cell research is practiced in the proper man-ner for the protection of human health and the society’s well-being, said Dr. Kahlan Nabhan Al Kharousi, Assistant Grand Mufti of the Sultanate.

The sixth forum of the National Bioethics Committee, based on the theme, “Stem Cells: An Over-all Approach,” was held on Mon-day at the Sultan Qaboos Univer-sity (SQU).

The forum was held under the patronage of Sheikh Abdullah bin

Mohammed Al Salimi, the Minis-ter of Awqaf and Religious Aff airs.

The forum included two ses-sions focusing on stem cell re-search, the ethical aspects of stem cell preservation, Islamic per-spective on stem cells and stem cell research, Oman’s experience in stem-cell research, treatment and future perspectives, and oth-er related topics.

Speaking at the opening cer-emony, Al Kharousi, who is also the vice chairman of the National Bioethics Committee, reiterated that the aim of the forum is to ensure that stem cell research is practiced in the right way.

A S S I S T A N T G R A N D M U F T I

MUSCAT: Bank Muscat has won the Best Bank in Middle East and Africa for Liquidity Risk Manage-ment award by the Asian Banker.

The bank is the fi rst in the re-gion to win this prestigious award

from the Asian Banker.The Asian Banker Risk Man-

agement Awards programme is designed to identify best practic-es and outstanding achievements of the best run risk management

teams in fi nancial institutions. The awards are benchmarked by tracking developments around the world. Risk management is at the heart of decision making at fi -nancial institutions. -ONA

P R E S T I G I O U S A W A R D

Bank Muscat gets best bank award

4,254,416 IS THE POPULATION OF OMAN As of September, 2015

Source: National Centre for Statistics and Information Graphics

Omani Expat

Muscat

1,320,464828,510

491,954

0

NorthAl Batinah

690,780

223,556

467,224

SouthAl Batinah

381,012

283,773

97,239

NorthA’Sharqiyah

251,729

164,534

87,195

SouthA’Sharqiyah

279,076

190,118

88,958

A’Dhakiliyah

421,303

325,247

96,056

A’Dhahirah

193,687

143,695

49,992

Al Wusta

41,439

23,018

18,421

Dhofar

392,517

198,318

194,199

Musandam

41,531

26,468

15,063

Al-Buraimi

103,593

51,588

52,005

Not belongingto any

particulargovernorate

137,285

137,285

The highest population density was recorded in the

Governorate of Muscat at 1,320,464, reflecting an

increase of 0.7 per cent. The number of expatriates

in the Governorate of Muscat was pegged at 828,510,

compared with 491,954 Omanis

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OMANT U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

People, who want to buy used vehicles, are always anxious and looking for information, such as if the vehicle has met with an accident

Jasim Al Harthi, businessman

New UAE entry rule to hit businessmen hard

According to the travel alert, a GCC residence entry permit is valid for 30 days before entry from the issuance date, and al-lows a stay period after entry of 30 days, which can be extended to 60 days.

Meanwhile, a GCC accompa-nied entry permit is valid for 60 days before entry from the issu-ance date, and the stay period af-ter entry is 60 days, which can be extended by another 60 days.

However, upon arrival, if GCC residency is found to have expired or cancelled, the entry permit holder shall not be granted entry and if the profession of the GCC resident is determined to have been amended after issuance of the entry permit, the holder shall not be granted entry.

“GCC residency must be valid for at least three months from the arrival date and the pass-port must be valid for at least six months from the arrival date,” the travel alert stated.

The alert added that checks had to be conducted before allowing entry to foreigners with tempo-rary passports.

However, foreigners possess-ing only emergency passports would not be permitted entry into the UAE.

The travel alert also added that the GCC resident e-visa is only valid for entry into arrival/issu-ance port in the UAE.

“Visas issued for entry into Dubai are valid for entry only into Dubai,” the alert explained, add-ing that an e-visa will be sent to the applicant through a registered e-mail address in the application once it is approved.

“However, a GCC resident ap-plication will not be approved for any family member if the sponsor is not travelling along with the family members,” the alert added.

Earlier, a GCC resident’s fam-ily member was not allowed to travel if his or her sponsor was not travelling.

Meanwhile, expatriate busi-nessmen in Oman, who frequent-ly travel to Dubai, said the new move will hit them hard.

“We used to make frequent trips to Dubai for business needs. Get-ting a visa on arrival at airport or at

the border check posts was quite easy. Now, we will have to apply online then wait for approval and all. This will aff ect our business badly,” Nawas Mohammed and Faisal Ahmed, businessmen in Muttrah, told Times of Oman.

“In Buraimi, a large number of expatriate businessmen run their business only on the basis of pur-chasing goods from Dubai when-ever needed. Many make dozens of visits to Dubai. Now, that will stop. It will aff ect us badly. Stop-ping visa on arrival facility will aff ect us badly,” Anwar Moham-med, a businessman in Buraimi, said. Earlier this month, UAE had announced that visitor visas can be applied for via the Ministry of Interior’s website or through its smartphone app, where services are available 24/7.

V I S A R U L E

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The offi cial confi rmed that tourism offi cials discussed a range of topics, including the long-awaited unifi ed visa proposal and a unifi ed tour-ism policy at the meeting, the report added.

“All Gulf Cooperation Council countries stand to gain from the new tour-ism policy,” said Khalid bin Salem Al Ghassani, GCC as-sistant secretary general for cultural and media aff airs.

Unifi ed visa plan discussed

Job-seekers get a chance to connect with industry bosses

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Sheikh Khalid bin Omar Al Marhoon, Minister of Civil Services, offi cially inau-gurated the second edition of EduTraC Oman, at the Oman International Exhibition Centre on Monday.

A pavilion for job-seekers is being featured in the second edi-tion of EduTraC Oman. Here, job-seekers will have an oppor-tunity to meet HR personnel from diff erent industry sectors, associations, government or-ganisations and private sector companies, who will promote the available on-the-job training and job vacancies for prospective candidates.

Dedicated pavilion A dedicated pavilion for bank-ing and fi nance institutions will provide an excellent opportunity to job-seekers interested in hunt-

ing opportunities in the banking and fi nance sector, and young entrepreneurs interested in ob-taining fi nancial information to start their new business as well as for the needs of their existing business.

EduTraC Oman has been or-ganised by Al Nimr Interna-tional Exhibition and will be open for visitors from 10am to 1pm and from 4:30pm to 9pm until Wednesday.

The three-day event is being organised under the patronage of the Ministry of Higher Educa-tion, Ministry of Education – Na-tional Career Guidance Centre, Ministry of Civil Services and the Ministry of Manpower.

The Oman Academic Accredi-tation Authority is participating as the Associate Partner or Edu-TraC Oman 2015.

As Oman’s investments on higher education and training continue to grow, EduTraC Oman will provide a direct gateway and an ideal platform for leading local and foreign universities and train-ing institutions to network with students, parents and working executives interested in educa-tion and training at all levels, said a statement from EduTraC.

Strategic awarenessThe expo will off er a strategic awareness opportunity to higher education and training provid-ers to strengthen their presence in Oman’s vibrant education market.

EduTraC Oman, a much antici-pated education exhibition, will gather professionals from global education domain and represent-atives from reputed universities

under one roof off ering opportu-nities to students to study in local and international universities.

The higher education pavilion is supported by Education USA, United States embassy in Oman, British Council, and the United Kingdom (UK) Trade and Invest-ment, in addition to Education Malaysia, Educational Consult-ants India Limited (EdCIL), Min-istry of Education and Culture – Cyprus, Study in Cyprus, and Education New Zealand.

The diamond sponsors are Majan College and Colleges of Technology. The platinum spon-sors are College of Banking and Financial Studies, International College of Engineering and Man-agement, Caledonian College of Engineering, and Gulf College, apart from National Automotive Higher Education Institute and

IE Business School from Spain. University of Dundee, Leeds

Beckett University, Swiss Educa-tion Group Education Zone, and Emirates Aviation University along with Hult International Business School are the Gold Sponsors. Al Ahlam Higher Edu-cation Services is the UK & Irish Counselling partner.

The catalogue sponsor is Brad-fi eld Group and the Education Technology Partner is MI Store (Apple Inc).

The training and Job Pavilion is supported by Jisser Oman, AMIDEAST & The Training Gateway.

Bayt.com is the Strategic Career Partner. The Diamond Sponsors are HSBC Bank Oman SAOG, National Bank Of Oman, Polyglot Institute, Rusayl Insti-tute, Sohar International Insti-tute and Knowledge Grid.

The Platinum Sponsors are Oman Arab Bank, Port of Sala-lah, Maharat, Pioneer Institute of Management and Technology, International Institute of Robot-ics & Intelligent Studies. Oxygen OM, T.C for Entrepreneurship LLC and Technical Administra-tive Training & Institute (TATI)

Salim Omar Al Hashmi – Chairman, Al Nimr Expo ac-knowledged his sincere thanks and appreciation to the Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Education – National Career Guidance Center, Ministry of Civil Services and Ministry of Manpower to come forward and support this important event. He also expressed his gratitude to the supporters and sponsors.

150 organisationsMore than 150 organisations in-cluding universities, colleges, training institutions and compa-nies from diff erent countries are participating, he concluded. A series of lectures, presentations and workshops will be organized on the sidelines.

The three-day event,

EduTraC Oman is

being held under

the patronage of the

Ministry of Higher

Education, Ministry

of Education-National

Career Guidance

Centre, Ministry

of Civil Services,

and the Ministry of

Manpower

IDEAL PLATFORM: EduTraC Oman provides a direct gateway and an ideal platform for leading local

and foreign universities and training institutions to network with students. – Supplied photo

Food safety awareness for healthcare staff Times News Service

MUSCAT: Healthcare profes-sionals were updated on food safety procedures at an event titled, “Food Safety towards a Healthy Community.”

Oman Specialised Nursing Institute, represented by the Community Health Nursing Pro-gramme, had organised a Scien-tifi c Day, at the Health Science

Institute in Wattayah on Monday.The event was attended by Dr.

Abdullah Al Saadi, the World Health Organisation’s represent-ative in Oman, along with more than 300 participants from medi-cal and allied health professions.

Healthy diet A two-day programme will raise community awareness on the im-portance of a healthy diet.

H E A L T H Y D I E T

Move to benefi t buyers

“The website will be benefi cial for those planning to buy a second ve-hicle,” said Nasir Khamis.

Jasim Al Harthi, who runs a used vehicles business, said this will be a great move by the PACP for the benefi t of the public.

“People, who want to buy used vehicles, are always anxious and looking for information, such as if the vehicle has met with an acci-dent,” said Al Harthi.

He added that when the infor-mation comes from an authorita-tive source, it would become easier for the people to make a decision about the vehicles they want to buy. Khamis hoped that buyers would be able to check the vehi-cle’s history, including mainte-nance records and make sure the person who is selling, is the regis-tered owner.

W E B S I T E

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AWARENESS: Update on food safety procedures.

Sultanate marks Hijra anniversary

MUSCAT: The Prophet’s (Peace Be Upon Him) Hijra an-niversary was marked at the theatre of the College of Is-lamic Sciences in Al Khuwair on Monday. The Sultanate was represented by the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Aff airs.

The ceremony was held un-der the auspices of His High-ness Sayyid Taimur bin As’aad bin Tariq Al Said in the pres-ence of a number of their excel-lences and invitees.

The ceremony included per-formances that highlighted the importance of this event in the Islamic history.

The ceremony also included a poem on the event by Ali Al Ghanbousi and a video clip on Hijra Anniversary. -ONA

I S L A M I C H I S T O R Y

A7

REGIONT U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

Court releases Gamal and Alaa Mubarak from prison

CAIRO: An Egyptian court on Monday ruled that former presi-dent Hosni Mubarak’s two sons could be released from prison while awaiting an appeal for a case involving the theft of state funds, judicial sources said.

The case concerns charges that Mubarak and his sons Alaa and Gamal embezzled millions of dol-lars of state funds, using money

intended to upgrade presidential palaces to instead renovate pri-vate family residencies.

Alaa and Gamal Mubarak were sentenced along with their

87-year-old father, who was top-pled in a popular protests in 2011 and now resides in a Cairo military hospital, to three years in prison in a re-trial of the case last May.

Court rulingThe court ruled on Monday that the Mubarak sons had already served the requisite time in pris-on for the sentence while await-

ing the appeal process, which is continuing.

The two still face charges in two separate cases involving in-sider trading and illicit gains but will not be held in custody while awaiting trial, the judicial sources said.

Gamal and Alaa Mubarak were previously released in January after their convictions in the presidential palaces case were temporarily overturned. But they were taken back into custody af-ter a court found them guilty in the May re-trial.

Gamal, a former investment banker and once a leading fi gure in Hosni Mubarak’s now-dis-solved National Democratic Party (NDP), was widely expected to succeed his father as president before the 2011 protests.

The NDP was subsequently dissolved and several fi nancial corruption cases were brought against the former president and his sons, most of which have since been dropped or over-turned. — Reuters

The two were

sentenced along with

their father Hosni

Mubarak to three

years in prison in a

re-trial of the case

in May 2014

Israeli police kill Palestinian, saying he was knife attackerOCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Is-raeli paramilitary police shot dead a Palestinian at an entrance to oc-cupied Jerusalem on Monday, say-ing he had tried to stab an offi cer on patrol during the worst spell of street violence for several years.

A Palestinian passerby disputed the police account, saying he had seen police shout at the man, then shoot him four times. “I saw no knife on him,” Hussam Wshah, 66, told Reuters.

Four Israelis and 24 Palestinians, including eight children, have died in 12 days of bloodshed, fuelled in part by anger over increasing Jew-ish visits to the Al Aqsa mosque compound in occupied Jerusa-lem. Near-daily knife attacks have raised concerns Palestinians could be embarking on another uprising,

or Intifada, refl ecting a new gen-eration’s frustrations over a vet-eran leadership’s failure to achieve statehood in peace eff orts that col-lapsed in 2014.

Israel has poured reinforce-ments into occupied Jerusalem, with no diplomatic initiatives on the horizon and Israeli leaders warning there could be no quick fi x to largely “lone wolf” assaults.

At the Lions Gate, paramili-tary border police ordered a Pal-estinian to halt for an identity check, instructing him “to take his hands out of his pockets”, a police spokesman said. “The terrorist approached the policeman with a knife in his hand and stabbed him in his protective vest,” the spokes-man said. “The policeman was unhurt and other offi cers reacted

swiftly and shot and killed him.”Offi cers released a video to the

media showing a body and a knife on the ground but not the alleged confrontation.

Wshah, a Palestinian resident of occupied East Jerusalem, said he witnessed the events from sev-eral metres away. “The young man was walking when they shouted at him. He may not have heard them, and they fi red directly at him four times and he fell to the ground,” Wshah told Reuters. Violence has spread from occupied Jeru-salem and the Israeli-occupied West Bank to Israel’s interior and Hamas-ruled Gaza. On Sunday, an Israeli Arab stabbed and wounded four people near a bus stop in the north of the country. He was over-powered and arrested. — Reuters

R I S I N G V I O L E N C E

European Union urges Russia to stop Syria aerial bombingLUXEMBOURG: The European Union urged Russia on Monday to halt its aerial bombing campaign in Syria but the bloc’s 28 mem-ber states failed to agree among themselves on whether President Bashar Al Assad should have any role in ending the crisis.

Seeking a common front in their criticism of Russia’s dra-matic military intervention in Syria, EU foreign ministers warned that air strikes designed to support Assad could also deep-en the 4-1/2-year civil war that has killed 250,000 people.

Ministers also sought to fur-ther pressure Assad by agreeing to broaden the EU’s economic sanctions criteria to people ben-efi ting from his government, a move essentially aimed at freez-ing the assets of the spouses of senior fi gures, although no names have been added to the EU’s list.

“The recent Russian military attacks... are of deep concern and must cease immediately,” minis-ters said in their most strongly-worded statement on Russia’s

intervention. “The military es-calation risks prolonging the confl ict, undermining a political process, aggravating the humani-tarian situation and increasing radicalisation,” said the minis-ters, meeting in Luxembourg.

EU leaders are also expected to criticise Russia at a summit in Brussels on Thursday, EU of-

fi cials say. After years of inaction in Syria, the EU is now desperate to stem the fl ow of migrants into Europe. Its stark criticism of Mos-cow underscores just how far dip-lomatic eff orts have faltered since a UN meeting in New York in late September, when Europe and the United States looked to Russia for help. — Reuters

C I V I L W A R

Political crisis escalatesin Kurdistan

ARBIL: Kurdish security forces stopped the speaker of parliament in Iraq’s Kurdish north from en-tering its capital on Monday in an escalating political crisis desta-bilising the region at war with IS militants.

Speaker Yousif Mohammed’s personal assistant said forces loyal to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) had turned him back on the road from Sulaimaniyah to Arbil, where the regional parliament is located.

The KDP, which controls Arbil, accuses the Gorran party to which the speaker belongs of provok-ing violent protests in which fi ve people died.

“He has been prevented by KDP forces and he’s now returned (to Sulaimaniyah),” said the speak-er’s personal assistant Daroun Rahim. “It’s a very dangerous development.”

The move came after protest-ers attacked and torched several offi ces of the KDP in Sulaimaniya province in the worst unrest the relatively stable autonomous re-gion has seen for years. — Reuters

I R A Q

Washington Post journalist convicted, says Iran news agencyDUBAI/WASHINGTON: A court in Iran has convicted Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, Iran’s ISNA news agency said late on Sunday, but the US newspaper said Tehran was working a political an-gle by not disclosing details.

ISNA quoted judiciary spokes-man Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei as saying the California-born Rezaian, the paper’s Tehran bu-reau chief, had 20 days to appeal the verdict. Rezaian was arrested in July 2014. He was accused of espionage.

“He has been convicted.... But I don’t have the details of his ver-dict,” the news agency quoted Ejei

as saying. The case has been a sen-sitive issue for Washington and Iran, and Sunday’s announcement did little to resolve it.

MonitoringState Department spokesman John Kirby said the United States was monitoring the case closely. “We continue to call for all charges against Jason to be dropped and for him to be immediately re-leased,” Kirby said earlier.

Iran has accused Rezaian, 39, of collecting confi dential infor-mation and giving it to other gov-ernments, writing a letter to US President Barack Obama and act-

ing against national security. The Post has dismissed the charges. The fi nal hearing in his trial was on August 10.

Earlier, Ejei told a televised news conference that a ruling had been issued but did not say that Rezaian was convicted.

Vague and puzzlingWashington Post Executive Edi-tor Martin Baron said that state-ment from Tehran was “vague and puzzling,” and Post foreign editor Douglas Jehl said the vague nature of that announcement showed Rezaian’s case was not just about espionage.

Rezaian’s brother Ali had noted on Friday that his brother had been imprisoned for 444 days.

In a statement, he said Sunday’s initial announcement “follows an unconscionable pattern by Iranian authorities of silence, obfuscation, delay and a total lack of adherence to international law, as well as Ira-nian law”.

Two other US citizens - Chris-tian pastor Saeed Abedini and Amir Hekmati, a former US Ma-rine Corps sergeant - also are be-ing held in Iran. Robert Levinson, a private investigator, disappeared there in 2007.

Their cases have been raised in

subsequent talks, including be-tween Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry when they met during the UN General Assembly in New York last month. No pro-gress was announced.

AppealIn Washington, the Washington Post on Monday urged Iran’s lead-ers to overturn it.

Washington Post Executive Edi-tor Martin Baron said the paper, Rezaian’s family and his lawyer in Iran were pursuing an appeal. He said no sentence for Rezaian had been announced. — Reuters

V E R D I C T

SENTENCED: Washington Post

reporter Jason Rezaian. – Reuters/

The Washington Post/Handout

FREED: A fi le picture taken on June 2, 2012, shows Alaa, right, and Gamal Mubarak, sons of former

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, standing inside a cage in a courtroom during their verdict hear-

ing in Cairo. – AFP

CLASHES: Palestinian protesters use a huge slingshot during clashes with Israeli security forces near

Beit El, just north of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, on Monday. – AFP

DESTROYED: Residents remove the rubble from their house that

was hit by what activists said was a barrel bomb dropped by

forces loyal to President Bashar Al Assad in the town of Al Ghari-

yah Al Gharbiyah in Deraa province, Syria on Monday. – Reuters

Iraq’s Kurdish north Speaker Yousif Mohammed’s personal assistant said forces loyal to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) had turned him back on the road from Sulaimaniyah to Arbil, where the regional parliament is located

A8

INDIAT U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

These incidents damage the image of the NDA as well as the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It cannot be said to be the intention of the government

Manohar Parrikar, Defence minister

Ivory worth Rs195 million seized in Delhi

NEW DELHI: In a major haul, 487kg of ivory worth about Rs195 million was seized during a raid at a house in the national capital, a Kerala forest offi cial said here on Monday.

The 12-hour raid was carried out in collaboration with Delhi Police and Wildlife Crime Con-trol Bureau, following revela-tion by an ivory trader, Umesh Agarwal, who was arrested last week, the offi cial said while re-questing anonymity.

“The recovered ivory arte-facts, stashed in 39 boxes and weighed 487kg, were for sale in Delhi and Mumbai markets,” he said. “There are clear indi-cations that a part of the con-traband was also intended for foreign markets.”

During investigations, Agarwal confessed to the offi cials of hav-ing hidden ivory and ivory-made articles in a rented house in east Delhi’s Vijay Park area in Laxmi Nagar. As per the offi cial, a pro-cessed artefact made of elephant tusk could cost anything up to Rs400,000 per kilogram. - IANS

R A I D

Culture minister sees ulterior motives in writers returning awardsNEW DELHI: As more writers and poets decided to return their Sahita Akademi Awards in protest against “rising intolerance” in the country Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma on Monday gave a curious twist saying he suspected their motives for such “not called for” action.

“If you go back to people, who have done this and if we explore their motives and what has been their background, I think some-thing revealing will come out,” Sharma said.

Sharma’s remarks came amid a slew of eminent writers returning their awards protesting against “rising intolerance” in the country. He stressed that those deciding to hand back the honours should have written to the state or central Gov-ernment if they were concerned about the law and order situation.

“If there is complaint against the

law and order situation, they could have represented it to the chief minister of the state, home min-ister of the country or the prime minister. They could have written to me as a minister also. They have not done this.

“I think that is not called for or that is not a right way of presenta-tion. I wish they would have rep-resented their voice and we would have joined their voice. We are with them to support their cause that no body should be killed in this country,” the minister said.

At least 21 authors have an-nounced their decision to return their awards with some warning that minorities in the country to-day feel “unsafe and threatened”.

Booker Prize winning author Salman Rushdie on Monday joined the growing chorus of pro-tests by leading writers against spread of “communal poison” and

“rising intolerance” in the country.Questioning the purpose behind

returning the awards, Sharma, however said, “what is the theory behind, what is the philosophy be-hind, I cannot understand.”

He said that as an individual,

they have got the award, which was given to them by a group of literary persons on the basis of some of their writings, some of their books or in diff erent languages.

“It is not a Government of India award, it is not a Padma award,”

he stated. Asked about concerns expressed by these writers about ‘rising intolerance’, the culture minister shot back asking who was supporting it.

“Who is supporting this intoler-ance? The Government, the minis-

ter or Sahitya Akademi?,” he asked, stressing that everybody agrees with the contention of these liter-ary experts that any killing is con-demnable.

“If anybody is killed whether in this country or anywhere else in the world, whether it is a literary person or any common man, we all condemn it in strongest words and there is no doubt about that,” he said.

The Culture Minister also com-mended the services of Sahitya Akademi Chairman Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari and made it clear that there was no plans by the Gov-ernment to take over the Akademi.

“Of course, not at all,” he replied to a question on whether the Gov-ernment was mulling to take over Sahitya Akademi on the lines of Kala Akademi, an autonomous organisation of the Culture Minis-try, which the Centre took over in April this year. - PTI

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

Kasuri’s book launcheddespite protest by Sena

MUMBAI: Unfazed by the Shiv Sena protest and blackening of the face of Sudheendra Kulkarni, the organisers went ahead with the launch of former Pakistan Foreign Minister Ahmed Kasuri’s book ‘Neither a Hawk, Nor a Dove’ at a function here.

The event was held amidst tight security for the visiting dignitary in the wake of Shiv Sena’ threat to disrupt the function despite ap-peals to it to give up its protest.

Kasuri himself echoed the sen-timents after the morning’s event outside the house of Kulkarni, Chairman of the Observer Re-search Foundation (ORF), the think-tank and organiser of the book launch show, had left a bad taste when Shiv Sena activists smeared black paint on his face.

“I would like to thank Chief Min-ister Devendra Fadnavis for pro-viding excellent protection (pro-vided to him) ever since I landed in Mumbai airport (last evening),” he said at the book launch.

Taking a jibe at Shiv Sena, Kulkarni welcomed the former

Pakistan minister to the megapolis of Mumbai in Marathi.

“I also express my deepest grati-tude to all of you who have come to attend the function notwithstand-ing the extra ordinary circum-stances in which it is being held.

“This shows your resolve, our resolve and common resolve, the resolve of millions of Mumbai-kars to defend the values of toler-ance and diversity,” Kulkarni said while making opening remarks at the event held at Nehru Centre in Mumbai.

It was attended among others by noted lawyer and historian A G Noorani, journalist Dileep Pad-gaonkar and fi lm actor Naseer-uddin Shah, who were panellists at the launch. Without naming Shiv Sena, Kulkarni evoked Presi-dent Pranab Mukherjee’s recent remarks that “tolerance and di-versity and core values of Indian civilisation and these must be de-fended”, he said adding “we shall defend them”.

Terming Mumbai as a “tolerant, inclusive, liberal, democratic and multi-faith city”, Kulkarni said the mega polis celebrates diversity of every kind including “diversity of thoughts and opinions”.

“Mumbai cherishes the right to dissent. Mala maay Marathi baddal, Marathi Mumbai baddal apaar abhiman aahe.Mumbai Ma-harashtriy aahe, parantu tyachya-dhi Mumbai rashtriy aahe, aan-tarrashtriy aahe (I am immensely proud of Marathi, Mumbai. Mum-bai is Maharashtrian, but before that it is national and international city),” he added.

He said Mumbai has a very spe-cial place in India’s freedom Move-ment with Mahatma Gandhi and Muhammed Ali Jinnah spending “maximum years” substantial part of their lives in the city, which served as “karma bhumi” of the both the leaders and attributed the book launch function as “an eff ort to undo the mistakes of the past” between the two nations.

He referred to a line from the book “na banduk se na goli se, baat banegi boli se” insisting dialogue between the two countries must go on irrespective of circumstances.

On his part, Kasuri said his pur-pose behind writing the book was to “correct perceptions” amongst people of the neighbouring na-tions. Kulkarni also thanked the “principled stand” taken by Fad-navis over the issue and providing security for the event.

The Monday incident came close on the heels of last week’s threats by Sena leading to cancel-lation of concerts by Pakistani ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali.

It came a day after the BJP virtu-ally snubbed the Shiv Sena leader-ship by keeping them at bay during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Mumbai to lay the founda-tion for three mega-projects — the Ambedkar Memorial, two new lines of Mumbai Metro and a new container terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust. -PTI

The event was held

amid tight security

for the visiting

dignitary in the

wake of Shiv Sena’s

threat to disrupt the

function despite

appeals to it to

give up its protest UNFAZED BY PROTEST: Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former deputy prime minister L. K.

Advani with former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri, during launch of Kasuri’s

book ‘Neither a Hawk, Nor a Dove’, at a function in New Delhi on Wednesday. Also seen in the picture

are Mani Shankar Aiyer, Farooq Abdullah and Yashwant Sinha. - PTI

If you go back to people, who have done this and if

we explore their motives and what has been their

background, I think something revealing will come out

Mahesh SharmaUnion Culture Minister

Incidents like Dadri lynching dent NDA’s image, says ParrikarPANAJI: Incidents like the Dadri lynching “damage” the im-age of the NDA government and RSS has nothing to do with them, Defence Minister Manohar Par-rikar has said.

“These incidents damage the image of the NDA as well as the vision of Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi. It cannot be said to be the intention of the government,” Parrikar said.

He was asked about the lynch-ing of man over beef eating ru-mour in Dadri, in the north In-dian state of Uttar Pradesh and whether such incidents were part of the RSS agenda to polarise so-ciety ahead of the Bihar polls.

He was speaking at a fund-rais-ing function in Bambolim on the outskirts of Panaji on Sunday.

“Sometimes local issues are blown out of proportion,” he said insisting that he was not refer-ring to any particular incident even as he called for exercising restraint on such issues.

Seeking to distance the Rash-triya Swayamsevak Sangh from the recent attacks in Uttar Pradesh, he said, “I have been a hardcore RSS functionary from my childhood. This (Dadri lynch-ing) has nothing to do with RSS.

Indian society is a tolerant and understanding society where so-lutions are reached through dis-cussion and compromise.”

“Violence of any nature cannot be accepted,” he said.

The lynching of a 50-year-old man in Uttar Pradesh recently over beef rumours has led to national outrage with several writers returning their Sahitya Akademi awards over “rising in-tolerance.”

When asked whether the de-mand for a countrywide ban on beef, as sought by Baba Ramdev, was being considered, Parrikar said, “Government decisions have to be fair to everyone.”

“Some vegetarians may want the whole world to eat only veg. What will happen is there will be a spurt in prices of veggies that at one point even the vegetarians won’t have vegetables to eat,” the union minister said.

To a question whether organi-sations like the Goa-based Sana-tan Sanstha should be banned after they came under scanner for the killing of some rational-ists, Parrikar said the investigat-ing agencies would have to build a case against the organisation before such a ban. - PTI

M O B K I L L I N G

PROTEST: Members of various organisations protest against

Dadri lynching, at Mandi House in New Delhi on Sunday. - PTI

A9

INDIAT U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

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Navy showcases its prowessON BOARD INS SHIVALIK: The Indian Navy on Monday showcased the might of its fl eet of warships, submarines and chop-pers in the Bay of Bengal as part of Navy Day celebrations.

Six major combatants of the Eastern Naval fl eet from Vishaka-patnam and INS Betwa from Western fl eet arrived at Chennai to take part in the celebrations on Monday.

Naval Ships Ranvijay Shakti, Betwa, Kora, Vibhuti and Nis-hank sailed about 50 nautical miles from Chennai harbour to Bay of Bengal with 3,000 person-nel on board, offi cials said.

INS Ranvijay, a guided missile destroyer of Soviet origin, has served the Navy for nearly three decades. A naval offi cial said it is one of the most powerful ships in the Navy’s arsenal equipped with long range surface to surface missiles — BrahMos, anti-sub-marine torpedoes and surface to air missiles.

Rear Admiral, Flag Offi cer Commanding (Eastern fl eet), Vishakapatnam, S. V. Bhokare said, “It is a great honour for the Eastern Naval command to host Families Day of Chennai and this

is for the people of Chennai.”Bhokare said INS Kora is a mis-

sile corvette, INS Vibhuti and INS Nishank are missile boats armed with “long-range surface to surface missiles and guns”.INS Betwa, a guided missile vessel from the Western fl eet, also took part in the exercise, he said.

To a query he said, “a joint exer-

cise between India, United States and Japan — Malabar Exercise —will begin on October 13 and go on till October 19”. Some of the exercises on Monday included ships moving fast towards craft manned by personnel posing as pirates, a submarine demonstra-tion and a search and rescue mis-sion by Naval helicopters. - PTI

N A V Y D A Y C E L E B R A T I O N S

DRILL: Naval Command cadets demonstrate their search and

rescue operation skills in mid sea on the eve of Indian Navy Day

in Chennai on Monday. - PTI

$17.9m for Palestine projects announcedRAMALLAH (Palestine): India on Monday announced projects worth $17.9 million in Palestine, as also a grant of $5 million, as President Pranab Mukherjee arrived here from Amman on a maiden visit of an Indian head of state to this country.

The projects, announced soon after delegation-level talks be-tween the two sides, cover a $12-million technology park, $4.5 million towards an institute of diplomacy, $1 million for an India-Palestine ICT and Innova-tion Centre.

“The grant is for budgetary sup-port for Palestine,” Anil Wadhwa, secretary, east, in India’s external aff airs ministry, said at a media briefi ng, adding that this was part of India’s ongoing support towards capacity building in Palestine.

He also said the number of seats for Palestinians under the Indian and Economic Cooperation Pro-gramme was being doubled to 100, while scholarships to students to study in Indian universities will now to up to 25 from 10 earlier.

President Mukherjee, who had arrived at the Ben Gurion Interna-

tional Airport in Tel Aviv earlier in the day, immediately proceeded for Ramallah, changing his limou-sine at Bitunia, the check point between Israel and Palestine. Among his other engagements, he laid a wreath at the mausoleum of late Palestine president Yaseer Arafat, paid fl oral tributes to Ma-hatma Gandhi, and took part in

a ceremony to name a road and a roundabout in the central quar-ters of this city as Sharia-al-Hind and Maidan-al-Hind.

During the delegation-level de-liberations, where the bulk of the articulation by the Indian side was by the president, New Delhi once again reiterated its position over its unwavering support for

the Palestine cause, and that it favoured a negotiated settlement with Israel.

The Indian interlocutors pre-sent at the talks, said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gave a detailed presentation on the is-sues of confl ict with Israel, and even circulated a position paper on the subject.

One of the issues he wished to emphasise was how in a matter of 78 years, the Palestinians-held territory had shrunk from what they claimed was at 100 per cent historically, to 80 per cent in 1937, 44 per cent under the UN parti-tion scheme, 22 per cent by 1967 and 12 per cent now.

President Abbas said his coun-try just wanted the Israelis to agree to the 1967 de-facto lines endorsed by the Palestine Libera-tion Organisation in 1988.

The Indian president, on his part, said they believed in arriving at a negotiated settlement, rather that the road of confl ict, based on the Quartet Roadmap, proposed by the US, EU, Russia and the UN, as also various resolutions at the United Nations. - IANS

I N D I A ’ S O N G O I N G S U P P O R T

Bihar polls: 57% turnout in first phase

NEW DELHI: Forty-nine constit-uencies which went to polls in the fi rst phase of crucial Bihar assem-bly elections on Monday recorded a “historic” turnout of 57 per cent.

The Election Commission said the turnout is likely to go up by “one or two per cent” as the fi nal reports were yet to come in from the fi eld.

Barring a “few incidents”, the polling in the constituencies lo-cated in 10 districts which are af-fected by Left-wing extremism went off peacefully, Deputy Elec-tion Commissioner in-charge of Bihar Umesh Sinha told a press conference here.

Terming the turnout as both “historic” and “encouraging”, he pointed out that 50.85 per cent voters had turned out in the 2010 assembly polls to cast their vote in the areas which went to polls on

Monday. The turnout in the 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections was recorded at 44.08 per cent and 55 per cent respectively in the same area. This time, women outnum-bered men by turning out in larger numbers. 59.5 per cent of women voters exercised their franchise.

Giving out district-wide detail of poll percentage, Sinha said Sa-mastipur recorded 60 per cent turnout which was 54.2 per cent in the last assembly elections.

In Begusarai, the turnout was 59 per cent (55.85 in last assem-bly polls).In Khagaria, the turnout was 61 per cent, which was 57.02 per cent in 2010.

In Bhagalpur, the turnout was 56 per cent, which was 50.09 in 2010.

In Banka, the turnout was 58 per cent against 59.34 per cent in 2010 polls. In Munger, 55 per cent of electorate came out to vote as com-

pared to 48.35 per cent in 2010.In Munger, Lakhisarai, Shekh-

pura, Navada and Jamui, the turn-out was recorded as 55 per cent, 54 per cent, 55 per cent, 53 per cent and 57 per cent respectively.

While there were no plans of a repoll as yet, in nine areas, people boycotted elections mainly over developmental issues.

Meanwhile, the Election Com-mission on Monday ruled that there is no legal bar on campaign-ing outside constituencies going to the polls.

The Commission is learnt to have conveyed to the representa-tives of JD (U), RJD and Congress that under Section 126 of Repre-sentation of the People Act, there is no legal bar on people to cam-paign outside areas going to polls.

Section 126 deals with prohi-bition on campaigning 48 hours

before the elections but does not state that campaigning cannot be held in nearby areas not going to poll on the same date.

The ‘mahagathbandhan’ or grand alliance consisting of Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress had on Sunday ap-proached the Commission seeking a ban on live telecast of Modi’s poll rallies in Bihar on the ground it could infl uence voters of constitu-encies going to poll on Monday

BJP had opposed the demand and dubbed it as an attempt to scuttle democracy.

“How can you ensure that tel-ecast is not shown in areas going to election...many parties hold campaign. But we see that in their campaign they do not address the voters or issues of constituencies going for poll on that particular day,” an EC offi cial said. - PTI

Deputy Election

Commissioner in-

charge of Bihar

Umesh Sinha said

barring a ‘few

incidents’, the polling

in the constituencies

located in 10 districts,

which are aff ected by

Left-wing extremism,

went off peacefully EXERCISING FRANCHISE: Voters show their inked fi ngers after casting votes for the fi rst phase of

Bihar assembly elections in Begusarai on Monday. - PTI

JEHANABAD/BHABUA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched a blistering attack against rivals Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad over a sting video of a senior JD-U minister alleg-edly accepting bribe, saying they have “no shame” and ac-cused them of “insulting” JP’s legacy of fi ghting corruption.

Addressing back-to-back election rallies in Jehanabad and Bhabua, Modi said lead-ers of the grand alliance are “scared” and fl ayed them for approaching Election Commission to halt the live telecast of his meetings on Monday.

In a huge embarrassment for the Nitish Kumar govern-ment, just a day before the fi rst phase of polls, a sting video surfaced on Sunday showing minister Awadhesh Prasad Kushwaha purport-edly accepting bribe after which he had to resign.

Referring to the incident, Modi said what was worse that it happened on the birth anni-versary of the socialist icon.

“This was done by those who used to stake claim to JP’s legacy. Such insult to JP should have never been done.” Modi said, “Such lead-ers have committed the sin of reducing Bihar’s honour to dust.”

“In the sting he (Awadesh) says there are fi ve ministers (who would benefi t from alleged bribe). Name those fi ve ministers. Two more have been caught committing the sin but their leader does not feel bad about it. He does not feel bad about this sin or ‘jungle raj’ or corruption.

“Can Bihar be allowed to go into the hands of people, who have become shameless, to those who are not ashamed of such money transactions? There is something called shame in public life due to which even if somebody is caught committing a sin, he sits back at home. But here he is strutting,” he said, attack-ing RJD chief Lalu Prasad.

In the video, the audio quality of which is not good, Kushwaha has been shown reportedly saying that a Mumbai fi rm wants to help some like-minded ministers in these elections and expects favours from them in return.

Linking the incident to Nitish Kumar’s alliance with the RJD chief, Modi said, “As long as the BJP was a part of the government, there was no such sting, no such corrup-tion. But ever since he (Ku-mar) joined hands with that ‘great’ man, who has expertise in such things, all of this has begun.” - PTI

Modi uses Bihar minister’s sting video to attack Nitish and Lalu

GREETINGS: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, shakes

hands with Indian President Pranab Mukherjee during their meet-

ing in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday. - Reuters

A10

PAKISTAN T U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

FISH FOR SALE A boy hangs up fi sh for sale in plastic bags at his stall in a market in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Monday. — Reuters

PTI moves court over Imran ban on campaigning in polls

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has called on the Supreme Court to take no-tice of what they termed the Elec-tion Commission of Pakistan’s at-tempts at keeping party chairman Imran Khan out of by-election campaigning.

PTI central region Punjab President Mansoor Sarwar Khan submitted through counsel Hamid Khan on Monday a statement in the apex court, claiming that the ECP had mala-fi de intentions in restraining parliamentarians from running election campaigns.

The party insisted that the noti-fi cation for the ban on campaign-ing was aimed at Imran Khan since he is the only member of Na-

tional Assembly (MNA) who does not hold any offi cial position and therefore could run an election campaign.

The statement, however, en-dorsed the Lahore High Court’s or-der and subsequent ECP notifi ca-tion on May 7, barring MNAs and members of Provincial Assembly (MPA) from entering constituen-cies at the time of polling.

According to Sarwar Khan, pre-venting the PTI chief from cam-paigning in the constituencies was a violation of Article 15, 16, 17 and

19 of the Constitution and there-fore, the notifi cation is liable to be struck down.

Earlier on Monday, Imran said the party is investigating the num-ber of PTI votes ‘thrown out’ of the Lahore’s NA-122 seat by-election.

Votes thrown outThe party chief, emphasising on the number of votes thrown out of NA-122 at the last minute, said the party would approach the Election Commission of Pakistan once the investigation is complete.

In a series of tweets, Imran Khan also congratulated Shoaib Siddiqui for defeating PML-N’s Mohsin Latif in PP-147 constitu-ency and said that this was a moral victory for PTI.

“Congratulations go to Aleem Khan for an epic fi ght against Pun-jab and Fed govts; and to Shoaib Siddiqui for winning PP 147,” he tweeted.

Further, Imran assured that the party would learn from its mistakes to counter the rigging in elections.

Earlier, Abdul Aleem Khan of PTI contesting in NA-122 said “This is our main concern. We wrote to the election commission this morning. Our committee will sit and review evidence from the 2013 general elections and today’s by-election. — Express Tribune

PTI submitted a

statement in the

apex court, claiming

that the Election

Commission of

Pakistan had mala-

fi de intentions

in restraining

parliamentarians

from running

election campaigns

CONTROVERSY: An army soldier stands guard as a man prepares to drop his ballot in a ballot box for

the by-election of a seat in the National Assembly, in Lahore, Pakistan on Sunday. — Reuters

Pakistan Tehreek-i-

Insaf insisted that the

notification for the ban

on campaigning was

aimed at Imran Khan

since he is the only

member of National

Assembly who does

not hold any official

position and therefore

could run an

election campaign

British-era steam engines planned to boost tourismPESHAWAR: The saying old is gold applies aptly to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government’s sug-gestion to get British-era steam locomotives up and running to revive tourism.

The proposal, forwarded by the Sports, Culture, Tourism, Youth Aff airs/Archaeology & Museums department, points towards two locomotives dating back to the early 1900’s when steam engines were the order of the day.

An offi cial from the railways ministry confi rmed the devel-opment to The Express Trib-une, adding the matter is being discussed.

The vintage engines include steam locomotives HGS-2-8 OS manufactured by the Vulcan Foundry and Kitson and Co in Preston, United Kingdom.

Business ventureAn insider says the proposal is to take a business venture with Pa-kistan Railways into considera-tion. The options include either running the two locomotives in collaboration with a profi t mar-gin or hand the engine over to the

relevant department for the nec-essary maintenance and opera-tional costs.

Prior to this, the locomotives were leased out to a private fi rm on a profi t margin share and ran on the track from Peshawar to Landikotal till 2007.

However, because of the emerging security situation in the area, the Khyber Steam Safari stretched to a halt and has never been revived.

In the following years, the rail-way track through Khyber Agen-cy was washed away in a heavy fl ood. The remaining parts were

either stolen or sold off by locals, claim offi cials.

Feasible optionA railways offi cial says it is im-possible to run the train to Khy-ber Agency, however, it seems like a feasible option to continue towards Attock and further. All of this remains dependent on the outcome of the proposal.

Another offi cial from the Min-istry of Tourism says countries throughout the world lease out engines for the tourism industry to thrive.

He adds the move is “a last great push to bring Kyber Pakh-tunkhwa (K-P) out of war”

A spokesperson for the K-P’s culture and tourism department confi rms the development, saying the proposal has been sent to the railways ministry and an outcome is awaited. — Express Tribune

P R O P O S A L

Court hands Altaf 81-year prison term

GILGIT: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) on Monday awarded 81 years of rigorous imprisonment to Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Altaf Hussain.

The court also issued orders to confi scate the MQM chief’s property over his anti-state speeches.

Announcing the verdict, ATC Judge Raja Shahbaz Khan di-rected the MQM chief to sub-mit a fi ne of Rs2.4 million in the court, ordering the Sindh Inspector General of Police to produce Altaf before the court.

In July, Altaf had made in-fl ammatory remarks against law enforcement agencies, fol-lowed by a plea to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) and the United Na-tions (UN) to send their troops to Karachi.

Earlier in May, after fac-ing strong criticism over his comments regarding the army, MQM chief Altaf Hussain had apologised if his words had “hurt national security institu-tions and patriotic people.”

Altaf’s controversial remarks against the law enforcement agencies had sparked country-wide outrage, with the national and provincial assemblies pass-ing condemnation resolutions against the UK-based leader of the party.

Further, numerous reports had also been fi led against him in various police stations across the country, demanding an ar-rest of the MQM leader, who has been living in a self-imposed ex-ile in London for more than two decades. - Express Tribune

G I L G I T - B A L T I S T A N

Army chief assures Turkey of support to fi ght terrorismISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sha-rif said both Pakistan and Turkey will fi ght terrorism with a “coher-ent and common approach.”

“Pakistan and Turkey are facing daunting challenges. I am sure we will surmount them with a com-mon and coherent approach,” the army chief was quoted as saying by the ISPR.

“We assure you our unfl inching support.”

Offi cial visitGeneral Raheel, who is on a three-day offi cial visit to Turkey, assured on Monday the Turkish army chief Hulusi Akar that Pakistan under-stood the enormity of challenges being faced by Turkey, and stood by the brotherly country.

He also expressed condolences on the recent terrorist attack in Ankara.

Over 100 people were killed

when two suspected suicide bombers hit a rally of pro-Kurdish and leftist activists outside Anka-ra’s main train station on Saturday.

The two military leaders also discussed to enhance cooperation in the fi elds of counter-terrorism.

Earlier on his arrival, the army chief was presented a guard of honour by the Turkish land forces at the forces’ headquarters.

The COAS also visited the mau-soleum of Kamal Ataturk, the founder of modern-day Turkey and laid fl oral wreath at the grave.

Raheel honouredMeanwhile, General Raheel was awarded the Turkish Legend of Merit for his services towards regional peace and handling the menace of terrorism, clarity in direction and sense of purpose in leading Pakistan Army and fi ght-ing the terrorists in an exemplary manner. - Express Tribune

I N S U R G E N C Y

The vintage engines

include steam locomotives

HGS-2-8 OS manufactured

by the Vulcan Foundry and

Kitson and Co in Preston,

United Kingdom

CROWD PULLER: The engines will be used to attract tourists for historic run. — AFP fi le photo

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

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Mahathir, other leaders urge end to 1MDB scandal

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Ma-laysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and some leaders of the ruling party jointly demand-ed resolution of the 1MDB state fund scandal on Monday and con-demned a crackdown on dissent, signalling a divide within the coa-lition.

Mahathir has openly called for Prime Minister Najib Razak to re-sign over allegations of corruption at 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and in a rare public dis-play of unity, Mahathir and sacked deputy prime minister Muhyid-din Yassin called a news confer-ence to express their concerns.

Voices of dissent from within the ruling United Malays Nation-al Organisation (UMNO) were quickly silenced with a July cabi-net reshuffl e that ousted Najib’s critics, including Muhyiddin.

A former senior member of UMNO, Khairuddin Hassan, and his lawyer, Matthias Chang, were formally charged on Monday with attempts to sabotage Malaysia’s banking and fi nancial systems.

Khairuddin had called for US law-enforcement authori-ties to probe the 1MDB scandal.

Mahathir and the other UMNO leaders called for the two to be re-leased.

Abuse of law“We see a climate of fear among the people,” Mahathir told report-ers. “The government is now de-fi ning the law according to their own needs. We are here to show that we are against the abuse of the law on our country.”

Also present at the news con-ference were party vice-president Shafi e Apdal, also sacked as a minister, and party elders Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Sanusi Ju-nid.

Najib, who chairs the 1MDB advisory board, has been at the centre of a political storm over al-legations of graft and mismanage-ment at the fund. The scandal hit crisis point in July when media

reports said investigators looking into 1MDB found that nearly $700 million dollars were transferred into bank accounts of the prime minister. Najib has denied talking any money for personal gain.

Muhyiddin, who is still the UMNO deputy president, said the party cannot be seen as uncaring.

“UMNO has a certain culture...you tend to suppress your feel-ings. What I’m asking is for them

to be more expressive through the many platforms. Do not be fear-ful if what you’re doing is right,” he said.

Asked if he would call for Najib’s resignation, Muhyiddin said: “I don’t need to say it as oth-ers have said it... There are prob-lems of concern and it is up to the prime minister to consider what he should do that is best for the nation.” — Reuters

Prime Minister Najib

Razak, who chairs

the 1MDB advisory

board, has been

at the centre of a

political storm over

allegations of graft

and mismanagement

at the fund

DISSENT: (Seated from left to right) UMNO’s Deputy President Muhyiddin Yassin, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and mem-

ber of parliament Razaleigh Hamzah at a news conference in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on Monday. — Reuters

China’s top envoy to visit Japan amid spying row

BEIJING: China’s top diplomat will visit Japan this week for high-level political talks, the foreign ministry said on Monday, amid reports that China has detained two more Japanese nationals for spying.

State Councillor Yang Jiechi, who outranks the foreign minis-ter, will be in Tokyo on Tuesday and Wednesday and will meet the head of Japan’s National Secu-rity Council, Shotaro Yachi, a close ally of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the two sides would talk about bi-lateral and international issues and ways to “manage and control disputes”, though was not able to immediately say if Yang would meet Abe.

China and Japan have close eco-nomic and cultural ties, but have long bickered over their painful wartime history, and have an in-creasingly bitter argument over ownership of a group of uninhab-ited islets in the East China Sea. Last month China said that it had arrested two Japanese for spying.

Relevant situationJapanese media said over the weekend that two others had also been detained, one a Japanese woman who had been held in Shanghai since June and the other a Japanese national in Beijing.

Hua would not directly com-ment on those reports.

“As far as I understand, rel-evant Chinese departments are investigating the relevant cases in accordance with the law. The rel-evant situation has been passed on to the Japanese side,” she told a daily news briefi ng.

A Japanese foreign ministry spokesman declined to comment.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has overseen a tightening of al-ready strict security laws and reg-ulations. — Reuters

T E N S E T I E S

‘Global climate pledges not enough, but good start’RABAT: National pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions, even if fully implemented, would cap global warming at 3 degrees Cel-sius rather than the 2 degrees targeted to avoid dangerous con-sequences, the European Com-mission said on Monday.

European Climate and En-ergy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete said 149 countries had submitted pledges known in U.N. language as INDCs, or In-tended Nationally Determined Contributions, ahead of pivotal climate change talks in Paris in December.

“According to our in-house studies, we will be at around 3 degrees (above levels before the Industrial Revolution) at the end of the century with these INDCs implemented,” he said. “...If we do not do something, if we do business as usual, the increase of temperatures will be between 3.8 and 4.7 degrees.”

The 149 states that have sub-mitted promises is up from 62 to have done so a few months ago and they cover 90 percent of global emissions, Canete told re-porters on the sidelines of a pre-Paris preparatory meeting in the

Moroccan capital Rabat.“It is a substantial number.

Many of them are coming along before Paris,” he said. The fi nal goal is 200 governments commit-ting to the halving of world emis-sions by 2050.

Critics of the Paris process warn that a deal us being built on sometimes vague promises from member states and wind up as a toothless addition to the stack of over 500 global and regional environmental treaties, even as the rise in global temperatures mounts inexorably past the U.N. ceiling of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), with the prospect of ever more fl oods, droughts and heatwaves.

The Rabat meeting was meant to assess all the pledges ahead of

the Paris gathering aimed at ham-mering out a global accord.

Wary of the shadow cast by the 2009 Copenhagen summit, the last failed attempt to reach a glob-al climate deal, EU offi cials and the UN. stress Paris is expected to be a step forward rather than the decisive breakthrough. Further talks are foreseen in 2016 in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh.

Canete said participants in the Rabat meeting were examining which elements should be intro-duced at Paris to help make a fi nal global warming agreement work.

“European countries are fi ght-ing for a long-term goal...but we need an intermediate target (for the long-term goal) by 2050 to act as a benchmark to see how are performing,” he said. — Reuters

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

European Climate and Energy Commissioner Miguel

Arias Canete said 149 countries had submitted pledges

known in UN language as INDCs, or Intended Nationally

Determined Contributions, ahead of pivotal climate

change talks in Paris in December

Nepal recovers 21 more bodiesKATHMANDU: Nepalese res-cue workers have pulled out 21 bodies that were buried when a devastating earthquake triggered a landslide along a popular trek-king route almost six months ago, offi cials said on Monday.

Eff orts to recover the bodies of about 100 foreign trekkers and locals hit by the April landslide in Langtang village and surrounding area have been delayed by fresh avalanches and because the vic-tims are buried under thick layers of ice and rock.

It took the latest rescue team almost two weeks to recover the bodies, local government offi cial

Udbhav Bhattarai said.Avadhesh Bista, police chief of

Rasuwa district, where Langtang is located, said 15 of the bodies were identifi ed as locals. DNA testing will determine if the rest are Nepalis or foreigners, he said.

Bista said police would contin-

ue to search for the missing.Langtang village, 60 km (37

miles) north of Kathmandu, was one of the areas worst hit by the earthquakes. It is the most popu-lar trekking location in Nepal after the Annapurna and Everest region. — Reuters

L A N D S L I D E - H I T V I L L A G E

Avadhesh Bista, police chief of Rasuwa district, where

Langtang is located, said 15 of the bodies were

identified as locals while DNA testing will determine

if the rest are Nepalis or foreigners

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Freddie Sayers

The Times of Oman this week has been quite vo-cal on the two-year ban, fi rst running this sto-ry, Bosses should be generous in issuing NOCs

(October 11) and then running the story in which the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) chairman, Said bin Saleh Al Kayoumi, stated that the two-year ban is good and protects business’ in-terests, Two-year ban for expats backed by business chief (October 12).

Well, at least it’s fair journalism, showing two sides to the coin. Getting back to the article of the Chair-man of the OCCI, he is quoted as stating: “There are more pros to the decision than the cons”, and that the ban “protects employers from the greed of employ-ees”. And on the face of it, he has a point. If I were to accept a job here, move to the country and then fi nd out that I can do the same job at another company and get a higher salary, or better living conditions, or even a better posting (e.g. posted to Muscat as op-posed to Hafeet) then yes — of course I’d change my job. Given that an employer incurs costs to employ someone and bring them to Oman, then yes that’s a somewhat sound argument.

The argument that people can’t move jobs because they “come to know trade secrets and know-how” is quite frankly ridiculous. That’s called experience and is why people are paid more to do a job when they have more experience. It’s why a graduate gets paid less than a person with 25 years experience!

I actually support the two-year ban in the sense that newcomers to Oman, who have signed a con-tract with an employer, should not just jump ship and change jobs because they found a better deal once they got here. That’s their fault for not researching and negotiating for a better package. My argument with this two-year ban enforcement is that once peo-ple have completed their contract with their employ-er, why can’t they change their job? What hold does an employer have over an employee once their contrac-tual obligations are concluded (e.g., two years service are completed)? Merely stating that not allowing an employee to change their job because they’ve worked for another company is ludicrous. There’s no con-tractual obligation left between the employee and the employer, and at that time (on completion of an employment contract) the option should be one of three: Remain with the company — negotiate better terms or stay, the Oman labour law rewards people who stay with the same employer for more than three years by doubling their gratuity entitlements; leave the country for another country — be it returning home, or going to another expatriate role elsewhere, or retirement; change jobs in the local market.

Let’s say you came to Oman, you got your job and were told that your accommodation would be (for example) a villa and that you would have a car. Let’s

say that you get here and you’re given a small apart-ment and are told you have to catch the company bus. Let’s say you persevere with this and complete your contract, but in your two years you’ve developed a network of contacts, one of which is off ering you a job to come and work with them, and they’re off ering you much better living conditions and a higher salary.

Now why can you not change jobs? What hold does an employer have over you that should prevent your free movement to change your employer?

It seems that the good chairman thinks that em-ployers own employees ad-infi nitum, outside of a contractual term. Oh, if you don’t like it, of course you can leave! And walk away from your industry and geography specifi c experience which you could trade on to better your personal status.

I cannot understand how this law “protects its people and the economy” of Oman. What is being enforced is that expatriates with local knowledge and experience are faced with two choices; stay where you are or leave the country. This treats expatriates as inanimate objects, good for only one job and no capacity to improve or develop over time. In some in-dustries, I’d understand that logic — there’s not much skill required to work in a fast food kitchen. But what about the skilled workers? What about the carpenter with 20 years experience that wants to change work-shops, or the consultant with 10 years local experi-ence who doesn’t like their company and wants to change companies to work on diff erent projects?

If an engineer with 15 years experience in Oman wants to change job to a new company because they’ve been off ered a management position there, how is not allowing that person to move protecting the people of Oman or it’s economy? That new com-pany won’t be able to hire the local knowledge and expertise it needs, and thus might not decide to open up in this country, and therefore a number of jobs that would have been created are not.

This two-year ban rule needs to be amended, the expat brain drain has begun already and it will con-tinue to happen unless this rule is reviewed. My suggestion is to lock people in to their contracts, but once their contracts are completed, allow employees to move freely because refusing to allow them to ex-erts control over a fellow human being outside of an agreed to employment contract.

Preventing a suitably qualifi ed worker from tak-ing a job simply because they had previously worked for another employer (and fulfi lled their contractual obligations) gives unfair power to an employer over an employee. My argument here is very simple: What rights does an employer have over an employee once the contract has been fulfi lled? Why is the employer allowed to infringe the rights of an employee outside of their contractual relationship?

Freddie Sayers is author of muscatmutterings.com

World should have a unifi ed approach to securityThe recent involvement of Russia in the troubled Syria has further complicated the situation on the ground. Russia’s record, both in Georgia in 2008, and Ukraine in 2014, has been questionable so its latest intervention raises lot of suspicion. This intervention in

Syria may change the tone of the ongoing confl ict, which could escalate. Moscow says it is targeting the key militant group fi ghting in Syria, but most of its strikes have hit other factions fi ghting the regime. The Russian move has upended the strategy of the US administration of President Barack Obama, which has led a separate bombing campaign against the militants for a year but has failed to es-tablish strong ties with moderate fi ghters on the ground. I wonder why a collective eff ort led by the US could not halt the ter-rorism spreading across the region and beyond. Security being a global issue, countries across the world must have uniformity in their approach to tackle the troubles facing them. — Ramachandran Nair, Ruwi

US needs to sort the gun issue This refers to gun violence in the US. I cannot understand why Washington is fi xated on a policy to bring about change in other countries. Domestically, the

superpower is a democracy, which caters only to the lobby groups, which fund political parties. Among them is the National Rifl e As-sociation, which is vehemently opposed to laws to curb gun sales. I cannot foresee any improvement. — Farah Saad, Muscat

T I M E S O F O M A NT U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5A12

Expatriate brain drain

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Workshop on trends in development communicationMUSCAT: The Sultanate, represented by the Ministry of So-cial Aff airs, Labour and Vocational Training, and the Minis-try of Information, will participate in a workshop on modern trends in development communication. The workshop, organ-ised by the UNICEF bureau in the Middle East and North Af-rica, is aimed to famialise the participants with how to imple-ment active projects and innovate methods in developmental communications.

1492: Christopher Columbus and his crew land in the Bahamas. 1949: Eugenie Anderson becomes the fi rst woman U.S. ambassador.

1964: 1964 USSR launches Voskhod I, fi rst spacecraft with multi-person crew; it is also the fi rst mission in which the crew did not wear space suits.

1999: Chief of Army Staff Perez Musharraf seizes power in Pa-kistan through a bloodless military coup.

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Those in Europe who believe Alexander Lukashenko might

fi nally be coming around to their side should keep in mind that

his skill genetic makeup is much closer to Putin’s than to theirs.

Taking steps toward him will only put a cynical smile on Putin’s lips

bit.ly/lukashenkoeurope

LEONID BERSHIDSKY

It’s good in the short term that neither China nor the Fed were

essential to the US Treasury market, but in the long term it is part of a structural problem affl icting the US economy. We may live to regret being able to

borrow as cheaply as we canbit.ly/chinaustreasury

NOAH SMITH

Pakistan missed most of the opportunities created by

technological change. This was because of poor leadership

in economic matters and the increasing insecurity in the

country, which prevented people who could have brought

work to Pakistanbit.ly/pakistanlagsintech

SHAHID JAVED BURKI

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

A suspect being chased by Australian police in Perth drove his allegedly stolen vehicle into the Indian Ocean on October 6 after an almost two-hour chase

OCTOBER 2000

Scan 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).

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1 First day of Muharram will be public holiday in Oman on advent of New Hijri yearbit.ly/Islamnewyearholiday

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3 Morning Minute: Support for two-year NOC banbit.ly/2yearnocbanvideo

4 Panorama Mall in Oman to off er 1,300 jobsbit.ly/panoramamallbausher

5 Jobseekers’ preference for government jobs decreases in Omanbit.ly/preferenceforjobs

1 Two-year ban for expats backed by business chief in Omanbit.ly/2yearexpatbanbacked

2 Oman weather: Arabian Sea storm starts weakeningbit.ly/arabianseastormweaken

3 New top-end hotel launch in Oman this yearbit.ly/alkhuwairnewhotel

4 Indian embassy plans exhibition featuring textile heritage in Omanbit.ly/textileexhibition

5 More than 40 workers in Oman held for law violations last monthbit.ly/workersheldviolations

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Neither team is allowed to host matches at home because of war. #Syria v #Afghanistan in Oman

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CO2 EMISSIONS IN GCC(Metric tonnes per capita, 2000-2011)

Source: The World Bank

While Qatar is the top pollutant, Oman doubled its carbon dioxide emissions

2000 2011

Kuwait 27.8 28.1

SaudiArabia 13.9 18.1

UAE 36.9 20.4

Qatar 58.5 44.0

OMAN 9.8 20.2

Bahrain 28.0 17.9

Change

+1%

+30%

-45%

-25%

+106%

-36%

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A13

WORLDT U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

Think of Deaton as an economist who looks more closely at what poor households consume to get a better sense of their living standards and possible paths for economic development

Tyler Cowen, Economics professor at George Mason University and blogger

Deaton wins Nobel for economics

STOCKHOLM: British-born economist Angus Deaton has won the 2015 economics Nobel Prize for his work on consumption, pov-erty and welfare that has helped governments to improve policy through tools such as household surveys and tax changes.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the microecono-mist’s work had been a major in-fl uence on policy making, helping for example to determine how dif-ferent social groups are aff ected by specifi c changes in taxation.

“To design economic policy that promotes welfare and reduces poverty, we must fi rst understand individual consumption choices,” the award-giving body said in an-nouncing the 8 million Swedish crown ($978,000) prize.

“More than anyone else, Angus Deaton has enhanced this under-standing,” it said.

Household surveyDeaton, 69, has spearheaded the use of household survey data in developing countries, especially data on consumption, to measure living standards and poverty, the academy said.

Deaton looks at economic devel-opment from the starting point of consumption rather than income, wrote Tyler Cowen, economics professor at George Mason Uni-versity and blogger.

“Think of Deaton as an econo-mist who looks more closely at what poor households consume

to get a better sense of their living standards and possible paths for economic development,” Cow-en wrote on the blog Marginal Revolution.

“I think of this as a prize about empirics, the importance of eco-nomic development, and indirect-ly a prize about economic history,” Cowen wrote.

In his fi rst public comments after winning the Nobel prize, Deaton said that, while extreme poverty has fallen sharply in the last 20 to 30 years and that he

expected this trend to continue, he did not want to sound like a “blind optimist”.

“While I expect things to get bet-ter, you have to keep remembering that we are not out of the woods yet and that for many, many people in the world, things are very bad in-

deed,” Deaton told a press confer-ence by telephone.

“I think the current upwards trends in inequality are very wor-rying in many contexts around the world,” he added.

In one key work, “The Great Escape; Health, Wealth and the Origins of Inequality”, Deaton de-scribes the huge increase in global prosperity in the past two centu-ries, underpinned by medical and technological advances, but also looks in depth at the inequalities to which that progress has given rise.

Deaton developed a system for estimating how the demand for each good depends on the prices of all goods and on individual in-comes, now a standard tool for re-searchers and in practical policy evaluation the academy said.

“Assume the government wants to change a tax like the VAT on food or gasoline or something, or to change income taxes. How will that aff ect demand for diff erent commodities? How will that aff ect welfare for diff erent groups in so-ciety?,” Mats Persson, a member

of the prize awarding committee, told Reuters.

The economics prize, offi cially called the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, was established in 1968. It was not part of the original group of awards set out in dyna-mite tycoon Nobel’s 1895 will.

Deaton, who was born in Edin-burgh and holds both British and US citizenship, is professor of Economics and International Af-fairs at Princeton University in the United States. — Reuters

The Edinburgh-born

economist who lives

and works in the

United States, bagged

the prize for his work

on consumption,

poverty and welfare

SCAN THIS TO VISIT

PHOTO GALLERYARTICLE, VIDEO,

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

ANNOUNCEMENT: Goeran K Hansson, Permanent Secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, centre, announces Angus Deaton of Britain as the winner of the 2015

Nobel Economics Prize next to members of the prize committee Tore Ellingsen, left, and Jakob Svensson on Monday in Stockholm. – AFP

A14

GLOBAL EYET U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

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NORTH KOREA: Fireworks explode during celebrations for the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party in this photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on Monday. Iso-

lated North Korea marked the 70th anniversary of its ruling Workers’ Party on Saturday with a massive military parade overseen by leader Kim Jong Un, who said his country was ready to fi ght any war waged

by the United States. - Reuters

FRANCE: From left: French cartoonist and author Albert Uderzo, French cartoonist Didier Conrad, and

the coauthor of the popular comic book Asterix with Uderzo, writer and designer Jean-Yves Ferri pose

beside a cardboard cut-out of Asterix and Obelix characters during a press conference in Paris on

Monday for the release of the new Asterix album ‘Le Papyrus de Cesar’ (Caesar’s Papyrus). The 36th

book in the Asterix series ‘Le Papyrus de Cesar’ (entitled in English : Asterix and the Missing Scroll),

will be released in France on October 22. - AFP

BRITAIN: A visitor walks through autumn colours and foliage at Westonbirt Arboretum near Tetbury

in southwest England, Britain, on Monday. Planted in the heyday of Victorian plant hunting in the mid-

nineteenth century, Westonbirt Arboretum makes claim to have one of the fi nest tree collections in the

world. - Reuters

UNITED STATES: A young girl sits with giant pumpkins during the 42nd annual Safeway World

Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off Contest in the World Pumpkin Capital of Half Moon Bay, Califor-

nia on Monday. The Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off is off ering a special $30,000

mega-prize for the world record breaking pumpkin at the prestigious Half Moon Bay event. To re-

ceive the $30,000 mega-prize, the grower must break and hold the world record at the conclusion of

the Half Moon Bay weigh-off . The current world record pumpkin is 2,323 pounds (1053.6 kg) set on

October 12, 2014 by Swiss grower Beni Meier at a weigh-off in Ludwigsburg, Germany. The cham-

pion pumpkin, along with the top fi ve pumpkins overall, will be displayed at the Half Moon Bay Art

& Pumpkin Festival on October 17-18. - AFP

SWITZERLAND: Circus Knie groom Flurina Juff er walks her horse into lake Leman on an autumn

morning in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Monday. The Swiss national circus has been presenting its

show for the 97th year throughout Switzerland from March to November 2015. - Reuters

A15

WORLDT U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

2is the number of Afghan pilots who were killed when a small Afghan army plane crashed in the central province of Bamyan on Monday afternoon.

Five killed as British chopper crashes in Kabul

KABUL: Five members of NATO’s international support mission in Afghanistan were killed and fi ve injured when a British military helicopter crashed in the capital, Kabul, offi cials said on Monday.

NATO’s Resolute Support mis-sion said in a statement that two British service members, two US service members and one French contracted civilian were killed as a result of Sunday’s crash at its headquarters in Kabul.

Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on its website that two Royal Air Force personnel had been killed when a British Puma Mk 2 helicopter crashed while landing at the base.

“We’re deeply saddened by the loss of our teammates,” Brig-Gen. Wilson A. Shoff ner, deputy chief of staff for communications, said in the Resolute Support state-ment on Monday afternoon.

Separate incidentThe incident, described as “non-hostile,” is being investigated, it added.

In a separate incident, two Af-ghan pilots were killed and fi ve

people onboard were injured when a small Afghan army plane crashed in the central province of Bamyan on Monday afternoon, said Abdul Rahman Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial governor. A Ministry of Defence spokesman confi rmed that an Af-ghan army plane had crashed due to a technical problem, but could not immediately confi rm the casualties.

Meanwhile, fi ghting intensifi ed around the Afghan city of Ghazni, as Taliban militants threatened to seize a second provincial capital after briefl y occupying Kunduz in the north last month.

The clashes around Ghazni, some 130 km (80 miles) south-west of Kabul, underlined the worsening security situation

across Afghanistan, where na-tional soldiers and police are struggling to cope now the bulk of foreign forces have withdrawn.

Monday’s violence followed days of sporadic fi ghting near Ghazni, and prompted most shops, schools and universities there to close.

Many residents attempted to fl ee to the capital Kabul or near-by districts, adding to a growing number of internally displaced people within Afghanistan.

Government offi cials said they still had the upper hand.

“Hundreds of Taliban attacked from two directions and the fi ght-ing is still on some 7 km away from the provincial capital,” Ghazni’s Deputy Governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi told Reuters. — Reuters

Two British service

members, two US

service members

and one French

contracted civilian

were killed in

the accident STRICT VIGIL: An Afghan policeman stands guard at the roof of a

house in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday. – Reuters

A16

WORLDT U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

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Hundreds rally against Erdogan

ISTANBUL: Turkey’s govern-ment said on Monday IS was the prime suspect in suicide bombings that killed at least 97 people in An-kara, but opponents vented anger at President Tayyip Erdogan at funer-als, universities and courthouses.

The father of three men wound-ed in the blasts told Reuters one of his sons had described seeing one of the bombers carrying a bag on his back and one in his hand, and called out “stop” before the bomb detonated.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davu-

toglu said Saturday’s attack, the worst of its kind on Turkish soil, was intended to infl uence the out-come of November polls Erdogan hopes will restore a majority the ruling AK party lost in June. Of-

fi cials say there is no question of postponing the vote.

Two bombs struck seconds apart, targeting a rally of pro-Kurdish activists and civic groups near Ankara’s main train station.

“If you consider the way the at-tack happened and the general trend of it, we have identifi ed IS as the primary focus,” Davutoglu told Turkey’s NTV television. “It was defi nitely a suicide bombing...DNA tests are being conducted. It was determined how the suicide bombers got there. We’re close to a name, which points to one group.”

The Haberturk newspaper has cited police sources as saying the type of explosive and the choice of target pointed to a group within IS known as the ‘Adiyaman ones’, a reverence to Adiyaman province in southeastern Turkey.

BlameOpponents of Erdogan, who has led the country over 13 years, blame him for the attack, accusing the state at best of intelligence fail-ings and at worst of complicity by stirring up nationalist, anti-Kurd-ish sentiment.

Hundreds chanting anti-gov-ernment slogans marched on a mosque in an Istanbul suburb for the funeral of several of the

victims, attended by Selahat-tin Demirtas, leader of the pro-Kurdish parliamentary opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which says it was the target of the bombings. Riot police with water cannon and armoured vehicles stood by as the crowd, some chant-ing anti-Erdogan slogans and wav-ing HDP fl ags, moved towards the mosque in the working class Um-raniye neighbourhood of Istanbul.

Several labour unions also called protests. Hundreds of peo-ple, many wearing doctors’ uni-forms and carrying Turkish Medi-cal Association banners, gathered by the main train station in Ankara where the explosions happened to lay red carnations but were blocked by riot police, a Reuters witness said.

Lawyers at an Istanbul court-house chanted anti-Erdogan slo-gans, saying “Erdogan will give account” as colleagues applauded, footage circulated on social me-dia showed. Erdogan, accused by opponents of an increasingly au-thoritarian and divisive style, has

overseen a purge in the judiciary of elements he believes to have been colluding with a US based cleric-rival planning a coup against him.

The father of three men wound-ed in the blasts said one of his sons, Abdulselam, described seeing one of the bombers carrying a bag on his back and one in his hand. He called out “stop” suspecting an at-tacker. “The bomber panicked. Se-lam got nervous and acted without thinking. Maybe he could have had the chance to get him arrested, but he shouted to the bomber,” the fa-ther, Mehmet Ali Altun, told Reu-ters outside the hospital where his sons were being treated. The son, who had been questioned by po-lice, declined to speak to media.

The HDP accused Ankara of es-calating violence to try to reduce its vote at November 1 polls, re-store an AK majority and pave the way for the more powerful presi-dential system Erdogan seeks.

“Our electorates feel under con-stant threat in every social space and political activity they attend,” it said. — Reuters

Prime Minister

Ahmet said

Saturday’s attack was

intended to infl uence

the outcome of polls

Zimbabwe will not chargeUS dentist

HARARAE: Zimbabwe will not charge American dentist Walter Palmer for killing its most prized lion in July because he had obtained legal authority to conduct the hunt, a cabinet minister said on Monday.

Palmer, a lifelong big-game hunter from Minnesota, stoked a global controversy when he killed Cecil, a rare black-maned lion, with a bow and arrow out-side Hwange National Park in Western Zimbabwe. But Palmer’s hunting papers were in order, Environment Minis-ter Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri said on Monday. Consequently, he could not be charged. “We approached the police and then the Prosecutor General, and it turned out that Palmer came to Zimbabwe because all the papers were in order,” Muchin-guri-Kashiri told reporters.

Muchinguri Kashiri said Palmer was free to visit Zim-babwe as a tourist but not as a hunter. The implication was he would not be issued the permits a hunter needs.

Two more people still face charges related to Cecil’s killing. Both allegedly were involved in using bait to lure Cecil out of his habitat in Hwange National Park. — Reuters

‘ C E C I L ’ T H E L I O N K I L L I N G

CONTROL MEASURES: Riot police use a water cannon to disperse

demonstrators, during a protest against Saturday’s bomb blasts in

Ankara, in the Kurdish dominated southeastern city of Diyarbakir,

Turkey, on Monday. – Reuters

MARKEWWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMT U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5B

Muscat

5,963.11 + 30.91

+ 0.52%

Dubai

3,722.59+ 9.17

+ 0.25%

Abu Dhabi

4,561.31- 4.18

- 0.09%

Saudi Arabia

7,816.71- 10.37

- 0.13%

Kuwait

5,734.07+ 5.69

+ 0.10%

Bahrain

1,252.13 - 2.59

- 0.21%

Qatar

11,868.90+ 13.03

+ 0.11%

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

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

Euro ............................................2.26

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

Indian Rs ............................. 167.98

Pak Rs ...................................266.88

Bangla Taka.......................199.28* Rates are as of Oct. 12

Source: Bank Muscat

Indian Rs ..................................168.00

Pakistan Rs .............................270.40

Sri Lanka Rs ...........................361.60

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

Phil Peso .................................... 118.65

* Rates as of Oct. 12 Source: Oman UAE Exchange

Muscat 24ct per gm (OMR) .......14.85

Muscat 22ct per gm (OMR) .......14.30

Dubai 24ct per gm (Dh) ........... 139.00

Dubai 22ct per gm (Dh) ............ 132.00

* Rates as of Oct. 12

Source: Malabar Gold & Diamonds

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

Oman Crude ............. (Spot) .........$50.41

Dubai Crude ............. (Spot) .........$50.31

Murban Crude ........ (Spot) .........$51.40

Arabian Light ......... (Spot) ........$50.49

N.Sea Brent ............... (Spot) .........$52.16

West Texas Int ....... (Spot) ........$49.97

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Omifco’s expansion plan hangs on additional gas

A E JAMESbusinesseditor@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Oman India Ferti-liser Company’s (omifco) plans to double its production capacity with a debottlenecking scheme and a third train in Sur hangs on government decision to supply additional gas.

The company, a $960 million-joint venture equally owned by Oman Oil Company and India’s two fertiliser fi rms, plans to build a third train and implement a de-bottlenecking project, which is a process to remove obstacles that are preventing a process from be-ing more effi cient or workable. This will almost double the exist-ing urea capacity from 1.652 mil-lion tonnes to more than three million tonnes per annum. “We are ready with the project and are waiting for additional gas from the government of Oman. The government is positive on the plan. As soon as the gas is avail-able, we will proceed with the project,” said S G Gedigeri, chief executive offi cer of Omifco.

He was talking to journalists on the sidelines of Oman-India investment meet organised by Ithraahere on Monday.

Debottlenecking projectThe additional natural gas re-quirement for debottlenecking project alone (which will enable to enhance production by 30 per cent) will be 0.8 million standard cubic metres per day.

Presently, Omifco has two identical plants of 2,530 tonnes per day each of urea and two iden-tical plants of 1,750 tonnes per day each of ammonia at Qalhat in Sur. As much as 80 per cent of ammonia production is used for manufacturing urea.

Natural gas priceGedigeri said the company an-ticipates the total production of urea to touch 1.92 million tonnes this year. He also noted that the increase in natural gas price, which was eff ective from 2012, would not aff ect the net earnings of Omifco since the company has long-term off take arrangements and the additional costs are passed on to the customers.

On the recent slackness in urea price, he said the urea volume sold at market price is only around 15 per cent of total production — which is output above 1.65 mil-lion tonnes a year. Price of urea in international markets is hovering around $250 per tonne now.

The Omifco chief added that the anticipated revenue and profi t of the company this year are close to $300 million and $30 million, respectively.

Omifco started selling urea in the local market almost three years ago, after setting up a bag-ging unit within the complex. The domestic sales, which meet the entire demand of Oman, are close to 20,000 tonnes per annum.

The company’s cumulative pro-duction of urea was 19.8 million

tonnes, ever since it started opera-tion. Omifco has performed well since it started commercial pro-duction more than a decade ago.

Indian companiesProminent Indian companies be-gan a two-day investment visit to Oman on Monday.

The visit started at Muscat’s Hormuz Grand Hotel with His Highness Sayyid Faisal Al Said, Ithraa’s director general for In-vestment Promotion opening a one-day invest in Oman meeting which will see 50 leading Omani organisations network with In-dian counterparts.

Attended by Indra Mani Pan-dey, India’s Ambassador to the Sultanate, Monday’s meet con-sisted of a series of presentations delivered by Ithraa; the Public Establishment for Industrial Es-tates; Port of Salalah; SoharPort and Freezone; Special Economic Zone Authority at Duqm; Oman Investment Fund; Larsen & Tou-bro and the Omifco.

Follow-up meeting“Building on our successful visit to India in August, we have or-ganised, in partnership with key stakeholders, this important follow-up meeting to strengthen investment and trade ties with India. Indeed, by working to-gether our two countries can achieve great things,” remarked Sayyid Faisal

Oman and India enjoy a long-standing and strong relationship,

one that dates back centuries. This year, the two nations cel-ebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.

“Our warm and cordial rela-tions are based on mutual trust and respect. We are linked by ge-ography, trade, history and culture and collaborate in agriculture, healthcare, infrastructure, tour-ism, chemicals and fertilisers, education, oil and gas, power and mining,” added Sayyid Faisal.

Investment fl ows between Oman and India are robust, over 1,500 Indo-Omani joint ventures have been carried out in the Sul-

tanate with an investment of $7.5 billion of which Indian invest-ment is estimated at $4.5 billion.

India is also one of the Oman’s most important destinations for non-oil exports. Bilateral trade between the two countries reached $5.7 billion during 2013–14, a rise of 25 per cent over the previous year.

We are ready with

the project and

are waiting for

additional gas from

the government of

Oman. As soon as

the gas is available,

we’ll proceed with

the project, Omifco’s

chief executive said

Foundation stone laid for power project in MusandamTimes News Service

MUSCAT: A foundation stone laying ceremony to build the fi rst independent power project in Musandam with a generation ca-pacity of 120 megawatt, was held on Monday. Musandam Power Company (MPC) is developing the Musandam independent power project (Musandam IPP) based on high and world-class standards and technology.

Gas-fi red projectMPC has selected dual fuel re-ciprocating engines confi gura-tion for the project, following a competitive pre-qualifi cation and tendering process to deliver fl ex-ible, lowest life cycle costs and sustainable energy to the gover-norate, said a company release. The plant will use natural gas as the main fuel to maintain the sta-bility of the local electricity supply and support sustainable devel-opment in the Musandam while signifi cantly contributing to the Sultanate’s energy-production ca-

pabilities and long-term economic diversifi cation plans.

Storage diesel fuel will be used during emergencies as the alter-nate fuel on discontinuation of natural gas fuel to guarantee the electricity supply for the gover-norate. The electricity generated from this project will be transmit-ted to the existing medium voltage grid through the new 132KV trans-mission lines being built by Rural Areas Electricity Company. The generated electricity will serve the power demand of the Musandam Governorate in the future.

The ceremony was held under the auspices of Sayyid Khalifa bin Al Murdas Al Busaidy, Governor of Musandam, and attended by num-ber of offi cials from the govern-ment and representatives from the private sector.

“This is a signifi cant step for Oman Oil Company as we contin-ue to expand our projects locally which have been instrumental to create multi-regional industrial hubs across the Sultanate. Our strategy comes along with the

Government vision of diversify-ing the economy resources and support the development plans,” said Eng. Isam Al Zadjali, chief ex-ecutive offi cer of Oman Oil Com-pany (OOC).

“This new plant, which is ex-pected to be commissioned by end of 2016, is part of a major in-tegrated development comprising the development of Musandam

Governorate. Musandam IPP will play an essential role in delivering fl exible and sustainable energy to the governorate. The project will be able to meet the power needs of the current and upcoming pro-jects in the region as well as ex-pecting to benefi t the local com-munity,” he added.

“OOC will continue investing in projects that will support the

development of the Governorate through upcoming projects in the energy value chain,” he added.

Jeong, vice president of LG International (LGI), said, “LGI believes that the Musandam IPP could be a sustainable power source to contribute the overall economic development of Musan-dam. With trust and solid coopera-tion between OOC and LGI, LGI will continue in eff orts to support benefi ts to the local community by successful commercial operation of Musandam IPP in near future.”

“The project provides further proof of the competitiveness of engine power plants compared to traditional technologies. The power plant will off er operational fl exibility, reliability and lifecycle value – not to mention effi ciency in harsh conditions,” said UpmaKoul, Business Development Manager at Wärtsilä Energy Solutions.

The engines are attuned to maintain top fuel efficiency in conditions of high humidity and extreme temperatures of up to 50 degrees.

Musandam Power Company was established in 2014 as a joint venture between OOC, the gov-ernment’s investment arm in the energy related sectors,holding a 70 per cent stake, LGI, holding a 30 per cent stake,celebrated the occa-sion of laying the foundation stone for the construction of Musandam Independent Power Plant.

Recently, MPC had announced the execution of a long term Power Purchase Agreement with Oman Power and Water Procure-ment Company and a Natural Gas Sales Agreement with the Minis-try of Oil and Gas, providing for the supply and sale of natural gas to the company.

As Oman’s first independent power project in the Musan-dam Governorate, MPC will use natural gas to be processed by OOC’s wholly owned subsidiary, Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production from the adja-cent Musandam Gas Process-ing Plant to integrate the value chain and maximise value from Oman’s resources.

W O R L D - C L A S S T E C H N O L O G Y

S G Gedigeri.

— Picture by A R Rajkumar/Times of Oman

WORLD-CLASS: Musandam Power Company is developing the

Musandam independent power project. — Supplied picture

MAKING A POINT: Prominent Indian companies began a two-day investment visit to Oman

on Monday. — Picture by A R Rajkumar/Times of Oman

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Oman’s new investment law, which will be announced within a short period, will help improve the country’s competitiveness in attracting foreign invest-ments, said a senior offi cial of Ithraa.

“We look forward a much more aggressive foreign direct investment law that will allow Oman to enhance and improve its competitive-

ness,” said His Highness Sayyid Faisal Al Said, Ithraa’s director general for Invest-ment Promotion.

He was talking to journal-ists on the sidelines of an investment meet.

The government has to be bold and aggressive in making certain bold changes in the law for meaningful investors to come. And the new law is expected to be benefi cial for both local and foreign investors.

‘Oman’s new investment law to improve competitiveness’

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Al Bayan sells

water business

stake in Oman to

UAE company

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Al Bayan has sold 100 per cent of its equity stake in wa-ter business in Oman and UAE to Agthia Group, one of UAE’s lead-ing food and beverage companies.

Al Bayan Group of Companies is a diversifi ed business group in the UAE with interests across health-care, retail, food and beverages, and engineering industries.

Alpen Capital, Dubai, acted as the sole fi nancial advisor to Al Bayan Group.

“The Al Bayan Group has grown strongly in the last few years and has diversifi ed business inter-ests. The move to sell our water business across UAE and Oman, is an integral part of our business strategy as it will help focus our eff orts towards growing our re-tail and hospitality businesses,” said A.K Mansoor, Chairman & Managing Director, Al Bayan Group of Companies.

“We are pleased that our wa-ter business will thrive under the ownership of the Agthia Group. I also would like thank the team at Alpen Capital, our fi nancial advi-sors who not only helped us iden-tify a suitable buyer but also struc-tured and seamlessly executed the transaction,” he added.

“We are very excited to merge our strengths with those of Al Bayan. As a major player in the fi ve gallon bottled water segment in the UAE, Al Bayan is an excel-lent strategic fi t for Agthia, fur-ther consolidating our leading po-sition in the UAE water market,” said Iqbal Hamzah, Group CEO, Agthia Group.

“Al Bayan’s manufacturing ca-pabilities in the Northern Emir-ates and Oman with an established brand and sales and distribution infrastructure, coupled with Agth-ia’s manufacturing expertise, sales and marketing knowledge, and its iconic brands, will help unlock the growth potential of the combined business,” he added.

“This strategic investment by Agthia Group into Al Bayan is testimony to the potential oppor-tunities that exist in the GCC for corporations and investors. We are happy to add value to this transac-tion using our extensive regional experience and expertise in the food and retail sectors,” said San-jay Vig, managing director, Alpen Capital (ME) Limited.

S T A K E S A L E

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BP plans to bring shale gas expertise to OmanTimes News Service

MUSCAT: BP is focusing on intro-ducing technology developed in the United States for shale fi elds and de-ploying it in the Middle East to pro-duce gas from some of the world’s oldest and toughest sandstone — rocks that are as hard as granite at depths of over 5,000 metres.

Bob Dudley, BP Group chief ex-ecutive, who was speaking at the opening ceremony of the Kuwait Oil and Gas Show of 2015 on Mon-day, also shared BP’s vision for the oil and gas industry in Kuwait and the Middle East.

Strong partnerships between international and national oil companies are the key to future success in helping to meet people’s growing energy needs for dec-ades to come, said Bob Dudley, BP Group chief executive on Monday.

The opening ceremony was at-tended by key government offi cials including Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah, prime minis-ter; Dr Ali Saleh Al Omair, Kuwait’s minister of oil; Abdallah Salem El Badri, secretary general, Organisa-tion of Petroleum Exporting Coun-tries, and other international and regional oil and gas leaders.

“With oil and gas becoming more diffi cult to extract, and low prices putting pressure on costs, the challenges may have grown. But so has our ability to meet the challenges of today and the de-mands of tomorrow,” Dudley said.

“We can do that by combin-ing the complementary strengths of national and international oil companies to the benefi t of coun-tries around the globe. Speaking for BP, we have a long history in Kuwait and the Middle East – and

a deep commitment to its future as one of the world’s energy heart-lands,” he added.

Later in his presentation, Dud-ley showcased the history of the oil and gas industry in Kuwait, and BP’s role in the discovery and the development of those resources.

Sandstone reservoirAn example of that is the discovery of Burgan — the biggest sandstone reservoir in the world — in1938. Last year, BP signed an agreement with Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) to bring its cutting-edge expertise in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) to Burgan. A BP team has since been work-ing with KOC in the Wara forma-tions on how to manage low pres-sure in the fi eld.

Dudley set out how new reser-voir management techniques, wa-

ter injection treatments and well locations could be repeatable and adaptable across the whole of the Middle East region and indeed the globe. In Iraq, for example, BP has been working with South Oil Com-pany and PetroChina to improve drilling. This partnership has just completed their 200th new well over the past fi ve years.

In Egypt, earlier this year, BP announced its participation in a $12 billion investment in devel-oping new gas supplies — as well as more investment in its exist-ing oil operations at the Gulf of Suez, through GUPCO, and gas operations in the East Nile Delta through the Pharaonic Petroleum.

Finally, in Abu Dhabi BP has had a partnership over many dec-ades bringing together BP’s global technology capability and ADMA’s local expertise.

K U W A I T E X P O

INNOVATIVE APPROACH: Bob Dudley, BP Group CEO, shares his

vision on innovation, technology and opportunities in the Middle

East region, at Kuwait Oil and Gas Show on Monday. – Supplied picture

Qatari bank in talks to buy Turkish fi rmISTANBUL: Qatar National Bank (QNB), Qatar’s largest bank by assets, is interested in acquiring Turkey’s Finansbank as the lender seeks to expand outside its home market. The two have held pre-liminary talks on a deal, though no material developments have taken place, the Doha-based lender said in a statement on Monday, without giving further detail.

Finansbank soared as much as 13.5 per cent on the news to 6.7 liras, and traded at 6.60 liras as of 3:55 p.m. in Istanbul.

QNB, as it’s known, is seeking expansion beyond the Gulf to wid-en margins and tap larger markets. It agreed to pay $1.97 billion for a

majority stake in Societe Gener-ale’s Egyptian unit in 2012, while Commercial Bank of Qatar bought a 70.8 per cent stake in Turkey’s Alternatifb ank in 2013. HSBC Holdings is also selling its Turkish unit, it said in June.

Boosting presence“International diversifi cation remains an integral part of QNB strategy given the limitations of the domestic Qatari market,” said Apostolos Bantis, a credit analyst at Commerzbank in Dubai. “Qatar’s banking market is highly penetrated, constraining growth opportunities.”

National Bank of Greece, which

owns Finansbank, said today that it will hold talks with potential investors as it evaluates strategic alternatives for the lender. QNB and Fiba Holding are among those interested in acquiring it, people with knowledge of the matter said earlier this month.

JPMorgan Chase is advising QNB on the potential deal, accord-ing to two people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identifi ed as the news isn’t public. A QNB spokesman in Doha de-clined to comment.

Foreign banks are seeking to boost their presence in Turkey with acquisitions and licence ap-plications. – Bloomberg News

A C Q U I S I T I O N Top oil-dependent wealth funds sellEuropean shares

LONDON: The top three oil-de-pendent sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have been selling Euro-pean equity holdings since May, a study showed on Monday, an-other sign of petrodollars being withdrawn from world markets.

However, Asian funds have continued to add European equi-ties, according to the data from Nasdaq Advisory Services, which provides analysis on shareholder and investor activity.

Since May, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority has sold $1.2 billion worth of equities across Nasdaq’s European client base. That accounts for 13 per cent of its $9.2 billion holdings in the Eu-ropean companies.

Norway’s Norges Bank Invest-ment Management has sold $1.1 billion — around 2 per cent of the $57.5 billion market value of its holdings. The Abu Dhabi In-vestment Authority has cut some $300 million worth of shares from its $3.6 billion holding.

“Over 2015, the three larg-est oil-dependent SWFs have all

been reducing their equity hold-ings in the region, with this trend accelerating over the second quarter and into the third quarter of the year,” said Alexander Free, an analyst with Nasdaq’s Advi-sory Services.

Falling crude pricesThe data is based on a sample of 159 European companies, with a market value of $1.87 trillion, Nasdaq says.

They range from retail and tel-ecoms shares to fi nancials and utilities. Falling crude oil prices — with Brent crude down over 60 per cent since summer 2014 — has put pressure on global oil producers to rein in spending or liquidate assets.

Energy-exporting countries pulled money out of world mar-kets last year for the fi rst time in almost two decades, halting the ‘recycling’ of oil windfalls, BNP Paribas has said. The trend would continue as energy prices stayed under pressure, the bank predicted last year.

In July, Saudi resorted to issu-ing a bond for the fi rst time since 2007. The International Mone-tary Fund has warned of the Saudi defi cit — estimated at around 20 percent of GDP this year.

The Saudi central bank, which serves as the wealth fund of the world’s top oil exporter, has been drawing down its reserves since late 2014. Its net foreign assets fell by $6.6 billion in August as the Saudis liquidated assets to plug the budget gap. “It’s a pretty dire situation,” Free said.

Norway has announced it will make its fi rst net withdrawal from its sovereign fund since it was set up, to help pay for tax cuts de-signed to stimulate the economy. Its $830 billion fund is the world’s largest, holding about 1.3 per cent of global stocks. - Reuters

Since May, the Saudi

Arabian Monetary

Authority has sold

$1.2 billion worth

of equities across

Nasdaq’s European

client base

Mauritius planning derivatives platformEBENE: Mauritius plans to launch a trading platform to hedge African currencies against the United States dollar, part of a bid to expand its role as a fi nan-cial hub for the continent, the fi -nancial services minister said.

The Indian Ocean island is also in talks to boost ties with stock exchanges in Johannesburg and Nairobi to encourage cross-list-ing of shares and other areas of cooperation, Sudarshan Bhadain said in an interview.

The international fi nancial services sector in Mauritius has relied heavily on dealings with India, helped by a double taxation avoidance treaty that made the island the biggest route for for-eign investment into India.

But that could be hit if talks with India lead to treaty changes, encouraging a shift in focus to Af-rica where offi cials see a chance to off er a broader range of fi nan-cial services and shake off criti-cism that Mauritius is little more than a ‘tax haven’.

“I do believe that Mauritius

cannot remain a tax-centric ju-risdiction,” the minister said at his offi ce in the island’s fi nancial district of Ebene.

“Mauritius has to move to the next level which is bringing real investments which are creating jobs in Mauritius ... and for us to be the platform for Africa for the right reasons.”

He said Mauritius had signed a memorandum of understanding with National Stock Exchange of India, aimed at encouraging cross-listing of Indian fi rms and helping the island become a route for investment to Africa from In-dia and elsewhere.

“One of the aspects is for the creation of a new currency de-rivatives platform, where African currencies can be hedged against the United States dollar,” he said, adding that the launch was ex-pected in 2016. He did not give further details.

Mauritius was working with South Africa on encouraging cross-listings and was holding talks with Kenya. - Reuters

T R A D I N G P L A T F O R M

WITHDRAWING PETRODOLLARS: Norway’s Norges Bank Invest-

ment Management has sold $1.1 billion — around 2 per cent of the

$57.5 billion market value of its holdings. – Bloomberg News

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Iranian automobile company plans assembly unit in Oman

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Oman has made a re-quest for Iran Khodro Industrial Group (IKCO) to establish a pro-duction site in the Sultanate, said IKCO’s chief executive offi cer and president Hashem Yekeezare af-ter a meeting with the Yahya bin Said bin Abdullah Al Jabri, chair-man of the Special Economic Zone Authority of Duqm (Sezad).

At the meeting, Iran Khodro Industrial Group’s chief execu-tive offi cer referred to the historic relations between Iran and Oman

adding that the site can provide Iran Khodro with an easy access to markets deep in eastern and northern regions of Africa. He also expressed hope that the site could be established as soon as possi-ble with the fi nancial support of Oman’s Development Fund.

Yekkezare emphasised that Oman project begins with the estab-

lishment of a production line which will develop further into a produc-tion site after a while. He referred to the industrial strategy of Iran Khodro developed by Iran’s Minis-try of Industries and Mines saying: “Based on the strategy, the num-ber of our products would reach to three million vehicles for national and international markets.”

Al Jabri praises expertiseOn his part, Al Jabri praised the high technologies of Iran Khodro saying the commercial relations between Iran and the Sultanate of Oman need to expand further like their political ties.

Al Jabri pointed out that Oman’s free trade zone of Duqm enjoys a high capacity for exporting cars to

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and eastern Asia. “IKCO’s products facilitate our access to Asian mar-kets. On the other hand, Dqum en-joys some appropriate grounds for car production,” he said.

Iran Khodro Deputy for Export and International Aff airs, Saeed Tafazzoli, also held talks with Al Jabri. During the talks, Tafazzoli referred to the last joint economic meeting between Iran and Oman in December saying: “During the meeting, we concluded to expand our projects in Oman.”

IKCO vehicles in Oman“Several months ago, the heads of Oman’s Development and Invest-ment Fund visited Iran to discuss the possibility of establishment a joint venture to produce IKCO ve-hicles in Oman,” he said.

Tafazzoli also noted that IKCO would provide the site with engineering services and spare parts. According to him, the site establishment would be financed by Oman’s government and Development Fund.

The site is expected to produce 15,000 vehicles each year.

Iran Khodro chief

executive offi cer

Hashem Yekeezare

said that the site

could be established

as soon as possible

with the fi nancial

support of Oman’s

development fund

Infosys net profi t grows 9.8 per cent

BANGALORE: India’s second largest software services fi rm In-fosys on Monday posted 9.8 per cent increase in consolidated net profi t to Rs33.98 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2015. The Bangalore-based fi rm had re-ported a net profi t of Rs30.96 bil-lion in the year-ago period.

Consolidated revenue was up 17.2 per cent to Rs156.35 billion in the quarter from Rs133.42 billion in the year-ago period, the com-pany said in a fi ling to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Infosys had reported a net profi t of Rs 30.30 billion and revenues of Rs143.54 billion for the April-June quarter of this year.

Reacting to the numbers, shares of the company dropped 3.07 per cent to Rs1,132 apiece in early trade on BSE.

The company also announced that its executive vice president and CFO Rajiv Bansal has re-signed. He will be replaced by M. D. Ranganath at the close of business on Monday.

Ranganath has held several leadership positions during a ten-ure of nearly 15 years with Infosys.

“We are experiencing a once-in-a-generation opportunity for a ser-vices company to help businesses maximise their potential with technology... I am encouraged by our progress.,” Infosys chief execu-tive offi cer and managing director Vishal Sikka said. - PTI

Q U A R T E R L Y R E S U L T S

CAR EXPORTS: Yahya bin Said bin Abdullah Al Jabri, chairman of the Special Economic Zone

Authority of Duqm, said that Oman’s free trade zone of Duqm enjoys a high capacity for exporting

cars to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and eastern Asia. – File picture

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Bank Sohar net profi t falls by 10%Times News Service

MUSCAT: Bank Sohar said its net profi t for the fi rst nine months of 2015 fell by 10.35 per cent to OMR21.29 million from OMR23.75 million for the same period last year.

The bank’s net loans and ad-vances surged ahead by 17.69 per cent to OMR1,670.26 million for the fi rst nine months of this year, from OMR1,419.25 million for the same period last year, the bank said in a disclosure statement.

Customer deposits showed a robust 16.7 per cent growth at OMR1,564.92 million from

OMR1,340.99 million during the period in the previous year, while total assets were up by 20.08 per cent at OMR2,226.71 million.

Conventional bankingBank Sohar said its net profi t from conventional banking was down by 12.89 per cent at OMR20.90 million, while Islamic banking window generated a net profi t of OMR396,000 for the fi rst nine months of 2015, against a loss of OMR238,000 for the same period last year.

The results are unaudited and are subject to approval from the board of directors.

N I N E M O N T H S

European bank stimulus talk vows euro-area shield from global gloomLIMA: Mario Draghi is reminding the world that the euro area has a trillion-euro comfort blanket.

While some major central banks feel the chill of a global emerging-market slowdown over their plans to tighten policy, the European Central Bank (ECB) president has at least €700 billion ($795 billion) out of a slated €1.1 trillion still to spend in his quanti-tative-easing programme.

ECB offi cials are quietly indi-cating they’ll let the current pro-gramme take its course for now, while saying repeatedly that they’re ready to do even more if needed.

At the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting in the Pe-ruvian capital of Lima over the weekend, delegates see-sawed be-tween gloom that economic woes from Beijing to Brazil would de-rail world output, and optimism that reality will undershoot the worst fears. After listening to Chinese policymakers explain how risks to their economy will

be managed and growth above 6 per cent per year secured, Draghi said he was “reassured” that everything is under control.

“When the risks are to the downside, everyone starts focus-ing on that and there’s a danger of it being self- fulfi lling,” Paul Sheard, chief global economist at Standard & Poor’s, said in an in-terview in Lima. “But the ECB is

saying ‘we’re not putting a limit on QE, we’re not stopping until we achieve our objective.’ If they don’t do anything, the balance sheet still expands.”

Not all advanced-economy central banks have it so easy. Fac-ing pressure to normalise policy in anticipation of infl ation yet to come, United States Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen and Bank of England (BoE) governor Mark Carney may yet have to postpone interest- rate increases because of the headwinds from emerging markets. Carney, also speaking in Lima, said this isn’t a “type of economy in which one can make mistakes.”

On October 6, the IMF cut its global growth outlook for this year to 3.1 per cent from a July forecast of 3.3 per cent, and downgraded next year’s estimate to a 3.6 per cent expansion from 3.8 per cent. Even so, while warning about the ‘cross border repercussions’ of slowing Chinese growth, the IMF

left its outlook for the world’s sec-ond-largest economy unchanged at 6.8 per cent this year and 6.3 per cent for 2016.

Stable growthThe euro area’s performance, though modest, has at least been stable. Output expanded 0.4 per cent in the second quarter after growing 0.5 per cent in the previ-ous three months. Yet with the infl ation rate dipping below zero in September, Draghi is having to combat the impression that the asset-purchase plan he started in March isn’t working. The ECB forecasts that price gains will only return to the goal of just under 2 per cent around the end of 2017.

More than two-thirds of econo-mists surveyed last month said policy makers will have to do just that. ABN Amro Bank and Barclays are among market participants who’ve said they expect the ECB to add to the level of stimulus already announced. - Bloomberg News

E C O N O M Y

No calls within Opec for oil output policy change, says KuwaitKUWAIT: Kuwait’s oil minister said on Monday there were cur-rently no calls from within Opec to change the oil-producing group’s output policy and that a market exit by high-cost producers could help buoy oil prices in 2016.

“Today there are no ideas or de-mands from the member states to make any big change in Opec’s de-cision,” Kuwait Oil Minister Ali Al Omair said, referring to Opec’s de-cision in November 2014 to keep output unchanged.

“Today there are indications that a lot of high-cost oil produc-tion is starting to get out of the market and this will help improve prices,” Omair said. He said there were also positive signs regarding global economic growth.

“There are signs that world eco-nomic growth could improve by the start of 2016 and this would also add to the improvement in oil prices,” Omair said. He said any impact on policy from the return of Indonesia to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Coun-tries (Opec) would be determined at the group’s next meeting.

Global benchmarkGlobal benchmark Brent crude oil rose 29 cents a barrel to $52.94 by 0927 GMT. United States light crude was also up 29 cents, at $49.92. Opec secretary-general Abdullah Al Badri, speaking to re-porters in Kuwait City, said he saw oil demand improving.

“I see a decline in non-OPEC production and I see an increase in the call on OPEC,” he said, largely reiterating comments that he made last week. “So the situation is positive as we see it at the end of this year and next year.”

“I think if this situation persists, stays the same, I think yes, (we) will see a balanced market (next year).” Regarding an OPEC tech-nical meeting to be held in Vienna

on October 21, Badri said seven to eight non-Opec countries plus all Opec countries had been invited.

Meanwhile, Opec pumped the most crude in three years as it pre-dicted stronger demand for its oil in 2016 while supplies elsewhere falter. Opec said it pumped 31.57 million barrels a day last month, the most since 2012, according to its monthly market report.

Opec sees production outside the group shrinking by 130,000 barrels a day next year as the U.S. shale boom sputters. - Agencies

C R U D E O I L

Today there are

indications that a lot of

high-cost oil production

is starting to get out of

the market and this will

help improve prices

Ali Al Omair Oil minister, Kuwait

Mario Draghi. – Bloomberg news

B4

MARKETT U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

MUSCATSECURITIES MARKET

SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 12

REGULAR MARKET .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

OM0000001681 ............OMAN AND EMIRATES INV. HOLDING ........... 2,413,018 ...... 271,479..................... 92 ............0.110 ........... 0.116 ............0.110 ............0.113 ............. 0.106 ........... 0.007 ............. 6.604 ................ 0.116 .............. 0.116...................0.000 .................. 13,771,875 .........0.100

OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING ........... 1,904,453 ......234,930..................... 94 ............0.121 ........... 0.125 ........... 0.121 ............0.123 ............. 0.117 ............ 0.006 ............. 5.128 ................0.125 ..............0.124...................0.125 ................... 11,070,000 .........0.100

OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE .............. 2,218,671 ......421,960................... 135 ............0.186 ........... 0.194 ...........0.186 ........... 0.190 ............. 0.184 ........... 0.006 ............. 3.261 ................0.193 .............. 0.193...................0.194 ...................38,000,000 ........0.100

OM0000001160 ............NATIONAL GAS ............................................................. 21,137 ...............6,848..................... 10 ........... 0.324 ...........0.324 ...........0.324........... 0.324 ............. 0.314.............0.010 ............. 3.185 ................0.324..............0.324...................0.326 ..................16,200,000 .........0.100

OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 5,495,817 ... 1,097,257................... 416 ............0.194 ...........0.206 ...........0.194 ........... 0.200 ............. 0.194 ........... 0.006 ............. 3.093 ................0.204 ............ 0.204...................0.205 ..................30,015,000 .........0.100

OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES ..................................... 3,214,793 ...... 575,693................... 184 ............0.176 ........... 0.185 ...........0.175 ............0.179 ............. 0.175 ............ 0.004 ............. 2.286 ................0.183 .............. 0.183...................0.184 ...................52,026,533 .........0.100

OM0000002549 ...........BANK DHOFAR ............................................................ 195,199 ............ 46,695........................8 ........... 0.236 ...........0.240 ...........0.236........... 0.239 .............0.234 ........... 0.005 ............. 2.137 ................0.240 ............ 0.240...................0.000 .................369,190,122 ........0.100

OM0000001087 ............OMAN UNITED INSURANCE ............................... 1,262,890 ...... 332,774..................... 47 ........... 0.259 ........... 0.270 ...........0.259........... 0.264 .............0.259 ........... 0.005 ..............1.931.................0.266..............0.266...................0.270 ..................26,400,000 ........0.100

OM0000002366 ...........AL BATINAH DEV. INV. HOLDING ...................... 206,897 ............21,850..................... 27 ............0.106 ........... 0.106 ...........0.104 ........... 0.106 .............0.104 ........... 0.002 ............. 1.923 ................0.105 ..............0.104...................0.105 .................... 3,180,000 ..........0.100

OM0000001319 ............NATIONAL ALUMINIUM PRODUCTS ............. 935,698 ......... 203,179......................41 ............0.214 ...........0.220 ...........0.214 ............0.217 ............. 0.213............ 0.004 ............. 1.878 ................0.216 .............. 0.215...................0.218 .................... 7,285,005 ..........0.100

OM0000001517 ............HSBC BANK OMAN .................................................... 1,615,695 ........195,701..................... 55 ............0.119 ........... 0.125 ........... 0.119 ............0.121 ............. 0.119 ............ 0.002 ..............1.681.................0.125 .............. 0.123...................0.129 ..................242,037,848........0.100

OM0000004735 ...........SEMBCORP SALALAH ................................................ 23,101 ............ 63,297........................6 ............2.740 ........... 2.740 ...........2.740 ........... 2.740 .............2.700 ........... 0.040 ..............1.481.................2.740 ..............2.700...................2.740 ..................261,552,714 ........1.000

OM0000003661 ............VOLTAMP ENERGY ................................................... 122,557 ........... 52,673........................8 ........... 0.426 ........... 0.430 ...........0.426........... 0.430 .............0.424 ........... 0.006 ..............1.415 .................0.430..............0.424...................0.430 ..................26,015,000 .........0.100

OM0000003711 ............SOHAR POWER ...............................................................14,110 ............... 4,971........................4 ........... 0.350 ........... 0.354 ...........0.350........... 0.352 .............0.348 ........... 0.004 ............. 1.149.................0.354 ..............0.354...................0.360 .................. 77,795,520 .........0.100

OM0000002028 ...........GULF INTERNATIONAL CHEMICALS ............. 28,000 ...............8,042........................5 ........... 0.285 ........... 0.288 ...........0.285........... 0.287 .............0.284 ........... 0.003 ............. 1.056 ................0.287..............0.285...................0.288 ................... 6,027,000 ..........0.100

OM0000003000 ...........ALMAHA PETROLEUM PRODUCTS MAR. ......... 9,500 .............18,810........................4 ............1.980 ........... 1.980 ...........1.980 ........... 1.980 ............. 1.960 ........... 0.020 ............. 1.020 ................1.980 ..............1.980...................0.000 .................136,620,000........0.100

OM0000002200 ...........AHLI BANK ..................................................................... 70,000 .............14,140........................2 ........... 0.207 ...........0.207 ...........0.200 .......... 0.202 .............0.200 ........... 0.002 ............. 1.000 ................0.200 ............. 0.195...................0.200 ................. 287,857,301 ........0.100

OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES ......................... 2,070,861 ...... 212,529................... 114 ............0.102 ........... 0.104 ...........0.101 ........... 0.103 .............0.102 ............0.001 ............. 0.980 ................0.103 ..............0.102...................0.104.................... 6,060,851 ..........0.100

OM0000002226 ...........AL JAZEERA SERVICES ............................................31,500 .............13,333........................8 ........... 0.424 ........... 0.426 ...........0.422........... 0.424 .............0.420 ........... 0.004 ............. 0.952 ................0.422..............0.422...................0.424 ..................25,950,612 .........0.100

OM0000001749 ............OMAN CEMENT .............................................................. 5,007 ...............2,267........................3 ........... 0.454 ........... 0.454 ...........0.452 ........... 0.452 .............0.448 ........... 0.004 ............. 0.893 ................0.454 ..............0.448...................0.454..................149,554,465 ........0.100

OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ............................................................ 2,390,396...1,326,654....................111 ........... 0.560 ........... 0.560 ...........0.550 ........... 0.554 .............0.550 ........... 0.004 ............. 0.727 ................0.554 ..............0.552...................0.554................ 1,269,669,719 ......0.100

OM0000001483 ............NATIONAL BANK OF OMAN ................................. 150,000 ........... 46,700......................11 ............0.314 ........... 0.314 ...........0.310 ........... 0.312 ............. 0.310............ 0.002 ............. 0.645 ................0.310 .............. 0.312...................0.314 ..................418,301,598 ........0.100

OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ........................ 385,208 .........633,627..................... 47 ............1.640 ........... 1.650 ...........1.630 ............1.645 ............. 1.640 ........... 0.005 ............. 0.305 ................1.630 .............. 1.630...................1.645 ................ 1,233,750,000 ......0.100

OM0000001889 ............SALALAH MILLS ............................................................. 4,865 ................7,271........................2 ............1.490 ........... 1.495 ...........1.490 ........... 1.490 ............. 1.490............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.495 .............. 1.495...................1.500 ................... 71,762,965 .........0.100

OM0000002176 ............AL JAZEERA STEEL PRODUCTS ........................ 152,000 ........... 29,596..................... 10 ............0.195 ........... 0.195 ...........0.193 ............0.195 ............. 0.195............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.193 .............. 0.191...................0.193 ...................24,355,102 .........0.100

OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. .................. 1,459,006 ...... 145,486..................... 63 ............0.101 ........... 0.101............0.099........... 0.100 .............0.100 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.099 ..............0.099...................0.100...................28,998,064.........0.100

OM0000004669 ...........SHARQIYAH DESALINATION .................................11,373 ............ 51,804......................18 ............4.555 ........... 4.555 ...........4.555 ........... 4.555 .............4.555 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................4.555 ............. 0.000...................4.750 ...................44,548,884.........1.000

OM0000004768 ...........AL MADINA TAKAFUL ............................................. 1,071,798 ..........94,755..................... 59 ........... 0.088 ...........0.090 ...........0.087 ........... 0.088 .............0.088 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.088 ..............0.087...................0.088...................15,400,000 .........0.100

OM0000004925 ...........AL BATINAH POWER ..................................................50,377 ............. 10,831........................9 ............0.215 ........... 0.215 ...........0.215 ............0.215 ............. 0.215............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.215 .............. 0.215...................0.218 .................. 145,100,797 ........0.100

OM0000004933 ...........AL SUWADI POWER .................................................... 55,683 .............11,972......................15 ............0.215 ........... 0.215 ...........0.215 ............0.215 ............. 0.215............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.215 .............. 0.215...................0.220 ................. 153,597,363 ........0.100

OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS ................................................ 121,433 .............59,379..................... 37 ........... 0.490 ........... 0.496 ...........0.486 ........... 0.488 .............0.490 ...........-0.002 ........... -0.408 ...............0.486 ..............0.486...................0.488...................25,620,000.........0.100

OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO....................................................................... 192,000 ......... 145,373......................14 ............0.760 ........... 0.760 ...........0.752 ............0.756 ............. 0.760 ...........-0.004 ........... -0.526 ...............0.752 .............. 0.752...................0.760 ..................492,113,838 ........0.100

OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................ 1,707,468 ...... 302,324..................... 67 ............0.170 ........... 0.182 ...........0.170 ............0.177 ............. 0.178 ............-0.001 ........... -0.562 ...............0.182 ..............0.180...................0.182 ..................255,134,880........0.100

OM0000002168 ............AL ANWAR CERAMIC TILES ............................... 101,179 .............35,473........................3 ........... 0.350 ........... 0.352 ...........0.350........... 0.350 .............0.352 ...........-0.002 ........... -0.568 ...............0.352 ..............0.346...................0.350..................103,674,789 ........0.100

OM0000002374............UNITED FINANCE ..................................................... 247,803 ............33,142......................15 ............0.134 ........... 0.134 ...........0.133 ........... 0.134 ............. 0.135 ............-0.001 ............-0.741 ................0.133 .............. 0.132...................0.133 ...................41,642,502 .........0.100

OM0000001418 ............RAYSUT CEMENT ....................................................... 20,809 ............ 23,500........................7 ............1.140 ........... 1.150............ 1.110 ............1.130 ............. 1.140 ............-0.010 ........... -0.877 ............... 1.150 .............. 1.120................... 1.150 ................. 226,000,000 .......0.100

OM0000001145 ............PORT SERVICES CORPORATION ........................ 90,000 .............15,234......................16 ............0.175 ........... 0.175............0.166 ............0.169 ............. 0.172............-0.003 ............-1.744 ................0.167 .............. 0.166...................0.167 ................... 16,061,760 .........0.100

OM0000003125 ............GLOBAL FINANCIAL INVESTMENT ................ 120,781 ............ 12,920........................8 ............0.102 ........... 0.108 ...........0.102 ........... 0.107 ............. 0.109 ...........-0.002 ............-1.835................0.108 ..............0.103...................0.108 ...................21,400,000 .........0.100

OM0000001962 ............AL MADINA INVESTMENT ................................... 891,731 ............ 53,509..................... 36 ........... 0.060 ........... 0.061 ...........0.060........... 0.060 .............0.062 ...........-0.002 ........... -3.226 ...............0.061 ..............0.060...................0.061 ...................12,429,083 .........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 31,082,814 .6,837,978................ 1,811 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ......39........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

PARALLEL MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000001566 ............OMAN FISHERIES ....................................................... 72,501 ...............4,275......................18 ........... 0.060 ........... 0.061 ...........0.058 ........... 0.059 .............0.058 ............0.001 ............. 1.724 ................0.060..............0.059...................0.060 ................... 7,375,000 ..........0.100

OM0000002564 ...........AL HASSAN ENGINEERING.................................. 230,500 ............21,861..................... 35 ........... 0.094 ........... 0.096 ...........0.094........... 0.095 .............0.094 ............0.001 ............. 1.064 ................0.095 ..............0.094...................0.095.................... 7,144,760 ..........0.100

OM0000001301 ............DHOFAR CATTLE FEED .......................................... 100,000 ........... 21,000........................ 1 ............0.210 ........... 0.210 ...........0.210 ........... 0.210 .............0.210 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.210 ..............0.205...................0.230 .................. 16,170,000 .........0.100

OM0000005963 ...........PHOENIX POWER ...................................................... 1,317,199 ....... 203,189..................... 58 ............0.154 ........... 0.155 ...........0.153 ........... 0.154 ............. 0.154............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.153 .............. 0.153...................0.154 ................. 225,240,625 .......0.100

OM0000004511 ............ALIZZ ISLAMIC BANK.............................................. 166,800 ............ 11,888........................8 ........... 0.072 ........... 0.072 ...........0.070............0.071 .............0.072 ...........-0.001 ........... -1.389................0.070..............0.069...................0.070...................71,000,000 .........0.100

OM0000001368 ............CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IND. ................... 70,000 ...............2,520........................3 ........... 0.036 ........... 0.036 ...........0.036........... 0.036 .............0.037 ...........-0.001 ........... -2.703 ...............0.036 ..............0.035...................0.037....................3,060,000 ..........0.100

OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ................................................................ 876,000 ........... 60,669..................... 28 ........... 0.070 ........... 0.070 ...........0.068........... 0.069 ............. 0.071............-0.002 ........... -2.817................0.069 ..............0.068...................0.069..................103,500,000 .......0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 2,833,000 ..... 325,401....................151 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ........ 7........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

ISIN ......................................SECURITY NAME .................................................................. VOLUME ..... TURNOVER ............TRADES ......OPEN PRICE ......HIGH ............. LOW ........ CLOSE PR. ...PREV. CLOSE...DIFF (RO).........DIFF % ............. LAST PR .....LAST BID .............LAST OFFER ........MARKET CAP .PAR VALUE

O M A N S T O C K S

INDICESIndex .................................................High .................Low ..................... Value ............... Prev . Value.......... Diff ...............Diff %MSM30 Index ........................................5,974.21 ...............5,918.37 ....................5,963.11 ...................5,932.20 ..................30.91 ................... 0.52Financial Index ..................................... 7,325.77 .............. 7,234.82 ....................7,314.56 ................... 7,261.06 ................. 53.50 ................... 0.74Industrial Index ....................................7,429.70 ............... 7,416.09 ................... 7,428.83 ................... 7,423.25 .................... 5.58 ................... 0.08Services Index ...................................... 3,299.89 .............. 3,278.94 ................... 3,299.79 ...................3,278.53 ..................21.26 ................... 0.65MSM SHARIAH INDEX....................... 914.17 ...................911.91 .......................912.42 .......................913.03 ...................-0.61 .................. -0.07

Trading SummaryVolume ................ Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up ............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded33,915,814 ................... 7,163,379 ................. 1,962 ............... 14,782,324,141 ................25 ......................12 ..................... 9 ..........................46

MSM index ends higher

MUSCAT: Amid high volumes, optimism in the market recovery led to the MSM30 Index posting gains of 0.52 per cent to close at 5,963.11 points. The MSM Sha-ria Index closed at 912.42 points, down by 0.07 per cent.

Al Anwar Holding was the most active in terms of volume while Bank Muscat led in terms of turnover. The day’s top gainer was Oman & Emirates Holding, up by 6.60 per cent while Al Ma-dina Investments was the top loser, down by 3.23 per cent.

A total number of 1,962 trades were executed during Mon-day’s trading session generating turnover of OMR7.1 million with 33.9 million shares changing hands. Out of 46 traded securi-ties, 25 advanced, 12 declined and nine remained unchanged. GCC and Arab Investors were net buyers for OMR483,000 fol-lowed by Omani investors for OMR184,000 while Foreign Investors were net sellers for OMR667,000 worth of shares.

Financial Index continued its strong run to close at 7,314.56 points, up by 0.74 per cent.

Oman & Emirates Holding, Al Sharqia Investments, Al Anwar Holding, Bank Dhofar and Oman United Insurance increased 6.60

per cent, 5.13 per cent, 3.09 per cent, 2.14 per cent and 1.93 per cent respectively.

Shares of Al Madina Invest-ments, Bank Nizwa, Global Fi-nancial Investment, Al Izz Bank and United Finance decreased 3.23 per cent, 2.82 per cent, 1.83 per cent, 1.39 per cent and 0.74 per cent respectively.

Industrial Index shares ended at 7,428.83 points, up by 0.08 per cent. National Aluminium, Oman Fisheries, Voltamp En-ergy, Al Hassan Engineering and Gulf International Chemicals shares increased 1.88 per cent, 1.72 per cent, 1.42 per cent, 1.06 per cent and 1.06 per cent respec-tively. Construction Materials, Raysut Cement, Al Anwar Ce-ramics and Al Maha Ceramics declined 2.70 per cent, 0.88 per cent, 0.57 per cent and 0.41 per cent respectively.

Services Index advanced 0.65 per cent to close at 3,299.79 points. OIFC, National Gas, Re-naissance Services, Sembcorp Salalah and Sohar Power gained 3.26 per cent, 3.18 per cent, 2.29 per cent, 1.48 per cent and 1.15 per cent respectively. Port Ser-vices and Ooredoo decreased 1.74 per cent and 0.53 per cent respec-tively. — United Securities

The top gainer was Oman & Emirates Holding,

up by 6.60%, while Al Madina Investments

was the top loser, down by 3.23%

Sensex ends below 27,000-level; rupee falls marginallyMUMBAI: S&P BSE bench-mark Sensex ended lower by 175 points below 27,000 level to 26,904.11 on fresh selling pres-sure after Infosys slashed dollar guidance for the fiscal despite posting 9.8 per cent rise in prof-it for the second quarter amidst higher global advices.

Fears over rise in retail infl ation also aff ected the market sentiment.

Shares of IT, Teck, Health-care, FMCG and Realty fell on heavy selling pressure while Metal sector firmed up on good buying enquiries.

The Sensex resumed higher at 27,242.60 and fi rmed up further to 27,305.04 on initial buying. How-ever, it washed out initial gains and dropped below 27,000 level to 26,855.75 before concluding at

26,904.11, showing a loss of 175.40 points or 0.65 per cent.

The CNX 50-share Nifty also fell by 46.10 points or 0.56 per cent to close 8,143.60.

The index had opened in the green on optimistic buying by par-ticipants ahead of key macroeco-nomic data IIP and infl ation, to be released later in the day, brokers said. Infosys, India’s second-big-

gest software exporter, reported a 9.8 per cent rise in September quarter consolidated net profi t on Monday but trimmed its sales growth forecast for the current fi scal on dollar woes.

In overseas stock markets, Chinese stocks led gains in Asian markets on stimulus measures from China and signals of reform in China’s telecommunications

sector. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite ended with gains of 3.28 per cent.

Indian rupee ended margin-ally lower by one paise to 64.75 against the American currency on mild dollar demand from banks and importers.

The domestic currency opened lower at 64.82 per dollar as against Friday’s closing level of 64.74 at

the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on initial dollar demand from banks and importers.

Later, it gained on dollar selling by exporters to Rs 64.69 before concluding at 64.75 per dollar, showing a mere loss of one paise or 0.02 per cent.

The domestic unit hovered in a range of 64.88 and 64.69 per dollar during the day. — PTI

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

Dell to acquire EMC for $67bSAN FRANCISCO: Dell agreed to buy EMC for about $67 billion in the largest technology acquisi-tion ever, creating a corporate-computing giant that will use a wider product lineup to woo customers as demand slows and competition stiff ens.

Dell plans to pay $24.05 a share in cash plus tracking stock in EMC’s prize holding, VMware, valued at about $9 for each EMC

share, the companies said on Monday. The price of $33.15 a share is 28 per cent above EMC’s closing level on October 7, just before reports surfaced that a deal was in the works. While the agreement has a provision that lets EMC talk to other potential bidders, the company doesn’t ex-pect any, a person familiar with the matter said. EMC rose 2.5 per cent on Friday to close at $27.86

on the New York Stock Exchange.Dell will be run by Michael Dell,

the chief executive offi cer of the company he founded. The deal is expected to close in May to Octo-ber of next year. The deal would combine EMC’s dominance in devices that store data with Dell’s No. 2 position in servers, the powerful machines that help companies handle big computing challenges. — Bloomberg News

I T G I A N T

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All-new Hyundai Tucson to set new standards in compact SUVs

TARIQ AL HAREMI tariqh@timesofoman.com

GRAN CANARIA: Hyundai Mo-tor Company unveiled its new third generation Tuscon to the Middle East and North Africa where they are setting a new standard for compact SUVs in the region.

The event held recently at Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain, saw guests from Hyundai distribu-tors across Mena region, media houses and distinguished guests arrive for the launch and test drive.

The car is equipped with the lat-est in technology and features as well as providing family comfort, a

new athletic design but maintains the ruggedness of an SUV perfect for small families and medium level executives.

The 2015 Tucson is available in GL and GLS trim levels with prices starting from $19,000 depending on the market and it is placed to build off the popularity of its pre-decessor which was leading the compact SUV segment in 2014.

The Tucson comes in 4WD and NU 2.0 MPI petrol engine with a fi xed 6 speed automatic trans-mission gearbox with Shiftronic manual shifting mode, depending on specifi cation and market avail-ability. Fuel consumption has re-duced by 13 percent compared to

the second generation Tucson.The engine also features a water

jacket insert system that cools the upper level of the engine to lower cylinder head temperature due to high combustion which permits leaner air/fuel mixture for en-hanced effi ciency.

When it comes to active safety systems, the model can be speci-fi ed with hi-tech features such as a parking assist, rear camera, down-hill break control and Hill-start Assist Control in addition to blind spot detectors, which makes it Hyundai’s fi rst time to install on compact SUVs.

The Tucson is available with 10 exterior colour options featur-ing two entirely new variants. The

model’s sharp lines exude sophis-tication; from the signature hexag-onal grille and sleek headlamps at the front, along with the dynamic side profi le with its expressive ‘Z’ character-line and ‘square-shaped’ wheel arches, to the dis-tinctive rear lamps and wide, sporty bumper at the rear.

The refi ned interior benefi ts from the careful attention paid by designers to the ergonomics and use of high quality and soft-touch materials along with passenger power seats off ering unbeatable lumber support. Additional cabin features include a newly designed dashboard featuring an 8” display and extended super vision cluster and new door trims for a sportier

feel in addition to a panoramic roof for those seeking more space. With mention of more space, the All New Tucson has 10 percent more luggage space in the trunk than its predecessor.

Jin Kim, Vice-President and Head of Hyundai Motor Company Africa and Middle East, said: “The compact SUV market in Africa and the Middle East is highly competi-tive, but with the All-New Tucson we are confi dent that we have a car that provides everything that car buyers in the class look for.”

“It represents a bold new step forward in the history of Tucson, bringing premium levels of qual-ity, technology and style to the cus-tomers,” he added.

The car is equipped with the latest in

technology and features as well as providing

family comfort, a new athletic design

but maintains the ruggedness of an SUV

perfect for small families and medium

level executives

omanoil takes part in Mena Petro Forum

MUSCAT: omanoil discussed industry challenges, opportuni-ties and best practices during its recent participation in Petro Forum Mena 2015, a regional biennial industry event for oil companies and fuel retailers.

The two-day conference, held at Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa, represented a prime opportunity for busi-ness networking with technical workshops, specialised semi-nars, conference sessions, and served as a valuable platform to examine groundbreaking prod-ucts and technologies that are now setting the pace of the glob-al market, says a press release.

Eng. Faisal Al Shanfari, GM of Human Resources, Admin-istration, Corporate Aff airs, Procurement, and HSSE, rep-resented omanoil as the offi cial oil company partner of Petro Forum. “Since the close of 2014 our industry has seen some sig-nifi cant changes, prominently the drop in oil prices and its im-pact on the regional economy. This is linked to a number of trends and current aff airs that are actively shaping the mar-ket and will continue to do so for some time. Information re-mains key for us to inspire con-tinued prosperity," he said.

I N F O R M A T I O N E X C H A N G E

Ghantoot partners with Saud BahwanMUSCAT: Ghantoot Transport & General Contracting, part of the renowned UAE based Ghantoot Group, purchased a large fl eet of Komatsu construction equipment including wheel loaders and motor graders from Saud Bahwan Group.

This purchase scheduled for delivery between September and October 2015, will provide essen-tial support to Ghantoot Trans-port & General Contracting, as they embark on a series of new contracts in Oman, including the fi rst phase of the Adam-Thumrait road dualisation project which is valued at OMR110 million, says a press release.

Ghantoot Transport & General Contracting has executed several landmark projects in UAE and Qatar and has relied heavily on its fl eet of equipment, which includes a range of Komatsu machinery like bulldozers, motor graders, wheel loaders and excavators.

Speaking on the occasion Ab-dul Qader bin Alawi bin Abdullah, local representative of Ghantoot, said: “It gives us great joy to part-ner with Saud Bahwan Group in the development of our projects. Oman is witnessing increased developments in infrastructure projects and this trend will only

be driving demand for world-class construction equipment. Saud Bahwan Group has made impres-sive investments in the develop-ment of its infrastructure with an aim to enhance customer-care initiatives. This has had positive eff ects that encouraged custom-ers like us to place our trust in the group. We are confi dent that in the coming years our relation-ship with Saud Bahwan Group will continue to grow from strength to strength as we surge ahead along with the nation.”

Thanking Ghantoot Group for their patronage, a senior rep-resentative from Saud Bahwan Group, said: “We are extremely pleased to have Ghantoot Trans-

port & General Contracting as our partners in Oman. We are con-fi dent that Komatsu’s range of equipment with its state-of-the-art features will off er our partners an opportunity to meet demand-ing performance and productivity expectations.”

Further elaborating he said: “It is encouraging to witness the trust Ghantoot Group has placed in us and we will be delighted to provide all the support required to assist them in their endeavours. We wish them success in their business am-bitions and look forward to part-nering them in their projects.”

Komatsu, Japan, is one of the leading earth-moving and con-struction equipment manufac-

turers in the world. The Komatsu range of equipment includes bull-dozers, motor graders, excavators, wheel loaders and off -highway dump trucks.

In Oman they are the most pop-ular and preferred brand.

Komatsu’s new environment-friendly engines, not only lower emissions, but also deliver superi-or power for operation in all work-load conditions.

By focusing on ‘Quality and Re-liability’, Komatsu is resolutely committed to providing safe, in-novative products and services that best meet the needs and expectations of its customers around the world.

With a well-established, mod-ern service facility and integrat-ed parts backup, the construc-tion equipment division of Saud Bahwan Group provides total product support and service. A team of highly skilled engineers and technicians render effi cient service across the country. A well spread out branch network gives customers the best after sales sup-port for all products anywhere in the Sultanate of Oman.

In Oman Saud Bahwan Projects & Equipment are the distributors for Komatsu range of products.

F L E E T P U R C H A S E

Bank Sohar supports

Association for Welfare

of Handicapped Children

MUSCAT: Further reinforcing its commitment to the commu-nity, Bank Sohar extended its support to the Association for the Welfare of Handicapped Chil-dren for the 6th consecutive year.

This donation will contribute towards the purchase of essen-tial equipment for the children’s classrooms at the association, allowing the association to take one more step towards achieving their objective of off ering handi-capped children the required education and training, says a press release.

The donation cheque was handed over at the association’s head offi ce to Dr Mohammed Redha Sulaiman, chairman of the Association for the Welfare of Handicapped Children, by Mazin Mahmood Al Raisi, Senior AGM - Marketing and Customer Experi-ence at Bank Sohar.

Speaking on the rationale behind this donation, Munira Abdulnabi Macki, GM-HR and Corporate Support, Bank Sohar, commented: “As a local bank, we have always been fully committed towards promoting and support-ing the initiatives and day-to-day activities of those institutions that play an eff ective role in help-ing the underprivileged of our society. It is a privilege to be as-sociated with organisations such as the Association for the Wel-fare of Handicapped Children who are tireless in their eff orts towards easing the diffi culties and improving the livelihood of handicapped children in our community. We hope our contri-bution to the association will give more room for these children to explore and develop their true talents and capabilities, growing into highly valued contributing members of the society.”

Thanking Bank Sohar for its support, Dr Mohammed Redha Sulaiman said, “Off ering support for these special children at an early stage is vital towards de-veloping their abilities and build-ing their confi dence towards a brighter future. This is why we try to reach out to as many children as possible as early as possible. The contribution and support we

have received from Bank Sohar over the past years has been vital in furthering our cause. I would like to sincerely thank them for their continued support and look forward to our continued collab-oration in the future.”

Bank Sohar strives to ensure that its contributions are care-fully planned and evaluated in order to diversify and reach out to the maximum number of peo-ple, especially those in most need of it, off ering recipients positive support to make a meaningful change. In addition to the asso-ciation for the Welfare of Handi-capped Children, Bank Sohar has also supported several other organisations and their activities in the current year including the Association of Early Intervention for Children with Disabilities, Omani Society for the Hearing Impaired, Al Amal Association, Al Rahma Charity Team, Dar Al Atta’a, Al Wafa Centre for Reha-bilitation Children with Disabili-ties and so on.

S O C I A L R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y

English, Arabic singers selected for grand fi nale of Muscat Icon Singing Gems 2015

MUSCAT: Rehearsals are in full swing for the upcoming mega fi -nals of ‘Muscat Icon - Minara Singing Gems’ 2015.

The grand fi nale of the talented singers of Oman, in the age group of 8-13, is getting ready to rock the Qurum Amphitheatre on Friday, November 6.

After hunting for talent across the Muscat governorate and audi-tioning 45 children, three singers each in Arabic and English cat-egories have been selected for the grand fi nale, says a press release.

The Arabic singers are Shehab, Loay and Malak. The English sing-ers are Iyanda, Angel and Kristine.

The singers will be accompanied by the dancers choreographed by professional choreographers.

Talented pool of dancers from Delicious and Group; Dilip and Group and Vineetha and Group have been given this responsibil-ity to entertain the audience. All of them are well known in the

dancing circles of Muscat for the professional grooming of dancers and excellent innovative chore-ography. All of them are very good dancers too.

Talent Hunters Oman is a group of people dedicated to unearthing the hidden talent and giving the budding talents of all the national-ities including Omanis a platform to perform. They have been doing this for last 10 years. The group also trains and grooms the local talents, with the objective to bring out the best in them.

“Looking back at our journey, I feel satisfi ed about whatever we

have achieved. But we don’t want to sit on our laurels. We want to move forward. We dream bigger and better,” said Dr Sanjay Dalal, founder of Talent Hunters.

“It is going to be yet another high quality show of international standards. We work hard on every aspect. We see that everyone se-lected gives their best and we pre-sent them in the best manner on our stage. Lots of time and contin-uous eff orts are needed to achieve that. Large crowd at our shows is the testimony of our quality and refl ects our success,” Haider Naq-vi, Technical Coordinator, said.

“Music lovers of Oman can ex-pect a highly entertaining show from these little children. Some of them are just unbelievable! Don’t miss this show! We are fi nalising costumes, hairstyle and dances. Divya Tiwari is busy training young models for Fashion Street to be presented by Lulu Oman. Performers include Omanis and many expat communities, making it multinational in true sense. The same diversity will be refl ected in the audience as well. We expect a full house as we have it every year,” said Dr Sateja Dalal, event and back stage coordinator.

Y O U N G T A L E N T S

This donation will

contribute towards

the purchase of

essential equipment

for the children’s

classrooms at the

association, allowing

the association to take

one more step towards

achieving their

objective of offering

handicapped children

the required education

and training

B6 T U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

ROUND-UP

Huawei’s fl agship mobile Mate S launched in Oman

MUSCAT: After much anticipa-tion and excitement, the wait is over. Leading smart communica-tions device manufacturer Hua-wei unveiled the highly-rated Mate S in Oman at Lulu hyper-market in Bausher.

This newest release from Hua-wei’s smart tech laboratory fea-tures an unbeatable combination of brilliant capabilities and stunning visual appeal, says a press release.

Speaking at the launch, Bill Yu-zhaoyuan, Country Director of Huawei Tech. Investment (Oman) said, “Oman, and the whole of the Middle East, is a very strategic market for our business as the smartphone revolution brings in the best in the industry. With the Mate S, we have taken the smart-phone to the next level by off ering a more personalised experience through the power of touch. We adopted a revolutionary approach by imagining how people interact with their devices. In designing the Huawei Mate S, we have also rein-forced our goal to continue to grow and off er customers products that enrich their lives.”

Customers in Oman are also in for an added treat courtesy of Hu-

waei and Lulu hypermarkets. The purchase of any Huawei product worth OMR50 enters them into a lucky draw with a princely pot of gold at the end of it. First, second and third prizes are 200 grams, 100 grams and 50 grams of gold; fourth, fi fth and sixth prizes fea-ture a Huawei Mate S, Huawei Watch and Huawei Smart Watch B2. The promotion is on till No-vember 7 across all 15 of Lulu’s outlets in Oman.

Touch lies at the core of the Huawei Mate S’s technology and design. Its touch screen control technology creates a new experi-ence for users that enhances their interaction with the device.

Photos, for instance, can be quickly previewed or enlarged by

just touching a fi nger to the screen, streamlining operations. The Mate S incorporates new pressure sensitive technology which can be used to weight small objects.

The phone is equipped with Fin-gerprint 2.0, an upgraded version of the advanced chip level security and one-key unlock technology in the Huawei Mate 7. Fingerprint 2.0 improves recognition speeds by 100 percent, with more accurate self-learning functions.

It can also be used to control the notifi cation bar, double-click to erase unread notifi cations, slide to preview pictures, and hold and take phone calls. All of these op-tions improve the one hand opera-tion of the phone.

Fingerprint 2.0 and Knuckle Control 2.0 — fi rst introduced in the Huawei P8 — simplifi es how users switch between app opera-tions and take screenshots.

The feature off ers users a new way to interact with their phone: drawing a “C” with their knuckle activates a camera, while double-clicking the screen with a knuck-le records the screen in the form of a video. With these options, every type of touch contact with the device is an opportunity to be innovative.

This newest release

from Huawei’s

smart technology

laboratory features

an unbeatable

combination of

brilliant capabilities

and stunning

visual appeal

Eint Auto brings Primewell’s Valera Sport AS to OmanMUSCAT: With a specialised division dedicated to the service and sale of tyres, Eint Automo-tive brings to Oman the best tyre manufacturers from across the globe. Among the best selling tyres, Primewell has gained much preference in the local market.

As with all Primewell tyres, the latest addition to their series of premier tyres, the Valera Sport AS has been well-received in the Oman market. Renowned for its quality, reliability and on-road stability, the Valera Sport AS is Primewell’s ultra-high perfor-mance all-season tyre.

The tyre gives better on-road grip, enhancing handling and braking performance in wet, dry and light snow condi-tions. Its four wide circumfer-ential grooves ensure perfor-mance and safety on wet and slippery surfaces.

The large shoulder blocks work to reduce movement during cor-nering, bringing in outstanding handling performance. Designed with the new all-season silica tread compound the tires deliver improved traction in light snow, while enhancing wet grip and re-ducing rolling resistance. Backed

by a 40,000 mile limited warran-ty, the new Valera Sport AS also delivers exceptional mileage in a great looking package.

“Our tyre segment, recognised as an integral part of auto care, works to bring to the country leading tyre brands from all over. Today, it has emerged as a promising segment meeting the varying demands of our cus-tomers and providing excellent services pertaining to all re-quirements related to tyres,” said a spokesperson.

“With world-acclaimed tyres like Primewell, which has cre-ated its own distinct position of supremacy, we can assure cus-tomers of the highest quality of products, on-time delivery and fl awless service in the most cost-eff ective way.”

Eint Automotive, a successful division of the WJ Towell Group, has emerged as leaders in the auto care aftermarket segment as a re-sult of their ongoing dedication to serve the needs and demands of the market with utmost excel-lence. They cater to the distribu-tion, retailing and marketing of the best names in the automotive aftermarket product segment.

U L T R A - H I G H P E R F O R M A N C E

Higer Star school bus guarantees utmost safety at reasonable priceMUSCAT: Towell Auto Centre (TAC), a leading automobile dis-tributor, is off ering a guaranteed cash gift of OMR1,750 on the pur-chase of Higer Star school buses.

The bus is available at a reason-able price of OMR17,500 and is the only school bus in Oman to have an anti-lock braking system.

It also meets with the strict safety standards that have been stipulated by the country’s Min-istry of Education to be followed by the school management while transporting children. The cash gift off er will run until November 13 on limited units only, says a press release.

Considering the rising num-ber of school bus accidents in Oman, this cash gift initiative by TAC is commendable as it makes the Higer school bus even more affordable.

“By off ering a cash gift promo-tion, we are doing our bit to pro-mote road safety especially for small children. Higer school bus has a host of safety features that makes it an ideal choice for trans-porting students. Its ABS system allows drivers to have directional control over their vehicle after heavy braking. Its IVMS track-ing facility monitors the driver and check on whether he is over-speeding, driving rashly or apply-ing sudden brakes and whether he is deviating from the normal routes. As we consider safety and effi ciency to be most important in a school bus, we have even as-

signed an exclusive mechanic for MOE contract vehicles so that in case of any breakdown it can be at-tended immediately,” said a senior spokesperson of TAC.

Other safety features in a Higer Star school bus include reverse camera, automatic fi re extinguish-er in the engine compartment, remote operating automatic pneu-matic door controlled by the driver, CCTV camera inside the vehicle with a 72 hours recording facility, additional emergency exit on the roof, school bus STOP plate, bottom fi xed/top semi sliding glass window with protection bar from inside the vehicle, fi re extinguisher, fi rst-aid kit and a warning triangle ensuring safe transit for school children.

“Higer buses are also comfort-able with a seating capacity of 29 + 1 and a safety seat belt has been provided for every seat. It has a CD and DVD player with a 17 inch monitor to show documentary fi lms to students which the schools can provide to drivers. What adds to its attractiveness is it reason-able price with less capital invest-ment - a bonus for the contractors. Moreover, Higer is a trusted brand and is quite popular in Oman with its luxury coaches, pick-ups and buses,” the spokesperson added.

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

C A S H G I F T O F F E R

Hisense presents ‘Best Dealer Award’ to Al Raud ElectronicsMUSCAT: Hisense, a world lead-ing manufacturer of fl at panel TVs, household appliances, and mobile communications, recently honoured Al Raud Electronics with the ‘Best Dealer Award’ for its exceptional sales performance and for further strengthening the market share of Hisense products in the country.

At a ceremony held at the Al Raud Electronics showroom, Hursh Agrawal of Hisense Mid-dle East presented the award to Khemo Khanwani of Al Raud Elec-tronics, in the presence of Probir Mukherjee, Strategy Adviser of Sands International Distribution, the offi cial distributor of Hisense consumer electronics products in Oman, says a press release.

Hursh Agrawal, general man-ager of Hisense Middle East FZE, said: “We are delighted to hon-our Al Raud Electronics with the ‘Best Dealer Award.’ The vision-ary leadership at Al Raud and the dedication of the company’s team in promoting Hisense products, renowned for quality and price competitiveness, have been ex-emplary. Hisense today are chan-nel partners in Oman and one of the top-selling brands led by the commitment of our dealers such as Al Raud.

“We also thank Sands Interna-tional Distribution, our offi cial distributor, for their strategic marketing outreach activities that put is good stead to achieve our Vision 2020 to be among the

top three brands in the country.”Khemo Khanwani of Al Raud

Electronics, said: “We thank Hisense Middle East for this ex-ceptional honour that underlines our strengths in consumer appli-ances retailing and our commit-ment to off er our customers the best-in-class products.

“Hisense has transformed the market place with their elegantly designed, high quality products that are tailored to meet the re-quirements of today’s customers at extremely competitive rates. This has been a key factor in driv-ing the growth of the brand in the country today. We will continue to extend all support to Hisense in driving their sales and position-ing it as one of the top brands in the country.”

Mukherjee said: “Al Raud Elec-tronics has extended total support in highlighting Hisense products to its customers. Their in-depth understanding of the market, the large showroom network and

dedicated staff are their strengths that enabled Hisense to be a name to reckon with in the consumer ap-pliances sector of Oman. We will continue to build the distribution network of Hisense and bring in-novative and thoughtfully created consumer electronics products that appeal to the community.”

Al Raud Electronics has a his-tory of over 40 years of opera-tions in consumer appliances. It is today a market leader in home appliances and consumer elec-tronics in Salalah and contributes signifi cantly to driving the growth of the Hisense business in Oman. Al Raud Electronics showrooms have the full spectrum of Hisense products including state-of-the-art TVs, refrigerators, air-condi-tioners, washing machines.

Hisense has a strong presence in the Middle East markets, and manufactures a wide range of con-sumer electronics appliances, mo-bile phones, tablets, air-condition-ers and other home appliances.

E X C E P T I O N A L S A L E S P E R F O R M A N C E

Sur Fishermen Association takes closer look at Oman LNG plant business

MUSCAT: Representatives of Sinan Al Baher Committee and a Sur-based Fishermen Associa-tion under establishment, enjoyed a visit to the Oman LNG plant to take a closer look at their marine activities and safety procedures.

The visit not only enabled the fi shermen to experience fi rst-hand what happens at a Liquefi ed Natural

Gas loading jetty but also gave ample time to raise concerns which were addressed in person by profession-als and departments concerned of Oman LNG, says a press release.

“Fishing is a vital, key source of income and part of economic devel-opment in this part of the Sultan-ate,” said Khalid Al Massan, CEO, Oman LNG Development Foun-

dation. “Community engagement, particularly with the fi shermen community of Sur, goes without saying; we are indeed partners. It is important for us to collaborate and establish the best ways of working together. The fi shermen provide us with valuable information on ma-rine and sea-faring activities and in turn we share an intimate experi-

ence of berthing, loading and ship-ping LNG, as well as share insight into our rigorous safety and envi-ronmental procedures in place.”

The fi shermen not only experi-enced the vibrant business at an operating LNG plant, but gained a better understanding of the scale of the facility and the shipping op-erations involved.

C O M M U N I T Y E N G A G E M E N T

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Exciting benefits add to Toyota Avalon’s appeal

MUSCAT: The Toyota Avalon is a world-class sedan with an elegant and refi ned design. One of the most upscale cars in its class, the Toyota Avalon has the reviewers raving. Now, the buzz is around the benefits that accompany every Avalon.

“Those who visit the Toyota showroom can be part of our Fes-tival of Joy campaign will con-tinue until November 12,” informs the spokesperson. “During this period, customers can avail of a service package for up to three years or 30,000km. (Whichever is earlier), covering three services at 10,000km service interval for se-lect petrol models based on normal operating conditions.”

There also is comprehensive one year insurance (Oman only) on select 2015 YM models of 2015 production. Insurance benefi t would be given up to the extent ap-plicable for private vehicles only.

Also available is 1st Year Registra-tion on 2015 YM models of 2015 production. All the above benefi ts are model specifi c and may vary accordingly. Applicability is for all purchases except those for gov-ernment organisations and min-istries. Conditions apply, says a press release.

The off er makes the Avalon even more tempting to own. Indeed, there is a lot to love in the refi ned masterpiece by Toyota; about whom it is quoted that, “The Av-alon is one of Toyota’s best off er-ings, with truly attractive styling, a high-quality interior, plenty of room and a surprisingly enjoyable driving experience.”

Avalon’s exterior lighting com-plements the design lines. The industry-fi rst Quadrabeam head-light cluster utilises a sleek and compact double-eye PES head-

light design with two square glass condenser lenses that have been adopted for the low beams and off er outstanding lighting perfor-mance. A stronger, more expres-sive front-fascia design with larger grille opening creates an aggres-sive appearance.

The Avalon’s interior elaborates on the exterior’s elegant, refi ned theme to create a premium interi-or experience that combines high technology and craftsmanship with an artistic level of sculpted surfaces. This panel is covered in supple, hand-stitched premium soft-touch material with the seam adding some creative fl air as it goes across the dash panel.

The Avalon off ers a long list of convenient, user-friendly tech-nologies as one would expect with the Toyota’s fl agship sedan. The Avalon features a standard dis-

play audio system with 6.1-inch TFT touchscreen that off ers au-dio system operation, bluetooth compatibility, customisable vehi-cle settings, available rear camera display and operation of iPod and USB devices.

Toyota Avalon is equipped standard with a smart key system that locks and unlocks the front doors and enables opening of the doors when the key is within a short distance of the door handle. The key’s transmitter also allows the engine to be started with the push of a button.

The Avalon is equipped with rear window power shade that blocks direct sun rays for the rear passengers, the shade adopts an auto-down function when shifting into reverse. A lighter weight pow-er sunroof design has been adopt-ed to help reduce vehicle weight.

Avalon has a total of 10 SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) airbags providing enhanced safety. It also features Vehicle Stability Control, Traction Control, Anti-lock Brake System, Electronic Brake Force Distribution and Brake Assist.

In Oman, Toyota’s outstanding product quality is supported by the nationwide parts and service net-work of Saud Bahwan Automotive. No wonder then that today, Toyota is one of the most trusted and well-known brands.

The Festival of

Joy campaign will

continue to reward

customers till Nov. 16

Bayan College starts

honouring employees

MUSCAT: Bayan College recent-ly launched the Reward Board for Creativity and Initiative in order to recognise the creative input of the employees.

Thuraya Al Zadjali won the fi rst appreciation star for her brilliant endeavour for working towards the excellent reputation of Bayan College. She made Bayan College stand out in terms of its hospital-ity to the Freie University Berlin, says a press release.

“In spite of being stressed with work, she always stood for the betterment of the college and was very kind to all people. She is a hard worker putting her full strength in building up a profes-sional environment and putting a trade mark which can motivate other family members of Bayan College,” said Modi Juma Al Ghailani, Deputy Dean.

According to the management, the work ethics with regard to Bayan College have always been punctuality and regularity, but the management feels that these values should not be the only ar-eas of employee recognition. The staff members of Bayan College should do a lot more than their share of the regular tasks; they should provide inputs which will propel the name and fame of the college to greater heights.

Hence the Reward Board for Creativity and Initiative contains the names of the entire staff , in order to evaluate them according

to their dedication to implement-ing new ideas towards the daily running of the institution. The board is located at the entrance of the deanship’s offi ce; this spe-cifi c area was chosen due the pride taken by the management in showing off their most creative and initiative employees.

“A star will be awarded to the staff member who gets their idea implemented in a perfect manner. But such stars will not be given for simple and regular work; these will be awarded only for extraordinary and outstand-ing achievements. This is an extremely prestigious reward devised by the deanship, and the employee who receives such a star should be truly grateful for the appreciation given to them,” added Modi.

R E C O G N I T I O N

Mars opens bowling centre in Barka outletMUSCAT: Mars Hypermarket Barka, which is reinventing itself with new facilities, debuted its newest attraction — Oman Bowl-ing Centre — over the weekend.

Sheikh Saad bin Mohammed Al Mardhouf Al Saadi, minister of Sports Aff airs, inaugurated and presented the same to the populace of Barka in the presence of Naveej Vinod, executive director, Mars International, Saif Al Malki, GM – Administration, Mars Internation-al, Said Nasser Al Jabri, chairman, Oman Bowling Centre, higher of-fi cials from the ministry, delegates from local business fraternity and media persons and a huge local au-dience, says a press release.

Bowling challengeThe inaugural function was a vi-brant and colourful event. A ‘Barka Bowling Challenge’ was also held in which members from the na-tional team, youth team and ladies teams participated.

“Everybody in Barka is quite happy that they can also enjoy

bowling in their home town. The fact that it’s at the mall is a double benefi t; take the kids shopping and stop in and let them burn off a lit-tle energy. It’s not just about bowl-ing. Eventually there will be more games, bigger food court and mul-tiplexes too so something for eve-ryone and will be the most sought

after destination in Barka very soon,” said Naveej Vinod.

The new facility attracts a di-verse customer base from all ages, genders and nationalities. From the beginner to the pro and from families to international corpora-tions, everyone can enjoy the facil-ities arranged at Mars in a world-

class standard. The centre contains 10 lanes of

bowling with the latest bowling technology and opens from 8am to midnight all day in a week. With the introduction of this facility, Mars becomes the one stop desti-nation for shopping and entertain-ment in Barka.

V A L U E A D D I T I O N

Workshop held for teachers at PSMMUSCAT: In order to improve the teaching skills to promote better learning, a developmen-tal refresher course was held for the teachers at Pakistan School Muscat (PSM).

Atta ullah Niazi, senior prin-cipal PSS and a master trainer in well-renowned international schools of Pakistan, laid the ground for a workshop cum ac-tivity based course for the coor-dinators, HoDs and the teachers.

The developmental session aimed at enabling the teachers

to get along with a fl ow towards the more advanced strategies for administering assessment for learning, says a press release.

The teachers keenly partici-pated in the discussion, activi-ties and presentations to bring novel and better ideas to the fore for the fi rst-rate teaching and learning process.

The teachers’ development programmes has set itself as a milestone with a slogan – “Skilled teachers to ensure the effi cient learning for our students”.

D E V E L O P M E N T P R O G R A M M E

Taageer supports Al Noor AssociationMUSCAT: Taageer Finance Company donated a sum as charitable contribution towards Al Noor Association for the Blind (Dakhiliyah branch) as part of its corporate social re-sponsibility programme.

The support is a part of its plan to empower and serve the interest of the association in society. Al Noor Association has a number of services that benefi t the blind and their families across the Sul-tanate of Oman; which include providing the latest equipment in the area of technology for the blind including Braille keyboard and printer as well as publication of a booklet for normal sighted families and friends of the blind on how to interact and handle the blind, says a press release.

Taageer Finance has contrib-uted in the past to Al Noor Asso-ciation and strongly believes in the core values the association stands for. Mohammed Redha,

CEO of Taageer Finance Com-pany, said: “It is the company’s ongoing endeavour to support worthy causes that make a diff er-ence to our society and that pro-

vide us the satisfaction of having our share back to society.”

Al Noor Association for the Blind plays an invaluable role in Omani society.

C H A R I T Y

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Bank Muscat claims Asian Banker award

MUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the fl ag-ship fi nancial services provider in the Sultanate, has won the Best Bank in Middle East and Africa for Liquidity Risk Management award by the Asian Banker. The bank is the fi rst in the region to win this prestigious award from the Asian Banker.

The Asian Banker Risk Man-agement Awards programme is designed to identify emerging best practices and outstanding achievements of the best run risk management teams in fi nan-cial institutions. The awards are benchmarked globally by tracking developments around the world, says a press release.

Risk management is at the heart of decision making at fi nancial in-

stitutions and its importance has been underscored in the aftermath of multiple global fi nancial crises. In this context, the prestigious award comes as a testimony to the superior risk management practic-es adopted by the bank and the in-vestment it has made over the years in developing its risk management as an area of core competence.

Abdul Razak Ali Issa, Chief Executive, said: “Bank Muscat is proud to be the fi rst in the region to win the liquidity risk management award which endorses the global best practices adopted by the bank. Risk management function is a core competence of the bank to ensure maintenance of risks at ap-propriate levels, thereby position-ing the bank for optimal growth by maximising on revenue opportu-nities. The bank has a risk appetite

framework in place that defi nes the enterprise-wide risk capacity, risk appetite and risk thresholds. The bank’s long-term growth rests in achieving a sustainable and con-sistent return on equity and profi t growth. With this objective in consideration, the bank defi nes its business strategy and prioritises growth areas.”

The bank’s risk appetite frame-work is cascaded top-down to refl ect in business units which enables them to manage product pricing in line with the corporate return-on-equity objective. In step with the global economic and fi -nancial developments, the bank maintains an appropriate risk pro-fi le by reducing exposure to areas of stress.

Bank Muscat considers liquidity risk management as paramount to

its successful growth and contin-ued value-added customer ser-vice. Being the largest bank in the Sultanate, Bank Muscat strives to maintain suffi cient and good quality liquid assets so as to be in a position to meet any liquidity condition. The bank dynamically introduces measures to mitigate liquidity risk based on evolving market conditions.

The bank follows a stock ap-proach to hold high quality liquid assets as part of its balance sheet and a cash fl ow approach wherein the bank manages its cash and liquid assets position based on ensuing and forecast cash fl ows. The bank has in place a well-oiled liquidity stress testing and main-tains a contingency funding plan to meet any unforeseen stressed liquidity situation.

The bank won the

Best Bank in Middle

East and Africa

for Liquidity Risk

Management

Bank Sohar conducts Al Mumayaz monthly draw in RustaqMUSCAT: Under the patronage of Sheikh Hilal Said Hamdan Al Hajri, governor of South Batinah region, Bank Sohar recently con-ducted its monthly Al Mumayaz Savings Scheme draw for the month of September with a prize amount totalling OMR55,000 dis-tributed among 10 lucky winners.

The draw, which was held as part of a VIP client gather-ing in Al Rustaq, witnessed fi ve Bank Sohar customers win OMR10,000 each and fi ve minor account holders win OMR1,000 each, says a press release.

Representing Bank Sohar at the event, which was held at the Al Rustaq Royal Hall in Wilayat Al Rustaq recently, were Rashad Ali Al Musafi r, acting CEO, R. Nar-asimhan, GM - Retail Banking, Khamis Masoud Al Rahbi, sen-ior AGM of Branches, and Mazin Mahmood Al Raisi, senior AGM Marketing and Customer Expe-rience. Also in attendance were other senior members of the bank

including Rashid Saif Al Maskry, Batinah District Manager, Redha Al Lawatia, senior chief manager of Liabilities and Sales and Mo-hammed Abdullah Al Amrani, sen-ior branch manager of Al Rustaq branch, who welcomed the chief guest and the bank’s VIP custom-ers from the area.

The event commenced with a welcome address by Muneer Khusaib Al Busaidi, staff of Rustaq branch followed by an in-troductory speech by Rashad Al Musafi r who highlighted the im-portance of maintaining positive customer relations.

“We have had a successful year so far despite challenging market conditions. As we move into the last quarter of 2015, I am confi dent we will be able to achieve yet anoth-er year of banking excellence. Our customers are an important part of this success story, and events such as these, provide us with an oppor-tunity to express our gratitude for their continued patronage. Such

events also provide us with an op-portunity to get their feedback on our current products and services, and also understand their needs thereby; helping us design future products and services that would off er them best possible customer experience,” said Al Musafi r.

Later, the guests were treated to an impressive traditional dance show by the children of the Al Rustaq School. A comprehensive overview of the features of the 2015 Al Mumayaz Savings Scheme

was then presented to the audi-ence by Redha Al Lawatia, high-lighting the main enhancements of the scheme and other value added advantages. During his informa-tive presentation, he also show-cased the range of retail banking products and services provided by the bank.

The draws were initiated with the children’s’ monthly draws, which saw 5 children – F. S. Al Na-dabi, from Seeb branch; Marwan Al Balushi from Barka branch; Mo-

hammed Al Mazrui from Shinas branch; Al Maitha Khalid Al Jabri from Ibri branch; and Al Ayham Al Saadi from Al Azaiba branch; win OMR1,000 each. Following which, the draws to reveal the winners of the Al Mumayaz Sav-ings Scheme Monthly draws were conducted by the guest of honour; which saw Aseel Ali Kashoob from Salalah branch; Khalid Al Salmi from Ibra branch; Khalifa Al Jabri from Al Azaiba branch; Harilal Damji from Al Azaiba branch; and Issa Juma Ali from Sohar branch, win the monthly grand prize of OMR10,000 each.

“With the monthly draw for September behind us, we are now entering the fi nal quarter of the year for the Al Mumayaz Savings scheme. However, these last three months will no doubt be our most eventful of the year. With two more monthly draws, the ongo-ing hourly and weekly draws, to-gether with our highly anticipated year-end grand draws, these fi nal

months will see well over 300 ad-ditional winners strike it lucky as part of our dedicated quarter four savings scheme campaign. As such I would like to encourage all of our customers to continue saving to further improve their chances of winning,” said Narasimhan, commenting on the occasion. “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our September monthly winners and thank the attendees for the overwhelming response and for making the event a success. We were and are always happy to host such prestigious VIP client gatherings, as they pro-vide us with great opportunities to show our gratitude and apprecia-tion for our ever-growing number of loyal customers.”

The event concluded by handing over a special token of appreciation to Al Musafi r. The event provided a great platform for the senior man-agement and staff for a one-to-one interaction with customers and proved to be a great success.

V I P C L I E N T G A T H E R I N G

SSA Business Solutions holds seminar on lean managementMUSCAT: SSA Business Solu-tions, a global management con-sulting fi rm, and Orbit Events Management, a growing Omani SME in the space of corporate events based in Oman, organised a one-day seminar for Omani CXOs on ‘Why Lean Changes Every-thing’, transforming Omani busi-ness profi tablity.

The event, held at Crowne Plaza, Al Qurum brought together indus-try experts and decision-makers from the Omani business frater-nity. Over the last 24 months, SSA has been working closely with re-puted manufacturing and project clientele in Oman, to implement growth strategies through Lean techniques, says a press release.

Keeping in mind volatile oil prices, changing business scenar-

ios and government’s accenting focus on diversifi cation, there is a growing need for Omani organi-sations to change gears at a faster rate. The potential to be competi-tive and market driven has cre-ated wide ranging opportunities for SME’s and local players alike to adopt global best practices with customer-centric approach, lead-ing to products and services deliv-ered at optimum cost and quality

to achieving consistent bottom-line results for their stake-holders.

N. C. Narayanan, founder chair-man, SSA Group of companies said, “Lean is a philosophy, in lay-man’s language, it focuses on elim-inating waste out of your system to enhance effi ciency and eff ective-ness of the organisation to off er best in a class value proposition to its customers.”

The keynote speaker, Minoo Sa-her, Group CEO and MD of Musta-fa Sultan Enterprises, spoke on ‘CEO’s perspective on Lean Trans-formation’. SSA has partnered with Mustafa Sultan Enterprise for its lean transformation. The event followed with a case study on lean deployment with a leading Omani manufacturing business and panel discussion.

C O R P O R A T E E V E N T

Omasco unveils exciting new off er on select Honda modelsMUSCAT: Omasco, the author-ised distributors of Honda ve-hicles in the Sultanate, has an-nounced a unique ‘Limited Period Off er’ on select Honda vehicles till stocks last.

“We have introduced a not-to-be missed ‘Limited Period Off er’ on the Honda Pilot, CR-V and Civic at unbelievable prices. This is probably one of the best that we could have off ered our patrons,” said Adil Al Zadjali, national sales manager, Honda.

Honda Civic now available from OMR6.950 onwardsThe Civic’s bold exterior styling on the outside is matched only by the premium technology on the inside. Fans of convenience will love the available Cruise + Audio control on steering wheel, intelligent multi information dis-play (i-MID) and the Rear view camera. The vehicle comes with Bluetooth Hands free telephone system (HFT), Leather-bound steering wheel and Fold-down rear seat back (60/40 Split). The AM/FM/CD MP3 / WMA inter-face with 6 speakers, USB inter-face provides for top quality audio entertainment.

Honda CR-V now available from OMR8,750 onwardsWith a sophisticated overall look and feel, the Honda CR-V boasts a 2.4 Litre i-VTEC 4-cylinder engine and Continuously Vari-able Transmission (CVT). It has a fuel economy rating of 23/31 for front drives and 22/30 for 4 wheel

drives. As standard equipment, every CR-V incorporates an elec-tronic stability control system, antilock brakes with brake assist, driver and front-passenger air-bags, side curtain airbags with roll over sensor and a front seat de-sign that can help reduce the se-verity of neck injury in the event of a rear collision.

One of the exciting enhance-ments to the CR-V 2015 EX and EX –L grades is Honda’s Lane-Watch camera that displays a wide-angle view of the passen-ger side roadway on the Display Audio screen. All grades are equipped with, door mirror with side turn signal.

Honda Pilot Touring now available for OMR15,100 The Pilot is Honda’s midsize 4x4 off ering, and their largest off er-ing at this time. The new look features a new standard grille, new front and rear bumpers, and optional new wheels, along with a few other cabin additions. The Pilot can seat eight people at a pinch. The standard 3.5-litre V6 engine features Variable Cylinder

Management (VCM) which al-lows it to operate on half the cyl-inders when power is not needed, improving fuel economy. Pilot Touring has Navigation System and Rear Entertainment System as standard features.

Extended timing Honda has extended the opening hours for its key Honda show-rooms across Oman in order to better accommodate their patrons and enable them to visit the show-rooms at a time that is convenient for them. The extended hours pro-vide additional fl exibility.

Honda commitment Honda is confi dent that its show-rooms will continue to welcome increased footfalls with auto en-thusiasts over the coming weeks of Ramadan to avail of the pro-motion. Giving brings joy during the holy season and the current Ramadan off er is testament to this. The company will continue to invest in its business and ac-tivities to ensure that Honda cus-tomers enjoy the best products and services available.

L I M I T E D P E R I O D O F F E R

New Rolex Oyster now available atKhimji’s WatchesMUSCAT: The new Rolex Oys-ter Perpetual Yacht-Master, un-veiled at the Baselworld 2015, is now available exclusively at Khimji’s Watches, the home of luxury in Oman.

This defi nitive watch for the high seas featuring a bidirectional rotatable bezel to accurately track elapsed sailing time is dedicated to both yachting enthusiasts and experienced sailors. Its distinc-tive dial with large hour markers and hands ensures maximum leg-ibility, says a press release.

In its latest version, the Yacht-Master is offered in two sizes: 40 mm and a new 37 mm di-ameter. Its Oyster case in 18ct Everose gold includes a rotata-ble bezel fitted with a new Cer-achrom insert in black ceramic with polished raised numerals on a matt background.

It is fi tted exclusively with the innovative Oysterfl ex brace-let developed and patented by Rolex. This technical bracelet combines in a singular way the robustness and reliability of a metal bracelet with the fl exibil-ity, comfort and aesthetics of an elastomer strap. At its core lies a super-elastic metal blade over-moulded with high-performance and a very durable black elasto-

mer. For enhanced comfort, the inside of the Oysterfl ex brace-let is equipped with a patented longitudinal cushion system that stabilises the watch on the wrist. The bracelet is fi tted with an 18ct Everose gold Oysterlock safety clasp that prevents acci-dental opening.

The Yacht-Master’s Oyster case, guaranteed waterproof to a depth of 100 metres (330 feet), is a paragon of robustness, propor-tion and elegance and provides optimal protection for the high-precision movement. Moreover, the new 40mm Yacht-Master is equipped with calibre 3135 and the 37mm version with calibre 2236, two self-winding mechani-cal movements entirely devel-oped and manufactured by Rolex.

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Numbers do not matter as Oman target full points against India

A SESHAGIRI RAOraoas@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Riding on a wave of euphoria after their ‘fantastic’ per-formance against Iran, a confi dent Oman take on lowly India with focus on further improvement and the desire to prove they are a strong side to be reckoned with in the 2018 World Cup/2019 Asian Cup qualifi ers.

The Group D match, their fi fth outing for both Oman and India in the fi ve-team group, is scheduled to be played at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex (SQSC) from 6.30 pm on Tuesday.

The Omani squad as well as their French coach Paul Le Guen

received all round praise for their performance in their previous match, a home game played just fi ve days ago, against formidable Iran despite it ending in a 1-1 draw.

That result left Oman and Iran on same eight points, though the latter occupy the top place thanks to their superior goal average.

The hosts are now aiming to con-tinue in the same vein even though they are expected to emerge com-fortable winners against Stephen Constantine’s India, who had lost all the four matches they have played so far.

Taking confi dence from their ‘fantastic match’ against Iran, Oman captain Ali Al Habsi said: “Now it’s time to continue with

our good show and prove we are a strong side.”

Thanking everyone for getting behind the team ahead of their match against Iran, the talismanic custodian said: “The whole coun-try, including the media, were behind us. We were missing that before (previously). But this time it was very special.”

“When the whole country is behind you obviously the team will perform well. And we came up with a fantastic performance against Iran,” he said.

The Omani goalkeeping hero also said it was disappointing to not win full points in that match.

“After such an excellent per-formance we deserved to win full points. But a point is a point and now we should concentrate on the next games,” he said.

Suggesting that with India match Oman are entering a very vital phase of their campaign, Ali said: “We are playing India now. Then we have an away game against Turkmenistan, which will be followed by home match against Guam.

“We want to make sure we win all nine points before we travel to

Iran for our fi nal group match. An-ything can happen in four games. Even Iran may drop a few points. But by then we want to be in a po-sition to know what to expect from that match,” he said.

Solid startsAli also stressed the need to focus on points rather than number of goals.

“The margin of victory doesn’t matter. Our focus is on wining the match and not the number of goals. It’s the points that count,” he said.

Stating that ‘when you perform well the goals will follow’, he said: “So far we have had good starts. Against India (2-1, away game), we struck in the very fi rst minute and against Turkmenistan (3-1, home) we opened the score in the seventh minute though we were not lucky against Guam (0-0, away).

“It was the same with Iran match. With a bit more luck Imad (Al Hosni) would have put us ahead very early in the match.”

“These are the kind of starts we would like to have in the remain-ing matches too and show that we are a strong team,” he said while stressing the need to be ‘careful

in the defence’ while facing teams like India.

Coach Paul Le Guen, mean-while, said the focus is now on im-proving further. “We need to focus on making further improvements. But that doesn’t mean we are over-confi dent,” he said.

Refusing to take India lightly, he said: “They are a proud team and we know they will give us a good fi ght tomorrow.”

“We need to stay cool and keep our composure to earn full points,” the coach said.

Al Maqbali returnsThe Frenchman also revealed his reluctance to change the winning combination when asked about the possibility of utilising the ser-vices of star striker Abdulaziz Al Maqbali, who has just returned from Military World Games in South Korea where Oman settled for silver medal after losing the fi -nal by a 2-0 margin to Algeria.

“Abdulaziz returned last night. He is a full member of our team and he will surely be on the list and on the bench. But I am not 100 percent sure whether I will use him,” he said.

“But we have one more training ses-

sion to go before we face India. Let’s see how everything goes,” he said.

Le Guen’s counterpart Stephen Constantine, whose team’s World Cup hopes have already been ended with four successive defeats, is hope-ful of making it to the Asian Cup.

“We are a young team and when you are building a team it takes time to produce desired results,” he said. “We will try our best against Oman tomorrow,” he said adding ‘I am confi dent we can make it to the Asian Cup.

Indian captain Sunil Chhetri said: “We played well against Oman when they visited India.

“We are not a weak side and we will put up a good fi ght against Oman tomorrow.”

The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup fi nals and the fi nal round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifi ers will compete in a sepa-rate competition for the remain-ing slots (12 slots or 11 slots + 1 slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup.

Taking confi dence from their ‘fantastic

match’ against Iran, captain Ali Al Habsi said

Oman are now hoping to continue with ‘our

good show and prove we are a strong side’

MAKING A POINT: Oman captain Ali Al Habis, left, speaks as coach Paul Le Guen looks on during a

press conference on eve of their World Cup/Asian Cup qualifying match against India.

HOPING TO DO WELL: India’s coach Stephen Constantine, left, addresses the media as captain Sunil

Chhetri looks on, during a press conference at City Seasons Hotel on Monday. – JUN ESTRADA/Times of Oman

Former FIFA offi cial Worawi suspended for 90 daysZURICH: Former FIFA execu-tive committee member Worawi Makudi, the current head of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT), has been suspended for 90 days pending a full investigation, the ethics committee of soccer’s governing body said on Monday.

Worawi, who was on the com-mittee in December 2010 when it voted to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tour-nament to Qatar, will now face a formal investigation, the ethics committee said in a statement.

“The decision was taken... on the grounds that a breach of the Code of Ethics appears to have been committed and a decision on the main issue may not be taken early enough,” said the statement.

“The case is now the subject of formal investigation proceedings.”

The 63-year-old was due to stand for re-election as FAT presi-dent on Oct. 17 against former na-tional team manager Vanasthana Sajakul and regional police chief Pisan Jundilok, and was consid-ered the favourite.

He won the FAT election two years ago against Virach Chanpan-ich but, amid controversy, Worawi was given a suspended 16-month sentence by a Thai court in July for falsifying documents to amend the FAT statutes ahead of the vote.

Last week, South Korean Chung Mong-joon, who also sat on the executive committee in 2010, was banned for six years, while Jack Warner, another member of the committee at the time, was banned for life on September 29.

Switzerland’s attorney-general has opened an investigation into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, which was also the subject of a FIFA ethics probe conducted by former chief

ethics investigator Michael Garcia.Garcia’s report has not been

made public but a summary by FIFA’s ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert said there was not enough evidence to award a re-vote.

FIFA has been in turmoil since May 27 when 14 soccer offi cials and sports marketing executives were indicted in the United States as part of a criminal investigation into the allocation of media, mar-keting and sponsorship rights for soccer tournaments.

On Thursday, FIFA president

Sepp Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini were handed 90-day suspensions pending a formal investigation.

The probe followed reports of a payment of two million Swiss francs ($2.1 million) from FIFA to Platini in 2011, nine years after he completed a spell working for Blatter as an adviser. Worawi had been on the FIFA executive com-mittee for 18 years as one of the Asian Football Confederation’s representatives until he was voted off earlier this year. - Reuters

F O O T B A L L

SIDELINED: Football Association of Thailand chief Worawi Makudi. – AFP

ZURICH: FIFA’s ethics com-mittee has rejected criticism from UEFA president Michel Platini over the manner of his suspension, saying the argu-ment that he was not allowed to defend himself is “not valid.”

Platini, the head of Euro-pean soccer’s governing body, was suspended for 90 days last Thursday along with FIFA president Sepp Blatter pending a full investigation against them.

The announcement intensi-fi ed a scandal around world soccer’s governing body.

FIFA’s ethics probe followed reports of a payment of two million Swiss francs ($2.1 million) from FIFA to Platini in 2011, nine years after he completed a spell working for Blatter as an adviser.

The Swiss Attorney General said on Sept. 25 it had opened a criminal investigation into Blatter concerning the pay-ment and a separate Carib-bean television rights deal. Platini is regarded as some-where “between a witness and an accused person” in the payment case, the Attorney General has said.

Platini, a candidate for the FIFA presidential election due to be held in February,

described the allegations against him as “based on mere semblances” and “astonish-ingly vague.”

The Frenchman said he had been willing to cooperate fully with the authorities carry-ing out various enquiries in compliance with the strictest procedural rules which, he said, FIFA had fl outed.

A statement issued on behalf of FIFA’s ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert rejected

suggestions that Platini had not been fairly treated and that he had been interviewed for fi ve hours by FIFA’s ethics investigators.

“The argument put forward by Michel Platini’s lawyers that their client had not had the possibility to defend him-self before the adjudicatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee before his suspen-sion is not valid,” it said.

“After the investigatory chamber of the FIFA ethics committee had heard him for more than fi ve hours on Oct. 1, 2015 - with the hearing documented on more than 50 pages - the chairman of the adjudicatory chamber, Hans-Joachim Eckert, did not see a need for a second hearing with Mr Platini.”

“This proceeding is fully in line with ... the FIFA Code of Ethics.”

FIFA is due to hold an election on Feb. 26 to replace Blatter. The election commit-tee will decide on who will be accepted as full candidates shortly after the deadline for nominations on October 26.

That deadline could pose problems for Platini if he remains under a provisional ban. - Reuters

FIFA ethics committee says Platini complaints ‘not valid’

Michel Platini

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Kyrgios wins in Shanghai to set up Nishikori clash

SHANGHAI: Controversial Australian Nick Kyrgios swept aside Andreas Haider-Maurer in straight sets on Monday to set up a second round clash with Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the Shanghai Masters. The outspoken Australian, who fi red 13 aces and saved all fi ve break points in a 6-3 6-2 win over his Austrian opponent, had no illusions about the task ahead. Slovak Martin Klizan beat local favourite Zhang Ze 7-6(8) 6-2 and now runs into top seed Novak Djokovic who is gunning for his ninth title of the year. Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic, who prevailed 6-4 7-6(6) over Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, also faces a formi-dable second round opponent in 2009 runner-up Rafa Nadal who lost to Djokovic in Sunday’s China Open fi nal. American John Isner burnished his big-serving reputation with 20 aces in a 6-1 6-2 romp against Adrian Mannarino, while Roberto Bautista Agut also had it easy against fellow Spaniard Guill-ermo Garcia-Lopez who was beaten 6-2 6-3. American Steve Johnson cut short Italian Andreas Seppi’s campaign with a 4-6 6-1 7-6(2) win.

New Zealand veteran Vettori to mentor English spinnersABU DHABI: New Zealand bowling great Daniel Vettori will mentor promising England spinners during their ongo-ing tour of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).England are cur-rently in UAE to play against Pakistan in a three-match Test series. Seven spinners will follow Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Samit Patel to take take spin lessons from Vettori under Eng-land Performance Programme (EPP).Former New Zealand captain Vettori took more than 700 wickets in international cricket. He is also the head coach of Indian Premier League (IPL) side Royal Challengers Bangalore. He will join the EPP batting and spin group, led by Zimbabwean Andy Flower, in Dubai for 10 days in November.

Current England team not

weaker than 2012: Anderson

ABU DHABI: Pacer James Anderson has rejected Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq’s claim the current England team is weaker than in 2012. England begin a three-match Test series here on Tuesday. Pakistan defeated England 3-0 in 2012. Misbah had said England appear to be weak that 2012, because of the absence of experienced players like batsmen Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott. “Their spinners back then, Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, were more expe-rienced and destructive and I feel England are going to miss them,” Misbah wrote in a column for cricket.com.au on Sun-day. But Anderson says England are less experienced but not short on quality. “I wouldn’t say we’re weaker. I’d say we’re less experienced,” Anderson said. “The quality and talent that we’ve got in the side is easily a match for the side that came out here in 2012.

England’s Finn ruled out of

fi rst Test against Pakistan

ABU DHABI: England fast bowler Steven Finn has been ruled out of the fi rst Test against Pakistan due to a foot injury, the England and Wales Cricket Board said on Monday. Finn took four wickets in a warm-up game against Pakistan A last week and was expected to be named in the team for the match in Abu Dhabi which starts on Tuesday. “It’s a bitter blow for him, he’s had a huge 12 months,” England captain Alastair Cook told reporters. “Hopefully, he’ll be right for the second Test.” Cook will open the batting with Moeen Ali, leg-spinner Adil Rashid will make his test debut and fast bowler James Anderson returns to the side after missing the last two tests in this year’s Ashes series win over Australia.

Klopp seeks patience to focus

on Liverpool’s football ‘brand’

LONDON: Developing a recognisable brand of football this season is the only target that Liverpool’s owners have set new manager Juergen Klopp, the German told Bild over the week-end. The former Borussia Dortmund manager was unveiled as Brendan Rodgers’ successor on Friday and sparked excite-ment by saying he could win Liverpool the Premier League ti-tle in the next four years but, in an interview with the German paper, called for patience because of the enormous challenge he faced. “There is no doubt, this is a huge challenge, for me and my coaching team,” he said. “Liverpool have not had any success for a long time and they’ve changed the manager all the time. And now they have appointed a German who is no miracle worker. Progress is not possible without a bit of time.” Klopp also said Fenway Sports Group, the club’s owners, did not expect him to deliver either a trophy or Champions League qualifi cation in his fi rst season. — Agencies

B R I E F SEuro 2016 title is next on list: Schweinsteiger

BERLIN: The Euro 2016 tro-phy is fi rmly in Germany’s sights, captain Bastian Schweinsteiger said, a day after a lacklustre win over Georgia secured their spot at the tournament in France in their fi nal qualifi er.

In an open letter to the fans, Schweinsteiger thanked them for their support and said the world champions could have no other ambition than winning the title, the only major international tro-phy missing from the Manches-ter United holding midfi elder’s collection.

“In 245 days the Euro will get under way, the fi nal is in 275 days,” Schweinsteiger, who joined Unit-ed this season after more than a decade at Bayern Munich said.

“As World Cup winners we can only set the highest goals and we want to be in the fi nal in Paris. And I can also say that we want the title.

Since Rio (de Janeiro) we have our fourth star (for the fourth World Cup win). Until now all the good things in Germany used to be three but now we want more,” he said.

Germany have won the Euro-pean crown three times with their last triumph back in 1996 at the tournament in England.

The Germans may be eyeing an-other title but they were far from convincing in the qualifying cam-paign, having to wait until their last Group D match on Sunday to make sure of their 12th con-secutive European Championship qualifi cation.

Coach Joachim Loew called it the most diffi cult campaign of the past 12 years after they lost to Ire-land and Poland while struggling to beat Scotland.

Germany still managed to clinch top spot on 22 points, one ahead of second-placed Poland. — Reuters

Germany have won the European crown

three times with their last triumph back

in 1996 at the tournament in England

GERMAN AMBITION: Germany’s head coach Joachim Loew chats

with midfi elder Bastian Schweinsteiger on eve of the Euro 2016

qualifying football match against Georgia in Leipzig. – AFP

Ireland have fi ghting chance to get to Euro 2016, says O’Neill

LONDON: Ireland are “fi ght-ing strongly” to make it to the Euro 2016 fi nals in France next year despite being consigned to the playoff route after their 2-1 defeat by Poland in Warsaw in their fi nal qualifi er, manager Martin O’Neill said.

A 2-2 draw would have al-lowed the Irish to book their place in the fi nals behind World Champions Germany, but Po-land’s Robert Lewandowski scored the winner just before halftime after Grzegorz Kry-chowiak had fi red his team ahead in the 13th minute.

Ireland had captain John O’Shea sent off late on for a second yellow card and O’Neill insists his men have a fi ghting chance of making it to France.

Disappointing“It is disappointing because beating Germany (1-0) gave us a run at it,” the manager was quoted as saying by the BBC.

“Whoever we play (over two legs in the playoff s), we will have as good a chance as them,” he added.

“Before we played Germany if you had off ered me third I would have taken it. But that win gave us the confi dence to come and play here.

“We had to go for it in the sec-ond half, I actually thought we might have got a second goal, and that would have taken us through. Right until the end we were there but we were perhaps lacking that cohesiveness.

“Despite putting a lot of pres-sure on them it wasn’t to be. But we are still in there, we can still make it. We didn’t make it but we are still fi ghting strongly,” he added.

The play-off draw takes place on Sunday. - Reuters

F O O T B A L L

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SPORTST U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

‘Finisher’ finished? India debates Dhoni

NEW DELHI: The “helicopter shot” has disappeared, the bound-aries are not fl owing from his bat and the whisper is now growing louder that Mahendra Singh Dho-ni is no more the middle-order fi n-isher who could single-handedly get India over the line.

Even for his ardent fans, and he is still the most popular player in the cricket-mad country, it was painful to watch Dhoni strug-gle in Sunday’s one-day series

opener against South Africa.Time and again, he tried the big

shots that once came out of his blade with amazing regularity and time and again he could not connect.

Known for his penchant to seal victory with a six, exhibited famously in the fi nal of the 2011 World Cup, Dhoni managed only one boundary in his 31-ball or-deal as the wheels came off India’s chase in the fi nal overs in Kanpur.

Not that he did not try. He

stepped out against Morne Morkel, made room against Dale Steyn and ran hard between the wickets in the scorching heat, trying to do with the legs what his bat could not.

His laboured batting was all the more evident seen against cen-turion Rohit Sharma’s eff ortless strokemaking at the other end during their 55-run stand.

“Dhoni used to be great when the ball was pitched up to him,” former captain K. Srikkanth told Mon-day’s Times of India newspaper.

“But bowlers ... have under-stood that the key is not to give him any room to manoeuvre and Dhoni would not be the same player (again).

“Dhoni can still be an accumu-lator but I don’t think we are going to see the same devastating MSD in the days to come.”

Going through a lean patch, Dhoni has also baffl ed many by wishing to bat higher in the order, having rejected the same sugges-tion for the large part of his career.

Former captain Anil Kumble is part of the fast-dwindling tribe still convinced that Dhoni re-mains India’s best “fi nisher”.

“I don’t think his role has changed. I don’t think he should be pushed at number four to play a diff erent role. He is still a good fi nisher,” said Kumble.

“One hit (in Sunday’s match) and we would have been talking diff erently.

“His strike rate has obviously come down and the pitch did not help either.”

Dhoni also blamed the low-bounce at Green Park Stadium and rued how unforgiving the fans are.

“It’s not an easy job, it does not always work your way,” he said af-ter the loss.

“It’s a gamble but of course that’s my job in the side. I’m some-body who has to fi nish the job for the team. When you fi nish a lot of many games, people always remember the ones you have not fi nished.” - Reuters

Even for his ardent fans, and he is still the

most popular player in the cricket-mad

country, it was painful to watch Dhoni

struggle in Sunday’s one-day series

opener against South Africa

It looked a bit like game hunting when Kagiso Rabada banged the

leather hard on the ground, after bravely positioning himself under the ball that soared into the Kanpur sky and neatly gathering it, in a wild release of fi re and fury to celebrate the kill.

As MS Dhoni looked like a fatally wounded lion trying to save somehow its life as he trooped wearily back to the dressing room, perhaps trying to think up excuses he would need to explain away his latest in a series of failures to fi nish off a game, Rabada stood there like a Maasai war-rior guaranteed to get the tail of the speared beast.

Post-match, we got to know how the boy who grew up watching the legend of Dhoni the destroyer into a cool fast bowler who, though he had felt “a bit of nerves” as he walked up to his run-up in defence of 11 runs in the fi nal over of the day, has come of age. That was refreshingly about the birth of a young, exciting, brand new death bowler and the demise of a celebrated fi nisher who has grown ungracefully, disgust-ingly old.

Even Dhoni’s maddest supporters may now have become sick of his excuses. Still, it’s unfair to dismiss everything he says as rubbish. Most of what he says now is just that, rubbish, but amid the mountain of rubbish there could sometimes be a grain of truth. Take, for example, one of the reasons he mentioned on Sunday that went to make a big, negative impact from an Indian point of view on the game at Kanpur. Dhoni said: “Close to the 40th over mark, the four-fi ve overs leading to it, those were crucial because we should have got a bit more runs.” That sounded like just another Dhoni rambling, until you looked closely and got a fair hint of what Dhoni was really trying to communicate.

Ajinkya Rahane got out to the fourth ball of the 34th over, and at that point India was going strong with a siz-zling Rohit Sharma just three runs short of his century and having 191 runs on the board for the loss of just two wick-ets. That was a helluva great opportunity for Virat Kohli to trot in and take the team to victory or within easy reach of it. Something that didn’t happen as it should have.

Kohli departed on the last

ball of the 40th over for an un-inspiring 11 runs off 18 balls, spending six overs in the company of Rohit Sahrma, who in the meantime moved to 108, and the Indian total crawled to 214. Just 23 runs in six overs: 11 from Kohli, 11 from Rohit Sharma and one from a Morne Morkel wide.

One of the reasons for the failures of Dhoni in recent times is the poor form of Kohli, and the funny side of it is that the Test captain almost always got away with his failures, thanks to an obsessive interest prevailing in the cricket world to give an unceremonious kick in the back of Dhoni.

Time and age is on the side of Kohli, true, and there’s no doubt that the future of Indian cricket lies in the hands of youngsters like him, but it’s time Kohli justifi ed his presence in the team with performance.

And Dhoni should stop dishing out excuses. If he is not able to do his job, he should say that gracefully. He was quick to blame on Sunday the low bounce for his failure to hit the ball to the rope, but how long could he pass the buck on the dew, dust and dirt? Till the next T20 World Cup, just fi ve months away, perhaps. But, that, at the mo-ment, seems to be a long, long distance for Dhoni.

Let me make my Suresh Raina point again. He needs to spend some time on the bench. Stuart Binny could give him company there. When Amit Mishra was the only guy who gave away less than 50 runs in 10 overs, why not go in for a spinner-bats-man, like Gurkeerat Singh, in place of Binny? Positive moves need to be taken right now, right before the second ODI at Indore tomorrow, when the series is just one down and four to go, than when everything is lost and there’s only one, inconse-quential game remains.

The writer is a freelance contribu-tor based in India. All the views and opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not refl ect those of Times of Oman

Dhoni isn’t blaming, but finger unmistakably points at Kohli

C O M M E N T A R Y

Injured Anderson ruled out of Australia tourWELLINGTON: All-rounder Corey Anderson has been ruled out of New Zealand’s tour of Aus-tralia with a back injury and been replaced by Mitchell Santner, the team said on Monday.

The 24-year-old Anderson suf-fered the injury on New Zealand’s tour of England and had not re-covered suffi ciently to shoulder a bowling workload, Kiwi selector Gavin Larsen said in an offi cial statement.

“Corey hasn’t been able to re-cover as quickly as we hoped and we’ve chosen not to try to rush him back,” said Larsen.

“We’ve always said there were a number of checkpoints for him to meet before our departure date, and we’re now in a position to confi rm he’s not ready.

“With that in mind, it’s bet-ter for him to continue his rehabilitation.”

Santner inThe 23-year-old Santner, who bowls left-arm spin as opposed to the brisk medium pace of the burly Anderson, impressed in the limited overs portion of New Zealand’s tour of England and was included for their series against Zimbabwe and South Af-rica but had to withdraw with a broken thumb.

“Mitch (is) an all-rounder who can bat at number six or seven and he’s also a front-line bowler,” Larsen added.

“It’s a good opportunity for him. We believe his left-arm spin will add some variety to our options and his batting is well-suited to the conditions expected across the Tasman.”

Twilight TestNew Zealand will play three Tests in Australia, including the fi rst twilight match in Adelaide, where a pink ball will be used. The fi rst test in Brisbane begins on Nov. 5.

The side had an intra-squad trial match in Hamilton last week under lights with a pink ball.

Off -spinner Mark Craig said there was little diff erence be-tween the pink ball and the white ball used for limited overs matches, but the trial had been good to become accustomed to what to expect under diff ering conditions.

“It’s just a matter of getting used to it, there’s no complaints from us,” Craig told reporters.

“I fi nd it really similar to the white ball. When it’s nice and new it’s quite easy to grip and just like any other ball when it gets a bit older.” - Reuters

N E W Z E A L A N D C R I C K E T

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SPORTST U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

Suleiman and Asta claim top honours at Sprint Triathlon

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Suleiman Al Alawi and Asta Parker stole the limelight in the Oman Triathlon Team-organ-ised Sprint Triathlon at the Azaiba beach during the weekend.

The event was a 750m swim, 22km cycling and 5km run and the swim course carved out by Bill Huguelet was appreciated by all participants.

According to the winner Sulei-man Al Alawi, the sea greeted the swimmers with cool, clear waters and the start was fantastic.

The participants then got on to the bikes from the transition area in Azaiba to The Wave roundabout and back to complete the 22km.

By the time the runners started the weather really got hot and so was the race.

Asta Parker left no chance for the other female competitors and

hammered the run to cut the tape in top as the other ladies also re-corded some fast times.

In the team category the compe-tition was furious and close.

In the men’s event, Brad Holiday, came out of the swim in fi rst place but faded in the run to come fourth overall. Oliver Boast fi nished third

in contrast and despite not swim-ming well.

Gary Cummings over took many men on the bike and recorded the top run time to take second overall, while Richard Holms scored top bike split time. However, Suleiman Al Alawi proved more consistent and took the overall honours.

The Oman Triathlon Team thanked Chanttal, Rosie, Naser, Ionut, Corina and Bill for volun-teering and helping in making the event successful.

Next Oman Triathlon Team events will be held on November 13 at Al Sifa and November 20 at Azaiba again.

O M A N T R I A T H L O N T E A M E V E N T

FANTASTIC START: Suleiman Al Alawi. – Supplied photo

HEALTHY COMPETITION: Participants pictured at end of the swim section of the race. – Supplied photo

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ISM U-19 team rout BSM

MUSCAT: The Khimji Ramdas sponsored U-19 match between Indian School Muscat (ISM) and Bangladesh School Muscat (BSM) at the Municipality 1 ground saw ISM came out comfortable win-ners by 123 runs.

Batting fi rst, ISM were all out for 175 in 36.5 overs. Tejesh Bhu-pendra top scored with 40. Mah-bub Hassan, Shahriar Fahim and Akram Ul-Haq all chipped in with two wickets each for BSM.

ISM clinched the bonus point also when they bowled out BSM for a paltry 52 in 19.1 overs. Tejesh once again stood out in the bowl-ing department, claiming 6 wick-ets for 18 runs in 7.1 overs.

Brief scores: ISM 175 all out in 36.5 overs (Tejesh Bhupendra 40, Shahriar Fahim 2 for 35) beat BSM 52 all out in 19.1 overs (Tejesh Bhupendra 6 for 18). Points: ISM - 3; BSM - 0.

ISWK beat ISASIn another U-19 match, Indian School Wadi Kabir (ISWK) beat Indian School Al Seeb (ISAS) by 96 runs. Put into bat fi rst, ISWK were bowled out for 253 in 35 overs with 30 runs coming as a result of ISAS’s breach of the code of conduct.

All ISWK batsmen chipped in

evenly with Ragul Virupak top scoring with 33. Riyan Sutradhar (3 for 30) was the pick of the ISAS bowlers. ISWK claimed their bo-nus point by bowling out ISAS for 157 in 30.1 overs. Mohammed Feshal top scored with 44. Hardik Toprani (3 for 43) was the pick of the ISWK bowlers.

Brief scores: ISWK 253 all out in 35 overs (Ragul Virupak 33, Riyan Sutradhar 3 for 30) beat ISAS 157 all out in 30.1 overs (Mohammed Feshal 44, Hardik Toprani 3 for 43). Points: ISWK 3 (Total 5); ISAS 0.

ISM U-16 winIn the The Al Turki Enterprises sponsored U-16 ‘B’ match, ISM emerged easy winner over over Sri Lankan School Muscat (SLSM).

Put in to bat fi rst, ISM posted a mammoth 204 for 8 in 25 overs. Paritosh Hitesh played a great knock of 88. Syed Ali was the pick of the SLSM bowlers with fi gures

of 3 for 30. ISM completed their bonus point victory by bowling out SLSM for 136 in 22.5 overs. Wikum top scored for SLSM with a steady 38. Vikram was the best ISM bowl-er on the day with fi gures of 4 for 19.

Brief scores: ISM 204 for 8 in 25 overs (Paritosh Hitesh 88, Syed Ali 3 for 30) beat SLSM 136 all out in 22.5 overs (Wikum 38, Vikram 4 for 19). Points: ISM 3 (BP) ; SLSM - 0.

PSM down GCCIn another U-16 B match, PSM de-feated Gulf Cricket Centre (GCC) comfortably by 64 runs. Put in to bat fi rst, PSM posted a mammoth 247 for 7 in 25 overs. Mohammed Umair played a great cameo knock of 51. Veera Anand (2 for 37) was the most productive GCC bowler.

PSM later bowled out GCC for 183 in 21.3 overs. Hasan Javed top scored for GCC with a quick 63. Mohammed Umair (3 for 25) was

the best PSM bowler on the day.Brief scores: PSM 247 for 7 in 25

overs (Mohammed Umair 51, Veera Anand 2 for 37) beat GCC 183 all out in 21.3 overs (Hasan Javed 63, Mohammed Umair 3 for 25). Points: PSM - 2; GCC - 0.

BOC loseIn a U-16 A match, ISWK beat Bousher Olympic Centre comfort-ably by 8 wickets.

Batting fi rst, BOC posted a mea-ger 66 before being bowled out in 13 overs. Fletcher D’souza, Malik Rasheed and Jashanth all chipped in with 3 wickets to demolish the BOC batting line up. In response ISWK easily chased down the score in 6.5 overs for the loss of 2 wickets, to obtain the bonus point too.

Brief scores: BOC 66 all out in 13 overs (Malik Rasheed 3 for 10, Fletcher D’souza 3 for 4, Jasinth Balu 3 for 10) lost to ISWK 69 for 2 in 6.5 overs (Rohan Ko-shy 25 not our). Points: ISWK 3 ; BOC - 0.

Batting fi rst, ISM

were all out for 175 in

36.5 overs. Then they

bowled out BSM for a

paltry 52 in 19.1 overs

MUSCAT: The Al Turki En-terprises sponsored Girls Un-der-19 division match between PSM and ISM at the Municipal-ity Ground 1, the latter won by a convincing eight wickets.

Batting fi rst, PSM posted a decent 193 for 3 in 20 overs largely due to 82 extras from ISM bowlers. Hira Javed top scored with 43. ISM completed the victory by hauling the target in 18 overs for the loss of 2 wickets. Sujana Sundar top

scored with unbeaten 69. Amal Saleem was the best PSM bowler on the day with fi gures of 2 for 20.

Brief scores: PSM 193 for 3 in 20 overs (Hira Javed - 43) lost to ISM 194 for 2 in 18 overs (Sujana Sundar 69 not out), Amal Saleem (PSM) 2 for 20. Points: ISM - 2 ; PSM – 0.

ISG winIn another girls U-19 match between ISG recorded a com-manding 183-run win over ISD.

Put in to bat, ISG posted a huge score of 234/3 in 20 overs largely due to a brilliant un-beaten 101 by Aditi Bhatnagar.

In response, ISD could only manage 51 in 14 overs, enabling ISG to wrap up the bonus point win. Thara Fatima was the stand out ISG bowler claiming four wickets for 11 runs.

Brief score: ISG 234 for 3 in 20 overs (Aditi Bhatnagar 101 n.o.) bt ISD 51 all out in 14 overs (Thara Fatima 4 for 11). Points: ISG – 3 (BP) ; ISD - 0

ISM girls record eight-wicket win over PSM

OMAN CRICKET CONDUCTS UMPIRES REFRESHER COURSEOman Cricket organised

a refresher course for

umpires on October 6 and

7 at the Al Falaj hotel. The

course was conducted

by Umpires Educator

for Oman and Head of

Umpire’s Committee

A.R. Srinivasan and was

attended by 30 active

umpires who will and

are offi ciating in the new

season. — Supplied photo

MUSCAT: Bharati Ramachan-dran used her brilliant form to claim open women’s singles title defeating Mayaja Harish seeded No. 2 at the National Bank of Oman–sponsored annual bad-minton tournament organised by the Indian Social Club Muscat.

Bharati enjoyed court superi-ority and played with her usual cool form to wrap the game scor-ing 21-11 and 21-10 defeating Mayaja. Both came in to fi nals defeating Eva Mongue and Savita Kulkarni respectively.

In men’s A double’s semifi -nal, Cyril Williams and Sudheer showed an excellent team work in their victory over Ronnie Pereira and Kennedy. The pair won 21-10 and 21-12.

In open men’s doubles quar-terfi nals, Dipu and Geemon faced stiff resistance before wrapping the game against favorite Percy Pereira and PT Francis scoring 17-21, 21-19 and 27-25.

In men’s A singles Bishen Sin-gh Bhalla stormed in to fi nal de-feating talented Niyas N scoring 18-21, 21-12, 21-12.

In mixed doubles semifi nal, Ashutosh Pant and Sailee Kerkar showed brilliant team work to claim victory over Leon D’souza and Ashpruha 21-19 and 21-16.

In the second semifi nal match, PT Francis and Bharati Ra-machandran attain victory over second-seeded Percy Pereira and Nishita Karnik scoring 21-18, 18-21, and 22-20.

I S C B A D M I N T O N

FINALISTS: Bharati Ramachandran and Mayaja Harish

Kompany fi t to playBRUSSELS: Vincent Kompany has been declared fi t and is expect-ed to return from injury to play for Belgium in their last Euro 2016 qualifi er on Tuesday despite the reservation of his club manager.

“Vincent Kompany has partic-ipated fully in training and with-out any problems. I expect that he will be ready for the match against Israel,” coach Marc Wil-mots told reporters on Sunday. “He has worked hard in training and knows his own body well.”

Kompany’s call-up for the two qualifi ers against Andorra, which Belgium won 4-1 on Saturday, and Israel in Brussels on Tuesday were criticised by Manchester City.

City manager Manuel Pellegrini said the 29-year-old was not yet fi t enough to play after a calf injury kept him out of the club’s last fi ve outings since the home loss to Ju-ventus in the Champions League on September 15.

“I’ve not been in contact with Man City myself but the club are kept up to date with develop-ments. I think it will be good for Man City if Kompany gets some match time,” added Wilmots.

Belgium have already quali-fi ed for the Euro 2016 fi nals but can rise to No. 1 in the next FIFA rankings if they beat Israel in what is expected to be a festival atmosphere in Brussels. - Reuters

F O O T B A L L

Brilliant Bharati downs Mayaja to lift eves’ crown

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Oman LNG strengthens bond with OGC, sponsors development squad

MUSCAT: In a bid to support the development of golf in Oman, the corporate giant Oman LNG has come forward to sponsor the OGC’s (Oman Golf Committee) development squad programme yet again.

The director of Oman LNG, Harib Al Kitani, expressed ex-treme happiness in continuing their relationship with the OGC, saying: “We are more than happy to take this responsibility. This de-velopment squad is growing very steadily. We have been sponsoring golf for a very long time and our as-sociation with the OGC’s develop-ment squad is quite long.”

Al Kitani mentioned, “We are sure that the establishment of the Development Squad is a major milestone for the rising sport in Oman, because it is expected to form the backbone of Oman’s golf

supply line. We want more junior boys and girls to take up golf. These kids of the Squad are now playing in a number of national and inter-national tournaments these days which shows we are going in the right direction.”

OGC Vice-Chairman Ahmed Al Jhdhamy said, “We express our thanks and gratitude to Oman LNG. They have been very kind in taking up some fi nancial responsibilities. It is required for what we are doing.”

With a mission to profession-alise golf in Oman, the OGC has started a new year-round project aimed at training promising junior Omani boys and girls and turning them into future champions.

The long-term training pro-gramme will continue throughout the year. There are 18 promising players aged between 7 to 16 years. The players are pooled into three groups based on their skill level. The 3 levels are Novice, Interme-diate and Advanced.

The Development Squad is un-dergoing training every week in Ghala Golf Club under the watchful eyes of coach Milo Breitenwisher.

Al Kitani is hopeful that kids from various walks of life will take up golf. “Who would have thought that girls will also be playing golf in the Sultanate, but the OGC has made it possible. It is their credit and more girls will come up by watching Asma Al Rashdi and Hu-waida Al Barwani. I am especially excited about the programme for girls. And they are progressing fast,” he observed.

“Through these initiatives we extend our contributions to further serve communities by supporting youth and sports in Oman while simultaneously supporting Oman’s aspirations in tourism”, said Khalid Al Massan, Chief Executive Of-fi cer of Oman LNG Development Foundation. “To be part of this and seeing the enthusiasm of the youth - we couldn’t be more fortunate”.

Mundhir Al Barwani the Chair-man of the OGC, expressed his hope that the national golf body’s association with Oman LNG will only grow, saying: “We are happy that he is here. Oman LNG has been sponsoring our Development Squad for a long time.

“I hope they will do so in the coming years too. It only increases our responsibility to work better with the kids. With the constant support of the Ministry of Sports Aff airs and OmanLNG we will be able to build a strong pool of tal-ented golfers.”

The Chairman of OGC, Mun-dhir Al Barwani welcomed Oman-LNG’s interest in promoting golf. “The OGC’s mission is to build a foundation in golf in Oman that will give all golfers the opportunity to play the sport. The Ministry of Sports Aff airs has been our biggest supporter. With that now we have OmanLNG taking a keen interest in shaping Omani golf. With their

support we want to create an envi-ronment that allows beginners to learn and serious golfers to strive to the top.”

Harib Al Kitani says: “We are defi nite the Development Squad is a major milestone for the ris-ing sport in Oman, because it is expected to form the backbone of Oman golf ’s supply line.”

Al Kitani also said: “We want more junior boys and girls to take up golf. These kids of the squad are now playing in a number of nation-al and international tournaments these days which shows we are go-ing in the right direction.”

Al Kitani visited the Ghala Golf Club on Friday to spend some time with the development squad kids. OGC Vice-Chairman Ahmed Al Jhdhamy was also present.

“We express our thanks and gratitude to OmanLNG. They have been very kind in taking up some fi nancial responsibilities. It is required for what we are doing:”

said Al Jhdhamy. With a mission to professionalize golf in Oman, the OGC has started a new year-round project aimed at training promising junior Omani boys and girls and turning them into future champions.

The long-term training pro-gramme, which began recently and will continue throughout the year.

There are 18 promising play-ers aged between 7 to 16 years. The players are pooled into three groups based on their skill level. The 3 levels are Novice, Interme-diate and Advanced.

The Development Squad is un-dergoing training every week in Ghala Golf Club under the watch-ful eyes of coach Milo Breiten-wisher. The coach is confi dent that some of these players will progress to the next level — the OGC’s Elite Squad — and in a year’s time, they will eventually break onto the Oman national team.

Al Kitani is hopeful that kids from various walks of life will take up golf. “Who would have thought that girls will also be playing golf in the Sultanate, but the OGC has made it possible. It is their credit and more girls will come up by watching Asma Al Rashdi and Huwaida Al Barwani. I am specially excited about the girls’ programme. And they are fast pro-gressing:” he observed.

Al Barwani the Chairman of the OGC, expressed his hope that the national golf body’s association with OmanLNG will only grow, saying: “We are happy that he is here. OmanLNG has been spon-soring our Development Squad for a long time. Hope they will do so in the coming years too. It only in-creases our responsibility to work better with the kids.”

With a mission to

professionalise golf

in Oman, the OGC has

started a new year-

round project aimed

at training promising

junior Omani boys

and girls and turning

them into future

champions

BIG SUPPORT: Oman LNG CEO Harib Al Kitani, Ahmed Al Jhdhamy vice-chairman of OGC with the development squad. – Supplied photo

Murray’s maiden title secures his spot in Oman showcaseMUSCAT: Tom Murray’s inspi-rational play-off victory over Nino Bertasio in the Volopa Irish Chal-lenge hosted by Mount Wolseley Hotel Spa and Golf Resort paid off handsomely for the English-man with a guaranteed spot in the European Challenge Tour’s season-ending NBO Golf Classic Grand Final which takes place here in Oman at the spectacular Almouj Golf, The Wave, Muscat, from Wednesday, November 4 to Saturday, November 7.

The top 45 players on the Road to Oman Rankings qualify to compete in the prestigious fi nale and Murray’s victory sees him move from 78th place into 31st.

As well as a share of €375,000 prize fund on off er for victory in the prestigious NBO Golf Classic Grand Final, the top 15 players on the Road to Oman Rankings fol-lowing the conclusion of the tour-nament will earn their playing cards for next season’s European Tour International Schedule.

Murray’s marvelous play-off victory has more than doubled his prize money for the season and the 25 year old, who has also played on The European Tour this season, now has a total of €45,819 after winning €28,800 in Ireland, which is enough to se-cure his place in the Muscat fi eld.

Before this triumph, Murray’s best performance this season was a sixth-place fi nish in Portugal’s, Madeira Islands Open, so he’s delighted with how he handled the play-off pressure to secure his fi rst European Challenge Tour ti-tle in dramatic fashion.

“It’s kind of surreal right now

but it’s what I’ve been working for,” said Tom, who is the son of former European Open champion and current Senior Tour player Andrew Murray. “I had a couple of good days working at home and mentally preparing for this. Men-tally I was in a much better place and to get a fi rst win is big.”

Runner-up Bertasio, who tied Murray’s 16-under total in regu-lation, now sits just short of the Road to Oman’s top 45 in 47th place. Englishman Gary Boyd fi n-ished closely behind the leaders on 14-under to bolster him into the top four in The Road to Oman after earning €12,600. He will now be full of confi dence for the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final in less than a month’s time.

Meanwhile, European Chal-lenge Tour graduate Matthew Fitzpatrick claimed his fi rst Euro-pean Tour Title of the season in the British Masters supported by Sky Sports. The 21 year old European Challenge Tour graduate held off the challenges of Søren Kjeldsen,

Shane Lowry and Fabrizio Zanotti to fi nish 15-under at Woburn Golf Club, which lifted him to 12th place in The Race to Dubai.

The ‘golf in DUBAi’ Ambas-sador’s victory will be inspir-ing for the European Challenge Tour hopefuls as he featured in the NBO Golf Classic less that 12 months ago and has now stepped-up to become one of the rising stars of The European Tour.

The NBO Golf Classic Grand Fi-nal will feature the top 45 players on the Road to Oman Rankings com-peting for a prize fund of $397,000. The top 15 players on Road to Oman Rankings will qualify to play on next season’s European Tour.

The 2015 Road to Oman will take in 25 tournaments in 19 dif-ferent countries. The Road to Oman will off er a Bonus Pool of $65,000 for the top three players on the Road to Oman rankings at the conclusion of the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final. The leading player on the rankings will receive a $32,500 share of the Bonus Pool.

N B O G O L F C L A S S I C

COMING TO OMAN: England’s Tom Murray winner of the Volopa

Irish Challenge. – Supplied photo

Stekelenburg joins Netherlands team

LONDON: Southampton goal-keeper Maarten Stekelenburg has been added to the Netherlands squad for their fi nal Euro 2016 qualifi er against Czech Republic on Tuesday after Tim Krul sus-tained a knee injury in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Kazakhstan.

With Netherlands’ fi rst choice

keeper Jasper Cillessen also pick-ing up an injury during the warm-up before the match against Ka-zakhstan, Stekelenburg will be hoping to be involved in the Neth-erlands squad.

Currently fourth in Group A, the Netherlands face elimination and the last time the Dutch failed

to qualify for a major tournament was the 2002 World Cup.

Despite beating Kazakhstan, their fate is not in their own hands. They need to beat the Czech Re-public and hope Turkey, two points ahead of the Dutch, do not beat group leaders Iceland, if they are to make the play-off s. - Reuters

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Messi the best in last 10 years, says Pele

KOLKATA: Football king Pele on Monday rated Argentina’s talis-manic forward Lionel Messi as the best footballer of the last ten years and declared he has no intention of heading FIFA.

However, the Brazilian legend refused to compare Messi with the former greats saying it was diffi -cult to draw comparison between “past players and those playing at the moment”.

“But, of course, in the last ten years, Messi was the best player,” Pele said at a media conference here.

He also said Portuguese Cris-tiano Ronaldo and Messi were two diff erent kind of players.

“Lot of people compare Messi with Ronaldo. But they are two dif-ferent kind of players. Roanldo is a more scorer (sort of ), player,... more centre forward. Messi plays more deeper. But both are fantastic.”

Speaking about Neymar, who has been Brazil’s poster boy for the last few years, Pele said: “I hope Neymar wins a trophy for Brazil, and he hails from Santos, the club I used to play for.

“My son Edinho was the one who trained him, so I feel proud and happy. He has a good future.”

“Neymar, he could be one of the best players now, at the moment, no doubt,” he said.

However, when a journalist asked whether the crisis in the FIFA with its president Sepp Blat-ter under suspension saddened him, the organisers of the triple World Cup winner’s trip to India said he would not take any ques-tions on the game’s apex body.

But Pele said he had no intention to head FIFA.

“No, I don’t have any intention to be president of FIFA,” he said.

The 74-year-old was a part of

the Brazilian World Cup winning sides of 1958, 1962 and 1970 and exuded confi dence he would have achieved the same level of success playing in the modern era.

“Modern day football is tough, but yes I would have still achieved the same feat that I had so many years back. Footballers are born. God gave me the gift to play foot-ball,” he said.

Pele, considered the most com-plete footballer the game has ever seen, conceded that his legend-ary teammates too contributed to his success.

“When I started playing football at 17, there was a buzz in Brazil

surrounding me, everybody said “look at this player”.

“But then I had some great team-mates too in the form of Garrincha, Didi and Vava. Later I have played with the likes of Zico. When I was with New York Cosmos, I played with the likes of Franz Becken-bauer and Giorgio Chinaglia. I did not play alone, there was someone who always played beside and with me,” Pele recalled.

The Brazilian also said he was very disappointed with Brazil’s World Cup campaign in 2014 where they lost 1-7 to Germany in the semifi nals.

“We have some of the best play-

ers in Brazil but unfortunately we did not have much time to prepare the team before the World Cup. You have to have the players together for a longer time to prepare better but that wasn’t possible. Now a days players managers decide for them if they would be playing for the coun-try or the club,” he said. “Presently we have a lot of problems in diff er-ent positions of the fi eld.”

Pele also named former England footballer Bobby Moore as the best he has ever seen. “People don’t take much notice of defenders. To me the best was Bobby Moore. But over the last ten years without a doubt it is Messi.” - IANS

When asked whether

the crisis in the FIFA

saddened him, Pele

said he would not

take any questions on

the game’s apex body.

The Brazilian great

also said he had

no intention

to head FIFA

LEGEND’S BACKING: Football legend Pele, former Indian cricketer Saurav Ganguly and Atletico de Kol-

kata owner Sanjiv Goenka holding the jersey of team during a programme in Kolkata on Monday. – PTI

KOLKATA: Soccer legend Pele rated Argentinean Diego Maradona as a more complete footballer than Lionel Messi.

“It is normal that after one generation of good players, then the next generation is not the same. The exception is Brazil. But unfortunately now we have a problem there. Now almost all the Brazilian players play in Europe.

“To have one good player you need to have a team. Nobody plays alone, you need to have some good players in your side. So to set up a team it’s very diffi cult. When you talk about Brazil, we produce the best players. The best players play-ing now in Europe are form Brazil. Unfortunately for us it’s not too good,” said Pele, reply-ing to a question by Bengali ac-

tor Prasenjit Chatterjee about nurturing young talents during a chat show here.

Former Indian soccer skip-per and current MP Prasun Banerjee asked Pele to com-pare the two Argentines greats — Maradona and Messi.

“Both are very good players. But the way I see football, Maradona was more complete than Messi,” he said. - IANS

‘Maradona more complete footballer’

France plot another famous upset of the All BlacksCARDIFF: France are never as dangerous as when they have their backs against the wall and with a Rugby World Cup quarter-fi nal against New Zealand loom-ing they should be in their favour-ite position.

Les Bleus were humbled 24-9 by Ireland in their fi nal Pool D game, a dismal performance which cast serious doubts over their ability to beat the All Blacks as they famously did in the 1999 and 2007 tournaments.

“We have no time to think about the defeat (against Ire-land), we enter another competi-tion, it’s the knockout phase now. We will prepare with enthusiasm and appetite,” coach Philippe Saint-Andre told a news confer-ence on Monday.

“Our players are built for this, it’s a very long competition. It’s a diff erent competition,” he said. “They have this experience from the French domestic league.”

France beat the All Blacks 20-18 in the 2007 quarterfi nals in Cardiff , eight years after coming from behind to secure a spec-tacular 43-31 semifi nal victory against all the odds.

They have, however, lost their last nine tests against the world champions.

“We don’t play the All Blacks, we play New Zealand,” Saint-An-dre said. “We represent France

and they represent New Zea-land. The history of the World Cup says everything can happen. When you’re French it’s not good when you’re favourite.”

Saint-Andre was asked how previous achievements against the All Blacks could inspire France and he admitted that a few good memories would not be enough to beat New Zealand who cantered through the pool phase.

“(Captain) Thierry Dusautoir can talk about it (the 2007 quar-ter-fi nal win) but we will need other ingredients,” he said.

“New Zealand will go into this game with a lot of confi dence, we’re going to prepare in order to disrupt that confi dence.”

France struggled against Ire-land in their fi rst big test of the tournament, lacking ideas and dominated by the Irish forwards at the breakdown.

“We’ll need more anger on the rucks,” Saint-Andre said. “The rucks are about technique but it’s also a matter of determination.”

The key for France, however, might just be to relax in the hope of rediscovering the fl air that has traditionally made them such an unpredictable team.

“If we don’t rebel this week, we’ll never rebel. We must pre-pare like a commando unit. We must not think, we must just play rugby,” Saint-Andre said. - Reuters

R U G B Y W O R L D C U P

Jokers no longer, Japan bow out with heads held highGLOUCESTER: Japan narrowly failed to reach the Rugby World Cup quarterfi nals but their performanc-es lit up the tournament and put the country fi rmly on the rugby map.

Their stunning 34-32 upset win over South Africa sent shockwaves around the sporting world and the Japanese became the fi rst team to exit the World Cup after winning three group games.

“Let’s be honest, before this tournament Japan were one of the joke teams,” coach Eddie Jones told reporters. “Teams would put out their B team against them and win by 80-90 points. To come here and win three out of four games is a super eff ort from the team.”

Australian Jones is stepping down as coach after three years in charge. “I’m tired,” he said after the 28-18 win over the US on Sunday.

“I want everything today to be about the team, not about my last game. The players deserve all the credit, they were absolutely fan-tastic today,” Jones added.

“We were probably 15-20 per-cent off our best today, but we kept plugging away and to win a game like that when you’re not at your best shows how we have grown up.”

The victory over South Africa, sealed with a last-gasp try, ensured Japan were the neutrals’ favourite team for the rest of the tournament.

“It was interesting coming in on the bus, and the fans on the side of the road with Japanese fl ags, and most of them didn’t look like Japa-nese people,” Jones said.

“What a wonderful thing for the team to achieve that.”

Television viewing fi gures in Ja-pan soared after the South Africa

game and the country is hosting the 2019 World Cup, the fi rst time the tournament will be held in Asia.

“Maybe there was 30 million peo-ple in Japan watching this game,”

Jones said. “That’s the whole of the Australian population plus the kan-garoos, and New Zealand and all the sheep. Now that’s not bad.”

Jones said Japan captain Mi-

chael Leitch and his team mates were heroes.

“Now out of that 30 million peo-ple there are kids that want to be the new Michael Leitch,” he said.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for Japan. These guys are heroes now. They’ve changed the whole image of Japanese rugby. When kids have heroes, they want to emulate them and that’s what sport can do.”

Jones played down specula-tion linking him with the England coaching job if Stuart Lancaster leaves the role following the hosts’ fi rst-round exit from the World Cup.

“I’ve had the great honour of coaching the Wallabies to a World Cup fi nal, and Japan to three wins from four here. It’s not a diffi cult job,” Jones said. “A diffi cult job is getting up in the morning and do-ing the garbage run, or tending to wheat in the fi eld. This is an hon-our and a privilege.

“If anyone comes knocking on my doors, it’s polite to answer and that’s all I’ve said.” - Reuters

R U G B Y

O’Mahony’s Cup overCARDIFF: Ireland fl anker Peter O’Mahony has been ruled out of the rest of the Rugby World Cup and replaced by Leinster’s Rhys Ruddock, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) said on Monday.

O’Mahony was one of three key players injured in the 24-9 pool-topping win over France on Sun-day. Ireland coach Joe Schmidt said that he suspected captain Paul O’Connell had played his last in-ternational after injuring his ham-string but the Six Nations cham-pions are more upbeat on fl yhalf Johnny Sexton’s damaged groin.

“Paul is in hospital awaiting a scan. Johnny suff ered a groin inju-ry and is awaiting a scan but we’re hopeful,” the IRFU said on Twitter.

Ireland, who avoided any seri-ous injuries before centre Jared Payne was sent home with a fractured foot on Saturday, lost O’Mahony in the second half of the hugely physical test when

his foot stuck in the grass and he twisted his knee.

Schmidt, who was initially hopeful that the injury looked the least serious of the three, could face further backrow problems for the quarterfi nal against Ar-gentina if Sean O’Brien is cited for striking France’s Pascal Pape in the stomach.

Ford and Gray citedMeanwhile, Scotland forwards Ross Ford and Jonny Gray have been cited for alleged foul play during Saturday’s 36-33 victory against Samoa that sent them into the quarterfi nals.

The hearing will take place on Tuesday, World Rugby said in a statement. It also said Australia forward David Pocock had re-ceived a Citing Commissioner Warning for an incident with Wales’ Scott Baldwin in Satur-day’s Pool A decider. - Reuters

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DiningSECTIONC L I F E STY L E T U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

CURRIES

FOR THESE

SCURRY

B Y P A L L A V I N I G A MP H O T O S A L I J A N IIndian curries are known for their

versatility. While in the North and Eastern part of India they are rich and creamy, laden with spices, in

the southern region they are mostly coconut based. Find out what makes

curries from India so special.

LIFESTYLEC8 T U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

PHOT

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LI J

AN

I

PallaviNigam

Pallavi Nigam completed her

culinary education at ICIF in

Italy and worked as a chef for

Grand Hyatt, Mumbai. She is

now based in Muscat where

she writes recipes and takes

cooking classes.

Contact her:

pallavi_nigam@hotmail.com

twitter @pallavizza

pallavizza.com

LEHSUNI MURG (CHICKEN COOKED IN CREAMY GARLICKY CURRY)On a fl avour scale, lehsuni murg would score an easy ten. Lehsuni murgh is from Northern India, representing its rich and colourful cultures. For this, chicken is fi rst marinated and then chargrilled in tandoor (clay oven) for that lovely earthy fl avour. Then it is added to a tomato gravy for the fresh, tangy taste.

Ingredients• 500g, boneless chicken For the marinade• 4 garlic cloves • 1/2 cm ginger • 1 green chilli • 4tbsp full fat yoghurt • 2tbsp gram fl our (besan)• 1tsp coriander powder• 1 tsp cinnamon powder • 2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli

powder • 1tsp cumin powder • Saff ron a pinchFor the gravy• 2 tbsp butter • 1/2cm ginger grated • 1tsp cumin seeds • 2-3 green cardamoms • 1 stick cinnamon • 2-3 cloves • 1 chopped white onion • 1tsp Kasuri methi • 3 heaped tsp tomato puree • 1tsp Kashmiri chilli powder • 1tsp coriander powder • 2 cups double cream • 1tbsp fresh coriander chopped • 1tsp honey

Preparation• Make a paste of garlic, ginger

and green chilli and add rest of the ingredients and mix well. Marinade is ready. Now add chicken to it. Mix well, and marinate for minimum half an hour.

• Skewer it and place it inside the oven in the high heat under grill for at least 20-25 minutes. Keep basting with oil every 10 minutes. Your chicken is ready.

Now time for the gravy• Heat butter in a pan. Add

ginger, cumin seeds, green cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and Kasuri methi to it. Let them crackle.

• Now add onion to it till it gets soft. Then add tomato puree, Kashmiri chilli powder and coriander powder to it. Mix well.

• Add double cream, fresh coriander, lime juice, honey, add chicken to it and let it get boiled. Adjust the seasoning. Your lehsuni murg is ready.

• Serve with Indian fl at bread Naan and pickled onion.

CHETTINAD SPICED CHICKEN CURRYIf you like your chicken curry, hot and spicy, then you must try Chettinad chicken curry. This cuisine belongs to the state of Tamil Nadu, located in the Southern part of India. Chettinad cuisine is one of the spiciest and the most aromatic in India. It is famous as it uses variety of spices and is es-pecially suitable for non-vegetarian food items. The dishes are hot and pungent with freshly ground masalas, and topped with a boiled egg, which is usually considered an essential part of the meal. Most of the dishes are eaten with rice or rice based accom-paniments such as dosa.

Ingredients• 500g chicken• 75ml oil• 2 cinnamon sticks• 2 green cardamoms• 2 cloves• 1tsp cumin• 150g onion, chopped• 1tbsp curry leaves• 100g tomatoes, chopped• 1tsp turmeric powder• Salt• Few coriander leaves.For the Chettinad paste• 100g onion• 50g ginger• 50g garlic• 50g fennel seeds• 20g cumin seeds• 25g peppercorns• 10 red chillies• 100g coconut

Preparation• Grind the ingredients for paste in a

blender till smooth.• Clean the chicken, marinate with

the Chettinad paste.• Heat oil in a pan and then add

cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and cumin.

• Then add onion and curry leaves. Sauté till onions are golden. Then add tomatoes.

• Add the marinated chicken, turmeric powder and salt.

• Sauté for 10 minutes, then cover with 1/2 cup of water. Put a lid on, cook till chicken is tender.

• Serve topped with boiled egg.

TAWA MURG (SEMI DRY RICH CHICKEN CURRY)Tawa murg is part of the Cen-tral Indian cuisine in which the chicken is marinated in yoghurt, cream, and freshly ground masala. It is then simmered in an array of whole spices till tender.

Ingredients• 6 chicken piecesFor the marinade:• 3tsp garam masala• 1 cup hung yoghurt• 2tbsp cream• 1tbsp ginger-garlic pasteFor the garam masala• 2 small sticks cinnamon• 7-8 peppercorns• 1/2 tsp cumin • 6-7 green cardamom• 2 brown cardamom• 4-5 cloves• 1 bay leafFor the main preparation• 1tbsp oil• 2 onion, chopped• 1tsp ginger-garlic paste• 3 dried red chilli• 2tbsp coriander leaves

Preparation• For the garam masala powder -

heat a pan, dry roast the whole spices, then grind it till fi ne powder.

• Marinate the chicken with freshly ground garam masala powder, cream, yoghurt, ginger-garlic paste, and salt.

• Heat oil in a pan. Then add dried red chilli, ginger-garlic paste, and chopped onion. Sauté till golden brown.

• Add the marinated chicken, season it, add 1/2 cup of water and place the lid on. Simmer till tender.

Mashed potatoes might seem very simple to make but if not done

properly it could ruin the dish and can turn lumpy. Here’s how to do

it the right way

Mash to perfection

1 Use potatoes that are all purpose or starchy as they can be mashed to perfection.

2 Cut them into equal-sized chunks or else some will be cooked more while others will re-main undercooked. To check that it has been cooked well insert a knife and pass through the potato.

3 Use hand blenders or mashers instead of heavy duty food proces-

sor to mash the potatoes. Use of such machines will spoil the thick consistency of the potatoes.

4 While adding butter and cream ensure that they are not cold but at room temperature as it would mix well with the potatoes. To bal-ance the consistency add milk but do not add water.

5 Check the seasoning and propor-tion of salt. Season your mashed

potatoes and adjust the salt levels.

6 While reheating mashed pota-toes do not dry them. Add little more warm cream or butter while heating on simmer.

KITCHENCALAMITIES

Struggling with a kitchen

calamity of your own? Want

advice? Share your horror stories

and your cooking tips with

swati@timesofoman.com

LIFESTYLEC9T U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

BLACK-EYED PEA FRITTERSThese fritters from Africa known as akara, are commonly prepared at home for break-fast, for snacks, or as an appetiser or side dish. They are also fast-food, sold by ven-dors on the street, in marketplaces, and at bus stations. This same recipe, with a very similar name, is also known in the Carib-bean. Akara take at least an entire day to prepare, in order to allow the black-eyed peas to soak and the batter to rest.

Ingredients• Two to three cups dried cowpeas

(black-eyed peas) or similar

• One onion, fi nely chopped• One-half teaspoon salt• Hot chilli pepper, and/or sweet green

pepper or sweet red pepper, fi nely chopped (to taste)

• Cayenne pepper or red pepper (to taste)• One-half teaspoon fresh ginger root,

peeled and minced (or a few pinches of powdered ginger) (optional)

• Peanut oil, palm oil, or vegetable oil for frying

Preparation• Clean the black-eyed peas in running

water. Soak them in water for at least a few hours or overnight. After soaking

them, rub them together between your hands to remove the skins. Rinse to wash away the skins and any other debris. Drain them in a colander.

• Crush, grind, or mash the black-eyed peas into a thick paste. Add enough water to form a smooth, thick paste of a batter that will cling to a spoon. Add all other ingredients (except oil). Some people allow the batter to stand for a few hours (overnight in the refrigerator); doing so improves the fl avour.

• Heat oil in a deep skillet. Beat the batter with a wire whisk or wooden spoon for a few minutes. Make fritters by scooping up a spoon full of batter

and using another spoon to quickly push it into the hot oil. Deep fry the fritters until they are golden brown. Turn them frequently while frying. (If the fritters fall apart in the oil, stir in a beaten egg, some cornmeal or crushed breadcrumbs.)

• Serve with an African Hot Sauce or salt, as a snack, an appetiser, or a side dish.

Variation: Add half cup of fi nely chopped leftover cooked meat to the batter before frying; or add a similar amount of dried shrimp or prawns.From the Congo Cookbook by Ed Gibbson

FeastOnThose who have grown up in India

and have lived the monsoon season with a hot cup of tea or coff ee along with a plate full of crispy pakodas,

must have amassed million memories of this combination over the years. Call them pako-das or bhajias, these fried delights have always been the favourite snacks on a rainy day. Apart from the ones made at home, in India fritters are a popular street food where the narrow lanes of any old city are fi lled with the aroma of fried pakodas. You can watch them dunk the batter-coated pieces right in front of you in huge woks fi lled with piping hot oil and in minutes you get to savour the freshly made crispy fritters.

Here in Oman, while seasonal rains are rare, the occasional downpours do set in the mood for a hot plate of fritters, which certainly tastes bet-ter and special under the cloudy skies, which of course is a rare thing.

While here there aren’t any live counters making these, the small coff ee shops in Mus-cat sell a vast assortment of fried snacks throughout the year, irrespective of the weath-er and the season.

As soon as the sun sets, these small outlets buzz with activities as people visit the shops for their evening tea along with these lip smacking snacks.

While onion and banana fritters are com-mon in these places, you are actually spoilt for choice when it comes to the varieties. Be it the succulent pieces of chicken pakodas wrapped in gram fl our batter or stuff ed ones like chilli and potato, you can feast on fritters if you chose to give your diet a ditch.

Bread them or dip them in batter, shape into croquettes or patties, fritters can be made in many ways and they are irresistible in any form. Whether sweet or savoury, these deep-fried cakes can be made of vegetables, fi sh, chicken, and even fruits like banana, pineap-ple, apple chunks, and more.

Fritters are hot favourite in many parts of the world and I realised that while on a trip to Bali in Indonesia a year ago. Though Bali is not known to be a culinary destination, there are some very authentic delicious Balinese foods that one can savour there and bakwan ja-gung or corn fritters are one of them. You can feast on them at any family owned street shop called warung.

While bulgur-kibbeh and falafel are very popular in the Middle East, Tempura from Ja-pan has gained in popularity worldwide. In UK while, apple and zucchini fritters are common, corn and whitebait fritters are a speciality in Australia and New Zealand. In Burma, a-kyaw or gourd fritter is a hot favourite. In short whichever part of the world we go these fried bites are relished in many variations. So let’s forage for fritters. swati@timesofoman.com

Wazwan Spreads Aroma in Kashmir

As the marriage season peaks in Kashmir, India, this autumn, the traditional Kashmiri Wazwan cuisine is being savoured at marriage parties with gusto these days. Traditional local chefs, called Wazas, who specialise in cooking this extended, predominantly mutton-based feast, are in high demand. “It is in fact the availability of the Waza that determines the marriage schedule in Srinagar city these days,” Bashir Ahmad, 54, who had to defer his son’s marriage by a fortnight because the chef of his choice was engaged somewhere else, told. “As the children of traditional Wazas take to other professions, there are just a few families who still earn their livelihood by cook-ing the Wazwan during marriage ceremonies,” Ahmad added. Ghulam Nabi, 52, is president of the local Wazas union and has been moving from one marriage venue to another these days supervising his team of over a dozen junior chefs who assist him in cooking the feast. There are more than a dozen mutton dishes, besides vegetables and cheese-based dishes that are served as part of the Wazwan. At a marriage feast, four people sit around a large nickel-plated copper plate which is laid before them on a neat white cloth or dastarkhan. When these copper plates, called tramis, are laid before the guests, who normally number between 50 to 100 at the groom’s recep-tion party, the fl avour of the highly spicy Wazwan fi lls the air. On the top of carefully cooked rice are laid two large chickens, while two deep fried ribs or tabak maaz, two kababs, a large single piece of lamb mutton or dani phol, small pieces of lamb viscera cooked with thick gravy called methi maaz deco-rate the two sides of the trami. These are just the starters for the extended Wazwan that follows.

Wearing newly tailored white clothes the Waza brings in other dishes one after the other and pours them on to each trami.

Balls of minced mutton with spicy red gravy called ristas are followed by ro-gan josh, mirchi korma, Aab gosht and lahabi kababs - and fi nally large balls of minced mutton cooked in curds and spices called the gustaba. The serv-ing of the gustaba is the formal announcement by the Waza that the feast has fi nally come to an end. Other dishes like cheese, queen’s apple, spinach and mutton, apricots and shami kababs are also part of the extended marriage feast. Pulaw made of special quality basmati rice is also served to the guests. -IANS

F O O D N O T E

FrittersB Y S W A T I D A S G U P T A

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Get It Right• Fry them in enough oil because they

tend to sink to the bottom when slipped into the oil.

• Always serve them hot and the tex-ture of the batter should be of right consistency. It must be thick enough to be a perfect coating but should not be too thick so that the vegeta-ble, fi sh or chicken pieces do not get cooked from inside.

• For sweet fritters, especially the ones made out of fruits, adding of more sugar in the batter would burn the fritter coating. So one should sprinkle sugar on top after it is fried for added sweetness.

Fritters in Town• Prawn pakodas at Mughlai Zaika in

Wattayah +968 2456 6044

• Bread pakodas at Zaika Delhi Ka in MBD +968 2481 7746

• Goli Baje, south Indian sweet pakoda, at Swagath Hotel, behind Ruwi Police Station, Ruwi +968 2478 1666

FIND-IT-ALLC10 T U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

PRAYER TIMINGS

Dhuhr 11.58pm

Asr 3.19pm

Maghrib 5.49pm

Isha 6.59pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 4.48am

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

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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

Hamdan Hospital 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 Sohar 15:45 Daily

13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily

16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily

16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily

14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

08:00 Nizwa 10:20 Daily

08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55)

07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily

14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (ROUTE 62)

06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily

06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (ROUTE 100)

07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily

10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily

10:00 Salalah 23:30 Daily

19:00 Salalah 07:40 Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

06:00 Marmul 16:50 Daily

SALALAH TO DUBAI (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)

06:00 Sohar 08:30 Daily

06:00 Dubai 11:30 Daily

13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur

13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur

15:00 Sohar 17:35 Daily

15:00 Dubai 20:55 Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily

07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily

07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (ROUTE 36)

05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily

05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily

05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily

07:00 Ruwi 11:40 Daily

13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri

13:00 Sohar 14:55 Daily

13:00 Ruwi 17:40 Daily

13:00 Sohar 19:20 Daily

17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily

06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily

15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55)

06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily

14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)

12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily

12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (ROUTE 100)

07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily

10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily

10:00 Ruwi 22:30 Daily

19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

06:00 Marmul 16:30 Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Salalah 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)

07:30 Sohar 10:50 Daily

07:30 Ruwi 13:40 Daily

13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri

13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri

15:30 Sohar 18:45 Daily

15:30 Ruwi 21:35 Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH/SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily

16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily

16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

CITY CINEMAContact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68. www.citycinemaoman.netfacebook.com/citycinemaoman

SHATTI

The Martian (3D) (Action, Sci-Fi) – PGCast : Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain8.45, 11.30 PMThe Martian (2D) (Action, Sci-Fi) – PG6.00 PMLegend (Biography, Crime, Thriller) – 12+Cast Tom Hardy, Emily Browning,3.15, 9.00, 11,45 PMJazbaa (Action / Drama ) – 12+Cast: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Irrfan Khan 9.15 PMPan (3D) (Adventure, Family, Fantasy) – PGCast: Hugh Jackman, Levi Miller, Jimmy Vee2.30, 4.15, 7.00 PM Black Mass (Biography, Crime, Drama) – 12+Cast: Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch 4.30 PMSingh is Bling (Action / Comedy ) – PG12Cast Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Lara Dutta 11.45 PMHotel Transylvania 2 (3D) (Animation) – PGCast: Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Nick 2.30 PMThe Walk (3D) (Adventure, Drama) – PGCast: Charlotte Le Bon, Ben Kingsley6.30 PM

MUSCAT GRAND MALL

Pan 3D (Adventure | Family | Fantasy ) (PG)10:00AM, 12:00 & 4:15PMGold Class: 1:15PM & 6:15PMThe Martian 3D (Action| Adventure) PG10:45AM, 1:30, 9:15 & 11:55PMGold Class: 3:30, 8:30 & 11:15PMJazbaa 2D (| Action |Drama ) 12+9:15PMLegend 2D (Biography| Crime | Thriller TBCCast: Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, Christopher6:30 & 11:45PMThe Walk 3D (Adventure | Biography) (PG)

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt,7:00PMSingh Is Bling 2D (Action |Comedy) 2:00PMEtiquette for Mistresses 2D (Tagalog) Cast: Kris Aquino, Claudine Barretto (TBC)4:45PM

AZAIBA

The Walk – 3D (PG) Adventure, Biography, Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Charlotte Le Bon, 5:45 PMTalvar – 2D (PG12) Murder, Mystry, ThrillerCast: Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma11:00 PM Puli – 2D (12+) Action, AdventureCast: Vijay, Sridevi, Shruti Haasan4:30 PMSingh Is Bling - 2D (PG12) Action, Comedy Cast: Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Kay3:00, 11:30 PMThe Martian – 3D (PG) Action, Adventure, Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, 5:30, 8:00, 10:45 PMPan – 3D (PG) Adventure, Family, FantasyCast: Levi Miller, Hugh Jackman

2:30, 4:30, 7:15 PMJazbaa – 2D (12+) Drama, Action, Adventure Cast – Aishwarya Rai Bacchan, Irrfan Khan, Shabana Azmi 2:15, 6:30, 8:45, 11:00 PMJamna Payri – 2D (PG) Comedy Cast – Kunchacko Boban, Roja, Gayathri9:15 PMRudramadevi – 2D (TBC) Historical/Action/Cast: Anushka Shetty, Allu Arjun, Rana Daggabutti2:45, 8:00 PM

RUWI

Screen 1Jazbaa (Action / Drama ) – 12+Cast : Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Irrfan Khan 3.30, 9.30 PMSingh Is Bling (Action / Comedy ) PG12Cast: Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Lara Dutta 6.30 PMScreen 2Singh Is Bling (Action / Comedy ) – PG123.45, 9.45 PMJawani Phir Nahi Aani (Comedy) – 12+Cast: Humayun Saeed, Javed Sheikh

6.45 PMScreen 3 Talvar (Mystery/Thriller) – PG12Cast: Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Tabu, 3.45, 6.45, 9.45 PM

SOHAR

Black Mass - 2D (12+)Crime |DramaCast : Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch 11:30 PMSingh Is Bling - 2D (PG12) Action |Comedy 10:45 PMTalvar - 2D (PG12) Murder |Mystery |Thriller 4:30 PMCast : Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen SharmaPuli - 2D (T) (PG12)Action |Adventure Cast : Vijay, Sridevi, Shruti Haasan5:00 PMThe Martian - 3D (PG) Action, Adventure, Cast : Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen2:00, 6:35, 9:10, 11:45 PMThe Martian - 2D (PG) Action, Adventure, Cast : Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen4:45 PMPan - 3D (PG) Adventure, Family, Fantasy 2:45, 4:35, 7:30 PMJazbaa - 2D (12+) Drama, Action & Adventure

2:15, 7:00, 9:30 PMLegend - 2D (12+) Biography| Crime | ThrillerCast : Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, Taron2:30, 11:45 PMJamna Pyari - 2D (M)(PG) ComedyCast : Kunchacko Boban, Roja, Gayathri 9:15 PM Rudramadevi - 2D (Telugu)(TBC) HistoricalCast: Anushka Shetty, Allu Arjun, Rana 7:45 PM

BURAIMI

The Martian– 3D (Action) (PG)6:45, 9:15, 11:45PMPan – 3D (Adventure, Family, Fantasy) (PG)Cast: Levi Miller, Hugh Jackman, Garrett4:45, 7:15PMLegend – 2D (Biography, Crime, Thriller) (12+)Cast: Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, Taron7:00, 11:30PMJazbaa – 2D (Drama, Action & Adventure) (12+) 5:00, 9:15PMJamna Pyari – 2D (Comedy) (PG)Cast: Kunchacko Boban, Roja, Gayathri, 9:30PMSingh is Bling– 2D (Action/Comedy) (PG)4.30, 11:45PM

SUR

Pan (3D) (Adventure | Family | Fantasy) (PG)

4:30 PM

Martin (3D) (Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi) (PG)

4:45, 6:30, 11:45 PM

Jazbaa (Hindi) (Action | Drama) (12+)

7:15, 9:30 PM

Singh Is Bling (Hindi) (Action) (PG12)

11:15 PM

Jamna Pyari (Mal) (Comedy (PG)

Cast: Kunchako Boban, Roja, Gaythri

9:00 PM

SALALAH

The Martian (3D) (PG) (Action, Sci-Fi)

11:00AM, 3:45, 9:00, 11:45PM

The Martian (2D) (PG) (Action/Sci-Fi)

12:45PM

Pan (3D) (PG) (Adventure/Family/Fantasy)

Cast: Levi Miller, Hugh Jackman, Garrett

10:00AM, 1:45, 2:10, 4:10PM

The Stranger (2D) (12+) (Mystery/Horror)

Cast: Lorenza Izzo, Ariel Levy, Aaron Burns

5:00PM

Cooties (2D)(15) (Horror/Comedy)

Cast: Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson, Alison Pill

3:15PM

Jazbaa (2D)(12+) (Drama/Action/Adventure)

Cast: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Irrfan Khan,

12:00, 9:15PM

Jamna Pyari (2D) (PG) (Mal)(Comedy)

9:35 PM

Rudramadevi (2D) (PG12)( Telugu) (Action)

6:15PM

Legend (2D) (12+) (Biography/Crime/Thriller)

6:30, 11:35PM

Singh Is Bling (2D) (PG12) (Action/Romance)

10:15AM, 11:50PM

Puli (2D) (PG12) (Tamil) (Action/Adventure)

Cast: Vijay, Sridevi, Shruti Haasan

6:45PM

BAHJA CINEMAFilm information 24540856 / Advance Booking

24540855

Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com

Black Mass ( Biography,/ Crime/ Drama) Cast: Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson5.45 pmCP No: 2645 (12+)Pan (Adventure/Family/Fantasy) Cast: Hugh Jackman, Levi Miller, Jimmy Vee3.45, 8.00, 10.00 & 11.55 pmCP No: 2759 ( PG )The Stranger ( Drama/Horror/Mystery) Cast: Lorenza Izzo, Ariel Levi, Cristobal Tappia Montt2.00, 6.00, 10.00 & 11.55 pmCP No: 2758 (12+)Cooties (Action /Comedy/Horror) Cast: Elijah Wood, Allison Pill, Rain Wilson2.00, 4.00 & 8.00 pmCP No : 2760 ( 15+)

STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776

Website: www.isurf.co.om

Rudramadevi (Telugu) (Act/Thrill)

Cast: Anushka Shetty, Allu Arun & Rana Dagubati

3-30, 6-30 At Cinema Main & 9.45 Pm Cinema 3

Jamna Pyari (Mal) (Com/Rom)

Cast: Kunchako Boban, Roja, Gayatri & Anu Moi

3-45 & 6-45 PM At Cinema 3; 9-30 pm at Cinema

Main

Pulli (Tamil) (Act)

Cast: Vijay & Shruthi Hassan

3-30, 6.30 & 9-30 Pm at Cinema-2

Kunji Ramayanam (Hindi) (Drama/Com)

Cast: Vineeth Srinivasan, Aju Verghese & Srinda

3-45, 6-45 & 9-45 Pm At Cinema-4

Rudramadevi (Telugu) (Act/Com)

Cast: Anushka Shetty, Allu Arun & Rana Dagubati

3-00, 6-30 & 10-00 Pm At Cinema Main

Next Change: Life of Josutty (Mal), Rudramadevi

(Tamil), The Fighter (Telugu)

Programmes are subject to change

@MGM @RUWI

Legend : 2D (Biography| Crime | Thriller TBCCast : Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, ChristopherTiming: 6:30 & 11:45PM

@SHATTI

Pan (3D) (Adventure, Family, Fantasy) – PGCast: Hugh Jackman, Levi Miller, Jimmy VeeTiming: 2.30, 4.15, 7.00 PM

@SOHAR

THE MARTIAN - 3D (PG) (Action, Sci-Fi)Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen WiigTimings : 2:00, 6:35, 9:10, 11:45 PM

Jazbaa (Action / Drama ) – 12+Cast : Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Irrfan Khan, Shabana Azmi, Chandan Roy SanyalTiming: 3.30, 9.30 PM

WEATHER

340

Maximum

290

Minimum

TEMPERATURE

35-80%RELATIVE HUMIDITY

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 16 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to extra@timesofoman.com

GOVIND E. C.October 13, 2007

SRI VARSHA October 13, 2001

ANNIKA RAJOctober 13, 2006

WITH LOVE

LIFESTYLEC11T U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

BR I E F

Brunch at Beach Pavilion

KNOW

YOUR SPICE

Friday Brunch at Beach Pavilion returns to Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel, with an extra swig of chic. In partnership with Veuve Clic-quot, the popular Friday brunch at the luxury Oman hotel invites guests to relish a premium gastronomic ex-perience in a beautiful and trendy atmosphere, complete with views of the sparkling sea of Oman and a brisk beachside setting.

The only beachside brunch in the Sultanate, the Friday Brunch is re-nowned for its fresh seafood off ering, which patrons can relish with their feet in the sand and the sound of the waves breaking in the backdrop. Beach Pavilion tastefully blends a family set-ting with a memorable dining experi-ence for guests of all ages. Children can delight in a variety of food stations and enjoy freshly-pressed chilled lem-onade whilst parents take a breather and enjoy the ambience and delicious food on off er including oysters, fresh-ly made sushi and sashimi, gravlax, smoked trout, crab, clams, and mus-sels. The brunch also features a Kid’s Corner for tots to have fun and take full advantage of the seaside setting.

Overseen by Chef Bryce Carter, the Friday Brunch includes a delectable off ering of fresh appetisers brought to that table to start off the meal, com-plemented by an extravagant buff et of freshly baked breads, an extravagant salad display and a selection of re-freshing cold mezza. Bringing a taste of the Mediterranean to Muscat, the Ara-bic counter will feature traditional Ar-

abic dishes such as roasted leg of lamb along with lighter fare like couscous with coriander and golden raisins.

The barbecue pits located on the green lawns of the picturesque beach-front restaurant will serve up a suc-culent selection of meats and seafood including local specialties, Omani lob-ster and Omani prawns, in addition to rib eye, lamb chops, chicken skewers, and beef tenderloin. Other stations feature a spread of global cuisine, in-cluding a selection of cheeses and ta-pas showcasing diverse fl avours.

Guests can cap the culinary journey on sweet note with a tantalising selec-tion of treats created by pastry chef Amar Roy and which includes melt-in-your-mouth macaroons as well as pralines, truffl es, and eclairs as well as fruit sushi. And for those who wish to indulge and extend the afternoon, the team of expert bartenders will off er a Sundown Experience to remember, with inviting cocktail creations and special off ers from 5pm to 7pm every Friday and Saturday.

The brunch venue will also be liv-ened up with a live DJ performing throughout the Friday Brunch, cre-ating fun yet chic atmosphere in the heart of Muscat. For families or a group of friends looking for a weekend break, the Friday Brunch can be com-bined with the Palatial Day experience.

The Palatial Day experience in-cludes Lagoon room with private ter-race as well as access to the pool and other hotel facilities for OMR90 + taxes. lifestyle@timesofoman.com

Beach Pavilion brings back the famed Friday

Brunch at Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel

CINNAMONWhat’s It?

Cinnamon like other spices is found in almost all kitchen stores. These

reddish, aromatic spices are dried bark of Cinnamomum

evergreen trees and found in diff erent varieties.

HistoryIn earlier times while

Romans used cinnamon to make beverages, the Arabs used them to fl avour their tea. It was also used to marinate meat or add to bread and pudding in other

regions. In short it was a highly prized spice among the

ancient nations.

Buying and StoringLike all other spices cin-namon should be kept in an airtight container and

stored in a cool, dark place. Its shelf life is almost a year and should be

discarded after it. Do not freeze it.

Culinary UsesCinnamon is known for its myriad

uses. While in some parts of the world it is an important ingredient for sweets, in other parts

of the world, the fl avouring is considered es-sential for savoury dishes. In India it is one of

the ingredients for garam masala. Chinese fi ve-spice powder has cinnamon, and the distinctive

fl avour of cinnamon is also used in lamb. In Mexico, it is used for everything from sauces to

hot chocolate. While cooking with cinnamon one must remember to use in right

proportion as its strong smell could overpower the dish.

Sanjeev Kapoor to Open Restaurant in Canada

Popular Indian chef and entrepreneur Sanjeev Ka-poor will be launching his fi rst eatery at Brampton, in Canada, in November, the offi cial website of the restaurant said. Located at Queen Street in Brampton, in Southern Ontario, the Khazana restaurant is set for a two-day grand launch from November 2. It off ers an opportunity to dine in luxury and has four exclu-sive dining spaces for host-ing events.“The focus of Khazana is enhanced hospitality and operational excellence. The cuisine is chef-in-spired Indian food, with a contemporary dining environment,” the res-taurant’s website said. “Our goal at Khazana is to enhance the dining ex-perience of families and young professionals and off er Indian dining expe-rience in a luxurious am-bience,” it added. - IANS

LIFESTYLEC12 T U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 1 3, 2 0 1 5

ONE INGREDIENT

FIVE WAYS

NGREDIENT

FIVFIVFIFIVI E WE WE WEE AYS

1 2Mash canned kidney beans in a bowl

and spread on a whole grain wrap. Add cilantro, sliced onion, carrot, and cabbage. Roll the wrap. Alter-

natively you can spread it on a pizza crust, sprinkle cheese, and bake or

microwave.

3Mash black beans. Add onion, corn fl our, crushed, and thinly chopped

garlic. Form into patties and sauté it.

5Put lemon juice, oil, onion, and a sprinkling of salt and pepper in a large bowl and whisk until

well combined. If you’ve just cooked the beans or grains, add them to the dressing while they

are still hot. Toss gently until the beans or grains are coated, adding more oil or lemon juice

if you like.

4Blend canned red kidney beans,

yoghurt, chopped onion, vin-egar, chilli powder, and ground

cumin. Use it as a dip.

Sauté onion and garlic. Add chopped broccoli, sliced eggplant, peppers, and oregano. Add canned beans, chopped

tomatoes and 1tbsp vinegar. Serve with brown rice.

While cooking

dried beans soaked

overnight is the regular

way, canned beans make

a good alternative and

can be included in

several recipes. Here

are some of them.

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 D8

T U E S D AY, O C T O B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 5

RENT D2

Showrooms/ Offi ces at prime location on the main road, near Police Station, Al Seeb.

Suitable for Travels, Money Exchange and Textile shops etc.

FOR RENT

CONTACT - 99888007

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifi eds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

One /two, B/R, Res / comm. fl ats

near Bank Muscat Bausher from

owner directly . Contact: 92158031

2 BHK available Ghubra near Al

Maha hotel. Contact: 99269751

Bedroom ground fl oor apartment

with sitting, 2 baths, big richen close

to Indian School near to Mars

hypermarket Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 98011224

Brand new deluxe fl ats located near

Seeb fl y over on the right hand side

of the main road coming from the

Seeb palace roundabout, two bed-

rooms family, hall, kitchen, 3 toilets,

balcony & split unit AC.

Contact: 97755586

1BHK , 3BHK fl ats at Wadi Al Kabir

new building with split unit and lift

behind Muscat Bakery.

Contact: 99338133

3 rooms, Majlis, living room,

kitchen, 4 toilets & swimming pool in

Amerat Heights (phase one).

Contact: 99277377

Villa in Al Khuwair 17 /2 for rent,

near Ibis hotel, 2 spacious bedrooms,

spacious hall, Maid room front yard ,

private entrance kitchen and 3 bath-

rooms. Contact: 97056443

Um Obelah 5/1 just walking dis-

tance from the Nesto hypermarket

and opposite the new pullman mall,

2 bedrooms with two toilets and

seating area on 4th fl oor. only 250

omani rial. Contact 99203381

Flat for rent, 3 bedrooms, kitchen &

bathroom in wadi kabir for 280 RO.

Contact : 97771444

3 BHK Penthouse Flat with Split A/

Cs, Free Unlimited Broadband WiFi,

Security access system, Pvt. Terrace

& Secured car park,

Opposite Kims Hospital Al Falaj,

Monthly Rent: 625/-.

Contact: 99657906 or 24702141

1BHK Wadi Kabir. Contact: 99024730

D2 T U E S D AY, O C T O B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

Flat AL Ghubrah near 18 Nov ST,

bedroom, living room, 2 bathrooms,

fi rst fl oor without ac family only

325/- R.O. Contact: 92479515

Villa Al Amerat behind Al Raff ah

Hospital 5BHK, living room, hall, 6

bathrooms, split ac family only 425

R.O. Contact : 92479515

2 BHK fl ats with split units in

Wadi Kabir. Contact 99720021

Flat Al Khuwair near Bader

AL Samaa, 2 BHK living room,

2 bathrooms, Kitchen split ac family

only 350 R.O. Contact 92479515

1& 2 BHK C.B.D. Contact: 99024730

Duplex fl at Al Athaiba, near Sultan

Center 3BHK, 3 Bathrooms, hall &

living room family only 500/-R.O.

Contact: 92479515

Flat available for rent, 2 bedrooms,

hall, 2 toilets, 1 kitchen and balcony

with proper sun light & ventilator,

location on Mabela North very close

to Indian School Al Seeb.

Contact: 99432496

Furnished room for rent at

Al Khuwair R.O 225/- for family only.

Contact: 99251975

Flat 3 mint from Indian School,

2 BHK, living room, 3 bathrooms

without A/c, Ground fl oor family only

340/-R.O. Contact 92479515

Staff accommodation / 2 storey full

building available for rent in Rusayl,

near Industrial area.

Contact: 99352441 / 98116480 /

99358724

2 bed room fl at at Al Khodh com-

mercial Street Souq. Contact :

99224748 / 99332297

Flats and shops for rent in Ruwi,

MBD Mumtaz area. Contact :

97293708 / 92433127

House for rent in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 99379950 / 92925173

A high quality apartment for rent

with AC, 3 bedrooms at Wadi Kabir.

Contact 99875677

Studio fl at at Al Khuwair.

Contact: 99024730

2 fl ats with air-conditions in Al

Bustan each fl at has 3 bedrooms,

3 bathrooms, family hall, kitchen,

store laundry. Contact: 98919037

1000 sq mtrs industrial land in Gha-

la suitable for ware house, work shop

etc. Contact : 24700120 / 92584715

200 sqm basement available for

rent in AL Khuwair near Rawasco.

Contact: 93782735 / 93329476

We have 1BHK in Mabela 7 new

buildings 175/- R.O. Contact:

93782735 / 93329476

We have 3BHK villa fully furnished

in Ghubra 18th November street

650/- R.O. Contact : 93782735 /

93329476

We have 2 BHK in Ghubra 18th No-

vember street 2 rooms, 3 bathrooms,

large sitting, hall& Kitchen 325/- O.R.

Contact : 93782735 / 93329476

We have shops for rent in Ghala

& Ghubra. Contact : 93782735 /

93329476

We have 100 sqm for rent in Ghala

new building 350/- R.O. Contact

93782735 / 93329476

We have 3BHK fl ats in Ghala

new building fl at with 3 rooms,

4 bathrooms, large sitting hall&

kitchen 425/-. Contact: 93782735 /

93329476

We have 3BHK villa near Grand

Mosque villa with 3 rooms, sitting

hall, majlis & car parking 700/- O.R.

Contact : 93782735 / 93329476

We have 2 BHK fl at in Al Khuwair

new Rawasco brand new building

325/- O.R. # 93782735 / 93329476

We have small building for rent in

Bousher, 4 studio & 1 shop building

commercial & residence can be used

for family, bachelors or store 750/-

O.R. contact : 93782735 / 93329476

First fl oor fl at in new building and

pent house, each 3 bedrooms serv-

ant room, laundry and 5 toilets very

spacious halls and family lounges Al

Khuwair 39.# 99207840 / 24494243

New Building in Mutrah, 2 B/D

Room Flat + Setting Room,3 Baths+

Kitchen with split unit Ac’s. Behind

Khimiji’s main offi ce/opposite to

Oman House Call 99419712

1,2,3 BHK Flats. Contact: 97799175

1& 2 BHK Ghala with A/C new

building. Contact 99024730

2bed room villa in Sidab, 2 Bedroom

villa in Wadi Kabeer. Contact :

95755953 / 95555162

Brand new residential fl ats in Wadi

Kabir near Muscat football club,

have 2 bedroom family hall, 2 toilets,

Kitchen with spilt AC for 250/- R.O.

Contact: 95999904 / 98585889 /

92383886

Villa for rent four spacious bath at-

tached bed room private swimming

pool gymnasium (common) with

electrical equipment and free main-

tenance secured compound at Madi-

nat Al Allam. Contact: 98027975

Offi ce for rent in CBD.

Contact : 92820734 / 95345909

Villa for rent in Wadi Kabeer.

Contact: 95562646 / 99059333

1BHK Mumtaz R.O 250/-.

Contact: 97799175

Workers’ campus, shops, work-

shops, stores in a building in

Al Misfah, Wilayat Bausher.

Contact 98918090

DAILY GUIDET U E S D AY, O C T O B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 5 D3

FOR SALEFOR RENT

FOR SALE

ACC. AVAILABLE

SITUATION WANT-M.V. FOR SALE

Honda Civic 97, manual. Contact 99045803

NRI

FOR LADIES

3BHK+Puja Room, East Facing, 1549

Sq Ft, Independent Floor, Ansal

Palam Vihar, Gurgaon,

Contact:99381769

Architect designed 5000 Square

feet exquisite Villa in 16 cents of

land at a scenic location on Aak-

kulam Road, Ulloor, Trivandrum for

sale. Contact +968 95372011

Brand new 2 BHK furnished

apartment (1225 sq feet) at

Indiranagar (Kodihalli),

Bangalore for sale. Please contact:

00968 95210474

Single room for Executive bachelor

with attached toilet & bath, for rent

including water & electricity in Ruwi.

Contact: 99327158

Sharing accommodation for family

or bachelors near Indian school Ghu-

bra. Contact : 99836676 / 99056701

Room available with kitchen from

fi rst November 2015 onwards at Rex

Road near Golden Oryx Restaurant.

Contact: 99768952

1 BHK available at Al khud in Baskin

Robbins building. R.O.200. Contact:

97261418, 94194876, 99478492

Single room attached bath

S/ kitchen at Mumtaz area.

Contact: 95212017 / 96916398

Studio fl at MBD Ruwi.

Contact : 95698714

Independent rooms in Qurum /

Al Hail. Contact 95529970

Room for Rent Alkhuwair - Behind

Al Aktham Restaurant. 120 RO.

With elec. and water.For executive

bachelors only. Contact : 98803261

Flat for rent available in CBD near

Costa Coff ee. Mobile no.92820734

Private room with toilet near Qurum

park incl. W& E, monthly RO 220/-.

Contact Hassan 99349990

Accommodation available for

indian executive bachelor’s (no

kitchen).RO:125 including water and

electricity Contact no. .. 98145825,

98949724

A well running Pharmacy at prime

location for immediate sale. Contact

92548672 / 99627621 / 99516236

Attention to wholesalers, retailers

& manufacturers. We can Sell/Buy

your dead stock. Contact : 99742983,

95226989

An Amazing excellent residential

land for sale in Barka at Al Muraysi

attached to road open from 3 sides

and surrounded by houses & shops.

Ready for construction to build twin

villa good investment in Barka 677

SQM, price RO 21000/-.

Contact: 91010668

Bunk Bed with a large study

table and plenty of storage space.

Purchased from IKEA. Can be fl at

packed for transportation. RO 75.

Pictures can be shared on whatsapp.

Call – 99226485

Split A/C -2, Window A/C- 25, Iron

cot- 120, cupboard - 130, water

cooler - 2, Gas big - 2, small-3 ,

Grinder-1 , Chapatti tava-1 ,

stove-2, kitchen equipment etc .

Contact: 99328223

Offi ce for sale in Ruwi Cham-

ber Oman. Contact : 94241385 /

97244766

Excellent running building materi-

als shop cum Showroom and store

for sale in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 98871548 / 93412622

Homegym with cross trainer for sale.

Contact 95367937

Industrial land Wadi Kabeer 3470

sqr mtrs with warehouse + offi ce +

labor accommodation price 900,000

R.O . Contact : 99792181 / 99473751

Used furniture and steel racks at

Daiso showroom in Ruwi for im-

mediate sale. Contact 93411561 /

93991322 (Mr. Naveen)

Ice Cream & juices shop Ruwi good

location for sale suitable for beauty

parlor also. Contact: 92150455

Fast food style well furnished coff ee

shop for sale in new Salalah.

Contact: 91121215 / 97484825

Ready coff ee shop for sale or

rent available in Al Khuwair near

Rawasco Golden chance. Contact:

93782735 /93329476

Port cabin and Wooden pallets new,

used and renovated porta cabin

Wooden & steel sandwich panel

Wooden pallets and packing for

marble packing available.

Contact no. + 968 99318152

Tel. +968 24458759

Email: ahastco@gmail.com

Comm. & Res land in the heart of

Ruwi 2400 sq mtr for sale.

Contact : 91155779

Comm. & Res land in Darsait, opp.

Pakistani School, 900 sq mtr for sale.

Contact: 91155779

Used Fabrication machinery for

sale : Fabrication machinery and

tools in excellent condition for

immediate sale. Contact 94652485/

99273774/ 99202278

Comm. & res. land for investment for

25 years in Ghala heights.

Contact: 91155779

AVAILABLE

LOST

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirt-

ing, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery,

Crockery, Glassware, Chafi ng Dishes,

Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound Sys-

tems and spectacular lighting. Call

Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering and

Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound & Light.

ww.tunesoman.com,

E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

GOOD NEWS

Genuine Ayurvedic treatments &

massage, Ayurvedic clinic at

Al Khuwair. Contact: 24478618 /

97263637 / 93309131

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, steam

bath, obesity, spondylitis , IDEAL

CARE Ayurvedic Clinic,

18 November Street, Azaiba

Contact: 99639695 / 98342990

Ayurvedic treatment for backache,

paralysis, arthritis etc & massage,

All Season (Vaidyaratnam).

Contact 24475280 / 95371664 /

92504980 www.siddhayur.com

GOOD OFFER for ladies: (Golden facial

Golden bleach, Haircut-10 RO. Only)

this off er started from

10th October to 10th November.

Contact 99619409,

Hattat Modern Parlour

Comm. & Res land in Ghala heights

400 sq mtr for sale. Contact:

91155779

Shop for sale or rent at Ruwi City.

Contact: 99103077

For sale land in Amerat 3000 Sq.mt

with petrol pump permission.

Contact 99323957 / 92702891

1BHK Commercial M.B.D R.O 280/-.

Contact: 97799175

Two fl oor villa, 5 toilets, kitchen,

and 2 sitting rooms in Mabela

South. Contact: 99357404

2BHK Wadi Kabir RO 300/-

Contact: 97799175

1& 2 BHK Darsait. Contact:

97799175

2BHK Ghubra R.O 350/-.

Contact: 97799175

2 BHK Commercial Al Khuwair

R.O 375/-. Contact : 97799175

1BHK Ghubra R.O 275/-.

Contact : 97799175

Furnished fl at for rent, 3 rooms with

attached bathroom, 1 dining room,

1 sitting room, 1 kitchen at Al Hail

South. Contact 99835995

For rent a full offi ce building of

3100 sq mtrs opposite to Central

Bank in CBD (Ruwi) for R.O 4 per Sq

mtrs. Contact: 95330200

2BHK Qurum. Contact: 99024730

1BHK Azaiba. Contact: 99024730

600 SQT commercial fl at for rent

opposite Oman fl ourmill Darsait

more details. Contact 91214849/

99364735

1 room, 2 rooms, 3 rooms with all

supplements including water elec-

tricity and sewage. Also we provide

the following services free 1plumber,

electrician for any failed center for

garbage on price call on Farahat

98020768 , Hilal 96541263

New fl ats for rent At Darsait near to

Ministry of Sports, Mumtaz area the

fl ats includes1 living room,

2 bedrooms, Kitchen, 3 toilets, every

rooms with split A/C, high quality

fi nishing, rent RO 340 /-.

Contact: 00968 92225523

Fully furnished 2 BHK apartments

available at Bareeq Al Shatti.

Contact 92888063

1, 2 BHK in Azaiba. Contact:

99385835 / 99428143

2BHK fl ats & shops available for

rent at Honda road in a brand new

building (dish & split A/C pro-

vided in fl ats). Contact: 91165807 /

92976611

Flat for rent in Wadi Kabir near

Indian Primary School 2B and 1k.

Contact : 92222922

1BHK fl ats available for rent in CBD

area. Contact: 98116480

1bedroom attached, toilet & kitchen

in AL Khuwair R.O 140/-.

Contact: 95154331

3BHK , 3bathrooms , 2balconys

NRAL Hassan W/ Kabir R.O 320/-.

Contact: 99384640

1 & 2 bedroom fl ats available for

rent in wadi-kabir (opp: pencil bldg),

ideal for company staff / families -

bulk corporate deal possible.

Contact: 97677170

Sale of Scrap/Used Offi ce / Residenti al Items

Used Electronics & Furniture (Offi ce/Residenti al) and used Scrap Electronics & Furniture

(Offi ce/ Residenti al) are available in bulk for sale, “in as is where is

conditi on”, at Al Amerat. Interested parti es may please

contact 99876015 for site visit and to submit the quotati on on or

before 15th October 15.

Running furniture showroom for urgent sale.

Ladies beauty parlor sale at Mutt rah.

Contact - 91135930

Varsha Devi Mekala has lost Indian

Passport No. K 6094574 Finder

please handover to ROP.

Mohammad Mostafaa has lost

Bangladeshi Passport No. A 044699.

Finder please handover to ROP.

Uttam Kumar Das has lost Bang-

ladeshi Passport No. AA 7709621.

Finder please handover to ROP.

Leelavathi Paido has lost Indian

Passport No. H 2275637. Finder

please handover to ROP

DAILY GUIDED4 T U E S D AY, O C T O B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifi eds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

DOMESTIC HELP

DOMESTIC HELP

EDUCATION

CATERING

ENGINEER/TECH/MECH

ACCOUNTANT

DRIVER

DRAUGHTSMAN

MEDICAL

SECRETARIAL

SEC/OFFICE

MANAGER/SUP

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

SALES / MARKETING

DESIGNER

Urgently requires Heavy Duty Driver with valid Oman

driving license and electrical

foreman (Diploma holder with

6 years over head line experience.

Fax: 24814699 ,

Email: info@sajgloblllc.com

GSM : 93210740

Required light driver. Not for candi-

dates on visit. Contact: 99454425

Urgently Require good English speaking Omani drivers. Contact: 92870992

Required Indian driver with Omani

driving license and experience to

work in house. Contact : 96255558

Driver with Oman driving licence

needed. Visa available.

Contact 94288863

Indian House maid looking for job.

Contact: 91834383

Sir Lankan Secretary with experi-

ence in recruitment fi eld.

Contact: 92809528

Urgent required Supervisor for

Interior decoration with Oman expe-

rience. Contact : 95766844

ADMIN

DRIVER

Required Pharmacist or Asst Pharmacist in a locum basis for one

month period in capital area from

15th Oct 2015to 15th Nov 2015.

Contact : 99372860 / 99008379

Wanted a female Nurse for a dental

clinic in capital area.

Contact:-99855050

Immediate Opening for laboratory

technician. Should have MOH license

to work in medical centre in capital

area. Excellent Package,

Accomodation will be off ered.

Contact 99340135

Required Nurse for a clinic in

Al Buraimi S.O. Oman. Contact:

00968 92737149 CV to

drpkabbas@yahoo.co.in

Medical care center, Multispecialty

clinic, Seeb requires General Practitioner, medical lab techni-cian & pharmacist. Mail CV to -

sarita_h23@yahoo.com

or Call - 97884856

Indian female graduate fl uent in

English/Arabic(work purpose) with

5+ experience in Admin, Logistics

and 2 years in Insurance handling,

looking for suitable opportunity.

Contact 93221054,

email: nurinabhavania@ymail.com

10 years Gulf & 4 years Oman ex-

perience in HR / Admin & logistics

fl uent in Arabic / English with D/L

looking for suitable position.

Contact: 95824598

Indian, male having 8 years in pur-

chase and admin furnishing / metal

scrap on visit visa, available to join

Immediately if selected –

Contact 00968- 96675184,

97704828

Indian Female MBA, 3 years expe-

rience in Admin MIS, family Visa.

Contact 98234427,

jkjsmith01@gmail.com

Indian 17 yrs experience in Admin

and have knowledge in Accounting

seeks job. Have driving license and

release. Contact : 99573353

Required English Teachers (native

speaker), candidates for teaching

should have minimum bachelor de-

gree and having experience not less

than 3 years. Please submit your CV

through email till 15th of October

2015 for more information please

Contact: 24498423.

Email: info@omrantraining.com

Post Graduate researcher required. Contact 99229700

Required Sales Executive with

corrugated cartons manufacturing

background. Minimum 3+ years

experience. Omani D/L is a must.

Please send CV to this email: corru-

gatedpackagingoman@gmail.com

Sales & Marketing Executive for

travel and tourism.

Contact: 92890506

Software development and Sales

company in Oman, looking for a male / female, Marketing / Sales Executive with Oman driving

license. Please send the CV to

hr@ozoneunited.com

A trading company in Muscat requires Sales Executive with

minimum 1 yr experience & Oman

driving license & welding machine /

electronics / power tools technician

with min. 1 year experience.

Email: jobs.trading2015@gmail.com

Sales Co-Ordinator Required Urgently – Any Graduate with 1-2

years experience in DTP work with

good knowledge of MS Offi ce and

Internet, Age: 21-28 years can apply

to careers@teejanequipment.com

Looking for 3+years Exp in Insur-ance for Insurance Broker, Barka.

Email : lizjoseph27@gmail.com

A leading trading Group is looking for Outdoor Sales Coordinator with

driving license & release / NOC.

Email CV to alhajoil@omantel.net.

om or fax: 24701683

Wanted Sales man (experienced in

transporting etc).

Contact: 94007259

Email: smylackal@gmail.com

Primedia International is looking

for experienced Sales Executives having strong background of digital

and print media. Send your Cv’s at

SihamHalloubi@primedia-oman.

com or contact on 97002356

Urgent required Sales Manager for

Advertising company with Oman

experience & driving license.

Contact: 95766844

Required experienced Sales / Marketing Executives having light

license. Send your CV

ocean@omantel.net.om

A signage company looking urgently for Mechanical Engineer with 3 years experience in internal

and external signboards. Candidate

with knowledge of estimation / BOQ,

AutoCAD 2d /3d Sales experience,

will be preferred.

Pls send CV to

rdawwad2@gmail.com

Required hydraulic Mechanic with

experience in Trucks & Heavy ma-

chinery. Contact : 99454425

Reputed electrical contract-ing company requires an Oman

experienced, capable “Electrical Contracts Manager”. Ideal candi-

dates should have relevant market

experience & connections.

Contact 94400671/ 91272871

Urgently required a Indian Diploma

Civil Engineer with 1-2 years of

experience and should valid G.C.C

driving license.

Email: smtcoman@gmail.com

ARCHITECT

Senior Architect, Indian male 15yrs

exp. having DL& NOC, Looking for

suitable position. Contact: 97239313

Email: abdul_muq2000@yahoo.co.uk

DRAUGHTSMAN

Draughtsman Civil with AutoCAD.

Contact 97105408

Autocad D/man Exp in Arch , Interior

, knows 3D, Photoshop Ph : 93837973

Male 15 years exp FMCG in Oman

with D/L and know all part of Oman

looking for management post.

Contact: 00968 96147152

Draftsman , Autocad , exp in

Architecture, Interior drawings,

Ph 93837973

Indian male 28 yrs, Master degree

in Computer Application and CCNA

certifi ed, 2 years exp in Oman look-

ing for suitable placement.

Contact: 93295112 Email:

syedsadathali.mca@gmail.com

Indian male looking for job in Auto-

CAD and 3DMX Draughtsman

4 years with experience, 25, avail-

able for immediate placement.

Contact: 98665963 / 92529312

Sr. Accountant M.Com (fi nance) 15

years experience (2 years in Oman)

with a reputed fi rm, NOC available.

Contact: 92404608

Email: jin_75@rediff mail.com

Finance Manager, 15 yrs Gulf experi-

ence in trading & contracting compa-

nies in Oman looking for placement.

Contact 96947652

Accountant Indian male Charted

Accountant and bachelor in Com-

merce having 3.5 years experience

in Auditing presently in Muscat

and seeking for suitable position.

Contact: 91656202 Email: sanoop-

varghese90@gmail.com

Accountant Indian male 32 years

B.Com 5 Plus years experience in

Oman, seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 94410485 / 98008164

10+ yrs UAE experienced Fin.

Controller looking for job change.

Contact: 98006226

Indian male 22 years B.Com done

tally ERP-9 Accounting and Inven-

tory, looking for suitable position.

Contact: 96067602

Email: saif24293@gmail.com

Accountant with 3 yrs exp in Oman

having driving license and Noc.

Contact: 91307632

MBA (F&M) experience 1.3 year.

Contact: 97445488

Email: abinbabygeorge@gamil.com

Part Time Accounting, Accounts

Finalization, Audit Preparation, In-

ternal Audit, Accounting System for

New Companies, Contact: 96975454,

email : ibfc.gcc@gmail.com

Sri Lankan Male Accountant, Age

26, BBA Spl, CA Inter, Having more

than 5 years’ Experience in

accounting fi eld seeking for Suitable

Placement NOC Available

Contact: 97250638

msmnaja@gmail.com

Sr. Accountant (fi nance) 14 yrs Gulf

experience in trading & contract-

ing, valid UAE driving license (visit

visa) looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 98110814 / 99055679

Indian male with B.Com, MBA

fi nance & marketing 14 yrs exp seek-

ing suitable placement.

Contact : 0091 8697292219,

Email : rejesh.nair@gmail.com

Indian male 8 years experience hav-

ing B.Com and MBA ready to work in

HR customer service,

Admin banking & related fi eld.

Contact : 97436890 / 96939803.

Email: girimub@gmail.com

Indian lady, bachelor degree in

Preparatory Programme (BPP) and

Bachelor of Commerce (BCom), com-

pleted training course in MS Word,

Excel, Power Point and Outlook from

KTI looking for full time / part time

job opportunity in Oman.

Contact 92437568, 96795853,

Email: linda_navs@yahoo.com

Accountant, Indian Male, 15 Years

experience (8 Years in Oman with

Driving License & NOC)

Seeks suitable placement,

Contact 94117616, 91238272

praveen78oman@gmail.com

Male, business Graduate having an

experience of 10 years in the fi eld

of banking & fi nance, administra-

tion , currently employed at EPC

Contracting Company as Finance

& Admin manager is looking for a

suitable position, NOC available can

join within 2 weeks.

Contact : 93235690

Chief Accountant, 12 years of Oman

experienced looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 99513082

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, with 13yrs

experience, 6 yrs Oman in manu-

facturing, trading & contracting Cos,

capable of handling all accounting,

fi nance, banking, L/C, import, export

& fi nalization seeks placement.

NOC Available. Call+968-98932752,

mail:jjohnmuscat@hotmail.com

Finance Manager, 13 years experi-

ence B.Com, MBA, CMA (currently).

Contact: 92243552

Finance Manager 26 years experi-

ence (22 years Oman) with NOC.

Contact: 91335205 / 91302906

Part time Accountant accounts

fi nalization auditing.

Contact: 98157999

Indian male 25 years MBA fi nance

having 4 years experience in ac-

counts looking for suitable place-

ment presently on visit visa.

Contact: 95291085

Email: atharali9849@gmail.com

An Omani construction co. located

at Muscat looking for an expert

Accountant with minimum fi ve yrs.

experience with wide knowledge of

using tally and other software and

GCC driving license. Send C.V to

kwk585@gmail.com

Required Accountant present in

Oman. Not for candidates on visit.

Contact: 99454425

Wanted Accountant. Contact: 94007259

Email: smylackal@gmail.com

Required ACCOUNTS OFFICER to ensure accurate processing of

revenue data into ERP systems and

invoicing module. Posting of invoices

to customer SAP portal and delivery

to customer offi ces and interface

with Country Manager / Reporting

to Regional CFO. Qualifi cations : BSc

Accounting. Relevant experience

and knowledge on Online Account-

ing Systems especially the customer

SAP system. SUBMIT CV to :

me-job@interwell.com

Offi ce Assistant required in trading

company male and female 25 to 35

years old with good communication

skills, confi dence, smart and com-

puter skills. Visa provided.

Send your CV to

vacancy807@gmail.com

CIMP qualifi ed Accountant 5 yrs

exp immediately joining with NOC.

Contact: 95522109

Indian male, 8 yrs experience

in Oman looking for any suitable

vacancy Accountant / Asst. Ac-

countant/ Offi ce Admin local release

available. Contact 98492752 Email:

atiquehazique@rediff mail.com

Indian male MBA fi nance with 3

years experience in Accounts,

Admin, HR, on visit visa.

Contact: 91520930

Indian male, 8 yrs experience

in Oman looking for any suitable

vacancy Accountant / Asst. Account-

ant / Offi ce Admin local release

available. Contact: 98492752 Email:

atiquehazique@rediff mail.com

Finance Manager, 12 years experi-

ence in leading Construction and

manufacturing companies (9 years

in Oman) have strategic vision and

proven leadership ability. B.Com,

CPA- USA & modern accounting cer-

tifi cate from “AUC”. “NOC” in hand.

Contact: 97220505

CA (Ind) & CPA (Aus) qualifi ed In-

dian male with more than 20 years

experience (12 years in Oman) in

senior positions, currently on visit,

seeks immediate and suitable posi-

tion in a dynamic organization.

Contact : 93910095

Email: reji.thomas07@gmail.com

20 yrs exp in non Banking fi nance

co in Oman as Branch Manager,

credit analyst, risk, Debt Collect,

BR- operations, documentation, etc

with valid D/L now on visit.

Contact: 99055123

Part time accounting works up to

fi nalization on monthly basis.

Contact: 96247295

Accountant with 8 years experi-

ence in Oman with D/L & NOC ,

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 92994825. Email:

sanuchithranjali@gmail.com

Indian female 28 years M.Com,

Accountant having 6 years experi-

ence in Accounts, fi nalization, Tally

currently on visit visa.

Contact : 95595083 Email:

merlinfernandes16@yahoo.in

Part time accountant, senior ac-

countant, doing all type of ac-

counting works, up to fi nalization.

contact.95254864

Part time Accountant, up to fi na-

lization, looking for job after 5 pm

(location prefer – MSQ to AL Hail).

Contact: 95694737

ACCA fi nalist, Recent B.Com Gradu-

ate, Indian female, looking for full

time employment in Accounting

and Audit. +968 96964379,

sangeethaumesh5@gmail.com

A fi berglass products manifest-

ing company required experienced

South Indian Cook. Interested can-

didates. Please email CV to alhos-

nif@gmail.com or call on 99871101

Chinese/ Arab/ Continental Cook & helper wanted. Contact 95529970

Urgently required a full time Indian Housemaid to work in

Sharqiya - for an Omani family (local

recruits preferred) please contact :

95164139, between 8 am – 5 pm

Looking for an Mangalorean Konkani speaking Housemaid for

Mangalorean family to look after

baby at Wadi Kabir.

Contact 96449951 / 95147107

Interior designer, advanced diplo-

ma interior, 3dmax maya coreldraw,

photoshop. Contact : 93837973

Interior designer with 6 years exp 3D

design MEP architectural with sound

knowledge in AutoCAD Sketch up

with VRAY, 3D Max looking for suit-

able position. Contact: 96789770

Email: sachinratnan@gmail.com

*Classifi ed Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

Looking for quality assurance / Supply Chain Lead. 25-35 years old

with good communication skills,

with experience related to food pro-

cessing or food service minimum of

5 yrs. experience.

Please send CV’s to:

admin-dept@daud.om

Urgent Requirement

SALES LADYFor Jewellery Showroom

1. Two years experience in sales.2. NOC is must. (send CV with current picture)

Email:vacancy299@gmail.com

ACCOUNTANT, Indian male 28

years, 6 plus years of GCC experi-

ence, presently working in Oman

as an Accountant, seeking for a

suitable job position, NOC avail-

able, Contact: 95089869 E-Mail:

anuchunda@gmail.com

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT, Indian

male having 7 years experience as

functional fi nance head, presently

working in Muscat as Asst. Finance

Manager seeking for a suitable posi-

tion. NOC available,

Contact 9178 9950 /

Email: igneshmlazar@gmail.com

SITUATION WANT-

EDSIT. WANTED

Wanted a Autocad Draftsman fulltime or part time

Contact 98963963 BY SMS

ADMIN/ HR

Pakistani male light vehicle driver

looking for job. Contact: 96474528

Driver with car. Contact :91452930

Walk-In Interview on 18/10/2015Applicati ons are invited for the post of

Gynaecologist, Pediatrician, General Practi ti oners (Male & Female),

Insurance Coordinators, Sales & Marketi ng Representati ves, Sales &

Marketi ng Director and Recepti onist. Walk in interviews for these posts will be held at our head offi ce, building no 404, 18 th November Street, Opposite Baskin Robins, Al Athaiba on 18/October/2015

between 10:00 Am to 5 pm. Interested candidates can also send

resume to athirababylon@gmail.com, info@babylonmedicalcentre.com.

For more informati on call 24613069.

Of Asian origin to work at my residence with a very good

experience and knowledge of preparati on of Asian, Chinese & Conti nental food. Remunerati on for this service is commensurate

with experience.

Urgently required a DOMESTIC COOK

Candidate meeti ng the above requirements call at -

99880712

For their corporate offi ce.Ideal candidate should have

7-10 years experience in handling

Banking & Treasury functi ons, feasibility studies.

Ex Bankers shall be preferred

Multi nati onal Group is looking for a

FINANCE MANAGER

Please apply with a detailed CV to - recruiti n15@gmail.com

URGENTLY REQUIRED GYM Instructor (Lady),

Waitress (Lady), Carpenter (Male),

Painter (Male) For a reputed four star hotel 2 Years of Experience in the

same fi eld Please send cv at

hoteljbs@gmail.comFax -24593277

Urgently required HR Manager Omani National: Minimum 2 years

experience good command over

English & Arabic. Should be capable

of handling Administration, all type

of correspondence & routine offi ce

works independently, and good skill

in MS-Offi ce is must. Interested can-

didates may send in their CVs to

Fax # 24600217 or email on:

starmail@omantel.net.om

HOSPITALITY

DAILY GUIDET U E S D AY, O C T O B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 5 D5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

EDUCATION

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

MEDICAL

IT

MISCELLANEOUS

PROJECTS

SALES / MARKETING

BA Export Management, GCC, D/L

12 years Muscat experienced in

purchase / commercial seeks any

placement. Contact: 99775988

Maintenance foreman looking for

suitable position in real estate or

MEP work. Contact : 99526958

Indian male as building care taker,

8 yrs exp looking for job.

Contact: 99716008

Indian male 25 years, M.Sc Chemis-

try, 1 yr. experience in Quality Con-

trol and assurances done HACCP

level 3 certifi cated course seeking

job in suitable placement.

Contact: 99185354

Email: alexbabu199@yahoo.com

Indian female Diploma in Indian &

foreign Accounting having 1 year

experience in Oman seeking suit-

able placement. Contact: 95714285

Indian HSE Manager, Grad IOSH & I

Dip Nebosh aged 43 years with more

than 20 years of experience working

in reputed oil & Gas / construction at

Oman seeking suitable HSE Position

(Manager / Trainer / Advisor). NOC

available. Contact: 97926801

Email: johnkjoseph630@yahoo.com

Manager- Media & Advertising

industry-15 yrs Gulf exp - seeks suit-

able opening- 93031168

Senior Project Manager approved

by Ministries with 23 years experi-

ence (Oman) in buildings and infra

structure available for placement.

Contact: 99608299

Highly skilled Transport Manager

Experienced in Oman & UAE, re-

quired for Reputed Mining Company

Located at Sultanate of Oman.

Contact: workatoman@gmail.com

Civil Engineer, Indian M 29 5yrs exp.

having DL & NOC Looking for suitable

position. Contact: 94576233

Email: suhailmullah@gmail.com

Indian Mechanical Engineer, 30, having 8yrs of UAE Sales/Busi-

ness Development. experience in

Electromechanical and Irrigation

sectors. Contact no- +971558763220

email id-sangowri@outlook.com

DRIVER

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

Omani Mechanical Engineer with

2years Experiences looking for new

opportunity . Contact:95993315,

alrus7idisaif@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer, B.Tech, with 8

years GCC experience (5 years in

Oman) in MEP & Oil/gas construc-

tion/Inspections side with NOC, is

seeking new assignments in Oman.

Has attested degree certifi cate and

Oman D/L. Contact No.96083636,

Email:tobineasow@gmail.com

Quantity Surveyor: 11 years

Experience (8 years Gulf & 3

years India)NOC & DL Available,

Contact 99806801 / 95899345,

Mail:asmani1984@gmail.com

Mechanical Engineer experienced

from India & Singapore is looking

for job in QA/QC welding inspection.

Contact: 96518095

Building Site Supervisor with

Omani D/L since Mar 2010 in Oman

looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 93061107

Project Engineer (Electrical) 5 years

experience in Oman primary substa-

tions + OHL, oil & gas, AutoCAD de-

sign driving license. NOC available.

Contact: 93210528 / 99410588

Civil Engineer, having 8 years expe-

rience in fi eld, 5 years in Oman & 3

years in EV with valid Oman driving

license. Contact: 96534115

B.Tech Software Engineer nearly

2 yrs Engineer nearly 2 yrs experi-

ence seeking job in Oman, currently

on visit visa. Contact: 95184451

B.Sc Electronics (course completed)

and holder at A+ Grade in mobile

phone technology & computer

hardware and Network Engineering

looking for suitable job in mobile

servicing / software and hardware

servicing / sales man.

Contact: Binu .B.G. 93607271

Indian B.E Electronics Communica-

tion Engineer available in Muscat on

visit visa 3+ years experience in au-

tomation system. Contact: 97439738

Civil Engineer with 8 yrs exp in

construction fi eld & all related work,

having Oman driving license & NOC.

Contact: 97613084

B.Tech Elec., Engineer, 8 yrs exp in

Oman valid D/L. Contact : 91456023

4 years experience Electrical Engi-

neer electrical primary substations

UG cables and OHL, fl uent in English

and Arabic. Contact: 91204243

Electrical Engineer 4 years experi-

ence oil and gas electrical substa-

tion water project fl uent in Arabic

and English primavera p6 operator.

Contact: 99525856

B.Tech Mechanical Engineer with

MBA in marketing & HR 3 yrs exp

seeking suitable placement.

Contact :0091 9846568080 /

0091 4772702080,

Email: jbabu4@gmail.com

M.Tech having 3 years experience in

Mechanical Engineering department

looking for any University to hire.

Contact: 90150913

Email: rahmanmechengg@yahoo.in

Indian female, 30 yrs, Interior Designer

Bachelor degree with 5 yrs working experience seeking suitable

placement in Oman.

Contact 98499975, Email :

swasdesigner@gmail.com

M. Com B. Ed Indian lady

looking for suitable openings.

Contact: 97668603

Civil Engineer, Indian male 29,

having 7 years exp in construction

fi eld& Auto Cad in Oman. Having val-

id driving license. Fluent in English

& Arabic. Looking for suitable job in

reputed fi rm. Contact - 99650569

Indian male, 26 yrs, B. Tech Com-

puter Science, 4 years experience

as System and Network Engineer

looking for suitable job.

Contact : 93125669

Email: amritrajgt18@gmail.com

B. Tech Bio Tech. Experience in food

& water industry, expert in chemical

& microbiological labs

Ph : 92940218

Electrical Engineer Indian male

2.5Years Of experience Looking

for suitable Job. Contact:91845173

Email:er.joshidhaval@gmail.com

Indian Electrical & Electronics

Engineer + MBA (29 years) hav-

ing 7 years experience (2 years

in Gulf) & having valid interna-

tional driving license, seeks suitable

placement. Contact Ajay Haridas

(00971528254782)

B.Sc. Civil Engineer having 3 years

experience (2 years in Oman) with

construction companies seeking

suitable placement.

Contact: 97409350

Email: kamrul07cuet@yahoo.com

B.Sc Civil 9 years experience

looking for suitable placement

as a Residence Engineer having

valid Omani D/L. Contact : 94431917

Email: gmssohel.ce@gmail.com

Indian male, MEP Manager, Diploma Electrical having 15 years

experience in Oman looking for a

suitable post in a reputed fi rm, NOC

available. Contact : 99061823

Mechatronics (Electrical, Mechani-

cal) Engineer, 3 years of experi-

ence. Contact: 91234024 Email:

ammar.r.elerris@gmail.com

Pakistani DAE civil with experience

in Oman 2 years also holding license

of Oman seeks for job in Oman exp

in SAMAQADA & STFA. Contact :

93542055 / 99053438

B. Tech, Engineer Civil exp total 12

yrs, Gulf exp 6 yrs, PDO exp 3yrs D/L

Oman. Contact: 96242773

Diploma Civil Engineer 11 yrs expe-

rience (9 yrs building construction

+ 2 yrs O&G) with valid Oman D/L

seeking suitable placement. Contact

: 97669006 / 99142744 Email:

shafi queam@gmail.com

Indian male, 23 Yrs, B-Tech – Elec-

trical & Electronics, having 1 year of

Work experience – looking for suit-

able placement. Currently in Oman

on Visit; Contact 95830305.

Bangladeshi female Project Engi-

neer Civil having 5 years experience

or construction site currently or

visit visa looking a suitable position.

Contact 91207329

Email: dipabangladesh@yahoo.com

Male Project Engineer (Civil) 12

years experience Dubai + SA in con-

struction & water supply fi eld with

valid UAE D/L Currently on visit visa

looking suitable position.

Contact: 91206763

Email: delwar.civil.97@gmail.com

Young Indian male 23 yrs, BE -

Electrical Engineer 1.4 years experi-

ence in India, on visit visa looking

for suitable job. Contact: 93924395

Email: thomaspallathn19@gmail.com

Indian male, 26 yrs, 4 years experi-

ence diploma in Civil Engineering

fi eld on visit visa looking for suitable

job. Contact: 95585564

Email: safvanullal6644@gmail.com

Network professional, with 6 years

experience, CCNP and Bachelors

degree on visit seeking suitable

position. Contact: 96760618 /

varghese.manthara@gmail.com

25 years old Indian male, BE,

ECE,MCITP,MCSA,CCNA with 3.5

years experience in system and

networking/IT support. Currently on

visit visa, Looking for a suitable job.

Contact no -98110873. Email:

blessonvvarghese@hotmail.com

Software Developer / Consultant

Manager 7+ yrs Experience

Mobile 92694166

Oracle ADF Developer, Msc (IT), 2

yrs of Experience in Software Devel-

opment (Oracle ADF, sql, pl/sql), Ora-

cle OCA & SQL Expert, Currently on

visit visa. Contact +968 93755858 /

92141644 Email :

shiralkarmuzammil@yahoo.com

Computer & Network Engineering. 11

yrs experience looking for suitable

job. Contact 92811179

Indian female (29), BCA, MCA, ASP.

Net certifi cation, SAP ABAP Certifi -

cation, 2 yrs of experience, seeking

placement, family visa. #99109121

Email: ashamaryphilip@gmail.com

Indian male, M. Sc Electronics, Di-

ploma in Network Engineering with 2

years experience including GCC expe-

rience in networking, IT support and

server support. Computer hardware

, MCITP and CCNA, MCITP certifi ed ,

Having Saudi driving license, now in

Muscat on visit visa looking for suit-

able job. Contact : 96133981 ,

Email: obinkavumkal@gmail.com

ME Electronics Engineer , 4 yr exp

in hardware and software currently

in Oman for visiting visa,

Contact: 95508754, 97049791

Filipino male 29 Graduate of BS IT

with GCC experience as Document

Controller and Executive Secretary

looking for employment.

Contact: +968 93929569

NOC / Network Engineer, Indian

male 27 years Indian having 5 years

experience as NOC/ Network Engi-

neer with CCNA certifi ed seeks for

suitable placement currently on visit

visa. Contact 97663834

Indian male 28 yrs, Master degree

in Computer Application and CCNA

certifi ed, 2 years exp in Oman look-

ing for suitable placement.

Contact: 93295112 Email:

syedsadathali.mca@gmail.com

Indian male B. Eng in IT CCNA,

MCITP, RHCE 2 yrs + exp in IT support,

Networking and Server Support seek-

ing suitable placement in IT / Network

/ server support. Contact: 93311963

Email: sajal035@gmail.com

Indian male 25 years MCA, CCNA

Certifi ed MCSE2012 having 16 months

experience in network and system

administration looking for suitable

placement. #97703253 / 92365310

Email: albinmperakkattu@gmail.com

Civil Engineer, Indian male, 25

years, B.Tech, have 3 years experi-

ence in building construction seeks

suitable positions. 92609893,

alenalexander123@gmail.com

Civil Engineer B.Sc -6 years experi-

ence with constructions companies

- 1 years in Oman - qualifi ed as Site

Engineer & Planning Engineer.

Contact+968-94682217

Welder, 6G,3G, ARC, Gas , Fabrication

well gulf experinced Ph : 95068064

Degree Civil Engg total 9 yrs experi-

ence, 7 yrs in Oman Construction

Company with valid Oman driving

license. Contact: 99721926

Email: tamircivil@gmail.com

Civil Engineer degree, diploma,

Staad pro, Auto CAD 18 months In-

dian exp seeks suitable opportunity.

Contact: 93682529

Aeronautical Engineer Indian

female 22 yrs, currently on family

visa looking for suitable position in

any air line / Engineering Industry.

Contact: 91705598

Email: nikhimnoushad@gmail.com

Engineer with 4 years Telecom

experience in Oman, having Oman

driving license looking for a suitable

opportunity. Interested in marketing,

NOC available. Contact : 98513495

SUPERVISOR: Indian male site

supervisor (AIR CONDITIONING)

25 years of experience with valid

Oman Driving lic

Contact: 97498809, 93391910

Email: hilariankj@gmail.com

Civil Engineer Pakistani 12+2 years

Oman experience D/L required

placement. Contact: 94392616

Engineer with 3 yrs experience in

Indian in MEP, HVAC& mechanical

maintained fi eld on visit visa looking

for suitable job. Contact 99191535

Email: fareed029@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer Indian male 29

years, having 5 years of experience

in industrial automation and utility

maintenance in India (MRF Tyres),

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 92789995 Email:

akhilabrahamlktr@gmail.com

Btech computer science graduate

2015 passout.. Android application

marketing.. Having good communi-

cation skills and mindset to work in

a team. Contact 91024385

Indian BE (MECH) aviation BE

degree diploma in material quality

management 17 years Navy aviation

13 years construction purchase

stores professional on visit.

Contact: 90205082 /98796982

BE Electrical Engineer 8 years

experience 4 years in Oman with

Oman driving license.

Contact 96942032

Civil Engineer (Diploma) seeking

for placement. Contact: 95200650

Electrical Eng. Degree (MEP) need

suitable job of construction 12 yrs exp.

Email: mohd.ateeq.khan@gmail.com

C-SWIP 3.1 ASNT level 2 QC Mech.

Engr 5+ yrs exp Indian male 26

seeks suitable placement.

Contact : 91823331

Email: kannasekhar46@gmail.com

Electrical and Electronics Engineer with one year experience and GCC

licence holder seeking a job

mail – shyjalpk@gmail.com

Indian male BE Mechanical currently on 2 yrs free visa with NOC

& local release. Looking for suitable

job in Muscat. Contact – 90296975 /

ali.syedausaf@gmail.com

Indian diploma Civil Eng, 2 yrs

Infrastructure Projects (4G, Towers,

substation) landscaping & Auto

CAD. Contact: 94756183

Email: indianexpat1@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer (B.E) with 5

years experience (3 yrs in Gulf) NOC

available. Contact: 92119851 Email:

mayurdevadiga@gmail.com

Resident Engineer B.E civil 25 years

exp 12 yrs in Architecture consul-

tancy having Oman Dubai D/L NOC

available. Contact: 95732453

Email: milindj951@gmail.com

Indian female MDS Endodontics,

9.5 yrs experience recently cleared

Oman prometric 84% looking

for suitable placement. Contact:

95624156 / 97233074

MSc Nurse specialized in OBG,

3 years experience-certifi ed ACLS,

BLS, on visit visa, seeking suitable

opportunities Contact: 90125347

Indian female B. Sc Nurse with 3

years experience prometric passed

seeks suitable placement. #95782544

Indian female Bsc nurse with 3year

experience prometric passed seeks

suitable placement.# 95782544

Indian male Nurse, prometric

passed seeks suitable placement.

Contact 97284508I

Project/ Program Manager/ Finance professional

Qualifi cati on MBA PMP six sigma (GB)Countries exposure Canada & Middle

East, Industry any (experienced in bank, telecom, transport.

Nati onality-Canadian. On visit in Oman.

Contact - 97203531

Experience MBA (Hospital Manage-

ment) looking for a suitable posi-

tion. Contact: 95958597

Email: vipinpthomas28@gmail.com

Light driver looking job

exp. 4 years. Contact: 94208089

11 years experience as Driver in

Embassy, looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 92191698

20 years experience Driver D/L in

Oman, seeks suitable job.

Contact : 99775728

Light driver for job 5 yrs exp.

Contact: 92171166

Light driver for job 1yr exp.

Contact: 95582571

Bangladeshi male driver, 48 yrs,

exp 14 years, 9 years need job &

visa, got release letter.

Contact: 99165961

Pakistani driver seeks for job, hold-

ing license of Oman exp in driving in

Oman 6 years. Contact : 92604918

Indian male light vehicle driver,

10 yrs GCC exp looking for job.

Contact : 93060050

Indian driver 13 yrs exp. looking for

fulltime or part time jobs.

Contact: 91103909

12 years experience light duty

driver with car. Contact: 96467373

Driver. Contact: 95084826

Indian male 41 yrs Sales Coordina-

tor 16 yrs experience owing valid

Oman D/L. Contact: 93412622

BBA Keralite, male, 23 yrs, experi-

enced in Automotive Sales & Admin

on visit. Contact 94742679,

Email: jafarj4@gmail.com

Indian male, U.K Post Graduate M.A,

MBA, 3 years Experience, looking

position within Marketing, Branding,

Business Development & PR.

Contact: 91-8939165131

Email: greetings111@hotmail.com

Indian female 2+ years of experi-

ence in marketing / Sales business

development in Oman with D/L

seeks suitable position.

Contact: 98989784,

Email: alamelusara@hotmail.com

Male 24 years MBA Marketing

B.Com 2 years experience in the

fi eld of sales, marketing, business

development looking for suitable

position presently in Muscat.

Contact: 93268245

Email: gregjose1991@gmail.com

MBA qualifi ed sales and marketing

candidate having an experience of

1 and half years available in Oman

on visit visa seeks placement.

Contact: 97436706 Email: an-

shusamue10001@gmail.com

11 years experience in Oman in

offi ce activities purchasing fl eet

coordinator hotel and transport

management light driving license

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 94133987

Indian male 21+ years Managerial

experience in Oman in FMCG Indus-

try seeking suitable placement with

NOC can head any Business / work-

ing partner. Contact: 95264562

Experienced skilled candidate with

driving license seeks position sales

in Salalah. Contact: 98579382

Sales Executive experience in

Oman 4 years, has driving license.

Contact: 96039024

Indian Marketing & Sales profes-

sional for telecom, hyper stores

& FMCG with over 7 years Oman

experience is seeking change / suit-

able placement. Contact: 99360975

Email: howru73@yahoo.com

Indian worked as Sales Supervi-

sor 7 years MNC now working as

Marketing Manager from 8 yrs with

visa D/L. Contact : 90205082

Indian male more than 8 years

experience in outdoor sales in G.C.C

with transferable visa & valid

driving license Graduate.

Contact: 91234320

Indian female holding Omani driv-

ing license M.B.A in Marketing and

fi nance from Birla Institute, Muscat,

1 yr. working experience in India.

Contact: 91746962

Email: aarathiajith@gmail.com

Indian male 28 B.Com M.Com, MBA

experience 2 years Ventex Global

UAE Marketing Executive, experi-

ence 1 year Al Majeed Group Market-

ing Executive with valid UAE D/L.

Contact : +968 92871946

Indian male Graduate more than

16 years of experience in customer

relations and marketing in Pharma

and surgical fi eld seeking suitable

opportune. Contact: 95570460 /

92812020

Marketing or Purchase Executive,

1.5 yrs in Oman Indian male 27 yrs,

MBA with valid Oman D/L available

for immediate placement.

Contact: 96300958 / 24796010

Email: ashwanihegde@gmail.com

Centre Manager for Training Insti tute/ In House Training

ManagerMinistry approved Manager, With 18 years of exp in Oman with

proven records. Excellent contacts for major training

& Omanisati on projects. Seeking for challenging positi ons in

reputed organizati ons.NOC available,

Contact - 92406488 Mail: tt rg.mgr.oman@gmail.com

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D6 T U E S D AY, O C T O B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 5

Indian male Auto Cad Draughtsman

(civil) 8 years experience seeking

for part time job.

Contact : 00968 99070584,

Email: remluvp@gmail.com

Indian male having 25 years exp in

telecom optical fi ber cables, network

CCTV Administration offi ce automa-

tion seeks job, now in visit visa.

Contact: 91385373 Email:

sridharbsnlma1455@gmail.com

Indian male 32 M. A. English and

having 4 years of experience in

teaching current company is ready

to issue release letter.

Contact : 99869535

Email: sahadkeyi33@gmail.com

Indian male 37 years B.Tech Gradu-

ate having 12 years experience of

Electrical DCRP Works / Jobs in

Oman with driving license looking

for suitable opening. NOC available

can join immediately. Contact :

saiviharvasanth@gmail.com

Bangladeshi, looking job for sales

man having 3-4 years experience in

readymade garments.

Contact : 97756028

Indian female B.ARCH with 10 years

experience (Indian & Oman) as an

Architect is seeking a suitable in

Muscat. Contact: 92412810

BE Civil Engineer with 11 years of

experience in building construc-

tion with valid Oman DL, looking for

suitable placement, NOC available.

Please contact 91329910.

Indian male 24 B.Tech IT (engineer)

2.5 years exp in hardware network-

ing, programming such as C and C++.

Currently on visit visa seeks suit-

able placement. Contact 95153693

Indian male 23yrs, 2yrs exp. In Accounts (india). Seeking suitable

position in accounts. Currently on

express visa. M: 94399509,

E. midhunaloor16@gmail.com

Indian Male: 31yrs 8 Years Experi-

ence in the fi eld of Business Devel-

opment/ Sales/ Retail/ Logistics

with good communication Skills

seeking for suitable job in Oman .

Now available in Visit visa valid till

(21st Oct). Contact; 99052340 ,

email: pradee.ys@gmail.com

ACCOUNTANT , Indian male 30

years B.Com Having 7 years of Oman

experience in the fi eld of accounts &

fi nance seeks for better placement.

Contact : 96143708 / 97351786

ME Civil- structural Engineer, 8

Years Structural engineer experi-

ence, looking for Structural Designer,

supervisor or site engineer Position.

Iranian male. Contact: 93696929,

Email: mhsaz1359@gmail.com

Civil Autocad draughtsman looking

for part time job. Mobile: 95218737

ACCOUNTANT, 8 years experience,

Oman D/L, Noc available seeks suit-

able opportunity. GSM- 98184170

Sudanese male, 31 years, have 3

year Diploma in electrical engineer

, 6 year experience in construction

and electrical production plant .

Mobile No ; +96894549609

Network/Noc Engineer, Indian male

27 years B.com (General) 5 years &

4 month’s of experience in the fi eld

of networking seeks for better place-

ment. Contact :97663834,

bro’s no:98730758

Indian male, BBA, having 8yrs exp

including 2yrs of (UAE) exp looking

opportunities withinSales, Logistics,

Retail, Operations.

Contact – 99052340,

Mail Id: pradee.ys@gmail.com

B.Com Graduate, associate insur-

ance, 25 year male, 3 years experi-

ence in accounts and 3 years in

sales and marketing.

Contact no-95236312,

mail id-lilommca@gmail.com

Syrian Architect years experience

in oman for work 2d plans and 3d

internal and external projects in

cooperation or even a piece . for

contact : 97482871

Electrical Engineer with BS & MS

Degree having 5 years of Experience

in Electrical Utility/Water sector

seeks a suitable job (on visit). Con-

tact: snaveelh@gmail.com

Phone: 24413033/ 95731852

25 year male, B graduate, associ-

ate insurance with 3 years exp in

accounts and 3 years in marketing.

NOC available.

Mail id lilommca@gmail.com

and no-95236312

Indian male, 26 yr, b. tech Computer

science, 4 years experience as sys-

tem and network engineer looking

for suitable job.

Contact : 0096893125669,

Email : amritrajGT18@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer with BS & MS

Degree having 5 years of Experi-

ence in Electrical Utility/Water

sector seeks a suitable job. Contact:

95731852 snaveelh@gmail.com

Chartered Accountant, looking out

for an opportunity in Oman in Audit

OR Finance fi eld. Available in Muscat

from 10th – 16th Oct.

Call : 91258435

26, Male, Indian, BBA (Finance),

MBA(HR), Looking for suitable Job.

Contact immediately. Contact

98176105, nruknaddin@outlook.com

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

SALES / MARKETING

Indian male more than 10 years

gulf experience in Offi ce / Sales

Coordinator, Admin, Secretarial and

purchase with good computer skills.

Having Driving license and NOC

available, looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact 95149624

Indian male more than 8 years expe-

rience in UAE in Offi ce , Sales Market-

ing with good computer skills having

driving license looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 99369081

Email: shazulashraf60@gmail.com

MBA 10 yrs sales & marketing ex-

perience in UAE. Have UAE driving

license, on visit seeks Job.

Contact 97160445

Expatriate currently working as

Supply Chain Executive with an

intensive 8 years Oman experi-

ence in IM & T sector profi cient in

Procurement Sales support and

logistics capable to manage large

scale clientele oil & gas utilities and

public sectors. Contact 97755488

Indian male having 8 years experi-

ence in business development retail

sales logistics currently on seeking

job in Oman. Contact: 99052340

Email: pradee.ys@gmail.com

Indian female Graduate holder

valid driving license knowledge

about all kinds of cosmetic products

seeks suitable placement.

Contact 98697656

Indian male having 10 years work

experience ( Customer Service/

Back end sales/stores)and 1 year

work experience in Oman NOC in

hand, looking for Suitable Position

Contact no: 96526228 /

sravan.kumaraj@gmail.com

Indian male, 15 yrs. experienced

Marketing/Admin/Business Devel-

opment Personnel in Construction

Industry available with NOC and

valid Oman D/L seeks better open-

ings. Contact 99852404 or

mailtowelling@gmail.com.

Marketing and Sales candidate

with 8 years experience in GCC

looking for suitable position. Having

NOC and valid Oman diving license.

Contact: 96669152

Indian male 34 yrs MBA, Marketing

& fi nance with 11 years of experience

in Managerial roles in Sales Market-

ing in diff erent industry looking for

suitable placement presently on

visit visa. Contact : 97325393

Email: achus82@gmail.com

Indian male Sr. Sales Executive, 15 years exp in retail sector

looking for vacancies.

Contact: 96768382

SENIOR SALES ENGINEER (B.E.

Mechanical, MBA-Mktg) - 6yrs ex-

perience in Industrial Products and

Services with NOC and GCC Driving

License looking for the challenging

opportunities. Join immediately.

GSM: 94596639

E-mail:dhvlnayak@yahoo.co.in

Sales and marketing - male 27 yrs,

2 years experience seeking suitable

placement with Oman D/L.

Contact: 95642740 Email:

shaijichakkara@gmail.com

SITUATION WANT-

EDSIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

MISCELLANEOUS

Indian Female, MBA-HR having 8+

experience in Administration/HR,

Customer Support, Offi ce Coordina-

tor with good Computer skill, Now on

Visit Visa looking for suitable

position. Contact: 90196235

Female, 35years, Bachelor of Phar-

macy fresh graduate with BSc and

MA looking for suitable position in

hospital, polyclinic, companies or

Institutions. Contact 90236481.

Electrical Maintenance Engineer, 29,

Indian Male, having 7+ years exp. in

reputed companies. Seeking suitable

placement in Oman. #- 98440637.

Mail ID : venkatbadri23@gmail.com

Administration - Having 9+ years

exp. in Admin & HR in reputed com-

panies. Presently working in Muscat

and seeking for suitable placement.

Contact No.: 97693456.

email : muralimahdav77@gmail.com

Indian male 24 B.Tech IT(engineer)

2.5 years exp in hardware network-

ing, programming such as C and C++.

Currently on visit visa seeks suitable

placement. Contact 95153693

Indian lady looking for accounts

Job, two years experience one year

worked in Oman B.Com Graduate ,

Tally ERP9. GSM : 91123561

The Business Development Man-

ager, Iraqi, Experience 14 Years

Inside and outside Oman following

activities: tenders& real estate&

construction & marketing projects&

investments& transportation & Ma-

rine services& companies manage-

ment& develop business.

Contact 93240027

33 year male Indian Keralite looking

for Senior Accountant or Assistant

Accounts manager having 10 years

of working experience in Oman and

Qatar with valid GCC license willing

to work any GCC country, please

contact : 97433387

27,male,ACCA fi nalist, have profes-

sional experience up to fi nalization

of accounts, statutory and internal

audit, expertise in using tally and

focus & oracle software, have 3.5

years experience in accounts till

fi nalization ,seeking for permanent

replacement ,GSM-97654769,email

id-abdullah.nooralam@yahoo.com

Indian looking for a part time ac-

counting or Internal Auditing job,

contact 99196621.

26, Male, Indian, BBA (Finance),

MBA(HR), Looking for suitable Job.

Contact immediately #98176105,

nruknaddin@outlook.com

Senior Management Professional,

MBA, 12 years+ exp. in Business

Development/Sales Management

, Sales Training, Content Develop-

ment & Six sigma GSM:97428090

Part Time Accounting Job Complete

Data Entry, Upto Finalization. Any

Time Available. Location Al Hail,

AL Khoud. #- +968-92049215

Email:- aiafe.oman@gmail.com

ACCA fi nalist, Recent B.Com Gradu-

ate, Indian Female, looking for full

time employment in Accounting and

Audit.+96896964379,

sangeethaumesh5@gmail.com

Indian Chartered Accountant, Male

25 years, 5 years of relevant experi-

ence, On Visit visa, Staying with

Parents. Also holds BCOM (Computer

Applications).

Contact 98164467, 24492638

shyamal008@gmail.com

Arab Lady seeking for House-

manager/Personal Assistant job.

Highly experienced. Arabic, English

&French. Contat : +961 71339568

email : famurr@hotmail.com

26, Male, Indian, BBA (Finance),

MBA(HR), Looking for suitable Job.

Contact immediately

Contact 98176105,

Email: nruknaddin@outlook.com

FABRICATION & ERECTION-DUCT

MAN Candidate seeking suitable op-

portunities & presently in Oman with

NOC Mob:97239854,

Mail:asherlalitha@yahoo.com

25yrs Indian Female with Bsc Nurs-

ing, MHA (master of hospital adminis-

tration) Graduate looking for suitable

placement. Contact:- 99513267

Email:-alinaelshaddai@gmail.com

50 years Indian male 15yrs experi-

ence as Manager in Steel and paper

Plant seeking suitable placement.

Kindly contact me on

+91 9840943638

Chartered Accountant, Indian male,

25, two years experience, on visit

visa. Staying with parents. Also has

B.com+computer Application.

Contact: 24492638/98164467.

shyamal008@gmail.com

Diploma in Civil Engineer. I have 6

year experience in Oman seeking for

suitable position Oman.

Contact 97415597,

email: Nasir.muscat@gmail.com

8+ years experienced senior ac-

countant looking for a better place-

ment. Contact No. +968 92935684.

Email - shabeerkkm@gmail.com.

NOC available.

CCNP Network Professional with 6

years experience having Bachelors

degree on visit visa looking for

suitable job. GSM: 96760618 Email:

varghese.manthara@gmail.com

Indian Female, MBA-HR having 8+

experience in Administration/HR,

Customer Support, Offi ce Coordina-

tor with good Computer skill, now on

Visit Visa ,looking for suitable posi-

tion. Contact: 90196235

26, Male, Indian, BBA (Finance),

MBA(HR), Looking for suitable place-

ment in Finance/HR/Marketing.

Contact immediately. # 98176105,

nruknaddin@outlook.com

Welder 6G, 3G ARC , Fabrication

gulf exp ph : 92858985

Indian Male, 38 years, BE and MBA

in Marketing from UK seeks suitable

placement in the IT industry.

Call 91200413.

29 years Indian female (MBA-

Finance) with 4 yrs experience in

Accounts, seeking suitable place-

ment in Accounts/Admin/HR. NOC

available. Contact:96141283

ACCOUNTANT: Indian male 25 hav-

ing 4years experience in accounting

& having well knowledge in tally.

Contact:968 094535881,

0091 9037622048.

Email: vishnuraj889@gmail.com

31 year Indian male PG in HR , with

5 yrs Professional experience in

HR in Construction Oil & Gas Oman

seeking for a suitable placement.

Contact me on 93488914, email-

Kaarthickshankar@gmail.com

INDIAN MALE , MBA. Having 10+

years experience as Automotives

Sales Manager .Worked with M/s

TALWAR AUTO GARAGES PVT LTD

India’s Largest Selling Dealer for

VOLVO EICHER commercial vehicles

.Seeking for suitable Job in Oman.

Contact no: 98045482

Email: dmstalwar@gmail.com

ACCA fi nalist, Recent B.Com Gradu-

ate, Indian Female, looking for full

time employment in Accounting and

Audit. Contact +96896964379,

sangeethaumesh5@gmail.com

Admin, having 10+ years experience

in Admin/HR/Logistics/Time Keeper,

in reputed companies. Presently work-

ing in Muscat. Contact- 94369965 ,

mail - satya1528@gmail.com

Indian male . 14 yrs experience in

maintenance & Supervisor in hotel

fi eld ( Electrical . Ac Mechanical &

Plumber ) N O C available

mob : 95 25 36 40 . email =

hareeshma24@yahoo.com

Indian male B.Eng. in

IT,CCNA,MCSA,MCSE, 2.5 yrs + exp.

in IT support, networking and server

support valid Omani D/L seeking

suitable placement in IT/Network/

Server support. Contact 92607532

Indian Male, 24 years old recently

completed M.Tech in Off shore Struc-

tures from NIT Calicut, looking for

suitable position.

Contact : +919833248568,

Email: shihabpatel91@gmail.com

DAILY GUIDET U E S D AY, O C T O B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 5 D7

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

Split & widow unit A.C servicing &

repairing. Contact: 99557080

Split & window unit A.C servic-

ing & maintenance. Contact:

96236476

Window & split unit A.C ser-

vicing & maintenance. Contact

93769089 / 95323517

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet

& sofa shampooing, Contact

99314807/24792998

House shifting & packing. Contact: 99657644 /98518013

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your

marble. #24793614/ 99314807

Air condition maintenance instal-

lation window AC, split a/c, ducted

AC and package type units.

Contact: 98667326

Window & split unit A.C ser-

vicing & maintenance. Contact

93769089 / 95323517

Pest Control Gulfa Intl .LLC. Contact: 92326955

Water proofi ng ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

One stop shop business services : Public Relation (PRO) formation new

companies, LLC companies, Investor

visa, business setup, prepare busi-

nesses & companies accounts, legal

services, representing you and your

company. Contact Saleh: 96723485

Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile

polishing, pest control & anti-

termite treatment, general clean-

ing painting, Plumbing, Electrical,

shifting. Contact Mundhir Al-Ri-

zaiqi trading. L.L.C. # 24810137,

99450130

WEBSITE

WEB, ERP and Business Intel-

ligence (BI) creation and manage-

ment at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

SIT.WANTED

SIT.WANTED

SIT.WANTED

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. Contact ABU QABAS-

99320217 /24788722

CLASSES

COMPUTER

SITUATION WANT-

ED

BUSINESS

Investors needed for well functioning

company Engaged in manufactur-

ing and supply of heating solutions.

Contact: 98871548 / 93412622

We want fi nance for 3 (three)

months or renewable every 3

months from Omani nationals or

expatriates for trading business.

Contact: 99462591 or 93525028

MISCELLANEOUS

MATRIMONIAL

Malankara Catholic girl Alappuzha

Dist BSc Nurse 28 yrs working with

M.O.H in Buraimi 28 yrs seeks alliance

from Keralite professionals Orthodox

Marthoma. Contact: 93264638

Seeking alliance for our son from

Muslim families. Interested families

Contact: 99889590

Well experienced management

fi nance specialist having 18 years

experience available for placement.

Contact.95602518

23, Male, ACCA Affi liate, OBU Bsc,

2.5 years of experience in audit and

fi nance in Big 6 Firms, Looking for

permanent placement in similar

fi eld. Release NOC available. Contact:

#95140445, a.saran891@gmail.com

22, Male, Indian, BBA (Marketing),

1 year experience in India, Looking

for suitable placement in Sales and

Marketing. #91897046,

azzamsiddique1@gmail.com

Indian Male,27,ACCA Part

Qualifi ed,B.COM with 7+ yrs exp in

receivables and credit control in

Oman looking for suitable place-

ments. NOC available.

Contact 9657 4343.

Indian Female, Science Graduate,

3 years Experience in Teaching back

home. Looking for a suitable job op-

portunity as a teacher, in Schools in

Muscat Region. Contact : 96431456

/ 95704814

Looking for a suitable job as Jr.

Accountant/ Jr. Administration in

a reputed company. NOC Available.

GSM # 93004738.

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, 8 years ex-

perience ,Oman driving licence,Noc

available. Seek Suitable opportunity.

GSM- 98184170

ACCOUNTANT, Male, 8 years experi-

ence, presently working in Oman as a

Senior Accountant with oman Driving

license. NOC available, seek suitable

opportunity. GSM: 97705854

Chemical Engineer Indian 2 years

of experience in production fi eld

Contact: 91247222

Email:sahadpoonchola@gmail.com

Syrian male 3yrs. exp in IT support,

Networking, Security systems, Serv-

er support, IT sales and marketing.

Valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement. Contact 91033395

Civil Autocad Draughtsman part

time work for job mob :96023726

Indian female, MBA, 25yrs Having

4yrears of experience in MNC, hands

of experiences in recruitment and

administration, fl exible for any suit-

able job placements currently in

visting visa. Contact Tel : 98864639

Email : neethuvijayan06@gmail.com

Indian Male, 25, Chartered Account-

ant, working with ICICI Bank India.

On a Visit Visa in Oman. Staying with

parents at Azaiba. Ph: 24492638.

Email: shyamal008@gmail.com

Indian Male, 26 Yrs, Business

Management, 6 years in Oman.

Knowledge of MS Offi ce and Arabic

Language. Seeks suitable position.

Contact 93931935

Indian Mechanical Engineer, 30, having 8yrs of UAE Sales/Busi-

ness Development. experience in

Electromechanical and Irrigation

sectors. Contact no- +971558763220

email id-sangowri@outlook.com

Indian male, with fi nance and Law

degree, having more than 25 years

of experience in Finance/ Accounts /

Audit (5 years of Oman experience)

seeks suitable placement. NOC avail-

able. Contact: 98421619.

E-mail: talemadhamu@yahoo.com.

Indian male Executive Secretary

having vast experience in admin,

logistics & procurement well versed

with computer seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact : 99514286

Pakistan Male: 24 years,M.Com

Finance having 2.5 year experience

as a accountant & marketing execu-

tive looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 97670816,

E.mail: naeem.ahsan68@gmail.com

ACCOUNTANT: Indian male 25 hav-

ing 4 years experience in accounting

& having well knowledge in tally.

Contact:968094535881,

0091 9037622048,

Email: vishnuraj889@gmail.com

Senior Accountant. 8 Years experi-

ence. NOC available. Oman driving

license. Seek suitable opportunity.

GSM- 98184170

31 year Indian male PG in HR ,with 5

yrs Professional experience in HR in

Construction Oil & Gas Oman seek-

ing for a suitable placement. Kindly

contact me on 93488914, email-

Kaarthickshankar@gmail.com

Indian female with MBA in fi nance

seeking immediate placement.

Contact: 968-93316493

Sudanese/26/Bsc Computer Sci-

ence /3 years exp/skills Excellent

knowledge in operating systems

and maintaining computers Java

Programmer Web Developer Linux

SMS solutions Android developer/

email khalid.omx@gmail.com/

contact no 944958080 and

99758186.

Indian male B.Eng. in IT,CCNA,

MCSA,MCSE, 2.5 yrs + exp. in IT sup-

port, networking and server support

valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement in IT/Network/Server

support. Contact 92607532

Indian B.E Computer Science graduate

2012 passout. 1 .5 yrs exp. in Account-

ing. Having good communication skills

and mindset to work in a team. Having

NIIT certifi cate in Diploma in Java

Technology. # 97767894

Email: jinsonjacobjohn@gmail.com

Indian male 24 YEARS, B.Tech (Elec-

trical & Electronics), having 2 yrs. exp

as Electrical Site Engineer. Done IOSH

& NEBOSH- IGC certifi cations, seeking

for suitable placement in

any related industries.

Contact 98045482,

Email: mastanshaik1008@gmail.com

Indian male, 24 years, HSE Engineer

having 2 years of Indian experience.

Done IOSH & NEBOSH- IGC certifi ca-

tions, seeking for suitable placement

in any related industries.

Contact 98045482

27, male, ACCA fi nalist, have profes-

sional experience up to fi nalization

of Accounts, Statutory and internal

audit, expertise in using tally and

focus & Oracle Software, have 3.5

years experience in accounts

till fi nalization, seeking for

permanent replacement ,

GSM-97654769,email id-

abdullah.nooralam@yahoo.com

ACCA Affi liate, Indian Male, Fresh-

er, looking for full time employment

in Tax and Audit.+968 91291520,

shahidazeez5@gmail.com

Indian male with 18 years of

Indian and Overseas experience in

hospitality industry, with excellent

cooking, operational, managerial

and communication skills seeking

a suitable job from reputed groups

and organizations. On a visit visa.

Contact: 95363751

Indian male 22yr BBA with LOGIS-

TIC Diploma, exp in tally and data

entry seeking in suitable placement.

Contact; 90151739

email shakeeb.mp280gmail.com

Mechanical Draftsman, Indian male

27, Diploma in Mechanical Engineer-

ing having 7 years of experience

in Auto CAD looking for a suitable

placement. Contact 97351786 /

96143708

mohammednazeer07@gmail.com

ACCA Affi liate, OBU Degree, 2.5

years experience in audit and

fi nance in Big6 fi rm, Looking for

permanent placement. NOC release

available. Contact: #95140445,

a.saran891@gmail.com

B.E Mechanical Engineer with 2

years’ experience in HVAC fi eld on

visit visa looking for suitable job.

Contact: 93442296

Email Id: sal201091@gmail.com.

MBA Finance with more than fi ve

years of experience in Finance &

Accounts including GCC, looking for

a suitable opening. Having UAE driv-

ing license. Contact no..91391802.

MBA (F) B.COM Indian female

having knowledge of accounts with

Tally looking for full or part time job.

Presently on family visit visa.

Contact: - 96259171. Email: -

bhumicapandya@gmail.com

Indian Male, MBA, Talented

management expert having 6 year

experience at U.A.E, India and Oman

in luxury goods and Retail. Seeking

suitable openings in related or same

fi eld. Contact:92700670

Email: jobcareer44@gmail.com

B.Tech EEE with 4+ years experi-

ence in the fi eld of it, networking,

ex-tonics etc. presently working in

Amazon India development centre as

a content quality associate seeking for

suitable jobs in Oman.

Contact : +91 9940514005, 93116402

email: mail2nbn@gmail.com

MBA Finance with more than fi ve

years of experience in Finance &

Accounts including GCC, looking for

a suitable opening. Having UAE driv-

ing license. Contact no..91391802

Part- Time Accountant, well experi-

ence senior accountant ,doing all

type of accounting works, Finaliza-

tion, Budgeting available.

Contact 98803439

Pakistani, Male, Pak, Exp 14 Years

in IT Trainer / Computer Teacher,

looking for a better position in Oman,

already working in Prestigious Con-

struction Company. # 95983711.

Join.mtmali@gmail.com

M. Tech VLSI design, B. tech Elec-

tronics and instrumentation, Indian

female,3 years teaching experience

for graduation level students,

seeking suitable placements .

Ph:00968 92904155.

email-achusooraj@gmail.com

Filipino Senior Architect with 13

years GCC experience. Profi cient

in 3D StudioMax, AutoCAD, Revit,

Phostoshop, and Microsoft Offi ce.

With NOC and Omani driving license.

Please contact 91292933.

Indian female, MBA, 25yrs Having

4yrears of experience in MNC, hands

of experiences in recruitment and

administration, fl exible for any suit-

able job placements currently in

visting visa. Contact: 98864639

Email : neethuvijayan06@gmail.com

Indian Male -25years B.Tech

Engineer seeking any suitable jobs

in Oman ,currently on visit visa.

Contact : Haneesh N. Surendran,

Mob : 90126573,

Email: - haneeshns02@gmail.com

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, 8 years ex-

perience, Oman driving license, Noc

available seeks suitable opportu-

nity. GSM- 97705854

Female Junior Architect, Excel-

lence in Autocad, Sketching & Mod-

elling, Internship - KHAM Designs,

Bangalore. Presently with Atulya

Architects & Associates. Email

saatvika.frozenmusic@gmail.com

Contact 00968-94057427.

Electronics System Eng. UK Gradu-

ate. Indian Female with relevant

work experience. Eng. Analysis,

Instrumentation and Control, Power

& Heat, Electrical & Fluid, Drives &

Actuators etc. Looking for an entry

level position. Email

s.dinesh1508@gmail.com.

Mobile: 97848075, +91-8105413827

Indian male BE Electrical & Elec-

tronics and PG in power systems

(transmission & distribution) on

visit seeking placement.

Contact 94669679

E Mail : prsabarish@gmail.com

India male 33 years. DCT, BBA,

OSHA, looking for Job in Construc-

tion HSE, 11 Years experience with

GCC license, NOC available

Contact :- 9418 4280

Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D8 T U E S D AY, O C T O B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

RENT A CAR

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise

with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain

Marine Tours Contact- 98029602,

92808636

TOURS

SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

FOR HIRE

Bobcat Grader and roller for rent.

Contact: 94584688

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation available Ruwi to

Al Khuwair, Ghubra & Azaiba.

Contact: 91103909

Transportation available.

Contact: 99867456

Pick & drop any time. Contact: 93598436 / 96743215

Pick & drop any time. Contact:

92218001/ 96502406

Transportation. Contact98505294

Transportation in Muscat.

Contact: 95530908

MANPOWER

Leading manpower agency to hire Recruiter from India housemaids. Contact: 99226093,

Email: fesalwardi48@gmail.com

DRIVING