times of oman - may 19, 2015
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Times of Oman - May 19, 2015TRANSCRIPT
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TUESDAY, May 19, 2015 / 30 Rajab 1436 AH timesofoman.com wtimesofoman.com facebook.com/timesofoman twitter.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com ISO 9001:2008 Certifi ed Company
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Muscat: Oman Air has placed an order for six Dreamliners and will be taking delivery of its fi rst plane later this year, according to a top-level offi cial of Boeing.
“The airline has placed its trust in Boeing’s aircraft over the years and in 2011 placed an order for six Boeing 787-8s at the Dubai Airshow. Boeing and Oman Air’s relationship ex-tends over 14 years when Oman Air ordered its fi rst 737-700 in 2001,” Marty Bentrott, vice president, sales, The Middle East, Russia and Central Asia, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, told the Times of Oman.
Oman Air said in December that the state-owned airline would increase its fl eet strength to 55 planes by 2017 to enhance its destinations to 50. The airline is investing heavily in fl eet, new destinations and products to withstand competition.
Bentrott said that the 787-8 aircraft would support the airline in its long-term growth strategy to expand and modern-ise its fl eet with newer, more
fuel-effi cient planes. The fi rst Dreamliner, which
is expected in September this year, will be used for starting a new service to China, said an Oman Air spokesperson.
“In addition to bringing big-jet ranges to mid-size airplanes, the 787 provides airlines with un-matched fuel effi ciency, with 20 per cent less fuel and emissions than the airplanes it replaces.
The key to the exceptional performance of the 787 Dream-liner is a suite of new tech-nologies, including advanced composite materials, systems, aerodynamics and engines,” said Bentrott. >A3
Marty Bentrott, vice president,
sales, The Middle East, Russia
and Central Asia, Boeing
Commercial Airplanes.
HM receives greetingsMUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qa-boos bin Said has received a cable of thanks from Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in reply to His Majesty’s congratu-latory cable on his appointment as Deputy Crown Prince, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Min-ister of Defence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
In his cable, Prince Mohammed expressed thanks for His Majes-ty’s sincere feelings and prayers, wishing His Majesty the Sultan good health and happiness and Omani people further progress and prosperity. -ONA
S A U D I A R A B I A
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Oman Avenues Mall, the Sultanate’s newest shopping destination, was opened to the public on Monday. Yusuff Ali, MA, managing director, Lulu Group, along with other key members of the Lulu management, was pre-sent during the inauguration.
Speaking to the Times of Oman, Gogi George, head of the develop-ment and leasing department for Lulu Group, Oman, said the mall could accommodate more than 200 brands under its roof. >A5
S H O P P I N G D E S T I N A T I O N
‘Give them a break’
REJIMON K [email protected]
MUSCAT: Workers toiling un-der blazing temperatures should be given their offi cial mid-day break based on the weather not on the calendar.
That was the message on Mon-day from the trade union leaders, construction company owners, medics and embassy offi cials as the temperature hit 46 degree Celsius in many parts of Oman.
“Yes, it should be in accordance with the weather and climate conditions. There should be great fl exibility. The lives of workers are more important than any-thing else. All heavenly religions, international laws and trea-ties stipulate that there should be respect for human life and not to put money or work in the fi rst place among the priorities,”
Mohammed Al Khaldi, board member of General Federation of Oman Trade Union (GFOTU), told Times of Oman.
On Sunday, the temperature in Fahud was 48.2 degree Celsius, in Qran it was 47.5, in Mudhaibi it was 46.4 and in Rustaq it was 46.1.
“The summer is not early. In the coming days the tempera-tures in the coastal areas will be a little bit low but in the interiors it will be above 40 degree Celsius,” an offi cial from the Oman met de-partment said.
The maximum temperatures recorded on Monday in Mus-cat, Ibri and Rustaq was 40 de-gree Celsius.
Usually, the mid-day break, from 12.30pm till 3.30pm, for workers is announced for three months starting from June by the Ministry of Manpower to ensure occupational health and
safety of workers. “Workers in the oil and gas and industrial sec-tor, are the most affected. We from the GFOTU visit the work site and emphasise the impor-tance of safety of workers,” Khalidi added.
A trade union leader from the oil and gas sector also sounded the same opinion.
“Mid-day break should be an-nounced depending on the cli-matic conditions. We feel that announcement should not be made on a certain date,” Saud Salmi, chairman of Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) trade union and chairman of oil and gas sector unions, said.
“Moreover, the authorities concerned should also ensure that mid-day break is followed strictly. And the companies should also provide proper shel-ter where the workers can actu-
ally take a rest during the break. Many companies fail to provide that but we have raised the issue with the authorities,” Saud added.
The regulations on occupa-tional safety and health at facili-ties governed by the Labour Law issued by Ministerial Decision No. 286/2008, Article 16, pro-hibit the employment of workers at construction sites, or in open spaces, during periods of high temperature, particularly from 12:30pm to 3:30pm in June, July, and August.
Flexible hoursA construction company manag-ing director who had given mid-day break facility to his workers last year depending on the weath-er conditions, said the ministry should discuss the issue seriously and make the dates fl exible.
“We did it last year by our-selves. We don’t want to put our workers in trouble by making them work when the tempera-tures are high. This year we will do the same. If the weather con-ditions are not good for work-ers, then we may provide them relaxations,” Ahmed Hamoud Al Shabibi, managing director of Al Shabibi Global LLC, said.
Meanwhile, an offi cial from Bangladesh embassy also said that in many countries, the work timings are adjusted according to the weather conditions.
“If the ministry makes the mid-day break announcement fl ex-ible according to the weather conditions, it would be a great relief for the poor workers,” the offi cial added.
A construction worker, who didn’t wanted to be named, said that it has become quite diffi cult to work under present condi-tions. >A6
Health of workers
being the top
priority, eminent
people have
called for early
announcement
of mid-day break,
as temperatures
across the Sultanate
hover around 46
degree Celsius
Search on for missing childTimes News Service
MUSCAT: Search operations by the Oman Coast Guard and the Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance (PACDA) are on to fi nd a child who was swept away at the Shinas beach.
A helicopter of the ROP has also joined the search along with Oman Navy personnel and citizens.
Eff orts are under way to locate the child, the PACDA tweeted.
S H I N A S B E A C H
SAFETY CONCERNS: A worker quenches his thirst at a workplace in the searing heat. - Photo: A R Rajkumar
Temperature forecastIn Celsius degree
Sohar
Fahud
Rustaq
Tue.19
Wed.20
Thur.21
Fri.22
Source: weather.com Graphics
Monthlyaverage
in the past
43.8
40.5
37.2
40
41.1
37.2
41.6
43.3
42.2
40 40
3938.8
42.2
39.4
Muscat
A3Oman plans to have new address system
OMANAvoid mobile bill shock
1Travelling is fantastic but you have to use a diff erent mobile network to the one you use at
home. >A4
REGIONIraqi militias move in
2A column of 3,000 militia fi ghters arrived at a military base near Ramadi as
Baghdad moved to retake the city that has fallen to IS. >A7
MARKETBank Nizwa decision
3Bank Nizwa said it is withdrawing its proposal for a merger with United
Finance. Shares of United Finance dipped by 0.78%. >B1
T O P T H R E E I N S I D E S T O R I E S
Oman Air orders six Dreamliners
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Sultanate plans to have uniform address system
TARIQ AL [email protected]
MUSCAT: Oman is all set to adopt a uniform address system, wherein no road or street name will be repeated in the same gov-ernorate, it was announced in Muscat on Monday.
Addressing the media, Dr Khal-ifa Al Barwani, CEO, National Centre for Statistics and Informa-tion (NCSI), who is also the head of the address committee, said that the uniform address system
programme is currently in the im-plementation stage.
“Currently we are using maps to electronically implement the pro-ject, and thereafter, we will physi-cally implement the street names and addresses,” he said.
The new addresses will use a number and street name to pin-point the location of a building.
“The road name will not be re-peated in the governorate, but it may be used in others. Every road and street will be named,” ex-plained Dr Khalifa.
“We have formed a committee dedicated solely to come up with street names,” he added.
The new addresses will be used in Muscat, Sohar and Salalah and the exercise is planned to be com-pleted before 2020.
He also informed that Oman plans to conduct an e-census to replace the existing form of popu-lation survey.
Addressing the media, Dr Khalifa revealed that e-census will provide the nation’s statis-tics in 2020.
Replacing the traditional method of gaining information for the census, the e-census’ methodology will be adopted.
“The census will not follow the traditional way of gathering in-formation. The high committee will decide how it is done,” said Dr Khalifa.
The e-census will cover popu-lation, buildings and businesses, just to name a few.
When asked about the cost of gathering information for the e-census 2020, he mentioned that the 2010 census was worth OMR20 million whereas a budget has not yet been set for 2020.
In September 2014, on the launching of the brand identity of NCSI, Khalifa had said, “We are preparing a number of new surveys and census, and there is a strong support from the Supreme Council for Planning to conduct the 2020 electronically using ad-vanced data capturing methods. This is considered a turning point with regard to census projects.”
Dr Khalifa had also noted that extensive online availability of so-cial, economic and environmental statistics made available by the NCSI via their website, mobile applications and social media portals, is a virtual gateway of information which is helpful for researchers, governmental and private institutions.
No road name will be repeated in a
governorate, but it may be used in others,
explained Dr Khalifa Al Barwani, CEO, NCSI
Fewer planned plots in Oman during last year
Times News Service
MUSCAT: There was a 16 per cent decline in the number of planned plots in the Sultanate in 2014, which stood at 53,912, as compared to 64,154 in 2013, fi gures released by the National Centre for Statistics and Infor-mation (NCSI) show.
Statistics bulletinThe Population and Construc-tion Statistics Bulletin issued recently by the NCSI stated that among the governorates, Al Bati-nah South acquired the lion’s share of planned plots during
2014 with 12,833.Al Batinah North was second
with 10,246, followed by Dakh-iliyah with 9,451. Dhofar and Al Dhahirah had 5,477 and 5,455 plots, respectively.
N C S I D A T A
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AT A GLANCE Residential usage
receives lion’s share.
Planned plots of land in the sultanate exceed 53,000.
Number of granted plots exceeds 29,000.
Better experience
for passengers
“We have also improved the pas-senger experience with large, dimmable windows, cleaner and more humid air, a lower cabin altitude, more overhead space for bags and a smoother ride to increase comfort and conveni-ence,” he added. Over the course of its relationship with Boeing, Oman Air has ordered a total of 20 Boeing aircraft, these include 737-800s, 737-900ERs in addi-tion to the 787-8. Eight aircraft have been delivered to date.
Since its establishment in 1993, Oman Air has witnessed excellent growth and has played a major role in making Muscat an important traffi c hub in the Middle East.
Boeing is now focussed on ensuring that the aircraft pro-grammes that are currently in the development phases such as the 787-10, 777X and 737MAX are on track and each of these build on the successful 777, 737 and 787 family of aircraft.
With the 737MAX, Boeing will build on the Next-Generation 737’s popularity and reliabil-ity while delivering customers un-surpassed fuel effi ciency in the single-aisle market.
The new 737 MAX combines the best of new technologies in en-gines, aerodynamics, fl ight deck and cabin interiors with the best in proven performance and mar-ket coverage.
Fuel effi cient planesBentrott said that the 737 MAX would have the lowest operating costs of any single-aisle airplane. The 737 MAX 8 will deliver 8 per cent lower costs per seat than its future competitor because of its fuel effi ciency and maintenance advantages.
Also, since fl ight delays and
cancellations cost the airline money, the 737 MAX has built on the 99.7 per cent schedule reli-ability record of the existing 737, ensuring that airlines keep fl ight operations and maintenance op-erations running on schedule.
“Development of the 737 MAX is on schedule with the fi rst fl ight scheduled for 2016 and deliver-ies to customers beginning in 2017. Already a market success, the 737 MAX has more than 2,713 orders globally from 57 customers,” said Bentrott.
The 787-10 is the third and longest member of the super-ef-fi cient 787 family. As a stretch of the 787-9, which in turn leverages the 787-8, the 787-10 will fl y more passengers and cargo farther, with unprecedented effi ciency. The airplane’s operating eco-nomics will be unmatched — 25 to 30 per cent more fuel effi cient than airplanes it will replace and more than 10 per cent better than anything being off ered by the competition for the future. De-velopment continues on track, with fi rst deliveries planned for 2018. As for the 777X, the plane builds on the 777 which is already a passenger favourite.
“The 777X will be the largest and most-effi cient twin-engine jet in the world, with 12 per cent lower fuel consumption and 10 per cent lower operating costs than the competition,” he noted.
The family includes the 777-8X and the 777-9X — both designed to respond to market needs and customer preferences. Boeing launched the airplane in Novem-ber 2013 at the Dubai Airshow with 259 commitments from four customers and production of the 777X is scheduled to begin in 2017, with the fi rst delivery targeted for 2020.
O M A N A I R
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OMANTravelling is fantastic but you have to use a diff erent mobile network to the one you use at home, which means that everything you do, calling, texting or browsing, is charged at a diff erent (typically higher) rate.
Simon Baldwin, Director of Consumer Marketing at Ooredoo
How to avoid mobile bill shock while roaming
One of the great things about living in Oman is the variety of things to
do. The mountains are great, the sea is beautiful and the wadis are spectacular. Sometimes, however, a change of scenery is welcome, which brings us onto another of the great things about living in Oman…. It’s close to some other wonderful countries.
Travelling is fantastic but you have to use a diff erent mobile net-work to the one you use at home, which means that everything you do, calling, texting or browsing, is charged at a diff erent (typically higher) rate.
If you don’t control this us-age, especially data, then prepaid
customers often fi nd they have no credit left pretty quickly and post-paid customers get a shock when the bill arrives.
Constantly consuming dataIn these days of smartphone de-pendency we sometimes forget that our app-packed phones are constantly consuming data even when we are not consciously us-ing the device. Even receiving a WhatsApp message, for example, will consume data and mean that you are charged because of this. Unless you are not at all worried about the cost, you need to take some action.
You can:• Switch your mobile to ‘fl ight’
mode and use free WiFi where it’s available. This is great if you only want to use data.
• Turn off roaming data. You’ll still be able to make a receive calls but not use the internet.
• You can use a local SIM. Great for making local calls or brows-ing but you’ll be using a diff erent number so people will fi nd it dif-fi cult to get hold of you.
• My favourite option, however, is to opt into a roaming bundle which most operators off er nowa-days. These bundles off er calls, tex-ting and data at incredibly reduced rates. Once you’ve used your quota you have to buy another bundle to continue roaming. Brilliant for keeping in contact with everyone
as your number doesn’t change and brilliant for managing costs because usage is capped.
Happy travels.
The author, Simon Baldwin is the Director of Consumer Marketing at Ooredoo. He has plenty of useful insights and tips that are easy to understand and essential in today’s mobile connected world. This col-umns series provides some tips and tricks for all telecoms users; whether browsing or streaming, using apps or travelling and more. If you want to control costs, get a better picture of how things work or even need tips on security and safeguarding, these columns are for you.
A D V I C E
Life’s lessons for Takatuf scholar
SARAH [email protected]
MUSCAT: After two years at a boarding school in England, Om-ani student Amna Mohammed Jaff er has learned both practi-cal and academic skills that will prepare her for the next step in her life, attending University College London.
Amna is just about to gradu-ate from Epsom College, an elite school in Epsom, Surrey, south of London, where she has been stud-ying thanks to a Takatuf Scholar-ship. Not only has she learned a lot from her classes, which were
more demanding than her Omani curriculum, but the experience taught her how to be independent and look after herself by doing her own laundry and cooking.
“It was quite challenging at the beginning. Classes were quite dif-fi cult…and I did get very homesick when I fi rst got here. But it has given me an idea of what it is like to live abroad and be independ-ent, living without someone doing everything for you,” Amna told Times of Oman in a video inter-view from her dorm room.
Amna is from the very fi rst group of Takatuf Scholars, who began with a month-long summer residential programme in 2012. The 30 students who participat-ed learned skills such as critical thinking, using ITC to enhance their studies, and team work.
“The programme was amaz-ing because they basically in-
troduced you to all the basics of what was called the core compe-tence of a 21st century student,” Amna explained.
Following the summer pro-gramme the students had a num-ber of individual assignments to work on throughout the year, jug-gling their schedules to fi t them in with their school work. After graduating from the Takatuf pro-gramme, Amna and several other students were given scholarships to attend international boarding schools in countries like Canada, the USA, and the UK.
Amna had been off ered an inter-national government scholarship for university but she decided to accept the Takatuf scholarship and complete two more years of high school in England, which
would mean she wouldn’t need to do a foundation year at university. Though it meant an extra year of studying, she says it was worth it.
“You realise it’s not about when you do things, but how much you benefi t from it,” Amna said.
As well as improving her chanc-es of getting into a top univer-sity, the experience also opened Amna’s eyes to the world. Epsom College has students from many diff erent countries which helped her learn about cross-cultural communications, too.
“It’s enlightening in a way. I don’t only meet British people. I have also of Malaysian friends, people from Hong Kong, and Russia. You learn things from them every day, and a lot of stereotypes have been broken,” she said, adding that she gets to tell them about Oman, and, as the only student who wears a headscarf, about Islam.
The Takatuf Scholars
programme seeks
to give bright young
Omanis skills needed
in a global world. For
the next three days,
Times of Oman will
introduce its readers
to three of them
Simon Baldwin
Amna Mohammed Jaff er
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Career fair opens at Muscat College
MUSCAT: It was a time for ca-reer assessment as career fair for private colleges opened at Muscat College yesterday. The opening ceremony of the two-day fair was opened under the patronage of Dr. Hamad bin Said Al Oufi , Undersec-retary of the Ministry of Agricul-ture and Fisheries.
The fair has been organised by seven private colleges — Oman Tourism College, Muscat College, College of Banking and Financial Studies, Modern College of Busi-ness and Science, Mazoon Univer-sity College, Arab Open University and Middle East College. -ONA
E D U C A T I O N
Seminar to focus on innovation in government
MUSCAT: Good practices in the fi eld of innovation in gov-ernment institutions will be dis-cussed at a seminar set to open here today.
The 8th Gulf seminar on “In-novation in Government Insti-tutions: Experiences and Prac-tices,” will be opened tomorrow (Tuesday) at Shangri La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa under the patronage of Sheikh Khalid bin Omar Al Marhoon, Minister of Civil Service.
The two-day seminar is host-ed this year by the Institute of Public Administration (IPA), in cooperation with the GCC Sec-retariat General.
Sayyid Zaki bin Hilal Al Bu-saidi, Director General of IPA said that this seminar comes to put forth and discuss the good practices in the field of innovation in the government institutions.
He pointed out that IPA aims to achieve the optimum benefi t of the seminar at the Sultanate’s level through the participation of some government institu-tions in the Sultanate, including the Research Council, which will present some working pa-pers that meet the goals of the seminar. -ONA
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Lulu Group plans to open five more hypermarkets in the Sultanate
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Lulu Group is planning to open five more hypermarkets in Oman, said a top official of the group.
Talking on the sidelines of the soft opening of the $200 million Oman Avenues Mall managed by Lulu, Yusuff Ali, MA, managing director, Lulu Group, said that they would be opening a large number of hypermarkets for shoppers in Oman.
“These will come up at Sinaw, Rustaq and Bidiyah in addition to Suwaiq and Sohar,” said Ananth AV, regional director of Lulu Oman. Yusuff Ali also claimed that the retail sector business is not af-fected by the dip in oil prices.
“The governments of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries have plans in place to ensure that they will not be aff ected by the oil price fl uctuations. So, the retail sector and other sectors are not aff ected,” he said.
Lulu is one of the largest retail chains in Asia and the biggest in Middle East, with 115 outlets in the GCC countries and one in In-dia. He also said that the new mall will have more than 200 outlets, including several global brands.
“A defi nite thrill for those seek-ing new fashion tags as well as those ready to experiment with new labels, the Oman Avenues Mall will bring brands never show-cased in Oman before,” he said.
Partnering with one of the most successful retail delivery special-ists, Vindico Retail, that has deliv-ered more than 4,000 shops and restaurants over four continents, the Oman Avenues Mall houses some of the most sought after and popular names in the industry.
The fi ve new malls in
Oman will be located
in Sinaw, Rustaq,
Bidiyah, Suwaiq
and SoharYusuff Ali, MA, managing
director, Lulu Group.
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Lulu kick-starts the much loved Mango Fest
Times News Service
MUSCAT: It’s time for mango lov-ers to relish their favourite fruit as top pick of the world’s mangoes will be on display at the Lulu Hy-permarkets from today.
This annual summer festival that celebrates the king of fruits is back, and mango lovers are wait-ing to get their hands on this tropi-cal fruit that Lulu proudly dis-plays each time. The Mango Fest started from May 18 and will go on for a good 12 days at all the Lulu branches in the Sultanate.
The fest was inaugurated by J S Mukul, Indian ambassador to the Sultanate, at the Lulu Bausher branch alongside Yusuff Ali, MA, managing director, Lulu Group. The inauguration also witnessed an elaborate cake-cutting cere-mony. Well connected with grow-ers both nationally and interna-tionally, Lulu Oman has over 101 astounding varieties of mangoes, which elicits unbridled joy from lovers of this fruit.
The distinct aroma of the fruit is bound to entice shoppers even if they just stroll down the aisles. A display as alluring as the suc-culent taste, the exclusive niche dedicated to the mango fest showcases a wide diversity of choice with vibrant hues of green, yellow and orange. Some of the most popular varieties currently on display are Alphonso, Badami, Langra and Totapuri. The best of this much loved fruit is carefully selected and sourced from Oman, India, Kenya, and Thailand in addition to Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Brazil.
Ghana, Vietnam, Uganda along with Mexico and Sri Lanka also bring their varieties here. Oman, of late, has also seen a marked rise in the cultivation of mangoes, making the local produce a pre-ferred choice amongst the Omani market. Bringing in a festive feel to the campaign, the Mango Fest will
have sampling booths where shop-pers can get a taste of the diff erent varieties of the fruit.
Shoppers can stop by for a quick bite and give into the pure indul-gence of this fruit. The fest also of-fers various processed and packed mango products ranging from jams, pickles, pulps and chutneys in addition to cakes and a variety of other products.
“The Mango Fest is an annual festival that we wish we could have the year round as the response has always been overwhelming. Every year, our customers look forward to this festival, where they are given the choice to enjoy the very best varieties from the world over,” said Ananth A V, regional director of Lulu Oman.
“We take this opportunity to import the best, while our local growers give us delicious home grown varieties. These fests help us to connect to our customers on a more personal level. The king of fruits has always remained a fa-vourite all over the world and the onset of its season surely calls for a reason to celebrate,” he added.
The 600,000 plus shoppers who patronise Lulu daily are a true testament to the popularity of the Lulu brand. Lulu in Oman, has since its inception, invested heavi-ly on nurturing and developing the local talent pool which has helped the group to achieve the success it enjoys today. Lulu Hypermar-kets are immensely popular with all their customers for the unique shopping experience they provide at each and every store of theirs. It is a pleasant and novel variation from the usual, run of the mill su-per markets.
Heralded as the fastest growing retail chain in the world, the mul-ti-faceted business conglomerate, known for its customer friendly approach and value-added off ers, bears the stamp of variety, moder-nity, quality and friendliness. With a group of well trained staff .
P R O M O T I O N
KING OF FRUITS: The Mango Fest started on May 18 and will
continue for 12 days at all the Lulu branches in Oman. – OK Mohammad Ali
‘Mall to set retail benchmark’
“Today we are having a soft launch of the mall where around 60 brands were opened to the public,” he said. By October, he hopes all the outlets will be opened for Oman residents other than the cinema.
“Around 40 per cent of the brands will be present for the fi rst time in Oman,” he said.
The fi ve-storeyed mall with 80,000 square metres of leas-able area, a wide variety of retail stores and a host of facilities, is home to a mix of local, high-street and posh international brands.
“We have around 3,400 parking bays divided equally between the basement and the surface park-ing to help shoppers. It is located at the junction of the Ghubra-Bausher signal,” he added.
The mall was recently renamed the Oman Avenues Mall keeping in mind the local centric popula-tion and patrons for the mall.
“We are expecting around 40,000 to 50,000 people every day and will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.,” he said.
A symbiotic blend catering to the needs of shopping enthusi-asts on the one hand and enter-tainment seekers on the other, the mall showcases an array of new as well as prominent brands from across the world.
“There will be also the larg-est indoor entertainment area, which will have the largest cine-ma houses in Oman,” said George.
Talking about the new brands he said several new ones will be opening outlets in the mall in-cluding Glossip Milano, Bottega Verde and Boots UK Limited, a leading pharmacy chain in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and many others.
A large food court with popular names serving cuisine from all over the world, to a well-equipped play area for the comfort of chil-dren, the mall has amenities to suit the needs of all shoppers and also includes the existing 20,000-square metre Lulu hyper-market for all the daily needs.
The mall will also have exten-sive facilities for party halls, a convention centre and one of the largest health clubs in the Sultan-
ate. “With more and more retail-ers set to open their stores in the near future, we promise to keep alive the same excitement and all-around buzz that the grand open-ing saw. It gives us the confi dence that the Oman Avenues Mall is going to set a benchmark in the retail mall sector. Not only will it be a one-of-a-kind shopping des-tination for customers, but it will also provide a strong platform for brands from across the world to get due recognition in the Oman
market,” said Yusuff Ali, MA. “Under the visionary leader-
ship of His Majesty Sultan Qa-boos bin Said and the kind sup-port of the Omani government, Oman has proved to be an excel-lent land for growth of new busi-ness ventures and we are hon-oured to be humble contributors to this nation’s economy. Oman’s
economy is shaped by strong do-mestic demand and economies of scale. The sustained infl ow of tourists and the diversifi ed growth strategies outlined by the government will continue to energise the economy, and the Oman Avenues Mall will play a key role in driving the retail sector,” he added.
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200brands
8coffeeshops
80,000squaremetres
Area
3,400parking
bays
16fast food
shops
11restaurants
80first timein Oman
Outlets
OMAN AVENUES MALLFACTS
Graphics
5storeys
Expectedfootfall
peopleevery day
40,00050,000
TO
10 to 10
Openinghours
Photos by OK Mohammad Ali
A6
OMANT U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
We want to show the ability of the theatre. It’s important to show what is provided for people
Khalid Al Busaidi, Royal Opera House Muscat’s offi cial photographer
ROHM photographer refl ects on top events
SARAH [email protected]
MUSCAT: Moments from ope-ras, ballets, concerts and more as captured through the lens of the Royal Opera House Muscat’s offi cial photographer, Khalid Al Busaidi, were revealed to the pub-lic at an exhibition of his work on Monday evening at the Opera Gal-leria.
The exhibition, called “Music Refl ections,” was inaugurated by His Highness Sayyid Kamil bin Fahd Al Said, Assistant Secretary General of the Deputy Prime Min-ster Offi ce for Cabinet Aff airs and
member of the Board of Directors of the ROHM. It includes 45 pho-tographs Khalid has taken at the ROHM since he began working there in September 2012.
“You can’t have a show with-out music, and the refl ection is in my camera,” Khalid told Times of Oman, in an interview about his work.
The exhibition highlights the great variety of performances that take place on the ROHM’s stage, from opera and classical concerts,
to jazz, Arab and world music, and a variety of dance.
“We want to show the abil-ity of the theatre. It’s important to show what is provided for people,” Khalid explained.
He says he tried to choose im-ages that would interest a vari-ety of people, from photographers who will appreciate his vision and technique, to music and dance fans who will enjoy the scenes from the productions.
“I want everybody to enjoy the
show,” he said. Khalid said he loves his job because it is unique and he likes that there is always something new happening at the ROHM which keeps him inspired. Meeting the artists motivates him, too.
He often transfers the images to his phone after he’s taken them and shows them to the artists, who often ask for copies.
“The ROHM name and my name go all over the world,” Khalid commented.
Sayyid Kamil, who is a great supporter of arts in Oman, said “It’s an honour to see we have such amazing local talent when it comes to photography in Oman. What Khalid was trying to do to-day was build a bridge between the art of photography and the art that’s shown in the opera house.”
Sayyid Kamil added that he hoped people would see the diver-sity of the productions at the op-era house in Khalid’s images and be encouraged to attend in future seasons.
“We’re very honoured to have Khalid here with us in the opera house because he refl ects a lot of the performances that sometimes people didn’t have the chance to see,” he said. “Music Refl ections” will be on display at the Opera Galleria until May 31.
The exhibition
includes 45 pictures
taken by Busaidi
at the ROHM since
he began working
there in September
2012
A dozen ensembles set to perform at Rhythm FestivalTimes News Service
MUSCAT: Exhilarating rhythms from around the world will be fea-tured at the Royal Opera House Muscat’s International Rhythm Festival, a unique event which will held on May 19, 21 and 23.
The festival will be comple-mented by a free, ticketed Inter-national Rhythm Symposium on May 20.
The lively festival brings to-gether 12 ensembles from 11 dif-ferent countries. Each of the three evenings will feature a diff erent theme, including “Rhythm and Body” on May 19, “Rhythm With-out Musical Instruments” on May 21, and “Sound of Rhythm” on May 23.
“Each of the ensembles and musicians are totally diff erent, but they are all entertaining and extremely energetic. I encourage people to come to all three con-certs, as they will show diff erent types of rhythm and from global contexts,” said Umberto Fanni, ROHM’s artistic director and act-ing director general.
On the fi rst evening, groups from Oman, Austria, Japan, the USA and Spain will take to the stage showcasing a variety of drumming and percussion styles that also feature the importance of the human body. A prime ex-ample is the Wadaiko drumming
from Japan, which requires in-credible physical fi tness from those who practice it.
Second concertThe second concert will include ensembles from Austria, Guinea and Senegal, India, the USA, Spain and Germany, who will create impressive rhythms with-out using instruments. They will demonstrate the many ways in which drumming sounds can be
created with hands, feet, tools, other objects, and a lot of imagi-nation.
The fi nal concert brings togeth-er groups from Oman, Tajikistan, Mexico, India, Guinea and Sen-egal, and Japan to focus on the “Sound of Rhythm.” No doubt everyone in the audience will be tapping along with their infec-tious music.
Participating ensemblesThe participating ensembles in-clude Al Rauwah Art Band from Oman, Austria’s Volkstanzkreis Fischbach, Japan’s Gonna and the Royal Guard of Oman Drum Corps, in addition to Be The Groove from the USA, Spain’s Ballet Carmen Cantero, Tazajo Tamboo from Guinea and Sen-egal and India’s Vikku Vinay-akram. Germany’s Alpine Drums, Oman’s Al Mithaliya Group for Folklore, Sadoi from Tajikistan and Tambuco from Mexico make up the ensembles.
The symposium will feature fi ve international experts speak-ing and giving demonstrations about diff erent aspects of rhythm. The event will not only educate, but entertain and complement the International Rhythm Festi-val. People who are interested in attending can contact the box of-fi ce for tickets to the limited seat-ing event.
U N I Q U E E V E N T
Exhilarating rhythms from
around the world will be fea-
tured at the Royal Opera House
Muscat.
REFLECTIONS: The exhibition, titled ‘Music Refl ections’, was inau-
gurated by His Highness Sayyid Kamil bin Fahd Al Said, Assistant
Secretary General of the Deputy Prime Minster Offi ce for Cabinet
Aff airs and Member of the Board of Directors of the ROHM.
- Photo: Khalid Al Busaidi and Times of Oman
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PHOTO GALLERYW W W.T I M E S O F O M A N . C O M
Plea to announce the mid-day break soon“Many of our colleagues are fi nd-ing it diffi cult. Today also one of our colleagues fell down due to dehydration. We request the gov-ernment to announce the mid-day break soon,” the worker said.
One Muscat-based medic said that there has been an increase in the number of workers coming with sunburn problems and heat- related ailments.
“We are getting more and more patients who are suff ering from heat exposure. Majority of the cases are dehydration ones,” Dr Shibu Mohammed, a dermatolo-gist, at Badr Al Samaa Hospital in Ruwi, said.
In 2014, during the mid-day break period, the ministry had inspected 700 facilities and fi ned 172 for violating the rule. And in
2013, the ministry fi ned close to 35 companies.
Article 118 of the Labour Law states that violators would be penalised either with a fi ne not less than OMR100 and not more than OMR500, or a jail term of not more than one year, or both, and also that repeated violations would lead to the penalty being doubled.
H E A T E X P O S U R E
HM receives thanks cableMUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qa-boos bin Said has received a cable of thanks from Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Head of the Commonwealth in reply to His Majesty’s greetings cable on her birthday.
In her cable, Queen Elizabeth expressed her utmost thanks to His Majesty the Sultan and Omani people. -ONA
Q U E E N E L I Z A B E T H I I
HEAT-RELATED AILMENTS: There has been an increase in the num-
ber of workers with sunburn problems. - Photo: A R Rajkumar
< FROM
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A7
REGIONT U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
Iraqi militias now move in toretake Ramadi
BAGHDAD: A column of 3,000 militia fi ghters arrived at a mili-tary base near Ramadi on Mon-day as Baghdad moved to retake the western Iraqi city that has fallen to IS group militants in the biggest defeat for the government since mid-2014.
Setting the stage for renewed fi ghting over the city, IS militants advanced in armoured vehicles from Ramadi towards the base where the paramilitaries were massing for a counter-off ensive, witnesses and a military offi cer said. At the same time, US-led warplanes stepped up raids against the militants, conducting 19 strikes near Ramadi over the past 72 hours at the request of the Iraqi security forces, a coalition spokesman said.
The militia, known as Hashid
Shaabi or Popular Mobilisation, was ordered to mobilise after the city, the capital of Anbar province, was overrun on Sunday.
The militiamen give the gov-ernment far more capability to launch a counterattack, but their arrival could add to sectarian ani-mosity in one of the most violent parts of Iraq.
“Hashid Shaabi forces reached the Habbaniya base and are now on standby,” said the head of the Anbar provincial council, Sa-bah Karhout. They were fully equipped and highly capable, the council said.
An eyewitness described a long line of armoured vehicles and trucks mounted with machine guns and rockets, fl ying the yel-low fl ags of Kataib Hezbollah, one
of the militia factions, heading towards the base about 30km (20 miles) from Ramadi.
Spokesmen for militia groups said reconnaissance and plan-ning were underway for the upcoming “battle of Anbar”, the vast Euphrates River valley province where the US military fought the biggest battles of its 11-year occupation.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi signed off on the deploy-ment of militias to attempt to seize back the area, a move he had previously resisted for fear of pro-voking a sectarian backlash.
About 500 people have been killed in the fi ghting for Ramadi in recent days and up to 8,000 have fl ed, a spokesman for the provin-cial governor said. — Reuters
The militia was
ordered to mobilise
after Ramadi, the
capital of Anbar
province, was
overrun by IS group
militants
Heavy clashes erupt as Syrian army battles insurgents in IdlibBEIRUT: Heavy clashes between Syria’s army and insurgents erupted around a military base south of Idlib city on Monday as part of a wider battle for control of the northwestern province, Syr-ian state television and a group monitoring the war said.
Last major strongholdsThe Mastouma base is one of the last major army strongholds in a province controlled by a range of insurgent groups including Al Qaeda’s Syrian wing, the Al Nusra Front, and the hardline Ahrar Al Sham movement.
Army units “infl icted great losses” on armed groups in bat-tles to the north and around Mas-touma, Syrian state television
reported, citing a military source. The British-based Syrian Ob-servatory for Human Rights said most of the troops positioned in Idlib city were now in Mastouma after insurgents took over the pro-vincial capital in March. The base is used for launching air raids in the province.
There were reports of casual-ties in the battles, it said, without giving details.
ClashesSyrian state television also re-ported clashes around Filoun vil-lage to the west of the base, which is located on a major road heading south out of Idlib city.
The base is east of the town of Jisr Al Shughour, which was cap-
tured by the hardline insurgents in April, an advance that brought them closer to the coastal areas that form the heartland of the mi-nority Alawite sect to which Pres-ident Bashar Al Assad belongs.
CampaignIn the last week, Hezbollah move-ment has started a major cam-paign to drive insurgents from large areas of the Qalamoun mountain range, a short drive from the capital Damascus.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah-run Al Manar television said on Monday that 10 militants had been killed and 20 wounded when the army and Hezbollah fi ghters attacked them in the Qalamoun area and the town of Fleita. — Reuters
W A R W I T H I N C O U N T R Y
Egyptian policeman shot dead
CAIRO: Gunmen on a motor-bike shot dead an Egyptian po-liceman while two suspects in a failed bomb attack targeting a judge were killed in a shoot-out with police, offi cials said on Monday.
Militants have carried out regular attacks on policemen and soldiers since the army overthrew former president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.
Militants say their assaults are in retaliation for a gov-ernment crackdown against Morsi’s supporters that has left hundreds dead and thousands jailed. The gunmen on a mo-torbike opened fi re on a police-man during the night near a court in Belbeis, a town around 60 kilometres (about 38 miles) northeast of Cairo, a police of-fi cial said. The policeman died in hospital.
In a separate incident, police killed two men suspected of involvement in a failed bomb attack that targeted judge Mu-taz Khafagi in Cairo last week, the interior ministry said in a statement.
The two suspects, who lived in a Cairo suburb, were shot dead in a fi refi ght when police went to arrest them, the min-istry said without specifying when they were killed. — AFP
I N S U R G E N C Y
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi signed off on the deployment of militias to attempt to seize back the area, a move he had previously resisted for fear of provoking a sectarian backlash.
ALL SET FOR BATTLE: Iraqi fi ghters of the militia Asaib Ahl Al
Haq stand guard outside their headquarters on Sunday in the city
of Basra, as militias converged on Ramadi in a bid to recapture it
from IS group militants. – AFP
HEAVY FIGHTING: A rebel fi ghter of the Al Furqan brigade covers his ears as a fellow fi ghter fi res a vehicle’s
weapon during what the rebels said is an off ensive to take control of the Al Mastouma army base which
is controlled by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad near Idlib city on Sunday. – Reuters
T I M E S O F O M A NT U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5 T I M E S O F O M A NA8
INDIA
PROTEST AGAINST FUEL PRICE HIKEAam Aadmi Party activists protest against fuel price hike in Bhopal on Monday. The petrol price was hiked by Rs3.13 a litre and
diesel by Rs2.71 per litre on Friday, the second straight steep increase in rates this month. - PTI
Tussle between Kejriwal and Jung turns murkier
NEW DELHI: A top Delhi bu-reaucrat on Monday found his offi ce locked and another’s ap-pointment was declared void as the turf war between Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lt Governor Najeeb Jung turned murkier with both sides show-ing no sign of any let up in ending their bitter fi ght.
The day began with AAP ad-ministration locking the offi ce of Principal Secretary (Services) Anindo Majumdar and subse-quently appointing Rajendra Ku-mar, a senior bureaucrat known to be close to Kejriwal, to the post.
Majumdar had issued an or-der notifying the appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as acting chief secretary on Friday.
Promptly reacting to Kumar’s appointment, Jung shot off a letter to Kejriwal, declaring his posting in place of Majumdar “void” and categorically made it clear that he was the fi nal author-
ity for appointment and transfer of senior bureaucrats.
As the letter found way to the media, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tweeted “Strange that a Constitutional Authority leaking letters addressed to Dy CM before it is received. Is it allowed under Constitution of India?”
Earlier in the morning, Ma-jumdar found his offi ce in Delhi Secretariat locked. Sources in the government said the instruc-tion to lock the offi ce came from the Chief Minister’s offi ce.
Majumdar was removed from the post by Kejriwal on Saturday after he issued the appointment letter to Gamlin on instructions from Jung. The LG, on the same evening, had declared the order to transfer Majumdar “void”, say-ing it did not have his approval.
In his letter to Kejriwal, Jung said, he rejected Kumar’s ap-pointment as it is against the laid down rules and procedure. -PTI
R O W O V E R A P P O I N T M E N T
Girls outperform boys
in ISC, ICSE results
NEW DELHI: The Council for the Indian School Certifi cate Ex-amination (CISCE) on Monday declared results for both class XII, which saw a pass percentage of 96.28, and class X with 98.49 per cent as girls once again out-shone boys.
ICSE (Class X) and ISC (Class XII) Examination, 2015, showed a marginal increase in pass per-centages over the previous year’s results, said Gerry Arathoon, CEO of the Council.
While class X registered a slight increase of 0.21 per cent, class XII showed a 1.01 per cent increase as compared to previous year’s result.
For class X, the pass percent-age of girls was 98.95 as against boys which was 98.12 per cent, he said, adding girls have performed better than boys in class XII re-sult also with a pass percentage of 97.49 per cent against boys 95.27 per cent.
In the class XII results, the top rank was secured by Arkya Chat-terjee from Vivekanand Mission School, Kolkata, who scored 99.75 per cent marks.
The second position was bagged by four students with 99.50 per cent marks while the third rank by 13 students who scored 99.25 per cent marks.
The top position in Class X re-sult was shared by three students — Sougata Chowdhury from St Xavier’s Collegiate School, Kol-
kata; Ananya Harshad Patward-han, Chatrabhuj Narsee Memo-rial School, Mumbai; and Tezan Papan Sahu of St Mary’s ICSE School, Navi Mumbai.
Each of them scored 99.20 per cent marks. The second position was bagged by three students scoring 99 per cent marks and the third place by 11 students secur-ing 98.80 per cent marks.
A total of 158,833 students including over 70,000 girls ap-peared in the ICSE this year.
In class XII, over 38,000 boys and 32,000 girls appeared in the examination this year.
Southern region students recorded the highest pass per-centages in class X and XII re-sults while maximum students appeared in the examinations from northern region compris-ing Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, and Delhi and NCR, he said. - PTI
G O O D S H O W
Rahul slams Modi, giveshim zero out of 10 marks
AMETHI (UP): Taking his fi ght for farmers to his Lok Sabha con-stituency, Rahul Gandhi on Sun-day said he would give “zero out of 10” rating to the Narendra Modi government on its handling of ag-riculture and rural issues.
Striking an aggressive note on the fi rst day of his three-day visit to Amethi, the Congress Vice President also accused the Modi government of engaging in “poli-tics of revenge” by cancelling a mega food park here and vowed to fi ght to get it back.
Hitting out at Modi, Rahul said
he was visiting foreign countries but not the homes of farmers in the country.
Farmers’ plight“The PM is visiting foreign coun-tries, but he does not go to the houses of farmers and labourers,” said Rahul, as he met farmers who have suff ered crop loss due to un-seasonal rainfall and hailstorms.
Asked by reporters how he would rate the NDA government’s performance during fi rst year in offi ce, the Congress leader said, “If we talk of farmers and labourers, I will give zero out of 10 (to Modi government).(But) if some indus-trialists and corporate houses are concerned, I will give 10 out of 10.”
He was interacting with report-ers at Haidergarh in Barabanki district en route to Amethi.
At a kisan panchayat at Shankar-garh in Tiloi assembly segment, Rahul said, “Modi government has no emotions for the farmers”.Rahul also took on the Modi gov-ernment over the cancellation of a mega food park project in his con-stituency.
“BJP wants to hurt me through this politics of revenge. But, in reality the farmers are getting af-fected, and not me. The move of BJP-led government has aff ected farmers and labourers of Amethi and 10 neighbouring districts.
“BJP is playing such politics in other states as well like Pun-
jab, Telangana, Maharashtra and Haryana, wherever farmers can be suppressed. “But we will not be cowed down...We will pressure the government to get it back,” he said, amid applause from the farmers, who shouted slogans in support of Rahul.
His visit to Amethi came days after Union Minister Smriti Ira-ni’s tour of the Congress pocket borough — where she had unsuc-cessfully contested against Gan-dhi in the last Lok Sabha election -- and her charge that he cared more for a business house than for the farmers of Amethi.
“Land had been allotted. Work was very much underway...,” Ra-hul told a gathering of farmers at a ‘choupal’ at village Mirzagarh, addressing them from the bonnet of his jeep braving torrid weather conditions and high humidity.
Rahul sought to blunt the state-ment in Lok Sabha by Food Pro-cessing Minister Harsimrat Kaur that the food park’s promoter com-pany had expressed inability to pursue the project in the absence of natural gas, which was denied to it by the government in Decem-ber 2012. Kaur had said that in view of inordinate delay by the promoter company in meeting the “pre-conditions for fi nal approval, in-principle approval accorded to the project by the Ministry was cancelled”. -PTI
The Congress vice
president accused
the Modi government
of engaging in
‘politics of revenge’
by cancelling a mega
food park in Amethi
and vowed to fi ght to
get it back
UPBEAT: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi during his padyatra
to the site of the proposed food park in Amethi on Monday. - PTI
JUBILANT: Students celebrate
their success after announce-
ment of ICSE and ISC results
in Ranchi on Monday. - PTI
T I M E S O F O M A N T U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5T I M E S O F O M A N A9
INDIA
India, South Korea sign key pacts to boost cooperation
SEOUL: India and South Korea on Monday agreed to upgrade their ties to ‘special strategic part-nership’ and deepen cooperation in defence sector as the two sides signed seven pacts, including on avoidance of double taxation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived here on Mon-day from Mongolia on the last leg of his three-nation tour, held wide-ranging talks with South Korean President Park Geun-Hye at Cheong Wae Dae, the offi ce and residence of the president.
Upgrade“We have agreed to upgrade the bilateral relationship to ‘special strategic partnership’,” Modi said at a joint press interaction with President Park after their “excellent” talks.
“We have laid the foundation for a relationship that two major
Asian countries with shared val-ues should have,” he said, adding that decisions made today re-fl ect how seriously the two coun-tries take the new framework of the relationship.
Noting that India considers South Korea a “crucial partner” in its economic modernisation, Modi said South Korea can be a leading partner in India’s eff orts to develop a world class manu-facturing sector.
“Our relationship started with a strong economic emphasis. But, it has also now become strategic in content,” the prime minister said.
Modi said South Korea is the second country (after Japan) with which India will have a dip-lomatic and security dialogue in 2+2 format, referring to a bilateral dialogue process involving the foreign and defence ministers of the two sides.
Stating that the national secu-rity councils of the two sides will have regular cooperation, Modi
said the two nations have agreed to expand cooperation between their armed forces.
“We intend to deepen our coop-eration in defence technology and manufacture of defence equipment in India. This sector off ers huge opportunities in India,” he said.
The prime minister said South Korean president’s response has been positive on the participation of Korean companies in the de-fence sector in India.
Describing his visit as “very important”, Modi said he was in South Korea at a time of re-newed momentum in the Indian economy. “We are pursuing a comprehensive programme of economic modernisation that covers all sectors of our econ-omy and all aspects of policies and procedures,” he said.
The two sides signed seven agreements covering avoidance of double taxation and preven-tion of fi scal evasion with respect to taxes on income, MoU between
National Security Councils of the two countries, MoU on shipping and transport.
Modest tradeNoting that the bilateral modest trade ($17.57 billion in 2013) is well below its potential, Modi said he and President Park agreed to review the Comprehensive Eco-nomic Partnership Agreement and other market access related issues.
“We had extensive discussions on economic relations,” he said, adding that he conveyed to Presi-dent Park India’s desire to see a balanced and broad-based growth in bilateral trade.
Modi said many South Korean brands are household names and Korean companies have the edge to succeed in India.
“President Park and I see vast opportunities for Korean companies to participate in our ‘Make in India’ Mission,” Modi said and invited Korean invest-ments in areas like ship building,
including LNG tankers, besides defence equipment.
“We will also establish a chan-nel — Korea Plus — to facilitate their investment and operations in India,” he said.
The two leaders also had pro-ductive discussions on interna-tional issues.
Modi described South Korea as a “strong pillar of democracy” in Asia and welcomed its diplomatic eff orts to maintain peace and sta-bility of the Korean Peninsula.
“I also shared her (President Park) concerns that proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction will not be in the interest of countries of the region. I off ered India’s support to Korean people for peaceful re-unifi cation of Korean Peninsula,” the Prime Minister said.
The two leaders also discussed their engagement in the East Asia Summit and with Asean.
“We have a shared interest in an open, balanced and inclusive re-gional architecture. We have com-mon views on maritime security in this region,” he said, adding the two sides have agreed to work to-gether and with other countries in the region to ensure the freedom of navigation and safety and security of sea lanes of communication.
Earlier in the day, Modi took an-other jibe at previous governments which practiced ‘Look East’ policy, saying India has had enough of it and it’s time to ‘Act East’.
“Earlier, it was ‘Look East Pol-icy’. We have had enough of look-ing east. We now have ‘Act East Policy’ — a key component of my government’s foreign policy,” Modi told Indian diaspora dur-ing a community reception at the Kyung Hee University here in the South Korean capital. - PTI
Noting that
India considers
South Korea a
‘crucial partner’
in its economic
modernisation,
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said
South Korea can be
a leading partner
in India’s eff orts to
develop a world class
manufacturing sector
Assault victim Aruna Shanbaug dies after 42 years in comaNEW DELHI: A nurse died on Monday after 42 years in a coma following a brutal rape, in a case that led India to ease some restric-tions on euthanasia.
Aruna Shanbaug suff ered brain damage and had been in a veg-etative state in a Mumbai hospital since being strangled with a dog chain and assaulted by a hospital worker in 1973.
The 66-year-old Shanbaug had
suff ered a bout of pneumonia in recent days and was on a ventila-tor, offi cials at King Edward Hos-pital in Mumbai said.Shanbaug was attacked by a ward boy in the basement of the hospital where she was discovered 11 hours later, blind and suff ering from a severe brain stem injury.
Left bedridden, she spent more than four decades being cared for by a team of doctors and nurses at
the hospital. Her attacker was freed after a seven-year jail sentence.
“Her actual death happened in 1973 (the date of the attack). Now what has happened is her legal death,” her friend and journalist Pinki Virani told Zee News TV channel.
“Our Aruna has given our coun-try a big thing in the form of a law on passive euthanasia,” Virani said. Shanbaug’s plight became a focal
point of debate on euthanasia in India after Virani appealed to In-dia’s top court in 1999 to allow her to die with dignity. Indian laws do not permit euthanasia or self-star-vation to the point of death.
But in 2011 the Supreme Court decided that life support could be legally removed for some terminal-ly ill patients in a landmark ruling that allowed “passive euthanasia” for the fi rst time.
The court said withdrawing life support could be allowed in excep-tional circumstances, provided the request was from family and super-vised by doctors and the courts.
The supervision was required to prevent “unscrupulous” fam-ily members attempting to kill off wealthy relatives, the Supreme Court had said. The court however rejected Virani’s request to stop Shanbaug being force-fed. - AFP
B R A I N D A M A G E
We are pursuing
a comprehensive
programme of economic
modernisation that
covers all sectors of
our economy and all
aspects of policies and
procedures
Narendra ModiPrime Minister
WARM GREETINGS: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes
hands with South Korean President Park Geun-Hye prior to their
meeting at the presidential Blue House on Monday in Seoul,
South Korea. - Reuters
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PHOTO GALLERYW W W.T I M E S O F O M A N . C O M
ORDEAL ENDS: Aruna Shanbaug,
who was in a vegetative state
for the last 42 years, passed
away on Monday. - PTI fi le photo
Indian students claim receiving extortion callsin New Zealand
MELBOURNE: Indian students living in New Zealand are being targeted by callers posing as im-migration offi cials demanding thousands of dollars, prompting authorities to warn the Indian na-tionals not to fall into the trap.
The scammers use a practice known as “caller ID spoofi ng” to make it appear as though they are calling from an offi cial govern-ment department number.
The callers claim to be calling from Immigration New Zealand and tell the person there has been a prob-lem with the processing of their visa or arrival card information. They then demand money be paid into a Western Union account in India, The New Zealand Herald reported.
The callers were aggressive and authoritative, said the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employ-ment, and often had details about the person they were speaking to, which made the call seem genuine.
Over a lakh Indian-origin people are residing in New Zealand.
Saritha Annapureddy, an Indian lost almost all her savings after being scammed out of more than $4,000, it reported.
“Initially when I received the call I thought it’s a fake call. I mean some friend is playing prank with me,” she said.
Documentation feesThe call was from someone pre-tending to be from Immigration New Zealand, and Annapureddy was told she had not fi lled in her arrival card incorrectly and had to pay fees or be deported immedi-ately. The man told her to transfer money via Western Union for law-yers’ and documentation fees.
“I had to believe them because the number was exactly the Auck-land Immigration number with a zero diff erence,” she said.
Immigration New Zealand has been aware of the scam since mid-2013, but a new wave of fake phone calls has prompted the ministry to give further warnings. - PTI
F A K E P H O N E C A L L S
A10
PAKISTANT U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
Tribes under pressure to sign pact to fight Taliban
PESHAWAR: Hundreds of thou-sands of Pakistanis displaced by anti-Taliban military operations in tribal areas wish only to return home — but fi rst they have to agree to fi ght the extremists themselves.
It’s “social engineering” un-heard of in the recent war on ter-ror: Displace an entire population, fi ght the insurgents who remain, then bring back those uprooted
and charge them with keeping the militants at bay.
And this time, North Wa-ziristan’s displaced have little choice but to accept.
June marks one year since the army launched an off ensive in this region of northwest Pa-
kistan, which became a refuge for extremists after the Afghan Taliban was driven from power across the border.
On the Taliban’s fall in 2001, tribal chiefs welcomed them with open arms, or were forced to, transforming the area into a hub
for the global extremist move-ment, hosting fi ghters from Al Qaeda, the Haqqani network and European apprentice militants, targeted by US drone strikes.
But in launching their opera-tion last year, the Pakistani army pushed out hundreds of thou-
sands of ordinary Waziris, who today live in camps, with rela-tives, or in rented hovels in the tribal areas.
To return at all, residents must sign a “code of conduct” which has left many Waziris angry.
The code, offi cially titled a “so-cial contract”, prescribes that tribes affi rm their “loyalty” to Pakistan and recognise their “re-sponsibility” for the proliferation of extremists in the area in the past decade.
No compensationTribes are required to pledge that they will not allow “any terror-ists, internal or external, to use the land of North Waziristan for terrorism”, are obliged to form 40-man militias known as the “Qoo-mi Salweeshi” to deny extremists refuge, and must report on the movements of the “enemy”.
Were a tribe to fail in the re-sponsibilities laid out in pledge, the contract says the government “will be free to conduct any opera-tion in that area”.
“The burden of consequences of any losses in such operations will be on the tribe and the tribe will have no right to ask for any com-pensation from the government,” the document says. — AFP
The social contract
prescribes that
tribes affi rm their
‘loyalty’ to Pakistan
and recognise their
‘responsibility’ for
the proliferation of
extremists in the
area in the past
decade
SORDID SAGA: In this photograph taken on April 10, 2015, a Pakistani tribesman who fl ed his home
after a military operation against Taliban militants in the North Waziristan tribal agency, plays with
a child inside a tent in a camp for refugees and the internally-displaced in Peshawar. — AFP
Firm in global fake degree scandal worth millionsISLAMABAD: A Pakistani com-pany that has pledged to build a media empire was facing tough criticism Monday after the New York Times said it was earning tens of millions of dollars by sell-ing fake degrees around the world.
Operating out of the city of
Karachi with 2,000 employees, the company Axact ran a fake education empire that involved paid actors promoting fi ctitious universities and even fake State Department authentication certi-fi cations bearing the signature of John Kerry, the article said.
The report, which quoted for-mer employees and analysed more than 370 websites of fake universities, accreditation bodies and other purported institutions, sparked a wave of criticism on social media even as the company denied wrongdoing. — AFP
R E P O R T
Court accepts jailed model Ayaan’s bail application
RAWALPINDI: In the ongoing money laundering case against model Ayaan Ali, a banking court on Monday accepted her applica-tion for bail, to be heard on May 25.
Three applications were pre-sented in court today, two of which were from customs offi cials while the third from Ayaan’s counsel.
Hearing on May 25In her application, the model re-quested for bail which the court–headed by Judge Sabir Sultan–accepted for a hearing scheduled for May 25.
Sources revealed that a com-plete chargesheet has still not been submitted in court and that the court deemed the team to be slower than the police; in terms of progress in the case.
Further, the court attached her money laundering case with a money smuggling case.
New suspectsJust last month investigators probing money laundering charges against the supermodel submitted an interim chargesheet in court and included two new suspects for interrogation. Ayaan has so far appeared in front of court at least seven times. — Express Tribune
M O N E Y L A U N D E R I N G
Police academy graduates march during their graduation ceremony in Islamabad, Pakistan on Monday. Out of the 408 graduating offi cers, 76 female offi cers were inducted into the Pakistan police force, according to the police force. — Reuters FOR MORE PHOTOS
A11
WORLDT U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
6 hurt as blasts target Turkey’spro-Kurd party
ANKARA: Simultaneous bomb blasts hit the offi ces of a pro-Kurdish party in two cities in southern Turkey on Monday, three weeks before a parliamen-tary election, attacks which a party leader blamed on President Tayyip Erdogan.
The explosion in Adana wounded six people and appeared to have been caused by a package sent to the offi ce of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), a party offi cial said. No one was wounded by the bomb in nearby Mersin, thought to have been concealed in fl owers delivered to HDP’s offi ces.
Addressing a rally in Mer-sin hours after the blasts, joint HDP leader Selahattin Demir-tas described the attacks as an attempted massacre and said they were meant to send a politi-cal message ahead of the June 7 general election.
“To those who tried to send us
a message through their attacks in Mersin and Adana: We have received your message. And we will still not allow you to be presi-dent,” he said, referring to Erdog-an’s hope that the vote will pave the way for him to gain sweeping new executive powers.
Footage broadcast by CNN Turk showed windows smashed in a three-storey building, with broken glass and rubble covering the street. One man was seen sit-ting on a kerb with blood on his head close to the Adana explosion.
HDP offi cials said the blasts were the latest in a string of some 60 assaults against the party in the run-up to polling day.
Turkish nationalists are fi erce-ly opposed to HDP, accusing it of links to the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought a 30-year insurgency against the state in which 40,000 people have been killed. A peace process designed to end the con-fl ict is in progress.
“Will you give the appropri-ate answer to the political party which is run by the terrorist or-ganisation on June 7?” Erdog-an said in a speech in the Black Sea coastal city of Samsun on Monday, apparently eyeing the nationalist vote.
Presidential powersAlthough the ruling AKP is on course to remain the largest party, the fate of the HDP on voting day is seen as crucial to Erdogan’s chances of getting the presiden-tial powers he craves.
If HDP fail to reach a 10 per cent threshold to enter parlia-ment their votes would be re-distributed, mostly in favour of the AKP, possibly giving Erdogan more parliamentary clout.
If HDP reach 10 per cent, Er-dogan might need their backing for constitutional changes, some-thing Demirtas has repeatedly vowed not to do. Polls show them close to the cut-off . — Reuters
People’s Democratic
Party leader
Selahattin Demirtas
described the attacks
as an attempted
massacre and said
they were meant
to send a political
message ahead of
the June 7 election
ASSAULT: Forensic experts and plainclothes police offi cers examine
the site of an explosion at an offi ce of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Demo-
cratic Party in Mersin, Turkey, on Monday. — Reuters/Depo Photos
Colombia landslide kills 40BOGOTA: At least 40 people have been killed and dozens are miss-ing after a landslide in northwest Colombia in the early hours of Monday, a local offi cial said.
Heavy rains caused a ravine to overflow, sending mud and water onto neighboring homes in Salgar, located in Antioquia department.
“We still do not have an exact fi gure, I only know that there are more than 40 dead, many fami-lies displaced.
Immense magnitudeHowever, I still can’t give an exact fi gure,” local offi cial Zulma Oso-rio told local Caracol Radio. “The tragedy is of an immense mag-
nitude,” she added. “There are many more dead, the whole town is totally collapsed.”
Colombia’s government will provide aid to the victims, presi-dent Juan Manuel Santos said via Twitter.
“We are attending to the emer-gency in Salgar. Those aff ected will receive all our support,” — Reuters
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Politics is the art of looking for trouble, fi nding it whether it ex-ists or not, diagnosing it incor-rectly, and applying the wrong remedy. It’s as if Ernest Benn had George W Bush in mind when he defi ned the science of
power. Throughout his two eventful terms in of-fi ce, the former US president went out of his way to look for trouble, found it whether it existed or not, misdiagnosed it and promptly applied the wrong remedy.
We have been here before ad nauseam but it bears noting that much of the bloody, awful mess across the Middle East seen today is a legacy of the man who apparently believed that he had been on a divine mission to “reform the natives”, as it were, and promote “human freedom and dignity” by invading Afghanistan and Iraq, and nearly wiping out an entire civilisation.
Driven by the Neocons and Zionists, Bush’s America ran like a bull in a china shop, wrecking the complex, ancient mosaic of the region and fracturing it along sectarian and tribal fault-lines. Out of this chaos and bedlam was born many a monster like Isis, not to mention more than a mil-lion lives that were squandered in Iraq alone.
You would think those responsible for those brazen lies, illegal wars and unforgivable crimes against humanity would at least be ashamed of their shenanigans, if not openly admit their guilt. Truth be told, they belong in the World Court. But who would even think of confronting the high and mighty from the land of the free! Accord-ing to American exceptionalism, even ordinary Americans are somehow more equal than others.
Not only do the Neocons and Republican Right remain utterly unapologetic and blasé about the legacy of the catastrophic wars and all-round de-struction unleashed during the disastrous dec-ade of the Bush’s presidency, a third member of the dynasty, Jeb Bush, is now being pitched for the White House. And the truly loyal brother that he is, Bush II managed to spare some time from his busy schedule of dog walking, fi shing and bird hunting — or whatever the Bushes do after hang-ing their boots — to bat for Bush III.
And incredible as it may seem, George W Bush still appears hung up on the idea that the inva-sion of Iraq and removal of Saddam Hussain in the name of excavating the weapons of mass de-struction that never existed unleashing the chaos across the region was the right thing to do.
Indeed, speaking at the Republican Jewish Coalition event hosted by the Jewish casino bil-lionaire Sheldon Adelson, the former president slammed his successor for pulling the US troops
out of Iraq “too early” and apparently paving the way for the rise of Isis. Accusing Obama of put-ting the US in “retreat” around the globe, Bush was predictably also critical of the nuclear talks and the much hyped deal with Iran.
That Bush was speaking at an event hosted by the casino billionaire, who has regularly fi -nanced and hosted Republican and Democratic politicians, arranged their junkets to Israel and is known for his fi erce loyalty to the Zionist cause, may somewhat explain the barbs against Obama. It’s hardly a secret that the incumbent is increas-ingly loathed and targeted by the powerful Israeli lobby even as it is shamelessly wooed and courted by the lawmakers on both sides of the isle.
Interestingly, the Republican Jewish Coalition event was held in the Sin City of Las Vegas at the Venetian hotel-casino and home of Adelson. And it was graced not just by the Bushes but by all Re-publican presidential hopefuls who never tire of fl aunting their Judeo-Christian heritage and val-ues and would go to any length to “protect Israel” as if it needs anyone’s protection.
Haaretz clearly identifi es the key Jewish do-nors and their favoured candidates in the up-coming race by name. Is it any surprising then potential candidates from both sides of the po-litical divide are falling over themselves to re-affi rm their fealty to Israel and Israeli interests all over again?
And then Arabs and Muslims cry about the bias of the US political establishment and media for Israel and indiff erence and downright hostil-ity to their own interests and concerns. Well, you know what they say, money talks. And the Jewish money has been talking loud and clear in succes-sive US elections with stunning results.
While the Arab and Muslim world is forced to spend its resources and energy in fi refi ghting and chasing mirages in sand, our friends on the oth-er side have for years been investing their hard earned dollars in making friends and infl uencing powerful people in high places. And it goes with-out saying they deliver when the time comes to extract that pound of fl esh. Is it not about time the Arabs and Muslims picked a lesson or two from their distant cousins in this respect?
I am not suggesting bankrolling US politicians as the Israeli lobby has been doing for years but it wouldn’t hurt to cultivate promising politicians and media in the land of the free to protect the region’s long-term interests.
The author is an award-winning Gulf based writer. 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.
Driven by the Neocons and Zionists, Bush’s America ran like a bull in a china shop, wrecking the complex, ancient mosaic of the region and fracturing it along sectarian and tribal fault-lines. Out of this chaos and bedlam was born many a monster like Isis, not to mention more than a million lives that were squandered in Iraq
Letters, containing not more than 200 words with full name, address and telephone number, may be sent by mail (Times of Oman, P.O. Box 770, P.C. 112, Ruwi), by fax (24813153) or by e-mail ([email protected])
Following clear-cut vote in the House of Representatives it seems likely that, despite resistance in the Senate, Congress will outlaw the collection of bulk phone data by the National
Security Agency (NSA), America’s equivalent (and close partner) of Britain’s GCHQ. This step has been on the cards since the disclosure by Edward Snowden of the NSA’s “metadata” programme in 2013. Pressure, however, has been increased by last week’s ruling by a fed-eral appeals court that the programme was illegal — but which left it up to Congress, rather than the judiciary, to remedy matters.
In the meantime a key deadline looms. Parts of the Patriot Act, passed in the weeks after the September 2001 terrorist attacks, will expire on 1 June. These include the act’s Section 215, which the NSA has used as justifi cation to gather information on the phone calls Americans make, under the catch-all clause that such data is “relevant to an authorised investigation”. Some Republican defence hawks ar-gue that the scheme should remain in force — even though there is no public evidence it has prevented a single terrorist incident. Trust us, runs the familiar refrain from the intelligence community; the vacu-uming-up of data has produced results but for national-security rea-sons we can’t tell you what they are. Now even the White House wants the act to be changed.
In fact, the new House version will not end all forms of metadata collection. The diff erence is that records will be kept by the phone companies and the NSA will have access to them on a case-by-case basis, rather than in bulk. That is still a signifi cant step. In a demo-cratic society, striking the proper balance between the demands of national security and the individual’s right to privacy will always be a contentious issue. But the “Big Brother” surveillance that US politicians unwittingly made possible in 2001 was an unacceptable violation of that privacy. - The Independent
NSA’s sensible move
Of all the malfunctioning parts in the broken-down immigra-tion machinery of the United States, probably the most in-defensible is the detention system. This is the vast network
of jails and prisons where suspected immigration violators are held while awaiting a hearing and possible deportation. Immigrant de-tainees are not criminal defendants or convicts serving sentences. They are locked up merely because the government wants to make sure they show up in immigration court. Detention is intended to help enforce the law, but, in practice, the system breeds cruelty and harm, and squanders taxpayer money. It denies its victims due process of law, punishing them far beyond the scale of any off ense. It shatters families and traumatizes children. As a system of mass incarceration — particularly of women and children fl eeing persecution in Central America — it is immoral.
The director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, Sarah Saldaña, announced a set of reforms to the family detention system. Federal offi cials do this from time to time after advocates and journalists expose — as they have for years — the abuses within de-tention walls. Saldaña says she wants the “optimal level of care” for detainees, and so she will create a committee and give lawyers more working space to meet with clients, among other things. But commit-tees and cubicles won’t touch the heart of the problem. It’s time to end mass detention, particularly of families. Shut the system down, and replace it with something better.
A powerful case for ending immigration detention, along with an array of alternatives, is made in a new report from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Centre for Migration Studies. It traces how the system has grown immense, from housing 85,000 de-tainees in 1995 to more than 440,000 in 2013. There are many reasons for this growth, including state and local immigration crackdowns, federal dragnet programmes like Secure Communities and the fl ood of money from Congress to the private prison operators that have profi ted so fruitfully from immigrant criminalisation. The system has gotten more sprawling and scandal-prone, but reforms don’t stick. The notorious Hutto family detention centre in Texas, where children went to classes in prison scrubs, stopped housing families. But the surge of families at the border seeking refuge last year created a politi-cal crisis and led the department to resurrect family detention, with new centres with thousands of prison beds for mothers and children.
Ending mass detention would not mean allowing unauthorised im-migrants to disappear. Supervised or conditional release, ankle brace-lets and other monitoring technologies, plus community-based sup-port with intensive case management, can work together to make the system more humane. But neither Congress nor the Homeland Secu-rity Department has embraced these approaches, which would be far cheaper than locking people up. - The New York Times News Service
End the immigration detention system
None can work effi ciently without a weekly day off This refers to the news story, Nine a day become illegal im-migrants (May 18). The primary reason for workers to abscond-ing is the salary. The domestic workers abscond mainly because they are not given even a single day off . Everybody reserves the right to rest and they must get at least one day off a week. No one can work and retain effi ciency without at least a day’s off . Sam SohiMuscat
Housemaids abscond due to the working conditions This refers to the news story, Nine a day become illegal im-migrants (May 18). The workers, including housemaids, run away mainly because they are often
not treated well. Where in the world can you see domestic helps made to slog for 12 hours a day and often given the left overs to eat. Stripped of all kinds of freedom, many of the domestic helps are denied of their rest days. Many employers even do not pay their employees a decent salary and tend to become ex-ploitative.Jane DesilvaMuscat
There are several reasons why expatriates abscondThis refers to the news story, Nine a day become illegal im-migrants (May 18). There are several reasons why expatriate employees abscond. Many do so because upon landing here they fi nd themselves in rather strange situations. They fi nd themselves
forced to work in conditions not mentioned in their contracts. There are others who abscond because they are not paid salary which was agreed upon. No one wants to become an absconder or an illegal in a foreign coun-try. However, many become absconders because they are compelled by their situations.Hiren SinghMuscat
Reasons for absconding need to be addressedThis refers to the news story, Nine a day become illegal immi-grants (May 18). The authorities in Oman have been trying for years to curb and control the trend of expat workers abscond-ing and turning illegal. The au-thorities should take a realistic approach towards the problem.
Only strict rules cannot solve the problem until the reasons are not addressed.S.A.S. BukhariRuwi
KKR’s exit from IPL this year has been unexpectedThe Kolkata Knight Riders fans are crestfallen. Their dream to win the IPL for the third time this year has been smashed. The team’s exit from the tournament was most unexpected. There is no doubt that the team played well throughout the tournament and its exit from the IPL, there-fore, has been rather painful. As it bowed out of the tournament this year, KKR looked like a tragic hero conspired against by the weather.Ashok PanickerSeeb
READERS’ FORUM
Courage is the power to let go of the familiarRAYMOND LINDQUIST
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Behold, US dancing to the tunes of J Street
COMMENTARY
PERSPEC IVET I M E S O F O M A N T U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5T I M E S O F O M A N A13
To say nothing shocks anymore in terms of terror-ridden depravity in today’s Pakistan would be an understatement. Even so, the
broad daylight murder spree in a bus last Wednes-day in Karachi that saw 45 members of the coun-try’s pacifi st Ismaili community lose their lives was soul-crushing.
While the wanton killing mirrors in its degener-acy the massacre of schoolchildren in Army Public School in Peshawar only last December, what makes this particularly inexplicable is that while the Tali-ban’s evil design was in response to the ongoing mili-tary campaign, even the claimants of the latest cru-elty — Jundulla, a splinter group of the Taliban saying it did so on behalf of IS — did not cite any specifi c reason for acting the devil except for its spokesman to suggest “they (victims) are unbelievers, apostates and deserved death.”
Such claims — both the supposed IS link and the raison d’être of the killing — do not quite cut it. There is neither any evidence to suggest IS has made any inroads in Pakistan — discounting the occasional appearance of mischievous graffi ti — nor is there anything that leads the trail to a red rag from a branch of Shiites that studiously minds its beliefs and business!
Reported to be half a million in Pakistan accord-ing to a BBC report, the broad reputation the Ismaili community has is for their great humanitarian work, particularly in medicine, and a progressive outlook burnished by the highest aggregated literacy rates for both men and women.
Pray, then, what could have drawn the ire of the ig-noble militants to so clinically eliminate 43 of them in 10 minutes fl at (two more succumbed to injuries later) that not a single bullet hit a window of the bus except their intended victims?
The only plausible explanation is that the victims became a soft target in a war between the military and the militants.
Evidence over the last few months suggests the armed forces have broken the back of major league terror networks in the country’s badlands in the north, and the Rangers-led law enforcers made sub-stantial gains in a bid to control crime in the troubled southern port city of Karachi.
The attack on Ismailis appears to have no other ex-planation; neither were they agent provocateurs nor did they have any stake, whether as participants or observers, in the anti-terror drive. The apparent sec-tarian camoufl age is most likely intended to throw a spanner in the military operation.
Even though it would unlikely off set the military’s
much needed resolve in fi nally taking up the cudgels, it does reinforce a dangerous pattern in fi nding soft targets after the schoolchildren massacre.
What is also clear is that there’s a lot to do to meet this new, albeit more profound, threat to unarmed ci-vilians. And while the calibrated push by Army Chief General Raheel Sharif continues to win the hearts and minds of the people, sadly, the role of the civilian governments, both at the Centre and the province, leaves a lot to be desired.
It is a measure of the indiff erence, upended by ap-parent incompetence, when news broke of the Kara-chi massacre that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was heard on TV asking participants of an All Party Con-ference on the Sino-Pak economic corridor if they would have lunch before embarking on a possible visit to Karachi!
The khaki chief once again beat the civilian chief executive to Karachi and subsequent reports betray how the khakis have taken the lead to expand the operation in Sindh with Rangers being given more powers to walk the talk, with all law enforcement agencies directed to report to the newly-formed Apex Committee, not the provincial government.
Hardly a murmur of dissent has been heard at the move given how thoroughly incompetent and inept the Pakistan People’s Party-led Sindh government has been since it was confi ned to the province after a right royal thrashing at the last general elections in 2013.
Its complete failure to do anything for the hapless citizenry cannot be illustrated more pronouncedly than in the inert movement of its octogenarian chief minister. Qaim Ali Shah, 82, dismissed the idea of a resignation by suggesting with a smirk that his was not the only province where incidents like these happen!
The attack on Ismailis is a setback given the more recent line of successes against hardcore militant groups. However, it is critical that both the civilian and military leaderships understand that this war is not just about exterminating militants. There is a need to enlarge the scope of the campaign and make even tougher decisions.
The root cause is the kind of brazen ideology spew-ing out of centres that purport to teach religion, but serve as the breeding ground of hatred, violence and extremism. The state has to intervene and stop the evil at source. There are just no two ways about it.
The author is a senior journalist based in Islamabad. All the views and opinions expressed in the article are solely his and not of Times of Oman.
LightSail - the solar sailing spacecraft
GraphicsGraphic News /Source: The Planetary Society, NASA
The Planetary Society, a publicly-funded space advocacy group founded by the late Carl Sagan, is developing a satellite propelled by solar wind
Mylar sail: Fullydeployed it is4.5 microns thick(quarter thicknessof garbage bag),with surface areaof 32m2
Mylar sail: Fullydeployed it is4.5 microns thick(quarter thicknessof garbage bag),with surface areaof 32m2
*small, cost-effective spacecraft comprising 1-litre volume cubes
Atlas V rocket:LightSail to hitchride on missioncarrying BoeingX-37 OrbitalTest Vehicle
Atlas V rocket:LightSail to hitchride on missioncarrying BoeingX-37 OrbitalTest Vehicle
10 cm10 cm
Structure:3 CubeSat *modulesstackedtogether
11
44
Power: Solar panels swing opento power LightSail’s instrumentsPower: Solar panels swing opento power LightSail’s instruments
Dual cameras: Photograph solarsail deployment every seven secondsDual cameras: Photograph solarsail deployment every seven seconds
Sail folded awaySail folded away
AvionicsAvionics
22
33
Triangular Rollable and Collapsible
SUN
Momentum of photonstransferred to sail,generating continuousacceleration
TH
RU
ST
LIGH
T
4m4m
TRAC booms:Unwind 4 metres,unfurling fourtriangular sails
TRAC booms:Unwind 4 metres,unfurling fourtriangular sails
SailSail
Thousands of desperate Rohingya Muslim ref-ugees who are fl eeing
native Myanmar on rickety boats are being denied refuge in Southeast Asia because these countries do not want to add to their “burden”, despite the fact that such a number would add up to a fraction in real terms.
Countries like Thailand as well as Muslim countries like Malaysia and Indonesia have turned away from any help which is a shame given that these countries are doing well economically.
Indonesia has allowed a trickle into Aceh province but has now closed the doors. The question now is where will these poor souls end up?
Pakistan has its share of Rohingyas, who have come here over the years, initially for economic reasons, and later fl eeing violence in their home state.
There is a Burmi Colony in Karachi and other places where Muslims from the Arakan (Ra-khine) province can be found even today. But their contact with relatives back home has been restricted, with most only relying on word of mouth to know of how things have been shaping. And the news from back home is not good.
If there is one positive Paki-stan can claim, it can possibly be that rarely has it turned back refugees, whether they came from India or later from other bordering countries like Iran and Afghanistan or from as far as Burma.
The possible exception, of course, are the Biharis who have been dreaming of coming to Pakistan but remain strand-ed at camps in Bangladesh.
But we have suff ered as a consequence of these actions. The Afghan refugee infl ux post-1979 has changed Paki-stan forever. But to blame the Afghans for the ills in our so-ciety is an easy way to explain a complex problem. We see that refugees are made scape-goats everywhere.
Today Rohingyas are on the run as violence contin-ues in Arakan state. But there are those who say that these refugees are not fl eeing per-secution but are economic migrants who have been put on boats by people smugglers and then abandoned.
Despite all odds, New York Times reporter Thomas Full-er, a former colleague of mine, has done an excellent job of tracing the journeys of these migrants. He reported from a boat in the Andaman sea and helped trace down some of the refugee boats, which had been at sea for some months.
Conditions on these vessels were sub-human but this did not move the authorities in the countries where they arrived. An estimated 6,000 or more such migrants are stranded at sea in Southeast Asia.
Our paper commissioned
a series on the Rohingyas in 2013 when reporter Mashiur Rehman went to visit the camps of these refugees in neighbouring Bangladesh. In his excellent reports, Mashiur Rehman told stories of men, women and children fl eeing to Bangladesh but where they were not given refugee status. He wrote about the thousands who fl ed sectarian riots and how they lost everything only so that they could be alive.
The report recalled that Myanmar passed a law in 1982 that eff ectively rendered the Rohingya community stateless. Frequent waves of ethnic violence since 1991 pushed more than 250,000 Rohingyas into Bangladesh, where they continue to live in squalid, makeshift camps with little or no access to healthcare or education.
Our report also revealed that since 1992, the Bangla-desh government has denied the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) per-mission to register the Roh-ingya refugees. They are still considered illegal migrants and are not entitled to the food relief provided by the World Food Programme. They are also denied access to basic healthcare and educa-tion provided by the UNHCR and its partner organisations.
The Bangladeshi govern-ment is determined to keep the aid to a bare minimum to avoid creating a ‘pull factor’. It has stopped prominent in-ternational aid organizations to cease assistance to refu-gees living in unregistered camps. The local police had also launched crackdowns to push back the Rohingyas into Myanmar. The state’s mis-trust of the refugees trickled down to the local population, reported Mashiur Rehman, with locals believing that the refugees were behind rising petty crime in the area around the unregistered camps.
With all this talk of Pan-Islamism and humanity, it seems national interest and pragmatism reign supreme for countries of South East Asia. Is there a lesson for us in all this? - The Express Tribune
A state of utter despair
KAMAL SIDDIQI
The star performer of the recent British general election was undoubt-
edly the Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon. This was the balanced assessment of inter-national journalists. One leading British journalist even described her performance as stellar. Im-portantly, from Surgeon’s per-spective, fi fty per-cent of the Scottish electorate voted for her party, giving the SNP 56 of the 59 Scottish Westminster seats.
British political records were smashed throughout election night. The SNP with 50 per cent of the popular vote pushed La-bour’s vote down to 1918 levels. And the Conservatives recorded their lowest percentage vote share since 1865, whilst the Liberal-Democrats were all but wiped-out.
The vote swing from the in-cumbent parties surpassed the record of 27 per cent established by Margaret Thatcher’s Con-servatives. On the 7th of May, Sturgeon’s SNP achieved this percentage as a modal swing.
The SNP ploughed on to de-liver the highest ever recorded British general election swing of 39 per cent, in one of the safest
Labour seats in Britain. A former Labour Foreign Secretary was also ousted by a student who be-comes the youngest recorded MP to sit in Westminster.
The previous youngest West-minster MP, and former Lib-eral-Democrat leader Charles Kennedy, was also ousted by an international banker. The SNP cohort representing Scotland at Westminster, is a picture of present day Scotland painted by age, gender and socio-economic background.
Elected MPs include a cancer surgeon; ‘Queen’s Counsel’ advo-cate; international banker; bank-ing economist; Asian business-woman, actress and lawyer; trade union leader; journalist; award winning television producer; co-median; and a student.
Many are women and the di-versity encompasses Scottish society, embracing the Muslim community already represented in the Scottish parliament. Such diversity evades the Westmin-ster parties. With any Tsunami unsuitable individuals may fl ood Westminster on this tidal wave. The passage of time shall judge those elected to serve.
Since 2007 the SNP have man-
aged an eff ective minority Scot-tish government; doing deals with the Conservative, Labour and Liberal-Democrats to advance their ‘social democratic’ agenda. The Scottish Government unlike the British government must run a balanced budget, and the SNP have successfully demonstrated fi scal capability.
The SNP surge gathered trac-tion with the 2011 election; when doubting the Conservative coali-tion government’s direction of travel the Scots elected a majority SNP Scottish Government.
This crushing SNP victory top-pled a proportional voting system designed to prevent single party parliamentary control. This was another SNP fi rst. The SNP clock has been winding up since 2007 and last week it stopped at fi ve to midnight.
As British Prime Minister; Da-vid Cameron must now address the Scottish question as the clock ticks toward midnight striking the end of the union.
The author is a freelance contribu-tor based in Britain. All the views and opinions expressed in the arti-cle are solely his and not of Times of Oman.
In search of soft targets after schoolchildren’s massacre
G A R Y S M I T H
Of Stellar Sturgeon’s Scottish tsunami
KA M R A N R E H M AT
OMANACCESS.COM WINS AWARD AT COMEX 2000MUSCAT: Omanaccess.com, a United Media Services venture, has been off ering the best services through a number of successful seasonal online supplements such as Ac-cess Ranadhan, Access Valentine, Autoaccess, Eid Hungama to name a select few, says a press note. At Comex 2000, Oman’s biggest IT exposition, the Omanaccess pavilion bagged the Most Interactive Stand award. Designed as a colourful interactive cyber zone with 10 computers online, the action-packed omanaccess.com stall attracted a large number of visitors from all walks of life. At the stall, visitors queued up to participate in innovative online treasure hunts, puzzles and contests specially created for Comex 2000. After completing the treasure hunt every participant received a Web Maniac Certifi cate and registered for the main lucky draw held twice daily.
FROM OUR ARCHIVES
TODAY IN HISTORY1535 French explorer Jacques Cartier sets
sail for North America. 1536 Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second
wife, is beheaded on Tower Green. 1568 Defeated by the Protestants, Mary,
Queen of Scots, fl ees to England where Queen Elizabeth imprisons her.
1635 Cardinal Richelieu of France intervenes in the great confl ict in Europe by declaring war on the Hapsburgs in Spain.
1780 Near total darkness descends on New England at noon. No explanation is found.
HISTORYNET.COM
The attack on Ismailis appears to have no other explanation; neither were they agent provocateurs nor did they have any stake, whether as participants or observers, in the anti-terror drive. The apparent sectarian camouflage is most likely intended to throw a spanner in the military operation
If there is one positive
Pakistan can claim, it
can possibly be that
rarely has it turned
back refugees, whether
they came from India
or later from other
bordering countries like
Iran and Afghanistan or
from as far as Burma
A14
WORLDT U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
EU ministers back naval mission to fight traff ickers
BRUSSELS: European Union ministers said they would ap-prove plans Monday for an unprecedented naval mission to stop people smugglers as NATO warned that extrem-ist militants might be hiding
among the flood of migrants crossing the Mediterranean.
The ambitious operation start-ing in June will involve the de-ployment of warships and sur-veillance aircraft off the coast of Libya, the epicentre of the hu-manitarian disaster unfolding on Europe’s southern shores.
The European Union’s military plan also includes the possible destruction of smugglers’ boats in Libyan waters, although that will
require a UN Security Council resolution to be in line with inter-national law.
Already 2015 is shaping up as the deadliest year for refugees crossing the Mediterranean, with more than 1,800 dying this year. In total more than 5,000 have died in the past 18 months.
EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said approval by the 28-nation bloc’s foreign and defence ministers at a “very in-
tense” meeting in Brussels would help push the United Nations into action.
“I think that after we take the decision today it is more likely for the Security Council to take a resolution,” the former Italian foreign minister said, adding that the naval mission could be opera-tional “within weeks”.
Federica has insisted there is no question of EU “boots on the ground” in Libya, where politi-cal chaos and the rising threat of IS militants make it the main launching point for people risk-ing their lives in fl imsy dinghies or ovrcrowded fi shing boats.
Sinking of migrant boatPressure has grown on govern-ments to act after an overcrowded migrant boat sank in the Medi-terranean last month, leaving more than 750 dead in a case that sparked international outrage.
But NATO head Jens Stolten-berg, also attending the meeting, warned on Monday that fi ghters from extremist groups could also be making the crossing, posing an additional security threat.
“One of the problems is that there might be foreign fi ghters, there might be terrorists trying to hide, trying to blend in among
the migrants,” Stoltenberg said when asked about reports IS was involved in the exodus.
Stoltenberg said that so far the 28-nation EU had not asked for help from NATO but the alli-ance was “ready to help if there is a request”.
Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain have already promised to deploy warships for the mission, a rare joint EU military venture.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said minis-ters needed to put together a complete programme, with the current plan “an important fi rst step”. He said cooperation with Libya was also key.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he too expected ministers to approve the proposals, paving the way for initial mission planning.
Utter madnessRights groups have criticised the military option, saying it will not solve the problem of com-plex smuggling networks and of a huge number of people fl eeing war and poverty.
Andrew Stroehlein of Human Rights Watch said it was “utter madness”. — AFP
The ambitious
operation starting
in June will involve
the deployment
of warships and
surveillance aircraft
in the Mediterranean
Sea. The plan also
includes the possible
destruction of
smugglers’ boats in
Libyan waters
SPIRALLING CRISIS: Egyptians wait at the main administration
centre for the body that combats illegal migration, in the Libyan
capital Tripoli on Monday before being transported in buses to the
Tunisian border. — AFP
192 arrested in Texas biker gang shoot out
WASHINGTON: Nearly 200 peo-ple were under arrest on Monday following a brawl between rival motorcycle gang members that left nine people dead in Waco, Texas, police said.
The fi ght broke out in a restroom at the Twin Peaks Sports Bar and Grill, and spilled into a park-ing lot as members of as many as fi ve gangs fought each other with knives, chains and guns in front of terrifi ed bystanders.
“One hundred ninety two indi-viduals are being arrested and pro-cessed this morning in reference to the Twin Peaks shooting,” the Waco Police Department said in a statement.
“They will all face ‘engaging in organised crime’ charges,” police said on its Facebook site.
“They are being booked and pro-cessed at this time,” it said.
Nine gang members were killed in the mayhem, and local news outlets reported that as many as 18 people were wounded, most from gunshots and stabbings.
Most violent crime scene“In 34 years of law enforcement this is the most violent crime scene I have ever been involved in. There is blood everywhere,” Sergeant Patrick Swanton told the Waco Tribune-Herald. — AFP
O R G A N I Z E D C R I M E
Myanmar voices its ‘concern’ over Rohingya exodusYANGON: Myanmar on Mon-day acknowledged international “concerns” about waves of boat-people, many of whom are fl eeing from persecution, but denied it is solely to blame as thousands lan-guish in dire straits at sea.
The comments came as fresh details emerged from migrants of brutal fi ghting with metal bars and knives that left at least 100 dead as food and water dwindled on their rickety vessel as it drift-ed in Indonesian waters.
Southeast Asia is gripped by an escalating migrant boat crisis that has seen nearly 3,000 mi-grants swim to shore or be res-cued off Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand over the past week.
Others have been turned back to sea, sparking interna-tional outrage and fears that time is running out to rescue thousands still believed to be trapped with scarce supplies on the unwanted boats.
Tens of thousands of Roh-ingya Muslims, a minority who face daily prejudice and a raft of restrictions in western My-anmar, have long fl ed in barely sea-worthy boats across the Bay of Bengal.
In recent years they have been joined by growing numbers of economic migrants from neigh-bouring Bangladesh looking to escape grinding poverty.
Myanmar’s part in the grim and often deadly exodus had been largely ignored by its neighbours.
But the former army-run na-tion has faced growing interna-tional pressure this month af-ter thousands of migrants were abandoned in overcrowded boats by people smugglers following a crackdown on the trade in Thai-land, a key transit point.
Myanmar Information Min-ister Ye Htut said his country understood “the concerns (of )
the international community on the people in the sea. Instead of blaming Myanmar for all these problems... all these issues should be solved by the regional partners,” he added in English following a briefi ng between gov-ernment offi cials and diplomats in Yangon.
Myanmar has yet to confi rm whether it will attend a regional summit called by Thailand for May 29.
Myanmar does not recognise the estimated 1.3 million Rohing-ya as an offi cial minority, instead viewing them as mostly illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
But in strikingly bold com-ments a spokesman for Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party said that minority Muslims were “en-titled to human rights”. — AFP
G R A V E C I R C U M S T A N C E S
NOWHERE TO GO: Rehena Begum, a rescued Rohingya mother
from Myanmar, is photographed during an Indonesian police
identifi cation process at the confi nement area in the fi shing port
of Kuala Langsa in Aceh province on Monday. — AFP
If they are not
accepted (as citizens),
they cannot just be
sent onto rivers. Can’t
be pushed out to sea.
They are humans. I just
see them as humans
who are entitled to
human rights
Nyan WinNational League for Democracy aide
Twenty-fi ve feet away there were families. This is one of the worst gun fi ghts we’ve ever had in the city limits. They started shooting at our offi cers, US police offi cial Patrick Swanton
A15
WORLDT U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
Air strikes hit Yemen as truce ends
ADEN/RIYADH: Saudi-led coa-lition forces resumed military operations in Yemen after a fi ve-day ceasefi re ended late on Sun-day, and Yemen’s foreign minister blamed the Houthis for failure to renew the truce.
The end of the ceasefi re came despite appeals by the United Na-tions and rights groups for extra
time to allow the delivery of badly needed humanitarian supplies to the country of 25 million, one of the poorest in the Middle East.
“That’s what we said before - that if they start again, we will start again,” Yemeni Foreign Min-ister Reyad Yassin Abdulla said.
He said the coalition was not considering any new ceasefi re but
would not target air and sea ports needed for aid shipments.
Saudi-led forces conducted three air strikes on Yemen’s northern Saada province on Monday, according to Houthi media, which said Saudi forces had fi red 70 rockets and artillery shells into north Yemen.
Saudi-owned Al Arabiya tel-evision reported heavy shelling by Saudi forces at Houthi out-posts across the border after the fighters fired mortars at an army post in Saudi Arabia’s southern Najran province.
Earlier in the day, residents said that warplanes struck the Houthi-held presidential palace in
Yemen’s southern port of Aden as well as groups of militiamen on the western and eastern approaches to the city and the international airport where Houthis and local fi ghters have been clashing.
No word on casualtiesThere was no word on casualties in the incidents.
Saudi Arabia and its allies have been conducting an off ensive against the Houthis and units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh for more than seven weeks.
The campaign has yet to re-verse the Houthis’ advance into Aden and along battlefronts across Yemen’s south.
A fi ve-day truce that started on Tuesday night halted the air strikes and allowed humanitarian aid into the country.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday that Wash-ington supported extending the truce, but that manoeuvres by the Houthis made that diffi cult.
“We know that the Houthis were engaged in moving some missile-launching capacity to the border (with Saudi Arabia) and, under the rules of engagement, it was always understood that if there were proactive moves by one side or another, then that would be in violation of the ceasefi re ar-rangement,” he said.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir expressed “regret that the truce did not achieve its humani-tarian goals” and held the Hou-this responsible, in an emailed statement.
Iran’s foreign minister on Mon-day called on the United Nations to take on a more active role in Yemen, including establishing a presence on the ground to ensure that hu-manitarian aid could be distrib-uted. “We believe the UN needs to create a protected zone in Yemen to receive humanitarian aid... It is time for the UN to take control of the situation,” Mohammed Javad Zarif said through an interpreter in a televised news conference. — Reuters
Yemeni minister accuses Houthis of breaking
truce, says no new ceasefi re being considered
Armed Libyan group detains 170 Tunisians
Kuwait upholds
opposition
leader sentence
TUNIS: An armed group allied to the Libya Dawn forces con-trolling Tripoli has detained 170 Tunisians in the Libyan capital since Saturday after Tunis arrested one of its com-manders, Tunisian offi cials said on Monday.
Brahim Rezgui, Tunisian con-sul in Tripoli, told a Tunis radio station the group demanded the immediate release of the Libya Dawn commander, whom he did not name. Libyan offi cials in Tripoli did not immediately re-spond to requests for comment.
Armed groups in Libya, which is split between two rival gov-ernments and competing mili-tias, have in the past kidnapped or detained foreign nationals — including diplomats — to pres-sure governments to release Libyans arrested abroad.
Libya Dawn, a loose alliance of former rebel brigades and hardline-leaning groups, seized power in Tripoli last summer. Most countries closed their em-bassies during the fi ghting and maintained offi cial recognition for the rival government now based in eastern Libya.
“An armed group belonging to Libya Dawn detained 170 Tu-nisians since Saturday after a leading fi gure in this group was arrested in Tunisia last week,” a Tunisian foreign ministry offi -cial told TAP state news agency.
Relations between the North African neighbours have become tense, with Tunisia’s govern-ment worried about spillover from the chaos that continues to plague Libya four years after for-mer leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown. — Reuters
KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait’s su-preme court on Monday upheld a two-year jail sentence against prominent opposition leader Mussallam Al Barrak for insult-ing the emir, his group said.
“The supreme court upheld the two-year jail term against Barrak,” the Popular Action Movement (PAM) said on its Twitter account, adding that the former lawmaker, who had been out on bail, will now have to serve the full sentence.
The 58-year-old is the most senior opposition member to be jailed.
He was convicted by the ap-peals court in February of un-dermining the authority of His Highness Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah and served 50 days of the jail sen-tence before being bailed.
The supreme court verdict is fi nal and cannot be challenged.
It may also jeopardise his po-litical career because it could bar him from standing for elec-tion to parliament.
The charges against him stem from a speech he gave to tens of thousands of demonstrators in October 2012 protesting against changes to the electoral law.
Barrak was a member of par-liament at the time, but his nationalist party boycotted polls in December 2012 and July 2013 held under the new electoral law. — AFP
C O M M A N D E R ’ S A R R E S T
J A I L T E R M
The Kuwaiti supreme court verdict is fi nal and cannot be challenged. It may also jeopardise opposition leader Mussallam Al Barrak's political career because it could bar him from standing for election to parliament.
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Bank Nizwa walks out of United Finance merger
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Bank Nizwa on Monday said it is withdrawing its proposal for a merger with United Finance.
Now United Finance is left with two other potential bidders — Na-tional Bank of Oman (NBO) and Al Omaniya Financial Services —
for the proposed merger. “The primary objective of the
proposed merger was to benefi t both entities to work ultimately as a single but a larger combined institution. In light of this new de-velopment and keeping the bank’s best interest in mind, Bank Ni-zwa has decided to withdraw its initial proposal and not enter into
the bidding process,” Bank Nizwa said in a disclosure statement posted on the Muscat Securities Market website.
In February, Bank Nizwa ap-proached United Finance with a merger proposal, but other two potential bidders subsequently expressed interest.
Last week, United Finance has
invited all three potential bidders — National Bank of Oman, Bank Nizwa and Al Omaniya Financial Services — to participate in a bid-ding process to get the best price.
Al Omaniya Financial Services is looking at consolidating their leadership position by acquiring another leasing company. This could be one way to achieve inor-
ganic growth. This year is a chal-lenging one for leasing companies, said market sources.
Market sources also said that Al Omaniya will be able to sub-stantially increase its asset base and loan book, if the merger takes place. Al Omaniya’s total as-sets stand at OMR241.6 million, while its loan book was around OMR228.3 million by end-2014. United Finance’s total assets and loan book were OMR119.2 million and OMR114.7 million, respec-tively, by end of 2014.
Share prices of United Finance edged down by 0.78 per cent to 127 baisas, amid 83,200 shares chang-ing hand, while Bank Nizwa stock was intact on the Muscat Securi-ties Market (MSM) on Monday.
Now United Finance
is left with two other
potential bidders —
NBO and Al Omaniya
Financial Services —
for proposed merger CLOSE WATCH: Share prices of United Finance fell 0.78 per cent to 127 baisas, amid 83,200 shares
changing hand, while Bank Nizwa stock was intact on the MSM. — Times fi le picture
HAVE YOUR SAY Send us your comments at facebook.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com [email protected]
Iran expects to return crude exports to normal level
KUALA LUMPUR: Iran hopes its crude oil exports will return to pre-sanctions levels within three months once a deal with major powers to lift an oil embargo is fi -nalised, the country’s deputy oil minister said on Monday.
“We hope we can come back to the export levels that we had be-fore the sanctions,” Rokneddin Javadi, who is also the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company, told Reuters.
“Yes, 2.5 (million barrels per day), around,” he said, adding that this could be achieved in about three months.
Javadi said the Opec producer expected to claw back lost market share in Asia.
“It depends on market situation and price level, but we will come back to the traditional trade that we had before,” he said, adding that Asia could take more than 50 per cent of Iran’s exports. — Reuters
O I L S U P P L I E S
B2
MARKETT U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
Iranian airline buys Airbus jets from unknown vendor
DUBAI: Iran’s acquisition of Airbus Group jets from an undisclosed vendor may be the fi rst move in a rush to rebuild the Islamic repub-lic’s fl eet as a thaw in relations with the US begins to weaken the grip of trade sanctions.
The purchase by Mahan Air of nine used Airbus planes could herald a raft of deals extending to national carrier Iran Air and po-tentially including Boeing planes and new Russian or Chinese mod-els. Iran says it may need as many as 500 aircraft over the next dec-ade, requiring $2 billion a year of investment.
The Mahan deal centres on eight A340s, a wide-body type
which ceased production in 2011 as the price of oil rendered its four engines uneconomic, before the slump in crude made second-hand examples more attractive. While selling new planes to Iran remains outlawed, it can bypass the ban by buying older jets from sources in countries not signed up to sanctions, something be-coming easier as talks seem to near a conclusion.
Future used-aircraft purchases could include “some of the ear-lier Boeing 777s,” said Thomas Pellegrin, an analyst at PwC’s Aviation Centre of Excellence re-search offi ce in Dubai, adding that an end to sanctions would open
the door to the acquisition of new aircraft models from Commercial Aircraft Corp of China and Rus-sia’s Sukhoi, maker of Superjet 100, assuming curbs on trade with Moscow are also removed.
Greece, RussiaMahan Air’s new fl eet will allow it to add fl ights to Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi in Russia, Manama in Bahrain and Athens, Saeed Chalandari, head of Teh-ran’s Imam Khomeini Interna-tional Airport, was cited as saying by the offi cial Iranian Students News Agency.
Mahan — blacklisted by the US Treasury in 2011 over claims that
it transported weapons and funds on its fl ights to assist Iran’s Revo-lutionary Guard — will get an op-erating license within a month, according to ISNA. The aircraft deal also include a sole single-aisle A321.
“Airbus is compliant with in-ternational trade laws on Iran and has not been involved,” a spokes-woman for the Toulouse-based manufacturer said by e-mail. “Once the aircraft is in the hands of an airline, it’s their property and we cannot keep track or control what they do with the aircraft.”
Unlike privately owned Mahan Air, state-controlled Iran Air may opt to wait for a formal lifting of
sanctions, allowing it to buy new planes instead of old ones. Should restrictions be lifted it will need about 100 planes and is interested in models including re-engined single-aisle Boeing 737s and Air-bus A320s, together with the 777 and 787 and A330 and A350.
Strong demandThe Mahan purchase comes amid negotiations between Iran and powers led by the US on the coun-try’s nuclear ambitions, which aim to reach an accord by June 30 under the latest timetable. An interim deal in 2013 eased a ban on safety-related aircraft spares, which Boeing obtained a license to sell last year.
“We’ve done a pretty good as-sessment on our side and we think the demand, should things open up, would be very strong,” Marty Bentrott, Boeing’s vice-president of sales for the Middle East, Rus-sia and Central Asia, said in Dubai last week before Mahan Air’s jet-liner purchases were announced on May 9.
Mahan has “extensive plans” requiring an upgrade and expan-sion of its fl eet, part of which has been achieved through the Air-bus acquisition, the airline said on its website. A spokesman for the company declined to com-ment on further plans. — Bloomberg News
This purchase by
Mahan Air of nine
used Airbus planes
could herald a raft of
deals extending to
national carrier Iran
Air and potentially
including Boeing
planes and new
Russian or Chinese
models– Bloomberg fi le picture
HAVE YOUR SAY Send us your comments at facebook.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com [email protected]
Larsen & Toubro to spend $1b to acquire IT fi rmsMUMBAI: Larsen & Toubro (L&T), India’s biggest engineer-ing company, is open to spending as much as $1 billion on acquisi-tions for its software-services unit as the subsidiary prepares for an initial public off ering.
Buying companies will help L&T Infotech build scale and compete with larger rivals, R Shankar Raman, Larsen’s Mum-bai-based chief fi nancial offi cer, said in an interview. The compa-ny may spend between $100 mil-lion and $1 billion, he said, with-out being more specifi c.
Larsen, which lost a bid to buy Satyam Computer Services, the company at the centre of India’s biggest corporate fraud, and local software developers are turning to acquisitions to boost revenue amid estimates demand for their services will fall. Worldwide spending on information-tech-nology services is projected to shrink 0.7 per cent this year, led by cuts at US companies, researcher Gartner forecast on April 9.
“A listing of the infotech busi-ness would help unlock value for the parent,” said Abhineet Anand, an analyst at Quant Bro-king, who has valued the unit at about $1.5 billion to $2 billion. “They would list the unit when it has scaled up to a level that can get better valuations.”
While a listing will provide additional funds, L&T Infotech needn’t hold back deals for it, Ra-man said, adding that an acquisi-tion can also be funded by parent Larsen, which, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, has cash and cash equivalents of Rs112 billion ($1.77 billion).
Business unitsSet up in 1938 by two Danish en-gineers, Henning Holck-Larsen and Soren Kristian Toubro, L&T in 2011 split into diff erent busi-ness units and subsidiaries as part of a reorganisation to boost growth. L&T Infotech will be the second Larsen unit to be listed after L&T Finance Holdings, the fi nancial services arm, went public in 2011.
Larsen won’t sell the informa-tion technology unit, which has an annual revenue of close to $1 billion, according to Raman. The division is it’s third-largest unit by revenue.
Share price“It’s an area that we need to mas-termind and grow,” Raman said in Bloomberg’s Mumbai offi ce on May 13. “Listing Infotech would be also a currency for growth. It seems to be the logical step for the company.”
L&T Finance’s stock has climbed 24 per cent from its IPO price of Rs52 a share in August 2011, giving it a market capitali-sation of $1.7 billion. Larsen holds a 72.9 per cent stake in the com-pany, data compiled by Bloomb-erg show. Larsen’s shares rose 0.2 per cent to Rs1,595.75 at 11:04am in Mumbai.
L&T Infotech, which has 20,000 employees, counts Chev-ron, Hitachi and Lafarge among its clients, according to its web-site. The company acquired a unit of Otis Elevator in October last year for an undisclosed sum. Larsen lost its bid to acquire Satyam Computer Services to Tech Mahindra. — Bloomberg News
E X P A N S I O N P L A N S
– Bloomberg fi le picture
‘India should go for rupee convertibility’
NEW DELHI: India should con-tinue moving toward making the rupee fully tradable against other currencies even though it isn’t yet ready for full convertibility, a sen-ior central bank offi cial said.
India still needs to do more to control government spending and infl ation before its ready for full capital account convertibility, according to a speech by G. Pad-manabhan, a Reserve Bank of In-dia (RBI) executive director, that was posted on the central bank’s website on Monday.
Fiscal prudence“A freely convertible country must have sound, credible, and time consistent macroeconomic poli-cy,” Padmanabhan said in an ad-dress to students at a management institute on May 16.
“What does that translate to, op-erationally? Fiscal prudence and low infl ation. Where do we stand in respect of these parameters? I wouldn’t think we are very com-fortable here,” he added.
While India allows the rupee to be freely convertible on trade and current accounts, it places restric-tions on the capital account, which includes portfolio investments. An advisory panel formed by the Reserve Bank of India in 2006 sug-gested the currency be made fully convertible in fi ve years.
The rupee, which has tumbled the most after Thailand’s baht this quarter, weakened 0.1 per cent to 63.55 per dollar in Mum-bai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The yield on the 8.4 per cent bond due in April 2024 declined fi ve basis points to 7.9 per cent. — Bloomberg News
R B I O F F I C I A L
No reason to change Renault deal: Ghosn TOKYO: There is “no reason” to change a longstanding part-nership between the Nissan and Renault after the French gov-ernment’s controversial move to hike its stake in Renault, the group’s chief executive said here on Monday.
Carlos Ghosn’s comments came after Paris gave itself and other long-term shareholders more power in Renault’s aff airs by doubling the number of votes they get for each share.
Long-simmering questionsThe plan, which Renault op-posed, was voted through at a shareholders meeting last month, and aggravated long-simmering questions about whether Renault and Nissan should change their ownership stakes in each other.
But on Monday Ghosn said: “The capital structure that we have between Renault and Nis-san is very stable.
“There is a clear separation between the spirit of the partner-ship and the capital structure.
This is the strength, the power of the alliance... There is no reason to change it now.”
No voting rightsUnder an agreement struck in 1999 Renault owns about 43 per cent of Nissan, which holds about 15 per cent of the French’s automaker’s shares, but does not have voting rights.
Ghosn was tapped by the French auto giant to rescue Nis-san, which was on the verge of bankruptcy in the late 1990s.
But the pair’s fortunes have changed, with Nissan now ac-counting for about two-thirds of the their combined 8.0 million vehicle sales annually and con-tributing the bulk of the profi ts.
“Sixteen years after it is still a partnership independent of who owns what,” Ghosn said.
“The reason to change must be in line with strategy, you need to have a strong reason.
“You don’t touch this kind of structure easily, these are very sensitive topics.” - AFP
N I S S A N C H I E F E X E C U T I V E
B3T U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
MARKET
Plans for power, water sectors to be unveiled
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Master plans for Oman’s power and water sectors will be unveiled at the Oman En-ergy and Water Exhibition and Conference here on Tuesday. The conference will also focus on investment opportunities in Oman’s power and water sector and renewable energy strategies and potential in Oman.
Details of several major power
and water desalination projects initiated by Oman government will also be discussed in the forth-coming Oman Energy and Water Exhibition Conference.
These projects include con-struction of the biggest power plant in the Sultanate, the water treatment plant at Wadi Daiqah Dam, the independent power plant in Salalah, Quriyyat water desalination plant, Barka water desalination plant and the devel-
opment of Al Ghubra water de-salination plant.
Oman Energy and Water Exhi-bition and Conference (OEWEC), organised by the Public Authority for Electricity and Water (PAEW) in collaboration with Oman Expo, will begin on Tuesday at Oman In-ternational Exhibition Centre.
The three-day event, between May 19 and 21, is an international event in the fi eld of energy and water, such as power generation,
renewable and alternative energy and transmission and distribu-tion, and water-related indus-tries. It is also an ideal platform for stakeholders to discuss real is-sues and solutions for energy and water challenges and opportuni-ties in Oman.
Also, local and international companies will showcase the lat-est products and services at the exhibition. Major companies from Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Jordan, Iran, Italy and the United Arab Emirates will be participating in the exhibition. Further, high-level local and international speakers from top power and water compa-nies will address the conference.
Several local and international specialised energy and water companies will take part in this conference in a bid to enhance their presence in the region, share knowledge and review the latest services and technologies. Addi-tionally, several international ex-perts from Oman and other coun-tries will attend the conference.
Details of several
major power and
water desalination
projects initiated by
Oman government
will be unveiled at
the Oman Energy and
Water Exhibition
and Conference
PDO highlights delegation about growth strategyTimes News Service
MUSCAT: A delegation of gov-ernment undersecretaries and senior offi cials on Monday made a fact-fi nding visit to the head-quarters of Petroleum Develop-ment Oman (PDO) in Muscat.
The eminent group included representatives from all minis-tries and was led by Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi , undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil and Gas.
A senior PDO management team, headed by managing di-rector Raoul Restucci, gave an overview of the company’s per-formance on a range of mat-ters including health, safety and the environment, produc-tion, cost control and the crea-tion of job and training op-portunities for Omanis through its pioneering In-Country Value (ICV) programme.
During the three-hour offi cial engagement, the guests visited PDO’s Bait Mina Al Fahal head-quarter building and the hi-tech Lekhwair Collaborative Work Environment, which enables seamless, real-time communica-tion between staff at the Coast and their colleagues in the fi eld.
They also saw the PDO Knowl-edge World attraction — the Oil and Gas Exhibition Centre, EcOman Centre and Planetari-um — which has recently regis-tered its one millionth visitor.
Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi , a former Oil North Director at PDO and current member of the PDO Board, said: “PDO is a suc-cess story by any standards and my colleagues were pleased to hear about the Company’s key achievements as well as some of its challenges.”
“This visit is a proud moment for the Company and its staff , as it gives them an opportunity to share accomplishments as well as disappointments. At the same
time, and most importantly, it was a chance to hear from key stakeholders about areas where PDO can improve and progress. “Finally, the team was enthused by the determination of PDO, as a leading exploration and produc-tion company in the oil and gas sector, to stay committed to the prosperity and growth of our be-loved nation and all its citizens,” he added.
Restucci said: “We were hon-oured to welcome the delegation of undersecretaries and senior offi cials as it was a great oppor-tunity to discuss topics of mu-tual interest and share informa-tion. We communicated some of our notable achievements and strategic priorities, not least our ICV programme, which we forecast will have created more than 21,000 job and training op-portunities for young Omanis with our contractors by the end of this year.”
“We would like to thank our distinguished guests for the high level of support for, and interest in, PDO as we tackle the chal-lenges thrown up by the current volatile oil price environment.”
“Our staff and our contractors are fully aware of the important role they play in helping to sup-port Oman’s development under the wise leadership of His Majes-ty and it is a source of great pride to them. This latest visit will encourage and inspire all of our employees to work even harder so the nation’s progress can be sustained,” he added.
The visit is the latest in an ex-tensive programme of engage-ment by PDO in the past year with a range of its key stakehold-ers. Last month, the Council of Ministers, led by Deputy Prime Minister His Highness Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, made a fi rst-ever visit to Petro-leum Development Oman.
H I G H - P O W E R E D G R O U P
FUELLING GROWTH: Three-day event, between May 19 and 21, is an
international event in the fi eld of energy and water. – Supplied picture
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Rolls-Royce to cut jobs
LONDON: Rolls-Royce Group Plc, which is already eliminat-ing about 2,600 positions glob-ally, said it will cut an addition-al 600 jobs at its marine unit that’s suff ering from a slump in oil prices.
The cuts, equivalent to about 10 per cent of the workforce at the subsidiary, will be global in scope, though about 300 posi-tions will go in Norway, where the majority of workers and manufacturing are located. Rolls-Royce acknowledged ear-lier this month that 2015 had started slowly and today added that falling oil prices would necessitate further effi ciency measures. - Bloomberg News
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B4
MARKETT U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
MUSCATSECURITIES MARKET
SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR MONDAY, MAY 18
REGULAR MARKET .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
OM0000004669 ...........SHARQIYAH DESALINATION .............................. 370,696 ......1,263,643..................... 24 ........... 3.350 ........... 3.410 ...........3.350 ............3.410 .............3.300 ............0.110 ............. 3.333 ................3.410 ............. 0.000...................3.410 ...................33,350,537 .........1.000
OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO....................................................................... 1,952,475 ... 1,497,657....................191 ............0.752 ........... 0.796 ...........0.752 ............0.768 ............. 0.744............ 0.024 ............. 3.226 ................0.772 .............. 0.772...................0.776 ..................499,925,169 ........0.100
OM0000001517 ............HSBC BANK OMAN .................................................... 1,257,000 .......179,767..................... 42 ............0.143 ........... 0.152 ........... 0.141 ........... 0.143 ............. 0.139............ 0.004 ............. 2.878 ................0.145 ..............0.144...................0.145 ..................286,044,729 .......0.100
OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES ......................... 602,667 ........... 85,446......................17 ............0.142 ........... 0.142 ...........0.139 ........... 0.142 .............0.140 ........... 0.002 ............. 1.429 ................0.139 .............. 0.137...................0.139 .................... 8,355,737 ..........0.100
OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ........................ 222,116..........369,398..................... 36 ............1.650 ........... 1.670 ...........1.650 ............1.665 ............. 1.650.............0.015 ............. 0.909 ................1.660 .............. 1.660................... 1.665 ................1,248,750,000 ......0.100
OM0000002168 ............AL ANWAR CERAMIC TILES ............................... 200,400 ........... 83,368........................8 ............0.416 ........... 0.418 ...........0.416 ............0.416 ............. 0.414............ 0.002 ............. 0.483 ................0.418 .............. 0.416...................0.418 ..................123,224,892........0.100
OM0000001707 ............OMAN CABLES INDUSTRY ........................................ 7,000 .............14,805........................6 ............2.115 ........... 2.115 ............ 2.115 ............2.115 ............. 2.105.............0.010 ............. 0.475 ................ 2.115 .............. 2.115...................2.175 .................. 189,715,500 ........0.100
OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 182,987 ........... 45,685..................... 29 ........... 0.250 ........... 0.252 ...........0.247........... 0.250 .............0.249 ............0.001 ............. 0.402 ................0.247..............0.246...................0.247 ..................32,625,000.........0.100
OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS ..................................................83,896 ............ 44,823................... 114 ........... 0.532 ........... 0.536 ...........0.532 ........... 0.534 .............0.532 ........... 0.002 ............. 0.376 ................0.534 ............. 0.000...................0.534...................28,035,000.........0.100
OM0000001087 ............OMAN UNITED INSURANCE ................................ 43,300 .............13,077........................5 ........... 0.302 ...........0.302 ...........0.302........... 0.302 .............0.302 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.302..............0.298...................0.302 ..................30,200,000 ........0.100
OM0000001160 ............NATIONAL GAS ............................................................... 4,450 ............... 1,762........................2 ........... 0.396 ........... 0.396 ...........0.396 ........... 0.396 .............0.396 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.396 ..............0.396...................0.400 ..................19,800,000 .........0.100
OM0000001418 ............RAYSUT CEMENT ............................................................. 200 ...................314........................ 1 ............1.570 ........... 1.570 ...........1.570 ............1.550 ............. 1.550............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.570 .............. 1.555...................1.570 ................. 310,000,000 .......0.100
OM0000001483 ............NATIONAL BANK OF OMAN ....................................11,566 ............... 3,655........................ 1 ............0.316 ........... 0.316 ...........0.316 ............0.316 ............. 0.316............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.316 ..............0.302...................0.318 ................. 423,664,439 .......0.100
OM0000001509 ............DHOFAR INT.DEV.AND INV. HOLD. .....................26,060 ............. 12,613........................5 ........... 0.484 ........... 0.484 ...........0.484........... 0.484 .............0.484 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.484..............0.484...................0.498.................. 119,257,600 ........0.100
OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE .............. 429,810 ......... 100,126..................... 30 ........... 0.233 ...........0.234 ...........0.231 ........... 0.233 .............0.233 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.231 .............. 0.231...................0.232 ..................46,600,000 ........0.100
OM0000001681 ............OMAN AND EMIRATES INV. HOLDING ........... 610,935.............71,562..................... 43 ............0.119 ........... 0.119............ 0.114 ............0.117 ............. 0.117 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 0.114 ...............0.113................... 0.114 ................... 14,259,375 .........0.100
OM0000001749 ............OMAN CEMENT ............................................................ 18,970 ...............9,902........................ 1 ........... 0.522 ........... 0.522 ...........0.522........... 0.522 .............0.522 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.522..............0.522...................0.532.................. 172,715,555 ........0.100
OM0000002226 ...........AL JAZEERA SERVICES .............................................. 5,000 ............... 1,728........................2 ........... 0.344 ........... 0.352 ...........0.344 .......... 0.344 .............0.344 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.352 ..............0.346...................0.354...................21,054,270 .........0.100
OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING .............65,695 ...............8,925........................9 ............0.138 ........... 0.138 ...........0.135 ............0.136 ............. 0.136............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.136 ..............0.134...................0.136 ...................12,240,000.........0.100
OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ............................................................ 104,897 ........... 56,439..................... 24 ........... 0.538 ...........0.540 ...........0.536 ........... 0.538 .............0.538 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.536 ..............0.534...................0.536................ 1,233,000,557 ......0.100
OM0000003000 ...........ALMAHA PETROLEUM PRODUCTS MAR. .............210 ..................460........................ 1 ............2.190 ........... 2.190 ...........2.190 ........... 2.190 .............2.190 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................2.190 ..............2.190...................2.200 ................. 151,110,000 ........0.100
OM0000003141 ............ACWA POWER BARKA ................................................. 1,000 .................. 836........................ 1 ........... 0.836 ........... 0.836 ...........0.836 ........... 0.836 .............0.836 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.836 ..............0.836...................0.840 .................133,760,000 ........0.100
OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES .......................................55,068 .............18,987......................13 ........... 0.344 ........... 0.348 ...........0.344 .......... 0.344 .............0.344 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.348..............0.344...................0.348 ..................97,040,492 .........0.100
OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. .................. 218,669 ........... 28,864..................... 26 ............0.132 ........... 0.133 ...........0.130 ........... 0.132 ............. 0.132............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.130 ..............0.130................... 0.131 ...................38,277,444 .........0.100
OM0000004768 ...........AL MADINA TAKAFUL ...............................................65,890 ...............5,945......................13 ........... 0.090 ........... 0.091 ...........0.088........... 0.090 .............0.090 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.088 ..............0.089...................0.090 .................. 15,750,000 .........0.100
OM0000004933 ...........AL SUWADI POWER ....................................................65,870 .............12,556........................9 ............0.190 ........... 0.191 ............0.190 ............0.191 ............. 0.191 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 0.191 .............. 0.191...................0.192 .................. 136,451,611 ........0.100
OM0000002028 ...........GULF INTERNATIONAL CHEMICALS ..............25,300 ............... 5,677..................... 10 ........... 0.225 ........... 0.225 ...........0.224 .......... 0.224 .............0.225 ...........-0.001 ........... -0.444 ...............0.224..............0.223...................0.224 ...................4,704,000 ..........0.100
OM0000004925 ...........AL BATINAH POWER ................................................ 107,099 ............ 20,395......................13 ............0.190 ........... 0.191 ............0.190 ........... 0.190 ............. 0.191 ............-0.001 ........... -0.524 ............... 0.191 .............. 0.175...................0.192 ..................128,228,612 ........0.100
OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................ 847,868 ......... 153,997..................... 28 ............0.184 ........... 0.184 ........... 0.181 ........... 0.182 ............. 0.183............-0.001 ........... -0.546 ............... 0.181 ..............0.182...................0.183 ................. 262,342,080 .......0.100
OM0000002374............UNITED FINANCE ...................................................... 83,200 .............10,574......................18 ............0.127 ........... 0.129 ...........0.127 ............0.127 ............. 0.128............-0.001 ............-0.781 ................0.129 .............. 0.127...................0.129 ................... 39,467,148 .........0.100
OM0000002549 ...........BANK DHOFAR ............................................................. 50,000 ............ 14,000........................4 ........... 0.280 ...........0.280 ...........0.280 .......... 0.280 .............0.284 ...........-0.004 ........... -1.408 ...............0.280..............0.276...................0.280 .................432,523,993 .......0.100
OM0000001319 ............NATIONAL ALUMINIUM PRODUCTS ............. 470,000 ......... 143,820........................5 ........... 0.306 ...........0.306 ...........0.306........... 0.306 ............. 0.312............-0.006 ........... -1.923................0.306..............0.306...................0.312 ...................10,272,864 .........0.100
OM0000001962 ............AL MADINA INVESTMENT ................................... 1,228,892 ........ 93,526.....................44 ........... 0.078 ........... 0.078 ...........0.076 ........... 0.076 .............0.079 ...........-0.003 ............-3.797................0.076 ..............0.075...................0.076................... 15,743,505 .........0.100
.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 9,419,186 ... 4,374,333...................775 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ......33........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
PARALLEL MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000001285 ............NATIONAL MINERAL WATER ...............................15,000 ...............1,200........................2 ........... 0.080 ...........0.080 ...........0.080........... 0.080 .............0.078 ........... 0.002 ............. 2.564 ................0.080..............0.075...................0.080 ................... 2,160,243 ..........0.100
OM0000004776 ...........TAKAFUL OMAN INSURANCE .............................. 34,112 ...............3,902........................7 ............0.114 ........... 0.115 ............ 0.114 ............0.114 ............. 0.112 ............ 0.002 ............. 1.786................. 0.115 ...............0.115................... 0.116 ...................11,400,000 .........0.100
OM0000004511 ............ALIZZ ISLAMIC BANK..................................................8,000 .................. 646........................2 ........... 0.080 ........... 0.082 ...........0.080........... 0.081 .............0.080 ............0.001 ............. 1.250 ................0.082..............0.083...................0.084 ..................81,000,000 .........0.100
OM0000001368 ............CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IND. .................. 153,397 ...............5,982........................7 ........... 0.039 ........... 0.039 ...........0.039........... 0.039 .............0.039 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.039 ..............0.039...................0.040 ................... 3,315,000 ..........0.100
OM0000001400 ...........OMAN FLOUR MILLS ...................................................2,000 ...............1,004........................ 1 ........... 0.502 ...........0.502 ...........0.502........... 0.502 .............0.502 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.502..............0.500...................0.000 ..................79,065,000 .........0.100
OM0000001566 ............OMAN FISHERIES ...................................................... 25,000 ............... 1,325........................2 ........... 0.053 ........... 0.053 ...........0.053 ........... 0.053 .............0.053 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.053 ..............0.053...................0.054 ...................6,625,000 ..........0.100
OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ................................................................ 785,960 ........... 58,952..................... 34 ............0.075 ........... 0.076 ...........0.074 ........... 0.075 .............0.075 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.076 ..............0.075...................0.076..................112,500,000 ........0.100
OM0000002564 ...........AL HASSAN ENGINEERING....................................32,850 ...............3,294........................7 ............0.102 ........... 0.102 ...........0.100 ........... 0.100 ............. 0.101 ............-0.001 ........... -0.990 ...............0.100 ..............0.100...................0.102 .................... 7,520,800 ..........0.100
.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 1,056,319 ........ 76,305..................... 62 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ........ 8........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
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 ....................................... 6,386.43 ...............6,361.88 ................... 6,379.68 ................... 6,361.86 .................. 17.82 ...................0.28Financial Index .....................................7,865.39 ............... 7,817.92 .................... 7,817.92 .................... 7,819.19 .................. -1.27 .................. -0.02Industrial Index ....................................8,313.10 .............. 8,308.43 ....................8,311.50 ................... 8,307.64 ....................3.86 ................... 0.05Services Index .......................................3,437.54 .............. 3,425.99 ....................3,437.54 ...................3,422.27 ..................15.27 ................... 0.45MSM SHARIAH INDEX.......................980.35 .................. 975.35 ...................... 980.35 ...................... 975.34 .................... 5.01 ................... 0.51
Trading SummaryVolume ................ Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up ............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded10,475,505 ................. 4,450,638 .....................837 ................14,776,551,437 ................ 12 ........................8 .................... 21 .........................41
Index rises marginally
MUSCAT: Selective buying on index heavyweight stocks such as Oredoo Oman led the MSM30 Index to end higher at 6,379.68 points, up by 0.28 per cent. The MSM Sharia Index, up by 0.51 per cent, closed at 980.35 points. Oredoo Oman was the most ac-tive in terms of volume as well as turnover. Monday’s top gainer was Sharqiyah Desalination, up by 3.33 per cent, while Al Madina Investment, down by 3.80 per cent, was the top loser for the day.
As many as 837 trades were executed during the day’s trading session generating turnover of OMR4.45 million with more than 10.47 million shares changing hands. Out of 41 traded securi-ties, 12 advanced, eight declined and 21 remained unchanged. GCC and Arab investors were net buyers for OMR294,000 followed by foreign investors for OMR52,000 while Omani Investors were net sellers for OMR346,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index marginally down by 0.02 per cent to close at 7,817.92 points. HSBC Bank Oman, Takaful Insurance, Gulf Investment Services and alizz is-lamic bank increased by 2.88 per cent, 1.79 per cent, 1.43 per cent and 1.25 per cent, respectively. Al Madina Investment, BankD-hofar, United Finance and Bank Sohar declined by 3.80 per cent, 1.41 per cent, 0.78 per cent and 0.55 per cent, respectively.
Industrial Index closed at 8,311.50 points, up by 0.05 per cent. National Mineral Water, Oman Cables, Anwar Ceramic and Al Maha Ceramics increased
by 2.56 per cent, 0.48 per cent, 0.48 per cent and 0.38 per cent, respectively. National Alu-minum, Al Hassan Engineering and Galfar Engineering declined by 1.92 per cent, 0.99 per cent and 0.44 per cent, respectively.
Services Sector Index up by 0.45 per cent to close at 3,437.54 points. Sharqiyah Desalination, Oredoo Oman and Oman Tel-ecommunications Company in-creased by 3.33 per cent, 3.23 per cent and 0.91 per cent, respec-tively. Al Batinah Power was the only loser in the sector and was down by 0.52 per cent to close at OMR0.190.
China stocks fallChinese stocks fell on concern share sales will lure funds from existing equities, while Egypt’s index rose the most globally as the government shelved a plan to tax investor profi ts. Emerging currencies ended a four-day rally.
The Shanghai Composite In-dex declined for a second day as 20 initial public off erings are due to come to market from Tuesday to Thursday. The EGX 30 gauge added 6.2 per cent in Cairo. A measure tracking 20 currencies, which jumped 1.8 per cent in the previous four days, lost 0.2 per cent amid a rebound in the dol-lar. The ruble gained as Russia’s central bank skipped a foreign-currency auction.
Assets in developing coun-tries have advanced this month as economic fi gures out of the US prompted speculation the Federal Reserve will push back planned interest-rate increases that threaten to dent appetite for riskier markets. Data this week may show increases in housing starts and manufacturing.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index lost less than 0.1 per cent to 1,043.07 by 11:57 a.m. in London, reducing its quarterly advance to 7 per cent, compared with a 3.7 per cent increase in the pe-riod for the MSCI World Index of developed-country equities. Six out of 10 industry groups rose on Monday, led by health care com-panies, while telecommunica-tions stocks lost 0.9 per cent.
Shares in Abu Dhabi rose 0.7 per cent, while Turkish equi-ties rallied for the eighth day, the longest winning streak in two years. – United Securities/Bloomberg News
Monday’s top gainer
was Sharqiyah
Desalination, up
by 3.33 per cent,
while Al Madina
Investment, down by
3.80 per cent, was
the top loser
Sensex rises as monsoon spurs interest rate-cut betsMUMBAI: Indian stocks climbed to a three-week high, with the benchmark index extending last week’s advance, after a report on the monsoon’s progress bolstered expectations of a reduction in borrowing costs.
Tata Power, the biggest non-state generator, advanced to a two-week high, while Bajaj Auto increased for a third day. Hin-dalco Industries, India’s second-largest aluminium producer, rose to a one-week high. Indian Oil Corp. paced gains among refi ners after raising fuel prices. Gail In-dia was the best performer on the S&P BSE Sensex.
The Sensex jumped 1.3 per cent to 27,687.30, the highest close since April 23. The weather bureau forecast on Sunday that the monsoon may set in over the southern state of Kerala on May 30, six days sooner than last year. The gauge capped a second weekly advance on Friday, May 15, amid speculation that slowing infl ation will give Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan room to reduce interest rates for a third time in 2015.
Infl ation falling“If the monsoon is normal, then the chances of a rate cut increase,” U.R. Bhat, a director at a local unit of UK-based Dalton Strategic Partnership, which oversees $2 billion in assets, said in a phone interview. “There’s a good chance the RBI will cut interest rates with infl ation falling.”
The 50-stock CNX Nifty index rose 1.4 per cent to 8,373.65, and the benchmark gauge of option prices slumped the most since February 28 to 17.9.
The monsoon may advance fur-ther to remaining parts of the An-
daman Islands and north Anda-man sea in the next 48 hours, the weather offi ce said. The agency last month forecast rainfall in the June-September period to be below average for a second year as an El Nino develops, like-ly hurting farm output and stok-ing food infl ation in Asia’s third-largest economy.
Consumer prices climbed 4.87 per cent in April from a year earlier, slowing from 5.17 per cent in March, data showed last week. The next policy review is on June 2. Rajan refrained from lowering rates at a scheduled re-view on April 7 as he waited for lenders to pass on two previous rate cuts to customers.
“The main catalyst for India in the short term will be inter-est rates,” Andrew Holland, chief executive offi cer of Ambit Invest-ment Advisors, said in an inter-view on Monday with Bloomberg TV India. “The governor should cut by 50 basis points. There’s no reason not to.”
The Sensex entered a so-called correction on May 7 after com-pleting a 10 per cent decline from its January 29 record amid concerns about the pace of earnings growth and delays in the passage of key economic bills in parliament.
‘Not disappointing’While eight of the 14 Sensex com-panies that have reported results for the March quarter have beat-en or matched estimates, profi ts will decline for a second straight quarter, forecasts compiled by Bloomberg show.
“The results season hasn’t pro-duced big disappointments so far,” Taher Badshah, co-head of equities at Mumbai-based Moti-
lal Oswal Asset Management Co., which has $330 million in assets, said in an interview with Bloomb-erg TV India on Monday. “The market’s taking heart in the fact that earnings, despite the chal-lenges around, are not weakening as much as expected.”
Gail rallied 3.8 per cent to its highest level since April 16. Hin-dalco climbed 1.5 per cent and Ba-jaj Auto increased 1.6 per cent, ex-tending last week’s three per cent advance. Drugmaker Dr Reddy’s Laboratories climbed 3.6 per cent, the most since April 6.
Gasoline priceOil & Natural Gas Corp., the larg-est explorer, increased to a two-week high. Indian Oil climbed two per cent, the most since April 30. Hindustan Petroleum Corp. ral-lied 4.1 per cent and Bharat Petro-leum Corp. increased 3.4 per cent.
The refi ners raised diesel pric-es by Rs2.71 a litre and petrol by Rs3.13 a litre after market hours on Friday.
The Sensex has gained 0.7 per cent this year and trades at 15.3 times projected 12-month earnings, compared with 12.4 times for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.
International investors bought a net $275 million of local stocks on May 15, the highest infl ow since April 21. Foreigners have plowed about $6.8 billion into In-dian equities this year, adding to $16 billion of purchases in 2014.
— Bloomberg News
I N D I A N S T O C K S
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B5T U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
ROUND-UP
Orpic celebrates achievements in environmental improvement plan
SOHAR: Following the 2011 inte-gration that led to the formation of Oman Oil Refi neries and Petro-leum Industries Company (Orpic), a clear vision and strategy for growth was established, which in-cluded an Environment Improve-ment Plan (EIP) — a framework for Orpic’s overriding commitment to environmental responsibility.
Orpic celebrated the accom-
plishment of four key projects that form part of the EIP, and mark a signifi cant achievement in the company’s journey to environ-mental improvement plan. The event, which was held recently at Orpic headquarters in Sohar, was attended by Mohammed bin Salim Al Tobi, Minister of Envi-ronment and Climate Aff airs, says a press release.
Musab Al Mahruqi, Orpic CEO, explained that Orpic’s EIP was developed in consideration of acknowledged issues among stakeholders.
Sustainable future“When we established Orpic, we wanted to build an Omani inte-grated refi ning and petrochemical business we are proud of. We as-pired to a sustainable future where we could expand our business to meet the growing needs of the re-gion and sector, while improving the environmental performance of our operations. After consulting with many stakeholder represent-atives, we were able to streamline our environmental focus into three distinct areas — air emissions, in-dustrial waste management and water treatment,” he said.
Orpic’s EIP, which is supported by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Aff airs and Sohar
Environmental Unit (SEU), has resulting in numerous improve-ments to the company’s current operations, which are estimated at $50 million.
“We have a specialist team of innovative and experienced peo-ple responsible for identifying solutions that address and rectify some of the areas that were recog-nised as requiring improvement,” Al Mahruqi added.
The key projects announced by Orpic yesterday are Environmen-tal Quality Monitoring System, SR Tanks Odour Mitigation, Second Sour Water Stripper, and disposal of all industrial waste from Orpic’s facility in Sohar.
The Environmental Qual-ity Monitoring System includes an environmental monitoring panel in the control room, and the intro-duction of a new mobile ambient air quality monitoring van.
To improve Odour Control, Orpic
has made a substantial investment in Sohar Refi nery (SR) tanks odour mitigation via two oily water sumps and one oily water storage tank. Orpic is also introducing a second sour water stripper to improve con-trol over odour forming processes within the refi nery.
Orpic has also changed the way industrial waste is disposed of, and has removed all stored hazardous waste at its Liwa facility.
Other improvements include Orpic’s ongoing commitment to fl are reduction, which has de-creased by 50% since 2011, with further reductions to be made.
Certifi cation“Orpic is committed to improving its daily operations, and we have been doing so since the integra-tion of our business in 2011. We recently obtained independent ISO certifi cation for our envi-ronmental management system
— demonstrating the company’s compliance and commitment to operating in line with best prac-tice international environmental standards.
“A strong environmental focus is now a key part of Orpic’s strate-gy for all new and existing projects and activities, including our Sohar Refi nery Improvement Project, Liwa Plastic Industries Complex and Muscat Sohar Products Pipe-line,” Al Mahruqi explained.
Orpic recognises that as one of the biggest companies in the re-gion, it has an important role to play in the current and future success of the community and the people that live and work within in.
Orpic operates a dedicated Visi-tor Centre, Community Hotline and uses other methods of com-munication to maintain an open and direct dialogue with the com-munity — one of the company’s most valued stakeholders.
The key projects announced by Orpic are
Environmental Quality Monitoring System,
SR Tanks Odour Mitigation, Second Sour
Water Stripper, and disposal of all industrial
waste from Orpic’s facility in Sohar
ISC Salalah bids Indian ambassador adieu
SALALAH: Indian Social Club (ISC) Salalah bid J. S. Mukul, Ambassador of India to Oman, adieu as he leaves the Sultanate to take up his new assignment in the Kingdom of Netherlands.
The ceremony also welcomed the visiting Indian naval offi c-ers, Commander Gaurav Gautam, Commanding offi cer INS Tarangi-ni and Defence Attaché Captain Arjun Dev, says a press release.
The function was held recently at Hamdan Plaza Hotel, Salalah. Manpreet Singh, chairman of In-dian Social Club Salalah, welcomed the gathering.
He thanked the ambassador for his sweet gestures and the naval offi cers for their tireless work at making their lives peaceful. He also presented them with bou-quets and mementos.
The ambassador in his address
said this year embassy of India is celebrating 60th year of diplomat-ic relations established in 1955.
Mukul also stated that the trade between Oman and India has reached at $5.8b.
Gaurav Gautam also addressed the gathering thanking the Indian community for their warm wel-come in Salalah.
Hridhya S. Menon, lady-coordi-nator of Indian Social Club, hosted
the ceremony as the compère.
Mementos of loveThe Indian School Salalah and various other socio-cultural or-ganisations presented their me-mentos of love and gratitude to the ambassador. Mohandas M. K., cul-ture secretary, proposed the vote of thanks. The formal ceremony was followed by a short cultural fi esta and dinner.
F A R E W E L L
Graduation ceremony
held at Al Ibdaa school
MUSCAT: Under the patronage of His Highness Sayyid Faisal bin Turki Al Said, Al Ibdaa Interna-tional School celebrated recently the graduation of its 12th batch of 45 high school diploma students who successfully completed this stage and are ready to enter uni-versity well prepared with knowl-edge, creativity and tendency. The ceremony was held in the school auditorium in the presence of the chairman and a group of parents and teacher, says a press release.
The ceremony included a num-ber of distinct programmes that were greatly admired by Sayyid Faisal, the sponsor of the event and the audience. The ceremony began with verses from the Holy Quran recited by a student Abdul-lah Al Hinai, and then the choir group presented a welcoming programme. After that the Chair-man Farid Mohammed Al Lawati delivered a speech in which he welcomed Sayyid Faisal, the dis-tinguished attendants and con-gratulated the students for their graduation. He then talked about the academic side, which repre-sents one of the most prominent school concerns through profes-sional development programmes for teachers, which amounted to 30 workshops, as well as activat-ing the academic remedial pro-gram and paying high attention to students through vocational guidance and counselling pro-grammes, all these eff orts were fruitful whereas last year result was 100 per cent nine students out of 47 students scored the highest of 90 per cent.
Regarding the school activi-ties, he explained that the school
pays particular attention to the activities whereas 10 lectures were held on cultural activities and the annual creativity forum that develops students’ creative skills. And in the fi eld of social ac-tivities, 120 educational journey inside and outside the Sultanate have been organised, and at the level of outdoor participation, the school participated in up to 35 the variety of activities and achieved the highest positions.
In conclusion of his speech, he praised the active and last-ing role for parents in the imple-mentation of the objectives and communicated them to the full-est and also thanked the spon-sor of the event, the attendants, faculty staff members and the graduate students. The ceremony then continued with a number of outstanding programmes in Arabic and English in particular: the visible display of the school’s achievements during the school year followed by an English song by Grade V students titled (make a change) and then a play enti-tled (the revival of the Arabic language) by Grades VIII and IX students, also a traditional pro-gramme on heritage was present-ed by students and was greatly admired by attendants ; this in-cluded poetry and colloquial tra-ditional dances.
At the end of the ceremony, Sayyid Faisal and the chairman honoured the academically out-standing students and those with high position in outdoor compe-titions, as well as graduate stu-dents and the chairman handed a commemorative shield to the sponsor of the event.
C E L E B R A T I O N
Indian School Al Mabelah celebrates annual day
MUSCAT: Indian School Al Mab-elah (ISAM) organised its annual day recently, a grand celebration which saw the little stars twinkle on the grounds of the school.
From tiny toddlers to teeny pop-pers the event encouraged, gave rewards as well as an opportunity to the students to showcase their talent. The event opened with the traditional lamp lighting ceremo-ny by Dr Saleh Salim Al Busaidi, member of the State Council, says a press release.
ISAM Head Girl Neema Shiju passionately presented the wel-come address.
P. Prabakaran, the principal, read out the annual report high-lighting the prominent achieve-ments of the school during the academic year in Scholastic and Co-scholastic areas.
Ambujakshan M. K., School Management Committee (SMC) president, articulated the school’s plan to introduce transport facility for the students. He also appreci-ated the parents for their active
participation for the development of school and also informed the gathering about the various devel-opmental projects carried out by the SMC.
Key note address was delivered by the honourable chief guest, Dr Saleh Selim Al Busaidi. He con-gratulated the management, staff and students for their eff orts to
make this event a grand success. Prize giving ceremony happens
to be the most awaited event of the annual day. Achievers both individuals and teams were honoured by Saleh Busaidi and other dignitaries.
Appreciating the conductive learning environment and excel-lent infrastructure of the school,
the guest of honour, Wilson V. George, Chairman, BoD, addressed the august gathering and moti-vated the parents for strength-ening school-home connection through close networking. He congratulated the students as well as the teachers for their ef-forts on putting up a grand show on their annual day.
The cultural bonanza with 100% participation of students enthralled the parents. The school and the entire gathering witnessed variety of Indian and Omani dance, enthusing every heart and soul. A dance performance, depict-ing various festivals added charm to that spectacular evening.
The folk dance of Oman and Jammu Dogri dance left everyone awestruck.
The event concluded with the vote of thanks rendered by the vice principal Z. A. Kazi, and the school anthem sung by the school choir leaving behind the promise of a handful of brighter hues for the next year.
S P E C I A L O C C A S I O N
Indian School Ibri holds investiture ceremony
MUSCAT: The Indian School Ibri held its investiture ceremony of the year 2015-16 in a very im-pressive manner. The programme began with a welcome song by the school choir followed by the cer-emonial march past of the offi ce bearers of the Student Council, says a press release.
Abdul Gafoor Quadri, president of the School Management Com-mittee, presided over the func-tion along with other members of the SMC. Supriya Manoj, a senior member of the teaching faculty, welcomed the gathering.
Quadri in his short address extended best wishes to all the elected and selected leaders of the Student Council and advised them to become good leaders and role models to their juniors.
The principal M. P. Vinoba con-
gratulated the members of the Stu-dent Council for being elected to the Council and appreciated their interest in taking up the responsi-bility. To achieve greater heights one should have the willingness to shoulder responsibility, he said. He inspired them through the sto-ry of Alexander the Great.
The president administered badges of honour to the head boy Manoj Ajith Panicker; Sandhya Vi-jayan, member of the SMC to the Head girl Remy Krishna; Sunny Mathew, academic coordinator to
deputy head boy Abhin Viswam Panicker and Kurian Thomas, ac-tivity coordinator to the deputy head girl Kiran Sara Thomas.
Followed by this, the prefects and vice prefects of the four houses were conferred with their badges and fl ags by their respective house masters and tutors as follows:
Then, the offi ce bearers of the Student Council took oath, which was administered by the principal.
Swati Kale, a member of the teaching faculty proposed the vote of thanks.
S T U D E N T C O U N C I L
‘Nakshatra’ holds cultural eventMUSCAT: Residents of Muscat witnessed a unique cultural event as members of children’s organisa-tion 'Nakshatra' presented a cap-tivating performance ‘Nakshatra Shondhya 2015’ recently at the British School Muscat auditorium.
‘Nakshatra’, a children’s or-ganisation founded by Tanusree Dey in 2005, believes in truth and purity of the soul of a child and works to remove the ignorance and darkness of the mind and for lighting up the lamp of one’s in-ner soul. In the past 10 years, Ta-nusree and the young members of the group have presented many enchanting cultural events to the enthusiastic audiences of Muscat, says a press release.
This year’s programme started with a dance performance ‘Jhe
Pallavi’ by Tamoghna, followed by a dance recital Writuranga cap-turing the moods of six wondrous seasons enacted by Nafi za, Oin-drilla, Ritoma, Shaharin, Shreya, Shrabosti, Stuti and Tamoghna.
Ajmain, Arpan, Mariya, Soham, Sreela, Sumaiya, Tanhaz and Taposhya, the youngest members of ‘Nakshatra’, then presented cute songs and poem recitations fi lled with childish imaginations
and laughter.The fi nal act of the evening was
a dance drama Tasher Desh writ-ten by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and performed by Abhijoy, Aishik, Aritra, Antariksh, Anuska, Ishani, Oindrilla, Nafi za, Nanziba and Tahsin. The audience ap-preciated the eff orts of the young performers and left with the hope of seeing many more similar events in future.
C A P T I V A T I N G P E R F O R M A N C E
B6 T U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
ROUND-UP
Lulu Oman wins MERA Award for fourth year
MUSCAT: Regional retail giant Lulu Hypermarket was on a win-ning spree at the coveted Distree Diamonds and Middle East Retail Academy (MERA) Awards 2015
held recently in conjunction with Distree Middle East 2015.
Lulu Hypermarket bagged two retailer awards namely, the Re-tailer of the Year - Oman for the
fourth time in as many years and the MERA Retailer of the Year - Bahrain.
The Retail Executive of the Year award was awarded to Babu Wasim of Lulu Hypermarket – Ku-wait and Kannan from Lulu Hy-permarket - Bahrain, says a press release.
‘Middle East Retail Academy: 2015 Awards’ were decided during a live voting session by an audi-ence of pre-qualifi ed ICT and CE vendors, distributors and retail executives from across the Mid-dle East market attending Distree Middle East.
Prior to the live voting session, fi ve nominated brands for each award were selected based on con-tinuous channel feedback received during the last 12 months through the MERA Monthly Monitor Re-port (MMR).
‘Middle East Retail
Academy: 2015
Awards’ were
decided during a live
voting session by
an audience of pre-
qualifi ed ICT and CE
vendors, distributors
and retail executives
from across the
Middle East market
New boutique brings top Pakistani fashion brands under one roofMUSCAT: The Armaan Bou-tique was offi cially inaugurated recently by Naheed Ayaz, wife of Ayaz Hussain, Ambassador of Pa-kistan, in a glamorous ceremony attended by a cross section of the community. The Armaan Bou-tique, a concept born out of pure passion, has its roots deeply en-trenched in the culture and intri-cate patterns of Pakistan, says a press release.
Although Pakistani fabric is not new to the market, it has nev-er been attempted at this level where a full store is dedicated to the colours, fabrics, embroider-ies and ensembles of Pakistan.
Brands like Asim Jofa, Sobia Na-zir, Umar Sayeed, Khaadi, Zunuj, Beech Tree, Junaid Jamshed, Farah Talib, Sana Safi naz, Gul Ahmed and others have all found a place at the Armaan Boutique.
Conveniently and centrally located in the Gallery Muscat Mall in Al Khuwair, away from the hustle and bustle of the main business centres, the Armaan Boutique off ers an ideal place for women to shop.
Those interested can like the Facebook page on facebook.com/thearmaanboutique to be updated about the happenings in the store.
A R M A A N B O U T I Q U E
A’Saff a chicken franks: A favourite
among children and adults alikeMUSCAT: A’Saff a Foods, Oman’s number one chicken producer, has an exciting and tasty product range of smoked, spicy and regular chicken franks that are made from the fi nest ingredients.
A’Saff a franks are popular amongst children and adults alike, and are a step towards continued expansion of the brand’s delicacy range and bringing the quality standards of A’Saff a to the market in new and appetising ways.
The delicious A’Saff a smoked, spicy and regular chicken franks are a connoisseur’s delight, says a press release.
Ever-lingering freshnessFlavoursome and blended with the ever-lingering freshness of natural ingredients and delicate spices, A’Saff a chicken franks make parties and celebrations even more exciting.
“We believe that our chicken
franks range — smoked, spicy, as well as regular are much tastier than imported products, thanks to the quality of the natural and pure ingredients used. For a fam-
ily looking for a fresh, pure, natu-ral, healthy and tasty product, our chicken franks are ideal,” said Sidhartha Lenka, head, marketing and sales.
“A’Saff a chicken franks are ex-tremely pure and tasty and we are sure they will bring out the chef in one and all. Always fresh, like our other processed products, the chicken franks range too are fresh, healthy, tasty, and pure; and are a product of choice among families in the Sultanate and be-yond,” he added.
Being pioneers in fully integrat-ed poultry production and farm management systems, A’Saff a Foods have built its competence and expertise in food production, processed food technology and innovative food recipes helping them to deliver new, fl avourful choices that consumers can enjoy at all times. As a market leader, it is A’Saff a Foods constant endeavour to provide consumers with food products that are wholesome and processed hygienically from natu-ral, pure, halal, healthy and pre-mium ingredients.
D E L I C I O U S
Indian School Nizwa
instals young leaders
NIZWA: The Investiture Cer-emony of Indian School Nizwa, held recently on the school prem-ises, marked a signifi cant be-ginning to a new academic year 2015-16. It was a solemn occa-sion where the young students were all prepared to don the man-tle of leadership and discharge the responsibilities entrusted upon them by the school.
The function was presided over by the chief guest Dr Salim Al Abri, executive director, Ni-zwa Hospital and the guest of honour Dr. Yaqoob bin Khalfan Al Nadabi, administrative manager, Mininstry of Education (MoE) and the special guest Ismail Al Muniri, system supervisor, MoE. The event was also attended by Dr S Arokiasamy, president of the School Management Committee, Dr Ved Prakash Narang, treas-urer of SMC, other committee members and the beloved par-ents, says a press release.
The ceremony, marked with a lot of enthusiasm and gusto, was initiated with the lighting of the lamp. The gathering was wel-comed by the Principal Mainak-she Minoo whose motivational speech urged the young leaders to have a clear conscience while delineating their duties.
It was indeed a proud moment for the Indian School Nizwa fraternity when the chief guest adorned the newly elected lead-ers with badges. The principal handed over the school fl ag to the Head Boy Sharoon Shreef and the school maze to the Head Girl Sunaina Yousuf.
The masters and mistresses of the four houses handed the house fl ags and placards to the captains of each house. They were also adorned with badges
by their blessed parents as well as the senior teachers of the school. This was indeed a very proud oc-casion and the leaders took an oath to be true to their posts and duties assigned to them and work in sync with the mission of the school. Sharoon in his accept-ance speech promised to abide by the rules of the school and vowed to act as a role model for the rest of the school to emulate.
The enlightening words of Arokiasamy inspired the stu-dent governing council to have a clear vision and proper focus on their goals. He also stressed on the point that success in life is to make others successful. Dr Ved Prakash Narang, treasurer of the School Management committee in his address emphasised the importance of developing a team and entrusting each with his own responsibility, which eventually is the trademark of leadership.
The school choir enthralled the audience with a beautiful and me-lodious song and a talented group of students mesmerised everyone with a classical and folk dance.
The newly elected School Gov-erning Council is: Head Boy Sha-roon Shereef, Head Girl Sunaina Yousuf, Asst. Head Boy Jeevan Justin, Asst. Head Girl Rifana Riyas, Sports Captain Boy Kartik Thulasi. Sports Captain Girl Soja Sajeev, Captains of Tagore house Manahil Ameen, Venkat G and Asst. Vice-Captain Jinsha Jaleel, Gandhi house captains Susma Albert, Rana Das and Asst. Vice-Captain Alka Mano, Azad house captains Ayisha Harmain, Suroor Othman and Asst. Vice-Captain Anshad V V, and Vivekananda house captains Sara Albert, Ahmed Kifah and Asst. Vice-Captain Praveen Kumar.
I N V E S T I T U R E C E R E M O N Y
Al Kanz winner takes home OMR100,000MUSCAT: National Bank of Oman yesterday made one of its custom-ers OMR100,000 richer follow-ing the Al Kanz prize draw for the month of April at Muscat City Cen-tre, which was overseen by honor-ary guest Sheikh Mohsin Al Hadad, Member of State Council.
The bank also used the event as a platform to launch its new ‘Easy Payment Plan’ solution to give cus-tomers even more fl exibility when shopping at some of the local re-tailers, says a press release.
Under NBO’s Al Kanz scheme, customers who have maintained a minimum monthly average bal-ance of OMR100 or above are eli-gible to participate in the monthly prize draw. The earlier a customer deposits and the longer they retain it for, the more chances they have of winning the monthly and grand prize draws.
John Chang, general manager and chief retail banking offi cer at National Bank of Oman, said: “The National Bank of Oman team off ers their congratulations to the latest winner of the Al Kanz draw. The Al Kanz Prize scheme seeks to promote and reward good savings habits, and we look for-ward to rewarding more custom-ers. Next month, 60 children will
each win a OMR500 cash prize, 35 youth will win OMR1,000 each and six winners - one from each region - will receive a OMR50,000 cash prize each.”
National Bank of Oman has also launched a new ‘Easy Pay-ment Plan’ solution covering pur-chases at stores including Joyluk-kas, Damas, Malabar Gold, Travel Point and Sharaf DG, to name just a few. Customers spending over OMR100 at these stores on their NBO Credit Cards can choose to convert the payment into instal-
ments over a 6-month or 12-month period at 0% interest.
Chang added: “Providing choice and fl exibility to customers is a central pillar of the National Bank of Oman business model, and re-fl ects our focus on delivering a consistently superior customer experience. Our new ‘Easy Pay-ment Plan’ has been developed specifi cally with our customers in mind as it provides a simple, con-venient and interest free option for spreading out the cost of shopping at various stores.”
P R I Z E D R A W
NBO has also launched
a new ‘Easy Payment
Plan’ solution covering
purchases at stores
including Joyalukkas,
Damas, Malabar
Gold, Travel Point and
Sharaf DG. Customers
spending over OMR100
at these stores on
their NBO credit cards
can choose to convert
the payment into
instalments over a
6-month or 12-month
period at 0% interest
B7T U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
ROUND-UP
Bank Muscat wins ‘Best Bank in Oman’ award
MUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the fl ag-ship fi nancial services provider in the Sultanate, has won the ‘Best Bank in Oman’ award by Global Finance in recognition of banking service excellence.
Criteria for choosing the win-ners included growth in assets, profi tability, strategic relation-ships, customer service, com-petitive pricing, and innovative products. Global Finance editors with input from industry analysts, corporate executives and bank-ing consultants selected the best emerging markets bank in the region. A poll of Global Finance’s corporate readership was also conducted in order to validate the accuracy and reliability of the re-sults, says a press release.
AbdulRazak Ali Issa, Chief Ex-ecutive, said: “Time and again, the performance of Bank Muscat has been lauded by the global banking community and we are delighted to receive yet another endorsement from Global Finance refl ecting the
consistency of performance and the innovative strategies which have cemented the bank’s repu-tation in a tough market. Year on year, the bank adopts new ini-tiatives to stretch its operational excellence. A keen perception of customer requirements enables the bank to remain focused on de-veloping products and services in line with the current and emerging needs. Going forward, Bank Mus-cat seeks to reinforce its competi-tive edge in the market.”
As the fl agship bank with a fast-growing network, Bank Muscat aims to deliver reliable, dynamic and innovative banking services. The bank draws on its expertise to provide customers with the best banking products and services. The bank is endowed with a deep understanding of customer needs, off ering expertise and fi nancial guidance at all levels.
A multi-award winning organi-sation, Bank Muscat holds the rare distinction of being consistently
voted the ‘Best Bank in Oman’ by all leading local, regional and glob-al institutions.
The Global Finance awards are recognised as one of the most prestigious international banking awards given to institutions that demonstrate leadership, innova-tion and momentum in the mar-kets in which they operate.
“Banking markets around the world are changing dramatically in the face of a new regulatory landscape and changing condi-tions. We honour those banks that have the deepest commitment to the markets in which they operate and understanding of the specifi c needs of customers based in those markets,” the magazine noted.
Bank Muscat accounts for 38 per cent market share of assets in Oman worth over OMR65 bil-lion. The bank posted a net profi t of OMR43.30 million for the 3-month period ending March 31 2015 compared to OMR39.76 mil-lion reported during the same pe-riod in 2014, an increase of 8.9 per
cent. The bank posted a net profi t of OMR163.23 million in 2014 compared to OMR152.19 million reported in 2013, an increase of 7.3 per cent.
Bank Muscat off ers the com-plete range of innovative banking products and services to the larg-est banking family in Oman. Off er-ing the right mix of traditional and electronic banking channels for the Sultanate’s youth-dominated population, Bank Muscat enjoys an edge in hi-tech products and services, notably electronic pay-ment and web-based services, in tune with Oman moving towards a cashless society and meeting the banking requirements of a young and tech-savvy generation. Prod-uct innovation and improved level of service by Bank Muscat for both conventional and electronic chan-nels is the key to making a diff er-ence in banking excellence.
Bank Muscat enjoys invest-ment grade credit ratings of ‘A1’ by Moody’s and ‘A-’ by Standard & Poor’s. The bank’s biggest footprint and presence across the Sultanate and world class products and ser-vices are helping to make the vital diff erentiation, with the focus on its ‘Let’s Do More’ vision. The bank has direct and indirect presence in all six GCC states, including a branch each in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, as well as Representative offi ces in the UAE and Singapore, which focus on fi nancial institu-tions and trade business. With the best and most knowledgeable team in the country, Bank Muscat remains committed to providing a world class banking experience.
The Global Finance awards are
recognised as one of the most prestigious
international banking awards given to
institutions that demonstrate leadership,
innovation and momentum in the markets
in which they operate
Re-designed MEDC website provides dynamic servicesMUSCAT: Muscat Electricity Distribution Company (MEDC) recently re-designed its website to provide its subscribers with the best quality of services. The newly designed website pro-vides dynamic and progressive services off ered by MEDC, says a press release.
Commenting about the newly designed website, Moataz Nafea, Customer Service Development Expert at MEDC said, “Early before we started the website re-design project, a specialised team from MEDC held multiple focus groups with our subscribers to identify their needs and hear their views about the services they want us to provide. After gathering the required informa-tion, we followed an analytical methodology comparing other websites of several electricity providers around the world on the purpose of meeting the inter-national standards.”
“We have put the website de-sign plan according to these in-ternational standards which suit Oman market needs based on the suggestions of our customers. The new design provides all the required information in a user friendly manner and focuses on the needs of our subscribers, not only that but more to come, we have planned some state of the art services that will be launched in the near future,” added Moataz.
Majda Al Wahaibi, Commu-nication Specialist at MEDC stated, “Since the launch of the newly designed website we have
been receiving very positive re-views from our subscribers and contractors. At MEDC we feel very proud that the company’s website is up and running to help our subscribers regarding elec-tricity supply, billing services and payment.”
Feedback from subscribers us-ing the new website is really posi-tive pinpointing the smoothness and simplicity of accessing infor-mation as it was designed in a way that fi t mobile phones browser apps as well as computers.
It is worth mentioning that the website off ers a lot of online services like updating subscriber data, supplying electricity in new buildings in Muscat. It also pro-vides data about the outages due to maintenance and other tech-nicalities that aim to develop and improve the electricity network.
Q U A L I T Y S E R V I C E S
It is worth mentioning
that the website offers
a lot of online services
like updating subscriber
data, supplying
electricity in new
buildings in Muscat
Clé de Cartier now available at Khimji’s
MUSCAT: In line with its com-mitment to bring the latest from the world of luxury brands to its customers in Oman, Khimji’s Watches now showcases the Clé de Cartier timepieces. The new Clé de Cartier watch launched at SIHH 2015 has a minimalist el-egance and a harmonious design.
Clé means ‘key’ in French and the crown’s resemblance to one is unmistakable. The act of resetting the time and date introduces a new gesture to the world of watchmak-ing, one that recalls the traditional turning of a key to wind up a clock. Elongated and pure, it is adorned with a sapphire that is not set in a classical manner. Instead, it is in-geniously inserted to remain fl ush with the metal surrounding it, says
a press release.Combining cutting-edge tech-
nology and in-depth expertise, the Clé de Cartier has a new in-house movement developed, produced and assembled by the craftsmen of the Cartier Manufacture in Swit-zerland. Its name — 1847 MC — pays homage to the year the Mai-son was founded.
The incorporation of a particu-
larly rapid barrel provides it with tremendous chronometric stabil-ity and the dual-direction winding automatic mechanism provides great durability via a specially de-signed lever system.
The Clé de Cartier is a watch for men and women. The men’s ver-sions have a 40mm diameter and have a self-winding movement, calibre 1847MC, available in white gold and pink gold. The ladies ver-sions are either in 31mm or 35mm diameter. The 35mm diameter ver-sions (white gold with a diamond bezel or white gold and completely set with diamonds) have the same movement as the men’s version. The 31mm version is available in pink gold with a pink gold bracelet and a diamond studded bezel.
L U X U R Y B R A N D
ISC Muscat yoga event on May 22
MUSCAT: Indian Social Club Muscat, as part of the Internation-al Yoga Day celebrations, is hosting a yoga event on May 22 at the ISC multi-purpose hall.
United Nations General As-sembly approved on December 11, 2014 the International Yoga Day to be celebrated on June 21 every year, says a press release.
The event will start with free yoga session at 8am to 9:30am for all ages. Later, from 9:30am onwards the yoga event for par-ticipants from all age groups will showcase their talent in yoga asana which will be judged by ex-perienced teachers
From 3:30pm to 5pm an open discussion will take place among diff erent teachers about diff er-ent styles of yoga with respect to their needs.
In the end, from 7pm onwards,
diff erent groups will be perform-ing yoga in dance form. Yoga utsav will be honoured by Ambassador of India.
“This event is being circulated to diff erent schools and groups so that there is more awareness in so-
ciety about the general well-being and health which is main motto,” said an ISC offi cial.
Registration forms are available at ISC reception (24701347) or can be downloaded from the www.ISCmuscat.com.
I N T E R N A T I O N A L Y O G A D A Y
All-new Yukon XL continues to be ministry’s preferred choiceMUSCAT: The Ministry of Re-gional Municipalities and Water Resources is once again ramp-ing up its offi cial fl eet with the all-new GMC Yukon XL in a reaf-fi rmation of its confi dence in the SUV’s unmatched performance and effi ciency.
The GMC Yukon has long been a favourite with the ministry with new models added every year to its multi-brand fl eet. Its presence on the fl eet speaks of its capabili-ties — qualities that have been ap-preciated by the ministry since 2005 when it was fi rst inducted into the departmental fl eet, says a press release.
To suit the client’s specifi c needs, the 2015 GMC Yukon XL has been suitably customised and fi tted without compromising on the brand’s signature features and legendary capabilities.
It is this fl exibility that al-lows for the Yukon to be suitably adapted to serve any transport and carriage function, whether as a family car or transporter of offi -cial personnel and, in some cases, goods as well.
The all-new 2015 GMC Yu-kon XL off ers more than just a superior motoring experience to its owners. Bold styling and advanced technologies — in-cluding new safety and security technologies — support Yukon’s greater capability, while a more comprehensive list of standard features and enhanced infotain-ment options are designed to broaden the appeal of one of the industry’s most-popular full-size SUV line-ups.
At the heart of the Yukon XL’s acclaimed V-8 performance, as well as its impressive fuel econ-omy, is a new family of advanced EcoTec3 engines. The EcoTec3
engines feature state-of-the-art technologies, including direct injection, cylinder deactivation, continuously variable valve tim-ing and an advanced combustion system, designed to make the most of power, torque and effi -ciency across a broad range of op-erating conditions.
More precisely controlled com-bustion enables the new engines to run with a higher compression ratio, which delivers greater pow-er and effi ciency.
Greater refi nement in the new 2015 Yukon XL is delivered through enhanced chassis and suspension systems. A fully boxed frame – composed of more than 75 per cent high-strength steel – sup-ports a quiet and controlled ride.
In addition, the high safety standards associated with the Yu-kon XL makes it a perfect candi-date for the civic tasks that await this most sturdy of SUVs. After all, the Yukon line-up incorpo-rates new technologies to help protect the driver and passengers before, during and after a colli-sion. They include a forward ra-dar system and the segment’s only
front seat centre-mounted air bag (models with bucket seats), which is engineered to provide additional protection to drivers and front passengers in far-side impact crashes, where the aff ect-ed occupant is on the opposite, non-struck side of the vehicle.
Standard and available safety features also include forward col-lision alert, front park assist, lane departure warning, lane change assist, rear cross traffi c alert, adaptive cruise control, front and rear automatic braking and GM’s Safety Alert Seat. It off ers direc-tional vibrations to alert the driv-er about potential crash threats.
Inside the all-new Yukon XL, a plethora of features compete for attention with the brand’s premium infotainment choices. Examples include soft-touch in-strument panel, console and door panel materials with live stitch-ing and purposeful use of ambi-ent lighting in functional areas. All models have a standard Bose sound system, seats with dual-fi rmness foam and an ambient air vent designed to enhance comfort for front-seat passengers.
Perfect fi tCommenting on the inclusion of the all-new Yukon XL in the min-istry’s fl eet, Virendra Agarwal, CEO of Moosa Abdul Rahman Hassan & Co, exclusive distribu-tors of GMC cars in Oman, said, “The formidable capabilities of the Yukon XL make it a perfect fi t for customers who demand a con-sistently superior performance from their vehicles. Having been part of the fl eet for nearly a dec-ade, the Yukon has done the Min-istry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources proud as a dependable vehicle of choice.”
S U I T A B L Y C U S T O M I S E D
To suit the client’s specific
needs, the 2015 GMC
Yukon XL has been suitably
customised and fitted
without compromising
on the brand’s signature
features and legendary
capabilities
B8
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Ooredoo offers better call rates
MUSCAT: Ooredoo customers can now enjoy even better call rates to India, Bangladesh and Pa-kistan through Mousbak Interna-tional for the next three months.
Aiming to keep its customers connected with friends and family for longer, rates have been reduced to just 25 baisas per minute, with the additional benefi t of up to 75 per cent off the subscription fee.
Customers can also keep in touch with other Mousbak In-
ternational customers locally for just 25 baisas per minute, says a press release.
“With such a considerable per-centage of our calls being made to the Indian subcontinent, we saw an opportunity to enhance customers’ experience across the board. Delivering products with unparalleled value and the best customer service is at the cen-tre of everything we do and this latest off er from our Mousbak
International is how we can re-ward our customers,” said Feras Al Shaikh, Director of Consumer Sales at Ooredoo.
To take advantage of Oore-doo’s new rates, customers can dial *141*0880# for Bangla-desh, *141*0091# for India, and *141*0092# for Pakistan. Cus-tomers dialling 0902 or 00 using Mousbak International will also get the same rates.
Aiming to keep its customers connected
with friends and family for longer, rates have
been reduced to just 25 baisas per minute for
customers calling to India, Bangladesh and
Pakistan through Mousbak International
Tour Oman arranges shooting of another Tamil movie song
MUSCAT: Tour Oman, the in-bound tourism division of Travel Point, takes credit for successfully completing the song shoot of an-other South Indian movie here in the Sultanate of Oman.
The movie titled India Pakistan which was released on May 8, is a Tamil language romantic com-edy fi lm written and directed by debutant Director N. Anand, says a press release.
The fi lm features famed stars such as Vijay Antony and Sushma Raj in the leading roles, while Pa-supathy plays a pivotal supporting role. The cast also includes M.S. Bhaskar, Jegan and other talent from the industry. Lead actor Vi-jay, who has also produced the movie under the banner of ‘Vijay Anthony Film Corporation’, said: “The title may sound controver-sial, but the content is very simple. It will be an action-thriller.”
Vijay has also received great ap-preciation for his career as a music composer in the same industry, prior to his move into movie-mak-ing and acting. The scintillating music from the movie has been composed by Dheena Devarajan. The cinematography is by N. Om and Editing by Thiyagarajan.
The romantic song titled Pala Kodi Pengalilay showcases a dreamy storyline of the lead cou-ple in various picturesque loca-tions of Oman. The fi nal outcome of the song shows the gorgeous landscapes of Oman with beauti-ful creative elements added to the shot by the fi lm unit. The song has already become a favourite roman-tic melody for the Tamil Film Au-dience, since its release.
“This is the fi rst time we have witnessed such a dramatic trans-formation of location and use of props in Oman during song shoots. This was the fi rst time the art di-rector travelled with the unit, and our experience working with a cre-ative mind like his has been quite exciting,” said Manoj Dass, head, Tour Oman.
The Oman based company, which played the role of the loca-tions and logistics manager, me-ticulously chose the locations, in an attempt to showcase all natu-ral textures of Oman — sun, sea, sand and wadis. The Recce Team of four persons visited Oman in January to fi nalise on the shoot-ing locations, followed by the fi lm crew of 17 people, who arrived on January 12 for their shoot of three days. The shooting on the fi rst day in Muscat covered the Oman Dive Centre and Shatti Qurum beach followed by Wahiba Sands on the next day. A beautiful angle of Wadi Shab was included in the shoot on the third day.
Sandra Fonda, the executive producer of the fi lm thanked the Tour Oman team for their excel-lent service provided during the shoot. “Oman is a lovely country. We were made to feel at home, and the hospitality of Oman and the Tour Oman team felt like we were on a holiday, even while at work. This has defi nitely been the easiest
and most interesting song shoot for all of us,” she added.
Fascinated with the beauty of this country, Vijay stated: “I wasn’t aware of a country in the GCC that was naturally so exquisite. It is tru-ly Arabia’s best kept secret. I would love to come back for my future projects to capture so many other scenic locations in Oman.”
Tour Oman, who took up the responsibility of line production and location management for this shoot, carefully chose the locations keeping in mind the requirements of the fi lm makers. The entire crew was appreciative of the services of-fered by Tour Oman and their capa-bility to deliver the most challeng-ing requirements of the song shoot.
“The Sultanate of Oman will defi nitely be the next hot destina-
tion for movies after the release of this song,” said Gopi Amarnath, the director of photography who also plans on bringing his next pro-ject to the Sultanate of Oman.
The lead actress Hansika Mot-wani also expressed high praises for the destination.
The Tour Oman Line Produc-tion Team was thoroughly appre-ciating the entire experience with the India Pakistan unit and looks forward to working with them on more projects in the coming years.
“This song which will be featured in the movie is defi nitely going to be a visual treat to the audience and is going to highlight Oman on the global tourism map,” said Sunil Prabhakar, CEO, Travel Point.
“We particularly thank Ministry of Tourism, Royal Oman Police, Muscat Municipality and all other ministries associated with this project, for assisting us with their support to ensure a smooth shoot schedule. We’re now ready to bring more global fi lm tourism projects, which have already started lining up for us. We are giving it our best shot to bring an infl ation in tourists visiting Oman on account of such showcasing for the destination on the big screen,” added Prabhakar.
India’s vibrant fi lm industry produces more than 2,000 fi lms annually with theatre admissions of over $3 billion, in various lan-guages. Of these, over 50% are fi lmed overseas.
“This encouraged us to initiate this segment of tourism with the Indian fi lm industry and showcase the beauty of Oman to an audience of over a billion Indian movie lovers globally,” said Dass, on the occasion.
P I C T U R E S Q U E L O C A T I O N
ahlibank opens 20th branch in Mabelah
MUSCAT: In line with its retail branch expansion plan, ahlibank announced the opening of its new conventional branch in Mabelah.
Inaugurated under the patron-age of Sheikh Ibrahim Yahya Al Rawahi, wali of Seeb, the new branch is strategically located to provide easy access to ahlibank’s wide and growing customer base, outfi tted with a new ATM ma-chine and state-of-the-art tech-nology, to facilitate the delivery of quality service to customers, says
a press release.“The opening of Mabela
branch furthers ahlibank’s strat-egy to expand our branch net-work to ensure that our services and products are available and readily accessible to all our cli-ents,” said Lloyd Maddock, CEO of ahlibank.
“Since its inception, ahlibank has been playing a signifi cant and leading role in the economic and social development of the coun-try as well as striving to serve our
valued customers’ requirements.” Maddock added.
In recent years, the bank has expanded its product portfolio and delivery channels in response to customer needs and feedback, through launching conveniently located kiosks, off site ATMs, CDMs and other electronic chan-nels. ahlibank’s customer strategy revolves around serving clients whilst striving to be at custom-ers’ doorsteps through prime and prominent locations.
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The Sultanate of Oman
will definitely be the
next hot destination
for movies after the
release of this song
Gopi AmarnathDirector of photography
Oman recognised globally by ICCAMUSCAT: For the fi rst time, Oman has been ranked in the top 100 countries worldwide for the meetings and conven-tions industry by the Interna-tional Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).
The Sultanate has also been classed in the top 25 countries in the Asia Pacifi c-Middle East Re-gion. Founded in 1963 and com-prising almost 1,000 members, ICCA is one of the most promi-nent global organisations in the international meetings business, says a press release.
“That Oman has been ranked in this leading international index at this point is, without a doubt, a signifi cant achieve-ment and a great endorsement of Oman’s business events in-dustry,” noted Trevor McCa-rtney, General Manager of the Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre (OCEC).
“ICCA is a globally authorita-tive body and its rankings are hugely infl uential in the competi-tive meetings and conventions industry; it proves that Oman is a serious contender on the global meetings stage. As part of ‘Team Oman’, the OCEC team is working relentlessly alongside the Ministry of Tourism in pro-moting Oman as a formidable international events hub and the OCEC as its world-class fl agship venue. I greatly look forward to seeing Oman realise its full po-tential with the opening of the OCEC,” added McCartney.
“Oman has been investing heavily in infrastructure, re-search and marketing over the last few years, so we at ICCA are not surprised that the country is now climbing our rankings. This sector requires long-term com-mitment, strategic thinking, and careful targeting, and we know that our members in Oman have been making great use of ICCA’s research tools and database, so that this should be just the begin-ning of the country’s journey to become established as a strong international association meet-ings destination,” said Martin Sirk, CEO at ICCA.
In line with Oman’s blueprints for economic development Vi-sion 2020 and Vision 2040, the OCEC will generate consider-able revenue as a powerful player in the business events industry. Even more importantly, as one of the world’s leading intellectual hubs, the centre will support sec-tors of established economic im-portance to the Sultanate, such as oil and gas, health, education, IT, logistics, transportation, manu-facturing and fi sheries, attract-ing industry leaders and decision makers and generating invest-ment in the country.
Ahead of the opening of the OCEC, ICCA ranks Oman 79th out of 100 countries worldwide and 21st out of 25 countries in the Asia Pacifi c-Middle East Region. With the opening of the OCEC, Oman’s rankings are fully expected to rise.
C O N V E N T I O N S I N D U S T R Y
The Bollywood to organise magic show on May 28MUSCAT: The Bollywood, one of Muscat’s best-known Indian res-taurants, has always entertained its guests by regularly pulling out various surprises from its hat. And the latest surprise is a magic show, which will be conducted on May 28.
The show will begin at 9pm sharp, and guests will be treated to a host of tricks performed by a professional magician, who will perform table-to-table tricks that will astonish and delight the entire family, especially the kids. So get ready to be entertained,
said a restaurant offi cial.
Wholesome funThe magic night will replace the hugely successful Bollywood quiz night for the month of May. The quiz nights have been con-ducted by the restaurant since October 2013. The quiz tests pa-trons on their knowledge of mov-ie-related trivia, and has become extremely popular with the guests, the restaurant’s management felt that it was time to do something new and diff erent that would pro-vide wholesome fun to the entire
family, says a press release.According to Yogesh Shah,
GM, Khimji Restaurants Di-vision, The Bollywood, “Live magic and food may seem an unusual combination, but I have no doubt that our magic night will be a big hit. Our guests have appreciated our previous ini-tiatives, such as the Quiz night, the Cook-Off and Valentine’s Day celebrations. We assure them that we will always come up with more and better ways to make dining an inclusive, fun and enjoyable experience.”
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MESSI TURNS CRISIS CLUB TO CHAMPIONSA year that equals the best in Barcelona’s history, with La Liga in the bag and Champions League and Copa del Rey fi nals to come, couldn’t have started more inauspiciously. >C6
No-holds-barred clash on cards
MUMBAI: Handicapped by the absence of their dashing opener Brendon McCullum, Chennai Su-per Kings will take on the high-fl ying Mumbai Indians in what promises to be a high-octane fi rst qualifi er of the IPL cricket tourna-ment at the Wankhede Stadium here on Tuesday.
A no-holds-barred clash is on the cards between the two former champions as the reward for vic-tory would be a direct spot in the T20 tournament’s fi nal at the Eden Gardens on May 24.
It’s not a knock-out for the losers too as they will get a second chance to enter the summit clash by tak-ing on the winners of the May 20 Eliminator at Pune between Ra-jasthan Royals and Royal Chal-lengers Bangalore in the Second Qualifi er at Ranchi on May 22.
Two-time winners Super Kings will have to forge a new opening combination in the high-pressure game following the departure of McCullum to play in the Test se-ries against England commencing on May 21.
The New Zealander, who piloted his country into the World Cup fi nals recently, has been the top-order fulcrum along with West Indian Dwayne Smith (325 runs) with a tally of 436 runs ? his side’s highest — under his belt with his belligerent stroke-play.
Veteran Australian batsman, Michael Hussey had opened with McCullum at Mohali, without both tasting success, in the Super Kings’ one-sided victory.
Now the under-cooked Hussey, with the experience of that six-ball single against his name, is expect-ed to launch the innings with West Indian Smith against the potent MI new ball attack of Lasith Mal-inga and Mitchell McClenaghan.
Malinga and left-armer Mc-Clenaghan — easily the fi nd of the season for MI with his swing, pace and bounce — have forged a deadly combination, grabbing 19 and 14 wickets respectively.
Luckily for Mumbai Indians, McClenaghan is still available to play as he is part of New Zealand’s ODI squad against England.
With Michael Hussey yet to fi nd his feet, pressure would be on Smith, South African Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to give the push against a varied and incisive MI attack in which the experi-enced Harbhajan Singh and the impressive Jagadeesha Suchith are to bowl the middle overs.
Mumbai Indian’s batting, in contrast, has taken on a well-es-tablished look and would be dif-fi cult to stop once it gets going on a track that generally encourages aggressive stroke-play.
Openers Parthiv Patel and Lendl Simmons, who has notched up an impressive tally of 407 in only 11 out of 14 games, are in excellent nick going into the match.
The duo, thus, appear well-placed to take on the rival new ball formation of left-armer Ash-ish Nehra, who is the spearhead of Super Kings with 18 wickets, along with Mohit Sharma.
They would be followed by cap-tain Rohit Sharma, big-hitting West Indian Kieron Pollard, the
consistent Ambati Rayudu and the ebullient Hardik Pandya.
MI’s batting order has a rock-solid look and appears capable of taking on the spin threat from Ravichandran Ashwin, Jadeja and Pawan Negi.
MI also are the better of the two teams in terms of momentum, having won seven out of their last eight games.
Their lone defeat in this superb phase came against Royal Chal-lengers Bangalore’s rampant A B de Villiers, but they bounced back quickly to turn the tables on Kolkata Knight Riders and Sun Risers Hyderabad in two must-win games.
Super Kings, on the other hand, have blown hot and cold towards the second part of the league stage, suff ering four losses in their last seven outings.
The head-to-head record be-tween the two former champions is 10-10 going into their 21st con-test in the league.
This season, while MI lost the home game on April 17 by six wick-
ets, they paid back by the same coin in Super Kings’ den (M A Chi-dambaram Stadium) on May 8.
Chennai Super Kings: M S Dhoni (Capt), Ashish Nehra, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Francois du Plessis, Ishwar Pan-dey, Matt Henry, Mithun Manhas, Mohit Sharma, Pawan Negi, Ravi-chandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jade-ja, Samuel Badree, Suresh Raina, Ronit More, Michael Hussey, Baba Aparajith, Rahul Sharma, Kyle Ab-bott, Ankush Bains, Irfan Pathan, Pratyush Singh, Andrew Tye and Eklavya Dwivedi.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (capt.), Ambati Rayudu, Abhimanyu Mithun, Aditya Tare, Parthiv Patel, Kieron Pollard, La-sith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Marchant de Lange, Pawan Suyal, Shreyas Go-pal, Lendl Simmons, Pragyan Ojha, Mitchell McClenaghan, Aiden Blizzard, Akshay Wakhare, Nitish Rana, Sidhesh Lad, Hardik Pan-dya, Jagadeesha Suchith, Unmukt Chand, Ben Hilfenhaus, Colin Munro and R Vinay Kumar. — PTI
Two-time winners Super Kings will have to
forge a new opening combination in the high-
pressure game following the departure of
Brendon McCullum to play in the Test series
against England commencing on May 21
ALL SET FOR QUALIFIER 1: Chennai Super Kings, left, and Mumbai Indians, right, prepare for the battle which will see the winner book a direct berth in the fi nal of Indian Premier League 2015. – BCCI
McCullum’s absence will be felt, says CSK coach FlemingMUMBAI: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) coach Stephen Fleming on Monday said the absence of hard-hitting opener Brendon McCul-lum will have a big impact when his side takes on Mumbai Indi-ans in the fi rst qualifi er of the In-dian Premier League (IPL) here on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, 2010 and 2011 champions CSK will have to come up with a new opening combina-tion as the New Zealander de-parted to join his national squad to play in a Test series against England starting May 21.
A win for either team on Tues-day will ensure a place in the tournament’s fi nal at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on May 24, whereas the losing side will get a second chance to prove its worth.
“Absence of McCullum will impact a lot. He is an excellent player. But we have introduced Hussey in the last game against Punjab, even though he didn’t get a major contribution,” Fleming said at the pre-match press conference.
“And Dwayne Smith has also a good record here in Mumbai. So we have been planning for this for a long time. So we would have liked to give Mike Hussey a bit more time. But I have a big con-fi dence in Hussey. He has given one of the most consistent per-formances over the years. But the way he has trained suggests he will give his best.”
The former New Zealand skipper and current Chennai coach said the team will look to Suresh Raina in the absence of McCullum.
“It is not that he is performing badly or practicing badly. He has been in excellent touch. His last innings was good as he saw the game though. And he likes playing at Wankhede.
“He is one of the players we are hopeful will stand up on big occa-sions and win big matches. He is certainly one of those and he has
done it for us in the past number of times.
We will look up to Raina in the absence of McCullum,” he said.
CSK took a while to beat Mum-bai at Wankhede.
Last year they achieved it and this year they won here again in the fi rst leg match on April 17.
“It is a tough game as it comes as a home and away game. Rather than a semifi nal at a neutral ven-ue, it’s a home and away game. We just have to be smart as it’s a great occasion.
“Yes it is a diffi cult game and a tough place to win. This is what we are here for. We don’t expect an easy game in a play-off match. And we have got a tough one ahead of us,” the 42-year-old said.
When asked how CSK ap-proach games in league and
knockout stages, Fleming said, “It’s about dealing with pressure. It’s about calming the nerves.
We saw David Warner stepping on the boundary line against Roy-al Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and in the end probably cost the side from going through and RCB getting through.
“There can be one ball, one small moment with a bit of bril-liance that can be the diff erence between winning the tournament and going home.
The consequences get that more when you reach this stage of the tournament.
“Yes it has been an excellent competition thus far. And a cou-ple of twists to go. The team which deals with that pressure and indi-viduals which stand up will be the diff erence,” Fleming said. - IANS
F R A N K T A L K
I have a big confidence in Hussey. He has given one of
the most consistent performances over the years. But
the way he has trained suggests he will give his best
Stephen FlemingChennai Super Kings coach
Mixed day for Oman, Iran GMs continue to dominateTimes News Service
MUSCAT: Iranian Grandmas-ters continued to dominate while hosts Oman had a mixed day at the the Asian Zonal Chess Champion-ships (Zone 3.1) 2015 for men and women at the City Seasons Hotel here on Monday.
On the second day of the cham-pionships, which serves as the qualifying event for the Fide Chess World Cup, Iran’s Ehsan Ghaem Maghami and Pouya Idani re-corded their second successive victories while compatriot and fellow Grandmaster Pouria Darini settled for a draw against Ahmed Abdulsattar Abdulwahad of Iraq in their second round match.
Ehsan defeated Yemen’s Interna-tional Master Basheer Al Qudaimi and Pouya accounted for Qatari International Master Husein Aziz Nezad. Joining them on top with two points is Syrian IM Basher Iyti who defeated Lebanon’s Ibrahim Chahrour. Pouria Darini and Ahmed Abdulsattar Abdulwahad now have 1.5 points each from two outings.
Improved showMeanwhile, Omani players came up with a much improved per-formance than they did on the inaugural day. In the men’s cat-egory, Amin Al Ansi recorded a victories while Mohammed Salim Al Mamari narrowly missed out on winning a vital point.
Amin, who lost a fi ve-hour marathon against Basher Iyti on Sunday, bounced back to defeat Kuwait champion Khaled Hashem to earn his fi rst point of the cham-pionship. Al Mamari on the other hand fought till the end against Palestine’s Attallah Tamra before caving into the pressure.
In another second round match, Bahrain’s Maher Ayyad defeated Saudi Arabia’s Abdulrahman Al Mashri for his fi rst victory.
In the women’s competition too, Omani players had mixed results
with Wafi a Al Ghafri failing to add to her fi rst round success while Mariya Al Balushi won her fi rst game of the championship.
Wafi a, who defeated Mariya in their fi rst round encounter on day one, was beaten by Yara Faqeeh of Palestine. Mariya, however, made amends for her fi rst round loss by defeating Suad Alkanderi of Kuwait.
“It was a good day for Oman. But it could have been better,” Muscat-based International Master Ismael Karim said.
“Amin did well to come back af-ter that fi ve-hour match. But it’s disappointing to see Mohammed Al Mamari losing his way against Tamra. Al Mamari was in winning position and then there was a time when he could have settled for a draw. I think he was too tired after a long drawn game and the pres-sure eventually showed on him,” Karim, who is also the coach of Oman team, added.
Meanwhile, the women’s com-petition witnessed a major upset when Iranian Women’s Interna-tional Master Mitra Hejaipour de-feated Qatari Grandmaster Chen Zhu, denying the former women’s world champion her second suc-cessive victory. Speaking about the match, Karim said: “It cannot be called an upset. It was a clash
of generations — old versus young talent. And the young and enter-prising Mitra prevailed after a lengthy battle.”
While Mitra recorded her fi rst won, her compatriot and Women’s Grandmaster Atousa Pourkashi-yan and Syria’s Afamia Mir Mahmoud win their second round matches to be in the lead with two points each. Atousa accounted for Iman Hasan Mohammed Al Ru-faye of Iraq and Afamia defeated Abeer Ali of the UAE.
One player each from the 14-player men’s event and 10 strong women’s fi eld will qualify for the Chess World Cup.
Standings Men (after 2nd round): Ehsan Ghaem Ma-ghami (Iran) 2 pts, Pouya Idani (Iran) 2 pts, Basher Iyti (Syr) 2 pts, Pouria Darini (Iran) 1.5, Ahmed Abdulsattar Abdulwahab (Iraq) 1.5, Basher Al Qudaimi (Yemen) 1 pt, Husein Aziz Nezad (Qatar) 1 pt, Maher Ayyad (Bah-rain) 1 pt, Amin Al Ansi (Oman) 1 pt, Attallah Tamra (Palestine) 1 pt.Women (after 2nd round): Atousa Pourkashiya (Iran) 2 pts, Afamia Mir Mahmoud (Syr) 2 pts, Chen Zhu (Qatar) 1pt, Mitra Hejazipour (Iran) 1pt, Yara Faqueeh (Palestine) 1 pt, Mariya Al Balushi (Oman) 1 pt, Wafi a Al Ghafri (Oman) 1, Iman Hasan Mohammed Al Rufae (Iraq) 0.5 pt, Abeer Ali (UAE) 0.5 pt.
C H E S S
KEEN CONTESTS: Participants are fully focussed during the Asian
Zonal Chess Championship at City Seasons Hotel.
C2
SPORTST U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
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THIS year’s qualify-ing games have been the closest so far in
the history of the IPL, and for only the second time, the team fi nishing in the top spot has got under 20 points. What this suggests is that the teams have gen-erally been well matched and there has been little to choose from them.
There has been a bit of good luck for those who have made it to the knock-outs and a bit of bad luck for a couple of teams who have failed to do so by a whisker. The defending champions Kolkata had some bad luck going their way with matches being washed out and that would have upset their rhythm.
The uncertainty about Sunil Narine did not help, and when they dropped him for the last game for a 40-year-old seamer who was playing his fi rst game, and that too a must-win game, it showed that their thinking was not right.
Mumbai have found their mojo and so they are not tinkering with their playing eleven. Far too many people go by what the pitch is likely to do, but in a 20 overs game, the pitch will hardly aff ect the game. What you want to be prepared for is the vagaries of the weather, and so need to have players who can cope with it.
The Sunrisers suff ered with the weather and the in-ability of their main bowler Dale Steyn to change the match winning lengths and lines that he bowls in a Test match to the ones needed for a 20 overs contest. He keeps getting hammered repeatedly in limited overs matches simply because he does not have that must-have delivery for limited overs cricket, ‘the yorker’.
Mumbai used Kieron Pollard for the fi nal over and the big fella conceded only half the runs that were needed by the opposition. He is high on self-belief and confi dence in this format of the game, and while some-times it can get him to do over-the-top things, he has delivered more often than not. The tiny question mark is about his contribution when chasing, and maybe by the time this edition is over he will have answered
that positively too.Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s
men have had an extra day to relax, and so will be more rested than the Mum-bai team, but in the frenzy of the format, especially in the heat and humidity of Mumbai, this may not mat-ter too much.
They will be aff ected by the absence of Brendon Mc-Cullum who gave them such incredible starts and will be hoping that Mike Hussey will be able to do a good job in McCullum’s place.
Their batting hasn’t quite clicked together, and that is what Mumbai will try and take advantage of. The Wankhede Stadium will be vocal and back their team and the one that keeps cool and fi elds better will get through. — PMG
There was little to choose between the teams this season
C O M M E N T A R Y
Mahendra Singh
Dhoni’s men have had
an extra day to relax,
and so will be more
rested than Mumbai,
but in the frenzy of the
format, especially in
the heat and humidity
of Mumbai, this may
not matter too much.
They will be affected
by the absence of
Brendon McCullum
who gave them such
incredible starts and
will be hoping that
Mike Hussey will be
able to do a good job in
McCullum’s place
McClenaghan: Mumbai is fully prepared for play-off
HYDERABAD: Buoyed by the comprehensive win over Sunris-ers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians’ star bowler Mitchell McClena-ghan said his side is fully prepared for the IPL play-off match against heavyweights Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday.
“We have got some fantastic players. We have got a fantastic support staff behind us. They do a fantastic job. I think the most im-portant thing is that we prepare every time we go out to play. As long as we prepare well and turn up, we will be able to win,” he told reporters after MI thrashed the Hyderabad side by nine wickets last night.
He said it was important for the team to get the top order out soon to take an early advantage in the match. The Mumbai side broke the back of Hyderabad innings by getting its openers — captain
David Warner and Shikhar Dha-wan — out in the first two overs of the innings.
“I was bowling to the big bound-ary. David (Warner) is a great pull-er of the ball, great striker of the ball. I took a chance. It could have gone for a six. It could have taken a wicket. It’s just one of those things. In matches, you need to take a chance,” he said.
McClenaghan expressed hap-piness at getting the opportunity to play a key role for the Mumbai Indians.
“What I really enjoyed is the op-portunity to show Mumbai what I do back home and in domestic cricket. When I got the chance, I showed my variation...Capabilities
at diff erent deliveries and diff erent times of the innings,” he said.
He lauded Hardik Pandya, who has been a promising young player for Mumbai this season, as one of the best with an attitude to play well even in tough situations.
Meanwhile, Sunrisers Hy-derabad coach Tom Moody was disappointed with his side for fail-ing to click on the day when the play-off s berth was at stake.
“It’s a disappointing way to fi n-ish our campaign. Whether you lose by one run or 100 runs, it’s a bitter way to fi nish the tourna-ment. We, unfortunately, did not turn up as a batting group. The wicket was a good batting wicket. We could have got to 160 mark, but
losing as many wickets as we did early on puts enormous pressure on the middle order,” he said.
He rued the defeat against Royal Challenge Bangalore in a rain-cur-tailed match on May 15. “The stars are not aligned in our favour. The clouds are (referring to the rain-hit match) here in Hyderabad,” Moody said.
Moody said despite the early exit, the team gained many posi-tives from the tournament, includ-ing the good form of openers David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan and the all-round show of Moises Hen-riques. “We did not have the mo-mentum (last night) that we had in the previous games. It was one of those days that we just did not click,” he said. - PTI
The Mumbai side
broke the back of
Hyderabad innings
by getting its openers
— captain David
Warner and Shikhar
Dhawan — out in the
fi rst two overs of the
innings
GREAT PERFORMANCE: Mumbai Indians’ star bowler Mitchell McClenaghan was excellent in his
team’s win over Sunrisers Hyderabad. – BCCI
India team to be picked on Wednesday
NEW DELHI: BCCI will an-nounce the Test and one-day team for next month’s Bangla-desh tour on Wednesday after the selection committee meet-ing in Mumbai.
India are slated to play a one-off Test starting June 10 fol-lowed by three ODIs in Mirpur on 18, 21 and 24.
“All-India Senior Selection Committee will meet at the Cricket Centre, Mumbai, at 12 pm on Wednesday to pick the Indian teams for the Test match and ODI series against Bangla-desh, in June 2015,” a BCCI me-dia release stated. — PTI
B A N G L A D E S H T O U R
Day-Night Tests for
members likely
MUMBAI: The ICC Cricket Committee has recommended the Test Playing nations to try out Day/Night Test matches af-ter a lengthy discussion during its recent two-day meeting that concluded on Saturday.
While the committee chaired by Anil Kumble didn’t agree on reduction of duration from fi ve to four days, but they did note that there is need to bring back specta-tors for game’s oldest format.
Day/Night Test matches were discussed at length. The Com-mittee also received a report from MCC on the 4-day First Class match played with pink balls in Abu Dhabi, and viewed the condition of the balls used in that match. — PTI
I C C R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S
C3
SPORTST U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
High stakes, security as six years of Pakistan cricket isolation ends
LAHORE: The last time a Test-level cricket team visited Pakistan, seven Sri Lankan players went home with bullet and shrapnel wounds after RPG and machine gun-wielding militants ambushed their team bus in Lahore.
Six years on and under high security involving 3,000 police and blanket aerial surveillance, the same city will host Afri-can minnows Zimbabwe from Tuesday for a short series that Pakistan hopes will help end its sporting isolation.
With top nations refusing to visit through fears of militant attacks, it’s been a long time in the wilderness for the cricket-mad country and its players, fans and administrators.
Risks remain high and the mas-sacre of 45 minority Shiites in an attack on a bus in Karachi last week nearly prompted Zimbabwe to pull out at the last minute.
Even when they take the fi eld from Friday, it will be without In-ternational Cricket Council (ICC) umpires after the world body de-cided not to send match offi cials because of security concerns.
However, excitement is build-ing as international cricket re-turns, even in a small way with the two Twenty20 and three one-day matches against unglamorous Zimbabwe.
Large banners featuring fast bowler Wahab Riaz — one of the few bright spots from Pakistan’s mediocre World Cup campaign —
festoon roadsides across Lahore.“The last six years were unbear-
able,” Test captain Misbah-ul Haq said. “Our grounds were left de-serted, fans were deprived and a new generation of players lost a chance of playing on home condi-
tions before their own people.”Forced to host home games
in neutral venues like the Unit-ed Arab Emirates, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) estimates it has lost $120 million in TV rights and extra overheads.
Even hosting Zimbabwe will cost Pakistan Cricket Board more than $1 million, half of which is for the visitors’ fees and expenses. Not much of the outlay will be recouped by sponsorships and gate proceeds.
‘Foolproof’ securityWhile the March 2009 attack on the Sri Lankans, which left six police and two civilians dead, forced the long hiatus, it wasn’t the fi rst time a cricket team had been caught up in Pakistan’s militant violence.
In 2002, 14 people died in a sui-cide blast outside a Karachi hotel as New Zealand and Pakistan prepared to leave for the second Test, prompt-ing the tour to be abandoned.
The PCB now says it has “fool-proof” security involving thou-sands of police to protect Zim-babwe as they shuttle between their fi ve-star hotel and Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.
Constant surveillanceThe area around the venue willbe cordoned off , with various se-curity checkpoints for fans, and paramilitaries will watch the area around the clock with con-stant surveillance from rooftops and helicopters.
The players will not be allowed to leave their hotel without secu-rity and their movements will be restricted within the stadium.
“It is our fi rst step towards the goal of reviving international cricket and we will leave nothing to chance to make this tour safe and successful,” PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan told AFP.
Nevertheless, it will be a long time before cricket returns to normal in Pakistan, still battling Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked in-surgents who have claimed tens of thousands of civilian lives.
“It took one attack to stop inter-national cricket in Pakistan, but it will take a few attack-free tours to bring it back fully,” Osman Sami-uddin wrote in a column for the Cricinfo.com website.
For players like Umar Akmal, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq — all of whom have played more than 50 internationals — it will be their fi rst chance to represent Pakistan at home.
Tickets are not yet sold out, given the uncertainty surrounding whether the tour would go ahead, but offi cials are reporting a surge in demand.
“I am going to all matches,” said Salman Ahmed from the town of Gaggu Mundi. “I last watched a match was in Multan in 2008, so it has been a long time now.”
Tour itinerary (all games in La-hore): May 22: 1st T20; May 24: 2nd T20; May 26: 1st ODI; May 29 2nd ODI; May 31: 3rd ODI. - AFP
Excitement
is building as
international cricket
returns, even in a
small way with the
two T20 and three
one-day matches
against Zimbabwe
HIGH SECURITY: Policemen stand inside the Gaddafi Stadium ahead of cricket series between Pakistan and Zimbabwe in Lahore. – Reuters
HARARE: Zimbabwe have left Harare for a high-stakes tour of Pakistan, national cricket as-sociation spokesman Lovemore Banda said Monday.
“The team has left (Harare),” Banda said. “They are going (to Pakistan) via Dubai.”
There were doubts whether the fi ve-match tour would go ahead after the massacre of 45
minority Shiites in an attack on a bus in Karachi last week.
It is the fi rst tour of Pakistan by a Test-level team since seven Sri Lankan cricketers were wounded during a 2009 attack by militants in Lahore.
Zimbabwe are scheduled to arrive in Pakistan Tuesday and play two Twenty20 and three one-day internationals amid
massive security at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Since the attack on the Sri Lankans, Pakistan have staged ‘home’ matches in the UAE.
Views on the tour are mixed with Sri Lanka-born Zimbabwe coach Dav Whatmore upbeat.
“I appreciate the signifi cance of this tour to Pakistan and I am happy to go,” he told Zimba-
bwe radio. But the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) said their security advisors were against the tour.
A South African radio station quoted FICA chairman Tony Irish saying : “Tours to Pakistan remain an unacceptable risk and teams are advised against travelling there.” - AFP
Whatmore ‘happy to go’ as Zimbabwe fl y to Pakistan
Rogers to retire after Ashes seriesSYDNEY: Australia Test opener Chris Rogers appears set to retire from international cricket after the upcoming Ashes series in England.
The 37-year-old’s fi rst two Tests were separated by more than fi ve years but he has been a fi xture in Australia’s opening partnership with David Warner since a surprise selection for the 2013 Ashes tour.
That call-up was based on the left-hander’s prolifi c batting over several years in the English county game and Rogers said a fi nal cam-paign in Britain would be an ap-propriate way to bring an end to his Test career. “I’m very happy, I’ve been pretty fortunate to have this second go at it and have loved every moment of it,” he told Fox Sports TV at Sydney airport on Monday.
“But time calls on everyone and I think it’s nearly up for me.
“I think to go out in the Ashes and in England, where I’ve played a lot of cricket is pretty fi tting.”
Despite the eff orts of Rogers, who scored 367 runs at an aver-age of 40.77, Australia lost the 2013 Ashes series 3-0. They swept England 5-0 in the return series in Australia in 2013-14, however, raising hopes of a fi rst series vic-tory on English soil since 2001 in July and August this year.
Rogers, who was leaving Aus-tralia for the tour of the West In-dies which precedes the Ashes, has scored 1,535 runs at an aver-age of 39.35 with four centuries in his 20 Tests to date. Wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, who announced his retirement from One-day Inter-nationals on Sunday, said he was not yet contemplating quitting the longest form of the game.
“It’s defi nitely my last overseas tour but I haven’t really thought about it, to be honest,” said Had-din, who will be 38 in October. “You have to give the Ashes campaign the respect it deserves and I’m not thinking any further than that.
“I still think I’ve got a lot of Test cricket ahead of me so from that point of view, I’m comfortable with where my game is at. I just want to be part of this campaign.” - Reuters
P R O L I F I C B A T T I N G
Broad apologises for missing sponsor event
LONDON: England bowler Stu-art Broad has revealed that he has apologised for missing a sponsor event last week, following media reports he had been out drinking the night before.
Broad was due to appear at a function in London last Thurs-day to preview the forthcoming two-Test series with New Zea-land, but failed to turn up.
The Daily Mail claimed it was because he had been out with for-mer England wicketkeeper Matt Prior until 7am, but the 28-year-old said he had actually been suf-fering from a migraine.
“I don’t want to go into mas-sive detail about it, but I think it was probably not as bad as it was portrayed. And I woke up with a migraine,” Broad said in com-ments published by several Brit-ish newspapers on Monday.
“I wasn’t on England duty for the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) but I did apologise for putting them in that position because after the week they’ve had with (Andrew) Strauss and (Kevin) Pietersen, it was prob-ably not what they needed.”
Broad’s no-show followed the announcement by new ECB di-
rector of cricket Strauss that Pi-etersen was not part of his plans despite the batsman’s return to county cricket due to a “massive trust issue”.
Strauss has had to weather criticism in the aftermath and Broad says that the only way Eng-land can change the headlines is by producing positive perfor-mances on the pitch.
“I feel like now is the time as a team that we need to go ‘cricket, cricket, cricket’ because when we do that, that is generally when we get some good results,” he said.
“We’ve got to win games. Sport is that sort of world. If you’re los-ing, you deserve to get that sort of crap. If you’re winning, you generally get less crap and people enjoy watching you more.”
Pietersen accused Broad of be-ing part of a bullying culture in his autobiography, but while Broad backed Strauss’s stance, he said re-ports of friction between him and Pietersen had been overplayed.
“We shared the changing room for eight, nine years. He’s helped me from time to time. We’ve nev-er raised voices against each oth-er. It’s perceived to be worse than it is between the players.” - AFP
W O K E U P W I T H M I G R A I N E
Time calls on everyone and I
think it’s nearly up for me
Chris RogersAustralian opener
C4
SPORTST U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
Sanskar wins U-12 title at ISC tourneyMUSCAT: Sanskar Dubey cap-tured the boys under-12 singles ti-tle at the ISC Junior Table Tennis League sponsored by New Makha Enterprises and organized by the Indian Social Club Muscat.
In a thrilling fi nal, Sanskar, who had won all his matches in the league phase, dominated the fi nal to register an impressive 1-7-, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9 win over Al-lan Thiyagaseelan.
Allan, who too was unbeaten in the league stage, played brilliant attacking table tennis and kept Sanskar on his toes.
Sanskar was consistent with his forehand topspins.
The fi rst game was evenly matched until seven-all before Sanskar opened up to take the lead. Sanskar raced to a 9-3 lead in the second before Allan staged a partial recovery before losing the game.
Sanskar consolidated with a brilliant all-round game to win the third game and held his nerves as Allan kept up the pres-sure before Sanskar held his game together to win the fourth game and the boys under-12 title.
T A B L E T E N N I S
U-12 FINALISTS: Sanskar Dubey, right, and Allan Thiyagaseelan.
Pellegrini backs Bony to be Manchester City success
SWANSEA: Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini is con-fi dent Wilfried Bony will go on to become a success after insisting he is a player they “need.”
The substitute reminded Swan-sea what they were missing with a late goal as City guaranteed them-selves a top-three fi nish and direct entry into next season’s Champi-ons League with a 4-2 win at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday.
Yaya Toure and James Milner goals had put Pellegrini’s team in control of this Premier League fi x-ture only for the home side to level up with goals from Gylfi Sigurds-son and Bafetimbi Gomis.
Another Toure strike — again aided by more questionable work from Swans goalkeeper Lukasz Fa-bianski — put City back in control before his Ivorian teammate Bony, signed from Swansea for £28 mil-lion ($43 million, 37 million euros) in January, added a goal late on.
It was only Bony’s second goal for City since his mid-season ar-
rival but Pellegrini was confi dent the striker, who was applauded af-ter his goal by Swansea fans, would be a success at Eastlands.
“He got the reception he de-serves. He was very unlucky when we bought him because he started by going to the African Cup Of Na-tions,” said Pellegrini.
“After that then he had an ankle
and knee injury that stopped him for three weeks. Then we won fi ve in a row and I did not want to make changes in this moment.
“... I am absolutely sure we bought the player we need.”
Beautiful saveVictory guaranteed deposed Pre-mier League champions City a
top-three fi nish and a place in the group stages of the Champions League, with England’s fourth-placed side having the inconven-ience of a qualifying round for Eu-rope’s elite club competition.
But things might have been dif-ferent on Sunday when, with City having just reclaimed the lead to move 3-2 ahead, Swansea seemed set to equalise via a thumping header from Federico Fernandez only for Joe Hart to pull off a stu-pendous one-handed refl ex save to tip the ball over his crossbar.
“It was incredible,” said Swansea boss Garry Monk. “Ninety-nine times out of 100 that’s a goal but un-luckily for us he had an answer to it. He is a world-class goalkeeper.”
City manager Pellegrini added that 28-year-old England inter-national Hart had advanced this season and was “starting to reach his peak.”
“It was a beautiful save in an im-portant moment,” Pellegrini said.
“I think that Joe is the No. 1 in England. He has improved a lot this season.
“Bringing in Willy Caballero has been good for him as competition,” the Chilean added.
“I think he is starting to reach the peak of his career. It is diffi -cult for a young goalkeeper to be so, so good.” - AFP
Pellegrini was
confi dent the striker,
who was applauded
after his goal by
Swansea fans, would
be a success at
Eastlands
A PLAYER THEY NEED: Wilfried Bony
Nadal woes raise fl ag for rivalsROME: For the past 10 years Ra-fael Nadal has been virtually un-beatable at Roland Garros, but that could all change at this year’s French Open as the Spaniard’s woes continue on clay.
Nadal, stunned in the fi nal of the Madrid Masters a week ago by Brit-ain’s Andy Murray, has won only one tournament — Buenos Aires — on his favourite surface this year.
Having already lost twice this year to Italian Fabio Fognini, Serbi-an rival Novak Djokovic and Mur-ray, the 14-time Grand Slam winner was eliminated from the quarterfi -nals of the Italian Open by Stan Wawrinka, who also beat Nadal to the Australian Open title in 2014.
If Nadal’s defeat to Murray was confi rmation that things were not quite going to plan, his failure to reach the latter stages in Rome means he will likely miss out on a top four seeding for Roland Garros.
Seedings for the second Grand Slam of the year, which begins on May 24, will be announced by the French Open organisers shortly, and Nadal is unlikely to be given the luxury of a top four seeding, mean-ing he could meet one of his main rivals as early as the quarterfi nals.
Barring 2009, when Sweden’s Robin Soderling upset him in Par-is, Nadal has won the French Open every year since 2005, stretching his record to nine titles in 2014 last year with victory over Djokovic.
It goes without saying Nadal’s
struggles have not gone unnoticed.Djokovic overwhelmed Swiss
Roger Federer to defend his Ital-ian Open title on Sunday. Although neither have dismissed Nadal, they admit his virtually barren run on clay has surprised them.
“I think to be honest it surprised everybody considering his record on clay courts over the years,” said Djokovic. “It’s something that hasn’t happened in the last ten years. But he’s human as well and does have his periods where he’s not confi dent or not winning matches.
“This is the surface that always allowed him to regain his confi -dence if he was losing more on hard courts than clay courts. Whenever
he would get to the clay season he would win matches and then feel like he’s back on the right path.
“This year is quite diff erent and it will be interesting to see how he bounces back for Roland Garros, the most successful tournament he has ever played in his career.”
Given Nadal’s record in Paris, few would write off the Span-iard — even if he has to meet a top seed like Djokovic as early as the quarterfi nals.
Federer, meanwhile, said Na-dal has the ability to dispel doubts about his clay court game and bat-tle his way to a 10th title in the French capital.
“You may be shocked to hear
that at times we doubt ourselves, and anybody who says something else is lying to you,” said Federer.
“But that to me is no news, that’s just normal for any player out there. It seems that he’s doing just fi ne and regardless of what any-body says to me, he is the favourite for the French Open.
“That guy has only lost once in 10 years, there’s no way past that guy being the favourite for that tournament.”
Following a defeat to Djokovic that has underlined the Serbi-an’s hot form heading into Paris, Federer refused to budge on the Nadal question.
“You cannot take away the last 10 years,” said Federer. “It’s going to be the best of fi ve sets, we know how tough Rafa is physically and mentally. He is the favourite still, at least to me... it’s all talk.
“In the end, it’s the racket that’s going to do the talking.”
Given the huge expectations on Nadal, the Spaniard has reacted as champions only know how: defi -antly. “I don’t know what’s going to happen (at the French Open), but I’m going to fi ght,” said Nadal.
Djokovic, who has never beaten Nadal at Roland Garros, joked that avoiding him at any stage would be a bonus.
“I’ve never won against him at Roland Garros, so if I get the chance to play somebody else it would be better, honestly!” - AFP
F R E N C H O P E N
I’M GOING TO FIGHT: Rafael Nadal
Souza the loser against Sousa
Turkey’s Cakir
to referee fi nal
GENEVA: Pity umpire Manuel Messina in the day’s opening match on Court Central at the Geneva Open on Monday when Portugal’s sixth seed Joao Sousa took on Brazil’s Joao Souza.
For the record, Sousa won the fi rst meeting between the players with near identical names 7-5, 6-3 to reach the second round at the clay-court tournament.
To avoid confusion, though, Messina, from San Marino, was forced to state “Sousa Portugal” or “Souza Brazil” when calling the scores.
The Geneva Open has been restored to the full ATP Tour for the fi rst time since Thomas Muster won the 1991 title. - Reuters
PARIS: Turkey’s Cuneyt Ca-kir will referee the Champions League fi nal between Barcelona and Juventus on June 6 in Ber-lin, Uefa announced on Monday.
He has experience of ma-jor Champions League games having been in charge of the 2012 semifi nal second leg clash between Barcelona and Chelsea. - AFP
T E N N I S
C H A M P I O N S L E A G U E
C5
SPORTST U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
Orrin eyes return to Oman after victory at Denmark Challenge
MUSCAT: Englishman Max Or-rin rocketed to second place in the Road to Oman Rankings courtesy of a stellar win in tough conditions at the Made in Denmark Challenge.
The 21-year-old, who won his maiden Challenge Tour title at last year’s National Bank of Oman Golf Classic (NBO Golf Classic), once again served notice that he is very much a star in the making by closing with a gutsy level-par 71 to win by one from Scotland’s Andrew McAr-thur as howling winds blew most of the players off course, according to information received from the or-ganisers of NBO Golf Classic.
“That was as tough as I have played in – it was pretty brutal out there at times,” said Orrin who fi n-ished one over par 285 for the tour-nament to claim the €27,200 win-
ner’s cheque and take his season’s earnings to €30,000.
“I fi nished with a seven on the last on Saturday night but I knew that if I could shoot around level par today I would have a chance. I was
three behind, but the conditions were really tough so it was just one of those days where I hung in there and managed to make a score.”
Orrin has put himself in strong contention for a return to the
spectacular Almouj Golf — The Wave, Muscat — the scene of the two-stroke victory in the 2014 Na-tional Bank of Oman Golf Classic which fi rst put him in the Chal-lenge Tour spotlight.
The event has since been elevat-ed to become the season-ending fi -nale known as the NBO Golf Clas-sic Grand Final where the top 45 players in the newly coined Road to Oman Rankings will battle it
out for one of 15 coveted cards for next season’s European Tour and Orrin revealed that he’ll be doing everything in his power to ensure a return to the Sultanate as he looks to take the next step in his career next season.
“To get a win so early in the sea-son is a big positive as well,” he said. “It gives me a great chance to go and get my European Tour card through the Challenge Tour so I’ll probably be focussing on that for the rest of the season.
“Because it’s only the fourth tournament of the season and I have got myself up to the top of the Rankings early, it feels like I can have a great run at making my card so hopefully the wins and top fi ves can keep coming.”
The NBO Golf Classic Grand Final will be held at Almouj Golf from Wednesday November 4 to 7 this year and will feature the top 45 players on the Road to Oman Rankings competing for a prize fund of $397,000.
The top 15 players on Road to Oman Rankings at the conclusion of play 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 rank-ings will receive a $32,500 share of the Bonus Pool.
The 21-year-old,
who won his maiden
Challenge Tour title
at last year’s NBO Golf
Classic, closed with
a gutsy level-par 71
to win by one from
Scotland’s McArthur
IN FINE FORM: A fi le photo of Max Orrin celebrating his victory at the NBO Golf Classic in 2014. – Supplied photo
Fatma adds singles gold to Oman’s team silver at ISSF tournament
MUSCAT: Omani star Fatma Al Nabhani upset Indonesian Lavinia Tananta in an exciting women’s singles fi nal to clinch the gold at the Islamic Solidarity Sports Fed-eration (ISSF) International Ten-nis Championships in the Indone-sian city of Palembang.
According to information re-ceived from the Oman Tennis As-sociation (OTA), Fatma defeated Lavinia in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 to bag the gold.
Fatma’s achievement fetched Oman the second medal at the championships. Earlier, Fatma had also won the team silver in the company of Sarah Al Balushi and Samar Al Bakri.
Fatma began her singles cam-paign with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over compatriot Samar Al Bakri in the fi rst round before getting the bet-ter of a Malaysian player for a 6-3, 6-3 verdict in the semifi nals.
In the fi nal, Fatma however had
to overcome a late charge by La-vinia to collect the gold medal.
Fatma and her teammates had earlier settled for silver medal in the team competition after los-ing their fi nal tie to eventual gold winners Indonesia.
In the fi rst singles, Samar bint Madani Al Bakri lost to Indone-sia’s Iah by 0-6, 0-6.
In the second singles involving, an injured Fatma Al Nabhani con-ceded the match to Lavina Trenta.
The Indonesian was leading 6-2, 2-1 when Fatma pulled out with a hand injury.
Meanwhile, in the men’s singles Omani talent Younis Al Rawahi’s challenge ended in the semifi nals when he lost 2-6, 1-6 to Hari of In-donesia.
Saleh bin Ghazi Al Zadjali, Faw-waz bin Al Al Manzari and Omran bin Mohammed Al Balushi are the other Omani players who took part in the championships.
T E N N I S
SUCCESSFUL TOUR: Fatma Al Nabhani, standing second right, along with other members of the Omani contingent poses for a photo.
Marussia return to Monaco with Bianchi in mindLONDON: Every race this sea-son has been tough for struggling Manor Marussia but Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix will be the hardest yet as memories of the team’s greatest moment mingle with the saddest.
French driver Jules Bianchi has been in the thoughts of all Formula One since his horrifi c accident at Suzuka last October but his absence will be felt all the more at a home race where he stood out a year ago.
The 25-year-old has been in hospital in his nearby home city of Nice since November, when he was fl own back from Japan, and remains in a coma.
“It’s going to be diffi cult. It’s going to be tough for everybody. He’ll be in the next town,” Manor Marussia team principal John Booth, who has kept in close touch with the family, told Reu-ters. It will be very mixed feelings, it really will.
“We are carrying the JB17 (Bi-anchi’s initials and number) on the car for the whole year. One thing that really pushed us to keep going over the winter was to not waste that eff ort (of his).”
It is because of what Bianchi achieved in Monaco last year that the team, paddock paupers against a backdrop of conspicuous wealth, are still on the starting grid.
Bianchi’s outstanding ninth place handed Marussia their only points to date, a highlight that also secured the team ninth place overall in the championship and some $50 million in revenue pay-ments this year.
Without that, the team would never have come out of admin-istration at the 11th hour after
making their employees redun-dant and missing the fi nal three races of last season.
The team, with two rookie drivers and an undeveloped car that would be off the pace even in the GP2 support series, cannot expect any points this time. Even fi nishing will be a challenge, with few spares for a race whose met-al barriers and tight and twisty streets are unforgiving.
After failing to race in Australia, Manor only got back up to full staffi ng strength at this month’s Spanish Grand Prix and did not take part in last week’s test in Bar-celona because there was no point.
All eff orts are directed to the new car, but there are no guaran-tees that will see the light of day before the end of the European season. “We are still pushing to get the new car out this year,” said Booth. “We set ourselves an impossible target of August and it would be a miracle if we got it out for August.”
The team’s driver pairing of Britain’s Will Stevens and Span-iard Roberto Merhi will continue in Monaco but there is no cer-tainty about their future either.
“It is a little bit fl uid,” Booth said, after a long pause. “In an ideal world, I’d love to have them both in for the season.”
Manor are based in northern England but a move back to Ban-bury, near Silverstone, is on the cards although the old Marussia factory now belongs to the U.S.-owned Haas team, who will make their debut in 2016.
“We are hoping to relocate in August,” said Booth, who ruled out any move to the Leafield facility. - Reuters
F O R M U L A O N E
C6
SPORTST U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
Luis Enrique eyes new era of Barcelona dominanceMADRID: Barcelona coach Luis Enrique believes his side’s 23rd La Liga title can be the launching pad for another prolonged period of success and a potential treble this season.
Lionel Messi scored the win-ner to hand the Catalans a fi fth title in seven years with a 1-0 win at Atletico Madrid on Sunday as Barca returned the favour after Los Rojiblancos sealed the title at the Camp Nou exactly a year ago.
Barca face Athletic Bilbao on home soil in the Copa del Rey fi nal on May 30 before taking on Juven-tus in the Champions League fi nal a week later.
Luis Enrique was recruited along with seven new players last summer after Barca’s fi rst trophy-less campaign in six years and he lauded their response in what he described a season of “transition”.
“I hope it can be a new era. We have to deserve to win the other titles. We have two fi nals left and we need to show we are better than the opponents,” he said.
“We started 10 months ago with
many changes at the club and com-ing off a season having not won anything. We knew it would be a season of transition and we tried to do our best. We have two titles still to play for, but we already have the one that rewards consistency.”
A treble would be just the sec-ond in Barca’s 115-year history.
However, many of the current squad were also part of the side that achieved the feat for the fi rst time in the 2008/09 season.
One of the those was midfi elder Sergio Busquets and he insisted that the marathon of a 38-game La Liga season makes it the toughest competition to win.
“Last year we weren’t at the level required to be champions. This year we are on the right track, the fi rst trophy is out of the way and now we have to celebrate it be-cause it’s the hardest competition to win as you have to play against all of the teams and be consistent.
“It’s the most important one, you’re competing every week, playing against other sides home and away. The Champions League
is more prestigious but the league’s more important.
“We are still a young team. There are still quite a few players from the (Pep) Guardiola era. This could turn out to be an historic season for us.”
In contrast to Barcelona’s eu-phoria, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti was left to face the fact that his side will go without a ma-jor trophy this season despite Cri-siano Ronaldo registering his 30th hat-trick for the club in a 4-1 win at Espanyol.
Madrid led the league for four months after a 22-game winning streak to end 2014, but ultimately paid for a run of one win in four games in February and March.
“I congratulate Barcelona and my colleague Luis Enrique for winning the title,” said Ancelotti.
“The overall balance of the season isn’t positive. Madrid al-ways play to win and that hasn’t happened.
“We had a very good fi rst half of the season, but it was more diffi -cult in the second part.” - AFP
L A L I G A
CHAMPIONS: Barcelona’s players celebrate winning the championship and the game after the Spanish
league football match against Atletico de Madrid. – AFP
Messi leads Barca from crisis club to champions
A year that equals the best in Barcelona’s history, with La Liga in the bag and Champions League
and Copa del Rey fi nals to come, couldn’t have started more in-auspiciously.
The Catalans opened 2015 with a 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad on the fi eld and descended into full blown institutional crisis off it.
Lionel Messi and Neymar had been left on the bench in San Se-bastian after returning back from their Christmas holidays later than the rest of their teammates, a decision which didn’t rest well with the former as he skipped an open training session with the club’s fans the next day.
On the same day, sporting di-rector Andoni Zubizarreta was sacked and his assistant and club legend Carles Puyol walked.
The following week Luis En-rique’s job was on the line as cham-pions Atletico Madrid visited the Camp Nou, but rather than leave their coach out to dry, Barca pro-duced their best performance of the season and set in motion a run of 29 wins in 32 games to propel them to glory on all fronts.
“From the game against Real Sociedad, everything changed,” Messi admitted weeks later.
“The attitude, the desire of the team to go out on the fi eld in a dif-ferent way and to press.”
The biggest change came from Messi himself, though. A week after the Sociedad game, the four-time World Player of the Year had to watch Cristiano Ron-aldo pick up his third Ballon d’Or
and pronounce he was coming for Messi’s record.
Yet, in the fi ve months which have followed it, Messi has again taken the lead in the rivalry be-tween the two and recovered the level that made him the world’s best between 2009 and 2012.
“I see him strong, quick, com-petitive. He has returned to being the player I had the privilege to coach,” said the most success-ful coach in Barca’s history, Pep Guardiola, after watching a Messi masterclass eliminate his Bayern Munich side in the Champions League last week.
Full repertoireIf Messi’s 54 goals and 30 as-sists have been the catalyst for Barca’s stellar run, Neymar and Luis Suarez have starred in the supporting role.
Messi’s upturn in the new year coincided with Suarez recovering his best form after a four-month ban for biting at the World Cup and a switch in positions between the two as the Uruguayan played more centrally to allow Messi to use his full repertoire of skills from a deeper role.
Suarez has added a diff erent dimension to Barcelona, a direct-ness and, at times, nastiness that off ers more variety than had even Guardiola’s trophy-laden four
years in charge.“He gives Barca the aggression
that is so important in the attack-ing third,” said Atletico boss Diego Simeone, who, having seen his side go unbeaten in six games against Barca last season, lost all four meetings this campaign.
Meanwhile, Neymar’s 37 goals means he has struck more than the likes of Samuel Eto’o, Ron-aldinho, Rivaldo or Thierry Hen-ry ever managed for Barca in a single season.
Although often overlooked given his star-studded squad, En-rique also deserves his share of the credit.
The former Celta Vigo coach’s rotation policy was much criti-cised in the fi rst half of the season.
Enrique didn’t name the same starting line-up for two consecu-tive league games until mid-Jan-uary. However, whilst title rivals Real Madrid have fl oundered physically in the fi nal few months of the campaign, Barca have got stronger when it matters most.
Fittingly it was at Atletico, ex-actly a year to the day since Los Rojiblancos won the league at the Camp Nou, where the league title was won on Sunday thanks to a piece of Messi genius.
The fi rst trophy of what they hope and most expect to be a treble in three weeks time in Berlin. - AFP
The biggest change
came from Lionel
Messi himself,
though. A week after
the Real Sociedad
game, the four-time
World Player of the
Year had to watch
Cristiano Ronaldo
pick up his third
Ballon d’Or and
pronounce he was
coming for Messi’s
record
MADRID: Spain’s biggest selling sports daily Marca summed it up in Monday’s headline after Barcelona wrapped up a fi fth La Liga title in seven years and their 23rd overall on Sunday: “Messi’s League”.
Barca’s latest triumph was the fi rst part of a pos-sible treble of Champions League, domestic league and Cup crowns, which Barca became the only Spanish club to achieve in 2008-09 under Pep Guardiola.
Messi’s goal was his 41st in 37 La Liga appearances this term, four behind top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, whose Real Madrid side are four points adrift of their arch rivals with one game left.
Messi has also made an incredible 17 assists and it has been his scintillat-ing form since the turn of the year, after he broke the La Liga scoring record in November, that has been the main driving force behind
Barca’s treble charge.They meet Juventus in
the Champions League fi nal on June 6, a week after hosting Athletic Bilbao for the King’s Cup fi nal, an impressive achievement for coach Luis Enrique in his fi rst season in charge.
“Right now I am thinking about all those who have helped us win this title, without exception,” Luis Enrique said.
Barca’s defence, mar-shalled by Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, has also played its part, conceding a mere 19 goals in 37 La Liga games, while Real leaked 35.
But club talisman Messi predictably dominated Monday’s front pages after the 27-year-old again proved decisive when it mattered most. Exchanging passes with Pedro, he found the tiny amount of space he needed and clipped a precise shot into the corner to make it a Messi’s league. - Reuters
Argentine legend eulogised
goals assists
LIONELMESSI
5430overall for Barcelona
this season
Messi’s goal against
Atletico Madrid was
his 41st in 37 La Liga
appearances this
season and is four
behind top scorer
Cristiano Ronaldo
WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMSECTIONC T U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5LIFE & STYLE
There is a string of events on
or around Vienna’s famous boulevard
this year including the 60th
Eurovision Song Contest
mere 150 years ago, on 1 May 1865, the youthful Austrian Em-peror, Franz Joseph I, offi cially opened Vienna’s Ringstrasse, the broad, tree-lined boulevard
that encircles the medieval core of the city. It was built on the land of the city walls which had repelled the enemies furthest advances into Europe in 1529, and again in 1683. But they were no longer needed by the relatively peaceful 19th century.
In the next 50 years, the Ringstrasse was fringed with a string of grand new buildings — the Parliament, City Hall, Vienna State Opera — while wealthy Viennese families built their magnifi cent homes along it. The tale of one such family, the Ephrussi, is told by Edmund de Waal in The Hare with Amber Eyes. In 1867 the Austrian Empire was constitution-ally merged with the Kingdom of Hungary, with the Austro-Hungarian Empire becoming the second largest country in Europe by area after Russia.
But that golden period was shattered by the First World War, the confl ict triggered by the assassination of Franz Joseph’s nephew and prospective heir, Franz Ferdinand. The em-pire was disbanded after defeat in 1918, while
Franz Joseph himself died in 1916, aged 86. We are left with the symbols of a great empire — the sprawling, overblown Schönbrunn Palace and the grand buildings of the Ringstrasse.
As you might expect, there is a string of events on or around the Ringstrasse this year. Of international interest will be the 60th Eu-rovision Song Contest, which started yester-day, building up to the fi nal next weekend. There is a plethora of events taking place. Through July and August there will be a pop festival, a motorcycle weekend, and come September, the Global Champions Tour, billed as the world’s most prestigious show-jumping series, with a gala performance by the Spanish Riding School in front of the City Hall. This year is the 450th anniversary of the school — home of the white Lipizzaners. Then, as the year closes, there are six weeks of street markets before Christmas.
As for the Ringstrasse itself, there are the conventional “sights”, the grandest perhaps being the Parliament, but one should not miss former private palaces. I counted 13 of them, and several are open to the public. You get a better feel for late 19th-century self-confi -dence and wealth in the way private individu-als displayed their money, than in the govern-ment buildings. The Ephrussi family, which once rivalled the Rothschilds, lost almost eve-rything when the Nazis marched into Vienna
in 1938, took their home and looted their art collection. The Hare with Amber Eyes, along with a handful of other small items, were hid-den by a loyal servant.
Wealth and infl uence of the public sort are on display at the Schönbrunn Palace. Visitors have diff erent reactions to it. Think Versailles, but it is less than a century since Schönbrunn became a similar anachronism. It does not have the swagger of Louis XIV’s chateau but it has twice as many rooms. However, there is something sad about it. Anyone going on the tour will be struck by the contrast between the grand entertaining spaces and relatively modest living quarters. But, if you want to feel more uplifted, go instead to the gardens, entry to which is free. There is a grand pavilion, the Gloriette, on the hill at the back of the palace. Walk up it and look across the gardens to imag-ine the grand parties that took place there 150 years ago.
If Vienna is an imperial capital without an empire, it is also symbol of a new Europe. You are a long way east, beyond Prague, only an hour’s drive from the Slovak and Hungarian borders, and not much further from the Czech Republic and Slovenia. And you are only four hours from Italy. The streets are full of cars and coaches from these neighbours making this a city full of young Europeans getting along, which is as it should be. -Hamish McRae/The Independent
C8
EXTRAT U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS
In 1890, the American psy-chologist William James famously likened our con-scious experience to the fl ow of a stream. “A ‘river’
or a ‘stream’ are the metaphors by which it is most naturally de-scribed,” he wrote. “In talking of it hereafter, let’s call it the stream of thought, conscious-ness, or subjective life.”
While there is no disputing the aptness of this metaphor in cap-turing our subjective experience of the world, recent research has shown that the “stream” of con-sciousness is, in fact, an illusion. We actually perceive the world in rhythmic pulses rather than as a continuous fl ow. Some of the fi rst hints of this new understanding came as early as the 1920s, when physiologists discovered brain waves: rhythmic electrical cur-rents measurable on the surface of the scalp by means of electro-encephalography. Subsequent re-search catalogued a spectrum of such rhythms (alpha waves, delta waves and so on) that correlated with various mental states, such as calm alertness and deep sleep.
Researchers also found that the properties of these rhythms var-ied with perceptual or cognitive
events. The phase and amplitude of your brain waves, for example, might change if you saw or heard something, or if you increased your concentration on something, or if you shifted your attention.
But those early discoveries themselves did not change scien-tifi c thinking about the stream-like nature of conscious percep-tion. Instead, brain waves were largely viewed as a tool for indexing mental experience, much like the waves that a ship generates in the water can be used to index the ship’s size and motion (e.g., the bigger the waves, the bigger the ship).
Recently, however, scientists have fl ipped this thinking on its head. We are exploring the possibil-ity that brain rhythms are not mere-ly a refl ection of mental activity but a cause of it, helping shape percep-tion, movement, memory and even consciousness itself.
What this means is that the brain samples the world in rhyth-mic pulses, perhaps even discrete time chunks, much like the indi-vidual frames of a movie. From the brain’s perspective, experi-ence is not continuous but quan-tised. Another clue that led to this discovery was the so-called wagon-wheel illusion, in which
the spokes on a wheel are some-times perceived to reverse the direction of their rotation. This illusion is easy to induce with a strobe light if the rotation of the wheel is such that each strobe flash captures the spoke location slightly behind the location cap-tured on the previous flash, lead-ing to the perception of reverse motion. The illusion results from “sampling” the scene in discrete frames or time chunks.
Rhythms correlateThe telling fact, for perceptual scientists, is that this illusion can also occur during normal obser-vation of a rotating wheel, in full daylight. This suggests that the brain itself, even in the absence of a strobe light, is sampling the world in discrete chunks.
Scientists have uncovered still more clues. It turns out, for exam-ple, that our ability to detect a sub-tle event, like a slight change in a visual scene, oscillates over time, cycling between better and worse perceptual sensitivity several times a second. Research shows that these rhythms correlate with elec-trical rhythms of the brain.
If that’s hard to picture, here’s an analogy: Imagine trying to see
an animal through a thick, swirl-ing fog that varies in density as it drifts. The distinctness of the animal’s form will oscillate with the density of the fog, alternating between periods of relative clar-ity and opaqueness. According to recent experiments, this is how our perceptual systems sample the world - but rather than fog, it’s brain waves that drive the oscillations.
This is not to say that the brain dances to its own beat, dragging perception along for the ride. In fact, it seems to work the other way around: Rhythms in the envi-ronment, such as those in music or speech, can draw neural oscilla-tions into their tempo, eff ectively synchronizing the brain’s rhythms with those of the world around us.
Consider a study that I con-ducted with my colleagues, forthcoming in the journal Psy-chological Science. We present-ed listeners with a three-beat-per-second rhythm (a pulsing “whoosh” sound) for only a few seconds and then asked the lis-teners to try to detect a faint tone immediately afterward. The tone was presented at a range of delays between zero and 1.4 seconds af-ter the rhythm ended. Not only did we fi nd that the ability to detect
the tone varied over time by up to 25 per cent — that’s a lot — but it did so precisely in sync with the previously heard three-beat-per-second rhythm.
Why would the brain do this? One theory is that it’s the brain’s way of focusing attention. Pic-ture a noisy cafe fi lled with voices, clanging dishes and background music. As you attend to one par-ticular acoustic stream — say, your lunch mate’s voice — your brain synchronises its rhythm to the rhythm of the voice and en-hances the perceptibility of that stream, while suppressing other streams, which have their own, diff erent rhythms. (More broadly, this kind of synchronisation has been proposed as a mechanism for communication between neu-ral networks within the brain.)
All of this points to the need for a new metaphor. We should talk of the “rhythm” of thought, of per-ception, of consciousness. Con-ceptualising our mental experi-ence this way is not only more accurate, but it also situates our mind within the broader context of the daily, monthly and year-ly rhythms that dominate our lives.-Gregory Hickok/The New York Times
News Service
Recent research has shown that the stream of consciousness is, in fact, an illusion
Holly Lisle, an author of fantasy, science fi ction,
paranormal romance and romantic suspense novels, wrote, “If you don’t accept responsibility for your own actions, then you are forever chained to a position of defence.”
At the bridge table, sometimes your partner will cause you to mis-defend. Much more often, though, you must be responsible for your own choices. And some defensive plays can be very hard to fi nd. The one in this deal would elude most players.
South is in four hearts.
West leads the spade queen — two, eight, fi ve. West continues with the spade jack and a third spade, which declarer ruff s. South draws two rounds of trumps, West discarding either the club two or club nine on the second. Declarer continues with the club ace and king, then he gets off play with a trump. What should East lead to trick nine?
The bidding featured a textbook game-invitational limit raise by North. South happily went on to game.
East should realise that if declarer had held
a club loser, he would have ruff ed it in the dummy. Having got that far, many Easts would shift to a diamond. But if South follows the odds by playing for split honours, he will make his contract, losing only two spades and one heart.
East should work out that South must have started with 2-5-4-2 shape. And if so, it is right to concede a ruff -and-sluff by leading a spade or a club. This cannot give away the contract, and will be the winner here. Declarer cannot avoid losing a diamond trick.
— By Phillip Alder
C9
ENTERTAINMENT
One of the toughest defences to fi nd
B I G N A T E
B O R N L O S E R
M A R M A D U K E
A C E S O N B R I D G E
K I D S P O T H E A L T H C A P S U L EC R O S S W O R D
Answer to previous puzzle
WITH LOVE
T U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 16 years) whose birthday you are
celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number
and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi
or through e-mail to [email protected]
ACROSS
1 Floating fl ower 5 Race by, as clouds 9 Not worth a —12 Pierre’s girlfriend13 Storytelling dance14 Leo mo.15 Told a secret17 Salad days19 — and Perrins
(sauce company)20 Right away21 Played charades24 Most beautiful27 Like a desert28 Antique camera
need29 Hwy.
30 Prez after Jimmy31 Beatrice’s admirer32 She has a habit33 Business abbr.34 Auction site35 Repair36 Examine closely38 Deposes39 Nutmeglike spice40 Again and again41 “Hasta —!”43 Hay crop47 Wheel buy (2 wds.)48 Auto-parts store50 Confi de in51 Cave dweller52 Waves breaking on
the shore53 Id companions
DOWN
1 — Vegas 2 Mischief-maker 3 Weeks per annum? 4 Gave a holler 5 One-time Queens
ballpark 6 Bossie’s chew 7 Appliance-tag
letters 8 Moonless period 9 White wines10 Loophole11 Snort of disgust16 Conducted18 Dory mover20 Briny21 Mme. Curie
22 Socrates’ forte23 Pie fi lling24 Conclusive25 Movie double’s job26 Leans toward28 Ancient tale31 Minor clergy35 Evolve37 Caddie’s burden38 Not on duty40 Viking name41 Test tube site42 One, to Conchita43 Aries mo.44 Where to fi nd a calf45 “Alice” waitress46 Pacino and Unser49 Roast beef — jus
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MAD MAX:FURY ROAD : (Action) : Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas HoultShow Time : 3.15 p.m., 7.30 p.m., 9.45 p.m & 11.55 p.m.Censor Permit No: 1273 ( 12+ )PITCH PERFECT 2 : ( Comedy ) : Anna Kedrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee SteinfeldShow Time : 1.15 p.m. & 5.30 p.m.Censor Permit No: 1272( 12+ )BOMBAY VELVET : ( Hindi) (Crime/Drama/History ) : Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Karan JoharShow Time: 1.15 p.m., 6.00 p.m. & 9.00 p.m.Censor Permit No: 1275 ( 12+ )GOOD KILL : (Thriller ) : Ethan Hawke, January Jones, Zoe Kravitz, Bruce Green WoodShowtime : 4.00 p.m. & 11.55 p.m.Censor Permit No: 1274 ( 12+ )
Oru Vadakkan Selfi e (Mal) (Rom)Cast: Navin Pauly, Manjima, Aju 3:30, 6:30, 9:30 pm at Cinema MainBombay Velvet (Hindi) (Com/Rom)Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma3:45, 9:45pm at Cinema 3 Chirakodinja Kinavukal (Mal)Cast: Kunchako Boban, Rima Kalingal & Sreenivasan3:45 & 9:45 pm at Cinema 4Purampokku (Tamil) (Rom)Cast: Aarya, Vijay Sethupathi3:30, 6:30, 9:30 pm Cinema 2O Kadhal Kanmani (Tamil/Rom)Cast:Dulqar Salman & Nitya Menon6:45 pm at Cinema 4Piku (Drama / Comedy) – PGCast: Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone. 6:45pm Cinema 3Next Change: BHASKAR THE RASCAL (Mal); 36 VAYATHINILLE (Tamil); LION (Telugu)
MAD MAX FURY ROAD (Action, Adventure)(2D) 12+Cast : Tom Hardy, Charlize TheronTimings : 04:20 pmMAD MAX FURY ROAD (Action, Adventure)(3D) 12+Cast : Tom Hardy, Charlize TheronTimings : 06:45 pm /09:15 pm /11:45 pmGood Kill (Drama, Thriller) (12+)Cast: Ethan Hawke, January Jones, Zoë KravitzTimings: 02:15 pm /09:45 pm /11:30 pmFAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD (Drama)(12+)Cast : Carey Mulligan, Michael SheenTimings : 04:00 pmBOMBAY VELVET (Crime, Drama)(12+)Cast : Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka SharmaTimings : 08:30 pmPITCH PERFECT 2 (Comedy)(12+)Cast : Anna Kendrick, Rebel WilsonTimings : 06:15 pmCAPTAIN MASR (Sports, Comedy)(PG)Cast : Mohamed Emam, EdwardTimings : 02:00 pm /07:50 pmAVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON (3D) (Action, Adventure) (PG12)Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris EvansTimings: 02:45 pm /11:45 pm PIKU (Comedy, Drama)(PG)Cast : Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Irrfan Khan Timings: 05:30 pm
Cast : Tom Hardy, Charlize TheronTimings :09:30 PM & 11:45 PMGold Class: 03:45 PM & 11:15 PMPITCH PERFECT (2D) 12+Timings :10:15 & 02:45 PMGold Class: 06:00 PMGOOD KILL (2D) 12+Cast : Ethan Hawke, January Jones,Timings : 05:00 PM & 09:45 PM.CAPTAIN MASR (2D) PGTimings :10:30 AM & 05:15 PMGold Class: 11:45 AMFAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD (2D) 12+Timings :03:00 PMGold Class: 01:30 PMBOMBAY VELVET (HINDI) (2D) 12+Cast : Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka SharmaTimings :07:00 PMGold Class: 08:30 PMPIKU (HINDI) (2D) 12+Cast : Amitabh Bachchan, Irfan KhanTimings :12:30 PMCAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR (2D) 15+Cast : Isabel Lucas, Dermot MulroneyTimings :11:45 PM
AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON (3D)PG12Cast : Robert Downey Jr., Chris EvansTimings :06:55 PMMAD MAX: FURY ROAD (2D) 12+Cast : Tom Hardy, Charlize TheronTimings :12:30 PMMAD MAX: FURY ROAD (3D) 12+
SCREEN 1BOMBAY VELVET (Action/Drama ) – 12+Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka harmaTiming: 3.30 PMPIKU (Drama / Comedy) – PGCast: Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika PadukoneTiming: 6.45 PMGABBAR - Hindi (Action/Drama ) – PGCast: Akshay Kumar, Kareena KapoorTiming: 9.30 PM SCREEN 2PIKU (Drama / Comedy) – PGCast: Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika PadukoneTiming: 3.45, 9.45 PMGABBAR - Hindi (Action/Drama ) – PGCast: Akshay Kumar, Shruti K. Haasan, Kareena Kapoor; Timing: 6.45 PM
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON -3D (PG12)Cast : Robert Downey Jr., Chris EvansTimings : 02:15, 11:40 pmACCIDENTAL LOVE - 2D (12+) ComedyCast : Jessica Biel, Raymond L. Brown Jr.Timings : 03:15 pmGOOD KILL – 2D (12+) Drama | ThrillerCast : Ethan Hawke, January JonesTimings : 04:50, 09:30, 11:30 pmCAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR - 2D (15+) ThrillerCast : Isabel Lucas, Dermot MulroneyTimings : 07:00 pmFAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD - 2D (12+) Drama; Timings : 06:00 pmMAD MAX: FURY ROAD - 3D (12+) Action, Adventure, Thriller Cast : Tom Hardy, Charlize TheronTimings : 06:50, 09:15, 11:45 pmCAPTAIN MASR - 2D (ARB) (PG) Sports, Cast : Mohamed Emam, EdwardTimings : 02:00, 05:15 pmPITCH PERFECT 2 - 2D (12+) ComedyTimings : 04:50 pmBOMBAY VELVET - 2D (12+) CrimeCast : Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka SharmaTimings : 08:50, 11:15 pmPURAMPOKKU - 2D (T) (PG) Action Cast : Vijay Sethupathi, AryaTimings : 08:20 pmCHIRAKODINJA KINAVUKAL - 2D (M) (PG) Comedy, SpoofCast : Kunchacko Boban, Rima KallingalTimings : 07:10 pm
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD – 3D (12+) Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize TheronTiming: 02:45, 05:20, 09:30, 11:45 PMGOOD KILL – 2D (12+) Drama, ThrillerCast: Ethan Hawke, January JonesTiming: 02:30, 05:00, 11:45 PMCAPTAIN MASR – 2D (PG) SportsTimings: 04:20, 07:30 PMPURAMPOKKU ENGIRA PODHUVUDAMAI- 2D (PG) ActionCast: Vijay Sethupathi, AryaTiming: 06:05 PMBOMBAY VELVET - 2D (12+) CrimeCast: Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka SharmaTiming: 09:00, 11:30 PM36 VAYADHINILE - 2D (PG) DramaCast: Jyothika, Rahman, AbhiramiTiming: 03:15 PMCHIRAKODINJA KINAVUKAL – 2D (PG)Comedy, SpoofCast: Kunchacko Boban, Rima KallingalTiming: 09:15 PMAVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON - 3D (PG12) Action, Adventure, Sci-FiCast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris EvansTiming: 07:00 PM
GOOD KILL (Drama | Thriller) (12+) CP#Cast: Ethan Hawke, Zoë KravitzTiming: 05:00, 07:30 PMAVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (3D) (Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi) (PG12) CP#Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Chris EvansTiming: 05:00 PM
AVENGERS :AGE OF ULTRON (3D)(PG12)( Action, Adventure,Sci-Fi) Timing: 10:00AM/6:30PMGOOD KILL (2D)(12+)( Drama/Thriller) Timings: 12:45/11:45PMCAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR (2D)(15+) Timings: 12:15/7:15PM MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (2D) (12+) (Action/Adventure/Thriller ) Timings: 2:45PMMAD MAX: FURY ROAD (3D) (12+) (Action/Adventure/Thriller ) Timings: 10:00AM/9:15/11:30PMCAPTAIN MASR (2D) (PG) (Arabic)( Sports/Comedy/Drama) Timings: 12:30/4:30PM BOMBAY VELVET (2D)(12+) (Crime) Timings: 9:00/11:45PMPURAMPOKKU ENGIRPODHUVUDAMAI(2D)(PG)(Action/Thriller/Drama) Timings: 8:45PM36 VAYADHINILE (2D)(PG)( Drama) Timings: 4:15PMCHIRAKODINJA KINAVUKAL (2D)(PG)Timings: 6:15PMPIKU (2D)(PG)( Comedy, Drama) Timings: 2:00PMPITCH PERFECT 2 (2D)(12+)( Comedy,)Timings: 10:15AM/2:15PM
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (3D) (Action | Adventure | Thriller) (12+)Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize TheronTiming: 09:20, 11:30 PMCAPTAIN MASR (Arabic) (Sports |Comedy | Drama) (PG) Timing: 07:00 PMBOMBAY VELVET (Hindi) (Crime | Drama | History) (12+) Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka SharmaTiming: 11:00 PMCHIRAKODINJA KINAVUKAL (Mal) (Comedy | Spoof ) (PG) Timing: 08:45 PM
SCREEN 3Gabbar - Hindi (Action/Drama ) – PGCast: Akshay Kumar, Kareena KapoorTiming: 3.45 PMPURAMPOKKU – Tamil (Drama ) – PGCast: Arya, Shaam, Vijay SethupathiTiming: 6.45 PMBOMBAY VELVET (Action) – 12+Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka SharmaTiming: 9.45 PM
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD - 2D (12+)Cast : Tom Hardy, Charlize TheronTimings : 02:30 pmPIKU - 2D (PG)Cast : Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Irrfan Khan Timings : 03:45 pm
HARSHID KUMARMay 19, 2008
RAJASHREE SURESHMay 19
MUSA MAHMUD May 19
ATIF ABDULLAH MUJEEBMay 19, 2007
ANSHIKAMay 19, 2004
C10
FIND-IT-ALLT U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
PHARMACIESRound the clockAl Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24783334; Appolo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24782666; Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24702542, Salalah: 23291635; Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra: 24503585; Ruwi 24811715 Muscat RegionApollo, Al Hamriya. Tel: 24787766Muscat, A Seeb Market. Tel: 24421691Muscat, Al Khuwair. Tel: 24485740Muscat, Al Hail South. Tel: 24537080Dhofar RegionMuscat, Al Nahdha Road, Salalah. Tel: 23291635
HOSPITALSAl Amal Medical & Health Care Centre: 24485052Atlas Hospital: Ruwi: 24811743/ Ghubra: 24504000Al Musafi r Specialised Medical Clinic: 24706453Hatat Polyclinic LLC,Ruwi: 24563641, Azaiba: 24499269, Sohar: 2683006Al Raff ah Hospital: 24618900/1/2Al Massaraat Clinic & Laboratory: 24566435Al Makook Medical Coordinance Centre: 24499434Apollo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24787766, 24787780Capital Polyclinic: 24707549Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic, Ruwi: 24799760/1/2Capital Clinic, Seeb: 24420740Ceregem National Raak: 24485633Dr Harub’s Clinic: 24563217Elixir Health Centre: 24565802Emirates Medical Centre: 246045401st Chiropractic Centre: 24472274Hamdan Hospital: 23212340International Medical Centre LLC: 24794501/2/3/4/5Kims Oman Hospital: 24760100
24 Hrs Emergency: 24760123Lama Polyclinic, Sohar: 26751128, MBD: 24799077, Al Khuwair: 24478818Magrabi Eye and Ear Hospital: 24568870Muscat Private Hospital: 24583600Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, Al Khuwair: 24477666Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC: 22004000
ROYAL OMAN POLICEEmergencies and inquiries: 9999General Directorate of Passport and Residence: 24569603Directorate General of Customs: 24521109Traffi c violations inquiries: 24510228Public Relations Admin: 24560099
ACCOMMODATIONAl Bahjah Hotel: 24424400Al Bustan Palace: 24764000 Al Khuwair Hotel Apartments: 24478171Al Madina Holiday Inn: 24596400Al Maha International Hotel: 24494949Al Fanar Hotel: 24712385Al Falaj Hotel: 24702311Al Qurum Resort: 24605945Azaiba Hotel Apartments: 24490979Beach Hotel: 24696601Bowshar Hotel: 24491105Coral Hotel Muscat: 24692121Crowne Plaza Muscat: 24660660Crystal Suites: 24826100Golden Tulip Seeb: 24510300Grand Hyatt Muscat: 24641234Haff a House Hotel: 24707207Hotel Muscat Holiday: 24487123InterContinental Muscat: 24680000Majan Continental Hotel: 24592900Marina Hotel: 24711711Midan Hotel Suites: 24499565Mina Hotel: 24711828Muttrah Hotel: 24798401
Nuzha Hotel Apartments: 24789199Oman Dive Centre: 24824240Park Inn: 24507888Qurum Beach House Hotel: 24564070Radisson Blu Hotel: 24487777Ramee Dream Resort Seeb: 24453399Ramee Guestline Hotel: 24564443Ruwi Hotel: 24704244Safeer Hotel Suites: 24691200Sheraton Oman Hotel: 24772772Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa: 24776666The Chedi Muscat: 24524400The Treasurebox Muscat Hotel: 24502570
AIRLINE OFFICESMuscat Airport Flight information (24 hours): 24519456/24519223Aerofl ot: 24704455, Air Arabia: 24700828, Air France: 24562153, Air India: 24799801, Air New Zealand: 24700732, Biman Bangladesh Airlines: 24701128, British Airways: 24568777, Cathay Pacifi c: 24789818, Egypt Air: 24794113, Emirates Air: 24404400, Ethiopian Airlines: 24660313, Gulf Air: 80072424, Indian: 24791914, Iran Air: 24787423, Japan Airlines: 24704455, Jazeera Airways: 23294848, Jet Airways: 24787248, Kenya Airways: 24660300, KML Royal Dutch Airlines: 24566737, Kuwait Airways: 24701262, LOT Polish Airlines: 24796387, Lufthansa: 24796692, Malaysian Airlines: 24560796, Middle East Airlines: 24796680, Oman Air: 24531111, Pakistan International Airlines: 24792471, Qatar Airways: 24771900, Qantas: 24559941, Royal Jordanian: 24796693, Saudi Arabian Airlines: 24789485, Singapore Airlines: 24791233, Shaheen Air: 24816565, SriLankan Airlines:
24784545, Swiss International Airlines: 24796692, Thai Airways: 24705934, Turkish Airlines: 24703033
MUSEUMSBait Al Baranda: Corniche (seafront opp fi sh market), Open from Saturday to Thursday 9am to 1pm and 4 to 6pmNatural History Museum: Al Khuwair, Tel: 24604957, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm; Thursday: 9am to 1pmMuseum of Omani Heritage: (former Omani Museum), Madinat Al Alam, Sat-Wed 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday - 9am to 1pm, Tel: 24600946Armed Forces Museum: Bait Al Falaj, Tel: 24312651, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm; Thurs 9-12pm and 3-6pm; Fri 9-11am and 3-6pm. Al Hoota Caves 24498258; Turtle Beach 96550606/96550707Children’s Science Museum: Shatti Al Qurum, Tel: 24605368, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pmOman-French Museum: near Muscat Police Station, Tel: 24736613, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm, Thurs: 9am to 1pmBait Al Zubair, Muscat: Tel: 24736688, Al Saidiya St., [email protected] from Sat to Thurs: 9:30am to 6pm.National Museum Ruwi: Tel: 24701289, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pmSohar Fort Museum: Tel: 26844758, Open from Saturday to Wed: 8 to 1:30pm Thurs: 9am to 1pmMuscat Gate Museum: at Al Bahri Road, Muscat open from Sat to Wed 8am to 2pm
PRAYER TIMINGS
Dhuhr 12.08pm
Asr 3.30pm
Maghrib 6.48pm
Isha 8.07pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 4.00am
Sunset 6.43pm
Sunrise (Tomorrow) 5.23am
High tide 9:10pm 10:45am
Low tide 3:47pm 3:58am
W E A T H E R
OMAN
Max 40Min 27
Max 40Min 29
Max 37Min 29
Max 42Min 26
Max 38Min 28Max 43
Min 24
Max 44Min 26
Max 33 Min 28
Mainly clear skies over most of the Sultanate with chance of clouds development over Al-Hajar mountains towards afternoon and chances of advection high level clouds along the coastal areas of
Arabian Sea and chances of dust rising wind over governorates of Al-Buraimi and Al-Dahirah. Chances of early morning low level clouds along the coastal areas of Arabian Sea.
EXPECTED WIND: Along the coastal areas of Oman Sea wind will be northerly to northeasterly light to moderate during day becoming southwesterly light during night and southwesterly moderate to fresh along the coastal areas of Arabian Sea coasts, and northwesterly light to moderate and
occasionally fresh over rest of the Sultanate.SEA STATE: Rough along the Arabian Sea and Musandam coasts with a maximum wave height of 3.0 metres and moderate along the Oman Sea coast with a maximum wave height of 2.0 metres.HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY: Good over most of the Sultanate becoming poor during dust rising.THE NEXT 48 HOURS OUTLOOK: Clear to partly cloudy skies along the coastal areas of Arabian Sea and mainly clear skies over the rest of the Sultanate. Moderate sea condition along the Arabian Sea coastal areas with a maximum wave height of 2.0 metres and slight along the rest of Oman’s coasts with a maximum wave height of 1.25 metre’s.
Max Min
GULFAbu Dhabi 34 25Doha 41 25Dubai 35 23Kuwait 38 28Manama 35 25Riyadh 38 25
WORLDAthens 25 17Baghdad 40 19Beijing 27 16Berlin 18 11Boston 18 13Cairo 39 20Colombo 30 20Frankfurt 18 8Hong Kong 28 26Istanbul 21 15Johannesburg 22 9Kuala Lumpur 32 25Lisbon 21 12Paris 15 8Perth 18 7Singapore 30 28Tokyo 24 18Toronto 17 5
WORLD
Max 23Min 14
Max 44Min 27
Max 16Min 7
Max 36Min 29
Max 21Min 14
Max 18Min 17
Max 12Min 8
Max 34Min 27
LONG DISTANCE BUS TIMINGS (OMAN NATIONAL TRANSPORT COMPANY SAOC) *SUBJECT TO CHANGE
QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (Route 36)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily
FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (Route 36)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily
TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41)06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri13:00 Sohar 15:45 Daily13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily
TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41)07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily07:00 Ruwi 11:40 Daily13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri13:00 Sohar 14:55 Daily13:00 Ruwi 17:40 Daily13:00 Sohar 19:20 Daily17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily
TO SINAW (Route 52)17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily
TO SINAW (Route 52)07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily
To Yanqul (Route 54)14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily
To Yanqul (Route 54)06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily
TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54)08:00 Nizwa 10:20 Daily08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily
TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54)15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily
TO SUR (Route 55)07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily
TO SUR (Route 55)06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily
TO FAHUD - YIBAL (Route 62)06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily
TO YIBAL - FAHUD (Route 62)12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily
TO DUBAI (Route 201)06:00 Sohar 08:30 Daily06:00 Dubai 11:30 Daily13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur15:00 Sohar 17:35 Daily15:00 Dubai 20:55 Daily
TO DUBAI (Route 201)07:30 Sohar 10:50 Daily07:30 Ruwi 13:40 Daily13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri15:30 Sohar 18:45 Daily15:30 Ruwi 21:35 Daily
TO MARMUL-SALALAH (Route 100)07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily10:00 Salalah 23:30 Daily19:00 Salalah 07:40 Daily
TO SALALAH -MARMUL (Route 100)07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily10:00 Ruwi 22:30 Daily19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily
TO MARMUL (Route 101)06:00 Marmul 16:50 Daily
SALALAH TO DUBAI (Route 102)15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily
TO MARMUL (Route 101)06:00 Marmul 16:30 Daily
DUBAI TO SALALAH (Route 102)15:00 Salalah 07:00 Daily
TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily
FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily
FROM MUSCAT (RUWI) TO MUSCAT (RUWI)
LISTINGS
FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD AI986 BOMBAY 00209W539 BOMBAY 0020SG062 AHMEDABAD 0030WY657 BAHRAIN 0055WY637 ABU DHABI 0105WY235 HYDERABAD 0110WY281 BANGALORE 0110WY685 RIYADH 0115WY201 BOMBAY 0115WY643 KUWAIT 0120WY251 MADRAS 0120WY345 ISLAM ABBAD 0125WY271 JAIPUR 0135WY601 DUBAI 0145WY341 LAHORE 0145WY431 TEHRAN 0155WY371 COLOMBO 0155WY123 MUNICH 0200WY325 KARACHI 0210WY901 SALALAH 0215WY241 DELHI 0215WY667 DOHA 0225WY383 MALE 0230BG022 CHITTAGONG-DACCA 0230NL769 LAHORE 0230TK775 ISTANBUL 02304H584 DACCA 0300WY331 KATHMANDU 0350PK282 SIALKOT 0400EK867 DUBAI 0450ET625 ADDIS ABABA 0450EY385 ABU DHABI 0500FZ042 DUBAI 0510QR1133 DOHA 0515GF561 BAHRAIN 0715WY651 BAHRAIN 0730WY3301 MUKHAIZNA 0730WY903 SALALAH 07404H562 DACCA 0745WY603 DUBAI 0750WY917 KHASAB 0815WY323 KARACHI 0835WY669 DOHA 0835FZ044 DUBAI 0845WY633 ABU DHABI 0900WY373 COLOMBO 0900WY215 TRIVANDRUM 0900WY815 BANGKOK 0905WY291 CALICUT 0915WY263 LUCKNOW 0940WY385 MALE 0945G9842 RAS AL KHAIMA 0945WY821 SINGAPORE-KUALA LUMPUR 0945G9115 SHARJAH 0955WY231 HYDERABAD 1000WY905 SALALAH 1020WY605 DUBAI 1020WY203 BOMBAY 1025WY245 DELHI 1040EK863 DUBAI 1045WY337 KATHMANDU 1050IX818 MANGALORE 1100QR1129 DOHA 1100EY383 ABU DHABI 1105WY311 CHITTAGONG 1140WY919 KHASAB 11459W533 COCHIN 1145GF563 BAHRAIN 1215WY223 COCHIN 1215WY655 BAHRAIN 1215FZ038 DUBAI 1225WY631 ABU DHABI 1240IX350 CALICUT 1255WY253 MADRAS 1255WY113 FRANKFURT 1320WY693 DAMMAM 1330WY3303 MUKHAIZNA 1330WY663 DOHA 1330WY131 PARIS 1345WY143 MALPENSA 1350WY645 KUWAIT 1350WY101 LONDON HEATHROW 1400BG024 DACCA 1400PK192 GWADUR-TURBAT 1405PA951 SIALKOT 1430WY927 SALALAH 1430WY405 CAIRO 1440WY609 DUBAI 1445WY907 SALALAH 1540WY675 JEDDAH 1615FZ046 DUBAI 1620WY671 MEDINA 1705WY613 DUBAI 1710QR1127 DOHA 1750WY623 DUBAI 1840WY681 RIYADH 1840WY647 KUWAIT 1845WY909 SALALAH 1850GF565 BAHRAIN 1855EK865 DUBAI 1910WY695 DAMMAM 1915WY661 DOHA 1920WY653 BAHRAIN 1920G9117 SHARJAH 1955SV535 RIYADH 2000WY913 SALALAH 2000TG508 KARACHI-BANGKOK 2005WY635 ABU DHABI 2015FZ048 DUBAI 2025WY611 DUBAI 2035RG126 ABU DHABI 2045WY915 SALALAH 2100FZ050 DUBAI 2145WY411 AMMAN 2205WY421 BEIRUT 2215WY817 BANGKOK 22259W529 TRIVANDRUM 22306.00E+82 BOMBAY 2245AI908 MADRAS 2300UL206 COLOMBO 2305AI974 DELHI 2310GF567 BAHRAIN 2325LX243 DUBAI-ZURICH 2325BA072 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW 2330QR1135 DOHA 2330WY673 JEDDAH 2350LH617 DOHA-FRANKFURT 2355EY381 ABU DHABI 2355
FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD 9W539 BOMBAY 0020AI986 BOMBAY 0020WY657 BAHRAIN 0055WY637 ABU DHABI 0105WY235 HYDERABAD 0110WY281 BANGALORE 0110WY201 BOMBAY 0115WY685 RIYADH 0115WY643 KUWAIT 0120WY251 MADRAS 0120WY341 LAHORE 0145WY601 DUBAI 0145WY431 TEHRAN 0155WY371 COLOMBO 0155WY123 MUNICH 0200WY847 JAKARTA 0215WY241 DELHI 0215WY901 SALALAH 0215WY667 DOHA 0225TK775 ISTANBUL 02304H584 DACCA 0300PK230 LAHORE 0315WY331 KATHMANDU 0350EK867 DUBAI 0450ET625 ADDIS ABABA 0450EY385 ABU DHABI 0500FZ036 DUBAI 0510QR1133 DOHA 0515WY651 BAHRAIN 0645GF561 BAHRAIN 0715WY3921 DUQUM OMAN 0740G9842 RAS AL KHAIMA 0745WY603 DUBAI 0750WY903 SALALAH 0750WY3301 MUKHAIZNA 0800WY917 KHASAB 0815WY347 ISLAM ABBAD 0830WY669 DOHA 0835WY323 KARACHI 0835FZ044 DUBAI 0845WY633 ABU DHABI 0900WY815 BANGKOK 0905WY291 CALICUT 0915WY215 TRIVANDRUM 0915WY253 MADRAS 0915NL769 LAHORE 0930WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 0940WY263 LUCKNOW 0940WY385 MALE 0945WY821 SINGAPORE-KUALA LUMPUR 0945WY843 MANILA 0955G9115 SHARJAH 0955WY231 HYDERABAD 1000WY905 SALALAH 1020WY605 DUBAI 1020WY203 BOMBAY 1025WY245 DELHI 1040EK863 DUBAI 1045IX554 TRIVANDRUM 1045WY337 KATHMANDU 1050QR1129 DOHA 1100EY383 ABU DHABI 1105IX442 COCHIN 1120WY311 CHITTAGONG 11409W533 COCHIN 1145WY919 KHASAB 1145QR8550 DUBAI WORLD CENTRE-DOHA 1205WY655 BAHRAIN 1215GF563 BAHRAIN 1215WY273 JAIPUR 1220FZ038 DUBAI 1225WY3303 MUKHAIZNA 1230IX350 CALICUT 1255PA451 LAHORE 1315WY113 FRANKFURT 1320WY663 DOHA 1330WY143 MALPENSA 1350WY645 KUWAIT 1350WY101 LONDON HEATHROW 1400WY423 BEIRUT 1415WY153 ZURICH 1420WY927 SALALAH 1430WY413 AMMAN 1440WY405 CAIRO 1440WY609 DUBAI 1445WY907 SALALAH 1540WY675 JEDDAH 1615G9110 SHARJAH 1615FZ046 DUBAI 1620WY631 ABU DHABI 1640WY613 DUBAI 1710QR1127 DOHA 1750WY327 KARACHI 1810WY623 DUBAI 1840WY681 RIYADH 1840WY647 KUWAIT 1845WY909 SALALAH 1850GF565 BAHRAIN 1855EK865 DUBAI 1910WY695 DAMMAM 1915WY661 DOHA 1920WY653 BAHRAIN 1920G9117 SHARJAH 1955WY913 SALALAH 2000WY635 ABU DHABI 2015FZ048 DUBAI 2025WY611 DUBAI 2035RG126 ABU DHABI 2045WY915 SALALAH 2100FZ050 DUBAI 2145AI978 HYDERABAD-BANGALORE 2200KL442 DOHA-AMSTERDAM 2220WY817 BANGKOK 22259W529 TRIVANDRUM 22306.00E+82 BOMBAY 2245AI908 MADRAS 2300AI974 DELHI 2310WY677 MEDINA 2310GF567 BAHRAIN 2325LX243 DUBAI-ZURICH 2325BA072 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW 2330QR1135 DOHA 2330WY673 JEDDAH 2350EY381 ABU DHABI 2355LH617 DOHA-FRANKFURT 2355
A I R L I N E S
—www.met.gov.om
TUESDAY
FLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA WY406 CAIRO 0005WY648 KUWAIT 0005WY676 JEDDAH 0005WY682 RIYADH 0010WY914 SALALAH 0020BG021 DACCA 0100WY916 SALALAH 0120NL768 LAHORE 0130TK774 ISTANBUL 01354H583 DACCA 0200PK281 ISLAM ABBAD-SIALKOT 0300GF560 BAHRAIN 0325QR1132 DOHA 0345EK866 DUBAI 0350ET624 ADDIS ABABA 0350EY384 ABU DHABI 0400FZ041 DUBAI 0415WY114 FRANKFURT 0515WY412 AMMAN 0515WY658 BAHRAIN 0635WY638 ABU DHABI 06404H562 JEDDAH 0645WY902 SALALAH 0645WY644 KUWAIT 0650WY326 KARACHI 0650WY686 RIYADH 0655WY154 ZURICH 0700WY144 MALPENSA 0705WY678 MEDINA 0710WY668 DOHA 0715WY132 PARIS 0735WY674 JEDDAH 0735WY102 LONDON HEATHROW 0740FZ043 DUBAI 0800WY432 TEHRAN 0805WY602 DUBAI 0805WY346 ISLAM ABBAD 0815WY342 LAHORE 0825WY272 JAIPUR 0830WY202 BOMBAY 0835G9841 RAS AL KHAIMA 0855WY236 HYDERABAD 0900G9114 SHARJAH 0905WY282 BANGALORE 0910EK862 DUBAI 0930WY242 DELHI 0935WY252 MADRAS 0955QR1128 DOHA 1000IX817 MANGALORE 1010EY382 ABU DHABI 10109W530 TRIVANDRUM 1045WY3302 MUKHAIZNA 1050WY604 DUBAI 1115WY918 KHASAB 1115WY652 BAHRAIN 1125GF562 BAHRAIN 1130FZ037 DUBAI 1140WY372 COLOMBO 1140IX337 CALICUT 1155WY384 MALE 1210WY822 KUALA LUMPUR-SINGAPORE 1215WY705 DARESSLAM-ZANZIBAR 1215WY904 SALALAH 1220WY634 ABU DHABI 1220WY818 BANGKOK 1220BG023 DACCA-CHITTAGONG 1230WY670 DOHA 1250WY324 KARACHI 1300WY332 KATHMANDU 1305PA950 SIALKOT 1310PK191 GWADUR 1320WY606 DUBAI 1340WY906 SALALAH 1440WY920 KHASAB 1445FZ045 DUBAI 1535WY632 ABU DHABI 1605WY656 BAHRAIN 1610QR1126 DOHA 1650WY3304 MUKHAIZNA 1650WY204 BOMBAY 1655WY292 CALICUT 1710WY264 LUCKNOW 1740WY664 DOHA 1745WY216 TRIVANDRUM 1745EK864 DUBAI 1745WY232 HYDERABAD 1750WY246 DELHI 1750WY610 DUBAI 1800WY694 DAMMAM 1805GF564 BAHRAIN 1810TG507 BANGKOK-KARACHI 1900SV534 RIYADH 1900G9116 SHARJAH 1905WY374 COLOMBO 1915WY646 KUWAIT 1920FZ047 DUBAI 1940WY908 SALALAH 2000RG125 ABU DHABI 2005WY386 MALE 2020WY224 COCHIN 2025WY614 DUBAI 2025WY338 KATHMANDU 2040FZ049 DUBAI 2100WY124 MUNICH 21059W534 COCHIN 2115AI973 DELHI 21256.00E+81 BOMBAY 2130WY254 MADRAS 2135BA073 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI 2140WY624 DUBAI 2150UL205 COLOMBO 2155AI907 MADRAS 2200WY312 CHITTAGONG 2210LX242 ZURICH-DUBAI 2225QR1134 DOHA 2225GF566 BAHRAIN 2240LH616 FRANKFURT-DOHA 2245EY388 ABU DHABI 2300WY910 SALALAH 23109W540 BOMBAY 2315AI985 BOMBAY 2325WY662 DOHA 2335WY654 BAHRAIN 2340WY636 ABU DHABI 2340WY928 SALALAH 2345WY816 BANGKOK 2350WY696 DAMMAM 2355WY612 DUBAI 2355
WEDNESDAY
FLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA
WY648 KUWAIT 0005WY406 CAIRO 0005WY676 JEDDAH 0005WY672 MEDINA 0005WY682 RIYADH 0010WY914 SALALAH 0020WY916 SALALAH 0120TK774 ISTANBUL 01354H583 DACCA 0200PK229 LAHORE 0215GF560 BAHRAIN 0325FZ035 DUBAI 0340QR1132 DOHA 0345EK866 DUBAI 0350ET624 ADDIS ABABA 0350EY384 ABU DHABI 0400WY114 FRANKFURT 0515WY412 AMMAN 0635WY658 BAHRAIN 0635WY638 ABU DHABI 0640WY902 SALALAH 0645WY644 KUWAIT 0650WY686 RIYADH 0655G9841 RAS AL KHAIMA 0655WY144 MALPENSA 0705WY668 DOHA 0715WY674 JEDDAH 0735WY132 PARIS 0735WY102 LONDON HEATHROW 0740FZ043 DUBAI 0800WY432 TEHRAN 0805WY422 BEIRUT 0805WY602 DUBAI 0805WY342 LAHORE 0825NL768 LAHORE 0830WY202 BOMBAY 0835WY236 HYDERABAD 0900G9114 SHARJAH 0905WY282 BANGALORE 0910WY226 COCHIN 0920EK862 DUBAI 0930WY242 DELHI 0935IX549 TRIVANDRUM 0955WY252 MADRAS 0955QR1128 DOHA 1000EY382 ABU DHABI 1010IX443 COCHIN 1020QR8550 DOHA 1035WY3922 DUQUM OMAN 1035WY652 BAHRAIN 10409W530 TRIVANDRUM 1045WY918 KHASAB 1115WY604 DUBAI 1115WY3302 MUKHAIZNA 1120GF562 BAHRAIN 1130FZ037 DUBAI 1140WY372 COLOMBO 1140IX337 CALICUT 1155PA450 LAHORE 1215WY822 KUALA LUMPUR-SINGAPORE 1215WY818 BANGKOK 1220WY634 ABU DHABI 1220WY904 SALALAH 1230WY670 DOHA 1250WY324 KARACHI 1300WY332 KATHMANDU 1305WY606 DUBAI 1340WY906 SALALAH 1440WY920 KHASAB 1445WY348 ISLAM ABBAD 1515G9119 SHARJAH 1525FZ045 DUBAI 1535WY3304 MUKHAIZNA 1550WY656 BAHRAIN 1610QR1126 DOHA 1650WY204 BOMBAY 1655WY292 CALICUT 1710WY264 LUCKNOW 1740WY664 DOHA 1745EK864 DUBAI 1745WY232 HYDERABAD 1750WY246 DELHI 1750WY254 MADRAS 1750WY610 DUBAI 1800GF564 BAHRAIN 1810WY216 TRIVANDRUM 1820G9116 SHARJAH 1905WY274 JAIPUR 1910WY646 KUWAIT 1920FZ047 DUBAI 1940WY908 SALALAH 2000RG125 ABU DHABI 2005WY632 ABU DHABI 2005WY386 MALE 2020WY614 DUBAI 2025WY848 JAKARTA 2035WY338 KATHMANDU 2040FZ049 DUBAI 2100AI977 BANGALORE-HYDERABAD 2105KL441 AMSTERDAM-DOHA 2105WY124 MUNICH 21059W534 COCHIN 2115AI973 DELHI 21256.00E+81 BOMBAY 2130BA073 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI 2140WY624 DUBAI 2150AI907 MADRAS 2200WY312 CHITTAGONG 2210LX242 ZURICH-DUBAI 2225QR1134 DOHA 2225GF566 BAHRAIN 2240LH616 FRANKFURT-DOHA 2245WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 2250WY328 KARACHI 2250EY388 ABU DHABI 2300WY414 AMMAN 2300WY910 SALALAH 23109W540 BOMBAY 2315AI985 BOMBAY 2325WY662 DOHA 2335WY636 ABU DHABI 2340WY654 BAHRAIN 2340WY928 SALALAH 2345WY816 BANGKOK 2350WY612 DUBAI 2355WY696 DAMMAM 2355
BORN today, you are no stranger to diffi culties or adversity. You can achieve much in life simply through patience, tenacity, hard work and a refusal to be beaten by circumstances. You are determined to climb to the top, no matter how low you may have been when you started out — and that may be quite low, indeed. Still, once you begin your steady ascent, nothing is likely to hold you back. If anyone tries to stand in your way, you will fi ght tooth and nail to maintain your autonomy and dominance. Though you do not initially choose to engage others in any kind of combat, you will surely do so as a last resort when you deem it necessary.
You have a keen eye and a cool head for solving problems, and you can solve them very quickly when they are placed before you. Others are sure to follow in your footsteps, and it is likely that you will take some of these people under your wing as partners in work and in life.
Also born on this date are: Malcolm X, civil rights leader; Andre the Giant, wrestler and actor; Grace Jones, singer and actress; Pete Townshend, musician; Joey Ramone, singer; Peter Mayhew, actor; Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese politician; Nora Ephron, fi lmmaker; James Fox, actor.
You’re likely to get a dose of your own medicine. As a result, you’ll be closer to a few friends than you have been in recent weeks.
VIRGO [AUG. 23-SEPT. 22]
LIBRA [SEPT. 23-OCT. 22] LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL[S[[[S[S[S[[S[SS[SSSS[S[[[[SSSSSSSSSS
SCORPIO [OCT. 23-NOV. 21] S[
SAGITTARIUS [NOV. 22-DEC. 21] S[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
AQUARIUS [JAN. 20-FEB. 18]
You may not expect things to progress as quickly as they do. You can keep up, provided you have all your ducks in a row.
You don’t believe in miracles, but success is not a matter of miracles or anything mystical or magical. Timing is everything.
You’re likely to get a surprise at the hands of someone who’s been watching you for some time. You can return the favour.
You have only so much time to get everything done, and it’s not likely to be quite as much as you expected. Pick up the pace.
What you do with friends can be more meaningful than anything you accomplish on your own. Group eff orts are favored.
You may want to put an end to something that hasn’t even really gotten started, but circumstances favor taking it just a little further.
It’s time for you to put on a brave front and get going on something that will require you to face your fears in a new way.
PISCES [Feb. 19-March 20]
You may misunderstand what someone is trying to tell you, despite all the evidence pointing you in the right direction.
GEMINI [MAY 21-JUNE 20]
CANCER [JUNE 21-JULY 22]
LEO [JULY 23-AUG. 22]
CAPRICORN [DEC. 22-JAN 19]
Y O U R B I R T H D A Y
ARIES [March 21-APRIL 19]
TAURUS [APRIL 20-MAY 20]
You’re likely to come up with a plan that all but guarantees success, but you won’t be able to get it started on your own.
You know that it’s now or never, but you may be held back by a certain insecurity you’ve been fi ghting for some time.
You may have only one chance to get it right, but you know just what you have to do, and who you have to do it with.
C11
EXTRAT U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
Dance classes do not provide children with ample exercise
SENDING YOUR children to a dance class may not compensate for their daily exercise requirements. Researchers have found that most youth dance classes provide only lim-ited amounts of physical activity. The study of 66 dance classes showed that more than one-third of class time, on average, was spent engaged in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. The remainder of class time was
spent doing light activities such as standing, listening or stretch-ing. “This is a very commonly used opportunity for young people, to be physically active and we fi nd that they are inactive during dance classes,” said James Sallis, professor, University of California, San Diego, US.
Disney TV show to inspire girls for a career in science
DISNEY along with Google and NASA, is working on a new TV show that will inspire girls to pursue a career in science. According to a Washington Post report, childrens’ TV channel Disney Junior approached Google and the US space agency for the new science series named Miles From Tomorrowland. It is about a space adventure-seeking boy named Miles Callisto, his smart sister Loret-
ta who codes and mother Phoebe who drives the family spaceship. Loretta uses computer code to solve problems. The character is in-spired by NASA astronaut Yvonne D. Cagle.
Aspirin may slow progression
of breath shortness: Study
REGULAR USE of the common painkiller as-pirin may help slow the progression of early em-physema, a lung disease that primarily causes shortness of breath, says a new study. “Other than smoking cessation and avoidance, there are no known methods for reducing the risk of de-veloping emphysema,” said researcher Carrie Aaron from Columbia University Medical Cen-
tre in New York, US. “We found that regular aspirin use was associ-ated with a slower progression of per cent emphysema on comput-ed tomography (CT) scans over 10 years,” Aaron said. -IANS
BR I E FS
STUDY
We often misjudge the scientifi c process and underestimate its complexity, says an argument
Popular narration of science full of falsehoods
The other week I was working in my ga-rage offi ce when my 14-year-old daugh-ter, Olivia, came in
to tell me about Charles Darwin. Did I know that he discovered the theory of evolution after studying fi nches on the Galá-pagos Islands? I was steeped in what felt like the 37th draft of my new book, which is on the devel-opment of scientifi c ideas, and she was proud to contribute this tidbit of history that she had just learned in class.
Sadly, like many stories of sci-entifi c discovery, that commonly recounted tale, repeated in her biology textbook, is not true.
The popular history of science is full of such falsehoods.
In the case of evolution, Dar-win was a much better geolo-gist than ornithologist, at least in his early years. And while he did notice diff erences among the birds (and tortoises) on the diff erent islands, he didn’t think them important enough to make a careful analysis.
His ideas on evolution did not come from the mythical Ga-lápagos epiphany, but evolved through many years of hard work, long after he had returned from the voyage. (To get an idea of the eff ort involved in devel-oping his theory, consider this — One byproduct of his research was a 684-page monograph on
barnacles.) The myth of the fi nches obscures the qualities that were really responsible for Darwin’s success — the grit to formulate his theory and gather evidence for it; the creativity to seek signs of evolution in exist-ing animals, rather than, as oth-ers did, in the fossil record; and the open-mindedness to drop his belief in creationism when the evidence against it piled up.
The mythical stories we tell about our heroes are always more romantic and often more palatable than the truth. But in science, at least, they are de-structive, in that they promote false conceptions of the evolu-tion of scientifi c thought.
Of the tale of Newton and the apple, the historian Richard S. Westfall wrote, “The story vul-garises universal gravitation by treating it as a bright idea — A bright idea cannot shape a scientifi c tradition.” Science is just not that simple and it is not that easy.
Still, you might ask, so what? What happens when we mis-judge the scientifi c process, when we underestimate its complexity?
The oversimplifi cation of dis-covery makes science appear far less rich and complex than it re-ally is. In the fi lm The Theory of Everything, Stephen Hawking is seen staring at glowing embers in a fi replace when he has a vision
of black holes emitting heat. In the next scene he is announcing to an astonished audience that, contrary to prior theory, black holes will leak particles, shrink and then explode. But that is not how his discovery happened.
In reality, Hawking had been inspired not by glowing em-bers, but by the work of two Russian physicists.
According to their theory, ro-tating black holes would give off energy, slowing their rotation until they eventually stopped.
To investigate this, Hawking had to perform diffi cult math-ematical calculations that care-fully combined the relevant ele-ments of quantum theory and Einstein’s theory of gravity — two mainstays of physics that, in certain respects, are known to contradict each other. Hawk-ing’s calculations showed, to his “surprise and annoyance,” that stationary black holes also leak.
To a physicist that was a shocking result, as it contra-dicted the idea that black holes devour matter and energy, but never regurgitate it. To Hawk-ing, it was especially dismaying, for it lent support to a Princeton physicist’s theory about black hole entropy that he had great disdain for.
So Hawking attacked his own work, trying to poke holes in it. In the end, after months of calcu-lations, he was forced to accept
that his conclusion was correct, and it changed the way physi-cists think about black holes.
Two thousand years ago, Ar-istotle’s “Physics” was a wide-ranging set of theories that were easy to state and under-stand.
But his ideas were almost completely wrong. Newton’s “Principia” ushered in the age of modern science, but remains one of the most impenetrable books ever written.
There is a reason — The truths of nature are subtle, and require deep and careful thought.
Over the past few centuries we have invested that level of thought, and so while in the 19th century the Reuters news service used carrier pigeons to fl y stock prices between cities, today we have the Internet.
Even if we are not scientists, every day we are challenged to make judgments and decisions about technical matters like vac-cinations, fi nancial investments, diet supplements and, of course, global warming.
If our discourse on such top-ics is to be intelligent and pro-ductive, we need to dip below the surface and grapple with the complex underlying issues.
The myths can make one into believing there is an easier path, one that doesn’t require such hard work. -Leonard Mlodinow/The New
York Times News Service
THE POPULATION is ageing rapidly across the world. Esti-mates suggest that the number of persons aged 60 or over could triple by 2,100. It’s therefore im-perative that we explore simple, cost-eff ective ways to improve cognitive function in old age,” said study co-author Daniel Lamport from the University of Reading.
The study saw a group of 37 healthy adults (mean age 67 years) consuming 500 millili-tres of orange juice daily over an eight week period.
At the beginning and end of the eight weeks their memory, reaction time and verbal fl uency was measured. These were then combined into one overall score
known as ‘global cognitive func-tion’. The adults showed an eight per cent overall improvement in global cognitive function af-ter orange juice consumption compared to a control drink given during the study period. Orange juice is a major source of fl avonoids — being particularly rich in a sub-class of fl avonoids, known as fl avanones. Recent studies have shown that fl avo-noids may improve memory through the activation of signal-ling pathways in the hippocam-pus, a part of the brain that is associated with learning and memory. This study is thought to be the fi rst to show that regu-larly consuming orange juice
could have a positive eff ect on older people’s cognition.
“Small, easily administered changes to the daily diet, such as eating more fl avonoid-rich fruits and vegetables, have the potential to substantially ben-efi t brain health,” Lamport said. “This is an important discovery which strengthens the growing body of evidence that fl avonoid rich foodstuff s could play a big role in tackling cognition de-cline in old age,” he concluded.
Previous research has shown that other fl avonoid rich foods such as blueberries are benefi -cial for cognition. The study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. -IANS
Drinking orange juice could help improve brain function in elderly people
C12
EXTRAT U E S DAY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
Ensure proper disposal of garbage.
Don’t litter a beautiful country like OMAN.
YVES SAINT LAURENT PORTRAYED AS A FRAGILE GENIUS IN A NEW MOVIE
The most sympathetic charac-ter in the latest fi lm about Yves Saint Laurent is Moujik — his French bulldog. Moujik is felled
after innocently poking his snout into a pile of pills that the designer has spilled on the fl oor after a night of feasting. While both men lay unconscious in various stages, the poor canine’s deadly overdose is portrayed on screen in a manner that is sad, grotesque and terribly prolonged.
The same might be said of the fi lm itself. Saint Laurent is a plodding, 150-minute, raw biopic that focuses on the renowned designer’s life throughout much of the 1970s when he was at the height of his infl uence and fame. At his peak, Saint Laurent helped to modernise women’s wardrobes with collections inspired by the visual arts, ballet and street culture. He popularised trousers for women. He encouraged them to relax with his robes. And he famously crafted a woman’s ver-sion of a tuxedo — “le smoking” .
Saint Laurent’s work helped to estab-lish much of modern fashion’s vocabulary. He was a celebrity designer, indulging in the era’s nightlife with his pack of bud-dies, posing to promote his own fragrance and building up a network of licenses to expand his brand. Within the industry, he was hailed as a genius.
But Saint Laurent was also a depressive
soul whose relationships, while passion-ate, could be fi lled with vitriol, enabling both passivity and turmoil. He has been described again and again throughout fashion history as “fragile,” which sug-gests that he could be easily broken. But he drove many of those around him to distraction, infl icting more than a few psychic wounds on his professional and personal partner Pierre Bergé, his staff and his friends.
Ultimately, at least as portrayed in the fi lm, he posed the gravest danger to him-self. Saint Laurent follows another biop-ic, Yves Saint Laurent, released last sum-mer. That version of the designer’s life was championed by Bergé. This one had the support of Kering, which now owns the Saint Laurent brand. This latest fi lm gives a more nuanced sense of life inside the atelier — the hierarchy, the work-fl ow, the pressures, and the team eff ort, explor-ing the designer’s business relationship with his American backer.
The earlier fi lm gave the audience a better sense of the actual clothes that made him famous. Neither fi lm, however, off ers a particularly fl attering portrayal of the designer. He is despicable, narcis-sistic and tedious in both. Each movie un-derscores his debauched lifestyle, which was punctuated by drug-taking. Saint Laurent, however, is far more unsparing
in its depiction of the designer’s obses-sion with de Bascher.
If not exactly entertaining, Saint Lau-rent is most certainly well-timed. The brand is in the midst of a resurgence under the direction of designer Hedi Slimane. He has tapped into youthful dissoluteness to create street-infused collections that speak of rock concerts, music festivals and raucous indie bands while casting a keen eye on the com-mercial power of well-cut basics such as leather motorcycle jackets, tuxedo jack-ets and silk T-shirts. After more than a decade of sluggish sales, Slimane has
been able to give the brand the creative jolt necessary to spark a signifi cant fi nan-cial revival. Under Slimane’s guidance, Saint Laurent has been experiencing double digit growth, recently reporting a fi rst quarter increase in revenue of 21.2 per cent over 2014.
Aesthetically, culturally, this is a Saint Laurent moment. It is an opportune time to tell the designer’s story, to off er an au-dience an insight into his creative pro-cess, to decipher his personality. But the fi lm version of Saint Laurent seems for-ever locked into a particular caricature — that of the fragile, broken, genius.
Those may be aspects of his personal-ity but they alone do not help audiences understand the man who inspired such loyalty among his friends and such fealty from Bergé.
Was it pure fear of the mayhem and fi nancial upheaval that would unspool if Saint Laurent’s snow globe of a world cracked wide open and reality fl ooded in? Saint Laurent’s mother declares him so coddled he doesn’t even known how to change a light bulb. He replies that it’s not a problem because he’d simply sit in the dark until Bergé came home to change it. Who is the greater off ender? The man who sits in the dark? Or the one who rush-es home to turn on the lights?
There are countless scenes that show
a melancholy Saint Laurent staring into the distance, teetering down a hallway or gazing forlornly at a sketch pad. Those around him seem to defi ne this unstable brooding as part of the designer’s pro-cess or a personality quirk. Or perhaps some failing that can be fi xed with a nice, long vacation.
Fashion is fi lled with creative souls who are at their best when they are in-dulged. Watching Saint Laurent unravel, one can’t help but think of designers Al-exander McQueen and John Galliano — their tragic undoing recently chronicled in Dana Thomas’ book Gods and Kings. Was early evidence of their trouble over-looked or ignored because it fi t so com-fortably with the accepted stereotype?
As Saint Laurent makes clear, fashion is a business.
The seamstresses in the atelier, the licensees, the investors rely on the clear-eyed vision of the designer. And if neces-sary, they will keep that designer propped up, enabled and protected. Their liveli-hoods depend on him.
The business of fashion does not stop churning because of one man’s addic-tion and depression. It can’t. But if there’s any lesson in the fl awed Saint Laurent, it’s that the “fragile genius” is a destructive cliché that obscures a host of deadly maladies. -Robin Givhan/The Washington Post.
‘Saint Laurent’
is a plodding, 150-minute,
raw biopic focuses on
the renowned designer’s
life throughout much
of the 1970s when he
was at the height of his
infl uence and fame
‘Amy’ premieres at Cannes LATE SINGER Amy Winehouse’s docu-mentary Amy was premiered at the 2015 Cannes International Film Festival. Di-rected by Asif Kapadia, the documentary showed the dark side of the late rocker’s fame on Saturday. At one point in the movie, Winehouse, who died at the age of 27 from alcohol poisoning in 2011, con-
fessed that she didn’t think she could handle fame. “I don’t think I’m going to be at all famous, I don’t think I could han-dle it,” a teenage Winehouse said. The Rehab hitmaker’s parents also appeared in the fi lm, but they criticised it, calling it “unbalanced”.
US rapper Chinx shot deadUS RAPPER Lionel Pickens, better known as Chinx, died after being shot multiple times as he was driving in a vehicle in the New York City borough of Queens, Efe news agency reported. The 31-year-old rapper was shot early Sunday morning and died shortly thereafter at a city hospital, while a 27-year-old man who was riding with him
survived but is in critical condition. At least seven bullet holes could be seen in the rapper’s silver Porsche in photographs published by various media outlets.
Beyonce Knowles visits Haiti on UN mission
SINGER Beyonce Knowles has visited Haiti with United Nations humanitarian chief Baroness Amos to study the reha-bilitation eff ort since the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake which struck the country in 2010. The 33-year-old shared on Instagram some photographs from her
visit on Sunday. She captioned one of the images: “Haiti. Hu-manitarian mission with the UN.” The hitmaker also posed for photographs with the rescue team. -IANS
C E L E B R I T Y N E W S
W W W.T I M E S O F O M A N . C O MSECTION
CONNECT H E D A I LY G U I D E
D
D4 VACANCY CARGO D7
T U E S D AY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
RENT D2
*Classifi ed Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication.
* Subject to space availability
DAILY GUIDEEmail: [email protected] classifi [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461
FOR RENT
2 BHK with split A/C in Grand
mall. Contact 96708000
1BHK with split A/C in Azaiba 16
Nov Street. Contact 96708000
1& 2 BHK at Honda road.
Contact: 99224748 / 99332297
2 BHK at AL Azaiba, 2 bedrooms,
1 hall & dinning 3 & bath rooms.
Contact: 99224748 / 99425665
Restaurant available for rent brand
new fully equipped restaurant on
Barka- Nakhal-Rustaq Highway ,
ideal for Pakistani /Indian /Omani
Cuisine , available for rent and
management excellent opportunity
for those who are in restaurant busi-
ness in Oman /UEA. Only serious and
experienced parties need to
Contact on: 99337991
1 Bedroom bachelors, sharing K & T
in Al Khuwair R.O 100/-.
Contact 95154331
Flats 2 bedrooms, hall in Mumtaz
way no 3352 building no 3774
/3668. Contact 99341138 /
98003444
Labor camp available with all facili-
ties at Sohar Falaij (Near Sohar Sea
port) - Contact – 92982172
Showroom for rent 200 m in
Al Misfah, Bousher facing the main
road. Contact 95202430
New building, residential apart-
ments and offi ces, in Al Khoud
Souq. Contact 95202340
Deluxe 1, 2 BHK fl ats in Darsait,
AL Khuwair 1deal for offi ce &
residence. Contact 99369081
/99142314
Room for rent two bedrooms, one
toilet and sharing, kitchen at Ruwi
Mumtaz area R.O 180/- per month
including electricity and water.
Contact: 98917915
Independent rooms in Qurum /
AL Hail. Contact 95529970
2 BHK Flat in Azaiba.
Contact 99792181
D2 T U E S D AY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
2 BHK Flat in Al Khuwair.
Contact 99792181
2bedrooms fl at with hall, 2 bath-
rooms in Ruwi near boys school.
Contact : 92584715 / 24700120
506 sqm space with mezzanine
available for rent in Al Wadi Al
Kabir. Suitable for carpentry / auto
workshop and /or electrical shop.
Interested parties may
Contact 24703981
1BHK fl at in Wattaya with split
units A/C. Contact: 98802343
4 bedroom villa at Al Ansab area.
Contact: 96788070
10 BHK Villa in Al Khuwair
25 for Executive bachelors.
Contact 99792181
1 Villa & 4 big apartments of 3
BHK with big hall & Kitchen
Al Khoudh 6. Tel 97600322
New 3 bedroom fl ats split AC,
attached toilets available behind
Kims Oman hospital.
Contact 95225662
Mezzanine fl oor offi ce space
for rent area 200 sq. Contact
97175979 / 99001341
Flat with 2 rooms, toilet & kitchen
in second fl oor in Souk Al Khoud
behind bank Al Ahli 200/- R.O .
Contact : 99738881
2 & 3 BHK in Qurum, with split AC, Near PDO Gate 2.
Contact 94057023
Villa for rent with 4 bedroom at
Al Khodh, Rent 600/-RO.#92888115
Flat at Darsait. Contact 99326879
7 BHK Flat in Azaiba for Executive
Bachelors. Contact 99792181
Villa for rent in Khuwair 33, 8
bedrooms, 5 Bathrooms with park-
ing area near Taimur Mosque.
Contact 99366624
2BHK fl ats in Al Khuwair-33 with
split AC. Contact: 94057023
1,2,3 BHK apartments for rent. ,
4,5 BHK villas for rent.
Contact 95178930
Independent villa in Darsait (OPP .
KIMS hospital, behind Khimji mart)
for rent 4 bedrooms, big hall and 1
kitchen + 1 pantry. Please call Ms
Hiba Shaikh. Contact 98048210/
Mr Anil Kumar 99261773
Villa for rent in Azaiba near
well roundabout & Umm AL
Qura Mosque, 5 bedrooms, two
hall , kitchen. Contact : Mr Sunil
92887809/ Mr Habib 98048207
1st fl oor fl at in Amerat Phase 5, 4
rooms, bathrooms (3), kitchen with
A/C for family. Contact 95522405
Flats for rent in Wadi Kabeer.
Contact : 92800007
1 Villa & 4 big apartments of
3 BHK with big hall & Kitchen
Al Khoudh 6. Tel 97600322
Offi ce premises available in Ruwi
and double bed room fl ats avail-
able in Mabellah for rent.
Contact tel nos 24833972/
24833974/24450361
gsm 99367448
3 bedroom fl at for rent in Al Hamria
Contact: 99341112
2 BHK (with split AC) residential
fl at at Honda road.
Contact 98087644 / 99795241 3000 sq mtrs Industrial landß,
in Barka Sanaiya, with electricity
400KW, shed, staff accommodation
and offi ce. Ready to start any kind
of factory. Contact 99384255.
New one B/R directly from owner.
Bausher. Contact – 92158031
Spacious 1 BHK fl at in Darsait near
Indian school (ISD).
Contact 99369081
Deluxe 2 BHK in Mumtaz area Ruwi
Contact 97707007
Furnished spacious single room
in a new building with attached
bathroom for executive bachelor at
South Al Mawaleh (Behind Seeb City
Center). Gsm 99221067
3 Offi ce space available between
120-142 sqm, with data cable,
pantry, cassette AC, parking, @ RO.
5/- per/sqm. At Jibroo Muttrah. 2
BHK fl at at Azaiba, behind Al Meera
Hypermarket. RO. 330/-.Contact:
93221054, 99229263, 95215289
DAILY GUIDET U E S D AY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5 D3
ACC. AVAILABLE
FOR SALE
FOR SALE
FOR RENT
FOR RENT
AVAILABLE
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.
www.tunesoman.com,
E-mail: [email protected]
BUYING / SELLING
Investors required for a Run-
ning hotel in AL Khuwair. Contact
98049288
Used household & offi ce furniture
and electronic items.
Contact 99834373, 97102699
Sharing accommodation for
executive bachelor near Sadolin
Wadi Kabir. Contact: 99016230
Furnished single rooms available
for bachelors at Ruwi.
Contact: 98049288
ACC. OPP, OK center for non- cooking
bachelor. Contact - 97900642
after 5 pm
Room with attached bath in Mumtaz
area. Contact: 99743709
Attached room with kitchen at
Azaiba. Contact : 99334770
Sharing accommodation avail-
able opposite Mars at Al Ghubra for
Executive bachelor or small family
sharing, kitchen. Contact 94474351 /
96237050
For family room available near
Al Khamis Shoes Hamriya.
Contact 99793785
Executive bachelor room with
attached toilet near Al Nahda
Hospital, Hamriya.
Contact - 96474313
Al Khuwair one villa room with
toilet. Indians only.
Contact 99382008
Sharing for non-cooking Executive
bachelor in CBD area wi fi free,
advance deposit. Contact 95934642
Accommodation available for South
Indian family, one bedroom with
attached toilet, kitchen, hall in a villa,
Al Ghubrah. Contact 99209160
Family room available for rent at
Muttrah Souk. Contact 24712088 /
99022790
Single room & AC attached bath at
Mumtaz area. Contact 95212017 &
93103337
Sharing acc. Available in Muttrah
behind Oman house.
Contact 99354340
Sharing family accommodation in
Wadi Kabir. Contact 99335057
Used Furniture of Ready made
showroom for Sale.contact
24704370, 99798452 (Ashwin)
A well equipped running dental
clinic in Ruwi for sale.
Contact 93769963
Coff ee shop equipment and furni-
ture for sale call 95207741 .
3 tents used for six months, PVC
type, 850 GSM, water proof and fi re
resistant (one tent size 11x30meter,
two tents size 15x25 meters).
For clarifi cation call 99507508
2,560 sq mtrs industrial land Wadi
Kabir Main Road, First line on
way to Al Bustan hotel. Possible to
make petrol station or hotel. OMR
990 Thousand Tel: 99333479 or
95215360
558 Sq mtrs residential land in
Barka (Al Jenainah) near Lulu and
near to school. OMR 32 Thousand.
Tel: 99333479 or 95215360
Shop for sale ladies beauty parlour
AL Hassan Company near top up super
market AL Wadi Kabir, good Running
condition.# 91207003 /96700192
Restaurant for sale well running
with open area and good parking
area. 3 new clearance also in Wadi
Kabeer near Mars hyper market.
Contact 99656863
We have fl ats for sale in south
Al Mabella stage -8 along the
highway. Contact 95121222
Shfandish & tables for sale.
Contact 99368907
Residential land for sale 21000
sqm, best for housing complex
at Al Harm – Barka, opp to Khimji
logistic. Contact 99438397
Port cabin new & refurbished –
porta cabin for sale & rent.
# 96723468 / 97775501 / 97775502
Coff ee shop for sale in
North Al Ghubra. Contact 95256009
For running beauty saloon for sale.
Contact 97786792 / 96914627
3 fl oor commercial building in
Muttrah behind Police. Generating
income of OMR 18 Thousand annu-
ally. Neat and well maintained. Built
on 197 sq mtrs land. 2 tailor shops
on ground fl oor and 6 fl ats. OMR
207 Thousand. Tel: 99333479 or
95215360
60,000 Sq Mtrs Agriculture Land in
Misfah, can be changed to Industrial
Land. OMR 27 Per Square Meter.
Tel: 99333479 or 95215360
Shopping center for sale at Bousher
by good price 400 m2 with all equip-
ment. Reason for selling
part-time. Contact 92916490
5 Flats of 1 bedroom for Sale in
Bousher: OMR 35 Thousand each.
Monthly income OMR 270
Tel: 99333479 or 95215360
2 residential Lands together, one
610 and the other 600 sq mtrs, in
Al Haram on way to Barka. OMR 49
Thousand both. Tel: 99333479 or
95215360
23,886 Sq Mtrs Agriculture land
with water well in Al Salwa, Barka.
OMR 260 Thousand. Tel: 99333479
or 95215360
One BHK fl at for rent in Ghobra
with attach and common bathroom.
For Indian family.
Contact - 92322096
3 fl ats for rent 3 bedrooms include
A/C, near the highway (Bowshar
Amerat). Contact 97777911 /
95533777
Mabella residential area fl at 3
bedroom, toilet 33 inside of the
compound wall ground level,
children playground excellent
area. Contact 99879872
For rent fl at 2 BHK 350/- R.O in
North Al Ghubrah. #97004127
Flat 1 BHK for rent near
Al Tajaweed furniture way no. 5917
Hamriya, Rent 160/- PM.
Contact 99350946
2 & 3 BHK fl at in Al Khuwair.
Contact 99792181
200 Sqr mtrs offi ce space in CBD.
Contact 99792181
2BHK at Al Azaiba, 2bedrooms,
1 hall & dinning , 3 bathrooms.
Contact : 99224748 / 99425665
Flats shops and store for rent in
Ruwi, MBD Honda road.
Contact 97293708 / 92433127
For rent fl at 3BHK 390/-R.O in North
Al Ghubrah. Contact 97004127
Labour Camp for Rent in Wadi
Kabir. Contact 99792181
2 BHK fl at in Rex Road.
Contact 99792181
1 BHK fl at in Honda Road (Ruwi).
Contact 99792181
Studio & 1BHK fl at in Wadi Kabir.
Contact: 99376454
WANTED
Required used portacabin 12’ x 40’
without partition 2 Nos,
used ablution unit 12 ‘x 30’ -1 no re-
quired at Misfah. Contact: 99340205
*Classifi ed Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00
noon for next day’s publication.
* Subject to space availability
FOR SALE! 1 No. PLASTER MIXER PUMP
(Make/Model: Putzmeister;
available for sale on AS IS WHERE IS basis (at our
Ghala Store). Genuine buyers Contact Evan G. Amanna,
Mbl. 99334126; R&N KHIMJI LLC - Tel.24502111; Email: [email protected]
Furnished fl ats for rent in
Al Buraimi, daily, weekly, monthly.
Contact 97819981 / 93593336
2 bedroom apartment in Ruwi for
rent or sale for information.
Contact: 99360303
1 BHK new bldg with A/C, curtains
near Khimji Mart MBD.
Contact: 99061408 / 99024039
We have fl ats for rent in South
Al Mabella stage -8 along the high-
way. Contact 95121222
Room main road, Al Khuwair
R.O 110/-. Contact 97799175
1/3 BHK Flat Ghubrah, close to ISG
Way 4041, building 4390.
Contact 99319880
1& 2BHK for rent at Wadi Kabir,
Hilal Al Sad and Al Khoud areas .
Contact Offi ce: 24834644
Mobile: 93994401/02/03
Flat for rent, 2 BK near Kuwaiti
Mosque, Wadi Kabir. Contact
97007934 / 92629232
Flat for rent 2 BK near Oman
House Muttrah. Contact 97007934
/ 92629232
If require fl ats for rent in Wadi
Kabir please send me
messages through whatsapp or
call 99376454
Spacious 2 BHK fl ats in Ruwi MBD
area only on 350/- OMR.
Contact – 95122188 / 96441499
Studio fl at Wadi Kabeer 160/-O.R.
Contact - 99358589 / 97079146/
95570288
1BHK fl at near star cinema with
split A/C 230/- O.R. Contact -
99358589/ 97079146/95570288
Bath attached room for rent
Al Khuwair. Contact 99743569
1BHK, 2 toilets at South Ghubra
include E/W and AC split with fully
furnished OMR 350/-.# 92811110
Labour camp for Rent in Wadi
Kabir. Contact 99797422
2 BHK & studio fl at at Darsait 1SM.
Contact 99024730
Room with attached bathroom
Al Khuwair 33 area.
Contact 96059431
Apartments for rent Ghubra : near
Indian School Ghubra & Al Maha
International Hotel (2BHK with 5
split A/C units).Contact 99273774 /
99202278 /94652485
Villa in Al Khuwair and Seeb.
Contact 95250300/ 99119699 /
92125648
1,000 sq mtrs industrial land in
Misfah Industrial area near to
Khanco. OMR 1,500 Monthly. Elec-
tricity and boundary wall will be pro-
vided. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360
Industrial land for rent in Wadi
Kabir 7000 Sq mtrs.
Contact 99354340
1 Bedroom fl at in Azaiba.
Contact 99385835/99428143
Flat for rent 1 & 2 bedroom avail-
able behind Zaker Mall Al Khuwair.
Contact - 99530405
Ghubra near Al Maha hotel &
Indian school (2BHK with 5 split
ac units). Contact 94652485/
99273774 / 99202278
For rent 3 industrial land.
Contact 92702891/ 95490842
Flats/villas owned by ROP pension
fund available for rent in Muscat.
Contact 99349526
DAILY GUIDED4 T U E S D AY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT
MEDICAL
MEDICAL
Email: [email protected] classifi [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461
CATERING
BEAUTICIAN
DRAFTSMAN
DOMESTIC HELPER
DESIGNER
SALES / MARKETING
SALES / MARKETING
ACCOUNT. & FINANCE
Shawarma /Arabic/Chinese/ cook & helpers. Contact 95529970
SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED
SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED
Medical CARE Centre, Al Seeb,
requires Gynecologist, General Practitioners and Medical Lab Technicians. Mail CV-
or call 97884856
Urgently required (All female only) Radiographer, Physiotherapist, Echo Technician, EEG technician & Nurses. Contact: 99374223, 22081700
email: [email protected]
Urgently required a female Dentist with a valid MOH license interest-
ed candidates may email their CVs
at fi [email protected]
Company GM requires a capable house keeper (preferably Philipina)
to keep the house spotless and a gar-
dener cum cleaner on full/ part time
basis. Handsome salary & fl exible
timings. Contact 98458542
Analyst accountant knowledge
& skill excel Advance misreport
account & fi nance administration
work document oracle advertising
knowledge degree MBA, BBM.
Contact 91840109/99783953
Email: [email protected]
Indian male 22 yrs B. Com Graduate
1 year exp in Accounts, currently on
visit visa. Looking for suitable job.
Contact 94341848 /
Email – [email protected]
Chief Accountant Indian male 36
yrs, M.Com, 14 yrs experience at
Senior position in leading MEP com-
panies, 9 years in Oman. Available
Noc, D/L & ready to join.
Contact 98407501
Senior Accountant 10 years experi-
ence in accounts 4 years GCC experi-
ence now working trading & project
based concern holding Oman driving
license ability handling all type of
accounts software’s and up to fi nali-
zation. Contact: 94079432
Indian male 22 years B.Com Gradu-
ate having the knowledge of Tally
ERP9 and Peachtree and with a valid
Oman driving license looking for a
suitable job. Contact 98504698
Indian male, 30 yrs, MBA having 5
years GCC experience holding valid
Oman driving license looking for
a suitable job. Contact : 94547511
Email: [email protected]
Accountant B.Com, MBA (pursu-
ing) Indian male 25 years, 2 years
experience in India, seeking better
placement on visit visa.
Contact: 97709327
Indian male 23 yrs B.Com 1yr expe-
rience in Accounts and sales looking
for suitable placement on visit visa.
Contact: 96068174 / 98912870
Indian Female 25 MBA looking
for a suitable opening in Accounts,
Admin/Hr. Contact 97013375
Male 26, MBA in Accounts and
Finance. 2 years Experience in Man-
agement, and Accounts Fields, and
One year experience in Sales and
Operation in Oman,
looking for a suitable job.
Contact 94374745
Indian male, B.Com experience in
Accounts, looking for Accountant job
or in Sales on visit visa.
Contact: 98295101
Indian male 25 yrs B.Com PGDBM
currently on visit visa, looking for
suitable opening in accounts, store
and Admin. Contact: 96986349
Email: [email protected]
ENGI./ELECT./TECH..
Urgently required Mainte-nance Supervisor (Civil) with
valid Oman D/L. Send your CV to
Required Graduate Electrical Engineer experience in HT & LT
works. Contact 99760596,
Email : [email protected]
SECRETARIAL & OFFICE
Required Offi ce Assistant
160+25+Acc, Contact 99454425
AUTO CAD
AUTOCAD D MAN, Gulf Exp In
Major Projects, knows ARCH,
Structural, MEP, Noc available
PH: 98225740
Draughtsman-Civil: Diploma in
Architecture with 3 years experi-
ence. Profi cient in AutoCAD, Google
Sketchup, Photoshop and MS Offi ce.
Email: [email protected]
Mob: +91 9645124241, 93004426
ADMIN/HR
EDUCATION
TOURS & TRAVELS
Urgently required a Senior Accountant 1 no. at least 5 years
experience, 2 sales executive, 2 nos at least 3years experience and
having valid Omani driving license
interested candidates may email
their CVs at fi ndjobs2015@hotmail.
com
Urgently required female Accountant, should have 3 -5 years
experience. Send CV with passport
size Photo and expected salary on
ACCOUNTANT
Situations vacant at a reputed com-
pany in Oman for their TLB(Tires,
Lubes & Battery) division. 1. Sales Executives. 2. Showroom Ex-ecutives. 3. Sales Co-ordinators. 4. Store Keepers. Minimum 3-5 yrs
experience in the same fi eld or from
the Automotive industry with mar-
ket exposure, holding valid Omani
driving license or GCC. Rush your
CV’s to [email protected]
Urgently needed Marketing Execu-tive for kitchens, Sales Assistant for
kitchens and sanitary ware, Offi ce Assistant ( all male) for a marketing
company, graduates with 3 to 5 yrs
relevant experience please email CV
Requirement counter Sale & Marketing sale for work in building
material shop in Saham.
Contact: 99352829 / 99417418
Sales Executive (Male) with D/L
for a reputed company in Oman,with
3 yrs experience . Please send CV
with photo to;
Looking for Electrical Salesman with diploma certifi cate.
Contact 97616265
email: [email protected]
A leading UPVC window manufac-
turing company require
Sales Executive (Graduate) 3 years
minimum experience and Omani
D/L. Required candidates with
local release only apply. Contact:
99100738 / 94247257. Send CV to
Sales Engineer for lab items, Ser-
vice Engineer for lab equipments.
Email: [email protected]
Fax: 24613659
Required experienced Sales / Mar-keting having light license. Send
your CV - [email protected]
A leading Tissue paper & food stuff s company require sales & marketing person with minimum
5 yrs exp. in Oman with good com-
munication skills & valid Oman
D/L. candidate with interior market
knowledge & experience preferable.
Send CV : [email protected],
fax : 24451430
Looking for outdoor Salesman for
heavy equipment spare parts.
Contact- 93292003.
E mail: [email protected]
Indian Female MBA, 3 Years experi-
ence in Admin MIS, Family Visa.
Contact 98234427,
Indian female, 28 yrs experience
in Admin / sales coordination /ac-
countant and secretarial. Knowledge
in accountant software, with Oman
D/L, looking for a suitable place-
ment. Contact: 96751993
Indian male 2+yrs oman exp in HR.
joing immediatly. release available.
Contact :93671437
Indian female, 29 yrs, MBA (HR)
4 yrs exp. India & Oman in HR & Ad-
min, seeks suitable placement.
Contact 96759820
Indian female with 10 yrs of experi-
ence in HR/Banking/Operations
seeks a suitable placement. Can be
contacted on 98919015 or
A school requires teachers for
English, Science, Math, IT and
Science Laboratory technician
minimum requirements masters
degree IELTS (band6).
Contact send CV to: 96606121.
Email: [email protected]
Required Sales man - 1 Person
Qualifi cation. Gulf Experienced
- Minimum 5 Years with Oman
Driving Licence Language - English
Education:- Any Degree Further
Contact :Mr. Abdul Hameed
Nashabat - Mobile No: 97414307
and -92807399
Sales Coordinator (Male) required
for a reputed company in Oman
with D/L, and with good knowledge
of MS Offi ce , Please send CV with
photo to; saheer@paramountmuscat.
com / [email protected]
Salesman experienced 5 yrs in
Oman, in the fi eld of industrial &
oilfi eld service, garage equipment
tools & spares, safety wears & rescue
equipments. Please forward your CV
MISCELLANEOUS
Urgently required experienced Travel Agent for a reputed
rent a car & tourism co.
Contact: 24701070/77
Email: [email protected]
Cast Aluminium & Windows Com-pany looking for the skilled and
experienced personnel for the fol-
lowing categories: Sales Executive with D/L, professional Account-ant, Aluminium fabricator, Cast Aluminium Site worker. Contact:
99654863 / 99197060 or
Email your CV/Resume to
Required salesman, Tailor and Barber. Contact 96964767
Required 3 D Designer for interior
design with relevant experience,
full time or part time.
Contact 95766844
Finance Manager (M.Com. MBA)
with start-up skill & group consoli-
dation, Baking,corporate funding, re-
structuring of fi nance and accounts
with new system and procedure.-
3 yrs experience, Indian female, 26
years, Masters in Financial Manage-
ment, B.com, Seeking suitable place-
ment. Contact: 99345132
Email: [email protected]
MBA (international business) from
London, 4 years of UK experience in
banking operational, looking for suit-
able position. Contact 91710075
Tanzanian male, 25 yrs Accountant
3 month successful experience in
Tanzania looking for suitable place-
ment in any fi eld. Contact : 96710154
Indian male, B.Com Graduate having
10 years exp 6 years in Oman looking
for an Accountant job. #93830171
Email: [email protected]
Indian male M.Com, 5 years experi-
ence in fi nance /HR and Purchase
department in Oman companies hav-
ing valid D/L available to join imme-
diately with NOC. Contact 98363897
Email: [email protected]
Finance Manager, 16 + years Gulf
exp. in accounts , MIS, budgets, stra-
tegic planning, cost control, working
capital management, seeks job pls
call 95379211
e mail :- [email protected]
Finance / Accounts Manager 12
years experience at senior position in
leading companies 9 years in Oman
CPA – USA& modern accounting cer-
tifi cate from AUC. Contact 99139926
Indian male 27 M.Com, MBA, 4.5
years experience in fi nance &
accounts, Tally & SAP currently on
visit visa. Contact: 93484048
Indian female 32 yrs MCA having,
3 years experience in Muscat and
having driving license seeks suit-
able placement. Contact: 96124929
Finance Manager, CPA, with more
than 15 yrs. of experience in GCC.
Fully knowledgeable in Finance,
General & Management Accounting .
NOC available. Contact 96209331
Indian male, 32 years, M. Com.
7 out of 9 years experience in Oman
in Accounts/fi nance. Having NOC and
valid Oman D/L. Contact 98277143,
Email: [email protected]
Leading Construction company requires MEP Draftsman and Civil Draftsman with 5 to 7 years gulf
experience with NOC available. Send
your CV to
Beautician required with good
experience visa available.
Contact: 95867900
We are looking for a Staff Nurse, who is having 60% or above
in prometric exam. Contact :
99235643 /99463609 Email:
Clinical Dietician for Weight
Management Center, utilizing the
“Eurodiet” method. Experienced in
individual counseling along with
excellent communication skills.
Arabic speaking would be an
advantage. Tel. 9749 7777,
A private clinic in Oman requires a staff nurse (Indian female pref-
erably) salary negotiable inter-
ested candidates kindly mail their
resumes/ CV with contact details
or call 00968-91941373
Position for a full time home Health Nurse seeking for a
dedicated and reliable Staff Nurse
or Assistant Nurse to provide total
care for an elderly sick patient
for immediate interview.
Contact : 99331369
Urgently required Staff Nurse, Pharmacist and endodontist Fe-male Staff nurse, Pharmacist and endodntist with MOH License/
Prometric exam passed
with 60% and above.
Contact 24780088, 97374459
Email : [email protected]
Immediate placement ( with or
without MOH) A. Pharmacist - 3 nos B. Asst.pharmacist - 2 nos
Contact Tel.99338219 , 93240949
Indian male with total 5 year
experience (2 years experience in
Accountant cum sales co ordinator
in a FMCG Company in Oman) in
accounts fi eld and NOC available
Looking for suitable job
Contact 92130188
India Accountant: Male, M com,
7 Yrs experience in Accounts up to
fi nalization, having knowledge of
ERP, Tally, seeks suitable placment.
contact 93950138 Email:
MBA Graduate with 6 yrs exp in
fi nance/accounts/ auditing. Special-
ized in accounts payable dept, Ora-
cle app user, profi cient in Sap (fi co)
end user & tally 9.0. lean &six sigma
certifi ed trainer on visit visa.
Contact – 91967213 / 99064780
Urgently required Sales Executive for leading building material com-
pany holding license.
Contact 98650936 / 95928480
ADMIN/HR
Over 15 years of gulf experience
in Admin /HR /Logistics, fl uent in
Arabic & English with D/L looking
for suitable position.
Contact 95824598
Omani national fl uent in English
looking for suitable placement.
Contact 91908052
DAILY GUIDET U E S D AY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5 D5
DAILY GUIDESITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED
ENGG. / TECHNICAL
ENGG. / TECHNICAL
HOSPITALITY
Indian male/30years with hotel man-
agement degree, 02 years experience
in F&B service at 5 star hotel in Dubai
and 05 years in American
6 star cruseliner as butler.
Contact 911 35371.
MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR
Indian male 25 years civil Engineer
diploma, 4 years experience for site
supervisor seeks suitable place-
ment. Contact 99346121/93127076
Indian Male B.Tech Civil having
17+ years of experience, including 4
years oman experience as a consult-
ing engineer seeking suitable posi-
tion anywhere in Oman MAIL: sub-
[email protected], MOB:91622490
Indian male, Mechanical Engineer,
2 years experience in fabrication
& erection of heavy structures as
Project Engineer in India, now on
visiting visa seek suitable place-
ment. Contact: 91251818 Email:
Civil Eng (diploma) having 8 years
exp Oman working exp 5 years
looking for a job and visa transport,
working construction work and site
supervene need visa, transport.
Contact 98776073/ 97459304
Indian male 28 yrs electronics &
instrumentation Engineer with 4+
years experience in Industrial au-
tomation (SCADA) Seeking suitable
job. Contact: 93154156
Sudanese Electrical Engineer, 2 years experience.
Contact: 91211592 Email:
System Engineer Indian male 34
yrs Diploma in electronic & com-
munication engineering, experi-
ence – associate customer engineer
CHCL Info system LTD. 8 Yrs exp.
Junior eng Sun Computers 4 yrs
exp. Knowledge in project work and
hardware also. Contact – 98495716
BE in Textile, MS in Environmental
Sciences (Fresh graduate) , Safety
offi cer (02 years of experience)
Waste Water Treatment/Industrial-
solid Waste management (intern).
waste management and disposal.
Environment sustainability Projects/
NGO. on visit visa available on im-
mediate bases till 10 of June. Ahmed
uzair khawar, 97042404, email:
Indian male specialised in business
analysis and project management,
29, B-Tech, MBA is looking for suit-
able position. Contact Tel 98661709
and 99330419
20 years Experience in Mechanical
Process industry as Maintenance
Engineer for SPM’s like Cold Roll-
ing Mills, Heat Treatment Furnace,
Punching, Edge- Grinding and Pack-
aging Machines seeking suitable
position with reputed fi rm. E-mail:
Contact no: 93912928
Indian male mechanical technician
with 22 yrs exp (06 yrs in Oman)
as millright fi tter & fabrication &
maintenance work, currently having
family status seeks suitable
placement NOC available.
Contact: 95922696
Young Energetic Indian male, 7 years Oman experience in retail
wholesale, sales including electron-
ics, building materials with Oman
D/L. Contact: 98465550
Auto Electrician with car a/c with
medical. Contact 95175192
Indian male Civil Engineer
B.E Civil Engineer, 2 years experi-
ence in India seeking for suitable po-
sition in building construction fi eld.
Contact India 0091-9659340446
Email: [email protected]
MISCELLANEOUS
MEDICAL
29 Indian male Nurse.B.SC promet-
ric exam passed on a visit. 10 years
experience in India & Italy seeks a
suitable placement in multinational
hospitals & clinics.
Contact 96071773 –
Indian female Dentist MOH Oman
passed seeking a suitable place-
ment in capital region.
Contact – 91377681 /
Well experienced MOH Licensed
Indian GP Doctor looking for
locum / permanent position in the
Capital area. Contact 98140024
email:[email protected]
Male Nurse on visit visa looking for
a suitable position. Mob#96071526
Lab Technician, Civil (8yrs Gulf ex-
perience) looking for a suitable job
(NOC available) Contact-93344378
Indian male, B.E ( computer science
engineer), MBA (fi nance), OCA certi-
fi ed, having 5 years of experience in
oracle Dba/ oracle apps Dba, seeks
a suitable position in the fi eld of IT.
Contact: 96212062
email: [email protected]
SALES / MARKETING
SALES / MARKETING
SKILLED LABOUR
TOURS & TRAVELS
Indian male 10 years experience in
Welding Supervisor NDT Techni-
cian, MIG Welding specialist seeking
suitable job. Contact 96771841
Egyptian male 11 years in fi ve
stars international hotels manage-
ment sales marketing D/L available
residency visa. Contact 93577497
Email: [email protected]
Indian male 18 yrs FMCG sales
experience in UAE is looking for
a suitable placement in Oman on
visiting. Contact: 91905053
Indian male 30- holding Oman D/L-
exp in sales/marketing, seeks suit-
able placement-Release available.
Contact: 95863373
Indian male Graduate in business
management having work experi-
ence of 12 years looking for a suit-
able position. Contact : 93431567
Sales / Marketing Executive
24 years, Indian male having Oman
valid license, seeking suitable posi-
tion, working as a Supervisor of the
leading hypermarket in Oman,
NOC available.
Contact : 98060984 / 93089757
Email: [email protected]
B.Com Graduate having 10 years
experience of sales and marketing
in bank specialist in car fi nancing
looking for a job also having experi-
ence to run the team and manage
the accounts. Contact: 93131681
Indian male looking job in sales or
marketing having 2 years experi-
ence. Contact 96660936
Male MBA (General) from Cardiff
Metropolitan University London)
looking for a suitable placement.
Contact 92819301
Email: [email protected]
MBA Marketing professional with
05 years experience in sales and
distribution looking for job in Oman
currently on visit visa.
Contact: 97006353
Email: [email protected]
MBA supply chain professional
with 03 years experience in freight
forwarding and distribution looking
for job in Oman currently on visit
visa. Contact: 97089944
Email: [email protected]
Indian male 3 years experience
Media Hospitality Sales Marketing
looking for suitable job valid driving
license car, NOC available.
Contact 96054202
Indian male 31 years, MBA, 7yrs
experience in sales & marketing
with valid driving license seeking
suitable placement.
Contact 98719219.
EMAIL: [email protected]
Stores In Charge / Purchase coordi-
nator with 6 years oman experi-
ence seeking placement. Contact
95439645 or storeoman@gmail.
com Release / NOC available.
Indian male 24 years, MBA in Mar-
keting looking for suitable place-
ment currently in Muscat on visit
visa. Contact: 93507063
Email: [email protected]
Indian 23 years B.Com Graduate, 2
years experience in sales knowledge
of tally E.R.P & MS Offi ce.
Contact 93134643
Arab female 30 sales marketing
business development manager 9
years experience in Oman UK Uni-
versity graduate talented enthusias-
tic well – groomed MS Offi ce social
media expert bilingual Arabic &
English having driving license able
to join immediately.
Contact 96612369
Indian male, B.Com, with 12yrs exp
in construction & building materi-
als purchase/logistics/warehouse,
seeks suitable placement. NOC
available. Contact: 94657319
Indian male, Graduate, with 12yrs
solid exp in construction & build-
ing materials purchase / logistics/
warehouse seeks suitable place-
ment. NOC available.
Contact: 94657319
Warehouse In charge or store keeper
26 yrs. Gulf exp 4 yrs in Oman. NOC
available. Contact 97657823 /
Email:[email protected]
MISCELLANEOUS
CCNP Network Professional with 6
years experience having Bachelors
degree on visit visa looking for suit-
able job. Contact: 96760618 email:
Indian female with MBA (Finance)
on visit visa, seeks immediate place-
ment. Phone: 968-98430089
Indian female, IATA, Bsc, Looking
for suitable placement.
Contact-95514305, email id-
Sudanese male, 31 year old, have 3
year Diploma in electrical engineer,
5 year experience in diff erent activi-
ties. Contact; +96894549609
Male, 30 years Accountant, 1 year
Oman experience in accountants,
fi nance. Seeking suitable position in
Muscat .Can join immediately, NOC
available. Email: [email protected]
Call: 97903175
CCNP Network Professional with 6
years experience having Bachelors
degree on visit visa looking for suit-
able job. Contact: 96 76 06 18
Indian male 60 years old have 30
years Muscat experience in all offi ce
works with Omani driving license.
Contact: 99024055
Indian male, MBA marketing &
fi nance with B com & diploma in
IFRS seeks job. Contact 99469726 /
99469729
Indian female, B.Com. knowledge of
MS Offi ce & Tally, 4yrs experience
in Accounts &admin dept. looking
for good placement in any fi eld.
Contact.98928220
Indian male, total experience is 5
years in Retail industry. Currently
supervisor in Sun and sand sports
Muscat City centre.
Contact : 96994345.
Email : [email protected]
More than Ten years of experience
in Sales & Marketing, Advertisement
and Credit Control and Logistics&
Administration. Contact 91076608 /
99322748
MCA IT Professional Indian Female
seek placement in Teaching/ Non
Teaching fi eld. Presently on visit
visa. Contact 9588 7051,
Email: ashwininakod@gmail
Indian male, Engineer, BE Mechani-
cal, having with 21 years of experi-
ence in India and 13 years in Oman,
In production, project management,
quality control and assurance and
MR for ISO and API Standards look-
ing out for a suitable placement
in Oman. GSM: 00968 97311616.
E-MAIL: [email protected]
Indian Male 34 years Mechanical
Engineer 3 years of Experience seek-
ing suitable placement immediately
Contact: 91991435, 93310821
Key Account Executive, Indian
male, currently working with a
reputed FMCG company Oman is
looking for a placement asap, NOC
will be given. Valid Omani driving
license. Total experience in Oman is
12yrs and particularly in Sales is 8
1/2 years. Contact 95589765 Email :
25 Indian female, B.Sc fashion tech-
nologist, 5 years exp in merchandis-
ing, familiar with fashion marketing
& designing. Currently available on
visit visa, seeking for a visual mer-
chandising job. Contact : 96990368,
email [email protected]
SECRETARIAL/OFFICE
Indian male more than 10 years
Gulf experience in Offi ce / Sales
Coordinator, Admin (employees visa
processes), Secretarial and purchase
coordination with good computer
skills. Having Driving license and
NOC available. Looking for suitable
placement. Contact 99709336
25 Indian female B.S.C. Fashion
Technology. 5 years experience in
textile industry as a merchandiser
and good in fashion marketing. Cur-
rently available on visit visa, seek-
ing for a suitable job. # 96990368.
Email: [email protected]
Omani Mechanical Engineer, has
3 years experience ,has HSE, H2S,
Riggers/Banks men Permit, Drawing
/ cad, SCBA, Safety Leadership and
Initial Fire Response Courses. good
with computer and English language
looking for suitable job. Contact
99224319-98454500
Indian male 22 Mechanical Diploma
holder Engg with HVAC certifi ed,
having 1 year exp. seeking suitable
position. Currently available on visit
visa. Contact - 92835952
IT
MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR
Indian male 25 yrs B.SC computer
science 2 yrs exp in computer hard
ware and networking & CCTV work &
windows administration currently in
Muscat on visit visa.
Contact: 93243372
2 Years of Experience as Java
Software Developer. Looking for the
suitable job in IT. Call: 97897616
Gulf experienced Software Develop-
er & certifi ed professional in English
looking from a Job with vast experi-
ence in sales and Management +
D/L. Contact 00968 96701312
Email: [email protected]
IT Support Engineer Indian male
with 6 years experience in system
Admin IT support seeks suitable
opportunities. Contact 94549589 /
99817516.
Email: [email protected]
Indian male, 25 yrs, M.Tech (Com-
puter Science) 3 yrs exp. in network-
ing (MCSE-CCNA) certifi ed currently
on visit visa looking for suitable job.
Contact 91006851
Indian 25 yrs male diploma Com-
puter Engineer 5yrs experience in
hardware and networking, looking for
another jobs in oman. #91082046,
Network system Engineer B.E / ECE
+ CCNA & Ms certifi ed with 4+ yrs exp
looking for a job. Currently in Oman
on visit visa. Contact: 92589502
Email: [email protected]
IT Network and Security Engineer
with a master degree, CISCO and
Linux red hat certifi ed seeking a
suitable job in a good company.
Contact 99818601
Indian male looking for job as
driver. Have 08 years experience in
Oman. Contact 95256489
Light driver with 10 yrs experience
with car or without car, Pakistani
National. Contact 91038352
House driver /(overseas) looking
job with valid GCC D/l.
Contact 99531802
Heavy & light duty driver valid GCC
(overseas) job. Contact 95175192
Light driver looking for job.
Contact : 94208089 (Adman)
Pakistani male having Oman driv-
ing license looking for driving jobs,
having 2 years experience in vehicle
driving presently staying in Oman.
Contact 96549406
Heavy Duty Driver looking job &
visa. 3 years experience. Release
Available. 96238930/92744341
Malayalee driver, 8 yrs exp.
in Oman seeking job. Contact
93526254 / 94615610
Looking for job, driving 8 yrs ex-
perience languages Hindi, Arabic &
English & civil construction
foreman. Contact 96288587
Driver need job. Contact 98056148
Driver with car looking for part &
full time job. Contact 96692774
Driver looking for job.
Contact 92137431
Light duty driver looking job experi-
ence 4years Oman.
Contact 96088707
DRIVER
DESIGNER
Indian male, 27 yrs B. Tech
(Aeronautics) with MBA in airport
management /international man-
agement, having 2yrs of experience
in aerospace fi eld, looking for suit-
able job, currently on visit visa valid
up to 25 June 2015.
Contact - 98107797
email - [email protected]
Iraqi Civil Engineer with more than
25 years experience in (Iraq ,U.A.E.
and Oman) looking for a job, (N.O.C.)
is available. Contact No. 94043735,
Indian male 26, B. Tech Electronics
Engineer having 4 years experience
(2 year in Oman) seeking suitable
position. Contact 93171420 Email:
Indian male B.Tech Mechanical
three years varietal experience in
piping Engineering & management
of retail mobile phone shops seeking
sales engineering job with Oman
D/L. Contact 94401234
BE. Mechanical Engg in search of job
primavera P6 and AutoCAD 2 year’s
experience. Contact 99288785. Email:
Civil Engineer Female, 3 yrs experi-
ence in structural design, on visit
visa seeking suitable placement.
Contact: 99195433
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: [email protected]
Sr. Instrumentation Engineer: 8+ years Exp. (Oman 6+ Yrs) OIL & GAS,
Sales & Marketing in Automation, In-
strumentation, Calibration, BMS & FOC
- Project Planning, Erection, Commis-
sioning, O & M. NOC Available Oman
D/L G: +968 97296534
Indian male with ITI certifi cation
in Mechanical Drafting with good
Experience Looking for good
opportunity contact 9194 9181
BE Mechanical Engineer -NDT level
2, Quality Control (Oil & Gas) . 1 year
exp ph: 95908293
Electrical Engineer B.Tech with
4 yrs exp. looking for suitable
vacancies. Contact – 96752080
Sudanese Civil Engineer, 2 yrs
experience. Contact 96077482,
Email : [email protected]
Civil Engineer (B.E) having 5 yrs
experience in building construction
looking for a suitable placement.
D/L available. Contact 91253392
Electronics & Communication Engg.
(37) 14+ yrs (10 yrs Oman) experi-
ence in sales/marketing product
development, project execution
within information & communication
technology industry.
Contact 99771815
Network / system Engineer B.E /
ECE + CCNA & Ms certifi ed with 4+
yrs exp looking for a job, currently
in Oman on visit visa. Contact :
92589502 / 96216397,
Email : [email protected]
Indian male fresher BCA young and
energetic, seeking good opportu-
nites.email: jlaxmimenon@gmail.
com, Contact 00919567722270
Electrician, Plumber, exp in India
Gulf (overseas) job. Contact 99531802
Sudanese Petroleum Engineer, 4 yrs experience looking for job, MC
offi ce, C, Exlips. Contact 96039290
Indian Male, IT Support Engineer,
2 yrs in Oman & 5 yrs Indian experi-
ence. Contact 97311847
Electrical Engineer (B.E) : 5 years of
experience (4 years in Oman) with
valid Omani D/L. NOC available.
GSM: 92260391
Mechanical Engineer (B.E) : Four
years of experience (3 years in
Oman). NOC available.
Contact :92530471
Indian male, 24 yrs B.Tech (MECH)
on visit 1 year experience as PPC
Engineer looking for suitable place-
ment. Has, HVAC, AutoCAD and CATIA
designing skills. Contact 98925685
Indian male Instrumentation Engi-
neer having 2 years experience in
process instruments, seeks suitable
placement. Contact 95954385
Bachelor degree B.SC (Honours)
Telecommunication Engineering
CCNA , CISCO, Certifi ed network
associate experience installation
operation maintenance, ATMS & Elec-
tronics, Surveillance Security systems
Nationality Sudanese age 25.
Contact: 92617282
Indian male I.T.I diesel mechanic
experience 4 yrs Qatar (11 yrs in In-
dia) seeking for suitable placement
carpentry on visiting visa.
Contact 91969224
Email: [email protected]
Indian female, B.Tech biotechnology with strong computer
skills and 2 years experience as
associate research analyst (Media
Monitoring) in Nasdaq Oman seek-
ing growth oriented jobs. Contact
92044603 /918056169148 or
Diploma in electronics & Telecom,
Engineering with 5 years experience
in Engineering & sales, marketing.
Contact 95932219
Electrical Eng. Degree (MEP) need
suitable job of construction 12 yrs exp.
Email: [email protected]
Graduate 1 yr experience in India,
Clerk now in Oman on visit visa.
Contact 92933431,
Indian male & female (couple)
looking for job in hospital /
caretaker. Contact 91299288
Indian male 24 years, Mechanical
Engineer,pdms.1 yr experience in
pipeline,16years in oman seeking
immediate placement
Contact 95775742
Mechanical Design Engineer, 7 years of experience in Pip-
ing Design & Development, with
good sound knowledge of Au-
toCAD, AUTOPLANT 3D,CATIA/
V5,SOLIDWORKS,etc Looking for a
suitable position. NOC available.
Contact :+968-94549776,
Indian male B.Tech Mechanical having 4 years experience with
QA/ QC & CWSIP looking for suit-
able position. Contact 99447106 /
24483297
Pakistani male 34 yrs Intermedi-
ate 2 yrs exp in sales & marketing
in Oman. Looking for suitable job.
Contact - 92146864
Indian male MBA 7 years experience
in Hospitality industry, operation,
sales & marketing looking for suitable
vacancy. Contact 92115860
Email [email protected]
Indian male 45+ yrs , 20 yrs exp as
sales supervisor in India looking for
indoor sales /stores /cashier or any
suitable placement can speak
Hindi , English, Malayalam, Tamil,
kannada can join immediately
on visit visa.
Contact 93086105/33016546
Expert in all types of 3D modeling,
building layout, walk through &
Broucher designing. 3 yrs exp. in
Oman & 6 yrs exp. in India seeking
for better opportunity.
Contact 91282841
Hotel fi eld diploma in Computer
B.Com, Indian, Diploma in Hotel
Management MBA in hospital
management at pursuant operation
manager in a resort India. Contact
97864635 / 91815776074
Projects/ contracts Manager 31
yrs (26 yrs Oman) experience in
management & coordination of
multi-million R.O projects of govern-
ment & private sector, Post Graduate
Structural Engineer with structural
& QS Background looking for senior
position. Contact +00968-91400599
DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624
Email: [email protected]
DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624
Email: [email protected]
D6 T U E S D AY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
Software development based on
requirements such as: Web devel-
opment & cloud computing, SAP
implementation & services. Android
App development networking.
Contact 97423932
We have some companies for rent
with the following activities: press
publishing & advertising, infor-
mation consultancy, organizing
event management & conference,
real estate, landscaping, mainte-
nance etc. Contact 93946622 /
91408005
Required business Researcher.
contact 99229700
Email: [email protected]
Business Consultant, feasibility
study. Contact 99229700
BUSINESS
Sudanese male BSC Telecommuni-
cations Engineer , 4 years experi-
ence in telecom fi eld # 97783092,
Email: [email protected]
Working as Senior Accountant,4 yrs.exp.in oman, relevant computer
skills, Audit, Accounting upto fi na-
lization, valid oman driving license,
languages known Arabic, Hindi.
NOC available can join immediately.
Tel: (+968) 96339599, E-mail-
Mechanical Engineer, Indian, (B.E.)
on visit visa, seeking suitable post.
Contact :99534733
Email: [email protected]
Indian male, post graduate, cur-
rently in Oman on visit visa. Seeks
suitable placement.# 92388346
Male, 19 years of experience in
Finance and Administration cur-
rently on visit visa seeks suitable
placement. Contact: 99720132/
abidrafi [email protected]
Sudanese male BSC
Telecommunications Engineer,
4 years experience in telecom fi eld.
Contact : 97783092,
Email: [email protected]
Civil autocad draughtsman part
time work for job mob :96023726
Piping Design Engineer, Indian
male 27, looking for suitable place-
ment in Piping Design & Engineer-
ing. Having 7 years of experience in
AutoCAD. Also familiar with PDMS
(11.6 Version),CAESAR ll. Contact :
97351786 / 96143708, E-mail :
Indian female, B.Com. knowledge
of MS Offi ce &Tally, 4yrs experience
in Accounts &admin dept. looking
for good placement in any fi eld.
Contact.98928220
Indian female MBA Finance cur-
rently on visit visa. Seeks immediate
placement. Phone: 968-98430089
Key Account Executive , currently working with a reputed
FMCG company Oman is looking for
a placement asap, NOC available,
valid Omani driving license.
Total experience in Oman is 12yrs
and particularly in Sales is 8 1/2
years. Contact 95589765
Email : [email protected]
Senior IT Professional, Indian Male,
more than 17 yrs. of experience in
software development(PB, Oracle,
SAP ABAP) and IT Support with
valid Oman DL and NOC available
Contact : 92193867,
Email : [email protected]
23,Male, ACCA with 2.5 years ex-
perience in Big6 audit fi rm and Oil/
Gas,looking for permanent place-
ment in Accounts/Audit. Contact
#95140445 [email protected]
Indian female MBA Finance
currently on visit visa, seeks imme-
diate placement. Phone- 98430089
Female British Beauty Therapist looking for suitable situation.
Contact 97175240
Indian Male 34 years Mechanical
Engineer 3 years of Experience seek-
ing suitable placement immediately
contact: 91991435, 93310821
Indian female BA graduate. My total
experience is 4 and half year in Call
Center looking for jobs in admin
and HR. Contact : 96089143, Email:
Civil supervisor-8 year’s experi-
ence in commercial and residential
building, including portable cabin,
natural and artifi cial play ground’s,
and Oxy petroleum fi eld, at sultan-
ate of Oman. GSM :91249005. Mail
SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED
*Classifi ed Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s
publication. * Subject to space availability
SITUATION WANT-
EDSIT. WANTED
SITUATION WANT-
EDSIT. WANTED
Indian Male 28yr age having 6year
gulf+ Indian experience in HR fi eld.
Looking for suitable placement.
Contact: 97914340,
Email: [email protected]
Indian male, 28 years, 7 years
experience in transporting & heavy
equipment renting company. Having
Omani driving license seeks suitable
positions. Contact 94410485
Indian male 27, looking for suitable
placement in Piping Design & Engi-
neering. Having 7 years of experi-
ence in AutoCAD. Also familiar with
PDMS (11.6 Version),CAESAR ll. Con-
tact : 97351786 / 96143708, E-mail :
ACCA affi liate & Bsc (Oxford Brookes
University), 2.5 years experience
in oilfi eld & audit/fi nance in Big6
fi rm, seeking permanent placement.
Release available. #95140445,
Civil Autocad draughtsman looking
for part time job. Mobile: 95218737
Indian male 21 Diploma in Mechani-
cal Eng with HVAC certifi ed having 6
yrsexp and seeking job in HVAC fi eld
as a supervisor. Currently on visit
visa. Contact 92835952/ 92734863
Indian female, B.Com. Knowledge
of MS Offi ce &Tally, 4yrs experience
in accounting & admin dept. looking
for good placement in any fi eld.
Contact.98928220
Sudanese / 29 years old / Bsc
English language and Translation / 3
years experience in Oman teaching
& translation / have driving license.
94211377. [email protected]
Indian Male 27, Piping Design
Engineer looking for suitable place-
ment in Piping Design & Engineer-
ing. Also familiar with PDMS (11.6
Version),CAESAR ll, AutoCAD. Con-
tact : 97351786 / 96143708, E-mail :
Mechanical Engineer B.E fresher
(QA, QC , Piping & NDT + 1 month
practical training in production & oil
fi eld) seeking immediate placement
currently on visit visa. Contact –
0096896107833, Email -
Indian Male 58yrs, Oman experi-
ence 31yrs in Multifunctional Man-
agement, Administration, Business
Development, Purchase & Opera-
tions, seeking suitable Manager/
Supervisory Position. Visa transfer/
NOC Available. GSM: 95036410
23 yrs old Pakistani bachelor in
accounts and marketing 3.5 yrsexp
2 yrsexp in Oman, looking for a job.
Contact- 99374062
Indian Male 33 looking for Scaf-
folding Supervisor vacancy in Oil &
Gas fi eld in Oman. Having 5 years
experience in CCC Qatar and 3 years
in Saudi” Contact 96155921
Sudanese/Bsc IT/26/2 years expe-
rience/excellent Eng-Arb speaking/
Omani driving license/96387227/
Indian male, 34 yrs, ca inter pass,
with 14 yrs experience, is seeking
suitable placement, currently on
visit visa & ready to join immediate-
ly. Contact: 95585069 or 95630747
26 years Indian male with MBA &
PGDFM, Total 3.8 years experience
in Administration, seeking suit-
able placement in any gulf region.
Holding Oman valid driving license.
Contact :93359371
ACCA affi liate,male,2.5 years expe-
rience in an audit fi rm in Finance &
Audit, looking for suitable immedi-
ate placement. Release available. #
95140445, [email protected]
Indian Female: MCA, 3 Years Exp. as
Asst. Professor, Specialization in C #
(sharp).net, Data Comm.& Network-
ing, Knowledge about Web Develop-
ment, ASP.Net, Oracle, SQL,VB.net.
Seek Immediate Placement. Now on
Visit Visa.9588 7051
Indian male 21 IT Engineer
Networking & Computer hardware
course 01 yr experience currently
on visit visa looking for suitable job.
Contact 96036273, E mail
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 =
TRANSPORTATION
Transportation. Contact 99077348
Pick & drop anytime. # 96692774
Transportation Contact 99159277
Transportation. Contact:98505294
Transportation. Contact 99508282
Transport to ISWK. # 93172589
House shifting & transporting.
Contact 92490422
Pick & Drop any time.# 97014786
Sales/ Marketing Executive : 35
years old Indian male, MBA, having
experiences in UAE and India in
sales and marketing fi eld, presently
on visit visa, looking for a suitable
job in Salalah or in Oman.
Contact 91233648
Well experienced hair dresser/
beautician required, visa available.
Contact – 96524717
Indian female 25 yrs MBA fi nance
currently on visit visa seeks immedi-
ate placement. # 9843 0089
30 years Indian male with hotel
management degree, 02 years
experience in F&B service at fi ve
star hotel in Dubai and 05 years in
American 6 star cruiseliner as Butler
. Currently in Muscat on visit visa.
Contact 91075704
Indian female B.Com graduate,
4years experience in accounts & ad-
ministration department looking for
suitable placement. #98928220
Indian male 27 years, MBA, hav-
ing more than 5 yrs experience in
sales and marketing, looking for
suitable job. Contact no.99224057,
+919824823734
Part- Time Accountant, well versed
with all accounting, Finalization,
Budgeting available.# 98803439
Light driver looking for job.
Contact 92791678
Indian female, B.Com graduate, 2
years experience in admin depart-
ment looking for a suitable place-
ment. Contact 92531929
DAILY GUIDET U E S D AY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5 D7
DAILY GUIDESITUATION WANTEDCARGO
Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise
with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain
Marine Tours Contact- 98029602,
92808636
RENT A CAR
TOURS
GOOD NEWS
Ayurvedic treatment for backache,
paralysis, arthritis etc & massage,
All Season (Vaidyaratnam).
Contact 24475280 / 95371554 /
92504980
www.siddhayur.com
Ayurvedic treatment for joint pain,
backache, paralysis massage, steam
bath, obesity, spondylitis IDEAL ,
CARE Ayurvedic Clinic 18 November
street, Azaiba. Contact 99639695 /
99117987
FREE INFORMATION ABOUT IS-LAM. If you would like to know more
about Islam, please call: 99425598,
96050000, 99353988, 99253818,
99341395, and 99379133.
For ladies: 99415818, 99321360,
99730723
Orvisit: www.islamfact.com
Taimour Ayurvedic Clinic, Ruwi
off ers genuine & eff ective treatment
for back pain, paralysis, cervical and
lumbar spondylitis, osteoarthritis,
joint pains, sinusitis, migraine, aller-
gic problems, varicose vein and all
other health related problems. Kerala
massage and rejuvenation package
available. For details please
Contact 92197920/ 24799689
DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624
Email: [email protected]
D8 T U E S D AY, M AY 1 9, 2 0 1 5
DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624
Email: [email protected]
DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624
Email: [email protected]
DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624
Email: [email protected]
SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES
Specialist available for explosive
growth in term of restructuring
all modules of businesses with
over 30 years of experience across
continents with a decade in Oman.
Contact 96733578
Email : profi [email protected]
A/C maintenance & servicing.
Fridge, washing machine & dish
washer repairing. Painting & clean-
ing services & electrical & plumb-
ing. Contact 99447257/97014234/
24504281
We do building maintenance all
kind of works. Contact 99247663
Carpet & sofa cleaning, house clean-
ing. Contact 99542979 / 98855815
P.R.O services. Contact 99368907
Electric, Plumbing, painting & all
kinds of building maintenance.
Contact 93896787 / 97924862
House shifting packing. Contact 99657644/ 98518013
Water proofi ng ABUQABAS-
Contact 99320217/24788722
Carpet & sofa shampooing. Ocean
Centre LLC. Contact 99884591 /
92682970
Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile
polishing, pest control & anti-ter-
mite treatment, general cleaning
painting, Plumbing, Electrical,
shifting. Contact Mundhir
Al-Rizaiqi trading. L.L.C.
# 24810137, 99450130
WEBSITE
A/C maintenance split A/C servic-
ing. RO. 10 only. Contact 94217681/
99210141
House shifting. Contact 99708138
Pest Control Treatments, Termites, Cockroaches, Bedbugs.
Contact Ocean Centre LLC.
Contact 99344723
Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles
polishing, carpet shampooing,
maintenance.#ABU QABAS-
99320217 /24788722
WEB, ERP and Business Intelli-
gence (BI) creation and man-
agement at rock bottom price.
Contact: http//webviewoman
CLASSES
COMPUTER
DRIVING
CHANGE OF NAME
LOST
ACCOUNTANTS AND CONSULTANTS
WE ARE PROVIDINGACCOUNTING/ AUDITING
TAX/ CONSULTINGCONTACT: 24 567 251 / 95 498 033
Learn driving with professional
only automatic. Contact 94022250
GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet
& sofa shampooing, Contact
99314807/24792998
MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of
your marble. Contact 24793614/
99314807
Split & window A.C servicing &
maintenance. Contact 93769089 /
95323517
Sunday - ThursdayTiming 8 am To 5 Pm
NRI
46 cents of land kattakada peyad
road (malapanan code) near E.M.S
academy expecting 1 lakh percent.
Contact: 99016230
2 Bedrooms fl at for sale in Cochin.
Contact: 99743709
Independent house with 2 bedroom,
Hall, Kitchen with car park and com-
pound wall on 1500 sq. ft.(30 feet x
50 feet) BDA approved land in well
developed area in Arekare, Shantini-
ketan – Bannergatta Road Bangalore
for sale – expected Rs. 1.2cr (negotia-
ble ) Serious buyers contact Kindly
contact +0091 968 627 6627 or mail
42 cents land at walkable dis-
tance from Kovalm Jn.,Trivandrum
for sale in whole or plots. Res./
Comm. Plot on main road side(Bus
route),suitable for villas,resorts etc.
Call 00968-95036240,
0091-9961034763 or
email- cfhd1@ yahoo.com
One B/R- Best Western Qupem Goa.
Contact – 97094797
Residential land for sale in Chennai
Kundrathur and Poonamaalee, we
construct house in your budget.
Contact 98753366
Kerala Nair girl, B.Com, 22 yrs,
5.2” very fair, slim, (Star Uthrat-
tathi) Presently working in infosis,
Chennai. Financially sound, from
parents of nair boys from Tris-
sur, Palakkad and Eranakulam &
Calicut dist. .
Contact :0091 8301865688
email: [email protected]
MATRIMONIAL
Hindu Ezhava family, settled in
Muscat looking for suitable groom
working within Oman for their
daughter 25 yrs (MBA) working
with a reputed company in Muscat.
Contact : 98689663
We are Muslim family seeking
alliance for our son interested
families. Contact 97664009
Kerala nair boy working with reput-
ed company in Muscat, Star Revathy
(Sudhajathakam), age 28, 163 cm.
seeking suitable alliance from nair
girls. Contact no 92760901
Indian Muslim brother Muscat alliance
for sister 20 yrs BSC, very fair, good
looking ,boys respected families from
hyderabad & A.P send biodata & pic,
Email: [email protected],
GSM: 91258586.
M.V. FOR SALE
Subaru Impreza 2008, good conation. Contact: 99453837
Toyota Camry Expat driven fully
automatic KM 107000.
Contact : 93892126
Nissan Sunny 2010. Contact : 98602323
Chevrolet Lumina 2004, automatic
good condition. Contact 98571309
Pajero 2010, GCC, 230000 km white
6200/- R.O. Contact 92857111
Land Cruiser 2012. Contact
99336093
Peugeot 206-2007 Model, expat
driven. Contact 99209285
2 Prime Movers Man 2008 with 40
ton petrol tank each working at the
moment in Al Maha. Price OMR 35
Thousand each. Contact 97000155
or 92688692
Jahangir Bee has lost Indian Pass-
port No. G 6007762. Finder please
handover to ROP
I Jose Prakash (holder of Indian
passport No. J 6418802) Son of
daughter Peter Antony having
permanent residence in Prakash
Bhavan , Dooyappally , kollam, Kerala
Pin 691537( complete postal address
in India ) and presently residing in
Sultanate of Oman PO. Box: 82 C.P.O
, PC: 111 (complete postal in Oman)
intend to change my name from
antony Jose Prakash(old name) to
Jose Prakash Antony (new name)
for all practical purpose. Any objec-
tion towards my name change may
please be communicated to Embassy
of India, Muscat, diplomatic Quarters,
AL Khuwair, P.Box No, 1727 postal
code 112, Ruwi , Sultanate of Oman. FOR LADIES
Beauty package for vacation for
ladies 10/-R.O, 15/-R.O, 20/-R.O.
Contact : 99410160