times of oman - april 13, 2016
DESCRIPTION
Times of Oman - April 13, 2016TRANSCRIPT
Founded 1975 . Volume 41 No. | Pages . Baisas 200 . Subscription OMR63 | ISO 9001:2008 Certifi ed Company | Chairman/Editor-in-Chief: Mohamed Issa Al Zadjali | Printed & Published by Muscat Media Group
085010 1200106April 13, 2016 5 Rajab 1437 AH
WEDNESDAY
44 40
FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTYTHE SULTAN
God Almighty has bestowed His copious bounties and security on our region thus enabling our countries to achieve great advances in economic and social growth.
‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’
At the Closing Session of the 15th G.C.C. Summit in Bahrain, 1994
HM sends condolences
MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of condolences to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia on the death of Princess Misha’el bint Faisal bin Turki I bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan has expressed his sincere condolences and sym-pathy to King Salman, praying to Allah the Almighty to rest the deceased’s soul in peace and grant her family patience. -ONA
T O S A U D I A R A B I A
Strict rules, hefty fi nes deter food safety violationsHASAN ALI AL [email protected]
MUSCAT: Food safety remains a concern in Oman as more than 16,000 food safety violations were recorded by the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources (MRMWR) in 2015 alone in Musandam, Al Wusta, Al Buraimi, North and South Al Batinah, Al Dhahirah, Al Dakhiliyah and North and South Al Sharqiyah governorates, while 8,172 warning letters were issued in the same year.
Topping the listThe North Al Batinah governo-rate topped the list with 4,350 violations.
However, fewer complaints on food safety are being received by the MRMWR thanks to stricter rules and heftier fi nes, said Fadh-ila Al Bahri, director of Preven-tive Health Management at the ministry.
Al Bahri was talking to the Times of Oman on the sidelines of the Food Safety and Tradition-al Foods Conference 2016, which kicked off on Tuesday at the Al Bustan Palace.
DiseasesDuring the three-day event, Ham-ad bin Saif Al Gharibi, deputy minister of MRMWR quoted the World Health Organisation, say-ing that more than 200 diseases can spread through food.>A6
F E W E R C O M P L A I N T S
OMANAffordable alternative to home tuitions
1In a bid to give all pupils an equal opportunity to prepare themselves for school tests,
grade 12 students in Oman can now access more aff ordable online lessons thanks to a new website, which provides a fi rst-of-its-kind e-learning experience in the Sultanate.>A2
INDIAKerala bans crackers at places of worship
2Kerala High Court on Tuesday banned the use of high-decibel crackers
and fi reworks display after sunset in places of worship across the state in the wake of the temple tragedy at Paravur Puttingal Devi in Kollam that has claimed 110 lives. >A9
MARKETPower firms in Oman to invest OMR400m
3Power fi rms in Oman plan to invest around OMR400 million for
expanding and upgrading transmission and distribution networks this year, a top-level offi cial of Electricity Holding Company (or Nama Group) told Times of Oman. >B1
T O P T H R E E I N S I D E S T O R I E S
A4Students sweat it out in third round TOO quiz
MORNING MINUTE
HM returns after medical checkupsMUSCAT: The Diwan of Royal Court on Tuesday issued the fol-lowing statement: “With Allah’s care, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said returned home this evening after completing the rou-tine medical checkups in the Fed-eral Republic of Germany, which were crowned with success by the prospective good results, thanks to the Allah.
The Diwan of Royal Court takes this opportunity to express utmost greetings and congratu-lations to His Majesty the Sul-tan and the loyal sons of Oman coupled with prayers to Allah to protect His Majesty and grant him a good health and wellbe-ing to remain always a leader for the dear homeland and its gener-ous sons’’. -ONA
G E R M A N Y
MILLION RIAL RAIN COST
Heavy rainfall had damaged vehicles, roads
The maximum claims came from Muscat
A little attention could have saved thousands
TURN TO > A6
A2 W E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
OMAN
Cheap alternative to pricey home tuitions
HASAN SHABAN AL [email protected]
MUSCAT: Many families struggle to provide their children with home tuition due to the high costs involved, which can exceed OMR2,400 a year, according to parents.
In a bid to give all pupils an equal opportunity to prepare themselves for school tests, a new website is providing a more aff ordable alter-native. Grade 12 students can now access the aff ordable online lessons in a fi rst-of-its-kind e-learning ex-
perience in the Sultanate.For only OMR10, a student can
register for an online course in one of 13 subjects available at the web-site. Moreover, school students and the ones under social security will get even cheaper packages.
Omani couple Mohammed Al Lawati and Ann Al Farsi, have both given up their jobs in order to be able to dedicate more time and en-ergy to the start-up.
“We had to pay hefty sums of money to provide private tuitions for our son when he was enrolled
in Class 12,” Al Lawati said, “Not every family can aff ord to do so. Therefore, we decided to start this initiative in order to make quality education available to all Omanis and to transform education with e-learning from the rigid and old-school teaching methods.”
For the initiative, Omtut.com has partnered with seasoned teachers of diff erent nationalities with years of experience.
The website has plans to allow students to rate their teachers and ask questions during the exami-
nation period, through a hotline, which will be active in the near fu-ture according to Al Lawati.
Ann Al Farsi added that there are also plans to introduce prac-tice exercises and instructional videos to elementary school grades by next year.
Inspired by the Khan Academy, a state-of-the-art online academy, which uses an adaptive technol-ogy to empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom, Al Lawati said he aims at making education accessi-ble to all students in the Sultanate.
The two-week old website is mobile-friendly and users can view free video tutorials before subscrib-ing. To subscribe, Omantut.com of-fers only the PayPal payment meth-od via credit and debit cards.
The couple is also utilising dif-ferent platforms of social media to spread the message and advertise the website.
For just OMR10, a
student can register
for an online course
Indian Social Club’s arm to mark 20 yearsTimes News Service
MUSCAT: Indian Social Club Malayalam Wing is preparing to celebrate its 20 years in the Sul-tanate in a grand way.
The anniversary celebrations will be spread over a period of one year with the inaugural ceremo-ny on April 21, 2016 followed by “Sahithya Sammelan” involving all personalities honoured by the Wing in the literary fi eld since its creation, and a grand closing cer-emony at the end of the year.
During this period, plans call to extend maximum possible humanitarian assistance and support to society as part of the group’s social responsibility. The Wing will be organising a “Blood Donation” campaign and “Free Medical Camp” on 15th April 2016, in co-ordination with the Ministry of Health.
ProgrammesFurther, towards promoting the heritage and culture of India, the group will be conducting a talent hunt in art, dance, music and lit-erary fi elds through the competi-tions scheduled to begin on 28th April 2016.
It is expected that a large num-ber of children and adults will take part in the contest.
The event will be formally in-augurated by Indra Mani Pandey,
the honorable Ambassador of India to the Sultanate of Oman, in the presence of Veteran Cine Actor and Guest of Honour Padmashree Madhu, Dr Satish Nambiar, Chairman, and Babu Rajendran, General Secretary, Indian Social Club Oman, along with high ranking dignitaries from the Government of Oman. Many distinguished guests from the business community and social organisations are also ex-pected to participate in the inau-gural ceremony.
The Guest of Honour, Pad-mashree Madhu, is a veteran in the Malayalam Cine Industry. On this occasion, it will be a privi-lege for the Malayalam Wing to honour Padmashree Madhu with “Athullya Prathibha Puraskaram” in recognition of his contribution to the Malayalam cine industry.
Another major attraction of the inaugural ceremony is that Dr Neena Prasad, a proponent and dance research scholar, will be performing the Mohiniyattom dance recital live on stage.
The combination of Dr Neena Prasad with live accompaniment by vocalists Changanacherry-Madhavan Nampoothiri, Mridan-gist - Shri Satheesan, and Veena Player – ShriMuraleekrishnan, will assure that the dance recital will be a new experience for art lovers in Muscat.
M A L A Y A L A M W I N G
...we decided to start this initiative in order to make quality education available to all Omanis and to transform education with e-learning from the rigid and old-school teaching methods
Mohammed Al Lawati and Ann Al Farsi, Omtut.com
MUSCAT: His Highness Sayy-id Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers received to-day the UN Coordination Team headed by Dr Oleg Chestnov - Deputy Director-General for Non-Communicable Diseases and Mental Health, World Health Organization.
The team includes thirteen experts of the UN organisations, who are currently visiting the Sultanate within the framework of following up the implementa-tion of the Political Declaration of the United Nations 2011 to address the dangers of non-com-municable diseases in the world and in which countries pledged to translate the declaration into action and consequently the Ministry of Health established a multi-sectoral higher national committee, which issued the na-tional policy, which was approved by the Council of Ministers.
The Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers ex-pressed appreciation of the Sul-tanate for the outstanding role played by the United Nations and other organisations to promote global networking and provide better services, stressing the keenness of the Sultanate under the leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said to pro-vide all possibilities to maintain the health of citizens.
PresentationUN Working Group gave a pres-entation before the Council of ministers on the eff orts made in this regard to support decision-makers in other sectors, as well as the Ministry of Health to address the hazard factors related to non-communicable diseases, and to benefi t from the World Health Organization’s experiences and various United Nations agencies operating in the Sultanate in or-der to combat these diseases.
The team touched on the de-tails and causes of diseases, with an emphasis on the need for the
cooperation of all sectors with the competent authorities in this regard to raise awareness and prevention in order to preserve the health of citizens and to pre-vent them from harm.
Sultanate’s responseHis Highness Sayyid Fahd, af-fi rmed that the Sultanate’s gov-ernment in response to the po-litical declaration of the United Nations, in which Member States pledged to address the risk of non-communicable diseases, has taken the initiative to form a multi-sec-toral Supreme National Commit-tee, adding that from this stand-point the Sultanate is making every eff ort and provides all possi-ble capabilities to make available the best ways of care to maintain the health of citizens, family and the community as a whole.
Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Obaid al- Saeedi, Minister of Health said that the Sultan-ate invited the UN Coordination Team to coordinate eff orts to preserve the health of citizens, and remove the risk of non-com-municable diseases from them, adding that addressing these dis-eases requires the cooperation of the Government, the Supreme National Committee, academics, and private sector to work togeth-er in this particular sector.
He said that we all should be wary of the risks that could be caused by non-communicable diseases and their negative eff ects and costs for human resources, pointing out that the support for the eff orts of the United Nations in this regard is necessary and we are moving forward.
AppreciationThe UN team expressed their appreciation for the eff orts of the Sultanate in this regard and the collaboration with the Min-istry of Health in order to reach the desired goals. Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Obaid al- Saeedi, Minister of Health attended the meeting. -ONA
H E A L T H
UN TEAM: The Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Minis-
ters expressed appreciation of the Sultanate for outstanding role
played by the United Nations and other organisations to promote
global networking and provide better services. – ONA
Fahd receives UN Coordination Team
A3
OMANW E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
Share your
world with us
on Instagram
SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY SHARE YOURPHOTOGRAPHS
Apollo gets hospital status
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Apollo Medical Centre has been upgraded to a hospital, af-ter getting clearance from the Min-istry of Health for a hospital status.
The upgraded hospital will be offi cially inaugurated on April 27.
“The immediate priority will be to add more clinical band-
width to the existing set up,” V T Saileswaran, managing director of the Apollo Hospital Muscat told the Times of Oman.
The Apollo Hospital Muscat currently has 25 specialised in-house doctors and eight super specialty visiting consultants from Apollo India, for Neurology, Oncology and Orthopaedics.
“The upgraded facility will in-troduce new specialties, such as a hearing aid service, thalassemia clinic for children, gastroenterol-ogy, bariatric surgery, urology, full range of orthopaedic surgeries, including joint replacement and arthroscopy. We are looking at hav-ing a reproductive medicine clinic, a paediatric cardiac clinic and medical screening services,” added
Saileswaran. “The Apollo Hospi-tal will off er specifi c and updated clinical bandwidth and we will not let down (people’s) expectations.”
The Hospital will adopt a phased approach in expansion and “may be in the near future, it will have presence across the board.” The hospital will also be open to a clinical alliance in the meantime.
Saileswaran said the Apollo Hospitals Group in India remains a preferred provider for high-end healthcare for the people of the Sultanate and this has been the case for over two decades now. “As far as Apollo in Oman is concerned, we are reaching our fi rst decade of the fi rst ever Apollo in the Sultan-ate. We felt the need for change,
especially in terms of changing and challenging disease patterns and hence upgraded the Apollo Medi-cal Centre to again, the fi rst ever Apollo Hospital in Middle East.”
One of the bestReferring to the development of the healthcare sector in Oman over the years, he said it is rated by world bodies, such as the World Health Organisation as one of the best in the world. “I guess we are just second to Canada in terms of a social healthcare system. All the credit goes to the visionary lead-ers we have in Oman who have made Oman’s healthcare delivery model, which is a benchmark for many others,” noted Saileswaran.
Talking about the role of private
hospitals, he said healthcare is a shared responsibility and there is a need for proper integration of private and public sectors. In the Sultanate, it is even more defi ned as most of the tertiary level care is with the government and the private sector is mostly focused on the elective side or secondary healthcare.
On the Apollo Hospital Mus-cat’s ties with Indian hospital chain, he said; “We are the Apollo subset in Oman and they remain our mentors with a track record of treating over 40m patients. The entire clinical pathway, visiting consultants, clinical quality moni-tors are all connected to Apollo In-dia and we just do not have to in-tegrate, the connect is always on.”
Upgraded hospital
to open offi cially
on April 27
Air India raises baggage limit
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Air India has tempo-rarily raised free baggage allow-ance for all economy class passen-gers travelling to Mumbai to 35kg.
The off er is valid on tickets bought from April 9 for travel through May 31. Passengers trav-elling to domestic destinations through Mumbai will also benefi t.
All domestic Air India fl ights operate from Mumbai Terminal T2, making transfer of passengers to domestic and onward destina-tions smooth. Special add-on fares over Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad are available at attrac-tive rates.
E C O N O M Y C L A S S
Ministry signs agreement to train tourist guides in DhofarTimes News Service
MUSCAT: Ministry of Tourism has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Muriya Tourism Development Company and the Goethe-Insti-tut (German Language Centre).
The MoU was signed by Maitha Al Mahrooqi, undersecretary of the Ministry of Tourism; Ahmed Daboos, Muriya Tourism Devel-opment’s chief executive offi cer (CEO); and Sabine Brachmann Bosse, head of the Goethe-Institut.
It was agreed upon in the MoU that 15 tourist guides from Dhofar will train in the German language through a specialised programme. The training programme will take place in the Salalah Beach Resort from May 1 to 31 and will be con-ducted by experts from the Goe-the-Institut.
The initiative aims to accredit tourist guides in the Sultanate by providing them with the neces-sary skills to perform their roles as the Sultanate’s ambassadors. Tourist guides play an infl uential role in delivering an authentic image about the Sultanate for the tourists. Tourism guidance is an essential aspect of the services provided to the tourists and helps develop and promote the sector.
Maitha Al Mahrooqi, undersec-retary at the Ministry of Tourism, praised the initiative saying, “We
value the participation of lead-ing corporations, such as Muriya Tourism Development in training and motivating tourist guides to learn German. We hope that this initiative sets an example for the private sector and other local in-stitutions to participate in the de-velopment of human resources in diff erent sectors in the Sultanate.”
Complementary“The initiative also complements the objectives of the Oman Tour-ism Strategy 2040 that aims to strengthen the partnership be-tween the private and public sec-tor. This partnership is important to support tourism guidance in order to enhance the quality of services provided to the tour-
ists, meet the needs of the Oman tourism market and increases the number of tourists visiting the Sultanate.
“Acquiring diff erent languages is important to those working in the tourism industry and German was selected to be taught to the trainees due to the fact that Ger-mans account for the second high-est number of tourists coming to the Sultanate,” she said.
Muriya CEO Dabbous said, “Our collaboration with the Min-istry of Tourism is part of our commitment at Muriya to em-power local communities and provide Omani talent with the skills and knowledge they need to maximise their potential and that of the tourism sector.”
G E R M A N L A N G U A G E
TOURISM BOOSTER: It was agreed upon in the MoU that 15 tourist
guides from Dhofar will train in the German language through a
specialised programme. – Supplied photo
Convention bureau set up
Times News Service
MUSCAT: To manage services and products related to the meetings, incentives, confer-ences and exhibitions (MICE), Ministry of Tourism has set up the Oman Convention Bureau.
The bureau will enhance plans and programmes for MICE, and promote them. A promising tourism segment, MICE will en-able Oman to host major inter-national events.
“The Ministry of Tourism supports all eff orts towards en-hancing the MICE tourism sec-tor in Oman,” said Maitha Saif Al Mahrooqi, Undersecretary, Min-istry of Tourism.
Speaking about the selection of Khalid Al Waleed Al Zid-jali as the Managing Director of Oman Convention Bureau, she said, “We are pleased to appoint Khalid Al Waleed Al Zidjali as the Managing Director of Oman Convention Bureau, who has been in the MICE tourism sector for over 15 years.”
Khalid Al Zidjali said, “The Ministry’s initiative in estab-lishing the Oman Convention Bureau under its supervision is a milestone towards build-ing a foundation and achieving our objectives in the MICE tourism sector.”
M I N I S T R Y O F T O U R I S M
Khalid Al Waleed Al Zidjali is
Managing Director of Oman
Convention Bureau
T I M E S O F O M A NW E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6 T I M E S O F O M A NA4
OMAN
MORE THAN 350 TAKE PART IN 3RD PRELIMINARYOF TOO QUIZ
Times News Service
MUSCAT: As the answers were read-out, the din grew louder.
“We didn’t know it would be a cake walk. Looks like the ticket to fi nals is done,” said jubilant Mo-hammed Sahil and Gokul Harinair to describe Tuesday gathering at the Indian School, Wadi Kabir.
They were among scores of students vying in the third pre-liminary round of Times of Oman Inter School Quiz Contest (or TOOISQC) - a fl agship event - led by celebrated Indian quizmas-ter Lloyd Saldanha for the third straight day.
Both the students looked con-tent with what they said were a “mixed bag” of “easy questions” posed in senior category contest.
“We think we answered most of the questions correctly,” they said.
It was a typical Lloyd Saldanha quiz that saw the contest sen-sibly navigated with the forces of fun and jokes. Known for his
witty posers and engaging analy-sis, Saldanha’s direct, audio and visual queries on science, history, arts and sports kept the crowd of students and teachers glued to the contest. “Besides the contest I am liking his rib tickling one-liners,” one school staff er witnessing the challenge told TOO.
For Rahul Ratnakar - winner of 2015 Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali Rolling Trophy in the jun-ior category - “todays contest was good but the competition in mega preliminary will get tough.”
His partner Keerthan Venkata said their trainers have put in lots of sweat and that “the preparation is working well.” “We think we answered all the questions cor-rectly. The coaches in the school trained us well,” he said. About 350 students participated in the third preliminary round. 35 teams from both categories have made it to the mega preliminary round slated for April 19. Teams from 20 schools are participating in the contest while the top 12 schools are ex-pected to lock horns in the fi nal on April 21 at the City Amphitheatre.
Earlier in the contest for junior category students, Chetan Sethu vowed to repeat his past feat.
Sethu had partnered with Rat-nakar to clinch the trophy last year. Ratnakar has moved to sen-ior category this year. “I sense the tough opposition will come from ISG (Indian School Al Ghubra). Students there are just brilliant,” Setha said, adding “But I am hope-ful my partner (Aditya B) will help us bag the trophy this year come what may.”
Indian quizmaster
Lloyd Saldanha led
the event for the
third straight day at
the Indian School,
Wadi Kabir
T I M E S O F O M A N W E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6T I M E S O F O M A N A5
TEAM NAME PARTICIPANT 1 PARTICIPANT 2
ITHE BENCHNMARKERS ADITYA MANOJ ABHISHEK MANOJ
THE SMARTEINS MOHAMMED FAQRAJ-UR-REHMAN DEBANJAN CHOWDHURY
DUAL STARS CHETHAN SETHU ADITHYA B. NAIR
SABRETOOTH GENUISES ESSA BIN TARIQ ADAM RAFFI
QUIZCUPS AJMAL AKBAR ASHWIN ARJUNAN
THE FREE THINKERS MOTASSIM KAMRAN BAIG ZOHAIR F. ABBAS
LIOZ OF QUIZ OWAIS AHMED HARIKRISHNAN PRAKASH
QUIZIPEDIA JANAV SHETTY ABVHINAV HARI
EXECUTIONERS -B MOHAMMED IRFAN FARHAAN ALI
THE EX-WIKIPEDIANS ABHIJIT PRASAD NAIR TARUN MATHEW THOMAS
THE QUIZ LEGENDS MANISH SHUBHAM
YOUTH ICONS MOHAMMED ARIF MARTIN JOSEPH SCARIA
WARRIOR STARS ROSHIN ROBIN MILAN SHAJU
SPARK MINDS ADITYA ANAND AADITYA BHASKAR
APOLLO FELIX MARTIN ALOK K. GOPINATH
BLUE SAPPHIRES AKASH SANTOSH PRAJITH PALANIAPPAN
QUIZ LEGENDS ATHUL ANIL RAJ GAURANG VIREN MEHTA
THINKINATORS HRUV N. BHAVSAR KSHITIJ CHATURVEDI
QUINTESSENTIAL SHANEL GEORGE JEVITA SALDANHA
TENABLE -2 RAHUL R. KEERTHAN V.
THE NEXT EPISODE SHARLENE WADHWA SAURABH SANTOSH
DI-SHAN SYED SHOAIB ISHAAN Z ESHAN ARORA
BUZZER BEATERS ASHLEY TITUS SABAREENATH M.
3+5=8 SOHAM PAREKH DEVESH GULJARANI
QUIZ EXTREMISTS JERRY ANTONY ANIMESH MOHARIA
DOT COM ANJU TITUS KAREN
HA YA GINI NARENDRAN RAGUL VIRUPAK
QUIZZICAL CATASTROPHE NIKHIL PRASAD MAYUKH MISRA
LORDS OF THE QUIZ ABBHAY BIRADAR SARAN RAM
THE DYNAMITES JEYOOS JAISON AARON ANTHONY MONIS
CHALLENGERS AKASH GOPAKUMAR MIGHTY JIJI
LEGACY OF EKATS NAVIN THOMSY HASSAN F. HAIDER
CHALLENGERS GOKUL HARINAIR MOHAMMED SAHIL
DOUBLE BONDS MIHIR JOSHI HARSHIL NIRMAL
THE LEGENDS AKINJAY JHA JERIN JOSEPH
INDIAN SCHOOL WADI KABIR
JUN
IOR
SS
ENIO
RS
Photos by O.K. Mohammed Ali and Purushothaman K. /TIMES OF OMAN
A6
OMANW E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
During the investigation it was found that many of the claims could have been avoided if proper care had been taken
Philip K Philip,chief executive offi cer of the Muscat Insurance Company and Muscat Life Assurance Company
www.facebook.com/timesofoman
SEND US YOUR VIEWS AND COMMENTS
‘Standards updated recently to maintain food quality’
“Based on the principle ‘preven-tion is better than cure,’ MRM-WR has recently updated the health standards and regulations of all food places in the Sultanate, to sustain the highest standards of food quality,” Al Gharibi said.
Millions of people fall ill every year and many die as a result of eating unsafe food.
According to WHO, diarrhoeal diseases alone kill an estimated 1.5 million children annually, and most of these illnesses are at-tributed to contaminated food or drinking water.
The conference started on April 12 under the patronage of HIs Highness Sayyid Kamel bin Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, as-sistant secretary-general for the
Offi ce of the Deputy Prime Min-ister for Cabinet Aff airs, and is set to conclude on April 14.
Being held for the third consec-utive year, the conference aims to raise awareness about the impor-tance of effi ciency in production and expanding the scope of tradi-tional food products and modern methods of marketing in the do-mestic and international markets while maintaining their identity, according to organisers, who also said that inviting international experts to such events will con-tribute to the exchange of knowl-edge, ideas and latest research achievements in the fi eld of food safety and traditional food.
An exhibition showcasing lat-est studies and research on food
safety and traditional foods was also launched at the hotel.
It is worth mentioning that MRMWR issued 34,290 per-mits for food-related activities in 2015 in Musandam, Al Wusta, Al Buraimi, North and South Al Batinah, Al Dhahirah, Al Dakhili-yah and the North and South Al Sharqiyah governorates.
The permits include 3,767 factories, 22,143 grocery stores, 2,442 restaurants and 5,938 coff ee shops.
Of the mentioned areas, North Al Batinah received the highest number or permits at 7,563, in-cluding 616 for factories, 5,850 for shops and grocery stores, 401 for restaurants and 725 forcoff ee shops.
R E G U L A T I O N S
< FROM
A1
Rain costs insurance companies OMR6m
RAHUL DAS HASAN SHABNA AL LAWATI [email protected]@timesofoman.com
MUSCAT: Insurance compa-nies will have to payout nearly OMR5.89 million in compensa-tion as a result of the heavy rain-fall in Oman from March 8 to 11 this year.
Data from the Capital Market Authority (CMA) showed that claims received by insurance companies have touched OMR 5,897,231 million following heavy rain in the northern parts of Oman.
“We got this fi gure from 22 in-surance companies that work in Oman,” Ahmed Ali Al Mamari, acting director general of insur-ance supervision at the Capital Market Authority (CMA), told the Times of Oman (TOO) on Tues-day.
Giving further details, the offi cial said that claims re-ceived for damage to properties amounted to OMR1,583,441, en-gineering losses were pegged at OMR3,182,608, damage to vehi-cles at OMR935,662; transpor-tation damages at OMR33,750, and claims on fi re incidents at
OMR161,770. However, the insur-ance companies did not report any death claims between March 8 and 11, 2016.
The heavy rainfall damaged vehicles and property, along with the roads.
The rainfall recording stations
of the Ministry of Regional Mu-nicipalities and Water Resources recorded that the highest amount of rainfall at 177 millimetres (mm) was witnessed in Muscat in the Wilayat of Quriyat.
In Al Sharqiyah North, 150 mm of rainfall was recorded in Ibra; in
Buraimi, 116 mm was recorded in the Wilaiyat of Shinas; and in Al Dakhiliyah, 116 mm was recorded in Sumail.
Philip K Philip, chief executive offi cer of the Muscat Insurance Company and Muscat Life Assur-ance Company, said that during the investigation they found that many of the claims could have been avoided if proper care had been taken.
“Our insurance company got claims of around OMR500,000, of which 60 per cent were clubbed under engineering, 15 per cent un-der property and 25 per cent un-der the motoring section,” he told TOO on Tuesday.
Of these claims, the maximum are from the Muscat region, he added. He also said the recent rainfall had taken a toll on the in-surance industry. “Obviously, all this money would have been saved if there was a little less rainfall,” he said.
Overfl owing wadisWhen asked if the insurance com-panies would pay for those who risked their lives crossing over-fl owing wadis (valleys) in cars, the offi cial said if it was proved that the drivers were crossing a fl ood-ed wadi purposefully, that it was a deliberate act; the claim would be rejected.
“But the onus of proving whether it is a deliberate act or not falls on the insurer and this could probably be a diffi cult thing to prove,” another insurance of-fi cial said.
Check listAnother insurance company of-fi cial said every claimant should satisfy the insurance companies’ standard check list, such as the identifi cation of risks and factors, and measures undertaken to miti-gate the identifi ed risk.
“On the basis of the checklist requirements, we will decide whether we should pay for those claimants,” said S. Venkatacha-lam, chief executive offi cer, Na-tional Life and General Insurance Company.
Data from the Capital
Market Authority
(CMA) showed that
claims received by
insurance companies
have touched
OMR5,897,231m
following heavy
rain in the northern
parts of Oman
‘Putin values ties with Sultanate’MUSCAT: On behalf of His Maj-esty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said, His Highness Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Min-isters on Tuesday received Valen-tina Matviyenko, Chairwoman of the Russian Federation Council.
She conveyed the greetings of Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, and his best wishes to His Majesty the Sul-tan of continued success and the Omani people of steadily develop-ment and prosperity.
She also conveyed a verbal mes-sage from the Russian president to His Majesty the Sultan, which included his pride in the friendly relations with the Sultanate and his satisfaction with the gradual development of trade, economic cooperation and investment be-tween the two countries.
Sayyid Fahd reviewed the pro-cess of bilateral relations between the Sultanate and the Russian
Federation and the keenness on boosting them in various fi elds, stressing that the Omani Shura experience has come a long way in carrying out the tasks of strength-ening the areas of national work.
Future cooperationThe two sides discussed pros-pects for future cooperation be-tween the two countries, in addi-tion to the developments on the regional and international arenas
and the eff orts to ease tensions and establish security and peace.
Valentina Matviyenko ex-pressed her pride and that of her accompanying delegation for this visit as it has given them the opportunity to see at fi rst hand the cultural achievements in the country, thanks to its wise lead-ership, hailing the development of the Shura in the Sultanate and its role in the march of the overall construction.
Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said requested the guest to con-vey the greetings of His Majesty the Sultan and his best wishes to President Vladimir Putin, and for the people of the Rus-sian Federation further progress and prosperity.
Dr. Yahya bin Mahfoudh Al Mantheri, Chairman of the State Council and Dr. Fazelianov En-varbik Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Sultanate also attended the meeting. -ONA
P R I A S E F O R H M
BOOST TO TIES: His Highness Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said,
Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers meets Valen-
tina Matviyenko, Chairwoman of the Russian Federation Council
on Tuesday. — ONA
Graphics
COMPENSATION CLAIMS
(OMR)
5.89million500,000Claims received by insurance companies
after it rained heavily in the northernparts of Oman
Damages to properties
Engineering
1,583,441
3,182,608
Vehicles
Transportation
935,662
33,750
Fire incidents 161,770
Claims recieved by Muscat InsuranceCompany and Muscat Life
Assurance Company
Value of claims received (Omani rials)
No death claims in between March 8 and 11, 2016
SAFETY TIPS Do not cross wadis
Remember the emergency number 9999
Stock enough food and water
Withdraw extra cash from ATMs as they don’t work in case of power cut
Don’t park cars under trees or in wadis or low lying areas
Check weather updates regularly
A7
OMANW E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
Mantheri to visit TurkeyMUSCAT: Delegated by His Maj-esty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, Dr. Yahya bin Mahfoudh Al Mantheri, Chairman of the State Council will head on Wednesday to the Repub-lic of Turkey to lead the Sultanate’s delegation to the 13th summit of the Organisation of Islamic Coop-eration (OIC), scheduled in Istan-bul on April 14 and April 15.
State Council Chairman will be accompanied by Yousuf bin Alawi
bin Abdullah, Minister Responsi-ble for Foreign Aff airs, Dr. Sayyid Ahmed bin Hilal bin Saud Al Bu-saidi, Sultanate’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, its Permanent Del-egate to the OIC, Sayyid Qais bin Salim bin Ali Al Said, Sultanate’s ambassador to Turkey, Dr. Ali bin Ahmed Al Issa’ee, acting Under-secretary of the Foreign Ministry for Diplomatic Aff airs and some offi cials. -ONA
O I C S U M M I TMajlis reviews a number of issues
MUSCAT: Majlis Al Shura re-viewed many of the ministerial replies, including replies from the Minister of Higher Educa-tion regarding admission criteria for students at education col-leges, the briefi ng given on the schools’ physical environment during the eighth Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) and school density, in addition to the reply of the Minister of Manpower on voca-tional rehabilitation for people with special needs.
It also discussed the reply of the Minister of Housing and the letter on compensation of the ag-ricultural land aff ected by the Al Batinah Expressway, the reply of the Minister of Commerce and Industry on actions taken to fa-cilitate the services provided to small and medium enterprises, as well as the reply of the Minister of Tourism to creating tourism pro-jects in residential areas.
The meeting discussed a num-ber of requests by some members
of the Majlis Al Shura, including a request by the Minister of Man-power on Omanisation rates in new projects, request of the Board Chairman of the National Trans-port Company on some appoint-ments in the company, as well as a proposed law on the addition of a new specialisation to the Sports Activities Support Fund, and a proposal to amend the Labour Law with respect to absconding domestic workers.
The meeting reviewed several incoming letters, including de-veloping a legal article that allows retirees to borrow from the bank, a letter on holding a dialogue be-tween Majlis Al Shura and some of the bodies that deal with hous-ing planning, a letter about agri-cultural products and the expat labour force, in addition to re-viewing real estate ownership for the expat labour force in the Sul-tanate, which has been subjected for further study and a request to
legalise the export of green fodder.In external aff airs, the meet-
ing reviewed the invitation of the International Forum and the Jor-danian Council of Representa-tives to participate in the World Summit/Women in Parliament to be held in Jordan on May 4 and 5. The meeting also reviewed the invitation from the President of the Arab Parliamentary Union to attend the XIV Afro-Arab Parlia-mentary Conference to be held on the Ivory Coast on May 4 and 5.
The meeting also reviewed the report of the delegation, which participated in the 22nd meeting of the Executive Committee of the Union of Arab Parliamentar-ians Scout held today in Kuwait and which lasted for two days.
Majlis Al Shura offi ce held its 16th regular meeting of the fi rst annual sitting (2015-2016) of the 8th term, headed by Rashid bin Ahmed Al Shamsi, deputy chair-man of Majlis Al Shura. -ONA
Shura also discussed
the reply of the
Minister of Housing
and the letter on
compensation of the
agricultural land
aff ected by the Al
Batinah ExpresswayREVIEW: Majlis Al Shura offi ce held its 16th regular meeting of
the fi rst annual sitting (2015-2016) of the 8th term. - ONA
Study on supporting researchMUSCAT: For a study on ena-bling researchers in academic and research institutions, and linking them to the industrial and commercial institutions in the Sultanate, the State Council’s Committee of Education and Re-search, chaired by Dr. Abdullah bin Mubarak Al Shanfari, Head of the Committee, hosted Dr. Rahma bint Ibrahim Al Mahrouqiyah, Vice- Chancellor’s Assistant for
Graduate Studies and Scientifi c Research, at Sultan Qaboos Uni-versity (SQU), and Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Mahrouqi Ex-ecutive Director of the Industrial Innovation Center.
The Committee discussed at its 9th meeting of the fi rst an-nual sitting of the 6th term a range of themes related to the study, including the university’s and the center’s policy and po-
sition in the fi eld of scientifi c research, and their role in sup-porting scientifi c research and researchers, the challenges they face, future plans in this area, and a mechanism to benefi t from the scientifi c and academ-ic research, as well as discus-sion of the role of legislation on “intellectual property” and the sources of funding for scientifi c research. -ONA
S T A T E C O U N C I L
Futaisi launches
brand identity
MUSCAT: On the sidelines of opening Comex 2016, Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Salim Al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communica-tions on Tuesday launched the Brand Identity of Oman Broad-band Company at Oman Inter-national Exhibition Centre.
The launching ceremony in-cluded a documentary on the development of communica-tion means, the meaning of the new identity, the interpretation of the symbol (connecting the Sultanate’s governorates to the broadband company) and the colors used in the symbol (the future vision for facilitating investment, covering the com-mercial and industrial areas and enabling smart cities).
StrategyThe ceremony included a fi lm on the company’s strategy, the services it has provided and the achievements it has made over the past years. -ONA
O M A N B R O A D B A N D
A8
REGIONW E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
The visit by Italy’s Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni was the fi rst by a senior Western offi cial since the arrival in Tripoli nearly two weeks ago of the unity government’s Presidential Council.
Iraq Parliament blocks Abadi’s new cabinet
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s parliament blocked a cabinet of independ-ent technocrats Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi had proposed, as political factions forced him to adopt some their own ministe-rial candidates instead, lawmak-ers said.
Abadi presented on Tuesday a second list of candidates to parliament, which postponed a vote planned for the same day to Thursday, state TV said.
That list, with 15 members, includes only four names from a 14-member line-up Abadi had submitted on March 31. The de-fence and interior ministers in the outgoing cabinet will remain, to keep up the momentum of the war on IS militants.
The cabinet reshuffl e is sup-posed to be part of long-prom-ised anti-corruption measures
that Abadi needs to deliver. If he does not, he will risk weakening his government as Iraqi forces mount a campaign to recapture the northern city of Mosul from the militants.
UnhappyPolitical blocs that control a ma-jority in parliament were unhap-py with Abadi’s initial line-up. His second was drawn from techno-crats they had proposed in an ef-fort to maintain the current party balance within the government, lawmakers said on Monday.
The prime minister had wanted a technocratic cabinet independ-
ent from the political class. Critics say the politicians use a system of ethnic and sectarian quotas put in place after the US-led inva-sion in 2003 to amass wealth and infl uence. Iraq, a major OPEC exporter which sits on one of the world’s largest oil reserves, ranks 161 out of 168 on Transparency International’s Corruption Per-ceptions Index.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, visiting Baghdad on Friday, urged Iraq not to let the politi-cal crisis interfere with the fi ght against militants and voiced un-equivocal support for the prime minister.
Abadi proposed the new cabi-net under pressure from the cler-gy of the majority community and popular discontent at the lack of basic public services, in a nation facing an economic crisis caused by falling oil prices.
Several dozen lawmakers af-fi liated with the powerful cleric Moqtada Al Sadr held a protest inside parliament on Tuesday af-ter it was confi rmed that Abadi had agreed to modify his line-up, according to state TV and other local stations.
The dissenting Member of Parliaments( MPs) view Abadi’s move as a return to the political patronage system. They were still shouting slogans more than two hours after the end of the session.
Abadi nominated as oil min-ister in his second list Jabar Ali Al Luaibi, a former head of South Oil Company, the state-run company that produces most of Iraq’s crude.
The previous nominee as oil minister was a Kurdish geolo-gist who withdrew his candidacy under pressure from the politi-cal hadn’t had a chance to vet his nomination.
Abadi’s second list didn’t sug-gest any name for fi nance minis-ter. Iraqi state TV on Tuesday said the Kurdish blocs want to keep the current minister, Hoshiyar Zebari, in his post.
Falih Al Fayadh, a former na-tional security advisor, is the new candidate for foreign minister. He would replace Sharif Ali Bin Al Hussein, a member of the royal family that was deposed nearly 60 years ago, who was in the previous line-up. — Reuters
Prime Minister
Haider Al Abadi
presented on
Tuesday a second
list of candidates to
parliament, which
postponed a vote
planned for the same
day to Thursday
Gentiloni pledges support to Libya unity governmentTRIPOLI: Italy’s foreign minis-ter made a fl ying visit to Tripoli on Tuesday to meet Libya’s UN-backed unity government, pledg-ing broad international support as the new administration tries to consolidate its presence.
The visit by Paolo Gentiloni was the fi rst by a senior Western offi cial since the arrival in Tripoli nearly two weeks ago of the unity government’s Presidential Coun-cil. Western powers hope the new government can unite Libya’s warring factions, end its political chaos and request foreign help to tackle IS militant group and mi-grant traffi cking across the Medi-terranean.
Italy, Libya’s former colonial ruler, has played a prominent role in rallying support for the new government. After meeting the unity government’s leader Fayez Seraj, Gentiloni told reporters he believed his visit would be “a precedent that other countries will follow”. “We are all studying and discussing the possibility of reopening our diplomatic pres-
ence here in Tripoli,” he said, though he added that no dates had yet been fi xed. Gentiloni and Seraj met at the Tripoli naval base where the Presidential Council has been operating since it ar-rived in the Libyan capital by ship from Tunisia.
The Council has faced resist-ance in both Tripoli and eastern Libya, the bases for Libya’s two rival governments, and its oppo-nents in the capital closed down the airspace to prevent it from fl y-ing in. The Council’s decision to move to Tripoli had been a “game changer”, Gentiloni said. “We do believe that this can pave the way to the stabilisation of Libya.”
He noted however that the gov-ernment was still establishing itself, and had yet to be approved by Libya’s internationally-recog-nised eastern parliament in To-bruk. Italy made a fi rst delivery of food aid and medical kits to the Tripoli area on Tuesday, and plans to deliver assistance to hos-pitals in the war-torn eastern city of Benghazi, Gentiloni said.
Bilateral meetings over illegal migration, transport links and security assistance were also planned, but counter-terrorism planning should be Libyan-led, the Italian minister said.
“If and when the Libyan au-thorities will ask for international support on security this will be considered, it will be discussed in the Security Council of the United Nations,” he said. “It’s not something that can be decided in Rome or in London or in Wash-ington.”
Seraj said he was confi dent about receiving future support from Italy and the international community, and that counter-ter-rorism would be a “priority”. “We will be moving forward from pro-tocol visits to more eff ective and specialised meetings,” he said.
The reopening of diplomatic missions could eventually pave the way for the return of interna-tional oil industry staff , though some of Libya’s major oil facilities have recently come under attack from IS militants. — Reuters
I T A L Y ’ S F O R E I G N M I N I S T E R
Car bomb kills Palestinian Fatah movement offi cial in SidonBEIRUT: A bomb in the southern Lebanon city of Sidon killed an of-fi cial from the Palestinian Fatah movement on Tuesday, an offi cial from the group said.
The man was identifi ed as Fathi Zaydan, a Fatah offi cial respon-sible for the Palestinian camp of Mieh Mieh in Sidon.
A photograph of the blast site near a Palestinian refugee camp showed a man’s body lying next to a burning vehicle.
The offi cial said he was killed by a bomb placed under his vehi-cle. Mieh Mieh camp, 4 km east of Sidon, is home to 5,250 Palestinian refugees, according to the UN Re-lief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which aids Palestinian refugees across the region. The nearby Pal-estinian camp of Ain Al Hilweh has regularly been the scene of violent disputes between rival factions.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s govern-ment agreed funding on Tues-day for new safety equipment for Beirut airport, where pressing security gaps have caused con-cern among senior offi cials in a city that has suff ered bomb at-
tacks by IS militants. “The cabinet agreed to secure the funds neces-sary for airport security appara-tus,” Information Minister Ramzi Greige said in a statement after a cabinet meeting.
Public Works and Transport Minister Ghazi Zeaiter last month said the airport needed at least $24 million to upgrade its security, in-cluding a new perimeter wall and baggage inspection equipment.
Zeaiter has said Beirut airport remains among the safest in the world, but Interior Minister No-had Machnouk has compared its security problems to those in Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh, where a bomb planted on a Russian plane killed 224 people in October.
“There are security gaps in Beirut airport which must be plugged,” he said last month.
On Sunday the police detained two Lebanese employees of a Bei-rut airport service company over contacts they had with “terrorist parties”, security sources said, but they were released late on Monday after they were found to be inno-cent. — Reuters
L E B A N O N
Iran, France concerned
at violence in Syria
B E I R U T/ PA R I S / D U B A I : France and Iran voiced concern over escalating violence in Syria on Tuesday, echoing warnings from the United States and Russia as fi ghting near the city of Aleppo put more pressure on a fragile truce agreement.
The escalation underlines the already bleak outlook for peace talks set to reconvene this week in Geneva. The United Nations says the talks will resume on Wednes-day. The government delegation has said it is ready to join the talks from Friday.
With President Bashar Al As-sad buoyed by Russian and Iranian support, the Damascus govern-ment is due to hold parliamentary elections on Wednesday, a vote seen by Assad’s opponents as ille-gitimate and provocative.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Min-ister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, speaking after a meeting with UN Special Envoy Staff an de Mistura in Tehran, blamed the “increasing activities of armed groups” for the
violations. France also expressed concern, but blamed the other side. “It warns that the impact of the regime and its allies’ off ensives around Aleppo and Eastern Gh-outa are a threat to the cessation of hostilities,” government spokes-man Romain Nadal said. The East-ern Ghouta is an opposition-held area near Damascus.
De Mistura, speaking in Teh-ran, said he and Amir Abdollahian had agreed on the importance of the cessation continuing, that aid should reach every Syrian and that “a political process leading to a political transition is now cru-cially urgent”. De Mistura, whose two predecessors quit, has said he wants the next round of Geneva talks to be “quite concrete” in lead-ing towards a political transition.
Some members of the main Syr-ian opposition alliance, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), arrived in Geneva on Tuesday, and UN spokesman in Geneva Ahmad Fawzi said the talks were expected to begin on Wednesday. — Reuters
C I V I L W A R
UP IN FLAMES: Smoke rises from a car wreck after an explosion that killed Fathi Zaydan, a Fatah offi cial responsible for the Palestinian
camp of Mieh Mieh, near Ain Al Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, near the port-city of Sidon, southern Lebanon, on Tuesday. – Reuters
UNDER PRESSURE: Iraqi Prime MInister Haidar Al Abadi in Bagh-
dad. The cabinet reshuffl e is supposed to be part of long-promised
anti-corruption measures that Abadi needs to deliver. – AFP
A9
INDIAW E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
Love us on
SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH FACEBOOK PAGE
Kerala bans use of crackers in worship places
KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday banned the use of high-decibel crackers and fi re-works display after sunset in plac-es of worship across the state in the wake of the temple tragedy in Kollam that has claimed 110 lives.
The court asked the state gov-ernment of Kerala to examine whether a CBI probe is necessary
into the Paravur Puttingal Devi temple fi reworks display tragedy on Sunday.
Treating a judge’s letter seeking a ban as a PIL, the bench of Jus-tice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Justice Anu Sivaraman banned the use of sound-generat-ing fi reworks between sunset and sunrise across places of worship.
It, however, said that during day time, the sound of explosives can-not exceed the permitted limit.
The judges said colours and light performance without mak-ing sound may be permitted in festivals at night.
The court directed police and other authorities to enforce com-pliance of the provisions of Ex-plosives Act and Rules to prevent such tragedies.
It expressed anguish over po-lice incorporating lighter provi-sions of law with regard to of-fences against the accused in the Kollam accident and asked why the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder was not applied against them.
As a word of caution, the High
Court asked whether there was involvement of anti nationals in the Sunday tragedy as the area is surrounded by high seas.
The hearing was on the letter written by Justice V Chitam-baresh, a judge of the same court, who had demanded an immediate on fi reworks display across places of worship in the state.
Thirteen persons, including members of the managing com-mitee of the Puttingal Devi Tem-ple, were on Tuesday arrested in connection with the fi reworks mishap, police said.
The arrested included seven members of the managing com-mittee and six workers of the two contractors, who carried out the fi reworks display on the fi nal day of the seven-day long festival early Sunday in Kerala. The ar-rests were made by the police af-ter day-long questioning, sources said. The ghastly mishap at the 100-year-old temple at nearby Parvavoor occurred when sparks from fi reworks fell on a store-house stocked with crackers, trig-gering powerful explosions. - PTI
Thirteen persons,
including members
of the managing
committee of the
Puttingal Devi
Temple, were held in
connection with the
fi reworks mishap
Two youth killed in Handwara
SRINAGAR: Two youth were on Tuesday killed when Army opened fi re in Handwara, about 85km from here, to disperse a stone-pelting mob which was protesting against alleged mo-lestation of a girl by some of its personnel.
The killing triggered more protests in the town and had an echo in Srinagar and Pulwama districts of Indian-administered-Kashmir. Trouble started with protests by locals in Handwara over alleged molestation of the girl student. According to the alle-gations, she was molested by sol-diers posted in an army picket in the town, offi cial sources said. - PTI
A R M Y F I R I N G
Modi calls for tiger conservationNEW DELHI: Making a strong pitch for tiger conservation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday underlined the need for collaboration between gov-ernments at the highest level to check traffi cking in body parts of the wildcat.
Noting that conservation of tiger or nature is “not a drag” on development, Modi insisted that both can happen in a mutu-ally and complementary man-ner and emphasised on the need to reorient the strategy. He said forests are inseparable from wild animals and both are mutu-ally complementary. - PTI
C H E C K T R A F F I C K I N G
A10
INDIA W E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
We have decided to take forward discussions under DTTI more aggressively on key areas such as jet engine technology. We will also continue our very useful and productive discussions on cooperation ... on aircraft carriers
Manohar Parrikar, Defence minister
SC for disclosure of amount of outstanding loans, RBI resistsNEW DELHI: Default in repay-ment of loans running into “lakhs of crores of rupees” on Tuesday prompted the Supreme Court to throw up the idea of making pub-lic the total outstanding amount without disclosing the defaulters’ names, but RBI resisted the pro-posal citing confi dentiality clause.
“This information does make out a case. This is quite a substan-tial amount which is involved,” a bench, comprising Chief Jus-tice T. S. Thakur and Justice R. Banumathi, said after perusing the Reserve Bank of India’s list of companies and persons who had defaulted on bank loans of over Rs500 crore.
Expressing concern over the ev-er-rising amount of loans “not be-ing returned”, the bench said “peo-ple are taking thousands of crores and running away by declaring the company as insolvent, but poor farmers who take small amount of Rs20,000 or Rs15,000 suff er.”
“The total amount in default can be disclosed. Whoever be the defaulter, their names can be kept confi dential but what is the total amount of default can be disclosed. Lakhs of crores of rupees are out-standing. Many of defaulters have more than Rs500 crore and above to pay,” it said.
The bench also sought the as-sistance of Ministry of Finance
and Indian Banks Association by making them parties and posted the matter for further hearing on April 26.
During the hearing, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI counsel cited provisions in the RBI Act and the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005, which mandate confi dentiality of in-formation. The bench at the next hearing will be assisted by all the parties on the issues likely to be framed by them, including spe-cifi cally the question whether “the total outstanding amount of loans defaulted can be disclosed or not.”
Provide informationWhen advocate Prashant Bhush-an, appearing for NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), favoured disclosure of outstanding loan amount and cited the recent apex court verdict of December 2015 to claim that RBI has to pro-vide all information, the federal bank’s counsel said that decision related to the Right to Information Act and would not apply in the case in hand.
The bench referred to the docu-ments supplied by RBI in a sealed cover and said “the fi gures have gone up” since June 2014 and “these fi gures are not confi dential.”
“The amount you have men-tioned is outstanding. It is a large
amount. If we go by your fi gure, the next question would be what are you doing for the recovery? What steps would be taken for recovery,” the bench said when a senior ad-vocate, appearing for RBI, resisted the idea of making disclosure of the total outstanding amount on the ground that “disclosure of the fi gures will have the impact.”
When the bench wanted to know whether RBI had “immunity” over
disclosing this information, the counsel cited the provisions in the Reserve Bank of India Act and The Credit Information Compa-nies (Regulation) Act, 2005, which mandates confi dentiality of infor-mation. Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar also mentioned the provi-sions in Public Finance and Audit Act, 1983 on the issue of confi den-tiality.
The idea of formulating the is-
sues came from the RBI, which said it was important keeping in mind the decentralisation of banks which had taken place in the past.
It was suggested that in view of decentralisation of the banks, they can be represented by their asso-ciation or a collective body like the All India Bank Association.
Non-performing assets“Banks should be represented. The question of non-performing assets (NPA) is involved,” the RBI said.
Taking note of the submission, the bench said “You (parties) for-mulate the points of questions. Also, include is there any confi -dentiality (issue) in disclosing the total outstanding amount.”
Going by the amount involved in default, it appears that the banks concerned are not monitoring its funds periodically, the bench said, adding “it is giving loans without getting it returned.”
“Are you (RBI) not supposed to keep a vigil and supervise how the loans have to be recovered. In how many cases you have taken action against those who have run away,” the bench asked the RBI counsel, who said “action has been taken”.
When the hearing was nearing an end, Bhushan referred to RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan saying “I thought that the present RBI Governor is a good man but I am
surprised with the type of affi davit fi led by the RBI.”
He also criticised the RBI Gov-ernor for issuing the circular not to disclose the list of wilful default-ers. The bench stopped him short and said “that does not make him a bad man.” The petition, which was fi led in 2003 by the Centre for Pub-lic Interest Litigation (CPIL), had originally raised the issue of loans advanced to some companies by state-owned Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUD-CO).The plea had said that about Rs40,000 crore of corporate debt was written off in 2015.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had directed the RBI to provide a list of companies which are defaulters of bank loans of over Rs500 crore while expressing serious concern over the rise in bad loans.
The apex court had also asked the RBI to provide within six weeks the list of companies whose loans have been restructured un-der corporate debt restructur-ing schemes. The bench had ex-pressed surprise that no concrete steps were taken for the recovery of loan from the defaulters.
While passing the order, the court had taken note of a report in a national daily about bad loans or non-performing assets and the inability of the banks to recover them. - PTI
B I G D E F A U L T E R S
Expressing concern over
the ever-rising amount of
loans ‘not being returned’,
the bench said ‘people
are taking thousands of
crores and running away
by declaring the company
as insolvent, but poor
farmers who take small
amount of Rs20,000 or
Rs15,000 suffer’
India, US reach agreementon sharing military logistics
NEW DELHI: India and the United States have agreed in prin-ciple to share military logistics, the countries’ defence ministers said on Tuesday, as both sides seek to counter the growing mari-time assertiveness of China.
Washington has for years urged New Delhi to sign a Logistics Sup-port Agreement that allows the two militaries to use each other’s land, air and naval bases for resup-plies, repair and rest.
India has had concerns that a logistics agreement would com-mit it to hosting US troops at its
bases, or draw it into a military al-liance with the United States and undermine its traditional auton-omy. But after years of delays, the two sides said an agreement was in hand, although not yet ready for signing.
“We have agreed in principle that all the issues are resolved,” US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter told reporters in New Delhi after talks with his Indian coun-terpart, Manohar Parrikar.
The two sides would fi nalise the text of an agreement in coming weeks, Carter said.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s administration, faced with an assertive China expanding its infl uence in the South China Sea and into the Indian Ocean, has signalled its desire to draw closer to the United States. China is also a close ally of Pakistan.
TechnologyModi is also keen to access US technology for his “Make in In-dia” plans to build a domestic in-dustrial base and cut expensive arms imports. The US military has made clear it wants to do more with India, especially in counter-ing China. Carter is on his second
visit to India in less than a year, aimed at cementing defence co-operation in the fi nal months of Barack Obama’s presidency.
Washington’s desire for deeper security cooperation with India has been tricky without the sign-ing of the logistics agreement, as well as two other pacts that would allow for secure communications and the exchange of nautical and other data.
The agreements are considered routine between the United States and its other defence partners. Reaching the logistics agreement would make it easier to conclude
the other two pacts, a senior US defence offi cial said.
Prospects good“There’s increasing recognition on the Indian side that there’s real mutual benefi ts to doing them, so I do think that the prospects are good,” the offi cial said, on condi-tion of anonymity. Carter said the two countries would also soon conclude an agreement on exchanging information on com-mercial shipping.
He said the two countries were also advancing collaboration in aircraft carrier design and tech-nology, potentially the biggest joint project since they launched a Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) in 2012.
India, which operates a re-tooled Russian-built carrier, plans to build its biggest indigenous carrier, for which is it looking at US technology to launch heavi-er aircraft.
“We have decided to take for-ward discussions under DTTI more aggressively on key areas such as jet engine technology. We will also continue our very useful and productive discussions on co-operation ... on aircraft carriers,” Parrikar said. India is concerned about China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean, traditionally New Delhi’s backyard, and it said on Tuesday that it had agreed with the US to launch discussions be-tween the countries’ two navies on anti-submarine warfare and submarine safety. - Reuters
Washington has
for years urged
New Delhi to sign a
Logistics Support
Agreement that
allows the two
militaries to use
each other’s land,
air and naval bases
for resupplies,
repair and restPARLEYS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US Defence Secretary, Ashton B. Carter during a meet-
ing in New Delhi on Tuesday. - PTI
India to get
above average
monsoon rains
in 2016
NEW DELHI: India’s crucial monsoon rains are expected to be above average in 2016, the weather offi ce said on Tuesday, easing fears over farm and economic growth af-ter two straight droughts hit rural incomes and agricultural output.
Rains in 2016 would be 106 per cent of the long-term average, Lax-man Singh Rathore, chief of the India Meteorological Department, told a news conference.
Rathore said the monsoon rains could be above average as El Nino — a warming of the eastern Pacifi c Ocean that can lead to dry spells in South Asia — is fading and giving way to La Nina in which the same waters cool. The July-to-Septem-ber monsoon delivers 70 per cent of India’s annual rainfall.
It is critical for the country’s 263 million farmers and their rice, cane, corn, cotton and soybean crops, as nearly half of its farmland lacks irrigation.
Two-thirds of India’s population depends on farming for its liveli-hood. Plentiful rains could also en-courage the Reserve Bank of India to cut interest rates after the cen-tral bank this month eased its repo rate by 25 basis points to its lowest in more than fi ve years.
“If indeed we end up having a better-than-normal monsoon, and spatial distribution of mon-soon and production indicators point to a normal year, then the RBI’s comfort for another rate cut will increase,” said Gaurav Kapur, senior economist at Royal Bank of Scotland in Mumbai. - Reuters
W E A T H E R
Padma awardees shine as president presents highest honours
NEW DELHI: The packed Dar-bar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday reverberated to applause when superstar Rajinikanth walked up to receive the Padma Vibhushan from President Pranab Mukherjee who also conferred Padma awards on actress Priyanka Chopra and tennis player Sania Mirza.
The awards, conferred in three categories — Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, were given away to prominent personalities from diff erent walks of life, as the assembled gathering, including relatives and friends of the awardees, kept on clapping and cheering.
Looking dapper in a beige chu-
ridar kurta teamed with a grey Nehru jacket, Rajinikanth ac-knowledged the big round of ap-plause and cheering from those gathered with a big smile.
His wife Latha Rajinikanth was also among the invitees.
The southern super star enjoys a massive fan following and is endearingly called ‘Thalaivar’ by his well-wishers. He has worked both in Hindi and Southern fi lms over his three decade long journey as an actor.
Priyanka Chopra, who has gar-nered international acclaim with her stint in the American TV se-ries Quantico, came attired in a lime green sari to receive her Pad-
ma Shri. She acknowledged the ap-preciation from the crowd but kept her eyes downwards while return-ing to her seat.
Priyanka, who looked stunning, was being followed by admirers af-ter the function was over.
In fact security persons had to escort her from the main hall to the other room. The former Miss World has hit international headlines with her role of an FBI agent Alex Parrish in Quantico. The actress, who is currently rid-ing high on the success of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani, has even bagged a Hollywood fi lm, Baywatch, alongside Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron.
Sania, who took to twitter to comment: “Humbled. Honoured. And truly thankful. #Padma-Bhushan,” was also turned out smartly in a long pinkish dress for the occasion.
She received her Padma Bhush-an from the president. Sania is married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.
Sania and her partner Swiss legend Martina Hingis took the tennis world by storm for much of last year with a 41-match winning streak which fi nally came to an end with a shock loss at the quar-ter-fi nals of the Qatar Open earlier this year.
The Indo-Swiss pair won 10
titles together, including nine consecutive ones. The President presented fi ve Padma Vibhushan, 11 Padma Bhushan and 36 Padma Shri awards at the function.
Three of the listed Padma Shri awardees could not make it to the function.
Padma Awards, the most pres-tigious honours in the country, for the year of 2016 were announced in January this year and were con-ferred in two ceremonies.
On March 28, actors Ajay Devgn, Anupam Kher and spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar received their Padma awards along with many others. Among the digni-taries present on the occasion
on Tuesday were Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
Modi took a round of the hall where guests were having re-freshment after the function was over, greeting. He walked around with folded hands greeting them all. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah also attended the function.
The awardees include media baron Ramoji Rao, singer Udit Narayan, chairperson of Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited Indu Jain, Prof N. S. Ramanuja Ta-tacharya. - IANS
C I V I L I N V E S T I T U R E – I I
ONE FOR THE ALBUM: President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Padma Awardees at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Tuesday. - PTI
A11
PAKISTANW E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
Stay ahead of
the curve with
WhatsNews
SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY INSTALL WHATSNEWS
Calls for action against authorities over drought in Thar regionISLAMABAD: The National Commission on Human Rights (NCRH) has recommended action against National Disaster Man-agement Authority (NDMA) by the federal government for its neg-ligence over Thar drought that has caused deaths of countless chil-dren in the recent months.
It has also asked the Sindh gov-ernment for similar action against
Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), and several other departments, including the provincial health, education and local government for failing to ad-dress the situation in the deserts of Sindh. The actions have been rec-ommended in NCHR’s fi rst com-prehensive report on the death of over 150 children in just over a year. It has also blamed Pakistan
Meteoroidal Department, that ac-cording to the NCHR, miserably failed in discharging its duties of assessing the drought situation in the province.
Justice Ali Nawaz Chohan, the chairman of the commis-sion, made the report public on Tuesday.
It has been prepared by the commission following a detailed
visit to the aff ected areas by a two-member delegation led by the chief of the commission.
Aff ected peopleDuring its four days visit, the del-egation had meetings with the af-fected people, representatives of NGOs apart from relevant offi cials and senior offi cials of Sindh gov-ernment in Karachi. — Express Tribune
R I G H T G R O U P S
The actions have been recommended in
National Commission on Human Rights’s first
comprehensive report on the death of
over 150 children in just over a year
Expansion of Gwadar port ‘almost ready’
GWADAR: The newly expanded Gwadar deep-water port in Paki-stan that is key to a planned $46 billion Chinese economic cor-ridor is nearly complete and ex-pects to process about a million tons of cargo next year, the opera-tor said on Tuesday.
Most of the cargo will be in-coming construction materials to be used in projects related to the China Pakistan Economic Cor-ridor (CPEC), which envisions linking far-western Chinese pro-duction regions by road through Pakistan for shipment through Gwadar port to overseas markets.
Pakistani security forces have promised to protect the corridor
project. “The port cranes are al-most ready, and we are thinking that the port will be (at) full op-eration by the end of this year,” said Zhang Baozhong, chairman of China Overseas Ports Holding Company Ltd.
The Chinese company took over Gwadar’s operations in 2013. The revamped port has three multipurpose berths and its inner is dredged to 11.5 metres.
“We’re expecting at least one million tons of material will go in and out” next year, Zhang said, speaking at a day-long conference in Gwadar city.
The projected traffi c repre-
sents a 100 percent increase over this year’s throughput, but is a far cry from the 300-400 million tons per year that the Gwadar Port Au-thority envisions for the facility, which has ambitions of becoming a regional hub.
Zhang acknowledged that Gwa-dar now had minuscule traffi c - mostly Pakistani government-subsidised fertilizer imports - but he predicted a swift transforma-tion in coming years.
Part of the problem is that the new roads that CPEC is expected to build, linking the port to Chi-na’s industrial zones, have not yet come online. — Reuters
Port cranes are
almost ready, and
we are thinking
that the port will be
(at) full operation
by end of this year,
said chairman of
China Overseas Ports
Holding Company LtdDREAM PROJECT: A member of Pakistan Navy is seen at the Gwa-
dar port in Balochistan province on Tuesday. — Reuters
Politicking mayhurt China project, says World BankISLAMABAD: Political dif-ferences within Pakistan and a slowing Chinese economy have become risks to the materialisa-tion of the $46-billion invest-ment under China-Pakistan Eco-nomic Corridor, according to the World Bank.
A new report by the global lending organisation also pro-jects Pakistan could miss its cur-rent fi scal targets on economic growth and budget defi cit while warning Islamabad to be mindful of moderating remittances that may pose a danger to its external sector stability.
The biannual South Asia Economic Focus that the WB released on Monday cautions about risks and challenges to the economic stability and growth at a time when the government re-mains adamant about the impli-cations of these issues, particu-larly reducing remittances.
The remittances along with steep reduction in oil prices are critical to the country’s economic growth, as the WB report also states the economy is largely driven by ‘exogenous factors’.
Game changer“The CPEC, if completed, could be a game changer for Pakistan, but is currently mired in political economy risks,” noted the WB. To ensure the corridor deliv-ers on its potential, the govern-ment needs to address concerns and build consensus among all stakeholders.
The Washington-based agency also said a prolonged slowdown in China could diminish fi nancial infl ows under the CPEC. Paki-stan expects receiving $46 billion
in investment from China in its infrastructure and energy sectors in return for giving Beijing access to the Gwadar port.
The WB report said any de-mand-driven economic expan-sion as a result of CPEC’s imple-mentation was expected to be limited in the short-run as in-creased investment would likely be off set by a signifi cant increase in imports.
The WB advised Pakistan should monitor its key driver of remittances, saying public in-vestment cuts and resulting re-strictions on foreign employment in Gulf countries, particularly in construction, where many Pa-kistani migrants are employed, could hurt growth.
The growth in remittances is expected to be around 5.5 per cent until fi scal 2018 – way below the 16 per cent average growth in the previous fi ve years.
After the Asian Development Bank and International Mon-etary Fund, the WB is the third global institution that has warned about implications of slowing re-mittances for the country’s ex-ternal sector. The fi nance minis-try, however, remains in a denial mode and insists there is no risk.
The WB predicted this year’s projected economic growth rate at 4.5 per cent, which is far below the offi cial target. The budget def-icit also might increase to 4.7 per cent of Gross Domestic Product – higher than the IMF-given target of 4.3 per cent. With the election year approaching in 2018, the WB said the government might fi nd it diffi cult to implement unpopular decisions, particularly on taxa-tion and energy. — Express Tribune
R E P O R T
Founder:Chairman / Editor-in-Chief:
Deputy Editor-in-Chief:Chief Executive Officer:
Telephone: Fax:
E-mail:
Telephone: Fax:
E-mail:
Telephone: Fax:
E-mail:
Printed and published by: Post Box:
Postal Code:
E D I T O R I A L
A D V E R T I S I N G
C I R C U L A T I O N
Essa bin Mohammed Al ZedjaliMohamed Issa Al ZadjaliAnees bin Essa Al Zedjali Ahmed Essa Al Zedjali
Muscat Media Group 770112
#TRENDING
New leadership, same old UkraineLeonid Bershidsky
When he resigned on Sunday, Ukrain-ian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said he was proud of his government’s
achievements. They will, he predicted, be appre-ciated in due time. That may be so, but just now he is one of Ukraine’s most despised men, some-one who failed to make the country more Euro-pean but instead made deals with oligarchs and corrupt bureaucrats.
His resignation to give way for an ally of President Petro Poroshenko won’t, however, make Ukraine any more governable.
Yatsenyuk’s departure was only a matter of time. In February, he barely survived a no-confi dence vote in parliament, and a burly legislator tried phys-ically to carry him off the dais as he hung on to the lectern. His party, the Popular Front, defi es its name by not even showing up in recent polls for lack of voter support.
Under Yatsenyuk, the Ukrainian economy has moved from sharp recession to stagnation. The tax system is still oppressive, property rights uncertain, bureaucrats greedy and the middle class impov-erished. Despite tiny quarter-on-quarter output growth at the end of last year, the Ukrainian retail sector was still shrinking in February, 2016. These are not the kind of results Ukrainians wanted from their 2014 “Revolution of dignity.”
Poroshenko has known for a while that Yatse-nyuk wouldn’t last. The parliamentary coalition that served as the basis for Yatsenyuk’s cabinet had started falling apart last year, with smaller parties seeking distance from the prime minister’s toxic unelectability, especially following accusations of corruption leveled against the prime minister by former Georgian president Mikheil Saakash-vili, now governor of Odessa. Admitting no new coalition could be formed was, however, unaccep-table to Poroshenko: He would then have to disband the parliament.
An early election would extend the political crisis by months and almost certainly scupper fresh in-stallments of aid from the International Monetary Fund. The IMF has lately halted disbursements because of the political uncertainty. “Once there is more clarity about the status of the government, we’ll look forward to engage with the authorities on policies to strengthen and transform Ukraine,” fund spokesman William Murray said last month.
Besides, an early election would probably result in a defeat for Poroshenko’s own party. According to a March 16 poll by KMIS, one of the more respected polling organisations in Ukraine, the party, which now holds 29 per cent of the seats in parliament, would only win less than 6 per cent of the vote. Be-sides, a Saakashvili-backed new “Movement for Purifi cation” could deal the Poroshenko party an unpleasant surprise if it stepped up its criticism of the president, not just the prime minister.
Poroshenko’s attempts to get out of this losing situation have been frantic and seemingly desper-ate. He has suggested some exotic replacements for Yatsenyuk, such as former Swedish foreign minis-ter Carl Bildt and former Slovak fi nance minister Ivan Miklos, to US Vice President Joe Biden, seen in Kiev as the current leadership’s fairy godmother. Then, the candidacy of US-born Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko was dangled before the Washington allies. Jaresko took this seriously enough to write a lengthy Facebook post on March 22, saying she would be willing to form a “technocratic,” “depoliti-cised” government of “nobody’s people.”
Jaresko won’t get the chance. The presidential party has put forward Volodymyr Groysman, a long-time Poroshenko associate and, most recently, par-liament speaker, as Yatsenyuk’s replacement. Yatse-nyuk’s Popular Front will be the only party joining forces with the Poroshenko bloc this time around: This is the only chance for the party to retain some infl uence and the price Yatsenyuk appears to have exacted for getting out of the way and letting Po-roshenko appoint his man.
US offi cials have sought to balance Poroshenko, an ambitious, impatient, imperious leader, with other fi gures. That tactic has apparently failed. Po-roshenko has never stopped pushing Groysman; all his other proposals may have been decoys. Groys-man is not much of an independent politician: He has always ridden Poroshenko’s coattails, both as governor of Vinnitsa, where Poroshenko’s confec-tionery empire has its base, and as speaker. What’s known of his economic programme isn’t encourag-ing: Vox Ukraine, the independent Kiev think tank run by some of the country’s top economists, have described it as alarmingly populist. — Bloomberg View
Scan this QR for full articleObama truly deserves a second Nobel prize
This refers to the story, Indonesia’s Pertamina plans to develop South China Sea border areas (April 12). Under US President Barack Obama the world has changed as witnessed during his continuing
tumultuous years in offi ce. He has lived up to his promise of change with upheavals across the world, in general, as in case of Southeast Asia, in particular, by his so-called ‘Asian pivot’ policy. I remember that till a few years ago the region was in the midst of regional boom with little animosi-ties. However, all that is over as imperial America has surfaced once again in the Pacifi c region. For these actions Obama truly deserves a second Nobel prize. — Gulnaz Mehrunnisa, Qurum
Heads need to roll after Pakistan hockey team’s dismal performanceThis refers to the story, Dominant India thrash Pakistan 5-1 in Azlan Shah Cup (April 12). The result highlights the fact that something is really wrong in Pakistan’s sports community. The debacle shows
heads need to roll from the top level. If this continues both cricket and hockey would join the ranks of squash in which no Pakistanis are among the top ranked players. - Ramesh Manjani, Seeb
T I M E S O F O M A NW E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6A12
ONLINE HOT PICKS
READERS’ FORUM
CLIPPINGS PICTOGRAPH
3 Majlis panels review activitiesMUSCAT: The education and culture committee of the Majlis Al Shura held a meeting yesterday under the chairmanship of Hamad bin Ahmed Qatan, committee chairman. The committee discussed a working mechanism to follow up development of general education and application of the basic education system as well as admission of General School Certifi cate graduates in higher education institutions. It also reviewed mechanisms, which the committee will adopt to study topics approved by the Majlis in its second regular session of the year regarding admission to Shariah and Law College and Medicine Col-lege at SQU and the introduction of information technology and com-puter at the general education schools.
1902: J.C. Penny opens his fi rst store in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
1933: The fi rst fl ight over Mount Everest is completed by Lord Clydesdale.
1960: The fi rst navigational satellite is launched into Earth’s orbit.
1976: US Fed begins issuing $2 bicentennial notes.
M O S T R E A DTIMESOFOMAN.COM
M O S T P O P U L A R V I D E O
M O S T S H A R E DFACEBOOK.COM/TIMESOFOMAN
Electoral success, popularity and a spectacular grass-roots fundraising organisation have brought Sanders tantalisingly near the Democratic
nomination. He is beginning to taste something for which some doubted
he had the appetite. Last week he launched a surprise attack on
Hillary Clinton
FRANCIS WILKINSON
Pakistan society’s stakeholders, from the media to intelligentsia, that focus only on the headline can never
solve the stubborn problems of development. I am all for justice and inquiry for those in power and those
outside power, but who will bring the justice to those who happen to be
born on the wrong side of town
MUHAMMAD HAMID ZAMAN
In 2014, Scotland voted in its own referendum to remain in the UK;
but the nationalists won almost all of Scotland’s seats in the general election eight months later. With
Scottish opinion much more pro-European than in England, many believe that Brexit would lead to another referendum on
independence
JOSEPH S. NYE
F R O M O U R A R C H I V E S
T O D A Y I N H I S T O R Y
Fireworks display sparks massive fi re at a temple in Kerala
APRIL 2001Scan this QR code to send letters to the Readers’ Forum, containing not more than 200 words with full name, address and telephone number, may be sent by e-mail ([email protected]).
I N S T A G R A M O F T H E D A Y INSTAGRAM.COM/TIMESOFOMAN
TIMESOFOMAN.COM/VIDEOS
1 India’s L&T wins $370m contract from Petroleum Development Oman
timesofoman.com/Business
2 Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk resigns
timesofoman.com/World
3 Prince William and Kate mingle with Bollywood stars in India
timesofoman.com/ImageGallery
4 New app for a range of services launched in Oman by Muscat Municipality
timesofoman.com/Oman
5 Oman, Ethiopia sign 3 agreements
timesofoman.com/Oman
1 Omani arrested for trying to marry minor girl in India
timesofoman.com/Oman
2 New system to monitor school buses launched in Omantimesofoman.com/Oman
3 Illegal vendors shifted from Bausher seaside by Muscat Municipality
timesofoman.com/Oman
4 Kerala temple fi re: Indian expat from Oman recounts tale of horror
timesofoman.com/Oman
5 Times of Oman quiz challenge reaches Indian School Muscat
timesofoman.com/Oman
T I M E S O F O M A N . C O M / O P I N I O N
TOTAL PAGE LIKESTOTAL VIEWS
55,377,749 366.752
T W E E T W E L I K E
@curly_ayshExpat Life: Top tips for relocating to Oman - Life outside the M25 http://lifeoutsidethem25.blogspot.com/2016/04/expat-life-top-tips-for-relocating-to.html?m=1 …
«
SHARE THIS!
SourceNational Centre for Statistics & Information
OMAN’S MANUFACTURINGOF BASIC CHEMICALS
Total end of September(Million rials)
2014 2015
891.51,116.9
Photo: Soumya N Ghosh
NEW INDIAASSURANCE
“Insure with
New India and
be secure”
If the inevitability of human oblivion worries you, I encourage you to ignore it.JOHN GREEN
I N V I T A T I O N T O W R I T E R S
We invite our readers to write articles on topics
related to Oman. The articles should not exceed 800 words.
Send us your article along with your picture to
Tel: 24838800 | Fax: 24838899 | Email: [email protected] | Website: www.newindiaoman.com
A13
ASIAW E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
At China’s creaking hospitals, illegal ticket touts defy crackdownBEIJING/SHANGHAI: As day breaks, hundreds of patients wait to see doctors in a queue that snakes around the Peking Union hospital in Beijing.
Many will wait in vain — “scalp-ers” like Yu Wei have already ille-gally bought and sold appointment tickets for the day ahead.
Yu, 32, makes a living touting the tickets that Chinese hospitals sell in advance for consultations. His tickets will get a patient in front of a doctor in two days, he says, com-pared with a wait that can be up to a fortnight.
Dodging passing police patrols as part of his daily routine, Yu charges 850 yuan ($131) for a “spe-cial care” appointment ticket — al-most three times the face value.
He said he keeps 200 yuan from each sale, with the rest of the profi t going to hospital insiders who he said help him secure the tickets.
“The city’s upper middle class are always willing to pay this amount or even higher — as long as they can get an appointment,” Yu said, speaking between frequent phone calls that he said came from would-be clients.
In the background, other scalp-ers competed for custom, shouting out their prices.
Street crimeThe street crime casts light on the scale of the challenge President Xi Jinping faces as he looks to over-haul a creaking and underfunded public health system to deliver on
a promise of aff ordable and acces-sible care for all.
In line with this drive, authori-ties have tried to crack down on healthcare corruption and police say they have detained some 240 scalpers in Beijing alone this year.
Many patients and doctors say, though, the time-served practice is just a symptom of deeper issues: a dearth of doctors and low salaries meaning graft is endemic.
“Scalpers are a real headache for us,” a spokeswoman for the Peking
Union hospital surnamed Chen told Reuters by phone. “There’s a crackdown on them, but it’s a hard problem to cure.” The spokeswom-an added the hospital and its doc-tors were victims of scalpers and were not involved in the practice.
A viral video earlier this year of a woman with her sick mother raging against scalpers brought a public outcry and calls for ar-rests and tough jail sentences. ( h t t p s : //www.y o u t u b e .c o m /watch?v=K3lUF5XXnuw)
Authorities have promised to in-tensify their crackdown. But when Reuters visited hospitals in Shang-hai and Beijing, dozens of scalpers operated in plain sight, loudly of-fering tickets for sale. A spokes-man at the Beijing city health department said police needed to “strengthen” their eff orts, and it would take some time to see any real results.
China’s national health ministry did not immediately respond to re-quests for comment. Feng Jianqi,
a police offi cer involved in lead-ing the crackdown on scalpers in Beijing, said the police could not resolve the issue alone.
Part of the problem was that so many patients wanted to see the same doctors, he said. “It’s just not realistic to totally eradicate scalp-ers. It’s just too hard,” he told Reu-ters by phone.
ProblemThe problem is acute for patients like Cao Dongxian. The middle-aged school teacher travelled to Beijing in May last year from his home in Shandong province after local doctors refused to carry out a risky intestinal cancer operation.
State insurance coverage is lim-ited in China, meaning patients often have to pay a large part if healthcare costs themselves, espe-cially those with major long-term diseases like cancer or diabetes. Keen to avoid paying scalpers, Cao spent months queuing in hospital lines for repeat tests before doc-tors eventually said his cancer needed an urgent operation.
Cao was then told he would have to begin queuing again: this time for a hospital bed.
“It was October by the time I got to have my operation ... more than four months,” Cao said.
“On top of that your body’s in pain — it really hurts.”
In hindsight, Cao said he wished he had gone to scalpers straight away. Doctors also appear resigned to the practice, as wealth spreads
in China and patients accept the reality that paying more will bring speedier treatment.
“(Basic) appointment fees don’t refl ect the economic value of doc-tors’ skills and experience,” said Wu Yuan, an eye doctor at the Peking University First Hospital in Beijing.
“Scalpers are simply selling the doctor’s appointment at a price the market is prepared to pay,” Wu said. He said the practice was routine but that he had no knowl-edge of any doctor involvement in ticket resales.
Even as China’s hospitals suf-fer, the broader market for drugs and services is a lure for fi rms like e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding and hospital operator Phoenix Healthcare, attracted by a wider healthcare bill that is set to hit $1.3 trillion by 2020.
Source of frustrationFor patients like Cao or Zhang Pengyu, a 38-year-old realtor from the outskirts of Beijing, scalpers are source of frustration and an-ger, but sometimes a necessary evil. He waited unsuccessfully for three nights to see an ear, nose and throat doctor at Beijing Ton-gren Hospital. He fi nally gave in to scalpers, paying 3,000 yuan for a 10-minute appointment that should have cost just 200 yuan. “I wanted to queue myself and not pay so much money, but I just couldn’t wait any more. I didn’t have time,” said Zhang. - Reuters
S C A L P E D
LONG WAIT: People wait to enter Peking Union Hospital early in the morning in Beijing, China, April 6,
2016. - Reuters
Hong Kong bookseller’s disappearance ‘unfortunate’: Chinese offi cialHONG KONG: A senior Hong Kong-based Chinese offi cial said on Tuesday that the disappearance of a Hong Kong bookseller was a “very unfortunate incident” that shouldn’t be repeated, without clarifying details of the case.
Asked about the suspected ab-duction in December of British national Lee Bo from the Chinese-controlled fi nancial hub, Wang Zhenmin, the head of the law de-partment at Beijing’s liaison offi ce in Hong Kong, said he was happy Lee had since returned to the city and was living a “normal life”.
Remarks“No one wants to see this kind of case happen in Hong Kong. No one wants to see it happen again in future,” told the Foreign Corre-spondents’ Club.
His remarks were the most de-tailed yet from a Chinese offi cial after the disappearances of Lee and four other booksellers who produced and sold gossipy books critical of Chinese leaders.
But Wang said he didn’t know the facts of the case and declined to comment when asked by Reu-ters whether Chinese authorities had abducted Lee.
The incident has rocked the freewheeling city and sparked lo-cal and international concern that Beijing was using shadowy tactics to undermine core freedoms guar-anteed to the former British col-ony when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Last week, British Foreign Sec-retary Philip Hammond said his government had evidence that Lee was “removed from Hong Kong
under duress”. Wang said China would uphold its policy of respect-ing Hong Kong’s autonomy under the “one country, two systems” formula by which Britain handed
Hong Kong back China, adding China would “honour our commit-ments to Hong Kong society”.
Lee surfaced in China in late February and has since made sev-
eral visits to Hong Kong, denying in interviews that he was kid-napped by Chinese authorities as many in Hong Kong still believe.
Hong Kong’s freedoms are protected by the Basic Law, a mini-constitution that includes the “inviolable” freedom of Hong Kong people from arbitrary arrest and search.
ControversyHong Kong authorities are still waiting for detailed explanations from China regarding the book-sellers and how Lee was able to cross into China from Hong Kong without his travel documents, in-cluding a British passport.
The controversy has exacer-bated social tensions between Hong Kong and China, fuelling a fl edgling independence move-
ment among pockets of the city’s increasingly restive youth includ-ing those who took part in the 79-day “Occupy Central” democracy street protests in late 2014.
Freedom of speechWang urged Hong Kong residents to respect the laws of Hong Kong and China.
“(They) shouldn’t do anything harmful to Chinese national secu-rity under the interests of the en-tire Chinese people, including our Hong Kong residents,” he said.
Wang also said that young people advocating independ-ence could test the limits of Hong Kong’s vaunted freedom of speech. “I don’t believe they can achieve Hong Kong independence ... but in the process ... they will cause a lot of confl ict,” he said. - Reuters
S U S P E C T E D A B D U C T I O N
SPELLING OUT: Wang Zhenmin of China’s liaison offi ce in Hong
Hong gives a speech at The Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong
Kong on Tuesday. - AFP
Afghan Taliban announce start of ‘spring off ensive’
KABUL: The Taliban announced the start of their spring off ensive on Tuesday, pledging to launch large-scale off ensives against government strongholds backed by suicide and guerrilla attacks to drive Afghanistan’s Western-backed government from power.
The announcement of the start of “Operation Omari”, named af-ter the late Taliban founder Mul-lah Mohammad Omar, came just days after Secretary of State John Kerry visited Kabul and reaf-fi rmed US support for a national unity government led by Presi-dent Ashraf Ghani.
InsurgencyThe insurgency has gained strength since the withdrawal of international troops from combat
at the end of 2014 and the Tali-ban are stronger than at any point since they were driven from pow-er by US-backed forces in 2001.
As well as suicide and tactical attacks, the off ensive would in-clude assassinations of “enemy” commanders in urban centres, the Taliban said in their statement.
“The present operation will also employ all means at our disposal to bog the enemy down in a war of
attrition that lowers the morale of the foreign invaders and their in-ternal armed militias,” they said. In line with recent statements, the militants also said they would es-tablish good governance in areas they controlled as well as avoiding civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure. The seasons have long shaped violence in Afghani-stan with fi ghting easing off in the winter, when mountain passes get
snowed in, and picking up again in the spring and summer. How far the announcement will lead to an immediate escalation in fi ghting, which caused 11,000 civilian cas-ualties last year, remains unclear.
However, NATO and Afghan of-fi cials have said they expect very tough combat in 2016.
Hours before the Taliban an-nounced their off ensive, the US embassy in Kabul issued an emer-
gency warning to US citizens, say-ing it had received reports that insurgents were planning attacks on a major hotel in Kabul.
Heavy fi ghting has continued for months across Afghanistan, from Kunduz, the northern city that fell briefl y to the insurgents last year, to Helmand province bordering Pakistan in the south.
In Helmand, where thousands of British and American troops were killed or wounded fi ghting the Taliban, government forces have pulled back from many ar-eas and are struggling to hold on to centres close to the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah.
Understrength Afghan security forces, struggling with heavy cas-ualties and high desertion rates and short of air power, transport and logistical support, have strug-gled in their fi rst year fi ghting largely alone.
According to NATO command-ers, the Taliban exert control over only six per cent of Afghanistan but up to a third of the country is at risk from the insurgents and government forces control no more than 70 per cent of territory.
US General John Nicholson, who took over as commander of international troops in Afghani-stan last month, is conducting a strategic review, including plans to cut US troops in Afghanistan from 9,800 to 5,500 by the end of the year. Unless the plan is changed, the reduction would mean the end of most of NATO’s training and assistance operation, leaving the remaining US troops focusing on counterterrorism operations against radical groups like IS. - Reuters
The seasons have
long shaped violence
in Afghanistan with
fi ghting easing off
in the winter, when
mountain passes
get snowed in, and
picking up again
in the spring
and summer
ON GUARD: This fi le photograph taken on October 13, 2015, shows Afghan security personnel stand-
ing guard on an armoured vehicle at a checkpoint in Ghazni. The Afghan Taliban announced on
Tuesday the start of their ‘spring off ensive’ even as the government in Kabul tries to bring the insur-
gents back to the negotiating table to end their drawn-out confl ict. - AFP
Tough Philippine anti-crime mayor tops second poll
MANILA: A tough crime-fi ghting mayor in the Philippine came out on top in an opinion poll for the second time in two days on Tues-day, less than a month before an election to fi nd a successor to President Benigno Aquino.
Rodrigo Duterte, 71, mayor of Davao City in the southern Phil-ippines, has vowed to end corrup-tion and crime six months into his presidency if elected on May 9.
The election is being closely watched by investors, who fear the political succession in one of Asia’s fastest growing economies could derail gains made during Aquino’s six-year single term.
Duterte was the top choice of 30 per cent of 4,000 respondents in the March 29 to April 3 survey commissioned by broadcaster ABS-CBN. Duterte gained six points from the previous ABS-CBN poll in mid-March. His tough stand on crime has begun to reso-nate with many Filipinos.
The ex-frontrunner, Senator Grace Poe, lost three points in the latest poll and dropped to second place with 25 per cent of respond-ents making her their fi rst choice. Vice President Jejomar Binay and former interior minister Manuel Roxas, who is favoured by the president for the job, remained in third and fourth place with 20 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively. On Monday, a poll by the Social Weather Stations Organisation showed Duterte on top with 27 per cent of 1,500 respondents. Poe was in second place, losing four points to 23 per cent, in that survey. - Reuters
M A Y 9 E L E C T I O N
According to NATO commanders, the Taliban exert control over only six per cent of Afghanistan but up to a third of the country is at risk from the insurgents and government forces control no more than 70 per cent of territory.
A14
GLOBAL EYEW E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
SINGAPORE: A general view of the lobby area inside the Regent Seven Seas Voyager cruise ship which is currently berthed at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre in Singapore on Tuesday. US-based cruise liner
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCL) is on track to venture into China next year with a ship tailor-made just for the Chinese market, a company offi cial said. Demand for cruises are rising in China, driven by
the country’s growing middle class, said Steve Odell, NCL senior vice president and managing director for the Asia Pacifi c. — AFP
FRANCE: Alister Shipman from Britain and Hannah Simpson from Northern Ireland, winners of a competition on the Airbnb accommo-
dation site, look at a shark tank from an underwater bedroom at the Aquarium de Paris on April 11, 2016 in Paris, France. The winners
were off ered a free one night stay in an underwater bedroom surrounded by a shark tank at the French capital city aquarium. — AFP
CHINA: Flower fi elds at seen from an aerial view in Yangzhou,
Jiangsu Province, China, on Sunday, in this photo released on Tues-
day. — Reuters
PERU: A variety of corn is seen in the Andean highlands of Cuzco,
Peru, on Monday. — Reuters
GERMANY: Paratroopers jump out of a US plane during joint training exercises near the southern German town of Burglengenfeld on
Tuesday. Some 912 US, British and Italian service personnel took park in the “Saber Junction 16” training exercises. — AFP/dpa/Armin Weigel
GREECE: A Greek national fl ag fl utters atop the parliament build-
ing in Athens, Greece on Monday. — Reuters
PHILIPPINES: Children play on a trampoline fi lled with balls and
balloon at a mall in Manila, Philippines, on Tuesday. — AFP
A15
WORLDW E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
‘Discrimination hindering solution to migrant crisis’
REJIMON K [email protected]
ISTANBUL: Discrimination to-wards migrants, especially those from Arab region, in European and Western countries is an ob-stacle in resolving the current mi-grant crisis, a top offi cial from the Turkish government said.
“When we carried out a survey two years ago in Germany, 73 per cent of Turkish migrants there had said that discrimination to-wards them was the biggest issue they face. Now, the Syrian cri-sis has worsened than the past. The numbers show that this is the largest number of humans in movement after World War II. But the attitude towards migrants by many countries is not a favourable one, “ Kudret BÜLBÜL, Turks Abroad and Related Communi-ties (YTB) President, told Times of Oman.
According to the offi cial, who also attends EU parliament rep-resenting the Turkey government to discuss migrant issues, change in attitude towards migrants, es-pecially from Arab countries, in European and western countries, is the need of the hour to address the issue. “Citing economy rea-sons, many European countries are turning blind eye towards the migrants. It will not resolve the issues. Countries should think on how to make best use of the cur-rent situation,” the offi cial added.
ConcernsQuoting Turkish Presidential Spokesman İbrahim Kalın, lo-cal media reported that renewed fi ghting in Syria has been fueling Turkey’s concerns over a new wave of migrants from Aleppo.
“Neither the Syrian regime nor its supporters” have been acting in line with the UN’s pri-orities for achieving a political transition,” the media quoted the offi cial as saying.
Meanwhile, another offi cial from the Turkish government’s emergency and disaster man-agement arm, said that Turkey is hosting 2.7 million Syrian mi-grants, which is the total popu-lation of 19 European countries and the major chunk of the funds allocated are spend on welfare of migrants coming into Turkey.
“Since 2011 May, when the Syr-ian confl ict began, migrants have been crossing the border to Tur-
key. We are doing our best to help them, in terms of providing edu-cation, free of charge healthcare and even jobs,” Faut Oktay, the president of AFAD, the emergency and disaster management arm of Turkish government said.
A few months ago, Turkey had granted job visas for Syrian mi-grants in Turkey, which was wel-comed by International Labour Organisation (ILO) as a mark of progress. Recently, to promote
migration through proper chan-nel, Turkey government had also struck a deal with EU as majority of migrants who have travelled to Europe in recent months have done so via Turkey risking their life and allowing human smug-glers to exploit the situation.
According to the deal, Greece will send back migrants who ar-rive on its soil but do not apply for asylum, or whose asylum applica-tion is not accepted. For every Syr-
ian who is sent back to Turkey, the EU will take in a Syrian who offi -cially registered in a Turkish refu-gee camp. The state news agency quoting the latest fi gures from the Interior Ministry’s Directorate General of Migration Management reported that the highest number of Syrians resides in southern and southeastern towns along the Syr-ian border, with the striking excep-tion of Istanbul, home to nearly 400,000 migrants.
‘Change in attitude
towards migrants,
especially from
Arab countries,
in European and
western countries, is
the need of the hour
to address the issue’
Comic gag turns into gaffe for Clinton and New York mayorNEW YORK: A comic gag turned into a gaff e for Democratic presi-dential hopeful Hillary Clinton and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, triggering a social media storm over what some said was their insensitivity to African-Americans.
Clinton, who has the key New York primary coming up next Tuesday, took the stage with de Blasio on Saturday at the Inner Circle, an annual media roast of city and state politicians that tra-ditionally ends with New York’s mayor delivering a snarky rebut-tal in the form of a rehearsed skit, often with the help of Broadway cast members.
This year Leslie Odom Jr., who is black and plays Aaron Burr in the hit Broadway show “Hamil-ton,” participated in the skit in which Clinton kidded de Blasio about his delay in endorsing her bid for the White House.
“Sorry, Hillary, I was running on C.P. Time,” de Blasio said, re-ferring to the phrase “coloured people time” used to indicate chronic lateness.
“I don’t like jokes like that,” Odom said.
Clinton then added: “’Cautious politician time.’ I’ve been there.”
Clinton has strong support from black voters heading into New York state’s Democratic primary next week but some sup-porters worry that Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders has
begun making inroads with them.De Blasio defended the joke
in an appearance on CNN on Monday. “It was clearly a staged event,” he said “... I think people are missing the point here.”
In a statement on Monday, the mayor’s offi ce said, “Let’s be clear, in an evening of satire, the only person this was meant to mock was the mayor himself - period. Certainly no one intended to of-fend anyone.”
A spokesman for Clinton’s campaign referred to the mayor’s statement in response to a re-quest for comment. A publicist for “Hamilton” did not imme-
diately respond to a request for comment.
The New York Daily News put the controversy on its front page on Tuesday with the headline “Skit for Brains.”
The joke set off angry reaction on social media with commenta-tors criticizing Clinton and de Blasio, whose wife Chirlane Mc-Cray is African-American, for insensitivity. “In what kind of twisted world does a POTUS can-didate make a #CPTime joke at a high $ event “inner circle” & ppl think it’s ok... #wakeup,” Jenny Li, @jennyjenli, posted on Twitter on Tuesday. — Reuters
J O K E O N A F R I C A N - A M E R I C A N S
Turkey embarrasses Merkel with complaint
BERLIN/ISTANBUL: Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan has fi led a legal complaint against a German come-dian who recited a crude satirical poem about him on television, em-barrassing Angela Merkel who has only just enlisted the president’s help in tackling the migrant crisis.
The poem, seemingly a deliber-ate provocation by comedian Jan Boehmermann, has exploded into a diplomatic incident that pits freedoms championed by Western Europe against recent moves in Turkey by Erdogan that critics say crack down on dissent.
Merkel, asked about the case, tried to separate the two issues and stressed her commitment to artistic freedom.
Prosecutors in Mainz said Erdogan had fi led a complaint against Boehmermann for insult-ing him. Under the criminal code, he could, if found guilty, be impris-oned for up to a year.
In the March 31 programme, Boehmermann host of late-night “Neo Magazin Royale” on public broadcaster ZDF, recited a poem about Erdogan with references to bestiality and accusations that he repressed minorities and mis-treated Kurds and Christians.
Prosecutors are also conduct-ing a parallel investigation into the comedian on suspicion of the more serious crime of “off ending foreign states’ organs and repre-sentatives” after Turkey made a formal request. If found guilty of that, Boehmermann could face up to three years in prison.
In the second potentially more serious case, the German govern-ment has to authorise prosecutors to go ahead. Berlin will decide on the request from Turkey in the coming days, Merkel said, adding that she cherished artistic free-dom in Germany.
“Turkey is bearing a very big burden in relation to the Syrian civil war but all of that is complete-ly separate from Germany’s fun-damental values... freedom of the press, opinion and science apply and are completely separate from that,” she told reporters.
This clause in question, which seems to require political inter-vention in the justice system, is rarely used, say experts. Some politicians have called for it to be abolished because it is antiquated.
In the last decade or so only a handful of cases have been initi-ated. Media reports say that in the 1960s, the Shah of Iran used the clause against the Koelner Stadt Anzeiger newspaper over a cari-catured montage. The law, which does not appear to exist in most other European countries, leaves Merkel with a conundrum. — Reuters
C A S E A G A I N S T C O M E D I A N
REJIMON K [email protected]
ANKARA: Steps towards ensuring commitment from all countries for addressing migrant issues will be taken at the World Humanitarian Sum-mit, a top offi cial at the Turkish ministry has said.
“At the summit, we will come out with a plan that ensures cooperation and commit-ment from all countries for addressing the migrant crisis. It’s not only our problem or a regional problem. All countries in the world are aff ected by the migrant crisis,” Levant Murat Burhan, ambassador and deputy undersecretary at the Turkey’s Foreign Aff airs Min-istry, told the Times of Oman.
“So, we will look for an im-mediate solution to addressing the current issues and also chalk out a long term strategy that ensures that a migrant crisis does not occur in the world,” the ambassador added.
Turkey, which is home to around 2.5 million Syrian migrants who have fl ed their homeland due to political con-ditions and confl ict, will host the fi rst-ever United Nations (UN) World Humanitarian Summit on May 23 and 24.
Core aims“The fi ve core aims set by the UN to be discussed at the summit are, commitment from political leadership to prevent and end confl ict; upholding the norms that safeguard human-ity; leave no one behind; change people’s lives — from delivering aid to ending need; and invest-ing in humanity,” the ambas-sador said, adding that the movement of humans in large numbers is the biggest problem
the world is facing now. “We look at the summit as
a venue to begin a new era of global cooperation to halting the terrible suff ering of people aff ected by confl icts and disas-ters,” the ambassador added.
Talking to TOO, Omer Cetin, an expert at the Turkish Cooperation and Coordina-tion Agency, which is involved in developmental projects in many crisis-hit countries in the region and Africa, also sounded the same opinion.
“Everyone should come together. Only then can the migrant crisis be resolved. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are doing their part. But we expect more from them,” the offi cial said, adding that alleviating poverty and putting in place develop-mental projects is believed to be one of the measures that will stem the growing migra-tion crisis.
Since the outbreak of the
Syrian war, Turkey has acted as a buff er zone between the Middle East and Europe. It’s one of the places refugees head fi rst, to safety, while they work out what to do next.
Of the one million refugees and migrants who ended up in Europe last year, 800,000 ar-rived in Greece via Turkey.
The International Organi-sation for Migration (IOM) says that more than 143,000 refugees have arrived this year alone, and about 460 have died.
Commenting on the recent deal struck between the Euro-pean Union (EU) and Turkey on returning migrants, who cross the Aegean Sea to Greece, the ambassador said it has been successful.
According to the deal, any refugees arriving in Greece can now expect to be sent back to Turkey if they do not apply for asylum or if their claim is rejected. The deal also says that for every migrant sent back
to Turkey, one Syrian already in Turkey will be resettled in the EU. On April 4, the fi rst group of migrants, around 200, mostly Pakistanis and Afghans, were sent back from Greece, while around 43 refugees in Turkey were resettled across Europe.
Talking about the aid, the ambassador said promises are made by countries; however, unfortunately, many are not fulfi lled on time.
The UN refugees chief recently said nearly half of the $12 billion in funds pledged at a conference in London to help Syrian refugees in the Middle East are yet to be allocated.
Filippo Grandi said he was very concerned by the slow pace, and that it is crucial for honouring the pledges made at the February conference this year. Grandi was speaking at a UN conference on resettling Syrian refugees, at which the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, called for an exponen-tial increase in global solidarity and an end to the demonization of refugees.
Referring to the London conference in February, the UN high commissioner for refugees warned: “More than half the promised funds have not yet been allocated. Rapid disbursement and early alloca-tion are essential to allowing humanitarian organisations to scaling up operations in Syria and the region, and to stabilis-ing displaced populations.”
The confl ict in Syria con-tinues to be by far the biggest driver of migration. But the on-going violence in Afghanistan and Iraq, abuses in Eritrea, as well as poverty in Kosovo, are also leading people to look for new lives elsewhere.
World Humanitarian Summit to discuss cooperation, commitment
AIMING FOR LONG TERM STRATEGY: Levant Murat Burhan,
ambassador and deputy undersecretary at the Turkish For-
eign Aff airs Ministry. – Times of Oman
IN TROUBLED WATERS: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary
Clinton during a ‘Meeting Discussion on Gun Violence Prevention’
at Landmark Theatre in New York on Monday. – AFP
Citing economy reasons, many European countries are turning blind eye towards the migrants. It will not resolve the issues. Countries should think on how to make best use of the current situation
Kudret BÜLBÜL, President, Turks Abroad and Related Communities
A16
WORLDW E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
Tablet lovers add
us on Google +
dd
+
SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY ADD IN GOOGLE+
Two charged, three detained over Brussels, Paris attacks
BRUSSELS: Belgium has charged two more men with ter-rorist off ences linked to last month’s bombings in Brussels and also searched a house related to the attacks in Paris, detaining three people, federal prosecutors said on Tuesday.
A judge charged the two men, identifi ed as Smail F., born in 1984, and Ibrahim F., born in 1988, over alleged links to the rental of a property that investigators believe was used as a “safe house” before the March 22 suicide bombings in Brussels. Prosecutors said in a statement that they had searched a house in the southern Brussels district of Uccle, taking into cus-tody three people for questioning over the November 13 shooting and bombing rampage in Paris.
Prosecutors did not comment
on what was found in the house search but said the three people detained would appear before a judge on Wednesday to decide whether they would be charged.
Investigations into the at-tacks in Paris and Brussels, both claimed by IS militant group, un-veiled signifi cant overlap between the groups that orchestrated them. Belgian prosecutors said on Sunday they had reason to believe
that those behind the Brussels at-tacks, which killed 32 people, had initially planned to strike again in France. Including Smail F., and Ibrahim F., six suspects have been arrested and charged since late last week as a result of investiga-tions into the Brussels bombings.
“They are charged with par-ticipation in the activities of a terrorist group, terrorist murders and attempts to commit terrorist
murders, as a perpetrator, co-per-petrator or accomplice,” prosecu-tors said in their statement.
Police raided the suspected safe house in the central Brussels dis-trict of Etterbeek on Saturday, but found no weapons or explosives.
The Belgian newspaper DH said the two men had been seen on security camera footage en-tering the house the day after the attacks and carrying out several
bags. Prosecutors were not imme-diately available for comment on that report.
Four other suspects were ar-rested on Friday, including Mo-hamed Abrini, who investigators say has confessed to depositing a bomb at Brussels airport, and Osama Krayem, suspected of buy-ing bags used by the bombers.
Abrini is also wanted in connec-tion with the Paris attacks. — Reuters
Investigations
into the attacks in
Paris and Brussels,
both claimed by
IS militant group,
unveiled signifi cant
overlap between
the groups that
orchestrated them
EU off ers plan to tackle corporate tax dodgingBRUSSELS: Large companies would have to publicly disclose tax and fi nancial data under pro-posals the European Commission put forth on Tuesday, in an eff ort to eliminate tax schemes costing European Union states billions of euros in lost tax revenues.
The EU executive’s proposal is part of a broader plan to counter tax avoidance triggered by the LuxLeaks scandal in 2014, which exposed deals by multination-als with EU authorities to reduce their tax bills.
“By using complicated tax ar-rangements, some multination-als can pay nearly a third less tax than companies that only oper-ate in one country,” EU Financial Services Commissioner Jonathan Hill said in a statement. “Our pro-posal to increase transparency will help make companies more accountable.”
Lost revenuesA European Parliament study showed that corporate tax avoid-ance costs EU countries 50 billion to 70 billion euros in lost revenues every year. The Commission had initially planned to impose so-called country-by-country report-ing only for companies’ activities in each of the 28 EU states.
But under pressure after the recent Panama Papers leaks, it made a last-minute change to its proposal, requiring corporations to disclose tax data also in juris-
dictions deemed as tax havens - although EU states have never agreed on a common list of tax ha-vens. Corporate operations in the rest of the world will have to be reported as a single item.
The plan concerns only compa-nies with an annual turnover of at least 750 million euros ($856.65
million) and with activities in the EU. Non-EU fi rms will also be required to publish a tax report if they have a subsidiary in an EU country. Data to be made public on a country-by-country basis include tax paid and tax accrued, profi ts, turnover, earnings and number of employees.
EU states and the Parliament need to approve the Commission’s proposals to turn them into law.
The proposed measures raised concerns among anti-corrup-tion campaigners, who accused Brussels of being too soft on tax evasion. Business associations warned that the plan would dam-
age EU companies.“We do not wish to see the EU
become a destination which busi-nesses consider too reputational-ly risky and administratively bur-densome in which to invest,” said Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of tax at ACCA, a global accounting body. He called for limiting disclo-sures to tax authorities, avoiding a general public display.
“Competitors will acquire sen-sible information on the structure and margins of a company due to the obligation of reporting”, said Markus Kerber, chief of the Ger-man industry association BDI. Centre-right lawmakers shared those concerns.
But tax transparency activists and centre-left lawmakers ac-cused the Commission of not go-ing far enough. Advocacy group Oxfam held a demonstration on Tuesday against tax havens in the EU district in Brussels, calling for the disclosure of tax information in all countries where companies operate. “The Commission is only proposing reporting obligations for fi rms’ activities in a restricted list of countries, mainly within Europe, with crucial countries like the US and Switzerland ex-cluded,” EU Green lawmaker Molly Scott Cato said.
“Unless the reporting obliga-tions cover all countries, it will be impossible to fi nd out if and how fi rms are channelling funds to tax havens,” she said. — Reuters
M U L T I N A T I O N A L S ’ D A T A
Five soldiers, 30 militants killed in Turkey southeast
DIYARBAKIR: Five Turkish soldiers and 30 Kurdish mili-tants have been killed in the past 24 hours in attacks and clashes across Turkey’s turbulent south-east region, security sources and the army said on Tuesday.
An estimated 57 people, includ-ing eight civilians, were wounded in the attacks, they said.
Thousands of militants and hundreds of civilians and soldiers have been killed since the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) resumed its insurgency last sum-mer, wrecking a 2-1/2-year cease-fi re and peace process.
No negotiationThe government has ruled out any return to the negotiating table and has vowed to crush the PKK, which is considered a terrorist or-ganisation by Turkey and its West-ern allies.
The security sources said opera-tions in Sirnak province neighbour-ing Iraq and Syria had been stepped up and that gunfi re and explosions could be heard in the area where earlier one soldier was killed and three others wounded. A soldier was also killed and four wounded in an explosion in Daglica, a village in Hakkari province near the Iranian border, during clashes with the PKK, the army said.
A third soldier was killed in an explosion in the border town of Nusaybin near Syria as troops entered a building during secu-rity operations. Three other sol-diers were wounded with one in serious condition, the security sources said. — Reuters
V I O L E N C E
Iceland minister will not quit over Panama Papers leaks
LONDON: Iceland’s Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktsson said on Tuesday he would not resign over the Panama Papers leaks, which showed he once had a stake in an off shore investment fi rm in the Seychelles.
Asked by reporters in London whether he would quit, Benedikts-son answered: “No”.
The statement came a week af-ter Sigmundur David Gunnlaugs-son resigned as prime minister over the leaked documents which showed his wife owned an off shore company that held debt from failed Icelandic banks.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which saw the leaked papers from Pana-manian lawyers Mossack Fonseca, said they showed Benediktsson and two Icelandic businessmen had power of attorney over a shell company called Falson & Co. cre-ated in 2005 in the Seychelles.
Confi rmedThe Consortium reported that Benediktsson had confi rmed he owned a third of the company and had said it was set up for investing in four apartments in a building which was being built in Dubai, but that the company had been wound down in 2009. — Reuters
O F F S H O R E I N V E S T M E N T
Tolerance, resilience helps Russians avert deeper economic crisisMIASS (RUSSIA): In Russia’s in-dustrial heartland, people are fi nd-ing ways to cope with an economic crisis that has stretched household budgets to breaking point.
The stories told in Miass, a mid-sized city in the Urals that is home to a sprawling truck factory and a plant that makes missiles for sub-marines, show how people’s toler-ance and resilience have helped avert a deeper economic slump.
Nikolai Matveev, a trucker, said his family had saved on food by eating home-grown vegetables and meat from the animals he shoots while hunting. “Our wives are also experts at saving a few kopecks here and there,” he told Reuters. “Shortages in Soviet times taught them well.”
Other workers have moonlight-ed as taxi drivers to supplement incomes slashed in real terms by
soaring infl ation and bought cheap-er products as prices have risen. Some have had their nominal wag-es cut, too: lower pay has been an important safety valve for the Rus-sian economy, helping businesses keep costs down as demand fl ags. The weaker rouble, which helped drive infl ation to 12.9 per cent last year, has meanwhile cushioned the blow to government fi nances from the collapse in oil prices and made some Russian goods more competi-tive overseas.
Economists say fi rms in the West typically fi re more staff dur-ing crises as workers, supported by their stronger trade unions, would not stand for wages sliding so much. “In Russia it’s diff erent, it’s much more important to work even if you work for less,” said Ivan Tchakarov, a Russia-focused economist at US bank Citi. “It’s
the price (of labour) that adjusts not the quantity.” Russian workers still spend the bulk of their earn-ings on day-to-day needs, meaning they typically economise on things such as food and clothes. Fewer people have long-term mortgages, student loans or expensive habits.
The Ural truck factory, whose grey headquarters dominate one of Miass’ central squares, illustrates how some fi rms have stayed afl oat.
Built during World War Two, it produces everything from dumper trucks to military vehicles and sells to former Soviet countries, Africa and Latin America.
The weaker rouble has made Ural vehicles cheaper for custom-ers abroad. It reduced payroll ex-penses by temporarily introducing a shorter working week late last year and has fi red 140 of several thousand employees in the past six
months, though workers say doz-ens more left by consent.
An assembly line worker said he earned around 25,000 roubles ($375) a month for an eight-hour shift and that his salary had not risen since 2011, which equates to a reduction in real wages of around 30 per cent when infl ation is fac-tored in. Still, he was not planning to quit his job. “I’m not sure I can fi nd anything better,” the worker said, speaking in a deserted cafe on the Prospect of the Car Factory Workers, Miass’ main drag.
Ural’s owner GAZ Group de-clined to arrange a meeting with its management, but its press of-fi ce said salaries corresponded with those at other fi rms locally and were adjusted with workers’ performance. Last year’s output of around 7,900 vehicles was similar to 2014, as exports off set falling
Russian sales, GAZ Group said. Cheaper labour costs and cur-rency weakness explain why Rus-sian fi rms’ profi ts in rouble terms jumped over 50 per cent in 2015 even as the economy shrank by 3.7 per cent. People’s willingness to ac-cept lower wages has also helped avert social and political unrest similar to the demonstrations in large Russian cities in 2011-12 that briefl y challenged Vladimir Putin’s government. Despite declining liv-ing standards there were no large protests in Russia’s regions last year and few predict there will be before a parliamentary vote in Sep-tember that the pro-Putin United Russia party is on course to win.
Putin’s approval ratings are close to all-time highs after the 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, while his opponents are in disarray and confi ned by laws
restricting protests and their lack of access to state media.
Igor Stepanov, owner of Prom-print, a fi rm in Miass that makes home furnishings, said Russians were patient because they had lived through much worse. “Our country has suff ered too much in various confl icts,” he said.
Alexander Ivanov, director of Miass’ employment centre, said offi cials had spoken with local fi rms about how they handled lay-off s to try to preserve stability.
“We say to businesses: we all live in the same city, so if you must cut people, let’s do it in such a way that there aren’t any shocks,” he added.
Ivanov said offi cial unemploy-ment in Miass was around 3 per cent, half the level during the 2008-09 global fi nancial crisis, al-though some joblessness was hid-den. — Reuters
U R A L S
CLOSE WATCH: A soldier controls motorists arriving at Brussels’ airport in Zaventem, on Monday. Belgian prosecutors said on Sunday
they had reason to believe that those behind the Brussels attacks had initially planned to strike again in France. – AFP
PROTEST AGAINST CORRUPTION: Activists take part in a demonstration outside the European Com-
mission (EC) headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday. – Reuters
MARKEWWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMW E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6B
Muscat
5,728.72 + 47.50
+ 0.84%
Dubai
3,473.82+ 49.91
+ 1.46%
Abu Dhabi
4,408.15+ 17.17
+ 0.39%
Saudi Arabia
6,403.60+ 92.0
+ 1.46%
Kuwait
5,275.04- 9.33
- 0.18%
Bahrain
1,121.82+ 5.48
+ 0.49%
Qatar
10,246.29+ 86.63
+ 0.85%
CURRENCY RATES* DRAFT RATES (OMR1)* GOLD PRICES*Forex rates vs OMR1*
US Dollar ................................. 2.58
Euro ............................................2.25
Pound ............................................1.81
Indian Rs ............................. 172.27
Pak Rs ....................................267.45
Bangla Taka......................200.96* Rates are as of Apr. 12
Source: Bank Muscat
Indian Rs ...................................172.30
Pakistan Rs ............................. 271.80
Sri Lanka Rs ..................................N/A
Bangla Taka........................... 203.40
Phil Peso .................................... 119.45
* Rates as of Apr. 12 Source: Oman UAE Exchange
Muscat 24ct per gm (OMR) .......16.05
Muscat 22ct per gm (OMR) .......15.40
Dubai 24ct per gm (Dh) ............ 151.05
Dubai 22ct per gm (Dh) .............142.25
* Rates as of Apr. 12
Source: Malabar Gold & Diamonds
Type ............................Delivery...........Price
Oman Crude ............. (Spot) ........ $39.72
Dubai Crude ............. (Spot) ........$39.52
Murban Crude ........ (Spot) .........$41.58
Arabian Light ......... (Spot) ........$38.87
N.Sea Brent ............... (Spot) ........$43.23
West Texas Int ....... (Spot) ........$40.53
CRUDE OIL PRICE
DIGEST VIDEO
S CA N T H I S Q R CO D E TO I N STA N T LY L AU N C H T H E V I D EO
Top stories in one minute with our new daily Digest
Power firms in Oman to invest OMR400m
MUSCAT: Power fi rms in Oman plan to invest around OMR400 million for expanding and upgrad-ing transmission and distribution networks this year, a top-level of-fi cial of Electricity Holding Com-pany (or Nama Group) told Times of Oman.
Eng. Omar Khalfan Al Wahaibi, chief executive offi cer of Nama Group, said that the group fi rms have invested approximately OMR400 million in 2015 in trans-mission and distribution networks to expand and improve services by delivering more than 90 per cent of its annual project budget for the fi rst time in the group’s history.
“This signifi cant achievement has enabled us to increase our net-work reliability and increase the
number of customers by 7 per cent to exceed one million customers by the end of 2015,” added Eng. Al Wahaibi, while addressing the in-augural ceremony of Knowledge Sharing Conference.
The Nama Group fi rms also raised power supply to 29,000 gi-gawatt per hour, an increase of 14 per cent over 2014.
He also said that the group fi rms have already raised funds from the market and not using government funding now. “We have already raised enough funds for this year. It is a programme for this year and previous year, which are mainly for investing in development of transmission and distribution lines.” The borrowing is carried out by individual compa-nies in close coordination with the holding company.
Eng. Al Wahabi said that the
operating performance indicators showed improvements with a re-duction in distribution loss from 10.3 per cent in 2014 to 9.5 per cent in 2015 in north of Oman, which represents a 92 per cent of elec-tricity consumption in the country. Further, the gas consumption per unit generated also declined by 8.5 per cent to reach 267 cubic meters per megawatt/hour by the end of last year. The human resource effi -ciency has also improved in terms of number of customer served by 6 per cent. Now, each employee is serving 349 customers, compared to 329 in 2014.
Nama Group held the inau-guration ceremony for Knowl-edge Sharing Conference 2016 (KSC16), under the auspices of Sultan bin Salim Al Habsi, sec-retary general of the Supreme Council for Planning, at the Grand
Hyatt Muscat Hotel on Monday. The conference was designed and implemented for the fi rst time in 2013 to provide a platform for all electricity sector stakeholders to discuss the latest developments and best practices that have con-tributed in the implementation of the Nama Group’s strategy, which consists of human resources, asset management, customer service, communication and health, safety and environment.
The ceremony also covered the launch of the fi rst sustainabil-ity report, which was prepared ac-cording to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. The report measures the sustainability performance of all Nama Group companies for 2014-15 period.
Nama group honoured its mem-ber companies for their achieve-ments at the event. The winner of the HSE category was Oman Elec-tricity Transmission Company and the most improved was Majan Electricity Company.
The winner of the HR category was Muscat Electricity Distribu-tion Company.
Customer service strategy aims at providing the best services for the customers. The criteria of choosing the best company de-pends on elements including new connection time, call center ser-vice level, meter reading, billing process and customer satisfac-tion survey.
In customer service strategy category, the winner was Rural Ar-eas Electricity Company and the most improved was Dhofar Power Company.
Investments
will be made in
transmission
and distribution
networks to expand
and further improve
services in Oman, a
top offi cial said
Crude production falls marginallyTimes News Service
MUSCAT: Oman’s production of crude oil and condensates in March stood at 30.26 million bar-rels, which indicates a fall of 3.69 per cent compared to the previ-ous month.
The average daily crude oil production stood at 976,253 bar-rels, said a monthly report re-leased by the Ministry of Oil and Gas on Tuesday.
China’s crude oil imports from Oman witnessed an 8 per cent growth in March compared to February 2016, while the Sultan-ates exports to Taiwan fell by 5.29 per cent.
Japan and India have joined once again the list of importers of Oman’s Crude.
Export marketsAmerican market is competing with traditional Asian buyers, as it was ranked second behind China with 6.62 per cent export, tying with South Korea in the same month.
Crude oil prices have seen a remarkable increase around the world in March 2016, continu-ing on the same rate of increase of prices in February 2016, rising above $6 per barrel, compared with the settlement price for February 2016, with an average oil price of West Texas Ameri-can in the Stock Exchange New York commodities (NYMEX) ($39.12) with an increase of ($6.92) compared with a trade in February 2016.
The average North Sea Brent at the Intercontinental Exchange
(ICE) in London rate stood at $39.79 a barrel, $6.26 higher than compared to February 2016.
Oman Crude has also risen in Dubai Mercantile Exchange for more than 20 per cent compared with last month.
Oman Crude’s average price for delivery in May 2016 was $36.34 per barrel, recording an increase of $6.11 a barrel com-pared to the price for delivery in April, this year.
E N E R G Y P R O D U C T I O N
ALL SMILES: The Nama Group fi rms also raised power supply to
29,000 gigawatt per hour, an increase of 14 per cent over 2014.
- Picture by O K Mohammed Ali/Times of Oman
IMF warns of global stagnation as it cuts economic growth outlook againWASHINGTON: A prolonged period of slow growth has left the global economy more exposed to negative shocks and raised the risk that the world will slide into stagnation, the IMF warned.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its world expan-sion forecast, as weak exports and slowing investment dim pros-pects in the US, a consumption-tax hike saps growth in Japan, and a slump in the price of everything from oil to wheat continues to hobble commodities producers. The world economy will grow 3.2 per cent this year, down from a projected 3.4 per cent in Janu-ary, the IMF said on Tuesday in a quarterly update to its World Eco-nomic Outlook.
The weaker outlook is likely to weigh on fi nance ministers and central bankers from around the globe, who gather in Washington this week for spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank, as well as a Group of 20 session. The fund also cut its forecast for growth in
2017 to 3.5 per cent, down from 3.6 per cent three months ago.
“Growth has been too slow for too long,” IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld said in remarks prepared for a press briefi ng. “There is no longer much room for error.”
“But by clearly recognising the risks they jointly face and acting together to prepare for them, na-tional policy makers can bolster confi dence, support growth, and guard more eff ectively against the risk of a derailed recovery,” he said.
Return of fi nancial turmoilThe IMF cited among the biggest risks as a “return of fi nancial tur-moil itself, impairing confi dence and demand in a self-confi rming negative feedback loop.”
“Another threat is that persis-tent slow growth has scarring eff ects that themselves reduce potential output and with it, con-sumption and investment,” the IMF said.
“Consecutive downgrades of future economic prospects carry the risk of a world economy that reaches stalling speed and falls into widespread secular stagnation.”
The fund cited several politi-cal and geopolitical pressures, in-cluding the rise of populism in the
US and Europe; the UK’s June ref-erendum on whether to stay in the European Union; and large-scale refugee infl ows that add to strains in Europe.
While growth forecasts for the US and euro area were marked down by 0.2 percentage point, the deepest reductions in advanced economies came in Japan.
The IMF cut its expansion es-timate for the nation in half for 2016, to 0.5 per cent, and projects a 0.1 per cent contraction in 2017, compared with a previous forecast for 0.3 per cent growth. The fund cited recent strengthening of the yen and weaker emerging-market demand for the forecast cut, and the scheduled consumption-tax increase for the 2017 slide.
One bright spot: The IMF up-graded its China growth forecasts by 0.2 percentage point for this year and next, following signs of “resilient domestic demand” and growth in services that off set weakness in manufacturing.
— Bloomberg News
G L O B A L G R O W T H
LONDON: Oil prices rose above $43 a barrel to its highest level so far in 2016 on Tuesday, supported by hopes that a meeting of oil produc-ers will agree steps to tackle a supply glut, a weak US dollar and further signs of strong demand in China.
Brent crude was up 47 cents at $43.30 a barrel at 1222GMT having reached a 2016 high of $43.58 earlier in the session. US crude rose 20 cents to $40.56.
Oil prices have col-lapsed from above $100 in mid-2014 due to oversupply. — Reuters
OMAN OIL PRICE RISES Oman Crude (June delivery) reached $39.94 per barrel. A Dubai Mercantile Exchange statement said that the price of Oman Crude rose $1.58 a barrel from its level on Monday. — ONA
Maurice Obstfeld.
— Bloomberg fi le picture
Oil prices hit above $43
B2
MARKETW E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
Digitisation will help economy and create jobs: Cisco Oman chief
ERIK [email protected]
MUSCAT: In Oman, there is a massive opportunity to improve effi ciency, generate new jobs and boost growth of Oman’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by advancing digitisation in both companies and government, said John Hoonhout, General Man-ager of Cisco Oman.
“With people connected to the Internet through an ever growing number of devices, there are lots opportunities to advance the dig-itisation in Oman,” he said.
He said that Cisco’s role in Oman is accelerating digitisation of the country in cooperation with Oman’s authorities.
“This provides an opportunity to companies and governments to digitise their operations, rein-venting yourself to take advan-tage of this tremendous change,” he said. Hoonhout said that the outcome of digitisation is job cre-ation and GDP growth.
He stressed the importance ofeducating the national work-force to enable them to advance the digitisation in Oman.
“Building a knowledgeable workforce is one of the most critical elements of a country’s digitisation journey,” he said.
Cisco’s role herein is providing Omani students with training op-portunities. “What we are very proud of, is our Cisco Network Academies, which have been op-erating for a number of years in Oman,” he said.
He said that over 4,000 stu-dents at any one time benefi t from the Cisco curriculum train-ing programme at one of the tech-nical colleges in Oman, training them with the essentials of IT as well as knowledge of IT network-ing, the latter of which is Cisco’s core business. According to Hoonhout, 14,000 students have benefi ted from the training pro-
gramme since its inception. “We’ve already touched a lot of
people with this process,” he said.He said that at the moment,
there are 14 active Cisco Network Academies hosted in the Sultan-ate, utilising Cisco curriculum with local instructors.
“Last year more than 60 per cent of the students were female participants,” he said.
Training programmesHoonhout said that in the future, more courses will be added to the training programmes, such as courses on innovation and entre-preneurship.
Another area Cisco is focus-ing on is the cooperation with The Research Council (TRC) to stimulate local innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives.
In addition, Cisco is working with the Omani government to build a common vision for the digitisation agenda of the coun-try, which aims to increase GDP growth and generate new jobs. “We are working with the ITA [Information Technology Au-thority] to help them set a vision for the future,” he said.
“We want to create more tech-nology leaders, early adopters, people that want to reinvent themselves.
When asked what number of students are aimed to be trained and the number of jobs this dig-itisation would create, Hoonhout told the Times of Oman that this is not yet known. “The country digitisation programme is still under construction and specifi c target and objectives are not yet quantifi ed,” he said.
He said that Cisco off ers global experience in advancing digitisa-tion in Oman, which will bring the people of Oman the ability to han-dle their aff airs with the govern-ment online instead of visiting an offi ce and replacing physical doc-uments with electronic processes.
T E C H N O L O G Y
Alibaba expands in Asia with $1b Lazada deal
HONG KONG: Alibaba Group ex-panded its e-commerce footprint to fast-growing Southeast Asia with a $1 billion deal for control of Lazada Group as it seeks more sales from beyond China.
The company will pay $500 mil-lion for new shares in the closely held company and also purchase stock from existing investors, Alib-aba said in a statement on Tuesday. Investors in Lazada to sell stakes include Rocket Internet, Tesco and Investment AB Kinnevik .
Alibaba chairman Jack Ma has set a goal of getting at least half the company’s revenue from overseas, with the Lazada deal adding sales of clothing and electronics in six Southeast Asian markets. While Alibaba has come to dominate e-commerce in its home market, it remains dependent on China for the vast majority of its business.
“It has huge cash sitting on its balance sheet so it can do this kind of investment. It’s also seeking for some future growth drivers,” said
Marie Sun, an analyst at Morning-star Investment Service.
“It needs to fi nd some other place for future growth.”
The agreement values all of La-zada at $1.5 billion, Rocket said in a separate statement.
Lazada’s operationsFounded in 2012 by Rocket, La-zada operates in Indonesia, Ma-laysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Indonesia, where it competes with Tokopedia and MatahariMall, is Southeast Asia’s largest economy, with 256 million people.
“Overseas expansion requires a lot of investment in logistics, it would take Alibaba much longer to build the business from the ground up,” said Li Yujie, an analyst with RHB Research Institute Sdn in Hong Kong. “What Alibaba could do is integrate the businesses and
introduce more existing mer-chants to Lazada to export their products overseas.”
The deal also includes options to buy out certain Lazada sharehold-ers in a 12 to 18 month period after the deal closes, it said. Credit Sui-sse Group AG advised Alibaba and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was fi -nancial adviser to Lazada.
“With the investment in La-zada, Alibaba gains access to a platform with a large and growing consumer base outside China, a proven management team and a solid foundation,” Alibaba Presi-dent Michael Evans said in the statement. - Bloomberg News
As it seeks more sales from beyond China,
Alibaba expanded its e-commerce footprint
with a $1 billion deal to control Lazada Group
HAVE YOUR SAY Send us your comments at facebook.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com [email protected]
EXPANSION MODE: Alibaba chairman Jack Ma has set a goal of getting at least half the company’s revenue from overseas, with the La-
zada deal adding sales of clothing and electronics in six Southeast Asian markets. – Bloomberg News
Facebook’s Messenger app now opened to commerceNEW YORK: Facebook has changed the way people com-municate and turned private activities like family vacations into semi-public events. For its next behaviour-molding trick, Facebook is making over its Messenger app into a hub for commercial activity.
Facebook is treading carefully, but it is still at a delicate point where Messenger could be the company’s next world-changing moneymaker or its biggest fl op. Messenger’s ranking among most downloaded United States mobile apps is number two.
Facebook in the last year or so has started to shift Messenger — which more than 900 million peo-ple use each month to exchange text messages and silly Gifs with their Facebook friends — into a way for businesses to interact with their customers. Facebook has started slowly with a hand-ful of partners that let people use Messenger to hail an Uber car, track a package or ask a Hyatt ho-tel for a warm blanket hours be-fore check-in.
Business usesStarting on Tuesday at a big com-pany conference, Facebook is expected to detail an expansion of business activity on Messen-ger by opening it up to even more business uses.
It’s smart to hunt for ways to replace particularly unsatisfying or annoying calls and emails to dispute a credit card charge, keep tabs on deliveries or deal with a cable TV outage. Many commer-cial interactions feel as if they are taking place in the last century, particularly to younger people who wouldn’t be caught dead call-ing a customer service hot line.
Still, both Facebook and its part-ners must fi nd the right activity to prove Messenger can be more use-ful than phone calls or emails and to make sure the app doesn’t get bogged down with spam.
There are some natural areas where business activity makes sense on Messenger. Because Messenger has a single running
thread of messages with each individual or business, the app makes it easy to pick up where a previous transaction or interac-tion left off . It’s easy to imagine a shopper ordering a skirt from Macy’s using Messenger, track-ing the package as it winds its way to her home, messaging Macy’s again to swap her order for a dif-ferent size and reconnect on Mes-senger a few months later when the shopper decides she wants to buy the skirt in another color.
It would also be smart for Face-book to follow the lead of Twitter, which recently allowed to indi-viduals with customer service complaints or other issues.
Second-most popularWhile Facebook Messenger is the second-most-popular mobile app in the country behind Facebook itself, according to ComScore, Messenger hasn’t been a place where business happens. Then again, neither was Facebook’s so-cial network in the beginning, but now news organisations, big com-panies like Ford and the local cafe have set up shop there and pay Fa-cebook to make themselves more visible to potential customers.
There are some early signs businesses and consumers are interested in using Messenger for
interactions. Davis Marcus, the executive in charge of Messenger, said more than 1 billion messages are sent each month between peo-ple and businesses on Messenger or on Facebook’s pages function. Since it added Messenger as a customer service option last year, Hyatt said, the company’s monthly volume of Messenger interac-tions increased eight to 10 times.
Customer-service softwareE-commerce company Everlane has roughly 750 customer ses-sions each week through Mes-senger, according to Zendesk, which provides the company’s customer-service software. That no doubt is a fraction of Ever-lane’s interactions by email. Hy-att also says Twitter is far more popular than Messenger as a digital customer-service tool. But it’s still early, and at least in small doses these are signs that people are open to business interactions on Messenger.
Facebook hasn’t said how it plans to make money from busi-ness activity on Messenger, and it likely won’t this week, either. The company could sell ads for busi-nesses to get themselves noticed on Messenger or take a cut of e-commerce sales made through Messenger. - Bloomberg News
S O C I A L M E D I A
Facebook has started
slowly with a handful
of partners that let
people use Messenger
to hail an Uber car,
track a package or
ask a Hyatt hotel for
a warm blanket hours
before check-in
B3W E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
MARKET
Kuwait seeks to lift crude output at four-decade high
KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait Oil Company will soon off er contracts for off shore rigs and support ser-vices to drill its fi rst undersea wells as the Gulf nation tries to boost crude output to the highest level in more than four decades.
Kuwait is targeting produc-tion of 3.165 million barrels a day later this year or in 2017, up from the current 3 million barrels a day, chief executive offi cer Jamal Jaafar said on Monday at a confer-ence in Kuwait City.
Doha meeting He made his comments a day af-ter fellow Organisation of Petro-leum Exporting Countries (Opec) member Iraq reported a record level of production and less than a week before some of the biggest oil-producing nations are to dis-cuss freezing output to reduce a glut and shore up prices.
“We are trying to make use of the low cost of production in Ku-wait,” said Jaafar, whose company is the exploration and production arm of national energy group Ku-wait Petroleum Corporation.
Kuwait and Iraq are among members of the Opec that plan to meet other major producers on April 17 in Doha for talks about a
freeze. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Ven-ezuela and Qatar agreed in Febru-ary on a proposal to cap output at January levels, though Iran has refused to participate until it restores production to pre-sanctions levels.
Crude prices have tumbled more than 60 per cent over the last two years. Brent crude was 9 cents higher at $42.92 a barrel in London.
Re-balancing marketsNext week’s meeting in Doha is ‘crucial’ because an agreement by all countries to cap produc-tion will allow the oil market to recover gradually, Algeria’s state-run news agency APS reported on Monday, citing the country’s En-ergy Minister Salah Khebri.
Markets will be oversupplied throughout the fi rst half of this
year but will start to re-balance in the third quarter, Jaafar said.
Kuwait Oil is looking at six off -shore areas to drill its fi rst under-sea wells and plans soon to off er
contracts for the work, he said, without specifying dates. Kuwait, Opec’s fourth-largest member, hasn’t pumped an annual average of more than 3 million barrels a day since 1973, data shows.
Shell projectKuwait will also start a project this year with Royal Dutch Shell to capture carbon dioxide at oil fi elds and re-inject it underground to produce more crude, he said.
Kuwait Oil is tackling more diffi cult crude formations to in-crease production capacity, and it’s testing the injection of chemi-cals and polymers at fi elds in the northern part of the country to enhance recovery.
Crude output in Iraq, Opec’s second-biggest producer, rose 2 per cent to a record 4.55 mil-lion barrels a day last month, the
country’s state-run Oil Marketing Company said on Sunday in an e-mailed statement.
Production in southern Iraq, where most of the country’s big-gest fi elds lie, will remain un-changed this year amid cuts in investment, Ali Haddad Al Fares, head of the energy committee of the Basra regional council, said on Monday in an interview in Kuwait City. Iraq is targeting total output of 6 million barrels a day by 2020, with most of the increase to come from the Basra region, he said.
– Bloomberg News
Gulf state is targeting
production of 3.165
million barrels a day
this year or in 2017,
up from the current 3
million barrels a day
Nomura plans to cut 500-600 jobs in Europe
TOKYO: Nomura Holdings plans to cut 500-600 jobs, mainly in its European cash equities busi-ness, as Japan’s biggest brokerage tries to stem years of heavy losses racked up in its long-term drive to become a major global industry player, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
Some jobs will also go in Nomu-ra’s global markets division in the Americas, the people said, and it wasn’t immediately clear whether Nomura will shut down its Euro-pean cash equities operation en-tirely. The people declined to be identifi ed because they were not authorised to speak to the media.
The retreat signals a heavy blow for Nomura management’s inter-national ambitions. The brokerage bought Lehman Brothers equities and investment banking business in Europe and Asia in 2008, at the height of the global fi nancial crisis, as part of a concerted strategy to expand from its domestic strong-hold and become a major force in international fi nance.
The move comes as other big in-stitutions also scale back in inter-national cash equities due to slug-gish trading volumes and rising costs against a backdrop of jitters about the global economy.
British lender Barclays has closed its cash equities business in Asia, Asia-focused Standard Char-tered closed its equities franchise and Societe Generale shut its India equities research desk.
Nomura’s overseas business is set to report for a sixth straight an-nual pretax loss for the year ended March 2016. Between October and December 2015 alone, the over-seas business lost ¥19.9 billion ($173 million). Joey Wu, a spokes-woman for Nomura based in To-kyo, declined to comment.
As of December 31, Nomura had 3,433 employees in Europe, com-pany data shows. - Reuters
A U S T E R I T Y
Modern Exchange opens new branch in MBDTimes News Service
MUSCAT: Modern Exchange, one of the fastest growing money exchange companies in Oman, has added yet another fi rst to the list of pioneering services. The 23rd branch of Modern Exchange which is also their third Premiere Lounge in the Sultanate has been open to customers from April 11.
The Premiere Lounge branch is located at MBD, near Khana Khazana.
Indra Mani Pandey, India’s am-bassador to the Sultanate and Ja-mal Al Ojaily, vice chairman and chancellor of Sohar University, jointly inaugurated the branch. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Philip Koshy general manager of Modern Exchange, customers and offi cials.
The Premiere Lounge is diff er-ent from a normal branch. These
are exclusive outlets catering to high-end clients. With the Pre-miere Lounge, customers of Mod-ern Exchange need not stand in a queue or go through the hustle and bustle of a crowded branch.
The eligibility of the customers happens through a detailed study conducted by Modern Exchange of their clients’ remittance pattern. The selection is by invitation to these customers and the entry of the customer into any of the Pre-miere Lounges will be through an access card.
Zero-minute remittanceModern Exchange is a pioneer in server-to-server technology ena-bling to off er zero minutes remit-tance to State Bank of India, State Bank of Travancore, HDFC, Feder-al Bank and ICICI. The customers of these banks would get the mon-ey transferred to their account in
India in split seconds even before they leave the branch and SMS confi rmation on remittance in just 3 minutes .
This service is available 24x7x365 days. Modern Exchange uses state-of-the art and technolo-gy to off er seamless credit to other 56 banks in India in hours. Zero Minutes service is specialty of Modern Exchange, which is being off ered to other countries around the globe.
Apart from ground breaking re-mittance facilities which include zero minute remittance, free death insurance coverage, free SMS feedback to clients, free cultural events, Modern Exchange adheres to the philosophy of taking the re-mittance engagement with their customers to a diff erent level.
The Premiere Lounge is another service that is adding to their over-all experience.
S P R E A D I N G W I N G S
IT’S OPEN: Indra Mani Pandey (middle), India’s ambassador to the Sultanate, cutting ribbon to inaugu-
rate the 23rd branch of Modern of Exchange. Jamal Al Ojaily (third from left), vice-chairman of Modern
Exchange and chancellor of Sohar University, Philip Koshy (extreme right), general manager of Mod-
ern Exchange, were also present. - Supplied picture
OFFSHORE CONTRACTS: Kuwait is looking at six off shore areas to drill its fi rst undersea wells and plans to off er contracts for the work.
Kuwait and Iraq are among members of the Opec that plan to meet other producers on April 17 in Doha for talks about a freeze. – Bloomberg News
HAVE YOUR SAY Send us your comments at facebook.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com [email protected]
We are trying to make
use of the low cost of
production in Kuwait
Jamal JaafarChief executive officer, Kuwait Oil
B4
MARKETW E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
MUSCATSECURITIES MARKET
SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR TUESDAY, APRIL 12
REGULAR MARKET .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. .................. 12,715,361 .. 1,277,301...................327 ........... 0.099 ........... 0.102 ...........0.098........... 0.100 .............0.093 ........... 0.007 ............. 7.527 ................0.102 ..............0.102...................0.000 ..................28,998,064.........0.100
OM0000001319 ............NATIONAL ALUMINIUM PRODUCTS ............. 201,607 ........... 49,875......................18 ........... 0.240 ...........0.250 ...........0.240 .......... 0.247 .............0.235 ............0.012 ............. 5.106 ................0.250..............0.245...................0.250 ................... 8,292,148 ..........0.100
OM0000001145 ............PORT SERVICES CORPORATION ....................... 555,596 ..........126,551.....................40 ........... 0.225 ...........0.229 ...........0.225........... 0.228 ............. 0.218.............0.010 ............. 4.587 ................0.229..............0.225...................0.229 .................. 21,669,120 .........0.100
OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES ..................................... 424,000............85,758..................... 36 ............0.199 ...........0.205 ...........0.199 ........... 0.202 ............. 0.195............ 0.007 ............. 3.590 ................0.205............. 0.204...................0.205 .................. 58,711,506 .........0.100
OM0000002366 ...........AL BATINAH DEV. INV. HOLDING ...................... 476,774............ 42,976.....................40 ........... 0.090 ........... 0.091 ...........0.088........... 0.090 .............0.087 ........... 0.003 ............. 3.448 ................0.090..............0.088...................0.090 ...................2,700,000 ..........0.100
OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING ........... 1,878,667 ......232,335................... 101 ............0.122 ........... 0.128 ...........0.122 ........... 0.124 .............0.120 ........... 0.004 ............. 3.333 ................0.124 ..............0.124...................0.125 ................... 11,160,000 .........0.100
OM0000002176 ............AL JAZEERA STEEL PRODUCTS ........................ 447,406 ............76,015..................... 46 ............0.170 ........... 0.173 ...........0.168 ........... 0.170 ............. 0.165............ 0.005 ............. 3.030 ................0.168 .............. 0.168...................0.170 ...................21,232,653 .........0.100
OM0000001962 ............AL MADINA INVESTMENT ................................... 1,485,539 ...... 103,983..................... 76 ........... 0.068 ........... 0.072 ...........0.068........... 0.070 .............0.068 ........... 0.002 ............. 2.941 ................0.069 ..............0.069...................0.070...................14,500,597 .........0.100
OM0000001418 ............RAYSUT CEMENT ....................................................... 40,900 ............ 40,852........................9 ........... 0.980 ........... 1.000 ...........0.980........... 1.000 .............0.972 ........... 0.028 ............. 2.881 ................1.000 ..............1.000................... 1.010 ................. 200,000,000 .......0.100
OM0000002200 ...........AHLI BANK .................................................................... 529,204 ........... 95,235......................14 ............0.176 ........... 0.181............0.176 ........... 0.180 ............. 0.175 ............ 0.005 ............. 2.857 ................ 0.181 .............. 0.181...................0.185 ..................256,506,506 .......0.100
OM0000001533 ............OMINVEST .......................................................................10,831 ...............5,394..................... 10 ........... 0.498 ........... 0.498 ...........0.498 ........... 0.498 .............0.486 ............0.012 ............. 2.469 ................0.498 ..............0.486...................0.498..................316,623,862 ........0.100
OM0000001681 ............OMAN AND EMIRATES INV. HOLDING ........... 2,637,690 .......357,135.....................44 ............0.135 ........... 0.137 ...........0.134 ............0.135 ............. 0.132............ 0.003 ............. 2.273 ................0.135 ..............0.134...................0.136 ................... 16,453,125 .........0.100
OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 4,103,526 ...... 929,816................... 172 ........... 0.223 ...........0.228 ...........0.223........... 0.227 .............0.223 ........... 0.004 ............. 1.794 ................0.225..............0.225...................0.226 ..................34,067,025 .........0.100
OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................ 4,604,076 .....786,536..................... 73 ............0.168 ........... 0.172 ...........0.168 ............0.171 ............. 0.168............ 0.003 ............. 1.786................. 0.171 ...............0.171...................0.172 ..................271,134,864 ........0.100
OM0000004768 ...........AL MADINA TAKAFUL ............................................. 554,214 ...........42,266..................... 34 ........... 0.076 ........... 0.077 ...........0.076 ........... 0.076 .............0.075 ............0.001 ............. 1.333 ................0.077 ..............0.076...................0.077...................13,300,000 .........0.100
OM0000001483 ............NATIONAL BANK OF OMAN ................................. 588,640 ......... 158,833..................... 25 ........... 0.267 ........... 0.270 ...........0.267........... 0.270 .............0.267 ........... 0.003 ............. 1.124 ................0.270..............0.270...................0.273..................398,190,944........0.100
OM0000002226 ...........AL JAZEERA SERVICES ............................................40,875 .............11,026........................6 ........... 0.270 ........... 0.270 ...........0.269........... 0.270 .............0.267 ........... 0.003 ............. 1.124 ................0.270..............0.269...................0.270 .................. 16,525,154 .........0.100
OM0000002028 ...........GULF INTERNATIONAL CHEMICALS ............ 287,622 ........... 79,258..................... 97 ........... 0.275 ........... 0.278 ...........0.274 ........... 0.276 .............0.273 ........... 0.003 ............. 1.099 ................0.278 ..............0.277...................0.278.................... 5,796,000 ..........0.100
OM0000001509 ............DHOFAR INT.DEV.AND INV. HOLD. ..................... 17,206 ............... 6,727........................5 ........... 0.392 ........... 0.392 ...........0.384........... 0.390 .............0.386 ........... 0.004 ............. 1.036 ................0.384..............0.380...................0.394 ..................96,096,000.........0.100
OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS ..................................................74,634 ............ 30,834..................... 30 ............0.410 ........... 0.414 ...........0.410 ........... 0.414 ............. 0.410............ 0.004 ............. 0.976 ................0.414 .............. 0.412...................0.414 ...................21,735,000 .........0.100
OM0000001749 ............OMAN CEMENT .......................................................... 411,310 ...........195,316........................3 ........... 0.470 ...........0.480 ...........0.470 ........... 0.474 .............0.470 ........... 0.004 ............. 0.851 ................0.480..............0.470...................0.480 .................156,833,665 ........0.100
OM0000001087 ............OMAN UNITED INSURANCE ............................... 883,546 ..........236,715.....................44 ........... 0.265 ........... 0.270 ...........0.265........... 0.268 .............0.267 ............0.001 ............. 0.375 ................0.270..............0.268...................0.270 ..................26,800,000 ........0.100
OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE .............. 706,499 ......... 153,343......................31 ............0.217 ...........0.220 ...........0.217 ............0.217 ............. 0.217............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.217 .............. 0.217...................0.220 ..................43,400,000 ........0.100
OM0000001707 ............OMAN CABLES INDUSTRY ...................................... 21,015 ............ 35,295........................9 ............1.670 ........... 1.680 ...........1.670 ........... 1.680 ............. 1.680............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.680 .............. 1.680................... 1.720 ..................150,696,000........0.100
OM0000002275 ...........SHELL OMAN MARKETING ..................................... 1,000 ...............1,900........................ 1 ........... 1.900 ........... 1.900 ...........1.900 ........... 1.860 ............. 1.860............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.900 ..............1.860...................1.900..................176,700,000 ........0.100
OM0000002549 ...........BANK DHOFAR .............................................................. 51,880 .............12,966........................2 ........... 0.248 ...........0.250 ...........0.248........... 0.250 .............0.250 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.250..............0.250...................0.255................. 424,800,350 .......0.100
OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ............................................................ 1,182,133 .......470,409......................51 ........... 0.398 ........... 0.398 ...........0.396 ........... 0.398 .............0.398 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.398 ..............0.396...................0.398..................993,507,603 ........0.100
OM0000003661 ............VOLTAMP ENERGY ...........................................................939 ..................404........................2 ........... 0.430 ........... 0.430 ...........0.430........... 0.438 .............0.438 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.430.............. 0.416...................0.430 ..................26,499,000 .........0.100
OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO........................................................................ 50,000 ............ 35,998........................5 ............0.716 ........... 0.720 ........... 0.716 ........... 0.720 .............0.720 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.720 .............. 0.716...................0.720..................468,679,846 .......0.100
OM0000004248 ...........SMN POWER HOLDING .............................................. 2,450 ............... 1,780........................2 ............0.728 ........... 0.728 ...........0.724 ........... 0.732 ............. 0.732............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.724 ............. 0.000...................0.724 ..................146,133,259 ........0.100
OM0000004735 ...........SEMBCORP SALALAH .............................................. 245,048 ........... 64,933..................... 20 ........... 0.265 ........... 0.265 ...........0.264 .......... 0.265 .............0.265 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.265 ..............0.263...................0.265..................252,961,567 ........0.100
OM0000004925 ...........AL BATINAH POWER ................................................ 151,165 .............31,291........................9 ........... 0.207 ...........0.207 ...........0.207........... 0.207 .............0.207 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.207............. 0.206...................0.207 ................. 139,701,698 ........0.100
OM0000004933 ...........AL SUWADI POWER .....................................................55,611 ............. 11,790........................6 ............0.212 ........... 0.212 ...........0.212 ........... 0.212 ............. 0.212 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.212 ..............0.212...................0.220 ................. 151,454,144 ........0.100
OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ..........................90,659 .......... 144,148......................15 ............1.590 ........... 1.595 ...........1.585 ........... 1.590 ............. 1.600 ...........-0.010 ........... -0.625 ...............1.590 .............. 1.590...................1.600 ................1,192,500,000 ......0.100
OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES ......................... 1,576,937 ...... 209,981..................... 68 ............0.132 ........... 0.135 ...........0.130 ............0.133 ............. 0.134............-0.001 ........... -0.746 ...............0.130 ..............0.130...................0.134 .................... 7,826,148 ..........0.100
OM0000003125 ............GLOBAL FINANCIAL INVESTMENT ..................38,044 .............. 4,990........................3 ............0.134 ........... 0.134 ........... 0.131 ............0.131 ............. 0.132............-0.001 ........... -0.758................ 0.131 ..............0.130...................0.133 .................. 26,200,000 ........0.100
OM0000002168 ............AL ANWAR CERAMIC TILES .................................39,854 .............11,239......................17 ........... 0.282 ...........0.282 ...........0.282........... 0.282 .............0.285 ...........-0.003 ............-1.053................0.282..............0.282...................0.285...................83,532,258 .........0.100
.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 37,182,458 .....6,161,204 ............ 1,491 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ......37........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
PARALLEL MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000001053 ............OMAN TEXTILE HOLDING .......................................2,000 .................. 692........................ 1 ........... 0.346 ........... 0.346 ...........0.346........... 0.346 .............0.320 ........... 0.026 ............. 8.125 ................0.346..............0.320...................0.350....................2,076,000 ..........1.000
OM0000001566 ............OMAN FISHERIES ..................................................... 4,873,867 ...... 295,160................... 147 ........... 0.059 ........... 0.063 ...........0.058 ........... 0.061 .............0.058 ........... 0.003 ............. 5.172 ................0.063 ..............0.063...................0.064 ................... 7,625,000 ..........0.100
OM0000002564 ...........AL HASSAN ENGINEERING.................................. 806,598 ............71,945......................51 ........... 0.088 ........... 0.091 ...........0.087 ........... 0.089 .............0.085 ........... 0.004 ............. 4.706 ................0.089 ..............0.088...................0.089.................... 6,693,512 ..........0.100
OM0000004511 ............ALIZZ ISLAMIC BANK.............................................. 1,531,316 ..........96,910..................... 53 ............0.061 ...........0.064 ...........0.061 ........... 0.063 ............. 0.061............ 0.002 ............. 3.279 ................0.064..............0.063...................0.064 ..................63,000,000 ........0.100
OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ................................................................ 15,816,089 .1,253,369...................250 ........... 0.077 ........... 0.081 ...........0.077 ........... 0.079 .............0.077 ........... 0.002 ............. 2.597 ................0.080..............0.079...................0.080 .................118,500,000 ........0.100
OM0000001590 ............MUSCAT FINANCE .................................................... 893,061 ..........103,561..................... 27 ............0.115 ........... 0.116 ............ 0.115 ............0.116 ............. 0.115 .............0.001 ............. 0.870 ................ 0.116 ...............0.115................... 0.116 ...................30,939,007 .........0.100
OM0000001301 ............DHOFAR CATTLE FEED ........................................... 20,000 .............. 4,400........................ 1 ........... 0.220 ...........0.220 ...........0.220 .......... 0.220 ............. 0.219.............0.001 ............. 0.457 ................0.220 ............ 0.220...................0.000 .................. 17,787,000 .........0.100
OM0000001152 ............OMAN NATIONAL ENGINE. INVT. .........................9,051 ............... 1,683........................2 ............0.186 ........... 0.186 ...........0.186 ........... 0.186 ............. 0.186............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.186 .............. 0.183...................0.200 ..................18,600,000 .........0.100
OM0000001368 ............CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IND. .................. 146,000 .............. 5,125........................8 ........... 0.035 ........... 0.036 ...........0.035 ........... 0.035 .............0.035 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.035 ..............0.034...................0.035....................2,975,000 ..........0.100
OM0000001400 ...........OMAN FLOUR MILLS ................................................... 5,000 ...............2,750........................ 1 ........... 0.550 ........... 0.550 ...........0.550 ........... 0.550 .............0.550 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.550 ..............0.550...................0.600 ..................86,625,000 .........0.100
OM0000001475 ............SWEETS OF OMAN ............................................................100 ...................121........................ 1 ............1.210 ........... 1.210............1.210 ........... 1.340 .............1.340 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.210 ............. 0.000................... 1.210 ....................9,380,000 ..........0.100
OM0000001723 ............OMAN ORIX LEASING .............................................. 50,000 ...............5,900........................ 1 ............0.118 ........... 0.118............ 0.118 ............0.118 ............. 0.118 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 0.118 ...............0.115................... 0.118 ...................29,622,649 .........0.100
OM0000005963 ...........PHOENIX POWER ...................................................... 1,352,579 ......205,547..................... 47 ............0.152 ........... 0.152 ...........0.150 ............0.152 ............. 0.152............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.152 ...............0.151...................0.152 ..................222,315,422........0.100
.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 25,505,661 .....2,047,164 ...............590 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ...... 13........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
BONDS AND SUKUK MARKET ...................................................................................................................................................................... OM0000004628 ...........BANK SOHAR BONDS 4.5 ................................................ 195 .................... 20........................3 ............0.104 ........... 0.104 ...........0.104 ........... 0.109 ............. 0.109 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.104 ..............0.070...................0.105 .................... 7,793,500 ..........0.100
OM0000005971 ............B.MUSCAT COMPL. CONVR. B.B.3.5 ...........................742 .....................69........................ 1 ........... 0.093 ........... 0.093 ...........0.093........... 0.093 .............0.093 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.093 ..............0.093...................0.099................... 30,147,030 .........0.100
OM0000004867 ...........BANK MUSCAT C C B 4.5 .......................................... 20,000 ............... 2,051........................2 ............0.104 ........... 0.104 ...........0.102 ........... 0.103 .............0.104 ...........-0.001 ........... -0.962 ...............0.102 ..............0.102...................0.104...................32,923,196 .........0.100
.............................................SUM: ....................................................................................20,937 ...............2,140........................6 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ........ 3........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
ISIN ......................................SECURITY NAME .................................................................. VOLUME ..... TURNOVER ............TRADES ......OPEN PRICE ......HIGH ............. LOW ........ CLOSE PR. ...PREV. CLOSE...DIFF (RO).........DIFF % ............. LAST PR .....LAST BID .............LAST OFFER ........MARKET CAP .PAR VALUE
O M A N S T O C K S
INDICESIndex .................................................High .................Low ..................... Value ............... Prev . Value.......... Diff ...............Diff %MSM30 Index ........................................ 5,728.73 ...............5,683.18 ....................5,728.72 ................... 5,681.22 ..................47.50 ...................0.84Financial Index ..................................... 7,427.37 ...............7,328.36 ....................7,426.31 ................... 7,330.69 ................. 95.62 ................... 1.30Industrial Index ................................... 6,969.90 ............... 6,910.75 ....................6,963.75 ....................6,881.76 ..................81.99 ................... 1.19Services Index .......................................3,156.53 ...............3,146.63 ....................3,156.53 ................... 3,146.63 ....................9.90 ................... 0.31MSM SHARIAH INDEX....................... 861.13 .................. 854.91 .......................860.79 ...................... 855.30 ....................5.49 ................... 0.64
Trading SummaryVolume ................ Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up ............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded62,709,056 ................. 8,210,508 ................. 2,087 ............... 16,725,889,930 ................29 ........................5 .................... 19 .........................53
MSM index ends higher
MUSCAT: Supported by heavy trading activity, the MSM30 In-dex stayed on its bullish course to close at 5,728.72 points, up 0.84 per cent. The MSM Sharia Index gained by 0.64 per cent to close at 860.79 points.
Bank Nizwa was the most ac-tive in terms of volume, while Galfar Engineering led in terms of turnover. Oman Textiles was the top gainer, up by 8.13 per cent, while Al Anwar Ceramics was the top loser, with loss of 1.05 per cent.
As many as 2,087 trades were executed on Tuesday, generat-ing turnover of OMR8.2 million with 62.7 million shares chang-ing hands. Out of 53 traded secu-rities, 29 advanced, fi ve declined and 19 remained unchanged. Foreign investors were net buy-ers for OMR47,000 followed by Omani investors for OMR6 while GCC and Arab inves-tors switched to net sellers for OMR53,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index surged ahead by 1.30 per cent to fi nish at 7,426.31 points. Al Batinah Devel-
opment, Al Sharqia Investments, Al Izz Bank, Al Madina Invest-ments and Ahli Bank gained by 3.45 per cent, 3.33 per cent, 3.28 per cent, 2.94 per cent and 2.86 per cent, respectively. Global Financial Investment and Gulf Investment Services declined by 0.76 per cent and 0.75 per cent, respectively.
Industrial Index closed posi-tively at 6,963.75 points, up by 1.19 per cent. Oman Textiles, Gal-far Engineering, Oman Fisheries, National Aluminium and Al Has-san Engineering increased by 8.12 per cent, 7.53 per cent, 5.17 per cent, 5.11 per cent and 4.71 per cent,respectively. Al Anwar Ceramics, which was down by 1.05 per cent, was the only loser.
Services Index gained by 0.31 per cent to close at 3,156.53 points. Port Services, Renais-sance Services and Al Jazeera Services gained by 4.59 per cent, 3.59 per cent and 1.12 per cent, respectively. Oman Telecommu-nications Company (Omantel) declined by 0.62 per cent to close at OMR1.590. — United Securities
Oman Textiles was the top gainer, up by 8.13
per cent, while Al Anwar Ceramics was the
top loser, with a fall of 1.05 per cent.
Ethiopian businessmen fl ock to key Omani product expo in Addis AbabaTimes News Service
MUSCAT: Omani Products Ex-hibition (Opex 2016), which was inaugurated on Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is witnessing a huge turnout of Ethiopian inves-tors and business owners. The visi-tors aim at getting acquainted with the Sultanate’s various prominent industries through the participat-ing companies at Opex 2016.
More than 100 companies are participating in the event repre-senting diff erent industries in-cluding natural resources, miner-als, wood products, manufacturing products, furniture, food, medical and pharmaceuticals, fertiliz-ers, plastic and metal equipment, perfume, leather, and logistics, in addition to related government bodies and a number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Fahmy Al Hinai, honorary con-sul of Ethiopia in Oman and Vice Chairman of Opex Organising Committee, said, “This event is vital due to the fact that it stimu-latesthe marketing of Omani prod-ucts and expands their markets not only in Ethiopia but also to its neighbouring countries. In fact, there are around 250 million peo-ple living around Ethiopia in Ken-ya and South Sudan, where there is a need to expand food, industrial and building materials. We hope that Ethiopia represents a starting pointthat allows us to reach to the neighbouring states.”
“The Omani products have great capabilities to compete in the markets,” he stressed, adding: “Omani products are available in the Ethiopian market, however they do not reach Ethiopia directly but via other countries. The prices of Omani products are reasonable compared to the other products
besides their high quality char-acteristics.” When asked about the Oman-Ethiopia Friendship Committee, Al Hinai informed that the tasks of the committee will commence soon, hoping for sponsorships from major bodies to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in various fi elds. He also noted that eff orts are un-derway to establish an Embassy of Ethiopia in the Sultanate.
Omani exportsOn her part, Nasima Al Balushi, Ithraa’s director general of Export Development, mentioned that the latest statistics released by the Na-tional Centre for Statistics and In-formation (NCSI) indicate a good increase in the non-oil Omani ex-ports between 2014 and 2015 esti-mated at around 87 per cent.
“Such encouraging results indicate that there are promis-ing opportunities for the Omani products in the Ethiopian and
neighbouring markets. Moreover, Ethiopia was chosen to be the fi rst destination of Opex 2016 outside the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) market after a study been prepared by Ithraa in coopera-tion with a local fi rm. The study affi rmed the opportunities avail-able for Oman’s non-oil products in Ethiopia.
Last year, b2b meetings were held in Addis Ababa in an effort to strengthen and develop the volume of non-oil Omani ex-ports to the Ethiopian market, find promising opportunities and deals, and boost trade rela-tions with Ethiopia,” Al Balushi pointed out.
Mahmoud bin Sakhi Al Balushi, CEO of Al Madina Logistics, who signed an agreement with Beckma Logistics and Transport Company to provide clearing and forwarding services and facilitate trade ex-change between the Sultanate and Ethiopia, expressed his happiness
to sign this agreement in an eff ort to support and promote the Omani products in the Ethiopian market.
“We aspire that this agreement facilitates the export of Omani products and increases the volume of trade exchange by connecting the shipping movement with the ports in Djibouti since there are no ports in Ethiopia. This shall en-sure the safety of the movement. The agreement shall also allow the companies in Oman to benefi t from the experience of Beckma Logistics and Transport Company which would boost cooperation in the fi eld of shipping and exporting to the African continent. Through this agreement, we will not only focus on the Ethiopian market, but the neighbouring ones as well. Besides, the Ethiopian market of-fers several opportunities where the Omani companies can benefi t from,” he stated.
New marketsThe participating companies em-phasised on the importance of their presence in such events to have access to new markets. Ha-mid Al Nahdi, General Manager of Dhofar Fisheries and Food Indus-tries stressed on the fact that the African market is a large one and the company’s location in Raysut Industrial Estate in Dhofar gover-norate puts it in a close geographi-cal location to the African con-tinent. “Since the establishment of our company, we have always looked forward to reach to the Af-rican market through developing a comprehensive marketing plan. This exhibition has eventually eased the process through off ering us the opportunity to meet with the importers and distributors in the African market,” Al Nahdi pointed out.
O P E X 2 0 1 6
KEEN INTEREST: More than 100 companies are participating in the
event representing diff erent industries. - Supplied picture
Shell, Chevron await demand from over-supplied LNG marketNEW YORK: The over-sup-plied LNG market is in hiatus as energy giants from Chevron to Royal Dutch Shell and Wood-side Petroleum await a surge of demand from countries seeking access to energy. Liquefi ed natu-ral gas (LNG) producers are in “pause mode” as low prices have stalled development of new pro-jects, Woodside Chief Executive Offi cer Peter Coleman said on Tuesday at the LNG18 confer-ence in Perth. That respite means that coming years demand will exceed supply, causing prices to rise back to higher levels, Shell CEO Ben Van Beurden said.
The price cycle underscores diffi culties in timing the con-struction of multi-billion dollar projects that take years to come online. Companies have to focus on long-term natural gas demand which is expected to grow by 35 per cent over the next 20 years, Chevron CEO John Watson said.
“There is LNG that’s coming on line and it’s clear that there is some surplus. Customers are do-ing what you would expect them to do, they are going to take ad-vantage of that in the short term,” Watson said. “Once you see that surplus absorbed, you will see that market re-emerge.”
No pressureSpot prices for LNG in Singapore fell below $4 per million British thermal units on Monday, ac-cording to Singapore Exchange. That’s the lowest level since the exchange began tracking it in September 2014. It’s plunged from $14 in October 2014.
As oil prices slid about 60 per-cent since mid-2014, more than
$400 billion of proposed energy projects have been delayed un-til 2017 and beyond, according to consulting fi rm Wood Mac-kenzie. Woodside and partners Shell and BP in March scrapped plans to develop the $40 billion Browse liquefi ed natural gas project in Australia after the plunge in energy prices.
“We are not under the pressure of having to develop at the mo-ment,” Coleman said. “Industry is in this hiatus, in this pause mode where there is really no market to sell into, so it gives us a chance to step back and say what is the best way to move.”
Demand OptimismThe market could see a defi cit of 75 million metric tonnes of LNG per year by 2025, which would require $250 billion in invest-ment through 2020, Sanford C. Bernstein estimated in Novem-ber. The market is well-supplied to 2018 and possibly to the end of the decade, it said. Annual de-mand in Asia-Pacifi c may gain 36 per cent to 245 million tonnes by 2025, Western Australia’s Premier Colin Barnett said on Tuesday. — Bloomberg News
L I Q U E F I E D N A T U R A L G A S
Ben Van Beurden. — Bloomberg News
Muscat Securities Market. – Times fi le picture
B5W E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
ROUND-UPLove us on
SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH FACEBOOK PAGE
OSN extends limited time off er due to demand from customersMUSCAT: OSN announced the extension of the most exciting lim-ited time off er for both new and ex-isting subscribers due to popular demand from customers.
Now viewers have a choice to subscribe or renew to OSN plati-num HD, Premier HD and Premier Packages to avail 50 per cent off for fi rst four months by subscribing for one year. The off er doesn’t end here; it also covers free dish, LNB and accessories along with free in-stallation for all new subscribers, says a press release.
In addition to that, OSN also announced 50 per cent off fi rst 4 months off er for package up-grades to OSN platinum HD, Pre-mier HD and Premier Packages. The two months free off er can be availed both for cash and credit card payments and the off er ends on April 30.
As an added advantage, OSN has replaced its HD boxes to OSN plus box. OSN Plus box allows sub-scribers to record the latest mov-ies and shows with 1TB memory. It also allows subscribers to get access to the biggest library of movies and series with OSN On Demand. The OSN Plus box is now off ered at a very attractive price where Premier HD and Premier package subscribers have to only pay OMR18 while Entertainment Extra, Entertainment and Family package subscribers have to pay OMR23 for the OSN Plus Box.
OSN takes entertainment expe-rience to a whole new level with all the best TV channels, the latest movies and series, sports, OSN On Demand HD and various HD con-tent. With recently launched OSN Play, subscribers can also now watch their favourite shows, mov-ies, live sports and Arabic shows on their laptops, iPods and iPads on the move.
OSN is the home to over 145 channels and services fi lled with great value entertainment, off er-ing viewers in the Mena region ex-clusive access to the latest block-buster movies, top rated series, sports, documentaries, news, kid’s entertainment and live talk shows. The movie off ering includes over a 100 uncut and uninterrupted mov-
ie premieres a month.OSN boasts the most compre-
hensive portfolio of exclusive rights from all the major studios including Warner Brothers, Para-mount, Fox, Disney, Sony, MGM, NBC Universal, HBO and Dream-Works and off ers access to the world’s leading television brands including Disney channel, Sky News, Discovery Network and Na-tional Geographic.
Mustafa Sultan Enterprises Entertainment Factory (Pay-Tv) division is pioneer in Pay TV busi-ness for more than 20 years and is the distributor for OSN in Oman. Besides OSN, MSE-EF is a leading distributor for beIN Sports. They have a showroom in Al Khuwair and fi ve kiosks at Muscat City Centre, Qurum City Centre, Mus-cat Grand Mall (MGM), Pano-rama Mall and Nizwa Grand Mall. MSE-EF also off ers the Pay TV services through their sub dealers spread across in all major towns of the Sultanate.
B O U Q U E T O F B E N E F I T S
Now viewers have a choice
to subscribe or renew to
OSN platinum HD, Premier
HD and Premier Packages
to avail 50 per cent off
for first four months by
subscribing for one year
Exciting Mercedes off ers
on three popular models
MUSCAT: Mercedes-Benz Oman is off ering an exceptional April Deal to give drivers the opportunity to put themselves in the seat of one of the iconic brand’s luxury vehicles with a chance to save up to OMR3,000. Included in the off er are the sporty and stylish E-Class sedan, the award-winning GLE with its unrivalled seven-seat luxury, and the versatile and adventurous GL, says a press release.
“Our philosopy of ‘The Best or Nothing’ applies to our deals as much to our vehicles, and each one of this remarkable trio of ve-hicles has been carefully selected as a unique expression not just of excellence in automotive design and engineering but of aspira-tion and exclusivity, luxury and lifestyle. Instantly recognisable, a Mercedes-Benz looks, feels and performs like nothing else, and we are delighted to make the experience of owning one more achievable than ever with this of-fer,” remarked Clive Hammond, Mercedes-Benz Oman CEO.
Impressing from the fi rst sec-
ond, the permanently perfect E300 Avantgarde AMG Sport is priced at just OMR 22,995 after an April savings of OMR2,000. The desirable and dynamic sedan com-bines outstanding comfort and a serene driving experience with ex-ceptional agility and power.
With an April savings of OMR2,500, the GLE 400 4MAT-IC is available for OMR 27,495. A premium SUV prepared for any occasion and perfected in all disci-plines, the GLE is a true multi-tal-ent, driving performance off ering supreme comfort on any terrain, blending tradition and modernity with a luxurious interior ambi-ence and a sporty exterior design.
It is no longer necessary to im-agine yourself behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz with the GL 500 4MATIC included in the April Deal for just OMR36,995, off ering a savings of OMR3,000. With its powerful proportions, aerodynamic athletic looks and muscular effi ciency, the GL is a truly exhilarating full-size SUV.
The deal is available until April 30 or while stocks last.
A P R I L D E A L
Infi niti QX50 now comes with unmatched seasonal benefi tsMUSCAT: The Infi niti QX50 from the house of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles is a luxury crosso-ver that has been known for its uniquely personal style, combin-ing a right-sized sculpted exte-rior, a rewarding interior envi-ronment and a suite of advanced technology features including Around View Monitor.
Infi niti’s ongoing seasonal cam-paign includes an array of benefi ts on their premium range of vehi-cles. This one-of-a-kind off er lasts till April 30, says a press release.
The vehicle comes equipped with a standard 7-speed automat-ic transmission with Adaptive Shift control and manual shift mode as well as downshift rev matching and Infi niti’s Intelligent All-Wheel Drive system.
Known to be a trusted name amongst niche clients, Infi niti Oman has always strived to be dif-ferent and unique by off ering un-matched services towards their patrons. Infi niti’s fi rst of its kind promotion for this year includes high end services and packages making it one of the most admired and desirable brand of vehicles.
Off er highlights include: Assured cash gift: All custom-
ers purchasing Infi niti QX50 will get assured cash gift up to OMR2,000.
Other benefi ts: Customers are eligible to get free periodic vehi-cle maintenance of two years or 30,000km (whichever is earlier); this off er excludes battery and wear and tear components. Fur-ther benefi ts include free 1st year vehicle registration, six years/ unlimited mileage warranty, free 1st year vehicle insurance (for Oman and UAE) (on MY15 mod-els only) and free AAA / Road As-sistance card for the 1st year only
and as supported by AAA Oman and UAE.
QX50’s personal style, in-side and outThe Infi niti QX50 exterior com-bines the look and feel of a luxury coupe and a crossover’s fl exibility – with sporty proportions, includ-ing a long hood, short front and rear overhangs, rearward cabin and smooth coupe-like roofl ine.
Along with its excellent around town manoeuvrability, the wide rear hatch and low load fl oor make the QX50 a versatile per-former for both everyday and weekend use.
The exterior includes many signature Infi niti touches, in-cluding a double-arch grille, large L-shaped headlights, available xenon auto-levelling headlights with Adaptive Front lighting Sys-tem (AFS), integrated fog lights, distinctive LED taillights and ‘dy-namic arch’ profi le.
Other exterior features include a high-mounted rear hatchback spoiler with integrated brake light, chrome-fi nished dual ex-haust tips, an available power slid-ing tinted glass moonroof with tilt feature, sliding sunshade,an op-
tional one-touch open/close and available roof rails. The QX50 also features a standard courtesy light integrated in the driver’s outside mirror as part of the hos-pitality lighting concept.
Six exterior colours are off ered for 2014: Malbec black, midnight garnet, graphite shadow, liquid platinum, black obsidian and moonlight white.
The QX50’s dramatic interior off ers an invigorating and engag-ing environment, one that is both indulgent and inspiring. The driv-er-focused ‘wave-inspired’ cabin layout features an Infi niti signa-ture ‘double-wave’ instrument panel, easy-to-read high-contrast gauges, hospitality lighting with a pin LED light mounted over the centre console and Infi niti signa-ture analogue clock.
The instrument panel also features a 7-inch colour display with Infi niti controller for the trip computer and additional vehicle information, including the avail-able Infi niti hard drive navigation system. Other technology sys-tems include an available blue-tooth hands-free phone system, and standard Infi niti intelligent key with push button ignition.
A T T R A C T I V E O F F E R
Gulf Muscat launches iTower, inks agreement
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Gulf Muscat United has launched sales for offi ce space with-in Oman’s smartest offi ce complex, the ‘iTower,’ in an exclusive launch and signing ceremony held at the Grand Hyatt Muscat yesterday.
Located in the rapidly growing ‘new downtown’ Bausher area of Muscat, and in close proximity to Muscat Grand Mall, the seven fl oor iTower is poised to be Oman’s smartest and most energy effi cient business hub when completed in early 2018, setting new standards for environmental responsibility. The 17,454 square metre develop-ment incorporates 71 business offi ces ranging in size from 42 square metres to 1,550 square me-tres, three levels of underground car parking, in addition to an ex-tensive array of restaurants and shops on the ground fl oor.
Mehdi Borhani, chairman of Gulf Muscat United, signed a con-struction contract with Sheikh Nasser bin Mohammed Al Hashar, vice-chairman of Durat Al Sahil, an excellent grade building and con-
struction fi rm renowned for their quality and timely delivery of large scale projects across Oman. The to-tal capital expenditure of the project is estimated at OMR8.5 million.
Commenting on the strategy of iTower, Borhani said; “The iTow-er was conceptualised to be the smartest offi ce tower in Oman, al-lowing SME’s and corporates free-hold ownership of their own offi ce space, versus the ongoing costs of renting. The availability of quality offi ce space in Muscat is very lim-ited, and the opportunity to enjoy freehold ownership for commer-cial offi ce space even more limited. The central location of the iTower in Bausher is the perfect location for offi ce professionals, this area is rapidly taking shape as the new downtown for Muscat.”
“We are very pleased to be work-ing with Durat Al Sahil as their
projects around the Sultanate are a true refl ection of their expertise and attention to detail. We are con-fi dent they will do an outstanding job to deliver iTower to our exact-ing standards,” Borhani added. The appointment of Durat Al Sahil for the iTower project comes after a competitive tender process and subsequent negotiation for the turn-key construction contract.
“The turn-key contract award comprises all preparation and in-frastructure works, and the con-struction and fi tout of the iTower, this includes the offi ce tower, res-taurants and retail zone, recrea-tion areas and integrated parking zones, all designed by internation-al consultants to a very high stand-ard. We are proud to be awarded this contract and look forward to working with Gulf Muscat United on this landmark project,” said
Nasser Al Hashar.The iTower spots an iconic de-
sign and incorporates numerous smart features new to the Sultan-ate, which was the primary design brief given to the Oman based ar-chitectural fi rm Lines & Visions. The temperature effi ciency of the tower will be achieved by envel-oping the whole building with ad-vanced thermal insulation and by utilising an air tight construction method for all facades. Designed with close attention to detail and fi bre optic connectivity, the entire business complex will also be fi t-ted with raised fl ooring, allowing easy and unobtrusive installation of power and data cabling.
Visitors to the iTower will easily pinpoint numerous Islamic design elements throughout the business tower, and will notice parallels in the project’s design with traditional Omani architectural themes, with a unique spiralling atrium dominat-ing the interior volume of the tower.
Better Homes, the leading re-gional real estate company has been appointed as the exclusive agent for the development.
“This project is unique given the broad variety of offi ce units available, and there is a lot of fl ex-ibility for business owners to cre-ate their ideal offi ce environment. With a projected hand-over date set at early 2018, we are certain that prospective investors and owner occupiers in the Sultanate will see the real value that this development brings,” said Glenn Meek, general manager for Better Homes Oman.
The total capital
expenditure of the
project is estimated
at OMR8.5 million
CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT: The seven fl oor iTower is poised to
be Oman’s smartest and most energy effi cient business hub when
completed in early 2018, setting new standards for environmental
responsibility. – Shabin E./ TIMES OF OMAN
B6 W E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
COMEX 2016
Microsoft magic unfolds at technology exhibition
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Interested in experienc-ing the magic of Microsoft and its all-empowering products and ser-vices? Come to Comex 2016 and see it all unfold at its happening stall.
Microsoft Oman is participating as a platinum sponsor in Comex 2016 held under the patronage of the Information Technology Au-thority of Oman between April 12 and 16 at the Oman International Exhibition Centre.
Commenting on their participa-tion, Sherif Tawfi k, country general manager for Microsoft Oman and Bahrain, stated that their participa-tion in Comex comes in line with Microsoft’s mission to empower every person and every organisa-tion on the planet to achieve more.
Focus on three ambitions“This year, our participation will focus on our company’s three bold ambitions: ‘Reinventing produc-
tivity and business processes’, through our experience and de-vices Comex visitors will enjoy a fi rsthand experience of the latest products and services. The second ambition that we will highlight during Comex is ‘creating more personal computing products and solutions’ through off ering new devices from the Surface family and the Lumia family.
“Whereas the third ambition that will be highlighted is ‘building the intelligent Cloud’, as Comex visitors will learn more about what are the services available for the diff erent types of customers: cor-
porate and individuals.” Microsoft, and its local part-
ners Exceed IT and Kalsoft, are showcasing the latest in devices, solutions and services innovation such as Windows 10, Windows Devices and Apps, Offi ce 2016 and Microsoft Azure, in addition to a wide range of advanced solutions focused on analytics, productivity and Internet of Things (IoT).
Tawfi k congratulated Oman In-ternational Trade and Exhibitions (OITE) for organising another edi-tion of Comex.
Tarek C. Ali, general manager of OITE, commended Microsoft for
its continued support to Comex and expressed his delight to see them proactively joining in this year’s edition.
“We are delighted that Micro-soft is renewing its support to Comex as a platinum sponsor and bringing the latest in technological innovations, products and services to Oman’s market,” said Tarek.
In addition to their presence at the exhibition alongside their local partners Exceed IT and Kalsoft, Raid Al Lawati, manager - senior service delivery of Microsoft, de-livered a session on Internet of Things on Tuesday.
Microsoft Oman is
participating as a
platinum sponsor in
Comex 2016
Febno to access Oman
market through Comex
MUSCAT: With an eye on the Oman market, Febno Technolo-gies, a recognised multinational technology company with sig-nifi cant presence in Middle East providing high end IT solu-tions, have set up shot at Comex.
Their company is acknowl-edged among the people for en-terprise web development, cloud for business, customised open ERP, mobility solutions and digital marketing services, says a press release.
They assure 100 per cent satisfaction to their custom-ers and their main objective is to provide optimum quality re-engineering solutions within client’s budget.
Since 2009, they have been serving enterprise level soft-ware technology solutions in the Middle East, Asia and Af-rican countries. Their experts ensure that you will get all the concise services as per your business needs.
Creative web portalsOver the past three years they have implemented many mobil-ity apps, ERP level applications and cloud for business solutions. They have also launched more than 100 stunning corporate and creative web portals helping all types of businesses to improve their online profi le.
Their adepts use emerging technologies along with impec-cable research techniques and
experience to select the right ad-vanced technology and platform for your business.
Febno also offers a cloud-based mobility product for the retail industry called Order-Pro, which aims enabling mo-bility to field staff. OrderPro is a turnkey solution for sales, marketing, and supply chain re-lated process and performance enhancement.
Their main products and services are as below:• Enterprise web development & eCommerce solutions• Open ERP (Odoo & openbra-vo) customisation and imple-mentation• OrderPro and mobility solu-tions• Google Enterprise Partner for Middle East & Africa Countries• Enterprise messaging (SMS & Email) and online advertising• Cloud solutions, web hosting and business email packages• International & Middle East domain registration and man-agement• IT infrastructure services
They would be showcasing their key solutions like:• Open ERP - odoo and openbravo• Courier, cargo and logistics ERP• Retail and hospitality products• OrderPro and mobility solu-tions• Google apps for work• Chromebox for meetings
M U L T I N A T I O N A L T E C H N O L O G Y C O M P A N Y
Omantel welcomes Comex visitors with innovative solutionsMUSCAT: The Sultanate’s leading telecommunications provider, Om-antel, is supporting and participat-ing in Comex 2016, Oman’s leading IT, telecom and technology show.
The annual event, now in its 26th year, is organised by the Oman International Exhibition Company and is expected to at-tract over 120,000 visitors over fi ve days. Exhibitors include lead-ing players in fi elds such as digital, smart technology and ICT, e-com-merce and e-government.
Hamdan Mossa Al Harrasi, act-ing vice president - Corporate Strategy Unit from Omantel, com-mented: “This year we wanted to really impress visitors with the very latest technologies on off er. Visitors to our futuristic pavilion will be thrilled to interact with the state-of-the-art motion and touch screens, 3D mapping and holo-graphic displays.“
“We invite all Comex visitors to pass by Omantel corner to ex-
perience the latest technologies, smart home solutions, Omantel TV+, and other surprises which will be revealed by Omantel as the main sponsor of one of the most important IT exhibitions in Oman,” he added.
The role of Omantel as principle sponsor of Comex highlights the popularity of the annual exhibi-tion to showcase the very latest innovations in the IT sector. The 2016 edition of Comex coincides with preparations to launch e-
government solutions nationwide, and allows Omantel to place the spotlight on new and emerging IT solutions which are playing a vital role in executing the visionary pro-ject. Omantel has an extensive ex-perience in providing innovative
solutions which serve the national development strategy. These are highlighted in the company’s 3.0 transformation strategy which has been operational from the begin-ning of the year.
The event has also seen the un-veiling of a partnership between Omantel and the leading global wireless network manufacturer Sigfox to deploy an ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) network in Oman. The terms of the agreement sees Omantel and Sigfox to off er IoT network coverage to 85 percent of the population within 18 months.
Speaking on the partnership, Hamdan Al Harrasi said ,“It is vi-tal that we create synergies with industry leaders to deliver a new generation of services and innova-tions for the continued evolution of the Omantel 3.0 transformation strategy. This partnership with Sigfox comes as a part of our objec-tive to move towards the era where we are surrounded by the ‘Internet
of Things’, and in doing so, we in-tend to deploy new digital smart home, innovative business and eGovernment services throughout 2016 and beyond.”
Comex 2016 will have a par-ticular focus on innovative ways to reduce costs and increase pro-ductivity in transport, education, wholesale, and oil and gas sectors. In addition to leading organisa-tions in Oman, this year the popu-lar event is also expected to attract participants from UAE, India and the USA.
Investing in the future of the na-tion, Omantel connects even the most remote communities of the Sultanate to each other and the rest of the world. Omantel is the Sultanate’s fi rst and leading inte-grated telecommunications ser-vices provider, enabling the digital society to fl ourish, allowing new ways of doing business and deliv-ering a world of information, news and entertainment.
M A K I N G I T S P R E S E N C E F E L T
Ooredoo delights Comex 2016 visitors with new promotionsMUSCAT: Aiming to inspire cus-tomers with a world of choice and added value, Ooredoo sets the stage by off ering exciting packages during Comex 2016, Oman’s lead-ing IT, telecom and technology roadshow.
From April 12 to 16, visitors to Ooredoo’s stand can enjoy great deals on the Shahry postpaid plans and amazing off ers on the Superfast Fibre Home Broadband bundles.
Feras Al Shaikh, Ooredoo direc-tor of consumer sales, said: “In this day and age, customers require solutions that are innovative, crea-tive, and relevant to their changing needs and that is what our partici-pation at Comex is all about. This year, as part of our digital trans-formation, we will be introducing new products, services and tech-nologies. Comex provides us with the perfect showcase platform.”
Comex visitors who sign up for
a 12-month contract for Shahry 10GB, Shahry 5GB, and Shahry 2GB will be given handset dis-counts of OMR120, OMR70, and OMR40 respectively. Custom-ers taking the 10GB plan will also receive a free gold number while customers taking the 5GB plan will receive a free silver number.
He added, “Our ‘New Shahry’ promotion is the ultimate way to stay connected to your family and friends, with bundled calls and SMS to any network in Oman at any time. By including the device discounts and gold and silver num-bers we are off ering customers at Comex up to OMR195 of free val-ue, making it the most compelling off er in the market.”
Perfect for gaming and buff er-free HD TV, Ooredoo’s Superfast Fibre Home Broadband off ers customers four unlimited data plans with speeds ranging from
15Mbps to 100Mbps. Visitors who sign up for one of the company’s Superfast Fibre Home Broadband bundles will also have the oppor-tunity to enter a special ‘Fibre Raf-fl e Draw’ where a host of prizes including travel voucher worth OMR1,000, a Samsung Curved TV, and a PlayStation 4 are all up for grabs. Customers who applied for Superfast Fibre Service during Comex through any of our store or through our Comex Booth will have the chance to enter a raffl e draw. Winners of the grand prizes will be announced at the last day of Comex. What more, daily the fi rst 24 visitors to sign up for the service will also receive one free month off their subscription to the 15Mbps plan.
These promotions are only available at Comex where Oore-doo’s stand will be open daily to shoppers from 10am until 10pm.
E X C I T I N G P A C K A G E S
Overseas Business Machines joins Comex as gold sponsorMUSCAT: Overseas Business Machines (OBM), an IT Inte-grated Solution company based in Muscat, brings value to busi-nesses by providing hardware and software solutions not only to sustain and grow but also provide much needed competitive edge. OBM provides right IT solution by thoroughly understanding the business process.
OBM puts lot of eff ort in clear and precise communication to ensure delivery of high quality ef-fective solutions with minimum
cost. Their solutions are designed considering the risk and strengths of your business.
OBM has a wide experience in-stalling and maintaining computer systems and implementing com-prehensive storage, networking solutions and wireless network so-lutions in diff erent environments.
OBM was established in 2002 and has partnered with IBM and Lenovo to provide IBM servers and storage solutions, Lenovo PCs and laptops, along with re-lated equipment and software
off ering its customers reliable IT infrastructure. This new setup is the result and continuation of the development and expansion strategy between IBM and OBM’s parent company.
At Comex they would be seek-ing business opportunities with government bodies, private sec-tor and banking sector.
At Comex OBM would be fo-cusing more on solutions includ-ing Lenovo & Kaspersky products to gain maximum visibility and branding opportunity.
I T I N T E G R A T E D S O L U T I O N
MG-Group participates in Comex
MUSCAT: Having been with Comex events for many years, MG-Group will once again show its presence in both the Business and Shopper’s sectors and intro-duce latest technologies for cus-tomers and visitors this year at the Comex 2016.
Recently awarded as an Elite Member of the World Confed-eration of Businesses in Houston Texas, the company together with hard-working staff s, do its utmost eff ort to commit providing real product value by enhancing end user’s e-lifestyles.
As one of Oman’s fi rst national IT distributors with its extensive market expertise in providing a
comprehensive product line from a single source, the company’s immense credibility, reach and understanding of the local con-sumer will prove invaluable as it continues to launch more innova-tive products during Comex 2016, consolidating its presence within Oman’s market place, which is
another milestone in the compa-ny’s success stories.
It enjoys an excellent reputation and market credibility as a lead-ing wholesale provider of mobil-ity, computer systems and compo-nents, accessories and peripherals, networking, telecoms and business solutions like mobile banking.
L E A D I N G I T D I S T R I B U T O R
MG-Group has launched more innovative products
during Comex 2016, consolidating its presence within
Oman’s market place, which is another milestone in the
company’s success stories
B7W E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
ROUND-UPLove us on
SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH FACEBOOK PAGE
Bank Sohar celebrates nine years of excellence
MUSCAT: As part of its 9th anni-versary celebrations, Bank Sohar recently organised a staff gathering at its head offi ce located in MBD.
Bank staff along with the execu-tive management gathered to cel-ebrate and cut a cake in commem-oration of this grand occasion, marking yet another milestone in Bank Sohar’s history of achieve-ments, says a press release.
The 9th anniversary event was
held in celebration of the great strides made by the bank over the years and was inaugurated with a speech by Rashad Ali Al Musafi r, acting CEO, during which he re-fl ected on Bank Sohar’s commit-ment to its customers and banking excellence, while highlighting some of its key achievements in 2015.
“It has been nine years now since we established Bank Sohar back in 2007. Over these years we focused heavily on providing innovative and superior banking services that are in line with the interests of our customers and shareholders, while fulfi lling our responsibilities to the local community through meaning-ful partnerships and support for social development. We are very proud of the success and growth Bank Sohar has experienced in such a short period of time and we will no doubt continue to strive for many more years of banking excel-lence; continuing to prosper and
fl ourish hand-in-hand with our customers,” he said.
Shortly after the speech, the an-niversary cake was cut by acting CEO and the executive manage-ment members of the bank. Cel-ebrating nine years of operational excellence, Bank Sohar has con-tinued to evolve and make its mark in the banking and fi nancial land-scape in Oman. Within Oman’s highly competitive banking sector, Bank Sohar has grown exponen-tially in a relatively short span of time, becoming one of the most prominent banks in the country.
The bank’s dedication towards excellence is clearly evident in the awards it has received, locally, re-gionally and internationally, over these past nine years; 16 of which were received in 2015 alone. These recognitions ranged from excel-lence in performance, quality, cus-tomer service, social media and CSR. The bank also received four
awards in the fi rst quarter of this year alone; including the ‘Strategic Website of the Year Award 2016’ by Pan Arab Excellence Awards Acad-emy. The Bank was also names as one of the ‘Best Straight Through Processing’ (STP) Banks in Oman by JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, in addition to winning the ‘Best Customer Service - Oman’ Award and the ‘Best Call Centre – Oman’ Award from UAE-based CPI Financial.
Commenting on the reason behind Bank Sohar’s numerous achievements, Rashad Al Musa-fi r said, “Our success as a banking institution, and our exceptional growth over the past nine years has been the result of not just our sound business strategies; but also our collective and unwavering fo-cus toward sustainable growth; together with the trust and faith placed in us by our stakeholders as fi nancial partners in their busi-nesses. It is also a result of the vi-sion and support of our Board of Directors, the trust and loyalty of our customers, and the hard work of the bank’s executive manage-ment and staff ; for which I am very grateful. I am confi dent that, heading into its tenth year of op-erations, Bank Sohar is in a strong position; ready to tackle any chal-lenges we face head-on and surge forward towards another year of banking excellence in 2016.”
Bank staff along
with the executive
management
gathered to celebrate
and cut a cake in
commemoration of
this grand occasion,
marking yet another
milestone in Bank
Sohar’s history of
achievements
Three-day OWES to focus spotlight on waste managementMUSCAT: Oman Waste and En-vironmental Services (OWES) Conference and Exhibition is Middle East’s largest event for re-source management companies and professionals.
The three-day event, to be held from May 23-25, will bring togeth-er the entire waste management industry to infl uence the way Mid-dle East thinks about and manages waste, says a press release.
The show will attract top brands and thousands of visitors from Oman, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Middle East na-tions. OWES is the only event of its kind in the entire GCC, covering all aspects of the waste management hierarchy. The conference-cum-tradeshow will focus on waste minimisation, re-use, recycling, recovery of energy, zero waste and other sustainable waste management technologies and practices. Renowned speak-ers from around the world will address the conference.
With phenomenal growth of waste management sector in the GCC, OWES provides an excellent business and net-working opportunity for com-panies and professionals oper-ating waste collection, waste transportation, waste disposal, waste recycling, material recov-ery facilities, waste-to-energy,
waste-to-wealth, composting, landfi lling and waste trading
Striving for sustainable & eco-friendly OmanSustainability has emerged as a top priority in the Middle East in recent years. The number of LEED-registered green build-ings has increased rapidly across the region, from 623 in 2010 to more than 1400 in 2015. Like its regional counterparts, Oman construction industry is actively trying to make widespread use of eco-friendly architecture, tradi-tional building methods and sus-tainable construction practices.
Alila Jabal Akhdar was the fi rst project in Oman to obtain the prestigious international LEED Silver Certifi cation by the US Green Building Council.
Developed by the Oman Tour-ism Development Company (Om-ran), Alila Jabal Akhdar repre-sents a milestone achievement for the development of infrastructure in the Sultanate. Oman has 15 pro-jects registered with LEED, with notable ones being Muscat Inter-national Airport, Oman Botanic Garden, Jebel Al Akhdar Hotel, Salalah International Airport, Oberoi Resort at Bander Al Khi-ran, Novotel hotel in Muttrah, Ibis hotel in Sohar and Oman Conven-tion and Exhibition Centre.
C O N F E R E N C E
Tulu comedy play ‘Nank Matherla Bodu’ on April 29 at Al Falaj MUSCAT: There is excitement in store for Tulu drama enthusiasts with Nank Matherla Bodu (We Need Everyone), a hilarious social Tulu play with a delightful mix-ture of emotions, to be staged on Friday, April 29 at Grand Hall, Al Falaj Hotel at 6.30pm.
The play is managed by NPA Events, known for their ‘wow’ shows, says a press release.
This social comedy will be pre-sented by the popular Lakumi Group from Mangalore, India who have been mesmerising audiences with over 14 plays (including mega hits like Anchilath - Inchilath,
Ganguna Gammath, Nambunane Nambod, Benpinori - Tinpinori and others), and over 1,000 shows staged in Mangalore, Bangalore, Mumbai and the Gulf region.
Nank Matherla Bodu, a very suc-cessful production, has been run-ning to packed houses. The writer of the play is the well-known Navin Shetty Alake while the pro-ducer and director is Kishore D. Shetty, a renowned name in Tulu theatre, who founded the Lakumi Group in 2003.
S. K. Pujary, the chief convenor of the event, said, “We have been bringing a diff erent Tulu drama
every year, for several years. The response from the Tulu-speaking community has been fantastic with theatre-enthusiasts coming in from as far as Sohar and Nizwa to watch the play. We are privi-leged to have the Lakumi Group performing the comedy play Nank Matherla Bodu which is sure to be another super hit in Muscat.”
The Tulu play Nank Matherla Bodu takes a look at family life where the members are scattered in diff erent places for work and study. It is about an elderly man Bantap-pana who lives with his younger son Sudhakara and his wife Sumathi in
a village in Mangalore, India. Once his elder son Diwakara and daughter Nethra join him in the village, com-ing from the bustling city of Mum-bai, the father Bantappana wants his entire family to be together. The climax of the play revolves around whether their property will be divid-ed, whether Nethra will get back her memory after a train accident and her own daughter Munni will sur-vive her injuries after a bus accident and whether his attitude of Nank Matherla Bodu (We Need Everyone) remains unchanged, in spite of fam-ily diff erences. The suspense is well interspersed with comedy.
D R A M A
OAB customers win big with Hassad
MUSCAT: Inspiring a culture of saving in the Sultanate, Oman Arab Bank (OAB) recently announced the March winners of its monthly Hassad Savings Scheme draw.
Mohammad Al Amri from Al Dakhiliyah Governorate was the winner of regional prize of OMR40,000 while fi ve customers in the female category each won OMR1,500 and fi ve child account holders received OMR1,000 each, says a press release.
“We designed the Hassad Sav-ings Scheme not only to reward our customers but also to mo-tivate them to save for their fu-tures,” commented Hana Al Hi-
nai, assistant general manager, head of Wealth Management, Bancassurance and Liabilities - Oman Arab Bank.
Hassad is one of the bank’s fl ag-ship products and has proved to be a favourite amongst people of all ages thanks to its all-inclusive prize distribution structure. Cus-tomers across all governorates and across all walks of life stand a chance a win lucrative cash prizes by saving for tomorrow.
Under the 2016 scheme an-nounced in January, Hassad win-ners include one regional, fi ve female, and fi ve children account holders every month receiving
prizes ranging from OMR1,000 to OMR40,000. The savings scheme is scheduled to draw to a close with a mega draw of OMR50,000 for two lucky winners at the end of this year.
OAB Elite Priority Banking customers have also been given a separate category with a cash prize valued at OMR100,000 set to be distributed in June and De-cember 2016. Additionally, cus-tomers can expect even bigger rewards on several special occa-sions such as Eid Al Fitr, Oman Women’s Day, and National Day with over OMR58,000 allocated for Hassad winners.
M A R C H W I N N E R S
Etihad Airways wins coveted award
MUSCAT: Airbus, manufacturer of the fl agship A380 aircraft, has presented Etihad Airways, the na-tional airline of the United Arab Emirates, with the prestigious award for the best ‘Operational Reliability Performance’ in the fi rst year of A380 operations.
The Etihad Airways A380 fl eet recorded an extraordinary 99.8 per cent operational reliability between January and December 2015. This is the highest level of reliability ever recorded by an air-line in its fi rst year of A380 opera-tions. Etihad Airways’ A380 oper-ational reliability means only 0.2 per cent of fl ights were delayed, with no cancellations, in the fi rst year, says a press release.
The award was presented to Jeff Wilkinson, senior vice presi-dent Technical - Etihad Airways, by Didier Lux, Airbus Head of Customer Service, at a ceremony in Toulouse, France.
In the airline industry, reli-ability is a critical key to success – from punctuality, revenue and yield maximisation, all the way
through to the guest experience.Wilkinson said: “This stel-
lar performance is a result of the sheer hard work and commitment to excellence of our engineer-ing teams. Our entry into service, technical operations, engineering, planning, logistics, fl ight opera-tions and guest Services teams, as well as our Airbus colleagues, are to be congratulated for this suc-cess. As Etihad Airways is fl ying the A380 with one of the highest rates of daily utilisation, with a typical turnaround time of only two hours, this achievement is all the more remarkable.
“The success with the A380’s entry into service sets a new standard in excellence that we are striving to repeat with the intro-duction of the A350 to the Etihad Airways fl eet in early 2018.”
Didier said: ““It is with great pleasure and pride that I hand this award to Etihad Airways to-day.” He added, “This unmatched operational performance in a fi rst year of operating an A380 was made possible due to exceptional
team work, the constant push for improvement and forward-think-ing. We have set a precedent in A380 operational excellence.”
The winner of this award is determined by a thorough evalu-ation of the overall performance of the shortlisted airlines. Op-erational reliability is a standard international index measuring fl ight operations subject to delays or defects. High performance in this index verifi es the operating capability of the airline and the priority given to maintenance and safety management.
Preparations for the A380’s en-try in service started more than a year before delivery. The cross-functional entry into service team included representatives from all areas of the company, such as tech-nical operations, logistics, guest services, and fl ight operations. The team was responsible for re-writ-ing procedures, training pilots, cab-in crew and engineers, provisioning parts and tools, and implementing new technologies to support the operation of the A380 fl eet.
‘ O P E R A T I O N A L R E L I A B I L I T Y P E R F O R M A N C E ’
Special design awards for Kia Sportage and OptimaMUSCAT: Yet again… Kia rein-forced its reputation for the high-est design standards as the judges unanimously voted for the new Kia Sportage SUV and Optima sedan.
The decision saw the cars being bestowed with coveted ‘Red Dots’. The independent judging panel even honoured the Kia Optima with a ‘Best of the Best’ award, the competition’s highest distinction, for which only the most ground-breaking designs in a category are eligible, says a press release.
Kia picking up two prizes at the 2016 ‘Red Dot Awards’ for Product Design — one of the most prestig-ious international product design competitions — is no mean feat. The ‘Red Dot Design Award’ is one of the world’s most prestigious de-sign competitions divided into the three disciplines: Product Design, Communication Design and De-sign Concept.
For the 2016 Red Dot Awards, companies from 57 countries reg-istered 5,214 products and inno-vations. The competition, which has been held since 1955 by the Design Centre of North Rhine-Westphalia, attaches great im-portance to the impartiality of its high-calibre jury.
The new generations of the Op-tima and the European Kia best-seller, the Sportage, were launched across Kia’s global markets ear-lier this year. These new prizes have seen both models defending their Red Dot Awards – both the previous generations of the Kia Sportage and Kia Optima also re-ceived Red Dot awards in 2011, while the Optima retains its ‘Best of the Best’ prize.
Since 2009, when the fi rst-generation Kia Soul won the car-maker’s fi rst award in the competi-tion, Kia’s design teams have gone on to achieve a total of 15 Red Dot Awards. Now, in 2016, every model in the current Kia product range
has a Red Dot.Peter Schreyer, president and
chief designer of Kia Motors Cor-poration, commented: “Our inter-national design team has every cause to be exceptionally proud of these most recent awards. The fi rst Red Dot Awards for the Kia Sportage and the Kia Optima were already great successes. It is a very special achievement to further de-velop a fi rst-rate, prize-winning model so that the new design also convinces the expert jury of this globally respected and prestigious design competition.
“The two award-winners are important models for our brand. The Sportage has been the brand’s bestseller in Europe for many years.
The Kia Optima, which is one of the strongest selling Kia mod-els worldwide, also embodies the development of brand in a very special way: the third genera-tion, which arrived on the global stage in 2010, acted as the cata-lyst for the design-led transfor-mation of Kia’s product range in
the following years. “Both the new Kia Sportage
and the new Kia Optima stand out very strongly from their ri-vals in their respective categories because of the clarity, distinction and sporty elegance of their exte-rior design.
Both cars also feature a com-pletely redesigned, premium-standard interior with modern, horizontally aligned and very ‘clean-looking’ design.”
The new Kia Optima was devel-oped under the creative direction of Peter Schreyer, who was also re-sponsible for the design of the pre-vious-generation Kia Optima. The new design of the Kia Sportage was developed under the leader-ship of the European Kia Design Centre in Frankfurt with the sup-port of Kia’s Design Centres in Na-myang and Irvine.
Both models are available at Re-liable International Automotive (RIA) showrooms. RIA, the dis-tributor for Kia in Oman provides a rewarding ownership experience for customers.
‘ R E D D O T A W A R D S ’
WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM
SPOR SY O U R G A M E
SECTIONC W E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
NARINE RETURN BOOSTS KKR AHEAD OF MUMBAI CLASH>C3
INSIDE LIFESTYLE
OBSESSED WITH BASS
>C7Ashraf Dahab
Ahmed
THE
HOBBYIST
Music
Inspiring more Omanis to play cricket is Sufyan’s prime hope
T.K. [email protected]
MUSCAT: Oman national cricket team! Any native?
A sarcastic exclamation fol-lowed by a belittling query.
For long that has been the dis-missive reaction to any talk of Oman Cricket team.
However, the team’s qualifi ca-tion for the World T20 and their subsequent stupendous display in India has turned that negative ex-clamation into a positive ‘wow!’
But despite that memorable debut at 2016 World T20 tourna-ment, which included a sensa-tional victory over Ireland in the picturesque Dharamsala, that question about natives presence refused to go away.
The curious onlookers, includ-ing the world media, spotting play-ers of Indian and Pakistani origin and the Sri Lankan infl uence in the form of legendary Duleep Mendis, were still probing to fi nd out that native fl avour in the team.
Surprisingly in Oman too cer-tain section of people took to social media with comments like ‘Oman national team without an Omani’.
Many were not ready to believe that there is one Omani player in the team, who has climbed up the ladder through his sheer dedica-tion and determination.
And that player is Sufyan Me-hmood, an all-rounder, who yearns to improve every minute or say every second.
Sufyan was in limelight when he was fi rst seen on television playing for his country against the United
Arab Emirates in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh, just a few days before the World T20 in India.
That was only his second T20 International, though he has been on many-a-sojourn with the na-tional teams, in all age groups.
He is full of energy and he passes on his positive vibes to his team mates. The training sessions are lively with his presence and his ap-titude to work hard brushes on the optimism to others.
The jubilation he exhibits when-ever Oman achieves a victory is ex-emplary and often stands out on the frames of celebration.
Travelling and practicing with the team has given him the self-confi dence to exhibit his talent whenever opportunity smiled on him. That was evident when he was given the new ball against the United Arab Emirates in Asia Cup and in the end he was the best per-former of the team with both bat and ball.
Well, Sufyan has one goal now. He wants to inspire fellow Omanis to excel in cricket.
If he and some more can do their best and why not the others?
“There is a renewed interest after watching Oman perform in recent times and I am confi dent that more of my countrymen will take up the sport,” said Sufyan, while opening his mind out to Times Sport.
“Discipline, dedication, deter-mination and the will to work hard is important to excel and that’s what driven me so far,” said Sufy-an, who took to cricket in his back-yard with strong support from his parents and brothers.
“When I started playing cricket, my goal was always to play in a World Cup and that turned true though I was not part of the play-ing eleven. But I know one day I will be part of the eleven,” said Sufyan, who fi rst played competi-tive cricket for Sri Lankan School, Muscat, where he studied.
From there he graduated into bigger leagues by representing Under-17 and Under-19 national teams and the national camp doors
opened for him. Once in he has never looked back, even though his parents wanted him to be away from the game for sometime and concentrate on academics.
“I told my dad that I wanted to play on and wish to see Oman on the world stage,” said the 24-year-old BBM graduate, who is em-ployed by Fairtrade LLC.
The Omani player hailed coach Duleep Mendis for a wonderful job in churning out the best from play-
ers. “Coach’s idea of having the Na-tional Youth Development Team (NYDT) has helped in honing the skills of Omani players,” said Su-fyan, who pointed out that the NY-DT’s emerging A Division champi-ons has also provided the fodder to inspire the Omani players.
“Oman Cricket board is also encouraging the youth in the best possible way and the idea of spreading the game to far fl ung areas like Sohar, Sur, Nizwa and
Salalah will spiral the develop-mental programmes and I am sure more nationals will be attracted towards the game,” said Sufyan.
He also called for unity among Omani players and called for the right attitude inculcated with dis-cipline and determination.
“I would also like to see the game making inroads in all schools. This is were the talents can be tapped at the grassroots level and honed,” he opined, hoping that his perfor-mance in Asia Cup will be an in-spiring factor for many.
“I am the fi rst Omani to take a wicket (in Asia Cup) since Oman gained offi cial T20 status,” said a proud Sufyan, wishing that more native players follow his pursuit.
There were indeed many Omani players — like Maqbool Moosa, Ali Akbar, Amit Sampat, Qais bin Khalid Al Said and many more — who played on international stage in the past but then Oman did not have offi cial status.
On his strengths, Sufyan said: “I am a bowling all-rounder and ba-sically a wicket-to-wicket bowler with decent pace and variation, which I think is my strength.”
No wonder he has modelled himself like Sri Lankan cricketer Angelo Mathews, who incidentally is his role model.
Speaking about former skipper Sultan Ahmed, Sufyan sounded emotional.
“He was a great cricketer and a respected leader. He was excep-tional in many ways and was inspi-rational to all in the team, especial-ly upcoming players like me,” said Sufyan. “I will really miss him and also Zeeshan Siddiqui (the man instrumental in guiding Oman to World T20).”
But at the same time he said he was looking forward to play un-der the new captain Ajay Lalcheta in the upcoming World Cricket League Division 5.
Signing off Sufyan thanked his parents for supporting him as always and also his brothers, es-pecially Wisam, for boosting his confi dence.
Sufyan Mehmood was in limelight when
he was fi rst seen on television playing
for his country against the United Arab
Emirates in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh
Al Sabahi picks 26 players for U-16 training camp
MUSCAT: Coach Yacoub Al Sa-bahi has called up 26 players for a training camp to be organised as part of their preparations for the AFC U-16 Championship.
According to information re-ceived from the Oman Football Association (OFA), the training camp will take place in Muscat from April 14 to 16. Yacoub Al Sabahi picked the players after watching a number of club and under-16 league matches.
The AFC U-16 Championship is scheduled to be organised in Indian from September 15 to October 2.
The team: Arshad Al Alawi (Al Arouba), Salim Al Dawoodi (Al Arouba), Mohammed Al Alawi (Al Arouba), Naji Al Ghilani (Sur), Omar Al Midelwi (Sur), Abdullah Al Darmaki (Al Khabourah), Thamer Al Zaabi (Al Khabourah), Isam Al Makzomi (Seeb), Motasim Al Bakri (Seeb), Yosuf Al Malki (Seeb), Nawaf Al Harrasi (Seeb), Yahya Al Hedefi (Seeb), Yosuf Al Shyadi (Suwaiq), Nawaf Al Mejeni (Suwaiq), Khalifa Al Shukili (Suwaiq), Majed Al Sareri (Al Shabab), Abdulrahman Al Hamdani (Al Shabab), Albraa Al Mawali (Al Shabab), Moath Al Jhadhami (Bausher), Sultan Bashair (Al Nasr), Emad Al Garadi (Al Musannah), Hamza Al Shukaili (Al Rustaq), Basam Al Masrori (Ahli-Sidab) and Mohammed Al Maqbali (Sohar).
FOOTBALL
Yacoub Al Sabahi.
There is a renewed
interest after watching
Oman perform in
recent times and I am
confident that more
of my countrymen will
take up the sport
Sufyan MehmoodOman all-rounder
C2
SPORTSW E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
Stay ahead of
the curve with
WhatsNews
SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY INSTALL WHATSNEWS
Barcelona seek to book spot in semis
MADRID: Barcelona can redress their stuttering domestic form by sealing their passage to the Champions League semifi nals when they visit Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.
Last season’s treble winners Barca are in their worst run of form in La Liga since coach Luis Enrique took charge in August 2014, losing their last two games to Real Madrid and Real Sociedad and drawing with Villarreal.
Although those results have seen their La Liga lead over sec-ond-placed Atletico cut to three points, Barca are still on track to become the fi rst Spanish team to win the treble two years in a row, with the King’s Cup fi nal against Sevilla coming up next month.
The visitors take a 2-1 lead from
the fi rst leg into the return match at the Vicente Calderon, Luis Su-arez’s double having cancelled out Fernando Torres’ opener after the former Chelsea striker was sent off in the 35th minute.
“There’s no time for apologies or excuses, we need results. It’s not the time to sink low and think that we’re on a horrible run,” said Luis Enrique.
“There are reasons to be opti-mistic although the results have not been what we want.”
Thomas Vermaelen is out and Rafi nha doubtful due to injury but Barca top scorer Suarez re-turns after the Uruguayan served a suspension.
Luis Enrique is also likely to re-call Jordi Alba, Andres Iniesta and Ivan Rakitic after starting them on the bench in the 1-0 defeat by So-ciedad at the weekend.
The plan to rest those players ahead of the trip to Madrid back-fi red when 18-year-old Mikel Oiar-
zabal headed Sociedad in front in the fi fth minute and Barca strug-gled to break down the opposition for the remainder of the game.
Despite having seven shots, Lionel Messi could not fi nd a way through and the Argentine talisman has now gone 362 min-utes without scoring, his longest drought with Barca since 2011.
Atletico are dreaming of a repeat of their 2014 quarter-fi nal second leg against Barca when an early goal by Koke delivered a 1-0 win and 2-1 aggregate victory.
“The stadium will be buzzing. I’m sure it’s going to be a great night,” said midfi elder Koke.
“The other day we couldn’t win because of circumstances but at home we’re going to turn it around.”
Atletico defenders Jose Gimenez and Stefan Savic are doubtful while Tiago Mendes is defi nitely out and Torres suspended following his dis-missal at the Nou Camp. - Reuters
Last season’s treble
winners Barca are
in their worst run
of form in La Liga
since coach Luis
Enrique took charge
in August 2014,
losing their last two
games to Real Madrid
and Real Sociedad
and drawing
with Villarreal
TRAINING SESSION: Barcelona’s defender Gerard Pique, Barcelona’s Croatian midfi elder Ivan Rakitic, Barcelona’s midfi elder Sergio Busquets, Barcelona’s Brazilian forward
Neymar, Barcelona’s Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez and Barcelona’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi take part in a training session at the FC Barcelona Joan Gamper
Sports Center in Sant Joan Despi, near Barcelona. – AFP
LISBON: Benfi ca coach Rui Vitoria faces another test of his powers of improvisation as he tries to patch up a team with-out topscorer Jonas against Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
The Portuguese champions and league leaders were beaten 1-0 in the fi rst leg of their Champions League quarter-fi -nal last week, a narrow enough margin to give them a chance of producing a major upset at the Stadium of Light.
But with Brazilian marks-man Jonas suspended fol-lowing three yellow cards, the likelihood of beating Bayern for the fi rst time after seven
failed attempts and ending a 26-year wait since Benfi ca’s last semifi nals appearance looks more remote.
The 31-year-old has scored 30 goals in only 29 Portuguese league appearances this sea-son, plus two in his nine Cham-pions League outings including a crucial stoppage-time winner at home to Zenit St Petersburg in the previous round.
But Vitoria, in his fi rst season at Benfi ca, has already proved he can produce a winning team from a squad which lacks the strength-in-depth of elite Eu-ropean teams such as Bayern. Mexican forward Raul Jimenez,
who usually starts on the bench, might get a chance to fi nally partner Kostas Mitroglou on Wednesday, although Vitoria could move midfi elder Nicolas Gaitan into attack and reshuffl e his midfi eld. But Vitoria was not fretting.
“We’re not going to sit here and cry over something we cannot control,” he said.
“This is just an opportu-nity for someone else and whoever plays will certainly do a great job. We are going to put out a competitive team to face them on equal terms, hand for hand, centimetre by centimetre.” — Reuters
Benfi ca coach faces another test of ability
Australia, Japan to square off again in World Cup qualifyingKUALA LUMPUR: Continental champions Australia were pooled in a formidable Group B with Sau-di Arabia, Japan and the United Arab Emirates in the draw for the fi nal Asian round of 2018 World Cup qualifying on Tuesday.
Joining the quartet in the six nation group, where only the top two sides are guaranteed of a place at the fi nals in Russia, were 2007 Asian champions Iraq and fast-improving Thailand.
Group A was headlined by con-sistent qualifi ers South Korea and Asia’s top ranked team Iran, who both represented the continent at the last World Cup in Brazil along with Australia and Japan.
China, who have qualifi ed for just one World Cup in 2002 and scraped through to this round, were also pooled in Group A alongside three sides who have yet to reach a fi nals - Syria, 2022 hosts Qatar and Uzbekistan.
The group stages will conclude in Sept. 2017 with the top two from each pool qualifying and the
two third-placed sides playing each other.
The winners of that playoff then advance to a two-legged inter-confederation clash with a CONCACAF qualifi er for another spot in Russia.
Iran and South Korea, who will be favourites to progress to an-other World Cup, endure frosty soccer relations after clashing in qualifying four years ago.
Korea complained about inade-quate training facilities in Tehran, with then-coach Choi Kang-hee saying he would enjoy eliminating Iran from the race to Brazil only for the Iranians to win in Seoul in the return and top the group.
That result sparked ugly scenes on the sidelines as Iran coach Carlos Queiroz and his as-sistants celebrated by rushing towards the Korean bench and gesturing wildly.
It will be the third consecutive World Cup campaign that Korea and Iran have faced off in, with Japan and Australia also making
it a trilogy of meetings.Japan have played at the last
fi ve World Cups and fi nished ahead of Australia in 2014 quali-fying but the Socceroos came out top in the 2010 campaign.
Saudi Arabia, who made the last of their four World Cup ap-pearances in 2002, took four points from the UAE in the previ-ous round and have shown signs of progress under Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk.
But Australia coach Ange Postecoglou was confi dent his side, who will start on Sept. 1 with a home clash against Iraq, would play in Russia. “As champions of Asia we will show due respect to all countries but focussed on continuing our journey that has aspirations greater than simply qualifying for the World Cup,” he said in a statement.
Group A: Iran, South Korea, Uzbekistan, China, Qatar, Syria
Group B: Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emir-ates, Iraq, Thailand. - Reuters
W O R L D C U P Q U A L I F I E R S
C3
SPORTSW E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
Narine return boosts KKR ahead of Mumbai Indians clashKOLKATA: Sunil Narine’s return will enable a confi dent Kolkata Knight Riders to tighten the noose when they take on a shaky Mum-bai Indians in the Indian Premier League encounter at the Eden Gardens. Both KKR and defending champions MI were a part of ut-terly lopsided campaigns in their respective lung openers.
While Knights clinically deci-mated Delhi Daredevils by nine wickets after having bowled the op-position out for a sub-100 score, the Mumbai Indians were at the receiv-ing end with league debutants Ris-ing Pune Supergiants giving them a sound thrashing by nine wickets.
Narine, who had left for the Caribbean after his father’s de-
mise is back in Kolkata, and with clearance from the ICC will like to forge a lethal combination with 45-year-old chinaman exponent Brad Hogg, if both are picked as overseas recruits.
Narine with 74 IPL scalps from four seasons has been instrumen-tal in Gautam Gambhir leading the Shah Rukh Khan co-owned fran-chise to titles in 2012 and 2014.
If the jet-lagged Narine is avail-able, it will mean a selection di-lemma for Gambhir with the Aus-sie veteran Brad Hogg (3/19) being the pick of their bowler rattling DD for 98 in 17.4 overs.
In that case, Gambhir may like to dump John Hastings, who did bowl well against Daredevils. A
look at India’s recent series in Aus-tralia will indicate that Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma had really played the big-bodied Aussie really well. The other option is to play a batsman less to induct Nar-ine and in that case Colin Munro may be made to sit out.
That apart, KKR has the per-fect winning combination in place even if that would mean a heartbreak for Bangaldeshi star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan who could not make the XI despite his fi ne performance in the World Twenty20, where he took 10 wick-ets from seven matches.
This will be KKR’s last match at the Eden this month as they will hit the road for six successive away
matches with West Bengal in the middle of the Assembly polls as Gambhir’s men cannot aff ord to let go the crucial two points at home.
If Mumbai Indians, who had won their two IPL titles at this venue in 2013 and 2015, will have to bounce back from the defeat against debutants Pune Super-giants in the IPL opener, the onus will be on their batters to decode the spin puzzle of KKR at their happy hunting venue.
Going by their performance in the last match, MI’s title defence looked very shaky even at this early stage. They will be hoping to get back to their best rhythm at the earliest. It will be skipper Ro-hit Sharma who will have to lead
by example up front at the same venue where he had scored an ODI world record 264.
After surprisingly deciding to bat on a strip with seam movement and bounce, Mumbai Indians star batsmen struggled as they were 68 for 7 in the 16th over, having lost their top four batsmen inside fi ve overs for 30.
It was the feisty Harbhajan who wriggled them out of the hole with an unbeaten 30-ball 45 to prop the total to 121 for 8. The target proved too little for the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Faf du Plessis and KP Pie-tersen who scripted a nine-wicket win in 14.4 overs.
“Hopefully, we will go back and come back with a positive frame
of mind. Never thought the ball would do that much having played a lot of cricket here. They swung it a lot and our shot selection wasn’t great. We have good memories in Kolkata. It’s just the start of the tournament, no need to panic,” Ro-hit had said.
With their team think-tank boasting the legendary duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Pont-ing to go with a star studded line-up captained by Rohit Sharma, there’s an overfl owing of talents in the most decorated dressing room.
It will be all about channelis-ing them to bring out the best XI something that had come in for much debate following their deba-cle at home. — PTI
I P L P R E V I E W
FANJA SQUARE OFF AGAINST AHLI AL KHALIL IN AFC CUPFanja, who are yet to taste success in the AFC Cup, will take on Palestine’s Ahli Al Khalil in their fourth Group D match at
home on Wednesday. The match will be played at the Seeb Sports Stadium from 7.00 p.m. Bahrain’s Al Muharraq lead the
group with nine points followed by Ahli Al Khalil and Syria’s Al Jaish with three points each. Meanwhile, Al Arouba play their
away Group C match against Palestine’s Al Dharia. Al Arouba are second in the group with four points. Air Force Iraq lead the
group with six points. Al Wahda of Syria have three points and Al Dharia just one. — ISMAIL AL FARSI/Times of Oman
RCB crush Sunrisers
BENGALURU: Royal Challeng-ers Bangalore won their inaugu-ral Indian Premier League match against Sunrisers Hyderabad by 45 runs at the Chinnaswamy Sta-dium here on Tuesday.
Amassing an imposing total of 227 for 4, Royal Challengers re-stricted the Sunrisers to 182 for 6.
Except for skipper David Warn-er’s spirited 58 off 25 balls with four fours and fi ve sixes and Ash-ish Reddy’s 32, all other Sunrisers faltered before the RCB attack, with Shane Watson (2/30) and Yuzvendra Chahal (2/43) most successful bowlers for the hosts.
The Sunrisers’ failure to main-tain the run rate led to a situation that they needed 64 runs in the last 12 balls and 55 runs in the last over.
Earlier, Royal Challengers, who lost the toss and were put into bat, proved to be unstoppable with the twin attack launched by skipper Virat Kohli (75) and A.B.
De Villiers (82).Despite the loss of Chris Gayle (1) in the second over, De Villiers and Kohli set up a crackling pace, helping them-selves to generous boundaries, to set the scene for a big score.
Coming in at number three, De Villiers fi lled the void left by Gay-le. As the crowd started chant-
ing his name, the South African stalwart responded hitting back to back boundaries. He cracked seven fours and six sixes to reach 82 in just 42 balls while Kohli hit seven fours and three sixes to reach his 75 in 51 balls.
Entering after the fall of Kohli in the 16th over, Watson hit three
successive sixes off Karn Sharma while Sarfaraz remained unbeat-en at 35 after hitting fi ve fours and two sixes in just 10 balls.
For Sunrisers, Mustafi zur Rah-man was the most economical bowler with fi gures of 2/26.
De Villiers was declared man of the match.
Brief scoresRoyal Challengers Bangalore: 227 for 4 (A.B. De Villiers 82, Virat Kohli 75; Mustafi zur Rah-man 2/26, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar 2/55) beat SRH 182/ for (David Warner 58, Ashish Reddy 32; Shane Watson 2/30, Yuzvendra Chahal 2/43). - IANS
Amassing an
imposing total of
227 for 4, Royal
Challengers
Banglaore restricted
Sunrisers Hyderabad
to 182 for 6
RUN MACHINES: Royal Challengers Bangalore batsmen Virat Kohli, right, and AB De Villiers having
a chat during their blitzy partnership against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Chinnaswamy stadium. – PTI
C4
SPORTSW E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
Bank Muscat to announce 2016 Green Sports benefi ciariesMUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the fl agship fi nancial services pro-vider in the Sultanate, is all set to announce 2016 Green Sports benefi ciaries as fi eld visits by a committee have concluded to re-view and short-list sports teams for greening and infrastructure development of football fi elds across the Sultanate.
Marking the fi fth year of the unique Corporate Social Respon-sibility (CSR) initiative, the bank will support the development of 15 football fi elds in 2016 in line with the ‘Let’s Do More’ vi-sion and partnership to promote Oman as a sporting nation.
The Green Sports initiative launched by Bank Muscat in 2012 has gained momentum with a total of 49 teams across the Sul-tanate benefi ting from it till date.
In 2015, the bank widened the scope of Green Sports initiative off ering four options for sports teams to green football fi elds with natural or synthetic turf, or avail support for fl ood lights or water desalination equipment to facilitate greening of fi elds in
areas facing problems of water salinity. The move was aimed at providing wider representation to teams to build sustainable sports infrastructure in all parts of the Sultanate.
The football fi elds developed as part of the Green Sports initia-tive are also serving as a meeting place for children and youth to be engaged in gainful activities. The fi elds are used to host vari-ous activities such as Ramadan nights, group weddings and other celebrations. Such community activities are helping children and youth develop strong positive character traits.
Bank Muscat is committed to its ‘Let’s Do More’ vision for the economy, community and environment and is proud to have led the way in contributing to sustainable development in Oman with various initiatives. As the nation’s leading fi nancial institution, Bank Muscat aims to provide the momentum for youth to excel in all arenas and thereby contribute to the development and progress of Oman.
C S R I N I T I A T I V E
‘LET’S DO MORE’: Bank Muscat’s Green Sports initiative, launched
by in 2012, saw a total of 49 teams benefi ting from the pro-
gramme till date. – Supplied photo
BLACK & WHITE KERALA LIFT AL ADRAK CUPBlack & White Kerala defeated FC Kerala via tie-breaker to clinch the title at the Al Adrak Cup football tournament organised by
Al Adrak LLC here recently. FC Dejavu defeated Muscat United to settle for the third place. The tournament was inaugurated by
Dr. Thomas Alexander, CEO of Al Adrak, and Dr. Arun Surendran, Principal of Trinity College. — Supplied photo
India thrash Pakistan 5-1 in Azlan Shah Cup
IPOH: A dominant India regis-tered their biggest victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in six years when they coasted to a 5-1 win in a round-robin league match of the 25th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, here on Tuesday.
This was India’s biggest win since their 7-4 triumph against Pa-kistan in the 2010 Commonwealth Games at New Delhi.
Playing their best game of the tournament, Manpreet Singh opened the scoring for India in the fourth minute but Pakistan equal-ised in the seventh through cap-tain Muhammed Irfan.
But thereafter it was all India as the Sardar Singh-led side controlled
the proceedings with SV Sunil scor-ing two opportunistic fi eld goals in the 10th and 41st minutes.
Talwinder Singh then capital-ised on a rebound to score India’s fourth goal in the 50th minute be-fore Rupinder Pal Singh converted a penalty corner in the 54th minute.
India’s victory would have been bigger had Rupinder converted a penalty stroke in the 55th minute and an defl ection into the net by Ramandeep Singh in the 69th was not disallowed after the umpire initially blew for a goal.
The victory took India to the sec-ond spot in the round-robin league standings with nine points from four outings. The table is being led by world champions Australia on 12 points from four straight wins.
Australia took one step into the fi nal when they prevailed 1-0 over Oceania rivals and defending cham-pions New Zealand, who now have eight points from fi ve matches.
The all-important goals for Aus-tralia was scored by captain Jamie Dwyer, who capitalised on a re-bound to shoot into the open goal with the goalkeeper at his mercy.
Later in the day, in an exhibi-tion of the sub-continental style of hockey, India lifted their game by leaps and bounds to dominate the match, forcing Pakistan to crowd their territory in the second half to deny Sardar’s men more goals. - PTI
This was India’s
biggest win since
their 7-4 triumph
against Pakistan
in the 2010
Commonwealth
Games in New Delhi
DOMINANT DISPLAY: India’s S.V. Sunil, right, celebrates after scor-
ing a goal in against Pakistan on Tuesday.
WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM
LeisureSECTIONC L I F E S T Y L E W E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
A t the top of the beautiful Jebel Akhdar Mountains, lies camoufl aged a conglomerate of ancient stone infrastructures, which is known to the Sultanate as Alila Jabal Akhdar. The place is a paradise away from the cities and towns which brings one closer to nature by all means, revitalising your senses and re-juvenating your mind and body.
Amongst the various attractions and recreations the place has to of-fer, one thing that teleported me to another dimension altogether was the magical Alila spa. I walked into the huge reception of the spa where the attendant took me through the various treatments they have to off er, after which I was asked to wait at the cosy waiting area. I was observing everything around me there, taking in the beauty and the feel of the place, wondering how ancient or brand new the showpieces neatly placed in the big wooden showcase were. The terracotta vessels, the Omani souve-nirs, and little jars of smoked rose water spoke volumes about the culture and livelihood of the locals.
On the coff ee table were three earthen bowls of frankincense, juniper berries, and basil leaves along with a number of other beauty and cosmetic products such as body lotions, face creams and lip balms that were all special Alila products made in Bali. While I was skimming through the pages of the spa menu that was also on the table, a lady came up to me off ering a hot and spicy cup of ginger lemon tea which I sipped at taking my own time, and feel-ing the warmth as it went down my oesophagus. I was then escorted by my masseuse into what looked like a mystique maze to me. The overwhelming smell and walls with the huge wall paintings lead me fi nally to my massage room. As soon as I stepped into the place, I knew this is exactly where I want to be; it was probably because of the energy and aura that exuberated from the little room or just the feeling of relaxation that had been building up since the past half hour.
I was asked to soak my legs in a bucket fi lled with warm water and rock salts after which my limbs were moistened with a wet towel. I had opted for the therapeutic massage which focused on my pressure points and neck, back, and shoulders. The soothing music, the skilled hands of my masseuse who was trained in anatomical physiology, and the sweet smelling, warm feeling massage oils apparated me to a whole new re-laxed, stress-free world.
I tried hard not to doze off during the 60 minute, luxury treatment so I could experience the whole therapy to its fullest. After the dreamy hour, I had to leave this dip lit haven and go back to the world I belong to, which fortunately was still within the premises of Alila. My skin felt healthy, fresh and my mind was completely relaxed. When I was thanking my masseuse for the magic of her hands is when she told me about the secret massage ingredi-ents that made the experiences perfect. In the massage rooms of Alila, they use three special oils; the relaxing oil which acts as a warm up oil for the body, the purifying oil which contains mandarin and grapefruit which detoxifies and solves the problem of dry skin, and the signature oil that contains lemon grass that eases muscle tension. It has been over two weeks since the massage but the effect still remains. For reservations and enquiries, Call: +968 2534 4200 or email: [email protected]. [email protected]
Get into the Alila Spa for an out-of-this-world
experience that will linger for days.
Story Shruthi NairPhotos Salim Al Afi fi
The Magic Touch
FIND-IT-ALLC6 W E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
Dhuhr 12.12pm
Asr 3.40pm
Maghrib 6.32pm
Isha 7.45pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 4.30am
PRAYER TIMINGS
ROYAL OMAN POLICE
Emergencies and inquiries: 9999
General Directorate of
Passport and Residence 24569603
Directorate General
of Customs 24521109
Traffic violations inquiries 24510228
Public Relations Admin 24560099
EMBASSIES IN OMAN
Afghanistan 24698 791/4
Algeria 24605 593
Bahrain 24 605 074/133
Bangladesh 24 698 660
Brazil 24640100
Brunei 24 603533
China 24 696782
Cyprus 24 699815
Egypt 24 600 982/411
France 24681 800
Germany 24835000
India 24684500
Indonesia 2469 1050
Iran 24 696 944/7
Iraq 24603642
Italy 24693727
Japan 24 601 028
Jordan 24692760/1/3
Kazakhstan 24 692418
Kenya 24 697664
South Korea 24 691490
Kuwait 24 699628
Lebanon 24 693208
Libya 24603466
Malaysia 24698329/643
Morocco 24696152/3
Nepal 24696177
Netherlands 24603706
Pakistan 24603439
Palestine 24601312
Philippines 24605335
Qatar 24 691 153/2/4
Russia 24602894
Saudi Arabia 24601705
Senegal 24694139
Somalia 24697977
South Africa 24647300
Spain 24691101
Sri Lanka 24697841/2
Sudan 24697875
Switzerland 24603267
Syria 24697904
Tanzania 24601 174
Thailand 24 602684/5
Tunisia 24603486
Turkey 24697050/1/2
UAE 24400000
United Kingdom 24609000
United States 24643400
Yemen 24600815
PHARMACIES (ROUND THE CLOCK)
Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi 24783334
Apollo Medical Centre,
Hamriya 24782666
Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi 24702542
Salalah 23291635;
Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra 24503585
Muscat Region
Apollo, Al Hamriya 24787766
Muscat, A Seeb Market 24421691
Muscat, Al Khuwair 24485740
Muscat, Al Hail South 24537080
Dhofar Region
Muscat, Al Nahdha Road,
Salalah 23291635
HOSPITALS
Al Amal Medical & Health Care Centre
24485052
Atlas Hospital
Ruwi 24811743/
Ghubra 24504000
Al Musafir Specialised
Medical Clinic 24706453
Hatat Polyclinic LLC,
Ruwi 24563641
Azaiba 24499269
Sohar 2683006
Al Raffah Hospital 24618900/1/2
Al Massaraat Clinic &
Laboratory 24566435
Al Makook Medical
Coordinance Centre 24499434
Apollo Medical Centre,
Hamriya 24787766, 24787780
Capital Polyclinic 24707549
Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic,
Ruwi 24799760/1/2
Capital Clinic, Seeb 24420740
Ceregem National Raak 24485633
Dr Harub’s Clinic 24563217
Elixir Health Centre 24565802
Emirates Medical Centre 24604540
1st Chiropractic Centre 24472274
Lifeline Hospital Salalah 23212340
International Medical
Centre LLC 24794501/2/3/4/5
Kims Oman Hospital 24760100
24 Hrs Emergency 24760123
Lama Polyclinic, Sohar 26751128
MBD 24799077
Al Khuwair 24478818
Magrabi Eye and
Ear Hospital 24568870
Muscat Private Hospital 24583600
Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment
Centre, Al Khuwair 24477666
Al Hayat International Hospital, Al Ghubra
22004000, 94267068/97049520
Al Hayat Clinic, Al Hail 22009455
AIRLINE OFFICES
Muscat Airport Flight information
(24 hours) 24519456/24519223
Aeroflot 24704455
Air Arabia 24700828
Air France 24562153
Air India 24799801
Air New Zealand 24700732
Biman Bangladesh Airlines 24701128
British Airways 24568777
Cathay Pacific 24789818
Egypt Air 24794113
Emirates Air 24404400
Ethiopian Airlines 24660313
Gulf Air 80072424
Indian 24791914
Iran Air 24787423
Japan Airlines 24704455
Jazeera Airways 23294848
Jet Airways 24787248
Kenya Airways 24660300
KML Royal Dutch Airlines 24566737
Kuwait Airways 24701262
LOT Polish Airlines 24796387
Lufthansa 24796692
Malaysian Airlines 24560796
Middle East Airlines 24796680
Oman Air 24531111
Pakistan International
Airlines 24792471
Qatar Airways 24771900
Qantas 24559941
Royal Jordanian 24796693
Saudi Arabian Airlines 24789485
Singapore Airlines 24791233
Shaheen Air 24816565
SriLankan Airlines 24784545
Swiss International
Airlines 24796692
Thai Airways 24705934
LISTINGS
LONG DISTANCE BUS TIMINGS (OMAN NATIONAL TRANSPORT COMPANY SAOC) *SUBJECT TO CHANGE
FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)
Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days
QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (ROUTE 36)
15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily
15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily
15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily
TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)
06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily
06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily
08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri
13:00 Sohar 15:45 Daily
13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily
16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily
16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily
TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)
17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily
TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)
14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily
14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily
TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)
08:00 Nizwa 10:20 Daily
08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily
TO SUR (ROUTE 55)
07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily
14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily
TO FAHUD - YIBAL (ROUTE 62)
06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily
06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily
TO MARMUL-SALALAH (ROUTE 100)
07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily
10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily
10:00 Salalah 23:30 Daily
19:00 Salalah 07:40 Daily
TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)
06:00 Marmul 16:50 Daily
SALALAH TO DUBAI (ROUTE 102)
15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily
TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)
06:00 Sohar 08:30 Daily
06:00 Dubai 11:30 Daily
13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur
13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur
15:00 Sohar 17:35 Daily
15:00 Dubai 20:55 Daily
TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)
07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily
07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily
07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily
TO MUSCAT (RUWI)
Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days
FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (ROUTE 36)
05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily
05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily
05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily
TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)
07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily
07:00 Ruwi 11:40 Daily
13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri
13:00 Sohar 14:55 Daily
13:00 Ruwi 17:40 Daily
13:00 Sohar 19:20 Daily
17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily
TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)
07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily
TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)
06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily
06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily
TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)
15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily
15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily
TO SUR (ROUTE 55)
06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily
14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily
TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)
12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily
12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily
TO SALALAH -MARMUL (ROUTE 100)
07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily
10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily
10:00 Ruwi 22:30 Daily
19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily
TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)
06:00 Marmul 16:30 Daily
DUBAI TO SALALAH (ROUTE 102)
15:00 Salalah 07:00 Daily
TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)
07:30 Sohar 10:50 Daily
07:30 Ruwi 13:40 Daily
13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri
13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri
15:30 Sohar 18:45 Daily
15:30 Ruwi 21:35 Daily
FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH/SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)
16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily
16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily
16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily
CITY CINEMAContact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68 www.citycinemaoman.netfacebook.com/citycinemaoman
SHATTIThe Jungle Book (Adventure | Drama) PGCast: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray8:00PMMr. Right (Action Comedy| Romance) 15+Cast: Anna Kendrick, Tim Roth, Sam Rockwell3:00, 7:15, 9:45 & 11:45PMBefore I Wake (Horror| Thriller) 15+Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Thomas Jane11:55PMThe Boss (Comedy) 18+Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Bell3:30 & 9:30PMBeeba Boys (Crime |Drama | Thriller) 15+Cast: Randeep Hooda, Ali Momen, Sarah Allen3:45 & 10:00PMShaket Daboos (Arabic| Mystery) PG12Cast: Khaled Selim, Mai Selim, Nesreen Amin5:00PMEddie the Eagle (Biography| Drama) PGCast: Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman5:45PMBatman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice 3D (Action) PG126:45 & 11:15PMKung Fu Panda 3 – 3D (Animation) PG5:30PM
MUSCAT GRAND MALLThe Jungle Book – 3D (PG) Adventure |Family)Cast: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley8:15, 11:00 PMGold Class – 9:15 PMMr. Right – 2D (15+) Action|ComedyCast: Anna Kendrick, Tim Roth, Sam Rockwell2:00, 11:45 PMGold Class – 6:15PMBeeba Boys – 2D (15+) Crime | Thriller11:30 PM Gold Class– 3:45 PM Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice –
3D (PG12) (Action, Adventure, Fantasy)11:30 AM, 4:00, 6:30, 8:45 PMKung Fu Panda 3 – 3D (PG) Animation 12:00, 2:15, 6:45 PMThe Boy and the Beast – 2D (PG) Animation 4:15 PM
PANORAMA MALLThe Jungle Book - (Adventure) (3D) (PG) - VIP LOUNGE Cast : Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley9:30, 11:30pmThe Jungle Book - (Adventure) (3D) (PG)8:45pmBatman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice-3D (Action, Adventure) (PG12)3:30, 6:15, 9:00, 11:45 PMBatman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice-3D (Action, Adventure) (PG12)-VIP LOUNGE 6:45 PMBatman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice5:45, 8:30, 11:15 PM (MX4D) (PG12)Kung Fu Panda 3-3D (Animation) (PG)3:15, 5:45 PMEddie the Eagle-2D (Biography) (PG)5:00 PMKi & Ka-2D (Romance, Comedy) (15+)
9:15 PMMR. Right-2D (Action, Comedy)(15+)3:45 PMMR. Right-2D (Action) (15+)-VIP LOUNGE3:45 PMThe Boss-2D (Comedy) (18+)Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Bell7:30 PMThe Squad-2D (Action, Drama) (15+)Cast: Jean Reno, Alban Lenoir3:45, 7:00, 11:15 PMThe Dead Room-2D (Horror, Thriller) (TBC)11:45 PM
AZAIBA Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (3D) (Action |Adventure | Fantasy) (PG12) 2:45, 8:45, 11:30 PMKung Fu Panda 3 (3D) (Animation) (PG) 2:45, 4:30 PMBeeba Boys (Eng) (2D) (Crime) (15+) Cast: Randeep Hooda, Ali Momen, Sarah Allen6:45 PMRocky Handsome (2D) (Action) (12+) Cast: John Abraham, Shruti Hassan, Nishikant3:30 PMKi & Ka (2D) (Romance | Comedy) (TBC)
3:00, 5:45, 10:15 PMDarvinte Parinamam (Mal) (2D) (Comedy) 6:00, 8:15 PM (PG12) Sardar Gabbar Singh (Telugu) (2D) (Action)5:30, 8:30 PM (PG12) Theri (Tamil) (2D) (Comedy | Action) (12+) Cast: Vijay, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Amy11:00, 11:30 PMThe Jungle Book (3D) (Adventure) (PG) 8:15 PM
RUWIScreen 1Ki & Ka (Drama/ Comedy/ Romance) –PG123.30, 9.00 PMKapoor & Sons (Drama / Family) –PG126.30 PMTheri (Action) - Tamil –12+Cast : Vijay, Samantha, Amy Jackson, Prabhu11.30 PMScreen 2Kapoor & Sons (Drama / Family) –PG123.45 PMKi & Ka (Drama/ Comedy/ Romance) –PG126.30 PMThe Jungle Book (2D) (Adventure/ Family) Cast : Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, Bill9.00 PM (PG)
Theri (Action) - Tamil –12+11.00 PMScreen 3Rocky Handsome (Action/ Thriller) –12+3.45, 9.45 PMSardaar Gabbar Singh – Telgu - (Action) 6.45 PM (PG12)
SURJungle Book 3D (Adventure) ( PG ) Cast: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley8:15 PMTheri (Tamil ) (Action ) (12+)Cast: Vijay, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Amy11:15 PMMr. Right (Action | Comedy | Romance) (15+) 3:45, 11:55 PMThe Dead Room (Horror | Thriller) (TBC) 9:45 PMThe Squad (Anti Gang) (Action) (TBC) Cast: Jean Reno, Alban Lenoir10:15 PMDarvinte Parinamam (Action) (PG12) Cast: Prithviraj Sukumaran7:00 PMSardaar Gabbar Singh (Telugu) (TBC) 5:30 PMBatman Vs Superman 3D (Action) (PG12) 4:15 PM
SOHARBatman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice 3D; 3:30, 11:45PM (Action, Adventure) (PG12)Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice 2D; 9:00PM (Action, Adventure) (PG12)Mr. Right- 2D (Action, Comedy) (15+)2:45, 6:15 PMThe Dead Room - 2D (Horror, Thriller) (15+)5:00, 11:45 PMKung Fu Panda 3 - 3D (Animation)(PG)4:30PMThe Boss- 2D (Comedy) (18+)3:15, 7:00PMBeeba Boys-2D (Crime, Drama, Thriller) (15+)3:00, 6:00, 11:55PMDarvinte Parinamam - 2D (Action) (PG12)9:00PMSardaar Gabbar Singh- 2D (Action) (PG12)8:45PMCast: Pawan Kalyan, Kajal AgarwalThe Squad - 2D (Thriller) (15+)5:15, 10:00PMKi & Ka- 2D (Romance, Comedy) (PG12)
6:30PMJungle Book – 3D (Adventure, Family) (PG)8:00PMTheri – 2D (Romance, Comedy) (PG12)Cast: Vijay, Samantha Ruth Prabhu11:15PM
BURAIMIKung Fu Panda 3 (Animation |Action|) (PG) 5:00PMMr. Right -2D (Action, Comedy) (15+) 4:45, 7:00PMThe Squad Aka (Anti Gang) -2D (Action) 6:45, 11:45PMThe Dead Room-2D (Horror, Thriller) TBC10:15PMBeeba Boys -2D (Crime, Drama) (15+) 5.30, 11.30PMDarvinte Parinamam-2D (Mal) (PG12)7:30PMSardaar Gabbar Singh-2D (Telgu)TBC8:45PMJungle Book 3D (English) PG8:30PM
SALALAH
Jungle Book (3D) (PG) (Adventure| Family) 8:45PMBatman Vs Superman (3D) (PG12) (Action) 6:00PMBatman Vs Superman (2D) (PG12) (Action) 11:15PMKung Fu Panda 3 (3D) (PG) (Animation) 1:00, 4:00PMAnti-Squad (2D) (15+) (Action | Drama)4:40, 10:00PMMr. Right (2D) (15+) (Action| Comed)2:45, 6:30, 11:55PMBefore I Wake (2D) (15+) (Horror| Thriller) 2:50PMBeeba Boys (2D) (15+) (Crime |Drama)2:00PMThe Boss (2D) (18+) (Comedy)1:00PMKi & Ka (2D) (PG12) (Romance | Comedy)4:30PMTheri (2D) (12+) (Tamil) (Action)Cast: Vijay, Samantha Ruth, Prabhu, Amy11:00PMSardaar Gabbar Singh (2D) (PG12) (Telugu) 7:00PMDarvinte Parinamam (2D) (PG12) (Mal)8:25PM
CINEMA SCHEDULE CHILDREN BELOW THE AGE OF 3 YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE CINEMA | BOX-OFFICE COUNTER OPENS 30-MINUTES PRIOR TO THE SCREENING OF THE FIRST SHOW
@AZAIBA @ SUR
Theri (Tamil) (2D) (Comedy | Action) (PG12) Cast: Vijay, Samantha Ruth, Prabhu, Amy Jackson11:00, 11:30 PM
Mr. Right (Action Comedy| Romance) 15+Cast: Anna Kendrick, Tim Roth, Sam Rockwell3:45, 11:55 PM
BAHJA CINEMAFilm information 24540856 / Advance Booking 24540855Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com
Mr. Right (Action / Comedy / Romance)Cast: Anna Kendrick, Sam Rockwell, Tim Roth2.00, 3.45 & 8.00 PMCP No : 1094 (15+)Before I Wake (Horror / Thriller)Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Thomas Jane 5.30, 10.00 & 11.55 PM CP No: 1096 (15+)Beeba Boys (Crime / Drama / Thriller)Cast: Randeep Hooda, Ali Momen, Sarah Allen10.00 & 11.55 PM CP No: 1093 (15+)The Boss (Comedy)2.00 & 6.00 PMCast: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen BellCP No: 1095 (15+)The Boy and the Beast (Animation / Action)Voice Overs: Bryn Apprill, Kumiko Aso4.00 PMCP No : 1097 (PG)Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice(Action / Adventure / Fantasy)7.15 PM CP No: 375 (PG12)
STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776
Website: www.isurf.co.omTheri (Tamil) ( Action) Cast : Vijay & Samantha 11:00 Pm Cinema Main Darvinte Parinamam (Mal) (Comedy) Cast: Prithviraj & Chandini Sreedharan 3:30 & 6:30 PM Cinema Main; 9:30 PM Cinema 2 Thozha (Tamil) (Comedy \ Drama) Cast: Karthi, Nagarjuna & Tamanna 3-45 PM Cinema -3; 6:45 PM Cinema -4 Action Hero Biju (Mal) (Act\ Comedy) Cast: Nivin Pauly & Anu Emmanuel 6:45 & 9:45 PM Cinema - 3Maheshinte Prathikaram (Mal) (Comedy) Cast: Fahad Faasil & Anusree 3:45 & 9:45 PM Cinema-4Sardaar Gabbar Singh (Telugu) (Action) Cast: Pawan Kalyan & Kajal Aggarwal 3:30 & 6:30 PM Cinema 2
@ MGM
The Jungle Book – 3D (PG) Adventure |Family)Cast: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley8:15, 11:00 PMGold Class – 9:15 PM
WEATHER
320
Maximum
240
Minimum
TEMPERATURE
85-35%RELATIVE HUMIDITY
Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 17 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to [email protected]
WITH LOVE
NICOLE EVA MACHADOApril 13, 2008
1. Why do you love playing guitar?I love music in general, and love playing any musical instru-ment that I can get my hands on. I have always been obsessed with bass guitar all my life. I’d listen to the bass sound in every piece of music and dream that one day I will be able to do that. The bass is a key instrument in almost all types of music, and bass guitar in particular enjoys a special status, so to speak, on stage. Some people would refer to the bass player as “the coolest guy/girl on stage”, while others would describe him/her as “the mysterious guy/girl on stage”. Whichever way you look at it, the bass is a fascinating instrument to play, and to watch others play.
2. How did you get into it? I started playing music at a very early age. I was about fi ve years old when my father got me a small keyboard, and it started from there. For the most part of my life I played the keyboard. But I also play a number of other instruments, in-cluding the oud, accordion, bongos/percussion, trumpet (long back), and my latest adventure is the saxophone. As I men-tioned, bass guitar was a childhood dream, so as soon as I got an opportunity to try it with a new band, around the year 1999, I jumped into it, and I’ve been playing it ever since. A friend of mine then asked me if I would play bass in his new band, and I said “yes”. I have never played it before, not good at least. So I started learning it “on-the-job”.
3. How can one get into it?Unlike any other musical instrument, bass guitar is fairly easy to start playing. But it is the most diffi cult instrument to be re-ally good at. I always tell people who aspire to play bass that they need to be bass players before they could become bass players. A paradox? Not really. The point is, you need to be able to isolate the bass sound in music, be able to sing the bass line in any piece of music, be able to “create” your own bass lines in your head, for any given music, all before you ever touch a bass guitar. That is what makes a good bass player. It starts way be-fore you grab the instrument.
4. What’s your pro-tip?The No. 1 tip I’d give to any bass player, new or experienced, is to listen, listen, and listen to any style of music possible. This actually goes for all instruments, but it is crucial for the bass. A good bass player needs to understand complex rela-tionships between the drums/percussion and the bass, for in-stance. The more musical styles you listen to, the better your vocabulary becomes. Bass playing comes from the heart, not the fi [email protected]
LIFESTYLEC7W E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
OBSESSED WITH BASSYou need to be able to isolate the bass sound in music and be able to “create” your own bass lines in your head.
Ashraf Dahab Ahmed
THE HOBBYIST
Music
There are a good number of music schools here in Muscat. These are normally a good place to start.
Classic Music & Arts InstituteCall: +968 2456 0025Email: [email protected] Muscat Call: +968 2455 1295, +968 2449 2287Talentz Enterprises LLCCall: +968 2478 3443, +968 2479 1948Melody Music InstituteCall: +968 2448 6647, +968 2470 3130, +968 9941 8267 Email: [email protected] MusicCall: +968 2447 5620
LIFESTYLEC8 W E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 1 3, 2 0 1 6
Summer is approaching and many of us are planning a summer holiday in some of the cool destinations. Staying healthy on our travel, especially on the plane is of prime importance. You don’t want to arrive at your holiday destination feeling tired and bloated after eating a lot of food in the fl ight and snacks from the airport food counters. What you eat before you board can also make a big impact on how you feel once you’re in the air and how you feel once you land. Avoid these dining disasters before you board and avoid ‘jet bloat,’ being the stinky seatmate, and other in-fl ight horrors. Here are some foods you should never eat before fl [email protected]
Fried or Fast FoodMost of the air travellers are tempted by those airport fast-food restau-rants. Know that digestion is harder for your body above 30,000 feet. Add that to the trouble the digestive sys-tem already has processing saturated fats, and you will get a heartburn or an upset stomach. Researches have also found that eating saturated fat can constrict blood fl ow, which could in-crease your risk for deep vein throm-bosis (DVT).
AlcoholThough alcohol is not a food, you should avoid this beverage because any kind of alcohol is dehydrating. The air we breathe in planes isn’t humidifi ed, which also adds to the dehydration problem. You’ll come off the fl ight feeling dehydrated and mis-erable. Alcohol has a bigger eff ect on your body at higher altitudes.
Carbonated BeveragesAerated drinks and beverages are ma-jor contributors to bloating and heart-burns. The bubbles will end up in your stomach and then quickly expand when the atmospheric pressure chang-es. It is also not advisable during fl ight.
LegumesBeans are another food group which is famous for gas trouble. Many types of beans and other legumes naturally contain indigestible com-plex sugars that can lead to bloating. Soaking the beans in water over-night before cooking can eliminate many of the indigestible sugars.
GarlicGarlic is good for health, we know. But its smell does linger on your breath and sweat thus resulting in altering your body odour. Garlic contains sulphuric compounds that are absorbed into your bloodstream and lungs. So you will be exhaling the smell of garlic. It is always good to skip the garlic fl avoured food be-fore boarding.
Gum and CandySome experts advise us to chew can-dies and chewing gums during take-off and landing to avoid ear pain. But many of these products contain arti-fi cial sweeteners. Our digestive sys-tem is not designed to process syn-thetic sugars very well, and they can cause bloating, gas, and even have a laxative eff ect. Check the package when you’re buying gum or candy — many products carry a warning label about these unpleasant side eff ects.
Cruciferous VegetablesThe fl ight cabin is pressurised, but even then the air pressure is not the same as it is on the ground. The air pressure decreases after takeoff , which causes the cabin air to ex-pand by 25 to 30 per cent. This can cause air and gases in your stomach and small intestine to expand, re-sulting in a bloated feeling. You can reduce this by staying away from brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauli-fl ower, and other cruciferous veg-etables that can increase bloating.
7 Foods You Should Never Eat Before Flying
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
Ruwi: 24 792 792 Sohar: 2684 2420
All HP, Epson, Canon, Lexmark, SamsungCartridges also available.
GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!!
GOOD
PR
ICE!
!!GO
OD P
RIC
E!!!
GOOD
PR
ICE!
!!GO
OD P
RIC
E!!!
GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!!
Available on very GOOD prices
COMEX 2016 VISIT US AT STALL
N.O: 1629 Printers, Laptops & PC’s, CD’s, DVD’s & Flash Drives & Cartridges
W E D N E S D AY, A P R I L 1 3 , 2 0 1 6
RENT D2
QUALITY APARTMENTS FOR RENT
For Enquires Please Contact : 24 702 666Fax: 24-703666. Email: [email protected]
Contact : 95399988, 24942600 Email - [email protected]
Showroom 2 Side Facing I CBD OPP. B.M.Showroom Space I CBD OPP. B.M.Office With Partition I CBD OPP. B.M.Flat 3 BHK I MBD Nr.SheratonFlat 2 BHK With Terrace I MBD Nr.SheratonFlat 1 BHK - 2 BHK I MBD Nr.SheratonSmall Offices With Partition I MBD Nr.SheratonVilla 4 BHK+M.Room+S.Pool I Qurum 29 Nr. MSQFlat 2 BHK I Khwair 33 Nr. Maya
New building - Maintenance company provided- Caretaker Cleaner - A.C.- Multiple Elevators- Central settelite system
Good Parking Space
FOR RENT
Tel: 24571962/63 Mob: 94289050/ 95495281Email: [email protected]
1. Qurum Top Finish New- Res-5 apartments- 2 bhk/maid room 550/450, 3 bhk- 550, 1 BHK-350
2. Al Kuwair New 3 bhk, posh. Kit.fur,s.pool-700, 3 bhk +maid,ind.villa-650/-3. Wadi Kabir 1/2 bhk-250/300/3504. Al Kodh Villa 5 Bhk- Compounded 550/-5. Qurum(Comm) Sama Center-Brand New 114/122/129 sq.mt6. Azaiba (Comm)
*Tourist visa arranged
Email: [email protected] classifi [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461
FOR RENT
D2 W E D N E S D AY, A P R I L 1 3 , 2 0 1 6
FOR RENT
For viewing please call 99466729, 99316410, 92841690, 91313271, 24694088 or email us on :[email protected]
Mtr. Facing main RoadHAR Complex MSQ : 2,3-BHK Flats and 2 & 3 BHK villas with
Qurum : 6 BHK villa with garden, split Acs, shaded car parks, servant rooms
Darsait : 1 & 2-BHK Flats with AC & Shop Ruwi : 2-BHK & 3-BHK Flats and shopsAl Amerat : 2 & 3-BHK Flat , 3 & 4-BHK Villa with A/C
DAILY GUIDE
3 Rooms, 2 Toilets Flat for Rent. 18
November Street. Near Mars Hyper-
market and The Chedi. Ghobrah -Good
for Commercial or Residential use.
OMR 295/- month. Call 94477222
Offi ce & 2B/R with 3 toilets directly
from owner, near Dolphin Complex
Bausher. Contact 92158031
Flat in Wadi Al Kabir 2 bedrooms, 1
living room, 1 family hall, kitchen & 3
bathrooms. Contact: 99277787
Flat for rent in Wadi Kabeer near
India Primary School 2B & 1K.
Contact: 92222922
150 Sq mtr available GF + MEZ
Offi ce + showroom + store loca-
tion Honda road Ruwi. Contact:
99345044 / 91480682
Villa at Azaiba 7 rooms attach
bath at 18th November road. Con-
tact: 9224748 / 99332297
1BHK at Hamriya near Muscat
Pharmacy & 2 BHK at Mawaleh
near Mosque Sadiq Al Amin. Con-
tact: 99224748 / 99332297
1BHK Mumtaz. Contact: 92144045
1 BHK M.B.D R.O 250/-. Contact:
92144045
1BHK Ghubra R.O 275/-. #92144045
2 BHK Ghubra R.O 325/-. Contact:
92144045
1&2 BHK Darsait. #92144045
2& 3 BHK in Al Khuwair RO 375/-,
RO 400/-. Contact: 92144045
1BHK at Al Falaj R.O 190/-. Contact:
92144045
Single room for rent 50/RO water
& electricity near Khimji Mart Mut-
trah. Contact: 97477670
Flat for rent well maintained
2/3 BHK fl ats at Wadi Kabir near
Indian School (Main). Contact:
91274090 / 24793982
1000 sqm Industrial space with
offi ce and accommodation, near
Grand Mosque, Ghala. contact
99364938
1 BHK in Azaiba. Contact:
99385835 / 99428143
2BHK fl at near Wadi Adai signal
R.O 280/- negotiable. Contact:
97645436
Flat for rent in Ruwi, Mumtaz area
2 bedrooms. Contact: 24291500 /
91409667
New fl at at Al Wadi Al Kabir. Con-
tact: 96130797 / 92130703
1000 sq mtrs industrial land for
rent in Ghala suitable for warehouse
workshop etc. Contact 24700120 /
92584715
2bed rooms fl at with hall, 2
bathrooms in Darsait near Muscat
Municipality. contact 92584715 /
24700120
Ware houses in Hay Aseem Barka,
11000 m2 near round about new
Beach road at Al Khoud location
open store with offi ce. Contact:
92959129
Warehouse for rent at Ghala Ind.
Area. 800 & 2500 approx sqms
Near Hotel Al-Madinah Holiday,
Ghala. Container can enter. Imme-
diate access to roads & highways.
Contact : 94583320
Offi ce space small in Azaiba. Con-
tact: 99428143
3 Room with kitchen & Bathroom in
Alkhuwair, short terms. #99792181
Flats in Qurum. Contact 94051789
/ 97201688
Studio fl at for rent in Al Khoud R.O
150/- PM inc , W/E. #92815139
Flats in Darsait. Contact
94051789 / 97201688
Flats in Wadi Kabir. Contact
94051789 / 97201688
Fully Furnished apartments in
Boucher (35)#94051789 / 97201688
Flats in Muttrah. Contact
94051789 / 97201688
Offi ces in Ghala. Contact
94051789 / 97201688
Brand new villas in Al Ansab. Con-
tact 94051789 / 97201688
2 Bhk Flat in Alkhuwair. #99792181
Offi ces & Showrooms in Mutrah.
Contact 94051789 / 97201688
Duplex villa in QURUM 29. Con-
tact 94051789 / 97201688
Offi ces & Showrooms in Al Khoud.
Contact 94051789 / 97201688
Flat for Rent 2 bed room Near ISM
muscat Indian Scoole Dar sate Tel :
00 968 95158570
2BHK with split / AC in W.K behind
Sana Fashion. Contact: 96635026
Villa for rent Ghubra 5 rooms, 5
bathroom, kitchen & hall. Contact:
91153933
Flat for rent Al Khoud room 3, hall,
kitchen & bathroom. #91153933
Villa for rent 6 rooms, hall, living
room, kitchen, 7 Bathroom in Al
Khoud. Contact: 91153933
One room, bathroom for rent
Bousher. Contact: 91153933
Furniture fl at for rent Bousher 1
room, 1 bath room, Kitchen & hall.
Contact: 91153933
Flat for rent Bousher, 2 rooms, 1
hall, dining hall, 2 bathrooms &
Kitchen. Contact: 91153933
Flat in Al Khuwair opp grand mall
4 room 3 toilet + hall kitchen in 3
fl oor 400. Contact 99420346
Shops / fl ats available in Honda
Road, Ruwi & Mabellah Indus-
trial area. Contact 24833972/
24833974/ 99367448
1 Bed room, sharing K& T, R.O
100, 2 bedrooms , sharing K& T
R.O 200/- in Al Khuwair. contact
95154331
OFFICES FOR RENT AT AZAIBAPrime location on service road (previously occupied by A'Saffa Foods) near Al Turky and Mazda showroom.
- 2 BHK flat available directly from the owner, at Azaiba.
Contact: 99229263, 93221054, 95215289
FOR RENTStore space in Al
Wattayah.Contact
99382489 / 99263443
2 BR, 2 bath, a kitchen, a yard
, with AC, separate enterance,
AlKhuwair near Ibis hotel. PDC.
RO 250 .. Call 97056443
Readymade offi ce space for rent
(240sm) in Bank Melli Iran Build-
ing, MBD area, Ruwi, opposite
Center point. Contact: 99011352
2BHK Ghala, new bldg with A/C,
325/- R.O. Contact: 99024730
1+2+3 BHK Al Khuwair. Contact:
99024730
Available - fully furnished 2 bed-
room apartment ( 12 nos) & fully fur-
nished studio fl ats (10 nos) -location
near Sohar Port - Contact : 94532131
Available - Fully furnished labor
camp and executive accommodation
- ready for occupation-location near
Sohar Port - Contact 94532131
4 BHK commercial villa in Al Khu-
wair 33. Contact 99792181
Offi ce & shop space in Al Khuwair.
Contact 99792181
Quality Warehouses
for rent at Mizfa 550 sqm to 3400 sqm.
Contact 99332291 / 96046951
DAILY GUIDEW E D N E S D AY, A P R I L 1 3 , 2 0 1 6 D3
FOR SALE
FOR SALE
FOR RENT
2 BHK offi ce in Al Khuwair. Contact
99792181
1 & 2 BHK fl at in Al Khuwair. Con-
tact 99792181
3 BHK fully furnish fl at in Al Hail.
Contact 99792181
Furnished offi ce (61M2) for sale
/ rent Al Khuwair near Zawawi
Mosque. Contact: 95611569
2BHK Wadi Kabir R.O 300/-. Con-
tact: 92144045
Flat for rent in South AlGhubrah
3 rooms, hall and 3 toilets, kitchen
rent 450/-. Contact: 99335580
2,200 sq mtr factory area & 800
sq mtr store with 8 accommoda-
tion rooms and 10 offi ce cabins
available for rent in Barka indus-
trial area. Contact 91398381 / 80 /
78, email - [email protected]
02 BHK residential fl at opposite
to Al Nahdha hospital.
Contact: 99342733 /99795241
Two bedrooms fl at in Al Ghobrah
near Oman Oil of 18 November Street.
OMR 330 Monthly.#99333479 or
95215360 or 97509955.
1 Bed room, sharing K& T, R.O 100,
2 bedrooms , sharing K& T R.O
200/- in AL Khuwair. #95154331
Flat for rent 2 BHK 2 split A/C, 2
toilets, Wadi Kabir near Kuwaiti
Masjid. #97007934 / 92629232
Warehouse at Wadikabir - total
area 3500 sqm - covered ware-
house (500sqm), offi ce, ac-
commodation (1000sqm), open
area (2000sqm) please contact:
99273774 - 99202278
3BHK in Qurum P.D.O high 350/-
Monthly. Contact: 99342661
2BHK split A/C 200/- Monthly & 1BHK
spilt A/C 150/- monthly new building
good location Barka Market. #99342661
New building Wattayah main road,
showroom & offi ce space. contact
94300909
Four bedroom two fl oors luxurious
and spacious residential villa in Al
Hail North, near to the sea and Oman
oil. Each room has its own bath-
room. It has splits A/C’s and shaded
car park. OMR 750 monthly. Tel:
99333479 or 95215360 or 97509955
For rent and investment Land
industrial shops in Rusayl.
Contact: 99323957 / 95490842
2BHK Big Size Flat Behind Bank Mus-
cat, Wadi Kabir. Near ISWK. 97826454,
24815012.
New fl ats for rent at Darsait near to
Ministry of Sports, Mumtaz area the
fl ats includes, 1 living room, 2 bed-
room, kitchen, 3 toilets, every rooms
with split A/C high quality fi nishing
rent per fl at is R.O 340/- . Interested
candidates please CONTACT
00968 92225523
Restaurant for sale (Indian, Chinese,
Arabic food ). #91181765 / 95411354
For sale furnished offi ce at Darsait
rent P/M 260/- for sale. Contact
91391343
Paver, ABG Titan - 4732, Bitelli tan-
dom roller, bitelli - PTR roller, Bomag
combination roller, shovel SDLG.
Contact: 92964673
Used 7 seater sofa, bedset, cot, bed,
TV& TV cabinet, bunk bed, piano etc.
Contact: 96145820
Dental Clinic for sale in Seeb. Con-
tact: 96373097 / 92882209
Show room for sale in Ruwi main
rood big space around 200 sqm.
Contact: 93333951 / 93333957
An excellent condition portacabin 1
x 40’ for sale in Ghala. Rate negotia-
ble contact 99509460
Coff ee shop for sale in Al Khuwair
33. Contact: 92994415
Villas in Al Khoud.#95056808 /
97201688
Luxury Apartments in Boucher (35).
Contact 95056808 / 97201688
Single colorful Bed and Sofa for Sale
at Al Khuwair.#92881849 /What`s
up No 97290565
Furniture and other treatment items
for Ayurvedic clinic. #97986525
Steel Scrap materials for immediate
sale # 99273774/ 99202278
Almost new beach/ garden lounge
chairs /bar stools/ counter. Photos
can be sent 95865457
400 sq mtrs Commercial/Resi-
dential land in Mabela Phase 5
Block 2. OMR 165 Thousand. CON-
TACT 99333479 or 95215360 or
97509955
A well running pharmacy for sale at
prime location. Contact- 99627621,
93240949
Space for printing press available at
wadikabir with or without
machinery. Contact 99328430
Shop for sale near Oman House, Mut-
trah. Contact 99024362.
Urgent sale of steel scrap only
serious buyers kindly #+968
96725423 for viewing the items.
HD Scaff oldings, Shuttering Jacks,
Wooden Planks, Shuttering wood
assorted, Tower hoist (lift), Concrete
Mixer, Bending Machine, Steel Fabrica-
tion Machinery (Searing/Cutting, lathe
& Welding) including tools for immedi-
ate sale: #99273774/ 99202278
ACC. AVAILABLE
Room + bathroom furnished for Ex-
ecutives, Wadi Kabir. #99336206
Single room in Wadi Kabir. Con-
tact: 92177850
Room with attached bathroom avail-
able in Ruwi for Executive bachelors.
Contact 95527969
Single room non cooking bachelor,
near Darsait round about. Contact:
92120626
Fully furnished bachelor sharing
at Wadi Kabir. Contact: 99325387
Available sharing accommoda-
tion, opposite Al Maya Wadi Kabir
in 2 bedroom fl at. #95470129
OMR-130.for family/ladies in
Darsait room w/AC, toilet & S/
kichen.95323562
Sharing Accommodation avail-
able for working ladies opposite Al
Nadhah Hospital. Preferably Indi-
ans. Room with seperate toilet and
sharing kitchen.RO.90. #96524717
Furnished apartment for rent,
two rooms, majlis, hall, kitchen.
Near Carrefour al-mawalah.
#99336776
Small old house for rent in Al
Ghoubra. Contact : 97165972
Sharing for Executive females at
Mumtaz area. Contact: 97094797
Room available for Execu-
tive bachelor at Al Hail. contact
96234708
Room for rent with furniture.
Al Bustan village.#93687466
Furnished room attached bath
for Indian bachelor, Al-Falaj
Ruwi & lady Wadi Kabir near
Mars hypermarket. CONTACT
96202458/96761960
Furnish bedroom with attach
bathroom for executive bachelor.
Contact: 97704794
Room with attached bathroom for
a family in Wadi Kabir. #97167857
Room with attached bathroom and
sharing kitchen available for
Executive bachelor or small family
at wadikabir Contact 93049849
Room available in Mumtaz area
1 room, 1 Bathroom, Kitchen & 1
room, common bathroom. Interested
pleasecontact 92680041 Mr. Altaf
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 Systems and
spectacular lighting. Call Andrea 9606
2222 for Catering and Croyden 9623
5555 for Sound & Light. ww.tunesoman.
com, E-mail: [email protected]
GOOD NEWS
Ayurvedic treatment for backache,
paralysis, arthritis etc & mas-
sage, All Season (Vaidyaratnam).
Contact:24475280 / 95371664 /
92504980 www.siddhayur.com
FREE INFORMATION ABOUT IS-LAM. If you would like to know more
about Islam, please call: 99425598,
99250777, 99353988, 99253818,
99341395, and 99379133. For ladies:
99415818, 99321360, 99730723
Orvisit:www.islamfact.com
DRIVING
WANTED
IELTS Coaching (academic)
required nearby wadi Kabir
area. Please call on mobile or
msg on Whats up. Mobile no:
92927880/99012165
MATRIMONIAL
MATRIMONIAL
32 yrs BE + MBA male Ezhava
working as Senior Engineer
in Muscat Kerala Matri-
mony ID E1415525. Contact:
+919846672390
Kerala Christian Marthoma boy from Adoor, working in Oman MBA
graduate seeks suitable alliance.
Contact: 99852167
Tamil Hindu Brahmin Iyer Boy.
Parents invite proposal for their
only son 25 yrs / 6.1 ht / B.Tech
(NIT), MBA (IIM), EX- ISM student,
employed MNC Bangalore Star
Uttirathdhi seeks suitable alliance
fom Iyer/Iyenger families. Parents
in Oman #98288925 / 92264915
Malankara Catholic Male Nurse (28) from Thiruvalla working in
Nizwa Private Co. Alliance invites
parents/nurses working in Oman.
#968 98267338,
0091 9287215726
Indian male Roman Catholic 40yrs divorcee working in Muscat.
Seeks suitable alliance from widow/
divorcee/ single.contact 96059801.
DAILY GUIDED4 W E D N E S D AY, A P R I L 1 3 , 2 0 1 6
SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT SITUATION WANTEDSIT.WANTED
SITUATION WANT-SIT.WANTED
SITUATION WANT-SIT.WANTED
Email: [email protected] classifi [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624
DRIVER
MEDICAL
MEDICALDRIVER
ACCOUNT. & FINANCE
BEAUTICIAN
CATERING
ACCOUNT. & FINANCE
ACCOUNT. & FINANCE
ACCOUNT. & FINANCE
Required urgently an experienced
Accountant having 2-3 years expe-
rience. Send your resume by e-mail :
Wanted a male Accountant with
knowledge of fi nalization. Contact
: 91067751, email - georgyjacob7@
gmail.com
Very urgently required a Gulf
experienced professional Hair
dresser cum beautician (lady) for
a reputed beauty salon. Immedi-
ate appointment visa available.
Contact: 99816262 /98557585
Fax: 24796211 Email: skin.hair.
Wanted a Catering Supervisor with
experience in Oman. #91067751,
email - [email protected]
Required driver for building &
electrical material Company in Ghala
with valid Oman driving license.
Contact 99345044 / 91480682
Wanted driver. Contact: 91025698
Urgently required female Staff
Nurse (two) with or without M.O.H
license, good package. Contact af-
ter 5:00 P.M on Mobile: 99253650
or send C.V on dr.kamalsaqib@
yahoo.com
Urgently required female Gy-
necologist D.G.O or M.C.P.S with
minimum 3 years of experience,
with or without M.O.H license, very
good package. Contact after 5.00
P.M on Mobile: 99253650 or Send
Wanted B-Pharmacist (lady) for
Sohar. Contact 99767605
Urgently required MOH licensed
Lab technician, Dietitian and
Nurse for a reputed center at
Azaiba. Please contact: 92724345
/ 91960401
ENGINEER/MECHANIC.
EDUCATION
MANAGER
Required Hydraulic Mechanic. Contact
95251213
Engineering fi rm in Ghala requires
Graduate / Electrical Diploma or ITI as
fi eld & offi ce support staff male/ female.
Send CV to [email protected]
Site Supervisor with knowledge
(Civil/Elect Diploma) in reading Site
Drawing for excavation.#91396893
Email CV [email protected]
English Medium Private school
in Sinaw, urgently required well
experienced Kindergraten & Primary
Teachers with IELTS / TOEFL for Eng-
lish, Science, Mathematics & Arabic.
Contact 968 98927055 / 91782709,
Email : samintrnationalschoolsinaw@
gmail.com
Indian male 25 yrs, Graduate in com-
merce, overall 5 yrs exp in accounts/
fi nance fi eld. On visit visa. Immedi-
ately available. CONTACT 92836216 /
ADMIN
Light vehicle driver with 5 years
exp looking for job. Contact:
92171166
Driver want job. #95892363
Light driver Pakistani wanted job.
Contact: 94182695
8 years experience in Oman. Con-
tact: 95587206
Light duty driver, 3 yrs Oman ex-
perience seeks placement. Contact:
91362475
Light driver looking for job 4 yrs
Exp in Oman. Contact :92681457
Driver with Oman experience 11
yrs available. Contact: 92374955
Driver LMV driver with 3 years
experience. Contact: 93143027
Pakistani looking for driving job
with 3 yrs experience. Contact:
95776320
Light Duty Driver seeks job. Con-
tact: 94182497
Bangladeshi male light driver
exp 16 years need job. Contact:
99165961
Driver 3/6 years experience, I
have 2 years experience out door
sales man in led light, Pakistani,
Oman experience 6 years. Contact:
94565993 / 92627855
Light Duty Driver with 2 yrs exp. in
Muscat seeks placement. Contact:
91659265
Family driver available. contact
92943094
28/male/MBA - fi nance/B.Com -
Accountant with 4 years of Dubai/
India experience looking for a
suitable placement.#90187483
Indian male, 24 yrs, Graduated with
specialization in Accounting 2 years
experienced C.A.CPT completed.
#94628086 / 97315091
Indian male 34 years MBA fi nance &
marketing 7 years experience in Indian
accounts / Administration currently
in Muscat on family visa. #98104991
Email: [email protected]
Accountant 8 Years experience with
D/L and NOC. Contact 97712084
Part-time Accounting up to fi naliza-
tion, Auditing, Taxation and Project
Finance assistance - 91044655
Male Accountant M.Com (fi nance &
accounts) having 3 years experience
in accounts looking for available job
on visit visa. Contact: 94648575
CMA & CIA qualifi ed fi nance profes-
sional with 13 years of me experi-
ence in FMCG industries as well as
various other industries available for
immediate permanent job openings.
#94543660
ACCA fi nalist with 2 years of experi-
ence in a Construction Company as an
Accountant in United Kingdom here
on visit visa for 3 weeks from 12 April
- 3 May. Contact: 99171627
Part time accountant, up to fi na-
lization, looking for job after 5 pm
(location prefer - MSQ to Al Hail).
#95694737
Accountant available with NOC,
plus 10 years experience up to
fi nalization of Accounts on Tally
ERP9, ready to join immediately.
#97667273 Email: babujashid@
gmail.com
MBA fi nance from Pakistan with
4 years experience in Accounts &
fi nance department currently in
Muscat on family visit visa, 27 yrs.
Contact: 90590037 Email:
[email protected], nou-
ACCA Qualifi ed, 26 female with 3
years work experience looking for
suitable position in Accounting /
fi nance. Contact: 91322423
Filipino Male, 24 Years Old..
looking for job, have experience
in Cargo & Logistics/ Rent a Car/
Real Estate/ Finance & Accounts/
customer service and as Travel
Agent. Hard working and with
good computer and communica-
tion skills having Omani driving
license. GSM: 95370052
MISCELLANEOUS
Required candidates for following
posts: Accountant, Storekeeper, Foreman Building Maintenance, Van-salesman (water), Help-ers. Candidates with Omani
driving license preferred. contact
99273774/99202278
ENGG. / TECH./MECH.
Indian female 23 years Engineering
Electronics and communications,
well knowledge in C and JAVA, pres-
ently in Muscat seeking suitable
placement. Contact: 90320846
Email: kavyahiremath499@gmail.
com
Electrical Engineer having 8 years
experience in Gulf seeking suitable
placement can join immediately,
have knowledge all kind of MEP
project. Contact: 96535204
Indian male 22, Chemical Engineer
residing in Oman looking for suit-
able placement. Contact: 92379181
Civil Engineer, 6 yrs experience
with Omani driving license, local
release available. #91693008
An Iraqi civil with more than 30
years experience in (Iraq and G.C.C)
looking for a job, (N.O.C) available.
Contact: 96561306
Email: [email protected]
Indian male, Mechanical
Engineer having 1year experi-
ence, on visit visa looking for
suitable job. Contact:97416564,
Email:[email protected]
HSE offi cer, Indian male 27, 1.5
years exp call: 90649152, 98205818
Indian Mechanical Engineer
(B.tech)23. With qualifi cation in
Qa-QC,HVAC and Piping.1 year expe-
rience. Ready to join immediately.
Contact: 92365040
ARCHITECT
Architect exp.7 years, 4 years in
GCC Architectural design interior
sites 3D Max AutoCAD, Photoshop.
Contact: 93238813 Email:
URGENTLY REQUIREDFor a reputed Food Stuff whole
seller and Catering Supplier.
1. SALES EXECUTIVE- 01 NO2. ACCOUNTANT- 01 NO
Minimum 3 years experience in
same field. Salary negotiable, good
communication skills, driving
license is must for Sales Executive.
Interested candidates may please forward their CV’s to:
SKILLED LABOUR
UPVC windows & doors factory
operator with Gulf exp. Contact:
99010141 Email: [email protected]
Reputed contracting company
requires following: Q.S swimming
pool (auto cad exp), pool technician
and pool cleaners. Minimum 5 years
Gulf experience preferred. Contact:
Required A/C Technicians, Carpen-
ters, Electricians, Plumbers, Painters,
General Helpers. Contact 94147874 /
24504281. Email :
Urgently Required Expatriate Furniture
Carpenters, for a well established
furniture manufacturing
company.
Minumum experience of 2/3
years required in the same field.
Intreseted candidates please
mail CV to
[email protected] or call 94250003 for appointment.
Indian male 26 years B.Com, having
4 years experience in Accounts with
valid driving license & NOC available
on visit visa looking for suitable job in
Accounts. Contact 90311936
Indian male 25, 4 years experience
& Arabic speaking with D/L seeking
suitable opportunity interested in
Sales & Marketing also. Contact:
91266733 Email: safvank.k9@gmail.
com
MBA Finance Indian male, Fresher
seeking opportunity in fi nancial sec-
tor. Immediately available. Contact
93990638 [email protected]
Qualifi ed and experienced MBA post
graduate with proven work exposure
in Middle East & India, having more
than 5.5 years of rich experience in
accounts , project coordination and
administration in (3.5 years UAE
experience) oil and gas projects is
currently looking for suitable job.
#93953613 , Email allen.mathew83@
gmail.com
SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, 5 yrs Oman,
12 Yrs UAE experience in Manufactur-
ing & construction companies Valid
D/L Immediately available. Email:
[email protected], Call:
95389018
22 years B.Com with 1 year exp in
accounting, auditing with good work-
ing knowledge in Tally ERP-9 looking
for a suitable placement now on visit
visa. Contact: 97189500
Part time Accountant up to fi naliza-
tion. Contact: 91126314
Accountant available with NOC, 7
years experience ready to join imme-
diately. Contact: 98263394
Male CA fi nalist B.Com having 5
years experience with big four
audit fi rms looking for suitable job
on visit. Contact: 92230543 Email:
BBA fi nance experience 2 years As-
sistant accountant 24 years, 2 years
stay visa. Contact: 93150918
Indian male: B.Com. with 4
years experience in Tally ERP
Accounts, Ready to join im-
mediately for Accounts, Store
& Sales. Contact: 94813962,
Email:[email protected]
M. Com Accountant 3 years experi-
ence, 3 Star hotel Tamil Nadu Indian
immediately available. Contact :
92831400 / 96051737
Jordanian Senior Accountant 15
yrs experience in Oman fi nance &
accounts. Contact : 92881223
CA fi nalist Indian with 7 years
experience having D/L & NOC look-
ing for Senior Accountant / Chief
Accountant position. #98097009
Email: [email protected]
ACCA member with 6 yrs of
experience in Oman looking for
a suitable job in fi nance. contact
99284193
Fresher 24, ACCA Affi liate, Ad-
vanced diploma in Accounting
and Business seeking suitable
placement in Accounts, Finance or
Audit with Oman driving license.
#- 92430152 Email - raju.rd619@
gmail.com
Indian, Executive with 5+ years
experience in HSBC etc, done
with MBA, M.Com, DMM, M. Phil
seeks a suitable position. Contact:
90369540 Email: abilashraji@gmail.
com
DESIGNER/DRAUGHTSMAN
EDUCATION/TRAINING
Female B. Ed English teacher, 7
yrs exp seeking suitable placement.
Contact : 99739415 / 92091528
SALES / MARKETING
SALES / MARKETING
Required experienced Estimation
Executives, Sales Engineers / Sales
Executives, with Local release for
Reputed Electrical Trading Company.
Interested please send detailed CV to:
A leading management consult-
ing fi rm in Muscat requires spe-
cialist in Qualitative & Quantita-
tive Market / Consumer research
to lead the division. Kindly send
your resumes to advance@oman-
tel.net.om or Fax us at
+968-24792175
Looking for Salesman with experi-
ence in vegetable and fruits sales,
good conduct, fl uent in English.
Should have driving license. Email
CV on: [email protected]
Contact - 96339339
A Leading company selling print-
ing consumables looking for Sales
Executive. Preferred candidate
with experience in selling digital
wide format printing consumables
& off set printing consumables and
with Omani driving license. Send
CV to [email protected]
Indian, 20 years experience
in Oman as personal assistant /
offi ce manager / administrator
seeks change of job with release
- 99168054, mbkishore@hotmail.
com
Indian male – MBA (HR) & En-
gineering graduation with total
10 years of experience in HR
& Admin ( 3 yrs of Oman Exp.)
along with hands on experience
in technical bid submission for
all Government & PDO tenders
ready to join immediately with
NOC. Contact @ 91240251/
Email; [email protected]
Jordanian Graduate with experi-
ence in Administrator jobs avail-
able for immediate placement.
Contact : 94662712 / 94770990
HR Manager (Indian Male – 41
Yrs) PG in HR, working for MNC
having 12 years of experience in
Oman. Handling SAP-HR, Talent
Acquisition, IR, Payroll, Visas & al-
lied administration. Holding Valid
Omani D/L & car. Seeks suitable
placement. Contact 96792103
Indian female (MBA/CIPD), hav-
ing more than 6 years of experi-
ence, working in Oman as HR
Manager looking for job. Contact
[email protected] 97288278.
UAE/UK/Oman Experienced
Graduate Male33 seeking ad-
ministration Job. Diplomas in IT
& Finance too. Driving license-
Tel:94496642
Omani National looking for
a suitable placement in Sales
or Administration. Contact:
94700691
A young dynamic post graduate
with 2 years work experience
in business operations looking
for suitable placement. Contact
98564880 or maccmuscat@
gmail.com
B.Com 3 years business process
outsourcing. Contact: 94657273
Indian male, 25, 4+ years of
experience as an Offi ce Admin-
istrator looking for a suitable
placement. Contact: 92600859
Email: [email protected]
Teacher female 27 yrs, MCA 5
yrs experience in teaching in India
currently on visit visa seeking
for a suitable placement. Contact:
96709509 Email: viyannifd@
gmail.com
Filipino HRD especialist / mate-
rial controller supervisor with 18
yrs experience looking for suit-
able job in Oman. Contact: (+968)
98037142 / (+968) 92659817
Indian Female, MBA-HR having
8+ experience in Administration/
HR, Customer Support, Offi ce
Coordinator with good Computer
skill, Now on Visit Visa,looking
for suitable position. Contact:
90196235
Young Omani male have experi-
ence 12 years as P.R.O, CLERK
Helper Supervisor Admin
Supervisor, H.R Manager have
diploma in H.S.E, IT and P.D.O
license, looking for H.R position
or P.R.O part time or full time.
Contact: 95933288
Indian male, MBA with 3 years
GCC experience seeks job in
Muscat. Posses Valid Oman D/L.
Currently under visit visa and
can join immediately. E mail :
[email protected] contact:
00968 98896847
Seeking job 17 years Oman expe-
rienced MEP draftsman. Contact:
91110270
Electrical Draughtsman (Di-
ploma), Indian Male having more
than 8 years’ experience (4 years
in Oman). NOC available. Contact
93957480, 96903942. Email :
Revit autocad d/man , diploma cert
attsd. exp salary 200-acco.
ph: 9227 9784
Filipino Senior Revit/AutoCAD
Draftsman with 20 years profes-
sional experience is looking for
suitable job in Oman. Please
contact 96489798,
(+974) 66653780.
2D autocad Drafting (free lancer /
part time) arch, MEP, Shopdrawing.
Contact : 97103168
Revit, Autocad D/man, expected
salary 200 OMR PH :92279784
SENIOR SALES MANAGER REQUIRED
Global Axis Co. LLC dealing with multinational, HQ in Oman,
is looking for immediate appointment of a SENIOR SALES MANAGER with Gulf experience, Degree in Electronics /
Electrical Engineering, with minimum of 10 years experience in
sales of lighting projects (5 years as manager) a proven track
record, must be task oriented, fluent in Arabic & English with
Omani D/L. Age 35 to 40 years. Must be able to join in 6 weeks.
Only suitable candidates can send their CV’s with picture
to: [email protected] before 20th April 2016.www.gaxisintl.com
REQUIRED ELECTRICAL ENGINEER
Having B.E. in Electrical Engineering
Min. 5 Years Experience in Oman
With Driving License and Valid C.E.P License
Contact : 95697401Send CV to: [email protected]
REQUIRED- Periodontist
- Peadodontist
- Nurse (10 yrs experience).
- Likes to work in a team
- Respectful, caring &
friendly
- Has good professional
attitude
Send CV to : [email protected]
Required urgently, experienced
Supervisor, Graduate with oil &
gas experience as Site Supervisor
with valid D/L. Contact: 94027279
Email: [email protected]
Urgently required Pharmacist &
MOH licensed female Dentist for a
reputed polyclinic. Send CV : man-
contact 96721709.
Required Gynecologist, Lab techni-
cian, X Ray technician. contact
99030773 Email: kunoozghala@
gmail.com
Lab Technician, Omani Female PRO
cum Receptionist, Male Reception-
ist cum Insurance Coordinator,
Specialist Doctor Radiologist, Gen-
eral Practitioners, Cont.95220350,
Required gynecologist GEN: practitioner lady lab Technician and pharmacologist immediately
for a clinic in Suwaiq. contact
95081010 Email: umchealthcare@
gmail.com
Wanted Staff Nurse for
a dermatology clinic in Muscat .
Must have MOH license and NOC.
Attractive salary off ered. Email:
GP doctor needed for reputed
clinic. Preferably with MOH license
or with Datafl ow & Paramatics
pass Contact: 95388934
Required indoor Salesman for
building material shop with 3 years.
Contact: 96374344 Email:
Urgently required Sales Execu-
tives, Operations Executive im-
port & export, for a reputed freight
forwarding company in Muscat
candidates with Oman D/L and
minimum 2 yrs experience in
similar fi eld preferred. Interested
candidates may send C.V to r
Indian male 34 Yrs, Dual MBA
Finance and marketing with IT
skills, 7+ yrs of experience,
Looking for suitable placement.
contact 94879615,Email-
Accountant available with NOC,
7 years experience in Oman.
Ready to join immediately. contact
98263394
10 yrs of Oman experience capable
of handling large accounts, looking
for suitable placement in senior
sales / business development posi-
tion. Contact : 98987654
DAILY GUIDEW E D N E S D AY, A P R I L 1 3 , 2 0 1 6 D5
SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED
IT
Indian male, MCA (Post Graduate) fresher seeking
suitable placement
anywhere in Oman, now on
visit visa.
Contact 92319677, Email :
An experienced Chartered Accountant
with over 25 years in varied
industries, presently working
with a reputed group in Muscat,
looking out for a suitable change.
96491030
ENGG. / TECH./MECH.
SECRETARIAL & OFFICE
SKILLED/ UNSKILLED LABOUR
Indian Male more than 10 years
gulf experience in Offi ce / Sales
Coordinator, Admin, Secretarial and
purchase with good computer skills.
Holding Oman Driving license. Look-
ing for suitable placement. contact
99709336
Lady Secretary / Sales Co-coordi-
nator 12 years experience in Oman
in reputed companies, seek imme-
diate Employment. Call: 95244761
Sales & Marketing specialist with 16 yrs experience in Oman in
MNC retails telecom lubes
construction related industry
handled various projects, holding
valid Oman driving license,
release available.
Contact 96960991
HOSPITALITY
Indian male, 28 yrs B.Sc Hospital-
ity Science with 5 yrs experience
in Hospitality & banking Sectors
in Oman & India seeks suit-
able placement, NOC available.
#91383167
MISCELLANEOUS
MISCELLANEOUS
MISCELLANEOUS
Electrician with plumber and A/C
tech, with D/L. Contact: 95600418
S.T.P Operator 20 years experience in
Oman. Contact: 93089468
Indian M.Com Graduate having 10
years experience in life and health
insurance operations, seeking suit-
able job now in visit visa.
Contact: 99742424, Email :
BS in Electrical Engineering, Experience: 5 years(Power Plants).
Contact: 92475206 Email:
100% mason and building construction work & 1 person
helper need work & visa. contact
91139936
Indian male 40 yrs degree &
diploma in logistics 16 yrs experi-
ence (6 yrs GCC ) in storekeeping
and inventory control with com-
puter knowledge, seeking suitable
placement NOC available.
Contact 98966849 /
96186573
MANAGER
Egyptian male 36 years Warehouse
Manager, 7 years in Sultanate of
Oman, 1 year in UAE, and 3 years in
Egypt. Contact: +968 97200468 Email:
General/Divisional Manager MEP
& Civil, MBA Operation, BE Electri-
cal, 10 years experience in Oman &
10 years in India. Valid DL, release
available. GSM. 92447102
Civil Engineer 8 years experience
in Oman as a project engineer for
governmental & private projects.
Contact – 90164912
Electrical and Electronics Engineer
looking for a job & interested in any
available role Nationality Sudanese
have valid visa for 2 years. Contact
97304565
Graduation, tool and die engineer-
ing & tool designer, have two and half
years experience in pess tool and
moulding , I know CAD, CATIA , PRO-
E software’s now in Oman. Contact:
95287978
Electrical Engineer Indian male 30
years, having 5 years of experience
in industrial automation & utility
maintenance in Indian (MRF Tyres)
holding valid Oman D/L. Contact:
92789995 Email: akhilabrahamlktr@
gmail.com
Electrical Engineer (B.E) 8+ yrs
experience, NOC & release avail-
able with valid D/L. Contact 968
94374735
Mechanical Engineer with 15 yrs
Exp in steel fabrication, quality,
design, material estimation, sales en-
gineering. Contact: 97093241, Email:
Diploma in Civil Engineer having 8
years experience in Oman with driv-
ing license, internal release avail-
able urgently. Contact: 95387537 /
90524700
M.Tech Mechanical Engineer from
NIT, India with 1 year experience on
visiting visa, ready to join imme-
diately. Contact: 99742424 Email:
Civil Engineer (B.Tech) Indian male
24 yrs having 1+ year experience in
Industrial construction with good
communication skills and software
knowledge, looking for suitable posi-
tion available on visit visa. Contact:
968 - 99779538 / 98694939 Email:
Sudanese Civil Structure Engineer
3 years looking for job in reputable
company AutoCAD, Etabs, Staad Pro
Omani driving license available.
Contact: 97906770
Engineer with 4 years experience in
Oman in telecom operations looking
for a suitable opportunity have valid
driving license interested in market-
ing also. Contact: 98513495
Civil Engineer, bachelor degree driv-
ing license & experience in Oman.
Contact: 91102892
B.Tech Civil Engineer 7 yrs exp hav-
ing valid Oman driving license need
suitable replacement. #98052924
Email: [email protected]
25 yrs, male, B.Tech Electronic &
Communication Electrical design
Engineer, 2+ years in Multinational
company industrial automation
course + Electronic AutoCAD looking
for suitable placement. #99586317
Email: [email protected]
Electrical Engineer, Indian male 24
years, BE (Electrical & Electronics)
having 3 years of experience, seeking
for suitable placement. #91917369
Road Engineer 10 years experi-
ence in Oman. Contact: 91274706
Civil Engineer 14 years of experience
8 years at GCC at Dar Al Handasah
Consultant, Al Raghi Construction
building & infrastructure culverts,
bridges & road. #93068195 Email:
Civil Engineer diploma, 4 yrsexp
seeks suitable position ina reputed
company. NOC available. #96789711
Civil Engineer 8 years experience
Structural buildings marine. Avail-
able NOC release. Contact: 92451323.
Email: [email protected]
Civil Engineer (B.Tech), Indian
male 24 years with 1+years Indian
experience,(Certifi ed in Staad Pro/
Quantity Survey/ Auto Cad).Look-
ing for a Suitable position. Avail-
able In Sultanate of Oman (Muscat)
on Visit Visa. # 92835952. E-mail:
Male QC inspector Mechanical,
NDT 20 years experience valid Oman
D/L , release available. conrtact
91001104
Tea boy looking for job Name: Man
Bahadar Contact No. 97859837
Indian Female on a visit visa hav-
ing master degree seeking suitable
placement in any fi eld, 1 ,5 year ex-
perience in HR .#+968 91467576.
Indian male Kerala, B.com & B.PE.
Currently on visit visa, looking for
a suitable job in Accounts, Store
keeper etc. Ready to join as early as
possible. Contact:-93301023, email:-
Female Dentist with MOH license
and NOC, 7 years experience 2 yrs
out of them in Oman looking for a job.
Contact 97401243
27 years old Indian male looking
hospitality jobs in Hotel. Experi-
ence in customer service, front desk,
housekeeping supervisor, captain,
cashier,guest relation manager.
Contact. +968-90351742Email. sam-
27 yearsold Indianmale looking
Jobs in documents Collection execu-
tive.Experience in collection execu-
tive. Contact. +968-90358068Email
Indian male, 26 years old BA Gradu-
ate having 1 year experience in
accounts fi nance fi eld. Looking for
suitable Job On visit visa immedi-
ately available. Contact 9565 9415
Anishkhan991867@gmail. Com
ELECTRONICS ENGINEER In-
dian/male/24Yrs,Bsc.Electronics &
Communications,ITI,1.7 Years experi-
ence as Service Technician in India.
On visit Visa, Looking For a Suitable
Placement. Contact :92794176, E-
mail:[email protected]
B.Tech, MBA currently working in In-
dia in Bank. Contact: +918939857146
Email: [email protected]
Accountant cum cashier available.
Contact: 98002428
Pharmacist M. Pharm working in
Oman for 2 years with MOH license
Data fl ow completed. Contact :
98399415
Pakistani male 23 years old experi-
ence in travel agency - ticketing look-
ing for a suitable job, NOC available.
Contact: 93253759
Pakistani male having 7 years
experience in General Salesman
having valid D/L Looking for suitable
placement. Contact: 97216830 Email:
Mechanical Engineer (B Tech)
Indian male with 1 year experience
on visit visa looking for suitable job.
Contact : 90510800, Email : mu-
Indian with 3 years for experience
in sales and marketing fl uency in
English, Arabic, Hindi, Tamil and Ma-
layalam looking for suitable job. Also
hold valid Driving License, currently
in oman
Mob : +968-93451439
HSE Engineer, Indian male, 4 Plus
years exp. in Oil & Gas, Working in
Shclumberger, NEBOSH, IOSH, & NDT
Certifi ed, M Tech in HSE. CONTACT-
[email protected], Mobile- +91
9867016808
Indian male physiotherapist with
3 years of experience, with (moh
license and NOC available. seek-
ing suitable placement. contact
99767528, 91317863
Electrical diploma Engineer
Indian male 22 years, 2 years
experience in control panel contact
93047707 [email protected]
Indian male Physiotherapist with
MOH license and NOC looking for
suitable job. Contact: 92617235
Indian male Electrical Engineer, having 6 years gulf experience in
designing, assembling, commis-
sioning execution etc having valid
GCC license too looking for a suit-
able. Contact: 00968-98052942
Email: [email protected]
HSE Engineer (B.E Mech+Diploma
Safety+NEBOSH+OSHA) over
10yrs. Exp, (Visa Release Letter
(NOC) available), seeking suit-
able placement, Mob:97061817,
Email:[email protected]
Indian female Quantity Surveyor
Civil 11 years experience, local
release available NOC.#95719108
Email: [email protected]
Graduate civil Engineer having 19
years Gulf experience seeks immedi-
ate employment in reputed fi rms
in Muscat, NOC available. Contact:
99446786 / 93251306
Engineer Civil & M. Arch (RED) Indian
(F) 25 yrs, B.Tech (Civil), now pursuing
M. Arch - RED (Real Estate Develop-
ment fi nal semester thesis) completing
by June 2016, now available till 15th of
April on visit visa seeks suitable place-
ment in Oman. Contact: 968- 92743004
Email: [email protected]
Structural Engineer, ME, with 2 yrs
exp profi cient in ETABS, STAD, SAFE
& Prokon, seeks job.
Contact: 050-9984535
NDT / QA / QC Supervisor /
Radiographer DAE Mechanical
piping- vessel LPG Bozer Storage
tank inspection experience 10 years.
#96954202 Email: nasirarain86@
yahoo.com
Site Supervisor, Diploma in Civil
Engg (cert attested) knows autocad
revit, salary exp: 250 ph : 9227 9784
BE Mechanical Engineer, 6 years ex-
perience in piping & structural work
release available. Contact: 96115463
Email: [email protected]
B. Tech mechanical Engineer
having 8+ years exp having Omani
driving license seeking suitable
placement. Contact: 97841963
In Oman since 2010 March, build-
ing site supervisor with Oman D/L
looking for suitable placement.
Contact: 91507828
B. Sc Civil Engineer 27 yrs, Oman
experience as Project Manager,
Structural Engineer looking for suit-
able placement. NOC / local transfer
available. Contact : 99349578 Email:
Indian male with 5 yrs experi-
ence in CCTV (AV Technician) & 4
years experience as Supervisor /
Billing section on visit visa now.
#93570126
Indian male B-tech 8 years experi-
ence as senior electrical project
engineer / QC engineer on visit
visa seeks suitable placement.
contact 94094543
Email: [email protected]
Indian female Project Engineer 15
yrs experience in Project Manage-
ment Quality database management
data analytics marketing business
development haying Omani driving
license seeks suitable placement
presently on family visa having Om-
ani experience. Contact : 95783792
Indian female (M. Tech, Power
system) having Gulf experience
seeking suitable placement in Oman
currently in family visa. Contact:
94306164 / 91001194
An Electrical engineer with 4+
yrs of experience in Electrical
network (MT, LT) with professional
computer skills seeking for work.
Contact: 99841736 / 93955381/
+149922698343 Email:
Civil Engineer 6 years experience.
Contact: 90183630
Sudanese Mechanical Engineer 2
years experience, fi re fi ghting HVAC
on visiting visa. Contact : 95630047
Procurement Engineer (27 years
single male with Oman Driving Li-
cense) having 7 years experience
(UAE 2, Oman 3) with expertise in
MEP, Water, Electromechanical,
Instrumentation seeking suitable
placements. Contact 95852033,
mail: [email protected]
INDIAN FEMALE, 23 years, BSC-
CS Diploma in IAD graphics, well
knowledge in computer applica-
tions 6 months experience pres-
ently in Sohar seeking suitable
placement. Contact: 96670907.
Email: [email protected]
B.Tech (IT) experience in Network-
ing server & desktop management
in corporate environment looking for
suitable placement. Contact: 92954613
Indian male 25 yrs B.Sc Computers
Science, 3 yrs work experience in
Computer hardware & networking &
CCTV, security system looking for job
(NOC) available. Contact: 93243372
Indian male, B. Sc Computer Science,
CCNA, MCP, 8 years exp. in system &
networking now on visit visa, seeking
suitable position. Contact: 91751472,
Omani 26 (M) Seeks placement 6 yrs
experience IT specialist. #99025044
IT Support Engineer, Exp 3 years
in Oman 2 years in India. contact
94672759
Female 24 yrs, 3 years in IT pro-
grammer now in Oman looking for
suitable job. Contact: 96350234
INDIAN FEMALE COMPLETED
M.C.A seeking for suitable jobs. Con-
tact: 91409481 / 97308719
SALES / MARKETING
Indian male, 5 yrs exp in
marketing & trading (Oman), dealt
with International companies & prod-
uct also having good
knowledge in logistic and Admin with
D/L & car, NOC available.
Contact 93639385 Email:
35 years male, Lebanese hold-
ing British passport, 10 years of
experience in procurement, Omani
Government tenders, setup marketing
plans & strategies, importing, Organ-
izing events, management, have car,
NOC available. #94123939 Email:
Indian male (25) MBA / MMS
(Marketing) on visit visa valid UAE
driving license exp 2 yrs sales /
marketing. Contact: 98089262
Indian male, 29 years BSc, Gradu-
ate, with Omani driving license and
7 years of sales experience in home
appliances, IT products, mobile
and traffi c safety equipments cur-
rently working on employment visa,
NOC available seeking for suitable
placement immediately. Contact:
97890607 Email: ashrafambar@
gmail.com
BE (Mech) MBA (UK) 32 yrs male
having 7 yrs exp in Oil & Gas product
/ project Marketing looking for suit-
able placement in GCC. Contact: +
968 91104381
26 yrs Indian male MBA Market-
ing Sales / Marketing Executive,
3 yrs experience now available in
Muscat on visit visa seeking place-
ment for immediate joining. Contact:
95978874 Email: ansariafsar550@
gmail.com
Indian male 32 B.Com and 7 years
exp in Sales & marketing (Oman)
seeking for suitable placement
with valid D/L & release. Contact :
99164461 Email: mskooliyil@gmail.
com
Male 13 yrs exp in Sales & Market-
ing looking for a post of Senior Sales
Manager in Oman presently working
in UAE in consumer appliances com-
pany, having D/L GCC. Interested can
Contact: 00971 561096660 Email:
saairavi@rediff mail.com
Indian male 10 yrs experience in
Sales, marketing manager fi eld with
D/L seeks suitable placement. Con-
tact: 97205114
5 yrs experience in software and 2 yr
in administration/accountant, looking
for any part time or work from home
offi cial jobs contact no: 91711326
Sales Executive seeking suitable
placement Oman driving license.
Contact 93533786
Sudanese looking for a suitable job
holds the safety and health of OSHA
certifi cate and computer exp. in Sales
& safety and health (HSE).#91318822
Young Indian male 24 yrs having 4
yrs marketing & sales experience in
Oman looking for suitable placement
holding valid driving license. Contac:
96913806 Email: shuhaibrajesh@
gmail.com
Indian male 37 years MBA graduate
in marketing with 9yrs of experience
in UAE in fi eld of brand promotions
& marketing with UAE D/L on a visit
seeking suitable position. conatct
95792820
Indian male 40 yrs SSLC, PDC knows
MS Offi ce & Tally 1 year Oman experi-
ence in Accounts & 2 yrs marketing
experience valid Oman D.L. NOC avail-
able seeks suitable placements in
marketing. contact 92409891 Email:
Indian male, 25 yrs,
Accountant, 2.5 yrs in
Finance & Accounts, MBA
Finance & HR, exposure in
SAP, Tally, ERP 9 on visit visa.
Contact 96715420 / 91265020, Email : [email protected], [email protected]
Pakistani male Diploma Civil En-
gineer 4yrs exp in Oman bulling &
mega projects, valid license Oman.
contact:98921022
Electrical & electronics Engr, knows autocad & revit.
PH:93837973
Sr. Electrical Engineer with17+
yrs of exceptional exp in spear
heading strategic planning and
project management initiatives &
executing various high rise resi-
dential & commercial building as
well as roads and highway project
with profi ciency in installation,
seeking a challenging position in a
dynamic organization. #96570891
Network Engineer CCNA-MCSA
exp computer science with NOC.
Contact : 92346191
MEDICAL
MEDICAL
Female Indian MOH licensed den-
tist looking out for job opportuni-
ties in Nizwa. Has 14 yrs experi-
ence as dentist after graduation.
Can be contacted on
93329964
Indian female (MSC – Microbiolo-
gist) seeking suitable job. contact
96791162 / 90618567
Indian Male, 40 Years, B. Com, hav-
ing 10 years experience in Oman,
Tally &ERP- looking for suitable
placement ( Local release and
Oman driving license available.
Tel- 92469789
Indian Male 42 year’s, MBA, Sr.
Material controller having 12 years
experience in Oman with reputed
companies. Having Oman driving
License, Seeks suitable replace-
ment immediately. Available NOC.
Cont. 00968-92944026, Email –
ELECTRONICS TECHNICIAN Indian/male/24Yrs,Bsc.Electronics
& Comm,1.7 Years experience as
Service Engineer in India. On visit
Visa, Looking For a suitable place-
ment. Contact : 92794176
E-mail:[email protected]
Indian male Executive Secretary
having vast experience in admin,
logistics & procurement well
versed with computer seeks suit-
able placement. #99514286
ELECTRONICS ENGINEER Indian/
male/24Yrs,Bsc.Electronics &
Communications,ITI,1.7 Years
experience as Service Technician
in India, on visit Visa, looking For
a Suitable Placement. Contact
:92794176 ,E-mail: prathyushkp9@
gmail.com
IT System Administrator 6 yrs
experience, male, Filipino Desktop,
Laptop and printer Support, Backup
administrator, Router and switch
Network, Server Administrator.
+968 94134295
Female dentist with MOH license
and NOC ready to join 7 years expe-
rience 2 of them in Oman. Contact
97401243
Indian male 28 years B.com, MBA
4 yrs experience in accounts /
fi nance currently in Oman on visit
visa looking for suitable place-
ment. Contact: 93460277 Email:
Having 10 years exp. in Admin &
HR in reputed companies. Presently
working in Muscat and seeking for
suitable placement. Contact No.:
97693456. email :
Indian Male 42 year’s, MBA, Sr.
Material controller having 12 years
experience in Oman with reputed
companies. Having Oman driving
License, Seeks suitable replace-
ment immediately. Available NOC.
Cont. 00968-92944026, Email –
NOC available, Indian Male - MBA
(HR) and B.E (E.I.E) with total 9 years
of experience in HR & Admin and Busi-
ness Development (3 yrs of Gulf exp.)
can join immediately - 91240251 /
M. Sc Computer Science – 2 year
Experience – in India, looking suit-
able Placement. Email:-elvisgt6@
gmail.com, Mob:-+91 9497482305
(INDIA), Oman:-98291626.
Indian, 30 years, B. Com with 2
years Oman experience in Tally
ERP-9 available in Muscat seeking
suitable positions. # on 95186652
Indian male B.Tceh (ECE) MBA
(HR) 2 years experience CCNA,
CCNP, MCSE looking for suitable
job , presently on employment
visa release available. #95584814
Email: [email protected]
Indian civil Engineer BE, with 16
years of Industry experience in design
, Quantity surveying , billing looking
for suitable job. #90302823 Email:
ELECTRONICS TECHNICIAN Indian/male/24Yrs,Bsc.Electron-
ics & Comm, 1.7 Years experience
as Service Engineer in India, On
visit Visa, looking for a suitable
placement. Contact : 92794176, E-
mail:[email protected]
B-tech Civil with honours, Civil Engi-
neer (structures) Experience more than
six years. #91431483. Email
mohsinyousuf86@rediff mail.com
HSE Engineer,Indian male, 4
Plus years experience in Oil & Gas
.Working in Shclumberger NEBOSH,
IOSH, & NDT Certifi ed, M Tech in
HSE. CONTACT-krish.569@gmail.
com #+91 9867016808
Indian male Network cabling tech-
nician ( 19-years gulf experience)
seeking for suitable placement.
Contact : 0091-8089909265 (In-
dia), Email: [email protected]
14 years experienced light driver
with valid Oman license looking for
suitable job. Contact 99442481
Indian Bsc Female Nurse with
6.5 years exp, 4 years in KSA.
Passed Oman Pro Metric with 69%,
completed data fl ow. Presently in
Muscat in visit visa looking for a
suitable placement. #94744900,
94742834, jincyalphonese@gmail.
com
DAILY GUIDED6 W E D N E S D AY, A P R I L 1 3 , 2 0 1 6
Email: [email protected] classifi [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624
SITUATION WANTEDEDUCATION/CLASSES/COMP./WEB.
Spoken Arabic class for Non Arabic Speakers & English
class for Malayalam Speakers in Azaiba and Ruwi
• Learn in two months• Satisfaction guaranteed
Tel: 95244310
Karate and self defense classes
at Azaiba 18 Nov Street. RO 10 per
month twice a week Monday and
Tuesday 6. 30 TO 7. 30. PM.
CONTACT 98294551
NRI
Classes for Spoken EnglishTOEFL / GRE / GMAT / SAT
Excellent Guidance and Coaching Satisfaction Guaranteed
IELTS PREPARATION Target Band 8.0
EAGLES INSTITUTE92325542 | 93657915 | 93657917 | Email: [email protected]
WEB, ERP and Business Intel-
ligence (BI) creation and man-
agement at rock bottom price.
Contact:
http//webviewoman
FOR HIRE
Grader, roller, bobcat, JCB 3CX, JCB 4CX with breaker & water
tanker for rent. contact 93218705 /
24478450
MISCELLANEOUS
MISCELLANEOUS
MISCELLANEOUS
SITUATION WANTEDSIT.WANTED
SITUATION WANT-SIT.WANTED
SITUATION WANTEDSIT.WANTED
New fl ats in prime location near
Pushpagiri Medical College - Thiru-
valla. #Abraham - Owner Tel
95919122.
Land sale in Kerala 1.65 acre land for
sale at Ramapuram price 82 lakhs
negotiable.# 91 9446822251 2.45
acre of land near 1 Km from MES
College Erattupetta good for housing.
Price 2.45CR negotiable. Contact: 91
9446212255 / 91 9995000609
1 B/R - 890 S.FT fully furnished fl at at
Best Western Quepem.#97094797
LOST
CHANGE OF NAME
Farid Ullah has lost Pakistani
Passport No. BN 2746702. Finder
please handover to ROP
Zil E Abbas Siddique Mohammad
has lost Pakistani Passport No. AP
5792931. Finder please handover
to ROP.
I Nabila (holder of Indian pass-
port No. Z 1838213) daughter
of Husaini Rasheed having
permanent residence in Flat No.
4, Glory Palace, Behind ABC Farm,
Salonky Vihar RD, Pune 411-048
, Maharashtra (complete postal
address in India) and presently
residing in 304 - Hatat Complex,
Wadi Adai PO Box 232, CPO 111,
Oman (complete postal address
in Oman) intend to change my
name from Nabila (old name) to Nabila Yunus Tailor (new name)
for all practical purpose. Any ob-
jection towards my name change
may please be communicated to
Embassy of India, Muscat, Diplo-
matic Quarters, Al Khuwair, P. Box
No. 1727 Postal Code 112, Ruwi,
Sultanate of Oman.
We Yunus Tailor (name of father
as per the passport, holder of
Indian passport No Z 2120193
and Nabila (name of mother as
per the passport holder of Indian
passport No. Z 1838213) having
permanent address in Flat No.4,
Glory Palace, Behind ABC farm,
Salonky Vihar Road Kondhwa
Pune Maharashtra 411048
(complete postal address in India
) and presently residing at the
following address in Wadi Adai,
P.B No. 232 P.C. No. 111, Sultan-
ate of Oman, hereby solemnly
affi rm and declare to change the
name of our child Miss Zainab (name as per passport), holder of
Indian passport No. Z 2240467
date of issue 26/02/2013 issued
at Riyadh. The name of our child
will be henceforth known as Zainab Tailor (new name for all
purposes). Any objection towards
change of name of our minor
child may please be communicat-
ed to Embassy of India, Muscat,
Diplomatic Quarters, Al Khuwair,
PB No. 1727, PC 112, Ruwi, Sultan-
ate of Oman.
Indian Pediatric consultant, md
with 20 years experience and wife
gynecologist md with 15 years plus
experience seeking opportunities
with reputed hospitals in Muscat.
PROCUREMENT OFFICER, Indian-Male
34yrs,M.Com with 14 yrs work Exp.(8 yrs
in Oman) working in Construction Co
LLC( for ROAD,CIVIL,ELECTRO-MECHAN-
ICAL & Others Projects ) and having
valid LT D/L, NOC available & ready to
join within a month-M:94064650,Email:
Indian male: 24 years, diploma in
computer science and B.E(CSE)
having experience in hardware and
networking seeking for the suitable
job. Contact: 91170912, Email id:
Indian male auto cad draughtsman
(civil) 8 years experience, seek-
ing for part time job. mobile no:
0096899070584. email:
Civil Engineer (roads and struc-
tures) Education B. Tech Civil
Engineering with honours
experience more than six years.
Contact no 91431483 ,Email
mohsinyousuf86@rediff mail.com
Indian male 6 years exp in diff er-
ent fi eld, with valid Oman driving
license. Languages known Hindi,
English, looking for any job(Driver
for executives). Contact 98696795
HSE Engineer,Indian male, 4
Plus years Experience in Oil &
Gas .Working in Shclumberger.
NEBOSH,IOSH, & NDT Certifi ed, M
Tech in HSE, #krish.569@gmail.
com Mobile- +91 9867016808
Experienced B.Com graduate +
IATA Diploma holder looking for
Accounts/Admin/Travels related
job. Mob. 91142997. NOC available
.
Indian male B.A degree & diploma
in hotel management with 16 years
experience as restaurant & catering
manager in Oman & Saudi with V/L
Oman D/L seeks suitable place-
ment. Contact : 92100141
MBA Graduate (Indian male 26
years) having 2 years experience
in Qatar as admin assistant looking
for suitable placement. contact
93041141 Email: mahinmehboob@
gmail.com
Indian female, MBA with 9 yrs of
experience in fi nance & procure-
ment currently on family visa look-
ing for suitable position in fi nance
& supply chain. Contact 95622568
Draughtsman, 15 years’ experi-
ence, Indian male currently in
Oman looking for suitable position.
Gsm – 95358115,
96977289, Email : pillairp41@
gmail.com
Indian Female living in Ghubra -
Muscat near Emirates Shopping
Center. 20 years of experience in
Teaching. Able to handle all sub-
jects till grade 6. Need suitable job.
Contact- 94406552
PART TIME ACCOUNTANT avail-
able, well experienced in account-
ing up to fi nalization. knowledge in
tally also. contact. 92643875
Chief Accountant 25 years
experienced looking for part/
full time accountant job. Contact:
95598477 / 98803439
Indian male,16 years Oil & Gas
experience ( Down Hole Tools ),
3 years in Oman, Dip. Mechanical
Engineer, Having D/L and NOC.
Email – [email protected], Mob :
965 956 18.
Bangladeshi Male, Univer-
sity MA, Working as Store
In-charge cum Logistic Manager
in Muscat; searching better job.
Phone:91997605. email:
mohamednazrulislam2@gmail.
com
8 plus years of experience in
Events /Marketing Communica-
tion /conferences / Trainings /
Media representation. Having UAE
D/L. seeking Suitable Placement:
Contact: 95792820. suheal.ma@
outlook.com
Indian Male,Kerala,B.COM & B.PE
having 13Years of Physical Educa-
tion Teacher experience. Currently
on visit visa Looking for a suitable
job. Contact:- 968 94106834.
email:[email protected].
Sudanese male, 5 years experi-
ence in warehouse management
and logistics services contact
90644186
14 years experience in 5 star hotel
as sales manager in UAE & INDIA
on tourist visa looking for suitable
opportunity please contact mobile
contact 91305978
Admin Assistant. Having 5 years
experience in admin department
in reputed companies, presently
working in Muscat (NOC Avail-
able). GSM. 00968-98404122,
Email - panduru.jeevankumar@
gmail.com
Indian Female on a visit visa
having master degree seeking
suitable placement in any fi eld,
1 and half year experience in HR
.Contact : +968 91467576
.
Indian Female, 24 MA Eng. Litr
with 2 yrs experience in teach-
ing & 14 months in Administra-
tion cum Secretary, Currently
on visit visa, seeks suitable job.
Contact: 92613704/99260702,
Email:[email protected]
Indian male, 8.5 yrs experience,
B.Com Graduate with GCC exp &
valid driving license looking for
better job opening in Muscat.
Contact: 92609935 / 94771365
2 years experienced male seeking
job related to safety. M. Tech in HSE,
MSc in Environmental Science and
IOSH certifi ed. #94653264
Sri Lankan Male 34 BSc. (Physics)
5 years experience as a site man-
ager and administration supervi-
sor in Oman with valid D/L looking
for a suitable position. contact
99153061 or v.chandramohan@
yahoo.co.uk
Female Junior Architect Gradu-
ated from School of Planning &
Architecture, Vijayawada. Excel-
lence in Autocad, Sketching &
Modelling. Internship - KHAM
Designs, Bangalore. Presently with
Atulya Architects & Associates.
Email saatvika.frozenmusic@
gmail.com #00968-94057427.
Mechanical Engineering 6 years
experience. contact
00968-998907110091 -
9841867534 Email:
Indian male 37 YEARS, BSC
COMPUTER SCIENCE having More
than 8yrs of experience with well
exposure in PDO, DALEEL & OXY
as IT SUPPORT / DESKTOP SUP-
PORT ENGINEER. Seeking suitable
placement. Contact rangaraj_vck@
yahoo.co.in / 968-99758320
Indian Female Electronics System
Eng. UK Graduate. Programmer Mi-
cro Controller Robot, Eng. Analysis,
Instrumentation & Control, Eng.
Projects, Integrated Circuit Eng.,
Electrical and Fluid Drives, Ana-
logue Electronics, Wireless Sys-
tems. Seeking suitable post. Con-
tact: 97848075, s.dinesh1508@
gmail.com
Diploma(Electrical Engineering)
From Government polytechnic.
Age 27years, 6 years Experiance in
Maintenance, troubleshooting and
managing and Technical in substa-
tion as a Electrical Engineer.Seek
suitable placement. Contact GSM-
92995899,([email protected])
MBA Indian male 2 years experi-
ence in fi refi ghting & security sys-
tems sales & marketing. Seeking
suitable job. Contact – 90634050
B.Com Graduate with 4 year
experience as an Accountant in
Oman. Also have Oman Driving
License. Best fl uency in English,
Arabic, Hindi& Malayalam. Looking
for Job. Currently in Oman. #+968
93943448, [email protected]
Sr Material controller, having 13
years experience in material control-
ling in reputed companies. Presently
working in Muscat (NOC Available). #
00968-92944026, Email
Indian/male (25)/ MBA/2 years
experience in channel sales and
distribution management. on visit
visa. available for immediate join-
ing. Contact: 96914068, E mail:
32year Indian Male MSC,MBA-
HR having 8yrs Exp(HR / Payroll
/ Admin) with Oman valid DL.
Seeking suitable opening in
Human Resource, Payroll &
Admin/ backend jobs. Con-
tact:00968-99322978
6 YEARS EXPERIENCE HR/Fi-
nance Indian female[29Years]
MBA. On family visa, Seeking
suitable placement-93908191,
email:[email protected]
Indian, BE Mechanical Engi-
neering with 1 yr exp as service
Engineer, looking for suitable po-
sitions. Contact-90637918, E mail:
Senior Accountant, 5 yrs Oman, 10
yrs UAE experience in manufac-
turing & construction valid D/L
immediately available. Email:
call: 95389018
Indian male with 1 yr exp looking
for job in I.T as Web developer,
presently in Muscat on visit visa.
#92312978
Commercial or Operation Manager 18
yrs in Oman – fi nance, purchase, sales,
HR & Admin exp. contact 99044724.
E mail: [email protected]
Male ,MBA Finance & Marketing 28
yrs,6+ Exp, with oman D/L & NOC, Hospi-
tal ,Pharma ,Herbal ,FMCG, F&B Marke-
ing ,construction A/c & sales , 93379044
HSE Engineer, Indian male, 4
plus years experience in oil & gas,
working in shclumberger Nebosh,
ISOH & NDT certifi ed, M. Tech in
HSE. contact-krish.569@gmail.
com mobile- +91 9867016808
BE Mechanical Engineering with
one year experience now on visit
visa, looking for suitable positions.
#90637918 / 99335742,email:
Indian/male (25)/ MBA /2 years experi-
ence in channel sales and distribution
management. on visit visa. available for
immediate joining. #96914068, email:
Indian male network cabling tech-
nician (19 years Gulf experience),
seeking for suitable placement.
Contact : 0091-8089909265 (In-
dia), Email: [email protected]
Indian male, Kerala B.Com & B.PE,
looking for suitable Job in Sales,
Accounts, Admin etc.contact
93301023 email:- sajith3969@
gmail.com
DAILY GUIDEW E D N E S D AY, A P R I L 1 3 , 2 0 1 6 D7
TOURS
TOURS
RENT A CAR
RENT A CAR
25 - 50 seater bus with PDO & BP
specifi cation for monthly rent &
small car with driver. #99839898
SITUATION WANTEDCARGO
Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain Marine Tours contact 98029602, 92808636
We arrange tours & accommodation at all the beautiful places in Oman. Contact 99839898
Moon Travel L.L.CSaudi Arabian Government approved agent
Contact: Tariq Al Balushi - 99218069 Ahmed Maseehuddin - 99353611, O ce: 24790746/24706217
Umrah Package by Road & AirBus Departures- Apr 19, May 03, 17 & 31.2016
Ramadan Schedule - Jun 06, 10, 14, 18, 22, 26 & 30.2016
SITUATION WANTEDBUSINESS
RENT A CARBest Rates for Saloon
Contact: 97869042 / 95730550
[email protected] for a villa in Amerat area.
Contact : 95405033
ACC WANTED
Investment RequiredMinimum OMR 500,000 to transfer
5 Excavators big + 5 Tippers 2015
Astra, working on good profitable
Excavation projects. Assured
income 36 %.
98867530 / [email protected]
MANPOWER
MV SALE
GMC Sierra 4-Door Pick-up 2010
Model, 177,000 Kms - RO.8,000/-.
Contact: 92564199
Hyundai Veracruz 2011 model for
sale, 4 WD color black 7 seater
with engine capacity 3775CC,
automatic – Steptronic with GPS.
Contact 97203784
Nissan Sunny, White, 1.6, Automatic
2010, 76,750 KM, excellent condi-
tion, regular service at Nissan
Service center for RO 2300 contact
– 96530052TRANSPORTATION
Pick and Drop Al Khuwair to
Rusayl# 96733572 / 91287470
Transportation. #99508282
Transportation. contact 92015894
Transportation available Ruwi to
Al Khuwair, Ghubra & Azaiba.
Contact: 91103909
Transportation required from
Qurum to WadiKabir at afternoon
only 1 PM. Contact - 99012165
Transportation. contact
94087276 BUYING
Buying cars for cash.contact
90202090
Bobcat available for rent. #97623299
Customs Clearance thru Bayan
System ( AIR & SEA CARGO)
Freight Forwarding (both import &
export) by giving best freight rates
to Customers. Road Transporta-
tion, Delivery of all types of goods
(within Oman). Contact : KTT&CO
LLC ; Tel : 24713288 & 24711071 ;
GSM : 99597129 (MR. KISHORE)
D8 W E D N E S D AY, A P R I L 1 3 , 2 0 1 6
DAILY GUIDEEmail: [email protected] classifi [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624
SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES
SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES
SERVICESWe Provide Cleaners,
Offi ce boys, Cleaning Contracts, General cleaning etc.
Al Mudakhir Nati onal Est. LLC Contact : 94277020
Window & split unit A.C servicing &
repairing. Contact: 99557080
Split & window unit A.C servicing &
maintenance. contact 96236476
Split & widow unit A.C servicing &
maintenance.#93769089 / 95323517
Split & window A/c servicing & main-
tenance. # 93769089 / 95323517
GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing,
Contact 99314807/24792998
A/C maintenance & servicing,
fridge, washing machine & dish
washer repairing, painting & clean-
ing services, electrical & plumbing.
#99447257 / 97014234 / 24504281
Water proofi ng ABUQABAS-
Contact 99320217/24788722
House shifting & transporting.
Contact 92490422
Pest control treatments, Ocean center LLC #99344723
House shifting. #99708138
CAD drawings Archi/ MEP CAD –
comply BIM. Contact: 91233975
PEST CONTROLAL TABA SERVICE LLC
Ants, Rodent, & cleaning On monthly,
Harmless & Odourless
100% Professional A ordable Rate !!!
CALL - 91464586
Pest control & Building cleaning all kinds of pest control building. Cleaning ti les /
Marble polishing monthly/ Yearly contracts available.
Contact: 98814733 /98814740 Al Husn Cleaning L.L.C
MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your
marble. #24793614/ 99314807
Marble crystallization & grinding, cleaning & carpet shampooing.
Ocean center LLC.#99344723
Al farzdaq Al Fedi Trad and Cont
Maintenance services electric,
plumbing and A/C. Contact:
96524904 /94285064
Split A/C servicing R.O 10 only.
Contact: 94217681 /99210141
Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles
polishing, carpet shampooing,
maintenance. Contact ABU QA-
BAS- 99320217 /24788722
All MEP & Civil shop draw-
ings. Contact : 93070771 Email :
Cleaning Services, Sofa, carpet
shampoo old house or new house.
Contact: 92179395
Split & window A/c installation &
maintenance specialist package &
ducted units. Contact 98667326
Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile
polishing, pest control & anti-ter-
mite treatment, general cleaning
painting,Plumbing, Electrical,
shifting. Contact Mundhir
Al-Rizaiqi trading. L.L.C.
Contact: 24810137, 99450130
Marble crystallization & grind-ing, Ocean center LLC contact
99344723
CATERING SERVICES We do industrial catering
service, Canteen / mess,
3 times packed meals and
all types of catering events.
Contact: 92188777 / 99249899
MISCELLANEOUS
SITUATION WANTEDSIT.WANTED
Indian male at a Managerial position
having 12 yrs exp in sales & marketing,
Property Management looking for a
suitable position, MBA qualifi ed with
Oman driving license. NOC available.
#98125226
Indian male BE Mechanical En-
gineer having 6 yrs exp in piping
and structural construction work,
looking suitable position, release
available. contact 96115463-email:
SOFTWARE DEVELOPER, Indian
Male, 24 years, B.Tech in com-
puter science.3Years of experience
in technical support, software
development, troubleshooting and
managing, seek suitable place-
ment. Contact GSM-
98184170
Indian Male,B.Com & Diploma
Logistics & supply chain manage-
ment 2years experience looking
for job in Accounts/logistics fi eld.
Presently on Visit Visa. Soft-
ware knows MS offi ce & Tally7.2
.#:93884951-Email:mehreenraiz@
gmail.com
Indian male 31 yrs with over 10 yrs
sales & marketing exp seeking suitable
placement NOC & Oman D/L available
in audition have profi ciency in Arabic
language. Contact:
95760969
Looking for QHSE – Manager /
Asst. Manager job, Indian Male
– 39.Yrs, With 17.Yrs Experience
& NOC, NEBOSH – UK, MR – ISO
9001, 14001 & 18001, HSE Train-
ings, Audits, Pls Contact – haree.
B.A. in Accounting, Experience:
5years of Business/Accounts
tutoring and 2 years of Account-
ing License: 70914186. contact
96389047, Email: sharanizareen@
gmail.com
Export Manager/DM Indian Male
38 Yrs B.Sc /CIPET 13 Yrs Experi-
ence in Business Development
&Production with Oman D/L seeks
suitable placement.
Contact : 97221058 / 92058065, E-
mail : [email protected]
HSE Engineer: 3.8 years experi-
ence in Oil & Gas. NEBOSH,IOSH,
& NDT Certifi ed, M Tech in
HSE,B Tech in Mechanical Engg.
Mobile- +91 9867016808
B.Com Graduate with 4 year expe-
rience as an Accountant in Oman.
Also have Oman Driving License.
Best fl uency in English, Arabic,
Hindi & Malayalam, looking for Job.
Currently in Oman. Cont:
+968 93943448, murshid4u@
gmail.com
Electronics service Technician ,
4 Years experience as Electronics
service engineer. Knowledge in all
type of Electronics items. Looking
for suitable placement. contact
99105043
INDIAN MALE, 26 years, BBA
graduate, seeks suitable position in
automotive spare parts, Have 3 year
experience. Phone no:96026400,
Master’s in Petroleum Geology
looking for relevant job ready to join
ASAP, valid drivers license. Email :
Bangladeshi male, University MA,
Working as Store In-charge cum
Logistic Manager in Muscat; search-
ing better job. #91997605, email:
25 years, male B.Com and
insurance Graduate with 6 year
experience looking for an opening
in accounts, fi nance or operations
related only. Driving license and
NOC available. contact lilommca@
gmail.com and 95236312.
Admin Assistant, Having 5 years
experience in admin department
in reputed companies, presently
working in Muscat (NOC Available).
GSM. 00968-98404122, Email -
IT/Telecom Manager, BE, MBA
13+ Years of experience, Valid
Driving License. Available imme-
diately. Phone: +91205211, Email:
Indian male network cabling techni-
cian (19-years gulf experience) Seek-
ing for suitable placement. Contact
- 0091-8089909265
(India) email: [email protected]
Indian Engineer, B. Tech (Mech),
MBA, MLM (Master of Labour
Management), 23 yrs experience,
5 years in Oman in the positions
of Operations Manager and Plant
Manager with Oman Driving
License seeks suitable placement.
Contact: 99744612. E-mail:
Indian Male 47 years MBA-
Operations Management with total
25 Yrs exp inclusive of 9 yrs in
Oil & Gas sector in Oman, having
valid Omani D/L & NOC available
, seeks challenging position in
SCM/ Logistics/ Procurement in
any Sector. GSM-94236414. Mail
id – [email protected]
Structural Engineer Education
B-Tech in civil Engineering, Work
Experience More than 6 yrs con-
tact +968-91431483
E-mail: mohsinyousuf86@rediff -
mail.com