times of oman - january 9, 2016
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SATURDAY, January 9, 2016 / 28 Rabi Al Awal 1437 AH timesofoman.com wtimesofoman.com facebook.com/timesofoman twitter.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com ISO 9001:2008 Certifi ed Company
DOMESTIC SECTOR IN US POWERS GROWTH OF JOBS >B3
We are sparing no eff ort and will continue to spare no eff ort in order to provide our human resources with all the help they will need to develop, hone and train.
Opening of the annual session of The Council of Oman, 2008
FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTYTHE SULTAN
‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’
Call to stem high student dropout rate
ELHAM [email protected]
MUSCAT: With around 6 per cent of students dropping out of higher education institutions in Oman, authorities have called for a joint eff ort to address the issue, saying it is exerting a burden on the country’s fi nancial and hu-man resources.
“The dropout rate in higher education institutions in Oman reached 6 per cent of the total en-rolled students in the academic year of 2013-2014,” Minister of Higher Education Dr. Rawya Saud Al Busaidi said in an inter-view with Times of Oman.
According to the data from the ministry’s Higher Education Sta-tistical System, 7,388 students left their studies at higher educa-tion institutions during the 2013-2014 academic year. Out of this number, 2,532 were female and 4,856 were male.
The data does not include stu-dents of vocational training cen-tres institutes and those granted external scholarships.
Commenting on the reasons for the high dropout rate, the minis-ter said student-related factors seem to be the main cause for dropouts, with the most common reasons being academic failure, bad behaviour, lack of desire to study, employment, and fi nancial inability to pay the fees.
Data for the 2013-2014 aca-demic year showed that 692 stu-dents (152 female and 540 male) dropped out due to academic fail-ure, 16 (three female and 13 male) due to death, and 1,044 (153 fe-male and 891 male) due to exclu-sion for immoral reasons or rea-sons other than academic failure.
A total of 106 students (20 fe-male and 86 male) left their stud-
ies due to fi nancial reasons, 1,506 (508 female and 998 male) due to interruption of study, and 2,150 (970 female and 1,180 male) for other personal reasons.
A lack of desire to continue studying was cited by 1,600 stu-dents (662 female and 938 male), who dropped out of higher educa-tion institutions, while the reason provided by 172 (9 female and 163 male) was employment.
Health reasons caused 101 stu-dents (54 female and 47 male) to drop out, while one female stu-dent dropped out because she ex-ceeded the allocated time limit for completing her studies.
Negative impactThe minister said she believed the dropout problem had negatively aff ected society as the dropouts have not only missed the opportu-nity to study themselves, but have also taken the opportunity away from others by occupying seats that could have been otherwise utilised, in a better way. >A2
The high dropout
rate of students in
the Sultanate is
exerting a burden
on the country’s
fi nancial and human
resources
Oman most beautiful and peaceful country: German coupleMOBIN MATHEW [email protected]
MUSCAT: People of Oman are as beautiful as the country, said Her-mann Vornwald, a German tour-ist, who is travelling in a “motor home” to explore the beauty of the Arabian Peninsula.
Hermann and his wife Heike have been in Oman for the last cou-ple of days.
The tourist couple started its journey in a motor home from Frankfurt, Germany, in the fi rst week of September.
Arabian Peninsula“For this winter, we planned a trip to go around the Arabian Penin-sula in our motor home,” Hermann told the Times of Oman.
They are expected to be back in Germany in the last week of May this year. They intend to cover about 22,000 km during the journey.
So far, they have visited Austria, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iran, and entered the Gulf through a ferry-boat boarded from Bandar Abbas in Iran.
They celebrated the New Year in the UAE and then entered Ibri in the Sultanate of Oman, and plan to spend nearly four to fi ve weeks in every country and enjoy the beauty
and culture of the country.Vornwald and his wife are
scheduled to stay in Oman for six to seven weeks.
“We have to travel about 4,000 km, which is about seven weeks spent travelling through the coun-try on the coast of Indian Ocean to the south, to Salalah, and on a western route through the ‘Rub al
Khali,’ or the ‘Empty Quarter’ or the world’s largest sand desert in the north again,” Vornwald said.
“We want to enjoy the beauty of Oman and its culture,” he added.
The German couple is visiting Oman for the second time.
Earlier in 2000, they had come with a group and spent two weeks in Oman.
So far, they have explored the beauty of Ibri, Nizwa, Tanuf, Seeb and Muttrah in the Sultanate.
Yesterday, they started their journey to Salalah and will spend three days there, enjoying the beauty of the Dhofar region.
After their stay in the Dhofar region, they will be back in the capital city to relish its beauty
and culture. The couple will start the journey back to Germany af-ter their stay in Oman and after visiting the same countries via which they came, but through a diff erent route.
According to Vornwald, Oman is the most peaceful and beautiful country that he came across dur-ing this journey.
“The people of Oman are lov-able and friendly, especially near the border where they showed great respect towards me,” he added. >A2
A R A B I A N P E N I N S U L A T O U R
IN LOVE WITH OMAN: The German couple started their journey in a motor home from Frankfurt, Germany in the fi rst week of September.
B5The secrets of seasoned mums
REGIONRebels: Pressure to prolong Syria war
2Syrian rebels said President Bashar Al Assad’s opponents are
under international pressure to make concessions that would prolong the confl ict, underscoring their doubts about a new UN-led drive for peace talks planned to begin this month. >A4
WORLDUS presses China to rein in North Korea
3South Korea unleashed a propaganda across its border with North
Korea in retaliation for its nuclear test, while the US called on China to end “business as usual” with its ally. South Korea said its foreign minister would speak to his Chinese counterpart. >A9
OMANOman, Iraq to boost bilateral relations
1Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Minister Responsible for Foreign
Aff airs received Ibrahim Al Ja’fari, Minister of Foreign Aff airs in Iraq, currently visiting the Sultanate. The leaders discussed bilateral cooperation between the two countries and means of enhancing them. >A2
T O P T H R E E I N S I D E S T O R I E S
PICTURESQUE VALLEYWadi Dhum or ‘Valley of Dhum’, in the Wilayat of Ibri is
one of the most picturesque destinations in Oman, en-
dowed with natural beauty, including water bodies and
lush green trees. — ONA See also >A3
UN panel to review Oman’s record on rights of childrenTimes News Service
MUSCAT: Child rights in the Sultanate will be reviewed by the United Nations’ Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), during live sessions on January 12 and 13, an offi cial communiqué said on Thursday.
The Sultanate is one of the 196 countries that have ratifi ed the
Convention on the Rights of Child and is, therefore, required to un-dergo regular examination of its record by a committee compris-ing 18 independent experts, the statement said.
The statement added that the CRC members will hold discus-sions with a government del-egation from Oman on the imple-mentation of the convention.
The committee will base its evaluation on the delegation’s replies, as well as information collected from the civil society groups, said the UN committee.
Apart from Oman, other coun-tries that are being reviewed include Senegal, Iran, Latvia, France, Ireland, Haiti, Peru, Mal-dives, Zimbabwe, Maldives, Zam-bia, Benin, Brunei and Kenya.
E X A M I N A T I O N O F P A S T
NUMBER OF STUDENTS WHO LEFT STUDY
Reasons for leaving /2013 20142012 2013/
GrandTotal 2241
43776618
2532
4856
7388GraphicsSource: Higher Education Statistical System (HESS)
Data does not include students of Vocational Training Centres Institutes and External Scholarships
Male Female Total
Academic failure 104 722 876 152 540 692
Death 9 10 19 3 13 16
Other than academic failure 68 879 947 153 891 1044
Financial reasons 171 178 349 20 86 106
Interruption of study 218 315 533 508 998 1506
Other personal reasons 1192 1364 2556 970 1180 2150
Lack of desire to continue study 398 596 994 662 938 1600
Employed 18 192 210 9 163 172
Exceeded the allocated time limit of study
26 51 77 1 0 1
Health reasons 37 20 57 54 47 101
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Minister of Higher Education
Dr. Rawya Saud Al Busaidi
A2 S AT U R DAY, JA N UA RY 9, 2 0 1 6
OMAN
Health Minister meets
Iranian ambassador
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Iran and Oman dis-cussed a proposal to construct an Iranian hospital in the Sultanate, at a meeting attended by num-ber of senior offi cials from both the sides.
Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Saidi, Minister of Health, re-ceived Ali Akbar Sebaweh, ambas-
sador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Sultanate, in his offi ce on Thursday.
During the meeting, the two ex-changed cordial conversation, and discussed a number of matters of common concern between the two friendly countries, particularly cooperation in the fi eld of health, such as in the treatment and reha-bilitation of drug addicts.
I R A N I A N H O S P I T A L P R O P O S E D
MEETING: A proposal to construct an Iranian hospital in the
Sultanate, was also discussed at the meeting. - Supplied picture
Oman, Iraq ministers discuss bilateral ties
MUSCAT: Yousef bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Aff airs, received Ibra-him Al Ja’fari, Minister of Foreign Aff airs in the Republic of Iraq, in his offi ce on Thursday.
The meeting touched upon as-pects of bilateral cooperation be-
tween the two countries and the means of enhancing them in vari-ous fi elds.
The meeting also exchanged viewpoints on a number of re-gional and international issues of common concern and the latest
developments in the region.The meeting was attended
by Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, secretary general of the Foreign Ministry, Dr Ali bin Ahmed Al Issa’eei, act-ing undersecretary of the Foreign
Ministry for Diplomatic Aff airs and a number of offi cials from the Foreign Ministry.
It was also attended form by Amal Mousa, the Iraqi ambassa-dor to the Sultanate and the del-egation accompanying him. — ONA
The meeting touched
upon aspects of
bilateral cooperation
between the two
countries and the
means of further
enhancing them
in various fi eldsBILATERAL COOPERATION: The meeting also exchanged viewpoints on a number of regional and
international issues of common concern and the latest developments in the region. — ONA
Gulf Craft to showcase new range of yachts, boats, sport cruisersTimes News Service
MUSCAT: Gulf Craft — one of the Sultanate’s yachting market giant — will showcase a range of semi-custom yachts, boats, and sport cruisers at The Wave Marina in Muscat, an offi cial statement said on Thursday. The statement said Oman’s boating enthusiasts will get the opportunity to explore the endless possibilities of water lei-sure at an exclusive three-day pre-view starting from January 14.
“Our Omani customers’ strong affi nity with the sea and apprecia-tion for water leisure continuously inspires us to produce new inno-vations,” said the statement quot-ing Erwin Bamps, chief executive offi cer of Gulf Craft.
Gulf Craft said it accounts for more than 30 per cent of the lei-sure craft market share in Oman.
The company’s yearly return to the country demonstrates its un-wavering commitment to meeting
the evolving needs of its Omani clientele, the company statement added. Founded in the Emirates in 1982, Gulf Craft has a wide variety of premium craft, ranging from 27 feet to 155 feet in length.
With an expanding portfo-lio that includes the enchanting
Majesty Yachts, the oceangoing Nomad Yachts, Silvercraft fi sh-ing boats and family cruisers, and Oryx sport yachts and cruisers; Gulf Craft has built a lasting legacy in the region.
“Today, sea travel has become a lifestyle—more Omanis are look-
ing to share this extraordinary experience with loved ones, and want to do so comfortably,” Bamps added. “By bringing our latest creations to the shores of Oman, we hope to transform these aspira-tions for on-water living into a tan-gible reality,” he further said.
T H R E E - D A Y P R E V I E W
LEISURE CRAFT: Founded in the Emirates in 1982, Gulf Craft has a wide variety of premium craft,
ranging from 27-155 feet in length. — Supplied picture
‘Eff ort to cut down number of students dropout needed’
“In fact, this is a burden on fi nan-cial and human resources, and time. Usually, the students who stay unemployed by doing are a fi nancial burden on their parents,” Minister Al Busaidi noted.
She also called for a collabora-tive eff ort to decrease the number of students who drop out of higher
education institutions. Families should continuously follow up the students’ study progress and encourage them to continue aca-demically until graduation, while providing continued parental sup-port, the minister said.
“Ministries, authorities and institutions in charge of higher
education should improve the academic environment in terms of teaching quality, challenges and academic workload,” she said.
They should also provide ade-quate academic support and coun-selling services, health care and fi nancial resources,” she further added. - To be concluded
E D U C A T I O N A L I N S T I T U T I O N S
< FROM
A1 German couple travels to explore beauty of the world
Sixty-year old Hermann was a businessman back in Germany. He owned a shop, which sells all kinds of iron products. Five years back, he vended all his business properties and started to travel in his motor home with his wife Heike. “Now, we travel for six to seven months every year, explor-
ing the beauty of the world and we will be back in Germany in the summer,” Vornwald said.
“Last year, we were in North Af-rica,” he added.
According to him, the only problem he faces during the jour-ney is the delays that take place in the borders. Sometimes he has to
wait for more than 12 hours. “So far, my journey has been good, but the process, such as security, clearances, all this makes it ex-hausting,” Vornwald said.
During our chat, Heike was pre-paring dinner in the kitchen of the motor home. The happy couple are enjoying their retired life.
A V I D T R A V E L L E R S
< FROM
A1
Heritage exhibition to focus on horses, camels of OmanMuscat: Sayyid Fatik bin Fahr Al Said will sponsor next Tuesday’s opening of the Fifth International Exhibition of Horses, Camels and ‘Omani Asayel’ Heritage, which will be held at the Oman Interna-tional Exhibition Centre.
The three-day exhibition, organised by Vision Expo and Asayel Company for Press and Publication, will begin in the presence of many senior offi cials, as well as those members of the public interested in equestrian and camel sports, along with the nation’s heritage.
Opening ceremonyThe fi rst day of the exhibition will include the opening ceremony, welcoming presentations for the chief guest and the attendees by the Royal Cavalry, Royal Camel Corps, Household Cavalry and the Royal Guard of Oman Cavalry, as well as the participation of the Ministry of Sports Aff airs.
Mohamed bin Isa Al Fairouz,
Chairman of the Organising Committee of the exhibition, said this year’s exhibition is sponsored by a variety of government insti-tutions involved in the tourism sector, including the Ministry of Tourism, out of their interest in
tourism and its promotion in the Sultanate, and to expand its reach throughout Oman.
Diverse competitionsHe also said that the exhibition includes a number of exhibits and diverse competitions in the ar-eas of equestrian, camels and the country’s heritage from January 12th to 14th, adding that a number of government and private insti-tutions will take part in the exhi-bition, particularly the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Sports Aff airs, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the National Re-cords and Archive Authority, the Public Authority for Craft Indus-tries, Sultan Qaboos University, the Royal Cavalry, Royal Camel Corp, the International Tent Peg-ging Federation, Omani Camel Racing Federation, Household Cavalry and the Royal Guard of Oman Cavalry, in addition to the participation by a number of pri-vate sector companies. — ONA
T H R E E - D A Y E V E N T
The exhibition
includes a number of
exhibits and diverse
competitions in the
areas of equestrian,
camels and the
country’s heritage
on January 12-14
Today, sea travel has become a lifestyle—more Omanis are looking to share this extraordinary experience with loved ones
Erwin Bamps, CEO of Gulf Craft
RNO takes delivery of its third vesselSINGAPORE: The delivery of the vessel ‘Sadah’, the third ship in Ofuq Project, was taken by the Royal Navy of Oman (RNO) on Thursday in the Republic of Singapore, and the launching and naming the fourth vessel in the project ‘Khasab’, as part of the care of His Majesty Sultan Qa-boos bin Said, the Supreme Com-mander of the Armed Forces, by providing RNO with the latest military vessels.
Rear Admiral Abdullah bin Khamis Al Raisi, Commander of the RNO, sponsored the celebra-tion, in the presence of a number of RNO offi cers and non-com-missioned offi cers and marines.
Offi cial naming ceremonyUpon the arrival of the RNO Commander to the location of the celebration, the Royal an-them of Oman and anthem of Singapore were played, followed by the offi cial naming ceremony of ‘Khasab’, named by His Maj-
esty the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, followed by the delivery of ‘Sadah’, when the sponsor of the event signed docu-ments of accepting ownership of the vessel from the manufacturer Singapore Technologies Marine (STM). The fl ag of the Sultanate was hoisted, along with RNO fl ag, marking the boarding of the fi rst crew of the ship.
On the sidelines of the celebra-tion, the RNO Commander and the attendees toured the various facilities of the ship, where they were briefed on the various facili-ties and equipment of Ofuq four vessels, manufactured according to the latest specialised military industries.
The ceremony was attended by Sheikh Zakaria bin Hamad Al Sa’adi, Consul General of the Sultanate to the Republic of Sin-gapore, Commodore Khalifa bin Hamad Al Qasimi, RNO Director General of Support, and a num-ber of RNO staff . — ONA
R O Y A L N A V Y O F O M A N
A3
OMANS AT U R DAY, JA N UA RY 9, 2 0 1 6
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WADI DHUM’S NATURAL BEAUTY DRAWS GROWING NUMBER OF TOURISTS
Wadi Dhum, located in the
Wilayat of Ibri in the Governorate
of A’Dhahirah, is a destination
where tourists enjoy nature and
natural beauty the most in the
midst of water, trees and lush
greens along the banks. The
wadi is located at the base of the
Shams Mountain from the west
as it is located in the eastern part
of the Wilayat of Ibri in Wadi Al
Ain, about 75 kilometres from
the centre of the wilayat. These
destinations are great attrac-
tions boosting tourism, bringing
in tourists, who love water and
greenery, blended with the fra-
grance of Omani history — where
forts, castles, towers and old
neighbourhoods stand fi rm, nar-
rating the history of ancient mas-
terpieces that are deeply rooted
in the Sultanate’s glorious history
,and act as a permanent beacon of
goodness and virtue. – ONA
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A4 S AT U R DAY, JA N UA RY 9, 2 0 1 6
REGION
US to transfer Al Qaeda suspectto Kuwait
Israeli policekill Arab citizen wanted for shootings
WASHINGTON: The United States released a suspected Al Qaeda propagandist to the govern-ment of Kuwait on Friday, leaving 104 inmates at the US naval prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The Defence Department an-nounced the repatriation of Faez Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari, a Kuwaiti who had been held at Guantanamo for 13 years in a statement. It said his detention “does not remain necessary to protect against a continuing sig-nifi cant threat to the security of the United States.”
Kandari, 38, was suspected of being a propagandist and also may have served as “spiritual adviser” to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Lad-en, according to a US Department of Defence profi le.
RehabilitationKandari’s lawyer, Eric Lewis of the Washington fi rm Lewis Baach PLLC, said Kandari was trans-ferred on Friday to Kuwait, where he will undergo a medical exami-nation and be put into a rehabilita-tion programme to help him rein-tegrate into society.
“Al Kandari is delighted to be going home and reuniting with his beloved parents and family after all these years away,” Lewis said.
Kandari was the last of 12 Ku-waitis who had been imprisoned at Guantanamo, Lewis said. The pa-role-style Periodic Review Board held a hearing in July to consider whether Kandari posed a threat to the United States. In September, it determined his detention was no longer necessary. — Reuters
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Is-raeli police killed in a shootout on Friday an Arab citizen wanted for a January 1 gun rampage in Tel Aviv, the security services said, ending a week-long manhunt but not the public mystery over what moti-vated his attack.
Israeli media showed pictures of Nashat Melhem’s body, with a submachine gun next to it, outside what they said was a mosque in his northern hometown where he was hiding from authorities. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement congratulated the security forces, who he said had “worked tirelessly, methodically and professionally to locate and eliminate the attacker”.
Police said in a statement that a special forces team closed in on a building in his hometown of Ar-ara, in northern Israel, killing him when he stormed out, shooting at them. There were no police casu-alties in the incident. Melhem, whose age police gave as 31, was identifi ed by relatives from CCTV footage of the Tel Aviv attack, where he was accused of killing two people in a central restaurant and a taxi driver whose vehicle he used to escape.
He had previously spent four years in prison for assaulting an Israeli soldier, said his lawyer, who also described Melhem as mental-ly unstable.
Commentators were divided on whether Melhem struck in Tel Aviv out of pro-Palestinian sym-pathy or in loyalty to IS, which in recent weeks has circulated messages threatening to attack Israel. — Reuters
G U A N T A N A M O D E T A I N E E
T E L A V I V A T T A C K
UN ‘pressure’ would only prolong war: Syrian rebels
BEIRUT: Syrian rebels said President Bashar Al Assad’s op-ponents are under international pressure to make concessions that would prolong the confl ict, underscoring their doubts about a new UN-led drive for peace talks planned to begin this month.
An opposition council that met UN envoy Staff an de Mistura this week was under pressure “to of-fer concessions that will prolong the suff ering of our people and the spilling of their blood”, a state-ment signed by prominent rebel groups said.
The opposition council of rebels and Assad’s political opponents was set up last month to oversee negotiations, which are envisaged as part of a new eff ort to settle the fi ve-year-long war that has killed 250,000 people.
The rebels, including groups represented in the council, said they would not accept any con-cessions that run counter to “the principles of our revolution” and condemned what it called inter-national connivance “against the revolution”.
Opposition leaders told de Mistura the government must take goodwill steps before any negotiations by halting bombard-
ments of civilian areas, lifting blockades of rebel-held areas and releasing detainees. They are waiting to hear back from him.
The diplomatic drive follows the December 18 adoption of a UN Security Council resolution en-dorsing an international plan for a Syria peace process. The plan was backed by both the United States and Russia, which back opposing sides in the confl ict.
It includes a nationwide cease-fi re and six months of talks begin-ning in January between Assad’s government and the opposition on
forming a unity government.But the rebel statement under-
lines the opposition’s growing concern about the process, includ-ing the absence of any mention of Assad’s future - a major point of contention between countries on either side of the confl ict.
PlansDe Mistura, who plans to begin the talks on January 25, arrived in Damascus on Friday.
Meanwhile, the European Un-ion welcomed Syrian Assad’s de-cision to allow humanitarian ac-
cess to the town of Madaya, and called for a halt to all attacks on civilians in the confl ict.
The blockade of Madaya, near the border with Lebanon, has become a focal issue for Assad’s opponents.
“The decision of the Syrian re-gime to allow humanitarian ac-cess in Madaya is a fi rst step in the right direction,” Federica Mogh-erini, the EU’s foreign policy chief, and the bloc’s Commissioner for Humanitarian aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylia-nides, said in a joint statement
on Friday. “The European Union welcomes it and expects it will be fully implemented and extend-ed by all parties to all the cities under siege.”
Mogherini and Stylianides ech-oed the call of the new Syrian op-position group and said, “It will be important to implement concrete confi dence building measures in support of the upcoming intra-Syrian political talks scheduled to start at the end of January: an end to attacks on civilians, to aerial bombardments and sieges of civil-ian areas.” — Reuters
UN envoy Staff an de
Mistura arrives in
Damascus
Foreign special forces target IS in Iraq’s HawijaBAGHDAD: Foreign special forc-es have been carrying out raids on an IS stronghold in northern Iraq ahead of an off ensive planned later this year to retake Mosul, the largest city under the group’s con-trol, Iraq’s parliamentary speaker said.
Several attacks behind IS lines around Hawija, 210 kilometres (130 miles) north of Baghdad, were carried out in recent weeks, Salim Al Jabouri told Reuters on Thursday.
Both the US and Iraqi military have denied that US forces have carried out military operations on the ground in Hawija since Octo-ber, when US special forces res-cued 69 Iraqis in a raid that killed one US commando.
But Dubai-based Al Hadath TV and Iraqi media have reported at least half a dozen raids in and around Hawija since late Decem-ber, led by US special forces.
Washington said last month it was deploying a new force of around 100 special operations troops to Iraq to conduct raids against IS there and in neigh-bouring Syria, without providing details. US Army Colonel Steve Warren, spokesman for the in-ternational coalition bombing IS, rejected the media reports this week.
He told Reuters that coalition forces in Iraq have not operated on the ground since the October operation. Iraq’s defence minister last week also denied that the US had a role in such raids.
Special operations in Hawija “have been repeated a second and third time... These operations are bearing fruit,” said Jabouri, Iraq’s most senior offi cial. “They elimi-nate the terrorists and free inno-cents, and for us it represents a positive development.”
Jabouri said the raids were car-ried out “from time to time” and “supported by Iraqi forces” but did not specify whether the United States played a role or how many had occurred.
The raids are “not direct ground attacks; they are operations tar-geting the dens of IS in important and sensitive areas,” Jabouri said.
Strong blowsHe said they were not enough to get rid of IS but “are dealing them strong blows”.
Local sources near Hawija, including a police offi cer and a municipal offi cial, said last week that several raids had targeted IS buildings including a courthouse and a police station, killing and capturing several militant leaders. Reuters could not independently
verify the reports. The October raid that included US special forces “is the only operation that we have spoken about and the only one that we will speak about,” Warren, the coalition spokesman, told reporters on Tuesday.
That operation, conducted with peshmerga commandos from northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, sparked outrage by powerful militias and Abadi’s own ruling coalition.
The militias, many of which fought US forces after the 2003 invasion, have decried the reports of more recent raids as US at-tempts to divide Iraq.
Jabouri said such sensitivities were easing and described the raids as part of Baghdad’s strat-egy to retake Mosul, the city 400 km (250 miles) north of Baghdad
where IS declared its intention to establish a caliphate stretching across the border with Syria.
Strategically located east of the road from Baghdad to Mosul and near the Kurdish-held oil region of Kirkuk, the region became an IS stronghold when the militants swept across northern and west-ern Iraq in 2014.
The government has designated Mosul as the next target for Iraq’s armed forces after they retook the western city of Ramadi last month, the fi rst major success of the US-trained force that initially fl ed in the face of IS’s advance.
Baghdad and the US-led coali-tion, though, have not made clear what path they intend to take to the capital of Nineveh province while most of Anbar province re-mains under IS control.
Jabouri said the advance to Mo-sul could not be rushed.
“We cannot think of moving to another province until Anbar province is cleansed completely, which means there is an upcom-ing battle related to Fallujah and what remains of it, and another one to the west of Ramadi,” said Jabouri. “At the same time there are preparations underway for Nineveh,” he added.
Fallujah, the fi rst Iraqi city to fall to IS in January 2014, con-tains several hundreds militants and is encircled by Iraqi forces.
Attack expelledMeanwhile, Turkish troops re-pelled an attack by IS militants on a military base in northern Iraq where Turkish soldiers are training an Iraqi militia, Turk-ish military sources told Reuters on Friday.
The Turkish sources cited local sources as saying 17 IS militants were killed in an attack on the Bashiqa camp in Nineveh prov-ince, about 140 Km (90 miles) from the Turkish border.
Turkey deployed a force pro-tection unit of around 150 troops last month citing heightened se-curity risks near Bashiqa, where its troops are training the Iraqi militia to fi ght IS, and stirring a diplomatic row.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan said the attempt-ed attack shows Turkey’s deci-sion to deploy troops there was justifi ed. Erdogan said no Turkish soldiers were harmed. “This inci-dent shows what a correct step it was, the one regarding Bashiqa. It is clear that with our armed sol-diers there, our offi cers giving the training are prepared for anything at any time,” he told reporters in Istanbul. — Reuters
R A I D S
DIPLOMATIC CAMPAIGN: UN envoy for Syria, Staff an de Mistura, centre, arrives at his hotel with Syrian assistant foreign minister,
Ayman Sosan, second from right, on Friday in Damascus, Syria. – AFP
SECURING AREA: Iraqi forces secure an area near the Grand Mosque in central Ramadi, the capital of
Iraq’s Anbar province, on Friday, after retaking the city from IS group militants. – AFP
The Defence Department announced the repatriation of Faez Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari, a Kuwaiti who had been held at Guantanamo for 13 years in a statement
A5
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NIA summons Punjab SP for questioning; picks up footprintsPATHANKOT: NIA on Friday is-sued summons to a Punjab SP, who was allegedly abducted by terror-ists involved in Pathankot attack, to appear before it on Monday for detailed interrogation even as the probe agency has picked up some footprints in the fi elds of a border village and the Indian Air Force base here and sent them to central forensic lab for matching.
NIA teams have fanned out to various areas in Pathankot and adjoining Gurdaspur district for collecting evidence related to the audacious terror strike on the IAF base of Pathakot during interven-ing night of January one and two, offi cial sources said.
The sources said that summons have been issued to Salwinder Singh, who is at present Assistant Commandant of 75th battalion of Punjab Armed Police, to appear before the agency for thorough questioning as there were some discrepancies in his statement to NIA and Punjab Police.
The sources did not rule out the possibility of subjecting him to lie detector test.
Singh, along with his jewel-ler friend Rajesh Verma and cook Madan Gopal, were allegedly kid-napped by terrorists on the inter-vening night of December 31 and January one before they entered the IAF base in Pathankot and car-ried out a terror strike on the fol-lowing intervening night in which seven security personnel including a Lt Colonel of NSG were killed.
Singh was recently shunted as SP (headquarters) of Gurdaspur following allegation of breach of
discipline. National Investigation Agency (NIA) has also picked up some foot prints from a fi eld near Bamiyal village on India-Pakistan border as well as from the site of encounter at the air base, the sources said, adding the same have been sent to CFSL Chandigarh for matching as this would help in un-derstanding the route for infi ltra-tion used by the terrorists.
NIA Director General Sharad Kumar on Friday called on Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and gave him a detailed briefi ng on the investigations carried out so far.
The NIA has also sought the call details of Ikagar Singh, the taxi driver who was killed by the
terrorists. It has also sought the location of mobile towers through which the signals for those calls were routed.
His past history was being also looked into. The NIA has regis-tered three cases in connection with the terror strike at Pathankot IAF base.
The fi rst case pertains to Sal-winder Singh’s abduction and the second for the killing of the taxi driver. Both the cases were regis-tered at Narot Jaimal Singh Police Station in Pathankot district.
The third and the main case, registered at Police Station Divi-sion No. 2 Pathankot, relates to the terrorist attack on the Air Force
Station. A 20-member team of NIA led by an Inspector General-rank offi cer has been camping at Pathankot since January 2 to su-pervise the ongoing investigations.
An offi cer of the rank of Super-intendent of Police has been ap-pointed as the Chief Investigating Offi cer of the case.
The NIA registered the case un-der various sections of Indian Pe-nal Code, Unlawful Activities Pre-vention Act and Arms Act against unknown persons, offi cial sources said. The Pathankot IAF facility, located near the border with Paki-stan, is the base for MiG-21 fi ghter planes and MI-25 attack helicop-ters of the Air Force. - PTI
P A T H A N K O T A I R B A S E A T T A C K
PAYING TRIBUTES: BJP members light candles to pay tribute to the martyrs of Pathankot air base at-
tacks, in New Delhi on Thursday. - PTI
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s prime minister and army chief pledged on Friday to cooperate fully with India on investigations into an attack on an Indian air base last week, as the fate of scheduled talks between the nuclear-armed neighbours remains uncertain.
The comments come a day after India called on Paki-stani authorities for “prompt and decisive” action against militants it blames for the weekend attack that killed seven Indian military person-nel and wounded 22.
Participants at a high-level meeting in Islamabad “reiter-ated Pakistan’s commitment to cooperate with India to completely eradicate the menace of terrorism,” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ’s of-fi ce said in a statement.
The meeting was also attended by Army Chief Raheel Sharif, the head of the military’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Ri-zwan Akhtar, and several top civilian and military offi cials.
India says it gave Pakistan “specifi c and actionable information” regarding the
Pathankot air base attack on Tuesday.
In its statement, Sharif ’s offi ce said the meeting had reviewed the progress on the information received from India and would stay in touch with the Indian government.
A meeting between the two countries’ foreign secretaries was scheduled for January 15, but it is unclear if it will go ahead. The fate of the talks rested on Pakistan’s response to the information, Indian government spokesman Vi-kas Swarup said on Thursday.
StrugglingIndian Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi and Sharif have been struggling to keep their renewed dialogue, announced last month, on track in the wake of the attack.
Attempts to restart talks between India and Pakistan have often been derailed by similar past attacks.
Pakistan’s leadership on Friday said it hoped “the two countries would remain committed to a sustained, meaningful and comprehen-sive dialogue process” in the wake of the attack. - Reuters
Pakistan pledges to cooperate with India in Pathankot probe
‘BJP putting up false smoke screen on GST’
NEW DELHI: Hitting back at BJP for its allegation that the main opposition party was “not seri-ous” about GST, Congress Friday ripped into Modi government say-ing it was putting up a “false smoke screen” and its attitude on GST was marked by “deception, deceit and doublespeak”.
“BJP government, including prime minister and fi nance minis-ter, has been putting up false smoke screen by accusing Congress for obstructing GST, while the truth is that GST stands consistently red-fl agged for last nine years by RSS and Swadeshi Jagran Manch.
“BJP government has resorted to misleading and dramatic optics to masquerade its mal-intent rath-er than sincere operationalisation of GST in the interest of people of India,” party spokesperson Shak-tisinh Gohil told reporters.
The Congress leader also fur-nished a number of purported documents to show that under Modi’s chief ministership, Gujarat
“consistently and bitterly opposed the GST”.
“Between the years 2007 to 2014, 54 meetings of ‘Empowered Committee of State Finance Min-isters’ were held. In each meeting, Modi-led Gujarat government not only opposed the Constitutional amendment comprising GST Bill but also described it against the federal spirit of Constitution as also the rights of states to fi scal au-tonomy,” he alleged.
Gohil also read out portions from BJP manifesto of 2009 Lok Sabha polls, in which the party had purportedly said that the Central
Sales Tax (CST) will be abolished and Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be rationalised between 12 to 14 per cent while Fringe benefi t tax (FBT) will go.
Doublespeak“What completely exposes the doublespeak of BJP is the fact that in the 2009 election manifesto, BJP itself had suggested a maxi-mum taxation cap of 12 per cent to 14 per cent,” Gohil said whose par-ty is insisting on putting a 18 per cent cap on GST in Constitution.
Gohil alleged that Modi, Jaitely and the entire BJP are ideologi-
cally opposed to a universal GST regime in India as an engine for economic growth.
“Modi and BJP government are now camoufl aging the paralysis of governance failure of leadership over last 19 months to misguide people by stating that current day grave economic crisis as also de-fl ation of economy is happening because GST has not been cleared. Double speak, deception and red herring of BJP’s leadership, par-ticularly Prime Minister, Modi is opposing GST, is borne out from overwhelming documentary evi-dence,” Gohil said. - PTI
Congress said that
the BJP government
has been accusing
Congress for
obstructing GST,
while the truth is
that GST stands
consistently red-
fl agged for last
nine years by RSS
Low visibility due to fog disrupts fl ight operationsNEW DELHI: Five fl ights were on Friday disrupted with at least three diverted as heavy fog led to low visibility at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here. Flight departures were disrupted between 0414 hours till 1008 hours due to low visibility, airport sources said. Three incoming fl ights were diverted during the low visibility operations period, airport authorities said. All landings are taking place under CAT-III B landing system, the sources said. CAT-III B allows the aircraft to land in visibility as low as 50 metres.
Limited edition of Pravasi Bhartiya Divas from todayNEW DELHI: The fi rst limited edition of Pravasi Bhartiya Divas, an annual event to mark contribution of the diaspora to India’s development, will be held here on Saturday during which government is likely to pitch for deeper engagement with the community in diverse areas. The event is being or-ganised for the fi rst time by External Aff airs Ministry (MEA) in the wake of government’s decision to merge Ministry of Overseas Indian Aff airs with it.
Ten tourists killed, 32 hurt in Tamil Nadu accidentTIRUNELVELI (TAMIL NADU): Ten tourists were killed and 32 injured when the driver of the luxury bus in which they were travelling lost control after hitting a divider on a four-lane road near Panangudi in Tirunelveli district in the wee hours on Friday. Three of the deceased are from south Indian state of Kerala, two from west Indian state of Gujarat and two from Kanyakumari in south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, po-lice said, adding the other three are yet to be identifi ed. Those killed included two children and four men. The condition of four of those injured was stated to be serious, they said. Police said the bus driver lost control of the vehicle while driving at high speed, leading to the accident.
BSF offi cer, jawan killed as Naxals trigger IED blastKORAPUT/BHUBANESWAR: A BSF offi cer and a jawan were killed in Odisha on Friday when Naxals triggered an improvised explosive device blast(IED) while they were on a bike patrol in the jungles of Koraput district. The Naxal strike came on a day when Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik termed Left Wing Extremism(LWE) as a major cause of concern for Odisha, adding recent activities of Maoists in Bolangir, Kala-handi and Boudh districts was worrisome and needed to be handled eff ectively. The incident occurred at around 1pm. - PTI
B R I E F S
NEW DELHI: Facing Congress criticism that his meeting with Sonia Gandhi on GST issue was mere “optics”, Parliamentary Aff airs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said that government is willing to accommodate the views of Congress party “to the extent feasible.”
“Any stalemate could only be resolved based on give and take. On GST, the government is willing to accommodate views of Congress party to the extent feasible. Congress should reciprocate to enable the much-awaited tax reform through introduction of GST.
“It was in this context that I met Congress President yesterday with a request to cooperate for early passage of GST Bill. It was very unfortu-
nate that Congress described government’s outreach to Con-gress as only meant for optics,” Naidu said in a statement.
Seeks cooperationNaidu on Thursday drove to Sonia’s residence to seek Congress cooperation in pas-sage of GST and Real Estate Bills. Noting that the intro-duction of GST is a matter of serious and far-reaching reform initiative, Naidu said that it was fi rst mooted by the NDA government and later the UPA government introduced GST Bill which is pending for several years.
“Several issues were raised by chief ministers of diff er-ent states and over the years considerable progress has been made addressing the concerns
of several states.“There is now a broad
consensus on GST due to ef-forts made by the Committee headed by Finance Ministers of diff erent states and the Union Finance Ministry.
“In this backdrop, the NDA government has now stepped up eff orts to take forward GST Bill pending in Rajya Sabha.
“Further to the meeting between the prime minister and the Congress president in November last year, several rounds of discussions have taken place between the gov-ernment and Congress leaders.Issues raised by Congress party have been discussed threadbare and what is feasible has been communicated to the Congress’ interlocutors,” Naidu said. - PTI
Government willing to accommodate Congress view on GST ‘to the extent feasible’, says BJP
A6
INDIAS AT U R DAY, JA N UA RY 9, 2 0 1 6
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has utmost respect for the judiciary but the fact of the matter is that he has personally never received any summons with respect to the present case; therefore the order appears to be erroneous
Rajneesh Chopra, Lawyer
India remains global growth champ with 7.8% economy expansionNEW YORK: India remains the global growth champion with its economy set to increase by 7.8 per cent in the new year although a World Bank report released on Thursday cut it from the 7.9 pro-jected last June.
Overall the bank’s Global Eco-nomic Prospects Report painted a gloomy global outlook cutting the global growth by almost a half per-cent to 2.9 per cent in 2016 from the 3.3 per cent forecast last June.
In the growth race among the major economies, China remains the runner-up with its economy projected to grow by 6.7 per cent this year and 6.5 per cent next year.
The growth projections for US economy are 2.7 this year, 2.4 next year and 2.2 in 2018.
It kept India’s economic growth as measured by increase in gross domestic product at 7.9 per cent for 2017, “although the pace of re-forms has slowed somewhat.”
For 2018, it cut the projection from 8 per cent made last June
to 7.9 per cent. The report recog-nised India’s resilience saying, “Compared to most other ma-jor developing countries, India is well positioned to withstand near-term headwinds and vola-tility in global fi nancial markets due to reduced external vulner-abilities, a strengthening domestic business cycle, and a supportive policy environment.”
However, it also drew attention to the dark clouds overhanging the reform process.
“In India, progress in reforms is not assured as the upper house of parliament, which the ruling party does not control, has the power to block the government’s legislative agenda,” the report said. ‘
Challenge“A failure to pass the goods and services tax (GST) could hamper the government’s ability to ramp up spending on infrastructure needs and preserve the status quo of fragmented domestic markets.”
“Slow progress on land reforms could add to investment delays,” it added. “And private investment growth may be unable to build fur-ther momentum. The fi nancing of
public-private partnerships also remains a challenge.”
The report also referred to an-other area of concern, the slow-down in industrial production.
Both the services and manufac-turing Purchasing Managers’ Indi-ces (PMIs) have softened, it said.
The PMI fell from 54.5 for De-cember 2014 to 49.15 last month.
On the bright side, the report said, “The investment cycle is gradually picking up, led by a gov-ernment eff orts to boost invest-ment in infrastructure, particu-larly roads, railways and urban infrastructure.” It added that In-dia’s currency and stock markets weathered the volatility in the global fi nancial markets last year. Sensex, a key Indian stock market index ended 2015 up 1.08 per cent.
Investment“Progress on infrastructure im-provements and government eff orts to boost investment are expected to off set the impact of any tightening of borrowing con-ditions resulting from tighter US monetary policy,” the report said.
“Such investment will also lift potential growth over the medium term. Low international energy prices and domestic energy re-forms will ease energy costs for Indian fi rms that tend to be energy intensive.” - IANS
G L O B A L E C O N O M I C P R O S P E C T S R E P O R T
THE POSITIVES ON INDIA’S REPORT CARD Sharp reduction in current account defi cit, to about 1
per cent of GDP in the second quarter of 2015 from about 5 per cent in mid-2013 during the turmoil in the fi nancial markets over US Federal Reserve policy
The central bank rebuilding reserves while net foreign direct investment (FDI) infl ows have stayed positive
Reduction in the central government’s fi scal defi cit close to 4 per cent of the GDP, down from a peak of 7.6 per cent in 2009 through fi scal consolidation.
The recently announced salary increases for public sector employees and support for urban spending from lower infl ation off setting fall in rural incomes because of two successively weak monsoons
Growth in states must for India to fight poverty: FM
KOLKATA: Strong economic growth in states is “imperative” for pushing up the country’s GDP and giving it a “cutting edge” to fi ght poverty and generate jobs, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday.
He also said that additional growth has to come from eastern states like West Bengal where industrialisation had suff ered be-cause of the policies followed in the last 35 years.
“In a global situation which is so adverse, India’s GDP growth is 7.5 per cent. Is it diffi cult to add 1 per cent more which will give us that cutting edge to fi ght poverty and generate jobs?” Jaitley said at the second edition of Bengal Global Business Meet here.
“Given the structure of India’s federal polity, it is imperative that the states grow as well. Despite political diff erences, strong states mean a stronger India. West Ben-gal contributes nearly 6 to 7 per cent of national GDP. Given the fact that growth of the eastern
states was lower than those of the western states, the additional growth will have to come from the former,” he said.
Referring to West Bengal, he said industrialisation in the state had suff ered due to policies pursued in the last three and half decades.
Need of the hour“Summits of these kinds held eve-ry year clearly demonstrate the in-tention that the need of the hour is to generate growth, increase reve-nue and fi ght poverty for which in-vestments are required,” he said.
“It is in this context that West Bengal that has lost its glory of the past could be restored and I assure you that the Centre will give all its support to the state’s endeavour to attract investments,” Jaitley said.
If Bengal followed such a policy, it would be able to generate jobs and revenue needed to fi ght pov-erty, else would have to fall back on shallow political slogans, he said. Jaitley said investors anx-
iously look forward to an envi-ronment to see their investments yield results.”If you are not in a po-sition to attract that, then invest-ments will dry up,” he cautioned.
Nationally, the services sector has improved, while greenshoots are visible in manufacturing, the fi nance minister said.
“Our priority will be to enhance public expenditure in infrastruc-ture, social infrastructure, en-hance expenditure on the rural sector,” he added.
Jaitley said the Centre had been following a policy to economically empower the states for which it had readily agreed to the recom-mendations of the 14th Finance Commission.
“West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra is regularly in touch with us and all issues are cleared expeditiously despite political dif-ferences,” he said.
Jaitley, who attended the sum-mit second time in a row, shared the dais with Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal. The summit was also attended, among others, by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, UK Employment Minister Priti Patel, Bhutan Tshering Togbay, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and industrial-ists Mukesh Ambani, Mohan Das Pai, Subhas Chandra Sajjan Jindal and others.
Wooing investorsWooing investors Mamata said there is no communal tension in the state, in comments that came barely days after the communal violence in Malda.
With the state assembly elec-tions round the corner, the Trina-mool Congress chief also assured industry captains that her party will not come in the way of invest-ment in the state, claiming her government will retain power.
“We have already set up a core group for industries. Our elections are coming but don’t worry every-thing will be sorted out. Democra-
cy will continue. This elected gov-ernment (TMC government) will come up ( will return),” Mamata said addressing the summit here.
Claiming that a peaceful atmos-phere prevailed in West Bengal, she said it was the most conducive aspect for setting up industries.Only political critics try to portray Bengal as a violent state, she said.
“Bengal is a peaceful state where we all work together. There is no such communal incident or tension. Somebody might criti-cize it politically. We don’t allow all these (communal problems).Because we know that if there is peace everything is settled,” Mamata said.
She also referred to the “peace-ful atmosphere” at the Maoist hotbed of Jangalmahal. Her com-ments came against the backdrop of the communal violence that broke out at Kaliachak in Malda, which had prompted the Union Home Ministry to seek a report from the state government. - PTI
Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley said
West Bengal
contributes nearly
6 to 7 per cent of
national GDP. Given
the fact that growth
of the eastern states
was lower than those
of the western states,
the additional growth
will have to come
from the former
Summits of these
kinds held every year
clearly demonstrate
the intention that the
need of the hour is
to generate growth,
increase revenue
and fight poverty for
which investments
are required
Arun JaitleyFinance ministerPARLEYS: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at
the Bengal Global Business Summit, in Kolkata on Friday. - PTI
SC to commence hearing against Jaya’s acquittal
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday decided to com-mence fi nal hearing from Febru-ary 2 on various appeals including the one fi led by Karnataka against acquittal of AIADMK Chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jay-alalithaa and others in the dispro-portionate assets case.
“We will start the hearing from February 2 and will hear the mat-ter on February 3 and 4 as well,” a bench comprising justices P. C. Ghose and Amitava Roy said.
The bench, meanwhile, asked the counsel for both the parties to fi le the “issues” highlighting main points to be considered within the next two weeks.
Earlier the apex court had agreed to conduct day-to-day hearing on the appeals fi led against the Karnataka High Court verdict acquitting Jayalalithaa
and three others in the case.On July 27, the apex court had
issued notices on Karnataka gov-ernment’s appeal seeking stay of the high court judgement, to Jay-alalithaa, her close aide Sasikala and two of her relatives, V. N. Sud-hakaran and Elavarasi, and asked them to fi le their replies within eight weeks.
The apex court had allowed an intervention application by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in the matter and had asked him to fi le issues he wished to press before it.
Infi rmityThe Karnataka High Court had on May 11, 2015 ruled that All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(AIADMK) supremo’s conviction by special court suf-fered from infi rmity and was not
sustainable in law, clearing decks for her return as Tamil Nadu chief minister. Karnataka government, in its plea against the May 11 or-der, claimed that HC erred in computing disproportionate as-sets of the AIADMK leader.
The Karnataka government also asked whether the high court had “erred in law” by according benefi t of doubt to Jayalalithaa in pursuance of a Supreme Court judgement holding that accused can be acquitted if his or her dis-proportionate assets were to the extent of ten per cent.
The state government had also claimed that the high court has erred in overruling prelimi-nary objections raised by it and added that the accused had fi led their appeals against conviction without impleading Karnataka as a party. - PTI
D I S P R O P O R T I O N A T E A S S E T S C A S E
Warrant issued against Dhoni for hurting sentiments
ANANTPUR: India’s limited overs cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni found himself in a spot of bother on Friday after a non bailable warrant was issued against him for failing to appear before a local court here in a case against him for hurting religious sentiments.
Dhoni, who is currently in Aus-tralia for an ODI and Twenty20 series from January 12 to 31, has been asked to be present in the Court on February 25 for the hear-ing of the case fi led by Viswa Hindu Parishad activist Y. Shyamsunder.
The Indian ODI and Twenty20 captain has been accused of hurt-ing religious sentiments by ap-pearing as deity Vishnu on a magazine cover photograph which depicted him holding several things including a shoe.
Ignoring summonsDhoni has been accused of ig-noring summons from the local court here, an allegation that the star cricketer’s lawyer Rajneesh Chopra denied on Friday.
Chopra insisted that the Non Bailable Warrant issued against the wicketkeeper-batsman was “erroneous”.
“Mahendra Singh Dhoni has utmost respect for the judiciary but the fact of the matter is that he has personally never received any summons with respect to the present case; therefore the order appears to be erroneous,” Dhoni’s lawyer Chopra said in a statement issued by Rhiti Sports, the compa-ny managing Dhoni. - PTI
N O N B A I L A B L E W A R R A N T
TROUBLE CONTINUES: The
special court had in 2014 held
All India Anna Dravida Munn-
etra Kazhagam supremo J. Jay-
alalithaa guilty of corruption
and sentenced her to four years
imprisonment and imposed a
fi ne of Rs100 crore. - AFP fi le photo
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
A7
PAKISTANS AT U R DAY, JA N UA RY 9, 2 0 1 6
SINGLE SHARE TRADING ENTITYPakistani brokers sit under monitors showing the latest share prices during trading at The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) in
Karachi on Friday. Pakistan’s benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) will become the Pakistan Stock Exchange next week
after merging with two other major bourses to become the single share trading entity in the country, offi cials said January 8.
The merger of the Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad Stock Exchanges into the PSX could pave the way for selling the bourse to
foreign investors, observers said. — AFP
Afghanistan Taliban claim commander assassinated
ISLAMABAD: Unidentifi ed as-sailants have shot dead a senior Afghan Taliban commander in Balochistan, two Taliban offi cials claimed on Friday.
Maulvi Muhammad Alam, loyal commander to Taliban su-premo Mullah Akhtar Mansoor,
was shot dead Thursday evening in Kuchlak area, some 25 kilome-tres from Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, Taliban leaders told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
“I can confi rm that Maulvi Mu-hammad Alam has been killed. Investigations are underway but we do not have details as to who is behind the incident,” a Taliban leader, aware of the incident, said.
High profi leNo group claimed responsibility for the killing. A senior Taliban leader said they are investigating motives behind what he called a high profi le assassination.
Meanwhile, Taliban sources said Alam led fi ghters against Tal-iban dissidents in Afghanistan’s Zabul province in recent days that left dozens of militants dead. Top Taliban commander, Man-soor Dadullah, who had rejected Akhtar Mansoor as the new chief, was among the rivals killed in Zabul. Although the Taliban rou-tinely blame the Afghan intel-ligence for such target killings,
some sources said it could be the result of Taliban’s internal rivalry.
Further, a Taliban leader said Maulvi Alam had strong infl u-ence in Zabul province and also sheltered many foreign fi ghters.
The killing of the senior Tali-ban commander highlights the possible trend of revenge attacks in view of the Taliban infi ghting. However, inside Afghanistan, the Taliban factions have agreed on a ceasefi re after religious clerics intervened and issued a decree to declare infi ghting as unIslamic.
Militants killedMeanwhile, a large number of local and foreign militants were killed in airstrikes in the border region of North Waziristan on Friday, offi cials said.
Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) confi rmed the airstrike in the agency but did not immedi-ately confi rm human and logistic losses in the incident.
However, civil offi cers in the political administration said 38 militants were killed in the strike that targeted hideouts in Meezar and Sherani areas just on the Af-ghanistan border. — Express Tribune
Maulvi Muhammad
Alam, loyal
commander to
Taliban supremo
Mullah Akhtar
Mansoor, was shot
dead Thursday
evening in Kuchlak
area, some 25km
from Quetta
Pasban-e-Pakistan leader held in Zardari aide caseKARACHI: Police offi cials on Friday arrested Pasban-e-Paki-stan general secretary Usman Moazzam on charges of facilitat-ing treatment to injured terror-ists at Dr Asim Hussain’s private hospital in Karachi.
“Usman Moazzam has been arrested for his role in treatment of injured terrorists at Dr Asim’s Ziauddin Hospital,” an investi-gation offi cer told The Express Tribune.
The investigation offi cer in-formed an anti-terrorism court in Karachi of the arrest as he fi led a report in a case lodged by Rangers against Dr Asim Hussain, three MQM leaders, a Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and Pasban-e-Pakistan general secretary.
The absconders have been ac-cused of asking Dr Asim, in his ca-pacity as the head of the Ziauddin Hospitals, to treat on discounted rates the militants injured in en-counters with law enforcers and to shelter them.
Last month, an anti-terrorism court in Karachi issued non-bail-able arrest warrants for Muttahi-
da Qaumi Moverment’s mayoral candidate Waseem Akhtar, Anis Qaimkhani, Saleem Shahzad, PPP’s Qadir Patel and general secretary of Pasban-e-Pakistan Usman Moazzam.
The offi cer informed the court that while Rauf Siddiqui has al-ready been granted bail in the re-spective case, Anees Qaimkhani and Saleem Shahzad are out of the country and hence cannot be arrested.
During the hearing, the court re-issued non-bailable arrest warrants for MQM leaders Waseem Akhtar, Saleem She-hzad and Anees Qaimkhani for January 19.
After spending 90 days in the custody of paramilitary Rang-ers, who detained him on August 26, Dr Asim was handed over to the Karachi police for further interrogation.
The police, however, relieved him of the charges and got him re-leased, sparking a tussle between the federal and provincial govern-ments. — Express Tribune
F A C I L I T A T I N G T E R R O R
Dr Asim, chairman
of the Sindh Higher
Education Commission
and a close aide of
former president Asif
Ali Zardari, is facing
charges of abetting
and harbouring
terrorists at his family-
owned hospitals
‘Sleeping beauty’ campaign gathers pace
KARACHI: As the campaign highlighting open manholes by drawing the chief minister’s stencil bore fruit, with orders issued to fi x all such issues ‘or else’, residents of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and Clifton felt the need to follow in similar footsteps.
Ali Akbar Fakhruddin, who owns a car repair workshop, re-cently posted a photograph of a manhole with a missing cover right outside his shop.
“After the market is closed and when it becomes dark once the lights go off , anyone can be-come a victim [by tripping],” said Fakhruddin, who said he has complained to the authori-ties several times but there has been no response.
For their part, Cantonment Board Clifton’s (CBC) chief san-itary inspector Shabbir Hussain insisted that, for the last few days, they have been working rigorously to cover all potholes in DHA. CBC is introducing a diff erent colour code for every manhole cover for every phase of DHA, he explained.
He admitted in many com-mercial areas, the problem of open potholes persists.
“Since the streets are narrow, the water tankers and heavy vehicles that pass through keep damaging covers.
“Other times they are stolen by people,” Hussain said. — Express
Tribune
A C T I V I S M
Consumers pay capacity charges for idle power plantISLAMABAD: Consumers of electricity have paid billions of rupees in capacity charges to an idle power plant as gas supply, ear-marked for it, has been diverted to textile manufacturers.
The consumers are not only forced to pay that much money, but they also face power outages that disturb life and business.
According to offi cials aware of the development, Rousch Pakistan Power Limited, located in Abdul Hakeem, Punjab had not been re-ceiving gas for the last two years during winter.
However, the Water and Power Development Authority and Na-tional Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) continued to pay monthly bills in shape of ca-pacity charges to Rousch in line with a power purchase agreement. The gas thus saved was diverted to the textile industry.
This disclosure was made in a meeting of the Economic Coordi-nation Committee (ECC) held on December 31, 2015.
Estimates suggest the consum-ers are paying Rs600 million per month in capacity charges to the power plant without receiving 412 megawatts of electricity.
It is interesting to note that
the Ministry of Water and Power, which had been a strong advocate of gas supply to power plants, sent a couple of summaries calling for diverting gas from Rousch plant to the textile industry.
ComplaintsConsidering a summary of the ministry, the ECC, in its meeting on December 17, 2013, approved provision of 85 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) for 60 days to the industrial units in the light of consent given by the power producer.
In the winter of 2014, the Minis-try of Water and Power again sent a summary to the ECC on the same subject following directives from the prime minister, who had re-ceived complaints from the textile industry. — Express Tribune
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Writing longer tweets won’t debase art formLeonid Bershidsky
Twitter’s founder Jack Dorsey has taken a lot of fl ak for tweetingon Wednes-day that the company might abandon
its 140-character-per-post limit. Many see the “beautiful constraint,” as Dorsey called it in his post, as the service’s defi ning feature. It’s not, and it shouldn’t be.
Dorsey suggested that the ability to post more text could add utility to Twitter. In response, the movie producer Brian Koppelman tweeted: “I don’t believe those who love Twitter want this. Why do you love it? This message doesn’t make that clear.” That was one of the milder comments. Other users accused Dorsey of caring only about the increased ad revenue that allegedly could be derived from longer posts. Yet others wondered how Twitter would diff erentiate itself from Fa-cebook, which technically allows posts of 63,206 characters. Twitter’s users probably include a disproportionate number of journalists and other professional writers. That’s defi nitely true of the 150,000 verifi ed users. Of this select group among Twitter’s 300 million user base, 25 per cent are journalists and 6.5 per cent are media outlets. Those of us who write for a living like translat-ing our thoughts into the abbreviated format. It’s a fun experiment and a promotional exercise for authors, too: David Mitchell, the author of “Cloud Atlas,” serialised a story on Twitter in 2014.
There are some beautiful examples of the 140-character form. Here’s one from Hungarian-born British poet George Szirtes:
https://twitter.com /george_szirtes /sta-tus/682312735661637632 Szirtes is a critic of Dorsey’s proposed liberalisation: h t t p s : //t w i t t e r. c o m /g e o r g e _ s z i r t e s /s t a -tus/684683588164567040
Yet he also has done what Dorsey has noticed a lot of Twitter users are doing -- taking screen-shots of longer texts and then sharing them on Twitter. Dorsey was forced to use this trick to share his suggestion with users, rather than rely-ing on 140 characters. Sometimes your message just doesn’t fi t, and that shouldn’t be a reason to go to a diff erent platform.
That should answer Koppelman’s question. There are other answers, though -- concerning progress, user convenience and money.
As Dorsey pointed out Wednesday, the limit
was added to Twitter “early on” so a post could fi t into a single SMS message. Remember those? People used to send them when mobile operators ruled. But in 2014, WhatsApp, a Facebook-owned messaging app -- just one of several popular over-the-top messengers -- surpassed the entire global SMS system, moving more messages per day. The messenger apps don’t have character limits, so the original reasoning no longer holds. To quote Keynes, “When the facts change, I change my mind.” Insisting on the limit doesn’t make much sense from the usability point of view. The system is being taken over by those ugly text screenshots, which are a hassle to create on a mobile device.
Facebook acted a long time ago. Until March 2009, it had a 160-character limit for wall posts -- also to allow users to post by SMS. Then the limit was raised to 420 characters; the big leap, to 5,000, was in September 2011.
This does make the Facebook timeline less dynamic. Sometimes the beginning of a long post, the bulk of which is hidden under the cut, doesn’t even suggest what the post is about. And when writers aren’t forced to stick to the point, they often waste readers’ time. That’s where the business argument comes in, though. Time spent on a site is a valuable metric to advertisers. In November 2014, the average US Internet user spent 42.1 minutes per day on Facebook and just 17.1 minutes on Twitter. Even young people, who have supposedly fallen out of love with Facebook, spend more time on it. That is one reason that Twitter’s projected 2015 revenue is about 35 per cent of Facebook’s net income and that Facebook stock is so strongly outperforming Twitter:
Twitter, with its stagnating user base and slow revenue growth, is right to be concerned about increasing user engagement and convenience for newcomers. And there are ways to avoid diluting the experience for the hard-core users who treat a tweet as a perfect haiku. The company could keep the 140-word format as an obligatory feature in a post. Bloggers who contribute longer texts could use it to write a catchy headline or summary.
Purity is an attractive stand, but it’s rarely the most convenient or profi table one. Twitter is a mass product. It cannot aff ord to stagnate and scare off potential users. As for the writers who loved the “beautiful constraint” -- well, we’ll fi g-ure out what to do to keep our Twitter feeds dy-namic and to the point. - Bloomberg View
Disappearance of MH370 a sinister plotThis refers to the news story, Malaysia Airlines resumes checked baggage on Europe routes (January 6). This is one of the fi rst good news that has come in for the tragedy-hit airlines. However, the
global experts and the airline’s manage-ment need to explain why the fate of fl ight MH370 still remains unclear. We live in a technologically advanced world so how is it possible that we have been unable to fi nd the debris of the plane. The aircraft’s parts were reported to be found on the beach of Reunion Island. In my opinion, these cannot be parts of this missing plane but a facet of a pre-planned plot to hide the real fate of the jet. However, I am sure the greatest mystery of our times will be solved. — Munir Butt, Ruwi
Corbyn’s decision shows his dictatorial natureThis refers to the news story, Seeking con-trol, Britain’s Corbyn sacks top team mem-bers (January 6). The measures taken by Corbyn seem more apt for a dictator than a
democrat. It is a pity that the top leadership spot in Britain’s Labour Party is quite unpatriotic as he seems motivated to undermine Britain’s foreign policy stance. I hope his decision will make party members realise his views and make his candidacy a non-starter by the next general elections. — Martha Owens, Darsait
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1908: Count Zeppelin announces plans for his airship to carry 100 passengers.
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Skin-whitening advertisementsparks outrage in Thailand
BANGKOK: An advertisement for a skin-whitening product in Thailand has drawn criticism on social media and sparked debate over beauty ideals and advertising standards by claiming you “need to be white to win”.
A pale complexion is highly val-ued in Thailand, particularly by women, and is associated with a high social status. Darker, tanned skin is associated with lower class people who work outside in the fi elds.
The advertisement, for a skin-whitening pill called “Snowz”, made by Thai brand Seoul Secret, and posted on video website You-Tube, features one actress whose skin gets darker next to a rival with light skin.
“You just need to be white to win,” runs the tagline.
Some members of Thai-lan-guage forum Pantip.com were dis-mayed and angry.
“I’m perfectly fi ne being dark-skinned and now you’re saying I’ve lost? Hello? What?” said member 1575141. “Suggesting people with dark skin are losers is defi nitely racist,” said another user.
It is the latest in a series of ad-vertisements deemed insensi-tive that have drawn criticism in Thailand.
“Thai craze for whiteness rears its ugly head again,” a prominent social-media commentator who goes by the name of Kaewmala posted on Twitter.
The video was removed from YouTube later on Friday.
Wattanapak Jinsirivanich, managing director of Yulihan Group (Thailand), the company that produces Seoul Secret beauty products, apologised and said the advert was not meant to stir con-troversy. “We did not intend to cre-ate this issue,” he said. “We would like to apologise and we will fi x it.”
“Our message is to take good care of yourself and continue to do so.” — Reuters
S O C I A L M E D I A US presses China to rein in North Korea after bomb test
SEOUL/BEIJING: South Ko-rea unleashed a high-decibel propaganda barrage across its border with North Korea on Fri-day in retaliation for its nuclear test, while the United States called on China to end “business as usual” with its ally.
The broadcasts, in rolling bursts from walls of loudspeakers at 11 locations along the heavily mili-tarised border, blared rhetoric critical of the Pyongyang regime as well as “K-pop” music, ratch-eting up tension between the rival Koreas.
North Korea later responded with its own broadcasts.
South Korea, which has grown increasingly close to China in recent years, also said its for-eign minister would speak with his Chinese counterpart later on Friday.
Wednesday’s nuclear test an-gered both the United States and China, which was not given prior notice, although the US govern-ment and weapons experts doubt Pyongyang’s claim that the device it set off was a hydrogen bomb.
China is North Korea’s main economic and diplomatic backer, although relations between the Cold War allies have cooled in re-cent years.
China’s Foreign Ministry urged North Korea to stick to its denu-clearisation pledges and avoid ac-
tion that would make the situation worse, but also said China did not hold the key to resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.
“Achieving denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and safeguarding the peninsula’s peace and stability accords with all parties’ mutual interests, is the responsibility of all parties, and requires all parties to put forth eff orts,” ministry spokes-woman Hua Chunying told a news briefi ng.
The North agreed to end its nu-clear programme in international negotiations in 2005 but later walked away from the deal.
US Secretary of State John Ker-ry said on Thursday he had made clear in a phone call with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that China’s approach to North Korea had not succeeded.
“China had a particular ap-
proach that it wanted to make, that we agreed and respected to give them space to implement that,” Kerry told reporters.
“Today, in my conversation with the Chinese, I made it very clear that has not worked and we cannot continue business as usual.”
South Korea’s nuclear safety agency said it found a miniscule amount of xenon gas in a sample from off its east coast, which could be the fi rst chemical evidence of a nuclear test, but said more analy-sis and samples were needed to determine if it came from a nu-clear test.
The presence of xenon would not indicate whether the blast was from a hydrogen device or not.
Seismic waves created by the blast were almost identical to those generated in North Korea’s last nuclear test in 2013, Jeff rey Park, a seismologist at Yale Uni-
versity, wrote in a post on the Bul-letin of the Atomic Scientists web-site, adding to scepticism about the hydrogen bomb claim.
The South Korean broadcasts are considered an insult by the isolated North which has in the past threatened military strikes to stop them.
The last time South Korea de-ployed the loudspeakers, in re-taliation for a landmine blast in August that wounded two South Korean soldiers, it led to an armed standoff and exchange of artillery fi re.
The sound from the speak-ers can carry for 10 km (6 miles) into North Korea during the day and more than twice that at night, the South’s Yonhap news agency reported.
A male announcer could be heard from South Korea telling North Koreans that Kim Jong
Un, the leader of their impover-ished country, and his wife wear clothes costing thousands of dol-lars. Another message said Kim’s policy to boost both the economy and its nuclear programme was unrealistic.
The North broadcasts were not clearly audible from the South and appeared intended to drown out those from the South, Yonhap said, citing a South Korean offi cial.
North Korea boosted troop de-ployments in front-line units on Friday, and South Korea raised its military readiness to the high-est level at locations near the loudspeakers.
The South vowed to retaliate against any attack on the equip-ment, raised its cyber security alert and cancelled tours of the Demilitarised Zone on the border.
US Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives could join forces in a rare display of unity to tighten sanctions on North Korea.
Nancy Pelosi, the House Demo-cratic leader, told reporters that Democrats would support a North Korea bill likely to be brought for a vote by Republicans next week. A congressional source said it was expected as soon as Monday.
It was unclear how more sanc-tions would deter North Korea, which has conducted four nuclear tests since 2006.
The United States and South Korea are limited in their mili-tary response. Washington sent a pair of nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers over South Ko-rea in a show of force after North Korea last tested a nuclear device in 2013.
North Korea responded then by threatening a nuclear strike on the United States.
A South Korean military offi cial said Seoul and Washington had discussed the deployment of US strategic weapons on the Korean peninsula, but declined to give de-tails. Media said the assets could
South Korea begins
loudspeaker
propaganda
broadcasts across
border as Britain
urges restraint
Australia bushfi re destroys 100 homesSYDNEY: A bushfi re destroyed nearly 100 homes in western Aus-tralia as it swept through country-side south of Perth, but there were no casualties reported after emer-gency offi cials and local media said on Friday that three missing peo-ple had been found safe.
Fanned by blustery, hot winds, the bushfi re, which razed 58,000 hectares (143,321 acres) of land this week, ripped through the small rural town of Yarloop on Thursday night.
Around 95 homes were de-stroyed the town of 545 people, along with its post offi ce, fi re sta-tion and shops, media reports said. “I believe we’ve had what I would suggest are catastroph-ic losses within Yarloop,” said Wayne Gregson, Western Aus-tralian Fire and Emergency Ser-vices Commissioner.
Three people, who were regis-tered as missing, were found safe, while most of people who stayed to defend their properties were being evacuated by air or road, The Aus-tralian newspaper reported.
“It just got out of control...after that it just ripped through, it was quite scary,” volunteer fi refi ghter Jesse Puccio told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “It’s like when you see in the war when the napalm bombers go through.”
The bushfi re continues to threaten other beef and dairy pro-ducing towns in the state, emer-gency workers said.
Alcoa Inc said two of its build-ings have been destroyed but its Western Australia alumina refi n-ing operations were unaff ected by the fi re. Australian has suf-fered a series of fi res due to a long hot, dry spell.
Four people were killed in a se-ries of bushfi res sparked by light-
ning in Western Australia in No-vember, two people were killed in fi res in South Australia state, and more than 100 homes were de-stroyed in fi res on Christmas Day in Victoria state.
Wildfi res are an annual summer event in Australia, but rising tem-peratures have prompted some
scientists to warn that climate change could increase the length and intensity of the summer fi re season.
Australia experienced its fi fth hottest year on record in 2015, ac-cording to the Bureau of Meteorol-ogy, which has been keeping statis-tics since 1910. — Reuters
R I P P I N G T H R O U G H
Philippines urges ASEAN pressure on China for rules on disputed seaMANILA: Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Friday urged Southeast Asian neighbours to put pressure on China to agree on a binding code of conduct to ease tension in South China Sea fol-lowing Chinese test fl ights to an island it has built.
Since 2010, China and the 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASE-AN) have been discussing a set of rules for rival claimants in the South China Sea aimed at avoid-ing confl ict.
“Can we put a little more pres-sure on China to sit down and agree on a binding code of con-duct?” Aquino said to reporters in southern Davao City, referring to ASEAN.
China claims almost the whole of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of world trade passes every year, and has been increasingly asser-tive in staking its claim.
Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines have rival claims to parts of the sea, which is believed to have rich de-posits of oil and gas. Aquino said the Philippines had done every-
thing it could to push forward discussions on the code - a set of rules setting out how claimant states should behave, and impos-ing sanctions on countries that violate it, aimed at preventing provocative action, the raising of tension and confl ict.
Aquino said China and ASEAN were due to meet next month to draw up elements of the code.
China, which has long said it was ready to discuss rival claims bilaterally, has said it will agree on a code of conduct when “the time is ripe”.
Analysts say it might be wait-ing for the completion of its work on artifi cial islands it is building in the South China Sea before sit-ting down with ASEAN.
China landed two test fl ights on one of the islands on Wednes-day, four days after its fi rst land-ing on the 3,000 metre (10,000 feet) runway on a reef in the Spratly Islands.
The Philippines denounced the fl ights. In 2013, the Philip-pines fi led an arbitration case in The Hague to force China to ne-gotiate a peaceful settlement of their territorial dispute. — Reuters
R I S I N G T E N S I O N S
CELEBRATIONS: North Koreans dance to celebrate what the country claims was a ‘successful hydro-
gen bomb’ test at Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo released by Kyodo on
Friday. – Reuters/Kyodo
BATTLING FIRE: Firefi ghters battle a fi re near Yarloop in Western Australia. Three people, who were
registered as missing, were found safe, while most of those who stayed to defend their properties were
being evacuated by air or road. – AFP/Department of Fire and Emergency Services
A10
WORLD S AT U R DAY, JA N UA RY 9, 2 0 1 6
The operation was part of an investigation into a June 2015 murder suspected to have been carried out by PKK members and was based on a tip-off that the murder weapon was in the HDP building.
Istanbul police
Greeks protest against plans to overhaul pension system
ATHENS: Hundreds of Greek pensioners and workers marched in central Athens on Friday, pro-testing against plans to overhaul an ailing pension system as the government sought backing for its proposals at home and in Euro-pean capitals.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has said the pension system is on the verge of collapse; but reform-ing it will challenge his resolve to implement measures demanded by Greece’s international credi-tors, who must sign off on the plan.
About 100 protesters support-ing the Communist-affi liated un-ion PAME unfurled a huge banner outside the prime minister’s of-fi ce, slamming the plan as “a guil-lotine for the pension system”.
Hundreds more public sector workers and pensioners, worn down by several rounds of wage and pension cuts Greece has im-posed over the years in return for rescue funds marched in the city’s centre. Tensions fl ared briefl y when the crowd broke past a line of police in riot gear and headed towards Tsipras’s offi ce. Police re-sponded with tear gas.
“The government tricked the workers and the farmers into thinking that it will create a bet-ter society with more justice and less unemployment,” 74-year-old pensioner Babis Kattis said from the rally. “Pensioners are
about to become beggars.”Finance Minister Euclid Tsaka-
lotos began a tour of European capitals to discuss debt and pen-sion problems with counterparts in Rome, Lisbon, Paris, Helsinki, Amsterdam and Berlin.
According to the proposals Greece sent its lenders on Mon-day, all six main pension funds will be merged into one and future main pensions could be cut by up to 30 per cent.
It sets a lower limit at 384 eu-
ros per month and sets a ceiling of 2,300 euros on the maximum monthly pension outlay. The av-erage monthly pension currently stands at about 850 euros.
An EU source said Greece had sent the draft pension reform bill to the lenders and Eurogroup secretariat in Greek only, and as of Friday morning they were still waiting for the translation.
“The crisis has blown up the foundations of the social security system,” Katrougalos said. “We
want to give the social security system hope, so that the average pensioner does not lose hope that they will continue receiving a pension.”
Greece must implement the re-forms to conclude the fi rst review of its multi-billion bailout out agreed with its lenders in July.
The government plans to sub-mit the proposal to parliament by the end of the month and vote on it in early February, a government offi cial told Reuters.
It secured the cautious back-ing of four employers’ associa-tions on Thursday, who said they were not opposed to “a small, temporary rise in social security contributions.”
But opposition political parties have said they will not back the plan when it is tabled in parlia-ment and the country’s biggest private sector union GSEE said on Friday it planned labour action against the reforms “to avoid the worst.” — Reuters
Protesters supporting
the Communist-
affi liated union
slam the plan as ‘a
guillotine for the
pension system’
Asylum-seekers among suspects in Cologne violenceBERLIN: Asylum-seekers are among those suspected of involve-ment in violence on New Year’s Eve in Cologne, offi cials said on Friday, intensifying debate about Germany’s welcoming of hun-dreds of thousands of migrants.
Some 121 women are reported to have been robbed, threatened or molested by gangs of men as revel-lers partied near the city’s twin-spired Gothic Cathedral.
The assaults have shaken Ger-mans and prompted ruling parties to promise to crack down on mi-grants who commit crimes.
Cologne police said they had ar-rested two males aged 16 and 23 with “North African roots” sus-pected of involvement in the as-saults. A spokeswoman gave no further details. Separately, Inte-rior Ministry spokesman Tobias
Plate told a news conference that federal police had identifi ed 31 people suspected of playing a role in the violence, 18 of whom were in the process of seeking asylum in Germany. “As of yesterday, the fed-eral police had determined there were 32 criminal acts on the night, with 31 suspects whose names are known,” Plate said. “Eighteen had asylum-seeker status.”
Plate said most of the 32 crimi-nal acts were tied to theft and bodily injury. Three were related to physical assaults, and police had not yet identifi ed suspects for these attacks. Of the 31 suspects, nine were Algerian, eight Moroc-can, fi ve Iranian, and four Syrian. Two German citizens, an Iraqi, a Serb and a US citizen were also among those suspected of hav-ing committed crimes. Plate did
not say if any of the 31 had been charged. “The investigations are ongoing,” he added.
In response to the assaults, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Chris-tian Democrats (CDU) have called
for tougher penalties against off ending asylum-seekers, ac-cording to a draft paper seen by Reuters ahead of a meeting of the party leadership in Mainz. The paper says those who have been
sentenced to prison or probation should be ineligible for asylum.
“Why should German taxpay-ers pay to imprison foreign crimi-nals?” said Vice Chancellor Sig-mar Gabriel, leader of the Social Democrats (SPD), coalition part-ners to Merkel’s conservatives. “The threat of having to spend time behind bars in their home country is far more of a deterrent than a prison sentence in Germany.”
The CDU paper calls for lower barriers to deport criminal asy-lum seekers, increased video sur-veillance and the creation of a new criminal off ence of physical assault. The attacks have raised doubts over whether Germany, which took in 1.1 million refugees last year, can succeed in integrat-ing the latest wave and prompted calls for limits on the number of
new arrivals. A new poll for public broadcaster ARD showed Merkel’s popularity rising 4 points to 58 per cent and support for her conserva-tive bloc up to 39 per cent.
Peter Tauber, general secre-tary of the CDU, rejected the idea of a cap on numbers. “There are many refugees that are happy to have survived, to have made it here and who are looking for jobs. These people who can contribute to our country are welcome,” he told Deutschlandfunk. “But clearly there are also some who haven’t understood what kind of opportu-nity they’ve been given.”
Julia Kloeckner, leader of the CDU in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and seen as a possible successor to Merkel, told ZDF television the attacks had been a wake-up call for Germany. — Reuters
A S S A U L T S
Legendary steam locomotive ‘Flying Scotsman’ set to returnLONDON: One of the world’s most famous steam engines, “Fly-ing Scotsman,” is set to return after a decade of restoration and over 80 years since it became the fi rst locomotive to reach 100 miles an hour (160 kph).
The venerable engine, which has toured both the United States and Australia since it was retired from service, made a series of short test runs on Friday, ahead of a programme of heritage journeys this year on Britain’s main lines.
It emerged dramatically from huge clouds of steam at Bury sta-tion in northern England to the delight of dozens of rail enthusi-asts who had gathered to mark the occasion.
RestorationRestoration work for the National Railway Museum that has cost some £4 million ($6 million) has now almost fi nished, although the engine will not be repainted in its traditional green livery until next month. “Flying Scotsman is argu-
ably the most famous locomotive in the world,” the museum said on its website. “Once restoration is complete, it will be back haul-ing mainline railtours, steaming proudly into the 21st century.” Built in 1923, the engine hauled the fi rst ever non-stop service be-tween London and Edinburgh in 1928, taking eight hours.
It set the record-breaking 100 mph mark in 1934.
After it was retired in 1963 as the age of steam in Britain drew to a close, the Scotsman was sold to a businessman who took it on a tour of the United States where it was fi tted with a bell, headlamp and cow-catcher. In 1988-9 under new ownership, it toured Austral-ia, where at one point it recorded the longest ever non-stop run by a steam locomotive, travelling 422 miles. — Reuters
V E N E R A B L E E N G I N E
Turkey detainspro-Kurdish party members
ISTANBUL: Turkish police de-tained six people including local offi cials from the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) on Friday in a raid on one of its Is-tanbul offi ces, days after President Tayyip Erdogan said he backed le-gal action against its members.
Riot police and special forces took part in the operation, ac-cording to the state-run Anadolu Agency, which said the action was part of a crackdown on urban networks of the Kurdistan Work-ers Party (PKK) militant group’s youth wing.
Extension of PKKErdogan and the government ac-cuse the HDP, parliament’s third-biggest party, of being an extension of the PKK, which has fought a three-decade insurgency for great-er Kurdish autonomy in the south-east and which is considered a ter-rorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. HDP says it is opposed to violence and wants a peaceful solution for Turkey’s Kurds.
DetentionsThe detentions come less than 48 hours after Erdogan said some HDP lawmakers and local mayors were behaving like members of a terrorist organisation and that their positions should not shield them from prosecution.
Istanbul police said in a state-ment that the operation was part of an investigation into a June 2015 murder suspected to have been carried out by PKK mem-bers and was based on a tip-off that the murder weapon was in the HDP building.
On Friday, six Turkish soldiers were wounded in clashes in Sur, the historic district of southeast-ern Diyarbakir province that has been under a police curfew for over a month, security sources said. In Silopi, bordering Iraq, 58 PKK militants were captured while trying to fl ee, the Turkish military said. — Reuters
I S T A N B U L R A I D
UP IN ARMS: A protester argues with police blocking demonstrators on their way towards the prime minister’s offi ces in Athens on Fri-
day, during a protest march against the reforms the government has proposed for the new pension plan, as part of measures demanded
by country’s creditors. – AFP
DEBATE RAGES: People walk in front of the main railway station in
Cologne, Germany on Thursday, near the city’s cathedral. – Reuters
WORLD FAMOUS: The Flying Scotsman steam engine leaves East
Lancashire Railway in Bury, Britain on Friday. – Reuters
SPOR S
SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 2016
Azarenka sails into final, Federer downs Dimitrov
BRISBANE: Roger Federer quelled Grigor Dimitrov’s chal-lenge in three sets in the Brisbane International quarterfi nals and Victoria Azarenka blew away Sa-mantha Crawford to reach the fi -nal in the women’s draw on Friday.
Azarenka ended American qual-ifi er Crawford’s dream run with a 6-0, 6-3 win to set up a decider with Germany’s Angelique Kerber, who also cruised through to the fi -nal with a 6-2 6-3 win over Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro.
Defending champion Federer, battling a fl u bug according to the local media, was made to work hard by his Bulgarian opponent before the Swiss master pre-vailed 6-4 6-7(4) 6-4 at the Pat Rafter Arena.
“It was tough. Grigor’s a great shotmaker, the future’s ahead of him in the game,” Federer said after setting up a semi-fi nal against Aus-
trian youngster Dominic Thiem.Federer broke Dimitrov in the
10th game to claim the fi rst set but the Bulgarian refused to throw in the towel.
For the fi rst time in his four meetings with the world number three, Dimitrov managed to win a set via a tiebreak to force the decid-er but could not pull off an upset.
“The third was close and thank-fully I started to serve a little bit better,” Federer said.
“Maybe he didn’t have his best fi nish of the match today, but I en-joyed it anyway.”
Eighth seed Thiem made it through to the semis by beating former U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4, while home hope Bernard Tomic continued his promising form by overcoming Kei Nishikori. Tomic prevailed 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 against 2014 U.S. Open runner-up Nishikori.
“Obviously this win is huge,” the world number 18 said after taking out the second seeded Japanese to set up a semi-fi nal against big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic.
“Now I’m at the level the last few months of being in the top 20
and playing these players that have been consistently in the top 10, fi ve in the world.”
“Being in the top 10. It’s near. If I keep playing the way I’m playing there is a chance.”
The Australian, who has been criticised for poor behaviour in the past, went from 78th in the world to his current career-high last year when he claimed a third tour title in Colombia. Raonic will provide another stern examination of those top-10 credentials after the Cana-dian easily took down France’s Lu-cas Pouille 6-4 6-4. - Reuters
Azarenka ended
American qualifi er
Crawford’s dream run
with a 6-0, 6-3 win to
set up a decider with
Germany’s Angelique
Kerber, who also
cruised through to
the fi nal with a 6-2
6-3 win over Spain’s
Carla Suarez Navarr
CELEBRATION: Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates after winning his match against Grigor Dim-
itrov of Bulgaria. – Reuters
Sania-Hingis win 25th doubles match on trot
BRISBANE: World No.1 wom-en’s doubles pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won their 25th match in a row, beating An-dreja Klepac and Alla Kudryavt-seva 6-3, 7-5, at the Brisbane International on Friday.
The top seeds at the Premier-level tournament faced some resistance from the No.4 seeds, who jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and, after dropping the fi rst set, were a game away from winning the second set up 5-4.
But the Indo-Swiss pair did all the right things at all the right times and closed out the match smartly.
“I think we’re off to a great start in the new season,” Hingis said after the match.
“We never really felt like we fi nished in 2015 - I played the Indian league and Sania played IPTL, so we still kind of kept our routine. We’re really happy to have the possibility to be in another fi nal, and win another title.”
Hingis and Mirza’s 25-match winning streak, which has brought them fi ve titles in a row at the US Open, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing and the Wom-en’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals, is the longest winning streak since Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci’s 25 in a row in 2012.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve lost, but it’s never easy to start a new season, especially when you’re coming off such a great season. Everyone’s gun-ning for us - we’re the hunted,” Mirza commented.
“We’re just taking it one match at a time, staying posi-tive, and picking up from where we left off .” — IANS
T E N N I S
Murray too strong for Zverev in PerthPERTH: Briton Andy Murray showed no signs of the thigh injury that had previously troubled him as he dispatched German teenager Alex-ander Zverev in the punishing Perth heat at the Hopman Cup on Friday.
The world number two had spo-ken of soreness in his right thigh during Wednesday’s loss to Aus-tralian Nick Kyrgios at the mixed team event but his movement was sharp as he picked apart Zverev 6-3, 6-4 to keep alive Britain’s hopes of making the fi nal.
Murray, four-times an Australi-an Open runner-up, wore down his 83rd-ranked opponent by keeping him on the move and targeted the
German’s inconsistent forehand as he secured an early break in each set. Zverev, though, refused to balk and continued to try to push Murray. The young German pulled back a break in the eighth game of the second set after an error-strewn game by the Scot but Mur-ray recovered to seal the victory on his next service game after a big serve down the middle.
“I started missing a few balls and dropping a few short and he was able to dictate some of the points at the end so (that is) some-thing I need to do a bit better,” the 28-year-old said in a courtside in-terview. — Reuters
H O P M A N C U P
GOOD GOING: ndy Murray of Britain hits a return against Alexander
Zverev of Germany. – AFP
Wawrinka sets up semifi nal date with Paire in ChennaiCHENNAI: Seeking a hat-trick of title triumph, Stanislas Wawrinka cruised into the singles semifi nals of Aircel Chennai Open tennis with a straight sets 6-4, 6-4 victory over Garcia Lopez of Spain here on Friday.
In the day’s other quarterfi nal, third seeded Benoit Paire also scored a straight sets win, beating Italian qualifi er Thomas Fabbiano 6-4 7-5 after spending 80 minutes
on the court. World number 4 Wawrinka, from Switzerland, will take on Paire in the last-four clash on Saturday. Wawrinka needed 77 minutes to see off the challenge of Spaniard Lopez, seeded fi fth in the ATP Tour event.
Leaving aside the 8th game in which Wawrinka made three un-forced errors, the Swiss was in to-tal control, winning eight straight points from 4-4 to close the set 6-4
in 53 minutes. Wawrinka came up with superb returns and his de-fensive forehands were perfectly executed, the highlight being the fourth game when he followed up a big serve with a perfect vol-ley before earning a break point in the fi fth.
Keeping up the momentum, Wawrinka broke Lopez in the seventh game before sealing the match in his favour. - PTI
T E N N I S
SMELLING HAT-TRICK: Defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka eases through. – AFP
Ranking boost for Radwanska
SHENZEN: Poland’s Ag-nieszka Radwanska will move to fourth in the world rankings after beating Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam to reach the fi nal of the Shenzhen Open in China on Friday. The Pole, currently ranked fi fth, prevailed 6-2 6-4 to set up a Saturday showdown with American Alison Riske, who beat Hungary’s Timea Ba-bos by the same scoreline in the other semifi nal between two unseeded players.
The ranking boost takes Rad-wanska above Russia’s Maria Sharapova ahead of the Austral-ian Open, which gets underway on Jan. 18 in Melbourne.
“Reaching the fi nal here is great preparation for the Aus-tralian Open, and that’s a good projection too,” Radwanska said of the new ranking which will be confi rmed on Monday.
“First I’ll focus on winning here in Shenzhen, and then I’ll just try to play the same tennis in Sydney and in Melbourne.” - Reuters
S H E N Z E N O P E N
Chelsea must avoid another FA Cup stumble: Hiddink
LONDON: Chelsea must not fall victim to another FA Cup giant-killing as they did last year because their chances of suc-cess in the Premier League are limited after a poor start to the season, manager Guus Hiddink said on Friday. Chelsea, who have lifted the Cup four times in the last nine years, face League One (third tier) Scunthorpe United in the third round on Sunday.
Chelsea suff ered one of the big-gest upsets in the competition’s 145-year history last year when League One Bradford City beat the Premier League leaders 4-2
in the fourth round at Stamford Bridge having trailed 2-0 after 40 minutes. Chelsea are now 14th in the table and Hiddink, who guid-ed the club to an FA Cup fi nal win over Everton in 2009 in his initial spell as interim boss, said they cannot aff ord to slip up again.
“I didn’t see it but I know we must not stumble again,” he said when asked about Bradford de-feat. Besides if you see the impact of the FA Cup not just in England but worldwide it’s a huge tradi-tion. I remember when I was a young man watching Cup games on a Saturday afternoon.” — Reuters
F O O T B A L L
Zidane’s attacking style must deliver results at Real
MADRID: New Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane’s attack-ing football may be welcomed by the players but he will need to deliver results he was unable to achieve when in charge of the club’s reserve team. James Rodri-guez and Isco are set to be two of the main benefi ciaries from the arrival of Zidane who has shown versatility in his limited coaching career but prefers a 4-2-3-1 for-mation similar to that employed by Jose Mourinho at Real.
Both had their options limited under former coach Rafa Benitez who opted for a more solid ap-proach and often employed the defensive Carlos Casemiro in a three-man midfi eld where Toni Kroos was also told to sit deep.
“James and Isco are both im-portant players so I am trying to give them a lot of support and confi dence like all the team,” Zi-dane told a news conference on Friday ahead of the La Liga game against Deportivo La Coruna.
“The players are happy and concentrated on working hard.
They want to change certain things and we have been working on this in training.”
In the Real B team, Marcos Llorente was the only player who held his position in front of the defence with the side often con-verting to a 4-1-4-1 formation with Borja Mayoral or Mariano Diaz as the out and out striker.
Zidane is a coach who prefers to use the ball during training and a more simplistic tactical ap-proach than Benitez which is the preference of the ball players and the way he used to like playing the game.
One of the main concerns for the club, though, will be his lack of success with the Real B team and the inability to get the best out of their top players.
After being an assistant to Carlo Ancelotti, Zidane became coach of the reserves last season following their relegation to the third tier of Spanish football and his inability to win promotion has generally been regarded as a failure. — Reuters
S P A N I S H L E A G U E
A12
SPORTSS AT U R DAY, JA N UA RY 9, 2 0 1 6
Sran shines, Kohli and Dhawan among runs as India win opener
PERTH: India started their lim-ited-overs tour of Australia on a positive note, comprehensively beating a second-string Western Australia XI by 74 runs in a Twen-ty20 warm-up game here on Fri-day with Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan striking fl uent half-cen-turies.
Batting fi rst, India scored a healthy 192 for four in 20 overs with Dhawan and Kohli contribut-ing 74 runs each.
The duo added 149 runs for the second wicket after Rohit Sharma (6) missed out on a run feast on a bouncy WACA wicket.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who promoted himself to No. 4, also hit a quickfi re 22 off 14 balls.
In reply, Western Australia XI could only manage 118 for 6 as rookie left-arm speedster Bar-inder Sran bowled impressively to notch up fi gures of 2 for 24 from 4 overs.
More importantly, Sran hit the right length, hurried the batsmen with short balls and also showed his skills of being able to swing the white kookaburra at a lively pace.
He got opener Darcy Short (5) with a delivery that kicked up as the batsmen was hurried into play-ing a shot and an easy catch was taken at mid-wicket.
Sran also got rival skipper Will Bosisto (1) with a delivery that was just short of three-quarter but Bosisto, trying to hit over long,-on provided an easy skier for Ravi-chandran Ashwin.
Western Australia were never in the match save for former Austral-ia opener Travis Birt, who scored an unbeaten 74 off 60 balls.
Among other bowlers, left-arm spinners Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja had identical fi gures of 2 for 13 from three overs.
In all, Dhoni used six bowlers resting Ishant Sharma for Satur-day’s warm-up one day match.
Earlier, Test captain Kohli came back from a well-deserved break and warmed up nicely with a 44-ball 74 that had seven boundaries and three sixes.
Dhawan, whose form has been patchy of late, also looked in good touch as he played 46 balls hit-ting eight boundaries and an equal number of sixes.
The Delhi duo was helped by the fact that the ball came onto the bat nicely and they were able to play their strokes in free-fl owing manner.
Dhawan hooked fast bowler Matthew Kelly for a couple of sixes and also punished leg-spin-ner James Muirhead with a slog-swept six over deep mid-wicket.
Kohli, on his part, looked more solid as he hit medium pacer David Moody for two sixes including one that was pulled in front of square.
He also fl icked Kelly for his third six. - PTI
Batting fi rst, India
scored a healthy 192
for four in 20 overs
with Dhawan and
Kohli contributing
74 runs each
PERTH: Opener Shikhar Dhawan on Friday praised newcomer Barinder Sran for his impressive show in the opening T20 warm-up game, stating that the left-arm speedster looks to be a “good prospect for India”.Asked what he felt about the rookie pacer, who played his fi rst competitive match in India shirt, senior opener Dhawan said: “It was great boost for Beri, actually I call him by that name. It always nice to get three wickets (2/24).With time, he will get more matured as he gains experience. He is fi t and strong. He looks to be a good prospect for India.”
Dhawan, who looked in good form having scored 74 runs, said that the “team got what it wanted” from the opening tour fi xture.
“I am happy that I scored runs in a practise match. It gives me confi dence. I got used to the pitch. More time that I spend at the wicket in the coming days, better it will be for me,” the Delhi left-hander said. He was happy that the team got into a groove at the onset and he could share a 100-run stand with Virat Kohli.
“It was good to get into
groove and get a 100 run part-nership before main match. We got what needed from the practice match,” said Dha-wan, who would be facing the Australian pace attack at the WACA in the opening ODI on January 12.
The Indian team is back in Australia after 10 months but Dhawan insisted that the attitude remains same.
“If you ask me about what changed from last time, I would say some players have changed. But the attitude is still the same as there can’t be much change on that aspect. Because at international level, one needs maintain a certain degree of hard work. We will be aggressive.”
“We are pumped up and well prepared for this tour. We are covering all areas in regards to fi tness and skill work. We have just got to work hard, keep calm and fo-cus. We will try to achieve the goals given by support staff ,” the southpaw remarked.
He agreed that beating Aus-tralia in their den is on top of their agenda. “Australia are one of the best side in the world. Winning against a good side always gives a good feeling. We will give our best shot.” — PTI
Sran looks to be a good prospect for India: Dhawan
IMPRESSIVE: India’s Barinder Sran bowls during the T20 cricket
match between India and a Western Australian XI in Perth. – AFP
Expect exciting series against aggressive India: Lehmann
PERTH: Australia coach Darren Lehmann has said the forthcoming limited-overs series against India will be an exciting one, consider-ing the aggressive nature of cricket the visitors are playing lately.
The visitors will be playing fi ve One-Day Internationals (ODI) starting on January 12 in Perth fol-lowed by three Twenty20 Interna-tionals. Youngsters Gurkeerat Sin-gh, Rishi Dhawan, Varinder Sran and Manish Pandey have been included in the ODI squad while Hardik Pandya has been named in the T20 squad.
“They are a good one-day side as they made the semis of the World Cup. They are a quality side so from our point of view we have got to start well and play well against them. We haven’t played in Perth for a while, so that is exciting for us and I feel it’s a fast bouncy track,” Lehmann told reporters here on Thursday.
“They are playing an aggressive brand of cricket as well, so I don’t really see that changing in the next fi ve games,” he said.
The 45-year-old said Steve Smith and David Warner are wait-ing to take on the 2011 World Cup champions.
“Yes, Warner and Smith will certainly play. Of course Daves is going to and fro with the baby but that will be later and he is keen to play. Yes, if something happens earlier, we have an extra batter to take his place,” he said.
Australia will miss recently re-tired Mitchell Johnson and the in-jured Mitchell Starc in their bowl-ing line-up. - IANS
C O A C H S P E A K S
We will be fi ghting fi re with fi re, says RohitPERTH: The famous rivalry set to resurface, India’s star batsman Rohit Sharma says the upcoming limited overs series against Aus-tralia Down Under will be a case of “fi ghting fi re with fi re”.
The fi ve-ODI and three-T20 se-ries begins here on January 12 and both Australia and India, after en-joying big wins against lacklustre West Indies and South Africa in their previous Test assignments respectively, are keen to get going in the shorter formats of the game.
“It will be a case of fi ghting fi re with fi re. Both teams have a history against each other and are highly charged up wanting to get results in their favour,” Rohit told ‘bcci.tv’. Coming off a big Test series win over South Africa, Rohit be-lieved the transition from the fi ve-
day format to ODIs wouldn’t be very diffi cult.
“For me the transition between formats just goes with the fl ow. As professional cricketers we have been switching formats for a long time and we are used to it by now. It is just about staying in the right frame of mind. It is very im-portant to understand what your strengths and weaknesses are and prepare accordingly. Preparations are key for any format.”
The Mumbai batsman recalled the team’s last tour of this country.
“The last series that we played here (in 2014) was very closely contested. Although the result didn’t go our way, we fought right till the end. We played some good and positive cricket, which is exactly what we want to do
this time as well,” he said.Rohit, whose fi rst tour Down
Under was way back in 2008 when he batted alongside Sachin Tendulkar and scored a patient half-century in an all-important CB series fi nal, made two more visits here, the last being the 2015 World Cup.
“Having been here before, you do get to know what to expect from the opposition. Australia is an opposition who do not give anything away easily. As a side playing against them, you have to grind your way and test yourself in the middle. Nothing comes easy here; you have to earn every run.
“As a cricketer it is very exciting to face and thrive on such chal-lenges. What you do to conquer them and come out winning will
be a real test of your character. People appreciate your perfor-mances here and putting up nota-ble contributions will do a world of good,” Rohit said.
The Indian team has arrived well in advance for the tour.
“We have got close to a week’s time here before we play our fi rst ODI. We do know what to expect from the conditions at Perth. I have played some cricket here in the past. I will be trying to get into the groove and would be looking to get my positions right.
“Getting my basics right will top my list. I will try to be a bit in-novative and see what would work for me. It is an exciting venue and you get a lot of value for your shots with a bit of bounce and carry off the pitch.” - PTI
C R I C K E T
Rohit Sharma plays and misses
during the T20 cricket match
between India and a Western
Australian XI in Perth. - AFP
CHEERS XI DEFEAT BLUE STAR TO LIFT LIONS XI CUPCheers XI defeated Bluestar to lift the
title of the Lions XI Cricket Tourna-
ment in Salalah. In the fi nal, Bluestar
won the toss and batted fi rst. Blue
Star were all out for 35 in 8.3 overs,
thanks to brilliant bowling perfor-
mance by Noushad (4 wickets), Irfan
(2wickets), Abdul (1 wicket), Abhi (1
wicket) and some tight bowling by
Sachin.Then Cheers XI chased the tar-
get in 4 overs and won by 10 wickets,
thanks to unbeaten partnership by
openers Sohan and Abdul. The indiv-
ldual awards went to Noushad (man of
the fi nal) of Cheers XI, Shailesh (man
of the semifi nal ) of Cheers XI, Sanoj
(best bowler) of Blue Star and Rubiu
l(Best batsman) of Lions XI. — Supplied
Wenger hopes to
seal Elneny deal
LONDON: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger hopes to com-plete the signing of FC Basel midfi elder Mohamed Elneny by early next week after reported work permit issues threatened to stall the transfer. With midi-fi elders Santi Cazorla and Fran-cis Coquelin out with injury, Elneny would be an welcome addition to squad, which was stretched thin during the fes-tive period. “It’s complicated a little bit, but we are working hard on it and hope in the next two-three days we get to the end of it,” Wenger told reporters on Friday. - Reuters
F O O T B A L L
BMARKE
WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMS AT U R DAY, JA N UA RY 9, 2 0 1 6
US JOB MARKET POSTS HEALTHY GROWTHUS employers have maintained a fairly strong pace of hiring in December, suggesting that a recent but sharp manufacturing-led slowdown in economic growth would be temporary. >B3
Saudi Aramco’s initial public off ering is on the cardsLONDON: By any measure, Saudi Arabian Oil Company is in a league of its own.
Take its oil reserves — roughly 260 billion barrels, nearly 10 times those of the global ultra-major Exxon Mobil. Or its daily produc-tion — 10 million barrels, more than the domestic output of every United States oil company com-bined. Which is why the mere suggestion that this state-owned oil giant might go public seems so outlandish.
Would the Kingdom of oil really place its crown jewel in the hands of fi ckle investors? The answer, according to the kingdom’s deputy crown prince, is maybe.
In an interview, Mohammed bin Salam said Saudi Aramco, the linchpin of the world oil market, was considering an initial public
off ering (IPO) as the kingdom con-fronts the hard economic and geo-political realities of cheaper and cheaper crude.
It’s impossible to overstate the power Aramco wields in Saudi Arabia and the global oil market. The company traces its origins back to the oil shortages of World War I and is deeply intertwined with the rise of one of the most powerful forces of the past half century: the modern petro state. What is that worth? “Trillions of dollars,” according to ‘The Econo-mist’, which fi rst reported the prince’s comments.
That would easily rank Aramco among the world’s most valuable companies, well above Apple, at $600 billion. Based simply on its oil reserves and using a conserva-tive valuation of roughly $10 per
barrel, Aramco could be worth more than $2.5 trillion. And yet stock market investors rarely value state-owned oil companies as dispassionately as the numbers suggest — or as government offi -cials might hope. Should Aramco go public, it might actually fetch
as little as $100 billion, based on valuations applied to similar state-owned groups.
Russia’s Rosneft is paradigmat-ic. The Kremlin-owned company is the largest oil producer in Rus-sia and one of the largest in the world. It pumps 5 million barrels
a day — far more than Chevron. Yet its market capitalisation is just $35 billion, a fraction of Chevron’s $160 billion. Petroleo Brasileiro is worth even less, $23 billion, even though it controls nearly every as-pect of Brazil’s oil industry.
PetroChinaOf all the major state-owned oil groups, only Chinese companies such as PetroChina have large market capitalisations, running in the hundreds of billions of dollars. The reasons? One is political risk, real or perceived.
Investors often worry govern-ments will put their interests ahead of shareholders. Others are a lack of transparency and, in some cases, corruption. In the case of Saudi Arabia, Jason Bordoff , direc-tor of the Center on Global Energy
Policy at Columbia University and a former senior oil offi cial at the White House, said that some peo-ple have “raised questions about the true size” of Saudi Aramco’s oil reserves. The kingdom has never published an audit of the reserves. Most details about the size of its giant fi elds remain secret. What’s more, “Aramco has obligations be-yond producing just oil that other publicly listed companies do not have, such as, for example, running a good part of the health-care sys-tem,” Bordoff said.
As news hit Thursday of the possible IPO for Aramco, Rabigh shares fell to an all-time low, leav-ing them down 51 per cent since the IPO. That shows that while Ar-amco may be in a league of its own, it still faces the same challenge as everyone else. - Bloomberg News
C A P I T A L M A R K E T
Samsung’s profi t miss a sign of waning demand for smartphones
SEOUL: Samsung’s profi t miss is the latest sign the global smart-phone market is running out of steam, spelling trouble for the sup-pliers of displays, semiconductors and other components that go into mobile devices.
The world’s largest maker of displays and memory chips, which sells to Apple and many other brands, posted fourth-quarter profi t that fell short of analysts’ es-timates as sales remained sluggish over the holiday season. Demand is waning for smartphones as mar-kets mature and China’s economy slows, pressuring profi t margins at Samsung.
Concerns that the smartphone market is fi zzling out has spurred analysts to trim estimated de-mand, which in turn has ham-mered device vendors as well as suppliers of components and con-tract assemblers. Apple, which gar-ners most of the industry’s profi ts, ended on Thursday below $100 for the fi rst time in over a year after in-vestment brokerages from UBS to Morgan Stanley lowered forecasts on iPhone shipments.
“I see no signs of a recovery in demand for electronics products which only means the component businesses will remain pressured,” said Song Myung Sup, a Seoul-based analyst at HI Investment & Securities Co. “The situation is only getting worse and the fi rst-quarter earnings will likely be even lower than the fourth quarter.”
Stagnant salesSamsung’s operating income was 6.1 trillion won ($5 billion) in the three months ended December, the Suwon, South Korea-based com-pany said in preliminary results released on Friday. That compares with the 6.64 trillion-won average of analysts’ estimates.
Sales were 53 trillion won in the quarter, little changed from a year earlier, the company said. Sam-sung won’t provide net income or break out the results of various divisions until it releases audited results later this month.
The result comes just days after Co-chief executive offi cer Kwon Oh Hyun warned of escalating competition and urged employees to fi nd ways to safeguard its lead now that software and platforms are eclipsing hardware.
Declining shipmentsSamsung phone shipments are headed for their second straight annual decline in the wake of tougher competition from Apple in the high-end segment to China’s Xiaomi and Huawei for budget consumers. Yet even Xiaomi, which rose from obscurity to be-come the country’s biggest phone brand, may have missed its 80-mil-lion unit sales target in 2015, peo-ple with knowledge of its produc-tion plans have said.
Largan Precision, which gets more than a quarter of its sales from Apple, this week said sales dropped 31 per cent. - Bloomberg News
C O R P O R A T E
PASSENGER-CARRYING DRONE UNVEILEDThe EHang 184 passenger-carrying drone being displayed during the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, United States. CES is expected to
attract major names in technology for showcasing new developments in virtual reality, self-driving cars, drones, wearables, and the Internet of Things. The
world’s largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs through January 9 and features 3,600 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to
more than 150,000 participants. – Bloomberg News
Measures by China helpemerging stocks recover
L O N D O N : Emerging-market stocks trimmed the worst weekly drop since 2012 and currencies rose after China suspended a contro-versial circuit-breaker system that sparked a selloff in mainland shares and moved to stabilise the yuan.
Energy shares rebounded with oil as the MSCI Emerging Markets Index climbed from a six-year low. The Shanghai Composite Index rallied after people familiar with the matter said state-controlled funds bought equities. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng China Enter-prises Index halted a four-day drop. A gauge of developing-nation currencies increased from a record
low, led by the Indian rupee. East-ern European stocks advanced.
About $1.5 trillion was erased from the capitalisation of the 31 largest emerging equity mar-kets this year through Thursday as China abandoned a system of market circuit breakers after plunges closed Chinese trading early twice this week.
China’s central bank also set its reference rate little changed from Thursday’s fi xing after an eight-day run of reductions ig-nited fears of competitive devalu-ations among developing nations, rattling investors already con-cerned about slowing growth in
Asia’s biggest economy.“It’s a temporary rebound, so
too early to sound the all clear,” said Michael Wang, a strategist at hedge fund Amiya Capital. “Valu-ations are getting cheaper but I’m not getting a strong signal to buy yet. We need to see stability in oil prices and China.”
TradingThe 14-day relative-strength in-dex for emerging equities has traded below 30 for three days, the threshold that signals to some technical analysts that an asset is poised to rebound.
The measure touched 22.4 on
Thursday, the lowest since August.Following this week’s 6.6 per cent
drop, developing-nation stocks trade, on average, at 10.5 times pro-jected 12-month earnings, near the cheapest since September and a 30 per cent discount to advanced-country shares in the MSCI World Index, according to data.
Brent crude is on course for a 9.1 per cent weekly retreat that dragged it to 12-year lows. Cur-rencies in South Africa, Turkey and Russia weakened at least 1.6 per cent against the dollar in the fi ve days. Investors will be watch-ing United States payrolls data on Friday for clues on the timing of interest rate increases that could aff ect demand for riskier assets.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index climbed 0.4 per cent to 742.12 in London as nine out of 10 industry groups gained, led by energy stocks. China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation jumped 5.6 per cent in Hong Kong, rebound-ing from the lowest close since April 2009, and Sasol increased 1.8 per cent in Johannesburg. Brent crude climbed for the fi rst day this year, adding 0.3 per cent to $33.85 a barrel.
The Hang Seng China Enter-prises measure rose 1.1 per cent, after sliding to the lowest level since October 2011 on Thursday.
Shanghai CompositeThe Shanghai Composite added 2 per cent, reducing its weekly decline to 10 per cent, still its biggest loss since August. State-controlled funds purchased Chi-nese stocks on Friday, focusing on fi nancial shares and others with large weightings in benchmark in-dexes, according to people famil-iar with the matter.
Sino Biopharmaceutical fell 20 per cent in Hong Kong, the biggest decline among emerging-market shares, after agreeing to pay 4.9 billion yuan ($744 million) for shares in China Cinda Asset Management. Equity indexes in emerging Europe rallied, with Hungarian and Czech stocks add-ing at least 1.4 per cent. The Borsa Istanbul 100 Index climbed 0.7 per cent in its fourth day of gains.
Russian markets were closed for a public holiday.
A measure tracking 20 emerg-ing-market currencies gained for the fi rst time in the new year, rising 0.1 per cent. The index dropped. - Bloomberg News
China suspended a
controversial circuit-
breaker system that
sparked a selloff in
mainland shares and
moved to stabilise
the currency yuan
VALUATION Based simply on its oil
reserves and using a conservative valuation of roughly $10 per barrel, Aramco could be worth more than $2.5tr. Should Aramco go public, it might actually fetch as little as $100b, based on valuations
NEW MEASURES: About $1.5 trillion was erased from the capi-
talisation of the 31 largest emerging equity markets this year as
China abandoned a system of market circuit breakers. – Bloomberg News
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B2
MARKETS AT U R DAY, JA N UA RY 9, 2 0 1 6
Volvo forecasts third consecutive record in annual sales FRANKFURT: Volvo Car pre-dicted its third consecutive record in annual auto sales in 2016 as the Swedish company adds to its line-up of premium vehicles targeting American consumers.
Buoyed by the new XC90 sport utility vehicle, deliveries reached a new high last year, rising 8 per cent to 503,127 vehicles, Gothenburg-based Volvo Cars said on Friday in a statement. It was the fi rst time the 89-year-old automaker has breached the half-million sales mark in one year.
The company, owned by Chi-nese billionaire Li Shufu’s Zheji-ang Geely Holding Group, is re-
tooling its lineup to compete with leading luxury-car makers includ-ing BMW. It’s counting on growing demand for premium models in the United States, where it’s plan-ning to build a car factory, to propel sales gains.
The Swedish company is pre-senting the S90 sedan to the pub-lic for the fi rst time next week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and it said on Friday that the entire model range will be renewed in four years.
“Volvo is about to enter the sec-ond phase of its global transforma-tion,” chief executive offi cer Hakan Samuelssonsaid in the statement.
“Once completed, Volvo will have ceased being a minor automotive player and taken its position as a truly global premium car company.”
Demand last year jumped 24 per cent in the United States and 11 per cent in Europe and ended unchanged in China after an 11 percent gain in the fourth quar-ter. “These upward sales trends are expected to continue in 2016,” Volvo said. The company reiter-ated a medium-term goal of selling 800,000 cars a year. While China’s car market in 2015 was “challeng-ing,” the automaker said it expects to continue expanding there over time. - Bloomberg News
P R E M I U M V E H I C L E S
Indonesia planning to sell dollar sukuk for sixth year
JAKARTA: Indonesia plans to sell dollar Islamic bonds, kick-starting 2016’s sovereign issuance after the poorest showing for glob-al annual off erings in fi ve years.
The deadline for proposals is next week and selections for the arrangers will be made before the end of January, according to peo-ple familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identifi ed because the process is private.
No details on the size and matu-rity were given. Suminto, Islamic fi nancing director at Indonesia’s Finance Ministry, couldn’t imme-
diaely comment.It’s the sixth straight year the
Southeast Asian nation will have sold Sharia-compliant debt over-seas and coincides with waning risk appetite across world mar-kets driven by a selloff in Chinese shares. The government plans to issue as much as $2 billion of glob-al sukuk in 2016, Robert Pakpa-
han, director general for budget fi nancing and risk management at the Finance Ministry, was citing as saying by Kontan in October.
“While it may not be the best time to issue, weighing against the risk of potentially higher dol-lar-funding conditions when the United States Federal Reserve tightens further, it could still be a
better window of opportunity to tap the market now,” said Winson Phoon, a Kuala Lumpur-based fi xed-income analyst at Maybank Investment Bank Bhd. “With some yield concession, I think there will be demand.”
The sovereign sold $2 billion of 10-year dollar Islamic notes in May last year at a coupon rate of
4.325 per cent and got $6.8 bil-lion in orders. The securities were paying 4.84 percent on Friday, compared with 4.96 per cent at the end of 2015, data shows.
Sales of global Sharia-compli-ant notes fell 30 per cent last year to $34.9 billion, the least since 2010’s $19 billion, according to data. - Bloomberg News
It’s the sixth straight
year the country
will have sold
Sharia-compliant
debt overseas and
coincides with
waning risk appetite
across world markets
driven by a sell-off in
Chinese shares
Hyundai mullsmaking luxury cars in China
SEOUL: Hyundai Motor is weigh-ing plans to build its new luxury Genesis cars in China to overcome import tariff s that add 25 per cent to the sticker price and are seen as inhibiting the company’s ability to compete with locally made BMWs and Audis.
South Korea’s biggest automak-er still needs to reach an agree-ment with a local partner, said Cho Won Hong, Hyundai’s chief mar-keting offi cer. BAIC Group cur-rently makes the Sonata and Elan-tra in a joint venture with Hyundai, though Cho wouldn’t say whether the two sides were discussing Gen-esis production.
“China has a high tariff and that makes our vehicles more ex-pensive than competitors, which makes it diffi cult to be profi table,” Cho said in an interview.
“There are a lot of issues that need to be solved before we could go in. But we will defi nitely go in,” he added.
Hyundai is seeking ways to turn around the China business after sales of its predominantly mid-market lineup fell last year for the fi rst time since 2007 on a slowing economy. One option is to tap into the luxury segment as cuts in sales taxes and looming limits on vehi-cle registration prompt buyers to splurge on the most expensive car they can aff ord.
“Hyundai has no choice,” said Heo Pil Seok, chief executive of-fi cer of Midas International Asset Management in Seoul. - Bloomberg
A U T O M O T I V E
Indonesia’s foreign exchange reserves jump by $5.7 billionSINGAPORE: Bank Indone-sia’s foreign-exchange reserves jumped the most since April 2012 last month, giving the central bank more scope to manage the ex-change rate in the face of external headwinds.
The stockpile grew by $5.7 bil-lion to $105.9 billion, the monetary authority said in a statement. That came after Bank Indonesia posted the fi gures on its website earlier on Friday before removing them. The gain is the largest since April 2012 and the fi rst increase follow-ing a nine-month run in which the reserves fell 13 percent.
The jump in the reserves reduc-es concern that Bank Indonesia will run out of ammunition should it wish to defend the rupiah amid rising U.S. interest rates and grow-ing worries that the weakening yuan will spur a regional currency war. Only the Philippine peso and Thailand’s baht have fared better than the Indonesian exchange rate
this week among Asian emerging markets.
“It probably means a period of stability for the rupiah,” said Wai Ho Leong, a senior regional econ-omist at Barclays in Singapore. “And indeed if you look at the last few days through the China tur-moil, I think it’s been one of the better performers regionally. It’s been a bedrock of relative stability against expectations.”
The rupiah advanced 0.1 per
cent to 13,910 a dollar in Jakarta, paring its loss this week to 0.9 per cent, prices from local banks show.
Fund fl owsIndonesia’s government sold $3.5 billion of sovereign dollar bonds at the beginning of December, which helped boost the reserves. Some of the remaining increase may have been due to Indonesia drawing down infrastructure loans from China, said Leong.
Overseas investors bought a net 10 trillion rupiah ($719 million) of local-currency government debt in December, Finance Ministry fi gures show. They’ve added $5.8 million to local stock holdings this year, following $1.6 billion of out-fl ows in 2015.
Indonesian local-currency sov-ereign bonds rose, pushing the 10-year yield down three basis points to 8.79 per cent on Friday, accord-ing to the Inter Dealer Market As-sociation. - Bloomberg News
E C O N O M Y
INDIA GOES POSTAL IN QUEST TO OPEN BANK ACCOUNTS A woman enters the India Post Chembur branch in Mumbai, India. The world’s largest
post offi ce network is planning to ramp up its fi nancial services across India, triggering
a race among commercial banks to set up partnerships to reach remote areas that have
been unprofi table. - Bloomberg News
NEW SEDAN: The Swedish company is presenting the S90 sedan to the public for the fi rst time next
week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. – Bloomberg News
SHARIA-COMPLIANT: The government plans to issue as much as $2 billion of global sukuk in 2016. The deadline for proposals is next
week and selections for the arrangers will be made before the end of January. – Bloomberg News
B3S AT U R DAY, JA N UA RY 9, 2 0 1 6
MARKET
Indian bankappoints advisers for share sale
MUMBAI: IDBI Bank, the state-backed Indian lender, appointed advisers including Bank of Amer-ica Corporation, Citigroup and Credit Suisse to arrange a share sale of as much as Rs37.7 billion ($564 million), people with knowl-edge of the matter said.
The lender also hired Deutsche Bank, HSBC, IDBI Capital Market Services and SBI Capital Markets for the institutional placement, ac-cording to the people.
It has started reaching out to potential investors, including the World Bank’s International Fi-nance Corporation (IFC), two of the people said, asking not to be identifi ed as the details are private.
The fundraising will help IDBI Bank to bolster its balance sheet as it seeks to rein in bad debts that to-taled 6.9 per cent of its loans at the end of September.
The Mumbai-based lender had a capital adequacy ratio of 11.7 per cent at that date, compared to 12.7 per cent for the country’s entire banking system, data compiled by the Reserve Bank of India show.
IDBI Bank shares, which gained 21 per cent last year, rose as much as 2.8 per cent in Friday trading. The S&P BSE Bankex Index was up 0.6 per cent in Mumbai. The lender won government approval in December to sell as much as Rs37.71 billion of stock to institu-tional investors. IDBI Bank could start the off ering as early as this quarter . India’s deputy fi nance minister Jayant Sinha said in No-vember the government is ‘going to transform’ IDBI Bank in a similar fashion to its previous overhaul of Axis Bank. - Bloomberg News
D I V E S T M E N T
CHEVROLET UNVEILS BOLT ELECTRIC VEHICLE General Motors’ Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle (EV) is displayed at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, United States. A range of an-
nouncements from major names in the fi eld of technology are expected as the consumer technology trade show, runs through January 9, showcases new devel-
opments in virtual reality, self-driving cars and drones among others. — Bloomberg News
Domestic sector in US powers growth of jobs
WASHINGTON: United States employers likely maintained a fairly strong pace of hiring in De-cember, suggesting that a recent but sharp manufacturing-led slowdown in economic growth would be temporary.
Non-farm payrolls probably increased by 200,000 jobs, just a slight step down from the 211,000 created in November, according to a survey of economists. The unem-ployment rate is expected to have held steady at a seven-and-a-half-year-old low of 5 per cent.
A solid employment report could soothe fears over the economy’s health by showing recent weakness largely contained in the manufac-turing and export-oriented sectors, which have been hit by a strong dollar and anaemic global demand.
Eff orts by businesses to whittle down an inventory glut and spend-ing cuts by energy companies
have also infl icted pain. “The US economy is a two-sided economy. The domestic sector continues to power job growth. There is a risk that the weakness in manufactur-ing could spread to services, but we don’t see that right now,” said Thomas Costerg, a senior econo-mist at Standard Chartered Bank in New York.
In the wake of soft reports on manufacturing, construction spending and export growth, econ-omists this week slashed their fourth-quarter growth estimates by as much a full percentage point to as low as a 0.4 per cent annual rate. The economy grew at a 2 per cent rate in the third quarter of last year.
The Labour Department’s close-
ly monitored jobs report, which will be released on Friday (1330 GMT), could off er a brief respite to global stock markets after heavy selling this week sparked by signs of slowing growth in China.
Labour marketWhile labour market resilience would favour another interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve in March, economists say fi nancial market turmoil and concerns among policymakers over low infl ation suggest the US central bank may stay on the sidelines a bit longer.
The Federal Reserve last month raised overnight interest rates by a quarter percentage point to be-
tween 0.25 and 0.50 per cent, the fi rst increase in nearly a decade, and a subsequent move at its next meeting this month was already seen as off the table.
“The Fed has shifted its em-phasis away from the job market and toward actual progress in in-fl ation,” said Ryan Sweet, senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in Pennsylvania. “Whether they will be hiking in March will be depend-ent on fi nancial market conditions and moving core infl ation toward the 2 per cent target.”
As such, wage growth will come under scrutiny. The jobs report on Friday is expected to show average hourly earnings increased 0.2 per cent in December. - Reuters
The jobless rate is
expected to have held
steady at a seven-
and-a-half-year-
old low of 55. The
economy grew at a
2 per cent rate in the
third quarter of 2015
SOOTHING FEARS: A solid employment report could soothe fears over the economy’s health by show-
ing recent weakness largely contained in the manufacturing and export-oriented sectors, which have
been hit by a strong dollar. – Bloomberg News
ASHOKA MODY
Last April, the Interna-tional Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that
the world economy would grow by 3.5 per cent in 2015. In the ensuing months, that forecast was steadily whittled down, reaching 3.1 per cent in October. But the IMF continues to insist – as it has, with almost banal predictability, for the last seven years – that next year will be better. But it is almost certainly wrong yet again.
For starters, world trade is growing at an anemic annual rate of 2 per cent, compared to 8 per cent from 2003 to 2007. Whereas trade growth during those heady years far exceeded that of world GDP, which averaged 4.5 per cent, lately, trade and GDP growth rates have been about the same. Even if GDP growth out-strips growth in trade this year, it will likely amount to no more than 2.7 per cent.
The question is why. According to Christina and David Romer of the Univer-sity of California, Berkeley, the aftershocks of modern fi nancial crises – that is, since World War II – fade after 2-3 years. The Harvard economists Carmen Rein-hart and Kenneth Rogoff say that it takes fi ve years for a country to dig itself out of a fi nancial crisis. And, indeed, the fi nancial dislocations of 2007-2008 have largely receded. So what accounts for the sluggish economic recovery?
One popular explanation lies in the fuzzy notion of ‘secular stagnation’: long-term depressed demand for goods and services is undermining incentives to invest and hire.
But demand would remain weak only if people lacked confi dence in the future. The only logical ex-planation for this enduring lack of confi dence, as North-western University’s Robert Gordon has painstakingly documented and argued, is slow productivity growth.
Before the crisis – and especially from 2003 to
2007 – slow productivity growth was being obscured by an illusory sense of prosperity in much of the world. In some countries – notably, the United States, Spain, and Ireland – rising real-estate prices, specu-lative construction, and fi nancial risk-taking were mutually reinforcing. At the same time, countries were amplifying one another’s growth through trade.
Global boomCentral to the global boom was China, the rising giant that fl ooded the world with cheap exports, putting a lid on global infl ation. Equally important, China imported a huge volume of com-modities, thereby bolstering many African and Latin American economies, and purchased German cars and machines, enabling Europe’s largest economy to keep its regional supply chains humming.
This dynamic reversed around March 2008, when the US rescued its fi fth-largest investment bank, Bear Sterns, from collapse. With the eurozone banks also deeply implicated in the subprime mortgage mess and desperately short of US dollars, America and much of Europe began a remorse-less slide into recession. Whereas in the boom years, world trade had spread the bounty, it was now spread-ing the malaise. As each country’s GDP growth slowed, so did its imports, causing its trading partners’ growth to slow as well.
The US economy began to emerge from its recession in the second half of 2009. Eurozone policymakers, by contrast, rejected monetary stimulus and implemented fi scal austerity measures, while ignoring the deepen-ing distress of their banks. The IMF should stop forecasting renewed growth and issue a warning that the global economy will remain weak and vulnerable unless world leaders act energeti-cally to spur innovation and growth. Such an eff ort is long overdue. – Project Syndicate
Another slow year for global economy
C O M M E N T A R Y
B4
FEATURES AT U R DAY, JA N UA RY 9, 2 0 1 6
ERERRRURURUUUUUTU
As rubber prices slumped toward a six-year low, 20 of 30 workers who drained the sticky latex from
trees on Winai Chaikunanant’s plantation in Thailand quit. Even with income sharing, they earned less than the minimum wage.
Winai is not faring much bet-ter. The 70-year-old loses money on every kilogramme produced on the farm he’s tended for fi ve de-cades because government subsi-dies are not big enough to make up the diff erence. Half his trees were left untapped this season, and he plans to raze about 100 rai (40 acres) to grow cassava or pineap-ple instead. And the market may only get worse for rubber growers.
Global demand for natural rub-ber, used mostly in tyres, is slow-ing as the economy cools in China, the world’s largest buyer of new cars. Supplies are expanding af-
ter a decade-long rally in prices to a record in 2011 encouraged top producers like Thailand, Indo-nesia and Vietnam to plant more trees. Output will exceed use for two more years, with the surplus quadrupling in 2016, according to The Rubber Economist, a Lon-don-based industry researcher.
“We face so many challenges from all sides,” Winai said on his 600-rai plantation in Rayong, about 180km southeast of Bang-kok. Rubber traded in Tokyo, a global benchmark, has tumbled 70 per cent from a record in 2011, touching a six-year low of ¥153 ($1.26) a kilogramme on Novem-ber 6. Futures in Shanghai have slumped 22 per cent in 2015. The export price from Thailand, the top producer, is down 23 per cent.
Global production is set to ex-ceed demand by 411,000 metric tonnes next year and by 430,000 tonnes in 2017, compared to a
surplus of 98,000 tonnes in 2015, The Rubber Economist predicted. Output will increase 3.8 per cent next year to 13 million tonnes and will keep expanding through 2018, the researcher said.
Consumption would not grow nearly as fast, which will leave stockpiles by the end of 2017 at a record 3.7 million tonnes, said Prachaya Jumpasut, managing di-rector of The Rubber Economist.
China, which buys more than third of world output, forecast im-ports of natural rubber will plunge 10 per cent this year to 3.7 million tonnes as consumption growth slows to 2.9 per cent from 13 per cent in 2014, the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Coun-tries (ANRPC) said in a report.
Price outlookExcess supplies may keep prices subdued for a decade, said Hidde Smit, an industry adviser who
has studied the market for more than 30 years and is the former secretary-general of the Interna-tional Rubber Study Group. Even with some smaller farms cutting back now, the planted area across 11 Asian countries that are the pri-mary growers has surged 45 per cent since 2004, he said.
In Thailand, the local price of rubber sheet has plunged to about 37 baht a kilogramme from an average of 56 baht last year and 76 baht in 2013, according to the Rubber Authority of Thailand. The average cost of production is around 65 baht, the farm ministry estimates.
Farmer subsidiesThe government approved 13 bil-lion baht to support farmers. Land owners and their workers will get a combined 1,500 baht a rai for plantations up to 15 rai. About 80 per cent of growers own as much
as 25 rai. An additional 5 billion baht was approved in December for producers who pursue alterna-tive employment.
The stress of money-losing crops could limit supplies more than forecast. Output from grow-ers accounting more than 90 per cent of world supply may de-cline 0.3 per cent to 10.92 million tonnes this year, the lowest since 2012, according to the ANRPC. Thailand, Indonesia and Malay-sia, which account for 80 per cent of world shipments, have said they would consider limiting ex-ports and would seek to increase domestic uses of natural rubber. Vietnamese farmers are cutting down trees, and the government is urging them to switch to other crops. Rubber producers in In-donesia say output this year may drop 10 per cent as dry weather and haze from forest fi res disrupts tapping. - Bloomberg News
Global demand for
natural rubber, used
mostly in tyres,
is slowing as the
economy cools in
China, the world’s
largest buyer of new
cars. And the market
may only get worse
for rubber growers
411,000Global production
is set to exceed
demand by
411,000 metric
tonnes next year
WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM
FamilySECTIONB L I F E STY L E S AT U R DAY, JA N UA RY 9, 2 0 1 6
The fi rst time around, being a mom means learning a lot of new things and approaching each new stage with caution. The second time around,
moms know sometimes you need to wing it and embrace the imperfections (and humour) of parenthood. Through this experience, moms
learn some amazing time-saving, stress-busting, mind-blowing parenting tricks. Want to know the best time-tested strategies?
Here are eight genius hacks of those who have been around the mommy block a few times:
Smart snack storage: There’s no need to buy expensive snack food containers for all the kid-do’s goodies. When you’re done with your coff ee creamer, simply remove labels, wash and fi ll with favourite dry snacks. These handy containers are a breeze to pop open and pour into bowls, plus the upright bottle maximises space in cabinets.
Cut car chaos: If you have kids, you know all about car clutter, but this doesn’t have to be your reality. A canvas shoe organiser in the back seat is a fantastic way to store toys and supplies. Next, eliminate spills and goo by placing silicone cup-cake liners into cup holders. Finally, a tackle box is ideal for creating a food travel kit with various snacks in each compartment.
Quick and easy diapering: Experienced moms make diaper time easier by using Luvs with NightLock. The new, larger refastenable stretch tabs make fastening Luvs diapers super quick and easy, plus moms can rest-assured knowing baby’s getting a secure, snug fi t every time. Best yet: these high-quality features come at less cost than the premium brands. Parenting is full of stressful mo-ments, so don’t let diapering be one of them.
Streamline grocery shopping: A trip to the grocery store doesn’t have to be a disaster with kids in tow. First, eat before you shop. Empty tum-mies make for grumpy kids who want everything in sight. Next, to keep kids focused on the task at hand, let them be shopping assistants. Bigger kids can help get foods on your list (yay for gro-cery store scavenger hunts!) and little ones can assist by holding a small item safely and help-ing you spot foods from the cart (who sees a red apple for mommy?).
Simplify dressing: If you dread putting one-sies over your baby’s head, you can take a sigh of relief because there’s an easier approach. Those layered shoulder tabs on onesies mean you can stretch the neck out and dress baby from the bot-tom up. When it’s time to undress, simply pull down. No more wiggling, crabby baby.
Streamline midnight feeding: Don’t lose precious Z’s because it’s feeding time. Keep baby in “sleep zone” with little-to-no light and refrain from talking. Light and moms voice are extremely stimulating to baby. Another smart idea: change her diaper fi rst so if she falls asleep while eating, you can lay her down and get back to bed quickly.
Inventive cold packs: From babies to tod-dlers to big kids, boo-boos are a fact of life. For lit-tle bumps, a mini-marshmallow pack is a fun way to make ouchies feel better. Mini marshmallows are lightweight, soft and hold the perfect amount of cold; all you have to do is place them in a plastic bag, seal and keep in the freezer.
Keep small hands clean: There’s no need to strain your back holding your kid up so he can reach the sink to wash his hands. An empty sham-poo bottle can easily transform into a handy faucet extender. Ditch the cap and cut a hole on the bottom to hook to the faucet. Secure on the spout and the water will extend out so it’s within a child's reach. Experienced moms know more, know better and know that clever tips and tricks can help save time and money. That means less stress plus more time and energy for creating lasting memories with the little loves of your life. — Courtesy of Brandpoint
Secrets of Experienced Moms to Save Time, Money and Stress
FIND-IT-ALLB6 S AT U R DAY, JA N UA RY 9, 2 0 1 6
Dhuhr 12.19pm
Asr 3.21pm
Maghrib 5.41pm
Isha 6.56pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 5.31am
PRAYER TIMINGS
CITY CINEMAContact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68 www.citycinemaoman.netfacebook.com/citycinemaoman
SHATTIExtraction(2D) (Action | Thriller) (12+) Cast: Bruce Willis, Kellan Lutz, Gina Carano2:45, 8:15 PMThe Revenant (2D) (Thriller) (12+) Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy2:30, 5:30, 8:30, 11:30 PMPoint Break (3D) (Action | Sports) (12+)Cast: Édgar Ramírez, Luke Bracey7:15 PMWazir (Action | Crime | Thriller) (PG12) Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar, Aditi Rao Hydari5:15, 9:30 PMThe Forest (Horror) (15+) Cast: Natalie Dormer, Eoin Macken, Stephanie Vogt10:00, 11:45 PMLost in the Sun (2D) (Action) (12+) Cast: Josh Duhamel, Josh Wiggins3:00, 11:30 PMDaddy’s Home (2D) (Comedy) (12+) Cast: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg4:30, 6:15 PM
MUSCAT GRAND MALLThe Revenant ( Drama | Thriller) 12+Cast : Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy12:15, 8:45 & 11:30PMGold Class: 3:00 & 8:00PMWazir (Hindi | Action| Thriller) PG12Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar3:15 & 9:30PMGold Class: 6:00 & 11:00PMFathers and Daughters (Drama) 12+Cast: Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Jane Fonda5:15PMExtraction (Thriller) 12+Cast : Bruce Willis, Kellan Lutz, Gina Carano7:30 & 11:45PM
Snow Time - (Animation | Family) PG3:00PMThe Peanuts Movie - (Animation) PG1:15 & 4:45PMThe Good Dinosaur-3D (Animation) U11:15PM & 6:45PM
PANORAMA MALLThe Revenant (Adventure, Drama)(2D)(12+)Cast : Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy2:45, 5:45, 11:45PMThe Revenant (Adventure, Drama) (2D) (12+) VIP LOUNGECast : Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy3:00, 6:00, 11:00PMLost In The Sun (Action, Drama)(2D) (12+)Cast : Josh Duhamel, Josh Wiggins5:15, 11:15 pmDaddy’s Home (Comedy)(2D)(12+)Cast : Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg7:00, 9:15 pmWazir (Hindi, Action)(2D)(PG12)Cast : Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar3:45, 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pmWazir (Hindi, Action)(2D)(PG12)-VIP LOUNGE9:00 pmSnow Time (Animation)(2D)(PG)
Cast : Angela Galuppo, Mariloup Wolfe5:45 pmStar Wars (Action, Adventure)(MX4D)(PG12)Cast : Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac3:45, 6:30, 9:00, 11:30 pmPoint Break (Action, Crime)(3D)(12+)Cast : Édgar Ramírez, Luke Bracey3:00 pmBajirao Mastani (Drama)(2D)(PG12)Cast : Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone8:45 pm
AZAIBA Wazir – 2D (PG12) Hindi | Action| Thriller Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar1:00, 2:30, 4:30, 6:30, 8:30, 10:30, 11:45pm Charlie – 2D (PG12) Comedy/ RomanceCast: Dulquer Salman, Parvathi Menon12:15, 6:30, 9:00 PMDilwale – 2D (PG12) Action, Romantic Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhavan5:45, 8:30 PMGet Squirrely – 2D (PG) Animation Cast: Victoria Justice, Will Forte3:00, 4:45 PMBajirao Mastani – 2D (PG12) Drama, History,Cast: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone
2:45, 8:45, 11:30 PMThe Revenant – 2D (12+) | Drama | ThrillerCast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy2:30, 5:30, 11:30 PM
RUWIScreen 1Wazir (Action / Thriller) – PG12Cast : Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PMScreen 2Ho Mann Jahan – Pakistani (Musical/ Drama)– TBCCast: –Mahira Khan, Sheheryar3.30, 6.45, 10.00 PMScreen 3Bajirao Mastani (Romance/Drama) – PG12Cast: – Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh3.45, 9.45 PMDilwale (Action/Romance) – PG12Cast: – Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan6.45 PM
SUR
Get Squirrely ( Animation ) ( PG ) Cast: Victoria Justice, Will Forte
13:30, 4:00PMEcho Effect ( Action | Thriller ) ( 12+ ) Cast: Michael Jai White, Max Ryan2:15, 6:35, 10:00 PMWazir - (Hindi)( Action | Thriller ) ( PG12 ) Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhta2:00, 5:30, 11:00 PMCharlie (Malayalam) (Comedy) (PG12) Cast: Dulquer Salman, Parvathi Menon11:55 AM, 7:30 PMThe Revenant (Adventurer) ( 12+) Cast : Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy3:50, 8:15, 11:45 PM
SOHARDilwale - 2D (PG12) Action | Comedy Cast : Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan6:45 PMPoint Break - 3D (12+) Action | Crime | SportCast : Édgar Ramírez, Luke Bracey5:30 PMThe Good, the Bad and The Dead - 2D (15+)Action| Thriller | WesternCast : Johnny Messner, Dolph Lundgren7:45 PMThe Revenant - 2D (12+) Adventure | Drama Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy2:30, 8:45, 11:30 PMWazir - 2D (PG12) Action| ThrillerCast : Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar12:45 , 03:00 , 09:30 , 11:30 PMThe New Adventures of Aladin - 2D (PG12) Cast : Kev Adams, Jean-Paul Rouve5:00 PMEcho Effect - 2D (12+) Action | ThrillerCast : Michael Jai White, Max Ryan7:00, 09:45 PMLost in the Sun - 2D (12+) Action | Drama Cast : Josh Duhamel, Josh Wiggins2:45 , 7:00 , 11:45 PMThe Forest - 2D (15+) HorrorCast : Natalie Dormer, Eoin Macken3:00 , 11:30 PMGet Squirrely - 2D (PG) Animation | Cast : Victoria Justice, Will Forte12:45, 5:00 PMCharlie - 2D (M) (PG12) Comedy/ RomanceCast : Dulquer Salman, Parvathi Menon12:30, 9:00 PM
BURAIMIEcho Effect – 2D (Action, Thriller) (12+)Cast: Michael Jai White, Max Ryan
5:45, 7:15, 11:30PMThe Revenant– 2D (Adventure, Drama, Thriller) (12+)Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter3:00, 9:00, 11:45PMThe Forest – 2D (Horror) (15+)Cast: Natalie Dormer, Eoin Macken , Stephanie Vogt5:15, 9:45, 11:30PMGet Squirrely – 2D (Animation) (PG)Voice Overs: Victoria Justice, Will Forte3:30, 5:45PMWazir – 2D (Action, Thriller) (PG12)Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar3:45, 7:30, 9:30PMCharlie– 2D (Comedy, Romance) (12+)Cast: Dulquer Salman, Parvathi Menon, Aparna Gopinath7:15PM
SALALAH
The Revenant (2D) (12+)( Action| Thriller) Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy11:45AM, 3:15, 8:45, 11:45PMFathers and Daughters (2D) (12+) (Drama) Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Jane Fonda4:30PMDaddy’s Home (2D) (12+) (Comedy) Cast: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg11:30AM, 6:45PMExtraction (2D) (12+) (Thriller)Cast: Bruce Willis, Kellan Lutz, Gina Carano2:45PMWazir (2D) (PG12)( Action| Thriller) Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar1:15, 3:00, 9:15, 11:15PMDilwale (2D) (PG12) (Action | Romantic ) Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Kriti Sanon6:15PM Lost in the Sun (2D) (PG12) Action | Drama )Cast: Josh Duhamel, Josh Wiggins11:15AM, 7:00PMCharlie (2D) (12+) (Malayalam)( Comedy) Cast: Dulquer Salman, Parvathi Menon, Aparna Gopinath9:00PM Snow Time (2D) (PG) (Animation) Cast: Angela Galuppo, Mariloup Wolfe 1:15PMThe Forest (2D) (15+) (Horror)5:00, 11:30PMCast: Natalie Dormer, Eoin Macken
CINEMA SCHEDULE CHILDREN BELOW THE AGE OF 3 YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE CINEMA | BOX-OFFICE COUNTER OPENS 30-MINUTES PRIOR TO THE SCREENING OF THE FIRST SHOW
ROYAL OMAN POLICE
Emergencies and inquiries: 9999
General Directorate of
Passport and Residence 24569603
Directorate General
of Customs 24521109
Traffic violations inquiries 24510228
Public Relations Admin 24560099
EMBASSIES IN OMAN
Afghanistan 24698 791/4
Algeria 24605 593
Bahrain 24 605 074/133
Bangladesh 24 698 660
Brazil 24640100
Brunei 24 603533
China 24 696782
Cyprus 24 699815
Egypt 24 600 982/411
France 24681 800
Germany 24835000
India 24684500
Indonesia 2469 1050
Iran 24 696 944/7
Iraq 24603642
Italy 24693727
Japan 24 601 028
Jordan 24692760/1/3
Kazakhstan 24 692418
Kenya 24 697664
South Korea 24 691490
Kuwait 24 699628
Lebanon 24 693208
Libya 24603466
Malaysia 24698329/643
Morocco 24696152/3
Nepal 24696177
Netherlands 24603706
Pakistan 24603439
Palestine 24601312
Philippines 24605335
Qatar 24 691 153/2/4
Russia 24602894
Saudi Arabia 24601705
Senegal 24694139
Somalia 24697977
South Africa 24647300
Spain 24691101
Sri Lanka 24697841/2
Sudan 24697875
Switzerland 24603267
Syria 24697904
Tanzania 24601 174
Thailand 24 602684/5
Tunisia 24603486
Turkey 24697050/1/2
UAE 24400000
United Kingdom 24609000
United States 24643400
Yemen 24600815
PHARMACIES
Round the clock
Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi 24783334
Apollo Medical Centre,
Hamriya 24782666
Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi 24702542
Salalah 23291635;
Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra 24503585
Muscat Region
Apollo, Al Hamriya 24787766
Muscat, A Seeb Market 24421691
Muscat, Al Khuwair 24485740
Muscat, Al Hail South 24537080
Dhofar Region
Muscat, Al Nahdha Road,
Salalah 23291635
HOSPITALS
Al Amal Medical & Health Care
Centre 24485052
Atlas Hospital
Ruwi 24811743/
Ghubra 24504000
Al Musafir Specialised
Medical Clinic 24706453
Hatat Polyclinic LLC,
Ruwi 24563641
Azaiba 24499269
Sohar 2683006
Al Raffah Hospital 24618900/1/2
Al Massaraat Clinic &
Laboratory 24566435
Al Makook Medical
Coordinance Centre 24499434
Apollo Medical Centre,
Hamriya 24787766, 24787780
Capital Polyclinic 24707549
Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic,
Ruwi 24799760/1/2
Capital Clinic, Seeb 24420740
Ceregem National Raak 24485633
Dr Harub’s Clinic 24563217
Elixir Health Centre 24565802
Emirates Medical Centre 24604540
1st Chiropractic Centre 24472274
Lifeline Hospital Salalah 23212340
International Medical
Centre LLC 24794501/2/3/4/5
Kims Oman Hospital 24760100
24 Hrs Emergency 24760123
Lama Polyclinic, Sohar 26751128
MBD 24799077
Al Khuwair 24478818
Magrabi Eye and
Ear Hospital 24568870
Muscat Private Hospital 24583600
Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment
Centre, Al Khuwair 24477666
Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC 22004000
AIRLINE OFFICES
Muscat Airport Flight information
(24 hours) 24519456/24519223
Aeroflot 24704455
Air Arabia 24700828
Air France 24562153
Air India 24799801
Air New Zealand 24700732
Biman Bangladesh Airlines 24701128
British Airways 24568777
Cathay Pacific 24789818
Egypt Air 24794113
Emirates Air 24404400
Ethiopian Airlines 24660313
Gulf Air 80072424
Indian 24791914
Iran Air 24787423
Japan Airlines 24704455
Jazeera Airways 23294848
Jet Airways 24787248
Kenya Airways 24660300
KML Royal Dutch Airlines 24566737
Kuwait Airways 24701262
LOT Polish Airlines 24796387
Lufthansa 24796692
Malaysian Airlines 24560796
Middle East Airlines 24796680
Oman Air 24531111
Pakistan International
Airlines 24792471
Qatar Airways 24771900
Qantas 24559941
Royal Jordanian 24796693
Saudi Arabian Airlines 24789485
Singapore Airlines 24791233
Shaheen Air 24816565
SriLankan Airlines 24784545
Swiss International
Airlines 24796692
Thai Airways 24705934
LISTINGS
LONG DISTANCE BUS TIMINGS (OMAN NATIONAL TRANSPORT COMPANY SAOC) *SUBJECT TO CHANGE
FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)
Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days
QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (ROUTE 36)
15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily
15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily
15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily
TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)
06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily
06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily
08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri
13:00 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
@SOHAR @SHATTI
Charlie - 2D (M) (PG12) (Comedy/ Romance)Cast : Dulquer Salman, Parvathi Menon, Aparna Gopinath12:30, 9:00 PM
@MGM
Wazir (Hindi | Action| Thriller) PG12Cast : Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar, Aditi Rao Hydari3:15 & 9:30PMGold Class: 6:00 & 11:00PM
The Revenant (2D) (Thriller) (12+) Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter2:30, 5:30, 8:30, 11:30 PM
BAHJA CINEMAFilm information 24540856 / Advance Booking 24540855Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com
Echo Effect (Action / Thriller) Cast: Michael Jai White, Max Ryan, Steve Austin4.00, 8.00, 10.00 & 11.55 pm CP No : 3060 (12+)Daddy’s Home (Comedy)Cast: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Linda Cardellini3.45, 7.30 & 9.15 pm CP No: 3061 (12+)Fathers and Daughters (Drama)Cast: Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Jane2.00 & 6.00pm CP No: 3062 (12+)Get Squirrely (Animation / Comedy / Family)2.00 & 5.30 p.m. CP No: 3063 (PG)Dilwale (Action / Comedy)Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan 11.00 p.m. CP No: 3047 (PG12)
STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776Website: www.isurf.co.om
Charlie ( Mal) ( Drama\Comedy) Cast : Dulquer Salmaan & Parvathy 3-00, 6-30 & 10-00 pm Cinema Main Su Su Sudhi Vatmeekam (Mal) (Drama\Com) Cast : Jayasurya , Mukesh & Shivada 3-30 & 6-30 pm Cinema -2 Dilwale ( hindi ) ( Act\ com) Cast : Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol & Varun Dhawan 9-30 PM Cinema -2 Wazir ( Hindi) (Act Cast : Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akthar & Aditi Rao Hydari 3-45, 5-45, 7-45 & 9-45 pm Cinema-3 Bajirao Mastani (Hindi) (rom\ Act \ drama ) Cast : Ranveer Singh , Deepika Padukone & Priyanka Chopra 6-45 pm Cinema-4 Pasanga 2 ( Tamil) ( Drama \Comedy) Cast : Surya & Amala Paul 3-45, & 9-45 pm Cinema -4
Programmes are subject to change
WEATHER
250
Maximum
180
Minimum
TEMPERATURE
55-85%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
MUHAMMED MAZIN January 9, 2009
NIDHI NIHARA SABISH January 9, 2008
LIFESTYLEB7S AT U R DAY, JA N UA RY 9, 2 0 1 6
ACROSS1 Roast beef au — 4 Mlle. in Barcelona8 Shuttle complement12 Under par 13 Chicks’ mothers 14 Santa —, Calif. 15 Lion’s quarry 16 In force 18 Wisely 20 Carson City loc. 21 Gross! 23 Having a sharp flavour 27 Lo-cal 30 Rim 32 Weight rebate 33 Mont. neighbour 34 Geologic division 35 Wrench target 36 Soft shoes 38 Holiday mo. 39 High desert of Asia40 Groups of like-minded voters 42 Trig function 44 Unit of electrical resistance 46 Having two X chromosomes 50 Like Orlon or Dacron 54 Early ISP 55 QED part 56 Mild onion 57 Day divs. 58 Catch sight of 59 Smidgens 60 Dolphin habitat
Crossword Puzzle
Q u e s t i o n s & A n s w e r s
CDUR
It’s better not to argue with...
My class teacher
If I had treasures I would
hide them...In my pencil box
One thing that puts me off ...
When I get a load of homework during
my vacations
One movie/book I can watch/
read over and over again...
Dog Days Diary of the Wimpy Kid (book)
When I’m in doubt...I google it up
If I met an alien I would...
Ask him his worst secrets
One person I would trade
places with (real or fi citional)
Lemuel Gulliver
I go crazy when...I score a goal while
playing Fifa 15
The scariest thing that I have done...
Nothing yet…
The best way to my heart is...
Reading story books
If I win a lottery...I would go and
redeem it
If I have to describe myself
as a fl avour it would be...
Praline
If I could go back in history, I would
like to meetAbraham Lincoln
Send your contributions to [email protected]. A good quality photo is compulsory. Lifestyle reserves the right to
publish the contributions.
AASHISH GEORGE ABRAHAM
DOWN1 Lively dances 2 Bone below the elbow 3 Hit with a powerful punch 4 Fossil rock 5 Didn’t throw in the trash 6 Explosive ltrs. 7 B — — baker 8 Foulard kin 9 Decompose 10 Flight dir. 11 Gob of bubblegum
17 Thoroughly investigate19 Potato bud 22 Adds to staff 24 Prefix for second 25 Chuck wagon fare26 Himalayan sighting 27 Branch 28 Artefact 29 Burrito alternative31 Soothed 37 “Beam me up, —!”39 Rare mineral
41 Library caution 43 Sweater features 45 Dissolve 47 Pleased sighs48 Body of traditional knowledge 49 Lohengrin’s bride50 Visualise 51 Birthday no. 52 Carpet pile 53 Herbal soother
AN
SWER
TO
PR
EVIO
US
PUZ
ZLE
STORYTIME
By Swati Dasgupta
One skill I would like to learn...
Ride a bicycle just using the front wheel
Who Took the Brownies Away?Soham was busy doing
his school project when the telephone rang. The phone kept on ringing for a while and then it
stopped. Soham was in no mood to get up and answer the call.
He was sure his mom would do the needful. Or Smita, his elder sis-ter, would.
Suddenly it stopped. “Thank God it stopped,” Soham heaved a sigh of relief.
But not for long. Within min-utes it again started ringing again. “Soham, where are you? Please pick up the phone. I am doing something important and can’t come,” Soham’s mother called for her son from her bedroom. “Mum, I am doing something now. Ask Smita, Soham retorted lazily.”
This was not for the fi rst time. Soham had this bad habit of put-ting off things. He always had this one-liner ready “I will do it later”.
And that ‘later’ would never come. Soham’s careless attitude would often disturb his mother. He would use sauce, but never put the lid back, never close the biscuit tin after eating and most of the time would forget to put his messy plate back in the sink.
This was an everyday aff air at Soham’s house. His mother would tell him nicely and at times even scold him, but Soham never lis-tened. He would either run off to
play or sit with his favourite video game and say “I will do it later”.
Soham’s birthday was near and he was very excited about it. Last year his dad had promised to throw a big party for all his friends. He was sure he would remember his promise. He asked: “Dad, my birthday is next week. I hope you remember the promise you made.”
“Yes dear, but there’s a condition to it. You have to promise me that you would be prompt and not say ‘I will do it later’,” his father said. Soham wasn’t expecting this, but was left with no choice. The other day only he had told his friends Re-hman, Robby, Jamila, Asila, Aaliya, Jia and Matt about the great birth-day bash that he had planned. He
promised to be prompt. Soham made cute birthday invi-
tation cards for all his friends. He was quite happy on his birthday.
He got his favourite storybook, some lovely shirts and a pen stand from his parents as birthday pre-sent and Smita made a cute little card. There was no end to Soham’s excitement. His mother called him
to help him decorate the house, but Soham was as usual feeling quite lazy. Mom, ask Smita now, I will do it “later,” he reluctantly said. Soham’s mother was annoyed at his behaviour, but didn’t want to scold him on his birthday. So she and Smita did all the work. She made some nice goodies and was sure that the kids would love them
The huge cake that his father ordered soon arrived. The next two hours were full of fun and frolic. The children played all the games and after a hearty treat went back home. As soon as they left Soham got busy with his gifts. “Oh wow, I have got the box of marbles that I wanted. And also a box of my fa-vourite brownies.”
“Soham, please put the brown-ies and the gifts in the cupboard and help me clear the mess,” hismother pleaded.
Soham gave a big yawn in re-turn. “Mom, I am sleepy, I will do it later,” saying this he went to his bedroom. Soham’s mother was extremely hurt at his attitude. His father saw Soham’s careless be-haviour and thought it was time for Soham to learn a lesson.
The next morning Soham ran towards the hall thinking about the brownies. But he was shocked to see the empty table.
Mom must have kept it in the cupboard, he thought. But nowhere he could fi nd them. He shouted:
“Mom where are the brownies? Soham’s mother, who was mak-
ing tea gave a solemn look at him and said: “You left the brownies on the table. In the morning I saw a cat nibble on it. So I had to dispose them off .”
Soham was almost in tears. He said in a complaining tone, “Mum, why you didn’t keep it safely?”
Soham’s mother said in a com-posed voice, “I would have dear, but you only said ‘I will do it later’. So I thought you had already done it.”
Oh no mom. Soham sobbed and continued: “I lost my brownies just because of my laziness. Wish I had picked them up. I’m sorry, mum. From now I promise to do things without delaying,” saying this So-ham hugged his mother.
Since that day Soham became very prompt. He kept his things in place, and never said ‘I will do it later’. He picked up his plates and even got up to answer the tel-ephone. Few days later Soham was pleasantly surprised to see a box of brownies on the dining table. He was confused and before he could ask anything his mom said: “No cat had nibbled on these. I had put it away safely. We wanted you to learn a lesson and we are glad you really did. Now you can relish the brownies to your heart’s content.”
Soham gave a broad smile. He had indeed learnt his lesson. [email protected]
B8
LIFESTYLES AT U R DAY, JA N UA RY 9, 2 0 1 6
All the words below appear in the puzzle - horizontally, vertically,
diagonally, even backward. Find them and circle their letters.
The leftover word spells the Teleword.
How to playFill empty cells with the numbers 1 to 9, so that each number appears once in each row, column and area.
Answer to previous puzzle
SOLUTION
A L B U M S L D A U G H T E R C H R O N I C L E R M E S C B O M T W A N G Y E H E U G U P P R O D I G Y H Y B O E S D L N Y T S I E F P N H P Y R I E O B E A U R E A M E Y M I A C I L R B A R S R L G R Y A C C L A C A E H A G V A T F A C E L I A H V F N O W I N S R L Y E N T I D A L I R N U U E E S H O L N S A D B S A O K L K M M L U P T G E O L T C S I I A E O A I L L N T T I E L M M E S C L E E G E U N R L P S D R E E N C S S L A P S A T L E D
TelewordSudoku
Albums, Angle, Autobiography, Bars, Beau, Bravado, Busy, Campbell, Career, Casual, Celebrity, Chronicle,
Colonial, Country, Daughter, Delta, Dreams, Edge, Face, Farmhouse, Feisty, Gain, Glen, Hellion, Hype, Mike,
Mother, Music, Nashville, Nickel, Pals, Presley, Prodigy, Singer, Skills, Smile, Songs, Sound, Space, Step, Tour,
Twangy, Volatile, Warm. Answer: Complicated
CLUE: TANYA TUCKER SOLUTION: 11 LETTERS
Art for the Ages
Ch
ild
ren
up
to
th
e a
ge
of
16 w
ho
wo
uld
lik
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V. Ria Thanmayee, Class 6, ISWK 1
Sai Nikhil G, Grade 3, ISM
Ahmed Jazil Janeef , Grade 9, ISWK Malavika, Grade 4, ISWK
Mohd. Anan Khalifa, Grade 10, ISWK 1
Children’s Poetry
Stars
Ritika SunilGrade V Indian School Sur
The stars so highWith the world so highI twinkle in the skyIn the dark night sky.I love to see the children on earthThey know my nameThey smile at meWhen I’m happy I twinkle in the sky.I’m a small little star that twinkles in the skyMy world is so highUp in the skySo high so high.
Marvellous Maths
Lakshita BabuGrade VIndian School Muscat
How fast does a New York taxi go?What size is grandpa’s attic?How old is the oldest dinosaur?The answer’s in mathematics!How many seconds in a hour?How many in a day?What size are planets in the sky?How far is the milky way?How fast does lighting travel?How slow do feathers fall?How many miles to Istanbul?Mathematics knows it all!
Send your contributions for Children’s Poetry to [email protected]
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
C
C4 VACANCY CARGO C6
S AT U R D AY, J A N UA R Y 9, 2 0 1 6
RENT C2
*Classifi ed Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication.
* Subject to space availabilityContact :
24 70 30 60
FOR RENTAL KHUWAIR :
5 BED ROOM VILLA -SPLIT A/C - MAID ROOM
RUWI : Ware House - 630 M2
SPACIOUS -2 B H K FLATS
*Tourist visa arranged
Email: [email protected] classifi [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461
FOR RENT
C2 S AT U R D AY, J A N UA R Y 9, 2 0 1 6
DAILY GUIDE
1/2/3 BHK Flats & Showrooms at Mutt rah, near Oman fl our mills,
10 min. from corniche. equipped with split/cassett e unit ACs, internet points, free-
to-air dish connecti on, CCTV monitored, basement parking. Rent RO.250/350/450
(Negoti able) per month.
Contact : 99229263; 93221054; 95215289
NEW Flats & Showrooms for Rent FOR RENT2BHK,
3 washroom Flat with Split Air Conditioners -
Near Lulu Darsait
CONTACT : 93202733
Apartment and room for rent in
Al Khuwair near IBIS hotel.
Contact: 95724975
3 Bedroom fl at for rent near ONTC
Ruwi. Contact: 99653336
Flats for rent Direct from the
owner: 2BHK fl ats with A/Cs at
Ruwi MBD area, Way No. 3526,
Pizza Muscat building.
Contact: 99333110 / 24814853
3 bedroom fl at in Wadi Kabeer.
Contact 95755953 / 95555162
To let rooms in Qurum.
Contact: 99664703
House for rent Mabela.
Contact: 99204400
Store / warehouse for rent 52 sqm
at Maabela Sinaiya.
Contact: 92454170
02 BHK Commercial / Residential
(with split AC) fl at at Honda road.
Contact: 99342733 / 99795241
02 BHK residential fl at opposite to
Al Nadha hospital.
Contact : 99342733 /99795241
Flat for rent in Darsait 3 BR, 2
toilets, sitting room R.O 250/-.
Contact: 92328142
In a Luxury Buildingin Al Seeb MarketNear Police station
FLATS FOR RENT
Call: 99888007 - 99473500
10,000 Sqm Industrial Land/Plot in
Sumail - Leveled with Full Drawing
and Full Permission from Govt. for
only RO 30,000 Contact : 99012201
2 BR fl at with 1 sitting room, 1
family hall with 3 attach bathroom
in Wadi Kabir. Contact 99277787
1000 sqm industrial land with
compound well & two rooms
at Misfah. Contact: 99342733/
99795241
Commercial / residential fl ats
in a new building for rent near
Muttrah Police Station residential
1BHK / 2BHK more details. Contact:
99364735 / 95729711
2BHK fl at opp. star cinema &
3BHK offi ce. Contact 92926199
1000sqmtrs industrial land for
rent in Ghala suitable for ware-
house workshop etc. Contact
24700120 / 92584715
Independent room with Kitchen
& Bathroom attach near Mabellah
BP Petrol Pump R.O 100/- , without
Elect & water. Contact: 91516775
Only for serious people a Res-
taurant for rent or sale at excel-
lent site in Al Ghubra area with
all its equipment & approval to
bring workers. Contact: Numan
95094062
Flats for rent in Wadi Kabir.
Contact: 99376454
2BHK at Al Nahdha Hospital be-
hind MHD Building.
Contact: 99224748 / 99332297
Residential Commercial building
consists of 30 Flats in Al Khoud 6
the following details: 20 fl ats with
2 rooms and a hall, bathroom and
kitchen. 10 fl ats with room and hall
and 2 toilet. Shop 500 square me-
ters. for total 30 Flats rent 7,000 RO
per month and rent the exhibition
10 RO per m2 Contact 99314314
500 sqm Basement Godown/ware-
house For Rent in Mabela industrial
area. CALL: 99366008 / 99236455
Furnished villa for rent in Barka-
Rumes, 3 big BRooms + Majlis + Sa-
loon + kitchen. Contact : 98999667
Labour camp accommodation
facilities near Sohar Gardens for
1500-2000 peoples. All modern
facilities & natural atmosphere will
provide as per customer require-
ment, interested people can con-
tact 93221277 for further details.
as per the client requirement, we
will make all facilities within
short period.
2 rooms, Bathroom, kitchen near
Muscat OR 110/-.
Contact: 95094028
2bedrooms fl at with hall, 2
bathrooms in Darsait near Muscat
Municipality. Contact: 92584715 /
24700120
House in old Muscat town near
Bab Al Mathaib, 5 bedrooms, living
room & kitchen. Contact 99319829
1 BHK new bldg with A/c curtains,
near Khimji Mart, MBD.
Contact 99061408 / 99024039
2 BHK Flats for rent Muttrah near
Oman house S/ AC.
Contact: 97007934 / 92629232
Profs/ Jack. Contact 93219378
Flat new Al Wadi Kabir. Contact:
92130703 / 99733992
2 Room + hall & kitchen ,3 toilets
in Bareeq Al Shatti 750 RO.
Contact 99314314
Brand new apartments opp Oman
fl our mills MUTRAH 1,2,3 BHK
with private parking, suitable for
bachelors call 95450450
Luxurious, 2 BHK fl at with 3 toi-
lets, store, equipped kitchen, split
ACS , Gym, party hall& 24 hours
security at Mumtaz area Ruwi rent
RO 375/-. Contact: 92622506
2BHK commercial RO 375/-, 350/-
Contact: 97799175 / 92144045
2BHK Al Khuwair R.O 375/-.
Contact: 92144045 / 97799175
2BHK Ghubra R.O 300/- , 325/-.
Contact: 92144045 / 97799175
Duplex villa in QURUM 29.
Contact - 94051789-97201688
Show room / shop for rent area
155 sqm at 600/-R.O shops at
160/- R.O. Contact 97714433 /
92822437
1BHK Mumtaz R.O 250/-. Contact: 97799175 / 92144045
3 BHK fl at near Darsait ID medical.
RO 420/- Contact – 99358589 /
97079146 / 95570288
7 Bedrooms villa in Ghobrah North.
Contact - 96420432
1& 2 BHK fl ats for rent at Hamriya
Mabela and Al Khoud shop at
Al Khoud. Contact: 24834644 /
GSM : 93994401 /02/03/3lines
Flats shops & store for rent in
Ruwi Honda road Mumtaz.
Contact: 97293708 / 92433127
0Shop for rent behind building be-
hind whole center Al Amerat good
for offi ces or stores only space
11x4 meters R.O 250/- PER month.
Contact : 92877449
For rent 1bed room fl at, near In-
dian school (ISD) at Darsait.
Contact: 94776771/ 99669216
Offi ces & Showrooms in Al Khoud.
Contact - 94051789-97201688
600 SQT commercial fl at for rent
opposite Oman fl ourmill Darsait
more details. Contact 91214849/
99364735
Flats in Darsait. Contact 94051789-97201688
DAILY GUIDES AT U R D AY, J A N UA R Y 9, 2 0 1 6 C3
FOR SALE
ACC. AVAILABLE
Large size room in Al Falaj with
attached bathroom for Executive
bachelor (non cooking) with A/C,
rent RO 150 inclusive Electricity &
Water. Contact Mr. Hari : 24821717
/ 99657906
Independent rooms in Qurum RO
140/- & 160/-. Contact 95529970
Veg Couple or bachelor room in
Wadi Kabir. Contact: 99014325 /
91165580
2 rooms with separate bathroom
near Lulu Darsait for couple /
bachelors. Contact: 98929665 /
99352320
Family sharing 3 B/R, hall,
2 toilets in Wadi Kabir.
Contact: 99336206
FOR RENT 3BHK along with
furnitures in Ruwi.
Contact: 99738104
Semi furnished spacious room
with attached washroom separate
entrance near Indian school
Al Ghobrah for non cooking
Executive Indian bachelor.
Contact: 95146361/92657598
Single room for expat Indian
bachelors near Al Aktham restau-
rant Al khuwair for RO 120.
Water and electricity included.
Contact 98803261
Single bedroom fl at near
Indian School Ghubrah.
Contact 99203954
Single bedroom fl at behind
German Embassy,
near Al Nahdha Hospital.
Contact 99203954
Furnished room in new building
for working Muslim lady/
Muslim couple only. Location
AINT, Darsait.
Contact - 99008069
Room for rent with furniture.
Al Bustan villeage.
Contact 93687466
MV SALE
Toyota Innova family, 2011 model,
fully automatic, white color expat
driven , kms-84500. dealer main-
tained, no accident. good condi-
tion. Contact 99001726
Mercedes Benz E-300, Model
2010-Advantgrade, Color Obsidian
Black Not in Working Condition.
Interested parties can see the car
at Embassy of India premises dur-
ing 1000 hrs to 1600 hrs and send
off ers in sealed envelopes latest
by 15.01.2016 addressed to HOC,
Embassy of India, Muscat.
Contact: 24684577
Hummer H2 model 2006, 178000
km, Full options Number 1 Army
edition.OMR 7200. Contact
-99466773
Chaverlet Epica 2004 model
RO -700, for sale.
Contact 92194205
BMW 318/ 2003 for sale.
Contact 96364990
FOR SALEDozer Kom 355A -3Dozer Kom 155A- 3
Grader Champion 780Excavator PC 400 with breaker
Man green water tanker 5000 IGAll are in good condition
99310448/99612010/95208455
Furnished sharing accommoda-
tion in ruwi near O.K. Center for
non-cooking indian bachelor.
Contact - 98805474
NRI
LOST
CHANGE OF NAME
Plot for sale Shadnagar
Municipality, Mahboob Nagar
District, walk able distance to
existing colonies, national highway
and basic amenities at reasonable
price. Contact – 0091 8686631669
Plot, propeties for sale in prime
location in pune
95272138, (+918390982975)
FOR RENT
WANTED
BUILDINGFOR SALE
MUMTAZ AREA(NEAR RUWI HOTEL)
CONTACT - 99353931
Hall type & Individual Portacabins (100 nos.) for immediate sale in
Muscat area.
Contact 93208398 / 93215830
BULK SALE
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]
MATRIMONIAL
Christian Orthodox girl 24 yrs,
BSC MLT working in Government
Hospital Thiruvalla, seeking suitable
alliance from Orthodox family.
Contact: 99734325 / 99898130
Proposal invited for employed
BSc Nurse in Muscat for her,
Remarriage age 28 years
Christian Jacobite.
Contact: 93262428
Contact 24814222 or 97112510 for appointment
AL RAZI AYURVEDIC CLINIC Near Khimji Mart, MBD Area, Ruwi Our Ayurvedic Treatment includes
Abhyangam, Kizhi Massage, Shirodhara, Vasti , Udwarthnam
50% Discount on full body massage.
Ayurvedic treatment for back-
ache, paralysis, arthritis etc
& massage, All Season (Vaid-
yaratnam). Contact 24475280 /
95371664 / 92504980
www.siddhayur.com
FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know
more about Islam, please call:
99425598, 99250777, 99353988,
99253818, 99341395, and
99379133. For ladies: 99415818,
99321360, 99730723
Orvisit:www.islamfact.com
Ayurvedic treatment for joint
pain, backache, paralysis,
massage steambath,
obesity, Spondylitis,
Ideal Care Ayurvedic Clinic,
18 November Street Azaiba.
Contact: 99639695 / 98342990
GOOD NEWS
Offi ce furniture, fi xtures & electric
appliances for urgent sale.
Contact: 92122705
Used home furniture and household
appliances in good condition
for sale. (Else 3bhk can be taken for
rent along with furnitures.)
Contact: 99738104
Beauty Salon for urgent sale in
Azaiba prime location behind
Al Fardan building. With sponsor
and 1 staff and 1 ready visa clear-
ance. Call: 95318629 / 95169411
3 BHK fl at in Greater Muttrah
Dar Al Maha for immediate sale.
Contact: 95061994 / 96435858
Dental equipments sparingly
used for sale. Contact: 91232778 /
99722457
Exercise cycle for sale.
Contact – 92847957
Full dental unit for sale.
Contact: 00968 92737149
Email: [email protected]
Used Portacabins. Contact: 94521205
Godown Rack sets (shelf).
Contact: 94521205
Luxury villa for sale at Al Hail South
building area 375m land area 323,
6 rooms, 3 halls, 7 toilets.
Contact 99839898
Luxury Apartments in Boucher
(35). Contact - 95056808-
97201688
Mangalorean restaurant at Wadi
Kabir & shop at Ruwi for sale.
Contact: 98428507 / 93655003
Villas in Al Khoud. Contact -
95056808-97201688
3Ton Forklift, Special made for
Oman market, Japanese Isuze
C240 Engine, Cascade side shifter,
High amount exhaust, 3m lifting
height, Solid tyres, One year war-
ranty. Contact: 98883445
Fully Furnished apartments in
Boucher (35) Contact -95056808-
97201688
FOR HIRE
Bobcat available for rent.
Contact 97623299
Low bed Trailer (PDO – SPC)
available monthly / daily for Rent.
Contact: 96633970
Second hand cup lock scaff olding
system required any sellers please
Contact: 99340205
IELTS Coaching (academic) required
nearby wadi Kabir area. Please call
on mobile or msg on Whats up.
Mobile no: 92927880/99012165
One fl ats for rent 2 bedroom
all with bath al Ghobrah north near
Indian school
(hot burger restaurant)
Tel. 9976610
Flat for Rent 1/2 BHK Flat at
Muttrah, near Oman fl our mills,
10 min. from Corniche.Equipped
with split unit ACs, internet points,
free-to-air dish connection, CCTV
monitored, basement parking.
Rent RO.250/350 per month.
Contact: 99229263; 93221054;
95215289
1BHK fl at near Star Cinema 220/-
Contact 99358589 /95570288
Flats in Wadi Kabir. Contact -
94051789-97201688
Flats in Muttrah. Contact -
94051789-97201688
Offi ces in Ghala. Contact
94051789-97201688
Brand new villas in Al Ansab.
Contact - 94051789-97201688
Offi ces & Showrooms in Muttrah.
Contact - 94051789-97201688
Mini Furnished Apartment in
Qurum. Contact 94051789-
97201688
Fully Furnished apartments in
Boucher (35) Contact 94051789-
97201688
1,2 BHK Ghubra R.O 300/-, 325/- &
350/-. Contact: 97799175
Offi ces in Qurum opposite City
Center. Contact: 94051789-
97201688
Single BHK fl at available in Honda
road Ruwi. Contact - 24833972/
24833974/99367448
DRIVING
SITUATION WANT-
ED
BUSINESS
Looking for investor in steel fabri-
cation plant. Contact 98667442 /
98119694
Canadian Consultancy company
(recruitment & immigration) is look-
ing for a partner company in Oman.
For contact 00973 39990830
Low fi rm offi ce in Shatti Al Qurum
looking for an Indian legal advi-
sor has got 5 years experience in
Oman and good contacts with the
big companies and banks in Oman.
Email: [email protected]
We will register LLC. trade license
for foreign investors and do all
actions. Contact: 92833566
Ahmad Osama Al Absi has lost
Jordanian Passport No. M 471455.
Finder please handover to ROP
I Bollina Rama Chandra Rao
(name exactly as in present pass-
port) Son of Bollina Subbarayudu
presently residing at the following
address in Al Azaiba P.B No. 15
P.C No.105 Sultanate of Oman and
having permanent address in India
Flat No. 401, H. No 2.22.170, Plot
176, Vytla Residency, Jaya Nagar ,
OPP KPHB, Kukatpally, Hyderabad
(as per present passport), holder
of passport No. G 8451296 date of
issue 24/04/2008 place of issue
Hyderabad solemnly affi rm and
declare that my Mother’s name is
Bollina Rama Ratna Paripurna for
all purpose. Any objection towards
my name change may please be
communicated to Embassy of
India, Muscat, Diplomatic Quarters,
Al Khuwair, P. Box No. 1727 Postal
Code 112, Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman.
DAILY GUIDEC4 S AT U R D AY, J A N UA R Y 9, 2 0 1 6
SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT
SITUATION WANTEDSIT.WANTED
SITUATION WANTEDSIT.WANTED
Email: [email protected] classifi [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624
ENGINEER/TECH/MECH
ENGINEER/TECH/MECH
MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR
SKILLED LABOR
MISCELLANEOUS
DRIVER
MEDICAL
MEDICAL
ACCOUNT. & FINANCE
ACCOUNT. & FINANCE
CATERING
BEAUTY
DESIGNER
SALES / MARKETING
SALES / MARKETING
ADMIN
ARCHITECT
We are looking for Chief Finan-cial Offi cer, Male 40- 45 years old,
Bachelor of Science in Account-
ancy with 5 - 15 yrs. of experience.
Contact: +968 24702133
Email: [email protected]
Personal Driver for reputed family
in Muscat. Requirements is fl u-
ent in English, valid GCC driving
license, age must be 28 to 35.
Contact: 99466062
Wanted HEAVY DUTY DRIVER for
an Electro-Mechanical Company.
Pl mail resume to
heavydutydrivermuscat@gmail.
com or call 92343611. Local can-
didates need to have an NOC.
Reputed Construction Company
require experienced light Vehicle Driver. Contact 95526871
Looking for an Indian experi-enced house Driver for an Omani
family. Interested candidates may
call: 96203333
Asian Oriental / BBQ cook. Contact: 95529970
Indian Chinese Tandoor cooks required for hiring.
Contact: 95061994 / 96435858
A fast food restaurant in Muscat
required experience:- (i). Social Media service provider. (ii). Part time Marketing and Forward CV :-
Male 15yrs experience as Senior
Accountant with D/L seeking suit-
able placement. Contact: 91176085
Email: [email protected]
28/male/MBA - fi nance/B.Com -
Accountant with 4 years of Dubai/
India experience looking for a suit-
able placement.
Contact 90187483
Part time accountant, up to fi nali-
zation of accounts, looking for job
after 5PM (Location prefers –n MSQ
to AL Hail) Contact: 95694737
Accounts & fi nance Indian male
35 years B.Com M.B.A (F) 7 years
experience valid Oman D/L
family visa N.O.C available.
Contact: 93257426 / 95230114
Email: [email protected]
Chartered Accountant - Indian, 9
yrs + Exp (7 yr in Oman & UAE ) in
Finance, Accounts & Auditing, seek-
ing suitable position in Muscat/
Dubai, Can Join Immediately, NOC
Available , Contact #: 98707434 /
Email: [email protected]
Indian, well experienced in UAE
and Oman, in construction ac-
counts and administration with
own car seek part time/full time
placement. Contact 98598099
Indian Male, 24 yrs, BBM, 3+
years’ experience as an assistant
Accountant & Assistant Audi-
tor, now on visit visa, looking for
suitable placement in Accounts /
Sales / Stores. Contact 93498293
Email:[email protected]
MBA (Banking & Finance) Paki-
stani male-37 yrs, 15 years experi-
ence (12 years in banking Industry
with Omani D/L) Seeking suitable
position, Contact : 93865002,
SENIOR ACCOUNTANT-M. Com
Finance-Indian with 7 years expe-
rience in Finance & Accounts up to
fi nalization. Currently employed
in Oman. Having D/L & NOC.
Mob:94122464,
28 years, female, 4 years experi-
ence in fi nance currently in Oman,
seeking suitable placement.
Contact: 94743790
Part time Accountant with 15 yrs
exp. in Accounts Finance, Tax Au-
dit Management.Contact 95857199
Accounts part time services
available to handle all accounts up
to fi nalization, consulting & audit
works. Contact: 96247295
25 years Oman experienced, who
can handle accounts up to fi naliza-
tion, job costing, timely follow for
receivable & timely settle payable
looking for suitable opening.
Contact : 94070799
Indian male B.Com accountant job
6 years experience in Oman looking
suitable placement.
Contact 95741442
Accountant Indian female, 26 yrs,
B.Com 2 yrs experience in account-
ing, purchase vouchers, bank recon-
ciliation. Contact: 95690207
Email: [email protected]
Indian lady, bachelor degree in
Preparatory Programme (BPP) and
Bachelor of Commerce (BCom),
completed training course in
MS Word, Excel, Power Point and
Outlook from KTI looking for full
time / part time job opportunity
in Oman.
Contact 92437568, 96795853,
Email: [email protected]
MBA (fi nance) one year experience
in Oman, have Oman license looking
for a good job. Contact 94103975
Young 24, ACCA affi liate,
advanced diploma in Accounting
and business, seeking suitable
placement in accounts, fi nance or
audit with valid driving license.
Contact: 92430152
Email: [email protected]
SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, with
13yrs experience, 6 yrs Oman in
manufacturing, trading & contract-
ing Cos, capable of handling all
accounting, fi nance, banking, L/C,
import, export & fi nalization seeks
placement. NOC Available.
Call+968-98932752,
mail:[email protected]
Immediate Requirements for ex-perienced Tailors (Designer wears,
casual clothing). Please call for
interview 99471085
Looking for experienced construction laborers as a subcontractor for a villa
construction in Mawaleh.
Contact: 96203333
Urgently required Medical Staff
only male LAB Technician, Radio Tech, Assistant pharmacist, Dental Tech. Must be with 5 years
experience along with 60% pro-
metric. # 92412429 / 99648532
Wanted urgently lady Doctor GP or DGO for immediate appoint-
ment. Contact : 99310590 Email:
Wanted a female Nurse for a
dental clinic in capital area.
Contact:-99855050
Urgently required General Prac-titioners (male), lab technician, Staff Nurse & Receptionist (female,
Arabic & English speaking) for a
reputed Medical Centre, Salalah.
Email : [email protected]
Required General Practitioners male & female with MOH license to
work in a polyclinic in the Capital
area. Contact 99372860
Required female Nurse with MOH
license dental clinic in Al Khuwair.
Contact: 99010755
Email: [email protected]
Female marketing for medical
centre in Al Khuwair with driving
license. Contact: 99010755
Email: [email protected]
Required experienced Dentist with MOH license to manage den-
tal clinic in Muscat.
Email: [email protected]
Wanted Nurse for a Dental centre
in capital area. Interested may
contact 93431024 or send CV to –
Wanted GP Doctor with MOH
license, job location in Muscat with
good salary and benefi ts. Drop your
cv at [email protected].
Urgently required Lab Tech & Radiologist for medical Center in
ruwi interested candidate kindly
send short CV [email protected]
or cont: 95220350
Urgently required full time female Nurse (with MOH), Receptionist (Omani) for Dental clinic in Muscat
(Ruwi). Candidates in Oman only
need to apply. Contact 93582582,
India Architect (B.arch) with
5 years working experience
available in Muscat on visit visa.
Contact 92774992 ,
Email: [email protected]
Architect looking for freelance
work in (design plans and 3dmax).
Contact: 96041201
Urgently requited Indian Gulf experienced Beautician al Hail,
good salary & allowances.
Contact: 96175350
Required experience Beautician. Contact 99619409
A reputed Interior and Kitchen (Domestic & Commercial) compa-
ny urgently required well experi-
enced Sales & Marketing Execu-tive having minimum3 years of
experience at the related job with
valid Omani driving license. send
CV to [email protected]
An excellent Grade company requires Foreman / Supervisor for their false ceiling division. Min
5 to 8 years experience in han-
dling the projects & execution,
kindly send CV to
Indian male good experienced in
Accounts, ERP Tally 9 & Admin in
India & Oman, presently on visit
visa, looking for suitable placement.
Contact 94834687
Indian male Accountant look-
ing for a suitable placement in
Salalah/ Muscat. More than 20
yrs experience in Accounting job
(upto the fi nalization of accounts).
8 yrs working experience in
Middle East in Dubai, Muscat &
Salalah. Contact 91325029 URGENTLY REQUIRED FOLLOWING STAFFS FOR A LEADING ENGINEERING CONSULTANCY 1. DESIGN ENGINEER ROADS AND BRIDGE - BTECH CIVIL +MINIMUM 10 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE 2. SENIOR QUANTITY SURVEYOR - BTECH CIVIL +MINIMUM 12YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IS CIVIL & MEP 3. STRUCTURAL ENGINEER - MTECH STRUCTURE +MINIMUM 8 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN BUILDINGS 4. ELCTRICAL ENGINEER - BTECH ELCETRICAL +MINIMUM 12 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE5. PROJECT PLANNER – BTECH CIVIL + PSP CERTIFICATION +MINIMUM 12 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE All the above position required Experience in Huge Medical City Construction
REPLY IMMEDIATELY EMAIL :- [email protected]
Staff Nurse required for a reputed
dental centre in Muscat. Send the
CV to [email protected]
28/ male MBA – fi nance /B.com –
accountant with 4 years of Dubai
/ India experience looking for a
suitable placement.
Contact: 90187483 Email:
Well reputed Marble Company looking for
3 SALESMEN Requires minimum 3 years experience
and valid Omani driving license. Interested candidates please
Fax your CV to 24601724 or Email on [email protected]
1. Occupational Health Advisor (with OH qualifi cations & 5 years oil fi eld or relevant experience)
2. Lead Emergency Physician (10 yrs experience in emergency medicine in remote work (occupational) setting. Have ACLS, ATLS, PHTLS & food safety level 4.
REQUIRED
Email : [email protected]
A Leading Manufacturing Company in Muscat has immediate
RequirementLooking for Qualifi ed and Experience Trading Business Development
Manager With Min. 10yrs experience in the
fi eld of Electrical & Building Material Products and should have good knowledge of Local and Export
Market and should have valid GCC / Omani Driving License
Send CVs to [email protected]
A reputed Interior and Kitchen
company urgently required well
experienced supervisor having
minimum 5 years of experience
in Carpentry related job with valid
Omani driving license. Send CV to
A reputed Interior company urgently required Interior Designer having well experience for
self-design, AutoCAD, 3D max,
Photoshop & V-ray
Email: [email protected]
Urgently required Electrical fore-man with driving license. electri-
cian with electrical license for an
electrical company in Muscat.
Contact 93284291
BE Civil Engr - 5-10 yrs Exp
Diploma Civil Engr - 5-7 yrs Exp
Civil Foreman - 10-15 yrs Exp All
must have valid DL send CV to
Crankshaft Grinding Technician, Engine block boring Technician, turner
required urgently for immediate
appointment. call or whatsapp
98898273
URGENTLY REQUIREDA reputed 3 star hotel in Muscat
is looking for a
MARKETINGMANAGERMust possess:
Relevant hotel experienceValid GCC driving license
Strong communicati on skills
Contact – 95020704 operati [email protected]
Sales Ladies wanted for Ladies Boutique. Age: 20-35 yrs.
Al Khoudh. Send CV to
or call 91159905
Urgently required for a reputed
company in Oman (Tyre, Battery
& Lubricant division) Sr. Execu-tives/Executive-5 nos (Sohar, Ni-
zwa & Muscat), Techno Commer-cial Professional-5nos, Driver (Omani)-1no. Required minimum
3-5 yrs experience in the same
fi eld with market exposure hold-
ing valid Omani driving license
or GCC. Kindly fwd your CV’s to
Contact: (+968)93891700
Instrumentation & controls Technician with 2-3 years experi-
ence preferably in water sector and
having valid driving license Send
CV to [email protected] or
call Ph:+968 99450811
Part Time Job Seekers mail your
Salesman require for building
material with driving license &
10 years working experience.
Fax your C.V 24833043.
(Mustafa Hardware Store)
Looking for a foreign staff has
experience in Oman in real estate
fi eld. Contact
Email: [email protected]
Male Sales Executive wanted:
age 24-32 yrs, minimum 2-5 yrs
experience in sales, preferably
in furniture / interior design /
turnkey contracting business.
Salary commensurate with experi-
ence. Any degree with GCC driving
license preferred.
Apply to fax : 24560806
Wanted Sales Executive for
IVMS, experienced minimum 1
year in the same fi eld. Interested
Candidate can email the details to:
A Chemical trading Company is looking for Salesmen with
diploma certifi cate, 3 years expe-
rience, with valid driving license
and a car. Send CVs to
INTERNATIONAL CONSULTING FIRM WISHES TO RECRUIT HIGHLYQUALIFIED ENGINEERS FOR OUR PROJECTS IN SULTANATE OF OMAN
Sr. Electrical Engineers 4 Nos.• Maters/B.Sc Degree in Electrical (Power) with 15 yrs. experience including 5 yrs. in GCC • Constructi on of 400/220/132kV Grid Stati ons, OHTL and UGC.• SCADA/PROTECTION/AutoCAD• Design of Electrical protecti on system complying with latest standards.• Soft ware experience in designing & PMP Certi fi cati on• Computer skills (Microsoft Offi ce) & MS projects program• Knowledge in all fi nancial aspects & market changes research experience• HSE Skills for diff erent constructi on projects.• Light vehicle license is mandatory
Email: [email protected]
DOMESTIC HELP
Looking for housemaid urgently clearance available good salary
yearly ticket. TEL 24446920 /
99238121,
Email: [email protected]
An excellent grade company requires Sales Executive for their
Aluminium division. Min 3 to 5
years GCC experience in the same
fi eld with D/L may kindly send CV to
Indian Female MBA, 3 Year expe-
rience in Admin MIS, Family Visa.
Contact 98234427,
Indian lady, having NOC seeking
admin or accounts asst or show-
room sales job. Contact 94417080
14 years of Gulf experience in HR/
Admin & logistics fl uent in Arabic
& English with D/L looking for
suitable position, NOC available.
Contact: 95824598
Indian male MBA- UK 18 yrs Gulf
exp in Administration/ HR & Pub-
lic relationship. Fluent in Arabic/
English with D/L. Looking for
suitable position.
Contact - 99897280
Indian female Graduate over 6
years of Admin operations experi-
ence looking for similar jobs.
Contact: 94231020
Indian female 29 MBA (HR) BSc
Oman & India, 3 years exp in
Admin & HR seeks suitable place-
ment. Contact: 95619537
13 years Gulf experience in FMGC
& CFD administration dept with
GCC valid D/L looking for suitable
placement. Contact: 93553051
Indian female 27 yrs with 5 yrs
HR /Admin experience seeking
suitable placement with valid
Oman driving license.
Contact: 98236033
Gulf experienced (7 years in UAE)
as Site Administrator/Document
Controller/Site Secretary/Site
Store Keeper in visit visa seek
suitable placement.
Contact 94674031
Pakistani female Graduate plus
Post Graduate diploma in logistics
6 years experience in shipping, of-
fi ce administration and customer
service. Fluent English and very
presentable on visit visa.
Contact: 91528567
Indian female, Masters in HR,
having 4 + years Oman experience
in media management and HR,
looking for openings in HR, Educa-
tion, Admin, Corporate communi-
cations. Contact 98252030
Filipino male with 13 years HR and
Administration managerial experi-
ence. MBA & CIPD holder. Currently
looking for job in Oman. Interested
employer pls call 97728418.
Male Graduate , worked 19 years
experience in U.A.E , Oman , Qatar ,
Saudi, Kuwait in the fi eld of docu-
mentation as a document control-
ler , planning Asst & some part of
admin seeking suitable placement
& ready to join immediately.
Contact: 93220534
Email: [email protected]
Indian Female, MBA-HR having
8+ experience in Administration/
HR, Customer Support, Offi ce Coor-
dinator with good Computer skill,
Now on Visit Visa,looking for suit-
able position. Contact: 90196235
Indian having more 15 years of
experience (7 years in UAE) in
construction as site administrates
for / document controller / HR as-
sistant / store assistant presently
on visit seek suitable placement.
Contact: 92196001/98598099
Wanted Market Research Expert with experience in Feasibility
Studies. Kindly send your resumes
to [email protected] or
Fax us at +968-24792175.
Civil Site Supervisor for telecom
tower projects across Oman. Send
CV to [email protected] or
call +968 9946 7227
HR Manual, Employee Handbook,
Recruitment, Training, HR Consul-
tancy. Are you looking for freelancer
HR professional. # 97914669
Sudanese diploma holder in civil
engineering with experience 5 year.
Tel: 96995670
Accountant, Indian female B.com,
M.com (incomplete) tally, MS offi ce
skills, 8 years experience in Oman
, up to fi nalization seeks suitable
position. Contact: 92712559
Indian female 25 years com-
puter science Engineer with 3 yrs
experience in IT support, seeking
job presently available in Oman.
Contact: 95933507
Email: [email protected]
Indian male 26 yrs accountant,
MBA fi nance having 3 years expe-
rience in Oman with Oman license
NOC available seeking job suitable
positions. Contact: 94282980
Email: [email protected]
Indian male fresh civil engineer-
ing graduate from Muscat College
with D/L seeks suitable position
with employment visa.
Contact: 93121505
Indian male 26 yrs electrical engi-
neer with 3 years of expert engg
looking for suitable employment.
Contact: 92953046 Email: divin-
Marketing executive qualifi cation
B.com MBA with 3 years of experi-
ence in sales looking for suitable
placement. Contact: 91345727
Purchase & Stores In charge – Hav-
ing continues 13 years experience
in a single fi rm, looking for a place-
ment. # 99627427, 96154564
34 years vast experienced in
Oman as Sales & Marketing, any
suitable senior position. NOC
available. Can join immediately.
Contact: 9986 8330 / 9984 8831.
E-mail: [email protected]
Indian male B.Eng. in IT, CCNA,
MCSA, MCSE, 3yrs exp. in IT/
networking/ server support,
valid Omani D/L seeking suitable
placement in IT/Network/Server
support. Contact 92607532
Planning Engineer: B.E (Electri-
cal and Electronics Engineering):
Indian Male 33 yrs with 10 years
of exp. in UAE & Muscat. Skilled in
the areas of project coordination,
planning & procurements. Contact:
00971503529608 Email Id:
SOFTWARE ENGINEER, 24 years,
B.Tech in computer science. 2
Years of experience in technical
support, software development,
networking, troubleshooting and
managing. seek suitable place-
ment. Contact GSM- 98184170
Indian male 25 yrs, Graduate in
commerce, overall 5 yrs exp in ac-
counts/ fi nance fi eld. On visit visa.
Immediately available.
Contact – 92836216 /
DAILY GUIDES AT U R D AY, J A N UA R Y 9, 2 0 1 6 C5
SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED
DESIGNER/DRAUGHTSMAN
CATERING
ENGG. / TECH./MECH.
ENGG. / TECH./MECH.
MISCELLANEOUS
HOSPITALITY
DOMESTIC HELP
Cooks (Arabic Indian) gulf exp
looking job. Contact: 99531802
B.Tech Civil Eng with 3 years
experience in the fi eld of quan-
tity survey skilled in the areas of
Primavera, AutoCAD, MX excel.
Contact: 94853061 Email:
Electrical Engineer (B. Tech) 6
years experience in Oman, exper-
tise in medc/mzec projects, valid
oman D/L. Contact : 99281715
Indian Electrical Engineer Btech,
female 24 seeking job, presently
in oman having 2 year experience
in design and estimation of Ht &Lt
projects. Contact 968 97436557,
Mail id : [email protected]
Civil Engineer 6 yrs Exp in Oman
with license. Contact: 98975528
B. Tech Mechanical Engineer
fresh Graduate, on visit
visa looking for opportuni-
ties. Contact:94743373
email:[email protected]
B.Tech Civil Engineer Indian
male having 1 year experience in
home country, having Indian driv-
ing license. Contact 92367429 /
918801851806
Civil AutoCAD Draughtsman 12
years experience 9 years Gulf
experience. Contact: 93528255
Diploma in Electronics, 2 years
exp in telecommunication.
Contact: 94519571 Email:
telecommunicationvishnumadhull
@gmail.com
Male B.S.C Engineer Civil total 10
years experience 7 years in Oman
2.5 years as Contractor Engr and
4.5 years as Consultant Engr, total
7 years in Oman seeking a job.
Contact: 95540721
Email: [email protected]
Senior Telecom Engineer 4 years
experience in Oman valid driving
license MBA project management.
Contact: 95688953
Email: [email protected]
Male (23) BE Electrical Engineer
looking for job as Electrical Engi-
neering job experience 6 months
in MEP designing & electrical
designing job. Contact 98209070
Email: [email protected]
B.Tech (IT) Indian male 2 years
Oman experience in I.T & Network-
ing, holding Oman Driving License,
presently on employment visa,
seeks for a suitable placement.
Ready to join immediately. NOC
available. Contact: 92462578
email: [email protected]
Indian Civil Engineer 2 yrs exp in
building construction /knowledge
in staad PRO primavera / apostille
attested certifi cate seeking imme-
diate placement.
Contact: 96637494
Civil Engineer (BE) male 3 years
experience (2 yrs in India) seeks
placement, NOC available.
Contact 98639039
Sudanese Architectural Engineer
2 years experience in Oman, Revit,
AutoCAD 3Ds max Archicad
looking for suitable job.
Contact: 94722356
Email: [email protected]
Civil Engineer, 2 years GCC expe-
rience seeking job in construction
& infrastructure industry.
Contact: 97309549
Civil Engineer (Diploma) having
total 11 yrs experience in building
construction looking for suitable
placement having Oman driving
license, NOC available.
Contact 95075365,
Email : [email protected]
Civil structural Engineer 6 years experience Oman license.
Contact: 96380693
Indian male, 26 yrs, having 5
yrs Gulf experience as pre sales
Engineer in IT fi eld, looking for
suitable job. NOC available, having
Oman driving license with own
car. Contact 96929899, Email :
Indian male, Mechanical Engineer
with 6 yrs experience in MEP fi eld,
seeking for a job, on visit visa with
GCC license available.
Contact 98086267,
Email : [email protected]
Instrument Technician (diploma),
Indian male, 24 yrs, 3 yrs experi-
ence in reputed oil & gas compa-
nies, currently on visit visa, seeks
suitable job. Contact: 92007218
Email: [email protected]
Indian male, BE, Mechanical, with
trainee level experience at Galfar &
autoCAD, Creo, Ansys, certifi ed in-
dividual looking for suitable place-
ment in Oman. Contact 91232147,
Email : [email protected],
Mr. Shamil Siraj.
Electrical Engineer: Indian male,
30 yrs having 5 yrs of experience
in industrial automation & utility
maintenance in India (MRF tyres),
holding valid Oman D/L.
Contact 92789995, email :
Civil Engineer 11 years experience
in construction having driving
license & NOC. Contact: 94194399
Email: [email protected]
Male 29 years (BE) MEP Engineer
8.5 years of experience in building
construction. Seeking a suitable
job. Contact -95119765/ Email id
NOC available
Civil Engineer (B.Tech), Indian
male 24 years with 1+years Indian
experience,(Certifi ed in Staad
Pro/ Quantity Survey/ Auto Cad).
Looking for a Suitable position.
Available In Sultanate of Oman
(Muscat) on Visit Visa.
Contact: 92835952. E-mail:
B.Tech (IT) Indian Male 2 years
Oman experience in I.T & Network-
ing, holding Oman Driving License,
presently on employment visa,
seeks for a suitable placement.
Ready to join immediately. NOC
available. Contact: 92462578
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]
Indian Male, IT System Engineer
having 4 yrs of experience in sys-
tem administration.CCNA,MCSE,
Linux. Looking for suitable job.
Contact :91272867
Indian female B.Tech IT with
2 years experienced in HCL pres-
ently on family visa.
Contact: 90357203 Email:
IT Coordinator 6 years experience
in hardware & networking diploma
(2 yrs) in Hardware & net working
on visit visa. Contact: 99610415
Bachelor of Computer Applica-
tions, 27 years, Male, excellent
communication skills in English, 2
years experience as Administrative
Assistant, seeks suitable place-
ment. Contact GSM: 93985563,
Email: [email protected]
10 years Oman experience ICT Sec-
tor, capable of handling large ac-
counts, looking for suitable Senior
Executive position.
Contact: 98987654
Indian female, 28 yrs, MCA, B.
Com, 3 yrs experience in the
fi eld of Computer hardware, ERP
Softwares & windows networking
where planning, implementing
& trouble shooting with multiple
platform of OS Microsoft XP / 7/
on visit visa. Contact 95089170,
email : [email protected]
Communication Network CCNA
fresh Graduate. Contact: 98194924
Indian male MCA, Oracle , orion ,
ERP, 15 years experience , 5 years
in Oman with NOC.
Contact: 95398567
Email: [email protected]
Senior IT Engineer Sudanese male
9 years experience in Govt./ Private
sectors. Contact: 94675984
Senior IT Engineer Sudanese
male 9 years experience in Govt. /
Private sectors.Contact: 94874758
B.Tech (IT) Indian Male 2 years
Oman experience in I.T & Net-
working, holding Oman Driving
License, presently on employment
visa, seeks for a suitable place-
ment. Ready to join immediately.
NOC available.
Contact: 92462578
Hardware & net working, 2 years
exp. Contact: 96244031
Fresher Graduate looking for job
(Electrical & Electronics Engineer-
ing), special course (Simatic P/C).
Contact 97304565
Sudanese Civil Engineer with
5 years experienced AutoCAD
primavera & GIS Arabic & English
language looking for a suitable
job. Contact: 91340584
29 yrs Indian male B.E (ECE) with
more than 5 yrs experience in
Oman with valid D/L.
Contact: 96652145
Mechanical Engineer M.Tech
2 years experience HVAC design
& site Engg revit MEP Auto CAD.
Contact: 90150913 Email:
Indian female, 31 yrs, 7 yrs expe-
rienced as AutoCAD civil drafts-
man (2 yrs experience in Oman)
currently in Oman seeks suitable.
Contact 96789441
Email: [email protected]
Network Engineer BA: CS with
experience CCNA, MCSA.
Contact: 92346191
Civil Engineer 6 yrs Exp in Oman
with license. Contact: 98975528
7 Yrs Exp. PM in Mech. Engg in
the fi eld of Building Const. Oil &
Gas Seeking Job.94625598
Indian male (B.Tech EEE) 31 yrs
having managerial skills AutoCAD
quality control electrical fault de-
bugging 6 yrs experience in elec-
tric fi eld & good communication
skills. Contact: 90181566 Email:
Bachelor Civil Engineer 6 Years
in Oman experience Valid Driving
License seeks suitable placement
Phone 97619722
Email – [email protected]
Road and Construction Engineer with 5 years exp in Oman.
Contact: 97667113
Diploma in Mechanical Engineer-
ing, 36 years, Male, Indian, having
16 years of experience in machine
maintenance & machine break-
down, worked with reputed com-
panies in India, currently on visit
visa seeking suitable placement.
Contact- 99011507
E-mail: [email protected]
Electrical Engineer with 18 years
exp in UAE. Contact: 98148034
Email: [email protected]
Indian Male 23 years B.Tech
Civil having 2 years experience in
quantity survey and site manage-
ment looking for suitable place-
ment. Contact:- 95042656
Diploma in Mechanical Eng piping system in AutoCAD work,
21+ years experience with Driving
license. Contact: 95267113
Email: [email protected]
Mechanical Engineer with 3 Yrs
experience in international Oil
& Gas company looking for job
Contacts: Tel: 90164236 Email:
Civil Engineer (BE) having total
5 years experience in building
construction looking for a suitable
placement. D/L available
Contact# 94450270
Indian female civil engineer B.Tech
having 3 years experience sound
knowledge of software, REVIT STAD
PRO structural detailing currently
on family visa seeks suitable place-
ment. Contact: 95345591
Sri Lankan Engineer (27 Years
old) – B.Sc Engineering (Hon)
Mining / Geotechnical Presently
in Muscat, 1.5 years experience.
Contact 91295802 /
IT
25 years male BA. English ,
Qualifi ed as mast in digital
animation having 5 yrs ex in
character animation specialized
Auto Desk mago and motion
building software knowledge,
seeking suitable placement.
Contact: 97917357
Civil Engineer diploma, 4 yrsexp
seeks suitable position ina reputed
company. NOC available.
Contact – 96789711
Civil Engineer 8 years experience
in Oman as a project engineer for
governmental & private projects.
Contact – 90164912
Hospitality/Hotel/ Restaurants
Dynamic result oriented hospital-
ity professional with 20 years of
international exp. MBA in Hotel
Management, specializing in
Hotel/Restaurant start ups, con-
cepts & Franchise development
with proven records. Seeking for
Challenging positions in reputed
groups as GM/COO/CEO/Business
Head. (NOC available)
Contact: 96059470
BE Electronics, Female with 2
years experience in Oman with
Omani D/L. NOC available.
Contact 95143294
Indian male, Mechanical Engi-
neer having 1year experience, on
visit visa looking for suitable job.
Contact:97416564,
Email:[email protected]
Project Engineer, BSc, 6 years
experience in Oman, building con-
struction Fluent Arabic, English
and good Hindi Release and NOC
Available). Tel: 97858589
Indian male, 25 yrs, Diploma in
Hardware & Network Engineering
having 4 yrs experience now in
Oman, on visit visa seeking suit-
able placement. Contact 98779754
/ 92720311DRIVER
Full time Malayalee House maid.
Contact: 90178404 / 94451344 /
93000935
Experienced Light Duty Driver,
Fluent in English, Arabic Well
knowledge of Oman Areas Seeking
Suitable placement 97950869
Looking for light driving job,
2 years exp. Contact: 91625977
Light duty driver with 3 yrs exp
Pakistani seeks placement.
Contact: 98004139
Bangladeshi male light driver
exp 14 years need job and visa
transfer, release paper available.
Contact: 99165961
Driver looking for a job. NOC
available 95154610
Looking for heavy duty driving
job 5 years experiences in G.C.C,
with heavy duty license.
Contact: 97474978
Light driver Pakistani male 32
years with valid driving license
seeking placement required visa.
Contact: 97106232
Driver with new car looking for
job.contact: 95873286
Indian light driver having 2
years experience in Oman know
language Hindi, English & Arabic
need job. Contact: 97366822
Light driver 6 years exp educa-
tion CO level language English,
Arabic, Hindi looking for offi ce
driver. Contact: 99640986
Looking for job driver with car.
Contact: 99154473
Bangladeshi male 48 yrs, light
driver 14 yrs of exp, need job &
visa. Contact - 98326656
Driver (light & heavy duty) valid
gulf /Indian) looking job.
Contact: 95175192
MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR
Purchase MGR / Transport in
charge 9 yrs exp in Oman having
D/L & NOC join immediately.
Contact: 90187891 Email:
mohammedshariff [email protected]
Indian male, MBA Graduate, GCC
with valid D/L, currently working
as branch Manager in Muscat, 4
yrs Oman experience in Admin &
HR Executive trainer, customer
service, sale supervising account-
ing, fl uent in Arabic, English, Hindi
looking for suitable placement.
Release & NOC available.
Contact 97644108, email :
MBA (marketing) with 17 years
experience in freight forwarding/
logistics industry in GCC & Oman.
Presently working as branch
manager in Muscat. Looking for a
suitable position. Release and NOC
available. Contact: 99856331
Indian, 40 yrs, 16 yrs in Gulf,
Supervisor in steel fabrication
company, seeks suitable placement-
98667442 / 98119694
Indian HSE Manager Grad IOSH &
I Dip NEBOSH with 18 years expe-
rience presently working in Oman
seeking suitable HSE jobs Oman
driving license & NOC available.
Contact: 94401830
Email: [email protected]
The Business Development Man-
ager, Iraqi, Experience 15 Years
Inside and outside Oman following
activities: construction(Very strong
and qualifi ed to bringing business
for civil work Or any type of the
construction work for many million
per year with a good experience in
pricing and collect payment and
cash management of the company &
marketing projects & investments&
tenders & real estate.
Contact 92385033
Indian male M.B.A with 7 years
Oman experience in Insurance
sector with D/L, NOC available
seeking suitable position.
Contact: 99278672
Indian male, with experience in
operations management, informa-
tion security, purchase & stores
mgmt, hold UAE driving license,
on visit visa, seeks suitable job.
Contact 91904541
Email: [email protected]
Indian male 8 yrs exp in Oman
working as housekeeping supervi-
sor in star hotel, seeking for a job
NOC available. Contact – 91753210
Purchase/Planning & Logistics
Manager, MBA (Finance), 14yrs.
Oman Exp. with D/L, NOC avail-
able, looking for suitable position.
Contact : 93826090,
Email: [email protected]
25 years Gulf experienced
Manager in operations, projects,
properties, holding valid Oman
driving license, with NOC, looking
for suitable opening.
Contact: 91283701
The Business Development Manager, Iraqi, Experience 15
Years Inside and outside Oman
following activities: tenders& real
estate& construction & marketing
projects& investments& trans-
portation & Marine services&
companies management& develop
business. Contact :- 92385033
MISCELLANEOUS
Indian Female, 24 Years - MSc
Biotechnology. Worked in Inter-
national Crops Research Institute
For The Semi Arid Tropics for pro-
ject work as trainee. Looking for
suitable job. Mobile: 92619048,
Email: [email protected]
Indian female on visit MBA
(International Business- Market-
ing & Logistics), BE (Computers &
Science Engg.) Trained in SAP-BI/
BW with 1 year experience seek-
ing for job Contact: 90228586
Email:[email protected]
SALES & MARKETING PROFESSIONAL WITH 17 YRS
OF EXPERIENCE IN CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
SEEKS C-LEVEL PLACEMENT. COMMITTED P&L DELIVERIES
COUPLED WITH BUSINESS DEVPT & STRATEGY FORMS
MY CORE.
CALL +968 97912950
B.Tech C.Eng. AMIEI, Electrical Engineer with 5years experience in
the fi eld of electrical power system
(transmission & distribution) area
expertise in design Ele-SLD, prepar-
ing BOQ, LS & estimation transform-
ers switchgear selection installa-
tion testing & commissioning in all
sectors. Contact: 94638744,
EMAIL : [email protected]
Indian female with experience in
Physiology & logistics, currently as
Logistic Coordinator seeks suitable
placement. Contact 96400107,
Email : [email protected]
Graduate, computer literate,
experienced in sales, credit control,
accounts, Omani D/L , seeks suit-
able placement. Gsm 98805474
Diploma in Electrical Engineer-
ing with 6 years’ experience in
Electrical Automation, Program-
ming, Project, Power, Energy
and Supervision in Civil Work.
Currently in Oman and looking for
suitable position, Please contact
94873560/92406652.
Civil Engineer 6 yrs Exp in Oman
with license. Contact: 98975518
MEDICAL
Indian female 27 years, BSC ML
T 3 years experience as lab techni-
cian currently in Muscat looking
for job. Contact: 91849807
Email: [email protected]
10+ yrs experience as Optical
Practice Manager, Diploma in
Ophthalmic Assistant,
BCA seeking for good placement.
Email : udayasuresh87@gmail.
com, 99576403 / 91 9962888824
Dentist Indian female with MOH
license working in Oman since last
2 yrs & worked in India for 5 yrs is
looking for a suitable placement
in Sohar urgently. NOC available.
Contact : 94227073
An experienced Sudanese female Dentist with MOH license look-
ing for job. Contact: 96436517
/97396088
Professional with 12 years experi-
ence in Export industry. Dealt with
markets across US, EU, Latin Amer-
ica & Asian countries for business
development, sourcing & supply
chain in the made-to-order business
inclusive of product development
& marketing. Currently employed
in Oman with driving license. NOC
available. Contact 96931557.
Indian Male B.com, PGDCA &
Tally,14 years’ experience in
Customer Care, Operations, Sales,
Coordination, Accounts & Admin.
Seeking suitable position.
Currently on Visit Visa
Contact – 94871963 or 99440152.
Email: [email protected]
MBA graduate having 6 years exp
in Sales & Marketing, 4 years with
PEPSI, India, having international
driving license permit seeks suit-
able placement. Cont : 95308167,
Email : [email protected]
B.Com male 2 yrs experience in
sales Computer knowledge, seeking
suitable placement. # 99648334
14 yrs MNC Sales /Marketing Man-
ager experience with D/L visa NOC.
Contact: 90205082
Looking for immediate sales & mar-
keting job with 7 yrs Gulf experience
and driving license till 12 Feb 16.
Contact: 99642611
Email: [email protected]
Indian (keralite) male 25 yrs MBA
in marketing & logistics ,2 yrs
marketing exp presently in Oman
in residential visa (NOC could
obtained) with Oman D/L seeks suit-
able placement. Contact :90263368,
Email: [email protected]
MBA ( HR & Marketing), B.Com,
Indian male, 28 yrs, 2 yrs exp. in
Qatar, having Oman driving license,
presently on family visa in Salalah
(NOC available), looking for HR,
Admin (NOC available), looking for
HR, Admin, Assistant Accountant,
Marketing & sales job in Salalah.
Contact 98138376, Email :
Indian male 5 years experience in
Store keeping & driving license, re-
lease available. Contact: 95197065
Indian male, 25 yrs, MBA, Market-
ing with 1 yr experience in Sales &
Marketing looking for immediate
placement. Contact 91945577
Indian male, MBA Marketing
having 2.5 years Sales experience
immediately looking for a suitable
position. Contact: 91415145,
Email: [email protected]
30 yr old experienced available
with NOC & Oman driving license
6+years experience in chemicals
Industry. Contact: 96675065
Indian male B.Com Graduate having
14 yrs Gulf experience in indoor sales
and shop management currently on
visit visa seeking suitable place-
ment in Oman. Contact : 94873251
Email: [email protected]
Indian male, 28 yrs, 3 yrs In Oman,
B.E. Instrumentation, 5.5+ yrs
experience in oil & gas projects,
proposals, EPC, sales & marketing
preferred, profi le – sales & market-
ing status married can join immedi-
ately. Contact 91 9650336344,
SALES / MARKETING
DAILY GUIDEC6 S AT U R D AY, J A N UA R Y 9, 2 0 1 6
Email: [email protected] classifi [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624
SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED
SITUATION WANTEDCARGO
RENT A CAR
RENT A CAR
RENT A CAR
Car available with driver for
monthly, weakly, daily rent.
Contact 96728056 / 98031620
Al Sharouq rent a car. Contact:
99222617
Silver car, car rental at good rate.
Contact: 96166155/93530540
TRANSPORTATION7 Ton/ 10 Ton- Trailer
Local transport- MCT- UAE
Contact96609857
Amir Ali
TRANSPORTATION
TRANSPORTATION
Transportation available Ruwi to
Al Khuwair, Ghubra & Azaiba.
Contact: 91103909
Transportation. Contact
99508282
Transportation. Contact:
99664703
Transportation. Contact
96173326
Transportation. Contact
94510847
Transportation Contact:
99077395
25 - 50 seater bus
with PDO & BP specifi cation for
monthly rent & small car
with driver.
Contact 99839898
Pick & drop anytime in
Al Khuwair. Contact 99764307
Transportation taxi mini bus.
Contact: 93091106
SALES / MARKETING
Graduate, computer literate,
experienced in sales, credit control,
accounts, Omani D/L , seeks suit-
able placement. Gsm 9880-5474
Indian Male 32, MBA (Marketing
& Finance) with 10 years experi-
ence in Marketing of Banking
Products & Insurance Industry.
Seeking for a Job in Oman.
Contact: 93576980, 97750460
Email: [email protected]
Dedicated professional with over
18 yrs experience in sales market-
ing business development & new
product launches with Oman
driving license & NOC with 4 yrs
experience in Oman looking for
suitable openings.
Contact 93575165 / 99254080
Indian male 34 Yrs, Dual MBA
Finance and Marketing with IT
skills, 7+ yrs of experience, looking
for suitable placement.
Contact : 94879615. Email-
5 years experience in Sales
currently looking for a placement.
Contact: 93458869
Indian male, MBA Finance &
Marketing 28 yrs,6+ Exp, with
Driving license, Hospital Phrma
Herbal Marketing, construction
A/c & sales , F&B industry,
Contact : 93379044
Indian male 23 years with 4 years
experience in Purchase and Sales,
graduate in EC, currently on visit-
ing visa, seeking suitable job in
Oman. Contact: 96761020. Email:
Sales & Marketing Executive MBA
with 3 years experience in sales
looking for suitable placement.
Contact: 91345727.
Indian male, 24, MBA Marketing
and HR, I year experience. On visit
visa. Looking for suitable job.
Contact 94014073
Marketing Executive/Merchan-
diser, Omani License, BA 8 years
Experience in Multinational
Groups. Contact 97601343
SKILLED / UNSKILLED
Mason, SH / carpenter, steel fi tter
gulf & Indian exp looking job.
Contact: 95175192
Indian male Senior Safety Offi cer (NEBOSH) 9 years experience, valid
GCC license looking for suitable job .
Contact: 96586672
Email: [email protected]
37 years, Indian male, X- Ray
welder 7 years experience, looking
for job on visit visa now. Contact:
91360190 / 98223683
Electrician, plumber (exp gulf / In-
dian) looking job. Contact 95175192
TOURS & TRAVELS
Indian female BSC IATA, 14 years
exp in travel & tourism in Oman
looking for suitable placement.
Contact: 96433490
Email: [email protected]
TECHNICIAN /MECH.
Instrumentation & controls Technician with 2-3 years
experience preferably in water
sector and having valid driving
license call Ph:+968 99450811
Send CV to [email protected]
MISCELLANEOUS
Indian Female, Diploma in Avia-
tion and Hospitality management
(IATA), Having 4 years experience,
seeking for a suitable Job,
Contact 99104529.
Male B.com with 15 years of expe-
rience in Production, Administra-
tion and Operations Management
seeks placement
Contact: 92369241
Diploma civil Engineer (Main-
tenance/Facility Management)
having 10 years exp. presently in
Oman with Oman driving License.
Cont: 95346983
Mail: [email protected]
Indian male Accountant, 12 years
experience, looking for a full time
or part time job, experience in tally
also. Contact 98983122
Indian male M.com looking for
part time job in accounts including
fi nalization, date entry, fi nancial
guidance please contact:97433387
Indian, M.Com with 20 years Gulf
experience in Marketing Commu-
nications, ATL& BTL branding exp.
with Oman D/L. Contact 93031168
Light Driver looking for job.
Contact:99594946
Electronics Technician , 4 Years
experience as Electronics service
engineer. Knowledge in all type of
Electronics items. Looking for
suitable placement.
Contact 99105043
Chief Accountant looking for full /
part time job. Contact :95598477 /
98803439
Indian female, MBA HR & Finance,
having 1 year experience, seeking
suitable placement. Currently in
Oman. Contact: 96052366.
DAILY GUIDES AT U R D AY, J A N UA R Y 9, 2 0 1 6 C7
SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES
SITUATION WANT-SERVICES
SITUATION WANTEDEDUCATION/CLASSES/TRAINING
SERVICESWe Provide Cleaners,
Offi ce boys, Cleaning Contracts, General cleaning etc.
Al Mudakhir Nati onal Est. LLC Contact : 94277020
Split & window A/c servicing & main-
tenance. #: 93769089 / 95323517
Water proofi ng ABUQABAS-
Contact 99320217/24788722
Catering for Party & Birthday ser-
vice Cnt 97196675
Cleaning & Carpet Shampooing, Ocean Center LLC.
Contact: 99344723
Pest Control Treatments. Ocean Center LLC.
Contact: 99344723
House shifting. Contact:
99657644/98518013
Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with
Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain
Marine Tours contact 98029602,
92808636
We arrange tours & accommoda-
tion at all the beautiful places in
Oman. Contact 99839898
TOURS
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
Al farzdaq Al Fedi Trad and Cont
Maintenance services electric,
plumbing and A/C.
Contact: 96524904 / 94285064
Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles polishing, carpet
shampooing, maintenance.
Contact ABU QABAS- 99320217
/24788722
Marble grinding resurfacing &
ceiling crystallization / polishing
general cleaning of villas & fl ats.
Terrazzo fl oor scrubbing,
ceiling, polishing & buffi ng.
Contact: 98598280 /94134784
MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of
your marble. Contact 24793614/
99314807
House shifting & transporting.
Contact 92490422
GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing,
Contact 99314807/24792998
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]
IELTS & TOEFL
Academic / General
Target Band 8
TQT Institute.
Ph #
24480800 / 99347202
Karate and self defense classes
at Azaiba 18 Nov Street. RO 10 per
month twice a week Monday and
Tuesday 6. 30 TO 7. 30. PM.
CONTACT 98294551
Spoken Arabic class for Non Arabic Speakers & English
class for Malayalam Speakers in Azaiba and Ruwi
• Learn in two months• Satisfaction guaranteed
Tel: 95244310
WEBSITE
WEB, ERP and Business
Intelligence (BI) creation and
management at rock bottom price.
Contact: http//webviewoman
COMPUTER
FOR LADIES
SERVICES
Special off er for ladies only, All beautifi cation for 15 RO. Al Doom
beauty parlour in Ruwi. (Home
service also) Contact 99619409
We provide loading unloading
helper for contracting.
Contact: 94777137
C8 S AT U R D AY, J A N UA R Y 9, 2 0 1 6
DAILY GUIDEEmail: [email protected] classifi [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624
SITUATION WANTEDDINING DELIGHTS