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Mall of Oman set to create 5,000 jobs

RAHUL DASrahuldas@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Around 5,000 job op-portunities will be created once the “Mall of Oman” is complete, said a top official of Majid Al Fut-taim Properties.

The Sultanate’s largest and most comprehensive shopping destination is right now at the design stage.

Speaking to the Times of Oman, Husam Al Mandhari, senior mall manager for the City Centre Mus-cat said Mall of Oman would be the Sultanate’s largest shopping mall and it will be bigger than any other mall.

“Right now 1,700 people are working at the City Centre Mus-cat, so we can easily say that Mall of Oman will generate three times the employment than the City Centre Muscat,” he said.

The project will be built on 157,000 square metres of land and will have more than 350 stores at Bausher.

Around OMR180 million is

being invested to build the Mall of Oman by Majid Al Futtaim Properties, one of the leading de-velopers, owners and operators of malls in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Anchor tenants at the Mall of Oman will include Carrefour, VOX Cinemas and Magic Planet.

Regarding the City Centre Mus-cat, he said that the expansion and refurbishment work are on track and expected to be completed by November 2015.

“There are plans to build a new flyover at Seeb to facilitate access to the mall,” he said.

In the second phase of its 10,000-square metre retail expan-sion, the mall will be welcoming 60 additional new shopping out-

lets, including 12 new high profile international retailers making their debut in the Omani market.

“A large number of brands will be coming for the first time,” he said.

Top-end storesThe mall, which is home to more than 160 international lifestyle brands, will also welcome Virgin Megastore, Bershka, American Eagle, and Koton, in addition to fashion accessories F&F, New Look, Guess Accessories, and Lovisa. Handmade cosmetics Lush will also be entering Oman for the first time.

There will also be a new dining zone with five new casual-dining restaurants offering a variety of

international cuisines, including the Turkish Kosibasi restaurant.

“We are also introducing larger, well-appointed prayer rooms, in-creasing toilet provisions, a moth-er’s room and refurbishing exist-ing toilets,” officials said.

He also said that Majid Al Fut-taim’s redevelopment plans are in line with the growing demand and changing needs of customers.

“Besides that, we now have parking space for more than 2,400 cars,” he said.

The mall recorded a significant increase in footfalls and sales in 2014.

More than 10 million shoppers visited the mall, representing a 7 per cent increase compared to the previous year.

Mall of Oman would

be the Sultanate’s

biggest shopping

mall and most

comprehensive

shopping destination

Online clearances for firms with ‘good record’

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has received more cables of greetings on the 45th Anniversary of the Blessed Renaissance Day (July 23).

His Majesty the Sultan re-ceived greetings cables from

the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Ab-dulaziz Al Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), His High-ness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). >A6

FAHAD AL GHADANIfahadnews@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Companies that have ‘good records’ with the Ministry of Manpower will benefit from the online clearance application services that will be launched next month, according to a reli-able source at the Ministry of Manpower.

“Starting August 23, such com-panies will not have to be physi-

cally present at the Ministry of Manpower building or other authorised offices, such as the Sanad offices, to apply for clear-ances. They can benefit from the online service and avoid standing in queues,” said the source.

The Ministry of Manpower made the announcement on their Twitter account, explaining that the move was a part of their par-ticipation in expanded e-govern-ment services. >A6

B L E S S E D R E N A I S S A N C E D A Y

M I N I S T R Y O F M A N P O W E R

LARGEST: The proposed site of the Mall of Oman.

Sultanate third best prepared in world to thwart cyber attacksSARAH MACDONALDsarah@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Oman is ranked third in the world for countries best prepared for cyber attacks, ac-cording to the Global Cybersecu-rity Index.

Oman came in behind the US, Canada, and shared third place with Australia and Malaysia. Qa-tar was the next strongest Arab country, with an 8th place rank-ing. The index was created by In-ternational Telecommunication Union and ABI Research.

In the report, Oman was cited as a country with some of the best organisational practices thanks to its High Level Cyber Security Strategy and Master Plan, and Comprehensive Roadmap.

Its strengths include the organi-sational structure, legal measures, capacity building, technical and procedural measures, and regional and international cooperation.

“This could be true because of the role of Oman ITA (Informa-tion Technology Authority) and their continuous investment in cyber security,” said Zaid Rufaie, from Fireware, a local IT security company.

The Oman Computer Emer-gency Readiness Team (OCERT) was launched in 2010 to study cyber threats and risks that could harm both public and private in-ternet users in Oman.

Well-preparedAccording to the report, Oman is very active in the field of cyber security and has continuous au-dits and checks.

It also compares itself to other countries to see how well-pre-pared it is.

“Oman also has an agreement with Ernst and Young to conduct a benchmark exercise under the Global Information Security Survey (GISS).

The GISS provides organisa-tion with an opportunity to com-pare themselves with others on

important information security issues and gain insights for mak-ing key decisions through ques-tions relates to security budget, investments, security govern-ance, security effectiveness, ma-turity of security programs, secu-rity environment, and emerging technologies and trends,” reads the report.

Oman is also doing well re-garding IT security education, as the OCERT is working closely with Ministry of Education to introduce Information Security Curriculum in schools. >A6

G L O B A L C Y B E R S E C U R I T Y I N D E X

Mall of Oman

Size comparison (sqm)

Graphics

OmanAvenues Mall

Parkingslots

72,500

MuscatCity Centre 60,500

QurumCity Centre 23,200

Mall ofOman 157,000

2,400

InvestmentStoresOMR 180m

Internationalbrands

160

350

P

Source: Majid Al Futtaim

C7Audi expressive,efficient, sporty

OMANMajlis to play vital role in political arena

2Its legislative powers may be limited but the Majlis Al Shura still has an

important role to play in political process as a voice for people, so voting in the upcoming elections is very important, experts say. Since the 2011 Majlis polls the members have been increasingly vocal and active, debating social issues. >A6

REGIONZarif seeks help from Gulf against terror

3Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called on Gulf neighbours

to cooperate against the common threat of “terrorism, extremism and sectarianism”,. “Any threat to one country is a threat to all... No country can solve regional problems without the help of others,” Zarif said at a news conference. >A7

OMANMore rain expected in Oman this week

1Oman is likely to witness more rain this week, as well as experience high

humidity, according to a forecast by the Directorate General of Meteorology. Rain and thunderstorms with a mix of sun are expected tomorrow through Thursday. Temperatures are expected to be between 31 and 44 degree Celsius. >A2

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

HM receives greetings

A2 M O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

OMANOman to get more rains this week

STAFF REPORTER MUSCAT: Oman is likely to wit-ness more rain this week, as well as experience high humidity, ac-cording to a forecast by the Direc-torate General of Meteorology.

Rain and thunderstorms with a mix of sun are expected Tuesday through Thursday, in addition to high humidity. Temperatures are expected to be between 31 and 44 degrees C for northern regions of Oman, with humidity between 70 and 90 per cent.

Cloudy conditions are antici-pated in the Hajar Mountains and

adjoining regions. Rain is expect-ed on Monday in Rustaq, Ibra, Saiq, Al Buraimi, Jabal Shams Samail, Bahla, Ibri, Nizwa, Mud-haibi, Yanqul, Saiq and Bidbid, according to the Directorate Gen-eral of Meteorology.

Forecasting for the next 48 hours by Oman Met said, “Con-vective clouds development ac-companied by rain and occasional thundershowers, associated with fresh winds, are expected over Al-Hajar mountains and adjoining areas towards afternoon. Chanc-es of late night to early morning low level clouds or fog patches are

there along the coastal areas.”About the sea winds, the pre-

diction said “along the coastal areas of Arabian sea, winds will be southwesterly fresh, and along Oman sea these will be easterly to northeasterly light to moderate. These will vary variably be light at night while over the rest of the Sultanate, it will be southeasterly light to moderate.”

Sea condition will be rough along the Arabian Sea coast with maximum wave height of 4.5 me-tres and moderate along the rest of the Oman coasts with maxi-mum wave height of 2.0 metres.

Rain and

thunderstorms

are expected

in Sultanate

from Tuesday to

Thursday

Mon. 27

Temperature

Condition

Min Max

Partly sunny and warm

38°34°

Tue. 28

Cloudy with thunderstorm

39°33°

Wed. 29

Partly sunny and warm

40°33°

Thu. 30

Morningthunderstorm

39°32°

Fri 31

Sunny andwarm

38°32°

Five-day weather forecast

Source: AccuWeather Graphics

PACDA EXTINGUISHES VEHICLE FIRE IN BARKAPublic Authority for

Civil Defence and Am-

bulance officials extin-

guished fire in a vehicle

in Barka on Sunday. No

injuries were reported.

Motorists have been

cautioned about the

need to maintain their

cars and to be cautious

about the high tempera-

tures that could trigger

fire.—Supplied photo

Temperatures are expected to be between 31

and 44 degrees C for northern regions of Oman,

with humidity between 70 and 90 per cent.

Directorate General of Meteorology

A3

OMANM O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

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Omanis’ count to reach 4m by 2040

Times News Service

MUSCAT: The number of Omanis will reach four million by 2040, a population projection study by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) for 2015-2040 estimates, according to high-fertility assumption.

However, the figures stand at 3.8

million and 3.6 million as per me-dium- and low-fertility assump-tions, respectively.

This translates into an increase of 2.4 million people by the year 2040 as against current figures. Gender wise, Omani male popula-

tion is expected to grow by 69 per cent while females will record a rise of 72%, according to average fertility assumption for the year 2040.

Going by high fertility assump-tion method, the percentage of

Omani children under 15 years of age is expected to reach 30 per cent of the total Omani popula-tion in 2040, while low fertility as-sumption estimates the share to be 25 per cent. Also, as much as 11 per cent of the Omani population will be children under five years (high fertility assumption), against nearly eight per cent according to low fertility assumption.

Youth populationThe study also projects that Om-ani youth (aged 15 -29 years) will constitute about 27 per cent of the total Omanis, marking a three per cent decrease compared to figures for mid-2015.

Further, the number of Omanis in the working age (15 till 64 years) will constitute 64 per cent and 69 per cent, respectively, according to high- and low-fertility assump-tions. It is also expected that Oma-ni females of childbearing age will constitute 45 per cent of the total Omani females in 2040, according to medium fertility assumption.

Throwing details on dependen-cy rates, the study indicates 56 de-

pendents for every 100 persons in the working age by 2040, accord-ing to the high fertility assump-tion; the figure, however, decreases to 45 dependents according to low fertility assumption.

As for the population indices at the governorate level, the study says that the largest projected increase in population during the next 25 years will be recorded in the Muscat governorate where the projected increase reaches 322,000 people, assuming the policy of reducing the number of expatriates will continue. How-ever, the size of the young people category (less than 30 years of age) in Muscat will decrease by 13 per cent by 2040.

Musandam’s slow growthIn contrast, the lowest projected increase in the population is ex-pected in the middle of 2040 in the Musandam governorate with an addition of just 17,000 people.

Muscat and Al-Batinah North Governorates will be home to 41 per cent of the total Omani youth population in the age group 15-29

years, while two-thirds of the Om-ani children under five years (con-stituting 66 per cent of the total) will be residing in Muscat, Al-Bati-nah South, Al-Batinah North and Al-Sharqiyah North Governorates.

Fertility rateGenerally speaking, even as it is assumed that the total fertility rate will decrease over the projec-tion period, the population is set to increase across the three assump-tions. This is called the Population Momentum — the driving force behind population growth, which says that population growth will continue despite declining fertil-ity rates.

The study also shows that the Omani population pyramid during the projection period moves closer towards achieving the demographic window by the year 2040.

It is the stage in which the com-munity reaches its peak popula-tion size in the working age, com-pared to the lowest percentage of dependent population (children and old persons).

The largest

projected increase in

population during the

next 25 years will be

recorded in Muscat

where the projected

increase reaches

322,000 people

Demographic projection Estimated growth of Omani population

Source: NSCI Graphics

2015 2040

Numberof Omanis

Under 5years

2,348,686 4,000,000

Women Men

Growth projection by gender Growth projection by age

72% 69%

30%

0

100

27%

15 to 29years

64%

15 to 64years

Bodies of Haima bus-car road collision victims repatriated to home countryTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Bodies of all those who died in the collision between a car and bus in Haima have been repatriated to their home country India, according to social workers.

“All the bodies, except that of Suresh Arumugam, have been sent to India. Arumugam’s rela-tive came from Dubai on Sunday to identify the body. His remains will also be airlifted today (Sun-day),” said a social worker in Muscat.

Five occupants of the car as well as two of the bus died in the crash on July 18.

South India residentsWhile the bodies of Jinshad Kalathiparambil Jabbar and Shifa Fathima Firos were sent to Kozhikode in Kerala on July 20, bodies of Stephen Herald Joseph John and Dhivakar Manoharan were airlifted to Chennai in Tamil Nadu on July 23.

The repatriation of the bodies

was delayed because these were difficult to identify, social work-ers had said.

Public Authority for Civil De-fence & Ambulance official con-

firmed that the bodies of five victims who were in the car were charred beyond recognition.

Meanwhile, an Indian embassy official said, “We have registered

and completed the formalities. As far as airlifting is concerned, it is the responsibility of the sponsors. Right now, the local government formalities are under process to repatriate the bodies. The bod-ies of the victims will be airlifted shortly,” she said.

Seven deadThe seven who died were Stephen Herald Joseph John, Dhivakar Manoharan, Suresh Arumugam, Sivabharath Santosh Kumar, Basheer, Ahamed Alaudeen Jin-shad Kalathiparambil Jabbar, Shifa Fathima Firos.

Suresh was working as a lab technician in one of the govern-ment hospital since 2009 while Joseph and Divakar were working as X-ray technicians in a private hospital.

R O A D A C C I D E N T

PACP directs suppliers to repair, maintain sold goods

TARIQ AL HAREMItariqh@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: “Suppliers shall guar-antee to repair and carry out maintenance of the products they sell,” according to the Public Au-thority of Consumer Protection (PACP) law.

Stressing the importance of after sales maintenance, in a re-cent tweet the Public Authority of Consumer Protection (PACP) said: “Anyone in violation of prop-er maintenance will be subjected to a fine.” According to the Royal Decree 66/2014 to promulgate the Consumer Law, Article 26 states: “The provider shall guar-antee the repairs and mainte-nance in accordance with this law and its regulations.”

The violator will be subjected to a fine of an amount between OMR100 and OMR5,000.

The Consumer Protection Law makes it clear that the law is meant to protect the consumer, but not all providers should fear being slapped with hefty fines since it does not apply to perish-able products.

The law is applicable only to

non-perishable products such as TVs, watches, vehicles and elec-tronics. As per the law, the provid-er must repair, replace or refund the product if any fault is brought to its notice by the consumer. If the provider fails to do so, then he will be fined an amount equal to the price or close to the price of the product.

Additional punishment may also be imposed by the appro-

priate courts in the form of con-fiscation of the products of the violator, shutting down the store temporarily or permanently and publication of court sentencing in two daily newspapers.

In addition to that, the chair-men, board members, chief ex-ecutives, managers and other supervising authorities will also be punished if any proof is found against them.

C O N S U M E R A F F A I R S

TRAGIC ACCIDENT: The repatriation of the bodies was delayed

because there were difficulties in identifing the dead.–File photo

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

MUSCAT: A sum of OMR68,184 was returned to customers by the Directo-rate of Consumer Protection in North Sharqiyah Gover-norate during the first half of this year.

According to statistics from the Directorate of Con-sumer Protection in North Sharqiyah Governorate, 255 complaints were reported during the first half of this year concerning expired food products, food unfit for human consumption, unjustified price hikes and poor service.

During the same period, the directorate of consumer protection issued 110 fines on account of various viola-tions, including price dif-ferences between projected prices of products versus accounting prices, and sale

of banned products.Those who failed to

present product information such as date of expiry and weight of the product were also fined.

Those who increased the price of some products and services were also fined.

The authority received 89 direct complaints via their call centre during this pe-riod. The PACP carried out all the necessary procedures as per the consumer law and decisions were taken to protect consumers by solving problems at the level of the PACP and by refer-ring violators to the public prosecution.

A total of 63 cases were decided in favour of the con-sumers in court cases with the amount of fines reaching OMR18,640.

Customers get claims worth OMR68,184 in Sharqiyah

Article 26 states:

‘The provider shall

guarantee the repairs

and maintenance in

accordance with this

law and its regulations.’

A4 M O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

OMANOman Air, Riyada pact to aid SMEs

Times News Service MUSCAT: Oman Air has signed a Memorandum of Understand-ing which will offer greater access to the airline’s supply chain for small and medium-sized enter-prises (SMEs).

The Memorandum of Under-standing (MoU) was signed with Riyada, the Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprise Development.

Riyada is a government body established by Royal Decree and entrusted with developing the Sultanate’s SME sector.

The MoU allows SMEs regis-tered with Riyada to bid for con-tracts with Oman Air in a more convenient and efficient way. The SMEs will be registered with Oman Air’s Supply Chain Depart-ment, enabling them to identify and schedule business opportuni-ties with Oman Air via an online portal.

Paul Gregorowitsch comment-ed: “Oman Air is pleased to have

signed this Memorandum of Un-derstanding with Riyada. It will strengthen and diversify Oman Air’s supply chain, support the de-velopment of the Sultanate’s SME sector and increase employment opportunities for many Omani cit-izens. All over the world, small and

medium-sized enterprises are the drivers of every national economy. They are vital to their nations’ prosperity. So we are proud that this MoU will help to strengthen Oman’s SME sector. The resulting business opportunities will have a positive impact on Oman’s econo-

my. They will also help to increase Oman Air’s indirect contribution to the nation; a contribution which totalled more than OMR400 mil-lion in 2014.”

The importance of SMEs to Oman’s economy has long been recognised. With the support

of the government, the sector is growing rapidly, creating jobs and encouraging innovation.

The MoU was initiated by Dr Khalid Abdul Wahab Ahmed Al Balushi, senior manager, govern-ment relations and sustainability.

He added: “In addition to the clear business benefits for both Oman Air and local companies, this MoU makes an important contribution to the airline’s corpo-rate social responsibility strategy. We are, therefore, proud to be sup-porting Oman’s SMEs and help-ing them to create more jobs and increase diversification. Both are major goals for the Omani govern-ment and we look forward to work-ing closely with Riyada to further the aims of the Sultanate.”

The MoU was signed as Oman Air continues its ambitious pro-gramme of expansion. This will see the national carrier of the Sultanate of Oman’s fleet grow by 2020 to 70 aircraft, consisting of 25 wide-body aircraft and 45 nar-row-body jets.

The MoU would

support small and

medium enterprises

(SMEs) development.

The SMEs will be

registered with Oman

Air’s Supply Chain

Department, enabling

them to identify and

schedule business

opportunities with

Oman Air via an

online portal

NATIONAL COMMITMENT: The MoU allows SMEs registered with Riyada to bid for contracts with

Oman Air in a more convenient and efficient way.–Supplied photo

Experts to discuss modernsurveying technologies, toolsTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Bringing some new thoughts in the field of surveying techniques, including the intro-duction of some modern survey-ing devices such as GPS receiver, Robotic Total Station, and the La-ser Scanner, will be the focus of a seminar here.

The Research Council (TRC) will organise a one-day seminar on ‘GNSS and modern survey-ing techniques, with their appli-cation and monitoring utilities’ on Monday. The key note of the seminar, to be held at the Higher College of Technology (HCT), will be delivered by Dr. Lukasz K

Bonenberg, Senior Experimental Officer at the University of Not-tingham in the UK,.

The seminar, open to the pub-lic, will focus on Global Naviga-tion Satellite System (GNSS), the

sources of error in engineering surveys while demonstrating the latest scientific applications, the system’s uses in engineering to de-tect and observe change and dis-tortion, discussing the challenges it may face both on a local or global scale in geographic surveys and also the future of the system.

Dr. Lukasz, during his visit, will also hold meetings, discus-sions and technical and practi-cal lectures. His schedule will also include a site visit and data collection in addition to visits to educational agencies including the Higher College of Technol-ogy (HCT) and Sultan Qaboos University (SQU).

S E M I N A R

Dr. Lukasz K Bonenberg

Times News Service

MUSCAT: In a boost to talented students, Sultan Qaboos Univer-sity (SQU) and German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech) are hosting student participants of the summer programme, ‘Young Explorer 2015’, related to the Oman University project.

The programme, which began

on July 25 and will last until Au-gust 20, targets 220 outstanding students in mathematics at grade nine in the public schools.

The programme aims to provide a good learning environment to improve the students’ academic knowledge and refine their skills. In addition to the morning aca-demic programme which includes lessons in English language, IT and

mathematics, there is an evening programme which contains sev-eral applied scientific activities, cultural, recreational and sports events and trips.

To ensure that the programme is of the highest quality, both univer-sities have assigned teams of in-structors and qualified specialists who have been selected carefully to implement the programme.

A C A D E M I C S

GROWTH AGENDA: The programme aims to provide a good learning environment that will improve the

academic knowledge of students.-Supplied photo

Sports fiestaMUSCAT: Activities of the second stage of the ‘Summer of Sport’ programme, being im-plemented by the Ministry of Sports Affairs began on Sunday with the participation of citi-zens and residents -ONA

S P O R T S A C T I V I T Y

Small and medium-sized enterprises are the drivers

of every national economy. So we are proud that this

MoU will help to strengthen Oman’s SME sector

Paul Gregorowitsch, CEO Oman Air

SQU, GUtech host ‘Young Explorer’ programme

Saudi girl shot Times News Service

MUSCAT: A stray bullet in Musandam killed a girl child of Saudi nationality, according to a reliable source at the ROP.

The source added that inves-tigations are under way.

More details are awaited.

A C C I D E N T

A5

OMANM O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

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Search for missing Emiratis extended

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Search operations have been extended to Taqah area in the Dhofar governorate to trace the two Emiratis who went missing in the sea off Al Dimr in the wilayat of Mirbat in Dhofar governorate, according to an of-ficial of the Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance (PACDA).

“Search efforts are going on in full swing,” the official said, add-ing, “We will continue with our efforts.”

Seven friends, including two Omanis, had gone for a swim when six of them found them-selves trapped in strong currents. Four of the six, who had entered the sea, managed to swim to safe-ty but two are still missing.

Meanwhile, authorities have urged the tourists and locals vis-iting Salalah to abide by the safety rules in the beaches and wadis.

“Some of the beaches and wadis have signboards warning people not to go out into the sea. In such cases, people should not step out to swim,” the authority said.

The authorities also urged tourists and locals to be aware of the currents and tides.

Experts have advised people against going to places having strong currents and asked them to check the depth first.

Recently, an official said that the leading cause of drowning in Oman is negligence. “Some enter the water when there are strong currents, while others go too deep without know-

ing how to swim,” he said.According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the number of visitors to Salalah has touched 88,405 as of July 21.

Four of the six

friends who had

entered the sea,

managed to swim to

safety but two are

still missing

RESCUE MISSION: The two Emiratis went missing in the sea off

Al Dimr in the wilayat of Mirbat in Dhofar. – PACDA

A6

OMANM O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

We don’t have the power to cast a vote of no-confidence in a minister

but the article 58-43 gave us the power to question the ministers for any

passing of law or negligence or wrongdoing, which we have done

Tawfiq Al Lawati, Majlis Al Shura member for Muttrah

Voting for Majlis vital for strengthening it

SARAH MACDONALDsarah@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Its legislative powers may be limited but the Majlis Al Shura still has an important role to play in Oman’s political process as a voice for the people, so voting in the upcoming elections is very important, experts say.

Since the 2011 Majlis Al Shura elections the members have been increasingly vocal and active, de-bating social issues and making recommendations.

The Majlis Al Shura’s effective-ness is limited by current regula-tions which don’t allow it to exer-cise legislative power well but it is still gaining attention for trying to hold ministers accountable and for some of its proposals.

Impressive steps“What people need to do and why these elections are important is that even though it’s not a full legislative institution, it has tak-en some impressive steps since 2011. You’re starting to see more confidence among the members to challenge different ministers,” says Dr Leon Goldsmith, from SQU’s Department of Political Science.

A number of ministers have been called upon to answer ques-tions, including the Minister of Higher Education, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Oil and Gas, and the Minister of Finance.

Though the ministers often provide written responses rather than facing the Majlis Al Shura in person, they are still questioned,

says Majlis Al Shura member for Muttrah, Tawfiq Al Lawati.

“Basically this is about raising questions, demanding the attend-ance of a minister to answer cer-tain questions. We don’t have the power to cast a vote of no-confi-dence in a minister but the Article 58-43 gave us the power to ques-tion the ministers for any passing of law or negligence or wrongdo-ing, which we have done,” Al La-wati explains.

The Majlis Al Shura has also de-bated many important topics dur-ing its past mandate and come up with proposals on for job seekers, for marriage loans, for housing complexes, for banning alcohol and for regulating the mining and quarries, among other things.

Concerns of Omani peopleThough they are not binding and need to be accepted by the govern-ment, they still reflect the needs and concerns of the Omani peo-ple, says Al Lawati.

“I find the Majlis Al Shura over the past three years has done a great job. They have addressed significant issues. They have taken up matters that are of im-portance to the average member of the public. They have their own views regarding certain legisla-tion, certain public challenges. They have worked very hard” says Ahmed Al Mukhaini, a lawyer and political analyst.

He says the Majlis Al Shura is a place to discuss the needs of the country, such as infrastructure, education and business legisla-tions, and question the results of

the government’s decisions. “For these questions we need to

create a partnership between the people and the government and the people who are in the govern-ment should be accountable. The role of the Shura Council is basi-cally they are holding these peo-ple accountable and questioning them,” he explains.

Strengthen ShuraAl Mukhaini says that rather than dismiss the Majlis Al Shura as being ineffective because it lacks legislative powers, people should help strengthen it or they may risk it becoming irrelevant.

He says people must remember that they live in a monarchy, not a democracy and since they have been provided with the Majlis Al Shura as a forum to have their voices heard, they should make use of it.

“When we are provided with the opportunity, we have the choice: either to participate and grow this right and evolve this right, or stay numb and then we risk losing this right,” he says.

Goldsmith sees the Majlis Al Shura as a part of a long-term process of slowly granting more power to the people. It began with the formation of the State Council in 1981 and has steadily evolved, resulting in the first general elec-tions for the Majlis Al Shura elec-tions in 2003.

“This is not, like we see in other cases, a facade-like institution. There is a very clear trajectory. In my view, what we’re starting to see is the beginning of a bottom-up process,” Goldsmith says.

Political processA political process involving the citizens requires an educated, united and mature society, so since 1970 the emphasis has been on education and socio-economic development to achieve that goal, Goldsmith explains.

“They were concerned that if they instigated these representa-tive politics at the early stages the country was still very fragile in terms of the different ethnic,

tribal and sectarian groups. If you had an immediate implementa-tion at that time you would have fragmentation and a difficult time making the country cohesive,” he says.

While other Arab countries have tried applying a Western-style democracy, most have failed, Goldsmith says. Oman has an advantage since it is pursuing its own, indigenous form of political participation.

“This is part of Omani tradi-tions, where they would elect the imam. Then [the imams] were obliged to consult widely with the different sheikhs and the wa-lis and the different parts of the imamate. There is a tradition of Shura, or consultation,” he says.

Help shape the futureAl Lawati says people need to get involved in politics so they can help shape the future of Oman, especially its economy, which is facing challenges due to the drop in oil prices. He says the Majlis Al Shura is a place to discuss the needs of the country, such as in-frastructure, education and busi-ness legislations, and question the results of the government’s deci-sions.

“We should understand that the people need to participate and de-cide on what are their priorities,” he said.

Casting ballotsGoldsmith says citizens who are eligible to vote should cast their ballots as a way to make their voices heard and to be entitled to an opinion on the Majlis Al Shura itself.

Even if none of the candidates are quite what one is looking for in a representative, there is still value in voting and holding the elected members to account.

“Don’t just sit back and com-plain that this member doesn’t represent me. That’s not how democracies should work. Take those opportunities and hold them to account. Support the po-litical process. They can’t say any-thing if they don’t vote,” he says.

Majlis Al Shura’s effectiveness is limited by

current regulations which don’t allow it to

exercise legislative power well but it is still

gaining attention for trying to hold ministers

accountable and for some of its proposals

DEBATING BODY: Majlis Al Shura member for Muttrah Tawfiq Al Lawati, left, and Dr Leon Goldsmith, from SQU’s Department of Political

Science. -Supplied photo

His Majesty receives

thanks from Saudi

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qa-boos bin Said has received a cable of thanks from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of the King-dom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in reply to His Majesty’s condolences cable on the death of Princess Madawi

bint Mish’al bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. In his cable, King Salman ex-

pressed his thanks for His Majesty the Sultan’s generous feelings and sincere prayers, praying to Allah the Almighty to rest the deceased’s soul in peace and protect His Maj-esty against all harms. -ONA

C A B L E

Renaissance DayHis Majesty the Sultan has also received greetings from His High-ness Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jabir Al Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, His Majesty King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, King Abdul-lah II of Jordan, King Mohammed VI of Morocco, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President, Prime Minister and Rul-er of Dubai, Prince Mohammad bin Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, KSA Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Min-ister and Interior Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Dep-uty Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan. His Majesty also received cables of greetings from their highnesses, ministers, advisors, command-

ers of the Sultan’s Armed Forces, Royal Oman Police and other secu-rity units, honourable members of the State Council, members of the Majlis Al Shura, undersecretaries, judges, the Omani ambassadors, heads of the diplomatic missions in the Sultanate, representatives of the international organisations and authorities, sheikhs, dignitar-ies and citizens. In their cable, they expressed their sincere greetings along with their best wishes of good health, welfare and long life to His Majesty the Sultan, hailing the great achievements made in the Sultanate under the wise lead-ership of His Majesty, praying to Allah the Almighty to protect His Majesty and grant him success to achieve the aspirations of his peo-ple and nation. -ONA

G R E E T I N G S

HM receives thanks

from Kazakhstan

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qa-boos bin Said has received a cable of thanks from President Nursul-tan Nazarbayev of the Republic of Kazakhstan in reply to His Majes-ty’s greetings cable on the occasion of his birthday.

In his cable, President Naz-arbayev expressed his utmost

thanks for His Majesty the Sultan’s greetings.

Nazarbayev affirmed that the mutual cooperation will boost the interest of the people of countries, wishing His Majesty the Sultan good health and success and the Omani people further progress and prosperity. -ONA

B I R T H D A Y

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Ministry’s link for online applicationsThe announcement added that the website of the ministry offers a link for online applications and eligible companies can process all paper work, including payments, through the link.

“By good records, we mean that the companies should have no vi-olations. They should have abided by the ministry regulations and maintained the required Omani-sation percentages. They should have registered staff in the social security system,” said the source.

He added that such companies will obtain a card that will entitle them to benefit from the special

services offered by the Ministry of Manpower.

Mohammed Hassan Al Ansi, vice-chairman of the Committee of Logistics and Transportation Affairs at the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), said that although the move sounds positive on the surface, in reality it will have negative effects that will be felt throughout the Sultanate’s economy.

“Basically, big companies will benefit from this rule because they will be the companies with the good records. The small to medium enterprises, SME com-

panies, will have to pay a price for that,” said Al Ansi.

He added that implementing online services for companies will negatively affect the Sanad offices, which are part of the country’s economy. Therefore, such amove might affect the Sultanate’s econ-omy in the long run, according to Al Ansi. “The Ministry of Man-power has to think again about implementing such services and come out with ways to involve the SME companies so they can still benefit from the private sector companies,” added Al Ansi.

Responding to the announce-

ment, Ali Al Bahri, who owns a company, welcomed the Ministry of Manpower’s move, saying that such consideration for companies with good records is a reward. “This encourages other compa-nies to abide by the laws and fol-low the Ministry of Manpower’s regulations,” said Al Bahri. He added that he had not received the card allowing his company to benefit from the special service provided by the ministry, but he is working hard to correct the com-pany’s situation and follow the regulations to clean up his com-pany’s records.

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High cost of cyber crimesOman also has about 350 public sector professionals certified un-der internationally recognised certification programmes in cy-ber security, the report stated.

Oman also has over 10 partner-ships with countries and organi-sations to facilitate sharing cyber security assets, and it has partici-pated in numerous international conferences on cyber security, even hosting number of them it-self.

At the International Telecom-munication Union’s (ITU) Arab

Regional Cyber Security Center in Muscat in March, Dr. Salim Sultan Al Ruzaiqi, CEO of the ITA spoke about the importance of be-ing prepared for cyber attacks.

“Statistics show cyber crimes cost the world’s economy around $445 billion every year and S$150 billion for the loss of per-sonal information such as sto-len credit card information,” Al Ruzaiqi said, adding that in 2014 the Kaspersky Antivirus Com-pany reported that it deflected 6.2 billion viruses on the PCs and

smartphones, one billion more than in 2013.

In an interview with Times of Oman in February, Rajat Mo-hanty, CEO of Paladion Networks Private Limited, a Bangalore-based IT company that special-ises in protecting information, said cyber attacks on information or infrastructure are becoming more sophisticated and harder to defend against, too. Fixed defence systems no longer work well and instead the focus is on increase monitoring for potential threats.

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REGIONM O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Toll in Egypt Nile boat crash rises to 36CAIRO: Rescuers recovered sev-en more bodies from the Nile after a party boat collided with a cargo ship earlier this week, raising the death toll to 36, Egyptian officials said on Sunday.

The accident, the deadliest such incident on the Nile in years, oc-curred late Wednesday when the victims were celebrating an engagement on a vessel that was struck by a cargo ship.

The captain of the cargo boat and his assistants were arrested following the accident in the War-raq district north of Cairo. They have been charged with man-slaughter. “We have recovered 36 bodies and the majority of the victims are children and women,” General Magdi Al Shalaqami from the interior ministry told AFP, raising the death toll from an ear-lier figure of 29.

Rescuers were still search-ing for more bodies, he said, with search operations expanded to other provinces.

Health ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar said among those dead were 20 children, some aged as young as four.

DisciplineIn a meeting on Sunday the cabinet took several decisions “in order to achieve discipline on the Nile”, a government statement said.

The cabinet banned all night-time movement of cargo ships on the Nile in and around Cairo until September, the statement said.

It banned use of loud speakers on vessels hired for private cere-monies and on ferries transporting people. The cabinet also decided not to build new berths along the river. The Nile, which runs along the length of Egypt, is dotted with cargo ships, party boats and fishing vessels.

In 2011, at least 22 people drowned in southern Egypt’s Beni Suef province when a bus they were in fell into the Nile from a ferry which crashed into the river bank. — AFP

T R A G E D Y Zarif calls for cooperation against ‘terror’

KUWAIT CITY: Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday called on Gulf neighbours to cooperate against the common threat of “terror-ism, extremism and sectarian-ism”, but insisted that Tehran’s regional policy will not change.

“Any threat to one country is a threat to all... No country can solve regional problems without the help of others,” Zarif said at a news conference hosted by the Iranian embassy in Kuwait.

“Our message to the countries of the region is that we should cooperate to face the common threat,” Zarif told reporters after meeting Kuwaiti officials on his first foreign trip since the nucle-ar deal with world powers.

Support“Iran has always supported the people of this region in confront-ing the common threat which is terrorism, extremism and sec-tarianism,” he said.

However, Zarif also insisted that in order to spur cooperation

in the region, it was up to other states to change their policies, not Iran. “What is needed is not a change in Iranian policy but a change in the policy of some countries that want conflict and war in this region,” Zarif said.

Zarif earlier met His Highness Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah and his Kuwaiti counterpart, Sheikh Sabah Al Khaled Al Sabah, who was not present at the press conference.

Zarif ’s tour will also take him to Qatar and Iraq.

The nuclear accord between Iran and Western powers, struck on July 14, imposes certain controls on Iran’s nuclear pro-gramme in exchange for a lifting of crippling economic sanctions.

Ahead of his Gulf visit, Zarif said in a statement posted on his ministry’s website late on Friday that Tehran would continue sup-porting its allies in Syria and Iraq to fight against militant group IS.

Asked if Iran will change its policy in Syria and Iraq follow-

ing the deal, Zarif said Iran has been at the forefront in fighting against the IS militant group and Al Qaeda, and its timely interfer-ence prevented the fall of Bagh-dad and Arbil to IS.

Echoing that message in a speech earlier on Sunday, Ira-nian President Hassan Rouha-ni said on a visit to Iran’s Kurd-istan Province: “The Iranian nation supports all oppressed nations.”

“If it wasn’t for Iran, Erbil and Baghdad would have also fall-en to the terrorists (of Islamic State) ... Just as we defended Da-huk, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah (in Iraqi Kurdistan), if any country in the whole region is a victim of aggression, the Iranian nation will defend the oppressed,” Rou-hani added.

Zarif will return to Tehran next week where he will host EU foreign affairs chief Feder-ica Mogherini before meeting his French counterpart Lau-rent Fabius. — Agencies

Our message to the

countries of the

region is that we

should cooperate to

face the common

threat, said Iran’s

foreign minister on

his trip to Kuwait

The accident, the deadliest such incident on the

River Nile in years, occurred late Wednesday

when the victims were celebrating an engagement

on a vessel that was struck by a cargo ship.

MEETING: His Highness Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad

Al Jaber Al Sabah, right, with Iran’s Foreign Minister Moham-

mad Javad Zarif, left, in Kuwait City, on Sunday. – AFP/HO/KUNA

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INDIAM O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Doctors’ white coats, neckties spread dangerous infectionsNEW DELHI: The ever-present mobile phones are a source of spreading infections in health care settings, as they are almost never sterilised.

New evidence also suggests that the familiar white coat and neckties that physicians and doctors wear in India should be banned, as they are also potential sources of infection.

Diseases spread through such routes are called ̀ hospital acquired infections’ and such illnesses are really hard to treat as these germs are usually very hardy as they have survived the hostile hospital envi-ronments.

Studies indicate that even the ubiquitous mobile phones also tend to harbour infections as they are almost never disinfected by health care workers. A recent Aus-

tralian study found that five per cent of the mobile phones they analysed were source of disease causing bacteria.

Mobiles since they come in

close contact with the body be-come infected with germs.

Most doctors it seems wear white coats and neckties more like ornaments to look ‘professional’ a

study suggests. “Do doctors need to wear white coats at all?” ques-tions Edmond Fernandes, working at the Department of Community Medicine,Yenepoya Medical Col-lege, Mangalore.

Writing in the latest issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), he says “Today we know white coats harbour potential contaminants and contribute considerably to the burden of disease acquired in hos-pital by spreading infections”.

Often potent `superbugs’ pass from patient to patient as the health care workers go about their daily jobs.

Simple hand washing can re-duce chances of infections but those bacteria and viruses that are hitched onto the physician’s clothes are easy to pass on to other patients as doctors make their

rounds in hospitals. Making a plea to shed the white coats, Fernandes says since in Indian hospitals changing areas are rare so most doctors tend to wear white coats outside hospitals as well or often leave them on chairs, often stu-dents wear them even to the caf-eteria and shopping malls.

Discourage white coatsGiven India’s tropical climate, common sense indicates that wearing of white coats should be discouraged, especially long-sleeved ones as they are most prone to be infected.

An estimate in the New Eng-land Journal of Medicine suggests that in USA alone annually some 1.7 million people get affected by hospital acquired infections and out of these some 99,000 annually

succumb to such infections. Comparable Indian estimates

are hard to come by but hospital based infections are frequent in India.

Looking at the scenario the BMJ report seeks that the Indian minis-try of health should “ban doctors medical students from wearing white coats, to reduce the harm and cost that results from hospital acquired infections”.

Protocols need to be put in place that mandates doctors and nurses sterilise their mobile phones.

Howsoever will doctors be willing to disinfect their mobile phones and would they change their traditional attire and more importantly will the patients ever take their physicians to be serious professionals minus their white coats. -PTI

I N F E C T I O N T H R E A T S

SOURCES OF INFECTION: Diseases spread through such routes are called ‘hospital acquired infections’ and such illnesses are really hard to treat.

Yakub’s wife calls for commuting of death sentence

MUMBAI: Rahin Memon, the wife of Yakub Memon, the only death-row convict in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, has appealed to the judiciary and the govern-ment to commute her husband’s capital punishment to life term.

“I have full faith in the judici-ary. I ask the Government of In-dia for pardon for Yakub so that his death sentence can be com-muted,” she said.

Yakub Memon is scheduled to be hanged on July 30 at Nagpur Central Prison after his curative petition was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Yakub has also submitted a fresh mercy petition to the Maharash-tra governor.

Rahin said she believed that her husband was innocent and had willingly surrendered to the authorities. Rahin said she would be happy even if he was allowed to serve a life sentence.

“I personally believe that (only) someone who is innocent will surrender. But still, if they feel he is not innocent...they

should consider that he has sur-rendered and show him some le-niency,” she said.

The Memon family, Rahin claimed, had not fled India after the blasts (contrary to CBI’s case)

but had left the country before the explosions rocked the west Indi-an city of Bombay, as the city was then known, to celebrate Eid in Dubai. “We always went to Dubai for Eid,” Rahin said. -PTI

Yakub Memon is

scheduled to be

hanged on July 30

at Nagpur Central

Prison after his

curative petition

was dismissed by

the Supreme CourtAPPEAL FOR PARDON: Rahin Memon arrives in Nagpur to meet her husband Yakub Memon. -PTI

MUMBAI: Bollywood super-star Salman Khan on Sunday created a storm by describing Yakub Memon as innocent but was forced to withdraw his tweets and tender uncon-ditional apology following outrage from political parties and social media.

Basking in the glory of his film Bajrangi Bhaijaan’s success, the 49-year-old actor posted about a dozen tweets from about 2 am early on Sunday in which he said

the wrong man is being hung for the crimes of his brother Tiger Memon who was described by the actor as a ‘lomdi’(fox) who ran away.

“Get tiger(Tiger Memon), hang him. Parade him not his brother,” the actor had tweeted. Khan said.

“Been wanting to tweet Tis fr 3 days n was afraid to do so but it involves a man’s n family. “1 innocent man killed is killing the humanity,” the actor said. -PTI

Salman withdraws his tweets

Cash seized from wife of Vyapam whistleblowerINDORE: The wife of Vyapam scam whistleblower Prashant Pandey was briefly detained by police, which seized Rs 996,000 from her alleging it to be ‘hawala’ money.

Flaying the police action, Prashant Pandey charged that his family was being harassed at the behest of the state government after the Supreme Court ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into Vyapam scam and the mysterious deaths related to it.

Superintendent of Police O P Tripathi said that acting on a tip-off about hawala transactions at Laxmi Motors, a private firm situ-ated near Jawaharlal Nehru Sta-dium, police kept a

vigil and noticed Meghna Pan-dey -- Prashant’s wife -- coming out of the firm’s office with a bag on Saturday.

Meghna works at the firm as

an HR manager. According to the SP, the women police offic-ers searched her bag and alleg-edly found Rs 996,000 in cash. She couldn’t give a satisfactory expla-nation about the money so it was seized under section 102 of the Criminal Procedure Code, he said.

Meghna was later allowed to go. Police had informed the Income Tax Department and other author-

ities and further probe was on, the SP added.

Prashant Pandey said the action was illegal and the money seized was their own hard-earned money.

“My family is being harassed at the behest of the state government after the Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe into Vyapam scam and the mysterious deaths related to it,” he said.

His family had earned this mon-ey by working hard for ten years and it was mentioned in the IT re-turns, he said. “We live in a rented flat. We were supposed to give Rs1 million to a builder to book a flat,” he added.

Pandey had provided several documents regarding the Vyapam scam, which is about the wide-spread rackets in recruitment and professional courses entrance tests conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examina-tion Board. -PTI

F L A Y S P O L I C E

Opposition leaders pay tributes to those who died after their names figured in Vyapam scam.

I have full faith in the judiciary. I ask the Government of India for pardon for Yakub so that his death sentence can be commutedRahin Memon, Yakub Memon’s wife

A9

INDIAM O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

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Accident victims to get ‘cashless treatment soon’

NEW DELHI: Shocked over one fatality every four minutes in road accidents in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said his government will soon implement a road safety policy and cashless treatment for accident victims.

In his monthly ‘Maan Ki Baat’ radio programme, Modi said: “The statistics on road acci-dents in our country are shock-ing. There is an accident every minute. And... there is a death every four minutes.” In view of this, the government would soon

introduce a Road Transport and Safety Bill in parliament and work to implement the National Road Safety Policy and a Road Safety Action Plan, he said.

The prime minister said there would soon be a nationwide toll free number 1033 to provide in-formation on accidents across the country. Official statistics show 15 to 16 people in road accidents in the country every hour or near-ly 380 every day. The daily toll in-cludes 16 children.

A total of 137,000 people be-came road accident victims in 2013. The prime minister also said that development of the country’s northeast was not pos-sible with officials sitting in Del-hi. He vowed to depute officials to the region to find solutions to problems faced by the people.

“Is it possible to develop the northeast while sitting in Delhi? No. Officials will visit and see how it is to be done.

“The DoNER (Development of Northeastern Region) ministry has taken a significant decision to send teams of central government officials to the northeast and hold

week-long camps there,” he said.The ministry is responsible for

planning, executing and moni-toring the central government’s development schemes in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Mizoram, Sik-kim and Meghalaya.

“These teams will hold camps in districts and villages, meet lo-cal officials, people’s representa-tives and citizens. They will listen to their problems and help the government to find their solu-tions.” In his talk, Modi praised efforts made towards keeping In-dia clean.

He congratulated government officials from Harda district in Madhya Pradesh for their ‘Maly-udh’ (a sanitation programme).

“They have given a new mean-ing to ‘Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan’. A brother gifting his sister a toilet on ‘Raksha Bandhan’, and the one who does so becoming ‘brother number one’ has given a new di-rection to the (cleanliness) mis-sion,” he said. Speaking on issues like electricity, Modi said his gov-ernment was committed to pro-viding power to all villages. - IANS

Government will

soon introduce a

Road Transport

and Safety Bill in

parliament, said the

prime minister

Nation pays tribute to martyrs, heroes on Kargil Victory DayNEW DELHI/DRASS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sun-day led an indebted nation in pay-ing tributes to the martyrs and he-roes of the 1999 kargil war, saying it was not only fought on the border but every village and city contrib-uted to the fight against the enemy.

“In Kargil, each of our soldiers proved more than a 100 of the en-emy. I salute the brave soldiers

who thwarted the evil designs of the enemy without caring for their own lives. The Kargil war was not fought only on the border but every village, every city contributed to it,” the Prime Minister said in his radio programme ‘Mann ki Baat’, coinciding with the 16th anniver-sary of the Kargil Vijay Divas be-ing celebrated on Sunday. “This war was fought by those mothers

and sisters whose sons and broth-ers were in the battlefield. It was fought by those girls, who had just been married, those fathers who gave their sons and felt young themselves, and those sons who had not even learnt to walk prop-erly holding the finger of their fa-thers. It is because of their sacrific-es that India can move in the world holding its head high,” he said.

Defence Minister Manohar Par-rikar, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha and Navy Vice Chief P Murugesan also paid tributes to the martyrs by laying wreaths at the Amar Jawan Jyoti in the na-tional capital.

As the nation paid solemn trib-utes to 490 jawans and officers who laid down their lives in the

line of duty during the over two month-long conflict, the Army sought to assure the citizens that with its capabilities having grown “exponentially” since the Kargil war, it was confident of protecting the country’s frontiers.

“We are fully confident on both borders (with Pakistan and China). There used to be only a brigade before the Kargil war.

Now there is a full division.” “So, I just want to tell everyone,

tell the nation, please be confident. We are there on the borders and our capability exists to do well,” Northern Indian Army Com-mander Lt General D S Hooda told reporters in Drass, a key bat-tleground during the conflict, after laying a wreath at the kargil War Memorial. - IANS

REMEMBERED

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PAKISTAN M O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

FLASH FLOODS INUNDATE PESHAWARResidents walk in floodwater caused by heavy rainfalls in Peshawar, on Sunday. Flash flooding caused by torrential monsoon rains has affected hundreds of

thousands of people, according to aid agencies, with further downpours expected in the coming days. — Reuters

US embassy local employee gunned down in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: A local employee of the US embassy in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad was shot dead by an unidentified gunman on Sunday, police said.

The motive for the shooting was unclear. Police said the victim was a member of the Ismaili minor-ity community and was working in the US Drug Enforcement Admin-istration in the embassy.

Police identified the victim as Iqbal Baig, a resident of G-9/1 dis-trict in Islamabad, and told AFP

the attacker used a pistol.Baig was shot at 2am outside

his home as an unknown number of accomplices waited in a nearby parked car.

“One of the armed attackers opened fire on Iqbal Baig. One bul-let hit him on the left side in the chest and exited on the right side,” Khalid Mehmood Awan, a senior

police official at the scene, said.“Iqbal Baig was working in the

US Drug Enforcement Adminis-tration for 12 to 13 years and was from the Ismaili sect. His brother

told us that he has received threats in the recent past,” Awan added, without detailing the nature of the threats.

The attackers, who fired shots in the air after the attack, managed to flee.

“We have collected some evi-dence from the site including a 9mm pistol in the nearby area,” Awan added.

He said police were investigat-ing several possible motives, in-cluding attempted robbery, sectar-ian killing and extremism.

No claim madeNo militant group has claimed the attack. No one at the US embassy in Islamabad was immediately available for comment.

Sectarian violence has claimed thousands of lives in the country over the past decade.

Forty-five Ismailis were massa-cred in the southern city of Kara-chi in May in the first attack in the country claimed by the IS group.

The worst atrocities, however, have been in the southwestern province of Balochistan. — AFP

The motive for the

shooting was unclear.

Police said the victim

was a member of

the Ismaili minority

community and was

working with the US

Drug Enforcement

Administration

SHOOTING: Police identified the victim as Iqbal Baig, a resident of G-9/1 district in Islamabad, and told

AFP that the attacker used a pistol.— Express Tribune

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

PTI urged to stop maligning judgesISLAMABAD: The legal frater-nity on Sunday urged the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership to stop their supporters from ma-ligning the judiciary on social me-dia.

Senior leaders of superior bars have expressed concerns over the ongoing smear campaign against judiciary on social media after the inquiry commission probing the alleged rigging in 2013 general elections released its report, re-jecting PTI’s allegations.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Fazle Haq Ab-basi condemned the anti-judiciary campaign by some PTI supporters in the last couple of days.

Abusive languageDemanding the PTI leadership to take notice of the abusive language being used against judges, SCBA president said, “I personally know both Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and

they are upright, honest and unap-proachable.”

Further, the SCBA president questioned why abusive was being used against the judges when all parties agreed to accept the ver-dict of the commission.

Terming the anti-judges re-marks ‘unfair’, former SCBA presi-dent Kamran Murtaza said instead of blaming judges, PTI support-ers should examine whether the standard of evidences presented in front of the inquiry commission were concrete enough to declare the elections as void.

He also urged the PTI leader-ship to give a shut up call to all those maligning the judiciary.

Gohar Nawaz Sindhu, senior vice president of PTI legal wing said that despite the reservations over the contents of the report, it is unfair to ridicule judges.

“Due to the lack of political ma-turity the young workers are blam-ing the whole judiciary,” Sindhu added. — Express Tribune

E L E C T I O N R I G G I N G R E P O R T 2 0 1 5 S P E C I A L O L Y M P I C S W O R L D G A M E S O P E N I N G C E R E M O N Y

MARCHING AHEAD: The Pakistan team marches in the Parade of Athletes at the 2015 Special Olympics World Games Opening Ceremo-

ny, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, on Saturday in Los Angeles, US. The Special Olympics, the world’s largest sports organisa-

tion for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, will be the single largest event in Los Angeles since the 1984 Olympics, with

more that 7,000 athletes from 165 countries participating. — AFP

Border fire kills civilian in Chirikot areaMUZAFFARABAD: Pakistani of-ficials on Sunday accused Indian troops of killing a civilian in “un-provoked firing” in the disputed Kashmir region.

India and Pakistan often ac-cuse each other of violating a 2003 ceasefire agreement. The two countries have fought three wars, two of them over the divided and disputed Kashmir region.

The latest incident took place overnight in Chirikot sector on the Line of Control (LoC), the region’s de facto border, Pakistan’s military said in a statement on Sunday.

“A civilian Muhammad Waseem who was severely injured due to unprovoked firing by Indians on LoC in Chirikot sector yesterday (Saturday) has embraced sha-hadat (martyrdom) this morning,” it said.

Waseem was taken to a mili-tary hospital in the garrison city of Rawalpindi but he succumbed to the bullet injury in his neck, it added.

Abdul Raoof, a police official in the area, confirmed the incident and told AFP that Waseem was grazing his cattle in his village when he was hit by a bullet fired by Indian troops.

Last week too, Islamabad ac-cused India of a breach of their ceasefire after reporting the death of four civilians in cross-border shelling in Kashmir. — AFP

K A S H M I R R E G I O N

6 ‘Mohmand Agency’ rebels killed in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: Six suspected militants were killed on Sunday in a US drone strike in Afghani-stan’s Nangarhar province, on the border with Pakistan.

The drone reportedly fired missiles on a vehicle carry-ing suspected militants in Chaknawr near Nalpura.

“The militants belonged to Mohmand Agency,” a source said.

Earlier this month, former Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Shahidullah Shahid was killed in a US drone strike in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar.

One of the most-recognisable faces in the ranks of the banned TTP, Shahid had declared al-legiance to the IS group, also known by its Arabic acronym Da’ish, with several top leaders last year.

He was appointed the spokes-man for IS Khorasan region, which includes Pakistan and Afghanistan.

No one tracks drone strikes in Afghanistan – many of them take place in remote regions and are not reported – but Taliban commanders say that fighters there are being increasingly tar-geted since late last year. — Express Tribune

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Light plane crashes in Tokyo suburb, 3 killed

TOKYO: A light plane crashed into a residential area of Tokyo on Sunday, setting fire to several houses and reportedly killing three people and injuring five others, according to officials and local media.

The aircraft with a 36-year-old pilot and four passengers on board crashed at around 11:00am (0200GMT) shortly after take-off from Tokyo’s Chofu airport, public broadcaster NHK reported.

“Four people were involved in the accident and three of them were rescued, but we don’t know about further details, including their condition,” a spokesman at the Tokyo Fire Department told AFP. NHK, quoting police, said two people on board and one fe-male local resident were killed in the accident, while five others were injured. Jiji Press said the two casualties aboard were the pi-lot and a male passenger.

RumblingA female witness told AFP: “First, I thought a large truck had crashed into a neighbouring house as I heard the rumbling of the earth. I then saw ferocious smoke.”

At least three houses and two cars were on fire in the residential district of Chofu only some 500 metres (yards) from the airport.

The crash also damaged the roofs of other houses nearby, ac-

cording to the spokesman and lo-cal media. “I thought it was flying quite low and then I heard a bang,” a local resident who witnessed the crash told NHK.

Television footage showed fire-fighters battling the inferno, as well as the remains of the plane’s tail that had squashed a car.

It also showed flames engulfing one of the houses and the plane’s front fuselage as black smoke rose from the crash site near a school, a baseball stadium and a shopping arcade.

“This place is close to the air-

port but I’m surprised because I had never thought that an air-plane would crash,” an 82-year-old woman told NHK.

The single-engine propeller-driven aircraft was bound for Izu-oshima island in the Pacific some 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of central Tokyo for a one-day train-ing flight, local media said.

“I have lived here for a long time and get used to the noise of light planes, but it was obviously abnor-mal,” Kotaro Sunaga, a 32-year-old businessman, told Jiji Press.

Police have launched an inves-tigation into the accident on sus-picion of professional negligence resulting in death, local media said. — AFP

The aircraft with a

36-year-old pilot and

four passengers on

board crashed shortly

after take-off from

Tokyo’s Chofu airport

Obama to Kenyans:

No limit to what

you can achieve

NAIROBI: Barack Obama told Kenyans on Sunday on his first presidential trip to his father’s homeland that there was “no limit to what you can achieve” but said they had to deepen de-mocracy, tackle corruption and end exclusion based on gender or ethnicity.

After political talks on Satur-day with President Uhuru Keny-atta on security and business, his speech to a packed sports hall in Nairobi struck a personal note, talking of his own experience and Kenya’s in the five decades since independence.

“I’m here as president of a coun-try that sees Kenya as an impor-tant partner. I’m here as a friend who wants Kenya to succeed,” he said, after being introduced by his sister Auma Obama to a crowd of 4,500, many of whom had se-cured tickets to attend. To a mix-ture of applause and laughter, he described being picked up at the airport on his first visit to Kenya in the 1980s by his sister in an old VW Beetle that often broke down. This time, he arrived on Air Force One and travelled in the presi-dent’s armoured car nicknamed “the Beast.”

“When it comes to the people of Kenya, particularly the youth, I believe there is no limit to what you can achieve,” he said, but he told Kenyans that building their nation and the economy required personal effort and re-sponsibility.

On corruption, an issue often blamed for holding back invest-ment, Obama said money spent on bribes would be better paid to someone “doing an honest day’s work”.

Referring to ethnic fighting in which 1,200 people died after a disputed 2007 election, he told Kenyans that politics based on ethnicity was “doomed to tear a country apart”. He also warned Kenya would “not succeed if it

treats women and girls as sec-ond-class citizens”.

Obama spoke of Kenya’s chal-lenge in dealing with attacks by the Somali militant group Al Shabaab, and promised the Unit-ed States would stand by Kenya as a “partner”. On Saturday, he offered extra counter-terrorism training and funds.

Kenya’s tourist industry has been hammered by attacks by Al Shabaab, who raided a Nairobi shopping mall in 2013 and at-tacked a university in the north-east in April. Hundreds were killed in those and other attacks.

Obama, whose father is buried in western Kenya, wants to boost business ties with Africa, one of the world’s fastest growing re-gions.

“Kenya is on the move, Africa is on the move,” he told the crowd at the sports hall.

Bramwel Rotich, a 24-year-old student, said after the speech: “It was awesome. It was really inspiring especially for us young people.”

After Kenya, Obama travels on Sunday to Ethiopia, a nation brought to its knees by famine in the 1980s that now boasts some of the fastest economic growth rates on the continent.

But rights groups say economic achievements are at the expense of political freedoms. The opposi-tion failed to secure a single seat in a parliamentary vote in May. The government says opponents are free to speak their minds.

National Security Adviser Su-san Rice said last week the Unit-ed States had concerns about Ethiopia’s human rights record and the electoral process. — Reuters

F I R S T T O U R

ACCIDENT SITE: An aerial view shows debris of a crashed light plane, bottom centre, and burning

houses are seen after the plane went down in a residential area and burst into flames, in Chofu, out-

skirt of Tokyo, on Sunday. Below: Rescue workers carry a victim upon a stretcher. – Reuters/Kyodo /AFP

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Fahd Husain

The hapless Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has been mauled, gored and trampled by the Ju-dicial Commission bull. The party now lies

curled up in the dust, whimpering like a child who just got his milk bottle snatched.

Imran Khan and his merry men and women are well and truly beaten. But is this a fatal blow to a doddering party or can it still salvage its dignity and electoral prospects before the next elections?

All depends on Imran Khan. From the colossus that he was in Lahore on October 30, 2011 to the defeated person that he is seen after the Judicial Commission lashing, Imran is yet again on the edge of the precipice. A quick scan at his political innings will reveal the following: From 1996-2011: Struggle and final crescendo at the Lahore jalsa (rally). This marked the highest peak of Imran’s struggle and on that balmy evening in Lahore in front of hundreds of thousands of people, he stood proud as a new hope for Pakistan.

From 2011-2015: The transformation of an ide-ology into a party and its trials and tribulations in the messy political arena marked this phase. As October 30, 2011 established the peak of the first stage, the release of the Judicial Commission re-port on July 23, 2015 marked the lowest ebb of the party and its sole leader.

What needs to be from 2015-2018: This is the third stage that now stares Khan in the face. He can either rise again to the very highest point in the 2018 elections, or be trounced humiliatingly and confined to the dustbin of Pakistani politics, where he will find himself in the company of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party.

The third stage begins now. And for Imran Khan to win again, he should embark on a 10-step reha-bilitation programme. Here goes:

1) Crush the bloody civil war within the PTI: It is the world’s worst kept secret that the PTI is divid-ed into two broad camps. Imran should have put an end to this bloodletting right at the start. Now he has no choice. Otherwise he can forget about 2018.

2) Ruthlessly reshuffle his team: Khan should know who has brought him to this humiliating stage. He should be brave enough to accept his own mistakes and errors, but he cannot remove him-self. Bring the culprits in front of the firing squad, and be done with them.

3) Define the ideology again: What’s your ideol-ogy Khan? I’m not really sure anymore because for the last two years I have only been hearing and see-ing dharnas (sit ins), protests, personal attacks and accusations of rigging. Return to the roots.

4) Curse of the ‘electables’: Yes, you need to win elections, but there has to be a balance between the so-called electables and those who define the soul of an ideological party. Khan has succeeded in gathering under his banner all kinds of electable scoundrels who represent the worst this rotten system has to offer.

5) Who has your ear Imran? Only he knows who pushed him into the rigging game. Only he knows who acted as a bridge between him and some uni-formed people. Only he knows who promised him solid evidence of rigging when none existed.

6) PTI leader Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed is on to something: Go visit him. Listen with an open mind. Then apologise to him. And make amends.

7) Fire Chief Minister Pervez Khattak: He may be your friend, but he’s an unmitigated disaster for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and for Brand PTI. K-P is all you have got to show for your com-petence, and by handing over the province to Khattak, you set yourself up for failure. It’s still not too late.

8) Transform K-P and showcase it: What will you run your 2018 campaign on? K-P is your call-ing card. The anti-Nawaz campaign has ended in disaster, so the voters will judge you not on what Sharifs have done, but of what you have done (or not).

9) Focus on regaining your personal stature: Your image has taken a battering. The inconsistent policies, the flip-flops and U-turns, the unsubstan-tiated and wild allegations, all these have painted your image as a person who does not have the grav-itas to rule a country.

10) All that matters now is 2018: You have got to keep your eye on the ball. Nothing should now divert your attention away from 2018. Nothing. You have got to realign all your priorities so that everything converges on to a single-point agenda: Winning in 2018. If you lose focus again, you are done for.

Know this: The PTI has been a blessing for Pa-kistan in many ways; but a curse for itself. Change now, or prepare to retire without winning the Paki-stan Cup. - Express Tribune

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Petrol station fires show compromised safetyThis refers to the news story, Switch off (July 26). It is a must to keep the vehicle engines switched off while refuelling. This is one of the necessary safety guidelines to be followed by all motorists at the filling stations. Yet, one can often observe road users mostly disre-garding these rules even though the safety guidelines are printed in red. At times, it is also argued that the safety guidelines are showed

in blue and confusing the motorists. The guidelines printed in red and blue makes difference, as text in red calls for strict adherence to safety at the fuel stations. The recent incidents at fuel stations are direct evidence of compromising on the safety. The employees at fuel stations as well as motorists are both responsible and must strictly adhere to the safety guidelines without fail. At the same time, it is also equally important to improve safety awareness of motorists, especially the safety rules for refuelling. — Ramachandran Nair, Ruwi

Keep fire extinguishers handyThis refers to the online story, Vehicle catches fire (July 26). I am a bit lost as to why the cars burst into flames. My advice to all is to keep the fire extinguishers handy. Under the law every vehicle should have one. — Lorraine Paton, Muscat

Drivers not focussing on the road This refers to the online story, More accidents, but fewer deaths in Oman this year (July 26). I think that drivers are not focussing on the road. For them everything other than following the traffic rules seems to be important. — Cecilia Gobio Marchesi, Muscat

T I M E S O F O M A NM O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5A12

Can Imran survive rigging ‘game’ blow?

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Oman, Japan sign pact on fish quality control centre The Sultanate and Japan yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding for the establishment of a fish quality control centre, within the context of technical cooperation between the two sides. Dr Ahmed bin Khalfan Al Rowahi, agriculture and fisheries minister, signed for the Omani side, while the Japanese ambassador to the Sultanate signed, as a representa-tive of the Japanese International Development Agency, for the Japanese side.

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SPECIALM O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Where bullfighting is a way of life

URUMA (JAPAN): Blood-shot eyes fixed menacingly on their foe and snorting furiously, two giant bulls smash into each other with shuddering force: in Japa-nese bullfighting, matadors need not apply.

Tongues hanging out and foam dripping from their mouths, the sweat-soaked beasts lock horns as barefooted handlers slap them on the backside and scream en-couragement, risking life and limb beside the bovine battering rams, many of which weigh well over a tonne.

While the Spanish corrida faces mounting pressure from animal rights activists after being banned in Catalonia in the past few years, bullfighting on Japan’s southern island of Okinawa continues to attract big crowds, including fam-ilies with small children who peer excitedly through the metal bars at the spectacle just feet away.

A bloodless spectator sport dat-ing back hundreds of years also known as bull sumo, champion prizefighters are called “yokozuna” — like Japan’s roly-poly wrestlers — and lead a pampered life.

“In Spain the fight ends with the matador killing the animal,” bull-fighting historian Kuniharu Miya-gi told AFP at a competition in the Okinawan town of Uruma.

“Here, if a bull gets frightened and loses its courage, the fight is over and both bulls, winner and loser, get go home.

“We don’t feel bullfighting is cruel in Okinawa,” added Miyagi. “It’s a way of life. Farmers used to bring their bulls together to fight for amusement.

“It takes five years to prepare a bull to fight, then it fights for at least five or six years. Cows that provide us with juicy steaks are slaughtered within a couple of years.

“Fighting bulls live far longer and in considerable luxury. Own-ers want their bulls to win so they spoil them with good food and give them a comfortable home en-vironment to frolic in. Yokozuna bulls even retire to stud, so they have a happy old life.”

Bullfighting in Japan can be traced back almost 800 years, when it was held as entertain-ment for the deposed Emperor Gotoba following his exile to the western Oki islands, where it is still practiced today.

It also takes place in the Iwate and Niigata regions of northern Japan as well as remote areas stretching down to Okinawa.

Similar styles of bullfighting are also found in South Korea, Turkey, the Balkans, the Arabian Gulf and South America.

Called “ushi-orase” (literally “bullfight”) in the local Okinawan dialect, the sport is steeped in Japanese culture, with purifying salt scattered and rice beverage poured on the sandy ring to ward off evil spirits.

Hosed down with cold water and bellowing fiercely before do-ing combat, bulls can take over 30 minutes to win by barging their opponent into the fence or forcing him to run away.

GoredThe “seco” bull handlers, who nim-bly jump from side to side to avoid being gored, dote unashamedly on their animals.

“They’re part of the family,” said Yuji Tamanaha, a third generation handler. “They’re cute, aren’t they? Hand-feeding them everyday, you form a loving bond. My wife and I don’t have children so our bull is like a kid to us. He’s very friendly. He likes to lick visitors.”

Cute or not, fights can be bru-tal, the loser often sent crashing against the bars in a shower of dirt as fans dive for cover.

Many bulls never recover from a heavy defeat — on this day a

yokozuna called “Samurai” took one look at a brooding opponent tipping the scales at 1,100 kilos and beat a hasty retreat, so ter-rified he attempted to jump the fence.

Psychological damage“They can suffer psychological damage,” said Moriaki Iha, ten-derly patting his animal. “You have to take care of their mental health too, just like a human athlete, and show them love from when they’re little. My animal is quite bashful

but he knows no fear. He’s either very brave or just stupid.

“I come to the cow shed at five in the morning everyday,” he added.

“I mow grass to feed them, clean up. I spend more than half my day with the cows. My wife thinks I’m daft. It’s a miracle she hasn’t left me.

“To be a champion bull you need the size, physique and good horns. Then there is the creature’s fight-ing spirit. Two bulls weighing a tonne smashing into each other is just magical.”

Iha revealed that owners go to bizarre lengths to win.

“I give my bull Okinawan tea be-fore he fights,” he said.

“It’s got caffeine in it so it acts like a stimulant. There are no dop-ing rules in bullfighting so it’s fine. Everyone has their own secret tricks.” - AFP

A bloodless spectator

sport dating back

hundreds of years

also known as bull

sumo, champion

prizefighters are

called ‘yokozuna’ —

like Japan’s roly-poly

wrestlers — and lead

a pampered life

Bullfighting on Japan’s southern island of Okinawa continues to attract big crowds, including families

with small children who peer excitedly through the

metal bars at the spectacle just feet away.

FORCING TO RUN AWAY: Handlers attempt to separate two bulls after a red bull, left, defeated the an-

other one, right, during the Japanese bullfighting event in Uruma. – AFP

BLOODLESS SPECTATOR SPORT: Handlers try to encourage their

bulls during the Japanese bullfighting event in Uruma. - AFP

PRIZEFIGHTERS: Giant bulls fight during a Japanese bullfighting event in Uruma, Okinawa prefecture in this picture taken last Tuesday. – AFP

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GLOBAL EYEM O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

CUBA: Picture taken in Santiago de Cuba on Sunday during a parade to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the foundation of the city and the 62nd anniversary of the guerrilla assault on the Moncada Barracks,

widely regarded as the beginning of the Cuban Revolution. More than 100 rebels led by Fidel Castro attempted to storm the military facility at Moncada on July 26, 1953, in the first armed action of the revolu-

tion to topple dictator Fulgencio Batista. The assault ended in a crushing defeat for the rebels, with many killed, while Fidel and Raul Castro were captured and imprisoned. — AFP

GREAT BRITAIN: David Mountain, dressed as Judge Shimura from

2000 AD, attends the second day of the MCM Comic Con in the

Manchester Central exhibition venue in Manchester, Great Britain

on Sunday. — AFP

RUSSIA: A boy wears a navy service cap with words reading ‘Pa-

cific fleet’ during celebrations for Navy Day of Russia in St. Peters-

burg, Russia, on Sunday. - Reuters/Stringer

UNITED STATES: Charlie Boice holds his awards after winning the

2015 ‘Papa’ Hemingway Look-Alike Contest on Saturday, at Sloppy

Joe’s Bar in Key West, Florida. Boice finally won the contest after

trying for 15 years, beating out 121 other entrants following two

preliminary rounds, a semi-final and two final rounds. — AFP/ FLORIDA

KEYS NEWS BUREAU/ANDY NEWMAN

RUSSIA: A participant falls down during the Red Bull Flugtag Russia 2015 competition in Moscow,

Russia, on Sunday. Enthusiasts competed in disciplines on the longest distance of the flight, on the

creativity of self-made aircraft and on the originality of the performance in an attempt to win the con-

test, according to organisers. — Reuters

KYRGYZSTAN: Participants wrestle while riding yaks during the Kyrgyz national horse games and fes-

tival near the Tulpar-Kul lake in the Chon Alai mountain range, some 3,500 metres (11,483 feet) above

sea level, in the Osh region of Kyrgyzstan, on Saturday. — Reuters

A15

WORLDM O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Houthis, Saudi-led forces battle for air base in Aden

ADEN/SANAA: Yemeni forces allied with a Saudi-led coalition fought Houthi militia for control of the country’s largest air base north of Aden on Sunday hours before a humanitarian truce de-clared by the coalition was meant to start, residents said.

The Al Anad base, 50 km (30 miles) from the southern port city, has been held by the Houthi move-ment for much of a fourth-month-old civil war and commands the approaches to Aden.

The coalition on Saturday an-nounced a ceasefire to take effect at 11:59pm (2059 GMT) on Sun-day evening for five days to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid.

The truce was cast into doubt when Houthi leader Abdel Malek al-Houthi was reported to have re-jected it, saying in a message post-ed on an account believed to be run by his office that it would ben-efit only militant groups IS and Al Qaeda. But Hamed al-Bukhaiti, a Houthi official, later posted a message on his own Twitter feed saying “the Tweet that is being re-ported by media from an account for the Sayyid (Abdel-Malek al-Houthi) is incorrect”.

Bukhaiti said the Houhti leader

did not have a Twitter account. He did not elaborate.

A spokesperson for the Houthis did not immediately reply to ques-tions sent by email.

Houthi forces held up 16 trucks carrying humanitarian aid from the World Food Programme through Yemen’s Al Hudaydah province to support displaced per-sons in the city of Taiz.

Four months of air raids and war have killed more than 3,500 people in the Arabian Peninsula state. Aden has suffered especial-ly, with severe shortages of fuel, food and medicine.

The coalition, allied with south-ern secessionist fighters, retook much of Aden last week in the first significant ground victory in their

campaign to end Houthi control over much of Yemen and restore exiled President Abd-Rabbu Man-sour Hadi.

Houthi fighters and army units loyal to former president Ali Ab-dullah Saleh captured Aden at the outset of the war, prompting Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia, an ally along with the United States.

Aden and other southern prov-inces have been largely inacces-sible to UN food aid, and about 13 million people are thought in dire need of food.

Coalition warplanes carried out raids near Sanaa late on Saturday and shortly after dawn on Sun-day, residents reported. The tar-gets included a military base near the city. In the city itself, a bomb

exploded underneath a passen-ger bus, killing three people and wounding five in the southern dis-trict of Dar Selm, police said. No further details were immediately available.

Ali Ahmedi, a spokesman for anti-Houthi forces in Aden, said they continued to fight Houthi forces at the Al Anad base and had damaged aircraft, tanks and equipment stationed there.

Residents said forces of the so-called Southern Resistance, a se-cessionist movement allied with the coalition, had taken and Sabr, a northern district of Aden.

The residents reported 25 Hou-this and 10 Southern Resistance fighters had been killed.

The Saudi-led coalition began

its campaign on March 26, striv-ing to reverse months of advances by the Houthis after they moved from their northern stronghold last year, capturing the capital Sanaa and pushing south to Aden.

Commander capturedA senior Houthi commander, Abdul Khaliq Al Houthi, was captured on Saturday by the Southern Resistance, the seces-sionist movement said on its of-ficial Twitter account. Houthi officials could not immediately be contacted for comment. Yem-enis say Abdul Khaliq, a brother of Houthi leader Abdul-Malek al-Houthi, played an important role in the militia’s capture of Sanaa in September. — Reuters

Al Anad base, 50 km

from the southern

port city, has been

held by the Houthi

rebels for much of

a fourth-month-

old civil war and

commands the

approaches to Aden

CONFLICT ZONE: A Saudi soldier stands guard as servicemen on a Saudi military cargo plane prepare to unload aid at the international airport of Yemen’s southern port city of Aden on Friday. — Reuters

Kurdish militants kill 2 Turkish soldiers in bomb attackANKARA: Kurdish militants killed two Turkish soldiers in a roadside bombing on Sunday, the military said, apparently retaliat-ing for Ankara’s crackdown on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) launched in tandem with strikes on IS militant group insurgents in Syria.

Long a reluctant member of the US-led coalition against IS group, Turkey made a dramatic turna-round this week by granting the alliance access to its air bases and launching air raids against both the militant movement and the PKK.

But the relapse into serious con-flict between Turkey and the PKK has raised doubts about the future of NATO member Turkey’s peace

process with Kurdish foes that started in 2012, after 28 years of bloodshed, but has recently stalled.

HighwayA car bomb and roadside explo-sives hit a passing military vehicle on a highway near Diyarbakir in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey overnight on Sunday, an army said. Kurdish militants then opened fire on the vehicle with long-range rifles, it said. Four oth-er soldiers were injured.

At least six people had been de-tained in connection with the at-tack, Dogan news agency reported.

The PKK, which Ankara and Washington deem a terrorist group, has also targeted police of-ficers in the southeast and else-where, accusing the central gov-ernment of covertly helping IS to the detriment of Syrian Kurds.

Insurgency for autonomyThe outlawed PKK has waged an insurgency against Ankara for Kurdish autonomy since 1984. Opposition politicians and critics accuse President Tayyip Erdogan of taking up the campaign against IS as political cover to clamp down on Kurds.

A senior US diplomat con-

demned recent PKK attacks but said there was no link between Turkey’s fresh strikes on Kurd-ish militants and its newfound boldness in tackling IS, which has seized large expanses of neigh-bouring Syria and Iraq.

“There is no connection be-tween these air strikes against PKK and recent understandings to intensify US-Turkey cooperation against ISIL,” Brett McGurk, the deputy special presidential envoy for the coalition to counter IS, said on Twitter, using one of IS’s acro-nyms.

White House spokesman Ben Rhodes, on an official visit to Ken-ya with President Barack Obama, told a news conference in Nairobi: “The US of course recognises the

PKK specifically as a terrorist or-ganization. And so, again, Turkey has a right to take action related to terrorist targets. And we certainly appreciate their interest in accel-erating efforts against ISIL.”

IS suicide bomberTurkey said on Saturday its deci-sion to enter the battle against IS, soon after an IS suicide bomber killed 32 people, mainly Kurds, in the Turkish town of Suruc, would help create “a safe zone” across the nearby border in northern Syria.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto-glu said the campaign was no one-off and would continue “as long as there is a threat against Turkey.

Members of the Turkish oppo-sition say they are concerned Er-

dogan aims with new attacks on the PKK to whip up anti-Kurdish sentiment ahead of a possible early election later this year.

The AK Party he founded has until late August to find a junior coalition partner or face an early election.

The AKP lost its single-party majority for the first time in more than a decade in June, in part due to the success of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which entered parliament for the first time.

“One of the aims of the air, land and media operations carried out right now is to undermine the HDP in early elections,” HDP head Sela-hattin Demirtas said on Twitter. — Reuters

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Palestinians clash with police over access to Al Aqsa mosqueOCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli police entered occupied Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa mosque as clashes erupted on Sunday over access to the mosque compound.

Palestinians threw stones and fireworks while police fired stun grenades after security forces entered the Al Aqsa compound before briefly going inside the mosque itself.

Police said they went a few me-tres (yards) into the mosque to shut the doors in a bid to restore calm and lock in rioters who were inside. About 300 security per-sonnel had entered the compound when the clashes began with a couple of hundred Palestinians, an AFP photographer reported.

The Palestinian foreign minis-try condemned Israeli authorities for allowing what they described as “provocative” visits by hardline Jews.

It was the first time Israeli security forces had entered the mosque since November, when clashes with worshippers also

erupted. There were multiple cas-ualties and arrests surrounding the clashes, which came as Jews sought to access the mosque com-pound. Palestinians were angered by what they considered intru-sions by Jews.

“Masked rioters fled into the mosque and started to throw stones and blocks at police from inside Al Aqsa mosque,” police said in a statement.

“They threw fireworks directly at police ... In light of the severe confrontation and the escalating actions of the rioters and with the aim of preventing further injury to police...forces entered a num-ber of metres (yards) inside and closed the doors to the mosque with the rioters inside, restoring order.”

The police said that after their brief foray into the mosque, they withdrew and the area was quiet. Access to the site was later re-stricted.

Protests broke out in the lanes and alleyways of the Old City around the mosque, with demon-strators confronting police and slogan chanting and police firing stun grenades.

“We are ready to die,” Khaled Tuffaha, a 46-year-old Palestin-ian shop owner. “Everybody is ready to die.”

At least three stone-throwers were arrested and four police were lightly wounded, authori-ties said. One Palestinian man was seen bleeding from the head and protesters spoke of further injuries, but details were not im-mediately clear.

Police reinforcements had de-ployed in the Old City overnight for fear of unrest as thousands of observant Jews flocked to the Western Wall for the annual prayer ceremony. — AFP

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Police base seized by Taliban in AfghanistanKUNDUZ: Taliban insurgents seized a police base in northern Afghanistan after more than 100 policemen surrendered, inflicting one of the heaviest blows to Af-ghan forces since the NATO com-bat mission ended in December.

The mass surrender in Badakh-shan province occurred on Sat-urday evening, highlighting the challenges confronting Afghan se-curity forces, who are facing their first fighting season without full NATO support.

“More than 100 policemen at the base fought for three days and had enough arms and muni-tions to continue fighting for three months,” Badakhshan Police chief General Baba Jan told AFP.

“But they surrendered after a deal with the Taliban. All the am-munition and equipment was seized by the insurgents.”

The deputy provincial governor Gul Mohammad Bedar said sur-rendering the base in the volatile district of Warduj marked “a big act of treason” that would be in-vestigated by authorities.

The policemen were briefly de-tained by the insurgents before being set free, with some openly accusing their commander of “be-traying” them by striking a deal with the Taliban, Baba Jan said.

Policemen releasedTaliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that the “policemen were released on the condition that they will not re-join the Kabul government”.

The Afghan government con-ducted its first face-to-face talks with Taliban cadres on July 7 in Murree, a Pakistani hill station north of Islamabad, which were supervised by American and Chi-nese representatives.

Afghan officials said Friday they will meet Taliban insurgents next week for a second round of talks aimed at ending 13 years of war, pledging to press for a ceasefire in negotiations likely to be held in China. — AFP

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Close vigil as Australia closes four beaches after shark sightings

SYDNEY: Four beaches on Aus-tralia’s east coast were closed on Sunday after numerous shark sightings, police said, as authori-ties patrolled waters off a southern island following a fatal attack on a diver a day earlier.

New South Wales police said the beaches at Ballina — where a body-boarder was severely injured by a shark earlier this month and a Jap-

anese surfer was killed in Febru-ary — would be closed for 24 hours.

“About 9.30am (2330 GMT on Saturday) a large shark was spot-ted swimming about 50 meters off Angels beach,” police said in a statement, adding that there were other sightings. “It is believed the presence of baitfish has attracted large sharks to the area.”

Surf Life Saving NSW said aer-

ial, jet ski and boat patrols were being conducted off Ballina, a pop-ular tourist spot about 740 kilome-tres north of Sydney.

The sightings came a day after a scallop diver, named as Damian Johnson by the Australian Broad-casting Corporation and aged in his late 40s, was attacked by a shark off Maria Island in the southern state of Tasmania as his daughter

watched. Johnson was hauled back to the surface but did not survive.

Johnson’s brother-in-law An-drew Paynter said his daughter, who is aged in her 20s, was “doing a remarkable job under... some re-ally really trying circumstances”. “(Johnson was) just a great bloke, devoted husband, great father, just a great friend to all those who knew him,” Paynter told the ABC. — AFP

D A N G E R A T S E A

Two injured in Las Vegas hotel blaze

CLARK COUNTY (LAS VE-GAS): A fire burned trees and cabanas around an outdoor pool at the Cosmopolitan Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip on Saturday, injuring at least two people and forcing guests to evacuate, a fire official said.

The two injured people suf-fered smoke inhalation, and at least one was transported to a hospital, said Clark County As-sistant Fire Chief Sandra Baker in a phone interview. “There was some damage to some windows; very, very minor damage to the building. It was contained to the pool area,” Baker said. The fire, which broke out at around noon local time, burned trees and ca-banas surrounding an outdoor pool at the 14th floor of the hotel before it was extinguished, Baker said. Photographs on social me-dia showed a huge mass of black smoke from the fire. Guests were evacuated from the hotel because of smoke, said Baker, who could not immediately say if the entire hotel or only part of it was evacuated. — Reuters

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MARKEWWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMM O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5B

Muscat

6,581.82 - 9.04

- 0.14%

Dubai

4,147.13- 53.57

- 1.28%

Abu Dhabi

4,881.49- 18.30

- 0.37%

Saudi Arabia

9,301.66- 71.08

- 0.76%

Kuwait

6,281.84 - 4.66

- 0.07%

Bahrain

1,337.03 - 0.01

- 0.00%

Qatar

11,909.17- 35.45

- 0.30%

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

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

Euro ............................................ 2.33

Pound ...........................................1.66

Indian Rs .............................165.89

Pak Rs ....................................260.17

Bangla Taka.......................199.44* Rates are as of July 26

Source: Bank Muscat

Indian Rs ................................... 166.15

Pakistan Rs ............................ 263.40

Sri Lanka Rs .......................... 346.60

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

Phil Peso .....................................117.50

* Rates as of July 26 Source: Oman UAE Exchange

Muscat 24ct per gm (OMR) ........14.15

Muscat 22ct per gm (OMR) .......13.65

Dubai 24ct per gm (Dh) ............ 131.00

Dubai 22ct per gm (Dh) ............. 124.75

* Rates as of July 26

Source: Malabar Gold & Diamonds

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

Oman Crude ............. (Spot) ........$54.32

Dubai Crude ............. (Spot) .........$54.12

Murban Crude ........ (Spot) ........$55.98

Arabian Light ......... (Spot) ........$54.22

N.Sea Brent ............... (Spot) ........$54.56

West Texas Int ....... (Spot) .........$47.96

CRUDE OIL PRICE

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Al Omaniya board to consider response from United Finance on merger planTimes News Service

MUSCAT: United Finance Com-pany has responded to a merger bid from Al Omaniya Financial Services, Al Omaniya said in a stock market filing on Sunday.

“We have received a response from United Finance Company to our non-binding indicative offer for the acquisition of 100 per cent of the shares of the United Finance Company,” the statement said.

“This response will be placed

for review of the board of directors of Al Omaniya Financial Services for further consideration and Al Omaniya Financial Services will inform the market of any further development in this regard in due course,” the company further said.

Al Omaniya Financial Services is looking at consolidating their leadership position by acquiring another leasing company.

This could be one way to achieve inorganic growth in the country, when the competition is severe.

D I S C L O S U R E S T A T E M E N T

Target LLC expected to win pipeline contract

A E JAMESbusinesseditor@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: A contract for build-ing a pumping station and a water pipeline to connect the newly planned Quriyyat water desalination plant with Wadi Dhaqah might have been award-ed to Target LLC.

Potable water supplyThis is part of a scheme to supply potable water from the OMR100 million-Quriyyat desalination plant — an independent water project to be built by a consor-tium led by Singapore’s Hyflux — to the main grid.

Although Target LLC is yet to receive an official confirmation from the Tender Board, the com-pany’s bid amount of OMR22.6 million matches with the price at which the authorities awarded the project contract, pushing aside eight other bidders.

Other biddersThe bidders that seem to have lost out were major local and in-ternational contracting firms, including Societe Egyptienne Denterprises, Larsen & Toubro,

Towell Infrastructure Projects and Nagarjuna Construction Company, according to the Ten-der Board website. However, Public Authority for Electricity & Water officials did not comment on awarding the project.

Desalination plantThe Quriyyat desalination plant, with a capacity to produce 200,000 cubic metres of water per day (44 million gallons per day), is expected to start com-mercial operation in May, 2017. It appears that the pipeline con-struction will take two years since it has to be in place once the desalination plant starts water generation. The Quriyyat water desalination project is part of a series of desalination projects planned by Oman Power and Water Procurement Company to keep up with the demand for wa-ter in Oman, which increases at an annual rate of about 6 per cent.

Hyflux, which signed several agreements for building the pro-ject recently, will design, build, own and operate the plant and deliver water to Oman Power and Water Procurement (OPWP) Company for a period of 20 years.

Although Target LLC is yet to receive an

official confirmation from the Tender Board,

the company’s bid amount of OMR22.6

million matches with the price at which the

authorities awarded the project contract

early this month

VITAL PROJECT: This is part of a scheme to supply potable water

from the OMR100 million-Quriyyat desalination plant. (Picture is

an artist’s impression of the proposed project). — Times file picture

B2

MARKETM O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Northern Cyprus looks to boost trade ties with Oman

BUSINESS REPORTER

MUSCAT: Northern Cyprus is seeking to attract investors and trade partners from Oman, as new opportunities are expected to open up in the island nation.

For four decades, the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus has been divided into the Turkish Cypriot-controlled section in the north and the Greek Cypriot-con-trolled Republic of Cyprus in the south, which joined the European Union (EU) in 2004.

With fresh impetus for the settlement of the Cyprus issue and prospects of joining the EU, Northern Cyprus has been pro-moting the current and future op-portunities for foreign companies, especially in Islamic countries such as Oman.

“Turkish Cypriots are Muslims and are members of the Muslim

community. When the political settlement is concluded, the Turk-ish Cypriot community will be the first Islamic community within the EU. This should mean quite a lot to the entire Islamic commu-nity, including Oman,” said an of-ficial from Northern Cyprus.

“Oman is well-acquainted with Turkish Cypriots because it is a market where we export quite a lot of dairy products,” Fikri Toros, president of the Turkish Cyp-riot Chamber of Commerce, told Times of Oman.

Great potential Toros believes that there is great potential for cooperation between Northern Cyprus and Oman in various fields.

“The Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce is licensed to pro-vide halal certificates. Therefore, our business relations can only

be further enhanced,” he said, encouraging Omani investors to direct foreign investment into Northern Cyprus.

Islamic investments“We need to showcase Islamic in-vestments in the EU and this can only be possible through the Turk-ish Cypriot community (after it joins the EU) following a political settlement,” Toros noted.

Cyprus, which is at the cross-road of three continents, provides accessibility to the markets of neighbouring countries such as Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon and Greece.

Oman is currently not export-ing goods to Northern Cyprus, but the chamber’s president elaborat-ed on potential areas for coopera-tion during a press briefing.

Turkish Cypriot chamberToros explained that the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1958 and, to date, it is the largest and most accom-plished economic organisation in the Turkish Cypriot community, with over 3,000 registered mem-bers, representing many sectors.

As the chamber was established before the founding of the Re-public of Cyprus, it has remained internationally recognized, irre-spective of political changes, he further added.

The Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce is a member of the International Chamber of Com-merce and an institutional part-ner of the European Commission in Northern Cyprus. It also holds memberships in various interna-tional umbrella organisations and cooperates with its Greek Cypriot

counterpart. According to Toros, the chamber deals with domestic economic issues and seeks to at-tract and expand foreign invest-ment into Northern Cyprus.

Economy He said that the economy of Northern Cyprus is driven by the service sector, which contributes some 70 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Tourism, professional services and higher education are the driv-ing forces of the service sector, which have multiplied effects in the fields of construction, trade, agriculture and other related sec-tors, the official added.

Toros stated that Northern Cyprus’ imports have constantly grown over the past 10 years, and is currently importing some $1.8 billion worth of goods every year, which mainly include fuel, motor vehicles, foodstuffs and medicine.

Northern Cyprus exports about $130 million worth of goods annu-ally, dominated by citrus and dairy products, chicken and chicken products, scrap metal, potatoes, artichokes and limestone.

Exports“About half of our exports go to Turkey, and a vast majority of the remainder goes to Islamic coun-tries. Only about $8 million worth of our exports, out of $130 million, go to European countries,” the chamber’s president explained.

Toros also noted that trade mainly takes place through the Port of Mersin in Turkey.

He noted that Northern Cy-prus requires the cooperation of other countries to grow and de-velop its industries.

Economic growth “Our economic growth is restrict-ed to less than 2.5 per cent, while we believe that it should not be less than 5 per cent,” he added, noting that the resolution of the political issues can open the doors to more investors and improve economic competitiveness.

Toros further believes that the potential natural gas and pos-sible oil resources in the eastern Mediterranean have expanded economic prospects, not only for Cyprus, but also for the entire eastern Mediterranean region.

Asked if foreign investors would face any legal or banking restric-tions, the official said, “There is no legal obstacle in the way of poten-tial foreign investors in Northern Cyprus. The banking services, to-gether with postal, internet and telecommunications services, are all available and operating at in-ternational standards.”

“They have been made avail-able to us by courtesy of the Re-public of Turkey, and we do have investments from various coun-tries,” he added.

Incentives Toros said that Northern Cyprus offers a number of incentives to foreign investors in certain sec-tors, such as tourism, health, education and agriculture, and is seeking to expand these incen-tives to other sectors.

Investment and Research and Development (R&D) would be re-quired in the fields of information technology (IT), renewable en-ergy, construction, exploration of potential gas and oil resources, as well as a number of other sectors, he further added.

There is great

potential for

cooperation between

Northern Cyprus

and Oman in various

fields, said president

of the Turkish

Cypriot Chamber of

CommerceFikri Toros. — Supplied picture

Toshiba scam exposes Japan corporate culture flawsTOKYO: Toshiba’s billion-dollar accounting scandal has shone a light on a corporate culture in Japan still beset by collusion in its senior ranks, unquestioning employees and poor external con-trols, experts say.

The vast 140-year-old conglom-erate was hammered this week by embarrassing revelations that top executives pressured underlings to inflate profits by about $1.2 bil-lion since the 2008 global finan-cial crisis. An independent report, which found senior managers complicit in the affair, pointed to the rigid system that powered Ja-pan’s post-war boom — lifetime employment in exchange for com-plete loyalty to the company.

“If you look at management, you generally find people over 50 who have spent their career at the company, climbing up through the ranks,” said Keio University guest lecturer Takeshi Natsuno, a former executive at mobile giant NTT Docomo. “For 30 years they all ate from the same bowl. Every-one knows it isn’t good but so far nothing has changed.”

It wasn’t supposed to be that way at Toshiba, which was hailed as one of the early leaders in changing Japan’s clubby board-room culture. The vast firm, which had sales of $54 billion last fiscal year, hired outside directors and adopted a 16-member board a dec-ade ago, among other changes, to “enhance management efficiency and improve transparency”.

But the scathing report — com-missioned by the company after financial regulators questioned Toshiba’s books earlier this year — found a litany of problems, in-

cluding a pair of former diplomats on its audit committee who were not up to the task. Japanese firms are peppered with former bu-reaucrats given plum jobs in the industries that they once over-saw, despite many having few relevant skills or the incentive to question management.

“Only one of the three external directors on the audit committee is well-versed in financial mat-ters, in a company that we now see had succumbed to the Japanese tendency to not question orders from above,” said Nicholas Benes,

head of the non-profit Board Di-rector Training Institute of Japan.

Shameful resultsBenes was a key player behind Ja-pan’s long-awaited corporate gov-ernance code, which came into ef-fect less than two months ago.

It was hailed as a way to boost trust with foreign investors and avoid scandals such as the $1.7 bil-lion accounting fraud at camera giant Olympus several years ago, one of Japan’s worst ever.

Toshiba, whose shares dived after the problems came to light,

remains on a 400-member index that highlights firms with the best return on equity and other share-holder-friendly criteria.

Padded its profits“It is outrageous that a major company that represents Japan repeatedly padded its profits on a corporate-wide basis,” the top-selling Yomiuri newspaper said in an editorial. About half Toshiba’s board resigned on Tuesday with president Hisao Tanaka and vice chairman Norio Sasaki — also a former president — the most sen-ior to quit their posts.

Headed by a former Tokyo pros-ecutor, the investigating panel de-scribed a corporate culture where underlings could not challenge powerful bosses intent on boost-ing profits at almost any cost.

While the scandals at Enron and WorldCom in the United States are reminders that ac-counting fraud is not just a Japa-nese problem, the country’s cor-porate traditions enabled the years-long scheme at Toshiba, observers further said. — AFP

C O R P O R A T E G O V E R N A N C E

Indonesia plans port network expansion to boost economy

JAKARTA: Container ships dot the horizon off the coast of Jakar-ta, as cranes and labourers work on an ambitious, economy-boosting project to expand the port network in the world’s largest archipelago nation. New Priok will be Indone-sia’s biggest port once completed, and is one of 24 ports planned to overhaul maritime connections in Southeast Asia’s top economy, which comprises more than 17,000 islands. President Joko Widodo is leading efforts to improve dilapi-dated maritime infrastructure in a country where ships face lengthy delays before berthing and goods can get stuck for days as they run a gauntlet of government agency checks. “This is no longer a wish, but a necessity,” Widodo recently said of improving ports after In-donesian growth hit a six-year low of 4.7 per cent in the first quarter, a blow for a leader who won power on a pledge to revive the economy.

The port plan is part of a broader scheme to improve infrastructure, from potholed roads to creaking train lines, as the country seeks to lure foreign investors and pull out of a long slowdown driven by fall-ing prices of its key commodity exports. Action is urgently needed — Indonesia’s infrastructure is so woeful that it is cheaper to trans-port goods from China to the coun-try’s most populous island of Java than to bring them from the In-donesian part of Borneo, which is far closer, according to the World Bank. Improving ports is par-ticularly critical for a nation that straddles the Indian and Pacific Oceans and is home to important shipping routes.

As well as attracting new invest-ment, the scheme could reduce the price of consumer goods through lower transport costs and help develop more remote parts of the archipelago. Widodo, a former furniture exporter who knows well the problems of the coun-try’s ports, is taking a personal interest in the project but it faces formidable challenges.

There are growing doubts his ad-ministration, which has been criti-cised over its failure to kickstart major infrastructure projects, will be able to push through the plans due to a lack of organisation and a dysfunctional bureaucracy.

On a recent visit to Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta — which handles much of Indonesia’s in-ternational trade — Widodo’s frus-tration at slow progress was clear when he delivered an angry tirade over the failure to substantially cut the time it takes goods to move through the facility. — AFP

S H I P P I N G & T R A N S P O R T

Greece in dilemma on capital controlsATHENS: It is just the head-ache Greece’s government does not need right now: how can it loosen the capital controls that are shielding its banks, but stran-gling the rest of the economy?

For the past month, Greece has been financially cut off from the rest of the world.

It is almost impossible for most Greeks to take money out of the country, thanks to a raft of capital control measures put in place on June 29 amid fears of a catastrophic bank run.

Government commissionFor companies, the capital con-trols have meant waiting for a government commission to sign off on large bills owed to foreign firms — a process that has slowed payments so much that distrust-ful suppliers started asking to be paid in advance.

Bank of Greece chief Yannis Stournaras on Friday loosened the restrictions to allow banks to greenlight companies’ foreign

payments up to 100,000 euros ($110,000).

But people remain unable to open new foreign bank accounts, buy shares, or transfer large sums of money.

Athens is tolerating two main exceptions to the rules: Greek students abroad can receive 5,000 euros per quarter, while citizens having medical treat-ment in other countries can re-ceive up to 2,000 euros.

Cash withdrawals were limited to 60 euros ($65) per day after Greeks emptied ATMs, worried for the safety of their savings.

Greek Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis warned on July 12 that it could be “several months” before it is deemed safe to lift the measures completely.

Announced in the throes of the crisis, when Greece appeared to be teetering on the brink of a chaotic eurozone exit, the capi-tal controls were brought in with just one immediate concern in mind: protect the banks. — AFP

E C O N O M Y

Gantry cranes load shipping

containers onto trucks at Sema-

rang Port in Semarang, Central

Java, Indonesia. - Bloomberg file picture

SORRY: Koichi Ueda, chairman of the third-party investigation committee for Toshiba, second from

left, and his investigation committee members Hideki Matsui, left, Taigi Ito, second from right, and

Kazuyasu Yamada bow during a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday. - Bloomberg News

B3M O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

MARKETDuqm authority issues rules on land allotment, environmental clearance

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Two regulations per-taining to land allotment and en-vironmental clearance at the Spe-cial Economic Zone Authority at Duqm (Sezad) have been issued.

The regulations issued by Yahya bin Said bin Abdullah Al Jabri, chairman of Sezad, shall come into effect from today.

The issuance of these two reg-ulations comes in implementa-tion of the Royal Decrees related to the Special Economic Zone at Duqm (SEZD).

The environmental permits reg-ulations has allowed projects at Special Economic Zone at Duqm a period of a calendar year to meet the obligatory requirements to

obtain these permits.

Land regulationsUsufruct regulations stipulate that Sezad is the only authorised party to license the usufruct of land owned by the state within SEZD, and that no party or individual shall take advantage of said lands without obtaining a prior usufruct permit from Sezad.

The regulation also stipulates that the usufruct of these lands will be in exchange of a remunera-tion specified by Sezad’s board of directors after obtaining the ap-proval of the Ministry of Finance, in order for the project to com-mence or expand its operations, or to build residential buildings for the project’s employees. Moreo-

ver, licensing the usufruct of the aforementioned lands to govern-ment authorities, places of wor-ship, NGOs, and charities shall be in exchange of a nominal sum or with waiver of the remuneration whatsoever, as decided by Sezad’s board of directors and after ob-taining the approval of the Min-istry of Finance. The regulation emphasised that the right to usu-fruct is an in rem temporary right, which expires with the conclusion of the specified period, or with the expiration of the project, which-ever occurs earlier.

The regulations explained that the right to usufruct of lands owned by the state is valid for the period of the operations and shall not exceed 50 calendar years,

subject to renewal upon the ben-eficiary’s request and Sezad’s ap-proval. The regulation stated the rights and obligations of Sezad and the beneficiary, pointing out that Sezad shall commit to provid-ing the land subject to the right of usufruct to the beneficiary free of any rights that might obstruct the beneficiary’s right, according to what is agreed upon in the usu-fruct agreement.

In addition, the beneficiary shall register the right to usufruct and all actions taken pertaining to this right, whether by waiving such right to another or by mortgaging it to Sezad.

Moreover, the beneficiary shall surrender the land to Sezad in its original condition and shall re-

move from it all buildings, facilities or waste, unless agreed otherwise.

Environmental permissionThe regulation of environmental permits confirmed the importance of preserving the environment to all projects that are being set up at SEZD, and confirmed that Sezad is the only authorised party to issue environmental permits and to take all necessary measures pertaining to the environment.

The regulation explained that projects should not commence or modify their operations before ob-taining an environmental permit from Sezad, and emphasised that Sezad shall only issue environ-mental permits to projects after verifying the projects’ fulfillment

of all obligatory requirements ac-cording to the law and this regula-tion. Sezad, according to the provi-sions of this regulation, shall issue a preliminary environmental per-mit, which is granted prior to the commencement of construction. This permit is valid for one year subject to renewal for a similar period or periods.

Two calendar yearsAdditionally, Sezad shall issue the final environmental permit after the completion of construction ac-tivities; this permit shall be valid for a period of two calendar years, subject to renewal for a similar period or periods.

Moreover, Sezad may issue temporary environmental per-mits for temporary projects and infrastructure projects and their supplementary projects, and these permits shall be valid for one year subject to renewal. This regula-tion stated that Sezad has the right to conduct required on-site inspections in all stages of the project, in order to verify adher-ence to prescribed environmental requirements and standards.

The regulation also stipulate that Sezad has the right to conduct field inspections on projects to verify their adherence to the law, this regulation and any other envi-ronmental standards and require-ments specified by Sezad.

The project must be notified three days prior to conduct-ing periodic inspections and follow-up inspections which are conducted to verify the correc-tion of environmental violations recorded in the periodic report within the period specified by Sezad. However, spot checks are to be decided by Sezad.

In the event wherein a project violates its specified obligations according to the law, this regula-tion or any other decisions and di-rectives issued by Sezad, the regu-lation stipulates that Sezad may take certain measures.

The newly issued

regulations by

Yahya bin Said bin

Abdullah Al Jabri,

chairman of Sezad,

will come into effect

from today. The

issuance of these

two regulations is

for implementing

the Royal Decrees

related to Duqm

special economic

zone, which is

developing nowNEW LEGISLATIONS: Usufruct regulations stipulate that Sezad is the only authorised party to license the usufruct of land owned by

the state within Special Economic Zone at Duqm, and that no party or individual will take advantage of lands without obtaining a prior

usufruct permit from Sezad. — Supplied picture

Iran eyes $8b investment from IndiaNEW DELHI: Asking India to take advantage of the period ahead of lifting of sanctions against it, Iran has invited Indian investments of about $8 billion in infrastructure projects there without wasting time in “cheap negotiations.”

Asserting that Iran has been a “reliable partner,” Iranian Am-bassador here Gholamreza Ansari said India should take advantage of the time before the western countries start making their in-vestments after lifting of sanc-tions in the next 3-5 months.

“India has always been there even during the difficult time of sanctions. They should take ad-vantage of their presence on the ground. Otherwise it will be a lost opportunity,” Ansari told PTI in

an interview. During his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ufa, Russia, earlier this month on the sidelines of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisa-tion) Summit, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had offered In-dia a bigger role in its strategic infrastructure projects including ports, railroads and highways and sought investments to the tune of $8 billion, Ansari said.

“Prime Minister Modi was very positive. People here are very pos-itive. But what I am trying to con-vey is that it should translate into action and we should not waste our time in cheap negotiations. We need to move forward.”

“Iran is a reliable partner for the business. It used to be so for a long time (before sanctions) and

the sentiments and attitude espe-cially towards India is positive...India investing in Iran is obvious fruitful business for Indians,” the envoy said.

Major projectsHe also said Modi government’s focus is on connectivity which coincides with Iran’s government policy and therefore Iran has asked India to get into major pro-jects like building strategic ports like Chabahar, constructing big highways and railroads.

The two countries reached an agreement in May this year to de-velop the Chabahar port in South-east Iran.

India’s Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari and his Iranian coun-terpart Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi

signed a $85 million deal for India to lease two existing berths at the port and use them as multi-pur-pose cargo terminals.

Under the new proposal agreed by recently, India can help build second and third terminals at the port as well as railway connec-tions into the rest of Iran. The project is expected to increase trade and economic engagement between the two countries.

Although India and Iran origi-nally agreed to develop the pro-ject in 2003, both nations failed to make much progress on this front due to Western sanctions on Iran linked to its controversial nuclear programme.

Chabahar port will allow India easier access not only to Afghani-stan but also to Central Asia.- PTI

B I L A T E R A L T R A D E

B4

MARKETM O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

MUSCATSECURITIES MARKET

SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR SUNDAY, JULY 26

REGULAR MARKET .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................OM0000001087 ............OMAN UNITED INSURANCE ............................... 2,457,501 ...... 787,780................... 175 ............0.314 ...........0.324 ...........0.314 ........... 0.320 ............. 0.312............ 0.008 ............. 2.564 ................0.320..............0.320...................0.322 ..................32,000,000 ........0.100

OM0000001483 ............NATIONAL BANK OF OMAN ................................. 254,465 ............91,005..................... 25 ........... 0.358 ........... 0.358 ...........0.356 ........... 0.358 .............0.354 ........... 0.004 ............. 1.130 ................0.356 ..............0.354...................0.356..................479,974,270........0.100

OM0000004925 ...........AL BATINAH POWER ..................................................10,000 ...............2,230........................2 ........... 0.223 ........... 0.223 ...........0.223........... 0.223 .............0.222 ............0.001 ............. 0.450 ................0.223..............0.223...................0.228 .................150,499,897 ........0.100

OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION .......................... 15,890 .............27,786......................11 ............1.740 ........... 1.750............1.740 ............1.750 ............. 1.745 ............ 0.005 ............. 0.287 ................1.750 .............. 1.750................... 1.755 ................1,312,500,000 ......0.100

OM0000001418 ............RAYSUT CEMENT ..............................................................441 .................. 653........................ 1 ............1.480 ........... 1.480 ...........1.480 ........... 1.500 ............. 1.500 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.480 ..............1.480...................1.500 ................. 300,000,000 .......0.100

OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE ............... 45,000 ...............9,800........................4 ............0.218 ........... 0.218 ...........0.216 ........... 0.218 ............. 0.218............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.216 .............. 0.215...................0.216 ...................43,600,000 ........0.100

OM0000001749 ............OMAN CEMENT ..................................................................939 .................. 483........................2 ............0.514 ........... 0.514 ...........0.514 ........... 0.520 .............0.520 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.514 .............. 0.514...................0.550..................172,053,809 ........0.100

OM0000002200 ...........AHLI BANK .................................................................... 227,246 ........... 50,426........................4 ........... 0.222 ...........0.222 ...........0.216 ........... 0.222 .............0.222 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.220 ............. 0.216...................0.220 .................316,358,024 ........0.100

OM0000002226 ...........AL JAZEERA SERVICES .............................................. 2,170 .................. 790........................ 1 ........... 0.364 ...........0.364 ...........0.364........... 0.370 .............0.370 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.364..............0.364...................0.378...................22,645,581 .........0.100

OM0000002549 ...........BANK DHOFAR ................................................................ 4,383 ................1,183........................ 1 ........... 0.270 ........... 0.270 ...........0.270........... 0.281 ............. 0.281............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.270..............0.270...................0.288 .................434,068,721 ........0.100

OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................ 305,048 ........... 62,535..................... 10 ........... 0.205 ...........0.205 ...........0.205........... 0.205 .............0.205 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.205.............. 0.195...................0.205 ................ 295,495,200 .......0.100

OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO....................................................................... 315,135 ..........248,109..................... 59 ............0.792 ........... 0.792 ...........0.784 ........... 0.788 ............. 0.788............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.784 ..............0.784...................0.788 ..................512,944,053........0.100

OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS .................................................. 16,537 ...............9,288......................16 ........... 0.560 ........... 0.562 ...........0.560........... 0.562 .............0.562 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.560..............0.560...................0.564...................29,505,000 .........0.100

OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES ..................................... 166,400 ........... 46,936........................7 ........... 0.285 ........... 0.285 ...........0.282........... 0.282 .............0.283 ...........-0.001 ........... -0.353 ...............0.282..............0.282...................0.285...................79,550,636 .........0.100

OM0000002176 ............AL JAZEERA STEEL PRODUCTS ........................ 1,378,347 ......324,012..................... 42 ........... 0.236 ........... 0.236 ...........0.235 ........... 0.235 .............0.236 ...........-0.001 ........... -0.424 ...............0.235 ..............0.234...................0.235................... 29,351,021 .........0.100

OM0000001160 ............NATIONAL GAS ............................................................. 14,317 ...............5,554........................6 ........... 0.388 ...........0.390 ...........0.382........... 0.388 .............0.390 ...........-0.002 ............-0.513................0.382..............0.372...................0.382 ..................19,400,000 .........0.100

OM0000002374............UNITED FINANCE ...................................................... 40,000 ............... 5,810........................2 ............0.146 ........... 0.146 ...........0.145 ............0.145 ............. 0.146............-0.001 ........... -0.685 ...............0.145 ..............0.144...................0.146 ...................45,060,916 .........0.100

OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ............................................................ 214,299 ..........123,105......................18 ............0.576 ........... 0.576 ...........0.570 ........... 0.574 .............0.578 ...........-0.004 ........... -0.692 ...............0.570 ..............0.566...................0.574 .................1,315,506,171.......0.100

OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. ....................68,060 ...............8,303........................9 ............0.122 ........... 0.122 ...........0.122 ........... 0.122 ............. 0.123............-0.001 ........... -0.813................0.122 .............. 0.121...................0.124 ................... 35,377,638 .........0.100

OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING ........... 454,360 ........... 69,399......................15 ............0.155 ........... 0.155 ...........0.150 ............0.153 ............. 0.155 ............-0.002 ........... -1.290 ...............0.150 .............. 0.150...................0.152 ................... 13,770,000 .........0.100

OM0000001962 ............AL MADINA INVESTMENT .....................................10,000 .................. 690........................ 1 ........... 0.069 ........... 0.069 ...........0.069........... 0.069 .............0.070 ...........-0.001 ........... -1.429 ...............0.069 ..............0.068...................0.070...................14,293,445 .........0.100

OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES ...........................51,000 ...............6,929........................8 ............0.136 ........... 0.136 ...........0.133 ............0.136 ............. 0.138............-0.002 ........... -1.449 ...............0.133 .............. 0.133...................0.136 ....................8,002,678 ..........0.100

OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 2,088,810 ......478,504....................118 ........... 0.233 ........... 0.233 ...........0.226........... 0.229 .............0.233 ...........-0.004 ............-1.717 ................0.226..............0.226...................0.227 .................. 34,367,175 .........0.100

OM0000001681 ............OMAN AND EMIRATES INV. HOLDING .............53,000 ...............6,206........................5 ............0.118 ........... 0.118............ 0.117 ............0.117 .............0.120 ...........-0.003 ........... -2.500 ............... 0.117 ...............0.117...................0.120 ................... 14,259,375 .........0.100

OM0000001517 ............HSBC BANK OMAN ........................................................ 6,306 .................. 845........................ 1 ............0.134 ........... 0.134 ...........0.134 ........... 0.134 ............. 0.138............-0.004 ........... -2.899 ...............0.134 ..............0.134...................0.139 ..................268,041,914 ........0.100

OM0000004768 ...........AL MADINA TAKAFUL .............................................. 90,300 ...............8,348......................12 ........... 0.093 ........... 0.093 ...........0.092........... 0.092 .............0.096 ...........-0.004 ........... -4.167 ...............0.092.............. 0.091...................0.092 ..................16,100,000 .........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 8,289,954 ...2,376,709...................555 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ......26........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

PARALLEL MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000001400 ...........OMAN FLOUR MILLS ............................................... 100,800 ........... 50,602........................4 ........... 0.502 ...........0.502 ...........0.502........... 0.502 .............0.502 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.502..............0.490...................0.502 ..................79,065,000 .........0.100

OM0000005963 ...........PHOENIX POWER ...................................................... 1,969,330 .......311,596................... 159 ............0.157 ........... 0.159 ...........0.157 ............0.158 ............. 0.158............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.158 .............. 0.158...................0.159 .................. 231,091,031 ........0.100

OM0000001368 ............CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IND. ....................13,000 .................. 533........................3 ............0.041 ........... 0.041 ...........0.041 ........... 0.041 .............0.042 ...........-0.001 ........... -2.381 ...............0.041 ............. 0.040...................0.042 ...................3,485,000 ..........0.100

OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA .................................................................... 8,632 ...................651........................3 ........... 0.078 ........... 0.078 ...........0.075 ........... 0.075 .............0.078 ...........-0.003 ........... -3.846 ...............0.075 ..............0.075...................0.077..................112,500,000 ........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 2,091,762 ...... 363,381................... 169 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ........ 4........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

ISIN .................................................. SECURITY NAME ...............................................................................................VOLUME ..............TURNOVER ................... TRADES ...........OPEN PRICE ............. HIGH .................... LOW ............... CLOSE PR. ..........PREV. CLOSE.......... DIFF (RO) .................DIFF % ......................LAST PR............... LAST BID .....................LAST OFFER ................. MARKET CAP ........PAR VALUE

O M A N S T O C K S

INDICESIndex .................................................High .................Low ..................... Value ............... Prev . Value.......... Diff ...............Diff %MSM30 Index ........................................6,593.47 ...............6,581.82 ................... 6,581.82 ...................6,590.86 .................. -9.04 .................. -0.14Financial Index .....................................8,169.43 ............... 8,110.15 .................... 8,110.15 .................... 8,159.11 ................-48.96 .................. -0.60Industrial Index ................................... 8,336.06 ...............8,329.10 ................... 8,329.10 ................... 8,336.81 ................... -7.71 .................. -0.09Services Index ...................................... 3,528.88 ...............3,527.03 ................... 3,528.52 ...................3,528.00 ....................0.52 ................... 0.01MSM SHARIAH INDEX.......................993.57 .................. 992.41 .......................992.41 ...................... 993.57 ...................-1.16 .................. -0.12

Trading SummaryVolume ................ Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up ............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded10,813,464 .................. 2,786,402 .....................729 ............... 15,236,140,391 .................. 5 ......................15 .................... 12 .........................32

MSM index ends lower

MUSCAT: In the absence of any major news and events, Muscat Securities Market witnessed dull trading to end its seven-day gaining trend. The MSM30 index closed at 6,581.82 points, down by 0.14 per cent. The MSM Sha-ria Index closed at 992.41 points, down by 0.12 per cent. Oman United Insurance was the most active in terms of volume as well as turnover. Oman United Insur-ance also stood as the highest gainer of the day while Al Ma-dina Takaful, which lost 4.17 per cent from previous closing price, topped the loser’s list.

As many as 721 trades were executed during the day’s trading session generating turnover of OMR2.78 million with over 10.8 million shares changing hands. Out of 32 traded securities, five advanced, 15 declined and 12 remained unchanged. GCC and Arab investors continued to be net buyers for OMR49,000 fol-lowed by Omani investors for OMR26,000 while foreign in-vestors who were net sellers of OMR76,000 worth of shares.

Financial Index declined by 0.60 per cent to close at 8,110.15 points. Oman United insurance, and National Bank of Oman in-creased by 2.56 per cent, and 1.13 per cent, respectively. Al Madina Takaful, Bank Nizwa, HSBC Bank Oman, Oman & Emirates Invest-ments, and Al Anwar Holdings declined by 4.17 per cent, 3.85 per cent, 2.90 per cent, 2.50 per cent and 1.72 per cent, respectively.

Industrial Sector Index de-clined by 0.09 per cent and closed

at 8329.10 points. Construction Materials, Galfar Engineering, and Al Jazeera Steels declined by 2.38per cent, 0.81 per cent, and 0.42 per cent, respectively.

Services Sector Index closed flat at 3528 points. Al Batinah Power and Omantel increased by 0.45 per cent and 0.29 per cent, respectively. National Gas and renaissance Services declined by 0.51 per cent and 0.35 per cent, respectively.

Sabic profit dipsProfit at Saudi Basic Industries Corp. declined less than analyst estimates as the Middle East’s biggest petrochemicals company seeks ways to weather swings in oil prices.

Sabic’s second-quarter net income dropped 4.5 per cent to 6.17 billion riyals ($1.65 billion) from 6.46 billion riyals a year earlier, the Riyadh-based com-pany said in a statement to the Saudi bourse. The company’s profit is 25 per cent higher than the 4.95 billion riyal mean esti-mate of nine analysts compiled by Bloomberg. It will pay a divi-dend of 2.5 riyals a share for the first half. “Given the volatility in oil prices, we are looking at ways to optimise our feedstock pro-duction,” acting chief executive officer Yousef Al Benyan said in a news conference in Riyadh.

Profit declined due to lower-than-average sales prices even after Sabic reduced its cost of production, the company said in the statement.

– United Securities/Bloomberg News

Oman United Insurance was the highest

gainer of the day while Al Madina Takaful

topped the loser’s list on Sunday

Black economy clouds Spain’s recovery from the crisisMADRID: Many of Spain’s five million unemployed dream of find-ing a steady job in the economic re-covery vaunted by the government — but a legion of undeclared work-ers still scrape by cash-in-hand.

“Nowadays the phrase ‘steady job’ means nothing in Spain,” said Paloma Sotillo, 43.

She is one of 1.7 million people in Spain who admit to earning at least part of their pay in the “black economy”, without tax or social se-curity contributions.

Spain’s economy returned to growth in 2013 after five years of economic crisis, but its unemploy-ment rate is still the second-high-est in the eurozone after Greece.

The rate dipped to 22.37 percent in the second quarter of this year, according to official data published this week. A study by Catalan busi-

ness school Esade indicated how-ever that one in 10 employees and one in five unemployed people in Spain did work for earnings that they did not declare to the taxman.

Sotillo said she had been unem-ployed for a year when she found a job in a Madrid toyshop in Decem-ber 2013. She worked there for a year before stopping in order to look after her sick mother.

“I had a contract to work 30 hours a week, but I worked 35 and they paid me the difference cash-in-hand,” she said — a salary of 700 euros plus an undeclared supple-ment of 120 euros.

The tax collectors’ union Gestha says the vast black economy has for decades undermined Spain, the eurozone’s fourth-biggest economy. It estimates the black economy equals about a quarter

of Spain’s gross domestic product — or roughly a quarter of a trillion euros.

Fiscal bad boysFor Gestha, that makes Spain one of the fiscal bad boys of Europe, along with Greece, Italy, Portugal and Poland. Economists say the cash-in-hand habit is strongest in agriculture, building, domestic work, trade and tourism.

“The high level of unemploy-ment has increased it,” said Ges-tha’s president, Carlos Cruzado.

He said Spain suffers from a cul-ture of tax avoidance, fuelled by in-dignation over constant reports of political corruption, and also lacks enough tax inspectors.

During the boom decade before Spain’s crisis broke out, compa-nies subcontracted a lot of their

work to workers whom they paid in cash in order to keep up with de-mand, said Princeton University sociologist Alejandro Portes.

Then in the crisis, this gave way to “an informal economy of sur-vival” of technically unemployed people living hand-to-mouth from casual jobs, he said. Cruzado com-plained that the black economy persists partly due to a belief that stopping people earning that way in a crisis could have explosive consequences. It is hard to do away with a system that supports many people who have exhausted all their welfare subsidies in the crisis. “There is a theory in Spain that, with five million people un-employed, there would be a revolt on the street if it were not for the underground economy,” Cruzado further added. — AFP

E C O N O M Y

Dubai stocks lead Mideast fallDUBAI: Dubai stocks retreated, leading equity markets lower across the Gulf, after oil dropped to the lowest in four-months and some investors sought to benefit from the DFM General Index’s rally last week.

The benchmark gauge dropped 1.3 per cent, the most in almost three weeks, to 4,147.63 at the

close. Emirates NBD, the United Arab Emirates’ second-biggest lender by assets, slid the most in five weeks. Emaar Properties, the developer of the world’s tallest tower, lost the most since July 8. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index fell 0.8 per cent in Riyadh, the most in a month.

Abu Dhabi’s ADX General In-

dex retreated 0.4 per cent. Qatar’s QE Index slipped 0.3 per cent, and Kuwait’s SE Price Index slid 0.1 per cent. Bahrain’s BB All Share Index was little changed.

Egypt’s benchmark EGX 30 In-dex retreated one per cent, led by Commercial International Bank Egypt SAE, the country’s biggest listed lender. — Bloomberg News

R E G I O N A L M A R K E T S

CAUSE OF WORRY: Freight trucks are seen beneath a gantry crane

as they collect shipping containers at Barcelona Europe South

Terminal (BEST) in Barcelona, Spain in this file picture. Spain’s

economy returned to growth in 2013 after five years of economic

crisis, but its unemployment rate is still the second-highest in the

eurozone after Greece. - Bloomberg News

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

E- IMESTECH STUFFTECH STUFF

BCRUISING WINDOWS 10 WITH CHROME A Google representative said, “Chrome is an equal opportunity browser and will work great on Windows 10.” Some users running the Windows 10 preview software have reported issues with running Chrome in the last few months, but Google’s browser has worked fine for others. The finished version of Microsoft’s new operating system arrives on July 29. So when you have upgraded your PC, make sure you get the latest version of Google Chrome to be up to date.

M O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

S M A R T P H O N E A P P S

Before heading for the festival, know the line-up

SLOW DOWNENJOY THE RIDE

Visitors to music festivals like Lollapalooza or Pitchfork often have three goals: enjoy-ing great live music, having fun with friends and staying safe and secure. In a crowd of thou-sands, this can be difficult, but there are plenty of apps that can help.

Planning which perform-ers you would like to see at a festival can be a big help, and Any.do is a great way to do this. Essentially a to-do list, it is free for iOS and Android and includes timed reminders and alerts to help you remember to go to a particular stage to see a particular artist. Its clean and simple interface is pretty easy to learn, and it has sharing options so you can send your plans to any friends joining you at the festival. Any.do has a lot of menus and options, so it is worth familiarising yourself with it ahead of time, but the complexity allows the app to be useful in places other than music festivals. Another help-ful app is Songkick Concerts, which shows the acts appear-ing at festivals long before the event happens. The app, free on iOS, scans your music library to learn which performers you like. It then sends alerts if any of them will be playing soon or nearby. Songkick lets you see the full line-up of bands at fes-tivals, and it has other informa-tion like venue maps. It also has an option to buy tickets. Great to look at and easy to navigate, Songkick is also available on Android, where it looks simi-lar and works the same way. It scans your Google Music, Last.fm and other accounts to learn your music tastes.

Don’t forget about song lyr-ics — you don’t want to find yourself in the crowd hum-ming along to a rock anthem when you don’t know the words. Musixmatch can help. Musixmatch connects to mu-sic played on your phone and displays synchronised lyrics so you can learn the words before you get to the festival.

You can also search for lyr-ics, and the app can listen to the music being played around you and match the lyrics to the music it identifies. This feature may work when you are in a crowd listening to a live perfor-mance, but the results may be unreliable. On iOS, the app has an Apple Watch extension so you can see the lyrics on your wrist. Musixmatch is free on iOS and Android, but to remove in-app ads and have access to the full range of features, you have to pay $5 a year. For identifying music you’re not familiar with, consider Sound-hound. It works a lot like its main rival, Shazam, comparing music against its database to come up with an identification. But unlike Shazam, Sound-hound can identify music if you hum it or even, if you are lucky, if it is being performed live.

The app is easy to use and feels a little magical when it works. It’s free on iOS and Android.

Meeting up with friends can be tricky at a festival, so to avoid a long string of instant messages, try Apple’s built-in Find My Friends app, which can locate fellow Apple us-ers through their phones’ GPS services. You can even set up temporary sharing so your personal location is shared only during a festival. The free Locate My Friends app on An-droid is similar, but if you use it, keep in mind that your location info will be shared with a third party that is not Google.

Microsoft has an app that could help coordinate which performances you and your friends see at a festival: Tossup, free on iOS and Android. You set up a question like “Do you want to see Disclosure?” and your friends vote on it. You can even chat inside the app and set up calendar alerts. Tossup is available only in the United States, and because it is new, it may be a little buggy — some re-viewers on iOS complain about problems logging in. Finally, it can be hard to find your tent in a huge festival campsite, or your car in the parking lots, so try Tent Finder, free from Aar-on Wardle on iOS, or Festival Buddy, free for Android.

Tent Finder isn’t very el-egant, but it seems to work well for marking the location of your tent or car, and it has an Apple Watch extension so you don’t even have to take out your phone to locate things. Festival Buddy is also pretty basic in de-sign and has in-app ads, but it is worth trying out. Remember, too, to check the festival’s offi-cial app — many are high qual-ity and have useful features specific to each location.

Quick callThe popular blog-like publish-ing platform Medium has long had an iOS app, but it now has an Android app as well. The app lets you find and read in-teresting articles published on the platform and even submit some of your own. Medium is free. — KIT EATON/The New York Times

News Service

Free smartphone naviga-tion apps from Apple and Google offer turn-by-turn driving, walking and biking directions.

And many new cars have the option of built-in navigation systems. So is there any longer a reason to buy a stand-alone global positioning sys-tem (GPS) unit?

While smartphone navigation apps have some advantages, includ-ing limiting the number of devices one needs to buy and carry around, they also have some negatives.

For starters, smartphone screens are often tiny; those on dedicated GPS units can be almost twice the size.

In addition, navigation apps are processor-intensive, causing smart-phones to heat up and the battery to run down faster than otherwise. The apps generally eat into a con-sumer’s data plan, as well.

When a call comes in, even if you answer it using hands-free Blue-tooth, the smartphone map disap-pears for some period of time. And if you’re playing music on your smartphone, the songs cut out to make way for the voice prompts giving directions.

Fit for one purposeThose are reasons “customers want a product that’s fit for one purpose, something they can put on their wind-screen,” said Corinne Vigreux, man-aging director of TomTom Consumer, one of the top GPS device makers.

In Europe, TomTom’s stand-alone GPS business is growing, Vi-greux said, as customers look for ways to avoid smartphone and data roaming charges when they cross international borders.

TomTom, like Garmin and Ma-gellan, the two other largest GPS manufacturers, is trying to evolve with the times, to create units that offer additional features and exploit some of the negatives of using your Android or iPhone device as a GPS navigation system.

The three companies now of-fer devices with simplified touch-screen interfaces, for example, as well as faster GPS positioning, detailed 3-D graphics and turn-by-turn directions in which the voice speaks the street name or other identifying information.

Both Garmin and Magellan of-fer GPS stand-alone products with integrated dashcams. Garmin also sells a unit that, in addition to the dashcam, features lane departure and forward collision warnings.

“Why a consumer should still buy a separate GPS unit is a question we ask ourselves all the time,” said Bill Strand, Magellan’s associate direc-tor of product marketing.

Whether these new strategies will help to stabilise and strengthen

the market is still an open question. “We’re finding things that smart-phones are not good at yet,” Strand said. “But it’s a moving target; it could change next year.” Here is a rundown of some of the newest models with the latest features.

Garmin NueviThe Nuevi, Garvin’s flagship unit, incorporates a dashcam and lane departure and collision warning systems into its 6-inch display. An optional $170 backup camera that must be wired into the brake light can be integrated into the unit.

The camera continuously records up to one hour of video on the in-cluded SD card, and then records over the previous video when space is used up.

When sensors detect a crash or bump, that video sequence and sev-eral seconds before the incident are automatically saved for later view-ing or uploading to the Garmin web-site. The model can also be used to take still images, useful in the case of an accident. While the product includes only North America maps, maps of other countries can be downloaded for around $70.

Magellan RoadMate 6230 and SmartGPS 5390With its 5-inch screen, the Road-Mate offers an intuitive interface and basic navigation features, along with a built-in dashcam (a compat-ible connected backup camera is an extra-cost option). As with the Garmin model, the RoadMate re-cords continuously and will auto-matically store video taken when a bump or crash occurs. The video can be viewed on the device or down-loaded by a PC running Windows.

In addition to pronouncing street names, the RoadMate also provides directions based on landmarks so, for example, a driver will be in-structed to “turn right at the Chev-ron station” rather than “turn right at Main Street.”

The SmartGPS from Magellan es-chews the dashcam and instead in-cludes a number of apps commonly found on smartphones, such as cur-rent gas (or diesel) prices based on price, distance or brand; Yelp and Foursquare reviews; and other apps that can be downloaded.

A companion smartphone app allows data and directions to be synced between devices. Bluetooth

allows the SmartGPS to act as a cell-phone speaker to make hands-free calls. The two Magellan units are for North America only. Other coun-tries’ maps cannot be added.

TomTom GO 600Pinch and swipe gestures can be used to move around the GO 600’s large 6-inch screen and cycle through preference screens. Mul-tiple voices are available to read di-rections, including celebrity voices for purchase, but only the comput-er-generated versions read actual street names. The GO includes lifetime maps and real-time traffic data, which can be transmitted from a smartphone app via a Bluetooth connection. The amount of data used for traffic updates is tiny, according to Tom-Tom: equivalent to two download-ed songs a month.

The app can also be used to search for routes before entering the vehi-cle; that information is then trans-mitted to the GPS unit. Maps for other countries can be downloaded to the GO; they cost $40 and up, de-pending on region. — ERIC A. TAUB/The New

York Times News Service

What do stand-alone

GPS devices do that

smartphones can’t.

Here is a rundown of

some of the newest

models with the

latest features

All about GPS devices

TomTom, like Garmin

and Magellan, the two

other largest global

positioning system

manufacturers, is trying

to evolve with the

times, to create units

that offer additional

features and exploit

some of the negatives

of using your Android or

iPhone device as a GPS

navigation system

B6 M O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

ROUND-UPBank Muscat extends lead support to Salalah Festival

MUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the flag-ship financial services provider in the Sultanate, as part of its com-mitment to promoting national celebrations, has extended lead support to Salalah Festival 2015, the Sultanate’s annual tourism and cultural extravaganza to be held from 23 July to 31 August, says a press release.

“Salalah Festival celebrating the monsoon splendour and cul-tural heritage of Oman perfectly fits into the corporate ethos of Bank Muscat in serving the larg-est banking family in Oman as well as visitors from the region and around the world.

“As the nation’s flagship fi-nancial services provider, Bank Muscat seeks to utilise all oppor-tunities in reaching out to peo-

ple, offering them an enriching experience. While Salalah offers a rewarding experience to enjoy nature’s bounty, Bank Muscat complements this experience by facilitating banking convenience to all,” said Yasir Salim Tabook, regional manager - Dhofar.

Bank Muscat stalls will adorn the festival venues where the bank personnel will be available to fa-miliarise visitors on promotional campaigns, services and products offered by the bank. Bank Mus-cat ATMs and CDMs will provide banking convenience and connec-tivity to visitors and tourists.

In all the previous editions of Salalah Festival, Bank Muscat has been closely involved with the popular family event.

“The partnership with Salalah

Festival is an earnest attempt by Bank Muscat to propagate the core family values held dear by Omanis. The bank is commit-ted to making Salalah Festival a great success. As main sponsor of the annual festival, Bank Muscat aims to unite citizens, residents and visitors in sharing the good times and discovering the joy of being connected.

“The bank seeks to serve as a focal point in the preservation of Oman’s rich heritage and culture, encouraging people to maintain a strong link to the glorious legacy, thereby reinforcing the Sultan-ate’s distinct cultural character. We strongly believe the presence of Bank Muscat will complement in making the event a memorable experience,” Tabook added.

Bank Muscat stalls

will adorn the festival

venues where the

bank personnel

will be available to

familiarise visitors

on promotional

campaigns, services

and products offered

by the bank

IWC opens first outlet in Qatar

DOHA: Swiss luxury watch man-ufacturer IWC Schaffhausen has opened its first boutique in Qatar, in collaboration with its author-ised retailer in the country, Al Majed Jewellery.

With the opening of this new boutique in Doha’s upscale La-goona Mall, IWC Schaffhausen now has nine boutiques across the Middle East, says a press release.

Karoline Huber, Brand Director of IWC Schaffhausen Middle East & India, said: “The opening of our first boutique in Qatar underscores the importance of the Qatari mar-ket to our brand. We’re thrilled to fi-nally be able to offer our customers in Qatar a destination where they can choose from an excellent range of IWC timepieces and experience our brand’s vivid universe.”

Among the timepieces on dis-play at the new boutique, some of the highlights are examples from the brand’s Portugieser collection.

W A T C H M A N U F A C T U R E R

Honda Ramadan promotion receives great response from car aficionadosMUSCAT: Omasco has taken eve-ry step and effort to keep its prom-ise towards offering their valued customers the very best during Ramadan this year.

Omasco’s Ramadan promotion focuses primarily on people from all segments of society offering some of the most unique services and packages. The promotion was a huge hit amongst customers as it highlighted a plethora of luxury gifts, unlimited benefits and week-ly cash prizes that made purchas-ing and owning any Honda vehicle easy, says a press release.

Major highlights The offer has been extended for another month and includes free insurance (Oman and UAE), free service package for three years / 50K km (up to 80K km on select models), free registration and a free gift (that includes a Black and Decker Car Hand Vacuum) with each model purchase.

Customers will also get a chance to win OMR500 during daily raffle draws and OMR1,000 on weekly raffle draws.

A customer, who recently pur-chased a Honda vehicle through the Ramadan offer, expressed his happiness, “I am thankful to Omasco for bringing out this scheme. I am extremely excited about my new purchase and would like to thank the friendly customer service personnel at the showroom who made my purchasing easy and hassle free.”

Adil Al Zadjali, National Sales Manager, Honda, said: “We are confident that we can jointly work towards providing customers the very best through our Ramadan

scheme. It is our way of showing gratitude to all our valued custom-ers, who are eminently deserving all our appreciation.”

2016 Honda City The 2016 City, which has been developed as a global sedan, en-compasses the best of Honda’s technologies to deliver advanced sporty design, best comfort and best fuel efficiency in the category. The Honda City has undergone a complete design change based on a grand concept of an ‘Advanced Cool Sporty Car’ that has a stun-ning presence with its dynamic stance, outstanding fuel efficiency, comfortable and spacious interiors. It aims to reflect sophistication and vigour while in motion and a strik-ing charisma when stationary.

2016 Honda Accord The Accord reflects its status as a dynamic, intelligent sedan with deeply sculpted sharp character lines in the exterior. The vehicle is equipped with a bold chrome grille to enhance the expressive character of the car keeping the local taste in mind. All grades are equipped with daytime running lights and LED brake lights. LED headlights for the V6 Sports grade adds to the sophistication of the modern sedan.

Honda CR-VWith a sophisticated overall look and feel, the Honda CR-V boasts a 2.4 litre i-VTEC 4-cylinder engine and a 5-speed automatic trans-mission. It has a fuel economy rating of 23/31 for front drives and 22/30 for 4 wheel drives. As standard equipment, every CR-V incorporates an electronic stabil-ity control system, antilock brakes with brake assist, driver and front-passenger airbags, side curtain airbags with roll over sensor and a front seat design that can help re-duce the severity of neck injury in the event of a rear collision.

Honda Pilot The Pilot is Honda’s midsize 4x4 offering, and their largest offering at this time. The new look features a new standard grille, new front and rear bumpers, and optional new wheels, along with a few other cabin additions. The Pilot can seat eight people at a pinch. The standard 3.5-litre V6 engine features Variable Cylinder Man-agement (VCM) which allows it to operate on half the cylinders when power is not needed, improving fuel economy.

Honda Odyssey The Honda Odyssey minivan re-ceived a facelift for the 2014 model

year. The upmarket minivan is aimed at big families, and is longer, wider and lower than the previous version. It comes in LX, EXL and Touring trim levels. Mechanical specs include a 3.5-litre V6 with cylinder-shutoff technology, a 6-speed automatic, MacPher-son strut front and double-wishbone rear suspension, 17-inch or 18-inch alloy wheels and an 80-litre fuel tank.

Extended timing Honda has extended the opening hours for its key Honda showrooms across Oman in order to better ac-commodate their patrons and en-able them to visit the showrooms at a time that is convenient for them. During Ramadan the extended hours provided additional flexibility.

Honda commitment Honda is confident that its show-rooms will continue to welcome increased footfalls with auto en-thusiasts over the coming weeks of Ramadan to avail of the promo-tion. Giving brings joy during the holy season and the current Rama-dan offer is testament to this.

The company will continue to invest in its business and activi-ties to ensure that Honda custom-ers enjoy the best products and services available.

S U C C E S S F U L O F F E R

CBFS signs MoU with UK’s Chartered Insurance InstituteMUSCAT: The College of Bank-ing and Financial Studies (CBFS) signed a Memorandum of Under-standing (MoU) with the Char-tered Insurance Institute (CII) headquartered in London.

The CII is considered one of the most prestigious institutions granting professional certifica-tion in insurance and specialised financial services.

The MoU was signed by Dr Ahmed bin Mohsin Al Ghassani, Dean of the College of Bank-ing and Financial Studies and Margaret West, Head of Foreign Operations of the Chartered In-surance Institute. Ahmed bin Ali Al Mamari, director general for Insurance at the Capital Market Authority (CMA) and Anees bin Moosa Al Lawati, the assistant dean of Academic Affairs, CBFS, were present at the meeting, says a press release.

About the importance of the MoU, Dr Al Ghassani said that the agreement is in line with the interest of the CMA, which is gov-erning the insurance sector in the Sultanate. Based on a framework, the college intends to provide training and offer professional certificates in the field of Insur-ance and Financial Planning to develop human resources of the Omani labour force in the sector, as identified by the Capital Mar-ket Authority.

Dr Ghassani added that the college is constantly working on offering specialised academic, professional and training pro-grammes to meet the needs of various financial sectors and the labour market in the Sultanate.

On the MoU, Ahmed Al Maamari said the CMA is com-mitted to the advancement of the insurance sector, which focuses on the development of the hu-man element. With the MoU, the authority will be able to have pro-fessionals with ACII certification from the CII, which will reflect positively on the development and rehabilitation of human re-sources in the insurance sector in the Sultanate.

Margaret West, head of For-eign Operations in the Chartered Insurance Institute welcomes the MoU with CBFS, which has the support of the Capital Market Authority - the supervising body for the insurance sector in the Sultanate. She said, “We through this cooperation will be able to support the Omani labour market programmes of professional train-

ing according to market needs and the vision of the Capital Market Authority as a regulator for the sector and it is a perfect oppor-tunity to spread awareness about the insurance sector, and I’m de-lighted with this cooperation and I positively look forward to the future and specifically towards increasing joint programmes with the college.”

A C A D E M I C T R A I N I N G

Danube Home launches store in MuscatMUSCAT: Danube Home, the retail arm of UAE based building materials’ market leader Danube Group, has opened its biggest retail showroom in Muscat, as part of its on-going expansion drive.

Located in Al Khuwair, the total area of the showroom stands at 60,000 square feet. The prestig-ious new store was launched by Rizwan Sajan, chairman of Dan-ube Group, in the presence of sen-ior management of Danube Group. The brand has brought unrivalled quality and innovative products to the home furnishings industry in Oman with this launch, says a press release.

Housed in a modern, purpose-built store the new outlet boasts of a unique and extensive product port-folio that caters to every require-ment of its customer. The store pro-vides end to end solutions from free 3D interior designing to the instal-lation of modern and eclectic home interior furnishings to suit every lifestyle need. Customers can just walk in with their floor plans and get their interiors designed by pro-fessionally trained designers free of charge, based on their individual taste and preferences.

Besides, a whole host of hard fixtures, their range of soft fur-nishings include a large selection of chandeliers, beddings, dinner ware, blinds, curtains, wallpapers, home décor, kids décor, parquet

flooring, sofa sets, bedroom sets, dinning sets, outdoor garden fur-niture, luxury sanitary ware, ce-ramic tiles, and more among other products in this segment. All the brand’s products are meticulously and individually sourced for a tar-get audience comprising of those with a taste for class, elegance and value for money.

With the three core principles of range, value and convenience in mind, the brand hand picks the best products to create world class and in-trend collections while being flexible and transpar-ent in their operations. The entire business format is based on offer-ing a convenient shopping experi-ence for any customer from start to end. In doing so, Danube Home has organised a vast range of cus-tomised solutions, where in, the

consumer can coordinate the fur-niture for a particular room with his choice of wallpapers, curtains, blinds or parquet flooring to de-sign his dream home.

Adel Sajan, director of Danube Group, shared, “We are delighted to officially launch our flagship retail showroom in Muscat, mark-ing a major milestone in our ex-pansion strategy for the region. At Danube, it has always been our commitment to provide a range of innovative, value-added products and services for our customers to foster mutual success and growth

Danube, started its operations in 1993, in UAE, with building materials as a core business, and then subsequently ventured into retailing and other verticals. The brand launched its very first Dan-ube Home outlet in Dubai in the

year 2009. After testing the wa-ters, the brand slowly and gradu-ally spread its wings across all po-tential markets in the GCC region. By 2013, they were strategically positioned across major cities in the UAE, along with Bahrain and Oman. From mid-2013 to early 2014, the company consolidated its complete operations and buy-ing plans, making it ready for large scale operations and expansions, one of which included their stra-tegic entry into Saudi Arabia and a flag ship store in Sharjah earlier this year.

“Geared up for faster expansion plans and with a highly established logistics network, Danube Home, continues to identify important and potential markets across the country, for future expansion. We have substantial growth plans for the coming five years with all big box formats for Danube Home. To make our strategies successful, right from day one, we have made our service standards unique.

“The free 3D interior design-ing service is a unique concept in its own kind, and with no strings attached. Our record shows, 90% of our customers have done their end to end purchasing from the Danube Home stores, after utilis-ing the services, because of our continuous endeavour to remain truthful and transparent in our policies,” Sajan added.

H O M E F U R N I S H I N G S

Through this

cooperation we will

be able to support

the Omani labour

market programmes

of professional

training according to

market needs and the

vision of the Capital

Market Authority as

a regulator for the

sector and it is a

perfect opportunity

to spread awareness

about the insurance

sector. I’m delighted

with this cooperation

and I positively look

forward to the future

and specifically

towards increasing

joint programmes with

the college

Margaret WestHead of Foreign Operations, CII

B7M O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

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RECRUIT

QUOTES

For no matter what we achieve, if we don’t spend the

vast majority of our time with people we love and

respect, we cannot possibly have a great life. But if

we spend the vast majority of our time with people we

love and respect -- people we really enjoy being on the

bus with and who will never disappoint us -- then we

will almost certainly have a great life, no matter where

the bus goes. The people we interviewed from the

good-to-great companies clearly loved what they did,

largely because they loved who they did it with.

— Jim Collins

We do not hire experts neither do we hire men on past

experiences or for any position other than the lowest.

Since we do not take a man on his past history, we do

not refuse him because of his past history. I never met

a man who was thoroughly bad. There is always some

good in him if he gets a chance. — Henry Ford

Often the best solution to a management problem is

the right person. — Edwin Booz

Bahwan Tourism awards prizes to Holiday Souq raffle draw winners

MUSCAT: Bahwan Tourism, one of the flagship companies of the Suhail Bahwan Group and the largest travel consortium in the Sultanate of Oman, announced the winners of Holiday Souq raffle.

The raffle draw was held recent-ly at Bahwan Tourism office in Qu-rum in the presence of an official from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The prizes were handed over to the 10 lucky winners, who won exciting prizes like packages for two people to destinations such as Vienna, Prague, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, India and Abu Dhabi, says a press release.

Ali Al Lamki won the grand prize of a package for two persons to spend three nights in Vienna with stay in a star hotel and econ-omy class tickets, Shibee Varghese won a trip to Prague (three nights stay and tickets for two), Humaid

Al Kasbi won a trip to Bangkok (three nights, stay plus tickets for two), Hamood Al Marshoudi got tickets for two to Kuala Lumpur with three nights stay in star ho-tel, Sudi Shahaphrkar won a six nights Golden Triangle package (Delhi- Agra-Jaipur) for 2 per-sons with stay in 5 star hotels, Ajay Chopra won a three nights Udaipur package for 2 persons

with stay in a 4 star hotel.Others who won prizes were,

Yaqoob Al Rashdi, (3 nights Goa package for 2 persons in 5 star ho-tel), Ahmed Al Zakwany, (3 nights Sri Lanka package for 2 persons in a 4 star hotel, Nadarajan Vadakke-dah, (2 nights Abu Dhabi pack-age for 2 persons in a 5 star hotel including 2 premium Yas Island passes to Ferrari World and Yas

Water World), Fathi Al Mukhaini, (2 Nights in Muscat for 2 persons in a 4 star hotel with breakfast).

The winners got the opportunity to enter the raffle draw during their visit to the Holiday Souq 2015 – or-ganised by Bahwan Tourism. The Holiday Souq 2015 was supported by many international tourism bodies such as Thai Tourism Au-thority, India Tourism, Malaysian

Tourism Authority and Abu Dhabi Tourism along with popular air-lines such as Emirates, Fly Dubai and Thai Airways.

Major tour operators whom Bahwan Tourism represents in Oman viz. Thomas Cook India, Cosmos, Globus Family of Brands, Monograms, Avalon Waterways and Royal Orchid Holidays, also took part in the event.

The prizes were

handed over to the

10 lucky winners,

who won exciting

prizes like packages

for two people to

destinations such

as Vienna, Prague,

Kuala Lumpur,

Bangkok, India and

Abu Dhabi

BankDhofar shares Eid happiness with children at Royal HospitalMUSCAT: To further extend its social involvement and commu-nity outreach, the Mujtamaie vol-unteer team from BankDhofar vis-ited inpatient children at the Royal Hospital, sharing joy and happi-ness with them on the occasion of Eid Al Fitr and handing over toys and presents to lift up their spirit.

Social eventSami Omar Al Zadjali, Head of Marketing & Corporate Com-munications at BankDhofar, said: “The various social events and community involvement activi-ties we organise and participate come in parallel with our strategy to reinforce our role as an insepa-rable part of the social fabric and as a socially responsible Omani organisation. I would like to thank the management of the Royal Hos-pital for their cooperation and for facilitating these visits, which gave us the opportunity to meet and great inpatient children and share the joy of Eid Al Fitr with them and their family members.”

Taking proactive steps on the path of the Sultanate’s social de-velopment and prosperity, Bank-Dhofar puts corporate social re-sponsibility (CSR) at the forefront of its commitments. Community

and social awareness campaigns, as well as a strong focus on en-gaging staff, are being promoted across the BankDhofar through various channels. The bank works towards supporting sustainable CSR initiatives, investing in long term objectives of all its CSR activ-ities. External partnerships with various public and private sector organisations, as well as non-profit and charitable organisations, help BankDhofar extend its outreach and play a proactive role in the community, realising its weight as

an integral part of the community. More than just financial support

and fund-raising, BankDhofar is dedicated to sustainable philan-thropy causes, participating in events and activities across the Sultanate, collaborating with vari-ous organisations and non-profit associations to reinforce its social responsibility and community outreach programmes. BankDho-far has proudly supported numer-ous initiatives, institutions and organisations, providing essential services to the community.

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

Infiniti Q30 Premium Active Compact

set for Frankfurt premiere in September

DUBAI: The first ever Infiniti Q30 Premium Active Compact is ready for its world premiere at the International Frankfurt Motor Show in September this year.

Featuring Infiniti’s iconic de-sign language, the all-new Q30 represents a category-breaking vehicle concept developed for customers seeking urban indi-viduality. Its dynamic drive char-acteristics provide for Infiniti-typical confident and responsive performance as well as excellent ride and handling.

Crafted trims and expressive interiors extend the striking de-

sign approach from the exterior into the passenger cabin, says a press release.

The public premiere of the Q30 Active Compact comes exactly two years after its precursor, the Q30 Concept, was introduced at the 2013 Frankfurt show. The unmistakable approach of that winning concept has been fully maintained as Infiniti’s all-new Q30 compact vehicle is intro-duced to the market.

“Design is a key pillar of the Infiniti brand – and the new Q30 Active Compact perfectly embod-ies this approach,” said Infiniti

President Roland Krueger. “The Q30 Active Compact delivers the distinctive design, the driving dy-namics and the individuality that our customers expect of an In-finiti vehicle. With our first ever entry in the compact car segment, we continue the product offensive and provide additional options for our discerning customers.”

The Q30 Active Compact un-derwent final testing and de-velopment in Europe. It will be built in Sunderland in the UK which then becomes the fourth country on three continents to build Infiniti vehicles.

M O T O R S H O W

B8

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Four Kia models win top awards

MUSCAT: Four models from Kia Motors America (KMA) were rec-ognised as segment winners of the 2015 AutoPacific Vehicle Satis-faction Awards (VSA), including the Quoris luxury sedan, which ranked at the top of the Luxury Car category and won AutoPa-cific’s coveted President’s Award,

given to the vehicle that achieves the highest-ever overall VSA score. This is only the third time this award has been given in the 19-year history of the VSAs.

The other three Kia winners included the 2015 Cadenza, 2015 Soul and 2015 Sportage in the Large Car, Compact Car and Com-

pact Crossover SUV categories, respectively, with the Soul scoring its second consecutive win, says a press release.

Kia had more category winners than any other brand and ranked third (tie) among all popular non-premium automakers for overall brand score.

“We are honoured that four of our world-class vehicles have earned AutoPacific Vehicle Sat-isfaction Awards, affirming Kia’s on-going commitment to design, craftsmanship and the owner-ship experience,” said Orth He-drick, vice president of Product Planning, KMA.

“While Cadenza, Quoris, Soul and Sportage each have their own personalities, together they repre-sent the collective strength of the entire Kia model line. We’re es-pecially proud of Kia Quoris’s rec-ognition as Kia continues to move upmarket and compete with long-standing luxury brands,” he added.

AutoPacific’s VSAs identify the most satisfying vehicles for sale in the US market and assist new car buyers in making informed vehicle purchase decisions. The results are based on responses to over 66,000 surveys completed by own-ers of new, model year 2015 vehi-cles. The survey measures owner satisfaction through 50 separate attributes ranging from interior comfort and convenience to fuel economy and performance.

Kia Motors Corporation was founded in 1944 and is Korea’s oldest manufacturer of motor ve-hicles. Over 3 million Kia vehicles

a year are produced in 10 manufac-turing and assembly operations in five countries which are then sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering around 150 countries.

Kia today has over 49,000 em-ployees worldwide and annual rev-enues of $45 billion. Kia Motors Corporation’s brand slogan – “The Power to Surprise” – represents the company’s global commitment to surprise the world by providing exciting and inspiring experiences that go beyond expectations.

Reliable International Automo-tive (RIA), the distributor for Kia in Oman provides a rewarding own-ership experience for customers. Excellent product attributes and unmatched facilities easily ensure their absolute satisfaction, every mile of the way. No wonder then that Reliable International Auto-motive has been ranked amongst the top Kia distributors worldwide.

We are honoured that four of our world-class

vehicles have earned AutoPacific Vehicle

Satisfaction Awards, affirming Kia’s on-going

commitment to design, craftsmanship and

the ownership experience, said Orth Hedrick,

Vice President of Product Planning, KMA

Ooredoo welcomes 2015 Salalah Festival with improved networkSALALAH: About 70 per cent of Ooredoo’s network across Oman has now been updated as part of its focused modernisation strategy which commenced three years ago.

The announcement came just prior to the popular Khareef Fes-tival in Salalah, where Ooredoo has deployed additional 2G, 3G+ and 4G sites to give visitors wider coverage, and improved mobile data speeds and voice quality, says a press release.

All Ooredoo base stations across Salalah, from Mirbat to Mugsayl, have been upgraded to provide al-most two times more 3G+ capacity in addition to the already turbo-charged network. This will ensure Ooredoo customers get high speed data access and a superior Inter-net browsing experience both in-doors and outdoors.

In the festival grounds, custom-

ers with 4.5G capable handsets on the Ooredoo network will experi-ence the new LTE Advanced ser-vice giving 4.5G with high speeds.

The additional investment in the network will be further com-plemented with Ooredoo’s new festival stand which will greet visi-tors in a more visible location, at double the size. The new site ena-bles Ooredoo this year to welcome more visitors each day and dem-onstrate products and services in a more engaging way.

In mid-Oct 2012, the compa-ny’s 3G+ network covered 53%of Oman. Today this figure stands at 92%. 4G is now widely available in the cities of Muscat, Salalah, Sohar and Duqm.

The 4G mobile broadband ser-vices now cover over 30% of the population of the Sultanate. Home Broadband is also an area of signif-

icant achievement. The older mo-dem access of Wi-Max has been upgraded to 4G LTE TD with full migration of customers expected to be on the new service by end of August this year.

As part of the 2015 network upgrades this year, the Wilayats of Manah, Al Hamra, Izki, Adam, Bahla, remaining parts of Nizwa, Al Mudhaibi, Dima Wattayeen, Bidiyah, Ibra, Al Qabil, Jaalan Bani Bu Ali have already been modern-ised and there will be further roll-outs to many more cities, includ-ing Haima, Hallaniyat, Al Jazir, Thumrait, Khasab, Bukha, Quriyat and Masirah.

As a result of their widespread upgrades, Ooredoo has seen a sig-nificant rise in broadband uptake within turbocharged areas, as cus-tomers enjoy the benefits of faster data speeds with higher quality.

M O D E R N I S A T I O N S T R A T E G Y

Technology comes to cut

service time for vehiclesMUSCAT: Motorists, frustrated when told it will take up to two days to get their car serviced, can take heart from new tech-nology guaranteeing rapid turn-around of vehicles at workshops across Oman.

High volumes of vehicles taken in at many of the bigger service centres spend much of the time in a queue waiting for their turn, of-ten leaving owners without their cars for 48 hours.

By contrast, the Oman-wide network of Bosch Car Service workshops is constantly work-ing to reduce the time needed for cars to be serviced, and the latest around-the-wheel technology and equipment in use is paying dividends, says a press release.

“We’re constantly working to accelerate the process of car ser-vicing,” said Andreas Bodemer, regional president of Bosch Auto-motive Aftermarket Middle East and Africa.

“The days of a car mechanic turning up for work with nothing to help him other than his trusty tool bag are, of course, long gone. Computer software technology is now the mechanic’s best friend at all of our workshops. They

save time thanks to the speed and precision of the latest Bosch Di-agnostics and around the wheel equipment, and that’s good news for the average motorist who wants his car back on the road as soon as possible,” he added.

The Bosch Car Service network of independently owned service centres in Oman are among more than 70,000 worldwide using the industry leading Esitronic work-shop software which makes a me-chanic’s life much easier.

It quickly helps to deliver trou-bleshooting and repair instruc-tions, and mechanics are helped by regular user-friendly improve-ments and updates which give them access to current data for

almost all types of vehicles.Separate software modules

give mechanics comprehensive support to quickly handle the specific requirements of com-mercial-vehicle and bikes.

Assembly and disassembly in-structions of components inside vehicles and on the exterior – in-cluding lights, operating and dis-play units, and sensors – are now also integrated into the Esitronic software package.

High-resolution photos with integrated notes show mechan-ics the steps to follow for the most common models. They are also given quick and easy methods for service tasks such as chang-ing brake fluid, replacing filters or even the windshield.

Bosch Car Service Centres in Oman meet the highest standards in technical training, service and process quality.

All guarantee the use of genu-ine spare parts and equipment for bumper to bumper repairs, a key requirement for Oman mo-torists looking for a cost-effective alternative to car dealer service centres, without turning to back street operators with unclear re-pair processes.

B O S C H C A R S E R V I C E

Driving a Range Rover with smartphone will be possibleMUSCAT: Jaguar Land Rover has revealed some of the proto-type technologies that its UK-based research team are develop-ing to deliver autonomous driving in the future.

A Remote Control Range Rover Sport research vehicle demon-strates how a driver could drive the vehicle from outside the car via their smartphone. The smart-phone app includes control of steering, accelerator and brakes as well as changing from high and low range. This would allow the driver to walk alongside the car, at a maximum speed of 4mph, to manoeuvre their car out of chal-lenging situations safely, or even to negotiate difficult off-road ter-rain, says a press release.

The driver could use the smart-phone to reverse the car out of a parking space if someone has parked too close for them to open the door, or allow the driver to be-come their own off-road spotter, to guide the car over off-road ob-stacles from outside the vehicle.

By walking alongside the car, the driver could continually check ramp, approach and de-parture angles and allow precise positioning of the vehicle when rock crawling. It could also be an invaluable aid when the vehicle is fording a stream or traversing sections made slippery by mud or snow. The remote control func-tion will only operate if the user is within 10 metres of the car and if the smart key can be detected. The system will stop the vehicle if the driver moves out of range or gets too close.

Future possibilities for this technology could include more autonomous functionality where the driver gives a simple com-

mand from the handset to trav-erse an obstacle or exit a parking space, and the car does the rest.

Multi-point turn carJaguar Land Rover’s ‘Multi-Point Turn’ Range Rover Sporti s ca-pable of autonomously manoeu-vring through 180 degrees to turn the car in the road and point the car in the opposite direction. This autonomous vehicle could extri-cate itself from the most difficult situations, such as a dead-end roads or congested car parks, as well as performing many drivers’ least favourite manoeuvre – the three-point turn in a busy street or car park.

The system uses sensors to as-sess available space and to avoid pedestrians, vehicles and other objects. The system takes over gear selection, steering, brak-ing and acceleration to make as many forward and backwards movements as necessary to achieve the manoeuvre.

The research team is working on a system to scan the environ-ment around the car and inform the driver whether it is safe to perform the turning manoeuvre. The driver then confirms the manoeuvre and the car would move forward until its path is blocked. It then selects reverse and uses the steering, throttle and brakes to do the same again.

It repeats this as many times as required until it is facing in the opposite direction.

Dr Wolfgang Epple, director of Research and Technology, Jaguar Land Rover, said: “Getting a car out of a tricky parking manoeuvre can be a stressful experience for any driver. A Remote Control car, or a vehicle that can autonomous-ly turn in the road, demonstrates how we could use these new tech-nologies to reduce the tedious parts of driving and improve road safety. Research into technolo-gies like these won’t only help us deliver an autonomous car. They will help make real driving safer and more enjoyable. The same sensors and systems that will help an autonomous car make the right decisions, will assist the driver and enhance the experience to help prevent accidents. Autonomous car technologies will not take away the fun of driving.”

‘Solo car’ enhanced sensing Land Rover has an advanced re-search programme underway to enhance the car’s sensing capa-bility. This project is developing a range of sophisticated sensors to make autonomous cars viable in a range of driving environments and weather conditions. Creat-ing a car capable of functioning autonomously in all situations requires a fusion of sensors with different attributes including ra-dar, LIDAR, cameras, ultrasonics and structured light technology.

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Nama Group organises charity event to help needy familiesMUSCAT: As part of the social pillar of the sustainability policy, Nama Group organised a chari-table event called ‘Ibtisamawa Nama’ which aimed at creating joy amongst under privileged families during the festive season of Eid.

An exhibition was held at Baush-er Club in coordination with mi-

cro business in the area to benefit around 250 families and Eid gifts were distributed for around 200 orphans and children with special needs. The event was organised in collaboration with Wali Bausher Office and ‘Bashair Alkhair’ vol-unteering team.

Eng. Omar Al Wahaibi, CEO of

Nama Group, said: “We are proud of the effort made by our staff and delighted at the joy and content-ment that the event brought to these families and children.

“This event provided an oppor-tunity for the group’s staff to be engaged in social service and give back to society.”

E X H I B I T I O N

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SPOR SY O U R G A M E

SECTIONC M O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

VETTEL WINS FOR BIANCHI, FERRARIGerman driver Sebastian Vettel delivered an emotional high-speed tribute to his late colleague Jules Bianchi on Sunday when he stormed to victory for Ferrari in a dramatic and incident-filled Hungarian Grand Prix. >C2

ered

y in

rian

Scotland, Netherlands go Dutch

DUBLIN: Rain had the final say as the final of the ICC World Twen-ty20 Qualifier 2015 was aban-doned without a ball bowled on Sunday at The Village in Malahide.

The washout meant Netherlands and Scotland, the two finalists, were declared joint winners and shared the trophy. Namibia’s Bernard Scholtz, meanwhile, was declared the Player of the Tournament.

Things hadn’t looked too prom-ising from the start of the day it-self, which began wet and gloomy.

The third-place play-off tie ear-lier in the day between Ireland and Hong Kong had been abandoned without a ball being bowled, and the fact that it kept drizzling all the way through meant there was little chance of play in the final, too.

Play was finally called off at 2.56pm local time, and the teams were declared joint champions.

Both Netherlands and Scotland had already sealed their spots in

the ICC World Twenty20 2016, which takes place in India in March-April.

While Scotland topped the Group B table, finishing with eight points, Netherlands, also on eight points, had finished one spot be-low on account of a lower net run rate also in Group B.

As a result, Scotland earned a di-rect qualification to the sem-final, where it beat Hong Kong by five wickets.

Netherlands, on the other hand, had to get past Namibia in the sec-ond Qualifying play-off, before it defeated Ireland by five wickets in the second semi-final to set up a fi-

nal date with Scotland.This was Scotland’s first appear-

ance in the final of the tournament. Netherlands has won the tour-

nament once before, in the inau-gural edition in 2008, where also it had to share the title with Ireland after rain forced the match to be abandoned.

On the individual front, Kyle Coetzer finished as the highest run-getter for Scotland, with 206 runs at 34.33, while Alasdair Ev-ans, with 14 wickets, finished as the team’s leading wicket-taker.

For Netherlands, Ben Cooper scored 241 runs at 34.42, while Roelof van der Merwe and Mudas-

sar Bukhari shared the bowling honours, finishing with 11 scalps each.

Steady rain forced the third-place play-off between Ireland and Hong Kong also to be washed out.

The match was officially called off nearly three hours after the scheduled start of play, with the covers firmly on throughout the morning.

As a result, Ireland finishes third as it topped the Group A points table and Hong Kong ends up in fourth place.

Ireland won the tournament for the past two editions, but missed a chance to take the tally to three

after a five-wicket defeat to Neth-erlands in the second semifinal on Saturday.

In the first semifinal on the same day, Hong Kong lost to Scotland by a five-wicket margin as well.

In terms of individual perfor-mances with the bat, William Por-terfield was Ireland’s highest run-getter with 190 runs at 47.50 while for Hong Kong, Irfan Ahmed was the leading scorer with 185 runs at 26.42.

With the ball, John Mooney finished with 14 wickets for Ireland while Haseeb Amjad impressed with 12 wickets for Hong Kong. — ICC

The washout meant

Netherlands and

Scotland, the two

finalists, were

declared joint

winners and shared

the trophy, while

Ireland was declared

third after their match

against Hong Kong

too was washed out

LET’S SHARE IT: Captains of Scotland and Netherlands share the ICC World T20 Qualifier trophy at Malahide. – ICC

MUSCAT: Khalfan Al Naabi, Adviser at the Ministry of Sports Affairs, officials and cricket fans will accord a warm recep-tion to the Oman cricket heroes at the Muscat International airport on Monday night.

Oman heroesarrive today

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Vettel wins for Bianchi, Ferrari on an emotionally-charged day

BUDAPEST: German driver Se-bastian Vettel delivered an emo-tional high-speed tribute to his late colleague Jules Bianchi on Sunday when he stormed to victory for Ferrari in a dramatic and incident-filled Hungarian Grand Prix.

The four-time world champion claimed his second victory of the season and 41st of his career —drawing him level with the late Brazilian legend Ayrton Senna in equal third on the all-time list — after leading from the start to dominate a thrilling and unpre-dictable contest.

The Red Bull pair of Russian Da-niil Kvyat and Australian Daniel Ricciardo finished in second and third respectively.

The ferocity of the contest, lit up by Vettel’s blazing speed and tenac-ity, served as an appropriate tribute to Frenchman Bianchi, who died on July 17 from injuries sustained when he collided with a recovery vehicle in torrential rain at last Oc-tober’s Japanese Grand Prix.

A minute’s silence for Bianchi, a Ferrari academy protégé, before the race created an emotional at-mosphere that was reflected in the action and in Vettel’s speech to the

Ferrari team on his triumphant slow-down lap.

“Merci Jules, c’est a toi,” said the winner. “Thank you Jules, You will always be in our hearts... This win is for you.”

It was Vettel’s first victory in Hungary, and 21-year-old Kvyat’s first career podium — the best ever by a Russian driver — as Red Bull produced a reminder of their pedi-gree. It was the first podium this year without a Mercedes driver.

Dutch teenager Jos Verstappen finished fourth for Toro Rosso — on a track where his father Jos finished on the podium in 1994 — ahead of two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso who delivered the troubled McLaren Honda team’s best result of the year in fifth place.

Series leader and defending two-time champion Briton Lewis Ham-ilton finished sixth, after starting from pole position, for Mercedes to enlarge his advantage in the ti-tle race after an afternoon of inci-dents, mishaps and penalties.

Inspired, perhaps, by the team’s call for total commitment to racing in a signal of respect for Bianchi, Vettel surged from third on the grid to pass Rosberg into Turn One.

Behind him, team-mate Kimi Raikkonen followed closely as both Rosberg and Hamilton at-tempted to defend, but just as at Silverstone three weeks previ-ously, the two Mercedes men were out-started comprehensively.

Hamilton was relegated to fourth on the opening lap during which, in an attempt to pass Ros-berg, he ran wide across a gravel trap at the chicane.

He returned to the track in a spray of stones, re-joining in 10th place. “Nico crossed my line there, he pushed me wide,” said Hamil-ton, a claim not supported by video replays.

After closing the gap behind Rosberg to five seconds, Ham-ilton lost time in traffic while Raikkonen, suffering more bad luck, lost power and slowed be-fore Hulkenberg, after losing the front wing on his Force India car in a frightening incident on the straight, crashed directly into the barriers at Turn One.

A virtual safety car was deployed immediately followed by the Safe-ty Car as debris was cleared. As the field closed up, both Rosberg and

Hamilton pitted for harder medi-um tyres for a final rush to the flag.

More drama erupted at the re-start on lap 49. Sensing his chance, Rosberg attacked and passed Raik-konen for second while Hamilton, on harder tyres, struggled against Ricciardo and collided with him at Turn One, the Briton losing a front wing end-plate.

It was his final significant act. He pitted on lap 52 for a new front wing, re-joined 13th and was then given a drive-through penalty for his part in the incident.

Rosberg, free of his earlier tus-sles, raced after Vettel.

He cut the gap while Ricciardo, on softs, closed behind him before a late collision between the pair when the Australian tried to pass him at Turn One with four laps re-maining left Rosberg with a punc-ture and Ricciardo with a damaged front wing.

This opened the door to Kvyat and gave Hamilton his chance to climb back ahead of Rosberg in an unexpected finish on a remarkable day. - AFP

The four-time world

champion claimed

his second victory

of the season and

41st of his career —

drawing him level

with the late Brazilian

legend Ayrton Senna

in equal third on the

all-time list — after

leading from the

start to dominate

a thrilling and

unpredictable contestSMILING HERO: Ferrari Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany celebrates with the trophy

after the Hungarian F1 Grand Prix at the Hungaroring circuit, near Budapest. – Reuters

BUDAPEST: They wiped away their tears, pulled down their visors and went racing again.

Formula One’s leading driv-ers paid a final formal tribute to their colleague Jules Bianchi during a minute’s silence ahead of Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, the final race before the mid-season break.

Standing in a closed circle, arms across backs and shoul-ders to include each man and Bianchi’s family, they laid their own helmets on the ground.

When Bianchi’s father Philippe and mother Christine, his brother and sister, and his manager Nicolas Todt, arrived, the group took them in, heads bowed. A ring of linked arms, joined in love and grief.

The helmet of Jules Bianchi, who died on July 17 from injuries sustained when he crashed into a recovery vehicle

in torrential rain at last Octo-ber’s Japanese Grand Prix, was laid alongside them. His racing number 17, the sport’s ruling body the International Motor-ing Federation (FIA) said this week, was laid to rest too.

The Marussia team, for

which Bianchi had scored such a valuable points finish at last year’s Monaco Grand Prix, stood as a group in tribute.

“We miss you Jules,” their banner declared.

The silence was observed with a grim and emotional

stillness before a musical note signalled a singing of the Hun-garian anthem. As tears ran, a helicopter hovered overhead and some of the drivers strug-gled with their emotions.

And then, they were leaning in to collect their helmets and stride away towards the start-ing grid.

Bianchi’s parents and family had arrived at the Hungaroring racing circuit on Sunday morn-ing — his father and brother Tom wearing white polo shirts embroidered in red with “JB#17” — to attend the cer-emony apparently flown there on Formula One ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone’s private jet.

He was the first F1 driver to die as a result of a racing acci-dent since three-time cham-pion Brazilian Ayrton Senna at the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola in 1994. — AFP

Family and Formula One circus in moving tribute to Bianchi

TRIBUTES: Philippe Bianchi, centre, the father of Jules Bianchi,

and Formula One drivers observe a minute’s silence in memory

of Jules Bianchi before the Hungarian Grand Prix. – Reuters

Kerala Cricket Association to ask BCCI to lift ban on SreesanthKOCHI: Kerala Cricket Associa-tion on Sunday decided to write to the BCCI seeking lifting of the life ban imposed on pacer S Sree-santh who has been discharged by a Delhi court in the IPL-6 spot-fixing case.

KCA President T C Mathew, who is also a BCCI vice-president, will write to the Board regarding this after a Delhi court on Satur-day dropped charges against for-mer India pacer Sreesanth and two others in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal.

“We will appeal to BCCI to lift the ban. We will soon write to BCCI as the court has discharged Sreesanth (in the IPL spot-fixing case),” KCA Secretary T N Anan-thanarayanan told PTI.

Mathew, who is currently in Bangalore, said the KCA will wait for response from the BCCI after sending the letter requesting lift-ing of ban imposed on Sreesanth.

A delegation of KCA office bear-ers may also meet the BCCI top

brass, KCA officials said.Soon after the court verdict,

the BCCI had said they have de-cided to stick to its ban on the three cricketers — Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan —

for the time being.

Back to cricketA day after he was exonerated by a court in Delhi in the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) spot fixing case, former Indian pacer S. Sree-santh on Sunday started his first workout in the nets here.

Cheered by a good number of his friends and cricket enthusi-asts, Sreesanth turned out on Sun-day evening in a blue track suit at the Edapally High School ground where the Ernakulam Cricket Club, his former club, has a net.

Before starting his first full net session in almost two years, Sree-santh said it will take him about three weeks to become match-fit.

He bowled and batted and proved that he has not lost any-thing in the almost two years of being entangled in the case, wherein he even had to spend time in Delhi’s Tihar jail.

It was on Saturday evening that the Delhi Patiala House court

cleared Sreesanth of all charges in the 2013 IPL spot fixing scandal.

Earlier in the day at 9.30 a.m, he arrived at the airport here and was given a warm welcome by his rela-tives, friends and well wishers.

An hour later it was all hugs and smiles at his residence where his parents and close relatives gave him the much needed moral sup-port. “I take this opportunity to thank each one of my well wish-ers who stood behind me in my time of suffering. This is a sort of a second life for me and for me now even if it’s tennis ball cricket, I will take part to get back to full fledged cricket,” said Sreesanth.

Rebecca John, counsel for Sree-santh said Sreesanth has nothing to fear even if the Delhi Police ap-proach any higher court with an appeal.

“They are free to go ahead with the appeal but we will see that they are given a stronger setback,” said John to the media in Delhi on Sunday. — PTI, IANS

A F T E R B E I N G C L E A R E D

S. Sreesanth.

C3

SPORTSM O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Sri Lanka win match, Pakistan series

HAMBANTOTA: Kusal Perera led Sri Lanka’s strong batting dis-play to give the hosts a compre-hensive, but academic, 165-run win over Pakistan in the fifth and final one-dayer in Hambantota on Sunday. The left-handed opener struck 116 off 109 balls and Tilla-karatne Dilshan joined the 10,000-run ODI club as Sri Lanka piled up their highest one-day total against Pakistan of 368-4 in 50 overs.

Pakistan managed only 203 in reply, but took the series 3-2 to build on their 2-1 success in the preceding Test series, clinching a double in Sri Lanka for the first time since 2006.

Pakistan were sailing at 116-2 in the 20th over following an opening partnership of 51 between skipper Azhar Ali and Ahmed Shehzad, be-fore the last eight wickets crashed for 87 runs.

Mohammed Hafeez (37) and Azhar (35) were the principal con-

tributors as the tourists faltered badly under lights despite good batting conditions.

Off-spinner Sachithra Sena-nayake claimed 3-39 in his first appearance in the series, while seamer Thisara Perera chipped in with two wickets.

Kusal reached his second cen-tury after a 164-run stand for the first wicket with Dilshan, who be-came only the 11th batsman and the fourth Sri Lankan to compile 10,000 one-day runs.

Skipper Angelo Mathews ham-mered an unbeaten 70 and Milinda Siriwardana clubbed 52 not out off 26 balls as Sri Lanka plundered 136 runs in the last 11 overs to sur-pass their previous best against

Pakistan of 349-9 in Singapore in 1996. Kusal, whose only other one-day ton came against Bangladesh last year, smashed nine bounda-ries and four sixes before he was run out in the 34th over.

The flamboyant Dilshan reached the 10,000-run landmark in his 319th match when he took a single off Shoaib Malik to move to 55, before he was run out for 62.

The 38-year-old now has 10,007 runs, joining compatriots Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardene in a cov-eted list headed by Indian great Sachin Tendulkar, who had 18,426 ODI runs.

Mathews and Siriwardana add-ed a brisk 114 off just 55 deliveries

for the undefeated fifth wicket to complete Sri Lanka’s best batting display of the series.

Mathews hit eight boundaries and two sixes, while left-handed all-rounder Siriwardana smacked four fours and three sixes.

The hosts made three changes from the last match, dropping sling-arm fast bowler Lasith Mal-inga, seamer Nuwan Pradeep and Sachith Pathirana.

They were replaced by Sena-nayake, Thisara Perera and fast bowler Lahiru Gamage. Pakistan retained the same team.

Pakistan will round off their six-week tour with two Twenty20 internationals in Colombo on July 30 and August 1. - AFP

The left-handed Kusal

Perera opener struck

116 off 109 balls and

Tillakaratne Dilshan

joined the 10,000-run

ODI club as Sri Lanka

piled up their highest

one-day total against

Pakistan

SRI LANKAK. Perera run out 116T. Dilshan run out 62L. Thirimanne c Rizwan b Rahat 30D. Chandimal c Sarfraz b Rahat 29A. Mathews not out 70M. Siriwardana not out 52Extras: (lb-6, w-3) 9Total (for four wickets, 50 overs) 368Fall of wickets: 1-164 (Dilshan), 2-212 (K. Perera), 3-219 (Thirimanne), 4-254 (Chandimal)Bowling: Irfan 10-1-73-0 (w1), Anwar 9-0-71-0, Rahat 10-0-74-2 (w1), Imad 3-0-27-0 (w1), Malik 10-0-44-0, Yasir 8-0-73-0.PAKISTANA. Ali run out 35A. Shehzad st Chandimal b Senanayake 18M. Hafeez lbw Mathews 37S. Ahmed run out 27S. Malik c Thirimanne b T. Perera 11M. Rizwan c Chandimal b T. Perera 29I. Wasim c and b Senanayake 15A. Ali c T. Perera b Gamage 11Y. Shah c T. Perera b Senanayake 9R. Ali c Senanayake b Siriwardana 0M. Irfan not out 4Extras: (lb-1, w-2, nb-4) 7Total (all out, 37.2 overs) 203Fall of wickets: 1-51 (Shehzad), 2-71 (Azhar), 3-116 (Hafeez), 4-121 (Sarfraz), 5-140 (Malik), 6-170 (Imad), 7-178 (Rizwan), 8-197 (Yasir), 9-197 (Anwar), 10-203 (Rahat).Bowling: Gamage 10-0-62-1 (nb4, w1), Lakmal 6-0-35-0 (w1), Senanayake 8-1-39-3, T. Perera 8-0-38-2, Mathews 3-0-9-1, Siriwardana 2.2-0-19-1Result: Sri Lanka won by 165 runsSeries: Pakistan win 3-2Toss: Sri LankaUmpires: Ranmore Martinesz (SRI) and Ian Gould (ENG)TV umpire: Rod Tucker (AUS)Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)

S C O R E B O A R D

IN 10,000 RUN CLUB: Tillakaratne Dilshan plays a

shot during the fifth and final ODI cricket match be-

tween Sri Lanka and Pakistan at Hambantota. – AFP

SUPERB KNOCK: Kusal Perera raises his bat in

celebration after scoring a century at the Suri-

yawewa Mahinda Rajapakse Stadium. – AFP

England will ‘bowl short’ to dizzy Rogers

LONDON: England will con-tinue to bowl bouncers at Aus-tralian batsman Chris Rogers if the opener is passed fit for this week’s third Ashes test at Edg-baston after suffering from diz-ziness, seamer Mark Wood has said. Rogers was forced to retire on 49 not out on the fourth day of Australia’s 405-run second test victory against England at Lord’s, which levelled the series 1-1.

The 37-year-old left-hander, who was struck on the helmet by James Anderson off the first ball of the second day of the match but recovered to score 173 in Australia’s first innings, was lat-er diagnosed with an inner ear problem. “If he declares himself fit for the next game, that will not deter me from bowling a bounc-er though. I’m sure the rest of our lads will be the same,” Wood told the Telegraph.

“I don’t wish him any harm. But if he’s fit then he’s fit.”

Batsman Shaun Marsh, 32, is on standby to replace Rogers if he is not fit for the third test which starts on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old Wood is playing in his first Ashes series is having sleepless nights. “My mind is in overdrive and it gets to you. It keeps happening but it is just excitement for the next day and wanting to do well,” he said.

Wood struggled for wickets, like most of the England bowl-ing attack, in the second Test but the Durham seamer is de-termined to feature in the rest of the series. — Reuters

W A R N I N G

OMAN JUNIORS EXCEL AT ASIAN POWERLIFTING CHAMPIONSHIPSOman junior team emerged the overall champions as

the Sultanate’s lifters bagged 13 gold, 12 silver and 17

bronze medals in different categories at the just-con-

cluded Asian Powerlifting Championships in Hong Kong.

Among the medal winners for Oman were Abdulmajid Al

Battashi (bronze in 95kg), Yahya Al Kiyumi (three bronze

medals in 66kg), Mohammed Khamis (three bronze in

66kg juniors), Al Khatab Auladthani (four silver in 74kg

juniors), Omar Al Zakwani (three gold, one silver in 74kg

youth), Nibras Auladthani (four gold in 83kg juniors),

Omar Al Hassani (silver), Mazen Al Kusaibi (bronze in

83kg youth), Mohammed Auladthani (bronze in 83kg

open) and Salim Auladthani (four gold in 93kg youth).

Meanwhile, Oman’s Saud Al Khanjari was elected to the

Asian Powerlifting Federation board when the elections

were on the sidelines of the Asian championship. — MOSA

Dravid hails Kohli’s move to play against Australia ACHENNAI: Rahul Dravid on Sat-urday hailed Virat Kohli’s decision to play against Australia A, saying it shows Test skipper’s intent and keenness to prepare himself for the upcoming Sri Lanka series.

“It is great. It is fantastic that Virat wants to come and play. In fact, he spoke to me almost three weeks ago wanting to play at least one match in the series. It is nice that he is very keen to play and prepare himself for the Sri Lanka tour. He wants match practice and we are happy,” Dravid said at a press conference.

The India A coach said it indeed was a good chance for youngsters to catch attention of the Test captain.

“It is always nice to have the In-dian captain (in team) and I think it will be great boost for lot of the young guys in the team who want to impress the captain. It is better way to do it in front of him. He is playing in the same eleven.”

Talking about the unofficial Test that ended in a draw against Australia A, Dravid said the slow wicket deprived the teams of a result.

“We knew that if we are to force a result, we need to get them at 40 for 3 early on. If they were to get the result they need to get 170

or so losing one or two wickets. It was a slow wicket and was not easy to score runs, especially off the faster bowlers. It spun a little bit later on but it is a classic five-day wicket. Unfortunately, for us to force a result was not really easy,” he said.

Yet Dravid drew a lot of posi-tives from the game.

“Good all round positives. Prag-yan Ojha coming back from the is-sues that he had and Amit Mishra getting in to the Indian side. They are still bowling well. I guess it

is one of the positives from their perspective. The conditions were not ideal for the seamers. I thought the two seamers and Vi-jay Shankar bowled with good dis-ciplines and it was nice.”

“In the batting, again, it is very hard wicket to judge. It was not free flowing and was not easy to score lot of runs. In all round, I thought even in the batting the guys who made contributions chipped and kept. It was hard work and we need to look to be positive. Given the conditions

few all round positives from this game,” Dravid said.

On his impression of all-round-er Vijay Shankar performance, the coach said “Vijay had a good game considering the conditions, the wicket and the situation. It was not really a wicket for his kind of bowling. To be honest. Probably bowlers like him require some more in the wicket. He batted very nicely. First innings, he was nice and positive and in the second in-nings as well. It is a good first im-pression.”

The India A coach gave a mes-sage to his players that irrespective of the wicket and conditions the players must learn to “perform”.

“Ideally we would have liked a wicket to have pace and bounce and a bit of carry, which would have tested some of our batsmen. I hope the next one would be a little better. If not, we just have to learn from whatever conditions that we get.”

Dravid said young batsman Baba Aprajith may get a chance in the second match, starting Tuesday.

“He had a good season and he is young. Hopefully, we will try and give him some games in the course of this series. We will just have to see some balance and give him matches as well.” - PTI

C R I C K E T

FOR PRACTICE: Test captain Virat Kohli to play for India A.

C4

SPORTSM O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

OMAN PROBABLES BEGIN TRAINING AHEAD OF WORLD CUP QUALIFIERSOman national football team began training under the watchful eyes of their French coach Paul Le Guen in Seeb on Sunday. Le Guen had recently announced a list of probables for the domestic

camp ahead of the team’s World Cup qualifying matches against Turkmenistan (September 3) and Guam (September 8). Captain Ali Al Habsi, midfielders Eid Al Farsi and Ahmed Mubarak ‘Kanu’

are not part of the camp as they are busy with their club commitments in England, Saudi Arabia and Qatar respectively. The probables attending the camp are Faiz Al Rasheedi, Riyad Al Alawi,

Mazin Al Kasbi, Saad Suhail, Abdulsalam Aamer, Mohammed Sheiba, Jaber Al Owaisi, Ali Al Busaidi, Ali Salem, Mohammed Al Musallami, Mohannad Al Hasni, Ahmed Mubarak, Ali Al Jabri, Moham-

med Al Masahari, Raed Ibrahim, Fahad Al Jalboobi, Mohsin Jowhar, Qasim Said, Yaseen Al Shiyadi, Mohammed Mubarak, Abdulaziz Al Muqbali, Imad Al Hosni, Saud Al Farsi, Mohamed Al Siyabi

and Said Al Ruzaiqi. — ISMAIL AL FARSI/Times of Oman

Benzema a doubt as Real face InterGUANGZHOU: Real Madrid manager Rafa Benitez said on Sunday that striker Karim Ben-zema was his only injury doubt as his side prepare to face Inter Mi-lan in the International Champi-ons Cup on Monday.

The French international is still recovering from tearing a thigh muscle at the end of last season and was substituted at half-time on Friday as Real romped past Manchester City 4-1 in Melbourne.

“The only slight worry is Ben-zema. He has a slight tweak, nothing serious, but we will take no risks” said Benitez.

“We will decide tomorrow whether he plays. If we think there is any problem we will take no chances,” added the Span-iard at a news conference after his side trained at Guangzhou’s 54,000-capacity Tianhe stadium in fierce heat and humidity on Sunday night.

Benitez, who only took the reins at the Santiago Bernabeu in June following the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti, said he was delighted overall with how his squad are shaping up with their fitness and conditioning as they zero in on the new season which begins next month.

“We are where we wanted to be at this stage. The training ses-sions in Australia have been fan-tastic,” Benitez said. “The boys have trained really well, very good, high intensity. Up till now I think we are fine, but we will only see for sure when the season begins.”

The Spanish giants arrived in the southern Chinese metropolis

only on Saturday night to con-tinue their whirlwind pre-season schedule which has also seen them play AS Roma in Australia in the past eight days.

After Inter on Monday they face AC Milan in the eastern mega-city of Shanghai on Thursday after two weeks of training and four matches in Australia and Asia.

This is Real’s fourth visit to China but their first since 2011, making it a new experience for many of their players who got first taste of the frenzied appetite for football here.

Thousands of fans clad in the famous white shirt mobbed a Guangzhou city centre autograph session on Sunday bringing traf-fic to a standstill.

There were similar scenes as the team trained at Tianhe stadium, home of Guangzhou Evergrande FC, with around a thousand fans managing to get in to watch the session from the stands with hundreds more try-ing — and failing — to gain entry.

Novel attempts included brandishing home-made media passes and trying to sneak in with club officials.

“We are pretty pleased with the welcome,” said Benitez.

“You can feel the adulation of the fans for the players. It’s very special to see all the support for Real Madrid. It is massive here.”

Opponents Inter Milan will on Monday against Real conclude their three-match China tour that has seen them lose 1-0 twice al-ready, to Bayern Munich as well as against AC Milan on Saturday. - AFP

C H I N A T O U RFroome wins second Tour de France title

PARIS: Chris Froome won his second Tour de France title follow-ing Sunday’s 21st and final stage to Paris. Germany’s Andre Greipel won the stage, his fourth this year, ahead of Frenchman Bryan Co-quard and Alexander Kristoff of Norway. Briton Froome crossed the line arm-in-arm with his Sky teammates to clinch a second Grand Boucle crown following his 2013 success.

Colombian Nairo Quintana fin-ished second overall with his Span-ish Movistar teammate Alejandro Valverde taking third, his best fin-ish at the Tour at the age of 35.

Rain had rendered the cobbles at the finish on the Champs Ely-sees dangerous so organisers ASO neutralised the race from the mo-

ment it reached Paris. It meant the official timing was stopped just af-ter riders past the finishing line for the first time ahead of 10 laps of the famous Parisian avenue.

It allowed Froome, 30, and his teammates — wearing a black kit with the traditional blue stripe re-placed by a yellow one in hommage to their leader’s feat — to finish in a straight line, arm-in-arm over a minute after the stage winner.

Having already won the Tour in 2013, finishing in the same way but

then because his lead to Quintana — second that time as well — was sufficiently large to allow him to do so, Froome became the first Briton to win the Grand Boucle for a sec-ond time.

Quintana finished at 1min 12sec overall with Valverde third over five minutes back.

Last year’s winner Vincenzo Ni-bali finished fourth overall, ahead of two-time former winner Alber-to Contador.

But on the final stage, a 109.5km

run from the Parisian suburb of Sevres, Greipel, 33, emphasised his sprint superiority at this Tour.

He had already won the second, fifth and 15th stages in sprint fin-ishes. His expected rivals Mark Cavendish and Peter Sagan could only manage sixth and seventh re-spectively.

Sagan did win the sprinter’s green points jersey, though, while Froome finished as king of the mountains and Quintana, 25, was the best young rider. - AFP

While Greipel won

the stage, his fourth

this year, ahead of

Bryan Coquard and

Alexander Kristoff,

Froome clinched a

second Grand Boucle

crown following his

2013 success

SECOND CROWN: Tour de France winner Christopher Froome celebrates on the podium on the

Champs-Elysees avenue at the end of the 109.5km 21st and last stage of the 102nd edition of the Tour

de France cycling race between Sevres and Paris on Sunday. – AFP

C5

SPORTSM O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

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Oman Air post two dazzling wins, The Wave edges up leaderboard

MUSCAT: Hamburg is fast gain-ing a reputation for drama after another action-packed day which left The Wave, Muscat edging up the leaderboard to within a point of the top and Oman Air running into form with two dazzling wins at the Extreme Sailing Series Act 5.

The wind sweeping through the River Elbe proved to be wild and gusty in line with the forecast which forced crews to put safety above all other considerations yet in the penultimate race of the day, SAP Extreme Sailing Team was hit by a violent gust and capsized. Thankfully no one was injured.

“The SAP capsize was eye open-ing,” said Oman Air skipper Stevie Morrison.

“It makes you realise these are big powerful boats with no keel and they fall over. When it gets as crazy as it did today with the storms and the wind, it is impor-tant to stay safe. The priority is getting to the finish.”

Morrison was delighted to have posted two wins and although Oman Air remains in sixth place, the pressure within the top six is starting to build with just 20 points separating them and a full day’s racing remaining culminat-ing in a double points finale.

“It was a better day for us though we didn’t get the starts we wanted,” added Morrison. “There were more decisions we were surprised about

but morale in the team remains high. We fought very hard and felt it was one of our better days.”

The wins came as a confidence booster, said bowman Ali Al Bal-ushi, who admitted to feeling hap-pier with their performances.

“To win two races was great and made it exciting. We feel like we are sailing well but we haven’t seen it in the results. We still need to

improve, especially our starts. The wind was strong but we are strong on board — we have to be focussed so hopefully we can do the same again tomorrow and end up on the podium. We put together a couple of solid scores so we are much hap-pier and very proud.”

Leigh McMillan, skipper of The Wave, Muscat was less happy even though his team moved up

one place on the leaderboard to second, just one point behind SAP Extreme. “We are very pleased to have climbed up to second and a bit surprised because we had a lot of frustrating moments,” he said. “But it means that tomorrow we can go out and fight for the lead and we have a good chance.”

The weather posed problems for the entire fleet, McMillan said and

at times, it was touch and go. “When the gust came through,

we realised we needed to get the boat back to the dock. I caught a glimpse of SAP going over – it was a massive gust and it could have happened to any of us,” he said.

Double Olympic gold medallist and The Wave, Muscat crewmem-ber, Sarah Ayton, was confident in the team.

“When the breeze pipes up, you go into survival mode so the pri-ority is getting round the course. Capsizes happen but the boys on The Wave, Muscat are brilliant at sailing this boat and know when to change gear and back off.”

More changes to the leader-board are expected during the final day of racing as the fleet battles it out for vital points.

More changes to

the leaderboard are

expected during the

final day of racing as

the fleet battles it out

for vital points

SPLENDID SHOW: Oman Air recorded two superb wins to run into form and stay in the sixth place at the Extreme Sailing Series Act 5 in Hamburg. – Supplied photo

OGC officials meet minister of sports affairs

MUSCAT: A four-member team from Oman Golf Committee (OGC) recently met Sheikh Saad Al Saadi, the Minister of Sports Affairs, at the sports ministry office.The team included OGC Chairman Mundhir Al Barwani, Vice-Chairman Ahmed Al Jahad-hamy, and two board members Sharifa Adnan and Majid Al Toky.

The OGC members exchanged Eid greetings and updated the sports minister about OGC’s recent activities as part of its long-term golf development programme.

The minister was given a de-tailed lowdown about OGC’s forth-coming summer camp plans in Europe for its junior golfers. Dis-cussions also comprised the sports ministry’s ongoing financial sup-port for OGC to run its activities,

among various other matters.After the summit, Majid Al

Toky informed: “His Excellency is very keen about how golf is com-ing up, what development pro-grammes we have been running and what kind of response OGC is getting from the youth in Oman. He also wanted to know about our plans for the summer camp and in

what ways that would benefit the Omani players.”

The sports minister was also particularly briefed about young Omani golfer Fahad Al Kitani’s consistent success in recently-held tournaments, apart from the OGC junior team’s good show of late. The sports minister had words of praise for Al Kitani and

assured the OGC contingent that if anything is required from the sport ministry’s front, he would be eager to extend his support.

The OGC ladies team ended up on the podium in the GCC Cup in Kuwait, and the sports min-ister was briefed in detail about the ladies’ golf development pro-gramme by board member Shari-fa. The sports minister said at the meeting that he is keeping a close watch on the ladies’ programme development and he is confident that Oman will produce bigger re-sults in future.

As Sharifa pointed out: “His Ex-cellency suggested us to maximise our focus on the junior and ladies’ development programmes as a priority with the aim of producing future champions.”

G O L F

Mundhir Al Barwani Majid Al Toky

C6

SPORTSM O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

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Scotland rivalry sparks Hodgson’s imaginationST. PETERSBURG: England boss Roy Hodgson believe his side’s pairing with Scotland for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers will provide clashes of an intensity rarely seen in the preliminary stages.

The oldest sides in internation-al football were drawn together along with Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Malta at a grand ceremony in Saint Petersburg to officially launch the competition.

However, despite the attention garnered by the clash with their neighbours, Hodgson admitted he was happy to avoid the likes of Italy and France in the draw.

“It’s not a walk in the park, but I think it could have been an awful lot harder,” he said.

“I think the Scotland games will be the two games in the qualifying stages that really excite everyone and ignite the imagination and we’ve got to be up for it.

“You don’t play the fixtures on paper, you play them on the field and you’ve got to be very careful because we’ve just played Slove-nia recently.

“I thought we played quite well and deserved to win, but it wasn’t easy and it won’t be again.”

Hodgson’s men were 3-1 vic-tors when the two sides met in a friendly at Celtic Park in Novem-ber. However, they haven’t met in a competitive fixture since Eng-

land edged a playoff for Euro 2000 by 2-1 back in 1999.

“We have the experience from Celtic Park which was a fantastic occasion. It really is everything it is cracked up to be.

“We knew that in pots two and three we were going to get teams that are more than capa-

ble of beating you, so we weren’t too surprised when Slovakia and Scotland came out.

“The journeys are useful ones or easy ones compared to what they could have been and also fixtures like England versus Scot-land really fire the imagination and that is good too.”

As well as the old enemy, Scot-land are likely to have to overcome a strong challenge from Slovakia and Slovenia to claim at least a playoff place.

Slovakia are well on course to qualify for Euro 2016 having won all six of their qualifiers to date, including a 2-1 win over European champions Spain last October.

Slovenia, meanwhile, matched England for long spells in a thrill-ing qualifier in June before a late Wayne Rooney winner handed the visitors a 3-2 win.

Scottish FA President Alan McRae insisted he is confident that Gordon Strachan’s resurgent side can qualify for the finals for the first time since 1998.

“I think we will be quietly con-fident. England have a good team, good players, but we will be there to take them on.

“It’s a great rivalry, but I think we’ve got a chance to beat them, particularly at home.

“Of course it will be intense. It is a very competitive game, but you’ve got to remember the friendly in November our mis-sion was to beat the Republic of Ireland beforehand (in a qualifier) and I think we exhausted our-selves in winning that game.”

“I’m sure Gordon will have eve-ryone focused for the entire cam-paign.” - AFP

W O R L D C U P Q U A L I F I E R S

Van Gaal heaps praise on unsettled De Gea

SANTA CLARA: Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal heaped praise on unsettled goal-keeper David De Gea after the Spaniard returned from injury to thwart Barcelona here on Saturday.

De Gea missed the first two matches of United’s U.S. tour with an undisclosed injury that fuelled speculation about his possible transfer to Real Madrid, who want him to replace Iker Casillas.

However, De Gea returned to face Barcelona at the Levi’s Stadi-um to play a key role in United’s 3-1 friendly victory, pulling off a couple of important saves in a command-ing display between the sticks.

One stop, when he denied Sergi Roberto an opener for Barcelona after only five minutes, proved crucial as United swept upfield and scored two minutes later.

Van Gaal expressed his admira-tion for De Gea’s ability to return to form despite an injury lay-off.

“In spite of his injury, he doesn’t train for one week, he showed his quality in this game,” Louis van Gaal said.

“The first chance was for Bar-celona and when you stop the first chance you can score the first goal and that is always a difference in the game.”

Van Gaal admitted he was keen to keep De Gea but said ultimately the decision may be out of his hands. “Yes of course I do hope De Gea shall stay, but in this world of football you never know,” he said.

Van Gaal was also full of praise for the performance of United’s de facto second string, who replaced his starting eleven just after the 60-minute mark.

Van Gaal had sharply criticised the same group of players after a lacklustre performance against the San Jose Earthquakes on Tuesday.

“I was very happy with the re-action of the youngsters because they were more aggressive and that is what I want always,” van Gaal said. “It was a team with the spirit, we created chances, we scored two goals with the young-sters so I’m very happy.”

The Dutchman also praised the performance of forward Adnan Januzaj, who scored United’ third goal. “Adnan Januzaj was very good, because he gives always an option for his midfielders and defenders,” he said. “He scored a wonderful goal.” - AFP

De Gea returned to

face Barcelona at

the Levi’s Stadium

to play a key role in

United’s 3-1 friendly

victory, pulling

off a couple of

important saves in a

commanding display

between the sticks

QUALITY PLAYER: Manchester United’s goalkeeper David De Gea, right, speaks to Barcelona’s Luis Suarez during their friendly match at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Saturday. – AFP

LONDON: Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal “does not know why” Angel Di Maria has not joined the Premier League club’s pre-season tour of the U.S. following media reports the winger is close to signing for Paris St-Germain (PSG).

The 27-year-old Argentina international, who joined United for a British record trans-fer fee of £59.7 million ($92.59 million) last year, was expected to travel to the U.S. after being given extended leave following the Copa America.

However, British media have reported that Di Maria was a target for French champions PSG and that a deal was close for the former Real Madrid winger.

“He was not on the plane,” Van Gaal told reporters after United’s 3-1 win over Barcelona in Santa Clara on Saturday.

“(Fellow Argentine) Marcos Rojo was also not on the plane. He has had a passport issue — for Angel Di Maria, I don’t know why. I cannot say anything.”

PSG coach Laurent Blanc did little to dismiss speculation with a move for Di Maria.

“There is a good possi-bility (he could sign) but there is nothing official,” Blanc said. - Reuters

Di Maria ‘no show’ adds fuel to rumours of PSG move

I think the Scotland games will be the two games in the qualifying stages that really excite everyone and ignite the imagination and we’ve got to be up for it

Roy HodgsonEngland coach

Nadal feeling fine despite recent lossesHAMBURG: Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal on Sunday said ahead of the Bet-At-Home Open here that he was feeling well and had to ac-cept the fact that he had lost more matches in the past six months than in the previous 11 years.

“I feel good, there are no prob-lems. I look forward to this week,” world No. 10 Nadal said.

Summer tournaments are usu-ally for relaxing and preparing for the toughest stretch of the season, but “it’s obvious that the situation is different” this year, the 29-year-old said.

“I need to accept that it is a new situation and face it with a good

attitude and keep working hard to return to a good level.”

“I’ve lost more than in the last 10 or 11 years,” Nadal said, referring to his 12 losses this year.

Nadal acknowledged that his loss to German journeyman Dus-tin Brown at the Wimbledon was “tough,” but he said life goes on and sports are all about winning and losing.

“I am very happy to be back in Hamburg, I haven’t been here since 2008, so it’s great to be back in such a nice city. I have great memories about this tournament.”

Nadal will play Fernando Ver-dasco in the first round. - IANS

T E N N I S

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

GearSECTIONC L I F E S T Y L E M O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

EXPRESSIVE, EFFICIENT AND SPORTYBy Nishad Padiyarath

AS DRIVERS

IN OMAN,

WE OFTEN

FIND OUR

DESIRES

ARE MORE

VARIED

THAN THOSE

OF PEOPLE

IN OTHER

PLACES.

SO FINDING

A VEHICLE

WHOSE

OFFERINGS

ARE AS

DIVERSE

AS ONE’S

NEEDS, ARE

A RARE AND

WONDERFUL

COMMODITY.

IT WAS JUST

THIS KIND OF

DISCOVERY

THAT

CAPTURED

MY

ATTENTION

THIS WEEK

AS I

HIT THE

ROAD

IN THE

NEW

AUDI Q3.

LIFESTYLEC8 M O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

When former auto engineer turned Apple designer Julian Hoenig re-vealed the concept model of the Audi Q3 in 2007, no one really im-agined that this little vehicle would become the world’s most popu-lar and powerful compact execu-tive crossover. Since its launch in 2011, the Audi Q3 has sold close to 400,000 units globally. I set out to see why, taking the 2015 model out on the Muscat roads for a few days.

Compared to the mid-luxury compact Q5 and the full-size Q7, which are positioned more for family practicality and off-road performance, the Q3 seems to be positioning itself as more of a life-style/sports automobile, a posh crossover that’s bigger and taller than the A3.

At first I felt the Q3 must have been designed for tarmac, but the raised ride height and optional four-wheel drive made it a decent choice for treading over a relatively rough track.

Having driven a series of Audi’s in the past, I must say that the TFSI engines attain a particularly high compression rate. The result of course is outstanding efficiency combined with optimum perfor-mance. The Q3 has two engine op-tions: 2.0T FSI Quattro S Line 5dr S Tronic and 1.4T FSI SE 5dr. Both are very smooth and reasonably quick, but I’d stick with 2.0TFSI for the best mix of usability, perfor-mance and economy. With either engine, the Q3 can hit a 0 to 60 in 7.6 seconds; impressive numbers for an 180 horsepower crossover.

The Quattro permanent all-wheel drive kept me hugging the turns and gripping the road while I blazed through gear changes with the S-tronic, 7-speed dual-clutch transmission (with this transmis-sion the next gear is already en-gaged before you select it). And thanks to the Audi Drive Select, with the push of a button I could adjust everything from the shock absorbers to the steering and transmission to suit the driving “feel” I was in the mood for — all the way from maniac road racer to comfortable cruiser.

The luxurious, comfortable in-terior was what really made me fall hard for the Q3. Visually, I liked the stylish inlays in refined woods or aluminium, which highlight the curves of the interior and can be further emphasised by the LED interior lighting package. The op-tional sport leather steering wheel in the 3-Q-spoke design was both beautiful and pleasant to grip.

The media package was visu-ally appealing, with the front woof-ers illuminated by indirect light, which, along with 14 high-perfor-mance loudspeakers, turn the Q3 into a rolling night club. The MMI navigation plus with 20 GB hard drive lets you operate a wide range of media and convenience func-tions. There is also a Bluetooth in-terface and an Audi music interface to connect an iPod or MP3 player.

The Q3 is expressive, efficient, and sporty; powerful and agile; compact yet spacious inside. In short, it gives you the best of both the worlds, which is what a great crossover is meant to do. If you are looking to buy a vehicle that combines comforts with the en-thusiasm of a sporty car, the ad-ditional space and the rugged ter-rain capabilities of a 4x4, then you must consider taking the Q3 for a spin and see if it grabs your atten-tion — the way it grabbed mine. nishad@timesofoman.com

SPECS:

Transmission: S-tronic on 7-speed dual-clutch

Engine: 2.0 TFSI Quattro

Horse power: 180hp/ 0-100kph in 7.6 seconds

Quattro permanent all-wheel drive

Audi Drive Select

Fuel Consumption: 5.2-7.7L/100km

Acoustic windscreen with grey tinted strip

4-way lumbar support

Automatic headlight-range adjustment

7-inch colour display in the centre of the dashboard

Phot

o: W

atta

yah

Mot

ors

LLC

/Aud

i AG

/

LIFESTYLEC9M O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

TECHSUPPORT

Four water-proof smart-phones and IP-rating you need to knowTHE COST of smartphones is steadily increasing, so the urge to keep them safe is only natural. Phone users spend a good amount of money on protective cases and panels and still can’t ensure the safety of their phones from water and dust. This is one aspect phone manufactures need to take seriously. And boy are they. Progress on developing such technologies is now a high priority. Durable phones are already the next big thing, as phone manufacturers are con-centrating on creating durable phones is worth big research and development investments.

A quick IP-rating explanation

Protected devices are judged by the Ingress Protection Rat-ing, known as the International Protection Rating (IP rating). In an IP rating the first number always refers to dust protec-tion, while the second refers to water resistance. For example, a rating of IP54 would mean a dust protection rating of 5 and a water resistance rating of 4.

The maximum dust protection is 6; the maximum standard water protection is 8. To keep things simple, we only need to pay attention to dust protection from 5 and up, and water resistance from 5 and up.Dustprotection (Source: DSMT)

HTC’s Desire Eye:HTC’s Desire Eye smartphone comes with an IPX7 rating, which means it is resistant to water up to a certain depth or water levels (1 metre).

Samsung Galaxy S5:Samsung’s last year flagship the Galaxy S5 offers resistance to water and dust. It comes with IP67 certificate which means that it can survive in up to 1 metre in depth for up to 30 minutes if the USB port is closed securely. Samsung’s rugged smartphone offerings, the Galaxy S5 Active and Sport are two more water friendly options you can go for.

Sony’s gen Xperia Z smartphones:It is not just Sony Xperia M4 Aqua that boasts waterproof casing as Xperia Z3, Xperia Z2, Z1 and the Z1 Compact are also water resistant. It boasts both IP65 and IP68 protection, meaning that it can be submerged in over 1 metre (3 feet) of water for an indefinite period.

Huawei HonorThe Honor 3 is a budget water resistant phone. It has an IP57 rating, meaning it could survive a 30 minute dip in shallow water and it can keep dust particles outside.Ask the techspert: mahran@timesofoman.com

The thing about Bose is that it is a Bose. The audio qual-ity is legendary. The Soundlink Mini II is an upgrade of Sound-link Mini which Bose discontinued in 2014. The speakers do not distort even at high levels. It may look tiny but it is port-able and the design is great with all the buttons conveniently positioned on the top. It is really loud with thumping bass, and and connects to any device with ease.

What Logitech delivers is big. With a mega name, it has created mega boom as advertised. The Ultimate Ears line UE Megaboom is the bigger, louder follow-up to the original UE Boom, and it is tough to make with high quality sound.

CONNECTIVITY Bluetooth streaming, connects with a nice looking audio input and micro USB port.Rating:

AUDIO QUALITY:The larger UE Mega-boom means there is better sound quality of the bass with even louder sound. The UE Boom is the 360-degree wireless speaker that blasts loud, insanely good sound in every direction. Logitech has done a good job improvising on the Boom, which was not available in its previous The Ultimate Ears line models.Rating:

DESIGN AND FORM FACTORThe Logitech Megaboom has acoustic skin with plasma coating that makes it water and stain-resistant. With a cylindrical and round shape, it has a smooth design and is a treat to the eye. The cylindrical UE Boom comes in black mesh with black plastic, blue mesh/white plastic, tan/blue, pink/red, red/white and white/white.Rating:

PORTABILITY & RANGEGood for both indoor and outdoor use, it can with-stand an accidental drop on surface or in the water. It has a range of up to 100 feet.Rating:

BATTERY LIFE The 15 hours of battery life gets a thumbs up from critics and reviewers.Rating:

WATTAGEThe Logitech MegaBoom has 12W RMS while the UE Megaboom has 36W RMS.

Weight: 877 grams.

Price: $299 online.

LINE UP

There are so many portable speakers available these

days that it can make you crazy trying to com-pare all of them. The quality of Bluetooth speakers has improved in recent years with most now designed with rechargeable batteries so they can be moved from room to room with ease. There are stalwarts like Bose in this segment and then you have relative newcomers like Log-itech. But which one is your best? We narrow it down to Bose Soundlink Mini II and Logitech Megaboom, comparing them head-to-head to help you chose.

Hit us with your pick on facebook/Times of Oman VS

LOGITECH MEGABOOM

BOSE SOUNDLINK MINI II

CONNECTIVITY Streams wirelessly from virtually any smartphone or tablet, Bluetooth-enabled PC or audio player, plugs with AC adapter. Comes with an auxil-iary input on the side for non-Bluetooth devices as well as a Micro-USB port.But, it does not charge with USB. Rating:

AUDIO QUALITY The Soundlink Mini II has a good bass, something lacking in literally every other speaker of compara-ble size. It comes with dual bass radiators which make it really powerful.Rating:

DESIGN AND FORM FACTOR It is by far the best sounding compact Bluetooth speaker around and is excel-lent in its design. A row of rubber buttons along the top control power, mute, volume, Bluetooth pairing and input source (auxil-lary) making it a sleek design. SoundLink Mini II is more staid in an aluminium case, though you can get soft plastic wraps that offer green, pink, mint, orange, gray, blue and red accents. Rating:

PORTABILITY AND RANGE Ideal for indoor and outdoor venues, it is loud, yet crystal clear in its sound quality and can eas-ily set the stage for a party. Around 30 feet of range when connected with a Bluetooth device.Rating:

BATTERY LIFE The SoundLink Mini II has a built-in rechargeable battery that can last for about 7 hours. The SoundLink Mini II charges in about 3 hours and is quite efficient in com-parison to other. The pins for the included charging dock are at the bottom, along with a micro USB port and an input for charging.Rating:

BASICS12 watts of RMS audio output.

Weight: 700 grams.

Price: $179 online.

ConclusionOur take: While Bose can bask in

the glory of its bass technology, Log-itech Megaboom scores better on

many more fronts. When it comes to buying a Bluetooth speaker, you

no doubt want a sound system that connects with both your Android

and iOS devices, offers convenient mobility, long battery hours, and a good range of connectivity. Across these criteria, Logitech Megaboom

emerges the superior speaker.

TOO Verdict: Logitech Megaboom

See you next Monday with more exciting stuff!

by Mahran Shaukat Ali

FIND-IT-ALLC10 M O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

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

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South Korea 24 691490

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Lebanon 24 693208

Libya 24603466

Malaysia 24698329/643

Morocco 24696152/3

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Palestine 24601312

Philippines 24605335

Qatar 24 691 153/2/4

Russia 24602894

Saudi Arabia 24601705

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South Africa 24647300

Spain 24691101

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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

Appolo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24782666

Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi 24702542

Salalah 23291635;

Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra 24503585

Muscat Region

Apollo, Al Hamriya 24787766

Muscat, A Seeb Market 24421691

Muscat, Al Khuwair 24485740

Muscat, Al Hail South 24537080

Dhofar Region

Muscat, Al Nahdha Road,

Salalah 23291635

HOSPITALS

Al Amal Medical & Health Care

Centre 24485052

Atlas Hospital

Ruwi 24811743/

Ghubra 24504000

Al Musafir Specialised

Medical Clinic 24706453

Hatat Polyclinic LLC,

Ruwi 24563641

Azaiba 24499269

Sohar 2683006

Al Raffah Hospital 24618900/1/2

Al Massaraat Clinic &

Laboratory 24566435

Al Makook Medical

Coordinance Centre 24499434

Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24787766, 24787780

Capital Polyclinic 24707549

Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic,

Ruwi 24799760/1/2

Capital Clinic, Seeb 24420740

Ceregem National Raak 24485633

Dr Harub’s Clinic 24563217

Elixir Health Centre 24565802

Emirates Medical Centre 24604540

1st Chiropractic Centre 24472274

Hamdan Hospital 23212340

International Medical

Centre LLC 24794501/2/3/4/5

Kims Oman Hospital 24760100

24 Hrs Emergency 24760123

Lama Polyclinic, Sohar 26751128

MBD 24799077

Al Khuwair 24478818

Magrabi Eye and

Ear Hospital 24568870

Muscat Private Hospital 24583600

Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment

Centre, Al Khuwair 24477666

Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC 22004000

AIRLINE OFFICES

Muscat Airport Flight information

(24 hours) 24519456/24519223

Aeroflot 24704455

Air Arabia 24700828

Air France 24562153

Air India 24799801

Air New Zealand 24700732

Biman Bangladesh Airlines 24701128

British Airways 24568777

Cathay Pacific 24789818

Egypt Air 24794113

Emirates Air 24404400

Ethiopian Airlines 24660313

Gulf Air 80072424

Indian 24791914

Iran Air 24787423

Japan Airlines 24704455

Jazeera Airways 23294848

Jet Airways 24787248

Kenya Airways 24660300

KML Royal Dutch Airlines 24566737

Kuwait Airways 24701262

LOT Polish Airlines 24796387

Lufthansa 24796692

Malaysian Airlines 24560796

Middle East Airlines 24796680

Oman Air 24531111

Pakistan International

Airlines 24792471

Qatar Airways 24771900

Qantas 24559941

Royal Jordanian 24796693

Saudi Arabian Airlines 24789485

Singapore Airlines 24791233

Shaheen Air 24816565

SriLankan Airlines 24784545

Swiss International

Airlines 24796692

Thai Airways 24705934

LISTINGS

LONG DISTANCE BUS TIMINGS (OMAN NATIONAL TRANSPORT COMPANY SAOC) *SUBJECT TO CHANGE

CINEMA SCHEDULE

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

CITY CINEMAContact (10 am to 6pm) 24567664 | 68. www.citycinemaoman.net facebook.com/citycinemaoman

SHATTI Bajrangi Bhaijaan (Drama)(PG)Cast: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Harshaali11:30 am, 3:30, 8:30, 11:30 pmTerminator: Genisys (Action, Adventure)(3D)PG12Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke 9:15, 11:45 pmTerminator: Genisys (Action)(2D)PG122:30 pmMinions (Animation, Comedy)(3D) PG1:30, 5:00 pmMinions (Animation, Comedy)(2D) PG11:30 pmHayaty Mebahdela (Comedy)(PG)Cast: Mohamed Saad, Nicole Saba7:00 pmThe Gallows (Horror, Thriller) (15+)Cast: Reese Mishler, Pfeifer Brown, Ryan Shoos6:15, 10:00 pmThe Vatican Tapes (Horror, Thriller) (12+)Cast: Michael Peña, Kathleen Robertson, Djimon Hounsou, 4:30, 11:45 pmPixels (3D) (Action, Comedy) PG12Cast: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle2:30, 6:30, 8:00 pmPixels (2D) (Action, Comedy) PG1212:15 pm

MUSCAT GRAND MALLA Royal Night Out 2D (Drama)Cast: Sarah Gadon, Emily Watson, Jack3:45PM (15+)Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! 2D (Horror) (15+)Cast: Tara Reid, Bo Derek, Frankie Muniz7:45PMTerminator Genisys (3D): (Action) (PG12)9:30 PM, 11:55 PMGold Class: 12:30 PM, 11:15PMTerminator Genisys (2D) (Action) (PG12)4:15 PM

Minions (3D) (Animation, Comady) (PG)12:30 PM, 2:00PMBajrangi Bhaijaan (2D): ( Action) (PG)11:00 AM, 8:45 PM, 11:45PMGold Class: 3:00 PM, 8:15 PMPixels (3D) (Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi ) (PG12)Cast: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle 2:15, 6:45 PMGold Class: 6:00 PMHayaty Mebahdela (2D) (Comedy)(PG)Cast : Mohamed Saad, Nicole Saba, Hassan Hosny5:45 PM

RUWISCREEN 1Bajrangi Bhaijaan (Action/Drama ) – PGCast: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Harshaali3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PM

SCREEN 2Baahubali: The Beginning (Action) – (12+)Cast: Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka3.45, 6.45, 9.45 PM

SCREEN 3Masaan (Romance/Drama) – (12+)Cast: Richa Chadda, Sanjay Mishra, Saurav

Choudhary3.45, 9.45 PMBin Roye- Urdu - Pakistani (Romance/Drama/Comedy) – PG12Cast: Mahira Khan, Humayun Saeed, Armeena Rana Khan , Zeba Bakhtiar6.45 PM

SOHARTerminator Genisys - 2D (PG12) (Action) 3:30 PMTerminator Genisys - 3D (PG12) (Action) 12:30, 9:00, 11:45 PMBajrangi Bhaijaan - 2D (PG) Drama, Action4:00, 6:00, 8:45, 11:30 PMMinions - 2D (PG) (Animation)11:45 AMMinions - 3D (PG) (Animation)2:15, 5:00 PMBaahubali - 2D (Telegu)(12+) (Action)3:15 PMHayaty Mebahdela - 2D (Arabic)(PG) (Comedy) 6:45 PMPixels - 2D (PG12) (Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi) 6:15 PMPixels - 3D (PG12) (Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi) 12:15, 3:00, 7:00 PMThe Vatican Tapes - 2D (18+) (Horror)

1:30, 11:55 PMNom El Talat - 2D (12+) Comedy 8:15 PMMasaan - 2D (12+) (Drama)Cast: Richa Chadda, Saurabh Chadhary, Sanjay Mishra10:00 PMIvide - 2D (M) (12+) (Crime, Drama)12:45, 9:05 PMBaahubali - 2D (12+) (Action)11:45 PM

BURAIMITerminator Genisys - 3D (Action) (PG12)6:45, 11:50PMBajrangi Bhaijaan– 2D (Drama, Action) (PG)2:45, 7:00, 9:00, 11:30PMIvide– 2D (Crime/Drama) (12+)Cast: Prithviraj Sukumran, Nivin Pauly 7:30PMMinions– 3D (Animation) (PG)2:00, 6:00PMBaahubali: The Beginning – 2D (Thriller) Cast: Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka3:45PM (12+)The Vatican Tapes– 2D (Horror) (18+)Cast: Olivia Taylor Dudley, Michael Pena 11:45PM

Sharkando 3: Oh Hell No! (2D) (Horror) (15+)Cast: Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, Cassie Scerbo, 5:45, 10:00PMThe Gallows– 2D (Horror/Thriller) (15+)Cast: Reese Mishler, Pfeifer Brown, Ryan3:45, 10:00PM

SURTerminator Genisys (3D) (Action) (PG12) 5:45, 11:45 PMMinions (3D) (Animation) (PG) 4:00 PMBajrangi Bhaijaan (Hindi) (Drama) (PG)4:15, 8:00 PMBahubali (Hindi) (Action) (12+) Cast: Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka7:15 PMThe Vatican Tapes (Horror | Thriller) (18+) Cast: Michael Peña, Kathleen Robertson 10:00 PMIvide (Mal) (Crime | Drama) (12+) Cast: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Nivin Pauly 11:00 PM

SALALAHTerminator (3D)(PG12) (Action) 9:00, 11:55 PM

Terminator (2D)(PG12) (Action) 2:45 PMMinions (3D) (PG) (Animation) 10:30, 2:15 PMMinions (2D) (PG) (Animation) 1:00 PMPixels (3D)(PG12) (Action/Comedy/Sci-Fi ) Cast: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle 10:15am, 12:15, 5:00, 7:00 PMBajrangi Bhaijaan (2D) (PG) (Drama/Action) 10:00AM, 12:30, 4:00, 9:00, 11:15 PMCast: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, HarshaaliHayaty Mebahdela (2D) (PG)(Arabic) 5:00 PMThe Gallows(2D)(15+) (Horror/Thriller) Cast: Reese Mishler, Pfeifer Brown, Ryan Shoos3:30, 11:30 PMMasaan (2D)(12+) (Drama) Cast: Richa Chadda, Saurabh Chadhary, Sanjay Mishra7:00 PMMahra Story (2D)(PG) (Drama) Cast: Salim Bahwan, Raniya alali7:00 PMIvide (2D) (12+) (Crime/Drama) Cast: Prithviraj, Nivin Pauly, Bhavana8:45 PM

BAHJA CINEMAFilm information 24540856 / Advance Booking 24540855Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com

Terminator: Genisys (Action / Adventure) Cast: Arnold Schwarznegger, Emily Clarke 3.30, 7.30, 9.45 & 11.55 pmCP No: 1714 (PG 12)The Gallows (Horror/ Thriller)Cast: Cassidy Gifford, Pfiefer Brown, Riyan Shoos8.00 & 10.00 pm CP No: 1730 (15+)Minions ( Animation/ Comedy )12.00 & 5.45 pmCP No: 1731 (PG)Max (Adventure/ Family)Cast: Thomas Harden Church, Josh Wiggin 4.00 pmCP No: 1732 ( PG)Vatican Tapes ( Horror/Thriller )Cast: Katheleen Roberston, Djimon Hounsou, Dougrey Scott12.00, 1.45 & 11.55 pmCP No: 1835 (18+)Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! ( Horror/Sci: Fic ) Cast: Tara Reid, Bo Derek, Frankie Muniz2.00 & 6.00 pmCP No: 1836 (15+) STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776Website: www.isurf.co.om

Baahubali (Tamil) (Action)

Cast: Prhabas, Rana Daggubatti, Anshka

Shetty, Tamannaah & Satya Ra

3-30, 6-30 & 9-30 pm at Cinema Main

Baahubali (Telugu) (Action)

3-30, 6-30 & 9-30 pm at Cinema -2

Ivede (Mal ) (Thriller)

Cast: Prithviraj, Nivin Pauly & Bhavana

3-45, 6-45 & 9-45 pm at Cinema – 3

Premam (Mal) (Rom)

Cast: Nivin Pauly & Anupama

3-45, 6-45 & 9-45 pm at Cinema -4

Next Change: Acha Din (Mal), Appatakkar

(Tamil), Vallu (Tamil)(Programmes are subject to change)

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

9:15, 11:45 pm 3:30, 6:30, 9:30 pm 5:45 & 10:00 pm 10:15am, 12:15, 5:00, 7:00 pm

@MGM @SHATTI @RUWI @BURAIMI @SALALAH

TERMINATOR: GENISYS (3D) (Action, Adventure) (PG)Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke

3:45 pmA ROYAL NIGHT OUT 2D (Drama)Cast : Sarah Gadon, Emily Watson, Jack (15+)

BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN(Action/Drama ) Cast: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor,

Harshaali Malthotra

SHARKANDO 3: OH HELL NO (2D) (Horror ) (15+)Cast: Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, Cassie Scerbo

PIXELS (3D) (PG12) (Action/Comedy/

Sci-Fi ) Cast: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan

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

WEATHER

380

Maximum

300

Minimum

TEMPERATURE

50-90%RELATIVE HUMIDITY

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 16 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to extra@timesofoman.com

WITH LOVE

You’re already doing it, if you’re riding a mo-torcycle. At higher motorcycle speeds, however, it’s impor-

tant to have a basic understand-ing of the counter-steering pro-cess, which will help you make more controlled turns at higher speeds, steer away from hazards, and ride with less fatigue.

It’s hard to imagine that so many so called “experienced” riders either fail to understand the importance of counter-steer-ing or fail to recognise it is only by counter-steering that a motorcycle actually turns.

A motorcycle turns by leaning. Once the bike is banked over the geometry of the chassis as well as the rounded profile of the tyres and the hard-to-describe forces cause the machine to arc around the curve. So, to turn a bike you must get the motorcycle to go from upright to leaned position precisely and efficiently.

The most effective way to get a motorcycle to go from upright to leaned is to introduce handlebar inputs. By pressing forward (and to a lesser degree, down) on the handlebar on the side that you want to turn, you essentially un-balance the bike so that it “falls” into a lean. Press on the right handlebar to initiate a lean to the right and press on the left handle-bar to turn left. Got it?

In simpler words, lean in the di-rection you want to turn and gently push the handle away to the other side (turning right? Push the han-dle from right to left.)

Many riders believe that they are able to manoeuvre their motorcy-cle by simply leaning their body or by looking into the turn. While these are helpful techniques for assisting the bike’s turn, this alone cannot effectively cause a 300+ kilogram machine to change direction (mine is almost 400 kil-ograms — the Vulcan 2000).

Yeah, but I already turn my bike without counter-steering. Not re-ally.  Sure, you can cause the bike to drift into a turn, but that can’t really be called turning. Also, con-sider that most people who think they cannot counter-steer, actually are doing it without realising. Pay close attention the next time you are making any sort of turn and no-tice how you put a slight amount of pressure on the inside handlebar.

Counter-steering is used when-

ever you need to change direction. This applies to basic cornering manoeuvres, as well as evasive ma-noeuvres, such as swerving.

It’s important to be able to coun-ter-steer with authority when a corner suddenly tightens more than you expected, or when you ap-proach a tight corner too-fast.

Not being able to turn your mo-torcycle quickly could eventually result in an off-road excursion or collision with an oncoming car or a guardrail. In a car, when we need to turn right to avoid an accident, we yank the wheel to the right. Doing the same thing on a bike will do just the opposite, so that in-stinct can be deadly.

By understanding what coun-ter-steering is and how it works, rather than just doing it uncon-sciously, any biker can enjoy a safer, more comfortable ride.

LIFESTYLEC11M O N DAY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

IF A COMPANY or a person shares his data then does he still own it? When he erases the data, can he really be sure that it has been erased? An iCloud hitch in 2014 led to a flurry of leaked pri-vate photos of celebrities and ac-tors, thus calling for a greater safe-guard against such incidents.

Cloud Computing needs bet-ter cloud controls and compa-nies are responding by offering features such as encryption of data and setting up strong pass-words for verification and ac-cess (as did Google and Amazon).

Now more than ever, your online privacy is under attack. ISP, adver-tisers, and governments around the world are increasingly inter-ested in knowing exactly what you’re up to when you browse the

web, and increasingly your privacy is under threat.

The Internet and computerised databases make automated col-lection and processing of infor-mation particularly easy and convenient. As a result, there are now zillions of databases silently collecting data. While consumers can often benefit from revealing personal in-formation, most would rather remain anonymous browsers. Anti-Virus Softwares, VPN’s, Private Browsers, Ghostery Browsers, Online Routers, Blocking Third Part Cookies, and many more tools are avail-able to help people browse the Web anonymously. But many still fear the next glitch.

DATA BREACHES and finan-cial crimes have become more than the stuff of Hollywood thrill-ers, representing major issues in the current information era. These cyber crimes are carried out by hackers who exploit weak-nesses in computer systems and networks, but not all hackers are created equal. It is interesting to note the existence of so-called “ethical hackers,” in addition to “white”, “black”, and “grey” hack-ers, who all operate outside the scope of the law, but with very dif-ferent motivations and intentions.

Ethical hacking and ethical hacker are terms used to describe hacking performed by a com-pany or individual as a means of identifying potential threats on a computer or network. An ethi-cal hacker attempts to bypass system security and search for any weak points that could be exploited by malicious hackers. This information is then used by the organisation to improve the system security, in an effort to minimise or eliminate any potential attacks.

On the non-professional side,

white hat hackers are those who carry out their craft with no ap-parent criminal intention, many a times simply for the challenge.

Black-hat hackers, or simply “black hats,” are the hackers the media seems to focus on. Black hats violate computer security for personal gain, such as to steal credit card numbers or harvest personal data for sale to identity thieves.

Very few things in life are as clear as black-and-white, so it goes in the world of hacking where grey-hat hackers falls somewhere between the black and white hats.

A grey hat doesn’t work for their own personal gain or to cause carnage, but they may technically commit crimes and do arguably unethical things like invading the privacy of others.

Technology evolves and changes faster than the laws can keep up, which is creating a need for ethical hackers to protect companies and indi-viduals from cyber wrongdoers in a high stakes game that con-tinues to feel more like science fiction. - Mahran Shaukat Ali

mahran@timesofoman.com

P R I V A C Y C O N C E R N S

C Y B E R C R I M E S

Ethical Hackers?

COUNTER THISBy Faisal Mohammed Naim | (faisal@timesofoman.com)

1. Rider counter-steers

2. Front wheel out-tracks away from turn

4. Motorcycle stabilises in turn, front wheel points toward turn

3. Motorcycle leans, front wheel centres

THEEDUCATED

MOTORIST

Privacy Online: Who owns it?

-Mahran Shaukat Ali / mahran@timesofoman.com

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M

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

CONNECT H E D A I LY G U I D E

D

D4 VACANCY CARGO D7

M O N D AY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

RENT D2

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

3BR villa, sitting, dining & hall,

Azaiba behind Al Meera H- Market.

Contact: 99259977 / 95033008

1BHK, Darsait, walking distance to

ISM , neat and clean building, ground

floor, OMR 260/- per month rent

Call IQRAR on 99076557

Fully furnished 3 BHK accommo-

dation with all spacious rooms in a

villa at Darsait near ISD.

Contact: 9526 5289 / 9604 8422

Furnished room for rent at

Al Khuwair R.O 225/- for family only.

Contact: 99251975

Villa AL Ghobrah, 6 bedroom 1200/-

R.O. Contact: 99340055/97557555

3 flats, 2BHK near Ghala Church,

top of Majan Hyper market Ghala.

Contact: 95928800 / 98014921

Two bedrooms flats in Wadi Kabir

near Indian School.

Contact: 99313274

1bedroom, kitchen, sharing toilet,

parking, family R.O 110/-, 1bedroom

sharing K& T family in Al Khuwair

R.O 100/-. Contact: 95154331

Flats for rent near Indian School in

Wadi Kabir. Contact 99777122

Well maintained spacious 2BHK

at Rex Road. Contact: 92227165

Brand new villa Bosher 37, 4 BHK.

Contact: 91936034

600 sqr mtrs showroom in Wadi

Kabir. Contact: 99792181

2 BHK flats in Rex Road.

Contact: 99792181

1BHK flat at Honda road (Ruwi).

Contact: 99792181

2BHK flat in Al Khuwair. Contact:

99792181

500 sq mtrs office space on mezza-

nine floor near Royal Hospital. OMR

6.500 per sq mtr. Tel: 99333479 or

95215360

2 bed rooms, kitchen, toilet & car

park in Al Khuwair R.O 200/- .

Contact 95154331

2BHK near Oman house Muttrah.

Contact: 99233116

3BHK, 3 bathrooms, 2 balconies,

nr Al Hassan W/Kabir R.O 340/-.

Contact: 99384640

Deluxe 2,3 bedroom flats in Ruwi &

2 BHK in Wadi Kabir & 1and 2 BHK

Al Khuwair. Contact: 95282986 /

24707340

Available 2 BHK flat with two bath-

rooms at Wadikabir near Shell petrol

pump, rent RO 225/-.

Contact 95708014

Villa 4 & 5 BHK for rent in

Al Khuwair. Contact 99792181

Store 2000 Sqr mtrs for rent in

Wadi Kabir. Contact 99792181

Deluxe 3 BHK Penthouse with

Seaview, ideal for office / residence

at Qurum near PDO.

Contact: 9772 1313 / 9507 0421

1,000 sq mtrs industrial land in

Misfah Industrial area near to

Khanco. OMR 1,500 Monthly. It has

Electricity and boundary wall.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

D2 M O N D AY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

For rent in Qantab European style 4

bedrooms, 4 baths, Guest toilet, fully

equipped modern kitchen, covered

car park for two cars, approximately

150 meters from the beach. For

enquiries, please Contact: Yasser at

92606005

Flats shops for rent in Ruwi MBD

area Mumtaz area.

Contact: 97293708 / 92433127

2 bedrooms apartments for rent in Al

Khuwair and Ghubra. Call Yellow Bird

property on 24615375 / 97137989 or

visit www.muscat-realty.com

250 sq mtrs restaurant for rent in

Plaza Hotel, Walja Ruwi.

Contact 99326339

3 Bedroom flat in Wadi Kabeer and

2 bedroom villa in Sidab- Muscat.

Contact: 95755953

Villa with two floors in (Hay Al

Arjan) in AL Khoud with 4 bedrooms,

hall, Majles, kitchen & one room in

ground floor. Contact: 93219597

1 Villa & 3 big Flats of 2/3 BHK with

hall, Kitchen & ACs Al Khoudh 6,

Close to express way,

from owner. Tel 97600322

alnehang@gmail.com

FOR SALE

FOR SALE

BUYING/SELLING

DAILY GUIDE

FOR RENTBuilding In Rusail Industrial

comprising a store divisible area 266 sq. meters.

The building includes Studios

residence.Preferably to be leased to

one company.

Mob + 968 96177505

Used furniture & Electronic items,

office & house. Contact: 99834373

House in Amerat near to Makah

hypermarket with three room,

5toilets, kitchen and hall 430/-.

Contact: 92747078

For rent if require flats for rent in

Wadi Kabir please send me mes-

sages through Whatsapp.

Contact: 99376454

Bath attached room for rent

Al Khuwair. Contact 99743569

4 BHK single villa in Al Khuwair.

Contact: 97616158

Fabulous AC flat at Al Khoud 3 bed-

rooms, hall and kitchen RO 270/-

for rent. Contact: 99334699

506sqm space with mezzanine

available for rent in AL Wadi Al

Kabir, Suitable for carpentry / Auto

workshop and / or electrical shop

interested parties may.

Contact: 24703981

Office space at Alasfoor Plaza

Qurum. Contact : 24566217

/24564686

For rent if require flats for rent in

Wadi Kabir please send me mes-

sages through Whatsapp.

Contact: 99376454

Deluxe furnished / unfurnished

flats Qurum. Contact: 24566217 /

24564686

1BHK, 2BHK, 3BHK new flat

available at Mabela in front of Mod-

ern English School

Contact: 96239126

3 floor commercial building in

Muttrah behind Police. Generating

income of OMR 18 Thousand annu-

ally. Neat and well maintained. Built

on 197 sq mtrs land. 2 tailor shops

on ground floor and 6 flats. OMR

207 Thousand. Tel: 99333479 or

95215360

AVAILABLE

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirting,

Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery, Crock-

ery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes, Ice

Sculptures, to Large Sound Systems

and spectacular lighting. Call Andrea

9606 2222 for Catering and Croyden

9623 5555 for Sound & Light.

www.tunesoman.com,

E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

2 BHK near Kuwaiti Masjid Wadi Ka-

bir. Contact: 24816774 / 97608564

Shop for rent/ sale in Ruwi near

Dish market good location, behind

City Cinema. Contact: 91318111

Flat for rent in Wadi Kabir with

3 rooms. Contact : 98555580 /

92800007

Vehicle automotive batteries avail-

able at cost price. Interested parties

who want to buy the batteries in

bulk numbers for reselling purpose

may. Contact: 24794657

1 A/C for sale. Contact: 99573353

Grill cafe sale Al Khuwair.

Contact 97249366

2560 sq mtrs industrial land in

Wadi Kabir main road, First line on

way to Al Bustan hotel. Possible to

make petrol station or hotel. OMR

990 Thousand. Tel: 99333479 or

95215360

60,000 Sq Mtrs Agriculture Land in

Misfah, can be changed to Industrial

Land. OMR 29 Per Square Meter.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

5 Flats of 1 bedroom for Sale in

Boushar: OMR 35 Thousand each.

Monthly income OMR 270

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

23,886 Sq Mtrs Agriculture land

with water well in Al Salwa, Barka.

OMR 260 Thousand. Tel: 99333479

or 95215360

Turkish MDF door with frame for

sale, size 210 x 100 Price: RO 75/-.

Contact: 95899296 / 92141514

Wall papers, grass carpets sale

& fixing. Contact 99834373 /

97102699

DAILY GUIDEM O N D AY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5 D3

MOTOR VEHICLE FOR SALE

Tucson automatic V-6 2007, R.O

2300/-. Contact: 99384640

Car for sale in Muscat, single

owner (doctor) driven, Mazda SUV

cx-9, model 2014, low mileage

(66,000 kms) in excellent condition

with company warranty, for sale.

Interested parties please contact in

99341156.

Land Cruiser 2012. #99336093

Toyota Corolla 1.8 ltr GLI excellent

condition 28,000 kms.

Contact: 97717152

Touareg 2011 Oman cars, 114000

KM, silver, 8500/-R.O.

Contact 92857111

Prado ,2012. Contact : 99336093

Sportage, 2013. Contact:

99336093

ACC. WANTED

ACC. AVAILABLE

CHANGE OF NAME

Required a room in Darsait /

WadiKabir /Ruwi area.

Contact: 95405033

Room with attached bath and shar-

ing kitchen available for Executive

bachelor, opp. O.C. Center Ruwi.

Contact: 99016562 / 99296296

Family sharing accommodation

available in Al Khodh.

Contact: 99371129

2 BHK rent R.O 200/- from

01.09.2015 location after Muscat

Gate main road fully furnished for

sale. Contact Francis 92251786

Full furnished room with attached

bathroom near Star Cinema for Ex.

Bachelor/lady. Contact 92886715

Rooms in Seeb for couple / single

ladies. Contact : 96996938

Fully furnished 1BHK with all

household items in Darsait near Lulu

on monthly Basis.

Contact : 99378397

Sharing accommodation available

for working lady or couples near

Ruwi Church. Contact: 92837206

Room attached toilet and kitchen

near Indian School Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 95345537

Fully furnished room for a decent

expatriate. independent kitchen,

bathroom in Wadi Adai.

Contact 96243086 at 5p.m.

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text,

should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication.

* Subject to space availability

The following properties in South

India are for sale. 1. 25 cent plot in

Eroor, Cochin (less than 2km from

Vytila hub) 2. 12 cent plot in

Trivandrum opposite to Kims hospi-

tal in hill top colony.

Interested parties- please send SMS

“property” to 99341156.

We will contact you.

NRI

BUSINESS

Established running Grade -1

tender board construction com-

pany with work force, plant, staff,

credit suppliers & financial credit

limit up to 335,000/- in place only

serious buyers. Please Contact:

civilprojects57@gmail.com

Looking for financial partner or

investor for running small indus-

try. Contact : 92337002

New company seek partnership.

Contact: 96996938

General Investors. Gsm-99674870

We, Ashish Kumar (name of father as per the passport, holder of Indian

passport No. F 9862728 and Ritu Gupta (name of the mother, holder of Indi-

an Passport No. L 8823059) having permanent address in 128/96, B - Block,

Kidwai Nagar, Kanpur Nagar, Pin - 208011, UP, (complete postal address in

India) and presently residing at the following address in Al Khuwair, Sultan-

ate of Oman, here by solemnly affirm and declare to change the name of our

child Master Dev Gupta (name as per present passport) , holder of Indian

passport No. L 3951829 date of issue 20/08/2013 issued at Lucknow. The

name of our child will be henceforth known as Advik Gupta (new name) for

all purposes. Any objection towards change of name of our minor child may

please be communicated to Embassy of India, Muscat, Diplomatic Quarters,

Al Khuwair, PB No. 1727, PC 112, Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman.

Naif Helaes Mohammed Al Roshdi & his partner for Trad & cont joint which is recorded under the commercial register in directorate general for

trade industry number 1060944 is going to change its name to Al Batinah

Projects Al wataniah for Service Logestic joint .This is to inform anybody

who concerns about that.

GOOD NEWS

LOST

Genuine Ayurvedic treatments

& massage, Ayurvedic clinic at

AL Khuwair. Contact: 24478618 /

97263637 / 93309131

Ayurvedic treatment for joint pain,

backache, paralysis massage,

steam bath, obesity, spondylitis

IDEAL , CARE Ayurvedic

Clinic 18 November street, Azaiba.

Contact 99639695 /

99117987

FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know

more about Islam, please call:

99425598, 96050000, 99353988,

99253818, 99341395, and

99379133. For ladies: 99415818,

99321360, 99730723

Orvisit: www.islamfact.com

Ayurvedic treatment for backache,

paralysis, arthritis etc & massage,

All Season (Vaidyaratnam).

Contact 24475280 / 95371554 /

92504980

www.siddhayur.com

Saiful Islam Md Abu Taher has

lost Bangladeshi Passport No. AC

2921480. Finder please handover

to ROP.

Latheesh Kaliyaramil Balan has

lost Indian Passport No. M 0600516.

Finder please handover to ROP

Mohammed Sahadat has lost

Bangladesh passport No

AC 0412087. Finder please handover

to ROP

I Azeem Abdul Rawoob (holder of

Indian passport No. J 1341176) son of

Azeem having permanent residence

in 55 Anai Katti Maidanam Beema

Nagar Trichy DT Tamil Nadu (com-

plete postal address in India) and

presently residing in P.O Box. No 390

P.C 118 Sultanate of Oman (complete

postal address in Oman) intend to

change my name from Azeem Abdul

Rawood (old name) to Azim Abdul

Rauf (new name) for all practical

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.

CHANGE OF NAME

DAILY GUIDED4 M O N D AY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

DOMESTIC HELPER

DOMESTIC HELPER

DESIGNER

ADMIN

ENGINEER

ENGINEER

EDUCATION

SALES / MARKETING

DESIGNER

AUTO CAD/DRAUGHTSMAN

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE

Required Omani Receptionist / Office assistant for a company in

Ghoubra. Fresher’s can apply with

expected salary.

Email : thomas.john@ext.gfk.com

Indian male diploma Civil Eng with

2 yrs experience on site as QS &

AutoCAD seeking on site or - off site

position. Contact: 94756183

Email: indianexpat1@gmail.com

Mechanical Engineer, Indian 24

with 2 yrs experience in HVAC- MEP

Revit – MEP, AutoCAD – MEP Navis

solid works Catia PRO-E primavera.

Contact: 96975382

Email: bonny491@gmail.com

2 years experienced Electrical Engi-

neer looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 98480509

B.Tech Computer Engineer wanted

job to work on IT / Banking / sales

marketing, MCITP, CCNA, Network-

ing, having NOC. Contact: 98857689

Email: khanshoebameer@gmail.com

Indian (M) B.Tech (civil) with 2 yrs

exp in Structural Designing using

Etabs, Staad, Safe, excel looking for

suitable position.

Contact: 96698342 / 98768045

Email: qadeertom@gmail.com

Civil Engineer diploma holder hav-

ing 7 years experience in construc-

tion / oil & gas as Site Engineer

seeking for suitable placement.

Contact: 93294965

Indian m 25 yrs B.E Mechanical 3

yrs exp in oil & gas as Piping Project

Engineer now on visit visa.

Contact : 96487013

Email: riarun.007@gmail.com

Graduate Engineer Electronics &

Communication, Indian (23) M.Tech

from reputed University in Banga-

lore, 1 year experience, currently on

visit Tel. 968-99152453

mail : robin.scaria.1992@gmail.com

DIPLOMA + B.E. (CIVIL ENGINEER)

from India, having 4 years of experi-

ence in construction, currently on

visit visa; Seeking Right Position.

GSM:91570703.

Email:Rizwan.mohd1@gmail.com

Civil Engineer B.E 12 years ex-

perience with valid Oman driving

license. Contact: 93843448

Sudanese male Engineer looking

for job. Contact: 94537607

Electrical Engineer bachelor degree

having 6+ years experience of Gulf

and professional license available to

join. Contact: 98063081

Email: imran.engr08@gmail.com

ACCOUNTANT

BEAUTY

Qualified Accountant 5 years expe-

rience bilingual Arabic & English, 2+

years in Oman. Contact: 95539923

Motivated and energetic male 25

having 4 years of experience in

finance with Master’s degree in Eco-

nomics and CAT Certified seeking

opportunity in Accounts/finance/

audit in a reputable organization.

Cell no: 00968-94626209

E-Mail: omerjawedshah@gmail.com

12 years Oman experienced Chief

Accountant looking for immediate

placement. Contact: 99513082

15 years Oman experienced Admin

& Accounts Manager looking for

suitable placement.

Contact: 92253080

Good experienced in accounts and

Admin knowledge of Tally ERP9

having NOC looking for suitable job.

Contact: 98717938

Accountant Indian male 8 years

experience, 6 years in Oman with

Oman driving license, seeking suit-

able job. Contact 96012973

Indian male, M.Com & CA inter

qualified seeking a suitable position

in Audit/finance. Contact: 91148139

Accountant, Indian male, 10 years

experience in Oman, having knowl-

edge of Tally ERP9 & able to do upto

finalization and can be joined imme-

diately with NOC. Contact: 94134085

Email: mascatoman95@yahoo.com

Indian male B.Com with Accountant,

HR, Indoor sales, Store keeper on

visit visa. Contact: 98295101

Indian female 35 years MCA, MBA

six sigma black belt, 14 years Gulf

experience in business analytics,

Marketing business development

qualities seeks placement. NOC

available, Omani driving license

available. Contact: 95783792

Well experienced and hard working

Restaurant Manager seek immedi-

ate placement. Release available.

Contact: 92953199

Indian male Accountant B.Com 8 yrs

in Oman exp with N.O.C, valid driving

license. Contact: 95052969

Email: chetansmma@yahoo.co.in /

chetansmma@gmail.com

Jordanian Accountant (ACPA)

with more than 15 yrs experience

in Oman (Accounts, Purchase &

finance). Contact: 92881223 Email:

kamal_sarhan@yahoo.com

Indian female MBA with 1 year

experience seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact: 98435532

MBA, B.Com CA (finalist) 7 years ex-

perience (2 years in Oman) looking

for suitable placement in a reputable

organization. Expertise in ERP, Tally

Quickbooks, peachtree and Excel.

NOC available. Contact: 97736404

Email: adnantahir1990@gmail.com

House maid required for an Indian

family at Al Ghubra (stay full time).

Contact: 98622766

Full time housemaid required for

Indian family in Ghubra, Nepalese

preferred, call 95681350

Urgently required Junior Account-ant. Please send CV:

hr.azatllc@gmail.com

Reputed Construction Company require Accountant experience in

Construction Company with

accountancy degree.

Email: jvacancy05@gmail.com

Urgently required cash investors for company’s profitable projects.

Contact: 92950082

Required Office Assistant in a

market research company.

Send CV to

jayakumar.valiyaparambith@

nielsen.com

DRIVER

Indian female B.Sc- Fashion De-

signer 21 years, fresher, One month

internship in a garment industry

2015 University best designer award

holder. Now looking for a creative

job, currently on residential visa.

Contact: 98297940 / 99741604.

Email : zintasabu@gmail.com

Electrical draftsman AutoCAD

switch gear & MEP control panel

7 years experience Qatar.

Contact: 92546203/96228100

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

SITUATION WANT-ED

SIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANT-ED

SIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANT-ED

SIT. WANTED

Urgently required Male with 2

years’ experience in Admin Works,

fluent in Arabic and English,

Computer knowledge,

preferably with driving license.

Working hours 6am to 2pm or 2pm

to 10 pm daily

Email: jayan@ra.cc or 99661980

A leading marketing company is

looking for outdoor Sales Execu-tives on part time or full time basis

in Salalah. Contact 92760281 /

96436719

Experienced Marketing representa-tive – interlock blocks with light

Omani driving license is required.

Contact 99222086

Looking for Outdoor Salesman for

heavy equipment spare parts.

Contact - 93292015,

Email: mail.om@gulfcenter.co

DRIVER

BSCS hons (4 years) 2 years experi-

ence female currently on visit visa

looking for any vacancy.

Contact: 91519478

Email: marryum.akmal@gmail.com

Indian male, 15 yrs experience in

Admin & Office management seeks

job. Contact: 96425101

14 years of Gulf experience in HR /

Admin & logistics fluent in Arabic /

English with D/L looking for suitable

position. Contact: 95824598

Civil Engineer B.E, 5.5 years experi-

ence with Omani D/L.

Contact: 96785311

Indian 24 yrs male, 2 years experi-

ence in Site Engineer (Diploma in

Civil Engineering), Now on visit visa

in Oman. Contact: 94050311

Indian Male, Diploma in Civil Engi-

neer working as a Project engineer

with 7years of experience looking

for suitable job. Contact- 92636569

SAP – SCM.MM Consultant B.Tech.

(Chemical), from NIT, working with

oil industry, seeks employment.

Contact: 98049288

Indian female 23, B.Tech (Electrical

& Electronics) & Diploma in

Electrical CAD on Visit Visa seeks

suitable placement.

Contact: 99278410 / 94027398,

Email: renju.raghavan7@gmail.com

Iraqi Civil Engineer, 12 years expe-

rience with Omani driving license.

Contact: 94695595

Degree holder Civil Engineer hav-

ing 10 years experience with driving

license looking for better position.

Contact 98451844

Email: zahid_ruet@hotmail.com

Indian male, 38 years old, DME –

Mechanical Maintenance Technician

11 years Oman experience. Ready for

NOC, VISA transfer, ready to join im-

mediately, Mob +968 95612870,

Email: seeniselvan@gmail.com

Indian male, 34 years old, DEE –

Electrical Supervisor 10 years Oman

experience. Ready for NOC , VISA

transfer and valid Oman driving

license light, ready to join imme-

diately. Contact +91 9740679094,

kulasekar1980@gmail.com

Indian male Safety Officer, 4+

years experience diploma in fire &

safety Eng seeks suitable post.

Contact: 98843139

Electrical Engineer, B. Sc degree,

Filipino, 15 years experience in oil

& gas, power plant, substation, EPC

projects, testing & commissioning,

O & M with Oman D/L light.

Contact: 97090934

Electrical Engineer Indian male 29

years, having 5 years of experience

in industrial automation and utility

maintenance in India (MRF Tyres)

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 92789995

Email: akhilabrahamlktr@gmail.com

Structural Engineer of 2 years &

7 months experience, specialized

in Structural Design and Site Su-

pervision looking for a job. Contact:

94634906 / 94370767

Email: muazomer45@gmail.com

Indian Civil Engineer (buildings)

available immediately as supply

contract. Contact: 93263834

Btech computer science graduate

2015 passout.. Android application

marketing.. Having good communi-

cation skills and mindset to work in

a team. Contact 91024385

B.E in ECE worked as Junior Scientist

Trainee in Chennai worked as System

Admin in Berik Honda Nagger coil

worked at Technical Support in Sam-

sung Service, presently in Bangalore.

Contact : 0091 7026267513

Wanted experienced Beautician

for beauty parlor in Al Amerat 3.

Contact: 91107337

Indian male 2+yrs oman exp in HR.

joing immediatly. release available.

Contact :93671437

ADMIN

CATERING

BEAUTICIAN

Engineering company in Muscat requires HVAC Engineer, minimum

7 Years experienced, knowledge

in Tendering, BOQ, Design, Supply,

Installation & Supervision of all

Central & Unitary A/C systems.

Email: info@4dengineering.net

Urgently Required: Civil Engineer minimum 5years experience in

building construction in GCC, MUST

have NOC and immediately join.

Apply, fax 00968–24605955,

emails sbc@steelbuildingsllc.com,

sbeoman@yahoo.com.

Required Electrical Engineer mini-

mum 5years experience in building

construction in GCC, MUST have

NOC and immediately join. Apply,

fax 00968–24605955,

emails sbc@steelbuildingsllc.com,

sbeoman@yahoo.com.

Quantity Surveyor for Mechani-cal, Electrical BOQ preparation and

verification required for part time

assignment on immediate basis.

Please Contact-tgi17@omantel.net.

om

Urgently required: HSE Engineer with an experience minimum in

5 years in building construction,

MUST have NOC and immediately

join. Apply, fax 00968–24605955,

emails sbc@steelbuildingsllc.com,

sbeoman@yahoo.com

Leading Construction Company requires Quantity Surveyor (QS)

with 4-6 yrs Gulf experience. Send

your CV : qsmuscat2015@gmail.com

(NOC required).

Grade”A” company in interior

Designing looking for: Operations manager Sales executive Qs Inte-rior Designer CVs to be emailed to :

alzahi.oman@gmail.com

Professional Teacher Qualified

M.Com Post Graduate in finance for

teaching Accounting subject.

Contact: 91251210

Indian male 33 yrs DEM, chef DE

Partie (Continental, Chinese & South

Indian) 14 yrs exp in hotel Indus-

try, 7 yrs in Oman N.O.C available,

seeks placement. Contact 97858956

Email: pratheesh.chef@gmail.com

Indian male 33 yrs DEMI chef DE

Partie Chinese South Indian, cold

kitchen 13 yrs exp in Hotel industry

7 yrs in Oman, N.O.C available seeks

placement. Contact: 95872464,

Email: sreejith809@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS

Required Indian or Pakistani calligrapher & Painter (staff accommodation)

Contact# 24480487/24483493

Urgently required experienced Safety Officer with valid license for

a reputed construction company.

Interested candidates can send

their CVs to rajesh@oasisgrace.com

Contact: 99881459 / 99885931

fax: 24812226

Wanted urgently Secretary to the managing partner, Sales Execu-tive with driving license for rent a

car business & electrical Engineer,

linemen, electricians. All the above

vacancies are for Salalah and

enough experience required. Apply

soon to hr_oman1@yahoo.com

Job driver light operator shawl and

excavator. Contact: 91376612

Light vehicle driver NOC available,

seeks suitable job with 4 yrs exp in

Oman having driving license.

Contact: 95683735 / 95495003

Driver 8 years exp India (Keralite).

Contact: 93412587

Light driver looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 95141473

Driver available with car and

without car. Contact 96771598 /

92883299

Looking for driver. Contact: 91788481

Looking for driver job.

Contact : 93650209

Male Driver 2 years exp in Oman

seeking suitable placement.

Contact 96362684

Light driver searching for job expe-

rience 5 years. Language English,

Arabic & Hindi. Contact: 92458526

/ 97941771 Faisal

Driver with 8 years experience

looking for job. Contact: 98130645 /

94342106

Indian (Kerala) light driver seeking

for job, 12 years experience Oman.

Contact: 98175321

Pakistan male (27) light driver

seeking job, 4 years experience in

Oman. Contact 96346582

Light duty driver with 2 yrs experi-

ence looking for job. #96342684

Light driver. Contact: 96961993

Indian (Kerala) light driver seek-

ing for job, 5 yrs experience in

Oman. Contact: 98029273

Looking for driving job. Contact: 98219182

Driver available with car and with-

out car Education, B. A exp. 5 years,

language Hindi, Arabic, English.

Contact: 98522914

Heavy duty driver with PDO

license, 5 yrs Intl. exp. # 95546585

Light driver. Contact:95779594

Driver looking for job. #99507039

Wanted driver. Contact: 95112461

Driver heavy duty required urgent-ly for trailer. Oman / GCC experience

must. Those ready for immediate

joining. Contact: 99310859

MEDICAL

Dental surgeon, Staff Nurses (female), Dental Technician with or

without MOH license for a polyclinic

near Sohar. Excellent salary package.

Phone: 99006915, Email : alhinaee.

clinic@yahoo.com

General Practitioner DR to work in Bidbid, Prometric passed,3 years of

work experience,

Send CV clinic@m-oman.com

Require Quality Caregiver for an

elderly Mother. Contact: 99425200

Urgently wanted Lady Ayurveda

Therapist. Contact: 91590083 /

92798678

ADMIN

MEP Engineer on urgent basis

required for immediate placement.

Please contact tgi17@omantel.net.om

Beautician exp Gulf and India look-

ing job. Contact 93554741

Experienced Indian lady is looking

housemaid job looking full time job

for European family total experience

: 9 years, 2 years exp. with European

family 6 years worked with Indian

family language English & Hindi.

Contact: 93392788

Housemaid Indian looking for

Madras family house job.

Contact 93554741

Housemaid (full time / part time)

looking for job. Contact: 95799643

Indian female 24 years MBA (HR)

having 3 years experience in HR

Administration, payroll seeking suit-

able placement. Contact: 91104352 /

99012861

Indian female, 29 yrs, MBA (HR) 4

yrs exp in HR & Admin seeking suit-

able placement. Contact: 95619537

8 yrs exp Site supervisor cum 2d,

3d Draughtsman (holding Omani

driving license) seeking job.

Contact : 93790601

24 year Indian Chartered Account-

ant male with 3yrs of experience is

seeking suitable placement in Mus-

cat, currently on visit visa & ready

to join immediately. Contact him on

98201476 or email at

lokeshkaluri@gmail.com

Finance ACCA Affiliate, 2.5 years

experience in audit/finance and oil

company in reputed firms. Looking

for suitable permanent place-

ment. Release available. Contact

95140445, a.saran891@gmail.com

DAILY GUIDEM O N D AY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5 D5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

MEDICAL

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

Indian male, B.com, diploma in ma-

terial management, 12+ years exp in

international / local purchase, ware

housing 4 logistics seeks suitable

placement NOC available.

Contact: 96477638 / 96477638

Production Manager 13 years

experience in cast Aluminium fab.

field and good track record seeking

for a suitable job. NOC ready in Hand.

Contact: 96392319

Facility / Project Mgmt, 4+ yrs of

exp holds B.E (ECE) Indian visit

visa looking for suitable opening.

Contact: 98580569

Email: arafacareer@gmail.com

Indian male, with 8 yrs exp. in

Oman (BA- Graduate) working as

a project Sales Coordinator, with

Oman D/L, looking for suitable job,

ready to join immediately with NOC.

Contact 95245057

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

Female Nurse - Indian, well expe-

rienced, Prometric passed – 60%,

currently on visit visa, ready to join

immediately. Kindly contact:

9721 9495 / 9655 0603 or

jshani67@gmail.com

GP Doctor Yemeni national-male,

with 4 years of work experience.

Mobile:00966531598754

Email: alsyaniramzy@gmail.com

Indian male GP doctor, 12 years

experience parametric passed with

74% seeks suitable post.

Email: ppdr2020@gmail.com.

Contact 97985325

TOURS & TRAVELS

Indian male B.Com MBA (Tourism)

23 years, seeks a job in any field

currently on visit visa.

Contact: 92363811

Email: faizekk@gmail.com

Civil Engineer, Diploma, Male 25,

3 years experience in site, CAD, 3d,

MS Project, Seeking job in Oman. #

92875345, jubincivileng@gmail.com

Indian male accountants, 12 years

experience, tally also. Looking for a

part time/ full time job in accounts

or purchase. Contact- 98983122

Indian Female 2yrs exp. in

Accountant 5 yrs exp. in Electronics,

seeking suitable Job.

Contact: 97162705,93705090

Indian male, 14 years Experience in

maintenance & Supervisor in hotel

field (Electrical, Ac Mechanical &

Plumber). NOC available #95253640

email = hareeshma24@yahoo.com

Female Candidate: Having experi-

ence (ISRO India) in Administration

(seeking suitable opportunities

&presently in Oman Mob:97239854,

Mail:asherlalitha@yahoo.com

Diploma civil Engineer seek-

ing jobs(positions suits me:

civil engineer ,site engineer,qa/qc

engineer,land surveyor ,total sta-

tion, auto level,draftsman (autocad,

microstation) mob:97239854,

Mail:asherlalitha@yahoo.com

MOH Indian Dentist 10 years experi-

ence in Oman. Can speak Arabic, has

driving license. Contact 98995321

or ventureoman007@gmail.com

BRANCH-HEAD, MBA-BBA, Indian

Male having experience in UAE,

India, Oman total 5 years (including

MNC), looking for similar or same

openings.NOC available.

Mobile :92700670,

E mail:catanalur131@gmail.com

Qualified Native speaking male

English Teacher with 18 years

experience seeks position. Salary

Negotiable. Whatsapp on +968 9334

1047 / +968 93952732 or e-mail me

on nadgov@gmail.com

Indian female, IATA, B. Sc, look-

ing for suitable placement.Con-

tact-95514305, E mail id-

raveendranmala@gmail.com

ACCOUNTANT, Indian male, 29

years, 8 years experience. Presently

working in Oman as a Senior Ac-

countant with Oman Driving license.

NOC available seek suitable opportu-

nity. GSM: 98184170

MISCELLANEOUS

SALES / MARKETING

12 yrs exp FREELANCE 2d, 3d

Draughtsman (holding Omani driv-

ing license). Contact : 93790601

Sudanese male, 31 year, have 3 year

Diploma in Electrical Engineer, 6

years experience in construction and

electrical plant.

Mobile No ; +96894549609

Freelance Graphic Designer availa-

ble to assist in Photoshop, Illustrator,

InDesign and Corel Draw Projects.

Contact : 95811820

Indian Female Lawyer 36 Yrs

having 11 yrs experience presently

working in Oman as Legal Advisor

seeks placement in Legal/HR/Admin

NOC available Contact-94436960

Email: famidakhan123@gmail.com

23, Male, ACCA Affiliate, 2 years+

experience in Audit and Finance

in audit firm, Looking for suitable

permanent placement, NOC release

Available. Contact: #95140445

a.saran891@gmail.com

MBA - (F), M.Com, B.COM. Indian fe-

male having knowledge of accounts

with Tally looking for part time or

full time job. Presently on family

visa. Contact :- 91892264.

Email:- yashicapandya@gmail.com

Indian Female 10 years exp as cook

in Oman. South Indian & Gujarati

special looking for part-time job

Contact 96733187.

Indian male-28 Years, Diploma in

Electrical Egg, having gulf experi-

ence. Specialization on Electrical

Installation and Maintenance, Opera-

tion. 7 years experience seeks for

suitable placement.

Mob – 968-95334580. E-mail

-sunilkumar257.sk23@gmail.com

Seeking Teaching Position. Quali-

fied and experienced Native English

speaking teacher seeking posi-

tion in Muscat, I have a Teaching

Diploma , two Honours Degrees

and a CELTA Certificate. Position

at Language school will be suit-

able. Will e-mail CV. Whatsapp only

+96893952732

MBA (F), B.COM. Indian female

having knowledge of accounts with

Tally looking for full or part time

job. presently on family visit visa.

Contact :- 96259171.

Email:- bhumicapandya@gmail.com

Indian visit visa, Network / System

Engineer switches, routers, servers,

load balancers 5 yrs of exp holds

B.E (ECE), CCNA looking for good

opportunity. Contact: 91911792

Email: arafakdnl@gmail.com

Diploma holder in Computer Hard-

ware and Networking with valid

Oman driving license, NOC avail-

able seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 95249087 / 93095329

B.Tech (CSE) Diploma Fire & safety

IOSH, NEBOSH having 3.5 years exp

in MNC on visit. Contact: 90260889

Male 25 B.Com with 3.5 years

experience in IT and Administration

excellent computer and communi-

cation skills, web developing and

handling, looking for relevant job,

on family visit till 5th Oct 2015.

Contact: 91298960

Email: usman.ali786@hotmail.com

Male BE ECE having 1 years experi-

ence CCTV, ACCESS CONTROL,

Server now on visit visa, seeking

suitable opportunity. #96792239

IT professional MCA Oracle certi-

fied 6 months training of PLSQL

data warehousing, PHP, 3 months

trained seeking job at good com-

pany. Contact: 95694330 Email:

monakashyap001@gmail.com

B.E Computer Science, Indian male

looking for suitable job in the field

of software or information technol-

ogy having good knowledge in Java,

ASP. Net, MS Sql, MS Word.

Contact: 91986919 Email:

dileep2468.a@gmail.com

IT

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

MBA from UK with 9 yrs experience

in London, Dubai & Mumbai. Special-

ized GCC experience in top real estate

co & bank with driving license. NOC

available. #968 95168205,

dubaihomes1@gmail.com

Indian ( Keralite) looking for job in

sales (oilfield) 20 years experience

in the Middle East with valid Omani

driving license good communication

skills. NOC available. #95991122

Email: muneervmd@gmail.com

Sales Mechanical Engineer

14 year’s exp looking for Senior po-

sition. Contact: 0091 9600987895

Email: srameson@yahoo.co.in

Indian male B.Com (Computer)

looking Sales Manager.

Contact: 97235819

Indian 44 yrs, 16 yrs Indian Army

5 and Half years in Oman exp ware

house, seeks suitable placement in

store, ware house or sales having

Oman driving license. #94050311

B. Com & MBA Graduate on visit

visa seeks suitable placement.

Contact : 97372624 ,email :

sivaraj.gurukripa@gmail.com

B.Tech (MECH) MBA (Marketing)

having 20 years of experience in

sales, marketing, projects presently

working in Oman seek suitable place-

ment N.O.C available and ready to join

immediately. Contact: 91257781

email: rajrathsing@yahoo.com

Young Bangladeshi male 26 know-

ing coffee shop work as watering

sandwich making juice marking

etc presently in Bangladesh if any

employer need please Contact

behalf of candidate with his brother.

Contact: 92278538

Management professional experienced in profitable manage-

ment with organization skills with

over 21+yrs exp. in Bombay, Saudi

Arabia, Dubai, UAE & in Oman11 yrs

as GM Publications, Printing, Media

& Advertising in entire operations,

Sales marketing & etc. Looking for a

reputed organization for a challeng-

ing position any industry, can Join

immediately with NOC. Contact :

+968 98864706/99574638

Mail : akdas_uae@yahoo.com

Indian male 31 visionary business

strategist having over 8+ years of

global experience seeking a chal-

lenging position that utilizes my

years of experience currently on

visit. Contact: 91902154

Looking for Sales Assistant job

(having Oman driving license).

Contact: 95872634

Indian male seeking job, 8 years

experience in Qatar in clerical/ad-

ministration/documents controlling

fields. Willing to work in customer

care or sale also. Qatar driving

license available. Job preferred in

Sohar and surrounding cities.

Contact 93285117

Market research / Hospitality In-

dian male Graduate with nearly 30

yrs experience in Market research &

hospitality industry. NOC available.

Contact: 99347089

Electrician, Plumber, Driver, looking

for job. Contact 95175192

Mason, still fitter, carpenter, helper, looking job. Contact 95175192

Indian male, Post Graduate in law,

15 + experience - seeks suitable

position in corporate companies.

Contact: 92844354

Male Indian BBM Graduate 8 years

experience in logistics and ware

housing in a reputed company valid

driving license NOC available

looking for suitable position.

Contact : 96311786

Email: ubinfs@gmail.com

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

Welder 16 years experience Arc

Tig Welding & fabrication seeks

placement, NOC available. Contact:

9134547 / 91604842

Looking for job as Mason, pipe fit-

ter, Electrician and Aluminum fixer

available. Contact: 93015630

Indian male Diploma, Civil engineer

4.3 year experience at building

construction and consulting

company with Oman driving licence

and N.O.C available

seeking suitable placement

Contact 95989500

email cv.shihabedappal@gmail.com

Indian male post graduate.2 years

experience in sales. currently in

oman on visit visa.seeks suitable

placement.Gsm 92388346

Civil site coordinator, Diploma,

Male 25, now present in Oman,

Seeking job in Oman. # 92875345,

jubincivileng@gmail.com

Syrian male 3yrs. exp in IT support,

Networking, Security systems, Serv-

er support, IT sales and marketing.

Valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement. Contact 91033395

Chartered Accountant with 7 years

of post qualification experience,

seeking challenging job opportunity.

Experience in auditing/accounts &

finance/taxation/IFRS, etc.

GSM +968 95763680

Indian male having 4 years of

experience in IT Support & network-

ing. Currently on visit visa. seeking

suitable opportunities.

Contact : 92013641.

Male Indian 27, working as finance

analyst having two years Oman

experience with Driving license

looking for suitable position.

Mob: 98097009,

rameesnm@gmail.com

FRESH - B.Com Graduate on Family

Visa, looking for any suitable Job.

Contact : 92567020 / 95322175,

Email: shwayanad@gmail.com

Energetic Qualified & Experienced

Finance Manager / Chief Account-

ant / Audit Manager, C.A , MBA-USA

,ACCA-UK , CPA..15years in GULF ,

Specialist of Profit Maximizations ,

Business Developments & Problems,

Expert of all ERPs, Audit Exp. with

Big 5 , NOC & Driving License Call

94403270 or 94504505

Admin Executive, Indian Female

having 10 years Gulf experience

in seeking suitable placement

currently working in Muscat. Email:

meenafajar@yahoo.com,

Mobile 0096893211402

Having 9+ years exp. in Adminis-

tration & HR in reputed companies.

Presently working in Muscat and

seeking for suitable placement.

Contact No.: 97693456. Email :

muralimahdav77@gmail.com

Omani , female, have diploma

in quantity survey, bachelor in

Constitution management, seeking

situated placement at Sohar. Tel

94454180, Mail nhlmct@yahoo.com

Indian Male 24 years, Looking for a

Suitable Job in Telecom / Network-

ing. 1 year sales experience. MSc.

Communications Engineering &

Valid Driving license. Ph: 91280121.

Email: jackrprasad@yahoo.com

29 years Indian female (MBA-

Finance) with 4+yrs experience

(Oman) in Accounts is seeking suit-

able placement in Accounts/Admin.

Contact:96141283.

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, Indian

male,29 years.8 years experience

.Presently working in Oman as a

Senior Accountant with oman Driving

license. NOC available. Seek suitable

opportunity. GSM: 97705854

Engineer with 3 yrs experience in

Indian in MEP, HVAC& mechanical

maintained field on visit visa looking

for suitable job. Contact 99191535

Email: fareed029@gmail.com

Indian Male, IT Support Engineer,

2 yrs in Oman & 5 yrs Indian experi-

ence. Contact 97311847

Electrical Eng. Degree (MEP) need suit-

able job of construction 12 yrs exp.

Email: mohd.ateeq.khan@gmail.com

MEP Quantity Surveyor-Estima-

tion-Project, 10 Years Experience (3

years in Oman). Having NOC & Oman

D/L. Looking for suitable job, contact

– 98291626

Indian male Auto cad Draughtsman

(civil) 8 years experience seeking

for part time job.

Contact : 00968 99070584,

Email: remluvp@gmail.com

Finance Manager / Chief Account-

ant / Audit Manager, C.A , MBA

,ACCA , CPA..15years in GULF , Expert

in Banking ,Financing, Profit Maxi-

mizations , Admin & Management,

Business Developments , ERPs Soft-

ware’s, Audit Exp. with Big 5 , NOC

& Driving License Call 94403270 or

94504505

ACCOUNTANT, Indian Male,

25 years old, 5 years Experience

(2 years in Oman & 3 years in India)

Presently working in Oman. Going

exit on this week with NOC. Seeking

suitable opportunities.

GSM : +968 97018783

B.E Biomedical Engineer, having 5

years of experience in Diagnostics

division seeking suitable position.

94151658

Innovative Indian Male 29, B.E &

M.Tech Web designer / developer

with over 5.5 years of work experi-

ence in HTML 5, CSS 3, SEO, Digital

marketing (DFP & DCM), Magento,

CMS, Photoshop and Dreamweaver.

Can join ASAP.

Contact 00968 9630 3055 /

email: aditya.khandkar@gmail.com

Video Editor 29 years Indian male

with 8 years experience on visit

visa looking for a suitable placement

Contact:91275969

leomoorkoth@gmail.com

10 YEAR Experienced PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHER.

Currently working at Kerala, India.

Seeks placement.

Contact: 95872030

email: - sajith3969@gmail.com

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D6 M O N D AY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Indian male auto cad draughtsman

(civil) 8 years experience seeking for

part time job Mobile 99070584,

E mail: remluvp@gmail.com

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, Indian

male,29 years.8 years experience

.Presently working in Oman as a Sen-

ior Accountant with oman Driving

license. NOC available, seek suitable

opportunity. GSM: 97705854

Sudanese male (B.Sc Computer Sci-

ence) (Diploma Computer Engineer-

ing) 6 yrs. experience DBA Oracle PL-

SQL , MS SQL-server, MS visual studio

VBA, network. Contact :91415886

Syrian male 3yrs. exp in IT support,

Networking, Security systems, Serv-

er support, IT sales and marketing.

Valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement. Contact 91033395

Indian Male, 34 years old, DEE –

Electrical Supervisor 10 years Oman

experience. Ready for NOC , VISA

transfer and valid Oman driving

licence light, ready to join immedi-

ately, Mob +91 9740679094,

kulasekar1980@gmail.com

24 years, Indian Chartered Account-

ant male with 3 yrs of experience

is seeking suitable placement in

Muscat, currently on visit visa &

ready to join immediately. Kindly

contact him on 98201476 or email at

lokeshkaluri@gmail.com

Indian Male, 38 years old, DME –

Mechanical Maintenance Technician

11 years Oman experience. Ready for

NOC , VISA transfer, ready to join im-

mediately, Mob +968 95612870,

seeniselvan@gmail.com

BSc Graduate, INDIAN male ,

seeking suitable jobs.

GSM: +91-8589820233.

MAIL ID: prajinap45@gmail.com

Young Indian Chartered Account-

ant, female, Having 6 years experi-

ence in Oman and India. Accounts

and Finance Manager, Auditor.

Urgently seeking suitable positions.

Contact 92530131,

jobcareer44@gmail.com

Tunisian women looking for a job,

khnows english,frensh, italian and

arabic. Contact: 91171838

Indian male 25 years B.tech comput-

ers (Having 3 years of experience in

customer service/Admin/IT Support)

looking for suitable position. Visa

Transfer/NOC Available immediate

to join. Contact: 98402389,

Mail: naresh6672@gmail.com

Manager, Young Indian Male, MBA,

BBA. Having excellent manage-

rial experience (around 5 years) in

leading Multi-National-Company.

Looking for suitable positions.

Contact: 92700670,

fardhaan@gmail.com

Available for part time accounting

job, contact 99196621

Indian Female MA. B.Ed. with One

year three months Teaching

experience. Subject: EnglishSeeking

for a Better placement.

Now working in Oman.

Contact 93961142, 92184408,

Email:-anoopkesavan78@gmail.com

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

MISCELLANEOUS

PART TIME ACCOUNTANT, Indian

male, M. Com, 35 years, 12 Years

exp. in Accounts, 8 years in Oman.

Knowledge upto finalization. Having

valid D/L, seeks suitable Placement.

GSM: 96249124

Egyptian Civil Engineer, total expe-

rience 7 years - 2 years experience

in Oman. I am looking for Project

Engineer, I have good experience in

site & office works.

Contact number:91148708

Indian Male 24 years, Looking for a

Suitable Job in Telecom / Network-

ing. 1 year sales experience. MSc.

Communications Engineering &

Valid Driving license. Ph: 91280121.

Email: jackrprasad@yahoo.com.

Filipino Male looking for a job &

have experience in sales, waiter,

barista, technical support / customer

service with good communication

skills. # 91789465

ACCOUNTING – Indian male seeking

accounting job with 2 years

experience in accounting.

Contact: 94263445, E mail –

contactantonyxavieranand@gmail.

com

Sudanese male: 27 yrs, 2 years ex-

perience in accounting, other experi-

ence (purchasing – HR - Coordinat-

ing and Office Management), looking

for a job Omani Driving License,

NOC. Contact: 94174403

24 year Indian Chartered Account-

ant male with 3yrs of experience is

seeking suitable placement in Mus-

cat, currently on visit visa & ready

to join immediately. Contact him on

98201476 or email at

lokeshkaluri@gmail.com

Sudanese male (B.Sc, computer sci-

ence) (diploma computer engineer-

ing), 6 yrs. experience DBA oracle

PL-SQL, MS SQL - Server, MS visual

studio vba, network.

Contact 91415886

Syrian male 3yrs. exp in IT support,

Networking, Security systems, Serv-

er support, IT sales and marketing.

Valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement. Contact 91055584

Over 15 years experience in Gulf.

Interior Architect, Lebanese Nation-

ality, on visit visa seeking a suitable

Placement. 96268005.

PRODUCTION OPERATOR – Indian

male seeking production operator or

related jobs with 4 years of experi-

ence in oil & gas field.

Contact 94263445.

Email: tonyxavier4u@gmail.com

Indian Keralite Male 35 looking for

Scaffolding supervisor post having 5

years of Supervisor and HSE experi-

ence in GCC Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Fluent in English Arabic and Hindi .

Contact 96155921, or mail

fysal.nellaya@gmail.com

Indian Male 28 yrs, having 7 years

Gulf + Indian experience in HR and

Admin field, looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact: 97914340,

Email: rajkv3086@gmail.com

Indian Male 28 years MSM, B. Com

having 6years experience in Gulf and

India as a HR and Admin looking for

suitable placement.#97914340.

Email: rajkv30@gmail.com

B.Sc. Mechanical Engineer Suda-

nese 3 yrs of exp. In industrial field

available in muscat on vist visa

seeking suitable job .

Contact: 95868922, Email:

almouthanaosman@yahoo.com

IT system and Printer engineer ME,

5Years bank IT Management exp in

India looking for full time job visit

visa contact 94462150

Indian male with 8 yrs experience in

FMCG in Oman as Sales Supervisor

looking for suitable placement.

NOC available. Gsm: 96495206

24 year Indian Chartered Account-

ant male with 3yrs of experience is

seeking suitable placement in Mus-

cat, currently on visit visa & ready

to join immediately. Contact him on

98201476 or email at

lokeshkaluri@gmail.com

MCA IT Professional Indian Female

seek placement in Teaching/ Non

Teaching field. Presently on visit

visa. 9588 7051,

ashwininakod@gmail.com

ACCA Affiliate, Indian, 2.5Years

experience in Audit/ Finance in Big

6 Audit Firm and Oil Accounting in

PDO, For Permanent Placement for

Finance or Accounts or Audit. Re-

lease NOC Available on hand.

Contact #95140445,

a.saran891@gmail.com

Finance ACCA Affiliate, Worked as

an Auditor with 2.5 Years Experience

in reputed firm, Handled independ-

ent audit/finance assignments, Look-

ing for permanent placement, NOC

available. Contact 95140445.

a.saran891@gmail.com

Piping Design Engineer, Indian

male 27, looking for suitable place-

ment in Piping Design & Engineer-

ing. Having 7 years of experience in

AutoCAD. Also familiar with PDMS

(11.6 Version),CAESAR ll. Contact :

97351786 / 96143708, E-mail :

mohammednazeer07@gmail.com

Sudanese male (B.Sc Computer sci-

ence) (diploma computer engineer-

ing) 6 yrs. experience DBA Oracle pl-

sql, MS sql-server ,ms visual studio

vba, network. Contact :91415886

Indian Male, Graduate, 11 years

Sales experience in Lighting /

Industrial products, ready to join im-

mediately. GSM: 9710 5356

Indian heavy duty driver with 8

years experience in oman available

with NOC. GSM : 93601943

GSM : 94496457

Indian male, 28 yrs MBA (HR/M) 2

years experience in Indian Oman in

HR & admin seeks suitable place-

ments. NOC available.

Contact 97484159

Email: rameshkapa86@gmail.com

M.Sc 3+ years exp from France &

India in IT Support Engineer / Hard-

ware & Networking / Server support

/ scientific system support looking

for suitable positions. Indian, male

on visit visa, contact 98898781/

anoopys@gmail.com

Looking for managerial post (full

time ), More than Ten years of expe-

rience in Team Development ,Train-

ing, planning, Administration, Sales

& Marketing, Advertisement and

Credit Control and Logistics. Contact

91076608 / 99322748. Release &

noc available

Indian male, 34years having 10

years of experience in Sales, Sales

Coordination and Administration.

Experienced in SAP and

MS Office. NOC available.

Contact # 94686594

Indian Male MBA Marketing/HRM

3 year experience with Omani D/L,

seeking suitable jobs.

Contact: 97424188

email: dharwesh@gmail.com

Indian, Male, 23 years, BE Electri-

cal, having 2 years experience in

Electrical Works-H.T. cabling etc, &

Construction, looking for a suitable

placement. Contact +968 96927880

(Oman), +91 9765376109 (India),

Email: rahulrevi6@gmail.com

Indian Female M.Com with Com-

puter Skills and Four Month Experi-

ence as Accountant ,Currently On

Family Visa Looking for a Suitable

Placement, Available Immediately.

Contact : 95846642,

Email : dhanyashree91@yahoo.com

ACCA Affiliate, Experience in audit/

finance of 2.5 years in Big 6 Firm

and Oil industry, looking for suitable

permanent placement, Release NOC

available. Contact: #95140445

a.saran891@gmail.com

B.Tech Computer Engineer Wanted

job to work on(IT/Banking/Admin-

istrator/Technical/Office works)

having NOC with the limited time

from (04/06/2015 to 13/06/2015).

Mobile:98402389

email:naresh6672@gmail.com

British Beauty Therapist looking

for suitable position. #:97175240

Highly Qualified & Experienced

Finance Manager Pakistani with

USA , UK & Canadian Degrees , CPA

,ACCA-UK . MBA-USA ,IFA- Financial

Consultants Canada , Corporate An-

alyst USA Professional of Banking ,

Audits ,ERPs & Profit Maximizations

( NOC available ) call 94 504505 –

94403270

27 year Indian female who has 4

years of experience with logistics

function in distribution of spares

for both heavy machinery & wind

turbine parts. Kindly contact me on

+91 9790769104

E-mail: joemohana@yahoo.co.in

Indian male Executive Secretary

having vast experience in admin,

logistics & procurement well versed

with computer .seek suitable place-

ment. Contact : 99514286

Indian male MBA (U.K), 10 Years

of experience in Admin, Sales, HR,

stores and logistics seeks suitable

placement. Contact 99271903.

Indian Female MCA, 4 plus Years

of experience in Web designing, Ad-

min, P.A, seeks suitable placement.

Contact 99486374

8 Years successful experience,

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, Indian

male,29 years. Presently working in

Oman as a Senior Accountant

with oman Driving license seeks suit-

able opportunity. GSM: 97705854

7 and half years experience working

accounts / inventory manager looking

suitable job. Contact: 96991782

Email: srinivasu.sp@gmail.com

Indian female , MCA BCA, certifica-

tion PL SQL , 6months training PHP,

date warehouse looking for suitable

placement. #95694330 Email:

mondkashyapodl@gmail.com

B.Com with more than 5 yrs exp.

looking for an accounts part tome

job work. know with tally.

Email-shilpa_62@yahoo.com

Part- time accountant, well experi-

ence senior accountant , doing all

type of accounting works, finaliza-

tion, budgeting available.

Contact : 98803439

Indian male, looking for a part time

accounting job. Having additional

knowledge & experience in

HR admin & purchase.

Contact 99196621

Indian Female, 24yrs, M.COM (Ac-

counts) having 3yrs experience

in Accounts, HR, Administration,

Customer Service. Good Computer

Proficiency. Seeking Suitable Posi-

tion. Visa Transfer/NOC Available.

Contact: 99654913

HSE Advisor, NEBOSH IGC, Indian

male, 4 years experience in con-

struction and oil fields, seeking suit-

able jobs. Gsm: 97458900,

Mail: miroshbabu@gmail.com

Highly Experienced Finance Man-

ager, CPA ,ACCA-UK . MBA-USA , Pro-

fessional of Banking, Audits , ERPs

Sap , Management as Team Leader

and Problem Solver call 94 504505

/ 94403270

Indian male MBA Finance presently

OMAN IN visit visa, 26 years, look-

ing for an accountant job.

Contact 95240641, email Id

mohammadabdulazharuddin@

gmail.com

Admin Executive, 31, Indian Male,

having 9+ years exp. in reputed

companies. Seeking suitable place-

ment in any gulf region. Contact

+968 99276601 & 97693456. email :

muralimahdav77@gmail.com

MEP Quantity Surveyor-Estimation-

Project, 10 Years Experience

(3 years in Oman). Having NOC &

Oman D/L, looking for suitable job,

Contact - 98291626

Indian house maid looking full time

job. Contact : 98254909

B.E. Civil Engineer age 27, total 3

years of experience in Mumbai look-

ing for placement asap in oman now

on visit visa of 1 month ph 9571 3441

Email. Khatrialeem@gmail.com

Indian Male, 29 years, CCNP, MCITP

having Bachelor degree and 6 years

of experience in Networking looking

for job. 96760618 /

varghese.manthara@gmail.com

Sudanese male, 31 year old, have 3

year Diploma in electrical engineer,

5 years experience in different activ-

ities . Mobile No ; +96894549609

ACCA affiliate, with 2.5 years

experience in Big6 audit firm and

Oil industry, looking for permanent

placement in Accounts/Audit.

Release available Contact :95140445

a.saran891@gmail.com

Indian Female, Commerce Gradu-

ate, Total 9 yrs of experience in

India. worked as Accounts Assistant

and Business executive seeking for

suitable placement.

Tel : 96173533/24222457

Email : topranidivya@gmail.com

Indian Male, 29 years, CCNP, MCITP

having Bachelor degree and 6 years

of experience in Networking looking

for job. 96760618 /

varghese.manthara@gmail.com

Female Executive Assistant/Execu-

tive Secretary with 27+ experience,

worked with top management/Board

in financial services with shorthand

skills & Omani driving license,

seeks suitable placement.

call 95941515

B.E. Civil Engineer from India with

3 years of experience looking for

suitable vacancy in oman now on

visit visa. Contact 9571 3441,

Email . Khatrialeem@gmail.com

Indian male 21 IT Eng. networking &

computer hardware diploma, 1 year

experience, currently on visit visa

looking for a suitable job.

Contact 96036273

email: faizanfarooqui23@gmail.com

Indian, 32 years, completed M.A.

English, M.Sc. Psychology and B.Ed

in English. Searching for suitable job

in the field of teaching. To

Contact: 00968 99869535

Email: sahadkeyi33@gmail.com

Indian Male 24 years, Looking for a

Suitable Job in Telecom / Network-

ing. 1 year sales experience. MSc.

Communications Engineering &

Valid Driving license. Ph: 91280121.

Email: jackrprasad@yahoo.com

26 years Indian male with MBA &

PGDFM, Total 3.8 years experience

in Administration, seeking suit-

able placement in any gulf region.

Holding Oman valid driving license.

Contact :94501423

DAILY GUIDEM O N D AY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5 D7

SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise

with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain

Marine Tours Contact- 98029602,

92808636

RENT A CAR

TOURS

DRIVING

Driver for Automatic Transmis-

sion. Contact: 99040813

Learn driving with professional

only automatic. Contact 94022250

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation. Contact: 91310107

House shifting, transporting.

Contact : 94229277

Pick & drop anytime in Al Khuwair.

Contact 99764307

Transportation. Contact: 96538078

Transportation. Contact:98522914

Transportation. Contact 99508282

Transportation. Contact: 98244078

Pick & Drop any time.# 97014786

Silver Car, car for rent. Contact:

96166155 / 98402662

FOR HIREVolvo 12 Ton Truck for monthly

rent. Contact: 98713900

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D8 M O N D AY, J U LY 2 7, 2 0 1 5

ACCOUNTANT: Indian male 25 hav-

ing 4years experience in accounting

& having well knowledge in tally.

Contact:968094535881,

0091 9037622048

Email: vishnuraj889@gmail.com

ACCA Affiliate, 2.5years experience

in Audit/Finance in Global Big6

Firms and Oil company in Oman,

Looking for suitable permanent

placement. Release NOC Available.

Contact: #95140445,

a.saran891@gmail.com

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of

your marble. Contact 24793614/

99314807

House shifting. Contact 99708138

House shifting packing.

99657644 / 98518013

Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile

polishing, pest control & anti-ter-

mite treatment, general cleaning

painting, Plumbing, Electrical,

shifting. Contact Mundhir

Al-Rizaiqi trading. L.L.C.

# 24810137, 99450130

Water proofing ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

Pest control Treatments, termites,

cockroaches, bedbugs Ocean Center

LLC. Contact: 99344723

WEBSITE

WEB, ERP and Business Intelli-

gence (BI) creation and man-

agement at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

CLASSES

COMPUTER

Admission Open: CAMBRIDGE /

BILINGUAL CURRICULUM

admission started in Al Burj Private

School, Azaiba for KG and Grade I to

IV. Please register soonest.

Contact: 93211417 / 92887809.

Split & window A.C servic-

ing & maintenance. Contact

93769089/95323517

Air condition maintenance split

and window services AC specialist

ducted and package type unites.

Contact: 98667326

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet

& sofa shampooing, Contact

99314807/24792998

Split & widow unit A.C servicing &

repairing. Contact: 99557080

Split & window unit A.C servicing &

maintenance. Contact: 96236476

Window & split unit A.C servicing &

maintenance. Contact : 93769089 /

95323517

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance.Contact ABU QABAS-

99320217 /24788722

Carpet, Sofa Shampooing. Ocean

Center LLC. Contact: 99884591

AC servicing maintenance fixing.

Contact: 99540621

Civil maintenance - plumbing, elec-

trical, painting, and tiling, interior

decorations, shop furnishing and all

other maintenance works.

Contact: 97897831 / 92112094

(Indian, Keralite)

A/C Maintenance & servicing, fridge,

washing machine & dish washer re-

pairing, painting & cleaning services,

electrical & plumbing.

Contact: 99447257 / 97014234 /

24504281

SITUATION WANT-MANPOWER

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text,

should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication.

* Subject to space availability

BE civil Engineer with a vast

experience of 18 years in Oman

seeks immediate placement as

General Manger /Partner. contact @

joboman2015@gmail.com.

Indian male 23 yrs B. Tech Civil

having 2 years exp, currently on

visit visa looking for suitable job.

Contact: 98031034,

Email: musheer786.mm@gmail.com

Indian male Autocad Draughtsman

(Civil) 8 years experience seeking

for part time job. Contact : 00968

99070584.

Email: remluvp@gmail.com

Indian male, 14 yrs experience in

maintenance & Supervisor in hotel

field (Electrical, Ac Mechanical &

Plumber). N O C available. Contact :

95253640, E mail =

hareeshma24@yahoo.com

BE Electrical Engineer, with 2 yrs

exp. well knowledge in construction

field on visit visa.

Contact -98269366

Indian female, Ph. D in Mech. Engg,

B.Sc, B.Ed, M.Sc & M.Phil in Physics

having 6 yrs Malaysia University/

College teaching exp +1 yr experi-

ence for research fellow seeking

good position in Oman. Contact

97793859 / 93621114,

sreejayarejil@gmail.com

SITUATION WANTEDSIT. WANTED

Electrical Engineer, 29, Indian

Male, having 7+ years exp. in re-

puted companies. Seeking suitable

placement in any Oman.

Contact - 97693456.

Mail ID : venkatbadri23@gmail.com

BE. Biomedical Engineer, 5 years

experience in the same field

(Hospital/company)looking for suit-

able placement.

Contact:92084807

Email:bonnygeorge1005@gmail.com

ELECTRICAL ENGINEER – Indian

male seeking Electrical Engineer job

with 2 years’ experience.

Contact: 94263445, E mail –

janardhanan53@gmail.com

32 years, Filipina with experience in

Teleperformance, Manila call centre,

now working as Waitress in Qatar

seeking suitable post.

Contact 99022484

Sudanese/ 26 years/ master of

clinical pharmacy(1st class)/ 1 year

experience/live in India/excellent

communication in English(IELTS

Certificate) and arabic/pharmacist

license/hassan_kassala@hotmail.

com 00919600413966-96387227

24 Years, indian male 2.5 Years ex-

perience in admin & accounts, dubai.

Currently on visit visa. Seeking suit-

able placement in admin & accounts.

M: 93016252 EMAIL:

shahabaskp@gmail.com

Indian male, MBA with 20 years of

experience in back office operation,

risk and operational management, fi-

nancial management for Finance and

Trading companies. Presently avail-

able on visit visa. Contact 91276221

CCNA MCITP network support /

network technician with 2 years expe-

rience indian male having bachelors

degree on visit visa. #93080871

sean.f.peters@outlook.com

Omani male , BBA ,with 6 year

experience in HR &Admin looking

for opportunity in HR & Admin in

Muscat. Joint date after one month

notice period . Mobile 92223279

Having 9+ years exp. in Admin,

Purchase, Stores & Warehouse in re-

puted companies. Presently working

in Muscat and seeking for suitable

placement. Contact +968 97693456.

email : muralimahdav77@gmail.com

SITUATION WANT-ED

SIT. WANTED