Founded 1975 . Volume 41 No. | Pages . Baisas 200 . Subscription OMR63 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company | Chairman/Editor-in-Chief: Mohamed Issa Al Zadjali | Printed & Published by Muscat Media Group

March 13, 2016 4 Jumada Al Thani 1437 AH

SUNDAY

17 40

At The Opening of The Annual Session of the Council of Oman, 2009

FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTYTHE SULTAN

A bright future of progress and growth, happiness and prosperity can only be built through a high level of determination, sustained commitment and patience, diligence and perseverance. We are confident that the sons and daughters of Oman enjoy more than their fair share of those noble qualities.

‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’

A4

Meet the blind cat celebrity in Oman

REGIONNo discussion on presidency at talks

2The Syrian government on Saturday ruled out discussion of presidential

elections or the position of the presidency at peace talks due to begin on Monday, saying the opposition was deluded if thought it could take power in Geneva. >A7

BUSINESSFunding for Liwa Plastics completed

3State-owned Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries

Company (Orpic) said that the company has closed its Liwa Plastics Industries Complex’s $3.8 billion project financing facility for its $6.5 billion project. >B1

OMANCall made for a lasting solution to flash floods

1Urgent action should be taken to find a lasting solution to the problem of

flash floods, which emerges every time it rains in Muscat, a member of the Municipal Council of the Governorate of Muscat said, echoing the concerns of residents in affected areas.>A2

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

Release fee demand on workers ‘illegal’

REJIMON K FAHAD AL GHADANI reji@timesofoman.com fahadnews@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: A black market in ‘release fees’ demanded by some employers to transfer domestic workers to new employers inside Oman is illegal, an official from the Ministry of Manpower.

The so called ‘release’ money is requested either to provide a No Objection Certificate or when employers are asked to sign the transfer of sponsorship, the final step after formalities such as police clearances have been completed.

“It’s not an acceptable prac-tice. It is illegal. Employers can transfer a domestic worker but money should not be involved in the process,” the official said.

‘It’s illegal’A legal expert in Oman also con-firmed it was unlawful and said those affected could speak out, “It’s illegal. If the domestic worker feels to challenge it, then she can approach the labour dispute de-partment and the court,” the legal expert added.

The ministry official agreed that domestic workers could chal-

lenge their employers if they felt they were being unfairly treated.

“If there is a dispute, even though the domestic worker doesn’t fall under labour law, he or she can approach for assistance from the government side to settle the issue,” the official added.

To bring in a domestic worker through a recruitment agent it will cost around OMR1,250 for a Filipino worker and OMR800 for Bangladeshi worker. To bring a domestic worker from India, a bank deposit of OMR1,100 has to be made by the employer.

One recruitment agency de-

scribed the charging of ‘release’ money as a common practice.

Recruitment agency“If an employer has to hire a Fili-pino domestic worker locally, then he has to pay at least OMR1,250 if he has brought the domestic worker through a recruitment agency. It’s a common practice in Oman,” a Muscat-based recruit-ment agency official said.

“As he has shelled out that amount to bring in a domestic worker, he will demand that mon-ey, even though it’s illegal,” the re-cruitment agent added. >A6

Employers can

transfer a domestic

worker but money

should not be

involved in the

process. It’s not an

acceptable practice.

It is illegal, said

an official from

the Ministry of

Manpower

New eight digit mobile numbers to begin with ‘seven’ RAHUL DASrahuldas@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: If you get a call from a mobile number starting with ‘7’, don’t be surprised.

The Telecommunications Reg-ulatory Authority (TRA) of Oman has allowed service providers to allot 8-digit numbers starting with ‘7’.

Reason: A swelling subscriber pool and an increasing number of service providers.

Pre-empting a crunch, the TRA has allowed telecom operators to allot numbers beginning with ‘7’.

Second major changeConfirming this, Hamdan Moosa Al Harasi, acting vice-president (Corporate Strategy) at Omantel, said that this would be the sec-ond major change in the num-bering plan after the full over-haul that occurred in 2004/2005 when mobile numbers where changed from 7 digits to 8 digits and fixed numbers from 6 digits to 8 digits.

Thanking TRA for this initia-tive which will ensure operators ability to meet the rapid growth in mobile subscribers, Al Harasi

said that this change will not have an impact on the existing num-bers, nor the services offered to customers. “We will communi-cate the introduction of the new range soon and we are already working closely with TRA to ensure smooth transition to the new range,” he said.

Chief Commercial Officer at Ooredoo, Johan Buse, said that the management of new num-bers is controlled by the TRA under their national numbering plan initiative. “Since the start of that plan, all mobile numbers issued began with ‘9’. However, the majority of these numbers have now been used up and so the TRA has implemented a new numbering series beginning with ‘7’. “These new numbers will be allocated to operators by the TRA and of course, we will be communicating to the public on the availability of these num-bers in due course. We will also plan some exciting offers around this new allocation, which we will communicate via our me-dia channels in the coming few weeks” added Johan Buse.

TRA officials were, however, were not available for comments.

T E L E C O M N U M B E R I N G P L A N

Times News Service

MUSCAT: It’s time to see sharp young minds back in action. The Times of Oman Inter School Quiz Contest (TOOISQC), which has now become an iconic event for children across schools in Oman, is slated to take place on April 21, 2016, at the City Amphitheatre, Qurum, from 7pm onwards. This is the time of the year all the students start reading much more, and schools in Oman start looking forward to grab the limelight, vying for the coveted Essa Bin Mohammed Al Zadjali Best School Rolling Trophy.

The school quiz will be held in three stages, including qualifying rounds, mega pre-lims and the grand finale.

The qualifying rounds for schools will be held at six dif-ferent centres, according to the geographical proximity of the schools. >A6

E V E N T

Oman gardener targets Guinness record book entryMOBIN MATHEW BLESSONmobinmathew@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: For Mohammed Shakeel gardening is not a hob-by, but a passion, which makes him happy, healthy and active.

Today, the Times of Oman (TOO) is featuring Shakeel, who has transformed his home into a vegetable garden, in its #Oman-Pride campaign.

“I have loved nature and plants since childhood,” Sha-keel, who has worked at the Di-wan of Royal court for 37 years told TOO.

Matchless characteristicsHe recently grew a type of pumpkin called the bottle gourd with some matchless character-istics in his garden.

“When I cut it, it weighed 9.5 kilograms and it was lengthy too,” he said.

Right now, Shakeel is plan-ning to approach the Guinness World Record officials to enter into the record book with this exceptional bottle gourd.

“Gardening helps me to spend my leisure time nowadays, it makes me happy and also gives us healthy organic vegetables,” Shakeel said.

Speaking about how he got into gardening, Shakeel said

“During my childhood I used to sow seeds in small containers and enjoyed seeing them grow with curiosity.”

Indoor plants“When I grew up I started planting plenty of indoor plants and arranged them all over my house and later started roof gardening. I have cultivated various kinds of vegetables in wooden boxes on my roof gar-den,” Shakeel added.

According to Shakeel, he had to sweat it out to make this land amenable for cultivation.

“When I came here (Wadi Ka-bir), this was an area with full of stone; I have to put lot of effort to convert this land into an agri-cultural area,” he said.

“I always find time to take care of my garden during my busy schedule and whatever I have sown has been accepted by the soil and it has paid me back for my hard work,” he said. >A6

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

VITAL NUMBERSMinistry of Manpower

80077000

Indian embassy 968 24695981 968 24684536 968 92769735

Philippine embassy 968 9988-5073

Philippine Overseas Labour Office (POLO)

968 9355-7931

Bangladesh embassy 968 24 698660

Nepal embassy 968 24 696177

Times quiz contest to be held on April 21

MORNING MINUTE

REJIMON K FAHAD AL GHADANI

MUSCAT: Social network-ing sites should not be used to hire domestic workers, an official from the Ministry of Manpower said.

“It’s illegal to put adver-tisements to hire and fire a domestic worker in Oman on social media networking sites,” the official added.

Recently, social media platforms, especially Face-book pages and groups, have

now become marketplaces to subvert the role of recruit-ment agencies for hiring a domestic worker.

Cross-border recruitmentThese groups are country specific, but also provide cross-border recruitment, bypassing certain morato-riums in place throughout the GCC. These groups and pages demonstrate that bans do little to protect workers, and in fact make them more vulnerable. >A6

Unlawful to hire domestic workers on social media sites

A2 S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

OMAN

Despite the eco-nomic slowdown Oman is currently experiencing, the country still has

the ability to create thousands of jobs per year but employers are faced with the problem of finding the right match for the available vacancies.

The job mismatch prevents employers from finding the right candidates they are look-ing for. Successful employment entirely depends when skills meet the job requirements. Difficulties in finding the right job match frustrates employers as well as job seekers.

Many companies would tell you that they advertise the same jobs a number of times because they do not find the right candidates to fit in. This is across the board in every sector, whether technical jobs are involved or administra-tive. The mismatch problem also spans job categories rang-ing from the relatively low skilled to highly specialised ones in both the private and public sectors.

AttitudeThe second problem is the attitude of applicants. This is not confined to a particular age group. However, the young applicants are more prone

than older job seekers. Young Omanis in their twenties, es-pecially first time job seekers, have misplaced expectations. In other words, they are very selective when it comes to which jobs they want.

Their expectations often do not match job availability. They often apply for jobs are not suited to their skills. They shun positions that match their background because the jobs on the offer are “be-neath” them.

Some companies even complain that young Omanis simply have unrealistic expec-tations about the jobs on offer to the point of arrogance.

These are the jobs that stay vacant for quite a long time not because the right skills are not available but people with the right skills to fill them do not want the jobs. Needless to say that attitude affects the recruitment process.

According to the Ministry of Manpower records, about 12,000 new positions are reg-istered every year but only 52 percent are filled.

For example, graduates are reluctant to make compro-mises. They are not willing to make adjustments to slightly deviate from what they studied in universities.

Shift work is another fac-tor graduates try to avoid. Furthermore, they will not accept jobs that involve travelling or accept positions away from Muscat.

Employers also find trouble matching the financial expec-tations of job seekers, whether experienced or new applicants. This is particularly true in the private sector.

Omanis still prefer to work for the government because the starting salaries are higher than what offered in the com-panies. For example, while the private employers offer OMR700 for graduates the government offers OMR900, which is about a third higher.

Skills issueWhen they could land the right skills for the positions, employ-ers find it difficult to keep its talents onboard for long. A few years experience in the work place is enough to make young Omanis restless. They move on to leave the gap behind.

Between 2011 and 2015, the civil service and government’s organisations have created more jobs than the private sec-tor. It looks good on paper but the realities are different. Most of these jobs were created not to match the skills of appli-cants but for the sake of getting Omanis out of the streets.

This is where the private companies now find hard to follow. It has also sent a wrong message to Omanis that ‘you don’t have to fit the require-ment to get the job you are looking for.’

As a result, graduates still wait to join the government workforce instead of taking whatever is available in the private sector.

For the working Omanis, they apply for a job in the pub-lic sector the moment one is advertised. The graduates who wait create a backlog of job seekers even when positions are available.

The experienced staff leav-ing their jobs for the govern-ment posts compounds the problem of talent recruitment in companies. It has become a silent vicious circle. It is all now blamed to lower oil prices but the realities are far from this.

In conclusion, the Ministry of Manpower can testify that there are jobs available but Omanis job seekers must lower their expectations and change their attitudes.

The job matching the private sector is looking for is not about what certificate one holds or experience but the willingness to make a little sacrifice and an effort to fit into the workplace.

The vacancy-skills mismatchCOMMENTARY

SALEH AL SHAIBANY

SUNDAYBEAT

H AV E YOU R SAY AT T W I T T E R.CO M /T I M ES O F O M A N O R S CA N T H E CO D E TO I N STA N T LY P O ST YOU R T H O U G H TS .

Call for lasting solution to flash floods in Muscat

ERIK PRINSerik@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Urgent action should be taken to find a lasting solution to the problem of flash floods, which emerges every time it rains in Mus-cat, a member of the Municipal Council of the Governorate of Mus-cat said, echoing the concerns of residents in affected areas.

Ali Al Maashari, member of the Municipal Council representing Al Amerat, said there is a strategy in place to avoid flooding in Mus-cat, but not enough funds are avail-able to implement it.

“The funds directed at the Mu-nicipality are not sufficient to implement all of the plans to con-struct drainage facilities for wadis (valleys). Since Muscat has no overlapping system of drainage, we call on the government to pro-vide enough funds,” he said.

Al Maashari explained that the strategy included the building of dams in sensitive areas, three of which have already been built; one in Al Amerat, one in Quriyat and

one in Al Khoudh. However, about 20 more dams are planned.

“The cost of this strategy is very high and not enough funds are available to the municipality, al-though the construction of dams is the responsibility of the Ministry of Water Resources,” he pointed out.

Another part of the strategy is constructing drainage channels in severely affected areas, such as Al Ghubra North.

“They have started working there, but it will take several years to complete and for residents to see the results,” he said.

Al Maashari called for urgent action. “The Municipal Council urges the government and Muscat Municipality to speed up the im-plementation of the plan to con-struct drainage channels in the areas that are always affected by the flooding of wadis, as well as to construct a sewage system. There will be great risk in the future if the water is not directed,” he said.

Residents of Al Ghubra North have also complained on social media about the delay in finding a solution to this problem.

“The thing is that there is no strategy to solve the problem, such as a special committee to protect those affected and finding solu-tions,” a Twitter user said.

Another user said Oman should learn from other countries where a lot of rain is common. “Why don’t we learn from other coun-tries? There are countries that receive rain, such as this through-out the year,” he added. “We really want urgent action to be taken to solve the problem of flooding in Al Ghubra,” someone else said.

Meanwhile, the Muscat Mu-nicipality is recounting its efforts to confront the problem of flood-ing, without elaborating on any wider plan.

An official from the Muscat Mu-nicipality told the Times of Oman that the Municipality had received around 150 reports of disturbance caused by the flooding during the past few days, including overflow-ing of water channels, collapse of trees, electricity cuts, and holes and cracks in the ground.

“The Municipality immediately took action in these cases,” he said.

According to a press release is-sued by the Muscat Municipal-ity, it has intensified efforts to deal with the flooding of streets and overflowing drainage channels. It has also constructed water drain-age channels along the main roads and in central areas to absorb large quantities of water.

Technical teams have started cleaning drainage channels and removing dirt from the streets.

The press release reported that Mohsin bin Mohammed Al Sheikh, chairman of Muscat Municipality, has instructed all directorates and departments of the municipality to be “fully prepared to confront the consequences of the rain, avoiding any harm to inhabitants and private and public property.”

He had also visited a number of affected wilayats within Muscat on Thursday, including Al Ghubra and Al Amerat.

“That’s only for the image and not to find solutions. Every year, we have to face these problems and we don’t see any solutions,” a resi-dent complained.

The Muscat Municipality has urged every citizen to be extra careful during unstable weather conditions.

“People should refrain from venturing out into the water, driv-ing in flash floods and speeding. They should also be extra careful in mountainous areas and near lamp posts,” the official said.

There is a strategy

in place to avoid

flooding in Muscat,

but not enough funds

to implement it, said

a Municipal Council

member Ali Al

Maashari

The funds directed at the Municipality are not

sufficient to implement all of the plans to construct

drainage facilities for wadis (valleys)

Ali Al Maashari, Municipal Council member

A3

OMANS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

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More than 635,000 new vehicles registered in five yearsMUSCAT: Economic growth in the Sultanate in the past five years has led to the recovery of the purchase and sale of the automobile sector.

Statistics prepared by Oman News Agency (ONA) indicated that the total number of new vehicles that have been reg-istered for the first time dur-ing the past five years stood at more than 635,000.

Private cars accounted for 74.1 per cent of the total.

The Sultanate witnessed dur-ing the past five years good eco-nomic growth.

The new jobs that have been created along with the salary increases led to improved liv-ing standards, which led to an increase in demand for the acquisition of new cars. The economic growth has led to an increase in the number of new commercial vehicles and the re-covery of the car-renting, taxis and driving school sectors.

The new commercial vehi-cles that have been registered in the last five years accounted for 17.9 per cent of the total number of new vehicles, with 114,000 vehicles, rental cars occupied the third place with 23,000 cars, with 3.6 per cent and government vehicles came in fourth place with 13,000 ve-hicles, representing two per cent of the total number of vehi-cles, followed by taxis that have been registered for the first time during the past five years with seven thousand cars, and driv-ing school cars 964 cars.

2014 saw the highest num-ber of registered new vehicles, with more than 143,000 vehi-cles. The last year saw the low-est number at 109,000 vehicles, despite marketing efforts and presentations made by the car agencies and showrooms and the efforts by banks and finance companies.

The rise in the number of pri-vate cars that have been regis-tered for the first time in 2014, stood at 111,000 coincided with the unification of grades and salaries for the civil sector em-ployees, put into action in Janu-ary 2014, which led to higher levels of salaries in the public sector.

The economic recovery in the Sultanate during the past five years had contributed to the improvement in salary levels in the private sector.

As from the first of July 2013, the minimum salary in the private sector rose to OMR325 instead of OMR200 a month, which reflected positively on the purchasing power and had also contributed to the recovery of many economic sectors. -ONA

E C O N O M I C G R O W T H

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

2,600 YEAR OLD ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE Discovery of a 2,600 year old archaeological site in the Wilayat of Adam was announced by the Ministry of Heritage and Culture yesterday. It is a complex 15 metres in length and 8 metres in width located on the edge of the Jabal Midhmar mountain overlooking the desert, the ministry said. -ONA

A4 S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

OMANHealthier barbeque initiative in Sohar

TARIQ ZIAD AL HAREMItariqh@timesofoman.com

SOHAR: Barbeques have long been a popular feast globally and Oman is no exception. Young Omanis can be seen flocking on the sides of roads barbequing sticks of meat and chicken for passersby for only a small fee per stick.

The Sohar Municipality has therefore taken an initiative to provide barbeque stalls, which will be funded and supported by Jusoor. The locals can use these barbeques, which will ease the need for ‘chefs’ to take their equipment every night for the barbeque.

The stalls will be fitted with an electrical outlet to provide them with adequate lighting, a fan, grill and an exhaust for the smoke.

“Their presence was spontane-ous and the tables and grills were not compliant to health stand-ards. It also affected the image of the wilayat,” said Khali Al Dhah-ri, head of Marketing at the Sohar Municipality said.

The stalls will undergo regular inspections by the Health Affairs department at the municipality and will be monitored constantly.

“We would ensure the safety of the products used, as well as the validity of their medical cards,” explained Al Dhahri.

Those who wish to operate barbeque stalls must undergo

medical examinations to en-sure that they are free from contagious diseases, as well as obtain prior approval from the municipality.

Commenting on the feed-back he had received, Al Dhah-ri explained that many of these vendors were positive and the idea had been accepted by the community.

“A while ago, some people came to us from surrounding wilayats, wanting to take permission for such stalls. Unfortunately for them, we don’t have jurisdiction in the other wilayats only in So-har,” said Al Dhahri.

So far, there 26 stalls have been found in Sohar and are operated daily by Omani youth, with plans to install more in the coming future.

Sohar Municipality has taken an initiative

to provide barbeque stalls fitted with an

electrical outlet for adequate lighting, a

fan, a grill and an exhaust for smoke. The

municipal health authorities will regularly

check them

Moet, the blind cat who is a social media celebrity and lives in luxury HASAN SHABAN AL LAWATIhassan@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: She is probably more popular and enjoys a more exciting social life than any of us.

Meet Moet, the blind cat, who is sharing her lavish lifestyle after Internet users in Oman fell in love with her. (The writer imagines the answers coming from the cat while talking to her owner)

Question: Tell us about yourself.Answer: I was either born here in a pet shop’s cage or shipped in from a neighbouring country, am not too sure about that.

But I was in the pet shop’s cage from the time I was a young kit-ten and unfortunately I got cat flu. Nobody at the pet shop seemed to care and they just left me in my cage with very little food and water and no bed, no toys, nothing. I got sicker and nobody ever came to check on me or treat my illness.

A lot of time passed and I got sicker and sicker. Eventually, the bright colours and things I saw started to go fuzzy and one day I woke up and there were only shad-ows and light. It wasn’t too long af-ter that I could see only darkness. I had now been in that cage for al-most a year and I was just resigned to finding eternal sleep in that cage as nobody wanted me and there was nobody to care for me.

Then, very suddenly I was res-cued by a lady and taken to a clinic. Although, I wasn’t in a good state, they were very kind to me. I had food, a soft bed, love and cuddles and most importantly, they re-moved my decaying eyes to save my life.

I’d only been in the vet’s for a week and still had stitches from my surgery, when another lady, (my mother) appeared from no-where. She spoke to me in a very kind voice and stroked my cheek and said “Yes, I’ll take her.”

Q: Is Emily (your owner) taking good care of you? A: Oh yes, she’s definitely my BFF. She spoils me rotten, but so she should. I have so many toys and I keep forgetting which one is my favourite. Mum even ordered me a custom made cat tree, which looks like a real tree. Even though it is 6 feet 6 inches, I can climb all the way to the top. I do like to climb... some-times a bit too much says mum.

I love to sleep next to mum’s pil-low at night and to squeak at her

incessantly to play when she’s try-ing to watch TV. I also like to walk across her laptop at inopportune moments and it’s a bonus if it shuts down or the screen goes funny.

Q: Tell us about your fan base and their most frequently asked questions.A: I started my Twitter account last June and I now have more than 5,300 followers. I just love my Twitter buddies and we have great fun, posting the usual vide-os and pictures, but also going on virtual trips, ‘pawtying’ together and we even send each other gifts and cards. I got 12 cards and six gifts from my friends in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom for Christmas and I’ve even had a few other gifts... just because.

On Twitter, I even acquired two ‘beaus’ last year and they send me Valentines requests. Now I must tell you, I’m a lady of principle and am only faithful to my beaus; Basil from the U.K. and Otis from Canada. So, despite a few requests, I shall only be their Valentine. Be-ing only three years old, I’ve never had a Valentine before and I’m not sure what to expect, but I’m very

excited. Maybe I can update you on how my ‘dates’ go.

The most asked question is defi-nitely “how do you get around?” But I just tell them to go to my YouTube channel and check out the video called “Ping Pong.” I think it surprises a lot of fans; I get around just like a ‘normal’ cat and I’ve learned my mum’s place by heart, so I never bump into things. Well, except when I’m having ‘mad half hour’ and rush around at top speed, bouncing and jumping at everything (including mum’s or-naments, whoops!).

Q: Is it true that your merchandise is being sold overseas?A: I have an online store set up on my website: www.moetblindcat.com and I have so far had around 13 orders, not only from Oman, but also from the U.S., Canada, U.K. and France. I’m super-excit-ed that my merchandise is being seen overseas!

Q: Why did social media fall in love

with Moet?A: I think it’s because I’m a com-plete character, as well as being blind. I also do the craziest things at times, which you can see from my Twitter photos. Mum tells me I’m rather cute too, but hey, I’m not vain and I never look in the mir-ror! I also make sure to interact with my friends and fans as much as possible and although I have a few ‘closer’ friends on social me-dia, I like to reach out to all. I like to make people smile and laugh, as well as offer them a friendly paw.

Q: What about your future plans? Will you go back to being a ‘normal’ cat someday?A: Me, normal? Never! I’m a one-of-a-kind character, who is happy, happy, happy and loves everybody. I shall maybe work on my diva status a little, but I reckon I could never be ‘normal.’

Twitter: https://twitter.com/

moetblindcatFacebook: https://www.face-

book.com/MoetBlindCat/?hc_location=ufi

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Qz3jAgQRi-10D6ACZzRONg

Website: http://www.moet-blindcat.com/index.html

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CHARMED LIFE: Moet, the blind cat does not want to be normal

ever. She is happy being herself and loving everyone. – Supplied photo

We would ensure the safety of the products used,

as well as the validity of their medical cards

Khali Al Dhahri, Marketing Head, Sohar Municipality

A5

OMANS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

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Parents vital in curbing juvenile delinquency

TARIQ AL HAREMItariqh@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Parents in Oman need to very watchful to help curb ju-venile delinquency, and while juvenile crimes have registered a slight decrease, the issue remains a major concern for the society as a whole, said an expert dealing with the subject.

Juvenile criminal activity is often associated with psychologi-cal factors that trigger negative behaviour, with the living envi-ronment and parents topping the list of reasons, according to the Founder of Whispers Serenity and Psychotherapist, Her High-ness Sayyida Basma Al Said.

According to a publication issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) on January 18, entitled, “Our Children: A Statistical Vi-sion,” crimes committed by juve-niles decreased by 42.4 per cent in 2014, compared with 2010. 97 per cent these juveniles in 2014 were male.

There were 259 juvenile crimes reported in 2014, reflecting a nearly 58 per cent drop from 450 in 2010. A total 252 were male and 7 were female in 2014, compared with 435 males and 15 females.

The term ‘juvenile’ only ap-plies to children aged between nine and 17 years, where if crimes were committed according to the Oman Penal Code, adult punish-ment will not be applied, but re-habilitation and consultation.

Al Said stated that the environ-ment in which the children live can contribute to them becom-ing juvenile criminals assuming it is negative. Where they grew up and how they grew up, as well as methods used to raise them, could affect the child, including the physical environment of the

house they lived in.Children follow their parents’

actions that can influence a child to behave criminally, such as be-ing abusive to each other, abusing drugs and/or alcohol or their par-ents being divorced.

Difficult economic situations are also a trigger where the fam-ily does not get much income and the child then develops a habit of thievery.

Children are also often at the receiving end of physical abuse, which tempts them to become violent and mischievous enough to break the law.

“Usually when children get abused, they become abusers. They sometimes become bullies or worse,” she stated.

Role of environmentShe also stressed that children absorb the information they see depending on their environ-ment and enact them during their daily life. “For example, in a nursery you can see a little child beating the other and you think he’s just a little kid, how and why does he do it? It is because of what he sees at home and doesn’t know how to express his feelings,” she explained.

Al Said added, “As they grow into their teens, they become very angry inside. Some teens can deal with it and others cannot; so they find themselves in trouble most of the time, taking drugs and stealing.” She also added that some juveniles have been living in good conditions but commit such criminal acts to seek attention.

“When they don’t get the atten-tion they need from their parents and their parents are always out or at work, they easily fall into this as a way to seek attention,” Al Said noted. Robbery cases are the most

common among the juveniles and have decreased to 47.5 per cent of the total percentage of crimes in 2014, compared with 56.4 percent in 2010. Inflicting harm followed with 38.2 per cent, drug abuse with 8.5 per cent and other crimes with 5.8 per cent.

According to NCSI, about a quarter of all crimes against indi-viduals were committed in North Al Batinah, while Muscat led with most indirect crimes (drug abuse), pegged at 59 per cent.

The Royal Oman Police (ROP) said that when an official re-ceives a report about a juvenile, he acts according to the Juvenile Accountability Act, which was promulgated by Royal Decree 30/2008. According to the law, if a juvenile is caught, they should be referred back to their parents, guardian, relative or foster parent that can take care of the child or in worst case scenarios, to Juvenile Care Centres.

Scolding the child and prevent-ing him or her from going to a specific place or preventing them from breaking the law by making them work on something. “We need to understand why this is happening. There must be some-thing, it can’t happen without a reason,” Al Said stated, adding that parents and children need to talk to one another to get to the root of the problem and solve it.

When asked for advice on how parents should deal with their children before they develop a criminal nature, Al Said ex-plained that she receives parents and out-of-control children at her clinic, “We sit with the parents and child separately (and listen to their story), then we’ll analyse the child through tests and work with him and tell the parents how to deal with the child. It’s a process.”

Children follow their

parents’ actions

that can influence

a child to behave

criminally, such as

being abusive to

each other

BUS FIRE DOUSED Public Authority for Civil

Defence and Ambulance

(PACDA) personnel put off

fire on a passenger bus

in Quasiaba Al Zaab area.

Nobody was injured in the

fire. – PACDA picture

Ferries traffic registers rise of 24 per cent

MUSCAT: Until the end of Feb-ruary 2016 the number of pas-sengers using the ferries grew by 24 per cent, compared to the corresponding period in 2015.

The statistics issued by the National Ferries Company (NFC) pointed out that the number of passengers crossed the 37,000 passengers mark, while vehicles transportation registered a growth by 19 per cent during the same period.

The monthly bulletin issued by NFC showed that the num-ber of passengers transported by the company’s fleet dur-ing February this year stood at 37,566, compared to 30,328 during February 2015.

The number of vehicles shipped during February 2016 stood at 8,898 compared to 7,476 vehicles during the same period in 2015.

The cargo volume also in-creased through the company’s fleet during February this year to reach 5,260 tons compared to 786 tons during the same period in 2015. -ONA

N F C

IMPRESSIONABLE: The environment in which the children live

can contribute to them becoming juvenile criminals assuming it

is negative.

A6

OMANS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

So far we don’t have any official programme to

prepare our students for the competitive exams, but in

the near future we will implement some programmes

Wilson V. George, Chairman, Board of Directors

Workers rights should be protected

Saud Salmi, a trade union leader in Oman who focuses on domes-tic workers’ rights, said that these kind of exploitative measures will result in bonded labour system.

“Whatever the exploitative condition it may be, NOC and re-lease letter, will force a domestic workers to stick on to the same employer. Domestic worker hiring system should be changed. Work-ers should be given right to change the employer,” Saud Salmi, added.

Rothna Begum, a women’s rights researcher on the Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch, said that the re-quirement that domestic workers must have the permission of their employer before they can transfer to a new employer enables em-ployers to become abusive as they have a huge amount of control over their worker.

“In addition, this system also enables employers to require that the new employer pay them ex-orbitant amounts of money to a “release” their worker, can also be exploitative,” Rothna said while adding that such conditions can provide for forced labour condi-tions which is against interna-tional labour standards.

Nature of KafalaVani Saraswathi, associate edi-tor at MigrantRights, said that the very nature of Kafala in its current form is commodification of people and in the case of do-mestic workers this commodifi-cation is augmented even further as they are not covered under the labour law.

“They are completely at the mercy of their Kafeel/sponsor. We have also seen how this sponsor-ship arrangement is a business model for many, where they allow their workers to take up freelance work for an annual fee,” Vani said.

“The sponsor feels they own the worker and hence deserve to be paid for a release is telling. However, GCC states seem deter-mined to not recognise how the current labor management sys-tem facilitates human trafficking,” Vani added.

R E L E A S E M O N E Y

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An undying passion for gardeningAccording to him, the fruits and vegetables grown in his garden are used by his family friends and neighbours.

“I export dates, mangoes and chikku to my relatives in Al Ain, Dubai, Jeddah and Riyadh,” Shakeel said.

Vegetables, such as onion, rad-ish, spinach, lady finger, green chilly etc. and fruits, such as ap-ple, mangoes, chikku, banana, tamarind dates, grapes etc. are cultivated in his garden.

Shakeel said to develop a pas-sion for gardening, the first and foremost thing is that you should have an interest.

“First we need to have an in-terest, be ready to work hard in the initial stages, we must love nature and plants, and must be curious to gain knowledge about fertilisers, seeds, and the process of growing it,” Shakeel said.

“You should also be prepared to spend some money as well, if you like to get into this hobby,” he added.

He also said that many people walking in front of his house took pictures and this made him happy

and proud. “I use only organic fer-tilisers in my garden, so my prod-ucts are better than what we get outside,” Shakeel asserted.

He also thanked the Muscat Municipality for maintaining a beautiful lawn in front of his house.

O R G A N I C F A R M I N G

Hiring of domestic workers

Discussions include “visa trans-fers”, “part-time”, “maid-sharing”, “live-in” and “live-out” and a whole host of other ways of navi-gating the narrow and difficult path of hiring and housing a do-mestic worker.

According to Vani Saraswathi, associate editor at MigrantRights, recruitment on social media can easily slide into the sale and trade of women, made all the more pos-sible by kafala — or sponsorship-based — labour management.

“No doubt these pages and groups provide a much-needed space for employment mobility and flexibility that the broken re-cruitment industry and the strict sponsorship system lack.

“But bypassing broken regu-lations and systems still leaves workers in an unprotected space. GCC states should recognise that the element of choice in this kind of recruitment, for both employ-ers and workers, needs a place in the legal framework,” Vani fur-ther added.

I S S U E

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ORGANIC VEGETABLES: To develop a passion for gardening, the

first and foremost thing is that you should have an interest, said

Mohammed Shakeel . — Pictures by Jun Estrada/Times of Oman

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Times of Oman quiz on April 21

The school qualifying rounds will start from April 10 and last till April 17 at the designated centres and the mega preliminary rounds will be held on April 19, 2016.

The TOOISQ will be held in two categories, namely Juniors and Seniors. Class VIII and below in the junior category and class IX to XIII in senior category. Class XIII is applicable for international schools which have this grade.

The quiz is open to two-mem-ber teams from all international and private schools. Any num-ber of teams from one school can take part.

Each team will have two stu-dents from the same school.

The previous Inter-School quiz-zes witnessed enthusiastic par-ticipation from various local and international schools in Oman.

The entry form should bear the school seal and be submitted with the school quiz coordinator or can be directly submitted at the Times

of Oman Office, if not collected by the school. For more details call, Ms. Dipna Jacob at 9507 2122 or quiz@timesofoman.com.

T I M E S Q U I Z 2 - 1 6

Students rue dearth of ‘coaching centres’

MOBIN MATHEW BLESSONmobinmathew@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Indian students in Oman, who are keen to pursue engineering and medical courses in their home country, are fac-ing a dilemma as there are fewer coaching centres in Oman that can help them to prepare for the competitive entrance examina-tions for such courses.

As the entrance exams are held in the first week of May, many parents are planning to send their children back to India so that they can attend coaching classes prior to the exams.

Indian students in Oman said proper coaching is essential for securing a merit seat in one of the leading colleges in India.

“Coaching is needed to clear the entrance examination with good results as the papers are quite tough,” said Kiran Varghese, a 12th standard student in one of the Indian schools in Oman.

Every year, more than 1000 students pass out from class XII in Oman. All these students are eligible to take part in the en-trance examinations conducted by the central and state govern-ment of India.

According to the data avail-able, all over India, around 50,000 medical seats are available, with colleges being registered with the Medical Council of India (MCI).

The engineering colleges have nearly 15 lakh seats. In addition to this, for engineering there are some 10,000 seats available at 17 IITs, 15,000 at 25 NITs and 1,000 at IIITs.

However, millions of students take the examinations to obtain admission to engineering and medical colleges.

“When millions take the ex-aminations, the competition is tough; only the best can get a mer-it seat. If the rank is too low, then we have to go for paid seats in pri-vate colleges, which is unafford-able for the majority,” explained Varghese’s father.

“So we are forced to send our children to India to join coaching centres,” he added.

According to many parents, the online training available is not that effective.

However, the Bahwan Interna-

tional Institute Technology does run a coaching centre in Oman for IIT and JEE aspirants.

According to IITians, the on-line tutors have been trained in Oman for last eight years, with incredible results being produced for securing merit positions in JEE/Medican/SAT.

“Last year, we enrolled more than 542 students for the JEE and SAT exam preparation and many of our students scored good marks in the exams,” Pankaj Shar-ma of askIITians told the Times of Oman (TOO).

“This year’s enrolment is underway. Currently, we are conducting career counsel-ling seminars, and have gotten a huge response this year and are hoping to see more than 300 per cent growth in this country,” Sharma added.

Meanwhile, a Muscat-based businessman, who is providing coaching for post-graduate busi-ness courses in association with premier business institutes in India, said operating a coaching centre for engineering and medi-cal courses in Oman is not finan-cially viable.

“To bring the faculty from India is quite difficult and moreover, students are always busy with tuitions,” said Jose Chacko, who

runs a business post-graduate learning centre in Muscat.

For the time being, another busi-nessman and his friends are plan-ning to open a coaching centre.

“We are planning to open a crash coaching centre here for students, who are planning to write entrance exams for the Ker-ala state; so far we are getting a good response from the parents,” John Philips Mathew said.

Some students stated that online coaching classes helped them understand the model of the exams.

“I am attending an online tutor-ing class, but it is not that effec-tive,” Ribin Raju a student who is preparing for the exams said.

“Even though it helps me to know the exams pattern and structure,” he added.

According to a teacher from one of the Indian Schools, many have opened coaching centres in the past, but they winded up their operations pretty soon.

“There is a need for a good coaching centre here. Nowadays, to clear the examination, you have to be the best. Those days of preparing for an examination at home are gone. Experts are re-quired to train students,” said the teacher, who refused to be named.

Speaking to TOO, Wilson V. George, chairman, Board of Di-rectors, Indian Schools, said in the near future the Indian Schools will start providing coaching to the students.

“So far we don’t have any of-ficial programme to prepare our students for the competitive ex-ams, but in the near future we will implement some programmes,” George said.

Some of the parents also noted that the reason they send their children back to India is that the coaching available in Oman is expensive. So their children are currently getting ready to fly back to their home country after their board exams.

Many parents are

planning to send

their children back

to India so that they

can attend coaching

classes to prepare

for college entrance

competitions to

secure a merit seat

in one of the leading

colleges in India

Sultanate poised to boost ‘Shopping Tourism’ potentialBY DR DILEEP M.R.*

MUSCAT: ‘Shhopping Tourism’, a buzzword in contemporary global tourism, is being promoted vigor-ously by many countries. The Sul-tanate of Oman, rich with natural and cultural features and ample shopping options, has the poten-tial to develop and promote Shop-ping Tourism.

Indeed, shopping is not just a laborious activity to buy the es-sential goods; rather, of late, it has become a recreational activity as well. Curious shoppers fly across borders, travel to far away cities with the aim to indulge in joyous shopping. The new phenomenon is to experience the pleasure of relaxed shopping, coupled with travel, stay and sightseeing.

Immense potentialOman has an immense potential for developing Shopping Tourism. It also has the advantage of hav-ing natural and cultural attrac-tions in abundance. Tourists out to do shopping in Oman can enjoy amazing shopping experiences along with unmatched exotic nat-ural and cultural experiences.

Moreover, traditional Souqs in Oman can offer incredible shop-ping options. Some of the indig-enous products of Oman are very unique and rare, like Frankin-cense of Dhofar. The need of the hour is to conceptualise, design and promote shopping tourism packages, coupled with natural and cultural features to be offered in the global market.

Indeed, the new genre of leisure or recreational shoppers consti-tutes a relatively new market seg-ment in tourism. Shopping is also an important outlet for social in-teraction and provides temporary relief from routine and monoto-nous environments. It is not at all a new phenomenon.

Traditionally tourists used to

purchase a variety of items from the destinations visited, but these largely included souvenirs, vary-ing from handicrafts to clothes, to processed food items. On the other hand, the shopping cart of the modern recreational shoppers includes a wide variety of items, of which some are luxury goods, elec-tronic items, costly fashion stuff, crafts and design.

A growing trendShopping is thus becoming a travel motivation in tourism. This is a growing trend as many people travel abroad keeping in mind the goal of purchasing vari-ous goods. The focus is predomi-nantly on cities.

Oman has a number of tradi-tional Souqs, including Muttrah, Al Hafah, Al Husn, Bahla, Sohar Handicrafts Souq and Nizwa City that have a good potential to at-tract tourists.

Muscat’s famed Mutrah souq is the best-stocked souk in the Ara-bian Peninsula. It is famous for traditional clothes, jewellery, spic-es, antiques, hand-woven Bedouin carpets and craft workshops.

Many craftsmen make tradi-tional sculpted silver and ivory daggers, known as Khanjars. Moreover, Muscat and Salalah have mega shopping malls. Muscat Festival and Salalah Festival are already established events that at-tract visitors from far and wide.

Shopping tourism can be devel-oped further with more unique markets with traditional/indige-nous products, exclusive markets of electronic and other products with discounts during specific time periods, and packages blend-ed with shopping and natural wonders of Oman.

*The writer is Asst. Professor, Salalah College of Applied Sci-ences, MOHE. He can be reached at dileepmadhav@gmail.com)

I N C R E D I B L E S H O P P I N G O P T I O N S

GEARING UP: According to the data available, all over India,

around 50,000 medical seats are available, with colleges being

registered with the Medical Council of India. — File picture

Date Centre Time Participating schools

Sunday, April 10 Qualifier 10am ISD

Indian School

Darsait

Monday, April 11 Qualifier 10am ISM

Indian School

Muscat

Tuesday, April 12 Qualifier 10 am ISWK, Srilankan

Indian School

Wadi Kabir

Wednesday, April 13 Qualifier 10 am Indian School Ghubra

ISG, BSM, IS Seeb,

IS Mabella

Thursday, April 14 Qualifier 6pm Indian School Sohar

IS Sohar, PSSohar,

BS Sohar

Sunday, April 17 Qualifier 10 am Pakistan School

Muscat (PSM)

Tuesday, April 19 Mega

Prelims 4pm Indian School Ghubra

4 pm All participating schools

Thursday, April 21 Finals 4pm City Amphitheatre

7pm Top 12 Finalist schools

QUIZ EVENT SCHEDULE

GRAND EVENT: The quiz is open to two-member teams from all

international and private schools. — Times file picture

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REGIONS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

No discussion on presidency at talks: Moualem

BEIRUT: The Syrian govern-ment on Saturday ruled out dis-cussion of presidential elections or the position of the presidency at peace talks due to begin on Monday, saying the opposition was deluded if thought it could take power in Geneva.

Foreign Minister Walid Al Moualem confirmed his govern-ment’s participation in UN-led talks but said they would fail if the opposition had “delusions that they will take power in Geneva that they failed to take in battle”.

Presidential electionsThe government delegation would reject any attempt to in-clude presidential elections on the agenda, he said.

“We will not talk to anyone who talks about the position of the presidency,” Moualem said during a televised news confer-ence in Damascus.”I advise them that if this is their thinking, they shouldn’t come to the talks.”

“They must abandon these delusions.”

Moualem said the government delegation would travel to Geneva on Sunday but would return to Damascus within 24 hours if the other side did not show up.

The Syrian government’s un-derstanding of “political transi-tion” was from the existing con-stitution to a new one, and from the existing government to a new one with participation from the other side, he said. The Syrian op-position wants the talks to focus on the establishment of a transi-

tional governing body with full executive powers, and has reject-ed the idea of joining an expanded Syrian government.

In response to Moualem’s com-ments, the main opposition coun-cil accused Damascus of halting the talks before they had started.

“I believe he is putting the nails in the coffin of Geneva, this is clear,” Monzer Makhous, a mem-ber of the opposition High Nego-tiations Committee, told Al Ara-biya Al Hadath TV.

“Moualem is stopping Geneva before it starts.” — Reuters

Syrian foreign

minister said the UN-

led peace talks would

fail if the opposition

had ‘delusions that

they will take power

in Geneva that they

failed to take in

battle’

Sadr urges Abadi to act against corruption

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s cleric Mo-qtada Al Sadr called for a sit-at the gates of Baghdad’s heav-ily fortified government district, stepping up pressure on Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi to de-liver on promised anti-corrup-tion reforms.

The protest, that Sadr said would start on Friday, threat-ened to escalate tensions over a long-awaited economic overhaul in the strife-torn oil producer.

Graft is eating away at Bagh-dad’s resources even as it strug-gles with falling revenue due to low oil prices and high spend-ing due to the costs of the war against IS militants.

“I address this historic call to every reform-loving Iraqi. .. so that he rises up to begin a new phase,” read the statement posted online on Saturday from Sadr.

A year and a half into his four-year term, Abadi is trying to challenge a system of patronage which has become entrenched in Iraq over the last decade, paralyzing politics and allowing corruption to flourish.

But he is facing pressure from two sides as some of the coun-try’s powerful political factions resist any reduction of their in-fluence, while Sadr is threaten-ing to escalate protests to bring down his government should he not press ahead faster. On Friday, Abadi signalled willing-ness to agree that the political parties have a say in appointing members of a cabinet he plans to form to fight corruption and optimize state spending to bet-ter cope with the sharp decline in oil revenue.

The Sadrist bloc in parlia-ment, called Al Ahrar, accounts for only 34 of parliament’s 328 members and may not be able to vote down Abadi should the other parties approve a new cabinet. — Reuters

I R A Q

Hadi troops partially

break Taiz siege

ADEN: Troops loyal to Yemen’s president have captured the west-ern entrance to the strategic city of Taiz, partially breaking a siege by Houthi fighters, medical and mili-tary sources said on Saturday.

At least 48 people have been killed in heavy clashes in Yemen’s third biggest city, the medics and local fighters said, and at least 120 people have been wounded.

Witnesses said there were bod-ies scattered in the streets.

Supporters of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition, have been trying for months to lift the siege of the southwestern city and

open up key supply routes. The struggle is part of coalition

efforts since March last year to roll back Houthi gains and restore Hadi, who is currently in Saudi Arabia, to power.

The war has devastated the country, killed more than 6,000 people and displaced millions.

Major breakthroughThe reported capture of the west-ern entrance to Taiz, where near-ly half of the 250,000 residents had been trapped since May, was hailed by the government-run sa-banew.net news agency as a major breakthrough. — Reuters

Y E M E N C O N F L I C T

Turkish air strikes kill 67 Kurdish rebels in Iraq

ANKARA: Turkey’s army said on Saturday it killed 67 Kurdish militants in air strikes on camps and ammunition storage sites in neighbouring northern Iraq on Wednesday.

Jets targeted sites at Qandil, Metina, Avasin, Haftanin and Basyan used by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants, the armed forces said.

Abomb blast blamed on PKK militants hit an armoured po-lice vehicle near Turkey’s bor-der with Iraq on Friday, Turkish officials said. Two special force police officers were injured in the explosion on a road in Hak-kari province’s Yuksekova dis-trict, they added. A ceasefire between the PKK and Ankara in July and attacks on Turkey’s military has increased amid a surge in violence in the predom-inantly Kurdish southeast, kill-ing hundreds of people. — Reuters

I N S U R G E N C Y

DETERMINED: Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Al Moualem speaks during a news conference in Damascus, Syria on Saturday. — Reuters

I believe he (Walid Moualem) is putting the nails in

the coffin of Geneva, this is clear, Monzer Makhous,

a member of the opposition High Negotiations

Committee told Al Arabiya Al Hadath TV

A8

INDIAS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

DEMANDING ROLLBACK IN EXCISE DUTYMembers of Gems and Jewellery Association participate in a protest rally against the proposed hike of excise duty by the Central Government, in Kolkata on

Saturday. The strike by jewellers and bullion traders continued for a 11th straight day on Saturday demanding withdrawal of the proposed excise duty on non-

silver jewellery items. Most jewellery houses in the country have remained closed since March 2 after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget speech on

February 29, proposed 1 per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery. - PTI

Sonia: Country passing through a critical phase

NEW DELHI: Launching a veiled attack on the Modi government, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said the country is passing through a “critical phase” as those in power are “spreading hatred” by targeting secularism and underscored the need to bring together people from diverse back-grounds to fight it.

Sonia made the remarks in her written message to attendees of ‘National Integration Conference’ organised by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind here. “As you know, the country is passing through a critical phase. Powers that be are spreading ha-tred across the country. Especially, secularism is being targeted. It is a matter of concern.

“In such a situation, it is an im-portant work to bring together people forgetting their religion, caste, colour and race,” senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad quoted Sonia as saying in the message. Sonia lauded the role played by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind in this regard and for its contribution to the country’s freedom struggle along with Congress.

“In current circumstances, Ja-miat has again taken an important step. I pray for this step taken by Jamiat for country’s unity and integrity and hope its efforts will bring good results,” she said. - PTI

C O N F E R E N C E

Modi accuses Congress for ‘neglecting’ Bihar’s growth

HAJIPUR: Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi on Saturday trained his guns on Congress accusing it of “neglecting” Bihar’s develop-ment since independence and re-called Chief Minister Nitish Ku-mar’s past association with NDA as he inaugurated a number of railway projects here.

“This project was initiated when Nitish Kumar was railway minister and Atal ji was prime minister. The dream of that time is being realised now. Had this not been neglected in last 10 years and work been taken up for it even under routine budget, even then it would have been completed in six-seven years,” Modi said dedicating to the nation the newly construct-ed Digha-Sonepur rail-cum-road

bridge here, which is stated to be the longest in the country.

He rued that the cost of the pro-ject escalated from its earlier es-timate of Rs600 crore to Rs 3,000 crore due to the “delay”.

“This money belongs to people. Some or the other reasons crop up in our country that the process of development gets derailed,” he said. Leaving aside political ri-valry, Modi who has shared a con-tentious relationship with Kumar in past, also chose the occasion to laud the Bihar chief minister’s ef-forts in taking forward Centre’s ru-ral electrification scheme in Bihar.

“I am grateful to Nitish ji. Work is progressing with speed in Bihar due to his efforts. If the central government and the Bihar gov-ernment decisively work, we can

finish the work fast and make a proud Bihar,” he said.

Kumar had walked out of Na-tional Democratic Alliance snap-ping the 17-year-old ties with BJP over the deemed projection of Modi as prime ministerial candi-date of that party in June 2013.

After having lost badly to the Narendra Modi-led NDA in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Kumar staged a comeback in 2015 assembly elec-tions in Bihar in alliance with Lalu Prasad’s RJD and Congress, decimating BJP.

Holding that the “nerve cen-tre” of India’s development lies in eastern India, the Prime Minister said that he is of the firm opinion that India as a country cannot develop fast without the develop-ment of it eastern part.

“Bihar is a priority for us be-cause we feel Bihar’s progress is key to India’s progress. This gov-ernment has spent more for the projects in Bihar in last two and half years than what was spent in five years earlier. This was done because it is my conviction that if India has to progress fast, Bihar’s development has to be accelerated,” he said.

Without naming Congress, Modi said that electricity has not reached 18,000 villages of the country even after 70 years of in-dependence.

“I told my officers that I have to do this work within 1,000 days, which was not done in last 70 years. One thousand days are yet to completed but electricity has already reached in 6,000 villages.

Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are going to benefit the maximum from it,” he said.

Telling youths they have got a “big gift” as two locomotive facto-ries are being opened in the state, Modi once again picked on the previous United Progressive Alli-ance government led by Congress.

“This matter is moving only on paper since 2006-07. It was being frequently mentioned in speeches but nothing was happening on the ground. Nobody was ready to bid for it. We introduced some innovative things in the tender, fixed target for export and place the order according to the need of the country and prepared it in a manner that big companies of the world they can work in it.

“The process worked and big companies of the world came for-ward. Foreign Direct Investment of Rs40,000 crore is coming for these two factories, which will be the biggest in the country. This process has been completed within a short time of 18 months since our government came because devel-oping Bihar is our priority,” he said.

Modi also talked about other upcoming ambitious projects for the state including laying of piped natural gas line despite huge ex-penditure involved in it and said that it is going to bring huge pro-gress in the country.

“I can see how enthusiastic you are about the bridge and I can guess well how much improve-ment in transportation and eco-nomic situation of people, this will bring,” he said adding the maxi-mum work of this pending project, about 34 per cent was completed in last 18 months when NDA gov-ernment was at Centre. - PTI

Leaving aside

political rivalry,

Prime Minister

Narendra Modi

chose the occasion

to laud the Bihar

chief minister’s

efforts in taking

forward Centre’s

rural electrification

scheme in Bihar

AOL to support restoration of Yamuna floodplainsNEW DELHI: Art of Living (AOL) founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, whose cultural event on the flood-plains of Yamuna is mired in con-troversy over violation of green norms, on Saturday once again sounded defiant, saying he will not pay any fine or penalty.

But, he said, he would whole-heartedly support the “develop-ment and restoration” of the venue where the event is being held.

Addressing the event on the second day, Ravi Shankar said the amount the National Green Tribu-nal had asked the AOL to pay was for restoration and not as a penalty.

“All through, I have lived a spot-less life. I have never been late to school. I have never paid fine, even of a single paisa. So, we said we will not pay any fine. But then I was told that this is not a fine or penalty. It was wrongly reported in newspa-pers. They said it was for the de-velopment here. We said, if this is for development and restoration, then we will whole-heartedly sup-port this and put everything into this,”Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said.

The NGT had on Wednesday allowed Art of Living Foundation to hold the festival but asked it to pay Rs50 million as environ-mental compensation for ecologi-cal damage. However, on Friday the relief to the AOL Foundation came with a stinker from the green panel which took strong exception to Ravi Shankar’s remarks about refusal to pay Rs 50 million and in-stead saying he would prefer to go to jail. The event got embroiled in a controversy after environmental-ists alleged that its preparations have damaged the ecology of Ya-muna floodplains. - PTI

C O N T R O V E R S Y

Green nod for 900 projects in 20 months, says JavadekarMUMBAI: Environmental clear-ance has been given to 900 projects worth Rs6 lakh crore in the last 20 months, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Saturday, seek-ing to counter criticism that sever-al projects have been bogged down due to lack of green nod.

Asserting that environmental clearance should not be a “road-block” for development, Javadekar said that every effort should be made to safeguard the environment and also ensure that development projects do not suffer any delay.

“In the last 20 months, my min-istry has given environmental clearance to 900 projects entailing an investment of about Rs 6 lakh crore,” he said at the National Con-vention on Sustainable Develop-ment Goals here.

Opposition parties and environ-mentalists have been accusing the

Narendra Modi government of not proceeding on several projects for want of environmental clearances.

Dismissing such criticism, the government has claimed that the earlier UPA regime was respon-sible for stalling projects which were now getting green nod at a fast pace. Squarely blaming the de-veloped countries for carbon emis-sions and its fallout on climate change, he said, “Climate change is a reality with one degree rise in temperature caused by 150 years of uncontrolled carbon emission by the developed world.”

He said though India is respon-sible for just three per cent of carbon emissions, it is an active partner in finding solution to the problem of climate change and committed to the UN goals on sus-tainable development.

He also referred to Prime Minis-

ter Narendra Modi’s emphasis on climate change that “though India is not part of the problem, it wants to be part of the solution.”

While 30 per cent of cumulative contribution was that of the US,

Europe, Canada and other devel-oped countries accounted for 50 per cent and China 10 per cent.

“The developed world went ahead with business as usual sce-nario without bothering about

environmental impact. Now it has happened, and we are suffering,” he said. India being well-aware of its responsibilities was commit-ted to UN Goals on sustainable development, he said, adding, “Our

commitment is reflected in every programme being pursued by the government.”

He listed out Government’s am-bitious 175 Giga Watt renewable energy programme, covering solar, wind, hydro-power and nuclear energy as a major step in promot-ing environment friendly develop-ment. India had taken pro-active measures to discourage use of fos-sil fuels in a bid to reduce carbon foot print, he said.

“The Union Budget 2016-17 has levied a green cess of $6 (Rs400) per tonne of coal. This is perhaps the highest levy in the world, as even the United States taxes coal at around $1. If the developed world followed India’s example and levied higher taxes on coal, billions of dollars would accrue to pursue clean energy programmes,” Javadekar said. - PTI

N A T I O N A L C O N V E N T I O N O N S U S T A I N A B L E D E V E L O P M E N T G O A L S

ELATED: Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying the foundation stone of the various Railway projects

in Hajipur, Bihar on Saturday. Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind, Union Ministers and Chief Minister

of Bihar Nitish Kumar and other dignitaries are also seen. - PTI

The developed world went ahead with business as

usual scenario without bothering about environmental

impact. Now it has happened, and we are suffering

Prakash JavadekarUnion Minister

A9

INDIAS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

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Don’t want to overstate bad loan crisis, says Jaitley

NEW DELHI: Amid outrage over Vijay Mallya’s massive default on loans, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and RBI Governor Ra-ghuram Rajan on Saturday cau-tioned against overstating the bad loans crisis in the banking system lest it hampers the entire lending operations and growth.

However, Jaitley said individu-al misdemeanours will be “looked into differently”. Both were speak-ing to the media after Reserve Bank’s Board Meeting here at-tended by the Finance Minister as a post Budget tradition in which they discussed the need to clean up the banks balance sheets.

“We don’t want to create a situ-ation where we overstate the cri-sis and in the process, the whole activity of lending for growth itself starts suffering because people become extraordinarily defensive. We don’t want to reach that situation. So its that limited category where there is some kind

of a prima facie misconduct or misdemeanour, which has taken place by the individual. Its those areas which will be looked into differently,” Jaitley said.

Echoing similar views, Rajan said “we have to be careful as we go forward” that one hand crimi-nal actions are penalised.

“But at the same time we don’t

indulge in a broad fishing expedi-tion which then becomes a reason for banks to get worried about making loans which then hamper the recovery as well as hamper the

absolutely important investment in infrastructure that have to take place. So as a country, as a system, we have to draw that balance very carefully and we are hopeful that we can manage that,” he said.

The gross (NPAs) of the public sector banks (PSBs) increased from 5.43 per cent as on March 2015 to 7.30 per cent as on Decem-ber 2015. Jaitley expressed hope that the NPA situation, which has been created on account of an overall economic environment and slowdown in certain sectors, would see improvement.

“As the revival of those sectors takes place, you will certainly find cleaning up of balance sheets, which also takes place because over the next few quarters they would probably have a possibility of reviving,” he said.

Rajan said there is a well-de-fined process for defining wilful defaulters.

“Broadly speaking, it may be manoeuvres, which strictly speaking are not illegal, but which divert funds away from the pro-ject and elsewhere. Now some of these actions may also be illegal. We have a process by which peo-ple are declared wilful defaulters, we maintain a registry of wilful defaulters and we have strength-ened the penalties, if you are a wilful defaulter on your ability to raise money from the system. So I think that process is there,” the governor said.

He further said that one of the problem in past has been difficulty of enacting the full process given the necessity for following certain aspects that judiciary focused on.

Going forward, Rajan exuded confidence that the process is streamlined so that entities fol-lowing aberrant practices end up not paying loans and subsequent-ly “we get a better system. So my hope is that some of the atten-tion that has been paid to some of these actions will help streamline the system.” - PTI

Finance Minister

Arun Jaitley

expressed hope that

the Non Performing

Assets situation,

which has been

created on account of

an overall economic

environment and

slowdown in certain

sectors, would see

improvement

MAKING A POINT: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley with Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan

at a press conference after the 551st Central Board Meeting of RBI, in New Delhi on Saturday. -PTI

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “explanation” over how busi-ness tycoon Vijay Mallya could leave the country which he claimed was not possible with-out “approval” from the top.

“Since CBI directly reports to PM, PM owes an answer why Mallya was allowed to leave India. CBI couldn’t have allowed without approval from top,” Kejriwal tweeted.

Kejriwal’s comments come amid a raging controversy over UB Group Chairman Mallya leaving India amid continu-ing efforts by banks to recover

dues totalling over Rs 9,000 crore of unpaid loans and interest from him.

Meanwhile, former chief financial officer of long-grounded carrier Kingfisher Airlines, A. Raghunathan, appeared before the Enforce-ment Directorate (ED) here for the second day on Saturday for questioning in connection with the money laundering probe in the alleged default of over Rs 900 crore loan from IDBI bank.

“Yesterday, Raghunathan was questioned for around eight hours. He is being inter-rogated for the second day today,” a senior ED official

said. The ED had issued summons to over half a dozen officials of the IDBI bank and Vijay Mallya-owned KFA under provisions of the Pre-vention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) wherein all the individuals have been asked to submit details about their personal finances and Income Tax Returns (ITRs) of last five years to the investigators.

Apart from Raghunathan, summons have also been is-sued to former chairman and managing director of the bank, Yogesh Agarwal and other senior executive members and officials of both the organisa-tions. - PTI

‘PM owes an explanation on Mallya leaving country’

Probe begins at Kakrapar plant to find cause of heavy water leak

AHMEDABAD: A day after one of the units of Kakrapar Atomic Pow-er Station (KAPS) near Surat in Gujarat was shut down after heavy water leakage, a team of experts on Saturday began a probe to identify the cause of the leak even as offi-cials reaffirmed that there was no radioactive release at the site.

Two experts from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) are at the site to assist KAPS offi-cials in the probe. The experts have been deputed for an independent assessment of the situation at the affected plant, which continues to remain shut for the second day on Saturday after the leakage.

One of the two 220 MW units of KAPS was shut down after leak-age of heavy water, which is used for cooling off the nuclear reactor core, reported around 9am on Fri-day. A temporary site emergency was also declared as a measure of safety, although the officials said that there was no radioactive leak and all the workers were safe.

“We have carried out a thor-ough radiation survey and there is no change in radiation level at the plant and into public domain (outside the plant) as of today. There is no increase in radiation level. This confirms no radioac-tive release,” site director KAPS, Lalit K. Jain, said.

“Now that we are assured on the front of containing the leakage, our focus will be on identifying the cause of the leakage. The plant re-mains totally shut down, and fur-ther normalisation of the plant is currently being carried out, with two experts from AERB assisting us,” Jain said.

The radiation levels inside the plant and in the nearby areas are being regularly monitored, he said.

In July last year, another unit (Unit II) of the power station had been shut down due to mainte-nance issue.

KAPS 1 and 2 consist of two units of pressurised heavy water reactors of 220 MW each. - PTI

A T O M I C P O W E R S T A T I O N

IAF plane tyre bursts while landing at Dehradun airportDEHRADUN: A tragedy was averted here on Saturday when one of the tyres of an IAF plane, with ten people on board includ-ing a senior officer, burst while landing at Jolly Grant airport, 30km east of the city.

The incident occurred after the 45-seater Avro plane of the IAF (Indian Air Force) landed on the runway, Dehradun SSP Sadanand Date said.

Everyone on board the plane, including a Lt Gen-rank officer, escaped unhurt, but the incident has affected flight operations with the aircraft still stuck on the runway making it impossible for flights to either take off or land.

“There is no reason to worry as everyone is safe. But with the

plane stuck on the runway, flights are blocked.

“A chopper from IAF’s Agra airbase has arrived with a team of technical staff to replace the tyre and clear the runway so that flight

operations could be restored,” Date said.

Civil Aviation Authorities of the north Indian state of Uttara-khand were not available for com-ment immediately. - PTI

C L O S E S H A V E

PASSENGERS SAFE: The Indian Air force (IAF) plane after its one

tyre burst while landing at Jolly Grant airport in Dehradun on

Saturday morning. - PTI

A10

PAKISTAN S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

We are unaware of the incident. Our Mujahideen

had never been involved in it. We had neither held

him (Shahbaz Taseer) nor recovered him

Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban spokesperson

Trade deficit widens 4.22% to $15b as exports decline

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit worsened to $15.1 billion in the first eight months of the ongo-ing fiscal year, as the government failed to exploit opportunities in the shape of steep decline in glob-al crude oil prices and duty-free status for its exports to the Euro-pean markets.

The trade bulletin released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Friday showed the value of im-ports was more than double the value of exports for the second

month in a row. The trade deficit — gap between exports and im-ports — widened 4.22 per cent to $15.1 billion from July to Febru-ary, reported the national data-collecting agency.

The trade deficit was $612 mil-lion higher than reported in the comparative period of the last fiscal year. It almost nullified the

$728 million gains Pakistan made due to increase in workers’ remit-tances during July-February.

The PBS would release the de-tails of imports and exports for July-February later. However, the seven-month data showed that the country got a bonanza of $2.9 billion due to reduction in global crude oil prices. Despite the huge

benefit, the trade deficit ballooned due to massive decline in exports.

Pakistan is also availing the ‘Generalised System of Prefer-ence’ (GSP) Plus scheme from the European Union (EU) that allows it to export a range of products at virtually zero duty to the bloc of 27 nations. Despite this facility, tex-tile exports during the first seven

months plunged by over 9 per cent to $7.4 billion.

From July through February, the exports nosedived to $13.87 billion, which were $2.12 billion or 13.3% less than the receipts in the comparative period of the last fiscal year, reported the PBS.

A major reason behind the steep fall in exports was the ab-sence of an enabling business en-vironment, as the government has massively increased the cost of doing business by levying numer-ous indirect taxes.

The PML-N government has so far failed to announce a ‘three-year strategic trade policy frame-work’ after the last one expired in June 2015.

The imports during July-Feb-ruary period contracted almost 5 per cent to $29 billion. The im-ports were $1.5 billion less than the comparative period. On an-nualised basis, the trade deficit also widened by 6.7 per cent to $1.5 billion in February. It was $95 million higher than the one posted in February last year, according to the PBS. The trade deficit wid-ened due to 4.7 per cent reduction in exports and marginal growth in imports. On annualised basis, the exports stood at $1.8 billion in February, $89 less than the re-ceipts in comparative period.

The imports last month stood at $3.3 billion, which were almost at January’s level.

For this year, the government has set the economic growth tar-get at 5.5 per cent. – Express Tribune

The seven-month

data showed that

the country got a

bonanza of $2.9

billion due to

reduction in global

crude oil prices.

Despite the huge

benefit, the trade

deficit ballooned due

to massive decline in

exports

Nawaz Sharif directs steps to uplift agriculture sectorISLAMABAD: In an effort to boost the country’s agriculture production, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday directed the Ministry National Food Secu-rity and Research to start a con-sultative process involving various provincial governments and other stakeholders for expanding agri-culture production base.

A notice issued by the Prime Minister Secretariat here said that the ministry concerned shall en-sure that the consultative process is finalised in due course for ap-proval and appropriate allocation of funds in the budget for 2016-17.

The notification further said that various issues have been keeping the agriculture sector under pressure and the plan will help develop an integrated frame-work for agriculture, with a view to achieve positive outcomes.

The document underlined these aspects including diversification in the agriculture sector by pro-moting new crops and modern techniques. Secondly, revitalising agriculture research institutions and re-establishing a national ag-riculture research system by syn-ergising federal and provincial re-search institutions.

Additionally, the programme will also focus on the reorientation of agriculture research for devel-opment of better crop varieties in terms of yield and pest resistance.

The new system of research funding in the agriculture sector will focus on research output rath-er than investing in unnecessary employment. Likewise, the system will also look into measures for mitigating the impact of climate change on the agriculture sector and a long-term ground water pol-

icy aimed at ensuring available as well as efficient utilisation of this scarce resource.

Finally, the prime minister has also asked for consultation with stakeholders on a comprehensive framework for seed certification, fertiliser availability at affordable cost and regulation of pesticide business. An official in the food ministry said that Minister Si-kander Hayat Khan Bosan had ear-lier requested the prime minister to increase budgetary allocation so that it can take certain steps for the long term development of the agriculture sector. The minister contended that since the devolu-tion of the agriculture subject to the provinces, the federal budget had drastically reduced from mul-ti-billion to just millions and prov-inces have shown their neglect to-wards this sector. - Express Tribune

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

STATISTICS: The trade bulletin released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Friday showed value of

imports was more than double the value of exports for the second month in a row. - Reuters file photo

TOIL: Farmers work around wheat threshers in Lahore on May 17, 2014. The new system of research

funding in the agriculture sector will focus on research output rather than investing in unnecessary

employment. - AFP file photo

AD Khawaja appointed new IG Sindh

KARACHI: Following the Su-preme Court’s order, the federal government announced on Sat-urday to remove Inspector Gen-eral (IG) Ghulam Haider Jamali and appoint Allah Dino (AD) Khawaja as the new IG Sindh.

According to reports, the Sindh government had submit-ted names of three candidates for the post as the top police chief, of which AD Khawaja was selected to replace Jamali.

“The provincial government welcomed the newly appointed IG Sindh,” the government spokesperson said.

On Friday, the top court had directed the National Account-ability Bureau (NAB) to effi-ciently and expeditiously pur-sue an inquiry into corruption of Sindh police officers, includ-ing Ghulam Haider Jamali.

The larger bench, headed by Justice Amir Hani Muslim, asked the country’s top anti-graft watchdog to complete in-quiries or investigation fairly, justly and strictly in accordance with the law, and submit a re-port within a month. Earlier this week, SC directed the provincial chief secretary to find out what action the government will take against officers found guilty of corruption, which includes the provincial police chief, other-wise the apex court will pass such orders. - Express Tribune

P O L I C E C H I E F

Afghan Taliban deny ‘rescuing’ Shahbaz Taseer

ISLAMABAD: Afghan Taliban rejected on Saturday reports that they had rescued Shahbaz Taseer, son of slain governor Punjab Sal-man Taseer, in an operation.

A section of the Pakistani me-dia had reported that the Taliban had recovered Shahbaz, who was kidnapped from Lahore in 2011, in Zabul province, where he had been held hostage by the insurgents.

“We are unaware of the incident. Our Mujahideen had never been involved in it. We had neither held him (Shahbaz Taseer) nor recov-ered him,” Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said.

When asked about reports that the Taliban have issued a state-ment confirming the rumours, Mujahid told The Express Trib-une, “This is baseless. We have not issued any statement as the issue does not relate to us and no question arises to comment on it,” he said.

The Taliban denial coincided with the issuance of an Interior Ministry report which said Shah-baz had not been rescued through any operation.

“The facts and evidence show that Shahbaz Taseer has not been recovered through any op-eration but the captors set him free on their own,” said the re-port presented to the interior minister on Saturday.

The Interior Ministry’s state-ment said that it is premature to suggest if Shahbaz was released after paying ransom.

“No institution has the right to take credit of the recovery,” the ministry said. - Express Tribune

R E J E C T E D R E P O R T S

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ASIAS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

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BLAZE HITS 200 FAMILIES IN METRO MANILABlack smoke billows next to buildings after a fire hit a residential area in Manila on Saturday. Almost 200 families are affected by the blaze, according to Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) officials. Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire, local media reported. - AFP

US general sought greater powers before Afghan exitWASHINGTON: The US general who until last week commanded the NATO-led coalition in Afghan-istan said on Friday he recom-mended broader scope for US mil-itary activity as the country fends off a resilient Taliban insurgency.

Army General John Campbell declined to disclose the specific powers he requested from Presi-dent Barack Obama’s administra-tion before he stepped down as part of a normal leadership tran-sition. But he expressed a sense of urgency, “otherwise it’s not going to impact” the war in 2016.

“I’m not going to get more peo-ple. So the only way that I can im-pact is potentially change some of the authorities we have. So author-ities deal with: what you can strike, what you can’t strike, at what lev-els you can do train, advise, assist,” Campbell told a group of reporters at the Pentagon.

“So I’ve asked for some modifi-cations.” The incoming command-er, General John Nicholson, will also get to weigh in on the matter, Campbell said. - Reuters

M I L I T A R Y A C T I V I T Y

China’s labour law under fire as restructuring threatens jobsBEIJING: China’s labour protec-tions are coming under fire from high places as economic restruc-turing pits officials concerned about social stability against a lobby arguing inflexible policies are stifling job creation and sup-pressing wages.

Company executives, especially at foreign or private firms, have long been critical of labour con-tract legislation and minimum wage laws that make it difficult for owners of an ailing business to turn it around or find willing buy-ers. Now policymakers anxious to modernise China’s slowing econo-my and slash overcapacity in heavy industry are making similar noises.

The export powerhouse prov-ince of Guangdong, a trillion-dol-lar economy that often leads the

way on market reforms, said on Tuesday it would scrap scheduled rises to the local minimum wage in 2016, and keep it at 2015 levels — slightly over 1,500 yuan ($230) per month — through 2018.

CriticisedOn the same day, the official Xin-hua media service highlighted comments by finance minister Lou Jiwei, who criticised China’s Labour Contract Law in a speech during the annual meeting of par-liament. The law dates to 2008, when China had a reputation for sweatshops staffed by underpaid workers, an embarrassment for a ruling party that monopolised power in the name of socialism.

The law fixed a 40-hour working week for most employees, regulat-

ed maternity leave, and required businesses to be able to prove their case for sacking employees for in-competence or criminality or face heavy penalties.

Its standards aspire to those of developed economies, rather than emerging markets, though en-forcement is weak. The EU, for ex-ample, limits the working week to 48 hours, while China’s maximum is about the same, after allowing up to 36 hours a month overtime.

Regulations say minimum wages should be between 40 and 60 per cent of the local average - though in practice 30-40 per cent is typical - compared with about 30 per cent in the United States and 50 per cent in Britain.

Protections against dismissal are comparable to Japan’s. “The

Chinese government wanted the best, the most polished labour leg-islation they could find, and simply imposed it on an economy that couldn’t cope with it,” said Geof-frey Crothall, communications director at China Labour Bulletin.

Chinese wages have risen at double-digit rates since the 2008 act, so factory workers now earn significantly higher than competi-tors in Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia, and some think labour protections are hampering an eco-nomic transformation that will benefit workers in the long run.

“For enterprises and employees, the extent of protection afforded by the Labour Contract Law is unbalanced,” Lou said, adding it encouraged companies to moves jobs from China to other coun-

tries. “Who eventually bears the costs? The working class who the law was intended to protect,” Lou said. Labour activists say the pro-tections are still needed, and busi-nesses often break labour law with impunity, especially if they have local government connections.

The Xinhua article was circu-lated in both Chinese and English with supportive comments from regulators, exciting speculation that changes to the law could be afoot. The timing could suit Bei-jing, which aims to reduce overca-pacity in several industries, laying off an estimated 6 million workers at state-owned firms in the pro-cess. It wants to do so without a spike in unemployment or crimp-ing domestic consumption, but strong labour protections make

companies unwilling to create new jobs or pay much for the jobs they do create.

Many economists say China has posted lacklustre business activity and investment figures — while of-ficial unemployment stays below 5 per cent — precisely because companies saddled with high wage bills and low profit margins can’t cut debt or invest.

“It’s better to support work-ers than supporting loss-making firms,” Li Yining, an economist at Peking University, said on the sidelines of the annual parliament meeting on Sunday. Local officials have reason to be cautious about diluting protections, however, as a rise in worker protests in their patch can be both physically dan-gerous and career limiting. -Reuters

R E G U L A T I O N S

US, South Korea stage assault drill; North warns of attacks

POHANG (South Korea): US and South Korean troops staged a big amphibious landing exercise on Saturday, storming simulated North Korean beach defences amid heightened tension and threats by the North to annihilate its enemies.

The landing and assault drills on South Korea’s east coast were part of eight weeks of joint exercises between the allies which the South has said are the largest ever.

The North has denounced the exercises as “nuclear war moves” and threatened to respond with an all-out offensive.

Tension on the Korean penin-sula has been high since the North conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and followed that with a long-range rocket launch last month, triggering new UN sanc-tions. About 55 US marine aircraft

and 30 US and South Korean ships, including the USS Bonhomme Richard and USS Boxer, which carry AV-8B Harrier attack jets and V-22 Osprey aircrafts, took part in the assault on beaches near Pohang city, the US navy said.

“They will penetrate notional enemy beach defences, establish a beach head, and rapidly transition forces and sustainment ashore,”

the US military based in South Korea said in a statement before the exercise.

The North’s military said it was prepared to counter the US and South Korean forces “with an ultra-precision blitzkrieg strike of the Korean style”.

“The revolutionary armed forc-es of the DPRK holding tightly the arms to annihilate the enemies with towering hatred for them are waiting for the dignified Supreme Command to issue an order to launch a preemptive strike of jus-tice,” it said in comments carried by the state KCNA news agency.

Missing submarineDPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. CNN reported on Saturday that North Korea has been searching for one of its submarines that has been missing for days off its east coast. The submarine may be adrift un-

der the sea or have sunk, perhaps after a technical problem dur-ing an exercise, CNN quoted US officials with intelligence of secret US monitoring of the North’s activities as saying.

North Korea has said it is devel-oping submarine-launched ballis-tic missiles although doubts about that were raised after Western experts said publicly released foot-age of tests appeared to be fake.

On Thursday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watched as his forces fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea.

This month the North conduct-ed drills with what it said were newly developed large caliber rocket launchers. Kim has ordered the country to improve its nuclear attack capability by conducting more tests, in defiance of a UN Se-curity Council resolution adopted last week in response to the iso-lated state’s latest nuclear test.

Kim also said his country had miniaturised nuclear warheads to mount on ballistic missiles, although the US and South Ko-rean governments have expressed doubts about that too. - Reuters

North Korea has

denounced the

exercises as ‘nuclear

war moves’ and

threatened to respond

with an all-out

offensive

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TAKING POSITION: South Korean (blue headbands) and US Marines take positions as amphibious assault vehicles of the South Korean Marine Corps fire smoke bombs during a US-South Korea joint landing operation drill in Pohang, South Korea,on Saturday. - Reuters

Rampant roosters rounded up in SydneySYDNEY: Roosters running rampant in an Australian city were rounded up on Saturday in a campaign to curb the unwant-ed birds. The Tasmanian state capital of Hobart, and its south-ern fringe in particular, has been plagued by feral fowls for the past five or six years, according to resident and Southern Tas-manian Bantam Club secretary Steven Baldock.

“They’re crowing and carry-ing on,” Baldock said.

People who keep chickens for their eggs often abandoned roosters, which do not produce eggs, he said. “We’ve got people dumping them on the side of the road,” Baldock said.

An “amnesty” organised by the Bantam Club and the Royal Tasmanian Agricultural Society on Saturday to encourage peo-ple to hand in unwanted birds, no questions asked, resulted in more than 150 fowls being brought in, he said.

Some would be re-homed with breeders, while the rest would be euthanised. - Reuters

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The end of globalisation?Daniel Gros

China has just announced that last year, for the first time since it began opening up its economy to the world at the end of the

1970s, exports declined on an annual basis. And that is not all; in value terms, global trade declined in 2015. The obvious question is why.

While global trade also fell in 2009, the expla-nation was obvious: The world was experiencing a sharp contraction in GDP at the time. Last year, however, the world economy grew by a respectable 3 per cent. Moreover, trade barriers have not risen significantly anywhere, and transport costs are falling, owing to the sharp decline in oil prices.

Tellingly, the so-called Baltic Dry Index, which measures the cost of chartering the large ships that carry most long-distance trade, has fallen to an all-time low. This indicates that markets do not expect a recovery, meaning that the data from 2015 could herald a new age of slowing trade. The obvi-ous conclusion is that the once-irresistible forces of globalisation are losing steam.

The situation in China is telling. In recent dec-ades, as it became the world’s leading trading econ-omy, China transformed the global trading system. Now the value of both imports and exports have fallen, though the former have declined more, ow-ing to the collapse of global commodity prices.

In fact, commodity prices are the key to under-standing trade trends over the last few decades. When they were high, they drove increased trade — to the point that the share of trade to GDP rose — fueling hype about the inevitable progress of glo-balisation. But in 2012, commodity prices began to fall, soon bringing trade down with them.

Assume that one ton of steel and ten barrels of oil are needed to produce one car. In 2002-2003, that bundle of raw materials was worth around $800, or about 5 per cent of the value of a $16,000 car. This implies that, during the early 2000s, industrial countries had to export five cars for every one hundred bundles of these raw materials they imported.

By 2012-2013, the value of the raw materials needed for a car increased to about $2,000, about 10 per cent of the cost of the same car (prices of cars had increased by much less). Industrial coun-tries thus had to export double, namely ten cars for the same amount of imports of raw materials.

Clearly, there is a direct link between the trends in trade and commodity prices (see figure). Given that this connection affects all manufactured goods that require raw material inputs, it should be no surprise that, as commodity prices have de-clined, so has global trade.

One might argue that this example concerns only the value of trade, and that in recent decades, the growth of trade by volume also has exceeded that of real GDP growth. But commodity prices affect trade volumes as well, because higher commodity prices force industrial countries to increase the volume of their exports (ten cars instead of five, in the example provided), in order to cover the costs of the same volume of raw material imports.

Because food, fuels, and raw materials comprise about a quarter of global trade, when their prices fluctuate — especially as strongly as they have in recent decades — aggregate trade figures are obvi-ously affected. Given the massive drop in commod-ity prices lately, there is little need to seek any oth-er explanation for the recent slowdown in trade.

This is not to say that globalisation and trade are one and the same. Globalisation entails many other features, including the surge in cross-border financial transactions and tourism, data exchange, and other economic activities.

In fact, these other interconnections have fed back into trade, as they have enabled the emer-gence of global value chains, whereby different steps of the production process occur in diffe-rent countries.

But this phenomenon has been overestimated. According to the World Trade Organisation, the foreign value-added contained in exports is only around 15 per cent for most large economies, such as the United States and the European Union. In other words, global value chains have little impact on these larger trading economies.

China is the only exception. Its position as an assembly platform for the world’s products meant that it imported most of the highest value-added elements of those goods. But as the country’s in-dustrial structure matures — Chinese-assembled iPhones now contain more Chinese-made parts than they did just a few years ago — it will move closer to the US and the EU in value-added terms, not the other way around.

This is yet another reason why trade might di-minish in importance.

When something is widely hyped, there is nearly always a real reason for it.

Most economies are more open today than they were a generation ago.

But it is now becoming clear that the percep-tion that globalisation is some overwhelming and inexorable force largely reflected the side effects of the last decade’s commodity boom. If prices re-main low, as seems likely, the next decade might well see global trade stagnate, as the trade pattern “rebalances” from emerging economies to the es-tablished industrial powers. - Project Syndicate.

Cuba shows how to deal with West’s policies This refers to news story EU pact to establish full ties as Cuba’s thaw with West progresses (March 11). The change in the behaviour of Western countries shows that if a country’s leadership is determined

and is able to keep its citizens united behind it with astute leadership then no one can detablise it. Kudos to the leader-ship of the Castro brothers who have been able to deliver their promises and yet have not fallen victims to the West’s policies of divide and rule. Under Fidel, the Carib-bean nation might have been less moneyed but the education and health sectors were worldclass. —Matt Smith, Darsait

Need to make T20 only form of cricket This refers to the report, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe to qualify for main round (March 12). The result of this match shows why the International Cricket Council needs to fol-low the example of football’s governing body FIFA. It is high time T20 is made the sole

form of cricket and for the world cup 32 teams participate. Football has been developed in this pattern so why cannot cricket too. This will make cricket as possible as football as not much net time would be required. — Waheeda Shirazi, Muscat

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Ministry launches human resources information projectMUSCAT: The Civil Service Ministry yesterday announced the start of the implementation stage of the human resources information sys-tem project. The announcement was made during a seminar attended by Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Mattar Al Azizi, civil service minister, and senior ministry officials. The project director explained what has al-ready been achieved in it, the most important activities in the imple-mentation plan, the factors which guarantee the success of the project and the mechanisms to implement it. This project is among the vital projects to which the ministry attaches great importance as it links all government units and enables these units to utilise the data which as-sist in planning process and decision making.

1881: Russia’s Czar Alexander II is assassinated

1940: Finland capitulates conditionally to Soviet terms, but maintains its independence.

1985 Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the new leader of USSR.

1991: Exxon pays $1 billion in fines and costs for the clean-up of the Alaskan oil spill.

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RAPHAËL HADAS-LEBEL

Republican candidate Ted Cruz’s varied efforts to break into Donald Trump’s electoral palace — finding a door locked, he tries the window

— will doubtless continue. But Thursday night’s debate only

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When police showed up at his door on the morning of March 4,

the former leader apparently said he would only leave in handcuffs,

although he agreed to go after talking to his lawyer. The public reacted strongly, with angry supporters

rushing to Lula’s defence, likening his detention to a coup and scuffling

with anti-Lula protesters

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Oman’s Zeeshan Maqsood pulled off a sensational catch to claim the wicket of Ireland’s Paul Stirling in the World T20 in India.

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CHINA: OMAN’S OIL TOP BUYERIn January, Oman exported more than 27 million oil barrels, of which, China buyed

almost the 90%

SouthKorea

500,500

China

24,420,300

Total oilexports

27,327,500

Taiwan

998,900

Singapore

606,300

Othercountries

801,500

Photo: RthathWeather

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FLOODS IN BRAZILA flooded amusement park is seen in the city of Franco da Rocha, in the north of Sao Paulo state, Brazil, on Friday. — Reuters

Google software in Go game series win over title holder

SEOUL: Google’s artificial intel-ligence (AI) programme on Satur-day took a 3-0 lead in a five-match series against one of the world’s top players of the complicated board game Go.

The victory for the AlphaGo programme, designed by Google subsidiary DeepMind, over South Korean professional player Lee

Sedol, the holder of 18 interna-tional titles, has surprised many, including its designers and has underscored advances in AI.

“I am very sorry for the power-less display,” a dejected Lee told reporters in the South Korean capital, Seoul, after his defeat.

“Though I have a lot of experi-ence in Go I have never felt before such severe pressure as I do now, and I suppose my abilities were a bit lacking to overcome that.”

Go, most popular in countries such as China, South Korea and Japan, involves two contestants

moving black and white stones on a square grid, with the aim of seiz-ing the most territory.

Experts did not expect an arti-ficial intelligence programme to beat a human professional for at least a decade, until AlphaGo beat a player last year.

But Lee, 33, had been expected to put up stiffer competition than the player defeated then.

Speechless“To be honest we are a bit stunned and speechless,” said DeepMind founder Demis Hassibis, who earlier tweeted that AlphaGo’s victory was a “historic mo-ment.” Google executives say Go offers too many possible moves for a machine to win simply through brute-force calculations, unlike chess, in which IBM’s Deep Blue famously beat former world champion Garry Kasparov in 1997.

Instead, they said, AlphaGo has sought to approximate human in-tuition, by studying old matches and using simulated games to hone itself independently.

Lee had initially expected to win the series, even if he were to lose a match or two.

Two more matches will be played - on Sunday and Tuesday.

Not perfectHe said AlphaGo was not perfect and had weaknesses, although he did not elaborate on them, hold-ing out hope that someone might beat it.

“Lee Sedol is the one who lost today, not humanity,” he said.

A top player in China fancies his chances. — Reuters

The victory for the

AlphaGo programme,

designed by

Google subsidiary

DeepMind, over

South Korean

professional player

Lee Sedol, the holder

of 18 international

titles, underscored

advances in artificial

intelligence

Riot breaks out at US prison centreBIRMINGHAM (US): A riot broke out at a prison in south-ern Alabama, authorities said on Saturday, and a local news website said inmates had set fires and overturned beds.

An unidentified dispatcher with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the disturbance at the Holman Correctional Facility in At-more, about 50 miles (80 km) north of Mobile, but declined to give details about the situation.

It was unclear what caused the riot and whether there were any casualties. “We are not tak-ing any calls,” said a woman who answered the phone at the prison. She then hung up.

Setting firesNews website Al.com posted photos and a video it said showed prisoners setting fires and roaming freely in the facility.

Several inmates covered their faces with white towels in the video, which appeared to have been shot by an inmate.

The website said prisoners were using social media to re-port that “gates are rolled up” and that they had overturned beds. — Reuters

A L A B A M A

Peruvians hold demo against poll frontrunnerLIMA: Thousands of Peruvians marched in downtown Lima on Friday to demand the electoral board bar presidential frontrunner Keiko Fujimori from next month’s vote after it disqualified two of her rivals in an unprecedented move that has shaken the race.

Protesters said the centre-right politician should be thrown from the race because pictures and vid-eo show her and a running mate handing out gifts and prizes at ral-lies in possible violation of a new law against vote-buying.

Electoral authorities are inves-tigating the accusations.

Keiko, the 40-year-old daughter of imprisoned ex-president Al-berto Fujimori, has dismissed the accusations as “absurd.”

Her press officer did not im-mediately respond to requests for comment outside regular working hours.

One of Keiko’s rivals was thrown out of the race on Wednesday for giving cash to poor voters while campaigning.

Her biggest obstacle to winning, Julio Guzman, was disqualified because his party did not comply with electoral procedures - a deci-sion he called “fraud” that threat-ens to tarnish the legacy of the next president. The electoral board has denied wrongdoing or political bias. — Reuters

D I S Q U A L I F I C A T I O N S

‘Rocker Keith Emerson died from self-inflicted gunshot’NEW YORK: British-born key-boardist Keith Emerson of the 1970’s progressive rock band Em-erson, Lake & Palmer died from a self-inflicted single gunshot to his head, police said Friday.

He was 71. Emerson’s body was found by

local police at his Santa Monica, California, home in the early hours of Friday.

Police have preliminarily ruled the death a potential suicide, Santa Monica police spokesman Sergeant Rudy Camarena told Reuters.

Born in 1944 in the Yorkshire village of Todmorden, Emerson was a keyboardist for a number of groups in the 1960’s, including The Nice. But he was best known as a founding member of Emer-son, Lake & Palmer, a so-called “super group” of well-known rock musicians formed in 1970.

In addition to Emerson, the band included bassist Greg Lake, formerly of King Crimson, and drummer and percussionist Carl

Palmer, a veteran of several fa-mous English bands.

“Keith was a gentle soul whose love for music and passion for his performance as a keyboard player will remain unmatched for many years to come,” said Palmer on his website.

“He was a pioneer and an in-novator whose musical genius touched all of us in the worlds of rock, classical and jazz.”

The band posted about Emer-son’s passing on Facebook, ask-ing “that the family’s privacy and grief be respected.” — Reuters

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

DEBACLE: The world’s top Go player Lee Sedol reviews the match after the third match of the Google

DeepMind Challenge Match against Google’s artificial intelligence program AlphaGo in Seoul, South

Korea on Saturday. — Reuters/Google/Yonhap

Keith Emerson was best known as a founding member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, a so-called ‘super group’ of well-known rock musicians formed in 1970Keith Emerson

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Merkel’s migrant policy to be tested in German state polls

BERLIN: With a passionate de-fence of her migrant policy, Chan-cellor Angela Merkel threw her-self into one last campaign push on the eve of “Super Sunday” elec-tions in three German states that risk weakening her.

Migration is the touchstone issue in the three votes — two in western states, and one in the east — with many people worried how Germany can cope with a refugee crisis that saw over 1 mil-

lion migrants arrive in the country last year.

Merkel’s conservative Chris-tian Democrats (CDU) have been losing support to the anti-

immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has profited from popular angst about migrants after her high-risk decision last year to open

Germany’s borders to refugees fleeing war in Syria.

“There are situations in life - and this was the case last autumn — when you can’t hold a long de-

bate on principles,” Merkel said, defending her decision. “People are suddenly there and need pro-tection,” she told a CDU rally in Baden-Wuerttemberg, one of the three states voting on Sunday.

Already represented in five of Germany’s 16 regional par-liaments, the AfD looks set to burst into three more on Sunday, campaigning on slogans such as “Secure the borders! Stop the asylum chaos!” Now Merkel, in power since 2005 and facing a fed-eral election next year, is trying to secure a Europe-wide solution to stem the flow of refugees.

In Baden-Wuerttemberg, a CDU stronghold for over 50 years before turning to a Green-led coalition with the Social Democrats after Japan’s Fukush-ima nuclear disaster in 2011, the Greens’ state premier is poised to pip his CDU rival.

In Saxony-Anhalt in the east, the CDU is poised to remain the largest party but polls put the AfD on as much as 19 per cent support, and ahead of the Social Democrats (SPD), Merkel’s coalition partner in Berlin.

Asked how she would prepare for the election results, Merkel told Saturday’s rally: “I will cross my fingers.” — Reuters

Merkel’s Christian

Democrats have been

losing support to the

anti-immigration

Alternative for

Germany party,

which has profited

from popular angst

about migrants

US accuses Uganda of rights violationsNAIROBI: Uganda has persis-tently violated the rights of its citi-zens and media in the aftermath of last month’s presidential election which saw President Yoweri Mu-seveni retain his hold on power, the United States said.

US State Department spokes-man John Kirby said in a state-ment on Friday that Uganda’s repeated detention of opposi-tion figures and harassment of their supporter.

“The United States and Uganda have a long standing and strong partnership that has contributed to the stability and prosperity of the region,” the statement said.”We are concerned that the Ugandan government’s recent actions could endanger the economic and politi-cal progress that has enabled our relationship to grow.”

Uganda’s electoral commission declared Museveni, 71 and in pow-er since 1986, the winner of the February 18 election with 60 per cent of the vote.

House arrestKizza Besigye, who came in second with 35 per cent and has rejected the results as fraudulent, has been under virtual house arrest for weeks. — Reuters

P O L L A F T E R M A T H

HELPING HAND An employee feeds a one-month-old African grey parrot at the Royev Ruchey zoo in a surburb of Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia, on Friday. — Reuters

Attackers throw bomb at Kosovo president’s officePRISTINA: Masked assailants broke windows and threw a pet-rol bomb at the office of Koso-vo’s president on Saturday but failed to set fire to the building, police said.

No one claimed responsibility for the 4 am attack in the centre of the capital Pristina, which the government condemned as “dan-gerous for the constitutional or-der and the country’s stability.”

Kosovo is facing a political crisis, with the opposition de-nouncing an EU-brokered deal with Serbia to give more rights to local Serbs. The issue is highly emotive, eight years after Kosovo declared independence from Bel-grade and less than two decades after a war that drew in NATO.

“Masked people have hurled a petrol bomb at the president’s office,” the police said in a state-ment. “They broke the window with stones but failed to throw the petrol bomb inside and the bottle hit the wall.” The office was empty at the time and no one was injured. Part of a wall facing a busy road was blackened by smoke from the burning petrol.

Police were working to identify a white car they suspected was used by the assailants.

The office is used by outgo-ing President Atifete Jahjaga and will be taken over by newly elected president Hashim Thaci next month. Opposition lawmak-ers, angry at the deal with Serbia, released teargas in Kosovo’s par-liament and protesters outside threw petrol bombs in an unsuc-cessful attempt to block Thaci’s election last month.

Police are investigating simi-lar attacks in recent weeks in which private cars of govern-ment ministers were burned.

The opposition, which is de-

manding the resignation of the government and a snap election, has denied it is behind these at-tacks. They have called fresh pro-tests on March 26.

Kosovo declared independ-ence in 2008, almost a decade after NATO air strikes drove out Serbian security forces ac-cused of killing and expelling ethnic Albanian civilians during a counter-insurgency war.

Repeated attacksOpposition parties have repeat-edly released tear gas in parlia-ment in protest at the deal with Serbia and its supporters have thrown petrol bombs at govern-ment and parliament buildings including the private house of Prime Minister Isa Mustafa. In January they set a government building on fire. — Reuters

C O N S T I T U T I O N A L R O W

Opposition lawmakers,

angry at the deal

with Serbia, released

teargas in Kosovo’s

parliament and

protesters outside

threw petrol bombs

in an unsuccessful

attempt to block

Hashim Thaci’s

election last month

CRUNCH VOTE: Angela Merkel, German Chancellor addresses a Baden-Wuerttemberg state election campaign rally in Haigerloch, Germany on Saturday, ahead of Sunday’s regional elections in three states. Words read ‘Its about the country’. — Reuters

WARSAW: Tens of thousands of Poles marched through Warsaw on Saturday demanding their gov-ernment respect the constitution, in an escalation of a confrontation

pitting the opposition, the coun-try’s top court and the EU against the ruling conservatives.

Waving Polish and EU flags and chanting “constitution”, the

crowds on the opposition rally called on the government to recog-nise a court ruling against divisive legal reforms.

The eurosceptic Law and Jus-

tice (PiS) party has faced growing criticism from the European Un-ion, the United States and rights groups since it swept to power in October and increased controls on media and other institutions.

Poland’s constitutional court said on Wednesday that the gov-ernment’s decision to increase the number of its judges needed to make rulings was illegal, deepen-ing a crisis that has stirred con-cerns about democracy and the rule of law in the EU’s largest east-ern member.

Critics say the reforms, which also change the order in which cases are heard at the top court, have made it difficult for judges to review, let alone challenge, the government’s legislation. But the government on Saturday repeated its refusal to publish the constitu-tional court’s ruling in an official journal, saying the ruling itself was illegal and effectively leaving the court order in legal limbo.

It has argued the constitutional court is too powerful, allied to the last administration and deter-

mined to block reforms the party was elected to push through — charges dismissed by the court and rights groups. Large crowds gathered in front of a large banner reading “bring back the constitu-tional order” at the top court build-ing, then marched towards the presidential palace in Warsaw’s old town, filling a large part of the 3-km route.

In a Twitter entry, a city offi-cial put the number of protesters at more than 50,000, though that figure could not be confirmed in-dependently.

“Years ago, Poles protested to change the political system,” former World Bank economist Ryszard Petru, leader of the liberal opposition Modern party, told the crowds, referring to Poland’s anti-communist Solidarity movement.

“Now we’re protesting to make sure they don’t suddenly change it.” — Reuters

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Tens of thousands rally to demand Polish government respect charterPoland’s

constitutional court

said on Wednesday

that the government’s

decision to increase

number of its judges

needed to make

rulings was illegalFURIOUS: People hold a giant Polish national flag as they take part in a march demanding their government to respect the country’s constitution in Warsaw, Poland, on Saturday. — Reuters

IVORY COAST FESTIVAL A model presents a creation by Ivorian designer Momotche outside the palais de la culture in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on March 11, 2016 during the 9th edition of the MASA festival (Market For African Performing Arts. — AFP

Former employee of French embassy arrested in TehranDUBAI: A former employee of the French embassy in Tehran has been arrested at the airport after arriving in Iran to visit her critically ill mother, the opposi-tion website Kalemeh reported on Saturday.

Nazak Afshar, 58, who has French-Iranian citizenship, had previously been arrested in 2009 on charges of spying and of acting against Iran’s national security. Although she was put on trial at the time, no verdict was issued and she was freed following the intervention of the French gov-ernment. She left the country the same year.

Nazak had travelled to Iran to visit her mother after “doctors had given up hope of her recov-ery”, the website said, without giving details of the ailment.

The potential opening up to the West after last year’s nu-clear deal has alarmed Iranian conservatives and the arrest of Nazak and the detention of oth-er people with dual citizenship appear to be part of a crackdown on what some officials have called Western infiltration.

Siamak Namazi, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, was detained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in October while visiting family.

Baquer Namazi, Siamak’s 80-year-old father who is also a dual citizen, was arrested in Feb-ruary on his arrival in Tehran.

An Iranian-British former BBC journalist, Bahman Da-roshafaei, was also detained in February but was released on bail three weeks later.

Officials have yet to an-nounce charges against them but Iran’s judiciary spokes-man said last month that most of the detained dual nationals face espionage charges.

Iran does not recognise dual nationality.

Tehran released four Iranian-Americans and one other U.S. citizen in January in a prisoner swap with the United States, which granted clemency to seven Iranians and dropped arrest or-ders for 14 others. — Reuters

W E S T E R N I N F I L T R A T I O N F E A R E D

Nazak Afshar, 58, who has French-Iranian citizenship, had previously been arrested in 2009 on charges of spying and of acting against Iran’s national security

CHICAGO: US Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on Saturday blamed or-ganised “thugs” for protests that shut down his Chicago rally and said the incident had “energised America.”

Trump, who will be at a cam-paign rally in Dayton, Ohio, on Saturday, cancelled the Chicago event on Friday after it turned chaotic, with scuffles breaking out between protesters and backers of the real estate magnate.

“The organised group of peo-ple, many of them thugs, who shut down our First Amendment rights in Chicago, have totally energised America!” Trump said on Twitter.

The First Amendment to the US Constitution protects freedom of speech and assembly.

The Chicago rally came ahead of five primary elections on Tuesday, including contests in Ohio and Il-linois. Trump has drawn fervent support as well as criticism for his calls to build a wall along the US-Mexico border and to impose a

temporary ban on Muslims enter-ing the country. His rallies often attract small groups of protesters, but Friday’s was the first at which there may have been as many pro-testers as supporters.

Asked by CNN interviewer Don Lemon if he would take back anything he had said, Trump said: “Now, getting back to before to-night, when I talked about illegal immigration, I have no regrets

whatsoever. If I didn’t bring up illegal immigration, it wouldn’t even be a subject of the campaign,” he added.

At the University of Illinois-Chicago stadium rally the two sides shouted at each other until a Trump staffer appeared and said the event would be put off until an unspecified date for security rea-sons. Police said five people were arrested, including CBS News re-porter Sopan Deb.

Two officers were injured, with one requiring stitches, police said.

The cancellation followed an appearance by Trump in St. Louis

on Friday during which protests forced him to halt his speech re-peatedly. Republican rival candi-dates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio both called the incident “sad” and said the protesters should have let the rally happen.

Trump has a significant lead in primary contests over the three remaining Republicans vying for the White House. He is looking to cement it on Tuesday.

Ohio Governor John Kasich, also battling Trump, told report-ers before a campaign event in Cincinnati that Trump had “cre-ated a toxic environment.” — Reuters

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Trump blames ‘thugs’ for cancelled Chicago eventUS presidential

election race’s

Chicago event

on Friday was

cancelled after it

turned chaotic, with

scuffles breaking out

between protesters

and backers of

the Republican

frontrunner

CHAOTIC SCENES: A Trump supporter, right, yells at a demonstrator, left, after Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump

cancelled his rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago on Friday. — Reuters

Nationalists plan new push for Scottish independenceGLASGOW: The Scottish Nation-al Party (SNP) will start building a new case for independence from the United Kingdom this summer, party leader and Scottish govern-ment head Nicola Sturgeon said on Saturday.

She said, however, that a second Scottish referendum after the one the party lost in September 2014 would not take place quickly.

“We want to be in the driving seat of our own destiny,” Sturgeon told 3,000 delegates at the SNP’s spring conference.

“We will not achieve our dream of independence just by wishing that the outcome of the referen-dum had been different.

“Or wishing we could do it all again next week.”

“This summer the SNP will em-bark on a new initiative to build support for independence,” she said, to a standing ovation.

Senior British politicians have said that if Britain votes to leave the European Union in a June vote but Scots show they want to stay, this could provide a trigger for a second Scottish secessionist drive.

Success would depend on the strength of the arguments for independence this time around, she said, a nod to the fact that some party insiders have criti-cised the last campaign for be-ing too dependent on the value of North Sea oil.

Scots voted 55 to 45 per cent against independence in 2014, but the collapse of the Labour and the Conservative parties vaulted the SNP to unprecedented gains in the British election in 2015, where it won almost all the seats assigned to Scotland in the parliament at Westminster. — Reuters

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Orpic completes $3.8b funding for Liwa Plastics Industries

Times News Service

MUSCAT: State-owned Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Indus-tries Company (Orpic) said that the company has closed its Liwa Plastics Industries Complex’s $3.8 billion project financing facility for its $6.5 billion project.

This follows Orpic’s Decem-ber 2015 announcement of the successful award of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts to deliver its landmark Liwa Plastics Indus-tries Project (LPIC), according to a press statement.

Commenting on the signifi-cance of LPIC’s project financ-ing, Orpic chief executive officer Musab Al Mahruqi said, “Orpic’s LPIC project is part of our long-term growth strategy to firmly en-ter into the petrochemical market. This financing facility, which is the largest ever project financing transaction to be achieved in the Sultanate, is an indication of the level of confidence and support Orpic has from key institutions and stakeholders.”

Liwa Plastics Industries Com-plex financing has been sup-ported by export credit agencies

representing the governments of Italy (SACE Cdp), the Netherlands (Atradius Dutch State Business), Korea (K-Exim and K-Sure), the United Kingdom (UKEF) and Ger-many (Euler Hermes), along with 19 international, regional and local commercial lenders.

lead arrangersMandated lead arrangers and ar-rangers of the LPIC project financ-ing were Arab Banking Corpora-tion, BankDhofar, Bank Muscat, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, BNP Paribas Fortis, Cassadepositi e prestitis, CréditIndustriel et Com-

mercial, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Export De-velopment Canada, HSBC Bank, ING Bank (a branch of ING-DI-BA), JPMorgan Chase Bank, KfW IPEX-Bank, Korea Development Bank, NATIXIS, Saudi National Commercial Bank, Société Géné-rale, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and UniCredit.

“Liwa Plastic Industries Com-plex represents a robust and resil-ient project to lenders – satisfying the highest international environ-ment and social requirements, and provides appropriate frameworks to address each of the technical,

commercial and legal challenges which customarily arise on major world-scale petrochemical pro-jects. The company has been able to successfully secure financing amid challenging global financial and economic conditions and with limited government guarantees which reflects the trust that in-ternational financing institutions have placed on the project and the investment climate within the Sul-tanate,” added Al Mahruqi.

Orpic completed the financing of Liwa Plastic Industries Complex on a highly accelerated timetable, which was designed to coincide

with the scheduled commence-ment of works on the project con-struction packages. Commission-ing for the Liwa Plastic Industries Complex project is scheduled to be completed in 2020.

Global plastics marketUpon commissioning in 2020, Orpic’s Liwa Plastics Industries Complex Project will transform Orpic’s product mix and business model, double company profit, cre-ate new business opportunities, generate significant employment opportunities and support the de-velopment of a downstream plas-tics industry in Oman.

With the global market for plas-tics growing, the $6.5 billion Liwa Plastics Industries Complex will firmly establish Orpic as a recog-nised player in the international pet-rochemicals marketplace – enabling Oman, for the first time, to produce polyethylene, the form of plastic that rates highest in terms of global demand and increased the current production of polypropylene.

Following commissioning, plas-tics production is forecast to in-crease by more than 1 million tons, giving Orpic a total of 1.4 million tons of polyethylene and polypro-pylene production.

Financing has been

supported by export

credit agencies

representing the

governments of Italy,

the Netherlands,

Korea, the UK and

Germany, along with

19 global, regional

and local lenders

Al Bashair plans to invest OMR37m in red meat projectMUSCAT: Al Bashair Meat Com-pany, which aims to provide fresh red meat to cover the shortage in local production, will invest OMR37 million during the initial stages of the project.

The new company, which hopes to achieve self-sufficiency by us-ing state-of-the-art technology and business operations, said the shortage of red meat currently stands at 80 per cent.

The company’s founding as-sembly recently held its first meet-ing under the chairmanship of Dr Rashid bin Salim Al Masrouri, chairman of the Founding Commit-tee and chairman of the Oman Food Investment Holding Company.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the funds and the investment companies invest-ing in the project — Oman Food Investment Holding Company, Oman National Investments De-velopment Company, Oman Investment Corporation, Civil Service Pension Fund and Arab Agriculture Development and In-vestment Authority.

The meeting discussed a report of the founding committee on the measures adopted to incorporate the company, a study on the cost of incorporation and getting approv-al, the election of new company board members, the appointment of auditors and fixing their fees for the first year.

Mohammed bin ObaidAl Maz-roui, chairman of the Arab Author-ity for Investment and Agricultur-al Development said the authority

is considering several investment projects, such as dairy production collection and a manufacturing project in the Governorate of Dho-far, a project for the production of vegetables using hydroponic tech-nology and a project for chicken.

Food securityMohammed bin Salim Al Awaid, representative of the Oman Na-tional Animal Wealth Develop-ment at the Al Bashair Meet Company said the project is a translation of the government’s directives and ambitious plans to achieve food security and added value for the Omani economy. Moreover, the project will gener-ate job opportunities for Omanis, he added.

Saleh bin Mohammed Al Shan-fari, member of the founding com-mittee and chief executive officer of Oman Food Investment Holding said the company will continue the initiatives in food security, espe-cially in the projects that will en-hance the Sultanate’s position as a hub for food products manufactur-ing and production. - ONA

N E W P R O J E C T

Oman’s inflation drops marginally in FebruaryMUSCAT: Oman’s inflation, based on consumer price index (CPI), fell by 0.07 per cent in February from January this year, while on a year-on-year basis, it increased 0.32 per cent, accord-ing to latest data published by the National Centre for Statis-tics and Information.

The food and beverages (non-alcoholic) set carrying a weight of nearly 24 per centin the CPI basket led the monthly fall with a price slump of 1.36 per cent, which was slightly offset by ris-ing prices of the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels subset (with a weight of over 26 per cent) at 0.03 per cent.

Under the food and beverages

set, bread and cereals went down by 0.11 per cent, while fish and seafood saw prices fall by 1.08 per cent.

Prices of meat, and milk, cheese and eggs subsets rose by 0.15 per centand 0.08 per centre-spectively in February 2016 com-pared to January 2016 prices.

Oils and fats riseOils and fats rose 0.11 per cent, while a price fall was recorded in the fruits and vegetables sub-sets at 2.93 per centand 8.95 per centrespectively. Sugar, honey and confectionary subset prices increased 0.05 per cent, while non-alcoholic beverages rose by 0.14 per cent.

Tobacco went up 0.04 per cent, while clothing and footwear, and furnishing, household applianc-es and maintenance sets logged a price fall of 0.05 per centand 0.35 per centrespectively in February compared with January.

Prices stabilised in the health, education and communication sets over the period, even as transport prices hiked by 1.32 per cent. Recreation and culture turned more affordable by 0.07 per cent, while restaurants and hotels became costlier by 0.07 per cent.

Prices of other goods and ser-vices increased 0.17 per centin February compared to the previ-ous month. - ONA

E C O N O M Y

Sultanate to sign deal for temporary water projectsTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Oman Power and Wa-ter Procurement Company, the sole procurer of all new power generation and water desalination capacity in the Sultanate, will sign a water purchase agreement to es-tablish the Qurayyat and Aseelah temporary desalination plants with Muscat Water at a ceremony to be held on Monday, according to a press release.

The total potable water output of Qurayyat plant is 8,000 cubic metres per day (1.76 million gal-lon per day) whereas total potable water output of Aseelah plant is 10,000 cubic metres per day (2.2 million gallon per day).

The projects will be structured as Independent Water Projects (IWPs) with OPWP purchasing the potable water produced by the pro-ject under a water purchase agree-ment. The scope of the project, which will be located in Qurayyat in Muscat governorate and Jalan Bani Bu Ali in Sharqiyah South governorate, includes the design, construction, ownership, opera-tion and maintenance of a high ef-ficiency reverse osmosis desalina-tion facilities.

Aqua Swiss holds 70 per cent stake in Muscat Water while Al Sulaimi Group Holding holds 30 per cent. Both projects are due to begin operations by mid-2016.

A few days ago, Oman Power and Water Procurement signed OMR115 million ($300 million) agreements to establish the Barka Desalination Company.

P O T A B L E W A T E R

The new company,

which hopes to achieve

self-sufficiency by

using state-of-the-art

technology, said the

shortage of red meat in

the country is 80 per

cent at the moment.

INFLATION EASES: Under the food and beverages sub-group, bread and cereals went down by 0.11

per cent, while fish and seafood saw prices falling by 1.08 per cent. - ONA

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Musab Al Mahruqi, Chief execu-

tive officer, Orpic– Supplied picture

GIANT LEAP: Orpic had announced the successful award of engineering, procurement and construction

contracts to deliver its landmark Liwa Plastics Industries Project. – File picture

MALAYSIA SET TO APPOINT NEW CENTRAL BANK CHIEFA top Malaysian Finance Ministry official is set to be appointed as central bank governor next week, said a report. Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah will replace Zeti Akhtar Aziz as central bank chief. - Reuters

B2

MARKETS U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

US rejects largescale Jordan gas export proposalNEW YORK: United States regulators rejected Veresen’s multibillion-dollar proposal to build a terminal in the US state of Oregon that would export as many as two tankers of natural gas a week. They also denied its plan to a build a pipeline with Williams Partners to supply gas to the terminal.

Williams and Veresen failed to demonstrate that the pipeline’s benefits would outweigh the “ad-verse effects on landowners,” the Federal Energy Regulatory Com-mission has said in an order de-nying authorisation. And without a pipeline supplying gas, the Jor-dan Cove export terminal “can provide no benefit to the public to counterbalance” the impacts associated with its construction, the agency said.

The rejection throws into ques-tion the future of a project that has waited almost three years for regulatory approval. A worldwide glut of liquefied natural gas is meanwhile emerging, threaten-ing the economics of such export terminals in the US. As much as half of the nation’s LNG export capacity is at risk of being shut between 2017 and 2020, accord-ing to the research and consulting group Wood Mackenzie.

“Jordan Cove was one of the few projects off the West Coast we would have expected to move forward,” Het Shah, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in New York, said by e-mail late Friday. The terminal would have “brought much-needed relief” to gas markets in Western Canada and the Rockies by creating an-other outlet for the region’s pro-duction, he said.

Extremely surprisedCalgary-based Veresen said in a statement that it was “extremely surprised and disappointed” by the decision and plans to request

a rehearing on it. “We will contin-ue to advance negotiations with customers to address this con-cern,” Don Althoff, the company’s chief executive officer, said.

Williams, based in Oklahoma City, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

While Veresen has estimated in previous presentations that the Jordan Cove terminal would cost $5.3 billion, a report issued by the federal energy commis-sion’s staff last year estimated construction would total about $3 billion.

Shale boomJordan Cove is not the first ter-minal to have been rejected by the federal energy commission, but it may be the first export pro-ject to be denied since the US shale boom touched off a flurry of applications to send natural gas abroad. The commission had ap-proved at least seven export plans as of January 6 and was weighing applications for nine more, in-cluding Jordan Cove, reports on its website show.

Veresen had proposed to build four “trains,” or LNG production plants, at Jordan Cove that would have been capable of making 6.8 million metric tonnes of LNG a year. The 373-kilometre, $1.74 billion Pacific Connector gas pipeline proposed to supply the plant would have been owned by Veresen and Williams Partners.

The project has been mired in regulatory setbacks since it was first proposed, from delays over a state water permit to the extension of its public comment-ing period. “The more adverse impact a project would have on a particular interest, the greater the showing of need and public benefits required to balance the adverse impact,” the federal en-ergy commission said in its order on Friday. - Bloomberg News

N A T U R A L G A S

Bank credit in Oman grows 8.4 per cent to OMR18.32b

MUSCAT: Total bank credit of commercial banks in the Sultan-ate by the end of December 2015 amounted to OMR18,316.4 million compared to OMR16,898.4 million during the same period of 2014, an increase of 8.4 per cent.

A quarterly bulletin issued by the Research and Statistics De-partment of the Central Bank of

Oman (CBO) said that the per-sonal loan disbursement was OMR7,333.9 million, which in-dicates 40 per cent of the total commercial loan. The construc-tion sector received OMR2,89.4 million, with a share of 11.4 per cent. The service sector received OMR1,500.8 million, with 8.2 per cent share, followed by the indus-

trial sector at OMR1,458.1 million, with 8 per cent.

The bulletin pointed out that the import sector received OMR1,78.6 million, with 5.9 per cent. Trans-port and Communications sector got OMR999.9 million, with 5.5 percent. The financial institutions sector received OMR920.7 mil-lion, with a share of 5 per cent.

The mining sector (mining and quarrying) got OMR808.4 million, with 4.4 per cent.

The electricity, gas and water sector received OMR758.4 million, showing a share of 4.1 per cent.

The wholesale and retail trade sector got OMR631.9 million, with 3.5 per cent, followed by agricul-ture and related activities sector, which got OMR57.6 million, with

0.3 per cent. The export sector got OMR13.8 million, with 0.1 per cent, followed by the government sector at OMR12.1 million, by 0.1 per cent.

The bulletin said that the size of the bank credit in the Sultan-ate for other economic activities amounted to OMR460.3 million, a growth of 2 per cent, while bank credit for non-residents amounted to OMR192.5 million, by 1.1 per cent of the total volume of bank credit. - ONA

Personal loans were OMR7,333.9m, which

shows a 40% share in total commercial credit,

according to the Central Bank of Oman

Marissa hopes to lead Yahooeven if firm changes hands CALIFORNIA: Marissa Mayer is hopeful of keeping her job lead-ing Yahoo! even if the struggling Web pioneer changes hands.

Under pressure from inves-tors and facing a potential proxy fight, the chief executive officer has pledged to do what’s best for shareholders as Yahoo reviews alternatives for separating its core Internet business from a stake in Alibaba Group. There are many viable options for splitting the company, Mayer said during an interview on Thursday on the ‘Charlie Rose Show’.

Those included being acquired by a strategic buyer or private eq-uity, along with a reverse-spin to extricate the core Web operations from its Chinese holdings. “I cer-tainly hope the strategic alterna-tive has a place for me,” she said. “But that said, we’ll obviously honor our commitments to our shareholders.”

Mayer is considering strategic options for the company even as she tries to drive a turnaround with a new plan for sparking growth. Activist investor Star-board Value, which has been criti-cal of her efforts to restore growth and boost shareholder returns, has taken initial steps for a poten-tial proxy fight that could recast the board with new directors, people familiar with the matter said last month.

Yahoo’s future“The primary issue is Yahoo, our technology, the employees, the services, the end-users -- how do we get that to the best possible place for Yahoo and find it the best possible future,” she said. “I’m secondary to that.”

Mayer expressed confidence in the turnaround plan, saying she can see success coming closer though most similar efforts can take five to seven years.

Mayer said that, among other options, Yahoo going private may give her the opportunity to drive new recovery plans away from public scrutiny.

The company has said the turn-

around includes cutting costs to drive efficiency and invest in more promising opportunities. Yahoo announced Friday it would shut down Livetext, a messaging app, at the end of the month. The service, which was rolled out with fanfare last year, enabled users to communicate via video — without audio — and text.

The company will incorporate the ‘learnings and features’ into products including Yahoo Mes-senger, she said.

Yahoo also said it was closing regional media properties, in-cluding the astrology service in countries such as France and In-dia. – Bloomberg News

T E C H N O L O G Y

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CREDIT GROWS: According to the Central Bank of Oman, construction sector received OMR2,89.4 million credit, with a share of 11.4 per

cent. The service sector received OMR1,500.8 million, with 8.2 per cent share. – Times file picture

STRATEGIC OPTIONS: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is considering

strategic options for the company even as she tries to drive a

turnaround with a new plan for sparking growth. – Bloomberg News

B3S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

MARKETUAE retains leading position among Oman’s export markets

A. E. JAMESbusinesseditor@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Oman’s neighbouring country, the United Arab Emir-ates (UAE), retained its position as the main destination of Sultan-ate’s non-oil exports in the first nine months of 2015.

The Sultanate’s non-oil exports to the UAE touched OMR468.7 million, indicating a 19.8 per cent share in OMR2,364.1 million non-oil exports of the country in the first three quarters of 2015, according to the latest statistics from National Centre for Statis-tics and Information (NCSI).

However, Oman’s exports to the UAE showed a decline of 18.1 per cent in the first nine months of 2015, compared to the same pe-riod of previous year.

Saudi ArabiaAccording to NCSI, Saudi Arabia was the second largest importer of Omani products, followed by In-dia, China and the United States of America (USA). China’s non-oil imports from Oman surged ahead by 47 per cent to OMR192.3 mil-lion during the period.

It may be noted that the Sultan-ate’s total non-oil exports fell by 23 per cent to OMR2,364.1 million

in the first nine months of 2015, from OMR3,068.9 million for the same period of the previous year. The fall in export revenue was mainly on account of a plunge in commodity prices in interna-tional markets.

UAE top exporterAs far as the Sultanate’s imports are concerned, the UAE retained its position as the top exporter of goods and services to Oman in the first nine months of 2015, with a share of 35.64 per cent (OMR2,978.8 million).

The country’s total imports from different trading partners edged down by 0.8 per cent to OMR8,356.9 million during the period.

According to the latest statis-tics released by NCSI, Japan was the second leading country for Oman’s imports, followed by Chi-na, India and the United States.

In fact, the Sultanate imported Chinese goods and services worth OMR479.1 million, showing a surge of 24.4 per cent over the same period last year.

Oman’s export development agency, Public Authority for In-vestment Promotion and Export Development (popularly known as Ithraa), is undertaking several initiatives to enhance non-oil ex-ports, especially to its target mar-kets.

These programmes include vis-its of trade delegations, participa-tion in international exhibitions, business-to-business meetings and market studies in potential export markets.

The Sultanate’s non-

oil exports to the UAE

touched OMR468.7

million, indicating

a 19.8% share in

OMR2,364.1m non-

oil exports in the first

nine months of 2015

IMPORTERS: Saudi Arabia was the second biggest importer of

Omani products, followed by India, China and the US, according to

National Centre for Statistics and Information.- File picture

MUSCAT: Oman’s trade balance for the first nine months of 2015 registered a surplus of OMR2,051.1 mil-lion, a decline of 71.2 per cent compared to the surplus in the same period of 2014 due to a fall in oil exports .

The National Centre for Statistics and Informa-tion (NCSI) said that the merchandise exports, which includes oil and gas, non-oil exports and re-exports registered a decline of 33.1 per cent to OMR10.41 billion compared to OMR15.55 bil-lion during the same period in 2014.

The bulletin said that the value of commodity imports as of the end of third quarter of 2015 stood at OMR8,356.9 million compared to OMR8,420.3 million during the same period in 2014; a decline of 0.8 per cent due to the slump in transportation equipment, live animal and their products’ imports.

The Sultanate’s trade bal-ance in 2014 posted a surplus of OMR9,195.7 million, a growth by 0.8 per cent com-pared to 2013. NCSI figures also showed that the value of oil and gas exports fell by 39.8 per cent during the first nine months of last year. The non-oil commodity exports declined by 23 per cent.

The total value of oil and gas exports stood at OMR6,157.6 million compared to OMR10,236.9 million during the first nine months of 2014. The value

of crude oil exports during the same period also stood at OMR5,277.0 million.The value of refined oil ex-ports stood at OMR131,900 and the value of LNG exports stood at OMR748.8 million compared to OMR1,059.6 million during the first nine months of 2014; a fall of 29.3 per cent.

The value of non-oil exports stood at OMR2,364.1 million compared to OMR3,068.9 million, includ-ing mineral products exports worth OMR488.8 million; decline of 46.3 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The value of rubber and plastics exports stood at OMR206.9 million; a decline of 23.7 per cent. The value of chemical industries exports stood at OMR565.8 million, a decline by 18 per cent. The value of mineral and min-eral works exports stood at OMR502.1 million. The value of the other non-oil exports stood at OMR600.6 million; a growth of 1 per cent.

The re-export activity declined by 16.1 per cent to stand at OMR1,886.3 million compared to OMR2,248.1 million during the first nine months of 2014. The export of transport equipment declined by 15.9 per cent to hit OMR1,224.1 million. The re-export of other minerals increased by 0.1 per cent to hit OMR379.6 million. The value of other activities stood at OMR282.6 million. - ONA

Trade surplus at OMR2b shows 71 per cent decline

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Sohar port sets the pace at Dubai cargo show Times News Service

MUSCAT: Experts from Sohar Port and Freezone participated in a number of panel discussions on themes around rail and regional logistics at the Cargo Show Mena last week. The two-day event, held at the Dubai World Trade Centre Arena, brought together over 3,000 industry professionals from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and around the world, said a release.

As one of the keynote speakers at the conference, Marc Evertse, Sohar port executive commercial manager, spoke about intermodal and multimodal connectivity and its role in reducing the costs of doing business. “Thanks to our

prime location outside the Strait of Hormuz and our seamless sea-road-air infrastructure, Sohar is ideally placed to become of the key regional logistics hubs,” he said.

New highwaysMany new highways are under construction in Sohar, including one connecting the Omani port di-rectly to Saudi Arabia, which will avoid the delays associated with the current routes through the UAE. Sohar is also investing heav-ily in technology, with new auto-mated truck appointment systems for the container terminal, as well as online customs clearance sys-tems and a complete port manage-ment system, that gives shipping

agents the platform to access and exchange information.

Summing up the two-day event in Dubai, Andre Toet, chief execu-tive officer of Sohar Port, said: “As the entire region shifts its focus to an economic base fuelled by knowledge, the Sultanate is ideally placed to play a critical role and be-come a major logistics hub. Where-as many western countries are still struggling to make the transition to a post-industrial economy, there is a huge opportunity for young countries like Oman to focus even more on education and training and leapfrog their way into leading roles in innovation sectors like sus-tainable energy, clean-technology, and logistics.”

C A R G O S H O W

RAIL AND LOGISTICS: Experts from Sohar Port and Freezone participated in a number of panel discus-

sions on themes around rail and regional logistics at the Cargo Show Mena last week. - Supplied picture

Asia should take bigger role guiding economy: LagardeNEW DELHI: Asia needs to take a leadership role in the global economy that reflects the con-tinent’s growing clout, Interna-tional Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde said.

Asian officials should keep monetary policy supportive, while using fiscal policy to boost growth and macro-prudential measures to protect financial stability, Lagarde said in a speech

Saturday in New Delhi. Adopting structural reforms to boost com-petitiveness, growth and jobs will be key, she said.

Lagarde, who was reappointed last month for a second five-year term, called Asia the “world’s most dynamic region,” noting it accounts for 40 per cent of the world economy and will deliver nearly two-thirds of growth over the next four years. - Bloomberg News

E C O N O M Y

China factory output growth rate easesBEIJING: China’s industrial pro-duction and retail sales slowed in the first two months of the year, highlighting the pressure leaders will face to meet this year’s annual growth target even as the central bank governor said major stimulus wasn’t needed.

Industrial output rose 5.4 per cent from a year earlier in January and February, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Satur-day, compared to the 5.6 per cent median estimate of economists surveyed. Retail sales climbed 10.2 per cent from a year earlier, miss-ing the 11 per cent projected gain in the survey, while fixed-asset in-vestment exceeded estimates with a 10.2 per cent increase.

The reports highlight the choice facing policy makers: step up mon-etary and fiscal stimulus and build up more debt, or let the nation’s industrial engines slow further while reducing overcapacity in the steel, cement and coal sectors. Steel output fell in the two-month period, while aluminum output tumbled 7.7 per cent, Saturday’s reports showed.

Growth profile gloomy“The overall growth profile re-mains still gloomy,” said Zhou Hao, an economist at Commerzbank AG in Singapore.

“The mix of data give us a worry-ing picture. Activity data remained weak while inflation and property prices are turning around.”

Speaking at a briefing just before the data release, People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan sought to project an aura of calm about the economy, saying that the government will be able to meet its target of at least 6.5 per cent growth over the next five years.

“Excessive monetary policy stimulus isn’t necessary to achieve the target,” Zhou said, reiterat-ing past comments that monetary policy is prudent with a slight eas-ing bias. “If there isn’t any big eco-nomic or financial turmoil, we’ll keep prudent monetary policy.”

– Bloomberg News

E C O N O M Y

B4

FEATURES U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

$

f you get involved in online debates about economic history, it won’t be long before someone tells you that the West is rich be-cause it stole the resourc-

es of the regions it colonised. This stolen-wealth theory is cited as the reason the UK and France are rich today, while Ethiopia and Burundi are poor. It also is sometimes used to argue that global capitalism is inherently unjust and that wealth must be radically redistributed be-tween nations as compensation.

The problem is, the stolen-wealth theory is wrong.

Oh, it’s absolutely true that colo-nial powers stole natural resourc-es from the lands they conquered. No one disputes that. And at the time, this definitely made the col-onised regions a lot poorer. The UK, for example, caused repeated famines in India by raising taxes on farmers and by encouraging the cultivation of cash crops instead of subsistence crops. That is a pretty stark example of destructive re-source extraction.

It’s also probably true that this stolen wealth helped much of the West get rich. Of course, Western

countries didn’t simply consume the resources they plundered — the global economy isn’t just a lump of wealth that gets divvied up, but rather relies on the productive ef-forts of individuals, companies and governments. The UK, for exam-ple, was able to industrialise not by consuming spices confiscated from India, but because its citizens invented power looms and steam engines and other technologies, and because its people worked very hard at factories and plants that used those technologies.

So if the West did steal resources from colonised nations, and if this theft did help them get rich, why do I say that the stolen-wealth theory is wrong? I say that because the theory doesn’t explain the global distribution of income today. It is no longer a significant reason why rich countries are rich and poor countries are poor.

The easiest way to see this is to observe all the rich countries that never had the chance to plunder colonies. Germany, Italy, Sweden, Denmark and Japan had colonial empires for only the very brief-est of moments, and their greatest eras of development came before

and after those colonial episodes. Switzerland, Finland, and Austria never had colonies. And South Ko-rea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong were themselves colonies of other powers. Yet today they are very rich. They did it not by theft, but by working hard, being creative, and having good institutions.

Meanwhile, in the poor countries have long since taken control of their natural resources. State-con-trolled oil companies in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iran and Russia own far more of the world’s oil than do giant Western corporations like Exxon or BP. The African countries control their own mines, and Latin American coun-tries their own crop land. The era of resource theft by rich countries is over and done.

Yet still, somehow, these coun-tries are not very rich. Only a small handful of tiny nations whose economies are based on natural resources — Brunei, Kuwait and Qatar among others — are actu-ally rich. Most are poor, despite controlling all of their own wealth. This sad fact is known as the re-source curse.

So it’s unlikely that resource-

rich countries would have become industrialised but for the depreda-tions of colonialism. And it seems quite possible that colonial na-tions such as France and the UK would have gotten rich without their resource plunder, as did Ger-many, South Korea, Switzerland and Taiwan. Does that mean colo-nialism was a benign institution? Definitely not. At a bare minimum, the tens of millions killed by colo-nial conquests and famines leave an indelible stain on the West. And while colonialism had benefits in some places, in many others it left a nasty legacy that is felt to this day. Many economic studies show that regions where colonizers focused on extracting resources were later cursed with pernicious political institutions. Those regions, even today, exhibit poor performance.

So colonialising nations did steal resources, and it did hurt colonies by doing it. But the real tragedy is how unnecessary that all was. The UK and France would have gotten rich without plunder-ing Africa, India and Southeast Asia. All of that violence and con-quest was probably for nothing.

— Noah Smith/Bloomberg View

I

STOLEN WEALTH THEORY

So if the West did steal resources from colonised

nations, and if this theft did help them get rich, why do I say that the

stolen-wealth theory is wrong? I say that because the theory doesn’t explain

the global distribution of income today. It is

no longer a significant reason why rich countries

are rich and poor countries are poor.

B5S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

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A’Saffa ensures high quality hygiene at its feed mill and hatchery facility

MUSCAT: A’Saffa Foods, Oman’s leading fully integrated poultry and processed food home-grown food producer has a long standing commitment of providing pure natural feed to its chickens — a mix of specially produced yellow corn and soya that delivers the nutrition the chickens need and helps to ensure the final product for the consumer is tasty, fresh and packed full of nutritious pro-tein, says a press release.

Feed millA’Saffa has set up Oman’s most modern feed mill in Thumrait. With a capacity of 15 metric tonnes

per hour, this fully automated feed mill produces specialised pellet and crumble feed especially to ca-ter to A’Saffa’s own needs.

Poultry feed being the major input in the poultry production accounts for around 70 per cent of the total production cost. With the poultry industry in the GCC and Middle East ready for a rapid growth, availability and cost can become critical influencing the production costs and the overall quality of the product. With this keen understanding and fore-sight, A’Saffa, through its feed mill assures highest quality of feed for its chickens.

A’Saffa’s feed mills are automat-ed with in-built facility to store corn and soya in steel silos. The finished product and other ingre-dients are further safely stored in the go downs.

Pelleting system, parallel mixer and grinding systems are automat-ed through logic controls. The end product is handled automatically from bagging to loading.

The feed produced in A’Saffa’s completely automated mill meets the highest hygiene and environ-mental standards.

Parent lineParent lines are reared by A’Saffa’s experts with scientific manage-ment processes in a bio-secure environment. With a keen un-

derstanding and insight of the re-quirements, the parent lines are reared to deliver improved feed conversion rate (FCR), increased productivity, better performance and adaptability of the chicken to Oman’s environmental condi-tions. A’Saffa’s experts add further value to help achieve better quality chicken meat and eggs.

The parent line ensures that all birds bred and reared in the farms,

are standardised, uniform with the right growth, all from the same parents, which make the end prod-uct uniform in taste, tenderness and healthy.

Fertile eggs laid by the parent birds are sent to the hatchery.

HatcheryChicken is favourable food in sup-porting the energy metabolism of the body. A’Saffa has its first state-

of-the-art hatchery in Thumrait, Salalah. A’Saffa’s state-of-the-art hatchery helps produce and de-liver the healthiest chicks with maximum potential for growth and optimum feed conversion rate (FCR). Further, uniformity in bird size is taken care along with adapt-ability and liveability. A’Saffa’s team of experts ensure that the eggs are hatched in fully comput-erised temperature and humidity controlled state of the art setters and hatchers.

Commenting on the way that company feeds and looks after its chickens, Sidhartha Lenka, A’Saffa Foods Head of Sales and Market-ing, said: “We are very proud of the way that we feed and ensure the welfare of our chickens. All of our chickens are fed with 100 per cent natural feed that is manufac-tured in our own feed mill located on our farm premises, using the latest scientific feed management programmes to ensure the best re-tention of nutritional value.

“At A’Saffa we also ensure that the birds are kept without thirst, hunger or malnutrition, free from discomfort, pain, injury or disease to ensure pure and healthy prod-uct. As with our core principles of following religious, healthy and ethical practices, the company also prohibits use of chicken and animal byproducts and substitutes for feeding the birds as happens in

some other poultry companies.”He explained that A’Saffa also

has a highly trained on site medi-cal team at the Thumrait farms complex who monitor the health of the chickens daily to ensure they are kept free from disease, have the right balance of feed and water and ensuring the final product to the consumer is always safe and pure chicken meat.

The farm facility at Thumrait is also certified to the highest in-ternational standards with the farm having achieved both ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 certification.

A’Saffa Foods is fully committed to offering a wide range of innova-tive products to its consumers and its partners. The company recog-nises the importance of the quality commitment of its partners and is committed to deliver products of the highest quality. This commit-ment is further underlined with the implementation of HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) systems.

Lenka explained that this ma-jor investment in state-of-the-art technology and systems that match the highest standards anywhere in the world was part of A’Saffa’s continuing efforts to ensure that customers get the most 100 per cent natural, healthy and tasty halal chicken products available.

A’Saffa Foods

recognises the

importance of the

quality commitment

of its partners and is

committed to deliver

products of the

highest quality

Bank Sohar's Al Mumayaz branch guaranteed draws reward customers with OMR1,000 every monthMUSCAT: In order to reward cus-tomers across the entire bank’s branch network, Al Mumayaz Savings Scheme 2016 from Bank Sohar offers monthly branch guar-anteed draws where one account holder from each of the bank’s branches will win OMR1,000 eve-ry month translating to over 250 winners before year-end.

This draw comes as part of comprehensively revamped prize structure of the 2016 Al Mumayaz Savings Scheme, which now offers more than 1,500 prizes and more than any Al Mumayaz Savings Scheme to date while including the broad-est possible spectrum of winners

including hourly, children’s, gen-eral, ladies, and exclusive draw winners, says a press release.

Commenting on the new scheme’s branch guaranteed draws, Khamis Masoud Al Rahbi, senior AGM of Branches & Retail Sales at Bank Sohar, said: “One of the most appreciated aspects of last year’s scheme by our custom-ers was our branch-specific draws conducted in various branches throughout the year as well as the branch-wide year-end draw; through which we ensured having winners from every branch.

"This year we decided to up the ante and host monthly branch guaranteed draws which will guar-

antee a winner from every branch across the Sultanate.”

In order to be eligible for the monthly branch guaranteed draws, the account holders need to maintain a minimum monthly av-erage balance of only OMR100. In addition to these draw, the Al Mu-mayaz Savings Scheme will con-tinue with its hourly prize draws of OMR 1,000 each from Sunday to Wednesday; totalling over 900 winners by the end of the year. An-other new addition this year is the daily children’s draw, which will see one minor account holder win OMR100 every day from Sunday to Thursday.

There will also be a monthly

draw specifically for children where one minor account holder will win OMR1,000. In total there will be more than 240 winners of children’s draws before the end of the year. This year’s general draws include monthly draw of OMR10,000 and a year-end draw of OMR200,000 split amongst four winners. As part of the monthly draws, and for the first time ever, a dedicated ladies draw will also be conducted with two winners of OMR5,000 each; total-ling 20 winners. Lastly, the bank will also be conducting exclusive draws of OMR10,000 each month and OMR50,000 as part of the year-end draws.

R E V A M P E D P R I Z E S T R U C T U R E

IS Muladha students visit Suwaiq farm for agriculture experienceMUSCAT: Science Department of Indian School Muladha had organised a field trip recently to Al Raja farm Suwaiq owned by Nehad Agronomy Services.

With the aim of gaining prac-tical experience and learning about the complex connections of issues in agriculture, the envi-ronment and natural resources, students of Class VIII accom-panied by Mini, Nisha Ullas, Nijo, Sulamin and Aasif visited the farm. The farm cultivates different kinds of fruits, vegeta-bles and seasonal flowers, says a press release.

The students were hosted by Shehul Hameed, production manager, where they were in-formed about the history of the organisation, different crops of summer and winter season, types of soil (loamy and sandy loam), temperature requirement and advantages of drip irrigation. The next stop was at the capsi-cum farm; there were different

varieties of capsicum grown on the farm as per the international norms. Shehul informed the stu-dents that the coloured peppers are healthier than the traditional green ones.

Integrated pest management procedure was explained to the students. Students also visited the onion, corn and tomato farms and were allowed to pluck the vegetables later on. The last stop was at the main building where vegetable and flower exhibi-tion was arranged by the farm authorities which was enthral-ling. Shaun Mathews, the general manager of the farm interacted with the students and answered all their queries. Students were presented with bouquet of flow-ers. It was indeed a unique oppor-tunity to know the modern farm-ing and exporting techniques.

The trip was organised under the guidance of S. I. Shareef, prin-cipal; V. S. Suresh, vice principal and John Ebenezer, HOD.

F I E L D T R I P

Oman participates at 50th edition of ITB Berlin

MUSCAT: The Ministry of Tour-ism is participating in this year’s 50th edition of ITB Berlin, world’s largest travel trade show, which will conclude today in Germany.

The Sultanate is participating through the Ministry of Tourism, representing 36 organisations from the tourism sector, includ-ing a separate stall for the national carrier of the Sultanate – Oman Air, says a press release.

Oman’s delegation is headed by Ahmed bin Nasser Al Mahrazi, the Minister of Tourism, who at-tended the official opening of the exhibition and participated in dif-ferent activities, along with other international tourism ministers and government entities.

He will also attend events with the international tourism organi-sation, UNWTO.

The Ministry of Tourism and the different representations from the Sultanate take part in the ITB Berlin show on a yearly basis, as it is considered the biggest trade show in the world.

The show gives the opportunity to vendors of the Sultanate to show-case the latest tourism develop-ments, as well as learn from the dif-ferent international developments around the world.

The Sultanate continues its ef-forts to promote itself in the in-

ternational markets through trade shows like this one and support the country’s efforts in achieving the goals set out for 2040.

The first three days of ITB fo-cused on agreements and meet-ings between international delega-tions as well as the organisations

participating in the trade show while the last two days hosted the general public and visitors from around the world.

Last year, the show received 175,000 visitors who were exposed to 10,096 participants and exhibi-tors representing 186 countries.

T R A V E L T R A D E S H O W

B6 S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

ROUND-UP

MUSCAT: Nissan from the house of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles has launched an exciting 5-day ‘Get it All’ campaign.

The promotion is aimed at offer-ing serious buyers and customers with some of the most competitive offers on Nissan vehicles along with a host of other benefits. This offer is applicable till March 17, says a press release.

The unique offers from Nissan give customers an opportunity to enjoy exclusive briefings, tips, advices and suggestions from Ni-ssan officials on the entire Nis-san range. Visitors will also get a chance to take a test drive of any of their favourite Nissan vehicle with Nissan officials to assist and guide through the aesthetics of the vehi-cles at all times.

Edge over competitors Nissan’s iconic vehicles deliver

a refreshed vision of ‘innovation that excites’ with introduction of new levels of sophistication and state of the art features. Nissan ve-hicles are known to offer smoother ride comfort, more refinement and benchmark fit and finish, while de-livering breathtaking performance and road-holding.

Their ‘multi-dimensional per-formance’ means the driver can enjoy the full depth of a Nissan’s capabilities whether navigating the corners of a winding moun-tain road, cruising on a motor-way or even travelling in an urban environment.

Bigger cashback and more benefits Nissan is offering a host of model specific benefits as part of its cur-rent scheme promotion that in-clude cash gift up to OMR2,500, free registration, free insurance (select SUV’s only), six years’ un-limited mileage extended war-ranty, easy financing options and periodic maintenance service only up to two years/20,000km which-ever is earlier (offer includes only on the new service intervals of 10,000km). The offer is applicable on private registrations or person-al vehicles only.

The offer varies across all mod-els. Further details can be had from Nissan sales advisers.

Nissan Oman is known to offer some of the firsts in the country as they are committed to offer some of the best services to its custom-ers. “We consider understanding and anticipating customer needs as crucial to our continued suc-cess. We believe in ‘customers for life’ concept and strive to provide the best value for money to our customers by offering world-class products and services.

“With our current offer we want to reach out to as many cus-tomers and auto enthusiasts and give them back something special which is essential to our continued success,” said a senior official of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles.

Easy finance options Customers are guaranteed hassle-free financing process while pur-chasing any Nissan vehicle during this week as there is no processing fee or documentation charge to be paid. Customers will also get to avail attractive interest rates and lastly have an option for cus-tomised financing and enjoy spot approvals too. During this promo-tion, trade-in offers will also be available. Customers will get an opportunity to exchange their ex-isting vehicles for a new Nissan model of their choice.

Social media platform Nissan Oman’s Facebook page has gained huge momentum for over a year as they have been successful in reaching out to a diverse audi-ence on the social media platform. Beating top competitors in the Sultanate region, Nissan Facebook page has been the most liked or fa-vourite page past two years leading up to having one of the highest fan following today.

The aim of Nissan’s Facebook page has always been to offer view-ers and Nissan fans an interactive experience and since Nissan as a brand is built on the ethos of ‘in-novation that excites’; through its page, Nissan showcases its cut-ting-edge technology to connect with its audience.

It also showcases Nissan’s path breaking technological features of its various models in easy to understand mode focusing on

core advantages.The page also provides a pletho-

ra of information on the wide range of models from Nissan which is updated on a daily basis to provide the latest information at all times comprising of interactive videos, behind-the-scenes access, inter-national news, pictorial galleries, aesthetic details, and unique mod-el features. The page also regularly runs contests on all its latest mod-els to keep viewers enticed and engaged at all times. The aim has been to be at par with customers’ requirements and needs.

Nationwide presence Suhail Bahwan Automobiles, the exclusive importers and dis-tributors of all Nissan vehicles in Oman, have their Nissan show-rooms spread across the Sultanate. Their showrooms are strategically located all across the country in Muscat, Sohar, Sur, Salalah, Shi-nas, Samail, Ibra, Ibri, Nizwa, Buraimi, Barka, Bahla, Jalan Bani Bu Ali, Seeb, Mabelah, Sinaw and Bidaya. This goes to show that Nissan Oman has been success-fully growing in operations and is consistently spreading its network throughout the Sultanate of Oman.

SBA commitment Suhail Bahwan Automobiles is largely committed to supporting Nissan’s growth in the Sultanate through major emphasis on cus-tomer satisfaction and by provid-ing world-class after-sales ser-vices in Oman.

With a national network of more than 19 showrooms, 22 service centres and 35 spare parts out-lets, SBA has further built upon its legacy of trust, excellent customer service and providing value for money to each of its customers.

The unique offers

from Nissan give

customers an

opportunity to enjoy

exclusive briefings,

tips, advices and

suggestions from

Nissan officials on

the entire

Nissan range

Aston Martin DB11:

The most powerful

and efficient model

MUSCAT: Showcasing a fresh and distinctive design language, pioneering aerodynamics, pow-ered by a potent new in-house designed 5.2 litres twin tur-bocharged V12 engine, which produces 600 horsepower and 700 NM torque, built upon a new lighter, stronger, and more efficient bonded aluminium structure, DB11 is the fastest, most powerful, most efficient and most dynamically gifted DB model in history.

As such it is the most signifi-cant new Aston Martin since the introduction of the DB9 in 2003.

As a true 21st century Aston Martin the DB 11 combines the very latest technology developed in conjunction with technical partner, Daimler, with the finest quality and hand craftsmanship, says a press release.

A vast forward-opening clam-shell bonnet defines the front end, and the rear features a daz-zling bit of airflow-management magic called AeroBlade. Aft of the C-pillars, subtle openings chan-nel air into the rear body work and out through a narrow slot on trailing edge of the boot lid. Aston calls it a ‘virtual spoiler’, and it generates significant down-force at speed without requiring an un-gainly fixed wing.

The DB11 uses a new twin-turbo

5.2-litre V12. The engine, designed in-house, produces 600 horsepow-er and 700 NM of torque. DB11 will run from zero to 100 KMS in 3.9 seconds, which is brisk if not world-beating, and keep mov-ing until the speedometer needle touches the 320 km/h mark.

DB11 has three transmission modes GT, Sport and Sport+ with each mode increasing the aggres-siveness of the gear shifts and de-veloping he exhaust soundtrack to create more a visceral experi-ence and increase driver engage-ment allowing DB11 drivers to enjoy the full scope of both tour-ing and sporting capability.

The 2+2 interior is as enticing as the exterior, and entirely more habitable by humans — two plus two of them, in fact. And the boot, claims Aston, is ‘large enough to accommodate two large holdalls plus carry-on baggage’. The cabin materials, colours and textures — particularly the brogue-detailed leather surfaces. Alas, is the crystal-topped Emotional Con-trol Unit, a conversation-piece key that slotted into the centre console and served as a glowing engine-start button.

A 12-inch TFT LCD screen provides a virtual gauge cluster, with infotainment functions handled on an 8-inch screen atop the centre console.

E X C E P T I O N A L D E S I G N

Oman Fisheries sets up work area disaster recovery siteMUSCAT: Towards ensuring continued productivity even dur-ing major disruptions, Oman Fisheries Co. has successfully implemented a work area disaster recovery site (back up site) at its corporate office in Ghala.

The site will help the company meet its various IT infrastructure needs apart from ensuring mini-mal impact to business opera-tions following any disaster, says a press release.

Commenting on the site im-plementation, Said Al Rawahy, general manager of Oman Fisher-ies Co., said: “The disaster recov-ery site implementation reflects Oman Fisheries Co. manage-ment’s commitment to enable a highly productive atmosphere for its staff to contribute to the growth of the company and the nation. Providing an alternate work environment and thus en-suring smooth and uninterrupted business operations falls under Oman Fisheries’ corporate re-sponsibility towards customers

as well as the company itself.”“We have a solid disaster recov-

ery framework under the compa-ny’s business continuity planning system; and the implemented dis-aster recovery site is integral to ensuring business continuity at Oman Fisheries,” Shanmugham, general manager (Operations) at Oman Fisheries said.

“The disaster recovery site is designed to ensure near-com-plete backups of user data, and it uses asynchronous sites to fully mirror the affected original site’s data environment using WAN links and specialised software. In the event of a work area disaster, the company will now be able to relocate staff limiting the losses to normal operations to the mini-mum level, within the shortest possible recovery time. Efficient work area with enhanced data re-covery time will help us continue our business operations during disasters,” he added.

“The disaster recovery site im-plemented at Oman Fisheries is

capable of being operational (in terms of data processing) even before key personnel are moved to the site. The site ensures that pro-duction environment(s) run con-currently with the main data cen-tre, significantly reducing impact and downtime to business opera-tions. In the event of a major out-age, the recovery site is capable of immediate takeover of the impact-ed site,” commented Amarnath, IT manager at Oman Fisheries.

Data loss and downtime are eliminated through a continuous capture of byte-level changes and asynchronous real-time replica-tion of changes. Failover cluster without shared storage or geo-graphical limitations has also been implemented to avoid single point of failure and facilitate nodes in multiple locations, he added.

Eventually the work area disas-ter recovery site enables enhanced mobility, availability and recovery for server workloads, improved mirror performance and data re-covery plans for databases.

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

Nissan launches new 5-day offer ‘Get It All’

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Bank Sohar takes part in SQU Annual Career Fair

MUSCAT: Ever committed to-wards the support of educational initiatives in the Sultanate and de-veloping employment opportuni-ties for Omani youth, Bank Sohar has once again participated in the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) Annual Career and Training Op-portunities Fair for a sixth year.

The event was held under the patronage of Dr. Abdullah bin Nasser Al Harrasi, chairman of the Public Authority for Radio and Television, and was attended by a number of the university officials, representatives from the govern-ment and private institutions, together with a large number of students, says a press release.

Commenting on the bank’s par-ticipation in the three-day event which took place recently, Munira Abdulnabi Macki, GM of HR and Corporate Support at Bank So-har said, “At Bank Sohar we have always been keen to recruit, train and develop qualified young Oma-nis supporting them in entering this industry and building a suc-

cessful banking career. As a matter of fact, since the bank’s inception it has attained an Omanisation ratio of 92.19 per cent. Through our participation in events such as this, we can enlighten students on the available job opportunities and the benefits of working at the bank. Furthermore, we have the utmost confidence on the quality of students graduating from Sul-tan Qaboos University, consid-ering the fact that it is one of the premier educational institutions in the Sultanate.”

Held at the ‘Chamber of Culture – Grand Hall’ annually, the three-day career fair attracted a large number of participants from pri-vate and governmental employ-ment sectors and witnessed visi-tors from across the country. Each of the participating organisations were carefully chosen accord-ing to certain criteria such as the availability of outstanding quality and quantity of offered jobs and training opportunities.

Bank Sohar capitalised on the

opportunity offered by the career fair platform and the large num-ber of talented students; attract-ing a large number of potential candidates and showcasing the various products, services and career opportunities available for talented young Omani undergrad-uate students. The bank also re-ceived numerous applicants who showed interest in becoming part of the bank’s dynamic workforce.

“Bank Sohar has always been fully committed towards nurtur-ing and developing Omani youth and grooming them into finan-cial leaders of tomorrow. We were delighted to have received such an overwhelming interest from the students at the career fair,” added Munira.

Bank Sohar has a committed history of working with various educational institutions and gov-ernment organisations towards ensuring greater access to educa-

tion and business knowledge. In addition to its latest par-

ticipation in the SQU Annual Career and Training Opportuni-ties Fair 2016, the bank has, in the past, also sponsored several training programmes and initia-tives from several other organi-sations and educational institu-tions across Oman.

Organised by the Centre of Ca-reer Guidance at SQU, the Annual Career & Training Opportunities Fair ensures the provision of job opportunities or training to the students and graduates of Sultan Qaboos University at all levels of undergraduate majors. Over the years, the fair has proved itself to be a productive avenue for job opportunities and helping uni-versity graduates to participate actively in nation building. It also helps them to build excellent re-lationships with local employers and global companies.

Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) annual

Career and Training Opportunities Fair

attracted a large number of participants

from private and governmental employment

sectors and witnessed visitors from across

the country

Daleel Petroleum conducts QHSE Awareness DayMUSCAT: As part of the compa-ny’s commitment to industry poli-cies and standards of HSE, Daleel Petroleum held its 12th annual Quality, Health, Safety and Envi-ronment (QHSE) Awareness Day in its oilfield recently that aimed at promoting a QHSE culture and awareness amongst the employees.

A rich programme was arranged for HSE Day 2016 that its activities sparked the participants’ concern and interest, says a press release.

The programme included a number of activities including walkathon, blood donation, and sports activities that engaged par-ticipants from the head office in Muscat as well as the field.

In addition, there was a drama performance that embodied the importance of safety observation. All activities conducted confirmed that Daleel Petroleum is active in promoting HSE awareness amongst the company’s employees.

Gong Changli, chief executive officer of Daleel Petroleum, de-livered a speech emphasising the importance of the company con-

ducting its operational activities and business in a manner that pro-motes the health and safety of its employees, the public and protect-ing the environment.

On this occasion, Marash Al Kalbani, operations manager, high-lighted the necessity of checking the safety of daily operations, such as tools and equipment used, the potential risks and how to manage them if they occur before the begin-ning of any operation in Block 5 oil concession of the company.

During the ceremony, certifi-cates of appreciation and recogni-tion shields were awarded to Daleel employees and its contractors in recognition of their outstanding contribution and efforts in the im-plementation and commitment to HSE policies and standards.

Ahmed Suliman Al Mahruqi, quality, safety, health and envi-ronment manager, delivered a motivational speech as a way of raising morale and motivating the employees towards high levels of performance for securing a safe and healthy working environment.

P R O M O T I N G Q H S E C U L T U R E

OMAN REFRESHMENT COMPANY HOLDS AGMOman Refreshment Company held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Al Falaj Hotel. Youssef Ezzikhe, general manager;

Sheikh Hamoud Al Hinai, managing director; Buti Obaid Al Mulla, chairman; Sheikh Ahmed Al Hinai, vice chairman and

Mohamed Abdullah Moosa Al Raisi, director of Oman Refreshment Company, attended the meeting. — Supplied picture

B8

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Bank Muscat marks GCC Traffic Week with Drive Safely campaign

MUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the flag-ship financial services provider in the Sultanate, as part of its com-mitment to road safety in the Sul-tanate, has launched a campaign in

association with the Royal Oman Police to mark the GCC Traffic Week beginning today.

Aimed at inculcating responsi-ble driving behaviour by motorists,

this year’s GCC Traffic Week mes-sage is ‘Your Decision Determines Your Fate’, says a press release.

The bank has lined up a series of activities covering various com-munication channels such as SMS, cinema, radio and social media to raise awareness on safe driving. The highlight of the campaign is a four-part video clip titled ‘Value Life, Drive Safely’ which power-fully communicates four aspects responsible for majority of road accidents - speeding, fatigue, driv-ing distractions such as texting on mobile phones and negligence of wearing seat belt. The video clips focusing on the major causes

of road accidents and the tragic consequences of negligent driv-ing are being screened in popular cinemas and posted on the bank’s social media channels during the GCC Traffic Week, building up the campaign aimed at creating a safe driving environment in Oman. The campaign messages are also highlighted on radio, newspapers and magazines.

The ‘Value Life, Drive Safely’ campaign is a natural progres-sion of the health and safety measures adopted by the bank. The bank considers human capi-tal as the most valued asset and any loss or disruptions caused by

accidents lead to major setbacks for the affected persons.

As ambassadors for health and safety in the banking community in Oman, Bank Muscat remains committed to proactive measures to maintain a safe environment for all on Oman roads.

Bank Muscat, as part of HSE initiatives, is the first to create a safety management system in the banking sector in Oman.

In line with the Royal directive of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said to enhance road safety and reduce traffic accidents, the bank has launched vari-ous initiatives to spread traffic safety awareness among employees and

other stakeholders.The bank vehicles are moni-

tored under the in-vehicle moni-toring system (IVMS) aimed at ensuring safety and avoiding ac-cidents, thereby contributing to ef-ficient use of fuel and correspond-ing reduction in carbon footprint. Defensive driving training pro-grammes are also arranged for em-ployees to motivate them to follow safe driving practices.

Bank Muscat remains commit-ted to road safety in partnership with the government and the ROP, aimed at educating people, espe-cially employees, to make safer choices when using the roads.

Aimed at promoting responsible driving

behaviour by motorists, this year’s GCC

Traffic Week message is ‘Your Decision

Determines Your Fate’

ahlibank partners with SQU Career FairMUSCAT: Oman’s fastest grow-ing financial institution ahlibank was part of the much awaited SQU Career and Training Opportuni-ties Fair held recently held at the Grand Hall, Cultural Centre in Sultan Qaboos University, says a press release.

Commenting on the bank’s as-sociation with the fair, Lloyd Mad-dock, CEO, ahlibank, said: “SQU’s Career & Training Opportuni-ties Fair this year opened further avenues for us to connect with the youth. This was yet another chance for us to engage with stu-dents and show them the scope of career and professional growth opportunities within the banking sector. Being voted as the ‘Best Bank in Oman’ for the fourth year in a row by OER-Gulf Baader Capi-tal Markets survey, we feel it is our responsibility to promote young talent and extend all possible sup-port to the educational sector and other youth-oriented activities.”

Said Al Hamdani – DGM and head of Human Resource, com-mented: “The SQU Career and Training Opportunities Fair attract

more than 45 participants from private and governmental employ-ment sectors and between (12,000-15,000) visitors from all over Oman. This is one of the best opportuni-

ties for organisations like us to aim at maximising business relations and also secure new ones.”

All participating organisations are carefully chosen according to

certain criteria such as the avail-ability of outstanding quality and quantity of offered jobs and train-ing opportunities. This year the fair is gaining special attention due to the establishment of the Entrepreneurship Corner in im-plementation to the directives of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said to encourage Omani youth to start their own businesses and be self-employed.

The fair was abuzz with several academic, social and art activities; and ahlibank hosted a special stall at the event, showcasing the bank’s products and services.

Al Hamdani concluded saying, “ahlibank has since inception been committed to the growth of educa-tion and development programs in Oman. The bank enjoys an excel-lent rapport with Oman’s premier educational institutions and takes special interest in hiring graduates from reputed colleges in the coun-try. Selected candidates embark upon an extensive and rigorous training program which provides experience across all operations of the bank, for a period of one year.”

P R O M O T I N G Y O U N G T A L E N T

MEC international

conference set to be

held on March 15, 16

MUSCAT: Middle East College (MEC) is organising the third MEC International Confer-ence on Big Data and Smart City (ICBDSC) which will be held on March 15 and 16.

The conference will be inau-gurated by Hilal bin Hamad Al Hasani, CEO of Public Estab-lishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE), says a press release.

Co-sponsorsThe conference is technically co-sponsored by IEEE, IEEE Communication Society, and IEEE Oman chapter and it aims to bring together researchers, designers, developers, and practi-tioners interested in the advanc-es and applications related to the area of smart cities and big data.

Among the keynote speak-ers are Prof. Martin Curley, vice president and director, Intel

Labs Europe at Intel Corpora-tion, Gilles Betis, Urban Life and Mobility Action Line Leader, EIT Digital; Chair, IEEE Smart Cities Initiative and Dr Manuel San-romà, managing director, Open Administration of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain to name a few.

Skill developmentIt is worth mentioning that MEC had already successfully organ-ised two international confer-ences on information and com-munication. MEC has research collabora-tion with University of Barce-lona which places education and training at the core of develop-ment and seeks to connect vari-ous agendas whether they be city planning, logistics, sustainability, skill development, global media and connectivity or regional pol-icy collaboration.

B I G D A T A A N D S M A R T C I T Y

BMW Vision Vehicle makes its world

debut at Centenary Event in Munich

MUNICH: The year 2016 sees the BMW Group celebrate its centenary under the motto ‘The Next 100 Years’.

Throughout its history the company’s image has been de-fined by a future focus and pio-neering action – all made possible by its extraordinary team of em-ployees, who share a fascination for mobility which is integral to all our lives, says a press release.

“At the BMW Group, we are always on a quest for the best so-lution. It’s part of our DNA,” said Harald Krüger, chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, at the Centenary Event in Mu-nich recently. “It’s also the spirit of our collaborations, a recurring theme that permeates our corpo-rate and leadership culture.”

Three qualities in particular set the BMW Group apart: the capacity to learn and adapt, tech-nological innovation, and a sense of responsibility toward society. “We have demonstrated on many occasions throughout our his-tory that we are capable of learn-ing fast and taking bold steps,” Krüger said.

Against this background, the BMW Group’s centenary celebra-tions are set to focus primarily on what lies ahead and explore how individual mobility might develop over the coming decades.

To answer this question, the BMW Group has generated a fu-turistic scenario with a clear vi-

sion: premium mobility by the BMW Group will be completely effortless, comprehensively avail-able and tailored to every custom-er’s individual preferences. At the moment, the world is on the verge of realising automated driving; in the not-too-distant future the majority of cars will probably be completely self-driving and travel the streets of cities inhabited by far more people than today.

In the future, one thing will be in ever shorter supply: time. But connectivity will become increas-ingly commonplace, and technol-ogies will learn to learn from peo-ple. “Future mobility will connect every area of people’s lives. And that’s where we see new oppor-tunities for premium mobility,” Krüger added.

BMW Vision Next 100’The BMW Group has now made its vision for the future a real-ity – with the ‘BMW Vision Next 100’. This vehicle combines cou-pé-type sportiness with the dy-namic elegance of a sedan – but rather than being an anonymous transport machine, it is a highly customised vehicle that is per-fectly tailored to suit the driver’s changing needs.

Driver-vehicle interactions are managed by Alive Geometry; Boost and Ease modes offer a choice of driver-controlled or ve-hicle-controlled operations, and the interior of the vehicle chang-

es to suit the mode of travel. In Boost, the entire vehicle focuses on the driver, offering the support needed to maximise the driving experience – for instance by indi-cating the ideal driving line, steer-ing point and speed. Ease mode sees the interior transform: the steering wheel and centre console retract; the headrests turn to the side, and the seats and door trim merge to form a single unit so that the driver and front-seat passen-ger can turn towards each other.

“If, as a designer, you are able to imagine something, there’s a good chance it could one day be-come reality,” said Adrian van Hooydonk, head of BMW Group Design. “So our objective with the BMW Vision Next 100 Years was to develop a future scenario that people would engage with.”

The BMW Vision Vehicle made its world debut at the Centenary Event in the Munich Olympic Hall on March 7, 2016 – exactly one hundred years after the com-pany that is now known as BMW AG was first entered into the commercial register. About 2,000 guests from industry, politics, research, society and the media will be present, as will selected dealers, suppliers and employees. A multi-media experience will guide them through the history of the company to this latest inter-pretation of tomorrow’s premium mobility, culminating in the un-veiling of the Vision Vehicle.

G R A N D C E L E B R A T I O N

Omani law firm AMJ receives global Islamic Finance awardMUSCAT: Top Oman-based cor-porate and finance law firm Al Bu-saidy Mansoor Jamal & Co. (AMJ) has won an international award for its advisory role on Oman’s OMR250 million inaugural sover-eign sukuk issuance.

The firm received the prestig-ious global Sovereign Deal of the Year 2015 award from the indus-try leading Islamic Finance News (IFN) at its annual Deals of the Year awards ceremony at the Ritz Carlton in Dubai recently, says a press release.

The IFN Deals of the Year were established in 2006 and recognise those who have participated in the industry’s most groundbreaking

transactions each year. Oman’s benchmark sovereign issuance also won an honourable mention in the top global ijarah and sukuk categories.

Speaking on behalf of the five-partner practice, founder and managing partner, Mansoor Ja-mal Malik said: “We are delighted that Oman’s first-ever sovereign sukuk issuance has been recog-nised as the standout sovereign deal of the year in the global Is-lamic finance space.

“We are pleased to have contrib-uted to a successful debut offering which is expected not only to boost Oman’s emergent Islamic finance industry but also to strengthen the

capital markets and to support the government’s economic diversifi-cation drive.”

Despite challenging economic conditions, Oman’s debut sukuk was oversubscribed and the min-istry of finance expanded the programme by 25 per cent from OMR200 million to OMR250 mil-lion to accommodate the strong orderbook from a wide base of conventional and Islamic institu-tions. As well as being Oman’s first sovereign sukuk, it was also the first debt capital market instru-ment – Islamic and conventional – in Oman to be priced through a book-building process with a uni-form price auction.

A L B U S A I D Y M A N S O O R J A M A L & C O .

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AFGHANS EASE PAST ZIMBABWE AND INTO SUPER 10 STAGE >C2

>C5

UNDERSTANDINGANXIETY

No let up against Bangladesh, warns Oman skipper Sultan

T.K. MOHANDOSSsportseditor@timesofoman.com

DHARAMSALA: With rain forc-ing ICC World T20 Group A into a two-team affair, Oman are deter-mined to fight fire with fire as the amateur boys of the Sultanate will face ICC full-member and highly experienced Bangladesh for the first time here on Sunday.

“There will be no let up on our aggression,” warned Oman captain Sultan Ahmed on eve of the crucial make-or-break day.

Whatever happens Oman Crick-et has delivered more than expec-tations on the world stage and if that stunner happens on Sunday, rain permitting, it will be icing on the cake over the historical debut win the other day.

In Group A, it is left to Bangladesh and Oman to fight it out for the lone spot available in Super 10 and the match promises to be a nail biter.

“We will have a game plan for Bangladesh and the danger man Tamim Iqbal,” the Oman team skipper said.

Tamim indeed has been in

terrific form since the Premier League in Bangladesh and also the Pakistan Super League in the UAE.

He continued with his form in the match against the Netherlands steering Bangladesh to victory almost single-handedly and also toasting on the Irish bowlers in whatever play was possible on the rain-hit Friday.

Suspect actionAnother advantage for Oman will be the two bowlers — Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny — who

were reported for suspect bowl-ing action. Naturally there will be nerves behind the performance of Taskin and Arafat, which Oman will capitalise on. However, Oman needs to be at their best if they want to realise the dreams of caus-ing another shock in the ongoing World T20 tournament. The need for tightening the obvious gaps in ground fielding holds foremost im-

portance for Oman and coach Du-leep Mendis had hinted at the boys put into strict regime.

The big hitters of Oman must also be cautious while facing the more experience bowling power of Mashrafe Mortaza-led Bangladesh.

For Mortaza, this World T20 will be his last international event as soon after the Asia Cup final he had hinted his desire to retire from the international stage.

Duleep’s strategyAfter training indoors on Saturday,

Duleep said that various options are being considered keeping in mind possible weather interrup-tions on Sunday.

The rain has been on and off on Saturday forcing teams to train in-doors and Duleep confirmed that all the players are fit and raring to go.

On strategy planned for Bang-ladesh, Duleep Mendis said more than the opponents it is the weath-er that was more than a concern.

“We are planning various com-binations keeping in mind re-duced overs contest. As you saw

we brought in Rajesh Ranpura for Jatinder Singh yesterday, we would like keep options open for the do-or-die match as well,” said the coach.

According to Duleep it means that he will bring in more big hit-ters, if the rain prospects are more. In that case Jatinder may have to sit out. Rajesh’s inclusion gives an all-round option for the captain as well.

But to know who will be in and who will be out one has to wait un-til few minutes before the match.

Duleep also mentioned that plans have been made to target some of the hard-hitters of Bang-ladesh, including the in-form Tamim Iqbal.

Charged upOman Cricket official Pankaj Kh-imji, who has been completely with the team since qualification, said: “We are totally charged up and the boys are raring to unleash their magic on the Bangladesh team. We are battle ready, both physically and mentally.”

Dead rubberMeanwhile, ousted Ireland and the Netherlands will face-off in a dead rubber before the Oman-Bangla-desh knock-out.

Respective captains William Porterfield and Peter Borren have been crying foul over the step-motherly treatment of associates and they would want to bow out with pride weather permitting.

Ireland definitely needs to guard their reputation of being the best outfit among the ICC associates while the Dutch wants to prove that their fair performance against Bangladesh is no fluke but fruit of the hard work they have done since qualifying for the World T20.

Oman coach Duleep

Mendis said team’s

think-tank is working

on various strategies

keeping in mind the

weather interruptions

BIG PRESSURE GAME FOR US: MASHRAFE >C2

BATTLE READY: Members of Oman team pictured during an indoor training session on the eve of their crucial Group A match of the World

T20 against Bangladesh in Dharamsala on Saturday. – Times Sport

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Big pressure game for us, says Bangladesh captain

T.K. MOHANDOSS sportseditor@timesofoman.com

DHARAMSALA: Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said on Saturday that his team is ready for Oman challenge and will play to their best potential to make the Super 10 grade of the ICC World

Twenty20 in style.“Certainly it is a big pressure

game for us and I want all our play-ers to contribute, especially the batsmen and bowlers,” the Bangla-desh skipper said, who desperately is looking for a win.

Mashrafe understands that any slip-up will trigger the critics back home. “I know Oman are a good

side and full of determination. They will be all pumped up after the vic-tory against Ireland,” he added.

However, Mashrafe did not pick any particular player in the Oman side, though he mentioned that ‘Oman is a tough well-knit unit and they have many surprise packages up their sleeves’.

“Oman will come all out at us

knowing that win only will take them through. We are not really worried about the weather be-cause we have a better net run rate,” he opined.

On concerns in his bowling de-partment especially after Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny have been reported for suspect bowl-ing action, Mashrafe said: “It’s not

a major concern as we have a good set of bowlers. But I don’t want to be critical on ICC. If there is a report against the two, we must follow the procedure and get them cleared.”

Adding on the Bangladesh skip-per said: “Since they can continue to bowl, I hope the report don’t af-fect their performance.”

On Mustafizur Rehman, his main strike bowler in recent times, Mashrafe said the bowler is on re-covery path and will be ready for the Super 10 stage. However, he did not comment on whether he will be seen in action against Oman.

On lesser games for the associ-ate team, Mashrafe explained even Bangladesh came up the hard way to become a full-member.

“Yes they need to play more, but it is for the ICC to do the needful,” he said.

Regarding the washed out game against Ireland, Mashrafe said: “We desperately wanted to win the game to take away the pressure from us.”

“We cannot control the weath-er and now the match against Oman has turned out to crucial for us,” he added

The Bangladesh-Oman match will be a night match and will be the first time both will be playing each other in T20 Internationals.

Mashrafe described

Oman as ‘a tough

well-knit unit, who

‘have many surprise

packages’. The

Bangladesh captain,

however, refused

to reveal if left-arm

pacer Mustafizur

will be seen in action

against Oman

I know Oman are a

good side and full of

determination. They

will be all pumped

up after the victory

against Ireland

Mashrafe MortazaBangladesh captain

England beat New Zealand in warm-up tie

MUMBAI: England produced an impressive all-round perfor-mance to outclass New Zealand by six wickets in their warm-up match ahead of the World Twenty20 at the Wankhede Stadium here on Saturday.

Batting first, skipper Kane Williamson struck a quick fire half-century as New Zealand posted 169 for eight in 20 overs.

In reply, openers Jason Roy (55) and Alex Hales (44) used their skills to good effect as Eng-land chased down the total with ease, scoring 170 for four wick-ets in 19.2 overs.

Chasing a target of 170, Eng-land got off to a flying start with openers Roy and Hales smash-ing the Kiwi bowlers to all parts of the ground to pile up 53 runs in the powerplay.

But after striking seven fours and two sixes, Roy had to head back to the pavilion as he was caught by Trent Boult off the bowling of off-spinner Mitchell Santner to have England at 77 for one in 8.2 overs.

Incoming batsman Joe Root (12) too fell in the space of four overs to hand New Zealand a slight advantage.

With Hales looking good to bring up his half-century, off-spinner Nathan McCullum got him caught and bowled in the 16th over followed by Eoin Morgan (20) in the 18th over to take the pressure away from the Kiwis.

But incoming hard-hitting batsmen Jos Buttler (24 not out) and Ben Stokes (8 not out) took their team over the line.

Mitchell Santner (2/24) and Nathan McCullum (2/25) were the pick of the Kiwi bowlers.

Earlier, opting to bat, New Zealand’s hard-hitting opener Martin Guptill (16) gave the team a good start but unfortu-nately threw his wicket away as he caught by Chris Jordan at mid-on off the bowling off Reece Topley in the second over itself. New Zealand were 19 for one then.

Leading from the front, his opening partner and skipper Kane Williamson (63) held on striking nine boundaries and one six to help his team cross the 50-run mark. Williamson was well supported in the end by Henry Nicholls (14).

Despite the fall of Guptill, Williamson scored at a good pace to bring up his half-centu-ry in just 26 balls.

But as both the batsmen was looking set to pile up some use-ful runs, off-spinner Moeen Ali got the much needed break-through dismissing Nicholls in the eighth over. Incoming bats-man Luke Ronchi (13) along with his skipper helped the team cross the 100-run mark in the 10th over itself.

Brief scores: New Zealand 169/8 in 20 overs (Kane Williamson 63; Adil Rashid 3/15, Reece Topley 2/39) lost to England 170/4 in 19.2 overs (Jason Roy 55, Alex Hales 44; Mitchell Santner 2/24, Nathan McCullum 2/25). - IANS

A L L - R O U N D S H O W

NAGPUR: Scotland dished out a superb all-round performance to notch up an eight-wicket win — their first victory in an ICC event — over Hong Kong via D/L method in a rain-affected inconsequential match of the ICC World Twenty20 on Saturday.

In the Group B preliminary round match that was interrupted twice due to rain, Hong Kong post-ed 127 for 7 in 20 overs but with rain delaying the start of the second innings, Scotland were given a re-vised target of 76 runs in 10 overs.

Scotland then overhauled the target with the loss of two wickets and as many overs to spare to post their first victory in an ICC global event at the Vidarbha Cricket As-sociation Stadium in Jamtha. It was Matt Machan who took them to victory with a six off Nadeem Ahmed in the last ball of 8th over.

For Hong Kong, Ahmed (1/20) and Aizaz Khan (1/11) picked one wicket each. Chasing 76 to win, opening duo of George Munsey (19 off 11 balls) and Kyle Coetzer (20 off 19 balls) added 20 runs in first

two overs before spinner Ahmed dismissed the former in the first ball of the next over.

Coetzer then blasted a couple of fours as Scotland amassed 29 off the three power play overs.

New man Matthew Cross (22 off 14 balls) too got into the act and plundered two sixes and a bound-ary as Scotland reached 56 for one in six overs.

He was dismissed by Aizaz with Nizakat taking an easy catch at deep midwicket.

Machan (15 off 4 balls) and Coetzer then finished the job for Scotland.

Earlier, electing to bat, Hong Kong rode on Mark Chapman’s 41-ball 40 to post a modest 127 for 7 in their 20 overs after a brief rain interruption in the last over.

Brief scores: Hong Kong 127 for 7 in 20 overs (M Chapman 40; MW Machan 2/26) lost to Scot-land 76 for 2 in 8 overs (M Cross 22; Aizaz Khan 1/11). Target revised to 76 in 10 overs due to rain delay. — PTI

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GROUP A Played Won Lost Tied N/R Net RR PointsBangladesh 2 1 0 0 1 +0.400 3Oman 2 1 0 0 1 +0.283 3Ireland 2 0 1 0 1 -0.283 1Netherlands 2 0 1 0 1 -0.400 1

GROUP BAfghanistan 3 3 0 0 0 +1.540 6Zimbabwe 3 2 1 0 0 -0567 4Scotland 3 1 2 0 0 +0.308 2Hong Kong 3 0 3 0 0 -1.267 0

S T A N D I N G S

Unbeaten Afghanistan ease past Zimbabwe and into Super 10 stage

NAGPUR: Afghanistan on Satur-day romped into the main round of the ICC World T20 after crushing Zimbabwe by a whopping 59 runs in their final Group B qualifying contest, here on Saturday.

In a do-or-die match, the Af-ghans outplayed Zimbabwe in all departments by first scoring a challenging 186 for six in 20 overs and then bowling out opposition for 127 in 19.4 overs.

Afghanistan won all their three qualifying round matches having won their first two games against Scotland and Hong Kong respec-tively. Afghanistan have been

clubbed with England, Sri Lanka, West Indies and South Africa for the Super 10 and they will open their campaign against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens on March 17.

The Afghans turned the match on its head during the last 10 overs of their innings with Mohammed Nabi (52 off 32 balls) and Samiul-lah Shenwari (43 off 37 balls) add-

ing 98 runs for the fifth wicket. Na-bi’s innings had four boundaries and two sixes while Shenwari hit a six and a four.

In the back-10, Afghanistan

scored a massive 113 runs after the first 10 overs produced 73 for the loss of four wickets.

Opener Mohammed Shahzad also did a great job by going after the bowling during the Powerplay overs, notching up 40 off 23 balls with seven boundaries and a six.

All the Zimbabwe pacers, who had a decent outing so far, went for runs. Wellington Masakadza (0/31), Tendai Chatara (0/34 in 3 overs), Donaldo Tiripano (1/41 in 3 overs) all went for runs.

The only successful bowler was Tinashe Panayngara, who claimed three wickets conceding 32 runs in four overs.

The best part about Afghanistan batting was their fearless stroke-play. If the fine leg was up, they hit the lap shot, played the upper cut over third man and punished any loose deliveries that came their way.

Zimbabwe were never really in contention as they could score only 39 in the Powerplay overs with field restrictions on. They lost wickets at regular intervals with none of their batsmen cross-ing 20-run mark.

Leg-spinner Rashid Khan (3/11) was the most successful bowler while Hamid Hassan (2/11), Sa-miullah Shenwari (1/31) and Mo-hammed Nabi (1/29) all chipped in with wickets. - PTI

In a do-or-die

match, the Afghans

outplayed Zimbabwe

in all departments

by first scoring a

challenging 186 for

six in 20 overs and

then bowling out

opposition for 127 in

19.4 overs

AFGHANISTANM. Shahzad c H. Masakadza b Williams 40Noor Ali Zadran c S. Raza b Panyangara 10A Stanikzai c S. Raza b Panyangara 0Gulbadin Naib b Panyangara 7S. Shenwari c Sibanda b Tiripano 43Mohammad Nabi run out 52Shafiqullah (not out) 9Dawlat Zadran (not out) 0Extras (b-4, lb-4, w-17) 25 Total (6 wkts; 20 overs) 186Did not bat: Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan, Hamid HassanFall of wickets: 1-49, 2-50, 3-60, 4-63,

5-161, 6-184.Bowling: W.P. Masakadza 4-1-31-0 (w-1); T.L. Chatara 3-0-34-0 (w-2); D.T. Tiripano 3-0-41-1 (w-4); S. Williams 4-0-25-1; T. Panyangara 4-0-32-3; Sikandar Raza 2-0-15-0 (w-3).ZIMBABWEV. Sibanda c H. Hassan b Rashid Khan 13H. Masakadza b Hamid Hassan 11R. Mutumbami c N. Zadran b M. Nabi 10S. Williams st M. Shahzad b Rashid Khan 13M.N. Waller b Samiullah Shenwari 7Sikandar Raza b Hamid Hassan 15E. Chigumbura c Shafiqullah b Rashid 10

W.P. Masakadza b Dawlat Zadran 6D.T. Tiripano run out 2T. Panyangara (not out) 17T.L. Chatara c Shafiqullah b A. Stanikzai 8Extras (lb-11, w-4) 15 Total (all out; 19.4 overs) 127Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-43, 3-47, 4-59, 5-65, 6-90, 7-95, 8-98, 9-118.Bowling: Dawlat Zadran 4-0-30-1 (w-1); Hamid Hassan 3-0-11-2 (w-1); Samiullah Shenwari 4-0-31-1; Mohammed Nabi 3-0-14-1 (w-1); Rashid Khan 4-0-11-3; Gulbadin Naib 1-0-15-0; Asghar Stanikzai 0.4-0-4-1.

IMPRESSIVE SHOW: Afghanistan players celebrate after clinching a berth in the T20 World T20 Super 10 stage with an easy victory over

Zimbabwe at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur on Saturday. – AFP

Scotland defeat Hong Kong

R A R E S U C C E S S

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Pakistan team arrive in India

KOLKATA: Cleared by their gov-ernment after days of uncertainty over their participation, the Paki-stani contingent arrived in India to take part in the World Twen-ty20 cricket tournament as they landed here after a long flight.

The 27-member Pakistan cricket contingent arrived in the city from Abu Dhabi, finally end-ing days of suspension over their participation in the mega event.

The Pakistan contingent com-prising 15 players, 12 officials and support staff, reached the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Interna-

tional Airport at 7:55 pm amid tight security after the Pakistan government finally gave their cricket board the green signal to fly to India.

Hundreds of fans gathered at the airport to welcome the Paki-stan team as Shahid Afridi and his players came out of the airport. The Pakistani skipper recipro-

cated the warm gestures, waving at the crowd before leading his teammates into two buses as they went straight to the team hotel.

It took about an hour for the Pakistan players to clear their immigration formalities before they finally came out of the air-port to the loud cheers of the fans gathered there. - PTI

Hundreds of fans

gathered at the

airport to welcome

the Pakistan team as

Shahid Afridi and his

players came out of

the airport

WARM WELCOME: Pakistan team coach Waqar Younis arrives with his team at NSCBI Airport in Kolkata on Saturday. – PTI

South Africa beat India in warm-up tieMUMBAI: Star batsmen Jean-Paul Duminy and Quinton de Kock struck fluent half centuries as South Africa registered a nail-biting, four-run victory against In-dia in the warm-up match ahead of the World Twenty20 cricket tournament at the Wankhede Sta-dium here on Saturday.

Batting first, South Africa posted 196 for eight in 20 overs, thanks to Duminy’s 67 and Quin-ton de Kock’s 56.

In reply, despite Shikhar Dha-wan’s 73 retired not out and Ma-hendra Singh Dhoni’s 16-ball 30 in the end, India fell short of the target as they could manage only 192 for three in 20 overs.

Pacers Dale Steyn, Kyle Ab-bott and leg-spinner Imran Ta-hir claimed one wicket each for South Africa.

Earlier opting to bat, South Africa got off to a disappointing start losing opener Hashim Amla

(5) in the third over. But the fall of wicket didn’t worry his opening partner de Kock (56 retired not out) as the left-handed batsman scored at a good pace to take the pressure away from the team.

Brief scores: South Africa 196/8 in 20 overs (J.P. Duminy 67, Quinton de Kock 56 retired; Hardik Pandya 3-36, Mo-hammad Shami 2-37 and Jasprit Bumrah 2-51) bt India 192/3 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 73 retired; Imran Tahir 1-25, Kyle Abbott 1-32, Dale Steyn 1-36). - IANS

T H R I L L I N G M A T C H

Messi, Neymar help Barca to 12th straight victoryBARCELONA: Barcelona equalled a club record of 12 con-secutive league wins as Neymar and Lionel Messi were among the scorers in a 6-0 thrashing of strug-gling Getafe 6-0 at the Nou Camp on Saturday.

The victory takes Barcelona 11 points clear of nearest challeng-ers Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga standings.

An own goal by Getafe defender Juan Dominguez put Barca on their way to victory after eight minutes but then Messi missed a fourth penalty of the season, be-fore laying on passes for Munir El

Haddadi and Neymar to stretch Barca’s lead.

The Argentine superstar added a fourth goal before the break with a curling strike from the edge of the area.

Neymar then struck a 21st goal of the season in all competitions, again assisted by Messi, while Arda Turan completed the thrash-ing with an overhead volley.

Luis Enrique’s side are in the midst of a record of 37 matches without defeat in all competi-tions and the victory over Getafe matched the 12 straight league wins they achieved in 2012-13 un-

der coach Tito Vilanova.Before the match Barca en-

joyed their first week without a match in 2016, and Luis Enrique made five changes from the team that won 4-0 at Eibar last Sunday, resting Luis Suarez, Dani Alves, Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic before their Champions League round of 16 second leg match with Premier League side Arsenal on Wednesday.

Getafe sit one point above the relegation zone in 16th place and the trouncing they received at the Nou Camp was their eighth defeat in nine league matches. - Reuters

L A L I G A

Man City held to 0-0 draw by NorwichNORWICH: Manchester City’s hopes of regaining the Premier League title suffered a poten-tially grievous blow on Saturday as they were held to a goalless draw by struggling Norwich City at Carrow Road.

The unpredictable 2014 champions dominated posses-sion and territory but still did not have the urgency nor inven-tion to pierce a well-organised Canaries’ rearguard.

And they had to settle frus-tratingly for remaining fourth in the title race, still nine points behind leaders Leicester City. - Reuters

P R E M I E R L E A G U E

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HealthSECTIONC L I F E STY L E S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

ANXIETY is an extremely uncomfortable feeling of unease and nervousness similar to fear, usually about an event with an uncertain outcome. It has both emotional and physical sensations and evokes the flight or fight response in us. It’s uncomfortable and people do whatever they can to reduce it.

Difference between normal anxiety and anxiety disordersNormal anxiety is a feeling we have all faced especially when under stress or when making decisions. Usually after a short while or when the situation is resolved it disappears. Anxiety disorders are overwhelming and the anxiety is constant and interferes with the normal functioning in an individual.

Causes of anxiety disordersIt’s important not to undervalue the distress that people have with anxiety disorders. They are not a sign of personality weakness nor do they respond to simple advice. People who have never faced the constant anxiety find it difficult to understand the suffering of this disorder. Anxiety disorders

are caused by problems in the functioning of brain circuits. These can be caused by genetic factors, early childhood trauma, hormonal imbalances, and stress. Usually they are triggered by a combination of the four factors.

What are the different anxiety disorders?

this condition have feelings of terror that strike suddenly and repeatedly with no warning. Other symptoms include chest pain, palpitations, and a feeling of choking, which may make the person feel like he or she is having a heart attack.

called social phobia, it involves overwhelming worry and self-consciousness about everyday social situations. The worry plays on a fear of being judged by others, or behaving in a way that might cause embarrassment

fear of a specific object or situation, such as snakes, heights, or flying. The level of fear is usually inappropriate to the situation and may cause the person to avoid common, everyday situations.

This disorder involves excessive, unrealistic worry and tension of common every day events. Negative thinking and worry is a constant companion during each day.

How do we help in anxiety disorders?Understanding and compassion are very important in dealing with it. It’s important not to criticise or undervalue the suffering that people go through. People with anxiety disorders must be supported to seek professional help to deal with their symptoms and regain their confidence and strength. Simple words of advice do not help people with anxiety disorders and only help to confuse them. Remember that normal anxiety is incredibly uncomfortable, how much more debilitating chronic uncontrolled anxiety is. They need our help.

Story Dr Gerald D’Costa

ANXIETY is a universal affliction affecting millions. And while most will admit to being under some kind of pressure — be it financial, work or family challenges — getting to unplug and unload is proving to be a difficult task.

Joyce Meyer, best-selling author, speaker and teacher, agrees that the demands of modern life can be all-consuming, making it hard to mute distractions. In her new book, OVERLOAD: How to Unplug, Unwind, and Unleash Yourself from the Pressure of Stress, Meyer addresses this problem by identifying the catalysts of worry in your life, as well as offering practical, effective advice and wisdom from a scriptural standpoint that she believes is the answer to curing your stress.

“Nobody is immune to stress,” Meyer says. “But through exploring the inspiring insights you triumph over stress, you can achieve the joyful, peaceful life that is intended for you.”

Other ways that may help you regain some sense of control and generally decrease anxiety can be

Your home needs to be a place where you go to recuperate and rejuvenate for the next day. The space should be calm and harmonious.

are thousands of ways you can relax. Whether it’s unwinding with music, reading a good book,

taking a warm bath by candlelight, going for a walk or engaging in a sport you enjoy, you know what relaxation feels like and you know when it’s happening to you,” Meyer writes in OVERLOAD, “I strongly encourage you to make relaxation a part of your daily life.”

commuting time to calm down. This may seem like an oxymoron, but you’d be surprised at how easy it is to disconnect from daily pressures or work on the car ride home. Relax by listening to an audio book or singing along to your favourite music, and, if the weather permits, roll down the windows and let the sun and breeze carry your troubles away. -NewsUSA

Unplug and Unload

FIND-IT-ALLC6 S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

Dhuhr 12.21pmAsr 3.46pmMaghrib 6.20pmIsha 7.30pm

Fajr (Tomorrow) 5.03am

PRAYER TIMINGS

CITY CINEMAContact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68 www.citycinemaoman.netfacebook.com/citycinemaoman

SHATTIThe Divergent Series: Allegiant (Action| Adcenture| Sci-Fi) PG12Cast: Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz3:30, 6:30, 9:00 & 11:30PMTriple 9 (Action | Crime | Drama) 15+Cast: Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor3:00, 6:00, 9:30 & 11:45PM The Other Side of the Door (Horror) 18+Cast: Sarah Wayne Callies, Jeremy Sisto8:15 & 11:55PMLondon Has Fallen (Action| Crime) PG12Cast: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman2:30, 4:30, 7:30 & 10:00 Zootropolis (Action | Drama | Thriller) PG12Voice Overs: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman5:15PM

MUSCAT GRAND MALLThe Divergent Series: Allegiant – 2D (PG12) Action| Adcenture| Sci-FiCast: Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz, 12:15, 2:30, 7:00, 11:30 PMGold Class – 8:30 PMTriple 9 – 2D (15+) Action | Crime | DramaCast: Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, 9:30, 11:45 PMGold Class – 3:30, 6:15, 11:00 PM London Has Fallen – 2D (PG12) Action| Crime | Thriller |Cast: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman,5:00, 9:30 PMZootropolis – 3D (PG12) Animation | ActionVoice Overs: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bate-man, Idris Elba12:30, 2:45, 5:00, 7:15 PM

PANORAMA MALLLondon Has Fallen-2D(Action, Crime)(PG12)Cast : Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman4:30, 7:00, 9:30, 11:30 PM

Zootropolis (3D) (Animation, Action)(PG12)Voice Overs : Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman2:30, 5:45 PMTriple 9-2D (Action, Crime)(15+)Cast : Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie3:30, 6:30, 9:00, 11:30 PMTriple 9 (2D) (Action, Crime)(15+)-VIP LOUNGECast : Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor3:45, 8:45, 11:00 PMThe Divergent Series: Allegiant-2D (Action, Adventure)(PG12)Cast : Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz, Theo James2:45, 9:00, 11:30 PMThe Divergent Series: Allegiant (2D) (Action, Adventure)(PG12)-VIP LOUNGECast : Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz, Theo James6:30 PMThe Divergent Series: Allegiant (Action, Adventure)(MX4D)(PG12)Cast : Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz3:30, 6:15, 8:30, 10:45 PMBleeding Heart (2D) (Drama)(15+)Cast : Jessica Biel, Zosia Mamet5:15, 7:45 PM

AZAIBA Triple 9 (2D) (Action |Crime) (15+) Cast: Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie3:30, 6:30, 11:30 PMLondon Has Fallen (2D) (Action) (PG12) Cast: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman3:00, 5:00, 11:45 PMThe Divergent Series-Allegiant (2D) (Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi) (PG12) Cast: Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz, Theo James3:30, 9:30, 11:45 PMJai GangaaJal (2D) (Hindi) (Action) (TBC) Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Rahul Bhat3:15, 6:00, 9:00, 11:15 PMNeerja (2D) (Hindi) (Biographical) (PG12) Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azami6:00 PMPuthiya Niyamam (Mal) (2D) (Drama) (PG12) Cast: Mammootty, Nayanthara7:00, 8:30 PMKadhalum Kandathu Pogum(2D)(Tamil) (Romantic | Comedy) (TBC) Cast: Vijay Setupathi, Madonna Sabastian8:45 PM

RUWIScreen 1Jai GangaaJal (Action) –PG12Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Prakash Jha, Rahul Bhat, Ayush3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PMScreen 2The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2D) (Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi) –PG12Cast: Shailene Woodley, Theo James 4.00, 10.00 PMPuthiya Niyamam - (Mal) – PG12Cast: Mammootty, Nayantara, Baby Ananya7.00 PMScreen 3Neerja (Action / Biography) –PG12Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azmi 3.45, 6.45, 9.45 PM

SURThe Divergent Series - Allegiant ( Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi ) ( PG12) Cast: Shailene Woodley, Zoe Kravitz, Theo James 4:30, 8:45 PMTriple 9 ( Action |Crime | Drama ) (15+) Cast: Casy Affleck, Kate Winslet

4:15, 8:00, 11:45 PMMartyrs ( Drama | Horror | Thriller ) (18+) Cast: Troian Bellisario, Bailey Noble 10:05 PMPuthiya Niyamam (Malayalam) (PG12) Cast: Mammootty, Nayanthara11:00 PMZootropolis (3D) ( Animation) (PG12) Voice Overs: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bate-man, Idris Elba6:45 PMLondon Has Fallen (Action) ( PG12) Cast: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman6:15 PM

SOHARLondon Has Fallen – 2D (Action) (PG12)Cast: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Charlotte Riley2:45, 7:00, 11:30PMThe Divergent Series: Allegiant– 2D (Action | Adventure | Sc-Fi) (PG12)Cast: Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz, 2:45, 5:00, 9:15, 11:30PMTriple 9 – 2D (Action | Crime | Drama) (15+)Cast: Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie2:30, 7:15, 9:30, 11:45PMZootropolis – 3D (Animation) (PG12)Voice Overs: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bate-man, Idris Elba2:30, 4:30PMBleeding Heart – 2D (Drama|) (15+)Cast: Jessica Biel, Zosia Mamet, Joe Anderson5:30, 7:15PMThe Other Side of the Door– 2D (Horror) (18+)Cast: Sarah Wayne Callies, Jeremy Sisto, Sofia Rosinsky4:45, 11:45PMJai GangaaJal – 2D (Action | Drama) (PG12)Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Rahul Bhat, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar9:00PMKadhalum Kandathu Pogum– 2D (Roman-tic | Comedy) (PG12)Cast: Vijay Setupathi, Madonna Sabastian6:30PMPuthiya Niyamam – 2D (Family) (PG12)Cast: Mammootty, Nayanthara9:00PM

BURAIMILondon Has Fallen (Action) (PG12)

Cast: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Charlotte Riley9.45PMThe Divergent Series: Allegiant (Action |Adventure | Sci-Fi) ( PG-12) Cast: Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz, Theo James7.00, 9.15, 11.30PMZootropolis 3D (Animation | Action| Adventure) ( PG12 ) Voice Overs: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bate-man, Idris Elba5.15PMPuthiya Niyamam (Malayalam) (PG12)Cast: Mammootty, Nayantara7.15PMTriple 9 (Action | Crime | Drama) (15+) Cast: Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie4.45, 7.15, 9.30, 11.45PMMartyrs (Drama | Horror | Thriller) (18+)Cast: Troian Bellisario, Bailey Noble 5.00, 11,45PM

SALALAHThe Divergent Series: Allegiant (2D) (PG12) (Action| Adventure| Sci-Fi) Cast: Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz 11:30AM, 2:45, 9:15, 11:15PMLondon Has Fallen (2D) (PG12) (Action) Cast: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, 2:30, 10:00PMTriple 9 (2D) (15+) (Action | Crime | Drama)Cast: Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor.12:30, 12:30, 7:00, 9:00, 11:45PMBleeding Heart (2D) (15+) (Drama)Cast: Jessica Biel, Zosia Mamet, Joe Anderson3:00, 7:05PMThe Other Side of the Door (2D) (18+) Cast: Sarah Wayne Callies, Jeremy Sisto, Sofia Rosinsky5:00, 11:55PM13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Beng-hazi (2D) (15+) (Action|Thrille) Cast: John Krasinski, Pablo Schreiber, James Badge Dale4:30PMZootropolis (3D) (PG12) (Animation | Action) Voice Overs: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bate-man, Idris Elba12:00, 4:45PMPuthiya Nayamam (2D) (PG12) (Malayalam) Cast: Mammootty, Nayanthara7:15PM

CINEMA SCHEDULE CHILDREN BELOW THE AGE OF 3 YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE CINEMA | BOX-OFFICE COUNTER OPENS 30-MINUTES PRIOR TO THE SCREENING OF THE FIRST SHOW

ROYAL OMAN POLICE

Emergencies and inquiries: 9999

General Directorate of

Passport and Residence 24569603

Directorate General

of Customs 24521109

Traffic violations inquiries 24510228

Public Relations Admin 24560099

EMBASSIES IN OMAN

Afghanistan 24698 791/4

Algeria 24605 593

Bahrain 24 605 074/133

Bangladesh 24 698 660

Brazil 24640100

Brunei 24 603533

China 24 696782

Cyprus 24 699815

Egypt 24 600 982/411

France 24681 800

Germany 24835000

India 24684500

Indonesia 2469 1050

Iran 24 696 944/7

Iraq 24603642

Italy 24693727

Japan 24 601 028

Jordan 24692760/1/3

Kazakhstan 24 692418

Kenya 24 697664

South Korea 24 691490

Kuwait 24 699628

Lebanon 24 693208

Libya 24603466

Malaysia 24698329/643

Morocco 24696152/3

Nepal 24696177

Netherlands 24603706

Pakistan 24603439

Palestine 24601312

Philippines 24605335

Qatar 24 691 153/2/4

Russia 24602894

Saudi Arabia 24601705

Senegal 24694139

Somalia 24697977

South Africa 24647300

Spain 24691101

Sri Lanka 24697841/2

Sudan 24697875

Switzerland 24603267

Syria 24697904

Tanzania 24601 174

Thailand 24 602684/5

Tunisia 24603486

Turkey 24697050/1/2

UAE 24400000

United Kingdom 24609000

United States 24643400

Yemen 24600815

PHARMACIES

Round the clock

Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi 24783334

Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24782666

Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi 24702542

Salalah 23291635;

Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra 24503585

Muscat Region

Apollo, Al Hamriya 24787766

Muscat, A Seeb Market 24421691

Muscat, Al Khuwair 24485740

Muscat, Al Hail South 24537080

Dhofar Region

Muscat, Al Nahdha Road,

Salalah 23291635

HOSPITALS

Al Amal Medical & Health Care

Centre 24485052

Atlas Hospital

Ruwi 24811743/

Ghubra 24504000

Al Musafir Specialised

Medical Clinic 24706453

Hatat Polyclinic LLC,

Ruwi 24563641

Azaiba 24499269

Sohar 2683006

Al Raffah Hospital 24618900/1/2

Al Massaraat Clinic &

Laboratory 24566435

Al Makook Medical

Coordinance Centre 24499434

Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24787766, 24787780

Capital Polyclinic 24707549

Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic,

Ruwi 24799760/1/2

Capital Clinic, Seeb 24420740

Ceregem National Raak 24485633

Dr Harub’s Clinic 24563217

Elixir Health Centre 24565802

Emirates Medical Centre 24604540

1st Chiropractic Centre 24472274

Lifeline Hospital Salalah 23212340

International Medical

Centre LLC 24794501/2/3/4/5

Kims Oman Hospital 24760100

24 Hrs Emergency 24760123

Lama Polyclinic, Sohar 26751128

MBD 24799077

Al Khuwair 24478818

Magrabi Eye and

Ear Hospital 24568870

Muscat Private Hospital 24583600

Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment

Centre, Al Khuwair 24477666

Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC 22004000

AIRLINE OFFICES

Muscat Airport Flight information

(24 hours) 24519456/24519223

Aeroflot 24704455

Air Arabia 24700828

Air France 24562153

Air India 24799801

Air New Zealand 24700732

Biman Bangladesh Airlines 24701128

British Airways 24568777

Cathay Pacific 24789818

Egypt Air 24794113

Emirates Air 24404400

Ethiopian Airlines 24660313

Gulf Air 80072424

Indian 24791914

Iran Air 24787423

Japan Airlines 24704455

Jazeera Airways 23294848

Jet Airways 24787248

Kenya Airways 24660300

KML Royal Dutch Airlines 24566737

Kuwait Airways 24701262

LOT Polish Airlines 24796387

Lufthansa 24796692

Malaysian Airlines 24560796

Middle East Airlines 24796680

Oman Air 24531111

Pakistan International

Airlines 24792471

Qatar Airways 24771900

Qantas 24559941

Royal Jordanian 24796693

Saudi Arabian Airlines 24789485

Singapore Airlines 24791233

Shaheen Air 24816565

SriLankan Airlines 24784545

Swiss International

Airlines 24796692

Thai Airways 24705934

LISTINGS

LONG DISTANCE BUS TIMINGS (OMAN NATIONAL TRANSPORT COMPANY SAOC) *SUBJECT TO CHANGE

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (ROUTE 36)

15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily

15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily

15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily

06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily

08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri

13:00 Sohar 15:45 Daily

13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily

16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily

16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily

14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

08:00 Nizwa 10:20 Daily

08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55)

07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily

14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (ROUTE 62)

06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily

06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (ROUTE 100)

07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily

10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily

10:00 Salalah 23:30 Daily

19:00 Salalah 07:40 Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

06:00 Marmul 16:50 Daily

SALALAH TO DUBAI (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)

06:00 Sohar 08:30 Daily

06:00 Dubai 11:30 Daily

13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur

13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur

15:00 Sohar 17:35 Daily

15:00 Dubai 20:55 Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily

07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily

07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (ROUTE 36)

05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily

05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily

05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily

07:00 Ruwi 11:40 Daily

13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri

13:00 Sohar 14:55 Daily

13:00 Ruwi 17:40 Daily

13:00 Sohar 19:20 Daily

17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily

06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily

15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55)

06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily

14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)

12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily

12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (ROUTE 100)

07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily

10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily

10:00 Ruwi 22:30 Daily

19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

06:00 Marmul 16:30 Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Salalah 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)

07:30 Sohar 10:50 Daily

07:30 Ruwi 13:40 Daily

13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri

13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri

15:30 Sohar 18:45 Daily

15:30 Ruwi 21:35 Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH/SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily

16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily

16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

@SHATTI @AZAIBA

The Divergent Series: Allegiant (PG12) (Action| Adventure| Sci-Fi) Cast: Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz, , Theo James3:30, 6:30, 9:00 & 11:30PM

Puthiya Niyamam (Mal) (2D) (Drama) (PG12) Cast: Mammootty, Nayanthara, Baby Ananya7:00, 8:30 PM

BAHJA CINEMAFilm information 24540856 / Advance Booking

24540855

Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com

London Has Fallen (Action / Crime / Thriller)Cast: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart 8.00, 11.55 PM CP No: 351 (PG12)13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (Action / Drama / Thriller)Cast: John Krasinski, Pablo Schreiber 2.00 PM CP No: 352 (15+)Bleeding Heart (Drama)Cast: Jessica Biel, Zosia Mamet, Joe Anderson2.00, 4:00, 6:00 & 10.00 PM CP No: 353 (15+)The Divergent Series: Allegiant (Adventure)Cast: Shailene Woodley, Zoe Kravitz, Navomi Watts4:30, 7:00, 9:30, 11:55PMCP No: 341 (PG12)

STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776

Website: www.isurf.co.om

Puthiya Niyamam (Mal) (Thriller) Cast: Mammotty & Nayantara 3-30 , 6-30 & 9-30 PM Cinema Main Kadhalum Kadhandhu Pogum (Tamil) (Com) Cast: Vijay Sethupathi & Madonna Sebastion 3:30, 6:30 & 9:30 PM Cinema-2Action Hero Biju (Mal) (Act\ Comedy) Cast: Nivin Pauly & Anu Emmanuel 3:45, 6:45 & 9:45 PM Cinema -3Kalyna Vaibhogame (Telugu) (Drama \ Com) Cast: Naga Shourya & Malavika Nair 3:45 PM Cinema -4 Neerja (Hindi) (Act\ Drama) Cast: Sonam Kapoor & Shabana Azmi 6:45, 9:45 PM Cinema -4

Next Change: Maheshinte Prathikaram (Mal)

Kapoor & Sons (Hindi); Pugazh (Tamil)

Programmes are subject to change

@PANORAMA MALL

Triple 9 – 2D (Action | Crime | Drama) (15+)Cast: Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie3:30, 6:30, 9:00, 11:30 PM

WEATHER

290

Maximum

200

Minimum

TEMPERATURE

90-60%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

AADHIDEV MANIKANDHAN March 13, 2012

SIDDHI MAKWANA March 13, 2010

RIHAAN SUNIL THOMASMarch 13, 2015

WITH LOVE

LIFESTYLEC7S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

Ensure proper disposal of garbage.

Don’t litter a beautiful country like OMAN.

Retirement can boost positive changes Individuals who retire become more physically active, reduce their sitting time, are less likely to smoke, and have healthier sleep patterns, when com-pared with people who are still working, finds a new research. “A major life change like retirement creates a great window of opportunity to make posi-tive lifestyle changes — it’s a chance to get rid of bad routines and engineer new, healthier behaviours,” said lead researcher Melody Ding, senior research fellow at the University of Sydney in Australia.“The lifestyle changes were most pronounced in people who retire after working full time. When people are working and commuting, it eats a lot of time out of their day. When they retire, they have time to be physically active and sleep more,” Ding added.-IANS

BR I E F

Hair thinning and hair loss. What you can do yourself.

here is little you can do to prevent hereditary hair loss, but treat-ments may re-verse some of

its effects. For temporary hair loss, try the following to slow hair thinning and encourage regrowth.

contribute to hair loss. Make sure you include plenty of pro-tein and iron in your diet.

-ments to perm or straighten your hair. They contain chemi-cals that may make hair brittle and liable to break at the roots.

that pulls on your scalp, or wear a cap or hat continuously unless you have to wear head-gear for your work.

possible, rather than using a hair dryer. Don’t pull on your hair with a brush or comb when it is wet.

haircut can make a difference. Short, blunt cuts can make hair appear thicker. Some men pre-fer to cut their hair very short, or shave it off, to disguise a re-ceding hairline.

hereditary hair loss, you can try a preparation containing mi-noxidil that may restore hair.

Temporary hair loss often oc-curs after an illness or period of stress, or because of a skin infection such as ringworm. Chemical hair treatments, and hairstyles and hats that pull on the hair, can contribute to the problem. Some drugs and long-term illnesses cause hair loss, and women may lose hair temporarily after childbirth. Per-manent hair loss is usually heredi-tary and can begin to affect men as early as in their twenties. Women who inherit the trait develop thin hair later in life but do not usually become bald.

Natural RemediesProtein is essential for building and repairing tissues in the body, including hair. Make sure about one sixth of your total calorie intake is made up of foods such as meat, fish, cheese, and nuts.

hair, so eat plenty of iron-rich foods such as grains, beans, fish, poultry, meat, and leafy green vegetables.Make an appointment to see your doctor if:

-idly or in patches in recent weeks.

be due to a medication or an illness.

-lifestyle@timesofoman.com

We all know that excess sugar consumption leads to health prob-lems like obesity, diabe-tes and other lifestyle

diseases. While we tend to control our direct sugar intake, sometimes we unknowingly consume sugar that is added to foods that don’t even taste sweet like breads, con-diments, and sauces. Also, it be-comes difficult to avoid those add-ed sugar found in processed food. A little attention to what we eat and drink can help us control our sugar intake. Here are few ways to slash sugar from your diet.

Read Food LabelsWhile buying things like tomato sauce, crackers, or any condi-ments check the ingredients list. If they have words “corn syrup”, “fruit juice concentrate”, “cane sugar”, “brown sugar”, “raw sugar” or “high-fructose corn syrup” mo-lasses, it means that the product is high in sugar. So next time you go to buy your favourite flavoured yoghurt or cereal, make sure you check out on these names. Your seemingly healthy food might not be so healthy in reality.

Cut Down on Raw SugarCutting off sugar from food and beverages like tea and coffee is the best way to reduce sugar intake. Cut back on processed foods which are typically laden with added sugar. Keep sugary snacks away. Cut back on sodas and soft drinks. Go for unsweetened, whole-grain cereals. Don’t substitute artificial sweeteners for sugar. All sugars are sugars. Brown or raw sugar isn’t any healthier than others.

Eat RegularlyEat three meals and two snacks or five small meals a day. For many people, if they don’t eat regularly, their blood sugar levels drop, they feel hungry and are more likely to crave sweet sugary snacks.

Adjust Serving SizesYour serving sizes are a huge key too. Instead of a whole cookie, eat half. Eat a quarter of a cookie and savour it. You will be surprised at how quickly your body will adjust.

Opt for Fresh Fruits Canned fruits are packed with a high amount of corn syrup or fruc-tose that are essentially, different forms of sugar. Simply eat fresh and season fruits to remove such unwanted sugars from your diet. Similarly, fruit juices sold in the packaged format contain unnec-essary sugar. Either have a whole fruit with all its fibres or squeeze-out fresh juice.

Get Enough SleepSometimes when we are tired we often use sugar for energy to counteract the exhaustion. Ex-cessive craving for sugar might be a sign of emotional need that isn’t being met.

Ideal SubstitutesInstead of adding sugar in reci-pes, use extracts such as almond, vanilla, orange or lemon. You can also enhance the taste by adding spices like ginger, allspice, cin-namon or nutmeg. Substitute un-sweetened applesauce for sugar in recipes. Drink lots of water as it reduces sugar cravings or have a piece of fruit when you have a sweet craving. Cravings are gen-erally short-lived so if you can di-vert your mind then you are sure to overcome it. Try going for walks.

WHO GuidelinesWHO’s current recommendation, is that sugars should make up less than 10% of total energy intake per day. Five per cent of total energy intake is equivalent to around 25 grams (around 6tsp) of sugar per day for an adult of normal Body Mass Index (BMI). The suggested limits on intake apply to all mon-osaccharides (such as glucose, fructose) and disaccharides (such as sucrose or table sugar) that are added to food by the manufacturer, the cook or the consumer, as well as sugars that are naturally pre-sent in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit concentrates.Much of the sugars consumed today are “hidden” in processed foods that are not usually seen as sweets. For example, 1tbsp of ketchup contains around 1tsp of sugars. A single can of sweetened soda contains up to 40g of sugar. -lifestyle@timesofoman.com

LIFESTYLEC8 S U N DAY, M A R C H 1 3, 2 0 1 6

SMART WAYS TO LOWER YOUR SUGAR INTAKE

The World Health

Organisation (WHO)

recommends to

consume no more

than 6tsp of sugar

per day. It applies to

all monosaccharides

and disaccharides

added to food and

also the hidden sugar

in processed food.

6 tsp per day

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

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Luxury flat for rent in Bareeq Al Shatti building

Spacious 2 BHK with sea view,

split A/Cs, fixed wardrobes,

kitchen appliance.

Near Opera Gallery.

Rent RO.900/- negotiable.

Contact - 94084335 / 96920789

Flat for rent in South AlGhubrah

3 rooms, hall and 3 toilets, kitchen

rent 450/-. Contact: 99335580

1BHK at Al Hamriya near Muscat

Pharmacy contact: 99224748-

99332297

Flats, shops and basement in

MBD area and Honda road.

Contact: 92433127/96291778/

92589235/97293708

1 & 2 BHK Flat in Al.Khuwair.

Contact - 99792181

2 BHK flat in Ghobrah.

Contact - 99792181

2 BHK flat in Ruwi.

Contact - 99792181

Office Space Available in Al Khu-

wair & CBD.Contact – 99792181

Villa in Al Khuwair. Contact: 92125648/25250300

1BHK close to Indian nursery,

Darsait blog -1619, way No .1322

RO 225/-. Contact: 99476728

Land (17000sqm) with office /

store /shaded area for rent at Ghala

industrial area –prime location.

Contact:99476728

Rooms for rent in Al Khuwair near

Ibis hotel. Contact: 95124975

Double bed room flat CBD area.

Contact: 97608564

Industrial land in misfit for near

Hal service & Al Awazi.950sq.M

with 3rooms,5 bathroom, bound-

ary wall with 2 sides road facing

&large parking in front.

full or part area.

Contact- 99364007/99454425

3 Deluxe flat in Ghobrah near

Chedi hotel 550 RO per monthly

Contact: 90161220

2 BHK flats /office & shops valu-

able in a new building at Honda

road .Contact: 91165807

Vila for rent in Al Mab-

ela South near gulf college.con-

tact:95950025

Furnished room available for

executive bachelor in Ruwi area.

Contact - 99054542

2 B/R Luxury Fully Furnished @

Al Khuwair 33 1 B/R Luxury Fully

Furnished @ Al Khuwair

5 B/R Fully Furnished villa @ Ma-

dinat Al Ilam 5 B/R Fully Furnished

villa @ Madinat Al Ilam. For Daily,

Weekly, monthly or Yearly contract.

Please Contact: Atlas Real Estate

& Rent a Car LLC 99249069 /

994617563/92888376 / 24834888E

mail: info@alshahiintl.com

Store, workshop, garage for rent in

Misfah. Contact – 99792181

1 & 2 B/R flat in Al Khuwair.

Contact – 99792181

4 B/R villa in Al Ansab.

Contact – 99792181

2 B/R flat in Wattaya, Mumtaz &

Ruwi area. Contact – 99792181

Open land + workshop + labour

camp in Ghala & Rusayl.

Contact – 99792181

Store & workshop in Ghala, Misfah

& Rusayl. Contact – 99792181

Flat, 1 bedroom, kitchen, toilet in

AL Khuwair family bachelors

R.O 150/-. Contact: 95154331

2 Bedrooms, kitchen, toilet, car

park R.O 200/- & 1 bedroom,

kitchen, toilet R.O 130 in Al Khu-

wair. Contact: 95154331

1 Bed room, sharing K& T, R.O 100,

2 bedrooms , sharing K& T R.O

200/- in AL Khuwair.

Contact: 95154331

Flat for rent 2 BHK 2 split A/C, 2

toilets, Wadi Kabir near Kuwaiti

Masjid. Contact – 97007934 /

92609232

Commercial/ residential flat for

rent in a new building. A ware-

house also available, location

Muttrah. For more details contact

– 99364735 / 95729711

Room Al khuwair 120 R.O

Contact: 97799175

2 BHK flat with big rooms

behind Bank Muscat, Near ISWK.

99373290, 24815012

Studio type in Qurum.

Contact: 92230462 -98273470

2 BHK in Wadikabir RO250.

Contact: 97799175/92144045

2 BHK in Ghobrah RO310.

Contact: 97799175/92144045

1.2BHK in Darsait .Contact:

97799175/92144045

Flats 2 bedroom Majlis, 2 toilet,

kitchen balcony near Indian school

Darsait new building rent R.O

275/-Contact: 99243059

4 BHK villa in Qurum.

Contact: 97799175/92144045

2 BR flats with 2Baths Kitchen

Al Amerat Aster Hospital .

Contact: 99366142

Furnished flat for rent near City

Center Mawalah. 2 Rooms, Majlis,

hall, kitchen & 4 bathrooms. Rent

RO.400. Contact – 99336776

1000sqm two rooms with com-

pound well at Misfah Sanaiya.

Surround huge open land for trailer

movement, Suitable for tile, sanitary

ware, building materials etc store.

Contact: 99342733 /99795241

Flats in Darsait. 94051789-97201688

3 Rooms, 2 Toilets Flat for Rent. 18

November Street. Near Mars Hyper-

market and The Chedi. Ghobrah -Good

for Commercial or Residential use.

OMR 295/- month. Call 94477222

Conditioned room with toilets in

Al Khuwair. Contact: 92620858

/92605500

2 BHK fully furnished flat at Ruwi

MBD area. Contact – 93211557 /

24814853

Villa in Al-Khuwair 33. Quality

Finishing. Consist 5 Bedrooms, 1

Living room, 3 Lounges, All with A/C,

Kitchen and storage.

Contact: 90665135

2BHK and 1BHK flats spilt air

conditioners are available for

rent in new building in Al Qurum,

near rose Garden. Interested

persons may content on phone:

9513331/96722449

For rent in Mabela Sanaya road

no.6.show room two shutter &

warehouse (900m2) & staff

accommodation & office with split

A.C. reasonable rent

Contact: 99318152&99225067.

DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, M A R C H 1 3 , 2 0 1 6 D3

FOR RENT

FOR RENT FOR SALE

WAREHOUSE AVAILABLE FOR RENT

IN BALADIA SANAYAH AMIRAT

(Floor area 600sqmtrs and mezzanine of 500sqmtrs)

1100sqmts fully cover warehouse

Please contact: G.S.M

99417229/92621039

Commercial flats of 3 & 2

BHK in Al Ghobra North 18 Nov

street RO.650/- & 450/- Contact

91776665

Brand new villas in Al Ansab.

Contact - 94051789-97201688

Flats in WadiKabir. Contact - 94051789-97201688

600 M2 showroom or office in

Bousher in front of Dolphin complex.

RO.3.5 per m2. Contact 91776665

Offices & Showrooms in Al Khoud. Contact 94051789-

97201688

Fully Furnished apartments in

Boucher (35) Contact- 94051789-

97201688

Brand new 4 BHK villa in Al Fai

compound Al Khoud. RO.475/-

Contact – 91776665

02 BHK residential flat opposite

to Al Nahdha hospital.

Contact: 99342733 /99795241

To spend interesting times with

family or friends a new park for

rent in Al Amerat near Sultan Cent-

er for details. Contact: 99332273

Whatsapp 95806364

Building and house in Al Amerat

near Bahwan stores suitable for

big store and resident for work-

ers for details. Contact: 99332273

Whatsapp 95806364

2 Bed rooms flats with hall 2

bathrooms in Darsait near Muscat

municipality. Contact: 92584715

Flat for rent in Hamriya.

Contact 99341112

2 Bed room centrally air condi-

tioned flat in CBD prime location.

Contact: 24714625/91173997

New flats for rent at Al Ghobrah

near to atlas hospital the flats

includes 2 living room , 1hall ,

kitchen , toilets , air conditioned

room & high Quality finishing rent

per flat is R.O 375/-. Interested

candidates please

Contact: 00968- 97093283

Flats in Wadi Kabir. Contact: 94051789-97201688

4 Bedroom new villa Al Mawaleh

1/2 KM to city center mall High

end fit outs split A/C full kitchen

fitting all rooms w/ private toilets

monthly 600/- R.O.

Contact : Hassan 99349990

Two bedrooms flat in Al Ghob-

rah near Oman Oil of 18 Novem-

ber Street. OMR 330 Monthly.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 or

97509955.

ACC. AVAILABLE

Room with toilet for working lady.

Contact: 91450718

Sharing single big room for fam-

ily or couple with separate bath-

room near Badr Al Sama clinic

Al Khuwair. Contact - 99796500

Accommodation available in Al

Khuwair, single room with fur-

niture and A/C, sharing kitchen.

Contact - 94297820

Furnished room attached bath for

Indian bachelor, Al-Falaj Ruwi &

lady Wadi Kabir near Mars

hypermarket.

Contact: 96202458/96761960

Furnish bedroom with attach

bathroom for executive bachelor.

Contact: 97704794

Room with attached bathroom and

sharing kitchen available for

Executive bachelor or small family

at wadikabir Contact 93049849

Room available in Mumtaz area

1 room, 1 Bathroom, Kitchen & 1

room, common bathroom. Inter-

ested please Contact: 92680041

Mr. Altaf

Room for rent with furniture.

Al Bustan villeage. # 93687466

ACC.WANTED

WANTED

IELTS Coaching (academic)

required nearby wadi Kabir area.

Please call on mobile or

msg on Whats up.

Mobile no: 92927880/

99012165

BUYING

Bobcat available for rent.

Contact 97623299

Buying cars for cash.

Contact: 90202090

1ST GRADE RUNNING ESTABLISHMENT

FOR SALEFully equipped

Signboard Fabrication

workshop.

Contact – Muhammad

90579500

For sale Porta cabin; new & used

(wooden steel p.u.panel)

Contact-99318152

Email:ahastco@gmail.com

A well established automotive

service center is for sale in Mabela

area of 2850sqm

please contact Virat: 94656682

Dental chair and mobile X-ray unit

for sale.contact:92737149

Office furniture for immediate

sale 15 workstation, 4 executive

desk, chairs & branded 4 TVs. #

94104022

Household & electronic items for

sale. Contact – 99421740

Expat leaving. Household items

for immediate sale, 99457386

New & used (refurbished) Porta

cabin with ablution for sale.

Pleases Contact: 97143704 or

email: rsttllc@gmail.com

Treadmill heavy 120kgs new

OMR 140/- with massager.

Contact: 92670572

400 sq mtrs Commercial/Resi-

dential land in Mabela Phase 5

Block 2. OMR 165 Thousand.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 or

97509955

A well running pharmacy for sale

at prime location.

Contact- 99627621, 93240949

Well established coffee shop / res-

taurant prime location at AL Khoud.

Contact: 92188777/98700760

Space for printing press available

at wadikabir with or without

machinery. Contact 99328430

Shop for sale near Oman House,

Muttrah. Contact 99024362.

Almost new beach/ garden lounge

chairs /bar stools/ counter. Photos

can be sent 95865457

Luxury Apartments in Bousher

(35). 95056808-97201688

Villas in Al Khoud. 95056808-

97201688

Required single room for an

executive lady (non cooking) in

Darsait, Ruwi, Wadi Kabir.

Contact - 98591132

Accommodation required with

food for 1 month, bachelor for

March month. Preferably Al Ghob-

rah area. Contact: 99335742

220 M2 SHOWROOM

FOR SALE@ Sanaya/ Hospital

Road- Sohar

PLEASE CONTACT:

00968 - 9898 9532/

2471 4325info@paramountmuscat.com

CLEARANCE SALEWhite wood, Red wood,

Manhole covers, Hard ware,

Electrical items & other

building materials

for clearance sale

(price negotiable)

Location Barka – Al Rumais

For further details &

inspection,

Please contact - 96125603

Concrete Plant & Pump,

for immediate sale

Plant Pemat mixer, Econocrete - full set

TEKA Concrete Pump mounted on MAN Chassis

about 450 Square Meter area, with cabins.

Contact Mr Mateen - 92892209/Mr Sreejith - 99478263/ Mr Aqueel - 99338619

LOST

Contact Person

Mr.Mudassir :99314330

Mr.Joao Pereira: 99435952

RESTAURANT

AVAILABLE

FOR RENT Of area 500 Sq mts with well

equipped kitchen and dining

facility on Ground Floor at

DARVESH Building,

Near Royal Hospital.

FOR LADIES

Europe beauty centre offers 50%

discount on beauty packages, home

services, slimming & post delivery

massages. CBD – 24797813 /

97082451 / 94004152. Wadi

Kabir – 24815805 / 94004153 /

96761960

Contact - 98978745

480 SQM With centralized Air Conditioner

In SOUTH MAWALEH (near Burj Al Sahwa Round About, Nizwa Road.)

COMMERCIAL/ OFFICE(Open space)

FOR RENT

Sibtain Mohammed has lost

Pakistani Passport No. AB5073112.

Finder please handover to ROP.

OFFICE SPACES

FOR RENT230 SQ. Mtr each

Ready to move in two

offi ces for rent near Man

Truck Showroom, Ghala

Contact -

99269841 / 92429917

2 Room, 2 Bathroom, kitchen cat

parking 200 Rails.

Contact: 92005298

Four bedroom two floors luxurious

and spacious residential villa in

Al Hail North, near to the sea and

Oman oil. Each room has its own

bathroom. It has splits A/C’s and

shaded car park. OMR 750 month-

ly. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 or

97509955

2BHK split A/C 200/- Monthly

& 1BHK spilt A/C 150/- monthly

new building good location Barka

Market. Contact: 99342661

Warehouse at Wadikabir - total

area 3500 sqm - covered ware-

house (500sqm), office,

accommodation (1000sqm), open

area (2000sqm) please

contact: 99273774 - 99202278

Flats for rent in Ruwi Mumtaz

area 2 bedroom. Contact:

91409667/24291500

1BHK Flat with spilt A/C near

star cinema 210/-. Contact:

99358589/95570288 /97079146 Full furniture room for rent for

family monthly 200/- .

Contact: 99251975

House in Amerat near to Makah

hypermarket with 3 room+ 5 toilet+

hall+ living room+ kitchen.

Contact 98885055/ 92744168

Fully Furnished apartments in

Boucher (35). 94051789-97201688

Single room with A/C & WIFI

having separate entrance for

non –cooking Indian execu-

tive, near Rawasco, AL Khu-

wair rent 130/- (W& E). Contact

92888691/95397442/97201100

Flat with two rooms with window

A/C, with toilets & car parking way

No: 1670 north Al Hail near Dos-

teen restaurant 1KM Inside.

Contact: 99238334

3BHK in Qurum P.D.O high 350/-

Monthly. Contact: 99342661

Flats in Muttrah. Contact:

94051789-97201688

Offices in Ghala. Contact: 94051789-97201688

Offices & Showrooms in Muttrah.

94051789-97201688

Duplex villa in Qurum 29.

94051789-97201688

Offices & Showrooms in

Al Khoud.94051789-97201688

Brand new villas in Al Ansab.

94051789-97201688

For rent and investment Land

industrial shops in Rusayl.

Contact: 99323957 / 95490842

Flats in Qurum. Contact

94051789-97201688

Flat for rent south Al Mabela.

Contact: 95331177/95230355

1B/R apartment executive fully

furnished at AL Khuwair 33 & 5 B/R

villa unfurnished at Madinat

Al Ilam & 5 B/R villa furnished at

Madinat Al Ilam. Contact: Atlas Real

Estate & rent a car LLC -24834888/

99249069/92888376/94617563

Email: info@alshahiintl.com

Luxury villa of 5 BHK in Al

Khuwair 33 RO.650/- Contact –

91776665

Flat for rent in Al Hail south

2 bedroom.

Contact: 91409667/24291500

Steel Scrap materials for im-

mediate sale: Contact 99273774/

99202278

HD Scaffoldings, Shuttering

Jacks, Wooden Planks, Shutter-

ing wood assorted, Tower hoist

(lift), Concrete Mixer, Bending

Machine, Steel Fabrication Ma-

chinery (Searing/Cutting, lathe &

Welding) including tools for im-

mediate sale: Contact 99273774/

99202278

Urgent sale of steel scrap only

serious buyers kindly contact:

+968 96725423 for viewing the

items.

Single colorful Bed and Sofa for Sale

at Al Khuwair. Contact 92881849 /

What`s up No 97290565

DAILY GUIDED4 S U N D AY, M A R C H 1 3 , 2 0 1 6

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

DRIVER

MEDICAL

SALES / MARKETING

DRIVER

ADMIN

CATERING

ADMIN

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

7 yrs exp Dubai marina chandelier

restaurant, Arabic food and grill

Arabic salad. Contact: 94896474

Cooks (Arabic Indian) gulf exp

looking job. Contact: 99531802

Required urgently a Legal Consultant/ Lawyer for reputed

law firm in Sohar, Muscat. Can-

didates should have 5-7 years

experience as a Legal Consultant/

Lawyer with good knowledge of

Computer & should be fluent in

English both written & spoken.

Email C V to shejaanil66@gmail.

com or Contact 99153620

between 8am to 1pm & 2pm to

5.30 pm on Sunday to Thursday

Indian male good experienced in

Accounts, ERP Tally 9 & Admin in

India & Oman, presently on visit

visa, looking for suitable placement.

Contact 94834687

Indian male 25 yrs, Graduate in com-

merce, overall 5 yrs exp in accounts/

finance field. On visit visa. Immedi-

ately available. Contact 92836216 /

muhammad.tausif623@gmail.com

DOMESTIC HELP

DOMESTIC HELP

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

Accountant with two years of

experiencerequired for building

material shop .contact no.99318152

Email:ahastco@gmail.com

Required Accounts Officer- en-

sure accurate processing of

revenue data into ERP systems

and invoicing module. Posting of

invoices to customer SAP portal

and delivery to customer offices

and interface with country man-

ager/ reporting to regional CEO.

Qualifications: BSc accounting.

Relevant experience & knowledge

on online accounting systems

especially the customer

SAP system. Submit CV to:

me-job@interwell.com

Accountant with gulf experience

in construction field preferred with

Oman driving license. Interested

candidates send CV to:

Email: omanhari@yahoo.com

Gsm: 95892831/95197615

Housemaid required for full-time

for Indian family, Hindi/English

speaking CBD area Ruwi.

Contact: 96183093

Housemaid required for caring

two babies for Keralite family

at Al Hail. Contact: 99423608

/95662154

Looking for a part-time cook-cum-housemaid in Azaiba.

Call 92450197.

Required Cleaners & Office boys. Contact 24707833

Housemaid (overseas) Indian

family looking for job. Contact

99531802

MISCELLANEOUS

Required urgently experienced Civil Engineers having 2-3 years on

building construction jobs.

Contact: 99472795

Required Site Inspector (PRO) hav-

ing Omani D/L. Contact – 24291500

Email: hr16.careers@gmail.com

Required Hydraulic Mechanical. Contact - 95251213

Civil Engineer with minimum 5/8

years experience with valid Oman

driving license. Contact Interested

candidates send CV to:

Email: omanhari@yahoo.com

Gsm: 95892831/95197615

Required candidates for following

posts: Accountant, Storekeeper, Foreman Building Maintenance, Van-salesman (water), Helpers. Candidates with Omani driving

license preferred.

Contact 99273774/99202278

Omani national Security Staff similar experience for immediate

employment for an international

school. Contact: 99468907

Wanted house driver cum cleaner with Oman valid license contact:

99415443

Looking for motor cycle license holders for FMCG merchandising

contact: 92312112

Trailer driver + Hiab truck .

Contact: 99332185

Required a expat driver with

Omani D/L. Contact – 91409668

Wanted driver. Contact:

91025698

Part or full time Driver Required

call us 91120552

ENGINEER/MECHANIC.

REQUIRED PROJECT MANAGER

FDuqm/Oman

Graduate Engineer with 20+ years experience preferably

in Oman/ GCC with valid D/L and transferable visa,

computer literate. Send CV to Email :

omanproject2011@gmail.com

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTEDWanted Nurse for a dental centre

in capital area. Interested may

contact – 93431024 or send CV to –

drasyanaseem@gmail.com

Wanted male for managing a lab

referral department: degree in

pathology/microbiology/laboratory

/science. Omani or GCC driving

license. Send CV to:

healthfactor@gmail.com

Wanted Staff Nurse for a derma-

tology clinic in Muscat .must have

MOH license and NOC. Attractive

salary and offered. Email:

clinic-clinicvacacncy2015@gmail.

com

Required female Nurse, with MOH

license for private dental clinic in

Bowshar area, Muscat.

Contact: 92189807

Required Staff Nurse and house maid in Mabela. Clearance avail-

able. Urgent Contact. 95200180.

Wanted ORTHODONTIST, IMPLANTOLOGIST with or without

MOH License for a polyclinic.

Excellent Salary, Commission and

Accommodation. Phone: 99006915

Email: alhinaee.clinic@yahoo.com

GP doctor needed for reputed clin-

ic. Preferably with MOH license or

with Dataflow & Paramatics pass

Contact: 95388934

Nurse required for a dental clinic

in Al Khuwair. Contact 95114616

Required gynecologist GEN: practitioner lady lab Technician and pharmacologist immediately

for a clinic in Suwaiq.

Contact: 95081010

Email: umchealthcare@gmail.com

Indian male 25 B.B.M 4yrs

experience Arabic speaking

with Oman/D/L seeking suitable

position in accounts Admin sales

contact:91266733-

email: safvank.ka@gmail.com

8 years of intensive Oman experi-

ence in procurement & supply

chain management looking for

suitable placement.

Contact: 97755488

Indian female BS, 2 yrs exp

looking for suitable position in

HR & Administration. Contact –

94656009

Urgently required Document

controller / material controller /

HR job 15yrs exp. D/L available plz

contact; 96777019/92386043

Indian female with B. Tech and

MBA H/R (Liverpool UK) with exp

2yrs looking for suitable job and

visit visa. Contact: 98401623

Indian Male more than 10 years

gulf experience in Office / Sales

Coordinator, Admin, Secretarial

and purchase with good com-

puter skills. Holding Oman Driving

license. Looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact 99709336

Indian female Graduate with 4yrs

exp, looking for suitable placement

in admin/accounts .

Contact 99236071

Indian Female, MBA-HR having 8+

experience in Administration/HR,

Customer Support, Office Coordina-

tor with good Computer skill, Now

on Visit Visa,looking for suitable

position. Contact: 90196235

Indian male MBA 33yrs having

10 yrs of exp seeking full time suit-

able placement in Administration/

HR/ Operations/ Coordination/

Logistics. Holding valid D/L.

Contact 99054786

Indian male MBA- UK 18 yrs Gulf

exp in Administration/ HR & Public

relationship. Fluent in Arabic/

English with D/L. Looking for suit-

able position. Contact - 99897280

Female business graduate from

UK with four years experience in

procurement purchasing expedit-

ing logistics and supply chain in

UAE seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 99581399

Filipino male with 13 years HR and

Administration managerial experi-

ence. MBA & CIPD holder. Currently

looking for job in Oman. Interested

employer Contact - 97728418.

Indian, 26 yrs , female , 5 yrs exp

in HR/ Admin with valid Oman

D/L seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 98236033

Indian male MBA / HR and

marketing 2 years experience in

royal bank of Scotland looking for

opportunities in banking operating

marking and HR services excellent

communication Kills.

Contact: 90661245

MCA Indian Female on a visit visa

seeking suitable job.4yrs exp in of-

fice Admin &IT. Contact: 92286147 Indian female, Masters in HR,

having 4 + years Oman experience

in media management and HR,

looking for openings in HR, Educa-

tion, Admin, Corporate communi-

cations. Contact 98252030

28/male/MBA - finance/B.Com -

Accountant with 4 years of Dubai/

India experience looking for a

suitable placement. # 90187483

shobinkarikkan1987@gmail.com

Kerala male 25 yrs B.com diploma

in IATA PGDCA Tally 2 yrs exp ac-

counts in Kerala. Currently in Oman

NOC available. Contact: 99323841

Email: rohitpanam@gmail.com

Dynamic Indian Male Account-

ant with 9 Years Experience seeks

suitable placement. NOC available.

Contact: 96902860

Accountant India male 25 yrs BBA

working seeking for suitable place-

ment: 98201244

Indian male 22 yrs B.Com with one

year exp in accounting auditing with

good working knowledge in tally

erp-9 looking for a suitable place-

ment now on visit visa

Contact: 97189500

Indian male 25 years of age, Bach-

elor degree in B.Com, seeking suit-

able place in Oman, on visit visa.

Contact – 91240544 / 98016928

Indian female MBA Accountant, 8

yrs exp in accounts seeking suit-

able placement. Contact: 96117303

Indian Accountant with 30 years

experience in construction (Finan-

cial & Cost ), Administration, Store

Keeping and HR seek full/part time

assignment anywhere in Oman or

UAE. Contact 98598099

Indian female MBA in finance

currently on family visa seeking

suitable placement.

Contact: 96471025

Indian female Accountant 8yrs

exp in Oman. Contact:93726921

Part time accountant, up to fina-

lization of accounts looking for job

after 5 PM (location prefers – MSQ

– to AL Hail). Contact: 95694737

Urgently required a Marketing Executive with 2 years experience

and driving license (GCC) for a re-

puted building material & electrical

showroom in Al Khoud.

Please send CV to –

startradingmuscat@gmail.com.

Contact - 94320909

Required Salesman cum Drivers for spare pas shop in Ghala .

Contact: 99410172

Looking for an immigration advisor who has experience in

counseling for PR and migration to

Canada and Australia. Email your CV

at consultancyvisa82@gmail.com

Sales Executive Required for an

office Stationery company in

Muscat with Oman D/L and Noc

Send your CV to

info@centraltrading-oman.com

Required Sales staff 2 NOS Having

experience in Cosmetics Sales.

Send your updated CV to

james_kunju@yahoo.com

GSM 92683688

Omani or European female Sales representative required for part

time please send CV to

gcpe16@gmail.com

with expected salary

Required Sales/ Marketing executives having light license

for facility management co.

sendcv-ocean@omantel.net.om

Challenging tyres Omani compa-

nies seeking for Sales Man only

an tyres division sales minimum

2 years experience send CV to

saeed@liwainvestments.com

Urgently Required Steel Fabri-cated Products Salesman with

an experience in steel fabrication,

MUST have Oman driving license,

and immediately join. Apply,

fax 00968–24605955, emails

sbc@steelbuildingsllc.com,

sbeoman@yahoo.com

SALES / MARKETING

REQUIRED

AN AUDITORWith 6years of experience.

Th e candidates should be a

commerce graduate

experienced in auditing.

Interested candidates may mail their CV’s to:

auditbureau2016@gmail.com

OUR CENTER IS LOOKING FOR FULL TIME:

: Hair related treatments

house training classes. Advises clients on hair care and use of products.

Ensures that the high standard of service is maintained.Salary based on skills and experience.

Please submit CV to info@artemishfp.com

TECHNICIAN

TECHNICIAN

Urgently required Electronics Technician with at least 2-4 yrs

exp, in network cabling, access

control, telephone systems,

interested send the CV to

info @smartvisionoman.com

SEEKING SKILLED

EMPLOYEES

1. Skilled iron worker

2. Skilled iron welder

3. 3D sign board specialist

4. Skilled painter

5. Skilled carpenter

6. Car wash supervisor

Email : creativityeast@gmail.com

A reputed, long standing, multi division Company in Oman requires

Finance manager to be based in Muscat.

Th e person should be a Commerce Graduate with 10 years

professional experience in Accounts up to Finalization,

cost control, inventory and tax planning.

Interested candidates can apply at: jobs4oman2016@yahoo.com

Candidates to apply who can meet present Oman Government’s

visa condition.

SITUATION VACANT (FINANCE MANAGER)Urgent placement for Polyclininc at Mabella, Seeb

1. Gynaecologist - Arabic Speeking -F

2. Pharmacist -M/F

3. Staff Nurse -F

Kindly send CV to alsalamaoman@gmail.com

www.alsalamamuscat.com

Th ose who hold valid MOH Licence and NOC from the current sponsor will be given preference.

4. Radiographer -F5. Lab. Technician -M/F6. Marketing Executive -M/F7. Receptionist -F

Indian Chartered Accountant - with 8 yrs + Exp in Finance/

Accounts/Auditing in Oman &

UAE. Seeking suitable position

in Muscat/Dubai and available

immediately for joining. NOC avail-

able. Available till 9.3.16 in Oman.

CONTACT #: 98707434

Email: casmart007@gmail.com

Jordanian, Senior accountant, 15 yrs experience in Oman finance

& accountant. Contact: 92881223

Indian male 28 yrs MBA finance/

marketing and graduate in com-

puter experience 3 yrs seeking

suitable job, now family visit visa.

Contact: 93195378

Email: faisalme.beg677@gmail.com

Accounts Manager 24 years work-

ing experience 8 years in Oman

looking managerial position with

family status interested to work

construction or manufacturing trad-

ing organization. Contact: 95919546

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, with

13yrs experience, 6 yrs Oman in

manufacturing, trading & contract-

ing Cos, capable of handling all

accounting, finance, banking, L/C,

import, export & finalization seeks

placement. NOC Available.

Call+968-98932752,

mail:jjohnmuscat@hotmail.com

Indian Male Accountant 10yrs Exp.

in OMAN Retail & Furniture Co. (Re-

lease Available) #92564955

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT-M. Com Fi-

nance-Indian with 7 years experience

in Finance & Accounts up to finaliza-

tion. Currently employed in Oman.

Having D/L & NOC. #94122464,

Email: cammk13@gmail.com

Indian male MBA (finance) one

year exp in Oman with D/L and

Noc. Looking for Suitable

placement contact: 94103975

Indian male Accountant looking

for a suitable placement in Salalah.

More than 20 years exp in account-

ing job (up to finalization of ac-

counts) 8 years working experience

in middle east in Dubai, Muscat &

Salalah. Contact - 91325029

Sri Lankan Accountant CIMA

Inter mediate qualified, on visit.

Contact: 90660764

Part-time Accounting assignment.9am-5pm.#91126314

Accounts part time services

available to handle all accounts up

to finalization, on Monthly basis

finalization and consulting works.

Contact: 96247295

Indian C.A finalist having 7 years

exp in Finance field, looking for a

suitable position with license and

NOC. Contact – 98097009

25 Years/Male Indian/B.com with

2 Years Experience/Seeking Job

in Finance and accounts/Skills

Tally ERP9/SAP-FICO/MS Office.

Immediately Joining.

Contact No: +96897184087

Email: modi_harshal@ymail.com

Indian male 34 Yrs, Dual MBA

Finance and marketing with IT

skills, 7+ yrs of experience,

Looking for suitable placement.

Contact : 94879615,Email-

sajan_chacko1981@yahoo.com

Indian male, B.Com with 6 years

experience as an Accountant,

looking for suitable placement.

Mob: 93903458 ,

Email : Akkandyrijesh@gmail.com

Chief Accountant 25 years expe-

rienced looking for part/full time

accountant job.

Contact: 95598477/98803439

Indian male 25 B.Com (graduate)

2 years experience as accountant

in country club India with ERP

oracle r12, tally knowledge. On visit

visa immediately available.

Email: shabi.hyd@gmail.com

Contact- 9042-1161

Indian female 25 yrs, MBA HR &

Marketing, with one and half years

experience as accountant and

6 months experience in teaching,

now on a visit visa, seeking suit-

able position. Contact: 99624044,

mail: np.neethu1@gmail.com.

An Omani construction company located at Muscat looking for

Marketing executive with

GCC driving license & NOC

send C.V to kwk585@gmail.com

Required Sales Executive knowledge of building materials.

Full or part time.

Contact: 99421513

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENTA famous Italian brand is seeking for female applications for the

position of “Counter Sales” which will be located in one of Muscat’s most popular malls.

Qualifi cation required:

Fluent English speaking, Arabic speaking is preferred,

good communication skills, basic knowledge with computers.

Experience required:Minimum of 3 years of professional experience in sales

Candidates are requested to send their CVs on recruitnomination.sales@gmail.com

EDUCATION/TRAIN

The Egyptian school requires chemistry Teacher for IG, English, Science & mathematics. Teacher’s application should be

submitted by hand or by email –

egyptianschool98@gmail.com /

24603930

Required personal lady Trainer at home in Wadi Kabir.

Contact – 94100959

We, the storm shield in the talented candidates for the below

positions (Indian only): Maintenance Technician (male -1) should have knowledge of new

mobile devices & 3 years Oman

experience Contact: 94441111

Send CV to

email: gshield9@gmail.com

Pakistani light looking job 3 years

experience in Oman. #93711608

Bangladeshi male light driver

looking for job 3 exp.

Contact: 93254149

Looking for job driver 10 yrs exp.

Contact: 99035942

Indian light driver cum house

cleaner. Contact: 96255558

/99415443

Light driver. Contact: 96756014

DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, M A R C H 1 3 , 2 0 1 6 D5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

DRIVER

EDUCATION/TRAIN

EDUCATION/TRAIN

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERIndian male 30 years, having 5 years

of experience in industrial automation and utility

maintenance in India (MRF Tyres), holding valid Oman D/L.

Contact - 92789995Email: akhilabrahamlktr@gmail.com

IT

Indian male 22, Chemical Engineer

residing in Oman looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 92379181

Electrical Engineer, Indian male,

6 years industrial experience on

visit-visa, seeking job- ready for

any roles. Contact: 98750295

Email:bebala04@gmail.com

Building Site Supervisor working

in Oman since Mar 2010 with Oman

D/L looking for suitable placement

.contact:91507828

Diploma electrical candidate look-

ing for suitable job, having 2 yrs

experience in electrical utilities

maintenance and plant mainte-

nance. Contact: 94652387

B.Tech electronics & Comm.Engg

with CCNA certified with 2yrs exp.

Contact-99490930.

email; sujith8938@gmail.com

An Iraqi civil with more than 30

years experience in (Iraq and G.C.C)

looking for a job, (N.O.C) available.

Contact: 96561306

Email: iq.bgd.mnsr@gmail.com

Civil Engineer 11 yrs exp in con-

struction field having Oman driving

license & NOC. Contact – 94194399 /

shiblyrock@gmail.com

Indian male 22, Chemical Engineer

residing in Oman looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 92379181

Engineer has 10 years local & in-

ternational experience in ready mix

concrete also in Oil & gas filed also

in marketing & sales field ,

has Omani driving license.

Contact : 92534098

Indian History graduate with diploma in Safety with

valid Oman Driving licence seeks suitable placement.

Contact-93361624, Email-dheerachpadikkala@gmail.com

HOSPITALITY

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

Indian male Graduate hotel man-

agement 12 yrs exp operations &

sales oriented GCC driving license

and release available.

Contact - 94525463

Hospitality Degree 5 yrs exp

holding Dubai driving license.

Contact - 91234870

Hospitality/Hotel/ Restaurants

Dynamic result oriented hospital-

ity professional with 20 years of

international exp. MBA in Hotel

Management, specializing in

Hotel/Restaurant start ups, con-

cepts & Franchise development

with proven records. Seeking for

Challenging positions in reputed

groups as GM/COO/CEO/Business

Head. (NOC available)

Contact: 96059470

EXPERT ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE F

HR& CRM, appraise IT system for

Contact: Tel - 96500729

Indian Civil Engineer in UAE

seeking suitable placement in

Muscat-Contact 00968 99142171

Project Engineer 14 yrs exp of

project execution & operations,

all kinds Mech/civil and interior

decoration with license

Contact: 93260559

Sudanese Civil Engineer 4 years

experience –98093544

B.E Mechanical and diploma with

75%, age 28, 2yrs Hyundai Motor

and 3yrs in water treatment.

Contact - +91 9003612305.

prabugh28@gmil.com

Male 25 age M.B.A, HRM, BE Auto-

mobile 3.4yrs exp production engi-

neering. Contact: +91 9841873619/

vickey040890pt@gmail.com.

Diploma Civil Engineer 13 years

GCC experience NOC available

with valid Oman driving license.

Contact: 99794456

Indian male 37 yrs X-Ray welder

7 yrs exp (ARC, TIG, ARGON,

Welding) seeking suitable job.

Contact: 91360190/98223683

Diploma in computer, looking for

any office job, exp in tele support and

sales, on visit visa. # 95917613

B.Com Graduate with five and half

yrs exp in Oman as a purchaser. NOC

available. Valid driving license. Look-

ing for suitable placement

Contact: 96772166

Graduate, computer literate, experi-

enced in sales, credit control,

accounts, Omani D/L , seeks suit-

able placement. Gsm 98805474

A lady entrepreneur with BF Tech

1st Class (Fashion Technology)

since 2006 in Kerala like to make

change for better. Specialized in

designing, Production Management,

Fashion Art, Grading, Surface orna-

mentation, Garment Construction.

Email: prettyjinu08@gmail.com

Mobile: +919539397097.

Indian female on visit MBA

(International Business- Market-

ing & Logistics), BE (Computers &

Science Engg.) Trained in SAP-BI/

BW with 1 year experience

seeking for job Contact: 90228586

Email:fathimasha16@gmail.com

REVIT (ARCH), Diploma Civil 3yr ,

in visit visa , exp. Salary : 250

PH : 92279784

Electrical diploma Engineer with

1.5 years experience in AutoCAD

designing for LV constructions and

diesel generator maintenance look-

ing actively for job in Oman.

Contact: 92171858/90595609

Email: nelsondas213@gmail.com

Mechanical Engineer (B.Tech) with

2 and half years experience Indian

male 24 years in visit visa. Contact:

96620482 / + 919605423272

Email: bijumonps@gmail.com

Civil Engineer diploma, 4 yrsexp

seeks suitable position ina reputed

company. NOC available.

Contact – 96789711

Civil Engineer 8 years experience

in Oman as a project engineer for

governmental & private projects.

Contact – 90164912

Procurement Engineer (27 years

single male with Oman Driving Li-

cense) having 7 years experience

(UAE 2, Oman 3) with expertise in

MEP, Water, Electromechanical,

Instrumentation seeking suitable

placements. Contact 95852033,

mail: hemal1988@gmail.com

Civil Engineer (B.Tech), Indian

male 24 years with 1+years Indian

experience,(Certified in Staad

Pro/ Quantity Survey/ Auto Cad).

Looking for a Suitable position.

Available In Sultanate of Oman

(Muscat) on Visit Visa.

Contact: 92835952. E-mail:

mohammedamair.bin@gmail.com

Indian male Electrical Engineer, having 6 years gulf experience in

designing, assembling, commis-

sioning execution etc having valid

GCC license too looking for a suit-

able. Contact: 00968-98052942

Email: azamjeelani78@gmail.com

Procurement Manger Indian

Engineer + MBA. With 16yrs exp,

Oman driving NOC valuable

Contact: 96561943-

email:srajan_kripa@yahoo.com

Indian well experienced per-

sonal assistant/executive office

manager/ senior administrator /

commercial executive with license

looking for a change. release letter

available – 99168054

mbkishore@hotmail.com

The Business Development Man-

ager, Iraqi, Experience 15 Years

Inside and outside Oman following

activities: construction(Very strong

and qualified to bringing business

for civil work Or any type of the

construction work for many million

per year with a good experience in

pricing and collect payment and

cash management of the company

& marketing projects & invest-

ments& tenders & real estate.

Contact 92385033

Manager having 12 years experi-

ence in Sales & property manage-

ment with valid GCC driving license

looking for a suitable placement NOC

available. Contact: 98125226

B.E Arch working as a project man-

ager (interior fit outs) specializing

in shop fit outs restaurateur, offices,

lifestyle shops etc looking to work

in a reputed firm NOC available.

Contact: 94274437

Operation & Accounts Manager. Indian 18yrs experiences in Oman

–operation, admin, fiancé, purchase,

HR& sales looking for SR.position.

Contact:99889396-

Email: srjobsinoman@yahoo.com

Indian male 35 years, mechanical

engineering diploma, 15 years of

total experience, 4 years in Dubai,

seeking challenging assignments in

business development/management

& sales, on visit,phone:95990541,em

ail:kckurup.v@gmail.com

P.M/Electrical Engineer B.Sc

5yrs exp.(2yrs in PDO area)driving

license looking for suitable job

mob.:91175016

E.mail:elmuthana@hotmail.com

General Manager MEP also manage

civil, MBA, BE Electrical, 10 yrs exp

in Oman valid D/L, release available.

Contact – 92447102

MBA with 18 years of experience in

Procurement, 2 years in Sohar, Oman

driving license with vehicle, looking

for suitable position.GSM :94047501,

ahmed16071974@gmail.com

Indian male experienced in priority

and retail Banking handling HNI/

ultra HNI and SME portfolios as rela-

tionship manager in UAE and India,

with UAE driving license on tourist

visa looking for suitable opportunity.

Please contact #90204929

E-mail-hani.leo@gmail.com

Indian male, with experience in op-

erations management, information

security, purchase & stores mgmt,

hold UAE driving license, on visit

visa, seeks suitable job. #91904541

Email: naushers@yahoo.com

B.Tech Engineer (Indian, 23yrs

male) 1.5 yrs exp (IBM India &Pvt

Ltd & seizer engineers (Pvt ltd)

looking for suitable job.

Currently on visit visa ready to

join immediately

Contact: 93354092/990249660.

email:eapenbijoy92@gmail.com

Pakistani male Diploma Civil En-

gineer 4yrs exp in Oman bulling &

mega projects, valid license Oman.

contact:98821022

A Pakistani Civil Engineer having

5yrs exp in consulting and build-

ing field, looking suitable job good

running company with valid driv-

ing license. Contact: 91800277

BE Electrical Engineer search-

ing for suitable job. Experience

plc driver panel control wring oh

crane air compressor etc.

Contact: 90628814

Mechanical Engineer having

Omani driving license and 2yrs

exp seeks suitable placement.

email:malvindevidan@gmail.com

Mechanical Diploma Engineer having 8yrs of exp seeking for

suitable currently on visit visa.

Contact- 94657806

Diploma Civil 5yrs exp seek-

ing suitable placement

Email:sushbinde86@gmil.com.

contact: 96938770

Indian male B.Tech civil engineer

(Auto cad 3 max) 4 yrs exp in

planning, designing & site Super-

vision seeks Suitable placement

NOC available contact: 95472155

B.Tech Mechanical Engineer with

6 yrs of exp in India & Singapore

as welding inspector. Having NDT

level 2, Cswip3.1, 1so 900:2008

leap auditor certifications .looking

for suitable job. Currently on visit

visa .contact: 98919114

Project Engineer 9 Civil, 7.5 yrs

in Oman, need suitable placement,

NOC release available. #91129192

Sudanese Electrical Engineer, granted with distinction, hard-

working and can adapt to different

work conditions. Contact: 98133281

Electrical & Electronics Engineer with 3 years GCC exp in sales, GCC

driving license. Seeking suitable

placement. Contact - 90301410

26 yrs Indian Male – B.Tech

(IT) - 6 yrs exp -sales & admin

-seeks suitable placement -

91848460 / 98304080; Email:

arun9895431989@gmail.com

MANAGER

MEDICAL

Indian Female, MSc Maths from a

central university, B.ED qualified with

over 6 yrs into teaching. Distinction

holder and passion for teaching, cur-

rently on family visa seeking lecturer

jobs. Contact: 91360147.

Indian female 25years M.C.A

on family visit required suitable

placements also interested in

teaching. Contact: 90417133

Email: renjitharose04@gmail.com

Network Engineering with 9 years

and half experience seeking suit-

able placement. Contact: 95249087

Sudanese mechanical Engineer, 2 years experience HVAC

firefighting, on visiting visa.

Contact 95630047

Sudanese civil Engineer holding

bachelor with two years of experi-

ence in Oman has resident visa and

valid license. Contact: 94393880

Indian male 31 years Civil

Engineer diploma holder 4 years

experience in Oman need place-

ment N.O.C available.

Contact: 93298395

HSE & Fire Safety Engineer 4 years experience air port opera-

tional safety, power & chemical

industry. Contact: 94374241

22 Years exp in Gulf civil building

construction project manager.

Contact – 0097430824610 /

arshadjamalkhan@rediffmail.com

B.Tech Electronics & comm. Engg

& MBA Degree in operation man-

agement with five years experi-

ence in optical fiber planning coor-

dination etc. Contact: 94819139

Indian Male Degree Holder BE (civil) having 11 years of Oman

experience with valid Oman driving

license looking for a suitable job

.NOC available and ready to join im-

mediately. Mobile: 93803950.

Mail:kavinvasi2007@gmail.com

B.SC Civil Engineer 27 yrs Oman

experience as project manager,

structural Engineer looking for

suitable placement NOC/ LOCAL

transfer available.

Contact: 99349578

Email: farooqatm@hotmail.com

Electrical Engineer with 18 years

exp in UAE. Contact: 98148034

Email: shassalih66@gmail.com

Structural Engineer, 8 yrs expe-

rienced in flat slab, post tensioned

& slab-beam multi story building

design & supervision with driving

license. Contact: 98256860

Mechanical Engineer M.Tech

2 years experience HVAC design

& site Engg revit MEP Auto CAD.

Contact: 90150913 Email:

mahmanmechengg@yahoo.im

MBA Graduate with 6 yrs exp in

IT solutions, sales & marketing,

solution selling, POS, ERP, time at-

tendance, security system, software

development projects, websites &

mobile apps. Seeking suitable posi-

tion. Contact - 92103545

Indian Male, IT System Engineer

having 4 yrs of experience in sys-

tem administration.CCNA,MCSE,

Linux. Looking for suitable job.

Contact :91272867

Indian female, B.Tech gradu-

ate, with one and half years

experience as ‘web developer’

interested in web development

and has experience working in

HTML,CSS,Bootstrap, JavaScript

and Photoshop. Contact: 9592

7075 e-mail id:

mariarosejacob90@gmail.com

MSC (IT) male 32 age 4

yrs networking system ad-

ministrator. Seeking a suit-

able placement +918608247110.

email:samad3301@gmail.com

24yrs Indian male B.SC Computer

Science with 2 yrs networking and

IT helpdesk support exp, a Cisco

Certified, seeking for suitable

placement. Contact: 96910605-

email:shaikzube@gmail.com

Pakistani male 26 yrs BS (CS)

hold 2 yrs UAE exp in IT software,

knowledge in Oracle 1g, MS SQL,

C#Net, word press, IT networking

and hardware. Looking for suit-

able job. Contact – 92826049 /

m.saifmasood@outlook.com

Indian male diploma in computer

4 yrs exp in system admin, tele

call support, IT hardware network-

ing. Looking for suitable position,

on visit visa. Contact - 95917613

Indian male, IT professional , BE

in ECE with 2 yrs of networking

and Technical Support Engineer-

L2’ experience with CNA certifica-

tion, looking for full time job -

GSM 92916894 ;

Email: salu.mn555@gmail.com

Indian female, B.Tech graduate,

with one and half years experience

as ‘web developer’ interested in web

development and has experience

working in HTML, CSS, Bootstrap,

JavaScript and Photoshop.

Contact : 9592 7075, e-mail id:

mariarosejacob90@gmail.com SAP/ABAP Consultant, BCA, MCA,

ASP.Net certification, Indian fe-

male 30, having 1.5 yrs exp, family

visa, seeking placement.

Contact – 99109121/

ashamaryphilip@gmail.com

Indian male 25 years BSC (C.S)

with basic hardware and software

knowledge seeks suitable place-

ment now on visit visa.

Contact: 92319677

Email: ismabsc@gmail.com

Omani 26(M) seeks placement,

6 yrs excellent experience

networking hardware software.

Contact: 95356166

Sudanese net work Engineer holding IT BACHELOR (CCNA,

CCNP, and MCSE) has one year

experience and license.

Contact: 92394485

DESIGNER/DRAUGHTSMAN

Indian Female 24yrs, AutoCAD

draftsman with 3ds max & rivet, 4yrs

exp. looking for suitable vacancy in

Muscat now in visit visa .

Contact: 95601266

Email: reshmanb121@gmail.com

AutoCAD Draughtsman seeking

job. Contact: 95516807

Indian Female, Bsc Fashion De-

signer with Oman driving Lisence,

looking for any good job.

Contact 98757582

B. Arch graduate female with 1

yr experience looking for suitable

placement as an architect / Inte-

rior designer Contact 95981197

email: merlnoronha@gmail.com

Interior Designer Seeking suitable

job. On visit visa in Oman.

Contact - 92166130

Interior designer 3 years experi-

ence 1 year in Oman and 2 years

in Egypt, experience in interior

design, 3D max, AutoCAD,

Photoshop. Contact - 94762876

AutoCAD draftsman experience 2

years. Contact: 93738335 /95809393

Email: mammoosing@gmail.com

Staff Nurse (female) with MOH

license. Looking for opportunity in

Muscat. NOC / release letter avail-

able. Contact - 99433415.

Indian female Dentist specialized

endodontic looking for a suitable

placement prometric completed.

Contact: 96410448

Indian Bsc Female Nurse with

6.5 years exp, 4 years in KSA.

Passed Oman Pro Metric with 69%,

completed data flow. Presently in

Muscat in visit visa looking for a

suitable placement.

Contact 94744900, 94742834,

jincyalphonese@gmail.com

Indian male Nurse 32 years Oman

parametric and data flow completed

8 yrs emergently experience.

Contact: 92463190

Male GP Doctor with NOC 6 yrs

experience in Oman for perm/locum

job. Contact : 97746074

An experienced Sudanese female Dentist with MOH license look-

ing for job. Contact 96436517

/97396088

Pakistani driver with Elantra 2016

model car seeks job: 95873286

Pakistani light driver looking job

9 yrs exp in Oman.

Contact: 96048460

Light driver Indian 4yrs exp in

Oman having own car looking for

job, release available .

Contact: 93053917

Driver looking for job, speaks

English, Hindi & Arabic & 4 yrs

Oman exp with valid Oman driving

license contact: 92820309

2 Years exp in driving, seeking

any job .Contact: 97460056

Bangladeshi male looking for job.

Contact - 93822195

20 Years Embassy experience expert driver cum PRO seeks suit-

able place. Contact – 94297820

Driver cum electrician 7 yrs exp,

seeking suitable placement.

Contact – 98255214

3 Years driving exp in Muscat,

speaks English, Arabic, Hindi&

Bengali. Contact- 97462781

Driver job wanted. Contact

96393082

Pakistan driver with car.

Contact: 97198672 / 98988208

Seeking driver job with own car.

Contact: 98031620

Looking for job light duty driver

6 years experience NOC available.

Contact: 92381696

Indian male, Mechanical

Engineer having 1year experi-

ence, on visit visa looking for

suitable job. Contact:97416564,

Email:jovinmathias@gmail.com

Civil Engineer 8 years experience

Structural buildings marine. Avail-

able NOC release. Contact: 92451323.

Email: zubairali134@yahoo.com

HSE Engineer (B.E Mech+Diploma

Safety+NEBOSH+OSHA) over

10yrs. Exp, (Visa Release Letter

(NOC) available), seeking suit-

able placement, Mob:97061817,

Email:jayanammu1977@gmail.com

Omani HSE supervisor. Email:

jeebal3000@gmail.com

Indian female civil engineer

B.Tech having 3 years experience

sound knowledge of software,

REVIT STAD PRO structural detail-

ing currently on family visa seeks

suitable placement.

Contact: 95345591

Civil Engineer (BE) having total

5 years experience in building

construction looking for a suitable

placement. D/L available

Contact# 94450270

Sri Lankan Engineer (27 Years

old) – B.Sc Engineering (Hon)

Mining / Geotechnical Presently

in Muscat, 1.5 years experience.

Contact 91295802

acmfaslan123@gmail.com

Indian Electrical Engineer Btech,

female 24 seeking job, presently

in oman having 2 year experience

in design and estimation of Ht &Lt

projects. Contact 968 97436557,

Mail id : sibinanoop1@gmail.com

Bachelor Civil Engineer 6 Years

in Oman experience Valid Driving

License seeks suitable placement

Phone 97619722

Email – golamrob@yahoo.com

Diploma in Mechanical Eng pip-

ing system in AutoCAD work, 21+

years experience with Driving

license. Contact: 95267113

Email: rkakkaryil@gmail.com

Civil Engineer 6 yrs Exp in Oman

with license. Contact: 98975518

7 Yrs Exp. PM in Mech. Engg in

the field of Building Const. Oil &

Gas Seeking Job.94625598

Road and Construction Engineer with 5 years exp in Oman.

Contact: 97667113

Mechanical Engineer with 3 Yrs

experience in international Oil

& Gas company looking for job

Contacts: Tel: 90164236 Email:

mustafaoshi-62@hotmail.com

Indian female, 31 yrs, 7 yrs expe-

rienced as AutoCAD civil drafts-

man (2 yrs experience in Oman)

currently in Oman seeks suitable.

Contact 96789441

Email: simi5304@gmail.com

Sudanese Telecom Engineer, 5 years experience, 3 years in

Oman PMP certificate.

Contact: 93391008 Email:

momen.awadallam@gmail.com

Indian Male 23 years B.Tech

Civil having 2 years experience in

quantity survey and site manage-

ment looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact:- 95042656

Bangladeshi male, University

M.Com, Working as an Accountant

& Administrator in Oman; search-

ing better job. Phone: 94864966

Email: sunrisetoiqbal@gmail.com

DAILY GUIDED6 S U N D AY, M A R C H 1 3 , 2 0 1 6

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

SIT. WANTED

SIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANTEDEDUCATION/CLASSES/COMPUTER/WEBSITE

Karate and self defense classes

at Azaiba 18 Nov Street. RO 10 per

month twice a week Monday and

Tuesday 6. 30 TO 7. 30. PM.

CONTACT 98294551

Spoken Arabic class for Non Arabic Speakers & English

class for Malayalam Speakers in Azaiba and Ruwi

earn in two monthstion guaranteed

Tel: 95244310

Classes for Spoken EnglishTOEFL / GRE / GMAT / SAT

Excellent Guidance and Coaching Satisfaction Guaranteed

IELTS PREPARATION Target Band 8.0

EAGLES INSTITUTE92325542 | 93657915 | 93657917 | Email: engominst@gmail.com

WEB, ERP and Business Intelli-

gence (BI) creation and man-

agement at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

Indian Engineer, B. Tech (Mech),

MBA, MLM (Master of Labour

Management), 23 yrs experience,

5 years in Oman in the positions

of Operations Manager and Plant

Manager with Oman Driving

License seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 99744612. E-mail:

deleepkumarpk@gmail.com

Indian Male B. Tech, 10+ years

of extensive work experience in

various aspects like Computer

Networking, Technical Support,

Management and Engineering

with good communications, inter-

personal and technical skills seeks

suitable opportunity. Now in Oman

on Visit Visa GSM : 9489 8009,

Email : bios4u@gmail.com

Indian male network cabling tech-

nician (19-years gulf experience)

Seeking for suitable placement.

Contact - 0091-8089909265 (In-

dia) email: mohithavp@gmail.com

Mechanical Engineering 6 years

experience. Contact: 00968-

998907110091-9841867534

Email: sayed.fortuner88@gmail.con

Structural Engineer Education

B-Tech in civil Engineering, Work

Experience More than 6 yrs con-

tact no.: +968-91431483 E-mail:

mohsinyousuf86@rediffmail.com

Indian Female Accountant, now

in Oman on Visit Visa, looking for

suitable placement, #94250871

Indian Female MBA Finance, 6

years Oman experience as account

looking Full time/part time ac-

counting Jobs. Contact- 99044292

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

Mason, SH / carpenter, steel fitter

gulf & Indian exp looking job.

Contact: 95175192

Filipinas lady having exp in

ticketing and preservation, call

center, secretarial and real estate

is now looking for job please

call.94054080

Five years in travel field B.Com.

IATA & pursuing MBA including

experience in the travel desk of

(ITC managed) five star hotel,

looking for suitable position.

Contact 9470 5767, 9465 2485,

9536 4479

TOURS & TRAVEL

Indian Male 28 MBA Marketing

with 4 years of experience in sales

with good communication skills

now available in Muscat on visit

visa. GSM 95840153 /

Mail akbarshareef786@gmail.com

Indian sales marketing profes-

sional highly experienced in busi-

ness development in ME India and

Africa seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 97897611

B.Com male 2 yrs experience in

sales Computer knowledge,

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 98371144

email: nabilnazar22@gmail.com

Indian male, MBA Marketing

having 2.5 years Sales experience

immediately looking for a suitable

position. Contact: 91415145,

Email: shariqs88@gmail.com

Male 38 yrs Graduate 07 years

experience indoor / outdoor

electronic field with D/License &

NOC available (as per new rule).

Contact: 92453375

SALES / MARKETING

AVAILABLE

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirt-

ing, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery,

Crockery, 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. ww.tunesoman.com,

E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

NRI

Villa for sale Mavelikara

behind Cheltikul Angara Tem-

ple 3 BHK1700 SQF within 10

cents. Contact: 968-96920346-

7025525606

Flat for sale 1360 Sq.ft semi

furnished 3 BHK Flat with covered

car park near Vennala, Eroor North

Tripunithura, with close proximity

to seaport- Airport road ,info park

,vyttila hub, Ernakulum medical

center, gold souk, Oberon & lulu

malls-for sale. Contact: 96725458

Flats villas land for sale in Pune

Contact: 95272138/918139098275

Furnished Apartment for sale at

near Nedumbassery Airport.

Contact: 92394014

MATRIMONIAL

Hindu Boy -30 Yrs MBA Finance

Graduate working in Muscat seeking

alliance of Hindu girl only.

Contact: 98278401

A Graduate Syrian Christian Pen-

tecostal boy, 27, working in Oman

as Store-in-Charge seeks proposals

from parents of suitable girl, prefer-

ably those working in Oman.

Contact 92411983

40 Years male divorced, working

in Muscat seeks suitable proposals,

Indian. Contact - 91346321

Malankara Catholic Male Nurse (28) from Thiruvalla working in

Nizwa Private Co. Alliance invites

parents/nurses working in Oman.

Contact: 968 98267338,

0091 9287215726

Indian male Roman Catholic 40yrs divorcee working in Muscat.

Seeks suitable alliance from widow/

divorcee/ single.

Contact: 96059801.

DRIVING

MV SALE

Toyota Corolla, White, 1.6, 2011,

Automatic, Warranty available,

excellent condition, 63500 KM.

All services at Toyota only. 3650

OMR. Contact: 96530058

Nissan Qashqai 2013 low mileage

30.000kms comprehensive insur-

ance UAE Oman valid till 2016 .

Contact: 96665430

Pickup for sale, model 2013,

diesel engine 4x4. #94194399

BMW 525.I 2006. Contact: 99336093

Hyundai Sonata 2008 model,

expat driven & well maintained.

Contact: 94222681

MANAGER

The Business Development Manager, Iraqi, Experience 15 Years

Inside and outside Oman following

activities: tenders& real estate&

construction & marketing projects&

investments & transportation & Ma-

rine services& companies manage-

ment& develop business.

Contact: :- 92385033

Production Manager 9 years

experience in Oman manufacture

and development factories .GRB.

GRC. GRG rubber molds and false

ceilings, fiberglass and executive

at site emadadly2000@yahoo.

com96149081

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE

Executive Secretary/ assistant Indian female 9 years experience in

Oman, Diploma in Business

management. Valid D/L.

Contact: 96684705

Lady Secretary / Sales Co-coordi-

nator 12 years experience in Oman

in reputed companies, seek imme-

diate Employment. Call: 95244761

SALES / MARKETING

Indian male 23 yeas BBM & Diplo-

ma in logistic. Looking for Indore/

Outdoor sales & marketing suitable

placement, currently in one month

visit visa. Contact: 93180270/

faizanmck@gmail.com

Having more than 5 yrs exp in

sales indoor & outdoor with driv-

ing license. Contact – 90126776

4 Years of experience in Sales

with driving license.

Contact - 90615235

An experienced sales & market-

ing person having several years

experience in GCC with valid D/L.

Looking for a suitable position.

Contact – 92124669

Indian male with 6 yrs of GCC

exp in sales and service & 1 year

of exp in gym fitness instructor.

Seeking job presently in Mus-

cat in family visit visa. Con-

tact: 90694335/ 99438360 or

email:sahildgreat99@yahoo.com

Sales Executive 8yrs exp build-

ings materials group of company

in Oman NOC available. Seeking

suitable job. With D/L in Oman

.email: sameermoul@gmail.com

Indian female 23 diploma

in tool and die making with

one and half yrs exp and also

interested in sales & mar-

keting.contact:94743992-

email:selveena054@gmail.com

SriLankan malebusiness manage-

ment BA (UK) Graduate.Special-

izedmarketing, key Accounts,sales,

and customer services .4years

work experience in England .seeks

opportunity in Oman. D/L avail-

able. Tell: 94820153.

email:inshafmalk@yahoo.com

MBA graduate having 6 years exp

in Sales & Marketing, 4 years with

PEPSI, India, having international

driving license permit seeks suit-

able placement.

Contact : 95308167,

Email : samir.pag@gmail.com

NOC available looking for opening

in sales 10 years experience in

Oman with driving license to join

immediately. Contact: 95941228

Indian male 33 yrs, 11 yrs exp

in Oman in sales field, with NOC

seeks suitable placement.

Contact – 96169598 /

adilj.8782@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

BBA MBA.Male, Indian Human

Resource/ Administration/ Office

work1 Year Experience Knowledge

in MS-Office, Photoshop Searching

for suitable job E-mail: antonysha-

jan11@gmail.com.Contact Number:

+91 9655469680 +91 8754086178

Indian male 26 years MBA

finance, seeks suitable placement.

Contact – 92715032 /

ajisd@yahoo.com

Bangladeshi male, University MA,

Working as Store In-charge cum Lo-

gistic Manager in Muscat; search-

ing better job. Phone: 91997605

email: mohamednazrulislam2@

gmail.com

INDIAN-Male 34yrs, M.Com

with 14yrs Exp ( 8yrs in Oman &

6yrs in India)Presently working

as PROCUREMENT OFFICER for

ROAD,CIVIL,ELECTRO-MECHAN-

ICAL & Others Projects in contg

& Trdg co LLC, Having Oman LT

D/L, NOC available & willing to join

immediately within in a month -

M:94064650,

Email: nagauae@gmail.com

Indian male, 16 years Oil & Gas

experience (Down Hole Tools),

3 years in Oman, Dip. Mechani-

cal Engineer, Having D/L and NOC.

Email – jajisuni@yahoo.com,

Mob: 965 956 18.

Civil Draftsman seeking job.

Contact-95516807

Indian male: 24 years, diploma

in computer science and B.E (CSE)

having experience in hardware

and networking seeks suitable job.

Contact: 91170912

Email: sales2@witoman.com

Sudanese male. Five years diplo-

ma in civil engineeringhave five

years experience in construction

industry. Mobile: 96995670

Sri Lankan female looking for a

housemaid job. Please send details

to s.c.balthaza@gmail.com

Contact: 94036979

Land surveyor Experience: 8 years. Contact: 99585265 Email:

wajid.mohiuddin5251@gmail.com

Indian male executive secretary

having vast experience in admin,

logistics & procurement well versed

with computer .seek suitable place-

ment. Contact: 99514286

Indian male, accountant 2 year

experience doing accounts in Tally

and Excel. Searching for suitable

job. Contact: subbayan_r@gmail.

com GSM: +918098637908

BE Mechanical Engineering with

one year experience now on visit

visa, looking for suitable posi-

tions”#90637918 / 99335742,

email: aquasharath@gmail.com

Looking for a part time job for

drawings struc. BBS Q/S & piping/

pipeline auto cad work. #92103713.

Job Wanted as a Music Teacher

Classical Vocal Music, Having 3

years India Exp.Contact- 90310876

A young CA (ACA & ACCA quali-

fied) with 4 years experience in

one of top audit firms in UK & KSA

seeks suitable placement in Oman.

Contact: Kamran

(hkamran112@gmail.com),

+44 7480 1196 74. +968 93595050

25 year old male B.Com and

insurance graduate with 6 year

experience looking for an opening

in accounts, finance or operations.

Driving license and NOC available.

Contact-95236312.

lilommca@gmail.com

MCA with 13+ yrs of teaching.

Worked as PGT (Comp Sc.) in CBSE

Board Schools, 2 yrs experience

in s/w development. Seek suitable

placement. Contact - 90477217

Bangladeshi Male, University

MA, Working as Store In-charge

cum Logistic Manager in Mus-

cat; searching better job. Phone:

91997605 email:

mohamednazrulislam2@gmail.com

Indian male AUTO CAD Draughts-

man (civil) 8 years experience, seek-

ing for part time job.#- 99070584 /

email: remluvp@gmail.com

BS in Civil Engineering Experience: 3 Year (Road Projects)

Omani license: 9 Years. # 97427701

Email: hassanrvc1989@gmail.com

Homeopathic Doctor having 2

years experience seeks suitable

placement.Contact-93615169,

geethasreenathnn@gmail.com

Pakistani Male having 6 years

Experience Valid Omani Driving

license working as a Transport

Manager looking for a suitable

position. Salary is negotiable.

Mob: +96893363316 / 94202746

mohdnaveed043@gmail.com

Indian Male Accountant I have 2

year better experience in account-

ing field. I can do all my accounts in

Tally and Excel searching for suit-

able job. Contact: +919087776759

contactsubbayan5@gmail.com

GSM : +918098637908,

Indian female 23 BA economics

with computer knowledge looking

for the post of Administration dept

or day care or sales please

Contact 96155921 or

Email- fysal.nellaya@gmail.com.

Indian Female, 24 MA Eng. Litr

with 2 yrs experience in teach-

ing & 14 months in Administra-

tion cum Secretary, Currently

on visit visa, seeks suitable job.

Contact: 92613704/99260702

Email:rohinis2010@gmail.com

Indian Male, 26 years, with 7 years

of experience in Sales Field in ship-

ping company in Dubai, looking for

suitable placement. Experienced

working in safety Marine equip-

ment and well versed with MS

Office. Contact: 90182494/

manojmallya999@gmail.com

Marine Services / Business

Development having more than 15

Years experience in GCC Countries

with Indian Male with experience

in Operations Management / Sales

and Procurement / Ship Chandling

/ valid GCC Driving License seeks

suitable job. Presently in Oman on

Visit Visa. GSM : 9053 55 65,

Email : rafi.vprc@gmail.com

Indian Female, 35years, Bach-

elor of Pharmacy (B. Pharm) with

6months experience and BSc &

MA seeking position as Insurance

Coordinator or suitable positions in

pharmacy, pharmacy stores, hos-

pital, polyclinic & pharmaceutical

companies or in front office/admin-

istration office preferably in hospi-

tal. Please contact on 90236481

Male Locum Pharmacist with

MOH & Driving License. Available

on request from March to April

2016; Contact #: +968

9188 5485/+968 9943 8058.

DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, M A R C H 1 3 , 2 0 1 6 D7

TOURS

TOURS

RENT A CAR

25 - 50 seater bus with PDO &

BP specification for monthly rent

& small car with driver. Contact

99839898

SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

TRANSPORTATION

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with

Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain

Marine Tours contact 98029602,

92808636

We arrange tours & accommoda-

tion at all the beautiful places in

Oman. Contact 99839898

SITUATION WANT-ED

BUSINESSSITUATION WANT-

EDBUSINESS

ONE STOP SHOP

BUSINESS SERVICES

Contact Saleh: 96723485

Public relation services (PRO), Formation new

companies, LLC companies, investor visa, business setup,

prepare business & companies accounts, legal

services, representing you and your company.

Transportation available for

Al Khuwair, Azaiba, Al Hail to Ruwi

area. Contact - 94297820

Transportation. Contact

98505294

Ruwi, Muttrah, Al Khuwair,

Muscat, Qurum, seek transporta-

tion. Contact: 91132238

Transportation. Contact

99508282 /93113534

Transportation. Contact

99508282

From Mabela to Mawaleh for

school student. Contact: 92757673

Transportation. Contact

92015894

Transportation available Ruwi to

Al Khuwair, Ghubra & Azaiba.

Contact: 91103909

GOOD NEWS

Ayurvedic treatment for joint

pain, backache, paralysis, mas-

sage, steambath, obesity, spondy-

litis. Ideal Care Ayurvedic Clinic,

18 November Street, Azaiba.

Contact: 99639695 / 97397320

FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know

more about Islam, please call:

99425598, 99250777, 99353988,

99253818, 99341395, and

99379133. For ladies: 99415818,

99321360, 99730723

Orvisit:www.islamfact.com

Ayurvedic treatment for backache,

paralysis, arthritis etc & mas-

sage, All Season (Vaidyaratnam).

Contact:24475280 / 95371664 /

92504980 www.siddhayur.com

RENT A CARBest Rates for Saloon

Contact: 97869042 / 95730550

sales@modernreem.com

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

D8 S U N D AY, M A R C H 1 3 , 2 0 1 6

DAILY GUIDE Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

MANPOWER

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

SERVICESWe Provide Cleaners,

General cleaning etc.

Contact : 94277020

Split & window A/c servicing &

maintenance. Contact 93769089 /

95323517

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing,

Contact 99314807/24792998

Water proofing ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

LEGAL SERVICEAn Indian lawyer Provides all legal

Labour issues, contracts, agreements,

new business in Oman, Civil, criminal cases,.service issues.

Sarafudheen, ,Legal Advisor

Muscat. GSM: 97351649

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

House shifting. Contact: 99708138

Pest control treatments, Ocean center LLC .

contact:99344723

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of

your marble. Contact 24793614/

99314807

A/C maintenance & servicing,

fridge, washing machine & dish

washer repairing, painting & clean-

ing services, electrical & plumbing.

Contact: 99447257 / 97014234 /

24504281

Marble crystallization & grinding, cleaning & carpet shampooing.

Ocean center LLC.

Contact:99344723

Split A/C servicing R.O 10 only.

Contact: 94217681 / 99210141

Building maintenance. Contact: 96173326

Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile

polishing, pest control & anti-ter-

mite treatment, general cleaning

painting,Plumbing, Electrical,

shifting. Contact Mundhir

Al-Rizaiqi trading. L.L.C.

Contact: 24810137, 99450130

House shifting packing.

Contact: 99657644 / 98518013

carpet shampooing, sofa shampooing, pest control treatment & general cleaning

of villa & building.Express Building Cleaning Services.Contact 98480070 / 94134784

Pest control & Building cleaning all kinds of pest control

MY

Contact: 98814733 /98814740 Al Husn Cleaning L.L.C

Villa cleaning, shifting, marble

crystallization, tiles polishing,

shampooing sofa & carpet. Modern

Eastern Arms. 92145560

Sahal Al Wadi White Trad. Spe-

cialist in repairing of cold store,

chiller, A/C & refrigerator.

Contact – 94528546

Al farzdaq Al Fedi Trad and Cont

Maintenance services electric,

plumbing and A/C. Contact:

96524904 / 94285064

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance.

Contact ABU QABAS- 99320217

/24788722

Marble crystallization & grinding, Ocean center LLC .

Contact:99344723