times of oman - march 23, 2016

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 23, 2016 14 Jumada Al Thani 1437 AH

WEDNESDAY

26 48

MORNING MINUTE

At the Opening Ceremony of the State Consultative Council at Al Alam Palace in Muscat, 1990

FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTYTHE SULTAN

The role being played by your Council is acquiring growing significance at the present stage and that makes it necessary for the Council, more than at any time before, to participate in shouldering the burdens and responsibilities of the new stage to achieve the progress and growth we cherish for Oman.

‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’

OMANReckless driving

2 There has been rise in reckless driving in Oman, says a new survey. >A4

OMANHigh-speed Internet

3High-speed Internet

service Awasr

officially launched.>A5

OMAN4.3 Richter scale earthquake off Salalah coast

1Earthquake measuring 4.3 on Richter scale occurred in the Arabian Sea near Salalah coast on Tuesday morning, according to official at Sultan Qaboos University Earthquake Monitoring Centre. >A3

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

HM sends greetingsMUSCAT His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a ca-ble of congratulations to Presi-dent Dr. Hassan Rouhani of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the occasion of the new Iranian year “Nayrouz Day.” >A6

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Attestation needed for all educational certificatesFAHAD AL [email protected]

MUSCAT: All educational cer-tificates need to be attested by the Ministry of Higher Education before someone joins a job in the private or public sector in Oman, the Ministry of Higher Educa-

tion (MoHE) said on Monday. The rule applies to expatriates work-ing in Oman, as well as Omanis, who have overseas education cer-tificates. Speaking to the Times of Oman, a MoHE official said they were forced to issue a reminder as a large number of companies have tended to flout this rule. >A6

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

MORNING MINUTE

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

HM sends greetings

I R A N , P A K I S T A N P R E S I D E N T S

Warning that oil will stay low for two years

A3, 1430 killed in Brussels attacks; Omanis safe

M I N I S T R Y O F H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N

MOBIN MATHEW [email protected]

MUSCAT: A warning that oil prices will stay low for ‘next year or two’ has been issued by the chief economist of a global investment house while in Oman.

With oil prices plummet-ing globally over the past year,

the Sultanate’s finances have taken a hammering, forcing the government to embrace austerity measures such as freezing some employee ben-efits in state-run companies and increasing fuel prices.

Fees for government services have increased, and more increases are likely, while Income Tax for com-

panies based in Oman is to be raised, and the Sultanate is moving towards introduc-ing Value Added Tax (VAT) on goods for sale, along with other Gulf countries, in 2018 or 2019.

Earlier this week, Oman’s Minister of Oil and Gas Dr Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy, said he hoped crude

oil prices could recover by the end of this year if a meet-ing of Opec and non-Opec members scheduled to take place in Qatari capital Doha next month decides to freeze output.

However, speaking on the sidelines of the Co-investment Roundtable of Sovereign and Pension

Funds (CROSAPF) Working Committee here in Oman on Tuesday, John Greenwood, chief economist of Invesco, which represents hundreds of clients in 20 countries around the globe, said: “It is very hard to see the oil price picking up in the next year or two; it will take longer than we thought.” >A6

A2 W E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

A3

OMANW E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

Share your world with us on Instagram

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY SHARE YOURPHOTOGRAPHS

Minor quake off the coast of SalalahStaff reporter

MUSCAT: An earthquake measuring 4.3 on Richter scale occurred in the Arabian Sea near Salalah coast on Tues-day morning, according to an official at Sultan Qaboos University Earthquake Moni-toring Centre.

“The epicenter of the earth quake is some 282km off Sala-lah coast of Oman,” said the of-ficial adding that tremors were not felt on the land. It struck at 6:24am, the official added.

4 . 3 O N R I C H T E R S C A L E

HAVE YOUR SAY Send us your comments at facebook.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com [email protected]

Omani citizens in Belgium safe: EnvoyTimes News Service

Muscat: All members of the Sultanate’s diplomatic mission, their families and all Omani citizens in Belgium are safe, the Sultanate’s Ambassador to Bel-gium and the European Union, Najim bin Sulaiman Al Abri confirmed on Tuesday.

In a phone call to Al Shabiba he also pointed that no Omani citizen was near the area where Tuesday’s attacks took place.

The embassy is in contact with all Omani citizens present in Brussels who are safe and not affected with the blasts, he fur-ther said. The Belgian capital of Brussels does not host a big Omani community.

B L A S T S I N B R U S S E L S


OMANMood of gloom on economy: Survey

TARIQ ZIAD AL [email protected]

MUSCAT: A mood of pessimism seems to have settled upon the ma-jority of high net worth individu-als (HNWI) in Oman, as many say the Sultanate’s economic state is worsening.

About 67 per cent of HNWI in Oman said the economic situation is worsening, while only 25 per cent say it is improving, as only 8 per cent of this group said there has not been any change, according to the GCC Wealth Insight Report published by the Emirates Invest-ment Bank.

It also was reported that the ma-jority of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country HNWIs agree that the global economic situation is worsening, as 53 per cent cited

political instability as one of the major reasons,and 45 per cent blaming the economic woes on the decline of oil prices.

Negative outlookA Muscat-based economist said the mood reflects the negative outlook investors have about eco-nomic growth, in light of declining oil prices.

“Investment is a trade-off be-tween risks and returns. At pre-sent, it would appear natural that the expected returns from the market may not adequately com-pensate the risks in equity invest-ment. But, it should also be borne in mind that economies go through boom and bust cycles,” the econo-mist said.

The economist also added that, at the moment, commodi-

ties are in a downward trend trig-gered by declining prices of most commodities,such as oil, steel, coal and others.

Meanwhile, Anchan CK, an in-vestment advisor, said that HN-

WIs expect to increase the pro-portion of their wealth invested into their own businesses and in real estate, with a belief of seeking greater control in managing their investments.

“In Oman, most HNWIs pre-fer keeping their assets closer to home. The investment world is be-coming increasingly complex with wider choices, whether geographi-cal or selecting asset classes in or-

der to deliver desired returns,” the investment advisor added. Com-menting on the regional economic situation, Khaled Sifri, CEO of Emirates Investment Bank, said, “With the global economy current-ly going through a period of signifi-cant volatility and with depressed oil prices, it comes as no surprise that this year’s report is more som-bre than in previous years.”

Confidence in markets“However, confidence in markets, such as the UAE and Qatar, re-mains very strong and, when tak-ing a longer-term view, HNWI’s say they are optimistic about the Gulf region, as a whole. Consistent with previous years, the majority of GCC HNWI investors prefer to invest in the region over global markets, despite any geopolitical concerns,” Sifri added.

The GCC Wealth Insight Re-port 2016 is based on a survey of HNWIs from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain. Face-to-face interviews were held in each country between Septem-ber and November 2015 among nationals, as well as expatriates. HNWIs are defined as individu-als with US$2 million or more in investable assets.

A Muscat-based economist said the

mood reflects the negative outlook

investors have about economic

growth, in light of oil prices

GraphicsSource: GCC Wealth Insight Report, Emirates Investment Bank

GCC WEALTH SURVEYINVESTORS’ OPINION ON THE GULF ECONOMIC SITUATION (%)

HOW SUPER RICH VIEW ECONOMIC SITUATION IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY (%)

2014 2015 2016

56 5

39

55 9

36

17 36

47

Improving Staying the same Worsening

77%

VIEWS ON ECONOMIC PROSPECTS OVERTHE NEXT FIVE YEARS

are optimistic about the prospects for the global economy

83%are optimistic about the economic

prospects for the Gulf region

3%are very pessimistic about the

prospects for the Gulf economy

UAE Bahrain

Qatar SaudiArabia

Kuwait19

23

5842

50

842

50

8

Oman

67

258

8

4250

23

869

Dust winds lower visibility, advised motorists cautionREJIMON [email protected]

MUSCAT: Royal Oman Police urged motorists to drive safely as heavy dust winds are blowing across northern parts of Oman, posing a serious threat to them.

“The dust winds are a threat to us on the road. Traffic has slowed. Everyone has to be more cautious while driving,” Mohammed Faisal, a taxi driver in Ruwi, said.

Visibility warningThe Oman Meteorology Depart-ment (Met), in its latest advisory, has warned of poor horizontal visi-bility during thundershowers, dust and fog formation on Tuesday. Ac-cording to the Met, current wind speed in Al Saniana of 26 knots could reach 43 knots.

“In Fahud it was 26 knots, Liwa

it was 20 knots and in Sohar it was 19 knots, it could reach 32 knots,” the Met tweeted.

The department has also pre-dicted rain, thundershowers, fresh wind and hail over the governo-rates of Musandam, Al Buraimi, North Al Batinah and Al Dhahira, which may extend gradually to the governorates of Muscat, South Al Batinah, Al Dakhliya, South and North Al Sharqiya and parts of Al Wusta.

Cold frontA cold front was predicted to bring the return of rainfall by Tuesday in a few locations in Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to a meteorologist from Accuweather.com. Rain is expected in the range of 25 to 50 millimetre (mm).

While these storms are not ex-

pected to pose as much of a flood-ing threat, compared with previ-ous storms between March 7 and March 10, isolated flash flooding is possible.

The greatest threat for thunder-storms in Muscat will extend from Tuesday night, through Wednes-day and into Wednesday night. It will not rain this entire time; this is when rainfall is most likely.

Flash floodsWhile flooding may not be as se-vere as earlier in the month, any flash floods could be deadly. Water levels in normally dry rivers could quickly rise, even if it is not raining at your location.

As the cold front responsible for producing these thunderstorms moves out of the region later in the week, dry weather is expected to return by Friday.

W E A T H E R

ROHM to host Palestine Youth OrchestraTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) will host the concert by the Palestinian Youth Orchestra during a late afternoon matinée at 4:30pm on Friday.

In 2012, the Palestine Youth Orchestra was invited to play under the name of “The Pales-tinian Strings” at the famous Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. On this occasion, a member of the Orchestra com-mented, “When we perform at Royal Albert Hall, we are first and foremost musicians, but we’re performing as The Pal-estine Strings, so there is an aspect of national identity. We all feel it’s something that Pales-tine should be proud of.”

Suppressed nationThe Palestine Youth Orchestra represents self-esteem, unity and the hope for a better future for a nation that has long been suppressed.

The outstanding global suc-cess of this special Orchestra amply demonstrates that mu-sic can be a force for peace in the world.

Created in 2004 by the Ed-ward Said National Conserva-tory of Music, the Palestine Youth Orchestra can rightly claim that today it is at par with outstanding national youth or-chestras worldwide.

Over the past decade, the Orchestra has performed to ac-claim in Palestine, Germany, Jordan, Syria, Bahrain, Leba-non, Greece and Italy.

The Palestinian musicians are joined by young musicians from youth orchestras in the host country.

M A T I N É E O N F R I D A Y

Reckless driving has risen, say drivers in OmanREJIMON [email protected]

MUSCAT: Drivers in Oman have seen infrastructure improve-ments, but are experiencing an increase in reckless driving, a survey conducted by YouGov for Oman Qatar Insurance Company (OQIC Insured) showed .

According to the survey, 68 per cent of motorists experienced an increase in people speed-ing on the roads over the last six months and 75 per cent said they saw more distracted drivers than in the last six months (texting or talking on the phone, reading the newspaper etc.)

The survey also revealed that 78 per cent of drivers agreed that road infrastructure has improved in the last six months and on an average, people don’t feel that daily commutes now take longer than six months ago.

“We are proud to introduce this unique long term perception study in Oman.

“The results reflect the genu-ine apprehensions of Oman’s residents and point towards an urgent need for all stakehold-ers to work together to improve safety standards on Oman roads,” Ewen McRobbie, chief executive officer, Oman Qatar Insurance Company, said.

“We need to create effective road safety campaigns, which can help influence driving behaviour and convince motorists to adopt safe driving practices on a con-sistent basis,” he added.

While 59 per cent of respond-ents noted that they enjoyed driv-ing on Oman’s roads more than six months ago, this compared with 21 per cent, who enjoyed it less, 41 per cent of respondents

reported their commute time had remained unchanged or had be-come faster; with an unlucky 44 per cent reporting a longer drive to work.

Meanwhile, 33 per cent be-lieved that Oman’s roads have become more challenging in the last six months, while only 53 per cent believed they had become less challenging.

According to Frederik Bisb-jerg, executive vice-president, MENA Retail, Qatar Insurance Company, safer roads are a bene-fit for all, including families, busi-nesses, government and insurers.

Mark Pudwell, business development and training manager at Competence HR, said traffic and road surveys are often valuable in gauging public perception of both driver culture and infrastructure.

“The road infrastructure in Oman has dramatically improved over the years and has given us much better roads and associated elements, such as lighting and traffic monitoring systems.

“However, recent events have highlighted that this improve-ment has been undertaken main-ly in larger settlements and the interior road infrastructure is yet to benefit from governmental planners,” Pudwell said.Neelesh Sogani, a road safety ex-pert in Muscat, said the increase in reckless and distracted driv-ing, speeding, and texting or talk-ing on the phone while driving could also be due to young drivers and their hunger for wanting to be on social media.“The improved infrastruc-ture eases driving comfort, al-lows drivers to accelerate and chase speed limits on roads,” Sogani added.

Y O U G O V S U R V E Y

There is a negative effect that comes with improved road infrastructure and that is increased driving speeds

on wide flat roads. Much has been done to regulate speed on our highways, but sadly this is no longer a

deterrent for all drivers. A nominal fine is not enough, especially for those who can easily afford them

Mark Pudwell, Business development and training manager at Competence HR

A5


Tweet all about it

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH TWITTER PAGE

Air India Express announces summer flight scheduleTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Air India Express has announced its summer schedule, with night flights being launched in the Kozhikode-Muscat- Kozhikode sector, a statement from Air India said on Tuesday.

Effective from March 28, Air In-dia Express will introduce a night

flight from Muscat to Kozhikode on daily basis.

Kozhikode-MuscatThe flight will leave Kozhikode at 11.50pm and arrive at Muscat 1.45am and will leave from Muscat at 2.45am and arrive in Kozhikode at 7.45am.

Air India Express operates 19

weekly flights from Muscat to Kerala and Mangalore, daily to Kozhikode. It also operates five flights (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday) to Kochi, four flights (Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday) to Thiruvananthapuram and three flights (Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday) to Mangalore.

Apart from this, Air India Ex-press operates one flight from Salalah to Kozhikode (Friday) and one flight to Kochi and Thiru-vananthapuram (Friday).

Air India Express offers 30 kilo-grams of free baggage allowance to all passengers travelling from Muscat/Salalah to all destina-tions and also offers an additional

10 kilograms baggage at the time of booking at a nominal charge of OMR10.

Call centrePassengers travelling to India can now also take advantage of the “24x7 Air India Express call centre facility,” which can be ac-cessed at this phone number:

+91- 44 – 66921500. National Travel and Tourism is the rep-resentative agent for Air India Express in Oman.

Passengers can contact the Air India Express office located in the CBD Area opposite the Cen-tral Bank of Oman or their travel agents for planning their next visit to India.

A V I A T I O N

High-speed Internet service launched

A. E. [email protected]

MUSCAT: Oman’s first spe-cialised high-speed fibre Inter-net provider, Awasr, officially launched its services in the re-gions of Al Khoud, Al Mawaleh, Al Hail, Maabilah and Shatti Al Qurum in the first phase, with ex-pansion plans to cover the rest of Muscat and other areas through-out the Sultanate.

The announcement was made on Monday evening at an inau-gural ceremony organised by the company at the Al Bustan Palace Hotel in Muscat.

With the official launch of Awasr services, users can now enjoy high-speed fibre-optic In-ternet in both offices and homes, at competitive prices in the re-gions of Al Khoud, Al Mawaleh, Al Hail, Maabilah and Shatti Al Qurum during the first phase.

The company announced that it will soon offer a 1 Gigabit (GB) connection for homes and has previously launched three fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) packages with 20MB, 50MB and 150MB speeds accordingly.

Also available are three fibre-to-the-business (FTTB) pack-ages with 5MB, 10MB and 30MB Internet speeds for small, medi-um, and large-scale enterprises.

“The broadband fibre optic packages offered by Awasr aim to support the government’s vi-sion of reinforcing the Sultanate’s digital infrastructure and offer-ing high-speed Internet services. Our new 1 GB speed will drive the market to provide the high speeds needed to allow people and enter-prises to become more innova-tive—hence contributing to the prosperity and sustainable devel-opment of the Sultanate,” said His

Highness Sayyid Taimur bin As’ad Al Said, chairman of Awasr.

So far, the company has over 500 customers. “We expect to get a share of 30 to 35 per cent of the fibre broadband market by 2019,” Grame Lowther, strategy advisor at Awasr, told journalists after the inaugural event.

Lowther said Awasr will follow the Oman Broadband Company (OBC) in providing broadband connections to homes in differ-ent areas. OBC has built an opti-cal fibre network in cooperation with Haya Water.

“About 70,000 homes in Muscat have already been covered. By the end of the year, OBC will release (connections to) 120,000 homes. That is a big market,” noted Lowther. OBC is also laying opti-cal fibre cable in other cities, such as Salalah. By the end of the year, 25 to 30 per cent of Muscat will be covered by the fibre optic cable of OBC. “In two years, 90 per cent of Muscat will be covered.”

The services of Awasr are all post-paid. However, the company plans to introduce pre-paid ser-vice at a later stage. The company, which has an Omanisation ratio of almost 100 per cent, is aiming to achieve breakeven status by 2020. Lowther said the pricing of Awasr is better—it is not expen-sive and the customer gets more speed for the same price.

“The business packages in Oman are the most expensive in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region. The cost of communication will come down (eventually). Oman needs inno-vation like the UAE (United Arab Emirates),” he added.

With the official

launch of Awasr

services, users

can now enjoy

high-speed fibre-

optic Internet, at

competitive prices

in the regions of Al

Khoud, Al Mawaleh,

Al Hail, Maabilah

and Shatti Al Qurum

in first phaseMORE SPEED: Pricing of Awasr is better—it is not expensive and the customer gets more speed for the same price. – Supplied

A6


Government is diversifying its activities to different sectors like tourism, logistics, port operations, etc and government is focusing more on the futureMohammed Al Ardhi, Executive chairman of Investcorp and chairman of the NBO

HM sends greetings

In his cable, His Majesty expressed his sincere congratulations along with best wishes of good health and happiness to President Rouhani and the friendly Ira-nian people further progress and prosperity.

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said has also sent a cable of con-gratulations to President Mam-noon Hussain of the Islamic Re-public of Pakistan on the occasion of his country’s National Day. In his cable, His Majesty expressed his sincere congratulations along with best wishes of good health and happiness to President Hus-sain and the friendly Pakistani people further progress and pros-perity. — ONA

I R A N , P A K I S T A N P R E S I D E N T S

< FROM

A1

Attestation needed for certificates

“Some companies do not even re-fer to the Ministry before employ-ing any person,” he said.

The reminder comes at a time when the MoHE, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Af-fairs, has discovered 1,250 fake certificates, including 1,117 certifi-cates issued with fake stamps and 133 with fake qualifications.

This action was taken accord-ing to Article 14 of the Attestation Regulations, which state that any certificates issued by Higher Edu-cation Institutes outside Oman are not considered unless they are at-tested by the MoHE.

The Ministry has taken the is-sue of forged certificates very seri-ously and informed the Ministry of Manpower, the Ministry of Civil Services, to take the required ac-tion against those whose certifi-cates were found to be forged.

The Ministry has also filed le-gal cases with the Public Pros-ecution against those having fake certificates. Earlier, the Ministry had found several fake educational certificates and these were osten-sibly issued by several institutions in the Middle East and Asia.

To prevent students from falling victims to such fake certificates racket, the Ministry has also cau-tioned Omani students travelling abroad. Effective April 1, Omani students, who are pursuing their studies in India, have been advised to choose only those colleges and universities, which have been ap-proved by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in India.

The UGC is a statutory body set up by the Indian government under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, and is charged with coordination, de-termination and maintenance of standards of higher education.

M I N I S T R Y O F H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N

< FROM

A1

‘Oil market’s current issue is more supply, weak demand’

“Excess supply and weak de-mand is the current issue faced by the global market,” he added.

He said that there are four methods to cope with the cur-rent issues in the market. “The main thing is to cut the expendi-ture and it will help us to save a lot; it may include some projects as well,” Greenwood said. The second method is to raise the revenues of the government.

“It is not necessary to raise the taxes but the government can increase the rates of electricity, water and gasoline,” Greenwood said. “Other methods to over-come this crisis are to sell assets and borrowing,” he added.

He said that all the Gulf states were moving to adopt many of these methods over the next two years to overcome this crisis period.

The economist presented a topic on the outline of the major economic drivers and risk fac-tors that the investors should be aware of and the investment opportunities.

CROSAPF members are sov-ereign wealth and pension funds

from around the world. It brings together investment profession-als of public funds for presenta-tions and in-depth discussions on global trends and recent is-sues related to investing.

Participants of the two-day conference were welcomed by His Highness Sayyid Kamil bin Fahad Al Said, assistant secre-tary general of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office for Cabinet.

According to majority of the officials and participants, it is a good platform to get in touch with more than 100 investment specialist from all over the world and to exchange ideas. “It is an opportunity to exchange knowl-edge and introduce the invest-ment opportunities in their re-spective countries to co invest,” a participant said.

Many other participants said the conference helps the Sultanate to showcase and in-vite the global investors to par-ticipate in its upcoming develop-ment projects.

In the meeting, the sovereign and investment funds discussed a range of issues and the factors

that may play a role in making investment decisions, including global trends and socio-econom-ic variables that affect the invest-ments in short- and long-term strategies.

First day of the conference discussed topics like Next Gen-eration Investor, Co invest-ment collaboration platforms, and Venture Capital: inventing in Innovation.

Mohammed Al Ardhi, the ex-ecutive chairman of Investcorp and chairman of the National Bank of Oman, said the Sultan-ate has a lot of opportunities in investment.

“Government is diversifying its activities to different sec-tors like tourism, logistics, port operations, etc and government is focusing more on the future,” Al Ardhi said.

The CROSAPF Working Committee meeting concluded on Tuesday and the delegates will take part in the Oman Eco-nomic Forum, which begins on Wednesday at the Shangri-La Barr al Jissah Resort and Spa in Muscat.

C R U D E S U P P L I E S

< FROM

A1

Omani boy feted for saluting police rescue team’s efforts

REJIMON [email protected]

MUSCAT: Do you remember the picture of a young boy saluting a po-lice rescue team for their commend-able job during the rainy days earlier this month? If yes, then the boy is in the news again today. The Pub-

lic Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance (PACDA) has honoured Khalil Al Khalfan, the 10-year-old boy, for his attitude and commit-ment towards recognising the hard work of the police rescue team.

Khalfan was honoured by PAC-DA in the presence of top officials at a ceremony. The PACDA opera-tions centre had received 332 res-cue calls during a low depression in Oman during the first week of March. PACDA data recorded 255 water rescue operations, 37 land rescue operations, 29 fire extin-guishing operations, eight ambu-lance related calls, and four search operations.

As for the calls recorded by the various governorates, Al Batinah North registered the highest num-ber, at 95 rescue operations, fol-lowed by Al Dhakhiliyah, which recorded 67 rescue operations.

Muscat came in third with 51

rescue operations, followed by Al Buraimi, which recorded 43 re-ports. Al Sharqiyah North report-ed 27 such incidents, Al Batinah South 26, Dhahira and 23 while only one rescue operation was car-ried out by PACDA in Al Sharqiyah South. Eight lives were lost during the heavy rainfall that hit Oman earlier this month.

Public Authority

for Civil Defence

and Ambulance

has honoured

Khalil Al Khalfan,

the 10-year-old

boy, for his attitude

and commitment

towards recognising

the hard work of the

police rescue teamWELL DONE: Khalil Al Khalfan, the 10-year-old boy, being felicitated (above), and Khalfan’s picture saluting the team (below). — Supplied pictures

‘If crude oil prices remain low it will affect business’Staff Reporter

MUSCAT: The Ministry of Oil and Gas decision to take bold steps in the coming months, if oil prices remainlow, will have a significant impact onsome of the country’s businesses,said some exhibitors at the Oil and Gas West Asia (OGWA) Exhibition at the Oman International Exhibition Centre, said.

On Monday, Salim bin Nasser al Aufi, Under-Secretary of the Min-istry of Oil and Gas, confirmed that the government might take drastic steps in April if oil prices remains low.

According to Dmitry Maximov, Deputy CEO and Commercial Director of TMK Gulf Interna-tional Pipe Industry LLC, such government decisions will affect their business.

“We are directly involved in the oil and gas industry. If the govern-ment plans to delay any projects, that will negatively affect us,” Maximov told Times of Oman.

“I hope the government plans to reduce oil production, which will help to boost prices and eve-rything will return to normal,” he added.

Also, Joseph Antony from Techs International agreed that the government’s decision will

strongly impact their market.“We are the suppliers of oil

equipment to companies like PDO. If the government plans to reduce or delay projects,it will affect our business badly,” Antony said.

“So far, we have not had any is-sues in the market. I hope this will continue,” he added.

According to Katie Struble of GlassPoint, oil producers are looking to reduce their operating costs, as the production of crude using conventional methods be-comes more costly, and solar en-ergy becomes a suitable methodof producing oil at lower costs.

GlassPoint Solar is a private company that designs and manu-factures solar steam generators that use solar thermal technol-

ogy to generate steam to power enhanced oil recovery (EOR) systems. “For us, the current dip in oil prices is a positive thing, be-cause oil producers are looking to reduce their operating costs, and solar can help,” Struble said.

“More than 60 per cent of a heavy oil field’s operating costs arededicated for its fuel projects. If you replace this with solar en-ergy, you can reduce a lot of pro-duction costs,” she added.

The exhibition will end on Wednesday at the Oman Interna-tional Exhibition Centre,as will the SPE EOR Conference at the Golden Tulip Hotel Seeb.

Exhibitors also expressed their concerns, as organisers were un-able to attract large numbers of visitors to attend the exhibition.

O I L A N D G A S E X P O

MEGA EVENT: Exhibition will end on Wednesday at the Oman International Exhibition Centre. — Times file picture

Teachers Day

MUSCAT: Dr. Yahya bin Mah-foudh Al Manthri, Chairman of the State Council will sponsor on Monday a ceremony organ-ised by Ministry of Education to mark the Teacher’s Day in the presence of Dr Madiha bint Ahmed Al Shibaniyah, Minister of Education, and a number of officials. — ONA

M I N I S T RY O F E D U C AT I O N

A7


378 million cubic metres is the annual water deficit of Oman

SQU student project proposes use of water from oil wellsTARIQ ZIAD AL [email protected]

MUSCAT: A student project of the Sultan Qaboos University has shown the way of putting water drawn out during oil pumping op-erations to good use, a professor of the university said.

In view of the high operating cost of desalination plants and the effect they have on the envi-ronment, a student has proposed utilisation of water that has been excavated during oil pumping op-erations, said Dr Mushtaq Ahmed, associate professor at the Depart-ment of Soils, Water and Agricul-tural Engineering at SQU.

“This project was carried out in a laboratory, so we proposed it to be done on a larger scale,” said Ahmed on the sidelines of the Middle East Desalination Re-search Centre’s (MEDRIC) cel-ebration of the annual UN Water: World Water Day awareness cam-

paign. “What we want ultimately is for the water to be utilised in a sustainable, environmental friendly and economic way; be-cause you can create any water, but it doesn’t help if we spend too much money,” he added.

Negative balanceCurrently, the annual water bal-ance of Oman stands at 1.267 million cubic metres, which is a 378 million cubic metre deficit for the 1.645 million cubic me-tre demand. About 86 per cent of the total share of water is used in agriculture.

One solution is to raise water prices to encourage water conser-vation. Recently, the Public Au-thority for Electricity and Water (PAEW) increased the tariff to 3.5 baizas per gallon, a 0.5 baiza in-crease, for government, commer-cial and industrial consumption.

“This has always been proposed by people, who are economically

oriented, but there is a certain amount of water that should be utilised at a low cost otherwise there will be health problems,” said Ahmed.

“As you see, the petrol prices have increased and when it comes to water, we need to pay market value,” he explained, adding that it is needed in order to balance the relatively high price required to produce water through desali-nation plants.

Ahmed said there is an an-nual increase of 10 to 15 per cent in consumption of desalinated water.

“If it goes on for the next 15 years, we’ll have to build more de-salination plants and it won’t be a good thing,” said Ahmed.

Introducing saline soil agri-culture could help in conserving fresh water for domestic use as some plants are able to thrive in salty water, such as tomatoes, barley, sorghum and pearl millet.

W O R L D W A T E R D A Y

A8


Sultanate, China hold trade talks

MUSCAT: Potential of Omani products to enter Chinese mar-kets, as well as the possibility of training the Omani cadres at the Chinese centres and institutes in various administrative field were among the topics discussed at the 8th session of the Omani-Chinese Joint Committee yesterday.

During the session the Omani side was chaired by Eng Ahmed bin Hassan Al Dheeb, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and

Industry whilst it was headed from the Chinese side by Qian Keming, Deputy Minister of Commerce.

The meeting discussed eco-nomic topics of concern to the Sultanate and China in relation to the trade exchange and increas-ing such exchange in terms of the facilities offered by both countries for investment companies, said Eng Al Dheeb. He added that the meeting presented some projects by the Chinese side in fishery,

tourism and medical areas.He added that the meeting dis-

cussed the potential of the Omani products to enter the Chinese markets, as well as the possibility

of training the Omani cadres at the Chinese centres and institutes in various administrative fields. He pointed out that the Chinese side expressed preparedness on this.

The meeting also touched on the Chinese companies currently pre-sent in Oman and developing and exploring other Omani-Chinese partnerships. The Chinese side

viewed two presentations given by the Special Economic Zone Authority of Duqm (SEZAD) and Omani Integrated Logistic Services on the potentials available at these zones, as well as the major invest-ment opportunities, he said.

The meeting also discussed co-operation in alternative energy and the possibility of benefiting from the Chinese expertise in this field, as well as cooperation in aviation sector through operating direct flights by Oman Air from the Sul-tanate to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, he said. He affirmed that the Chinese side requested ad-ditional quantities of Omani oil.

Omani exports to China in 2014 stood at OMR8.8 billion, a rise of 11.3 % compared to 2013. Omani imports from China stood at OMR540.6 million, up 34.1% from 2013. The number of Chinese companies in the Sultanate stood at 61 whereas the value of their investments as at the end of 2014 stood at OMR6.5 billion.

Meeting discussed economic issues of

concern to the Sultanate and China in relation

to the trade exchange and increasing such

exchange in terms of the facilities offered by

both countries for investment companies

BOOSTING TIES: Meeting also discussed cooperation in alternative energy and the possibility of benefiting from the Chinese expertise in this field, as well as cooperation in aviation sector through operating direct flights by Oman Air from the Sultanate to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. – ONA

‘Saqr Al Jazeera’ joint exercisesAL MUSSANAH: Air Vice-Mar-shall Mattar bin Ali Al Ubaidani, Commander of the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) accompanied by senior RAFO officers yesterday visited Al Mussanah Airbase to

review the joint air exercise (Saqr Al Jazeera Joint Exercise/Heli-copters 2016) carried out by RAFO with participation of the sisterly GCC air forces.

RAFO Commander was briefed

on the exercise, which comes within RAFO annual training plans with the aim of enhancing the efficiency of RAFO profession-als and exchange of experiences with sisterly countries. — ONA

J O I N T A I R E X E R C I S E

Oman, Singapore to boost relationsSINGAPORE: Oman and Singa-pore agreed on continuing to en-courage and support investment opportunities, exchange exper-tise and knowledge in response to requirements of the labour mar-ket and the scientific and techno-logical progress.

The annual session of politi-cal consultations at Singapore was chaired from the Sultanate by Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry whilst it was chaired from the Singaporean side by Albert Chua, Second Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

ReviewedThe consultations touched on fields of the bilateral coopera-tion and means of following and enhancing them, as well as pro-moting various opportunities of partnership, developing and di-versifying interests particularly in the economic and trade areas.

The two sides reviewed out-comes of the Joint Committee’s deliberations between the two

countries. The two sides affirmed the importance being accorded by the two countries to developing human resources, skills and in-frastructure, as well as diversify-ing sources of income, education, technical and vocational training.

Free Trade AgreementThe two sides also stressed the importance of maximising the benefit from opportunities pro-vided by the Free Trade Agree-ment (FTA) between the GCC countries and Singapore, which already has come into force after being approved by all countries.

At the political level, both sides reviewed a range of regional and international issues of common concern. They also exchanged viewpoints on these issues with-in the framework of the joint keenness to exert all possible ef-forts in supporting the endeavors targeting to solve issues via dia-logue and understanding, as well as utilising all peaceful means to achieve peace and stability, in ad-dition to enhancing cooperation, growth and peace for all. -ONA

D I P L O M A C Y

ROP takes part in training programme

DOHA: Directorate General of Customs at Royal Oman Police (ROP) participated in the train-ing programme on agreements related to weapons of mass de-struction, held in the Qatar in the presence of representatives of the GCC customs bodies and a number of Arab countries, experts and stakeholders in the field of arms control.

FamiliarisationThe training programme, or-ganised by the National Com-mittee for the Prohibition of Weapons, in cooperation with the Organisation of the Prohi-bition of Chemical Weapons aimed to familiarise the partici-pants with the terms of the Con-vention and awareness of the importance of its contents. -ONA

D O H A


A9

REGIONW E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

Love us on Facebook

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH FACEBOOK PAGE

Yemen peace talks expected in Kuwait on April 17: Official

CAIRO: Talks aimed at ending Yemen’s war are expected in Ku-wait next month along with a tem-porary ceasefire, a senior Yemeni government official said, raising the possibility of an end to vio-lence that has killed thousands.

There have already been several failed attempts to defuse the con-flict in Yemen, which has drawn in regional countries and triggered a humanitarian crisis in the coun-try. “The talks will be on April 17 in Kuwait, accompanied by a tem-porary ceasefire,” the Yemeni of-ficial said, declining to be named. There were two inconclusive rounds of peace talks in Switzer-land last year.

A Saudi-led coalition began a military campaign in Yemen

a year ago with the aim of pre-venting Houthi rebels and forces loyal to Yemen’s ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh from taking con-trol of the country. There was no

immediate response from the Houthi militia regarding the pros-pect of talks.

The United Nations says more than 6,000 people have been

killed since the start of the mili-tary intervention whose ultimate aim is to restore President Ab-drabbo Mansour Hadi following his ousting by Houthi and pro-

Saleh forces. “It has been a terri-ble year with air strikes, shelling and localized violence. An already very impoverished country has been put at a very sharp end,” Jamie McGoldrick, UN Resi-dent and Humanitarian Coordi-nator in Yemen, told reporters in Geneva.

One in ten Yemenis is displaced, he said, adding that half of those killed and injured were civilians.

He said UN special envoy Is-mail Ould Cheikh Ahmed had been in the capital Sanaa over the past few days for discussions with parties involved and also was in Riyadh.

“What they are hoping for is to put in place a ceasefire of some kind or a cessation of hostilities for a week or so prior to the talks and build confidence,” he said.

The spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir have in re-cent days said that any peace talks can take place only between Hadi and the Houthis, and through the UN special envoy.

Houthi officials travelled to Saudi Arabia this month for secret talks on the conflict that led to a pause in fighting on the border, a main battlefront of the war, and a prisoner exchange. — Reuters

The talks will be on

April 17 in Kuwait,

accompanied by a

temporary ceasefire,

said Yemeni official

IS clash with Turkish troops at Iraqi baseANKARA: IS militants attacked the Bashiqa military base in north-ern Iraq on Tuesday and Turkish troops stationed there retaliated, military sources said.

Turkey deployed soldiers to northern Iraq in December, cit-ing heightened security risks near Bashiqa, where its soldiers have been training an Iraqi militia to fight IS militants. Baghdad object-ed to the deployment.

The military sources said the Turkish army hit IS targets from north of the camp after the attack.

The clash with IS comes after a suspected member of the radi-cal militant group blew himself up on Istanbul’s most popular shop-ping street on Saturday, killing four people and wounding dozens more. The government also blames IS for a suicide boming that killed at least 12 German tourists in Istanbul in January. IS has claimed neither Istanbul attack. Turkey, a NATO-member and part of the US-led co-alition against IS, has targeted the militant group’s positions around Bashiqa in the past.

Separately, IS fighters in north-ern Iraq said it had launched a suicide raid on what it said was an “American military base” in Makhmur, according to SITE In-telligence Group, which monitors militant activity online. — Reuters

B A S H I Q A M I L I T A R Y B A S E

Guards look to play bigger role in Iran’s economyDUBAI: A senior member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards urged the government on Tuesday to follow its supreme leader’s vision for a self-reliant economy and said the Guards wanted to play a bigger role to make that happen.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Aya-tollah Ali Khamenei called for a “resistance economy” on Sunday, saying US policies to restrict busi-ness with Iran had undermined any economic benefits of inter-national sanctions being lifted in January. “The main audience for (Khamenei’s concept of ) the re-sistance economy is the govern-ment,” Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, deputy joint chief of staff of the armed forces was quoted as saying by Fars news agency.

“The armed forces are ready to play a significant role in the resistance economy and imple-menting the supreme leader’s

suggestions,” he said. Jazayeri added that President Hassan Rouhani should see the Guards’ achievements in creating ad-vanced ballistic missiles as an economic blueprint and evidence that Iran did not need foreign in-vestment to succeed.

In a clear reaction to Jazayeri’s comments, Iranian Vice Presi-dent Eshaq Jahangiri said the government was not the audi-ence for Khamenei’s speech.

“All state bodies were the audi-ence... No person, faction or or-ganisation should interpret ‘re-sistance economy’ as they want,” he was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.

Reiterating his remarks, Rou-hani said on Tuesday that he had been seeking a strong economy since his election in 2013 and “constructive engagement with the world” was the main part of that policy. — Reuters

P O S T K H A M E N E I ’ S C A L L

TAKING POSITION: Yemeni tribesmen from the Popular Resistance Committees, supporting forces

loyal to Yemen’s President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, hold a position during clashes with Houthi

rebels west of the city of Taez, on Monday. – AFP

A10

INDIA W E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

If she had to surrender herself in this fashion, why were the people of Jammu and Kashmir deprived of an elected government for last three monthsJunaid Muttoo, National Conference spokesman

Government in J&K soon as Modi-Mehbooba hold talks

NEW DELHI: Decks seem to have been cleared for revival of PDP-BJP alliance in Jammu and Kashmir with the regional party chief Mehbooba Mufti meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Tuesday in renewed ef-forts for formation of a govern-ment after a prolonged deadlock.

After the 15-minute meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence, 56-year-old Mehbooba told re-porters it was “very positive” and “good” in addressing issues per-taining to the people of the state and that she was “very satisfied”.

The meeting took place a day af-ter Mehbooba arrived here barely three days after she had returned to the Kashmir Valley after her talks with BJP President Amit Shah had hit a road block.

After hardening of her stand fol-lowing her father Mufti Moham-med Sayeed’s demise on January

seven this year, the Peoples Dem-ocratic Party chief is understood to climbed down on her demands for assurances like handing over of power projects to the state, en-hancing relief to flood victims and vacation of land by the army.

She, however, remained non-committal on these issues.

Stalemate“We are seeing a stalemate for last two to three months over govern-ment formation in the state but today I am satisfied. I am very sat-isfied,” she said and announced that the party’s future course of action would be announced at the PDP legislature party meeting this Thursday.

To a question whether the stale-mate has ended, she said, “When you meet the prime minister of the country, naturally the solu-tion to the problems faced by the people of Jammu and Kashmir is more clear”.

Asked about the Modi-Meh-booba meeting, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said at a BJP

briefing it was “constructive and good”.

A BJP source said the alliance government in the state could be in place in the next one week.

Mehbooba will be flying back to Srinagar ton Wednesday where she will brief her party legislators on Thursday.

“I had been authorised by the party MLAs to take a decision. I have convened a meeting on Thurs-day and after that we will announce the future course of action.”

On government formation in the state, she said, “As I said I will talk to my MLAs because that is the forum. This is not the place. There is a particular place to make such announcements. I will go back to Srinagar and take the next step.”

Sources in the PDP said that after the legislative party meet-ing, the two sides would meet for government formation and giving final touches to the cabinet which will be headed by Mehbooba, the first woman chief minister of the state.

Last Thursday, BJP’s chief in-terlocutor Ram Madhav had an-nounced that his party would not be accepting any fresh demands from its erstwhile ally PDP and put the ball in their court while stress-ing that his party would respect the ‘Agenda of Alliance’ document.

Tuesday’s meeting was eyed with suspicion by opposition Na-tional Conference and Congress who asked the PDP leadership to come clean on the deal with BJP.

National Conference spokes-man Junaid Muttoo said the PDP president should come out in a transparent manner and tell the people of the state about her demands and response of the prime minister.

“If she had to surrender herself in this fashion, why were the peo-ple of Jammu and Kashmir de-prived of an elected government for last three months,” he said.

Another spokesperson of the National Conference Sarah Hayat Shah tweeted “so much drama and suddenly Mehbooba says the meeting with the PM was very

positive. What about the CBMs, AFSPA, the power projects?”

State Congress Chief G. A. Mir termed the demand for more Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) by PDP ahead of govern-ment formation as a drama and said Mehbooba owes an explana-tion to the people of the state as to why she was instrumental in im-position of two-and-a-half month Governor’s rule in the state.

“It was all drama enacted by PDP over the issue of CBM as a condition before BJP to be taken ahead of government formation. It was aimed to test waters in Kash-mir Valley where they have lost their ground,” he said.

Mehbooba came to Delhi on Monday after PDP made it clear to BJP that there was some miscom-munication and no fresh demands had been raised by the party for stitching an alliance.

This is her second visit to the national capital in five days after her talks with BJP President Amit Shah on Thursday failed to make any headway triggering specula-tion that the two parties could be making renewed efforts to reach out to each other in a bid to break the prolonged impasse.

The fresh efforts from PDP, which has 27 MLAs in the 87-member state Assembly, come in the backdrop of repeated as-sertions made by BJP that it was committed to implementation of Agenda of Alliance arrived at by late Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.

The talks with BJP, which has 25 MLAs, had hit a roadblock last week when the party’s interlocu-tor Ram Madhav made it clear that no fresh demands would be entertained from PDP and that they had to decide whether they want to form a government based on the Agenda of Alliance document.

Governor’s rule was imposed in J& K on January 8 after Mehboo-ba decided against taking over the reins after her father’s death. - PTI

Asked about the

Modi-Mehbooba

meeting, Union

Minister Prakash

Javadekar said at a

BJP briefing it was

‘constructive and

good’. A BJP source

said the alliance

government in the

state could be in

place in the

next one week

We are seeing a stalemate for last two to three months over government formation in the state but today I am satisfied. I am very satisfied

Mehbooba MuftiPeoples Democratic Party chief

Judicial inquiry ordered into violence during Jat agitation

CHANDIGARH: Haryana gov-ernment on Tuesday ordered a ju-dicial inquiry to probe the conspir-acy behind the incidents which pushed the state into unprec-edented “turmoil” during the Jat quota agitation that left 30 people dead and damage to property.

Replying on the adjournment motion in the Assembly after about four-hour long discussion, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khat-tar said, “Opposition leader (Ab-hay Singh Chautala) has sought ( judicial inquiry) and we have or-dered judicial inquiry.”

He said judicial enquiry shall be conducted to “completely unearth the entire conspiracy” behind the series of sad and unfortunate in-cidents which continued for 80 hours in the month of February.

“Some political people who wanted to serve their own inter-ests did not want the meeting be-tween government and Jat leaders successful. Names of some Con-gress leaders have appeared (be-hind violence) and Virender (close aide of Hooda) has surrendered and is in police custody.

“We shall try to elicit details from him about conspirators who instigated violence and arsonists. Because Virender cannot alone in-stigate on his own. There is a con-spiracy which will be unearthed soon,” he said.

Strict action is being taken against criminals who, in the name of agitation, indulged in criminal activities. As on March 21, 2016, a total of 2087 criminal cases have been registered in various police stations of the State in connec-tion with the reservation agitation and a total of 444 criminals have been arrested Unwilling to accept “wilful negligence” on the part of the state government, Khattar described allegations of adminis-tration becoming “paralysed” dur-ing the peak of violence in several parts of state as “untrue and base-less”, claiming that “mayhem” was controlled in “short duration”. - PTI

Q U O T A R O W

Five Jet Airways planes from Delhi receive bomb threatsNEW DELHI: Panic gripped passengers at the Indira Gandhi international airport on Tuesday after the Jet Airways call centre received threats about bombs in five of its aircraft from here, hours after blasts ripped through Brus-sels airport killing 35 people.

While three of the planes had already departed by the time the anonymous call about the bomb threats was received, the fourth aircraft, which was bound for Chennai, was diverted to Nagpur, sources said.

Another plane, also bound for Chennai which was preparing for take off, was grounded and is undergoing checks by the secu-rity agencies, a senior police of-ficial said.

“Jet Airways has received a se-curity alert for five flights from Delhi. All flights are on ground and are being checked by secu-rity agencies at the respective air-

ports,” the airline said in a tweet but did not share specific details.

“We regret the inconvenience caused to our guests. The safety and security of our guests and crew is always our main priority,” Jet Airways said.

Sources said the three planes, which received bomb threats, had already flown to their respective destinations — Gorakhpur, Chan-digarh and Dehradun.

The Delhi-Chennai flight 9W829, which was diverted, land-ed under emergency conditions at the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in Nagpur at 4:40pm with 154 passengers on board. All the passengers and their baggage were off loaded, air-port sources said. -PTI

A N O N Y M O U S C A L L

SECURITY ALERT: Jet Airways has received a security alert for five flights from Delhi. All flights are on ground and are being checked by security agencies at the respective air-ports, the airline said. - Reuters file

A11

INDIAW E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

Stay ahead of the curve with

WhatsNews

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY INSTALL WHATSNEWS

Mamata trashes sting, threatens opposition

KOLKATA: Trashing the sting operation in which some of her party leaders are purportedly seen taking bribes, Trinamool Con-gress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said it won’t take her “a second” in getting back at her opponents in a like manner.

On a day when the Calcutta High Court heard litigations concerning the sting operation, Mamata, in an interview on a Ben-gali TV news channel, questioned the motive of the sting by a man who was “arrested for violating the Official Secrets Act”.

Lambasting the opposition BJP, Congress and the CPI-M for harp-ing on the sting operation during their election campaign, she at-tacked a section of the media for giving detailed coverage to the footage. Warning her political op-ponents, she said: “I can also do a similar thing by giving money to someone, but why would I do that?” Taking the names of sever-al prominent opposition leaders,

Mamata warned: “They are talk-ing big...how long will it take me, papers are there... Don’t make me open my mouth. It takes a second to do...,” she said.

Fake videosMamata termed the videos as “fake”. “If the videos are really authentic, then why is the media running a disclaimer about not having verified its authenticity? When the media itself does not trust the videos, then why is it serving such fake news to the peo-ple?” asked Mamata.

She ridiculed the BJP and the Congress which have filed peti-tions seeking a CBI probe into the sting operation.

Carried out by Narada News and uploaded on its website, the sting shows several top-notch Tri-

namool leaders including former central ministers, state ministers and MPs accepting bribe in return for favouring a fictitious company.

“Our party has already said it is a fake video and even in the court we have said that. What I have heard from media reports, the court has asked for details of the company. I heard the company was formed this year. Then how come it did the sting in 2014?

“The man behind the sting, he was arrested and was in jail. He was arrested by the CBI for vio-lating the Official Secrets Act and was granted bail later.

“He failed to appear and for vio-lating bail condition he was again arrested and again got bail later,” Mamata said about sting master-mind Mathew Samuel.

“What can be more damning

than this man violating the Of-ficial Secrets Act?” said Mamata, referring to Mathew’s arrest in 2010 after being accused by the CBI of unlawfully procuring of-ficial documents from a home ministry secret file and using it for a story.

With Samuel affirming he had been conducting the sting since 2014, Mamata questioned his mo-tive of releasing the videos just be-fore the assembly polls.

“Much like accepting bribe, giving bribe too is a crime. Being a journalist why would you ap-proach somebody like that? The entire video is fake, this has been manufactured. Why now at the time of elections, why are you so much afraid of the Trinamool that you have to resort to such tactics,” she asked. - IANS

Lambasting the

opposition BJP,

Congress and the

CPI-M for harping on

the sting operation

during their election

campaign, Mamata

Banerjee attacked

a section of the

media for giving

detailed coverage

to the footage

WOOING VOTERS: West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee at

an election campaign rally ahead of Assembly polls in Kolkata on Monday. -PTI

76m Indians have no access to safe water, says reportKOCHI: India has the highest number of people — 76 million —in the world without access to safe water supply, followed by China and Nigeria, a WaterAid report said on Tuesday.

The people end up incurring high costs for access, which is pri-marily due to poor management of water resources, says the report ‘Water: At what cost? The State of the World’s Water’— released by the global agency to mark the World Water Day 2016.

The report placed India on the top of 10 countries in the world with the greatest numbers of peo-ple living without access to safe wa-ter, followed by China and Nigeria. Pakistan figures at the 10th place.

“Nearly 76 million people in In-dia have no access to a safe water supply. Most of those people are living on around £3 a day. If they have the opportunity to buy water from a tanker it can cost 1 rupee (£ 0.01) per litre, sometimes dou-ble if supplies are scarce,” says the report.

WaterAid, an international charity working on improving ac-cess to safe water, hygiene and sanitation, in its report says poor management of water resources was the biggest problem holding India back from reaching all of its population with water supplies.

Aquifers provide 85 per cent of drinking water, but levels are fall-ing in 56 per cent of the country, it warns.

“Hand pumps are exacerbating the crisis in many areas by deplet-ing shallow aquifers. Misappro-priation in planning and execution of water supply projects is another key factor. And projects often use inadequate sources or pipelines do not reach habitations. As a result, millions of people get insufficient or poor quality water,” it says.

The report further says commu-nities depend on a single or distant source for drinking water, often leading to disputes and increased discrimination against the main water fetchers: women and girls.

WaterAid’s analysis shows that in the developed world, a standard water bill is as little as 0.1 per cent of the income of someone earning the minimum wage.

However, in a country like India, a person reliant on a water vendor (tanker) for their water supply would spend as much as 17 per cent of their daily income on water to get just the recommended daily minimum supply. The report says for a poor person in the developing world with no access to safe water at home, buying the recommended 50 litres a day can be a huge drain on their meagre salary. - PTI

W A T E R A I D

WORLD WATER DAY: Children take part in a rally on the occasion of

World Water Day in Karad, Maharashtra on Tuesday. - PTI

Founder:Chairman / Editor-in-Chief:

Deputy Editor-in-Chief:Chief Executive Officer:

Telephone: Fax:

E-mail:

Telephone: Fax:

E-mail:

Telephone: Fax:

E-mail:

Printed and published by: Post Box:

Postal Code:

E D I T O R I A L

A D V E R T I S I N G

C I R C U L A T I O N

Essa bin Mohammed Al ZedjaliMohamed Issa Al ZadjaliAnees bin Essa Al Zedjali Ahmed Essa Al Zedjali

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Muscat Media Group 770112

#TRENDING

Grasping the squeeze on America’s MillennialsNoah Smith

Did rich countries like the US betray the millennial generation — the people born in the 1980s through the early 2000s?

Some make that claim. For example, a report in the Guardian discusses how high unemployment, sluggish income gains and student-loan debt have hit young people in Western countries hard. While these hardships are real, most of them don’t con-stitute a betrayal. In general, governments don’t try to do things that raise unemployment and lower incomes. Sometimes they inadvertently make mistakes — for example, austerity in some European economies has probably been a big un-forced error — but even then, they are simply be-ing misguided, not malevolent. Even the student-loan debacle was probably a result of government attempts to raise incomes by encouraging kids to educate themselves.

As much as we’d like to believe that govern-ment can control the economy, its power is lim-ited. Productivity gains, which drive much growth, are often due to improvements in technology. The government can spend money on research, tweak patent policies, craft more efficient financial mar-kets and invest in early-stage companies, but it isn’t clear how much these things will really boost growth. Economists have recognised that produc-tivity growth is slowing all over the world and that the chances of any one country’s policies being able to reverse this trend are probably fairly slim.

But that doesn’t mean the US and other de-veloped nations have done right by Millennials. In some important ways, they have betrayed the young generation. Any society faces a basic choice between consumption and investment. Produc-ing the things that raise living standards requires physical capital such as buildings, machines and infrastructure. It also needs technological ideas, which are produced through costly and time-consuming research. If we work hard and create more capital and more ideas today, our children and grandchildren can enjoy a richer life. When the baby boom generation sacrificed time and ma-terials to build the interstate highway system, for example, it ensured that Generation X and the Mil-lennials would have nice roads to drive on.

Unfortunately, the US hasn’t done as much of this sort of investment as it might have. Since the

1980s, private domestic investment net of depre-ciation has been falling steadily as a percentage of gross domestic product: net private domestic investment Because US companies didn’t invest as much as before, Americans haven’t had to work as hard, and have enjoyed higher consumption than they would have otherwise. Because govern-ment also hasn’t invested as much as before, taxes have been lower, and consumers have had more money to spend on health care and other kinds of government-funded consumption. It’s theoreti-cally possible for a country to invest too much, of course — if you build way too much capital, you’ll spend too much time and effort simply repairing it and upgrading it, and will be poorer as a result. But the US is probably well below this threshold.

So it’s a good bet that these choices mean Mil-lennials are poorer now than they otherwise would have been. Our low investment has meant more consumption for Baby Boomers, less for Millen-nials. There are other ways in which the US sac-rificed the consumption of Millennials so their parents could live more comfortable lives. Infla-tion, for example, has been low and stable in recent decades compared with earlier times:

Bursts of unexpected inflation redistribute wealth from lenders to borrowers, because each repaid dollar is worth less than when it was bor-rowed. But in the last few decades, there haven’t been any bursts of unexpected inflation. That means that Gen X and Millennial borrowers haven’t got the same kind of break on borrowing that Boomers got. Young people go into debt to buy houses, cars and to pay for college, so low and sta-ble inflation probably hurts the young and helps the old. Do these policies constitute a “betrayal” of the Millennials by the Boomer generation? It depends on your perspective. On the one hand, you might argue that each generation is free to choose to consume or invest as much as it wants. Enlight-enment philosophers and other moral authorities are silent on the exact percent of GDP that a coun-try should invest or consume.

But it’s certainly true that the US and most other Western countries have invested less in the last 35 years than they did in the previous 35. That means that the Baby Boomers left their kids less, relative to their own consumption, than their own parents did. In a time of slowing productivity, that has been a tough blow to today’s youngsters. - Bloomberg View

Health clinics should abide by ministry guidelines This refers to the report How clean and safe is your health clinic? (March 21). Good observations have been made, as the article has raised some valid points when it comes to clinical safety. However,

the most disappointing fact is that some of the renowned health facilities too often ignore hygiene quality, which worries both the patients and their close relatives. First of all, it is difficult to accept clinics’ failures in complying with health and safety regula-tions. As far as health safety is concerned, there cannot be any compromise in adhering to the prevailing regulations. Complying with all basic health and safety guidelines ideally helps preventing spread of infections, especially when seasonal diseases breakout. Patients being treated with expired medicines and injections are setting wrong precedence and totally go against the principles of medical ethics. Some of the established hospitals do try for health and safety accreditations, by which they are obliged to maintain the minimum standard in keeping the premises, includ-

ing the internal facilities, neat and tidy at all the times. The hospital leadership and management have their responsible roles to abide by the policies and guidelines set by the Ministry of Health. — Ramachandran Nair, Ruwi

T I M E S O F O M A NW E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6A12

ONLINE HOT PICKS

READERS’ FORUM

CLIPPINGS PICTOGRAPH

Seminar reviews obstacles faced by insurance sectorMUSCAT: Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidi, undersecretary for Commerce and Industry, yesterday opened a seminar on obstacles to the insur-ance sector in the Sultanate and effects of the WTO agreement on insurance at the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI). The seminar that was attended by Sheikh Salim bin Hilal Al Khalili, OCCI president, and a number of government and private sector of-ficials and insurance company officials as well as a police delegation from AGCC taking part in the AGCC Traffic Week activities here.

1857: Elisha Otis installs the first modern passenger elevator in a public building, in New York City.

1903: The Wright brothers obtain an airplane patent.

1920: Great Britain denounces the United States because of its delay in joining the League of Nations.

1942: Japanese occupy the Andaman Islands in Indian Ocean.

M O S T R E A DTIMESOFOMAN.COM

M O S T P O P U L A R V I D E O

M O S T S H A R E DFACEBOOK.COM/TIMESOFOMAN

The reality is that the British public debate on sovereignty will not end when the votes are counted. After all, even if the majority says “yes” to the European Union, a share of the population – a substantial one, according to the polls – will remain convinced that Brexit would have

been much better for Britain

JAVIER SOLANA

Possible futures for Ukraine’s Donbas: One could be found under

framework of Minsk peace process, the series of agreements cobbled together to defuse the showdown between Russia and Ukraine. Or

the region could become the site of a “frozen conflict” of the sort found elsewhere in post-Soviet territory

CARL BILDT

When the US embargo is lifted, Cuba – which for much of the

19th and 20th centuries was the Caribbean’s predominant economy

— is likely to take a growing bite out of Puerto Rico’s fortunes, in tourism and services. And that’s

before accounting for Puerto Rico’s existing fiscal straits, which will lead

to shrinking government services

JAMES GIBNEY

F R O M O U R A R C H I V E S

T O D A Y I N H I S T O R Y

CCTV footage shows the moment a plane crashes in southern Russia with 62 people on board

MARCH 2001Scan this QR code to send letters to the Readers’ Forum, containing not more than 200 words with full name, address and telephone number, may be sent by e-mail ([email protected]).

I N S T A G R A M O F T H E D A Y INSTAGRAM.COM/TIMESOFOMAN

TIMESOFOMAN.COM/VIDEOS

1 FlyDubai crash: A touching video tribute

timesofoman.com/Videos

2 After the rain ends, brace for summer

timesofoman.com/Oman

3 Flash flood alert system to be installed soon


4 Awasr launches high-speed Internet service in Oman


5 People living in vicinity of dams not in danger

timesofoman.com/ Oman

1 4.3 earthquake hits Oman coast


2 Dust wind poses threat to motoriststimesofoman.com/Oman

3 Attacks on Brussels airport, metro station kill more than 20timesofoman.com/Oman

4 #OmanPride: Omani boy feted for saluting police rescue team efforts

timesofoman.com/OmanPride

5 Watch: Rain falls in Khasab. facebook.com/timesofoman/

T I M E S O F O M A N . C O M / O P I N I O N

TOTAL PAGE LIKESTOTAL VIEWS

52,559,064 357,880

T W E E T W E L I K E

@TheBFSANice post on stone arrowheads from the Wadi al Jizzi Archaeological Project - Oman http://fb.me/19NxbksBS

«

SHARE THIS!

SourceNational Centre for Statistics & Information

NUMBER OF EXPAT WORKERSIN OMAN, BY EDUCATION

DOCTORATE

Total

Male

Female

0

December2015

2,844

January2016

2,835

2,200 2,199

644 636

Photo: Khoushik Bhaskar

NEW INDIAASSURANCE

“Insure withNew India andbe secure”

The dance is a poem of which each movement is a word.

MATA HARI

I N V I T A T I O N T O W R I T E R S

We invite our readers to write articles on topics

related to Oman. The articles should not exceed 800 words.

Send us your article along with your picture to

[email protected]

Tel: 24838800 | Fax: 24838899 | Email: [email protected] | Website: www.newindiaoman.com

A13

PAKISTANW E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

INTERNATIONAL WORLD WATER DAY Pakistani residents use a communal pump to fill water containers in Quetta on Tuesday. International World Water Day is marked annually on March 22 to focus global attention on the importance of water and advocate for sustainable water resource management. — AFP

SCAN THIS QR CODE TO INSTANTLY VISIT

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

Pink Rickshaw service struggles

LAHORE: Pakistan’s first women-only rickshaw service was meant to provide its staff with a new way of gaining financial independence and its passengers with the chance of a ride without being groped and harassed by male drivers. But, after just a year in business, the “Pink Rickshaw” in the Punjabi city of Lahore, is struggling.

Help has been promised by a Scotland-based charity, run by pop star Annie Lennox, and Pink Rickshaw founder, Zar Aslam, said she hopes to get the money for ten rickshaws by September.

AimedZar, who herself narrowly escaped kidnapping in a rickshaw when she was a student, told Reuters she had aimed to have 25 of the pink-and-white rickshaws on the road by mid-2016 but the manufactur-ers have sent only six, and three are too old to use.

“There are several women wait-ing to get the rickshaws,” said Zar, who also runs the Environment Protection Fund.

The rickshaws cost about $3,000 each, and more if you add tracking and anti-theft systems. “The first few rickshaws we bought were ex-pensive but now we’re looking at cheaper models,” she said.

That would help women who, like Parveen Bibi, want to zip around town making a living and making life easier in a country where sexual crime is rife and of-ten goes without being reported or punished. “Women passengers are happy that they can now travel with a female tri-auto driver and feel comfortable,” she says. — Reuters

Founder of the service, Zar Aslam, hopes to

get money for ten rickshaws by September

LIFELINE Parveen Bibi cleans her Pink Rickshaw as she prepares to drive around looking for passengers in Lahore, Pakistan on Thursday, November 12, 2015. - Reuters

SCAN THIS QR CODE TO INSTANTLY VISIT

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

The only disappointment is to get the funding for more rickshaws because the demand is out there and it is just a matter of getting all the funds togetherZar Aslam, Pink Rickshaw founder

Afghan Taliban breakaway group denies its leader heldISLAMABAD: The leader of a breakaway faction of the Taliban is leading his fighters in Afghani-stan, his deputy said on Tuesday, contradicting three senior mem-bers of the extremist group and denying a newspaper report that he had been detained.

Three senior Taliban told Reu-ters that Mullah Mohammad Ra-sool, who leads a faction that has rejected the authority of the ove-ment’s leader, Mullah Moham-mad Mansour, had been detained two weeks ago in Balochistan province on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s Express Tribune newspaper said that Rasool was being held by Pakistani authori-ties. Quoting two unnamed Tali-ban leaders, the newspaper said Rasool was held in Pakistan after fleeing Afghanistan following heavy fighting in recent months with militants loyal to Mansour.

Rasool’s deputy, Mullah Ab-dul Manan Niazi, dismissed the report as “propaganda of our en-emies” and two Pakistani security officials also denied the report.

“Mullah Rasool is in Afghani-stan and leading his fighters,” Niazi said.

But he added that his group’s survival did not depend on one leader.

“Our resistance will not stop with the arrest or killing of Mul-lah Rasool or any other leader,” Niazi said.

The mixed reports add a fur-ther twist to the opaque nature of the leadership of the Taliban, who control or threaten more Afghan territory than at any time since their hard-line government was toppled in 2001.

Shoring up supportRasool is the biggest rival to Man-sour, who claimed the leader-ship of the Taliban last year after news emerged of founder Mul-lah Omar’s death and who has been shoring up support against rival factions.

One senior member of the fac-tion loyal to Mullah Mansour said

that Rasool had been in hiding in the western Afghan city of Herat but had recently decided to move to Pakistan, where many Taliban leaders are believed to be living.

Two senior Pakistani security officials denied Rasool was in Pa-kistani custody.

“Our last information is that he fled infighting in Afghanistan,” one of the officials said, request-ing anonymity.

Alongside its recent battlefield successes, the movement has been in turmoil since last year when it was forced to admit that Mullah Omar had died two years earlier. — Reuters

M U L L A H R A S O O L

Mullah Rasool’s faction has firmly opposed joining peace talks with the Afghan government and accuses Mullah Mansour of covering up Mullah Omar’s death and being under the control of PakistanMullah Mohammad Rasool

Sharif eyes trade talks as Rouhani to visit this weekISLAMABAD: With Iran Presi-dent Hassan Rouhani expected in Pakistan later this week, Islama-bad and Tehran are likely to review their overall trade relations after the lifting of international sanc-tions on Iran.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed his desire to strengthen relations with Iran on Monday during a meeting with envoy Me-hdi Honardoost, who called on him at the Prime Minister’s House.

“The visit will be a great oppor-tunity for us to review the whole range of bilateral relations and fur-ther strengthen our brotherly ties,” an official statement quoted Sharif as saying.

Pakistan, he added, greatly val-ues its fraternal ties with Iran and considers Iran a close friend and a neighbour.

Expeditious resumption“We are pleased to note that in-ternational economic sanctions on Iran have been lifted, paving the way for expeditious resump-tion of commercial and economic ties between our countries,” Sharif said. “I am looking forward to wel-

coming President Rouhani later this week.”

During his visit to Iran in Janu-ary, Sharif had invited the Iranian president to visit Pakistan. Paki-stan has already lifted sanctions on Iran after the United Nations eased curbs on the Islamic Repub-lic. Rouhani is likely to push for the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project. The project was to be com-missioned in December 2014 but work was stalled after sanctions were placed on Tehran. Officials say there are hopes the project can be implemented now. — Express Tribune

L I F T I N G O F S A N C T I O N S O N I R A N

Hassan Rouhani

A14

WORLDW E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

Share your world with us on Instagram

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY SHARE YOURPHOTOGRAPHS

MAYHEM: People flee from the Brussels airport in this image taken from video, shot by a

bystander in the the immediate aftermath of blasts at the airport near Brussels, Belgium, on Tues-

day. – Reuetrs/Asher Gunsberg/Handout via Reuters TV

30 killed in Brussels airport, metro train attacks claimed by IS group

BRUSSELS: IS militant group claimed responsibility for attacks on Brussels airport and a rush-hour metro train in the Belgian capital on Tuesday which killed at least 30 people, a news agency affiliated to the group said.

The Amaq agency said suicide bombers from the group, strapped into explosive belts, had staged both attacks. Belgian media said police were hunting one attacker who had survived.

The coordinated assault trig-gered security alerts across Europe and drew global expres-sions of support, four days after Brussels police had captured the prime surviving suspect in IS’ at-tacks on Paris last November. A witness said he heard shouts and shots shortly before two blasts struck a packed airport departure lounge at Brussels airport.

Belgian media published a se-curity camera picture of three young men pushing laden luggage trolleys through the airport and reported that police suspected them of being the attackers. They said two were suspected of having blown themselves up while police were hunting the third.

Amaq carried the claim of re-sponsibility several hours after the morning attacks. “IS opened fire inside Zaventem Airport, be-fore several of them detonated their explosive belts, as a martyr-dom bomber detonated his explo-sive belt in the Maalbeek metro station,” it said.

Austrian Horst Pilger, who was awaiting a flight with his family when the attackers struck, said his children had thought fireworks were going off, but he instantly knew an assault was underway. “My wife and I both thought ‘bomb’. We looked into each oth-er’s eyes,” he told Reuters. “Five or 10 seconds later there was a major, major, major blast in close vicinity. It was massive.”

Pilger, who works at the Euro-pean Commission, said the whole ceiling collapsed and smoke flood-ed the building.

US President Barack Obama led calls of support to Belgian Prime

Minister Charles Michel after Brussels went into a state of vir-tual lock-down. “We must be to-gether regardless of nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism,” Obama told a news conference in Cuba. “We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world.”

Michel spoke at a Brussels news conference of a “black mo-ment” for his country. “What we had feared has come to pass.”

The blasts occurred after the arrest in Brussels of a suspected participant the Paris attacks that killed 130 people. Belgian police and combat troops on the streets had been on alert for reprisal but the attacks took place in crowded areas where people and bags are not searched.

All public transport in Brussels was shut down, as it was in Lon-don during 2005 militant attacks there that killed 52. Authorities appealed to citizens not to use overloaded telephone networks, extra troops were sent into the city and the Belgian Crisis Centre, clearly wary of a further incident, appealed to the population: “Stay where you are”.

ClosedBrussels airport will remain closed on Wednesday, its chief ex-ecutive Arnaud Feist told report-ers. Public broadcaster VRT said police had found a Kalashnikov assault rifle next to the body of an attacker at the airport. Such weapons have become a trade-mark of IS-inspired attacks in Europe, notably in Belgium and France, including on November 13 in Paris. An unused explosive belt was also found in the area, the public broadcaster said. Police were continuing to scour the air-port for any further bombs or at-tackers. Alphonse Youla, 40, who works at the airport, told Reuters he heard a man shouting out in Arabic before the first explosion. “Then the glass ceiling of the air-port collapsed.”

“I helped carry out five people dead, their legs destroyed,” he said, his hands covered in blood.

A witness said the blasts oc-curred at a check-in desk. Video

showed devastation in the hall with ceiling tiles and glass scat-tered across the floor. Some pas-sengers emerged from the ter-minal with blood spattered over their clothes. Smoke rose from the building through shattered windows and passengers fled down a slipway, some still haul-ing their bags. Public broadcaster RTBF said police were searching houses in the Brussels area.

A Crisis Centre spokesman issued provisional figures of 20 killed in the metro and 10 at the airport. Public broadcaster VRT had said earlier 20 were killed in the train and 14 at the airport.

Many of the dead and wounded at the airport were badly injured in the legs, one airport worker told Reuters, suggesting at least one bomb in a bag on the floor.

Britain, Germany, France and the Netherlands, all wary of spill-over from conflict in Syria, were among states announcing extra security measures. Security was tightened at the Dutch border with Belgium. The blast hit the train as it left Maelbeek station, close to European Union institu-tions, heading to the city centre.

VRT carried a photograph of a metro carriage at a platform with doors and windows completely blown out, its structure deformed and interior mangled and charred.

A local journalist tweeted a photograph of a person lying covered in blood among smoke outside Maelbeek metro station, on the main Rue de la Loi avenue which connects central Brussels with the EU institutions. Ambu-lances were ferrying the wounded away and sirens rang out across the area. “We are at war and we have been subjected to acts of war in Europe for the last few months,” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said.

Brussels airport said it had can-celled all flights until at least 6am (0500 GMT) on Wednesday and the complex had been evacuated and trains to the airport had been stopped. Passengers were taken to coaches from the terminal that would remove them to a secure area. All three main long-distance rail stations in Brussels were closed and train services on the cross-channel tunnel from London to Brussels were suspended. Security services have been on a high state of alert across western Europe for fear of militant attacks backed by IS, which claimed responsibility for the Paris attack. — Reuters

The coordinated

assault triggered

security alerts across

Europe and drew

global expressions

of support, four days

after Brussels police

had captured the

prime surviving

suspect in IS’

attacks on Paris

last November

THE RESCUERS: Rescue workers treat victims at the airport, in this image taken from television video,

after a blast in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday. – Reuters/RTL Belgium via Reuters TV

THE SUSPECTS: A picture released on Tuesday by the Belgian Federal Police on demand of the Federal

prosecutor shows a screengrab of the airport CCTV camera showing three suspects of this morning’s at-

tacks at Brussels Airport, in Zaventem. – AFP/ Belgian Federal Police

SECONDS AFTER BLASTS: This image grab made on Tuesday

from a video by RTL TVI shows people lying on the floor after a

blast inside Brussels airport in Zaventem. – AFP/RTL TVI

SCAN THIS TO VISIT

PHOTO GALLERYARTICLE, VIDEO,

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

A15

WORLDW E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

Obama urges political liberties

HAVANA: US President Barack Obama delivered an impassioned appeal for political liberties in Cuba, including freedom of ex-pression and religion, as he spoke directly to the Cuban people on Tuesday in a historic speech broadcast throughout the Com-munist-ruled island.

Speaking at Havana’s Grand Theater with Cuban President

Raul Castro in attendance in what White House officials touted as a crowning moment of Obama’s visit, Obama extended a “hand of friendship.”

He declared that he had come to Havana to “bury the last remnant” of the Cold War in the Americas.

But he also pressed for econom-

ic and political reforms, speaking in a one-party state where little dissent is tolerated.

“Voters should be able to chose their governments in free and democratic elections,” he said.

“Not everybody agrees with me on this, not everybody agrees with the American people on this

but I believe those human rights are universal. I believe they’re the rights of the American people, the Cuban people and people around the world,” Obama said.

His address marked the final day of his trip, the first by a US president to Cuba in 88 years. His presence in Havana was the cul-mination of a diplomatic opening that he and Castro announced in December 2014, ending decades of estrangement between Washing-ton and Havana that began soon after Cuba’s 1959 revolution.

Obama drew strong applause from the audience when he reiter-ated his call for an end to the long-standing US economic embargo against Cuba, which only the US Congress can lift.

Isolate CubaObama, who abandoned a long-time US policy of trying to isolate

Cuba, wants to make his shift irre-versible by the time he leaves office in January and secure it as a piece of his foreign policy legacy.

But major obstacles remain to full normalisation of ties, most notably the continuing US embargo and differences over human rights.

The Republican-controlled Congress has so far rejected the Democratic president’s call for a lifting of the embargo, although Obama has used his executive powers to ease some trade and travel restrictions on the island.

The president’s critics at home have called his visit a premature reward to the Castro government. US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, said on Tuesday the trip legitimis-es what he called Castro’s “tyran-nical dictatorship.”

With his words carried live by Cuba’s state-run media, Obama sought to persuade ordinary Cu-bans that his new policy, includ-ing easing of trade and travel re-strictions, was focused primarily on helping them to improve their lives. — Reuters

Extending a ‘hand

of friendship, US

President Barack

Obama declared

that he had come to

Cuba to ‘bury the last

remnant’ of the Cold

War in the Americas

Violence erupts as Jakarta cabbies protest against ride-hailing appsJAKARTA: Indonesian cabbies clashed with motorbike drivers working for online apps on Tues-day, pulling them off their bikes and assaulting them as thousands of drivers took to the streets of Jakarta calling for a ban on ride-hailing apps like Grab and Uber.

Police were overwhelmed as convoys of blue and white taxis operated by PT Blue Bird and PT Express Transindo Utama blocked thoroughfares. Police said 83 people were detained af-ter skirmishes that saw drivers smash taxi windshields, attack other drivers and burn tyres in parts of the city.

The proliferation of cheap taxis using ride-hailing apps Go-jek, Grab and Uber in gridlocked Jakarta has made the traditional pick-up and drop-off taxi servic-es unprofitable, threatening the business models of the country’s top taxi firms. The online apps currently offer heavily subsidised rates for their rides in an attempt to gain market share.

“Right now there are legal taxis and illegal taxis,” said Mat Ali, 54, an Express taxi driver who marched in front of parliament as others burned tyres.

“We are not allergic to compe-tition with Uber and Grab... but we just want them to meet the government’s requirements.”

Transportation Minister Igna-sius Jonan said companies like Uber were illegal unless they were registered as public trans-port providers and subject to the same rules as regular taxi op-erators. “The point is, it has to be fair,” Jonan told reporters.

Government ministers called for calm and said the tech firms should be subject to the same le-gal and tax requirements as con-

ventional public transportation companies. “Give us time to find the best solution, it can’t be done overnight,” chief security minis-ter Luhut Pandjaitan told a news conference.

A Bluebird official said the company would offer free taxi rides for 24 hours to make up for the disruption in services.

“We don’t agree with or sup-port the anarchic demonstra-tion,” Bluebird commissioner Noni Purnomo told reporters.

But some Jakarta residents re-jected the offer on social media using the hashtag #NoThanks-Bluebird.

David Santoso, a director of Express, also said in a statement the company had urged its driv-ers not to join the protest.

Indonesia’s president has wel-comed the competition provided by the new companies, but the status of their operations in the country was unclear.

Companies like Grab and Go-jek were running as usual on Tuesday despite the protests.

“We’ve advised our drivers and passengers to be careful in the areas where the demonstrations are happening,” said Ekhel Chan-dra Wijaya, of Grab Indonesia.

One Go-jek driver said he wasn’t afraid of the protesters.

“We in the online business are looking for money, we’re not looking for trouble,” said Abdul Rohman, who wore the com-pany’s easily recognisable green jacket. — Reuters

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

US President Barack Obama’s presence in Havana was the culmination

of a diplomatic opening that he and Cuban President Raul Castro

announced in December 2014, ending decades of estrangement between

Washington and Havana that began soon after Cuba’s 1959 revolution.

HISTORIC VISIT: Cuban President Raul Castro, right, raises US

President Barack Obama’s hand during a meeting at the Revolution

Palace in Havana on Monday. – AFP

SCAN THIS TO VISIT



SCAN THIS TO VISIT



UP IN ARMS: Indonesian taxi drivers gather to listen to their

union leaders delivering speeches as they protest against Uber

and other ride-hailing services, outside the parliament building

in Jakarta on Tuesday. – AFP

Rousseff vows to never resignBRASILIA/SAO PAULO: Bra-zil’s President Dilma Rousseff said on Tuesday she will not re-sign under any circumstances and equated a bid to impeach her to a “coup d’etat” against democratic rule because she had committed no crime.

Rousseff called on Brazil’s Su-preme Court to remain impar-tial in the political dispute and said the authorised release of a wiretap of a telephone conver-sation of hers was a violation of the country’s constitution and national security.

Meanwhile, Justice Rosa We-ber upheld a decision barring former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking a min-istry post in embattled Dilma’s government.

Last week, Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes blocked Lula from taking office as chief of staff to Rousseff, his successor. — Reuters

B R A Z I L


YOUR BIGGEST ROAD HAZARD IS IN YOUR HAND A TIMES OF OMAN

HANDS-FREE DRIVING INITIATIVE

MARKEWWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMW E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6B

Muscat

5,430.11 + 53.76

+ 1.00%

Dubai

3,353.20- 25.43

- 0.75%

Abu Dhabi

4,388.68+ 33.85

+ 0.78%

Saudi Arabia

6,432.33- 53.78

- 0.83%

Kuwait

5,251.80- 3.74

- 0.07%

Bahrain

1,159.92 - 3.18

- 0.27%

Qatar

10,479.71+ 34.78

+ 0.33%

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

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

Euro ............................................2.28

Pound ........................................... 1.79

Indian Rs .............................. 172.41

Pakistan Rs .........................267.31

Bangla Taka......................200.76* Rates are as of Mar. 22

Source: Bank Muscat

Indian Rs ....................................173.01

Pakistan Rs ..............................271.75

Sri Lanka Rs ..................................N/A

Bangla Taka........................... 203.50

Phil Peso .................................... 119.95

* Rates as of Mar. 22 Source: Oman UAE Exchange

Muscat 24ct per gm (OMR) .......15.95

Muscat 22ct per gm (OMR) .......15.30

Dubai 24ct per gm (Dh) ............ 150.75

Dubai 22ct per gm (Dh) .............. 141.75

* Rates as of Mar. 22

Source: Malabar Gold & Diamonds

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

Oman Crude ............. (Spot) .........$37.68

Dubai Crude ............. (Spot) .........$37.68

Murban Crude ........ (Spot) ........$40.65

Arabian Light ......... (Spot) ........$36.68

N.Sea Brent ............... (Spot) .........$41.09

West Texas Int ....... (Spot) ........$40.89

CRUDE OIL PRICE

DIGEST VIDEO

S CA N T H I S Q R CO D E TO I N STA N T LY L AU N C H T H E V I D EO

Top stories in one minute with our new daily Digest

OMAN CRUDE RISESOman Crude May delivery price rose 62 cents to $38.41 per barrel, said Dubai Mercantile Exchange. The average price of Oman Crude (April delivery) stabilised at $30.23, a growth of $2.83 per barrel over March delivery 2016. – ONA

Oman to issue development bond

MUSCAT: Oman’s central bank has announced the new issue of government development bonds.

The Central Bank of Oman said that the size of the new issue is fixed at OMR100 million with a maturity period of 7 years and will carry a coupon rate of 5 per cent per annum.

The issue will be open for sub-scription from April 3 to 14, while the auction will be held on April 10,. The issue settlement date will be on April 25.

Interest on the new bonds will be paid semi-annually on October 25 and April 25 every year until maturity date on April 25, 2023.

Investors may apply for these bonds through the competitive bidden process only. Investors may submit bids through commer-cial licensed banks operating in the Sultanate.

OMR1 million and above Investors with applications of OMR1 million and above can, if they so wish submit their bids di-rectly to COO after getting them endorsed from their banks. Pro-spectus and application forms can be obtained from any commercial licensed bank operating in the Sultanate of Oman.

The bonds are direct and un-conditional obligations of the Gov-ernment of Sultanate. The bonds

can be used as collateral to obtain loans from any local commercial licensed bank. The bonds can also be traded at prevailing market rates through the Muscat Securi-ties Market (MSM).

The details of the bonds allot-ted will be recorded in the register maintained by Muscat Clearing and Depositary Company (MCD). Investors must provide the same bank account details registered with MCD. – ONA

The size of the new issue is fixed at OMR100

million with a maturity period of 7 years and

will carry a coupon rate of 5% per annum


NEW ISSUE: The Central Bank of Oman said that the interest on the

new bonds will be paid semi-annually on October 25 and April 25

every year until maturity date on April 25, 2023. – Times file picture

B2

MARKETW E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

Oman Economic Forum to open today

MUSCAT: Fiffth edition of Oman Economic Forum will start on Wednesday at Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa, Muscat un-der the theme ‘Oman: a Bridge be-tween Asia and GCC.’

The opening ceremony of the forum will be held under the pa-tronage of Dr Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy, minister of commerce

and industry. The forum is or-ganised by the Ministry of Com-merce and Industry, in conjunc-tion with Al Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group, the State General Reserve Fund (SGRF), the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) and Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CBO).

The forum’s programme will tackle a range of topics including

Oman’s economic outlook, Oman’s role as a bridge between Asia and the GCC, the key investment op-portunities in the Sultanate, the investment prospects in Iran, the main factors attracting invest-ments and the enhancement of en-trepreneurship through small and

medium enterprises.It aims to support the develop-

ment goals of the government and in particular the objective of pro-moting the Sultanate position as a station for international trade and the movement of multimodal trans-port between continents, as well as

a hub for attracting international investments by providing the best environment attractive to them.

Seven working sessionsThe forum will include seven working sessions as the first ses-sion will be on Oman’s Economic Outlook through future vision for Oman’s economy, assessing oil prices trends and adapting to the new reality, major achievements in the economic diversification strat-egy, Elements and objectives of the ninth five-year plan.

The speakers of the first session are Dr Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy, minister of commerce and indus-try; Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Futaisi, minister of transport and communications; Sultan bin Salim

AI Habsi, secretary general of the Supreme Council for Planning; and Yahya bin Said Al Jabri, chair-man of the Special Economic Zone Authority of Duqm (Sezad).

Keynote speeches will be deliv-ered during this session by Eng. Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, Iranian Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade, Qian Keming, Vice Minister of Commerce, Chi-na and Miki Yamada, Japanese Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs. – ONA

Forum will discuss Oman’s economic outlook,

the country’s role as a bridge between Asia

and the GCC and key investment avenues

Digitalisation vital for Oman’s oil and gas sector growth: SiemensTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Siemens is highlight-ing technology’s ability to reduce production and operations costs within Oman’s oil and gas sector at the Oil & Gas West Asia Exhi-bition and Conference in Muscat.

The company is demonstrating how continued efforts within the Sultanate to embrace advanced technologies in the oil and gas industry will be a contributing factor in weathering the current climate of low oil prices.

“Due to the current industry landscape in Oman, companies are increasingly interested in technology that will optimise pro-duction capacity at lower costs. The Siemens portfolio addresses exactly that — using software, sensors, process automation and data analytics to drive efficiency and increase reliability across

the value chain,” said Markus Strohmeier, chief executive of-ficer of Siemens Oman.

Siemens has been a develop-ment partner to Oman for more than 40 years.

The company’s full portfolio of products and solutions is pre-sent in the Sultanate, from power generation and distribution to

building technology, mobility and healthcare.

Siemens technology has been widely implemented in Oman and the company has contributed to the continued development of the oil and gas industry with highly efficient technology including compressors, power generators and gas and steam turbines.

C O N F E R E N C E


Gulf states not to scrap currency pegs to US dollar, says Moody’sDUBAI: Gulf Cooperation Coun-cil states are unlikely to abandon their decades-old currency pegs to the United States dollar even as a slump in oil prices puts a $250 billion squeeze on the re-gion’s finances, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

“The GCC’s large foreign-currency reserves provide am-ple room to maintain pegged exchange-rate regimes for several years, even in an adverse oil price scenario,” senior analyst Mathias Angonin said at a press briefing in Dubai. “Changes to the cur-rent exchange-rate regimes are unlikely because the costs asso-ciated with one-off devaluations would outweigh the benefits.”

Hedge funds such as Zach Schreiber’s Point State Capital and Knighthead Capital Manage-ment are among those that have

been using derivatives includ-ing forward contracts to bet that countries such as Saudi Arabia will be forced to abandon their currency pegs and devalue the ri-yal, people with knowledge of the matter said earlier this month. Moody’s put credit ratings of five of the six GCC nations on review for a cut earlier this month, citing the shock of depressed oil prices on these economies.

Funding sourcesGulf states are expected to have a combined fiscal deficit of about $250 billion over the next two years, which is expected to be fi-nanced by a draw-down of curren-cy reserves and less than half in borrowing, according to Angonin.

Saudi Arabia is looking for other sources of funding to plug a budget deficit that is expected

to reach 17.8 per cent of econom-ic output this year, according to Riyadh-based Jadwa Investment. So far, the government has mostly relied on a domestic bond pro-gram and drawing down foreign reserves held by the central bank. It raised 98 billion riyals ($26 billion) from selling bonds to lo-cal institutions last year, and will probably sell about 120 billion ri-yals of debt in 2016, Saudi Fransi Capital said in October.

Saudi Monetary Agency has repeatedly said it will stick with its currency peg. In a bid to curb speculation, the agency in Janu-ary ordered banks in the kingdom to stop offering options con-tracts on riyal forwards to their clients, five people with knowl-edge of the matter said at the time. Currency depegging would raise uncertainty. - Bloomberg News

F O R E X R A T E S

B3W E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

MARKETMSM invites entries for competitionTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Muscat Securities Market (MSM) started receiv-ing applications from students of all colleges and universities in Oman, who wish to participate in the Financial Analysis Challenge (FAC) competition.

This competition is aimed at strengthening financial analysis skills of students and give them an opportunity to compete among themselves in the field of finan-cial securities and gain the first hand experience of creating equity reports and financial analysis of listed companies

Only groups of four to five stu-dents can participate in the chal-lenge thus it also promotes team-work and leadership skills among the youth of the Sultanate.

Financial Analysis Challenge competition is divided in two phases: the first phase include a declaration and registration of the participants and in order to give them a specific list of companies listed on the MSM to prepare a re-port that includes financial analy-sis of that particular company that has been selected and then pre-sented to a special jury.

The judges will choose the best five teams that will qualify for the second phase which will be at the closing ceremony, where the final-ist teams will present their report and the results obtained during the analysis in front of an audience and a panel of judges that will then select the top three teams.

The competition is organised by the Muscat Securities Market in collaboration with the Sultan Qaboos University, represented by the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, also the Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel), Bank Muscat and the Oman Cables Industry announced its support and sponsorship of this competition.

F I N A N C I A L A N A L Y S I S Omantel’s fibre optic cable set to connect East Africa

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Oman Telecommuni-catiosn Company (Omantel), the Sultanate’s leading telecom ser-vice provider, has joined in a con-sortium with several East African telecommunications providers to lay the Gulf to Africa (G2A) un-dersea fibre-optic cable, which is set to revolutionise connectivity from Oman to East Africa, includ-ing Ethiopia and Somalia.

The G2A undersea cable repre-sents the first phase of Omantel’s expansion eastwards into the Af-rican continent, providing cable connectivity to the Middle East, Asia and Europe and transform-ing Oman into a communications hub of the Middle East.

The G2A undersea cable con-sortium includes Omantel, Ethio Telecom from Ethiopia and Golis Telecom and the Telesom Com-pany from Somalia. The state-of-the-art cable system, scheduled for completion by the end of 2016,

will comprise 1,500km Subsea segment and a 1,500km terrestrial segment with a capacity 20Tbits of capacity with the latest 100G technology.

Somalia via SalalahCommenting on the regional and global importance of the G2A pro-ject, the vice-president of Oman-tel Wholesale Sohail Qadir said, “This is the first step in our jour-ney of expansion into Africa. We will connect Oman directly to So-malia via the Salalah cable landing point, and then extend the cable further into Africa to Ethiopia.”

“Somalia and Ethiopia, cur-rently two highly underserved countries, will soon be connected to our international low-latency

network, and in doing so will gain access to all the content hosted in Oman through Omantel and deliver services from Europe and Southeast Asia,” he added.

The G2A undersea cable is central to the Omantel 3.0 trans-formation strategy, which aims to transform Oman into a regional communications hub. Currently under implementation, and aug-menting the 3.0 growth strategy is the BBG cable which is set to be the first undersea cable that will directly connect the Middle East with Singapore.

Similarly, the existing EPEG ca-ble, a terrestrial cable connecting Oman to Germany via Iran, Azer-baijan, Russia and Ukraine will offer services to the region at the lowest

latency and the highest quality.“Oman, powered by Omantel, is

well on the way to becoming a ma-jor communications hub for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Already over half of the 24 international submarine cables

that connect to the Arabian Gulf are connected through Omantel. In the coming years, further ex-tending our reach internationally is a key focus for Omantel, and a central goal of our 3.0 transfor-mation strategy. We are planning to expand our network reach by placing POPs (Point of Presence) in over 20 countries across the globe and locally host major inter-national content through multiple data centres in the near future. Throughout history Oman has al-ways been a gateway to the region, facilitating trade and commerce from East to West and West to East. At Omantel, we aim to con-tinue Oman’s proud tradition, this time facilitating the transfer of in-formation, in this new digital age,” Sohail Qadir added.

Submarine cableIn the international wholesale arena, Omantel is considered one of the most prominent and com-petitive wholesale telecommu-nication providers in the Middle East region. In addition, it is one of the leading companies in the field of submarine cable networks and a key participant in several sub-marine cables, complemented by direct terrestrial links, which link Asia, Europe and America passing through Oman to meet the inter-national capacity requirements of customers locally and inter-nationally, thereby sustaining the vompany’s leading position among its competitors.

Omantel’s wholesale strategy is to be a carrier of carriers and to be the link between the East and the West for the region and beyond.

Gulf to Africa

undersea cable

represents the first

phase of Omantel’s

expansion eastwards

into the African

continent, providing

cable connectivity to

the Middle East, Asia

and Europe


COMMUNICATION HUB : The state-of-the-art cable system, sched-

uled for completion by the end of 2016, will comprise 1,500km

subsea segment and a 1,500km terrestrial segment. - Supplied picture

This is the first step

in our journey of

expansion into Africa.

We will connect Oman

directly to Somalia

via the Salalah cable

landing point, and

then extend the

cable further into

Africa to Ethiopia

Sohail Qadir Vice-president, Omantel (Wholesale)

Google speeds up cloud expansion in race with AmazonCALIFORNIA: Google’s new cloud chief Diane Greene had un-settling news for employees at an internal sales meeting this month in the United States: They weren’t tak-ing corporate customers seriously enough and needed to sell harder, be hungrier and less complacent.

That was an unusual message at Google, which typically venerates technology over sales and mar-keting. But it was a necessary one. Google is third in cloud computing, an increasingly popular way for companies to run their IT opera-tions. That’s a $20 billion-a-year business forecast to grow 35 per cent over the next year, according to Gartner.

To climb this ranking, the Al-phabet subsidiary will massively expand its network of data cen-tres, a move that fits with Google’s tendency to rely on technological

solutions to challenges.

New strategyBut Greene is also adopting strat-egies beyond Google’s usual play-book. The company is working on tools that can broaden its corpo-rate user base to include less tech-nically savvy customers, and it’s embarked on a hiring spree aimed at selling and explaining these new products.

“There was a pretty darn good vision in place and now I’m just bringing everybody together so that we all know what we’re doing,” said Greene, who’s also on Alpha-bet’s board. “The cloud is a revolu-tion, I mean it’s rivaling the indus-trial revolution, and it’s pretty fun being this involved.”

After pretty much inventing the cloud for its own use in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Google left

Amazon.com to turn the idea into a service that other companies could rent. That became Amazon Web Services, a division which made almost $8 billion in sales in 2015, making it top cloud dog ahead of Microsoft and Google, which pulled in $500 million last

year, according to Morgan Stanley.In November, Google hired

Greene to change that. She’s a Silicon Valley legend who co-founded VMware in 1998 to bring a technology called virtualisation into the data centres of most large companies. Virtualisation lets a

single computer server do the job of many, a valuable capability that made Amazon Web Services pos-sible. When she was fired in 2008 after falling out with VMware’s board, the company lost almost a quarter of its value in a day.

In coming months Google will open two new cloud regions — Google-speak for data centers stuffed with computers and soft-ware that customers can rent over the Internet — in Oregon and Ja-pan. Another ten are coming over the next 12 to 18 months, either as facilities leased from other provid-ers, or built and operated by Google.

“We know what the recipe is,” said Urs Holzle, Greene’s new tech-nical consigliere who has run Goog-le’s infrastructure for over a decade. “Let’s go apply it everywhere.”

Google has three regions today. By quintupling its digital reach,

the company can serve more busi-nesses faster while conforming to local regulations, many of which demand that certain types of data never leave a country. Amazon operates 12 regions today, with a further five planned.

MarketingGoogle is also spending more on marketing to compete against enterprise-focused rivals like Mi-crosoft. Google’s pioneering, Web-based suite of work apps now trails Microsoft Office365 in revenue, Forrester Research estimates. “We have, like, the best office produc-tivity suite, but people don’t know it,” said Greene, who is hiring a chief marketing officer. Google is splashing out on billboards around San Francisco ahead of a confer-ence this week for cloud customers. - Bloomberg News

C L O U D C O M P U T I N G

Oman’s central bank chief to attend Saudi meet

MUSCAT: Hamoud bin Sangour Al Zedjali, executive president of Central Bank of Oman, will lead the Sultanate’s delegation to the 64th meeting of the Committee of Monetary Institutions and Central Banks Governors, due to be held in Riyadh on Wednesday.

The meeting will discuss several topics related to over-

sighting and auditing the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) banking system, in addition to payment systems and the legal requirements to link the GCC payment systems.

The meeting will also discuss topics related to statistics and re-search training in relation to the banking fields. - ONA

G C C C O N F E R E N C E

B4

MARKETW E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

MUSCATSECURITIES MARKET

SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR TUESDAY, MARCH 22

REGULAR MARKET .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ............................................................ 4,117,179 .... 1,598,752................... 301 ........... 0.368 ........... 0.394 ...........0.368........... 0.388 .............0.368 ........... 0.020 ............. 5.435 ................0.390..............0.388...................0.390 .................933,688,526........0.100

OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES ......................... 1,276,075 ...... 122,140..................... 59 ........... 0.092 ........... 0.097 ...........0.092........... 0.096 .............0.092 ........... 0.004 ............. 4.348 ................0.097 ..............0.097...................0.098....................5,648,949 ..........0.100

OM0000002366 ...........AL BATINAH DEV. INV. HOLDING ...................... 382,595 ............29,199..................... 43 ........... 0.074 ........... 0.077 ...........0.074 ........... 0.076 .............0.073 ........... 0.003 ............. 4.110 ................0.076 ..............0.076...................0.077....................2,280,000 ..........0.100

OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING ........... 129,843 ............13,564......................16 ........... 0.100 ........... 0.106 ...........0.100 ........... 0.104 .............0.100 ........... 0.004 .............4.000 ................0.106 ..............0.106................... 0.110 ....................9,360,000 ..........0.100

OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES ..................................... 952,800 ......... 169,977.....................44 ............0.177 ........... 0.180 ...........0.175 ............0.178 ............. 0.172............ 0.006 ............. 3.488 ................0.178 .............. 0.174...................0.178 ................... 51,735,882 .........0.100

OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 1,868,023 ...... 346,133...................140 ............0.182 ........... 0.187 ...........0.182 ............0.185 ............. 0.179 ............ 0.006 ............. 3.352 ................0.186 .............. 0.186...................0.187 ................... 27,763,875 .........0.100

OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. .................. 3,934,209 ..... 255,019....................115 ........... 0.064 ........... 0.066 ...........0.063........... 0.065 .............0.063 ........... 0.002 ............. 3.175.................0.066 ..............0.065...................0.066................... 18,848,741 .........0.100

OM0000003125 ............GLOBAL FINANCIAL INVESTMENT ................ 353,288 ............49,137......................19 ............0.135 ........... 0.145 ...........0.135 ............0.139 ............. 0.135 ............ 0.004 ............. 2.963 ................0.145 .............. 0.143...................0.147 ...................27,800,000 .........0.100

OM0000001087 ............OMAN UNITED INSURANCE ............................... 914,415 .......... 225,051..................... 74 ........... 0.244 ...........0.254 ...........0.241 ........... 0.246 .............0.239 ........... 0.007 ............. 2.929 ................0.254..............0.252...................0.254 ..................24,600,000 ........0.100

OM0000002226 ...........AL JAZEERA SERVICES .......................................... 228,473 ........... 68,532........................7 ........... 0.299 ...........0.300 ...........0.299........... 0.300 .............0.292 ........... 0.008 ............. 2.740 ................0.300 .............0.292...................0.300 .................. 18,361,282 .........0.100

OM0000002176 ............AL JAZEERA STEEL PRODUCTS ........................ 338,598 ........... 46,937.....................40 ............0.135 ........... 0.143 ...........0.135 ............0.139 ............. 0.136............ 0.003 .............2.206 ................0.138 .............. 0.137...................0.138 ................... 17,360,816 .........0.100

OM0000001681 ............OMAN AND EMIRATES INV. HOLDING ............ 20,000 ...............1,860........................ 1 ........... 0.093 ........... 0.093 ...........0.093........... 0.093 ............. 0.091............ 0.002 ............. 2.198 ................0.093 ..............0.092...................0.095................... 11,334,375 .........0.100

OM0000001483 ............NATIONAL BANK OF OMAN ................................. 1,150,761 ....... 325,491..................... 52 ........... 0.280 ...........0.284 ...........0.280 .......... 0.283 .............0.277 ........... 0.006 ............. 2.166 ................0.284..............0.283...................0.284 .................379,421,001 ........0.100

OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE .............. 1,146,563 ......239,594..................... 35 ........... 0.207 ........... 0.210 ...........0.207........... 0.209 .............0.205 ........... 0.004 ..............1.951.................0.207..............0.207...................0.210 ...................41,800,000 .........0.100

OM0000003281 ............TAAGEER FINANCE ................................................. 110,000............ 14,940........................3 ............0.136 ........... 0.136 ...........0.134 ............0.136 ............. 0.134............ 0.002 ............. 1.493 ................0.136 .............. 0.135...................0.136 ...................34,488,240.........0.100

OM0000002028 ...........GULF INTERNATIONAL CHEMICALS ............ 802,600 ..........256,117..................... 70 ............0.316 ...........0.320 ...........0.316 ........... 0.320 ............. 0.316............ 0.004 ............. 1.266 ................0.320.............. 0.318...................0.320 ...................6,720,000 ..........0.100

OM0000001145 ............PORT SERVICES CORPORATION ....................... 322,966 ............ 59,131..................... 29 ............0.184 ........... 0.185 ...........0.177 ............0.183 ............. 0.181 ............ 0.002 ............. 1.105.................0.177 .............. 0.177...................0.180 ................... 17,392,320 .........0.100

OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO....................................................................... 310,708 ..........228,492......................16 ............0.728 ........... 0.740 ...........0.728 ........... 0.736 ............. 0.728............ 0.008 ............. 1.099 ................0.740 .............. 0.736...................0.740 ..................479,094,953 .......0.100

OM0000004248 ...........SMN POWER HOLDING ........................................... 43,044 .............31,853........................4 ............0.740 ........... 0.740 ...........0.740 ........... 0.740 ............. 0.732............ 0.008 ............. 1.093 ................0.740 ..............0.732...................0.740 ..................147,730,344 ........0.100

OM0000004925 ...........AL BATINAH POWER ................................................ 2,263,481 ......469,246..................... 23 ........... 0.207 ...........0.208 ...........0.207........... 0.207 .............0.205 ........... 0.002 ............. 0.976 ................0.207............. 0.000...................0.210 .................. 139,701,698 ........0.100

OM0000004933 ...........AL SUWADI POWER .................................................. 2,475,421 ...... 513,009..................... 28 ........... 0.207 ...........0.208 ...........0.207........... 0.207 .............0.205 ........... 0.002 ............. 0.976 ................0.207............. 0.000...................0.210 .................. 147,882,112 ........0.100

OM0000002374............UNITED FINANCE ..................................................... 2,550,793 ......380,201..................... 28 ............0.148 ........... 0.151 ............0.148 ........... 0.149 ............. 0.148.............0.001 ............. 0.676 ................0.150 .............. 0.149...................0.150 ...................46,303,976 .........0.100

OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................ 548,101 ............ 85,292..................... 23 ............0.155 ........... 0.158 ...........0.155 ............0.156 ............. 0.155 .............0.001 ............. 0.645 ................0.158 .............. 0.157...................0.158 ................. 224,864,640 .......0.100

OM0000002549 ...........BANK DHOFAR ............................................................ 681,915 .......... 179,260..................... 23 ........... 0.266 ........... 0.266 ...........0.262........... 0.263 .............0.262 ............0.001 ............. 0.382 ................0.263..............0.264...................0.266 ................ 406,263,608 .......0.100

OM0000001160 ............NATIONAL GAS .............................................................36,980 .............10,962......................11 ........... 0.296 ........... 0.299 ...........0.296........... 0.296 .............0.295 ............0.001 ............. 0.339 ................0.297..............0.297...................0.302 ..................14,800,000 .........0.100

OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ........................ 689,290 ...... 1,079,437..................... 77 ............1.565 ........... 1.570 ...........1.525 ............1.565 ............. 1.560............ 0.005 ............. 0.321 ................1.525 .............. 1.525...................1.560 ................ 1,173,750,000 ......0.100

OM0000001418 ............RAYSUT CEMENT ...................................................... 130,000 .........122,200........................5 ........... 0.940 ...........0.940 ...........0.940 .......... 0.940 .............0.940 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.940 ............ 0.940...................1.000................. 188,000,000 .......0.100

OM0000001533 ............OMINVEST .................................................................... 142,204 ............71,102........................9 ........... 0.500 ...........0.500 ...........0.500........... 0.500 .............0.500 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.500..............0.500...................0.502 .................276,430,821 ........0.100

OM0000001822 ............UNITED POWER .............................................................2,320 ............... 7,888........................ 1 ........... 3.400 ...........3.400 ...........3.400........... 3.400 .............3.400 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................3.400..............3.400...................3.500 ...................2,720,000 ..........1.000

OM0000001962 ............AL MADINA INVESTMENT ................................... 450,000 ............27,660......................19 ............0.061 ........... 0.062 ...........0.061 ........... 0.061 ............. 0.061............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.062.............. 0.061...................0.062 ..................12,636,234 .........0.100

OM0000002168 ............AL ANWAR CERAMIC TILES ................................ 50,000 ............ 14,250........................4 ........... 0.285 ........... 0.285 ...........0.285........... 0.285 .............0.285 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.285 ..............0.285...................0.300 ..................84,420,899.........0.100

OM0000002200 ...........AHLI BANK ..................................................................... 30,000 ...............5,250........................ 1 ............0.175 ........... 0.175............0.175 ............0.175 ............. 0.175 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.175 .............. 0.173................... 0.175 ..................249,381,325 ........0.100

OM0000003000 ...........ALMAHA PETROLEUM PRODUCTS MAR. .......65,000 .......... 110,500........................6 ............1.700 ........... 1.700 ...........1.700 ............1.700 ............. 1.700 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.700 .............. 1.650...................1.700 ..................117,300,000 ........0.100

OM0000003661 ............VOLTAMP ENERGY ................................................... 222,469 ........... 95,662......................14 ........... 0.430 ........... 0.430 ...........0.430........... 0.430 .............0.430 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.430..............0.430...................0.450...................26,015,000 .........0.100

OM0000004735 ...........SEMBCORP SALALAH .............................................. 561,960 .........140,250......................12 ........... 0.249 ...........0.260 ...........0.249........... 0.250 .............0.250 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.260..............0.254...................0.275................. 238,642,988 .......0.100

OM0000004768 ...........AL MADINA TAKAFUL ............................................. 192,684 ............ 13,531......................12 ............0.071 ........... 0.071 ...........0.070........... 0.070 .............0.070 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.071 ..............0.070...................0.071 ...................12,250,000 .........0.100

OM0000002572 ...........OMAN OIL MARKETING ...........................................77,712 ...........147,563......................15 ............1.920 ........... 1.920 ...........1.850 ........... 1.900 ............. 1.950............-0.050 ........... -2.564 ...............1.850 .............. 1.850...................1.900..................116,422,500 ........0.100

OM0000001707 ............OMAN CABLES INDUSTRY ......................................31,000 ............ 45,055........................4 ............1.450 ........... 1.455............1.450 ............1.455 ............. 1.520............-0.065 ........... -4.276 ...............1.455 .............. 1.455................... 1.475 ..................130,513,500 ........0.100

OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS ................................................. 32,922 ............. 11,941..................... 20 ........... 0.360 ...........0.364 ...........0.360........... 0.362 .............0.400 ...........-0.038 ........... -9.500 ...............0.364..............0.364...................0.368...................19,005,000 .........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 29,636,392 .......7,612,178...........1,403 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ......39........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

PARALLEL MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000001053 ............OMAN TEXTILE HOLDING .....................................72,799 ............ 24,752..................... 10 ........... 0.340 ...........0.340 ...........0.340 .......... 0.340 .............0.324 ............0.016 ............. 4.938 ................0.340..............0.334...................0.348 ...................2,040,000 ..........1.000

OM0000002564 ...........AL HASSAN ENGINEERING.................................. 480,112 ............ 30,144..................... 38 ........... 0.062 ...........0.064 ...........0.062........... 0.063 ............. 0.061............ 0.002 ............. 3.279 ................0.064..............0.063...................0.064 ................... 4,738,104 ..........0.100

OM0000001566 ............OMAN FISHERIES ..................................................... 435,512............ 24,389..................... 22 ........... 0.056 ........... 0.056 ...........0.056 ........... 0.056 .............0.055 ............0.001 ..............1.818.................0.056 ..............0.056...................0.057....................7,000,000 ..........0.100

OM0000004511 ............ALIZZ ISLAMIC BANK.............................................. 1,101,090 ........ 63,863..................... 30 ........... 0.058 ........... 0.058 ...........0.058 ........... 0.058 .............0.057 ............0.001 ............. 1.754.................0.058 ..............0.058...................0.059...................58,000,000 ........0.100

OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ................................................................ 1,812,889 ...... 132,532.....................44 ........... 0.073 ........... 0.074 ...........0.072........... 0.073 .............0.072 ............0.001 ............. 1.389 ................0.072 ..............0.072...................0.073..................109,500,000 .......0.100

OM0000001301 ............DHOFAR CATTLE FEED .......................................... 200,000...........45,000........................2 ........... 0.225 ........... 0.225 ...........0.225........... 0.225 .............0.222 ........... 0.003 ..............1.351 .................0.225..............0.225...................0.230 .................. 17,325,000 .........0.100

OM0000001368 ............CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IND. .................. 100,000 ..............3,300........................4 ........... 0.033 ........... 0.033 ...........0.033 ........... 0.033 .............0.033 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.033 ..............0.032...................0.034 ...................2,805,000 ..........0.100

OM0000001590 ............MUSCAT FINANCE .................................................... 446,969 ............58,106..................... 24 ............0.130 ........... 0.130 ...........0.130 ........... 0.130 ............. 0.130............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.130 ..............0.129...................0.130 ................... 32,710,401 .........0.100

OM0000002333 ...........SALALAH PORT SERVICES ....................................... 2,100 ...............1,342........................2 ........... 0.648 ........... 0.648 ...........0.636 ........... 0.648 .............0.648 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.636 ............. 0.000...................0.636.................. 116,534,635 ........0.100

OM0000005963 ...........PHOENIX POWER ...................................................... 1,433,833 ......209,356..................... 32 ............0.146 ........... 0.147 ...........0.146 ........... 0.146 ............. 0.148............-0.002 ............-1.351 ................0.147 .............. 0.146...................0.147 .................. 213,539,813 ........0.100

OM0000004776 ...........TAKAFUL OMAN INSURANCE ..............................10,000 ............... 1,010........................ 1 ............0.101 ........... 0.101............0.101 ............0.101 ............. 0.103............-0.002 ........... -1.942 ...............0.101 ..............0.100...................0.102 ...................10,100,000 .........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 6,095,304...... 593,794...................209 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ...... 11........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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

O M A N S T O C K S

INDICESIndex .................................................High .................Low ..................... Value ............... Prev . Value.......... Diff ...............Diff %MSM30 Index ....................................... 5,430.27 ...............5,379.86 ....................5,430.11 ................... 5,376.35 ..................53.76 ................... 1.00Financial Index .....................................6,732.08 .............. 6,634.08 ....................6,731.44 ................... 6,624.91 ............... 106.53 ................... 1.61Industrial Index ....................................6,555.69 ...............6,510.85 ................... 6,523.53 ................... 6,577.00 ................-53.47 .................. -0.81Services Index .......................................3,097.03 ...............3,076.55 ................... 3,093.96 ................... 3,076.55 ...................17.41 ................... 0.57MSM SHARIAH INDEX....................... 839.81 .................. 837.21 .......................837.48 .......................838.31 .................. -0.83 .................. -0.10

Trading SummaryVolume ................ Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up ............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded35,731,696 ..................8,205,972 ..................1,612 ............... 16,410,212,022 ................32 ........................5 .................... 13 .........................50

MSM index ends higher

MUSCAT: A surge in heavy-weight banking stocks drove the MSM 30 index higher by one per cent to close at 5,430.11 points. The MSM Sharia Index ended at 837.48 points, down 0.10 per cent.

Bank Muscat was the most active in terms of volume and turnover. Up 5.43 per cent, Bank Muscat was the top gainer while Al Maha Ceramics was the top loser, down 9.50 per cent.

As many as1,612 trades were executed on Tuesday, generat-ing turnover of OMR8.2 million with 35.7 million shares changing hands. Out of 50 traded securi-ties, 32 advanced, five declined and 13 remained unchanged. Omani investors were net buy-ers for OMR799,000 followed by GCC and Arab investors for OMR335,000 while foreign investors were net sellers for OMR1.13 million worth of shares.

Financial Index increased sharply by 1.61 per cent to end at 6,731.44 points. Bank Muscat, Gulf Investment Services, Al Batinah Development, Al Sharqia Investments and Al Anwar Hold-ing gained by 5.43 per cent, 4.35 per cent, 4.11 per cent, 4 per cent and 3.35 per cent, respectively. Takaful Oman, down 1.94 per cent, was the only sector loser.

Industrial Index ended nega-tively at 6,523.53 points, down 0.81 per cent. Oman Textiles, Al Hassan Engineering, Galfar En-gineering, Al Jazeera Steel and Oman Fisheries increased by 4.94 per cent, 3.28 per cent, 3.17 per cent, 2.21 per cent and 1.82 per cent, respectively. Al Maha Ceramics and Oman Cables de-clined by 9.50 per cent and 4.28 per cent, respectively.

Services Index advanced 0.57 per cent to close at 3093.96 points. Renaissance Services, Al Jazeera Services, OIFC, Port Ser-vices and Ooredoo Oman gained by 3.49 per cent, 2.74 per cent, 1.95 per cent, 1.10 per cent and

1.10 per cent, respectively. Oman Oil Marketing and Phoenix Pow-er declined by 2.56 per cent and 1.35 per cent, respectively.

Emerging markets dropEmerging-market stocks fell and most currencies weakened as bomb blasts in Belgium spurred demand for havens and analysts weighed prospects for higher United States rates.

Shares in Turkey and South Af-rica led declines, falling from the highest levels in four-and-a-half months while Turkey’s lira and Indonesia’s rupiah led currencies lower. The extra yield investors demand to hold emerging-mar-ket bonds widened for the first time in four days. China’s stocks snapped a seven-day rally, the longest winning streak since May.

Assets in emerging Europe and Africa slid after reports of explo-sions at a Brussels airport depar-ture hall and a downtown sub-way station on Tuesday morning boosted demand for haven assets. In Asia, the rally showed signs of petering out after two Federal Reserve officials floated the pos-sibility of a rate increase as soon as April.

“If we get more of these kinds of signals from the Fed it will have an impact,but it would be a bit strange to see the Fed signal-ling a new path so soon” after last week’s meeting, said Anders Svendsen, an emerging-market analyst at Nordea Bank AB in Co-penhagen. “There will be a lot of ups and downs in this first half of the year with sentiment trying to find its feet and many uncertain-ties out there.”

Svendsen said he expects cur-rencies to strengthen this year as they are “significantly” under-valued. MSCI Emerging Markets Index declined 0.2 per cent in London, following a four-day run of gains that saw it rise 4.9 per cent. - United securities/Bloomberg News

Bank Muscat, up by.43 per cent, was the top

gainer while Al Maha Ceramics was the top

loser, down 9.50 per cent on Tuesday

Indonesia's $2.5 billion dollar sukuk issue oversubscribed by three times JAKARTA: Indonesia raised $2.5 billion from its sale of dollar Islamic bonds and got orders for 3.1 times the amount offered, ac-cording to a person familiar with the issuance.

The Southeast Asian nation sold $750 million of five-year sukuk and $1.75 billion of 10-year notes priced at 3.4 per cent and 4.55 per cent, respectively, said the person, who isn’t authorised to speak publicly and declined to be identified. Bids totaled $7.7 bil-lion. Indonesia sold $2 billion of such debt due in 2025 at its previ-ous offering last year at a coupon rate of 4.325 per cent and received orders for $6.8 billion, or 3.4 times the offer.

The Southeast Asian nation’s bonds have attracted more than $3 billion of inflows this quarter as the United States Federal Re-serve said it’s only likely to raise interest rates twice in 2016 in-stead of the four previously envis-aged, helping retain Indonesia’s

yield advantage over US debt. The rupiah is also turning into a regional top performer after a more than 10 per cent slump in 2015 that pushed it beyond 14,000 a dollar for the first time since the Asian financial crisis.

“Indonesia timed its sukuk is-suance to perfection as it comes after the dovish Fed’s statement,”

said Hasif Murad, an investment manager at Kuala Lumpur-based Aberdeen Islamic Asset Manage-ment, whose parent company oversees the equivalent of $2.9 billion.“The fact that Indonesia is the darling of Asia also helps.”

A Bloomberg index of emerging-market dollar bonds has climbed 5.5 percent this quarter, set for the

biggest three-month gain since September 2012. And with Ma-laysia said to be planning another global sukuk, the outlook for Islam-ic note sales worldwide is already looking brighter than last year.

Total offeringsIssuance to date is $10.2 billion, exceeding last quarter’s $9.9 bil-lion, based on compiled data. Total offerings for all of 2015 dropped 29 per cent to $35.4 billion in the poorest showing since 2010.

The yield on Indonesia’s 2025 Islamic bonds issued last year rose one basis point to 4.41 per cent as of in Jakarta, less than the 4.95 per cent they were pay-ing at the end of last year, data shows. There’s no pricing avail-able yet for either of the two new notes. The rupiah has appreciated 4.7 per cent versus the dollar in 2016, second only to a 6.6 per cent gain in Malaysia’s ringgit among Southeast Asia’s most-traded currencies. – Bloomberg News

S H A R I A - C O M P L I A N T

Sensex climbs for third

day; rupee depreciates

MUMBAI: India's benchmark Sensex on Tuesday closed in the positive territory for the third straight day, but the day’s gain was limited to just 45 points after dead-ly terror attacks in Brussels sent markets globally into a tailspin.

The closing was a fresh 11-week high of 25,330. The modest rise came on the back of investors sticking with their buying activ-ity amid sustained foreign inflows. In a trade marked by choppiness, the 30-share barometer opened higher, but quickly slipped into the red zone after profit-booking in re-cent gainers kicked in. A decisively weak trend overseas after the ex-plosions at the Brussels airport and a local metro station dragged the broader index further down.

However, buying towards the fag end wiped off the losses as the gauge settled at 25,330.49 with a moderate gain of 45.12 points, or 0.18 per cent. It had gained 608 points in the previous two sessions on increasing prospects of RBI lowering interest rates and contin-

ued foreign capital inflows.The NSE Nifty-50 slid further as

profit-booking weighed, but man-aged to close above the 7,700 level at 7,714.90, a gain of 10.65 points, or 0.14 per cent.

Rupee extends losses The rupee on Tuesday fell by an-other 18 paise to close at 66.71 per dollar on persistent demand for the American currency from banks and importers on the back of higher greenback overseas despite sustained foreign capital inflows in domestic equities.

The rupee resumed lower at 66.58 per dollar as against the Monday’s closing level of 66.53 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market and dropped further to 66.84 on sustained dollar demand from from banks and importers before ending at 66.71, showing a loss of 18 paise or 0.27 per cent.

The rupee has dropped by 21 paise or 0.32 per cent in the last two sessions. It hovered in a range of 66.52 and 66.84. - PTI

I N D I A N M A R K E T S


ROUND-UPLove us on Facebook


Nissan Pathfinder 3.5Lcomes with great offer

MUSCAT: Nissan has a heritage of showcasing some of the most amazing benefits for its customers by introducing unique offers on its prestigious lineup of vehicles.

In an effort to make Nissan ve-hicles affordable and accessible to all, Suhail Bahwan Automobiles has taken up this unique initiative. Customers can avail attractive benefits on Nissan Pathfinder 3.5L till April 20, says a press release.

BenefitsAuto enthusiasts can now avail exciting benefits on the Nissan

Pathfinder 3.5L that include guar-anteed cash back of OMR750, free registration, six years’ unlimited mileage extended warranty, easy financing options, a loan term up to eight years with Bank Muscat attractive interest rates and pe-riodic maintenance service only up to 2 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.

Customers can also get unlim-ited access to Nissan’s prestigious vehicle lineup at the comfort of their homes or offices. Simply visit Nissan Oman’s Facebook page i.e http://www.facebook.com/Sban-issanoman or send an SMS to get updated information on any of the

vehicles from the house of Nissan.

Cross-over for the family The Nissan Pathfinder has trans-formed into a much more family-friendly vehicle, with a roomy, modern interior, and handling characteristics and impressive power. The Pathfinder is no longer the choice for those who need to venture off-road only.

With the introduction of the all-new fourth generation, not only does Pathfinder provide ca-pability with spacious seating for seven, and an intuitive 4 Wheel Drive System, but it also resets the standard for the segment with an unprecedented level of premium style, comfort, fuel economy and offer a comfortable experience for families.

Suhail Bahwan Automobiles is largely committed to support-ing Nissan’s growth in the Sul-tanate through major emphasis on customer satisfaction and by providing world-class after-sales services in Oman.

Nissan Pathfinder

3.5L comes with

assured cash back

worth OMR750

Ashgal to take part in Big Show exhibitionMUSCAT: Ashgal, a 100 per cent Omani company based in Muscat and a one stop solution for home maintenance will be participat-ing in the Big Show expo taking place from March 28-31 at the Oman International Exhibition Centre, says a press release.

Ashgal specialises in air-con-ditioning, electrical, plumbing, tank cleaning, repair and instal-lation needs.

Raid Ghassan, CEO of Ashgal, said: “This is the first time we are participating in Big Show and this will give us more exposure and will allow us to meet mass audiences under one roof. Big Show is the biggest building and construction event happening in the region and this will give us the liberty to promote our services to various companies present in the expo as well as individuals who are looking for a professional maintenance services for their properties as well as offices. We have a growing customer base that counts on us to be available whenever they need us.”

Talking in depth about Ashgal,

Raid further commented, “Those who need AC repair and installa-tion, any electrical requirements, plumbing needs, buildings which need tank cleaning services, need not look any further than Ashgal. We handle our customers’ needs in a professional and quick man-ner. Those who choose their ser-vices will enjoy free estimates, quick responses at affordable rates. Ashgal is reliable, trustwor-thy, and fully insured. We have a team of professionals who will ensure that every job is complet-ed with the highest quality work-manship possible. They try their best to keep the waiting time as short as possible so they can provide their customers with the fastest service in the business.”

He added: “We also undertake AMC for commercial and residen-tial buildings thereby making the property owners' life easier and hassle free. We understand that our customers need reliable ser-vice so they can rely on us when something needs to be fixed.”

Clients can find Ashgal in Stand No. 192.

H O M E M A I N T E N A N C E

Rossini to offer Spring-themed special 5-course set menu

MUSCAT: Rossini, the quintes-sential Italian fine dining restau-rant located at The Cave, is offer-ing a Spring theme for all of its patrons. The theme is spread over two days, designed with a special 5-course set menu.

Tuesdays will be ‘Bella Rossini’ which in Italian means beautiful. Along with live music, a spread of 5-course set dinner will be served with three selected beverages, says

a press release.The other day of the Spring

theme will be Saturdays, where a 5-course set lunch will be served along with unlimited beverages from 12pm to 4:30pm.

There will be live music on Thursdays as well at Rossini.

Lawrence D’sa, general manager of Four Seasons Tourism, com-mented: “Bella Rossini and Sat-urday Luncheon have been intro-

duced as part of the Spring theme to let our valued customers expe-rience a tantalising taste of true Italian flavours of our varied and vast menu offerings.”

Come and experience a gastro-nomical journey along with your family and friends. Rossini comes under the flagship of Four Seasons Tourism which also has O Sole Mio (Radisson Blu), Annab (Shatti Al Qurum) Trattoria and Mamasan

I T A L I A N F I N E D I N I N G

BankDhofar takes part in Security of Vital Installations symposium

MUSCAT: Reaffirming its commitment to boost security through implementation of the latest technology and security systems, BankDhofar partici-pated in the fourth symposium on Security of Vital Installations that was organised by Royal Oman Po-lice recently at Shangri La’s Barr Al Jissah Spa and Resort.

The three-day symposium was inaugurated under the auspices of Major General Hamad bin Su-laiman Al Hatmi, assistant inspec-tor general of Police and Customs for Operations, and was attended by security management profes-sionals, specialists in the vital in-stallations security, information security experts, as well as securi-ty solutions and service providers, says a press release.

An exhibition of state-of-the-art technology and security sys-tems also took place during the

symposium and it showcased identification and control sys-tems, safety and security plat-forms, new devices and electronic management systems.

Talib Mohammed Al Hajri, head of Logistics, Premises & Procurement at BankDhofar stressed the importance of joint efforts between different organi-sations against security threats.

“This symposium aimed to de-liver an informational and per-spective emphasis on security and to increase awareness on se-curity challenges and solutions. We at BankDhofar understand the importance of joining hands with public and private sector or-ganisations in order to enhance security levels, reduce risks and increase safety measures.

"The symposium increased awareness of security of public utilities, threat analysis and cri-

ses management,” he said.BankDhofar has been con-

tinuously investing in systems and procedures to adhere to best security standards. It recently achieved the revised ISO/IEC 27001:2013 Information Security Re-Certification for its informa-tion technology division and in-formation security department.

The certification assures BankDhofar customers that the confidentiality, integrity and availability of their information are secure in accordance with an internationally recognised standard available from the In-ternational Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).

Additionally, the bank has suc-cessfully implemented best-in-class information security man-agement system, which leads to an increased protection of its cus-tomer information.

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

ISC Kerala Wing to host annual memorial lecture on March 25MUSCAT: Indian Social Club (ISC) Kerala Wing is set to organ-ise the annual EMS-AKG memo-rial lecture on the topics ‘Forgot-ten slogan of Jai Kisan’ (Triumph of Farmers), and ‘Implications for India” on Friday, March 25, 6pm at Indian Social Club hall at Darsait.

The seminar will be a tribute to the legendary Kerala leaders who had set milestones in the social reforms and social and economic development of Kerala, says a press release.

E. M. Sankaran Namboothiri-pad (EMS) was the first chief minister of Kerala who was known as one of the brains be-hind the well acclaimed ‘Kerala Model’ development. A. K. Go-palan (fondly known as AKG) was the first opposition leader of India. His affection towards suf-fering people, inside and outside the Indian parliament earned him the title the ‘Crusader of the Downtrodden’.

The Kerala Wing has been organising events to com-memorate the great leaders for the past so many years through

various seminars in the area of social development, neo-liber-alism and education.

Key note address of the pro-gramme will be delivered by Dr Vijoo Krishnan who is presently the Joint Secretary of All India Kisan Sabha-AIKS (All India Peasants’ Union).

The organisers said the rel-evance of the topic at the occa-sion of commemoration has the special connotation as the life hardship of farmers that has multiplied as a result of Indian government policies and neo-liberal nepotism.

Key issuesKey issues addressed during the session will be the loosing edge of agrarian growth, crop pricing, environment and sustainable growth of farming sector of In-dia. Organisers invited all pub-lic to actively participate in the session and interaction with the speaker thereafter. The lecture will be delivered in English with Malayalam transla-tion, organisers added.

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

MCC to host star-studded gala premiere todayMUSCAT: Today the evening at Muscat City Centre (MCC) opens with Le Puits, followed by Omani film Bent Almashta and will con-clude with a star studded evening with celebrities invited to watch Egyptian film Cairo Time.

Stars expected to attend include: Pussi; Mirvat Ameen; Samir Sabri; Karim Abdul Aziz; Madeleine Tabr; Asmahan Tawfiq; Haifaa

Hussein; Jamaan Al Rouwai; Ja-mal Ghailan; Tariq Abdul Aziz; and Solaf Fawakherji. An award ceremony will take place after the movie Cairo Time to celebrate the lead actors, and will feature a spe-cial recognition to the late Nour Sharif, says a press release.

Husam Al Mandhari, senior mall manager at City Centre Mus-cat, said: “We are delighted to be

part of Muscat International Film Festival which brings a diverse mix of cultures together through the medium of film.

“Majid Al Futtaim plays a signif-icant role in supporting the growth and development of the Sultanate and Muscat International Film Festival gives us yet another plat-form to support the growth of crea-tive industries."

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

B6 W E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

ROUND-UPFormer Korean minister addresses NBO Chairman’s Speaker Series

MUSCAT: National Bank of Oman (NBO) hosted Dr Joong-Kyung Choi, former minister of Knowl-edge Economy, Korea, as a speaker at the sixth edition of the NBO Chairman’s Speaker Series held at Grand Hyatt, Muscat, recently, under the auspices of Eng. Mohsin

bin Mohammed bin Ali Al Shaikh, chairman of Muscat Municipality.

Choi is well known for his quick policy actions, and has been in-strumental in the speedy recovery of Korea during the Asian financial crisis, in addition to strengthening Korean economic ties with other leading economies.

Choi delivered a keynote ad-dress at the sixth edition of the NBO Chairman’s Speaker Series, which was launched in 2014 as a platform for inspirational leaders from diverse disciplines to share their experiences, knowledge and innovative ideas with a cross-sec-tion of Omani society, particularly students, youth in the early stages of their careers and aspiring entre-preneurs, says a press release.

At the event, Choi talked about his career, and contributions in supporting Korea and other de-veloping countries with neces-sary economic policies that are

sustainable in the longer term. Be-fore an audience of policy makers, dignitaries, entrepreneurs, stu-dents, NBO Corporate and Sadara customers and employees, he also shared perspectives on Oman’s

diversification-led economic ap-proach and the future growth prospects for the Sultanate.

Commenting on the event, Mo-hammed Mahfoodh Al Ardhi, chairman of NBO, said: “We were

pleased to host Dr Joong-Kyung Choi at the sixth edition of the Na-tional Bank of Oman Chairman’s Speaker Series, and the first event of the year. By inviting esteemed speakers such as Dr Joong-Kyung

Choi, the event has emerged as an important platform for busi-ness leaders and policy makers to engage in dialogues and share in-sights about emerging economic issues. Through these events, we also hope to inspire a new genera-tion of entrepreneurs by encour-aging them to play an instrumental role in the social and economic de-velopment of Sultanate.”

Each quarter, a leading influenc-er is invited to share their expertise, knowledge and best practice at an exclusive evening event in Oman. It has previously welcomed guests including Sir Terrence Clarke, for-mer British ambassador to the Sul-tanate of Oman; Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, group chief executive officer and managing director of Mubadala; Dr Anousheh Ansari, space pioneer; Mohamed Alabbar, founder and chairman of Emaar Properties; and Dr Paul Achleitner, chairman of Deutsche Bank.

Dr Joong-Kyung Choi,

former minister of

Knowledge Economy,

Korea is well known

for his quick policy

actions, and has been

instrumental in the

speedy recovery

of Korea during

the Asian financial

crisis, in addition

to strengthening

Korean economic ties

with other leading

economies

BPT showcases security products at ROP expoMUSCAT: Bahwan Projects & Telecoms (BPT), one of the flag-ship companies of Suhail Bahwan Group, showcased security related products at the recently concluded fourth symposium on the Security of Vital Installations in Muscat, inaugurated under the auspices of Maj. General Hamad bin Sulaiman Al Hatmi, assistant inspector-gen-eral of Police and Customs for Op-erations, Royal Oman Police.

An exhibition was held as part of the three-day event in which major suppliers of security re-lated products, services and solu-tions took part. As the exclusive representative in the Sultanate of Oman, BPT showcased the latest, innovative GPS/navigation tech-nology products from Garmin UK, also survey-solutions products from Leica Geosystems, Switzer-land, says a press release.

BPT also showcased latest in-novative solutions for integrated surveillance system from Galaxy Control System and ONSSI, USA. System Galaxy is an enterprise-class access control and security management solution which of-fers a complete selection of in-

demand features that integrate with any standard or emerging technology. On-Net Surveillance System’s (ONSSI) award-winning IP-based surveillance software, OCULARIS, addresses complex multi-server installations as well as single installations.

A large number of senior security services officers, safety and secu-rity experts, researchers and acad-emicians visited the BPT stall.

Yasser Mohammad Kheir, gen-eral manager, Bahwan Projects & Telecoms, received the guests and explained the salient features of various products from Leica and Garmin and their uses in security-related applications.

The products from Garmin on display included Garmin GPS with Camera Garmin Nuvicam, Garmin Nuvi 65, Garmin GPS MAP64S, Garmin Montana 680 and fitness

segment included Garmin Vivoac-tive Fitness Smart Watch, Garmin Fenix 3 Fitness Watches.

The instruments on display from Leica Geosystems included Leica Nova MS60 Multi Station, Leica CS35 Captivate, Leica scan Station P40, Leica Viva GNSS Receivers, Leica Zeno 20 GIS Receivers, Leica Flexline TS06plus Total Station. Leica Geosystems creates com-plete solutions for professionals.

S E C U R I T Y O F V I T A L I N S T A L L A T I O N S

Trattoria, Mamasan

introduce unlimited

buffet for customers

MUSCAT: Trattoria and Ma-masan, located at Al Assalah Towers, Ghubra, have grown to become one of the favourite res-taurants in Oman.

Trattoria, the Italian restaurant and cafe while Mamasan, the Chi-nese restaurant are situated side to side. Both the restaurants have introduced unlimited buffet for all its patrons, says a press release.

The Chinese buffet spread is prepared by their Chinese Chef Jiajun He who hails from Beijing, China. It is served on Fridays. While the Italian buffet spread is

served on Saturdays, every week.Both the buffet menus have

been crafted with passion. It includes a welcome drink and nine dishes are spread for the buffet with the timings from 11am to 4pm.

“We would like to invite all our valued customers to experience the authentic taste of Chinese cuisine from the buffet on Fri-days at Mamasan while the true Italian flavours from the buffet on Saturdays at Trattoria,” said by Lawrence D’sa, general man-ager, Four Seasons Tourism.

A U T H E N T I C T A S T E

KR Infra delivers jetting, vacuum

equipment trucks to Haya Water

MUSCAT: KR Engineering Prod-ucts and Services Division under KR Infra handed over six vacuum and jetting trucks to Haya Water. The project joins several others that KR Infra has implemented as part of a long and rewarding part-nership with Haya Water, says a press release.

“KR has been a key collaborator in delivering relevant and cutting-edge technology across Oman’s industrial sectors. We have been supporting the national directive for timely, reliable and safe infra-structural technology by teaming up with world-renowned experts such as Rivard,” said Hritik Kh-imji, director, KR.

Elaborating further on the part-nership, N. S. Vijaya Kumar, CEO, KR Infra, said: “As a key supplier of mainstream and current tech-nological solutions KR Infra is honoured to have been given the opportunity to work with Haya Water. The jetting and vacuum trucks that were delivered are used to clean and maintain the sewer network line in the Muscat region. These trucks were sourced from Rivard of France that had deputed its senior technical per-sonnel to train the operators and

maintenance team at Haya Water and the service staff of KR Engi-neering Products and Services.”

Hussain Hassan Ali Abdul Hus-sain, CEO of Haya Water, awarded certificates to the Haya Water team that had undergone successful

training in the operation and main-tenance of these high pressure jet-ting and vacuum equipment.

The KR EPSD team received commendation and recognition for their professional execution of the complete project.

P A R T N E R S H I P

alizz supports IFN Oman seminar

MUSCAT: alizz Islamic bank announced its recent participa-tion in Oman Islamic Banking and Finance News 2016 seminar (IFN Oman seminar) as part of its efforts in enhancing and pro-moting its integral role in the Sultanate’s Islamic banking and finance sector.

Held at the Grand Hyatt Muscat Hotel, the groundbreaking event gathered the leading players with an active interest in the local and international Islamic financial markets, says a press release.

IFN Oman seminar focused on the opportunities available today in the Omani market for both capital raising and investment in the Sharia compliant space. The event witnessed a series of key-note addresses, presenta-tions, panel discussions and case-studies that highlighted the ben-efits and opportunities currently available in Oman.

Ehab Hashish, deputy general manager and head of Wholesale Banking at alizz Islamic bank, discussed concepts of Islamic fi-nance in Oman, with an overview of how its landscape will look like in the near future. His conversa-tion included the requirements, from both market players and regulators, to achieve sustainable growth in Oman’s Islamic bank-

ing and capital market sectors. He commented: “This is a very important seminar and tangible results will soon be seen.”

On the other hand, Moosa Al Jadidi, deputy general manager and head of retail banking at alizz Islamic bank, joined some of the most prominent experts, regula-tors and key players in the Islamic banking sector at the IFN Oman Dialogue. The closed-door round-table styled session witnessed the discussion of the future and challenges facing the Sharia compliant financing and invest-ment market today. Moreover, the attendees touched upon the ample investment opportunities in Oman and the development

potential, to eventually meet the targeted future progress.

Hamood Sangour, executive president of the Central Bank of Oman provided the keynote ad-dress at the IFN Oman 2016 sem-inar, in the attendance of Abdul-lah Al Salmi, executive president of the Capital Market Authority of Oman, along with other senior government officials, industry practitioners and international key players.

alizz Islamic bank provides a wide range of innovative Sharia compliant financing solutions that meet customer’s requirements and needs, all of which are approved by the Sharia Supervisory Board.

I S L A M I C B A N K I N G A N D F I N A N C E


ROUND-UPLove us on Facebook


RECRUIT

QUOTES

A man would do

nothing if he waited

until he could do it so

well that no one could

find fault.

— John Henry Newman

Use what talent you

possess: the woods

would be very silent if

no birds sang except

those that sang best.

— Author unknown

The imperfections of

a man, his frailties,

his faults, are just

as important as his

virtues. You can’t

separate them. They’re

wedded.

— Henry Miller

I don’t care how much

power, brilliance or

energy you have, if you

don’t harness it and

focus it on a specific

target, and hold it there

you’re never going

to accomplish as

much as your ability

warrants.

— Zig Ziglar

The vision must

be followed by the

venture. It is not

enough to stare up the

steps — we must step

up the stairs.

— Vance Havner

Don’t litter a beautiful

country like OMAN.

Ensure proper disposal of garbage.

Toyota Avalon comes with summer surprises

MUSCAT: The Toyota Avalon is an elegant and classy sedan that is positioned to be ‘at the inter-section of style and technology’. Meticulously reimagined, the Av-alon’s exterior exudes a sophis-ticated confidence others only aspire to. Its sculpted lines and curves create a stunning profile. While the redesigned bumper and stylish HID headlamps make it more striking than ever.

Now, the buzz is around the ‘Summer Surprises’ benefits that accompany every Avalon, says a press release.

“Those who purchase a Toyota Avalon till April 30 will be able to get an OMR1,100 cash gift,” says the spokesperson. “This is appli-cable on 2015 YM models of 2015 production and 2016 YM models - for all purchases except those made by government organisations and ministries. Please visit nearest Toy-ota showroom for exact details,” the company spokesperson said.

The offer makes the Avalon even more tempting to own. Indeed, there is a lot to love in the refined masterpiece by Toyota; about whom it is quoted that, “The Av-alon is one of Toyota’s best offer-

ings, with truly attractive styling, a high-quality interior, plenty of room and an immensely enjoyable driving experience.”

Avalon’s exterior lighting com-plements the design lines. The industry-first Quadrabeam head-light cluster utilises a sleek and compact double-eye PES head-light design with two square glass condenser lenses that have been adapted for the low beams and offer outstanding lighting perfor-mance. A stronger, more expres-sive front-fascia design with larger grille opening creates an aggres-sive appearance.

The Avalon’s interior elaborates on the exterior’s elegant, refined theme to create a premium interi-or experience that combines high technology and craftsmanship with an artistic level of sculpted surfaces. The driver is engaged by an Optitron-type combination me-ter, which produces a sharp, high quality display and 3.5-inch Thin-film Transistor colour multi-infor-mation display. Furthermore, the Avalon’s interior surfaces are fin-ished in premium materials such as soft-touch materials for the dash panel, unique smoke chrome trim surrounding the centre panel, and high-quality glossy panel trim around the shifter. All of this atten-tion to detail to touch surfaces and subtle enhancements to texture and visual appeal are aimed at el-evating the overall interior experi-ence for driver and passengers.

In Oman, Toyota’s outstanding product quality is supported by the nationwide parts and service net-work of Saud Bahwan Automotive. No wonder then that today, Toyota is one of the most trusted and well-known brands.

Those who purchase

a Toyota Avalon till

April 30 will be able

to get an OMR1,100

cash gift

Al Hassan takes part in SQU career fairMUSCAT: As part of its commit-ment to provide job opportunities for the future workforce of Oman, Al Hassan Group participated in the career fair held at Sultan Qa-boos University (SQU) recently.

The career fair, which was spread over three days, provided students an opportunity to in-teract directly with the organi-sation’s representatives, says a press release.

The event is organised every year to give access to a large number of candidates in a one-stop environment. The occasion provided an opportunity for po-tential job seekers to meet with the officials and understand job requirements at Al Hassan which has become one of the most pre-

ferred employers in the region. Commenting on Al Hassan’s

participation in the career fair, Shahzad Sadan, GM-Organisa-tional Development, Al Hassan Group said: “SQU career fair, of course, is a good platform to reach, connect and engage with tomorrow’s workforce. As in the past, we are able to raise aware-ness of our organisation in the community and among job seek-ers of the country. Al Hassan Group is committed to provide job opportunities for the Omani youth, in line with the national objectives. We have received ex-cellent response at the career fair as number of fresh Omani gradu-ates showed keen interest to be part of our team.”

J O B O P P O R T U N I T I E S

B8

ROUND-UPW E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

Love us on Facebook


Samsonite has new

business head for

Middle East, Africa

MUSCAT: Samsonite Interna-tional S.A., the world’s largest manufacturer and leading luggage brand for more than 100 years, has announced the appointment of Shaheen Jamil as the business head covering the Middle East, Africa, Commonwealth of Inde-pendent States (CIS) and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) countries, with immediate effect.

In his new role, Shaheen will be responsible for Samsonite’s day-to-day operations and man-aging the company’s business in the countries across various channels, spearheading the re-tail, merchandising, planning, sales and marketing and distri-bution functions.

Shaheen Jamil, business head at Middle East, Africa, CIS and Saarc countries, said: “It is a mat-ter of immense pleasure and ex-citement for me to take on this expanded role at Samsonite, as the company seeks growth op-portunities across the globe, amidst an incredibly dynamic time for the sector. Through this enhanced responsibility, I am confident of strengthening Sam-sonite’s market leadership and

reinforce its aggressive growth plans across geographies through the diverse range of brands that we currently have under the Samsonite umbrella.”

Shaheen takes on this new role with proven credentials of 15 years in Strategy, Distributor Management, Retail, Marketing and Sales of various multina-tional brands across countries. An alumnus of the Aligarh Mus-lim University, he holds a Bach-elor’s Degree in Economics from St.Xaviers College and has done his Post Graduation from the Na-tional Institute of Fashion Tech-nology-New Delhi.

L U G G A G E B R A N D

Meethaq workshop increases awareness on Islamic finance

MUSCAT: Meethaq, the pioneer of Islamic banking in Oman from Bank Muscat, as part of its com-mitment to raise awareness on Islamic banking and finance, or-ganised a workshop by Ahmed bin Said Al Kashoob, CEO of Global Trust Investments, and partner of Economic Studies and Research Center and Human Resources and Skills Development Centre.

The workshop held at Bank Muscat head office was attended by dignitaries and a large turnout of public and private sector rep-

resentatives, youth and students, says a press release.

Ahmed Al Kashoob highlighted the role of Islamic finance in the economic development of Oman. “We see a growing interest among retail and corporate clients to take advantage of the new opportuni-ties offered by Islamic finance,” he added.

Sulaiman Al Harthy, deputy chief executive officer – Islamic Banking, said: “Meethaq is proud to facilitate yet another opportuni-ty to raise awareness on important

aspects of Islamic banking and finance. Meethaq has been instru-mental in hosting a series of high profile conferences and awareness programmes on Islamic bank-ing, to familiarise people with the core aspects of Islamic finance. As the pioneer of Islamic banking in Oman, Meethaq is committed to offering unique learning oppor-tunities which reaffirm the bank’s focus on Islamic banking develop-ment in Oman.”

Meethaq is the leading Islamic financial services provider in the

Sultanate with many achieve-ments contributing to the growth and development of the Sultan-ate’s economy. Meethaq extends support to all key economic sec-tors in the Sultanate and is focused on developing as a benchmark Islamic financial institution in Oman and the region. Within just three years of operations, Meethaq has attained the leading position in the Islamic banking industry in Oman in terms of financing receiv-ables, branch network, products and services, IT infrastructure and

human resources development. Meethaq not only provides bench-mark Islamic financial solutions to support the country’s develop-ment but also plays a key role in raising awareness and educating people on important aspects of Is-lamic banking and finance.

Meethaq offers a full suite of Is-lamic banking products and servic-es, including savings and current account, home and auto finance, credit card, mobile and internet banking. The bank has invested in staff, systems and controls to en-sure the service is delivered in a fully Sharia compliant manner.

As the pioneer of Islamic bank-ing in Oman, Meethaq has adopted the best practices in Islamic bank-ing and finance worldwide to com-bine a robust model which pro-tects customers and complements the Islamic banking industry. Eve-ry Meethaq product goes through the process of Sharia compliance certification by the Sharia Super-visory Board and is created in line with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Oman.

The workshop on Islamic finance held at

Bank Muscat head office was attended by

dignitaries and a large turnout of public and

private sector representatives, youth

and students

Convene Meeting Package at OCEC

MUSCAT: The Oman Conven-tion & Exhibition Centre (OCEC) is offering organisers of corpo-rate, government and private events and meetings, the chance to impress with the launch of its competitively priced Convene Meeting Package.

This bespoke events solu-tion has been tailored to meet the most sophisticated needs of discerning function planners, catering for gatherings of 25 to 150 people in the iconic venue’s brand new state-of-the-art hos-pitality suites, with additional options for larger conferences of 200 to 500, says a press release.

“The requirements of meet-ing organisers, in both the public and private sectors, are many and varied. With this in mind, the OCEC has prioritised choice and flexibility designing the Convene Meeting Package, ensuring that client’s demands will be fully met in an inspiring business environment and via a hassle-free booking process. Our business development team will be conducting a series of person-al presentations with potential clients,” explained Trevor Mc-Cartney, GM - OCEC.”

C O M P E T I T I V E L Y P R I C E D

Oman LNG to supply critical instruments to Ibra HospitalMUSCAT: Oman LNG signed an agreement to supply critical equip-ment and instruments for the en-doscopy unit in Ibra Hospital.

The agreement, in collabora-tion with the Ministry of Health, further enhances the provisions at the hospital to meet all the needs of patients and is very much aligned with Oman LNG’s robust Corpo-rate Social Responsibility (CSR) to promote health services across the country, says a press release.

The agreement was signed by Darwish bin Saif Al Maharbi, un-dersecretary at the Ministry of

Health for Administrative and Fi-nancial Affairs, and Khalid Al Mas-san, chief executive officer of Oman LNG Development Foundation.

Building on inaugurated projects for the Ibra Hospital last year, this agreement will facilitate the up-grading o fthe equipment for the Knee Arthroscopy Unit at the Ibra Hospital. The two previously inau-gurated projects helped finance the construction of the GI tract Endos-copy Unit and provided provisions for the Knee Arthroscopy Unit.

Oman LNG’s ambitious social investment programmes have be-

come a familiar name associated with a myriad of sustainable ini-tiatives, all of which are intended to enhance services provided for citizens across the Sultanate.

“We are committed to the com-munity and all the projects we sup-port. Our aim is to sustain, through these projects and others like these, strategic partnerships with the Ministry of Health to comple-ment the country’s healthcare services infrastructure with cut-ting-edge equipment and supple-menting it with aid for enhanced training,” said Khalid Al Massan.

A G R E E M E N T

Nabil Biscuits launches Scratch & Win promotionMUSCAT: National Biscuit In-dustries Ltd, the makers of the brand ‘Nabil’ range of biscuits and snacks, launched its grand ‘Scratch & Win’ promotion on its selected biscuits range from March 15 to May 15.

In addition to the ‘Scratch & Win’ promotion a mega raf-fle draw has also been launched where the consumers of Oman will get an opportunity to win and own a brand new Nissan Altima car, says a press release.

The promotion is on multipacks of Nabil Glucose, Nabil Cookies,

Nabil Crackers & Sweet n Salt Biscuits, Nabil Cream biscuits and the newly launched Nabil Sugar-free Digestive Biscuits. Consum-ers will find a scratch card in the multipacks of the scheme SKUs with a unique Nabil Code and have to quickly register on www.Nabil-Biscuits.com, which will qualify them for the final raffle draw.

Only successful and valid en-tries registered till May 15 will qualify for the raffle draw. Con-sumers can register more than once with every unique code, and increase their chances of winning

the mega raffle of Nissan Altima.To further delight its pa-

trons, up to 10 lucky winners can scratch the coupon and win an instant Apple iPhone 6. Winners can claim their gifts till May 31.

Unnit Mankodi, head of Sales and Marketing at National Bis-cuits said, “Nabil is delighted to give back the love and patronage by giving not just the iPhone 6, but a bumper prize as big as a Nissan Altima car. We urge the consum-ers to rush to their nearest outlet and buy the multipacks of the listed products.”

R A F F L E D R A W

‘OAB Rewards’ receives overwhelming response

MUSCAT: Following its intro-duction on Oman’s 45th National Day, Oman Arab Bank’s (OAB) in-novative credit card online loyalty programme ‘OAB Rewards’ has re-ceived an overwhelming response from customers.

OAB Rewards entitles all OAB credit card holders who are sub-scribed online to earn points as they spend on their credit cards. Earned points can be redeemed from a wide range of options through the bank’s dedicated on-line portal (www.oabrewards.com), says a press release.

OAB Rewards’ designated plat-form is designed to serve as an online travel reservations engine that allows customers to select and book directly with over 900 air-lines, 200,000 hotels and car rent-als in over 150 countries across the

globe by simply redeeming their points. Customers can also shop online directly through the portal with partnering retailers or in fact, exchange their points for cash-back to the card account.

Fahd Amjad, general manager - Retail Banking at Oman Arab Bank said, “Our creatively conceptual-ised customer loyalty programme has been extremely well received in such a short time.

“We have seen over 15 per cent of our credit card customers sub-scribe to the loyalty programme

within three months of launch. “Our monthly credit card sales

have also doubled as many of our customers find unmatched ben-efits with OAB Rewards. OAB Rewards has been designed to enhance the banking experience, strengthen our comprehensive credit card offering and most im-portantly, to say thank you to our customers for being part of the OAB family.”

Oman Arab Bank credit cards provide an array of benefits to customers including interest free

payment period, flexible monthly minimum payment option, free travel insurance and purchase protection, zero lost card liability and online shopping security via Verified by Visa to name but a few. The card is also equipped with an advanced chip feature to protect customers’ confidential informa-tion. While travelling, OAB credit card holders can enjoy a relax-ing lounge experience at over 500 international airports including Muscat and Salalah.

Additionally, card holders enjoy exclusive ‘buy one get one free’ and hotel stay offers locally and in the United Arab Emirates.

Customers can choose from a wide variety of card categories including Visa Infinite, Platinum, and Gold, Internet shopping as well as Classic credit cards.

L O Y A L T Y P R O G R A M M E

McDonald’s supports special training day for children

MUSCAT: McDonald’s Oman (Al Daud Restaurants) painted smiles on children’s faces as they held their ‘special training day’ for three consecutive weekends.

Over 100 children comprising kids with special needs, orphans and kids from private schools have recently undergone training ses-sions on soft skills together with an aim of further developing their communication and interpersonal

skills, says a press release. The special training for chil-

dren was organised by the Omani Women’s Association in collabo-ration with McDonald’s Oman.

“The special training day is aimed to bring the children to-gether so they can learn to interact with one another through various fun-filled activities. On behalf of the Omani Women’s Association (OWA), we are grateful to McDon-

ald’s for its unrelenting support to our activities,” said Wafa Ali Al Amriya, chairman of OWA.

McDonald’s Oman prides itself on being a local member of the community and has been com-mitted to being a responsible corporate citizen by providing support to various community activities aimed at enhancing the development of less fortunate members of society.

F U N - F I L L E D A C T I V I T I E S

Don’t litter a beautiful

country like OMAN.


WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

SPOR SY O U R G A M E

SECTIONC W E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

AL HAIL’S CRICKET FACILITIESSET FOR OFFICIAL OPENING>C3

INSIDE LIFESTYLE

AN ANCIENT ESCAPE

>C5

India look to close in on semis berthBENGALURU: Galvanised by the triumph over arch-rivals Pakistan, a confident India will look for another colossal victory and inch closer to the semifinals when they square off against an embattled Bangladesh in the ICC World Twenty20 here on Wednesday.

Under tremendous pressure after the opening loss to New Zealand, inaugural champi-ons India roared back by beat-ing Pakistan in a high-voltage clash at the Eden Gardens to put their campaign back on track in the tournament. A victory in Wednesday’s Super 10 Group 2 match would take the hosts a step closer to the coveted semifinal berth and the team would look to ensure that it wins big to improve its Net Run Rate, which took a hit owing to the New Zealand loss.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, are on the verge of being knocked out of the event and a win on Wednesday would go a long way in giving them a mathematical chance of making the last-four stage. However, a close look at the current form of the two teams would make India outright favourites for the match even though Bangladesh have built a reputation of upstaging big teams in big events.

India’s formidable batting line-up, led by the peerless Virat Kohli, gives them a clear edge and should be more than a handful for the Bangladeshi bowlers, who would find it an enormous task to either contain or dismiss the hosts. The only batting worry for India is the form of opener Shikhar Dha-wan, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma, all three of whom have looked distinctly uncomfortable in the two outings so far.

However, playing in home con-ditions, the trio is expected to strike form sooner than later and make up for its failures against the Kiwis and Pakistan.

But Kohli will be the cynosure of all eyes once again after belting a classy unbeaten 55 against Pa-kistan. The swashbuckling right-hander is currently a cut above the rest as far as ease of scoring is con-cerned. And captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be hoping that Kohli once again anchors the In-dian innings albeit with good sup-port from the rest of the line-up.

The think-tank might consider giving a chance to Ajinkya Ra-hane, who has been warming the

bench in the tournament, espe-cially due to the continued failure of Sharma, Dhawan and Raina.

Yuvraj Singh, who made a cru-cial 24 and added 61 runs with Kohli in the match against Pa-kistan, would love to continue the good work in Wednesday’s match. On the bowling front, the attack looks settled but it would be interesting to see if Dhoni de-cides on bringing in senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh given that the pitches so far have been supportive of slower bowlers.

In contrast, Bangladesh, who have lost both their matches, are looking for answers as to what has gone wrong for them after a fine build-up. The team, which created a flutter by reaching the Asia Cup finals, has been in sham-bles ever since making the main draw of the World Twenty20.

Their prospects were further dented by the suspension of pac-er Taskin Ahmed and left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny, both of whom were found guilty of bowl-ing with illegal actions.

Given the situation, Bangla-desh Captain Mashrafe Mor-taza will bank on the all-round abilities of Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah, who put up a good show in the last match against Australia.

The think tank would contem-plate bringing back Tamim Iqbal, who is in a good nick with scores of 103 not out, 47 and 83 not out in the qualifiers and 25 against Pakistan. The side will also hope that his opening partner Soumya Sarkar strikes form to give the team a good start.

The biggest headache for Bangladesh is to get a suitable re-placement for Taskin and Sunny.

Such has been the impact of their suspension that Mortaza broke down during a press con-ference when quizzed about the duo, insisting that the suspension has been harsh.

Mortaza’s breakdown was per-haps indicative of the low morale in the Bangladeshi dressing room even though the team did put up a creditable show during the loss to Australia.

On the brighter side, pacer Mustafizur Rahman made a fine comeback from injury to bag two wickets last night. He had missed missing the qualifiers and the Super 10 opener against Paki-stan due to a side-strain injury incurred in the Asia Cup T20. - PTI

W O R L D T 2 0 P R E V I E W

India won’t take Bangladesh lightly: Nehra

BENGALURU: Ahead of their crucial Group 2 game against Bangladesh in the World Twen-ty20, veteran Indian pacer Ash-ish Nehra on Tuesday stressed that his team won’t take their opposition lightly considering the good show from Bangladesh recently against top teams.

“Bangladesh have been play-ing good cricket for the last 2-3 years. The way they have im-proved is quite amazing. We will not take Bangladesh lightly. We have to play to our potential if we have to beat them,” Nehra said at a press conference here.

“Our mood is good. The kind of cricket we are playing in the last 2-3 months, we are all happy and satisfied. Hopefully, we would like to take it forward even further; the kind of fire power we have, if put to use, we will definitely win the game.”

Being the senior most mem-ber of the team’s bowling line-up, the 36-year-old said that he loves sharing tips and his expe-rience with other seamers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.

“My job is very important; to pass my experience which I gathered in the last 16-17 years to Bumrah, Shami and Bhu-vneshwar,” he said.

The left-armer also praised Bangladesh’s young bowling sen-sation Mustafizur Rahman. - IANS

C O N F I D E N T

Black Caps in semis

MOHALI: New Zealand became the first team to book a spot in the World Twenty20 semifinals after opener Martin Guptill smashed his 10th 50 in the game’s short-est format to set up a 22-run win against Pakistan in their Super 10 stage match on Tuesday.

The right-handed Guptill hit 10 fours and three sixes in his 48-ball 80, sharing an opening stand of 62 with captain Kane Williamson, after an unchanged New Zealand won the toss on a green-tinged sur-face at Mohali to post 180 for five.

Sharjeel Khan (47) gave his team a brisk start in their chase with New Zealand either bowling too short or too full on his pads as Pakistan raced to 61 for no loss in five overs.

However, the rest of Pakistan’s batsmen found it extremely dif-ficult to find the boundaries after paceman Adam Milne dismissed the left-handed opener, who hit nine fours and a six in his 25- ball knock.

Kiwi left-arm spinner Mitch-ell Santner, who was taken for 15 runs in the first over of the innings, came back superbly to finish with figures of two for 29 in his four

overs and, along with leg-spinner Ish Sodhi, applied the brakes on Pakistan’s scoring.

Milne also kept the batsmen on a tight leash with figures of two for 26 as Pakistan could only manage 158 for five in their 20 overs.

It was New Zealand’s third straight win in Group Two after victories over hosts India and trans-tasman rivals Australia.

Earlier, Guptill also combined with Corey Anderson (21) for a third-wicket stand of 52 that set the platform for Ross Taylor (36 not out) to finish with a flourish.

Mohammed Amir gave away

16 runs in the final over with Tay-lor hitting him for six and four to ensure that Pakistan would have to score over nine runs an over in their chase.

Mohammed Sami and captain Shahid Afridi picked up two wick-ets apiece for Pakistan, who made two changes to the team that lost to arch-rivals India on Saturday.

Mohammed Hafeez failed to recover from a knee injury while paceman Wahab Riaz was hit in the head by a ball during practice and they were replaced by batsman Khalid Latif and spin-bowling all-rounder Imad Wasim. - Reuters

Martin Guptill

smashed his 10th 50

in the game’s shortest

format to set up a

22-run win against

Pakistan in their

Super 10 stage match

GOOD GOING: New Zealand players celebrate win over Pakistan in the ICC World T20 match in Mohali. – PTI

NEW ZEALANDM. Guptill b Sami 80K. Williamson c Afridi b Irfan 17C. Munro c Latif b Afridi 7C. Anderson c Malik b Afridi 21R. Taylor not out 36L. Ronchi c Malik b Sami 11G. Elliott not out 1Extras (lb-4, w-3) 7Total (5 wickets; 20 overs) 180Did not bat: M. Santner, A. Milne, M. Mc-Clenaghan, I. Sodhi

Fall of wickets: 1-62, 2-75, 3-127, 4-132, 5-164Bowling: Mohammed Amir 4-0-41-0; Mo-hammed Irfan 4-0-46-1; Mohammed Sami 4-0-23-2; Imad Wasim 4-0-26-0; Shahid Afridi 4-0-40-2PAKISTANS. Khan c Guptill b Milne 47A. Shehzad c Guptill b Santner 30K. Latif c Elliott b Santner 3U. Akmal c Guptill b Milne 24S. Afridi c Anderson b Sodhi 19

S. Malik not out 15S. Ahmed not out 11Extras (lb-5, w-4) 9Total (5 wickets; 20 overs) 158Did not bat: Imad Wasim, Mohammed Amir, Mohammed Sami, Mohammed IrfanFall of wickets: 1-65, 2-79, 3-96, 4-123, 5-140Bowling: M. Santner 4-0-29-2; C. Anderson 2-0-14-0; A. Milne 4-0-26-2; M. McClena-ghan 4-0-43-0; G. Elliott 2-0-16-0; I. Sodhi 4-0-25-1Man of the match: Martin Guptill

S C O R E B O A R D

MAN OF THE MATCH: Martin

Guptill. – AFP

C2

SPORTSW E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

Stay ahead of the curve with

WhatsNews

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY INSTALL WHATSNEWS

India and England have picked themselves up quite brilliantly after their losses

in their first game and have given themselves the chance to get through to the semifinals.

Of course with two more matches to be played it is not a given that they will qualify and they will need to play at the top of their game once again.

England play Afghanistan and though the Afghanistan team is a competitive one they may not have the ammunition to beat England.

Yes flair can sometimes overcome lack of experience at this level and the Afghans have certainly displayed great flair so far but they have fallen short when it matters. That is more due to the inexperience of playing against the big teams for when it has come to the tipping point they have lost the

grip on the game. England’s batting has been tremendous but its the bowling on Indian pitches where they have had a bit of a problem and have conceded loads of runs in both their matches so far.

Maybe going in with an extra spinner may do the trick for them and if there is one game in which they can try that it is the one against the qualifiers.

India which is usually set in its batting will want their top order to fire more than it has so far.

T20 is not only about aerial shots as Virat Kohli has so ably

demonstrated. Those shots come a lot easier after one has had a measure of the pitch. With the pitches helping the spinners it is never easy to go for the big shots as it is on pitches with true bounce like at the Wankhede Stadium.

India are loath to make a change unless there is an injury to one of its players so even if the game is against the qualifiers there shouldn’t be any surprises in the playing squad.

India are way behind in the net run rate at the moment and so they would want to improve on that but as they know from recent experience Bangladesh are not the pushovers they were earlier and are far more competitive. The priority therefore is to get into a win-ning position and then think about the run rate. - PMG

Twenty20 is not only just about aerial shotsC O M M E N T A R YEngland eyeing

to fix grey areas

NEW DELHI: Their campaign back on track with a stunning win over South Africa, a resurgent Eng-land would be looking to plug their bowling loopholes when they take on an ever-improving Afghanistan in a Super 10 Group 1 match of the ICC World Twenty20.

After being bruised and battered by Chris Gayle in the six-wicket defeat to West Indies in their tour-nament-opener, England, facing a must-win situation, rode on Joe Root’s class act to register a close two-wicket win against South Af-rica in a high-scoring encounter to keep their hopes alive. Chasing a mammoth 230-run target, Root single-handedly got England over the line with a thundering 83 off 44 balls. If not for Root’s heroics, England would have been virtually out of the tournament after their

bowling department leaked runs for a second consecutive match.

And even though they start as favourites against Afghanistan, England would be aware that their bowlers would have to put up an improved performance. The 2010 champions’ under-fire bowlers and fielders will be up against a po-tent if not marauding Afghanistan batting line-up that gave Australia a scare in their last match.

The performance of England’s opening pace duo of David Willey and Reece Topley can be termed horrendous against South Africa the other day as they sprayed the ball on both sides of the wicket to concede huge runs. The likes of Chris Jordan and Ben Stokes too were very expensive.

The spin duo of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid looked good even

though they too went for runs and the key for England would be how effectively this pair performs.

If England want to alter their pace combination they have Liam Plunkett, a late replacement for the injured Steve Finn, to call upon.England’s batting has been satisfactory so far in the tourna-ment with Root leading from the front. However, they need a collec-tive batting effort from the likes of Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Stokes, Jos Buttler and skipper Eoin Morgan to make themselves a potent force in the tournament.

With a win and a loss under their belt, England are currently lying fourth in the five-team group and a win will definitely propel Morgan’s men up in the standings. Min-nows Afghanistan, on the other hand, have lost both their matches against Sri Lanka (by six wickets) and South Africa (by 37 runs).

But despite the defeats, the Af-ghans, who advanced to the Super 10 stage for the first time, showed great character in those two matches. They might be virtually out of the semi-final race following two defeats, but the Afghans would be aiming to spoil the party for oth-ers and show the world their might in the remaining matches of the tournament. — PTI

Even though they start as favourites

against Afghanistan, England would be

aware that their bowlers would have

to put up an improved performance

Al Hail CT to host T20 tournamentMUSCAT: Al Hail Cricket Team, under the auspices of Oman Cricket (OC), will organise a Twenty20 tournament from April 8 at their own green ground in Ma-bellah, according to a statement received from the organisers.

After the resounding success of the four editions of its T10 Cricket Tournaments and based on the encouraging feedback re-ceived from various participating teams, Al Hail CT have decided to conduct their first ever Twenty20 Cricket Tournament to encour-age lower division league teams and young talented players.

The tournament will be played on knockout basis and a maxi-mum of 24 entries will be accept-ed on first-cum-first basis. Inter-ested teams may register their entries on or before March 31.

This tournament is open for participation to players of all di-visions of OC League except Pre-mier, A, B, and C divisions. Any player registered with any team in these divisions will not be al-lowed to participate.

All other league players can participate in this tournament as the OC has kindly given their per-mission for this tournament.

The tournament will run for a total duration of nine days start-ing from April 8 and continuing on April 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, 30 and May 6 and will be conduct-ed according to ICC rules and regulations.

For further details as well as for registration, contact organ-isers (Ph: 99623536, 9599 8056 & 92828786) or email at [email protected]

C R I C K E T

OC to host knockout tourney from April 15

Injured Duminy

ruled out of

Windies game

MUSCAT: Oman Cricket will organise the Khimji Ramdas-sponsored Knockout tourney for A to J divisions from April 15.

According to a press state-ment issued by Oman Cricket on Tuesday, teams that had par-ticipated in the league tourna-ments during 2015-16 season are eligible to take part in the tournament.

However, in the event of a team deciding not to take part, the players from that team will allowed to play in the same group or in a higher group, but not lower group.

Interetested teams may reg-ister their entries before 6.00 p.m. on April 4. The entry fee is OMR. 50. The draw ceremony and the captains/managers meeting will take place on April 6 at 7.00 p.m. at Al Mirani Hall of Al Falaj Hotel.

For further details, contact Iqbal Ariwala or Ajith D’Costa at Oman Cricket office (Ph: 24787085 or 24787087).

MUMBAI: South Africa will play Friday’s vital World Twen-ty20 Group 1 match against West Indies without all-rounder JP Duminy who has been ruled out with a hamstring strain.

Duminy picked up the injury while fielding in Sunday’s 37-run victory over Afghanistan and will be a loss for the side with bat and ball.

“The scans which were done yesterday (Monday) confirmed our clinical suspicion of a ham-string strain which means that he will be ruled out of Friday’s game against the West Indies in Nagpur,” team manager Mo-hammed Moosajee said in a Cricket South Africa statement on Tuesday. “The plan is to try and get him ready for our last round-robin match against Sri Lanka in Delhi on Sunday.”

Duminy has scored 83 runs in the competition without being dismissed and took 1-31 in three overs in the two-wicket defeat by England in South Africa’s opening game. - Reuters

C R I C K E T

W O R L D T 2 0

C3


Al Hail’s cricket infrastructure ready for grand official opening

T.K. [email protected]

MUSCAT: Over the past one year Oman’s impressive show on world stage has lured many in the Sultan-ate to take up cricket, while Oman Cricket too is making attempts to take the game to far flung areas of the nation.

There’s something concrete happening on the developmental front in places like Sohar, Nizwa as well as Salalah, all under the umbrella of the country’s cricket governing body.

However, there is also one indi-vidual who is doing his bit for the game and richly deserves all the applause for single handedly devel-oping a state-to-art cricket infra-structure, which is set for a grand official inauguration next month.

Known for his dedication and commitment to cricket, Moula Bakhsh Al Balushi, who formed his Al Hail Cricket Team to promote the game among locals, had the idea of developing a good infrastructure.

A dream then, his commitment with blessings from all quarters saw his vision turning true and now he is proud to have created the infrastructure and practice facili-ties so that children are attracted

to play cricket all round the year.“Very soon we will have the pitch-

es done,” said Moula Baksh, adding that even seating arrangements and pavilion will take shape soon.

Currently, Moula Baksh has decided to lay an astro-turf pitch to begin action and the recently organised corporate cricket and Al Hail CT organised T10 tourna-ment proved to be a grand success.

“We have organised some tour-naments already, but are look-ing forward to host bigger events, starting from a T20 tournament in April,” said Moula Baksh while speaking to Times Sport.

Bright futureOman’s excellent performance in the World T20 tournament, which evoked rave reviews from around the globe, has also instilled curious interest among nationals in the Sultanate as well.

“With cricket in Oman flourish-ing, I am sure many are being lured to the game. The interest shown to-wards our Al Hail School of Cricket has grown in recent times and I visualise a bright future,” Moula Baksh, who also hailed the achieve-ments of the national cricket team and Oman Cricket, said.

With an initiative to develop cricket at the highest level in the Sultanate, Al Hail CT has come a long way since its inception in 2010.

According to Moula Baksh, Al Hail Cricket Team was started

with the aim of giving opportuni-ties to local talent who were play-ing earlier with other teams but with limited exposure.

“Net practice facilities were earlier based only in Darsait and Wadi Kabir which is quite far for the people based in other far flung parts of Muscat. Thus, the club management thought of creat-ing their own ground and practice facilities for players who cannot travel such long distances,” de-tailed Moula Baksh, the founder of Al Hail School of Cricket.

“Today, the club is well known and respected at every cricketing level in Oman, firmly establishing

its footprint by emerging as cham-pion in different divisions since 2010 in the Oman Cricket League,” he added.

“About a year ago in May 2013, the Ministry of Sports Affairs had held an exhibition on Sports in Oman where the Al Hail Cricket Team had put up a stall and show-cased the various activities and developmental programmes that the Al Hail Cricket Club has taken up for the betterment of the Omani players. The stall was visited by the Minister of Sports Affairs him-self and he was very generous with his praise for our efforts,” he said.

Moula Baksh explained that his

outfit with its enriching vision of developing cricket in the Sultan-ate, started with mere 15 members.

“The club has gone from strength to strength and now boasts of nearly 150 members including young as well as expe-rienced Omani players. These players are fully supported by ex-perienced expatriate players who assist in training them in the nets. With a firm eye on the ongoing development of the team and the young Omani players, the school has roped in some highly talented and experienced, professional ex-patriate players who have been en-trusted a dual role of teaching the young Omani players the practical nuances of the game through live match situations,” he explained.

Al Hail CT launched its cricket academy (School of Cricket) in Au-gust 2014, whereby it had invited and continues to invite participa-tion from kids of age 5 and above.

“With state-of-the-art facilities and professional coaches, the acad-emy has also put its own team in Oman junior cricket league in 2015. The academy has already seen an increase in the number of members with most parents in Al Hail, Seeb, Al Khoud, Mawallah, Mabellah, Fanja, Barka and Bidiya adjacent areas sending their kids to train at the facility,” said Moula Baksh.

“We were able to build our own facilities in Mabellah thanks to the support from the Government

and Ministry of Sports Affairs. The facility, which attracted fulsome praise from the inspection team consisting of ICC Global Devel-opment Manager Tim Anderson, Chairman ICC Associate & Affiliate Members Neil Speight, ICC Direc-tor Imran Khawja, Development officer Mohammed Iqbal Sikander and Chairman of Oman Cricket Kanak Khimji, Oman Cricket Gen-eral Secretary Madhu Jesrani and other OC board members.

Omani youth“Their visit happened on March 10, 2014, when the ground level-ling was in progress and was a barren brown, but since then vast improvements have been made and what you see now is lush green outfield,” he detailed.

“The main ground is equipped with state-of-the-art floodlights for night matches and the main pitch has been laid out with astro-turf. The practice nets boast of high quality white neon lights for com-fortable night practice,” he said. “The School has recently acquired a bowling machine to aid in batting practice for all teams that would like to utilise these facilities.”

Moula Baksh also highlighted the need for honing the skills of Omani youth.

“We have entered into tie-ups with some specific organisa-tions that come and conduct pro-grammes for our young members to develop their interpersonal skills thereby helping them be-come better individuals. With cricket in mind, the school is also tying up with Omani schools where we can develop cricket at the grassroots level, nurturing budding talents and thus creat-ing awareness about cricket and also creating a much larger pool of players for the future,” he said.

Moula Baksh added to say: “The school has plans to develop the fa-cility to meet global standards in the near future. The net facilities are open to all teams and corpo-rates in Oman. Fielding practice sessions are also offered with the net practice facility which many teams desperately require and de-mand in Oman. Interested teams can also visit us at the venue or mail us on [email protected] to find out more.”

“The facilities will also be availa-ble for tournaments,” he signed off.

Known for his

dedication and

commitment for

the game of cricket

Moula Bakhsh Al

Balushi, who formed

Al Hail Cricket Team

to promote the game

among locals, has

finally realised his

dream of developing

a good cricket

infrastructure

BRAND NEW FACILITY: A view of Al Hail School of Cricket’s lush-green ground with the net facilities in the background.

COMMITTED: A file photo shows ICC Regional Development Officer

Mohammed Iqbal Sikander, right, speaking to Moula Baksh during

a visit to Al Hail School of Cricket ground.

C4


YOUR BIGGEST ROAD HAZARD IS IN YOUR HAND A TIMES OF OMAN

HANDS-FREE DRIVING INITIATIVE

Muscat Grassroots team finish second

MUSCAT: Muscat Grassroots team settled for second place behind Kuwait Club at the Volk-swagen Junior Masters regional football tournament organised at the Etisalat Academy Dubai on March 18 and 19.

Champions Kuwait Club won the right to represent the Middle East at the world championships in Paris later this year. Muscat Grassroots also returned home with the best player trophy won by Qusai Salim Al Jaradi.

Mobarak Aladwani of Kuwait Club was adjudged the best goal-keeper while Go Pro Sports team’s Martin Edwards Prado took home ‘Goal Challenge Winner’.

A toal of 10 qualifying teams from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Oman,

Kuwait and Qatar competed for the top prize.

The Volkswagen Junior World Masters Tournament will take place in Clairefontaine-en-Yve-lines, France from May 13 to 16.

Thomas Milz, Managing Direc-tor of Volkswagen Middle East, said: “We launched the Junior Masters programme in the Mid-dle East in 2011. To date over 4,000 aspiring footballers have participated and almost 50 young athletes have reached the interna-tional bi-annual final in Europe.

“It is inspiring to see football fans from across the region come together through the Volkswagen Junior World Masters champi-onships. This has been another incredibly successful year for the regional heats, with almost 1,000 under-13s participating from across the Middle East.”

“I would like to congratulate the Muscat Grassroots Team on putting up such a stellar perfor-mance in Dubai and especially

Qusai Salim Al Jaradi on being nominated as the best player. They have truly done the country proud. I would also like to con-gratulate the regional champions Kuwait Club on their success – we wish them the best of luck at the World Masters final in France!” added Andrew Squires, General Manager, Wattayah Motors.

The Volkswagen Junior Masters competition began in Germany over a decade ago, as part of Volk-swagen’s commitment to support youth and sports around the world. This year, the teams participating from the Middle East included Al Jazira (Abu Dhabi), United Sports Academy (Abu Dhabi), FCBESCO-LA (Dubai), Spanish Soccer School (Dubai), Go Pro Sports (Dubai), Kuwait Club (Kuwait), Al Jah-raa Club (Kuwait), Muscat Grass Roots (Oman), SEK School (Qatar) and Dutch School (Qatar).

Volkswagen Junior Masters Middle East was sponsored by Adidas and GAAST.

Muscat Grassroots

team also returned

home from at the

Volkswagen Junior

Masters with the

best player trophy

won by Qusai

Salim Al Jaradi

FIFA opens proceedings over 2006 German World Cup bidZURICH: FIFA’s ethics watch-dog has started formal proceed-ings against six individuals, in-cluding Franz Beckenbauer, over the awarding of hosting rights to Germany for the 2006 World Cup, world soccer’s governing body said on Tuesday.

The others involved are former German Football Association (DFB) chief Wolfgang Niersbach, who resigned over the affair last year, his predecessor Theo Zwan-ziger, Helmut Sandrock, Horst Schmidt and Stefan Hans.

“In the cases of Mr Becken-bauer, Dr Zwanziger, Mr Schmidt and Mr Hans, the investigatory chamber will investigate possible undue payments and contracts to gain an advantage in the 2006 FIFA World Cup host selection and the associated funding,” the investigatory chamber of Zurich-based FIFA’s ethics committee said in a statement.

Niersbach resigned from the DFB presidency after failing to provide explanations for a 6.7 million euro ($7.52 million) pay-

ment from organisers of the 2006 World Cup at which he was a Vice-President to FIFA.

He still sits on the FIFA Execu-tive Committee.

A DFB-commissioned report revealed this month that while there was no evidence of Ger-many paying FIFA members in return for their votes, payments were made to at least one former FIFA official through a web of accounts involving several other firms or individuals, including Beckenbauer. - Reuters

FOOTBALL

10 km

BiladSayt

JebelShams

Nizwa

Tanuf

Al Hamra

BahlaIzki

BirkatAl Mouz

Muscat

JebelAkhdar

Fanja

Bidbid

Samail191km

AL SAHWAR/A

MISFAT AL ABREYEEN

Anyvehicle

There are places on Earth where modern civilisation’s impatient ruthless hand has not

touched. This does not mean that people continue to live there in the Stone Age — in the homes they have all amenities, but part of their heritage, they carefully preserve and allow us to look at least one eye in her past.

Such places are there in Oman: Far and high in the Al Hajar Moun-tains is a historically significant village Misfat Al Abreyeen. The 4,500-year-old beehive tombs of Bat are nearby to the northwest, and standing guard just above the village is a ruined fort from the Old Persian Empire. Misfat Al Abreyeen is quite a mountain village with an old irrigation sys-tem on the terraces, with the set-tled measured way, with donkeys on narrow paths, with the ener-getic boys diving into the stone basins with cool water from the falaj, however, almost in front of each entrance there are modern Toyotas, BMWs, VWs and many more. The village can be reached without SUV.

There’s no town gate. There’s no ticket booth. There are no signs. You just park your car at the dead-end road in front of the village, and walk through one of the ancient rock arches to time-travel back to the 12th Century. This is an an-cient land that predates history and script.

It is said that Misfah has only opened up to the outside world in this current generation, and there was absolutely no commercial activity and seemingly no desire to welcome any form of ‘modern tourism’. This adorable village is perched above two large ravines.

The opulence of the palm strikes to the aridity of the mountain. The credit goes to the countless gullies that wind through the orchards, pass under the rock, spanning a small gorge. The ancient houses

have unique designs with arched passageways and the rooms are spread out in two or three levels. Beyond the village, the road leads to a pool of water created by the overflow of the falaj. Children swim in the three-metre deep pool, diving from the roof of an adjacent house. The falaj goes around the village up to the point where the date palms stand.

You hear the joyous laughter of water from terrace to terrace through the falaj by the walk way. On the way you see small block-ades in the canal with raised flat stone which deviate the flow of water — old style. Lemons, pome-granates, mangoes, papayas, ba-nana plantains, onion, grass ... eve-rything grows effortlessly in this garden. Here one has never expe-rienced drought and falaj has not changed since generations. With its lush gardens, tall grasses and abundant fruit trees it looked al-most like a rainforest region, aside from the sturdy mud brick houses and occasional donkey. Go down the walkway and that will lead you to the cliff of a great gorge.

The village is characterised by its alleys, traditional high mud and stone buildings, and agricul-tural terraces that wrap around the mountain, along with the old buildings. Misfat Al Abreyeen rises a thousand metres above sea level. The homes of its inhabitants are at the top of the mountain and their farms are on the slope. It is said that the first house in Misfat Al Abreyeen village was built two hundred years ago. These geo-graphical features of this hamlet have played a major role in deter-mining their refusal to opt for a different lifestyle and cling more on their rich traditional past. Here life is a classic hand-over legacy practised by many generations.

You can see the mountain vil-lage set amidst stunning landscape has hardly changed over the years except for some developmental

works like roads, electricity and telecommunication networks.

The lifestyle of the farming com-munity has hardly changed despite modern development reaching the village which has succeeded in combining modernity and tradi-tion. The municipality has built a park at the entrance of the village for visitors to relax. Those visiting the area must, however, be care-

ful while exploring the village and must seek permission before tak-ing pictures of the villagers, espe-cially women.

Since the end of 2010 it is possible for you to stay overnight in a tradi-tional, lovingly restored mud brick house, in the middle of the cool gar-den. The rooms are simple but nice, and decorated with historical every-day objects. Spending a night in the Oman House will give you a unique perspective on the former way of life in the village. Ahmed Al Abri, who runs the old house, has decorated the 11 rooms with utensils and objects which were used in former times. The pleasant, comfortable atmosphere of the ancient house, nestled among the date palms, with the centuries-old ca-nals flowing by is world out of the bor-ing normal star hotel rooms. Meals can be taken on the rooftop terrace, where you have a panoramic view of the palms and oasis. The meals are prepared by an Omani family, your next door [email protected]

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

LeisureSECTIONC L I F E S T Y L E W E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

Story Mohammed Shafeeqe

An Ancient Escape

HOW TO GET THERE: On the Nizwa-Bahla interior road turn right at the junction after Tanuf. Proceed nearly 20km on the road to reach Al Hamra. Near Al Hamra souq, turn right and the road goes up the mountain for three kilometres and leads to Misfat Al Abreyeen.Location: 23°08’26.4”N 57°18’36.8”E

WHERE TO STAY:Misfat Al Abreyeen Old House+968 9934 [email protected] starts from OMR30 for single room with dinner and breakfast.

Explore an ancient land

that predates history and

script for a weekend trip

back in time

The lifestyle of the farming community has hardly changed despite modern development reaching the village which has succeeded in combining modernity and tradition

Phot

ogra

phy:

Sup

plie

d

FIND-IT-ALLC6 W E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

Dhuhr 12.18pmAsr 3.45pmMaghrib 6.24pmIsha 7.34pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 4.53am

PRAYER TIMINGS

ROYAL OMAN POLICE

Emergencies and inquiries: 9999

General Directorate of

Passport and Residence 24569603

Directorate General

of Customs 24521109

Traffic violations inquiries 24510228

Public Relations Admin 24560099

EMBASSIES IN OMAN

Afghanistan 24698 791/4

Algeria 24605 593

Bahrain 24 605 074/133

Bangladesh 24 698 660

Brazil 24640100

Brunei 24 603533

China 24 696782

Cyprus 24 699815

Egypt 24 600 982/411

France 24681 800

Germany 24835000

India 24684500

Indonesia 2469 1050

Iran 24 696 944/7

Iraq 24603642

Italy 24693727

Japan 24 601 028

Jordan 24692760/1/3

Kazakhstan 24 692418

Kenya 24 697664

South Korea 24 691490

Kuwait 24 699628

Lebanon 24 693208

Libya 24603466

Malaysia 24698329/643

Morocco 24696152/3

Nepal 24696177

Netherlands 24603706

Pakistan 24603439

Palestine 24601312

Philippines 24605335

Qatar 24 691 153/2/4

Russia 24602894

Saudi Arabia 24601705

Senegal 24694139

Somalia 24697977

South Africa 24647300

Spain 24691101

Sri Lanka 24697841/2

Sudan 24697875

Switzerland 24603267

Syria 24697904

Tanzania 24601 174

Thailand 24 602684/5

Tunisia 24603486

Turkey 24697050/1/2

UAE 24400000

United Kingdom 24609000

United States 24643400

Yemen 24600815

PHARMACIES

Round the clock

Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi 24783334

Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24782666

Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi 24702542

Salalah 23291635;

Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra 24503585

Muscat Region

Apollo, Al Hamriya 24787766

Muscat, A Seeb Market 24421691

Muscat, Al Khuwair 24485740

Muscat, Al Hail South 24537080

Dhofar Region

Muscat, Al Nahdha Road,

Salalah 23291635

HOSPITALS

Al Amal Medical & Health Care

Centre 24485052

Atlas Hospital

Ruwi 24811743/

Ghubra 24504000

Al Musafir Specialised

Medical Clinic 24706453

Hatat Polyclinic LLC,

Ruwi 24563641

Azaiba 24499269

Sohar 2683006

Al Raffah Hospital 24618900/1/2

Al Massaraat Clinic &

Laboratory 24566435

Al Makook Medical

Coordinance Centre 24499434

Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24787766, 24787780

Capital Polyclinic 24707549

Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic,

Ruwi 24799760/1/2

Capital Clinic, Seeb 24420740

Ceregem National Raak 24485633

Dr Harub’s Clinic 24563217

Elixir Health Centre 24565802

Emirates Medical Centre 24604540

1st Chiropractic Centre 24472274

Lifeline Hospital Salalah 23212340

International Medical

Centre LLC 24794501/2/3/4/5

Kims Oman Hospital 24760100

24 Hrs Emergency 24760123

Lama Polyclinic, Sohar 26751128

MBD 24799077

Al Khuwair 24478818

Magrabi Eye and

Ear Hospital 24568870

Muscat Private Hospital 24583600

Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment

Centre, Al Khuwair 24477666

Al-Hayat 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 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 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



TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)


SALALAH TO DUBAI (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)



13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur

13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur



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)



13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri





TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)


TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)



TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)



TO SUR (ROUTE 55)



TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)

12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily


TO SALALAH -MARMUL (ROUTE 100)





TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)


DUBAI TO SALALAH (ROUTE 102)


TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)



13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri

13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri



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

WEATHER

300

Maximum

230

Minimum

TEMPERATURE

80-35%RELATIVE HUMIDITY

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 17 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to [email protected]

WITH LOVE

ANN MARIYA JOHNYMarch 23, 2007

S. SHRIVARDHANMarch 23, 2006

CITY CINEMAContact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68 www.citycinemaoman.netfacebook.com/citycinemaoman

SHATTIKung Fu Panda 3 – 3D (Animation) PG3:30, 5:30 & 7:15PMThe Wave (Action | Drama | Thriller) PG12Cast: Kristoffer Joner, Thomas Bo Larsen 9:45PMThe Witch (Horror | Mystery) 15+Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson11:45PMSolace (Crime | Drama | Mystery) 12+2:45,6:45,11:30PMEye In The Sky (Drama| Thriller | War) PG12Cast: Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman5:30PM The Divergent Series: Allegiant (Action| Adcenture| Sci-Fi) PG12Cast: Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz7:30PM Triple 9 (Action | Crime | Drama) 15+Cast: Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor3:15, 9:15 PM London Has Fallen (Action| Crime) PG12Cast: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman4:45PMBatman Vs Superman Dawn of Justice (Action | Adventure |Fantasy) PG128:45, 11:45PM

MUSCAT GRAND MALLBatman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice – 3D (PG12) Action, Adventure, FantasyCast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams9:00, 11:50 PMGold Class – 11:00 PMKung Fu Panda 3 – 3D (PG) Animation 12:45, 5:15, 7:05 PMGold Class – 6:15 PMKapoor and Sons – 2D (PG12) Hindi | Drama9:00 PMSolace – 2D (12+) Crime | Drama | Mystery11:45 PMGold Class – 3:30, 8:15 PMThe Dressmaker – 2D (15+) Drama

4:30 PMZootropolis – 3D (PG12) Animation | 12:15, 2:15 PMThe Divergent Series: Allegiant – 2D (PG12) Action| Adventure| Sci-Fi3:00 PMTriple 9 – 2D (15+) Action | Crime | Drama6:45 PM

PANORAMA MALLBatman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice-3D (Action, Adventure) (PG12)Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams9:00, 11:45 PMBatman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice-3D (Action, Adventure) (PG12)-VIP LOUNGE8:45, 11:15 PMLondon Has Fallen (2D) (Action) (PG12)5:00,7:00PMTriple 9 (2D) (Action, Crime)(15+)9:15, 11:30 PMTriple 9 (2D) (Action, Crime)(15+)-VIP LOUNGE3:30 PMThe Divergent Series: Allegiant (2D) (Action, Adventure)(PG12) 2:45, 7:00PMKung Fu Panda 3 (A)(MX4D)(PG)4:30, 6:30, 8:30 PMKung Fu Panda 3 (3D) (Animation)(PG)

5:00, 7:00 PMKung Fu Panda 3 (3D) (Animation, Action)(PG)-VIP LOUNGE6:15PMSolace (2D) (Crime, Drama)(12+)3:00, 5:00, 11:45PMSolace (2D) (Crime, Drama)(12+)-VIP LOUNGECast : Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Colin Farrell5:15 PMKapoor and Sons (2D) (Drama)(PG12)9:00 PMEye In The Sky (2D) (Drama, Thriller)(PG12)2:45PM

AZAIBA Batman vs Superman:Dawn of Justice (2D) (Action |Adventure | Fantasy) (PG12) Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams8:45 PMBatman vs Superman:Dawn of Justice (3D) (Action |Adventure | Fantasy) (PG12) 11:30 PMTriple 9 (2D) (Action |Crime) (15+) Cast: Casey Affleck, Chiwetel EjioforTiming: 4:50, 11:45 PMKung Fu Panda 3 (3D) (Animation) (PG) 3:00, 5:00, 7:00 PMThe Divergent Series-Allegiant (2D) (Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi) (PG12)

2:45PMJai Gangaajal (2D) (Hindi) (Action) (PG12) 3:30 PMKapoor and Sons (2D) (Hindi) (PG12) 2:30, 5:05, 7:40, 10:15, 11:30 PMMaheshinte Prathikaaram (2D) (Mal) (Drama | Comedy) (PG12) 6:50, 9:15 PMPugazh (2D) (Tamil) (Action ) (PG) 6:50, 9:15 PM

RUWIScreen 1Kapoor & Sons (Drama / Family) –PG123.30, 6.30, 9.30 PMCast : Sidharth Malhotra, Alia BhattScreen 2Kung Fu Panda 3 (2D) (Animation) –PG3.30, 5.30, 7.30 PMBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Action/Adventure) –PG129.45 PMScreen 3Neerja (Action / Biography) –PG123.45, 9.45 PMMaheshinte Prathikaaram -(2D) Mal(Comedy / Family) –PG126.45 PM

SURBatman Vs Superman 3D (Action | Adventure | Fantasy) (PG12) Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams11:45 PMThe Wave ( Action | PG12) 8:15 PMTriple 9 ( Action |Crime | Drama ) (15+) 6:15 PMEye in the Sky ( Drama ) (PG12) Cast: Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman4:15 PMMaheshinte Parthikaaram (Mal) (PG12) Cast: Fahad Faasil, Soubin Shahir10:35 PMKung Fu Panda 3 (3D) (Animation) (PG) 4:30, 6:15 PMEmeli (Thriller) ( 12+)Cast : Sarah Bolger, Carly Adams, Carl Bailey10:15 PMKapoor And Sons ( Drama ) ( PG12) 8:00 PM

SOHARLondon Has Fallen – 2D (Action) (PG12)Cast: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman3:30PMSolace – 2D (Crime | Drama | Mystery) (12+)Cast: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Xander Berkeley2:30, 9:45PMBatman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice– 3D (Action, Adventure, Fantasy) (PG12)Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams11:45PMThe Wave – 2D (Action | Drama ) (PG12)Cast: Kristoffer Joner, Thomas Bo Larsen5:00, 9:15PMKung Fu Panda 3 – 2D (Animation) (PG)4:45PMKung Fu Panda 3 – 3D (Animation) (PG)2:45, 6:45PMEmilie– 2D (Thriller) (12+)5:00, 11:45PMEye in the Sky -2D (Drama| Thriller ) (PG12)7:15, 11:30PMBatman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice– 3D (Action, Adventure, Fantasy) (PG12)Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams9:00PMPugazh – 2D (Action| Thriller) (PG)7:15PMMaheshinte Prathikaaram– 2D (Drama) 8:45PM (PG12)

BURAIMIThe Witch (Horror | Mystery) (15+)

Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson11.45PMThe Wave (Action | Drama ( PG-12) 9.30PMMaheshinte Prathikaaram(Mal) ( PG12 ) Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Soubin Shahir7.15PMKung Fu Panda 3 (Action|) (PG) Voice Overs: Jack Black, Bryan Cranston5.00, 7.00PMTriple 9 (Action | Crime | Drama) (15+) Cast : Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor4.45, 11.30PMKapoor & Sons (Hindi | Drama) (PG 12)Cast : Alia Bhatt, Sanjay Dutt, Fawad Khan9.00PMFrankenstein (Horror | Thriller) 18+ 5.00PMEye in the Sky (Dramar) PG12 7.00PMBatman VS Superman 3D (Action) PG 12 9.00, 11.45PM

SALALAHBatman Vs Superman (3D) (PG12) (Action, Adventure, Fantasy) Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams9:00, 11:30PMKung Fu Panda 3 (3D) (PG) (Animation) 12:15, 3:00, 4:55PMThe Wave (2D) (PG12) (Action | Thriller) Cast: Kristopher Jonner, Thomas Bo Larsen2:45PMFrankenstein (2D) (18+) (Horror | Thriller) Cast: Carrie-Anne Moss, Xavier Samuel4:45PMLondon Has Fallen (2D) (PG12) (Action) 1:30PMTriple 9 (2D) (15+) (Action | Crime | Drama)12:45, 5:30PMThe Witch (2D) (15+) (Horror | Mystery)Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson10:05PMSolace (2D) (12+) (Crime | Drama | Mystery) 3:30, 6:45, 11:45PMEye in the Sky (2D) (TBC) (Drama) 11:55PMKapoor and Sons (2D) (PG12) (Hindi) 8:45PMMaheshinte Prathikaaram (2D) (PG12) (Mal) (Comedy / Drama)7:45PM Pugazh (2D) (PG12) (Action| Thriller) 6:30PM

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

@MGM @BURAIMI

Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice– 3D (Action, Adventure, Fantasy) (PG12)Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams9:00, 11:50 PMGold Class – 11:00 PM

The Witch (Horror | Mystery) (15+)Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson11.45PM

BAHJA CINEMAFilm information 24540856 / Advance Booking

24540855

Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.comBatman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (Action / Adventure / Fantacy) (PG12)Cast: Ben Afleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams7.15 & 11.45 pmThe Wave (Action / Drama / Thriller)Cast: Kristoffer Joner, Thomas Bo Larsen3.45 & 11.55 PM CP No: 371 (PG12)Frankenstein (Horror / Thriller)Cast: Carrie-Anne Moss, Xavier Samuel2.00,5.45, & 10.00 PM CP No: 372 (18+)The Witch (Horror / Mystery)Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie1.00 & 10.00 PM. CP No: 373 (15+)Kapoor & Sons (Hindi / Comedy / Drama)Cast: Fawad Khan, Sidharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt3.00 & 7.30 PM CP No: 374 (PG12)`London Has Fallen (Action / Crime / Thriller)Cast: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart 5.30 PM CP No: 351 (PG12)

STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776

Website: www.isurf.co.om

Maheshinte Prathikaram (Mal) (Comedy ) 3:30, 6:30 & 9:30 PM Cinema Main Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Soubin Shahir, Aparna Pugazh (Tamil) (Com) 3:30, 6:30 & 9:30 PM Cinema-2Cast : Jai, Surabhi & R . J. BalajiAction Hero Biju (Mal) (Act\ Comedy) Cast: Nivin Pauly & Anu Emmanuel 3:45 & 9:45 PM Cinema -3Puthiya Niyamam ( Mal) ( Thriller) Cast : Mammotty & Nayantara 6:45 PM Cinema- 3 Kapoor & Sons ( Hindi) (Drama\Rom) 3-45, 6-45 & 9-45 PM Cinema -4Cast: Alia Bhatt, Rishi Kapoor, Fawad Khan

Next Change: Rocky Handsome (Hindi);

Thozha (Tamil); Oopri (Telugu)

Programmes are subject to change

@SALALAH

Frankenstein (Horror / Thriller) (18+)Cast: Carrie-Anne Moss, Xavier Samuel, Tony Todd4:45PM

LIFESTYLEC7W E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

Walk in the Clouds

Have you been able to capture the beauty of an off-the-beaten-path destination in Oman? Send your pictures with a caption & geo-locator to: [email protected]

Location: 23°08’24.6”N 57°43’46.1”E

Holiday demand falls as concerns rise

British holiday company Thomas Cook said customers were delaying booking holi-days, uncertain of making plans as they see previously popular destinations such as Turkey as less safe.

Thomas Cook said bookings for the summer period, when it makes all its profit, were five per cent lower than last year as customers organised their trips later, continuing a pattern it highlighted in February.

An attack on tourists in Is-tanbul in January have caused demand for trips to Turkey to plunge, while last year there were also attacks in Paris, Egypt and Tunisia, making some of the tourists to be wary of previ-ously popular destinations.

More customers were opting to have their holiday in main-land Spain and the Canary and Balearic Islands, as well as the United States and Cuba. Fewer wanted to go to Turkey, the company said.

But the company stuck to its forecast for profit to grow, as long as bookings recover. -Reuters

B R I E F

I N T H E N E W S

Fun foodie festival rolls into RAK this weekendBrand new concepts for foodies and families are further boosting the appeal of the interactive Al Hamra Market series, run by Ras Al Khaimah-headquartered Al Hamra Real Estate Development.

Taking place from 5-10pm on March 24 and 25 at Al Hamra Ma-rina, at the heart of the popular Al Hamra Village development, the market is transforming its Gourmet Corner into an exclusive des-tination for gastronomes with top vendors offering newly-created epicurean delights that will be available during the two-day event.

Among those contributing their creative cooking skills are Ga-taby House of Cookies, which will be launching an Al Hamra Arabic Coffee Cookie with saffron, ginger and cardamom; Voltage Burger, with its spicy and highly-stacked Jebel Jais Burger; RAK Pancake will be doing live baking of their Al Hamra savoury banana and chocolate mini pancake sandwiches; Camy’s Canadian Pizza will unveil a pizza shawarma in the colour of the UAE flag titled “UAE Pizza”; and Nando’s with its traditional Ketaki Shah served in an authentic copper dish. “Since its launch in October 2015, the mar-ket has quickly gained a reputation as a burgeoning culinary des-tination that showcases an exciting array of speciality foods from home and abroad,” Benoy Kurien, GM, Al Hamra Real Estate Devel-opment said. For more details call +971 7243 2724.

LIFESTYLEC8 W E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

Emirates Airline made

headlines earlier

this year when it

announced it would

operate the longest

nonstop flight in the

world — a staggering

17-and-a-half hour

expedition from Dubai

to Panama City. There

are some flights that

seem so interminable

— like, an-entire-day-

of-your-life long — that

even the most frequent

of flyers want to know

how many more reruns

they’ve gotta endure.

We have compiled

a list of the 10 most

excruciating cross-

continental journeys

currently available.

THELONGEST

NONSTOP FLIGHTS IN THE

WORLD

Dubai, UAE — Panama City, PanamaEmirates, Flight # pending approvalAircraft: Boeing 777Duration: 17 hours, 35 minutesDistance: 8,580 miles

Delhi - San Francisco Air IndiaAir India (AI 173) 16 hours55 minutesAircraft: Boeing 777-200

3. Johannesburg, South Africa – Atlanta, GADelta 201Aircraft: Boeing 777-200Duration: 16 hours, 35 minutesDistance: 8,449 miles

Dubai, UAE — Houston, TXEmirates 211Aircraft: A380-800Duration: 16 hours, 19 minutesDistance: 8,164 miles

Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX — Sydney, AustraliaQantas Flight 8Aircraft: A380-800Duration: 16 HoursDistance: 8,589 miles

Newark, NJ — Hong Kong, ChinaUnited 179Aircraft: Boeing 777-200Duration: 15 hours, 38 minutesDistance: 8,062 miles

Dubai, UAE — San Francisco, CAEmirates 225Aircraft: A380-800Duration: 15 hours, 37 minutesDistance: 8,099 miles

Dubai, UAE — Dallas-Ft. Worth, TXEmirates 221Aircraft: A380-800Duration: 15 hours, 17 minutesDistance: 8,036 miles

Abu Dhabi, UAE — San Francisco, CAEtihad 183Aircraft: Boeing 777-300Duration: 15 hours, 13 minutesDistance: 8,154 miles

Doha, Qatar — Houston, TXQatar 713Aircraft: Boeing 777-200Duration: 15 hours, 47 minutesDistance: 8,045 miles

1

2

3

10

9

8

7

4

5

6

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

CONNECT H E D A I LY G U I D E

D

D4 VACANCY CARGO D7

W E D N E S D AY, M A R C H 2 3 , 2 0 1 6

RENT D2

QUALITY OFFICE SPACE FOR RENT

FF

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication.

* Subject to space availability

WELL FURNISHED OFFICE SPACE & CAMP ACCOMODATION

AVAILABLE FOR RENT IN GHALA INDUSTRIAL AREA

Ideal for workers, staff members

Catering facility option available

&4WDs/Pick up’s/Heavy Vehicles

are available for sale on as is

where is basis.

The vehicles can be inspected at

our premises at Ghala.

Contact: 94057473/94369381

*Tourist visa arranged

Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

D2 W E D N E S D AY, M A R C H 2 3 , 2 0 1 6

DAILY GUIDE

Flat in Al Khuwair opp grand mall

4 room 3 toilet + hall kitchen in 3

floor 400. Contact 99420346

4 bedroom new villa Al Mawaleh

2 km to city center mall luxury

high end fit outs, split A/C, full

kitchen fitting all room with pri-

vate toilet. Contact: 99349990

2 bed rooms flat with Hall, 2bath-

rooms in Darsait, near Muscat

Municipality. Contact: 24700120 /

92584715

1000 sq mtrs industrial land in

Ghala suitable for warehouse

workshop etc. Contact :24700120 /

92584715

For rent 1BHK at Al-Hamriya,

B-2397, Way-5935 near Muscat

Pharmacy. # 9922478 / 99332297

2 studio flat for rent in Al Am-

erat, opp. ROP police station rent

150/- and 130/- each. Contact:

99350946

2 BR, 2 bath, a kitchen, a yard

, with AC, separate enterance,

AlKhuwair near ibis hotel. PDC. RO

250 .. Call 97056443

Commercial/ residential flat for

rent in a new building. A ware-

house also available, location

Muttrah. For more details contact

– 99364735 / 95729711

Readymade office space for rent

(240sm) in Bank Melli Iran Build-

ing, MBD area, Ruwi, opposite

Center point. Contact: 99011352

Big room with bath attach & hall

near ISM. Contact: 99419830

House for rent, 2 bedrooms, 1 toilet

& kitchen. Contact: 96968104

Staff & employees accommo-

dation new building 3 floor Al

Wadi Al Kabir - Muscat 15 rooms,

Kitchen & dining hall AC, Satellite

TV. Contact: 97166111 / 97252028

Flat of 3 BHK in Al Ghobra South

opposite Royal Hospital. RO 380/-.

Contact – 91776665

Luxury flat of 3 BHK in Al

Watayah. RO 500/- Contact –

91776665

Amazing flat of 2 BHK in Remal

Building. RO 550/- Contact –

91776665

Clean flat of 2 BHK in Al Khuwair

33. RO 330/- Contact – 91776665

Shops / flats available in Honda

Road, Ruwi & Mabellah Indus-

trial area. Contact 24833972/

24833974/ 99367448

House for rent in Mawallah near

City Center, 2 bedroom, (2) toilets,

hall & kitchen. Contact : 96968104

Brand new deluxe flats located near

Seeb flyover or the right hand side

of the main road coming from the

Seeb palace roundabout, 2 bedrooms,

family hall, kitchen, 3 toilets, balcony

with split unit A/cs. #: 97755586

5 floor building for rent in Al Khu-

wair near Muscat Dunes hotel each

floor, 3 flats each flat with 2 BHK.

Contact : 93223324

3 BHK, 1BHK flats for rent new

building with A/C, behind Muscat

Bakery at Wadi Al Kabir. Contact :

92103604 / 99338133

3500 & 2700 sq mtrs industrial

land + accommodation & store for

sale in Wadi Kabir. #99792181

1,2,3 BHK flat in Al Khuwair.

Contact 99792181

Open land & labour camp in Ghala

& Rusayl. Contact 99792181

2,200 sq mtr factory area & 800

sq mtr store with 8 accommoda-

tion rooms and 10 office cabins

available for rent in Barka indus-

trial area. Contact 91398381 / 80 /

78, email - [email protected]

Flats in Al Khuwair, Al Ghobrah,

Al Hail & Seeb. Contact: 92125648

/ 95250300 / 24182000

Villa in Seeb near the beach and

Dreams Resort. Contact: 92125648

/ 95250300

Flats in Wadi Kabeer, MBD, Dar-

sait, Hamriya & Sidab. Contact:

92125648 / 95250300/ 24182000

Villa in Al Khuwair. Contact:

92125648 / 95250300

Flat for rent in South AlGhubrah

3 rooms, hall and 3 toilets, kitchen

rent 450/-. Contact: 99335580

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.#99792181

2 BHK flat in Ruwi.

Contact - 99792181

Office Space Available in Al Khu-

wair & CBD.Contact – 99792181

Store in Misfah. Contact 99792181

Double bed room flat CBD area.

Contact: 97608564

2 Bedrooms, kitchen, toilet, car

park R.O 200/- & 1 bedroom,

kitchen, toilet R.O 130 in Al Khu-

wair. Contact: 95154331

2 BHK flats /office & shops valu-

able in a new building at Honda

road .Contact: 91165807

Water tank for rent Quantity

5000 Gallon with driver. Contact:

96449233

1BHK near medical Darsait R.O 180/-

Muttrah house. Contact : 95076261

Commercial land in Ghala 2500sqm

for rent #93506187 / 97684266

For rent flats and shops behind

Al jmlah in Al Amerat. Contact :

91231380

Room for rent available in a flat

for Executive bachelor at Azaiba,

behind Al Meera Hypermarket with

attached bath with cot & AC , rent

inclusive of Water & Electricity.

Contact 96404166 / 97433992

Villa in Al-Khuwair 33. Quality

Finishing. Consist 5 Bedrooms, 1

Living room, 3 Lounges, All with

A/C, Kitchen and storage . Contact:

90665135

For rent 4 flats each flat consists

of 3 BRS, 1 STR, 2 Toilets, Kitchen,

Monthly rent for each flat R.O

250/- location Al Inashel, Muttrah.

Contact: Abdullah 99445880

Flats for rent in Al Mabela (7) near

Industrial roundabout close to the

Al Wafa Mosque area 142 (m2)

2 rooms and a large hall, 1 Kitchen

and 3 toilets, for inquires please

contact : 94359353

Flats and Labor accommodation

for rent in South Al Mabela. Con-

tact : 95230355 / 95331177

2 BHK & 1 BHK Flats for rent

Muttrah near Oman house S/ AC.

Contact: 97007934 / 92629232

New flats for rent at Darsait near

to Ministry of Sports, Mumtaz area

the flats includes, 1 living room, 2

bedroom, kitchen, 3 toilets, every

rooms with split A/C high quality

finishing rent per flat is R.O 340/- .

Interested candidates please Con-

tact : 00968 92225523

2 & 3 BHK Flat in Al Khuwair. Con-

tact 99792181

Staff Accommodation for Rent in

Al hail. Contact 99792181

3000 Sqr mtrs Store in Misfah.

Contact 99792181

Open land + workshop + labour

camp in Ghala & Rusayl. #99792181

Flat, 1 bedroom, kitchen, toilet in

AL Khuwair family bachelors

R.O 150/-. Contact: 95154331

1 Bed room, sharing K& T, R.O 100,

2 bedrooms , sharing K& T R.O

200/- in AL Khuwair. #95154331

Flat for rent 2 BHK 2 split A/C, 2

toilets, Wadi Kabir near Kuwaiti

Masjid. #97007934 / 92609232

Two bedrooms flat in Al Ghobrah

near Oman Oil of 18 November Street.

OMR 330 Monthly. #99333479 or

95215360 or 97509955.

2 BR flats with 2Baths Kitchen

Al Amerat Aster Hospital .#99366142

2BHK split A/C 200/- Monthly

& 1BHK spilt A/C 150/- monthly

new building good location Barka

Market. Contact: 99342661

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: [email protected]

02 BHK residential flat opposite

to Al Nahdha hospital.

Contact: 99342733 /99795241

Rooms for rent in Al Khuwair near

Muscat Holiday Hotel. contact

95724975

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. #92620858 /92605500

2B/R with 3 toilets directly from

owner, near Dolphin Complex

Bausher. Contact 92158031

We have staff accommodation in

Bousher 30 to 40 people can stay.

Contact 93782735 / 99208033

We have 7BHK commercial villa

in Al Khuwair 33 for rent. Lift also

Available. #93782735 / 99208033

We have 1BHK / 2BHK flats for rent

in Mabela7. #93782735 / 99208033

We have 2BHK flats for rent in

Ghubra, Ghala, Azaiba. Contact:

93782735 / 99208033

We have 5BHK villa in Qurum near

Mars Hypermarket for rent. Contact:

93782735 / 99208033

We have office for rent in Ghubra

150 sqm. prime location main road.

Contact: 93782735 / 99208033

Flats for rent in Ghubra at good loca-

tion. 93782735 / 99208033

2 BHK flat in Azaiba, near Sultan

Centre, 2 rooms, sitting hall, kitchen

& 3 bathrooms. Contact: 93782735 /

99208033

2 BHK fully furnished flat at Ruwi

MBD area. #93211557 / 24814853

OFFICES FOR RENT AT AZAIBA

Prime location on service road (previously

occupied by A'Saffa Foods) near Al Turky

and Mazda showroom.

- 2 BHK flat available directly from the

owner, at Azaiba.

Contact: 99229263, 93221054, 95215289

OFFICE SPACES

FOR RENT230 SQ. Mtr each

Ready to move in two

offi ces for rent near Man

Truck Showroom, Ghala

Contact -

99269841 / 92429917

DAILY GUIDEW E D N E S D AY, M A R C H 2 3 , 2 0 1 6 D3

FOR RENT FOR SALE

FOR SALE2 BHK Flat in Wataya. #99792181

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

Warehouse at Wadikabir - total

area 3500 sqm - covered ware-

house (500sqm), office,

accommodation (1000sqm), open

area (2000sqm) please

contact: 99273774 - 99202278

Flat with two rooms with window

A/C, with toilets & car parking way

No: 1670 north Al Hail near Dosteen

restaurant 1KM Inside. #99238334

2 BHK Apartment for rent near

MSQ area. Contact 92888063

3BHK in Qurum P.D.O high 350/-

Monthly. Contact: 99342661

Commercial flats of 3 & 2 BHK

in Al Ghobra North 18 Nov street

RO.650/- & 450/- #91776665

2 BHK – modern & spacious flats

with split ac for rent in Qurum near

PDO gate no. 2. #94057023

2 BHK flats with split Ac available for

rent at Al Khuwair 33. #94057023

2 BHK, 3 toilet with split A/c

at Darsait near School. Contact

99024039 / 99061408

Offices & flat in CBD, Ruwi. Con-

tact 95345909 / 92820734

2 BHK fully furnished flat for rent

in Wadi Kabir.#92233322

Store with cold store in Wadi

kabir. Contact: 99374977

Furnished office for rent No. 503

at Business Center – Al Khuwair.

Contact: 24488833

For rent and investment Land

industrial shops in Rusayl.

Contact: 99323957 / 95490842

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: [email protected]

Luxury villa of 5 BHK in Al Khu-

wair 33 RO.650/- contact 91776665

600 M2 showroom or office in

Bousher in front of Dolphin complex.

RO.3.5 per m2. Contact 91776665

CHANGE OF NAME

Shop for sale at Ruwi center. Con-

tact: 98787853

Approx. 300 SQM Super market

available for sale. Complete with

furniture & fixtures, security cam-

era and internet connection. With

2 entrances. #for appointment /

viewing at – 93518390 / 99082534

Restaurant for sale (Indian,

chinese, Arabic food ). Contact :

91181765 / 95411354

Warehouse at Ghala Indus-

trial area for rent with 16 acs &

heavy duty shelves/ warehouse

is in 2340 sqm land. contact

92400008

600 sq mtrs residential land in

Maabela Phase 4 Block 4 OMR

65 Thousand. Tel: 99333479 or

95215360 or 97509955

600 sq mtrs residential land in

Maabela Phase 4 Block 3 OMR 65

Thousand.#99333479 or 95215360

Approx. 300 sqm, supermarket

available for sale. complete with

furniture & fixtures, security Cam-

era & internet connection with

2 entrances.# for appointment/

viewing at 93518390 / 99082534.

Excavators 3 nos (Hitachi

240/350, 2008/2013 model),

Tipper 1 no. (Astra 2011 model).

All are in good condition, sell on

the maximum offer.#98999503 /

99782930 / 98981112

2 storey villa, 5 rooms with at-

tached bath,1 hall & kitchen at

Madinat Sultan Qaboos under

finishing. Contact 99778773

Good conditioned 5 ton forklift for

sale. #99885638 / 94052713

Wholesale Iranian best carpets

quality TOP per sqm 17.5 RO quality

normal per sqm 13.5 RO for Masjid

per sqm 13.5RO in Oman and all

Gulf country’s delivery in Muscat

and Iranian Souvenirs paintings

and gifts. #91213269 / 99234905

Zanzibari coffee shop for rent or

sale in Barka Souq road, at Prime

location. Contact: 99814411

Steel Scrap materials for immedi-

ate sale#99273774/ 99202278

FOR RENTStore space in Al

Wattayah.

Contact 99382489 / 99263443

Almost new beach/ garden lounge

chairs /bar stools/ counter. Photos

can be sent 95865457

400 sq mtrs Commercial/Residen-

tial land in Mabela Phase 5 Block 2.

OMR 165 Thousand. #99333479 or

95215360 or 97509955

A well running pharmacy for

sale at prime location. Contact-

99627621, 93240949

Space for printing press available

at wadikabir with or without

machinery. Contact 99328430

Shop for sale near Oman House,

Muttrah. Contact 99024362.

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.CON-

TACT 92881849 /What`s up No

97290565

HD Scaffoldings, Shuttering

Jacks, Wooden Planks, Shuttering

wood assorted, Tower hoist (lift),

Concrete Mixer, Bending Machine,

Steel Fabrication Machinery

(Searing/Cutting, lathe & Welding)

including tools for immediate sale:

Contact 99273774/ 99202278

Brand new 4 BHK villa in Al Fai

compound Al Khoud. RO.475/-

Contact – 91776665

Villa of 3 BHK and sitting area in

Al Ghobra North. RO.525/-

Contact – 91776665

Luxury and brand new semi

furnished 2 BHK flat in Remal-

bowsher. RO.550/- #91776665

Spacious 1 BHK flat in Al Wattaya

with all split A/C’s and parking.

RO.300/-Contact – 91776665

ACC. AVAILABLE

ACC. AVAILABLE

Room available for Executive

bachelor at Al Hail. CONTACT

96234708

Furnished apartment for rent,

two rooms, hall, kitchen. Near Car-

refour. Contact 99336776

Fully furnished room with fully

equipped kitchen and sharing

bathroom immediately available

for Executive bachelor in N.Gubrah

opp. Maha Hotel. #95450250

Fully furnished 1BHK at Wadi-

kabir near Al Hassan RO275/

month available for 4 months

from 01/04/2016 to 31/07/16.

#92577929

1 BHK apartment for rent in Al

Khoud Shabiya near Mazoon

Mosque for rent. #93913224

Single room near Al Falaj Hotel.

Contact 99643845

Room with attached bathroom for

a family in Wadi Kabir. #97167857

Room with kitchen available at

Ruwi.# 91214897 / 98049288

Room with toilet for working lady.

Contact: 91450718

Room for rent with furniture.

Al Bustan village.CONTACT

93687466

Furnished room attached bath for

Indian bachelor, Al-Falaj Ruwi &

lady Wadi Kabir near Mars hyper-

market. #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. Interest-

ed please c#92680041 Mr. Altaf

BUYING

BUYING

Buying cars for cash. CONTACT

90202090

Bobcat available for rent. CONTACT

97623299

LOST

Mahinu Zaman has lost Bangladeshi

passport No BA 0262753. Finder please

handover to ROP.

Federico Coletta has lost Italian

Passport No. YA 7891689. Finder please

handover to ROP

Abdul Malek Omar Chan has lost

Bangladeshi Passport No. AG 7433717.

Finder please handover to ROP

Muhammad Bozlu Mea has lost

Bangladeshi Passport No. G 1703331.


Mariam Mohammed Bumma has

lost Tanzanian Passport No. AB 683742.


Mohammad Shah has lost Bangla-

deshi Passport No. E 451855. Finder

please handover to ROP

I Chaitanya Pandey holder of Passport

No. Z3129792 son of Mr. Yogesh Pandey

having permanent residence in Room

264, Hostel 8, IIT Bombay , Powai,

Mumbai - 400076 and presently resid-

ing in Special Oilfield Service Co. LLC ,

Building 4095, Way 1753, Madinat Qa-

boos PO Box 880, PC112, Ruwi, Muscat,

Oman intend to change my name from Chaitanya Pandey to Chetan Pandey for all practical purposes. Any objec-

tions towards my name change may

please be communicated to Embassy of

India, Muscat, Diplomatic Quarters, Al

Khuwair, PO Box 1727, Postal Code 112,

Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman.

Scraps / Material for sale

1. Steel / G.I./ Aluminum2. Copper / P.V.C.

3. Cables / Wire.

Contact

Drake & Scull International LCC

# 97486716

DAILY GUIDED4 W E D N E S D AY, M A R C H 2 3 , 2 0 1 6

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

SITUATION WANT-SIT.WANTED

SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED


Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

DRIVER

MEDICAL

MEDICAL

SKILLED LABOUR

ADMIN

ADMIN

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

Urgently required Omani recep-

tionist for a trading company in

Muscat. Kindly send CV to email:

[email protected]

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 /

[email protected]

DOMESTIC HELP

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

Wanted Accountant 6 years

minimum experience. Send CV to:

[email protected]

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:

[email protected]

Accountant with gulf experience

in construction field preferred with

Oman driving license. Interested

candidates send CV to:


Gsm: 95892831/95197615

Urgently required Kerala house

maid. Visa available. Contact:

94146486

Housemaid required for full-time

for Indian family, Hindi/English

speaking CBD area Ruwi.

Contact: 96183093

Looking for a part-time cook-cum-housemaid in Azaiba.

Call 92450197.

MISCELLANEOUS

Required candidates for following

posts: Accountant, Storekeeper, Foreman Building Maintenance, Van-salesman (water), Helpers. Candidates with Omani driv-

ing license preferred. Contact

99273774/99202278

Looking for driver with motorbike

licenses for resturant delivery , con-

tact 95048797

A woman Driver required from Mut-

trah to Darsait. Contact : 98090977

Part or full time Driver Required call

us 91120552

Urgently required female Gy-

necologist for a clinic at Samail.

Send CV: [email protected],

95498105

Wanted Nurse for a dental centre

in capital area. Interested may

contact – 93431024 or send CV to

– [email protected]

Wanted Staff Nurse for

a dermatology clinic in Muscat .

Must have MOH license and NOC.

Attractive salary offered. Email:

[email protected]

Required gynecologist GEN: practitioner lady lab Technician and pharmacologist immediately

for a clinic in Suwaiq. #95081010


SALES / MARKETING

TECHNICIAN

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: [email protected]

Electrician cum Plumber, Maintenance Supervisor with

D/L, Building Material Salesman,

C.C.T.V Technician. #9938304. E


28/male/MBA - finance/B.Com -

Accountant with 4 years of Dubai/

India experience looking for a

suitable placement. CONTACT

90187483

[email protected]

Dynamic Indian Male Account-

ant with 9 Years Experience seeks

suitable placement. NOC available.

Contact: 96902860

An experienced Chartered Account-

ant with over 25 years in varied

industries, presently working with a

reputed group in Muscat, looking out

for a suitable change. #96491030

25 yrs, MBA (finance) 1.2 years

experience seeking for Accounts

job. Contact : 94819575

10 yrs of Oman experience capable

of handling large accounts, looking

for suitable placement in senior

sales / business development posi-

tion. Contact : 98987654

Accountant available with NOC, 7

years experience in Oman. Ready

to join immediately. Contact :

98263394

Indian male 24 yrs B. Com, Tally

ERP with one year exp seeking for

suitable placement. Now on visit

visa. Contact: 94469269

Indian male 7 yrs Oman exp, Tally

ERP 9, Accounting, inventory con-

troller / asset supervisor & IT sup-

port, marketing seeking suitable

job. NOC available B.Com ,PGDCA ,

location Sohar having Oman D/L.

Contact 98317698, Email: sukua-

[email protected]

MBA, Finance, 1 yr experi-

ence in Accounting now on

visit visa, looking for suitable job.

#92901121, Email : lijojoy456@

gmail.com

Indian male, rich working experi-

ence in oman as “ Personal Assis-

tant / Office Manager (Executive

Office) / senior administrator /

business development asst.” hold-

ing Omani driving license. Local

release available – 99168054 -

[email protected]

10 yrs experienced Omani PRO

looking for suitable position. Good

knowledge in HR Admin ROP, all

Ministries related affairs. Contact:

99588154 / 93387833

MBA professional with 5 yrs exp

in the field of HR , Administration,

Sales (Business Development)

and accounts, holding valid UAE

driving license on visit visa until

end of March. Contact: 91731542/

[email protected]

Indian male 26 yrs MCA, 2 yrs ex-

perienced in System Admin & data

base controller. Contact: 92835125

Female MBA – HR professional, 5

yrs experience in teaching & admin-

istration, have flair in areas of man-

agement, on visit visa. #95905163,

Email : [email protected]

Indian Male – MBA (HR) & En-

gineering graduation with total 9

years of experience in HR & Admin

( 3 yrs of Oman Exp.) along with

hands on experience in technical

bid submission for all Govern-

ment & PDO tenders ready to join

immediately with NOC. Contact

@ 91240251/Email; kvaradhan@

hotmail.com

Indian female BA, 2 yrs exp look-

ing for suitable position in HR &

Administration. #94656009

Indian Female, MBA-HR having 8+

experience in Administration/HR,

Urgently required a Marketing Executive with 2 years experience

and driving license (GCC) for a re-

puted building material & electri-

cal showroom in Al Khoud. Please

send CV to – startradingmuscat@

gmail.com. Contact -

94320909

Required urgently for a pastry

shop in Muscat Sales lady and

Pastry Chef. Filipino National

only. Contact : 96962297

We are a professional visa

consultant in Oman, looking for a

STUDENT COUNSELOR AND IM-

MIGRATION COUNSELOR for our

company. Interested candidates

can email their CV at consultancy-

[email protected]

Looking for a country Sales Ex-

ecutive with valid driving license

and good communication skills.

Interested candidates please send

in the CV’s to salesjobinoman@

gmail.com

Required Sales staff 2 NOS Having

experience in Cosmetics Sales.

Send your updated CV to

[email protected]

GSM 92683688

Urgently Required Steel Fabri-cated Products Salesman with

an experience in steel fabrica-

tion, MUST have Oman driving

license, and immediately

join. Apply,

fax 00968–24605955, emails

[email protected],

[email protected]

Sr. Accountant: 37 Male, Indian,

13yrs Oman Exp. Finalisation/

Audit/Tax compliance/MIS/

Cash Flow/Budget/Payroll/AR –

99679247

Indian Male 30 yrs (M.Com) hav-

ing 9 yrs (5 yrs in Oman & 4 Yrs in

India) accountant exp looking for

suitable placement local release

available Contact 96425976

MBA Indian National 26 years old

Having (06) years experience in

FSM Industry Catering and Res-

taurant, As An Accountant and

finalization of all accounts related

works, Available to join immedi-

ately kindly contact on

98315449.

Male Accountant M.Com Accounts

& finance, 3 yrs exp in accounts

looking for suitable job on visit visa.

Contact: 94648575

Indian female MBA in financ

currently on visit visa seeking

suitable placement in Accounts /

HR/Admin Contact: 92896110. E


Indian male, M. Com with

3 yr Oman Exp in Accounts

with valid oman D/L, on

visit Visa, seeking suit-

able placement. GSM:94744575.

Email:[email protected]

Indian CA finalist, 7 yrs exp

having driving license with visa

looking for finance / accounts

position Email: rameesnm@gmail.

com, 98097009

B.Com Graduate, Indian male 24

yrs, 3 yrs exp in Oman looking for

Accounting, Sales, suitable jobs.

NOC Available. Contact:90615814.

Mail : [email protected]

Fresher 24, ACCA Affiliate, Ad-

vanced diploma in Accounting

and Business seeking suitable

placement in Accounts, Finance or

Audit with Oman driving license.

Contact - 92430152

Email - [email protected]

ACCA member with 6 yrs of

experience in Oman looking for

a suitable job in finance. Contact

99284193

Indian female MBA in finance

currently on family visa seeking

suitable placement. #96471025

Female seeking suitable place-

ment in reputed Company, 5 yrs

experience in Oman. Skills : Tally,

EKP9, Sage ACC, PAC, ITIL, MS

Office. Contact 95483804,

[email protected]

Indian male B.Com Graduate, 6

yrs exp in auditing, accounts and

marketing 3 yrs exp in Oman with

DL looking for suitable placement.

Contact :96146287, mubarakamk@

gmail.com

Indian male, 32 yrs, B.Com having

8 yrs Accounts experience in Oman,

looking for suitable placement (local

release + Oman D/L available). Con-

tact 97494322 / 98093515

Indian male 28 yrs MBA finance/

marketing and graduate in com-

puter experience 3 yrs seeking

suitable job, now family visit visa.

Contact: 93195378


Indian Male Accountant 10yrs

Exp. in OMAN Retail & Furniture Co.

(Release Available)#92564955

A leading regional co. in Muscat & Barka

specializing in heavy steel industries, Earthmoving

Equipments Spare Parts and material handling

solutions for Quarries, Crushers, Cement Plants and

Mining industry is looking for:

Qualified candidates, kindly send your CV's to [email protected]

A School in Oman is looking to recruit

teachers to teach Maths and Science for Grade 1

to Grade 5. Candidates must have a Degree in

Maths or Science with a B.Ed and minimum of

two years’ experience in teaching.

Interested candidates are requested to email a

copy of their CV with relevant teaching experience

certificates and qualification certificates to

[email protected].

A reputed multinational Trading & Services Co. in Oman requires

Service Sales ENGINEERThe candidate should be a Mechanical Engineer / Sr. Technician

With min. 3 years experience in related fields :

Sales of predictive maintenance tools and condition monitoring

technologies

Hands on experience in:

* Vibration Analysis of rotating machineries

* Machinery Balancing & Alignment

* Thermography

* Troubleshooting of machinery malfunctions

Submit CV to : [email protected]

An Art Gallery located in Qurum Area is looking for an Art

Gallery Manager to temporary run the place during the entire

month of June of this year.

Requirements for the jobs:- Omani female.

- Respectable, punctual, hard-working and good

communications skills.

- Fluent in speaking, reading and writing English.

- To have some experience in the field of Sales

- Have basic knowledge in using a computer.

- Having a degree in Fine Arts or History of Arts is an

advantage.

- Able to provide own transport

CVs are to be sent to the following e-mail account: [email protected]

For further information, please call 24566130

Wanted A Sales person

with valid GCC D/L,

experienced in project

selling of Ceramic tiles &

sanitary ware. Contact

with contractors &

consultants would be an

added advantage.

Email CV to – [email protected]

ENGINEER/MECHANIC.

A well reputed building mate-

rial & contracting Company in

Oman is looking for staff: Project

Manager (more than 10 yrs

experience), Engineer (more than

5 years of experience), Purchase

Manager (more than 10 yrs of

experience). Contact: 99808868


A Leading construction company

in Muscat urgently requires expe-

rienced Civil Engineer to work as

Project Manager / Advisor ( Omani

Nationals only) for full time or part

time. Send C.V to hr.azatllc@gmail.

com Whatsapp 98437450

Decoration Company looking for

Interior Design Engineer with

experience in 3D and Supervision.

Send your CV with the design

which you have done and after the

implementation. Email: alrih16@

hotmail.com

A construction company requires

Civil Engineer (degree holder) is

having minimum 7 yrs exp who

can independently handle the

site. Oman experience will be

plus point. Apply with bio data to

fax no: 24489096 or email: tec_

[email protected]. #99339661

Civil Engineer with minimum 5/8

years experience with valid Oman

driving license. Contact Interested

candidates send CV to:


Gsm: 95892831/95197615

Required female Nurse, with MOH

license for private dental clinic in

Bowshar area, Muscat.#92189807

GP doctor needed for reputed clin-

ic. Preferably with MOH license or

with Dataflow & Paramatics pass

Contact: 95388934

MANAGER

A well reputed building material

& contracting Company in Oman is

looking for staff: Project Manager

(more than 10 yrs experience), En-

gineer (more than 5 years of expe-

rience), Purchase Manager (more

than 10 yrs of experience). Contact:

99808868 Email: amtcbarka@

gmail.com

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, with

13yrs experience, 6 yrs Oman in

manufacturing, trading & con-

tracting Cos, capable of handling

all accounting, finance, banking,

L/C, import, export & finalization

seeks placement. NOC Available.

Call+968-98932752,

mail:[email protected]

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,


Indian male 34 Yrs, Dual MBA

Finance and marketing with IT

skills, 7+ yrs of experience,

Looking for suitable placement.

Contact : 94879615,Email-

[email protected]

Chief Accountant 25 years experi-

enced looking for part/full time ac-

countant 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.


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: [email protected].

MISCELLANEOUS

B.Com Graduate with 4 year expe-

rience as an Accountant in Oman.

Also have Oman Driving License.

Best fluency in English, Arabic,

Hindi& Malayalam. Looking for

Job. Currently in Oman. Cont: +968

93943448, [email protected]

Physiotherapist on visit visa

searching for a job. CONTACT

99767528 / 91317863


SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

DRIVER

DRIVER

ADMIN

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

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: [email protected]

IT

ITIndian History graduate with diploma in Safety with

valid Oman Driving licence seeks suitable placement.

Contact-93361624, [email protected]

B.Tech electronics & Comm.Engg

with CCNA certified with 2yrs exp.

Contact-99490930.

email; [email protected]

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


Civil Engineer 11 yrs exp in con-

struction field having Oman driving

license & NOC. Contact – 94194399 /

[email protected]

Engineer has 10 years local &

international experience in ready

mix concrete also in Oil & Gas field

also in marketing & sales field , has

Omani driving license. #92534098

Indian male, Mechanical

Engineer having 1year experi-

ence, on visit visa looking for

suitable job. Contact:97416564,


Civil Engineer diploma, 4 yrsexp

seeks suitable position ina reputed

company. NOC available. #96789711

Civil Engineer 8 years experience

in Oman as a project engineer for

governmental & private projects.

Contact – 90164912

Civil Engineer 8 years experience

Structural buildings marine. Availa-

ble NOC release. Contact: 92451323.


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:

[email protected]

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


HSE Engineer (B.E Mech+Diploma

Safety+NEBOSH+OSHA) over

10yrs. Exp, (Visa Release Letter

(NOC) available), seeking suit-

able placement, Mob:97061817,


MANAGER

MEDICAL

Electrical Engineer, 7 years exp,

NOC, GCC driving license looking

for suitable jobs in MEP services,

O & M of high voltage systems,

FMS. Contact: 96137008

B.Tech Mechanical Engineer, on

visit visa looking for job, who has

done certification courses in quality

control, basic pipeline engineering,

ASNT NDT level II, also good knowl-

edge in HVAC.Contact:94743373

email:[email protected]

Engineer with 5 years technical

sales experience among leading

brands in Oman construction mar-

ket D/L. Contact : 93985140 Male QC Inspector Mechanical,

NDT 20 years experience valid

Oman D/L, NOC available. Contact:

91001104

Pakistani male, 2.5 yrs experience

in AutoCAD Electrical design, esti-

mation, installation commissioning,

operation maintenance of switch-

gear panels MV, LT, MCC, HVAC,

Gen Set, fire alarm panels, available

on visit visa before 2nd April 2016

looking for suitable placement.

Contact 92012760, Email : ahmed.

[email protected]

B.E Electronics & Instrumentation

Engg, certification in Industrial

Automation having 2 yrs G.C.C exp

in power plant (termination & com-

missioning) having Omani driving

license. Contact: 95862110 Email:

[email protected]

Civil Engineer with 9 years experi-

ence seeks suitable placement,

NOC available. Contact : 91195257


Indian Engineer 2 years experi-

ence B.Tech (IT) CCNA & MCP certi-

fied visit visa seeks challenging

positions. Contact: 968 93184847,


Indian Merchandise, 7 years

experience Dubai seeks chal-

lenging positions D/L in Dubai.

Contact : 90390323 Email: nvsha-

[email protected]

B.E Mechanical Engineer, 24, one

year experience as Production

Shift Engineer, Trained on HVAC

Engineering design and has good

hands on software like AutoCAD

and HAP. On a visit visa, looking

for a suitable placement.Con-

tact:95065955 Email: mjs.jazeb@

gmail.com

Indian male, 25 yrs, fire & safety di-

ploma holder cum electrician look-

ing for a suitable job, presently on

visit visa. #94745056 / 98976252

DESIGNER/DRAUGHTSMAN

CATERING

Cooks (Arabic Indian) gulf exp

looking job. Contact: 99531802

Indian male 26 yrs, Diploma in

Electrical Engg residing in Oman

seeking job in supervisor. Contact

: 92182283 / 95767146, Email :

[email protected]

Indian Civil Engineer (BE) with

16 years of industry experience in

design, quantity surveying, looking

for suitable job. #90302823 Email:

[email protected]

Diploma in Civil Engineer having

8 years experience in Oman with

driving license. Release available

seek replacement urgently. Con-

tact: 95387537 / 97232020

HSE OFFICER - 7yrs GCC experi-

ence, (Indian, 29 yrs) transferable

VISA, Diploma, NEBOSH IGC, OSHA,

IIRSM. Mob :96647486

Indian male 23 Mechanical Engi-

neer (B.E) residing in Oman looking

for suitable job. Contact: 98530806

/ 99362006

BE (Mechatronic & Robotics Engg)

CNC Operations, basic computer

knowledge, multilingual skills, 23

yrs looking for suitable placement.

Contact 92552789

B.Sc in Civil Engineer having 10

yrs experience in structural designer

in RCC structure & steel structure in

Dubai having Municipality approval

& Dubai driving license looking

for suitable position. Email : engr.

[email protected]

BE Mechanical & Diploma with 4

yrs experience in India looking for

suitable job. Contact 90542737

Indian male, 27 yrs, Electronics

Engineer (B.Tech) & MBA, Project

Management with 5 years experi-

ence in electronic security system,

optical fiber, project planning instal-

lation. Contact 94819139,

[email protected]

Sudanese Civil Engineer 4 years

experience –98093544

Indian female 30 years Microbi-

ologist having 3 years experience

in Hospital having HACCP Level 3

, certificate seeking suitable job.

Contact: 92302719 / 92490501

Indian male 29 years Radiologists

MD having 3 years experience in

Hospital seeking suitable job. Con-

tact: 923027199 / 92490501

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,

[email protected]

Male GP Doctor with NOC 6 yrs

experience in Oman for perm/locum

job. Contact : 97746074

An experienced Sudanese female Dentist with MOH license looking

for job. #96436517 /97396088

Light duty driver, 3 years driving

experience of Oman, staying in

Oman from last 8 years. Contact:

96731603

Light car driving. Contact:

99578213

Looking for light driving job 2

years exp. Contact: 91625977

Pakistani looking for driver job,

6 years experience with own car.

Contact : 95365879

Driver. Contact : 94087276

Pakistani male light Vehicle Driver

with car looking for job. Contact:

99630504

2 years exp driver seeks place-

ment. Contact: 92055093

Operations & Accounts Manager

Indian 18 years experience in

Oman finance, purchase, sales, HR,

Admin looking for Senior position.

Contact : 99044724

The Business Development Manager, Iraqi, Experience 15

Years Inside and outside Oman

following activities: tenders& real

estate& construction & marketing

projects& investments & trans-

portation & Marine services&

companies management& develop

business. Contact: :- 92385033

General Manager MEP also man-

age civil, MBA, BE Electrical, 10

yrs exp in Oman valid D/L, release

available. Contact – 92447102

Indian male, with experience in

operations management, informa-

tion security, purchase & stores

mgmt, hold UAE driving license,

on visit visa, seeks suitable job.

#91904541


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

Indian male, MCA

(Post Graduate) fresher seeking

suitable placement

anywhere in Oman, now on

visit visa.

Contact 92319677, Email :

[email protected]

Indian Mechanical Engineer with

28 years of industry experience

in Sales & Marketing, Materials

Management seeks suitable open-

ing. Presently working with Indian

conglomerate in Oman. Possess

valid driving license and SUV.

CONTACT:+968 95901425

Male Dip.Civil Engineer, having 20

yrs exp (building & road) looking for

suitable job. Contact: 94720782

B Tech Mech, certificate attested,

exp in steel fabri. and autocad draft-

ing , salary -250 OMR. #96108187

B.Sc Civil Engineer 27 yrs Oman

exp as project manager, struc-

tural engineer looking for suitable

placement. NOC/local transfer

available. Contact: 99349578.


BE Mechanical Engineer 6 yrs

exp, 1.5 yrs in Oman in piping and

structure construction work. Release

available. Contact: 96115463. Email:

[email protected]

Indian male 35yrs BE - Engg 15 yrs

exp in UAE Site Manager looking for

job. Email : [email protected]

Pakistani male Diploma Civil En-

gineer 4yrs exp in Oman bulling &

mega projects, valid license Oman.

contact:98921022

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,


Male, NDT, QA/QC Supervision

Mechanical 10 yrs experience

seeks suitable placement.


[email protected]

Civil Engineers exp 4 yrs of Paki-

stan in building work.#95135608

Sr. Electrical Engineer with17+ yrs

of exceptional exp in spear head-

ing strategic planning and project

management initiatives & execut-

ing various high rise residential

& commercial building as well as

roads and highway project with

proficiency in installation, seeking

a challenging position in a dynamic

organization. contact 96570891

Indian male,24 yrs, Electronics

& Telecom, Graduate, Mumbai

University (2015 batch) looking

for entry level job in Engg.com

having good knowledge at telecom,

networking ,fiber optic, Oraclellg-

SQL, PLSQL, now in Muscat on

3 months visit visa. Contact :

91868936 / 93101922. Email: sid-

[email protected]

Electrical Design Engineer (MEP)

Indian male having 1.8 years of

experience in India. Available

on visit visa looking for suitable

placements. Contact: 92658569,


Diploma in Mechanical Eng pip-

ing system in AutoCAD work, 21+

years experience with Driving

license. Contact: 95267113


Indian Mechanical Engineer having 8.5 years of experience in

mechanical maintenance of steel

plant sintering division looking for

a suitable job Oman. Knowledge

of maintenance in belt convey-

ors, mixers, circle cooler, ID fans,

vibratory screen, two and four roll

crushers, weigh feeders, ESP, rotary

valves, apron feeder,dragconveyor

and vibrofeeder. Please #0091-

8805022155

Indian female Project Engineer

15 yrs experience Project Manage-

ment quality data base management

data analytics marketing business

development having Omani driving

licenses seeks suitable placement

presently on family visa, having Om-

ani experience. contact 95783792

Network Engineer CCNA-MCSA

exp computer science with NOC.

Contact : 92346191

Structural Engineer, 8 yrs expe-

rienced in flat slab, post tensioned

& slab-beam multi story building

design & supervision with driving

license. Contact: 98256860

Sales & Marketing specialist

with 16 yrs experience in Oman in

MNC retails telecom lubes

construction related industry

handled various projects, holding

valid Oman driving license,

release available.

Contact 96960991

DOMESTIC HELP

ARCHITECTURE

Housemaid (overseas) Indian fam-

ily looking for job. #99531802

Syrian Architect with 3 years of

experience in Design and Supervi-

sor in Oman. Contact : 97915193

Female Architecture with 3 years

experience seeking for a job knows

(AutoCAD2D, Photoshop, 3D Max

sketch up modeling). Contact:

95582641 / 99632745

3D & Multimedia Designer look-

ing for job, currently using family

visa. Contact : 95844940 Email:

[email protected]

Senior CAD Designer Indian male

with 10 years of experience (8

years of experience in GCC) good

knowledge of architectural, civil

using AutoCAD, MS Office seeking

suitable position. Contact: 90518123


AutoCAD Draughtsman seeking

job. Contact: 95516807

Indian Female, Bsc Fashion De-

signer with Oman driving Lisence,

looking for any good job.

Contact 98757582

Interior Designer Seeking suit-

able 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


Indian Male, IT System Engineer

having 4 yrs of experience in sys-

tem administration.CCNA,MCSE,

Linux. Looking for suitable job.

Contact :91272867

Indian male, 3 yrs experience in

IT as Linux Administrator & 1 yr

experience in Amazon EC2 Cloud

at Wipro Technologies Bangalore

looking for a suitable placement.


[email protected]

Male, 31 years, M.I.T, CCNA, 9

years exp in Qatar as assistant IT

manager, network administrator,

server management and knowl-

edge of developing website. Qatar

D/L and available in Oman on visit

visa. Contact:00968-98179462.

0097477237607, Email:

[email protected]

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

Young Omani male have experi-

ence 12 years as P.R.O, CLERK

Helper Supervisor Admin Supervi-

sor, H.R Manager have diploma in

H.S.E, IT and P.D.O license, looking

for H.R position or P.R.O part time

or full time. Contact: 95933288

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 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

Omani male, 37 yrs, with 18 yrs

experience in heavy & medium

vehicles driving looking for driver

job for reputed higher officials

(PDO light vehicle license &

heavy vehicle license). Contact

99808035

Pakistani, 3 yrs experience in

Oman seeks driver job. Knows

Hindi, Urdu, English & Arabic.

Contact 92142648

Pakistani male light vehicle driver

looking for job. Contact: 99521033

Bangladeshi male light driver look-

ing for job 3 yrs. experience. Contact:

94077119

Light driver looking for job Oman

exp. Contact :95292621

2 Years exp in driving, seeking

any job .Contact: 97460056

Indian light driver cum house

cleaner. Contact: 96255558

/99415443

EDUCATION/TRAINING

Female B. Ed English teacher, 7 yrs

exp seeking suitable placement. Con-

tact : 99739415 / 92091528

Indian Female, MSc Maths from

a Central University, B.ED quali-

fied with over 6 yrs into teaching.

Distinction holder and passion for

teaching, currently on family Visa.

Contact: 91360147. iffi_ftm@yahoo.

co.in.

Indian Civil Engineer in UAE

seeking suitable placement in

Muscat-Contact 00968 99142171

Electrical Engineer with 18 years

exp in UAE. Contact: 98148034


Project Engineer B.Sc Civil, 7.5 yrs

in Oman, need suitable placement,

NOC release available.#91129192

Sudanese Electrical Engineer, granted with distinction, hard-work-

ing 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

Civil Engineer 6 yrs Exp in Oman

with license. Contact: 98975518

Sri Lankan Engineer (27 Years

old) – B.Sc Engineering (Hon)

Mining / Geotechnical Presently

in Muscat, 1.5 years experience.

Contact 91295802

[email protected]

Mechanical Engineer M.Tech

2 years experience HVAC design

& site Engg revit MEP Auto CAD.

Contact: 90150913 Email:

[email protected]

Sudanese Telecom Engineer, 5 years experience, 3 years in Oman

PMP certificate. contact 93391008

Email: momen.awadallam@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 #95345591

Civil Engineer (BE) having total

5 years experience in build-

ing construction looking for a

suitable placement. D/L avail-

able#94450270

Bachelor Civil Engineer 6 Years

in Oman experience Valid Driving

License seeks suitable placement

Phone 97619722

Email – [email protected]

Road and Construction Engineer with 5 years exp in Oman.

Contact: 97667113

7 Yrs Exp. PM in Mech. Engg in

the field of Building Const. Oil &

Gas Seeking Job.94625598

Mechanical Engineer with 3 Yrs

experience in international Oil &

Gas company looking for job Con-

tacts: Tel: 90164236 Email:

[email protected]

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


Indian Electrical Engineer Btech,

female 24 seeking job, presently

in oman having 2 year experience

in design and estimation of Ht &Lt

projects. Contact 968 97436557,

Mail id : [email protected]

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

Indian male 27 yrs master in

computer applications currently in

Muscat with Oman driving license

seeking suitable placement. Con-

tact: 93191800 Email: vijilraj60@

gmail.com

5 yrs experienced Network

Administrator seeks suitable

job,1 year Gulf experience, Indian

Nationality, Indian (Keralite), male,

fluent in English, Hindi. Contact 91

9747520792 (India), 94022497

/ 98078068 (Oman), email :

[email protected]

Indian female B.Tech IT having 2

years experience in Oman in Ad-

min Insurance & IT support look-

ing for suitable position. Contact:

98679397

Indian female completed M.C.A

seeking for suitable jobs. Contact:

91409481 / 97308719

ASP.NET WEB DEVELOPER ,

3 YR EXP, PH : 97947921

INDIAN male, pursued bach-

elor’s of computer science having

experience in desktop Engineer,

looking for IT job, on visit visa,

seeking suitable placement.

#98784174 ,email : abdulmoy-

[email protected]

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

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:

[email protected]

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

Mason, SH / carpenter, steel fitter

gulf & Indian exp looking job.

Contact: 95175192

DAILY GUIDED6 W E D N E S D AY, M A R C H 2 3 , 2 0 1 6

Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

TRANSPORTATION

Transport services Muscat –

Kasab. Contact: 93163157

Office and private transport

available in Muscat area. contact

94297820

Transportation. contact

91703829

Ruwi, Muttrah, Al Khuwair,

Muscat, Qurum, seek transporta-

tion. Contact: 91132238

Transportation. Contact

99508282 /93113534

Transportation. Contact

99508282

Transportation. contact

92015894

Transportation available Ruwi to

Al Khuwair, Ghubra & Azaiba.

Contact: 91103909

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 months

tion guaranteed

Tel: 95244310

Any time available transporta-

tion solution for house office

shifting, TV fixing, carpenter all

type of maintenance. Contact

Indian person : 95194801 /

96594592 Whatsapp

WEB, ERP and Business Intelli-

gence (BI) creation and man-

agement at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman


MISCELLANEOUS

MATRIMONIAL

Nair boy 31 /175 cms working in

Muscat Pooram star wants suitable

bride. Contact : 95501263

Ezhava Divorcee, 37 yrs,

5.3”, Pharmacist in Muscat.

Email :suryakv2010@gmail.

com,+919961176066

Keralite, Kollam Marthoma male

(27) yrs diploma in Civil (Muscat)

seeking alliances form suitable

families. Contact: 95253640

Christian RC boy 30/160 cm fair,

working as an Accountant in a com-

pany Muscat, suitable proposals

solicited. Contact: 98788464

Ezhava girl 25yrs B. Tech working in

MNC Shudajathakam from Palakkad

looking suitable alliance Contact

99323085 / 99001726.

Malankara Catholic Male Nurse (28) from Thiruvalla working in

Nizwa Private Co. Alliance invites

parents/nurses working in Oman.

#968 98267338, 0091 9287215726

Indian male Roman Catholic 40yrs divorcee working in Muscat.

Seeks suitable alliance from widow/

divorcee/ single. #96059801.

MISCELLANEOUS

Indian Female on a visit visa hav-

ing master degree seeking suitable

placement in any field, 1 ,5 year

experience in HR .Contact :

+968 91467576.

Sudanese male, 5 years experi-

ence in warehouse management

and logistics services CONTAC

90644186

SALES / MARKETING

SALES / MARKETING

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

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

NRI

1650 Sq ft plot with gate for sale

Erettai Vaikkal, Vayalur Road, Trichy

95366777

Housing in a well developed area

for sale in Mangalore 100 meters

from Main road at: Malaraya

Temple Road, Chilimbi Near Urva

stores, Mangalore -Karnataka,

India Land: 181.60 Sq.mts, House

built in the year 1986 consisting

of ground floor and first floor. Total

build up area around 2000 Sq.ft

with car parking. Separate water

and electricity connections. Con-

tact: Anil Kumar: +91 97418 85128

(between 12 noon till 10 pm).

5 cent land location Trissur town

Paravattani National Highway

Road side, opposite Skyland flat

building, best location for shops &

villa. #968 95890957 / 99038328

Flats villas land for sale in Pune

Contact: 95272138/918139098275

Indian MBA Graduate having

4 years in Sales & Marketing

in Oman having Oman driving

license. NOC also available seeks

suitable placement. Contact :

94193313 Email: nvshameem123@

gmail.com

Sr Material controller, having

13 years experience in material

controlling in reputed companies.

Presently working in Muscat (NOC

Available). #00968-92944026,

Email [email protected]

Indian/male (25)/ MBA/2 years

experience in channel sales and

distribution management. on visit

visa. available for immediate join-

ing. Contact: 96914068, E mail:

[email protected]

Indian, BE Mechanical Engi-

neering with 1 yr exp as service

Engineer, looking for suitable posi-

tions. Contact-90637918, E mail:

[email protected]

Senior Accountant, 5 yrs Oman,

10 yrs UAE experience in manu-

facturing & construction valid

D/L immediately available. Email:

[email protected],

call: 95389018

32year Indian Male MSC,MBA-HR

having 8yrs Exp(HR / Payroll /

Admin) with Oman valid DL. Seek-

ing suitable opening in Human Re-

source, Payroll & Admin/ backend

jobs. Contact:00968-99322978

Indian Male ,MBA Finance &

Marketing 28 yrs,6+ Exp, with

oman D/L & NOC, Hospital ,Pharma

,Herbal ,FMCG, F&B Markeing ,con-

struction A/c & sales , 93379044

HSE Engineer, Indian male, 4

plus years experience in oil & gas,

working in shclumberger Nebosh,

ISOH & NDT certified, M. Tech in

HSE. contact-krish.569@gmail.

com mobile- +91 9867016808

BE Mechanical Engineering with

one year experience now on visit

visa, looking for suitable positions.

#90637918 / 99335742,email:

[email protected]

Indian/male (25)/ MBA /2 years

experience in channel sales and

distribution management. on

visit visa. available for immediate

joining. Contact: 96914068, email:

[email protected]

Indian male, 8.5 yrs experience,

B.Com Graduate with GCC exp &

valid driving license looking for

better job opening in Muscat. Con-

tact: 92609935 / 94771365

Indian male with 1 yr exp looking

for job in I.T as Web developer,

presently in Muscat on visit visa.

Contact: 92312978

Indian male network cabling tech-

nician (19 years Gulf experience),

seeking for suitable placement.

Contact : 0091-8089909265 (India),


Indian male, Kerala B.Com & B.PE,

looking for suitable Job in Sales,

Accounts, Admin etc. #93301023

email:- [email protected]

ACC WANTED

looking for a villa in Amirat area

Contact : 95405033

DRIVING

MISCELLANEOUS

12 yrs exp with store incharge

purchasing having valid Omani

driving license. #99004638

Wanted job as an office boy or cus-

tomer service. Contact: 94640906

Indian male 37 yrs X-Ray welder

7 yrs exp (ARC, TIG, ARGON,

Welding) seeking suitable job.

Contact: 91360190/98223683

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.


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


Bangladeshi male, University

M.Com, Working as an Accountant

& Administrator in Oman; search-

ing better job. Phone: 94864966


HOSPITALITY

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) #96059470

Indian , presently on visit visa

Graduate and IATA certified seek-

ing a job in travel and tourism.

Contact: 97066058

Indian female BA IATA, 7 yrs exp

in travel industry knows SABRE

AMADEUS GALILEO on family

visa seeks opportunity in Oman.

Contact 93531170. E mail: claudia-

[email protected]

Filipinas lady having exp in

ticketing and preservation, call

center, secretarial and real estate

is now looking for job please

call.94054080

TOURS & TRAVEL

MANAGER

The Business Development Man-

ager, Iraqi, Experience 15 Years

Inside and outside Oman follow-

ing 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

& investments& tenders & real

estate. Contact 92385033

10 yrs exp in procurement, ten-

ders, importing, marketing and

sales, organizing events. Have car

NOC available. Contact:

94123939

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/

[email protected]

Indian male Graduated in Busi-

ness Management having 4 yrs

exp in marketing & trading, dealt

with international companies and

product also having good knowl-

edge in logistic & Admin looking

forward to join immediately, hav-

ing GCC driving license and car

NOC available. Contact : 93639385


Indian male Graduated in busi-

ness management having 4 yrs

exp in marketing & trading dealt

with international companies

and product, also having good

knowledge in logistic and admin,

looking forward to join immedi-

ately. having GCC driving license

and car, NOC available. Contact :

93639385 email; faizenqidwai@

gmail.com

Pakistani male, fresh Graduate

& Diploma in hotel management

& tourism, computer literate,

interested in Sales & Marketing,

Accounts, available on permanent

visa, seeks placement with visa.

NOC available. Contact 91439870,


Warehouse Manager of 4 years

experience in South Africa (retail,

sales & marketing) and teaching in

Maldives, on visiting visa looking

for suitable placement in Muscat.

Contact : 94745292 Email: sabuso-

[email protected]

Computer Sales and Service man

(Indian) with Diploma in Electron-

ics and Communication with more

than 2 years experience available

in Oman. Contact : 97017866 /

95141354

Indian male MBA having 12 years

of Sales experience in Oman

seeking suitable position, good in

Arabic and having valid D/L. NOC

can be obtained (as per new rule).

Contact : 98908634

MBA, Executive Post, Omani Driv-

ing License, 14 years experience

in Multinational Groups in Sales &

Marketing. M.Z. 91685048

MBA Marketing sales & business

development, digital marketing

10 years experience telemarket-

ing online marketing. Contact:

98613324

Manager with 12 years experience

in sales & property management,

MBA in sales & marketing with

Omani D/L looking for a suitable

position NOC Available. Contact:

98125226

Indian male having 10 years of

exp in sales & customer service

also worked as IT Technician

CCNA Certified. Graduate seeks

suitable placement. contact

92490127

NDT candidate QC job visit visa.

Contact: 93857977 /

96085401 Email: sibinkjacob@

gmail.com

23 yrs, Indian male, B.Com, Gradu-

ate looking for suitable positions

as Assistant Accountant, Market-

ing Executive, Sales Executive or

in Administration, currently on

free visa with valid Oman driving

license. Contact 98093949

Indian male 26 years of experi-

ence of sales & marketing in

surgical and laboratory equipment,

looking for good placement. Con-

tact - 95774854

Indian M/39 confident Keralite,

Dubai Bank experience with

Oman driving license & NOC seeks

suitable placement in sales &

marketing / coordinator. contact

94742666

Indian male, B.Com worked in

Bahrain (4 years) and currently

working in Oman from last 4 years

in accounts and sales looking for

suitable placement. Valid Oman

license and NOC available. Contact

number : 9954 8543.

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:[email protected]

MBA graduate having 6 years exp

in Sales & Marketing, 4 years with

PEPSI, India, having international

driving license permit seeks suit-

able placement. #: 95308167,


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 [email protected]

Sudanese B.Sc in business admin-

istration, exp 8yrs in sales, mar-

keting & accounting. #96112453

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: [email protected]

Indian male, MBA Marketing

having 2.5 years Sales experience

immediately looking for a suitable

position. Contact: 91415145,


Male 38 yrs Graduate 07 years

experience indoor / outdoor

electronic field with D/License &

NOC available (as per new rule).

Contact: 92453375

FOR HIRE

Grader GD 705-5, Showel WA 430-

5, Roller BW 211D-40 JCB. Contact:

99292668

Grader, roller, bobcat, JCB 3CX, JCB 4CX with breaker & water

tanker for rent. CONTACT 93218705

/ 24478450

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: [email protected]


TOURS

TOURS

RENT A CAR

25 - 50 seater bus with PDO &

BP specification for monthly rent

& small car with driver. Contact

99839898

SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

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

Electrical Contracting Company

with DCRP- D Grade license, Mus-

cat started in 2013, having running

projects available for sale or part-

nership. #00968 9604 5659

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. Hyundai Electra saloon car 2010

with experience driver for com-

pany and other for all Muscat 24

hours available new car with expe-

rience driver.#97376342

Driver available with car.#96728056GOOD 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

[email protected]

Looking for experienced person to

run a fully arranged Coffee shop in

Khuwair (behind Rawasco) with 7

visa available 99441122

ACC.WANTED

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

WANTED

IELTS Coaching (academic) required

nearby wadi Kabir area. Please call

on mobile or msg on Whats up. Mo-

bile no: 92927880/99012165

D8 W E D N E S D AY, M A R C H 2 3 , 2 0 1 6

DAILY GUIDE Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

SITUATION WANT-SERVICES

SERVICESWe Provide Cleaners,

Window & split unit A.C servicing &

repairing. Contact: 99557080

Split & window unit A.C servicing &

maintenance. Contact: 96236476

Split & widow unit A.C servicing &

maintenance. CONTACT 93769089 /

95323517

Split & window A/c servicing & main-

tenance. #93769089 / 95323517

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing,

Contact 99314807/24792998

A/C maintenance & servicing,

fridge, washing machine & dish

washer repairing, painting & clean-

ing services, electrical & plumbing.

#99447257 / 97014234 / 24504281

A/C Technician, cold store,

freezer, chiller all kinds of A/C &

refrigeration installation & service.

Contact: 92279370 / 92459357

Water proofing ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

Pest control treatments, Ocean center LLC #99344723

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your

marble. #24793614/ 99314807

House shifting packing.

Contact: 99657644 / 98518013

House shifting. Contact: 99708138

Marble crystallization & grinding, cleaning & carpet shampooing.

Ocean center LLC.#99344723

Split A/C servicing R.O 10 only.

Contact: 94217681 / 99210141

Building maintenance. CONTACT

96173326

Al farzdaq Al Fedi Trad and Cont

Maintenance services electric,

plumbing and A/C. Contact:

96524904 /94285064

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

B

MY

MANPOWER

MV SALE

GMC Acadia No 1 SLT June 2014

Blue Metallic Color 95366777

Toyota Corolla, 1.6 Ltr, 2009

Model, Automatic, 110,000Kms -

RO.3,200/-. Contact:

92769735

Toyota Echo model 2005, 142,500

kms, in good condition. CONTACT

99412902

Doctor used Nissan Sunny 2012

new model for sale Indians pre-

ferred. Contact : 95991809

Toyota Yaris 2008 model, white,

color, automatic transmission,

expat driven km 140500. CONTACT

99104124

Toyota Rav 4 2012 RO 5500. Con-

tact: 93835318

Nissan path finder model 2012

R.O 5500. Contact :

97692959

Nissan Qashqai 2013 low mileage

30.000kms comprehensive insur-

ance UAE Oman valid till 2016 .

Contact: 96995430

Villa cleaning, shifting, marble

crystallization, tiles polishing,

shampooing sofa & carpet. Modern

Eastern Arms. 92145560

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. Contact ABU QABAS-

99320217 /24788722

Marble crystallization & grind-ing, Ocean center LLC .CONTACT

99344723

W E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6T I M E S O F O M A N S P E C I A L S U P P L E M E N T

PAKISTANNATIONAL DAY 2016

PAGE 2 > PAGE 8 >PAGE 4 > PAGE 6 >

The irresistiblePakistani fruits

Economy on the road to recovery

Why investin Pakistan!

Coastal attractionsof Balochistan

I N S I D E P A G E S

PresidentMamnoon Hussain

Poet of the EastAllama Dr Muhammed Iqbal

Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Prime Minister Muhammed Nawaz Sharif

On the auspicious oc-casion of 76th Paki-stan Day I have the privilege to extend heartiest felicita-

tions to all Pakistanis residing in the Sultanate of Oman.

The Pakistan Day is celebrated every year on 23rd March to com-memorate the most outstanding achievement of the Muslims of South Asia who passed the his-toric “Pakistan Resolution” on this day at Lahore in 1940. This Resolution gave an ideal to the Muslims and united them for the attainment of a shared objective. The Resolution demanded the establishment of a separate state based on the higher ideals of Is-lamic social justice and human compassion.

Though Allama Dr Muhammad Iqbal, poet-philosopher, gave an idea for the establishment of a separate homeland in 1930, there was still a need for a visionary leader to translate this concept into reality. The architect of Pa-kistan Quaid-e-Azam Moham-mad Ali Jinnah led Muslims of the sub-continent out of the darkness of political bondage and frustra-

tion into the dawn of freedom, and gave direction to their quest for liberty and self-determination.

The emergence of Pakistan as a sovereign state after seven years was the result of a long and ardu-ous struggle under the leadership of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. His motto, “Unity, Faith and Discipline” inspired the Muslims of Sub-continent and greatly helped in achieving Inde-pendence. Renowned American historian Stanley Wolpert paid a glowing and befi tting tribute to his leadership in the following words, “Few individuals signifi cantly al-ter the course of history. Fewer still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state. Mu-hammad Ali Jinnah did all three.”

Pakistan was achieved through a democratic strug-gle. The leadership of Pakistan movement stood for the rule of law, for freedom, social justice and representative rule where people would be the master of their destiny. They envisaged Pakistan as a welfare state. Therefore, whichever political party we may belong to, it is our

collective responsibility to pre-serve and protect the democrat-ic order in the country and make every eff ort to achieve the above mentioned goals. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah said: “We want to make this great State

of Pakistan happy and prosper-ous; we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people, and especially of the masses and the poor.”

Pakistan and Sultanate of Oman continue to maintain their

traditionally close and mutu-ally benefi cial relations which are based on mutual respect and trust. The strength of Pakistan-Oman relationship lies in diver-sifi ed engagement in many fi elds such as trade, defense, culture and education. I am happy that our relations with Oman are growing in all fi elds. I am looking forward to further promoting and expanding fraternal ties between the two countries. May Allah bless and guide the leadership of both the countries to continue with their endeavors to achieve further progress and prosperity for both the countries.

On this happy occasion I wish to convey our sincere greetings to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said and pray for the health and long life of His Majesty and for the continued progress and prosperity of the brotherly people of Oman under his benevolent rule.

I avail this opportunity to acknowledge the positive role played by the Pakistani commu-nity in upholding the soft image of Pakistan through their hard work and dedication. The Paki-

stani community is contributing to the development of the Sul-tanate and therefore, remains a great source of strength for us. I urge them to continue to perform with dedication and achieve new heights in serving the Sultan-ate of Oman. I also convey my gratitude to the Pakistan com-munity for their unwavering and continuous support for the successful accomplishment of many welfare projects which were otherwise very diffi cult to complete. On behalf of the Em-bassy of Pakistan I express my appreciation and thanks to the valued sponsors supporting the issuance of special supplements in three newspapers.

Let us pray that Allah Al-mighty grants us wisdom, cour-age and resolve to take our country on the path of glory and bless our eff orts to prove our-selves worthy of the heritage be-queathed to us by our founding fathers. I pray to Allah Almighty to enable us to protect Pakistan and put it on the rails of progress and prosperity.

Long live Pakistan-Oman friendship. — Naheed Naveed Atif

Pakistan and Oman continue to maintain their traditionally close and mutually beneficial relations

which are based on mutual respect and trust.

Naheed Naveed AtifCharge d’Affaires

Strength of Pakistan-Oman ties lies in ‘diversifi ed engagement’

Message of Charge d’Aff aires

2 W E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

P akistan is one of the few countries in the world where fruits grown in cool temper-ate climate (apples,

plums, pears, cherries), warm tem-perate (apricots, grapes, pomegran-ates and melon), and subtropical cli-mate (citrus, mango, banana, dates and guava) are available. Country annually produces about 12 million tons of fruits that fetch over $102.7 million in exports. Citrus fruit is leading in terms of production fol-lowed by mango, dates and guava.

Sweet Citrus Fruits (manda-rins, clementine and oranges)With 2.29 million tons, Pakistan is the 10th largest producer of Citrus in the world. Citrus is cultivated on an area of 193,212 hectares and it is increasing at compound an-

nual growth rate of 5 percent an-nually. Pakistan is also the largest producer of ‚Citrus Reticula‘ vari-ety (mandarins). This unique va-riety of citrus is indigenous to this part of the world. According to an estimate, approximately 95 per-cent of the total mandarins pro-duced all over the world is grown in Pakistan. Punjab is the centre of production and supplies citrus fruits of high quality and grade. The soil and climatic conditions in Pakistan have given mandarin a unique fl avor which distinguishes it from other comparable varieties grown in the World.

Magical mangoesPakistan, world’s third largest pro-ducer of mango, keeps the credit to produce some of the fi nest qualities of this fruit for their unique taste

and sweetness. It is home to more than 150 varieties of mangoes of which ‘Sindhri’, also known as the king of mangoes, remains the most popular. Other major varieties in-clude Chaunsa, Anwar Ratol, Lan-gra, Malda, Fajri, Bagan Pali, Dush-eri, Kala Pahar, Neelam, Summer Bahist and Totapari. These man-goes remain in high demand in international markets as some of them like Chaunsa and Sindhri are not found anywhere else. The European Union, Australia, South Korea, Japan, the Gulf and USA are the major importers of Paki-stani mangoes.

Irresistible appleApples have been grown as com-mercial fruit plants in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since long. The production of deciduous

The irresistible

T I M E S O F O M A N S P E C I A L S U P P L E M E N T 3

PAKISTAN NATIONAL DAY 2016

apple in Balochistan has a special signifi cance among other fruit growing areas. This is because the environmental conditions are relatively far more suitable for the production of this fruit. Ap-ple is grown in highlands of Balo-chistan with a production of 0.224 million tones. The Tur-Kulu (red delicious) and Shin-Kulu (golden delicious) are the famous varieties for their very attractive color and taste throughout Pakistan.

Delicious datesPakistan is one of the main growers of dates. It follows Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and UAE in the list of top date producing countries with about 10 percent share of global production.

Balochistan is the largest date producing province followed by Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakh-

tunkhwa. Out of the 300 varieties of dates produced in Pakistan, Begam-Jangi of Balochistan, Aseel of Sindh and Dhakki of Dera Ismail Khan are the most popular varieties across the world due to their exotic taste.

Pakistan earns around $29 mil-lion from export of dates each year. India remains one of the major importers of Pakistani dried dates whereas major importers of fresh dates include the US, Turkey, UAE, Qatar and Malaysia.

Export of fruit in Pakistan has shown an appreciable increase in recent years. Latest post-harvest techniques such as hydro cooling, refrigeration and freezing, modifi ed atmosphere (MA) packaging, stor-age, control atmosphere storage, skin coating, hypobaric are being employed to preserve and protect the quality of the product.

Pakistani fruits

HIGHLIGHTSPakistan produces

12 million tonnes of

fruit every year

Fruits worth $102.7million are exported

annually

Pakistan is 10thlargest producer of

Citrus in the world

95 percent of

mandarins produced

in the world is

grown in Pakistan

Pakistan is thirdlargest producer

of mangoes

Pakistan grows about

10 percent of global

dates‘ production

Latest post-harvesttechniques are used

to protect quality

of its fruits

4 W E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

W ith democracy fi nding its feet in Pakistan, the country is now well on its

way to strengthening its institu-tions and delivering in more areas of economy than ever before. With the country‘s economy growing steadily, Pakistan now off ers ideal atmosphere for global investors to do business there.

Pakistan is home to the sixth largest population in the world at more than 180 million people and is also the 26th largest econ-omy by purchasing power parity and 44th largest economy by real gross domestic product. By 2050, Pakistan is tipped to become the 18th largest economy. The country is a federal parliamen-tary democracy, comprising four provinces and federal territories, based on separation of powers principle and an efficient regu-latory system that oversees the economy. There are a number of

very good reasons why Pakistan is an attractive destination for for-eign investment:

1 Demographic dividendPakistan has the fastest grow-

ing middle class in South Asia with a wide consumer base. According to the Asian Development Bank since 1990 Pakistan has experi-enced a growth in the middle class at an astonishing 36.5 percent. Pa-kistan is the sixth largest market in the world with a population of 180 million of which more than 65 million constitute the middle class. Global FMCG giants see Pakistan as a lucrative market for their products. It may be added here that consumer spending in Pakistan has increased by an average of 26% in three years, according to a Bloomb-erg report published on November 21, 2012 – a strong sign that people are consuming more goods than ever before. This rise in consumer demand has spurred the growth of supermarkets across major ur-

With the nation

experiencing

steady economic

growth and stability,

Pakistan off ers

global investors

a plethora of

incentives to make

the most of their

investments in

the country

Why investin Pakistan!



ban centres, which include, but are no longer limited to, Karachi, Hyderabad, Multan, Lahore, Fais-alabad and Islamabad. Such super-stores are getting larger and asking manufacturers for broader brand portfolios in order to serve their customers better. They have larger shelves, enabling them to have more sophisticated and developed categories in which they can stock more products than ever before.

2 Evolving investorfriendly policy

Pakistan accords equal treatment to local and foreign investors. All economic sectors are open to FDI except a few specifi ed industries like arms and ammunition, ex-plosives, radioactive substances, security printing, currency and mint. Foreign equity up to 100% is allowed, apart from a host of other incentives including remittances of royalty, technical and franchise fee, dividends, capital and profi ts and import of raw material for export

manufacturing zero-rated. Foreign Investment is fully pro-

tected by following Acts:i. Foreign Private Investment

[Promotion & Protection] Act, 1976.ii. Protection of Economic Re-

forms Act,1992.Pakistan‘s investment policy has

been formulated to create an inves-tor-friendly environment with a fo-cus on further opening up the econ-omy and marketing the potential for direct foreign investment. Various incentives have been off ered to at-tract foreign investment including full repatriation of capital, capital gains, dividends and profi ts. Fur-thermore, according to various eco-nomic commentators, Pakistan has the most liberal investment policy regimes and public-private partner-ship frameworks in the entire South Asian region. The changed scenario of globalization has shackled the economies of the developing coun-tries and has forced them to adopt liberalized policies for attraction of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). In the backdrop of international competition, these countries have created effi cient and competitive in-dustrial clusters / economic zones. These zones have reduced the cost of doing business and thereby in-creased their exports share globally.

To meet global competitiveness eff ectively and effi ciently, creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Pakistan has become an acute ne-cessity. The SEZ Act, promulgated in 2012 provides SEZs to be set up by the federal or provincial govern-ments themselves or under diff er-ent modes of public-private part-nership or exclusively through the private sector.

The provincial SEZ authorities,

set up under the law, are required to move the applications received from developers to the Federal Board of Investment for seeking approval of Board of Approvals/ Approvals committee. The main objective of this SEZ is to give assurance to the investors that the incentives once given cannot be withdrawn to the disadvantage to the investors. The features/incentives for the SEZs are as under:

- Exemption of levies on import of capital equipment for zone develop-ers and investors

- Corporate Income tax holiday of 10 years for investors and for zone developers

- Captive power generation would be allowed to zone developers

- Maximum land that each SEZ can allocate for commercial use and other non-productive activities such as for setting up retail shops, other recreational areas, hospitals etc should be limited to 30% of total land area.

- Minimum area for a SEZ should be 50 acres.

- Investors must begin construc-tion within 6 months and produc-tion within 24 months of project approval. The land titled will not be transferred to the investor until after it has been in production for 6 months.

- Each SEZ must have rules re-garding investment destiny and coverage ratio in place that will have to be approved by the Board of Ap-provals (BoA).

- Any Existing Zone at its desire may apply to the SEZ Authority in which they are located to become eligible for SEZ but can avail only one set of incentives.

Continue to Page 7 >

Pakistan is home to 6th largest population in the world

26th largest economy by purchasing power parity

44th largest economy by real gross domestic product

Tipped to become 18th largest economy in the world by 2050

Fastest growing middle class in South Asia

Consumer spending increasing annually by an average of 26%

Corporate income tax holiday of 10 years for investors

Pakistan has the 10th largest labour force in the world

HIGHLIGHTS

6 W E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6

Blessed with a coastline of 800 kilometres, Ba-lochistan, the largest province of Pakistan area wise, is known to

have breathtaking natural beauty and historical places along the way. A trip to Balochistan will take you through to an unforgettable jour-ney full of chill, thrill and adven-ture of a lifetime.

Gwadar PortGwadar is famous for three things: fi shing village, 5-star hotel on the hammerhead, and the famous Gwa-dar Port, which was opened in 2007 by then President General Pervez Musharraf. Gwadar port was built with the assistance of China. It is situated on three very important cross-roads: oil rich Middle East, Central Asian countries and Paki-stan. The plan for this port was to facilitate trade and accessibility to Central Asian countries via Afghan-istan. A good vantage point to view this port is from the Pearl Continen-tal Hotel which is situated on top of the hammerhead. PC can arrange a tour of the port if one wants to go and see it.

Hammerhead in Gwadar

Hammerhead is a projection pro-truding out on the ocean, and looks like front of a hammerhead shark. This rocky mass was created by an-cient mud volcanoes which covered this region. Majority of the moun-tains carved on the coastal highways are results of mud volcanoes. The hammerhead on its southern side gives a beautiful view of the Arabian Sea, and on its north end the Gwa-dar City. Gwadar’s prime residen-tial block, Sanghar Housing scheme, is built on top of this hammerhead. Also on the hammerhead is an army and a navy base.

OrmaraOrmara is approx 240 km from Karachi. This city is also at a mid-point between Karachi and Gwa-dar. The city belongs to Pakistan Navy as several of their vessels are stationed here. A large hammer-head formation protects Ormara from the sea. It is also a small fi sh-ing village, and a pit stop for fuel and nourishment. The beach at Ormara is beautiful, sandy, clear and untouched. A small airport also serves the local population.

Ormara is also an ancient city and Alexander the Great’s route is linked with it. The city got its name from

one of Alexander’s General Ormuz, who died here.

The SphinxFrom a distance it looked like the replica of the Sphinx in Egypt. A naturally carved object on top of a range, the formation resembles the famous man-made structure. This is situated well before Princess of Hope. The formation is within the Buzzi Pass. One cannot miss it.

Buzzi PassBuzzi pass is the most spectacular scenery one can imagine. Starting from Kund Malir where the MCH starts to climb and going all the way till you reach Ormara (approx. 100 km from Kund Malir), one is treated to an unimaginable scen-ery and views.

Overlooking the Hingol National Park, the scenery defi nitely resem-bles a mini-Grand Canyon. The road climbs to approx 1500 feet only, and on both sides there is something to see. On various spots small streams are fl owing, or small crater type lakes are visible.

Various rock carvings that can be seen inside the Buzzi pass re-mind one of diff erent architecture (Sphinx, Pyramids, Greek Pan-

theon, etc) around the world. Who knows travelers through this region may have got the idea of building similar architecture.

MCH is the same route Alexan-der the Great took on his way back after sightseeing the Indian Sub-continent and it was the treach-erous Buzzi pass where he lost many of his legions. The landscape on the MCH is really spaced out. The dry-diverse landscape, built by ages of erosion and eruptions, has made this drive on the coastal highway once (or twice) in a life-time trip. Some of the sceneries, especially in driving through the Buzzi pass, are breathtaking.

DesertRight after you pass Hingol Riv-er bridge, the scenery suddenly changes. On your right are moun-tains, and on your left a desert. Be-yond the desert is the ocean. If you have a 4x4 car, you can enjoy a short desert safari sunning up and down the sand dunes.

Nani MandirHinglaj is an important Hindu com-munity’s pilgrimage site. Situated almost 250 km from Karachi on the Makran Coastal Highway, one can

easily traverse this journey in ap-prox 3-4 hours.

From the coastal highway at Ag-hore, a dirt track leads towards Nani Mandir, a Hindu temple carved in-side the mountain, and is situated approx. 10-15 km inside the Hingol mountain ranges. At one time one could take their own car till the tem-ple, but neglect has caused the road to deteriorate, and one now needs a 4x4 to reach this site, as you may have to cross the Hingol river.

Mythology states that to calm de-ity Shiva down when he was in his trance performing Tandava/dance, deity Vishnu carved Sati (fi rst con-sort) into several pieces, and spread it around the sub-continent. The head landed at Hinglaj.

Ex-Indian foreign minister of BJP, Jaswant Singh, made a pil-grimage to this Mandir in 2006. Devotees part of pilgrimage is to visit the Mud Volcano fi rst, Baba Chandrakup, and then travel to Nani Mandir, which is revered both by Hindu and Muslim followers.

Mud volcano

The geographical terrain of Hingol National Park was created millions of years ago by various mud volca-noes which existed in this area. Very

few (some say 18) active volcanoes are left, and one of them is called Baba Chandrakup (apprx 200-300 feet high). It is also claimed that this is the largest mud volcano in the world. The mud it spews out is not hot, but cold.

On the Makran Coastal Highway there is huge sign directing one towards the mud volcano, but one needs a 4x4 vehicle to reach this vol-cano or walk 7 kms towards it.

The mud volcano is part of Hindu mythology, where devotees on their pilgrimage camped overnight at the base and off ered “Roti” (bread) in the morning, and confessed their sins. Those who do not confess are separated from the pilgrimage and asked to go back. After the comple-tion of their rites, the pilgrims pro-ceeded towards Nani Mandir, ap-prox 27 km from here.

Hingol National ParkHingol National Park is the largest national park in Pakistan. Declared national park in 1997 owing to its ecological and biodiversity impor-tance, it stretches over 600,000 hectares, including both terrestrial and marine species, the fi rst and only protected area of such kind in south Asia.

Coastal attractions of Balochistan



Why invest in Pakistan!


Don’t litter a beautiful country like OMAN.

3 Large workforcePakistan is the 10th largest

country in the world according to the size of the labour force. The latest statistics show that the to-tal labour force has increased from 50 million in 2005-06 to 59.7 mil-lion in 2012-13. It shows that more than 9 million people joined the labour force during this period. On the other side, the number of em-ployed labour force increased from 46.95 million to 56.0 million during this period. This means that all the increase in labour force could not be adjusted in employment sector and therefore unemployed people increased from 3.10 million to 3.73 million during the same period.

4 Availability of skilled manpower

Pakistan has more than 200 insti-tutions of Higher Education rec-ognized by the Higher Education Commission. The country produces close to half a million graduates and about 20,000 graduates in Com-puter Science and about as many in engineering faculties annually. This translates into huge potential vis a

vis skilled manpower in the country.

5 English speakingwork force

Pakistan has one of the largest Eng-lish speaking work forces outside the English speaking world. Eng-lish language is compulsory in all educational institutions in Pakistan and secondary, higher secondary, graduate and post graduate level ed-ucation is largely conducted in the English language. Euromonitor In-ternational estimated in 2009 that 49 percent of Pakistani population has working knowledge of the Eng-lish language which translates into about 92 million Pakistanis.

6 Infrastructureimprovement

The emphasis in recent years has been on infrastructure improve-ment, both technologically and physically. A series of new motor-ways has been planned and new highways and expressways have been completed to link various cit-ies in the country. The government is implementing Bus Rapid Transit systems in major cities. Plans to link

various cities through bullet trains are afoot. A brand new airport, the Gandhara International Airport, is nearing completion in Islamabad and will be equipped with the latest facilities. On technology front, Paki-stan has auctioned off 3G and 4G li-censes and now 3G cellular services are operational all around the coun-try. The government is also making eff orts towards improving internet connectivity and penetration even in the remotest parts of the country.

7China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

China and Pakistan have entered into a comprehensive plan of “eco-nomic corridor” between the two nations. It will serve as driver for connectivity between South Asia and East Asia. High level infrastruc-ture development will link Urumqi in Western China to Pakistani centers of Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi and ultimately the Gwadar Port. It forms part of the “String of Pearls” strategic maritime planning by the Chinese. The Chinese Economic Corridor which will link Western China to Middle East and Africa has immense

economic potential in services espe-cially transportation and banking.

8 Geographic location Pakistan is located at a stra-

tegic hub, close to the markets of South East Asia, Middle East and also Europe. Pakistan‘s neighbour to the east is India which is a ris-ing economy in its own right and with which Pakistan is attempt-ing to cultivate long term peace-ful relations. To Pakistan‘s south west is the oil rich Middle East. Towards Pakistan‘s North West is the energy rich Central Asia and in Pakistan‘s north is China. Paki-stan‘s airports can serve as trans-portation hubs. Karachi‘s Jinnah International Airport is more or less equidistant to Dubai, Doha, Delhi, Mumbai, Muscat, Lahore and Islamabad.

9 Natural resourcesPakistan is rich in natural re-

sources. The potential for oil, gas and minerals exploration in the west of the country is enormous. The east, historic Indus Valley, is ex-tremely rich in agriculture.

FROMPAGE 5<

8 W E D N E S DAY, M A R C H 2 3, 2 0 1 6 T I M E S O F O M A N S P E C I A L S U P P L E M E N T


W hatever fair or unfair criticism that may be leveled against the govern-

ment, Pakistan’s economy is mov-ing towards a stable recovery after a turbulent period of fi ve years. The country is slowly winning the con-fi dence of the foreign investors and countries like South Korea, Japan, China, UK, Gulf and UAE are com-ing forward with full vigor to invest here, especially in the energy sector.

Highly encouraged by robust manufacturing and service sector, GDP growth is projected to achieve four percent this year. From a weak fi nancial position, the government is taking all sorts of positive meas-ures to meet its fi scal defi cit target. No doubt the imports, FDI fl ows and private investment and circular debt in the energy sector still remain per-turbing. The current account defi cit remains normal, about one percent of GDP, being supported by strong remittances and export sturdiness. The external position is cautiously improving since monetary and ex-change rate policies moved towards ameliorating reserves last Novem-ber. The fi scal defi cit is at around six percent of GDP, with restriction on current and development ex-penditure. Growth continues to be motivated by private consumption. However, private domestic invest-ment recovery is mild.

The surge in growth of large-scale manufacturing came from strong performances of agro-based indus-

tries, iron and steel, construction and external demand-driven cot-ton yarn and fabrics-based textiles while the agriculture performance was slightly below the target due to un-favorable weather conditions.

The government has tried to rec-tify its loose fi nancial stance. On the expenditure side, energy-related subsidies have been reduced with tariff adjustments. Nevertheless circular debt is again becoming visible. External fi nancing avail-able to the government is scarce, but expected to improve. Uncer-tainty in the political environment still weakens investor’s confi dence and lessens economic activity. The worrisome domestic energy sec-tor continues to sustain a long-due complex inheritance on its circular debt. According to the Interna-tional Monetary Fund (IMF), Pa-kistan economy is showing signs of

improvement and that its reform program remains broadly on track. IMF is concerned that infl ation will rebound in the coming months. It has forecast that infl ation in Paki-stan will hit 10 percent this year. Pakistan is committed to increas-ing growth and improving fi nancial stability, while implementing meas-ures to reduce defi cit. State Bank of Pakistan has estimated economic growth in current fi nancial year of up to four percent, surpassing fore-casts by international agencies.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a $6.7 billion loan package for Pakistan in Sep-tember last year, subject to strict economic reforms, particularly in its troubled energy sector and tax system. In the last fi scal year, Paki-stan’s economy grew at 3.6 percent, the central bank said and infl ation fell to single digits. But it warned infl ation could rise as high as 11 per-cent in the current fi scal year.

The latest macro-economic indi-cators show a strong recovery of Pa-kistan economy. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar recently noted that the fi s-cal defi cit is well below the target for the current year, infl ation is down to single digit and foreign reserves have crossed the $10 billion mark. He said that the stock market in the country is booming and has reached the 31,000 mark. The government had cleared the circular debt and was able to add 1,700 MWs of elec-tricity to the national system in the near future, which led to growth in large scale manufacturing.

Economy on the road to recovery, stability

HIGHLIGHTSPak economy showing

signs of improvement,

says IMF

GDP growth expected

to reach four percent

in 2016

Robust manufacturingand service sector

pushing growth

times of oman - march 23, 2016

Documents