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MONDAY, March 30, 2015 /9 Jumada Al Thani 1436 AH timesofoman.com wtimesofoman.com facebook.com/timesofoman twitter.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company

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REJIMON K ANDFAHAD AL GHADANIreji@timesofoman.comfahadnews@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Road accidents and related deaths continued to track down last year, but despite the welcome news, an average 15 people lost their lives every week in 2014.

In 2013, the average deaths in road accidents were around 17 per week.

While authorities, road safety experts and parliamentarians have welcomed the dip in figures, they feel more needs to be done.

Pointing out that the dip in ac-cidents is a positive sign, an offi-cial from the Royal Oman Police (ROP) said, “The dip in road ac-cidents in 2014 can be attributed to increased traffic control as well as the installation of speed radars.

“Road users have become more aware about the need to abide by traffic rules. Traffic awareness has led to a decline in the number of accidents.”

Commending the motorists and authorities, the ROP official said, “Better adherence to safety rules,

new roads, and patrolling by po-lice have helped the cause.”

He asked motorists to continue following the road safety rules.

In 2014, 816 people were killed in 6,717 road accidents, while in 2013, 7,829 road accidents left 913 people dead.

Positive sign“Comparison between statistics is a positive sign. But while en-hancing awareness among pub-lic to stay safe while driving, we should not forget that a lot has to be done to improve safety on the roads. The increase in the number of vehicles and lack of safer roads is a matter of concern,” Tawfiq Al Lawati, a Majlis Al Shura member, told the Times of Oman.

“Efforts should be made to bring

down the number of accidents and casualties even further,” the Shura member added.

The ROP statistics of 2014 show that there were 2,995 collision ac-cidents, 1,613 accidents due to col-lision against fixed objects, 1,114 accidents in which the vehicles overturned, 790 pedestrian run-over accidents, and 175 animal run-over accidents.

A road safety campaigner said that although the numbers reflect a reduction in both accidents and fatalities, it is still disappointing that so many individuals are still losing lives in accidents on the roads of Oman.

“The statistics are very posi-tive and reflect the efforts initi-ated by the concerned authorities to reduce speeding via the use of

speed cameras, the running of red lights cameras and enforcing fines when drivers are not obeying the law,” Daryle Hardie, CEO of Safety First, a road safety organi-zation, said.

“With continued efforts to high-light the dangers of being behind the wheel of a vehicle in Oman, I hope we see the numbers reduce further, year on year,” Daryle said while adding that the key to re-ducing road accidents is driver at-titude and education.

World Health Organisation sta-tistics show that nearly 3,400 peo-ple die on the world’s roads every day. And United Nations reveals that globally road traffic injuries are among the three leading caus-es of death for people between five and 44 years of age.

Source: NCSI Graphics

Road accidentsJanuary2014

January2015

Deaths (January 2015)

Accidents

Deaths

568483

59

39

69

Omanis

20Expats

Females Males

Road deaths drop but toll still runs to 15 per week

While the dip is

welcome, more

needs to be done

OMANSix-month entry rule

1Though, you have exceeded the absence limit, your visa and resident status

will remain active unless your employer cancels it. >A3

OMANTourist information

2More tourist information centres will be set up to ease visitors’ access to

important information on Oman and its tourist spots. >A5

MARKETDuqm project tender

3A prequalification tender for building facilities for cooling plants has

been floated by Duqm Special Economic Zone Authority. >B1

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

Aussies win fifth World Cup title

Consensus on unified Arab force

REJIMON K reji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Arab leaders have agreed to create a unified Arab force as Oman expressed hope for security and stability in the re-gion on Sunday.

A tweet posted on the Arab League’s official Twitter account says that Arab representatives would meet over the next month to study the creation of the force.

According to a resolution adopted at the meeting in Egypt, which was dominated by talk about the Saudi-led offensive against rebels in Yemen, the find-ings of the coming meeting will be presented to defence ministers within four months.

Saudi Press Agency, the official

news agency of Saudi Arabia, re-ported that representing His Maj-esty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, His Highness Sayyid Asa’ad bin Tariq Al Said expressed the hope during his speech that the meeting would yield positive results in the field of security, stability and prosperity of the Arab people.

“The summit is being held at a time when the region’s secu-

rity, stability and social cohe-sion is being affected negatively. The Sultanate emphasises the importance of solidarity and constructive dialogue among brothers to develop a shared vi-sion and compatible solutions to address the problems in the region,” HH Asa’ad said, adding that the Arab nations will be able to overcome the challenges. >A6

A R A B L E A G U E

POSITIVE RESULTS: Representing His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin

Said, His Highness Sayyid Asa’ad bin Tariq Al Said expressed the

hope that the meeting would yield positive results in the field of

security, stability and prosperity of the Arab peoples. – ONA

HM receives greetings from Prince Charles

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has received more cables of greetings on the occasion of the auspicious return of His Majesty to the homeland.

His Majesty the Sultan re-ceived cables from Prince Charles of Wales and David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK).

In their cables, they ex-pressed their sincere greetings and best wishes of good health, well being and a long life to His Majesty, and Omani people fur-ther progress, prosperity and welfare under His Majesty’s wise leadership. -ONA

C A B L E S

Weatherman predicts

rise in temperature

S U M M E R

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Westerly winds from the desert will send temperatures soaring in Oman in the coming days, said the Directorate Gener-al of Meteorology and Air Naviga-tion (DGMAN), which monitors the weather conditions in the Sultanate.

Speaking to the Times of Oman, a DGMAN official said the temperature is likely to touch 40 degrees in various parts from this week because of westerly winds from the deserts of Saudi Arabia.

No chances of rain“As there are no chances of rain this week, temperature will con-tinue to go up,” the official said.

He also said that in places such as Sur, Ibri, and Haima, tempera-tures have already reached 38

degree Celsius on Sunday. “It will become very hot in the desert ar-eas because of these winds,” he explained.

In Oman, summer normally sets in by mid-April and contin-ues until October. >A6

One weekweatherforecast

GraphicsSource:The Weather Channel

Temperature(in degreeCelsius)

Wind speed (Km/h)

MONDAY 30

TUESDAY 31

WEDNESDAY 1

THURSDAY 2

FRIDAY 3

30

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A2 M O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

OMANSAYYID ASA’AD RETURNS HOME FROM SUMMIT

His Highness Sayyid

Asa’ad bin Tariq bin

Taimour Al Said,

Representative of

His Majesty the

Sultan, returned

home on Sunday

evening after leading

the Sultanate’s

delegation on behalf

of His Majesty

Sultan Qaboos bin

Said to the 26th

regular session of

the Arab Summit,

which was held at

Sharm Al Sheikh in

the Arab Republic of

Egypt. —ONA

State Council approves HRlaws reportMUSCAT: State Council’s Hu-man Resources Development Committee adopted the Human Resources Committee’s report on ‘The revision of the laws and legislation governing the na-tional workforce in the private sector’. The meeting, held in the Council’s building, was headed by Saud bin Sulaiman Al Habsi, head of the committee.

The committee will submit the final report to the Office of the Council for presentation to the State Council.

The Committee on Human Resources Development is pre-paring its report to complement the efforts of the previous stud-ies on the development of hu-man resources in Oman.

The committee hosted sev-eral public and private sector officials for the study.

It also hosted an extended seminar in the beginning of March this year, which was at-tended by many public and pri-vate sector institutions. —ONA

LEG I S LAT I ON

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OMANM O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

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I had been teaching at a private institution in Oman between 2011 and 2014. I left Oman on July 2, 2014 to return to my home country, South Africa. But before I left Oman I had a verbal agreement with my employer about return-ing on January 2, 2015 to resume my job. Before returning to Oman last year, I called my em-ployer to ask for my flight ticket. He said my job position wasn’t available anymore but he would like to take me on board for the next academic year. Now I am stranded. I am not sure whether the ROP will allow me to enter Oman in the light of the new visa laws. My em-ployer, however, assured me that I could come at any time and that my be-longings are safely stored in a room in an apart-ment. I emailed him stat-ing I needed a letter from him to enter Oman again. He replied that he needs a copy of my passport and of my residential ID. My residential identity card expires in October 2015. I have been out for almost six months. When I left Oman my visa wasn’t

cancelled. I want to come back to Oman. Do I need a letter from my employer? Should I send him my passport copy and resi-dential ID? Will the ROP allow me to enter Oman? If my residential visa has expired (automati-cally after 180 days), can I come on a visit visa? I need to know details.

Since you have exceeded your stay outside Oman for more than 179 days, you will not be eligible for entry into the country. Though, you have exceeded the limit, your visa and resident status will remain active in the computers unless your employer cancelled the same showing your continu-ous absence from Oman. In any case, you will need the support of your employer to re-enter Oman and to col-lect your belongings. If your employer has no objection to your re-entry, there is no reason that the ROP will disallow you to enter the country. Please contact your employer and provide him with copies of your passport and resident card (there are chances that he may not have copies of the same in his files) for follow up with the ROP.

Exceeding 179 days of stay forbids entry

L E G A L C O L U M N

Times of Oman, in association with Khalifa Al Hinai Legal Consultants, will answer the legal queries of readers every Monday. Questions can be sent to readersclub@timesofoman.com

SCAN HERE TO EMAIL YOUR QUERIESFOR LEGAL COLUMN

Fixed line phones touch 381,000 markMUSCAT: Subscribers of the fixed phone service in the Sultan-ate stood at more than 381,000 in February this year.

GSM lines reached more than 6.2 million, while the number of subscribers in fixed broadband internet increased by more than 182,000, compared to a decline in the number of mobile broadband.

The National Centre for Sta-tistics and Information (NCSI) pointed out that subscribers of fixed phone service stood at 381,750 at the end of February against 378,210 subscribers in January. Subscribers of pre-paid fixed phone service (Sahl) stood at 34,271 against 34,143 at the end of January.

The billed fixed phone lines stood at 292,928 in February, compared with 289, 893 in Janu-ary. The number of public phones stood at 6,801. The number of integrated services digital net-works (ISDN) witnessed a slight increase while fixed wireless lines which witnessed a slight decline. Subscribers of billed GSM service

stood at 6,258,203 by the end of February against 6,234,069 during January. Subscribers of pre-paid GSM service stood at 5,721,879 at the end of February, compared to 5,702,522 by the end of January. The total subscribers of internet at the end of February stood at 185,606 compared to 182,883 at the end of last January. –ONA

T E L E C O M S E C T O R

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A4 M O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

OMANMore rallies held to celebrate HM’s returnWilayats continued to organise marches and

celebrations to express their gratitude for

His Majesty’s safe return to his homeland.

Reports of festivities have come in from the

wilayats of Khasab, Hamra, Nakhal, Kamil

Wa Alwafi, Saham, Jalan, Sadah and Barka.

Thousands of people, who participated

in the marches nationwide, expressed

their happiness over His Majesty’s return.

Folklores, national songs and dances were the

highlights of these celebrations, which had

an abundance of national flags and symbols

Blindness fails to deter Omani scholar in US varsityHASAN SHABAN AL LAWATIhassan@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: What an ordinary day looks like through the eyes of a blind person is hard to imagine, isn’t it?

From making his morning cof-fee to using public transportation, 27-year-old Noah Al Hadidi, who is currently studying computer science at Colorado State Univer-sity, in the United States of Ameri-ica (USA), shares how he spends his daily life while enjoying the company of his service dog, Amiga.

An interesting fact about this in-terview was that it was conducted via email. Advanced technology has definitely helped him contin-ue to lead a normal life, but what stands out is strong will.

As a baby, Noah was perfectly healthy, though that was soon to change. Seven months after his birth, he lost his eyesight as a re-sult of Retinitis Pigmentosa and it never returned. “It is not cur-able, at least with the technology and science we currently have,” says Al Hadidi.

Noah starts his day waking up to his iPhone, which he uses as an alarm clock. Although he does have a talking alarm clock, Noah prefers his smart phone as is he can choose the tone of the alarm.

First thing in the morning, Noah uses a talking microwave and a touch screen espresso machine that has a fingerprint recognition option which helps him store his favourite drinks on the coffee mak-er’s profile. He puts sticky raised dots on each button to identify its function.

Ordering food can be a seri-ous challenge in the life of a blind independent man, but Noah has pushed the envelope and cooks for himself and for his friends every day. His menu consists of chicken biryani, chicken tandoori, Enchi-lada and even cheesecakes.

But, how does he do it?“I use the stove like a normal

person, and my talking thermome-ter is more than enough to accom-plish the daily task of cooking,” says Al Hadidi.

Ability defeats disabilityIf you ever thought that sports is an intimidating challenge for a blind individual, Noah can prove you wrong as he practices several kinds of sport such as swimming, biking, hiking in addition to camp-ing, skiing, ice skating, and play-ing goalball, an exclusive sport for athletes with visual impairments according to the paralympic move-ment website.

Noah usually organises things in order of importance. If he is not sure about an item, he uses his talking bar-code reader device (IDMate) or an app on his iPhone that does the same function to know what it is.

Asked about the process of choosing the colour of his ward-robe, Noah mentions that all his shirts have Braille tags that read the colour’s name and help him to match his shirt to his pants.

So, when it comes to money, is it

easy to fool a blind person?Since US dollar bills are all the

same size, Noah used to ask people about the currency to understand the denominations. Now, with the money reader app on his iPhone, he can easily recognise the money.

“Previously when travelling, I had to ask the driver about the bus number,” he says.

But since last year, the route numbers and information are au-tomatically announced. Noah was one of the people who helped start this system in the city of Fort Col-lins. “We now also have an iPhone app,” he adds. He also uses taxis from time to time.

Since his bus ride lasts 45 minute, Noah does not mind read-ing the morning paper during the trip. “They do not have Braille cop-ies at the news stand. Fortunately, I have other options,” he says.

Noah calls the NFB news line service via his cell phone and has the news read out to him automat-ically. As the Omani programmer reaches the computer science de-partment at school, taking the el-evator is a breeze as most of them have Braille labels by the buttons. So, getting to the right floor is not

a problem. Noah points out that while he has not seen any elevators without Braille in the USA, he has seen just a few in Oman.

With an iPhone and a computer which have screen reader soft-ware, Noah communicates with the outside world easily like any-body else. A screen reader is a soft-ware application that converts text to speech. “Most of the computers which the university has are use-less to me. Nowadays, you can get a Mac, which comes with a screen reader by default. However, if I use a PC-based system with the most popular screen reader, it will cost about $1000.”

Noah says that it is very difficult to find an accessible cell phone because he cannot interact with most of the phones by default.

“I can either buy a simple phone which I can use without looking at the screen, but then I will be way behind the others, who are able to

use all the cool features and func-tionalities,” he says.

There are more simple phones which have a calendar or a contact list feature with speech function-ality, but the problem is that they only relay part of the information.

Noah uses an OrCam, A break-through technology which is a camera device that responds to a simple intuitive gesture – a point of your finger or the press of a sin-gle button.

According to its official website, an OrCam is a “portable, wearable visual system with ‘human-like’ capabilities for blind and visually impaired persons, via the use of ar-tificial computer intelligence and augmented reality.”

So for a blind person, what are the main differences between studying in the US and Oman?

“Education in the US is different from what it is in Oman. The ma-jor difference is the culture. There are a lot of international students from all over the world unlike uni-versities in the Middle East where the majority of students are east-ern,” said Noah. “People in the US are very friendly and helpful. If they know that you have a disabil-

ity, they will try to help as much as they can to make you succeed, not to mention that they are very respectful and they like to know about other cultures,” he adds.

Noah said that in order to make educational materials accessi-ble, all the universities in US have resources or disability services for disabled students. “So, I will always get an equal opportunity along with everyone else to suc-ceed,” he said.

Hopes and dreamsNoah, who was recently accepted to the Master’s Programme in Computer Information Systems in the US owes his success to Her Highness Sayyida Aliya Al Said, patron of the Al Noor Association for the Blind and Barka Al Bakry, the IAVE national representative of the Sultanate of Oman.

He is hoping to get a scholarship to help make the final stretch to-wards his goal.

“After I graduate with my Mas-ter’s degree, my goal is to continue developing technologies for the blind. I would like to start here in the US, but I hope to bring equal access to Oman.”

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BATTLING ODDS: Advanced technology has helped Noah Al Hadidi continue to lead a normal life, but what stands out is his strong will. –Supplied photos

PHOTOS ONA

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OMANM O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

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New information units all set to boost tourism

ELHAM POURMOHAMMADI elham@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: More tourist informa-tion centres will be set up across Oman to ease visitors’ access to important information about the country, including its tourism at-tractions, said a top official at the Ministry of Tourism.

Speaking to Times of Oman, Salem Al Mamari, director gen-

eral of tourism promotion at the ministry, said that there is need for more tourist information cen-tres and that is why the ministry plans to set up ‘very comprehen-sive’ centres in some areas in the country.

“The plan is there, and we are studying it,” he said, adding that currently, there are some infor-

mation centres available in some locations, including at the bor-ders, which are providing the nec-essary information to tourists.

During the Khareef season, in-formation centres are available along the way to Salalah, in Sala-lah, at the Salalah Airport and also at some shopping centres, he said.

“We also have a centre on the border with the United Arab Emirates,” the official noted.

Al Mamari said that apart from the centre at the Muscat International Airport, there is only one tourist information cen-tre available in Muscat, at Port Sultan Qaboos.

“We do not have as yet a solid in-formation centre inside Muscat. But now we are studying to have such centres not only in Muscat but also elsewhere in future.”

Marton, a visitor from Hun-gary, said that more informa-tion centres are required to offer a better experience for tourists

and make their trip more con-venient. “I did not see any tourist information centre in the city,” he told the Times of Oman, while enjoying the landscape at the Muttrah Corniche.

Mohamed Ahmed Al Tawqi, an Omani tour guide, also talked about the feedback he receives from tourists, saying that they de-mand more tourist information centres. “More promotional ma-terial should be distributed at the airports and on flights,” he added.

Travel guidebooks Another tour guide, who asked not to be named, said that travel guidebooks should be avail-able at all malls, which is not the case now.

She said that there is a need to develop more tourist information websites, and the number of tour-ist-related counters at the airport should be increased and they should become more efficient.

These centres

will provide

visitors important

information about

the country

Oman Air inaugurates direct flight to SingaporeTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Oman Air’s inaugu-ral flight from Muscat to Singa-pore took off on Sunday. The new route has been designed to meet the strong demand for services between the two countries, and offers daily flights aboard Oman Air’s fleet of Airbus A330s.

His Highness Sayyid Taimur bin Asad Al Said joined the flight as Oman Air’s chief guest. He was welcomed by Oman Air’s Chief Executive Officer, Paul Gregorow-itsch, and senior airline managers.

Media representatives and other stakeholders were also welcomed aboard the aircraft. Throughout the flight, Paul Gregorowitsch and

his team were on hand to discuss the new route and describe the im-portance of the Singapore service to Oman Air’s growth strategy.

The guests enjoyed the oppor-tunity of experiencing Oman Air’s award-winning onboard service, dining and inflight entertainment. They also experienced the airline’s internationally-acclaimed Busi-ness Class seats. The seats offer a 17-inch personal monitor and a 77-inch long, fully lie-flat bed – one of the longest in the skies.

Upon arrival in Singapore, an exciting programme of events got under way. The programme was attended on behalf of the Govern-ment of Singapore by Lim Hng Kiang, Minister of Trade and In-

dustry. Paul Gregorowitsch com-mented: “Oman Air is proud to launch our latest, highly prestig-ious service, which now flies daily between Muscat and Singapore.

“I was particularly proud that we were joined on this inaugu-ral flight by His Highness Sayyid Taimur bin Asad Al Said. We were honoured to give His Highness, and our other valued guests, a very warm welcome to Oman Air. Furthermore, it was a pleasure to introduce each of our guests to Oman Air’s outstanding aircraft and authentic Omani hospital-ity as we flew from Muscat to Singapore.

“The high demand for seats that followed the announcement of the

service has been very satisfying to witness. It shows that Singapore is one of the most popular destina-tions in the world for both busi-ness and leisure travellers.

“It also shows that there is a strong desire amongst travellers from Singapore and South East Asia for discovering the unique charms offered by the Sultanate of Oman.”

“As a celebration of our new service, Oman Air is offering – for a limited time only – special pro-motional rates for flights between Muscat and Singapore.

Economy Class returns are cur-rently priced from OMR234.8 per person, with Business Class re-turns starting from OMR814.8.

C I V I L A V I A T I O N

Salem Al Mamari, director gen-

eral of tourism promotion

NEW AVENUES: Oman Air is upbeat over the high demand for seats

that followed the announcement of the service. Oman Air is offering

special promotional rates for flights.–Supplied photo

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OMANM O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

This will encourage a lot of people to come to Oman

and see its treasure. I’ve seen them with my own eyes.

Oman is one of my favourite places for diving

Abdullah Al Mheiri, Emirati photographer

Photographers explore Oman’s marine riches

SARAH MACDONALDsarah@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: A group of photogra-phers from eight different coun-tries will be spending the next 10 days exploring the Sultanate’s marine riches in the second Oman In Focus project.

Headed by Omani photogra-pher Maisa Al Hooti with the support of a number of public and private sector businesses and organisations, Oman In Focus aims to bring attention to Oman through the eyes of international photographers.

International groupFor this event Al Hooti and seven photographers from Bahrain, Ku-wait, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland and the UAE who are also passionate about scuba diving will explore different dive sites along Oman’s coasts, taking

their cameras below the surface with them, reaching depths as low as 40m. “I want to focus on Oman as much as I can. Even for me, as an Omani, I don’t know about the waters in Oman,” Al Hooti said.

The photographers will spend

time at dive sites around Musan-dam, the Daymaniyat Islands, Al Fahal Island and Bandar Khairan, where they will document the fish, turtles, corals and other ma-rine life, as well as the occasional shipwreck. It’s an adventure the

photographers are looking for-ward to.

The other side“As an underwater photographer I have a chance to see the world from the other side of the mirror. I have a chance to show people what is beneath the surface,” said Phil Simha, from Switzerland.

Simha said he hopes people who see his photographs don’t just admire the beauty of the un-derwater world, but appreciate the importance of protecting wa-ter and marine life, too.

“Through my work I try to make people more aware of the impor-tance of protecting the underwa-ter environment. Nature is truly important to the people of Oman and I’m more than happy to sup-port that and help share the idea that we have to do something to protect Oman,” he explained.

Love of OmanEmirati photographer Abdullah Al Mheiri said he comes to Oman often to dive. He said he hopes he can share his love of Oman with the world and inspire others to visit the country he considers his second home.

“This will encourage a lot of people to come to Oman and see its treasure. I’ve seen them with my own eyes. Oman is one of my favourite places for diving,” he said.

Al Hooti said she hopes the photographers will be able to pro-mote tourism to Oman by show-casing its natural beauty, and she plans on having an active social media presence throughout their adventure for the public to follow. The project can be followed on so-cial media at the Twitter account @Oman_in_Focus and on Insta-gram at https://instagram.com/oman_in_focus/.

On April 12 the results of the photographers’ underwater ad-ventures will be unveiled at an ex-hibition at The Wave Muscat.

Headed by Omani

photographer Maisa

Al Hooti, ‘Oman

In Focus’ aims to

showcase Oman

through the eyes

of international

photographers. It is

supported by public

and private sector

businesses and

organisations

Take more fluids to beat the

heat as summer takes hold

Since the hottest months are June to August, the Ministry of Manpower issues directives to all companies, especially construc-tion firms in the country, to stop work at all sites between 12.30pm and 3.30pm during these months.

“People should avoid going out between 12 pm and 3 pm when the temperatures are climbing up,” warned Dr V.C.P. Moham-med, specialist, Internal Medi-cine at Atlas Hospital Ruwi.

He also said that infections and fever are common with a rise in temperature. “The most ideal word during this time is precau-tion,” he warned on Sunday.

He also advised people to take

enough fluids so prevent infec-tions and heat strokes as peak summer approaches.

“People should also wear loose fitting cotton clothes in summer,” he advised.

There will, however, be some brief spells of cooler north-west-erly winds that will help reduce the dry and hot spells by a few de-grees. “This will help in reducing the temperature,” he said.

S Panja, an Indian expatri-ate in Muscat, said the city has started experiencing heat waves from this week. “We hope another low pressure will pop up and will eventually help in bringing down the temperatures,” he said.

Doctors also said citizens and residents will not face any prob-lem till the temperature reaches 37 degrees. “Complications start after the temperatures cross 37 degrees as our body temperature is 37 degrees,” Dr V.C.P. Moham-med said.

For the next 24 hours, the DG-MAN predicts, “Clear to partly cloudy skies over most of the Sultanate with chances of clouds development and isolated rain over Al Hajar Mountains and ad-joining towards afternoon. Then there are chances of late night to early morning low level clouds over south Al Sharqiya and Al Wusta governorates.”

C H A N G I N G W E A T H E R

< FROM

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< FROM

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I want to focus on Oman as much as I can. Even for me, as an Omani, I don’t know about the waters in Oman

Maisa Al HootiOman In Focus Head

SQU academic’s book on health wins top award

Times News Service

MUSCAT: A book on health funded by the Research Council of Oman has won an internation-al prize and the right to compete for the next global competition.

The book, co-edited by Dr. Mo-hamed Essa, Associate Professor of Food Science and Nutrition Department at Sultan Qaboos University, Dr. Mohammed Ak-bar (NIH, USA) and Dr. Mushtaq Memon (WSU, Pullman), titled “Food and Brain Health,” has won the award in the category of “The best health and nutrition book – institutions”.

It has qualified for the next world competition of the Gour-mand World Cookbook Awards, which will be held in Yantai, Chi-na in June 2015.

This book is one of the out-comes of the project funded by The Research Council of Oman. Benefit of food (fruits, vegetables and nuts) in case of brain related diseases are discussed in this book. It has a comprehensive collection of research studies and review articles that will ben-efit students at various levels, re-searchers in several disciplines,

such as alternative medicine, nutrition, neurosciences, agri-culture, food science and medi-cine, and will benefit many oth-ers interested in the discipline.

The authors have accumulat-ed several years of experience in their respective scientific fields, including natural compounds and their potential beneficial effects on human health. The articles have been written by ex-perienced researchers from vari-ous countries including the USA, Australia, Japan, India, China and Oman. Of the 27 chapters in the book, researchers from SQU alone contributed 11 chapters.

The Gourmand World Cook-book Awards were founded in 1995 by Edouard Cointreau.

The competition is free and open to publishers in all languag-es and countries.

The Gourmand Awards cel-ebrate global cookbook pub-lishing and feature many world renowned chefs each year. It is sometimes described as the “Os-cars of food awards.”

The main aim is to honour the authors and to increase knowl-edge and respect for food cul-ture, which promotes peace.

H O N O U R

Arab force set to fight rebels

A communiqué issued by the Arab League says that the Arab countries will work together to defend their rights, ensure a safe Middle East and a nuclear-free Iran. Later in the evening, Egyp-tian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi also announced at the sum-mit that the unified joint force will be formed. “Assuming the great responsibility imposed by the great challenges facing our Arab nation and threatening its capabilities, the Arab leaders had decided to agree on the principle of a joint Arab military force,” Sisi told the summit in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El Sheikh.

Even though the decision was mostly aimed at fighting rebels in Iraq, Syria and Libya, Egypt had been pushing for the creation of the rapid response force to fight rebels. The matter gained urgency this week after Saudi Arabia and Arab allies launched air strikes on Huthi rebels in Yemen. Despite the sup-port for a joint-Arab force, it would still take months to create and then operate on an ad-hoc basis.

Sisi said in a recent interview that the proposal for a joint force was welcomed especially by Jor-

dan, which might take part along-side Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

Arab League chief Nabil Al Arabi said the region was threat-ened by a “destructive” force that threatened “ethnic and religious diversity,” in an apparent refer-ence to the rebels.

“What is important is that to-day there is an important deci-sion, in the light of the tumult af-flicting the Arab world,” he said.

Arabi added the offensive would continue until the Houthis with-draw from regions they have overrun and surrender weap-ons. Several Arab states includ-ing Egypt are participating in the

campaign, which the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia said on Saturday would continue until the Yemeni people “enjoy security.” Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, at the start of the summit, called for the campaign to end only when the Huthis “surren-der.” Meanwhile, people in Yem-en said that uncertainty is still haunting them.

“We have not been able to go back to Sanaa, which has now turned into a ghost town in the fight between rebels and Saudi-led coalition airstrikes. We are wait-ing for a safe transport,” Shibin Daniel Mony, a stranded Indian male nurse, said. Shibin fled to Bani Mater, a remote area far from Sanaa, to avoid risk. “It is at least two hours away from Sanaa. So, we are safe,” Shibin said while adding that they are waiting for help from the embassy to be evacuated.

Indian external affairs minis-ter had tweeted yesterday (Sun-day) that the Indian government is sending a ship with a capac-ity of 1,500 passengers to bring home Indians.

A R A B L E A G U E

Egypt had been pushing for the creation of the rapid response force to fight rebels

A7

REGIONM O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

‘Tentative accord on key parts of Iran deal’

LAUSANNE: Iran and six world powers have reached tentative agreement on key parts of a deal sharply curtailing Tehran’s nu-clear programme, Western dip-lomats said on Sunday while cautioning that the pact is by no means done.

One of the diplomats in talks in Switzerland said Iran had “more or less” agreed to slash the num-ber of its centrifuge machines by more than two-thirds and to ship abroad most of its stockpile of nu-clear material.

As negotiators in Lausanne raced to nail down by midnight on Tuesday the outlines of a deal, due to be finalised by June 30, the dip-lomats cautioned however that with some tough issues still to re-solve, things may change.

SpeculationIranian diplomats denied that any tentative agreement on these points has been struck, saying

that reports of a specific num-ber of centrifuges and exporting its stockpiles were “journalistic speculation”.

“The fact is that we will con-serve a substantial number of centrifuges, that no site will be closed, in particular Fordo. These are the basis of the talks,” the Ira-nian diplomat said.

A senior member of the Iranian negotiating team said that the “publication of such information by certain Western media is aimed at creating an atmosphere to dis-turb the negotiating process”.

Under the outlines coming to-gether to stop Iran from develop-ing a nuclear bomb, the under-ground Fordo facility near the holy city of Qom would cease ura-nium enrichment, another diplo-mat said, hinting it would likely stay open for other purposes.

But diplomats stressed that everything was inter-related and there were still unresolved is-sues such as over Iran’s nuclear research and development pro-gramme, which Western nations fear could mask a cover path to seek nuclear weapons.

HurdleAnother hurdle is a network of US, EU and UN sanctions im-posed on Tehran over the years for its nuclear activities and for violating the nuclear Non-Prolif-eration Treaty.

Iran has called for the sanctions to be completely lifted. But a sen-ior US official said there was gen-eral agreement about a phased ap-proach between all parties, with different elements seen as having different timelines and durations.

It remained unclear how-

ever whether agreement on the broad contours of a deal could be reached by a Tuesday midnight deadline, the official said.

Centrifuges render uranium suitable for nuclear power gener-ation but at high purities also for the core of a nuclear bomb. Iran’s stockpiles of enriched uranium could in theory be further pro-cessed to this level.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Min-ister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday denounced as “danger-ous” a nuclear accord that world powers are negotiating with Iran, saying it goes beyond what his government had feared.

“The dangerous accord which is being negotiated in Lausanne confirms our concerns and even worse,” Netanyahu said in re-marks at a meeting of his cabinet broadcast on public radio. - AFP

One of the

diplomats in talks

in Switzerland said

Iran had ‘more or

less’ agreed to slash

the number of its

centrifuge machines

by more than two-

thirds and to ship

abroad most of

its stockpile of

nuclear materialDEADLINE LOOMS: EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, left, meets with Iranian Foreign

Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during Iranian nuclear talks in Lausanne on Sunday. Global powers

are seeking to pin down the broad outlines of a deal to rein in Iran’s suspect nuclear programme by a

March 31 deadline. - AFP

Syrian forces regroup

after Idlib city seized

BEIRUT: Syrian troops regrouped on Sunday after a coalition includ-ing Al Qaeda’s local affiliate seized the city of Idlib, the second pro-vincial capital to fall from govern-ment control.

The capture is a blow to the gov-ernment and raises the prospect that the city will become the ef-fective capital of territory held by Al Qaeda’s Syrian wing, Al Nusra Front, analysts said.

On Sunday, the city in north-western Syria was largely quiet, after sporadic government aerial bombardment overnight, the Brit-ain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

A security source in Damascus and Syrian media said the govern-ment forces were regrouping out-side the city.

Repositioning “Forces are repositioning on the outskirts of Idlib in order to face the terrorist battalions... and be in the best position to repel their attack,” a security source in Da-mascus said. The Al Watan news-paper, which is close to the govern-ment, said troops had carried out a “successful operation regrouping south of the city”.

“Army reinforcements were sent to start a military operation to regain control of the areas that were vacated after the evacuation of the local population to safe are-

as,” the daily added, citing a source on the ground. A coalition of rebel forces overran Idlib on Saturday, after an operation that began just five days earlier and killed at least 170 opposition and regime forces.

Touted victoryThe city becomes only the second provincial capital to fall from re-gime control after Raqa, in north-ern Syria, which was seized by re-bel groups in March 2013.

Those groups were subsequent-ly ousted from the city by the IS group, which has made Raqa the de facto Syrian capital of its self-declared Islamic “caliphate” on Syrian and Iraqi territory.

The group that seized Idlib calls itself the Army of Conquest and includes Al Nusra and the power-ful Ahrar Al Sham group, as well as other smaller rebel forces.

They touted their victory on so-cial media, with Al Nusra’s Twit-ter accounts posting photos of its fighters in front of government buildings.

Al Nusra also posted video of its forces entering a prison in the city, where they discovered the bodies of detainees apparently executed by government forces before their withdrawal.

The Observatory said at least 15 prisoners had been found dead at a military intelligence detention fa-cility in the city. - AFP

A L Q A E D A ’ S L O C A L A F F I L I A T E

TRIGGER HAPPY: Fighters loyal to Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate and its

allies gather outside the building of Idlib Governorate on Saturday

in the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib. - AFP

The fact is that we will conserve a substantial

number of centrifuges, that no site will be closed,

in particular Fordo. These are the basis of the talks

Iranian diplomat

A8

YEMEN CRISISM O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

DEFIANT: Boys stand on a tank burnt during clashes on a street in

Yemen’s southern port city of Aden on Sunday. — Reuters/Stringer

VIGILANT: Yemeni supporters of the separatist Southern Movement

stand guard at the entrance of the port in the southern city of Aden

on Sunday. — AFP

Rebels face reversals on three battle fronts

ADEN: Yemeni fighters loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi clashed with Houthi fighters on Sunday in downtown Aden, the absent leader’s last major foot-hold in the country.

While the Houthi fighters and their army allies continued to make gains after the air strikes were first launched early on Thursday, they appeared to suf-fer reversals on Sunday on three fronts — in Aden’s northern sub-urbs, in Dhalea province north of Aden, and the eastern province of Shabwa.

In Shabwa, tribal sources said tribesmen killed 30 Houthis in a battle with the militia and its army allies at a military base. This also could not be independently confirmed.

Hadi loyalists in the southern port city reported a gun battle in the central Crater district in which three people were killed, and said they recaptured the air-port, which has changed hands several times in several days of fighting.

The Health Ministry, loyal to the Houthi fighters who control the capital, said Saudi-led air strikes had killed 35 people and wounded 88 overnight. The fig-

ures could not be independently confirmed.

The Houthi fighters emerged as the most powerful force in the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country last year when they cap-tured the capital Sanaa.

Saudi Arabia has rallied Arab countries in an air campaign to support Hadi, who moved to Aden in February and is now in Riyadh after leaving Yemen in the past

week. The fighting has brought civil war to a country that was already sliding into chaos and which had been a battlefield for the secret US drone war against Al Qaeda.

Saudi-led coalition warplanes struck military targets at airports in the capital Sanaa and in Hodei-da, the main Red Sea port.

In the northern city of Saada, a Houthi stronghold near the Saudi

border, strikes hit Houthi military bases belonging to the militia and their ally, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh who still controls most army units.

Saleh stood down after a 2011 uprising but still wields wide in-fluence in Yemen. He appealed on Saturday to Arab leaders meeting in Egypt to halt their four-day offensive and resume talks on political transition in Yemen, promising that neither he nor his relatives would seek the presidency.

Talk of losersHowever Hadi’s Foreign Minis-ter Riyadh Yaseen dismissed his comments as “the talk of losers”.

Across the country, there were heavy clashes in seven southern and eastern provinces between the Houthis and pro-Saleh army units on the one hand, against ma-jority sect tribesmen, pro-Hadi loyalists and armed southern sep-aratists on the other.

Fighters loyal to Hadi said on Sunday they recaptured Aden air-port after fighting which lasted all night. Heavy fighting in the area during the last week meant that foreign diplomats had to be evacu-ated from the city by boat, ferried by Saudi naval vessels to the Red Sea port of Jeddah on Saturday.

An Aden port official said a Chi-nese warship docked on Sunday to evacuate Chinese diplomats and expatriate workers.

Witnesses in Aden’s northern Dar Saad district reported seeing two tanks destroyed by Hadi loy-alists battling army units who are fighting alongside the Houthis. Five members of the militia were killed in the suburbs, loyalists said. — Reuters

The Health Ministry,

loyal to the Houthi

fighters who control

the capital, said

Saudi-led air strikes

had killed 35 people

and wounded

88 overnight

TOWARDS SAFETY: A Yemeni family packs their belongings into

the back of a truck in the capital Sanaa on Sunday as they escape

clashes in the city. — AFP

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

Saudi minister slams Putin over comments on strikesSHARM EL SHEIKH: Saudi Arabia accused Russian Presi-dent Vladimir Putin of hypocrisy on Sunday, telling an Arab sum-mit that he should not express support for the Middle East while fuelling instability by sup-porting Syrian leader Bashar Al Assad.

In a rare move, Egyptian Presi-dent Abdel Fattah Al Sisi an-nounced that a letter from Putin would be read out to the gathering in Egypt, where Arab leaders dis-cussed an array of regional crises, including conflicts in Syria, Yem-en and Libya.

“We support the Arabs’ aspi-rations for a prosperous future and for the resolution of all the problems the Arab world faces through peaceful means, without any external interference,” Putin said in the letter.

His comments triggered a sharp attack from Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal.

“He speaks about the problems

in the Middle East as though Rus-sia is not influencing these prob-lems,” he told the summit right after the letter was read out.

At odds over AssadRelations between Saudi Arabia and Russia have been cool over Moscow’s support for Assad, whom Riyadh opposes. The civil war between Assad’s forces and rebels has cost more

than 200,000 lives in four years.“They speak about tragedies in

Syria while they are an essential part of the tragedies befalling the Syrian people, by arming the Syri-an regime above and beyond what it needs to fight its own people,” Prince Saud said.

“I hope that the Russian presi-dent corrects this so that the Arab world’s relations with Russia can be at their best level.” — Reuters

L E T T E R T O A R A B S U M M I T

Prince Saud Al Faisal Vladimir Putin

BATTLE AT HADI STRONGHOLD: An image taken on Sunday shows a burnt vehicle in Yemen’s south-

ern Lahj province, the stronghold of embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, where tensions

are high as the rebels clashed with the “popular committees” -- an anti-Houthi militia controlling

parts of the city. — AFP

We support the Arabs’ aspirations for a prosperous future and

for the resolution of all the problems the Arab world faces

through peaceful means, without any external interference

Vladimir Putin, Russian President

A9

INDIAM O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

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SEND US YOUR VIEWS AND COMMENTSGround ageing fleet of

Airbus A320s: Pilots

NEW DELHI: Voicing its con-cern over the 26-year-old fleet of Airbus A320s in the national car-rier Air India, one of its pilots’ un-ion has sought grounding of these planes from aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Avia-tion (DGCA).

The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), which rep-resents erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots in the now combined entity Air India, has said the airline con-tinues to fly these A320s even af-ter snags being reported regularly.

“The classic A-320 aircrafts which are 26 years old (one of the oldest in the world) are being

operated with repetitive snags endangering flight safety... DGCA should not permit AI to operate these lethal snag-prone classic aircrafts in lieu of passenger safe-ty,” ICPA stated in a letter to the DGCA last Thursday.

ICPA letter comes in the back-drop of a 24-year old Airbus A230 plane, operated by Lufthansa’s budget arm Germanwings, crash-ing into a mountainside in the French Alps last week, killing all 150 people on board.

The pilots’ body, in the letter, has also raised other issues in-cluding the show-cause notice by regulator for reporting late for

duty among others and has even “questioned” the regulator as to how could it ignore the plight of Air India employees in the face of salary delays. DGCA had recently issued show-cause notices to a number of pilots for reporting late for duty with one of them being served the notice for arriving one minute late.

“We wonder, how have you ig-nored the stressful working con-ditions and plight of our pilots, cabin crew, engineers and all other employees due to nonpay-ment of full salary and allowances for last almost 32 months, when you were very prompt in this as-pect in regard of Kingfisher and SpiceJet employees. How is it that not receiving salary is a matter of flight safety for Kingfisher and Spice-jet employees but not for Air Indians?

“We request you to kindly also look into the working conditions of pilots and cabin crew in respect of Air India,” the letter said.

Urging the regulator to ensure the availability of the pilots after calculating their all leave entitle-

ments, the ICPA said, “We request you to ensure that availability of flight crew is calculated after tak-ing into account entitled leaves, weekly off’s, mandatory training days etc and not just by consider-ing them to be available 365 days a year.

The ICPA has also asked the DGCA to clarify about the mini-mum time before scheduled de-parture that a pilot must report for flying at airports.

“Our concern is that the above mentioned notice threatens about action to be taken in case of un-satisfactory or no reason given in reply to the show cause notices...

“We request you to kindly let us know where and what is docu-mented in the rules as to getting late for a flight (inadvertently) is an offence and what is the penalty for it. There is an impression that DGCA is operator friendly and is willing to look the other way when short-coming of the opera-tor is pointed out but unforgiving when employees are found even slightly wanting,” the ICPA in the letter said. - PTI

The Indian Commercial Pilots Association

said the classic A-320 aircraft which are 26

years old are being operated with repetitive

snags endangering flight safety

SAFETY CONCERNS: Air India planes are seen parked on the tarmac at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. The Indian

Commercial Pilots Association letter comes in the backdrop of a 24-year old Airbus A230 plane, operated by Lufthansa’s budget arm

Germanwings, crashing into a mountainside in the French Alps last week, killing all 150 people on board. - AFP file photo

Azam Khan ‘gifts’ broom, pen to MLAs; taunts ModiLUCKNOW: Minister of the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Azam Khan, known for his frequent barbs against the Indian Prime Minister, sur-prised MLAs from all parties with unusual ‘gifts’ of a broom and a pen along with a letter asking them to decide which among the two can take on the evils in the society.

“I am giving two gifts (pen and broom). You all should decide which one could eradicate sins in the society and which reminds you that you can not treat the so-ciety only by slogans,” he said.

Khan’s gift is seen as a covert attak on Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi, who has given slogan for ‘Swacch Bharat Abhiyan’.The minister, earlier during the session, had attacked the PM on the issue by saying that he had given broom in people’s hand and took away pen from them.

The strolley bag, carrying pen, broom and his letter, was sent to legislators after the end of as-sembly session on March 26.

In the letter to MLAs, Khan also said: “You have seen and tested me. I am not the one what people say, but the one whom your heart knows. I know you are truthful and realise truth.”

Commenting on the ‘gifts’, BJP legislator Radha Mohan Das Agarwal said PM had given a good message in the society by launch-ing the cleanliness drive, which he (Azam) could not digest.

“By gifting broom he has only propagated the ideology of the PM,” Agarwal said.

BSP legislator Ram Prasad Chowdhury said that he had received the ‘gift’ but he did not see the letter till now as he had left for his constituency after the session was over.

Tacit understandingCongress has termed the ‘gift’ as an admission of tacit under-standing between Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party. - PTI

U N U S U A L G I F T

Six killed in Andhra explosion

HYDERABAD: At least six peo-ple were killed and six others in-jured in an explosion on Sunday in a firecrackers unit in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam dis-

trict, police said. The accident oc-curred in Gokulapadu village of S.Rayavaram mandal, about 100 km from coastal city of Vi-sakhapatnam. - IANS

F I R E C R A C K E R S U N I T

A10

INDIA M O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

Modi’s popularity punctured by discontent, suicides

VAIDI (India): Over a dozen debt-laden farmers have committed suicide in recent weeks in India, and discontent in many rural ar-eas against government policies is turning into anger against Prime Minister Narendra Modi less than a year after he swept into office.

Unseasonal storms have bad-ly damaged the winter crop in large parts of the fertile northern plains, most likely contributing to the suicides, and villagers have blamed Modi for not stepping in to help the distressed farmers or ensuring that crop prices re-mained stable.

The farmer suicides in India’s most politically sensitive region are the latest in several setbacks for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is hoping to consoli-date power by winning local elec-tions in large, predominantly ru-ral states over the next two years.

The government has delayed a comprehensive health plan as it shifts focus from subsidies to in-vestment, while religious tensions have made minorities uneasy.

Nevertheless, Modi has made progress with economic reform in his first year — although not as rapidly as some investors would

like — and has reined in inflation.In a village in India’s most pop-

ulous state, Uttar Pradesh, Dhar-mendra Singh mourned his broth-er Babu Singh, who committed suicide after rain destroyed wheat growing on the five-acre farm he leased from a landlord.

Babu Singh, who had run up debts amounting to $13,000, soaked himself in kerosene and set himself on fire on March 19.

He succumbed to burn injuries six days later.

“My brother was banking on the crop so the loss came as the last straw,” Dharmendra Singh said

in his village, Vaidi, 185km (115 miles) southeast of Delhi.

“For God’s sake why hasn’t the government reached out to us? We overwhelmingly voted for Modi as he promised to take care of us but he has stabbed us in the back.”

In more than a dozen villages visited by Reuters this week across the state that sends the most lawmakers to parliament, farmers said there was a “cri-sis” in the countryside, where 70 per cent of India’s 1.2 billion people live. Angered by low farm-gate prices and the lack of state

compensation for crop damage, some villagers said they have ostracised local members of Modi’s BJP and barred them from attending weddings.

Parties crushed by the BJP in last year’s general election have coupled the discontent with street protests against a land acquisition bill that will make it easier for businesses to buy farmland, a po-tent issue in the countryside.

For the BJP, the next major election will be in November in the large, mostly rural state of Bi-har, and a poor performance will be a huge setback.

India’s states send representa-tives to the upper house of the federal parliament, where the BJP is struggling to form a ma-jority to match its domination of the lower house. With global food prices low, an anti-inflation policy that has hit rural incomes and the shift from subsidy to investment spending, debt-laden farmers were already suffering when rain devastated standing winter crops across north India.

Over 10 million hectares of crops were damaged, but the gov-ernment says there is no clear link to the suicides. - Reuters

R U R A L A R E A S

DISTRAUGHT: Farmer Rajvir Singh shows sugarcane crop dam-

aged by unseasonal rains, at Sisola Khurd village in the northern

Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday. - Reuters

FLASH FLOODS DAMAGE ROAD, HOUSES IN SRINAGARA city municipal corporation van passes through a waterlogged road after the valley received heavy rainfall, in Srinagar on

Sunday. Flash floods triggered by incessant rain have damaged scores of houses, school buildings and other structures besides

snapping road connectivity in the Kashmir Valley, an official said. The Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was closed follow-

ing landslides at a number of places on Sunday. - PTI

UP Civil Services exam paper leakedLUCKNOW: The question pa-per of Uttar Pradesh Provincial Civil Services (PCS) prelimi-nary examination was on Satur-day leaked just before the start of the examination, prompting Opposition parties to demand CBI probe and dismissal of the UP Public Service Commission (UPPSC) chairman.

“The paper was leaked at about 9.15am on WhatsApp messenger before start of the examination.It has matched with the original pa-per of PCS preliminary. We have informed the chief minister and chief secretary in this regard,” Di-rector General of Police (DGP) A. K. Jain told reporters. He said po-lice has got initial leads in the case.

“STF teams are working on it and we will soon work out the pa-per leak,” Jain said.

In Lucknow, the PCS prelim was held in 148 centres and over 70,000 candidates appeared in it.

Throughout the state 450,000 candidates appeared in 917 cen-

tres. The PCS preliminary exami-nation was being held across the the state. The first shift was from 9.30 am to 11.30am and second shift from 2.30pm to 4.30pm.

District Magistrate, Lucknow, Rajshekhar said the examina-tion was held as per schedule in both the shifts.

“The paper in the second shift was held as per schedule just like the first shift. As far as pa-per leakage is concerned, STF is probing the matter,” he said.

Taking serious note of the mat-ter, BJP demanded CBI probe and dismissal of UPPSC Chair-man Anil Yadav.

“The paper leak incident should be probed by CBI and UPPSC Chairman Anil Yadav should be immediately dismissed. He was involved in anomalies in PCS last year too. The leakage of PCS paper is not a trivial incident as fate of thousand of students depended on it,” BJP spokesman Manoj Mishra said. -PTI

P R E L I M I N A R Y E X A M I N A T I O N

Rahul Gandhi may

replace Sonia as

Cong chief by May

NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi, who Congress chief Sonia Gan-dhi said will be “back soon” from his sabbatical, could replace his mother in the top party post as early as May.

The possibility of a meeting in May of the Congress Working Committee as also of the All In-dia Congress Committee (AICC) either in Delhi or in party-ruled north Indian states of Himachal Pradesh or Uttarakhand is be-ing talked about for that purpose with senior leaders saying the is-sue of the Congress chief’s post will gain momentum after the return of Rahul, the party’s vice president.

Amid a raging debate over Ra-hul’s prolonged absence, Con-gress on March 26 came out with the schedule for its organisation-al elections under which the next party chief would be elected by September 30.

Party leaders insist that after his return likely next month from leave, Rahul is expected to take a call on when to assume the party chief’s post.

They added that the earlier he does it, the better it will be. If Rahul decides to become party chief, Sonia will continue as the Chairperson of the Congress Par-liamentary Party and give her fo-cus to parliamentary work.

The schedule for organisation-al elections was drawn up even as talk is growing within the party that sooner rather than later, So-nia will pass the mantle to Rahul, who was made Congress Vice President in January, 2013.

Rahul was elevated to that

post at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee in Jaipur, capital of the north Indian state of Rajasthan, with the decision having been ratified by AICC the next day. That same process could be followed if it is decided to make him the party chief and the organisational elections would not come in the way, said some leaders.

Sonia has created a record of being the longest-serving Con-gress chief as she completed 17 years at the helm of the country’s oldest political party.

During a visit on Saturday to Rahul’s Lok Sabha constituency Amethi, Sonia told the media that the Congress Vice President will be “back soon”. - PTI

R A G I N G D E B A T E

SPECULATION: Rahul Gan-

dhi could any moment now

be anointed the Congress

president, but his departure on

leave just ahead of the Budget

session had raised questions

about his future plans. - PTI file

AAP’s internal Lokpal Ramdas shown the door

NEW DELHI: AAP’s internal Lokpal Admiral (retd) L. Ram-das was on Sunday shown the door while dissident AAP leader Prashant Bhushan was axed from the party’s disciplinary commit-tee, a day after Bhushan and sen-ior leader Yogendra Yadav were expelled from the National Execu-tive (NE) for “backstabbing” and “hatching conspiracies” against the party.

At an “emergency” NE meeting here, the party removed Ramdas, a former navy chief, as internal Lok-pal and set up a new Lokpal panel, comprising former IPS officers N. Dilip Kumar and Rakesh Sinha be-sides educationist S P Verma.

“All these people have given their consent to be part of the par-ty’s Lokpal panel,” party’s national secretary Pankaj Gupta said. Voic-ing disappointment over being

dropped as internal Lokpal, Ram-das lashed out at the party leader-ship for not having the courtesy to inform him about the decision first. He said in an informal meet-ing last month the party had actu-ally requested him to continue for additional five years.

Disappointed“It is with great surprise and sad-ness that I heard today from a re-porter that the Aam Aadmi Party no longer requires my services as it’s internal Lokpal. Various media reports have subsequently con-firmed this news.

“I am disappointed that the lead-ership of the party did not accord me the courtesy of informing me first before making this decision public. I still await their phone-call,” Ramdas said.

The former navy chief has been the party’s Lokpal since its incep-tion in November 2012.

The removal of Ramdas came a day after he was sent an SMS by party national secretary Pankaj Gupta, asking him not to attend the National Council meeting to avoid “confrontation”.

“I am surprised because less than two weeks ago the party pub-licly reaffirmed its confidence in me. At no point in my tenure did the party express to me any dis-satisfaction with my service,” Ramdas said.

The AAP National Executive, while sacking Bhushan from the disciplinary committee, decided to replace him with a three-member panel headed by AAP leader from Gujarat Dinesh Waghela. The oth-er members are Arvind Kejriwal loyalist Ashish Khetan and Gupta.

AAP on Sunday made public Arvind Kejriwal’s speech at the National Council on Saturday with the video being posted on YouTube and tweeted on AAP’s

official twitter handle. In an emotional speech, Kejriwal said, “When the whole Delhi stood behind us, some friends of ours cheated us. I am saying this with a heavy heart that when the whole of Delhi was with us, some friends backstabbed us.

“Conspiracies were hatched to ensure our defeat in the Delhi polls. AVAM was formed and it was supported. It then came in the media that AVAM members were former BJP members and BJP was funding them.

“Prashant ji told many people that we think the party should lose then only can the party and Ke-jriwal learn a lesson. If you don’t do this then we will go before the press and destroy the party,” Kejri-wal said.

Planting stories“Stories were planted. Senior edi-tors of two big news channels have told me that Yogendra Yadav was planting stories against me.

“Many volunteers wanted to come to Delhi. They were stopped. Many donors were stopped from campaigning. The limit was when our senior leader (Shanti Bhushan) of the party said that Kiran Bedi was his first choice, Ajay Maken was the second choice and Kejriwal is the third choice. I want to know then why are you into this party?

The AAP chief said, “There were attempts to weaken me, weaken the party. When I came back from Bengaluru, I spoke to members of my team and sent them the same night to speak to Yogendra bhai. From that day to day before yester-day (Thursday), we tried our best to resolve the problem.” - PTI

The AAP National

Executive also sacked

Prashant Bhushan

from the disciplinary

committee, deciding

to replace him with a

three-member panel

headed by AAP leader

Dinesh Waghela

OUT OF FAVOUR: AAP leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhush-

an during a press conference in New Delhi on Saturday. - PTI

The paper leak incident should be probe by CBI and UPPSC

Chairman Anil Yadav should be immediately dismissed. He was

involved in anomalies in PCS last year too. The leakage of PCS paper

is not a trivial incident as fate of thousand of students depended on it

Manoj Mishra, BJP spokesman

A11

PAKISTANM O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

Five rebels killed in BalochistanKARACHI: At least five sus-pected militants were killed on Sunday in a clash with Pakistani security forces in the country’s restive Balochistan province, where a search operation is un-derway following a recent at-tack on oil tankers.

Six others were also injured besides the five militants killed during a search operation in Mastung area of the province, said Khan Wasay, a spokesman for the Frontier Corps.

Backed by helicoptersThe forces were backed by helicopters from the interior ministry during the search op-eration that was launched after five oil tankers carrying fuel for a Chinese company working on the Saindak Project in Balo-chistan’s Chaghi district were set ablaze on last Monday. The attackers, suspected to be Ba-loch separatists, also kidnapped four drivers. — PTI

M A S T U N G A R E A

The militants who have been killed or injured were carrying

out terrorist attacks in the area and recently torched five oil

tankers carrying fuel for the Saindak project in the area

Khan Wasay, Frontier Corps spokesman

ANNUAL FESTIVAL AT SUFI POET’S SHRINEPakistani devotees dance at the shrine of Sufi saint Hazrat Shah Hussain, popularly known as Madhu Lal Hussain, in Lahore on Sunday. The annual festival was

held at Madhu Lal’s shrine on the 426th anniversary of his birth. — AFP

Altaf alleges bid to ‘eliminate’ MQMKARACHI: Altaf Hussain has claimed the March 11 Rangers raid at his party headquarters was the initiation of a conspiracy aimed at eliminating the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

The MQM chief was speaking to a gathering of his party workers early Saturday morning at Nine Zero, where he asked the partici-pants if they wanted the party to run without him.

He warned them that if they continue to support him as a lead-er, they may be put in jails.

‘Genocide’He called upon his workers to prepare for jihad, as genocide of Mohajirs has been started. “Our genocide is being carried on,” Al-

taf proclaimed. “The Nine-Zero operation was an attempt to elimi-nate the MQM. But those who want to crush the party won’t be successful.”

He lamented that no house of

any other political leader, except his, had been raided. “Why was Nawaz Sharif ’s house not searched for Gullu Butt?” he questioned, re-ferring to the notorious Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz activist

arrested in Lahore for destroying vehicles during a political rally in Lahore.

Blaming the government for trying to crush the MQM, Altaf claimed the Nine-Zero operation was carried out under the supervi-sion of Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, who had the support of the prime minister and the inte-rior minister as well.

He alleged the wanted men arrested by Rangers from Nine-Zero were brought to the party headquarters from somewhere else, and even the licensed weap-ons were presented wrongly in the media.

Altaf also lashed out at Chaudhry Nisar and Nawaz Sha-rif, and asked about the committee

which was to be formed to monitor the Karachi operation. “Why has it not been formed?” he asked.

Vehemently criticising Im-ran Khan, Altaf showed a video of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman mocking the Pakistan Army generals.

Imran Khan“No action was taken against Im-ran Khan,” he said referring to the video and his nomination in a case registered by Rangers for hurling threats.

Talking about the Yemen tur-moil, he believed that Pakistan should not jump into the war. “Dia-logue should be held at the diplo-matic level to sort out matters,” he said. — Express Tribune

The Nine Zero

operation was an

attempt to eliminate

the Muttahida Qaumi

Movement but those

who want to crush

the party won’t

succeed, said party

leader Altaf Hussain

Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Altaf Hussain alleged the wanted men arrested by Rangers from Nine-Zero were brought to the party headquarters from somewhere else, and even the licensed weapons were presented wrongly in the media

COMMEN ARYT I M E S O F O M A NM O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

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T I M E S O F O M A NA12

The United Kingdom’s general elec-tion is a little more than a month away, but already the campaign seems to have been with us for-ever, rolling implacably forward, but with little evidence of any genuine excitement — or even

significant movement in the polls. Support for the two main contenders — the Labour Party and the ruling Conservative Party — seems stuck in the low-to-mid 30s. The Conservatives hope that the government’s record on the economy will convince undecided voters to break in their favour late in the campaign. Maybe they are right; they deserve to be. In the meantime, Labour seems to be hoping for who-knows-what to turn the tide, while keeping their collective fingers crossed that they will not be eviscerated in Scotland, where the Scottish Na-tional Party is threatening to sweep the board.

One surprise is the election campaign’s insular-ity. A dark cloud, in the form of a possible referen-dum on whether the UK will remain in the Europe-an Union hangs over the outcome, but no one talks about it much. Prime Minister David Cameron has said that a referendum is needed in order to prevent the country from sleepwalking toward an acciden-tal and disastrous EU exit. And so it must come as a surprise to some of Britain’s EU partners that none of the country’s politicians seems to be making any effort to wake a somnambulant public.

More broadly, while much of the world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket, there has been little talk about Britain’s international role and re-sponsibilities. The UK was once famous for punch-ing above its weight in global affairs, but perhaps the country no longer really matters much — if only because it does not want to matter. The closest anyone has come to putting some international fizz into the campaign was when US President Barack Obama fired a couple of warning shots across the UK’s bow. The Obama administration seems bent on proving that the so-called “special relationship” goes beyond raucous backslapping.

The first salvo — a warning that Britain should not be overly accommodating toward China — fol-lowed the UK’s decision to join China’s Asian In-frastructure Investment Bank. But the problem is far broader than the AIIB. In any case, it is doubt-ful that anyone in London will take much notice.

These days, policy on China is driven entirely by the Treasury, which subscribes to the view that one can do business with the Chinese only from a posi-tion of servility.

The second barrage was over a more serious matter, regarding defence spending. The criticism was directed at all European members of Nato, but it was clear that the US government believes that Britain bears a special responsibility to maintain its military commitments. The UK has a long track record of scolding its European Nato partners for not spending the two per cent of GDP that each has pledged to dedicate to defence; now it appears that Britain itself risks falling short.

There is an economic argument against assign-ing a fixed percentage of national wealth to a given departmental budget. The British economy is now growing fast by current European standards, so two per cent of GDP is becoming a larger sum. (The same is true of the UK’s similar commitment to the United Nations to spend 0.7 per cent of its GDP on international development assistance.)

Government officials presumably recognise the embarrassment that would be caused were Brit-ain to fall short of the two per cent target, so they seem to be looking for programmes that can be squeezed into the Defence Department’s budget to pad spending. This is exactly the sort of behaviour the UK has criticized in others: lumping all sorts of pension payments and intelligence commitments into their calculations of defence spending.

There is a very real risk in all of this. The fact that neither of the major parties is prepared to make the case for increasing defence spending sends the wrong sort of message to Russian President Vladi-mir Putin. The proper response to Russian adven-turism in Ukraine should not only be to work with the rest of the EU to help the government in Kyiv steady its economy; it should also include ramping up defence spending and convincing Nato mem-bers to do the same.

It is unfortunate that some of the most impor-tant issues facing the UK are being ignored in the country’s current election campaign. Whatever the outcome when voters head to the polls on May 7, the next government will have to deal with reality. The country’s defence posture and Russia’s threat to European security are sure to be near the top of the next prime minister’s agenda. - Project Syndicate

British poll campaign ignores vital issues

The UK has a long track record of scolding its European Nato partners for not spending the two per cent of GDP that each has pledged to dedicate to defence; now it appears that Britain itself risks falling short

Letters, containing not more than 200 words with full name, address and telephone number, may be sent by mail (Times of Oman, P.O. Box 770, P.C. 112, Ruwi), by fax (24813153) or by e-mail (times@omantel.net.om)

COMMENTARY

People seek asylum in another country for a variety of reasons, and the UNHCR report “Asylum trends 2014” is illuminating in a number of ways. As a result of multiple conflicts triggered by

the Arab spring, the influx of asylum seekers, particularly to Europe, is the highest since the Bosnian war of the 1990s. In particular, the wars in Syria and Iraq have triggered massive human movements, with countries such as Turkey finding they are almost overwhelmed. The number of people fleeing Pakistan has also grown, up by 4.3 per cent to 26,300 in 2014 from 25,200 in 2013; the fourth consecutive annual increase for Pakistan. The increase may be small but the fact is that in two years alone, 51,500 people have fled Pakistan. Globally, Pakistan is the sixth-largest source of asylum seekers.

All of those taking fright and flight from their countries of origin end up elsewhere, and their burden falls on mainly developed na-tions in the West, which is considerable, and not all are willing to re-ceive them. Australia registered a 24 per cent drop in requests, with fewer than 9,000 in 2014 according to the UNHCR, which noted its tougher immigration policies that have seen many asylum seekers warehoused in remote offshore islands, and many failing completely in their goal of entering the country.

There are unknown but reportedly significant numbers of Paki-stani Christians in the UNHCR system in Thailand. Minority groups are likely to make up the bulk of those seeking to leave Pakistan on the grounds that their lives have become too dangerous or simply unbear-able. Pakistan is steadily emptying itself of its minorities, not all of whom go down the asylum route, choosing instead to make their un-assisted ways out of the country. The seeking of asylum is an act of in-dividual and collective desperation. The numbers seeking refuge are growing dramatically by the year and with the conflicts that fuel the surge showing little sign of ending, the trend will continue upwards. We expect no early ebbing in this tide of misery. - The Express Tribune

Taking fright and flight

Now that President Obama has decided to slow the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, he and the new Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, have an obligation to prove that the additional

American investment will be worth it. It will not be easy, and it may not be possible. For more than a decade, the Afghan government has stubbornly resisted taking most of the political, economic and mili-tary steps needed to put the country on a firm footing. Obama’s de-cision to keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan at least through 2015 is a change from his previous plan to cut that force in half by the end of the year. Administration officials said it was a response to the expected resurgence of the Taliban in the spring fighting season and the need to continue training and assisting the struggling Afghan security forces. The decision means that two military bases from which the Central Intelligence Agency and military special forces conduct secret drone strikes and other operations — in Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, and in Jalalabad, in the east — will stay open.

After the first White House meeting between the two presidents, Obama said at a news conference that he still planned to honour his commitment to reduce the force to about 1,000 when he leaves office in 2017. With America headed into a presidential election campaign in which Republicans are already taking a tougher line on security is-sues in general, Obama’s decision to slow the pace of the withdrawal should not be an excuse for keeping troops in Afghanistan indefi-nitely. Ghani, an American-educated, former World Bank official who is widely perceived as more serious and responsible than his erratic predecessor, Hamid Karzai, made a convincing argument that delay-ing the withdrawal would give him security support while he pursued economic, political and military goals.

His thanks to American troops who served in his country and to American taxpayers, who are still footing a hefty bill, was especially well received during a speech to Congress.

Although there is little sign that talks with the militants could make progress anytime soon, Ghani has taken an important step by trying to improve relations with Pakistan, whose lawless border region has long provided a sanctuary for militants who have targeted Afghan and American forces. He described the stakes in remarkably blunt terms, saying the problem was not making peace with the Taliban so much as “peace between Pakistan and Afghanistan.”

Ghani has big visions. He told Congress he aims for the country to be self-sustaining, and weaned of international assistance that now is central to the economy, within this decade. He talked of Afghanistan’s being an Asian hub crossed by pipelines, rail lines and modern tele-com and banking services. Those are worthy goals, but they are still based mostly on hope. - The New York Times News Service

US slows withdrawal from Afghanistan

C H R I S PAT T E N

Theme park will add to Muscat city’s attractionThis refers to the news story, Big-gest theme park to be ready in 2017 (March 29). It felt really good to learn about the theme park with so many developments taking place in the country at present. I have been living in the Sultanate for the past nine years and I am sure the new project will make Muscat a more attractive place for children and teens to live in.John LazarMuscat

Bickering within the Aam Aadmi Party is unfortunateThe open war of attrition in Aam Aadmi Party barely weeks after it made history in Delhi is really unfortunate. The workers are clue-less as to where this rift between

the ideologues and party managers will lead the party to.Usha Devi Rao SuddapalliRuwi

No team is likely to beat Australia’s record nowThe 45-day long cricket carnival, the ICC World Cup 2015, ended in a result which was probably known to many. Australia won the title for the fifth time, creating a record which would probably be unchallenged by any team for a long time. Australian captain Michael Clarke gifted himself the best retirement gift he could think of. In fact, Australia won the ICC World Cup as the most deserving team in the fray. They played well throughout the tournament. James D’CostaMuscat

Australia won the match in the first 13 overs onlyWe thought the final match of the ICC World Cup between Aus-tralia and New Zealand would be a match to watch. What turned out was just the opposite of what we thought and looked forward to. New Zealand, despite hav-ing played well throughout the tournament, simply collapsed against Australian bowling. They did not put up even a semblance of fight. In fact, New Zealand lost the match in the first 13 overs of their innings. At the end of the thirteenth over, the Kiwis were 39 for three wickets down. Their run rate was dismal and their top order batsmen were back in the pavilion by then. As for the turning point of the match, I would say the fifth delivery of the first over that Mitchell Starc bowled to New

Zealand captain McCullum. Starc won the match for his country in his very first over.Ashok PanickerSeeb

McCullum is responsible for New Zealand’s defeatWhat an over did Australian pacer Mitchell Starc bowl! In his first over of the match he bowled with fire conceding one run and sending the dangerous Kiwi captain back to the dressing room for zero. Kiwi captain McCullum, never known for responsible batting, showed how irresponsible a captain can be. He was swinging his bat to any-thing and everything. In a way, he paved the way for New Zealand’s defeat in the final.Vishal MishraMuttrah

READERS’ FORUM

Victory belongs to the most perseveringNAPOLEON BONAPARTE

website: www.newindiaoman.com

NEW INDIA ASSURANCENew India offers a wide range of HEALTH INSURANCE COVERS to you/family/employee.

PERSPEC IVET I M E S O F O M A N M O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5T I M E S O F O M A N A13

No need to worry about what Top Gear presenter James May will do next.

He’s already got a plan: “(I might do) something outside of cars,”

he informed the press last week. “I always wanted to be a teacher.” Sure, teaching, why not? It’s not like its hard or anything.

That much was demonstrated in the most recent series of HBO’s Girls, when Lena Dunham’s char-acter Hannah, flunked out of her writing course and took up a post as a supply teacher instead. “I can’t do, so I’ll teach!” she an-nounced to her fellow incompe-tents over brunch. Meanwhile in real-life Cornwall, a fake profes-sor has been prosecuted, but only after running a bogus psychology course for 18 months and swin-dling thousands out of her stu-dent-victims.

Teaching remains a popu-lar second career choice among know-it-alls who like the sound of their own voices and fantasists who have seen the 1995 film Dan-gerous Minds, starring Michelle Pfeiffer. Actually qualifying as a

teacher and then surviving the re-ality of working in a classroom is a different matter. That’s why, de-spite all the wannabes, there’s still a recruitment crisis in education.

The profession is hugely re-spected in the abstract — teachers are so noble and self-sacrificing aren’t they? — yet in practice teachers are still underpaid, over-worked and blamed for everything that goes wrong in education. Would Alan Milburn’s new plan change that? The former Labour health secretary and current gov-ernment social mobility tsar has proposed using a 25 per cent pay rise to encourage “the best teach-ers to work in challenging schools in the hardest-to-recruit areas”.

There is no word yet on how the “best” teachers will be selected, but if the scheme has anything in common with another govern-ment favourite, Teach First, “best” will mean those who graduated from the poshest universities, re-gardless of their ability to connect with pupils.

Or, if it goes by the results of league tables “best” will mean

those who have presided over the highest exam grades, regardless of how many other educational advantages their pupils had. The ability to inspire a young mind is, of course, a skill that’s much harder to measure. Even once we’re settled on the definition, are bad teachers really the great-est challenge faced by schools in deprived areas?

By suggesting that a financial incentive is all that’s needed to improve educational outcomes for this generation of cheated chil-dren, Milburn’s plan both insults professionals and underestimates the barriers to social mobility.

The schools in Britain do need better paid teachers but they also need more out-of-school support for children whose home lives make it almost impossible to con-centrate, an Education Secretary who makes changes based on evidence, not ideology, and a fair share of all those resources which have been diverted to free schools and private education. The list goes on, as May will perhaps one day discover. - The Independent

TODAY IN HISTORY

OPINION POLL

1840 “Beau” Brummell, the English dandy and former favorite of the prince regent, dies in a French lunatic asylum for paupers.

1867 Russian Baron Stoeckl and US

Secretary of State Seward completed the draft of a treaty ceding Alaska to the United States. The treaty is signed the following day.

1885 In Afghanistan, Russian troops inflict a crushing defeat on Afghan forces Ak Teppe despite orders not to fight.

1941 The German Afrika Korps under

General Erwin Rommel begins its first offensive against British forces in Libya.

GEO-ENVIRONMENT CONFERENCE BEGINSMUSCAT: Dr Khamis bin Mubarak Al Alawi, minister of regional municipalities and environment opened the Geo environment International Confer-ence 2000 at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) yesterday. The four-day conference, orgasnised by the faculty of engineering, will endeavour to produce recommendations that would help scholars and researchers study changes in planet earth. The min-ister said he was pleased to open the conference, the first of its kind to be organised in the Sultanate.

FROM OUR ARCHIVES

Britain’s defence capability should be founded on national rather than strategic interests; and this fine distinction is magnified when defence funding is tight. Perhaps for political reasons this process has been inverted

The banking crisis required Gordon Brown’s Labour government to bail out major British banks during 2008, incurring a significant

government budget deficit. Following the election of a Conservative coalition government in 2010 an austere budget deficit reduction programme imple-mented public sector financial cuts impacting de-fence expenditure.Unsound defence cuts and asym-metrical expenditure followed; and not since the Labour government’s nineteen sixties defence cuts has Britain witnessed such serious, and defective, defence procurement decisions. Britain’s defence capability should be founded on national rather than strategic interests; and this fine distinction is magnified when defence funding is tight.

Perhaps for political reasons this process has been inverted, with Britain’s strategic interests be-ing advanced ahead of national defence wellbeing. Such juxtaposition has historically resulted in nei-ther defence interest being properly served.

During 2002 new aircraft carriers should have been ordered. However, the financial impact of the Iraq war, on Britain’s defence budget, lethally de-layed this order along with that for a replacement maritime anti-submarine aircraft.

Additionally, HMS Gannet in South West Scot-land — from where anti-submarine helicopters safe-guarded the Clyde approaches to Britain’s nuclear submarine facility — was also closed. This 2002 defence cut left Britain’s nuclear submarine facil-ity unguarded from Russian intelligence gathering activities. Consequently, aircraft carriers, destined for Royal Navy commissioning during 2008, were only ordered prior to the 2008 banking crisis, with a revised service entry date of 2016: eight years late.

The Conservative coalition government con-firmed this carrier order in 2010: the coalition’s first major defence blunder; and to fund these aircraft carriers the Ministry of Defence (MOD) hastily im-plemented defence cuts in areas critical to Britain’s national security. The Royal Navy’s Harrier fighters were prematurely retired. The entire RAF Nimrod anti-submarine maritime surveillance aircraft fleet was withdrawn from service; and the replacement AEW Nimrod programme cancelled: effecting in the Conservative coalition’s second significant error of judgment. Consequently Britain’s only Nimrod base, RAF Kinloss in Scotland, was closed leaving Britain devoid of anti-submarine, maritime surveil-lance aircraft.

Additionally the RAF axed 20 fighter squadrons, including the legendary Dambusters maritime strike force based at RAF Lossiemouth; and RAF Leuchars near St Andrews was closed.

The Scottish nationalists described this as a Min-

istry of Defence asset strip of Scotland. If correct, this was short sighted politics; leaving the entire Scottish coastline almost undefended as a Nato frontier; and open to unfettered Russian military activity. Moreover, should an independent Scotland join Nato, as it undoubtedly would; British RAF and Royal Navy assets might be based in Scotland as a part of a Nato obligation, just as the RAF currently operate from the Baltic state of Lithuania, with the British Rhine Army based in Germany and operat-ing in Poland and Norway.

Faced with an independent Scotland, as a Nato member, it is inconceivable that the Britain would refuse similar common defence provision to their closest neighbour; thereby defaulting on Britain’s international Nato treaty obligations.

Evidently a high cost has been paid by Britain’s military forces to fund these costly aircraft carriers, with the Army also suffering a loss of 20,000 sol-diers. These defence cuts have impacted heavily on Britain’s national defence capability.

Overly large and capable of housing 40 fighters and over 30 helicopters, each supercarrier shall carry only 6 fighters and 12 helicopters , whilst re-quiring considerably greater frigate escort capabil-ity than is available to the Royal Navy. These aircraft carriers shall therefore rely on Nato provided escort ships to ensure their safety. This folly has profound-ly compromised Britain’s national security without enhancing its strategic global capability. Last week President Putin ordered the entire ‘Northern Fleet’ to mobilise in a huge Russian military exercise. This involved 40,000 troops, more than 41 warships, 15 submarines and 110 aircraft.

This Russian exercise flooded the Arctic to dwarf Nato’s long planed Norwegian exercise, whilst Brit-ain has 12 Typhoon aircraft based in Scotland to address this Russian threat. Also, last December the Russians anchored their largest aircraft carrier within sight of the Moray coast — where we earlier closed our maritime Nimrod base and disbanded the Dambusters — and held a Christmas party, which they posted on YouTube. A Russian submarine was likewise believed to be within British territorial wa-ters off the Scottish coast, forcing Britain to request four of our Nato allies to provide anti-submarine, maritime surveillance, aircraft. Not since the Cold War has Britain national security been so vulner-able to Russian military activity; best defined by the disbanded Dambusters’ motto: ‘Après moi, le deluge’ — ‘After me, the flood.’

The author is a freelance contributor based in Britain. All the views and opinions expressed in the article are solely his and not of Times of Oman.

Britain’s flawed defence cuts will give Russia an advantage

HISTORYNET.COM

Black box unveils secrets of crashed Flight 9525

GraphicsGraphic News /Source: IASA, L-3 Aviation Recorders

Black box flight recordersLocated in tail as front of plane

expected to act as crush zone,increasing likelihood that

black box will survive

Flight Data Recorder (Fdr)Records technical data, including airspeed,altitude, engine performance, status of key systems – autopilot and autothrottle – andposition of wing flaps and rudder. FDR of

Flight 9525 not yet found

50cm32cm

Crash Survivable Memory Unit

Stainless steel or titanium CSMU can

withstand impact 3,400times force of gravity

and temperatures up to 1,100C for 60 minutes

Stacked memory boardsThermally insulated solid-state flash drives can store several gigabytes of data

Circuit boardProcesses data fromup to 3,000 parameterscollected by sensorsthroughout fuselage

Flight 9525 cockpit voice recorderretrieved from crash zonein battered condition

Cockpit voice recorder (cvr)Records voices of pilots and othersounds from cockpit for two hours

LAST POLL RESULTDo you think that the escalating crisis in Yemen will put Oman’s capital market into further distress?

Should Earth Hour become a monthly event, rather than annual, in Oman?

Visit timesofoman.com to cast your vote

Yes61.2%

Can't say14.3 %

No24.5%

A year ago, I suffered the fate of thousands of Pakistanis who have

been attacked, maimed and terrorised by violent extrem-ism. I was lucky to have physi-cally survived but my driver Mustafa was not.

An innocent human life lost but at the end of the day, he made for a mere digit. This is the brutal reality of a country where a mighty state appears unable to protect its citizens. I was once a civil servant and a mandarin in Pakistan’s pow-erful administrative service. I ventured into international development and worked for the Asian Development Bank.

I had secure careers lined up with attractive promotions and stable retirement plans. I gave up these comfortable op-tions and opted for journalism and public engagement, in the naive hope that public narra-tives could be changed. I chose a path that would allow me freedom of expression to wade in the murky waters of what is known as ‘public opinion’ in Pakistan.

I cannot complain much as within a few years I had carved my space and engaged with old and new media, happily dis-covering that there were thou-sands of other likeminded men and women of my coun-try who agreed that religious extremism and xenophobia masked as patriotism needed to be challenged.

Above all, human rights — especially the right to live and worship freely — mattered. But I sensed the limits and the dangers. And on March 28 last year, I did pay a price. Un-known men, later identified by the police as operatives of a Taliban affiliate, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), tried to kill me. A rather drastic punish-ment for my views and what I stood for.

Before the attack, I was warned and threatened, es-pecially on the social media. Unknown accounts told me that I would have to pay a price with my blood. I was called an apostate, an infidel. My views on normalising ties with India were taken by some as a sign of being unpatriotic, for perenni-al hostility with the neighbour is the ultimate marker of our nationhood.

This is also a cynical ploy, for what could be more tell-ing than Fatima Jinnah, cel-ebrated as the mother of the nation, also being accused of being an Indian agent when she chose to show dissent in the 1965 elections. Concur-rently, friends and family also insisted that I should not talk about ‘sensitive’ issues.

I remember that a caller in one of my TV shows attacked me for protesting against the ghastly 2013 attack on a Pe-shawar church and said that Muslims were also being killed by the ‘Christian’ West!

Is there no freedom in Paki-

stan to say that the colonial blasphemy law is being mis-used? Should we let mobs burn pregnant Christian women and others, and attack Chris-tian settlements and churches because there is a mere accu-sation of blasphemy?

What sort of media report-ing and commentary can take place if you can’t raise such issues on the most influential medium, i.e., TV?

I do remember the unoffi-cial advisories and the coun-sel by peers and producers on what not to say on TV. I caved in sometimes and for the times I did not, I guess, was taught a lesson.

I have been away from the country of my birth and my beloved city of Lahore for 11 months. I have lived abroad but never for so long. This has been a forced separation, mainly driven by the fact that those who tried to kill me can easily try it again.

There have been threats sent my way directly and indi-rectly and the extremists have even threatened my murdered driver’s family not to show up in court. I never knew that in my quest for freedom I would face this dilemma: should I risk my life or let anyone else get hurt?

I am neither a suicide bomber nor eager to be ‘mar-tyred’. We have enough mar-tyrs in Pakistan. I certainly don’t want to travel around in bullet-bomb-proof cars (unaf-fordable to begin with).

There are a few friends and foes who accuse me of ‘run-ning away’. This is part of the larger desensitisation and in-tellectual confusion that per-meates Pakistan. I am quite happy to take that opprobrium than face bullets. The brav-ery of those who question my decision can only be tested if they (God forbid) had to face the situation I am in.

Freedom of expression is in-valuable and non-negotiable. I have done enough of self-cen-sorship in my ruptured media career. But I have no plans to give up. I also have no regrets for taking positions.

I salute all the hard-working journalists and media workers who perform their duties in difficult situations, especially in Balochistan, Fata and other conflict zones. I will rejoin them one day. Pakistan is part of my identity and will always remain so. For now, I need to feel secure.

The right to life, after all, is inviolable. - The Express tribune

When I was almost killed

So you think teaching is easy. Do you?

R A Z A R U M I

E L L E N E J O N E S

G A R Y S M I T H

I salute all the hard-working journalists and media workers who perform their duties in difficult situations, especially in Balochistan and other conflict zones

A14

GLOBAL EYEM O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

UNITED STATES: A view of low water levels at Lake Powell on Saturday in Lake Powell, Utah. As severe drought grips parts of the western United States, a below average flow of water is expected to enter Lake

Powell and Lake Mead, the two biggest reservoirs of the Colorado River Basin. Lake Powell is currently at 45 per cent of capacity and is at risk of seeing its surface elevation fall below 1,075 feet above sea

level by September, which would be the lowest level on record. The Colorado River Basin supplies water to 40 million people in seven western states. — Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP

TAIWAN: In this handout photograph provided by the Taiwan

Solidarity Union (TSU), demonstrators tussle with police during a

protest in Taipei on Sunday. Taiwanese demonstrators threw eggs

and slippers to protest against China’s launch of a controversial

new flight route, accusing the government of failing to stand up to

Beijing. — AFP/TAIWAN SOLIDARITY UNION

JAPAN: People row canoes past cherry blossoms trees in full bloom in Tokyo on Sunday. — AFP

CHINA: Labourers transport steel bars toward a full-scale replica of the Sphinx at an unfinished movie and animation tourism theme

park, in Chuzhou, China, on Saturday. — Reuters/China Daily

CHILE: Handout picture released by Chile’s National Geology and

Mining Service (Sernageomin) showing smoke billowing from the

Villarrica volcano, in Pucon some 800 km south of Santiago, on

Saturday. — AFP/SERNAGEOMIN

UZBEKISTAN: Uzbek police officers stand guard near a polling sta-

tion in Tashkent on Sunday, as people arrive to cast their votes in

Uzbekistan’s presidential elections. — AFP

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

A15

WORLDM O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

Thousands march for peace in Tunis

TUNIS: Tunisia said Sunday it had killed the leader of the extrem-ists behind the massacre at its na-tional museum, as foreign leaders joined thousands of Tunisians in a march against extremism.

Chanting “Tunisia is free! Ter-rorism out!” the demonstrators marched in a sea of red Tunisian flags to the capital’s Bardo Muse-um, where 21 foreign tourists were killed in the March 18 extremists shooting rampage.

“The Tunisian people have proven that they will not give in

to terrorism. My thanks go out to all and I tell the Tunisian people: ‘Forwards. You are not alone,’” President Beji Caid Essebsi said after joining the march with for-eign dignitaries.

French President Francois Hol-lande, whose country held a simi-lar march after January’s attacks in Paris, was among the figures attending along with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Pales-

tinian leader Mahmud Abbas.“We must all fight against ter-

rorism,” Hollande told reporters after the march. “Tunisians want-ed this international solidarity.”

Mastermind killedTunisian authorities earlier said Lokmane Abou Sakhr — an Alge-rian who allegedly masterminded the museum attack — was killed along with at least eight others

from the notorious Okba Ibn Na-faa Brigade.

Officials had accused Abou Sakhr and his group of organising the attack on the Bardo National Museum carried out by two gun-men who were shot dead, despite a claim of responsibility from the IS group.

Tunisian forces “were able yesterday (Saturday) to kill the most important members of the

Okba Ibn Nafaa Brigade including its head Lokmane Abou Sakhr,” Prime Minister Habib Essid told reporters.

Interior Ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui told AFP that security forces had killed “nine terrorists” in an operation in the west-central area of Sidi Aich.

Authorities say Okba Ibn Nafaa has been behind a series of attacks on security forces that have left some 60 dead since late 2012.

During the official march, a stone tablet was unveiled with the names of the foreign tourists and a Tunisian policeman killed in the attack.

The authorities gave no imme-diate estimate for the number of participants in the march, which took place amid tight security.

“Tunisia is not a country of extremism and terrorism!” yelled Majda Friga, a participant wrapped in the Tunisian flag.

“Let the terrorists leave our lands. Let them go to hell and leave us in peace,” said Fadhila Lahmar, a woman in her 60s.

Ben Ali overthrowTunisia has seen an upsurge in ex-tremism since overthrowing long-time strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, but has taken pride in forming a democratic gov-ernment since the upheaval -- in marked contrast to countries such as Libya, Syria and Yemen.

The extremist Ennahda main opposition party called on its sup-

porters to join the march “as an expression of Tunisian unity in the face of this danger and of their de-termination to defend their coun-try and... preserve their freedom”.

The country’s powerful UGTT trade union also urged its support-ers to take part.

However, the leftist opposition Popular Front called for a boycott, accusing some participants of “hypocrisy”, referring to accusa-tions that the moderates extrem-ists in power after Tunisia’s 2011 revolution had failed to act against extremists.

Paris demonstrationThe march in Tunis echoed a simi-lar anti-extremism demonstration in Paris after the deadly attacks on the ‘Charlie Hebdo’ satirical week-ly and a kosher supermarket.

The dead tourists were from Ita-ly, Japan, France, Spain, Colombia, Australia, Britain, Belgium, Poland and Russia.

Officials have described the at-tack as “a big blow” to Tunisia’s crucial tourism industry.

Authorities have arrested nearly two dozen suspects in connection with the attack and fired senior po-lice officials over alleged security failures. — AFP

Chanting ‘Tunisia is

free! Terrorism out!’,

the demonstrators

marched in a sea of

red Tunisian flags to

the capital’s Bardo

Museum, where 21

foreign tourists were

killed in the March

18 extremists

shooting rampage

DENOUNCING EXTREMISM: Tunisians wave their national flag and chant slogans during a march

against extremism outside Tunis’ Bardo Museum on Sunday. — AFP

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Violence, chaos mar Nigeria’s tensest presidential pollPORT HARCOURT (NIGE-RIA): Confusion and sporadic violence blighted Nigeria’s tens-est presidential election since the end of army rule, with opposition supporters disputing results on Sunday from a turbulent south-ern state even before they were announced.

The opposition All Progres-sives Congress (APC) in Riv-ers state accused supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan of being behind killings of its cam-paigners, and denounced the vote there as “a sham and a charade”.

Disputed outcomeDismissal of the vote in Rivers - the centre of Africa’s biggest oil industry - raises the prospect of a disputed national outcome and the risk of a repeat of the violence that erupted after the last elec-tion in 2011, when 800 people were killed and 65,000 displaced in the mainly Muslim north.

Hundreds of protesters chant-ed “APC” outside the main INEC electoral commission office in Port Harcourt, watched by doz-

ens of police. Senator Magnus Abe accused the ruling party of intimidation.

“There was no election in Riv-ers,” APC polling agent Achinike William-Wobodo told Reuters, calling for a fresh ballot.

In a sign the opposition will challenge results elsewhere, the APC governor of southern Imo state, Rochas Okorocha, de-nounced on television the con-duct of the election in his region and accused the military of med-dling in the result.

There was no immediate com-ment from INEC.

Kano and Kaduna, the north-ern cities worst-hit by the 2011 violence, were calm.

Voting in Saturday’s elec-tion was extended into Sunday at a relatively small number of polling stations after technical glitches hit voter ID machines.

Boko Haram militants also killed more than a dozen voters in the northeast, while at least two people were shot dead in Port Harcourt, a city with a long his-tory of political thuggery. — Reuters

C O N T R O V E R S Y

DEMAND FOR CANCELLATION: All Progressives Congress Party’s

supporters march towards the Independent National Electoral

Commission Office in Port Harcourt during a demonstration

calling for the cancellation of the presidential elections in the

southern oil-rich Rivers State on Sunday. — AFP/Stringer

Kikwete warns of rising tensionsDAR ES SALAAM: Tanzania’s president said tensions between Muslims and Christians were rising ahead of a constitutional referendum and elections and warned religious leaders against political meddling, saying this could stoke violence.

Jakaya Kikwete told a meeting of religious leaders in a speech

seen by Reuters on Sunday that the referendum slated for April 30 and presidential and parliamentary elections set for October had raised the spectre of violence.

“The threat to peace is high,” he told the gathering, held late on Saturday in the commercial capi-tal Dar es Salaam. — Reuters

T A N Z A N I A

The Tunisian people have proven that they will not

give in to terrorism. My thanks go out to all and I tell

the Tunisian people: ‘Forwards. You are not alone.’

Beji Caid Essebsi, Tunisia President

BMARKE

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Prequalification tender for Duqm project floated

A E JAMESbusinesseditor@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: A prequalification ten-der to select a specialised engineer-ing, procurement and construction contract for building facilities for supplying seawater for cooling in-dustrial plants in Duqm area has been floated by Duqm Special Eco-

nomic Zone Authority (Sezad). The facility will provide seawater

to all end users (industrial projects within the industrial zone, includ-ing the proposed Duqm Refinery, which is coming up adjacent to the Duqm port. The contractors will have to carry out detailed design, which will be based on a front-end

engineering design (FEED) pro-vided by the owner.

The construction of the seawa-ter system will start in the fourth quarter of 2015, with the hand-ing over scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2017, according to a tender floated by Sezad.

The project will include marine

intake structure, seawater pump-ing station, seawater supply, return channels and beach well system.

Like Sohar, a seawater system for cooling industrial plants is of utmost importance in Duqm area since several industries are in the planning stage.

Port of Duqm last year launched a new subsidiary to help support the development of industrial clusters for investment within the adjoining special economic zone.

Port of Duqm Company has been allocated 2,000 hectares of land for petrochemical and me-dium and heavy industries to de-velop and manage as part of its concession agreement with the Oman government.

PDC’s strategy is to develop two zones each of 500 hectares within the special economic zone reserved exclusively for medium industries, the other is earmarked for heavy industries, while the re-maining 1,000 hectares will serve

the downstream petrochemical industries.

According to recent reports, twenty-three projects in various fields have been planned for the period from 2015 to 2020 in the fast developing port town of Duqm.

Also, eight projects are in the tendering process and the scope of work and preparation for 20 projects are underway.

The projects planned for the period from 2015 to 2020 are for coastal development, roads’ net-work system and rail road pro-ject (phase 2), marina project, communication supply network system (industrial zone), custom checkpoint facilities, town centre, street light, commercial centre building, water supply network for commercial and residential, communication network system for commercial and residential, and electrical supply network for commercial and residential.

Contract is for

building facilities for

supplying seawater

for cooling industrial

plants in Duqm

economic zone

Central bank to host forumTimes News Service

MUSCAT: A regional seminar on ‘Regulating and Supervising Systemic Banks,’ will be held on Monday. Central Bank of Oman (CBO) executive president Hamood bin Sangour Al Zadjali will launch the regional seminar. It is being or-ganised by the CBO in collaboration with the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Financial Stability Institute (FSI) of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

The BIS officials will conduct the seminar, which will continue for four days. A number of bank-ing examiners from all the central banks and monetary agencies of the GCC countries will participate in the seminar.

The seminar aims at enhancing the manpower skills of the GCC regulators, as well as boosting the supervisory and regulatory sys-tems of the GCC countries. The seminar will also focus on super-vision and control of the domes-tically systematically important banks (DSIBs).

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

– Times file picture

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Ensure proper disposal of garbage.

Don’t litter a beautiful country like OMAN.

Beijing urged to be vigilant on deflationBEIJING: China must remain vigilant against the possibility of deflation, central bank gover-nor Zhou Xiaochuan said at the Boao Forum for Asia, as he sig-naled further steps to prop up an economy that has slowed ‘a bit too sharply.’

There is still ‘room’ for mon-etary policy action, Zhou, 67, said in a speech on Sunday on the southern island of Hainan. While monetary policy isn’t un-conventional now, China ‘had ex-perience’ with non-conventional measures after the Asian and global financial crises, he said.

The head of the People’s Bank of China has pledged prudent policy recently even after joining global counterparts with mone-tary easing as he seeks to cushion a slowdown in the world’s sec-ond-biggest economy. Premier Li Keqiang set a 2015 growth target of about 7 per cent, the lowest in more than 15 years, and pledged to take steps if growth slows to-ward the lower limit of that range, and cuts into jobs and income.

Growth has declined “a bit too sharply,” Zhou told an audience that included central bankers from Japan and Germany.

Interest-rate cut“China’s inflation is also declin-ing, so we need to be vigilant to see if the disinflation trend will continue, and if deflation will happen or not.”

The central bank announced its first interest-rate cut in two years in November and followed with another reduction on February 28. It also lowered banks’ reserve ratio requirements last month.

China’s disinflation eased in

February after the central bank stepped up easing and the Lunar New Year holiday pushed up food and transport costs. The consum-er-price index rose 1.4 per cent from a year earlier, compared with January’s 0.8 per cent, data from the statistics bureau show.

The government set a 2015 consumer inflation target of 3 per cent in its annual work report earlier this month.

The room the country has to move on monetary policy “is not necessarily for quantitative eas-ing,” Zhou said.

“China can have room to act on both the price side and the quan-titative side.” - Bloomberg News

E C O N O M YIndia is among topsource markets for capital into Dubai

DUBAI: India was among the top source market for Dubai whose infrastructure development ini-tiatives and the services indus-tries remained the major drivers of capital into emirate in 2014.

The emirate witnessed $7.8 billion in foreign direct invest-ment (FDI). Estimates by Dubai Investment Development Agency (Dubai FDI), an agency of the Department of Economic Devel-opment, shows that the United States, the UK, India and other European countries, such as France and Germany were major source markets.

Out of a total of 41 source coun-tries, the top ones — the United States, the United Kingdom, In-

dia, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy — generated a total of Dh23.9 billion throughout the year across 141 projects.

In terms of investment, these countries represented almost 84 per cent of the total foreign direct investment for the whole year and 59 per cent of the total in terms of the number of projects.

Real estate sectorWith clear signs of recovery and iconic projects on board, the real estate sector, financial services, hotels and tourism, alternative/renewable energy, business ser-vices, software and IT services were the top sectors together ac-counting for 78 per cent of invest-ment, or Dh22 billion in 2014.

These sectors also claimed 133 projects, half of the total FDI pro-jects in 2014.

“The latest foreign direct in-vestment figures once again prove

that Dubai remains the preferred and ideal destination for inves-tors and businessmen, who have confidence in the national econ-omy, which is witnessing steady growth in various sectors.”

“Dubai hosting the Expo 2020 has stimulated a major influx of investors and growth opportuni-ties. We welcome all kinds of in-vestments and global companies that are looking for stability and business development in an inte-grated investment environment,” said Sami Al Qamzi, director gen-eral of DED.

Projects aimed at the regional market captured 84 per cent of the investments in 2014. — PTI

Out of a total of 41

source countries,

the top ones —

US, UK, India,

the Netherlands,

Germany and Italy —

generated a total of

Dh23.9 billion

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China wooing Nepal with infrastructure, hydro projects

BEIJING: Firming up ties with Nepal, Chinese President Xi Jin-ping has said the two countries should strengthen cooperation in interconnectivity, infrastructure, and hydropower development as Kathmandu pledged to keep up the crackdown on Tibetans support-ing the Dalai Lama.

China is willing to initiate talks on Free Trade Agreement with Ne-pal at an early date, Xi said.

He suggested that the two coun-tries should work on traffic in-terconnectivity, infrastructure, hydropower development, mod-ernisation of agriculture and sci-ence and technology.

Silk Road projectsThe Chinese President on Satur-day met his Nepalese counterpart Ram Baran Yadav on the sidelines of Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan Province, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Xi welcomed Nepal’s partici-pation in the Silk Road projects unveiled by him at the forum to improve China’s connectivity to Europe through a maze of road, rail and port network.

Though no specific projects were mentioned with Nepal, the two sides are planning to beef up the connectivity with rail and road links, amid concerns in India over China’s growing influence in the Himalayan country.

Early this month, China had increased its annual aid to Nepal to $128 million from $24 million. Yadav was one of the 13 heads of states and government who took part in the conference. - PTI

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

Zhou Xiaochuan has pledged prudent policy recently even after joining global counterparts with monetary easing as he seeks to cushion a slowdown in China

B3M O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

MARKET

Middle East firms face rising costs to fight financial crimeDUBAI: Companies in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) are facing rising costs to fight financial crime, with more than half report-ing a climb of higher than 25 per cent in the past two years, accord-ing to a survey.

In a region where the risk of money laundering and terror-ism looms larger than in some other parts of the world, many businesses are under pressure to tighten anti-financial crime and compliance rules.

Cmpliance costsThe survey by Thomson Reuters and Deloitte of more than 160 people working across the corpo-rate and financial sector showed that 33.54 per cent believed in-vestment in combating financial crime and compliance had risen by more than 25 per cent com-pared to two years ago.

A further 27.85 per cent of those surveyed said compliance costs had surged by more than 50 per cent over the same period.

And these costs will only keep

increasing, with 49.69 per cent of respondents expecting such in-vestment to rise by more than 25 per cent over the next two years, with a further 24.84 per cent fore-

casting a rise of over 50 per cent.The growing costs reflected a

rise in compliance activity in the past two years. A total of 25.61 per cent of those surveyed said

their companies were spending more personnel hours in meeting compliance objectives, with a fur-ther 25 per cent saying they had increased staffing within compli-ance activities.

In the next two years, 54.8 per cent of companies said they ex-pected growth in either the num-ber of personnel hours handling compliance or staffing levels com-bating financial crime.

Breaching sanctionsSeveral businesses in the United Arab Emirates have been fined by United States and local regulators in recent years for breaching sanc-tions against Iran. Meanwhile, UAE banks have been banned by the government from doing busi-ness with organisations including the Muslim Brotherhood, IS and the Houthi movement, which is fighting for control of Yemen.

The survey showed that anti-money laundering was the top pri-ority for most companies in com-bating financial crime, with 82.50 per cent of firms saying they had such policies in place.

This was followed by policies to protect against fraud (73.13 per cent), comply with sanctions (66.88 per cent), for counter-ter-rorism financing (63.13 per cent) and to stop bribery and corruption (56.25 per cent). But only 33.13 per cent of firms said they had cyber crime policies in place.

Saudi Arabia’s national oil com-pany Saudi Aramco was hit by a cyber attack in August 2012 that targeted 30,000 computers in a bid to stop oil and gas production in the kingdom. In the months af-ter this, both Rakbank and Bank Muscat disclosed cyber-criminals had stolen debit card data from customers. - Agencies

C O M P L I A N C E R U L E S

Omani firm buys back stake from Sharakah

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Ben Bella Trading has officially exited from the Fund for Development of Youth Projects (Sharakah) with the promoters buying back all shares owned by Sharakah. Ben Bella Trading re-ceived equity financial support from Sharakah in 2011.

The project was originally a fish specialty restaurant called Ocean & Earth and subsequently expanded its business to provide

catering services to large cor-porates. They currently provide catering services to students and faculty members at German Uni-versity of Technology (GU-tech) and at the new Muscat Interna-tional Airport construction site.

Ben Bella, partnered with Mo-hammed Al Habsi and agreed to rope in Sharakah as equity part-ner for setting up the business.

The restaurant in its initial startup phase planned for slow and cautious growth and later

Ocean & Earth started developing its catering unit to serve the ever-growing event market in Muscat. Overall, the business is doing well and has created around 16 jobs.

“We would like to congratulate and thank Ben Bella for his com-mitment and hard work in making the business a successful venture. He, in a record time, has paid the full amount and we (Sharakah) have formally exited the company, which is an indicator of the pro-ject’s success and growth,” said Dinkar Kishor, deputy general manager at Sharakah.

“When I established my pro-ject, I faced difficulties to have sufficient capital and understand other issues in the business envi-ronment. I approached Sharakah for support and I knew that I would be receiving the much

needed guidance and financial support. Sharakah has helped me to run my business successfully. I currently have 16 staff.

“Operationally, I am now dedi-cating my effort to provide better service and open new branches in other locations besides GU-tech University and the airport. I appreciate and thank the entire group of Sharakah for their con-tinuous support and encourage-ment to continue performing well to achieve success in my field,” said Ben Bella.

Sharakah’s support is not lim-ited to financial support and goes beyond that to ensure businesses’ sustainability and growth. Its ultimate objective is to provide support to small and medium en-terprises in Oman and help them grow nationally and regionally.

Ben Bella Trading received equity financial

support from Sharakah in 2011

Muscat National Holding appoints new chairmanMUSCAT: Muscat National Holding Company board of directors at its meeting on Thursday, unanimously agreed on the appointment of Aimen bin Ahmed bin Sultan Al Hosni as the new chair-man and Bipin Dharamsey Nensey as deputy chairman.

Ecuador GDP growth slowed QUITO: The rate of growth in Ecuador, South America’s seventh biggest economy, slowed for a third year in 2014 as falling crude oil prices and a refinery shutdown offset gains from higher fishing and electric-ity output. Gross domestic product rose 3.8 per cent in 2014 from a year earlier, less than the government’s 4 per cent forecast, the central bank said in a statement. -Times News Service/Agencies

B R I E F S

Denmark wants to join investment bank backed by ChinaBEIJING: Denmark has ap-plied to join the Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Bank (AIIB), China’s Ministry of Fi-nance said on Sunday, becom-ing the latest European power to join the institution despite misgivings of the United States.

The Ministry of Finance said that Denmark has written to China to “announce its inten-tion to apply to be a founding member” of the AIIB.

“China welcomes Denmark’s decision,” the ministry said in a statement on its website, add-ing that China will first seek the views of other members. If the decision is approved, Denmark will officially be a founding member of the AIIB on April 12, the ministry said.

Danish Minister of Trade and Development Mogens Jensen called China’s establishment of the AIIB “a significant and ex-citing development in the world order”. “Since many Danish trade interests as well as devel-opment cooperation interests will be at stake in AIIB, there are many reasons to engage in and influence AIIB’s investment decisions from its beginning,” Jensen said in a statement.

On Saturday, Russia, Austral-ia and the Netherlands became the latest countries to say they plan to join the AIIB, adding clout to an institution seen as enhancing China’s regional and global influence.

Founding memberChina has set a March 31 dead-line to become a founding mem-ber of the AIIB, which is seen as a significant setback to US efforts to extend its influence in the Asia Pacific region and to balance China’s growing finan-cial clout and assertiveness.

The AIIB has been seen as a challenge to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, institutions Washington helped found and over which it exerts considerable influence.

The United States has urged countries to think twice about joining the AIIB until it could show sufficient standards of governance and environmental and social safeguards.

But the US’ European allies Britain, France, Germany and Italy announced this month they would join the bank, lead-ing US to reassess stance. - Reuters

I N F R A S T R U C T U R E

Oman is gearing up for local products’ expo in Saudi Arabia

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Oman is planning to conduct an exhibition on local products in Jeddah, which will provide a platform to eventu-ally boost the country’s exports to Saudi Arabia.

To achieve this, Oman is par-ticipating on the fourth Omani Products Exhibition — Opex 2015 scheduled to be held from May 18 to 21, at Jeddah Centre for Fo-rums and Events in Saudi Arabia.

The organising committee of Omani Products Exhibition (Opex) met recently with owners of companies and industrialists in Raysut Industrial Estate in

the presence of Eng. Said bin Ali Al Maashani, director general of Raysut Industrial Estate.

In line with the preparation, the companies were briefed on the participation process, the ad-vantages and provided support that will be offered for the partici-pating companies in the event.

Dubai promotionThe organising committee in co-operation with Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry aim at inviting Saudi businessmen and residents in Saudi Arabia to hold business-tobusiness meetings with Omani investors during the event to discuss deals, offer fur-

ther facilities, and meet the exist-ing challenges.

It should be noted that Omani Products Exhibitions were held in Dubai, Doha and Riyadh by the committee comprising the Pub-lic Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE), Public Author-ity for Investment Promotion and Export Development (ITHRAA), and Oman Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (OCCI).

E X P O R T D E V E L O P M E N T

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RESTRICTIONS: The UAE banks have been banned by the government from doing business with

organisations including the Muslim Brotherhood, IS and the Houthi movement, which is fighting for

control of Yemen. The picture is used for illustrative purpose only. – Times file photo

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MSM rises marginally

MUSCAT: Oman’s general index - MSM30 Index - has opened the week on a bullish note to close at 6,188.97 points, up by 1.24 per cent. The MSM Sharia Index closed at 950.70 points, up by 0.46 per cent. Global Financial In-vestment was the most active in terms of volume while Al Anwar Holding was the most active in terms of turnover. Ahli Bank, up by 6.70 per cent, was the day’s top gainer while Al Sharqia Invest-ments, down by 7.45 per cent was the top loser on Sunday.

A total number of 1,069 trades were executed during the day’s trading session generating turn-over of OMR4.88 million with more than 23.29 million shares changing hands. Out of 41 trad-ed securities, 19 advanced, six declined and 16 remained un-changed. Omani Investors were net buyers for OMR694,000 fol-lowed by Foreign Investors for OMR7,000 while GCC & Arab Investors were net sellers for OMR701,000 worth of shares.

Financial Index gained 0.87 per cent to close at 7,587.65 points. Ahli Bank, Global Finan-cial Investment, Bank Muscat, Bank Sohar and Gulf Invest-ment Services increased 6.70 per cent, 3.77 per cent, 2.73 per cent, 1.58 per cent and 1.46 per cent respectively. Al Sharqia Invest-ments, Al Batinah Development, Bank Nizwa, United Finance and Al Anwar Holding decreased 7.45 per cent, 4.20 per cent, 1.23 per cent, 0.84 per cent and 0.38 per cent respectively.

Industrial Index ended the day at 8,187.53 points, up by 0.42 per cent. Galfar Engineering, Gulf In-ternational Chemicals, Voltamp Energy, Raysut Cement and Al Maha Ceramics increased 4.24 per cent, 2.02 per cent, 1.02 per cent, 0.58 per cent and 0.40 per cent respectively. National Alu-minium, down by 1.84 per cent

was the only sector loser. Services Sector Index closed

the session at 3,405.24 points, up by 0.64 per cent. Omantel, Na-tional Gas, Ooredoo, OIFC and Al Batinah Power gained 2.73 per cent, 2.50 per cent, 1.81 per cent, 1.46 per cent and 0.56 per cent re-spectively.

Saudi stocks jumpSaudi Arabian stocks jumped the most in six weeks, leading a rally in Arab equity markets, after the country pledged to restore stability in Yemen.

The Tadawul All Share Index, the main gauge for the world’s biggest oil exporter, added 1.9 per cent at 2:18pm local time, the sharpest increase since February 15.

Qatar’s QE Index climbed for the first time in three days, and Dubai’s DFM General Index added the most since March 23. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index, a gauge of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s top 200 equities, was on course for the biggest advance in more than a month. Stocks in the region were caught in a selloff last week as a Saudi-led coalition started bombing targets in Yem-en after Shiite rebels advanced on the southern port of Aden, where forces loyal to the presi-dent have rallied.

“The message from the Saudi king is very clear and it shows they have the willpower to go all the way,” Muhammad Shabbir, the head of equities at Rasmala Investment Bank in Dubai, said by telephone on Sunday. “This adds to the hope that the issue will be resolved.” Jabal Omar De-velopment, a Saudi-based prop-erty developer, led 158 advancers on Saudi Arabia’s main equity gauge with a 5.8 per cent jump. Two share declined, while eight stocks were unchanged.

— United Securities/Bloomberg News

Ahli Bank, up by 6.70 per cent, was the day’s

top gainer while Al Sharqia Investments,

down by 7.45 per cent, was the top loser

MUSCATSECURITIES MARKET

SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR SUNDAY, MARCH 29

REGULAR MARKET .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................OM0000002200 ...........AHLI BANK .................................................................... 1,032,400 ...... 196,889..................... 42 ............0.183 ........... 0.194 ...........0.183 ............0.191 ............. 0.179 .............0.012 ............. 6.704 ................0.194 .............. 0.196...................0.000 .................272,181,904 ........0.100

OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. .................. 352,481 ........... 43,432..................... 49 ............0.119 ........... 0.129 ........... 0.119 ............0.123 ............. 0.118 ............ 0.005 ............. 4.237 ................0.126 ..............0.126...................0.129 ................... 35,667,618 .........0.100

OM0000003125 ............GLOBAL FINANCIAL INVESTMENT ................ 5,178,931 ........569,115..................... 20 ............0.110 ........... 0.110............0.108 ............0.110 ............. 0.106 ........... 0.004 ............. 3.774 ................0.109 ............. 0.000...................0.109 .................. 22,000,000 ........0.100

OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ............................................................ 106,248 ........... 55,969..................... 26 ........... 0.520 ........... 0.530 ...........0.520........... 0.526 ............. 0.512.............0.014 ............. 2.734 ................0.528 .............. 0.512...................0.526................1,205,498,686 ......0.100

OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ........................ 172,345 .........292,063.....................44 ............1.685 ........... 1.700 ...........1.685 ............1.695 ............. 1.650.............0.045 ............. 2.727 ................1.685 .............. 1.680................... 1.685 ................1,271,250,000 ......0.100

OM0000001160 ............NATIONAL GAS .............................................................83,700 ............ 34,333......................16 ............0.412 ........... 0.412 ...........0.410 ........... 0.410 .............0.400 ............0.010 .............2.500 ................0.410 ..............0.404...................0.410 ...................20,499,629 .........0.100

OM0000002028 ...........GULF INTERNATIONAL CHEMICALS ............ 381,200 ........... 95,933................... 110 ........... 0.250 ...........0.254 ...........0.249........... 0.252 .............0.247 ........... 0.005 .............2.024 ................0.250..............0.250...................0.251 ....................5,292,000 ..........0.100

OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO....................................................................... 199,450.......... 135,062..................... 28 ........... 0.664 ........... 0.684 ...........0.664........... 0.676 .............0.664 ............0.012 ............. 1.807 ................0.684 ..............0.680...................0.684................. 440,038,299 .......0.100

OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................ 2,893,463 .......557,531..................... 59 ............0.194 ...........0.200 ...........0.190 ............0.193 ............. 0.190 ........... 0.003 ............. 1.579 ................0.200 ............. 0.198...................0.200 ................ 220,792,000 .......0.100

OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE .............. 209,500 ........... 43,675..................... 26 ........... 0.205 ........... 0.210 ...........0.205........... 0.208 .............0.205 ........... 0.003 ............. 1.463 ................0.209..............0.205...................0.209 ..................41,600,000 .........0.100

OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES ......................... 1,261,069 ...... 174,695..................... 73 ............0.137 ........... 0.142 ...........0.135 ............0.139 ............. 0.137 ............ 0.002 ............. 1.460 ................0.137 ..............0.134...................0.137 .................... 8,179,207 ..........0.100

OM0000003661 ............VOLTAMP ENERGY ................................................... 980,479 ......... 387,901..................... 49 ........... 0.392 ...........0.400 ...........0.392........... 0.396 .............0.392 ........... 0.004 ............. 1.020 ................0.400............. 0.400...................0.428 ..................23,958,000 .........0.100

OM0000001681 ............OMAN AND EMIRATES INV. HOLDING ........... 379,547 ............45,178..................... 43 ............0.118 ........... 0.121............ 0.116 ............0.119 ............. 0.118 .............0.001 ............. 0.847 ................ 0.116 .............. 0.116................... 0.119 ................... 14,503,125 .........0.100

OM0000001517 ............HSBC BANK OMAN .................................................... 1,398,297 ...... 183,043......................31 ............0.130 ........... 0.135 ...........0.130 ............0.131 ............. 0.130.............0.001 ............. 0.769 ................0.135 .............. 0.135...................0.140 ................. 262,040,975 .......0.100

OM0000001418 ............RAYSUT CEMENT ...................................................... 181,213 .......... 315,259......................18 ............1.730 ........... 1.750............1.730 ............1.740 ............. 1.730 .............0.010 ............. 0.578 ................1.750 .............. 1.750...................0.000 ................ 348,000,000 .......0.100

OM0000001145 ............PORT SERVICES CORPORATION ............................2,755 .................. 693........................3 ........... 0.250 ........... 0.253 ...........0.250............0.271 ............. 0.271............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.253 ..............0.253...................0.275...................25,755,840 .........0.100

OM0000001509 ............DHOFAR INT.DEV.AND INV. HOLD. .......................... 280 ...................150........................2 ........... 0.540 ...........0.540 ...........0.530........... 0.546 .............0.546 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.530 ..............0.530...................0.540 .................120,120,000........0.100

OM0000001533 ............OMINVEST .................................................................... 400,000.........188,000......................11 ........... 0.470 ........... 0.470 ...........0.470 ........... 0.470 .............0.470 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.470 ..............0.466...................0.470..................158,269,210 ........0.100

OM0000001707 ............OMAN CABLES INDUSTRY ........................................4,000 ............... 7,520........................ 1 ............1.880 ........... 1.880 ...........1.880 ........... 1.880 ............. 1.880............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.880 ..............1.880...................1.960 ..................168,636,000........0.100

OM0000001749 ............OMAN CEMENT .............................................................. 1,000 .................. 470........................ 1 ........... 0.470 ........... 0.470 ...........0.470 ........... 0.476 .............0.476 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.470 ..............0.472...................0.476 .................. 157,495,410 ........0.100

OM0000001962 ............AL MADINA INVESTMENT .................................... 38,202 ...............2,407........................3 ........... 0.063 ........... 0.063 ...........0.063........... 0.063 .............0.063 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.063 .............. 0.061...................0.063................... 13,050,537 .........0.100

OM0000002168 ............AL ANWAR CERAMIC TILES ............................... 219,623.............79,878......................16 ........... 0.364 ........... 0.368 ...........0.362........... 0.364 .............0.364 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.368 ..............0.368...................0.370.................. 107,821,780 ........0.100

OM0000002549 ...........BANK DHOFAR ............................................................ 299,323 .......... 101,171..................... 22 ........... 0.338 ........... 0.338 ...........0.338 ........... 0.338 .............0.338 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.338 ..............0.330...................0.338..................454,015,868 ........0.100

OM0000003281 ............TAAGEER FINANCE ................................................. 168,470 ............24,765........................6 ............0.147 ........... 0.147 ...........0.147 ............0.147 ............. 0.147............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.147 ............. 0.000...................0.146 ................... 37,277,730 .........0.100

OM0000003711 ............SOHAR POWER ............................................................ 102,350 ........... 38,886........................5 ............0.376 ...........0.380 ...........0.376 ........... 0.380 .............0.380 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.380..............0.380...................0.390 ..................83,983,800 .........0.100

OM0000004248 ...........SMN POWER HOLDING ............................................15,200 .............10,032........................ 1 ........... 0.660 ........... 0.660 ...........0.660........... 0.660 .............0.660 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.660..............0.660...................0.672.................. 131,759,496 ........0.100

OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 3,192,897 ......825,658.................. 202 ........... 0.255 ...........0.262 ...........0.255 ........... 0.259 .............0.260 ...........-0.001 ........... -0.385 ...............0.259 ..............0.257...................0.259...................33,799,500 .........0.100

OM0000002374............UNITED FINANCE ....................................................... 31,307 ............... 3,707........................6 ............0.118 ........... 0.120 ........... 0.118 ............0.118 ............. 0.119 ............-0.001 ........... -0.840 ...............0.120 ..............0.120...................0.124 ...................36,670,263 .........0.100

OM0000001319 ............NATIONAL ALUMINIUM PRODUCTS ............. 100,000 ........... 32,100........................7 ........... 0.324 ...........0.324 ...........0.320........... 0.320 .............0.326 ...........-0.006 ........... -1.840 ...............0.320..............0.306...................0.320 .................. 10,742,864 .........0.100

OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING .............16,440 ...............2,446........................5 ............0.150 ........... 0.150 ...........0.148 ........... 0.149 ............. 0.161 ............-0.012 ............-7.453 ................0.148 .............. 0.146...................0.149 ................... 12,891,480 .........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 19,402,170 .......4,447,959 .............925 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ......30........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

PARALLEL MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000004768 ...........AL MADINA TAKAFUL ............................................. 1,426,514 ....... 115,713......................12 ........... 0.080 ........... 0.083 ...........0.080........... 0.081 .............0.080 ............0.001 ............. 1.250 ................0.080..............0.079...................0.082 .................. 14,175,000 .........0.100

OM0000004925 ...........AL BATINAH POWER ...................................................15,817 ...............2,835........................3 ............0.178 ........... 0.180 ...........0.178 ............0.179 ............. 0.178 .............0.001 ............. 0.562 ................0.180 .............. 0.178................... 0.181 ..................120,804,850 .......0.100

OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS .................................................. 17,234 ............... 8,614........................6 ........... 0.498 ...........0.500 ...........0.498 ........... 0.500 .............0.498 ........... 0.002 ............. 0.402 ................0.500..............0.490...................0.498...................26,250,000.........0.100

OM0000004735 ...........SEMBCORP SALALAH ................................................30,582 .............71,577........................8 ........... 2.330 ...........2.350 ...........2.330........... 2.340 .............2.335 ........... 0.005 ............. 0.214 ................2.340 ............ 2.340...................2.370..................223,369,836........1.000

OM0000001426 ............OMAN REFRESHMENT .............................................. 9,997 ............ 24,493........................2 ........... 2.450 ........... 2.450 ...........2.450........... 2.450 .............2.450 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................2.450..............2.450...................2.550................. 122,500,000 .......0.100

OM0000002333 ...........SALALAH PORT SERVICES ...........................................100 .....................64........................ 1 ........... 0.636 ........... 0.636 ...........0.636 ........... 0.648 .............0.648 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.636 ............. 0.000...................0.648.................. 116,534,635 ........0.100

OM0000002564 ...........AL HASSAN ENGINEERING......................................2,940 .................. 353........................2 ............0.120 ........... 0.120 ...........0.120 ........... 0.120 .............0.120 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.120 .............. 0.118...................0.120 ....................9,024,960 ..........0.100

OM0000004511 ............ALIZZ ISLAMIC BANK............................................... 25,000 ...............2,075........................ 1 ........... 0.083 ........... 0.083 ...........0.083........... 0.083 .............0.083 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.083 ..............0.083...................0.086...................83,000,000 ........0.100

OM0000004933 ...........AL SUWADI POWER ......................................................8,044 ...............1,448........................2 ............0.180 ........... 0.180 ...........0.180 ........... 0.180 ............. 0.180 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.180 ..............0.180................... 0.181 .................. 128,593,141 ........0.100

OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ................................................................ 2,042,300 ..... 163,409......................61 ............0.081 ........... 0.081 ...........0.079 ........... 0.080 ............. 0.081............-0.001 ............-1.235................0.080..............0.079...................0.080 ................ 120,000,000 .......0.100

OM0000002366 ...........AL BATINAH DEV. INV. HOLDING ...................... 317,309 ............ 43,588..................... 46 ............0.137 ........... 0.140 ...........0.135 ............0.137 ............. 0.143............-0.006 ........... -4.196 ...............0.136 .............. 0.136...................0.139 .................... 4,110,000 ..........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 3,895,837 ......434,167...................144 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... 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 ........................................6,189.27 ................6,111.78 ................... 6,188.97 ....................6,112.91 ................. 76.06 ................... 1.24Financial Index .....................................7,599.66 ............... 7,513.23 .................... 7,587.65 ...................7,522.32 ..................65.33 ................... 0.87Industrial Index ....................................8,187.60 ...............8,152.89 ....................8,187.53 ................... 8,153.22 ..................34.31 ................... 0.42Services Index ...................................... 3,405.97 .............. 3,382.94 ...................3,405.24 ...................3,383.60 ..................21.64 ................... 0.64MSM SHARIAH INDEX.......................950.70 ..................945.86 .......................950.70 ...................... 946.33 ....................4.37 ................... 0.46

Trading SummaryVolume ................ Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up ............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded23,298,007 ................. 4,882,126 ................. 1,069 ............... 14,701,245,596 ................ 19 ........................6 .................... 16 .........................41

India holds ‘Make in India’ fortnight in GermanyFRANKFURT: Ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Germany next month, a ‘Make in India’ fortnight has been held near here which included a series of events highlighting ini-tiatives to make India a preferred investment destination.

The Indian Consulate in Frank-furt, in close cooperation with the city authorities of Cologne, about 190 kilometres from here, organ-ised a grand road show on Friday which was the concluding event of the ‘Make in India’ fortnight series.

The series of events were organ-ised by the Consulate in the lead up to Modi’s upcoming visit to Ger-many to inaugurate the Hannover Trade Fair where India will be the partner country.

Consul General Raveesh Kumar emphasised on the importance of this campaign and highlighted the positive developments that are being undertaken by the Indian government to make India a man-ufacturing hub and a preferred in-vestment destination.

The Lord Mayor of Cologne Juergen Roters, while lauding the initiative of the Indian govern-ment, highlighted the special rela-tionship that the city shares with India and invited Indian compa-nies to invest in Cologne.

Subhra Singh, Joint Secretary, Department of Policy and Pro-motion (DIIP), Ministry of Com-merce and Industry, was espe-cially invited from India to throw light on the various aspects of the ‘Make in India’ initiative and its relevance to the German investors.

India is participating as the part-ner country at Hannover Messe, April 13-17, under the theme ‘Make in India’. — PTI

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

US labour market to add heat to Fed lift-off debateBRUSSELS: The state of the US labour market in March will con-sume economists and investors in the week leading up to Easter, adding to the seesaw debate over when the Federal Reserve will spring its first interest rate hike.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen made it clear on Friday that the US cen-tral bank is likely to start raising borrowing costs later this year, adding that continued improve-ment of the labour market would be an important factor in deciding when to move.

Labour market data are there-fore likely to be the highlight of the economic week, providing a further signal to the Fed on the health of the US economy and its capacity to withstand rate rises.

The ADP National Employ-ment Report, which focuses only on the private sector and is due on Wednesday, may provide a fore-taste of the big event — non-farm payroll numbers on Friday.

Economists polled by Reu-ters are forecasting a healthy 244,000 rise in non-farm payrolls in March. If confirmed, it would be the 13th straight month of job gains of over 200,000, matching a run in 1994-95.

In the post-war period only the runs of 14 months in 1976-77 and 15 in 1983-84 have been higher.

Yellen said a significant pickup in core inflation was not a precon-dition for the Fed to pull the trig-ger on rates. Nevertheless, infla-tion remains stubbornly low, although consumer prices did rebound in February as the cost of gasoline rose.

For many economists the focus on Friday is less the jobs figures than average earnings, which are seen picking up after a muted three cent per hour rise in February.

A spate of weak US economic data at the start of the year, from retail sales to business spend-ing, has prompted economists to scale down their growth views and push back to September their expectations of a first rate hike since 2006.

Bullish economists say a harsh winter, a now settled labour dis-pute at the country’s busy West Coast ports and a natural mod-eration from a strong middle of 2014 imply the slowdown is just a temporary ripple.

However, there are some that cite the lack of wage pressure as a sign that the recovery is not complete and a strong dollar as a future threat.

The euro briefly passed $1.10 last week, having dropped just be-low $1.05 before the Fed’s March

meeting, when it downgraded its economic growth and inflation projections, pouring cold water on investor expectations of a June rate hike.

“I’m still in the June camp,” said UniCredit’s Chief US econo-mist Harm Bandholz. “But it’s been a weak Q1 and the Fed wants certainty that this it’s transitory and not related, for example, to the dollar.”

Greek list, Chinese ebbIn Europe, euro zone finance minis-ters will need to give their blessing to Greece’s long-awaited list of re-forms if Athens is to secure further aid and stave off bankruptcy.

Rating agency Fitch cut Greece’s credit status on Friday due to uncertainty over the tim-ing of the release of aid.

For the euro zone as a whole, the main data point will be March flash inflation due on Tuesday.

Since a record-equalling con-sumer price fall of 0.6 per cent in January, the year-on-year infla-tion rate is seen pulling back to minus 0.1 per cent in March.

Consumer and business senti-ment figures on Monday should show the single currency bloc is steadily improving.

Indeed with low oil prices and a weak euro driving consump-tion and exports, there are some already questioning whether the European Central Bank will need the full one trillion euros ($1.09 trillion) of its bond buying programme. — Reuters

G L O B A L E C O N O M Y

I’m still in the June camp. But it’s been a weak Q1 and the Fed wants certainty that this it’s transitory and not related, for example, to the dollar

Harm BandholzUniCredit’s Chief US economist

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

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

E- IMESTECH STUFFTECH STUFF

BEMBEDDING A TWEET RIGHT IN YOUR BLOGTwitter includes a tool that lets you easily embed a tweet right in your blog. When your blog readers click the embedded tweet, they are sent to the Twitter page of the original author. To add a tweet, you admire to your own blog, find the original post on the Twitter website, click the three-dot More icon underneath it and choose Embed Tweet. A box appears with a chunk of pre-formatted code that you can copy from here and then paste into your blog post.

M O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

A P P S M A R T

We still play board games in my family, with real bits of card-

board and plastic. But we also love to play classic games that have had an app-based refresh. They’re fre-quently worth the money, some-times for new features, but also because the apps do all the oner-ous scoring for you.

Take the classic board game “Monopoly.” EA Games has made an app version that’s $1 on iOS and $2 on Android. The app sticks closely to the rules of the original game (which, if you’ve never played, is about buying property and businesses with faux money and trying to out-smart your opponents). “Monop-oly” has 3-D graphics and cute animations, which make playing on an app more entertaining that on a 2-D board. The pieces even move as you’d expect: The cat token saunters between proper-ties, and the thimble awkwardly hops. You can play against a com-puter opponent, by passing your phone between friends in the same room or even with a friend on another device connected over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

I like this app for the life that EA has injected into it. But I do find the design slightly old-fashioned, and the game con-trols and menus can be confus-ing. It’s also probably better if you already know how to play the game because the pop-up instructions are not great. If you’re playing this app game with children who have never played the board game, you’ll have a lot of teaching to do.

Still, one nice feature is being able to choose the background music, including listening to your own tunes. And some of the rules can be customised: It’s neat to be able to double the $200 bonus for passing Go.

If “Monopoly” isn’t your cup of tea, the family classic “Game of Life” is also available as an EA Games app. Like “Mo-nopoly,” the app reinvention of “Game of Life” sticks closely to the original. It’s playable alone or with a group and has some nice animated 3-D effects — your car rolls along the map, for example. The 3-D number spinner is almost — though not quite — as satisfying to spin as the original.

Again, the in-game help is a little limited, so it’s best if you already know how to play. The app’s graphics also look dated,

but this doesn’t detract from the gameplay. “Game of Life Classic Edition” is $1 on iOS and Android. There’s also a $5 iPad special edition that lets you see the whole board on the bigger screen. You can play with as many as six people.

My favourite board game is “Carcassonne.” It’s a complex pieces-and-dice game played on maplike representations of a medieval city in France. Sur-prisingly, for such a classic tab-letop game, it has transitioned into an excellent on-screen app. The app, which is $10 on iOS, uses the same detailed painted images on the playing pieces as the board game, and its interface is elegant and easy to use.

The app also does a good job of helping you understand how to play. You can play with human opponents in person or over local Wi-Fi connections, and the app’s built-in opponents are also ex-cellent. Best of all, the app takes care of “Carcassonne’s” difficult scoring. Expansion packs are available as $1 to $2 in-app pur-chases that add interesting as-pects to the game (the “Princess and Dragon” one is great).

An Android version of “Car-cassonne,” built by a different company, exists for $5. The two versions are similar, including the high quality of images and the gameplay.

Another tabletop board game, similar to “Carcassonne” in strategy and gameplay, is “Settlers of Catan” — think “Risk” crossed with “Sim City.” The “Catan” app is faithful to the original, with great graph-ics. It’s $4 on iOS and Android.

The classic word game “Scrabble” really tests your thinking power, and the app version will, too. The board game works well on mobile devices because the perennial “shall we look up that word in the dictionary?” question is averted by an in-app dictionary that checks words as you play. The app is free for iOS and An-droid and has some nice extra elements like being able to play with strangers online and chat-ting about your games in-app. But this reimagining of a clas-sic board game doesn’t feel as polished as some of its rivals. Some iOS users also complain of crashes while Android users mention annoying in-app ads. — KIT EATON/The New York Times News

Service

Board games, reimagined for mobile screens

Messaging apps offer to do it all, for more money

Messaging apps do a lot more these days than send messages.

F a c e b o o k ’ s Messenger app is the perfect ex-ample. Last week, the company added the ability to let Messengers users send and receive money. And on Wednesday, the company an-nounced that users of its stand-alone Messenger app would be able to download new apps that add extra features.

Right now, those new features are mainly limited to more ad-vanced messages, like text mes-sages that turn into songs or one that lets you animate selfie photos. But the company announced tools for developers to build in even more capabilities, plus partnerships with stores, so that users can track online purchases and packages in Messenger.

Do-it-all servicesSuch moves are part of a trend to-ward messaging apps becoming do-it-all services. The model, in many ways, comes from the mes-saging giants popular in China and Japan: Tencent’s WeChat (known as Weixin in China), and Line, which became a powerful alternative to text messaging after the devastating To-hoku earthquake of 2011.

“Facebook or these messenger apps, they’re wondering, what’s their future?” said Brian Blau, a re-search director at the technology research firm Gartner. “How are they going to engage? Are they go-ing to risk having all their users in one app basket? Wouldn’t it be bet-ter if they were more of a platform and could have users in all sorts of areas and have businesses come to rely on them?”

For users, beefier and more pow-erful messaging apps could be a logi-cal extension of the activities they’re already doing — or the apps could quickly overwhelm. It all depends on execution, and WeChat and Line ap-pear to be getting it right.

WeChat, which has some 500 million users worldwide, lets users make voice and video calls, com-municate with groups of up to 500 people and send and receive money. But the app also includes a com-plete payments platform, like Ap-

ple Pay or the coming Samsung Pay, that lets people check out in stores and restaurants using the app, and also shop online.

Open to integrationAnd because WeChat is open to integration with all kinds of other apps, Tencent has encouraged de-velopers to create the ability to build many other functions within the app. Now you can use WeChat to check into hotel rooms and use the app as a digital key, schedule doctor’s appointments and track prescriptions, buy train tickets, pay school tuition fees and order items for delivery. (The app Call a Chick-en lets people order chicken dishes for delivery.)

Tencent has also created its own games for WeChat and has licensed TV and movies to stream within the app. Similarly, Line handles messaging and voice, video games, mobile payments, TV shows and movie studios, ultrapopular stick-ers (that its users can create and sell on the platform), a taxi-calling service that rivals Uber and even a physical store in Tokyo.

In the United States, messag-ing apps are moving slightly more slowly. Facebook Messenger is getting closer, with the new pay-ments service and third-party app announcements. You can make voice calls with the app over both Wi-Fi or a cellular data connection — although there’s no video calling and its sticker collection left a lot

to be desired, at least for now. The new apps introduced by Facebook this week include several sticker apps, which have proved popular in WeChat and Line. Users can also download a weather app from the Weather Channel and will have the ability to send video messages with special effects attached. Snapchat, which made its name with disap-pearing messages, also has a host of new features. The app has a payment service called Snapcash, and has a more traditional chat service as well as live video chat.

More recently, the company has moved toward becoming a media platform. Snapchat lets users cre-ate short videologues called Snap-chat Stories. It has also partnered with media companies for its Snap-chat Discover feature, which deliv-ers short videos and even long text stories from companies like CNN, National Geographic and Vice.

WhatsApp, also owned by Fa-cebook, keeps it simple. The app is slowly rolling out voice calling features to Android users, but does little else besides chat, video and photo sharing, and audio messages. That simplicity and focus on mes-saging with no texting charges (or ads) has made it the most popular messaging app in the world, with more than 600 million users.

So that raises the question: Does a messaging app need to do it all?

Blau at Gartner said e-commerce in an app, for example, “doesn’t feel like a natural progression.”

“We’ve always thought that e-com-merce should fit in with social appli-cations. It’s marketing; there might be impulse-buy opportunities,” he said. “But are social networks ready for a shopping mall experience?”

On the other hand, mobile pay-ments make more sense because, he said, “you’re standing in line at the grocery store; you’re chatting on WeChat, and you press the pay-ment app and you pay.” “You’re us-ing the app already,” Blau said. “It’s what you’re already doing.”

It’s true that we’re spending more time in messaging apps, but grafting on more features just be-cause these apps have our attention could get annoying — especially if the features don’t work well or they make the overall experience cluttered and confusing. After all, when Facebook split off Messen-ger from the core Facebook mo-bile app, it said it did so to make both apps work well with fewer distractions. Throwing in third-party features like payments, ho-tel reservations, games or stickers might just add clutter.

Still, consumers may have no choice in the matter since more features are a way for companies like Facebook to make money off messaging.

WhatsApp may be simple, but when Facebook acquired it for $19 billion in 2014, many analysts won-dered how the company would ever recoup those costs. — MOLLY WOOD/The

New York Times News Service

Such moves are part

of a trend toward

messaging apps

becoming do-it-all

services. The model,

in many ways,

comes from the

messaging giants

popular in China

and Japan

B6 M O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

ROUND-UP

RECRUIT

Lulu celebrates His Majesty’s return to Sultanate by cutting ‘longest cake’

MUSCAT: Marking the home-coming of the beloved ruler His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, Lulu Oman celebrated the glorious occasion in a big way by creating the ‘longest cake’. Measuring 137 metres long, the cake was a dedi-cation to His Majesty who is the longest reigning ruler in the Mid-dle East, says a press release.

This record breaking cake wit-nessed an even more elaborate cake-cutting ceremony on March 26 at the Lulu Bausher branch by the Wali of Bausher, Muhana Saif Al Mawali amidst a much enthused crowd that cheered through the entire ceremony and received an increasingly overwhelming re-sponse as people came in droves to be a part of this exclusive cel-ebration that welcomed His Maj-esty the Sultan back to the country. Displayed extravagantly at Lulu

Bausher, this unique piece of ed-ible wonder caught the eye of all as they gazed in awe and applaud-ed the idea conceptualised and brought to life by Lulu.

Spirit of patriotism“Banners, flags and photos are seen all over the country and a

strong spirit of patriotism is felt amongst everyone. The country is alive with endless elation and cel-ebrations seen across the Sultan-ate. A figure loved and respected not only by the Omanis but the entire expatriate community, His Majesty’s return is a joyous occa-sion for all of us,” said Ananth A. V,

Regional Director, Lulu Oman. “At Lulu, we decided to do something different and exciting as always and thus this 137 metres long cake was prepared as a tribute to His Majesty. It is expected to receive a warm response and is bound to touch hearts.”

The cake cutting was followed

by a generous slice served to all who attended the ceremony. The already running food festival at Lulu contributed to the festive feel of the entire event. Shoppers indulged in the scrumptious cake along with an array of food product stalls set to serve the most mouth-watering dishes to them.

Displayed

extravagantly at

Lulu Bausher, this

great piece of edible

wonder caught

the eye of all as

they gazed in awe

and applauded

this unique idea

conceptualised and

brought to life by Lulu

Meethaq to finance real estate project

MUSCAT: Meethaq, the pioneer of Islamic banking in Oman from Bank Muscat, and Zain Develop-ment signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to provide attractive Meethaq home finance for Dar Al Zain phase 5 & 6 pro-jects in Sur Al Hadid, Al Seeb.

Sulaiman Al Harthy, Group General Manager – Islamic Bank-ing, and Mohammed Moosa, Chairman of Zain Development, signed the MoU at Dar Al Zain pro-ject premises, says a press release.

“Meethaq is proud to be associ-ated with Dar Al Zain project and

facilitate attractive home finance in line with Shari’a principles. The real estate sector is a major com-ponent of the national economy and Meethaq Islamic Banking is committed to extending all support aimed at offering citizens easy ac-cess to Shari’a based home finance,” said Sulaiman Al Harthy.

Meethaq home finance is de-signed to help families fulfil their dream homes. Meethaq offers at-tractive Shari’a based finance to suit everyone’s needs with simpli-fied documentation and processing across the network of branches.

H O M E F I N A N C E

OHI conducts beach cleanup drive

MUSCAT: Oman Holdings In-ternational (OHI) together with Interserve organised a beach ‘Cleanup Drive’ recently as a way of empathising with the growing world advocacy on environmen-tal protection and conservation, says a press release.

Starting with an introduction to OHI and Interserve’s com-mitment to sustainability and a comprehensive safety briefed by RMD Kwikform Operations Manager, David Westwood, 16 teams of 10 individual from 12 participating companies (Doug-las OHI, TOCO, Oman United Exchange, Budget, OHI Marine, OTI, G4S, OHI Advertising, OHI Electronics, Applus, RMD Kwik-form, Drake & Scull) set off to their allocated area of Shatti Al Qurum beach armed with plen-ty of drinking water, together with bin bags, rakes, shovels and wheel barrows.

“‘Give a Day of your Time’ comes to Oman as part of our commitment to the community

and to see so many willing helpers here today is very encouraging’,” remarked Ian White, OTI Defen-sive Driving Manager.

Low tide and the hot afternoon sun made hard work of the task, but all worked ceaselessly to en-sure their section was left spot-less by 5pm. TOCO Project Man-ager (Transport and Logistics), Sami Razek commented that it was ‘a fantastic afternoon which was well organised and in which everyone felt a lot was achieved.’ Adding that ‘it was brilliant mo-tivation to see all Interserve and OHI companies working together as one team’.

Most of the cleanup centred

in the areas under the palm trees at the top end of the beach with some of the most common items found being cigarette butts, ring pulls from soft drink cans, plas-tic bottle tops, discarded plastic and paper wrappers. A number of lorries carried away dozens of bin bags, leaving behind a pristine beach for all to enjoy and hope-fully consider using in a more re-sponsible and sustainable way.

Vinod Iyes, Credit Controller at Budget clearly enjoyed his after-noon, but made a valid comment that is food for thought for eve-ryone: “If everybody did a good job by cleaning up afterwards, we wouldn’t need to be here.”

E N V I R O N M E N T C O N S E R V A T I O N

Sale starts at Joyalukkas

MUSCAT: Leading jeweller Joyalukkas has announced a ‘part sale’ on its diamond and Polki jewellery collection, ena-bling customers to enjoy amaz-ing discounts on a choice of ex-quisite jewellery designs with upto 65% off, says a press release.

“Shoppers can take this op-portunity to gift their loved ones, add to their collection of jewellery or wear it for an up-coming special occasion. This offer will be valid for a limited period only, across all Joyaluk-kas showrooms,” said John Paul Joy Alukkas, Executive Direc-tor, Joyalukkas Group.

Polki jewelllery collection is made with uncut diamonds that has been naturally mined, with no artificial enhancements or laboratory and synthetic al-terations. They are considered a great investment because they do not lose out on their value and are acclaimed internationally.

P R O M O T I O N

Five video resume branding tips for job-seekersONE way to reveal your personal-ity is by creating a video resume to enhance your personal brand. It’s a great way to stand out to em-ployers and give your audience a feel for your real-life presence. Before you create your video re-sume, check out these five video resume personal branding tips:

1. Have a plan. Before you even touch a camera, you should ask yourself — who is the audience for

this message? What do they want to know about me? How can I tell them my story in a compelling way? You should pull together the most important elements of your personal brand to create a clear and complete story of your professional life.

2. Script it out. Your thoughts will flow much more smoothly if you’ve practiced them before-hand, so be sure to write out what

you’re going to say before you start filming.

3. Keep it compelling. Remem-ber, a resume is a marketing tool, so your video doesn’t have to en-tail you reciting a boring list of your professional history. Make it exciting.

4. Pay attention to visuals. Your video resume is an impor-tant tool to demonstrate your

personality, but that doesn’t mean you can forget about visual ele-ments like clothing, lighting and background.

5. Spread it around. It’s not enough to just create a video re-sume — you’ve got to promote it, too. Include the link in your email signature, on your paper resume, in your cover letter, on your online portfolio or personal website. — Josh Tolan/www,quintcareers.com

C A R E E R C O A C H

SECTION

RECRUIJ O B P O S T I N G S

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMM O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. — Beverly Sills

QUOTES

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. — Helen Keller

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.— Swami Vivekananda

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world. — Harriet Tubman

Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs. — H. Ford

Plastic takes 1,000 years or more to break down

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW. DON’T LITTER A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY LIKE OMAN.

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

SPOR SY O U R G A M E

SECTIONC M O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

CLARKE LEADS AUSTRALIA TO FIFTH WORLD CUP TITLEMichael Clarke hit 74 in his last One-day International to lead Australia to their fifth World Cup title with a seven-wicket win over New Zealand in a disappointing final on Sunday. >C5

Oman dedicate Asian beach soccer title to His Majesty

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Oman, the newly crowned Asian beach soccer champions, returned to a hero’s welcome on Sunday with the Oman Football Association (OFA) and the members of the team dedi-cating the title to His Majesty Sul-tan Qaboos bin Said.

The team emerged the conti-

nental champions with a 3-2 pen-alty shootout victory over Japan in the final of the Asian champi-onship in Doha on Saturday. Both the finalists and third placed Iran also booked their berths at the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup to be hosted in Portugal in July this year.

The victorious team, coach Talib Hilal Al Thanawi and his support staff were received at the

Muscat International Airport by the OFA chairman Sayyid Khalid Al Busaidi and other officials as well as the representatives from the Ministry of Sports Affairs.

Speaking on the occasion, OFA chief dedicated the team’s Asian title to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said while thanking his gov-ernment for the continued support to Omani youth and sports.

Sayyid Khalid also said the asso-ciation and the entire country are proud of the team’s achievement and delighted with the success which is ‘first among Arab countries’.

Oman captain Hani Al Dhabit, meanwhile, credited the success to team work. “Obviously it was very satisfying to come back with as Asian champions. We have played some very tough matches and in the final we have overcome a strong Japan side,” he said.

The Omani skipper, who have been in fine touch scoring a goal in all most all the matches, said: “The secret of our success is team

work. I think we have been were confident because of the backing we have been receiving.

We are thankful to the support we have been receiving from His Majesty’s government.”

Great weekend Meanwhile, OFA Acting General Secretary Sultan Al Zadjali in a statement said ‘this weekend saw a huge amount of positive football activity take place in and outside Oman’. He hoped it is a sign of more success to come.

“The weekend started with Oman national team routing vis-iting Malaysia 6-0 at the Seeb Sports Stadium on Thursday,” the statement said.

“A day later a workshop with the Omantel Professional League clubs saw a number of positive actions agreed for the planning of the next season. The Oman beach soccer team clinched a berth in the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup en route to their Asian champion-

ships title in Doha.“Finally, the weekend was com-

pleted with a very positive AGM that saw a more unified approach being adopted between the clubs and the OFA.”

Al Zadjali heaped praise on all who had contributed to these suc-cesses. “We achieved a lot during this weekend and it was very enjoy-able to see so much good happen in such a short space of time. Often, our achievements are not seen or recognised. But I wanted to say how proud I am of all the staff, play-ers and coaches who work so hard to drive Oman football forward.

“There is lots of challenges ahead of us, and our aspirations are very high. So success will not always be achieved. However, the strategy and leadership shown by OFA chief Sayyid Khalid Al Bu-saidi and the efforts of the board members are definitely leading us forward, and I am sure that there is more positive news to come for the OFA in the months ahead.”

The victorious team, coach Talib Hilal

and his support staff were given a warm

reception at the Muscat International

Airport, while OFA chief Sayyid Khalid and

team members dedicated the Asian trophy

to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos

Oman coach Talib Hilal poses

with the trophy.

HERO’S WELCOME: Oman beach soccer team pose for a group photo along with OFA chief Sayyid Khalid Al Busaidi and other officials at Muscat International Airport on Sunday. – JUN ESTRADA/Times of Oman

Ferrari’s Vettel storms

to victory at Sepang

SEPANG: Sebastian Vettel showed again that form is tempo-rary and class permanent when the four-time world champion put in a faultless display to record his first victory for Ferrari at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The triumph ended a long drought for Formula One’s most successful team, whose last win was at the Spanish Grand Prix in 2013, and was the 40th of the German’s career.

Starting from second place on the grid behind Lewis Hamilton’s seemingly unbeatable Mercedes, Vettel and Ferrari produced a tactical masterclass to overhaul the Briton and cross the line 8.5 seconds ahead of the double world champion.

“Numero uno is back, Ferrari is back,” Vettel was told over the team radio as he took the cheq-uered flag.

“Grazie, grazie. Forza Ferrari” he shouted in reply as he celebrat-ed his fourth win at Sepang, a cir-cuit that has favoured the Italian team over the years with seven victories in 17 editions since 1999.

Hamilton’s teammate Nico Rosberg finished a distant third while 17-year-old Max Verstappen claimed seventh place for Toro Rosso to become the youngest ever points scorer in Formula One.

Mercedes dominated last sea-son and when Hamilton led a one-two in Australia two weeks ago the rest of the field looked even further behind in the second year of the V6 hybrid engines.

Vettel had cut a forlorn figure in his last season at Red Bull in 2014, unable to record a vic-tory and way off the pace of the front runners.

He agreed to join a stuttering Ferrari last year, replacing Spain’s double world champion Fernan-do Alonso, and the union appears to have revitalised them both.

Third in Australia, though some way behind Mercedes, Vet-tel and Ferrari showed real po-tential in practice and qualifying and were able to carry that mo-mentum forward into the race.

“It has been a while since I’ve been on top step and obviously the first time with Ferrari,” a beaming Vettel said in a podium interview. “I’m speechless. I’m happy and proud of today. We beat them fair and square and it is a special day - that is why I am emotional.”

His Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen overcame a tough qualifying session and an early puncture to finish fourth, well clear of Williams pair Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa. - Reuters

F O R M U L A O N E

FAULTLESS DISPLAY: Sebas-

tian Vettel with the trophy.

Ali coaches kids in Earth Hour pledgeMUSCAT: Oman football legend and goalkeeping hero Ali Al Habsi recently held a goal-keeping ses-sion at Al Khoudh football field as part of the ‘I Will If You Will’ Earth Hour campaign made last year.

The initiative was launched to encourage people to switch off unnecessary lights during Earth Hour and to that end Ali Al Habsi had pledged that if 2,500 people joined the cause online he would conduct a free goalkeeping lesson for children.

After receiving more than 2,600 pledges online, 25 lucky kids aged between six and 12 years were cho-sen to participate in the session with Ali eagerly sharing his wealth of knowledge.

K E E P I N G T H E P R O M I S E

HATEM STRIKES THRICE AS OMAN THRASH MALDIVES 5-0Hatem Al Hamhami struck thrice as

Oman thrashed a hapless Maldives 5-0

in a crucial Group A match of the AFC

Under-23 Championship at the Sultan

Qaboos Sports Complex on Sunday.

Hatem completed his hat-trick after

Omar Al Malki gave the Sultanate squad

the lead as early as the seventh minute.

Hatem scored two goals in quick succes-

sion in 20th and 24th minutes before

scoring his third and Oman’s fourth in

the 56th minute. Ashaad Al Abdulsalam

completed Oman’s tally in the 72nd

minute. Oman now have seven points

from three outings. Iraq, ahead of their

third match against Bahrain in Sunday’s

late kick-off, have six points from two

outings. The top teams and five best

second placed teams from ten groups

qualify for the 2016 AFC U-23 Champi-

onship. — JUN ESTRADA/Times of Oman

C2

SPORTSM O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

Stay ahead of the curve with

WhatsNews

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Almouj Golf and The Chedi Muscat sign agreement to drive tourism in OmanMUSCAT: Almouj Golf and The Chedi Muscat recently signed an agreement to enhance their ongo-ing partnership and commitment to driving tourism to Oman, ac-cording to a press statement is-sued by Al Mouj on Sunday.

Building on an existing business relationship, the two companies are dedicated to bringing one of the re-gion’s most celebrated golfing des-tinations together with the luxury of Muscat’s 5 Star travel accommo-dations, offering better provisions to golf enthusiasts partaking in Al-mouj Golf’s Chedi Monthly Medal competition with a number of ad-ditional benefits for the club.

“Our recent agreement with

The Chedi Muscat demonstrates our continued focus on position-ing Almouj Golf as a world-class golfing destination and Oman as a global tourism hub. As the most popular domestic course in the Sultanate, we have identified The Chedi Muscat as the right partner

to generate increased exposure for the club through branding, events and strategic communi-cation,” Simon Duffield, General Manager of Almouj Golf, said.

Under the agreement, The Chedi Muscat embraces the game of golf and will continue to be a key facili-tator for The Chedi Muscat Month-ly Medal, in addition to leveraging a number of additional benefits. The sponsorship will see the hotel maintain its naming rights on the monthly competition, as well as delivering products on competi-tion days, and generating increased exposure for Almouj Golf through liaison with the media and other brand-based activities.

Christoph Girsch, Executive Assistant Manager at The Chedi Muscat, commented: “As one of the world’s leading hotels, The Chedi Muscat and Almouj Golf have together crafted an agree-ment that will serve to boost the experience of our guests, golfers and tourists alike.

“Driving tourism is not just about footfall, it is about the qual-ity of the visit and the luxuries that come with it. The Chedi Muscat is one of those rare hotels that is both inspired and inspiring, and we believe that this recent enhance-ment of our business relationship with Almouj Golf can take our legacy to the next level.”

K E Y R O L E

Bank Muscat get the

better of Bank Dhofar

MUSCAT: Adil Vawda smashed a brilliant half century as Bank Muscat defeated Bank Dhofar by 12 runs in the ongoing Inter-bank Cricket Tournament at Al Am-erat Grounds on Saturday.

Electing to bat first, ten-man Bank Muscat piled up 185 runs for the loss of six wickets. Adil Vawda scored 53 runs off just 27 balls. Abbas Al Balushi and Jebin James scored with 44 and 46 not out respectively.

For Bank Dhofar, Shafi Pasha and skipper Harikrishnan took two wickets apiece.

In reply, Bank Dhofar started their chase well with opening batsman Kather Meeran scor-ing 24 runs off 11 balls. Later,

Harikrishnan (57 runs) and Sat-ish Karate (43 runs) continued the calculated chase.

But after the fall of the two set batsmen, Bank Muscat were able to restrict their opponents to 173 for six. For Bank Muscat, Benny Matthews and Jebin James took two wickets each.

The next match is scheduled for April 4 when Ahli Bank take on Bank Dhofar.

Brief scores: Bank Muscat 185 for 6 (Adil Vawda 53, Jebin James 46, Abbas Albalushi 44; Shafi Pasha 2/21, Harikrishnan 2/40) bt Bank Dhofar 173 for 6 (Harikrishnan 57, Satish Ka-rate 43, Kather Meeran 24; Benny Mat-thews 2/29, Jebin James 1/19). Points: Bank Muscat (2), Bank Dhofar (0).

I N T E R - B A N K T O U R N E YMARH, Sarco, Al Ansari, Caledonians in last eight

MUSCAT: Moosa Abdul Rahman Hassan (MARH) recorded a 73-run win against OCT Mabellah to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Khimji Ramdas-sponsored Inter-mediate Cup T20 tournament.

Batting first, MARH piled up 210 runs for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs with opening batsman Saif Shamsuddin scoring 52. Sar-mad Ali chipped in with a blazing 51 off just 19 balls.

A 10-member OCT Mabellah team, in reply, were bowled out for 137 in 17.4 overs. Shabbir Ahmed Al Balushi remained unbeaten on 45.

Brief scores: MARH 210 for 6 in 20 overs (Saif Shamsuddin 52, Sarmad Ali 51, Vishal Shetty 26 n.o., Mohd Ayaz 21;

Assad Muhammad Al Balushi 3/40) bt OCT Mabellah 137 in 17.4 overs (Shabbir Ahmed Al Balushi 45 n.o., Salim Ismail Al Balushi 25; Mohd Ayaz 2/16, Sukhpreet Singh 2/23, Khalid Moosa 2/29).

King Travels beatenIn another T20 Intermediate Cup match, Sarco crushed King Trav-els easily by seven wickets and earn a place in the quarterfinals.

Batting first, King Travels were bowled out for 101 runs in 16.2 overs. Sarco raced to their target scoring 104 for three wickets in 13.2 overs thanks to an unbeaten 54 from

opening batsman Satisha Achary.Brief scores: King Travels 101 in

16.2 overs (Rageesh O.K. 27, Jayson Del-boy 23, Zafar Ullah Ghulam Qadir Ali 21; Jeetesha Shridhara 3/22, Mathias Jacob 2/1, Aamir Merchant 2/18) lost to Sarco 104 for 3 in 13.2 overs (Satisha Achary 54 n.o., Hafiz Mohammed Zahid 28).

Ehtisham starsMohammed Ehtisham claimed four wickets in four overs as Cal-edonian College registered a four-wicket win against ISC Kutchi Wing to enter the quarterfinals of the Khimji Ramdas-sponsored

Junior Cup T20. Batting first, ISC Kutchi Wing with a player short were bowled out for 144 in 18.1 overs.

In reply, Caledonian College were reeling at 39 for five after five overs but got to their target scor-ing 145 for six wickets in 18.1 overs thanks to an unbeaten 53 from skipper Danish Zakria.

Brief scores: ISC Kutchi Wing 144 in 18.1 overs (Mohammed Ahmed 36, Kiran Joshi 29, Suketu Limbani 20; Mo-hammad Ehtisham 4/25, Ashique 2/19, Danish Zakria 2/23) lost to Caledonian College 145 for 6 in 18.1 overs (Danish Zakria 53 n.o., Mainul Islam 23; Sachin Mamnani 3/14).

Ameet slams tonIn another Junior Cup T20 match, Al Ansari, thanks to a brilliant un-beaten 100 from opening batsman Ameet Sampat, recorded a thrilling four-run win against Al Fairuz Trad-ing and entered the quarterfinals.

Batting first, Al Ansari were re-stricted to 157 for six wickets. Al Fairuz Trading in their turn man-aged to score 153 for the loss of nine in 20 overs.

Brief scores: Al Ansari 157 for 6 in 20 overs (Ameet Sampat 100 n.o.; Rohan 2/18, Girish Kumar 2/29, Manikandan S.P. 2/38) bt Al Fairuz Trading 153 for 9 in 20 overs (Manikandan S.P. 44 n.o., Zaheer 43, Saravana Kumar 20; Sajid Tan-war 2/18).

Batting first, MARH

piled up 210 runs

for six in 20 overs.

A 10-member OCT

Mabellah, in reply,

were bowled out for

137 in 17.4 overs

MUSCAT: Skipper Vaibhav Wategaonkar made a brilliant unbeaten 98 in a man-of-the-match performance to lead Muscat Cricket Team to a 56-run win against defending champions Assarain A in a Muscat Pharmacy & Stores-sponsored A Division 50 overs-a-side league match.

Opting to bat first, Muscat scored 216 for the loss of six wickets in 50 overs. In reply,

Assarain A were bowled out for 160 in 45.2 overs.

Brief scores: Muscat CT 216 for 6 in 50 overs (Vaibhav Wat-egaonkar 98 n.o., Jatinder Singh 44, Aaqib Ilyas 38) bt Assarain A 160 in 45.2 overs (Zeeshan Maqsood 41, Sindo Michael 32 n.o., Mohd Nadeem 28, Arun Poulose 23; Badal Singh 3/16, Hemal Mehta 3/18, Jatinder Singh 2/33). Points: Mus-cat - 5 (9 games, 34 pts), Assarain A - Nil (9 games, 30 pts).

Vaibhav leads Muscat to victory

Nehwal wins Indian OpenNEW DELHI: Saina Nehwal, badminton’s new world No. 1, trounced her Thai challenger, Ratchanok Intanon, on Sunday to win the India Open women’s singles on home turf.

Nehwal defeated Ratchanok 21-16, 21-14 in less than an hour in the final of the Super Series tournament in front of an ador-ing crowd packed into the Siri Fort stadium in New Delhi.

Another Indian shuttler, K Srikanth, won the men’s sin-gles final in a keenly contested match against Denmark’s Vik-tor Axelsen.

Srikanth defeated Axelsen 18-21, 21-13 and 21-12 in a 55 minute encounter.

Other results (all finals): Women’s doubles: Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN) bt Luo Ying/Luo Yu (CHN) 21-19, 21-19. Men’s doubles: Chai Biao/Hong Wei (CHN) bt Conrad Petersen/Mads Pieler Kolding (DEN) 21-18, 21-14. Mixed doubles: Liu Cheng/Bao Yixin (CHN) bt Christin-na Pedersen/Joachim Fischer Nielsen (DEN) 21-19, 21-19. - AFP

B A D M I N T O N

C3M O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

NEXT WORLD CUPWILL BE HELD IN 2019 IN ENGLAND AND WALES

OVERTHEMOON

MATCH REPORT

ON

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C4 M O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

Over 93,000 squeezing into the sprawling Melbourne Cricket Ground stands.

Imagine the situation. Intimidat-ing for anyone who are not used to the atmosphere.

Brendon McCullum called the coin right, but he just couldn’t imagine what would happen next. Just five deliveries into the first over and McCullum facing his third, Mitchell Starc steamed in with fury and castled the off stump with a swinging full length delivery which tailed in just a bit. The roar at unimagina-ble decibel level ever heard at the MCG gave a preview of what was in store thereafter.

Getting rid of McCullum, who the other day had called his countrymen and supporters to dream big, turned out to be dream start for Michael Clarke’s glorious bow from the ODIs.

The failure of McCullum, who had shown all through the World Cup that he can take the bull by its horns, and the vociferous MCG shook up the Black Caps

batsmen (except Grant Elliott) to follow and the sad story was there for everyone to see.

So Clarke exited ODIs as the world champion.

And in what style did he do it! After marshalling his resourc-

es in the first part of the match with aplomb, the ‘Pup’, with cool and calculated batting, put the team on path to the glory.

Surely he should be the hap-piest man on earth and a toast of the entire country as the proud Aussies resumed their domina-tion of the global cricket with the fifth title triumph.

On the other hand, New Zealand had won many-a-heart worldwide with their display of free spirited and ‘all out attack’ brand of cricket. And the MCG surrender had left all of them disillusioned. They were in the final for the first time and may be the big occasion overawed them and also the big venue left them awe struck.

Though the best team, undoubtedly, won the coveted

trophy, McCullum’s men were not far from the best. They de-serve all the plaudits. The team should take heart from the fact they have broken the country’s semifinal jinx and shown the way for the future generation of Kiwi cricketers. As they say, there is always a next time and four years from now, in England, the Black Caps may revel.

Saying that, let’s not take away the moment of pride from the Australians and especially their skipper Michael Clarke.

If the pace trio of Starc, John-son and Hazlewood had rattled the Indian batsmen with good short stuff in their semifinal, they were a notch higher in the final. Adding to that man of the

match Faulkner’s disguised guile of slow deliveries foxed the Kiwi batsmen too. With the four bowlers doing a perfect job and Maxwell too doing his job well, Clarke was on a good wicket with hardly anything to chase.

The Aussie skipper’s glee at the end of the Kiwi innings was enough to say that at the break he was sure of realising his dream and retiring on top.

So analytically, the Australians were the best and the Black Caps second best in the tournament leaving India and South Africa to take the third and fourth spots respectively. India had positives and like Australians and the New Zealanders they had lost only one match in this edition,

while Proteas had lost to India, Pakistan and New Zealand.

If Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni rewrote some records like 11 consecutive World Cup wins and also his 100th ODI win as captain, the Indian bowlers like Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami too finished among the top four with 18 and 17 wickets each. In batting, Shikhar Dhawan was the fifth highest scorer in the tournament. The 15 runs Martin Guptill scored in the final helped him to leapfrog Kumar Sangak-kara as the highest run getter in the tournament. Guptill amassed 547 runs in nine innings, while Sangakkara had 541 runs in seven innings.

The top bowlers above the Indian duo were player of the tournament Mitchell Starc and Trent Boult, both claiming 22 wickets.

The left-arm pacers were the talk of this edition, but I vote Wa-hab Riaz of Pakistan as the best performer, especially after that intimidating spell against Shane Watson in the quarterfinal.

Now that this edition is behind us, it will be interesting to see whether International Cricket Council will stick to its 10-team plan for the 2019 World Cup.

ICC chairman N. Srinivasan was heard saying during the final that the plan is to have eight top teams get automatic slots, while the others including associates go through a qualifying round be-fore completing the line-up.

This discussion is bound to linger on for some time.

Leaving it there, let’s tune into a different bandwidth as cricket’s ‘ultimate circus’ — the Indian Premier League, is set to begin soon. — sportseditor@timesofoman.com

Overawed Black Caps couldn’t hamper Clarke’s gleeful bowCOMMENTARY

Getting rid of McCullum, who the other day had called his countrymen and supporters to dream big, turned out to be dream start for Michael Clarke’s glorious bow

‘We saved our best until last’MELBOURNE: Australia’s players said they had saved their best performance until the end of the tournament after beating New Zealand by seven wickets in the World Cup final.

“Unbelievable feeling, we said we wanted to play our best game towards the end of the tournament and to win this fi-nal three down, I thought the boys were outstanding tonight,” said Smith.

“The bowlers really set it up for us. They’ve done it all tournament.”

Coach Darren Lehmann, who won two World Cups as a player, paid tribute to the hard work his players had put in over the tournament.

“They just keep coming up and fronting up day in, day out. They’ve been fantastic over the six weeks,” he said before his players emptied a tub of energy drink over his head, adding: “That’s why I love them.” - Reuters

REACT I ONS

C5M O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

NEW ZEALANDM. Guptill b Maxwell 15B. McCullum b Starc 0K. Williamson c and b Johnson 12R. Taylor c Haddin b Faulkner 40G. Elliott c Haddin b Faulkner 83C. Anderson b Faulkner 0L. Ronchi c Clarke b Starc 0D. Vettori b Johnson 9T. Southee run out (Maxwell) 11M. Henry c Starc b Johnson 0T. Boult not out 0Extras (lb-7, w-6) 13Total (all out, 45 overs) 183

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-33, 3-39, 4-150, 5-150, 6-151, 7-167, 8-171, 9-182, 10-183Bowling: Starc 8-0-20-2 (1w); Hazlewood 8-2-30-0; Johnson 9-0-30-3 (2w); Maxwell 7-0-37-1 (1w); Faulkner 9-1-36-3; Watson 4-0-23-0 (2w);AUSTRALIAD. Warner c Elliott b Henry 45A. Finch c and b Boult 0S. Smith not out 56M. Clarke b Henry 74S. Watson not out 2Extras (lb-3, w-6) 9Total (3 wkts, 33.1 overs) 186

Did not bat: G Maxwell, J Faulkner, B Had-din, M Johnson, M Starc, J HazlewoodFall of wickets: 1-2, 2-63, 3-175Bowling: Southee 8-3-65-0 (3w); Boult 10-0-40-1; Vettori 5-0-25-0; Henry 9.1-0-46-2 (2w); Anderson 1-0-7-0 (1w);Result: Australia won by 7 wicketsMan of the match: James FaulknerMan of the tournament: Mitchell StarcToss: New ZealandUmpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI) and Richard Kettleborough (ENG)TV umpire: Marais Erasmus (RSA)Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)

HIGH FIVEMichael Clarke hit 74 in

his last one-day interna-tional to lead Australia

to their fifth World Cup title with a seven-wicket win over New Zea-land in a disappointing final on Sunday. A record crowd of 93,013 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground saw power-packed Australia bowl out the Black Caps for 183 and then gallop to victory in the 34th over.

Clarke, who announced his re-tirement from the one-day format on the eve of the final, added 112 runs for the third wicket with his likely successor Steve Smith, who returned unbeaten on 56.

“I’m sure everybody standing on this stage will say we played this World Cup with 16 players,” said Clarke in reference to close friend and former teammate Phillip Hughes who died in November last year after being hit on the head by a bouncer in a first-class match in Sydney. “This victory is dedicated to our little brother Phillip Hughes.”

The emphatic win was set up by the left-arm fast bowling trio of Mitchell Starc, James Faulkner and Mitchell Johnson who shared eight wickets after the Kiwis elect-ed to bat on a good pitch.

New Zealand messed up their maiden appearance in the title clash of cricket’s showpiece event, falling like nine pins against the hostile Australian bowling.

Inspirational captain Brendon McCullum fell off the fifth ball of the innings for a duck and two other frontline batsmen, Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi, also failed to score.

South Africa-born Grant El-liott top-scored with 83, sharing a fourth-wicket stand of 111 with Ross Taylor (40) after New Zea-land had been reduced to 39 for three in the 13th over.

The massive crowd, which broke the MCG record of 91,112 on the opening day of the Boxing Day Test against England in 2013, saw New Zealand lose their last seven wickets for 33 runs.

“We played some outstanding cricket in the tournament, but we ran into an outstanding Australia team tonight who continue to set the way in world cricket. Michael Clarke deserves to bow out as world champion,” said McCullum.

The scale of New Zealand’s de-feat in the final led to questions over whether they should temper their bold playing style, a sugges-tion the skipper flatly rejected.

“No, no, you don’t change your style of play. Look, for us to develop into the team that we want to be in international cricket, we have to play like that,” he said.

CrumbledNew Zealand crumbled after going into the final as the only unbeaten team in the 14-nation tournament, their eight wins including a one-wicket success over Australia in a low scoring pool stage thriller.

Australia’s previous titles came in 1987, 1999, 2003 and 2007 with coach Darren Lehmann, a two-time World Cup winner as a play-er, celebrating another success off the field.

New Zealand raised hopes of repeating their amazing win in the league when they removed Aaron Finch for a duck in the second over, Trent Boult taking an easy re-turn catch as the ball lobbed off the batsman’s bat and pad.

Left-hander David Warner slammed seven boundaries in his 45 off 46 balls, adding 61 for the second wicket with Smith.

But the pugnacious opener was unable to build on his fine start as he pulled seamer Matt Hen-ry down Elliott’s throat at deep square-leg.

Smith, who scored a century in the semi-final against India in Sydney last Thursday, continued his good form to help Clarke take charge of the match.

Clarke was bowled by Henry

when just nine runs remained for victory and was given a standing ovation by team-mates and fans as he returned with his bat raised.

Smith sealed victory by pulling Henry for a boundary, sparking jubilant scenes in the stands as Clarke and the rest of the team ran on to the field to embrace Smith.

Starc’s two wickets in the in-nings took his tally to 22, enabling him to emerge with Boult as the joint highest wicket-takers in the tournament.

Martin Guptill surpassed Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara’s 541 runs to become the tourna-ment’s leading run-getter when he reached 10, but he managed to add just five runs more.

The tall opener, who hit a World Cup record score of 237 not out against the West Indies in the quar-terfinals, was bowled trying to cut Glenn Maxwell’s second delivery.

Taylor and Elliott settled in to build a strong partnership and had taken the total to 150-3 when the batting powerplay began after the 35th over. Both sides fielded unchanged teams from their semi-final wins where Australia beat India and New Zealand downed South Africa in a penultimate-ball thriller. - AFP

Australia captain Michael Clarke signed off in style from One-day International cricket on Sunday by top scoring in his country’s crushing seven-wicket victory over New Zealand in the World Cup final. After dismissing New Zealand for 183 in 45 overs before an Australian record crowd of 93,013 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia cruised to their fifth World Cup with Clarke scoring 74 in the home team’s 186 for three from 33.1 overs

CHAMPIONS AGAIN: Australian cricketers celebrate with the trophy after the winning the 2015 Cricket World Cup final in Melbourne. – AFP

SCAN THIS QR CODE TO INSTANTLY VISIT

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M O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5C6

Starc award defiesin bat-dominated to

MELBOURNE: At a World Cup dominated by batsmen and huge scores, it was an old-fashioned fast bowler who ultimately played the big-gest role in Australia’s success.

Mitchell Starc, whose devastating pace and movement troubled almost every batsmen who faced him, was named player of the tournament after Australia wrapped up their fifth title with a seven-wicket over New Zea-land on Sunday.

Glenn McGrath (2007) is the only

other specialist bowler to have won the award but Starc was a popular choice after terrorising his opponents for the past six weeks.

“It’s nice to see bat dominate ball every now and again,” Starc told re-porters. “There’s been some fantastic performances with both. Obviously, it’s been a couple of big scores, a cou-ple of double tons... but it’s just been fantastic the whole tournament.”

Although New Zealand opener Martin Guptill and Chris Gayle scored double centuries during the World Cup, Starc was an obvious choice for the player of the tourna-ment award.

He took 22 wickets, equal best with New Zealand seamer Trent Boult, but at a far better average of 10.18.

Perhaps the left-armer’s most tell-ing contribution, however, came in the first over of Sunday’s final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground when he cleaned bowled New Zealand’s cap-tain and most destructive batsman Brendon McCullum with a yorker.

The Black Caps never recovered

and were bowled out for just 183 ithe 45th over.

“He’s been a key player for themright from the beginning, and hebeen fantastic for the Kiwis to gethem off to great starts,” Starc said.

“We knew we had to sort of asseshim as he went because he’s very unpredictable. I think personally it waa bit of a planning game with (bowing coach) Craig McDermott abou

Michael Starc was

adjudged player of

the tournament, while

James Faulkner was

named man of the final

VICTORY CRY: Australian cricketers celebrate their victory in the 2015 Cricket World Cup

DEJECTED LOT: New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, centre,

and his team stand after losing the final.

GLORIOUS MOMENT: Australian captain Michael Clarke receives

the World Cup from ICC chairman N. Srinivasan.

COLOUR & GAIETY: World champions Australia is celebrating the glorious mo

after winning their fifth World Cup.

In the end, it was a horribly one-sided final. Australia just packed too many guns

for New Zealand and steamroll-ed to another world title, their fourth in the last five champi-onships. It is a tribute to their system which has consistently produced top class players and will continue to do so for years to come. There is accountabil-

ity at all levels; there is no room for sentimentality and only the deserving get to don the

country’s colours. At the junior level, Indian teams have shown themselves to be better than the Aussies in recent times, and even when India go to play the emerging players tourna-ment in Australia every year, they come out on top. So what is it about Australia that makes them so good at the interna-tional level? It could well be

the compegrassrootlevel whicsense of cloyalty towand teamm

New Zepletely ouperhaps thnot ventucountry fo

C O M M E N T A R Y

World Cup triumph is a tr

TOP PRIZE: Mitchell Starc receives

award from Sachin Tendulkar. – AP/P

T I M E S O F O M A N C7

s trend ourney

n

m s t

s -s -t

just bowling in pace and yorker to him first up.

“I’m not sure how that first one missed, but lucky the third one hit. There’s a lot of luck involved, but just nice to see that plan come off.”

For Starc, his award was also a vin-dication of his rising status in Austral-ia’s bowling ranks. One of three left-arm fast bowlers, he has often been overshadowed by Mitchell Johnson and James Faulkner, who was named man of the match in the final.

He was also criticised this summer by Shane Warne for not being aggres-sive enough but proved all his doubt-ers wrong and now hopes his form in the one-day game will help him play more tests.

“Over the last sort of 12 to 18 months I’ve really felt a part of the one-day team, really felt at home,” he said. “I’d like to push into Test cricket now, but we’ve got a bit of a break now before any of the Tests, but still a lot of work to do with white and red ball. Just going to really enjoy this mo-ment.” - Reuters

p final. – AFP, Reuters

ment MOST PRIZED POSSESSION: An Australian player holds aloft

the prestigious symbol of cricket supremacy.

HURRAH: Steve Smith in victory mode is carried by jubilant Shane Watson after

the former hit the winning runs. – AFP

TOP SCORER: New Zealand’s Grant Elliot staged a lone

battle.

titive nature of their cricket at the club h inculcates a fierce

ompetition as well as wards the institution mates.aland were com-t of their depth, and he fact that they had red outside their r any of the earlier

matches came back to haunt them, for suddenly they found themselves in the cauldron of the MCG and the massive crowd support that the Aussies get there. It can get too much at the easiest of times, and this was the final of the World Cup on the biggest day in the lives of New Zealand’s cricketers and cricket loving public. They

just wilted under that pressure, and the relentless way that the Australia skipper applied it, meant that there simply was no way out.

Brendon McCullum did his team a huge favour by winning the toss which meant that, for the first time finalists, they did not have to undergo the pressure of an asking rate in a

chase. Their batsmen could bat freely, but it was crucial that they got a good start which is what they did not get. McCul-lum, looking to play the way he has throughout the tourna-ment, was bowled by a beauty from Mitchell Starc, and when Guptill fell to part timer Glenn Maxwell, the writing was pretty much on the walls.

The partnership between Taylor and the hero of the semifinal, Grant Elliott, did raise some hopes but they had also consumed plenty of overs as they tried to repair the innings.

When Taylor and the danger-ous Anderson were dismissed in the space of three balls, any hope that the Kiwis had of fin-

ishing strongly had vapourised. Still, they would have tried to build their hopes by the coin-cidence of the total they had put up which was exactly what India had when they restricted the defending champions West Indies and won the trophy for the first time.

It wasn’t to be, as the man of the season Steve Smith

and skipper Michael Clarke, playing his last one-day game, ensured there were no alarms.

Though Clarke got out just before the winning hit, he had seen that he would retire as a winning skipper.

Australia are the champions again, and it will take something really extraordinary to wrest the cup from them again. - PMG

ribute to the excellent Australian cricketing system

TI

C8 M O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

As the entire Australian team sprinted onto the field to join Steve Smith

and Shane Watson to celebrate the World-Cup winning mo-ment, as Smith tried to sum up his unbelievable feeling to Shane Warne a little later, as James Faulkner collected his man-of-the-match award and indulged in the amazing new experience, as Mitchell Starc picked up the player-of-the-tournament trophy and beamed about the fantastic 44 days, as Michael Clarke found himself over the moon, as the crowd roared each time the name of Sachin Tendulkar was mentioned at the presentation ceremony, as Brendon McCul-lum said ‘credit to Australia’ brilliantly disguising even a hint of disappointment, and as the Indians watching the fun on TV were trying to guess what was it that Sachin whis-pered that made Starc smile sheepishly while receiving his award, I was trying to think up an idea, a strategy, a plan that could have changed the script.

What could have been done, or done differently, by one of the three teams that found themselves standing close enough to deliver the punch that would have knocked the Aussies out of the 11th World?

Nothing, even if they got the chance to do it all over again, perhaps. But one idea that might have done the trick was pretty simple, and that was by way of effecting a change of venue.

Even then, I doubt moving the final to Auckland would have mattered – we had seen in the group stage how the Aus-sies fought to defend a small total (152) at Eden Park and nearly pulled off a victory, so the best bet was moving either the quarterfinal, against Paki-stan, or the semifinal, against India, out of Australia. A quar-terfinal in Dubai, and in the unlikely event of the Aussies surviving the spin and guile on the flat tracks of the emirate, then a semifinal in Mumbai on the dry, dusty Wankhede pitch. That, at the moment, was the only way, ridiculous though, this Australian team could have been stopped in their tracks.

The resources at the dispos-al of Michael Clarke in batting and bowling were amazing, which was what other teams lacked. Shortcomings could be camouflaged in the group stage, but they get exposed and exploited in the knockouts.

Neither India nor New Zealand, nor South Africa, for that matter, have in their ranks guys like Mitchell Johnson or James Faulkner who could come in at first change to con-tinue and complicate the mis-erable life of the rivals. They may have a Steyn or a Morkel or a Boult…but once they are done with their first spell, the opposition gets to breathe easy. Similar is the case with bat-ting. Whether David Warner

failed or fired, Smith remained almost always unperturbed, and then there are guys right up to No. 7 who could do a neat, perfect job.

It was more a matter of heart than head that made many—the four million-plus New Zea-landers and the few millions in Asia, especially in India—fan-tasize about a New Zealand victory. The first over dealt the severest blow to such hopes when McCullum failed to bot-tle his testosterones. That’s the way he normally went about it, all right, but on a pitch he had not played on for years, and on the mightiest of all occasions, he shouldn’t have been flashing at the very first ball, and having failed in his first and second attempts, he should have kept his ego under check for an over or so. He didn’t, and that was the first, silliest undoing.

Viewed against the gloomy goings in the beginning, 150 in the 35th over with seven wickets intact offered thrilling prospects. And before all that got undone in the next over, there were hints of what was to come.

After ticking one of the boxes (100-plus-run partner-ship) that statistically beefed up their chance, Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott seemed set for fireworks. And then we saw the signs of the impend-ing doom: confusion crept into the hitherto peaceful partner-ship, and if Clarke didn’t miss the simple chance to hit the stumps, or had Brad Haddin managed to take the chance to his right, Elliott would have been walking back to the dressing room.

That the very next over, which was the 36th, Faulkner would dismiss both Taylor and Corey Anderson, and in the very next Starc would claim Luke Ronchi to reduce New Zealand to 151 for six, was hardly surprising, given the hints and the Kiwis’ failure to heed.

An Australian victory was expected. When it happened, it looked awesome, despite the obvious boredom normally associated with any such fifth-time event.

But viewed against the back-drop of the drama unveiled in the semifinal when the South Africans did everything to avoid the inevitable, and bit-terly, unreservedly, cried when they couldn’t, the final was a big letdown. Full Member vs Associate kind of letdown.

The writer is a freelance contribu-tor based in India. All the views and opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not reflect those of Times of Oman

C O M M E N T A R Y

How to beat the Aussies. And why NZ couldn’t do itTriumph a career

pinnacle for Clarke

MELBOURNE: Skipper Michael Clarke shrugged off fitness fears, talk of rifts with team-mates, coach and selectors to spearhead Australia to a fifth World Cup crown. It was a fitting finale for Clarke, who played his 245th and last one-day international to lead Australia to a comprehensive seven-wicket over New Zealand in Sunday’s final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Clarke, 33, went out on a high, finishing with 74 off 72 balls — tak-ing his career total to 7,981 runs —

after being largely a peripheral figure for the Australian team in the tournament scoring two half-centuries in six knocks although his leadership and on-field strat-egy have not been questioned.

Clarke was stung when asked at his media conference following the 95-win semifinal victory over India if his batting style had be-come redundant for the modern game now stacked up against the audacious shotmakers in his side — David Warner, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch.

“I think I’m doing all right. I think my record is pretty good up against anybody in the world. I think my record holds its place. I’m not con-cerned at all,” retorted Clarke.

Yet his last ODI century came against England in Manchester in September 2013 and up to the World Cup Clarke had played in only six ODIs in the previous year.

Speculation over the state of his fitness also annoyed him after recent battles with hamstring and back problems. “I think everybody is sick of talking about my injury, my old injury, I should say,” said Clarke, who turns 34 next week.

While Clarke was on the side-lines, Steve Smith successfully

filled in as captain to lead Austral-ia to a 2-0 Test series victory in the three remaining Tests against India and is expected to take over the ODI role full-time.

Reports at the time suggested the team had taken to Smith’s style, while speculation that Clarke wanted to have a strong say in when he was ready to return to the team from injury had caused friction with Cricket Australia.

“It seems like some people in particular are going to write what they want to write,” he scowled.

“I’m really happy and comfort-able with my relationship with Cricket Australia firstly, certainly

with my teammates.“It’s water off a duck’s back for

me, I’ve copped it my whole career. It’s another day, another newspa-per sold. I don’t really care.”

There was even talk of a fall-out with coach Darren Lehmann and chief selector Rod Marsh over a deadline imposed on him to confirm his place in the World Cup squad.

“You won’t get headlines out of me,” Clarke told reporters.

Sunday’s World Cup final tri-umph was a career pinnacle for Clarke, who won 50 of his 74 ODIs as Australia’s skipper.

“It’s been an honour and a privi-lege to represent my country, the time is right for to walk away from one-day cricket,” Clarke.

But he isn’t finished.He will continue to play Test

cricket looking to add to his 108 matches so far which have yielded 8,432 runs and a highest score of an undefeated 329. And he will keep honouring former teammate Phillip Hughes who died last year by wearing a black armband in every match he plays. “The band has got PH on it. I will wear it eve-ry game I play for Australia....this victory is dedicated to our little brother Phillip Hughes.” - AFP

Clarke will keep

honouring former

teammate Phillip

Hughes who died

last year by wearing

a black armband in

every match he plays

Michael Clarke

Retirements can wait: McCullumMELBOURNE: New Zealand have players who will retire from cricket but will be gracious in defeat and allow Australia to bask in their World Cup tri-umph, Black Caps skipper Bren-don McCullum said on Sunday.

In a refreshing dose of sport-ing humility, McCullum said the New Zealand team had no intention of grabbing the head-lines off the rejoicing Austral-ians and would do so when “the dust settles”.

Australian captain Michael Clarke, who announced his re-tirement from the one-day for-mat on the eve of the final, hit 74 in his last one-day internation-al, triggering what is expected to be a number of retirements across the competing teams.

Senior player Daniel Vet-tori, at 36, is one Black Cap rumoured to be quitting, and even 33-year-old McCullum has been mentioned, but the skipper would not divulge names in the wake of New Zealand’s defeat.

“There are maybe guys within our group who will retire,” Mc-Cullum told reporters after the final. “We’ll let the dust settle on this one and we certainly won’t look to grab any headlines over the next couple of days because they belong to Australia as they’ve deserve the right.

“We’ll let the dust settle, we’ll be gracious in defeat and then we’ll work a plan over the next couple of days for some of those guys who may look to retire.

“But it’s the right thing to al-low Australia to bask in the glo-ry of their success.”

McCullum, who earned ap-plause from reporters at the conclusion of his post-match conference, conceded their trans-Tasman neighbours won convincingly. “All credit to Aus-tralia for the way that they were able to deliver on the biggest stage at the biggest occasion and at the key moments,” he said.

“We’ll take some lessons out of that, but sometimes you’ve just got to admit that you ran second in the race, and fair play to Australia for all their hard work and their success in the key moments.”

McCullum didn’t want to get into any criticism of verbal “send-offs” Australian bowlers gave to dismissed batsmen, no-tably Grant Elliott, Martin Gup-till and Vettori. “Look, it wasn’t really discussed within the group. A send-off is a send-off. It’s not something we are neces-sarily concerned about,” he said.

“I think the focus should be on Australia and I don’t want to go too deep into that.” - AFP

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Zayn Malik has spoken of his deci-sion to leave One Direction after being signed off

with stress for the first time, saying that while it is “crazy and wild and a bit mad”, he’s “never felt more in control” of his own life.

In an exclusive in-terview with The Sun conducted six hours after news of his departure from the world’s big-gest boyband broke, the 20-year-old singer indicated not only that the door has been left open for him to return to the band in the future, but also that he didn’t intend to bow out of the limelight completely in the meantime.

In fact, we could be set to hear material from Ma-lik as a solo artist sooner rather than later. He is currently in a West Lon-don studio working on new music with producer Naughty Boy, who mas-terminded Sam Smith’s award-winning debut. Malik also discussed rumours that a rift had formed between the band, his engagement to Perrie Edwards (who fans have since branded the ‘Yoko Ono’ of 1D), and whether he thinks One Direction will be able to continue without him. -Jenn Selby/The Independent

On finally coming to the decision to throw in the towel…It is crazy and wild and a bit mad. But at the same time I’ve never felt more in control in my life. And I feel like I’m doing what’s right — right by myself and right by the boys, so I feel good.

On feeling like he’s let his fans down…That’s the main thing that I don’t want to happen. It’s not that I’ve turned my back on them or anything, it’s just that I just can’t do that anymore because it’s not real to me.

On whether he’d ever consider returning to the band…I don’t think I can really answer that really. I don’t know.

On those rumours of a long-standing rift between the band…They couldn’t be more wrong, to be honest.

On whether he thinks the band will stay together…They still want to do it for a while, so they’re going to carry on doing what they want to do. And I think they’re going to do ok for a while, do you know what I mean? I think they’re going to be cool.

On his acrimony-free departure being easier than when Geri Halliwell left the Spice Girls or Robbie Williams left Take That…My band has been really supportive. They’ve been really cool about it. And they understand that, you know, it’s not real to me anymore.

On confirming he is still engaged to Perrie Edwards…Yeah, she’s always supportive. She’s always good, man.

On knowing he wanted out for a quite some time…You know, I did try to do something that I wasn’t happy doing for a while, for the sake of maybe other people’s happiness. And that was mainly the fans. And I only ever tried to do it for the fans, and it was only ever for them.

C10

FIND-IT-ALLM O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

MONDAYFLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA WY682 RIYADH  0005WY406 CAIRO  0005WY636 ABU DHABI  0005WY648 KUWAIT  0010WY816 BANGKOK  0015WY910 SALALAH  0030BG021 DACCA-CHITTAGONG  01004H583 DACCA  0145WY3916 SALALAH  0205PK229 LAHORE  0215TK776 ISTANBUL-BAHRAIN  0255QR1132 DOHA  0345EK866 DUBAI  0355EY384 ABU DHABI  0405GF560 BAHRAIN  0405FZ041 DUBAI  0415WY114 FRANKFURT  0610WY658 BAHRAIN  0640WY638 ABU DHABI  0650WY902 SALALAH  0655WY154 ZURICH  0720WY144 MALPENSA  0720WY674 JEDDAH  0730WY668 DOHA  0735WY644 KUWAIT  0735WY602 DUBAI  0805WY202 BOMBAY  0815WY102 LONDON HEATHROW  0820FZ043 DUBAI  0850WY272 JAIPUR  0855G9114 SHARJAH  0915WY342 LAHORE  0920WY242 DELHI  0920WY236 HYDERABAD  0920WY346 ISLAM ABBAD  0930WY226 COCHIN  0930WY212 TRIVANDRUM  0940EK862 DUBAI  0940WY252 MADRAS  0940WY282 BANGALORE  1000QR1128 DOHA  1010EY382 ABU DHABI  10159W530 TRIVANDRUM  1035WY604 DUBAI  1110WY844 MANILA  1110WY918 KHASAB  1115GF562 BAHRAIN  1130WY372 COLOMBO  1140FZ037 DUBAI  1200WY384 MALE  1205IX337 CALICUT  1210WY902 SALALAH  1215PA450 LAHORE  1215WY716 ZANZIBAR  1225WY3302 MUKHAIZNA  1230WY324 KARACHI  1230WY818 BANGKOK  1305WY606 DUBAI  1330WY906 SALALAH  1445WY920 KHASAB  1445WY632 ABU DHABI  1530FZ045 DUBAI  1555WY204 BOMBAY  1710WY292 CALICUT  1720WY3304 MUKHAIZNA  1730WY610 DUBAI  1730WY246 DELHI  1730WY264 LUCKNOW  1735WY284 BANGALORE  1740WY232 HYDERABAD  1740WY664 DOHA  1745QR1126 DOHA  1745EK864 DUBAI  1750WY3922 DUQUM OMAN  1755GF564 BAHRAIN  1810WY822 KUALA LUMPUR  1910WY694 DAMMAM  1910WY684 RIYADH  1910G9116 SHARJAH  1915WY254 MADRAS  1920WY646 KUWAIT  1925WY434 TEHRAN  1940FZ047 DUBAI  1945WY338 KATHMANDU  2010WY614 DUBAI  2030WY848 JAKARTA  2055WY124 MUNICH  2105AI977 BANGALORE-HYDERABAD  21054H561 DACCA  2115KL441 AMSTERDAM-DOHA  2120WY624 DUBAI  2125AI973 DELHI  21256.00E+81 BOMBAY  2130WY312 CHITTAGONG  2140WY914 SALALAH  21409W534 COCHIN  2140FZ049 DUBAI  2145AI907 MADRAS  2200WY414 AMMAN  2205QR1134 DOHA  2210WY928 SALALAH  2220GF566 BAHRAIN  2240BA073 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI  2250EY388 ABU DHABI  2250WY326 KARACHI  2255SG061 AHMEDABAD  2300WY908 SALALAH  2305AI985 AHMEDABAD-BOMBAY  2310WY662 DOHA  2315LX242 ZURICH-DUBAI  23209W540 BOMBAY  2325LH618 FRANKFURT-ABU DHABI  2330WY612 DUBAI  2335WY654 BAHRAIN  2340WY696 DAMMAM  2350

TUESDAYFLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA

WY636 ABU DHABI  0005WY406 CAIRO  0005WY682 RIYADH  0005WY676 JEDDAH  0005WY648 KUWAIT  0010WY816 BANGKOK  0015WY910 SALALAH  0030WY916 SALALAH  0125NL768 LAHORE  0130PK281 ISLAM ABBAD-SIALKOT  0200PK225 KARACHI  0215TK774 ISTANBUL  0215QR1132 DOHA  0345ET624 ADDIS ABABA  0350EK866 DUBAI  0355EY384 ABU DHABI  0405GF560 BAHRAIN  0405FZ041 DUBAI  0415WY658 BAHRAIN  06404H562 JEDDAH  0645WY638 ABU DHABI  0650WY902 SALALAH  0655WY678 MEDINA  0700WY686 RIYADH  0700WY412 AMMAN  0705WY114 FRANKFURT  0715WY144 MALPENSA  0720WY154 ZURICH  0720WY692 DAMMAM  0725WY674 JEDDAH  0730WY668 DOHA  0735WY132 PARIS  0800WY602 DUBAI  0805WY202 BOMBAY  0815WY432 TEHRAN  0815WY102 LONDON HEATHROW  0820FZ043 DUBAI  0850WY272 JAIPUR  0855G9114 SHARJAH  0915WY236 HYDERABAD  0920WY242 DELHI  0920WY346 ISLAM ABBAD  0930WY252 MADRAS  0940EK862 DUBAI  0940QR1128 DOHA  1010EY382 ABU DHABI  1015WY3302 MUKHAIZNA  1045QR8550 DOHA  1050WY604 DUBAI  1110WY918 KHASAB  1115G9841 RAS AL KHAIMA  1120GF562 BAHRAIN  1130WY424 BEIRUT  1130WY372 COLOMBO  1140FZ037 DUBAI  1200IX337 CALICUT  1210WY904 SALALAH  1215WY818 BANGKOK  1305PK191 GWADUR  1320WY606 DUBAI  1330BG023 CHITTAGONG  1345WY324 KARACHI  1355IX817 MANGALORE-ABU DHABI  1440WY920 KHASAB  1445WY906 SALALAH  1445WY3304 MUKHAIZNA  1445KU677 KUWAIT  1525WY632 ABU DHABI  1530FZ045 DUBAI  1555G9119 SHARJAH  1555WY328 LAHORE  1600WY204 BOMBAY  1710WY292 CALICUT  1720WY246 DELHI  1730WY610 DUBAI  1730WY264 LUCKNOW  1735WY232 HYDERABAD  1740WY216 TRIVANDRUM  1740QR1126 DOHA  1745WY664 DOHA  1745EK864 DUBAI  1750GF564 BAHRAIN  1810WY3306 MUKHAIZNA  1845SV534 RIYADH  1900WY822 KUALA LUMPUR  1910G9116 SHARJAH  1915WY646 KUWAIT  1925TG507 BANGKOK-KARACHI  1935FZ047 DUBAI  1945WY338 KATHMANDU  2010WY614 DUBAI  2030WY224 COCHIN  2045WY124 MUNICH  2105WY386 MALE  21104H561 DACCA  2115AI973 DELHI  2125WY624 DUBAI  21256.00E+81 BOMBAY  2130WY374 COLOMBO  2140WY312 CHITTAGONG  2140WY914 SALALAH  2140FZ049 DUBAI  2145WY254 MADRAS  2155AI907 MADRAS  2200QR1134 DOHA  2210WY928 SALALAH  2220UL205 COLOMBO  2225GF566 BAHRAIN  2240BA073 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI  2240EY388 ABU DHABI  2250WY672 MEDINA  2250WY908 SALALAH  2305AI985 AHMEDABAD-BOMBAY  2310WY662 DOHA  2315LX242 ZURICH-DUBAI  23209W540 BOMBAY  2325LH618 FRANKFURT-ABU DHABI  2330WY612 DUBAI  2335WY654 BAHRAIN  2340WY696 DAMMAM  2350WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM  2355

FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD AI986 BOMBAY  0005LX243 DUBAI-ZURICH  00209W539 BOMBAY  0025BA072 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW  0025WY715 ZANZIBAR  0040LH619 ABU DHABI-FRANKFURT  0050WY211 TRIVANDRUM  0110WY251 MADRAS  0110WY201 BOMBAY  0120WY225 COCHIN  0125WY235 HYDERABAD  0135WY601 DUBAI  0150WY281 BANGALORE  0150WY345 ISLAM ABBAD  0150WY341 LAHORE  0150WY241 DELHI  0155WY271 JAIPUR  0200WY643 KUWAIT  0200WY637 ABU DHABI  0205WY657 BAHRAIN  0205WY821 KUALA LUMPUR  0205WY123 MUNICH  0210WY371 COLOMBO  0210WY667 DOHA  0225WY383 MALE  0235WY901 SALALAH  0240WY847 JAKARTA  02454H584 DACCA  0245BG022 CHITTAGONG-DACCA  0250PK230 LAHORE  0315TK777 BAHRAIN-ISTANBUL  0350EK867 DUBAI  0455FZ042 DUBAI  0510QR1133 DOHA  0520EY385 ABU DHABI  0525GF561 BAHRAIN  0745WY603 DUBAI  0800WY3301 MUKHAIZNA  0800WY903 SALALAH  0800WY323 KARACHI  0800WY917 KHASAB  0815WY263 LUCKNOW  0920WY291 CALICUT  0920FZ044 DUBAI  0935WY283 BANGALORE  0940WY245 DELHI  0955WY231 HYDERABAD  0955G9115 SHARJAH  1005WY815 BANGKOK  1010WY203 BOMBAY  1030WY905 SALALAH  1030WY605 DUBAI  1030WY337 KATHMANDU  1040WY253 MADRAS  1040EK863 DUBAI  1055WY311 CHITTAGONG  1100EY383 ABU DHABI  1105QR1129 DOHA  11159W533 COCHIN  1135WY919 KHASAB  1145GF563 BAHRAIN  1215WY631 ABU DHABI  1220IX350 CALICUT  1310FZ038 DUBAI  1315PA451 LAHORE  1315WY683 RIYADH  1320WY3303 MUKHAIZNA  1330WY433 TEHRAN  1330WY663 DOHA  1330WY113 FRANKFURT  1400WY101 LONDON HEATHROW  1400WY645 KUWAIT  1405WY413 AMMAN  1405WY153 ZURICH  1405WY143 MALPENSA  1415WY131 PARIS  1420WY609 DUBAI  1420WY405 CAIRO  1430WY693 DAMMAM  1430WY3921 DUQUM OMAN  1455WY675 JEDDAH  1630WY613 DUBAI  1700FZ046 DUBAI  1700WY913 SALALAH  1735WY623 DUBAI  1820WY325 KARACHI  1830QR1127 DOHA  1845WY681 RIYADH  1845WY907 SALALAH  1850GF565 BAHRAIN  1855WY647 KUWAIT  1900WY661 DOHA  1900EK865 DUBAI  1905WY695 DAMMAM  1910WY653 BAHRAIN  1920WY653 BAHRAIN  1920G9117 SHARJAH  2005WY909 SALALAH  2015WY611 DUBAI  2025FZ048 DUBAI  2040WY635 ABU DHABI  2040WY915 SALALAH  2110AI978 HYDERABAD-BANGALORE  22004H561 JEDDAH  2215FZ050 DUBAI  2225KL442 DOHA-AMSTERDAM  2230WY817 BANGKOK  22359W529 TRIVANDRUM  2240WY411 AMMAN  22406.00E+82 BOMBAY  2245AI908 MADRAS  2300AI974 DELHI  2310WY677 MEDINA  2310QR1135 DOHA  2320GF567 BAHRAIN  2325WY673 JEDDAH  2350EY381 ABU DHABI  2350

FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD AI986 BOMBAY  0005LX243 DUBAI-ZURICH  00209W539 BOMBAY  0025BA072 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW  0025SG062 AHMEDABAD  0030LH619 ABU DHABI-FRANKFURT  0050WY685 RIYADH  0105WY251 MADRAS  0110WY423 BEIRUT  0115WY201 BOMBAY  0120WY235 HYDERABAD  0135WY601 DUBAI  0150WY345 ISLAM ABBAD  0150WY241 DELHI  0155WY431 TEHRAN  0155WY271 JAIPUR  0200WY657 BAHRAIN  0205WY821 KUALA LUMPUR  0205WY637 ABU DHABI  0205WY123 MUNICH  0210WY371 COLOMBO  0210WY667 DOHA  0225NL769 LAHORE  0230WY691 DAMMAM  0235WY901 SALALAH  0240PK282 SIALKOT  0300TK775 ISTANBUL  0315PK226 KARACHI  0315ET625 ADDIS ABABA  0450EK867 DUBAI  0455FZ042 DUBAI  0510QR1133 DOHA  0520EY385 ABU DHABI  0525WY3301 MUKHAIZNA  07154H562 DACCA  0745GF561 BAHRAIN  0745WY903 SALALAH  0800WY603 DUBAI  0800WY917 KHASAB  0815WY323 KARACHI  0920WY263 LUCKNOW  0920WY215 TRIVANDRUM  0920WY291 CALICUT  0920WY327 LAHORE  0930FZ044 DUBAI  0935WY385 MALE  0940WY245 DELHI  0955WY231 HYDERABAD  0955G9115 SHARJAH  1005WY815 BANGKOK  1010WY203 BOMBAY  1030WY905 SALALAH  1030WY605 DUBAI  1030WY373 COLOMBO  1040WY337 KATHMANDU  1040WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM  1045EK863 DUBAI  1055WY311 CHITTAGONG  1100EY383 ABU DHABI  1105WY3303 MUKHAIZNA  1115QR1129 DOHA  1115WY919 KHASAB  1145G9842 RAS AL KHAIMA  1210GF563 BAHRAIN  1215QR8551 DUBAI WORLD CENTRE-DOHA  1220WY927 SALALAH  1220WY631 ABU DHABI  1220WY223 COCHIN  1235IX350 CALICUT  1310WY253 MADRAS  1315FZ038 DUBAI  1315WY663 DOHA  1330WY101 LONDON HEATHROW  1400WY113 FRANKFURT  1400WY645 KUWAIT  1405PK192 GWADUR-TURBAT  1405WY143 MALPENSA  1415WY131 PARIS  1420WY609 DUBAI  1420WY405 CAIRO  1430BG024 CHITTAGONG  1500WY3305 MUKHAIZNA  1515IX818 MANGALORE  1530WY671 MEDINA  1535KU678 ABU DHABI-KUWAIT  1625WY675 JEDDAH  1630G9110 SHARJAH  1645WY613 DUBAI  1700FZ046 DUBAI  1700WY913 SALALAH  1735WY623 DUBAI  1820QR1127 DOHA  1845WY681 RIYADH  1845WY907 SALALAH  1850GF565 BAHRAIN  1855WY661 DOHA  1900WY647 KUWAIT  1900EK865 DUBAI  1905WY695 DAMMAM  1910WY653 BAHRAIN  1920SV535 RIYADH  2000G9117 SHARJAH  2005WY909 SALALAH  2015WY611 DUBAI  2025WY635 ABU DHABI  2040TG508 KARACHI-BANGKOK  2040FZ048 DUBAI  2040WY915 SALALAH  21104H561 JEDDAH  2215FZ050 DUBAI  2225WY817 BANGKOK  22356.00E+82 BOMBAY  2245AI908 MADRAS  2300AI974 DELHI  2310QR1135 DOHA  2320GF567 BAHRAIN  2325UL206 COLOMBO  2335WY673 JEDDAH  2350EY381 ABU DHABI  2350

A I R L I N E S

PHARMACIESRound the clockAl Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24783334; Appolo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24782666; Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24702542, Salalah: 23291635; Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra: 24503585; Ruwi 24811715Muscat Region Apollo, Al Hamriya. Tel: 24787766Muscat, A Seeb Market. Tel: 24421691Muscat, Al Khuwair. Tel: 24485740Muscat, Al Hail South. Tel: 24537080Dhofar RegionMuscat, Al Nahdha Road, Salalah. Tel: 23291635

HOSPITALSAl Amal Medical & Health Care Centre: 24485052Atlas Hospital: Ruwi: 24811743/ Ghubra: 24504000Al Musafir Specialised Medical Clinic: 24706453Hatat Polyclinic LLC,Ruwi: 24563641, Azaiba: 24499269, Sohar: 2683006Al Raffah Hospital: 24618900/1/2Al Massaraat Clinic & Laboratory: 24566435Al Makook Medical Coordinance Centre: 24499434Apollo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24787766, 24787780Capital Polyclinic: 24707549Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic, Ruwi: 24799760/1/2Capital Clinic, Seeb: 24420740Ceregem National Raak: 24485633Dr Harub’s Clinic: 24563217Elixir Health Centre: 24565802Emirates Medical Centre: 246045401st Chiropractic Centre: 24472274Hamdan Hospital: 23212340International Medical Centre LLC: 24794501/2/3/4/5Kims Oman Hospital: 24760100

24 Hrs Emergency: 24760123Lama Polyclinic, Sohar: 26751128, MBD: 24799077, Al Khuwair: 24478818Magrabi Eye and Ear Hospital: 24568870Muscat Private Hospital: 24583600Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, Al Khuwair: 24477666Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC: 22004000

ROYAL OMAN POLICEEmergencies and inquiries: 9999General Directorate of Passport and Residence: 24569603Directorate General of Customs: 24521109Traffic violations inquiries: 24510228Public Relations Admin: 24560099

ACCOMMODATIONAl Bahjah Hotel: 24424400Al Bustan Palace: 24764000 Al Khuwair Hotel Apartments: 24478171Al Madina Holiday Inn: 24596400Al Maha International Hotel: 24494949Al Fanar Hotel: 24712385Al Falaj Hotel: 24702311Al Qurum Resort: 24605945Azaiba Hotel Apartments: 24490979Beach Hotel: 24696601Bowshar Hotel: 24491105Coral Hotel Muscat: 24692121Crowne Plaza Muscat: 24660660Crystal Suites: 24826100Golden Tulip Seeb: 24510300Grand Hyatt Muscat: 24641234Haffa House Hotel: 24707207Hotel Muscat Holiday: 24487123InterContinental Muscat: 24680000Majan Continental Hotel: 24592900Marina Hotel: 24711711Midan Hotel Suites: 24499565Mina Hotel: 24711828Muttrah Hotel: 24798401

Nuzha Hotel Apartments: 24789199Oman Dive Centre: 24824240Park Inn: 24507888Qurum Beach House Hotel: 24564070Radisson Blu Hotel: 24487777Ramee Dream Resort Seeb: 24453399Ramee Guestline Hotel: 24564443Ruwi Hotel: 24704244Safeer Hotel Suites: 24691200Sheraton Oman Hotel: 24772772Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa: 24776666The Chedi Muscat: 24524400The Treasurebox Muscat Hotel: 24502570

AIRLINE OFFICESMuscat Airport Flight information (24 hours): 24519456/24519223Aeroflot: 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, Turkish Airlines: 24703033

MUSEUMSBait Al Baranda: Corniche (seafront opp fish market), Open from Saturday to Thursday 9am to 1pm and 4 to 6pmNatural History Museum: Al Khuwair, Tel: 24604957, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm; Thursday: 9am to 1pmMuseum of Omani Heritage: (former Omani Museum), Madinat Al Alam, Sat-Wed 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday - 9am to 1pm, Tel: 24600946Armed Forces Museum: Bait Al Falaj, Tel: 24312651, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm; Thurs 9-12pm and 3-6pm; Fri 9-11am and 3-6pm. Al Hoota Caves 24498258; Turtle Beach 96550606/96550707Children’s Science Museum: Shatti Al Qurum, Tel: 24605368, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pmOman-French Museum: near Muscat Police Station, Tel: 24736613, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm, Thurs: 9am to 1pmBait Al Zubair, Muscat: Tel: 24736688, Al Saidiya St., Muscatmuseum@baitalzubairmuseum.comOpen from Sat to Thurs: 9:30am to 6pm.National Museum Ruwi: Tel: 24701289, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pmSohar Fort Museum: Tel: 26844758, Open from Saturday to Wed: 8 to 1:30pm Thurs: 9am to 1pmMuscat Gate Museum: at Al Bahri Road, Muscat open from Sat to Wed 8am to 2pm

PRAYER TIMINGS

W E A T H E R

Dhuhr 12.17pm

Asr 3.44pm

Maghrib 6.26pm

Isha 7.37pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 4.46am

Sunset 6:21pm

Sunrise (Tomorrow) 6.02am

High tide 6:37pm 6:16am

Low tide 12:53am 12:35am

OMAN

Max 31Min 22

Max 32Min 23

Max 32Min 24

Max 36Min 19

Max 38Min 24Max 38

Min 21

Max 36Min 21

Max 33 Min 24

Mainly clear skies over most of the Sultanate with chance of convective clouds developments and isolated rain over Al Hajar mountains and adjoining areas during afternoon.

Chances of early morning low level clouds or fog patches over governorates of south Al Sharqiyah and Al Wusta.EXPECTED WINDS: Over most governorates of the Sultanate winds will be northerly to northeasterly light to moderate becoming variable light at night along Oman Sea coast and southerly to southeasterly light to moderate along Arabian

Sea coast.SEA STATE: Slight over most of Oman coasts with maximum wave height of 1.25 metres.HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY: Good over most of the Sultanate becoming poor during fog.THE NEXT 48 HOURS OUTLOOK: Mainly clear skies over most of the Sultanate. Chances of early morning low level clouds or fog patches over governorates of south Al Sharqiyah and Al Wusta. Relatively increase in temperature over the Sultanate.

Max Min

GULFAbu Dhabi 28 21Doha 31 23Dubai 27 19Kuwait 33 21Manama 31 23Riyadh 35 21

WORLDAthens 18 12Baghdad 28 12Beijing 22 13Berlin 8 2Boston 7 -1Cairo 25 10Colombo 12 10Frankfurt 11 5Hong Kong 22 20Istanbul 15 9Johannesburg 22 14Kuala Lumpur 33 25Lisbon 19 10Paris 13 11Perth 27 16Singapore 30 25Tokyo 21 11Toronto 6 -2

WORLD

Max 10Min 2

Max 29Min 18

Max 4Min -5

Max 35Min 20

Max 26Min 15

Max 24Min 20

Max 2Min 0

Max 33Min 24

LONG DISTANCE BUS TIMINGS (OMAN NATIONAL TRANSPORT COMPANY SAOC) *SUBJECT TO CHANGE

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (Route 36)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (Route 36)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41)06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri13:00 Sohar 15:45 Daily13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily 16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily 16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41)07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily07:00 Ruwi 11:40 Daily13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri13:00 Sohar 14:55 Daily13:00 Ruwi 17:40 Daily 13:00 Sohar 19:20 Daily 17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily

TO SINAW (Route 52)17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily

TO SINAW (Route 52)07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54)14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54)06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54)08:00 Nizwa 10:20 Daily08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54)15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily

TO SUR (Route 55)07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily

TO SUR (Route 55)06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (Route 62)06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (Route 62)12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201)06:00 Sohar 08:30 Daily06:00 Dubai 11:30 Daily13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur15:00 Sohar 17:35 Daily15:00 Dubai 20:55 Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201)07:30 Sohar 10:50 Daily07:30 Ruwi 13:40 Daily13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri15:30 Sohar 18:45 Daily15:30 Ruwi 21:35 Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (Route 100)07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily10:00 Salalah 23:30 Daily19:00 Salalah 07:40 Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (Route 100)07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily10:00 Ruwi 22:30 Daily19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101)06:00 Marmul 16:50 Daily

SALALAH TO DUBAI (Route 102)15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101)06:00 Marmul 16:30 Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (Route 102)15:00 Salalah 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily 07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily 07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily 16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI) TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

LISTINGS

—www.met.gov.om

BORN today, you are a highly creative individual, and that creativity is almost certain to make itself known at a very early age, prompting those around you to make big plans for you, eager to propel you to success. It is important, however, for you to recognise when others are urging you to do things for their own gratification rather than for your growth and enrichment. Only by doing that which feeds your own soul are you likely to enjoy the success and contentment that are in your stars, and that you truly deserve. You may, in fact, change course many times as you make your way professionally, until you settle on that one line of endeavour that really makes you happy.

Ultimately, of course, you crave personal interaction, and it may be something that you have to do without for quite a time as you stake your claim to professional success. Eventually, however, you will recognise that love and friendship are everything to you, and you will at last seek them out.

Also born on this date are: Celine Dion, singer; Vincent Van Gogh, painter; Eric Clapton, guitarist and singer; M.C. Hammer, rapper; Robbie Coltrane, actor; Piers Morgan, journalist; Norah Jones, singer; Francisco Goya, painter; Tracy Chapman, singer-songwriter; Warren Beatty, actor and filmmaker; John Astin, actor; Peter Marshall, game show host; Paul Reiser, actor and comedian.

You won’t have the luxury of simply walking away from things when they get difficult. The easy way out is not an option!

VIRGO [AUG. 23-SEPT. 22]

LIBRA [SEPT. 23-OCT. 22] LLLLLLLLLLLLLLL[S[S[S[S[[[S[[S[S[S[[S[S[SSS[SS[SSSS

SCORPIO [OCT. 23-NOV. 21] S[

SAGITTARIUS [NOV. 22-DEC. 21] S[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

AQUARIUS [JAN. 20-FEB. 18]

You may be required to supply more information to those in authority, in spite of your sense that nothing will come of it.

An impromptu decision has others scrambling to keep up with you. It’s not your intention to surge ahead, but to explore the terrain.

You’ll be startled to discover that a rival actually has a great deal in common with you, despite your differences.

The errors you make today are, in effect, component parts of just one larger mistake, and it’s one that you can correct in the blink of an eye.

You’ll be put on the spot on at least two occasions — and very likely three. Each time, you’ll learn something new about yourself.

It’s more important for you to forgive and forget than to carry any kind of grudge. Such negative feelings can only stand in your way.

Despite the collaborative effort that you are involved in, the fact is that only one contributor can enjoy full recognition.

PISCES [Feb. 19-March 20]

You’ve been letting bygones be bygones for so long that you may not recognise when an offence must be addressed directly.

GEMINI [MAY 21-JUNE 20]

CANCER [JUNE 21-JULY 22]

LEO [JULY 23-AUG. 22]

CAPRICORN [DEC. 22-JAN 19]

Y O U R B I R T H D A Y

ARIES [March 21-APRIL 19]

TAURUS [APRIL 20-MAY 20]

You may have the chance to show off just a bit more than usual, but you must be prepared. Not everyone will appreciate the effort.

The clock is ticking away despite your efforts to slow things down. You’re going to have to follow certain immutable laws.

You can move about with remarkable freedom, maximising your pleasure by doing only what you want to do at any given time.

JOE Henderson, commenting on the Boston Marathon, said, “The Chip (placed in the laces of a runner’s shoe) also reduces the damage done by bandits. They still steal drinks and cheers along the course, but no longer scramble the paying runners’ results. No entry fee, no Chip, no time or place.”

In bridge, when you have winners that could be cashed, no entry, no tricks.

This deal highlights a defensive play that would be missed by many. What should happen in three no-trump after West leads the spade queen?

West opened with a weak two-bid, showing a good six-card suit and 6-10 high-card points. South, correctly assuming that his partner held six or seven points, jumped to three no-trump. (Yes, he might have made a takeout double, but he was worried that his partner would have gotten overenthusiastic about diamonds. Note that five diamonds could have been defeated if East gained a club ruff.)

Declarer started with eight top tricks: two spades, two hearts and four clubs. He needed to establish a diamond winner.

South correctly ducked the first trick and won the second spade. However, then, since West was highly likely to have one of the top diamonds, declarer overtook his club jack with dummy’s queen and called for a low diamond.

East remembered that when partner’s suit is one lead from being established, do your utmost to win the next defensive trick. East correctly put up his diamond king. Then he led his last spade. South tried a second diamond, but West won and cashed his spades for down two.

— By Phillip Alder

C11

ENTERTAINMENT

Fight to retain partner’s entry

B I G N A T E

B O R N L O S E R

M A R M A D U K E

A C E S O N B R I D G E

C I N E M A S C H E D U L E

K I D S P O T H E A L T H C A P S U L EC R O S S W O R D

Ans

wer

to p

revi

ous

puzz

le

WITH LOVE4 8 9 3 7 5 3 6 2 9

1 9 7 6 4 8 3 5 1 5 7 3 4 8

3 2 7 8 7 5 9 4 7 6 2

5 3 7 1 9 6 8 2 4 2 8 9 7 4 3 6 5 1 4 1 6 2 5 8 7 3 9

3 5 1 6 7 4 9 8 2 9 4 2 3 8 1 5 7 6 7 6 8 5 2 9 1 4 3

1 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 5 8 2 3 9 6 5 4 1 7 6 7 5 4 1 2 3 9 8

Previous puzzle Solution

HOW TO PLAY Fill the empty cells with the numbers 1 to 9, so that each number appears once in each row, column and area. — Seven Galaxies

S U D O K U

M O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 16 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to extra@timesofoman.com

27 Desert plant29 Adult filly30 Bullfight bravos31 Wapitis34 Said “Cheers!”39 They have

pseudopods40 Pocket41 Read intently43 Tobacco wad

44 Language of Pakistan

45 Curved moulding47 TLC provider50 Ms. Hagen of films51 Museum contents52 Undercover org.53 Round Table

knight

ACROSS

1 “For — of a nail...” 5 Interest amt. 8 Hold up12 Garfield dog13 King, in France14 Toward shelter15 Neat (hyph.)17 Like half of us18 Drain cleaner19 Does the trick21 Um-hmm (2 wds.)24 Dressed to the —26 Holly feature28 Groove on29 Cohort of Curly32 Savings for one’s

later years, for short

33 Ancient port near Carthage

35 Winner’s take36 Harden37 Sweet murmur38 Mr. Spock’s father40 Rascal42 Jam or pickle43 Target amounts46 Mineral deposit

48 Yen49 Retrace one’s

steps (2 wds.)54 Brainstorm55 Hot time in Paris56 Diva’s rendition57 Oater showdown58 Family member59 Command to

Rover

DOWN 1 Happy shout 2 Summer cooler 3 Zilch 4 Check casher 5 Admire oneself 6 Dirty Harry, for

one 7 Ill-fated vessel 8 Mantra chanters 9 Jai —10 Broker’s advice11 Jeans go-withs16 Frankfort’s st.20 Slot machine city21 Long-billed wader22 Dried-up23 QED word25 Common phrase

BAHJA CINEMA

STARS CINEMA

Film Information - 24540856 / Advance Booking - 24540855Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com

For More Information 24789032, 24786776 Website: www.isurf.co.om

Film information 24791641 / 24786776

The Lovers (Action) (12+) Cast: Josh Hartnett, Tamsin Egerton 4.00, 8.00, 10.00 & 11.55 pmCP No: 813 A Little Chaos (2D) (Comedy) (PG12) Cast: Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman 2:00 PM; CP No: 816 (12+) Has West El Balad (Arabic/ Drama) Cast: Elham Shahein, Zeina, Fathy Abdul Wahab2.00 & 6.00 pmCP No: 817 (15+)Ex- Machina (Thriller/ Sci:Fic) Cast: Oscar Isac, Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson6.00, 10.00 & 11.55 pmCP No: 815 (15+)Get Hard (Comedy) Cast: Will Farell, Kevin Hart, Alison Brie4.00 & 8.00 p.m.CP No: 814 (15+)

100 Days Of Love (Mal) (Comedy) Cast: Dulquer Salmaan, Nithya Menon3:30, 6:30 & 9.30pm at Cinema Main Valiyavan (Tamil) (Action) Cast: Jai & Andrea Jeremiah 3:30, 6.30 & 9:30pm at Cinema -2Fireman (Mal) Cast: Mammootty, Unni Mukandan 3:45, 6.45, 9.45pm at Cinema 3 Temper (Telugu) (Act) Cast: Jr Ntr, Kajal Agarwal 3:45pm Cinema-4NH 10 (Hindi) (Act) Cast: Anushka Sharma, Deepti Naval6:45 & 9:45 pm Cinema -4Next Change: Komban (Tamil) Nannbenda (Tamil) and Detective Byomkesh Baksy (Hindi)

Get Hard (2D) (Comedy) (15+) Cast: Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Alison1:45, 5:45, 9:45 pmHome (2D) (Animation) (PG) 3:45 pmHome (3D) (Animation) (PG) 2:00, 5:30 pmEx-Machina (2D) (Drama/Sci fi) (15+) Cast: Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson3:50, 7:45, 9:45 pmTheeb (2D) (Adventure/Drama) (15+) Cast: Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat, Jack Fox6:00, 7:50 pmClown (2D) (Drama I Horror) (18+) Cast: Eli Roth, Peter Stormare, Laura4:00, 11:45 pmA Little Chaos (2D) (Comedy) (PG12) Cast: Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman, 7:15 pmThe Lovers (2D) (Action) (12+) Cast: Josh Hartnett, Tamsin Egerton 9:30 pmInsurgent (3D) (Adventure I Sci Fi) (PG12) Cast: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, 11:45 pmInsurgent (2D) (Adventure) (PG12) 1:45 pmThe Gunman (2D) (Action) (15+) 11:30 pm

10:30 AMHome (3D) (Animation) (PG)2:15 & 4:00 pmGold Class: 1:15 pmEx Machina (Sci-fi/Drama) (15+)Cast: Alicia Vikander, Domhnall12:15, 5:50 & 9:45 pmGold Class: 7:15 & 11:15 pmCrazy Beautiful You (2D) (Action) (PG12)Cast: Daniel Padilla, Kathryn Bernardo 5:30 pmGet Hard (2D) (Comedy) (15+)Cast: Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Alison7:45 & 9:45 pmGold Class: 3:15 & 9:15 pmA Little Chaos (2D) (Comedy) (PG12)Cast: Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman 11:15 AMClown (2D) (Horror) (18+)Cast: Eli Roth, Peter Stormare, Laura1:30 & 11:45 pmTheeb (2D) (Adventure) (12+)5:30 pmGold Class: 7:45 pm

Insurgent (3D) (Sci-Fi) (PG12)Cast: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort 11:45 pmCinderella (2D) (Adventure) (PG)Cast: Lily James, Hayley Atwell, Richard3:30 pmHome (2D) (Animation) (PG)

SCREEN 1NH 10 – Hindi (Suspense) (12+)Cast: Anushka Sharma , Neil Bhoopalam, Ravi Jhankal, Darshan Kumaar3.30, 6.30, 9.30 pm

SCREEN 2 Valiyavan – Tamil (Action) PG3.45, 9.45 pmCast: Andrea Jeremiah, Jai, Bala Saravanan100 Days of Love – Malyalam (Romance) – PG9.45 pm

Insurgent – 3D (PG12) (Adventure)7:15, 11:30 pmThe Gunman – 2D (15+) (Action) 11:45 pmEx Machina– 2D (15+)(Drama) Cast: Alicia Vikander, Domhnall3:45, 5:45, 9:45 pm Get Hard – 2D (15+) (Comedy)Cast: Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Alison4:30, 7:45, 9:30 pmHome – 2D (PG) (Animation) 2 pmHome – 3D (PG) (Animation) 3:45, 5:30 pmCharlie Countryman – 2D (15+) (Comedy) Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Evan Rachel Wood, 3:00 pmHaz West El Balad – 2D (Drama)Cast: Elham Shahein, Horeya Farghaly, 5:00 pmTheeb – 2D (12+) (Adventure) Cast: Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat, Jack Fox7:15 pmValiyavan – 2D (Tamil) (Romance)Cast: Jai, Andrea Jeremiah 9:15 pmThe Lovers – 2D (12+) (Action) Cast: Josh Hartnett, Tamsin Egerton, 2:30, 11:45 pmClown – 2D (18+) (Drama |Horror)Cast: Eli Roth, Peter Stormare, Laura

The Lovers – 2D (12+) (Action) Cast: Josh Hartnett, Tamsin Egerton 5:45, 9:30 pmTheeb – 2D (12+) (Adventure)Cast: Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat, Jack Fox7:15 pmEx Machina – 2D (15+) (Drama)Cast: Alicia Vikander, Domhnall3:30, 8:00, 11:45 pmGet Hard – 2D (15+) (Comedy)Cast: Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Alison6:15, 7:45, 10:00 pmHome – 3D (PG) (Animation) 4:00, 5:30 pm100 Days of Love – 2D (PG) (Romance)Cast: Nithya Menon, Sekhar Menon, Dulquer Salmaan9:00 pmThe Gunman – 2D (15+) (Action) Cast: Javier Bardem, Sean Penn11:45 pmInsurgent – 3D (PG12) Adventure, 4:00, 11:30 pm

Insurgent – 3D (PG12) Adventure,6:30pmThe Gunman (15+) (Action) Cast: Javier Bardem, Sean Penn6:05pmGet Hard (Comedy) (15+)

Ex Machine (2D)(15+) (Sci-Fi) Cast: Alicia Vikander, Domhnall4:00, 9:45pmThe Lovers (2D) (12+) (Action) Cast: Josh Hartnett, Tamsin Egerton 12:15, 9:30pmInsurgent (3D)(PG12) (Adventure) 1:45, 11:45pmThe Gunman (2D)(15+) (Action) 11:30pmA Little Chaos (2D)(PG12) (Comedy) 11:30AMCinderella (2D)(PG) (Drama/Family) 4:00pmGet Hard (2D)(15+) (Comedy) 12:00, 5:30, 7:30pmHome (2D)(PG)(Animation) 10:15AMHome (3D)(PG)(Animation) 2:00, 3:45, 6:00pmClown (2D) (18+) (Drama/Horror) 2:15, 11:15pm100 Days of Love (2D) (PG) (Mal) 8:20pm (Comedy) Valiyavan (2D) (Tamil)( Action) 5:50pmTheeb (2D) (12+)(Arabic) 7:45pm

8:40 pmEx Machina (Drama | Sci-Fi) (15+) 4:15, 9:55 pm100 Days of Love (Mal) (Romance) Cast: Nithya Menon, Sekhar Menon 10:30 pm (PG)Theeb (Arabic) (Adventure) (12+) Cast: Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat, Jack8:10pmThe Lovers (Action ) (12+) 11:45 pmHome (3D) (Animation) (PG) 4:45pm

Cast: Dulquer Salmaan, Nithya Menen SCREEN 3100 Days of Love – Malyalam (Romance) – PGCast: Dulquer Salmaan, Nithya Menen 3.45, 6.45 pmValiyavan – Tamil (Action) PG9.45 pmCast: Andrea Jeremiah, Jai, Bala

6:30, 11:30 pm100 Days of Love – 2D (Malayalam) (TBC ) (Comedy | Romance) Cast: Nithya Menon, Sekhar Menon, Dulquer Salmaan8:30 pm

MOHAMMED REHANMarch 30, 2010

AARYAN KISHOR BADGUJARMarch 30, 2008

ANUJITH P. M.March 30

RUDRA SALUNKHEMarch 29, 2010

C12

EXTRAM O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

Filming for latest ‘Pirates’ movie halted after Depp breaks wrist

FILMING for the latest Pirates of the Caribbean instalment has been halted after lead actor Johnny Depp broke his wrist go-karting. The 51-year-old actor, who plays Captain Jack Sparrow in the global fantasy film phenomenon, returned to the US on March 11 for surgery after he snapped his wrist dur-ing a weekend break.

It is believed that producers have been forced to scale back film operations with the absence of their leading man — with hundreds of crew members in Queensland, Australia, told they will not be needed for weeks while the actor convalesces.

“Everyone wants to get back to work as soon as possible,” a veteran crew member told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

He added: “The producers are hoping Johnny will get himself together, come back and get going again.”

Details surrounding Depp’s broken wrist, which has been pictured in a cast, remain un-clear. It is believed that Depp injured himself while riding a go-kart on a private track at five-time Australian MotoGp world champion Mick Doohan’s Coomera property, where the actor has reportedly been stay-ing during filming, on March 10.

Queensland police and emer-gency services confirmed to Mail Online Australia that they had no received any calls regarding an incident involv-ing Depp. However, the servic-es noted that Depp may have privately checked himself in for treatment.

Although Depp’s absence may push back production, it is hoped that the latest instal-ment in the multi-million dollar franchise will be released in the summer of 2017.

-Rose Troup Buchanan /The Independent

Aditya Roy Kapur, who took the plunge into acting with 2009 film London Dreams

that featured Ajay Devgn and Sal-man Khan in lead roles, hopes he doesn’t go back to the days when he used to be cast as second lead.

After his debut film, the 29-year-old went on to share screen space with Bollywood stars like Hrithik Roshan and Akshay Kumar. Then in 2013, Aashiqui 2 — about a fallen singer Rahul Jaikar, portrayed by Aditya — “changed things” for him.

“I feel so grateful that Aashiqui 2 came to my life and changed things for me... I doubt I’ll play second lead again,” Aditya told IANS.

“Right now I am going through a time where people are offering me good roles and films. If I con-

tinue to be lucky, work hard and do well, I guess I’ll continue doing this. But I’m not setting anything in head. If I’ve an interesting small role in a film with a direc-tor I’d love to work with, I might do it,” added the video jockey-turned-actor.

So far, he is content with his acting career, which he took up without “planning anything”.

“I was a VJ and it just happened with time,” he said.

He is filming Fitoor, helmed by Abhishek Kapoor, and he is not in a mood to go on a script sign-ing spree. “I feel like I want to work more and like more scripts. But I have to find something that I like too. After Daawat-e-Ishq, it’s been a while on sets. I’m happy to be on

sets. For that reason, I want to do more films. That’s the best part of the job... Not film promotions or anything else,” said Aditya.

He is now eyeing comedy mov-ies. “I would love to do a comedy. You get to enjoy a lot. The envi-ronment is also different on sets. People are not serious. My favour-ite comedy, which I’ve seen in the last few years, is Delhi Belly. That was amazing.

“The writing was so interest-ing. My brother (Kunaal) was there in the movie. He did such an amazing job. Khosla Ka Gho-sla and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! were also nice,” he said.

Aditya grew up watching action films like Rambo and the actor wants to try that genre too.

“I grew up watching Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Lee. I would love to do an action film,” he said.

But producing films is some-thing that the brother of Sid-dharth Roy Kapur, managing director of Studios, Disney UTV, wants to stay away from.

“I don’t think I’ve the brain to produce films. That’s a different ballgame. But the more films I do, the more I realise how tough it’s to direct. It’s man-manage-ment thing... you need to have knowledge about every aspect of filmmaking. “And most impor-tantly you need to have something to say. Right now I’m still learning how to do this job properly. But I do have a passion for it. Maybe, someday,” he said. -IANS

C12 M O N DAY, M A R C H 3 0, 2 0 1 5

Doubt I’ll play second lead again: Aditya Roy Kapur

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300 Sq mts available in Wadi Kabir

suitable for warehouse or workshop.

Contact 96001855

Studios starting from 160 in Qurum

near Mars supermarket. Contact

96755180, 96755181

Al Ghubra small house for rent

160/-. Contact 95032152

2 BHK flat in Al Falaj Hotel Area

(Ruwi). Contact: 99792181

Sharing Accomadation in

Ruwi & Al Khuwair.

Contact: 99792181

2 & 3 Bhk flat in Al Khuwair.

Contact: 99792181

1 BHK fully furnish in Madina

Qaboos. Contact: 99792181

Brand new warehouses - 3500sqm

(2800 sqm built-up area) at Rusayl

Industrial area adjacent to Ami-

antit Oman. Contact 99202278/

94652485/ 99273774

Brand new warehouses – 750 sqm

(500 sqm builtup area) at Wadi Ka-

bir Sanaya warehouses are provided

Warehouses with extract fans, ceil-

ing fans, light fittings & provision for

ACs apartments. Contact 99202278/

94652485/ 99273774

2BHK with 5 split AC units in

Ghubra near Al Maha Hotel &

Indian School. Contact 99202278/

94652485/ 99273774

Single room for rent at Al Khu-

wair area with attach bathroom for

Executive bachelor / single family.

Contact 93941622 / 93835869

Warehouse for rent in Al Misfah

Indl. area near Oman cement

1200 sq mtr to 3000 sq mtr.

Contact 99441688

2Bed room flat at Madinat Sultan

Qaboos, office space - 2/3 bedroom

type at Qurum. Contact 24566217/

24564686

Good quality apartment with 3 bed-

rooms in Al Khoudh, located between

University road and Al Khoudh

Commercial Street. #99319829

DAILY GUIDEM O N D AY, M A R C H 3 0 , 2 0 1 5 D3

FOR SALEFOR SALE

ACC. AVAILABLE

ACC. AVAILABLE

ACC. WANTED

Wanted a separate room near

Lulu Darsait. Contact 92481082

Furnished accommodation wanted for April, May for Keralite

family. Contact 99378397

Used household & office furni-

ture and electronic items. Contact

99834373, 97102699

BUYING/SELLING

AVAILABLE

LOST

Dental clinic for sale in Seeb area.

Contact 96903341

Used window A/C. Contact

97752395.

Used furniture of readymade gar-

ments shop. Contact 96441670

Excellent condition Volks Wagen

Caddy 2013, 145000 km, unlimited

mileage warranty for 3 years for

sale. Contact 99822843

Land in Mawaleh for sale.

Contact 91155779

Industrial lands in (Mabella &

Misfa) for (sale & rent).

Contact 91155779

Farms in Barka main road for sale.

Contact 91155779

Commercial lands for sale in Al

Ghubra /Mabella. Contact 91155779

New dental chair & instruments for

sale. Contact 92816015

Treadmill motorized in

good running condition for sale.

Contact 99358025

1BHK C.B.D. Contact 99024730

For sale work shop carpenter

with 4 clearances in Wadi Kabir.

Contact 99345137

Urgent sale man tipper, Tata Novus

prime mover with trailer, Tata

Daewoo tipper, Tata water tanker,

Tata Hyup, Roller, Bitili, roller double

drum bitili, PTR Roller Bitili, Titan

paver, Volvo, back hoeloader, SDLG

wheel loader. Contact 92964673

Building material shop for sale in

Al Hail. Contact 98003111

Construction building material /

equipment for sale on urgent basis.

Contact 95526871

Building material shop with mate-

rial for sale in Al Musannah.

Contact 98053324

3 floor building in Muttrah behind

Police. Generating income of OMR

18 Thousand annually. Neat and well

maintained. Built on 197 sq mtrs

land. 2 tailor shops on ground floor

and 6 flats. OMR 207 Thousand.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

1 bedroom attached toilet in

Al Khuwair bachelors/ family

R.O 140/-. Contact 95154331

WANTED

Looking for a contractor to build my

house. If you wish to apply for the

position, please feel free to contact

the following number: 94488999

Freelance HSE Advisor. Contact

93637030

Party & Wedding equipment rent-

als. Full line, from Tables, Linen

& Skirting, Chairs & Chair covers,

Cutlery, Crockery, Glassware, Chaf-

ing Dishes, Ice Sculptures, to Large

Sound Systems and spectacular

lighting. Call Andrea 9606 2222 for

Catering and Croyden 9623 5555

for Sound & Light. www.tunesoman.

com, E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

M.V. FOR SALE

Toyota Camry white 2011 km -51000

R.O 4800/-.Contact 99561562

Toyota Fortuner Safari 2011July,

92000KM, Professor driven,

OMR9000. Contact 98813910

Fully furnished room with equipped

kitchen with sharing bathroom sea

facing balcony is available from 1st

April in Azaiba near Muscat Bakery.

Contact 95450250

Furnished single /sharing room

for Executive bachelor at Rex Road.

Contact 91752474

2 spacious rooms with balcony,

separate toilet, kitchen sharing near

Rex Road Ruwi. Contact: 92183404

Single room with attached toilet in

AL Khuwair. Contact 94617422

Room available with kitchen near

Al Shifa clinic at Rex Road for

bachelor. Contact 99768952

Independent rooms in Qurum /

Al Hail. Contact 95529970

Gubrah furnished room, attached

bath dish TV, WIFI, kitchen available

for Executive single person, couple.

Contact 99658689

Bachelor Sharing Accommodation

available in villa, rex road, ruwi.

Contact 94442157

Sharing accommodation at Wadi

Kabir attached room & sharing kitch-

en. Contact 95882866 / 96575016

Furnished room for Executive bach-

elor at Ruwi. Contact 92435784

Furnished room with attached bath-

room for non-cooking bachelor in

Ruwi RO 150/-. Contact 92478852

Room with separate bath available

for non cooking Executive at

Al Khuwair. Contact 99224185

2 residential Lands together, one

610 and the other 600 sq mtrs, in

Al Haram on way to Barka. OMR 49

Thousand both. Tel: 99333479 or

95215360

558 Sq mtrs residential land in

Barka behind Lulu and near to

school. OMR 32 Thousand.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

Brand new UK made wheel balancer

for sale with accessories,

contact 94052713, 99885638

2 Prime Movers Man 2008 with 40

ton petrol tank each working at the

moment in Al Maha. Price OMR 35

Thousand each. Tel: 97000155 or

92688692

Ready mix concrete for sale.

Contact 99054673

Land for sale residential commer-

cial and residential and tourist and

industrial, and hotels for sale in

Muscat (Al Khuwair and the Qurum,

and crushed stone, and Bowshar,

and spite and Gala heights, and the

heights of the airport) to deal with

the buyer. Contact 99070093

Restaurant for sale well running

with open area and good parking

area. 3 new clearance also in Wadi

Kabeer near Mars hyper market.

Contact 99656863

23,886 Sq Mtrs Agriculture land

with water well in Al Salwa, Barka.

OMR 260 Thousand. Tel: 99333479

or 95215360

Dental Clinic with license for sale in

Sohar. Contact 92816015

Shop for sale at Ruwi. Contact

99103077

FOR RENT

Studio flat MBD Ruwi.

Contact 95698714

2BR, 1BTR for Indian family ladies

near Ruwi Church.

Contact 99746379

Single room with furniture available

behind Kamat Restaurant Al Khu-

wair. Contact 24125300 / 94158350

Single room attached bathroom with

kitchen near Riyam park Muscat

RO 70/-. Contact 95094028

1B/R available for bachelors in

REX ROAD, Ruwi. Contact 99889590

Room in CBD area for non

cooking Executive bachelors free

WIFI, Advance deposit.

Contact 95934642

Spacious 2 BR flat in MBD.

Contact 99713489

2 & 3 BHK Darsait School new

building. Contact 99024730

2 BHK & studio flat at Darsait 1SM.

Contact 99024730

2 BHK flats Muttrah near Oman

House. Contact 97007934 /

92629232

2 bedroom flat in Al Ghubra near

Oman oil 18 November Street. OMR

330. Monthly. Tel: 99333479 or

95215360

3BR top class fitting flat , ideal for

top Executives Mumtaz area, Ruwi.

Contact 91287824

Flat for rent in Wadi Al Kabir,

2 rooms & 3 toilets next to Platinum

Gym. Contact 99210008

1,000 sq mtrs industrial land in

Misfah Industrial area near to Khan-

co. OMR 1,500 Monthly. Electricity

and boundary wall will be provided.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

Flat 4 rent south Al Mabelah.

Contact 95331177 / 95230355

1,000 sq mtrs industrial land in

Misfah Industrial area near to

Khanco. OMR 1,500 Monthly. It has

Electricity and boundary wall.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

1 Bedroom attached toilet Al Khu-

wair area only for ladies or husband

and wife without children. Contact

9:00 pm to 7:00 am 95765719

Spacious 2 BHK flats in Ruwi

MBD area only on 350/- OMR.

Contact – 95122188 / 96441499

If require flats for rent in Wadi Ka-

bir please send messages through

Whatsapp or call – 99376454

Furnished room available on Seeb

share with small family

for couple working ladies.

Contact 96996938

Flats/villas owned by ROP pension

fund available for rent in Muscat.

Contact 99349526

3 Bedrooms, with spacious hall &

3 bathrooms near ISM, Darsait

from 1st April 2015. Gsm 94288861

DAILY GUIDED4 M O N D AY, M A R C H 3 0 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

MISCELLANEOUS

MEDICAL

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

ENGI./ELECT./TECH..

ENGI./ELECT./TECH..

ADMIN/HR

DOMESTIC HELPER

CATERING

DRIVER

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

SKILLED LABOUR

TOUR

IT

SALES / MARKETING

Accountant Indian male 10 years

experience, 6 years in Oman with

Oman driving license seeking suit-

able job. Contact 97123002

Professional Accountant Finance

Manager Chartered acceptant 15

years experience in ERPS, MS office

Contact 96264969

Indian male 24years, 2+yrs exp. in

finance/administration on visit visa

seeking suitable position.

Contact: 24475596.

Indian female M.Com Finance, DCA

3 years experience in Accounts /

finance, knowledge in ERP & tally

seeking suitable position in corpo-

rate finance / banking /consulting.

Contact 96953705

Email prapullasuvarna@gmail.com

MBA (in HR & Finance) & BBA (in

General Management) and 5+ years

experience in Administration & Fi-

nance in Oman, looking for suitable

opportunities.NOC available.

Contact: 93183137

Indian female 7 years experience

as Accountant with good working

knowledge in Sap, Fico, Tally, ERP9

and peachtree also having IELTS

score 6.5 looking for immediate

placement.

Contact +091 9495002094.

Email: cerowil121718@gmail.com

Sr. Accountant, B.Com, 10 years

experience in Oman, knowledge

in Tally & focus with D/L and NOC.

Contact 96742564

Accountant B.Com MBA Indian male

having 5 year G.C.C exp in similar

field with valid Oman D/L & NOC

available. Contact 91719385 Email:

shinuyesodharan@gmail.com

Indian male currently in Oman

looking for a suitable placement

experience in Accounts, Computer,

AutoCAD , 3D studio Max, DTP

software’s, Office works.

Contact 98788518, Email:

karunakaranvimal@gmail.com

Indian Chartered Accountant 15

years experience in KSA & Dubai.

EPR, Tally, Peachtree, SAP, MS Office.

Contact 0091 8086469422

Oman 99886373

Email: rahmanacc123@gmail.com

Indian CA, male, having 12+ Years’

experience in the field of A/Cs,

finance, auditing, consultancy and

also knowledgeable in SAP B1,Tally

ERP ,etc. Working as Finance

Manager for last 2 years in Oman

and have valid D/L of Oman. NOC

available. PLZ contact: 98234761,

Email:caraj700@gmail.com

Indian male 24 yrs MBA marketing

21 days visit visa looking for market-

ing accounts and sales good com-

munication skills. Contact 91379124

Email: rahmansahil3@gmail.com

Indian male 28 years experience

in Accounts & Admin with B.E, MBA

finance seeks suitable placement

with a reputed from on visit visa.

Contact 97409606

Email: mujtabaalam7@gmail.com

Indian male MBA (fin & market-

ing) 9 years experience in business

development, healthcare insuring fin

& actng seeking suitable job on visit

in Oman. Contact 98653962

Email: mdsaleem.r@gmail.com

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

Part time maid required in

Al-Khuwair 25 on Sunday and

Wednesday, call 97093525

Indian Accounts / Audit assistant

with 2 years of experience currently

on a visit visa looking for suitable

job openings. Contact 94677338,

97041086

Email: ajeeshkcy1989@gmail.com

Indian Male, 27 yrs MBA (Fin),

SAP, 4 Yrs Exp in Finance Seeking

Suitable Job with a Reputed Firm

Currently on Visit Visa Contact

92481230

A Fresh ACCA Affiliate, Pakistani

male, 24 yrs, open for positions of

Accounts, Audit and finance.

Contact : 94541539

email: wasiqnasir_3@yahoo.com

Wanted cook / Tandoor /Shawarma / maker. Contact 97939688

Accountant with NOC or release

who can join us with in 15 days.

Send your CV with expected salary.

Email: dirbas.oman@gmail.com

Indian Accountant, Female, BBM

Graduate (Immediate joining) having

5years experience in India, Cur-

rently on Visit Visa Till 20th April’15.

Looking for suitable job. Contact-

94662416, E-mail:

apurwaverma@gmail.com

Male, total 17 years experience in In-

dia & Oman - India - 9 years & Oman

- 8 years In the field of procurement,

material controller and accountancy -

Local release available (Noc)

Cont no. 91680124 , 98606546

Indian male 22 yrs B. Com Graduate

1 year exp in Accounts, currently on

visit visa. Looking for suitable job.

Contact – 94341848 /

Email – mohdhaji7272@gmail.com

Required Barber. Contact

96964767

Wanted driver. Contact 95112461

Senior Project Engineer – Civil,

Graduate in Civil Engineering with

20 years of relevant experience

preferably 5+ years of experience in

Oman. Strong command over writ-

ten / spoken English & Arabic. Inter-

ested candidates send resume to

hr@aljood-oman.com Fax:

24437007

Architectural & Engineering

Consultancy Office looking for :

Manager / Civil Engineer 10 years

experience of the related job.

Contact 99243100

A reputed Multi franchise Automo-

tive centre in Oman is looking for

experienced in G.C.C for the post of service manager / incharge, Accountant, Senior Mechanics and Lube technicians. Send your

CVs to mapmct@gmail.com or fax to

24568146 immediately

Urgently required Irrigation Engi-neers, B.Tech (Agri/Irri) for supervi-

sion 5 yrs experience.

Contact- secons.engineers@gmail.

com Contact 99244481

Urgently required for leading

company, Land Surveyor, Electrical technician, MEP foreman, Camp Boss. Fax: 24478522

E-mail: gh1.careers@gmail.com

Wanted for immediate appointment linemen, Electrician, Duct fabrica-tor, AC technicians, AC foreman HVAC, Procurement Asst. Engineer, minimum 2 years experience in Gulf

for all posts. Apply with bio-data to

hr_oman1@yahoo.com

immediately.

Looking for Assistant Workshop Manager, Automobile Engineering

with minimum 4 years experience

in vehicle modification works.

Contact: 97441935

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

Required qualified and IT teachers note: candidates for

teaching should have minimum

bachelor degree and having expe-

rience not less than 2 years. Please

submit your CV through email

till 29th of March 2015. For more

information please contact with

24498423

Email: info@omrantraining.com

A leading group is looking for Sales Executives, min 2 years

experience in Building materials &

Electricals with driving license &

release/ NOC. Email CV to

alhajoil@omantel.net.om

or Fax: 24701683

Sales man for a printing press.

Contact 97842797

Sales Executives needed for marble

& granite company with minimum

one year experience with driving

license. Good looking Indians only.

Email: anas@kenzostone.com /

nabil@kenzostone.com

Bachelor degree in business

(Accounting) from Majan College

searching for job with D/L and 2

years exp . Contact 96132149

Finance Manager, CPA, with more

than 15 yrs. of experience in GCC.

Fully knowledgeable in Finance,

General & Management Accounting .

NOC available. Contact 96209331

Asst Accountant BBM, 2 yrs experi-

ence seeking suitable vacancy in ac-

counts, operation logistics etc. 1 year

experience in hardware & network-

ing as well. Contact 97623267

Indian male with 7 years experi-

ence in customer service and bank-

ing operations looking for a suitable

job right now on visit visa.

Contact 96169123

CA with 8 years Experience

(6 in UAE & Oman) in A/cs, Finance

& Audit. Contact: :98707434 /

casmart007@gmail.com

Indian 34 yrs B.Com CA Inter pass

12 yrs exp in Audit A/C, Finance

on visit seeks suitable placement.

Contact 95585069

India Accountant: Male, M com,

7 Yrs experience in Accounts up to

finalization, having knowledge of

ERP, Tally, seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact:93950138

Email: lijinrajan123@gmail.com

Accountant 25 years experience

M.Com Accounts up to finalization

14 years in Oman. NOC release avail-

able. Contact 99640490

email: mathutb@gmail.com

Accounts part time works up to

finalization, monthly report, balance

sheet and finalization works.

Contact 96247295

Indian male, 32 years, M. Com.

7 out of 9 years experience in Oman

in Accounts/finance. Having NOC

and valid Oman D/L.

Contact 98277143,

Email: anzarks@gmail.com

Senior Accountant, 10 years

experience in Oman on visit.

Contact 98897581.

Urgently required travel agent for

travel agency having 1 year experi-

ence SABRE software.

Contact 91120003 or

Email: line_travels@yahoo.com

Operator of Mobile Concrete Pump up to 56 meters With a valid

GCC driving license Required to

work for a private firm.

Contact 94446669

Immediate placement (with or

without MOH) - Pharmacist - 3 nos, Asst. Pharmacist - 2 nos. Contact- 99338219 , 93240949

Urgently required an Orthodon-tist with MOH to work at a reputed

Dental Center in Muscat.

Contact 968 99694723,

Email : dr.bdohc@gmail.com

Wanted female Nurse for Skin

clinic in Muscat. Must have MOH

license and NOC. Mail to

clinicvacancy2015@gmail.com

Urgently required Pharmacist. Contact 94200385/ 95206905/

97433142

Email: anitho@gmail.com

ACCA finalist and BSc from

Oxford Brookes University UK,

having 18 months working experi-

ence, currently in Muscat on visit,

seeking immediate and suitable

position. Contact : 95375282

22 years of experience in Multina-

tional Companies & reputed firms

in Financial Management, Project

Management, Budgeting and Cost

control, seeking a strategic Finan-

cial/Management Accounting role

in a dynamic organization .

Contact : +971-506178139,

Email.georg_vargis01@yahoo.com

Wanted Salesman with driving

licence and car. Gsm : 98805474 or

email id: jobssales2015@gmail.com

Construction Company require Civil Engineer, minimum 2 years

experience. Contact 93806556

Need sales man for furniture show-

room at Barka with valued Oman

driving license. Contact # 91398380

/ 91398378, email id

agsan2005@gmail.com

Kitchen Sales Executive Required:-

Qualified candidates must have a

minimum 2year work experience

in GCC with valid Oman driving li-

cense. Interested candidates please

send your CV to

abuqusaikitchen@gmail.com

Indian male MBA (HR & Marketing)

2 years experience seeking suitable

job now on visit visa.

Contact 96483964 / 98757816

Over 14 years of Gulf experience

in Admin /HR /Logistics, fluent in

Arabic & English with D/L, looking

for suitable position.

Contact 95824598

Indian female B.Com with excellent

communication available for imme-

diate joining full time or part time in

HR & Admin coordination.

Contact 98460262

DAILY GUIDEM O N D AY, M A R C H 3 0 , 2 0 1 5 D5

DAILY GUIDESITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

MEDICAL

IT

IT

DRIVER

DESIGNER

DOMESTIC HELPER

ARCHI./ DRAUGHTSMAN

CATERING

Indian male 28 holding diploma in

hotel management with experi-

ence looking for suitable job.

Contact 94388320 Email:

rajeshsarseathy.kim@outlook.com

Modular kitchen designer with

4 years Bahrain /Dubai experience

plus 10 years AutoCAD, 3D,

Photoshop& 20-20 Fusion.

Contact -96467673,

cristobabu@gmail.com

ADMIN/HR

Indian Male 27years, 5yrs exp. as

QA/QC Civil Engineer on visit visa

seeking suitable placement.

Contact-94372711

Part time structural designer of

Civil Engineering, villas, commercial

building etc.

Email kashi579@outlook.com

D.A.E Civil experience 4 years.

Contact 91197271

Electrical Engineer having 5 years

of project experience up to 33KV,

having valid driving license. NOC

is available. Contact 94107952

/95538337

Mechanical Engineer Indian male

(B.Tech, asme.ndt, level 2 piping

course) having 1 year experience in

Automobile industry is seeking suit-

able placement. Contact 97800807

/ 95844631

Indian male, BE Aeronautical with

MBA in production & operations

management seeking suitable place-

ment. Contact 97738182 / 95097270

M.Tech Computer Science & En-

gineering, Indian female, Fresher,

looking for suitable vacancy.

Contact 96103071

Email: norajobai@gmail.com

Indian male, 24 yrs, B.Tech (MECH)

on visit, 1 year experience as PPC

Engineer looking for suitable place-

ment. Has HVAC, AutoCAD and

CATIA designing skills.

Contact 98925685

Indian Mechanical Engineer, 25

years with 5 years experience in fab-

rication (steel & pipe), machinery in-

stallation HVAC and Quality control

in welding & mechanical working in

Muscat and NOC available.

Contact 97270431

Email: akhilcnair1989@gmail.com

D.A.E Civil 4 years experience D/L

Oman. Contact 96719649

Indian male 24 years B.Tech

Mechanical Engineer with 2 years

experience seeks suitable placement

in reputed company.

Contact 99359887 / 94132536

Civil Engineer with MBA have

10 years exp in construction and

roads projects management.

Contact 97046565

Omani Citizen BE Mechanical Engi-

neer with 1 year Experience looking

for job urgently. Contact: 95993315

email: eaz-s@hotmail.com

Mechanical Engineer Indian male

with one year experience also quali-

fied in PDMS, Piping and NDT level

two seeking suitable position cur-

rently in visit visa. Contact 98698682

Email: arundevchandran@gmail.com

Electrical Engg, B.E Indian male 1 yr

exp on visit visa. Contact 93700848

Email: quizzu.26@gmail.com

Electrical Eng diploma 12 yrs exp

HV /LV - UG & OHL having NOC with

valid Oman D/L & Mazoon CEP.

Contact 96274568

Mechanical Engineer (BE) done

process piping, PDMS, Q.C welding

N.D.T course fresher on visit visa

looking for job. Contact 97359171

Email: sayyedz097@ymail.com

Electrical Eng. Degree (MEP) need

suitable job of construction 12 yrs exp.

Email: mohd.ateeq.khan@gmail.com

Project Engineer, civil engineer BSC,

Building Construction 5 Years Exp in

Oman fluent Arabic, English and good

Hindi .Contact - 97858589

Sudanese Electrical plants equip-

ment Engineer with 3 years Diploma

degree of Electrical Engineer have

5 years experience in building

constructing industry operation

installation maintenance asphalt

crushers stone plants and automa-

tion systems. Contact 94549609

B. Sc Civil Engineer with 5 years

experience and valid Omani driving

license and PDO driving and safety

license and OSHA safety license

looking for suitable job.

Contact 92548097

Sudanese chemist resident, 3 years

experience in chemical industry.

Contact 97399073

Sudanese Graduate with 3 years

Diploma in Civil Engineering have

5 years experience in building

construction industry materials,

specification & testing.

Contact 96995670

Indian Male, IT Support Engineer,

2 yrs in Oman & 5 yrs Indian experi-

ence. Contact 97311847

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

Indian male 2+yrs oman exp in HR.

joing immediatly. release available.

Contact :93671437

Indian male 26 years (MBA) (Op-

erations & Marketing) 2 years expe-

rience in administration, operations

and sales and marketing looking

for suitable placement on visit visa.

Contact 97920125

Indian male 36 yrs having 12 yrs of

experience in Oman in the follow-

ing fields- HR & Admin, Purchase,

Logistics, Operation. NOC available.

Ph: 93885680

Indian female, 29 yrs, HR (MBA)

BSC 3+ yrs in HR & Admin India &

Oman seeking suitable placement.

Contact 95619537

Indian male, B.Com, almost 2 yrs

exp in Accounts & Admin on visit

visa. Contact 98546162

HR Manager Marketing Manager,

12 yrs experience in India seeks im-

mediate placement in Oman.

Contact 95881471,

Email : pradeeprajtb@gmail.com

Indian male, MBA, 8 yrs experience

in HR with Oman D/L. NOC available.

Contact 98692434

Indian male, 13 yrs Gulf experience

in Admin / front office.

Contact 97941050

EDUCATION

Driver with car available.

Contact 96524904

Looking for a job as driver experi-

ence 9 years in Oman.

Contact 92517532

Diver available with car.

Contact 91553628

Bangladeshi Driver 18 years experi-

ence speak Arabic, English & Hindi

also. Contact 99191270

Looking for light driver job.

Contact 95141473

Light driver with car available.

Contact 95520696

Light driver job. Contact 91376612

Pakistani, light duty driver with

3 yrs exp. Contact 96756014

Driver heavy license looking for job

with 7 years experience.

Contact 92073175 / 95606146

Looking for driving job with car

4x4. Contact 91331299 / 96157595

Bangladesh and Oman driver

looking for job.

Contact 98503237

Six years experience in Oman driver

seeks suitable placement.

Contact 99437236

Bangladeshi Driver looking for job.

Contact 93567263

Light/ heavy duty, driver (GCC

valid D/L for company) looking for

job. Contact 99531802

Light duty driver with 3 years

experience in Oman +5 years in

Saudi Arabia speaking Hindi Arabic

English. Contact 96088707

Indian male 24 years, Mechani-

cal Engineer,pdms.1 yr experience

in pipeline,16years in oman seek-

ing immediate placement

Contact 95775742

Environmental Marine Consult-ant 14 yrs PHD Nebosh EMS Auditor

teaching experience working in

Environmental consulting firm for

8 yrs in Muscat seeks posts like

Environmental expert. NOC avail-

able. Contact +968 91099060

Email: ecoenergy242@gmail.com

Indian female M.SC, M.PHIL, BIO,

Informatics 1 yr experience in

college level seeks suitable place-

ment in schools and colleges.

Contact 92237504

M. Tech Civil (structure) with 3

years experience looking for a suit-

able job with reputed consultants or

contracting companies.

Contact – 93137035 Email –

mdshahzar.khan@gmail.com

Indian female, B.Tech biotechnol-ogy with strong computer skills

and 2 years experience as associate

research analyst (Media Monitoring)

in Nasdaq Oman seeking growth

oriented jobs. Contact 92044603

/918056169148 or

angeline.babithac@gmail.com.

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

MBA male having experience of

production operation administration

looking for job immediately joining.

Contact 94670691

Electrician, Plumber, Gulf exp look-

ing for job. Contact 99531802

Lab Technician, Civil (8yrs Gulf

experience) looking for a suitable

job (NOC available)

Contact-93344378

MD with 4 years of experience in

Trinidad Government Hospital West

Indies. Prometric exam of Oman

succeeded with 66% looking for GP

anywhere in Oman.

Contact 96226787

Nazia Shahid Shah, General Dentist

from India with 3 plus years of

full hands-on experience includ-

ing clinic management. Prometric

exam passed in March 2015 63% -

Looking for a suitable placement in

Muscat region. Contact 97469553.

Email :- nazianbaig@gmail.com

Indian male 22 years BCA graduate,

CLSCO certified Network Associate

and COMPTIA A+ (Installing, Config-

uring and troubleshooting). Fresher

with good computer proficiency

seeking for suitable opportunities.

Ready to do other office routines and

work anywhere in Oman valid Indian

driving license. Currently on visit

visa. Contact 99704508 / 91258708

Email chiran280293@gmail.com

Indian male 28 yrs, trained in com-

puter hardware and networking and

certified CCNA MCSA,

looking for suitable job.

Contact 94388320 Email:

rajeshsaraswathy.kim@outlook.com

BSC Computer Science 4 years

Oman EXP, driving license MCSE,

CCNA, MCITP. Contact 95874315

Indian male 25 years, bachelor in

Computer Science with 3 years ex-

perience in basic hardware software

and networking seek suitable place-

ment now on visit visa.

Contact 92995706

Email: ismabsc@gmail.com

IT Project Manager (PMP) available

for immediate joining. Total 15+ years

exp & 12 years of IT experience in

SAP & Project management. Having

working experience of UK, France,

Germany, China, UAE, India, etc.

Currently on Visit Visa. Call 94300317

Website software developer Oman

experience looking for job.

Contact 91781286

Email: hussainkhan201@gmail.com

Indian male, 25 years BSC, (Com-

puter Science) 2 years experience in

computer, hardware & networking

looking for suitable placement

presently on visit visa. # 93243372

Network Engineer, BSc Commu-

nications, 5 years exp, CCNA, VAS,

Data Center, working now at Alcatel

Lucent, visit visa. Contact 91268787

Male Omani National, 27 years,

holding Master in IT - Computer Sci-

ences Engineering (India) and Mas-

ter in Robotic Intelligency (Spain),

looking for a suitable placement.

Contact: 99211549.

3G , 4G Welding lead man Indian

male, 33 years, having 15 years

experience in American company,

UAE and India, seeking for suitable

placement. Contact 92122468

Email: shaji11@gmail.com

Projects / Contracts Manager 31 yrs (26 yrs Oman) experience

in Management & coordination

of multi-million R.O projects of

Government & private sector, post

Graduate Structural Engineer with

QS Background looking for senior

position in construction / Engineer-

ing consultancy / Government.

Contact +00968-91400599

Manager 16 years experience in

Hypermarket with Oman driving

license seeking suitable placement.

Release available.

Contact 00968 96913238

Indian male D/L looking job as

Supervisor or safety officer/ camp

boss. Contact 94003617

Indian male M.Tech MBA, 24 years

experience working as Country

Manager seeks employment.

Contact 92279972, NOC available.

Diploma in Architect 2.5 years

experience in Oman having driving.

Contact 92967404

Female cleaner for school/kg, job

(overseas). Contact 95175192

House boy/ cleaner looking job

overseas. Contact 95175192

PROJECTS

Indian male, 4 years experience as

Safety Officer with NEBOSH

currently on visit visa.

Contact :99565910, E mail:

yadavchandan287@gmail.com

Indian male Graduate IT profes-

sional having 3+ years of experience

in IT Support Engineer / Hardware

& networking CCNA, MCITP, PHCE,

looking for job on visit visa.

Contact 94647824

email id: azharpo@gmail.com

Tunisian women looking for

job, knows english, frensh, Italian

and arabic. Contact: 91171838

Indian male MBA 32 yrs having

10 yrs of exp seeking suitable

placement in Admin/ HR/ Opera-

tions/ Coordination/ Logistics etc.

Holding valid Oman D/L .Contact -

99054786

Indian female, well experienced

in secretarial, administration,

customer care & supervisory jobs.

5 years experience in Muscat.

Immediately available for joining.

Contact: 92139298

Indian female with 10 yrs of experi-

ence in HR/Banking/Operations

seeks a suitable placement. Can be

contacted on 98919015 or

sherianne.coelho@gmail.com

M.Tech Civil (structure) with 3 yrs

experience looking for a suitable

job with reputed consultants or

contracting companies.

Contact 93137035,

Email : mdshahzar.khan@gmail.com

Generator maintenance in charge

with 4 yrs experience with

Cummins, caterpillar, kirloskar

and voltas. Contact - email:

shibinmundakkal@gmail.com

Experienced female Electrical

Engineer. Contact 93800906

Civil Engineer with 12 years Experi-

ence Looking For Job.

Contact 98162295

Aircraft Maintenance Technician with one year experience seeks

suitable placement. Contact

amaljohn2002@gmail.com

B.Tech Mechanical Engineer (Automobile)&Diploma in QC

with 2yrs experience in oil & gas

company seek suitable placement

job currently on Visit Visa. Contact

no.96071081, 99214308 ,

Email: rahulvarikkat@gmail.com

Sudanese Mechanical Engineer 11 years exp in oil & gas industry.

Contact - 95928035

Telecom Engineer with 4.5 years

Oman experience looking for a suit-

able opportunity, interested even in

Marketing also. Possess valid Oman

driving license. Contact 94145460

DAE (Civil) having 3.5 years Experi-

ence 2 years from Oman with driving

licences, seeking for suitable position

in Construction field NOC and release

available . Contact 96968554 Email:

mehranahmad26@yahoo.com

Diploma of Associate Civil Engi-

neering, Diploma of AutoCad, having

3.5 yrs experience, 2 yrs experience

of Oman in Building Construction,

valid transferrable ID Card.

Contact 94378581

Mechanical Engineer, Gulf Exp in

Design and Manufacturing

Ph: 97097688

Indian male, 26 yrs B-Tech (ECE)

with MBA in Marketing / HR looking

for a suitable placement. Currently

on visit visa valid up to 30 January

2015. Contact 93754428,

email : shijosirius709@gmail.com

24 years Indian female diploma

in computer science and

engineering now on visit visa seek

suitable placement.

Contact 96314974/99107369

Accounting up to finalization, audit-

ing & contact for tally ERP software

Contact– 91720465

B.com doing CA Accounts/ office

job male now working in Oman Noc,

release available. Contact 92715465

Email: alsabathehm@gmail.com

SECRETARIAL/OFFICE

Indian male more than 10 years

Gulf experience in Office / Sales

Coordinator, Admin (employees visa

processes), Secretarial and purchase

coordination with good computer

skills. Having Driving license and

NOC available. Looking for suitable

placement. Contact 99709336

SALES / MARKETING

SALES / MARKETING

Indian 45 years Sales Manager for

European Modular kitchen & furni-

ture. Contact 92284856

Indian male MBA 7 years experi-

ence in Hospitality industry, opera-

tion, sales & marketing looking for

suitable vacancy. Contact 92115860

Email vibin.py@gmail.com

MBA in marketing with more than

5yrs of experience in building mate-

rial sales in Oman seek suitable

placement D/L & NOC available.

Contact 96353095

Indian, male, 27 yrs, B.Com 5 yr exp

in Sales & sales coordinator Excel,

MS Office, word now on visit visa.

Contact 95612321

Email: jkadavil@gmail.com

Indian male, 25 yrs MBA, HR , hav-

ing 1.5 yrs exp in sales & marketing

on visit visa seeking for a suitable

job. Contact 98796877

Marketing Executive + warehouse

Manager male 24 yrs, 2 yrs exp with

NOC available GCC driving license.

Looking for suitable placement

opening. Contact - 97307863

Marketing Sales job Oman

experience. Contact 91781286

Pakistani male MBA marketing

2 years experience need job in sales

marketing export admin manage-

ment sector. Contact 94009052

Indian male 23 with 2 years Oman

experience looking for suitable

placement in sales and marketing.

NOC available with valid D/L.

Contact 96392009

18 yrs Oman experience in building

materials seeking suitable placement,

NOC available Contact 93105775

Indian female (Aviation and

hospitality management) with

excellent communication skill,

confident, dedicated to works and

enthusiastic and 1 year experience

in admin department looking for

immediate placement .

Contact 93351256 email :

hinakhan.hk88@gamil.com

Hardware specialist B.Tech

M.Tech electronics with 10 years

experience seeks suitable oppor-

tunities in reputed organizations.

Contact 91289459

Email: shrn.shrf@gmail.com

IT Prof, MCA having 6+ yrs exp,

seeks suitable position.

Contact 94543668

B.Tech IT Professional, Indian

Male with 3 yrs of Exp. In System

Admin, IT Support, Networking,

Installing Active Directory, DHCP,

DNS,RAS, configuring maintaining

and managing servers, configur-

ing cisco routers, Exp in handling

SQL database, With Valid Driving

Licence. Contact - 968 98863507

Indian male Graduate (BSc. IT) 25

years new on visit visa in Muscat.

1 year experience in Accounts looking

for suitable position.

Contact 95752827

Email: mhdfsrn@gmail.com

Indian male 25 B.Tech (IT) Engineer

2.5 yrs exp in hardware networking.

Currently on visit visa looking for

suitable job. Contact – 94359564

Bangladesh male MBBS Doctor with

3 years experience for a private

clinic. Contact 00968-94209634

Medical- Indian female, 27 yrs,

masters in hospital administra-

tion, fellowship in HTA studied

in a super specialty medical sci-

ences and research center in India

and done project in an established

hospital in sultanate of Oman.

Contact 93200827, 91026506

Female pharmacist with 3 years ex-

perience and MOH license currently

in Oman, CONTACT 92455124

Qualified Manager: (12+ yrs. Oman

Exp.) Vast knowledge in A/c &

Admin, Costing, Banking, Credit

Control, Insurance, International

Purchase/Logistics & Finance, With

D/L looking for suitable position.

Contact 93826090

Email: jskanchan01@gmail.com

Indian female with nine years of

experience in 5 Star hotels as

Assistant Food & Beverage Manager

looking for a suitable placement in a

reputed Star hotel. Contact: 91219787

Logistics Officer, Experience in

Store keeping. Contact : 99505934

1 year experience in teaching all

subject to KG classes, currently

working as a teacher in Oman,

seeking suitable placement,

Family visa. Contact 92178304 /

99036256

Welder, 3G, 6G, TIG, Exp in Fabri-

cation , Gulf Exp Ph : 97103168

Care taker, Gulf Exp knows Hindi,

Arabic Ph: 94238840

Keralite Bachelor professional

building designer with AutoCAD,

3D Max & Accounts.

Contact 96535497,

email : bhaviwky90@gmail.com

Light driver looking for job.

Contact 92791678

Light driver looking for job.

Contact 91376612

LV Driver- 2 yrs Exp-know

English- Contact 95292064

Indian cook, Tandoori cook, male, 32 yrs, having 4 yrs of experi-

ence in Muscat in India, looking

for a cook job in Hotel. Contact

93753523 / 98744307 / 92175119

Young Indian male with 5 years

Muscat experience in admin,

purchase & Masters from UK seeks

placement. Possess driving license.

Contact 94400671

Indian Male, 25 yrs currently in

Oman on visit looking for suitable

vacancies in accounts, B.Com

completed 1 yr experience.

Contact 92024380

Pakistani male, 25 yrs, MBA

Finance, 1.6 yrs exp in Accounts

seeking placement in Accounts,

Administration or Business Man-

agement. Contact 92651927 /

94250149

B.Com India. Languages : English,

Hindi & Malayalam. #92954613

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.comDAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D6 M O N D AY, M A R C H 3 0 , 2 0 1 5

MISCELLANEOUS

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

AutoCAD draughtsman temporary

available at the month of April

(AR+ST+PL+HVAC)

Contact – 91620107

24 year Indian Chartered Account-

ant male with 3yrs of experience

is seeking suitable placement in

Muscat, currently on visit visa &

ready to join immediately. Kindly

contact him on 98201476 or email at

lokeshkaluri@gmail.com

Senior Accounts Professional,

Indian Male, 35 years, M.Com, MBA

(Fin) 8 years in Oman, with valid

Oman DL and NOC available. Capable

to handle accounts up to finalization.

Contact 9602 3965.

Indian female 25 years MBA finance

currently on visit visa seeks im-

mediate placement. Contact: +(968)

9843 0089, +(968) 97851940

Marketing Manager Indian male 11

years local market experience with

Oman driving license and NOC look-

ing for suitable placement.

Contact 93564959

Email: drmbuz@gmail.com

Indian Male, 58 years, Rich Oman

experience in Multifunctional

Management, Administration,

Business Development, Purchase

& Operations, seeking suitable

Manager/Supervisory Position.Visa

transfer/NOC Available.

GSM: 95036410

Indian, Male 43, CA/ISA, Experience

in Retail, NBFC, Logistics, Banking,

Automobile, Investment and facility

Management, seeking for a change.

Valid D/L. Release available.

Contact: aurosun@gmail.com

AutoCAD draughtsman temporary

available at the month of April

(AR+ST+PL+HVAC).

Contact – 91620107

MCA, MBA, CCNA, MCSE, Indian

male with 10 years of experience,

holding Oman driving license on

visit visa seeks any suitable place-

ment. Contact 92716116 / 91266535

Email: sijuayur@gmail.com

South African Teacher – male –

Teaching Diploma , B.A. (Hons), B.

Admin (Hons ). 18 years experience

– seeking a primary teaching post

– grades 4 to 7 (8 to 12 years). Can

teach all subjects at this level.

On 30 day visitors visa.

Contact 93341047.

E- mail nadgov@gmail.com

Indian male, 14 yrs Experience

in Maintenance & Supervisor in

hotel (Electrical, Ac Mechanical &

Plumber). Contact : 95253640

Accountant, Indian male 24 yrs,

2 years successful experience in

Oman with Oman Driving License .

NOC Available. Seek a suitable

opportunity. GSM : 9340 9315

Computer Teacher, MCA in

Al Ghubra. Contact : 94231633

Indian male Executive secretary

having vast experience in admin,

logistics & procurement well versed

with computer seek suitable place-

ment. Contact : 99514286

7 Years successful experience.

ACCOUNTANT, Indian male,

29 years. Presently working in

Oman as a Senior Accountant with

oman Driving license seek suitable

opportunity. GSM: 97705854

Indian Male, 22 years, B.com gradu-

ate, Knowledge of Tally ERP9, MS

Excel & MS word.Currently in Oman

on visit visa, looking for suitable

placement. Contact 99894250

email: fouzishaque@gmail.com

Indian Male 29 yrs, having 7year

India + Gulf experience in Procure-

ment Engineer, looking for

suitable placements.

Contact:96035370,

Email: samyram1986@gmail.com

Indian male, 14 yrs experience in

maintenance & Supervisor in hotel

field (Electrical, Ac Mechanical &

Plumber). NOC available.

Contact : 95 25 36 40

Diploma in Fire and Safety

Engineering, having 3.5 years of

experience as an Safety Advisor.

Having PDO PASSPORT and IOSH.

Have valid Omani driving license

is looking for job. Contact number

968 96176872, 968 9808527.

Indian male, 22 years, B.com

graduate, Knowledge of Tally

ERP9, MS Excel & MS word. Cur-

rently in Oman on visit visa, look-

ing for suitable placement.

Contact : 99894250,

email: fouzishaque@gmail.com

3 years experience B. Pham Phar-

macist, Passed Pometric written

exam, require suitable post.

Mobile: 9561 3245

E.mail:saaji777@gmail.com

Indian, male, Business Manage-

ment graduate with 10 years UAE

experience in supervisory/ ad-

ministration position in Electronic

Card Personalisation projects,

seeks jobs in banking/ financial

sector. Contact: 00971505250274/

naushers@yahoo.com

Indian male, 14 yrs experience

in maintenance & Supervisor in

hotel ( Electrical, Ac Mechanical &

Plumber). Contact 95253640

B.tech Mechanical Engineer,

Keralite bachelor with B.tech look-

ing for job in Oman with three year

of experience on visiting Visa.

Contact no.-0096891296354,

Email-manurpr88@gmail.com

Indian Male 25yrs, having 3year

Indian experience in Accountant

Shipping Company, looking for

suitable placement.

Contact: 919632529484,

Email: bangerasavan@gmail.com

Pakistani Male having 5 years

exp. Valid Omani Driving license

working as a Logistic Officer

looking for a suitable position. Sal-

ary is negotiable. Email : naveed-

muhammad037@gmail.com,

Mob: +96893363316

OPTOMETRIST, 27 years Indian

female, 3 years experience looking

for suitable placement in Muscat.

Contact: 92066532 Email:

aradhanaarun88@gmail.com

Civil Engineer Indian with

12years experience in building

construction having valid driving

license.sureshudreams@gmail.

com, 91305025 /93839731

24 year Indian Chartered

Accountant male with 3yrs of ex-

perience is seeking suitable place-

ment in Muscat, currently on visit

visa & ready to join immediately.

Contact him on 98201476 or email

at lokeshkaluri@gmail.com

Indian male, 14 yrs Experience

in Maintenance & Supervisor in

hotel (Electrical, Ac Mechanical &

Plumber ) mob : 95253640

Indian Male 26 Years, having 2

year experience in accounting

field Looking for suitable place-

ment. Currently working in Oman.

NOC available, immediate joining.

Contact No: 94282980, Email:

shirasvelliyath@gmail.com

Indian male, 45+ yrs, 20 yrs

exp. in Sales Supervisor looking

for sales / stores / cash or any

suitable placement, can join im-

mediately on visit visa. Contact

93086105 / 99016546

Lab Chemist 10 yrs experience in

gas and crude oil analysis Master

degree in chemistry on visit visa

94403242

Indian male 23 years B.Com

completed fresher with fluency in

English, Hindi and Telugu looking

for suitable job . Currently in Oman

on visit visa. Contact 96098174 /

98912870

Pakistani Male having 5 years

experience Valid Omani Driving li-

cense working as a Logistic Officer

looking for a suitable position.

salary is negotiable.

naveedmuhammad037@gmail.

com Mob: +96893363316

/94202746

Indian female 25 years MBA

finance currently on visit visa

seeks immediate placement.

Contact: +(968) 93316493

Indian Male, 58 years, Oman expe-

rience in Multifunctional Manage-

ment, Administration, Business

Development, Purchase & Opera-

tions seeking suitable Manager/

Supervisory Position.Visa transfer/

NOC Available. GSM: 95036410

Part- Time Accountant, well

versed with all accounting, Finali-

zation, Budgeting available

Contact : 98803439

Looking for Network Engineer Job,

NOC Available Immediately, CCNA,

CCIE Collaboration Written Current

Company: Global Solutions L.L.C, 3.5

Years experience. #97312044

engineerwaleedkhan@hotmail.

com

Indian, Male, 43 years, Chartered

Accountant, 18+ years of experi-

ence, looking for a change. Valid

Driving License. Release available.

Contact: aurosun@gmail.com

Australian Network Engineer, with 4 years exp, BE in Telecom

MS in Network Sys worked as a

Network/WiMax Eng well versed

with Cisco devices, available on

contact 92606921

Email: akalu987@gmail.com

Sri Lankan, female, 25 years,

Graduate in Management,

possessing 6 years experience in

banking, financial, administration

and risk management.

Currently on a visit visa seeks

suitable immediate placement.

Contact 93462521.

wathsala.perera1@yahoo.com

Corporate Communication Profes-

sional, smart, quality English

writing, double Masters, Oman exp

in Corporate, Internal &Marketing

Communication, CSR Programs,

PRs, Ads, Events, Campaigns,

Customer Relations. Immediately

Available, Release.

Contact 91229392

Manager-Corporate Communica-

tions, pleasing personality, excel-

lent English, Masters-Journalism,

Mass Communication, Finance, ex-

pert in writing & publishing press

releases, advertisements, website

content, speeches, CSR, promo-

tions, events. Immediate joining,

NOC. Contact 91229392

Indian male, 25 years, now on

visit visa in Muscat. One year

experience in accounts ,

looking for suitable position.

Contact:95752827, Email id:

mhdfsrn@gmail.com

Indian Male 28yr age having

6year gulf+ Indian experience

in HR field. Looking for suitable

placement. Contact:97914340,

Email: rajkv3086@gmail.com

30 years Indian male with hotel

management degree, 02 years

experience in F&B service at five

star hotel in Dubai and 05 years

in American 6 star cruiseliner as

Butler . Currently in Muscat on

visit visa. Contact 91075704

Senior Accountant Indian Male

with 13 Year of Experience

(7 years in Oman) in Accounts &

Finance having valid Omani Driving

License with NOC Available. Look-

ing for suitable job. # 96001918

Indian Male, 27, Mechanical

Engineer. HND, with exp. as Project

coordinator in U.A.E, Valid GCC D/L,

currently on visit, looking for a suit-

able position. Contact 97070427

Indian female (B.A. B.ed) seeks

suitable placement as fresher

primary teacher.(Specialization in

social studies, currently pursuing

M.A in English).Presently in family

visa status. Contact:99713864.

Email:poojaavn@yahoo.com

28 year Indian male Art spe-

cialist with 7.5 yrs of experience

in Healthcare industries in AR

analyst (US Based Project - M.BA.,

Finance) seeking suitable place-

ment. Contact +91 9841906431,

E-mail: aru1986k@gmail.com

Indian male, 25 years, now on visit

visa in Muscat. One year experience

in accounts, looking for suitable

position. Contact:95752827,

Email id: mhdfsrn@gmail.com

Looking for job Tunisian Bachelor

with experience 5 years in

Network/IT. Cont.:91368102

CIVIL Autocad Draughtsman Look-

ing for part time job. #95218737

Indian Teacher Female with two

years experience seeks suitable

placement in Indian or Omani

Schools currently on visit visa

please contact 99436826. Email

id :- ineshdsouza31@gmail.com

Diploma in Fire and Safety Engi-

neering. Have 3.5 years of experi-

ence as an Safety Advisor. Having

a valid Omani driving license is

looking for job.

For further information please

contact me at 96896176872,

9689808527.

Indian male 28yr age having 6

years Gulf+ Indian experience in

HR field, looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact: 97914340,

Email: rajkv3086@gmail.com

Indian Female, 24 yrs MS. Soft-

ware Engg. Currently on family

visa, 1 year experience in SAP WM

& IT seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 95490105

MBA fresher, with fluency in

English, Arabic, Hindi, Tamil & Ma-

layalam, looking for suitable job.

Currently in Oman on visit visa.

Mob : +968-93730345

B.tech Mechanical Engineer : Keralite bachelor with B. Tech

looking for job in Oman with three

year of experience ,on Visiting

Visa. Contact no.-0096891296354,

Email-manurpr88@gmail.com

Indian Male more than 10 years

gulf experience in Office / Sales

Coordinator, Admin (employees visa

processes), Secretarial and purchase

with good computer skills. Having

Driving license and NOC available.

Looking for suitable placement.

Contact 99709336

Indian male, 14 years Experience

in maintenance & Supervisor in

hotel ( Electrical, Ac Mechanical &

Plumber ) mob : 95 25 36 40

27 years, Indian optometrist ,

female , 3years experience look-

ing for suitable placement in

Muscat. Contact : 92066532

mail: aradhanaarun88@gmail.com

Indian Male 22 years, B.Com look-

ing for suitable placement.

Contact no. - 99894520

email- fouzishaque@gmail.com

ACCA+2.5 years of experience in

Accounts, Bookeeping and Audit.

Looking for job in Accounts/Fi-

nance/Internal Audit. Also worked

on Oracle R12, Tally, Quick Books

and PeachTree. Gsm: 91717234

Email: xhoaib101@hotmail.com,

Civil draughtsman expecting part

time job.(civil infrastructure) and

BBS. Contact :95914642

Planning Engineer 7 years of

Experience in project planning and

control in oil and gas, PDO & QP

Approved Planner,PRIMAVERA-6,B.

Tech in Mechanical engineering

from CUSAT Contact-

ullasprabhakaran@yahoo.co.in,

ph-00974 70230223

Sales manager (be-mech/mba)

in oman since-2005; (omn-d/l);

seeking immediate replacement

in marketing and sales or, bdm

profile, contact-96040977,

kvmssn@gmail.Com

B.tech Mechanical Engineer, Keralite bachelor with B.tech look-

ing for job in oman with a year

of experience on Visiting Visa.

Contact no.-0096891296354,

Email-manurpr88@gmail.com

Female with MBA finance, financial

and tax professional four and half

years of experience seeks suitable

opportunities in reputed organiza-

tions. Contact- 99792457

Email: msparveen1@gmail.com

Indian Male, MBA 2 yrs experience

in Accounts, Admin & HR on visit

visa. Contact 92045306

Indian male, graduate with 7 years

experience in hospitality industry,

sales & marketing .M.B.A in human

resource management.

Contact 92115860

Indian male, 15 years experience

in managing department stores,

in Karnataka, India, looking for

placement.Contact 93086105 or

99016546

Indian male- B.Com/B.Ed/15 years

Exp – 5 in Oman, seeks job in

Accts/Sales/Logistics have NOC

and Oman D/L with car.

Contact – 92919625/93511425/

93424828;

Email- seshadricpioman@gmail.com

Accountant: a well experienced

Indian male, M.Com, more than 20

years experience in accounting

field (GCC & India), looking for job

as accountant or accounts manager

in oman. presently working in India

and ready to join immediately.

Contact :99087175

Indian male 26 years, with 4 years

experience in accounts and adminis-

tration looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact 93008891

Indian male, B.Com, Accountant

– 6yrs exp in Oman, NOC available-

Ready to join.contact: 98162671 ;

email: prasanths3@gmail.com

Part- Time Accountant, well

versed with all accounting, Finali-

zation, Budgeting available.

Contact : 98803439

Sr. Sales Manager (BE/MBA) 9 yrs

in Oman; (GCC/omn-d/l); seeking

immediate replacement in mktg,

sales or, bdm profile, # 96040977,

kvmssn@gmail.com

Indian female, 24yrs, M.Com

(Accounts) having 3 yrs experi-

ence in Accounts, HR, Adminis-

tration, Customer Service. Good

Computer Proficiency seeks suit-

able Position. Visa Transfer/NOC

Available. Contact: 99654913

Indian male total 17 yrs exp in field

of procurement, inventory, control-

ling & accountancy. Local release

available, seeking suitable place-

ment. # 91680124 / 98606546

Indian female, B.Com. knowledge

of Ms .Office & Tally, 4yrs experi-

ence in A/Cing & admin dept .look-

ing for good placement in any field.

Contact.98928220

ACCA-UK, B.Sc (OBU-UK) hav-

ing 2.8 years of experience in

Accounts, Bookeeping and Audit.

Looking for job in Accounts/Fi-

nance department. Also worked on

Oracle R12, Tally, Quick Books and

Peach Tree. Email:

AliRiazMughal@Outlook.com,

Gsm: +968-95459936

Indian Male 28yr age having

6year gulf+ Indian experience in

HR field, looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact:97914340,

Email: rajkv3086@gmail.com

Indian male, 11 years exp.

In accounting, knowledge in tally

also. Looking for a part time job.

Contact . 98983122

Female Executive Assistant/Ex-

ecutive Secretary with 27+ experi-

ence, worked with top manage-

ment/Board in financial services

with shorthand skills & Omani

driving license, seeks suitable

placement. Call 95941515

Senior Accounts Professional, Indian Male, 35 years, M.Com,

MBA (Fin) 8 years in Oman, with

valid Oman DL and NOC available.

Capable to handle accounts up to

finalization. Contact 9602 3965.

Indian female, Graduate, Certified

in IATA, with 8 months experience

in Travel and 2 and half years

experience in Operations and HR

looking for job in Field of Travel/

Office Management. Contact

-92816803/ 92459686. Email-

vijetadevilishangel@gmail.com

MBA (international business) with

2.5 years experience in sales and

also experience in vehicle spare

parts (in-charge) looking for a suit-

able job presently on visit visa. Con-

tact 93539456, 95765868, E mail:

mathewsantony936@gmail.com

British Beauty Therapist Looking for suitable position

Mob: 97175240

INDIAN FEMALE ,Graduate, Certi-

fied in IATA, with 2 and half years

experience in Admin/ Accounts

and Office coordinator looking

for job in Field of Travel/Office

Management. Contact -92459686/

92816803, Email-

krupa_patel1984@yahoo.com

Part Time Accounting Job Com-

plete Data Entry, Reporting and

Finalization. Any Time Available.

Location Ruwi to Bharka. Please

Contact- +968-92049215

Email:- aiafe.oman@gmail.com

DAILY GUIDEM O N D AY, M A R C H 3 0 , 2 0 1 5 D7

DAILY GUIDESITUATION WANTEDCARGO

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain Marine Tours Contact- 98029602, 92808636

RENT A CAR

RENT A CAR

TOURS

TOURS

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

TRANSPORTATION

Pick & Drop Available @ 99159277

Transportation. Contact 98505294

Transportation. Contact 99664703

Transportation. Contact 98518979

Transport to ISWK. Contact

93172589

Pick & Drop any time.

Contact 97014786

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D8 M O N D AY, M A R C H 3 0 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

SITUATION WANT-NOTICE

GOOD NEWS

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

SITUATION WANT-SERVICES

Tile/marble/granite cutting,

skirting & polishing please contact

94052713,99885638.

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing,

Contact 99314807/24792998

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of

your marble. Contact 24793614/

99314807

A/C service repair RO 10/-.

Contact 95084850 / 92230581

Ocean trading is Professional in

auto A/C repairing since 35 years

serving with high quality & best

price.24817426 & 95206751

Pest Control Treatments, Termites,

Cockroaches, Bedbugs. Contact

Ocean Centre LLC.

Contact 99344723

House shifting. Contact

99708138

Cheapest prices all types window,

curtains and Blinds. Contact

99539521

Carpet & sofa shampooing. Ocean

Centre LLC. Contact 99884591 /

92682970

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. Contact ABU QA-

BAS- 99320217 /24788722

We offer you the business ser-

vices maintenance of buildings

and villas for paint and carpentry

and decoration works and instal-

lation of material awater Broof

and cleaning services building

management and leasing of real

estate . Contact 99070093

AC service repair and maintenance.

Contact 95356877

Split & window A.C servicing &

maintenance. Contact 93769089 /

95323517

A/C maintenance & servicing.

Fridge, washing machine & dish

washer repairing. Painting & clean-

ing services & electrical & plumb-

ing. Contact 99447257/97014234/

24504281

Water proofing ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile

polishing, pest control & anti-ter-

mite treatment, general cleaning

painting, Plumbing, Electrical,

shifting. Contact Mundhir

Al-Rizaiqi trading. L.L.C. #

24810137, 99450130

CLASSES

WEBSITE

WEB, ERP and Business Intelli-

gence (BI) creation and man-

agement at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

COMPUTER

A/C maintenance split A/C servic-

ing. RO. 10 only. Contact 94217681/

99210141

BUSINESS

Ayurvedic treatment for backache,

paralysis, arthritis etc & massage,

All Season (Vaidyaratnam). Contact

24475280 / 95371554 / 92504980 ,

www.siddhayur.com

Taimour Ayurvedic Clinic, Ruwi

offers genuine & effective treat-

ment for back pain, paralysis,

cervical and lumbar spondylitis,

osteoarthritis, joint pains, sinusi-

tis, migraine, allergic problems,

varicose vein and all other health

related problems. Kerala massage

and rejuvenation package avail-

able. For details please contact:

92197920/ 24799689

Ayurvedic treatment for joint pain,

backache, paralysis massage, steam

bath, obesity, spondylitis IDEAL ,

CARE Ayurvedic Clinic 18 November

street, Azaiba. Contact 99639695 /

99117987

FREE INFORMATION ABOUT IS-LAM. If you would like to know more

about Islam, please call: 99425598,

96050000, 99353988, 99253818,

99341395, and 99379133. For ladies:

99415818, 99321360, 99730723

Orvisit: www.islamfact.com

DRIVING

Window & split unit A.C servicing &

repairing. Contact 99557080

Split & window A.C servicing &

maintenance. Contact 96236476

FOR HIRE

50 seater bus with PDO

specification for rent or lease.

Contact 99839898

NRI

MATRIMONIAL

MATRIMONIAL

Jacobite boy, 28/175 fair, Diploma

working in Oman M4 ID - 4003130.

Contact 99097785 / 93977526

Kerala Nair boy 40 year old divor-

cee, pharmacist in Oman, looking for

suitable alliance from professionals.

Contact-93604151

Kerala Malankara Catholic girl

28/155 GNM, MOH Oman looking for

suitable match from Muscat /

Kerala (Pta dist) M4 ID 4002623.

Contact 96708960 /

95338210

We are looking for a Muslim Girl

for our son interested parents or

daughter May. Contact

97664009

Keralite Syrian Christian Parents

seeking alliance from any Syrian

Christian Denominations Gradu-

ated working girls preferably in

Oman or UAE for their son MBA

29/175-born brought up in Muscat

working in a reputed organization.

Contact 97226324

email: m4proposal@yahoo.com

MANPOWER

Canadian Manpower Co. Recruit-

ing Construction, Hotel, Medical,

Gas & Oil Staffs - 2 years contract,

work visa, tickets, accommodation.

Free recruitment. Please send CV to

margholdingoman@yahoo.com,

www.margholdingimmigration.com,

93392630

Available construction workers, hospital staff with Oman

parametric, housemaids

Indian, Uganda. Contact

9629417/98408488

Email: alkubratrading@gmail.com

2 Nos prime plots of 20cents

each in Haripad town Alapuzha

(Dist) Kerala for sales. Contact

98088064 / 0091944 6168866

I, Francesca Frenchell Fernades (holder of Indian passport No. G

6643200) D /O Mathias Cosmos

Fernandes having permanent

residence in 304, Jupiter Apts,

Yari Road, opp. St. Anthonys

High School, Versova, Andheri

(W) Mumbai - 400061 (complete

postal address in India) and pres-

ently residing in Al Khuwair, P.O.

Box 793, PC 112 Ruwi , Muscat,

Sultanate of Oman (complete post-

al address in Sultanate of Oman)

intend to marry Mr. Ajit Manjit

Joginder Gill (holder of Omani

Passport bearing No. 02799612)

S/o Manjit Singh Gill in Embassy

of India, Muscat. I swear that I am

marrying him at my own free will

and not under any duress and in-

timidation. Any objection towards

this marriage may please be com-

municated to Embassy of India,

Muscat, Diplomatic Quarters, Al

Khuwair, P.O. Box No. 1727, PC 112,

Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman within 30

(thirty) days of publications of this

newspaper advertisement.

Hindu Ezhava family, settled in

Muscat looking for suitable groom

working within Oman for their

daughter 25 yrs (MBA) working

with a reputed company in Muscat.

Contact : 98689663