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Mother’s heartache for her missing son

FAHAD AL GHADANIFahadnews@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: A distraught mother is still searching for her 24-year-old son who went missing in a boat accident in Qatar last December.

“It has been five months since my son has gone missing and I still have no news of his whereabouts. I have not stopped weeping for one moment since that incident,” says the mother of Saud Al Balushi.

Urging the authorities to put in more efforts to find her son, she

reminded them that “his two little children are waiting for him.”

Saud used to work with the Qa-tar Coast Guard and went missing near the shores of Ras Lafan in Doha in December last year.

“We are still waiting to hear about him,” said Yousif Al Balushi, a Majlis Al Shura member represent-ing Shinas and a relative of Saud.

Joint probe “A joint investigation team of the Sultanate and Qatar authorities was supposed to be formed but I

do not know what happened to the plans,” said Yousif.

“Saud and his friend were on a mission after the Qatari coast guard received news of the exist-ence of an unidentified object in the sea. The two officers went to investigate and reported back that it was a ship,” said Al Balushi.

Saud and his partner checked the ship and found nothing ille-gal onboard. They then report-edly sailed back to the coast guard point, he added.

“Soon the control room received a message that the boat with two officers was sinking and they need-ed help. A rescue team was sent to the spot and reached in ten min-utes but located only Saud’s part-ner who had reached the shore, according to investigations. When asked about Saud, his partner re-plied that he had no idea because the boat had started to sink,” said Al Balushi.

His mother revealed that all her son’s belongings were found in the sea but he has not been traced.

“He was supposed to provide a witness in the court a week after he had arrested some smugglers.

I think this is connected to that case, and he was kidnapped so that he could be silenced,” alleged Saud’s mother.

Another relative of Saud, who refused to be identified, believes the truth about Saud’s disappear-ance must come out.

“I cannot believe that Saud drowned because he was a good swimmer. I think someone took revenge against Saud for foiling drug smuggling attempts,” said the relative.

The relative hoped that the case should be solved at least for his children’s sake. “There are two children who do not know if their father will ever return,” he added.

Yousif Al Balushi had a meeting with Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, Qatar’s min-ister of state for interior affairs, ear-lier this year, who assured him that the Qatari government would spare no effort to search for Saud.

Saud was honoured many times by the Qatari Coast Guard for his commitment and dedication to his work, according to the Yousif Al Balushi.

Saud worked with the

Qatar Coast Guard and

went missing near the

shores of Ras Lafan

in Doha in December

last yearOmani citizen Saud Al Balushi.

OMR150m boost to Muscat power sectorA. E. JAMESbusinesseditor@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: A whopping OMR150 million investment has been planned by the Muscat Electricity Distribution Company (MEDC) for the next three years, until 2017, a top-level official of state-owned utility told the Times of Oman.

The company will invest OMR50 million per year as part of an ambitious investment plan from 2015 to 2017 to support a growing grid load and to reach out to more customers, Abdullah Al Badri, chief executive officer of the

MEDC told the Times of Oman in an interview, on the sidelines of an annual gathering of MEDC’s stakeholders.

“We are targeting around OMR50 million per annum for the coming three years for ex-panding our network and en-hancing capacity of our trans-mission system,” he added.

The additional investments are required for enhancing the distribution network to meet the power demand from additional customers in newly developed residential areas and to meet the increasing demand due to higher

intensity of consumption. Al Badri said the MEDC has a customer base of 260,000 and the number of customers is growing by 8 to 10 per cent per annum.

“Growth in demand for power is also more or less the same.” Oman’s average annual growth in power demand for the next seven years within the areas of the main inter-connected system is pro-jected at 10 per cent, from 2,592 megawatt in 2013 to 5,023 mega-watt in 2020, according to a seven-year outlook for power demand re-leased by Oman Power and Water Procurement Company. >A6

C A P A C I T Y E X P A N S I O N

Abdullah Al Badri, CEO of the MEDC. – Jun Estrada

A5Tourism sector to see more visitors, jobs

OMANBankDhofar assures accounts not hacked

2BankDhofar reassures customers saying its systems have not been

hacked. But ATM withdrawal was limited temporarily. >A6

MARKETSohar Port shipping links with South Asia

3 A new container ship called Messini started its new service to Sohar

Port, with the inaugural vessel reaching here on Friday. >B1

OMANStrict labour laws will hurt Omani economy

1It is important to realise that Oman cannot progress economically without the contribution of expatriates for a good number of years to come and strict labour laws will only serve to

limit the development of the country. >A2

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

Oman condemns Saudi blastMUSCAT: The Sultanate has condemned the blast targeting Al Anoud Mosque in Dammam in Saudi Arabia on Friday, which resulted in a number of deaths.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry has condemned the ter-rorist attack at Al Noud Mosque

in the city of Dammam leading to the death of a number of people.

The Sultanate reaffirms its commitment to condemn terror-ism in all forms and its full sup-port to Saudi Arabia in confront-ing such crimes against innocent people and humanity. —ONA

D A M M A M M O S Q U E A T T A C K

A2 S U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

OMAN

It is important to realise that Oman cannot progress economically without the contribu-tion of expatriates for a

good number of years to come and strict labour laws will only serve to limit the development of the country.

Tighter control of labour laws should not always be directed at expatriates. It would discourage the much needed talents and skills from abroad. The Sultanate has been propelled from an eco-nomically backward country to a modern nation in just 45 years. Much of this success has been contributed by the hard work of hundreds of thou-sands of expatriates who left their countries to build Oman. Those who think that the job is done need to think about the tasks ahead. As the wheel of development keeps rolling forward, the labour force will need to expand and Oman simply does not have enough home-grown talent and exper-tise to keep it rolling.

Moreover, Omanis do not reproduce fast enough to keep up with the business growth. Oman is the second largest

country in the Gulf Coopera-tion Council (GCC) with the population of only 2.3 million. More than 60 per cent of the country is not developed. Plans are already in the execu-tion stage to develop areas never touched by progress in the last 45 years. With OMR25 billion earmarked for the de-velopment projects from 2015 to 2020, some of this budget would be used to employ tens of thousands of workers for various positions. Oman can-not produce enough nationals to fill up all these jobs. The la-bour demand is just too big for a country that is planning to rely on graduates to take all the new positions. Besides, since all new projects on the anvil will have to go through a long phase of construction, most of the graduates will not work in the sun or in the open areas where the degree of comfort is severely limited.

Like in any other new high-tech projects such as in the en-gineering, financial or automa-tion, these jobs require years of experience that our graduates do not possess. There have been instances in the past when government ministries Omanised too fast by replacing expatriates too soon only to see the deterioration of quality in various services.

You cannot blame the pri-vate sector for trying to hang on to its expatriate workforce. They appreciate the impor-tance of nationalisation of jobs but not when it comes to for-feit value to customers. This does not mean that Omanis do not already contribute quality services. However, Oman is still in the economic trajectory and much is needed to be done.

With thousands of gradu-ates offering their services, their newly acquired knowl-edge is not enough. They need

guidance and training in new areas that can only be passed on to them from experienced expatriate workers.

For example, Oman is ranked among the best in the world in health services and communications. But such excellent achievements would not have been possible without huge contributions from the expatriates. It does not matter who is playing a pivotal role and who offers guidance in the right direction. Oman must see it as an important partnership of excellence that has no expi-ration date between nationals and expatriates.

Hence, various proposed restrictions imposed by the Ministry of Manpower on expatriate recruitment must be reconsidered.

Those laws which are already in force need to be looked at in a different light. Some expatriates, because of stifling existing regulations and uncertainty over their future, feel like they are part of a bad bargain with the chop coming down on them.

We must understand that an expatriate is part of the vision to sustain progress for a better tomorrow. Many Omanis take for granted a tailor at the end of the street or an electri-cian who turns up at the door when there is a power outage. Similarly, college teachers or doctors who fill the void when Omanis cannot plug in because they are not enough in number.

It would help if we see expa-triates as part of the local so-ciety and not just workers. To this end, Oman is not unique. All it is required to do is ac-cepting a simple fact — that the country needs to create a complete harmony among its workers, both Omanis and expatriates.

Strict labour laws will hurt country’s economy

COMMENTARY

SALEH AL SHAIBANY

SUNDAYBEAT

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

A3

OMANS U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

Private sector employs more than 200,000 insured Omanis

MUSCAT: Total number of in-sured Omanis working in the private sector until the end of last April reached 203,563 citi-zens with an increase rate of 0.7 per cent compared to the figures recorded last March.

The category of workers who receive salaries ranging between OMR325 – OMR400 recorded the highest numbers, while the highest percentage of increase was recorded in the category of workers who re-ceive salaries ranging between OMR1,000 to OMR2,000.

The latest statistics issued by the National Centre for Statis-tics and Information (NCSI) in-dicated that the number of male Omani citizens working in the private sector reached 156,679 persons, while the female citi-zens working in the private sec-tor reached 46,884 persons.

Compared to the figures re-corded last March, the category that receives insured salaries ranging between OMR325 – OMR400 decreased with 1.4 per cent, despite the fact that it still constitutes the highest number among the Omanis working in the private sector.

The number of Omani work-ers in this category reached 63,778 citizens (including 43,242 male workers; in addi-tion to 20,536 female workers).

Rise in high-end bracketOn the other hand, the category of the citizens who receive a sal-ary exceeding OMR2,000 wit-nessed the highest percentage of increase with 4.4 per cent.

The number of Omani work-ers in this category reached 7,003 citizens (including 6,240 male workers and 763 female workers). -ONA

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Oman, Iran shipping service is operational

STAFF REPORTER

Muscat: First ship operating un-der the direct shipping line agree-ment between Iran and Oman ar-rived at Sohar Port on Saturday, according to the Iran–Oman Joint Chamber of Commerce.

The ship had departed from the Iran’s Bandar Abbas port, and a

number of Iranian and Omani of-ficials attended the ceremony in Sohar, it said in a report.

Iran and Oman agreed to estab-lish a direct shipping line between the two countries to enhance maritime trade during the visit of an Omani business delegation, led by Said bin Saleh Al Kiyumi, chairman of Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), to Iran in late April.

According to the Iranian media, the agreement was signed between the chambers of commerce of Iran and Oman as well as an Iranian private sector shipping company.

Abdolhossein Khedri, CEO, Khedri Jahan Darya Shipping AG, the private Iranian company involved in the scheme, had said earlier that three vessels, includ-ing two container ships and a bulk carrier, will start making trips every 15 days in the initial phase.

Edwin Lammers, executive commercial manager, Sohar Port and Freezone, had earlier said that logistical support, in-cluding a regular shipping ser-vice, is the prerequisite for an increase in trade between Iran and other countries of the world, through Oman.

Iran and Oman

agreed to establish

a direct shipping

line to enhance

maritime trade,

during an OCCI

delegation visit

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Conquer your own ‘Mount Everests’, young students toldTimes News Service

MUSCAT: You must conquer your own personal “Mount Ever-ests”, Omani mountaineer Khalid Al Siyabi urged students here.

As part of its 40th year celebra-tions, the Indian School Mus-cat has started an interactive motivational talk series titled “My Story”, which will serve as a platform of interaction be-tween successful personalities and the students.

Khalid, the first Omani na-tional to conquer Mount Everest on May 23, 2010, delivered the motivational talk on Wednesday, May 20, 2015, at the new multi-purpose hall in the school. This was the second motivational talk in the series.

Al Siyabi took the students on a journey to the summit through a presentation and videos, and gave a step-by step experiential talk.

As he elaborated on the long and gruelling journey, he spoke of the importance of strength, determination and will power, along with and team work and planning. He emphasised the need to work hard and to never give up on one’s dreams.

M O T I V A T I O N A L T A L K

Khalid Al Siyabi emphasised the need to work hard and to never give up. – Supplied photo

4.4% is the increase in the number citizens who receive more than OMR2,000 salary

A4 S U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

OMAN

Core human values in focus as results of SAI-Times open essay, poster making competition announcedTimes News Service

MUSCAT: After a challenging three-tier evaluation process, the results of the 12th SAI and Times of Oman Open Essay Writing and Poster Making Competition were declared.

The competition was held for school children in co-operation with the Ministry of Education, on ‘Value themes’ under the banner of “Spreading The Light Through Human Values - 2015”.

From among 4,500 students who had registered for the event from 275 schools in Oman, 670 children made it to the list of prize winners.

SAI group congratulated the

winners and participants for their creative efforts and also their insti-tutions, families and friends who guided these children to participate in this value-based competition.

“Strictly speaking, every partici-pant is a winner as it has given an opportunity for each one to con-template on core human values, which by itself is an enriching ex-perience,” said a SAI coordinator.

The list of prize winners list has been uploaded in the website www.saivaluesoman.org. Three prizes are awarded in each group as well as in every category of schools in each region. In addition, consola-tion prizes are also given.

The award presentation cer-

emony for the Muscat Governo-rate will be held on Wednesday, June 3, at Indian School Al Ghu-bra (ISG) at 5.30 p.m. The win-ners are requested to be at the venue by 4.30 p.m.

Siddiqa Abdulmajeed Abdullah Al Lawati, director, International

Schools’ Office, Ministry of Educa-tion, will be the chief guest for the awards ceremony. Sadeq Jawad Sulaiman, renowned speaker and former ambassador of Oman to the US, will share his words of wisdom at this function.

Prizes for the winners of the

schools in the interior regions will be handed over to the schools through the MoE in the respec-tive regions. All participants will receive certificates, and these can be collected from the venue on the awards presentation day. The top three winning essays and posters will be on display at the ISG during the awards ceremony.

The contest was held in April in three phases in Muscat, Nizwa, Salalah, and Sohar, in addition to Sur and Buraimi for schools in the respective regions and elicited an enthusiastic response from the students of Omani Arabic, Omani Private (bilingual, monolingual and global), Special Education and

International Schools in Oman.The judges who evaluated the

entries were all praise for the children who displayed their writing and drawing skills in dealing with the topics ‘I love my garden’, ‘A good book is the best friend’, ‘Serve the society with humility’ and ‘Blessed Oman, Beautiful Oman’. Each entry was evaluated by three judges, drawn from amongst the professionals and experts in these areas, MoE officials as well as members of the SAI Group.

For further details, contact GSM: 9514 9226 or 9541 5950 or email: saitimesoman9@gmail.com and website www.saivaluesoman.org.

Y O U T H A C T I V I T Y

From amongst 4,500 students who had registered for the event from 275 schools in Oman, 670 children made it to the list of prize winners

Efforts to regulate fisheries sector Times News Service

MUSCAT: Plans are under way to implement a strategy for the fisheries sector which will focus on regulating marketing and ex-port elements, said Salim Abdul-lah bin Salim Al Rasbi, director general for Fish Marketing and Investment at the Ministry of Ag-riculture and Fisheries Wealth.

Speaking to Al Shabiba, the sis-ter publication of Times of Oman, Al Rasbi said that the ministry is currently implementing a stra-tegic plan for the fisheries sector which would encourage the sec-tor and reduce exports.

Big export basketReferring to the large amount of fish being exported, he said, “Fish that is not popular with the local consumers is exported.”

He added the export of fish yields an income to fishermen and ship owners and undoubted-ly increases the standard of living of fishermen.

According to 2014 statistics, 40,842 tonnes of different va-rieties of fish were exported to Dubai out of the total quantity of 211,000 tonnes caught.

The majority of these varie-ties include Al Oama, Al Khan, A’aifa and Sima, in addition to

Yawaf and Anfour, which are not favoured by local consumers de-spite their low prices.

The 25,208 tonnes supplied to other parts of the UAE includes Al Dhala’a, Al Saflaq, Saief Rundo and Al Bariya, in addition to Al Aqam, Sal Sagheer, Najrour and Habar. Biyah, Al Sha’ari, Al Kofer, Hamour and Al Sal Al Kabir are also exported to the UAE.

UAE top importer The UAE topped the list of coun-tries importing fish from Oman buying 41 per cent of the produce. The total quantity of fish in 2014 was 211,000 tonnes, of which 132,000 tonnes were exported and 79,000 tonnes consumed locally.

“The export of some types of fish is prohibited. However, in 2014 there were some violations which were spotted and 50 no-tices were issued,” said Al Rasbi.

Wholesale markets“To make fish available for local consumers, the ministry has ex-tended efforts to operate the fish wholesale markets in Barka, Al Ashkhara, Masira and Sur in or-der to provide the local fish sell-ers, restaurants and hotels and fish outlets with the opportunity to obtain the available quanti-ties,” he added.

I N I T I A T I V E GUtech students excel in ‘Fairy Tales’ project

Times News Service

BARKA: It was about telling their own stories by transforming a fairy tale, as the German department of German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech), held a student exhibition of German projects in this academic semester titled “Fairy tales at GUtech”.

Around 170 students who have been studying German for a year, participated in 34 different groups. GUtech students and staff visited the exhibition in GUtech building.

“Our students were asked to tell

their own stories by transforming a part of a famous fairy tale using different media like comic, video, poster, photo novel, architectural modelling or else,” said Andrea Cornelissen, German lecturer at GUtech and representative of the German Academic Exchange Ser-vice (DAAD) in Oman.

Several groups produced their own stories in movies such as ‘Rapunzel’, ‘Peter Pan’ or a ‘Cin-derella’ adaptation. “It was not so difficult for us. But I need to speak more German, the accent is very difficult,” said Taahira Khaleque, a computer science student, who will participate in a German lan-guage course at RWTH Aachen University in August this year.

“It is very interesting to learn German. We started studying this year only,” said engineering stu-dents Reem Al Maskari and Asma Al Alawi who designed and made their own board game.

“We are happy about the crea-tive outcome of the student pro-ject. Some students have put more efforts into the creative part than in the language. Therefore, we thought we need to showcase the results,” said Katrin Krause, course coordinator at the German department at GUtech.

The students were

asked to tell their

own stories by

transforming a

part of a famous

fairy tale using the

different media

ADDING A NEW DIMENSION: Engineering students, Reem Al Maskari and Asma Al Alawi, who designed and made their own board game. – Supplied photo

40,842 tonnes of different varieties of fish were exported to Dubai out of the total quantity of 211,000 tonnes caught, according to 2014 statistics

Ensure proper disposal of garbage.

Don’t litter a beautiful country like OMAN.

A5

OMANS U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

STAFF REPORTER

MUSCAT: Marking its onward development march, the travel and tourism sector has experienced year-on-year growth with all in-dicators pointing to increasing growth throughout the Sultanate, both in terms of visitor numbers and positive contributions to GDP and employment, says Oman Tour-ism Development Company’s (Om-ran), 2014 operating review.

“Visitor numbers are expected to rise steadily over the years. The government is currently develop-ing the right mix of infrastructure and quality services to accommo-date growing numbers of visitors. At Omran we are working hard to build capability and capacity with-in the sector in order to harness the Sultanate’s great potential as an in-ternational destination of choice,” said Omran Group CEO Eng. Wael Al Lawati.

According to Al Lawati, Omran conducted a comprehensive op-erational review, and a strategic restructuring plan was then sub-mitted to the board of directors to establish three new companies un-der the Omran umbrella.

The creation of the subsidiaries aims to allow greater specialisation

in a number of key functions and al-low Omran to grow and expand its strategic mandate as a master de-veloper and incubator of mega real-estate and tourism projects.

The three new companies now cover each of the key areas of Om-ran’s operations – Hospitality Man-agement, Heritage and Culture and Project Management.

The formation of the new com-panies comes after the separation of the legislative and development functions within the Ministry of Tourism, and the assignment to Omran for the ongoing responsi-bility for tourism-related project developments, asset management and operational services in Oman.

Master developerOmran was officially appointed as the master developer for Hay Al Irfan urban development last year. The master plan for the development, which is poised to be the largest mixed use development ever seen in the Sultanate, is underway and is

expected to be ready in Q1 2016.Meanwhile, construction work

on the Oman Convention and Ex-hibition Centre (OCEC) continues at a fast pace with major tenders worth OMR147 million awarded recently. The year 2014 also saw the soft openings of the celebrated Alila Jabal Akhdar Resort and Atana Musandam.

Both destinations have attract-ed significant attention and have pocketed a growing number of na-tional, regional and international awards and accolades.

In 2015, both hotels also became the first developments in Oman to be awarded with the prestigious LEED green building certification.

Steady progress has also been made on Omran’s highly antici-pated joint venture projects in-cluding Ras Al Hadd Develop-ment, Saraya Bandar Jissah and Al Baleed Resort.

When completed, these develop-ments will increase the tourism and real-estate offerings of the Sultanate

and strengthen the sector at large. Al Lawati stressed the impor-

tance of sustainable development as a roadmap for the future.

“Omran’s commitment to social responsibility goes hand in hand with our position as a corporate leader in the communities in which we operate. We work in harmony with our local communities on a number of projects and initiatives to support and promote local tal-ent. Nurturing local talent within Omran is also a key priority for the company with our current Om-anisation levels standing at 72 per cent,” said the official.

Omran’s sustainability initia-tives have been recognised nation-ally, regionally and internation-ally through a growing number of awards and accolades including Best Environmentally Friendly Project Award for the Marine life Campaign and Best Women’s Em-powerment Project for the Sewing Incubator project at the Asia CSR Awards 2014.

Al Lawati also expressed confi-dence on the steady progress of the sector, but highlighted the continu-ing need for partnerships and in-vestment from both the public and private sectors.

“Investing in hospitality and mixed-use developments today makes good business sense. Invest-ments lay solid foundations for a stronger travel and tourism sector, and thus, an increasingly diversi-fied and resilient economy in the coming years. Building capacity and capability of the sector is vital in order to accommodate grow-ing numbers of visitors arriving on our shores every year and ensuring that they will keep returning in the years to come,” he explained.

“It is not only visitors who will benefit from Oman’s growing tourism sector. Over the next ten years, the projected employment growth within Oman’s travel and tourism sector is set to increase 3.8 per cent annually, accord-ing to World Travel and Tourism

Council. These figures are a clear evidence of the sector’s increas-ingly important role in creating a sustainable future for young Omanis,” he said.

“Given Omran’s position as the nation’s developer for tourism and mixed-use destinations, it is quite pleasing to witness the steady in-crease in employment opportuni-ties as the travel and tourism sec-tor in the Sultanate continues to elevate its position on the world stage,” said Al Lawati.

Recent reports and publica-tions highlight a bright future for the sector. According to the 2015 World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, Oman is ranked ninth out of 141 nations in terms of tourism safety and security. Earlier this year, the New York Times named Oman as among the 52 top places to visit in 2015. In 2013 the Sultan-ate welcomed 1.9 million visitors with estimates placing the 2014 figure at well over 2 million.

The creation of the

subsidiaries aims

to allow greater

specialisation in

a number of key

functions

The government is currently developing the right mix of infrastructure and quality services to accommodate growing numbers of visitors

Eng. Wael Al LawatiOmran Group CEOGROWTH ENGINE: Over the next 10 years, the projected employment growth within Oman’s travel

and tourism sector is set to increase 3.8 per cent annually, according to World Travel and Tourism

Council. – Supplied photo

Steady increase in employment as tourism continues to grow

A6

OMANS U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

My passion for cooking started when I was 14 years old, and I

believe it is essential to ignite this passion as early as possible, so

I am delighted to be working with the young talent of the Al Bustan

Palace Culinary AcademyIssa Al Lamki, Oman’s first celebrity chef

Chef Issa to add Omani flavour to Iftar cuisine

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Oman’s first celebrity chef and renowned culinary afi-cionado Issa Al Lamki will join Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz-Carlton ho-tel, this Ramadan to help impart his vast gastronomic knowledge to the culinary students of the pa-latial resort, bringing an authen-tic flavour of Oman to its Iftar offering, and a unique Ramadan experience for guests.

Chef Issa will take to the kitchen to teach nine of the Om-ani students currently enrolled in the hotel’s Hospitality Acad-emy, launched in 2013 to develop young local talent, about tradi-tional Ramadan cuisine.

The training will culminate in a competition for the students to create their own signature Ram-adan dishes, with the winning three being served at the hotel’s lavish Iftars, alongside Chef Issa’s own Shuwa Madrooba dish, cre-ated exclusively for guests of Al Bustan Palace.

Chef Issa will act as head judge, alongside a panel of judges including a representative from

the Ministry of Tourism and the hotel’s new General Manager Katrin Herz.

Unique experience“We wanted to create a unique ex-perience for both our students and guests to celebrate Ramadan this year, and we are delighted to have Chef Issa on board to help provide Omani authenticity as well as the very best Ramadan cuisine. Our students are feeling incredibly inspired, and I am enormously ex-cited to be part of such a memora-ble initiative for my first Ramadan in the Sultanate,” said Herz.

Chef Issa Al Lamki added, “My passion for cooking started when

I was 14 years old, and I believe it is essential to ignite this pas-sion as early as possible, so I am delighted to be working with the young talent of the Al Bustan Palace Culinary Academy. For me, the winning dishes will combine traditional Omani Ramadan flavours, with the stu-dent’s own interpretation and creative touches.”

The competition will take place on June 9, 2015, and the three winning dishes will be available for guests to try throughout Ram-adan at the hotel’s Iftar at Al Khi-ran restaurant.

The lavish buffet will also in-clude live stations, with a vari-ety of Middle Eastern and inter-national cuisine, with further highlights including shuwarma, shuwa kebbeh and creative ‘hen-na’ cookies. A Sohour buffet will be served at the Beach Pavilion, where a variety of shisha will also be available.

Timings and prices for Rama-dan dining at Al Bustan Palace:

Iftar: Sunset – 10pm, OMR 18 for adults, including Ramadan beverages.

Al Khiran OMR 9 for children over 6 and below 12.

Sohour: 9pm – 2am, OMR 10. Beach Pavilion Shisha – OMR 5.

Oman’s first celebrity

chef will help nine

Omani students

currently enrolled

in the hotel’s

Hospitality Academy

in dishing out an

authentic Omani

flavour this Ramadan

GASTRONOMIC DELIGHT: The training will culminate in a contest

for students to create their own signature Ramadan dishes.

27 Darsait students score a perfect 10

S C I N T I L L A T I N G P E R F O R M A N C E

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Indian School Dar-sait (ISD) said it was proud of its students as they have achieved brilliant results in the CBSE Class X examinations held in March 2015.

The school expressed its de-light that it could produce a re-markable result with all the stu-dents eligible for higher studies.

Out of 204 students who ap-peared for the assessment, 27 scored a perfect 10 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA), 65 students got CGPA 9 and above, 59 students scored 8 to 8.8, 46 students got 7 to 7.8 while 7 stu-dents scored 6 to 6.8.

Following are the stars that really made the school scale the

heights with their scintillating performance of CGPA 10: Anziya N Shah, Sri Vrindha Rajesh, Swe-tha Madhan, and Aishwarya Anil, in addition to Greeshma Cyriac, Khansa Rahim, Pavanjeeth Bal-akrishnan and Amita, Athira Pradeep Kumar.

Daison Darlan, Manjul Shar-ma, Nima Begum and Reshma Bhasker, along with Christina James, Maria Rose Therese, Sreelekshmi Ben and Abhijith Ganapathy also scored a perfect 10. Aiswarya Prakash, Gopika Ganga Nair, Vishal George Jo-seph, Fahmidha Khalid and Hiba, in addition to Ann Mary Jose, Ab-hyarchi Harsh, Aiswarya Udaya-kumar, Anu Kulangara Justin and Ananthakrishnan P M, made up the rest scoring 10 in the CGPA.

< FROM

A1BankDhofar assures

accounts not hacked Staff Reporter

MUSCAT: BankDhofar has moved to reassure customers saying its systems have not been hacked.

“There were some fraud cases on a number of ATM cards and the issue has been communi-cated to customers. ATM with-drawal threshold was temporar-

ily limited to ensure transaction security and now it has been reinstated,” the bank reassured its customers through an offi-cial statement uploaded in its Twitter handle.

BankDhofar currently has a nationwide network of 68 branches and 145 ATMs and 52 CDMs across the length and breadth of the Sultanate.

O F F I C I A L S T A T E M E N T

Plan to build grids

These investments are also de-signed to enhance the reliability and security of power supply.

“We have plans to build a number of grid sub-stations in Muscat in collaboration with Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC). We have also commissioned several grid sub-stations in Al Amerat and are in the process of commissioning few others. These projects are managed by OETC.”

“Also, there are more than 10 primary sub-stations that are under development or have reached commissioning stage.”

According to Al Badri, some of the investments are for 30kV and 11kV networks that cater to the growth of customer demand. Al Badri said that the funds for the proposed investments are met by way of internal accruals and long-term borrowings from financial institutions.

Underground linesThe MEDC chief also noted that underground lines in the Muscat governorate are being planned only for the newly de-veloped areas and there is no plan to change existing over-head lines to underground lines.

Asked about a proposal to privatise the company, he said, “We are still in the consultancy stage.” A consortium of advi-sors led by Canada-based CPCS Transcom International Lim-ited is advising the government on privatising the MEDC.

The purpose of the study is to explore privatisation options and to assess the readiness of the MEDC for privatisation.

The consultancy agency will also look at whether the pro-posed privatisation will im-prove customer service and en-hance efficiency of company.

A D D I T I O N A L I N V E S T M E N T

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REGIONS U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

At least 71 civilians were killed, and dozens were

wounded, when regime helicopters dropped barrel bombs

on the city of Al Bab and in Al Shaar in east Aleppo city

Rami Abdel Rahman, Director, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights

UN envoy opens Yemen talks as coalition pounds rebels

SANAA: The UN envoy for Yemen on Saturday launched a mission to discuss stalled Geneva peace talks as Saudi-led coalition warplanes pounded rebel positions across the war-ravaged country.

In the southern province of Abyan, a car bomb blast killed 12

rebels and wounded eight others, a local official said.

Coalition warplanes launched deadly air strikes against rebel positions in the southern city of Aden, a military official said, with-out giving figures.

But 48 hours of fighting there

and rebel shelling with mortar rounds and Katyusha rockets killed nine people and wounded 132 others, a health official and a spokesman of anti-rebel forces in the port city said.

UN special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who flew in to Sanaa on Friday, said “all Yemeni parties must return to dialogue,” quoted by the rebel-held sa-banews.net.

A member of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s General Peo-ple’s Congress said the Maurita-nian diplomat met Saturday with “senior leaders” of the party for talks on the Geneva conference.

But the source said the envoy did not meet with Saleh himself, who lashed out at Saudi Arabia in an interview with a Beirut-based television channel broadcast on Friday. Saudi Arabia has been leading an air war since March 26 targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen

and allied forces loyal to Saleh. Clashes have also raged on the

ground between the rebels and lo-cal militia fighting their advance, especially in southern Yemen.

The Geneva conference had been due to take place on May 28 but has been postponed, in a fresh blow to UN efforts to end a con-flict estimated to have killed al-most 2,000 people. Speaking from Sanaa, Saleh said in the interview that he had rejected a Saudi offer of “millions of dollars” to drop his alliance with the Houthis.

Coalition warplanes struck a house of the ousted president in his home town of Sanhan, south of the capital, shortly after the inter-view was broadcast.

The former strongman no longer resides in his Sanhan home which has also been tar-geted in previous raids, and he is believed to be staying at a hotel in Sanaa. - AFP

A member of ousted

president Ali

Abdullah Saleh’s

General People’s

Congress said

a Mauritanian

diplomat met on

Saturday with

‘senior leaders’ of

the party for talks

on the Geneva

conference

WRECKAGE: A Houthi rebel stands amidst debris from the house

of Houthi leader Rafiq Rafiq, which was destroyed by a Saudi-led

air strike, near Sanaa on Saturday. - Reuters

Syria barrel bombs kill 71 civiliansALEPPO (Syria): Barrel bombs dropped from regime helicopters killed at least 71 civilians in Syria’s Aleppo province on Saturday, after forces loyal to President Bashar Al Assad retreated from the neighbour-ing northwestern region of Idlib.

Insurgents now control the vast majority of Idlib after Al Nusra Front —Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate — and its allies overran the last re-maining regime-held city and sur-rounding villages.

The Syrian Observatory for Hu-man Rights said “at least 71 civil-ians were killed, and dozens were wounded, when regime helicop-ters dropped barrel bombs on the city of Al Bab and in Al Shaar in east Aleppo city”. Rami Abdel Rah-man, the director of the Britain-based monitoring group, said 12 people were killed in rebel-held Al Shaar, including eight members of a single family. Al Bab lies about 40km northeast of Aleppo city and is controlled by the IS group. - AFP

W A R - T O R N

13 policemen among 16 killed in Egypt road crash

CAIRO: Sixteen people were killed, all but three of them Egyp-tian policemen, in a collision be-tween a police vehicle and a truck south of Cairo, authorities said on

Saturday. The accident happened on Friday night along a stretch of road in Beni Suef province about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the Egyptian capital.

The police vehicle, which was carrying conscripts, crashed into the truck, sending the two vehi-cles into a roadside canal, said medics and the police. - AFP

A C C I D E N T

A10

INDIA S U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

Veteran Congress leader Giridhar Gamang resigns from partyBHUBANESWAR: Former chief minister of the east Indian state of Odisha and nine-time MP Giridhar Gamang on Saturday an-nounced his resignation from the Congress alleging humiliation by the party which he served for over 43 years.

“I have sent my resignation let-ter to AICC president Sonia Gan-dhi. Since the time of Vajpayee government’s fall due to one vote in 1999, I have been humiliated and lost self respect. Though I voted against the Vajpeyee government in wake of a whip, the party did not come to my rescue at any point of time,” Gamang told reporters here.

Stating that he has not decided whether to join any other political party, Gamang said, “There is no

question of returning to Congress again after resigning from it.”

In his letter to Sonia Gandhi, Gamang said, “With a heavy heart and deep agony, I tender my resig-nation from the primary member-ship of the Congress. Please accept my resignation.”

Gamang, who was elected from Odisha’s Koraput Lok Sabha seg-ment eight times in a row from the 5th Lok Sabha in 1972, said he was again elected to the lower house of Parliament from the same seat in 2004 for the ninth time.

The Congress veteran had also been a union minister under the prime ministership of Indira Gan-dhi for one year and five years each under Rajiv Gandhi and P V Narasihma Rao.

However, the 1999 no-confi-dence motion against the then Vajpayee government became a turning point in his political life, Gamang said. Asked whether he will join any political party now, he called himself a “liability”.

“Why will any political party take me? I have been accused of defeating the Vajpayee govern-ment. Therefore, BJP may not ac-cept me. There is no question of joining any regional party (BJD),” he said.

Replying to a question whether he would float his new party, the prominent tribal leader said, “No.I will have my music party.” Gamang is an expert in playing “Changu”, a traditional musical instrument used by tribals of Koraput district.

Gamang said at present he was not affiliated to any political party though active in politics.

“I will never return to Congress. I have also not decided whether to join any party. I will consider if I get invitation from any party,” he said. Rejecting allegation that he breached party discipline, Ga-mang said he had never indulged in any anti-party activities.

“I have not even changed my constituency since 1972. Where is the question of changing the party? I am pained to resign from the par-ty,” he said.

Asked whether he quit Congress due to “pressure” from his son Si-sir, Gamang said, “No such pres-sure from any member of my fam-ily. I have not encouraged any of

my family members into politics.But he (Sisir) is doing politics on his own.” Gamang also explained his position in the letter to Sonia Gandhi narrating the situation un-der which he resigned.

Copies of the letter were circu-lated at the press meet.

“..from 1972 to 2015, long 43 years, I have served in different party posts in the Congress, as an MP, central minister, chief minis-ter. I have never uttered or made any statement against my leaders and Congress party. As a disci-plined party member I have never lost the patience nor deviated from the principle for the interest of my political life and interest in the Congress party,” he said in the let-ter to the Congress president. -PTI

N I N E - T I M E M E M B E R O F P A R L I A M E N T

BRIEFING: Former Odisha chief

minister Giridhar Gamang ad-

dressing the media after resign-

ing from the Congress party, in

Bhubaneswar on Saturday. - PTI

Case lodged against

Nestle, five others in

Maggi noodles row

BARABANKI (UP): A case was lodged on Saturday against Nestle India in a local court here over safety standards of its Maggi product, while actors Am-itabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Preity Zinta have also been separately dragged to the court for promoting the ‘two-minute’ noodles brand.

While the case against Nestle India and five others was filed by the UP food regulator FSDA (Food Safety and Drug Admin-istration), a local advocate filed a separate case against the three cine personalities.

“Following FSDA Commis-sioner P. P. Singh’s permission to file a case against Nestle India, a case has been filed in the court of ACJM (Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate) here,” Barabanki Food Safety Officer V. K.Pandey said.

The case has been lodged against the company’s Nestle Nagal Kalan Industrial Area unit (Haroli, Una in HP), Delhi-based Nestle India Limited, an Easy Day outlet in Barabanki and the Delhi-based parent firm Easy Day, as also against and their FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) managers,Mohan Gupta and Shabab Alam, Pandey said.

The FSDA had found mono-sodium glutamate and lead in excess of the prescribed limit in Maggi samples tested by it.

The FSDA had collected the samples from the Easy Day store in Barabanki and had sent the consignment for testing, which showed that the quantum of lead present was 17 times more than the stipulated limit, which is con-sidered hazardous.

The Union Consumer Affairs

Ministry has also asked the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to look into the matter.

The second case has been lodged by a local advocate in Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court against the cine stars for promoting Maggi noodles, saying they have been found to be harm-ful for public health.

There were no comments from the company.

Talking to newspersons, the advocate said he has lodged the case in the court of CJM against the three film stars who have claimed the instant noodles as healthy in TV promotions under sections 420, 272, 273 and 109.

He said these film stars have earned hefty sums by terming Maggi noodles as healthy in ad-vertisements and alleged “this wrong publicity amounts to malafide intentions and playing with the health of the kids and young people of the country”.-PTI

Q U A N T U M O F L E A D P R E S E N T

The Food Safety and Drug Administration had found monosodium glutamate and lead in excess of the prescribed limit in Maggi samples tested by it

‘Suit boot’ more acceptable than ‘suitcase’, says Modi

NEW DELHI: In a strong re-sponse to Rahul Gandhi’s ‘suit boot ki sarkar’ jibe, Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi has said “Suit boot is definitely more acceptable than suitcase.”

He also said that the conten-tious Land Acquisition Bill is not “a matter of life or death for me” and that he was prepared to ac-cept any suggestions.

“Suit boot is definitely more ac-ceptable than suitcase. After rul-ing for 60 years, the Congress has suddenly remembered the poor. People of this country have suf-

fered and remained poor due to shortsighted policies of the Con-gress,” he told ANI.

Hitting out at Congress, Modi said, “Did the coal and spec-trum scandals or the CWG fi-asco benefit the poor? Everyone knows who were the beneficiar-ies — some chosen industrialists and contractors.”

On the controversial Land Bill, the Prime Minister said in an in-

terview carried by The Tribune newspaper, “This is not a matter of life or death for me. And neither was it the agenda of my party or the government.”

His comments on the Land Bill assume significance as the Cabi-net today decided to promulgate the Ordinance on it for the third time. Modi said the opposition to the Land Bill is “totally unjusti-fied and unfortunate” as he argued

that the government has not made any changes for private industry.

“We have made changes only in response to demands of the states.The benefits of these changes will also accrue to the rural poor in terms of irrigation, housing, electrification, as well as better physical and social in-frastructure,” he said.

The Prime Minister also spoke about the controversy surround-

ing the ‘One-Rank, One-Pension’ (OROP) for ex-servicemen and told the newspaper, “We are com-mitted to OROP, but we are in con-sultation with defence personnel regarding the definition of OROP.

“Our government is here for five years and we cannot do anything without consulting the people concerned. The dialogue is being actively pursued.There is no need to have any doubt on this.” - PTI

The prime minister

says the Land

Acquisition Bill is

not a matter of life

or death for him and

that he was prepared

to accept any

suggestions

Did the coal and spectrum scandals or the CWG fiasco benefit the poor? Everyone knows who were the beneficiaries

Narendra ModiPrime Minister

NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi on Saturday made a blister-ing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of being in an “amazing hurry” to “grab” land from poor farmers by deciding to repromulgate the Land ordi-nance for the third time.

“Modi ji in an amazing hurry to grab land from poor farmers at any cost. A 3rd attempt at pushing the anti farmer Land Ordinance!”

“Congress Party will continue to fight for the rights of the kisan and mazdoor against this #suitbootkisarkar”, Rahul said in tweets. The reaction of Gandhi, who has led the Congress campaign against the Land bill, came hours after the Union Cabinet at a meeting decided to recom-mend repromulgation of the controversial ordinance for the third time. - PTI

Modi in an ‘amazing hurry’ on land ordinance: Rahul

e-Library and Swayam portal to help achieve zero illiteracy

NEW DELHI: Union HRD Min-ister Smriti Irani on Saturday said the setting up of a national e-library and project ‘Swayam’ were among the many steps being taken by the government to achieve the target of zero illiteracy in the country.

“India is making significant changes in the next six months.The first mega project is the na-tional e-library wherein the IITs (Indian Institute of Technology), IIMs (Indian Institute of Manage-ment), NCERT (National Coun-cil for Educational Research and Training) and also the National Archives will be pooled in,” Irani said in the 90-minute programme ‘Talkathon’, organised by the infor-mation and broadcasting ministry.

“On one platform, maximum ed-ucation resources will be provided.Even the Saarc (South Asian Asso-ciation for Regional Cooperation) nations have asked us to extend these resources to them and we are doing it,” she said.

Irani said that providing quality higher education was a challenge and therefore the government was on the verge of starting the “Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds” (Swayam) online portal that will bring together IIT, IIM, CBSE, NIOS, and other insti-tutes to provide free, quality educa-tion to classes 9 to 12. - IANS

M E G A P R O J E C T

Bollywood actor Salman Khan gives a speech during the Arab Indo

Bollywood Awards ceremony early on Saturday in Dubai. Salman

Khan’s five-year prison sentence for killing a homeless man with

his SUV after a night out drinking 13 years ago was suspended on

May 8, and had obtained a court permission to travel to UAE. - AFP

SCAN THIS TO VISIT

PHOTO GALLERYARTICLE,

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

A11

INDIAS U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

Monsoon to miss normal date as advance sluggish

NEW DELHI: The onset of southwest monsoon over south Indian state of Kerala has been delayed from the date forecast by the Met department due to its “sluggish” pace.

The normal date for onset of monsoon over Kerala is June 1. It also marks the official onset on rains in the country.

This year, the Indian Mete-orological Department (IMD) had predicted that it will hit the southern state on May 30.

According to Skymet, a private forecasting agency, monsoon ar-rived over Andaman and Nicobar Islands on May 16, three days pri-or to the onset date.

Since then, the advance has been slow. By May 21, the south-west monsoon advanced over Bay of Bengal touching southern parts of Sri Lanka. But here on, the monsoon stagnated for a week.

“The Arabian Sea branch of the southwest monsoon made very slow advance and is yet to reach the extreme southern tip (Kerala) of India. Cloud build up on either side of the sea was looking prom-ising till a few days back for the timely onset over Kerala.

However, it slowed down as

the cloud pattern became a lit-tle diffused and unorganised,” Skymet said.

However, the IMD has refused to call it a delay, but said that the progress was sluggish.

“As per our forcast, there is +/- difference of four days, which is from May 27 to June 3.

“At this moment, monsoon has already entered the Arabian Sea, crossed Sri Lanka and entered the Bay of Bengal. We are closely monitoring its progress. Dur-ing the progress of monsoon, it is often observed that its pace var-ies,” said Krishnanand Hosalikar, Deputy Director, IMD.

But pre-monsoon rain is still being observed in Karnataka and Kerala.

“In the last 24 hours, Karnataka has observed good rainfall. Kerala too experienced good rains on May 28 with Pampakuda in Er-nakulam district recording 55mm of rains. Udayanampuram in Kot-tayam district received 37mm of rains while Mundathicode in Thrissur observed 30mm of rainfall. On May 29, the rainfall activity in Kerala became mini-mal with isolated places receiving

very light rain. “However, in the last 24 hours, some rainfall has been observed in the state but the weather activity has been patchy in nature, which is not the characteristic of monsoon,” Skymet added.

Crucial for sowingThe timely onset of the south-west monsoon is crucial for sow-ing of kharif (summer) crops such as paddy and a deficit in rainfall may hit output.

Agriculture, which contributes only 15 per cent to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but em-ploys about 60 per cent of popula-tion, is heavily dependent on the monsoon as only 40 per cent of the cultivable area is under irri-gation. Last year, the country had received 12 per cent less rains, which hit production of grains, cotton and oilseeds.

Agriculture growth stood at 0.2 per cent in 2014-15 fiscal. Accord-ing to the government’s estimate, total foodgrains production has declined to 251.12 million tonnes in 2014-15 crop year (July-June) from a record production of 265.04 million tonnes last year.- PTI

The normal date for

onset of monsoon

over Kerala is June

1. It also marks the

official onset on

rains in the countryDELAYED: Monsoon clouds hover over the Mumbai skyline near

Marine Drive sea-face side on Friday. - PTI

‘Not enough being done to bring black money’

AHMEDABAD: Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday said he had written to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting ways to bring the black money back, and the pre-sent measures were not enough.

“I have written a letter to the Prime Minister on how we can bring it back. But our Finance Minister (Arun Jaitely) is a law-

yer who says this is not right or that is not right,” Swamy said, speaking at an event organ-ised by the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GCCI) here.

“Whatever should have been done by now has not been done.But it will be done soon, because Prime Minister Modi’s patience has some limits, and today he

spoke on the issue. I have trust,” he said. “Whatever is happening at present, it will not serve the purpose. The latest bill on black money is only a tax evasion pun-ishment bill....This bill is neces-sary but there is no reason to think that only this bill will do every-thing. Whatever is being done in Parliament will not get the black money back,” he said. - PTI

S U B R A M A N I A N S W A M Y ’ S L E T T E R

Mild tremors felt in DelhiNEW DELHI: Mild tremors were felt on Saturday in the na-tional capital and neighbouring areas on Saturday triggering panic as people living in high-rises rushed out of the buildings.

According to IMD, the earth-quake was epicentred in Japan and measured 7.9 on the Richter Scale, whose mild shocks were felt in Delhi. - PTI

E A R T H Q U A K E

This is to inform that Mr. Devendra Kumar Mishra Indian Passport Number: G6258085 was working with us as Asst. Manager-Vehicle sales, is no longer connected with Towell Auto Centre LLC. Therefore the company will not be responsible for any transactions made by the above mentioned person from May 11, 2015 onwards.

NOTICE

Towell Auto Centre LLC

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T I M E S O F O M A NA12

After World War I, when millions of European civilians were made refugees, forced out of their home-lands by enemy occupation or de-portation, an international regime was developed to coordinate effec-tive responses and ease the suffer-

ing of those who had been uprooted. A century later, another refugee crisis is underway, and this time, it is Europe that has the power to provide safe haven to desperate people. Yet it has not risen to the occa-sion, with many of its responses failing to match the urgency of the situation.

In just the first few months of 2015, more than 38,000 people have attempted to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa. Some 1,800 people have died as a result — more than twice the number of such deaths in all of 2013.

Disappointingly, many Europeans have responded to this humanitarian crisis, which closely resembles the one that Europe endured a century ago, by oppos-ing their countries’ acceptance of any more refugees. How quickly we forget our past.

Worse, some Europeans want us to forget. Today’s sentiment has been fuelled by populist parties posi-tioning themselves as guardians of national identity. Europe, they argue, faces a mass influx that threatens to place even greater strain on its economies, labour markets, and cultures. One does not have to look back a century to see how dangerous the consequences of such rhetoric can be.

But the populists’ narrative is not just inflamma-tory; it is false. Although it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the drivers of displacement, data from the United Nations refugee agency show that at least half of those trying to reach Europe from North Af-rica are fleeing from war and persecution. The Inter-national Organization for Migration, together with Italy’s navy, has determined that this year’s migrants hail mainly from Eritrea, Gambia, Nigeria, Somalia, and Syria — countries where conditions entitle their citizens to request asylum.

In short, this is a crisis not of immigrants, but of ref-ugees — and it is showing no sign of slowing. Indeed, with instability and violence plaguing much of North Africa and the Middle East, the decline in armed con-flict since World War II seems to have slowed — and could even reverse.

The international community is legally bound to protect those who are being forced to flee their homes by conflict and persecution. Given Europe’s history and values — not to mention its proximity to some of the beleaguered populations — it has a special obliga-tion to contribute to this effort.

But Europe is not the only region that has been bur-dened by today’s migration flows — or even the most affected. Nine out of ten refugees do not leave their region, fleeing to countries very close to or bordering their own. The Jordanian refugee camp Zaatari alone

shelters more than 82,000 people; if it were an official city, it would be among the country’s most populous. Lebanon, a country of just 4.5 million people, has taken in an estimated 1,116,000 refugees — roughly equivalent to the population of Brussels.

Given this, it is difficult to justify Europe’s failure to agree on a system of relocation and resettlement for a total of, say, 20,000 refugees this year, distributed among 28 countries according to individual quotas. Indeed, many European countries have accepted very few refugees so far, making their inaction even more difficult to comprehend. Spain and Greece, for exam-ple, have each accepted only about 4,000 — a meagre amount, when compared to Jordan or Lebanon.

A quota-based agreement could help to disperse the burden across European countries. As it stands, major differences among countries’ asylum policies have meant major disparities in refugee numbers. Indeed, just four countries — France, Germany, Italy, and Sweden — accounted for two-thirds of all refu-gees accepted in Europe last year.

When a network of human traffickers turns the Mediterranean into a mass grave, Europe cannot simply turn away. Instead of succumbing to de-structive populism and dishonourable isolation-ism, Europe’s leaders must commit to fulfilling their legal and moral responsibility to help the refugees — and, of course, to explain to their citizens why this is so important.

Such an effort would require every European country — not just those situated on the Mediterra-nean — to contribute resources to support large-scale search-and-rescue operations. Border control cannot be the only — or even the primary — objective.

Beyond helping to manage the crisis today, Europe must commit to helping fragile and conflict-affected countries overcome the challenges they face, im-prove their citizens’ wellbeing, and build thriving economies. To retain its moral and political au-thority, the European Union — perhaps the most compelling example of how cooperation can sup-port peace and prosperity — must implicate itself beyond its frontiers in a sincere and determined way, reaching mutually beneficial agreements with its southern neighbours.

Behind almost every request for asylum that an EU country receives is a human tragedy — a micro-histo-ry of violence, fear, and loss. The goal of the asylum-seekers is not to reach Europe; it is simply to escape conflict and persecution. And they should be able to.

Last century — in both world wars — Europeans were the ones fleeing from persecution. With the number of displaced people now at levels unseen since World War II, Europe has a responsibility to recall its history. And it should take the opportu-nity to respond to today’s refugee crisis as it would have liked the world to respond to its suffering — and to prove that the EU’s value extends far beyond its borders. - Project Syndicate

Alas! Europe today is forgetting its past

The international community is legally bound to protect those who are being forced to flee their homes by conflict and persecution. Given Europe’s history and values — not to mention its proximity to some of the beleaguered populations — it has a special obligation to contribute to this effort

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)

REFUGEE AMNESIA

The appointment of Professor Louise Richardson to be vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford is significant for a number of reasons. First, she is a distinct outsider, as an

Irishwoman moving from a Scottish university, St Andrews. She may well bring some fresh thinking to an institution that can tend towards insularity. Second, of course, is that she is the first female to hold this important position. It is a shame that this particular glass ceiling has not cracked before, during the post’s near 800-year history, but we hope that the verdict in the senior common rooms will be “better late than never”. Professor Richardson faces a number of challenges. Of particular interest to those outside the university is what she will be able to do to encourage social mobil-ity. Oxford has long stated its ambition to open itself up to bright students from less-privileged backgrounds, but with mixed results. There is little the university can do to influence state secondary education, but the new vice-chancellor will soon have an opportu-nity to pass some sort of verdict on the past 25 years of dizzying reform and counter-reform in our schools.

Second, the vice-chancellor needs to take a lead in tackling what appears to be some surprisingly rife sexual harassment. For obvi-ous reasons, she may be listened to when she raises this ugly sub-ject with her colleagues. Third, she needs to lobby Government to ensure that the university receives the funding it needs to remain a world-class institution, whether from fees or elsewhere. As some colleges have found at some cost to their reputations, academic ex-cellence and pioneering research can never be taken for granted. As a federal university where almost all of the real power rests with the 44 colleges and halls, Professor Richardson will have to rely on her powers of persuasion to effect real change. - The Independent

A happy appointment

What a bad week it was for President Obama’s immigra-tion policies, and for millions living in limbo in the United States. A federal appeals panel swatted down Obama’s lat-

est executive actions to limit deportations — key elements of his strat-egy to mend a broken immigration system through administrative fixes after a Republican House strangled full-scale legislative reform. It was the second time Republican-appointed judges, with partisan ef-ficiency, picked apart what the administration said was a rock-solid legal argument for using its discretion to protect more than four mil-lion people from being deported. This is the month that these millions were supposed to begin lining up to tell the authorities: Here we are, sign us up. But because 26 states sued to block Obama’s plans, the im-migrants, instead of receiving permission to legally stay and work, are left holding nothing but unmet promises, their lives as anxious and uncertain as ever.

So what is Plan C? The administration faces a tangle of options. It says it still expects to win its case, probably not with the district judge, whose decision included many pages of railing against Obama “lawlessness,” but maybe in the Republican-dominated Court of Ap-peals for the Fifth Circuit, or in the Supreme Court. This litigation’s journey will last well into next year, possibly beyond. What lies over that horizon, who knows. While it waits and frets, the admin-istration still has an obligation not to quit. Obama should follow through on his oft-stated commitment to do all he can to make the immigration system more humane.

This means making sure that his original 2012 programme, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which shields im-migrants brought here illegally as children, works as planned. It has not been blocked by any court, and many young people — per-haps 90,000 a year — are still free to make use of it as they reach the age of eligibility. The administration’s revised enforcement priori-ties — in line with Obama’s promise to focus on deporting serious criminals, not workers and parents who pose no threat — still need to be honoured.

Simultaneously, Obama and the Homeland Security secretary, Jeh Johnson, need to keep throttling back their turbocharged deportation effort, which at times has exceeded 400,000 a year. The administra-tion deported about 360,000 people in fiscal 2014, and the total looks to be lower this year. But there is still much further to go, and there are still too many worries in immigrant communities that minor scrapes with the law will continue tearing families apart.

A new Obama enforcement effort — the Priority Enforcement Pro-gramme, or PEP — promises to keep the focus on dangerous immigra-tion violators, but it still maintains a troubling link between federal authorities and local law-enforcement agencies, whose cops and dep-uties should not be part of any deportation dragnet. - The New York Times News Service

What is US president’s Plan C for immigration?

J AV I E R S O L A N A

Some taxi drivers try to take advantage of heatThis refers to the news story, Scorching heat takes toll on people’s health (May 30). Some taxi drivers in Muscat don’t bother to pick up the passengers. It’s too hot and some people are forced to wait for 20 to 25 minutes for a taxi. The taxi drivers are taking a advantage of the weather conditions and the disadvantage of those who do not have a private vehicle. Taxi drivers are fleecing such people, which is really bad. Good human beings can never act like this.Justin SanctusMuscat

Give the workers resting place to cool themselves This refers to the news story, Scorching heat takes toll on

people’s health (May 30). I hope the authorities will ensure that there are resting facilities built for the construction and other workers so that they can rest a for a while during the midday break and cool their bodies. We need to show them kindness and perhaps undertake drinking water distribu-tion as well.Parvi PonambalamMuscat

Excessive heat retention in body can lead to fatalitiesThis refers to the news story, Scorching heat takes toll on people’s health (May 30). The summer this year in Oman and elsewhere in the Middle East is particularly scorching. It may be so because of the El Nino effects. Excessive heat retention in the body can lead

to fatalities at high temperatures. After a certain temperature, things become difficult to manage and the affected people need intensive care. I feel that climate change is the main cause of these unbearable heat conditions.Anu ShaikhWadi Kabir

Some parts of Muttrah are affected by water crisisWater shortage in some parts of Muttrah has become a permanent problem for people. The supply gets disrupted once or twice a week and because the pressure re-mains low the water never flows to the overhead tanks. With the holy month of Ramadan approaching, this problem needs attentionS. A. S Bukhari Al Washal

The roots of terrorism spreading across AfricaThe war on terror of George W. Bush and Tony Blair, carried on by Barack Obama, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, has not made us any safer. For us, the com-mon people, the world is fast turn-ing into a huge death trap. We do not know when and where terror will strike and snuff our lives out.A large part of the world seems to have become the new battleground and cradle of terrorism. The roots of terrorism are spreading faster than imagined in the African con-tinent. Africa now offers extrem-ism the right ground to survive and flourish. Concerted efforts are required to root out the menace of terrorism from the world.Haitem Azaiba

READERS’ FORUM

Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the bodySENECA

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 S U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5T I M E S O F O M A N A13

Britain has a schizoid rela-tionship with its European neighbours. The former

French president, Charles de Gaulle, recognised this symptom when he met Conservative Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, during 1962. Addressing this personality problem, de Gaulle rejected Britain’s bid for mem-bership of the European Eco-nomic Community (EEC).

Edward Heath who led these earlier negotiations eventually took Britain into the EEC as Con-servative prime minister. The British public later voted to re-main part of Europe in the only in/out membership referendum to date; held during 1975.

Margaret Thatcher negotiating a financial rebate from the EEC set the single European market in motion. This change of European political direction was never sub-ject to a British referendum. The public where never empowered to democratically endorse the single market, as a price worth paying for Britain’s financial rebate.

Instead the rebate was sold to the public as financial victory over Europe, with the tabloid press and Conservative supporting broad-sheets hailing this as Thatcher’s

success. A few years later she signed the Single European Act, which created the single Europe-an market - one of the biggest acts of European integration.

As the single market gained mo-mentum the Maastricht Treaty brought another British Conserv-ative prime minister into conflict with the EEC and his own party. John Major skilfully secured opt outs from this important treaty: specifically on border controls.

Faced with the possibility of ever closer political integration a referendum is now being offered. This referendum, advanced in the Conservative’s recent elec-tion programme, was designed to limit the political threat from the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP).

David Cameron has staked his political reputation on secur-ing meaningful EU reform prior to placing an in/out referendum before the electorate. Two years were originally allocated for this EU renegotiation.

Rather than 2017, May 2016 is now touted as a possible EU ref-erendum date. This provides little time for meaningful negotiations to materialise reforms, which can be agreed by Cameron’s European

colleagues; particularly since Britain is not at the political cen-tre of Europe.

Following Thatcher’s single market agreement, holding this rushed EU referendum thirty years later is risky. Cameron is right to hold a referendum to settle this Thatcher legacy, but wrong to hurry potentially com-plex restructuring negotiations with his European colleagues.

Cameron’s renegotiation haste may unite France and Germany whilst alienating smaller Euro-pean states. This in turn may split his Conservative Party as has of-ten occurred in the past.

To hold his party, and govern-ment, together Cameron may ul-timately oppose Britain’s contin-ued EU membership; urging the electorate to vote ‘No’ in favour of a straightforward trade arrange-ment with Europe.

With any luck this impending referendum may finally resolve the Conservative Party’s EU per-sonality disorder.

The author is a freelance contribu-tor based in Britain. All the views and opinions expressed in the arti-cle are solely his and not of Times of Oman.

MASARRAT WATER PROJECTS TO BEGIN SOON MUSCAT: The execution works of Khudh Al Masarrat water lane projects in Dhahira region will begin within a few months. The project will meet the requirements of a number of wilayats of the region for drinking water. The tender board had awarded the tender to an Egyptian contracting company with a local company to execute the work for an amount of RO 26,564,377. His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said gave instruc-tions to execute the projects in 1994 during his meeting with sheikhs and dignitaries of Dhahira region. In response to these directions, a ministerial committee was formed comprising the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of National Economy and the Ministry of Electricity and Water to conduct a study of the projects and to adopt necessary steps. It is expected that the minister of water resources will sign an agree-ment with the executing company in the coming month.

FROM OUR ARCHIVES

One well-informed TV anchor, who threw broad hints at names, claims that three worried media tycoons, who are otherwise bitter rivals, had a secret rendezvous before the Axact scandal surfaced to strategize the unravelling of the behemoth-to-be

The story about Karachi-based entity Axact, masquerading as the “world’s leading IT company”, but effectively running a fake-

degree mill whose scale of fraud beyond borders is admittedly astounding, has been well told over the last fortnight to bear repetition.

The ‘who’ was never in question. But from Ax-actly what and Axactly where to Axactly when and Axactly how, the pun is sweeping!

It is a scam that has shaken the Pakistani media scene to the core. The jarring breaking news/alert din on the telly ad nauseum has put everything else in the shade. The range and depth of issues far more critical in import that have been lost to the circus is spectacular. Not that the media moguls care.

Coming from Declan Walsh, the affable New York Times Pakistan bureau chief, who lit the bonfire with one of the most damning accounts of his ‘Pakistan’ career (he was the Guardian’s cor-respondent for Pakistan from 2004-2011 be-fore the NYT hired him in 2012), there is even a joke doing the rounds: beware the scorn of the once-scorned!

Walsh was expelled from Pakistan in 2013 on the eve of the general elections for “undesirable activities” — a ruse for probably going too far (but the stick was intended for uncovering a different subject: apparent subterfuge surrounding the controversial drone programme).

Seriously though, the Ireland-born Walsh is widely respected and enjoys camaraderie with hacks in Pakistan and last week even expressed a wish to return. But where the Axact exposé has won him plaudits, it has exposed the failure of those who matter in Pakistan — whether in the media or government — to do their homework, and do so in an above-board mien.

For the uninitiated, rumours about fishy business — if not exactly in the mould of a bi-zarre bazaar that Axact has turned out to be — were legion, and have been for a number of years. Zahid Gishkori, a bright young reporter from daily The Express Tribune, for instance, did make an attempt to wade into this territory in 2010, but barely managed to go unscathed given the power and reach of the accused. A court case is still pending!

But then, Bol, the much vaunted subsidiary of Axact, hyper-billed as Pakistan’s largest media enterprise hadn’t happened — technically, it still hasn’t, and even its test transmission was nixed

by the usually staid Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority on cue from the Ministry of Information last Thursday.

It wasn’t until Bol began to cause tremors across the media landscape by cherry-picking the who’s who of the industry with astronomical packages and unheard of perks that the tycoons began to sweat, and then, get down and dirty. Bol snared not only the crème de la crème, but also hundreds of other less sung employees following their lead. And, their unsuspecting pipe dream.

One well-informed TV anchor, who threw broad hints at names, claims that three worried media tycoons, who are otherwise bitter rivals, had a secret rendezvous before the Axact scan-dal surfaced to strategize the unravelling of the behemoth-to-be.

Ever since the damning report, the private media — predominantly electronic— has gone on a rampage: apparently, demonizing Axact, but exorcising Bol in spirit. This is particularly true of the two top media houses frenziedly trying to outdo each other in running down their object of ire with ruthless, if lopsided, diatribes.

It prompted Federal Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan to famously suggest that “only God could save those who the media picks on.” The government’s own alacrity in moving against Ax-act against its usually inert streak betrays an eye for political profit from blowing with the wind.

But while the said media houses’ heightened sense of insecurity surrounding Bol is manifest in the utterly crass indulgence to go for the kill by misusing their mediums— the sheer hypocrisy is palpable: the same entities have themselves long indulged in questionable practices; both in how they built their empires and compromising media ethics for personal and financial gain.

While there are no two opinions about why Ax-act must face the full scope of the law and those responsible duly punished, the saddest part of the unraveling is the fate of more than 2,000 media practitioners, who were lured by better prospects to Bol, but are now stranded.

To escape a spell in the wilderness, they may have little choice but to return to the wolf’s lair, any which one. Back to Square One, I dare say, never had a more resounding surround sound.

The author is a senior journalist based in Islama-bad. All the views and opinions expressed in the article are solely his and not of Times of Oman.

The degree of Machiavellian scheming — to be Axact!

TODAY IN HISTORY1433 Sigismund is crowned emperor of

Rome. 1862 At the Battle of Fair Oaks, Union

General George B. McClellan defeats Confederates outside of Richmond.

1900 US troops arrive in Peking to help put

down the Boxer Rebellion.

1902 The Boer War ends with the Treaty of Vereeniging.

1915 A German zeppelin makes an air raid

on London.

1916 British and German fleets fight in the Battle of Jutland.

HISTORYNET.COMGraphicsGraphic News /Source: AccuWeather, BBC Weather, wire agencies

Killer heatwave to continue into weekendMore than 1,400 people have died as India’s unrelenting heatwave refuses to abate. Temperatures are set to remain high for several more days

WEATHER FORECAST

15 20 25 30 35Daytime temperature (°C)

40

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Cairo

KhartoumSana’a

Baghdad

Hyderabad

INDIA

IRAN

YEMEN OMAN

UAE

PAKISTAN

ArabianSea

Bay ofBengal

AFGHANISTAN

TURKMENISTANTURKEY

SAUDIARABIA

EGYPT

SUDAN

IRAQSYRIA

Mumbai

TehranKabul Islamabad

New Delhi

KarachiRiyadh

500km

4537

37

42

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34

3038

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America remains, de-spite the damage in-flicted by the Great

Recession and its aftermath, a very rich country. But many Americans are economically insecure, with little protection from life’s risks.

They frequently experience financial hardship; many don’t expect to be able to retire, and if they do retire have little to live on besides Social Security.

Many readers will, I hope, find nothing surprising in what I just said. But all too many affluent Americans — and, in particular, members of our political elite — seem to have no sense of how the other half lives.

Which is why a new study on the financial well-being of US households, conducted by the Federal Reserve, should be required reading inside the Beltway.

Before I get to that study, a few words about the callous obliviousness so prevalent in our political life.

I am not, or not only, talking about right-wing contempt for the poor, although the domi-nance of compassionless con-servatism is a sight to behold.

According to the Pew Re-search Centre, more than three-quarters of conserva-tives believe that the poor “have it easy” thanks to gov-ernment benefits; only 1 in 7 believe that the poor “have hard lives.”

And this attitude translates into policy. What we learn from the refusal of Republi-can-controlled states to ex-pand Medicaid, even though the federal government would foot the bill, is that punishing the poor has become a goal in itself, one worth pursuing even if it hurts rather than helps state budgets.

But leave self-declared conservatives and their con-tempt for the poor on one side. What’s really striking is the disconnect between centrist conventional wisdom and the reality of life — and death — for much of the nation.

Take, as a prime example, positioning on Social Security. For decades, a declared will-ingness to cut Social Security benefits, especially by raising the retirement age, has been almost a required position — a badge of seriousness — for pol-iticians and pundits who want to sound wise and responsible.

After all, people are living longer, so shouldn’t they work longer, too?

And isn’t Social Security an old-fashioned system, out of touch with modern eco-nomic realities?

Meanwhile, the reality is that living longer in our ever-more-unequal society is very much a class thing: life expec-tancy at age 65 has risen a lot among the affluent, but hardly at all in the bottom half of the

wage distribution, that is, among those who need Social Security most.

And while the retirement system FDR introduced may look old-fashioned to affluent professionals, it is quite liter-ally a lifeline for many of our fellow citizens.

A majority of Americans over 65 get more than half their income from Social Se-curity, and more than a quar-ter are almost completely reli-ant on those monthly checks.

These realities may finally be penetrating political de-bate, to some extent. We seem to be hearing less these days about cutting Social Security, and we’re even seeing some attention paid to proposals for benefit increases given the erosion of private pensions.

But my sense is that Wash-ington still has no clue about the realities of life for those not yet elderly. Which is where that Federal Reserve study comes in.

This is the study’s second year, and the current edition actually portrays a nation in recovery: in 2014, unlike 2013, a substantial plurality of re-spondents said that they were better off than they had been five years ago.

Yet it’s startling how little room for error there is in many American lives.

We learn, for example, that 3 in 10 nonelderly Americans said they had no retirement savings or pension, and that the same fraction reported going without some kind of medical care in the past year because they couldn’t afford it.

Almost a quarter reported that they or a family member had experienced financial hardship in the past year.

And something that even startled me: 47 percent said that they would not have the resources to meet an unex-pected expense of $400 — $400! They would have to sell something or borrow to meet that need, if they could meet it at all.

Of course, it could be much worse. Social Security is there, and we should be very glad that it is.

Meanwhile, unemployment insurance and food stamps did a lot to cushion unlucky fami-lies from the worst during the Great Recession.

And Obamacare, imper-fect as it is, has immensely reduced insecurity, especially in states whose governments haven’t tried to sabotage the programme.

But while things could be worse, they could also be better. There is no such thing as perfect security, but American families could eas-ily have much more security than they have.

All it would take is for poli-ticians and pundits to stop talking blithely about the need to cut “entitlements” and start looking at the way their less-fortunate fellow citizens actually live. - The New York Times News Service

The insecure American

Cameron could be both right and wrong

PA U L K R U G M A N

G A R Y S M I T H

KA M R A N R E H M AT

A14

PAKISTANS U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

Rebels kidnap, kill 22 passengers

QUETTA: Gunmen disguised as members of the Pakistani security forces killed at least 22 passengers on Friday night after forcing them off buses travelling from the west-ern city of Quetta to Karachi on the southern coast, officials said.

The assault in the province of Balochistan occurred in the town of Mastung, around 40 km (25 miles) south of Quetta.

“Fifteen to 20 armed men in three pickup trucks and wear-ing security uniforms kidnapped around 35 passengers,” Sarfaraz Bugti, Balochistan’s home minis-ter, told Reuters.

He said the bodies of 22 pas-sengers were later found around two km away from the main Quet-ta-Karachi highway in foothills. Seven of the assailants have been killed in an operation involving hundreds of soldiers and police, he added.

The circumstances of the pas-sengers’ deaths could not imme-diately be established and the mo-tives of the assailants were unclear.

Chinese investmentThe attack will be a concern for the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif because it raises fur-ther questions about the feasibility of a new economic corridor Paki-stan wants to build with billions of dollars of Chinese investment.

The much-vaunted project, announced when Chinese Presi-dent Xi Jinping visited Pakistan in April, envisages an eastern and western route, with the latter pass-ing from Gwadar port in the south through Quetta and beyond.

Separatists have been waging

an insurgency in Balochistan, of which Quetta is the capital, for more than a decade. They are de-manding an end to what they see as the exploitation of their resources by people from other parts of Pa-kistan. Extremist militants also regularly target civilians and the security forces, and earlier this month 45 commuters were killed on a bus in Karachi by a group that has declared allegiance to IS.

All of the victims in that attack were members of the Ismaili mi-nority community, but one securi-

ty official said the Mastung attack did not appear to be sectarian.

Officials in Mastung said a ma-jor operation involving four heli-copter gunships and around 500 security personnel on the ground was underway to hunt down the remaining assailants believed to be hiding in mountainous terrain.

“The kidnappers and terrorists are surrounded by security forces,” Bugti said.

In Quetta, where the bodies of the slain passengers were taken, hundreds of people gathered out-side the governor’s house and staged a protest over the lack of security in Balochistan.

Among the demonstrators were relatives of 16 of the victims, whose bodies were laid out in a line wrapped in cloth. — Reuters

Wearing security

uniforms, 15 to 20

armed men killed the

passengers on Friday

night after forcing

them off buses

travelling from the

western city of Quetta

to Karachi

CLOSE SHAVE: Relatives carry a boy who survived an attack on buses, into a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, early Saturday. — Reuters

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FURIOUS: Pakistani relatives of bus passengers killed by unidentified gunmen protest outside the

house of the Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malikin Quetta on Saturday. — AFP

ILLEGAL MIGRANTSPakistani immigrants land with their dinghy on a beach, next to the marina on Kos island,

Greece, early Saturday. Ahmad, one of the immigrants onboard the dinghy, said that they

have been rowing for over five hours from Turkey before eventually reaching a beach in

central Kos town. According to local media, an average of over 200 immigrants have been

arriving in Kos every day in the last two months. — Reuters

Sethi, Mir summoned over ‘rigging’ in 2013 electionsISLAMABAD: The judicial com-mission investigating allegations of rigging in 2013 general elections has summoned Punjab’s then-caretaker chief minister Najam Sethi and television anchor Ha-mid Mir for cross-examination on Monday.

The three-judge tribunal head-ed by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk issued the orders on Friday after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf counsel Abdul Hafiz Pirzada said he want-ed to conclude his cross-examina-tion by questioning Sethi and Mir.

During his cross-examination by the ruling party Pakistan Mus-lim League-Nawaz counsel Sha-hid Hamid, former secretary of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan said the election body had directed the returning officers (RO) and dis-trict returning officers (DRO) to deposit all the post-election mate-rial with the treasury except Form 16 and 17, which were sent to the ECP immediately after election for consolidating results.

Storage facilityHe also told the judges that the directions were given to ROs and DROs as the election commis-sion did not have a storage facil-ity at its secretariat in Islamabad or at its provincial offices all over the country.

On September 17, 2012, Ahmad said, a consultative meeting of 16 political parties had proposed that judicial officers should be appoint-ed as ROs and DROs.

Later on, the ECP requested the National Judicial Policymaking Committee (NJPMC) to allow dis-trict court judges to perform the duties.

The then ECP secretary said that he briefed the NJPMC meet-ing held at the Supreme Court

building, wherein the committee granted permission to judicial of-ficers to act as ROs and DROs.

In March 2013, he added, a handbook was issued under the signature of the then chief election commissioner for the guidance of ROs and DROs.

Ahmad said that international observers from European Union, Commonwealth, Japan, National Democratic Institute, Malaysia and a few other countries as well as local observers of the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) were allowed to visit polling sta-tions during the general elections.

He said the observers sent their

reports and on the basis of that, the ECP compiled its post-election re-view. The report was uploaded on the ECP website and copies of it were provided to the members of the electoral reforms committee. He added that the caretaker gov-ernment had provided full assis-tance to the ECP during the 2013 elections, as it was a constitutional requirement under Article 220 of Constitution.

Replying to a question by ECP’s counsel Salman Akram Raja, the ex-secretary said all presiding of-ficers (PO) were given two sets of Form 14 and 15 according to the ECP instructions. — Express Tribune

J U D I C I A L P R O B E

Najam Sethi Hamid Mir

The three-judge tribunal headed by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk issued the orders on Friday after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf counsel Abdul Hafiz Pirzada said he wanted to conclude his cross-examination by questioning Punjab’s then-caretaker chief minister Najam Sethi and television anchor Hamid Mir

Thar coal plant is operationalKARACHI: With the ongoing battle against energy crisis, the Sindh government finally gener-ated one megawatt from the Thar coal power plant through an un-derground coal gasification pro-cess recently.

Power generation will be en-hanced to 10MW by the end of this year and 100MW by 2016, officials said.

“We have successfully pro-duced 1MW and 4MW is pre-sent in our system. Initially, the electricity will be supplied to our projects and a nearby village,” said renowned scientist Dr Sa-

mar Mubarakmand, who heads the project. Ten wells have been dug up for Thar coal-fired power plant near Islamkot, each with a distance of 50 metres.

Chinese electricityAfter the gasification process, pure gas is connected to coal gas generators imported from China from where the electricity is pro-duced, according to officials.

“In these wells, steel pipes are drilled down to 600 feet to reach the coal bed and pump out under-ground water.

“We later fire the coal inside

with compressed air to produce the gas mixed with other par-ticles,” said supervisor Abdul Manan Larik.

“We have installed a gas puri-fication plant to get rid of unnec-essary particles including carbon and sulphur in order to produce pure gas that is linked with gen-erators,” Larik said.

He said the government had earlier allocated Rs10 billion for this project to generate 100MW under the pilot project, but due to financial constraints, there has been no tangible progress in the past five years. — Express Tribune

E N E R G Y W O E S

We have successfully produced 1MW and 4MW is

present in our system. Initially, the electricity will

be supplied to our projects and a nearby village

Dr Samar Mubarakmand, scientist

ROME: More than 4,200 mi-grants trying to reach Europe have been rescued from boats in the Mediterranean in last 24 hours, the Italian coastguard said on Saturday.

In some of the most intense Mediterranean migrant traffic of the year, a total of 4,243 peo-ple have been saved from fishing boats and rubber dinghies in 22 operations involving ships from nations including Italy, Ireland, Germany, Belgium and Britain.

On Friday the Italian navy said 17 dead bodies had been found on one of the boats off Libya. Details of the nationalities of the victims and how they died have not yet been released.

The bodies and more than 200 survivors will be brought to the port of Augusta in Sicily aboard the Italian navy corvette Fenice later, the coastguard said.

Migrants escaping war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East this year have been pouring into Italy, which has been bearing the brunt of Mediterranean res-cue operations. Most depart from

the coast of Libya, which has de-scended into anarchy since West-ern powers backed a 2011 revolt that ousted Muamar Gaddafi.

Calm seas are increasingly favouring departures as warm spring weather sets in.

800 migrants drownLast month around 800 migrants drowned off Libya in the Mediter-ranean’s most deadly shipwreck in living memory when their 20-metre long fishing boat cap-sized and sank.

That spurred the European Un-ion to agree on a naval mission to target gangs smuggling migrants from Libya, but a broader plan to deal with the influx is in doubt due to a dispute over national quotas for housing asylum seekers.

The EU plan to disperse 40,000 migrants from Italy and Greece to

other countries met with resist-ance this week, with Britain say-ing it would not participate and some eastern countries calling for a voluntary scheme.

Around 35,500 migrants ar-rived in Italy from the beginning of the year up to the first week of May, the UN refugee agency estimated, a number which has swelled considerably since. About 1,800 are either dead or missing.

Most of those rescued on Friday and Saturday are expected to reach ports around southern Italy during the weekend. The British naval vessel HMS Bulwark offloaded more than 740 early on Saturday at the southeastern Italian port of Taranto. More than 200 migrants arrived at the Calabrian port of Crotone in south-west Italy on board the Belgian navy ship Godetia. — Reuters

A15

WORLDS U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

POWERFUL QUAKE HITS JAPAN Soccer fans react to a strong

earthquake as they watch

the J-League first division

soccer game between Sho-

nan Bellmare and Sanfrecce

Hiroshima in Hiratsuka, near

Tokyo, Japan. An 8.5 mag-

nitude earthquake struck off the east coast of Japan on

Saturday, shaking buildings in Tokyo, but there was no

danger of a tsunami and no reports of damage since the

quake was extremely deep. — Reuters/Kyodo

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

4,200 migrants saved in the MediterraneanOn Friday the

Italian navy said

17 dead bodies had

been found on one

of the boats off

Libya. Details of the

nationalities of the

victims and how they

died have not yet

been released

LUCKY TO BE ALIVE: Migrants wait to disembark from the Irish

navy ship LE Eithne as they arrive in the Sicilian harbour of

Palermo, Italy, Saturday. — Reuters

YANGON: More than 700 migrants found crammed into a fishing boat by Myanmar’s navy will be taken to the coun-try’s troubled Rakhine state, a local official said on Saturday, adding all those on board were from Bangladesh.

A total of 727 people, including 74 women and 45 children, were dis-covered in the hull of a vessel on Friday morning in the Irrawaddy delta region with state media reporting that 50 passen-gers had perished before they were rescued.

It is the latest boat to have been discovered as the region battles a migrant crisis that has erupted since the start of May, leaving around 3,500 people on Thai, Malaysian and Indone-sia soil and an estimat-ed 2,500 more stranded at sea.

Rohingya The majority of those fleeing to the three countries are per-secuted Rohingya Muslims from Myan-mar’s western Rakhine state or people escaping poverty in neighbouring Bangladesh. — AFP

Myanmar to take migrants to Rakhine

Russian military jets intercept US warshipMOSCOW: Russian military air-craft were scrambled to head off a US warship that was acting “ag-gressively” in the Black Sea, state news agency RIA reported on Saturday, citing an anonymous source in Russia’s armed forces in Crimea.

Russia’s territorial waters The source was quoted as saying that the US destroyer Ross was moving along the edge of Russia’s territorial waters and heading in their direction.

“The crew of the ship acted provocatively and aggressively, which concerned the operators of monitoring stations and ships of the Black Sea Fleet,” RIA quoted

the source as saying. “Su-24 at-tack aircraft demonstrated to the American crew readiness to harshly prevent a violation of the frontier and to defend the inter-ests of the country.”

Russia’s Defence Ministry was not immediately available to com-ment on the report.

Earlier this month both Brit-ain and Sweden said that they had scrambled fighters to in-tercept Russian bombers near their territory.

The US said last month that it was filing a complaint to Russia over a Russian fighter’s unsafe in-terception of a US reconnaisance plane in international aerospace over the Baltic Sea. — Reuters

B L A C K S E A S T A N D O F F

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, second right,

leader of France’s main opposition formerly known as the

“UMP”, next to his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, during the

party congress to mark the foundation of the movement

“Les Republicains” in Paris on Saturday. — AFP

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Oman Electricity Transmission Co. raises $1b from debt market

Times News Service

MUSCAT: As much as $1 billion debt has been raised by Oman Electricity Transmission Compa-ny (OETC) from its maiden notes issue from international markets.

OETC and Electricity Holding Company (EHC) on Saturday an-nounced the successful pricing and settlement of OETC’s inaugu-ral $1 billion notes, which is due on May 7, 2025.

OETC intends to use the pro-ceeds from the issuance to repay existing debt and finance capital expenditure for ongoing and fu-ture projects and for other gen-eral corporate purposes, said a company release.

Tenor of 10 yearsThe issuance of the note, in the principal amount of $1 billion with a tenor of 10 years, marks the first-ever investment grade interna-

tional bond issuance by an Omani corporate entity and also the larg-est ever international capital mar-kets issuance out of Oman.

“OETC was able to meet a large financing requirement at attrac-

tive funding levels. This accom-plishment is a testimony to the company’s robust business model and the strong regulatory frame-work of the Omani electricity sec-tor. We are very pleased with the

strong response to this landmark transaction, particularly being the first-ever Omani investment grade corporate issuer,” said Ali Al Hada-bi, chief executive officer of OETC.

Following a focussed marketing effort by both OETC and EHC on April 22, 2015, covering core finan-cial centres in the United States and United Kingdom, the notes, of-fered and sold pursuant to Regula-tion S and Rule 144A, were priced on April 29, 2015 at a coupon rate of 3.958 per cent (+190bps spread to US treasury). The notes saw strong demand from global inves-tors, attracting orders exceeding $2.7 billion.

The offering attracted interest from a diverse group of interna-tional investors.

Approximately 33 per cent of the notes were distributed to investors in the Middle East, 28 per cent to investors in the United States, 24 per cent to investors in the United

Kingdom, 8 per cent to investors in Europe and 7 per cent to in-vestors in Asia. By investor type, approximately 62 per cent were distributed to fund managers, 30 per cent to banks and private banks, 4 per cent to agencies and 4 per cent to insurance companies and pension funds.

“The funding strategy supports the company’s growth story, and the strong investor demand for the offering is a testament to investor confidence in the OETC credit sto-ry and its operating performance track record,” added Al Hadabi.

The notes settled on May 7, 2015 and are admitted to listing and trading on the regulated market of the Irish Stock Exchange.

Bank Muscat and J P Morgan Securities acted as joint lead man-agers. Dentons acted as counsel to OETC, and Dechert and Al Bu-saidy, Mansoor Jamal acted as counsel to the joint lead managers.

Oman Electricity Transmission Company

intends to use the proceeds from the issue

to repay existing debt and finance capital

expenditure of ongoing and future projects

New shipping service links Sohar Port with South AsiaTimes News Service

MUSCAT: A new container ship called Messini started its new service to Sohar Port, with the inaugural vessel reaching here on Friday.

The new service, in partner-ship between Evergreen and Si-matech, will now regularly con-nect Sohar Port with other major ports in South Asia. The new line is an important addition as it broadens the connectivity of So-har with the world and will offer even more choice for Omani im-porters and exporters.

“By attracting investment in Oman, we are realising the vi-sion of the government to create another major regional hub port which will help grow not only our captive cargo, but will also take full advantage of Oman’s strate-gic location for transshipment activities,” said Sultan Al Habsi, chairman of Sohar Industrial Port Company (SIPC).

“Today’s maiden call bears

witness to the steady growth in both our handling capacity and our efficiency at Sohar Port. The continued smooth operations at OICT have brought us new lines and more connections.

Regular calls of vessels like the EGL Messini are a sign of even bigger things to come,” added An-dre Toet, chief executive officer of Sohar Port and Freezone.

Oman-bound cargoSohar Port aims to ensure all Oman-bound cargo will be direct-ed through Omani ports in the near future. Jamal Aziz, CEO of Sohar Freezone said: “Sohar Port Authority is actively working to-gether with OICT and our other terminals on a strategy to ensure all Omani cargo flows are secured in Oman.”

As Sohar Port flourishes so does the Freezone; Jamal Aziz concluded: “We now have the capacity for 1.5 million TEUs an-nually through the port and that translates directly into more

business opportunities in Sohar Freezone; as the Freezone grows as a manufacturing base, the port will also grow its share of exports. Our aim is to build more in-country value all the way along the supply chain and today’s cer-emony marks another important step on that journey.”

Sultan bin Salim Al Habsi; Said bin Hamdoon bin Saif Al Harthy, undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport and Communications for Ports and Maritime Affairs; Andre Toet; Jamal Aziz, the CEO of Sohar Freezone; Albert Pang, the CEO of Oman International Container Terminal; as well as representatives of the Evergreen and Simatech shipping lines were at the quayside ahead of the arriv-al of the vessel in Sohar. There has been a continued rapid growth of Sohar Port; since the closure of Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat to commercial traffic in June last year, the handling capacity for container traffic at OICT in Sohar Port has more than doubled.

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

Oman commits to invest $7b in Indonesia for oil refineryTimes News Service

JAKARTA: Oman has commit-ted to invest $7 billion to build oil storage facilities, a petrochemical plant and a refinery in Indonesia, said an Indonesian minister.

Energy and Mineral Re-sources Minister Sudirman Said revealed that Oman was interested in building a new oil refinery in Riau, an Indonesian newspaper reported.

Oman would supply the re-quired crude oil for the refin-ery, develop storage facilities, and could later expand into petrochemicals, the minister said. “It has prepared $7 bil-lion in total and is now in the

process of obtaining a permit. Ground-breaking of the refin-ery project is expected to be as early as next year,” Sudirman said following his meeting with a senior Omani official.

Figures from Oman’s Minis-try of Oil and Gas shows that it currently produces an average of 960,300 barrels of crude oil and condensate daily, Jakarta Post said in a report.

The Sultanate of Oman has ex-ported a daily average of 948,493 barrels of crude oil, with China as the main buyer.

In April, Oman’s exports to Chi-na accounted for almost 83 per cent of its total export volume. However, according to the re-

port, imports to China declined by 5 per cent in April com-pared to March.

Indonesia, which is currently seeking to re-enter the Organi-sation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as an observer nation, is trying to secure more crude oil supplies to feed its bal-looning energy consumption.

Its national oil output cur-rently amounts to approximately 800,000 barrels per day. However, the country’s roughly 250-million citizens need as much as 1.6 mil-lion barrels per day.

In consequence, Indonesia is now an increasingly major im-porter of crude oil and petroleum products, the report added.

P E T R O C H E M I C A L P L A N T

Picture used for illustrative purpose only. – Times file picture

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MARKETS U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

Seminar on Basel III todayMUSCAT: Union of Arab Banks (UAB), in cooperation with the Central Bank of Oman (CBO), will organ-ise a three-day specialised banking seminar on ‘Basel III: the new framework for liquidity and stress tests’, on Sunday at Crowne Plaza Hotel. The seminar will highlight reforms made to the overall management systems to liquidity risk, and established interim arrange-ments approved by the Basel Committee to enter into the stage of the application of new standards for liquidity. Rabi’ Ni’ma, the banking expert, academic and head of Risk Assessment Depart-ment at the Banking Control Commission in Lebanon will give lecture at the event.

Al Hassan Engg.bags $10m EPC contractMUSCAT: Al Hassan Engineering Company Abu Dhabi (controlled by Al Has-san Engineering owning 49 per cent of its share capital), has received LOA for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) pro-ject, ICAD gas treatment to remove H2S from Abu Dhabi Gas Industries (GASCO) for $10.24 million. The project duration is 15 months from June. - Times News Service/ONA

B R I E F SLeasing firms fare well in the first quarter despite oil slump

MUSCAT: Non-banking finance companies, which are listed on the Muscat Securities Market, have posted a 16 per cent growth in profits at OMR7.7 million in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the corresponding period last year. In 2014, these companies fo-cused on increasing their capitals to keep pace with the growth in finance sector. The Sultanate has witnessed economic stability in the first quarter of this year despite slump in oil prices. The firms pointed out

that the public expenditure over the infrastructure projects con-tributed to the alleviation of the effect of crude price slump on the economic growth.

The companies expect that the demand for their products will grow, benefiting from the increase in public expenditure on the infra-structure projects as many pro-jects being implemented by the private sector.

It also benefited from the gov-ernment’s efforts exerted to at-tract and promote investments, availing job opportunities for Omanis and supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The finance companies said in their financial reports in the first quarter of 2015 that these efforts will enhance the business for the private companies with the growth in demand for heavy truck, vehicles and automobiles.

The total capital of the six MSM listed finance companies as of the end of March 2015 grew by 5.3 per cent compared to the end of the March 2014 to touch OMR155.5 million.

Over the past three months, the companies increased their as-sets as of the end of March 2015 to OMR931.8 million compared to OMR880.2 million at the end

of March 2014. While United Fi-nance Company expects the com-ing period to be full of challenges, still it believes that the positive economic indicators will help the company to benefit from the ex-pected growth, especially that the company managed to increase its capital and net assets during the past period.

The company expects to con-tinue posting profits and divi-dends despite these challenges.

It also said that it has followed prudent approach at the time the market is witnessing tough com-petition interest rate leading to squeezing the profits margin. The company still forecasts opportu-nities for growth due to continued

public spending on infrastructure projects and growth of business of the private sector.

LiquidityThe company also said that the liquidity and trust in the local fi-nancial system have provided as-surance to traders at the market. Still, it pointed out that the finan-cial system is witnessing more tough competition with the new entrants at the market. This posed pressures on profit margins by all finance companies. While the company expects the competition to continue over the coming period of this year, it is still optimistic about the growth of the market.

At the same time, Muscat Fi-nance said that it is optimistic towards the future with the con-tinued public spending on the in-frastructure projects.

The company said that it closely follows the market’s movement and response to the sharp decline in oil prices. Therefore, the com-pany expects reasonable growth in assets and profits by the end of this year.

Taageer Finance said that the public spending and growth of non-oil businesses enhance the positive outlook to the market. It added that in light of the positive initiatives that are coupled with growth in investment and spend-ing, the outlook for finance indus-try is promising.

Oman Oryx Finance said that it will continue focusing on con-cluding quality contracts while maintaining it conservative growth. It will also improve ef-ficiency in production and there-fore have better control over ex-penses. - ONA

These firms

managed to increase

their combined

profits by 16% to

reach OMR7.7m in

the first quarter of

2015 compared to the

same period last year

Conference on minerals and mining to be held in DecemberMUSCAT: Oman Expo and Au-tad Geologic and Environmen-tal Consultancy, in collabora-tion with the General Authority of Mining, will organise Oman Minerals and Mining Exhibition and Conference in December.

Dr Salim bin Hamad Al Bu-saidi, chief executive officer of Ma’aden Projects, said that the conference and exhibition will provide an ideal opportunity for companies operating in miner-als and mining sector, investors, businessmen, decision makers and public officials to meet and exchange views on the latest de-velopments and technologies in the field of mining.

The three-day conference will also provide an ideal opportunity to address the main challenges facing the growth of this indus-try and maximising its gains.

He further said that the con-ference will provide decision makers with an opportunity to review the best mechanisms to maximise gains from this vital sector to enhance the growth of the national economy and diver-sify sources of income.

In his statement, he called on the government to benefit from the experiences of companies operating in the field of mining, mining and exploration equip-ment companies, consultants, marble and granite companies, building materials companies,

chromite technology and pro-cessing organisations, non-metallic rock extraction and processing unit, IT & C, data processing and transmission companies, explosive and blast-ing device companies, mining engineering, as well as testing and processing laboratories.

Multinational firmsDr Al Busaidi, called on the gov-ernment to benefit from the ex-perience of the multinational companies operating in min-ing industry, especially some of them intends to invest in the Sultanate and benefit from its at-

tractive business environment. He added that promoting

mining sector requires many geological studies and setting up training centres and institutes to qualify the human resources that can meet the needs of min-ing sector in a better way. There should also be a databank that can provide private sector and investors with data on the avail-able resources and the type of materials that can be exploited.

The contribution of mining to the GDP now stands at 0.4 per cent with plans to increase it by the end of Oman Vision 2020 to 2 per cent.

It is worth mentioning that the Sultanate has many areas that are rich in metals and metallur-gical metals which means that local and foreign investors have a lot of opportunities in this field. Many reserves that are rich in chromite, copper, gold, dolomite, zinc, limestone, marble, gypsum and silica sand were discovered in the Sultanate.

The State Council approved in the beginning of May the re-port of the economic committee on the laws that regularise the exploitation of mining sector in the Sultanate. The report sheds light on the natural resources in Oman, the related laws and reg-ulations and challenges facing the optimum utilisation of such resources. - ONA

T H R E E - D A Y M E E T I N G

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The three-day event will also provide an ideal opportunity to address the main challenges facing the growth of this industry and maximising its gains

India grows at 7.3 per cent;beats China

MUMBAI: India has posted an annual growth of 7.3 per cent, overtaking China in the first three months of 2015, but analysts warned further measures were needed to boost the economy.

The growth rate for the financial year that ended March 31 came in slightly lower than the 7.4 per cent that the statistics ministry had predicted back in February. But the news that Asia’s third-largest economy grew by 7.5 per cent in the fourth quarter, overtaking Chi-na, is a major boost for Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi a year after he was elected.

China posts 7% growthIndia’s giant neighbour posted growth of 7 per cent for the first three months of 2015.

Friday’s figures were the first GDP data to be released since the government introduced a revised formula for calculating GDP that has baffled analysts.

“The real economic momentum is not encouraging,” chief econo-mist at YES Bank Shubhada Rao said, indicating the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was almost certain to reduce interest rates for Tues-day for a third time this year.

“Key sectors like agriculture and construction are slowing down. The GDP number is really being supported largely on the basis of strong tax collections. - Agencies

F I R S T Q U A R T E R

B3S U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

MARKETFamily businesses get valuable survival tips

ELHAM POURMOHAMMADIelham@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: By putting in place best international practices, fam-ily owned businesses in Oman can overcome many challenges, while ensuring their survival from one generation to the next, according to experts.

Succession planning, corpo-rate governance, compliance, financing, asset protection, and internationalisation are some of the issues that family businesses should take into consideration, according to officials from RSM International.

RSM International, the world’s 7th largest network of audit, tax

and advisory firms, and the 6th largest global provider of tax ser-vices, held a seminar at Al Bustan Palace Hotel on May 28 and 28, as part of its Regional Conference for Partners of Member Firms in the Middle East and North Africa region. Officiating at the opening was Sultan bin Salim Al Habsi, secretary general of the Supreme Council for Planning, and was at-tended by a number of officials and family business owners.

German experienceSpeaking at the seminar, Rolf Mählmann, head of the Family Owned Business advisory servic-es of RSM Germany, shared the German experience in assisting family businesses and elaborated on the services that RSM Interna-tional offers clients in Oman.

Integral role of familyMählmann highlighted the sub-stantial and integral role of family businesses in the economy, noting that they constitute more than 80 per cent of all businesses world-wide, adding that 35 percent of Fortune 500 companies are fam-ily owned.

According to Mählmann, RSM International provides advice in many areas, including ownership structure, business plan develop-ment, strategic planning, govern-ance and constitutions, finance and funding, internal controls and system implementation, em-ployee benefits and compensation planning, conflict and mediation, succession planning, exit strate-gies and retirement planning.

George Mathew & Co is RSM International’s only member firm

in Oman, operating in the Sultan-ate since 1988.

Increasing trend Speaking to Times of Oman, Jean Stephens, chief executive officer of RSM International, said the number of family businesses is in-creasing in the Gulf region.

“It is a natural progression, in terms of an entrepreneur start-ing and then expanding it for his family, from a management per-spective,” she said. Stephens also emphasised the importance of the culture of ‘transparency’ within family businesses.

Asked whether she encour-ages family owned businesses to become publicly listed, she said, “Mostly no, but it depends on each business, where (they) can raise funds, and what their succession plans are.”

As for conversion into joint ventures, Stephens said that also depends on how the business is developing and whether they are receiving investments.

According to RSM Internation-al, over two thirds of family owned businesses fail to make the transi-tion from first to second genera-tion, and only 12 per cent contin-ue onto the third generation.

In addition, the chief executive officer of RSM International said ‘security’ is a challenge in this part of the world, when speaking about internationalisation.

RSM International network, as of January 2015, had fully inde-pendent member firms and cor-respondents in 112 countries. The member firms employ a combined total of 37,443, including 3,279 partners in 732 offices.

Best international

practices, succession

planning, corporate

governance,

compliance,

financing, and asset

protection are some

of the issues that

family businesses

should take into

consideration

Ukraine debt talks next weekKIEV: Ukraine’s finance minister on Friday said Kiev and its private creditors would next week launch direct debt restructuring talks that could save the war-torn country from a devastating default.

Natalie Jaresko’s announce-ment came as the ex-Soviet state’s pro-Western leadership races to meet a late June deadline by which it must find a way to save $15 bil-lion over four years. A watertight debt relief plan would allow the International Monetary Fund to hand over the next slice of a $17.5-billion loan at the core of a $40-billion global aid package.

IMF executives are yet to name a specific date on which they will discuss Ukraine during their late June meeting. But Jaresko’s office

said a teleconference between “fi-nance ministry representatives” and a pool of commercial US credi-tors has been provisionally sched-uled for next Friday.

“We are slowly but confidently emerging from crisis,” Ukrainian news agencies quoted Jaresko as saying. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday signed a bill passed by parliament last week giving Kiev “the right, if necessary, to stop payments to foreign debt holders”.

The measure is largely symbolic and meant to underscore lawmak-ers’ support for a payment morato-rium that could theoretically turn Kiev into a financial outcast with no access to international lending markets. - AFP

E C O N O M Y

Focus on Greece at G7 meetingDRESDEN, (Germany): Japan and the United States pressed Greece and its European partners to resolve Athens’ debt crisis and avoid rattling the eurozone and the global economy, as the issue dominated talks of the G7 finance ministers on Friday.

Even though Greece was not on the official agenda of the three-day meeting in Dresden, it was

a key topic as time runs out for Athens to reach a deal with its international creditors to unlock 7.2. billion euros ($7.9 billion) in bailout cash.

“All parties need to move,” US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told reporters.

Lew urged Greece to bring for-ward a “credible plan” and “take serious action.”

But there also “needs to be some flexibility on the part of the institutions,” namely the Euro-pean Central Bank, the Interna-tional Monetary Fund and the European Commission, Lew said.

The three lenders are demand-ing that the Greek government push through economic reforms in return for the last tranche of bailout funds. — AFP

D E B T C R I S I S

Jean Stephens, chief executive officer of RSM International. — Picture by A.R. Rajkumar/Times of Oman

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FEATURES U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

is going after a new class of custom-ers: other businesses.

The Web retailer has unveiled Amazon Business, a new market-place offering tractor parts, latex gloves, paper clips and millions of other products needed in factories, hospitals, schools and offices.

Amazon, which has amassed 278 million active shoppers, is now aiming for a chunk of the $1 trillion that US companies spend annually in business-to-business purchases, a market where Costco Wholesale Corp., Staples Inc. and others have long been active. Amazon Business is likely to step up competition with rival marketplace EBay Inc., which will soon be fending for itself as a standalone company once it spins off faster-growing PayPal as part of a planned split.

“We want businesses to be able to buy what they need so they can quickly get back to work,” Prentis Wilson, Amazon’s vice president of industrial and scientific supplies, said in an interview.

The new marketplace is essen-tially a revamp of Amazon Supply, which was rolled out in 2012 to sell more than 500,000 products to cus-tomers in industrial and scientific areas. Now, Amazon is opening up the service to include more than 2 million third-party sellers, expand-ing inventory beyond what it could sell directly.

Now, with Amazon Business, the Seattle-based company is seek-ing to cater to clients such as Tulsa Community College, which is using Amazon to order test tubes, bas-ketballs, office supplies and other goods, instead of having employees fetch them from local retailers or specialty sellers.

The day-to-day needs of the 15,000-student school translate into about $10,000 in orders a

month, a number that keeps grow-ing as more staff embrace e-com-merce to buy things they need, according to Terry Lastinger, assis-tant director of purchasing at Tulsa Community College.

Like consumers, businesses are shifting more of their spending on-line. Some 68 percent of business purchases were made on the Web in 2014, up from 57 percent the pre-vious year, according to a study by Acquity Group. That survey found Amazon to be the leading third-party website for business purchas-es, used regularly by 17 percent of those polled.

Amazon Business will be a marketplace featuring more than hundreds of millions of products. Buyers will find vastly expanded inventory from multiple merchants, often with discounts for bulk pur-chases. Sellers will also be able to communicate directly with high-volume business buyers who pre-register as commercial customers, a feature not on Amazon’s consumer oriented marketplace.

Amazon Business does not have a membership programme similar to Amazon Prime, which is offered to consumers for a $99 annual fee. Instead, orders of $49 or more will get free two-day shipping, Amazon said. Business buyers will also get additional online tools, such as pur-chasing approvals, order tracking and tax management.

“I really see small businesses grav-itating towards this because it’s so easy to use and they can get so many things they need in one transaction,” said Christine Dover, an analyst at IDC. “Don’t discount the size and number of small businesses. There are a lot of them.” — Bloomberg News

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Mazoon Electricity starts automated data reading

MUSCAT: After the success-ful cooperation between Mazoon Electricity Company, Part of Nama Group, and the Royal Oman Police in the management of in-troducing the automated technol-

ogy to read identification cards, Mazoon Electricity Company has taken a further step to improve the customer experience by linking the identification card data with the company’s customer relation management system.

The integration of the systems will lead to a higher degree of ac-curacy and simplified processes for the customer, overall improving the experience, says a press release.

“After the success that we re-ceived from the automated ID card readers, Mazoon Electricity Com-pany planned for an expanded im-plementation of this technology.

"We wanted the ID card readers to be activated on our electronic payment machines to make it easy for our customer to view all their accounts at the same time, as well as having the ability to access all the billing details and make pay-ments to the accounts individually or as a group,” stated Eng. Zahir Abdulla Al Abri, CEO of Mazoon

Electricity Company.“This technology aims to sim-

plify the procedures for custom-ers to manage their accounts in a more efficient way, this is done by utilising the identification cards without resorting to go to the collection offices and waiting in the queue. There is also the ad-ditional benefit of reducing the need for copying original docu-ments, this will especially reduce paperwork in the billing stages of the relationship,” explained Salim Said Al Kamyani, senior manager commercial affairs.

It’s worthwhile mentioning that Mazoon Electricity Com-pany is currently working on improving the customer service experience through automating processes, which goes in hand with the government’s direction in implementing the E-Govern-ment systems to simplify services to the nationals and residents of the Sultanate.

The integration of

the systems will lead

to a higher degree

of accuracy and

simplified processes

for the customer,

overall improving the

experience

After the success that we received from the automated ID card readers, Mazoon Electricity Company planned for an expanded implementation of this technology

Zahir Abdulla Al AbriCEO of Mazoon Electricity Company

MGS team celebrates Gujarat Day in styleMUSCAT: After successful mega concerts in seven states and 10 cities, OHMkara, a US based six members dedicated team, held their inaugural musical concert here in the Omani capital recently thanks to Muscat Gujarati Samaj (MGS), the Gujarati Wing of In-dian Social Club, to celebrate Gu-jarat Day at the beautifully deco-rated auditorium of Al Falaj Hotel, says a press release.

Darshan Palicha welcomed the guests before the traditional lighting of the lamp was per-formed by the chief guest J S Mukul, Ambassador of India to Oman, together with Anil Khimji, Bakul Mehta, Dilip Mehta, Anil Wader, Arvind Toprani, Rajendra Ved and Dinesh Pawani.

The guests of honour were Pinakin Pathak and Dr Tushar Patel of USA. The ambassador appreciated the community’ various cultural events and con-veyed his best wishes to all Guja-rati community residing in Oman for this special occasion.

Chandrakant V. Chothani, hon-orary convener of Muscat Guja-rati Samaj, gave vote of thanks and conveyed the prayers and best wishes for His Majesty the Sultan’s long and healthy life. He also appreciated the sponsors and committee members for their support and efforts and the artists for their great performance.

Anil Khimji honoured all the

artists with a token of apprecia-tion from MGS. Sarojben Mehta honoured the outgoing commit-tee member Astha Parikh, who is a well known choreographer of folk dance of Gujarat, by present-ing her a traditional shawl.

Tushar Patel and all accompa-nying artists enjoyed the Oman beauty and hospitality during their short stay in Oman.

Music concertMore than 1,100 spectators at-tended the four hours long mega music concert with renowned artists from India singing old and new melodies of Gujarati music to celebrate the legacy of music legend late Avinash Vyas.

Under the leadership of well-known business entrepreneur, community leader and self-less individual Pinakin Pathak of OHMkara, a US based entertain-ment group, his dedicated team of five members planned this won-derful celebration in Muscat to commemorate 40th anniversary of Muscat Gujarati Samaj.

OHMkara’s mission is to pro-mote Indian culture, heritage and music without any political, per-sonal or religious interest or pro-motion. The six-member team is dedicated to only one mission — of uniting people through music and India’s rich culture and her-itage especially that of Gujarati communities.

C U L T U R A L E V E N T

HSBC supports Oman’s 1st Inter-Collegiate Career FairMUSCAT: As part of its com-mitment to enabling Omani youth to reach their full poten-tial, HSBC Bank Oman recently sponsored the country’s first Inter-Collegiate Career Fair (ICCF) and showcased a range of employment and development opportunities.

During the career fair over 300 graduates and students registered for jobs and training opportuni-ties at HSBC Bank Oman. Open-ing doors to greater career pros-pects, the bank shared knowledge on the world of retail and com-mercial banking, and helped pre-pare more than 100 students from eight educational institutions to prepare to enter the workforce through workshops that en-hanced their capabilities, says a press release.

On the occasion, Andrew Long, Chief Executive Officer at HSBC Bank Oman, said, “At HSBC Bank Oman, we are committed to offer-ing our current and potential em-ployees a working and cultural en-vironment that is both challenging and rewarding, encourages profes-sional and personal development, and is supported by tailored learn-ing opportunities to help them

realise their career ambitions. We are fully cognisant of our role in Oman as a local bank and actively participate in supporting the Om-anisation agenda by identifying and driving the development of Omani talent through local and overseas programmes.”

Long added, “HSBC Bank Oman is always keen to support important career fairs held in the country and introduce tal-ented Omanis to the wide variety of rewarding career opportuni-ties available in the banking and financial sector. We value such opportunities to interact with po-tential future bankers and share our international experience and learning programmes with stu-

dents, demonstrating how they can benefit from fulfilling and challenging careers with HSBC Bank Oman.”

Aiming to reach out to gradu-ates and undergraduate students looking for a head-start in their careers, HSBC Bank Oman’s pro-fessionals delivered a number of workshops during the career fair around commercial banking, per-sonal development and winning at interviews.

These workshops aim to pro-vide students with a number of important techniques required to be successful in the job appli-cation process, including how to prepare effective resumes and conduct a strong job interview.

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

OSN announces new exciting offer

MUSCAT: OSN announced the most exciting limited time offer for both new and existing sub-scribers after the success of the March 2 months free offer.

Now viewers have a choice to subscribe or renew to OSN platinum HD, premier HD and premier packages to avail two months free viewing by subscrib-ing one year. The offer doesn’t end here; it also covers free dish, LNB and accessories along with free installation for all new subscrib-ers, says a press release.

In addition to that, OSN also announced two months free offer for package upgrades to OSN plat-inum HD, Premier HD and Pre-

mier Packages. The two months free offer can be availed both for cash and credit card payments.

Now OSN takes entertainment experience to a whole new level with all the best TV channels, the latest movies and series, sports, OSN On Demand HD and various HD content. Also with recently launched OSN Play, subscrib-ers now can watch their favorite shows, movies, live sports and Ar-abic shows on their laptops, iPods and iPads on the move.

OSN is the home to over 145 channels and services filled with great value entertainment, offer-ing viewers in the Mena region ex-clusive access to the latest block-

buster movies, top rated series, sports, documentaries, news, kid’s entertainment and live talk shows. The movie offering includes over a 100 uncut and uninterrupted mov-ie premieres a month.

Mustafa Sultan Enterprises Entertainment Factory (Pay-Tv) division is pioneer in Pay TV busi-ness for more than 20 years and is the distributor for OSN in Oman. Besides OSN, MSE-EF is a leading distributor for beIN Sports. They have a showroom in Al Khuwair and two kiosks at Muscat City Centre and MGM. MSE-EF also offers the Pay Tv services through their sub dealers spread across in all major towns of the Sultanate.

L I M I T E D T I M E

B6 S U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

ROUND-UPCall for creation of a business friendly environment to drive economic growth

MUSCAT: OER Business Sum-mit 2015 called for creation of a business friendly environment for investors and allowing the private sector to decide their destiny in or-der to fast track the growth of the Sultanate’s economy.

Organised by Oman Economic Review (OER), premium business magazine, the summit, compris-ing two panel discussions titled ‘Life at $50 per barrel’ and ‘Infra-structure Development - The Way Ahead’ and interspersed with pa-per presentations by industry ex-perts, set the pace for an engaging

session and key insights for over 250 who’s who from Oman’s cor-porate sector, says a press release.

Moderated by Nima Abu-War-deh, the presenter of the BBC World News weekly financial programme Middle East Busi-ness Report, the summit held at Grand Hyatt Hotel commenced with a presentation by Dr. Hatem Al-Shanfari, chairman of Gulf Baader Capital Markets Company and Faculty Member -Department of Economics and Finance, Sul-tan Qaboos University on ‘Oman’s Economic Outlook for 2015 and

Beyond.’ The Sultanate is facing challenging times and the econo-my has made substantial progress despite the hiccups and drop in oil prices, he said. The governmental spending has been instrumental in growth, he said adding that there are ample investment opportuni-ties in diverse sectors.

“What’s needed is a new diversi-fied growth model. Oil prices have not been stable for the past 30 years and it may remain so. There has been a 46 per cent drop in oil prices since June 2014. Fiscal positions are weakening and sur-pluses are turning into deficits in GCC,” he said.

In the first panel discussion on ‘Life at $50 per barrel’, the panel-lists comprising Ali Mohammed Juma, chief executive, Vision In-vestment Services Co., Amran al Mahrubi, technical director, PDO; Irshad Al Lawati, head of corpo-rate affairs, Shell Development Oman; Pankaj Khimji, director, Khimji Ramdas; Rashad Al Musa-fir, acting CEO, Bank Sohar and Reggy Vermeulen, CEO, Port of Duqm Company, highlighted the need for allowing the private sec-tor to decide its destiny. There

should be least interference in the functioning of the private sector and they should be given more lev-erage. The drop in oil prices is not going to impact the pace of devel-opment, panellists said.

Rashad Al Musafir said the Gov-ernment of the Sultanate and the private sector is cautious in spend-ing following the drop in oil prices. But it is essential to continue pur-suing projects and creating em-ployment, he said.

Better decision making Pankaj said the private sector should be allowed to decide its destiny. As regards corporate and other taxes, he said, “We will be re-ceptive to tax today more than ever before provided there is better de-cision making.”

Reggy said Duqm is a mega pro-ject. “We are looking at long-term benefits. Duqm is the future of the country,” he said adding that most of the key projects will not be af-fected because of fall in oil prices.

Mukhtar Hasan, chairman of Al Barij International, set the tone for the second panel discussion with a presentation on ‘The State of Oman’s Economy - Life at $50 per

barrel’ where he said that oil prices were trending at $45 to 60 per bar-rel in 2015 and added that the Sul-tanate will continue its spending as per Budget 2015.

“The Sultanate can weather the storm for the next two years. However, the country has to ease its rules for doing business and cut down on lengthy procedures,” he added.

PartnersBank Sohar and Petroleum De-velopment Oman (PDO) were the strategic partners of the event. Infiniti was the associate partner while Sharq Sohar Steel Group and Worley Parsons were the sup-port partners. Oman Air was the official airline partner and Busi-ness International Group, the light and sound partner. Times of Oman and Al Shabiba were the media partners and Mazoon Printing, the print partner. Bloomberg Business Week-Middle East was the knowl-edge partner.

At the panel discussion that followed, Eng. Ahmed bin Saleh Al- Jahdhami, CEO, Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP), said that several water

and power projects were being im-plemented.

“We are keen to involve the pri-vate sector in a big way in water desalination projects. “Cost cut-ting is not a strategy. The Govern-ment has a strategy for moving ahead,” he said.

Dr. Bhaskar Dutta, CEO, Al Ja-zeera Steel Products Company; Fabio Scacciavillani, chief econo-mist, Oman Investment Fund; Khalid Ansari, managing partner, KPMG; Lubna Al Kharusi, CFO, Omran and Rajeev Singh, partner, EY Oman, highlighted the man-power regulations and efforts made to attract private sector participation in tourism related projects and the need to diversify the economy.

Lubna said that when there is a paradigm shift in the way de-cisions are made, tourism will contribute to the growth of the economy. Fabio said there was no major slowdown on infrastructure projects. However, the challenge is to make business environment friendly for investors.

The biggest challenge for Oman is to provide employment to Oma-nis, said Khalid Ansari.

OER Business Summit, comprising two

panel discussions and interspersed with

paper presentations by industry experts, set

the pace for an engaging session and key

insights for over 250 who’s who from Oman’s

corporate sector

Indian School Muladha instals young leadersMULADHA: New office bearers were inducted into the Student Council of Indian School Muladha for the academic session 2015-16 in the investiture ceremony held recently in the Kids World.

Dr Kazi Arshad Jafar, SMC president, was the chief guest. The convener and chairman Academic Sub Committee Dr M. Madhusud-hanan, treasurer Siddique Hassan, members Felix Vincent Gabriel and Sundaram Miller, principal S. I. Shereef, vice principal V. S. Suresh, CC and EC coordinator Dr Lekha O. C., academic supervisors, Anitha Jerson and Harish, heads of departments, staff, students and beloved parents attended the cer-emony, says a press release.

The ceremony, marked with a lot of enthusiasm and gusto, was initiated with the lighting of the lamp by the chief guest and other dignitaries.

Having extended a hearty wel-come to the chief guest, Shareef introduced the newly elected heads of the prefect council amidst loud applause.

The vice captains, discipline leaders and class coordinators were introduced by Pramod Joy, council coordinator and Saeeda Khan, academic supervisor for KG Section.

The formal and grand swearing-in ceremony was marked by the marching of the students council and house captains, accompanied by the rhythmic music played by the school orchestra. It was a sol-emn occasion where the young students were all prepared to don the mantle of leadership and discharge the responsibilities entrusted to then by the school.

Shareef administered the oath of allegiance to the prefects. Ad-dressing the new student leaders, he outlined the duties of the office bearers and advised them to take up their responsibilities with ut-most sincerity and dedication.

Dr Kazi Arshad Jafar, SMC president, endowed the head boy Anwar Ansari and the head girl Taskeen Sharief, the kids captains Anas Khan and Nabiha Jabeen with their sashes and badges of office. It was indeed a proud mo-ment for the Indian School Mu-ladha fraternity when the head boy received the school flag from the chief guest.

The principal adorned the dep-uty head boy Sabin Biju, deputy head girl Neha Bhatia and the chief coordinator Kevin Alexander with their sashes and badges. Dr M. Madhusudhanan and Siddique Hassan awarded the insignias and sashes to the CCA captains and the

sports captains. SMC members Felix Vincent

Gabriel and Sundaram Miller, Suresh and the CC and EC co-ordinator Dr Lekha O.C. pinned the badges of responsibility on the house captains, draped them with sashes and handed over their house flags.

The supervisors, HODs and sen-ior teachers awarded badges to the deputy house captains, discipline leaders and class coordinators.

The School head boy Anvar An-sari and head girl Taskeen Sharief vowed to abide by the rules of the school and promised to do their best to maintain the steady pro-gress of the school and to lead the Students Council with dignity shouldering their responsibilities effectively.

The school choir enthralled the audience with the inspiring song Kilkar Chale Milkar Badhe, writ-ten by N. B. Kazi of the English

Department and composed by S. N. G. Moorthy, the music teacher. A talented group of students mes-merised everyone with their dance performance which celebrated the 60 years of Indo-Oman friendship.

Elaborating on the leadership qualities, the chief guest empha-sised the relevance of the day’s function and reminded the bud-ding leaders of the pivotal role of dedication and hard work to achieve their goals. The parents appreciated the efforts taken by the school authority to inculcate the value of discipline and leader-ship qualities among young minds.

The newly elected prefects are: Head Boy Anvar Ansari, Head Girl Taskeen Sharief, Deputy Head Boy Sabin Biju, Deputy Head Girl Neha Bhatia, Chief Coordinator Kevin Alexander, Cultural Secretaries Ryan Raju Varghese and Anna Ma-ria George, Sports Captains Jamil Parwez and Amal K Naseer, Kids Captain Boy Anas Khan, Kids Cap-tain Girl Nabiha Jabeen, Muscat House Captains Fahad Amjad and Gowri Satheesh, Deputy Captains Dalphin Shejo Peter and Navya Elizabeth, Nizwa House Captains Adesh Shil and Asma Aktharud-heen, Deputy Captains Arjun K.N and Sharon Enoz, Salalah House Captains Joy Sharma and Harsha Motwini, Deputy Captains Mo-hammed Afthab Rafi and Sabna Biju Seema, Sur House Captains Rohan Krishna Ullas and Aysha Abdul Jabbar, Deputy Captains Mohammed Junaid and Anjun Ara Arabi.

The programme concluded with the National Anthem sung by the school choir and a photo session followed by it.

I N V E S T I T U R E C E R E M O N Y

Duqm Refinery holds crucial stakeholder engagement forumMUSCAT: Duqm Refinery or-ganised a stakeholder engage-ment forum recently in Duqm under the auspices of Sheikh Mohsin bin Hamed Al Maskari, Wali of Duqm.

The forum was attended by over 50 local citizens of Duqm, sheikhs and dignitaries from var-ious governmental and private entities, as well as representa-tives of Galfar Contracting Co. and senior management of Duqm Refinery, says a press release.

The forum engaged impor-tant stakeholders of Duqm Re-finery with its upcoming refin-ery project.

Topics included project sta-tus, upcoming business oppor-tunities for the local people of Duqm, training and recruit-ment opportunities, current and future CSR initiatives of Duqm Refinery.

Adds great value “The Duqm Refinery project will add great value to the economic zone and to the people of Duqm. Duqm Refinery’s initiative of engaging local communities in Duqm is highly appreciated, it shows Duqm Refinery’s commit-ment to keep the local communi-ties informed of the project and its development at every stage,” stated Mohsin Al Maskary.

Integral part “Through such forums we aim

to directly engage with our key stakeholders from the Duqm community; keep them updated on latest developments and at the same time provide a realistic view of the benefits that the local community can receive from the refinery project,” said Jacobus Nieuwenhuijze, Project Director of Duqm Refinery.

“Engaging with the local com-munity and our stakeholders is an integral part of our operational strategy,” he added.

B U S I N E S S M E E T I N G

The forum engaged important stakeholders of Duqm Refinery with its upcoming refinery project. Topics included project status, upcoming business opportunities for the local people of Duqm, training and recruitment opportunities, current and future CSR initiatives of Duqm Refinery

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New Aurion offers‘advanced luxury’

MUSCAT: A popular choice in Oman, the Aurion is packed with many superior features.

Delivering a top-class driving ex-perience, it sets a classy impression with elegant, luxurious and prestig-ious looks, says a press release.

The Aurion signifies high luxury and quality. Apart from its elegant looks, the cabin is spacious and the dashboard has an exclusive horizontal T-shaped design, which significantly enhances the feel-ing of prestige. The ‘quieter cabin experience’ is due to the reduced road and wind noise. The feeling of quality is further enhanced with

leather stitching and curved wood grain and silver accents that create a sense of functional beauty and high quality.

The ECO-meter allows drivers to recognise when they are driv-ing in a fuel efficient and economi-cal manner. Chrome accenting on the air conditioning vents and audio controls complete the sense of prestige that extends even to the smallest of details, including the audio switches on the steer-ing wheel and a two seat position memory system. Available with 6-speed sequential automatic transmission mated to a 3.5 L V6 dual VVTiengine, the Aurion surg-es forward on an awesome 268 HP.

Thin, long headlamps on ei-ther side of the impressive front grille and elevated hood lend it a majestic and powerful pres-ence. The side of the Aurion is accented for a stronger appear-ance through a flared bottom sec-tion and an accented door-cross section. The Aurion’s 17-inch wheels enhance the character of the vehicle and provide a feeling of advanced luxury.

The car’s rear has also been re-designed, blending into the rear combination lamps for a greater

emphasis on width, with the bumper corners protruding out-wards, creating a wide stable feel-ing and a ground-hugging stance.

Cutting-edge aerodynamic technology ensures that the Au-rion experiences straight line sta-bility, while the column mounted electric power steering mecha-nism allows an optimum level of vehicle control.

“Were the Aurion a human be-ing, I would say that its VSC (ve-hicle stability control) plus TRC (traction control) technologies give it a ‘firmer footing’ while the HID (high intensity discharge headlamps) help it see better in the dark, by improving nighttime vis-ibility,” said an enthusiast.

The Aurion offers utility fea-tures such as a parking assist sys-tem, which alerts the driver when approaching obstacles in blind spots. The Aurion also has classy, up-market audio system with a 6.1-inch display, a USB/AUX ter-minal for external audio devices, advanced bluetooth communica-tion compatibility, keyless entry, dual-zone air conditioning and a back window power sunshade.

All specifications listed above are standard Toyota equipment.

Delivering a top-class

driving experience,

Aurion sets a classy

impression with

elegant, luxurious

and prestigious looks

Sohar Aluminium unveils new home for Al Noor AssociationSOHAR: In the presence of Sheikh Mohammed bin Said Al Kalbani, Minister of Social Devel-opment, and Sheikh Muhanna bin Saif Al Lamki, Governor of North Al Batinah, Sohar Aluminium, (SA) headed by its chief execu-tive officer (CEO) Eng. Said bin Mohammed Al Masoudi along with Mohammad Ismail Al Bal-ushi, chairman of Al Noor Asso-ciation for the Blind, successfully unveiled a full-fledged 500 square metre premises for the Al Noor Association for the Blind in the Wilayat Sohar.

The event was attended by the walis and members of Al Shura Council, along with general man-agers from the private and public sectors in Al Batinah and mem-bers of the community, says a press release.

As part of the company’s stead-fast commitment to enhanc-ing the lives of each and every member of the community, the OMR120,000 building aims to improve the quality of life of more than 300 visually impaired indi-viduals from Al Batinah North and South, Al Dhahirah as well as Al Buraimi governorates.

The newly opened premises will offer a wealth of programmes to support the visually impaired, such as courses in using Braille typewriters, Braille sense dis-plays and notetakers, comput-

er lessons, employment pro-grammes as well as coordinating with the relevant authorities to ensure employment.

Furthermore, the Al Noor As-sociation will also organise Haj and Umrah excursions from its new premises and provide Rama-dan rations to those in need.

The state-of-the-art branch consists of a reception hall, multi-purpose hall, fully equipped com-puter labs for males and females, Braille printing facilities, meeting rooms, a library and a preparatory kitchen and will also include of-fices for the president and vice president of the association’s board of directors and the asso-ciation’s treasurer.

The Al Noor Association for the Blind in Sohar has been built with the intention of raising awareness about visually impaired people’s rights, and empowering them to improve their lives. It will go a long way towards instilling the visually impaired with the confi-dence and tools they need to lead productive lives and to this end, Sohar Aluminium is proud to continue playing an instrumental role in the communities it serves.

S O C I A L C O M M I T M E N T

The state-of-the-art branch consists of a reception hall, multi-purpose hall, fully equipped computer labs for males and females, Braille printing facilities, meeting rooms, a library and a preparatory kitchen

Omzest sponsors Economic Forum 2015MUSCAT: Omzest Group, one of Sultanate’s premier and diversi-fied business conglomerates, was the gold sponsor of the recently held Economic Forum 2015. The two-day event took place recently under the patronage of Dr Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce and Industry, says a press release.

The theme of the forum was ‘Investment: Opportunities and Challenges’ and the academic speakers and international ex-perts focused on three main top-ics – Elements of Success of the Opportunities in the Investment Sectors, Investment Opportuni-ties in the Food Industry and In-vestments in the Vital Sectors.

The main purpose of the Eco-nomic Forum was to deliberate on the role of private and public com-panies in the promotion and fa-cilitation of investments in Oman. The forum also highlighted the importance of encouraging invest-ments in different sectors in the country. The Omzest Group too believes that diversified growth

should be the backbone of Oman’s continued economic progress. Since its beginning in early 1970s, the group has contributed effec-tively to national development through economic diversification and human capability develop-ment under the leadership of Dr. Omar bin Abdul Muniem Al Zawa-wi, chairman, Omzest Group.

G O L D S P O N S O R

Best Western Premier welcomes Ramadan with exciting Iftar offerMUSCAT: Welcoming the holy month of Ramadan, Best West-ern Premier Muscat has invited guests to celebrate the spirit of Ramadan with family and friends over a delectable Iftar buffet se-lection of both Arabic and inter-national favourites with rates from OMR 10++ per person.

The hotel’s Atrium all day din-ing restaurant offers an Iftar buf-fet priced at OMR 10++ per per-son, while exclusive Iftar dinner parties (indoor or outdoor cater-ing) are also on offer with rates starting from OMR 12++ per per-son, subject to change depend-ing on the guaranteed number of

guests, says a press release.Best Western’s culinary team

led by new executive chef Sajid Ahmed whips up a mouth-water-ing hot and cold mezze, soup, main courses, live stations and dessert. Some of the dishes featured on the flexible menu packages include: Lamb Kabuli, Arabic Mixed Grill with Shish Tawooq, Shish Kabob and Beef Kofta, Chicken Wrap or Pasta Stations and desserts such as Mahlabbia, Kunafa and Umm Ali, among others.

Guests who book and confirm their private Iftar dinner parties from today until June 10, will en-joy a 10% discount.

B U F F E T D I N N E R

ISACA Muscat Chapter holds CPE programmeMUSCAT: ISACA Muscat Chapter under the programme of mandatory Continuing Pro-fessional Education (CPE) recently conducted a CPE pro-gramme at PDO Oil & Gas Exhi-bition Auditorium on the topic ‘Optimising IT Spending Using COBIT Practices’.

Aamir Jamil, the presenter of the topic, explained the key chal-lenges that IT is facing today, the importance of IT governance, its benefits and COBIT principles, enablers and framework for us-ing in IT governance. He empha-sised the need to understand the business strategy, identify the business pain points, choose pri-orities and improve governance to resolve the IT issues. Amir is an IT governance specialist at In-

formation Technology Authority (ITA) of Sultanate of Oman and has vast experience in develop-ing IT strategic plans, policies and enterprise architectures and in implementing IT stand-ards and frameworks. The pro-gramme started with a welcome address by Venugopal Hari, Mus-cat Chapter’s president, and an-chored by Nagesh. Vote of thanks was proposed by Dilip.

ISACA provides practical guidance, benchmarks and other effective tools for all enterprises that use information systems. Through its comprehensive guidance and services, ISACA defines the roles of information systems governance, security, audit and assurance profession-als worldwide.

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

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BMW celebrates 40 years of art cars

MUNICH: Since a BMW 3.0 CSL painted by Alexander Calder lined up for the Le Mans 24-hour race exactly 40 years ago, the BMW Art Car Collection has fascinated both art and design enthusiasts as well as car and technology fans all around the world.

Ever since the invention of the motor car, artists have drawn in-spiration from the thrill of speed, from the phenomenon of mobil-ity and from racing cars as exam-ples of modern sculpture, says a press release.

Since 1975, BMW Art Cars have

been a central feature of this story. The idea behind the BMW Art Cars was the brainchild of French rac-ing driver and art enthusiast Hervé Poulain: 40 years ago, Poulain asked artist friend Alexander Cal-der to apply his creative talents to his race car. Together with Jochen Neerpasch, then BMW Motorsport Director, the first BMW Art Car was born – and it became an instant crowd’s favourite on the race track. Since then, new additions to the BMW Art Car Collection have been

made over the years at irregular intervals, with unique works of art from artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney and Jeff Koons.

“The BMW Art Cars provide an exciting landmark at the interface where cars, technology, design, art and motor sport meet,” reflected Maximilian Schöberl, senior vice president, Corporate and Govern-mental Affairs, BMW Group.

“The 40-year history of our ‘rolling sculptures’ is as unique as

the artists who created them. The BMW Art Cars are an essential el-ement and core characteristic of our global cultural engagement,” he added.

The anniversary celebrations got under way with exhibitions in Hong Kong, at the Centre Pom-pidou, the BMW Museum and the Concorso d’Eleganza at Lake Como, where the first four BMW Art Cars by Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, plus the M3 GT2

created by Jeff Koons, were all on display. Further presentations are set to follow later in 2015 in New York, Miami and Shanghai.

The group of 17 artists who have designed BMW models so far since 1975 is very interna-tional, and interest in the “rolling sculptures” has spread all around the world. Several cars are usually on display at the BMW Museum in Munich, the home of the BMW Art Cars, as part of its permanent collection. The remaining BMW Art Cars are travelling the globe – to art fairs in Los Angeles, London and Hong Kong, as well as exhibi-tions at the Louvre, the Guggen-heim and the Museum of Contem-porary Art Shanghai.

To date, many of the BMW Art Cars have not only turned heads in museums, but have also – in their earlier life – done so on the race track: Alexander Calder (BMW 3.0 CSL, 1975), Frank Stella (BMW 3.0 CSL, 1976), Roy Lichtenstein (BMW 320 Group 5, 1977), Andy Warhol (BMW M1 Group 4, 1979), Ernst Fuchs (BMW 635CSi, 1982), Robert Rauschenberg (BMW 635CSi, 1986), Michael Jagamara Nelson (BMW M3 Group A, 1989),

Ken Done (BMW M3 Group A, 1989), Matazo Kayama (BMW 535i, 1990), César Manrique (BMW 730i, 1990), A. R. Penck (BMW Z1, 1991), Esther Mahl-angu (BMW 525i, 1991), Sandro Chia (BMW M3 GTR, 1992), David Hockney (BMW 850CSi, 1995), Jenny Holzer (BMW V12 LMR, 1999), Ólafur Elíasson (BMW H2R, 2007) and Jeff Koons (BMW M3 GT2, 2010).

The BMW Group would also like to introduce the 40th anniversary of the BMW Art Car Collection into the public sphere through social media. While exploring the vision of each artist for their car on its social media channels, the company also wants to ask people what the ‘art of the car’ means to them. To track the content, it will be shared under the hashtag #BM-WArtCar. In 2014, Hatje Cantz published the first comprehensive publication on the BMW Art Cars. The 200-page book is richly illus-trated and reviews the history of this extraordinary collection of cars from its beginnings in 1975. It uses portraits and interviews to shed more light on the various art-ists’ themes and approaches.

The idea behind the

BMW Art Cars was

the brainchild of

French racing driver

and art enthusiast

Hervé Poulain

Mercedes successfully drives gold on social mediaMUSCAT: ‘Oman Sees Gold’, a competition run by Mercedes-Benz Oman to celebrate the gold standard set by the award winning S-Class, concluded successfully with over 200 entries submitted across all social media platforms, says a press release.

“‘#OmanSeesGold’ was cre-ated as a tribute to the continued success and unwavering commit-ment to excellence of our iconic Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the re-gion’s luxury vehicle of choice and the World Luxury Car of the Year 2015,” noted Clive Hammond, CEO of Zawawi Trading Compa-ny-Automotive.

“The response to the competi-tion has been fantastic and, as we expected, the gold-wrapped S-Class had real star appeal, draw-ing crowds across the selected locations around Muscat. Many Mercedes-Benz fans were keen to scoop the prize of a weekend with

the award-winning vehicle that they entered multiple photos.”

Randomly selected from over 200 entries on social media, the three lucky winners, Moayad Al Zadjali, Abbas Al Essa and Jamila Al Balushi, will get an amazing opportunity to enjoy the gold-wrapped engineering masterpiece for a weekend.

Having spotted the sensational gold S-Class on its journey around

Muscat, residents and visitors were able to enter the competition by simply posting pictures of the car on Instagram, Twitter or Fa-cebook with the hashtag #Oman-SeesGold, having first liked or followed Mercedes-Benz Oman social media platforms. The stops included popular spots around the capital such as Almouj Golf, The Walk, Muscat Grand Mall, City Cinema, Shatti Al Qurum,

Beach One Building, Madinat Qaboos, Royal Opera House, Jawharet Al Shatti, Modern Col-lege of Business and Science, beach road in Shatti Al Qurum and Seeb corniche.

Strong, powerful and majestic, the S-Class Mercedes-Benz is a car created without compromise in style, safety, performance or technology, offering an exception-al blend of power and efficiency. Successive generations of S-Class Saloon have raised the bar for au-tomotive design and engineering but this latest incarnation exceeds all expectations. With its engi-neering priorities of ‘Intelligent Drive’, ‘Efficient Technology’ and ‘Essence of Luxury’, it is not just at the forefront of new technological development for Mercedes-Benz but for the automotive industry as a whole. Flawless in every respect, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class truly defines luxury and power.

C O M P E T I T I O N

ahlibank announces MyHassad daily winnersMUSCAT: ahlibank announced the names of the MyHassad daily prize draw winners.

Mansoor Salim Said Al Bahri from Khuwair branch, Khalfan Salim Nasser Al Salmi from Ibra branch, Ahmed Nasser Saleem Al Qasmi from Ibra Branch, Fais-al Yousuf Salim Al Habsi from Khoudh branch and Shoaeb Ab-dulrahman and Benazir Shoaeb from Ghubra branch were the lucky winners of OMR1,000 each for the week, says a press release.

MyHassad savings account continues to successfully satisfy the existing customers and at-tract new ones.

MyHassad Saving Scheme was introduced in July 2008 as an ex-tension of the bank’s tradition of product innovation. Opening My-Hassad Saving account is simple and easy.

Customers need only to open their MyHassad account with OMR100 for their chance to win OMR1,000 in the next working

day’s draw hence their chance to “open today and win tomor-row” continues.

Further enhancements in March 2009 allow customers to participate in the OMR10,000 monthly draw, by maintaining a minimum OMR250 during the month.

Customers can also transfer their salaries to MyHassad saving account and will be eligible to en-ter in the daily, monthly draw as per the balance maintained.

S A V I N G S S C H E M E

Total appoints Diamond

Wealth as distributor of

Elf products in Oman

MUSCAT: Total Marketing Middle East (TMME), a wholly owned subsidiary of Total SA, has appointed Diamond Wealth Trading Company as official dis-tributor for its Elf brand of lubri-cants in Oman.

The Elf ’s quality is based on a very strong experience in mot-orsports, being known for more than 150 Formula 1 victories, says a press release.

The decision of Total to ap-point Diamond Wealth Trading as the new distribution partner for the potential Omani market was based on their credible pres-ence and infrastructure in the re-gion. Currently they are the sole distributors of tyre brands, Dou-ble Coin and JK tyres, as well as represent Lloyds Register Oman.

Commenting on this decision, David Kalife, Managing Director, TMME said,’ Diamond Wealth Trading is a well-established company, belonging to the well known Shanfari family of Oman, who are also the leaders in pro-viding logistics and oil field so-lutions through their group companies. Efficient customer service and a hard working sales team who well understand the range of our products were the key factors that influenced our decision to appoint them as our new distributor.”

Also present at the signing cer-emony was Sheikh Tarik Abdul Aziz Ali Al Shanfari, chairman of the Group.

“We started this company with a vision to promote qual-

ity products and services to the customers of Oman. Through this agreement, we shall further enhance the experience of our valued customers, by offering them world class Elf products with proven measurable benefits with regard to longevity and en-gine protection. Buying an Elf product means having the assur-ance and reliability of an estab-lished brand,” said Sheikh Tarik Al Shanfari.

This distribution agreement will allow Total to further pen-etrate the retail and commercial segment in Oman.

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

The decision of Total to appoint Diamond Wealth Trading as the new distribution partner for the potential Omani market was based on their credible presence and infrastructure in the region

VLCC wellness camp gets overwhelming response

MUSCAT: The VLCC wellness check camp entitled, ‘Transform-ing Lives’ received overwhelming response from the public.

The 10-day free camp held from May 15-24 at Muscat Grand Mall offered free wellness check for public. Visitors were given body composition analysis along with free trial services to experience the premier wellness brand, says a press release.

‘‘More than 300 people visited our stall at Grand Mall, and 180 people registered names to do fur-ther wellness check at our centres. VLCC Oman has been conduct-ing wellness camps in association with various organisations and en-tities since our inception in Mus-cat in 2008, and we would contin-ue to conduct such programmes throughout the country,’’ a senior VLCC official said.

Visitors received special VLCC booklets on healthy living, obesity and healthy recipes. As part of the seventh anniversary, VLCC is of-fering special discount on all its treatments. Special consultations, body composition analysis, skin and hair analysis are being organ-ised at the VLCC centres in Qurum and Al Mawaleh.

The acceptance of VLCC’s sci-entific weight management pro-

grammes and revolutionary skin and hair care treatments is re-flected in its reputation as the pre-mier slimming, beauty, and fitness brand in the Middle East VLCC with over 10 million satisfied cus-tomers worldwide.

‘‘It is VLCC’s commitment to create confidence among people on how to develop a healthy life style, especially on eating habits. VLCC is the world’s first slimming, fitness and beauty corporate to get

the ISO 9001:2000 quality certifi-cation. It is also the first company of its kind in the world to get the SA: 8000 (Social Accountabil-ity) certification for implementing global corporate social responsi-bility standards. The VLCC Group has also been awarded the ISO: 14001 certification for meeting global environment safety norms, again a world’s first for an organi-sation of its kind,’’ says VLCC.

Guided by the vision of “Trans-

forming Lives”, the VLCC Group seeks to urge self transformation, spread happiness and imbibe eve-ry individual with wellness for life. VLCC is widely recognised world over for its holistic, scientific and completely natural weight-man-agement practices and therapeutic beauty solutions addressing the mind and body.

Today, VLCC has operations in 121 cities across 16 countries, em-ploying nearly 6,000 worldwide.

A W A R E N E S S C A M P A I G N

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RE-ELECTED BLATTER BLASTS US, EUROPEFifa President Sepp Blatter came out fighting on Saturday as he began his fifth term in charge of Fifa, implying that the US timed the announcement of a major corruption probe to try to scupper his re-election bid.. >C6

Djokovic on course for Nadal clash, Murray marches ahead

PARIS: Top seed Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray slapped down a pair of Australian upstarts at the French Open but Rafa Nadal showed he is still the man to beat as he powered into the last 16 of the French Open on Saturday.

Teenager Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios are touted as the next big things and pack plenty of box-office appeal but the gulf be-tween brash raw talent and sea-soned Grand Slam champions was evident in the Paris sunshine.

Djokovic, bidding for his maiden French Open title, hurtled towards a potential quarterfinal clash against defending champion Na-

dal with an immaculate 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 defeat of 19-year-old wildcard Kokkinakis.

Kyrgios, a year older than his compatriot, has already made deep inroads at Grand Slams, notably when stunning Nadal at Wimble-

don last year, and his match-up with Britain’s Murray had the po-tential to be firecracker.

No-nonsense MurrayThere were plenty of sparks and some outrageous winners from the

20-year-old Kyrgios, but for every thunderous forehand there was a crass error as the 29th seed, ham-pered by a sore elbow that took the edge off his serve, flattered to deceive. While Kyrgios played the showman, Murray gave him a les-

son in match craft, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 to set up a meeting with Jeremy Char-dy, one of five Frenchmen into the last 16 which equals the hosts’ best showing in the professional era.

Kyrgios, dressed in shocking pink and blue and donning a base-

ball cap, provided some colourful language and smashed a ball out of the stadium, but did offer one magical moment, a winning lob ex-ecuted from between his legs that had the crowd roaring its approval.

That was a rare highlight, though, and he was easily tamed by the no-nonsense Murray.

“You have to expect the unexpect-ed against him,” Murray, who has now won 13 consecutive claycourt matches and faces Frenchman Jer-emy Chardy next, told reporters.

“I feel like I have done a good job of kind of weathering the storms, he always has some periods in the matches where he’s on fire and hits some unbelievable shots.”

Sixth seed Nadal spoke of the old “positive feelings” returning as he outclassed unseeded Russian An-drey Kuznetsov 6-1, 6-3, 6-2, emu-lating Djokovic as he reached the second week without dropping a set.

Should he beat Jack Sock, the last surviving American in the next round, and Djokovic beats home hope Richard Gasquet, then a repeat of the final in two of the last three years will be played out in the quarterfinals.

“There is no doubt that it was not my worst first week here at Roland Garros, because some-times I have had quite difficult first weeks,” Nadal, who turns 29 next week, said after taking his French Open record to 69-1.

Ninth seed Marin Cilic contin-ued his low-key progress, the big-serving Croat crushing Argenti-na’s Leonardo Mayer 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to set up a last-16 clash against Da-vid Ferrer or Simone Bolelli. - Reuters

Djokovic hurtled

towards a potential

quarterfinal clash

against Nadal with

an immaculate 6-4,

6-4, 6-4 defeat of

Kokkinakis, while

Murray gave Kyrgios

a lesson in match

craft in a 6-4, 6-2,

6-3 victory

IN FULL FLOW: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic returns the ball to Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis during the men’s third round of French Open at

the Roland Garros in Paris on Saturday. – AFP

Kvitova and Stephens storm into last 16 stagePARIS: Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova powered into the last 16 at the French Open on Sat-urday after early round struggles at Roland Garros, while Sloane Stephens revived flagging Ameri-can hopes.

Kvitova, the fourth seed from the Czech Republic, finally found her form to outplay Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3, 6-2 in just 58 minutes, taking the last five games at a canter.

That was in stark contrast to her first two rounds that saw her grind out six sets and spend just four minutes short of five hours on the court.

“I think it was for sure the best match which I played here so far, so I’m really glad for it,” Kvitova said.

“I’m glad that I didn’t forget many things from my game and it’s still there. I felt better today, for sure. It’s the third round which I didn’t pass here last year, so I was really motivated by it.”

Next up for Kvitova, who also won Wimbledon in 2011, but who has only managed a single semi-final in Paris in 2012, will be a fourth round tie against Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland who upset 16th seeded American Madison Keys 6-4, 6-2.

Stephens, clawing her way back up the world rankings after a bad wrist injury sidelined her late last year, saw off Bulgaria’s Tsevtana Pironkova 6-4, 6-1, winning eight of the last nine games to clinch the victory.

Her reward for that is likely to be a fourth round clash with top seed and compatriot Serena Williams.

“I am playing really solid and happy to be back in the fourth round at the French Open. I love clay and these are the best clay-courts in the world,” Stephens said.

Also through to the last 16 in early play was Italian Sara Er-rani, losing finalist in 2012, who gained revenge on Andrea Petko-vic of Germany 6-3, 6-3. Petkovic ousted Errani at Roland Garros last year at the quarterfinal stage before losing in the semis.

There was disappointment though for another Italian, 2010 Roland Garros champion Franc-esca Schiavone, who lost 7-5, 6-4 to

Andreea Mitu of Romania. Ranked 100th in the world, Mitu is playing in her first French Open and her three wins in Paris this week were her first at Grand Slam level.

Belgian next up for Mitu Her next opponent, with a quar-terfinal slot at stake will be 93rd-ranked Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium, who ended the hopes of France’s Kristina Mladenovic 6-4, 6-1.

Van Uytvanck was 1-5 in Grand Slam matches coming into Roland Garros, but like Mitu she has been able to benefit in her quarter of the draw from the first round defeat of sixth seed Eugenie Bouchard at the hands of Mladenovic.

“It was not easy because she is a very good player and I was very nervous in the beginning,” said Van Uytvanck.

“It’s a big dream come true. I was happy enough winning in the first round and now being in the fourth round I can’t believe it.

“Maybe I am the favourite in the fourth round. I think she (Mitu) is very confident. She’s a solid player. She is a big hitter. We have nothing to lose.”

Saturday’s action at Roland Garros, completing the last 16 lineup for the women, saw four American players in action led by two-time winner Williams.

The bottom half of the draw completed third round matches on Friday giving an all-European lineup headed by second seed and defending champion Maria Sharapova of Russia.

Williams and Azarenka have played each other 18 times with Williams well ahead at 15-3, but the 19-time Grand Slam winner looked out of sorts in the second round, needing three tough sets to see off the challenge of unherald-ed German Anna-Lena Friedsam.

The defeat of Keys was fol-lowed by another American loss, Irina Falconi going down 6-1, 6-4 to Julia Goerges of Germany. - AFP

F I N D I N G F O R M

FELT BETTER: CPetra Kvitova of the Czech Republic celebrates

after defeating Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu during their third

round match at the French Open on Saturday. – AP/PTI

Federer wary of dangerman Monfils

PARIS: Roger Federer will need to snap a two-match losing streak against French showman Gael Monfils on Sunday if he wants to stay in the hunt for a second French Open title.

The elastic-limbed Monfils has caused Federer trouble through-out his career and will be full of confidence after beating the Swiss maestro in Monte Carlo and before that in the Davis Cup final last year.

World No. 2 Federer is yet to drop a set in three rounds at Roland Gar-ros this year, but knows he will have

to be at his best to subdue Monfils in a standout last-16 clash, espe-cially in front of a Parisian crowd.

Third time lucky“I’m always happy to play Gael,” Federer, who beat Monfils in the quarter-finals here the year he won the French Open for the only time in 2009, told reporters.

“He’s in Paris, he’s at home. He’s very strong. He loves these kind of matches. So I know the danger. I know his performance.”

Monfils, the 13th seed, will be

hoping it is third time lucky on Sunday having twice lost to Feder-er at Roland Garros and believes the crowd could make a difference.

“Some matches Roger has killed me,” the 28-year-old Monfils, who was born in Paris, said.

“Roger always wants to dictate the match the way he wants, but I really try to change it and put Rog-er out of his comfort zone.

“I saw it the most in the U.S. Open, Roger was very unhappy when the crowd is not behind him. That will help me a lot, for sure.” - Reuters

H A P P Y T O P L A Y

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Zimbabwe team to continue with Pakistan tour LAHORE: Zimbabwe on Satur-day said it will continue its crick-et tour of Pakistan despite an ap-parent suicide bombing leaving two people dead outside the sta-dium during a match between the two sides.

Friday’s explosion — which a minister said was a suicide at-tack, though police insist was an accident — threatened to torpedo cricket-mad Pakistan’s first se-ries on home soil since an attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in March 2009.

The blast, which did not affect the match itself, triggered a news blackout in Pakistani media and came despite heavy security in and around Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.

The visitors’ decision to play on means the two sides will face off in the third and final One-day International at the same venue on Sunday.

Pakistan has so far won all of the matches in the series — two Twenty20 meets and two earlier One-day Internationals (ODIs).

“The Zimbabwe tour of Paki-stan ends tomorrow,” Zimbabwe Cricket said in a statement on Saturday.

It said that Lahore police met with the Zimbabwe team, and told them that “what occurred was a cylinder blast which killed two people, and that their foren-sics experts are examining re-mains from the explosion to as-certain the cause”.

A senior city police official “assured the travelling party of continued safety on the tour, and said the fact that the blast occurred outside their red zone means that the security meas-ures put in place for the tour were not breached”.

News blacked outLahore police have insisted that the incident was caused by an ac-cidental blast, initially attributing it to a transformer explosion be-fore later saying a auto rickshaw’s gas cylinder was to blame.

Pakistan’s information min-ister, however, said on Saturday that the explosion was in fact a suicide bomb.

“The suicide bomber failed to enter the stadium due to the brav-ery of our police,” Pervez Rashid told private broadcaster Geo.

The attack took place about 1.5 kilometres (one mile) from the venue at “the outer security cor-don of the stadium”, Rashid said.

News of the explosion was blacked out in Pakistani media until the conclusion of the match in order to prevent panic, a de-cision Rashid praised in his re-marks to Geo.

First tour since 2009Security has been ratcheted up for the series with around 4,000 policemen guarding the stadium itself, and a further 2,000 along the route from the Zimbabwe team hotel to the venue.

Zimbabwe’s tour is the first by a Test-playing nation to Pakistan since the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore left eight police and civilians dead and seven players wounded.

Pakistan have in recent years played their “home” matches at neutral venues such as the Unit-ed Arab Emirates, resulting in fi-nancial losses amounting to $120 million, while several top-flight younger players were never able to experience the lifting effect of home crowds and pitches. - AFP

D E S P I T E ‘ S U I C I D E B O M B ’

The visiting team’s decision to play on means the two sides will face off in the third and final One-day International at the same venue on Sunday. Pakistan has so far won all of the matches in the series — two Twenty20 Internationals and two earlier One-day International matches

Kiwis rally after Lyth’s ton and Cook’s record

LEEDS: Adam Lyth upstaged his captain Alastair Cook by scoring his maiden Test century to lift Eng-land to 253 for five at the close on the second day of the second Test against New Zealand on Saturday.

Cook went past Graham Gooch’s record haul of 8,900 Test runs for England shortly after lunch and made 75 in an opening partnership of 177 with Lyth who hit 107 in his second appearance.

New Zealand fought back strongly in the final session, how-ever, picking up five wickets to leave the match finely poised with England 97 runs behind.

Cook and Lyth started cau-tiously compared with the touring side’s flamboyant stroke-play that lit up Headingley on Thursday and England went to lunch on 54 for no wicket. Left-hander Cook drove Tim Southee to the cover bound-ary to go past Gooch’s record and immediately knuckled down in search of his 28th Test century.

Lyth struck a few crisp bounda-ries through the off side and his fifty included seven fours.

Cook soon followed him to a half-century, carving his ninth four over the slips, and the pair looked completely in control on 163 for no wicket at tea.

Captain Cook was then trapped

lbw by off-spinner Mark Craig, misjudging a straight delivery and being given out after a review.

His departure seemed to unset-tle Lyth who played the ball on to his stumps without dislodging the bails on 90.

The compact left-hander spent 40 minutes in the nervous 90s be-fore striking successive fours off Craig to reach his hundred.

Lyth celebrated wildly in front of his home Yorkshire crowd, punching the air and acknowledg-ing the warm applause.

Gary Ballance, who failed twice in the first test, took 18 balls to get off the mark but soon began to pep-per the boundary with trademark square cuts.

Lyth, looking weary, was run out when his partner called him for an impossible single and Ballance, on 29, was bowled by Trent Boult with the second new ball.

Joe Root edged Southee to wick-etkeeper Luke Ronchi for one and Ben Stokes, on six, then clipped Boult to Craig at slip in the penul-timate over. Ian Bell (12 not out) and Jos Buttler (six not out) will resume in the morning.

Earlier, the New Zealand tail wagged merrily after resuming on 297 for eight, adding 53 runs in a lively half hour.

Stuart Broad took the last two wickets to complete figures of five for 109 and Craig finished unbeat-en on 41 in a total of 350. - Reuters

Cook went past

Graham Gooch’s

record haul of 8,900

Test runs for England

shortly after lunch

and made 75 in an

opening partnership

of 177 with Lyth who

hit 107 runs

LEADING SCORER: England’s Alastair Cook plays a shot during the second day of their second Test match against New Zealand

at Headingley in Leeds on Saturday. – Reuters

New Zealand 1st innings M. Guptill c Bell b Anderson 0T. Latham c Root b Broad 84K. Williamson c Buttler b Anderson 0R. Taylor lbw Broad 20B. McCullum c Wood b Stokes 41BJ Watling b Wood 14L. Ronchi c Anderson b Broad 88M. Craig not out 41T. Southee c Lyth b Wood 1M. Henry c Buttler b Broad 27T. Boult c Lyth b Broad 15Extras (b-4, lb-14, nb-1) 19Total (all out, 72.1 overs) 350Fall of wickets: 1-2 , 2-2, 3-68, 4-123, 5-144, 6-264, 7-265, 8-281, 9-310.Bowling: Anderson 13-3-43-2; Broad 17.1-0-109-5 (nb-1); Wood 14-4-62-2; Stokes 17-4-70-1; Ali 11-3-48-0. England 1st inningsA. Lyth run out 107A. Cook lbw Craig 75G. Ballance b Boult 29I. Bell not out 12J. Root c Ronchi b Southee 1B. Stokes c Craig b Boult 6J. Buttler not out 6Extras (b-14, w-3) 17Total (5 wkts, 88 overs) 253Fall of wickets: 1-177, 2-215, 3-238, 4-239, 5-247.Bowling: Boult 23-4-63-2 (w-1); Southee 23-4-57-1 (w-1); Henry 18-4-76-0 (w-1); Craig 22-10-38-1; Williamson 2-1-5-0.Umpires: S Ravi (IND), Rod Tucker (AUS). TV umpire: Marais Erasmus (RSA). Match referee: David Boon (AUS)

S C O R E B O A R D

MAIDEN CENTURY: Adam Lyth

Arsenal down Villa to retain FA CupLONDON: Arsenal retained the FA Cup in majestic style as their 4-0 demolition of Aston Villa in Saturday’s final made history for the Gunners and their manager Arsene Wenger.

Wenger’s side swept Villa aside with a swashbuckling dis-play sparked by Theo Walcott’s first half opener and illuminated by a sublime strike from Alexis Sanchez to double their lead after the interval.

Historic dayPer Mertesacker and substitute Olivier Giroud also got on the scoresheet for the rampant north Londoners to seal Arsenal’s sec-ond trophy in 12 months with the biggest margin of victory in an FA Cup final since 1994.

It was a suitably memorable performance on a historic day which saw Wenger become the first manager in the post-War period to win the competition six times, a tally matched by only

George Ramsey, who won the last of his with Villa in 1920.

There was another significant slice of history for Arsenal as they lifted the famous old trophy for the 12th time, moving them ahead of Manchester United as the most successful club in the competition.

Wenger insisted this week that he doesn’t know where he keeps his medals, but he now has a ninth major honour of his 19-year reign at Arsenal to add to the collection. Arsenal had conceded twice in a disastrous opening eight minutes against Hull in last year’s final.

But there was no sign of such a fraught start this time as Arsenal quickly established their smooth passing rhythm to pin Villa deep inside their own half.

Villa, appearing in their first FA Cup final since 2000, seemed completely bewildered by the speed and movement of Arsenal’s attacks. - AFP

F O O T B A L L

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Busy schedule ahead for Oman hockey

T.K. MOHANDOSSsportseditor@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Oman hockey is set for a busy schedule starting next month as the national teams will take part in many tournaments and also play host to FIH Hockey World League Round 1 once again.

Confirming this to Times Sport was Oman Hockey Association General Secretary Mohammed Ridha Al Lawati, who added that a plan is also being chalked out for the veterans team, which success-fully took part in a tournament in

Egypt recently. Internationally Oman appears to be a busy con-tender with their latest FIH rank-ings having jumped to 21st two places up from the previous 23rd. However they remain sixth in Asia.

This however, is not reflect-ing on the domestic tournaments where, for some time now, we have been witnessing lesser number of clubs playing the game.

However, Mohammed Ridha is confident that the game will recov-er soon and also praised the clubs in the Dhofar region to have kept the flag flying.

The OHA is on the right path, but Ridha Taqi minced no words in

criticising the sports clubs for the poor state of hockey in the country.

“If we are finding only six to eight teams playing hockey now, the clubs must take the blame,” he said.

Qatar tournamentThe OHA general secretary, mean-while, confirmed the participation of the national team in the forth-coming indoor tournament in Qatar.

According to information availa-ble on the Asian Hockey Federation website, Qatar Hockey Federation will be hosting two international tournaments from June 10 to 13 — the first Arab Nations Indoor Hockey Cup and the Friendship

Hockey Festival in Doha.The Arab Nations Indoor Hock-

ey Cup will be the first major in-door event being held in the Arab world and brings together hosts Qatar, who recently participated in the Indoor Asia Cup in Kazakh-stan, as well as Oman, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Friendship Hockey Festival features three teams, the Air India Maharajahs, the Knights of Arabia and the Pakistan International Air-lines Sultans and is considered a pilot event with a view to develop-ing an annual festival event featur-ing teams from around the globe.

This year’s edition already

boasts some names well-known in hockey circles, with former India captain and forward Dhanraj Pil-lay taking on the coach role with the Air India Maharajahs, men-tored by Arjuna Award winner Jagbir Singh.

The PIA Sultans will be coached by Olympian Mohamed Irfaan and mentored by Shahbaz Ahmed. The Knights of Arabia team, which consists of Qatari players will be coached by former Sri Lanka na-tional coach Mohamed Mulafer and mentored by Qatar national coach Maggid.

Alongside the tournaments, an AHF indoor hockey coach-ing course will be held from 10 to 13 June 2015, with 15 coaches from Iran, Qatar, Sudan, UAE and Oman participating. Meanwhile, Mohammed Ridha also confirmed that Oman will also nominate um-pires for the Qatar event.

Junior Asia Cup 2015Oman, who finished second be-hind hosts Bangladesh in the 4th Men’s Junior AHF Cup last year, had qualified for the 8th Men’s Junior Asia Cup 2015 to be held in Kuantan, Malaysia from Novem-ber 14 to 22.

Mohammed Ridha confirmed that Oman will take part in the tournament but a final decision will be taken only after the OHA board meeting, which will be held before National Hockey League final.

“During the meeting we will dis-

cuss on when to host the Hockey World League Round 1 and also de-cide on participation Junior Asia Cup in November,” he said.

“We will also discuss on the pos-sible participation of our veterans team in Malaysia or South Africa,” he added.

Last time Oman had hosted the World Hockey League in September 2014 and this time it is likely to be around the same time as the WHL can also help prepare the national team for the Junior Asian Cup.

The teams playing in the Junior Asian Cup are Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Malay-sia, Oman and Pakistan.

“We will also plan on prepara-tory camps for our national team which is being coached by Oli-ver Krutz. There is a possibility of an external camp probably in Europe,” he added, saying all pro-grammes will be revealed after the Qatar tournament.

Fixtures:June 10: Arab Indoor Cup — Qatar

vs Sudan; Oman vs UAE; Friendship fes-tival — Air India Maharajas vs Arabian Knights

June 11: Arab Indoor Cup — UAE v Su-dan; Qatar v Oman; Friendship Festival —PIA Sultans v Air India Maharajas

June 12: Arab Indoor Cup —Sudan v Oman; Qatar v UAE; Friendship Festival —Arabian Knights v PIA Sultans

June 13: Arab Indoor Cup — Bronze Medal Match; Final; Friendship Festival — Final.

Oman will take part

in the Arab Nations

Indoor Hockey Cup

next month, while

participation in the

Junior Asia Cup and

hosting Round 1 of

the Hockey World

League 2015 is also

on the cards

We will soon decide on hosting of World League Round 1 and Junior Asia Cup participation

Mohammed RidhaOHA General Secretary

‘Sultanate of Oman’ takes centre stage in Austria with awe-inspiring teamworkMUSCAT: Oman Sail’s GC32 Sultanate of Oman, supported by the Ministry of Tourism and EFG Bank Monaco, took centre stage on Lake Traunsee in Austria on Fri-day with another show of awe-in-spiring teamwork that puts them at the top of the leaderboard half-way through the inaugural Bullitt GC32 Racing Tour.

The wind once again was light and fickle which called for expert judgement and communication among the teams but it was Leigh McMillan and his scratch crew on Sultanate of Oman, who judged best, to finish on the podium in each of the five races completed, adding two further outright wins to their tally from day one.

This strong performance gave them a six-point lead over second placed Alinghi and according to America’s Cup sailor Alister Rich-ardson, who is a foiling expert af-ter racing AC45s for Italian team Luna Rossa, the success can be put down quite simply to teamwork. “We all know each other really well and although this is the first time we are racing together as a group, we work really well as a team,” he said. “If you know each other well, you don’t have to talk as much - es-pecially where Pete Greenhalgh and I are concerned. I kind of know what he is thinking.

“Obviously we are not happy all the time with our manoeuvres but we are not getting frustrated, just trying to stay nice and relaxed while always learning and trying to improve.

“The secret today was to stay calm and not chase what other boats were doing. Our aim was to keep our heads out of the boat and sail towards wind we could see, rather than chase wind that had been.

“We did a really nice job of that today and even at times when we were struggling, we stayed calm and took one boat at a time and sailed well.”

Oman’s Nasser Al Mashari, the Sultanate of Oman’s bowman is an Extreme 40 expert but has spent just a few days on the GC32

and has high expectations of what might be achieved, given a little more time on the boat.

“Our second day was even bet-ter than the first but we still need practice on this boat because it is still new to us,” he said. “Hopefully we can do even better on the third day and keep the momentum up but it has been a very good day.”

Oman Sail CEO David Graham is visiting the team in Lake Traun-see and went ‘flying’ for the first time this afternoon onboard Sul-

tanate of Oman – he admitted to being blown away by the boat, the class and the GC32 team.

“It was an incredible experi-ence. The Sultanate of Oman team was amazing – with a lot of experi-ence and expertise from different campaigns but all fitting and work-ing well together,” he said. Oman Sail’s decision to race the new Bul-litt GC32 Racing Tour was look-ing like a good one, he added, on a number of counts.

“We have always aimed to be

at the cutting edge of the sport and we are doing that over time. Look at what we are doing on the MOD70 with the speed records and then the Extreme 40s with The Wave, Muscat and Oman Air.

“The GC32 opportunity came up and it seemed like the logical thing to do. It is very impressive what the class has done in a short space of time and the venues linked in with the Ministry of Tourism’s key mar-kets so it was almost tailor made.

“We were also able to use our

tried and tested Extreme 40 team and they have been really helpful in making it happen so it’s a new thing for us but everyone is very excited and motivated.”

Rankings (after Day 2): 1. Sul-tanate of Oman 17, 2. Alinghi 23, Team Engie 27, 4. Spindrift Racing 27, 5. Armin Strom Sailing Team 41.

Crew onboard “Sultanate of Oman” GC32: Leigh McMillan, Nasser Al Mashari, Glenn Ash-by, Alister Richardson and Pete Greenhalgh.

S A I L I N G

SPECTACULAR: Oman Sail’s ‘Sultanate of Oman’ GC32 boat pictured on second day of the Bullitt GC32 Racing Tour in Australia. – Supplied photo

Iannone gets maiden pole at home GPLUCO DI MUGELLO: Ital-ian rider Andrea Iannone will start from pole position for the first time in his MotoGP career when he lines up for the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The 25-year-old Ducati rider — who rode with a dislocated shoulder in the previous race in France a fortnight ago — post-ed the fastest time in qualify-ing at Mugello on Saturday to record his ninth career pole spot in all categories.

Spain’s two-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo — bid-ding for a third successive win this season — will start second on the grid and Iannone’s team-mate and compatriot Andrea Dovizioso third.

Another Italian, legend Val-entino Rossi leads the overall standings after five races — he will start in eighth spot.

Lorenzo — who has eaten into teammate Rossi’s lead in the championship with his vic-tories in Spain and then France — had set the track alight in the morning practice session.

The 28-year-old Spaniard broke the track record for one lap with a scorching effort of one minute and 46.617 sec-onds, bettering the previous mark set in 2013 by Honda’s Dani Pedrosa by more than half a second.

Honda had a poor day with two-time defending champion Marc Marquez facing a real challenge to get his season go-ing, after a series of listless performances, as for only the second time in his MotoGP ca-reer he failed to make the top 10 riders final session.

He will start the race only in 13th position.

The other two races will see British riders start from pole with Sam Lowes, riding a Speed Up, at the head of affairs in Moto2 — his second ever pole position — and compatriot and championship leader Danny Kent on a Honda in Moto3. - AFP

I T A L I A N G P

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SPORTSS U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

Rio hangs up his boots

LONDON: Former England cap-tain Rio Ferdinand, at one stage the world’s most expensive de-fender, announced his retirement from football on Saturday.

The 36-year-old former Man-chester United stalwart, whose wife Rebecca Ellison died on May 1 following a battle with breast cancer, spent last season at QPR.

Speaking to BT sport Ferdinand said: “After 18 years as a profes-sional footballer, I now feel it’s the right time for me to retire from the game that I love,” he explained.

“This season I really found out that it was time to hang the boots up and get back in the house and watch other people play the game.”

In his prime for United, Fer-dinand was known as a graceful player, who guided attackers away

from the danger zone, rarely mak-ing a rough challenge.

His poise on the ball and effi-cient distribution of it made him a prize asset.

Paul Scholes, former United and England teammate heaped praise on Ferdinand: “He was a great player, without a doubt the best centre-half I ever played with. I would say for a time as well he was the best centre-half in the world.”

Capped 81 times he played at three World Cups for England, but it was at club level where he enjoyed the most success winning six English Premier League titles and the Champions League during his 12 seasons at the heart of Man-chester United’s defence.

“I will always regard the 81

times that I played for England, with immense pride. These are all treasured memories that will last a lifetime,” Ferdinand told BT.

Huge influenceFerdinand began his career with West Ham before an £18 million move to Leeds where his form was such that Alex Ferguson paid a then record fee for a defender of £30 mil-lion (41 million euros) to bring him to Manchester United in 2002.

Ferdinand sees that switch as the making of him, because of the huge influence Ferguson would have on his development.

“His greatest accomplishment in my eyes will always be how he developed us as men, not just as footballers. He will in my opinion,

always be the greatest manager in British football history,” Ferdi-nand said.

However, aside from inevitably injuries there were other lows as well such as when a missed dop-ing test saw him banned for eight months in September 2003.

He was also involved in an un-appetising row with his longtime England central defensive partner John Terry over the latter alleg-edly racially abusing Ferdinand’s younger brother Anton.

Ferdinand joined QPR in July 2014 but well past his best he took part in just 12 games.

Ferdinand and Joey Barton were among six players released by relegated Queens Park Rangers on Wednesday. - AFP

Capped 81 times he

played at three World

Cups for England, but

it was at club level

where he enjoyed

the most success

winning six English

Premier League titles

and the Champions

League during his 12

seasons at the heart

of United’s defence

I will always regard the 81 times that I played for England, with immense pride. These are all treasured memories that will last a lifetime

Rio FerdinandFormer England captain

Fifa suspends Indonesia over long-running row

JAKARTA: Fifa on Saturday suspended Indonesia after the government in Jakarta sought to oust the country’s football asso-ciation, the latest crisis to hit the sport in Indonesia.

The decision means Indone-sian sides will no longer be able to take part in world football, and comes less than two weeks before the country was due to begin qual-ifying matches for the 2018 World Cup. The national team will, how-ever, still be able to participate in the football tournament at the Southeast Asian Games, which is just getting under way.

Fifa’s decision “resulted from the effective ‘take over’ of the ac-tivities of PSSI (the Indonesian football association) by the Indo-nesian authorities,” a spokesman for the world governing body said.

“All Indonesian national teams (national or club) are prohibited from having inter-national sporting contact which includes participating in Fifa and AFC competitions.”

Loses Fifa membershipThe Asian Football Confedera-tion (AFC) is one of six regional federations that make up Fifa, and the ban means Indonesia will no longer be able to participate in the AFC Cup, the region’s pre-mier football tournament.

PSSI also loses its Fifa mem-bership rights and its members and officials will not benefit from any Fifa and AFC development programmes or training, the spokesman said.

The decision was made at a meeting of the Fifa’s Executive Committee in Zurich on Saturday.

The row erupted in April when the PSSI halted the country’s

top-flight league due to a disa-greement with the sports minis-try over the participation of two clubs. The ministry then froze all activities of the PSSI, and said it was setting up a transitional body to replace the association, which has long faced allegations of cor-ruption and mismanagement.

Fifa, which takes a dim view of governments interfering in domestic associations, backed the PSSI and gave Jakarta until May 29 to allow the association to resume activities, or face a ban from world football.

Urgent reforms neededA series of last-ditch efforts this week to resolve the row, includ-ing an attempt by Indonesia’s vice president to persuade the sports ministry to back down, came to nothing.

Sports Minister Imam Nahra-wi has refused to change course and in recent days expressed hope that the crisis engulfing Fifa would delay the sanction.

Top Fifa officials were arrested this week after being accused by U.S. authorities of taking huge bribes, while Swiss police are in-vestigating the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

President Joko Widodo has supported Nahrawi, saying ur-gent reform is needed in Indone-sian football.

“It doesn’t matter if we are ab-sent from international compe-titions for a while as long as we can win big in the future,” he was cited as saying in the Jakarta Post newspaper on Saturday, before the suspension was announced.

“I’m confident when the re-forms are made, we will be moving forward.” - AFP

F O O T B A L L

Chelsea youngsters edgeThai All StarsBANGKOK: Chelsea’s up-and-coming youngsters got a chance to shine under sweltering Bang-kok skies on Saturday as the Blues survived a brief second half scare to dispatch the Thai All Stars 1-0.

The English Premier League champions were visiting the Thai capital for the first stop on an end-of-season tour that will also take in Australia.

Youngsters Izzy Brown, Ola Aina, Nathan Ake and Dominic Solanke all began the match pitch-side, with the latter showing why he was named Chelsea’s academy player of the year last week.

The 17-year-old hammered home a perfectly-executed vol-ley in the 12th minute after a low cross from Aina, 18, received a light touch from Loic Remy before finding Solanke’s right foot.

Kiatisuk Senamuang’s All Star team, made up of local premier league players, proved little re-sistance for the visitors. But they nearly caused some embarrass-ment in the 67th minute with an on-target shot kept clear by a bril-liant header from Chelsea defend-er Andreas Christensen.

Conditions for the visitors inside Thailand’s national Ra-jamangala Stadium were far re-moved from the more comfort-able — and balmy — climes the

Blues are used to in west London.With the mercury hovering

around 34 degrees Celsius (93 Fahrenheit) even as night fell, Chelsea seemed in no particular

rush to do much chasing and the drink breaks were frequent.

Manager Jose Mourinho had to make do with flimsy plastic pitchside chairs instead of a plush Stamford Bridge manager’s box.

English football commands a huge following in Thailand with Chelsea, sponsored by the local Singha beer brand, one of the favourites.

Among the fans inside the sta-dium, blue shirts easily outnum-bered the local team’s red strips.

The second half saw some of Chelsea’s more experienced play-ers take the pitch, including cap-tain John Terry and injury-prone Diego Garcia, who was pulled off again after less than 20 minutes.

Eden Hazard got a cheer from the crowd almost every time he went near the ball in the second half and the Belgian had a couple of close shots.

The only yellow card of the evening went to All Star and Bangkok United defender Mika Chunuonsee after a fairly blatant handball halted what could have been a dangerous attacking run from Jeremy Boga. - AFP

F R I E N D L Y M A T C H

LONE GOAL: Chelsea’s Dominic Solanke, second right, celebrates

with teammates after scoring against Thailand All-Stars during

their friendly match in Bangkok on Saturday. – Reuters

Kane scores again in Spurs win

SYDNEY: Rising England star Harry Kane scored the winner as Tottenham Hotspur beat Sydney FC 1-0 in their friendly match in Sydney on Saturday.

The in-demand 21-year-old sharpshooter was on target in the 43rd minute to give Spurs the victory before 71,549 fans at Syd-ney’s Olympic Stadium.

Kane, who scored 21 league goals in the recent English Pre-mier League season where he played in 51 club games, has the scoring knack and scored both goals in Tottenham’s 2-1 victory over a Malaysian select squad in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino kept Kane on the field for 84 min-utes before bringing him off to a rousing reception from the ap-preciative Australian crowd.

“It was great to get on the scoresheet again and to win the game and it tops off an amazing season and a great campaign,” Kane said.

“I could have got a couple more goals, but the keeper played well and we had some good chances and so did Sydney.

“I spoke to the management about (playing more minutes) and

I’ve got a tournament coming up so it was a good chance to get a bit more fitness before that... I always want to be playing, to be honest.”

Kane missed a couple of chanc-es before he clinically struck two

minutes before half-time. A quick counter by Spurs and Argentin-ian winger Erik Lamela did well to hold up the ball before freeing Kane on the right and the young whiz let rip from the edge of the area to beat goalkeeper Ivan Necevski with an angled volley.

Spurs dominated the opening half with Dane Christian Eriksen firing high over the bar in a shoot-ing position.

Lamela, meanwhile, thrilled the big crowd with his trademark “ra-bona” chip shot at goal where his kicking leg was wrapped around the back of the standing leg.

Sydney’s Alex Brosque was de-nied by a goal-line clearance by Belgian international Jan Vertong-hen after a misplaced pass exposed French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Kane had a goal-bound shot kicked off the line by Sebastian Ryall in the 70th minute as Spurs pressed for the killer second goal.

Tottenham’s fifth placing in the EPL ensures they will be playing in next season’s Europa League.

Sydney FC, this season’s beaten A-League grand finalists, face an-other stern test on Tuesday when they take on newly-crowned EPL champions Chelsea. - AFP

F R I E N D L Y I N A U S T R A L I A

WINNER: Tottenham’s goal-

scorer Harry Kane applauds

fans after their friendly match

against Sydney FC in Sydney

on Saturday. – Reuters

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SPORTSS U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

Oman Cricket initiates measures to take the game beyond Muscat

A. SESHAGIRI RAOraoas@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Oman Cricket (OC) offi-cials are walking the talk. In the past few years, the governing body of the Sultanate’s cricket has been doing what it has promised to do for the overall development of the cricket.

Be it the onfield success or the recognition off it, the Oman Cricket has been striving to march towards their goal of achieving excellence.

The national team winning the ACC Twenty20 Cup in the UAE — thereby qualifying for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup Qualifier to be jointly hosted by Ireland and Scot-land later this year — and obtaining the Associate Membership of Inter-national Cricket Council (ICC) in June 2014 are two prime examples.

Now Oman Cricket is working on fulfilling another promise — to popularise and develop the game across the Sultanate.

The Oman cricket body knows

there is a need and the scope for spreading the game far and wide and it also believes that is the only way to further develop cricket in the country.

Instead of just talking talk they have started the initiatives to ‘take the game beyond Muscat’ and into the interior regions.

And the man who Oman Cricket has entrusted with leading these initiatives is none other than Du-leep Mendis.

The Sri Lankan great, who has been working hard to help Oman Cricket achieve their goals both as the national team coach and chief development officer, has just started the process of visiting different parts of Oman to study the suitability of the situation and available facilities in order to work out a mechanism to launch the development works.

In the past one week, Duleep and the visiting Asian Cricket Council

(ACC) Regional Development Of-ficer Iqbal Sikander have visited Sohar and Salalah to study the vi-ability of starting the development programmes there.

“It’s Oman Cricket’s ambition to take cricket beyond Muscat and to the different part of Oman,” said Duleep Mendis.

Speaking to Times Sport, after their visit to Sohar, Mendis said: “Our initial targets are Sohar, Sala-lah, Nizwa and Duqm. To develop

cricket in those areas and take it further into the interior areas.”

“We have started with Sohar,” he said on the eve of the duo’s depar-ture to Salalah.

“We are glad ACC Development Officer Iqbal Sikander is here with us and also visiting the places.

His presence is a big advantage for Oman Cricket as Duleep ex-plained the Asian cricket body will cease to exist on July 1 and will be-come part of the ICC.

And any assessment the visiting official will make will be directly be reported to the governing body of the world cricket and will pave way for the Oman getting further recognition from ICC.

“Iqbal Sikander is very pleased with the development work being carried out by Oman Cricket. He is also happy with our efforts to take the game to different part of the country,” Duleep said.

Proper facilitiesGiving the details of their trip to Sohar, he said: “The main idea is to find suitable venues to launch the development progammes. We have visited Oman Mining Com-pany where they have a ground. The facilities are there but we need to develop them. We need to develop proper practice facilities and a proper ground.”

Duleep also said they looked into the availability of facilities in Sohar city.

“Besides Oman Mining Compa-ny, we have also explored the facili-ties in the city itself,” he said.

“There are some football clubs with green grounds, some of which have three or four nets.

“We have also visited the Indian School Sohar where they have net facilities. The principal and other faculty have been very coopera-tive. They have shown keen inter-est in our development work.”

Duleep said ‘these are initial steps and if everything works to our plans we will definitely be tak-ing and popularising the game to all across the nation’.

Praising Oman Cricket for stick-ing to their plans and staying on path of development, he said: “The Oman Cricket, the board members and everyone who are involved with country’s cricket are doing their bit and doing it very sincere-ly. And when there are such com-mitted and dedicated people, the goals, however lofty they are, will be achievable.”

According to Duleep

Mendis, who has been

travelling along with

visiting ACC official

Iqbal Sikander, Oman

Cricket is looking at

Sohar, Salalah, Nizwa

and Duqm as the

immediate centres to

launch development

programmes

DEVELOPMENT ON MIND: Oman Cricket official Duleep Mendis and ACC official Iqbal Sikander during their visit to Indian School Sohar, left, and during their meetings with people in Sohar.

NEEDS TO SPRUCING UP: Oman Cricket Chief Development Officer Duleep Mendis after a visit to Sohar said there are facilities in the city

that are suitable for development of cricket but they need to be spruced up.

Oman to launch ICC World T20 qualifying campaign against Kenya

MUSCAT: Oman will launch their campaign in the ICC World Twen-ty20 Qualifier 2015 against Kenya on July 11.

According to news posted on the International Cricket Council (ICC) website, Oman are placed in Group B along with Canada, the Netherlands, Afghanistan, the UAE and hosts Scotland besides Kenya.

The Qualifier will be jointly host-ed by Scotland and Ireland from July 9 to 26 where 14 teams will vye for six available places for the ICC World Twenty20 championship to be hosted by India in 2016.

According to the format of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2015, the sides that top the two groups will automatically qualify for the ICC World Twenty20, while the sides that finish second

and third in each of the two groups will play cross-over matches with the two winners joining the table-toppers for the India tournament.

The losing sides of the two play-off matches will then play the fourth-placed sides from each of the two groups in cross-over matches with the winners com-pleting the 16-team line-up for the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016.

The fifth-sixth and third-fourth position play-offs as well as the fi-nal will be played on the last three days of the tournament based on which these teams’ seeding-group-ings for the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016 will be confirmed.

Groups: Group A: Ireland, Nepal, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, Namibia, USA and Jersey. Group B: Aghanistan, UAE, the Neth-erlands, Scotland, Canada, Kenya and Oman.

Warm-up matches: July 6: Nepal v Oman, Stormont, Belfast; PNG v Kenya, Bready, Co. Tyrone; Scotland v Namibia, The Grange, Edinburgh; Netherlands v Hong Kong, Myre-side, Edinburgh; Ireland v UAE, Stormont, Belfast; USA v local side, Bready, Co. Tyrone; Canada v local side, The Grange, Edinburgh; Afghanistan v Jersey, Myreside, Edinburgh. July 7: Nepal v UAE, Stormont, Belfast; local team v PNG, Bready, Co. Tyrone; Scotland v Jersey, Goldenacre, Edinburgh; local team v Netherlands, New Williamfield, Stirling; Ireland v Oman, Stormont, Belfast; Kenya v USA, Bready, Co. Tyrone; Canada v Namibia, Goldenacre, Edinburgh; Afghanistan v Hong Kong, New Williamfield, Stirling.

Tournament schedule: July 9: Scotland v UAE, The Grange, Edinburgh (1000-1310); Netherlands v Afghanistan, The Grange, Edinburgh (1415-1725). July 10: Ireland v Namibia, Stormont, Belfast (1000-1310); Canada v Kenya, Myreside, Edinburgh

(1000-1310); Nepal v USA, Stormont, Bel-fast (1415-1725); UAE v Afghanistan, The Grange, Edinburgh 1415-1725. July 11: Hong Kong v Jersey, Bready, Co. Tyrone (1000-1310); Scotland v Netherlands, The Grange, Edinburgh (1000-1310); Kenya v Oman, Myreside, Edinburgh (1000-1310); Nepal v Namibia, Stormont, Belfast (1415-1725). July 12: Ireland v USA, Stormont, Belfast (1000-1310); PNG v Jersey, Bready, Co. Ty-rone (1000-1310); UAE v Netherlands, The Grange, Edinburgh (1000-1310); Canada v Oman, New Williamfield, Stirling (1000-1310); Scotland v Afghanistan, The Grange, Edinburgh (1415-1725). July 13: Namibia v USA, Stormont, Belfast (1000-1310); Hong Kong v PNG, Bready, Co. Tyrone (1000-1310); Ireland v Nepal, Stormont, Belfast (1415-1725); Afghanistan v Kenya, New Williamfield, Stirling (1415-1725). July 14: Netherlands v Oman, Myreside, Edinburgh (1000-1310); UAE v Canada, New William-

field, Stirling (1000-1310); Scotland v Kenya, The Grange, Edinburgh (1415-1725). July 15: Ireland v PNG, Stormont, Belfast (1000-1310); USA v Jersey, Bready, Co. Tyrone (1000-1310); Afghanistan v Oman, Goldena-cre, Edinburgh (1000-1310); Nepal v Hong Kong, Stormont, Belfast (1415-1725); UAE v Kenya, Goldenacre, Edinburgh (1415-1725). July 16: Scotland v Canada, Goldenacre, Ed-inburgh (1000-1310). July 17: Nepal v PNG, Malahide, Dublin (1000-1310); Namibia v Jersey, Clontarf (1000-1310); Netherlands v Canada, Goldenacre, Edinburgh (1000-1310); UAE v Oman, New Williamfield, Stirling (1000-1310); Ireland v Hong Kong, Malahide, Dublin (1415-1725). July 18: Ne-pal v Jersey, Malahide, Dublin (1000-1310); Scotland v Oman, Goldenacre, Edinburgh (1000-1310); Afghanistan v Canada, New Williamfield, Stirling (1000-1310); PNG v Namibia, Malahide, Dublin (1415-1725); Hong Kong v USA, Clontarf, Dublin (1415-

1725); Netherlands v Kenya, Myreside, Edin-burgh (1415-1725). July 19: Ireland v Jersey, Malahide, Dublin (1000-1310); PNG v USA, Malahide, Dublin (1415-1725); Hong Kong v Namibia, Clontarf, Dublin (1415-1725).

July 21: Qualifying Play-Off 1 (A2 v B3), Malahide, Dublin (1000-1310); Qualify-ing Play-Off 2 (A3 v B2), Malahide, Dublin (1415-1725). July 23: Qualifying Play-Off 3 (A4 v loser Qualifying Play-Off 1, Malahide, Dublin (1000-1310); Qualifying Play-Off 4 (B4 v loser Qualifying Play-Off 2, Malahide, Dublin (1415-1725).

July 25: Semifinal (B1 v Winner Quali-fying Play-off 1), Malahide, Dublin (1000-1310); fifth/sixth position play-off (winner play-off 3 v winner play-off 4), Clontarf, Dublin (1000-1310); Semifinal (A1 v Win-ner Qualifying Play-off 2), Malahide, Dublin (1415-1725). July 26: Third place play-off, Malahide, Dublin (1000-1310); Final, Mala-hide, Dublin (1415-1725).

T O U G H G R O U P

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SPORTSS U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

Blatter lambasts US and Europe

ZURICH: Fifa President Sepp Blatter came out fighting on Sat-urday as he began his fifth term in charge of soccer’s governing body, implying that the United States timed the announcement of a ma-jor corruption probe to try to scup-per his re-election bid.

The 79-year-old Swiss comfort-ably won Friday’s vote at a Fifa Congress in Zurich, having secured the support of blocks of votes from Asia and Africa, which outweighed dissenters including Europe’s powerful soccer body Uefa.

He now faces the daunting task of restoring public faith in an or-ganisation tainted by allegations of graft and deeply divided over his leadership.

In an interview with Swiss tel-evision late on Friday, he criticised U.S. authorities for how they had handled their investigation.

“No one is going to take it off me that it was a simple coinci-dence (that) this American attack (happened) two days before the elections of Fifa,” Blatter told the RTS channel.

“Why didn’t they (the police) do this in March when we had the

same meeting? At that time, we had less journalists.”

In a dawn swoop on a Zurich hotel on Wednesday, Swiss police arrested seven leading soccer offi-cials, including Fifa vice-president Jeffrey Webb.

The arrests were connected to a bribery scandal being investigated by U.S., Swiss and other law en-forcement agencies that plunged Fifa into the worst crisis in its 111-year history.

Blatter also criticised Uefa, whose president Michel Platini had called for his resignation, say-ing it was not setting a good exam-ple to other soccer federations.

He told reporters on Saturday that Uefa had opposed a proposal to set up an independent commit-tee to carry out integrity checks on executive committee members be-fore they could take office.

“This was rejected by Uefa so it couldn’t go through,” he said. “Even now, the big Uefa doesn’t have an independent ethics com-mittee, (but) they should be an example for the other confedera-tions... It’s not acceptable.”

He did, however, call for the two groups to work together, particu-larly to protect the World Cup.

“They need Fifa and Fifa needs Uefa,” Blatter said.

Expanding power baseBlatter played down the impact of the scandal on one of the world’s most powerful sports bodies, which takes in billions of dollars in revenue from TV marketing rights and sponsorships.

“These crimes which have been committed are related to North and South America and a market-ing company has been mentioned, so I do not see how (Fifa) could be directly affected by this.”

“We have always tried, in my tenure of office, to eliminate all these elements or individuals.”

Blatter has not been implicated in any wrongdoing, but having ruled Fifa for nearly 20 years dur-ing which it has regularly been subject to suspicions of graft, his critics have argued it was time for him to step down.

His supporters welcomed the outcome of a vote that pitted the veteran incumbent against a sole challenger, 39-year-old Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan.

That support reflects Blatter’s success in expanding Fifa’s mem-bership away from soccer’s heart-

lands and in exploiting resent-ment in Africa and Asia over the perceived arrogance of the game’s powerhouse nations in Europe and South America.

Despite Blatter’s re-election, the scandal surrounding the investiga-tions into corruption looks set to rumble on.

Platini has raised the possibility, albeit slim, of Europe boycotting the World Cup tournament, soc-cer’s showcase played every four years. There has also been talk of Uefa breaking away from Fifa, al-though that is also seen as unlikely.

More indictmentsBlatter’s future could yet depend on the reaction of Fifa’s major sponsors and stakeholders such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, who have been dismayed by the arrests and U.S. prosecutors an-nouncing indictments of officials and companies.

A senior U.S. Internal Revenue Service official said on Friday he thought there would be further indictments, the New York Times reported, although he declined to identify the remaining targets of the investigation.

Swiss prosecutors are investi-

gating the award of the World Cup finals to Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, decisions that have deep-ened rifts within Fifa.

The choice of Qatar, a small desert state where summer day-time temperatures rarely fall below 40 degrees Celsius, was especially contentious and went against the advice of Fifa’s own technical committee.

‘It’s about the game’Russia and Qatar deny wrongdoing in their bids to host the prestigious tournament, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of meddling in an ef-fort to force Blatter out.

When asked after the vote if he could guarantee the next World Cup would still be staged in Russia,

Fifa Secretary General Jerome Val-cke told reporters: “Yes, yes. I mean now, today ... yes the World Cup will be played in Russia and Qatar.”

Away from the crisis engulfing soccer’s administration, the un-der-20 World Cup got underway in New Zealand, and more than 25,000 people turned up in Auck-land for the opening game.

Preparations for the Women’s World Cup, which opens in Can-ada on June 6, continued with a friendly between the hosts and England before a sellout crowd in Hamilton, Ontario.

“For these women, it is not about the money, it’s about the game, it renews your faith,” said England supporter Kevin Mackowski. “And it’s good soccer, it’s a truly beautiful game.” - Reuters

Blatter began his

fifth term, implying

that the US timed

the announcement

of a major corruption

probe to try to

scupper his re-

election bid and

criticising Uefa for

not setting a good

example to other

federations

No one is going to take it off me that it was a simple coincidence (that) this American attack (happened) two days before the elections of Fifa

Sepp BlatterFifa President

ZURICH: Fifa will not make any changes to the allocation of World Cup slots among the six continents for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments in Russia and Qatar, president Sepp Blatter said on Saturday.

Europe will have 13 places, Africa 5, S.America 4.5, Asia 4.5, Concacaf 3.5 and Oceania 0.5, while hosts Russia qualify automatically in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.

A half place means that the team in question has to play off over two legs against a team from another continent for a place in the finals.

UEFA President Michel Platini had on Thursday warned that cutting the number of European teams at the finals was “a red line that must not be crossed”.

The decision was good news for South America which had feared losing half a

place despite a good perfor-mance in Brazil last year, where five of the continent’s six teams got past the second round.

It also left Oceania without a guaranteed place, with the top side in the region instead having to playoff with a team from another continent.

That has proved a difficult task in the past, with New Zealand losing 9-3 on ag-gregate to Mexico in a two-leg playoff for a place in Brazil.

“The same distribution has been accepted by everyone although some were more grumpy than others,” Blatter told reporters.

In October 2013, the Fifa president had said that he wanted Africa and Asia to have more places.

In April, he said that Con-cacaf should have four full places rather than 3.5. - Reuters

No change in distributionof places for World Cup

England’s Gill rejects Fifa role after ‘terribly damaging events’LONDON: English Football Asso-ciation vice-chairman David Gill confirmed on Saturday he will not take up his post on Fifa’s executive committee following the re-elec-tion of Sepp Blatter as president of soccer’s world governing body.

The former Manchester United chief executive was only elected two months ago for a four-year term but the 57-year-old did not attend Saturday’s first executive committee meeting following Blatter’s re-election to a fifth term.

Blatter beat Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan in Friday’s presidential election overshad-owed by allegations of rampant corruption within Fifa.

“This action is not something I take lightly but the terribly dam-aging events of the last three days have convinced me it is not appro-priate to be a member of the Fifa executive committee under the current leadership,” Gill, who was due to sit on the powerful commit-tee as Britain’s Fifa vice-president, told British media.

“I do recognise that Mr Blatter has been democratically elected and wish Fifa every success in tackling the many troubling issues it faces.

“However, my professional repu-tation is critical to me and I simply do not see how there will be change for the good of world football while

Mr Blatter remains in post.“I will continue to focus on my

positions within the FA and Uefa, which I take seriously and am privileged to hold.”

Britain’s Fifa vice-president is elected by members of Uefa, Euro-pean soccer’s governing body, and

an election for Gill’s successor is now expected to take place.

“I don’t know what are the pro-jects of Mr David Gill, he was not present at the executive commit-tee today,” Blatter told reporters.

“He has given no excuse or rea-sons for his absence. Yesterday

(Friday), he was installed officially as a member of the Fifa Exco and I am waiting.

“(Acting responsibly) is not, when you are elected...you do not come even to the first meeting. This is not responsible, if you are elected you have to come.” - Reuters

C O N V I N C E D

LONDON: England football chief Greg Dyke on Saturday insisted that Sepp Blatter’s controversial re-election as Fifa president would not repel ef-forts to unseat him, and brushed of claims of a “hate” campaign.

“I don’t think yesterday (the vote) is the end of it, I think you will see a lot more,” FA Chair-man Dyke said ahead of the FA Cup Final at London’s Wemb-ley Stadium, echoing the words of US attorney general Loretta Lynch, who promised that this week’s corruption arrests were just the beginning.

“I’ll put money that Mr Blatter isn’t there in four years. Whatever happens, he will be

gone after four years anyway, in which case we can elect some-one to sort out world football.”

The FA boss said Blatter had exploited his “incredible amount of patronage” within Fifa to secure re-election.

The English FA has been at the forefront of efforts to depose the veteran administra-tor, and now has the support of many countries in Europe, who voted against him on Friday.

But Dyke said England would not act alone in boycott-ing the World Cup, even if its fans called for it.

“There’s no point boycotting the World Cup on our own, but if the rest of Europe decided

to boycott the World Cup, we would certainly join them,” he said. “There’s no point on doing it alone, everyone says ‘thank you very much’ and then you’re forgotten.”

Dyke was speaking after unveiling Emirates airline as the new sponsor of England’s showpiece cup competition, and took a swipe at Blatter during the press conference, particularly his accusation of a “hate” campaign by Europe’s football leaders.

“I notice everyone else is to blame except Blatter,” he said. “It seems anyone who speaks out against Blatter is carrying out a campaign of hate.” - AFP

Blatter on borrowed time , says Dyke

AFC’s Salman hails Blatter re-electionSINGAPORE: Asia football chief Shaikh Salman bin Ebra-him Al Khalifa congratulated Fifa President Sepp Blatter on his re-election for a fifth term — a victory the Asian Football Con-federation (AFC) played a major role in delivering.

The AFC leadership’s staunch support for Blatter was reiter-ated on the eve of the contest by Al Khalifa’s patron, Olympic Council of Asia chief Sheikh Ahmad Al Fa-had Al Sabah, despite the only oth-er candidate being from Jordan.

With Australia the only public dissenters in the Asian bloc, Blat-ter duly romped to victory over Prince Ali bin Al Hussein despite the corruption allegations which have again engulfed soccer’s world governing body this week.

“On behalf of myself, the AFC and the whole Asian football fam-ily, I would like to congratulate Joseph S. Blatter on his re-elec-tion as Fifa President,” Bahraini Al Khalifa said in a statement on Saturday. “The AFC has always supported the Fifa President and we are happy to continue work-ing with him and Fifa to further develop Asian and world football into the future.”

Blatter and his mentor and pre-decessor as president, the now disgraced Brazilian Joao Havel-ange, have ruled Fifa for four dec-ades on the back of a powerbase

they built by expanding member-ship away from the game’s tradi-tional heartlands.

Only 98 countries participated in the qualifying for the World Cup in 1974, the year Havelange embarked on his first term, while 207 teams took part in qualifying for last year’s finals in Brazil.

The Asia and Oceania regions combined sent just one team, Australia, to the 1974 finals in Germany but last year there were four spots for Asia alone and they could have had a fifth had Jordan beaten Uruguay in a playoff.

The granting of extra World Cup spots, or the threat of their withdrawal, is only part of the pa-tronage available to Fifa leaders.

Australia, still fuming that their bid for the 2022 World Cup won just one vote as Qatar was controversially awarded the tournament, earlier on Saturday issued their own statement ex-pressing their disappointment at Blatter’s re-election.

“It is a democracy and Mr Blat-ter was duly elected,” Football Federation Australia chairman Frank Lowy said in a statement.

“The vote secured by Prince Ali was not insignificant and reflects a belief within Fifa and the world football community that govern-ance and other reforms need to be implemented as soon as pos-sible.” - Reuters

S T A U N C H S U P P O R T

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMSECTIONC S U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

In glossy sci-fi movies like Ex Machi-na and Chappie, robots move with impressive — and frequently ma-levolent — dexterity. They appear

to confirm the worst fears of prominent technologists and scientists like Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates, who have all recently voiced alarm over the possible emergence of self-aware ma-chines out to do harm to the human race.

“I don’t understand why some people are not concerned,” Gates said in an in-terview on Reddit.

“I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence,” Musk said during an interview at MIT. “If I had to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, it’s probably that,” he added. He has also said that artificial intelligence would “sum-mon the demon.”

And Hawking told the BBC that “the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.”

Not so fast. Next month, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, a Pentagon research arm, will hold the final competition in its Robotics Chal-lenge in Pomona, California, US. With $2 million in prize money for the robot that performs best in a series of rescue-oriented tasks in less than an hour, the event will offer what engineers refer to as the “ground truth” — a reality check on the state of the art in the field of mo-bile robotics.

A preview of their work suggests that nobody needs to worry about a Termina-tor creating havoc anytime soon. Given a year and a half to improve their ma-chines, the roboticists, who shared de-tails about their work in interviews be-fore the contest in June, appear to have made limited progress.

In the previous contest in Florida in December 2013, the robots, which were protected from falling by tethers, were glacially slow in accomplishing tasks

such as opening doors and entering rooms, clearing debris, climbing ladders and driving through an obstacle course. (The robots had to be placed in the vehi-cles by human minders.)

Reporters who covered the event re-sorted to such analogies as “watching paint dry” and “watching grass grow.”

This year, the robots will have an hour to complete a set of eight tasks that would probably take a human less than 10 min-utes. And the robots are likely to fail at many. This time they will compete with-out belays, so some falls may be inevita-ble. And they will still need help climbing into the driver’s seat of a rescue vehicle.

Twenty-five teams are expected to enter the competition. Most of their ro-bots will be two-legged, but many will have four legs, several will have wheels, and one “transformer” is designed to roll on four legs or two. That robot, named Chimp by its designers at Carnegie Mel-lon University, will weigh 443 pounds.

None of the robots will be autonomous. Human operators will guide the ma-chines via wireless networks that will oc-casionally slow to just a trickle of data, to simulate intermittent communications

during a crisis. This will give an edge to machines that can act semi-autono-mously, for example, automatically walk-ing on uneven terrain or grabbing and turning a door handle to open a door. But the machines will remain largely helpless without human supervisors.

“The extraordinary thing that has hap-pened in the last five years is that we have seemed to make extraordinary progress in machine perception,” said Gill Pratt, the DARPA program manager in charge of the Robotics Challenge.

Pattern recognition hardware and software has made it possible for com-puters to make dramatic progress in computer vision and speech understand-ing. In contrast, Pratt said, little headway has been made in “cognition,” the higher-level humanlike processes required for robot planning and true autonomy. As a result, both in the DARPA contest and in the field of robotics more broadly, there has been a re-emphasis on the idea of human-machine partnerships.

“It is extremely important to remem-ber that the DARPA Robotics Challenge is about a team of humans and machines working together,” he said. “Without the

person, these machines could hardly do anything at all.”

In fact, the steep challenge in making progress toward mobile robots that can mimic human capabilities is causing robotics researchers worldwide to re-think their goals. Now, instead of trying to build completely autonomous robots, many researchers have begun to think instead of creating ensembles of humans and robots, an approach they describe as co-robots or “cloud robotics.”

Ken Goldberg, a University of Califor-nia, Berkeley, roboticist, has called on the computing world to drop its obsession with singularity, the much-ballyhooed time when computers are predicted to surpass their human designers. Rather, he has proposed a concept he calls “mul-tiplicity,” with diverse groups of humans and machines solving problems through collaboration.

For decades, artificial-intelligence re-searchers have noted that the simplest tasks for humans, such as reaching into a pocket to retrieve a quarter, are the most challenging for machines.

“The intuitive idea is that the more money you spend on a robot, the more

autonomy you will be able to design into it,” said Rodney Brooks, an MIT roboti-cist and co-founder two early companies, iRobot and Rethink Robotics. “The fact is actually the opposite is true: The cheaper the robot, the more autonomy it has.”

For example, iRobot’s Roomba robot is autonomous, but the vacuuming task it performs by wandering around rooms is extremely simple. By contrast, the company’s Packbot is more expensive, designed for defusing bombs, and must be teleoperated or controlled wirelessly by people.

The first DARPA challenge more than a decade ago had a big effect on the percep-tion of robots. It also helped spark greater interest in the artificial intelligence and robotics industries.

During the initial DARPA challenge in 2004, none of the robotic vehicles was able to complete more than seven of the 150 miles that the course covered. How-ever, during the 2005 challenge, a $2 million prize was claimed by a group of artificial-intelligence researchers from Stanford University whose vehicle de-feated a Carnegie Mellon entrant in a tight race.

The contest led to Google’s decision to begin a self-driving-car project, which in turn spurred the automotive industry to invest heavily in autonomous vehicle technology.

Developing a car to drive on an unob-structed road was a far simpler task than the current DARPA Robotics Challenge, which requires robots to drive and, while they’re walking, navigate around obsta-cles, remove debris, use vision and grasp with dexterity, and perform tasks with tools. “We had a relatively easy task,” said Sebastian Thrun, a roboticist who led the Stanford team in 2005 and later started the Google self-driving-car project. “To-day they’re doing the hard stuff.” -John Markoff/The New York Times News Service

LIFE & STYLE

A preview of the

Defence Advanced

Research Projects

Agency-sponsored

competition in the US,

suggests that nobody

needs to worry about

killer robots creating

havoc anytime soon

C8

EXTRAS U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

The acronym Fomo (it stands for Fear of Missing Out, in case you have, um, missed out) entered the lexi-

con back in 2011 — and it’s show-ing little sign of abating.

It’s nothing new, this social anxiety that comes from worrying that everyone is having more fun than you; I daresay even Ugg the caveman used to fret that Ogg had found a better mammoth-hunting spot than him. But everyone is agreed that if you take a primal fear and give it a smartphone, the anxiety gets much worse.

It’s no coincidence that the tap-happy acronym emerged at around the same time we all went Instagram and Twitter-crazy. Alongside Facebook, these apps not only present us with endless streams of photos of

other people having a fabulous time in flattering filters, but also offer ceaselessly updating lists of “must-see” gigs and plays and movies; clubs and cocktail bars and pop-up restaurants we “must visit”; and the greatest re-cords and boxsets and books of all time that we “must” consume before we die — presumably of exhaustion.

Even when you’re having fun, it’s easy to find yourself having a quick social-media scroll when your dining companion pops to the loo; suddenly, a snap of friends on a holiday pops up and makes your going out feel like missing out.

Fomo is now such a widely used phrase that there’s even a recent modification, Fogo — or Fear of Going Out — applied to events that everyone else is at but

which are now so mainstream that they’re totally lame (the ce-leb-filled, much-Instagrammed Coachella Music Festival prompt-ed the coinage in a recent New York Magazine piece). But Fomo is also now being taken seriously — London’s ICA is even hosting a summit on the phenomenon this month. Granted, its three-day examination of “the progression and trajectory of technological, ecological and cultural advances” reaches far beyond our propen-sity for hissy-fitting over sold-out gigs, but it nonetheless legitimises Fomo, taking the notion of “post-digital anxieties” as a given.

Now, anxiety is good for no one. And I certainly suffer from this very modern malaise — feeling not only overwhelmed by all the things I’m going to, but also all the things I’m not. But here’s the thing

about Fomo — it can be a spur.It would be easy to spend life

sat on my sofa nibbling Fer-rero Rocher layer by layer and watching First Dates. In fact, I love doing this. But I love doing it because I do it once a week. If I was watching vapid telly every evening — what a waste! The fact that when I’m doing nothing, social media is gently (OK, insistently) reminding me of all the brilliant things I could be doing — well, it does actually make me go and do them. And that’s great.

It is good to get out there and use your brief, precious life. That could be sport or political activ-ism or pot-throwing; for me, it could be watching plays (it often is watching plays; I love watch-ing plays) or going for a picnic with friends or walking up a

hill or dancing till 5am. And yes, Fomo is bad for your sleep pat-terns, because you never want to say no to an invitation, or leave in case something fun happens; but I say, I can sleep when I’m old — while I’ve still got the energy, bring on the afterparty!

Fomo may make us feel shaky and miserable sometimes. No one wants to feel left out. And no doubt it will recede with age — or at least it will morph into being jealous of other people’s houses rather than their house parties. But for now, for me, I think it is helpful.

The fear of missing out can push us to live life to the full, to live each day as if it were our last, to seize the day, and other cheesy inspirational-poster quotes. If Fomo didn’t exist, just think how much more you’d miss out on. -Holly Williams/The Independent

Must-see gigs, must-visit restaurants,

must-watch box sets. Is it any surprise

we all feel we’re missing out when

social media pumps this hype at us?

Paul Graham, an English computer programmer and

venture capitalist, said, “If you imagine someone with 100 per cent determination and 100 per cent intelligence, you can discard a lot of intelligence before they stop succeeding. But if you start discarding determination, you very quickly get an ineffectual and perpetual grad student.”

Too true — so in today’s deal, have a determined effort to see the winning play. South is in four spades. West leads the heart ace and continues with the heart king. What

should East discard?North’s three-spade

rebid was aggressive. His heart honours were surely worthless, and his partner denied positive values when he failed to jump to two spades. But South, once invited, had no hesitation in bidding game.

This deal occurred during a North American Mixed Pairs Championship in the 1950s. East was Helen Sobel. She realised that her husband had to have club values. So she “discarded” a spade at trick two and shifted to a club, giving her side the first four tricks.

Since this deal happened so long ago, West had

actually led the heart king and continued with his ace. After the deal, Al Sobel said, “Thank you for ruffing my ace, partner.” Note that if East does discard, say, a club at trick two, declarer with careful play can take 10 tricks — five spades, three diamonds and two heart ruffs in the dummy.

Phillip Alder is combining in May 2016 with Kalos to run a bridge and golf river cruise starting from Bordeaux, France. Details are available on Phillip’s website:

www.phillipalderbridge.com

— By Phillip Alder

C9

ENTERTAINMENT

What is east’s trick-two discard?

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

Answer to previous puzzle

WITH LOVE

S U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

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ACROSS 1 Was on a jury 4 Kuwaiti leader 8 Stonehenge builder12 Hardly a show dog13 Commanded14 Offshore15 Citrus cooler16 Long-armed ape18 Popular beach outfit20 Recess game21 Tufted-ear cat23 River or wine27 Noise heard in traffic30 Pound sound32 Garden dweller33 Premier — Zedong

34 — chi ch’uan35 False hair36 Bluesman — Redding38 Inspect39 Father or uncle40 Tear to pieces42 Hunk of cheese44 Sty matriarch46 Church official50 Fleas and mistletoe54 APB datum55 Hit the books56 Orchid-loving Wolfe57 Go on the —58 Webmaster’s creation59 Pant

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DOWN 1 Accident reminder 2 German import 3 Bwana’s expedition 4 Dark wood 5 Steep, in cooking 6 Potato st. 7 Monthly expense 8 Was set ablaze 9 Atlanta hrs.10 Grassy field11 Neutral shade17 Realty ad abbr.19 Class22 Dentist’s photos (hyph.)24 Waterloo locale

25 Picture holder26 Boundary line27 Med. plans28 Pledge29 Roulette color31 Baseball players37 Tahini base39 Business deg.41 — and don’ts43 Fable author45 Annex47 Lead a square dance48 All right49 Moniker50 Hackers’ machines51 Jackie’s tycoon52 Squeal on53 Oolong or pekoe

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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 12.09pmAsr 3.29pmMaghrib 6.54pmIsha 8.15pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 3.54am

Sunset 6:49pmSunrise (Tomorrow) 5:20am

High tide 8:01am 7:00pmLow tide 1:24pm 1:51am

OMAN

Max 38Min 31

Max 38Min 31

Max 39Min 30

Max 42Min 27

Max 42Min 31Max 41

Min 24

Max 41Min 25

Max 34 Min 29

Mainly clear skies over most of the Sultanate with chances of clouds development and isolated rain over Al-Hajar mountains towards afternoon and chances of late night to

early morning low level clouds or fog patches along the coastal areas of Arabian Sea.EXPECTED WIND: Along the coastal areas of Oman Sea wind will be northeasterly light to moderate during day becoming southwesterly light at night and along the coastal areas of Arabian Sea wind will be southwesterly moderate to fresh while over rest of the Sultanate winds will be southeasterly light to moderate.

SEA STATE: Rough along the Arabian Sea coast with a maximum wave height of 3.0 metres and slight along the rest of Oman’s coast with a maximum wave height of 1.25 metres.HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY: Good over most of the Sultanate becoming poor during fog patches.THE NEXT 48 HOURS OUTLOOK: Chances of clouds development and isolated rain over Al-Hajar mountains during afternoon. Chance of late night to early morning low level clouds or fog patches along the Arabian Sea coast. Mainly clear skies over the rest of the Sultanate.

Max Min

GULFAbu Dhabi 42 28Doha 42 31Dubai 42 28Kuwait 45 29Manama 39 30Riyadh 42 27

WORLDAthens 25 18Baghdad 41 29Beijing 36 23Berlin 23 14Boston 24 11Cairo 31 18Colombo 29 26Frankfurt 23 14Hong Kong 30 27Istanbul 23 16Johannesburg 23 7Kuala Lumpur 31 24Lisbon 23 17Paris 20 12Perth 22 11Singapore 33 27Tokyo 28 20Toronto 11 8

WORLD

Max 27Min 18

Max 42Min 29

Max 16Min 8

Max 38Min 28

Max 26Min 15

Max 18Min 10

Max 24Min 14

Max 34Min 26

SUNDAYFLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA WY406 CAIRO  0005WY648 KUWAIT  0005WY676 JEDDAH  0005WY672 MEDINA  0005WY682 RIYADH  0010WY914 SALALAH  0020WY916 SALALAH  0120WY910 SALALAH  0130TK774 ISTANBUL  01354H585 DACCA  0200NL669 SIALKOT  0200PK225 KARACHI  0210GF560 BAHRAIN  0325QR1132 DOHA  0345ET624 ADDIS ABABA  0350EK866 DUBAI  0350EY384 ABU DHABI  0400FZ041 DUBAI  0415WY114 FRANKFURT  05154H586 DOHA  0600CV732 LUXORE  0635WY658 BAHRAIN  0635WY638 ABU DHABI  0640WY902 SALALAH  0645WY326 KARACHI  0650WY644 KUWAIT  0650G9841 RAS AL KHAIMA  0655WY686 RIYADH  0655WY154 ZURICH  0700WY144 MALPENSA  0705WY692 DAMMAM  0715WY668 DOHA  0715WY674 JEDDAH  0735WY132 PARIS  0735WY102 LONDON HEATHROW  0740FZ043 DUBAI  0800WY602 DUBAI  0805NL768 LAHORE  0830WY272 JAIPUR  0830WY202 BOMBAY  0835WY3932 SOHAR  0840WY236 HYDERABAD  0900G9114 SHARJAH  0905WY282 BANGALORE  0910WY226 COCHIN  0920EK862 DUBAI  0930WY210 GOA  0935WY242 DELHI  0935WY212 TRIVANDRUM  0950WY252 MADRAS  0955IX549 TRIVANDRUM  0955QR1128 DOHA  1000IX817 MANGALORE  1010EY382 ABU DHABI  1010IX443 COCHIN  10209W530 TRIVANDRUM  1045WY3922 DUQUM OMAN  1045WY3302 MUKHAIZNA  1110WY604 DUBAI  1110WY918 KHASAB  1115GF562 BAHRAIN  1130FZ037 DUBAI  1140IX337 CALICUT  1155WY384 MALE  1210WY822 KUALA LUMPUR-SINGAPORE  1215WY818 BANGKOK  1220WY634 ABU DHABI  1220WY904 SALALAH  1230WY670 DOHA  1250WY324 KARACHI  1300WY332 KATHMANDU  1305WY652 BAHRAIN  1330WY606 DUBAI  1340KU677 KUWAIT  1405WY906 SALALAH  1440WY920 KHASAB  1445WY348 ISLAM ABBAD  1515FZ045 DUBAI  1535WY3304 MUKHAIZNA  1550WY344 LAHORE  1605QR1126 DOHA  1650WY204 BOMBAY  1655WY632 ABU DHABI  1710WY292 CALICUT  1710WY264 LUCKNOW  1740WY664 DOHA  1745EK864 DUBAI  1745WY246 DELHI  1750WY232 HYDERABAD  1750WY610 DUBAI  1800GF564 BAHRAIN  1810WY656 BAHRAIN  1820TG507 BANGKOK-KARACHI  1900G9116 SHARJAH  1905WY374 COLOMBO  1915WY646 KUWAIT  1920FZ047 DUBAI  1940WY908 SALALAH  2000WY614 DUBAI  2025WY848 JAKARTA  2035WY338 KATHMANDU  2040WY386 MALE  2045WY434 TEHRAN  2055FZ049 DUBAI  2100WY124 MUNICH  21059W534 COCHIN  2115AI973 DELHI  21256.00E+81 BOMBAY  2130WY254 MADRAS  2135BA073 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI  2140WY624 DUBAI  2150UL205 COLOMBO  2155AI907 MADRAS  2200WY312 CHITTAGONG  2210QR1134 DOHA  2225LX242 ZURICH-DUBAI  2225GF566 BAHRAIN  2240LH616 FRANKFURT-DOHA  2245EY388 ABU DHABI  2300WY414 AMMAN  2300WY910 SALALAH  23109W540 BOMBAY  2315AI985 BOMBAY  2325WY662 DOHA  2335WY654 BAHRAIN  2340WY636 ABU DHABI  2340WY928 SALALAH  2345WY816 BANGKOK  2350WY696 DAMMAM  2355WY612 DUBAI  2355

MONDAYFLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA

WY672 MEDINA  0005WY648 KUWAIT  0005WY406 CAIRO  0005WY676 JEDDAH  0005WY682 RIYADH  0010WY914 SALALAH  0020WY916 SALALAH  0120TK774 ISTANBUL  01354H583 DACCA  0200PK229 LAHORE  0215GF560 BAHRAIN  0325QR1132 DOHA  0345ET624 ADDIS ABABA  0350EK866 DUBAI  0350EY384 ABU DHABI  0400FZ041 DUBAI  0415WY114 FRANKFURT  0515WY658 BAHRAIN  0635WY638 ABU DHABI  0640WY902 SALALAH  0645WY644 KUWAIT  0650WY154 ZURICH  0700WY144 MALPENSA  0705WY668 DOHA  0715WY674 JEDDAH  0735WY102 LONDON HEATHROW  0740FZ043 DUBAI  0800WY422 BEIRUT  0805WY602 DUBAI  0805WY346 ISLAM ABBAD  0815WY342 LAHORE  0825WY272 JAIPUR  0830WY202 BOMBAY  0835WY236 HYDERABAD  0900G9114 SHARJAH  0905WY226 COCHIN  0920EK862 DUBAI  0930WY210 GOA  0935WY242 DELHI  0935WY212 TRIVANDRUM  0950WY252 MADRAS  0955QR1128 DOHA  1000EY382 ABU DHABI  1010WY844 MANILA  10209W530 TRIVANDRUM  1045WY604 DUBAI  1115WY918 KHASAB  1115WY3302 MUKHAIZNA  1120GF562 BAHRAIN  1130FZ037 DUBAI  1140WY372 COLOMBO  1140IX337 CALICUT  1155PA450 LAHORE  1215WY705 DARESSLAM-ZANZIBAR  1215WY822 KUALA LUMPUR-SINGAPORE  1215WY634 ABU DHABI  1220WY818 BANGKOK  1220WY904 SALALAH  1230WY670 DOHA  1250WY324 KARACHI  1300WY332 KATHMANDU  1305WY632 ABU DHABI  1335WY606 DUBAI  1340WY920 KHASAB  1445FZ045 DUBAI  1535WY3304 MUKHAIZNA  1550WY656 BAHRAIN  1635QR1126 DOHA  1650WY204 BOMBAY  1655WY292 CALICUT  1710WY264 LUCKNOW  1740WY664 DOHA  1745EK864 DUBAI  1745WY232 HYDERABAD  1750WY246 DELHI  1750WY254 MADRAS  1750WY284 BANGALORE  1750WY3922 DUQUM OMAN  1755WY610 DUBAI  1800GF564 BAHRAIN  1810G9116 SHARJAH  1905WY684 RIYADH  1915WY646 KUWAIT  1920FZ047 DUBAI  1940WY614 DUBAI  2025WY848 JAKARTA  2035WY338 KATHMANDU  2040WY434 TEHRAN  2055FZ049 DUBAI  2100KL441 AMSTERDAM-DOHA  2105AI977 BANGALORE-HYDERABAD  2105WY124 MUNICH  21054H561 DACCA  21159W534 COCHIN  2115AI973 DELHI  21256.00E+81 BOMBAY  2130BA073 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI  2140WY624 DUBAI  2150WY906 SALALAH  2155AI907 MADRAS  2200WY312 CHITTAGONG  2210QR1134 DOHA  2225LX242 ZURICH-DUBAI  2225GF566 BAHRAIN  2240LH616 FRANKFURT-DOHA  2245WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM  2250SG061 AHMEDABAD  2300EY388 ABU DHABI  2300WY910 SALALAH  23109W540 BOMBAY  2315WY908 SALALAH  2320AI985 BOMBAY  2325WY662 DOHA  2335WY654 BAHRAIN  2340WY636 ABU DHABI  2340WY928 SALALAH  2345WY816 BANGKOK  2350WY612 DUBAI  2355WY696 DAMMAM  2355

FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD AI986 BOMBAY  00209W539 BOMBAY  0020WY657 BAHRAIN  0055WY225 COCHIN  0105WY637 ABU DHABI  0105WY235 HYDERABAD  0110WY281 BANGALORE  0110WY211 TRIVANDRUM  0110WY685 RIYADH  0115WY201 BOMBAY  0115WY643 KUWAIT  0120WY251 MADRAS  0120WY271 JAIPUR  0135WY601 DUBAI  0145WY123 MUNICH  0200WY325 KARACHI  0210WY847 JAKARTA  0215WY241 DELHI  0215WY901 SALALAH  0215WY691 DAMMAM  0225WY667 DOHA  0225WY383 MALE  0230TK775 ISTANBUL  0230WY209 GOA  02554H585 DOHA  0300PK260 PESHAWAR  0310NL772 PESHAWAR  0330WY331 KATHMANDU  0350ET625 ADDIS ABABA  0450EK867 DUBAI  0450EY385 ABU DHABI  0500FZ042 DUBAI  0510QR1133 DOHA  0515WY3931 SOHAR  06354H586 DACCA  0700GF561 BAHRAIN  0715WY3921 DUQUM OMAN  0745G9842 RAS AL KHAIMA  0745WY903 SALALAH  0750WY603 DUBAI  0750WY3301 MUKHAIZNA  0800CV732 HONG KONG  0800WY917 KHASAB  0815WY347 ISLAM ABBAD  0830WY669 DOHA  0835WY323 KARACHI  0835FZ044 DUBAI  0845WY373 COLOMBO  0900WY815 BANGKOK  0905WY291 CALICUT  0915WY343 LAHORE  0915NL769 LAHORE  0930WY651 BAHRAIN  0935WY263 LUCKNOW  0940WY821 SINGAPORE-KUALA LUMPUR  0945WY843 MANILA  0955G9115 SHARJAH  0955WY231 HYDERABAD  1000WY605 DUBAI  1020WY905 SALALAH  1020WY203 BOMBAY  1025WY385 MALE  1040WY245 DELHI  1040EK863 DUBAI  1045IX554 TRIVANDRUM  1045WY337 KATHMANDU  1050QR1129 DOHA  1100IX818 MANGALORE  1100EY383 ABU DHABI  1105IX442 COCHIN  1120WY311 CHITTAGONG  11409W533 COCHIN  1145WY919 KHASAB  1145GF563 BAHRAIN  1215FZ038 DUBAI  1225WY3303 MUKHAIZNA  1230WY253 MADRAS  1255IX350 CALICUT  1255WY633 ABU DHABI  1300WY113 FRANKFURT  1320WY663 DOHA  1330WY631 ABU DHABI  1345WY143 MALPENSA  1350WY645 KUWAIT  1350WY655 BAHRAIN  1400WY101 LONDON HEATHROW  1400WY153 ZURICH  1420WY927 SALALAH  1430WY405 CAIRO  1440WY413 AMMAN  1440WY433 TEHRAN  1445WY609 DUBAI  1445KU678 ABU DHABI-KUWAIT  1505WY907 SALALAH  1540WY675 JEDDAH  1615FZ046 DUBAI  1620WY671 MEDINA  1705WY613 DUBAI  1710QR1127 DOHA  1750WY623 DUBAI  1840WY681 RIYADH  1840WY647 KUWAIT  1845WY909 SALALAH  1850GF565 BAHRAIN  1855EK865 DUBAI  1910WY695 DAMMAM  1915WY653 BAHRAIN  1920WY661 DOHA  1920G9117 SHARJAH  1955WY913 SALALAH  2000TG508 KARACHI-BANGKOK  2005WY635 ABU DHABI  2015FZ048 DUBAI  2025WY611 DUBAI  2035WY915 SALALAH  2100FZ050 DUBAI  2145WY421 BEIRUT  2215WY817 BANGKOK  22259W529 TRIVANDRUM  22306.00E+82 BOMBAY  2245AI908 MADRAS  2300UL206 COLOMBO  2305AI974 DELHI  2310WY705 DARESSLAM-ZANZIBAR  2310GF567 BAHRAIN  2325LX243 DUBAI-ZURICH  2325QR1135 DOHA  2330BA072 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW  2330WY673 JEDDAH  2350EY381 ABU DHABI  2355LH617 DOHA-FRANKFURT  2355

FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD AI986 BOMBAY  00209W539 BOMBAY  0020WY657 BAHRAIN  0055WY225 COCHIN  0105WY637 ABU DHABI  0105WY211 TRIVANDRUM  0110WY235 HYDERABAD  0110WY201 BOMBAY  0115WY643 KUWAIT  0120WY345 ISLAM ABBAD  0125WY271 JAIPUR  0135WY341 LAHORE  0145WY601 DUBAI  0145WY371 COLOMBO  0155WY123 MUNICH  0200WY901 SALALAH  0215WY847 JAKARTA  0215WY241 DELHI  0215WY667 DOHA  0225TK775 ISTANBUL  0230WY209 GOA  02554H584 DACCA  0300PK226 KARACHI  0315WY331 KATHMANDU  0350EK867 DUBAI  0450ET625 ADDIS ABABA  0450EY385 ABU DHABI  0500FZ042 DUBAI  0510QR1133 DOHA  0515GF561 BAHRAIN  0715WY603 DUBAI  0750WY903 SALALAH  0750WY3301 MUKHAIZNA  0800WY917 KHASAB  0815WY323 KARACHI  0835WY669 DOHA  0835FZ044 DUBAI  0845WY633 ABU DHABI  0900WY815 BANGKOK  0905WY253 MADRAS  0915WY291 CALICUT  0915WY263 LUCKNOW  0940WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM  0940WY821 SINGAPORE-KUALA LUMPUR  0945G9115 SHARJAH  0955WY231 HYDERABAD  1000WY283 BANGALORE  1000WY631 ABU DHABI  1015WY605 DUBAI  1020WY203 BOMBAY  1025WY245 DELHI  1040EK863 DUBAI  1045WY337 KATHMANDU  1050QR1129 DOHA  1100EY383 ABU DHABI  1105WY311 CHITTAGONG  11409W533 COCHIN  1145WY919 KHASAB  1145GF563 BAHRAIN  1215WY655 BAHRAIN  1215FZ038 DUBAI  1225WY3303 MUKHAIZNA  1230IX350 CALICUT  1255PA451 LAHORE  1315WY113 FRANKFURT  1320WY663 DOHA  1330WY683 RIYADH  1335WY131 PARIS  1345WY645 KUWAIT  1350WY143 MALPENSA  1350WY101 LONDON HEATHROW  1400WY153 ZURICH  1420WY927 SALALAH  1430WY405 CAIRO  1440WY609 DUBAI  1445WY433 TEHRAN  1445WY3921 DUQUM OMAN  1455WY675 JEDDAH  1615FZ046 DUBAI  1620WY613 DUBAI  1710WY905 SALALAH  1735QR1127 DOHA  1750WY681 RIYADH  1840WY623 DUBAI  1840WY647 KUWAIT  1845WY909 SALALAH  1850GF565 BAHRAIN  1855WY907 SALALAH  1900EK865 DUBAI  1910WY695 DAMMAM  1915WY661 DOHA  1920WY653 BAHRAIN  1920G9117 SHARJAH  1955WY913 SALALAH  2000WY635 ABU DHABI  2015FZ048 DUBAI  2025WY611 DUBAI  2035WY411 AMMAN  2100WY915 SALALAH  2100FZ050 DUBAI  2145AI978 HYDERABAD-BANGALORE  22004H561 JEDDAH  2215KL442 DOHA-AMSTERDAM  2220WY817 BANGKOK  22259W529 TRIVANDRUM  22306.00E+82 BOMBAY  2245AI908 MADRAS  2300WY677 MEDINA  2310WY705 DARESSLAM-ZANZIBAR  2310AI974 DELHI  2310GF567 BAHRAIN  2325LX243 DUBAI-ZURICH  2325BA072 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW  2330QR1135 DOHA  2330WY673 JEDDAH  2350LH617 DOHA-FRANKFURT  2355EY381 ABU DHABI  2355

A I R L I N E S

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 know how to wrap your mind around all manner of problems and dilemmas, to the point that you can turn this ability into a major strength when applied to creative endeavors. You understand that creativity itself is often a matter of solving problems that others are simply unable to crack. You’re driven to succeed, but more than that, you are driven to improve yourself, task after task, year after year. You are never content with doing the same thing over again; you want to do something new, to stretch yourself, challenge yourself, and in fact change yourself so that you are, at the end, very different from what you were at the beginning.

You cannot abide trivial, unimportant activities; you would rather sit and read a good book — or simply think great thoughts — than engage in busywork of any kind. There may be some who find you almost intolerably haughty and aloof, but this is simply a misinterpretation of your propensity toward solitude. You merely like to be alone sometimes.

Also born on this date are: Clint Eastwood, actor and filmmaker; Brooke Shields, model and actress; Colin Farrell, actor; Joe Namath, football player; Lea Thompson, actress; Corey Hart, singer; Walt Whitman, poet; Tom Berenger, actor; Chris Elliott, actor; Sharon Gless, actress; Don Ameche, actor; Jim Hutton, actor; Norman Vincent Peale, author.

There are some who wish to replace you in your current position, but you’re not about to go anywhere — not just yet

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]

It’s not enough to bark orders at others; you must not only tell them exactly what to do, but inspire them to do it well!

You are not taking advantage of your native talents the way you could. In this way, you’re reducing your advantage over a rival.

You may be turned down at first, but later your request is likely to be granted by someone who suspects that you have a surprise in store.

You’re not the kind to wonder about things you know you cannot control — but today you’ll be distracted by something on the periphery.

You may have reason to celebrate when all is said and done, but by all means avoid anything that may appear premature or overeager.

You may have to give instructions to those around you more than once. In order to be clear, you may have to alter the way you speak.

You may have to wait for further instructions before you continue along your current path. Certain choices are best left to the boss!

PISCES [Feb. 19-March 20]

You may have to remind others that the best way is the simplest way. Any methods that seem overly complicated are best abandoned.

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 must be ready to be on the move as soon as you have the opportunity. Today is a good day to travel light.

You are better than most, but not all. You’ll have the chance to watch someone who is better than you and learn an important lesson.

You have a difficult choice to make. Whatever you choose, you must never forget that this was an important turning point.

C11

EXTRAS U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

Getting perfect pitch possible for some adult musicians

PSYCHOLOGISTS at the University of Chicago have been able to train some adults to develop the prized musical ability of absolute pitch. Absolute pitch, commonly known as “perfect pitch”, is the ability to identify a note by hearing it. It has always been a very desired ability among musicians, especially since sev-eral famous composers, including Mo-zart, had it. “This is the first significant demonstration that the ability to identify notes by hearing them may be something

that individuals can be trained to do,” said Howard Nusbaum, pro-fessor of psychology, University of Chicago. “It’s an ability that is teachable, and it appears to depend on a cognitive ability of holding sounds in one’s mind,” Nusbaum pointed out.

Migraine surgery found to be effective among teens

MIGRAINE SURGERY is effective among selected adolescent patients that don’t respond to standard treatment, a recent study shows. Scientists report good outcomes in an initial experience with migraine surgery in younger pa-tients. Migraine headaches are a com-mon issue among children and adoles-cents, and have a significant impact on mental and physical health for patients and their families. “Our data demon-strate that surgery for refractory mi-

graine headaches in the adolescent population may improve and potentially completely ameliorate symptoms for some,” said Bah-man Guyuron, emeritus professor of plastic surgery at Case School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, US.

There are far more charged particles beside busy roads

A NEW study has found that there are far more charged particles beside busy roads than under high-voltage power lines. A study by the Queensland Univer-sity of Technology (QUT) researchers found that within 10 metres of a freeway, charged particles were up to 15 times more concentrated than beneath high-voltage power lines. “Although the effects of ions and charged particles generated by high-voltage power lines on human health is still open to conjecture, there

has been a lot of attention on increased exposure due to expanding power networks in urban residential areas,” said researcher Rohan Jayaratne. -IANS

BR I E FS

The Internet is the place where nothing goes to die

Those embarrassing photos of your high school dance you marked “private” on Facebook? The fun-

ny Instagram posts? The NSFW snapchats? If you use social media, you’ve probably heard a warning akin to “don’t post anything you wouldn’t want your employer (or future employer) to see.”

We agree, and are add-ing this caveat: Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want hanging in an art gallery.

This month, painter and pho-tographer Richard Prince re-minded us that what you post is public, and given the flexibility of copyright laws, can be shared — and sold — for anyone to see. As a part of the Frieze Art Fair in New York, Prince displayed giant screenshots of other people’s In-stagram photos without warning or permission.

The collection, “New Por-traits,” is primarily made up of

pictures of women, many in sexu-ally charged poses. They are not paintings, but screenshots that have been enlarged to 6-foot-tall inkjet prints. According to Vul-ture, nearly every piece sold for $90,000 each.

How is this OK?First you should know that

Richard Prince has been “re-pho-tographing” since the 1970s. He takes pictures of photos in maga-zines, advertisements, books or actors’ headshots, then alters them to varying degrees. Often, they look nearly identical to the originals. This has of course, led to legal trouble.

In 2008, French photographer Patrick Cariou sued Prince after he re-photographed Cariou’s images of Jamaica’s Rastafar-ian community. Although Car-iou won at first, on appeal, the court ruled that Prince had not committed copyright infringe-ment because his works were “transformative.”

In other words, Prince could make slight adjustments to the photos and call them his own.

This is what he did with the Instagram photos. Although he did not alter the usernames or the photos themselves, he re-moved captions. He then added odd comments on each photo, such as “DVD workshops. But-ton down. I fit in one leg now. Will it work? Leap of faith” from the account “richardprince1234.” The account currently has 10,200 followers but not a single picture — perhaps so you can’t steal his im-ages in return? New Portraits first debuted last year at Gagosian Gallery on Madison Avenue, the same location where the artist displayed the Rastafarian im-ages he was sued for.

Knowing that more legal ac-tion is unlikely, Prince appears to be enjoying the attention. He has been re-tweeting and re-posting his many critics.-Jessica Contrera/The

Washington Post

This month, painter and photographer Richard Prince reminded us that what you post is public, and given the flexibility of copyright laws, can be shared — and sold — for anyone to see

Your Instagram photos aren’t really yours

With Frank’s 100th birth-day approaching, I’ve been talking Sinatra

over the last week, on the phone, at neighbourhood barbecues, with other music fans. I’ve been throwing on his records, from the classics (Come Dance With Me!) to the spottier (Trilogy: Past, Pre-sent, Future), sifting through good books and that Kitty Kelley paper-back and scouring YouTube for every scrap of visual data.

Truth is, celebrity anniversa-ries are nothing more than dates and dates nothing more than marketing opps for album reis-sues, tribute concerts and related product. But for me, an unrepent-ant fan, it’s a great time to remind everyone why Frank still matters.

It goes well beyond the tough-guy themes, torch songs and “Du-ets” albums that, while sterile and disappointing, launched an entire industry of songbook-styled pro-jects. Some of them are even quite wonderful.

PresenceWhat’s most startling, when you focus on Frank, is how ever-pre-sent he is 18 years after his death, how regularly he bullies his way into your living room.

There he is, on David Letter-man’s Late Show farewell week, channelled through Bob Dylan, the greatest songwriter of our time, who decided to croon a classic made famous by Sinatra. There’s The Theme to New York, New York, played 81 nights a season, without fail, after the final out at Yankee Stadium. Even in death, Frank can insert himself into the middle of a nasty domestic squabble. Third wife Mia Farrow taking a swipe at Woody Allen by suggesting that Ol’ Blue Eyes, not her film-directing ex, may have fathered son Ronan. And his staying power is undeni-able, even as the icons of yesteryear — Ray Charles, Liz Taylor, even Hemingway — fade away.

“As far as touching him goes, no-body touches him,” Dylan said in a surprisingly personal interview earlier this year, explaining why his new record featured 10 songs made famous by Sinatra. “Not me or anyone else.”

“The word ‘icon’ is much over-used, but if it applies to anyone in American popular culture, it is Frank Sinatra,” critic Terry Teachout said in the Alex Gibney documentary that aired on HBO in April, Sinatra: All or Nothing at All.

Beyond imitationLet’s play a quick parlour game. Try to come up with a contem-porary equivalent of Sinatra. I tried. You can at least take a good stab with Jimmy Stewart (Tom Hanks), John Wayne (Clint East-wood) or Jackie Wilson (Bruno Mars.) With Sinatra, you’ll need to combine superpowers, tak-ing Robert Downey Jr.’s swagger, Beyonce’s Forbesian reach and Justin Timberlake’s triple-threat skills. And that still doesn’t fill out the man.

“He conquered every medium — television, recording, films,” Tony Bennett said after his death. “He was just born for what he did.”

The “fully emancipated male,” Gay Talese called Sinatra in his fa-mous 1966 Esquire profile, “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold.”

Then take on that other quote, the one that sounds, at first blush, like enough jive to knock your De-Soto out of second gear.

This, to me, is about authentic-ity. It’s a word often tossed around but rarely practiced. It is about be-ing real in everything you do, on or off stage. Remaining authentic is no small feat when you’re hang-ing around presidents and movie stars, selling millions of records, and when your very identity comes from singing songs written by others.

Yet Sinatra, with all of his

qualities and flaws, remained completely authentic. As a singer, he didn’t just adapt, he crawled into each phrase. On those rare moments were he chose poorly — listen to his corny take on the Beatles classic Something — the singer still feels 100 per cent committed. As a public figure, he never hid, whether accused of having ties with the Mafia or playing out his marital splits in public. There would be no joint press releases on a “conscious uncoupling” with Gardner, Far-row or anyone. To the end, Frank confessed that he knew nothing more than the average galoot.

“I’m supposed to have a Ph.D. on the subject of women,” he is quot-ed in Bill Zehme’s wonderful “The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin.” “But the truth is I’ve flunked more often than not. I’m very fond of women; I admire them. But, like all men, I don’t understand them.”

ReinventionHe came from a different world. Frank Sinatra was born in 1915, before TV, before radio, to a pair of Italian immigrants. He grew up in Hoboken, dropped out of high

school and then, after working an odd job or two, scored a recording contract with bandleader Harry James. That led to the Tommy Dorsey band, fame and the first stage of his career as the baby-faced big-band crooner.

Eventually, everything came apart: his first marriage, to Nancy Barbato; his singing career (Co-lumbia Records cut him loose in 1952); and his confidence. In the early ‘50s, Sinatra tried to kill himself, once with sleeping pills, a second time by slashing his wrists. (He denied the attempts.) It wasn’t until his Academy Award for best supporting actor in 1953’s From Here to Eternity that Sinatra’s luck seemed to change. He signed with Capitol Records and reinvented himself. He sang in a lower register and his materi-al stretched, from winks and high-balls to smoky, dark confessions.

“At times, the lowest note of a melody becomes almost spoken, giving him a much greater sense of intimacy,” Elvis Costello wrote in Mojo.

These days, we marvel at the en-tertainers atop the Forbes list, Dr. Dre raking in hundreds of millions from headphones, Taylor Swift defying all with her Spotify grab. Frank Sinatra did this 60 years ago, at a point when artists were usually too busy being ripped off to become corporations. Yet Frank had “his own film company, his own record company, his private airline, his missile-parts firm, his real-estate holdings across the na-tion, his personal staff of seventy-five,” as Talese wrote. (Sinatra also, the writer revealed, had a woman on his payroll at $400 a week to follow him around with one of his many hairpieces.)

As far as he got from New Jer-sey, as much as he reinvented himself — there was the second “retirement” in 1971, before a re-turn two years later — Frank never forgot his roots. He took pride in

his Italian heritage, even if part of that pride came from feeling mis-treated because “my name ends with a vowel.”

How much was true, how much was simply who he hung out with? The FBI had more than 1,000 pages on Sinatra, but never charged him with anything. Mario Puzo created the fictionalised Johnny Fontane in The Godfather, a crooner whose career is saved multiple times, in ways mirroring Sinatra’s life, by the Corleone family.

The SongThere are a lot of Sinatra albums and a lot of people who have pon-tificated on them. Most start by praising 1957’s ode to pathos, Only the Lonely.

But to me, the greatest Frank re-cord is from a June show in 1962. He’s playing with his sextet in Par-is, and it’s as loose as a show can get. “It’s obvious what his trouble is — girls,” Frank tells the audi-ence as he introduces the saloon ballad One for My Baby. Cherche la femme. Which in French means ‘why don’t you share the broad with me’?”

At other moments, he coughs, clears his throat and apologises. “I’ve gotta stop sleepin’ in the park.”

Jokey or not, his performance is impeccable, whether swinging through Goody, Goody and With-out a Song or breathlessly roaming through the verses of My Funny Valentine and One for My Baby. More than anything, this perfor-mance — stripped down from his orchestral heft and captured in its entirety, unlike the other live re-cordings released during his life-time — gets to the essence of what made Sinatra Sinatra.

It is how a man takes a song written by somebody else, per-forms it for decades, and it still sounds as fresh, pained and passionate as the first time it emerged. It is a special gift. -Geoff Edgers/The Washington Post

C12

EXTRAS U N DAY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

WHY FRANK SINATRA STILL MATTERS

He conquered every medium — television,

recording, films. He was just born for what he did.

Tony BennetSinger

Let’s get one thing straight. There can’t be another Frank. These days, you don’t operate on that plane and get away with it

Shilpa Shetty takes Bollywood to London via radio

ACTRESS Shilpa Shetty, who found popularity in Britain after winning a season of Celebrity Big Brother in 2007, has turned into a radio jockey to talk about Bollywood with the people in London.She will be on a special show on BBC Radio 2. The actress, took to micro-blogging site Twitter to share details of the show, which will go live in September. “Working day today in London. Record-ing for a series of shows introducing Bollywood to the Mainstream here on BBC Radio 2. Goes on air in September,” Shilpa tweeted.

Saif, Kareena off to Maldives for family vacation

IT’S HOLIDAY time for Bollywood couple Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan. The couple is off to explore the pristine beauty of Maldives amid greenery and idyllic beaches with family. Saif ’s sister Soha, who is accom-panying them with her husband and actor Kunal Kemmu, shared a photo-graph of their jaunt with a caption “Touchdown in the Maldives!”. They are on five-day vacation as Soha had earlier shared on Twitter with a post that read: “And we re off on a five day holiday to the Maldives.”

Anil Kapoor smitten by Dubai’s culture

ACTOR Anil Kapoor is impressed by the culture in the Middle East. The actor, who is in Dubai for an award show, says the place has a “piece of his heart”. “#Dubai! You’ll always have a piece of my heart. Judging by the frequency of my visits, u may have to adopt me soon,” Anil tweeted. Kapoor is awaiting release of his next film, Zoya Akhtar’s Dil Dhadakne Do, which narrates tale of a dysfunctional Punjabi family on a cruise. The actor will be seen in the role of a patriarch of the family. -IANS

BOLLYWOOD

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

CONNECT H E D A I LY G U I D E

D

D4 VACANCY CARGO D7

S U N D AY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

RENT D2

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication.

* Subject to space availability

DAILY GUIDE Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

For rent furnished, non furnished

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Labour camp for rent 100 pax

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2 BR flat for rent in Wadi Kabir

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2000 sqm Commercial land for

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98154444

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D2 S U N D AY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

We have, 2BHK flat in Mabela 7, 2

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1BHK flats at Muttrah near Oman

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Contact: + 968 – 99264162

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1,000 sq mtrs industrial land in

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Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

1-BHK apartment available for

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Deluxe 3 Room Penthouse with

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Contact: 97721313 / 9507 0421

Villa for rent with 4 bedroom at

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Independent villa in Darsait (Opp.

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Contact 98048210/

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Spacious 1& 2 BH flats having

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3 bedrooms flat for rent near NIT

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Apartments for rent Ghubra : near

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Interested parties may

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DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5 D3

MV. SALE

FOR SALE

FOR SALE

FOR RENT

LOST

Running restaurant going for sale

in Ibri. Contact: 96774871

Curtain shop for immediate sale

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Best Investment opportunity in

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Running computer shops for sale

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Shfandish & tables for sale.

Contact 99368907

Restaurant for sale well running

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Contact 99656863

2,560 sq mtrs industrial land

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95215360

5 Flats of 1 bedroom for Sale in

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Monthly income OMR 270 Tel:

99333479 or 95215360

Coffee shop for sale in North

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Well equiped and running condi-

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97710015 / 92934027 near Missfah

Khanco Road Cement Factory

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for rent area 200 sq. Contact

97175979 / 99001341

Flat with 2 rooms, toilet & kitchen

in second floor in Souk Al Khoud

behind bank Al Ahli 200/- R.O .

Contact : 99738881

One BHK flat for rent in Ghobra with

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Flats for rent in Wadi Kabeer.

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95533777

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Contact 97293708 / 92433127

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WANTED

Treadmill –motorized. Contact:

99378397

Showroom for rent 200 m in

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Flat for rent 1 & 2 bedroom avail-

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Contact - 99530405

Ghubra near Al Maha hotel &

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Labour camp for Rent in

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Room main road, Al Khuwair

R.O 110/-. Contact 97799175

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Contact Office: 24834644

Mobile: 93994401/02/03

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Villa in Al Khuwair and Seeb.

Contact 95250300/ 99119699 /

92125648

Industrial land for rent in Wadi

Kabir 7000 Sq mtrs.

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Flats/villas owned by ROP pen-

sion fund available for rent in

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2 Prime Movers Man 2008 with 40

ton petrol tank each working at the

moment in Al Maha. Price OMR 35

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or 92688692

2013 LEXUS ES350 for Sale 40,000

km Full Option Gold Color Bought

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Land Cruiser 2012. Contact

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Furnished flats for rent in

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Contact 97819981 / 93593336

Villa for rent - Al Seeb/Al Mawelah

- Block 5 - 4 bedrooms with attached

bathrooms, Majlis, 2 halls, kitchen

and storeroom. split Ac and carpark.

Contact 99564616

Flat for rent in Ruwi, CBD.

Contact: 92820734

1 BHK Flat in Wadi Kabir.

Contact 92275454

Flat or rent in Al Khuwair 33.

Contact: 92277419

2BHK flat with store room,

split A/cs in CBD, Ruwi near QNB.

Rent 400/-.Contact 99603696

Short term quick rental wanted (3

months) 2 bedroom flat (brand new).

Attached bathroom for each room.

near school. Well-equipped ac only

200 OMR/month location:

Al Hail South. Contact:99549745

2 BHK with A/C Muttrah near Oman

house. Contact: 99896838

2 BHK with A/C Ghobrah.

Contact: 92144045

Flats for rent near Indian school in

Wadi Kabir. Contact 99777122

Port cabin new & refurbished –

porta cabin for sale & rent.

Contact: 96723468 / 97775501 /

97775502

23,886 Sq Mtrs Agriculture land

with water well in Al Salwa, Barka.

OMR 260 Thousand. Tel: 99333479

or 95215360

3 floor commercial building in

Muttrah behind Police. Generating

income of OMR 18 Thousand annu-

ally. Neat and well maintained. Built

on 197 sq mtrs land. 2 tailor shops

on ground floor and 6 flats. OMR

207 Thousand. Tel: 99333479 or

95215360

558 Sq mtrs residential land in

Barka (Al Jenainah) near Lulu and

near to school. OMR 32 Thousand.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

Ladies beauty parlor for sale in

Muttrah, above Ahla Sceps Market.

Contact : 93231403

Residential land for sale 21000

sqm, best for housing complex

at Al Harm – Barka, opp to Khimji

logistic. Contact 99438397

60,000 Sq Mtrs Agriculture Land in

Misfah, can be changed to Industrial

Land. OMR 27 Per Square Meter.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

Shopping center for sale at Bousher

by good price 400 m2 with all equip-

ment. Reason for selling

part-time. Contact 92916490

ACC. AVAILABLE

ACC. AVAILABLE

Furnished /independent room with

bathroom for Executive bachelor near

Oman House. Contact : 98796982

Family room available at Muttrah.

Contact: 24712088 / 99022790

Fully furnished room attached

bath for Executive bachelor behind

Al Meera hypermarket Azaiba R.O

150/-Contact : 99455735

Furnished room available for Execu-

tive bachelor in Ghala near Oman

LNG building. Contact: 93980900

Single room for Indian Executive

bachelor near Al Khuwair R/A .

Contact 99659513

Single room with AC, separate toilet,

kitchen at Al Hail highway side.

Contact: 92968292

Bath attached room for rent at

Al Amerat. Contact 99008803

Excellent room, with A/C kitchen

available from June/ July 1st, near

ONTC Bus station (Ruwi). #95569740

Independent rooms in Qurum /

Al Hail. Contact 95529970

2 Rooms with separate bathroom &

kitchen for executive bachelors.

Gsm 942-888-63

1BHK available Mumtaz area Ruwi.

Contact: 99269751

Furnished room attached bath for

Indian bachelor - Al Falaj area &

for lady at Wadi kabir (Al Maya) -

95941515.

Sharing for non-cooking Executive

bachelor in CBD area wi fi free,

advance deposit. Contact 95934642

Single room for executive bachelor

near AL Falaj Hotel. #99643845

Sharing accommodation available

opposite Mars at Al Ghubra for Execu-

tive bachelor or small family sharing,

kitchen.# 94474351 / 96237050

Accommodation available for South

Indian family, one bedroom with

attached toilet, kitchen, hall in a

villa, Al Ghubrah. Contact 99209160

Sharing acc. Available in Muttrah

behind Oman house.

Contact 99354340

Sharing family accommodation in

Wadi Kabir. Contact 99335057

Room with attached bath, kitchen in

Ghala. Contact: 99334770

Mohammed Nazir Myahi has lost

Bangladeshi Passport No. AA 8435785.

Finder please handover to ROP.

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text,

should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

DAILY GUIDED4 S U N D AY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

MEDICAL

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

DRIVER

DRIVER

BEAUTICIAN

IT

CATERING

SKILLED LABOUR

ARCHITECT / DRAFTSMAN

DOMESTIC HELPER

ENGINEER

EDUCATION

SALES / MARKETING

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

A well reputed steel fabrication & machining Workshop Company

in Oman requires forklift operator

with valid Oman license.

Contact 92746349

Email: mydeen@midest.com

SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

Wanted full time Indian Housemaid

for Indian Muslim family. Should be

skilled in preparation of Non-Veg

dishes. Preferably from Hyderabad,

India. Company visa, good salary

+ bonus, air –ticket for leave travel

provided by company.

Contact 99349924.

An Indian family in Al Ghubra re-

quires a full time living housemaid. Contact : 97084023

Required looking for full time Housemaid preface Indian / Sri

Lanka for Omani family at Mabela,

visa available. Contact: 92454170

Urgent required House maid in

Mabela. Visa available.

Contact- 95200180.

Indian CA with 15 yrs exp working

as Finance Head for MNC

looking for suitable job.

NOC available. 94047434

Indian male 26 years having 2

years of experience in financial ac-

countant looking for accountant job.

Contact: 00968 97483234

Indian male M.Com 6 yrs experi-

ence in accounts up to finalization in

Oman having Oman D/L available to

join immediately with NOC.

Contact : 98363897

Email: princ9496@hotmail.com

Accountant having 8 yrs, experience

looking for part time job.

Contact: 99867456

Jordanian, Senior accountant, 34 year old, 12 years experience in

the GCC, 7 years in construction & 4

years in hospital having Oman D/L

proficient in tally 9.0.

Contact 96470036

Young dynamic Indian MBA having

one year exp in CA Firm looking for

an opening. Skills: MS Office & Tally.

Contact:+919744732896/

Email: asifakbar4@gmail.com

Finance Manager (15+yrs experi-

ence) thorough knowledge on Hold-

ing Company accounts. Well versed

on Trading, Investment, Insurance

Brokerage, Travel & Rent A Car

accounts. Ability to manage Group

of companies. Contact: 92701962 :

amritaa.m2002@gmail.com

Indian male B.Com, 1 year experi-

ence in accounts and sales looking

for suitable placement on visit visa.

Contact: 98295101

Chief Accountant / Accounts

Manager, Indian male (34 years)

MBA/ M.com more than 10 years

experience (7 tears in Oman) with

D/L NOC available seeks suitable

placement. Contact: 96915438

MBA Indian male looking for suit-

able position having 2 years working

experience as an accountant now in

Oman a visiting visa.

Contact: 99424803

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

Analyst accountant knowledge

& skill excel Advance misreport

account & finance administration

work document oracle advertising

knowledge degree MBA, BBM.

Contact 91840109/99783953

Email: mohd.rashid19@gmail.com

Indian male 25 yrs B.com having

experience in accounts for 3 yrs

currently on visit looking to job.

Contact: 97937868 Email:

rehman.naseer999@gmail.com

Part time Accounts job & finalization

work Muscat. Contact: 92917448

An Indian lady Chartered Accountant

with five years experience (including

article ship) on family visa in Oman

looking for a suitable job. Please

Contact 9621 0347 / 9943 5346,

shincycrajan@gmail.com

Sr. Accountant M.com (finance)

15 years experience (2years in Oman

with a reputed firm) NOC available.

Contact: 92404608

Email: jin_75@rediffmail.com

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE

Required Office Assistant

160+25+Acc, Contact 99454425

Indian male, B.E ( computer science

engineer), MBA (finance), OCA certi-

fied, having 5 years of experience in

oracle Dba/ oracle apps Dba, seeks

a suitable position in the field of IT.

Contact: 96212062

email: zubairkhan11@gmail.com

ACCOUNTANT

ADMIN

CATERING

Omani Mechanical Engineer, has

3 years experience ,has HSE, H2S,

Riggers/Banks men Permit, Drawing

/ cad, SCBA, Safety Leadership and

Initial Fire Response Courses. good

with computer and English language

looking for suitable job. Contact

99224319-98454500

Indian male 22 Mechanical Diploma

holder Engg with HVAC certified,

having 1 year exp. seeking suitable

position. Currently available on visit

visa. Contact - 92835952

Urgently required Sales and Marketing Executive for

Graphic designing company.

Contact: 96727631

mail: smartgraphic518@gmail.com

Sales man for electrical and build-

ing material Items, experience: 2

years with driving license. Contact:

24703484 / 96918100 Email:

om.omanlights@gmail.com

Required Indian Salesman for a

Spare parts Company, Good salary

package and visa will be offered for

suitable candidates. Can send CV on

alrabhe@omantel.net.om

Salesman with driving license for

company. Contact: 96440587

Furniture company urgently seeks outdoor sales team, attractive sala-

ries for right candidates. Contact:

batrading2014@gmail.com

Required Sales Staff for a reputed

insurance Broker male / Omani.

Contact at 97619595 or send CV to

msaif@ace-ins.com

website: ace-ins.com

Marketing Representative – Gen-

eral items, Experience: Minimum

2 - 3 years, Should have knowledge

about Oman market, Valid Oman

Driving License must Forward CV to

hr@barikgroup.com

Urgently required out door Sales Executive for furniture company,

minimum 5 years experience with

Oman D/L. Contact: 93231403

Looking for smart & intelligent female Telesales Executive/Sales coordinator with IT background,

2-3 yrs experience with clear &

commanding voice, good & effec-

tive communication, correspond-

ence and coordination skills.

Send your resume to

002atech@gmail.com

Urgently need a Marketing Executive to develop marketing

campaigns to promote company’s

product &service. He/She should

have 2-3 years in organizing events,

product branding, Social Media

marketing, Email Marketing and

Web Site promotion. Send your

resume to 002atech@gmail.com

Looking for a Retail Sales Execu-tive & 3-5 yrs experience in selling

building material, structure cabling,

Access control, and CCTV products

& motivated by sales and targets.

Candidate with Omani D/L will be

given preference. Send your resume

to 002atech@gmail.com

Required Van Salesman for a major

beverages company in Qatar. Salary

1800 Qatar Riyal + free accomoda-

tion & food+ Sales commissions

averaging around 2000 Qatari Riyal.

Also require key accounts supervi-

sor. Salary negotiable. Interested

candidates may send their CV to

rlkekkas@gmail.com or

Contact 0097455096272

Required Sales man - 1 Person

Qualification. Gulf Experienced

- Minimum 5 Years with Oman

Driving Licence Language - English

Education:- Any Degree Further

Contact :Mr. Abdul Hameed

Nashabat - Mobile No: 97414307

and -92807399

amn@yaqeeneng.com

Salesman experienced 5 yrs in

Oman, in the field of industrial &

oilfield service, garage equipment

tools & spares, safety wears & res-

cue equipments.

Please forward your CV to

almaadhi.trd@gmail.com

Driver 6 yrs exp knowing English,

Arabic, Hindi Education B. A.

Contact: 99512270

Driver with car 10 years experience

part and full time looking for job

light driver. Contact: 95897233

Looking for job LTV driver, exp 15 years. Contact: 93183817

Heavy P.D.O license. Contact: 95606146

Light duty driver seeks job.

Contact : 91122145 / 95992137

Driver with car, 3 years experience

part & full time looking for job.

Contact: 97456062

Light Driver needs Job.

Contact: 93284327

For Driving. Contact: 95870012

Bangladeshi male looking for a light

vehicle driving job. Contact: 97751070

Driver light. Contact: 91020999

DRIVER

DOMESTIC HELPER

DESIGNER

MISCELLANEOUS

Vinyl Applicators (preferably for

vehicles), Metal Fabricators.

Contact 98918344

Required Salesman, Tailor and Barber. Contact : 96964767

Urgently Required: Draftsman - Temporary for 1 month. Apply,

fax 00968–24605955,

emails sbc@steelbuildingsllc.com,

sbeoman@yahoo.com.

Leading Construction company requires MEP Draftsman and Civil Draftsman with 5 to 7 years gulf

experience with NOC available.

Send your CV to

recruitment1947@gmail.com

Indian male, MA multimedia, 25 yrs

presently working in Bangalore as

visual layout / Graphics designer hav-

ing 2 years experience, seeks suitable

placement. Currently on short visit.

Contact 92368969

Email: don007james@gmail.com

Urgently required Indian experi-ence beautician, good salary +

Accommodation + Food visa Avail-

able location Al Hail.

Contact: 92284899 / 92139922

Beautician required with good

experience visa available.

Contact: 95867900

Wanted Female Nurse with or

without MOH license for a Polyclinic.

Salary negotiable.

Contact: 97091664, 97327175.

Email: mmcmuscat@gmail.com

Required a MOH licensed female Nurse for a private clinic near

Al-Suwaiq. Call 93746086

Wanted Nurse for a dental centre

in Mawaleh South. Interested may

contact 93431024

Required Nurse for a Clinic in

Al Buraimi, S. Of Oman.

Contact: 00968 92737149. Send CV

to drpkabbas@yahoo.co.in

Urgent required staff Nurse

in Mabela. Contact- 95200180.

Urgently required Staff Nurse, Pharmacist and endodontist Female Staff nurse, Pharmacist and endodntist with MOH

License/Prometric exam passed

with 60% and above.

Contact 24780088, 97374459

Email : karamadental@gmail.com

Immediate placement ( with or

without MOH) A. Pharmacist - 3 nos B. Asst.pharmacist - 2 nos

Contact Tel.99338219 , 93240949

Wanted Lady Doctor GP or Gynecologist with MOH license.

Immediate opportunity.

Contact - 99310590

ADMIN/HR

Indian Female MBA, 3 Years experi-

ence in Admin MIS, Family Visa.

Contact 98234427,

jkjsmith01@gmail.com

Indian male 2+yrs oman exp in HR.

joing immediatly. release available.

Contact :93671437

Over 15 years of gulf experience

in Admin /HR /Logistics, fluent in

Arabic & English with D/L looking

for suitable position.

Contact 95824598

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

Document controller / project coor-

dinator having 15 years experience

is same Field.

Contact: 00919605635590

Indian male 24 years, Mechanical

Engineer,pdms.1 yr experience in

pipeline,16years in oman seeking

immediate placement # 95775742

Indian male currently in Oman on

visit, looking for suitable vacancy in

hotel Industry as Supervisor having

8 years experience in Europe.

Contact: 97376612

Construction Company require Civil Engineer, minimum 2 year’s

Gulf experience. Contact: 93806556

A reputed water treatment com-pany is looking for 10 years experi-

enced Civil Engineer with driving

license. Knowledge of civil works,

QS. Apply :

md.mohamed@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer having 3 years

gulf experience with driving license.

Contact: 24703484 / 96918100

Email: om.omanlights@gmail.com

Urgently required Site Engineers &

all kinds of civil construction work-

ers for a reputed construction com-

pany. Interested candidates can send

your CV’s to mohamed@oasisgrace.

com, contact 99881459, 24826566,

fax: 24812226

Omani lady HR Manager for a lead-

ing metal fabrication company. Min.

5 yrs exp, familiar with Oman labor

Laws. Responsibilities – Making HR

policies, Training of Omanis, liaising

with various Ministries. Contact:

operation@khancogroup.com Teachers required (B.A, BEd, BSc,

and B.ed) for Omani Pvt. School

Al Hail (North). Contact 95141554/

96653118

AUTO CAD/ARCHITECT

Autocad D man, Gulf exp in major

projects, knows arch, structural,

MEP, NOC available

ph: 98225740

Female architect (27) 4 years ex-

perience seeking for suitable job in

Oman experience in Oman,

India & UK. Contact: 96146645

Email: anjuovil@gmail.com

Finance Manager, CPA, with more

than 15 yrs. of experience in GCC.

Fully knowledgeable in Finance,

General & Management Accounting .

NOC available. Contact 96209331

Indian male with total 5 year

experience (2 years experience in

Accountant cum sales co ordinator

in a FMCG Company in Oman) in

accounts field and NOC available.

Looking for suitable job

Contact 92130188

MBA Graduate with 6 yrs exp in

finance/accounts/ auditing. Special-

ized in accounts payable dept, Oracle

app user, proficient in Sap (fico) end

user & tally 9.0. lean &six sigma

certified trainer on visit visa.

Contact – 91967213 / 99064780

EDUCATION

English Teacher female (M. A. B.

Ed) having 14 years experience with

11 years experience in Oman with

reputed Institute and School. Con-

tact: 92289080 / 99318276 Email:

babvjosev@yahoo.com

Qualified primary English Teacher for almost 12 years W/ experience in

Qatar independent school interna-

tional school & British curricular

IELTS qualified looking for immedi-

ate post. Contact: 98938272

Email: me_ann_laloma@yahoo.com

Tanzanian male, 25 yrs Accountant

successful experience in Tanzania

looking for suitable placement in any

field. Contact : 96710154

Tunisian lady has Professorship in

social and economical sciences and

accounting, diploma in Experi-

mental Sciences degree in English

for media. Contact 95391050,

aysser2013@gmail.com

Looking for a Restaurant Man-ager for a well known restaurant in

Muscat, with atleast 2 years of work

experience in Oman. Candidate must

have a valid Omani driving license,

excellent marketing and commu-

nication skills and an eagerness to

work. For enquiries and interview

contact: 92978956 or 94027151.

Shawarma /Arabic/Chinese/ cook & helper. Contact 95529970

Well trained, with military base

experience catering staff available

for contractual catering operation.

Cook – 08, Waiter - 6, Utility worker - 6, Supervisor-1. Contact: 97984335

Wanted experienced female tailor from Philippines. Contact: 99466062

Assistant Accountant experi-

ence: 2 years. Contact: 24703484 /

96918100

Email: om.omanlights@gmail.com

Website Graphic Designer, .Net/

Oracle Certified Developer, Systems

Analyst, Software Business Devel-

oper/Marketer. hr@takweenit.net

Housemaid & houseboy, Indian with

4 yrs exp looking for job.

Contact 91299288

Omani family looking for full time

lady driver. Contact: 91401838

India Accountant: Male, M com,

7 Yrs experience in Accounts up to

finalization, having knowledge of

ERP, Tally, seeks suitable placment.

contact 93950138 Email:

lijinrajan123@gmail.com

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

B.Sc in civil Engineer having

2 years experience with driving

license in Oman. Contact 94618906

Email: msamps988@yahoo.com

Indian male 26 yrs mechanical

Engineer with 3 yrs experience in

Indian in MEP, HVAC& mechanical

maintained field on visit visa looking

for suitable job. Contact: 99191535

Email: fareed029@gmail.com

Civil Engineer (B.E) 12 years experi-

ence with valid Oman D/L.

Contact: 93843448

DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5 D5

DAILY GUIDESITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

Indian female M.E power system

B.E Electrical Engg, seeks suitable

placement. Contact: 99842083

/99326054

Keralite Comp: Engr experienced

in BPO on visit seeking any type of

job. Email: khais2001@gmail.com,

contact 92094926

Sales Engineer (37), 15 yrs (12 yrs

Oman) experience in structured

cabling fiber optics, data centers,

security & AV, Telecom, Network &

datacom, OSP, Industrial Connectiv-

ity. Contact: 99771815, Noc.

Indian male 30 years Mechani-

cal Engineering Diploma with 4+

years of Experience in Fabrication

drawings using CAD Software’s in

India, now on a visit visa seeking for

a suitable placement in OMAN. Will

be available till 12/6/15 for interview.

#99013952, vineetf56@gmail.com

Civil Engineer male 13 years exp

Indian seeking suitable job.

Contact: +919640973798

Email: firozbakhtiar2@gmail.com

Diploma in Civil Engineer with 10

yrs experience, valid Omani driving

license, NOC available.

Contact: 94052815.

5 years experienced Q.S ENG with

driving license looking for suitable

position. Contact: 98142595

Indian male 25, Diploma Civil

Engineer 2 years experience insite

Engineer looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact: 96750429

Indian female 28 yrs having 2

yrs experience as Estimation and

Design Engineer (BMS) with valid

Omani driving license seeks suitable

placement. Contact: 99047570

Electrical Engineer, 2 years as Pro-

ject Engineer office works proposals

/ contracts site jobs installations/

maintenance. Contact: 96209298

English/ Arabic languages

B.Com DMM logistics Telecom-

munication Agriculture 15 years

experience 2 years Oman seeking

placement. Contact: 91227198 Email:

raju_poduval@rediffmail.com

Indian- B.E.-MBA having 25 years

Experience. Last 12 years in Oil & Gas

Sector in Oman. Business Develop-

ment /Sales. Looking opening in Oil

Gas Trading/Drilling Service Compa-

nies as GM/ Country Manager/ Busi-

ness Development Manager. Email :

gmbdm2015oilandgas@gmail.com;

Contact -94688594;

0091 9768406574

Graduate Electrical Engineer

having 6 years experience of Gulf

and professional license available to

join. Contact: 98063081

Indian male, B.A, 4 years experi-

ence in Teaching 3 years experience

in life insurance, 3 years experience

in supermarket division UAE as

Sales Promoter for the whole group.

Contact : 91968699

Indian male, (B.E) Electronics and

Communication (ENC), 2 years

experience in Instrument Engineer

and plant supervisor in India.

Contact : 94188216

Email: azeez45ec@gmail.com

Indian Civil Engineer (building)

available immediately as supply

contract. Contact : 95218004

Electrical Engineer 10 years experi-

ence in underground cables exten-

sion and distribution substation and

terrestrial station available in Oman,

on visit visa. Contact : 95471606

Civil Engineer: 5 years experience

in building & structure works in

Oman seeks suitable placement.

NOC available. Contact: 98180524

Engineer (ECE) seeking job.

Contact: 98584498 / 91981503

Electrical Engineer new in Oman

B.Tech (Hons.) with Diploma of

Electrical Engg. seeks a suitable job.

Contact: 96752080

Email: ilyasqader97@gmail.com

Btech computer science graduate

2015 passout.. Android application

marketing.. Having good communi-

cation skills and mindset to work in

a team. Contact 91024385

MEDICAL

29 Indian male Nurse.B.SC prometric

exam passed on a visit. 10 years expe-

rience in India & Italy seeks a suitable

placement in multinational hospitals

& clinics. Contact 96071773 –

sanukochiparampil@gmail.com

Assistant Pharmacist (Indian female,

28 yrs) with MOH license.

Contact 93022787 / 99108751

Indian female Dentist MOH Oman

passed seeking a suitable placement

in capital region. Contact– 91377681

hashimsarawat@gmail.com

Well experienced MOH Licensed

Indian GP Doctor looking for

locum / permanent position in the

Capital area. Contact 98140024

email:drgpoman@yahoo.com

Lab Technician, Civil (8yrs Gulf

experience) looking for a suitable

job (NOC available)

Contact-93344378

IT

IT

Software Engineer 6+ Exp.(MCA

with Distinction) interested in IT/

Teaching Contact-92656246

MCA Indian male 24 yrs seeking

suitable placement in software / Da-

tabase support currently on visit visa.

Contact 96785261 Email:

sudheesh.edakkadan@gmail.com

25 yrs, Omani male, 5 years exp

seeking job in IT all info in website.

Contact najeeb719.weeblycom

Indian female B.E 2 years of IT expe-

rience with IBM – Indian certified in

oracle PL /SQL and forms developer

seeking job in IT field in reputed

company. Contact: 95094189

Email: bijigopu7@gmail.com

Indian male BCA, MCA, 2 years

experience in software programming

knowledge of Java, SQL, NET, C#, ASP.

NET, DB2, Oracle. Contact: 99210940

IT, female fresher MCA, BCA Oracle

certified 6 months PLSQL, data ware

housing training PHP seeking job at

good company. Contact: 95694330

Email: monakasapool@gmail.com

Expat Lady (M.Sc IT), Looking for

suitable position in IT/Office work.

Contact 98176793,

Email : santhi.85@gmail.com

IT professional with 20 years

experience MBA, PMP, OCP, ITIL cer-

tified looking for suitable position.

Contact: 91829676

Indian female 27 yrs B.Tech (IT)

MBA one years of experience as a

software analyst. Contact 91234864

Email: ashwinirathnam2011@gmail.

com

Sr Manager, MBA, 18 yrs profes-

sional exp in building material,

tiles, sanitary wares, bath, turnkey

projects, interiors, modular kitchens,

hardwares & tools. Project sales in

Gulf countries with GCC license on

visit visa looking for job assignment.

Contact 93364846

B.Com Graduate with 12 years experi-

ence in procurement/logistics/ware-

house in construction and building

materials seeks suitable placement.

NOC available. Contact : 94657319

Indian male 29 yrs, M.sc post gradu-

ate having 7 years experience in

healthcare Industry presently work-

ing in orthopedic Implants company

(MNC) in Indian ( trauma & spine )

on visiting visa seeking suitable job

opening. Contact: 93083553

Email: prakash05629@yahoo.com

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

13 Years UAE experienced in MNC &

reputed firms logistics distribution

looking for a suitable placement, on

visit visa contact 99838743,

gani.dawood@gmail.com

Construction Surveyor Indian

looking for suitable job.

Contact 91977142 / 95141554

SECRETARIAL/OFFICE

Indian male MBA having 10 years

experience in Oman as Document

controller and 2+ Years experience

as Project Assistant / Executive

Secretary seeks suitable placement.

NOC available Contact: 95373198,

email: sydnvrng@yahoo.com

Arabic – English translator having,

3 years experience currently on visit

visa seeks translation or

Bi-Lingual, Secretarial job.

Contact: 96599601

Email: gawadjamal@gmail.com

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 male 10 years experience in

Welding Supervisor NDT Technician,

MIG Welding specialist seeking suit-

able job. Contact 96771841

Indian male MBA 7 years experience

in Hospitality industry, operation,

sales & marketing looking for suitable

vacancy. Contact 92115860

Email vibin.py@gmail.com

Indian male 32 yrs, 6 years experi-

ence instore in charge with Indoor

salesman looking for suitable job.

Contact: 97385874

Indian 23 years B.Com Graduate,

2 years experience in Sales knowl-

edge of ERP & MS Office.

Email : syedismailnoor@gmail.com

Indian male, 30 yrs, 6 years Gulf

experience in shipping operations

and customer service, NOC available.

Contact: 93042516

8 years store experience Indian

male looking for placement. N.O.C

available. Contact: 98456535

8 years purchase experienced

Indian male looking for job. N.O.C.

available. Contact: 98161323

Indian male, 30, BSc, Food Science

and Quality control, MBA 5 years

experience, driving license.

Contact: 93405643

Indian male with 08 yrs exp in sales

& marketing, seeks suitable place-

ment. NOC available.

Contact: 95970204

Indian Male, B.Com Graduate, 23,

with experience in Sales looking for

suitable placements.

Contact - 9837 1144

Indian male, B.Sc (Mathematics)

PGDBM (Marketing). 9 yrs of Oman

experience in sales in midlevel

management, NOC available.

Valid Oman D/L. Contact: 95278838

Email: anup2p4p@yahoo.com

BE computer science 6 years

experience software developer and

support Engineering exp sales and

management Oman D/L, NOC avail-

able. Contact: 98097722

P.H.D , 20 years, 2.5yrs Oman

agriculture green house fertilizers

marketing seeking suitable place-

ment. Contact 93220249

Email: anthurium7777@gmail.com

Indian male MBA (HR& marketing)

2 years experience in sales seeking

suitable position now on visiting.

Contact: 96483964

An Indian male having rich

experience in procurement, Sales

marketing and office administration

seeking suitable position.

Contact: 93689602

Indian male Graduate in business

management having work experience

of 12 years looking for a suitable posi-

tion. Contact : 93431567

25 Indian female B.S.C. Fashion

Technology. 5 years experience in

textile industry as a merchandiser

and good in fashion marketing.

Currently available on visit visa,

seeking for a suitable job.

Contact 96990368.

Email: simmy.missy@gmail.com

TOURS & TRAVELS

Male MBA (General) from Cardiff

Metropolitan University London)

looking for a suitable placement.

Contact 92819301

Email: adicbhat@outlook.com

Pakistani male 34 yrs Intermedi-

ate 2 yrs exp in sales & marketing

in Oman. Looking for suitable job.

Contact - 92146864

Indian male 45+ yrs , 20 yrs exp as

sales supervisor in India looking for

indoor sales /stores /cashier or any

suitable placement can speak Hindi

, English, Malayalam, Tamil, kannada

can join immediately on visit visa.

Contact 93086105/33016546

Toms Davis, 5+yrs Exp in Projects

and design, 10+2+Diploma in Mech

Eng, 92068508

Civil Engineer, Indian Female, 3 yrs

experience, on visit visa seeking suit-

able placement. Contact: 99195433

Indian female 27 yrs-BSc Biotech

and P.G Diploma in Quality Assur-

ance having experience in Pharma-

ceutical Industry seeking immediate

placement- Contact- 93218363.

Indian male B.Tech marine Engineer

on visit visa. Seeking suitable

placement. Contact – 91991386 /

prvnpurushan@gmail.com

Sudanese Electrical Engineer, 2 years experience.

Contact: 91211592 Email:

aymanhamza1990@gmail.com

Network / system Engineer B.E /

ECE + CCNA & Ms certified with 4+

yrs exp looking for a job, currently

in Oman on visit visa. Contact :

92589502 / 96216397,

Email : jeganscareer@gmail.com

Filipino HSE officer with 7 years

and 5 months experience in MEP

and civil construction works, Qatar

petroleum, nakilat shipyard, super

substation and high NSE building

with Nebosh IGC 3, IOSH, Auditor

lead course etc. Contact 98938461

Email: e.romil@yahoo.com

Indian male 26 yrs mechanical

Engineer with 3 yrs experience in

Indian in MEP, HVAC& mechanical

maintained field on visit visa look-

ing for suitable job.

Contact: 99191535

Email: fareed029@gmail.com

Instrumentation Engineer, Indian

male having 2 years experience in

process instruments and sales seeks

suitable placement on visit visa.

Contact: 95954385

Email: irfancisinn@gmail.com

Indian Male, IT Support Engineer,

2 yrs in Oman & 5 yrs Indian experi-

ence. Contact 97311847

Indian female, B.Tech biotechnology with strong computer

skills and 2 years experience as

associate research analyst (Media

Monitoring) in Nasdaq Oman seek-

ing growth oriented jobs. Contact

92044603 /918056169148 or

angeline.babithac@gmail.com.

Electrical Eng. Degree (MEP) need

suitable job of construction 12 yrs exp.

Email: mohd.ateeq.khan@gmail.com

Mechanical Engineer B.E fresher

(QA, QC , Piping & NDT + 1 month

practical training in production & oil

field) seeking immediate placement

currently on visit visa. Contact –

0096896107833, Email -

albinalbin.thomas@gmail.com

Indian Male 58yrs, Oman experi-

ence 31yrs in Multifunctional Man-

agement, Administration, Business

Development, Purchase & Opera-

tions, seeking suitable Manager/

Supervisory Position. Visa transfer/

NOC Available. GSM: 95036410

23 yrs old Pakistani bachelor in

accounts and marketing 3.5 yrsexp

2 yrsexp in Oman, looking for a job.

Contact- 99374062

Indian Male 33 looking for Scaf-

folding Supervisor vacancy in Oil &

Gas field in Oman. Having 5 years

experience in CCC Qatar and 3 years

in Saudi” Contact 96155921

fysal.nellaya@gmail.com or

Sudanese/Bsc IT/26/2 years expe-

rience/excellent Eng-Arb speaking/

Omani driving license/96387227/

henrykarrar@gmail.com

Indian male, 34 yrs, ca inter pass,

with 14 yrs experience, is seeking

suitable placement, currently on

visit visa & ready to join immediate-

ly. Contact: 95585069 or 95630747

26 years Indian male with MBA &

PGDFM, Total 3.8 years experience

in Administration, seeking suit-

able placement in any gulf region.

Holding Oman valid driving license.

Contact :93359371

ACCA affiliate,male,2.5 years expe-

rience in an audit firm in Finance &

Audit, looking for suitable immedi-

ate placement. Release available.

Contact 95140445,

a.saran891@gmail.com

Indian Female: MCA, 3 Years Exp. as

Asst. Professor, Specialization in C #

(sharp).net, Data Comm.& Network-

ing, Knowledge about Web Develop-

ment, ASP.Net, Oracle, SQL,VB.net.

Seek Immediate Placement. Now on

Visit Visa.9588 7051

ashwininakod@gmail.com

Indian male 21 IT Engineer

Networking & Computer hardware

course 01 yr experience currently

on visit visa looking for suitable job.

Contact 96036273, E mail

faizanfarooqui23@gmail.com

Indian male, 14 yrs Experience in

Maintenance & Supervisor in hotel

field ( Electrical . Ac Mechanical &

Plumber ) N O C available # 95253640

email: hareeshma24@yahoo.com

Sales/ Marketing Executive : 35

years old Indian male, MBA, having

experiences in UAE and India in

sales and marketing field, presently

on visit visa, looking for a suitable

job in Salalah or in Oman.

Contact 91233648

Well experienced hair dresser/

beautician required, visa available.

Contact – 96524717

Indian female 25 yrs MBA finance

currently on visit visa seeks imme-

diate placement. Contact 9843 0089

Civil Autocad draughtsman looking

for part time job. Mobile: 95218737

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

Indian male 27 years, MBA, hav-

ing more than 5 yrs experience in

sales and marketing, looking for

suitable job. Contact no.99224057,

+919824823734

Part- Time Accountant, well versed

with all accounting, Finalization,

Budgeting available.# 98803439

Indian female, B.Com graduate, 2

years experience in admin depart-

ment looking for a suitable place-

ment. Contact 92531929

ACCA affiliate, male, 23, 2.5years of

vast experience in finance & audit

in audit firm,seeking suitable place-

ment immediately. # 96895140445,

a.saran891@gmail.com

Indian Female 30 Yrs ( Master in

Hospital Administration ) Lead

Auditor ISO 9001:2008 QMS; ISO

14001:2004 EMS Certified Having

Total Exp. of 6+ years ( Last 3 Years

In Oman ) In Healthcare Administra-

tion ,Quality , Training , HR & Health-

care Audit .Well versed In JCI (U.S.A.)

Accreditation/NABH Accreditation .

Seeks Opening in Quality /Training /

Auditing /HR&A Department .

Currently on Family Visit Visa

(Received NOC).

GSM: 96683277 / 93747007

E-Mail: smsraza819@gmail.com

Indian heavy duty driver

with 8 years experience in oman

available with NOC.

GSM : 93601943 GSM : 94496457

INDIAN male, MBA GRADUATE as

well as BBA specialized in Finance

and Marketing, proficient in Tally.9,

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 0091 7025696085,

Email : praseed.nandhu@gmail.com

Indian Female seeking a job in Back

Office and Accountancy, 8+ years

proven experience as a dynamic

candidate with excellent Excel &

Communication skills.Quick learner

and Team player. Currently on visit

Contact 94093154, 95963281,

joyjohn_hhh@yahoo.com

Indian Male, Mechanical Engineer

35 years, with 3 years of experience

and on visit visa is looking for a

suitable Job,

Contact: 91991435,93310821

Indian male Oman experi-

ence in electrical and plumbing

looking for a suitable position.

Please contact 00919591340961,

00917795583924.

MCA IT Professional Indian Female

seek placement in Teaching/ Non

Teaching field. Presently on visit

visa. 9588 7051,

ashwininakod@gmail.com

6 years exp. including 4 years Oman

exp. with Professional qualifica-

tion Of CA strategic level I ACCA,B.

com(Special). Experienced in finan-

cial Report preparation & Worked

in ERP, ORACLE & SAP. seeking

accountant position. #92008368 ,

Mujeeb75@ymail.com

Young Indian Chartered Account-ant, Female, Having 6 years experi-

ence in Oman and India. Accounts

and Finance Manager, Auditor.

Urgently seeking suitable positions.

Contact-92530131,

jobcareer44@gmail.com

IT Network and Security Engineer

with a master degree, CISCO and

Linux red hat certified seeking a

suitable job in a good company.

Contact 99818601

Indian male, 20+ years experience

in IT management, ERP imple-

mentation, seeks suitable opening.

Contact: 96101779

Networking technician with

driving license, with Noc, having

2 experiences in data & telephone

structured cubing EPABX & CCTV

installation is looking for suitable

jobs. Contact: 96027516

Gulf experienced Software Develop-

er & certified professional in English

looking from a Job with vast experi-

ence in sales and Management +

D/L. Contact 00968 96701312

Email: farhanaslam586@yahoo.com

Network system Engineer B.E / ECE

+ CCNA & Ms certified with 4+ yrs exp

looking for a job. Currently in Oman

on visit visa. Contact: 92589502

Email: careersjegan@gmail.com

Light driver looking for job.

Contact 92791678

Indian Female looking for an Intern-

ship or Part time opportunity in any

Interior Design, Architectural or

Design Firm . Contact 95811820

Male - B.E Mechanical Engineer

fresher( QA, QC , Piping & NDT + 1

month practical training in produc-

tion & oil field ) seeking immediate

placement currently on visit visa.

Contact - 0096896107833 Email -

albinalbin.thomas@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 male, 14 yrs Experience in

Maintenance & Supervisor in hotel

field (Electrical, Ac Mechanical &

Plumber) N O C available.

Contact 95253640

Indian female,available on

visit visa,knowledge in AutoCAD

2012,Revit 2012,Adobe photoshop

C3, Google sketchup,

seeking suitable position.

Email:dhiyana.mhmd@gmail.com.

25yrs experienced indian market-

ing mangr seeking suitable position.

.presently working as a General

Manager one of the leading Hyper

Market Group in Oman.valid omani

driving licence. Release available .

contact number.92205026.

aparayath@Gmail.Com

Indian male executive secretary

having vast experience in admin,

logistics & procurement well versed

with computer seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact : 99514286

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D6 S U N D AY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

B.E Biomedical Engineer, having 5

years of experience in Diagnostics

division seeking suitable position.

94151658

Indian Male, 29 years, CCNP, MCITP

having Bachelor degree and 6 years

of experience in Networking looking

for job. 96760618 /

varghese.manthara@gmail.com

B.E. Civil Engineer from India with 3

years of experience looking for suit-

able vacancy in oman now on visit

visa. Contact 9571 3441,

Email . Khatrialeem@gmail.com

Indian male 21 IT Eng. networking &

computer hardware diploma, 1 year

experience, currently on visit visa

looking for a suitable job

Contact 96036273 email:

faizanfarooqui23@gmail.com

Indian Female, Commerce Graduate,

Total 9 yrs of experience in India.

worked as Accounts Assistant and

Business executive seeking for

suitable placement.

Tel : 96173533/24222457

Email : topranidivya@gmail.com

24 year Indian Chartered Account-

ant male with 3yrs of experience is

seeking suitable placement in Mus-

cat, currently on visit visa & ready

to join immediately. Contact him on

98201476 or email at

lokeshkaluri@gmail.com

Indian, 32 years, completed M.A.

English, M.Sc. Psychology and B.Ed

in English. Searching for suitable job

in the field of teaching. To

Contact: 00968 99869535

Email: sahadkeyi33@gmail.com

8 Years successful experience,

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, Indian

male,29 years. Presently working in

Oman as a Senior Accountant with

oman Driving license seeks suitable

opportunity. GSM: 97705854

Female Executive Assistant/Execu-

tive Secretary with 27+ experience,

worked with top management/Board

in financial services with shorthand

skills & Omani driving license, seeks

suitable placement. call 95941515

26 years Indian male with MBA &

PGDFM, Total 3.8 years experience

in Administration, seeking suit-

able placement in any gulf region.

Holding Oman valid driving license.

Contact :94501423

Indian Male 24 years, Looking for a

Suitable Job in Telecom / Network-

ing. 1 year sales experience. MSc.

Communications Engineering &

Valid Driving license. Ph: 91280121.

Email: jackrprasad@yahoo.com

Indian Male, 29 years, CCNP, MCITP

having Bachelor degree and 6 years

of experience in Networking looking

for job. 96760618 /

varghese.manthara@gmail.com

8 yrs exp Site supervisor cum 2d,

3d Draughtsman (holding Omani

driving license) seeking job.

Contact : 93790601

Iraqi Pharmacist with 15 years

experience as regulatory affairs and

Marketing Manager seeking job in

pharmaceutical co. Mobile 96720441

SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

MCA IT Professional Indian Female

seek placement in Teaching/ Non

Teaching field. Presently on visit

visa. Contact 9588 7051,

Email: ashwininakod@gmail

Indian male, Engineer, BE Mechani-

cal, having with 21 years of experi-

ence in India and 13 years in Oman,

In production, project management,

quality control and assurance and

MR for ISO and API Standards look-

ing out for a suitable placement

in Oman. GSM: 00968 97311616.

E-MAIL: fahazasa@yahoo.com

Indian female BA graduate. My total

experience is 4 and half year in Call

Center looking for jobs in admin

and HR. Contact : 96089143, Email:

sharanjit_kaur2009@yahoo.com

Indian male, MBA marketing &

finance with B com & diploma in

IFRS seeks job.

Contact 99469726 / 99469729

Key Account Executive, Indian

male, currently working with a

reputed FMCG company Oman is

looking for a placement asap, NOC

will be given. Valid Omani driving

license. Total experience in Oman is

12yrs and particularly in Sales is 8

1/2 years. Contact 95589765 Email :

agnelfrancis@yahoo.co.in

25 Indian female, B.Sc fashion tech-

nologist, 5 years exp in merchandis-

ing, familiar with fashion marketing

& designing. Currently available on

visit visa, seeking for a visual mer-

chandising job. Contact : 96990368,

email jumshi@gmail.com

Sudanese male BSC Telecommuni-

cations Engineer , 4 years experi-

ence in telecom field #97783092,

Email: Alrsheed88@hotmail.com

Indian male, 28 years, 7 years

experience in transporting & heavy

equipment renting company. Having

Omani driving license seeks suit-

able positions. Contact 94410485

Civil autocad draughtsman part

time work for job mob :96023726

Working as Senior Accountant, 4 yrs.exp.in oman, relevant com-

puter skills, Audit, Accounting upto

finalization, valid oman driving

license, languages known Arabic,

Hindi. NOC available can join im-

mediately. Tel: (+968) 96339599,

E-mail-(ahmedmohdkhan@gmail.

com)

Mechanical Engineer, Indian, (B.E.)

on visit visa, seeking suitable post.

Contact :99534733

Email: rajesh92prince@gmail.com

Male, 19 years of experience in

Finance and Administration cur-

rently on visit visa seeks suitable

placement. Contact: 99720132/

abidrafi33@hotmail.com

Sudanese male BSC Telecommuni-

cations Engineer, 4 years experience

in telecom field.Contact : 97783092,

Email: alrsheed88@hotmail.com

Indian female, B.Com. knowledge

of MS Office &Tally, 4yrs experience

in Accounts &admin dept. looking for

good placement in any field.

Contact: 98928220

Sr. Manager, MBA, 18yrs profes-

sional exp in Building materials, in-

teriors, tiles, sanitary wares, Gypsum

in gulf, seeking job immediately/on

visit/ Contact - 93364846 /

mgrprofessional@hotmail.com

Indian Male 34 years Mechanical

Engineer 3 years of Experience seek-

ing suitable placement immediately

Contact: 91991435, 93310821

Civil Engineer, Diploma, Male 25, 3

years experience in site, CAD, 3d, MS

Project, Seeking job in Oman.

Contact 92875345,

jubincivileng@gmail.com

Indian female B.ED & BCA looking

for a suitable placement in school

or admin office, having 5 yrs exp in

same field. Contact – 97384206 /

rani_sweet786@live.com

Electronics and instrumentation

Engineer 28 year Indian male, elec-

trical, electronic, industrial, building

& automation exp of 4+ yrs in India.

Contact - 93154156

CCNP Network Professional with 6 years experience having

Bachelors degree on visit visa look-

ing for suitable job.

Contact: 96760618 email:

varghese.manthara@gmail.com

Indian female, B.Com. knowledge of

MS Office & Tally, 4yrs experience in

Accounts &admin dept. looking for

good placement in any field.

Contact.98928220

Indian female with MBA (Finance)

on visit visa, seeks immediate place-

ment. Phone: 968-98430089

Indian female, IATA, Bsc, Looking

for suitable placement.

Contact-95514305, email id-

raveendranmala@gmail.com

Sudanese male, 31 year old, have 3

year Diploma in electrical engineer,

5 year experience in different activi-

ties. Contact; +96894549609

CCNP Network Professional with 6

years experience having Bachelors

degree on visit visa looking for suit-

able job. Contact: 96 76 06 18

Indian male, total experience is 5

years in Retail industry. Currently su-

pervisor in Sun and sand sports Mus-

cat City centre. Contact : 96994345.

Email : jsp.jsr85@gmail.com

Indian male, post graduate,

currently in Oman on visit visa.

Seeks suitable placement.

Contact 92388346

Indian male 60 years old have 30

years Muscat experience in all office

works with Omani driving license.

Contact: 99024055

Male, 30 years Accountant, 1 year

Oman experience in accountants,

finance. Seeking suitable position in

Muscat .Can join immediately, NOC

available. Email: lalitbls1@gmail.com

Call: 97903175

More than Ten years of experience

in Sales & Marketing, Advertisement

and Credit Control and Logistics&

Administration.

Contact 91076608 / 99322748

Piping Design Engineer, Indian

male 27, looking for suitable place-

ment in Piping Design & Engineer-

ing. Having 7 years of experience in

AutoCAD. Also familiar with PDMS

(11.6 Version),CAESAR ll. Contact :

97351786 / 96143708, E-mail :

mohammednazeer07@gmail.com

Key Account Executive , currently working with a reputed

FMCG company Oman is looking for

a placement asap, NOC available,

valid Omani driving license.

Total experience in Oman is 12yrs

and particularly in Sales is 8 1/2

years. Contact 95589765

Email : agnelfrancis@yahoo.co.in

Senior IT Professional, Indian Male,

more than 17 yrs. of experience in

software development(PB, Oracle,

SAP ABAP) and IT Support with

valid Oman DL and NOC available

Contact : 92193867,

Email : cp.prasad@gmail.com

Indian female MBA Finance cur-

rently on visit visa. Seeks immediate

placement. Phone: 968-98430089

23,Male, ACCA with 2.5 years ex-

perience in Big6 audit firm and Oil/

Gas,looking for permanent place-

ment in Accounts/Audit. Contact

#95140445 a.saran891@gmail.com

Indian female MBA Finance

currently on visit visa, seeks imme-

diate placement. Phone- 98430089

Female British Beauty Therapist looking for suitable situation.

Contact 97175240

Civil supervisor-8 year’s experi-

ence in commercial and residential

building, including portable cabin,

natural and artificial play ground’s,

and Oxy petroleum field, at sultan-

ate of Oman. GSM :91249005. Mail

:sandeep88joseph@gmail.com

Indian Male 28yr age having 6year

gulf+ Indian experience in HR field.

Looking for suitable placement. Con-

tact: 97914340,

Email: rajkv3086@gmail.com

Indian male 27, looking for suitable

placement in Piping Design & Engi-

neering. Having 7 years of experi-

ence in AutoCAD. Also familiar with

PDMS (11.6 Version),CAESAR ll. Con-

tact : 97351786 / 96143708, E-mail :

mohammednazeer07@gmail.com

ACCA affiliate & Bsc (Oxford Brookes

University), 2.5 years experience in

oilfield & audit/finance in Big6 firm,

seeking permanent placement. Re-

lease available. Contact 95140445,

a.saran891@gmail.com

Indian Male 34 years Mechanical

Engineer 3 years of Experience seek-

ing suitable placement immediately

contact: 91991435, 93310821

Indian male 21 Diploma in Mechani-

cal Eng with HVAC certified having 6

yrsexp and seeking job in HVAC field

as a supervisor. Currently on visit

visa. Contact 92835952/ 92734863

Sudanese / 29 years old / Bsc

English language and Translation / 3

years experience in Oman teaching

& translation / have driving license.

Contact 94211377.

Email: hosam.karar.1@gmail.com

Indian female B.Com graduate,

4years experience in accounts & ad-

ministration department looking for

suitable placement. #98928220

Indian female, B.Com. Knowledge

of MS Office &Tally, 4yrs experience

in accounting & admin dept. looking

for good placement in any field.

Contact.98928220

Indian Male 27, Piping Design

Engineer looking for suitable place-

ment in Piping Design & Engineer-

ing. Also familiar with PDMS (11.6

Version),CAESAR ll, AutoCAD. Con-

tact : 97351786 / 96143708, E-mail :

mohammednazeer07@gmail.com

DRIVING

Learn driving with professional

only automatic. Contact 94022250

DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, M AY 3 1 , 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

TOURS

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation available. Contact:

99867456

Transportation. Contact

99077348

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

Transportation. Contact

99508282

Transportation. Contact: 91310107

Driver with vehicle. Contact

99159277

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 S U N D AY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

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.comDAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s

publication. * Subject to space availability

Software development based on

requirements such as: Web devel-

opment & cloud computing, SAP

implementation & services. Android

App development networking.

Contact 97423932

BUSINESS

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

Specialist available for explosive

growth in term of restructuring

all modules of businesses with

over 30 years of experience across

continents with a decade in Oman.

Contact 96733578

Email : profitoman@gmail.com

Maintenance / House shift. Ng

works / Labour supply on daily ba-

sis. Contact: 95696001 / 97439768

A/C maintenance & servicing.

Fridge, washing machine & dish

washer repairing. Painting & clean-

ing services & electrical & plumb-

ing. Contact 99447257/97014234/

24504281

We do building maintenance all

kind of works. Contact 99247663

Carpet & sofa cleaning, house clean-

ing. Contact 99542979 / 98855815

P.R.O services. Contact 99368907

House shifting packing. Contact 99657644/ 98518013

Carpet & sofa shampooing. Ocean

Centre LLC. Contact 99884591 /

92682970

Split & window A.C servicing &

maintenance. Contact 93769089 /

95323517

A/C maintenance split A/C servic-

ing. RO. 10 only. Contact 94217681/

99210141

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance.

Contact ABU QABAS- 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

WEBSITE

WEB, ERP and Business Intelli-

gence (BI) creation and man-

agement at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

CLASSES

COMPUTER

ACCOUNTANTS AND CONSULTANTSWE ARE PROVIDING

ACCOUNTING/ AUDITINGTAX/ CONSULTING

CONTACT: 24 567 251 / 95 498 033

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet

& sofa shampooing, Contact

99314807/24792998

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of

your marble. Contact 24793614/

99314807

Window & split unit A.C servicing

& repairing. Contact 99557080

Split & window A.C servicing &

maintenance. Contact: 96236476

Split & window A.C servic-

ing & maintenance. Contact

93769089/95323517

Air condition maintenance split

and window services AC specialist

ducted and package type unites.

Contact: 98667326

Water proofing ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

House shifting. Contact 99708138

Pest Control Treatments, Termites,

Cockroaches, Bedbugs. Contact Ocean

Centre LLC. Contact 99344723

MATRIMONIAL

KERALA NAIR BOY working in

Muscat, age 31 ,Height 165cm.

Seeking alliance from Nair /

Nambiar girls, especially from north

Malabar area. Manager visa with

family status GSM: 96344388

Alliance invited for a Hindu, Ezhava

male 28, 5”8” working as a machin-

ist in a well established company in

Oman. Contact: 98323862

We are Muslim family seeking

alliance for our son interested

families. Contact 97664009

Kerala Nair girl, B.Com, 22 yrs, 5.2”

very fair, slim, (Star Uthrattathi)

Presently working in infosis, Chen-

nai. Financially sound, from parents

of nair boys from Trissur, Palakkad

and Eranakulam & Calicut dist. .

Contact :0091 8301865688

email: raveendrandr@yahoo.com

Alliance invited for a Nair girl 24 yrs, 5ft, 1”, fair, slim, B.Tech

graduate reputed family of

Ernakulam dist. (Star Thiruvonam

Sudhajathakam) financially

sound, from parents of B.Tech

nair boys from Trissur, Palakkad

and Eranakulam dist. . Contact

:00919495924302

email: raveendrandr@yahoo.com

NRI

Ready / under construction apart-

ments / villas / row houses / shops,

available for sale in North / South

Goa (India). tel # 95867021 E- mail -

tonynoronha@rocketmail.com

Residential plot 47 cents, also as

10-15 cents plots at Manjapra 15kms

from Nedumbassery Airport with

calm and beautiful surroundings.

Price IRS.180,000/cent.

Contact 9193 6563

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

GOOD NEWS

Ayurvedic massage backache, joint

pain & neck pain etc.

Contact: 98254909

Ayurvedic treatment for backache,

paralysis, arthritis etc & massage,

All Season (Vaidyaratnam).

Contact 24475280 / 95371554 /

92504980 www.siddhayur.com

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

Taimour Ayurvedic Clinic, Ruwi

offers genuine & effective treatment

for back pain, paralysis, cervical and

lumbar spondylitis, osteoarthritis,

joint pains, sinusitis, migraine, aller-

gic problems, varicose vein and all

other health related problems. Kerala

massage and rejuvenation package

available. For details please

Contact 92197920/ 24799689

AVAILABLE

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirt-

ing, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery,

Crockery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes,

Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound Sys-

tems and spectacular lighting. Call

Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering and

Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound & Light.

www.tunesoman.com,

E-mail: info@tunesoman.com