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WEDNESDAY, November 4, 2015 / 21 Muharram 1437 AH timesofoman.com wtimesofoman.com facebook.com/timesofoman twitter.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company

We have much indeed to be thankful for. But while it is right that we should draw confidence and strength from our achievements, it is to the future that we must turn our eyes and harden our resolve. We must not for one moment relax that effort or allow ourselves to think that our task is done

On the occasion of the 10th National Day

FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTYTHE SULTAN

‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’

A4Bus facility for Stereophonics concert goers announced

OMAN Oman Civil Order

1 His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said yesterday conferred Oman Civil Order (Third

Class) on a number of Their Excellencies . >A6

OMANAid flights to Yemen

2 In response to the Royal Orders of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said,

Oman Charitable Organisation sent relief flights for the residents of Socotra island in Yemen. >A3

BUSINESSPlan for $300m bond

3National Bank of Oman (NBO) plans to mobilise up to $300 million

additional (tier one) capital by way of a bond sale in overseas markets. >B1

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

HASAN SHABAN AL LAWATIhasan@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Two families are suf-fering today; one prays for the recovery of a woman fighting for her life, another is grieving for the death of their loved one in the road smash which unites both victims.

It is an all too familiar story. Oman is, sadly, no stranger to road tragedy, but it is one which has sparked a debate, and a warn-ing from police, after CCTV foot-age of the moment of collision was uploaded to social media and

shared widely online. The video footage was leaked from cameras of a fuel station capturing the in-tensity of the accident. However, shortly after it surfaced on a num-ber of social media groups, it drew fire for being too graphic.

Graphic contentSome commentators said it should not have been posted at all. Oth-ers said there should have been a warning of graphic content. How-ever, other voices pointed to the graphic images seen everyday on the media, whether it be plane crashes, the Syrian civil war, or the refugee toddler who drowned be-ing carried from the waters.

Speaking to the Times of Oman, a Royal Oman Police (ROP) official reminded the public that it had re-cently urged people through Twit-ter to not share any media on road accidents as it might cause grief for the victim’s family or lead to unwarranted rumours.

An ROP source explained that uploading such videos is a punish-able crime and that action can be taken if the victim’s family com-plains. “Action can only be taken

by the public prosecution,” he said, adding, “this is a punishable crime; the person who recorded the video can be punished for his individual act in case the victim’s family decides to complain to the public prosecutor”.

The ROP source also said the punishment would depend on the level of harm caused by shar-ing such content.

In this case, Times of Oman has decided to publish only a screen shot of the moments leading up to the crash, and has not carried the video on any of its platforms out of respect for the families.

Talking about the accident, an ROP official said an Omani woman, who was driving from the Darsait traffic light towards the Muttrah port, lost control of her vehicle in Al Zahiya area near a petrol station, hitting into a flag pole, and then veering off the road and crashing into a car coming from the opposite direction.

The Omani man who was driv-ing the other car was killed on the spot, and the woman is battling for her life at the hospital, the ROP official said. >A4

HM receives thanks cable

Sacking of Omanis discussed

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has received a cable of thanks from His High-ness Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, in reply to His Majesty’s con-dolences cable on the death of

Sheikha Najat Ibrahim Humoud Al Jarrah Al Sabah. In his ca-ble, Sheikh Sabah expressed his thanks for His Majesty’s condo-lences and sympathy, praying to Allah the Almighty to protect His Majesty against all harms. — ONA

MUSCAT: Companies operat-ing in all sectors in the Sultanate “should not dismiss Omani work-ers on the pretext of financial and economic conditions without re-ferring to the concerned depart-

ments in the government”. This was stated by the Council

of Ministers, in a statement is-sued on Tuesday. The Council of Ministers held a session to dis-cuss the issue. >A4

K U W A I T

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

‘New Muscat Airport to open early to mid-2017’

Expat businessman thanks ROP for arresting thieves

TARIQ AL HAREMItaqriqh@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: “We are opening hope-fully Muscat (airport) by quarter one or quarter two maximum (of ) 2017,” said Sheikh Aiman Al Hos-ni, CEO of Oman Airports Man-agement Company (OAMC).

Al Hosni was speaking at a global conference for airport service managers that began in Muscat on Monday.

He also revealed that the gov-ernment had decided to build five new airports five years ago, and construction contracts for the Duqm and Sohar airports had already been awarded.

“Contractors have started

work in Duqm already and we will start in Sohar shortly. Then we have Ras Al Hadd to com-plete,” he added.

Al Hosni also pointed out that the Salalah airport had been op-erational since June this year, and the official opening would be held on November 11.

He said discussions are on with the government to keep the present airport as terminal two for low-cost airlines. “We are still discussing that part,” he said.

Al Hosni also revealed plans to expand the airport in five decades to increase passenger capacity, for which the first stage is under way, in which 12 million passen-gers are expected every year.

TIMES NEWS SERVICE

MUSCAT: An expatriate, who lost OMR14,700 in a car theft incident, has thanked the Royal Oman Police (ROP) for their ef-forts in arresting the thieves.

“I sincerely thank ROP for their commendable job in arrest-ing the criminals from far away countries,” said Mohammed Ka-bir Ahmed, managing director of United Dreams, whose money was stolen after the criminals smashed the window of the car. This is a story that must be shared in the Times of Oman’s #Oman Pride campaign, he said.

The incident took place when Ahmed parked his vehicle in front of a bank in the CBD area of Ruwi and had gone to another

bank to withdraw money. “After withdrawing OMR14,700 from one bank, I kept the money in the boot of the car. I then realised that I needed more money, so I went to another bank on foot to withdraw some more money,” Ahmed, who has been in construction, trading, earth works, hotel and restaurant businesses in Oman for the last three decades, recalled.

After 20 minutes, when he re-turned to his car after withdraw-ing OMR1,000, he discovered that someone had broken open the rear glass, opened the boot of the car, and stolen an envelope con-taining cash.

Good news“I was in Spain when I got the good news. After coming back, I got in touch with ROP and they told us that with help of the Inter-pol, they had arrested the three-member gang, which was behind the theft,” Ahmed said.

According to him, the theft was committed by three men, who had come to Oman on a tourist visa.

“The ROP has managed to ar-rest them from another country,” he said. >A4

A M B I T I O U S P L A N S

T H E F T F R O M C A R

Police issue warning over crash videos

Posting accident

videos or photos

online might cause

grief to the victim’s

family, says ROP

#OMANPRIDE

THE HOME OFGOOD NEWS

SCENE OF THE ACCIDENT: A screen shot of the moments leading up to the crash.

A2 W E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

OMANHis Majesty receives thanksMUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has received a cable of thanks from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the Re-public of Turkey, in reply to His Majesty’s cable of condolences for the victims of the twin explo-sions that took place outside the main train station in the Turkish capital, Ankara.

In his cable, President Erdogan expressed thanks for His Majesty the Sultan’s sincere condolences and sympathy to him, families of the victims and the people of Turkey. On behalf of his people and himself, he wished His Maj-esty good health and happiness and the Omani people progress and prosperity. -ONA

CABLE

HAITHAM OPENS NIZWA CENTREHis Highness Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Minis-

ter of Heritage and Culture, opened the Nizwa Cultural

Centre in the Wilayat of Nizwa on Tuesday, in the pres-

ence of ministers of culture of the Islamic world, and

the delegation taking part in the ninth session of the

Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers. -ONA

A3

OMANW E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

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Oman Charitable Organisation sends aid to cyclone-hit YemenMUSCAT: In response to the Royal Orders of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, Oman Charitable Organisation (OCO) sent relief flights for the residents of Socotra Island in Yemen, who were hit by Cyclone Chapala.

The relief flights were operated

by the Royal Air Force of Oman.

Stuff to meet human needsThe Royal Air Force of Oman flights, which started taking off on Tuesday morning, carried foodstuff and other materials to meet the basic needs of the resi-

dents of Socotra Island.The relief efforts come within

the framework of the humanitar-ian assistance provided by the Sultanate of Oman to friendly countries, to address emergency situations like the one caused by Cyclone Chapala. -ONA

O N R O Y A L O R D E R

HM’s biography in French language

MUSCAT: The French Embas-sy in Muscat, in collaboration with the website (Oman Qa-boos), presented the biography of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said in French, on Tuesday.

A ceremony to mark the event was held under the patronage of Roland Dubertrand, the French ambassador to the Sultanate.

HonouredThe ambassador said, “The em-bassy is honoured with great pleasure to gift the biography of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said in the French language, which is available through the website ‘Oman Qaboos’.”

On the sidelines of the cer-emony, the ambassador also launched the initiative, ‘Glo-rious November Around the World’ in French. -ONA

F R E N C H E M B A S S Y

A ceremony to mark the event was held under the patronage of Roland Dubertrand, French ambassador to Oman. -ONA

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OMAN

‘Posting crash videos a crime’

The accident took place at 2:00pm. Social media users have been encouraging people to donate blood at the Khoula Hospital as the victim is still in a serious condition.

Tawfiq Al Lawati, member of Majlis Al Shura, said this is not the first time an accident has taken place on this very road due to lack of safety.

“This concern was discussed three years ago and we ad-dressed Muscat Municipality to build a barrier on the pavement between the roads in order to ensure safety of motorists. But nothing was done in this re-gard,” said Al Lawati.

He said that sharing this kind of content across social media is a crime as it can be insensitive and harmful to the victim’s fam-ily and relatives.

Instead the footage should

only be used by police to iden-tify the reasons behind the ac-cident.

Mark Pudwell, business de-velopment and training manag-er at Competence HR, said “The first question that people need to ask themselves is a moral one: Should I be taking photographs

(or videos) of people in extreme distress and then make them public?”

Reiterating that it was inher-ently wrong for anyone to do so, Pudwell said, “It is both dis-tressing for those injured and for the families of those that have died under such awful cir-cumstances.”

“Everyone is acutely aware that sensationalism can reap fi-nancial rewards, but should that be at the expense of someone else’s dignity and the right to privacy?” he asked.

Qatar’s Cabinet had recently approved a draft law to punish those sharing accident photos or residents or citizens, who post gruesome videos of car ac-cident victims online.

As per the draft law, such per-sons could be penalised under Qatar’s privacy laws.

C O N C E R N

Suspects arrested

All three suspects aged above 50 were arrested and extradited to Muscat. “The trio has been re-ferred to Public Prosecution for further investigation and the next date for hearing in the case is No-vember 3,” Ahmed added.

He also said that the criminals might have tailed him after he withdrew the money from the first bank, adding that this was the sec-ond such incident to have taken place within a span of 20 days.

On May 14, one of his employees, along with a hired driver, had with-drawn OMR6,500 from a bank in Al Ghubra for payment of salaries to labourers. He had stopped at a coffee shop in Al Amerat for break-fast. “At that time, the driver saw an opportunity and fled with the money, along with the car keys,” Ahmed said.

“I will never keep cash in the car again,” the businessman added.

O M A N P R I D E

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He added that he felt sharing this kind

of content across social media

is a crime

Organisers announce bus facility for Stereophonics concert goers

Times News Service

MUSCAT: A “hop on the bus” fa-cility from a variety of locations across Muscat has been arranged for Stereophonics concert goers, organisers announced.

The concert is scheduled for November 12 at the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa’s

Amphitheatre. “We at Alive Entertainment

are always looking to go that one step further and make our events something to remember. With our unique location and amazing set-ting, nobody in the Middle East has what we have; we are all VIPs in our own back garden. So hop on our unique Alive buses to get to and

from the concert venue in comfort and enjoy some amazing music from the Stereophonics who after 20 years are still one of the biggest rock bands in the world,” Gordon Mackenzie, Managing Director, Alive Entertainment, said.

Designated departure points are The Wave Muscat Entrance, Muscat Hills Entrance, Mitsubi-shi Showroom in Azaiba, Left Bank Qurum parking area, and the Mackenzie’s Café at Madinat Qaboos.

Bus tickets costing (return fare) OMR5 can be purchased at the Mackenzie’s Café & Deli in Ma-dinat Qaboos. Buses will depart each location at 6:00pm and aim to arrive at the venue by 7:00pm

It’s now only eight days to go until the gig and the Times of Oman, with organisers Alive Entertainment, is again giving away two fan pit tickets (worth OMR50 each) on each day in the countdown to the performance. To win, simply like Alive Enter-tainment Oman’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/aliveoman), then come to our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/timesofo-man) and like it (if you haven’t already) and type “I want to see the Stereophonics”.

Of course, if you don’t want to leave it to chance, tickets are still on sale at the Mackenzie’s Café & Deli for what promises to be a sell-out show.

The concert will be held on November 12 at

the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa’s

Amphitheatre

Airport

Designated bus departurepoints for concert goers.5 buses will depart at 6:00pm,one bus from each point

The WaveMuscat

entrance

MuscatHills

entrance

Mackenzie’sCafé at

MadinatQaboos

Mitsubishishowroomin Azaiba

Left Bank Qurumparking area

Shangri La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa

Amphitheatre

10 km

STEREOPHONICS’ HOP ON THE BUSBus route and departing points

GraphicsSource: Alive Entertainment

Ministerial panel

to study issue

In a statement, the Council of Ministers reaffirmed to compa-nies operating in all sectors that they “should not take such steps without referring to the depart-ments concerned in the govern-ment to find the best possible means that enable them to keep their national manpower”.

In this context, His Highness Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers, said that the government, acting in line with Royal Directives of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, is working diligently “to safe-

guard the stability of the youth of this country who are working in different sectors. It is a fixed policy that cannot be ignored”.

Preserving rightsSayyid Fahd said, “the govern-ment, in turn, is working to pre-serve the rights of others in a manner that will not affect those fixed principles”.

Sayyid Fahd added that, due to the importance of this issue, the Council of Ministers has formed a ministerial committee to assess the matter and study its dimen-sions.

S A C K I N G O F O M A N I S

Empty Quarter Desert

expedition to begin

on December 10

National Hospitality

Institute students

hold talent show

LONDON: With the blessings of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said , the inauguration of “Cross-ing the Empty Quarter Desert“ expedition by British Mark Ev-ans, accompanied by Mohammed Al Zadjali and A’mir Al Wahaibi, was announced at the headquar-ters of the Omani-British Society in London.

The expedition will begin from Salalah in the Governorate of Dhofar to Qatari capital Doha, for a distance of up to 1,300 kilom-eters, and will take two months.

The historical expedition will begin under the auspices of His Highness Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Minister of Her-itage and Culture, and Prince Charles of Britain, within the framework of celebration of the

Sultanate’s 45th Glorious Na-tional Day, and the 85th anniver-sary of the first recorded crossing in the history of the Empty Quar-ter Desert in 1930 by the British explorer Bertram Thomas. The expedition aims to revive the spirit of traditional friendship between Oman and Britain.

A seminar was also held on the history of the expedition, its track and goals. At the beginning of his speech, Mark Evans thanked the Royal Cavalry for its contribution in the selection of six camels that have the ability to travel such ar-duous expedition, which begins from Salalah on December 10. He said the choice of camels was not an easy process and their prepa-ration for the expedition requires special attention. — ONA

Times News Service

MUSCAT: A fashion show, com-petitions and sporting events were the highlight of the fun-filled day organised by a group of hospitality management diploma students at the National Hospi-tality Institute (NHI).

The student committee had or-ganised a talent show, NHI’s “Got Talent 2015”, where several stu-dents signed up to showcase their talent in singing and dancing, painting and in fashion designing.

Students also organised a sporting event, which included a tug of war and a dodge ball com-petition. The event was spon-sored by Competence HR.

The talent show was judged by three external judges: Tonia Gray, general manager, Competence

HR, Geeta Narender Chauhan, assistant vice principal, Senior Section, Indian School Muscat and Ahmed Al Raisi, operations manager, City Season Hotel.

“All the students performed with poise and confidence in front of their teachers and other students entertained everyone present. The event was efficiently organised by the Student Com-mittee, and was received well by all as there was much applause for everyone involved”, Compe-tence HR’s Gray told the Times of Oman.

“I really appreciate the energy and enthusiasm shown by each and every participant and the organisers to make this event a grand success. I had a wonderful time judging the event”, Chau-han said.

E V E N T

E V E N T

Italian honour for best cadet of Sultan Qaboos Naval AcademyMOBIN MATHEW BLESSONmobinmathew@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Sub Lieutenant Ahmed bin Ali Al Mazrouie, a most distin-guished cadet of the Sultan Qaboos Naval Academy, was awarded with the Italian honour of “naval dag-ger” by Italian Defence Attache, Captain Stefano Crementieri.

“The award was bestowed as a symbolic sign of friendship be-tween Italy and the Sultanate of Oman,” said Captain Crementieri while addressing a gathering on the occasion of the Italian Armed Forces Day.

“Every year, in the Naval Acad-emy of Livorno, Italy, the most dis-tinguished cadet is prized with this symbolic dagger,” the Captain added.

Speaking about the award, he said, “This event does not only mean to encourage our younger generation for doing their best to serve their homeland and work for peace, but it also represents an occasion to strengthen the tra-ditional friendship between the Royal Navy of Oman and the Ital-ian Navy and, more in general, be-tween our armed forces, between our countries.”

Captain Crementieri thanked

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and the Omani mili-tary authorities for their friendship and the affection shown towards

the Italian armed forces.Speaking about the friendship

between Oman and Italy, the Cap-tain said, “The level of cooperation reached between our respective

armed forces are an evidence of the existing strong and friendly ties between the Sultanate of Oman and Italy. The outstanding support provided in all circumstances has always been very much appreci-ated.”

He also expressed his grateful-ness to Oman for welcoming Ital-ian ships during their call at the Omani ports of Muscat, Salalah and Duqm.

According to the Captain, the Italian Armed Forces Day also marks the annual appointment of the Italian military personnel with the Italian community.

He also shared his strong feel-ings of gratitude towards the thou-sands of women and men involved in Italian defence activities in many parts of the world, who oper-ate for peace, freedom or humani-tarian assistance.

The Captain said they work with determination, dedication and high motivation to restore hope to the many suffering people and who are in search of a more digni-fied life.

“They operate to provide free-dom, security, progress, quality of life and serenity that we should never take for granted,” he said.

H O N O U R

RECOGNITION: The award was bestowed as a symbolic sign of

friendship between Italy and the Sultanate of Oman. – AR Rajkumar

The award was bestowed as a symbolic sign of

friendship between Italy and the Sultanate of Oman

Captain Stefano Crementieri, Italian Defence Attache

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OMANW E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

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Premium customers key to Oman Air’s growth plan

TARIQ AL HAREMI tariqh@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Oman Air is planning to target premium customers as part of its growth plan for 2016.

By restructuring the newest air-

craft in its fleet, the Boeing 787-800 (B787-8) Dreamliner, Oman Air is looking to increase profitability by bumping the number of business-class seats from the standard 18 seats to 30 seats, as well as raising the load factor in the economy class to fill more seats.

“If you are looking for a higher percentage of premium passen-gers, then it is objective number one,” said Paul Gregorowitsch, Oman Air’s chief executive officer (CEO).

“At the end of the day, if you want to make your money, you have to use what you got. If we can in-crease the load factor of economy to 80 per cent, we will be nicely populated,” he explained.

Oman Air’s CEO made this statement during Oman Air’s glob-al conference for airport services managers, where more than 50 airport managers from around the world participated, brainstormed

and networked with their peers, at a workshop.

Awards will be given out dur-ing the second day, while the third day will involve Oman Air chalk-ing out targets, plans and meas-ures for the foreseeable future.

CEO Gregorowitsch highlighted

the five challenges that the nation-al airline will be facing in 2016, namely economic, tough financial targets, growing network, the 2016 summer schedule, as well as deliv-ering on its promises.

The economy seems to be the foremost problem for Oman Air,

with the airline being more fo-cused on becoming less dependent on government support and creat-ing new partners to fully make it a joint stock company.

“The economic challenge in Oman will force us to grow and stand on our own feet and have trust and confidence in our profes-sionalism,” said Gregorowitsch.

When asked whether Oman Air would enter into a business alli-ance, Gregorowitsch said the air-line would never consider that, but rather enter joint ventures with joint costs and a joint income.

He said, “I think the time for alli-ances is over”.

Joining an alliance would mean that Oman Air would have to lose its independence, spend millions of dollars to adhere to the alli-ance’s standards and compromise to harmonise their procedures and conform to changes within the alliance.

If you are looking for

a higher percentage

of premium

passengers, then it is

objective number one,

said Oman Air CEO

Paul GregorowitschAIMING HIGH: Being more focused on becoming less dependent on government support is a priority for Oman Air. – Jun Estrada

Oman Air to raise flight frequency to DhakaStaff Reporter MUSCAT: The frequency of Oman Air flights to Dhaka from Muscat will be increased from December 1, a statement from the airline said.

At present, Oman Air oper-ates flights to Dhaka on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

“From December 1 onwards, there will be flights leaving on Mondays and Wednesdays as well,” the statement said.

Cake-cuttingThe new flight route to Dhaka from Muscat was started on October 25.

An inaugural flight cake-cut-ting ceremony was held at the Muscat Airport on Tuesday.

Hamed Khamis Al Amri, un-dersecretary at the Manpower Ministry, was the chief guest at the ceremony.

S T A T E M E N T

Oman Air gets new aircraft on long-term lease

MUSCAT: Oman Air has received its the fifth and fi-nal B737-900ER from Oman Brunei Asset Management (OBAM), on a long-term lease agreement.

OBAM, previously known as Oman Brunei Aviation Leas-ing Company, earlier in the day completed the purchase of a new Boeing B737-900ER air-craft (MSN 40071) that was im-mediately placed on long-term lease to Oman Air.

Previously orderedThe aircraft was previously or-dered by the airline and is the fifth and final B737-900ER de-livery by OBAM since Novem-ber 2014.

Simon McLean, OBAM’s CEO, said, “once again, we have provided Oman Air with a com-petitive leasing solution and I am pleased to expand our rela-tionship with Oman’s national airline”.

D E L I V E R Y

A6

OMANW E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

Citizens planning to travel to India or other

destinations for medical treatment should apply

only for a medical visa and not a tourist visa

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

His Majesty the Sultan confers Oman Civil Order on officials

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qa-boos bin Said yesterday conferred Oman Civil Order (Third Class) on a number of Their Excellencies on the occasion of the Sultanate’s cel-ebrations of the Glorious 45th Na-tional Day, in appreciation of their role in performing their national duty.

Oman Civil Order (Third Class), granted by His Majesty the Sultan, was presented by Sayyid Khalid bin Hilal Al Busaidi, Minister of the Diwan of Royal Court, at his office yesterday. It was received by Their Excellencies:

Mohsin bin Khamis Al Balushi, Adviser at the Ministry of Com-merce and Industry; Khalfan bin Saleh Al Na’ebi, Adviser at the Ministry of Sports Affairs; Sheikh Said bin Mohammed Al Braiki, Adviser at the Ministry of Inte-rior; Hussain bin Ali Al Hilali, At-torney General; Eng. Ahmed bin Ali Al Ma’amari, Technical Affairs Adviser at the Office of Minister of State and Governor of Dhofar;

Abdullah bin Aqeel bin Ahmed Ibrahim, Adviser at the Office of the Minister of State and Gover-nor of Dhofar; Majid bin Abdullah Al Alawi, Chairman of the Admin-istrative Court; Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Futaisi, Adviser at the Sultan Qaboos University; Mohammed Jawad bin Hassan bin Sulaiman, Adviser at the Ministry of Finance; Sheikh Abdulkhaliq bin Amer Al Rowas, Adviser at the Office of the Minister of State and Governor of Dhofar; Hussain bin Ali bin Abdullatif, Adviser at the Diwan of Royal Court; Saif bin Nasser Al Rahbi, Adviser at Oman Establishment for Press, Publica-tion and Advertising; Khalifa bin Salim Al Badi, Adviser at the Of-fice of His Majesty the Sultan’s Representative; Sheikh Mahmood bin Zaher Al Hinai, Adviser at the Ministry of Heritage and Cul-ture for Technical Affairs; Sheikh

Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Falahi, Ad-viser at the Ministry of Education; Saif bin Ahmed Al Sawafi, Adviser at the Office of His Majesty the Sultan’s Representative; Dr. Said bin Khamis Al Ka’abi, Chairman of the Public Authority for Consumer Protection; Hamoud bin Moham-med Al Mahrouqi, Head of Royal Installations at the Royal Court Affairs; Dr. Ali bin Talib Al Hinai, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Health for Planning Affairs; Dr. Darwish bin Saif Al Moharbi, Un-der-Secretary of the Ministry of Health for Administrative and Fi-nancial Affairs; Sayyid Khalifa bin Al Murdas Al Busaidi, Governor of Musandam; Sayyid Hilal bin Mus-allam Al Busaidi, Adviser at the Office of Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries; Abdullah bin Salim Al Mukheini, Secretary of the Real Estate Register at the Ministry of Housing; Dr. Hamad bin Salim Al

Rawahi, Chief Executive Officer of the Telecommunications Regu-latory Authority; Sayyid Moham-med bin Ahmed Al Busaidi, Local Affairs Adviser at the Ministry of Interior; Maithaa bint Saif Al Mahrouqiyah, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism; Nasser bin Sulaiman Al Sibyani, Deputy Chairman of the Public Authority for Radio and Television; Sheikh Ali bin Nasser Al Mahrouqi, Sec-retary General of Majlis Al Shura, Abdullah bin Khalfan Al Balushi, Head of the Special Office of Dep-uty Prime Minister for the Coun-cil of Ministers, Sayyid Ibrahim bin Said Al Busaidi, Governor of Al Buraimi; Dr. Sheikh Khalif bin Hamad Al Sa’adi, Governor of Al Dakhiliyah; Sheikh Muhanna bin Saif Al Lamki, Governor of North Al Batinah; Sheikh Hilal bin Said Al Hajri, Governor of South Al Bati-nah; Sheikh Abdullah bin Musta-

hail bin Salim Shamas, Governor of South Al Sharqiyah; Sheikh Saif bin Hemyar Al Shihi, Governor of Al Dhahirah; Sheikh Ma’adhad bin Mohammed Al Yaqubi, Gov-ernor of Al Wusta; Ali bin Khalfan Al Jabri, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Information; Issa bin Hamad Al Azri, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Justice; Sayyid Sulaiman bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Ministers; Dr. Essam bin Ali Al Rowas, Deputy to the Chairperson of the Public Authori-ty for Craft Industries; Dr. Hamoud bin Khalfan Al Harthy, Under-Sec-retary of the Ministry of Educa-tion for Education and Curricula; Abdullah bin Salim Al Salmi, Chief Executive Officer of the Capital Market Authority; Khalid bin Hi-lal Al Busaidi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Interior; Saif bin Amer Al Shaqsi, Under-Sec-

retary of the Ministry of Housing; Dr. Ibrahim bin Ahmed Al Kindi, Chief Executive Officer of Oman Establishment for Press, Publi-cation and Advertising; Sheikh Said bin Hilal Al Khalili, Head of Planning and Human Resources Affairs at the Royal Court Affairs; Abbas bin Abdullah Al Bahrani, Head of Financial Affairs at the Royal Court Affairs; Eng. Salim bin Nasser Al Oufi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Oil and Gas; Dr. Ali bin Qasim Al Lawati, Studies and Research Adviser at Diwan of Royal Court; Dr. Khalid bin Mo-hammed Al Azri, Adviser at the Ministry of Higher Education; Abdussalam bin Mohammed Al Marshedi, Chief Executive Officer of State’s General Reserve Fund; Sayyid Dr. Sultan bin Ya’arub Al Busaidi, Health Affairs Adviser at the Ministry of Health; Talal bin Sulaiman Al Rahbi, Deputy Sec-retary General of the Supreme Council for Planning, Najeeb bin Ali Al Rowas, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs; Dr. Ahmed bin Nasser Al Bakri, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries; Sheikh Ahmed bin Mo-hammed Al Nadabi, Under-Secre-tary of the Ministry of Civil Ser-vice for Civil Service Affairs; Dr. Khalifa bin Abdullah Al Barwani, Chief Executive Officer of the Na-tional Centre for Statistics and Information; Dr. Mohammed bin Nasser Al Za’abi, Chief Executive Officer of the Public Authority for Civil Aviation; Dr. Said bin Hamad Al Rabee’i, Secretary General of the Education Council, Hilal bin Mohammed Al Busaidi, Chief Ex-ecutive Officer of the Public Au-thority of Mining; Sayyid Faisal bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, Adviser at the Ministry of Heritage and Cul-ture; Hassan bin Mohammed Al Lawati, Adviser of the Minister of Heritage and Culture for Heritage Affairs; Dr. Hilal bin Ali Al Sabti, Chief Executive Officer of Oman Medical Specialty Board. - ONA

Oman Civil Order

(Third Class), granted

by His Majesty, was

presented by Sayyid

Khalid bin Hilal Al

Busaidi, Minister of

the Diwan of Royal

Court, at his office

yesterday

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

ROYAL HONOUR: Oman Civil Order (Third Class) was conferred on a number of Their Excellencies on the occasion of the Sultanate’s cel-

ebrations of the Glorious 45th National Day. – ONA

WHALE BEACHEDA 20-metre ‘Ambar’

whale drifted ashore at

Fushi Beach on Tues-

day, after getting caught

in a fishing net. Said bin

Masoud Al Amri, direc-

tor of Fisheries Depart-

ment in Sadah, said

the Fisheries Research

Center in Raysut would

deal with the issue and

the concerned authori-

ties will remove it. -ONA

Omanis urged to be cautious while applying for visas

Times News Service

MUSCAT: In a post on its offi-cial Twitter account, the Minis-try of Foreign Affairs has urged Omani citizens to apply for the appropriate visas while travel-ling abroad.

The post was issued following a case of some Omanis getting stuck at the Chennai airport in India last Monday, after having gone there for medical treat-ment on a tourist visa.

The Ministry made it clear yesterday that citizens planning to travel to India or other desti-nations for medical treatment should apply only for a medical visa and not a tourist visa. “This is to avoid being stuck at the airport for long hours and not being allowed to enter their des-tination,” the Ministry tweeted.

It also explained that the In-dian authorities had prevented a group of citizens from enter-ing India last Monday as the citizens had obtained tourist visa, while they were travelling for medical treatment.

“The Sultanate’s Embassy in India made huge efforts to help the stranded citizens and to fa-cilitate their entry into India,” the Ministry tweeted.

A reliable source at the Minis-try explained yesterday, in a lo-cal radio interview, that a medi-cal visa requires therapeutic medical reports and it is more expensive than the tourist visa. Thus, such an action violates other laws of other countries.

The source said there are some visa-related cases, which were solved, and there are oth-ers that are still pending.

F O R E I G N M I N I S T R Y

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REGIONW E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

Residents said the seafront promenade and many homes had been destroyed by the cyclone, called Chapala, and officials in the dry hinterland province of Shabwa said about 6,000 people had moved to higher ground

Fierce cyclone batters Yemen

CAIRO: A cyclone with hurri-cane-force winds made landfall on Yemen’s Arabian Sea coast on Tuesday, flooding the country’s fifth-largest city Mukalla and sending thousands of people flee-ing for shelter.

Officials and meteorologists say the storm is the most intense in decades in the arid country, whose

storm response is hampered by poverty and a raging civil war.

In the provincial capital Mu-kalla, whose 300,000 people are largely ruled by Al Qaeda fighters since the army withdrew in April, water submerged cars on city streets and caused dozens of fami-lies to flee to a hospital for fear of rock slides.

Residents said the seafront promenade and many homes had been destroyed by the cyclone, called Chapala, and officials in the dry hinterland province of Shab-wa said about 6,000 people had moved to higher ground.

“The wind knocked out power completely in the city and people were terrified. Some residents had to leave their homes and es-cape to higher areas where flood-ing was less; it was a difficult night but it passed off peacefully,”

said Sabri Saleem, who lives in Mukalla. There were no initial reports of injuries.

An Al Qaeda militant on Twit-ter prayed for deliverance from the storm and said that a US pilotless drone was flying espe-cially low over the city, where the militant group’s deputy leader was killed in an air strike in June. “May God cause it to crash,” said the man, going by the name of Laith Al Mukalla.

“God spare us your wrath, and place the rains in heart of the val-leys and mountains.”

The cyclone first hit the remote Yemeni island of Socotra, killing three people and displacing thou-sands. An island of natural beauty, Socotra is home to hundreds of

plant species found nowhere else on Earth and lies 380km (238 miles) off Yemen in the Arabian Sea. Its 50,000 residents speak their own language.

Meteorological agencies pre-dicted Chapala would hit land around Balhaf, site of Yemen’s liquefied natural gas terminal, and weakening as it advanced towards the capital Sanaa in the country’s north.

The facility has been mostly shuttered since the start of a war in March between a Saudi-led Arab military coalition and the Houthi movement which controls Sanaa. It was not immediately clear if the terminal, once a life-line for Yemen’s weak economy, suffered damage. — Reuters

In Mukalla, water submerged cars on city

streets with the cyclone sending thousands

of people fleeing for shelter

Iraq sacks seven trade officials over graft chargesBAGHDAD: Iraq’s acting trade minister has sacked seven senior ministry offi-cials wanted on graft-related charges, including the head of the grain board, two ministry officials said on Tuesday. Iraq is one of the world’s biggest importers of wheat and rice.

The grain board is responsi-ble for procuring grain interna-tionally and from local farmers, and any disarray in the ministry is bound to raise concerns over Iraq’s ability to secure strategic commodities.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the move by minister Moham-med Shia Al Sudani was part of “a comprehensive operation... to cleanse the ministry of offi-cials who have any hint of cor-ruption”.

Iraq issued an arrest war-rant last month for then Trade Minister Milas Mohamed Ab-dul Kareem after a corruption investigation into bribes, illegal benefits and the misuse of his position.

“This corruption and viola-tions smear the reputation of the country,” one of the officials told Reuters. “If this situation continues, it could lead to dire consequences in the Iraqi trade sector.”

Several Trade Ministry of-ficials have faced corruption allegations in the past, and four ministry security guards are being prosecuted for allegedly killing a ministry media adviser in September with a bomb at-tached to his car.

Abdul Kareem is among the most senior officials to face ju-dicial action since Prime Minis-ter Haider Al Abadi announced a reform campaign in August af-ter nationwide protests erupted over corruption, poor electricity and water services and unem-ployment. — Reuters

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INDIAW E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

The speed with which justice was delivered

in this case is worth praising and should be

replicated in other instances too

Jagmati Sangwa, AIDWA general secretary

Uber driver gets life sentence for rape; women activists welcome verdict

NEW DELHI: A court on Tuesday jailed a driver of US-based ride-hailing company Uber for life for raping a passenger, in a case that highlighted the dangers faced by women from violent attackers.

Driver Shiv Kumar Yadav re-ceived the maximum sentence af-ter he was found guilty last month of the rape, kidnapping and crimi-nal intimidation of the woman, who had hailed a ride home from a party in Delhi last December.

Yadav got his job with Uber with fake references, enabling him to hide his criminal record.

The firm, valued at $50 billion this year, was banned in Delhi as a result and has only recently re-gained the right to operate after tightening driver checks.

“Keeping in view the facts and evidences in the case, I sentence Shiv Kumar Yadav, to rigorous life imprisonment,” Additional Ses-sions Judge Kaveri Baweja told the court. The case revived memories of the horrific rape and murder on a moving bus of a young physi-otherapist in Delhi in 2012.

The authorities fast-tracked Ya-dav’s trial to meet the public’s de-mand for swift justice.

“We are happy that justice has been delivered and that the pro-cess didn’t take that long,” said Madhur Verma, deputy commis-sioner with the Delhi police.

The victim, a woman working for an international consulting firm, fell asleep on the way home.

Yadav then drove to a secluded

place and raped her. Yadav’s law-yer, D.K. Mishra, said he would ap-peal against the sentence in a high-er court.”My client is innocent,” he told reporters after the sentence was passed.

The passenger also sued Uber in a US federal court in January, but later withdrew her suit.

CriticismIndian authorities face sustained criticism for not doing enough to address a weak system of law enforcement and policing that leaves women vulnerable to such crimes.

In 2014, 36,735 rapes were com-mitted and nearly 338,000 crimes against women were reported, according to data from India’s

National Crime Records Bureau. After the December incident, Uber introduced safety measures and tightened driver checks.

Last month, the federal govern-ment released guidelines to regu-late online taxi companies, saying they should do stringent security checks and not contract anyone convicted of a “cognizable offence” under India’s criminal laws.

Meanwhile, women’s organisa-tions on Tuesday welcomed the life imprisonment given to an Uber cab driver for rape by a Delhi court, saying such a “swift verdict” will boost the confidence of the people in the judiciary.

Lauding the verdict, Delhi Com-mission for Women’s chairperson Swati Maliwal tweeted, “Welcome

Uber rape case verdict. Appeal to judiciary and government to en-sure all rape cases esp child rape cases to be tried within 1 year.(sic)”

Director of Centre for Social Research (CSR), Ranjana Kumari said such a “swift verdict” will boost the confidence of the people in the judiciary.

“Verdict in this case was swift.The maximum punishment un-der the law has been given. This should become an example for all other similar cases.”

All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) general secretary Jagmati Sangwan said, “The speed with which justice was delivered in this case is worth praising and should be replicated in other instances too. - Agencies

F A S T - T R A C K E D T R I A L

Campaign ends for last phase of Bihar elections

PATNA: Curtains came down on Tuesday evening on campaign-ing for 57 seats going to poll in the fifth and last phase of Bihar assembly elections on November five, with acrimonious exchanges provoking show cause notices from the Election Commission to top leaders of rival alliances.

The 57 seats, including 24 in the Seemanchal region bordering West Bengal, are spread over nine districts of Madhubani, Darb-hanga, Supual, Madhepura, Sa-harsa, Araria, Kisanganj, Purnea and Katihar.

A total of 1,55,43,594 electors are eligible to vote on November 5 to decide the fate of 827 candi-dates, including 58 women.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the charge on behalf of the Na-tional Democratic Alliance, which has not declared a chief ministeri-al candidate, and launched a blis-tering attack on the JD(U)-RJD-Congress grand alliance.

Wrapping up his campaign blitzkrieg a day before election-eering ended, Modi raked up the issue of 1984 anti-Sikh riots to mount a counteroffensive on Congress president Sonia Gan-dhi, saying she has no moral right to lecture NDA on tolerance and the party should “hang its head in shame” over the carnage.

Modi, who addressed around 30 election rallies, unusual for a prime minister in a state poll,

repeatedly referred to alleged at-tempts being made by the grand alliance to “snatch away” a part of the quotas meant for dalits, tribals and backward classes and give it to a “particular community on the basis of religion”.

He also accused the grand al-liance leaders of playing with nation’s security by “sheltering” those promoting terror and asked if such people should be allowed to form government in the state.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD chief led the counter at-tack against Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, who said in a contro-versial statement that celebratory firecrackers will be burst in Paki-stan if BJP lost Bihar.

Hitting back, Kumar said Mum-bai and Amritsar will witness “maximum fireworks” if BJP lost, apparently referring to strained relations of the party with its al-lies in Maharashtra and Punjab.

TargetedKumar also sought to turn ta-bles on Modi, who scoffed at his meeting with an occultist, as he targeted the Modi, rally after elec-tion rally, for allegedly consulting astrologer Bejan Daruwala.

Days ahead of the last phase of poll, the Election panel issued show cause notice to BJP chief Shah for his firecrackers remark, contending it had the potential to“disturb harmony”. The Com-mission also issued similar notic-es to Congress vice president Ra-hul Gandhi for his comment that

“BJP makes Hindus and Mus-lims fight each other” and to Lalu for calling Shah a “cannibal”.

Among the NDA partners, BJP has fielded a maximum of 38 candidates, while LJP nominees are contesting 11. Rashtriya Lok Samata Party of Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha has put up candidates in five constituencies and Hindustani Awam Morcha of former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi in three. JD(U) candidates are trying their luck in 25 seats, RJD in 20 and Congress 12. - PTI

The 57 seats,

including 24 in the

Seemanchal region

bordering West

Bengal, are spread

over nine districts

‘High share of unpaid work keeps

women out of formal workforce’

NEW DELHI: Women in In-dia do almost 10 times as much unpaid work as men — a much higher ratio than the global av-erage — leaving them out of the formal workforce and unable to contribute to the economy, con-sultancy firm McKinsey said in a new report.

Women are responsible for 17 per cent of India’s GDP, much less than in many nations, the McKin-sey Global Institute said.

China’s women account for 41 per cent of GDP, those in sub-Sa-haran Africa 39 per cent and wom-en in Latin America 33 per cent.

“The below-potential contribu-tion of women to India’s GDP to-day... contrasts with their higher share of unpaid care work such as cooking, cleaning, and taking care of children and older members of the family,” said the report, re-leased on Monday.

“Globally, women spend rough-ly three times the amount of time spent by men on unpaid work. In India, the situation is more extreme — women perform 9.8 times the amount of unpaid care work than men.”

If that unpaid work were to be valued and compensated in the same way as paid work, it would contribute $300 billion a year to India’s economic output, it added.

Gender parityUsing a new index to measure gender parity across India’s states, McKinsey found that Bi-har, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Mad-hya Pradesh and Jharkhand had inequality levels similar to im-poverished Chad and war-torn Yemen.

Other Indian states such as Mi-zoram, Kerala, Meghalaya, Goa and Sikkim ranked higher on the index, putting their women on par

with Argentina, China and Indo-nesia in gender parity, it said.

Overall, the Female Empower-ment Index, or Femdex — which is based on issues such as wom-en’s autonomy, equality at work, legal protection, political voice and physical security — showed a broad range of gender equality in India.

“We find a wide variation in gender equality among India’s 32 states, which indicates where ef-forts to bridge gender gaps need to be focused,” the report

“The Power of Parity: Advanc-ing women’s equality in India” said. “Advancing gender equal-ity can deliver sizeable additional economic growth and broad-based prosperity to the world - nowhere more so than in India.”

McKinsey estimates India could boost GDP by $700 billion

in 2025 if women participated in paid work at a similar level to men. Indian women represent only 24 per cent of the paid labour force, similar to countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

Globally, female workforce par-ticipation is 40 per cent.

Skills trainingTo bring more women into the formal labour force, the McK-insey report said India must get more girls into secondary and tertiary education, expand skills training and provide greater ac-cess to financial services.

India must also step up gender diversity in the private sector, im-prove infrastructure and services to address the burden of domestic work and child care and focus on dispelling deep-rooted patriar-chal attitudes, it said. - Reuters

N E W R E P O R T

LAST-DITCH EFFORTS: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ad-

dressing an election rally in Kusheshwarsthan, on Tuesday. - PTI

HARD TOIL: Women labourers carry containers of mud as they

work in a paddy field on the outskirts of Agartala, the capital of

the northeastern state of Tripura. - AFP file photo

GUILTY: Shiv Kumar Yadav, who

was awarded life sentence by a

Delhi court on Tuesday for rap-

ing a 25-year-old woman in his

taxi. - PTI file photo

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INDIAW E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

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RBI fixes gold bonds

scheme issue price

at Rs2,684 per gram

NEW DELHI: Reserve Bank has fixed the public issue price at Rs 2,684 per gram for the sovereign gold bonds, for which applica-tions will be accepted from No-vember 5 to 20.

Aimed at providing an alter-native to buying physical gold, the gold bond scheme will of-fer investors an interest rate of 2.75 per cent and a choice to buy bonds worth 2 grams of gold, up to a maximum of 500 grams.

“The issue price of the sover-eign gold bond for this tranche has been fixed at Rs 2,684 per gram of gold,” the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement on Tuesday.

The rate has been fixed on the basis of simple average of closing price for gold of 999 purity of the previous week (October 26-30, 2015) published by the India Bul-lion and Jewellers Association

Ltd (IBJA), the RBI added.The bonds, which will be sold

through banks and designated post offices, would be issued on November 26.

Applications for the bonds will be accepted from November 5 to November 20, 2015. This is the first tranche of the gold bond scheme and subsequent tranches would be notified later.

The tenor of the bond will be for a period of eight years with exit option from fifth year to be exercised on the interest pay-ment dates, the statement said.

The interest earned on gold bonds would be taxable, and capi-tal gains tax shall be levied as in case of physical gold. The bonds can be bought by resident Indian entities including individuals, Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), trusts, universities and charita-ble institutions. - PTI

G O L D B O N D S C H E M E

Where is intolerance? India will never be intolerant, says Jaitley

NEW DELHI: Asserting that India will never be intolerant, Fi-nance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday rejected Congress’ pitch on the issue, saying opponents must fight political battles politi-cally, and wondered “where is the intolerance”.

Calling as “aberrations” some of the recent incidents including the beef row, Jaitley insisted that there is “no justification” in returning of awards and the national situa-

tion “is absolutely peaceful. India is fully committed as a liberal de-mocracy to peaceful co-existence”.

“There is an atmosphere of har-mony. This country has never been intolerant and will never be intol-erant,” the BJP leader said.

He was replying to questions including about the protest march of Congress to President Pranab

Mukherjee on the issue on Tues-day and Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Sciences holding a seminar with ‘Leftist’ intellectuals on the issue.

Stressing that “political oppo-nents must fight political battle politically”, the finance minister said that it is “not fair” to create an issue due to political reasons

and then link it to government even when incidents of crime are happening in states ruled by other parties.

Vibrant democracy“Where is the intolerance? We are the most vibrant democracy. The atmosphere will not change only by talking. If some incident hap-pens like the one in Karnataka, which is Congress-ruled, you can-not link it to the central govern-ment to attack. That is not fair.

“This is a crime and action should be taken against who-ever commits crime. That is why people in the mainstream in the country have opposed it,” he said.

The Minister was speaking after unveiling the plans for the 46th International Film Festival of India.

The IFFI is being held in Goa between November 20 and No-vember 30.

BJP and Congress have locked horns over the issue of “grow-ing intolerance” in society, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday saying the Congress president had no moral right to lecture the NDA on tolerance and it should “hang its head in shame” for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots where thousands were massacred.- PTI

The union finance

minister said

that there is an

atmosphere of

harmony in the

country. He said that

India has never been

intolerant and will

never be intolerant

Nobody is ready to say in this country that there should be intolerance. What is wrong if somebody says that there should be no intolerance in the countryArun JaitleyFinance Minister

NEW DELHI: Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday took to the streets and led a march of its top leaders to Rashtrapati Bhavan to protest against the climate of growing intolerance in the country and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “endorsing” incidents of hate.

Covering a distance of more than a kilometre from the Gandhi statue in Parlia-ment to the Presidential es-tate on the Raisina Hill, Sonia led a delegation to President Pranab Mukherjee and handed over a memorandum against “fear, intolerance and pressure tactics” orchestrat-ed by some organisations.

“Whatever incidents are happening in the country to-day are part of a well thought-out strategy being adopted deliberately to divide our society,” she told reporters

quoting from the memoran-dum given to the President.

The Congress president said what was happening in the country was a matter of deep concern to every Indian and the President has already made clear his views on them.

“But the prime minister is silent. It clearly indicates that he endorses all these incidents,” said Sonia, who was flanked by former prime minister Manmohan Singh, leaders of the party in Parlia-ment Mallikarjun Kharge and Ghulam Nabi Azad, besides Rahul Gandhi and A. K.Antony.

Sonia said some outfits linked to the government and some of them part of the government are indulging in acts that are an assault on the multi-coloured culture and fundamental ideas of the society and are fuelling intolerance. - PTI

Sonia meets Pranab, accuses Modi government of ‘sinister campaign’

Decks cleared for don’s deportation

BALI: Underworld don Chhota Rajan is likely to be deported to India on Tuesday night after Indo-nesian police gave its nod, clearing the decks for his return home after more than two decades.

An Indian Police team, which arrived here on Sunday, complet-ed all formalities for taking cus-tody of Rajan and flying him to India, where he is one of the most wanted criminals.

Rajan will be taken in a special aircraft, which has been brought here from India.

“It is expected that Rajan will be flown to India tonight,” an offi-cial said. However, the travel may get delayed as a volcanic eruption affected flight operations in Bali.

The volcanic eruption at Mount Rinjani near this popular

tourist island has led to several flights being cancelled.

Rajan, who was arrested in this popular tourist town on his ar-rival from Australia on October 25, is wanted in over 75 heinous crimes ranging from murder, ex-tortion to smuggling and drug trafficking.

Rajan, whose original name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje, was arrested in Bali on the basis of a Red Corner Notice from Interpol and following a tip off by Austral-ian authorities to the police in Indonesia.

In the absence of an extradi-tion treaty, the Indian authorities have already provided documents to their Indonesian counterparts about his Indian identity to facili-tate his deportation. - PTI

C H H O T A R A J A N

QUESTIONING: Arrested gangster Chhota Rajan is escorted by

police officers for questioning in Bali, Indonesia on Tuesday. - PTI

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PAKISTAN W E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

ANTI-TALIBAN TRIBAL ELDER KILLEDPakistani security officials examine a destroyed vehicle of an anti-Taliban tribal elder after a roadside bomb blast in Gul-

loshah village near Khar, the main town in Bajaur district, on Tuesday. The attack killed the elder in a lawless Pakistani

district bordering Afghanistan, officials said. — AFP

Shaheen Air jet in emergency Lahore landingLAHORE: A Lahore-bound Shaheen Air flight, carrying 121 passengers and crew members, made an ‘emergency landing’ at the Allama Iqbal International Airport on Tuesday.

It was initially reported that at least 10 passengers received ‘minor’ injuries when the plane landed due to a burst tyre; how-ever, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) denied the claims, saying all passengers remained unhurt and that flight NL-142 landed at the airport and shortly afterwards went off the runway.

Unusual movementNoticing the unusual movement of the aircraft, the control tower dispatched a fire tender to the site

while the airport manager along with other CAA officials reached the site to evacuate passengers and crew from the plane, the CAA statement said.

Main hindranceNo person was injured in the inci-dent and the main runway was op-erational without any hindrance, the statement added.

“Director General CAA has or-dered an inquiry to investigate the incident and the safety investiga-tion team has started investiga-tion. As a precautionary measure, CAA is ensuring inspection of all aircraft,” the statement read.

All passengers were evacuated safely from the aircraft, a CAA of-ficial said. — Express Tribune

L U C K Y E S C A P E

PM vows timely rehab of quake-hit TIMERGARA/KHAR: Kicking off the compensation process a week after the October 26 earth-quake, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif assured the affected fami-lies of timely rehabilitation before the harsh winter of Khyber-Pakh-tunkhwa (K-P) sets in.

Pakistan’s northern parts were rattled by a 7.5 magnitude quake last Monday. At least 271 people have been confirmed dead and an-other 2,158 injured as reports of casualties are still coming in from remote areas.

The massive tremors also dam-aged around 33,445 houses, ac-cording to the figures compiled by disaster management authorities.

Addressing gatherings of earth-quake-hit people in Timergara and Khar on Monday, the premier said the relief package for the quake-hit population had been worked out and funds would be

dispensed among the survivors at the earliest.

In Timergara, Nawaz gave cheques to 211 people, mark-ing the formal start of the com-pensation process on Monday,

as promised by the government. Cheques of Rs600,000 were giv-en to the heirs of those who died in the quake, while cheques of Rs200,000 were handed out to those who lost a body part.

The families whose houses were destroyed were also given cheques of Rs200,000 while the injured victims got Rs100,000 each. The cheques can be cashed from Tues-day onwards.

Fulfilled promiseIn his address, Nawaz said the gov-ernment had fulfilled its promise of providing support to the earth-quake-hit people in the shortest possible time. He admitted the fi-nancial package could not replace the loss of the loved ones, but its main purpose was to mitigate the sufferings of the affected people.

The cheque distribution cer-emony was held at Balambat FC Cantonment in Lower Dir where K-P Chief Minister Pervaiz Khat-tak, Governor Sardar Mehtab Ah-mad Khan and Federal Informa-tion Minister Pervez Rashid were also present.

The premier mentioned the compensation package was for-mulated in consultation with Khattak and efforts were under way to complete the process as fast as possible.

The government, he added, aimed to provide relief to the vic-tims within four days but it was delayed because of lack of proper information.

Blankets, foodHe directed the authorities to en-sure prompt provision of relief goods, including blankets, food and tents, as the mercury in high-alti-tude areas was going to drop signif-icantly within the next few weeks. He lauded the assistance provided by armed forces in the earthquake-hit zones and also commended the provincial government and public representatives for their timely support. — Express Tribune

At least 271 people

have been confirmed

dead and 2,158

injured as reports

of casualties are

still coming in from

remote areas after

a 7.5 magnitude

temblor shook the

northern parts of the

country

SHATTERED LIVES: Pakistani earthquake survivors rebuild their

destroyed homes in Chitral on Tuesday. — AFP

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China VP pledges support in rare Afghanistan visitKABUL: China’s vice president pledged infrastructure and secu-rity support for Afghanistan on Tuesday, signing several deals during a rare high-level Chinese visit to Kabul.

China says it does not seek to fill a void left by a drawdown of most foreign troops in Afghani-stan at the end of last year, but has promised to play a “huge” commercial role in helping re-build the country, where the Tal-iban seek to re-establish their extremist regime.

Some experts, however, argue that the benefits of Chinese aid and investment in Afghanistan have yet to fully materialise amid the deteriorating security situation there.

Chinese Vice President Li Yu-anchao told Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that Beijing would provide 500 million yuan ($79 million) this year to help build housing in the capital Kabul.

“China is willing to help Af-ghanistan formulate infra-structure plans to strengthen interconnectedness and inter-

communication with surround-ing countries,” Li said in a speech that was broadcast on Afghan state television.

Ghani said the funds will help build 10,000 residential apart-ments in Kabul, and that China also pledged to provide “special security devices” to scan vehicles entering the capital.

“Unfortunately two countries which are committed to peace and stability are in danger from regional and international ter-rorism,” Ghani said in com-ments that were also carried on television.

“Our discussions were based on how to bring under control and eliminate those ominous phenomena which are obstacles to stability, prosperity and coop-eration in the region,” Ghani said, calling China “a factor to bring peace in Afghanistan”.

It was unclear if the deals went beyond the billions of yuan in commitments China announced last fall when Ghani made his first trip abroad as president to Beijing. — Reuters

D I P L O M A C Y

BOOSTING TIES: Afghan president Asharaf Ghani, second right,

talks with China’s Vice President Li Yuanchao, second left, dur-

ing the signing of documents at the Presidential Palace in Kabul

on Tuesday. — AFP

Kerry allays Turkmen, Tajik leaders’ concerns

DUSHANBE/ASHGABAT: US Secretary of State John Kerry sought on Tuesday to reassure the rulers of Tajikistan and Turk-menistan that Washington re-mained committed to Central Asia’s security, even though it is withdrawing troops from neigh-bouring Afghanistan.

Both countries fear the spread of extremist militancy, and US officials worry that government crackdowns will backfire and bring greater instability.

Kerry met Tajik President Im-omali Rakhmon in Dushanbe and Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov in Ashgabat on Tuesday.

“I emphasised the United States’ commitment to work with Tajikistan and other countries...to strengthen border security,” Ker-ry told reporters after the talks with Rakhmon.

The two visits come on the last day of Kerry’s tour of Central Asia.

He made stops in all five of the region’s former Soviet republics, in an effort to show that Washing-ton intends to stay engaged as Rus-sia, fresh from forays into Ukraine and Syria, reasserts itself.

US officials hope Central Asian leaders will see President Barack Obama’s decision last month to slow the pace of U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan as proof that Washington is not abandoning them.

Kerry’s trip was also meant to show that the United States wants to deepen not only security coop-eration but also economic ties.

At the same time, Kerry em-phasized in the Kazakh capital, Astana, on Monday that Central Asian governments must not use fears of extremism as an excuse to crack down on dissent or as a “li-cense to use violence indiscrimi-nately.” Either would only radical-ize more people, he said.

US officials are especially con-cerned about Tajikistan.

During the summer, Rakhmon’s government banned the only of-

ficial extremist political party in former Soviet Central Asia.

Tajikistan hosts a Russian mili-tary base and a senior Russian offi-cial said last month Moscow could re-establish security operations to guard the Tajik-Afghan border, the role it had played until 2005, when an agreement with the Tajik government lapsed and Russian troops pulled out.

Kerry, the first US secretary of state to visit Turkmenistan since James Baker in 1992, said after the talks with Berdymukhamedov they had discussed the “human di-mension” as well as security.

“We have concerns (about Af-ghanistan) that we need to work on together,” he told reporters, adding that Ashgabat and Wash-ington would sign a memorandum of understanding on “strategic se-curity”.He did not elaborate.

Kerry’s trip to Central Asia fol-lowed warnings from Russian of-ficials about the danger of extrem-ist militants infiltrating the region from Afghanistan, accompanied by hints Moscow will respond by beefing up its military presence.

Though Russian officials say they are driven only by concern about militants, not geo-political rivalry, their heightened attention risks fuelling US suspicions that Moscow is trying to rebuild its old empire.

Unlike other Central Asian leaders, Berdymukhamedov snubbed the meeting of ex-Soviet presidents in Kazakhstan last month where they discussed the Afghan threat.

His foreign minister Rashid Meredov did not go either, having flown to Washington on the eve of the meeting. — Reuters

The visit by the US

secretary of state

to Central Asia

followed warnings

from Russian officials

about the danger of

extremist militants

infiltrating the region

from Afghanistan

TERROR THREAT: US Secretary of State John Kerry, left, listens to an opening statement by Tajik Presi-

dent Emomali Rahmon, third right, at the start of their meeting at the Palace of Nations, in Dushanbe,

Tajikistan, on Tuesday. — Reuters/Brendan Smialowski/Pool

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The collapse of UN peace talks last month has seen Libya’s civil war escalate. In the west, a helicopter carrying senior com-

manders from extremist militia group Libya Dawn crashed in the sea, triggering new fighting. In the east, jets of the elected government buzzed three Italian warships accused of straying into Libyan territorial waters.

On every front, battles are raging and conspira-cies are rife, while thousands of migrants contin-ue to be sent north to Europe and IS expands into the central Sirte Basin oil fields.

The UN, despite seeing its final October 20 deadline pass for the country’s rivals to accept its peace plan collapse, continues to call for a power sharing government. UN envoy Ber-nardino Leon insists a Tripoli politician, Faiez Al Serraj, must be the prime minister, saying there can be no change to a UN peace plan nam-ing Serraj to the top job.

This is folly of the highest order. Al Serraj is a freindly but low-profile politician, his backing by Leon based on the fact that nobody actively dislikes him.

But in today’s Libya, people need more. They need a prime minister who speaks for them, not one plucked by the UN. Leon, in fact, is guilty of the mistake many people - Libyans as much as outsiders - make, which is pinning their hopes that some White Knight can come riding over the hills to save the nation.

Some are even calling for a return for the mon-archy, abolished when Muammar Gaddafi seized power four decades ago. But the truth is - it isn’t going to happen.

Libyans are fighting precisely because there is no single leader all can agree on.

Last week, testifying to the British parliament’s inquiry into why Libya went so badly wrong, for-mer ambassador Sir Dominic Asquith put his finger on it, saying: “There remains a very strong desire from the Libyan people for a political agreement. They want a government. They want a political settlement. There is huge frustration at their own political leadership, but also at the UN.”

A senior Libyan official put it more bluntly, tell-ing me last week: “Everyone is focussed on the ‘who’, but the solution is the ‘what’.”

The “what” he, and I believe Asquith, have in mind is a government the people support because the people chose it and concur with its manifesto. Such a government was elected in June of last year, in elections the UN itself supervised. But when the extremists took steep losses, they re-belled, their Libya Dawn militias seized Tripoli, and the country remains at war.

Since then, the UN has focussed not on elected politicians, but on pushing those politicians to cut a deal with Libya Dawn and its militia warlords. The government, which fled to the eastern city of Tobruk, understandably says no.

Sharing power with the militias is not what it was elected to do. Especially because in recent months the key power brokers in Tripoli have become the Libya Islamic Fighting Group, a former guerrilla Al Qaeda affiliated organisa-tion, some of them once having been interned in Guantanamo Bay. They rule the capital through the point of a gun.

The one sliver of hope is Libya’s constitutional commission, which is nearly ready to announce a proposed constitution. That constitution should be grabbed with both hands. It offers Libyans the chance to reconnect with representative govern-ment, otherwise the only alternative is perpetual militia rule.

The model for that government has yet to be unveiled. It might mean a single government, or maybe it will give strong powers to federal ad-ministrations, a constant demand from the un-der-populated but oil rich Cyrenaica province in the east, and by the southern province of Fezzan, both of which have a history of being ignored by regimes of all kinds in Tripoli.

Switzerland has just such a federal system, and federalism has made it one of the most successful nations on the planet.

Whatever that constitution stipulates, the UN should get behind it. Leon, exhausted and discred-ited after more than a year of failed peace plans and missed deadlines, is leaving. His replace-ment, German diplomat Martin Kobler, should scrap his search for a White Knight, and put an end to the UN’s fraternising with the warlords.

As my Libyan friend told me, the only thing that will bring peace, before it’s too late, is a system that all Libyans are invested in, and certainly not one imposed by foreigners. - Special to Times of Oman

Political leaders must realise basic needs of peopleThis refers to the article, Pakistan must invest a lot more in education (November 3). I do agree that as far as Pakistan is concerned, invest-ing in education was not the key focus in the recent past due to a

number of reasons. The continuing unrest in the country has been seriously affecting the growth of the younger generation in particular, whereas the funds have been diverted to other areas. To begin with, political leaders must realise the basic needs of the people and closely connect with the society to build upon their trust and confidence, as only a collective effort can bring change to the overall percep-tions, and resolve issues that concern the mainstream community. The key focus is to improve the basics of existence, which has been constantly ignored in several South Asian countries over the last two decades. Besides education, poverty and health-related issues have also not been given the required attention. Instead, the focus has been defence and security sectors. Education being a priority for the youth to come forward to work towards

refining the society from all elements of conflicts and disparities, it requires serious attention and allocation of funds. However, unfortu-nately, there has been hardly any policy change. — Ramachandran Nair, Ruwi

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SEND US YOUR VIEWS AND COMMENTSAcademics stage rally in Dhaka to protest attacks

DHAKA: One-thousand Bang-ladeshi authors and teachers marched through the streets of the capital on Tuesday, asserting their right to free speech days af-ter a suspected extremist group attacked writers and publishers critical of extremist militancy.

On Saturday, a publisher was hacked to death in his office in Dhaka by men wielding sharp weapons, hours after similar at-tacks on two writers and another publisher.

Despite the climate of fear caused by the attacks that fol-low the killings of four secularist bloggers this year, writers turned out in large numbers for the rally in Dhaka.

“No one is safe. First they killed bloggers. Now they are tar-geting publishers.

“Soon they will attack anyone who is progressive-minded,” said Khaledur Rahman, an author who is himself facing a death threat.

A branch of Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attacks but police said they had not been able to verify that claim.

Ansarullah Bangla TeamPolice joint commissioner Monir-ul Islam said investigators were looking closely at a home-grown group called Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) as the latest attacks bore the hallmarks of earlier kill-ings of bloggers for which it took responsibility.

The little-known extremist group has vowed to kill their crit-ics.

“They just tell these youth that the bloggers are the enemies of Islam. Nobody has read the blogs. They just blindly follow what the ABT says,” said a police investi-gator.

Tensions have risen in Bang-ladesh since Hasina ordered extremist leaders suspected of atrocities during the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan to

be put on trial for war crimes.Her rivals say Hasina is set-

tling political scores by hunting down members of the Jamaat-e-Islami, an ally of the main op-position group head by former prime minister Khaleda Zia.

The latest conviction of for-mer opposition minister Salaud-din Quader Chowdhury for war crimes has reignited protests that the trials are politically mo-tivated.

US Senator Patrick Leahy in a letter to the Bangladesh em-bassy in Washingto said Chowd-hury was denied the opportunity to present evidence to the war crimes tribunal that he was out of the country at the time of the al-leged offences. — Reuters

Despite the climate

of fear caused by the

attacks that follow

the killings of four

secularist bloggers

this year, writers

turned out in large

numbers for the rally

in Dhaka

DEMONSTRATIONS: Bangladeshi demonstrators gather during a nationwide strike called by secular activists to protest against attacks on bloggers and publishers in Dhaka on Tuesday. — AFP

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‘UK has not dropped plans for vote on Syria air strikes’

LONDON: Prime Minister David Cameron believes Britain should do more to tackle extremist mili-tants in Syria and has not dropped plans to seek parliamentary ap-proval for air strikes there, his spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

She spoke after several newspa-pers said he had dropped the plans after failing to get enough backing. They also cited Russia’s move to support President Bashar Al Assad by bombing IS militants in Syria as a complicating factor.

Keen to avoid a repeat of his 2013 defeat over air strikes against Assad, Cameron has been trying to build cross-party sup-port for extending British strikes to Syria from Iraq.

He has a slim majority in par-

liament and, with some of his own Conservatives opposed to strikes, he needs to win support from the opposition Labour Party now led by anti-war campaigner Jeremy Corbyn.

Cameron’s spokeswoman Helen Bower denied the vote had been shelved. “He has always been clear that he thinks there is a case for doing more to tackle the threat from ISIL, and that we would only go back to the House (of Com-

mons) on this issue if there was clear consensus and that remains the case,” she said. “You can’t put a time scale on the vote.”

She said the government be-lieved the situation in Syria would ultimately be resolved by politi-cal means and, along with allies, it was trying to “inject a bit more momentum into that”.

In France, President Francois Hollande said his government would continue its air strikes in

Syria and would hold a defence council meeting to discuss the matter on Thursday.

“Every time we have informa-tion on training camps where there are jihadists, terrorists, who could at some point threaten our country, we strike,” he told Europe 1 radio.

The reports about Cameron’s plans came as an influential com-mittee of lawmakers warned Brit-ain should not extend its air strikes into Syria until there is a coher-

ent international strategy with a “realistic” chance of defeating the militants. “In the absence of such a strategy, taking action to meet the desire to do something is still incoherent,” parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee said in a report published on Tuesday.

The committee, chaired by Con-servative parliamentarian Crispin Blunt, said the government should not seek approval until it gives de-tails of its plans.

It called on the government to explain how British involvement would improve the chances of the international coalition’s success, warned about the legal ambigu-ity of taking action without a UN Security Council Resolution and asked which ground forces would support Britain’s air effort.

Blunt said there was now an “alarming range” of international actors involved in Iraq and Syria and there was no expectation Brit-ish intervention would be militar-ily decisive.

“These forces desperately need coordinating into a coherent strat-egy and that is where our efforts should be focused,” he said.

On Friday 17 countries, the Eu-ropean Union and the United Na-tions called for a nationwide truce in Syria’s civil war at peace talks in Vienna, attended for the first time since the conflict began in 2011 by Assad’s ally Iran. — Reuters

Keen to avoid a

repeat of his 2013

defeat over air

strikes against

Assad, Cameron has

been trying to build

cross-party support

for extending British

strikes to Syria from

Iraq

CONFLICT: A group of coalition forces, which includes People’s Protection Units (YPG), Women’s Pro-

tection Units (YPJ), Sutoro militia, a pro-government Syriac Christian movement, and other forces,

monitor the area in Al Hol in the Syrian Hasakeh province, some 650kms northeast of Damascus,

near the Iraqi border on Tuesday. — AFP

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No talk of transition: Syrian officialBEIRUT: A senior Syrian official rejected on Tuesday the idea of a “transitional period” sought by Western states that want Presi-dent Bashar Al Assad removed from power, saying during a visit to Iran that an expanded government was being discussed.

Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad also said Damascus had not received official notice of any meeting with members of the Syr-ian opposition, after a Russian official said Moscow might bring them together next week.

“We are talking about a national dialogue in Syria and an expanded government and a constitutional process.

We are not at all talking about what is called a transitional pe-riod,” Mekdad said.

That idea existed “only in the minds of those who do not live in reality”, he added.

His comments from Tehran, broadcast by Syrian state TV, mark the first detailed Syrian govern-ment remarks since foreign pow-ers that support opposing sides in Syria’s civil war - including Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the Unit-ed States - met in Vienna on Friday in an effort to revive peacemaking.

The intensified diplomacy has followed Russia’s military inter-vention on the side of Assad, with Moscow talking of the need for political progress towards ending a war that has killed 250,000 peo-ple and created millions of refu-gees since 2011.

But there is no sign of a break-through on the biggest obstacle standing in the way of diplomatic efforts: The question of Assad’s fu-ture. — Reuters

V I S I T T O I R A N

Iraq’s controversial secular politician Ahmed Chalabi diesBAGHDAD: Ahmed Chalabi, the smooth-talking Iraqi politi-cian who pushed Washington to invade Iraq in 2003 with dis-credited information on Saddam Hussein’s military capabilities, died on Tuesday of an apparent heart attack.

Haitham Al Jabouri, secretary of parliament’s financial panel that Chalabi had chaired, said at-tendants had found him dead in his bed in his Baghdad home.

A news flash on Iraqi state television said the cause was a heart attack.

A secular, Chalabi rose to prominence as leader of the then-exiled Iraqi National Con-gress, which played a major role in encouraging the US admin-istration of former President George W. Bush to invade Iraq and oust Saddam.

“There are some people who will remember him in a good way, and there are others, to be honest, do not like and did not want his politics,” said former prime minister Ayad Allawi.

“But regardless, Iraq lost a man who had an important con-tribution, important commit-ments towards the nation and he tried to offer what he could to this country.”

Saddam’s fallChalabi, born in 1944 into a wealthy Baghdad family, returned to Iraq shortly after Saddam’s fall, the culmination of years of work abroad pressing and charming Washington to oust the man who ruled Iraq with an iron fist for decades.

He ultimately succeeded by persuading the United States that Saddam Hussein had links to Al Qaeda and possessed weapons of mass destruction in the wake of the September 11 attacks, claims that later proved unfounded.

After the US-led invasion of Iraq, he could often be seen in Baghdad flanked by dozens of bodyguards as he forged ties with political figures and power-ful clerics.

Once viewed in Washington as its preferred future Iraqi leader, he lost favour among his Ameri-can benefactors amid accusa-tions that he had passed informa-tion to arch-foe Iran.

“He pursued all roads in order to achieve a goal he believed in, which was overthrowing the op-pressive regime of Saddam and build a civil state,” said Mithal Alusi, a secular lawmaker.”He followed any path possible, be it accepted or not.”

Chalabi was later charged with leading the purge of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party. — Reuters

O B I T U A R Y

Ahmed Chalabi

Two Turkish journalists

charged over ‘coup bid’

ANKARA: Editors of a left-leaning Turkish news magazine were charged on Tuesday with attempting to topple the govern-ment over a cover suggesting Sunday’s election strengthening President Tayyip Erdogan could lead to a “civil war”, the journal said. Nokta’s latest edition car-ried a controversial cover head-

line after the ruling AK Party founded by Erdogan regained the parliamentary majority it had lost in a June poll.

“Senior editors Cevheri Guven and Murat Capan have been sent to jail pending trial over charges of ‘staging a coup attempt’ and ‘attempting to overthrow the gov-ernment’,” Nokta tweeted. — Reuters

C R A C K D O W N

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‘No proof yet that Russian plane broke up in flight’

CAIRO: Egypt’s civil aviation ministry said on Tuesday there were no facts to substantiate as-sertions by Russian officials that the Russian airliner that crashed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Sat-urday broke up in mid-air.

But spokesman Mohamed Rahmi confirmed that no distress call had been received before the crash, which left wreckage from the Metrojet Airbus 321, carrying Russian holidaymakers back to St Petersburg from the Sinai Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh, strewn over more than 3km (2 miles) of desert.

“No communication from the pilot was recorded at the naviga-tion centres requesting anything,” he said. Rahmi said the inves-tigating team, led by Egypt and aided by experts from Russia, Air-bus and Ireland, where the plane is registered, had returned to the crash site on Tuesday morning.

Once investigations at the site were completed, probably later in the day, they would focus on ana-lysing the contents of the black box flight recorders, Rahmi said.

Sources on the investigation

committee have said the record-ers are in good condition and should yield clues. Rahmi said there was no proof yet that the plane had broken up in flight.

Long process“This could be a long process and we can’t talk about the results as we go along,” he said.

However, the fact that no dis-tress call was received, and the wreckage was scattered widely, has suggested a sudden breakup to many experts.

Theories floated so far range from a missile attack, or a bomb on board, to a structural failure.

A Sinai-based Egyptian mili-tant group allied to IS claimed on Saturday to have shot down the plane in response to Russia’s mili-tary intervention in Syria in sup-port of President Bashar Al Assad against rebels including IS.

However, the militants are not believed to have missiles capable of hitting a plane at 30,000 feet.

A source in the committee ana-lysing the flight recorders said on

Monday that the plane had not been struck from the outside.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday it was inappropriate to link the crash to Russia’s military strategy in Syria. Some have also pointed to a 2001 incident, when the Air-bus 321’s tail section struck the tarmac on landing, as a possible cause of structural weakness.

Faulty “tail-strike” repairs have caused at least two catastrophic crashes in the past.

However, the plane had passed safety checks and its opera-tor, Kogalymavia, owner of the Metrojet brand, has said damage from the 2001 mishap was fully repaired and could not have been a factor in the Sinai crash.

The head of the health unit at Sharm El Sheikh airport, Medhat Qandil, said the remains of the last 28 people killed in the crash had been sent to Moscow on Tuesday aboard a military jet, along with luggage from the doomed plane and personal belongings found at the crash site. - Reuters

Kremlin spokesman

Dmitry Peskov said

it was inappropriate

to link the Russian

airliner crash to

Russia’s military

strategy in SyriaWRECKAGE: A handout picture taken on Monday, and released on

Tuesday by Russia’s Emergency Ministry shows Russian emer-

gency services personnel working at the crash site of a A321 Rus-

sian airliner in Wadi al-Zolomat, a mountainous area of Egypt’s

Sinai Peninsula. - AFP

No communication from the pilot was recorded

at the navigation centres requesting anything

Mohamed Rahmi, Egypt’s civil aviation ministry spokesman

VIENNA: Austria’s cabinet, fac-ing record numbers of asylum re-quests this year, proposed a tough new bill on Tuesday to deter Af-ghans that the United Nations refugee agency criticised as likely to increase the migrants’ suffering.

The move follows the German interior minister’s call for Afghans, who make up a large proportion of the hundreds of thousands of mi-grants seeking refuge in Europe, to stay in their home country.

Austria’s new law would force most Afghans to wait for three years, rather than one year under current rules, to be able to bring family members to Austria.

They would also have to have

an independent source of income, health insurance and a flat.

The small Alpine country is the first west European country that hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Middle East and beyond reach on their trek westwards, and a major conduit for those moving

on towards Germany and northern Europe.

“This is a political decision.Making family reunification

rules stricter mainly affects Af-ghans,” Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner told ORF radio to ex-plain the bill.

“It is important for us to create clear rules here and, of course, to decrease (Austria’s) attractive-ness.”

The Vienna office of the UN refugee agency UNHCR promptly criticised the new rules for family reunification, which it said would increase personal suffering and hinder successful integration.

Many migrants are young adult men who hope to send for fam-ily members once they have found asylum in Europe.

“If legal ways (to migrate) are being shut off, people will use traf-fickers and take larger risks than was the case up to now in order to rejoin their family and live with

them in safety,” said Christoph Pinter, head of UNHCR Austria.

The law, which is due to take force from mid-November even though parliament would not pass it until December, would apply to those granted “subsidiary pro-tection” rather than those being granted full political asylum, such as most Syrians.

Most Afghans seeking political asylum in Austria are granted this temporary permission to stay.

Austria received a total of 46,000 requests for asylum in the first eight months of this year, with nearly 10,500 from Afghans, ac-cording to interior ministry data. — Reuters

A16

WORLDW E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

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Austria drafts anti-Afghan migrant lawAustria’s new law

would force most

Afghans to wait for

three years, rather

than one year under

current rules, to be

able to bring family

members to Austria

Britain urges Germanyfor deal on EU reformBERLIN: British Finance Min-ister George Osborne appealed to Germany on Tuesday to en-sure euro zone decisions and costs are not imposed on Britain in exchange for help making the single currency union stronger.

Osborne, seen as the front-runner to succeed Prime Min-ister David Cameron, is leading a new round of talks in Euro-pean capitals, keen to sell Brit-ain’s proposals for reform while keeping vocal eurosceptics in his own party at bay before a referendum on membership of the bloc by the end of 2017.

Changes neededSpeaking to government and business leaders in Berlin, Os-borne outlined what he said were “the changes we need to stay in the European Union”.

“Let me be candid: There is a deal to be done and we can work together,” he said at an event sponsored by the Federation of German Industry (BDI).

“Rather than stand in your way and veto the treaty amend-ments required, we in Britain can support you in the euro zone make the lasting changes that you need to see to strengthen the euro. In return, you can help us make the changes we need to safeguard the interests of those economies who are not in the euro zone,” he said.

Staying in EUWith UK opinion polls show-ing a narrowing of support for staying in the EU, Cameron’s government is under increasing pressure to take on eurosceptics in both his ruling Conservative Party and the opposition La-bour camp directly.

Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP), described Os-borne’s speech as “sycophancy” and said it sounded “more like a speech from an EU Commis-sioner.

“Who is he actually working for?” Farage asked. — Reuters

S T A N D O F F

Iran arrestsAmerican-Lebanese man for espionage

DUBAI: Iranian authorities have arrested an American-Lebanese man who they said was linked to the US military and intelligence agencies, state broadcaster IRIB said on Tues-day.

It named the man as Nizar Zakka, an IT expert who Leba-nese media reported last week had disappeared on September 18 after attending a conference in Tehran.

The report, which cited in-formed sources, is the first of-ficial confirmation of his arrest.

“Nizar Zakka has deep ties to the US intelligence and military establishment,” IRIB quoted an unnamed source as saying.

Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi said on Mon-day the ministry had been dis-cussing ways to combat foreign influence in the country as Teh-ran begins to implement a nu-clear deal. — Reuters

L I N K S W I T H U S I N T E L

MARKEWWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMW E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5B

Muscat

5,948.37 + 9.80

+ 0.17%

Dubai

3,521.90+ 27.25

+ 0.78%

Abu Dhabi

4,322.16+ 23.05

+ 0.54%

Saudi Arabia

6,970.50- 95.74

- 1.35%

Kuwait

5,794.25+ 9.45

+ 0.11%

Bahrain

1,259.98 - 0.71

- 0.06%

Qatar

11,516.59- 30.35

- 0.26%

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

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

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

Pound ........................................... 1.67

Indian Rs ............................. 169.78

Pak Rs ...................................269.40

Bangla Taka.......................199.52* Rates are as of Nov. 3

Source: Bank Muscat

Indian Rs ...................................170.35

Pakistan Rs .............................273.50

Sri Lanka Rs ..........................364.00

Bangla Taka........................... 202.30

Phil Peso ..................................... 121.15

* Rates as of Nov. 3 Source: Oman UAE Exchange

Muscat 24ct per gm (OMR) .......14.60

Muscat 22ct per gm (OMR) .......14.00

Dubai 24ct per gm (Dh) ............ 137.25

Dubai 22ct per gm (Dh) ............ 130.50

* Rates as of Nov. 3

Source: Malabar Gold & Diamonds

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

Oman Crude ............. (Spot) ........$45.87

Dubai Crude ............. (Spot) ........$45.67

Murban Crude ........ (Spot) .........$46.71

Arabian Light ......... (Spot) .........$44.17

N.Sea Brent ............... (Spot) ........$49.23

West Texas Int ....... (Spot) .........$46.51

CRUDE OIL PRICE

DIGEST VIDEO

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NBO plans to raise upto $300m in bond sale

A. E. JAMESbusinesseditor@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: National Bank of Oman (NBO) plans to mobilise up to $300 million additional (tier one) capital by way of a bond sale in overseas markets. The bank has mandated five financial institu-tions to arrange investor meetings

starting on Thursday for the po-tential capital boosting bond sale.

NBO has mandated Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Credit Agricole CIB, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Char-tered for the potential offering, the bank said in a stock market filing. The dollar-denominated bond will boost the bank’s tier 1 or core capital.

Moody’s ratingsNational Bank of Oman, rated A3 by Moody’s and BBB by Fitch, will meet investors in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. The bond will be issued after the meetings, if the market conditions are conductive. Shareholders of the bank in last

June approved the issuance of a tier 1 instrument of up to $300 million.

Market sources said that Omani banks need additional capital for achieving a fast growth. The Cen-tral Bank of Oman has asked banks to raise its capital adequacy ratio by 0.625 per cent every year until

2018 to reach 14.5 per cent, which is in line with Basel III require-ment. The present regulatory re-quirement of capital adequacy is 12.65 per cent, which include a buffer of 0.65 per cent.

Regulatory requirementAs far as the Gulf region is con-cerned, Oman has the highest regulatory requirement for capi-tal adequacy. A section of Omani banks has already raised its capital base either by way of rights issue or bonds, while few others are ex-pected to follow suit.

Meanwhile, National Bank of Oman earlier said that the bank has achieved a 16 per cent growth in net profit for the first nine months of 2015 at OMR43 mil-

lion, from OMR37.1 million for the same period last year.

Net interest income and income from Islamic financing grew by 16 per cent to OMR69.2 million for the January-September period this year, fromOMR59.9 million a year earlier. NBO reported growth in net loans, advances and financ-ing activities, which rose 12 per cent to OMR2.53 billion by end-September, 2015, compared with OMR2.26 billion for the same period a year ago.

The bank plans to mobilise fund by way

of a bond sale in the overseas markets,

which will boost the bank’s core capital

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

B2

MARKETW E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

Google expects to deliver packages via drone in 2017

WASHINGTON: Internet giant Alphabet, the new holding com-pany for Google, expects to begin delivering packages to consumers via drones sometime in 2017, the executive in charge of Google’s drone effort has said.

David Vos, the leader for Goog-le’s Project Wing, said his com-pany is in talks with the Federal Aviation Administration (FFA) and other stakeholders about setting up an air traffic control system for drones that would use cellular and Internet technology to coordinate unmanned aerial vehicle flights at altitudes of un-der 500 feet (152 metres).

“Our goal is to have commer-cial business up and running in 2017,” he told an audience at an air traffic control convention near Washington.

Google and Amazon.com are among a growing number of com-panies that intend to make pack-age delivery by drone a reality. But drone deliveries are not expected to take flight until after the FAA publishes final rules for commer-cial drone operations, which are expected early next year.

Aerial vehiclesVos, who is co-chair of an FAA task force charged with coming up with a drone registry, said a system for identifying drone op-erators and keeping unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) away from other aircraft could be set up within 12 months.

“We’re pretty much on a cam-paign here, working with the FAA, working with the small UAV community and the aviation com-

munity at large, to move things along,” he said. “We think we can accomplish a lot in the next three, six, 12 months. And we’re hop-ing to get some strong support to make this happen.”

Vos said a drone registry, which the United States administration hopes to set in place by December 20, would be a first step toward a system that could use wireless telecommunications and Internet technology including cellphone applications to identify drones and keep UAV clear of other air-craft and controlled airspace.

‘Class G’ airspaceHe said Google would like to see low altitude ‘Class G’ airspace carved out for drones, saying it would keep UAV away from most manned air-craft aside from low-flying heli-copters, while enabling drones to fly over highly populated areas. “There’s a lot that can be done in this market space,” Vos said.

He said the FAA and other stake-holders are looking at the possibil-ity of controlling Class G airspace through for-profit airspace service providers, which would use wire-less communications to coordi-nate drone flights and liaise with the air traffic control system for manned aircraft. - Reuters

Drone deliveries are not expected to take

flight until after the aviation regulator

publishes final rules for commercial drone

operations, expected by early 2016

UAE Exchange gets ISO 27001 certificationTimes News Service

MUSCAT: UAE Exchange, one of the largest global remittance and foreign exchange brand, on Tuesday said that it has re-certified their information se-curity management system (ISMS) as per the latest ISO/IEC 27001:2013 standard.

The certification ensures that only authorised users have ac-cess to information and enables prompt detection of security breaches. The ISO 27001:2013, being the latest version of the In-ternational Standard for Infor-mation Security Management, provides a framework and a systematic approach to imple-ment effective controls that help in maintaining the confi-dentiality, integrity and avail-ability of customer data.

UAE Exchange had earlier re-ceived its ISMS certified against ISO 27001:2005 standard in 2012. “Operating in a global en-vironment makes it imperative

for us to manage and secure com-pany and customer information from various security threats. We are delighted to be the first remit-tance brand to achieve the ISO 27001:2013 certification,” said Promoth Manghat, chief execu-tive officer of UAE Exchange.

Global standards“This certificate is a testament of our continued focus on meeting the global standards for informa-tion security and provides our cus-tomers, partners and regulators the confidence that we manage our systems, operations and data in a secure manner,” he added.

Information is a valuable busi-ness asset in today’s environment that can make or break any busi-ness. The ISO/IEC 27001:2013 helps the business to achieve compliance with relevant laws and regulations. The ISMS also ensures that a common set of policies, procedures and con-trols are in place to manage risks to information security.

M O N E Y E X C H A N G E

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GETTING SET: Google and Amazon.com are among a growing number of companies that intend to make package delivery by drone a reality. – Bloomberg News

B3W E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

MARKET

Oil affects Saudi, UAE private sectors

RIYADH: Slump in oil prices is sapping growth momentum of pri-vate businesses in the two biggest Arab economies, according to a key indicator released on Tuesday.

The Emirates NBD Purchas-ing Managers’ Index (PMI) for Saudi Arabia dropped for a second

month in a row to 55.7 in October, the lowest level since the survey began in 2009, driven by weaker expansion in new business.

The same measure for the Unit-ed Arab Emirates (UAE) fell to 54 from 56 in September, the lowest since April 2013, the Dubai-based

bank said. Readings above 50 still signal expansion, while those be-low indicate contraction.

Vrude oil prices have dropped more than 40 per cent over the last year, prompting some govern-ments in the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) to plan spending cuts and curb or elimi-nate fuel subsidies.

Non-oil economic growth in the region will slow to 3.8 per cent this year from 5.5 per cent in 2014, ac-cording to International Monetary Fund estimates.

In Egypt, business conditions also worsened at the quickest pace since February, PMI data showed, as a shortage in power supply and foreign currency continued to un-dermine output.

Lower oil revenueFor Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arab economy, the slower growth in pri-vate industries last month is “un-surprising in the context of sharp-ly lower oil revenues and tighter liquidity conditions,” Khatija Haque, head of Middle East and North Africa research at Emirates NBD, wrote. “However, the rate of expansion in the non-oil sector is still relatively robust.”

The Saudi government is al-ready searching for budget sav-ings, is contemplating project delays and has sold bonds for the first time since 2007. The coun-try relies on oil for at least 80 per cent of its revenue. While rates of growth in output, new orders and employment all eased, “the sector

remained firmly in expansion ter-ritory overall,” Emirates NBD said.

The drop in the United Arab Emirates showed “slower, but still solid, improvement in business conditions,” with firms raising their output but cautious about purchasing, the report said.

In Egypt, the PMI gauge fell to 47.2 in October from 50.2 a month earlier, it said.

The shortfall in foreign curren-cies and power supply highlights “the need to implement a more concerted program of structural reforms to boost the economy’s short and long-term outlook,” said Jean-Paul Pigat, a senior econo-mist at Emirates NBD.

Egyptian authorities have taken measures to conserve foreign cur-

rency, including limiting access to dollars to importers of vital goods. A hard currency crunch, however, persists, as receipts from tourism and foreign investment linger at levels lower than those seen before the 2011 popular uprising.

The PMI, which is seasonally adjusted, is based on data com-piled from monthly replies to questionnaires sent to executives in 400 companies in manufactur-ing, services, construction and other non-oil sectors. - Bloomberg News

Emirates NBD Purchasing Managers’ Index

for Saudi Arabia dropped for a second month

in a row to 55.7. The same measure for the

United Arab Emirates fell to 54 from 56

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Sarooj Construction is planning to bid for the second phase of the Golgohar water pipe-line project in Iran. The move forms part of the Omani contrac-tor’s strategy to increase its foot-print in Iran, and enter into the country’s infrastructure sector.

Simon Karam, director of Sa-rooj, told ‘Construction Week’

he made his company’s presence felt in Iran for around five years, in anticipation of the end of inter-national sanctions. “The tender for the second phase of the Golgo-har infrastructure project, which will require 400km of water pipes, is likely to be floated in the next three to four months. Sarooj and its Iranian partners will bid for this contract, and we are optimis-tic that we will succeed,” he added.

G O L G O H A R P R O J E C T

Ahli Bank’s credit ratings affirmed

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Capital Intelligence (CI), the international credit rating agency, said that it has af-firmed Oman-based Ahli Bank’s financial strength rating (FSR) at ‘BBB’, in view of the bank’s very sound loan asset quality, im-provement in capital adequacy in the first half of 2015, and the still good profitability at all levels.

Constraining the FSR is the bank’s very tight liquidity met-rics, customer deposit funding concentrations, low non-inter-est income (NII) coupled with margin compression. The chal-lenging operating environment as a result of a fall in oil price is also a rating constraint. Given the level of ownership and man-agement control by the strategic shareholder Ahli United Bank (AUB) under the Technical and Management Services Agree-ment (TMSA), the bank’s long and short-term foreign curren-cy ratings are affirmed at ‘BBB+’ and ‘A2’, respectively. The sup-port level is maintained at ‘3’, underscoring the high likeli-hood of support from the Omani authorities and from AUB in case of need. The outlook for all the ratings remains ‘Stable’.

Well-managed bankAhli Bank is a well-managed institution following a prudent credit policy and executing a clear business strategy. Risk management and systems ben-efit from the expertise provided by AUB, the largest shareholder, under the five-year renewable TMSA between Ahli Bank and AUB. Key senior employees are seconded from AUB. The bank continues to successfully expand and diversify its busi-ness franchise in Oman, while gaining larger shares of the loan and customer deposit markets. Although non-performing loans (NPLs) grew further in the first half of the current year, albeit from a low base, Ahli Bank’s loan asset quality remains very sound as demonstrated by an exceptionally low NPL to gross loans ratio and more than full loan-loss reserve coverage.

LiquidityAhli Bank’s balance sheet li-quidity remains very tight, re-flecting the large share of loans in total assets combined with the increased utilisation of short-term interbank deposit funding in recent periods. Al-though customer deposits have continued to expand briskly over the last four years, this has also been accompanied by strong credit expansion. As a result, Ahli Bank’s’s liquidity ra-tios remain noticeably weaker than other Omani banks.

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

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Oman’s Sarooj plans to bid for water pipeline project in Iran

B4

MARKETW E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

MUSCATSECURITIES MARKET

SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3

REGULAR MARKET .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................OM0000001160 ............NATIONAL GAS ................................................................ 9,115 .............. 2,906........................5 ............0.312 ........... 0.328 ...........0.312 ............0.318 .............0.308 ............0.010 ............. 3.247 ................0.328..............0.324...................0.328 ..................15,900,000 .........0.100

OM0000001681 ............OMAN AND EMIRATES INV. HOLDING ........... 100,000 ........... 10,600........................ 1 ............0.106 ........... 0.106 ...........0.106 ........... 0.106 ............. 0.103............ 0.003 ............. 2.913 ................0.106 ..............0.106...................0.107 ................... 12,918,750 .........0.100

OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 2,129,331 ...... 400,181................... 159 ............0.185 ........... 0.189 ...........0.185 ........... 0.188 ............. 0.184 ........... 0.004 ............. 2.174 ................0.188 .............. 0.188...................0.189 ...................28,214,100 .........0.100

OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES ......................... 148,000 ............15,048..................... 10 ............0.101 ........... 0.102 ...........0.101 ........... 0.102 .............0.100 ........... 0.002 .............2.000 ................0.102 .............. 0.101...................0.102 ....................6,002,008 ..........0.100

OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING ........... 343,781 .............39,491..................... 35 ............0.115 ........... 0.116 ............ 0.114 ............0.115 ............. 0.113 ............ 0.002 ............. 1.770 ................ 0.116 .............. 0.116................... 0.117 ...................10,350,000 .........0.100

OM0000004768 ...........AL MADINA TAKAFUL .............................................. 52,000 .............. 4,420........................8 ........... 0.085 ........... 0.085 ...........0.085 ........... 0.085 .............0.084 ............0.001 ............. 1.190 ................0.085 ..............0.084...................0.085...................14,875,000 .........0.100

OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. .................. 582,920 ............50,714..................... 33 ........... 0.087 ........... 0.087 ...........0.087 ........... 0.087 .............0.086 ............0.001 ..............1.163.................0.087 ..............0.087...................0.088...................25,228,315 .........0.100

OM0000001517 ............HSBC BANK OMAN .................................................... 3,793,669 ......443,859........................ 1 ............0.117 ........... 0.117 ............ 0.117 ............0.117 ............. 0.116 .............0.001 ............. 0.862 ................ 0.117 .............. 0.116................... 0.117 ..................234,036,596 .......0.100

OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ......................... 82,084 .......... 134,063..................... 23 ............1.630 ........... 1.635............1.630 ............1.635 ............. 1.625 .............0.010 ............. 0.615 ................1.635 .............. 1.635...................1.640 ................1,226,250,000 ......0.100

OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................ 367,788 ............ 64,708......................16 ............0.176 ........... 0.177 ...........0.175 ............0.176 ............. 0.175 .............0.001 ............. 0.571 ................0.176 .............. 0.176...................0.177 ..................253,693,440 .......0.100

OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO....................................................................... 708,601 .........543,262..................... 32 ............0.760 ........... 0.768 ...........0.760 ............0.768 ............. 0.764............ 0.004 ............. 0.524 ................0.768 .............. 0.768...................0.772 ..................499,925,169 ........0.100

OM0000002028 ...........GULF INTERNATIONAL CHEMICALS ................8,000 ...............2,277........................2 ........... 0.285 ........... 0.285 ...........0.284 .......... 0.285 .............0.284 ............0.001 ............. 0.352 ................0.284..............0.284...................0.286 ...................5,985,000 ..........0.100

OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE .............. 508,868 ........... 94,279..................... 37 ............0.185 ........... 0.186 ...........0.185 ............0.185 ............. 0.185............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.185 ..............0.184...................0.185 ...................37,000,000 .........0.100

OM0000001707 ............OMAN CABLES INDUSTRY ......................................54,295 .......... 105,332........................9 ............1.940 ........... 1.940 ...........1.940 ........... 1.940 .............1.940 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.940 ............. 0.000...................1.940..................174,018,000 ........0.100

OM0000001749 ............OMAN CEMENT ........................................................... 25,000 .............11,250........................ 1 ........... 0.450 ........... 0.450 ...........0.450........... 0.450 .............0.450 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.450 ..............0.450...................0.460 .................148,892,720 ........0.100

OM0000001962 ............AL MADINA INVESTMENT ................................... 487,456 ........... 29,363..................... 28 ............0.061 ........... 0.061 ...........0.059 ........... 0.060 .............0.060 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.061 ..............0.060...................0.061 ...................12,429,083 .........0.100

OM0000002200 ...........AHLI BANK ............................................................................542 ...................105........................3 ........... 0.204 ...........0.204 ........... 0.191 ........... 0.204 .............0.204 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 0.191 .............. 0.191...................0.204 .................290,707,373 ........0.100

OM0000002275 ...........SHELL OMAN MARKETING ..................................... 6,700 .............13,400........................2 ........... 2.000 ...........2.000 ...........2.000 .......... 2.000 .............2.000 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................2.000 ............ 2.000...................0.000 ................ 190,000,000 .......0.100

OM0000002549 ...........BANK DHOFAR ..............................................................25,901 ...............6,320........................ 1 ........... 0.244 ...........0.244 ...........0.244 .......... 0.244 .............0.244 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.244 ............. 0.231...................0.244 ................. 376,913,765 ........0.100

OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ............................................................ 1,638,023 ...... 878,010..................... 26 ........... 0.536 ........... 0.538 ...........0.536 ........... 0.536 .............0.536 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.536 ..............0.534...................0.540 ............... 1,228,416,912 ......0.100

OM0000002804 ...........ASAFFA FOODS ............................................................ 50,000 ............43,000........................3 ........... 0.860 ...........0.860 ...........0.860........... 0.860 .............0.860 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.860............. 0.000...................0.852................. 103,200,000 .......0.100

OM0000003000 ...........ALMAHA PETROLEUM PRODUCTS MAR. ..........9,770 ............. 19,149........................ 1 ............1.960 ........... 1.960 ...........1.960 ........... 1.960 ............. 1.960 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.960 ..............1.960...................1.980 ..................135,240,000 .......0.100

OM0000003281 ............TAAGEER FINANCE ...................................................32,550 ...............4,362........................3 ............0.134 ........... 0.134 ...........0.134 ........... 0.134 ............. 0.134............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.134 ..............0.134...................0.000 ..................33,981,060 .........0.100

OM0000004735 ...........SEMBCORP SALALAH ...................................................1,605 ...............4,334........................2 ........... 2.700 ........... 2.700 ...........2.700 ........... 2.700 .............2.700 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................2.700 .............. 2.710...................2.730 ..................257,734,427 ........1.000

OM0000001418 ............RAYSUT CEMENT ....................................................... 26,000 ............ 29,300........................7 ............1.125 ........... 1.130............ 1.125 ............1.125 ............. 1.130 ............-0.005 ........... -0.442 ............... 1.125 .............. 1.120................... 1.125 ................. 225,000,000 .......0.100

OM0000001087 ............OMAN UNITED INSURANCE ................................ 88,000 ............ 22,239........................9 ............0.251 ...........0.254 ...........0.251 ........... 0.253 .............0.255 ...........-0.002 ........... -0.784 ...............0.254..............0.252...................0.254 ..................25,300,000.........0.100

OM0000002374............UNITED FINANCE ..................................................... 315,200 ............39,410..................... 22 ............0.126 ........... 0.126 ...........0.125 ............0.125 ............. 0.126............-0.001 ........... -0.794 ...............0.125 ..............0.124...................0.125 ................... 38,845,618 .........0.100

OM0000002366 ...........AL BATINAH DEV. INV. HOLDING ....................... 24,000 ...............2,401........................7 ............0.101 ........... 0.101............0.100 ........... 0.100 ............. 0.101 ............-0.001 ........... -0.990 ...............0.100 ..............0.099...................0.100....................3,000,000 ..........0.100

OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES ..................................... 665,497 ..........113,303..................... 33 ............0.171 ........... 0.171 ............0.168 ........... 0.170 ............. 0.173 ............-0.003 ............-1.734 ................0.168 .............. 0.165...................0.168 ................... 49,410,674 .........0.100

OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS ..................................................25,457 ............. 11,456........................8 ........... 0.450 ........... 0.450 ...........0.450........... 0.450 .............0.458 ...........-0.008 ............-1.747 ................0.450 ..............0.450...................0.456...................23,625,000 .........0.100

OM0000002176 ............AL JAZEERA STEEL PRODUCTS ..........................37,500 ...............6,588........................4 ............0.177 ........... 0.177 ...........0.175 ............0.176 ............. 0.190 ...........-0.014 ............-7.368................0.175 .............. 0.172................... 0.175 ...................21,982,041 .........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 12,347,653 ......3,145,130............... 531 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ...... 31........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

PARALLEL MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000002580 ...........OMAN EDU. & TRIN. INV. HOLDING...................... 6,010 ............... 1,054........................3 ............0.161 ........... 0.176 ........... 0.161 ............0.175 ............. 0.147............ 0.028 ............ 19.048 ...............0.176 .............. 0.176...................0.000 ..................12,250,000 .........0.100

OM0000001566 ............OMAN FISHERIES ...................................................... 30,000 ............... 1,740........................6 ........... 0.058 ........... 0.058 ...........0.058 ........... 0.058 .............0.056 ........... 0.002 ............. 3.571 ................0.058 ..............0.056...................0.058.................... 7,250,000 ..........0.100

OM0000002564 ...........AL HASSAN ENGINEERING......................................6,000 .................. 534........................ 1 ........... 0.089 ........... 0.089 ...........0.089........... 0.089 .............0.086 ........... 0.003 ............. 3.488 ................0.089 ..............0.086...................0.089.................... 6,693,512 ..........0.100

OM0000001053 ............OMAN TEXTILE HOLDING ................................... 110,359 .............40,815..................... 25 ........... 0.364 ........... 0.370 ...........0.364........... 0.370 .............0.360 ............0.010 ............. 2.778 ................0.370 ..............0.370...................0.372....................2,220,000 ..........1.000

OM0000005963 ...........PHOENIX POWER ...................................................... 421,899 ........... 63,978..................... 72 ............0.151 ........... 0.152 ........... 0.151 ............0.152 ............. 0.151 .............0.001 ............. 0.662 ................0.152 .............. 0.152...................0.153 ..................222,315,422........0.100

OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ................................................................ 331,100 ............ 25,545..................... 23 ........... 0.076 ........... 0.078 ...........0.076 ........... 0.077 .............0.077 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.077 ..............0.076...................0.077..................115,500,000 ........0.100

OM0000004511 ............ALIZZ ISLAMIC BANK.............................................. 325,000 ...........24,090......................18 ........... 0.074 ........... 0.075 ...........0.074 ........... 0.074 .............0.074 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.074 ..............0.073...................0.074...................74,000,000 ........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 1,230,368 ....... 157,757................... 148 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ........ 7........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

BONDS MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000004602 ...........BANK MUSCAT CONV. BONDS 4.5 ..............................104 .....................12........................ 1 ............0.111 ............0.111 ............ 0.111 ............0.111.............. 0.111 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 0.111 ...............0.111................... 0.115 ................... 33,605,151 .........0.100

OM0000004867 ...........BANK MUSCAT C C B 4.5 .................................................104 .....................10........................ 1 ........... 0.095 ........... 0.095 ...........0.095 ........... 0.095 .............0.095 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.095 ..............0.100...................0.105 ...................30,366,054 .........0.100

OM0000005971 ............B.MUSCAT COMPL. CONVR. B.B.3.5 ...........................105 .....................10........................ 1 ........... 0.092 ........... 0.092 ...........0.092........... 0.092 .............0.092 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.092..............0.092...................0.100...................29,822,868 .........0.100

.............................................SUM: .......................................................................................... 313 ..................... 31........................3 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ........ 3........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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

O M A N S T O C K S

INDICESIndex .................................................High .................Low ..................... Value ............... Prev . Value.......... Diff ...............Diff %MSM30 Index ........................................5,949.41 .............. 5,936.26 ................... 5,948.37 ...................5,938.57 ....................9.80 ................... 0.17Financial Index ..................................... 7,316.68 ............... 7,287.05 ....................7,316.67 ................... 7,287.05 ................. 29.62 ................... 0.41Industrial Index .................................... 7,329.79 ............... 7,297.62 ....................7,297.92 ................... 7,325.48 ................ -27.56 .................. -0.38Services Index ...................................... 3,274.54 .............. 3,270.83 ................... 3,274.53 ................... 3,272.61 .................... 1.92 ................... 0.06MSM SHARIAH INDEX........................911.51 ..................910.02 ........................911.31 .......................910.52 .................... 0.79 ................... 0.09

Trading SummaryVolume ................ Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up ............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded13,578,334 ................. 3,302,918 .....................682 ............... 14,741,485,944 ................ 17 ........................7 .................... 17 .........................41

MSM index ends higher

MUSCAT: Shares on the Mus-cat Securities Market edged up on buying support from retail investors. The MSM index closed at 5,948.37 points, up by 0.16 per cent. The MSM Sharia Index was up by 0.09 per cent to close at 911.31 points.

HSBC Bank Oman led in terms of volume, while Bank Muscat was most active in terms of turn-over. The top gainer was HSBC Bank Oman, up by 0.86 per cent while Jazeera Steel Product was the day’s top loser, down by 7.37 per cent.

As many as 682 trades were ex-ecuted in the session, generating a turnover of OMR3.30 million with 13.57 million shares chang-ing hands. Out of 41 traded se-curities, 17 advanced, 7 declined and 17 remained unchanged. At the close of the session, Arabs and GCC investors were net sellers to the tune of OMR600,000, while foreign investors were net sell-ers at OMR537,000 followed by Omani investors, who sold shares amounting to OMR66,000.

Financial Index increased by 0.41 per cent to end the session at 7,316.67 points.

Oman& Emirates, Al Anwar Holding , Gulf Investment Ser-vices and Al Sharqiya Invest-ment increased by 2.91 per cent 2.17 per cent , 2 per cent and 1.77 per cent respectively.DBIH, Oman United Insurance and United Finance declined by 0.99 per cent, 0.79 per centand 0.78 per centrespectively.

Industrial Index declined 0.38% and closed at 7,297.92 points. Oman Fisherie, Al Has-san Engineering, Oman Textile Holding and Galfar Engineering increased by 3.57 per cent, 3.49 per cent, 2.78 per cent and 1.16 per cent respectively. Jazeera Steel Product, Al Maha Ceram-ics and Raysut Cement declined by 7.37 per cent , 1.75 per cent and 0.44 per cent respectively.

Services Index finished at 3,274.53 points, down by 0.06 per cent. National Gas, Omantel and Oreedoo Oman increased by 3.25 per cent, 0.62 per cent and 0.52 per cent respectively. Renais-sance Services was the only loser and was down by 1.73% to close at OMR0.168.

Saudi stocks sink Saudi Arabian equities closed at the lowest level in almost three years after Bank of America Merrill Lynch said the country’s credit worthiness may deterio-rate further.

The Tadawul All Share Index slumped 1.6 per cent to 6,955.11 at the close in Riyadh, the low-est level since March 2013. The property company Jabal Omar Development Company was the biggest contributor to the decline, losing 6.8 per cent, after reporting its first loss in five quarters.

The Kingdom’s credit rating was reduced by one notch to A+ last week with a negative out-look by Standard & Poor’s, which cited an expected widening of the budget deficit due to decline in oil prices and the nation’s depend-ency on energy exports. The risk of another cut is "elevated," BofA said on Tuesday.

Shares valued at about 5.1 bil-lion riyals ($1.4 billion) traded, or 28 per cent less than the market’s one-year daily average, accord-ing to data. Tuesday’s decline sent the Tadawul’s 14-day rela-tive strength index down to 28 points. A level below 30 indicates to some technical analysts that a market is oversold and may be poised to rebound.

Investors “aren’t getting clarity on what the budget will look like and aren’t getting enough of a re-assurance from the government," said Muhammad Shabbir, the head of regional equities at Ras-mala Investment Bank in Dubai.

– United Securities/Bloomberg News

The top gainer was HSBC Bank Oman, up by

0.86 per cent, while Jazeera Steel Product

was the day’s top loser, down by 7.37 per cent

Sensex recovers; rupee slipsMUMBAI: In a volatile mar-ket, the S&P BSE benchmark Sensex snapped its last six-day losing streak, recovered by mere 31 points to close at 26,590.59 on fresh buying mainly in IT, refin-ery, power and tech counters at the current level.

A fall in rupee value against the dollar also boosted the market sentiment as the rupee touched to one-month low to 65.69 per dollar during the afternoon trade.

The sensex resumed higher at 26,660.71 and firmed up further to a high of 26,732.24 on initial buy-ing. However, it fell to 26,514.48 before finishing at 26,590.59, showing a mere gain of 31.44 points or 0.12 per cent.

The CNX 50-share nifty also firmed up by 9.90 points or 0.12 per cent close at 8,060.70.

The CNX Nifty had dropped by 244.65 points or 2.95 per cent in last six trading days.

Extended losses The rupee extended losses for the second consecutive day against the American currency, dropped by another 5 paise to close at one-month low at 65.64 per dollar on fag-end dollar demand from banks amidst sustained foreign capital outflows. -

The Indian unit opened higher at 65.48 as against Monday’s level of 65.59 at the Forex market and firmed up at 65.41. - PTI

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

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Ford launches trendy Figo in Oman

MUSCAT: Designed for custom-ers who seek more out of every journey for less, Ford recently launched the Figo in Oman.

With this introduction Ford has opened a new segment in its lineup here. The compact sedan Figo delights consumers with its inspired design, smart technology, advanced safety features, world-class quality and powerful, effi-cient engines, says a press release.

Figo will be offered in three trim levels: entry-level Ambiente, mid-level Trend and top-of-the-line Titanium. Figo will be available in 4-door configuration and offer a choice of a 1.5L petrol engine churning an impressive 105HP of power and 138 Nm of torque @ 4,500 rpm.

“The new Figo proves that you don’t need to sacrifice quality, de-sign or functionality to have an affordable, powerful compact car,” said Kalyana Sivagnanam, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service at Ford Middle East & Africa. “Figo is the ideal urban mobility vehicle, built to our high global standards, and offering more quality and advanced tech-nologies than one would expect for the money.”

Ford Figo breaks all stereotypes and proves that a compact sedan can also have the best of every-thing — be it stunning design, smart technology, advanced safety

and impressive fuel efficiency. According to a spokesperson

from Arabian Car Marketing, the dealers for Ford in Oman, “The Ford Figo is a whole new vehicle. Although it is a new introduction to the compact sedan segment, it is big on features, safety and technol-ogy. It fits well, right into the lives of those who wish for fun, and ex-citement, without compromising on power and efficiency.”

Reflecting the growing need for consumers to stay connected at all times, the Figo features excep-tional smart technologies that help customers integrate their car more easily into their digital lives.

MyFord Dock, a first-in-class feature, offers drivers a unique solution for storing, mounting and charging mobile phones, MP3 players and satellite navigation systems, and for integrating these devices into the car’s entertain-ment system. When not in use, the dock can be closed out of sight.

Those desiring even greater technological integration can choose a Figo equipped with SYNC, Ford’s advanced in-car connectivity system. SYNC allows drivers to control their phone and entertainment hands-free using simple voice commands. To en-courage responsible driving, the new Figo features Ford’s MyKey technology. MyKey lets owners

programme keys with restricted driving modes that encourage good habits, such as increasing seat belt use, limiting vehicle top speeds and regulating audio volume.

Designed from the ground up to protect occupants in the event of a collision, the Figo features a robust passenger cage created from high-strength steel, and first-in-class standard driver and passenger airbags across the range. Also for the first time in a compact sedan, the Figo offers up to six airbags — including side and curtain airbags — for an extra level of protection in the front and rear compartments. While on the road, the Figo helps instil confi-dence with available driver-assist technologies that take the stress out of driving. When setting off on a steep slope — whether uphill or downhill — the segment-first Hill Launch Assist feature holds the

vehicle for up to three seconds as the driver’s foot moves from the brake to the accelerator.

During sudden manoeuvres, the electronic stability programme keeps the driver in command, braking individual wheels as need-ed to keep the vehicle on course. An anti-lock braking system with electronic brake force distribution also helps drivers to stay in con-trol, preventing wheel lockup and maintaining stability while brak-ing. A speed lip under the front of the car further enhances aerody-namic performance by deflect-ing air away from the underbody, where components can create significant drag, and the side mir-rors have optimised to minimise drag and reduce wind noise. At the rear, sharp, clean edges on the deck-lid and tail lights help the Figo to slip smoothly through the air, reducing turbulence behind

the car to reduce drag. The sophisticated and stylish

exterior of the Figo is matched by a modern interior that delivers an extraordinary experience for a compact car.

Intelligent and careful space management creates a surpris-ingly roomy cabin emphasising quality, comfort and convenience. All occupants will notice excep-tional levels of craftsmanship, with colours and materials care-fully selected by Ford designers to create a refined and premium en-vironment. Thanks to a powerful automatic climate control system, passengers can enjoy the interior space in even greater comfort.

The Figo also offers no fewer than 20 smart storage spaces and convenience features to ensure the driver and passengers never need to leave anything behind. Some highlights include bottle holders in both front doors that can hold a 1.5-litre and a 1.0-litre bottle at the same time, with room left over for an umbrella; a cavernous boot with 430 litres of luggage space, enough for a family getaway; a bag holder in the boot that keeps bags upright to help you carry groceries home safely; a large glove box big enough to fit a laptop that also features a convenient pen holder; three cup holders for front seat occupants, and a convenient bin for rear pas-

sengers at the back of the centre console; seat-back pockets that can hold newspapers and maga-zines for rear-seat passengers; a handy tray with a rubber mat, ideal for holding a mobile phone or sun-glasses; a convenient coin holder that can be used to keep valuables out of sight; for the ultimate in se-curity, a secret side compartment, only accessible when the driver’s door is open, that can be used to store valuables.

Fun-to-drive experienceTrue to Ford’s commitment to delivering a fun-to-drive experi-ence, the Figo has been designed and engineered to offer precise, agile and responsive steering, and stable, predictable handling. This performance is made possible by Electronic Power Assisted Steer-ing (EPAS), which provides lighter steering effort at low speeds – for parking and in-city manoeuvring – and heavier, more precise feel at high speeds for greater stability and confidence on highways. By replacing the belt-driven hydrau-lic pump of a traditional power steering system with an electric motor, EPAS makes for a quieter vehicle with fewer components drawing engine power – which helps to improve fuel economy.

The all-new Figo is on display at the Ford showrooms.

The compact

sedan Figo delights

consumers with

its inspired design,

smart technology,

advanced safety

features, world-class

quality and powerful,

efficient engines

Master chef Pankaj Bhadouria presents signature dishes to The Indian’s Delight MUSCAT: Renowned Indian Master Chef Pankaj Bhadouria of-ficially unveiled The Indian’s De-light restaurant’s special signature dishes on Monday.

The signature dishes, which were exclusively presented for the restaurant, will be unique additions to their wide-ranging menu of pure vegetarian food that truly reflects the authentic taste of classic Indian cuisine, says a press release.

Master Chef Pankaj Bhadouria, who was the winner of Master Chef India Contest (Season 1, 2010), presented a North Indian-based vegetarian starter dish and a dessert during the event. The starter ‘Khoya Khubani Ke Ke-bab’ is a special dish made of raw banana, potatoes, apricots and khoya, shallow fried on a heated griddle and served hot. Adding a sweet and finishing touch to the event, Bhadouria also presented a dessert ‘Saunfiyan Phirni’ which is a fennel seed flavoured creamy rich dessert with a gulkand (rose petal flavoured) cream topping.

Bhadouria, who visited Oman for the first time, is from the Indi-an city of Lucknow, who started off her journey from a school teacher to a celebrity chef. She quit her 16-year-old teaching profession to

follow her dreams and pursue her passion for cooking. She was the first master chef winner world-wide to have an official master chef cookbook in her name and has written two more cookery books Barbie - I am a Chef and Chicken from my Kitchen (Bloomsbury Publishing). She has hosted many TV shows like Chef Pankaj Ka Zay-ka (Star Plus), Kifayati Kitchen (Zee Khana Khazana), 3 Course with Pankaj (Zee Khana Khazana) and Rasoi se Pankaj Bhadouria ke Saath (ETV). She does a lot of workshops and cookery demon-strations and is rated as one of the few TV chefs with a great deal of

integrity for her thoughtful and meticulous recipes on TV shows.

Speaking at the event, Bhadouria said: “This is my first visit to Oman and I am absolutely delighted to have presented my signature dishes exclusively to The Indian’s Delight restaurant. I am glad to be a part of this restaurant by adding my own stamp to their menu of de-lectable offerings.

“Every iconic chef has certain defining recipes and these dishes that I have introduced here are very special to me as they are my own way of making and present-ing them. I am sure the new dishes would receive tremendous re-

sponse from customers in Oman.”Commenting on their restau-

rant, Shankar Narayan, the manag-ing partner of The Indian’s Delight restaurant (brother-in-law of N. S. S. Subramanian, group general manager, Oasis Water Company) said: “We would like to thank Mas-ter Chef Pankaj Bhadouria for ac-cepting our invitation and flying in from India to introduce these ex-citing new signature dishes which help perfect our menu. The signa-ture dishes will soon be available on order from our restaurant. We hope the dishes eventually become successful and help typify our res-taurant’s goal of offering custom-ers food with a twist that will help us stand out from the crowd. We look forward to diners experienc-ing our culinary ingenuity.”

The Indian’s Delight is a speci-ality pure vegetarian restaurant which has some of the best and well known vegetarian dishes from various parts of Northern, Central, Western and Southern India. The restaurant boasts an extensive menu of excellent food to suit all tastes in addition to per-fect attentive service. Customers can enjoy the same healthy, fresh home-cooked food in the beautiful and warm ambience of the eatery.

U N I Q U E A D D I T I O N

Hamdan Exchange

opens its 18th new

branch in Mahout

MUSCAT: Hamdan Exchange, opened its 18th branch in Ma-hout, Al Wusta Governorate re-cently. The branch was inaugu-rated by Sheikh Ammar Ahmed Saif Al Ghafri, managing direc-tor of Hamdan Exchange, in the presence of P. Vidyashankar, gen-eral manager, T. K. Rejith, region-al manager and a large number of customers and well-wishers, says a press release.

“The management of Ham-dan Exchange is pleased to open its branch in Mahout to serve customers from the area. Until now people from the area had to travel long distances to avail the services of money exchange. The branch will surely reduce their ordeal,” said Al Ghafri.

“We have already migrated to new software which is inte-grated with the servers of most of the banks in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka which enables us to send the transac-tion to desired accounts or make the payment available for pick up at the destination country within minutes. It will surely help us to serve the customers still better and the process of integration is

going on for banks in Philippines and Egypt,” he said.

Hamdan Exchange is part of one of the biggest business groups in Oman, the Hamdan Group Holding, which owns Hamdan Plaza Hotel in Salalah, Hamdan Transport, Hamdan Trading Group (Dunlop), Ham-dan Constructions, Hamdan Tours and Travels, Hamadan Mining International etc. Estab-lished in the year 1990 by Sheikh Hamed Hamood Al Ghafri, Ham-dan Exchange has been serving the community for the last 25 years during which period it has spread its branch network to all over Oman. The new branch is lo-cated in a strategic location to of-fer better services to the expatri-ate community as well as Omani nationals in the area.

Hamdan Exchange has tied up with major banks in India, Pa-kistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Egypt. It has tied up with major remittance channels like Western Union, Xpress Money, EzRemit, Trans-fast and Instant Cash to ensure fast and secure remittance op-tions to its customers.

E X P A N S I O N

Kims provides distinctive medical services at its emergency departmentMUSCAT: As part of its un-wavering efforts to expand its medical services, Kims Oman Hospital (KOH) — 50 bedded hos-pital, equipped with excellence in healthcare delivery — is deter-mined to enhance the quality of ac-cident and emergency care across the Sultanate of Oman.

KOH’s emergency medical ser-vice department features 24 hours ambulance service. Additionally, the department is capable of man-aging all forms of medical and sur-

gical emergencies including pain management as well as poly trau-ma with multiple fractures, says a press release.

A well-equipped emergency

room with hi-tech monitors venti-lator, infusion pump, cardiac and respiratory monitors and crash cart has been all set up at the state-of-the-art emergency medical service

department that is equipped with top notch emergency physicians and professional medical staff that are available to receive patients around the clock, while it is sup-ported by 24/7 on call experienced specialists and consultants.

“At KOH, we always have the keenness to ensure that our medi-cal services fulfil the needs of our community members as well as to deliver the best medical services effectively and efficiently,” said Dr Hussam Akoum, COO of KOH.

H E A L T H C A R E

The department is capable of managing all forms of medical

and surgical emergencies including pain management as

well as poly trauma with multiple fractures

B6 W E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

RECRUIT/ ROUND-UPFour months’ free subscription with new Ooredoo offer

MUSCAT: Ooredoo is inviting new and existing business cus-tomers to enjoy greater value than ever before with its new Four Months’ Free subscription offer on their Shahry Business Packs which is available for a limited time only.

Customers will be able to save 33 per cent off on their annual mobile subscriptions. Available from November 3, business cus-tomers who sign up for Shahry Business Packs will receive a free subscription on the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th months of their first

year. Over a 12 month contract the savings quickly add up, on Shahry Business 5 there are guaranteed savings of OMR20, while Shahry Business 10 customers will save OMR40. Those that opt for the best value Shahry Business 20 and Shahry Business 30 Packs will save OMR80 and a huge OMR120 respectively in their first year, says a press release.

Said Al Shanfari, director of Business Marketing at Ooredoo, said, “Our Shahry Business Packs have evolved since we launched the product back in December 2013. Starting off as a first-of-its-kind bundled business mobile

plan, it has since grown to become one of the most cost efficient ser-vices that cater to diverse busi-ness users. Designed to provide even more value and flexibility, Four Months’ Free offer was de-veloped as part and parcel of our commitment to meet the diverse and changing needs of businesses in Oman. It gives our valued cus-tomers the ability to enjoy their very own ‘subscription holiday’ for four months during their first year, reduce overall annual spending, and delivers the world of choice they want.”

Developed to inspire and em-power Oman’s burgeoning en-trepreneurial economy, Shahry Business Packs are single tariff mobile bundles that combine call-ing, texting, user group calling and generous mobile data allowances in one convenient and affordable monthly package.

Offering choice and value along with award winning cus-tomer care, the bundles have become a one-stop solution for all business-related communi-cations needs. To subscribe for Shahry Business Packs and opt in to the Four Months’ Free sub-scription, bring your CRN and other business registration docu-mentation and visit any of Oore-doo’s 38 stores across Oman.

Business customers

who sign up for

Shahry Business

Packs will receive a

free subscription

on the 3rd, 6th, 9th

and 12th months of

their first year

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

Khamis Sulaiman Hamed Al Gharibi from Nizwa branch, Ab-dullah Mohammed Hashil Al Jarwani from Al Khuwair branch, Nasser Mohammed Abdullah Al Ajeel from Salalah branch, Hamed

Masoud Sulaiman Al Subhi from Barka branch and Hilal Hamdan Ali from Nizwa 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 extension of the bank’s tradition of product innovation. Opening MyHassad Saving ac-count is simple and easy. Custom-ers need only to open their My-Hassad account with OMR100 for their chance to win OMR1,000 in the next working day’s draw.

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RECRUIT

‘Bhavalayam 2015’ honours artistesMUSCAT: ‘Bhavalayam 2015’, a cultural extravaganza and art fi-esta presented by Bhavalaya, hon-oured artistes from different walks of life at the Grand Hall of Al Falaj Hotel. Bhavalaya is a non-profit global platform for the promotion of art and culture.

The evening organised by Mus-cat Unique Diamond Entertain-ment also saw a fusion of song, dance and film on display for the art connoisseurs of Muscat who gathered in large numbers to fill the Grand Hall, says a press release.

Indra Mani Pandey, Indian ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, attended the occasion as the chief guest while Dr Khalid Abdul Rahman Al Zadjali, chair-man, Oman Film Society, was pre-sent as the guest of honour along with Dr J. Retnakumar, chairman and founder, Bhavalaya.

‘Bhavalayam 2015’ was kick-started by an energetic and foot-tapping tribal dance number cho-reographed by the acclaimed RVL Babu from White Roses Dance

Company. It set the tone for rest of the evening as the audience sat up to watch the colour, vibrancy and razzmatazz on the stage.

The main highlight of the even-

ing was the honouring of renowned Malayalam TV serial director K. K. Rajeev, who was bestowed the ‘Bhavalaya’ award for 2015 for his efforts in the television arena.

Bharatanatyam expert Padmini Krishna Moorthy was awarded the ‘Natya Kalaratnam’ Award which was preceded by a captivating dance drama by Padmini and her team of dancers that took the tempo of the programme to the next level.

Short movieThe honouring continued as the cast and crew of the 45-minute movie To Be Or Not To Be, directed by journalist Kabeer Yousuf and produced by Retnakumar, were felicitated on the stage by the dig-nitaries present.

The movie that deals with a rel-evant theme of child trauma fea-tured Rabah Zayed in the lead role,

noted theatre person Girija Baqer as the grandmother, the talented Azra Aleem as the mother and Retnakumar donning the role of a child psychiatrist.

Screening of the much-antic-ipated movie left many a mother teary eyed in the auditorium as the essence of the universal topic struck a chord with the audience.

New actorsEarlier, Bhavalaya held auditions to select two actors who could fea-ture in Rajeev’s next Malayalam soap opera.

After two rounds of auditioning, the jury comprising Rajeev, Ret-nakumar, Girija and Malayalam TV anchor Munshi Ranjith picked Sunil Kumar G. and Nisha Prabha-karan as the winners.

They will be featured in one of Rajeev’s forthcoming projects.

The main highlight

of the evening

was the honouring

of renowned

Malayalam TV serial

director K. K. Rajeev,

who was bestowed

the ‘Bhavalaya’

award for 2015 for

his efforts in the

television arena

A dozen things you must know about communicating your career brandWHAT talents and strengths do you want to be known for in your career? What kind of employer will be drawn to, connect with, and pay a premium for that?

These two questions capture the essence of what career brand-ing is all about. Image and con-nection. Think of your brand as a uniquely individual image with a magnet attached to it. Many of the dynamics behind corporate branding — why a consumer chooses Crest over Colgate — also apply in hiring.

What are the benefits to having a good, strong brand? A brand will:

Bring you new opportunities faster; make others aware of your expertise; guide you in your career decisions about what training to pursue and what opportunities to accept; create in the employer’s mind a compulsion to buy (hire) you; differentiate you from your competition; and elevate you from the status of a commodity (in commodities, lowest price wins).

These tips will help guide you in creating and communicating a brand that will help employers choose you:

Job search is marketing: You are the product, and the employ-er is the consumer. A clear and compelling career brand helps employers perceive the benefits of your product, giving you an ad-vantage in the job market.

Successful career brands weave together three A’s: Au-thentic image, Advantages, and Awareness. Project an image of your authentic self, focus on the advantages you offer in getting the job done, and make employ-ers aware of those advantages.

Authentic image: Your brand should be founded on authentic-ity. It should be about who you are, what your work-life purpose is, and what you are committed to causing. As a starting point to develop your brand, brainstorm a list of all the things you are good at. Next, identify your passion. Us-ing your brainstormed list of what you’re good at, circle those items you are most passionate about.

Advantages: Once you’ve iden-tified your top pick, determine the advantages to that item. For in-stance, if you are great at conflict management, the advantages to recipients (employers) of your brand might be greater coopera-tion among team members, which leads to enhanced productivity, new ideas, less employee turno-ver, etc. List at least three distinct advantages for your brand.

Awareness: Internationally known consultant and author Alan Weiss, states that a brand is “an awareness factor.” Above all, look for opportunities to make the right people aware of your brand. Get on the radar screen. The best brand in the world is useless unless people are aware of it. Initiate an or-chestrated campaign to “bran-dish” your brand.

Conduct some analysis to de-termine what the market con-ditions are for your emerging brand: Is there a need for what you offer? Are companies hiring in that area? Are there a zillion com-petitors for what you want to do? If the answers to these questions are negative, consider fine-tuning your brand. Once you’ve deter-mined your passionate competen-cy and the market demand, begin to determine the best approach for positioning your brand. Think unique positioning.

Branding can be accomplished through verbal and visual means: Verbal branding includes your sound bites and success sto-ries, while visual branding is ac-complished through your actions, attitude, and attire.

Hone your product benefits into a 3-point marketing mes-sage that conveys your unique strengths. This message should be a critical sound bite in your branding campaign. Here’s a short and succinct example: “I excel at the 3 R’s of sales: re-search, relationships, and rev-enue — I exhaustively research client needs, build relationships based on serving those needs, and have a track recording of driving record revenue as a result.”

Create a benefit-driven target statement: To keep you focused in your search, help networking contacts know how to help you, and explain your value to inter-viewers. Align your statement with employer buying motivators, such as generating revenue, sav-ing money, or solving a problem.

Be prepared for the net-working opportunities that abound, both internally and externally: Be ready with a sound bite that describes your unique brand. Mix and match your success stories and sound bites to create a comfortable yet compel-ling 2-minute introduction.

Practice: You must be able to de-liver your sound bites naturally, without appearing as though you’re reading a telemarketing script. Visual branding means you must look the part. Ask for wardrobe advice from someone who is successful and has a good sense of style. If uncertain about how to dress for a networking event or interview, err on the side of formality.

Visual branding also means you must act the part. Candidly evaluate your mindset, beliefs, behaviours, and attitudes. Are these consistent with others in your field who have attained no-table success?

Find a person or two who will respectfully and selflessly sup-port you in your commitment to shaping and enhancing your ide-al image. A coach can be an ideal support person. — Susan Whitcomb/

www.quintcareers.com

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‘Discover America’ at Lulu offers best of US

MUSCAT: The latest in the series of thematic promotions at Lulu, ‘Discover America’, organised in partnership with US Embassy, was inaugurated at Lulu Hyper-market, Baushar.

The aim of this promotion is to bring the best of America to Oman and provide the citizens with an

opportunity to enjoy a slice of America here. The event is be-ing organised for the first time in Oman, says a press release.

‘Discover America’ was inaugu-rated by Greta C. Holtz, US ambas-sador to Oman, along with Lulu officials marking the start of the celebration with the best of food products from America.

The event running through se-lected Lulu outlets in Oman will showcase a wide variety of related products, some exclusively for the Omani market.

Inaugurating the event Holtz said: “We thank Lulu for hosting the ‘Discover America’ week and are proud that the US products are on display here at Lulu. There are over 2,000 products that are fresh, high quality and the fact that these

can be imported and sold here in Oman is a testament to the strong ties that we have between both these countries both commercial-ly and culturally. There are a lot of Omanis who study in the United States and it is wonderful that they can come back and pick up their fa-vourite products.”

‘Discover America’ will have racks stacked up with brands like Kellogg’s, McCain, Jell-O, Bertolli, Folgers, Smucker’s, Quaker, Gato-rade, Pringles, Sunsweet, Hunt’s, M&M, Hershey’s, Kraft, Dole, Tur-key Hill, Celeste, Eggo and many more. For the interest of the health conscious, the festival will include a variety of diabetic-friendly, glu-ten free and organic products.

Commenting on this unique initiative Ananth A. V., regional

director of Lulu, said: “This is yet another first for Lulu in Oman and a part of the ever growing list of events at Lulu. We have since inception been importing some of the popular US products and with this promotion we intend to bring this to the forefront in terms of visibility through our stores. This is our small attempt to bring a slice of America to Oman.”

Lulu Oman has been host to a variety of similar campaigns and each of them has always been a success story due to the flawless arrangements, high quality prod-ucts and unparalleled customer assistance. With over a hundred stores across Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia, Lulu’s expan-sion is a proof of its customers’ loyalty, patronage and preference.

The aim of this

promotion is to bring

the best of America

to Oman

alizz bank partners with Takaful OmanMUSCAT: alizz Islamic bank signed a Memorandum of Un-derstanding (MoU) with Takaf-ul Oman, the Sultanate’s first full-fledged Islamic insurance provider, to provide the bank’s customers with Motor Takaful policies at special rates.

Takaful Oman will issue Mo-tor Takaful policies from alizz Is-lamic bank’s branches, thus saving the customers’ valuable time and making the process of obtaining Takaful policies more convenient for customers, says a press release.

Salaam Al Shaksy, chief execu-tive officer of alizz Islamic bank, and Sayyidah Rawan Al Said, vice chairperson and managing direc-tor of Takaful Oman signed the MoU at a ceremony held at alizz Islamic bank’s head office in CBD, Ruwi, in the presence of Moosa Al Jadidi, head of Retail Banking at alizz Islamic bank and other ex-ecutives from both institutions.

Commenting on the occasion, Salaam Al Shaksy noted: “Both

alizz Islamic bank and Takaful Oman are fairly young financial institutions offering Sharia-com-pliant products to a growing base of customers in Oman. Our agree-ment with Takaful Oman marks the beginning of what we hope is a strong and successful business relationship that will provide our valued patrons with an unrivalled customer experience.”

Sayyidah Rawan commented: “We are delighted and excited about our new strategic partner-ship with alizz Islamic bank and be the first Takaful company in the Sultanate to distribute Mo-tor Takaful through an Islamic bank. The partnership with alizz Islamic bank is mutually benefi-cial for both as we are able to offer motor Takaful to a wider audi-ence through the bank’s distribu-tion network and alizz customers get value added service in the form of having their vehicles in-sured through Sharia compliant means in the bank itself.”

S T R A T E G I C P A R T N E R S H I P

Al Shomoukh Nursery ‘goes pink’

MUSCAT: What better way to bring attention to a special cause than to highlight it with a splash of pink colour and to involve a group of highly enthusiastic children?

Al Shomoukh Nursery children went pink recently to mark inter-national Breast Cancer Aware-ness month. Students and teach-ers arrived at the nursery dressed up all in pink. The nursery want-ed to raise awareness and raise

funds for special cause. All dona-tions received will be donated to the Oman Cancer Centre, says a press release.

The nursery staff and children carried out activities around pink day such as painting the pink rib-bon, cooking pink biscuits, and preparing pink souvenirs. The children also participated in a walkathon on the nursery prem-ises, holding a big pink ribbon to

raise awareness and support the pink campaign.

Meriam Sabra, director, Al Shomoukh, said: “We believe ed-ucation is an adventure and the learning experience needs to be fun and related to real-life experi-ence. The nursery wanted to raise awareness and take part in the Breast Cancer Awareness month. Truly, it was an enriching experi-ence for the students.

B R E A S T C A N C E R A W A R E N E S S

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WADI TIWI A TOWN OF WATER FALLS

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PAKISTAN’S SHOAIB MALIK RETIRES FROM TEST CRICKET>C3

Orrin excited to be back in Oman

MUSCAT: Englishman Max Orrin is delighted to be back in Oman for the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final and relishing his return to the stun-ning Almouj Golf in Muscat, scene of his maiden victory last year.

The European Challenge Tour event, which began life in 2013, has for the past two years been the penultimate tournament of the season, but has this year been elevated to become the season-ending finale.

The prestigious tournament is only open to the top 45 players on the newly coined ‘Road to Oman Rankings’ and as well as prize fund of €375,000, European Tour cards for next season will be awarded to the top 15 players on the Rankings at the conclusion of the event.

Orrin is currently ranked 21st,

but only €8,569 behind John Hahn who is in 15th place, and with €64,000 on offer for the winner of the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final, it could prove a life changing week for the 21-year-old.

“It’s exciting for sure,” Orrin, who won this season’s Made in Denmark Challenge, said.

“To have the event as the final tournament of the season, with such a lot at stake, is a good oppor-tunity for me and hopefully I can re-produce some of the form from last year and have another good finish.”

Having triumphed by three strokes from fellow countryman Jason Palmer with a seven-under-par total at Almouj Golf last year, Orrin is a big fan of the Greg Nor-man-designed layout and believes it provides a fitting stage for the season-ending showdown.

“It’s one of those courses where you don’t need to make a lot of birdies – it’s just about limiting the damage, limiting the bogeys,” he said. “I think I had maybe two or three dropped shots all week last year. I didn’t have any doubles. I was

only dropping a few and just getting it round and playing par golf.

“You need to have some good pace on the greens because you’re going to have some long putts on this course. It’s a ball striker’s course and if you can putt well too I think that’s the key around here.

“I think all of the players appre-ciate how good the golf course is and how good the event is. In com-parison to the rest of the courses we play throughout the year it’s

one of the best. “You want a tough course for the Grand Final; you want to earn the right to be the cham-pion. There’s so much that can still change on the Road to Oman Rank-ings so it’s all set up for an exciting end to the season.”

Orrin also believes that after two impressive editions as the pe-nultimate event on the schedule, the tournament is well deserving of its promotion to become the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final.

“NBO look after us very well,” he said. “The food, the hospitality, everything from the day we arrive is first class and I’m sure it’ll be even better this year now that the event is the Grand Final.”

Meanwhile, the battle to be named European Challenge Tour Number One is set to be a captivat-ing one with Ricardo Gouveia lead-ing the Road to Oman Rankings by just €3,980 from good friend Se-bastien Gros. Third placed Borja

Virto Astudillo, who won The Foshan Open recently, and fourth placed Bjorn Akesson, could also take top honours if other results go their way. Tuesday’s Pro-Am signalled the curtain raiser for the tournament week at Almouj Golf with the team led by Jens Dantorp winning the morning event.

The first round of the 2015 NBO Golf Classic Grand Final gets un-derway at Almouj Golf at 7.30 a.m. on Wednesday.

Having triumphed

by three strokes from

fellow countryman

Jason Palmer with a

seven-under-par total

at Almouj Golf last

year, Orrin is a big fan

of the Greg Norman-

designed layout and

believes it provides

a fitting stage for

the season-ending

showdown

PICTURE FROM PAST: Englishman Max Orrin, centre, is with Oman’s Minister of Sports Affairs Sheikh Saad bin Mohammed Al Mardouf Al Saadi and other guests, after he won the title at Almouj Golf last year.

The European Challenge Tour’s top 45 players will be teeing up at Muscat’s superb Almouj Golf, The Wave for the season-ending NBO Golf Classic Grand Final. With all roads this year leading to Oman, here’s a breakdown of the key statistics you need to

know ahead of our final event of the season:€60,000 bonus pot for the top three in the Road to Oman Rankings 38,000 miles covered by the Challenge Tour this year — the equivalent of flying round the world one and a half times20 countries visited in 201524 tournaments played18 different winners this season from…12 different countries11 first-time winners this season45 players in NBO Golf Classic Grand Final field from…17 different countries15 European Tour cards on offer3 wins this season for Nacho Elvira, earning him immediate promotion to The European Tour3rd time Challenge Tour has visited Oman1st time Oman has staged the Challenge Tour’s Grand Final

N B O G O L F C L A S S I C G R A N D F I N A L I N N U M B E R S

MUSCAT: While 45 leading European Challenge Tour players are set to start their campaign in the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final at Almouj Golf on Wednesday, the Omani amateurs are awaiting eagerly to test their skills in a 36-hole

competition. Azzan Al Rumhy, the Sultanate’s top golfer, will be leading a field of nine local amateurs in the NBO Golf Clas-sic Amateur Final, which will be played on stroke play format for two days. The Omanis will be teeing off as three groups

of three players as the last tee times of the day, following the completion of the first and second round of the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final.

The top three players in the Amateur Final will be awarded a prize based on their gross

score at the completion of their second 18-hole round played on Thursday. Besides Azzan, the other Omanis who confirmed their participation are Amjad Al Toky, Ali Hameed Al Salah, Hamed Al Rumhy, Fahad Al Kitani and Rashad Al Harthy.

Oman amateurs to tee off today in a 36-hole competition

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‘Need more teams in World Cup to make cricket a global sport’

NEW YORK: Legendary bats-man Sachin Tendulkar feels cricket might be the second most popular sport in the world but in order to make it a global sport more countries need to play in the game’s showpiece event, the ICC World Cup.

Tendulkar, who is here along with Australian spin legend Shane Warne for the inaugural ‘Cricket All Stars 2015’, a three-city Twenty20 rubber involving retired stars of the game, said the idea behind the series is not only to popularise the game in the US but to globalise it as there is a need to have more countries taking up the sport competitively.

“People have opinions that there should be less teams. But we need to find a solution and work to-wards it together to make cricket a global sport and not have just eight to twelve countries compete all

the time and be happy with that,” the Indian cricket legend said here on Monday.

“From the time of the first World Cup in 1975 till now, there are only nine to 12 teams that compete for the Cup. If we don’t take steps to-ward that (globalising the sport) it is never going to happen,” he said.

‘Cricket All Stars 2015’ series, mooted by Tendulkar and Warne, will bring together 28 of the biggest names of the game, including for-mer Indian skipper Saurav Gan-guly, Virender Sehwag, Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan, former West Indian captain Brian Lara and former Pakistan pacers Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar.

Just like his batting, Tendulkar responded in elegant fashion to former Australia captain Ian

Chappell’s recent comments that retirement means the end of a ca-reer and people would not want to watch retired players in the Twenty20 exhibition series to be played in New York, Houston and Los Angeles.

Tendulkar said retirement does not mean you never pick up a cricket bat again.

“The reason for stopping cricket is because you cannot be competi-tive at that level but that does not mean you stop enjoying cricket. This is what we are doing, we are enjoying cricket. Once you retire it does not mean you never pick up a cricket bat again,” he said.

Tendulkar said players in the series are picking up the cricket bat for fun and enjoyment and if in the process they inspire thousands

others to watch and learn the game, there is nothing wrong with it.

“People will always have opin-ions, it does not mean it is the right opinion,” he said pointing at Chap-pell’s comments.

The first match of the series between Sachin’s Blasters and Warne’s Warriors will be played in the famed 45,000 seater Citi Field, the home of Major League Base-ball’s New York Mets.

Tendulkar said while it was not possible to play a long series, the retired players felt it is feasible to play three-four games.

“Why not use that energy and enthusiasm (for the game) in dif-ferent parts of the world to glo-balise cricket, get people excited about the game,” he said, adding that the players will also be able

to interact with spectators which was difficult for them to do during an international game.

When asked through the series whether the players are looking to bring in the IPL format to the US, Warne said their only focus is to make the series a success.

“The feedback has been unbe-lievable. If this goes well it can be an annual thing and we will come to America all the time,” Warne said.

“We have 28 big stars, and we are giving ourselves a chance and are trying to give back to people who love the game of cricket,” the former leg-spinner said.

“If that develops into something else and there is a huge demand for it that will be fantastic for all of us who love the game of cricket,” the Australian great added.

Warne said he along with Ten-dulkar know that the Americans are is passionate about sports.

“We always wanted to bring cricket to people who never had the chance to see their players live,” he said.

The two players, who visited Facebook headquarters in the city and took questions from fans, said experts have been preparing the pitch for the game for six months in Indianopolis and advanced technology has been used for the drop-in pitch.

Warne said the two teams —Sachin’s Blasters and Warne’s War-riors — will play competitive crick-et and neither team will take it easy.

“It is not going to be a friendly match. We will play to win. By no means I’m suggesting that we are going to take it easy. We are here to play competitive cricket and also get youngsters excited about the game,” he said. - PTI

Tendulkar said the

idea behind ‘Cricket

All Stars’ series is

not just to popularise

the game in the US

but to globalise it

as there is a need to

have more countries

taking up the sport

competitivelyWORK TOGETHER: Retired cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, left, of India and Shane Warne of Australia ad-

dress the media at Times Square in Manhattan, New York on Monday. – PTI

India, Pakistan governments should decide on bilateral series: Sachin

Indian team for

Junior Asia Cup

NEW YORK: Advocating the need for improvement in rela-tions between India and Pa-kistan, batting legend Sachin Tendulkar said if the govern-ments of the two countries feel a bilateral cricket series is the “ideal way” to move forward then it should be held.

He said the ball is entirely on the respective government’s court to take a call on the re-sumption of bilateral cricket ties.

“These are issues which the two countries’ government needs to decide,” Tendulkar told reporters here on Monday when asked about the hardships that has come up in the proposed bi-lateral series between India and Pakistan in UAE in December.

“Also I think that the relations (between India and Pakistan) need to improve. If the govern-ments feel that this (cricket) is the ideal way to move forward and the (cricket) boards (feel so), I do not see any reason why we should not play. (But) if they (governments) feel it is inap-propriate then we have to abide by them,” he added. - PTI

NEW DELHI: India on Tues-day named a 18-member squad for the eighth Junior Men’s Asia Cup hockey tournament to be held in Kuantan, Malaysia from November 14 to 22.

The Junior Men’s Asia Cup will feature top eight countries from Asia. The Indian team will be led by talented Harjeet Singh, who was adjudged the player of the tournament in the recently-concluded fifth Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia.

The Indian colts had finished runners-up in the Sultan of Jo-hor Cup after losing to Great Britain on penalties in the sum-mit clash.

“Malaysia is a known terri-tory to us, and our performance in the 5th Sultan of Johor Cup are fresh in our performance,” a confident Indian junior team coach Harendra Singh said. “The team has been together for over two months now and that just adds to the comfort and performance standards.”

India is placed in Pool A and will play their opening match against Japan on November 14.

Indian team: Goalkeepers: Suraj Karkera, Vikas Dahiya; Defenders: Dip-san Tirkey (vice-captain), Varun Kumar, Anand Lakra, Vikramjit Singh, Har-manpreet Singh; Midfielders: Nilakanta Sharma, Harjeet (captain), Santa Singh, Manpreet Singh, Mangal Singh Cha-hal; Forwards: Mandeep Singh, Sumit Kumar, Arman Qureshi, Gurjant Singh, Mohd. Umar, Ajit Kumar Pandey. - PTI

C R I C K E T

H O C K E Y

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SPORTSW E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

Oman Football Association begins

preparations for Roadmap 2022

MUSCAT: The Technical De-partment of the Oman Football Association (OFA) held a meeting with the coaches of the Sultan-ate’s national teams and the asso-ciation chairman Sayyid Khalid Al Busaidi on Tuesday to discuss both the long and short term fu-ture of the national squads.

OFA Technical Director Jim Selby made a presentation of

his plans with the national team coaches for the future initiatives towards the betterment of their teams and hosted a discussion about the same with them.

The presentation and discus-sion were about the development of the technical side of the games and the ways in which to improve the quality and technical stand-ard of all the national teams.

The Technical Department will now consolidate the data and input given from the national team coaches and accordingly present the output of the work-shop to the Oman Football Asso-ciation board, who will also input their ideas and plans.

The final consolidated output will then be launched as the Road-map 2022 for the national teams.

F U T U R E P L A N S

Hafeez hauls Pakistan back into the final Test

SHARJAH: Opener Mohammed Hafeez made a brave unbeaten 97 to lift Pakistan to 146 for three, 74 runs ahead of England at the close on a tense third day of the final Test in Sharjah on Tuesday.

England claimed a 72-run first-innings lead to push for a series-levelling victory but Hafeez and Azhar Ali shared an opening part-nership of 101 to bring the hosts back into the match.

Ali was farcically run out for 34,

James Anderson trapped Shoaib Malik lbw for nought and Stuart Broad dismissed Younis Khan for 14 in the final session to give England hope after they had been bowled out for 306 soon after lunch. Jonny Bairstow (43) and Samit Patel (42) contributed use-ful cameos while Ben Stokes came out to bat despite a broken collar-bone before being the last man out.

Hafeez, on two, was given out caught behind off Anderson but the opener immediately reviewed the decision and got it overturned.

Lost three wicketsAfter adding nine more runs to his score, the right-hander edged Moeen Ali but wicketkeeper Bairstow could not pouch the deflection. Earlier, England lost three wickets on the third morning after resuming on 222-4.

The visitors’ hopes of forging a big first innings advantage on the Sharjah Cricket Stadium’s slow surface suffered a double blow when they lost both their over-night batsmen early.

James Taylor (76) added just two runs before he edged left-arm paceman Rahat Ali behind for wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed to complete a low one-handed diving catch to his right.

Taylor’s dismissal ended a reso-lute stand of 89 and Bairstow soon followed him back to the pavilion after he failed to read an arm ball from left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Ba-bar and was bowled.

Patel, who passed his previ-ous test best score of 33, and Adil Rashid offered resistance, forcing captain Misbah-ul Haq to call on part-time off-spinner Malik.

He repaid his captain’s trust by dismissing Rashid in his second

over of the day with Ali completing a sharp, low catch at short leg.

Malik went on to dismiss Ander-son and Stokes to claim Test best figures of 4-33.

Stokes will not bowl again in the match. “His injury will be re-viewed in seven-to-10 days once it has had a chance to settle. A deci-sion about his return to play will be taken at this time,” the England and Wales Cricket Board said in a statement. - Reuters

England claimed

a 72-run lead to

push for a series-

levelling victory but

Hafeez and Azhar Ali

shared an opening

partnership of 101 to

bring the hosts back

into the match

Pakistan 1st innings: 234 England 1st innings:A. Cook c A. Ali b Shah 49 M. Ali c Y. Khan b Malik 14I. Bell st S. Ahmed b Shah 40J. Root c S. Ahmed b R. Ali 4J. Taylor c S. Ahmed b R. Ali 76J. Bairstow b Babar 43S. Patel b Shah 42A. Rashid c A. Ali b Malik 8S. Broad not out 13J. Anderson b Malik 7B. Stokes b Malik 0Extras (lb-6, nb-4) 10Total (all out, 126.5 overs) 306Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-90, 3-97, 4-139, 5-228, 6-245, 7-285, 8-287, 9-296, 10-306 Bowling: R. Ali 22-12-48-2 (nb-1), Y. Shah 36-3-99-3, W. Riaz 20-5-33-0 (nb-3), Z.

Babar 37-6-80-1, S. Malik 9.5-3-33-4, A. Ali 2-0-7-0Pakistan 2nd innings:M. Hafeez not out 97A. Ali run out 34S. Malik lbw b Anderson 0Y. Khan lbw b Broad 14R. Ali not out 0Extras (lb-1) 1Total (for 3 wickets, 53 overs) 146Fall of wickets: 1-101, 2-105, 3-146To bat: Misbah-ul Haq, A. Shafiq, S. Ahmed, W. Riaz, Y. Shah, Z. Babar Bowling: J. Anderson 14-5-36-1, S. Broad 12-4-19-1, S. Patel 11-0-40-0, M. Ali 6-1-25-0, A. Rashid 10-2-25-0Umpires: Chris Gaffaney & Bruce Oxenford TV umpire: Paul Reiffel Match referee: Andy Pycroft

S C O R E B O A R D

Shoaib Malik retires from Tests

SHARJAH: Pakistan batsman Shoaib Malik is to retire from test cricket at the end of the current match against England in Shar-jah, he said on Tuesday.

Malik, 33, made a shock return to Test cricket at the beginning of the three-match series in the United Arab Emirates, marking his comeback with a career-best 245 in Abu Dhabi.

He has since scored 47 runs in five innings, including a golden duck in his last one on Tuesday, but he did record his best Test bowling figures of four for 33 on the day he announced his retire-ment.

“We have some good young-sters and now is the time to re-

tire,” Malik, who made his Test debut in 2001, told reporters.

He scored more than 1,800 runs in 35 Tests.

“The reason of my leaving Tests is not because of slump in form but it’s because I want to give more time to my family and concentrate on the 2019 World Cup.”

Malik was married to Indian tennis star Sania Mirza in 2010, a wedding widely publicised across Pakistan and India.

He has so far taken 29 wickets, with his best figures of 4-33 com-ing on Tuesday against England in Sharjah, a figure to which he can possibly add a few in Eng-land’s second innings. - Agencies

C A L L I N G I T Q U I T S

MORE TIME FOR FAMILY: Shoaib Malik during a press confer-

ence as he announces his retirement from Test cricket. – Reuters

The “good, five-day wicket” with a lush-green outfield being

swept, mowed and rolled out by the ground staff for the first Test at Mohali is expected to help fast bowlers, initially, and spinners, later on. Is that good news for Team India?

The wicket has “something for everybody”, according to Punjab Cricket Association secretary MP Pandove.

What does it really mean? Dayle Steyn hitting the deck

hard and getting his guaran-teed initial purchase in the event of the Indians being put to bat first, perhaps.

There may not be anything substantial on the Indian first innings scoreboard if Morne Morkel and Kygiso Rabada too harvest their “something”, leaving the sweet job of per-forming gravity-defying stunts with the bat to AB de Villiers that could take the wind out of the Indian bowlers.

After the T20 and ODI losses, the four-Test series is the last ray of hope for the Indians to redeem the home pride. And to get that job neatly done, what Virat Kohli would need in his home debut as skipper is a square turner. Right from day one, of course.

A sporting wicket that of-fers fair chances for spinners and fast bowlers, as well as batsmen, may be a beautiful dream being nourished by some curators, but the reality on the ground nowadays is dif-ferent. Most curators around the world are now rolling out pitches that suit the home team, and in the rare instances when they failed they came forward to even apologise to the home team for their lapses.

A case in point is the first Test between India and England in the 2014 series. After watching Indian opener Murali Vijay scoring a cen-tury and MS Dhoni hitting a patient 50 that helped India post 259 for the loss of four wickets at stumps on day one, groundsman Steve Birks apologised for “the Indian pitch” at Notts, making it clear to everyone in the England dressing room that it was a plan that went horribly wrong.

What the ground staff wanted to produce was a pitch with pace, bounce and carry which, said Birks at the end of play on day one, “hasn’t hap-pened unfortunately”.

In the fourth Test of the 2014-2015 India-Australia series played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, curator Tom Parker promised a day before the start of play disgusted Aussie speedsters a pitch that would offer more than what Adelaide, the Gabba or the MCG had offered.

In September this year, James Anderson was too pleased to declare after the Ashes triumph that “we should have done it (doctoring the pitch) more in the past, we should do it more in the future”.

So, why is it that some Indi-

an curators try to do their job in a way that hurts the home advantage? The pitch belongs to the curator, that’s a fair call, but he should get the pitch laid out without spraying an awful load of ego onto it.

Indian team director Ravi Shastri’s sarcasm expressed at the South African innings break in the fifth ODI at the Wankhede Stadium was not en-tirely out of place, and it would have been quite well expressed if he had just stopped at the “great wicket” part of it, without the expletive in Marathi.

That, the expletive, not the sarcasm, was ugly, unwelcome and contrary to the spirit of sarcasm of a high pedigree.

One-day cricket is about runs and more runs, yes, but it’s also about winning, so it’s difficult to understand why the curator couldn’t get a hint of the home need of the day, which was a slow track that offered help to the spinners in the series decider. When cura-tors elsewhere are doing it for the home team, why some Indian ground staff are not getting the point?

If the pitch at Mohali offers twist and turn from day one, it’s funny to term it immoral on the ground that the wicket has been tailor-made for the Indian slow bowlers.

By the same logic, we might as well look at the “unfairness” of unleashing Steyn, Morkel and Rabada on the Indian batsmen when all that India have at the moment are some gentlemen who try to scare De Villiers and Co with back-of-a-length deliveries that travel wide of the target and at a friendly pace of 125kmph.

The fact is that the South Africans have arrived at Mohali with no worries about the nature of the pitch. They expect “big spin” on day one, and they seem to be prepared to deal with the dustbowl. Why are we then putting so much spin on the small matter of taking advantage of the home conditions?

It’s a different matter altogether even if that, the square turner, is not going to reward the Indians with a win at Mohali. The Indian Premier League has helped key South Africans players such as De Villiers, Faf du Plessis, JP Duminy, Steyn, Morkel and Imran Tahir (Wow! That’s al-most the entire South African Test team) feel at home on most Indian pitches.

Now, whose home is it anyway?

The writer is a freelance contribu-tor based in India. All the views and opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not reflect those of Times of Oman

Whose home is it anyway?C O M M E N T A R Y

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India prepare ‘surface tension’ for Hashim Amla’s S. Africans

NEW DELHI: For a visiting crick-eter, an India tour conjures up the image of a batsman surrounded by a shoal of fielders and facing relent-less spin from both ends and South Africa should not expect anything different in the four-Test series starting on Thursday.

Since taking over from Mahen-dra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli has proved he is anything but a shrink-ing violet and it is only natural that India would roll out turning tracks, if not outright dustbowls, in his first home series as Test captain.

On Monday, Faf du Plessis had a look at the surface in Mohali to be used for the series-opener and the South African batsman got a fair idea of what to expect over the next four weeks. “It looks dry than a pitch normally looks. That’s all I can say,” he said. We are expecting big spin on day one, and if we come to day one and it does that, it’s not a matter of, ‘Oh it’s spinning, what do we do now?’”

Having lost the Twenty20 and the one-day series to the Proteas, India will try and exploit every bit of their home advantage by rolling out slow, dry tracks that not only suit their spinners but can also take the sting out of South Africa’s redoubtable pace attack.

Team director Ravi Shastri had a spat with the curator at Mum-bai’s Wankhede Stadium over the

pitch on which South Africa plas-tered India in the final one-dayer and the former India captain is unlikely to get another chance to complain about the surface.

The series will be a battle of wits between two captains with con-trasting approach to leadership. If Kohli wears his heart on his sleeve, South Africa captain Hashim Amla

belongs to the school that believes in suppressing emotions, if one has any. Two completely different per-sonalities, they, however, exhibit identical silken touch with the bat and remain the batting mainstays of their respective teams.

De Villiers v AshwinAmla has not been in the best of

form since he embarked on the Pro-teas’ longest ever tour of India but he enjoys a staggering 100-plus av-erage in Tests in the Asian country.

AB de Villiers has already proved how much he loves Indian condi-tions in the limited-overs matches and his duel with off-spinner Ravi-chandran Ashwin, who missed most of the ODI series after suf-

fering a side strain during the first match in Kanpur, will be an inter-esting sub-plot to the series.

Speedster Dale Steyn will be out to overcome the conditions and burnish his reputation as the pre-mier fast bowler of his generation.

A personal milestone beckons the right-arm paceman, who needs 10 scalps to become the first overseas fast bowler to take 100 Test wickets in Asia.

Statistics also heavily favour the Proteas, currently the top ranked team, who have not lost an over-seas test series since 2007. The hosts’ chances of defying the odds would hinge on their batting.

Murali Vijay, having recovered from a hamstring injury, is likely to partner Shikhar Dhawan at the top, while Cheteshwar Pujara’s usually compact defence and perfect tem-perament could be an asset against the firepower of Steyn, Vernon Phi-lander and Morne Morkel.

As has traditionally been the case, pace bowling remains India’s weakest point. Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav remain erratic while Bhuvneshwar Kumar is searching for the swing.

Almost inevitably, India fall back on their spinners and the likes of Ashwin and Amit Mishra would welcome extra purchase from the track if India are to take 20 wickets in a Test. - Reuters

Since taking over

from Mahendra Singh

Dhoni, Virat Kohli has

proved he is anything

but a shrinking

violet and it is only

natural that India

would roll out turning

tracks, if not outright

dustbowls, in his first

home series as Test

captainSPIN TRIO: India’s spin bowlers Ravindra Jadeja, left, Ravichandran Ashwin, centre, and Amit Mishra bowl in the nets during a training

session on eve of the first Test match against South Africa at The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium in Mohali. – AFP

SCHEDULE:First Test: November 5-9 (8 am Oman time) MohaliSecond Test: November 14-18 (8 am Oman time) BengaluruThird Test: November 25-29 (8 am Oman time) NagpurFourth Test: December 3-7 (8 am Oman time) Delhi

* * *INDIAWorld ranking: FifthCaptain: Virat KohliTop ranked Test batsman: Kohli (13)Top ranked Test bowler: Ravichandran Ashwin (8)

* * *2015 form (opponent/venue/date/result):Sri Lanka, Colombo, August 28-September 1, Won by 117 runsSri Lanka, Colombo, August 20-24, Won by 278 runsSri Lanka, Galle, August 12-15, Lost by 63 runs

Bangladesh, Fatullah, June 10-14, Match drawnAustralia, Sydney, January 6-10, Match drawn

* * *Squad (first two Tests): Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Lokesh Rahul, Stuart Binny, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma

* * *SOUTH AFRICAWorld ranking: FirstCaptain: Hashim AmlaTop ranked Test batsman: AB de Villiers (3)Top ranked Test bowler: Dale Steyn (1)

* * *2015 form (opponent/venue/date/result):Bangladesh, Dhaka, July 30-August 3, Match drawnBangladesh, Chittagong, July 21-25, Match drawn

West Indies, Cape Town, January 2-6, Won by eight wickets

* * *Squad: Hashim Amla (captain), AB de Villiers, Temba Bavuma, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Simon Harmer, Imran Tahir, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Stiaan van Zyl, Dane Vilas

* * *PREVIOUS RESULTSIndia v South Africa testsMatches: 29India wins: 7South Africa wins: 13Draws: 9

* * *South Africa’s record in India1996-97, 3, Lost 2-11999-00, 2, Won 2-02004-05, 2, Lost 1-02007-08, 3, Drawn 1-12009-10, 2, Drawn 1-1

F A C T B O X

Home team should play to its strength, says ShastriMOHALI: Calling the Wankhede pitch fiasco ‘history’, team India Director Ravi Shastri on Tuesday said home teams over the years have always got pitches prepared to suit their strengths and there is no need to “hide behind that issue”.

As India gear up to take on No.1 Test side South Africa in the four-match series starting November 5, Shastri said that the rubber prom-ises to produce quality cricket.

“I believe at home you should play to your strength, there is no need to hide behind that issue. It has been happening over the years and that’s what you expect in your own country. You don’t expect a pitch to turn on Day 1 when you go to South Africa or Australia. So it will be interesting to see how this pitch is,” Shastri said while ad-dressing the media at PCA stadium.

“Having said that I see a terrific series on our hands, probably the best we have had in the last ten years. That’s because of the crick-et that South Africa have played

in the last few years,” the former all-rounder said.

Shastri though refused to com-ment on the pitched battle between him and Wankhede’s curator Su-dhir Naik during the final ODI.

The visitors amassed 438 be-fore outplaying India by 214 runs and clinching the five-match se-ries 3-2. Shastri had apparently made a sarcastic comment about

the pitch, while Naik said the for-mer captain abused him and the matter was taken up by the MCA.

“The incident is history, let;s talk about now. I have spoken about that enough and there is nothing to add and not a word to subtract,” Shastri said.

India come into the series at the back of a historic Test series win in Sri Lanka, which came af-ter 22 years.

Test skipper Virat Kohli, who enjoyed his first series win as captain there, is once again in the spotlight and Shastri was all praise for the young leader.

“Kohli has been the Test cap-tain for long enough. He is going along beautifully, The Sri Lan-kan win was a test of character for the boys and for him as well and he rose to the occasion. And he will only learn. As I said that this side’s average age is 25-26, captain is also around that age and this team has plenty of years ahead of them,” he said. — PTI

T E S T C R I C K E T

CANDID: Ravi Shastri with skip-

per Virat Kohli. – AFP

JAIPUR: Supporting Ravi Shastri in the pitch controversy involving him and Wankhede stadium’s curator Sudhir Naik, former captain Kapil Dev said the Indian cricket team’s direc-tor was right in demanding a pitch that suited the home side.

Controversy erupted as India suffered a heavy loss against South Africa in the fifth and deciding ODI. Following the match, Shastri allegedly abused Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) curator and his former teammate Naik for preparing a flat wicket, further fuelling debates on whether the hosts should prepare pitches that suit them, not the tourists.

“I completely support Shas-tri. The home team should always play to their comfort and that suit them, not the op-ponents. When you go to South Africa or anywhere, you get to play on the pitches that are against you,” Kapil said dur-ing the launch of a tournament in Rajasthan, ‘Saath: 7, Cricket Mahotsav’ here.

“Cricket is not played to please your guests. We have eve-ry reason and right to have home advantage that comes from the pitch,” the 1983 World Cup-win-ning captain reiterated.

Even though India lost the Twenty20 and ODI series against the Proteas, the former star all-rounder has confidence in captain Virat Kohli, who will lead the hosts in the four-match Test series starting in three days time in Mohali.

“Sometimes you lose and sometimes you win but you must be competitive and I am hoping the same from the Test team. Hopefully, Kohli will do well as a captain and so does the team.

Kapil, however, refused to draw captaincy comparison be-tween Dhoni and Kohli, saying the latter has miles to go.

He referred to current limited overs captain Dhoni as “baap (father figure)” who has been the leader since 2008, while Kohli started his term in one of the most high pressure jobs in world cricket this year only.

“Baap baap hota hai, beta beta hota hai…,” Kapil said referring to Dhoni’s long span at the helm of the Indian team. — IANS

T A K I N G S I D E S

Kapil takes Shastri’s side in pitch controversy

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Aussie skipper Smith on defensive as Test series opens at The Gabba

MELBOURNE: New captain Ste-ven Smith faces a baptism of fire on Thursday as he leads a rebuild-ing Australia into the first Test of a home summer against New Zea-land opponents sensing an upset.

Australia have not lost a Test at their Gabba fortress in 27 years but have rarely appeared more vulnerable with the string of re-tirements that followed the Ashes defeat in England.

As a stand-in skipper, Smith led Australia to a series win over India in the last home summer but the 26-year-old has since lost a wealth of experience, with predecessor Michael Clarke, paceman Ryan Harris and opening batsman Chris Rogers among the departed.

A batting order that performed woefully for large parts of the 3-2 Ashes loss now includes only

Smith and his deputy David Warn-er as players with 10 tests to their name.

Much will be asked of two-test Queenslander Joe Burns who re-places the dependable Rogers for at least the first two tests of the series.

With Warner, Rogers formed one of cricket’s most effective opening partnerships in recent years, so Burns will be under pres-sure to hold up his end in front of fans in his home state.

Also under heavy scrutiny, Queensland captain Usman Kha-waja has been thrown in the deep end to bat third in the order for his first test in over two years.

He replaces Smith who has de-moted himself to fourth but flour-ished at number three for most of the past two years.

The move seems curiously de-

fensive and likely to give Brendon McCullum’s bowlers added con-viction that their opponents are ripe for the picking.

“If there’s a run of wickets hope-

fully I can stop it,” Smith said in comments published on Tuesday by Sydney’s Daily Telegraph news-paper. “I think a lot of the players that are coming through at the mo-

ment are top-order players.“It’s just the way I see it at the

moment. Breaking it up between Davey and myself and hopefully the guys at the top and No.3 do well

and then I can just come in and get some runs on the board as well.”

McCullum’s side is far more set-tled and relishing a rare chance to face off with a quality opponent in a three-test series that travels to Perth and Adelaide.

GraveyardThe Gabba has proved a graveyard for most visiting teams and New Zealand’s sole win at the ground was 30 years ago when a maraud-ing Richard Hadlee destroyed Al-lan Border’s team with 15 wickets, including an astonishing 9-52 in the first innings.

That set the tone for New Zea-land’s last series win in Austral-ia, so McCullum will hope for a Hadlee-esque performance from either Trent Boult or fellow seam-er Tim Southee to knock over the hosts on their favourite home wicket.

With the Gabba pitch tipped to be dependably quick and bouncy, and both sides boasting dynamic fast bowlers, the match may well be decided by which side’s bats-men can better weather the storm.

With the tourists boasting the more settled batting order, Mc-Cullum’s men may feel themselves well positioned for a raid on the Gabba fortress. - Reuters

Australia have not lost a Test at their Gabba

fortress in 27 years but have rarely appeared

more vulnerable with the string of retirements

that followed the Ashes defeat in England

I think a lot of the players that are coming through at the moment are top-order players. It’s just the way I see it at the moment.

Steven SmithAustralian skipper

Albert bags open badminton crownMUSCAT: Albert VR asserted his supremacy as the top badmin-ton player in the country when he showed character and doggedness to clinch the open men’s singles crown of the National Bank of Oman-sponsored Annual Badmin-ton Tournament organised by the Indian Social Club (ISC) Muscat.

The duo of Prabhu AR and Niyas Nirar shared the limelight winning the ISC men’s doubles title with a brilliant victory in the final.

The concluding day of the tour-nament began with an all-Omani exhibition match between Salim bin Sultan Al Maqbali and Mo-hamed bin Ghuloom Fajwani.

Top seed Albert VR then took on second seed Mohamad Harouz in the open men’s singles final and emerged winner after a hard-fought three-setter against his doubles partner. It was a well-deserved vic-tory for Albert who came through the initial rounds of the tournament

with a couple of scares. He over-came Harouz with final scores of 21-16, 18-21, 21-18. Albert was wary of Harouz’s capabilities and held an 11-8 lead at the break.

The lead quickly vanished as Harouz rallied to level at 14-all. With brilliant placements, Al-bert gained a marginal lead and wrapped up the first game.

Harouz came out with all guns blazing in the second game and quickly raced to a 17-13 lead.

Two brilliant smashes on the flanks saw him consolidate and

gain game point. Albert saved two, but another powerful smash and it was one-game-all. Harouz gained the early lead in the decider and at one stage it looked as if fatigue was taking its toll on Albert.

The game was evenly poised at the break as Harouz maintained a marginal lead. A seasoned cam-paigner that he is, Albert gradual-ly took control as pressure told on Harouz who smashed two into the net as Albert reached 20-17.

Harouz saved one match point but his next return went long

handing the men’s crown to the top seed and a double crown hav-ing won the open men’s doubles with Harouz as his partner.

The second seeded team of Prabhu AR and Niyas Nirar played with sound understanding and brilliant reflexes to stun the top seeded team of Percy Pereira and PT Francis to lift the ISC men’s doubles title. In a thrilling final, Prabhu and Niyas did not give the top seeds any respite and banged winner after winner to claim vic-tory with a 21-16, 21-15 triumph.

Ali bin Humeid Al-Saeidi, Dep-uty Director of Sports Activities at the Ministry of Sports Affairs, and Sundaram Padmanabhan, Product Advisory Consultant at National Bank of Oman, gave away the prizes.

Also present was CM Sardar, vice-chairman of the ISC, office bearers of the club and a packed house of badminton enthusiasts.

I S C T O U R N E Y

MEN’S SINGLES: Winner Albert VR and runner-up Mohamed

Harouz received their trophies. – Supplied photo

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Gunners out to tame ‘angry’ Bayern again

BERLIN: Confident Arsenal trav-el to Bayern Munich on Wednes-day hoping to tame the German champions for a second time in two weeks, and are promising to attack despite a string of injuries.

The English club are on a high after a fifth consecutive Premier League win at the weekend — a 3-0 victory at Swansea — and the timing of their visit to the Bavar-ian capital could hardly be better.

Bayern dropped their first points in the Bundesliga on Fri-

day with a goalless draw at Ein-tracht Frankfurt.

It followed 10 consecutive vic-tories from the start of the season and, coupled with their 2-0 loss at the Emirates Stadium on Oc-tober 20 — their first defeat in all competitions — Bayern have shed some of that invincible aura.

Arsenal’s victory over Bayern put Arsene Wenger’s side back in contention in Group F with three points. Bayern and Olympiakos have six.

“They (Bayern) will be angry,” said Arsenal defender Per Merte-sacker. “We are the first team who really challenged them and beat them. They will be on the ball and try to show that they are back and better than us.”

He added: “They are clever, the Germans. We showed that we can beat them. That is a good sign but it will be a different game at their place. We improved our position in the last game against Munich but we need to get something out of this game.”

Arsenal are missing key players, including Theo Walcott, Alex Ox-lade-Chamberlain, Danny Wel-beck and Jack Wilshere.

But with Olivier Giroud hav-ing scored six goals in his past six games and playmaker Mesut Ozil delivering nine assists in 10 league games, they are not pre-pared to sit back and defend.

“I would sign today to take a point,” said coach Arsene Wenger. “But to sit off Bayern, with their of-fensive quality, would be difficult

to maintain for 90 minutes. We have to relieve the pressure when-ever we can and try to score goals.

“That is our structure of the team, to attack. If you get our play-ers to defend then I do not think we will be so efficient. We have to play every time we can.”

Bayern, who last season won all six home games in the competi-tion en route to the semi-finals, are by no means in a slump, and their dominance and string of chances against defensive Eintra-cht was indicative of the team’s at-tacking instincts.

Bayern will have Arjen Robben fit for his first Champions League game of the season after the Dutchman was injured in Septem-ber, but they will be without Mario Goetze, while Juan Bernat and Holger Badstuber are doubtful.

“We will show Arsenal on Wednesday the real Bayern,” said Bayern midfielder Arturo Vidal. “Our confidence is high and this time we will use our chances and get the three points.” - Reuters

The English club are on a high after a fifth

consecutive Premier League win at the

weekend — a 3-0 victory at Swansea —

and the timing of their visit to the Bavarian

capital could hardly be better

CONFIDENT: Arsenal players warm up at the Arsenal training ground on Tuesday. – Reuters

Mourinho needs a win as Dynamo Kiev visit LondonLONDON: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will be scrutinised more closely than ever as his ail-ing side take on Dynamo Kiev in Champions League Group G on Wednesday.

Despite having won the com-petition twice, with Porto and In-ter Milan, the Portugese is under increasing pressure now that the Premier League champions have been beaten five times in their past seven games. They have slumped to 15th place in the table and key players such as last season’s player of the year, Eden Hazard, are badly out of form.

Although fans remain generally supportive, chanting Mourinho’s name during the 3-1 home defeat by Liverpool on Saturday, some players are becoming disenchant-ed, according to media reports.

That means it is another big week for him, with the Kiev game followed by a visit to Stoke City, who knocked Chelsea out of the Capital One Cup on penalties last Tuesday.

The goalless draw away to Dyna-mo two weeks ago was one of Chel-sea’s better performances of a poor season. They hit the post twice and could easily have won, but failing to do so left them on four points in Group G, one behind the Ukrain-ian champions.

Porto top the group with seven points and could extend their lead against Maccabi Tel Aviv, who have lost every game so far.

“Everyone can see how much hard work we are putting in and we are playing well, but the results are not coming for us,” Nigerian mid-fielder Jon Obi Mikel told report-ers after the defeat by Liverpool.

“The goals and the wins are not coming, but you can see we are play-ing for the manager and we are right behind him. There is no doubt about it. If anyone can turn this around I definitely think he is the one.”

Kiev’s Portuguese international Miguel Veloso also backed his compatriot Mourinho, with a post on his Facebook page.

“Say whatever you want to say,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, I had the chance to exchange a few words with this man only twice in my life. I already used to be his fan, now I am even more.”

Dynamo, who have no injury

problems, won 2-0 against Met-alist Kharkiv at the weekend, a fourth successive win that kept them second on goal difference be-hind Shakhtar Donetsk at the top of the table.

In the Champions League, they scored a late equaliser to draw 2-2 at home to Porto and then won 2-0 in Tel Aviv before the first Chelsea game. - Reuters

P R E V I E W

LONDON: Chelsea’s players — not manager Jose Mourinho — must take full responsibility for their poor start to the season, club captain John Terry said on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old defender, who has played nearly 700 matches for the Premier League champions, strongly echoed statements by his teammate, Cesc Fabregas, and Mourinho himself, denying any suggestion of a revolt at the club.

Terry admitted had not reached the standards of last season. “The players — and me personally — will stand up and say, ‘I’ve not been good enough’.”

“Our performances haven’t been good and we take that on the shoul-ders. We realise where we are in the league and in our Champions League group and must do what we need to do to get out of it. That responsibility lies with us, not the manager.”

Terry dismissed talk of any dressing-room un-rest, saying “I can assure you now the players are 100 per cent behind the manager.” - Reuters

‘Blame players not Mourinho’

NorthEast, Delhi in 1-1 drawNEW DELHI: A subdued Delhi Dynamos missed an opportunity to claim the top spot after being held to a 1-1 in an Indian Super League (ISL) match by NorthEast United FC here on Tuesday.

The kick-off was delayed by 35 minutes due to a power fail-ure. But it didn’t quite have any effect on the outcome of the match though the Dynamos per-formance resembled the mal-functioning power system of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

Ghanaian forward Richard Gadze put the hosts ahead in the 37th minute. NorthEast’s marquee man Portuguese Simao Sabrosa equalised in the 73rd minute.

The stalemate meant Dynamos are on par with front-runners FC Pune City with 13 points from seven matches but remained just behind them due to a inferior goal difference.

NorthEast didn’t gain much either improving to seven points from as many matches but stay-ing in the seventh position of the eight-team tournament.

Dynamos’ marquee player-coach Roberto Carlos named

himself in the starting 11 for the first time in the tournament.

But the Brazilian-led midfield couldn’t get his team into the contest, increasing the pressure of their deep defence who were forced to resort to old-style long ball clearances rather than play-ing it on the ground and building the attack from the back.

Dynamos though got a foothold in the action gradually. A Robin Singh header and a Franciso Fer-nandes shot from close range, both of which flew just wide, gave them confidence. But they needed more inspiration at the back from con-ceding under sustained pressure.

Dynamos’ outfield players sud-denly found an extra gear and launched a swift counter attack that culminated into Dynamos taking lead on 37 minutes.

French marquee Florent Ma-louda, largely non-existent till then, utilised his experience and vision to thread a well-weighted through to Ghanaian forward Richard Gadze, whose angular left-footed grounder found the bottom left corner of keeper Re-henesh’s goal.

After resumption, NorthEast team began with more vigour and got the better of the Norweigian star John Arne Riise-led Dyna-mos defence.

But were stopped from equal-ising by the frame of the goal twice, at the stroke of the hour mark, with Jorge Frenandes’ dipping free-kick kissing the top of the cross piece on its way out and Ghanaian forward Francis Dadzie’s firm left-footed place-ment rebounding of the post.

The sustained pressure took its toll on Dynamos. The 42-year-old Carlos, largely a spectator and preferring to sit back and protect the lead, substituted himself with Serginho Greene in the 69th minute. Four minutes later it became 1-1.

Simao Sabrosa replaced his compatriot Silas in the 72nd minute and scored with his first kick a minute later, after French forward Diomansy Kamara was brought down just at the edge of the area, curling the ball from a free-kick above a defensive wall past a helplessly-rooted Rehe-nesh. - IANS

I S L

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LeisureSECTIONC L I F E STY L E W E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

Whether it’s a cool dip

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of waterfalls and cliffs, or

the fresh taste of apples,

pomegranates and grapes,

Wadi Tiwi enchants all.

Story

Saleh Al Shaibany

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LIFESTYLEC8 W E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

T R A V E L T I P S

Tiwi is also known for its white sandy beach but the real attraction is the village of Saima. The road meandered up the hill, and I had to carefully negotiate with donkey rid-ers, a herd of sheep, and crossing wild goats. But the drive towards the village also offered unique views not seen in any part of the Sultan-ate. The gorges on the road sides belched out steam from the under-ground hot springs and the vapours rose to the air forming small clouds.

I had to use my wipers to clear a foggy windshield but that did not dampen my enthusiasm to drive further up. As I came down the hill, I saw the view of the village which can inspire an artist of any sub-stance to stop short on his tracks to draw the breathtaking view. Old houses that date back to more than two centuries lined up in perfect harmony with modern villas while a sprawling grove of palm trees cam-ouflaged an ancient aflaj system.

I also caught a glimpse of an old fort built on top of a hill stand-ing guard over a cluster of oases. I parked my car under lime trees and walked out, ready to explore the beauty that spread out in front of me. The coolness of the mangroves, under the shade of the thick branch-es, brought over a gentle breeze. I sat on the side of the falaj dangling my feet so they touch the cool water. I was content of just watching the ripples caused by the movement of my feet. I was the only person in that aflaj stream. It was kind of eerie but not intimidating. That was the rea-son why I chose Tiwi to spend the weekend, away from noisy Muscat.

I rested my back on the bark of a date tree. I would have fallen asleep with the tranquility around me if it was not for noises of children. Their voices were ghostly echoing off the walls of the rocks. I could tell that the children were somewhere be-hind a thick growth of plantation at the precise point where the stream was bending.

I decided to get up and have a look. I had to walk for three hundred metres to reach the bending point of the stream but the voices stopped by the time I reached there. Perhaps I was intruding and that could have been the reason they stopped. I was on the other bank of the stream but I could see a lush growth of fruit trees at the other side. I searched for a place where I could cross the wa-ter to get there. I spotted stones in the water just 50 metres away from where I was standing and used them as a bridge to walk to the other side. A surprise was waiting to unfold when I reached there. I feasted my eyes at a lush of green made up by fruit trees. They were jostling each other for space. Pomegranates big-ger than my fist were hanging just inches from head. Custard apples were ripe and ready to be picked and so were papayas. Not to be out-manoeuvered, clusters of bananas were hanging invitingly just metres away from the spot I was riveted on. Even more enticing were bunches of green grapes next to an ancient wall of a collapsing fort.

Mangoes were there, too, both yellow and green in that troupe of honour of the plantation. I knew these delicious fruits, which were begging to be eaten, had their own-ers somewhere behind a barely vis-ible compound wall. But I took the risk and picked my favourite fruit. I pulled out the custard apple and sat on a quiet spot and ate it. When I left the plantation ten minutes later, I knew where I was heading next but not to the famous beach of Tiwi but to the trekking paths of Saima.

As I was walking there, I stopped to admire the water falls that flowed to the pools. I also took pictures of the white cliffs along the way. I walked to the top of the cliff where I had a spectacular view of the whole village of Saima. A little over an hour later, I made my way back to the vil-lage and took a dip in the cool water of the pool. But I was not alone there. There were at least 50 other people from Muscat who came to enjoy a refreshing swim in the stream. -saleh@timesofoman.com

Tiwi is a perfect weekend retreat for a single trav-eller who wishes to ex-plore the inner villages of

Oman, and even for a family with young children ready to swim in the clear waters of wadis or take a walk in the peaceful oasis scented with cardamom and mint leaves. It is a drive of one hour and 40 minutes from Muscat to the eastern coast of the Sultanate through three towns of Ramlah, Dibab, and Fins.

Pack More Water You need to constantly hydrate yourself, even if the weather is

temperate. So, pack more water than you think you’ll need, carry it when hiking, and drink it fre-quently. Don’t wait to be thirsty. Breathe through your nose and avoid fatty foods to cut down on water loss. But the best way to avoid dehydration is to simply

drink plenty of water.

Prepare For Cold Nights With the onset of winter, the

nights will definitely be chilly. The dry air and clear skies can make

the nights really cold and the mercury levels can even dip below the freezing point. Temperatures hit a low point mostly early in the

morning. Pack a lot of layers for cool weather, an extra blanket or

two, caps and hoods that cover the ears, and heavy gloves.

Inspect Your 4WD You might have ensured that you have a 4WD, with high clearance,

before heading out for a desert camping trip. But, a car failure

in the desert could be most disastrous and it can leave you stranded for hours. So let a me-chanic give your car a thorough inspection before you venture

out into the desert.

Take Suitable Tents Do not go for tents with light-

coloured canopies, which allow light to filter in and heat up the interior. This can damage heat-sensitive items kept inside. Or, you can cover your tent with an

opaque tarp. But let the vents remain open, so that it wouldn’t

turn out into a solar oven.

Choose Early & Late Hours The idea is to avoid midday

heat and you just need to follow suit the desert creatures, which become active around dawn and

dusk. So it’s better to be physi-cally active during the early and late hours of the day and remain

lazy during the midday hours.

Camping in the DesertSharqiyah Sands, one of the best sandy deserts of the world, is an ideal place for overnight camping.

But unless you prepare well and take all safety precautions, the trip can turn out to be a disaster.

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LIFESTYLEC9W E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

Y O U R F A V O U R I T E B O O K

Why Do You Love It?It’s my urge for adrenaline. And fortunately we have a facility here where I can enjoy drifting in a safe environment.

How Did You Get Into It?I was doing drifting on the streets of Al Mabelah. One day I landed in jail after the Royal Oman Police picked me during a drifting session. It changed my life forever. It forced me to abandon drifting on the streets. I began using the OAA arena to polish my skills. And I made some podium finishes in OAA’s Drift Challenge.

How Can I Get Into It?It is dangerous to drift in public places. You may escape accidents, but you may end up in jail. It will cause big problems in your personal life. You should practice the sports in a safe environment, like the Oman Automobile Association drift arena. Many youngsters feel that the safe environment will take the sheen out of the sport. But it is not true. The rules are made to protect the drivers.

What’s Your Pro-Tip?First time drifters must notify the attendant and receive a track orientation and all drivers must be registered to drive. They should be wearing long pants, covered shoes, a shirt that covers the shoulders, and a racing helmet. Racing suits are strongly encouraged and helmets must remain on and strapped as long as your vehicle is on the track. Anyone, who has a valid licence, can use the arena. But they have to comply with OAA’s rules and regulations. Those who wish to take part in drifting competitions should become a member of OAA and obtain competition licence.

At present, the country has only one dedicated drift arena at the Oman Automobile Association (OAA) campus that meets the essential safety conditions. The drifting arena provides a safe environment for drifters to polish their skills and also ensures safety of spectators. Contact OAA: Phone: (+968) 24510239, (+968) 24510 630, E-Mail: info@omanauto.org, omanauto@omantel.net.om, Web: www.omanauto.orgADRENALINE RUSH

THE HOBBYISTMohammed Al Hinai

Drifting Pilot

It is dangerous to drift in public places. You should practise the sports in a safe environment, like the Oman Automobile Association drift arena

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If there’s one piece of fiction which takes the reader right into a gripping tale with its very first sentence, it could be Franz Kaf-ka’s The Metamorphosis. We see the protagonist Gregor Samsa waking up one morning to find himself changed into a monstrous vermin. No, he isn’t dreaming, as we too might think; it’s a reality.

A travelling salesman and a workaholic, who is in a rat race to support his parents and sis-ter, and eating whatever he can in between like a scurrying bug, what else can he be transformed into? As we read on, we realise how work-related stress and ob-sessions, especially in a capitalist society, can ruin one person’s life.

It’s a life marred by guilt and withheld love; a life imprisoned by debts and commitments; a life that seems to have no significant

meaning except death. It’s exactly 100 years since Kafka scripted this great work, and human be-ings still get transformed into nameless vermin, replaceable cogs in a machine, and die as non-entities. The Metamorphosis shat-ters the present day society’s no-tions about ambition, hard work, success, and significance of each and every individual whether at work or at home.

Here, Gregor has exhausted himself as a provider, and sud-denly can work no more due to this irreversible illness. The situ-ation demands his idle parents and sister to work and become the providers. Now it’s their turn to scurry and become ambitious. Gregor, in spite of his transfor-mation, thinks like human, but other members in the family, who were all parasites till then,

start scurrying like insects and wish to get rid of him.

The family’s lack of interest in taking care of Gregor becomes clear when Grete, his sister who was kicking some food into him daily, asks a servant to take over. Gregor slowly realises the need to stop bothering his family and stops eating. He has lost his taste for food. But the true hunger re-mains: the hunger for love.

Gregor’s hunger for love swells which can only enhance his fam-ily’s revulsion towards him. The three lodgers the Samsas take in are privileged to dine in the parlour while Gregor is in to-tal misery in his room, all alone. When his sister screams that ‘it’ (Gregor) must go from the house, it’s time for his ultimate realisa-tion on his life’s whole purpose, in an era of industrialism. And the

readers can start searching for parasites and abusers in disguise in their life.

Kafka, through this work, makes the readers ponder seri-ously at the life’s true meaning, which gets lost or distorted by the concepts of work, and victimisa-tion at workplace or in the society.

-Reviewed by Salim Joseph

ARE YOU A PROLIFIC READER? Which is your favourite book? Pick one and send in your thoughts on it.

Contactshafeeq@timesofoman.com

The Metamorphosis A novella by Franz Kafka

FIND-IT-ALLC10 W E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

CITY CINEMAContact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68. www.citycinemaoman.netfacebook.com/citycinemaoman

SHATTIThe Last Witch Hunter (Action)(2D)(PG12)Cast : Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood2:30, 9:30, 11:45 pmParanormal Activity: The Ghost Dimen-sion (Horror)- (3D)(15+)Cast : Chris J. Murray, Brit Shaw, Ivy George6:00 pmThe Martian(3D) (Adventure, Sci-Fi) (PG)Cast : Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain6:45 pmApocalypse (Horror)(2D)(18+)Cast : Leo Gregory, Sean Cronin11:45 pmGoosebumps (Action, Adventure) (3D)(12+)Cast : Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush2:30, 7:00, 9:15, 11:30 pmBurnt (Comedy, Drama) (2D)(12+)Cast : Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller4:00, 7:45 pmGuardian Angel (Action, Drama) (2D)(12+)Cast : Vahik Pirhamzei, Bokeem Woodbine4:45, 9:45 pmCoconut: The Little Dragon (Animation) (2D)(PG)2:15 pmThe Program (Biography, Drama) (2D)(PG12)Cast : Jesse Plemons, Lee Pace, Ben Foster4:45, 9:45 pm

MUSCAT GRAND MALLGoosebumps 3D (Action | Comedy) (12+)Cast: Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush3:30, 9:45 & 11:45PMGold Class: 2:15 & 11:00PMCoconut: The Little Dragon 3D (PG)Animation11:00AM & 5:30PMBurnt 2D (Comedy, Drama) (12+)Cast : Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller,11:15AM, 5:30 & 9:30PMGold Class: 6:45PMThe Last Witch Hunter 2D (Action |

Adventure | Fantasy) PG12Cast: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood1:15, 7:30 & 11:30PMGold Class: 8:45PMPan 3D (Adventure | Family ) (PG)Cast: Levi Miller, Garrett Hedlund12:45PMThe Walk 3D (Biography | Drama ) (PG)Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt3:00 & 7:15PMGold Class: 4:15PM

AZAIBATitli 2D (15+) Crime/Drama/ThrillerCast: – Ranvir Shorey, Shashank Arora, Shivani Raghuvanshi6:15 PMMain Aur Charles 2D (18+) Drama/ ThrillerCast: Randeep Hooda, Richa Chadda2:15, 4:35, 7:00, 8:45, 11:15 PMGoosebumps 3D (12+) Action, ComedyCast: Jack Black, Dylan Minnette2:15, 9:20, 11:50 PMCoconut: The Little Dragon – 3D (PG) AnimationVoice Overs: Max Von Der, Dustin Sem-melrogge

2:30, 5:00 PMBurnt – 2D (12+) Comedy, Drama Cast: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller4:15, 6:35 PMThe Last Witch Hunter – 2D (PG12) Action | Adventure | FantasyCast: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood4:10, 11:30 PM Shaandaar – 2D (PG) Comedy, RomanceCast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant2:20, 9:10, 11:20 PMEnnu Ninte Moideen – 2D (PG12) Romantic Cast: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Parvathi Menon6:10, 8:30 PM

RUWIScreen 1Main Aur Charles (Drama/Thriller ) – 18+Cast: Randeep Hooda, Adil Hussain, Richa Chadda3.30, 9.30 PMPyaar Ka Punchnama-2 (Comedy ) – PG12Cast : Kartik Aaryan, Nushrat Bharucha6.30 PMScreen 2Shandaar (Comedy/ Drama ) – PGCast : Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant

3.45, 9.45 PMTitli (Drama/Thriller) – 12+Cast: Ranveer Shorey, Shivani Raghuvanshi6.45 PMScreen 3Jazbaa (Action / Drama ) – 12+Cast : Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Irrfan Khan3.45 PMShandaar (Comedy/ Drama ) – PGCast : Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant6.45 PMTitli (Drama/Thriller) – 12+9.45 PM

SOHARThe Last Witch Hunter - 2D (PG12) ActionCast: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood 5:00, 9:15, 11:30 PMShandaar - 2D (PG) Romance| ComedyCast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant6:30 PMEnnu Ninte Moideen - 2D (M) (PG12) Cast: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Parvathi Menon8:45 PMGoosebumps - 3D (12+) Action | ComedyCast: Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush3:00, 9:15, 11:20 PM

Goosebumps - 2D (12+) Action | ComedyCast: Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush7:15 PMThe Guardian Angel - 2D (12+) Action Cast: Vahik Pirhamzei, Bokeem Woodbine4:30, 9:30, 11:50 PMCoconut: The Little Dragon - 3D (PG) Cast : 3:00, 4:45 PMMain Aur Charles - 2D (TBC) Drama| Cast: Randeep Hooda, Richa Chadda2:00, 7:10 PMThe Curse of Downers Grove - 2D (15+) Cast: Bella Heathcote, Kevin Zegers11:45 PMBurnt - 2D (12+) Comedy| Drama2:30, 6:45 PMPatthu Endrathukulla - 2D (T) (PG12) ActionCast: Vikram, Samantha12:00, 9:00 PM

BURAIMIThe Guardian Angel– 2D (Action) (12+)Cast: Vahik Pirhamzei, Bokeem Woodbine7:15, 9:00, 11:45PMApocalypse– 2D (Horror) (18+)Cast: Leo Gregory, Sean Cronin4:45, 11:30PM

The Last Witch Hunter – 2D (Action) (PG12)Cast: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood5:15, 9:15, 11:00PMTitli 2D (Crime, Drama, Thriller) (15+)Cast: Ranvir Shorey, Shashank Arora6:30PMShandaar 2D (Romance, Comedy) (PG)Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant8:45PMEnnu Ninte Moideen – 2D (Romantic) 6:00PM (PG12)

SURThe Last Witch Hunter (Action) (PG12) Cast: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood6:00 PMThe Guardian Angel (Action | Drama) (12+)Cast: Vahik Pirhamzei, Bokeem Woodbine4:00, 7:45, 11:30 PMApocalypse (Horror) (18+) 4:15, 6:00, 9:45 PMTitli (Hindi) (Crime | Drama) (15+) Cast: Ranvir Shorey, Shashank Arora11:00 PMEnnu Ninte Moideen (Mal) (PG12) 8:00 PM

SALALAHGoosebumps (3D) (12+) (Action/Comedy) 10:45AM, 2:45, 5:45, 9:40PMThe Last Witch Hunter (2D) (PG12) (Action) Cast: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood12:45, 2:00, 7:40, 11:35PMThe Guardian Angel (2D) (12+) (Action, Drama ) 10:45AM, 4:30, 11:45PMThe Culling (2D) (18+) (Horror) 12:55, 11:30PMCast: Jeremy Sumpter, Elizabeth Di PrinzioCoconut: The Little Dragon (3D) (PG) 10:30AM, 4:00PMBurnt (2D) (12+) (Comedy, Drama) 12:15, 2:35, 6:30PMThe Programme (2D)(PG12) (Biography ) 4:45PMCast: Jesse Plemons, Lee Pace, Ben FosterShandaar (2D) (PG) (Romance/Comedy) 9:00PMParanormal Activity: The Ghost Dimen-sion (3D) (15+) (Horror)7:05PMEnnu Ninte Moideen (2D) (PG12)8:30PM

CINEMA SCHEDULE CHILDREN BELOW THE AGE OF 3 YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE CINEMA | BOX-OFFICE COUNTER OPENS 30-MINUTES PRIOR TO THE SCREENING OF THE FIRST SHOW

ROYAL OMAN POLICE

Emergencies and inquiries: 9999

General Directorate of

Passport and Residence 24569603

Directorate General

of Customs 24521109

Traffic violations inquiries 24510228

Public Relations Admin 24560099

EMBASSIES IN OMAN

Afghanistan 24698 791/4

Algeria 24605 593

Bahrain 24 605 074/133

Bangladesh 24 698 660

Brazil 24640100

Brunei 24 603533

China 24 696782

Cyprus 24 699815

Egypt 24 600 982/411

France 24681 800

Germany 24835000

India 24684500

Indonesia 2469 1050

Iran 24 696 944/7

Iraq 24603642

Italy 24693727

Japan 24 601 028

Jordan 24692760/1/3

Kazakhstan 24 692418

Kenya 24 697664

South Korea 24 691490

Kuwait 24 699628

Lebanon 24 693208

Libya 24603466

Malaysia 24698329/643

Morocco 24696152/3

Nepal 24696177

Netherlands 24603706

Pakistan 24603439

Palestine 24601312

Philippines 24605335

Qatar 24 691 153/2/4

Russia 24602894

Saudi Arabia 24601705

Senegal 24694139

Somalia 24697977

South Africa 24647300

Spain 24691101

Sri Lanka 24697841/2

Sudan 24697875

Switzerland 24603267

Syria 24697904

Tanzania 24601 174

Thailand 24 602684/5

Tunisia 24603486

Turkey 24697050/1/2

UAE 24400000

United Kingdom 24609000

United States 24643400

Yemen 24600815

PHARMACIES

Round the clock

Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi 24783334

Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24782666

Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi 24702542

Salalah 23291635;

Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra 24503585

Muscat Region

Apollo, Al Hamriya 24787766

Muscat, A Seeb Market 24421691

Muscat, Al Khuwair 24485740

Muscat, Al Hail South 24537080

Dhofar Region

Muscat, Al Nahdha Road,

Salalah 23291635

HOSPITALS

Al Amal Medical & Health Care

Centre 24485052

Atlas Hospital

Ruwi 24811743/

Ghubra 24504000

Al Musafir Specialised

Medical Clinic 24706453

Hatat Polyclinic LLC,

Ruwi 24563641

Azaiba 24499269

Sohar 2683006

Al Raffah Hospital 24618900/1/2

Al Massaraat Clinic &

Laboratory 24566435

Al Makook Medical

Coordinance Centre 24499434

Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24787766, 24787780

Capital Polyclinic 24707549

Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic,

Ruwi 24799760/1/2

Capital Clinic, Seeb 24420740

Ceregem National Raak 24485633

Dr Harub’s Clinic 24563217

Elixir Health Centre 24565802

Emirates Medical Centre 24604540

1st Chiropractic Centre 24472274

Lifeline Hospital Salalah 23212340

International Medical

Centre LLC 24794501/2/3/4/5

Kims Oman Hospital 24760100

24 Hrs Emergency 24760123

Lama Polyclinic, Sohar 26751128

MBD 24799077

Al Khuwair 24478818

Magrabi Eye and

Ear Hospital 24568870

Muscat Private Hospital 24583600

Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment

Centre, Al Khuwair 24477666

Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC 22004000

AIRLINE OFFICES

Muscat Airport Flight information

(24 hours) 24519456/24519223

Aeroflot 24704455

Air Arabia 24700828

Air France 24562153

Air India 24799801

Air New Zealand 24700732

Biman Bangladesh Airlines 24701128

British Airways 24568777

Cathay Pacific 24789818

Egypt Air 24794113

Emirates Air 24404400

Ethiopian Airlines 24660313

Gulf Air 80072424

Indian 24791914

Iran Air 24787423

Japan Airlines 24704455

Jazeera Airways 23294848

Jet Airways 24787248

Kenya Airways 24660300

KML Royal Dutch Airlines 24566737

Kuwait Airways 24701262

LOT Polish Airlines 24796387

Lufthansa 24796692

Malaysian Airlines 24560796

Middle East Airlines 24796680

Oman Air 24531111

Pakistan International

Airlines 24792471

Qatar Airways 24771900

Qantas 24559941

Royal Jordanian 24796693

Saudi Arabian Airlines 24789485

Singapore Airlines 24791233

Shaheen Air 24816565

SriLankan Airlines 24784545

Swiss International

Airlines 24796692

Thai Airways 24705934

LISTINGS

LONG DISTANCE BUS TIMINGS (OMAN NATIONAL TRANSPORT COMPANY SAOC) *SUBJECT TO CHANGE

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (ROUTE 36)

15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily

15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily

15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily

06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily

08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri

13:00 Sohar 15:45 Daily

13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily

16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily

16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily

14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

08:00 Nizwa 10:20 Daily

08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55)

07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily

14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (ROUTE 62)

06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily

06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (ROUTE 100)

07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily

10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily

10:00 Salalah 23:30 Daily

19:00 Salalah 07:40 Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

06:00 Marmul 16:50 Daily

SALALAH TO DUBAI (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)

06:00 Sohar 08:30 Daily

06:00 Dubai 11:30 Daily

13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur

13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur

15:00 Sohar 17:35 Daily

15:00 Dubai 20:55 Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily

07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily

07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (ROUTE 36)

05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily

05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily

05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily

07:00 Ruwi 11:40 Daily

13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri

13:00 Sohar 14:55 Daily

13:00 Ruwi 17:40 Daily

13:00 Sohar 19:20 Daily

17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily

06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily

15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55)

06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily

14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)

12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily

12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (ROUTE 100)

07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily

10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily

10:00 Ruwi 22:30 Daily

19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

06:00 Marmul 16:30 Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Salalah 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)

07:30 Sohar 10:50 Daily

07:30 Ruwi 13:40 Daily

13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri

13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri

15:30 Sohar 18:45 Daily

15:30 Ruwi 21:35 Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH/SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily

16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily

16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

BAHJA CINEMAFilm information 24540856 / Advance Booking 24540855Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com

The Guardian Angel (Action / Crime / Drama)Cast: Numan Acar, Volker Albers, Loyd Bateman3.45, 7.45 & 11.55 pm CP No: 2894 (12+)Apocalypse: ( Horror )Cast: Leo Gregory, Sean Cronin, Brian Woodward2.00, 8.00 & 11.55 pmCP No: 2895 (18+)The Culling (Horror / Thriller) Cast: Jeremy Sumpter, Elizabeth Di Prinzio6.00 & 10.00 pm CP No: 2578 (18+)The Last Witch Hunter (Action /Adventure)Cast: Vin Diesel,Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood12.00 pm (Noon), 4.00 & 10.00 pm CP No: 2866 (PG12)The Curse of Downers Grove ( Drama / Horror) Cast: Kevin Zegers, Penelope Mitchell2.00 & 6.00 pmCP No: 2867 (15+)The Little Prince (Animation / Fantasy) Voice Overs: Rachel McAdams, Benicio Del Toro, James Franco12.00 pm (Noon)CP No: 2864 (PG)

STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776Website: www.isurf.co.om

Ennu Ninde Moideen (Mal) (Drama) Cast: Prithviraj, Parvathi Menon, Bala & Lena 3-30, 6-30, 9-30 pm Cinema Main10 Endrathu Kulla (Tamil) (Act ) Cast: Vikram, Samantha & Jackie Shroff3-45, 6-45 & 9-45 pm Cinema -4 Life Of Jusutty (Mal) (Family Drama) Cast Dileep, Joythi Krishna and Rachna Narayanan Kutty 3-45, 6-45, 9-45 pm at Cinema -3Naanum Rowdy Dhaan (Tamil) (Act/Rom) Cast Vijay Shethupathi and NayanThara 3-30, 6-30 & 9-30 at Cinema -2 NEXT CHANGE: Amar, Akbar, Anthony (Mal)

Programmes are subject to change

@MGM @RUWI

Burnt 2D (Comedy, Drama) (12+)Cast : Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller,Timing : 11:15AM, 5:30PM & 9:30PMGold Class: 6:45PM

@SHATTI

GOOSEBUMPS (Action, Adventure) (3D)(12+)Cast : Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, Odeya RushTiming : 2:30, 7:00, 9:15, 11:30 pm

@BURAIMI

Titli – 2D (Crime, Drama, Thriller) (15+)Cast: Ranvir Shorey, Shivani Raghuvan-shi, Shashank AroraTiming: 6:30PM

Main Aur Charles (Drama/Thriller) – 18+Cast : Randeep Hooda, Adil Hussain, Richa ChaddaTiming: 3.30, 9.30 PM

Dhuhr 11.55pmAsr 3.08pmMaghrib 5.32pmIsha 6.44pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 4.57am

PRAYER TIMINGS

WEATHER

310

Maximum

23Minimum

TEMPERATURE

40-46%RELATIVE HUMIDITY

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 16 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to lifestyle@timesofoman.com

VARUN P. V. November 4, 1999

WITH LOVE

LIFESTYLEC11W E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

Location: 17°13’01.8”N 55°14’44.4”EHave you been able to capture the beauty of an off-the-beaten-path destination in Oman? Send your pictures with a caption & geo-locator to: shafeeq@timesofoman.com

Cosmic Carvings

I N T H E N E W S

LUCKNOW: Ever seen the Taj Mahal from 3,000 feet above and from a distance of just 500 metres? Well, this could be your lifetime chance as the Uttar Pradesh Tour-ism Department is hosting a hot air balloon festival in the vicinity of the monument November 14-16.

More than 15 hot air balloons from Australia, Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Sri Lan-ka, Thailand, the UAE and the US, as also India, will fly tourists and adventure lovers, for a fee, at the festival that has been envisaged to promote tourism in and around the Taj Mahal, officials told IANS.

The organisers SkyWaltz and the UP Tourism Department promise that the three-day extrav-aganza will recreate the pageantry and elegance of the Mughal era, while setting new benchmarks in the realm of lifestyle tourism.

“The festival’s itinerary has been tastefully pre-packaged to offer a glimpse of the rich culture and heritage of Agra, spiced with adventure and unique insider ex-periences - all set against the awe-inspiring backdrop of the Taj,” Sky-Waltz business Manager Naveet Bali told IANS.

The excursions will include visit to monuments as well as the renowned Kalakriti Cultural and Convention Centre, along with

royal dining experiences in the regal city of Agra. All clearances from the ministry of defence and the Indian Air Force (IAF) — since the area around the Taj is a no-fly zone - have been taken and per-missions for the event has also been granted by the Archaeo-logical Survey of India (ASI), the Agra district administration and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The gondollas of the balloons can accommodate the pilot and up

to four passengers, each of whom would have to pay in the region of Rs.8,000 ($125) for the flight.

Bali further informed that the company has a foolproof safety record of flying hot-air balloons and all measures are complete. Registrations would begin from November 1. The festival has been divided in three parts — Taj Sky view, Agraban and Nightglow.

In the first, the balloon rides will reveal the Taj in its hidden subtleties only when viewed from

the unique vantage point offered by a hot air balloon reflecting in the surrounding waters, reaching unto the skies.

In the second, the ride will be along the Red Fort and other im-portant landmarks of the Mughal era. The third will be held in the evenings — a lively night glow concert that will showcase the spectacular sight of the balloons lighting up the dark night sky along with musical accompani-ment. The evenings will also be capped off with performances and entertainment from local and nationally recognised music and dance performers, officials of the tourism department informed.

Director General (DG) and Sec-retary Tourism Amrit Abhijat told IANS that the festival was a first of its kind and was a very serious and innovative effort to promote lifestyle tourism in the state.

“Based on the experience of the Taj Balloon Festival, we would replicate it in Varanasi and Dud-hwa also,” he said, while inform-ing that Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was expected to inaugurate the extravaganza. “He has been the force behind the show and we all are looking forward to his participation in the event,” the of-ficial said. Yadav is also likely to take a balloon ride. -IANS

See Taj Mahal Up Close From a Hot Air Balloon

SMARTEN UPDRIVE SAFE

A TIMES OF OMAN HANDS-FREE DRIVING INITIATIVE

LIFESTYLEC12 W E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

MIDDLE EASTWith histories that stretch back to thousands of years, these

Middle Eastern cities are some of the oldest civilised places in the

world. (There are many other ancient points of interest throughout

the region, but given the current conflicts, these are the most

safely accessible destinations).

PHO

TO

GR

APH

Y: C

C-W

IKIM

EDIA

CO

MM

ON

S; S

UPP

LIED

BYBLOS, LEBANONThe coastal town of Byblos is located on a cliff of sandstone 40 km North of Beirut, and it bears outstanding witness to the beginnings of the Phoenician civilisation. The city’s key tourist sites include ancient Phoenician temples, Byblos Castle and St John the Baptist Church, and the old Medieval City Wall.

TYRE, LEBANONLocated on the southern coast of Lebanon, 83 km south of Beirut, the antique town of Tyre has important archaeological remains, mainly from Roman times. Tyre is said to be founded around 2750 BC and this Phoenician city’s Roman Hippodrome is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

FAIYUM, EGYPTFaiyum is a city in Middle Egypt, located 100 kilometres southwest of Cairo. Founded in 4,000 BC, Faiyum was the favourite hunting ground for the Egyptian elite. It now occupies part of Crocodilopolis —an ancient Egyptian city which worshipped Petsuchos, a sacred crocodile. Modern Faiyum consists of several large bazaars, mosques and baths.

BEIRUT, LEBANONExcavations in Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, have unearthed Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman, Arab, and Ottoman remains. It’s history stretches back around 5,000 years and since the end of the Lebanese civil war, it has become a lively, modern tourist attraction, with array museums, restaurants and clubs.

JERICHO, PALESTINEArchaeologists have unearthed the remains of 20 successive settlements in Jericho, dating back 11,000 years. The city is found near the Jordan River in the occupied West Bank and is today home to around 20,000 people. Jericho is a tourist-orientated town and the Palestinian Authority ensures that it remains a safe place to visit.

GAZIANTEP, TURKEYLocated in southern Turkey, close to the border with Syria, Gaziantep is one of the modern provinces of South-Eastern Anatolian Region and also one of the oldest of Hittite origin. One of the major attraction is Gaziantep Zeugma Mosaic Museum, and there inns, baths, fortresses, bazaars, and stone houses from a bygone era.

LARNACA, CYPRUSFounded in 1,400 BC as ‘‘Citium’ by the Phoenicians, Larnaca is known

for its lovely seafront lined with palm trees. Major tourist attractions are archaeological sites and beaches.

It has stayed determinedly low-rise and has a proper community feel and

working-town atmosphere.

TRAVEL TO SOME OLDEST CITIES IN THE

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 D8

W E D N E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 4 , 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

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

NEW WAREHOUSE FOR RENT at

Ghala Ind. Area. 800 & 2500 approx

sqms Near Hotel Al-Madinah Holi-

day.Ghala. Container can enter. Im-

mediate access to roads & highways.

CONTACT : 94583320

Budget flats 1,2,3 BHK at Wadi Kabir,

Darsait, Ruwi, Wattaya & Al Khuwair.

Contact: 95282986 / 99472457/

99349262 / 24707340

2 BHK flats for rent near PDO Gate

No.2 with spilt AC. #94057023

Flat for rent at Wadi Al Kabir next

Al Hassan.co, 2 bedroom, 3 WS,

1 sitting room. Contact: 99210008

Villa & flats for rent with facilities

in Al Amerat (Al Atkefah).

Contact: 97749771 / 99425184

D2 W E D N E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

Dental clinic in Buriami for sale

or rent have excellent condition &

excellent location was unoccupied.

Contact 968 98379121

1000 sq mtrs industrial land for rent

in Ghala suitable for wane house,

work shop etc. Contact 24700120 /

92584715

One room for bachelors at W/ Kabir

R.O 110/-. Contact: 99384640

2BHK new bldg at Ghala with A/C

350/-R.O. Contact: 99024730

Shops for rent behind buildings

good for offices + stores area 11x4 MT

behind Sultan Center Al Amerat R.O

250/- PER Month.

Contact: 92877449

Villa for rent in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 95562646

1BHK Near Al Nahdha hospital Ruwi

R.O 200/-. Contact: 99617786

3BHK flat for rent at Muttrah.

Contact: 99423596

Shop for rent at Barka.

Contact: 99388898

Room available for bachelor or

family at Al Hail near Seeb stadium.

Contact: 93077789 / 97982399

Two villas for rent in Mumtaz area

and one villa in Mawaleh next to the

WAVE. Contact: 97296105

Flat 3 bed, 1 Majlis, Hilat Sad rent RO

300, opp. Al Nahdha Hospital, near

Abu Zaki bldg. contact 99489548

4 BHK villa Azaiba, behind Sultan

Center. Contact: 94300909

2 BHK & 1BHK flat in Tilal Bowsher.

Contact: 94300909

6 BHK villa in Al Khuwair next to

Taimoor Mosque. Contact: 94300909

Villa at Al Khuwair having six

bedrooms, six bathrooms, sitting,

dinning, hall, kitchen. etc Contact

24833972/ 24833974/ 99367448

ISD, walking distance, 2 BHK, re-

cently renovated flat, new and well

maintained building. Ideal for Keralite

/ South Indian family, 350/- per month,

including air conditioners and main-

tenance. Contact: Iqrar on 99076557.

Available from 1st November.

02 BHK Commercial / residential

(with split AC) flat at Honda road.

Contact: 99342733 / 99795241

Sohar: 3BHK AND 4BHK FLATS, R.O

200 and R.O 215 respectively. (New

Building with CCTV camera with

Split A/C). # 99881426 / 92123699

02 BHK Residential flat oppo-

site to Al Nahda Hospital. Contact

99342733 / 99795241

1000 sqm Industrial land with

compound wall & 2 rooms at Misfah.

Contact: 99342733 / 99795241

1/2, B/R – Res / commercial di-

rectly from owner near Bank Muscat,

Bausher. Contact 92158031

Readymade office space for rent

(100sm) in Bank Melli Iran building,

MBA area, Ruwi, opposite Center

Point. Contact: 99011352

Fully furnished office space in

As - Assalah Tower Ghobra.

Contact 98202001

DAILY GUIDEW E D N E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5 D3

FOR SALE

FOR RENT

FOR RENT

*Classified Advertisement space

booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon

for next day’s publication.

* Subject to space availability

Running furniture showroom for urgent sale.

Ladies beauty parlor

Contact - 91135930

ACC. AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirt-

ing, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery,

Crockery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes,

Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound

Systems and spectacular lighting.

Call Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering

and Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound &

Light. ww.tunesoman.com,

E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

FOR HIRE WITH OPERATORS1. Back Hoe Loaders (Shovels): 5 Nos

2. 10 Tons Vibratory Roller Compactor: 1 No.

3. 42 Mtrs. Concrete Pump Putzmeister: 1 No.

4. 45 Cbm Tippers: 2 Nos

5. 50 M height, 50 Boom tower cranes: 5 Nos.

Please contact – Mr. Ravi on 96529679Email – ravi@alliedoman.com / narayan@alliedoman.com

3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, sitting

room, Kitchen & store including

utilities bills at Al hail.

Contact 92817777

1 room with bathroom for rent in

khuwair with ac, RO 120 not

negotiable. Contact 92724472

4 bedrooms, 2 living room, 3 bath-

rooms, 1 kitchen with ac in Khuwair

asking 500 not negotiable.

Contact 92724472

Single room for expat Indian bach-

elors near Al Aktham restaurant Al

khuwair for RO 120. Water and elec-

tricity included. Contact:98803261

Sharing accommodation available

for an Executive Bachelor in

Al Khuwair (near Zawawi Mosque).

Contact 92138451 or 93883755.

Sharing accommodation at Ghubra,

opp. Mars hyper market for

bachelors, spinsters or couple .

Contact: 93289109 after 3 pm

Single bhk flat available in Honda

road Ruwi. Contact 24833972/

24833974/ 99367448

Room for rent available in a flat for

Executive bachelor at Azaiba behind

Al Meera Hypermarket Azaiba with

attached bath with Cot & A/C, rent RO

175/- per month including Water &

Electricity.# 96404166 / 97433992

Bachelor accommodation Ruwi

Tower R.O 75/- Contact: 95084850

Furnished room available in Ruwi.

Contact: 92435784

New fully furnished room &

attached bathroom, kitchen, wifi, for

bachelor Honda road. #98582078

Big room available near Hamriya

R/A for Muslim couple / small family

/ Executive bachelor rent 150/- per

month including W+ E. #99495131

Sharing accommodation available

for family near Ruwi Church.

Contact: 92308110 / 92837206

Building Materials shop for sale in

prime location at Al Amerath near to

Sultan Center. # 91127809 / 99008803

Immediate sale of well running

pharmacy at prime location.

Contact 99627621 , 99516236

Shop for sale network accessories,

shop in Honda road Ruwi.#99481931

Ladies tailoring shop for sale in

Ghubra. Contact: 93941622

Scrap for sale to inspection.

Contact: Mr. Ravi Nair: 99329514

Comm. & Res land in the heart of

Ruwi 2400 sq mtr for sale.

Contact : 91155779

Comm. & Res land in Darsait, opp.

Pakistani School, 900 sq mtr for sale.

Contact: 91155779

Comm. & res. land for investment for

25 years in Ghala heights.

Contact: 91155779

Comm. & Res land in Ghala heights

400 sq mtr for sale. Contact 91155779

For sale land in Amerat 3000 Sq.mt

with petrol pump permission.

Contact 99323957 / 92702891

Beauty parlour in Mobela for sale.

Contact: 96131261

NRI

LOST

2 BHK flat available for rent in

Darsait. Contact: 99357586

New building 1BHK, 3BHK with

lift and A.C behind Muscat bakery

Wadi Al Kabir. Contact: 92103604 /

92308325

Flat for rent, 3 bedrooms, kitchen &

bathroom in wadi kabir for 260 RO.

Contact : 97771444

5 Bedroom Luxury Villa in Al-Ansab

Phase 3. Contact 99417023

2 BHK Apartment for rent near MSQ

area. Contact 92888063

Tourist restaurant in Falaj Al qabail

Sohar , good location. Contact :

94066999 / 99369733

6 bed rooms for rent in Al Khuwair

33 for family only rent 500 R.O.

Contact: 99366624

1&2 BHK C.B.D. Contact: 99024730

1&2 BHK Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 99024730

2 BHK Al Amerat 6 new bldg with

A/C 200/- R.O. Contact: 99024730

Warehouse for rent in Ghala.

Contact: 99208423

2 BHK near Oman house behind

Khimji H.O. Contact: 95865686

Available 1 BHK & 2 BHK flats at

Ghala Industrial area, Coco Cola road

(for family/ Exec bachelors).

Contact 92854747

2BHK for rent in Al Amerat rent R.O

250/- Month. Contact: 92925173

Furnished office space & room avail-

able in Walja. Contact: 96246625

Villa in Arjan complex near Seeb

stadium 4BHK, 1 living room, 1

majles, 1 extra room in ground floor.

Contact 93219597

1BHK available Mumtaz area Ruwi.

Contact : 99269751

New buildings commercial / residential in Muttrah both will BE

rented out for one company only for

more details.

Contact: 99364735/95729711

FOR SALE ASHOK LEYLAND

BUS 2 NOSMODEL 2010 &

MODEL 2012SEATING 66,

GOOD CONDITIONCONTACT: 98048952

Unfurnished Villa 5 B/ R @ Madinat

Al Ilam, Fully Furnished Villa 5 B/R

@ Madinat Al Ilam Executive Fully

Furnished 1 B/R Apartment at Al

Khuwair 33. Contact: Atlas Real

Estate & Rent A Car LLC. 24834888 /

99249069 / 92888376/ 99436312.

Email: info@alshahiintl.com

1BHK Ghubra R.O 275/-.

Contact 92144045

1BHK Mumtaz R.O 250/-.

Contact: 92144045

1BHK Darsait R.O 225/-.

Contact: 92144045

600 SQT Commercial flat for rent op-

posite Oman flourmill Darsait more

details please Contact: 91214849/

95729711

2BHK commercial Al Khuwair

R.O 375/-.Contact: 92144045

2BHK villa Mumtaz R.O 300/-.

Contact: 92144045

2BHK flat at Al Khodh & 2 BHK

Honda Road Ruwi.

Contact: 99224748 / 99332297

1BHK new bldg with A/C curtains

near Khimji Mart MBD.

Contact: 99061408 / 99024039

Big room with attach bathroom,

Contact: 95094028

2BHK flat + AC Amerat 6 km from

Amerat police. Contact: 95521432

2BHK Ghubra R.O 300/-.

Contact 92144045

New Building in Muttrah, 2 B/D

room flat + Sitting Room,3 Baths+

Kitchen with split unit Ac’s. Behind

Khimji’s main office/opposite to

Oman House Call 99419712

One & two bedroom apartment

available for rent at South Ghu-

bra close to Atlas hospital near

Grand mall & Avenues mall, next to

Diwan’s office. Contact 99833747 /

24562526

Al Mawalh villa for rent 17 bed-

rooms, all attached toilet, 2 big hall,

1 big kitchen, outside 1 kitchen 1 PVT

room near (Mac Donald).

Contact: 99654252 / 95566475

1 BHK for rent at Al-Khud in Baskin

Robbins Building. R.O. 200.

Contact: 94194876, 99478492

Flats and shops for rent in Ruwi,

MBD Mumtaz area. Contact :

97293708 / 92433127

Flats in Wadi Kabir. # 99376454

New flats for rent At Darsait near

to Ministry of Sports, Mumtaz area

the flats includes1 living room, 2

bedrooms, Kitchen, 3 toilets, every

rooms with split A/C, high quality

finishing, rent RO 340 /-.

Contact: 00968 92225523

Brand new residential flats in Wadi

Kabir near Muscat football club,

have 2 bedroom family hall, 2 toilets,

Kitchen with spilt AC for 250/- R.O.

#95999904 / 98585889 / 92383886

Showroom / storage / office space (area 290 SQM, 6 M Height) avail-

able 4 R.O PER SQM, facing Al Mina

Street, near Darsait Lulu.

Contact: 99360631/ 96760819/

24711184

600 SQT commercial flat for rent

opposite Oman flourmill Darsait more

details. # 91214849/ 99364735

1BHK flat spilt with A/C Al Khu-

wair, 230/-. Contact: 99358589 /

95570288

Immediate sale , 2BHK 1126 sq ft

in Sahakar Nagar Pune available

amenities including swimming

pool, gym, 24 hrs security, piped

gas covered parking, Building built

by reputed Amit Builders. Contact:

Waghmare 0091 9423580779

Vandana : 91396500

Usman Numbarath Ibrahim has

lost Indian Passport No. K3889652.

Finder please handover to ROP.

Indian Salesman required for print-

ing press with minimum 3 years

experience and should have knowl-

edge of English – Hindi language

with GCC driving license.

Contact: 96917952

Email: swapneelbhatt@gmail.com

Omani / Expats, male / female required for gift articles shop with

minimum 2 years experience and

should have knowledge of MS Office

English & Arabic language.

Contact: 96917952

Email: swapneelbhatt@gmail.com

Required Sales & Marketing person for IT / Telecom / Security System Company with minimum 2 years

experience in Oman and

Oman driving license.

Contact: 99016180 / 98825805

Email: info@rns-group.com

Required employee for travel agency with the exp in Saham.

Contact :93655939 / 93687666

Smart & energetic sales person with

Omani/ GCC & driving license, ready

to join. Kindly send Cv at

Email : hhabsi55@gmail.com

Dynamic sales girl, wanted for

book and stationary shop, fluent in

English and having basic computer

literacy. Contact 92771610

Required Sales coordinator (Preferably Filipino). Required Insurance Sales Executive to

handle insurance product sales in

Muscat region. Graduate prefer-

ably with driving license and with

2-3 years experience in insurance

product sales. Send CV to

shiju@spec-link.com or

call 99450811

DAILY GUIDED4 W E D N E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

DOMESTIC HELP

EDUCATION

DESIGNER

ENGINEER/TECH/MECH

ENGINEER/TECH/MECH

ACCOUNTANT

DRIVER

MEDICAL

MEDICAL

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

SITUATION WANT-ED

SIT. WANTED

SALES / MARKETING

SALES / MARKETING

Wanted a lady driver from Muttrah

to Darsait. Call 99426100

Required 2 Expatriate Drivers for

manpower supply company with

Oman driving license.

Contact 94148972 / 94148970

Wanted Gynecologist with MOH

license of minimum 3 years experi-

ence for reputed medical center in

Seeb. Interested candidates please

send CVs rttfravi@yahoo.com

Contact: 99062817 / 91274373

Wanted Dentist for a clinic in Ruwi with or without license. Send CV to

farayil@hotmail.com

Required female Nurse with MOH

license for a private a private clinic

in Bowsher area, Muscat.

Contact 92189807

A well known private school is in

need of Science, Maths & English Teachers. Contact: 96910649

Email: staffing.oman@gmail.com

Looking for Tutor of 10 th grade

student, main subjects are Maths &

all Sciences. Tutor will be required

to teach at the student home if

possible. Contact 97915667.

Urgently required Maths, Science,

English, Hindi and Urdu teacher.

Send mail ahimcoman@gmail.com

Science, Maths & English Teachers

are required in a private school in

Al Ansab. Send your CV at Email :

94540479, aleithar@hotmail.com

Post Graduate researcher required. Contact 99229700

Required Accountant Arabic or

Indian. Please send CV to:

alothman_oman@yahoo.com

Required Junior Accountant

cum Office Coordinator for small

construction company. Send CV:

arabianhomellc@gmail.com

ADMIN/ HR

Female Receptionist required for

play area in Azaiba. Must be ener-

getic, speak good English, and be

good with children. Start date mid-

November. Sponsorship available.

Email CV to playareaom@gmail.com

Young Omani PRO:

deemaild@gmail.com

Wanted Sri lankan Housemaid full

time for Indian family from Delhi.

Should have release. Visa, food,

accommodation will be provided.

Should have good references. Should

know English and household work

including baby sitting.

Contact-99665145 / 99274857

Urgently required a Baby sitter in

Ruwi for an Asian family from

8 30 morning to 7 evening.

Contact 96511169

Wanted Indian Housemaid Hindi

speaking for an Indian family with

cooking experience for part time.

Contact: 93228657

Maid required for Indian family

visa and accommodation provided.

Contact: 97448484

MANAGER

A newly started travel agency in

Ruwi requires a Manager. The can-

didate should have 5-7 years experi-

ence with excellent communication

skills and a valid Omani driving li-

cense. Interested candidates , please

send CV to manager4travels@gmail.

com, within 15 days from the date of

this advertisement

Construction Manager with a

mechanical background required for

an ongoing project with experience

in construction projects of minimum

5 - 8 years required urgently. Profes-

sional personnel well versed in

planning and execution kindly apply

on an immediate basis -

email tgi17@omantel.net.om

ACCOUNTANT, Indian male 28 years,

6 plus years of GCC experience up

to finalization, presently working in

Oman as an Accountant, seeking for a

suitable job, NOC available,

Contact: 95089869

E-Mail: anuchunda@gmail.com

Indian Chartered Accountant having

7 year experience in MIS, Budget-

ing, Taxation, ERP, Cost Accounting,

Liasing with Big 4 Auditors, Cash

Flow etc. working as Asst. Manager -

Finance. NOC Available;

Contact: 91789950

Email: igneshmlazar@gmail.com /

MBA International Business in

finance and operations Indian male

24, (3 months visit visa) seeking

immediate placement.

Contact 968 97489409 /

Email: abhay8168@gmail.com

Indian female, B. Com, MCA, with

4 yrs experience in teaching, looking

for any suitable teaching/HR/Admin

post. Currently on visit visa-

Contact 92033720 ;

Email: deepss22@gmail.com

Part time Accountant services

available to handle all accounts

related work up to finalization on

monthly basis. Contact: 96247295

Indian male 25 years B.Com MBA

2 years experience in accounts

looking for suitable job.

Contact: 99299471 / 96589605

Indian male 32 years, B.Com

Accountant 5 yrs experience in

Oman seeking suitable vacancy.

Contact : 94410485

Male 28 yrs, MBA with 3 years

experience, holding a valid GCC

driving license seeking suitable

opportunity. Contact: 93407095,

Email: syampdm@gmail.com

Indian male B.Com Graduate with

2+ years experience in Accounts &

Administration looking for a suitable

placement. Contact: 96923391

Sri Lankan CIMA finalist Account-

ant 6 yrs exp accounting, finance,

auditing immediate join & NOC.

Contact: 95522109

Part time accounting finalization

audit. Contact: 98157999

Sudanese, Masters degree in

Economics, 8 years experience in

procurement and finance.

Contact: 94524060

Accountant, Indian Male, 24 yrs, B.

Com Graduate 1 year experience as

Accountant in India. Now on visit

visa seeks suitable placement.

Contact 94129716;

thanoof5736@gmail.com

Finance Controller 15 years experi-

ence in Oman corporate financing ,

management accounts , feasibility

study, cost control , business plan,

ERP, MIS Banking, International

trade etc seeks suitable opportunity.

Contact: 98571309

Experienced construction Civil Engineer with qualification (attested)

certificates & with Omani driving

license. Contact: 99601004

email:slayhawk@yahoo.com

Instrumentation & controls Tech-nician with 2-3 years experience

preferably in water sector and hav-

ing valid driving license Send CV to

shiju@spec-link.com or call

Ph:+968 99450811

MEP Engineer electrical with full

knowledge of concealed wiring, air

conditioning works, plumbing hav-

ing at least 3 - 5 years experience in

supervision and project execution.

autocad is a must. contact

tgi17@omantel.net.om

Joinery foreman with minimum

3 - 5 years experience in interior

finishing related to all carpentry and

aluminum works required. Persons

with relevant experience and

release / NOC. Contact

tgi17@omantel.net.om

Leading construction company

requires experienced Site Engineer

and QA/QC Engineer for residential/

commercial project. Require

NOC. Send your CV :

degree.engineer2015@gmail.com

Wanted female Gynecologist, female

Staff Nurse – 2 no., Dental Asst, female

Lab Tech from India or Filipino with

MOH license & data flow for Al Saadi

Specialized Medical Centre in Mussana.

Contact 92025033, dr.srinivas76@gmail.com

IT

Required Software Support Engi-neer for IT Company with minimum

2 years experience.

Contact : 99016180 /98825805

Email: info@rns-group.com

A leading cosmetic company in

Muscat is looking for an IT Execu-

tive Email us on

vacancies@maryanagroup.com

JOB VACANCYSALES MEN – HoReCa for one of the leading FMCG company in the

Sultanate of Oman.

Qualifications:

e

W y

Very

Very e

Please send your updated CV with photo and complete

contact details to info@alrahbaoman.com

WANTEDCivil Engineer (Building Construction)

2 Nos

Qualification: BE in Civil Engineering

Electro Mechanical Engineer (Building

Services)1 No.

Qualification: BE in Electrical or

Mechanical Engineering

Send detailed resume to

sskpvr@gmail.com

Sales Executives required for lead-

ing trading company engaged in

sale of oilfield supplies, tools, safety

products, automobile, industrial,

electromechanical spares, pump

sets and generators, for Salalah and

Sohar branches. Diploma holders

with GCC experience, good commu-

nication and D/L apply to

hraljaddgroup@gmail.com

Male - Marketing Supervisor with

University Degree, Experience in

Marketing, w/ excellent

communication skill.

Email admin-dept@daud.om

Required Marketing Executive, 2 yrs experience.

Contact 91120552

Male/Female advertising and media

sales executives required with valid

driving license and minimum 1 year

experience. Mail CV to

blackandwhiteoman@gmail.com

Wanted Sales man (experienced in

transporting etc). contact 94007259

Email: smylackal@gmail.com

Urgently required: Sales Execu-tive- with 5 years experience in

aluminum and sales, MUST have

NOC and immediately join. Apply,

fax 00968–24605955,

emails sbc@steelbuildingsllc.com,

sbeoman@yahoo.com

Sales & Marketing Executive for

travel and tourism.

Contact : 92890506

Sr. Accountant with 14 yrs experi-

ence, 2 yrs in Oman capable of han-

dling all accounting functions. NOC

available. Contact: 92404608 Email:

jin_75@rediffmail.com

Fresher 24 years B.Com Graduate,

Tally 7.2 & ERP-9, looking for a

suitable placement in Accounts.

Contact: 97219505

Chartered Accountant with ICWA

Inter having 5 years experience in Fi-

nance, Accounts, Costing, Budgeting,

Audit, Insurance, Treasury & Banking

operations - NOC Available + Oman

Driving License Contact :97881548

Email-financecost2@gmail.com

Chief Accountant, 12 years Oman

experienced looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 99513082

Indian male highly resulted oriented

and self driven CA inter qualified

Accountant with over more than

14 years of experience in auditing

, finance and accounts including

industrial exposure in construc-

tion industry in Mumbai and Qatar

available in Oman seeks placement.

Contact: 93405047

Senior Accountant, Indian male, 18

years experience, currently on visit,

seeks immediate and suitable posi-

tion. Contact- 98569025, 97498809.

Email - hilariankj@gmail.com

Sr. Accountant 12 years experience

6 years in Oman, NOC available D/L

Oman seeking placement.

Contact: 91127809 /

Email: lyjuvs@yahoo.com

Indian male Accountant with twelve

years experience currently in Mus-

cat on visit visa. Contact : 96148421

Email: jijokurianp@gmail.com

Young 24 yrs, ACCA affiliate ,

advanced diploma in Accounting

business, seeking suitable placement

in accounts finance or audit with valid

driving license. Contact: 92430152

Email: rau_day@yahoo.com

Part time Accountant Sr. Account-

ant doing all type of accounting

works up to finalization.

Contact: 91127809

Indian female 3 yrs experience in

M.B.A HR, Admin & banking looking

for suitable opportunity.

Contact: 94425585

ACCA member / B.Com (3.7 years

experience) looking for Accounts /

Audit job. Contact: 97769145 Email:

mnnaem02@gmail.com

Indian female 5+ yrs Oman exp in

Accounts tally looking for suitable

placement in W.K to Qurum area.

Contact: 95580416

Young 24, ACCA affiliate, Advanced

diploma in Accounting and Busi-

ness, seeking suitable placement

in Accounts, Finance or audit With

valid driving license.

Contact 92430152 ,

Email - rau_dey@yahoo.com

Urgently required female therapist

Panchakarma in Ghoubra.

Contact : 95094028

A reputed Wellness Center is look-

ing for MOH licensed or Prometric

Passed Physiotherapist, Nurse and

Occupational therapy.

Please send your CV to :

hr2015.oman@gmail.com

Required General Physician,

Gynecology, Dentist, Pharmacists,

Lab technicians, Nurses.

Contact: 95133572

Email: kunoozghala@gmail.com

Urgently required Staff Nurse

dental clinic Al Ghoubra.

Contact: 95094028

Required Prometric passed nurse

to join clinic. Contact: 91478749

Finance Manager, 12 years experi-

ence in leading Construction and

manufacturing companies (9 years

in Oman) have strategic vision and

proven leadership ability. B.Com,

CPA- USA & modern accounting

certificate from “AUC”. “NOC” in

hand. Contact: 97220505

Accountant Indian female having 5

years exp in finalization, audit and

administration in GCC presently in

Muscat seeking suitable position.

Contact 97323574

Email: sreeja@236@gmail.com

HR MANAGER

Experiences 5+ years with Relevant

earthmoving.recruitment@gmail.com

A Leading Earthmoving company requires: REQUIRED

SALES EXECUTIVE for furniture &

building material,

minimum experience 5 yrs.

Send CV at

Email :

careeroman@yahoo.com

2. Contracts Manager.

SITUATION VACANTLooking for Dynamic and talented individuals with minimum

Candidates with Oman/ GCC experience, with Valid GCC Driving License,

URGENTLY REQUIRED

A leading and Reputed MEP Contracting Co.

Looking for the below positions

cc

cc

A LEADING FACILITIES MANAGEMENT COMPANY

REQUIRE

CHIEF ACCOUNTANT * AGE : BETWEEN 35 TO 45

* QUALIFICATION : INTER. CA/ ICWA

* EXPERIENCE : SUFFICIENT EXPERIENCE

IN ACCOUNTS, FINANCE

AND PURCHASES

SEND YOUR CVs TO hrdept191@yahoo.com

REQUIRED SALESMAN

For Plastic Bag Supply

company in Salalah,

Person knowing Salalah

market & from Kerala will

be given priority.

Must be holding Omani

driving license.

Send CV to :

salesmanbag@gmail.com

hr@alalawico.com

Urgently required part time Graphic Designer with 3 to 4 years

experience in graphic designing,

Photoshop, Illustrator, flash.

Email: mhca@mhabibgroup.com

Sales Engineer: Mechanical Engi-

neering holder with 2-4 years’ Exp.

in Sales, preferably in Metal fabrica-

tion Company. Omani D/L is a must.

Contact: recruitment747@gmail.com

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

DAILY GUIDEW E D N E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5 D5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

ARCHITECT

MEDICAL

EDUCATION

HOSPITALITY

MISCELLANEOUS

24 years Indian female MSC -

Biotechnology 1 year exp.in clinical

microbiology, worked in ICRISAT for

project work as Trainee, looking for

suitable job. Contact: 92619048

Email: anusreeg1991@gmail.com

Indian male 29 B.Com MBA , 5 years

Gulf exp in oil & gas as planner on

visit visa seeking suitable place-

ment in similar or sales / marketing.

Contact: 93179096

Email: prasanthta@gmail.com

Indian male, 38 years, 17 years ex-

perience in Oman, with valid Oman

2 wheeler license & own Bike, seeks

suitable position.Contact: 92287226

Indian male graduate D/L (3 yrs

exp) seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 97299097 Email:

anishazzy@gmail.com

Social worker MSW Children

counselor, 2 years UK, Indian exp

or resident visa. Contact: 94635091

Email: betzyza14@gmail.com

Sudanese lawyer with experience

10 years in Judiciary in Khartoum.

Contact: 94458976

ADMIN

ADMIN

DRIVER

DRIVER

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

DESIGNER

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

Email :swasdesigner@gmail.com Contact - 97203531

Dutch male qualified commer-

cial pilot (Faa-ME-IR certified) is

looking for job openings in middle

east. rutjestom@outlook.com

Hotel exp 4 years F+ B (service)

visit visa expires 13/11/2015,

B.A Hotel Management. Contact:

91987013 / 96971643 Email:

shinekls34@gmail.com

Sudanese General Manager, 15 years experience MBA from U.K

experience in telecom and oilfield.

Contact: 90182803

Indian male - 15 yrs Gulf Exp as

Warehouse/Store - Manager in Food-

stuff, on Visit visa with Oman D/L.

Contact No. 94543064

Email: Khanmujahidulla@gmail.com

Indian 14 years experience in con-

sumer goods as Marketing Manager

with visa D/L. Contact: 90314809

Mechanical Engineer M.Tech

2 years experience as HVAC Design

Eng. Revit MEP looking for suitable

job consultancy or construction.

Contact: 90150913 Email:

rahamanechengg@yahoo.com

Procurement, contracts and tender

HEAD in construction civil & MEP

20 years vast experience in Oman

with big MNC , seeking suitable

placement. NOC available.

Contact: 93737496

Omani Mechanical Engineer/ GPA-3.49 graduated in 2013.

GSM#95276154 / 99201710

Seeking part time job in Sohar

area - 16 years exp-Mechanical En-

gineer (Indian) Knowledgeable in

quotation tenders, reports, Account

verification, business development,

supervision, visits, other suitable

work; Mob: 94215208;

email-axisanjani27@gmail.com

Indian male, Mechanical Engineer

having 1Year experience, on visit

visa looking for suitable job.

Contact:97416564,

Email:jovinmathias@gmail.com

B tech Mechanical Engineer, Indian

male, 33 yrs, having 10 yrs Exp

includes 6 yrs in GCC, Having Oman

D/L. Seeking Suitable placement.

Contact : 96978380,

prajithks@gmail.com.

Indian male 25 yrs MBA logistics,

2 yrs experience in export & im-

port, storekeeping, transportation,

procurement, goods & service etc

currently in Muscat on visit visa for

3 months, till Dec 28th,

seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 93772901 / 95309001,

E Mail : araj2378@gmail.com

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

Female Nurse (Indian) looking for a

suitable job in Capital area.

Contact: 98843139

Indian male Lab Technician seeking

for job prometric passed with 70%.

Contact: 97985325

Palestinian dentist looking for job in

private hospitals, Medical Center or

Dental Centers in Muscat 15 yrs exp

P. hospitals out Muscat.

Contact: 96951750

DRAUGHTSMAN

Indian female BA experience in

administration operations, business

development excellent MS office

skills looking for suitable job.

Contact: 94231020

MBA (Graduate, Indian male, 19

years, Gulf experience (6 years

Oman) in HR & Administration,

seeking suitable job, immediately

available with NOC.

Contact: 99103763 / 99519841

Indian male looking for a job as a

HR/Automobile Admin having expe-

rience of more than 6 years, Omani

driving license. Contact 97409450

Indian male, 29 years B.sc with

PGDCA.1 year experience in sales

& 3years experience as computer

professional. Looking for any suit-

able job. Presently on visit visa.

Contact:93262319.

Email : sonysdas1986@gmail.com

HR/ Admin / Operation / Accountant Indian male having 13

years experience in Oman on visit

visa looking for suitable job NOC

available can join immediately. D/L

Available. Contact: 96055815

Email: shaiks111@gmail.com

HR/ Recruitment specialist with

8 years Oman experience in entire

gamut of HR functions like resource

planning , recruitment , HR policies

& procedures, performing appraisal,

expatriate affairs , exit interviews &

ticketing. Contact 93825307

Email: javthath@rediffmail.com

MBA graduate seeking a suitable

position in/as Administration/Secre-

tary/Front office. Contact 94627227

Indian 28 ,MBA (HR) with 4 + yrs

exp in MPP, Recruitment, HR, Gener-

alist, t&d, Appraisal, Admin & other

areas, working in Muscat. NOC

available. Contact - 94654626

E-MAIL:-sharique.sajjad@gmail.com

Young Indian Male with post gradu-

ate UK degree in business admin,

4 years Oman experience in admin-

istration & purchase in electrome-

chanical/civil contracting company.

NOC available. Possess valid Oman

Driving License. Contact: 94400671

Indian female MBA , 3 Years

experience in Admin MIS , family

Visa. Contact 98234427,

jkjsmith01@gmail.com

26 yrs male, MBA, 3+ years experi-

ence in Administration in MNC,

seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 95041201

Email: noyel55@gmail.com

Executive Secretary / Admin Officer

female Indian 8 years experience in

Oman. Contact: 96684705

Omani national looking for

Sr. Manager position having experi-

ence in banking for 28 years in Audit

customers service, finance credit,

Administration HR worked as a

Branch Manager products service

age 45 years. Contact: 99213754

Hr & admin with 15 years experi-

ence looking for a job change.NOC

available.contact 92475023,

email: phoenix.snair@gmail.com

30 years old Pakistani driver seek-

ing job in Oman, available Omani

license. Contact: Gulzeb 93806381 Light driver. Contact: 94365229

Bangladeshi driver need job.

Contact : 97106424

Looking for light duty driver.

Contact: 92602182

Searching heavy / light driver job

with Qatar and Saudi GCC license.

Has 8 years of experience in Qatar

readymix and Almarai Company,

Saudi Arabia. Contact: 96080988

Looking for job as light driver

3 years experience in Oman.

Contact: 97311715

Light driver. Contact: 95084826

Pakistani, light driver looking job

exp, 4 years. Contact: 96346582

Driver with car able to do documen-

tation work and delivery.

Contact: 95365938

Driver job wanted.

Contact: 99343782

9 yrs exp, LMV driver (Keralite) .

Contact: 93412587

3 years experience in Oman look-

ing for a suitable job.

Contact: 97462781

Light driver looking for job 7 years

exp. Contact: 94208089

Autocad d/man, exp in arch, struct,

now in visit visa PH : 91146914

Auto CAD Draftsman having vast

local experience in architectural

structure and mechanical HVAC also

, looking for good placement.

Contact: 98147600

Email: sahil-shahmohd@yahoo.com

Auto cad d/man, exp in MEP, Arch,

on visit visa. Contact :97422351

Indian male diploma Civil (Drafts-

man) 2 years experience in AutoCAD,

looking for suitable post.

Contact: 91146914

Email: shafnas456@gmail.com

Indian Male 22yrs, B.Tech Mechani-

cal Engineer currently on visit visa

seeks suitable placement.

Gsm:9661 8390

B.Tech mechanical Engineer, 24 yrs,

2 yrs exp seeking job on visiting visa.

Contact: 93523752 Email:

binunechikkadan@gmail.com

Indian male, 23 years, B.Tech [ECE],

1 year experience in sales and instal-

lation (electronics, IT and network-

ing devices) is looking for suitable

job. Currently on visiting visa.

Contact: +968 96761020

email:adik.mm7@gmail.com

BE CIVIL, Indian M29, 5 yrs exp.

having DL & NOC, looking for suit-

able position. Contact: 94576233

Email: suhailmullah@gmail.com

B.SC Civil Engineer, road construc-

tion field with 12 years experience

in Oman. Contact: 92200485

Indian Diploma Engineer NEBOSH

qualified with valid Oman D/L seeks

placement in HSE.

Contact: 97066980

Civil and MEP Procurement Engi-

neer total 16 years experience, NOC

available. Contact: 93083013

(B.E) Civil Engineer 3 yrs of exp. on

(residential) site M.S. Office Auto-

CAD, visit visa till DEC. looking for

suitable job. Contact: 96692175

Email: nazarrizvi1@gmail.com

Sudanese female with bachelors

degree from Caledonian College of

Engineering IELTS (7.0) looking for a

job in the teaching field.

Contact: 92210958

Civil Engineer 6 years experience

in materials & structural valid D/L

3 yrs supervision work in Oman.

Contact: 96086214

Indian male 23 bachelors degree

in Civil Engineering 1 year exp

knowledge in quantity surveying,

presently on visit visa

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 00968 94657347 Email:

mohammedkenz7@gmail.com

Sudanese Geologist 3 years experi-

ence in mining and geotechnical.

Contact : 97612807

B.Tech Mechanical Engineer 25

years Indian male 3 years experi-

ence in HVAC in India, NOC available

ready to join. Contact: 94760763

Email: muzafferali.mohammed@

gmail.com

Civil Engineer Indian male 23 yrs

BE (Civil) professional in building

design 1yr experience on visit

looking for suitable job.

Contact : 90342980 Email:

marvinthomas06@gmail.com

Indian male , 23 yrs, postgraduate

Mechanical Eng. (M.Sc, UK), 1 year

sales exp, having Oman DL, seeking

for suitable employment in re-

puted firm. Contact: 91419764 Email:

z.enggoman@gmail.com

Diploma Civil Engineer, Indian

male 29 having 5 years experience

in construction field & Autocad in

Oman, having valid driving license

looking for suitable job in reputed

firm. Contact: 93746877

Email: jackybosko@gmail.com

M.Tech (NIT) Mechanical Engineer (Indian male), 28 on visit, 4 years ex-

perience, looking for suitable place-

ment in Electromechanical / Sales /

Marketing. Contact: 98791735

Email: anilengandiyur@gmail.com

Electrical Senior Supervisor Indian

male 40 years, Diploma in Electri-

cal Technology 15 years experience

in Oman 5+ years in Indian Oman

MEDC license holder. NOC available.

Contact: 91879130

Electrical Engineer 16 years experi-

ence India – 10 yrs, Oman – 6 yrs.

NOC available. Contact : 96533493

M.S.C HSE Engineer 8 yrs experi-

ence in oil & gas fields, hold N.D.T

level 2 Master in Radiation protec-

tion. Contact: 95058541

Fresh Graduate female Electrical

Engineer, Graduated with distinction

had training in leading companies,

excellent knowledge and interested

in protection. Contact: 98133281

Diploma computer B. Sc Electrical

and Electronic Eng, IT ISP Network

control server management 4 years

experience in Bangladesh wanted

visa. Contact: 96524904

Sudanese Civil Engineer, 10 years

experience as Consultant and Con-

tractor 4 .5 years in Oman having

driving license. Contact: 98506031

IT

IT

Software Programmer, 6 yrs exp

in software projects & development

(Java,PL/SQL Unix) on visit visa.

Contact: 99487493

Oracle ADF Developer: Msc (IT), 2 yrs

of Experience in Software Develop-

ment (Oracle ADF, sql, pl/sql), Oracle

OCA & SQL Expert, Currently on

visit visa. Contact : +968 93755858 /

92141644. Email :

shiralkarmuzammil@yahoo.com

Female 26 yrs, MBA (HR) 3 yrs

experience in IT , seeking suitable

placement. Contact: 94769794

Indian male , IT professional,

8 yrs experience including GCC in

windows server, computer hardware,

networking & office administration

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 95994227

Looking for computer net working

/ IT net working job I have done

M.Sc (IT) and CCNA certified MCSE

Training at Server (2012, 2008), also

having more than 1 year experience

working as IT officer.

Contact : +968 94153542 Email:

shahzadmahmood51@yahoo.com

Network Professional, CCNP with

6 years experience and Bachelors

degree on visit visa looking for suit-

able job. Contact: 96760618,

varghese.manthara@gmail.com

Male, 31 years, M.I.T, CCNA, 9

years exp in Qatar as assistant IT

manager, network administrator,

server management and knowledge

of developing website, Qatar D/L.

Contact: 0097477237607,

00968 97683849

Email:mohsin2022@gmail.com

Indian male 28 yrs, Master degree

in Computer Application, 2 years

exp in Oman looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 93295112, mail:

syedsadathali.mca@gmail.com

Creative Designer with 8+ years

experience in web, graphic, video

editing, outsourcing looking for a

suitable placement in a reputed

company. Contact 97276004

Architect, female 23 one year ex-

perience with valid Omani driving

license, under family visa looking

for suitable placement.

Contact: 92670199

Email: tkhaleque92@gmail.com

Architect (BSC), female 23 one

year experience with valid Omani

driving license, under family visa

looking for suitable placement.

Contact 92670199

Email: tkhaleque92@gmail.com

Indian, Architect male 25, two

years experience in UAE design,

tender, site inspection with strong

knowledge in AutoCAD, Photo shop

Microsoft office looking for a suit-

able placement. Contact 91382038

Email: umar16.arch@gmail.com

Architecture Structural Draughts-

man having 5 years Oman experi-

ence, NOC available. #97312627

Architect with bachelor degree 4

years experience in architectural de-

sign (interior & exterior) profession-

al in (3D Max- Archicad - AutoCAD

- Photoshop). Contact 96041201

Email: amer.yousfan@gmail.com

Indian female M.Sc Botany, B.Ed ,

M.Ed , 5 years experience in teach-

ing with good communicating skills

on visit visa. Contact: 92890074

Looking for job, steel, fabricator &

helper. Contact : 93015630

Looking for job, Mason, carpenter,

election and helper. Contact: 93015630

Accountant , Indian (Kerala) male,

more than 09 years experience in

Qatar (02 years) and New Delhi experi-

ence upto finalization of Accounts &

expertise in using Tally ERP-9, MS

Office (Word & Excel). Currently on

visit visa, seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 97864890 / 97268429

Email: vinodthomas80@gmail.com

Part time accountant, senior ac-

countant, doing all type of ac-

counting works, up to finalization.

contact.95254864

Indian male 8 years experience

having B.Com and MBA ready to

work in HR customer service,

Admin banking & related field.

Contact : 97436890 / 96939803.

Email: girimub@gmail.com

Indian lady, bachelor degree in

Preparatory Programme (BPP) and

Bachelor of Commerce (BCom),

completed training course in MS

Word, Excel, Power Point and Out-

look from KTI looking for full time /

part time job opportunity in Oman.

Contact 92437568, 96795853,

Email: linda_navs@yahoo.com

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, with 13yrs

experience, 6 yrs Oman in manu-

facturing, trading & contracting Cos,

capable of handling all accounting,

finance, banking, L/C, import, export

& finalization seeks placement.

NOC Available. Call+968-98932752,

mail:jjohnmuscat@hotmail.com

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

Indian female, Masters in HR,

having 4 + years Oman experience

in media management and HR,

looking for openings in HR, Educa-

tion, Admin, Corporate communi-

cations. Contact 98252030

Looking for job Admin / HR.

Release available.

Contact 94229041

10 years Gulf & 4 years Oman ex-

perience in HR / Admin & logistics

fluent in Arabic / English with

D/L looking for suitable position.

Contact: 95824598

Indian female , MBA( HR) experi-

ence in both corporate and teaching

back home, looking for any suitable

HR/ Admin / teaching post currently

on visit visa. Contact: 90139719

Email:umadevi23@gmail.com

A well experienced manager in

Admin/ HR, transport and real estate

with computer skills and Oman driv-

ing license seeking suitable place-

ment. Contact: 98864937

HR/ Recruitment specialist

with 8 years Oman experience in

entire gamut of HR functions like

resource planning, recruitment,

HR policies & procedures perfor-

mance appraisal, expatriate

affairs, exit interviews & ticketing.

Contact 93825307

Email: javthath@rediffmail.com

Looking for driving job.

Contact: 98219182

Experienced Light Duty Driver

available. Contact: 94141925

Light driver. Contact: 96313100

Driver for job. Contact: 94182497

Driver for job. Contact: 98934367

Light duty driver 3 years experi-

ence in Oman looking for job.

Contact: 93131542

Light duty driver seeks placement.

Contact: 94435912 / 92439315

Pakistani Driver wanted job,

with 3 years experience.

Contact: 94356465

Indian driver, 4 years experience in

Oman with car looking for suitable

job (NOC available).

Contact 93053917

Light driver for job 5 yrs exp.

Contact: 92171166

Civil Engineer, Indian male, 11 years

experience in construction, having

D/L and NOC. Contact: 94194399

Email: shiblyrock@gmail.com

Civil Engineer (B.Tech) Indian male,

25 yrs having 2 yrs experience in

handling civil projects with strong

knowledge in Auto Cad , 3ds Max

seeking suitable placement as Jun-

ior Project/QA/QC Engineer,

currently on visit visa.

Contact: 96081437 Email:

vibijvenugopal90@gmail.com

B.E Mechanical Engineer Indian

male 27 years having 4 years experi-

ence including 2 years GCC experi-

ence, seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 90156984 Email:

noorullahanas@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer Indian Male

2.5Years Experience Looking for

suitable Job. Contact:91845173

Email:er.joshidhaval@gmail.com

HSE Engineer, Indian 26 years

B.Tech Mechanical Engineering

Nebosh IGC qualified 5 years exp in

O & G on visit visa.

Contact: 94135234

Email: labythomas@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer Indian male 29

years, having 5 years of experience

in industrial automation and utility

maintenance in India (MRF Tyres),

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 92789995 Email:

akhilabrahamlktr@gmail.com

Civil Engineer, Indian male 29,

having 7 years exp in construction

field& Auto Cad in Oman. Having val-

id driving license. Fluent in English

& Arabic. Looking for suitable job in

reputed firm. Contact 99650569

Kerala Electrical Technician, fore-

man cum Storekeeper (Electrical).

Contact: 93563744

Civil Engineer B.Tech with Iosh,

Nebosh certification having valid

Omani driving license looking for

suitable job. Contact: 93631625

Mechanical Engineer (UK), 28

years, male having 3.5 years experi-

ence, looking for suitable placement

with valid Oman driving license NOC

available. Immediate availability

Contact: +968 97612297

Email: ymirza11@caledonian.ac.uk

BE Mechanical Engineer, 23 years,

Indian male on visit available for

immediate placement please

contact: 96145820 or

arunsankar.10.92@gmail.com

BSC (Hons) Civil Engineer with

Oman work experience and valid

driving license looking for immedi-

ate placement in consultancy or

construction firm currently on visit

visa. Contact: 91181680

Indian Electrical Engineer B. Tech,

female 24 seeking job. presently in

oman having 2 year experience in

design and estimation of Ht &Lt pro-

jects. Contact number 96897436557,

Mail id : sibinanoop1@gmail.com

Indian female 11 years experience

in Oman as a Quantity Surveyor in

Civil having valid Omani driving

license. NOC available.

Contact: 99879525

Indian male 24 years Instrumen-

tation technician have 2.5 years

experience in India, seeks a suitable

job. Contact: 92696798 Email:

ajoarikkatt@gmail.com

BSc. in Civil Engineer 12 years ex-

perience in infrastructure & building

having UAE D/L currently on visit

visa looking suitable placement.

Contact 91206763 Email:

delwar.civil.97@gmail.com

Civil Engineer B.Sc -6 years experi-

ence with constructions companies

- 1 years in Oman - qualified as Site

Engineer & Planning Engineer.

Contact+968-94682217

IT Telecom / Networking Engineer

with CCNA & CCNP, 3 yrs experi-

ence, currently in visit visa.

Contact 97435944

Email: abdulsameerr@gmail.com

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D6 W E D N E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTED

SITUATION WANTED

MISCELLANEOUS

Site supervisor (Aluminium Divi-

sion ) With Driving License, Fluent

in English , Arabic, Well knowl-

edge of Oman Areas Looking for

suitable placement.

Cell# 97950869

31 year Indian male PG in HR

,with 5 yrs Professional experi-

ence in HR in Construction Oil &

Gas Oman seeking for a suitable

placement(NOC Available).

Contact me on 93488914, email-

Kaarthickshankar@gmail.com

Indian male, B.E. Mechanical,

16 yrs experience, for Quotation,

Tender, Accounts, Business de-

velopment, Sohar Area, Part Time.

Contact 94215208

Admin, having 10+ years experi-

ence in Admin/HR/Logistics/Time

Keeper, in reputed companies.

Presently working in Muscat. (NOC

Available) Contact- 94369965,

mail - satya1528@gmail.com

IT Lecturer , Indian male

30yrs,MSc Computer Science(on

visit) 7 years experience in

Teaching is looking for college

or school.Contact:99842554

Email:riazkalleli@gmail.com

Msc (IT), 2 yrs of Experience in

Software Development (Oracle

ADF, sql, pl/sql), Oracle OCA &

SQL Expert, Currently on visit

visa. Contact : +968 93755858 /

92141644, Email :

shiralkarmuzammil@yahoo.com

Male 25 years, B.E. Mechanical

with CSWIP 3.1 and ASNT level

2, 3 yrs. of experience in QC in

oil and gas industry. Currently

working in Oman, NOC available.

M:+968 91262792.

vignesh1503@yahoo.com

Indian Female Accountant 5 Years

of Experience in Accounting Tally,

Sales coordination,and Admin,

Currently on Visit Visa seeking

suitable placement.

Contact :95684179

Sudanese / 30 years old / M.Sc.

Logistics Management /English &

Arabic/ logistics - procurement -

inventory planning / 91270881

8 years purchase experience in

construction company Indian

male 45 yrs, looking immediate

placement . Release NOC, valid

Oman driving license available.

Contact: 98456535

Pakistani General Salesman with

6 years of experience looking for

suitable placement with valid

Omani driving license.

Contact: 92942088

Dynamic, Indian Chemical

Engineer (NIT) with 1 yr experi-

ence in business development

and holding Oman D/L ,

seeks suitable opportunity.

Contact: 96141612 Email:

anjana.nanda@outlook.com

Logistic Executive BBA with

logistic diploma experienced in

Tally, MS Excel, daty entry seeking

suitable position.

Contact: 90151739 Email:

shakeeb.mp280@gmail.com

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT/ACCOUNT-

ANT, with 8 years experience in

Accounts ( 5 Years in Oman) in a

Trading Company, capable of han-

dling all accounting , Banking, L/C,

import &Finalization with Driving

Licence. Noc Available seek Suit-

able Placement.GSM-98184170.

B.A Economics, Indian male, 12

years experience in teaching, both

academic & Quran, looking for an

opportunity. Contact 9845 6432,

9967 8470

Sudanese female, B.sc on ac-

count.16 years experience. Good

in working out financial report

break down of monthly and an-

nual budget’s. follow up tax files

and social Insurance costin-

gard feasibility study. Email:

amani.eltayeb@hotmail.com,

mobile:92037605

Indian Female 10 years as cook

in Muscat, Oman . South Indian,

Gujarati special food, Looking for

part time. Contact 96710189

Indian female,33 yrs MSc,BEd

with computer knowledge

having 3yrs experience in

teaching,looking for suitable job

on visit visa.

Contact: 9704 2806

Mail:poornimaajith11@gmail.com

INDIAN MALE accountant,

12 years experience in accounting

with tally also, looking for a

suitable placement.

Contact . 98983122

MALE ACCOUNTANT, age 25

years, ACCA UK finalist with 4

years experience in accounting &

audit in Pakistan, now in Muscat

on visit visa seeking suitable

placement. Contact 90197029,

muzammalhafiz16@gmail.com

Indian male 23 years old graduate

with one year experience in Sales

& Marketing with valid Oman

driving license seeking suitable

opportunities. (NOC available).

Contact: +968 98240510 , Gmail:

affanahamed0@gmail.com

Maintenance Engineer, Indian,

male, DME, 36 years of age with

16 years of experience in ma-

chine maintenance and handling

machine breakdowns, currently on

visit visa seeking suitable posi-

tion. Contact: 92180933; email:

rramesssh@yahoo.com

Advertising/media executive

with 15 years gulf experience with

oman driving license. Seeks good

opening. 93031168.

Indian (Bangalore), internal audi-

tor / senior accountant having

(Gulf) 8 years, (India) 15 years

experience, presently on employ-

ment visa seeking suitable place-

ment in Salalah / Muscat.

Contact 968 94765948,

email:amituppin@gmail.com

Indian male, 19 years experience

in purchase, material coordinator

in building/pipe line construction

& factory production field. have

good computer skills & driving

license and NOC, looking for a

suitableplacement.

mr.victor2015@hotmail.com

Contact: 99008101

B.Tech, MBA (Marketing), PGDM

(IB) having 9 years of experience

in sales & marketing/ business

development seeking for suitable

position. Valid Driving License

Phn-97043494

31 years, Indian male PG in HR

, with 5 yrs Professional experi-

ence in HR in Construction Oil &

Gas Oman seeking for a suitable

placement(NOC Available).Contact

me on 93488914, email-

Kaarthickshankar@gmail.com

FEMALE SYRIAN ARCHITECT

,new graduate have good experi-

ence in architect programs, auto-

cad 3d max ,sketch up , Photoshop

,sketch up, searching for a job full

time or part time, for

Contact : 97482871

Indian Male 33 yrs, BCA ,10 years

experience(India & Oman) IT

Support, System administrator/su-

pervisor looking for suitable Job.

#95448561

Indian male, 10 years Driving

experience in Dubai. Looking as

a company driver job. Contact

: 96180458 , +91 99 61 019366

(India )

32 years, Indian Male MSC,MBA-

HR having 7.5yrs Exp (HR/SAP op-

erations) with Oman valid driving

license, seeking suitable opening

in Human Resource & Admin/

backend jobs. Contact: 99322978

Indian Male,27 years, MCA, 3

years Experience in Web devel-

oper, Technical Supporter, looking

for suitable position. Presently

Working in India. Contact- +91

7403288953, +91 9020679788.

Email-vinuvn88@gmail.com.

Indian male having 14 years of

experience in HR, Purchase Dept,

having Oman driving license

looking for a suitable position ,

at Salalah. Noc available. Email.

Madhuvtk@ gmail.com

Contact: 91182907

Civil Engineer B.tech with iosh

nebosh certification having valid

Omani driving license, looking for

suitable job in Oman. # 93631625

Indian male MBA (MKTG) B.com

having 2 years experience in sales

marketing and business develop-

ment looking for a suitable open-

ing presently on family visit visa.

# 93268245

Email: gregjose1991@gmail.com

Indian male with CA & CPA having

20 years of experience, currently

on visit seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 93910095 Email:

rejithomas07@gmail.com

Female accountant on family visa

available for part time / full time.

Contact: 98002428

Filipino male, 29 Graduate of Bs

IT with GCC experience as docu-

ment controller and Executive

Secretary looking for employment.

Contact: +968 93929569

Indian female MSC computer Sc,

IELTS certified experienced in

teaching higher grades IGCSE GD,

CBSE in Oman and India seeking

suitable placement.

Contact: 98048946

Indian male, 19 years experience

in purchase, material coordinator

in building construction & factory

production field. have good com-

puter skills & driving license and

NOC, looking for a suitable place-

ment. Contact: 99008101

Indian female M.Sc Physics, B.Ed

having 5 years experience in

teaching looking for suitable job.

#97367389

Sales Manager MBA, having 12

years of experience with valid

GCC driving license looking for a

suitable position NOC available.

#98125226

Electrical Forman Indian male 38

years, total 19 yrs exp in electrical

field, electrical Forman exp 4 yrs

in Oman seeking suitable place-

ment. Contact: 97379290

MECH. Engg with 3+ year’s exp

in India & U.A.E (Site Engg / Sales

Engg) in oil & gas on visit visa

looking for suitable jobs.

Contact 97896725

Email: georgymct@gmail.com

TOURS & TRAVELS

Indian female 24 yrs, Bachelor in

Travel & Tourism and 2 year exp

in Oman as ticketing executive.

GDS-Sabre, Amdeus, Galilio. seeking

suitable job. Contact- 95610789

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE

Indian Male more than 10 years

gulf experience in Office / Sales

Coordinator, Admin, Secretarial

and purchase with good computer

skills. Having Driving license and

NOC available. Looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 95149624

SALES / MARKETING

Sales Executive DCS 12 years

experience out door and indoor Gulf

UAE and Oman L/D license of Oman

English, Urdu & Arabic.

Contact: 91038343

17 years Gulf experience in Purchas-

ing / logistic and Import, export with

valid driving license in Oman. NOC

available. Contact: 97829152

Indian male 22 years B.Com Gradu-

ate currently in Oman on family visa,

looking for a job, particularly in sales

. Also possess a valid Oman driving

license. Contact: 98504698

Indian Male-MBA Marketing having

12Years Experience (3Yrs UAE &

9Yrs India) in Banking & Insurance

sector. Seeking suitable placement.

Presently on Visit Visa.

Please contact: 92009780

Email: zamannoor1978@gmail.com

Indian (m) 20 years experience in

Purchase / sales / stores seeking

good placement. Contact: 98545907

MBA& B.Com Graduate Indian, 1 year

experience looking for job marketing

& sales. Contact: 97138592 Email:

mohammedathish24@gmail.com

Fresher MBA Marketing & finance

looking for a suitable placement.

Contact: 99434489 / 91127809

Sales Manager modular kitchen &

furniture, 46 years Indian.

Contact: 94522616

Male, MBA Graduate with 3 years

experience in Sales & Marketing on

visiting visa looking for job.

Contact: 93242927

Indian Male 26, U.K Post Graduate

M.A, MBA, 3 years Experience, look-

ing position within Marketing, Brand-

ing, Business Development & PR.

Contact: greetings111@hotmail.com

Tel No: 95128769 /+918939165131

Indian, female 28 yrs, B.Com, 7 yrs

call center/marketing experience,

currently on visit, seek suitable place-

ment. Contact Rashmi 96746698.

9 years experience in construction

Purchase seeking suitable place-

ment immediately, NOC available.

Contact: 97332401

Digital marketing / ad words/ ana-

lytics / SEO expert, exp 5 yrs (male)

certified) , (visit visa).

Contact: 93594114 (visit visa).

Email: abeyre@gmail.com

Purchase experienced 8 years in

Construction Company Indian male

45 yrs, release & D/L available.

Contact: 90268183 / 96987234

Sales and marketing - male 27 yrs,

2 years experience seeking suitable

placement with Oman D/L.

contact 95642740

Email: shaijichakkara@gmail.com

Marketing Executive/Merchan-

diser, Omani License, BA 8 years

Experience in Multinational Groups.

Contact 97601343

Indian Diploma Engineer, NEBOSH Qualified with valid oman

D/L, Seeks placement in HSE.

Contact: 97066980

Indian male 23yr BA TTM(Travel

and Tourism Management) with

Advanced Diploma in Supply

Chain Logisitics and Shipping

Management, exp in Logisit-

ics (CHA) seeking in suitable

placement, currently on visit

visa(Oman) contact;90291092

email:iyas.adhur@gmail.com

Sudanese / civil engineering Di-

ploma / 5 years experience / deal

with most popular computer pro-

grams / good in English / fluent in

Arabic. Contact: 96995670

Indian male 26 years, 4 years

experience as system and

network engineer. B. Tech

graduate. Looking for suitable

opening. Contact:93125669,

Email:amritrajgt18@gmail.com

MALE ACCOUNTANT, age 25

years, ACCA UK finalist with 4

years experience in accounting &

audit in Pakistan, now in Muscat

on visit visa seeking suitable

placement. Contact 90197029,

muzammalhafiz16@gmail.com

Indian male, 1 Year Experience in

Logisitics (CHA) field. Qualifica-

tion BA Travel and Tourism Man-

agement with Advanced Diploma

in Supply Chain Logisitics and

Shipping Management. Currently

On Visit Visa Oman, seeks suitable

placement. Contact :90291092

B.E. Electronics Engineer, Indian

male 22 years, seeking suitable

job, currently on visit visa.

Contact 99226928,

E mail : sanath301@gmail.com

Sales/marketing, Indian male 35,

years, having13 years experience,

in that 6 years experience of KSA

seeks for suitable placement, on

visit visa contact: 95954786,

Email:syedhameeduddin16@

gmail.com

Indian male having 11 yrs experi-

ence 4 yrs in Oman in purchase,

stores & logistics, having valid

Omani D/L and N.O.C in Hand, look-

ing for suitable position any where

in Oman. Contact : 92369700

Indian male, 22 yrs, BBA, Travel

& tourism brought up in Muscat,

seeks suitable placement in Sales

& Marketing. Contact 93519369

Engineer- Mechanical 4 years

experience looking for vocational

instructor/lecturer/technical

mechanical engineer jobs.

Contact : 95598477/93211870,

Email: rajeesh4me@gmail.com

Indian male 33 yrs, BCA ,10 years

experience (India & Oman) IT

Support, System administrator/

Supervisor looking for suitable

Job.#95448561.

Sudanese /Diploma in civil

engineering/5 years experience/

good computer’ skills / English &

Arabic/Mobil 96995670

Senior Accountant ,NOC

avaliable,5yr.exp.in oman,

Accounting upto finalisation,

computer skills tally9, Sage

ERP accpac 500(6.0A), Vcams ,

Audit ,valid oman driving licence,

languages known english , ara-

bic, hindi. can join immediately.

Tel: (+968) 96339599, E-mail-

(ahmedmohdkhan@gmail.com)

Sudanese male , 31 year old , have 3

year Diploma in electrical engineer,

7 years experience in building con-

struction and electrical production

plant.Contact 94549609

DAILY GUIDEW E D N E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5 D7

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing, Con-

tact 99314807/24792998

We are providing services like

Auditing, Accounting, Taxation,

Company Formation & Project

Feasibility Study. ASAS AUDIT

& CONSULTANCY. Contact at

91720465/94319719/24602222

Window & split unit A.C ser-

vicing & maintenance. Contact

93769089 / 95323517

Cleaning & Carpet Shampooing, Ocean Center LLC.

Contact: 99884591

Water proofing ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. contact ABU QABAS-

99320217 /24788722

Maintenance electrical, painting,

plastering, partition. #98767559

Al farzdaq Al Fedi Trad and Cont

Maintenance services electric,

plumbing and A/C. Contact:

96524904 / 94285064

Split window unit A/ C servicing.

Contact 94694472

Pest Control Treatments. Ocean Center LLC. #99344723

Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile

polishing, pest control & anti-

termite treatment, general clean-

ing painting,Plumbing, Electrical,

shifting. Contact Mundhir Al-Rizaiqi

trading. L.L.C. Contact: 24810137,

99450130

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of

your marble. Contact 24793614/

99314807

SITUATION WANTED

Indian male having 7 Years of Expe-

rience in Oman Having Valid Driving

License working as a Office Driver

,Looking for a suitable Position, NOC

Available. Contact: 99680429,

E-mail:anzarkutty1975@gmail.com

Syrian architect have years and

half experience in oman looking for

work, full time perfect in architec-

tural programs 3d max , auto cad

, Photoshop , and sketch up. for

contact : 0096897482871

Female, Indian, 35 years, Bachelor

of Pharmacy (B. Pharm) fresh gradu-

ate with BSc looking for positions in

Front Office, administration office,

or any suitable positions in hospital,

polyclinic, companies or Institu-

tions. Contact 90236481.

Indian Male 47 years MBA-Opera-

tions Management with total 25 Yrs

exp inclusive of 9 yrs in Oil & Gas

sector in Oman, having valid Omani

D/L & NOC, seek challenging posi-

tion in SCM/Logistics/Procurement.

GSM-94236414. Mail id –

dialindia33@gmail.com

Well experienced management

finance specialist having 18 years

experience available for placement.

Contact.95602518

23, Male, ACCA Affiliate, OBU Bsc,

2.5 years of experience in audit and

finance in Big 6 Firms, Looking for

permanent placement in similar

field. Release NOC available. Contact:

95140445, a.saran891@gmail.com

22, Male, Indian, BBA (Marketing),

1 year experience in India, Looking

for suitable placement in Sales and

Marketing. #91897046,

azzamsiddique1@gmail.com

Indian Male,27,ACCA Part

Qualified,B.COM with 7+ yrs exp in

receivables and credit control in

Oman looking for suitable place-

ments. NOC available. # 9657 4343.

Indian Female, Science Graduate,

3 years Experience in Teaching back

home. Looking for a suitable job op-

portunity as a teacher, in Schools in

Muscat Region. Contact : 96431456

/ 95704814

Looking for a suitable job as Jr.

Accountant/ Jr. Administration in

a reputed company. NOC Available.

GSM # 93004738.

WEBSITE

WEB, ERP and Business Intel-

ligence (BI) creation and manage-

ment at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

CLASSES

IELTS & TOEFL

Academic / General

Target Band 8

TQT Institute.

Ph # 24480800 / 99347202

Karate and self defense classes

at Azaiba 18 Nov Street. RO 10 per

month twice a week Monday and

Tuesday 6. 30 TO 7. 30. PM

CONTACT 98294551

Spoken Arabic class for Non

Arabic Speakers & English

class for Malayalam Speakers

in Azaiba and Ruwi earn in two months

tion guaranteed

Tel: 95244310

COMPUTER

MATRIMONIAL

A respectable Hindu KAPU (Naidu)

family from Vijayawada A.P.India

invites alliances for their daughter,

25 years, B. Tech (computer Science)

father working in Oman. Contact:

95097913 / 99744870

Email: sarathbabureddi@gmail.com

Nair girl, 24 yrs, MBA fin – Mar,

now working looking for Nair boy.

Contact: 93067505 (After 6pm)

Kerala orthodox boy 29/188 work-

ing as Staff Nurse MOH Muscat

seeking suitable alliances.

Contact: 99461264

Kerala Nair girl 28 years (M.Tech)

looking suitable alliance.

Contact: 0091 9446303209

Muslim girl, MBBS, 23 yrs, 162” look-

ing alliance from Doctors TamilNadu/

Kerala. Contact 98553628

Seeking alliance for our son from

Muslim families. Interested

families Contact: 99889590

GOOD NEWS

Ayurvedic treatment for joint

pain, backache, paralysis, massage

steambath, obesity, Spondylitis,

Ideal Care Ayurvedic Clinic, 18 No-

vember Street Azaiba.

Contact: 99639695 / 98342990

Ayurvedic treatment for backache,

paralysis, arthritis etc & massage,

All Season (Vaidyaratnam).

Contact 24475280 / 95371664 /

92504980 www.siddhayur.com

FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know

more about Islam, please call:

99425598, 99250777, 99353988,

99253818, 99341395, and

99379133. For ladies: 99415818,

99321360, 99730723

Orvisit:www.islamfact.com

Indian male, 4 years of experi-

ence in Structured cabling, ter-

mination and Fiber optic splicing.

Looking for a suitable Placement.

NOC available. GSM- 92484039,

Email –rajaveer8989@gmail.com

Pakistani male, MBA(Marketing)

+PGD(HR) with 9 yrs experience

in banking & hospital industry

(Consumer Credit Review, Admin

& HR). 3 yrs experience as Asst

Manager, Admin & HR in famous

private hospital in Oman with

NOC. Contact: 95761982 or

umerok@hotmail.com

Indian Female, 35years, Bach-

elor of Pharmacy (BPharm)

fresh graduate with BSc and MA

looking for positions in Front

Office,administration office, or

any suitable positions in hospital,

polyclinic, companies or Institu-

tions. Contact 90236481

Admin, having 10+ years experi-

ence in Admin/HR/Logistics/

Time Keeper, in reputed com-

panies. Presently working in

Muscat. #968 94369965,mail -

satya1528@gmail.com

Pakistani male 29 years General

Salesman with 5 years of experi-

ence, valid Oman D/L looking for

suitable placement. #97216830

Chemical Engineer, Indian, 2

years of exp in industrial produc-

tion, seeking suitable placement.

contact 91247222

Indian male 25 years, MBA

finance and marketing with tally

have 1.3 year experience in India.

Now in Oman on visit visa.

GSM: 97445488

Working as Senior accountant,5yr.

exp.in oman, Accounting upto

finalisation, relevant computer

skills tally9, Sage, vcams , Audit

,valid oman driving license,

languages known English, Arabic,

Hindi. NOC avaliable can join im-

mediately. Tel: (+968) 96339599.

E-mail-(ahmedmohdkhan@gmail.

com)

Structure/Pipeline,Piping Draughtsman have 12+ yrs. Exp. in

Oman seeking suitable placement.

Contact 92103713 NOC available.

Network/Noc engineer, CCNA cer-

tified & CCNP trained, Indian male

27 years B.com(general) 5 years

& 4 month’s of experience in the

field of networking seeks for better

placement. contact 97663834 /

98730758

INDIAN FEMALE– ME in CSE with

2 years’ experience in teaching

seeking Suitable Job Opportunity.

Contact: 94263445 or

+91 9486251274,

E mail – apshinmar@gmail.com

Civil Engineer B.Sc -6 years

experience with constructions

companies - qualified as A Project

Engineer & Planning Engineer .

Contact+968-94682217

Indian male 22 years, looking for

suitable placement in Hardware

and Networking field, Having 1

year exp. in India, training in al

ameen computers Muscat Ruwi.

Qualification is Diploma in Elec-

tronics and Communication at

present I am having my valid em-

ployee visa In the same work. Con-

tact : - 9739622910/8050101914,

Email -fairozhuded13@gmail.com

SITUATION WANT-ED

SIT. WANTED

Sudanese / Arabic & English teacher for all nationalities / will-

ing to teach at home. Tel: 94211377

Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D8 W E D N E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

RENT A CAR

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with

Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain Marine

Tours contact 98029602, 92808636

TOURS

SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

TRANSPORTATION

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation. Contact 99508282

Pick & drop. Contact: 96692774

Transportation any time Al Ghou-

bra. Contact: 97681599

Driver with car. Contact: 92279370

Transportation. Contact: 94087276

MANPOWER

Labour available for loading &

unloading of goods. # 92246399

DRIVING

Best Rates for Saloon. Tel: 99826300 / 97869042,

rentacar@modernreem.com

SITUATION WANT-ED

BUSINESS

Wanted running / closed shop / café

small /big on rent. Contact: 98796982

Ware house space for rent at Ghala

and Barka up to 20000/- Sqm.

Contact: 99509460 / 93731363

M.V.FOR SALE

Mercedes Benz E 280, 2008, 118000

km (Expatriate driven), price: nego-

tiable , Mulkiya expiry January 2016

, color silver. Contact: 24810416 /

24810598

Nissan Altima 2.5S, 2012HY, excel-

lent condition dealer maintained.

Contact: 97717152

Hyundai Santafe No.1 2015, K.M

5600 only, still in warranty.

Contact: 99666059

Hyundai Veloster No. 1 2015, 3000

km under warranty, full service, full

Insurance. Contact: 96645709

Hyundai Tucson No. 1, 2-4 C.C, 2013

model K.M 127000. # 99666059

Nissan Tiida No. 1, 1.8 C.C, 2014

Model K.M 50000 still in

warranty. Contact: 96645709

Tucson automatic 2007 – V6,

R.O 2000/-. Contact: 99384640

Mazda 323, 1997 model, 219525

km for sale / Hyundai Sonata 2005

model, 150870 km for sale, expat

Handled. Contact:98512702 /

99351044

Transport. Contact: 94510847

Transportation available Ruwi to

Al Khuwair, Ghubra & Azaiba.

Contact: 91103909