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Times News Service

MUSCAT: On being diagnosed with cancer, Yuthar Al Rawahi had vowed that if she would survive, she would dedicate her time to increase awareness on cancer in Oman and to help the aff ected community.

She has done just that. After 17 years, whenever one talks about cancer awareness in Oman, the name that comes to anyone’s mind fi rst is that of Al Rawahi.

Today’s #Omanpride cam-paign features this passionate fi ghter against cancer.

Al Rawahi is the chairper-son of the Oman Cancer Asso-ciation, which was earlier called the National Association for Cancer Association. >A4

44208

TUESDAY, October 27, 2015 / 13 Muharram 1437 AH timesofoman.com wtimesofoman.com facebook.com/timesofoman twitter.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com ISO 9001:2008 Certifi ed Company

The road is long and the goal is far. However, we are confi dent that this dear country has the necessary cultural and historical elements, and hopes and aspirations for the future, that will enable it – God willing – to implement its domestic and foreign policies, and the principles of which are clearly defi ned, praise be to God.

Speech at the Council of Oman (2005)

FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTYTHE SULTAN

‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’

#OMANPRIDE

THE HOME OFGOOD NEWS

Plan to make bosses pay for workers’ healthcare

A. E. JAMES/REJIMON Kbusinesseditor@timesofoman.comreji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Mandatory healthcare insurance for all expatriate and Omani workers, to be provided by employers, is being actively con-sidered by the government.

Drawing on the example of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, a de-tailed report has been submitted to the Cabinet for approval, which followed a study in close coop-eration with the government of South Korea on its health insur-ance scheme.

“The study was submitted to the cabinet two months ago and we

are waiting now,” Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Qasmi, director of planning and studies, Ministry of Health, told a conference on Oman projects here on Monday.

“It will be implemented gradu-ally in a phased manner, over a period of fi ve to 10 years. Sooner or later, health insurance will be compulsory,” added Dr. Al Qasmi, while participating in a panel dis-cussion at the Oman projects con-ference here on Monday.

Employee medical insurance is a cashless scheme wherein the insurance company, which ties up with a network of hospitals/poly-clinics, gets volume business and the employees of its corporate cli-

ents get access to cashless health-care facilities.

Once the company pays its group medical premium, there is no administrative work for the company and all worries related to employee healthcare would rest with the insurance company and the hospital concerned.

The whole scheme is aimed at reducing the healthcare burden of the government when it is fi nd-ing it diffi cult to meet its expendi-tures amid dwindling oil revenues. It will reduce the burden of the Ministry of Health in extending healthcare facilities. This will also ensure that private sector hos-pitals will get enough patients to make them viable.

The government will start with big companies for expatriate workers in the fi rst phase.

“We will review what happens in the fi rst stage.”

In fact, the market for medical insurance is growing in Oman, es-pecially after expatriates moved out of government hospitals to private health centres. This is one of the growth areas for insurance companies. >A4

Under a plan submitted to the Cabinet,

medical insurance would be mandatory for

all workers, Omani and expatriate, easing

the burden on government resources

56% voters exercise their franchise in Shura pollsFAHAD AL GHADANITARIQ AL HAREMIfahad@timesofoman.comtariqh@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: While we expected more voters to come out and vote, we are happy with those who did, said one of the winners of the Ma-jlis Al Shura elections.

He was reacting to a question on the decrease in the voter turn-out this time. While it was 76 per cent in 2011, the voter turnout was 56.66 per cent this year, reg-istering a 24 per cent drop.

This year, 297,905 citizens vot-ed out of the 525,785 registered citizens. In 2011, out of the nearly 520,000 citizens who were regis-tered to vote, around 400,000 had used their voting rights.

Speaking to Times of Oman, Tawfi q Al Lawati said, “I was ex-pecting a higher turnout but I am happy that the voting percentage has been good”.

“The number is good especially when compared with other Gulf countries,” said Al Lawati.

Figures show that council polls in Kuwait (2013) saw a voter turnout of 51.9 per cent, in UAE

(2015) it was 35 per cent and in Saudi Arabia (2011) it was 39 per cent. At a Majlis Al Shura press conference attended by 80 jour-nalists from around the world, the completion of a smooth election process was welcomed.

Sheikh Khalid bin Rashid

Al Manwari, chairman of the Higher Committee for Majlis Al Shura eighth term elections, said that the committee had not yet received any notices or com-plaints from candidates about the voting process.

AppealsHe, however added, “any appeals related to the elections may be submitted to the higher commit-tee within 20 days”.

In response to a question about having only one woman member of Majlis Al Shura, Al Manwari said that voters have the freedom to elect whoever they want.

Meanwhile, the winning wom-an candidate, Ne’mah bint Jamiel bin Farhan Al Busaidiyah, told Times of Oman that her victory is a happy news for all women.

Nasser bin Sulaiman Al Sibani, deputy chairman of the Public Authority for Radio and TV and chairman of the Media Commit-tee for Majlis Al Shura elections, said the “Shura experience in the Sultanate of Oman is constantly progressing in line with His Maj-esty Sultan Qaboos bin Said’s vision”. >A6

2 4 % D R O P

HM sends greetings

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of congratulations to President Gurbanguly Berdymukhame-dov of Turkmenistan on the occasion of his country’s Na-tional Day. In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan has ex-pressed his sincere congratula-tions along with his best wishes of good health and happiness to President Berdymukhamedov and Turkmenistan people fur-ther progress. -ONA

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

A3Met keeps track as rain on the way

WORLDMore than 200 dead in Pakistan, Afghan quake

2More than 200 people were killed and more than 1,300 others injured as a

powerful quake hit Pakistan and Afghanistan on Monday. >A13

MARKETCall for major role of private sector

3Minister of Commerce and Industry called on private sector to play

a bigger role in funding and developing projects. >B1

OMANOman plans to launch air taxi service

1Oman wants to launch an air taxi service that would help passengers fl y directly

from where they are to their destination. >A5

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

MEDICARE: Employee medical insurance is a cashless scheme

wherein the insurance fi rm gets volume business and the em-

ployees get access to cashless healthcare facilities.

voters exercised their franchise out of 525,785

registered citizens

297,905

Unions to discuss oil sector job cutsREJIMON Kreji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: As fears for jobs grow in Oman’s oil and gas sector, offi -cials from all of the Sultanate’s 25 trade unions are set to meet today for the fi rst time, to search for a way to weather the storm.

“Since the end of 2014, we have dealt with at least 1,000 cases of dismissals in the oil and gas sec-tor. Some were taken back after our discussions with the minis-

tries. However, some are pend-ing,” Saud Salmi, chairman of the Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) trade union and Oman oil and gas sector, told the Times of Oman.

“The total number of work-ers, who have lost their jobs, may be around 200. However, there are even unconfi rmed reports that some 300 workers have been laid off today. We are wait-ing for the confi rmation,” Saud Salmi added. >A6

F A L L I N G P R I C E S

An exemplary fi ghter

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Don’t litter a beautiful country like OMAN.

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Missing Emiratis’ uncle in Oman to help identify body

Times News Service

DUBAI: The father of the two Emiratis, who were swept out to sea in rough weather in Oman in July, is awaiting a forensics re-port to discover whether the body found last weekend is one of his sons, according to The National.

Mohammed Al Dhaheri, father of Abdullah Mohammed, 21, and Mansour Mohammed, 19, who went missing on July 23, said a relative had gone to Salalah to try and identify the body.

“I wasn’t contacted by the Om-ani authorities right away. They still don’t know who the body be-longs to, but the boys’ uncle has gone to Oman to help out with the identifi cation,” Al Dhaheri told The National. He said he expects to hear the forensic results from Oman this week.

A spokesman for the Oman News Network told The Na-tional: “A partially decomposed body was found on Friday, late in the afternoon off the Al Dumar beach in Dhofar province. The identity of the dead person has

not been confi rmed yet.”The Public Authority for Civil

Defence and Ambulance had said that a search and rescue team in Dhofar had removed the body from the water, following which it was taken to a police forensics laboratory.

The brothers were visiting the town of Mirbat for the Eid-Al-Fitr holidays and were at a beach in Dhofar, east of Salalah, when they were swept out to sea.

Abdullah may have drowned while trying to save his younger brother, according to friends who were with them. The Emir-ati community has rallied around the family after the incident and funeral prayers were held.

Ali Al Zaabi, a neighbour in the Asharaej neighbourhood of Al Ain, said the ordeal had been dif-fi cult for the family and the com-munity as a whole.

“They found someone’s de-composed body and this is sad news for anyone. I pray that the Al Dhaheri family can fi nd solace and the strength and resilience to move on,” said Al Zaabi.

S W E P T O U T T O S E A

TRAGEDY: Abdullah Mohammed Al Dhaheri, left, and his younger

brother Mansour Mohammed, who went missing on Thursday

while swimming on the southern coast of Oman. -Supplied photo

Tropical system not to impact Oman directly

REJIMON K reji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: A tropical system that has developed in Arabian Sea will not have a direct impact on Oman in the coming three days, Oman’s Meteorological Department said in a statement on Monday evening.

“The system will not have any direct impact on Oman. The sys-tem is heading to southern coast of Oman.

“The Meteorological Depart-ment is keeping a track of it,” the department said in its statement.

A senior meteorologist at Ac-cuweather.com said the system over Arabian Sea is better organ-ised and has the best chance for development.

“Easing shear and better mois-ture should allow it to gradually strengthen,” Jason Nicholls, the senior meteorologist from Accu-weather.com, said.

Last week also, there was a tropical cyclone heading to Oman. It lost strength while reaching the Oman coast. However, it brought rains in many parts of Oman,

claiming eight lives in rain-related accidents.

Meanwhile, heavy rains fell in Quriyat on Monday morning. “It started in the morning. It’s con-tinuing in diff erent parts. Wadis

are overfl owing,” Mohammed Al Battashi, a weather enthusiast, told Times of Oman from Quriyat.

According to Mohammed, it rained on Sunday evening and the skies are still cloudy. “In the even-ing also there were rains in some parts of Quriyat,” a resident said.

Due to the ‘El Nino’ phenome-non, meteorologists have predict-ed that it will rain more than the normal from October to February.

Earlier, Dr Saeed Al Sarmi, had

told the Times of Oman, “It is ex-pected that due to the El Nino eff ect, there will be higher-than-normal rainfall in Oman, especial-ly in the northern mountainous regions and the interiors.”

In Muscat, the annual rainfall is about 100 millimetres, falling mostly from December to April.

In general, precipitation is scarce in Muscat and during sev-eral months, on an average, there is only a trace of rainfall.

The system is

heading to southern

coast of Oman. The

Meteorological

Department is

keeping a track of it

RAIN AGAIN: Heavy rains fell in Quriyat on Monday morning, leading to the overfl owing of the wadis.

– Courtesy Mohammed Al Battashi

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OMAN

Italian honour for Omani official

MOBIN MATHEW BLESSON mobinmathew@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: His Highness Sayyid Mohammed bin Salim Al Said, head of the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs of the Sultanate, has been awarded the Order of the Star of Italy.

The order was delivered by the Italian Ambassador to the Sultan-ate, Paola Amadei.

“It is given to Italian nationals and foreigners, who have achieved extraordinary results in promot-ing the bilateral relations between the Italy and the foreign country,” Amadei told the Times of Oman.

The award ceremony was held at the residence of the Ital-ian ambassador in the presence of the Chief of the Diplomatic Protocol of the Italian Republic, Riccardo Guariglia.

“This is a beautiful occasion for me, to present the Italian decora-tion to His Highness, in the pres-ence of our Italian Chief of Diplo-matic Protocol,” Amadei said.

During her speech, the ambassa-dor stated that the Order of the Star of Italy is bestowed by the President of the Italian Republic on foreign-ers, as well as nationals, who have achieved extraordinary results in the preservation and promotion of the national prestige and facilitated bilateral relations between Italy and other foreign countries.

“This is exactly was His High-ness Sayyid Mohammed bin Salim Al Said has been doing,” ambas-sador Amadei declared in her offi cial speech.

“Not only has he greatly con-tributed to strengthening of bilat-eral relations between Italy and the Sultanate of Oman, but he has also proved to be a true friend of Italy by providing an unmatched support to all the activities car-ried out by this Embassy over the years, many of which would not have been possible if it weren’t for his enduring constructive

engagement,” she added.Speaking further, the Italian

ambassador noted, “For us and for me in particular, he has been an excellent point of reference and we are honouring him with the Order of the Star of Italy to express all our gratitude”.

The Star of Italy Order accords the rank of “Commendatore” on the recipient. “I am deeply touched by the kindness of the Italian govern-ment to have granted me the deco-ration of the Order of the Star of It-aly,” said Al Said during his speech.

“I have done nothing more than perform my duties, taking guid-ance and leadership from His Maj-esty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who taught us the importance of global friendship and duties towards our guests,” he added.

Al Said also appreciated the am-bassador for her devotion and hard work in maintaining outstanding bilateral relations between Italy and the Sultanate.

Ambassadors of other friendly countries, as well as a number of offi cials from the Foreign Minis-try, attended the ceremony.

Not only has he (His Highness Sayyid

Mohammed bin Salim Al Said) greatly

contributed to strengthening of bilateral

relations between Italy and the Sultanate

of Oman, but has also proved to be a true

friend of Italy, said Paola Amadei, the Italian

ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman

Mixed response to moveIf the government makes it com-pulsory, insurance companies in the Sultanate will get a huge ad-ditional business.

Yet another advantage of group medical insurance is that employ-ees with group insurance cover will have the option to choose from several hospitals/polyclin-ics spread across the country.

Although the scheme has sev-eral advantages, it will add on to the cost of the company opting for group healthcare insurance, which in turn will have a cascad-ing eff ect on prices. The cost of insurance will be passed on to the consumers, once healthcare in-surance becomes mandatory.

Also, authorities will have to monitor the private hospitals and polyclinics to check malpractices, before making medical insurance mandatory. Private health cen-tres have to be better regulated and corporate governance should be introduced there.

Meanwhile, the plans to intro-duce mandatory healthcare in-surance coverage to both nation-al and expatriate workers has received mixed response. While responding to Times of Oman, a Majlis Al Shura member said that only after detailed study we can fi nd out the advantages and disadvantages of the plan.

“At this stage it is diffi cult to say the advantages and disadvantag-es. How it will impact the econo-my, and how it will impact small and big companies,” Moham-med Al Busaidi, the Shura mem-ber from Bausher, told Times of Oman.

Meanwhile, a businessman in Muscat said that globally good companies provide health insur-ance coverage to all its employees compulsorily.

“In Oman also, it can be done. It is good move to help workers. As

the ministry aims, it can lessen the burden on the government. In the present situation, to help the government, companies should come forward to take up the re-sponsibility,” Anvwar Al Balushi, chairman of Anvwar Asian In-vestment Group, said. “If we help the government now, then when its condition betters, eventually we will be benefi tted,” he added.

Need to keep a tabA trade union leader said that moving ahead with mandatory health insurance coverage for workers is a good move. However, the government should keep a tab on companies, whether they are following it up religiously or not.

“Some of the companies are not religiously following many other rules set by the government. So, a follow up should be there to check whether it is implemented or not,”

said Mohammed Al Khaldi, board member of General Federation of Oman Trade Union (GFOTU).

A senior offi cial from health-care insurance industry while welcoming the move said that the move will help to uplift the con-ditions of working class socially and economically.

“It will be a help for workers to get quality healthcare. However, governments should come out with a proper plan before imple-menting it, especially like grad-ing or the rating the hospitals depending on the service they are providing,” Dr PS Regikumar, as-sistant manager at New India As-surance, said.

“If hospitals are not monitored properly, there are chances that they may misuse and the actual benefi ciary will be left out with-out quality service,” the insur-ance offi cial added.

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

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Oman is consid-ering a high-powered ‘health council’ to regulate the healthcare sector in an eff ec-tive manner, said Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Qasmi, director of planning and studies, Ministry of Health.

The council, in line with the education council, will regulate both the ministry and private hospitals and polyclinics. The proposal is

under discussion. Another major initiative

of the Ministry is to link patient records of four major government hospitals with private hospitals and clinics to ease complexities in treat-ment. This will enable the government to have a unique number for each and every patient. The four major gov-ernment hospitals, including Royal Hospital, Khoula Hos-pital and Al Nahda Hospital, are already linked.

High-powered ‘heath council’being planned, says offi cial

< FROM

A1

RECOGNITION: I am deeply touched by the kindness of the Italian

government to have granted me the decoration of the Order of the

Star of Italy, His Highness Sayyid Mohammed bin Salim Al Said,

head of the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs

said during his speech. – OK Mohammed Ali/Times of Oman

Boosting

awareness

on cancer

She said her journey of spread-ing the cancer awareness mes-sage has been “memorable” and “rewarding”.

“Since 2002, when people were throwing pamphlets at us and calling us devils, to now where women are really active, we have come a long way,” she noted. What makes her most happy is the fact that consider-able awareness exists about all kinds of cancers now.

“Doctors in the hospital are detecting breast cancer and oth-er cancers early. There is defi -nitely more awareness and we are happy to have played a role in the awareness programme,” she added.

Al Rawahi pointed out that OCA has branches in Ibra, Sur, Salalah and is going to register another one in Sohar, which will play an important role in spreading awareness.

OCA projects that are close to her heart are the Mobile Mammography Unit, which has screened 15,000 women since 2009 and Dar Al Hanan, a home for children undergoing out-patient treatment for cancer, which houses 300 patients.

“The Mobile Mammography Unit will leave on November 1 for its fi fth year of travelling around the wilayats,” she re-vealed, urging women to visit the unit for check-ups.

She is also happy that the can-cer survival group has become active once again.

“We have diff erent activi-ties for cancer survivors every month. We also have sessions for their care givers. We held them do yoga, have counselling and inclusive sessions,” she added. Al Rawahi also urged the public to participate in the 12th annual walkathon to be held on Tuesday at the Qurum Park.

“The patron of the event is Dr. Abdul Munim bin Mansour Al Hasani, minister of Infor-mation, who has been very sup-portive. He helped cover our conference for the fi rst time on national television where cancer survivors spoke. The fact that survivors spoke on tel-evision is a great milestone,” Al Rawahi noted.

The ardent crusader said, “We have a long way to go, but from where we were, we have grown leaps and bounds.”

OCA is also promoting a cam-paign entitled, “Cancer can be prevented too”, which focuses on how the risk of developing cancer can be reduced signifi -cantly through simple meas-ures,” said Al Rawahi.

She is also pleased that the society’s attitude itself has changed and OCA has been able to dispel widespread myths about cancer, especially breast cancer.

Al Rawahi said she knew that needs to relax and look after her health. “You know I have had couple of scares again and stress doesn’t go with the disease. But there is so much to be done still. I believe there must be a reason why I am alive and will continue doing all I can for all the issues related to the disease,” she said with a smile.

D I S P E L L I N G M Y T H S

< FROM

A1

I have done nothing more than perform my duties, taking guide and leadership from His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who taught us the importance of global friendship and duties towards our guests

His Highness Sayyid Mohammed bin Salim Al Said, Head of the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs

A5

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ALAWI RETURNS HOMEYousef bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Aff airs, returned home

yesterday evening after a visit to the Syrian capital, Damascus, during which he met with

President Bashar Al Assad of the Syrian Arab Republic. The meeting discussed develop-

ments of situations in the region, particularly the war against terrorism in Syria and the

ideas presented regionally and globally to help fi nd solution to the crisis in Syria. – ONA

Medical City near Muscat to be centre of excellenceTimes News Service

MUSCAT: A medical city, which is being constructed on the sub-urbs of Muscat, will act as a centre of excellence in medical and bio-medical research, a senior health offi cial has said.

Speaking at a conference on Oman projects on Monday, Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Qas-mi, director of Planning Studies, Ministry of Health, said the medi-cal city will have several hospitals, including a general specialty hos-pital, children’s hospital, trauma and neuroscience centre, rehabil-itation centre, and imaging labo-ratory centre.

“The speciality hospital will have 255 beds, of which 85 beds will be meant for surgical purpos-es,” he pointed out.

The children’s hospital will have 180 beds, of which 40 beds will be earmarked for surgi-cal purposes.

“Besides that, a rehabilitation centre with 100 beds, will con-structed, of which 50 will be day

care unit beds and 50 beds will be-long to the inpatient department,” Al Qasmi added.

Additionally, an organ trans-plant centre with 100 beds, and an imaging centre and a labora-tory centre will also be built in the medical city.

“There will also be a College of Health Sciences, which can ac-

commodate 6,000 students, with all needed support buildings, such as classes, laboratories, diff erent types of halls, recreation facili-ties, etc.,” he noted.

The construction of a medical city near Muscat was announced in 2013, with a capital expendi-ture of OMR567 million allocated for the same.

O M A N P R O J E C T S

Air taxi tenders to be floated by end of the year

RAHUL DASrahuldas@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Oman wants to launch an air taxi service, a unique travel option that would help passen-gers fl y directly from where they are, to their destinations.

Disclosing the investment op-portunities available in general aviation services, Hanan Al Rab-bi, general director, Planning and Studies, Ministry of Transport and Communications, said that tenders for air taxi services will be fl oated by the end of this year.

“Other than the air taxi, we will invite tenders for aerial pho-tography, air ambulance and am-phibian aviation (an amphibious aircraft that can take off and land on both land and water),” she said at a conference on Oman pro-jects held on Monday. All these tenders will be fl oated by the end of this year.

Rabbi expects there will be 4,700 rides off ered by air taxis by the end of 2025, catering to 56,000 passengers. “The tourism and amphibian movement, which will link the tourist sites, is esti-mated to have at least 10 fl ights a day by 2025,” she revealed.

The total volume in 2014 at air-ports in Muscat and Salalah had touched 9,553,146 passengers, of which 8,711,102 were using the Muscat International Airport. “It is estimated that the approximate volume will be between 16.69 mil-lion and 17.23 million passengers a year by 2025,” she stated.

The estimated weight of the goods carried by air in 2025 will be between 179,000 tonnes and 186,000 tonnes per year.

“Muscat airport will continue to grow at a rate of 110 per cent and the Salalah airport at a rate of 140 per cent,” she added.

The new Muscat International Airport will have the capacity to handle 12 million passengers an-nually after it is opened.

Further expansions planned during three subsequent phases will ultimately boost the airport’s annual capacity to 24, 36 and 48 million passengers as and when the demand is there.

Commenting on Oman Rail, Rabbi mentioned a survey of the opportunities available to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

“1,500 companies have been identifi ed during the initial sur-vey and 800 companies have been registered so far, including 28 per cent small, 40 per cent medium and 32 per cent large,” she said during a presentation at the Al Bustan Palace Hotel.

Oman Rail, the Sultanate’s national railway company, has identifi ed several categories of commercial opportunities that it wants Omani contractors, as well as SMEs, to capitalise on during the construction and operational phases of the multi-billion dollar rail venture.

Under the patronage of Ali Massoud Al Sunaidy, Minis-ter of Commerce and Industry, the Oman Projects Forum 2015 has off ered critical insight into Oman’s $140.6 billion project pipeline to help delegates ef-fectively penetrate and increase market share in Oman, as well as the chance to meet and network with key government and private company stakeholders.

Tenders will also

be invited for aerial

photography, air

ambulance and

amphibian aviation,

an offi cial of the

Ministry of Transport

and Communications

has said

Cuban National Ballet group to perform Don Quixote at ROHMTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Cuban National Bal-let will perform Don Quixote at the Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) on Thursday and Fri-day at 7pm, followed by a matinee show on Saturday at 2pm.

The excellence of the Cuban National Ballet is expressed in their brilliant and gifted perfor-mance of Don Quixote.

Exciting ballet ROHM will present three per-formances of this exciting bal-let, including a special Saturday matinée for the convenience of families.

Founded 67 years ago, the world-famous Cuban National Ballet specialises in the tradi-tional repertoire of ballet, while also working with innovative choreographers for the creation of contemporary pieces. Don Quixote is one of the most inter-esting and entertaining pieces in world ballet. It is based on Miguel de Cervantes’ celebrated novel “Don Quixote”, which dates from

1605 and 1615 and has made a sig-nifi cant contribution to the global history of literature.

Cervantes relates the tale of a Spanish nobleman, who im-merses himself in stories of chiv-alric romances, to the point that he loses touch with reality and feels compelled to venture out into the wide world to revive chivalry, undo wrongs, and bring justice under the name Don Quix-ote. This out-of-touch, idealistic knight enlists a simple farmer by the name of Sancho Panza as his squire.

One of the best-loved charac-

ters in literature, Sancho Panza has an earthy wit, which he uses with comically stubborn persis-tence, to counter Don Quixote’s grand illusions and puncture his exaggerated orations on antiquat-ed knighthood.

An iconic scene in Cervantes’ novel has given rise to the popu-lar idiom “tilting at windmills”, an expression which means attack-ing imaginary enemies. As Don Quixote charges forth on horse-back to tilt at windmills with his jousting lance, he imagines the windmills to be giants with im-mense arms.

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

WORLD-FAMOUS: Founded 67 years ago, the Cuban National Bal-

let specialises in traditional ballet. – Supplied photo

Oman Air’s paid capital increased

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Oman Air has been given around OMR140 million to invest in the growth of Oman’s fl ag carrier by shareholders. The decision was taken at the extraor-dinary general meeting (EGM) of the shareholders held on Sunday.

“The EGM approved to increase the issued and paid capital of the Company from OMR546,047,755 to OMR684,157,755 and to al-lot equity shares in the value of OMR138,110,000 to the Govern-ment of the Sultanate of Oman towards the cash contribution received during the fi nancial year 2014 and to amend the articles of association of the company ac-cordingly,” a press statement said.

The EGM was presided over by Maitha bint Saif Al Mahrouqia, the deputy chairperson of the Board of Oman Air and was attended by the board of directors, shareholders and other stakeholders.

The EGM also approved restruc-turing of Oman Air Company so as to achieve functional effi ciencies, and improve the quality of services provided, which would result in im-proved service delivery. The EGM authorised the board to carry out and take all steps and actions nec-essary to execute the restructur-ing process; entering into a joint venture agreement share purchase agreement and technical services agreement between the company and the joint venture partner; and transferring 33 per cent of the shares held by the company in the Cargo LLC, to the joint venture partner by the agreed date.

E G M

Oman Air launches

new service to Dhaka

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Oman Air launched a new service to the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka from October 25.

Dhaka will be the airline’s sec-ond destination in Bangladesh, the other being Chittagong, and the service will initially off er four fl ights per week on Sunday, Tues-day, Thursday and Friday.

Flight frequency will increase from December 1, with fl ights also departing on Monday and Wednesday.

Fight WY-317 will arrive at Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport on Fridays and Sundays at 16:30 and depart at 18:00. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Flight WY-315 will arrive at 20:05 and depart 21:20, off ering convenient connections to various Middle East and European destinations.

In addition, Oman Air is cur-rently operating seven fl ights a week between Chittagong and Muscat, the capital of the Sultan-ate of Oman.

Oman Air will serve customers on the new route using an Airbus 330-300s, confi gured with 204

Economy Class and 26 Business Class seats.

“Oman Air is very happy to start services to its second des-tination in Bangladesh, to the capital city of Dhaka. Flights be-tween Muscat and Dhaka mark a signifi cant milestone in enhanc-ing trade, manpower, tourism and cultural exchanges between Oman and Bangladesh. A large number of Bangladeshis work in Oman and the connectivity off ered by the new service will provide easy and convenient travel to their home country. We are sure the new service will be well received by the Bangladeshi expatriates residing in Oman, as well as by those residing in Dhaka”, Oman Air’s Chief Oper-ating Offi cer, Abdulrahman Al Busaidy, said.

Furthermore, Oman will also off er itself as a magical desti-nation for travel and tourism through the new fl ight. The con-nectivity off ered by the new service will off er Bangladeshi holidaymakers an opportunity to experience the warm hospitality off ered throughout the Sultanate.

A V I A T I O N

NEW DESTINATION: Oman Air will serve customers on the new

route using an award winning Airbus 330-300s. – Supplied photo

UPDATE: The medical city will have several hospitals, said Ahmed

bin Mohammed Al Qasmi, director of Planning Studies, Ministry

of Health. – Jun Estrada

A6

OMANT U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Voting during elections could not be made mandatory. It is a democratic process and nobody can force the public to vote

Tawfi q Al Lawati, newly elected member

Interior minister declares results of Shura elections

MUSCAT: Sayyid Hamoud bin Faisal Al Busaidi, Minister of Interior, announced the fi nal results of Majlis Al Shura’s 8th Term Elections on Monday. The results have also been approved by the Higher Committee for the Majlis Al Shura 8th Term Elections. Headed by a deputy-chairman of the Supreme Court to oversee the elections and the examination of all electoral ap-peals, the process has witnessed great progress in various legal, procedural and technical as-pects, including the formation of a higher committee for Majlis Al Shura’s elections that enjoys independence and impartiality.

The Interior Ministry, in co-operation with the authorities concerned, had taken steps for peaceful and smooth conduct of the electoral process. The eff orts of supervising commit-tees enabled citizens to exercise their franchise.

On this occasion, the minis-ter said: “I have the honour to express my utmost loyalty and gratitude to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said for his gracious patronage and wise guidance, which laid a solid foundation for the electoral participation.”

Interior Ministry,

in cooperation with

the authorities

concerned, had

taken steps for

peaceful and

smooth conduct of

electoral process

As per the Majlis Al Shura’s Elec-tion Law, issued by Royal Decree No. 58/2013, and the memoran-dum of the Higher Committee of Majlis Al Shura’s 8th Term Elec-tions No. (MK /1100/325/2015), of 12 Muharram 1437 H, cor-responding to October 26, 2015, I hereby announce the names of the winners:

GOVERNORATE OF MUSCAT:

Wilayat of Muscat: Ali bin Salim bin Ali Al JabriWilayat of Muttrah: Tawfi q bin Adbul Hussein bin Jum’ah Al Lawati and Murad bin Ali bin Yousef Al Hooti Wilayat of Al Amerat: Mohammed bin Ramadhan bin Qasim Al Balushi and Ahmed bin Saud bin Hamoud Al Ma’shariWilayat of Bausher: Mohammed bin Salim bin Khalifah Al Busaidi and Aziz bin Salim bin Hamoud Al Hassni Wilayat of Seeb: Ne’mah bint Jamiel bin Farhan Al Busaidiyah and Hilal bin Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sarmi Wilayat of Quriyat: Said bin Jum’ah bin Salim Al Ghizaily and Mahfoudh bin Ali bin Jum’ah Al Juma’h

GOVERNORATE OF DHOFAR

Wilayat of Salalah: Mohammed bin Abu Bakar bin Salim Al Ghassani and Ahmed bin Mubarak bin Said Al Hadhari Wilayat of Taqah: Ali bin Ahmed bin Salim Al Ma’shani Wilayat of Mirbat: Mohammed bin Ali bin A’mir Baqi Wilayat of Rakhyut: Mohammed bin Musalam bin Rabei’ Habees Wilayat of Thumrait: Saleh bin Said bin Salim MasanWilayat of Dhalkut: Abu Bakar bin Alawi bin Sulaiman Ba OmarWilayat Al Mazyounah: Salim bin Mohammed bin Saloumah bin Ma’kouf Za’banotWilayat of Maqshin Al Nabei bin Al Abed bin Suhail Jidad Wilayat of Shaleem and Al Halaniyat Islands: Said bin Mohammed bin Said Tho’ar Wilayat of Sadah: Abdullah bin Ali bin Adbullah Al Amri

GOVERNORATE OF MUSANDAM

Wilayat of Khasab: Abdullsalam bin Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Kamali

Wilayat of Diba: Ali bin Mohammed bin Said Al Shihi Wilayat of Bukha: Abdullah bin Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Malik Wilayat of Madha: Khalid bin Ahmed bin Said Al Sa’adi

GOVERNORATE OF AL BURAIMI

Wilayat of Al Buraimi: Mohammed bin Ali bin Said Al Badi and Rashid bin Ahmed bin Rashid Al ShamsiWilayat of Mahadah: Salim bin Ali bin Salim Al Ka’abi Wilayat of A’Sininah: Hamdan bin Ali bin Rashid Al Manea

GOVERNORATE OF A’DHAKILYAH

Wilayat of Nizwa: Hamdan bin Nassir bin Masoud Al Rumaidhi and Ahmed bin Said bin Sa’ed Al Hadrami Wilayat of Bahla: Hilal bin Said bin Hamad Al Yahya’ei and Salim bin Hamad bin Said Al Mufarji Wilayat of Manah: Abdullah bin Salim bin Mohammed Al Junaibi Wilayat of Al Hamra: Jamal bin Ahmed bin Hamad Al AbriWilayat of Adam: Ahmed bin Hamoud bin Hamad Al DerieWilayat of Izki: Younis bin Ali bin Azzan Al Mantheri and Nassir bin Humaid bin Barghash Al A’amri

Wilayat of Sumail: Abdullah bin Ham-oud bin Salim Al Nadabi and Younis bin Ya’aqoob bin Issa Al Siyabi Wilayat of Bidbid: Ahmed bin Moham-med bin Yahya Al-Hadabi

GOVERNORATE OF NORTH AL BATINAH

Wilayat of Sohar: Mohhamed bin Ibrahim bin Issa Al Zadjali and Hilal bin Nassir bin Abdullah Al Sadrani Wilayat of Shinas: Sultan bin Rashid bin Mohammed Al Ka’abi and Yousef bin Ahmed bin Shahin Al Balushi Wilayat of Liwa: Shimas bin Khalid bin Ahmed Al Risi Wilayat of Saham: Mohammed bin Khamis bin Abdullah Al Badi and Salim bin Nassir bin Said Al Kahali Wilayat of Al Khabourah: Fahd bin Sultan bin Saif Al Hosniand Ali bin Khalfan bin Salman Al Qutaiti Wilayat of A’Suwaiq: Said bin Hamad bin Hilal Al Sa’adi and Mohammed bin Khalid bin Salim Al Rashidi

GOVERNORATE OF SOUTH AL BATINAH

Wilayat of A’Rustaq: Nassir bin Rashid bin Humaid Al Abri and Zayed bin Khal-fan bin Ali Al Abri Wilayat of Al Awabi: Hilal bin Adbulra-haman bin Yousef Al Kharousi Wilayat of Nakhal: Mohammed bin

Suleiman bin Hamoud Al Kindi Wilayat of Wadi Al Ma’awil: Khalid bin Hilal bin Nassir Al Ma’awali Wilayat of Barka: Salim bin Sae’d bin Hamdoon Al Malki and Saleem bin Salim bin Khalfan Al RashidiWilayat of Al Musan’ah: Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Jum’ah Al Balushi and Nassir bin Khamis bin Mohammed Al Khumaisi

GOVERNORATE OF SOUTH A’SHARQYAH

Wilayat of Sur: Said bin Mohammed bin Said Al Sinani and A’mir bin Said bin Ali Al Misharfi Wilayat of Al Kamil Wal Wafi : Abdul-lah bin Musallam bin Hamad Al Rasbi Wilayat of Ja’alan Bani Bu Hassan: Sulaiman bin A’mir bin Said Al Rajhi and Ali bin Salim bin Hamad Al Owaisi Wilayat of Ja’alan Bani Bu Ali: Sultan bin Abdullah bin Said Al Ja’fari and Said bin Mohammed bin Jum’ah Al Saa’diWilayat of Masirah: Ghanim bin Said bin Khamis Al Junaibi

GOVERNORATE OF NORTH A’SHARQYAH

Wilayat of Ibra: Ahmed bin Saif bin Ahmed Al Barwani Wilayat of Al Mudhaibi: Hamdoon bin Hamoud bin Ghunaim Al Fazari and Khalid bin Yahya bin Mohammed Al Far’eiWilayat of Bidiyah: Mohammed bin Said bin A’mir Al HajriWilayat of Al Qabil: Ahmed bin Said bin Ahmed Al Sa’di Wilayat of Wadi Bani Khalid: Ahmed bin Hussein bin Khamas Al Sa’adiWilayat of Dima’ Wal Taeyeen: Rashid bin Ali bin Hamad Al Hassni

GOVERNORATE OF A’DHAHIYRAH

Wilayat of Ibri: Shaham bin Rashid bin Saif Al Shouhomi and Sultan bin Majid bin Khamis al-AbriWilayat of Yanqul: Ali bin Mohammed bin Salmeen Al AlawiWilayat of Dhank: Hamoud bin Ahmed bin Hamad Al Yahya’ei

GOVERNORATE OF AL WUSTA

Wilayat of Haima: Hamoodah bin Mohammed bin Khalfan Al HarsosiWilayat of Mahout: Said bin Mabrook bin Salim Al Wihibi Wilayat of A’Duqm: Tahir bin Mabkout bin Ali Al Junaibi Wilayat of Al Jazir: Mohammed bin Ahmed bin Khanfor Al Junaibi. — ONA

ELECTORAL PROCESS: Sayyid Hamoud bin Faisal Al Busaidi,

Minister of Interior, reviewing arrangements. – ONA

HM sends greetings

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of congratulations to President Al-exander Lukashenko of Belarus on being re-elected as the president of the Republic for another term.

In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan has expressed his sincere congratulations along with his best wishes of success to President Lukashenko in leading his coun-try’s people towards further pro-gress and prosperity and further progress to the relations between the two countries. -ONA

B E L A R U S

Call for job security

in oil and gas sector

From 2010 to mid-2014, world oil prices were fairly stable, hov-ering at around $110 a barrel. However, since June, prices have more than halved.

According to the Ministry’s data, Oman has posted a budget defi cit of OMR2.68 billion ($6.97 billion) during the fi rst eight months of this year, compared with a OMR205.7 million surplus reported a year ago because of lower oil export prices.

It has also grown since the fi rst half of 2015 when Oman posted a budget defi cit of OMR1.92 billion.

“During the meeting we will discuss how to avoid the dis-missals. Job security has to be ensured. It cannot be depend-ent on market fl uctuations. We will also chalk out a plan on how to overcome this situation,” Salmi stated.

Meanwhile, a PDO spokes-person said that at the present, PDO is working to “stay the course” with a robust growth pro-gramme despite the low oil price environment.

“Notwithstanding some pro-ject deferments and thanks to cost and contract optimisation eff orts throughout our spectrum of activities, our activity levels will remain high as our focus is to create the maximum value for the Sultanate. Even where contracts have ended or naturally expired without renewal, we have worked with contractors to relocate personnel onto other contracts wherever possible,” the PDO spokesperson added.

Laying off workersHowever, another trade union leader said companies laying off workers citing lack of projects is not agreeable.

“Laying off workers citing market fl uctuations cannot be agreed upon. Companies that have earned a surplus profi t when conditions were good can-not lay off workers when a crisis is there,” Mohammed Al Khaldi, board member at the General Federation of Oman Trade Union (GFOTU) said.

“I know Omani workers are struggling to push the days ahead for the last six months after being dismissed by companies. Gov-ernment should step in immedi-ately. Companies are threaten-ing government. They are saying that if (they are not awarded) government projects then they will lay off national workers,” Al Khaldi added.

Data from the Oman Tender Board showed a sharp decrease in the number of awarded contracts since the beginning of the year, which slipped more than 55 per cent, compared with 2014.

That refl ects how much the private sector depends on the government’s expenditure to ex-pand its operations.

According to the National Centre for Statistics and Infor-mation (NCSI), recruitment of Omani employees rose by only 0.4 per cent in August this year, compared with the month of July. There was only a 4.5 per cent growth in expat recruitment during the same period. Both segments of employment have registered the slowest growth since 2011.

Domino eff ectMeanwhile, expatriate social workers said the oil price dip has caused a domino eff ect in Oman.

“When Omanis are losing jobs, what can we say about expatriate workers? Hundreds of expatriate workers have already lost their jobs”, Shaji Sebastin, an Indian social worker, said.

“Many workers are trying to get local transfers without leav-ing Oman. Currently, I am coor-dinating with stranded workers and a company, which is willing to accommodate them. Expatri-ate workers come to Oman af-ter spending a lot of money on visas and all. Moreover, there will be liabilities back home. So, it is quite diffi cult for them to leave the country suddenly,” Shaji explained.

According to a forecast by in-ternational traders, oil revenues are predicted to dip further by the end of this year.

L A Y I N G O F F W O R K E R S

< FROM

A1

‘Welfare of

people must

be priority’

Talal bin Ahmed Al Saadi, rappor-teur of the Higher Committee for Majlis Al Shura elections, said that among the 590 candidates, 12 were Ph.D holders, 70 holders of master degrees and 200 holders of bach-elor degrees, in addition to holders of higher education diploma post general education.

Well-being When Times of Oman spoke to Abu Rayan Al Noamani, an Omani national, who didn’t vote, he said that some Majlis Al Shura mem-bers were more concerned about their well-being and retaining their positions in the council, and least bothered about the welfare of people.

On being asked if voting should be made mandatory, Tawfi q Al La-wati said: “Voting during elections could not be made mandatory. It is a democratic process and nobody can force the public to vote.”

The number of voters who are eligible to cast their votes yes-terday stood at 525,785 includ-ing 237,918 females and 278,804 males. Out of this, 172,955 males and 124,950 females cast their votes. - With inputs from ONA

S H U R A P O L L S

< FROM

A1

A7

REGIONT U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday the Russian air force, which has been bombing insurgents in Syria since September 30, would be ready to help the “patriotic” Syrian opposition

Netanyahu to revoke rights of Palestinians

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Is-raeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has raised the pos-sibility of revoking benefi ts and travel rights of some Palestinians living in occupied East Jerusalem in response to a wave of Palestin-ian violence, a government offi cial said on Monday.

Such a move did not appear to be imminent or even politically feasi-ble but its mere mention ran coun-ter to a decades-old Israeli asser-tion that Occupied Jerusalem is a united city where Arab and Jewish residents enjoy equal rights.

Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said the step, if adopted, would deprive Palestinians in oc-cupied Jerusalem of the most basic rights and services and provoke confrontations. “This alarming escalation, an inhuman and illegal measure, must be stopped immedi-ately,” Ashrawi said in a statement.

Israel regards all the city, in-cluding occupied East Jerusalem, which was captured along with the occupied West Bank in 1967, as its indivisible capital. Unlike their brethren in the occupied West Bank, Palestinians in occu-pied East Jerusalem receive Is-raeli social benefi ts and can move freely in Israel.

Many of the Arab assailants in one of the worst waves of Pales-tinian-Israeli street violence in decades, fuelled in part by tensions over a holy site, have come from occupied East Jerusalem.

Many of the Palestinian attacks on Israelis are now occurring in the occupied West Bank, rather than in occupied Jerusalem where they started. Israeli forces on Monday shot dead a Palestinian assailant who the army said had stabbed and wounded a soldier at an intersection near the town of Hebron. Hours later, another Palestinian was shot and killed by soldiers after he tried to stab an Is-raeli, the military said.

Since October 1, at least 55 Pal-estinians, half of whom Israel says were assailants, have been shot and killed by Israelis at the scene of attacks or during protests in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Israeli police say 10 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian stab-bings or shootings.

Citing comments at a security cabinet meeting held two weeks ago, the government offi cial said Netanyahu mentioned the possi-

bility of revoking some rights for Palestinians who live within oc-cupied Jerusalem’s municipal bor-ders but outside the barrier Israel built during a Palestinian suicide bombing campaign a decade ago.

Beyond the barrierRights groups estimate that about 100,000, or almost a third of occu-pied Jerusalem’s Palestinians, live beyond the barrier.

The offi cial, however, said there was no discussion of the matter at the forum and Netanyahu did not ask that it be included on the agenda of a future meeting. Netan-yahu’s remarks were fi rst reported by Channel Two television late on Sunday.

At the security cabinet meet-ing, Netanyahu complained of lawlessness in Palestinian neigh-bourhoods in occupied East Je-rusalem’s outlying areas, where sporadic Israeli raids to arrest sus-

pected militants are usually met with violent protests.

After the 1967 war, Israel ex-panded occupied Jerusalem’s mu-nicipal borders by annexing parts of the West Bank to the city. Oc-cupied Jerusalem Palestinians are not Israeli citizens, but they hold Israeli-issued blue IDs that grant them permanent resident status.

Rights groups and Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem have long complained of a paucity of municipal services, diffi culties in receiving building permits and Israeli moves to revoke the resi-dency of those who leave the city for extended periods.

Israel’s annexation of East Jeru-salem and its claim to all of the city as its capital are not recognised internationally. Palestinians want occupied East Jerusalem to be the capital of the state they seek to es-tablish in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. — Reuters

The move could

aff ect a third of the

Arab residents of

occupied Jerusalem

Syria rebel alliance sceptical about Russian proposalLONDON/BEIRUT: An alliance of Free Syrian Army-related in-surgent groups said on Monday it was sceptical about a Russian proposal to help rebels, and that Moscow must stop bombing re-bels and civilians and withdraw its support for President Bashar Al Assad.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lav-rov said on Saturday the Russian air force, which has been bomb-ing insurgents in Syria since Sep-tember 30, would be ready to help the “patriotic” Syrian opposition.

“Their words are not like their actions. How can we talk to them while they are hitting us?” Issam Al Rayyes, spokesman for the Southern Front of the Free Syr-ian Army, told Reuters.

Russian warplanes have bombed a number of FSA-affi li-ated groups in northern areas of Syria since intervening in the war on the side of Assad. The Russian air force is providing air cover for several major ground off ensives being waged by the Syrian army and allied fi ghters.

Rayyes added that there was no contact between the rebels and the Russians, clarifying an earlier remark to the BBC that the rebels had not turned down a Russian off er. “There is no off er, there is no communication,” Rayyes said.

“We don’t need the help now, they should stop attacking our bases and then we can talk about future cooperation,” Rayyes said in his earlier BBC interview.

His comments echo the views of other Syrian rebels towards the Russian statement, with As-sad’s opponents suspicious that Moscow is working purely to shore up its ally.

The Southern Front alliance operates mostly near the border with Jordan and Israel - an area thus far not targeted in the Rus-sian air strikes, but where the re-bels are continuously fi ghting the Syrian army and allied militias.

The FSA is a loose alliance of groups, some of which have re-ceived military aid from Assad’s foreign enemies. They are often led by former Syrian army offi c-ers and espouse a nationalist vi-sion for the country. Such groups have, however, been eclipsed in much of Syria by militants including the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and the IS group -- the stated target of the Russian intervention in the war.

Meanwhile, the Russian air force fl ew 164 sorties in Syria in the last three days, striking 285 IS and Jabhat Al Nusra targets including ammunition stores and arms factories, the Russian de-fence ministry said on Monday.

Russia says it has destroyed more than 800 terrorist targets in Syria since it began its cam-paign of air strikes on September 30, an intervention Moscow says is aimed at destroying extrem-ist hardline militants, but which Washington says is also targeting moderate rebels opposed to Syr-ian President Bashar Al Assad.

The defence ministry said air force jets destroyed two metal hangars housing a major Al Nusra ammunition store in the eastern Suburbs of Syria’s capital, Da-mascus. Additionally, two Su-24 fi ghter jets hit a vehicle workshop in the northern Aleppo province where IS militants were equip-ping cars with mortars and Zu-23 anti-aircraft cannons, the minis-try said. The defence ministry said Russian jets had also hit terrorist positions in the last three days.

Further Russian strikes took place in the western Latakia, Idlib and Hama provinces where data compiled by the Institute for the Study of War shows there is no IS or Al Nusra presence. A Reuters analysis of defence min-istry data last week found that almost 80 per cent of Russia’s de-clared targets in Syria have been in areas not held by IS. — Reuters

C I V I L W A R

Three killed in Saudi attackDUBAI: A suicide bomber blew himself up at a mosque in Na-jran in southern Saudi Arabia on Monday, killing at least three peo-ple and wounding several others, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya televi-sion reported.

The attack on the Al Mashhad mosque occurred during even-ing prayers, and authorities were investigating the bombing, www.sabq.org, a Saudi news website,

reported, without giving further details. A video shared by daily newspaper Al Watan showed panicked worshippers fl eeing the scene and a child falling to his knees as sirens wailed and dust fi lled the street.

On August 6, a suicide bomber killed at least 15 people in an attack on a mosque used by members of a local security force in southwest Saudi Arabia, an assault that an on-

line statement said was carried out by IS miilitant group. In May, two suicide bomb attacks on mosques in Saudi Arabia were claimed by IS. The fi rst on a mosque in Qatif in the east of the kingdom killed 21 worshippers, and another four died in a bombing a week later at a mosque in Dammam. An-other bombing claimed by IS on a mosque in Kuwait in June killed 27 people. - Reuters

S U I C I D E B O M B I N G

CLASHES CONTINUE UNABATED: A Palestinian protester throws stones during clashes with Israeli

security forces at the northern entrance of the occupied West Bank town Al Bireh, on the northern

outskirts of Ramallah on Monday. – AFP

A8

INDIAT U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

No matter if we fi nd her (Geeta’s) parents or not, she is a daughter of India and we will take care of her

Sushma Swaraj, Foreign Minister

Geeta returns to India but fails to recognise family

NEW DELHI: Over a decade af-ter inadvertently crossing into Pakistan, Geeta, a deaf and mute girl, on Monday returned here to an emotional welcome but failed to recognise a family which she had initially identifi ed from pho-tographs even as India “whole-heartedly” thanked Pakistani government for allowing her homecoming.

Geeta, who was received by sen-ior offi cials from External Aff airs Ministry and Pakistan High Com-mission here on her arrival from Karachi, met Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, who played a key role in bringing her back.

“Welcome back home, Geeta. It is truly wonderful to have you back home... All of India will take care of you,” Modi said and as-sured that every eff ort would be made to trace her family.

Touched by the rousing wel-come, an emotional Geeta, through an interpreter, said, “I am very happy to be in India. My heart is fi lled with happiness. I am touched the way I am being wel-comed. In Pakistan, I used to often feel sad.”

The prime minister thanked the Edhi family for taking care of Geeta for over a decade and an-nounced Rs10 million assistance for their foundation. He described the family as “apostles of kindness and compassion”.

‘Happy day’Earlier, addressing a press con-ference with Geeta, Swaraj called it a “happy day” as the “innocent daughter came back home”.

She said Geeta refused to rec-ognise the Mahato couple from Bihar which she had identifi ed from photographs and added that she will be kept in an institution in Indore till her “real family” was found.

Geeta, who had accidentally strayed into Pakistan nearly 15

years ago, said her priority is to stand on her feet.

Though Mahato family claimed she was married and has a child, Geeta vehemently denied it.

DNA samplesSwaraj said Geeta’s DNA sample is being examined and if it does not match with the samples of the Mahato couple, then government will start afresh the process to fi nd her parents.

“If the DNA samples match, then it will be a complex situation. We will ask Geeta to recollect things and go down the memory lane. We will make her sit again with them (Mahatos) so that she recollects her memory,” the min-ister said, adding Geeta did not show any excitement when she saw the Mahato couple.

“No matter if we fi nd her (Gee-ta’s) parents or not, she is a daugh-ter of India and we will take care of her,” the foreign minister said, adding Geeta has said the Mahato

family is not hers. The minister also thanked the Pakistan gov-ernment, saying, “I on behalf of people of India and government thank Pakistan government and its Prime Minister for facilitating Geeta’s return.”

Swaraj, however, refused to answer questions on whether Geeta’s homecoming will help improve relations between India and Pakistan. Geeta was adopted by the Edhi Foundation’s Bilquis Edhi and lived with her in Kara-chi. Bilquis and her grandchil-dren, Saba and Saad Edhi, have accompanied Geeta here.

Geeta’s story came to light after the release of Salman Khan star-rer Bajrangi Bhaijaan in which the hero unites a girl separated from her Pakistani mother who was visiting India.

Mahato claimed Geeta is his fi rst child and her name was Heera who was lost in a fair in 2004.

Heaping praise on Bilquis, Swaraj said all the members of the

organisation who accompanied Geeta have been accorded state guest status.

The Edhi delegation is likely to visit Taj Mahal, Ajmer Sharif dar-gah as well as various historical places in Delhi.

Giving a detail account of her stay in Edhi Foundation, Bilquis on her part said, “I am extremely happy. Today is like Eid for me.

I am happy for Geeta.” She said Geeta initially was restless and wanted to fl ee from Pakistan.

Bilquis said Geeta watched Ba-jrangi Bhaijan several times.

“She had said the movie has been made taking my story but I have not been taken back,” said Bilquis quoting Geeta.

In her meeting with Bilquis, Swaraj told her that she will be in-vited to Geeta’s wedding.

Swaraj said government’s pri-ority is to bring back the Indians who are languishing in Pakistani jails for years and have developed mental illness.

Asked Pakistan High Commis-sion’s comment on Monday that it hoped India would release 459 Pakistani prisoners with same “love and aff ection” that Pakistan showed for Geeta, Swaraj refused to comment.

Extend helpShe, however, said Geeta’s return has refl ected importance of peo-ple-to-people contact in relation-ship between the two countries. Swaraj said there cases somewhat similar to Geeta’s and government will extend help to those families to bring back their relatives.

Before boarding the PIA fl ight in Karachi, a beaming Geeta thanked the Pakistani people for taking care of her.

Faisal Edhi of the Edhi founda-tion told reporters in Karachi that they would continue to stay in touch with Geeta through social media and even visit her.

“She is not really separating from us,” he said. - PTI

Touched by the

rousing welcome,

an emotional

Geeta, through an

interpreter, said, ‘I

am very happy to be

in India. My heart is

fi lled with happiness.

I am touched...’

HOMECOMING: Geeta, a deaf-mute Indian woman who accidentally crossed over to Pakistan a decade

ago, is seen here with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bilqees Edhi during their meeting, after her

return to India, in New Delhi on Monday. - PTI

SCAN THIS TO VISIT

PHOTO GALLERYARTICLE, VIDEO,

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

India, African

offi cials discuss

framework

to boost ties

NEW DELHI: Aiming to ramp up engagement, India and African countries on Monday deliberated on possible deliverables at a sum-mit between the two sides which is aimed at lifting the overall ties to a new high with particular focus on trade, security and develop-ment cooperation.

On the fi rst day of the four-day-long India-Africa Summit, top offi cials of India and a number of African countries discussed about a specifi c framework to boost ties besides deliberating on a “po-litical document”.

“They are negotiating two docu-ments. One is going to be a politi-cal document which will talk of the political partnership between In-dia and Africa. It will touch upon global and regional issues.

“Other one is going to be frame-work document of cooperation which will talk about the develop-ment partnership of Africa, line of credit by India to African nations,”

External Aff airs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup told reporters. He said terrorism could fi nd place in the discussions in the summit.

On Tuesday, the summit will see interaction at the level of foreign ministers while the third leg will see meeting of the heads of the states on October 29.

External Aff airs Minister Sush-ma Swaraj will also hold bilateral talks with her counterparts from Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Kenya, Malawi, Ghana, Democratic Re-public of Congo, Cape Verde, Gha-na among others on Tuesday.

Representatives of 54 African nations including heads of state and government of around 40 countries and powerful African Union are expected to participate in the summit.

India’s current trade with Af-rica is around $75 billion and it has granted a whopping $7.4 billion for various developmental and capac-ity building projects in the past four years. - PTI

I N D I A - A F R I C A S U M M I T

Jaya’s election challenged in Madras High Court

CHENNAI: Petitions challenging the election of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to the as-sembly in a byelection have been fi led in the Madras High Court by

two independent candidates.Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana

on Monday ordered notice to Jay-alalithaa, the Election Commis-sion, state Chief Electoral Offi cer

and the Returning Offi cer on one of the petitions fi led by T Suresh whose nomination papers for the June 27 last bypoll to R K Nagar constituency were rejected. -PTI

P E T I T I O N S

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INDIAT U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

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Rajnath confi rms arrest ofChhota Rajan in IndonesiaNEW DELHI: Confi rming the arrest of underworld don Chhota Rajan, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said it was a “major success” for the In-dian government’s eff orts to nab him and thanked Indonesia for his capture in that country.

“It has been confi rmed that Chhota Rajan has been arrested in Indonesia. The process of veri-fi cation and other details are on,” he said over phone from Bihar where he is campaigning.

He said Indian government had been trying to nab him for a long time and had made a request to Interpol in this regard.

“We had issued a notice (through the Interpol),” he added. The Home Minister thanked Indo-nesian government for the arrest, saying it was a “major success”.

Asked when Rajan will be brought to India, Singh said the CBI and other agencies are in touch with the Indonesian au-thorities and things are being worked out. He, however, did not give any timeframe.

Asked whether underworld don and 1993 Mumbai blasts ac-cused Dawood Ibrahim would be the next target, Singh said “let’s see what happens in the future”.

Close coordinationMinister of State for Home Af-fairs Kiren Rijiju said the arrest has been made due to close coor-dination between Indonesia, Aus-tralia and Indian security agen-cies. Rijiju said most of the cases against Rajan were registered in Mumbai and the police in that city will take the initiative of his prosecution.

Rajan’s arrest in Indonesia is a “signifi cant” development and his questioning is expected to shed light on hitherto unknown facts related to underworld and crimi-nal cases linked to his syndicate, former and serving police offi cials claimed on Monday.

The 55-year-old fugitive from Mumbai, whose real name is Ra-jendra Sadashiv Nikalje, was ap-prehended in Bali, Indonesia,after being on the run for decades.

Former Mumbai Police Com-missioner, M. N. Singh, who had played a key role in eliminating underworld gangs in the city, said he would not get excited till the gangster was brought back to the country.

“Rajan’s arrest is signifi cant for investigating agencies as he can reveal unknown facts about un-derworld-police-political nexus,” said Y. P. Singh, IPS offi cer-turned-lawyer. The details of conspiracy behind the murder of journalist Jyotirmoy Dey on June 11, 2011, which was executed allegedly at the behest of Rajan, and fi ring on another scribe in early 1990s may come to fore if he is questioned by Indian agencies, he said.

Also, police and other law-enforcing agencies could come to know of Rajan’s connections in the killings of his own hire-lings in India and abroad, said a Crime Branch offi cer, request-ing anonymity. One such case is that of gangster Farid Tanasha, a close Rajan aide who was killed in Mumbai on June 2, 2010.

Tanasha was bumped off as Ra-jan suspected he was in the pro-

cess to dump him and join a rival gang, he said. The case of attempt on the life of Iqbal Kaskar, brother of Rajan’s main rival and under-world don Dawood Ibrahim, in 2010 in South Mumbai, may also get solved, said another offi cer.

Financial angleExplaining the fi nancial angle of the Rajan gang, an IPS offi cer said that several small and big time city-based builders, who are sus-pected to be associated with the crime boss, may face the heat.

Mumbai Crime Branch is in possession of a list of builders who police suspect have links with the Rajan gang, he said.

Reacting cautiously to the ar-rest of the fugitive, M. N. Singh said he is not excited till he is de-ported to India.

“Going by my past forgettable experience, I would say that nei-ther am I excited nor very much hopeful because Rajan is yet to be deported to the country. And even if he is deported here, he has become very old, sick and almost non-operative with his gang,” Sin-gh said. - PTI

O N T H E R U N F O R D E C A D E S

NABBED: A fi le photo of underworld don Chhota Rajan. He was

caught by Indonesian police in Bali on Sunday. - PTI Photo/TV Grab

Age of bans is over, says Arun Jaitley

NEW DELHI: The govern-ment should stay away from putting any curbs on freedom of expression as the “age of bans is over”, Information and Broad-casting Minister Arun Jaitley said on Monday, adding that re-strictions imposed in the Con-stitution play an important role in the larger interest.

Delivering the Sardar Patel lecture organised by All India Radio (AIR) here, the union minister noted that while the right to freedom of expression has expanded in India through successive judicial verdicts and technological advances, its mis-use continues to happen.

“Many believe, and I am one of those who do believe, that the age of bans is now over. It is liter-ally impossible if not very diffi -cult to implement them,” he said.

Jaitley ruled out the idea of involvement of the state in en-forcing bans.

“Should the state step in? As far as possible, no,” he said.

The minister noted that while print media and to a large extent electronic media adopt discretions in their content, social media completely lacks such a mechanism. He pointed out that makers of the Constitu-tion rightly held that freedom of speech and expression is not ab-solute and subject to reasonable restrictions which were specifi -cally defi ned.

“In a society where because of multi-religious, multi-cultur-al reasons there are sensitivi-ties, what do we do if somebody crosses the Lakshman Rekha itself ? What would the Indian society have done if instead of the Danish cartoonist, it would have been an Indian cartoonist?

“And therefore we have crimi-nal laws in provision but then in extreme cases, very reluctantly so, some power of restraint in larger interest so that it doesn’t disturb public order, and that is where those 1950s restrictions imposed in Article 19(2) itself will have an important role to play,” he said. - PTI

C U R B S

Campaigning ends for Bihar polls 3rd phase

PATNA: The high-voltage cam-paigning for the third phase of Bihar polls ended on Monday dur-ing which the rival contenders for power locked horns over the contentious issue of reservation, largely putting aside their devel-opment plank.

After a brief Dussehra break, both the NDA, spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and JD(U)-RJD-Congress com-bine, plunged headlong into the hurly burly of electioneering, targeting each other over issues many of which were unrelated to the state.

Counter-off ensiveApart from the grand alliance’s claim of the Narendra Modi gov-ernment contemplating to scrap quotas for SC, ST and OBCs, which provoked a counterof-fensive from the prime minister on the last day of the campaign, Dalit burning case in Haryana’s Faridabad, Union Minister V. K. Singh’s dog remark on it, besides a video clip of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar meeting a ‘Tantrik’

added variety and spice to the electoral discourse.

A sting video showing JD(U) MLA Satyadev Singh purportedly accepting bribe from a business-man also gave Modi and his NDA allies ammunition to pillory the grand alliance.

Addressing rallies at Chhapra, Nalanda and Patna on Sunday, Modi dubbed Nitish-Lalu duo as leaders with a regressive agenda and “18th century mindset”.

He attacked Kumar over the “tantrik” controversy and said the RJD chief was leading “Rashtriya Jadu Tona” party.

Nitish Kumar lost no time in launching a counteroff ensive say-ing in a tweet “the people of Bihar have made Shah and the autocrat (Modi) realise the power of dem-ocratic forces in this election... they have been rattled by an im-minent defeat.”

Under unrelenting assault on the quota issue, Modi on Monday mounted a counterattack, accus-ing the grand alliance of plotting to take away fi ve per cent of the quota share of Scheduled Castes,

Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Class and give it to “a community” despite the Consti-tution and the law not providing for it, a move aimed at neutralis-ing the rival alliance’s attempts at polarisation of upper caste votes.

While Modi returned to the state on the last two days of cam-paigning, JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar and RJD boss Lalu Prasad led the charge against anti-BJP alliance. Congress President So-nia Gandhi and her deputy Rahul visited the state for a day each and focused on targeting Modi.

Several central ministers in-cluding Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gad-kari, Venkaiah Naidu, J. P. Nadda and Ananth Kumar campaigned at various places.

BJP President Amit Shah camped at Patna and also ad-dressed several rallies.

Fifty of the state’s 243 assembly seats spread over six districts — Patna, Vaishali, Saran, Nalanda, Bhojpur and Buxar — are going to polls in the third phase on Octo-ber 28. Polling has already been

held in 81 assembly seats in the fi rst two phases.

Meanwhile, a small political outfi t modelled on AAP is making its debut in Bihar elections, while a journalist seeking civic changes in the capital, along with a string of other independent candidates is testing fortunes in the hustings.

Styled as ‘Gareeb Aadmi Party (GAP)’ and barely a year-old, the Delhi-based new outfi t says that like the ‘Aam Aadmi Party’ it seeks to off er an “alternative poli-tics” and is asking voters to “mind the GAP” between “Modi camp and Nitish-led grand alliance”.

“We are fi ghting this polls with all our might and spirit and have fi elded candidates for 19 seats in-cluding Digha, Danapur, Bankipur and Kumrahar, Phulwari, Patna Sahib in Patna district.

Our candidates are also in the fray in Muzaff arpur, Vaishali, Hajipur as well.Two of our candi-dates are also competing against Laluji’s two sons in Mahua and Raghopur constituencies,” GAP’s national state president, Shyam Bhartiya said. - PTI

Fifty of the state’s

243 assembly seats

spread over six

districts — Patna,

Vaishali, Saran,

Nalanda, Bhojpur and

Buxar — are going

to elections in the

third phase polls

on October 28 WOOING VOTERS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses an election rally in Buxar district of

Bihar on Monday. - PTI

In Bihar poll battle, who cares about the environment?PATNA: For an election that can make or break the main contend-ers for power in Bihar, no one seems bothered about environ-mental issues.

The ever increasing pollution in the Ganges, people hit hard by ar-senic, fl uoride and iron content in drinking water, rising air pollution and falling rainfall — issues that aff ect millions — have been given a go-by as Bihar readies for the third round of the fi ve-phase as-sembly election.

Political parties and top leaders are harping on economic develop-ment, job quotas, beef, shooting prices of food items as well as caste equations to woo voters.

Neither the BJP-led NDA of Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor the Grand Alliance of the JD-U, RJD and Congress led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar appear to take up green issues.

With star campaigners from Modi to BJP president Amit Shah and Nitish Kumar to RJD chief Lalu Prasad trying hard to target youths by promising development including jobs to education, green issues have been missing from the campaign. Yet, pollution is a major issue for millions all over Bihar.

In places like Patna, Buxar and Bhagalpur districts, pollution in the Ganges is worrying everyone.

According to Gangetic dolphin expert R.K. Sinha, over the years disposal of untreated waste has been the major cause for growing pollution in the river considered holy by Hindus. Six major drains carry untreated water directly into the river in Patna.

“Any development cannot be sustainable by ignoring environ-mental concerns. If our water and air are polluted, what kind of de-velopment are we talking about? Development minus environment is like fi sh without water,” said Ranjeev, a green activist.

He warned that the neglect of green issues will cost the people of

Bihar dear, particularly the poor, in view of climate changes.

Vulnerable to climate change“A large part of Bihar is in the Him-alayan terai area, which is most vulnerable to climate change. The poor will face livelihood problems but surprisingly it is not an issue in the election campaign,” he said.

Another environment activist, Mahender Yadav, said some green issues were mentioned in some manifestos but were not raised at public rallies.

Rampati Kumar, CEO of the Centre for Environment and En-ergy Development(CEED), said environmental issues were the real challenge.

Rampati Kumar said that the political class had forgotten green issues. - IANS

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

A large part of Bihar

is in the Himalayan

terai area, which is

most vulnerable to

climate change.

The poor will face

livelihood problems

but surprisingly it is

not an issue in the

election campaign

RanjeevGreen activist

A10

PAKISTAN T U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

New unit to boost murder investigations

LAHORE: Pakistan’s fi rst special-ized homicide investigation unit is promoting a radical idea: fi nd evi-dence, don’t plant it.

Launched last month by police in the eastern province of Pun-jab, the 478-strong unit pairs vet-erans with university graduates who had an extra year of training in forensics, report writing and interrogation.

Reforming the crumbling crimi-

nal justice system and the cash-starved, poorly trained police force is vital to Pakistan’s stability. Mili-tants and criminals commonly walk free, and citizens are doubtful of seeing justice done.

That is partly because antiquat-ed courts rely heavily on witness testimony and evidence found at the scene, and both are easily ma-nipulated, say police and lawyers.

Punjab police chief Inspector General Mushtaq Sukhera hopes the new unit will help put an end to the practice.

“There was some pressure to do that (plant evidence) in the past,

and the courts did not really want to rely on it,” said Sukhera. “With this new unit there is no need.”

In most murder cases, victims’ families say they know who the killer is, police say.

Yet few offi cers are trained to collect evidence to prove it, and sometimes make it up.

A dozen senior prosecutors and police told Reuters they coached witnesses and planted evidence, but only to incriminate the guilty.

“We get the right guy by the wrong methods,” one senior offi cer in the eastern city of Lahore told Reuters, requesting anonymity.

Without a protection pro-gramme, witnesses are afraid to testify, leaving police with lit-tle choice but to coach them and plant evidence, said Hassan Ab-bas, author of “he Taliban Re-vival and a prominent expert on police reforms.

“You can’t ask someone to risk everything if they are not con-vinced it will make any diff erence,” he said.

Abbas argued that the new hom-icide unit was not enough.

“Basic problems like lack of po-lice training, political interference and lack of funding are still not be-

ing addressed,” he said. “Announc-ing new units is nice for the media, but the basics are still neglected.”

Another challenge for police is that laws allowing families of victims to pardon killers in ex-change for cash mean the guilty can go free and the innocent may be blackmailed.

“People are losing faith in the justice system day by day,” said de-fence lawyer Raja Ghaneem Khan.

He recently got three men ac-quitted after a judge ruled evi-dence was planted and the men were in custody when the murder occurred. They were on death row for fi ve years before being cleared.

At a mosque in the Punjabi city of Lahore last month, a team from the new homicide unit carefully photographed a corpse sprawled in the library, a bloody axe wedged in its back.

“In the old days, they would have just moved the body immediately and vital evidence would have been lost,” said Umar Riaz, head of the new unit’s Lahore section.

More than 400 homicide cases have been registered in the last month, and by mid-October the unit was close to completing one hundred. So far, 24 people have appeared in court based on its fi ndings.

But funding and training gaps remain.

The new homicide squad does not have a budget. Offi cers should receive Rs50,000 ($490) per in-

vestigation to cover the cost of transport, equipment and foren-sic tests. The senior police offi cial in Lahore said the stipend had been paid in around 40-45 per cent of cases.

One newly appointed homicide offi cer, a veteran stationed outside Lahore, said he only had 25 days of extra training and had not been paid investigation expenses.

“We are in favour of this initia-tive, but if they don’t do it properly, it will just be old wine in new bot-tles,” warned another Punjabi policeman, himself a seasoned investigator.

A tiny national police budget leaves little cash for training and witness protection.

“In Pakistan, most of the time the natural (genuine) witnesses don’t come forward. Even where the natural witnesses are avail-able, police have to guide them on how they are supposed to testify,” said Sukhera. One method sev-eral police offi cers said was used in Punjab to bolster their case was to buy a gun, shoot a few rounds then place the bullets at a crime scene. When the suspect is captured, the gun is planted.

The Punjab Forensic Science Agency, which carries out tests for police, said around 70 per cent of guns taken from suspects match bullets from crime scenes. The senior police offi cer said the match rate from genuine evidence is clos-er to 5 per cent. — Reuters

Launched last

month by police

in the eastern

province of Punjab,

the 478-strong

unit pairs veterans

with university

graduates who had

an extra year of

training in forensics,

report writing and

interrogation

SPECIALIZED HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION UNIT: A police forensic

expert gathers evidence from a bloodied wall at a murder crime

scene in Lahore, Pakistan October 1, 2015. — Reuters

There was some

pressure to do that

(plant evidence) in

the past, and the

courts did not really

want to rely on it.

With this new unit

there is no need

Mushtaq SukheraPunjab police official

Minar-i-Pakistan goes pink to raise of breast cancer awarenessLAHORE: Pink lights illuminat-ed Minar-i-Pakistan on Sunday evening to raise awareness on breast cancer.

The change of lights was organ-ised by the Pink Ribbon Campaign and the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) for the Interna-tional Mammogram Day.

The colour is associated with Pinktober, the breast cancer awareness month celebrated in October across the world. Accord-ing to Pink Ribbon Organisation Pakistan has the highest breast cancer incidence in Asia, with one out of 9 women likely to be diag-nosed of the disease.

Nearly 90,000 breast cancer cases are reported every year. Pink Ribbon estimates that 40,000 women die from breast cancer every year.

“Despite these fi gures, there is a 90 per cent chance of recov-ery with an early diagnosis. Lack of awareness about the diseases and diagnostic facilities, however,

leads to late diagnosis which is why many women lose their lives to the disease,” said Omer Aftab, chief executive of the Pink Ribbon campaign.

He says the lighting initiative would raise awareness about breast cancer. “People hesitate to discuss the issue because of cul-tural norms,” he said.

“It is important for people to realise the importance of early de-tection to save the life of a moth-er, a sister, a wife or a daughter,” he says.

He said the Pink Ribbon is setting up Pakistan’s fi rst hos-pital dedicated to breast cancer treatment.

Lack of awarenessPHA spokesman Javed Shaida appreciated the initiative, saying lack of awareness has aff ected public health. He said the PHA would continue to extend support for such events.

‘Pink October’: Early diagnosis key to fi ghting breast cancer, said the expert.

The Pink Ribbon Campaign will raise awareness among female students by providing reading material at such events. Over the years, many monuments, includ-ing the Empire State building, the White House, the Eiff el Tower and the Sydney Opera House, have been illuminated with pink lights to raise awareness on breast cancer.

Last year, Liberty Roundabout turned pink under the Pinktober campaign on breast cancer aware-ness. — Express Tribune

H E A L T H C R I S I S

Despite these figures, there is a 90 per cent chance of recovery

with an early diagnosis. Lack of awareness about the diseases

and diagnostic facilities, however, leads to late diagnosis which

is why many women lose their lives to the disease, said

Omer Aftab, chief executive of the Pink Ribbon campaign

Veteran artiste Nargis returns to theatreLAHORE: Back in 2012, in the presence of the media, Nargis had vowed never to return to stage and announced that she had become a preacher.

AThree years on, she is back in town and in business, having signed a stage drama and drum-ming up eff orts to put together her fi lm Dushman Rani.

Theatre activities will resume once again after the brief break due to holidays few days ago and Nargis’ drama will be staged at Shalimar Theatre, starting October 30.

Helming the project herself, she is busy fi nalising her cast these days. Speaking to The Express Tribune, Nargis shares it is the right time to make a comeback. “I was streamlining various matters

and now I am relaxed and will-ing to work. “Theatre has always been my fi eld of choice; so I have decided to restart my career with a stage drama.”

It has been well over two months since Nargis returned from Canada. She was not seen at

social events, let alone on stage, and was concentrating on her beauty parlour business only. Now that she is back, she is aware of how several new actors have ar-rived since her departure. But she is certain that her loyal fans will not disappoint her. “I know the audiences still want to see Nar-gis,” she says.

There was a time when Nargis and her sister Deedar ruled the stage as the highest-paid actors in the industry. Audiences would fl ock to theatres to catch a glimpse of Nargis and she’d make the best of her popularity — charging as much as Rs2 million for a single play. Her return has made fellow actors hopeful of a revival of stage drama in the city.

Shalimar Theatre’s owner, Ma-

lik Tahir, seems delighted with her return. “Nargis is still a big name in the world of theatre and we are expecting a huge turnout at the play. So far, actors Mah-noor, Sunahir Khan, Payal, Qaiser Piya and Nawaz Anjum have been roped in,” he shares.

On the fi lm front, Nargis gave the green light to director Pervaiz Rana to start work on Dushman Rani during a meeting at her resi-dence. “Kamal Pasha has written the script of the fi lm and I have al-ready fi nalised shooting locations. We are all waiting on Nargis’ di-rectives to begin fi lming,” says Rana. “She is very enthusiastic about the fi lm,” he added.

In fact, for her role in the movie, she has also begun following a strict gym routine. — Express Tribune

E N T E R T A I N M E N T

Nargis

A11

WORLDT U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

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Philippines faces hardships as Koppu losses touch $185m

BANGKOK: Authorities and aid workers in the Philippines are as-sessing losses and providing as-sistance for survivors of Typhoon Koppu, which killed 58 people and caused $185 million of damage to farms and fi sheries.

Typhoon Koppu brought strong winds and days of heavy rain last week to seven regions on the coun-try’s main island Luzon, aff ecting 2.7 million, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported on Monday.

It said about 300 villages re-

main fl ooded, and 40 sections of road and fi ve bridges are unpassa-ble due to fl ooding and landslides. All communications lines are open, but some towns are without electricity, it said.

The Department of Agriculture reported Typhoon Koppu, known locally as Lando, damaged more

than 330,000 hectares (815,000 acres) of farmland, destroying 510,000 tonnes of crops, including 464,000 tonnes of rice.

“Poor farmers - who probably had to borrow money for plant-ing (crops) that were about to be ready to be harvested - went from the El Nino drought... to a fl ood

situation,” said Michel Rooijack-ers, deputy country director of aid agency Save the Children.

“We are concerned about food security and livelihoods... It will signifi cantly impact their re-covery. In the medium to longer term, that is what we see as the biggest problem.”

The NDRRMC said 15,289 houses and 249 schools were completely destroyed by winds, landslides and fl ooding, while 88,158 houses and 554 schools suff ered partial damage.

DeforestrationAccording to Kate Marshall, a spokeswoman for the Inter-national Federation of the Red Cross, people in the area say de-forestation has exacerbated the typhoon damage.

“That area is crucial to food pro-duction. They’re already talking about importing rice. They need to talk about the deforestation be-cause it’s tragic,” Marshall said.

Save the Children and Plan International, which both have assessment teams in typhoon-hit areas, have distributed as-sistance kits that include jerry cans, water purifi ers, soap, tooth-brushes, cooking pots and eating utensils. —Thomson Reuters Foundation

Typhoon Koppu

brought strong

winds and days of

heavy rain last week

to seven regions

on the country’s

main island Luzon,

aff ecting 2.7 million,

the National Disaster

Risk Reduction and

Management Council

reported on Monday

TOUGH TASK: Residents aff ected by fl ood caused by Typhoon Koppu look on after receiving relief

goods at Barangay Delfi n, Albano, Isabela province, north of Manila on October 20, 2015. — AFP

Bangladesh arrest four over Italian worker killing

DHAKA: Bangladeshi police have arrested four people in connec-tion with the killing of an Italian aid worker who was shot dead last month in the fi rst attack in the country claimed by IS militants.

Cesare Tavella, 50, was shot in Dhaka’s diplomatic quarter by three gunmen on a motorcycle on September 28. Attacks on for-eigners are rare in Bangladesh, despite a rising tide of extremist violence over the past year that has seen four online critics of re-ligious militancy hacked to death, among them a US citizen of Bang-ladesh origin.

Days after Tavella was shot, a Japanese man was killed. IS claimed responsibility for both attacks. The government has re-jected the IS claim and blamed the growing violence on political opponents.

The four arrested for the attack on Tavella were caught in diff er-ent parts of the capital overnight and police also recovered a mo-torcycle that they said was used in the killing.

“Three directly took part in the killing mission and the other one supplied the motorcycle,” city po-lice commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia. — Reuters

I S C L A I M E D A T T A C K

INDONESIA PEATLAND FIRE A villager tries to extinguish a peatland fi re on the outskirts of Palangkaraya city, Indone-

sia on Monday. For nearly two months, thousands of fi res caused by slash-and-burn farm-

ing in Indonesia have choked vast expanses of Southeast Asia, forcing schools to close

and scores of fl ights and some international events to be cancelled. — AFP

Russia set to exhume Tsar’s remains to solve puzzle MOSCOW: Russian investiga-tors say they plan to exhume the remains of Tsar Alexander III at the request of the Orthodox Church, the latest twist in a ma-cabre eff ort to authenticate the remains of his son, the murdered last tsar, and his slain children.

The investigation will try to as-certain whether remains believed to be those of Alexei and Maria, two of Tsar Nicholas II’s fi ve chil-dren, are genuine and can be laid to rest in St. Petersburg.

They were discovered in 2007, some distance from the other fi ve members of the imperial family discovered earlier.

The church is also keen for further proof that the remains of Nicholas himself, whose fam-ily dynasty ruled Russia for 300 years, are bona fi de.

All seven, including Nicholas’s wife Alexandra, were murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918 along

with their servants in the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals.

Their bodies were fi rst thrown into a mineshaft and then burnt and doused in acid before being buried elsewhere after the Bol-sheviks thought locals had seen them dispose of the corpses.

Russian investigators who have conducted DNA tests say they are satisfi ed the remains of the two children are genuine.

But the Orthodox Church,

which has grown increasing-ly powerful under President Vladimir Putin, has demanded more proof.

“The Investigative Commit-tee of the Russian Federation to-gether with representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church plans to exhume the remains of Emper-or Alexander III, who was buried in 1894 in the Peter and Paul Ca-thedral,” the investigators said in a letter to the museum. — Reuters

T S A R A L E X A N D E R I I I

The investigation will try to ascertain whether

remains believed to be those of Alexei and Maria,

two of Tsar Nicholas II’s five children, are

genuine and can be laid to rest in St. Petersburg

US to deploy warship off China isles

WASHINGTON: The US Navy plans to send the USS Lassen de-stroyer within 12 nautical miles of artifi cial islands built by China in the South China Sea within 24 hours, the fi rst of more regular challenges to China’s territorial claims, a US defense offi cial said on Monday.

The destroyer’s patrol would occur near Subi and Mischief reefs in the Spratly archipelago,

features that were formerly sub-merged at high tide before China began a massive dredging project to turn them into islands in 2014.

The ship would likely be ac-companied by a US Navy P-8A surveillance plane, and possibly P-3 surveillance plane, which have been conducting regular surveillance missions in the re-gion, according to the offi cial.

The patrol will mark the most

serious US challenge yet to the 12-nautical-mile territorial limit China claims around the islands, and follows months of delibera-tion. Additional patrols could fol-low in coming weeks, the offi cial said. Similar US patrols were also conducted around features that Vietnam and the Philippines have built up in the Spratlys in the past, according to the US Defence De-partment. — Reuters

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Kamal Siddiqi

Karachi’s Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVS) has become the fi rst major educational institu-

tion to declare itself a weapon-free zone.The IVS deserves praise and appreciation

for its bold public stand against weaponisa-tion. Our indefatigable crusader for causes that matter the most, Naeem Sadiq, has lob-bied for a system under which random pur-chase and display of weapons is restricted. So far there has been little success.

Who can forget the recent case where two children in Karachi committed suicide with a gun that belonged to one of the parents? Had the access to a gun not been so easy, maybe those two would be alive today.

To adopt the government’s stance at pre-sent which is to say that nothing can be done is to admit defeat without making an eff ort. It can be done. And what better time than the present, when the current opera-tion being conducted in Karachi can help put a system in place.

To start with, the widely abused and large-ly outdated gun licensing system has to go. Our national database authority NADRA needs to be given the charge of managing the country’s gun register. There can be only wild guesses as to how many licenced guns are be-ing bandied around in Karachi, let alone guns with no licences whatsoever.

The other step is a massive crackdown on the public display of weapons by those who do not belong to law enforcement agencies. Many rich and powerful persons have hired guards who accompany their masters all over town and threaten anyone who comes in their way with their weapons. Such practices cannot be allowed to happen.

This menace can easily be contained with road checks by law enforcement agencies. Even if private guards are allowed to carry weapons, these should not be on public dis-play. This is the least we can expect.

In fact, private guards should not be al-lowed to carry weapons beyond a certain cat-egory at all. Personal guards do not need ma-chine guns. Nor should any private citizen be allowed to possess guns that could better be

used on a warfront and not in a bustling city.On the issue of illegal weapons, the drive to

detect these and seize them is a much larger task. And as we have seen with the Rangers operation in Karachi, where there is a will, there is a way. Many households in Karachi have illegal weapons in their possession. Other than that, even guards of many secu-rity agencies and in some instances govern-ment departments have weapons for which they have no licence. There can be a pub-lic initiative to unearth such weapons that can be seized. A name and shame campaign can be started.

The business of possessing guns without a licence will become less attractive if and when the licensing system is made more ef-fi cient and taken out of the hands of the bu-reaucracy and politicians. This is where NA-DRA can come in. A drive can be started to get people to get licences for their guns.

The proliferation of guns in Karachi as in the rest of Pakistan has led to violence and unnecessary deaths. Who can forget the string of young men who were killed by over-zealous guards who fi red fi rst and asked questions later? Such incidents continue to take place.

The problem, of course, is not restricted to Karachi. One of our correspondents, who travelled to the rural parts of Sindh, told of how boys as young as 11 were carrying auto-matic weapons and were becoming increas-ingly involved in feuds.

Parts of Sindh have become lawless be-cause the police has stepped aside and peo-ple have taken up arms in a bid to get justice or from protection from criminal elements. This is also true of other parts of the country.

Some defend the culture of gun carrying as part of a culture. This is like saying that the reprehensible practice of honour killing should be allowed to continue as it is part of our culture. In the past, we have seen that when a government had the resolve, outdated practices could be done away with.

In a country like Afghanistan, for example, some years back de-weaponisation was done within weeks. It’s time we took the bull by the horns and gradually worked towards a safer Pakistan. - Express Tribune

Mobile app for those in distress should be promotedThis refers to the news story, Mobile app for Indians in distress (Oc-tober 26). As an innovative idea to help the needy, the promoters of this app deserve appreciation. Many expatriate Indians are facing diffi cult situations owing to various reasons. They are desperately

looking to reach out for help and support. An app like this will defi nitely be of great relief to them. As almost everyone on the street has got a smartphone and is always on online, access to this facility would not be a problem. People should be encouraged to utilise this app when in need. This service is a great blessing as it can be used at any time even from remote places. This would be a great support to the expat communities as the promoters plan to expand its reach. — P. A. Jacob, Muscat

Sooner or later, the accused will be termed as mentally ill in US This refers to the online story, Oklahoma parade crash suspect charged with four counts of murder (October 26). In the US, whether it is gun violence or any other delinquent activity, sooner or later the accused is declared as mentally ill. This isn’t the norm in most other countries. It appears that to get sympathy, the US au-thorities make sure such a declaration is

made. Such a state of aff airs is witnessed every time the perpetra-tor is a white. It seems US is still immersed in racism and nothing has ever changed under the veneer. — Sam Morrison, Al Hail

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Oman to participate in Bahrain tourism fairMUSCAT: The Sultanate, represented by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s Directorate General of Tourism will participate in the International Fair for Tourism, which will open in Bahrain on Monday. The Sultanate’s delegation will be headed by Mohsin bin Khamis Al Balushi, the ministry’s un-dersecretary for tourism.

1612: A Polish army that invaded Russia capitulates to Prince Dimitri Pojarski and his Cossacks. 1806: Emperor Napoleon enters Berlin.

1907: The fi rst trial in the Eulenberg Aff air ends in Germany.

1962: Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev off ers to remove So-viet missile bases in Cuba if the US removes its missile bases in Turkey.

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POTASSIUM IN FRUITS

Source: Drugs Web

Potassium helps maintain a normal blood pressure and also helps the muscles

contract and nerves function. These are some fruits that contain high amount of

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1 medium banana

1/2 of a papaya

1/2 cup of prune juice

1 medium mango

1 small orange

1 medium pear

(in milligram)

425

390

370

325

240

200

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DESTROYED: Residents walk past the rubble of a house after it was damaged by an earthquake in Mingora, Swat, Pakistan, on Monday. – Reuters

More than 200 killed as quake hits Afghanistan, Pakistan and India

KABUL/PESHAWAR: A ma-jor earthquake struck the remote Afghan northeast on Monday, killing more than 200 people in Afghanistan and nearby northern Pakistan, injuring hundreds and sending shock waves as far as New Delhi, offi cials said.

The death toll could climb in coming days because commu-nications were down in much of the rugged Hindu Kush moun-tain range where the quake was centred. In one of the worst inci-dents, at least 12 girls were killed in a stampede to fl ee their school building in Taloqan, just west of Badakhshan province where the tremor’s epicentre was located.

“They fell under the feet of other students,” said Abdul Razaq Zin-

da, provincial head of the Afghan National Disaster Management Agency, who reported heavy dam-age in Takhar.

Shockwaves were felt in New Delhi in northern India and across northern Pakistan, where hun-dreds of people ran out of buildings as the ground rolled beneath them.

No deaths were reported in India.“We were very scared ... We saw

people leaving buildings, and we were remembering our God,” Paki-stani journalist Zubair Khan said by telephone from the Swat Valley northwest of the capital Islama-bad. “I was in my car and, when I stopped my car, the car itself was

shaking as if someone was pushing it back and forth.”

The quake was 213 km (132 miles) deep and centred 254 km (158 miles) northeast of Kabul in Badakhshan province. The US Ge-ological Survey initially measured the magnitude at 7.7, then revised it down to 7.5. Just over a decade ago,

a 7.6 magnitude quake in another part of northern Pakistan killed about 75,000 people.

Security threatsIn Afghanistan, where rescue and relief work is likely to be compli-cated by security threats created by an escalating Taliban insurgen-cy, at least 52 people were reported dead in several provinces.

In addition to the 12 schoolgirls in Takhar, offi cials said seven peo-ple died in the eastern province of Nangarhar, two in Nuristan province in the northeast, 22 in eastern Kunar province and nine in Badakhshan, where hundreds were killed in mudslides last year.

Hundreds of houses were also destroyed, creating additional hardship, with cold weather set-ting in.

In Pakistan, the head of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Disaster Management Agency, Amer Afaq said the death toll had reached 167, while military spokesman General Asim Bajwa said nearly 1,000 were injured.

Offi cials said most of the casual-ties had occurred in northern and northwestern regions bordering Afghanistan and the death toll was likely to rise. Dr John Ebel, chair-man of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at

Boston College in the United States, said the depth of the earthquake meant damage was likely to be spread broadly rather than focused in one disaster zone. But he said landslides on the unstable slopes of the mountainous region could pose a major problem to rescuers in the coming days.

“Obviously if a landslide comes in to a village, it will take out build-ings, but landslides can also take out roads and communications and power systems, so you lose the abil-ity to access remote areas,” he said.

In Pakistan, the northern area of Chitral, where 20 people were killed, was particularly hard hit.

Journalist Gul Hammad Faroo-qi, 47, said his house had collapsed. “I was thrown from one side of the road to the other by the strength of the earthquake. I’ve never expe-rienced anything like it,” he said. “There is a great deal of destruc-tion here, and my house has col-lapsed, but thankfully my children and I escaped.”

Further south, the city of Pesha-war reported two deaths and at least 150 injured people were being treated at the city’s main hospital, the provincial health chief said. In Afghanistan, international aid agencies working in northern areas reported that cell phone coverage in the aff ected areas remained down in the hours after the initial quake. “The problem is we just don’t know. A lot of the phone lines are still down,” said Scott Anderson, deputy head of offi ce for the U.N. Offi ce for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aff airs in Kabul. — Reuters

The death toll could

climb in coming

days because

communications

were down in much

of the rugged Hindu

Kush mountain range

where the earthquake

was centred

The quake was 213 km (132 miles) deep and centred 254 km (158 miles) northeast of Kabul in Badakhshan province.

MAJOR EARTHQUAKE: A man carries a boy, who was injured in an earthquake, at the Lady Reading

hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan on Monday. – Reuters

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ECUADOR: The Cotopaxi volcano of Ecuador spews ash on Monday. The volcano is considered one of the world’s most dangerous because its snow cap is vulnerable in an eruption and because of its close

proximity to densely populated areas. — AFP

BRITAIN: Britain’s Kate Duchess of Cambridge is hugged by

children during a meeting of the Charities Forum at the British

Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in London, on Mon-

day. — Reuters/Ian Vogler/Pool

LEBANON: Smoke billows from a burning garbage dump on the

northern entrance to the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Monday. — AFP

FRANCE: French investigators remove the wreckage of a bus and a

lorry in Puisseguin on Monday as they clear the site of a crash that

killed 43 people on Friday. — AFP

THAILAND: Jockeys compete in Chonburi’s annual buff alo race festival, in Chonburi province, Thailand on Monday. The event, which

also celebrates the rice harvest, dates back to the buff alo trade in Chonburi, once the commercial centre of Thailand’s east. — Reuters

JAPAN: A boy slides through a tube in a cylindrical walkway at the Hitachi Seaside Park in Hitachi, Japan, on Monday. — Reuters

RUSSIA: A couple enjoys the autumn weather in Moscow’s Kolomenskoye park on October 26, 2015. — AFP

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WORLDT U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

Two policemen, seven IS militants killed in Turkey

DIYARBAKIR /ISTANBUL: Two Turkish policemen and sev-en IS militants were killed in a fi refi ght after police raided more than a dozen houses in Turkey’s southeast early on Monday, se-curity sources and government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday.

The clash took place in the Kayapinar district of the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir. It was the fi rst such shoot-out between Turkish security forces and sus-pected IS militants in an inner city; previous confrontations have taken place on the Turkish-Syrian border. Five police offi cers were

wounded while 12 militants were captured alive, Kurtulmus said.

“An important IS cell has been neutralised,” he told reporters. “Work to identify (militants) and to uncover their connections in other cities is still under way.”

Gunfi reA video released by the Dogan news agency showed two ar-moured police vehicles moving toward a row of houses as gunfi re echoed in the background. Turk-ish authorities have extended op-erations into suspected IS cells after a double suicide bombing in Ankara that killed more than 100 people, the worst attack of its kind in Turkey’s modern history, was blamed on the militant group.

Last week, President Tayyip Erdogan said Syrian intelligence and Kurdish militants, not only IS, were behind the attack on a rally of pro-Kurdish activists and civic groups. Erdogan said Kurd-istan Workers’ Party (PKK) mili-tants, the Syrian “mukhabarat” secret police and the Syrian Kurd-ish PYD militia had worked to-gether with IS in the bombing on October 10. — Reuters

The clash took place

in the Kayapinar

district of the

mainly Kurdish

city of Diyarbakir

EU willing to off er Greece more aidATHENS: The European Union stands ready to extend additional aid to help Greece if needed to deal with the refugee crisis, the vice-president of the bloc’s executive Commission said on Monday dur-ing a visit to Athens.

Valdis Dombrovskis’ comments came after EU leaders agreed late on Sunday to cooperate to man-age migrants crossing Greece and the Balkans but off ered no quick fi x to the crisis, which threatens to take more lives as winter sets in and to set Europe’s nations against one another. “From the Commis-sion’s point of view, we are willing to fi nd additional means of sup-porting those countries which are most exposed to the refugee crisis and Greece is among them,” Dom-brovskis told a news conference.

More than half a million people have transited through Greece this year, many of them fl eeing con-fl icts in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Most move on to destinations in wealthier western and northern Europe, especially Germany. The EU’s new action plan agreed on Sunday evening includes United Nations-aided ac-commodation for 100,000 people, half of them in Greece.

Dombrovskis was in Athens for talks with the fi nance and econ-omy ministers on Greece’s latest economic reform eff orts.

Dombrovskis said he was opti-

mistic that a ‘compromise’ could be found in the talks with lenders, which have hit a snag over protec-tion for homeowners whose mort-gages are non-performing. — Reuters

R E F U G E E C R I S I S

Former TV comedian wins presidential elections in GuatemalaGUATEMALA CITY: Jimmy Mo-rales, a former TV comedian who has never held offi ce, swept to pow-er in Guatemala’s presidential elec-tion on Sunday after milking public anger over a corruption scandal that deepened distrust of the coun-try’s political establishment.

The 46-year-old Morales over-whelmingly beat center-left rival and former fi rst lady Sandra Tor-res in a run-off vote despite his lack of government experience and some policy ideas that strike many as eccentric.

The headquarters of Morales’ center-right National Conver-gence Front (FCN) party erupted in celebration as offi cial returns showed he had around 68 per cent support in a landslide victory.

Voters pointed to widespread

discontent with Guatemala’s po-litical class, compounded by a UN-backed investigation into a multi-million dollar customs racket that led last month to the resignation and arrest of former president Otto Perez.

Fight against corruption“As president I received a man-date, and the mandate of the peo-ple of Guatemala is to fi ght against the corruption that is consuming us,” Morales said on Sunday night.

The US government has strong-ly supported the UN-backed in-vestigators and their success has helped push against corruption in Central America, where eco-nomic hardship and gang violence spurred an exodus of migrants to the United States.

However, the anti-graft fervor has also led to the election of an unknown quantity in Guatemala. It is unclear how Morales will tackle gang violence or try to stem the fl ow of US-bound migrants.

Morales was already a house-hold name following a 14-year stint on a popular TV comedy and the self-proclaimed centrist from a humble background wooed vot-ers with promises to tackle cor-ruption and hand out millions of smartphones to children.

“We were tired of the same faces of people who get rich off our mon-ey,” said Eduardo Tablas, a mainte-nance man who voted for Morales. “He knows that if he does some-thing corrupt, all of Guatemala will be demanding that he resign.”

Last year, Morales quit his TV

show, which centered on skits and lewd jokes, to run for the presiden-cy. Back in April, he barely regis-tered in opinion polls but he soon surged as both Perez’s government and a candidate who was then leading the presidential race be-came mired in corruption probes.

Morales further targeted voter frustration with Guatemala’s fail-ing institutions by pledging to tag teachers with GPS devices to en-sure they attend class.

He has also fl oated the idea of re-viving a historic land dispute with neighboring Belize.

Such plans exposed Morales to ridicule from critics, and he also had to downplay ties between his FCN and the army, which was blamed for atrocities in Guatema-la’s 1960-1996 civil war. — Reuters

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

Full majority eludes eurosceptic Polish party

WARSAW: Poland’s eurosceptic Law and Justice party (PiS) will have to wait for the fi nal vote tal-lies before deciding whether to seek a formal political partner after crushing the incumbent pro-EU government in elections on Sunday.

Exit polls covering 90 per cent of polling stations showed three smaller parties, including the leftwing alliance that grew out of the pre-1989 Communist Party, teetering on the edge of the thresh-old for entering parliament.

That might make for some po-litical horsetrading over the next few weeks but will not weaken the decisive swing towards Law and Justice’s brand of social con-servatism mixed with left-leaning economics. Offi cial results are due on Tuesday. The victory for Jaro-slaw Kaczynski’s group returns it to power for the fi rst time in eight years and is the biggest in terms of seats by a single party in free elections since Poland shed com-munism in 1989. The party imme-diately signalled plans to reap new revenues from next year with a tax on bank assets, and there were also signs that it was confi dent of enough informal support. — Reuters

E L E C T I O N S

OPERATION UNDER WAY: Members of Turkish police special forces take part in a security operation

in Diyarbakir, Turkey, on Monday. – Reuters

40 volunteers held after Tanzania pollDAR ES SALAAM: Tanzania’s opposition Chadema party said on Monday police had detained 40 of its volunteers after a com-bined presidential and parliamen-tary election at the weekend, in an incident marring an otherwise broadly peaceful voting process.

Another opposition party, the Civic United Front, said police fi red teargas at a crowd of sup-porters celebrating what the par-ty said was its victory in Sunday’s race. Offi cial results are not ex-pected out until later this week. Partial results on Monday could show the direction of voting fol-lowing the most hotly contested race after more than fi ve decades of rule by the CCM party.

The race for president has pitted the ruling CCM’s Works Minister John Magufuli against a coalition of opposition parties led by former prime minister Edward Lowassa, who defected from the CCM just three months ago. The Chadema party, part of the Ukawa coalition Lowassa heads, said the arrest of 40 of its volunteers was part of a government bid to intim-idate the opposition. “Police also

confi scated computers and mo-bile phones of our volunteers who were tallying results of the presi-dential election,” John Malya, a Chadema lawyer, said.

There was no immediate com-ment from the government. Po-lice Commissioner Paul Chago-nja said some arrests were made due to “violations of electoral procedures” at a Chadema cen-tre, where volunteers were tal-lying the vote. He did not give details. CCM and the opposition parties posted observers at most polling stations, sending results to their own tallying centre to get an idea of voting patterns to pre-vent abuses.

Opinion polls and analysts have forecast a presidential vic-tory for John Magufuli, the CCM candidate. But many expect the party’s parliamentary major-ity to dwindle after the opposition united behind a single candidate for the fi rst time. Results started trickling in on Monday morning. Magufuli was ahead after just 65,000 ballots were counted in the nation of 47 million with 22.75 million registered voters. — Reuters

O P P O S I T I O N A C T I V I S T S

LIVES IN PERIL: Refugees and migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean

sea from Turkey on Monday. – AFP

A video released by the Dogan news agency showed two armoured police vehicles moving toward a row of houses as gunfi re echoed in the background

OVERWHELMING WIN: President-elect Jimmy Morales, right, and

Vice President-elect Jafeth Cabrera of the National Front Conver-

gence celebrate with supporters after winning the run-off election

in Guatemala City on Monday. – AFP

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PARIS: Eating processed meat can lead to bowel cancer in hu-mans while red meat is a likely cause of the disease, World Health Organisation (WHO) experts said on Monday in fi ndings that could sharpen debate over the merits of a meat-based diet.

The France-based Internation-al Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the WHO, put pro-cessed meat such as hot dogs in its group 1 list, which already in-cludes tobacco, asbestos and die-sel fumes, for which there is “suf-fi cient evidence” of cancer links.

“For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal (bowel) cancer because of their consump-tion of processed meat remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed,” Dr Kurt Straif of the IARC said in a statement.

Lower classifi cationRed meat, under which the IARC includes beef and lamb was classi-fi ed as a “probable” carcinogen in its group 2A list that also contains glyphosate, the active ingredient in many weedkillers.

The lower classifi cation for red meat refl ected “limited evidence”

that it causes cancer. The IARC found links mainly with bowel cancer, as was the case for pro-cessed meat, but it also observed associations with pancreatic and prostate cancer.

The agency, whose fi ndings on meat followed a meeting of health experts in France earlier this month, estimated each 50 gram portion of processed meat eaten daily increases the risk of colorec-tal cancer by 18 per cent.

The IARC, which was assess-ing meat for the fi rst time and reviewed some 800 studies, does not compare the level of cancer

risk associated with products in a given category, so does not sug-gest eating meat is as dangerous as smoking, for example.

Limit intakeHealth policy in some countries already calls for consumers to limit intake of red and processed meat, but the IARC said such ad-vice to consumers was in certain cases focused on heart disease and obesity.

The preparation of the IARC’s report has already prompted vigorous reactions from meat industry groups, which argue

meat forms part of a balanced diet and that cancer risk assess-ments need to be set in a broader context of environmental and lifestyle factors.

The IARC, which does not make specifi c policy recommen-dations, cited an estimate from the Global Burden of Disease Pro-ject - an international consortium of more than 1,000 researchers - that 34,000 cancer deaths per year worldwide are attributable to diets high in processed meat.

This compares with about 1 million cancer deaths per year globally due to tobacco smok-ing, 600,000 a year due to alco-hol consumption, and more than 200,000 each year due to air pol-lution, it said.

If the cancer link with red meat were confi rmed, diets rich in red meat could be responsible for 50,000 deaths a year worldwide, according to the Global Burden of Disease Project. - Reuters

Processed meat can cause cancer: WHOThe France-based

International Agency

for Research on

Cancer estimated

each 50 gram portion

of processed meat

eaten daily increases

the risk of colorectal

cancer by 18 per cent

CANCER LINK: If the cancer link with red meat were confi rmed, diets rich in red meat could be re-

sponsible for 50,000 deaths a year worldwide. - File Photo

Oklahoma parade crash

suspect charged with

four counts of murder

STILLWATER (Oklahoma): An Oklahoma woman was charged on Sunday with four counts of sec-ond-degree murder a day after she allegedly crashed the car she was driving into a crowd at an Okla-homa State University homecom-ing parade, killing four people and injuring dozens, police said.

Adacia Avery Chambers, 25, allegedly drove a gray Hyundai Elantra into a crowd watching Sat-urday’s parade in Stillwater, about 65 miles (105km) southwest of Oklahoma City.

Police said they suspected Chambers was intoxicated.

Three adults and a toddler were killed and about four dozen people were injured, fi ve of them criti-cally. Stillwater police said in a statement on Sunday the murder charges were fi led in consultation with the Payne County District At-torney’s offi ce.

Police were still awaiting results of a blood test administered to Chambers after the crash.

Her lawyer, Tony Coleman, told The Oklahoman newspaper he be-lieves his client is mentally ill and doubted she was drunk at the time of the crash.

“I don’t believe right now that she was intoxicated,” Coleman told the newspaper. “I have deep concerns about her competency at this point. I’m not a psychologist or psychiatrist, but I can tell you she’s suff ering from mental illness,” Coleman said.

Reuters could not reach Cole-man immediately. A man who was watching the parade with his fam-ily said the crash sounded like a bomb had gone off , transforming a festive mood into one of horror.

“All I remember was a gush of wind and then the sound,” Mark McNitt said at a news conference, recalling when the vehicle jumped the curb, mowing down dozens of men, women and children.

“The only thing I can relate it to is some type of bombing,” said McNitt, whose father-in-law Leo

Schmitz, 54, was critically in-jured. “The screaming...and a lot of screaming.”

Police said Chambers lives in Stillwater but did not appear to be an OSU student. She worked at Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steak-burgers in Stillwater, her employer said. Her father, Floyd Chambers, 47, earlier told The Oklahoman his daughter lived with her boyfriend in Stillwater.

He described her as timid and not an alcoholic.

“They’re going to paint her into a horrible person but this is not (her),” he told the paper.

In a statement on Sunday, po-lice identifi ed the three adults who were killed as Nakita Prabhakar, 23, of Edmond, Oklahoma; Bonnie Jean Stone, 65; and Marvin Lyle Stone, 65, both of Stillwater.

They were all pronounced dead at the scene. A toddler died later on Saturday, police said.

Family members identifi ed him as Nash Lucas, according to Okla-homa television station KOTV.

Prabhakar, originally from Mumbai, India, was a graduate business student at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, the school said, identifying her as Nikita Nakal. - Reuters

H O M E C O M I N G P A R A D E

CHARGED: Adacia Avery Cham-

bers is pictured in this booking

photo provided by the Stillwater

Police department, in Stillwater,

Oklahoma, on Saturday. - Reuters

Solar panels empower indigenous people in Canada’s northBEHCHKO (Canada): Daniel T’seleie, an indigenous activist in Canada’s far north, is campaigning to help his people wean themselves from a worrying dependence on imported fuel and food, recover old traditions and win greater autono-my from the government.

In a region with nearly 24 hours of daylight in the summer, one way to help meet his goals seems obvi-ous: more solar power.

“Right now a lot of communi-ties in the Northwest Territories are dependent on diesel-generated electricity, along with store-bought food,” said T’seleie an interview near Behchoko, a clutch of small wooden houses nestled along the shores of Great Slave Lake.

Standing beside spindly jack pine trees growing from thin soil on the hard granite rock that cov-ers much of northern Canada, T’seleie sees renewable energy as the force which could respond to the region’s complex, intertwined challenges.

Global warmingCanada’s north is particularly vulnerable to global warming, which is making it harder for in-digenous people to continue their traditions of hunting and trap-ping on the land, as ice sheets are

melt and caribou herds collapse.And although indigenous people

want what they call a “nation to nation” relationship with the Ca-nadian government, they largely depend on it for diesel fuel in order to keep warm.

By harnessing renewable en-ergy, T’seleie believes indigenous communities could gain more freedom from the state and revive ancient cultural practices, while doing their part to combat climate change which is hitting them par-ticularly hard.

“Any way that communities can produce energy at a local level produces independence,” said the 34-year-old, sporting a baseball cap and jeans, the informal dress common in Canada’s rugged north.

Solar surgeThe Northwest Territories has seen a surge in the use of solar power over the last fi ve years, after the regional government spent about $50 million to boost renewable energy production and improve effi ciency, said Jim Spar-ling, the territory’s senior climate change manager.

“On a per capita basis, we are second only to Ontario (Canada’s most populous province) for in-stalled solar capacity,” Sparling

said in the territorial capital Yellowknife.

The huge and sparsely popu-lated northern territory has fewer than 50,000 residents, about half of whom are indigenous, many from the Dene Nation, a tribal peo-ple who traditionally hunt caribou.

Solar power still represents a fairly small part of its energy con-sumption, though the level is ris-ing, said Sparling.

Private individuals and com-panies in the territory are also in-stalling solar panels on their own to try and bring down their energy

bills and cut dependence on im-ports, he said.

That combination of rising use of renewable and better energy ef-fi ciency has allowed the province to hold its climate-changing emis-sions stable at 2005 levels despite a rise in the population and a grow-ing economy, Sparling said.

The territorial government plans to be part of a Canadian del-egation going to Paris for a UN cli-mate summit in December, aimed at reaching a new global agree-ment on climate change.

Average temperatures in parts

of the northern territory have al-ready risen more than 3 degrees from pre-industrial levels, Spar-ling said. Scientists say average world temperatures should not rise more 2 degrees if the world is to avoid the worst disasters associ-ated with global warming.

“We have to scale up the am-bition,” Sparling said. “We are very vulnerable if this problem gets worse.”

Switch over North of the Arctic Circle, the vil-lage of Colville Lake, with fewer than 200 residents, is in the midst of a major switch from diesel pow-er to solar. Last year, the mostly in-digenous community faced weekly power outages.

But after a new solar power sys-tem was set-up, the area is now nearly self suffi cient in electric-ity production during summer months when the sun shines al-most round the clock.

It still needs to import fuel for the winter, but offi cials believe the new investments will lead to a 30 per cent drop in diesel consump-tion, helping the environment and saving money. Other small north-ern towns are looking to mimic the project to save cash and allow people to maintain traditional life-

styles by being less dependent on expensive imports.

“In the last 10 to 15 years there has been a huge push from (indig-enous) communities to try and support themselves,” said Ashlee Cunsolo Willox, an indigenous studies professor at Cape Breton University and a researcher on cli-mate change impacts.

As global warming leads to the thinning of Arctic sea ice and changes in the habits of northern animals, the region’s indigenous inhabitants are struggling to adapt their lifestyles while holding onto old traditions, she said.

The caribou population has collapsed in parts of the territory in a development experts link to climate change, and melting ice makes it harder for hunters to navigate the land in search of other animals to hunt.

“The north is the fastest chang-ing geography in the world,” Cunsolo Willox said in a phone interview.” There is a lot of con-cern that traditional knowl-edge and skills will be lost with climate change.”

Building greater self suffi ciency — including by adapting cleaner, cheaper energy - may be a strategy for holding onto the old ways, ac-tivists say. - Reuters

R E N E W A B L E E N E R G Y

BRINGING DOWN ENERGY BILLS: The town of Behchoko, which is

mostly populated by indigenous members of the Dene Nation, is

shown in this October 2, 2015 fi le photo. - Reuters

Five Britons killed as Canadian whale-watching boat sinksTOFINO (British Columbia): Five Britons were killed when a Cana-dian whale-watching boat sank on Sunday, the British foreign secre-tary said on Monday.

The boat, carrying 27 passen-gers, sank off the coast of British Columbia on Sunday afternoon, sparking a rescue eff ort by the Coast Guard, fi sherman and pri-vate mariners.

Five people were confi rmed dead and one was missing, while 21 were rescued.

“My thoughts are with the fam-ily and friends of all those aff ected by this terrible accident,” UK For-eign Secretary Philip Hammond said in a statement.

“Consular staff in British Co-lumbia are supporting the fam-ily members of those who have died and we will remain in close contact with Canadian au-thorities as further information becomes available.”

The vessel, the Leviathan II, was operated by Jamie’s Whaling Sta-tion and Adventure Centres.

“It has been a tragic day. Our entire team is heartbroken over this incident and our hearts go out to the families, friends and loved ones of everyone involved,” owner Jamie Bray said in a statement posted on the company’s website.

“We are cooperating with inves-tigators to determine exactly what

happened,” he said. In 1998, a boat operated by the same company sank near Tofi no, killing the ship’s captain and a German tourist.

A military rescue helicopter and plane responded after the ves-sel sent a distress signal around 5pm local time, according to Joint Rescue Coordination Centre.

Military planes and coast guard vessels lit up the area where the vessel remained partially sub-merged, eight nautical miles northwest of Tofi no.

Most of those rescued were taken to hospital, and several have since been released. Tofi no, a com-munity of about 2,000 people on the west coast of Vancouver Is-

land, is a popular tourist destina-tion for surfers, hikers and whale watchers from around the world.

John Forde, who works at an-other eco-adventure company, said passengers on a vessel like the Leviathan II, a three-deck 65-foot cruiser that can carry up to 46 people, would not have had to wear life jackets.

The boat, like ferries, would only be required to have life jackets on board.

He told the Global Television Network that the waves were three to four metres high at the time of the sinking, conditions that were rough but not unusual for the area, Forde said. - Reuters

R O U G H C O N D I T I O N S

RESCUE OPERATIONS: Rescue personnel mount a search for vic-

tims of a capsized whale watching boat park on a wharf in Tofi no,

British Columbia on Sunday. - Reuters

MARKEWWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMT U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

A. E. JAMESbusinesseditor@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Oman’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Dr Ali Masoud Al Sunaidy, on Monday called on private sector to play a bigger role in funding and develop-ing projects, especially real estate ventures, to stimulate the economy.

The minister said that the gov-ernment has already built all nec-essary infrastructure projects and several initiatives aimed at easing regulation are also on the anvil, which makes it easy for the private sector to enhance investments.

A new framework on public-pri-vate-partnership will be unveiled as part of the Ninth Five Year Plan and a new investment law will be announced in the fi rst quarter of 2016. “The Ninth Five Year Plan will lay the foundation for public-private-partnership.”

“We also need invest easy plat-form, which the ministry is doing now. Also, Royal Oman Police’s e-customs platform is also under test in Sohar, while e-visa is under completion,” added Dr Al Sunaidy,

on the sidelines of Oman Project 2015 conference.

The minister also noted that most of the infrastructure pro-jects like ports, roads and air-ports are either completed or nearing completion.

And the private sector players can take advantage of these infra-structure projects for building in-dustrial and real estate projects.

The government should refrain from overfunding real estate pro-jects and should leave this sector for private sector.

The government will adopt measures to reduce challenges in attracting investment due to la-bour market restrictions.

Dr Al Sunaidy also noted that the next fi ve year plan is com-ing at a time when prices of oil have dropped to an unpredictable level and there is a need to fi nd new means of fi nance. It is also the right time for implementing reforms. Enhancing competitive-ness of Oman by easing regula-tions is a major focus in the next fi ve year plan.

Real estate potentialThe minister said that state-owned Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran) is developing a major housing pro-ject in a 7-square-kilometre area. Also, 96 square kilometres are allocated for South Batinah Logistics centre.

“There is a big potential in

real estate sector, which will keep driving all contractors for another 10 to 20 years if private sector is allowed to build gated complexes.” The government also needs to pri-

oritise funding and leave cer-

tain sectors for private

sector to develop.

The experience of Oman gov-ernment in telecommunication, power and water was a great suc-cess, with all these sectors show-ing remarkable growth after hand-ing it over to private developers. “Our experience in power and water sectors will pave the way for privatisation in other sectors.

Major growth areasThe fi ve major growth areas iden-tifi ed by the government in the coming years are logistics and transport, manufacturing, tour-ism, fi sheries and mining.

The minister said that petro-leum revenue constitutes 34 per cent of the gross domestic product, while non-oil revenue constitutes the remaining 66 per cent. A new agency called Logistics Centre will be established to promote Oman as a logistics centre.

B

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Top stories in one minute with our new daily Digest

Play bigger role in developing projects, private sector urgedThe minister of

commerce and

industry said that

the government

has already

built necessary

infrastructure

projects, and several

initiatives aimed at

easing regulation are

also on the anvil

CLARION CALL: Dr Ali Masoud Al Sunaidy said that most of the infrastructure projects like ports, roads

and airports are either completed or nearing completion and the private players can take advantage of

these infrastructure projects to build industrial and real estate projects. - Jun Estrada/Times of Oman

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Oman is planning to unveil a new investment law to attract investment from within the country and outside. World Bank experts have submitted their draft report on a new investment law and this has to be ap-proved by the cabinet, which is expected in the fi rst quarter of next year.

Meanwhile, Oman’s project market, which is the seventh biggest in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, is estimated at $170 billion.

The project market is grow-ing at 14.6 per cent per annum, according to an estimated by MEED projects.

Richard Thomson, editorial director of MEED, said that the country’s defi cit is pro-jected at 8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, while the Sultanate’s break-even price for oil is $94 per barrel.

In May, the International Monetary Fund had asked Oman to carry out structural reforms, which include subsidy cut.

New and alternative sources of funds are needed for the country in view of slack oil prices.

The crude oil production in the country grew by 4 per cent to an average of 980,000 barrels per dayso far this year.

New investment law expected by the fi rst quarter of 2016

B2

MARKETT U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

DUBAI: Middle East corporate bonds are mispricing the eff ects plunging oil prices are having on the region’s fi nances, leaving bor-rowers vulnerable to a deteriora-tion in market sentiment.

The average premium investors require to hold bonds from the Mid-dle East and North Africa was 159 basis points on Friday, two points lower than this year’s high in June, JPMorgan Chase indices show. That compares to 165 basis points on United States investment-grade debt, according to the Bloomberg US Corporate Bond Index.

“The Middle East’s grossly mis-priced credit spreads will even-tually blow out to refl ect the new economic reality,” Ghassan Che-hayeb, the chief investment offi cer

at Texas-based Sancta Capital, a distressed-debt money manager, wrote in a note this month. The change in spreads since Organisa-tion of Petroleum Exporting Coun-tries (Opec) decision to maintain oil output last year doesn’t take into account “the risk premium inves-tors should demand given the de-teriorating fundamentals,” he said.

With crude prices close to six-year lows, budget defi cits in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will reach 13.2 per cent of gross domestic product this year — compared to a surplus in 2014 — as fi nancial buff ers in some nations are depleted, the In-ternational Monetary Fund said on Wednesday.

The pricing discrepancy that

has left GCC spreads narrower than in the US since August re-fl ects how Middle Eastern banks and institutions have favored a buy-and-hold strategy amid a slump in bond issuance to a four-year low, according to Abdul Kadir Hussain at Mashreq Capital DIFC.

OvervaluedBrent crude, the benchmark for about half the world’s oil, has slumped more than 30 per cent since Opec decided to hold pro-duction steady in November. It was trading at $48.06 a barrel in Dubai on Monday. Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arab economy, relies on oil revenue to fund about 90 per cent of its spending, and the de-cline will widen its budget defi cit

to more than 20 per cent of eco-nomic output this year from 2.3 per cent last year, the IMF said on Wednesday.

The bonds don’t refl ect the change in the region’s ‘risk profi le’, said Hussain, chief executive offi c-er of Dubai-based Mashreq, which runs the region’s best-performing sukuk fund, describing corporate debt as ‘overvalued’. A change could occur if “you have a lot of new issues which then come and reprice the market,” he said.

A 15 per cent decline in bond sales from the Middle East and North Africa this year to $30.3 bil-lion has helped keep bond yields depressed. Issuers held back sales in the summer to avoid the vola-tility in bond markets sparked by

China’s slowing economy and ex-pectations that the US Federal Re-serve was close to raising interest rates after leaving them near zero since 2008.

Pockets of valueThe political situation in the Mid-dle East isn’t helping. Saudi Arabia is leading a military coalition bat-tling Houthi rebels in Yemen, a confl ict that has killed more than 5,400 people since March and dis-placed nearly 1.5 million.

In Syria, Saudi Arabia is pro-viding cash and weapons to allies fi ghting to topple President Bashar Al Assad. Russia’s entry into the confl ict may have tilted the bal-ance in favor of the government in the four-year war, which has dis-

placed 7.5 million people. IS rebels also hold sway over large parts of the country.

Some widening of spreads in the region over the past three months has created pockets of value as oil remains in a narrow range and credit risk is contained, according to Anita Yadav, the Dubai-based head of fi xed-income research at Emirates NBD, the UAE’s second-biggest bank by assets.

UAE paper including from Abu Dhabi National Energy Company and Bank of Sharjah is oversold “and we also fi nd value in Oman Electricity Transmission’s 2025 bond,” Yadav said on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia may run out of fi -nancial assets needed to support spending in fi ve years. - Bloomberg News

ECONOMY

Oil swings near four-week low

MELBOURNE: Oil swung be-tween gains and losses near the lowest closing price in almost four weeks as investors weighed a slowing pace of United States drilling-rig reductions against an interest rate cut in China.

Futures in New York rose as much as 0.5 per cent and fell as much as 0.4 per cent. The num-ber of active machines targeting oil dropped by 1 through October 23 after declining by 45 over the prior three weeks, according to Baker Hughes. China, the world’s second-biggest crude consumer, stepped up monetary easing with its sixth interest-rate cut in a year on Friday to combat defl ationary pressures and a slowing economy.

Oil is failing to sustain a rally earlier this month above $50 a barrel as surging US inventories bolstered speculation that a glob-al glut will be prolonged. World

crude supplies will remain ample until at least the middle of 2016 while investments in the industry is set to shrink further, Interna-tional Energy Agency executive director Fatih Birol said in Singa-pore on Monday.

“The recent spate of crude-stockpile builds in the US is re-inforcing that story about supply, that story about a saturated mar-ket,” Jonathan Barratt, the chief investment offi cer at Ayers Alli-ance Securities in Sydney, said by phone. “Oil has very strong head-winds to get through.”

Rig countWest Texas Intermediate for De-cember delivery was at $44.68 a barrel on the New York Mercan-tile Exchange, up 8 cents. The contract slid 78 cents to $44.60 on Friday, the lowest close since September 28. The volume of all

futures traded was about 48 per cent below the 100-day average. Prices have decreased 16 per cent this year.

Brent for December settlement was 5 cents higher at $48.04 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices lost 4.9 per cent last week. The European benchmark crude trad-ed at a premium of $3.36 to WTI.

The US rig count fell to 594, the lowest level since July 2010, Bak-er Hughes, an oilfi eld-services provider, said on its website Fri-day. Drillers have cut the number of active machines by more than 60 per cent since December.

Oil at $50 a barrel is a ‘gift to the world’ as prices should be low enough to spur economic growth, according to Ali Al Mansoori, the chairman of the Department of Economic Development in Abu Dhabi. Crude may climb to $60 by the end of next year, he said in an interview Sunday in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, the fourth-largest producer in the Or-ganisation of Petroleum Export-ing Countries. - Bloomberg News

Crude is failing to sustain a rally earlier this

month above $50 as surging United States

inventories bolstered speculation that a

global glut will be prolonged

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Middle East’s corporate bonds warn of shifting sentiment

B3T U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

MARKET

Allocation of land plots for SMEs to begin by year-end

ELHAM POURMOHAMMADIelham@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: First phase of land plots allocation to small and medi-um enterprises (SMEs) is expect-ed to begin before the end of this year, according to the Public Au-thority for Small and Medium En-terprises Development (riyada).

Land plots are available in all the governorates, except Mu-sandam, and will be allocated to SMEs in a phased manner, Khalifa Al Abri, chief executive offi cer of riyada, told reporters on the side-lines of the Oman Projects Forum on Monday.

The fi rst allocation will be made before the end of this year, Al Abri said, without specifying the num-ber of the available plots.

Applications The offi cial said that applications have been received for Muscat and Liwa and the remaining ones will be announced accordingly, he noted. Over 500 applications have been received for Muscat, he said, adding that there are certain crite-ria to evaluate the eligibility of the small and medium enterprises.

For example, they should be Omani, should be working for the company full time and should be registered in riyada’s database, he said. Another important criteria is the nature of their projects as land plots are limited and will be given to those who really need them, Al Abri explained.

Allocation of a percentage of the planned land plots for com-

mercial, industrial, agricultural and tourism use at all the layouts made by the Ministry of Housing or any other respective organi-sations to SMEs was one of the decisions of a symposium held earlier this year.

Supervision committee The official said that a commit-tee, represented by the govern-ment and the private sector, has been established to follow up the implementation of the other decisions made.

One of the decisions called on public organisations to dedicate

a section for SMEs to follow up compliance with the allocation of 10 per cent of the governmental purchases and tenders to SMEs and ensure timely payment to these businesses, Al Abri said.

More than 30 authorities have already defi ned a section to deal with these issues, he added. Dur-ing a panel discussion at the fo-rum, the chief executive offi cer of riyada said that the authority has asked the ministries to sub-mit the information related to the projects awarded to SMEs in 2014 and the fi rst half of 2015.

In addition, an offi ce has been

established at riyada to receive complaints of late payment, Al Abri said, adding that there have been complaints that some large organisations have delayed pay-ment to SMEs.

The challenges Abdullah Al Jufaili, general man-ager of the Fund for Development

of Youth Projects (Sharakah), com-mented on some of the challenges facing SMEs and said that the chal-lenges cannot be totally eliminated as the socio-economic environ-ment is changing constantly.

New sets of challenges keeps emerging and Omanis SMEs are not only in competition with other local companies but also re-gional and international ones, Al Jufaili said.

According to him, one of the important issues that need to be taken into account by small busi-nesses is ‘fi nancial management’ and ‘fi nancial literacy’, which

would help them repay the fund they have received.

There should also be more programmes to help upgrade the SMEs such as the ones being im-plemented in the oil and gas sec-tor, Al Jufaili noted, adding that this requires collective eff ort by all the authorities concerned.

Understanding gap Louis du Preez, general manager at Oman Cables Industry, said that corporations should ‘em-brace’ SMEs and the understand-ing gap between the capabilities of small businesses and the de-mands of the larger corporations should be bridged.

In addition, Warith Al Kharu-si, executive director, Al Safwa Group and Partners, said that some of the challenges facing by SMEs are related to access to contracts, experience, fi nancial resources, payment and competi-tion from major companies.

Land plots are

available in all the

governorates, except

Musandam, and will

be allocated to SMEs

in a phased manner

Oman, Japan to form $400m fund to invest in food sector

MUSCAT: Oman’s biggest sover-eign wealth fund has agreed with Japanese institutions to set up a joint $400 million fund that will invest in food and agribusiness in-dustries, Omani offi cials have said.

The fund will facilitate direct investment in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states by Japanese food and agribusiness fi rms, rang-ing from grains and feed to veg-etables, milk and dairy products, logistics and research fi rms, they said, aiming to spend at least 35 per cent of the money in Oman.

The Gulf Japan Food Fund will be owned 37.5 per cent by Oman’s State General Reserve Fund. State-run Oman National Invest-ments Development Company and Gulf Investment Corporation, owned by the six GCC states, will hold a combined 12.5 per cent.

Japan’s Mizuho Bank and Norinchukin Bank will provide the remaining half of the capital. The Sultanate is trying to diversify its economy beyond oil, using state funds in international ventures that steer investment and technol-ogy back to Oman. - Reuters

I N V E S T M E N T

ELHAM POURMOHAMMADIelham@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Nine projects have been supported by the Fund for Development of Youth Projects (Sharakah) since the beginning of this year, with an investment of OMR512,000, says the com-pany’s general manager.

“We still have some (pro-jects) in the pipeline,” Abdul-lah Al Jufaili told reporters on the sidelines of the Oman Projects Forum on Monday.

Ten projects had been supported by Sharakah in 2014 with an investment of OMR814,000, he said, add-ing that a total of 78 projects have been supported by the organisation since its establishment.

Asked about the success rate of the projects, the of-fi cial said, “I would measure the success rate from the time I have taken over. Out of 52 projects, 12 have paid off completely since the time I have joined. Two have failed. The rest are still operating and are still in our portfolio.” In addition, Al Jufaili said that Sharakah plans to hold a forum on December 14 and 15 under the theme ‘the role of social media in supporting small and medium enter-prises (SMEs)’.

Media organisations from all media platforms, includ-ing print, digital and social media, are being invited, he said, adding that there will be a section dedicated to local SMEs in the fi eld of media.

Nine projects worth OMR512,000supported by Sharakah this year

BOOSTING SMALL BUSINESSES: Khalifa Al Abri, chief executive

offi cer of Riyada, said that more than 500 applications have been

received for Muscat. There are certain criteria to evaluate the eligi-

bility of the SMEs. - Supplied picture

Japan Post fi xes share off er price at top of range

TOKYO: Japan Post set the price for its initial public off ering (IPO) of shares at the top of an indicative range, following the pattern set in concurrent IPOs for its banking and insurance arms and refl ecting strong demand from retail inves-tors in Japan’s biggest privatisa-tion in three decades.

In a regulatory fi ling on Mon-day, the holding fi rm for the state-owned mail and fi nancial giant priced shares at ¥1,400 apiece in the IPO, the top of a book-building range set at ¥1,100-¥1,400, raising ¥693 billion ($5.7 billion).

It didn’t disclose details of sub-scription levels in an off er that values all of Japan Post at ¥6.3 tril-lion, with just over 10 per cent of the fi rm’s shares being sold.

Triple listingThe triple listing of one of the best-known — and most trusted — companies in Japan has been marketed directly at Japan’s mom-and-pop investors.

The IPOs are a key plank of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cam-paign to encourage the nation’s le-gion of canny savers to shift money away from bank deposits and into Tokyo’s stock market.

The government will raise a total of ¥1.4 trillion from the tri-ple IPO, with proceeds to be used to help fund reconstruction pro-grammes after Japan’s devastat-ing earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. Japan Post Bank and Japan Post Insurance priced their IPOs at the top of respective ranges last week.

All three stocks will begin trad-ing Nov. 4 in what is Japan’s big-gest privatisation since the 1987 IPO of the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) in the heyday of its economic bubble. - Reuters

S H A R E O F F E R

China gold demand likely to exceed 2013 record BEIJING: Gold consumption in mainland China may match or exceed the record in 2013 after fi nancial-market turmoil and the yuan’s devaluation boosted the metal’s appeal, according to the Chinese Gold & Silver Exchange Society, which also saw higher sales at jewellers in Hong Kong.

Buying in mainland China, which vies with India as the world’s largest consumer, picked up after the stock-market turmoil this year and August’s surprise de-valuation, according to Haywood Cheung, chairman of the supervi-sory committee at the century-old bullion bourse.

Demand in Hong Kong may ex-pand 25 per cent this half after a lacklustre fi rst six months, he said in an interview.

Gold prices are lower in 2015 following two years of losses on prospects for higher United States interest rates. The decline in 2013, when bullion sank 28 per cent, spurred increased buying across Asia, and 2015 is shaping up well and may surpass that year’s total, according to Cheung.

The yuan was devalued in the third quarter to bolster the na-tion’s competitiveness, and policy makers have also acted to stem a stock-market rout.

‘Prefer gold’“Investors still prefer gold as they don’t have many alternatives in terms of investment choices,” Cheung said on Friday, citing es-timates by the society’s members, which include the world’s largest listed jewellery chain Chow Tai

Fook Jewellery and Chow Sang Sang Holdings International. “Also, there’s a general feeling there’s less price uncertainty now.”

Gold for immediate delivery was little changed at $1,163.93 an ounce in Hong Kong as the pre-cious metal swung between gains

and losses this year. Investors are weighing up prospects for the fi rst rise in US rates since 2006, with US central bankers set to meet this week and again in December.

Consumer demand in China, which totaled 973.6 metric tons last year, was 497.3 tonnes in the

fi rst half of 2015, according to data from the World Gold Council is-sued in August. In Hong Kong, demand was 61.4 tons in 2014 and 24.8 tons between January and June, according to the Au-gust report. In February 2014, the producer-funded group estimated Chinese consumer demand at 1,066 tonnes.

Gold has risen 5.6 per cent this month as patchy economic data spurred traders to push back ex-pectations for a US rate increase to next year.

While Goldman Sachs put the probability of a move in December at about 60 per cent, Fed-fund fu-tures show odds of 36 percent for an increase this year.

“News of a rate cut in China is helping support investor senti-ment and precious metals,” Geor-gette Boele, an Amsterdam- based strategist at ABN Amro Bank, said by e-mail.

“Gold central bank easing makes gold as a low yielding asset more attractive.” - Bloomberg News

Y E L L O W M E T A L

GAINING SHEEN: Gold prices are lower in 2015 following two years of losses on prospects for higher

United States interest rates. – Bloomberg News

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B4

MARKETT U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

MUSCATSECURITIES MARKET

SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 26

REGULAR MARKET .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

OM0000001681 ............OMAN AND EMIRATES INV. HOLDING ............. 17,000 ................1,753........................3 ............0.102 ........... 0.104 ...........0.102 ........... 0.103 .............0.099 ........... 0.004 .............4.040 ................0.104 ..............0.104...................0.107 ................... 12,553,125 .........0.100

OM0000003125 ............GLOBAL FINANCIAL INVESTMENT ................. 44,326 ...............4,534........................5 ............0.102 ........... 0.103 ...........0.102 ........... 0.102 .............0.100 ........... 0.002 .............2.000 ................0.103 ..............0.103...................0.104...................20,400,000 ........0.100

OM0000001319 ............NATIONAL ALUMINIUM PRODUCTS ............. 630,552 ......... 139,500..................... 46 ........... 0.220 ...........0.224 ...........0.218 ........... 0.221 ............. 0.217............ 0.004 ............. 1.843 ................0.222............. 0.222...................0.227 ................... 7,419,290 ..........0.100

OM0000004768 ...........AL MADINA TAKAFUL ............................................. 136,877 ............. 11,623........................9 ........... 0.084 ........... 0.085 ...........0.084........... 0.085 .............0.084 ............0.001 ............. 1.190 ................0.085 ..............0.084...................0.085...................14,875,000 .........0.100

OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE .............. 565,300 .........104,907..................... 29 ............0.187 ........... 0.187 ...........0.185 ........... 0.186 ............. 0.184 ........... 0.002 ............. 1.087 ................0.185 ..............0.184...................0.185 ...................37,200,000 .........0.100

OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING ............ 56,200 ...............6,345......................12 ............0.115 ........... 0.115 ............ 0.112 ............0.113 ............. 0.112 .............0.001 ............. 0.893 ................ 0.113 .............. 0.112................... 0.113 ................... 10,170,000 .........0.100

OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS .................................................. 22,719 .............10,586........................3 ........... 0.462 ........... 0.466 ...........0.462........... 0.466 .............0.462 ........... 0.004 ............. 0.866 ................0.466 ..............0.464...................0.466...................24,465,000.........0.100

OM0000001707 ............OMAN CABLES INDUSTRY ........................................ 6,050 ..............11,731........................4 ............1.925 ........... 2.025 ...........1.925 ........... 1.940 ............. 1.925.............0.015 ............. 0.779 ................2.025.............. 1.925...................2.025 .................174,018,000 ........0.100

OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................ 148,699 ............26,130........................2 ............0.175 ........... 0.177 ...........0.175 ............0.176 ............. 0.175 .............0.001 ............. 0.571 ................0.177 .............. 0.175...................0.177 ..................253,693,440 .......0.100

OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO....................................................................... 163,320 ......... 123,885..................... 28 ............0.756 ........... 0.760 ...........0.756 ........... 0.760 ............. 0.756............ 0.004 ............. 0.529 ................0.756 .............. 0.756...................0.760 .................. 494,717,615 ........0.100

OM0000002028 ...........GULF INTERNATIONAL CHEMICALS ..............96,398 .............27,965......................16 ........... 0.294 ...........0.294 ...........0.288........... 0.290 .............0.289 ............0.001 ............. 0.346 ................0.288..............0.286...................0.290 ...................6,090,000 ..........0.100

OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ..........................34,566 ............ 56,627......................13 ............1.640 ........... 1.640 ...........1.630 ........... 1.640 ............. 1.635 ............ 0.005 ............. 0.306 ................1.630 .............. 1.630................... 1.635 ................1,230,000,000 ......0.100

OM0000004735 ...........SEMBCORP SALALAH .................................................. 5,500 .............15,070........................ 1 ............2.740 ........... 2.740 ...........2.740 ........... 2.740 ............. 2.735............ 0.005 ............. 0.183 ................2.740 ..............2.700...................2.740 ..................261,552,714 ........1.000

OM0000001087 ............OMAN UNITED INSURANCE ............................... 140,000 ........... 35,962......................11 ........... 0.255 ...........0.260 ...........0.255 ........... 0.257 .............0.257 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.260..............0.256...................0.259...................25,700,000 .........0.100

OM0000001418 ............RAYSUT CEMENT ........................................................ 10,801 ............. 12,117........................3 ............1.125 ............1.135 ............1.120 ............1.120 ............. 1.120 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 1.135 .............. 1.120................... 1.135 ................. 224,000,000 .......0.100

OM0000001483 ............NATIONAL BANK OF OMAN ................................. 130,000 ........... 39,540........................5 ........... 0.304 ...........0.308 ...........0.304 .......... 0.304 .............0.304 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.308............. 0.304...................0.308 .................407,575,916 ........0.100

OM0000001517 ............HSBC BANK OMAN .................................................... 272,100 ........... 32,927......................14 ............0.122 ........... 0.122 ........... 0.121 ............0.121 ............. 0.121 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 0.121 .............. 0.121...................0.122 ..................242,037,848........0.100

OM0000001749 ............OMAN CEMENT ............................................................14,000 ...............6,244........................ 1 ........... 0.446 ........... 0.446 ...........0.446........... 0.446 .............0.446 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.446..............0.446...................0.460 .................147,569,229 ........0.100

OM0000002168 ............AL ANWAR CERAMIC TILES ............................... 200,000........... 68,400........................4 ........... 0.342 ...........0.342 ...........0.342........... 0.342 .............0.342 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.342..............0.322...................0.342 .................101,305,079 ........0.100

OM0000002275 ...........SHELL OMAN MARKETING ..................................... 5,500 .............11,000........................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

OM0000002366 ...........AL BATINAH DEV. INV. HOLDING ........................ 11,500 ................1,139........................2 ........... 0.099 ........... 0.099 ...........0.099........... 0.099 .............0.099 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.099 ..............0.099................... 0.101 ....................2,970,000 ..........0.100

OM0000002549 ...........BANK DHOFAR ............................................................ 330,000 ........... 80,580......................11 ........... 0.244 ........... 0.245 ...........0.244 .......... 0.244 .............0.244 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.245..............0.245...................0.246 ................. 376,913,765 ........0.100

OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ............................................................ 211,999 ........... 113,721..................... 46 ........... 0.536 ........... 0.538 ...........0.536 ........... 0.536 .............0.536 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.536 ..............0.536...................0.538................ 1,228,416,912 ......0.100

OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES ......................... 534,000 ........... 53,569......................18 ............0.102 ........... 0.102 ...........0.100 ........... 0.100 .............0.100 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.100 ..............0.100................... 0.101 ....................5,884,322 ..........0.100

OM0000003000 ...........ALMAHA PETROLEUM PRODUCTS MAR. .........2,900 ............... 5,655........................ 1 ............1.950 ........... 1.950 ...........1.950 ........... 1.950 ............. 1.950............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.950 .............. 1.950...................0.000 .................134,550,000........0.100

OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES ..................................... 941,190.......... 166,497..................... 52 ............0.178 ........... 0.179 ...........0.176 ............0.177 ............. 0.177 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.176 .............. 0.176...................0.178 ................... 51,445,231 .........0.100

OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. .................. 417,679 .............35,951..................... 32 ........... 0.087 ........... 0.087 ...........0.086........... 0.086 .............0.086 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.087 ..............0.086...................0.087...................24,938,335 .........0.100

OM0000003661 ............VOLTAMP ENERGY ................................................... 120,500 ........... 53,020......................17 ........... 0.440 ...........0.440 ...........0.440 .......... 0.440 .............0.440 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.440..............0.434...................0.440 ..................26,620,000.........0.100

OM0000003711 ............SOHAR POWER .................................................................1,910 .................. 745........................2 ........... 0.390 ...........0.390 ...........0.390........... 0.380 .............0.380 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.390..............0.350...................0.390 ..................83,983,800 .........0.100

OM0000004248 ...........SMN POWER HOLDING .......................................... 100,000 ........... 74,800........................3 ............0.748 ........... 0.748 ...........0.748 ............0.748 ............. 0.748............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.748 .............. 0.748...................0.000 .................149,327,429 ........0.100

OM0000004925 ...........AL BATINAH POWER ..................................................75,000 ............. 16,125........................3 ............0.215 ........... 0.215 ...........0.215 ............0.215 ............. 0.215............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.215 ..............0.207...................0.215 .................. 145,100,797 ........0.100

OM0000004933 ...........AL SUWADI POWER .......................................................7,486 ............... 1,609........................3 ............0.215 ........... 0.215 ...........0.215 ............0.215 ............. 0.215............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.215 .............. 0.211...................0.215 .................. 153,597,363 ........0.100

OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 3,945,344...... 730,722..................... 95 ............0.190 ........... 0.191 ............0.185 ............0.185 ............. 0.187............-0.002 ........... -1.070................0.185 .............. 0.185...................0.188 ................... 27,763,875 .........0.100

OM0000002374............UNITED FINANCE ..........................................................7,961 ............... 1,035........................ 1 ............0.130 ........... 0.130 ...........0.130 ........... 0.130 ............. 0.132............-0.002 ............-1.515 ................0.130 ..............0.130...................0.133 ...................40,399,442 .........0.100

OM0000001962 ............AL MADINA INVESTMENT ................................... 209,050 ............12,382........................8 ........... 0.060 ...........0.060 ...........0.059 ........... 0.059 .............0.060 ...........-0.001 ............-1.667................0.060..............0.059...................0.060 ..................12,221,932 .........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 9,616,427 .. 2,094,392...................505 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ......35........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

PARALLEL MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000004511 ............ALIZZ ISLAMIC BANK.............................................. 2,670,499 .......196,705..................... 56 ........... 0.070 ........... 0.076 ...........0.070........... 0.074 .............0.070 ........... 0.004 ..............5.714.................0.076 ..............0.075...................0.076...................74,000,000 ........0.100

OM0000001566 ............OMAN FISHERIES ....................................................... 12,100 .................. 688........................4 ........... 0.056 ........... 0.058 ...........0.056 ........... 0.057 .............0.054 ........... 0.003 ............. 5.556 ................0.058 ..............0.056...................0.059.................... 7,125,000 ..........0.100

OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ................................................................ 18,456,530 . 1,418,696...................190 ............0.075 ........... 0.079 ...........0.075 ........... 0.077 .............0.075 ........... 0.002 ............. 2.667 ................0.079 ..............0.079...................0.080 .................115,500,000 ........0.100

OM0000005963 ...........PHOENIX POWER ...................................................... 279,781 ............ 42,221..................... 25 ............0.150 ........... 0.151 ............0.150 ............0.151 ............. 0.150.............0.001 ............. 0.667 ................ 0.151 .............. 0.150................... 0.151 ................. 220,852,820 .......0.100

OM0000001053 ............OMAN TEXTILE HOLDING ....................................... 5,900 ............... 2,168........................4 ........... 0.368 ........... 0.368 ...........0.366........... 0.368 .............0.368 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.366 ..............0.362...................0.368....................2,208,000 ..........1.000

OM0000001400 ...........OMAN FLOUR MILLS ............................................... 157,289 ............ 73,926..................... 10 ........... 0.470 ........... 0.470 ...........0.470 ........... 0.470 .............0.488 ...........-0.018 ........... -3.689 ...............0.470 ..............0.468...................0.488...................74,025,000 .........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 21,582,099...... 1,734,404 ..............289 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ........ 6........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

BONDS MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000004016............AHLI BANK UNSECURED.SUB. BONDS ............... 4,352 ...............4,635........................ 1 ............1.065 ........... 1.065 ...........1.065 ............1.065 ............. 1.065............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.065 ............. 0.000...................1.065 ...................37,275,000 .........1.000

OM0000004602 ...........BANK MUSCAT CONV. BONDS 4.5 .......................... 2,834 ...................317........................2 ............0.112 ........... 0.112............ 0.112 ............0.112 ............. 0.112 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 0.112 .............. 0.112................... 0.115 ...................33,907,900 .........0.100

OM0000004628 ...........BANK SOHAR BONDS 4.5 ............................................ 1,300 .................. 130........................2 ........... 0.100 ........... 0.100 ...........0.100 ........... 0.100 .............0.100 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.100 ..............0.100...................0.109 .................... 7,150,000 ..........0.100

OM0000004867 ...........BANK MUSCAT C C B 4.5 ................................................ 445 .....................45........................ 1 ............0.101 ........... 0.101............0.101 ........... 0.100 .............0.100 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.101 .............. 0.101...................0.105 ...................31,964,268 .........0.100

OM0000005971 ............B.MUSCAT COMPL. CONVR. B.B.3.5 ........................7,403 .................. 696........................2 ........... 0.094 ...........0.094 ...........0.094........... 0.094 .............0.094 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.094..............0.094...................0.098................... 30,471,192 .........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................... 16,334 ...............5,823........................8 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ........ 5........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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 ....................................... 5,932.95 .............. 5,922.28 ................... 5,932.95 ................... 5,922.18 .................. 10.77 ................... 0.18Financial Index .....................................7,288.88 ............... 7,257.26 ................... 7,288.88 ................... 7,256.42 ................. 32.46 ................... 0.45Industrial Index ................................... 7,322.23 ............... 7,308.15 ................... 7,322.23 ................... 7,306.54 ..................15.69 ................... 0.21Services Index ...................................... 3,284.36 ...............3,282.16 ................... 3,283.49 ................... 3,281.57 .................... 1.92 ................... 0.06MSM SHARIAH INDEX....................... 909.74 ..................906.34 .......................909.74 ...................... 907.22 ....................2.52 ...................0.28

Trading SummaryVolume ................ Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up ............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded31,214,860 ..................3,834,619 .................... 802 ............... 14,730,433,549 ................ 17 ........................4 .................... 25 .........................46

MSM index ends higher

MUSCAT: Share prices on the Muscat bourse edged up on bet-ter support from retail inves-tors. The MSM 30 Index posted a gain of 0.18 per cent to close at 5,932.95 points. The MSM Sharia Index closed at 909.74 points, up by 0.28 per cent.

Bank Nizwa led in terms of volume as well as turnover. Mon-day’s top gainer was Al Izz Bank, up by 5.71 per cent, while Oman Flour Mills was the day’s top los-er, down by 3.69 per cent.

As many as 802 trades were ex-ecuted in the session generating a turnover of OMR3.83 million with 31.2 million shares changing hands. Out of 46 traded securi-ties, 17 advanced, 4 declined and 25 remained unchanged. Arab and GCC investors were net buy-ers to the tune of OMR164,000 worth of shares, while foreign investors, who were net sell-ers, sold shares amounting to OMR132,000 followed by Omani investors at OMR32,000.

Financial Index advanced 0.45 per cent to close at 7,288.88 points. Al Izz Bank, Oman & Emirates Holding, Bank Nizwa, Global Financial Investment and Al Madina Takaful increased 5.71 per cent, 4.04 per cent, 2.67 per cent, 2 per cent and 1.19 per cent respectively. Al Madina Invest-ments, United Finance and Al Anwar Holding decreased 1.67 per cent, 1.52 per cent and 1.07 per cent respectively.

Industrial Index closed the session at 7,322.23 points, up by 0.21 per cent. Oman Fisheries, National Aluminium, Al Maha Ceramics, Oman Cables and Gulf International Chemicals gained 5.56 per cent, 1.84 per cent, 0.87 per cent, 0.78 per cent and 0.35 per cent respectively. Oman Flour Mills declined 3.69 per cent to close at OMR0.470.

Services Index closed on stable note at 3,283.49 points, up by 0.06 per cent. OIFC, Phoenix Power,

Ooredoo, Omantel and Sembcorp Salalah advanced 1.09 per cent, 0.67 per cent, 0.53 per cent, 0.31 per cent and 0.18 per cent respectively.

Most emerging stocks riseMost emerging-market stocks rose as China’s surprise interest-rate cut sent the Shanghai Com-posite Index to a two-month high, countering declines in energy companies. Russia’s ruble and South Korea’s won retreated.

The Shanghai gaugeadded 0.5 per cent for its third day of gains. Philippines shares advanced to a nine-week high. PetroChina led losses for energy shares as oil traded near the lowest level in almost four weeks. Russian equities slid 0.7 per cent and the ruble halted a two-day increase. The won weakened 0.8 per cent against the dollar. Poland’s zloty was little changed versus the euro as the opposition Law & Justice party was projected for an election victory.

The MSCI Emerging Mar-kets Index was little changed at 868.44 in Hong Kong, as 360 shares rose and 255 declined. The gauge posted its longest stretch of weekly gains since April last week amid prospects for contin-ued monetary stimulus in Eu-rope. China cut interest rates for a sixth time in a year and lenders’ reserve requirements late Friday as the nation’s leaders gather this week to map out a fi ve-year plan for an economy already on pace for its slowest expansion in a quarter of a century.

“China’s rate cut is taken fa-vorably for it shows it’s doing all it can to boost economic growth,” said Nescyn Presinede, a trader in at Rizal Commercial Bank-ing, which manages $1.8 billion in trust assets. “It’s a concern for some investors as this move could be an indication that Chi-na’s slowdown is more than ex-pected.” - United Securities/Bloomberg News

The top gainer was Al Izz Islamic Bank, up by

5.71 per cent, while Oman Flour Mills was the

day’s top loser, down by 3.69 per cent

Sensex sheds 109 points; rupee declinesMUMBAI: Retreating from two-month highs, the benchmark BSE Sensex on Monday ended 108.85 points lower at 27,361.96 despite positive Asian cues on the back of China's interest rate cut as sub-dued quarterly numbers by heavy-weights Bharti Airtel and HDFC failed to cheer investors.

Participants remained on the sidelines ahead of the October de-rivatives expiry and United States Federal Reserve meeting, which

starts on Tuesday. The BSE barometer Sensex af-

ter rising over 147 points in early trade to hit a high 27,618.14 soon slipped into the negative zone after participants preferred to book profi ts in recent gainers and touched a low of 27,318.20. Final-ly, it settled 108.85 points or 0.40 per cent lower at 27,361.96. The index had rallied by 183.15 points in the previous session to hit a two-month high of 27,470.81.

Rupee ends lower In line with equity market, the rupee ended lower by 13 paise to 64.96 against the American cur-rency on month-end dollar de-mand from importers.

The Indian unit opened lower at 64.92 as against last Friday's closing level of 64.83 at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange (forex) market an dropped further to 65.0150 on initial dollar demand from banks and importers. - PTI

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10th Toyota Dream Car Art Contest for children

MUSCAT: Since 2004, the Toyota Dream Car Art Contest has been conducted as part of Toyota Mo-tor Corporation’s social contribu-tion initiatives. It gives children throughout the world the opportu-nity to develop an interest in cars and helps them feel the joy and im-portance of having a dream.

Now, the 10th Toyota Dream Car Art Contest is being held in Oman, in association with the Ministry of Education. This follows the suc-cess of the previously held art con-tests, says a press release.

The contest’s theme is ‘Your Dream Car’. Toyota is providing this unique opportunity for kids to display their talent. Share the drawing of a car of your imagina-tion with it and stand a chance to win a trip to Japan.’

“We are giving the kids a blank canvas … and then watching them paint their dreams on it,” re-marked a Saud Bahwan Automo-tive spokesperson. “It is a real joy to see their free and unfettered ar-tistic expressions.”

The Toyota Dream Car Art Contest invites children from all corners of the globe to share ideas about the future of mobility by drawing their dream cars. The aim is to kindle their creative im-agination. According to an offi cial source, the kids' expression will refl ect their thoughts and aspira-tions. “How will your dream car make the world a better place?”

In Oman, Toyota is conducting the competition at various Toyota showrooms as per schedule below. Interested participants can visit the nearest Toyota showroom for more details. Izki, Adam, Bahla: Today, Bidiyah and Suweiq: No-vember 2, Muscat and Sumail: No-vember 4, Nizwa and Ibri: 8, Barka and Rustaq: November 9, BB Ali and Al Kamil: November 10, Seeb Al Mawaleh, Mabelah, Salalah: November 11, Ibra: November 12

During the event, popular car-toon characters will welcome the participants to the showrooms. Drawing sheets, drawing kits, light refreshments and snacks will be provided. Each contestant par-ticipating at the Toyota showroom will be awarded a Certifi cate of Participation. For those who are not able to make it to the event, additional drawing sheets are be-ing kept at all Toyota showrooms.

Three winners from each branch (one in every category) will be chosen and nine winners will be selected as national winners.

“We welcome kids up to 15 years old from all over Oman to partici-pate in the Toyota Dream Car Art Contest,” said the spokesperson, “The best entries stand to win ex-citing prizes such as Xbox One, iPad Air2, iPhone 6, Laptops, SLR Camera, Tabs and more. There are three age categories comprising the ‘under 8’, ‘8 to 11’ and ‘12 to 15’ years groups.

The winners of the national con-test will be eligible to take part in the World Contest to win gold, sil-ver and bronze awards and an invi-tational trip to Japan.

Competition rules apply: The contest is open to anyone under the age of 15 and legal resident of Oman; artwork can be created us-ing paint, colour markers, crayons or felt pens and should be drawn by hand.

Digitally created artwork will not be accepted; artwork should include a background and should be submitted on entry forms avail-able at Toyota showrooms; judging will be based on originality, artistic expression, description and col-ouring. All artworks should be sub-mitted with an entry form signed by a parent or guardian. Terms and conditions apply.

Toyota provides this

unique opportunity

for children to display

their talent. Share

the drawing of a car

of your imagination

with it and stand a

chance to win a trip

to Japan’

Kims Oman experts

successfully conduct

thyroid gland surgery

MUSCAT: Expert medical team at Kims Oman Hospital (KOH) — 50-bed hospital equipped with excellence in healthcare deliv-ery — conducted a successful operation that included near total thyroidectomy that weighs 250g and leaving 5g of thyroid tissues at the right lobe, to a 46 years old diabetic man who was diagnosed with multi-nodules retro-sternal goiter.

The operation was conducted by Dr Muhamed Mustafa Al-habash, senior consultant, and his professional medical staff at KIMS Oman Hospital’s general surgery and laparoscopic depart-ment; where the patient was diagnosed with a huge left retro-sternal gaiter’s lobe and right enlarged multi nodules lobe. The patient who received a special medical care was later discharged after being completely recovered, says a press release.

The patient thanked KOH’s medical team for all the medi-cal care they off ered. He also conveyed his appreciation and gratitude for the distinct service and great hospitality he received at KOH.

“We are very proud of our dis-tinguished medical team who provides our patients with dis-tinctive and compassionate care

in addition to dealing profession-ally with the most serious and complicated medical issues,” said Dr Hussam Akoum, chief operat-ing offi cer of KOH.

H E A L T H C A R E

The patient thanked KOH’s

medical team for all the

medical care they offered.

He also conveyed his

appreciation and gratitude

for the distinct service

and great hospitality he

received at KOH

OWA in Duqm launches art, jewellery designs exhibitionDUQM: Under the patronage of Sheikh Mohsin bin Hamad Al Maskary, wali of Duqm, the Om-ani Women’s Association (OWA) in Duqm launched an exhibition at Crowne Plaza Hotel Duqm in partnership with Duqm Refin-ery, showcasing landscape art and jewellery designs made by local women.

The exhibition was attended by a number of offi cials from diff er-ent governmental and private enti-ties as well as local citizens, says a press release.

The exhibition came as a result of a series of workshops under the ‘Wadha’ initiative held at the Omani Women’s Association in Duqm which was supported by Duqm Refi nery. Landscape art and local handicrafts/ jewellery design workshops were facili-tated by local Omani artists and lasted for a week.

It is worth mentioning that all exhibited items were for sale and revenue generated was allocated to support activities and pro-grammes of the Omani Women’s Association in Duqm.

Nasha Al Fallahi, general man-ager, Corporate Aff airs at Duqm Refi nery, said: “Supporting ac-tivities that empower women is part of Duqm Refi nery’s core CSR

strategy, through these workshops we had the opportunity to engage with talented artists from Muscat and receive their help in facilitat-ing the workshops in Duqm. We recently undertook the refurbish-ment of the Omani Women’s Asso-ciation’s temporary offi ce as part of our CSR commitment and have followed it up with workshops that nurtures their talents and have now showcased their work at this unique exhibition.”

“This initiative comes in line with His Majesty’s directives to support and empower women so they can actively participate in the sustainable development of their communities and the Sultanate. We are grateful for the support extended to us by Duqm Refi nery

and the Refi nery’s CSR initiatives in Duqm are highly appreciated,” said Neshella Baroot Al Juniabi, chairman of the Omani Women’s Association in Duqm.

Duqm Refi nery recently de-livered a number of CSR initia-tives that included an essential IT training programme for 200 women from Wilayats of Muhoot, Duqm and Al Jazir in partnership with ITA, ‘Tahadi programme’ for 100 students in Duqm in partner-ship with Outward Bound Oman, launched innovation camp for 600 students in Al Wusta region in co-operation with Injaz Oman, as well as supported a number of higher education scholarships for local students through the local com-munity development committee.

W O M E N E M P O W E R M E N T

Pure Gold opens new stores in Oman, UAE

MUSCAT: In line with its plans to double the number of stores in the Middle East by 2018, award winning jewellery retailer and the only World Diamond Mark certi-fi ed retailer in the GCC, Pure Gold Jewellers has opened three new retail outlets in the UAE and two stores in Oman.

Located in key shopping out-lets in Oman, Pure Gold Jewel-lers plans to reach a signifi cant number of customers in Oman with its new modern stores in Wave Mall and Lulu Sohar, says a press release.

In Dubai, Pure Gold Jewellers is now present in two more retail lo-cations at Shindagah and Dragon Mart. Residents in Sharjah can now purchase Pure Gold Jewellers exquisite gold and diamond jewel-lery more conveniently with a new store opening near National Paints.

Growth plans “The new retail outlets are cen-trally located in high footfall loca-tions and help us to reach more customers. All the stores follow our customer friendly design concept and display our signa-ture collections, giving shoppers a wide range of choices in pre-cious jewellery for various oc-casions. We are right on target with our growth plans in the Middle East and we aim to open more stores in the region,” stated Karim Merchant, CEO & MD of

Pure Gold Jewellers.Pure Gold Jewellers currently

boasts 125 modern retail outlets making it one of the fastest grow-

ing jewellery retail chains in the Middle East. By 2020, Pure Gold Group expects to increase its presence to 250 stores.

E X P A N S I O N

All the stores follow our customer friendly design

concept and display our signature collections,

giving shoppers a wide range of choices in precious

jewellery for various occasions

Karim MerchantCEO & MD of Pure Gold Jewellers

KG Cultural Fest held at Indian School Muladha

MULADHA: The Kindergarten Cultural Festival of Indian School Muladha was celebrated recently with much zest and splendour. Dr Sridevi P. Thashnath, principal, Indian School Darsait, attended the occasion as the chief guest.

Felix Vincent Gabriel, member SMC, Mammootty, managing di-rector of Makkah Hypermarket, S. I. Shareef, principal, V. S. Suresh, vice principal, Dr Lekha O. C. coor-dinator (Co-curricular and Extra-curricular), staff , students, parents and well-wishers attended the function, says a press release.

The programme began with a prayer song aptly composed by the music department and beautifully sung by the tiny tots. This was fol-lowed by the lighting of the tradi-tional lamp by the dignitaries. Kin-

dergarten teacher Mary Shanavas welcomed the gathering.

The chief guest in her speech appreciated the principal and the kindergarten teachers for their remarkable eff ort to put up such a wonderful programme in an em-phatic manner. She quoted some lines from Kahlil Gibran and elaborated on the key role played by parents and teachers in shap-ing young minds. She also extolled the school managing committee for encouraging the school staff for organising such events.

Speaking on the occasion, Sha-reef reiterated the role both the par-ents and teachers play in moulding the character of a child. Mammoot-ty presented a memento to the chief guest as a token of gratitude.

The venue of the function

decked with balloons and festoons was no less than the fantasy world in itself. The cultural programmes commenced with the Silver Jubi-lee song. The foot tapping ‘Titlee udi’ dance and ‘Chandoba’ Marathi dance by the young angels created a mesmeric eff ect.

Dance performanceThe audience was enthralled by a melodious Hindi group song fol-lowed by ‘Lollypop’, an impressive dance performance.

The colourful fancy dress show was another mesmerising visual treat as the blooming buds of the kindergarten section dressed up in an array of attires presented va-rieties of characters from fi ction to reality. The audience was on their feet when the little dancers

presented ‘Boli Chudiya’, a spec-tacular Hindi dance. Fabulous ‘Disney Princess’ and ‘Gummy Bear’ were other remarkable dance performances by the tiny budding talents.

The children captivated the gathering by an incredible ‘Parrot Dance’, and to pay tribute to their parents they staged ‘Give Me A Song’ which was a touching and mind–blowing performance.

The mega event that fi lled the air with mirth, amusement and excite-ment came to an end with the vote of thanks proposed by the kinder-garten teacher Annie Enos. The school management committee and the principal appreciated the kindergarten wing for their dedica-tion and team work which made the event really commendable.

C E L E B R A T I O N

International Marble wins Triumph AwardMUSCAT: International Marble Co., one of the world’s largest pro-cessors and suppliers of natural marble, has been honoured with The Bizz Arabic 2015 award from World Confederation of Busi-nesses, USA under the category of Triumph Award in recognition for its business excellence.

The award recognises top com-panies, teams, executives and products for their business suc-cess as judged by panel of judges of Worldcob. The Bizz Award is conferred every year in separate functions held all around the world, says a press release.

Sheikh Ali bin Hamed bin Saif Al Kalbani, chairman of Interna-tional Marble Company, Sheikh Hussein bin Ali bin Hamed Al

Kalbani, the general manager, along with Sheikh Khalid bin Hamed bin Saif Al Kalbani, mem-ber, Board of Directors, received the award at a glittering function held recently at Al Bustan Palace Hotel, Muscat.

The awards ceremony was at-tended by 61 awardees spread across 27 countries. In his thanks giving speech, the chairman ex-pressed his gratitude over achiev-ing this world renowned award for the seventh year in succes-sion and congratulated the entire team of International Marble Co. for their hard and dedicated work. Sheikh Ali also mentioned that it was his privilege to have taken the initiative to bring the awards function to Muscat.

A C C O L A D E

B6 T U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

ROUND-UP

‘Chaar Yaar coming to Oman for friendship through music’

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Noted for its unique music and its global appeal, popu-lar Indian band Chaar Yaar is com-ing to Oman to mesmerise its fans as well as “to touch the invisible core of friendship”.

The Charity Wing of the Indian Social Club brings ‘Deepmala’, a Sufi fusion musical evening by the

group ‘Char Yaar’ at the Oman Au-ditorium on October 30. Celebrat-ed for their unique amalgamations of Western, Indian, and Sufi infl u-ences, lead composer, vocalist, and poet Madan Gopal Singh shares what gives ‘Char Yaar’ their dis-tinctive fl air.

Excerpts from the interview: Who are your biggest musical infl uences?Pundit Kumar Gandharva, Pundit Mallikarjuna Mansur, Ustad Tu-fail Niazi Sa’ab — though not nec-essarily in that order.

How did you meet?It was entirely fortuitous. Deepak Bhai was into Western classical music and I was merely an in-spired, unlettered crooner. I was immediately drawn to Deepak’s uncanny hold and creativity with guitar chords.

I met Pritamji through our tabla player. Pandit Pritam Ghosal has the magical ability to stay in a note and create beautiful beats. I had no diffi culty in choosing him along with another pluck instrument.

I met Gurmeet when I was com-

posing music for a dance drama. Meeta has great team spirit and a huge stage presence. His mastery over a variety of percussion instru-ments is quite unique.

What contemporary music do you listen to?Hindustani and Carnatic classical.

Which contemporary artists do you admire?

I enjoy Abida Parveen, Ali Sethi, Kaushiki Chakraborty and many more.

How did you discover your sound?We discovered it as a group, pains-takingly over more than a decade. Without being immodest, I would like to think that for whatever our music is worth, we are unlike any other artiste.

What do you hope to achieve through your music?A sense of endless and joyous trav-el, an exploration of who we are through multiple poetic and musi-cal registers. To affi rm to the world that we are multiply singular or singularly multiple.

If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?I would change the devastation of our environment, and the murder-ous violence that leads to unend-ing distrust.

What can the audience in Mus-cat look forward to in your show? Which are your most popular songs?An evening of lasting together-ness in melody. Our most popular songs are: Anand, Thayya Thayya, Jeti Jeti, Uchchiyaan Lammiyaan Taaliyaan.

This is your fi rst time in Oman. What are you looking forward to most?Touching the invisible core of friendship.

The Charity Wing of

the Indian Social Club

brings ‘Deepmala’, a

Sufi fusion musical

evening by the group

‘Char Yaar’ at the

Oman Auditorium

on October 30

MIS students awarded in art competition

MUSCAT: The students of Modern International School (MIS) were awarded certifi -cates for their outstanding per-formance in artistic and literary creation competition organised by the Embassy of France and Embassy of Germany in Oman on the theme climate change.

Roland Dubertrand, ambas-sador of France and Hans Chris-tian, ambassador of Germany, were the chief guests at the func-tion held at Al Wattayah theatre of Ministry of Education recent-ly, says a press release.

Roshni Jesrani and Milika Nayak of Grade VII won fi rst and third prizes respectively in the art competition. The video presentation on climate change by the students won third prize.

L I T E R A R Y C O N T E S T

Bank Muscat Open Day receiving great response; next event in Sohar tomorrowMUSCAT: The series of Open Day for exclusive personal fi nance off erings launched by Bank Mus-cat has evoked massive response with the event held in Muscat and Nizwa benefi ting hundreds of customers who availed the spe-cial rate of interest on personal fi nance, 24-hour disbursement along with a range of add-ons, in-cluding Lulu Bank Muscat credit card, Bank Muscat prepaid card preloaded with OMR25 and per-sonal protection insurance plan.

A large number of customers also signed up for the bank’s en-hanced Internet banking service.

The third in the series of Open Day events now moves to the wilayat of Sohar and will be held at Lulu Hypermarket Sohar tomor-row and the day after from 10am to 10pm, says a press release.

The unique initiative launched by the fl agship fi nancial services provider in the Sultanate as part of its ‘Let’s Do More’ vision and commitment to partnership in en-hancing banking service, is aimed at simplifying and enhancing con-venience to help customers meet their fi nancial requirements. The highlights of the Open Day activi-

ties in Sohar include the monthly prize draw of al Mazyona Savings Scheme off ering prizes worth OMR450,000.

The bank is committing 24-hour disbursement of fi nance along with free Lulu Bank Muscat credit card, Bank Muscat prepaid card preloaded with OMR25 and free personal protection insurance plan. The off er is valid only at the Open Day venue and not at any Bank Muscat branches.

To avail the exclusive off er, customers are required to submit copy of national identity card or resident card, salary assignment

letter, passport copy for expatri-ates and address proof on water or electricity bill or rental agreement.

This is the fi rst time a fi nance of-fer of this kind with a range of add-on benefi ts is being made available to the largest banking family in Oman. The concept of the Open Day is to provide a unique oppor-tunity for customers to avail per-sonal fi nance at their convenience.

The bank has lined up Open Day events across the Sultanate with the fourth event to be held in Sur at Makkah Hypermarket on Novem-ber 4 and 5. The concluding event will be held at Lulu Hypermarket

Salalah on November 11 and 12. The Open Day timing at all venues is from 10 am to 10 pm.

The unique opportunity stem-ming from the ‘Let’s Do More’ vision reiterates the bank’s com-mitment to extending the helping hand to fulfi l the fi nancial needs of customers.

In step with responsible bank-ing, the focus of Bank Muscat is clear — create a sustainable fi nan-cial platform for the nation and people and thereby contribute to the country’s progress and devel-opment. Committed to support-ing economic growth and sustain-able development, the bank seizes every opportunity to reiterate partnership in building the nation by creating opportunities for in-dividuals and businesses to grow and prosper.

Doing more is the forte of Bank Muscat — more for the economy, more for the community and more for the individual. The bank has incorporated sustainable best practices and is fully equipped to guide customers through all stages of banking life, whether it be sav-ings, investments, fi nancing or just reliable fi nancial advice.

U N I Q U E I N I T I A T I V E

JOYALUKKAS OPENS NEW SHOWROOM IN KARNATAKAThe world’s favourite jeweller, Joyalukkas opened its new showroom in Udupi, Karnataka. Pramod Madhwaraj, Karnataka Udupi

constituency MLA, inaugurated the showroom in the presence of dignitaries like Joy Alukkas (CMD, Joyalukkas Group) Jolly

Joy Alukkas (director), Yuvaraj, Vasanth Kamat, Shyam Prasad, Jerry Wincent Daiz, P. D. Jose (executive director) and P. D.

Francis (DGM retail). — Supplied picture

Al Raff ah appoints new dermatologistMUSCAT: Al Raff ah Hospital, Al Ghubra is pleased to off er en-hanced services of its dermatol-ogy department with the skills and expertise of Dr Dhwani Shah, dermatologist and cosmetologist with over nine years of experi-ence in India.

“With over 49 per cent of the Omani population being female, the demand for a female derma-tologist was very high. This led us to ensure that a female der-matologist is posted in all our branches across Oman to cater to this unique need,” says Seeniya Biju, COO.

Dr Dhwani Shah has enormous experience as a cosmetologist, dermatosurgeon and venereolo-gist and has thousands of satis-fi ed patients to her credit, says a press release.

“In the short time that I have been in Oman it is amazing to see the positive response from the patients. Women are very open about approaching a fe-male dermatologist and I have been able to help many patients within a very short span of time,” says Dr Dhwani.

Dr Dhwani completed her medical education – both MBBS and DVD from the prestigious M.S.University and Govt Medi-cal College, Baroda, Gujarat, India. Following this she has worked in several reputed hospitals and cos-metic centres in India as a consult-ant. Her areas of focus are paediat-ric dermatology and cosmetology.

“We get a lot of queries from patients for providing treatments involving botox, fi llers etc. And Dr Dhwani is an expert in the same. Many female patients ap-proach the department for laser treatment for hair and pigment reduction which is also being ca-tered to presently,” says Dr Ashik Sainu, Medical Director.

“I had visited the dermatolo-gist in Al Raff ah for a problem of hyper-pigmentation. The doctor was very kind and explained the solution with so much care. I am happy to say that the treatment was very eff ective too,” says Muna Al Zadjali, a delighted patient.

Dr Dhwani also manages treat-ments like chemical peeling, micro-dermabrasions, derma-rollers etc. Clients also visit her

for other hair disorders and skin rejuvenation programmes.

“The arrival of Dr Dhwani Shah in Oman has enhanced the existing team of dermatologists in Aster, Oman comprising Dr Sajeela Rasheed (Al Raff ah Hos-pital, Sohar) and Dr Raji S. Patel (Al Raff ah Polyclinic, Al Khoud). We are proud to off er exemplary care to our patients across many locations,” added Seeniya.

Aster, Al Raff ah Hospital off ers a full range of medical services from general medicine, paediat-rics, dentistry, to speciality ser-vices like endocrinology, cardiol-ogy, neurology, gastroenterology, pulmonology, dermatology and more. Aster Al Raff ah group of hospitals has been envisioned with the aim of bringing to Oman the highest standards of health and medical services along with care, comfort and compassion. To achieve this, Aster Al Raff ah hospital is equipped with the best health experts and professionals, high-end technologies, systems and facilities to take total and empathetic care of its patients.

E N H A N C E D S E R V I C E S

In the short time that

I have been in Oman

it is amazing to see

the positive response

from the patients

Dr Dhwani ShahDermatologist, Al Raffah Hospital

B7T U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

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NBO wins ‘Best Trade Finance Bank’ award

MUSCAT: National Bank of Oman (NBO) yesterday announced that it was named Best Trade Finance Bank in the Sultanate of Oman 2015 during the Third Annual Middle East and Africa Awards ceremony. The ceremony was held at the Park Hyatt, Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, recently.

In 2015, National Bank of Oman transaction banking busi-

ness experienced growth in both cash management and trade fi -nance, with 19 per cent growth in revenue and over a 30 per cent increase in the fee income. The bank’s effi cient turnaround time for delivery of trade services is one of the quickest in the local marketplace enabling the bank to actively grow its customer base, says a press release.

National Bank of Oman’s chan-nel platform and the Internet banking has improved rapidly; the bank has engaged large corporate clients to provide them with on-line trade solution where they will be able to conduct multiple trade related transactions with exten-sive reporting features as well as notifi cations.

As excess liquidity remains in the Omani marketplace result-ing in lower lending rates for cor-

porates, National Bank of Oman evolves its product off ering to ac-commodate the growth in the cor-porate space. Open platform, host-2-host solutions have now become sought after for customised solu-tions in Oman for government en-tities and large companies to lever-age on these enhanced platforms. The bank is looking at other value add features for 2016.

Commenting on the awards, Sayyid Wasfi bin Jamshid Al Said, DGM, deputy head of wholesale Banking Group at National Bank of Oman said, “Transaction bank-ing at National Bank of Oman is clearly distinguishing itself in the market as the service provider of choice. We have been able to achieve unrivalled levels of trust with our clients by taking time to understand their specifi c needs and issues, identifying gaps in ad-

dressing them and then off ering tailored solutions that are cost ef-fective and enable higher levels of operational effi ciencies capable of providing competitive advantages for large corporations in the Sul-tanate. We are at the forefront of designing highly relevant prod-ucts and services for the business community supported by heavy technology investments and out-standing people and we are de-lighted to receive such prestigious recognitions.”

The Asian Banker Transaction Banking Awards is the most rig-orous, prestigious and transpar-ent annual awards programme recognising leadership in the cash management, trade fi nance and payments industries among in-ternational fi nancial institutions in Asia Pacifi c and in the last two years has grown to include the Middle East & Africa.

The Transaction Banking Awards evaluate bank’s achieve-ments in cash management, pay-ments, and trade fi nance. The winners for these awards are de-termined through a combination of surveys, interviews and fi eld research by The Asian Banker’s research staff .

A stringent three-month evalu-ation process based on a balanced and transparent scorecard was used to determine the winners.

In 2015, National

Bank of Oman

transaction banking

business experienced

growth in both cash

management and

trade fi nance, with

19 per cent growth in

revenue and over a

30 per cent increase

in the fee income

Kia remains strong on Interbrand’s listMUSCAT: Kia remains strong on Interbrand’s 2015 list of 100 Best Global Brands.

“We are proud to announce that Kia stands proudly at num-ber 74 on the international brand consultancy Interbrand’s 2015 list of 100 Best Global Brands. Kia has demonstrated strong performance as a global brand, making Interbrand’s exclusive list for Best Global Brand for the fourth consecutive year. Despite the unfavourable economic envi-ronment of the past year, Kia has sustained a brand value increase of 5 per cent, growing to an esti-mated value of $5.7 billion. This value is an outstanding 530 per cent growth since 2007,” said a spokesperson.

Interbrand attributes this re-markable growth to Kia’s dedi-cation towards ‘excellent design, high quality and innovative brand management in the global mar-kets’. Kia has also earned a num-ber of other accolades this year.

“Earlier this year, we were honoured with No. 1 position among mass market brands in J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Study (IQS), while the Soul EV, our fi rst globally sold electronic vehicle, was crowned Car of the Year in Norway and Best Eco-Friendly Vehicle via MotorWeek’s 2015 Drivers’ Choice Awards,” the spokesperson added.

Indeed, at the end of the day,

Kia cares for the smiles on the faces of its customers. And what better way to pay tribute to its loyal customers than by dedicat-ing the latest accolade to them.

A favourite of customers in Oman, Kia’s exciting and ena-bling range includes the Picanto – a fresh and vibrant car to turn up the colour in life; the Rio - a smartly styled car that makes ab-solutely no compromises; the Cerato, to help anyone step into the good life; the Cerato Koup- a car in tune with one’s emotions; refreshed Optima the car with sporty stance & style that conveys confi dent individuality; Cadenza, a car that attracts and reassures with its innovative attention to detail; Kia Soul – gives the free-dom to express personality and to connect with an urban life-style; Sportage – for appeal that’s ahead by many miles; Carens - a car that lets one live life to the full; Sorento - an SUV built for urban living; Mohave – that puts one at the peak of performance; Carni-val - an elegant all-in-one tool that makes one’s life a whole lot easier; K- 4000G - A highly polished work horse and of course Kia’s new game changer, the Quoris, that pushes the horizons of its seg-ment by inviting drivers to experi-ence what we call ‘New Luxury’, a breakaway and brand new take of what it means in modern terms – feature rich technology.

7 4 T H P O S I T I O N

BankDhofar set to celebrate 45th National Day with digital contestMUSCAT: As the nation cel-ebrates the 45th National Day, BankDhofar has launched a digi-tal competition that provides a platform for the public to express their love for His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said through creative designs and arts work.

Participants are required to de-sign a picture or produce a short video clip to express the nation’s love for His Majesty the Sultan and the spirit of the 45th National Day, says a press release.

Sami Omar Al Zadjali, head of Marketing and Corporate Com-munications at BankDhofar, said: “This competition aims to provide a platform to express love and ap-preciation for His Majesty the

Sultan and the nation’s pride of the tremendous achievements over the past 45 years.

“We started receiving entries on October 22 and will continue to accept participations through No-vember 18. Entries should be de-signed by participants themselves and should have two hashtags: #We_Love_Qaboos and #BankD-hofar. Participants should follow the offi cial BankDhofar Instagram page and can submit their entries directly through a private message along with full name and Omani ID or resident card number.

“Only shortlisted entries will be posted on our Instagram page. Ten entries will be shortlisted to win valuable cash prizes that range

between OMR100 and OMR1000, and winners will be selected based on the number of likes.”

Earlier this year BankDhofar organised an exhibition as part of its We-Love-Qaboos initiative. The bank had also released a mu-sical album in love of His Majesty the Sultan. The album contained a selective collection of Omani musical tracks in a folkloric style representing traditional Omani musical styles of Razha, Rabuba, Bu Zalaf, Bara’a and Madar. Avail-able on BankDhofar YouTube channel, the album was produced and recorded by Omani artists to express the high-spiritedness and joy prevailing over the Sultanate in this occasion.

E X P R E S S I N G L O V E T O H I S M A J E S T Y

IHE Sohar celebrates 6th anniversary

MUSCAT: International Heavy Equipment (IHE) celebrated their 6th anniversary combined with their fi rst customer meet exclusively for customers from Batinah region, recently at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, which saw a large turnout of industry cus-tomers and their interaction with many of the IHE Principal repre-sentatives and IHE team.

More than 150 customers at-tended the event, where they had a chance to see all the products in the IHE portfolio. They inter-acted with more than 20 diff er-ent manufacturer principals who attended the event, which gave them fi rst-hand experience about diff erent products.

IHE had a display of the lat-est trucks range from the Re-nault and Volvo including Prime

movers, transit mixers, concrete pumps and tippers.

The display also included a wide range of equipment includ-ing Bobcat skid steer loaders and Telehandler, Ausa dumper, Ko-belco excavator with Montabert breaker, Jungheinrich forklift, Hi-Force hydraulic tools, Hesh-bon lifts and other garage equip-ment and tools.

AwardsThe event kicked off in the even-ing with a welcome address to the attendees, followed by presenta-tion of appreciations awards to key customers, video presenta-tions and a raffl e draw in the end.

A team of highly experienced sales and service personnel from IHE, along with representatives from the manufacturers, were

present at the show to advise and support customers with their que-ries. The event also provided the perfect opportunity for the brand principals to interact one-on-one with industry customers in Sohar.

“The event was a huge success with more than 150 customers attending and interacting with the manufacturer representa-tives. Considering the success of this fi rst initiative, we plan to make this an annual event in Sohar. Everyone who attended the event really enjoyed the time they spent with the IHE team and principals representatives,” commented Khamis Al Shidi, branch manager, IHE Sohar.

IHE is a one stop solution for trucks and equipment, catering to the needs of diff erent indus-trial sectors.

C U S T O M E R M E E T

MB Holding’s drive safe campaign to ensure safety of school students

MUSCAT: As part of its ongo-ing eff orts to highlight the impor-tance of safe driving practices in the community, MB Holding group have launched a drive safe campaign across all schools in the Wilayat of Bausher.

This campaign has been sup-ported by the Traffi c Safety Com-mittee in Bausher, led by Sheikh Muhanna bin Saif bin Hamad Al Ma’awali, wali of Bausher and oth-er members and stakeholders such as Dr Humaid bin Salem Al Hajri, adviser at Muscat Education Di-rectorate, says a press release.

As part of this agreement be-tween MB Holding group (includ-ing Petrogas E&P, MB Petroleum Services and MB Holding Co.) and the committee, 26 school buses that serve the wilayat of Bausher have been equipped with safety standards and systems.

These include In-Vehicle Moni-toring System (IVMS) instru-ments, reverse parking sensors and shoulders that alert drivers while students are getting in or out

of the buses. In addition each of these buses

has been painted in a standard uni-versal colour and have drive safe messages on its exterior.

Commenting on the initiative, which cost almost OMR30,000, Al Maawali said that the aim of this initiative is to ensure that highest standards of safety for students travelling in school buses and rais-ing the level of awareness and con-sciousness of not only the drivers but also citizens at large who get exposed to these messages.

“MB Holding group also pro-vided schools with a monitoring system that enables the school management to detect the loca-tion of the bus and its route dur-ing the school hours. This device will help the school management to remain aware of the reasons behind any delay in bringing stu-dents to school or taking them back home,” he added.

Eng. Mohammed bin Salem Al Busaidi, member of Shura Coun-cil for the wilayat, said that this is

one of the community service pro-jects that targets school students and citizens at large. The project enhances awareness of the impor-tance of abiding by traffi c rules and regulations by the students, bus drivers and road users. The pro-ject also uses a standard colour – the orange yellow on the exterior, used by most schools in diff erent parts of the world. The aim of this standard colour is to alert road us-ers of the school buses and make it easy to identify such buses from a distance. It also holds drivers accountable for the safety of stu-dents in the buses.

Said Al Jabri, director corporate

operations, MB Holding, said: “As a corporate, we are committed to the highest standards in HSE and supporting communities within which we operate.

“This is our support to the gov-ernment’s endeavour of inculcat-ing safe driving practices amongst its citizens. We have partnered with several schools in the past in the capital region. We are de-lighted for the initiative, support and encouragement we received from the Traffi c Safety Committee throughout the conception, plan-ning and implementation of this campaign. We want to impart safe driving habits to our citizens from

a young age so that when they start driving, they will emulate the same on the roads. Our motto is to try and make the roads in Oman safe!”

Sayyid Nasser bin Salem Al Bu-saidi, member of the Traffi c Safety Competition at the wilayat, said that the aim of this initiative is to ensure safety of students.

“School bus drivers are thus re-quired to show full cooperation and abide by traffi c safety rules and regulations. I am sure they are aware of the importance of this and the key role they play in en-suring the safety of our children. They are also required to be famil-iar with handling any safety issues

while driving. They should also re-port any instances that endanger students’ safety and security and should be quick in decision mak-ing to safeguard the lives our dear kids,” he added.

Ali bin Hamoud Al Raqadi, a bus driver from Dohat Al Adab School, stated: “This initiative is a posi-tive step in the right direction and personally I am fond of it. I wish all private sector companies would follow the footsteps of MB Holding Group and provide utmost support to student traffi c safety initiatives. I wish all school buses would be provided with rear cameras to al-low drivers to see the area behind the buses.”

Abdullah bin Mohammed Aw-lad Thani, who agreed with Ali, said: “The colour has made the school buses unique and easily identifi able from a distance. This initiative will not only enhance the safety and security for school stu-dents but also promote these very relevant messages to citizens of the Sultanate.”

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Grand Mall gears up to celebrate National Day

MUSCAT: To mark the occasion of the 45th National Day, Muscat Grand Mall (MGM) is celebrating in style with special décor, decora-tions, performances and activities.

For the month of November the mall exterior will be adorned with festive lights, fl ags and a portrait of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin

Said to observe the joyous occa-sion. Also part of the festivities, local and traditional bands and musicians will be performing every Friday during the month of November.

Commenting on the planned festivities, Hassan Jaboub, general manager of Muscat Grand Mall,

said: “On behalf of Muscat Grand Mall and our patrons, we extend our sincere greetings and best wishes to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said and the people of Oman on this jubilant occasion. We are proud to pay tribute to 45 years of his wise and benevolent leadership.”

“For the past 45 years His Maj-esty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has led the people of Oman to build a nation of prosperity, dignity and prestige. It is a great honour to participate in the celebrations to mark this momentous day in our history,” he added.

In addition to performances and activities, Muscat Grand Mall will also be running the popular

‘Shop & Win’ campaign, follow-ing the success of the promotion earlier this year. Under the promo-tion running between November 1 and December 31, customers are eligible for the Shop & Win cou-pon for every OMR20 purchase at any store within Muscat Grand Mall. With every coupon shoppers will have the opportunity to win a grand prize of four Chevrolet Cru-ze cars, which will be given away to lucky winners through draws.

MGM is Oman’s most dynamic shopping destination. It is the fast-est growing lifestyle hub in the Sultanate, off ering choice and con-venience for shoppers and resi-dents, as part of a combined leisure experience.

In addition to performances and activities,

Muscat Grand Mall will also be running the

popular ‘Shop & Win’ campaign OAB inks home fi nance

pact with Badr Group

MUSCAT: Oman Arab Bank (OAB) has recently entered into home fi nance agreement with Badr Real Estate Group, Dhalia Project.

Yasser Abdul Kareem, general manager of Badr Group, and Ra-shad Jaff ar Al Shaikh, deputy general manager of Retail Bank-ing Group, representing the bank, signed the agreement at the bank’s head offi ce in Al Ghubra North, says a press release.

Rashad Al Shaikh, DGM of Re-tail Banking Group, said: “We are pleased to sign this agreement with Badr Group, Dhalia Project, and to off er our customers easy access to home fi nance in order to help them have their dream homes. The bank off ers fi nance facilities with attractive inter-est rates and fl exible repayment terms for our clients.”

Dhalia Project of Badr Group is conveniently located at the heart of a vibrant area, featuring prime residential units. It is at a short drive from the main malls in the Sultanate and within easy reach of the beach and Qurum Natural

Park. Dhalia Project comprises spacious one, two or three bed-rooms apartments that will have the private use of a garden and swimming pool, all designed to provide a living space suiting to today’s lifestyles with high qual-ity fi nishing and fi ttings.

Constructed on an elevated ground near an active commer-cial area, and overlooking Sih Al Maleh Road, it represents one of the most exciting develop-ment projects.

It is worth mentioning that the bank has previously signed two agreements with the same group in two diff erent projects, Badr Al Hamra and The Links, executed by Badr Real Estate Group.

OAB provides home fi nance for all types of completed or under construction real estate projects, in the form of long-term loans, covering up to 80 per cent of the property value, with repayment period of up to 25 years. The cus-tomer will also have the option to defer the principal instalments from 12 to 18 months for under construction projects.

E A S Y A C C E S S

Meet top Indian real estate developers at Oryx MUSCAT: Top developers will be present at Times of India’s biggest Oryx property show being held on October 30 and 31 at Holiday Mus-cat, Al Khuwair.

This is an innovative event held annually with India’s premium developers with years of legacy in the real estate business. Launch-ing many attractive deals for their projects at the upcoming show, the organisers will ensure customers will be able to meet the real estate fraternity with a Pan Indian pres-ence that make your dreams come true, says a press release.

The international property show is the leading consumer event in Oman making it a perfect platform for providing buyers and investors with a ‘one-stop shop’ opportunity to capitalise and take advantage from the best property deals in India.

Customers can meet and in-teract with India’s top real es-tate developers who have the means and desire to offer and showcase the finest property and upcoming projects designed to your requirement.

Properties from diff erent states

and major cities in India will be showcased at the exhibition. Both commercial and residential pro-jects will feature in the exhibition. Property developments, which will be showcased at the property show, will be known for their latest technological advancements and new construction trends.

The expo will help the Indian expatriates in the Sultanate to get fi rst-hand information about the latest trends in the real estate sec-tor. This is a rare opportunity as internationally known companies are coming under one roof.

P R O P E R T Y S H O W

Jamia Millia alumni to mark Foundation Day on October 30MUSCAT: Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) alumni in Oman is organ-ising its 95th Foundation Day celebration on October 30 at the Chancery Auditorium, Embassy of India.

Indra Mani Pandey, ambassador of India, will be the chief guest for the event. The special guest for this event will be a Jamia alum-nus RJ Naved, famous for his association with Radio Mirchi. The event will be attended by dis-tinguished guests and eminent personalities of Oman apart from Jamia alumni residing in Oman, says a press release.

Jamia Millia Islamia was found-ed on October 29, 1920 during the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movements in response to Gan-dhi’s call to boycott government supported educational institu-tions by Shaikhul Hind Maulana Mahmud-ul Hasan, Maulana Mo-hammed Ali, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Dr Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, Abdul Majeed Khwaja, Dr Zakir Hus-sain. Jamia Millia Islamia became a central university by an Act of Parliament in 1988 vide the Jamia Millia Islamia Act 1988. Tufail Ah-mad, a JMI alumnus, said: “There is sizeable number of JMI alumni in Oman and like many places around the world, we celebrate Jamia Foundation Day here too. Jamia is not only an institution where one gets education and degree rather it is a place which creates a feeling of brotherhood and togetherness. This function will provide an op-portunity for the Jamia alumni in Oman to come closer to each other. I have come across many instances wherein a Jamia alumni, who lands in a new place, fi nds it homely after meeting Jamia alumni here.”

Preparation is underway for the event. A choir of singers is busy practising Jamia ‘Tarana’ which will be sung with live music on the stage. Bollywood songs and Ghaz-als will also be sung with live mu-sic by Jamia Alumni Tariq, Imti-yaz and others. Entry to the event is by invitation only.

C E L E B R A T I O N

There is sizeable

number of JMI alumni

in Oman and like many

places around the

world, we celebrate

Jamia Foundation

Day here too. This

function will provide

an opportunity for the

Jamia alumni in Oman

to come closer to

each other

Tufail AhmadJMI alumnus

MELC doctors participate in Spain forum

MUSCAT: Doctors from Mus-cat Eye Laser Centre (MELC) were invited to present and share the latest information and tech-niques in ophthalmology at the XXXIII Congress of the European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) recently held in Barcelona, Spain.

Dr Maria Clara Arbelaez, Medi-cal Director, MELC along with Dr Juan Guillermo Arbelaez, Cor-nea and Refractive Surgeon, ac-tively participated in the four-day Congress presenting papers and scientifi c posters related to new treatments for keratoconus and presbyopia as well as latest ad-vances in refractive surgery, says a press release.

The ESCRS Congress is Eu-rope’s leading organisation for cat-aract and refractive surgeons and is at the forefront of developments in anterior segment surgery.

Dr Maria Arbelaez’s inclusion in a roster of top-fl ight present-

ers from around the world attests to her standing as a recognised expert in the fi eld of cornea and refractive eye surgery. Signifi -cantly, the ESCRS off ered yet another platform for Dr Maria to showcase her research work on the cutting-edge of refractive eye surgery. Over a career span-ning two decades, the highly re-spected surgeon has undertaken a number of research initiatives that have contributed to a better understanding and development of advanced surgical techniques.

On the other hand, Dr Juan Arbelaez came into the limelight

for conducting ground breaking corneal transplant procedure – DMEK, in Muscat earlier this year that very few doctors around the world can undertake.

Descemet Membrane En-dothelial Keratoplasty is a revo-lutionary procedure that involves precise replacement of the dis-eased part of the cornea (instead of the entire cornea) that is non-intrusive and off ers perfect to near perfect vision post surgery with a reduced recovery period.

“Like all medical fi elds, it is ex-tremely important for doctors in the ophthalmology fi eld to be in touch with the latest in technology and stay abreast of developments in the industry. ESCRS provides the perfect platform for profes-sionals in the fi eld to showcase their work, share knowledge and gain understanding from other doctors’ perspectives that will ulti-mately help us pass on the benefi t to our patients,” Dr Arbelaez said.

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

New restaurant Ramsa Cafe opens in RuwiMUSCAT: The residents and ex-ecutives in the Muscat Business District (MBD) have a new place to dine in as Ramsa Cafe, a new restaurant opened recently and is set to become the snazziest venue in Ruwi and for good reason.

With a contemporary and styl-ish design the restaurant is situ-ated on Al Jami Road, on the same street with Muscat Securities Market and Home Centre.

Mansoor Mohsin Al Lawati, managing director of Al Rosha Group, had this to say about the venue: “Ramsa Cafe also has a menu that goes far beyond your typical Arabic continental restau-rant and lounge. We recruited and worked very closely with a former

Hard Rock Cafe Chef from India to develop items that span the traditional to the more adventur-ous with fusion elements in much of our menu, we strongly recom-mend our unique twist to the ever famous dynamite shrimps, not to mention our selected Omani cuisine and a unique mocktail

beverages menu. We’ve taken eve-rything into account ... Ramsa also boasts an exclusive woman and family section.

“The entire lounge is fi tted to the rim with high defi nition televi-sions, free WIFI and power banks for the more busier white collar executives in the area who can’t

do without their phones. Few es-tablishments off er live entertain-ment, this is something we are certainly planning for and we will soon surprise patrons as we’ve invested heavily in our entertain-ment infrastructure. Ramsa also off ers free delivery and corporate catering for the business strata in the area.’’

Mansoor and Al Rosha Group is an innovative entrepreneurial group focused in hospitality, food and beverages established in 1984 known for their unique approach to bespoke hospitality brands such as Al Rosha Restaurants, Chowpatty and Spaloon; Oman’s only male grooming centre situ-ated in Qurum.

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Scotland’s Ker goes two clear at Ghala OpenMUSCAT: Ted Innes Ker rode on a fl awless front nine to seize the early momentum on the opening day of the MENA Golf Tour’s Gha-la Open on Monday. The Scotsman made a solid start, going four un-der after his fi rst seven holes.

He bogeyed the 11th but re-bounded with two more birdies to end the day a good two shots ahead of a four-man group, which in-cluded Morocco’s Faycal Serghini, as Karim El Hali, also of Morocco, hit the front along with England’s James Allan in the amateur divi-sion at two-under.

One of the early starters, Serghini mixed four birdies, in-cluding three coming home, with two bogeys en route to a three-under 69 where he was joined by Scotland’s Clarke Lutton, Stuart Archibald of England and Spain’s

Sixto Casabona-navarro. England’s Lee Corfi eld, a three-time winner on the MENA Golf Tour, led the six-man chasing pack three shots off the pace as seven players, in-cluding Spain’s Gabriel Canizares, shared 12th place on one under.

“I had a good day with my long game. I hit a lot of fairways and greens in regulation, creating a plenty of scoring opportunities.

On front nine, I couldn’t capi-talise on them, but made most of them coming home,” said Serghini, who made the turn at level par. “Overall, it was a good day.

Just hope to keep the momen-tum going all the way through,” said the 38-year-old from Casablanca, who, however, has taken an out-right lead in the MENA Division, two clear of his compatriot El Hali. England’s Archibald was equally

pleased. “I am hitting the ball great, but didn’t make many putts. I was four under on front nine, but had just one birdie against two bogeys on back nine. When I putt well, I score well,” he said.

Lutton played pretty steady golf most of the day. “It feels nice to turn in a good score in the end,” said Scotsman, whose round was highlighted by an ‘off -the-road’ ea-gle on the par-5, fourth,” said Lut-ton, the winner of the Golf Citizen Classic at The Els Club.

El Hali picked up three shots on his last two holes, including an eagle on the 17th, to join Allan atop the amateur division leader-board at two-under, one clear of England’s Elliott Oxlade. Allan, who turned 21 last week, made fi ve birdies and three bogeys, playing the last three holes at two over. “It

was quite a mixed round, but very pleased with the way I fi nished,” said the Englishman, who current-ly leads the Order of Merit.

Elsewhere, Zane Scotland re-turned a 76 after playing outward nine holes at one over to slip well down the leaderboard while Swe-den’s Christofer Blomstrand, who won the last week’s event at Mus-cat Hills, returned a 75.

Azzan posts decent 75Top-ranked Omani golfer Azzan Al Rumhy led the home challenge with a decent 75. Fresh from com-peting in the Nomura Cup in Abu Dhabi, Azzan started with a fl our-ish, going two under after his fi rst three holes, but fi ve bogeys there-after he meant he fi nished the day at three over, fi ve off the pace in MENA Division for amateurs.

M E N A G O L F T O U R

GOOD START: Karim El Hali of Morocco in action on the opening day

of the Ghala Open. He emerged joint leader in the amateur division

along with England’s James Allan. – Supplied photo

Pakistan snatchvictory in Dubai

DUBAI: Pakistan overcame bel-ligerent resistance from England’s tail-enders to win the second test by 178 runs on Monday after bowl-ing out Alastair Cook’s men for 312 with just 6.3 overs remaining.

Victory put Pakistan 1-0 up in the three-game series and main-tains their record of never having lost a series in their adopted home of the United Arab Emirates.

Starting the fi nal day on 130 for three and chasing an unlikely 491 for victory, England slumped to 193 for seven after lunch.

Adil Rashid (61) and Stuart Broad (30) then added 60 in 90 balls before the latter was bowled by an inswinging Wahab Riaz yorker.

Undeterred, Rashid and Mark Wood (29) were adroit in defence as Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq switched between pace and spin to try to end their resistance.

His team’s appeals grew more desperate as the overs ticked by and the game entered the fi nal hour with two wickets remaining.

Seven fi elders crowded the bats-men and the pressure told when Wood edged Zulfi qar Babar’s turn-ing ball to Mohammad Hafeez in the gully. Five overs later Rashid was last man out, caught attempting a drive through the covers off Yasir Shah.

Earlier, Joe Root and Jonny

Bairstow extended their overnight partnership, repelling the threat of paceman Wahab who had engi-neered England’s match-defi ning collapse in the fi rst innings.

However, the England pair proved less able to deal with the spin of Zulfi qar (3-53) and Yasir (4-87). Root (71) was fi rst to fall after edging Zulfi qar to Younus Khan. The slip snaffl ed the ball a fraction above the turf to reduce England to 157 for four. Misbah turned up the heat by positioning helmet-clad fi elders at silly point and short-leg to accompany two slips.

Bairstow initially read the spin

well, lurching forward to pad the ball away and getting on his heels to defend, before he was clean bowled for 22 by a Yasir googly.

Jos Buttler continued his poor form, edging Yasir Shah to You-nis Khan at slip on seven, and Ben Stokes was removed for 13 when his wayward drive off paceman Im-ran Khan went to Misbah-ul Haq at slip. That brought Rashid and Broad together and they scored freely.

Rashid brought up his maiden Test half-century with a scram-bled single but ultimately it proved in vain. Sharjah will host the fi nal Test from November 1. - Reuters

Victory put Pakistan

1-0 up in the three-

game series and

maintains their

record of never

having lost a series in

their adopted home

of the United Arab

Emirates

Pakistan 1st innings: 378 (Misbah-ul-Haq 102, A. Shafi q 83, Y. Khan 56, S. Masood 54) England 1st innings: 242 (J. Root 88, A. Cook 65; W. Riaz 4-66, Y. Shah 4-93) Pakistan 2nd innings: 354 for 6 decl. (Y. Khan 118, Misbah-ul-Haq 87, A. Shafi q 79, M. Hafeez 51) England 2nd innings:A. Cook c Riaz b Shah 10M. Ali c Y. Khan b I. Khan 1I. Bell c Y. Khan b Babar 46J. Root c Y. Khan b Babar 71J. Bairstow b Shah 22B. Stokes c Misbah b I. Khan 13J. Buttler c Y. Khan b Shah 7

A. Rashid c Babar b Shah 61S. Broad b Riaz 30M. Wood c Hafeez b Babar 29J. Anderson not out 0Extras (b-12, lb-4, nb-5, w-1) 22Total (all out, 137.3 overs) 312Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-19, 3-121, 4-157, 5-163, 6-178, 7-193, 8-253, 9-308, 10-312Bowling: I. Khan 14-4-41-2 (nb-1, w-1), W. Riaz 25-4-78-1 (nb-4), Y. Shah 41.3-15-87-4, S. Malik 10-2-37-0, Z. Babar 47-23-53-3Umpires: Bruce Oxenford and Paul Reiff el TV umpire: Chris Gaff aney Match referee: Andy Pycroft Result: Pakistan won by 178 runs

S C O R E B O A R D

JUBILANT: Pakistan’s cricket players celebrate after dismissing

England’s Adil Rashid to win the second Test in Dubai. – AFP

STUBBORN RESISTANCE IN VAIN: England’s Adil Rashid played a stubborn innings but failed to save

the day for his team. – Reuters

Herath spins Sri Lanka to series win against WindiesCOLOMBO: Rangana Herath picked up four wickets while spin partner Milinda Siriwardana took three as Sri Lanka defeated West Indies by 72 runs on the fi fth day of the second and fi nal Test on Monday to win the series 2-0.

West Indies, who lost the fi rst Test in Galle by an innings and six runs, were all out for 171 in the second session as their wait for a fi rst win in the format in Sri Lanka continues.

The tourists made a bright start in their chase of 244 but their hopes of a series-levelling win dimmed after losing three quick wickets to the spinners in the morning, with batting mainstay Darren Bravo (61) the only one to off er some resistance.

“It was a hard-fought win, our bowlers were under constant pres-sure because our batsmen didn’t deliver,” Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said at the presenta-tion. “I never had doubts about my bowlers. Rangana Herath has enough experience... He showed his masterclass at the end.”

West Indies resumed on 20-1 after rain washed away the fi nal session on the third day and the entire fourth day’s play and looked in fi rm control of their chase. Shai Hope, who was unbeaten during the weather disruption, and Bravo started positively, taking the at-tack to the spinners, and added 60 for the second wicket.

Mathews turned to all-rounder Siriwardana to break the stand and the left-arm spinner did ex-actly that by dismissing Hope in his fi fth delivery.

Hope danced down the wicket to the bowler but the ball spun enough to beat his bat and result-ed in an easy stumping for wicket-keeper Kusal Perera.

Out-of-form Marlon Samuels (six) survived several nervous moments before falling to Dilru-wan Perera with Mathews com-pleting a sharp catch at slip.

Siriwardana, who was ad-judged man of the match for his all-round performance, claimed his second wicket when Jermaine Blackwood (four) was out leg be-fore with West Indies quickly slumping from 80-1 to 102-4.

Blackwood challenged the um-pire’s decision but failed to over-

turn the decision. Left-hander Bravo handled the spinners well with some positive footwork and completed his 13th fi fty in Tests with three fours and two sixes.

Herath, who was targeted by Bravo and hit for two consecutive sixes, got in on the act after lunch by dismissing wicketkeeper De-nesh Ramdin (10) and Bravo in the same over to banish any hopes of a West Indies victory.

“As a spinner and a bowler, we got to take responsibility,” Herath said after being adjudged the man of the series for his 15 wickets in

two Tests. “As a bowler you might get hit for three or four sixes. I don’t mind. At the end we took them out.” The wily left-arm spin-ner also dismissed Jerome Taylor (1) and then returned to take the fi nal wicket of Kemar Roach (13).

West Indies captain Jason Holder rued the lack of patience from the team’s batsmen.

“We got to look at our games. We just got to be a bit more pa-tient,” Holder said. “Everytime we came under little pressure from the Sri Lanka bowlers, we succumbed to it.” - Reuters

T E S T S E R I E S

CONVINCING WIN: Sri Lankan cricketers pose with West Indian cricket legend Garfi eld Sobers,

centre, and former Sri Lanka cricket captain Michael Tissera after their victory in the Test series

against West Indies at the P. Sara Oval Cricket Stadium in Colombo. – AFP

Sri Lanka 1st innings 200 (M. Siri-wardana 68; J. Warrican 4-67) West Indies 1st innings 163 (D. Prasad 4-34) Sri Lanka 2nd innings 206 (K. Brathwaite 6-29) West Indies 2nd innings:K. Brathwaite lbw b Prasad 3S. Hope st K. Perera b Siriwardana 35D. Bravo c Mathews b Herath 61M. Samuels c Mathews b D. Perera 6J. Blackwood lbw b Siriwardana 4D. Ramdin c Mathews b Herath 10J. Holder lbw b Siriwardana 7K. Roach lbw b Herath 13

J. Taylor c Siriwardana b Herath 1D. Bishoo run out 0J. Warrican not out 20Extras (b-3, lb-1, nb-6, w-1) 11Total (all out, 65.5 overs) 171Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-80, 3-97, 4-102, 5-124, 6-125, 7-133, 8-136, 9-138, 10-171Bowling: D. Prasad 10-2-38-1 (nb-1, w-1), N. Pradeep 3-0-11-0 (nb-1), R. Herath 19.5-3-56-4, D. Perera 20-4-37-1, M. Siriwardana 13-1-25-3Umpires: Simon Fry and Rod Tucker TV umpire: Marais Erasmus Match referee: David Boon Result: Sri Lanka won by 72 runs

S C O R E B O A R D

RICH HAUL: Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath celebrates one of his four

wickets on the fi nal day. – Reuters

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Stars launch preparations for Road to Oman in Dubai

MUSCAT: The stars of the Eu-ropean Challenge Tour are in Dubai this week making use of the world class facilities at the Jumeirah Golf Estates Europe-an Tour Performance Institute (ETPI) as they prepare for a fi nal push on the 2015 Road to Oman Rankings ahead of next week’s season-ending NBO Golf Classic Grand Final at Almouj Golf, The Wave, Muscat.

In addition to competing on Fire course in the one-day ICAEW

Challenge Tour Pro-Am on Wednesday, players including Ri-cardo Gouveia, currently fi rst on the 2015 Road to Oman Rankings, Borja Virto Astudillo (third), Gary Boyd (sixth), Jens Fahrbring (sev-enth) and Rhys Davies (eighth) will be working hard at the ETPI and benefi ting from some expert ad-vice from special guest, swing bio-

mechanics expert Jean-Jacques Rivet, who will also be passing on some of his knowledge to Director of Instruction Mark Gregson-Wal-ters and his team at the ETPI.

Rivet, who is based at the only other European Tour Perfor-mance Institute in Terre Blanche, France, and recently hosted the UAE National Team on a week-

long training camp, commented: “I will be biomechanically screen-ing the Challenge Tour players and working with them throughout the week and at the same time sharing the techniques we use at Terre Blanche — and on The European Tour — with Mark Gregson-Wal-ters and his team at the ETPI.

“We’ve worked with The Eu-

ropean Tour frequently over the years but this will be the fi rst time we’ve worked with the next gener-ation of stars from the Challenge Tour so I’m very much looking for-ward what promises to be a great programme with these excellent players and coaches.”

Gregson-Walters added: “I’m looking forward to working clos-er with Jean-Jacques and keen to learn the biomechanics tech-niques that he has pioneered.”

Julian Small, Managing Direc-tor, Club Operations, Jumeirah Golf Estates, said: “We’re very proud of our European Tour Per-formance Institute and we hope the players will benefi t from pre-paring for next week’s season-ending NBO Golf Classic Grand Final with us.

“We’re also delighted to have Jean-Jacques Rivet here this week, his knowledge and exper-tise in the fi eld of biomechanics will prove invaluable, both to the players and to our ETPI team.”

Nick Tarratt, Director European Tour International Dubai Offi ce, concluded: “This initiative will be an incredibly positive experience for all involved and will give the players a chance to utilise some of the best facilities in the world as well as benefi ting from Jean-Jacques Rivet’s expertise as they prepare for next week’s season-end-ing NBO Golf Classic Grand Final.”

The stars of the

Challenge Tour will

be using Jumeirah

Golf Estates European

Tour Performance

Institute facilities

ahead of next week’s

season-ending

NBO Golf Classic

Grand Final GEARING UP: From left, Mark Gregson-Walters, Director of Instruction at ETPI, Ricardo Gouveia, cur-

rently fi rst on the 2015 Road to Oman Rankings, European Tour player Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Mi-

chael Armstrong FCA, Regional Director of ICAEW Middle East, Africa and South Asia, Julian Small,

Managing Director of Club Operations at Jumeirah Golf Estates and Nick Tarratt, Director of European

Tour International Dubai Offi ce, at the Jumeirah Golf Estates. – Supplied photo

‘It’s about time cricket comes to Pakistan stadiums’

ISLAMABAD: It is about time cricket is revived in Pakistan, said a daily which noted that India and Pakistan have not played a bilater-al Test series after the 2008 Mum-bai terror attacks.

An editorial “All is not lost” in The Nation on Monday said that a meeting between India and Pa-kistan’s cricket board chiefs in Mumbai was recently cancelled after Shiv Sena stormed the Indian board (BCCI) offi ce.

“The cricket arch-rivals have yet to agree the fi rst of six proposed series between 2015 and 2023, and luck is not on their side. India and Pakistan have not played a bilater-al Test series since 2007, after the Mumbai attacks,” said the daily.

India was due to play two Tests, fi ve One-day Internationals and two Twenty20 Internationals this year in the UAE, where Pakistan play their home Tests because of security concerns.

Pakistan Cricket Board chief Shahryar Khan has recently threatened to boycott the World T20 matches which would surely devastate many fans.

The editorial said that cricket witnessed a ‘comeback’ with the Zimbabwe series and “your aver-age fan dared to hope that there would be more cricket at home”.

“But sadly the Pakistani peo-ple can only enjoy the great mo-ments witnessed in these matches through television, whereas the stadiums in UAE stand empty.

When Pakistan and England opened their Test series in Abu Dhabi last week, only 54 peo-ple watched the fi rst day at the 20,000-capacity Sheikh Zayed Stadium, while numbers picked up towards the end of the match.”

It, however, added that “all is not lost as the Pakistan-England se-ries has been an adrenaline fueled event so far”.

The fi rst match was written off because it looked destined to be a draw on a super fl at pitch, but became a desperate eff ort to stay alive in the dying stages.

After 1,121 runs and 17 wickets in the fi rst two innings of an ex-traordinarily slow-burning con-test, the fi rst Test in Abu Dhabi all but exploded into a fi reworks fi nish, as England fell agonisingly short of glory.”

Younis Khan broke Javed Mian-dad’s record of 8,832 runs in Test matches, becoming the fi rst Paki-stani batsman to reach 9,000 runs.

“Overall the team eff ort and per-formance is commendable. It is about time cricket comes home to the stadiums and fi elds so that the sport may be revived in the coun-try where so many avid fans are waiting,” said the daily. - IANS

C R I C K E T

Pink ball can revive Test cricket: WaughMELBOURNE: Former Australia captain Steve Waugh says cricket-ers need to look at the bigger pic-ture when it comes to day-night Test cricket, believing the format could be the saving grace of the longer form of the game worldwide.

Players including Adam Voges, Peter Siddle and Tom Latham ex-pressed concerns over the deteri-oration of the pink ball in last Fri-day’s Prime Minister’s XI versus New Zealand clash on an abrasive pitch at Canberra’s Manuka Oval.

But Waugh believes the poten-tial for day-night scheduling to transform Test cricket, particu-larly in countries where crowds and interest are fl agging, is too great to ignore.

“I think it’s a great initiative for cricket. Test cricket is withering away in a lot of countries.

“Australia and England are the only two places where people come to watch Tests, so we have to stimulate excitement and get peo-ple watching again.

“Once we play one (day-night) Test people will go, ‘What were we worried about?’,” Waugh was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au on Monday. “People want to see a little bit of change.

“Sometimes it’s hard for players to understand that, but sometimes you’ve got to see the bigger picture for the good of Test cricket,” the batting great added. “It might not be a perfect ball, it might discol-

our a bit and it might be tough for batsmen for some portion of the match, but it’s been that way for one-day cricket since it started.

“There’s always been that twi-light area after tea where the

lights are not quite perfect, but you just get on with it.”

Waugh, 50, has been a long-time supporter of day-night Tests, say-ing the idea had been discussed during his eight years on the Mar-ylebone Cricket Club’s World Cricket Committee.

“That was one of the things we were pushing for probably 10 years ago.

“I think it’s needed. Not so much in Australia, where we have good crowds, but in a lot of other countries where the Test match crowds are basically non-existent, you need to ignite the interest and the passion and I think day-night cricket will do that,” Waugh, who played 168 Tests and 325 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) between 1985 and 2004, said.

“I remember when World Series cricket started, I was a young kid and I was that excited to go and see a day-night game with a white ball.

“We need that sort of thing hap-pening in Tests.” - IANS

B I G G E R P I C T U R E

People want to see a little bit of change. Sometimes

it’s hard for players to understand that, but

sometimes you’ve got to see the bigger picture

for the good of Test cricket

Steve WaughFormer Australia captain

OMAN WIN TWO MORE MEDALS AS SECOND GCC GAMES CONCLUDEOmani athletes won

two medals, a silver

and a bronze, as cur-

tains came down the

second GCC Games

in the Saudi Arabian

city of Dammam on

Monday. According

to the information re-

ceived here, the Sul-

tanate’s 4x400m re-

lay squad bagged the

silver medal while

Ahmed Al Awaisi won

a bronze medal in the

decathlon competi-

tion. The two medals

helped Oman to com-

plete their engage-

ments with a total of

29 medals. — ONA

C3

SPORTST U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

We have to look at ‘process’ to get results, says Indian captain Dhoni

MUMBAI: Once again harping on the “process” after India’s embar-rassing 214-run loss against South Africa in the fi fth and fi nal ODI, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni insisted that issues need to be ad-dressed soon to get the national cricket team in order.

After allowing South Africa to post 438 for four, the highest conceded ever by India in ODIs, the hosts were shot out for 224 in 36 overs and Dhoni admitted the team is in a tough spot.

“I know India is more about result, but at the same time you won’t always get the results if you are not looking into the process. It’s a tough situation,” Dhoni said in the post-match press confer-ence here last night.

“But at the same time we are looking for solution. We have to try a few other things, because if you are doing the same thing, you will get the same result,” he ex-plained further.

Clinching the fi ve-match rubber 3-2, Proteas registered their fi rst-ever bilateral ODI series in India, which comes straight after their 2-0 triumph in the three T20s.

“We have to look at the larger (longer) picture. (Otherwise) may be you will win a series here and there. But to be consistent you have to have a settled team. To a lot of extent our team does not look to be that settled,” Dhoni said candidly.

The Ranchi star has been criticised for making quite a few changes in the batting order, but defended his strategy and said he had done it to fi nd out the best so-lution to diff erent situations the team would be facing.

“You have to look at the venue, what kind of wicket is provided and accordingly you have to make changes. I have made a few chang-es in the batting order to see what

gives more strength to our batting order, what looks like a very good composition when you are chas-ing. All these things you have to study.”

He also declared that Stuart Bin-ny, who fi gured in only one game of the 50-over rubber, remained the best seam-bowling all-rounder while left-handers Axar Patel, who played in four out of fi ve, and the axed Ravindra Jadeja were the country’s best bets as spin bowling all rounders.

“We will keep talking we don’t have seaming all rounders.

We have tried Stuart. People have criticised that also, but if you look at all-rounders in India, who is your best seaming bowling all-rounder — it’s Stuart Binny and the two best spinning all rounders Ravinder Jadeja and Axar Patel.

“Whether you like it or not these are our best seaming and spinning all-rounders and we have to make the best out of them,” he emphasised.

Lighter side“We have been struggling with the seaming all rounder. We feel our lower order batting is slightly on the lighter side when we play against good fast bowlers. Actually it puts lot of pressure on the top six batsmen, if you lose one or two early wickets then you have only three or four batsmen to play with as you can’t rely too much on your lower order.

“We have to fi nd ways to see the best bowling composition for us, but at the same time not at the cost of being too light when it comes to bating. We have to address these problems,” Dhoni noted.

“The good thing is we have time in our hand, but we have to fi nd individuals who can fi t into those slots and they have to start doing well. There are a few areas of con-

cern. We have to fi nd individuals who can handle playing pressure of international cricket. And once they are successful the job will be-come slightly easier,” the limited-overs skipper added.

He also defended the move to have medium pacers Mohit Shar-ma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who conceded 84 and 106 runs yester-day, in the playing eleven.

“We have tried going for fast bowlers who can bowl quick, but realised they are giving away more runs and we are better off playing with people who are more into their line and length. Ideally Mohit should be your third seamer, but you have to mix and match as to who is your death bowler, who can bowl middle overs and who is your new ball bowler.

“We have tried a lot of diff erent fast bowlers, who have not done really well for us. But at the same time when they go back and play Duleep Trophy or Deodhar Trophy or IPL, they are the ones who have done well.

“I think there’s a bit of diff erence between top fi rst class cricket and international cricket. Overall we are off and on. We are lacking a bit of consistency when it comes to death bowling. There are days where we have done really well and there have been matches when we had given away lot of runs in the last ten.”

He also joked that the perfor-mance by the bowlers yesterday was so pathetic that he would not count it as “bad” even.

“Today they had good partner-ships and the wicket was on a fl atter side. I thought may be with spinners, with that extra fi elder outside, we can exploit it, but the wicket was a bit too true to stop the opposition, who were scoring

at a very brisk pace. So it was a dif-fi cult one especially today. I don t count it as a bad performance. It was so bad that I would not count it as bad.”

Asked what went wrong in the series decider, he replied “Yeh sawal aaj mat poocho match me galti kahan hui. Sade charso run ke aaspaas bane hai aur aap poochte hain galti kahan hui (Don’t ask me today what went wrong. Close to 450 runs had been scored by South Africa, and you are asking this),” to peals of laughter from the media persons.

“Kuch catches choote hain (some catches were dropped), we bowled a bit short in the beginning and gave width to the batsmen. Up to 20-25 overs we were in some control but once they accelerated 10-12-15 runs an over were scored. 438 or 440 is a very diffi cult target to chase.

“We have chased up to 350, but even ten runs above that and pres-sure builds up. I remember at Ra-jkot we made 413 (414) after Sri Lanka made 413 (411) and won by 1 or 2 runs) (in December, 2009), but the ground was diff erent and the attacks were similar.

“They batted very well here. We wanted to go for it and decided to give ourselves some time to build up partnerships and the overall plan was to bat 50 overs. Some-times it happens and at other times it does not,” he added.

He also felt that the wicket was very good for batting while agree-ing to a suggestion that in India even in ODIs tracks with some turn should be prepared.

“The wicket was true and it was a very good batting wicket, no turn on off er for spinners. Our fast bowlers, yes they can swing the ball, but when it is fl at they are not

ones who can push the opposing batsmen on the back foot and even when they are fast they don’t have the bounce as they don’t hit the deck hard.

“Our strength is entirely diff erent. If you look on this wicket, everyone has gone for runs, which is rare. There was not really much on off er for our spinners or fast bowlers.

That was the reason once the partnerships (two century stands)

happened and they looked to ac-celerate, it was very diffi cult to stop the boundaries.

“They (centurions Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis and A B de Vil-liers) were playing the big shots. All strategies were used by us but there are days when it does not work. When the wicket is so true and if you have that kind of part-nership, it is very diffi cult to stop the opposition.” - PTI

After allowing South

Africa to post 438

for four, the highest

conceded ever by

India in ODIs, the

hosts were shot out

for 224 in 36 overs

and Dhoni admitted

the team is in

a tough spot

I think there’s a bit of

difference between

top first class cricket

and international

cricket. Overall

we are off and on

M.S. DhoniIndia captain

DUBAI: India might have lost the One-Day internation-al (ODI) series against South Africa but skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has climbed up two rungs to the sixth place in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) bats-men rankings released on Monday. Dhoni now holds an 11-point advantage over his teammate Shikhar Dhawan.

The jump for India’s limited overs skipper was due to some of his scores which included an unbeaten 92 runs and an innings of 47.

There were also gains for Rohit Sharma (up three places to 12th) and career-high gains for Ajinkya Rahane (up 11 to 27th). Right-handed batsman Rahane scored 247 runs during the lost series.

A number of Proteas bats-men have improved their rankings. Skipper AB de Vil-liers retains his number one ranking, and is now 96 points clear of India vice-captain Vi-rat Kohli in second place, after scoring three centuries (104 not out, 112 and 119) in fi ve matches. Hashim Amla has dropped three places to fi fth.

There is a career high jump of seven places for Faf du Plessis who is in joint 10th place with wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock who has vaulted 13 places after scor-ing 318 runs in the series, including 103 and a match-winning 109 in the decider.

South African Farhaan Be-hardien moved up 12 places to 76th. In the bowlers rankings, Australia’s Mitchell Starc has returned to the top spot as Imran Tahir has slipped four places in the top 10.

Dale Steyn has dropped

one place to sixth, although Morne Morkel has climbed three places to eighth, and is now six points behind Mitch-ell Johnson, after claiming seven wickets for 132 runs in three matches.

Indian off -spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has dropped a place to 10th, while a number of other bowlers have made signifi cant gains across both series including Axar Patel (up 19 to 28th), Amit Mishra (up 13 to 32nd), Afghanistan’s Dawlat Zadran (up 69 to a career-high 34th), Mohit Sharma (up four to 44th). Young Proteas pace-man Kagiso Rabada has risen 58 places to a career high 49th after being the joint leading wicket-taker in the series alongside Steyn with 10.

There were career high placements for Afghanistan duo Mirwais Ashraf (up 10 to 56th) and Hamza Hotak (up 56 to 84th).The all-rounder list is unchanged with Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan continuing to lead the way on 418 points.

The ODI series win has helped South Africa retain their third position but has reduced second ranked In-dia’s advantage to two points.

The Proteas went into the se-ries on 110 points, fi ve adrift of Dhoni’s men, but AB de Villiers’ side fought back after conced-ing early ground to clinch the series in a dramatic fi nal game on Sunday in Mumbai.

Meanwhile, as a consequence of the 2-3 home series defeat against Afghanistan, Zimbabwe have stayed in 10th place, a fraction ahead of Ireland, with Afghanistan one more point behind following their historic series victory. - IANS

Indian skipper climbs two places in latest ODI rankings

Enjoyed bowling to Dhoni: RabadaMUMBAI: Looking back at the fi ve-match ODI cricket rubber, rising South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada termed his one-on-one battle with Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the of opening contest in Kanpur as his best display of the series.

South Africa clinched the series 3-2 after humbling India by 214 runs in Mumbai yesterday, but it all started at Green Park, where the visitors sneaked past Dhoni’s side by 5 runs.

Sharing the new ball with pace spearhead Dale Steyn, Rabada bagged two wickets and got the dangerous Dhoni caught and bowled for 31 in the fi nal over to deny India victory in Kanpur.

“The one that I really enjoyed was the fi rst game (at Kanpur on October 11). It was pressure situ-ation against MSD.

I had not bowled to him (be-fore), but I knew what he was capable of doing and the amaz-ing things he had done in the past. That gave me quite a bit of confi dence, pulling that one (vic-tory) out in that type of situation,” said Rabada after the conclusion of the fi fth and fi nal ODI at the Wankhede Stadium.

Rabada was brought on to bowl against World Cup winning cap-tain Dhoni in the last over of the game when India were within smelling distance of overhauling South Africa’s 303 and sent him back with a return catch before dismissing Stuart Binny off the next ball to halt the hosts’ charge

at 298. The victory allowed the visitors an early lead and made India do catch-up over the fi rst four games.

The 20-year-old fast bowler, seen by many as the future of SA’s fast bowling lot in future grabbed

a superb 4 for 41 yesterday, said team eff ort helped his country notch up its fi rst-ever victory in a bilateral series in India.

“It was great team eff ort in all the games. It was tough coming to play in India. We had not won

a series here and made history to-day. India bounced back in Chen-nai. We knew today was a game of great magnitude. We came out with great intent,” he said.

“It was a great series and it was great playing against experienced and magnifi cent players. It was a titanic battle.”

Rabada, who matched senior fast bowling partner Steyn in pace, aggression and wicket haul (10) in the series, said that on the fl at deck with some bounce he tried to bend his back to extract some life. “I thought all the seam-ers bowled very well. There was a bit of bounce. I tried to bend my back a bit more, put extra pace. It looked a pretty fl at wicket and needed to generate energy to the ball.”

He said currently his thoughts were not towards participat-ing in the cash-rich Indian Pre-mier League which, though he did not rule out the possibility in the future.

“My mind is not on IPL, mind is on winning series. It will be great to play IPL, something I want to do in future when it comes,” said the youngster, who admires the skills of Steyn, Australians Mitch-ell Johnson, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne and England’s Jim-my Anderson.

“I have a long way to go in my career. I am going to keep prepar-ing well and make sure I can do better. I will push myself and will also be asking questions (to other bowlers),” he added. - PTI

C R I C K E T

SENSATIONAL PACER: South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada said the

moment he cherished a lot was bowling to Dhoni under pressure

situation in Kanpur. – AFP

C4

SPORTST U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

ewis Hamilton’s life has changed gear just as fast as the Mer-cedes he drives on the

Formula One racetrack. This time last year he had only one world championship to his name and now he has three, a career dream come true as he pulls level with his boyhood idol, the late Brazilian great Ayrton Senna.

The fi rst Briton to take back-to-back titles, and only his country’s second triple champi-on after Jackie Stewart in 1973, Hamilton is living life in the fast lane like never before and loving it. “It’s hard to get the balance of life right but I’ve got a mega balance now,” says the 30-year-old.

“It’s awesome and it couldn’t be better. I’m having the most fun outside (Formula One) and the most fun inside.”

The United States, where Hamilton spends much of his downtime with friends from the music industry and Hollywood, was a fi tting place for the fi rst black world champion to clinch his triple crown. The multi-racial boy from an underprivileged background is now a man who keeps up with the Kardashians, hangs out with Rihanna and attends fashion shows with other regulars of the celebrity gossip pages. Happy to fl aunt his millions and the trappings of success, he is also reaching out to new audiences.

Only he, when asked how the sport could create more enthusiasm in urban black America, could talk about karting with black kids and describe being overtaken as “like seeing myself come by”.

The fi erce and sometimes bitter rivalry with German team mate Nico Rosberg, who took last year’s title battle right down to the fi nal race, has been replaced by something close to dominance. Formula One’s commer-cial supremo Bernie Ecclestone, Hamilton’s 84-year-old compatriot who has known most of the sport’s world champions since the 1950s, could not have asked for more.

Fantastic job“He does a fantastic job, a better job in my opinion outside the car than inside the car,”

We had the crappiest little box trailer. I feel very proud.”

Hamilton could have taken the crown in his sensational 2007 debut season, losing out to Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen by a single point after a stormy year at McLaren, but he did it the next year to become the youngest ever champion at 23. Five seasons of frustration, albeit with plenty of wins, followed as com-patriot Jenson Button triumphed for Brawn and then Sebastian Vettel took four titles in a row for Red Bull.

He was once seen as over-controlled by McLaren group boss Ron Dennis, but Ham-ilton’s move to Mercedes allowed him to be-come his own man, even if not everyone is a fan of his fashion sense.

“Until this year, I cared what people thought and tried to live to people’s own ex-pectations rather than my own,” he said in September after sporting a new dyed blond look. “But I turned 30 over the winter and I have really got to a point in my life where I am comfortable in myself...I am more at ease within my job, within my skin and with how I drive and where I stand.”

Emulates SennaAn ‘overwhelmed’ Hamilton hoped to inspire others with his achievements, just as Ayrton Senna has fi red his imagination as a boy, after celebrating the greatest day of his career with a third Formula One world title on Sunday.

“I’m just overwhelmed at the moment,” the Briton told reporters after equalling the num-ber of titles won by the late Brazilian. “It’s diffi cult really to fi nd the words. I remember my fi rst British championship where my dad and I drove home singing ‘We are the Cham-pions’... and you know it’s just crazy to think that now I’m a three-time Formula One world champion.”

Emulating the great Brazilian, who died in 1994 at the San Marino Grand Prix, has been an ambition ever since he watched him rac-ing on television as a boy. The young Hamil-ton would come home from school and put on a tape of Senna’s fi nest moments, dreaming of one day doing something similar. - Reuters

Born: Stevenage, England. January 7, 1985 (29-years-old)Hamilton’s paternal grandfather emigrated to England from the Caribbean island of Gre-nada and worked for the London Underground transport system. His full name is Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton. The name Davidson was taken from his grandfather, who drove a school bus in Grenada.His parents divorced when he was two. Father Anthony worked for the railways while mother Carmen worked for the local council. He fi rst sat in a go-kart on a family holiday in Ibiza when he was three. He started karting seriously when he was eight years old.Hamilton was a winner in every category of kart-ing, taking his fi rst British title by the age of 10, and joined McLaren’s young driver programme in 1998. He was European Formula A kart cham-pion in 2000, with current Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg runner-up.The Briton won the 2003 Formula Renault UK title with 10 race wins, the 2005 Formula Three Euro series with 15 wins and the 2006 GP2 championship, following on from Rosberg.Hamilton made a sensational F1 debut with McLaren in 2007, aged 22. In his opening race in Australia he fi nished third, was second in the next four races and then won the sixth and seventh races in Canada and the United States.His run of 2007 podiums ended after nine in a row and he ended the season second overall with four wins, one point behind champion Kimi Raikkonen.In 2008, Hamilton won the title, aged 23 years and 301 days. At the time he was the youngest ever world champion and he took the title in thrilling style with an overtaking move on the last corner of the last lap of the last race in Brazil.In 2009, Hamilton fi nished fi fth overall. He was fourth in 2010, fi fth in 2011 and fourth in 2012. He then moved to Mercedes for the 2013 season on a three-year contract.Hamilton won 11 races in 2014 to Rosberg’s fi ve, becoming the most successful British driver of all time in terms of race wins.In 2015, he won the opening race in Australia and has led ever since. Along the way, he passed his boyhood hero Ayrton Senna’s career tally of 41 wins and has now equalled the late Brazilian’s haul of three titles. He is the fi rst British driver to win back-to-back F1 titles.

FACTBOX

Loving life in the fast lane

said Ecclestone, who has criticised champi-ons in the past for not selling the sport suf-fi ciently to a wider public. “What he does for us, for the sport, is incredible.”

Hamilton, by his own admission, sticks out like a sore thumb in Formula One. He may rub shoulders with the rich and powerful, Russian President Vladimir Putin handing him a winner’s trophy only two weeks ago, but nothing in his background suggested he was destined for such fame and fortune.

The private jet, the garage full of luxury sportscars, the clunky gold chains and dia-mond ear studs are the visible rewards.

But Hamilton never forgets that he grew up in social housing, sleeping on his father’s sofa on a Stevenage council estate.

With money tight, and his parents divorc-ing when he was two, father Anthony held down multiple jobs to fuel the passion for karting that his son fi rst discovered on a low-cost family holiday to Spain.

When Hamilton came home from school, he would put on a video of Senna and dream. “I wanted to be like him. I aspired to one day drive the way he drove, and achieve some-thing similar to what he achieved,” he re-called last month before equalling Senna’s tally of 41 race wins.

“At the time, I felt that if I could get any-where close to doing anything similar to him I would be super-proud of myself. That is what I set my sights on all those years ago.”

The grandson of a Grenadian who emi-grated from the West Indies to work on the London underground rail system, Hamilton owes everything to his talent -- even if Mer-cedes and McLaren spotted it early on and bankrolled his progress.

Most successful“Who would ever have thought it of us Ham-iltons turning up at the track in the fi rst year in karting, the only black family there?” Ham-ilton recalled last year when he became the most successful British driver in terms of race wins.

“It was almost like everyone thought ‘what are they doing here?’ It was so funny.

The first Briton to

take back-to-back

titles, and only his

country’s second

triple champion

after Jackie Stewart

in 1973, Hamilton

is living life in the

fast lane like never

before and loving it

C5

SPORTST U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

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ISM cruise to 76-run victory over ISWK

MUSCAT: Indian School Mus-cat (ISM) eased to a 76-run victory over Indian School Al Wadi Al Kabir (ISWK) in a Khimji Ramdas-spon-sored Under-19 match at the Munic-ipality Ground I here on Saturday.

Winning the toss and batting fi rst, ISM put on 262 for seven in 40 overs with Prathyush Sivaku-mar top scoring with 111 runs. Issac Jonathan contributed with 55. For ISWK, Brijesh took two wickets.

ISM then bowled out ISWK for 186 in 34.4 overs. Ivan Manjila top scored for ISWK with 93. Tejesh claimed four scalps for ISM.

Brief scores: ISM 262 for 7 in 40 overs (Prathyush Sivakumar 111, Issac Johnathan 55; Brijesh 2/32) bt ISWK 186 in 34.4 overs (Ivan Manjila 93, Tejesh B. 4/31). Points: ISM - 2, ISWK - 0.

SLSM breeze past ISD In an Al Turki Enterprises-spon-sored Under-16 B Division match, Sri Lanka School Muscat (SLSM) defeated Indian School Darsait (ISD) by 79 runs.

Batting fi rst, SLSM posted a

mammoth 214 for fi ve in 25 overs. Hashan played a good knock of 46 while Yoshitha, Yazid and Pathum scored 31, 34 and 32 respectively.

SLSM completed their bonus point victory by restricting ISD to 135 for eight in 24 overs. Moham-med Moin top scored for ISD with a steady 58. Yasid Makoon was the best SLSM bowler on the day with fi gures of three for 23.

Brief scores: SLSM 214 for 5 in 25 overs (Hashan Saranga 46) bt ISD 135 for 8 in 24 overs (Mohammed Moin 58; Yasid Makoon 3/23). Points: SLSM - 3, ISD - 0.

ISWK down ISN In an Al Turki Enterprises-spon-sored Under-16 Division match, ISWK defeated ISN by 77 runs.

Batting fi rst, ISWK posted a mammoth 271 for six in 25 overs. Rohan Koshy smashed an unbeaten 150. ISWK then completed the bo-

nus point win by restricting ISN for 145 for nine in 20 overs. Shofi ullah Fahad top scored for ISN with 25.

Vishu Gopalakrishnan and Ro-han Koshy were the best ISWK bowlers on the day taking three and two wickets respectively.

Brief scores: ISWK 271 for 6 in 25 overs (Rohan Koshy 150 n.o.) bt ISN 145 for 9 in 20 overs (Shofi ullah Fahad 25; Vishnu Gopalakrishnan 3/15, Rohan Koshy 4/26). Points: ISWK - 3, ISN - 0.

MCCC A beat MCCC BIn an Under-13 Division match, MCCC A defeated MCCC B by eight wickets.

Batting fi rst, MCCC B posted 116 for eight in 20 overs. Jeet Oalal top scored with an unbeaten 35. M. H. Wajiullah was the best MCCC A bowler with fi gures of two for 26.

MCCC A completed their bonus point victory by scoring 120 for

two in just 10.1 overs. Arhan Ran-jan tops scored with 43.

Brief scores: MCCC B 116 for 8 in 20 overs (Jeet Oalal 35 n.o.; M.H. Wajiullah 2/26) lost to MCCC A 120 for 2 in 10.1 overs (Arhan Ranjan – 43). Points: MCCC A - 2, MCCC B - 0.

GCC down MCCC C In an Under-13 B Division match, GCC defeated MCCC C 104 runs.

Batting fi rst, GCC posted 246 for three in 20 overs. Rayyan Ghani played a fantastic knock of 134. GCC completed their bonus point victory by restricting MCCC C to score 142 for seven in 18 overs.

Kamlesh Reddy top scored for MCCC C with 49. Rayyan chipped in with two wickets for GCC.

Brief scores: GCC 246 for 3 in 20 overs (Rayyan Ghani 134) bt MCCC C 142 for 7 in 18 overs (Kamlesh Reddy 49; Rayyan Ghani 2/33). Points: GCC – 3, MCCC C - 0.

SLSM win against BOC In an Under-13 Division match, SLSM defeated BOC 57 runs.

Batting fi rst, SLSM posted 210 for two in 20 overs. Opening part-ners, Devin and Dian, scored with 58 not out and 76 respectively. SLSM completed their bonus point victory by restricting BOC to 153 for eight in 20 overs. Rajan K.K. top scored for BOC with 60. Ravindra Sanjaya was the best SLSM bowler with fi gures of three for 24.

Brief scores: SLSM 210 for 2 in 20 overs (Devin Geemeth 58 n.o., Dian Shanuka 76) bt BOC 153 for 8 in 20 overs (Rajan K.K. 60; Ravindra Sanjaya 3/24). Points: SLSM – 3, BOC - 0.

Batting fi rst, ISM put

on 262 for seven in

40 overs. ISM then

bowled out ISWK for

186 in 34.4 overs

UNBEATEN 150: Rohan Koshy. GOOD SHOW: Rayyan Ghani.

UNDER-13 B DIVISION: GCC team after their victory over MCCC C. – Supplid photos

TAISM to organise SAISA swimming championships

HI inducts Coorg Hockey as 28thassociate member

MUSCAT: The American Inter-national School of Muscat ( TA-ISM) is gearing up to organise the South Asian International Sports Association (SAISA) Swimming Championships at their school event this weekend.

Druing the three-day event, which will start on Thursday, the school will be hosting 200 talent-ed swimmers from the interna-tional schools from South Asain nations.

Each of the seven participating

schools, including hosts TAISM, will be fi elding 30 swimmers in the age group of 14 to 19.

Besides the hosts, the other participating schools are Ameri-can International School of Chennai (India), American In-ternational School of Dhaka (Bangladesh), American School of Bombay (India), Karachi American School (Pakistan), Lincoln School Kathmandu (Ne-pal) and Overseas Schools of Co-lombo (Sri Lanka).

BANGALORE: Hockey India on Monday introduced Hockey Co-org as an associate member from Karnataka.

Karnataka will now boast of two units, as Hockey Karnataka is a permanent member, accord-ing to a release.

P.E. Kalaiah will be the presi-dent of Hockey Coorg, which be-comes the 28th associate mem-ber of HI.

Karnataka has traditionally been a major contributor to the sport and Hockey Coorg’s prima-ry functionality will be to manage the large talent pool in its area that has produced some great players like B.P. Govinda, Arjun Halappa, A.B. Subbaiah and M.P. Ganesh.

A few of the current players donning the national cap from Coorg are V.R. Raghunath, S.V. Sunil, S.K. Utthappa, Nikin Thim-miah and Nithin Thimmaiah.

With the formation of Hockey Coorg, the region can now partic-ipate in the National Champion-ships as a separate team.

“I am delighted to welcome Hockey Coorg as an associate member of Hockey India,” HI Secretary-General Mohammed Mushtaque Ahmad said.

“With the formation of this new unit, I am confi dent that we will be moving towards a formida-ble talent pool who only are going to help us carry forward the lega-cy and honour of the sport.” - IANS

T H R E E - D A Y E V E N T

D E L I G H T E D

OOC offi cials to attend

ANOC meeting in US

MUSCAT: The Oman Olympic Committee (OOC) will take part in the General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committee (ANOC) scheduled to be organised in Washington D.C.

from October 29 to 30. The Sul-tanate’s delegation to the meeting will comprise OOC chief Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Zubair and Secretary-General Taha bin Sulaiman Al Kishry.

T W O - D A Y S E S S I O N

Cruyff thanks emotional support since lung cancer diagnosisAMSTERDAM: Johan Cruyff says the outpouring of support since he confi rmed he was suff er-ing from lung cancer have been emotional and heart warming but the leaking of the news disap-pointed him.

“I’m enormously proud of the appreciation that has been evident from all the reaction to the news,” the Netherlands’ most famous footballer wrote in his weekly newspaper column on Monday.

He cited the orchestrated ap-plause for him in the 14th minute of matches across the Dutch league this weekend while at his old club Barcelona players wore special t-shirts ahead of Sunday’s league game against Eibar, bear-ing the words ‘Anims Johan’ — Catalan for ‘Get well soon Johan’.

Cruyff famously wore the No. 14 jersey throughout his colour-ful career with Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Feyenoord and the Dutch national team.

Spanish media broke news of the 68-year-old Cruyff ’s condi-

tion on Thursday, not long after he had consulted doctor in Bar-celona, where he lives. He was forced to confi rm his diagnosis hours later.

“Now comes the waiting,” he

wrote of the next step in the fi ght against the disease. “It was really disappointing that it leaked out because the only thing that I know right now is that I have lung can-cer. Nothing more.” - Reuters

F O O T B A L L

ORCHESTRATED APPLAUSE: Barcelona’s Neymar, right, and Luis

Suarez wear T-shirts supporting Dutch football great Johan

Cruyff before their La Liga match against Eibar at the Camp Nou

in Barcelona on Sunday. – AFP

C6

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Kerala Blasters under pressure against Pune

PUNE: Kerala Blasters FC will be under huge pressure to arrest their slide as they take on FC Pune City in a Hero Indian Super League (ISL) clash here on Tuesday.

Kerala have lost three suc-cessive matches and picked up just a point from their last four matches. They started well with a win against NorthEast United FC but since then have spiralled downwards. Coach Peter Taylor believes his team has the where-withal to spring back into conten-tion for a place in the semifi nals.

“It’s disappointing but things like that happen. You have to stay strong because nobody is going to give you the next result,” Taylor said in a release.

“I am very disappointed with our recent run. It’s not good enough to lose three matches on the trot. We have to look now to win the next game and that’s what we have to do,” Taylor said.

Kerala appeared to have enjoyed an upper hand against Zico’s FC Goa at the Nehru Stadium in Goa and even took the lead. But defen-

sive mistakes meant Goa punished them with goals from set-pieces.

Despite the goals, Kerala Blast-ers created enough chances to take away something from the game but the absence of a genu-ine goal-scorer hurt last year’s ISL fi nalists.

They will surely not have an easy run against Pune, who are eager to comeback strong after a 1-2 away defeat at the hands of Chennaiyin FC.

“Kerala are a good side and we now have to think about that game, and how we are going to take three points from there,” said Pune coach David Platt.

Platt feels there is no home advantage in the ISL and the ad-vantage is the number of days rest a team gets between matches. Pune’s rivals, Kerala, would have enjoyed a day’s extra rest, but Platt did not have any complaints.

“Fixture list is the fi xture list. Sometimes you have fi ve days, six days, seven days and sometimes just three days. It’s the same for every club,” said Platt. - IANS

I S L

Arsenal fi ned

£60,000 over

Chambers deal

LONDON: Arsenal have been fi ned £60,000 ($92,052) and warned about their future con-duct for breaching agent regu-lations when signing Calum Chambers from Southampton in July 2014.

The FA said in a statement on Monday that authorised agent Alan Middleton and unlicensed agent Philip Ercolano were both involved in the deal.

The transfer fee was undis-closed by the clubs but media reports at the time put it at £15 million for defender Chambers who now has three England caps.

“Alan Middleton has also been warned as to his future conduct and sanctioned for breaching the FA’s football agent regulations in relation to the same matter,” the FA added.

Middleton has been fi ned £30,000 and given a suspended ban of three months. Arsenal travel to Sheffi eld Wednesday for a Capital One Cup fourth-round tie on Tuesday. - Reuters

F O O T B A L L

Barbs fl y across ‘the ditch’ before Wallabies-All Blacks fi nalMELBOURNE: Australia’s ad-vance to a fi rst World Cup fi nal matchup against the All Blacks triggered an exchange of verbal barrages from salivating fans and pundits on both sides of the Tas-man Sea on Monday.

The Antipodean nations have long shared a passionate rivalry across various sports, with New Zealand generally the underdogs and keen to show up ‘big brother’ across ‘the ditch’.

In rugby, however, the All Blacks have dominated in all but a few of their matches against the Walla-bies over the past decade.

Often ranked one and two in the world, the teams’ failure to meet in

the fi nal of the global showpiece has been one of the more curious anomalies of the game.

So the prospect of the ultimate clash for four years of bragging rights whipped the media in both countries into a frenzy.

“Motivation can’t possibly be a problem for the All Blacks this week. A World Cup fi nal should be more than enough in itself,” New Zealand Herald columnist Gregor Paul wrote. “But it’s against Aus-tralia — who in rugby terms at least are little brother. It’s against Aus-tralia — who at times in the past decade have been a nauseating mix of over confi dence and under per-formance.”

Hot favourites Bookmakers have installed the defending champion All Blacks as hot favourites to go back-to-back, and the Wallabies will have grim

memories of their last encounter, a thrashing at New Zealand’s Eden Park fortress.

But Australia’s past World Cup winners were convinced Michael

Cheika’s side could tear up the form guide.

“Argentina’s scrum put us through the wringer, but Aus-tralia’s defence was outstanding,” Wallabies great Michael Lynagh said in quotes published by The Australian newspaper on Monday.

“Australia is one of the few teams (that can win), Australia can beat New Zealand, this is a huge opportunity.”

John Eales, captain of Austral-ia’s 1999 World Cup-winning side, was also backing an upset.

“They’ve peaked at the right time,” the former Wallabies lock told Fox Sports. “This team’s got one song sheet and they’re all sing-

ing from it. They’ve been singing from it all year.”

Australia are one of only a few sides to deny the All Blacks com-plete dominance of world rugby in recent years and though most New Zealand scribes tipped a win for the champions, there were signs of a grudging respect.

“The fi nal will be a better con-test for Australia’s presence,” Chris Rattue wrote in the New Zealand Herald.

“They specialise in guile, where-as Argentina are still too gullible to match it with the All Blacks.

“But the All Blacks are ready to pounce on the mouse which is roaring.” - Reuters

R U G B Y W O R L D C U P

The Antipodean nations have long shared a passionate

rivalry across various sports, with New Zealand

generally the underdogs and keen to show up

‘big brother’ across ‘the ditch’

UEFA’s Infantino, AFC’s Salman enter FIFA race

ZURICH: UEFA General Secre-tary Gianni Infantino entered the race for FIFA president on Mon-day as Asian soccer chief Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain declared he had also put himself forward.

The surprise announcement from the executive committee of the European soccer author-ity that it was backing Infantino came ahead of the midnight CET deadline for candidates to register nominations for the presidency of world soccer’s crisis-torn gov-erning body. The FIFA election is

scheduled to take place in Zurich on February 26.

FIFA is embroiled in the worst scandal of its 111-year history, the United States having indicted sever-al FIFA offi cials for bribery, money laundering and wire fraud in May.

Swiss authorities are also inves-tigating the decision to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Rus-sia and Qatar respectively.

Earlier this month, FIFA Presi-dent Sepp Blatter and UEFA Presi-dent Michel Platini, who had been favourite to succeed him, were suspended for 90 days pending a full investigation by FIFA’s Ethics Committee.

Platini would not be able to be offi cially named a candidate while under suspension but FIFA has left the door ajar for him to run should he later win an appeal against his ban.

In the meantime, UEFA has opt-

ed to make sure they have a candi-date in the race.

“We are delighted that Gianni has agreed to stand and he knows that he has our full support in his campaign to become FIFA Presi-dent,” said UEFA in a statement.

“We believe that Gianni Infanti-no has all of the qualities required to tackle the major challenges ahead and to lead the organisa-tion on a path of reform to restore FIFA’s integrity and credibility.”

A multilingual lawyer, shaven-headed Infantino joined UEFA in 2000 and has been general secre-tary since 2009.

Scramble for nominationsThe Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said in a statement it had off ered overwhelming support to Sheikh Salman who had assured it “that his campaign will be entirely self-fi nanced”.

The Bahraini, closely allied to Kuwaiti Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah, one of the most power-ful men in the Olympic movement, canvassed opinion from Asian as-sociations last week.

On Saturday, South Africa’s To-kyo Sexwale, a former Apartheid-era political prisoner turned business-man, announced he would stand. A spokesman confi rmed Sexwale had the necessary fi ve nominations.

Former Trinidad and Tobago midfi elder David Nakhid says he has submitted his papers to FIFA, along with former FIFA deputy general secretary Jerome Cham-pagne and Jordanian Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein.

Liberia’s Musa Bility has said he wants to run. His chances suff ered a setback when the Confederation of African Football (CAF) refused to back him, but on Monday the BBC reported that he had the fi ve nominations necessary to stand.

Former Brazil international Zico has been campaigning but has admitted he is struggling to get the backing of fi ve FAs.

Another candidate, South Ko-rea’s Chung Mong-Joon, pulled out of the race on Monday.

A scion of South Korea’s Hyun-dai industrial conglomerate, Chung was banned from the sport for six years by FIFA, after an in-vestigation into the decision to award the 2018 World Cup to Rus-sia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar. - Reuters

While UEFA executive

committee revealed

their backing for

Infantino ahead of the

midnight deadline for

candidates to register

nominations, AFC

chief Sheikh Salman

also declared he had

put himself forward

Gianni Infantino Sheikh Salman Al Khalifa

Muguruza beats Safarova, Kerber downs KvitovaSINGAPORE: Heavy-hitting baseliners Garbine Muguruza and Angelique Kerber brushed aside Czech challengers to make a winning start to their WTA Fi-nals campaign on Monday.

Spaniard Muguruza dis-patched Lucie Safarova 6-3, 7-6 (4) before Germany’s Kerber overcame an error-strewn and unwell Petra Kvitova 6-2, 7-6 (3) in a battle of the lefties in another White Group encounter.

The 22-year-old Muguruza served confi dently, raining down 10 aces, and controlled the base-line exchanges with aggressive strokes on the slower indoor hardcourt at the Singapore Na-tional Stadium.

The world No. 3 from Spain has been in strong form since she lost to Safarova in the quarterfi nals of the French Open,

“I think I’m making better choices...wait for the perfect ball to really attack,” Muguruza told reporters. “You have to be aggres-sive, but in a good way, making good choices.”

Wimbledon runner-up Mugu-ruza broke French Open fi nalist Safarova in the third game of the fi rst set and pressurised her serve throughout a one-sided opening salvo. Safarova broke at the start of the second set but the Spaniard,

who won the biggest title of her career at the China Open earlier this month, broke back in the sixth game as she regained her rhythm.

The Venezuelan-born Mugu-ruza broke the world number nine to love in the sixth game thanks to her heavy ground-strokes and dominated the tie-break from the start.

Revenge runIt was a revenge win after she and compatriot Carla Suarez Navarro lost to Safarova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands in their doubles opener on Sunday.

The day’s second singles lacked the same quality with twice Wimbledon champion Kvi-tova all at sea, off ering up 44 un-forced errors.

A lethargic Kvitova, diagnosed with mononucleosis in August, rallied at the start of the second set to go 3-0 up, only to lose the momentum as world number sev-en Kerber raced 5-4 ahead with a booming forehand down the line.

The German showed nerves as she faltered and lost her serve when trying to close out the match but Kvitova wasted set points at 6-5 as Kerber forced a tiebreak. A wild service return then handed Kerber a winning start to the eight-player championships. - Reuters

W T A F I N A L S

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

DiningSECTIONC L I F E STY L E T U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

S T O R Y P A L L A V I N I G A M | P H O T O S B Y A L I J A N I

When it comes to corn we always stick to the usual corn on the cob or have a few scoops of steaming corn kernels seasoned with butter, salt, and a dash of lemon.

Be it tinned or fresh from the market, there are plenty of creative ways to turn them into mouthwatering dishes. Let’s fi nd some new ways to cook sweet corn.

LIFESTYLEC8 T U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

PHOT

OGR

APH

Y: A

LI J

AN

I

PallaviNigam

Pallavi Nigam completed her

culinary education at ICIF in Italy

and worked as a chef for Grand

Hyatt, Mumbai. She is now based

in Muscat where she writes recipes

and takes cooking classes.

Contact her:

pallavi_nigam@hotmail.com

twitter @pallavizza

pallavizza.com

Who doesn’t love to eat fried chicken? After all there’s

something very special in those hot, crispy deep fried pieces.

But before you start frying them, keep these pointers in mind

Fried Chicken

KITCHENCALAMITIES

SWEET CORN SOUP

You won’t order for this soup from a Chinese restaurant anymore if you follow this recipe. It is easy to make and delicious too.

Ingredients• 2tbsp butter• 1tbsp onion chopped• 1 garlic clove, chopped• 3/4 cups corn kernels • 1 1/2 cup creamed sweet corn • 1 cup milk • 3 cups of water• Salt and pepper

Preparation• Heat butter in a pan, add

onion, garlic sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add fresh corn and water, sauté till corn is soft.

• Add creamed sweet corn, milk, water, salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes.

• Serve hot.

SWEET CORN FRITTERS WITH REFRESHING DIP

This crispy sweet corn frit-ters is easy to make and can be served as a snack. It’s quite popular with children.

Ingredients• 3/4 cup all purpose fl our• 1/2 tsp baking powder• Salt and pepper• 1 egg beaten• 1/4 cup whole milk• 1 tsp vegetable oil• 2 spring onions, thinly sliced• 1 red Thai chilli, chopped• 2 tbsp, chopped cilantro• 250g of sweet cornFor the dip• Few mint leaves• Few coriander leaves

• Few parsley leaves• 2 garlic cloves• 1 green chilli • Juice of 1/2 lime• Salt and pepper

Preparation• Sift fl our and baking powder

together in a bowl.• Make a well in between and add salt and pepper, whisked egg and milk. • Mix together till everything comes together.• Add oil, spring onion, chilli,

cilantro, and sweet corn.• Make small round cakes of

it. Heat oil in a pan, shallow fry, till golden brown.

• For the dip: put everything together in a blender and blend till smooth.

SWEET CORN AVOCADO SALSA

Lime juice combined with avocado and corn makes this salsa go well with plain tortilla chips or spicy chicken tacos. Make just before serving for the best result.

Ingredients• 2 ripe avocados, peeled and chopped• 2 cups sweet corn, boiled• 1 onion fi nely sliced• 1 red bell pepper, fi nely chopped• 1 tomato, deseeded and chopped• 1 tbsp chopped coriander• 1 tsp ground cumin• Salt and pepper• Lime juice• Olive oil

Preparation• To make the best salsa, just mix everything to-

gether in a bowl, and adjust the seasoning.

Who do

someth

But bef

1 When it comes to fried chicken we all love to eat the drumsticks. But slices of chicken breasts if properly breaded and fried can be equally fl avourful.

2 Don’t start breading the chicken straight from the fridge. When you do that the temper-ature of the oil drops and the chicken doesn’t get cook properly. Keep it at room tempera-ture for 30 minutes before frying.

3 If you do not have a deep fryer don’t worry. Use a heavy-bottomed iron skillet as it retains heat better.

4 Never use olive oil for frying as deep frying with olive oil leaves a bitter taste. Go for any vegetable or canola oil.

5 Use tongs to fl ip the chicken a few times. Sometimes if the oil is too hot only the outer layer gets cooked while the inside remains raw. Also do not overcrowd the pan as the breading will become greasy and the pieces wouldn’t turn crispy.

6 Don’t put the fried chicken on a paper towel. It gets soggy after a while. Instead drain the chicken on a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Serve hot.

Struggling with a kitchen

calamity of your own? Want advice? Share

your horror stories and your cooking tips

with swati@timesofoman.com

Screening of Bradley Cooper’s ‘Burnt’ for Chefs

The makers of Hollywood actor Bradley Cooper’s forthcoming comedy-dra-ma fi lm Burnt have planned a special screening of the fi lm for the chefs and food bloggers of Mumbai.In the John Wells directo-rial, Cooper plays the role of Adam Jones, who is a chef and has destroyed his career with drugs and diva behaviour. He cleans up and returns to London, deter-mined to redeem himself by spearheading a top res-taurant that can gain three Michelin stars.

The makers feel such type of subjects don’t come very often and hence thought of holding a spe-cial screening for all the chefs in Mumbai, as it will be a perfect treat for all the gastronomical magicians. “Burnt is a fi lm about a passionate chef, who loves his craft. Holding a special screening for chefs will be like a celebration of talent and craft, of which each of them is equally passionate about,” the spokesperson of the fi lm said in a statement.

“Every chef will be able to relate to the fi lm,” the spokesperson added.The special screening will happen sometime before the release of the fi lm on October 30 in India.

Apart from Cooper, the fi lm also stars Sienna Mill-er, Omar Sy, Uma Thurman, and Jamie Dornan.

I Spoke With PM On Food and Spices: Chef Sanjeev Kapoor Cliched as it may seem for chefs to love their spices, for Sanjeev Kapoor, one of the most celebrated ones on television, that was the topic of an “interesting” discussion when he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and whipped a meal up for him in Abu Dhabi.During Modi’s trip to Abu Dhabi in August, Kapoor was fl own in specially to prepare a vegetarian meal for the strictly vegetar-ian prime minister. “I spent over an hour with the prime minister and we were only talking about food and spices and the treatment through spices. It was in-teresting to discuss with the PM the correct use of spices and the miracles they can do when used correctly,” Kapoor said. Chef Kapoor also eagerly shared an anecdote Modi had related to him. “The PM told me the story of someone he knows, who had a heart issue and doc-tors said nothing could be done to correct it. Then he was advised to empty a cap-sule and fi ll it with freshly ground red chilli. He (Modi) said the man never had a problem after that,” said the chef, recalling his hour-long conversation.-IANS

BR I E FS

LIFESTYLEC9T U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

What better way to start your meal than with a basket full of hot

steamed momos along with a soup of your choice? These dumplings have grown in popularity over the years and the mushrooming of restaurants having them in their menu proves the growing love for these small white pouches.

Steamed or fried, momos come in many forms and are mostly served with a fi ery red sauce. While on a personal note there are several momo memories, the ones that I had in the standalone roadside ki-osks back in my home town in In-dia, mostly owned by immigrant Nepalese, which remain special even today. It used to be an all-time favourite snack on busy days when there was hardly any time to have a proper sit-down meal.

That’s when I learnt in details about momos and what made them the most favoured cuisine in Nepal. Tending the huge steamer in front of us, the Nepalese young man at the counter, in all pride, would talk endlessly about momos and share some of his secrets too.

It was from him that I got to know some interesting facts on momos which was unheard of till then. He disclosed that momos were not just fi lled with vegetables and meat but could also be made as a dessert by fi lling them with choc-olate. And not just that, there were something called momo sizzlers too. While I never got a chance to taste either of them, I knew my love for momos was here to stay.

Years later in Muscat, the search for momos continued and I did fi nd them, not in any roadside shops, but in few select restaurants in town, mostly the specialty Chinese restaurants where they served wontons or dumplings similar to momos. The original steamed mo-mos have been modifi ed over the years, and now can be found in vari-ous options including fried ones with Schezwan and chilli fl avours. So let’s make a meal out of momos. They are steaming ahead.swati@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT MOMO BITESRoyal China, Qurum; +968 2457 1339 China Town, MBD; +968 2482 6521/22/23. Qurum +968 2456 7974Hot Pot, Darsait; +968 2470 0691Zaika Delhi Ka, MBD; +968 2481 7746/9377 7823/9377 7824The Asian, Ghubra; +968 2450 2640Golden Oryx, Rex Road; +968 2470 2266Mamasan, Ghubra; +968 2421 0452Noodle House, Muscat City Centre; +968 2455 8377, +968 2455 8488Shuwa Diners, Jawaharat Shatti (For Chicken Shuwa Momos); +968 2469 9976

NEPALESE MOMO

Servings 4-6

Ingredients Dough for wrappers• 4 cups all-purpose fl our• 1tbsp oil• Water, as required• 1 pinch salt Filling• 1kg lean ground meat (lamb or

chicken)• 1 cup red onion, fi nely chopped• 1/2 cup green onion, fi nely

chopped• 1 cup ripe tomatoes, fi nely

chopped• 3 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped• 1 tbsp fresh garlic, minced• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced• 1/4 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated• 1/2 tsp turmeric• 1 tbsp curry powder, or momo

masala if available• 3 fresh red chillies, minced (or

to taste)• 3 tbsp cooking oil• Salt and pepper

Preparation• In a large bowl combine fl our, oil,

salt and water.• Mix well, knead until the dough

becomes homogeneous in tex-ture, about 8-10 minute.

• Cover and let stand for at least 30 minutes.

• Knead well again before making wrappers.

• For the fi lling in a large bowl combine all fi lling ingredients.

• Mix well; adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper.

• Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour to allow all ingredients to impart their unique fl avours.

• This also improves the consist-ency of the fi lling.

• Give the dough a fi nal knead.• Prepare 1-inch dough balls.• Take a ball, roll between your

palms to spherical shape.• Dust working board with dry fl our.• On the board gently fl atten the

ball with your palm to about 2-inch circle.

• Make a few semi-fl attened cir-cles, cover with a bowl.

• Use a rolling pin to roll out each fl attened circle into a wrapper.

• It is essential that the mid-dle portion of the wrapper be slightly thicker than the edges to ensure the structural integrity of dumplings during packing and steaming.

• Hold the edges of the semi-fl at-tened dough with one hand and with the other hand begin rolling the edges of the dough out, swirl-ing a bit at a time.

• Continue until the wrapper attains 3-inch diameter circular shape.

• Repeat with the remaining semi-fl attened dough circles.

• Cover with bowl to prevent from drying.

• For packing hold wrapper on one palm, put one tablespoon of fi lling mixture and with the other hand bring all edges together to the centre, making the pleats.

• Pinch and twist the pleats to ensure the absolute closure of the stuff ed dumpling.

• This holds the key to good tast-ing, juicy dumplings.

• Heat up a steamer, oil the steamer rack well. This is critical because it will prevent dump-lings from sticking.

• Arrange uncooked dumplings in the steamer.

• Close the lid, and allow steaming until the dumplings are cooked through, about 10 minutes.

• Take dumplings off the steamer and serve immediately.

• Alternatively, you can place uncooked dumplings directly in slightly salted boiling water and cook until done, approximately 10 minutes. Be careful not to over boil the dumplings.

• You may also slightly sauté cooked dumplings in butter before serving.

• To serve, arrange the cooked dumplings on a serving plate with hot tomato chutney or any other dip. -Food.com

MOOD FOR MOMOS

S T O R Y S W A T I D A S G U P T A

McDonald’s Denies Boycotting Thai Fish

Fastfood giant McDonald’s Thai franchise denied that the company is boycotting fi sh from Thailand over the use of slave labour, a media report said on Monday. An image showing a McDonald’s sign with the symbol-ic yellow arch and words, “We don’t use fi sh caught in Thailand by slave labour in our fi sh sandwiches”, has gone viral on social media,

The Bangkok Post reported. McThai Co., the local operator of the fastfood chain, said in a statement that the image is false and it was created through a parody website which allowed people to use offi cial logos and create images with messages of their own.

Three Quick Dishes to Prepare this Diwali

No time to prepare elaborate dishes due to busy schedules this Diwali? Off er easy and quick to make paneer tikka or aloo vada to your stream of guests, says an expert. *Pa-neer tikka: The wholesomeness of paneer satiates the palate and is healthy as well. It takes about 20 minutes to prepare the tasty delight. * Matar chola: The spicy dish gives one a much-needed break from the regular sweet dishes that are a must-have in any festival. Quick to make, it takes just 10 min-

utes to cook and at the same time is the perfect accompaniment to your laddoos and jalebis. * Aloo vada: Stuff ed with potato, the fried food item is a perfect snack to munch on. It takes not more than 30 minutes to prepare it. -IANS

B R I E F SF O O D N O T E

Cage-free? Organic? Local? When purchasing eggs, many people read the carton to help understand how the hens were housed when pro-ducing those eggs. But is the label on the egg carton a good indicator of the hens’ well-being?

The variety of options can make determining the eggs best for you and your family diffi cult. To help support consumer choice and provide information to sort through the confusion, the Coali-tion for Sustainable Egg Supply in the US recently completed a three-year research study. Re-searchers assessed hens’ well-be-ing, egg safety and quality, aff ord-ability, worker health and safety, and environmental impact as el-ements of sustainability in cage-free, conventional and enriched colony hen housing.

What the researchers found might be surprising, with positive and negative aspects associated with each housing system. For instance, while conventional cage housing limits the ability of hens to exhibit natural behaviours, it also has the lowest mortality rate. Conversely, cage-free hous-ing allows hens to nest, perch and even attempt fl ying, though hen

mortality was more than double that of the other housing options researched. By understanding which fi ndings are most impor-tant to them, shoppers can be con-fi dent in choosing eggs that are right for them.

“Hen well-being is an impor-tant aspect of producing eggs, but it should be considered along with many other elements of egg production,” said Darrin Karcher, Extension Specialist in the De-partment of Animal Science at Michigan State University and CSES Project Director. “This re-search allows us to better under-stand how each housing system aff ects not only the well-being of the hens, but a variety of other factors. This is a valuable tool con-sumers, restaurants and retailers can use to make more informed decisions about which eggs are best for them.”

When choosing what’s best for you and your family, whether you prioritise egg cost, hens being able to exhibit natural behaviours, en-vironmental impact or another element of sustainability, making an informed choice begins with understanding which eggs best meet your needs. -Family Features

With Eggs, the Choices are Many

FIND-IT-ALLC10 T U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

CITY CINEMAContact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68. www.citycinemaoman.netfacebook.com/citycinemaoman

SHATTIShaandaar (Romance) (HINDI)(PG)Cast : Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant4:00, 8:45, 11:30 pmThe Little Prince (Animation)(3D)(PG)Voice Overs: Rachel McAdams, Benicio Del Toro, Marion Cotillard2:00 pmThe Last Witch Hunter (Actin)(2D)(PG12)Cast : Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood2:00, 5:45, 9:45, 11:55 pmParanormal Activity: The Ghost Dimen-sion (Horror)- (3D)(15+)Cast : Chris J. Murray, Brit Shaw, Ivy George4:00, 8:00, 10:05 pmWar Pigs (Action, War) (12+)Cast : Luke Goss, Dolph Lundgren2:15 pmThe Martian(3D) (Adventure, Sci-Fi) (PG)Cast : Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig7:30, 11:45 pmMomentum (Action, Thriller) (15+)(2D)Cast : Olga Kurylenko, Morgan Freeman 6:45 pmInfinitely Polar Bear (Drama)( (2D)(PG12)Cast : Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana5:45 pmBreaking Through (Drama)(2D)(12+)Cast : Sophia Aguiar, Jordan Rodrigues4:00 pm

MUSCAT GRAND MALLThe Last Witch Hunter 2D (Action) PG12Cast : Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood2:00, 7:00 & 11:55 pmGold Class : 8:45 & 11:00 pmBreaking Through 2D (Drama | Music) 12+Cast : Sophia Aguiar, Jordan Rodrigues9:30 pmThe Little Prince 3D (Animation) PGVoice Overs: Rachel McAdams11:45 am & 2:45 pm

Shandaar 2D (Romance| Comedy) PGCast: Olga Olga Kurylenko, Morgan Freeman4:15 & 9:15 pmPan 3D (Adventure | Family ) (PG)Cast: Levi Miller, Garrett Hedlund7:15 pmThe Martian : 3D (Action | Sc-Fic ) PGCast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain12:00 & 11:30 pmGold Class: 3:30 pmThe Walk : 3D (Adventure | Drama ) (PG)4:45 pmGold Class: 6:15 pm

AZAIBAThe Martian – 3D (PG) Action, Sci-Fi Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain5:30, 11:45 pmJazbaa – 2D (12+) Drama, Action, Adventure Cast: Aishwarya Rai Bacchan, Irrfan Khan2:00 pmCrimsom Peak - 2D (15+) Drama, HorrorCast: Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain7:15 pmThe last Witch Hunter – 2D (PG12) Action Cast: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood2:45, 5:00, 9:30, 11:45 pm

Patthu Endrathukulla – 2D (PG12) ActionCast: Vikram, Samantha11:45 am, 4:15, 9:00 pmThe Little Prince – 2D (PG) AnimationVoice Overs: Voice(Rachel McAdams, Benicio Del Toro, Marion Cotillard)12:00, 2:30, 7:00pm Shaandaar – 2D (PG) Comedy, RomanceCast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant12:00, 2:45, 4:30, 7:15, 10:00, 11:15 pmEnnu Ninte Moideen – 2D (PG12) Romantic Cast: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Parvathi Menon11:45 AM, 8:15 pm

RUWIScreen 1Shandaar 2D (Romance| Comedy) PGCast : Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant3.30, 6.30, 9.30 pmScreen 2Jazbaa (Action / Drama ) – 12+Cast : Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Irrfan Khan3.45, 9.45 pm Talvar (Mystery/Thriller) – PG12Cast: Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Tabu, Neeraj Kabi and Sohum Shah 6.45 pm

Screen 3Talvar (Mystery/Thriller) – PG123.45 pmJazbaa (Action / Drama ) – 12+6.45 pm Pathu Enrathukulla (Action ) Tamil – PG12 9.45 pm

SOHAR

The Martian - 3D (PG) Action, Sci-Fi Cast : Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain6:45 pmWar Pigs - 2D (12+)Action | WarCast : Luke Goss, Dolph LundgrenTimings : 5:25, 11:45 pmPatthu Endrathukulla - 2D (T) (PG12) ActionCast : Vikram , Samantha9:00 pmThe Last Witch Hunter - 2D (PG12) ActionCast: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood 2:30, 4:35, 9:30, 11:45 pmThe Little Prince - 3D (PG) Animation Voice Overs: Rachel McAdams2:45, 4:45 pmInfinitely Polar Bear - 2D (PG12) ComedyCast: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana3:30, 7:15 pm

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimen-sion - 3D (15+) HorrorCast : Chris J. Murray, Brit Shaw, Ivy George6:45, 11:30 pmShandaar - 2D (PG) Romance| ComedyCast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant2:30, 5:15, 8:00, 10:45 pmEnnu Ninte Moideen - 2D (M) Romantic Cast : Prithviraj Sukumaran, Parvathi Menon8:30 pm (PG12)

BURAIMIThe Last Witch Hunter – 2D (Action, Adventure, Fantasy) (PG12)Cast: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood5:00, 9:45, 11:45PMSoldier of the Damend – 2D (Action, Horror, Thriller) (15+)Cast: Gil Darnell, Miriam Cooke, Lucas Hansen6:30, 9:50, 11:45PMKung Fu Jungle – 2D (Action, Thriller) (12+)Cast: Donnie Yen, Charlie Yeung, Baoqiang Wang4:30PMShandaar– 2D (Romance, Comedy) (PG)3:45, 7:00, 11:30PM

Ennu Ninte Moideen – 2D (Romantic | Thriller) (PG12)Cast: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Parvathi Menon6:45, 8:30PM

SURThe Last Witch Hunter (Action) (PG12) Cast: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood7:00, 9:00 PMSoldier of the Damned (Action) (15+) Cast: Gil Darnell, Miriam Cooke, Lucas Hansen3:30, 5:15, 11:30 PMWar Pigs (Action | War) (12+) Cast: Dolph Lundgren, Luke Goss4:00 PMShandaar (Hindi) (Romance | Comedy) (PG) Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant6:00, 8:45 PMEnnu Ninte Moideen (Mal) (Romance | Thriller) (PG12) Cast: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Parvathi Menon, Saikumar11:00 PM

SALALAH

The Martian (3D) (PG) (Action//Sci-Fi) Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain4:45 pmThe Last Witch Hunter (2D) (PG12) (Action) Cast: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood11:15 am, 2:30, 4:30, 9:15, 11:30 pm Breaking Through (2D) (12+) (Drama/Music) Cast: Sophia Aguiar, Jordan Rodrigues12:45, 4:35 pm The Little Prince (3D) (PG) (Adventure) 10:30 am, 12:30 pm Infinitely Polar Bear (2D) (PG12) (Comedy) Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana2:45 pmWar Pigs (2D)(12+) (Action/War) 11:00 am, 6:45 pmParanormal Activity: The Ghost Dimen-sion (3D)(15+) (Horror) 1:15, 3:00, 7:20, 11:45 pmShandaar (2D) (PG) (Romance/Comedy) Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant9:00, 11:35 pmPatthu Endrathukulla (2D) (PG12) (Tamil) Cast: Vikram, Samantha6:30 pmEnnu Ninte Moideen (2D) (PG12) (Mal) 8:35PM (Romantic)

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 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

24540855

Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com

Paranormal Activity:The Ghost Dimension

(Horror)

Cast: Chris J Murray, Britshaw, Ivy George

6.00 & 11.55 pm

CP No: 2815 (15+)

The Last Witch Hunter (Action /Adventure/

Fantacy)

Cast: Vin Diesel,Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood

2.00, 8.00, 10.00 & 11.55 pm

CP No: 2816 (PG12)

Breaking Through (Drama /Music)

Cast: Julie Warner, Robert Roldan, Jordan

Rodrigues

2.00, 4.00 & 10.00 pm

CP No: 2817 (12+)

Shaandaar (Comedy/Drama /Romance)

Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant

4.00 & 7.00 pm

CP No: 2818 (PG)

STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776

Website: www.isurf.co.om

Ennu Ninte Moideen (Mal) (Drama)

Cast: Prithviraj, Parvathi Menon, Bala & Lena

3-30, 6-30 & 9-30 Pm Cinema Main

10 Endrathu Kulla (Tamil) (Act )

Cast : Vikram, Samantha & Jackie Sherof

3-45, 6-45, 9-45 pm at Cinema -2

Life of Josutty (Mal) (Drama)

Cast: Dileep and Jouthi Krishna

3-30, 6-30, 9-30 pm at Cinema-3

Shaandaar (Hindi) (Rom)

Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Ali Bhatt

3-45, 6-45 & 9-45 pm at Cinema -4

Next Change: Naanum Rowdy Dhaan (Tamil)

Kanche (Telugu)

Programmes are subject to change

@MGM @RUWI

The Last Witch Hunter 2D (Action | Adventure | Fantasy) PG12Cast : Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah WoodTiming : 2:00, 7:00 & 11:55 pmGold Class : 8:45 & 11:00 pm

@SHATTI

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE GHOST DIMENSION (Horror)- (3D)(15+)Cast : Chris J. Murray, Brit Shaw, Ivy George4:00, 8:00, 10:05 pm

@SOHAR

Patthu Endrathukulla - 2D (T) (PG12) ActionCast : Vikram, SamanthaTiming : 9:00 pm

Shandaar : 2D (Romance| Comedy) PGCast : Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud PantTiming : 3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PM

Dhuhr 11.56pm

Asr 3.12pm

Maghrib 5.37pm

Isha 6.48pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 4.53am

PRAYER TIMINGS

WEATHER

320

Maximum

280

Minimum

TEMPERATURE

65-80%RELATIVE HUMIDITY

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 17 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to lifestyle@timesofoman.com

K.KEERTHI SIVANI October 27

STEVE JOSEPH SEBASTIAN October 27, 2008

WITH LOVE

LIFESTYLEC11T U E S DAY, O CTO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

NUTMEGKNOW

YOUR SPICE

What’s It?

Nutmeg is oval shaped and is lightly wrinkled with dark brown colour on the outside, and lighter brown on the inside. It is very similar to mace and has a warm, spicy sweet fl avour.

Select and Store

Be it ground or whole, nut-meg should be stored away from sunlight in airtight containers. Keeping them away from heat, moisture, and direct sunlight helps in retaining their freshness. Do not store them in the freezer as the aroma gets spoilt.

History

Nutmeg was known to be one of the most valuable spices. The nutmeg tree is native to Indonesia but is also grown in the Caribbean, especially in Grenada. It produces two spices — mace and nutmeg. Earlier the Arabs were the exclusive importers of the spice to Europe. Grenada is also known as the Nutmeg Island, and their fl ag has a graphic image of nutmeg in one corner.

Cooking With It

Nutmeg should be used in moderation, a pinch or two is safe. It can be used in various sweet dishes like pies, puddings, custards, cookies, and souffl és. It is an important spice that is used while making Ras Al Hanout. It goes well while making broccoli, cabbage, carrots, caulifl ower, pasta, potatoes, pumpkin, sausages, and spinach.

swati@timesofoman.com

If you want to add a little more warmth to your usual dish, a pinch

of nutmeg can do wonders. This fragrant spice has a strong fl avour

so be very cautious while seasoning.

Food Lovers Flock to the Asian Hawkers Market in Delhi

F O O D T R A I L

With the festive season on full throttle, food lovers found a rea-son to gorge on delicious food, and go bonkers over cuisine from the Far East to Southeast Asia at The Asian Hawkers Market in Delhi.

Besides food, there was live music, concerts by Indian bands and DJs. To add more fervour to the festival games like a special martial arts game, hoolas, chop-sticks, arm wrestling and even dance-off s were organised.

With 26 restaurants like Mama-goto, Neung Roi, Sampan, Guppy by ai, Chi Ni and Yum Yum Cha participating, foodies had a gala time without much pressure on the pocket as the price ranged just from Rs100 to Rs500. With the portions comparatively small, visitors could sample diff erent cui-sines without feeling uncomfort-ably full.

The Market was an initiative of four food impresarios - Siddharth Mathur, Director and Head of ‘Social’ and food consultant for ‘My Square’, Select Citywalk’s food court; Atul Sikand, creator and curator of Facebook’s Indian recipe-sharing group, Sikandalous Cuisine; Tanveer Kwatra, Execu-tive Chef, Le Meridien Gurgaon; and acclaimed restaurant critic and food blogger Sourish Bhat-tacharyya.

“We wanted to do a very fo-cused food festival and luckily all four of us had the same thought in mind. Suddenly it just so hap-pened that we met each other, and we decided that why not work together... So we all wanted to bring entertainment, good food together in one place,” Bhat-tacharyya told IANS.

With fi ve-star and stand-alone restaurants coming together at one location to present the cuisine of China, Korea, Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore

and Indonesia, Bhattacharya said that knowing “Delhi has huge appetite for food festivals, on a working day we were not expect-ing many people till the evening but on weekend we were expect-ing around 10,000 to 15,000 visi-tors.”

The stalls were fl anked by wooden carts on the sides, with restaurants and chains like ‘So-cial’, ‘Yum Yum Cha’, The Pho Kart (Vietnamese cuisine) and ‘Chi’ Asian Cookhouse.

One tried Yum Yum Cha’s Thai Orange drink to start with, fol-lowed by octopus in cheese balls and although very sceptical at fi rst, it was no doubt worth a fi rst time try on a friend’s recommen-dation. Wasabi Prawns from the ‘Chi Ni’ house was another dish that made the visit to the Market successful.

The other participating res-taurants include the Royal China, Pan Asian (Sheraton New Delhi), Jade (The Claridges), Dimsum-bros, Asia 7, The Fatty Bao, Wow Momo and Artful Baker.

“We at Wai Wai are delight-ed to be part of the fi rst Asian Hawkers Market. A concept that is completely in sync with our brand of exploring the varied fl a-vours of Asian cuisine. Through this forum we are treating food lovers with an innovative avatar,” Varun Chaudhary, Executive Di-rector, CG Corp Global, the mak-ers of Wai Wai said. -IANS

LIFESTYLEC12 T U E S DAY, O C TO B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 5

A d

elic

ious

and

ver

sati

le c

hoic

e of

fi sh

Replace the usual chicken pattice in your burger with a salmon one. Mix chopped

salmon, chopped onion, an egg, and herbs of choice. Make into pattice and grill or fry. Tuck it

in your burger buns.

1

Combine cooked salmon with mayonnaise, cream cheese

or yoghurt and make a spread. Have with crackers

or bread slices.

2

Add grilled salmon to your regular salad or roast salmon chunks marinated in lemon

and add them. It accentuates the fl avours.

3

Grill smoked salmon, add your cheese of choice, roasted peppers or tomatoes, and top with another

slice of bread.

4

Coat a salmon fi llet with herbs of

your choice and olive oil. Place them in a fl at pan and cook for

approximately 6-10 minutes. Sprinkle lemon juice and serve

over brown rice or sautéed vegetables.

5

ONE INGREDIENT

FIVE WAYS

NGREDIENT

FIVFIVFIFIVI E WE WE WAYS

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

M O N D AY, O C T O B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 5

RENT D2

*Classifi ed Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon

for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

FLATS FOR RENT• Spacious 3 Bedroom flats at Rex Road, with

Split a/c’s & ample Parking facility.• 3BR flats at Qurum.• Brand new 3BR flats at Bowsher with Split a/c’s.

• Brand new 2BR flats at Bowsher with Split a/c’s.• 2BR flats at Al Khuwair (near Badr Al Sama).• 2BR flats at Azaiba (next to MHD Showroom).

• 1BR flats at Al Khuwair & Ghala.• Studio type of flats at Rex Road, Al Felaj,

Wadikabir.

CLINIC FOR SALEA well established medical clinic with

new equipments with valid license

Contact: 99888586E-mail.

Issa@oasismaritimeservices.com

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifi eds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

Room for rent in Al Khuwair

near Ibis hotel with A/C. Contact:

95124975

1/2, B/R – Res / commercial di-

rectly from owner near Bank Muscat,

Bausher. Contact 92158031

Flat for rent in Al Hail 5 fl oor build-

ing 1bedroom R.O 180/-, 2 bedroom

R.O 260/- Mabela, 3 bedroom R.O

280/- near Nesto Hyper market.

Contact: 99614346

New deluxe villas in Madinat Qa-

boos , near British Council. Contact:

99369081

ISD, walking distance, 2 BHK,

recently renovated fl at, new and

well maintained building. Ideal for

Keralite / South Indian family, 350/-

per month, including air condition-

ers and maintenance. Contact: Iqrar

on 99076557. Available from 1st

November.

For rent one bedroom Majlis, 2

toilets, kitchen, balcony Greater Mut-

trah near Muscat Electricity distribu-

tion new building rent

R.O 230/-. Contact: 99243059

Villa in Arjan complex near Seeb

stadium 4BHK, 1 living room, 1

majles, 1 extra room in ground fl oor.

Contact 93219597

1BHK fl at available in MBD near

Khimji Supermarket with split AC &

curtain R.O 230/-. Contact: 97748721

/ 92393067

1BHK new bldg with A/C curtains

near Khimji Mart MBD. Contact:

99061408 / 99024039

Large room private toilet small

kitchen, Electricity water lnclusive

monthly RO 180/-, opp. Qurum Park.

Contact Hassan: 99349990

Private room with toilet, electric-

ity water lnclusive opp Qurum

Park monthly RO 130/-. Contact:

99349990

2BHK fl at + AC Amerat 6 km from

Amerat police. Contact: 95521432

D2 M O N D AY, O C T O B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

Deluxe, spacious & air conditioned

two bedroom fl ats with good quality

fi nishes, wardrobes & secured base-

ment parking are available for rent

in Azaiba North, close to 18th No-

vember Street. Contact: 93888666 /

24493666/ 99228454

3 BHK Penthouse Flat with Split

A/Cs, Free Unlimited Broadband

WiFi, Security access system, Pvt.

Terrace & Secured car park,

Opposite Kims Hospital Al Falaj,

Monthly Rent: 625/-.

Contact: 99657906 or 24702141

Air conditioned two bedroom fl ats

centrally located at Al Khuwair

are available for rent. Contact:

93888666 / 24493666 / 99228454

2BHK with Split Units ,

WadiKhabeer, 93004802.

Flat for rent 2BHK Wadi Kabir near

Kuwaiti Mosque. Contact: 97007934

/ 92629232

Brand new residential fl ats in Wadi

Kabir near Muscat football club,

have 2 bedroom family hall, 2 toilets,

Kitchen with spilt AC for 250/- R.O.

Contact: 95999904 / 98585889 /

92383886

Furnished fl at for rent, 3 rooms with

attached bathroom, 1 dining room,

1 sitting room, 1 kitchen at Al Hail

South. Contact 99835995

600 SQT commercial fl at for rent

opposite Oman fl ourmill Darsait

more details.#91214849/ 99364735

New fl ats for rent At Darsait near to

Ministry of Sports, Mumtaz area the

fl ats includes1 living room,

2 bedrooms, Kitchen, 3 toilets, every

rooms with split A/C, high quality

fi nishing, rent RO 340 /-.

Contact: 00968 92225523

1&2 BHK fl at for rent at MBD Ham-

riya, Al Khoud, Mabela and shop at

Al Khoud. Contact: 24834644 / GSM:

93994401/02/03, 3 lines

1, 2 BHK in Azaiba. Contact:

99385835 / 99428143

600 SQT Commercial fl at for rent op-

posite Oman fl ourmill Darsait more

details please Contact: 91214849/

95729711

Deluxe 3 BHK Penthouse with Seav-

iew, ideal for offi ce / residence at

Qurum near PDO. #9772 1313

New buildings commercial / residential in Muttrah both

will BE rented out for one com-

pany only for more details. Contact:

99364735/95729711

Villa at Al Khuwair having six

bedrooms, six bathrooms, sitting,

dinning, hall, kitchen . Contact

24833972/24833974/ 99367448

Single BHK fl at avail-

able in Honda road Ruwi Contact

24833972/24833974/99367448

Flat 2bedrooms, 2 toilets, kitchen

and sitting room in Al Ansab.

Contact: 95302993 / 95216161

Offi ce/Shop 28 SQM, Wadikhabeer,

Contact 93004902

2BHK with Split Unit A/C ,

Wadikhabeer near Indian School,

99441193, 93004802

Flats and shops for rent in Ruwi,

MBD Mumtaz area. Contact :

97293708 / 92433127

Deluxe beach front villa at Al Hail

North with 5 bedrooms and Staff

quarter having excellent fi nishes is

available for immediate occupation.

Contact: 93888666 / 244493666 /

99228454

2 rooms, bath room & kitchen OR.

175/- & 2 B.H.K OR. 250/- Wadi Kabir

near Sana. Contact: 95094028

FOR SALEFully furnished, 2 bedroom luxury

fl at for rent at Ghala for short or long

term basis. contact 91786526 /

99881653

Furnished room for rent at

Al Khuwair R.O 225/- for family only.

Contact: 99251975

2 bedrooms fl at with hall, 2

bathrooms in Darsait near Muscat

Municipality. contact 92584715 /

24700120

Showroom / storage / offi ce 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

2 rooms in Al Khuwair 17/1 rent

250/- R.O with water & elect. Con-

tact: 99330385

Luxury apartments in Al Khoud 3,

composed of clean – conditioned

room, lounge and toilet, kitchen and

store. Contact 93366421

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

2bedroom centrally air conditioned

fl at at CBD. contact 24714625 /

94460790

Flats in Wadi Kabir.contact

99376454

1BHK fl at spilt with A/C Al Khu-

wair, 230/-. contact 99358589 /

95570288

Ware house space for rent at Ghala

and Barka up to 20000/- Sqm.

Contact: 99509460 / 93731363

1BHK fl ats available for rent in CBD

area. Contact: 98116480

1 & 2 bedroom fl ats available for

rent in wadi-kabir (opp: pencil bldg),

ideal for company staff / families -

bulk corporate deal possible.

Contact: 97677170

1000 sq mtrs industrial land in Gha-

la suitable for ware house, work shop

etc. Contact : 24700120 / 92584715

02 BHK commercial / residential

(with split AC) Flat at Honda road.

Contac: 99342733 / 99795241

02 BHK residential fl at opposite

to Al Nadha Hospital. Contact:

99342733 / 99795241

1000sqm industrial and with com-

pound well & two rooms at Misfah.

Contact: 99342733 / 99795241

Readymade offi ce space for rent

(100sm) in Bank Melli Iran building,

MBA area, Ruwi, opposite Center

Point. Contact: 99011352

Excess tractor and agricultural

parts for sale for details. For details

please visit us at Zawawi Trading

Company – Muscat branch – E&

P division, for more information

please Contact: Mr. said Al Sham-

makhi 99456045

Used Visi coolers (chiller) for sale.

Contact: 93888028 / 93204920

Restaurant for sale lease running

restaurant, opp. Mars Wadi Kabir 7

visa. Contact: 93334685

Shop for sale North Al Hail near

Zam Zam Hyper market. #99618161

/ 94422131/ 96557131

Expat leaving, house hold Items

for sale W. machine, A/C, furniture.

Contact: 90320430

Attention to wholesalers, retailers

& manufacturers. We can Sell/Buy

your dead stock. Contact : 99742983,

95226989

Split A/C -2, Window A/C- 25, Iron

cot- 120, cupboard - 130, water

cooler - 2, Gas big - 2, small-3 ,

Grinder-1 , Chapatti tava-1 ,

stove-2, kitchen equipment etc .

Contact: 99328223

Homegym with cross trainer for

sale. Contact 95367937

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

Used Fabrication machinery for

sale : Fabrication machinery and

tools in excellent condition for

immediate sale.

contact 94652485/

99273774/99202278

Comm. & res. land for investment

for 25 years in Ghala heights.

Contact: 91155779

DAILY GUIDEM O N D AY, O C T O B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 5 D3

FOR SALE

Running furniture showroom for urgent sale.

Ladies beauty parlor sale at Mutt rah.

Contact - 91135930

ACC. AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirt-

ing, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery,

Crockery, Glassware, Chafi ng Dishes,

Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound Sys-

tems and spectacular lighting. Call

Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering and

Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound & Light.

ww.tunesoman.com,

E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

Fully furnished offi ce space in

As - Assalah Tower Ghobra.contact

98202001

Single room available near Muttrah

Souq for Executive Kerala bachelor.

Contact: 96195506

Furnished room for IND EXE bach-

elor near Al Khuwair R/A. Contact :

99659513

Single room with attached toilet

& bath for Executive bachelor rent

including with water & electricity in

Ruwi. Contact: 99327158

Family sharing Ruwi high street

Raymond bldg. Contact : 99895616

Independent rooms in Qurum /AL

Hail. Contact 95529970

Furnished room with attached

bathroom separate balcony MBD

area available for couple or Execu-

tive bachelor. Contact: 96275098

Sharing accommodation available

in Bausher with split AC. Contact:

99223261

Furnished single rooms available

for Executive bachelors at Ruwi.

Contact : 93431089

Single room attached bath

S/ kitchen at Mumtaz area.

Contact: 95212017 / 96916398

Room for Rent Alkhuwair - Behind

Al Aktham Restaurant. 120 RO.

With elec. and water.For executive

bachelors only. #98803261

Flat for rent available in CBD near

Costa Coff ee. Mobile no.92820734

Private room with toilet near Qurum

park incl. W& E, monthly RO 220/-.

Contact Hassan 99349990

Accommodation available for

indian executive bachelor’s (no

kitchen).RO:125 including water

and electricitycontact 98145825,

98949724

SITUATION WANT-

ED

BUSINESS

M.V.FOR SALE

ACC. WANTED

Toyota YARIS. Model 2008. KM

70000 Expat driven, All services at

Toyota. Very clean. Rate: 2750. Con-

tact 99445675.

BWM 320i 2006, 120K kms, black fully automatic engine interiors exte-

riors in excellent condition

R.O 4200 (O.N.O). Contact:

92801633

4-5 bedrooms villa with / without

swimming pool in Wave / Madinat

Qaboos / Al Shatti area. Contact:

91396909

Reputed contracting company

required sound parties to invest ongo-

ing excavate projects high profi ts as-

sured. Contact: 98867530/ 95565039

We want fi nance for 3 (three) moths

or renewable every 3 months from

Omani nationals or Expatriate for

trading business. Contact: 99462591

or 93525028 Email:

blueoceanoman@gmail.com

INVESTORS in real estate needed

to develop and construct a low cost

housing and memorial/burial parks

in the Philippines. Return of invest-

ment is very good due to big de-

mands. Business partner is available

to help you. Please email drjmd719@

gmail.com for details.

DRIVING

COMPUTER

Comm. & Res land in Ghala

heights 400 sq mtr for sale. contact

91155779

Beauty parlour in Mobela for sale.

Contact: 96131261

For sale land in Amerat 3000 Sq.mt

with petrol pump permission.

Contact 99323957 / 92702891

NRI

Architect designed 5000 Square

feet exquisite Villa in 16 cents of

land at a scenic location on Aak-

kulam Road, Ulloor, Trivandrum for

sale. Contact +968 95372011

GOOD NEWS

GOOD NEWS

Kutchhi coff ee shop, pure Veg avail-

able, Mandvi Kutch Dabeli, Chappati,

puri Bhaji, Vada Pav, Farari Kachori,

many more, next to Lulu Wadi Kabor

Souq Al Juma, shop #3. Contact Udit

– 94460286, Kishore – 99437869

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

MATRIMONIAL

Indian Kerala male, 32 yrs, Chris-

tian R.C working in Muscat looking

for a suitable bride. If interested

Contact: 9845460 / 99883109

Nair boy 38 years Palakkad having

land & property in Kerala working

in a Star Hotel MCT as Supervisor

for cast 15 years is looking for life

partner. No demand at all. Bindu :

97944673

Pakistani male 34 years living

with parents in Oman for 27 years

using hearing aid looking for a suit-

able alliance. Contact: 95544612 /

99353096

Seeking alliance for our son from

Muslim families. Interested

families Contact: 99889590

FOR SALECompany maintained

Mercedes prime mover (2005).

Contact 99449048 26750468

Scraps for Sale:

1. Metal 2. Cable 3. Wires

Please contact: Drake & Skull International LLC

GSM: 94277228

TATA BUS model 2009 For saleSeating 60+1

Good condition

Sohar

Contact -

99449228

COMPANY CLOSING- LANDS FOR SALE

1. Al-Hail North 6300 SQM. (Resi/Comm)

2.Al-Hail South 3600 SQM. (Resi.)

3.Ar-Rumais 5235 SQM.

Interested buyers please contact GSM 99227267

AL KHAIRAT TRAINING SERVICES• PMI - PMP - (Project Management Professional)• PMI - RMP - (Risk Management Professional)• PMI - PGMP - (Program Management Professional)• AACEI - CCP - (Certified Cost Professional)• AACEI - PSP - (Planning & Scheduling Professional)• LEED GA/AP - (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)• NCMA - CCCM/CPCM - (Certified Commercial Contracts Manager & (Certified Professional Contract Manager)• STRESS MANAGEMENT • PRIMAVERA - (P6.8)• CUSTOMISED TRAININGS

For more info: +968-92295269 - +968-24488341 Email: info@alkhairattraining.com (Muscat, Sohar& Salalah)

LOST

Namesettim Padma Akumarthy has

lost Indian Passport No. F 4974552.

Finder please handover to ROP

DAILY GUIDED4 M O N D AY, O C T O B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifi eds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

DOMESTIC HELP

EDUCATION

CATERING

ENGINEER/TECH/MECH

ACCOUNTANT

DRIVER

MEDICAL

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

SITUATION WANT-

EDSIT. WANTED

SALES / MARKETING

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

SKILLED LABOUR

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE

Required Driver 1 No Indian or

Philipino, good speaking English

and Arabic with valid GCC driving

license. Contact: 99200084 Email:

almammry2013@gmail.com

Valid bike license (Oman), Driver

required for reputed chain of res-

taurants in Muscat visa available.

Contact: 93798969

We required driver (L.M.V). Con-

tact: 92392979

Urgently required one experi-

enced House Driver to work in

capital area. Contact: 93888666 /

24493666 / 99228454

Required heavy duty driver,

preferably with good experience

and communication skills. Contact:

91408759 Email: hanaa.alritaj@

gmail.com

ADMIN

Required Prometric passed nurse

to join clinic. Contact: 91478749

Required female Nurse with MOH

license for a private a private clinic

in Bowsher area, Muscat. Contact:

92189807

Female Lab Technician required

urgently for Sohar International

Medical Centre-reasonable salary

and furnished accommodation

-email: muttaheraziz@yahoo.com ;

sohar.imc@gmail.com / tel:91304511

/ 92369417 /93342567

New private clinic looking for GP

Doctor & OBS & GYNK Doctor & staff

Nurse with MOH license in Oman.

Contact: 97882811

Required teachers with B.Sc B.Ed

BA B.Ed, Karate and art for Omani

Pvt. School.contact 95141554 /

95825772

Post Graduate researcher required. Contact 99229700

Job vacancy for Omanis (male /

female) an experienced showroom

cashier in Wadi Kabir. Interested

candidates please mail your CV to

hanif@sofantrading.com & fax No.

24792831

We are looking for Chief Financial

Offi cer, Male 40- 45 years old, ,

Bachelor of Science in Account-

ancy with 5 - 15 yrs. of experience.

Contact: +968 24702133, Email:

admin-dept@daud.om

Wanted Accountant. contact

94007259

Email: smylackal@gmail.com

Male 28, MBA Finance & Market-

ing with 4 Years experience in UAE

seeks suitable placement. Contact

- 90264337

Chinese/ Arab/ continental cook & helper wanted. Contact

95529970

ADMIN/ HR

MISC

Urgently required for a Hotel

/ hotel apartments in Muscat:

Receptionists (Omani) – male /

female. Contact 97677211

Travel agent in Muscat required

counter staff (male / female)

Sales Executive (male/female).

Interested send CV on vacan-

cies20152015@hotmail.com

Storekeeper Required Urgently – Any Graduate with 2-3 years ex-

perience in similar fi eld with good

knowledge of MS Offi ce, Age: 23-

28 years can apply to tclsales@

teejan.com

A well reputed profi le sheet

& Purlin manufacturing com-

pany urgently requires follow-

ing personals with valid Oman

driving license, Factory Manager,

Accountant, Sales Executive. Send

your CV to

applymd2015@gmail.com

Required cleaner for restaurant

at Ruwi. Labor clearance available.

Release letter required. Call immedi-

ately- 92836495

Required cleaner/helper for res-

taurant at Ruwi high street. labour

clearance ready.

Contact 92836495

Required female tailors Philippine

national 2Nos and cutting Master

also Philippine female. Must have

Oman experience in stitching fash-

ion clothes. C.R 1046847. Contact :

93219696

Experienced Secretary required

experienced for Ruwi offi ce. Must

have high standard of competence

in MS Offi ce suite and excellent

Arabic / English communication

skills. Send CV and covering email

to mj-co@omantel.net.om

FULL time housemaid needed for

family in Azaiba - visa, accommoda-

tion provided. No release. Contact

95123244

House maid 1No. good speak-

ing English and Arabic diploma

holder preferably Philipino. Contact:

99200084 Email: almammry2013@

gmail.com

Wanted full time maid for In-

dian family. Visa provided. Contact:

92800073 / 95120404

Wanted housemaid with release for

Indian family. Contact 92800073 or

99247040

Domestic helper for a family in

Muscat. Must be able to cook Indian

food & speak

Hindi. Cleaning home laundry and

accompanying children. Contact:

91396909

A new lady’s fashion shop in shop-

ping mall require Omani and Filipino

sales lady. A new fast food shop in the

same mall require Filipino cashier.

Please send CV to newbrandpano-

rama@gmail.com

Urgently required Sales & Marketing

Executives, carpenters and light duty

drivers for a Muscat based kitchen

company valid Omani D/L and experi-

ence in the related fi eld are preferred.

Contact: 92929906 Email: oman-

sales2016@gmail.com

Required project salesman on profi t

sharing basis. contact@absmct.com/

99221683

Lady Telesales Executives & Busi-

ness Development Executives with

Oman D/L for leading IT & Media En-

terprise. Enthusiastic Freshers also

welcome. jobs@interacoman.com

Male/Female advertising and media

sales executives required with valid

driving license and minimum 1 year

experience. Mail CV to

blackandwhiteoman@gmail.com

Sales man with 3- 5 years experi-

ence with driving license to work

in insurance brokerage in Oman.

Contact: 93544244

Require sales executive with expe-

rience in hydraulic hoses, crimping

and services / building materials -

contact@absmct.com/92830110

Required urgently for sales of

building materials, PPE & related

products with driving license & 4+

yrs experience in this fi eld. Email

CV & expected package to

salesforoman@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

Urgently required Sales Executive

with 2 years experience in electri-

cal outdoor sales. Must have D/L

and NOC. Contact: 91373200 Email:

oman@sentorsupplies.com

Sales & Marketing Executive for travel and tourism. Contact:

92890506

A trading company in Muscat requires Sales Executive with

minimum 1 yr experience & Oman

driving license & welding machine /

electronics / power tools technician

with min. 1 year experience.

Email: jobs.trading2015@gmail.com

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT-M. Com

Finance, Indian with 7 years experi-

ence in Finance & Accounts up to

fi nalization. Currently employed in

Oman. Having D/L, NOC available.

Cont: 98278801, mansoormk10@

gmail.com

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@rediff mail.com

Male Accountant 24 yrs, MBA (Fi-

nance & HR), DIFA certifi ed having 2.9

yrs experience as Account assistant

looking for suitable job, Currently on

Visit Visa. Contact:95878661 E-mail:

nazeelc@yahoo.com

Fresher 24 years B.Com Gradu-

ate, Tally 7.2 & ERP-9, looking for a

suit#Contact: 97219505

Male accountant BSc Hons (Finance

& Accounts) having 2 years experi-

ence in accounts, looking for suitable

job on visit visa. Contact: 91420128

Indian male Accountant looking

for a suitable placement in Salalah.

More than 20 years experience in

accounting job (upto the fi nalization

of accounts), 8 years working experi-

ence in Middle East in Dubai, Salalah.

Contact: 91325029

CMA, three years experience 24, In-

dian on visit visa seeking accounts

/ Audit position. Contact: 96694516

Email: kalathiljoe@live.com

Indian male 25 B.B.M Arabic,

English, Hindi speaking 2 years

experience in Accounting at Oman

seeking suitable placement. Contact:

91266733 / 96392009 Email:

safvank.k9@gmail.com

Finance Manager 26 years experi-

ence with NOC available immedi-

ately. Contact: 91302906 / 91335205

MBA International Business in

fi nance and operations Indian male

24, (3 months visit visa) seeking

immediate placement. Contact 968

97489409 / Email: abhay8168@

gmail.com

Accountant fi nance Indian male 25

yrs B.Com tally ERP.9, 3+ yrs work-

ing experience in India on visiting

visa for 3 months seeks suitable

placement. Contact: 93772901

/95309001 Email id: araj2378@

gmail.com

Indian male 22 years, B.Com Gradu-

ate 1 year experience as Account-

ant in India on visit visa looking

for suitable placement. Contact:

98693800 / 95709455

Email: hameeshham29143@gmail.

com

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT. 8 years

experience. Noc Available. Oman

driving License seeks suitable Op-

portunity. GSM- 98184170

Accountant , Indian (Kerala) male,

more than 09 years experience in Qatar

(02 years) and New Delhi experience

upto fi nalization of Accounts & exper-

tise in using Tally ERP-9, MS Offi ce

(Word & Excel). Currently on visit visa,

seeking suitable placement. Contact:

97864890 / 97268429 Email: vinod-

thomas80@gmail.com

20 years Oman experienced Lady Ac-

countant / Manager.

Contact: 96025193

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

license. Interested candidates ,

please send CV to manager4trav-

els@gmail.com, within 15 days from

the date of this advertisement

Indian female 22 years experi-

ence in Secretary, Accounting tally,

looking for suitable job on visit visa.

Contact: 97084473 Email: jumiha-

sin10@gmail.com

Indian male 35 years BBM diploma

in A/C & Banking 5 years experience in

Oman as Business promoter with valid

D/L & NOC seeking urgent placement

in Muscat. Contact : 92683606 Email:

abhi.abraham09@gmail.com

Indian lady 15 yrs experience in Insur-

ance / Accounts looking for suitable

placement. Contact : 92986455

Urgent Accountant (female India, 6+

years exp in tally ERP (latest), fi na-

lization of account, tax accounting,

stock maintenance, payroll, ledger

etc. Contact: 91551164 / 91175456

Accountant, B.Com, male, having

2 years Oman & 8 years Kerala ex-

perience in fi nalization of accounts,

stock maintenance, payroll, tally

ERP , MS Offi ce etc. NOC in hand.

Contact: +917356273548 Email:

shajumathew23@gmail.com

ACCA member / B.Com looking for

Accountants / auditing or relevant

job on visit visa. Contact:

97769145

Accountant cum Sales Execu-

tive Indian male 29 yrs, 6 years

experience in Oman presently on

visit visa, Oman D/L, NOC available.

Contact: 95273713, Email:

binadam399@gmail.com

Male, 27 years work experience

3 years lost employment Admin-

istration Manager and Finance

Executive education MBA and BBA

fi nance C.G.P.A 3.71 Good hardwork-

ing professional. contact

99685330 Email: hussain_ca87@

yahoo.com

Accountant Indian female having

5 years exp in fi nalization, audit

and administration in GCC pres-

ently in Muscat seeking suitable

position. Contact 97323574 Email:

sreeja@236@gmail.com

10 yrs UAE experience fi n. Control-

ler looking for job change. Contact:

98006226

Accountant Indian male 10 years

experience in Oman can do up to

fi nalization and good knowledge of

Tally ERP- 9 can be joined immedi-

ately with NOC. Contact: 94134085

Email: muscatoman95@yahoo.com

Keralite lady (2 yrs experience in

Oman) required job in Accounts. Con-

tact: 97096918

Accountant, Indian female on visit

visa degree: B.Com, exp 6+ years in

tally ERP-9 (latest), fi nalization of

account, Tax, Accounting, Stock main-

tenance payroll etc. Contact: 91551164

/91175456 Email: mk-jothipriya@gmail.

com

Sri Lankan Male Accountant, Age

26, BBA Spl, CA Inter, Having more

than 5 years’ Experience in

accounting fi eld seeking for

suitable placement NOC Available

Contact: 97250638 msmnaja@

gmail.com

Indian male with B.Com, MBA

fi nance & marketing 14 yrs exp seek-

ing suitable placement.

Contact : 0091 8697292219,

Email : rejesh.nair@gmail.com

Urgently Required Philippino sales Lady

for a boutique in

Muscat. Salary best

available in market

Contact: +968 99250595

Mail CV: tc.subi@yahoo.com

Urgently required Project Engineer

for a reputed Construction Company

in Muscat with Civil Engineering

Degree/Diploma, 4 to 10 years expe-

rience, holding Oman/GCC Driving

License. E.mail: assaud@omantel.

net.om or FAX: 24953530

Required urgently Structural

Mechanical Engineer having more

than 5 years of experience with GCC

driver license for a reputed fabrica-

tion company in Barka. Contact:

94144901

Leading construction company

requires experienced Site Engineer

and QA/QC Engineer for residential/

commercial project. Require

NOC. Send your CV :

degree.engineer2015@gmail.com

Urgently required for a leading

Company Planning engineer. Fax

: 24478522, Email : gh1.careers@

gmail.com

Experienced construction Civil Engineer with qualifi cation

(attested) certifi cates & with Omani

driving license.

Contact: slayhawk@yahoo.com

99601004

Indian female MBA , 3 Years expe-

rience in Admin MIS , family Visa.

Contact 98234427,

jkjsmith01@gmail.com

10 years Gulf & 4 years Oman ex-

perience in HR / Admin & logistics

fl uent in Arabic / English with

D/L looking for suitable position.

Contact: 95824598

Looking for job Admin / HR. Re-

lease available. contact 94229041

Indian, Male having 8 years in

purchase and admin furnishing /

metal scrap On visit visa, avail-

able to join Immediately if selected

# 00968- 96675184 , 97704828

Indian male, HR / Admin (MBA)

Executive with 3 years experience

(UAE , India) seeks suitable place-

ment ready for immediate joining.

Contact: 90162412

HR/ Recruitment specialist

with 8 years Oman experience in

entire gamut of HR functions like

resource planning, recruitment, HR

policies & procedures performance

appraisal, expatriate aff airs, exit

interviews & ticketing.

Contact 93825307

Email: javthath@rediff mail.com

Urgent Requirement

Sales LadyFor Jewellery Showroom 1. Two years experience

in sales.

2. NOC is must.

(send CV with current picture)

Email:vacancy299@gmail.com

SITUATION VACANTRequired smart and efficient COUNTER SALES

EXECUTIVE (FEMALE) Omanis/Filipinas for a reputed

trading company with:-

1. Min. 2 years experience in sales of perfumes, watches

etc.

2. Ability to handle the cash/stock/outlet

independently.

3. Excellent knowledge in English and Arabic is an

added advantage.

4. Good knowledge of computers.

5. Attractive salary according to the experience.

May fax their CV’s to 24597347 or email to techno@omantel.net.om

appointments@timesofoman.com

ends here...

Yourjob search

A special section fromTimes of Oman & Al ShabibaEvery Monday & Wednesday.

Indian male 8 years experience hav-

ing B.Com and MBA ready to work in

HR customer service,

Admin banking & related fi eld.

Contact : 97436890 / 96939803.

Email: girimub@gmail.com

Indian lady, bachelor degree in

Preparatory Programme (BPP) and

Bachelor of Commerce (BCom), com-

pleted training course in MS Word,

Excel, Power Point and Outlook from

KTI looking for full time / part time

job opportunity in Oman. Contact

92437568, 96795853,

Email: linda_navs@yahoo.com

Accountant, Indian Male, 15 Years ex-

perience (8 Years in Oman with Driving

License & NOC) Seeks suitable place-

ment, Contact 94117616, 91238272

praveen78oman@gmail.com

Chief Accountant, 12 years of Oman

experienced looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 99513082

Part time accountant, senior ac-

countant, doing all type of ac-

counting works, up to fi nalization.

contact.95254864

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, with 13yrs

experience, 6 yrs Oman in manu-

facturing, trading & contracting Cos,

capable of handling all accounting,

fi nance, banking, L/C, import, ex-

port & fi nalization seeks placement.

NOC Available. Call+968-98932752,

mail:jjohnmuscat@hotmail.com

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

certifi cate from “AUC”. “NOC” in

hand. Contact: 97220505

Indian female 28 years M.Com,

Accountant having 6 years experi-

ence in Accounts, fi nalization, Tally

currently on visit visa.

Contact : 95595083 Email:

merlinfernandes16@yahoo.in

DAILY GUIDEM O N D AY, O C T O B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 5 D5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

MEDICAL

MEDICAL

HOSPITALITY

MISCELLANEOUS

PROJECTS

Sudanese lawyer with experience

10 years in Judiciary in Khartoum.

Contact: 94458976

Microbiologist, Indian female, 25

yrs Msc Microbiology with 2.5 yrs

Exp in Hospital & Dairy industry. Ex-

pertise in Microbial analysis of milk

products and clinical samples. Cur-

rently in Oman seeking for suitable

job opportunities. GSM#94767297

Email:shobi24190@gmail.com

Indian male 30 yrs 9 experience

in Oman housekeeping supervisor

with NOC seeking suitable place-

ment. Contact: 96254837 Email:

sudheeshmrf@gmail.com

ADMIN

DRIVER

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

ARCHITECT

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

Interior 3d designer, good knowl-

edge in softwares. #93837973

Architect with bachelor degree

4 years experience in architec-

tural design (interior & exterior)

professional in (3D Max- Archicad

- AutoCAD - Photoshop). #96041201

Email: amer.yousfan@gmail.com

DRAUGHTSMAN

CATERING

Autocad d/man, exp in arch, interior

3d, photoshop. Contact : 93837973

Civil designer, Autocad, Diploma

(3 yrs) Civil Engg, well exp PH :

92741929

Architectural & Structural Draughtsman 5 years experience.

Contact: 97312627

Indian cook, tandoori cook, Chinese

cook experience in Indian looking

for a cook job in hotel, restaurant.

The candidate is presently in

India. Contact: 98744307

Indian female, 30 yrs, Interior Designer

Bachelor degree with 5 yrs working experience seeking suitable

placement in Oman.

Contact 98499975, Email :

swasdesigner@gmail.com

Civil Engineer, Indian male, 25

years, B.Tech, have 3 years experi-

ence in building construction seeks

suitable positions. 92609893,

alenalexander123@gmail.com

Palestinian dentist looking for job in

private hospitals, Medical Center or

Dental Centers in Muscat 15 yrs exp

P. hospitals out Muscat. #96951750

Project/ Program Manager/ Finance professional

Qualifi cati on MBA PMP six sigma (GB)Countries exposure Canada & Middle

East, Industry any (experienced in bank, telecom, transport.

Nati onality-Canadian. On visit in Oman.

Contact - 97203531

20 years experience. Contact:

94795033

Driver Bangladeshi, 26 years, 3

years experience U.A.E, 3 years ex-

perience Oman. Contact: 96737693

/ 99463698

Driver looking For job 95154610

Light duty driver seeks placement.

Contact: 94435912 / 92439315

Light duty driver 8 years exp in

U.A.E need visa Oman seeks place-

ment.#96975028 / 95803184

Pakistani Driver wanted job, with 3

years experience. #94356465

Driver, 42 yrs, suitable job K.S.A 12

years Oman, 4 years release avail-

able. Contact: 93885404

Looking for driving job. Contact:

93650209

Light driver need job exp 4 years.

Contact: 94208089

Looking for driving job. #98219182

Indian driver, 4 years experience in

Oman with car looking for suitable

job (NOC available). #93053917

Light duty driver looking for job, 2

yrs exp. Contact : 96342684

Driver seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 98134080

Indian Driver need job. #91254539

Light driver for job 5 yrs exp.

Contact: 92171166

Bangladeshi male driver, 48 yrs,

exp 14 years, 9 years need job &

visa, got release letter.#99165961

B.F hotels management 2 years exp

food and beverages service, kitchen,

4 languages, N.O.C available. Con-

tact: 95196212 Email:

mido.hossams09@yahoo.com

Hotel exp 4 years F+ B (service) visit

visa expires 13/11/2015, B.A Hotel Man-

agement. Contact: 91987013 / 96971643

Email: shinekls34@gmail.com

Indian 14 years experience in con-

sumer goods as Marketing Manager

with visa D/L. Contact: 90314809

Manager- Media & Advertising

industry-15 yrs Gulf exp - seeks suit-

able opening- 93031168

Indian female 2+ years Oman

experience with D/L seeks suitable

position in Business development /

corporate & retail sales in training

/ IT / education ITES companies.

Contact: 98989784

Indian Male 22 years B. Com

Graduate currently in Oman on fam-

ily visa looking for a job, preferably

in sales department. Also possess a

valid Oman driving license.contact

98504698

Indian male B.Com with valid

driving license & 8 years of Gulf

experience with NOC or transfer

letter whatever required looking for

a outdoor job is sales or business

development immediate placement.

Contact 91234320

Sales & marketing professional

with 8+ years experience at UAE

& Oman in hotels & airlines with

valid driving license NOC available,

seeks suitable opportunity. Contact

: 95544612

Purchase experienced 8 years in

Construction Company Indian male

45 yrs, release & D/L available. Con-

tact: 90268183 / 96987234

Pakistani male, 8 years sales and

marketing experience specialized in

MBA, Marketing with valid driving

license (GCC), NOC and with best

sales performance award looking

for suitable position Email: sheraz.

rotanahotel@gmail.com , 99249296

/ 93313173

Indian male MBA, 2 years experi-

ence in sales and 2 years experience

in HR with D/L looking for a suitable

position. Contact: 91202335 Email:

mrishad90@yahoo.com

Indian male, 26 M.A., 2 yrs experi-

ence in India and 11 months in Oman

looking for job in sales or accounts.

Contact: 97022508 Email:

zakariyazba@gmail.com

Having 5 years exp, as offi ce

coordinator, NOC available. contact

92889617

Indian male more than 8 years

experience in UAE in Offi ce , Sales

Marketing with good computer

skills having driving license look-

ing for suitable placement. contact

99369081

Email: shazulashraf60@gmail.com

Male BA, with D/L having 7 years

exp in Oman wanted suitable job in

Sales inventory & procure. contact

92191026

Sales and marketing - male 27 yrs,

2 years experience seeking suitable

placement with Oman D/L.

Contact: 95642740 Email:

shaijichakkara@gmail.com

Indian male 23 years B.E Electri-

cal Engineer 1 year experience is

looking for suitable job in Oman

currently on visiting visa (certifi cate

attested). Contact: 93547687 Email:

ajay.v.sprabu@gmail.com

Workshop Supervisor 29 years work-

ing in Oman P.D.O area project NOC

available. Contact 94594234 Email:

acmshaheed@outlook.com

Indian, female, 24 yrs, BE, CS Engg

with 2 yrs Exp in Tech Support at

Hewlett Packard & S/W Development

at ISRO-India, looking for a job in

Tech Support /Admin/Teaching/IT

fi eld. Contact : 92891427, reshmatj@

gmail.com

Instrumentation Engineer, Indian

male 24 years of age on visiting visa

with 2 years experience in oil & gas

seeking suitable position. Contact:

94743685 Email: akashpp444@

gmail.com

Mechanical Engineer (6 years

Diesel Engine, control maintenance,

solar) (1 year HVAC) NOC & D/L. Con-

tact: 97452159 Email: mohamedkar-

rar.mk@gmail.com

Civil Engineer 20 years experience

in project management including 10

years in Oman. Contact: 91177755

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. Con-

tact: +968 96761020 email:a

dik.mm7@gmail.com

B.SC Civil Engineer, road construc-

tion fi eld with 12 years experience

in Oman. Contact: 92200485

Indian female 25 years B.Tech (Elec-

trical) having 4 years experience in

tendering, estimation and costing

seeking suitable placement cur-

rently on family visa. #97228117

Omani Mechanical Engineer with

2years Experiences looking for new

opportunity . Contact:95993315,

alrus7idisaif@gmail.com

Maintenance planner (CMMS),

Indian male 29 yrs, B.Com, MBA hav-

ing 5 years Gulf exp in oil and gas

industry in planning dept. currently

on visiting visa, looking for suitable

job. Contact: 93179096

Civil Engineer, Indian male, 11 years

experience in construction, having

D/L and NOC. Contact: 94194399

Email: shiblyrock@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@gmial.com

M.Tech (Electronics) Indian lady (on

visit), 5 years teaching experience

in engineering colleges also running

entrance coaching centre for 8 years

is looking for a better placement in

colleges, schools & offi ce etc. Con-

tact: 93596002

Indian B. tech Civil, 19 years exp ,

seeks suitable position.

Contact: 98365910

Email: kks.pkd1969@gmail.com

Indian male 23 years, B.Tech Electri-

cal Engineer 2 years experience in

construction + Auto Cad designing,

is looking for suitable job. Currently

on visiting visa. Contact: 98266897

Email: elbinkeldhose92@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer, B.Tech, with 8

years GCC experience (5 years in

Oman) in MEP & Oil/gas construc-

tion/Inspections side with NOC, is

seeking new assignments in Oman.

Has attested degree certifi cate and

Oman D/L. Contact No.96083636,

Email:tobineasow@gmail.com

Male 22, B. Tech in Mechanical

Engineering dynamic personality,

seeking suitable position languages

known English, Hindi, Currently

in Oman. Contact: 93611341 /

92603257 Email: arjunakshysree@

gmail.com

Indian lady Electrical Engineer, M.

Tech in power systems (NITC) &

B.Tech in EEE (CET) with 3 years ex-

perience in electrical design & con-

sultancy. Profi cient in AutoCAD, LT &

HT design estimation, seeking suit-

able position in Muscat. #97710156

Email: deepthikarur@gmail.com

BSC Civil Engineer and MBA 25

years experience in roads, infra-

structure and management have

Oman D/L. Contact: 96936263 Email:

saadfallih@gmail.com

Electronics Engineer, 26 yrs Indian

with 2 years work experience & PG

diploma in power electronic. Contact:

98477015

SALES / MARKETING

Civil Engineer 5 years experience in

Oman, 3 years in EURO looking best

career in my fi eld or management,

with valid driving license. Contact:

93149659

Indian male 38 yrs total 19 yrs

experience (Gulf 13 yrs) in Electrical

fi eld, electrical Forman experience 4

yrs in Oman seeking suitable place-

ment in hospital setup, maintenance,

department, construction fi eld now

visit visa, NOC available. Email: binu.

kumar51@yahoo.com

Palestinian Petroleum Eng-

neer (B.E) 25 yrs available in

Oman seeking for placement.

Contact: 91445467 Email:

abdulrahman.m.mustafa@gmail.com

Indian female 11 years experience in

Oman as a Quantity Surveyor in Civil

having valid Omani driving license.

NOC available. Contact: 99879525

Experienced Civil Engg profes-

sional 12/26 years ran a company

as Working partner have estima-

tion, tendering of high rise building

infrastructure steels conc. Products

seeks suitable placement. contact

95360102 / 94460357

Indian male 24 years Instrumen-

tation technician have 2.5 years

experience in India, seeks a suitable

job. Contact: 92696798 Email:

ajoarikkatt@gmail.com

Architect more than 2 years exp in

design, site supervision with strong

knowledge in AutoCAD, Revit , 3D

Max, Photo shop and Microsoft

offi ce looking for a good job. N.O.C

available. Contact: 90162685 Email:

mohamed.dakrory92@gmail.com

Qualifi ed Engineer with 3-5 yrs exp

in purchase, 2.2 yrs in automotive

service, excellent communication,

presentation and management skills.

PH: 968 91306841; Email:

shanyphilip23@gmail.com

Electronics diploma 1 year exp in

telecommunication, mobile tower

fi eld support Engg. Vishnu Madhu

Soodanan. Contact: 94519571 /

95233636 Email: vishnumadhull@

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

Diploma in Civil Engineer, have total

4.5 years experience & have 1.5 years

experience in Oman. #96535084

Mechanical Engineer (Indian male) with experience in HVAC & Fire fi ght-

ing looking for suitable placement in

electro mechanical fi eld. #90154793

Email: sangu.vazhoor@gmail.com

BE Mechanical Engineer, 23 years,

Indian male on visit available for im-

mediate placement please contact:

96145820 or arunsankar.10.92@

gmail.com

Civil Engineer B.Sc 5 years experi-

ence with building construction

companies in Oman seek suitable

placement. Contact: 98180524

Electrical Instrument Engineer

having 10 years experience in high

voltage and low voltage with exten-

sive experience in instrumentation

& automation, approved from PAEW

for more info. Contact: 92950788 /

Email: engtariq2007@gmail.com

Mechanical Engineer with 7 years

experience in oil & gas fi eld have

extensive experience in QA/ QC

(Static equipment) , have API 653 &

CSWIP3.1 certifi cations for more info:

khaled19858@gmail.com Contact:

91917294

4 years experience Electrical Engi-

neer electrical primary substations

UG cables and OHL, fl uent in English

and Arabic. Contact: 91204243

Electrical Engineer 4 years experi-

ence oil and gas electrical substa-

tion water project fl uent in Arabic

and English primavera p6 operator.

Contact: 99525856

Diploma Engineer civil. #91151237

Project Engineer (Electrical) 5 years

experience in Oman primary substa-

tions + OHL, oil & gas, AutoCAD de-

sign driving license. NOC available.

Contact: 93210528 / 99410588

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE

Indian Male more than 10 years

gulf experience in Offi ce / Sales

Coordinator, Admin, Secretarial and

purchase with good computer skills.

Having Driving license and NOC

available. Looking for suitable place-

ment. #95149624

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

Welder fabrication, 6g 3g,tig arc gas

PH : 95068064

MISCELLANEOUS

FEMALE SYRIAN ARCHITECT ,new

graduate have good experience 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/

supervisor looking for suitable

Job.#95448561

Indian male, 10 years Driving expe-

rience in Dubai. Looking as a com-

pany driver job. Contact : 96180458 ,

+91 99 61 019366 (India )

32 years, Indian Male MSC,MBA-

HR having 7.5yrs Exp (HR/SAP

operations) with Oman valid driving

license, seeking suitable opening in

Human Resource & Admin/backend

jobs.Contact: 00968-99322978

Bangladeshi male, seeks job as

Supervisor, 2 yrs experience with

cleaning company & valid Oman

driving license. Contact 97443270

Indian Male,27 years, MCA, 3

years Experience in Web developer,

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

Indian Female 10 years as cook in

Muscat, Oman . South Indian, Guja-

rati special food, Looking for part

time. Contact 96710189

Indian male MBA (MKTG) B.com

having 2 years experience in sales

marketing and business develop-

ment looking for a suitable opening

presently on family visit visa.

Contac: 93268245 Email: greg-

jose1991@gmail.com

Indian male with CA & CPA having

20 years of experience, currently

on visit seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 93910095 Email: rejithom-

as07@gmail.com

Filipino male, 29 Graduate of Bs IT

with GCC experience as document

controller and Executive Secretary

looking for employment. Contact:

+968 93929569

Indian female MSC computer Sc,

IELTS certifi ed experienced in

teaching higher grades IGCSE GD,

CBSE in Oman and India seek-

ing suitable placement. Contact:

98048946

Indian female M.Sc Physics, B.Ed

having 5 years experience in teach-

ing looking for suitable job. Contact:

97367389

Sales Manager MBA, having 12

years of experience with valid GCC

driving license looking for a suitable

position NOC available. Contact:

98125226

Female accountant on family visa

available for part time / full time.

Contact: 98002428

Electrical Forman Indian male 38

years, total 19 yrs exp in electrical

fi eld, electrical Forman exp 4 yrs in

Oman seeking suitable placement.

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

Pakistani male 29 years General

Salesman with 5 years of experi-

ence, valid Oman D/L looking for

suitable placement. contact

97216830

Chemical Engineer, Indian, 2 years

of exp in industrial production,

seeking suitable placement. contact

91247222

Jordanian Engineer in MECHANICAL

& MANUFACTURING Good experience

Sheet Metal Fabrication, AutoCad,

Solidworks 3D, Storage Tanks & Silos,

Sales - Speaking Arabic/English/Rus-

sian -GSM#90198575 / 99201710

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

Electrical Engineer (B.E) with 5

years experience (3 yrs in Gulf) NOC

available. Contact: 92119851 Email:

mayurdevadiga@gmail.com

Resident Engineer B.E civil 25 years

exp 12 yrs in Architecture consul-

tancy having Oman Dubai D/L NOC

available. Contact: 95732453

Email: milindj951@gmail.com

IT

Desktop / server / network support exp 7 yrs male, visit visa CCNA,

MCSE. Contact: 93594114

Indian army Retired Colonel with 25

years experience in project manage-

ment, optical cables, telecommu-

nications & IT system integration

available for immediate employment

in project management / Business

development. Immediate available to

join. Email: amrain66@gmail.com

Indian male 28 yrs, Master degree in

Computer Application, 2 years exp in

Oman looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 93295112 Email: syedsa-

dathali.mca@gmail.com

Indian female 25 years M. Sc Com-

puter Science 1 year experience look-

ing for a suitable placement. Contact:

91080464, Email : leahagnes@

hotmail.com

ME Communication System, Exp in

RF/Microwave, Access Ctrl, Network-

ing & Server Ph: 95508754

Indian male (22) Java /J2EE speciali-

zation with BCA Graduate having 6

months experience in web application

development / IT technical support,

looking for suitable job. Contact:

00968 96292480 Email:

farzeenfarook@gmail.com

IT Telecom / Networking Engineer

with CCNA & CCNP, 3 yrs experi-

ence, currently in visit visa. contact

97435944 Email: abdulsameerr@

gmail.com

IT System Administrator MCSA Su-

danese UAE experience. #91302074

Computer & Network Engineering.

11 yrs experience looking for suitable

job. Contact 92811179/ 95882614

Email: khalido24@yahoo.com

LOGISTICS

10 yrs exp in Oman in logistics-

have Oman D/L-looking for suitable

placement-contact 96410767, email:

harishkts@yahoo.com

A BBA degree holder Man looking

For suitable job #95864575

M.Tech having 3 years experience

in Mechanical Engineering depart-

ment looking for any University to

hire. Contact: 90150913

Email: rahmanmechengg@yahoo.in

B.Tech Mechanical Engineer with

MBA in marketing & HR 3 yrs exp

seeking suitable placement. #0091

9846568080 / 0091 4772702080,

Email: jbabu4@gmail.com

Civil Engineer, Indian male 29,

having 7 years exp in construction

fi eld& Auto Cad in Oman. Having

valid driving license. Fluent in

English & Arabic. Looking for suit-

able job in reputed fi rm. Contact -

99650569

Indian male B.Tech Mechanical

Eng (2 years exp in India) fi re safety

seeking suitable placement. Contact:

93523752

B.Sc Civil 9 years experience

looking for suitable placement

as a Residence Engineer having

valid Omani D/L. Contact : 94431917

Email: gmssohel.ce@gmail.com

Civil Engineer B.Sc -6 years experi-

ence with constructions companies

- 1 years in Oman - qualifi ed as Site

Engineer & Planning Engineer.

Contact+968-94682217

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

Road and Construction Engineer

exp 5 years in Oman. contact

97646908

Medical Lab technician, MSc, 29

years, An Indian female having 3

years experience with prometric

passed on family visa seeking suit-

able placement in capital. Contact:

93231549 Email: sujithsolomon@

yahoo.co.in

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D6 M O N D AY, O C T O B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 5

SIT.WANTED

SIT.WANTED

Indian male having 7 Years of Expe-

rience in Oman Having Valid Driving

License working as a Offi ce 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 architectural

programs 3d max , auto cad , Pho-

toshop , 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 Offi ce, administration offi ce,

or any suitable positions in hospital,

polyclinic, companies or Institutions.

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

fi nance specialist having 18 years

experience available for placement.

Contact.95602518

23, Male, ACCA Affi liate, OBU Bsc,

2.5 years of experience in audit and

fi nance in Big 6 Firms, Looking for

permanent placement in similar

fi eld. 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

Qualifi ed,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.

ACCOUNTANT, Male, 8 years experi-

ence, presently working in Oman as a

Senior Accountant with oman Driving

license. NOC available, seek suitable

opportunity. GSM: 97705854

Chemical Engineer Indian 2 years

of experience in production fi eld

Contact: 91247222

Email:sahadpoonchola@gmail.com

Syrian male 3yrs. exp in IT support,

Networking, Security systems, Serv-

er support, IT sales and marketing.

Valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement. Contact 91033395

Civil Autocad Draughtsman part

time work for job mob :96023726

Indian female, MBA, 25yrs Having

4yrears of experience in MNC, hands

of experiences in recruitment and

administration, fl exible for any suit-

able job placements currently in

visting visa. Contact Tel : 98864639

Email : neethuvijayan06@gmail.com

Indian Male, 25, Chartered Account-

ant, working with ICICI Bank India.

On a Visit Visa in Oman. Staying with

parents at Azaiba. Ph: 24492638.

Email: shyamal008@gmail.com

Indian Male, 26 Yrs, Business

Management, 6 years in Oman.

Knowledge of MS Offi ce and Arabic

Language. Seeks suitable position.

Contact 93931935

Indian Mechanical Engineer, 30, having 8yrs of UAE Sales/Busi-

ness Development. experience in

Electromechanical and Irrigation

sectors. Contact no- +971558763220

email id-sangowri@outlook.com

Indian male, with fi nance and Law

degree, having more than 25 years

of experience in Finance/ Accounts /

Audit (5 years of Oman experience)

seeks suitable placement. NOC avail-

able. Contact: 98421619.

E-mail: talemadhamu@yahoo.com.

Indian male Executive Secretary

having vast experience in admin,

logistics & procurement well versed

with computer seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact : 99514286

Indian male 22yr BBA with LOGIS-

TIC Diploma, exp in tally and data

entry seeking in suitable placement.

Contact; 90151739

email shakeeb.mp280gmail.com

India male 33 years. DCT, BBA,

OSHA, looking for Job in Construc-

tion HSE, 11 Years experience with

GCC license, NOC available

Contact :- 9418 4280

Filipino Senior Architect with 13

years GCC experience. Profi cient

in 3D StudioMax, AutoCAD, Revit,

Phostoshop, and Microsoft Offi ce.

With NOC and Omani driving license.

Please contact 91292933.

Indian female, 40 yrs, 7 yrs experi-

ence in customer service, with D/L

seeks suitable placement.

Contact 95580711

ME Civil- structural Engineer, 8 Years Structural Engineer ex-

perience, Looking for Structural

Designer, supervisor or site engineer

Position. Iranian male.

Contact: 93696929

Email: mhsaz1359@gmail.com

Electronics System Eng. UK Gradu-

ate. Indian Female with relevant

work experience. Eng. Analysis,

Instrumentation and Control, Power

& Heat, Electrical & Fluid, Drives &

Actuators etc. Looking for an entry

level position. Email s.dinesh1508@

gmail.com. Mobile: 97848075, +91-

8105413827

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

ACCOUNTANT: Indian male 25 hav-

ing 4 years experience in account-

ing & having well knowledge in tally.

Contact:968094535881,

0091 9037622048,

Email: vishnuraj889@gmail.com

Pakistan Male: 24 years,M.Com

Finance having 2.5 year experience

as a accountant & marketing execu-

tive looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 97670816,

E.mail: naeem.ahsan68@gmail.com

Senior Accountant. 8 Years experi-

ence. NOC available. Oman driving

license. Seek suitable opportunity.

GSM- 98184170

31 year Indian male PG in HR ,with

5 yrs Professional experience in

HR in Construction Oil & Gas Oman

seeking for a suitable placement.

Kindly contact me on 93488914,

email-Kaarthickshankar@gmail.com

MBA Finance with more than fi ve

years of experience in Finance &

Accounts including GCC, looking

for a suitable opening. Having UAE

driving license. #91391802.

Indian female with MBA in fi nance

seeking immediate placement.

Contact: 968-93316493

Sudanese/26/Bsc Computer Sci-

ence /3 years exp/skills Excellent

knowledge in operating systems

and maintaining computers Java

Programmer Web Developer Linux

SMS solutions Android developer/

email khalid.omx@gmail.com/

# 944958080 and 99758186.

Indian male B.Eng. in IT,CCNA,

MCSA,MCSE, 2.5 yrs + exp. in IT sup-

port, networking and server support

valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement in IT/Network/Server

support. Contact 92607532

Indian B.E Computer Science graduate

2012 passout. 1 .5 yrs exp. in Account-

ing. Having good communication skills

and mindset to work in a team. Having

NIIT certifi cate in Diploma in Java

Technology. # 97767894

Email: jinsonjacobjohn@gmail.com

Indian male 24 YEARS, B.Tech

(Electrical & Electronics), having 2

yrs. exp as Electrical Site Engineer.

Done IOSH & NEBOSH- IGC certifi ca-

tions, seeking for suitable placement

in any related industries. Contact

98045482,

Email: mastanshaik1008@gmail.

com

Indian male, 24 years, HSE Engineer

having 2 years of Indian experience.

Done IOSH & NEBOSH- IGC certifi ca-

tions, seeking for suitable placement

in any related industries.

Contact 98045482

Indian Male (Diploma in electronics

Engineering and CCNA.) having 9

years of experience in Networking, 5

years’ experience in Oman. Looking

for a suitable Placement. NOC avail-

able. GSM- 93787098,

Email –anishktr@gmail.com

Mechanical Draftsman, Indian male

27, Diploma in Mechanical Engineer-

ing having 7 years of experience

in Auto CAD looking for a suitable

placement.#97351786 / 96143708

mohammednazeer07@gmail.com

ACCA Affi liate, OBU Degree, 2.5

years experience in audit and

fi nance in Big6 fi rm, Looking for

permanent placement. NOC release

available. Contact: 95140445,

a.saran891@gmail.com

27, male, ACCA fi nalist, have pro-

fessional experience up to fi naliza-

tion of Accounts, Statutory and in-

ternal audit, expertise in using tally

and focus & Oracle Software, have

3.5 years experience in accounts

till fi nalization, seeking for per-

manent replacement ,#97654769,

email id- abdullah.nooralam@yahoo.

com

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, 8 years ex-

perience ,Oman driving licence,Noc

available. Seek Suitable opportunity.

GSM- 98184170

B.E Mechanical Engineer with 2

years’ experience in HVAC fi eld on

visit visa looking for suitable job.

Contact: 93442296

Email Id: sal201091@gmail.com.

MBA (F) B.COM Indian female

having knowledge of accounts with

Tally looking for full or part time job.

Presently on family visit visa.

Contact: - 96259171. Email: -

bhumicapandya@gmail.com

Site Supervisor/ L Driver, Pakistani

Male 33 with valid D/L, 4 years

experience in Muscat, fl uent in

English, Arabic looking for suitable

place. Contact: 97950869

Indian Male, MBA, Talented

management expert having 6 year

experience at U.A.E, India and Oman

in luxury goods and Retail. Seeking

suitable openings in related or same

fi eld. Contact:92700670

Email: jobcareer44@gmail.com

B.Tech EEE with 4+ years experi-

ence in the fi eld of it, networking,

ex-tonics etc. presently working in

Amazon India development centre as

a content quality associate seeking

for suitable jobs in Oman.

Contact : +91 9940514005, 93116402

email: mail2nbn@gmail.com

MBA Finance with more than fi ve

years of experience in Finance &

Accounts including GCC, looking for

a suitable opening. Having UAE driv-

ing license. Contact no..91391802

Part- Time Accountant, well experi-

ence senior accountant ,doing all

type of accounting works, Finaliza-

tion, Budgeting available.

Contact 98803439

Pakistani, Male, Pak, Exp 14 Years

in IT Trainer / Computer Teacher,

looking for a better position in Oman,

already working in Prestigious Con-

struction Company. # 95983711.

Join.mtmali@gmail.com

M. Tech VLSI design, B. tech Elec-

tronics and instrumentation, Indian

female,3 years teaching experience

for graduation level students,

seeking suitable placements .

Ph:00968 92904155.

email-achusooraj@gmail.com

Indian 26M, B. Tech Computer Sci-

ence graduate, 3 years exp in India,

looking for suitable job in Muscat.

Contact : 93125669,

Email : amritrajGT18@gmail.com

Sudanese/Bsc IT/26/2 years experi-

ence/excellent Eng-Arb speaking/

Omani driving license/96387227/

henrykarrar@gmail.com

MBA - (F), M.Com, B.COM. Indian

female having knowledge of accounts

with Tally looking for part time or full

time job. Presently on family visa. #

91892264. mail: yv.dixit@yahoo.com

Admin, having 10+ years experience

in Admin/HR/Logistics/Time Keeper,

in reputed companies. Presently work-

ing in Muscat. Contact94369965mail

- satya1528@gmail.com

Two year experience in Oman,

experience in sales, purchase and

system admin, Having GCC license.

Contact number 97475860,

Yadhukrishnan08@gmail.com

Indian male B.Eng. in IT,CCNA,

MCSA,MCSE, 2.5 yrs + exp. in IT sup-

port, Networking and Server support

with valid Omani D/L seeking suit-

able placement in IT/Network/Server

support. contact 92607532

Indian Female BSC nurse with 8+

years of experience including 3

years of GCC exp. Oman Promet-

ric passed with 57 %. Currently in

Oman. Contact : 98034384

Indian male Accountant, 12 years

experience, looking for a full time

or part time job, experience in tally

also. Contact 98983122

Indian Male, 25, Chartered Ac-

countant, working with ICICI Bank

India. On a Visit Visa in Oman.

Staying with parents at Azaibah.

Ph:24492638. Email: shyamal008@

gmail.com

Indian Male 23 years B.Tech Civil

Engineering having 2 years experi-

ence in quantity survey and site

management looking for suitable

placement. Contact- 95042656

Indian female, MBA, 25yrs Having

4yrears of experience in MNC, hands

of experiences in recruitment and

administration, fl exible for any suit-

able job placements currently in

visting visa. Contact: 98864639

Email : neethuvijayan06@gmail.com

Indian Male -25years B.Tech

Engineer seeking any suitable jobs

in Oman ,currently on visit visa.

Contact : Haneesh N. Surendran,

Mob : 90126573,

Email: - haneeshns02@gmail.com

Female Junior Architect, Excel-

lence in Autocad, Sketching & Mod-

elling, Internship - KHAM Designs,

Bangalore. Presently with Atulya

Architects & Associates. Email

saatvika.frozenmusic@gmail.com

Contact 00968-94057427.

Indian male BE Electrical & Elec-

tronics and PG in power systems

(transmission & distribution) on

visit seeking placement.

Contact 94669679

E Mail : prsabarish@gmail.com

Indian Female, MBA-HR having 8+

experience in Administration/HR,

Customer Support, Offi ce Coordina-

tor with good Computer skill, Now on

Visit Visa looking for suitable

position. Contact: 90196235

Female, 35years, Bachelor of Phar-

macy fresh graduate with BSc and

MA looking for suitable

position in hospital, polyclinic,

companies or Institutions. Contact

90236481.

Electrical Maintenance Engineer, 29, Indian Male, having 7+ years exp.

in reputed companies. Seeking suit-

able placement in Oman.

Contact 98440637.

Mail ID : venkatbadri23@gmail.com

Administration - Having 9+ years

exp. in Admin & HR in reputed com-

panies. Presently working in Muscat

and seeking for suitable placement.

Contact No.: 97693456.

email : muralimahdav77@gmail.com

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, 8 years ex-

perience, Oman driving license, Noc

available seeks suitable opportunity.

GSM- 97705854

Indian male 24 B.Tech IT(engineer)

2.5 years exp in hardware network-

ing, programming such as C and C++.

Currently on visit visa seeks suitable

placement. Contact 95153693

Indian male Auto Cad Draughtsman

(civil) 8 years experience seeking for

part time job.

Contact : 00968 99070584,

Email: remluvp@gmail.com

Indian male 32 M. A. English and

having 4 years of experience in

teaching current company is ready

to issue release letter.

Contact : 99869535

Email: sahadkeyi33@gmail.com

Sudanese male, 31 years, have 3

year Diploma in electrical engineer

, 6 year experience in construction

and electrical production plant .

Mobile No ; +96894549609

Indian male 37 years B.Tech Gradu-

ate having 12 years experience of

Electrical DCRP Works / Jobs in

Oman with driving license looking

for suitable opening. NOC available

can join immediately. Contact :

saiviharvasanth@gmail.com

Indian female B.ARCH with 10 years

experience (Indian & Oman) as an

Architect is seeking a suitable in

Muscat. Contact: 92412810

BE Civil Engineer with 11 years of

experience in building construc-

tion with valid Oman DL, looking for

suitable placement, NOC available.

Please contact 91329910.

Indian male 24 B.Tech IT (engineer)

2.5 years exp in hardware network-

ing, programming such as C and C++.

Currently on visit visa seeks suitable

placement. Contact 95153693

Indian male 23yrs, 2yrs exp. In Accounts (india). Seeking suitable

position in accounts. Currently on

express visa. M: 94399509,

E. midhunaloor16@gmail.com

Civil Autocad draughtsman looking

for part time job. Mobile: 95218737

Indian Male: 31yrs 8 Years Experi-

ence in the fi eld of Business Devel-

opment/ Sales/ Retail/ Logistics

with good communication Skills

seeking for suitable job in Oman .

Now available in Visit visa valid till

(21st Oct). Contact; 99052340 ,

email: pradee.ys@gmail.com

ACCOUNTANT , Indian male 30

years B.Com Having 7 years of Oman

experience in the fi eld of accounts &

fi nance seeks for better placement.

Contact : 96143708 / 97351786

ME Civil- structural Engineer, 8

Years Structural engineer experi-

ence, looking for Structural Designer,

supervisor or site engineer Position.

Iranian male. Contact: 93696929,

Email: mhsaz1359@gmail.com

ACCOUNTANT, 8 years experience,

Oman D/L, Noc available seeks suit-

able opportunity. GSM- 98184170

Network/Noc Engineer, Indian male

27 years B.com (General) 5 years &

4 month’s of experience in the fi eld

of networking seeks for better place-

ment. Contact :97663834,

bro’s no:98730758

Indian male, BBA, having 8yrs exp in-

cluding 2yrs of (UAE) exp looking op-

portunities withinSales, Logistics, Re-

tail, Operations. CONTACT 99052340,

Mail Id: pradee.ys@gmail.com

B.Com Graduate, associate insur-

ance, 25 year male, 3 years experi-

ence in accounts and 3 years in sales

and marketing.#no-95236312, mail

id-lilommca@gmail.com

Syrian Architect years experience

in oman for work 2d plans and 3d

internal and external projects in co-

operation or even a piece . for contact

: 97482871

Electrical Engineer with BS & MS

Degree having 5 years of Experience

in Electrical Utility/Water sector

seeks a suitable job (on visit).

Contact: snaveelh@gmail.com

Phone: 24413033/ 95731852

25 year male, B graduate, associ-

ate insurance with 3 years exp in

accounts and 3 years in marketing.

NOC available. Mail id lilommca@

gmail.com and no-95236312

DAILY GUIDEM O N D AY, O C T O B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 5 D7

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet

& sofa shampooing, Contact

99314807/24792998

Split window unit A/ C servicing.

Contact 94694472

Cleaning & Carpet Shampooing, Ocean Center LLC. #99884591

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 & packing. Contact: 99657644 /98518013

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of

your marble. contact 24793614/

99314807

Window & split unit A.C ser-

vicing & maintenance. Contact

93769089 / 95323517

Pest Control Gulfa Intl .LLC. Contact: 92326955

Water proofi ng ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. Contact

ABU QABAS- 99320217

/24788722

WEBSITE

WEB, ERP and Business Intel-

ligence (BI) creation and manage-

ment at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

SIT.WANTED

SIT.WANTED

SIT.WANTED

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

CLASSES

IELTS & TOEFL

Academic / General

Target Band 8

TQT Institute.

Ph #

24480800 / 99347202

Indian male, 4 years of experience

in Structured cabling, termination

and Fiber optic splicing. Look-

ing for a suitable Placement. NOC

available. GSM- 92484039, Email

–rajaveer8989@gmail.com

Indian male , 23 yrs, postgraduate

Mechanical Eng. (M.Sc, UK), 1 year

sales exp, having Oman DL, seeking

for suitable employment in reputed

fi rm. Contact: 91419764 Email:

z.enggoman@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 fa-

mous private hospital in Oman with

NOC. Contact: 95761982 or umerok@

hotmail.com

Indian male 25 years, MBA fi nance

and marketing with tally have 1.3

year experience in India. Now in

Oman on visit visa. GSM: 97445488

Indian male, 19 years experience

in purchase, material coordinator in

building construction & factory pro-

duction fi eld. have good computer

skills & driving license and NOC,

looking for a suitable placement.

Contact: 99008101

Working as Senior accountant,5yr.

exp.in oman, Accounting upto

fi nalisation, relevant computer skills

tally9, Sage, vcams , Audit ,valid

oman driving license, languages

known English, Arabic, Hindi. NOC

avaliable can join immediately.

Tel: (+968) 96339599. E-mail-

(ahmedmohdkhan@gmail.com)

Indian Female, 35years, Bachelor of

Pharmacy (BPharm) fresh graduate

with BSc and MA looking for posi-

tions in Front Offi ce,

administration offi ce, or any suit-

able positions in hospital, polyclinic,

companies or Institutions.

Contact 90236481

Network/Noc engineer, CCNA certi-

fi ed & CCNP trained, Indian male

27 years B.com(general) 5 years

& 4 month’s of experience in the

fi eld of networking seeks for better

placement. contact 97663834 /

98730758

INDIAN FEMALE– ME in CSE with 2

years’ experience in teaching seek-

ing Suitable Job Opportunity. Con-

tact: 94263445 or +91 9486251274,

E mail – apshinmar@gmail.com

Registered Filipina Nurse look-

ing for a suitable job in Admin/

receptionist, experience in admin, on

visit visa seeks placement. Contact

97435849

Structure/Pipeline,Piping Draughtsman have 12+ yrs. Exp. in

Oman seeking suitable placement.

Contact 92103713 NOC available.

Indian male 22 years, looking for

suitable placement in Hardware

and Networking fi eld, Having 1 year

exp. in India, training in al ameen

computers Muscat Ruwi. Qualifi -

cation is Diploma in Electronics

and Communication at present I

am having my valid employee

visa In the same work. Contact : -

9739622910/8050101914, Email ID

:- fairozhuded13@gmail.com

Admin, having 10+ years experience

in Admin/HR/Logistics/Time Keeper,

in reputed companies. Presently work-

ing in Muscat. #968 94369965,mail

- satya1528@gmail.com

Civil Engineer B.Sc -6 years

experience with constructions

companies - qualifi ed as A Project

Engineer & Planning Engineer .

Contact+968-94682217

Sudanese / Arabic & English teacher for all nationalities / willing

to teach at home. Tel:

94211377

Indian male, 26 yr, b. tech Com-

puter science, 4 years experience

as system and network engineer

looking for suitable job.

Contact : 0096893125669,

Email : amritrajGT18@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer with BS & MS

Degree having 5 years of Experi-

ence in Electrical Utility/Water

sector seeks a suitable job. Contact:

95731852 snaveelh@gmail.com

Chartered Accountant, looking out

for an opportunity in Oman in Audit

OR Finance fi eld. Available in

Muscat from 10th – 16th Oct.

Call : 91258435

26, Male, Indian, BBA (Finance),

MBA(HR), Looking for suitable Job.

Contact immediately. Contact

98176105, nruknaddin@outlook.com

Indian lady looking for accounts

Job, two years experience one year

worked in Oman B.Com Graduate ,

Tally ERP9. GSM : 91123561

Indian looking for a part time ac-

counting or Internal Auditing job,

contact 99196621.

33 year male Indian Keralite

looking for Senior Accountant or

Assistant Accounts manager having

10 years of working experience in

Oman and Qatar with valid GCC

license willing to work any GCC

country, please contact :

97433387

27,male,ACCA fi nalist, have profes-

sional experience up to fi nalization

of accounts, statutory and internal

audit, expertise in using tally and

focus & oracle software, have 3.5

years experience in accounts till

fi nalization ,seeking for permanent

replacement ,GSM-97654769,email

id-abdullah.nooralam@yahoo.com

Senior Management Professional,

MBA, 12 years+ exp. in Business

Development/Sales Management ,

Sales Training, Content Development

& Six sigma GSM:97428090

Part Time Accounting Job Complete

Data Entry, Upto Finalization. Any

Time Available. Location Al Hail, AL

Khoud. #- +968-92049215

Email:- aiafe.oman@gmail.com

ACCA fi nalist, Recent B.Com Gradu-

ate, Indian Female, looking for full

time employment in Accounting and

Audit.+96896964379,

sangeethaumesh5@gmail.com

Indian Chartered Accountant, Male

25 years, 5 years of relevant experi-

ence, On Visit visa, Staying with

Parents. Also holds BCOM (Computer

Applications). Contact 98164467,

24492638 shyamal008@gmail.com

Arab Lady seeking for House-

manager/Personal Assistant job.

Highly experienced. Arabic, English

&French. Contat : +961 71339568

email : famurr@hotmail.com

The Business Development Man-

ager, Iraqi, Experience 14 Years

Inside and outside Oman following

activities: tenders& real estate& con-

struction & marketing projects& in-

vestments& transportation & Marine

services& companies management&

develop business.

Contact 93240027

26, Male, Indian, BBA (Finance),

MBA(HR), Looking for suitable

Job. Contact immediately contact

98176105, nruknaddin@outlook.com

INDIAN MALE , MBA. Having 10+

years experience as Automotives

Sales Manager .Worked with M/s

TALWAR AUTO GARAGES PVT LTD

India’s Largest Selling Dealer for

VOLVO EICHER commercial vehicles

.Seeking for suitable Job in Oman.

Contact no: 98045482

Email: dmstalwar@gmail.com

26, Male, Indian, BBA (Finance),

MBA(HR), Looking for suitable Job.

Contact immediately #98176105,

Email: nruknaddin@outlook.com

FABRICATION & ERECTION-DUCT

MAN Candidate seeking suitable op-

portunities & presently in Oman with

NOC Mob:97239854,

Mail:asherlalitha@yahoo.com

25yrs Indian Female with Bsc Nurs-

ing, MHA (master of hospital adminis-

tration) Graduate looking for suitable

placement. Contact:- 99513267

Email:-alinaelshaddai@gmail.com

50 years Indian male 15yrs experience

as Manager in Steel and paper Plant

seeking suitable placement. Kindly

contact me on +91 9840943638

Chartered Accountant, Indian male,

25, two years experience, on visit

visa. Staying with parents. Also has

B.com+computer Application.

Contact: 24492638/98164467.

shyamal008@gmail.com

Diploma in Civil Engineer. I have 6

year experience in Oman seeking for

suitable position Oman. #97415597,

email: Nasir.muscat@gmail.com

Indian male with 18 years of

Indian and Overseas experience in

hospitality industry, with excellent

cooking, operational, managerial

and communication skills seeking

a suitable job from reputed groups

and organizations. On a visit visa.

Contact: 95363751

Indian Female, MBA-HR having 8+

experience in Administration/HR,

Customer Support, Offi ce Coordina-

tor with good Computer skill, now on

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