HM sends condolences DUBAI: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, received His Highness Sayyid Harib bin Thuwainy bin Shi-hab Al Said, envoy of His Maj-esty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, in Dubai on Sunday.

Sayyid Harib conveyed the condolences of His Majesty the Sultan to Sheikh Moham-med and members of his family over the death of his son Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid expressed his apprecia-tion and thanks for His Majesty the Sultan’s condolences and sympathy, praying to Allah the Almighty to protect His Majesty and the Omani people against all harms. Sayyid Harib was ac-companied by Sheikh Moham-med bin Abdullah Al Qatabi, the Sultanate’s ambassador to the UAE, and Salim bin Musal-lam Al Kathiri, Head of the Sul-tanate’s Commercial Office in Dubai. -ONA

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L AU N C H T H E V I D EO

It’s a race against time for ailing girl

RAHUL DASrahuldas@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: It is a race against time for the parents to save their little girl after losing the first one to a similar disease. Basma Moham-mad Faisal, a five-year-old girl, is suffering from multiple disorders.

Basma is unable to consume food or even digest it. Even if she eats a little, she immediately throws it up as the tube connect-ing her liver to her pancreas is partially blocked.

She is slated to undergo a liver transplant as she is suffering from liver cirrhosis. “The child

immediately needs two surger-ies, one for liver and the other for pancreas,” her father, Moham-mad Faisal Raza, said.

Raza, a Pakistani national, plans to take Basma to India for the liver transplant as soon as possible as medical facilities to conduct the surgery are not available in Oman or back home in Pakistan. “I had lost my elder daughter to the same disease about 11 years back. I don’t want to lose her (Basma) too,” he said, as tears rolled down his cheeks.

His elder daughter, Asfa Mo-hammed Faisal, died on Decem-ber 6, 2004, after succumbing to liver cirrhosis. >A6

Basma, the Pakistani

girl who is unable

to consume food or

even digest it, needs

immediate surgeries,

one for liver and the

other for pancreas

OMANTraining agreements for Omanis signed

1Minister of Manpower Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Bakri, signed

on Sunday at the Ministry’s headquarters 21 training contracts with a number of training organisations for the training of 446 Omani citizens at a cost of OMR1,273,335. The duration of training ranges between six and nine months. >A3

OMANSultanate, India boost relations

2Renewal of Oman-India defence ties will see an increased cooperation to

strengthen the relations between both the countries, the Indian embassy’s defence advisor has said. >A4

MARKETLeasing firms achieve robust growth

3 Oman’s leasing sector has achieved a healthy growth of 12.3% in net

profit to reach OMR15.4m for the first half of 2015.>B1

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

New labour laws to

secure workers’ rights

REJIMON K reji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Oman has set up labour courts to settle worker-employer disputes exclusively, said a top official from Interna-tional Trade Union Confedera-tion (ITUC).

“Oman’s new labour laws are critical for protecting the rights of workers. But a law without compliance will fail to gener-ate a productive culture for both businesses and labour,” Sharan Burrow, the secretary general of ITUC, told the Times of Oman in an exclusive interview.

The official, who was in Oman on a short visit to meet the Min-ister of Manpower and other gov-ernment officials last week, said that in Oman, one is optimistic and hopes for a shared future, while in some other Gulf Coop-eration Council (GCC) countries one feels discrimination, denial and existence of a master-servant

relationship. “The most effective examples of efficient and effec-tive resolution of workplace dis-putes from around the world are those from countries that have both dedicated labour courts or tribunals and the practice of col-lective bargaining or social dia-logue,” Burrow said.

The trade union leader said there is a need for reform in the Kafala system, which has kept migrant workers bonded with employers. >A6

I N T E R N A T I O N A L T R A D E U N I O N C O N F E D E R A T I O N

Sharan Burrow, the secretary

general of ITUC.

Basma Mohammad Faisal.

HM sends greetings MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of congratulations to President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca of Malta on her country’s Inde-pendence Anniversary.

In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan has expressed his sincere congratulations along with his best wishes to President Preca and the people of Malta. >A6

C A B L E

C1Oman qualify for AFC U-16 Championship

A2 M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

OMAN A bakery unit was shut down by the Public Authority of Consumer Protection (PACP) in Al Dakhiliya Governorate for displaying expired productsPACP shuts down bakery in Bahla >A3

Dhofar police seize 3,000 bundles of khat; five heldTimes News Service

SALALAH: Five people were ar-rested by the Directorate of Nar-cotics Control under the Dhofar Royal Oman Police (ROP) for dealing in illegal khat tobacco.

The five have been charged with smuggling, possession, use with intent, and trafficking of nar-cotic substances.

An ROP official said, “The po-lice intelligence was tipped about a boat entering Oman’s regional waters with narcotics on board, which were to be handed over to people on a beach in Mughsayl,

Salalah. The suspects were ar-rested during the course of their transaction and 1,755 bundles of khat were seized from them.”

Another bid foiledMeanwhile, the Directorate of Narcotics Control also foiled an-other attempt to smuggle khat into Dhofar. An official said, “We had been tipped that there was a smuggling consignment incom-ing from the sea in Wilayat Mir-bat. The boat was intercepted and 1570 bundles of Khat were confis-cated from the boat.”

The suspects are being dealt

with according to legal proce-dures and their case will be for-warded to the courts.

The Sohar, Suwaiq and Shinas Royal Oman Police (ROP) Special Task Force, in cooperation with the Directorate General of Agri-culture and Livestock raided four farms in North Al Batinah.

An ROP official stated, “During this operation, we were able to ap-prehend Asian workers, accused of using poisonous, expired and unlicensed pesticides on crops in those farms. We also found out that some of the works are in vio-lation of foreign residency laws.”

R O P A C T I O N

Oman to take part in Verona stone tech fairMUSCAT: Oman, represented by the Public Authority for In-vestment Promotion and Ex-port Development ‘Ithraa,’ will take part for the sixth time in the 50th edition of the Internation-al Trade Fair for Stone, Design and Technology Marmomacc 2015. The fair will be held from September 30 to October 3 in the Italian city of Verona.

Five Omani companies deal-ing in marble and stone will take part in the fair.

Oman’s participation comes as part of ‘Ithraa’ efforts in de-veloping the Omani non-oil ex-ports through global markets.

‘Marmomacc 2015’ is con-sidered the largest and most fa-mous fair of its kind in Europe. Last year’s statistics recorded as more as 65,000 visitors from various countries around the world. The fair is also an oppor-tunity for Omani companies to benefit from the new technolo-gies in the field of marble and stone manufacturing.– ONA

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OMANM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

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Minister signs training pacts worth OMR1.2mMUSCAT: Minister of Man-power Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Bakri, signed on Sun-day at the Ministry’s headquar-ters 21 training contracts with a number of training organisa-tions for the training of 446 citi-zens at a cost of OMR1,273,335.

Commenting on the agree-ments, Hamad bin Khamis Al A’mri, undersecretary of the Ministry of Manpower, said that 132 people will receive adminis-trative training, 273 will receive technical training and 41 will re-ceive craft training.

He added that the duration of training, which will start after

signing of the contracts, ranges between six and nine months.

Employment“There has been a remarkable turnout on these programmes as jobseekers tend to prefer direct employment rather than ben-efiting from the training coupled with employment,” the under-secretary concluded.

A total 56 training pro-grammes coupled with employ-ment contracts at the different administrative, technical, pro-fessional and craft fields have been signed by the ministry this year.– ONA

M I N I S T R Y O F M A N P O W E R

PACP shuts down bakery in BahlaTimes News Service

MUSCAT: A bakery unit was shut down by the Public Au-thority of Consumer Protection (PACP) in Al Dakhiliya Gover-norate in cooperation with the Department of Public Prosecu-tion under orders from the Pre-liminary Court in the Wilayat of Bahla.

The PACP statement said: “Case 90/M/2015 was filed against the bakery for dis-playing expired products and products with no information on them.”

The owner was fined OMR500 and sentenced to im-prisonment for three months for the first count.

The second count saw the court fine the owner of the bak-ery OMR100.

The store will be closed for three days.

C O N S U M E R A F F A I R S

HM receives thanks from King Salman MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has received a cable of thanks from the Cus-todian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in reply to His Maj-esty’s condolences cable on the death of Princess Nouf bint Abdulaziz Al Saud. In his cable, King Salman expressed his thanks for His Majesty the Sultan’s generous feelings and sincere prayers, pray-ing to Allah the Almighty to rest the bereaved’s soul in peace and protect His Majesty against all harms.–ONA

C A B L E

A4 M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

OMAN

Oman Air launches new online Muscat Duty Free StoreTimes News service

MUSCAT: With the launch of the new online “Muscat Duty Free Store” by Oman Air in partnership with Muscat Duty Free, members of Oman Air’s loyalty programme Sindbad now have more options to spend their miles.

Besides flight tickets and up-grades, members can now spend their miles to purchase Muscat Duty Free products online.

Order online, collect on wayThey can choose from over 900 products from a variety of catego-ries, ranging from phones, elec-tronics, chocolates, perfumes, jewellery and more, and use their miles to purchase them. Members can order the products online and collect them when they depart from or arrive at Muscat.

Nabil Al Busaidi, Acting General Manager Marketing, Oman Air, commented, “Oman Air believes that its members should have a good selection of reward options to choose from and spend their hard-earned miles on. The Muscat Duty Free store is our latest endeavour towards increasing the ease, con-venience and choice of redemp-tion options that we offer to our most valued customers.

“Members can visit the Muscat Duty Free Store on the Sindbad website, select a category, pick a product they wish to buy, specify collection details and confirm their order. The required miles will be debited from the members’ ac-counts and an email confirmation

will be sent. Members can collect the product themselves or nomi-nate someone to collect on their behalf.” Products that members can choose to purchase include an iPhone 6, a Bose Bluetooth speaker, or even the latest fragrance from Amouage. To spend their miles, members have to visit the Muscat Duty Free store on the Sindbad website and make their selection.

Pat O’Connor, Operations Man-ager, Muscat Duty Free comment-ed, “We are absolutely delighted to launch this new service for Oman Air’s loyalty programme. This is just the next step in our rewards for Oman Air customers, as we also offer exclusive discounts and double miles promotions to Sind-bad members at various times all through the year.

“The launch of the new online store is perfect as Eid Al Adha is around the corner and Sindbad members will now be able to spend their miles to purchase gifts for their loved ones during the holiday season. Check out the Muscat Duty Free Store on Sindbad today!”

Low pricesPrices of products in the store start from as low as 1,500 Sind-bad miles. Sindbad programme is constantly adding new benefits, privileges and offers for its mem-bers to make their relationship with Oman Air even more reward-ing. Access to the Business Class Check-in lounge, the Mobile App and now the Muscat Duty Free store are some of the initiatives that were introduced this year.

N E W M I L E S T O N E Sultanate-India ties to receive new boost

REJIMON Kreji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Renewal of Oman-India defence ties will see an in-creased cooperation to strength-en the relations between both the countries, the Indian embassy’s defence advisor has said.

“We are discussing the areas where improvement is needed, and will be moving ahead fur-ther,” Defence Advisor Capt. N. Hariharan (Indian Navy) told the Times of Oman on board the INS Delhi, a guided-missile destroyer ship of the Indian Navy.

INS Delhi, two frigates INS Tabar and INS Trishul, and INS Deepak, the fleet tanker, are on a visit to Oman as part of the final leg of their visit to the region.

In 2005, Oman and India had signed an MoU on defence coop-eration that was renewed in 2010. The present MoU is about to ex-pire in December this year.

RNO to send two shipsAccording to Captain Kartik Krishnan, the commanding offic-er of INS Delhi, as part of the co-operation, the Royal Oman Navy (RNO) has agreed to deploy two ships for “Naseem Al Bahr,” the bi-ennial naval exercise, in January 2016. “The exercise will be held in Indian waters,” the INS Delhi captain said.

Meanwhile, Indra Mani Pan-

dey, the Indian ambassador to the Sultanate, said as part of the celebrations of 60th anniversary of India-Oman diplomatic ties, INS Tarangani and Shabab Oman will sail from Muscat to Cochin, evoking memories of the ancient India-Oman sea trade.

INS Tarangini is a three-mast-ed barque, commissioned in 1997

as a sail training ship for the In-dian Navy. RNO Shabab Oman is also a barquentine which serves as a training ship for the RNO.

Oman’s positive responseThe ambassador also added that Oman has positively responded to India’s invitation to attend the International Fleet Review

in Vishakhapatnam, the Indian Navy’s Eastern Command head-quarters.

“We have received a positive re-sponse from the Omani side,” the ambassador added.

According to reports, over 60 sea-faring nations and over 100 vessels (more than 90 states have been invited) will be attending the International Fleet Review to be hosted in India in February 2016.

“Indian President Pranab Mukherjee will attend the review. There will be seminars and ven-ues to share ideas and expertise,” the INS Delhi captain added.

Both India and Oman have an-cient maritime tradition between them that is traced back to several millennia.

The Indian Navy has multi-di-mensional capability, comprising aircraft carriers, modern ships, submarines, aircraft and marine commandos.

The naval cooperation between the two countries has progressed steadily with increased port visits by naval ships and training of the RNO personnel by Indian Navy.

India and Oman are also mem-bers of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), a voluntary and co-operative initiative among 35 countries of the Indian Ocean Region, which has served as a vi-tal forum for sharing information and forging cooperation on mari-time issues.

As part of the

celebrations of 60th

anniversary of India-

Oman diplomatic

ties, INS Tarangani

and Shabab Oman

will sail from Muscat

to Cochin, evoking

memories of the

ancient India-

Oman sea trade FRIENDLY PORT CALL: Four Indian Navy ships, INS Delhi, INS Tabar, INS Trishul and INS Deepak, are

on a visit to Oman. -OK Mohammed Ali

DEEP-ROOTED TIES: The naval cooperation between Indian and

Oman has progressed steadily with increased port visits by naval

ships and training of the RNO personnel by Indian Navy. Both In-

dia and Oman have ancient maritime tradition between them that

is traced back to several millennia -OK Mohammed Ali

Estiqdam project wins infotech competition

Times News Service

MUSCAT: From a mobile app that allows supermarkets’ customers to buy their grocery online, to a web-site that provides home mainte-nance services, creativity was at its best at Sas48, the second edition of the competition organised by the Information Technology Author-ity (ITA) in Sohar.

The competition ended on Saturday. The Estiqdam project, which connects the service pro-vider with the customer to finish any request online, won the first place. The Tayseer team won the second place for its idea of regu-lating Haj visits through online registration via an app.

The 360 project app, which won the third place, mooted the idea of an online home maintenance ser-vice. The prize money for the top three projects was OMR10,000, OMR7,000 and OMR4,000, re-spectively. Half of the value of the prizes will go to the winners, while the other half will go towards the development phase of their win-ning projects. Winners will get a chance to be incubated at the Sas Centre for Entrepreneurship and receive the necessary technical support and consulting services.

The winning teams and all the participants will get a chance to join the Sas Centre for Entrepre-neurship to start their own com-

pany and invest in their own ideas.The Sas Programme is a nation-

al ICT business development ini-tiative and a state-of-the-art busi-ness designed to help promote small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in order to build a robust ICT sector in Oman.

To facilitate the growth of ICT-enabled businesses in Oman, the Sas Programme offers training workshops and seminars to the entrepreneurs to help prepare them in all aspects of starting and running a business.

OpportunitiesParticipation also extends to join-ing ITA’s ‘networks,’ thereby al-lowing new businesses to extend their range of contacts and busi-ness opportunities and connect to an international network of dy-namic young businesses.

The services offered by the Programme include: client needs’ assessment, accountancy, legal, business management, human re-sources, marketing, governmen-tal support, investment readiness, access to finance, and client net-working, in addition to a physical office with all required services.

At the closing ceremony of the Sas48 competition, Dr. Salim bin Sultan Al Ruzaiqi, the CEO of ITA, said, “We congratulate the winners and hope that all participants have benefitted from the programme. We are confident that the awards alone were not the basic criterion for assessing creative ideas.

“There are a large number of projects that we saw during the past two days that were worth all the appreciation and support and we at the Information Technology Authority invite all participating teams to visit us to learn about the services that we can offer to them through the SAS Centre for En-trepreneurship or the other ini-tiatives to develop the capabilities and skills of young professionals in the ICT sector.

Through these initiatives, we seek to encourage entrepreneur-

ship and the development of the ICT industry in the Sultanate.”

Maarika, a mentor from the Garage 48 team of the Republic of Estonia, commented on the way the competition has progressed from its first edition onwards, say-ing, “We saw that the level of the participating teams this year was higher in terms of skills and capa-bilities as well as team work, and this is proof that the idea behind the contest is a success and its ob-jectives have been achieved.”

“The organising committee of the competition cooperated this year with the Port of Sohar and a number of companies in the industrial area in Sohar to deter-mine which applications should be the focus and in which area the competition would come up with a number of projects that could be utilised in those companies.”

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WINNERS ALL: The prize money for the top three projects was

OMR10,000, OMR7,000 and OMR4,000. – Supplied photos

Members can visit the Muscat Duty Free Store on the

Sindbad website, select a category, pick a product they wish

to buy, specify collection details and confirm their order

Nabil Al Busaidi, Acting General Manager Marketing, Oman Air

A5

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OCCI’s women entrepreneurs distribute gifts among poorTimes News Service

MUSCAT: To help the less for-tunate families, and in view of the advent of the Eid Al Adha holidays, the Women Entrepre-neurs Committee (WEC) from the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) in the Al Dhahira Governorate, distributed gifts among needy families to cel-ebrate the upcoming festival.

The initiative was aimed at spreading joy among the less fortu-nate families in all three wilayats of the Governorate — Ibri, Yanqul and Dhank; by offering children’s clothing and money to the fami-lies. Moza Al Ibri, head of WEC,

said, “This step has been taken with regards to the programmes and activities of the Al Dhahira OCCI, which aims to increase in-teraction with all sections of soci-ety and encourage charitable and humanitarian work.”

“In accordance with the afore-mentioned aims, the initiative helped insolvent families and

was a humanitarian effort that positively influenced society,” she added. WEC’s recent charity ef-forts include the organisation of a charity souq (market) for poor families, held in July earlier this year. As part of its Social Respon-sibility Program, the proceeds of the event were distributed among underprivileged families.

E I D S P I R I T

The charity initiative aims to spread joy among the

less fortunate families in Ibri, Yanqul and Dhank

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We were delighted to host the

Chairman and the driving force

behind Emaar, Mohamed Alabbar

Mohammed Mahfoodh Al Ardhi, Chairman of NBO

HM sends greetings

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has also sent a cable of con-gratulations to President Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia on the occa-sion of his country’s Independence Anniversary.

In his cable, His Majesty has expressed his sincere congratula-tions along with his best wishes to President Sargsyan and the people of his country.

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of congratula-tions to Colville Young, Governor General of Belize on the occasion of his country’s Independence An-niversary.

In his cable, His Majesty has expressed his sincere congratula-tions along with his best wishes to Colville Young and the people of his country. -ONA

C A B L E S

‘Hiring practices transparent in Oman’

“The new law in Oman, inclusive of the labour court, needs to be implemented as soon as possible to ensure a commitment to non-discriminatory labour laws and the emerging practice of social dialogue being backed by a rule of law. With this in place, there is an optimistic future for all workers in Oman,” Burrow added.

“When compared with other GCC countries, union represen-tation is firmly established in the private sector, with an internal democracy allowing workers to elect their leaders. And Omani laws do not discriminate between Omani workers and migrants,” Burrow said.

According to the demographic data available for August, re-leased by Oman’s National Cen-tre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), there was a 1.3 per cent increase in the Sultanate’s popu-lation in August, compared with

July. The number of expats was pegged at more than 1.86 million, while the Omani population was estimated to be over 2.35 million.

“Social dialogue is seen as in-creasingly important. The head of the Oman Chamber of Commerce said disagreements are normal and that without (indulging in) dialogue to resolve them, both em-ployers and workers will lose. It is remarkable if you compare that to some of the other GCC countries,” Burrow stated.

She added that while there are labour camps in Oman that are isolated due to the company’s location and some that need up-grading, it is heartening to visit these humane accommodations.

Even as she was impressed with the labour laws and the pre-sent situation in Oman, Burrow said that there are, of course, un-resolved issues for both local and migrant workers.

“Many companies still discrim-inate. There are three differing contracts - for Omani workers; for migrants from the east and for western expats,” Burrow added.

Citing Oman’s General Fed-eration of Omani Trade Unions’ (GFOTU’s) stand on discrimina-tion, she said the Omani trade un-ions deplored this practice.

Commenting on recruitments, the trade union leader said re-cruitment practices are more transparent in Oman, but there are loopholes that need to be re-moved. “There is direct employ-ment and many companies take responsibility. There are recruit-ment agencies but they are regis-tered and subject to law. Never-theless, there are illegal practices where employers will claim work, obtain visas and then charge workers a retainer fee for the priv-ilege of being free to work with other employers. While this needs

to be cleared up and unscrupu-lous employers must be prevented from charging fees for workers to change jobs, the fact is that there is no exit visa,” the official said, while adding that workers are not trapped in Oman as in some of the other GCC countries.

“Domestic workers have to be included in the (ambit of ) labour laws and more work has to be done to ensure equal treatment for all workers,” Burrow added.

Recently, Oman’s trade union leaders had urged the country to set up an independent govern-ment body to protect domestic workers.

Commenting on the domestic workers’ crisis, the official said Oman’s trade union federation is alarmed to see companies firing union representatives in what ap-pears to be a blatant discrimina-tion tactic, the latest being at an oil company in Oman.

L A B O U R L A W S

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Cirrhosis of liver“At that time also, doctors had sug-gested a liver transplant, but we were unable to afford her treat-ment and she died,” said Raza, who has been working in Oman since November 1991.

Basma has another elder sis-ter, Aneeqa and an elder brother named Mohammed Fawad, who are both students at the Pakistan School, Nizwa. “But she (Basma) is yet to start her studies because of her illness,” Raza said.

Doctors have also confirmed the need to be operated immediately. “We think that she should undergo surgery soon, due to her problem-atic liver and pancreas,” said Dr. Sanju Joy, a doctor at Badr Al Sa-maa, Nizwa, who has been treating Basma regularly.

At the Royal Hospital, doctors reiterated that Basma is suffering from the Wilson disease—a rare inherited disorder that causes too much copper to accumulate in one’s liver, brain and other vital organs.

“The child is suffering from a cirrhotic liver and needs a liver transplant abroad, along with a re-construction of her biliary struc-ture,” a medical report from the Royal Hospital, issued on August 30, stated.

A biliary structure is an abnor-mal narrowing of the common bile duct, the tube that moves bile from the liver to the small intestine.

Bile is a substance that helps with digestion.

Basma’s father has gotten in

touch with the Apollo Hospital and Global Hospital in India to find out more about the cost of treatment. “We will be applying for an Indian medical visa soon,” he said.

After going through the clini-cal details, the Apollo Hospital in India confirmed that the child is suffering from liver cirrhosis; with chronic pancreatitis that may be due to an inherited metabolic dis-order as the child is a product of consanguineous marriage.

“The child, in all likelihood, will require a liver transplant where the donor has to be from the im-mediate family, either one of the parents if they have the same blood group as the child or a donor from the O blood group, aged between 18 and 50 years.”

To conduct this operation, the hospitals are quoting any amount in between $45,000 and $50,000. “Where will I get around OMR20,000, which is required for the operation?” Raza, who works as a sales manager in a private lim-ited company, asked.

“Besides this, there will be other expenses, such as flight tickets and hotel bookings as we are expected to land there within a week to 10 days before the operation and also need to stay in India for 15 to 30 days after being discharged,” he said, adding that he had decided to become a donor to his child.

“I could not do anything for my elder daughter, but this time I will go all out to save her (Basma),” he added.

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Emaar Properties chief shares innovative ideas

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Entrepreneurs and students heard the inspiring story of Emaar Properties Chair-man, Mohamed Alabbar, during the fourth edition of the National Bank of Oman (NBO)’s event — the Chairman’s Speaker Series.

At the lecture, Alabbar, the founder of Emaar Properties, shared details of his career and presented fresh ideas and perspec-tives to the diverse audience com-prising dignitaries, entrepreneurs, students and the bank’s customers.

The NBO Chairman’s Speaker Series was launched in 2014 as a platform where inspirational leaders from diverse disciplines,

such as the Sultanate’s most sen-ior businessmen and government officials, could share their expe-riences, knowledge and innova-tive ideas with a cross-section of Omani society — from students just finding their way in the pro-fessional world to smalls and me-dium enterprises looking to grow their businesses.

Previous speakers have includ-ed the former British Ambassa-dor to the Sultanate of Oman, Sir Terrence Clarke, the Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director of Mubadala, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, and space pioneer Dr. Anousheh Ansari.

During his well-received ad-

dress, Alabbar, described how, as a global entrepreneur with inter-ests in real estate, retail, luxury hospitality, banking, mining and commodities, he had turned Emaar Properties into one of the world’s most iconic developers.

In addition to his work with Emaar, Alabbar is also a board member at Eagle Hills, a private investment and real-estate de-velopment company, and is the Founding Partner of Capital City Partners Limited, a private real-estate investment fund.

He was ranked second on the list of the ‘World’s 100 Most Pow-erful Arabs–Leaders’ in 2014 by Arabian Business.

Mohammed Mahfoodh Al Ar-

dhi, Chairman of NBO, said: “We were delighted to host the Chair-man and the driving force behind Emaar, Mohamed Alabbar. Given the pivotal role that Emaar has played in the development and diversification of Dubai’s econo-my, his insights are particularly relevant for entrepreneurs, busi-ness leaders, and Oman’s youth looking to play a similar role here in the Sultanate.”

Al Ardhi added, “It was encour-aging to see the high level of en-gagement from students and en-trepreneurs present at the event, which encapsulated the funda-mental goal of this platform, and it will be exciting to watch these thoughts and ideas translate into action and enterprise over the coming years.”

The NBO event has also been designed to bridge the gap be-tween Oman’s hopeful youth and seasoned professionals, pro-viding them with an interactive platform to learn and share ex-periences, ideas and aspirations. Each quarter, a leading person is invited to share their expertise, knowledge and best practice at an exclusive evening event in Oman. The fifth edition of the NBO Chairman’s Speaker Series event is scheduled to take place in December 2015, and will host Deutsche Bank’s CEO, Juergen Fitschen.

Alabbar, the founder

of Emaar Properties,

shared details of his

career and presented

fresh ideas and

perspectives to the

diverse audience

Al Mouj Muscat launches new apartments

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Al Mouj Muscat has launched Juman, a highly exclu-sive new collection of premium apartments — its newest master-piece. Set in a private precinct on the oceanfront peninsula on the eastern arm of the marina, the apartments are strictly limited in number, offering an unprecedent-ed resort lifestyle experience.

The six iconic buildings of the gated Juman Precinct open out towards the marina or ocean views and include Zen style land-scaped surroundings and resort style free-form swimming pools to create an uber-sophisticated lifestyle oasis in the heart of Al Mouj Muscat.

Each block of the Juman Pre-cinct will have an individual release, with Juman One over-looking the marina just released and Juman Two overlooking the ocean to be released in the com-

ing months. Each of these blocks has an individual architectural style. Juman Four, or The Piers, has already captured interna-tional attention, scooping the “Emerging Markets Best Future Residential Projects” Award at Cityscape in Dubai this month.

The Piers is a visionary concept

by Kettle Collective architects from Scotland and envelopes the entry to the marina with 50 luxu-rious waterfront apartments.

“Al Mouj Muscat is proud to present this exceptional collec-tion of waterfront apartments in the Juman precinct,” said Hawa-zen Esber, CEO Al Mouj Muscat.

“These homes have been devel-oped in response to the strong lo-cal and international demand for luxury properties in Oman and offer a unique opportunity for owner-occupiers and investors to purchase a once-in-a-lifetime address, a solid investment in a robust and growing market.”

Crafted by select international architects and designers, the Ju-man One apartments boast a grand arrival experience, a resi-dents’ lobby, spacious living areas and service rooms blending tra-ditional floor plans with contem-porary influences to offer elegant living spaces in one, two and three bedroom configurations.

Juman One also offers Al Mouj Muscat’s first skyhome penthouses with expansive liv-ing spaces that blend indoor and outdoor living with multi-level glass-fronted walls offering stunning panoramic vistas over the marina.

J U M A N P R E C I N C T

LIFESTYLE OASIS: The apartments are strictly limited in number,

offering an unprecedented resort lifestyle experience. – Supplied photo

Oman 5th on innovation index

GENEVA: The Sultanate has been ranked fifth in the Arab world and 69th on the world level in Global Innovation Index 2015 which monitors the performance of 141 countries and economies across the world.

The index, published on its website by the UN World Intel-lectual Property Organization (WIOP) in cooperation with Johnson Cornell University and European Institute of Business Management, depends on 79 in-

dices and sub-indices including the efficiency of universities, the number of patents and the effect of researches for each country separately.

This year’s report focused on ‘Effective Innovation Policies for Development’.

The report pointed out that the developed and developing countries are making steady ef-forts to benefit from innovation and science in enhancing their economies.

While some countries are suc-cessful in doing this, other coun-tries are still no able to reap the benefits of their efforts.

The report pointed out that linking business community with scientific organisations and sci-entists is one of the main reasons behind economic success.

At the same time, it is one of the main challenges before the grow-ing economies which dedicate the largest chunk of its resources to attract foreign investments. -ONA

A R A B W O R L D

INSPIRATION: The fifth edition of the NBO Chairman’s Speaker

Series event is scheduled to take place in December 2015.

A8

REGIONM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

75 US-trained rebels enter Syria

BEIRUT: Seventy-five Syrian re-bels trained to fight extremists un-der a beleaguered US programme have crossed from Turkey into northern Syria, a US-backed rebel faction and a monitoring group said Sunday.

“Seventy-five new fighters trained in a camp near the Turkish capital entered Aleppo province between Friday night and Satur-day morning,” Rami Abdel Rah-man, director of the Syrian Ob-servatory for Human Rights, told AFP. In Washington, the Pentagon declined to elaborate on the report.

“We won’t get into details on

where and when (US-trained re-bels) enter the fight for operational security reasons,” said a Penta-gon spokesperson who declined to be named.

Training in Turkey But Hassan Mustafa, spokesman for the US-backed Division 30 unit to which some of the rebels were deployed, confirmed the report. “Their training in Turkey lasted two months and they went direct-ly to the front lines with Daesh. They are now in the town of Tal Rifaat,” Mustafa told AFP via the

Internet, using an Arabic acronym for the IS group.

He said he could not comment on what sort of weapons or sup-plies the rebels had brought with them. According to Abdel Rah-man, the group had entered in a convoy of a dozen cars with light weapons and ammunition, under air cover from the US-led coalition that has been carrying out strikes against IS in Iraq and Syria.

He said the rebels crossed through the Bab Al Salama bor-der point, the main gateway for fighters and supplies heading into

Aleppo province. The supply route has been increasingly targeted by IS extremists seeking to cut off support to rival rebels.

Under fireAbdel Rahman said most of the newly-trained fighters deployed to Division 30 -- the main unit for US-trained fighters -- while oth-ers went to support a group called Suqur Al Jabal (Falcons of the Mountain).

Before the fresh batch of fight-ers, the US-led train-and-equip programme had only managed

to vet and train some 60 rebels to fight IS extremists on the ground.

The $500 million programme run out of Turkey has been fraught with problems. Shortly after the 54 fighters embedded with Division 30 in July, they suffered a devas-tating assault by Al Qaeda’s Syria affiliate, Al Nusra Front.

More than a dozen of Division 30’s fighters were either killed or kidnapped by Al Nusra, which ac-cused them of being “agents of American interests”.

The United States has since used its air power to help Division 30 push back other Nusra attacks and has said Syrian troops could be targeted if they attacked the US-backed forces.

US officials have also expressed fears Russia may strike West-ern-backed rebels fighting Syr-ian President Bashar Al Assad and ultimately risk a confrontation with forces fighting IS. Moscow has been pushing for a broader coalition of forces to take on the extremists.

Local ceasefires Meanwhile, warring parties in Syria agreed to local ceasefires in two minority sect villages in north-western Syria and a town near the Lebanese border on Sunday, a group monitoring the war and the Al Manar TV station controlled by Lebanon’s Hezbollah reported.

It marks the third local ceasefire agreed in those areas since August, and follows a renewed offensive by insurgents against the two villages -- Al Foua and Kefraya -- since Fri-

day. Both the previous ceasefires collapsed.

The ceasefire came into effect 12 noon (0900 GMT), the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights re-ported. It did not say how long it was due to last. No clashes were reported after the ceasefire came into force, the Observatory said.

Al-Foua and Kefraya are be-ing defended by pro-government militia supported by the Leba-nese group Hezbollah. The border town included in the ceasefire -- Zabadani -- has meanwhile been targeted in a weeks-long offensive by the Syrian army and Hezbollah.

They are seeking to capture it from rebels. Rebels said the re-bel-held town of Madaya, next to Zabadani which is also included in the ceasefire and where thou-sands of civilians have taken shel-ter, had witnessed heavy shelling overnight by the army in apparent retaliation against the offensive on the two minority sect villages.

106 killed since FridayThe Observatory, which tracks the war via a network of sources on the ground, said at least 106 people had been killed in and around Al Foua and Kefraya since Friday.

On the insurgents’ side, the dead included at least 30 foreign fight-ers including extremists from the Gulf, north Africa, central Asia and members of the Turkistan Islamic Party, said Rami Abdulrahman, directory of the Observatory. The dead on the other side included at least 40 militiamen and seven ci-vilians, he said. -AFP/Reuters

The fighters trained

in a camp near the

Turkish capital

entered Aleppo

province between

Friday night and

Saturday morning,

Rami Abdel Rahman,

director of the Syrian

Observatory for

Human Rights said UNSAFE CITY: Syrian women and children walk in a dusty street following an air strike by govern-

ment forces on the rebel held Bustan Al Qasr district in the east of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo

on Sunday. -AFP

Israel arrests 39 PalestiniansOCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Is-raeli police said on Sunday they had arrested 39 Palestinians in the West Bank and occupied east Jerusalem after days of protest and clashes over the flashpoint Al Aqsa mosque compound.

Palestinians clashed on Friday with Israeli security forces in Je-rusalem and several cities in the occupied West Bank, in a “day of rage” to protest an increase in Jewish visitors to Islam’s third-holiest site.

Jews visited the site in Jerusa-lem’s Old City for the start of the Jewish New Year last Sunday, sparking days of clashes between Muslims and Israeli police on and near the plaza that houses the fa-mous golden Dome of the Rock shrine and Al Aqsa mosque.

The site is also the most sacred in Judaism, as it is believed to be the location of its first and sec-ond temples. Police said they had arrested 12 Palestinians in the West Bank and 27 in annexed east Jerusalem over the previous two days for “disturbing the peace”, “taking part in riots” and “throw-ing stones and Molotov cocktails”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benja-min Netanyahu on Wednesday vowed “war” on stone-throwers with tougher penalties and new rules for security forces on when to open fire.

On Sunday, calm had returned to the Al Aqsa compound, with 350 tourists and 150 Jews visiting the

site. A controversy has meanwhile been growing over the treatment by Palestinian police of protesters in the 17 percent of the West Bank that they control, after a video was uploaded showing police beating a protester on Friday in Bethle-hem. The video shows half a dozen policemen beating and kicking a young man on the ground.

The Palestinian government said Friday it would open an in-vestigation into the incident, with prime minister Rami Hamdallah

calling it “an unacceptable act” and promising to “hold its perpe-trators accountable”. A govern-ment source who spoke on con-dition of anonymity said that the video was “very damaging to the Palestinian Authority”.

The authority is already under fire from the extremist opposition and some in the Palestinian pub-lic for not having taken any meas-ures against Israel in response to the recent incidents at the Al Aqsa site. -AFP

A L A Q S A C L A S H E S

AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdullah urged the Europe-an Union to take a firm stand against Israel over clashes at Occupied Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa mosque compound, as he met the EU president on Sunday.

“The international com-munity and the EU in par-ticular should adopt a firm position to halt these serious aggressions and violations” by the Jewish state, he told Donald Tusk.

The king, quoted by the royal palace, warned that the Al Aqsa clashes would have “serious consequences,” especially in the absence of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians that have been stalled since April 2014. Jews visited the site in occupied east Jerusalem for the start of the Jewish New Year on September 13, sparking days of clashes be-tween Muslims and Israeli police. -AFP

Jordan urges EU to take firm stand against Israel

UN nuclear regulator says its

chief visited military site in Iran

VIENNA: The director general of the UN nuclear regulator, which is investigating whether Iran carried out work related to developing an atom bomb, visited a sensitive mil-itary site during a trip to the coun-try, the agency said on Sunday.

The military site, called Parchin, has been at the centre of a debate over the level of access that the In-ternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will have in policing a deal reached in July between Iran and six world powers.

The IAEA is due to issue an as-sessment this year on “possible military dimensions” of Iran’s nu-clear programme under a roadmap agreement accompanying that deal. One open question is wheth-er Iran carried out high-explosives testing at Parchin that could be re-lated to making a nuclear warhead.

“The director general visited the site of Parchin, together with the head of the Department of Safe-

guards, Tero Varjoranta,” the In-ternational Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement.

SuspicionsWestern intelligence agencies have recognised Parchin as a po-tential chemical, explosives and munitions production site since the 1990s. Suspicions about pos-sible nuclear arms-related re-search there came later, Western diplomats say.

Tehran denies conducting re-search related to nuclear weapons

at Parchin or anywhere else in the country.

A spokeswoman for the IAEA declined to provide details on the visit to Parchin by the director gen-eral, Yukiya Amano. Iranian state media described it as ceremonial rather than an inspection of the sprawling site. “Yukiya Amano visited the road construction near Parchin facilities,” Behruz Kamal-vandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.-Reuters

P A R C H I N

The director general visited the site of Parchin,

together with the head of the Department of

Safeguards, Tero Varjoranta, the IAEA said

The international community and the EU in

particular should adopt a firm position to halt

these serious aggressions and violations

King Abdullah, of Jordan

A9

INDIAM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

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‘India will give better results on investments’

HONG KONG: Asserting that India would give better returns on investments than many other countries, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said foreign in-vestments can provide great addi-tional resources for infrastructure and other sectors.

He said that the government is giving special focus on improv-ing the ease of doing business in the country with initiatives like ‘Make In India’ designed to boost the manufacturing sector that has huge potential.

“India will give better returns than many other countries,” Jait-ley said here addressing investors and business leaders.

He said that foreign investments can give great additional resources and that the country’s infrastruc-ture sector needs huge investments.

“Railways, highways and power sectors are among those that re-quire funds and the success of projects in these areas would largely depend on bankability,” the finance minister said.

Jaitley is here for two days seek-ing to attract foreign investors,

including large asset managers, to the Indian markets.

“Special focus is being given on improving ease of doing business.

Investors have felt in the past that the procedures have been dif-ficult in India,” he said.

Digital India and Make in India (initiatives) are designed to give special boost to manufacturing and India has huge potential in these areas, he added.

According to him, some states were not charging adequate tariff for electricity as a result of which the health of power distribution companies is being affected.

“These states can not expect the PSU banks to fund the deficit of discoms,” Jaitley stressed.

Many discoms are grappling with acute financial stress.

Jaitley said that a key priority of the government was to strengthen the PSU banks.

“Some weaker banks could be merged with stronger banks as just diluting stake would not resolve the problem of NPAs (non per-forming assets),” he added.

Acknowledging that stalled pro-jects have impacted the balance sheets of private sector companies, Jaitley said the proposed national investment and infrastructure fund would be a “great enabler” to attract investment as well as help repair the balance sheets of af-fected firms.

The fund would operate inde-pendent of the government just as another investor, he added.

Noting that international inves-tors are showing great interest in railways-related areas, the finance minister said the government has kick started many stalled projects in the highways sector.

He also said that pension funds can play a major role in the high-ways space.

In response to queries about op-portunities in the manufacturing and construction businesses, the Finance Minister said he would be happy to encourage investment in the manufacturing sector.

According to Jaitley, setting up of 100 smart cities would give a boost to urbanisation.

Besides, he expressed hope that many states would amend their land acquisition laws.

The Finance Minister, along with a large business delegation from India, began meetings with private equity, asset management companies and other institutional investors here.

Jaitley would address the APIC-India Capital Markets and Insti-tutional Investors Summit here on Monday in his first visit to this global financial centre as India’s Finance Minister.

He would seek to attract global investors to the Indian growth story being pursued amidst global financial markets volatility.

He would also provide insights into how Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi-led government is tack-ling these challenges.

India has emerged as one of the fastest growing markets globally, despite a turmoil in most of the international markets, while for-eign investors have been one of the mainstays of the country’s capital market growth story. - PTI

Finance Minister

Arun Jaitley says

railways, highways

and power sectors

are among those that

require funds and the

success of projects

in these areas would

largely depend

on bankability

Special focus is being

given on improving

ease of doing business.

Investors have felt

in the past that the

procedures have been

difficult in India

Arun JaitleyFinance Minister

Shiv Sena jumps in Bihar poll fray; to contest 150 seatsPATNA: NDA constituent Shiv Sena, which has no significant presence in Bihar, on Sunday an-nounced it was jumping in the poll fray in the state on its own, and claimed its “anti-migrant” image was due to “canard” spread by rivals.

Party’s national spokesper-son Sanjay Raut told reporters that Sena, which is ruling Ma-harashtra in alliance with BJP, will contest 150 seats in Bihar, where BJP-led alliance is locked in a stiff contest with the Nitish Kumar-led coalition of JD(U)-RJD-Congress.

Denying that his party has an-tipathy for Bihar people, Raut said that on the contrary the people of Maharashtra have strong emotional ties with their counterparts here and respect the Biharis for their patriot-ism, valour and contributions to freedom struggle.

Asked about allegations of atrocities against migrants, in-cluding those from Bihar, in Mumbai and other parts of Ma-harashtra, Raut dismissed them claiming that there was no exam-ple of Shiv Sena and its workers targeting migrants.

He alleged that some politi-cians in Bihar were spreading “canard” instead of focusing on development of the state.

“Some politicians of Bihar are more interested in happenings in Mumbai and making noise about atrocities on migrants than actu-ally doing something for develop-ment of the state,” the Shiv Sena leader told reporters on the side-lines of his party’s state conven-tion here.

He said the party has decided to contest the polls in the state on the agenda of Hindutva, poverty alleviation and employment gen-eration. He said the process for selection of Shiv Sena candidates for the polls to 243-member Bi-har Assembly, which will be in

held in five phases from October 12, was nearly complete and the first list will be out by Monday.

Quizzed why Shiv Sena had not joined the BJP-led alliance, he said that his party wants to strengthen its support base in Hindi belt and empower the local people.

The Shiv Sen and BJP had end-ed their 25-year-old alliance be-fore the Maharashtra Assembly polls last year over seat sharing.

Though the two reunited after the poll results to form a govern-ment, the strain in ties has been visible with Sena being openly critical of its dominant partner.

The Shiv Sena leader also took potshot at BJP’s allies in Bihar saying they have been guilty of ideological bankruptcy.

He said a leader who had re-signed from the Atal Bihari Vaj-payee government post-Gujarat riots in 2002 was part of the NDA, a refernce to LJP supremo Ramvilas Paswan.

Accusing RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and senior JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar of failing to usher in development despite ruling Bihar for the past 25 years, the Sena spokesperson rued that the people of the state despite being talented and hardworking have to migrate to other parts of country, including Mumbai, for work in order to sustain themselves and their families. - PTI

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

The Shiv Sen and BJP

had ended their

25-year-old alliance

before the Maharashtra

Assembly polls last

year over seat sharing

A10

INDIA M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

If development means benefiting few persons, we will definitely act as a roadblock in such developmentSonia Gandhi, Congress President

Modi confident of boosting ties with the US on upcoming tripNEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday ex-pressed confidence that his up-coming visit to the US will help further deepen the bond between the two countries by building on the “substantial ground” covered during his last trip and Presi-dent Barak Obama’s visit here earlier this year.

Modi will be undertaking a sev-en-day trip to Ireland and the US from September 23.

In the first leg of the two-nation tour, he will visit Ireland, marking first Prime Ministerial visit from India in almost 60 years, he said in a statement.

“In Ireland I will hold talks with Enda Kenny, the Taoiseach of Ireland. We hope to further de-velop strong people-to-people and economic ties with Ireland in the years to come,” Modi said, adding he will also interact with the In-dian community.

On September 24, he will com-mence his visit to USA.

“This visit seeks to build on the substantial ground covered during my last visit to USA and President Obama’s visit to India early this year,” the prime minister said.

“I am sure my US visit will be fruitful and further deepen the

bond between the world’s oldest and largest democracies,” he said.

Modi said he was going to USA at a “historic moment” when the United Nations is celebrating its 70th anniversary.

“India attaches great impor-tance to the United Nations. In July, I had written a letter to heads of governments of 193 nations out-lining India’s vision for UN agenda and reforms. I am glad that leaders of several nations wrote back ap-preciating our vision,” he said.

Development agendaIn New York City, he will address the UN Sustainable Development Summit for formal adoption of post-2015 new sustainable devel-opment agenda.

“Coming from a culture that regards harmony as central to its ethos, I am glad to have an op-portunity to address this forum. The new goals are closely aligned with India’s vision for sustain-able development and our flagship programs for the same,” the prime minister said.

“I will also participate in a sum-mit hosted by President Obama on peacekeeping,” he added.

He noted that India has histori-cally been one of the largest con-

tributors to the UN peacekeeping forces with 1,80,000 Indian troops having participated in UN peace-keeping missions - more than from any other country.

“We are proud of our peacekeep-ing forces spread across the world, ensuring peace in difficult circum-stances. I will pay homage to all

those brave men and women who sacrificed their lives for peace. And I look forward to sharing my thoughts on how to make peace-keeping more effective,” he said.

This year, India will host a sum-mit of G-4 leaders in New York where the main agenda would be the UNSC reforms.

“The 70th anniversary of the UN is an apposite moment for reform discussions to be accelerated. Re-cently, the UN General Assembly finally adopted a document after over 20 years that would form the basis of formal discussions on this matter,” the prime minister said.

Modi said he will also be meet-ing several world leaders during the visit and have interactions with leading investors and finan-cial sector firms. There will be a working dinner where major For-tune-500 companies will be pre-sent to deliberate on investment opportunities in India.

“We have been interacting with several American business lead-ers over the last year and the out-comes have been encouraging,” the prime minister said.

During his US visit, he will also be visiting the West Coast on Sep-tember 26 and 27.

“It would be after a gap of almost 33 years that an Indian PM would be visiting the west coast the home of start-ups, innovation and technology,” he said.

Modi will also be visiting Face-book headquarters at the invita-tion of its CEO Mark Zuckerberg and have a Townhall Q&A there.

“We will discuss some global is-

sues and issues relating to India, particularly on the economy and society. This is a Townhall you shouldn’t miss,” Modi said.

He will also visit Google campus and Tesla Motors.

“I will also see some recent tech-nological innovations at the Goog-le (Alphabet) campus and Tesla Motors,” he said.

“An event that I am enthusias-tic about is the ‘India-US Start-up Konnect’,” he said about an event where a group of Indian start-ups will showcase their innovations and forge partnerships with the vi-brant American start-up industry.

Hub of start-upsHe said India is emerging as a hub of start-ups in a wide range of ar-eas and “we aspire to take this further. We want the world to see our innovation capabilities in the start-up sector”.

In San Jose, he will interact with the Indian community on September 27.

“The Indian diaspora has left no stone unturned in strengthening India-USA ties. We are very proud of the accomplishments of our diaspora that has made immense contributions to both our socie-ties,” he said. - PTI

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

This visit seeks to build

on the substantial ground

covered during my last

visit to USA and President

Obama’s visit to India

early this year

Narendra ModiPrime Minister

Congress says it will take fight on land bill to states

NEW DELHI: Charging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “no time” to meet farmers and hear their woes, Congress on Sunday said it would take the fight on the “anti-farmer” land bill to the states.

Addressing a Kisan Samman rally at Ramlila Ground here, party President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi vowed to fight tooth and nail any attempt to bring back the land ordinance in any form and countered the prime minis-ter’s charge that Congress was blocking development.

Accusing the prime minister of going back on his promises made during Lok Sabha polls and “talk-ing hollow” after coming to power, she charged the prime minister has “no time” to meet farmers and address their woes as he has time and interest only for his “few in-dustrialist friends”.

“Yes, he has also the interest, time and money for foreign trips,” the Congress president said tak-ing a jibe at Modi’s foreign visits.

Holding that a party, which fought to get India freedom from the Britishers and participated in the growth story of the nation for 60 years cannot be anti-develop-ment, Sonia said that whenever the government does not listen to the problems of the farmers and the poor, Congress will stand in its way.

“The Congress will act as an obstacle in their way whenever they stop giving an ear to peo-ples’ problems, whenever farm-ers are not given Minimum Sup-port Price, whenever drought and flood affected farmers are left at the mercy of God and the price of edible items is not brought down.

“If development means benefit-

ing few persons, we will definitely act as a roadblock in such devel-opment,” she said alleging Modi is trying to paint Congress as an-ti-development in order to “hide failures” of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

Hailing the farmers as “not only Annadaata but also Bhagyavid-hata” (not only food giver but des-tiny makers)” of the country, she said the farmers are undergoing one after another crisis ever since Modi government came to power.

Battlefield shiftedOn the land bill she told the farm-ers, “The fight is yet not finished. The battlefield has now only shifted from Delhi to states as the prime minister, after having failed to do it at Centre, is trying to get it done in states.

“We need to be all the more

careful now, otherwise your strug-gle will go in vain and you will driven away from your land.”

Terming the fight on the land issue, a fight for “not only land but honour of farmers, who treat land as mother,” Rahul asked them not to trust the promise made by Modi few days back not to bring changes in United Progressive Alliance land law, which came after Modi government promulgated the or-dinance three times to press them.

“We know what Modi ji is. He does not say what he thinks. That is why on one hand, he said that he will change the Congress law and on the other hand asked his chief ministers to bring them (the changes).”

Telling farmers that the fight is not over in Parliament, he said, “I want to tell the leaders of Con-gress in states. This is not only a

fight of Parliament. This has also to be fought in Assemblies.”

Ahead of Bihar polls, Centre de-cided not to promulgate the land Ordinance for the fourth time and decided to wait till the Joint Com-mittee of Parliament submits its report on the bill besides allowing states to have their own land laws.

Rahul said Modi’s promise not to press for the ordinance and not to force changes in the bill now is “definitely a victory for Congress but before that it is the victory of farmers of India”, adding the 44 MPs of Congress could success-fully fight against Government only because they were backed by the strength of farmers.

Coining a phrase “Take in In-dia” to attack Modi, Rahul at-tacked the Prime Minister’s much talked about “Make in India” campaign.

“Modi talks about Make in In-dia but there is no place for farm-ers, labourers in his Make in India. Modi ji says there can be no Make in India without taking away your land. It is not Make in India but actually Take in India. In the end you will not get anything. Only two three of his friends will be the beneficiaries,” he said.

Rahul also accused the prime minister of working only for his “few friends in suit boot” and pay-ing no attention to farmers.

Reminding farmers of their emotional connect with land, he said that in the course of his agita-tion against NDA on the land bill issue, “A farmer told me Modi is snatching not land but our mother from us. He wants to snatch our mother from us and want to give it to somebody else. We cannot tolerate it.”

“He asked me to fight for them and then I realized that this is not a fight for land but a fight for their honour, their future.” - PTI

Sonia Gandhi and

Rahul Gandhi vowed

to fight tooth and

nail any attempt to

bring back the land

ordinance in any

form and countered

the prime minister’s

charge that Congress

was blocking

developmentGARNERING SUPPORT: Congress President Sonia Gandhi with party Vice President Rahul Gandhi during the Kisan Samman rally at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Sunday. - PTI

In changed political landscape, will Amar-Mulayam ‘bromance’ bear fruit?LUCKNOW: It is undoubtedly the most keenly followed ‘bromance’ of Uttar Pradesh.

Every time former Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh meets Sama-jwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and members of his family, rumour mills work over-time to announce the imminent rapprochement between the one-time inseparable duo.

But despite half a dozen of-ficial meetings between the two sides and many secret ones, Amar Singh’s re-entry into the party, where his writ ran till a few years ago, sources say, is no “cake walk”.Having parted ways bitterly and acrimoniously a few years back, senior leaders of the ruling party say re-entry is “neither going to be easy nor welcome”.

“Why should he be brought back into the party fold? He has hurled the choicest expletives on

our leadership, has tried all tricks up his sleeve to humiliate and run down the party, labelled us goons and crooks...for most of us, he con-tinues to be a non-political entity and a pariah,” a senior minister in the UP cabinet said pleading ano-nymity given the sensitive nature of the issue.

He, however, in the same breath, admitted that the SP chief had in-deed gone ‘mulayam’ (soft) on the wily Thakur.

Sources inform that the nowhere Thakur for now is seeking greener pastures within his one-time alma mater, having failed to get success in all other parties - Congress, BJP where he tried his hands while in political wilderness.

“He has tried to cosy up to al-most everyone from Sonia Gan-dhi to Narendra Modi and had, in fact, unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls last year on Ajit

Singh’s RLD ticket,” said a senior leader, while trying to underline the ‘grasshopper’ tendencies of Amar Singh.

The SP leadership is not only wary of the Thakur but is also cir-cumspect on the “take home” he brings while walking back into the party fold.

Known for his networking in Bollywood and the political class while he was with the SP, insiders say Amar Singh has lost his utility for the party.

“Akhilesh Bhaiyya (Chief Minis-ter Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son) is much more mature. He has his own set of offi-

cials and party leadership to move ahead. I do not see any vacancy for Amar Singh,” a close aide of his chuckled.

Other stumbling blocks in Amar Singh’s entry seemingly are party general secretary Ram Gopal Ya-dav and minister Mohammad Azam Khan, whose hatred for Amar Singh is well-known and documented.

The duo, who hold sway over the Yadav chieftain, are bitterly opposed to Amar Singh’s re-entry and are said to be trying their best to stall any such move that is in the offing. Khan and Ram Gopal were instrumental in getting Amar Sin-gh kicked out of the party.

Azam Khan and Ram Gopal, cousin of Mulayam, have in the past called him a “dalaal, and good for nothing”. While the public rant has stopped, apparently at the behest of Mulayam, the undercurrent against

Amar Singh has not diminished.Sources also said that Akhilesh

Yadav too is not favourably dis-posed towards “uncle Amar Sin-gh”.Amar Singh met Akhilesh, Mu-layam and Shivpal this week, but there has been very little headway except for niceties.

Amar Singh, on his part, at least does not want to be appearing to prostrate before the Yadav dur-bar and has maintained that he is “happy” the way he is.

Recently Amar Singh had said that he was “happy taking a back seat” from public life, spending quality time with his wife and twin daughters and caring for his health after his kidney transplant.

The lure of power and politics are, however, two great tempta-tions, it is said. Only time will tell which way the tides turn in this endless political saga in Uttar Pradesh! - IANS

U T T A R P R A D E S H

Mulayam Singh Yadav, left, and Amar Singh.

PM pitches for greater voter turnout in electionsNEW DELHI: Ahead of Bihar As-sembly polls, Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi on Sunday pitched for greater voter turnout in elections and particularly urged the youth to enroll as voters and exercise their franchise.

In his monthly ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme on radio, he also ap-preciated the role of the Election Commission in creating aware-ness among people about their electoral rights and enrolling vot-ers in greater numbers by evolving various programmes.

Modi did not mention the up-coming Bihar polls but was gener-ally responding to a suggestion by a phone-in caller on greater enrol-ment of youth as voters.

He emphasised that it was es-sential for everybody to register as voters and “definitely” exercise franchise.

Recalling his slogan ‘pehle mat-daan, fir jalpaan (first vote, then eat), Modi said exercising fran-chise is “noble work” and everyone should do it. He said in a democ-racy, every voter is a dispenser of destiny and every person should ensure that their “priceless right” of being a voter is still intact by checking the electoral roll.

“It should be a practice for every person to assess whether he or she is exercising the right to vote.

Patting the Election Commis-sion, he said earlier, it used to be “just a regulator. But over the last few years, the Election Com-mission has been instrumental in bringing about a change in the mindset of voters. It is now not only a regulator but also a facilita-tor... It is a welcome change.”

At the same time, he said the task of creating awareness should not be left to the Election Commis-sion only but others should also contribute. - PTI

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ANIMAL MARKET A Pakistani farmer shifts his cows at an animal market set up for the forthcoming Eid Al

Adha in Lahore on Saturday. — AFP

PTI to approach court over poll campaign ban

ISLAMABAD: Continuing his objection to the Election of Paki-stan’s call for a ban on all parlia-mentarians from participating in by-election campaigns, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insab chief announced on Sunday he would approach the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the polling body’s directives.

The PTI chief also said he would file an application with the ECP re-garding the matter.

“As a leader of a party, I want to convey my party’s manifesto to the masses and if am not allowed to do so, what kind of democracy is this?” Imran questioned.

The PTI will file an application with the ECP, asking the election body let Imran run the by-election

campaign since he does not hold any administrative position in the government. The PTI chief also announced that his party would hold a conference on October 4 to address the pressing issue.

Earlier on September 16, the polls regulatory authority had barred all parliamentarians, in-cluding Imran Khan, from visiting and taking part in campaigning for by-elections in the National As-sembly seats NA-122 of Lahore and NA-154 of Lodhran where tough competition is expected be-tween PTI and Pakistan Muslim Leque-Nawaz (PML-N).

The ECP had issued a notifica-tion asking all the members of par-liament and provincial assemblies

not to visit constituencies where by-elections are taking place. The directives are part of a new code of conduct the ECP issued recently.

Pakistan Steel MillsMeanwhile, criticising the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the PTI chief alleged that Pakistan Steel Mills halted its operation because the Sharif fam-ily had their own steel business. “The Steel Mills were closed down because Sharif family wanted to expand their business.”

Earlier, PTI Punjab organiser Chaudhary Sarwar said his party would challenge the ECP order in the Supreme Court as well as with the ECP. — Express Tribune

PTI will file an

application with

the election body,

asking it to let Imran

run the by-election

campaign since

he does not hold

any administrative

position in the

government

Earlier on September 16, the polls

regulatory authority had barred

all parliamentarians, including

Imran Khan, from visiting and

taking part in campaigning for

by-elections in the National

Assembly seats NA-122 of Lahore

and NA-154 of Lodhran where

tough competition is expected between Pakistan

Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Muslim Leque-Nawaz

Imran Khan

Pakistan in talks with Russia to buy Su-35 twin-engine jetsISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Rus-sia are in the process of negotiat-ing what analysts believe can be potentially the largest defence deal between the two countries, IHS Jane’s reported.

“The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has discussed buying Su-35 ‘Flanker-E’ fighter jets from Rus-

sia but a final decision is yet to be announced,” the IHS quoted a sen-ior government official as saying.

The senior government official’s remarks come in the wake of Rus-sian media reports that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov had said talks were un-derway for an unspecified number

of Su-35s and a recent agreement for provision of Mi-35M ‘Hind E’ attack helicopters to Pakistan.

“It is too early to say if a deal will conclude and the terms,” the official said highlighting Russia’s willingness to sell advanced mili-tary hardware to Pakistan despite Moscow’s historic ties with India.

“Pakistan’s interest in the Su-35 was driven by the PAF’s need for a twin-engine fighter that can fly for a longer range than the JF-17 and penetrate more deeply into the enemy’s territory,’ the official revealed.

Pakistan currently relies on a mixed fleet of Lockheed Martin F-

16s, Dassault Mirage-5s, Chinese manufactured F-7s and the JF-17 Thunder, which is co-manufac-tured by Pakistan and China.

Last month, Russia agreed to sell state-of-the-art Mi-35 at-tack helicopters to Pakistan in what is seen as a ‘paradigm shift’ in Moscow’s policy to increase

defence cooperation between the two countries.

“An agreement was signed be-tween Pakistan and Russian au-thorities in Rawalpindi for the purchase of four Mi-35 helicop-ters,” a senior military official had said, not disclosing any further de-tails. — Express Tribune

B O O S T I N G D E F E N C E

PPP to resist federal ‘interference’KARACHI: The Pakistan Peo-ple’s Party (PPP) has condemned the ‘interference’ of some federal institutions in Sindh and decided to resist such moves by rais-ing the issue in a ‘constitutional manner’ in parliament, as well as in public meetings to be held for the upcoming local government elections in Sindh and Punjab.

This decision was taken in a meeting of PPP’s top leaders in Dubai on Saturday. PPP Chair-person Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari presided over the meet-ing where participants dubbed the actions by the National Ac-countability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) as ‘political victimisation’ of the PPP.

Victimisation“The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government has set a new precedent for victimi-sation. We have decided in prin-ciple to consult constitutional experts on the unilateral actions of the federal agencies,” a PPP leader said.

“If the situation persists, we will move the judiciary and pur-sue other ways to resist these actions by approaching the mass-es,” he added.

“District-level public gath-erings will be organised to ex-pose the real face of the PML-N government.”

Approaching all partiesSources in the party said Satur-day’s meeting also discussed the possibility of forming a grand opposition alliance against the PML-N by approaching all par-ties, including PTI and Jamaat-e-Islami, for the local government elections.

“Apart from this, we have de-cided to revamp the party after the local government (LG) elec-tions. Changes will be made in all party cadres with the approval of Central Executive Committee,” a senior leader said by telephone from Dubai. “The incumbent provincial, divisional and district presidents will be replaced with news faces,” he added.

Sources said Khursheed Shah briefed the meeting about the en-

tire political scenario including raids by the Rangers, the FIA and NAB in Sindh and subsequent arrests of PPP leaders Dr Asim Hussain, Ali Nawaz Shah, and bureaucrats.

“All elected representatives have been asked to raise this is-sue on the floor of the provincial assemblies, the National Assem-bly and the Senate by protesting inside and outside the houses,” a party source said.

The meeting decided to organ-ise big rallies in the Sindh and Punjab districts where elections will be held in the first phase of the LG polls on October 31.

Attendees at the meeting in-cluded former prime ministers Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Leader of Oppo-sition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah, Senate’s for-mer chairman Nayyar Hussain Bokhari, PPP Central Punjab President Mian Manzoor Watoo, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Chaudhry Manzoor, Senator Aitzaz Ahsan, MNA Faryal Talpur, Senator Sherry Rehman and Senator Taj Haider. — Express Tribune

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

USAID defends its programmes

WASHINGTON: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has de-fended its programmes in Paki-stan in a letter to the editor after the New York Times published an article questioning why the agen-cy is walking away from legal pro-cess in Pakistan and highlighting its failure in making substantial contribution to the country.

The organisation which has been operating in Pakistan for

nearly a decade, distributing bil-lions of dollars, was criticised for having made “minimal im-pact on the ground”, according to the article.

Critics accused the agency of taking up projects with little consideration for local concerns and being needlessly reliant on American contractors with “little development experience”.

Some experts also acknowl-edged that the agency has been

a victim of anti-American senti-ment in Pakistan.

Raza Rumi, a fellow at National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, who has also worked in Pakistan’s development sector said: “I would not say it’s been a failure — they’ve invested money in energy and education — but be-cause of anti-Americanism and their own inability to effectively communicate, this hasn’t been seen.” — Express Tribune

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In much of America, Syrian refugees are seen as threats, not victims. In June, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., called a hearing on the issue,

arguing that terrorist groups might use refugee programmes “to carry out attacks in Europe and America.” Republican presidential candidate Car-ly Fiorina has agreed, warning that we have to be “very careful about who we let enter this country.”

These arguments fundamentally misunder-stand what it means to be a refugee. Abandoning your home during wartime is not a choice or a po-litical opportunity. It’s a survival instinct, a frantic attempt to protect yourself and your children from violence, starvation or death.

This is a reality I know only too well. Sixteen years ago, I was forced to flee Kosovo after the Ser-bian military burned my house to the ground. That experience taught me just how desperate life can be for a refugee and how important it is to treat asylum seekers with kindness and grace.

The war in Kosovo began in the spring of 1998, but sporadic fighting between the Kosovo Libera-tion Army and the Serbian military started much earlier. In 1990, Serbia stripped Kosovo’s Albani-ans of their political rights and occupied their in-stitutions. In response, the KLA attacked Serbian-run police stations and army bases; eventually they seized control of entire towns.

The Serbians retaliated with a full-scale assault on Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians. Over a couple of months, they forced some 850,000 to flee the coun-try; thousands more were displaced internally. Endless lines of refugees poured over the borders into neighbouring Albania and Macedonia. It was one of the largest refugee crises in Europe since World War II.

At the time, I was 22, living in a small Albanian town just southwest of Kosovo’s capital. Though my family and I worried that we’d be targeted by the Serbs, we stayed. We hoped the war would end before it reached us. And besides, we had nowhere else to go.

We wished in vain. One afternoon in early April 1999, I heard gunshots outside my parents’ house. I dashed through the door to find a dozen uniformed, masked men clutching Kalashnikovs. Grenades and knives were strapped to their hips. They sum-moned me over and marched me, guns to my back,

toward the town square. As my friends and neigh-bors looked on, the soldiers began pummeling my body with the butt ends of their rifles. One pressed the barrel of his gun against my chest.

In Albania, we were welcomed into a 1,400-per-son refugee camp run by Caritas Spain. For 10 weeks, we slept in overcrowded tents, ate canned food and sweated through scorching temperatures. I became an insomniac and spent hours wander-ing alone at night through an alien landscape of endless canvas cones. I heard people sobbing in the dark.

Though we were finally out of danger, I felt de-pressed, heartbroken, hopeless. Without the con-stant distraction of war, I could obsess over the violence I’d faced, the traumas I’d endured. They haunted me. I struggled, also, to imagine what to-morrow could possibly hold. As a refugee, I had nothing. Where would I be resettled? What would I do? How would I make a living? My future was en-tirely in somebody else’s hands. That uncertainty only fueled my despair.

In July 1999, my family and I returned to Koso-vo. I worked for the United Nations for a few years, then moved to the United States on a student visa. I stayed to finish college, earn two graduate degrees and start a family. The Syrian conflict is much larg-er and more complex than the crisis in Kosovo. An estimated 9 million Syrians have fled their homes since 2011, when the war began. Of the 4 million refugees registered with the United Nations, 1.6 million are children under the age of 11; 708,000 are 4 years old or younger.

We had other advantages, too. The Kosovars were welcomed to Albania — thousands of families offered to host refugees in their homes. We shared a language and a culture. The Syrians, on the other hand, face angry officials, threats of arrest and a rash of hostility from border countries.

Still, as I watch news reports chronicling asylum seekers’ desperate boat trips to Europe, I’m struck not by our differences but by our similarities. I hear men and women speak of the amorphous trauma of leaving home behind. I see children, smiling and playful despite the chaos of war. And I catch glim-mers of hope amid the despair.

The loss of a home is a near-impossible burden. Europeans and Americans must do everything they can to make the Syrian refugees feel safe and welcome. - The Washington Post

Never risk your life for the sake of a selfieThis refers to the news story, ‘Is perfect selfie worth dying for?’ (September 20). With advancing mobile technology, this comes as no surprise. It seems capturing ‘live’ events has its own thrill and charm. This gives the selfie buffs a good reason to display their craft on the social media in the hope of receiving encouraging com-

ments. This inspires them to ignore the basic safety norms. These days, when an accident takes place on the road, there will be someone capturing it live on the mobile. Some people believe that sharing such videos or photographs would help them getting public admiration. I don’t believe this is so because of a lack of awareness. In fact, these people get a lot of pleasure from this act. The new gen-eration must be well aware of the risks involved and should not ignore the essen-tial safety norms. I think that reports of this kind would remind people to rethink their actions and the repercussions it could have for them and others. — Ramachandran Nair, Ruwi

Thai activists should wait until Thailand’s next elections This refers to the online story, ‘Hundreds of Thais defy protest ban in anti-junta march’ (September 20). I fail to under-stand why such a rally was held in the first place? In the fight against corrup-

tion, Thailand’s army rulers have taken exceptional strides. Its’ foolish of these activists to protest when the right way would be to wait until the next elections are held. — Mathew Harold, Muscat

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Macki opens seminar on international tradeMUSCAT: Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki, minister of national economy and deputy chairman of the financial affairs and en-ergy resources council, opened a seminar on Uruguay round and AGCC’s negotiations on agriculture at Oman Sheraton Hotel here yesterday. The five-day seminar is being organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and United Na-tion’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in coopera-tion with the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).

1519: Ferdinand Magellan embarks from Spain on a voyage to circumnavigate the world. 1784: Packet and Daily, the first daily publication in America, ap-pears on the streets.

1977: Socialist Republic of Vietnam admitted to UN.

1984: Suicide bomber attacks US embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 22.

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Benazir Bhutto’s legacy is little known among the Pakistani

youth. They have learnt their history from dubious textbooks

and media sources. For instance, Benazir’s welfare interventions still employ more than 100,000

women as health workersbit.ly/mythofbenazirbhutto

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Washington, for all its differences with Beijing, should be rooting

for China’s economic reforms to succeed. And as a major funder of US structural deficits, China has a lot at stake in whether the

United States undertakes urgent fiscal, tax and structural reforms

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HENRY M. PAULSON JR

This ought to be Tim Farron’s great moment. The Labour

Party has been taken over by the hard left, which ought to be a huge opportunity for a party of the centre. Yet the leader of the Liberal Democrats seems

peripheral to the historic reshaping of British politics

bit.ly/labourpartynodefections

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Worker safety and negligence has been brought again to the spotlight after four workers were killed in an accident on last Sunday

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STRUGGLING TO STEM POACHING: An elephant approaches a helicopter in Samburu game reserve. As elephant poaching in Africa by organised crime gangs using high-tech equipment rises, those working to stop their extinction in the wild have turned to technology too. - AFP

TURNING TO TECH TO SAVE TUSKERS

SAMBURU (Kenya): As elephant poaching in Africa by organised crime gangs using high-tech equipment rises, those working to stop their extinction in the wild have turned to technology too.

In the remote wilds of northern Kenya’s Samburu reserve, the lat-est technology from US Internet giant Google creates three-dimen-sional maps using data from satel-lite tracking elephant collars, pro-viding security for the animals in the short term, and helping protect their habitat in the long term.

“It is a priceless bank of infor-mation,” said Iain Douglas-Ham-ilton, head of conservation group Save the Elephants, demonstrat-ing the complex near-real time map, where tiny elephant comput-er icons are shown moving across an enormous television screen.

With ivory raking in thousands of dollars a kilo in Asia, conserva-tionists have warned that African elephants could be extinct in the wild within a generation.

But the decade-long collabora-tion between the conservation-ists and Google has meant that, at least in this small corner of Kenya, poaching is at last on the decline.

“It is an anomaly on the con-tinent of Africa that we seem to have gone through the eye of the storm, and that poaching is on the decrease here,” Douglas-Hamilton said, although warning there could be no let up in efforts.

The mapping technology is pro-tected from would-be poachers with tough security measures.

“We’re able to use the tracking technology overlaid on Google

Earth - and hence understand their migration patterns, and therefore build better protection around that,” said Farzana Khubchandani of Google. Each collared elephant shows up on a map overlaid with land use, as farmland and devel-opment encroach ever closer on wilderness areas. “Hundreds have been tagged since 2005 all across Africa,” Douglas-Hamilton said, adding that today 85 are collared, half in northern Kenya, the rest across the continent, including in Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Kenya is struggling to stem poaching to protect its remaining elephant population — currently estimated at 30,000 — and just over a thousand rhinos. Samburu, some 300 kilometres (185 miles) north of the capital Nairobi, is home to around 900 elephants.

But conflict between elephant and man is increasingly common, with livestock encroaching onto the park as drought bites.

“In the short term, it helps im-prove security for the animals,” Douglas-Hamilton adds, as close by, a bull elephant sniffs a helicop-ter visiting the reserve, before de-ciding it is harmless and continu-ing to drink in the river.

“In the long term, it allows bet-ter planning to establish corridors for the animals - areas often ex-

tremely vulnerable to human de-velopment,” he added.

‘Elephantocide’ The technology is not cheap: each collar costs some $8,000 (7,000 eu-ros) to buy, fit and maintain.

“The collars are able to tell us an animal is immobile, so we’re able to react very quickly to send our patrol teams,” said David Daballen, Save the Elephant’s head of field operations, lifting the giant collars.

Complementing the maps, re-searchers track the complex el-ephant family trees, recording

every animal with long registra-tion numbers. But on the ground, efforts to protect the elephants are also deeply emotional for the con-servationists.

“That’s Flaubert, he’s 26, the one with the collar,” said Douglas-Hamilton, sweeping back his grey hair as he leans excitedly out of the pickup, driving slowly through the “Artists” family of elephants, with each group given a different theme of names. “There’s Rodin, and Ma-tisse — but Gauguin sadly died,” adds the 73-year old British zoolo-gist, naming each of the 23 animals

grazing among the bushes lining the Ewaso Ng’iro river, a lifeline snaking through the 165 square kilometre reserve. Douglas-Ham-ilton, who has spent his life among the giant animals and talks of an “elephant genocide”, explains it is the individual names given to the elephants he knows them by.

This month Google launched their Street View service in Sam-buru, part of a bid to raise aware-ness of the park and elephants, as well as boosting education and promote tourism.

But old tracking systems re-

main: outside the research centre in Samburu, long sad lines of doz-ens of elephant jaws are laid out, all killed by poachers or drought, the teeth of each providing valu-able data as to their age at death.

“Here was one bullet, here an-other,” said Daballen, lifting a bleached shoulder bone, belonging to an elephant called Ebony.

Those gunshots did not in fact kill Ebony, finally felled in May 2011 by a bullet to the head. “We’re doing all we can, but the poachers are not going away,” he added, wav-ing at the lines of bones. - AFP

With ivory raking in thousands of dollars a

kilo in Asia, conservationists have warned

that African elephants could be extinct in

the wild within a generation

ELEPHANT TRACKING COLLAR: A man holds up an elephant track-ing collar in Samburu game reserve. - AFP

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CONSERVATIONIST FIGHTS POACHING: Conservationist Ian Doug-las-Hamilton stands next to a vehicle destroyed by an elephant in Samburu game reserve. Google has created three-dimensional maps using data from satellite tracking elephant collars, providing security for the animals in the short term, and helping protect their habitat in the long term. - AFP

ENDANGERED: Kenya is struggling to stem poaching to protect its remaining elephant population — currently estimated at 30,000 — and just over a thousand rhinos. - AFP

It is an anomaly on the continent of Africa that we seem to have gone through the eye of the storm, and that poaching is on the decrease hereIain Douglas-Hamilton, Head of conservation group Save the Elephants

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Tatars launch Crimea road blockadeCHONGAR, UKRAINE: Hun-dreds of pro-Kiev activists from Crimea’s Tatar community on Sunday launched a blockade of roads from Ukraine to the penin-sula to protest Russia’s seizure of their home region.

Accompanied by members of the Ukrainian ultra-nationalist Pravy Sektor group, protesters from the Muslim Tatar commu-nity used concrete blocks to par-tially seal off the three roads link-ing mainland Ukraine to Crimea in an attempt to halt the delivery of goods.

Tatar leaders said they were

aiming to block supplies to protest the “numerous violations of their rights by Russian authorities”.

“Our goal is to end the occupa-tion of Crimea and to restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Refat Chubarov, one of the leaders of the Crimean Tatar community, told journalists.

An AFP journalist at the scene reported that dozens of lorries were backed up at two crossing points into Crimea but drivers and Ukrainian officials said this was due to lengthy custom checks on the Russian side.

Russia seized the Crimean pen-

insula from Ukraine in March 2014 after deploying thousands of special forces troops following the ouster of Kremlin-backed leader Viktor Yanukovych in Kiev.

Most of the 300,000-strong Ta-tar community strongly opposed Russia’s annexation of Crimea, condemned by Kiev and the West as an illegal land grab, and have since faced a crackdown that has seen activists detained and leaders barred from the region.

The Tatars were exiled by Stalin to Central Asia during World War II, with almost half perishing in harsh conditions. -AFP

The protesters used

concrete blocks to

partially seal off the

three roads linking

mainland Ukraine

to Crimea to halt the

delivery of goods CHECKPOINT: Crimean Tatars pray as they block road at the check-

point between Ukraine and Crimea, in Chongar, on Sunday. -AFP

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New constitution adopted by Nepal amidst violence

KATHMANDU: Nepal on Sun-day adopted a new constitution aimed at bolstering its transfor-mation to a peaceful democracy after decades of political instabil-ity and a long civil war, even as protests raged over its terms.

The charter, the first to be drawn up by elected representa-tives, had been voted into law Wednesday after the main politi-cal parties -- spurred by a deadly earthquake to shelve differ-ences -- agreed on a new federal structure.

Firecrackers went off in cel-ebration in Kathmandu as Presi-dent Ram Baran Yadav announced the adoption of the long-delayed constitution at a ceremony in parliament.

“I congratulate all Nepali broth-ers and sisters on this historic moment, the announcement of Nepal’s constitution from the Constituent Assembly by the representatives of the people

for democratic rights, economic prosperity and national unity,” he said.

“The democratic revolution of Nepal’s people which began

nearly seven decades ago and the people’s wish for long-term peace has become a reality today.”

The new constitution is the final stage in a peace process

that began when Maoist fight-ers laid down their arms in 2006 after a decade-long insurgency aimed at abolishing an autocratic monarchy and creating a more equal society.

But its adoption follows weeks of clashes between police and protesters that have left more than 40 people dead, among them two children and a police officer lynched as he was driven to hospi-tal in an ambulance.

Protester killedOne protester was killed on Sun-day when police fired into a crowd which had defied a curfew in the southern district of Parsa to dem-onstrate against plans to divide the world’s youngest republic into seven federal provinces.

The move to create a new fed-eral structure that will devolve power from the centre has wide-spread support, but critics say

the planned internal borders will leave some historically marginal-ised groups under-represented in parliament.

They include the Madhesi and Tharu ethnic minorities who mainly inhabit Nepal’s south-ern plains, along the border with India.

“In this happy moment we have been unable to include half of Nepal’s population,” said senior Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai, a former prime minister, referring to the densely populated southern region known as the Terai.

“It is not time for us to celebrate yet.”

Lawmakers’ homesPolice spokesman Kamal Singh Bam said protests had been held in several parts of the Terai, where some lawmakers’ homes had been vandalised, although the rest of the country was largely calm.

Neighbouring India said in a statement it was concerned by the clashes near the border and called for differences to be re-solved “through dialogue in an at-mosphere free from violence and intimidation”.

Work on the constitution be-gan in 2008 after the Maoists won parliamentary elections and abol-ished the monarchy.

It was initially supposed to fin-ish by 2010, but the Maoists were unable to secure enough support for the two-thirds majority need-ed to push it through parliament.

The three biggest forces in parliament — the Nepali Con-gress, UML and Maoist parties — finally reached agreement in June, spurred by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake two months earlier that killed nearly 8,900 people and destroyed around half a million homes.

But there has been strong op-position from some quarters, including Hindu groups who do not believe Nepal should be a secular state. — AFP

The charter, the

first to be drawn

up by elected

representatives, had

been voted into law

on Wednesday after

the main political

parties — spurred by

a deadly earthquake

to shelve differences

— agreed on a new

federal structureMOMENTOUS OCCASION: Nepalese assembly members watch President Ram Baran Yadav promul-

gate the new constitution at the constituent assembly building in Kathmandu on Sunday. — AFP

UNREST: Nepalese plainclothes policemen investigate the charred

remains of a bus, which was set alight during a general strike call

by the hardline faction of former Maoist rebels, in Kathmandu on

Sunday. — AFP

Hungary sealsroute used by migrantsBARANJSKO PETROVO SELO/TOVARNIK (CROA-TIA): Hungary erected a steel gate and fence posts at a border crossing with Croatia on Sunday, moving to seal a route used by its southern neighbour to offload thousands of migrants, a Reuters cameraman said.

Croatia has sent dozens of buses packed with migrants through the Baranjsko Petrovo Selo-Beremend crossing since they began stream-ing over its eastern border with Serbia five days ago.

More still have crossed by train, boarded by hundreds in chaotic scenes repeated on Sunday when rain-soaked migrants climbed through carriage windows at the Croatian border station of Tovarnik.

Hungary has barred their en-try into the European Union via its border with Serbia with a metal fence and a raft of strict asylum rules, forcing them west into Croatia.

Fast losing control over an influx of some 25,000 migrants, Croatia - the EU’s newest member - has taken to sending them north by bus and train across its own border with Hungary, which has waved them on to Austria.

Angry exchangesThe move has triggered angry ex-changes between Zagreb and Bu-dapest indicative of the disarray in Europe over the largest migra-tion of people westwards since World War II.

Hungary,, says it is completing another fence on a 41 kilometre (25.5 miles) stretch of its frontier with Croatia to keep them out.

A cameraman on the Croatian side of the border saw construc-tion crews and soldiers erecting a gate and driving fence posts some three metres high into the ground, suggesting they were close to seal-ing the Beremend crossing.

More migrant buses were on their way from the nearby Croa-tian town of Beli Manastir. — Reuters

C R O A T I A B O R D E R

More than 100,000 gather at Erdogan anti-terror rallyISTANBUL: More than 100,000 people — many waving Turkish flags — attended an “anti-ter-rorism” rally in Istanbul Sun-day, AFP reporters estimated, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan presses a major offensive against Kurdish rebels.

The huge crowd thronged Yeni-kapi Square on the shores of the Marmara Sea for the demonstra-tion, which was to culminate with an address by Erdogan.

On Thursday, thousands took part in a similar rally in the capital Ankara to denounce the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has killed dozens of police and soldiers in a string of attacks in the mainly Kurdish southeast since the collapse of a two-year ceasefire in July.

Many of the demonstrators wore red headbands that eulo-gised the slain security force members as “martyrs”.

“Martyrs never die, the home-land cannot be divided,” the head-bands read.

November 1 electionsErdogan’s two-month-old offen-sive against the outlawed PKK -- which comes as the country pre-pares for a November 1 general election -- has divided Turks.

His critics accuse him of us-ing a suicide bombing in a south-eastern Turkish town that was blamed on the IS group as a pre-text for reigniting a three-decade conflict with the PKK for elec-toral gain. Erdogan has tarred the PKK and IS with the same brush of extremism, but devoted much more firepower to airstrikes on PKK’s bases along Turkey’s bor-der with Iraq than to air raids against the Kurds’ extremist foes.

No political emblems were vis-ible among the sea of red Turkish flags in Istanbul but many of the demonstrators expressed fervent support for Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).

“We will support Erdogan to the end. We are behind him be-cause he defends our flag and our nation,” Gunel Yildiz, a 43-year-old textile industry worker, who

carried a giant Turkish flag, told AFP. The AKP is looking to the upcoming election to reverse the losses it sustained in the last elec-tion in June, which stripped it of its governing majority, forcing it it into coalition talks that ended in failure.

The big winner of that vote was the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Demo-cratic Party (HDP) which took votes from the AKP to win seats in parliament for the first time.

“Believe me the terrorists won’t return to parliament,” Alev Ak-

murat, a 22-year-old student said. “The AKP will regain power, God willing,” he added.

‘HDP a front for the PKK’The government has accused the HDP of being a front for the PKK, allegations the party -- which also enjoys support among non-Kurds -- rejects. While the timing of the offensive against the rebels has raised eyebrows in Turkey and abroad, the PKK’s bloody re-sponse has caused widespread anger. — AFP

F I G H T A G A I N S T I S , K U R D R E B E L S

ON A MISSION: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right,

and his wife Emine Erdogan, greet supporters during an ‘antiter-

orrism’ rally in Istanbul on Sunday. — AFP

VOCIFEROUS SUPPORT: People wave Turkey’s flags and shout

slogans during a rally against recent Kurdish militant attacks on

Turkish security forces in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday. — Reuters

ATHENS: Greek leftist leader Alexis Tsipras has won the gen-eral election, picking up between 33 and 35 per cent of the vote, the latest estimates showed Sunday.

The updated figures on behalf of the country’s main five TV sta-tions gave conservative New De-mocracy between 28.5 and 30 per cent of the vote, securing victory for Tsipras but without an abso-lute majority.

Official results — with 15 per cent of the vote counted — con-firmed the trend, with Syriza earning 35.12 per cent over New Democracy’s 28.41 per cent.

The nationwide results also showed neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn in clear control of third place with 7.35 per cent.

Tsipras earlier on Sunday de-

clared he was confident of win-ning a second mandate to reform and revive the nation’s economy after a first tumultuous seven months. Wearing his trademark open shirt and cheery smile, he said after casting his ballot that voters will elect “a fighting gov-ernment” ready for the “confron-tations necessary to move for-ward with reforms”.

Hands-down winner of a Janu-ary general election, then with 36.34 per cent of the vote, Tsipras

resigned in August and called snap elections, gambling crisis-weary Greeks would give him a new mandate despite his contro-versial austerity deal with Euro-pean leaders.

After winning office on an an-ti-austerity ticket, he agreed in July to more punishing austerity for the nation in exchange for its third financial rescue in five years. He later argued he had effectively saved Greece from a chaotic exit from the eurozone. — AFP

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Greek leftist leader Tsipras wins electionThe updated figures

on behalf of the

country’s main five

TV stations gave

conservative New

Democracy between

28.5 and 30 per cent

of the vote, securing

victory for Greek

leftist leader Alexis

Tsipras but without

an absolute majority

ANXIOUS WAIT: People look at exit polls on giant screens outside

the New Democracy election kiosk in Syntagma square after polls

closed in a general election in Athens, Greece on Sunday. — Reuters

MARKEWWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5B

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Oman’s leasing firms achieve robust growth in first halfTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Oman’s leasing sector has achieved a healthy growth of 12.3 per cent in net profit to reach OMR15.4 million for the first half of 2015 fromOMR13.7 million for the same period last year. This was supported by growth in demand for retailcredit and corpo-rate loan in the aftermath of sig-

nificant government investment in infrastructure projects for the first half of this year, according to a detailed study conducted by Al Maha Financial Services.

Leasing companies, which is also known as non-banking fi-nance companies, have witness-ing steady growth benefitting from the continuing economic de-velopment, increasing small and

medium enterprise participation coupled with Sultanate’s rising population having favourable de-mographics like large segment of youth population and higher dis-posable income levels.

According to Al Maha Financial Services study, the combined gross lease receivables surpassed OMR1 billion last year to touch OMR1.08 billion by end-June 2015, in-

creasing 7.8 per cent from that of OMR0.997 billion for the same pe-riod last year.

Gross lease receivables on a quarter-on-quarter basis grew by 1.9 per cent from OMR1.06 billion by the end of the first quarter of 2015.

Leasing sector has achieved marked growth for the first half of 2015 supported by rising interest

income as well as reduction in in-terest expenses.

The six leasing companies in the country demonstrated improve-ment in their overall financial per-formance for the first half of the year despite stiff competition from banking institutions and among themselves.

Each of the six companies post-ed a healthy growth in earnings

that was supported by an increase in installment finance activities. “Improving income along with lower borrowing costs and expens-es enabled the leasing companies to achieve impressive earnings growth,” said the study report.

The leasing sector targets the medium to small-scale business enterprises and individuals for lending. > B4

N O N - B A N K I N G F I N A N C E F I R M S

B2

MARKETM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

Oman, Iran plan jointdevelopment of oilfield

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Iran and Oman are discussing the joint development of the shared Hengam oilfield, according to Saeed Hafezi, man-aging director of the Iranian Off-shore Oil Company (IOOC).

“We have held three rounds of talks with Omani officials. Co-operation with neighbouring countries in developing oil and gas fields would certainly boost

extraction from hydrocarbon re-serves,” Hafezi said, Iran’s ‘Finan-cial Tribune’ daily reported, citing the Mehr News Agency.

The official noted that the Na-tional Iranian Oil Company “pre-fers cooperation over competi-tion,” but any bilateral agreement would depend on the determina-tion of those on the other side of the negotiating table.

According to the report, the field, 80 per cent of which lie in the Iranian territory, is estimated

to contain 700 million barrels of oil and 56 billion cubic meters of gas. Production started in late 2010, with Iran currently drawing 15,000 bpd from the field, down from 28,000 bpd, while Oman’s crude production has halved over-time to 5,000 bpd.

Iranian Offshore Oil Compa-ny’s crude production is close to 500,000 barrels per day, but the company aims to increase the output by 32,000 barrels in the short run, and by 130,000 and

400,000 barrels in medium- and long-term respectively.

The oilfields under develop-ment by IOOC hold an estimated 100 billion barrels of crude, com-prising roughly 15 per cent of the country’s total oil reserves.

The two countries

are discussing the

joint development of

the shared Hengam

oilfield, says Saeed

Hafezi, managing

director of the

Iranian Offshore

Oil Company

Seminar updates professionals on international financial reportingTimes News Service

MUSCAT: In a move to update fi-nance professionals, KPMG con-ducted its annual International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) seminar for clients recent-ly, which brought together profes-sionals across the business com-munity and government sectors.

Ahmed Tufail, Partner KPMG in Oman, mentioned that this demonstrates the keen desire of the finance community to be updated with the latest develop-ments in the standards. It also reflected the popularity of the speaker, Yusuf Hassan, who has been hosting these seminars in the region for almost 9 years.

Yusuf Hassan, Partner in KP-MG’s Accounting Advisory Ser-vices has been actively involved in IFRS trainings in the region. The region spans 20 countries in the Middle East and includes Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

Yusuf works closely with clients, engagement teams and institutes helping them to acquire broader competency, find better solutions to financial reporting challenges and effectively navigate through a dynamic environment.

He carries out number of train-ing courses across the Middle East and South Asia each year in

support of these establishments and makes a proactive contribu-tion in support of accounting at regional, national and practice level. He is recognised as an ex-pert in the field of IFRS and has been contributing time and effort to support in professional devel-opment and knowledge transfer.

New standardsAhmed established the theme of the seminar whilst addressing the gathering. He noted that the new standards issued and Internation-al Financial Reporting Standards

board’s latest developments, in-cluding active projects and prac-tical application surrounding the standard on revenue recognition (IFRS 15), which is expected to be effective from December 31, 2018.

Ahmed stated that KPMG Business School has played an important role in transferring knowledge to a wide range of busi-nesses and helps them respond to opportunities and challenges, improve their performance and increase their value. KPMG Business School has success-fully launched Basic Accounting

and ACCA’s IFRS diploma train-ing program and IAB training for graduates and finance profession-als in Oman.

IFRS 9 and IFRS 15During the seminar, Yusuf focused on the forthcoming developments and International Accounting Standards Board’s latest develop-ments, including active projects. In particular, he focused on the stand-ards IFRS 9 and IFRS 15 effective from annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2018.

The seminar was interactive. Several participants shared their own experiences and challenges in this area and welcomed the suggestions made by others and the KPMG team.

KPMG said that it will also be conducting tax seminar on Octo-ber 12, 2015 to provide an update on current tax issues, and devel-opments in local tax practices for professionals that have an in-volvement in the day-to-day man-agement of tax.

KPMG employs more than 162,000 people and operates in 155 countries worldwide. In the Lower Gulf, comprising Oman and UAE, KPMG employs more than 850 professionals and oper-ates from seven offices in Muscat, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Jebel Ali.

K P M G

Huawei unveils latest smartphone Times News Service

MUSCAT: Huawei Consumer Business Group unveiled the Huawei Mate S smartphone ear-lier this month at IFA technology show in Berlin, revolutionising touch technology.

Its ergonomic, luxurious de-sign and innovative technology deliver a premium android ex-perience that surpasses industry expectations once again.

The Huawei Mate S’ touch screen control technology offers an unconventional design that strikes a balance between the phone’s brilliant capabilities and its stunning visual appearance.

Building on the revolutionary Huawei Mate 7 smartphone, the Huawei Mate S features a 2.5D floating screen that is 5.5 inches long and 7.2mm thick, with side edges that are just 2.65mm. The arched back cover fits perfectly into the palm of a hand, while its curved surface features solid pressure and weight, making the phone less likely to be dropped. With the texture of the amoled screen, Huawei Mate S presents a perfect curve.

The curved back cover of the Huawei Mate S features a lami-nated ladder battery and a stag-gered height printer circuit board layout design. It also uses a na-

nometer shooting technique to seamlessly connect the phone’s antenna and metal, resulting in a smooth feel. Additional cut-ting-edge technology, including diamond cutting, CNC carving, nanotechnology and a sapphire camera are part of the phone’s seamless metal body.

Measuring weightsTouch is a core of the Huawei Mate S, creating a new experi-ence for users that enhances their interaction with the de-vice. When viewing photos, they can be quickly previewed and enlarged by pressing the screen with one finger, streamlining the operations of a traditional phone.

The Huawei Mate S can also be used as a scale to weigh ob-jects. Huawei revealed the new pressure-sensitive technology which can be used to weigh small objects. Huawei demonstrated that the device could be used to measure the weights of objects between 100g and 400g.

The phone is equipped with Fingerprint 2.0, an upgraded version of the advanced chip level security and one-key unlock technology in the Huawei Mate 7. Fingerprint 2.0 improves rec-ognition speeds by 100 per cent, with more accurate self-learning functions.

B E R L I N F A I R

Russia likely to raise

taxes on oil producers

MOSCOW: Russia may raise taxes on its main source of rev-enue — crude producers — to narrow its budget deficit starting from next year, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

The authorities in Moscow have started discussions with companies about changing at least a crude-extraction tax for-mula, one of the people said. The modification, if approved, could bring the state about 609 billion roubles (around $9 billion) next year and 1.6 trillion through 2018, he said, citing Finance Ministry estimates. Both people asked not to be identified because the infor-mation isn’t public yet.

Russia’s oil producers haven’t been impacted much by the drop in prices thanks to a weakening ruble, while “the government take has fallen a great deal,” said Sarah Emerson, managing direc-tor of ESAI Energy, a consulting company in Wakefield, Massa-chusetts.

“We won’t know if there will be an impact on production until we get all the details.”

Various measuresWhile different ministries are now suggesting various meas-ures to increase budget revenue and reduce spending, there’s no final decision yet, Natalya Tima-kova, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, said by phone on Friday. Officials should agree on the measures to be included in next year’s budget, she said. The government is set to submit the draft budget to parlia-ment by October 25.

The world’s biggest energy ex-porter is struggling to shake off its first recession in six years af-ter a slump in oil prices. Russia relies on oil and gas for about half of its budget earnings, with taxes on the extraction and export of crude accounting for about 32 per cent of revenue. These earn-ings were 2.49 trillion roubles from January to July, 16 per cent lower than a year ago, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Russia’s Treasury data.

Russia is facing an “unprec-edented” financial squeeze from the selloff in oil. - Bloomberg News

B U D G E T G A P

UNDER DISCUSSION: Saeed Hafezi, managing director of the Iranian Offshore Oil Company, said they

have held three rounds of talks with Omani officials. – File picture

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

TRAINING: Yusuf Hassan, Partner in KPMG’s Accounting Advisory

Services, has been actively involved in International Financial

Reporting Standards training in the region. – Supplied picture

B3M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

MARKETRegulator imposes fine on insurance brokerage firm MUSCAT: Abdullah bin Salim Al Salmi, executive president of the Capital Mar-ket Authority (CMA) has is-sued a disciplinary decision to impose a financial penalty on Royal Nawras insurance brokers for violating the provisions of Article 17 of the Insurance Brokers’ Regula-tion. The regulation requires the broker to file the audited annual accounts and balance sheet within three months from the end of the finan-cial year. The regulation was issued to upgrade and regulate the performance of insurance brokers. The CMA emphasised the importance of compliance with the laws and regulations governing the sector to ensure fairness and protection.

Al Hassan’s Abu Dhabi arm bags $7.25m project MUSCAT: Al Hassan Engi-neering Company Abu Dhabi (controlled by Al Hassan Engineering owning 49 per cent of its share capital), has received a Letter of Award for $7.250 million from GS Engineering & Construction, Korea, for civil works at Ru-maitha/Shanayel Phase-III project. The project duration is seven months from Octo-ber and the company expects reasonable income from this project, according to a regulatory filing.

Al Hassan Engineering bags $12m PDO contractMUSCAT: Al Hassan Engi-neering has received a Letter of Award from Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) for the ‘Mabrouk pipeline construction project’ for approximately $12 million. The project duration is 13 months and the company expects reasonable income from the project, according to the filing to the Muscat Securities Market.

Singapore most preferred place for Indian travellersMUMBAI: Singapore has secured the top position on the list of most preferred overseas destinations for Indian travellers in first half of this year, replacing Dubai, a Hotels.com’s Hotel Price Index (HPI) survey said. According to the recent survey, Singapore, also called the ‘Lion City’, topped the chart rallying ahead of Dubai which was at the top spot on the list during the same period last year. The data is drawn from bookings made on the thousands of hotels on the Hotels.com websites worldwide. Hotels.com is a leading online accommoda-tion booking website with properties ranging from international chains and all-inclusive resorts to local favourites. - Times News Service/Agencies

B R I E F S ‘Misconceptions on Islamic banking should be dispelled’

ELHAM POURMOHAMMADIelham@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: There are some mis-conceptions about Islamic bank-ing in Oman, which need to be dis-pelled through raising awareness about this sector, says a senior of-ficial at Bank Nizwa.

“Perhaps many market partici-pants believe that Islamic banking is just a way to ‘Islamise’ interest and they keep comparing Islamic banks to conventional banks,” Dr Jamil El Jaroudi, chief executive officer of Bank Nizwa, told Times of Oman in an exclusive interview.

“At Bank Nizwa, it is not only our belief, but also our commit-ment to build Islamic banking true to its core based on Sharia,” said the official at Oman’s first

dedicated Islamic bank.

InnovationEl Jaroudi noted that they do not want to simply replicate what is out there in the conventional banking and continuously try to innovate and build an industry based on Sharia objectives, and not necessarily just to be Sharia-compliant.

“However, during the initial phase, we do have to provide alternatives to the current con-ventional products to suit the de-mand of customers. This process will take time. In the meantime, we can help to re-design the basic concept of finance based on Sha-ria, which is more equitable to all rather than only based on debt,” he said.

‘Social philanthropic’“Another misconception is that Islamic banking is similar to a social philanthropic entity. Ac-cordingly, why do Islamic banks ask for profit margins and fees and this is why knowledge about this industry is imperative to suc-ceed,” the official added.

“Yes, there are ethical and so-cial obligations but above all, Is-lamic banks are commercial and

profit oriented businesses owned by investors who chose to put their wealth at work in a Sharia-compliant manner,” El Jaroudi explained.

Asked what Islamic banking provides should do to help en-hance the performance of this sec-tor, the chief executive officer of Bank Nizwa said that they need to grow to a certain size to be able to compete on equal footings, mean-

ing good services and good returns to both clients and investors.

Protection “Islamic banks need to be protect-ed, may be incentivised as well, until it gets there because the ul-timate beneficiary is the economy of Oman,” he said.

In addition, El Jaroudi said that Oman can learn from the Islamic finance experience of its neighbouring countries as well as other countries in the Far East and other regions.

“Oman has the advantage of see-ing and learning from the experi-ences of the other markets, be it good or bad. If you look at Oman’s Islamic banking regulations, it is very much influenced by this, in ad-dition to choosing what Oman de-cides is right for its market,” he said.

“However, learning does not stop here. Now we need to dig more into the main benefits of Islamic finance to economies in general and be prepared to modify or add what benefits the Sultanate the most,” El Jaroudi stated.

Bank Nizwa chief executive officer said

that many market participants perhaps

believe that Islamic banking is just a way to

‘Islamise’ interest and they keep comparing

Islamic banks with conventional banks

CLARION CALL: Dr Jamil El Jaroudi says that at Bank Nizwa, it is not only the belief, but also the commitment to build Islamic banking true to its core based on Sharia. – Times file picture

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

Drive to create awareness on Omani products among school childrenTimes News Service

MUSCAT: To create awareness among the school community on the quality and competitive characteristics of the locally manufactured products, the Pub-lic Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE) organised Omani products’ exhibition in Al Burai-mi governorate on Sunday

The event was organised at Hafsa bint Sireen School for Ba-sic Education (5-10) in Al Burai-mi Governorate under the aus-pices of Moosa bin Ali Al Hinai, director general of education in Al Buraimi Governorate.

Organised by the PEIE’s Om-ani Products’ Department, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, a group of local companies representing various industrial sectors took part in the exhibition in addition to the showcasing of handicrafts.

“We are proud to host the Om-ani Products’ Exhibition at our school. We always aim at sup-porting the locally manufactured products especially that there are massive imported products competing with the Omani prod-ucts in terms of the price, quality and promotion,” said Badriya Al Ma’amari, the school’s principal.

“In fact, Omani consumers

must make Omani products as their first choice and the lo-cal companies need to intensify their promotional campaigns,” Badriya added.

Spreading awarenessHamood Al Balushi, director of PEIE’s Omani Products’ Depart-ment, noted that the exhibition comes in line with the Memo-randum of Understanding that was signed between PEIE and Ministry of Education aiming at spreading awareness on the sig-nificance of supporting locally manufactured products among

the educational community. He further said that the exhi-

bition aspires at inspiring the school community to purchase local made products, promote na-tion pride and loyalty towards the local manufacturing industry and create awareness on important role played by the local products advancing the national economy. Al Balushi informed that the next school exhibition will be held in Musandam Governorate.

It should be noted that the MoU between PEIE and Min-istry of Education involves or-ganising exhibitions in various

schools throughout the governo-rates of the Sultanate, targeting students as they represent an important segment of the society and can significantly influence on the members of the surround-ing environment to support the national products.

The series of Omani Products Exhibitions are designed to en-courage consumers and organi-sations to buy Oman-made goods and services wherever possible, promote national pride in the manufacturing industry, and highlight the economic impor-tance of buying local products.

L O C A L P R O D U C T S

Lingering jobs crisis still haunts SpainMADRID: Data shows Spain’s economy recovering, but tell that to Javier Pichel: this summer he packed and left for the only place he could find a decent job — Germany.

Millions of Spaniards are scrap-ing by on benefits, family handouts or working cash-in-hand as they wait for the apparent economic rebound to create the hundreds of thousands of jobs the government is promising.

Experts say that these jobs are being created — but that the prob-lem is many of them only last a few days. Since leaving school, 22-year-old Pichel from the north-western Galicia region has racked up training certificates in finance and business, but has received no decent job offers in Spain.

“You can get a contract for three weeks or three months. You’re happy, but you quickly realise that there is no job security,” he said. Spain’s government is forecasting the economy will grow by 3.3 per cent this year, one of the strongest rates in the eurozone.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in 2012 passed reforms making it easier for firms to hire and fire as part of his austerity reforms.

Now the Spanish prime minister has promised a million jobs would be created over the 2014-2015 pe-riod. - AFP

E C O N O M I C R E C O V E R Y

MADE IN OMAN: Omani products exhibitions are designed to encourage consumers and organisa-tions to buy Oman-made goods and services wherever possible. – Supplied picture

B4

MARKETM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

MUSCATSECURITIES MARKET

SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20

REGULAR MARKET .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................OM0000004735 ...........SEMBCORP SALALAH ................................................84,626 ...........219,728..................... 24 ........... 2.570 ...........2.600 ...........2.570........... 2.595 .............2.560 ............0.035 ............. 1.367 ................2.600............. 2.600...................2.610 .................. 247,711,421 ........1.000

OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO....................................................................... 766,099 .........573,222..................... 22 ............0.752 ........... 0.752 ...........0.748 ............0.748 ............. 0.744............ 0.004 ............. 0.538 ................0.748 .............. 0.748...................0.752 ................. 486,906,284 .......0.100

OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ........................ 154,245 ..........251,314......................12 ............1.625 ........... 1.630 ...........1.625 ............1.630 ............. 1.625 ............ 0.005 ............. 0.308 ................1.630 .............. 1.625...................1.630 ................1,222,500,000 ......0.100

OM0000001087 ............OMAN UNITED INSURANCE ...................................2,000 ..................420........................ 1 ............0.210 ........... 0.210 ...........0.210 ........... 0.232 .............0.232 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.210 ..............0.212...................0.231 ...................23,200,000 ........0.100

OM0000001145 ............PORT SERVICES CORPORATION ...........................3,000 ...................411........................ 1 ............0.137 ........... 0.137 ...........0.137 ............0.138 ............. 0.138............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.137 .............. 0.125...................0.137 ................... 13,115,520 .........0.100

OM0000001509 ............DHOFAR INT.DEV.AND INV. HOLD. ....................... 8,600 ...............3,526........................8 ............0.410 ........... 0.410 ...........0.410 ........... 0.410 ............. 0.410............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.410 ............. 0.400...................0.410 ..................101,024,000........0.100

OM0000001517 ............HSBC BANK OMAN .................................................... 100,000 ............11,500........................2 ............0.115 ........... 0.115 ............ 0.115 ............0.115 ............. 0.115 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 0.115 ...............0.111................... 0.114 ..................230,035,971 ........0.100

OM0000001533 ............OMINVEST ...................................................................... 10,401 ...............4,868........................4 ........... 0.468 ........... 0.468 ...........0.468 ........... 0.468 .............0.468 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.468 ..............0.468...................0.488..................258,739,248 ........0.100

OM0000001962 ............AL MADINA INVESTMENT .....................................14,800 ..................844........................ 1 ........... 0.057 ........... 0.057 ...........0.057 ........... 0.057 .............0.057 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.057 ..............0.057...................0.059................... 11,807,629 .........0.100

OM0000002168 ............AL ANWAR CERAMIC TILES ................................ 25,000 ...............8,550........................3 ........... 0.342 ...........0.342 ...........0.342........... 0.342 .............0.342 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.342..............0.330...................0.340 .................101,305,079 ........0.100

OM0000002549 ...........BANK DHOFAR ............................................................ 109,000 ........... 25,506........................6 ........... 0.234 ...........0.234 ...........0.234........... 0.234 .............0.234 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.234..............0.234...................0.241 ..................361,466,480 ........0.100

OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ............................................................ 873,899 ........ 442,962..................... 30 ........... 0.506 ........... 0.508 ...........0.504........... 0.506 .............0.506 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.506..............0.504...................0.506 ............... 1,159,662,234 ......0.100

OM0000003711 ............SOHAR POWER .............................................................. 18,160 ............... 6,168........................8 ........... 0.338 ...........0.340 ...........0.338 ........... 0.340 .............0.340 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.340............. 0.340...................0.350...................75,143,400 .........0.100

OM0000004248 ...........SMN POWER HOLDING ............................................10,000 ............... 7,520........................ 1 ............0.752 ........... 0.752 ...........0.752 ........... 0.752 ............. 0.752............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.752 ............. 0.000...................0.752 .................. 150,125,971 ........0.100

OM0000004669 ...........SHARQIYAH DESALINATION ...................................1,058 ...............4,814........................5 ........... 4.550 ........... 4.550 ...........4.550........... 4.550 .............4.550 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................4.550..............4.555...................4.650 ..................44,499,983 .........1.000

OM0000004768 ...........AL MADINA TAKAFUL ............................................. 310,913 .............26,735........................9 ........... 0.087 ........... 0.087 ...........0.085 ........... 0.086 .............0.086 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.085 ..............0.085...................0.086...................15,050,000 .........0.100

OM0000004933 ...........AL SUWADI POWER .................................................. 116,600 .............24,719........................8 ............0.212 ........... 0.212 ...........0.212 ........... 0.212 ............. 0.212 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.212 ............. 0.208...................0.212 ..................151,454,144 ........0.100

OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS ...................................................57,416 .............28,134........................5 ........... 0.490 ...........0.490 ...........0.490........... 0.490 .............0.492 ...........-0.002 ........... -0.407 ...............0.490..............0.490...................0.500 ..................25,725,000 .........0.100

OM0000004925 ...........AL BATINAH POWER ................................................ 671,758 .......... 142,459......................14 ............0.212 ........... 0.213 ...........0.212 ........... 0.212 ............. 0.213............-0.001 ........... -0.469 ...............0.213 .............. 0.192...................0.213 .................. 143,076,135 ........0.100

OM0000003000 ...........ALMAHA PETROLEUM PRODUCTS MAR. ......... 7,000 .............13,790........................ 1 ............1.970 ........... 1.970 ...........1.970 ........... 1.970 ............. 1.980 ...........-0.010 ........... -0.505 ...............1.970 .............. 1.965...................1.970 ..................135,930,000........0.100

OM0000002366 ...........AL BATINAH DEV. INV. HOLDING ........................ 13,100 ............... 1,210........................3 ........... 0.093 ........... 0.093 ...........0.092........... 0.092 .............0.093 ...........-0.001 ............-1.075 ................0.092..............0.092...................0.095....................2,760,000 ..........0.100

OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. .................. 122,067 ............ 11,235......................11 ........... 0.093 ........... 0.093 ...........0.092........... 0.092 .............0.093 ...........-0.001 ............-1.075 ................0.092.............. 0.091...................0.092 ..................26,678,219 .........0.100

OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE ..................8,800 ................1,461........................4 ............0.166 ........... 0.166 ...........0.166 ............0.166 ............. 0.168............-0.002 ............-1.190 ................0.166 .............. 0.155...................0.160 ...................33,200,000 ........0.100

OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................. 32,500 ...............5,233........................8 ............0.161 ........... 0.161 ............ 0.161 ............0.161 ............. 0.163............-0.002 ........... -1.227 ............... 0.161 .............. 0.161...................0.162 ..................232,071,840 .......0.100

OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES ..................................... 180,440 ........... 28,289......................11 ............0.159 ........... 0.159 ...........0.155 ............0.157 ............. 0.160 ...........-0.003 ............-1.875 ................0.156 .............. 0.156...................0.159 ...................45,632,210 .........0.100

OM0000001160 ............NATIONAL GAS ............................................................. 11,088 ...............3,336......................11 ........... 0.308 ...........0.308 ...........0.300 .......... 0.300 .............0.308 ...........-0.008 ........... -2.597 ...............0.300 ............ 0.300...................0.308 ..................15,000,000 .........0.100

OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING ........... 735,158 .............77,950..................... 58 ............0.107 ........... 0.107 ...........0.105 ........... 0.106 ............. 0.109 ...........-0.003 ........... -2.752 ...............0.105 .............. 0.105...................0.107 ....................9,540,000 ..........0.100

OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 673,123........... 117,325..................... 79 ............0.176 ........... 0.176 ...........0.172 ............0.174 ............. 0.179 ............-0.005 ........... -2.793 ...............0.172 .............. 0.172................... 0.176 ................... 26,113,050 .........0.100

OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES ......................... 418,800 ........... 41,394..................... 47 ........... 0.100 ........... 0.100 ...........0.098........... 0.099 .............0.102 ...........-0.003 ........... -2.941 ...............0.099 ..............0.098...................0.099.................... 5,825,478 ..........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 5,539,651... 2,084,622...................397 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ......29........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

PARALLEL MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000002564 ...........AL HASSAN ENGINEERING....................................73,952 ...............6,499......................15 ........... 0.088 ........... 0.089 ...........0.087 ........... 0.088 .............0.086 ........... 0.002 ............. 2.326 ................0.089 ..............0.088...................0.090 ................... 6,618,304 ..........0.100

OM0000001400 ...........OMAN FLOUR MILLS ............................................... 100,000 ...........48,200........................3 ........... 0.482 ........... 0.482 ...........0.482........... 0.482 .............0.482 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.482..............0.482...................0.484 ..................75,915,000 .........0.100

OM0000002317 ............AL BATINAH HOTELS ...................................................... 156 ...................172........................ 1 ............1.100 ........... 1.100 ...........1.100 ............1.125 ............. 1.125 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.100 ............. 0.000................... 1.100 ....................4,074,596 ..........1.000

OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ................................................................. 20,000 ...............1,220........................4 ............0.061 ........... 0.061 ...........0.061 ........... 0.061 ............. 0.061............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.061 .............. 0.061...................0.062 ..................91,500,000 .........0.100

OM0000005963 ...........PHOENIX POWER ...................................................... 454,734 ............ 67,755..................... 28 ............0.149 ........... 0.149 ...........0.149 ........... 0.149 ............. 0.149............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.149 .............. 0.148...................0.149 .................. 217,927,618 ........0.100

OM0000004511 ............ALIZZ ISLAMIC BANK.................................................. 5,500 .................. 380........................2 ........... 0.069 ........... 0.069 ...........0.069........... 0.069 .............0.070 ...........-0.001 ........... -1.429 ...............0.069 ..............0.068...................0.069...................69,000,000.........0.100

OM0000001368 ............CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IND. ................... 28,500 .................. 969........................4 ........... 0.034 ...........0.034 ...........0.034........... 0.034 .............0.036 ...........-0.002 ........... -5.556 ...............0.034..............0.034...................0.035....................2,890,000 ..........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 682,842 ..........125,195..................... 57 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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

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 .........................................5,751.11 ................5,741.91 .................... 5,741.91 ................... 5,744.76 .................. -2.85 .................. -0.05Financial Index .................................... 6,849.37 ............... 6,825.71 ....................6,825.71 ...................6,849.37 ................-23.66 .................. -0.35Industrial Index ....................................7,370.53 ...............7,365.64 ................... 7,366.49 ................... 7,370.53 ..................-4.04 .................. -0.05Services Index ...................................... 3,232.06 .............. 3,222.35 ...................3,222.60 ...................3,223.97 ...................-1.37 .................. -0.04MSM SHARIAH INDEX....................... 909.19 ..................908.27 ...................... 908.62 ......................908.50 .................... 0.12 ................... 0.01

Trading SummaryVolume ................ Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up ............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded6,222,493 ................... 2,209,816 .................... 454 ............... 14,503,740,079 .................. 4 ......................14 .................... 18 .........................36

Index falls marginally

MUSCAT: Amid weak trad-ing activity, the MSM 30 Index ended the day at 5,741.91 points, down by 0.05 per cent. The MSM Shariah Index remained flat at 908.62 points, up by 0.01 per cent.

Bank Muscat was the most active in terms of volume, while Ooredoo led in terms of turnover. Sunday’s top gainer was Al Has-san Engineering, up by 2.33 per cent, while the top loser was Con-struction Materials, down by 5.56 per cent.

As many as 454 trades were ex-ecuted in the session generating a turnover of OMR2.2 million with over 6.2 million shares changing hands. Out of 36 traded securi-ties, 4 advanced, 14 declined and 18 remained unchanged. At the close of the session, Omani in-vestors were net buyers to the tune of OMR126,000 followed by GCC and Arab investors at OMR19,000. Foreign investors, who were net sellers, sold shares amounting to OMR145,000.

Financial Index ended nega-tively at 6,825.71 points, down by 0.35 per cent. Gulf Invest-ment Services, Al Anwar Hold-ing, Al Sharqia Investments, Al Izz Islamic Bank and Bank Sohar declined 2.94 per cent, 2.79 per cent, 2.75 per cent, 1.43 per cent and 1.23 per cent respectively.

Industrial Index declined 0.05 per cent to close at 7,366.49 points. Al Hassan Engineering gained 2.33 per cent to close at OMR0.088. Construction Mate-rials, Galfar Engineering and Al Maha Ceramics decreased 5.56 per cent, 1.08 per cent and 0.41 per cent respectively.

Services Index closed at 3,222.60 points, down by 0.04 per cent. Sembcorp Salalah, Ooredoo and Omantel advanced 1.37 per cent, 0.54 per cent and 0.31 per cent respectively. National Gas, Renaissance Services, OIFC, Al Maha Petroleum and Al Batinah Power declined 2.60 per cent, 1.88

per cent, 1.19 per cent, 0.51 per cent and 0.47 per cent respectively.

Saudi stocks drop Saudi Arabian equities fell the most in the Middle East after the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged sparked concern over global growth and the price of oil capped its third week of losses.

The Tadawul All Share Index fell 1.1 per cent to 7,392.57 Ri-yadh, poised for a seventh day of losses. Banks made up four out of the top five contributors to the decline. Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index advanced 0.6 per cent. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index, made up of the biggest and most liquid shares in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, slipped 0.4 per cent.

That sent the premium it com-mands over MSCI’s emerging markets index on a future price-to-earnings basis to the lowest in almost five months.

The BGCC 200 Index traded at 11.6 times estimated earnings in 12 months compared with almost 11 times for the MSCI EM Index. That’s the narrowest gap since April, according to data.

In Dubai, the DFM General Index was little changed at the close after declining as much as 1.1 perc ent. Trading patterns on Dubai’s stocks gauge on Thurs-day showed its 50-day moving av-erage fell below that for 200 days, forming a so-called death cross, a bearish signal to some investors. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul has de-clined about 10 per cent since its own moving averages entered a death cross last month.

"At times like this, you should be prepared to walk in, find where the value is and start buying," said Ahmed Shehada, head of ad-visory and institutions at NBAD Securities, the brokerage of the United Arab Emirates’ biggest bank. – United Securities/Bloomberg News

The top gainer was Al Hassan Engineering,

up by 2.33 per cent, while the top loser was

Construction Materials, down by 5.56 per cent

Asset base of leasing firms surges ahead to OMR0.95b

Oman’s leasing companies, main-ly operate in three market seg-ments — retail financing, equip-ment leasing and factoring and working capital financing.

In the retail segment, financing is provided to individual custom-ers mainly for purchase of auto-mobiles and other goods whereas in equipment leasing finance is extended to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for expan-sion, modernisation and replace-ment requirements.

In the third segment, factor-ing and working capital financ-ing is provided to SMEs for cross border or domestic trade, or for the execution of projects, usu-ally against the assignment of re-

ceivables. There are currently six finance and leasing companies with a branch network of 38 oper-ating in Oman and all the six com-panies are also listed on the Mus-cat Securities Market (MSM).

The six licensed players name-ly; Al Omaniya Financial Ser-vices, Muscat Finance, National Finance, Oman Orix Leasing, Taageer Finance and United Fi-nance have a combined paid-up capital of OMR156.63 million and total assets worth OMR0.95 bil-lion as of June 2015.

Market capitalisation of the six NBFCs currently stands at OMR262 million.

There has been a gradual shift in the market share as a result

of aggressive growth plans and strategies being adopted by some leasing companies.

In line with the growth in their leasing and financing activities, leasing companies also recorded a similar increase in borrowings and deposits, which are their pri-mary sources of funds. The com-bined borrowings and deposits of six companies increased by 5.3 per cent year-on-year basis. Over-all gross financing to borrowings and deposits remained in the range of 160 per cent to 165 per cent over the past one year and increased over the twelve months from 159.6 per cent as at the end of June 2014 to 163.5 per cent as at the end of June 2015.

A L M A H A F I N A N C I A L S T U D Y

< FROM

B1

Nigeria’s refineries resume productionPORT HARCOURT: Bright or-ange flames flare upwards from a pencil-thin chimney at the Port Harcourt Refining Company, sending thick black smoke into the white clouds above Nigeria’s southern oil hub.

On the ground, workers in boil-er suits and hard hats inspect the tanks, valves and gauges around the metal pipes that stretch up, down and across the facility. In the hush of the control room, away from the hiss of steam and hum of heavy machinery, the re-fining process is monitored close-ly on a bank of computer screens.

PHRC boss Bafred Enjugu sees it as a sign that Nigeria — Africa’s biggest oil producer — is finally ‘domesticating’ the refining of crude into products, thus improv-ing its energy security and ending a reliance on costly imports.

The talk is of job creation, na-tional pride and the chance to help revive an economy badly hurt by the fall in global oil prices as well as providing fuel for the increasing demands of a growing population.

“To give up on the refineries is like giving up on Nigeria. That’s how strongly I believe about it and we can’t afford to do that,” the PHRC managing director said. “We can’t go home and tell our children that we have failed to pro-vide the right platform to take off.”

Stop the rot The Port Harcourt refinery is Ni-geria’s oldest, built in 1965, nine years after oil was found under the marshy soil and creeks of the delta, where the Niger river runs off into the Gulf of Guinea.

Refineries in nearby Warri, and

Kaduna in the north central re-gion, were built in the years that followed, while a new plant was added to the same site in Port Harcourt in 1989. In recent years, however, the facilities have been more idle than operational.

Opec-member Nigeria instead sent much of the 1.8 million bar-rels of crude it now produces dai-ly to foreign facilities, buying back refined products such as petrol at market prices.

By the end of Goodluck Jona-than’s presidency, just how re-liant Nigeria had become on imports became clear when a dis-pute between marketers and the government caused a crippling fuel shortage.

Muhammadu Buhari, elected on an anti-corruption ticket, re-placed Jonathan in late May, days after the blockade was lifted. - AFP

C R U D E O I L

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

E- IMESTECH STUFFTECH STUFF

BFACEBOOK PROVIDES NEW OPTIONFacebook is providing a new option for its more sceptical advertisers. Marketers can now choose to pay Facebook only if their ads have completely passed through a user’s news feed and been seen by a human being. Separately, any advertisers who want to verify video views can get reassurance from a third party, Moat, the social network said on Thursday in a blog post. — Bloomberg News

M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

T E C H U P D A T E S

Apple launches iOS 9 update

Apple’s latest operating system, iOS 9, launched on Wednesday, giv-ing millions of people a chance to refresh their iPhones. Overall, iOS 9 is more about polish and under-the-hood refine-ments than a sweeping visual revamp; there is nothing here that’s on par with the eye-searing palette changes of iOS 8. Still, there are pretty significant changes that hint at what Apple wants to do with its mobile de-vices going forward. Perhaps the biggest is Apple’s push into fore-casting your needs, not just telling you what they are. This kind of predictive analysis might strike privacy buffs as a bit creepy. Af-ter all, the company is trying to figure out your likes and dislikes based on your phone use. And you probably don’t even know that the iPhone is tracking you while you are using it. But making the phone more predictive has its benefits. Scrolling through a news feed that tries to put only headlines that you will want to read is not only cool, but is a timesaver as well. And that really is a major theme of iOS 9: Many of its changes are subtle, shaving seconds or milliseconds off each use of the phone. That may not sound like a lot. But over the weeks and months, those small chunks of time add up. Plus, you get the feeling that everything is just a bit more at your fingertips than it was before. When looking at a new piece of software, I try to ask one question: How does this make my life easier in everyday circumstances? Having used the beta versions of iOS 9 for several weeks, I can think of three features that have made my life better. — Washington Post-Bloomberg News

Google’s driverless car rattles auto industry

Twitter’s audience claimed

to be bigger than Facebook

Oracle’s revenue falls to $8.45b

Twitter has been slammed by investors since its initial public offering for slowing user growth. On Wednesday, Chief Financial Officer Anthony Noto tried a new defence: Comparing Twitter to the world’s largest social network.

In fact, Twitter’s audience may top Facebook’s 1.49 billion us-ers, “depending how you look at it,” Noto said at a Deutsche Bank technology conference. His comments marked a change from earlier remarks. In July, for example, Noto told investors that the social media company’s growth wouldn’t dramatically im-prove until it reaches a mass market. In the second quarter, Twit-ter’s monthly active users for its main application increased by just two million from the prior quarter, to 304 million. Noto on Wednesday said Twitter has a much bigger audience if you con-sider those who view tweets without logging into Twitter, or who get to tweets through Web search engines or see the 140-charac-ter postings on news sites and on television. The company has explained before how to think about its larger audience, but this is the first time an executive has directly compared Twitter to Facebook. “They only have that 1.4 billion to report — there’s no other number,” Noto said, referring to the fact that Facebook us-ers access the service mostly through its application and website — postings don’t usually appear elsewhere. — Bloomberg News

Before Google intro-duced the prototype of its autonomous car — aka the “self-driving toaster” — to the public

last year, the search-engine giant made the rounds of the major au-tomakers to explain the concept. At least, one of the automakers was sufficiently impressed to ex-press interest in collaborating, but was astounded to find that Google had no commercialisation plans of any kind for its potentially game-changing technology.

Ever since, the auto industry has treated Google’s vehicle like an un-comfortable joke: though a source of real anxiety, the self-driving car seemed just unserious enough to laugh off. Now, however, the nervous laughter may turn to real fear.

Strongest sign yetOn Monday, Google has announced the hire of one of the most respected executives in the US auto industry: John Krafcik, the former chief ex-ecutive officer of Hyundai Motor America and president of the auto-pricing Web site TrueCar. With the auto world’s eyes transfixed on the glitzy-yet-conservative new prod-ucts being unveiled this week at the Frankfurt Auto Show, Google is sending the strongest sign yet that the real action in the industry is in-creasingly found in Silicon Valley.

The industry journal of re-cord, Automotive News, is calling Krafcik’s hire “the clearest sign yet of Google’s broad commercial as-pirations for the project.” Krafcik has deep experience in nearly every aspect of the auto industry, having studied lean manufacturing at MIT, worked in production engineer-ing at the Toyota-GM joint Nummi plant in California, worked as a product planner at Ford, led Hyun-

dai America’s leap from budget brand to mainstream player, and fo-cused on auto retail at TrueCar.

Between Krafcik, former Ford and Boeing CEO Alan Mulally (now a Google board member) and ex-GM research and development boss Lawrence Burns (now a Google Auto consultant), Google Auto is building a Dream Team to take on the century-old industry. Just as important, Krafcik, who drives a classic Lotus-designed Caterham Seven, brings some much-needed “car-guy” credibility to Google’s programme. This may help bring to bring the enthusiast-dominated auto media around on a project that — gasp! — seeks to create a perma-nent alternative to driving.

Meanwhile, Google seems dead-ly serious about doing exactly that, telling the California Public Utili-ties Commission that its vehicles will have no human controls be-yond a “go button,” a “please slow down and stop” button and a “stop pretty quickly” button. According to Sarah Hunter, head of policy at the GoogleX innovation lab, “the intention is that the passenger gets in the vehicle, says into micro-

phone, take me to Safeway, and the car does the entire journey.”

Removing driver inputBy removing driver input almost entirely, Google is enabled to re-imagine the car from the ground-up, potentially yielding a final product that is dramatically lighter, more ef-ficient and yet safer than anything on the road today.

And with traffic deaths ticking upward for the first time in decades, likely due to increasing driver dis-traction, Google’s goal cutting the more than 30,000 vehicle-related fatalities each year gives it a sense of social mission that could put the auto industry back on its heels.

As Google’s threat becomes more credible, the traditional carmak-ers are circling the wagons: Last week, 10 automakers announced a voluntary commitment to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety to in-stall automatic-braking systems as standard equipment in new cars. The manufacturers’ hope is that by offering some of Google’s promised life-saving advantages with this in-

cremental improvement, they can create a kind of Counter- Reforma-tion that keeps buyers firmly in the driver’s seat for years to come.

Google’s announcementsThough details for this innovation are as sketchy as most of Google’s announcements, it shows that the auto industry is as serious about de-fending its evolutionary approach to the future of the car as Google is about creating a revolution. And whereas the auto industry’s incre-mental, additive approach to lay-ering new technology on top of the established automotive paradigm puts history on its side, that con-servative strategy gives them no chance to achieve the potentially disruptive advantages of Google’s blue-sky vision. For example, while consumers will probably welcome automatic braking, early insurance data shows that the technology of-fers only a 15 per cent reduction in crash- related claims.

With Krafcik’s hire, the indus-try can no longer afford to laugh off Google Auto as a mere science project. Though Google says its car programme is not yet ready to be-come a standalone division under its new Alphabet rubric, it’s now considering making private sales of its eventual car as well as operat-ing them as a fleet for the sharing economy, potentially an even more direct threat to the traditional mak-ers than previously anticipated. And if Google does manufacture and sell its “cars,” it may well be in partner-ship with the giant auto supplier firms who control an increasing amount of the auto industry’s value chain. Most terrifying of all, newly-granted patents show that Google is working on systems that allow an onboard computer to take control of a human-driven car, potentially put-ting the firm in direct competition with automakers even as it works to convince drivers to forgo a steering wheel entirely.

Unable to co-opt Google’s technol-ogy, and with their supply chain and talent pool under assault, the estab-lished automakers’ only response is to rush some semi-autonomous technology to market. If that fails to win buyers, then there’s nothing left to do but hope that consumer prefer-ence for a traditional car experience wins the day. With Krafcik, Mulally and Burns behind the wheel at Goog-le Auto, the threat from Silicon Val-ley has never been more real.

— EDWARD NIEDERMEYER/Bloomberg News

With John Krafcik, the

former chief executive

officer of Hyundai

Motor America, former

Ford and Boeing CEO

Alan Mulally (now a

Google board member)

and ex-GM research

and development

boss Lawrence Burns

(now a Google Auto

consultant), Google

Auto is building a

‘Dream Team’ to

take on the century-

old industry

Oracle’s fiscal first-quarter revenue fell short of analysts’ projections, crimped by a slowdown in software licence sales amid a shift to Web-de-livered cloud products. Rev-enue in the period that ended August 31 fell 1.7 per cent to $8.45 billion, and profit before certain costs was 53 cents a share, the Redwood City, California-based company said on Wednesday in a statement. Analysts on average had forecast sales of $8.53 billion and profit of 52 cents, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Oracle is trying to nav-igate the transition to computing as a service over the Internet. While this move to the cloud has provided the company with op-portunities to break into new markets, the shift has hurt its tra-ditional business of selling licenses for software installed on cor-porate systems. Growth has also been hurt by the strength of the dollar, which has devalued revenue outside the US International sales make up more than half of Oracle’s business. Had currency rates been constant, total revenue would have risen seven per cent in the quarter, Oracle said. “If licences are going down and people are feeling that it’s not being made up for by billings on the cloud side, they’ll view that as maybe Oracle is growing in the cloud but other cloud providers are growing at Oracle’s licence expense,” said Kevin Buttigieg, an analyst at MKM Partners, who has a neutral rating on the stock. Net income in the first quarter declined to $1.75 billion, or 40 cents a share, from $2.18 billion, or 48 cents, a year earlier. — Bloomberg News

SLOW DOWNENJOY THE RIDE

MAKING A POINT: John Krafcik, the former chief executive officer of

Hyundai Motor America and president of the auto-pricing Web site

TrueCar. — Bloomberg file picture

B6 M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

ROUND-UPTurkish fashion brand LC Waikiki arrives in Oman

MUSCAT: Turkey’s leading fash-ion chain LC Waikiki has opened its first store in Oman.

The retail chain, specialising in clothes and accessories for men, women and children of all ages, has opened its doors at Oman Av-enues Mall in partnership with the Dubai based retail conglomerate Apparel Group.

Originating from France in 1985 and fostered in Turkey, LC Waikiki is a Turkish multi-cultural fashion brand that has a modern approach to retailing with a global appeal. LC Waikiki adopts the philosophy, ‘Everyone deserves to dress well’, thus offering a dynamic range of accessible yet stylish clothing to suit different styles and tastes, al-lowing its customers enjoy the advantages of affordable fashion, says a press release.

“As LC Waikiki, we are proud to enter the Oman market, with

Apparel Group. LC Waikiki, a leading fashion brand of Turkey; is becoming much more interna-tional by adding new countries to its operations. Currently we are operating in 25 countries with very promising results. Entering Oman market is another mile-stone for us,” said, Mahir Bozkurt, international retail operations di-rector of LC Waikiki.

LC Waikiki’s growing distribu-tion and market coverage is ac-companied by a distinctive strate-gy – to provide high quality clothes at great value. The brand places great emphasis on customer sat-isfaction and strives to serve each of their customer segments with unparalleled levels of service.

LC Waikiki has been recently presented with two important awards at the Retail Brilliance Awards which was held as part of the Emerging Markets Retail Sum-

mit 2014. It also won the first place in the ‘Emerging Markets Retailer of the Year’ category and second place in the ‘People’s Choice’ cat-egory - decided by means of online voting across the world.

LC Waikiki opened its first international store in 2009 in Romania, and since then has ex-panded rapidly across the globe. The brand has stores located in Albania, Azerbaijan, UAE, Bela-rus, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Armenia, Morocco, Georgia, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ko-sovo, Macedonia, Egypt, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Russia, Syria, Oman and Ukraine. In addition, LC Wai-kiki plans on expanding and estab-lishing its presence in Kenya, Tu-nisia, India, Indonesia and Algeria by the end of 2015, with an aim of reaching more than 200 interna-tional stores.

Originating from

France in 1985 and

fostered in Turkey, LC

Waikiki is a Turkish

multi-cultural fashion

brand that has a

modern approach to

retailing with a global

appeal. The brand

provides high quality

clothes at great value

VLCC delights its customers with special Eid offersMUSCAT: On the occasion of Eid Al Adha, VLCC, the leading slim-ming, beauty and fitness brand in the Middle East, has introduced some special offers to celebrate this special occasion, affirming its commitment to provide the best services to customers with the aim of ‘transforming lives’, fo-cusing the vital role it plays with spreading happiness and equip every individual with wellness for life, says a press release.

‘‘I would like to present my warmest greetings and blessings on the occasion of Eid Al Adha. We at VLCC enjoy the trust and faith of millions of satisfied cus-tomers worldwide, we are offer-ing these special offers to cel-ebrate this special occasion. Our centres will be fully operational during the Eid holidays to pro-vide highest level of services,” said Vandana Luthra, founder of VLCC Group.

By redefining wellness, VLCC has revolutionised the wellness industry to acquire the status of being the number one wellness brand across South Asia, South East Asia and the Middle East, with a presence in over 300 lo-cations across 121 cities and 16 countries with direct company managed operations in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Ma-

laysia, Singapore, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait.

As a pioneer in the indus-try, VLCC has created indus-try benchmarks globally by amalgamating its conviction in healthy weight-loss solutions into practice and passionately driving thousands of people eve-ry year to develop a firm approach to weight-loss and fitness.

F I T N E S S B R A N D

Our centres will be fully operational during the Eid holidays to provide highest level of services

Vandana LuthraFounder of VLCC Group

Mars relaunches 2nd outlet in SalalahMUSCAT: Mars International reopened its much awaited outlet in Salalah recently. V. T. Vinod, managing director, Naveej Vinod, executive director, Unnikrishna Pillai, general manager, Saif Al Malki, GM (Administration) and other senior management staff of Mars group were present during the event. It is the second outlet of Mars in Salalah, conveniently located at 23rd July street Salalah, says a press release.

“It’s all new, refreshing and soothing. We have changed eve-rything to give our customers an entirely new shopping experience. While redesigning the outlet, we focused more on contemporary interiors and a layout focused on convenience,” said Vinod, while relaunching the outlet.

The ample space ensures an uncluttered, fast and hassle free shopping environment. The outlet will be a complete shopping desti-nation that will cater to the grow-ing consumer demands.

Keeping up with the conveni-ence and standards of Mars out-lets across the Sultanate, the new

hypermarket will feature the wid-est choice of renowned brands at the fairest prices. Mars’ winning formula of value for money quality shopping will be a matter of delight for the residents of Salalah who will cherish the pleasurable shop-ping experience and the economy it offers.

Mars announced a captivat-ing offer exclusively for Salalah; it enables the customers to win three Chery Tiggo 3, five 40” LED TVs, 10 Tabs and more. The offers are valid for both outlets in Salalah till December 15.

Mars has become a name that has changed lives everywhere for

the better ever since its inception. The popularity of Mars has in-fused new activity into the locali-ties, changing the whole topogra-phy around it. With more than 24 year’s presence in the Sultanate, Mars has firmly established itself as a preferred retail destination for both locals and expats.

N E W L O O K

Al Saleh Enterprises

awarded ISO 9001

MUSCAT: Al Saleh Enterprises has been awarded the prestig-ious ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System Certifica-tion by Bureau Veritas during a glittering function attended by company officials and promi-nent businessmen at Al Bhaja Hall, Qurum Park.

The certificate was awarded by John Rosario, certification man-ager, Bureau Veritas, Oman, to Al Saleh Enterprises’ top manage-ment, says a press release.

Established in 1974, it is the flagship company of the Al Saleh Group, a well established and re-puted trading house in the Sul-tanate of Oman and Middle East. It has been providing end to end, customised electrical, safety and electrical appliance solutions to clients for over four decades.

Al Saleh, over a period of time, has lit up many prestigious in-stitutions, mosques, villas and commercial and residential com-plexes all across Oman. The or-ganisation has its own presence over Oman with strategically located showrooms in Muscat, Sohar, Bidiya, Ibri, Salalah and are adding more to the list plus a dealer base throughout Oman. The group is primarily involved in the business of the following segments:

-cessories (LEDs & Conventional)

– Air circulation systems

MCBs, Wires and Cables) etcAl Saleh Enterprises shares a

very close relationship with all its stakeholders and values them equally. With customer satisfac-tion as primary aim, the company believes in delivering consistent and quality services. Profession-ally trained staff is well versed and trained within the diverse product range.

Mohammad Al Lawati, Group CEO, congratulated the entire team for this accomplishment and reiterated the company’s mission - ‘To remain on top as a vital and progressive company by providing quality products/solutions, customer satisfac-tion and strive for continual im-provement’.

Technological solutionsJohan Benzuidenhout, group general manager, stated: “Al Saleh does ensure product, com-ponents and brands are chosen with utmost care and we deal with the best in the industry across the world. Our projects are executed meticulously by highly skilled and competent profes-sionals through application of latest and advanced technologi-cal solutions.”

“On this occasion I would like to congratulate and thank Amjid Ali, (quality management rep-resentative), Salima Al Balushi (assistant quality management representative), all the process heads, internal auditors and other staff for the key role played towards establishing and imple-menting the system.”

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

2016 Toyota Camry is now even betterMUSCAT: The athletic, luxuri-ous and intelligent 2016 Camry is packed with a host of exciting features giving its owners a lot to cheer about!

Its aggressive front grille and bumper makes it stand apart from the crowd. Its new headlamps and elegant daytime running lights exude style like never before. The rear is equally impressive, with new combination lamps and bumper giving it a more sporty appearance. The stylish new de-sign 17” alloy wheels on the new Camry further accentuate the dis-tinctive looks.

Camry fans are now delighted by the news that, from September 13 upto November 12, the 2016YM & 2015YM Camry of 2015 Produc-tion is available with Festival of Joy benefits that includes a service package of three years / 30,000km (whichever is earlier) covering three services at 10,000km service interval for petrol models based on normal operating conditions, says a press release.

Also available is comprehensive one year insurance (Oman only) that would be given to the extent applicable for private vehicles. In addition to the above customers also get registration for the first year. These benefits are applica-ble for all purchases except gov-ernment organisations and min-istries. Conditions apply. Please visit nearest Toyota showroom for further details.

Indeed, those who love the Cam-ry will definitely feel exhilarated by the Festival of Joy offer that makes their favourite Toyota even more rewarding to own.

The new Camry looks good and feels even better. Its elegant in-terior is adorned with new black wood grain finish. The newly de-signed steering wheel is equipped with audio and Bluetooth controls. There is a sophisticated new auto light control system and now even the base grade comes equipped with cruise control.

Depending on the model grade, the Camry offers a new 7” SD card type navigation system. The premium materials build into an overall richer, roomier feel. The high-quality upholstery is me-ticulously crafted, enhancing the Camry’s upmarket appeal. The centre stack shows off a hi-tech, upscale look that more smoothly integrates with the console. The centre console plays a larger role

than ever in modern cars, accom-modating all manner of personal items as well as presenting multi-media functions. The Camry’s console tray offers more storage and a convenient power source in the storage box.

The new Camry has a rigid body structure, enhanced aerodynam-ics and offers the quietest ride ever. The upscale interior, and ad-vanced instrumentation with in-tuitive controls help keep the driv-er safely focused on the road. This may be the best-handling and most comfortable-riding Camry ever. Beneath the bolder body lines the Camry’s body structure has been bolstered with additional spot welds to enhance rigidity. Refined suspension systems in all models put an edge on handling agility while taking the edge off bumps.

In the areas of performance and safety, the Camry delivers out-standing power coupled with su-perb efficiency. The key attributes

include a 2.5L Dual VVT-i Engine delivering 181HP and 6-speed multi-mode transmission.

Safety enhancements in the Camry include vehicle stabil-ity control, traction control, ABS, EBD, engine immobiliser, braking assist system, back view monitor with rear parking sensors, which facilitates easy parking and air-bags that include the front side and curtain airbags.

The other thoughtful features include an ECO meter for fuel effi-cient, economic driving and aero-dynamic fins to ensure straight-line stability while driving.

According to a renowned auto-motive blogger, the appeal of the Camry is in its quality, “The Camry builds on the rational values of ‘Quality, Durability and Reliabil-ity’ with strong model appeal, su-perior interior and exterior quality and the top level of equipment and safety.” Those who have experi-enced the Camry may not be sur-prised to know that it is one of the top-selling cars across the globe for more than a decade.

The new 2016 Camry is on dis-play at Toyota showroom. Cus-tomers are welcome to visit the showrooms to get a first-hand feel.

All specifications listed above are standard Toyota equipment. Safety kit (fire extinguisher, warn-ing triangle, tyre pressure gauge & first aid kit) is a dealer installed non Toyota item provided on Toy-ota models as standard equipment.

F E S T I V A L O F J O Y P R O M O T I O N

B7M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

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RECRUIT

QUOTES

If you wish success in life, make perseverance your

bosom friend, experience your wise counsellor, caution

your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius.

— Jospeph Addison

The man who makes a success of an important venture

never wails for the crowd. He strikes out for himself. It

takes nerve, it takes a great lot of grit; but the man that

succeeds has both. Anyone can fail. The public admires

the man who has enough confidence in himself to take a

chance. These chances are the main things after all. The

man who tries to succeed must expect to be criticised.

Nothing important was ever done but the greater

number consulted previously doubted the possibility.

Success is the accomplishment of that which most

people think can’t be done. — C. V. White

Malabar Gold opens 135th outlet

SOHAR: Malabar Gold & Dia-monds, the leading jewellery re-tailer, opened its 135th outlet in Sohar, Oman.

Prominent Indian film actress Kajal Aggarwal inaugurated this showroom recently in the pres-ence of Khamis Al Mandhri, act-

ing chief of West Asian Depart-ment, Oman; Shamlal Ahamed M. P., managing director- Interna-tional Operations; Abdul Salam K. P., group executive director; Najeeb K., regional head; other directors; personalities from me-dia and well wishers, says a press release.

Conveniently located in Lulu Hypermarket, Sohar this new showroom will take the total num-ber of Malabar Gold & Diamonds showrooms in Oman to 8. The com-pany is also planning to launch two more stores in the coming months in the Sultanate at Seeb and Ruwi. Apart from the new showroom, the jewellery group already operates in Sohar at Al Hamber Street and this showroom was opened owing to the consistent increase in the number of customers, especially family customers.

The customers will surely be delighted to have another Malabar Gold & Diamonds outlet in this lo-

cality, which will offer them more comfort and convenience.

This new showroom will show-case meticulously crafted unique collection of classic, contempo-rary and stylish designs in gold, diamonds and precious gems to suit the specific budget of every customer. The astounding crea-tion of Malabar Gold & Diamonds’ branded jewellery segment; Ethnix — handcrafted designer jewellery; Era — uncut diamond jewellery; Mine — diamonds unlimited; Di-vine — Indian heritage jewellery; Precia — precious gem jewellery and Starlet — kids jewellery, will also be available in the showroom.

Inaugural offersTo celebrate this occasion, the group introduced fabulous inau-gural offers for its customers.

With every purchase of dia-mond jewellery worth OMR500, the customers will get a 1g gold coin absolutely free and the cus-

tomers can also avail a free gold coin with every purchase of gold jewellery worth OMR300. These offers are valid at its outlet in So-har until September 26.

A huge gathering of over 20,000 residents of Sohar thronged the venue to witness the inauguration and to see their favourite celebrity. Malabar Gold & Diamonds part-nered with Majan Events, Oman and security consultants Gentur Security to ensure the event was well organised and comfortable and convenient event for the spec-tators and the celebrity.

Unique jewelleryOne of the most important fac-tors driving the group’s success are innovation in their strategies, designs, promotions and the trust Malabar Gold & Diamonds evokes. With a rich mix of traditional and trendy jewellery in gold, diamond and platinum, Malabar Gold & Dia-monds is one of the most preferred

destinations for unique jewellery. The combination of purest jewel-lery and cutting edge designs com-bining unmatched grace and style makes their jewellery exclusive.

The leap from a single store to 135 outlets globally did not happen overnight. It was achieved through consistent effort and an insist-ence on setting exceptionally high standards to meet the aspiration of customers over a period of 22 years. Their dedicated and highly skilled employees invest heart and soul in striving to achieve maxi-mum perfection. Absolute cus-tomer satisfaction is the overrid-ing promise in everything they do.

Ornaments have never been so easier to buy, sell and exchange as it is in Malabar Gold & Diamonds and with their customer friendly policies, they give their customers enough reasons to come back to their stores. The jewellery group also gives their customers the ad-vantage of using their 0% Easy

Payment Plan with selected banks through which they can pay the total amount in 3 to 6 instalments without any interest. Customers can also enrol to the unique ‘Gold Purchase Scheme’ from the new store as well. It gives customers a unique opportunity to save gold every month equivalent to equal monthly instalments for a maxi-mum period of 24 months.

The group is in the forefront when it comes to CSR activities as well. The group sets apart a fixed percentage of its net profit to the benefit of needy and the charity projects of Malabar Gold & Dia-monds have touched the lives of thousands of people across the world. They focus primarily in five priority areas such as health, edu-cation, environment, housing and women empowerment.

In Oman, Malabar Gold & Dia-monds operates showrooms at Darsait, Baushar, Ruwi, Salalah and Sohar.

Prominent Indian

film actress

Kajal Aggarwal

inaugurated the

group’s 135th

showroom at Lulu

Hypermarket, Sohar

B8

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Lulu opens its new store in Sinaw

MUSCAT: The leading hypermar-ket chain Lulu opened its 118th outlet in Sinaw yesterday building on its stated policy to reach out to the wilayats of the Sultanate and to provide a world class shopping

experience closer to its customers. The new store was officially

inaugurated by Sheikh Yahya bin Hamoud Hamed Al Maamari, Gov-ernor of Al Sharqiyah North in the presence of M. A. Yusuff Ali, man-

aging director, Lulu Group, Ashraf Ali, executive director, Saifee Ru-pawala, CEO, Ananth A. V., region-al director Oman and other senior dignitaries, says a press release.

Spread over an area of 125,000 square feet, the new store is spe-cially designed to offer the resi-dents of Sinaw a world class shop-ping experience like never before at fair prices and friendly service. The hypermarket will provide the widest range of quality and value-for-money products all under one roof. It will have separate sections for fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and poultry, dairy products, ready-to-eat products and a live bakery. It also offers a huge area dedicated to electronics, IT prod-ucts, home appliances, sports,

furnishing and furniture, daily needs, personal care, kitchenware, crockery, kids toys, apparel and stationery, and health and beauty products. The outlet which is the 15th one in Oman also has the wide choice of world-class fash-ion brands and products for ladies, gents and kids.

The systematically arranged sec-tions promise the customers an easy and hassle-free shopping experi-ence. Extra-wide aisles, extensively laid out counters and ample parking space are some of the distinguishing features of this new store.

Commenting on the Sinaw out-let, Yusuff Ali said: “With more than a decade of success and ac-complishment in Oman, Lulu is now pleased to embark on a new

journey to reach customers in the interior areas of the Sultanate. The opening of the new store is indeed a moment of great pride and joy. We plan to open more Lulu stores in the interior regions in the com-ing months as we believe that every customer should be able to enjoy a world-class shopping experience, no matter where they are.”

“The hypermarket will also offer a window of opportunity to local community. Lulu group has always been firm in its commitment to en-courage the locally available talent and empower local communities from wherever we operate. We be-lieve that having a strong national workforce is vital to our long-term success as it helps in creating sus-tainable community living. We do

have an ambitious plan to absorb enterprising youngsters and gen-erate more job opportunities for them in the future,” he added.

Lulu’s winning formula of value-for-money quality shopping has been very well received by con-sumers all over the world. An in-novator in the retail industry with an impressive presence across the region and an ever expanding foot-print, Lulu has always remained a genuine symbol of quality retailing. Today, Lulu is immensely popular among its discerning shoppers as a one-stop shop for all their needs, true to its tagline “Lulu, where the world comes to shop”. The innu-merable shoppers who patronise Lulu daily are the true testament to the popularity of its brand.

Spread over an area of 125,000 square

feet, the new store is specially designed to

offer the residents of Sinaw a world class

shopping experience like never before at fair

prices and friendly service

Bank Sohar sponsors ICV conferenceMUSCAT: In the continuous support for the Sultanate’s vi-sion of economic diversification, Bank Sohar participated as the gold sponsor at the recently held ‘In-Country Value Conference 2015’ held under the auspices of Dr Fuad bin Jaffer Al Sajwani, minister of agriculture and fish-eries wealth, and organised by Business Process Outsourcing Services LLC in association with the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI).

The In Country Value Confer-ence (ICV) conference was held on the OCCI premises and was attended by approximately 150 guests including ministry of-ficials and prominent business leaders from around the country, says a press release.

Representing Bank Sohar at the event was Mohammed Ta-hir Al Lawatia, AGM and head of Mid Sector Corporate, Talal Ali Al Zadjali, Sr. chief manager – Micro and Small Enterprises, and Viney Goel – chief manager SME.

Commenting on the bank’s sup-port and sponsorship of the event,

Sasi Kumar, DGM and head of Strategy and Corporate Business Division, said: “Maintaining In Country Value (ICV) is vital to the growth of a sustainable econ-omy, especially so in a country like Oman where there is a need to di-versify sources of incomes and re-duce dependency on oil and gas. By retaining spends within the coun-try, we can help stimulate produc-tivity and foster further business and human capability develop-ment — all aspects that Bank Sohar has been a vehement supporter of since its very inception. Our com-mitment towards furthering such causes is clearly evident, not just through our products and services,

but also through our active partici-pations in forums and events such as this one.”

With the primary aim of raising awareness about ICV and to mo-tivate companies to participate in initiatives that promote it, the event commenced with a key note address by Fuad Al Sajwani and was followed by five interactive sessions conducted by two local and two international speakers.

The event also included an in-depth panel discussion and presentations on the concept of ICVs, which comprised human resources, products and services and support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

G O L D S P O N S O R

MGM to conduct Haj educational eventMUSCAT: With Eid Al Adha just around the corner and the Haj sea-son ongoing, Muscat Grand Mall (MGM) is organising a special re-ligious-educational event for stu-dents in the Sultanate within its premises. Running until the third day of Eid, the virtual event will take place in the main atrium.

The Haj is the annual pilgrimage undertaken by Muslims across the

world, as they congregate in Mec-ca. As a small initiative to inform children about the practices of the Haj, MGM will recreate this holy journey in a virtual manner, says a press release.

The rituals at the event will be created using carefully decorated cardboard props and children will be taught about the Islamic observances. Muscat Grand Mall

will provide Haj garments to the participants and activities will in-clude taking turns around a repre-sentation of the Kaaba, participat-ing in the Sa’ai and reciting verses among other initiatives.

The students will learn more about Haj by going through the stages as well as understand the stories and significance of each custom.

A W A R E N E S S P L A N

118TH OUTLET: Sheikh Yahya bin Hamoud Hamed Al Maamari, Governor of Al Sharqiyah North, inaugurating the Lulu Hypermarket in Sinaw, along with Yusuff Ali, managing director. – Jun Estrada/TIMES OF OMAN

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WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

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SECTIONC M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

VETTEL TRIUMPHS AS HAMILTON RETIRESFerrari’s Sebastian Vettel won an incident-packed Singapore Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday after world champion Lewis Hamilton retired early for the first time this season. >C6

INSIDE LIFESTYLE

GO, HAVE A SAFE RIDE >C11

INSIDE LIFESTYLE

>C11

KOLKATA: Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Jagmohan Dalmiya, who was admitted to hospital few days back after he com-plained of chest pain, passed away at a city hospital this evening following a massive cardiac arrest.

The 75-year-old Dalmiya was admitted to the city’s BM Birla Hospital on Thursday night af-ter which he also underwent a coronary angiography.

“Mr. Dalmiya died of internal gastrointestinal bleeding and internal organ failure,” hospi-tal sources said confirming the veteran administrator’s death.

Cricket Association of Ben-gal sources added: “At 6 p.m. in the evening his condition dete-riorated and shortly afterwards he suffered a massive cardiac arrest from which he could not recover.” Dalmiya has not been keeping well for a while now and was not actively taking part in the day-to-day functioning of the BCCI.

Dalmiya took over the reins of the BCCI for a second time in March, after a gap of 10 years, when he got a walkover in the elections. But he has been ailing since then, and his health has deteriorated further over the last few weeks.

According to sources, BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur and IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla will reach here on Monday. - PTI

C A R D I A C A R R E S T

Jagmohan Dalmiya

Oman down Nepal to qualify for AFC U-16 Championship

BISHKEK: Oman qualified for the AFC U-16 Championship cour-tesy of a 3-1 victory over a Nepal side that needed only a draw from Sunday’s encounter to top Group B ahead of the Sultanate.

An 11th minute strike from Thamir Al Zaabi supplemented by Mohamed Khalifa Al Khamisi’s penalty with a minute of the first half remaining saw Oman put one foot in next year’s finals knowing that a win would see them join Nepal on six points and book their ticket to India on account of a bet-ter head-to-head record.

An 88th minute penalty from substitute Prezen Tamang -- who had replaced Rejin Subba, Nepal’s

hero in their 2-1 win over Jordan, just seven minutes earlier -- gave the South Asians a glimmer of hope but that was snuffed out two minutes second-half stop-page when fellow substitute Mo-hammed Obais Al Qaidi restored Oman’s two-goal advantage.

The win saw Oman qualify for the AFC U-16 Championship while Nepal had to settle for second place and hope that their record from their three matches in Bishkek will be good enough to see them join the Omanis in India as one of the four best second-placed teams.

The attendances for Kyrgyzstan’s matches have been impressive and the Group B hosts finally gave their fans something to cheer as the home side ended their campaign with a 4-1 win over Jordan.

The 7,400 fans that had turned up at the Dolen Omurzakov Sta-dium hoping for the young Kyr-gyz to end on a high saw Gulzhigit Alykulov open the scoring after 11 minutes before Emir Shigaibaev put the home side 2-0 up in the 33rd minute.

Jordan reduced the deficit shortly after the restart when

substitute Laith Husam Mo-hammad Hbowal scored a 48th minute penalty having replaced Hamza Nayef Al Mrdi at the start of the second half.

But with Jordan reduced to ten men following the sending off of defender Mohammad Akram, Kyr-gyzstan regained the initiative and after captain Maksat Dzhakybaliev made it 3-1 in the 72nd minute Timur Uulu Orzobek capped the win four minutes into second-half stoppage time as the Central Asians finished third ahead of the Jordanians.

Saudis book berthIn Dhaka, Saudi Arabia stormed to a 6-2 victory over the UAE at a rain-soaked Bangabandhu Na-tional Stadium to qualify as Group D winners.

In Tabriz, Iran sealed their place when a convincing 6-0 hammer-ing of Bahrain saw them finish top of Group E with a 100 percent record, with India defeated Leba-non by an identical scoreline to finish second.

In Vientiane, Malaysia came from behind to draw 1-1 with Laos to book their berth by topping a closely contested Group G.

In the day’s earlier game, the Philippines ensured they exited the qualifiers on a high thanks to a commanding 9-2 win over North-ern Mariana Islands. In Yanji, Ko-rea Republic scored twice in each half to defeat China 4-0 and seal their place as Group I winners.

In Hanoi, Australia qualified for the championship when a 1-0 win over Vietnam helped the Joeys claim top spot in Group J.

In Ulaanbaatar, Japan scored five times in the last 20 minutes to defeat Hong Kong 7-0 in their final qualifier and book their place as winners of three-team Group K.

Eleven group winners and four best second-placed teams will join India in next year’s finals, with the tournament hosts receiving an automatic qualification. Should India finish top of their qualify-ing group or among the four best second-placed teams, the fifth best second-placed nation will qualify for the final competition. - AFC

While the 3-1 win

saw Oman qualify

for the AFC U-16

Championship,

Nepal had to settle

for second place and

hope that their record

will be good enough

to see them join the

Omanis in India

INDIA BOUND: Oman under-16 team pose for a group photo.

All Blacks forced to dig deep to fend off PumasLONDON: Rattled holders New Zealand were forced to dig deep before subduing a fired-up Argen-tina 26-16 in a terrific Pool C open-ing match in front of an all-time

record Rugby World Cup crowd at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.

All Blacks trailed until the 56th minute, before tries by scrumhalf Aaron Smith and replacement

forward Sam Cane restored order. But it was far from plain-sailing against the Pumas who showed intensity to lead 13-12 at halftime thanks to Guido Petti’s try as the

All Blacks made repeated errors, being reduced to 13 men late in the first half after Richie McCaw and Conrad Smith were sin-binned.

An 89,019 crowd at Wembley

was the biggest to watch a Rugby World Cup match, eclipsing the 82,957 who watched England beat Australia in the 2003 final in Syd-ney’s Olympic Stadium. - Reuters

R U G B Y W O R L D C U P

India cricket chief Dalmiya passes away

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SPORTSM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

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Japan’s stunning win lifts a nation

TOKYO: Japan ended 24 years of hurt by inflicting the biggest shock in Rugby World Cup his-tory on South Africa — a huge lift to national spirits that should also quash fears of losing hosting rights to the troubled 2019 tournament.

As bleary-eyed fans awoke with hangovers across Japan, the signifi-cance of the seismic last-gasp 34-32 triumph over the Springboks in the early hours of Sunday morning lo-cal time — only their second win at a World Cup after beating Zimbabwe in 1991 — was already being felt.

“History!” screamed Japanese media almost universally, while the Nikkan Sports daily noted that Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowl-ing had tweeted that not even she could have conjured up such a magical plot twist.

“Underdog refuses to take the draw, plays for the win, gets it in the final min... maybe in Quidditch,

but real life?” the author tweeted, referring to the wizarding game of her books. The Sankei Sports splashed Japan’s victory across the back page of Sunday’s evening edition, the game having finished around 3.00 a.m. local time.

“Japan shock the world!” blazed its headline, over a photo of cap-tain Michael Leitch crashing over for a try. “Japan snatch historic win over World Cup hopefuls South Africa.”

The recent decision by the cost-cutting Japanese government to scrap plans for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic stadium had left rugby

officials scrambling to find a new venue for the final and raised con-cerns over the country’s ability to stage the event.

South Africa had even hinted they would be prepared to step in as replacement hosts, an offer al-most certainly killed off by Karne Hesketh’s injury-time match-win-ning try for the “Brave Blossoms” in the Pool B opener.

Meanwhile 6,000 miles away, before dawn had broken, staff in one corner of Tokyo sheepishly began clearing up after a barbecue party on the lawn of the South Af-rican embassy fell flat.

Japan coach Eddie Jones, who compared Saturday’s Pool B clash with the Springboks to David and Goliath, said: “I had to look at the scoreboard at the end just to see if it was true or not.”

His Brave Blossoms were not given a prayer with Japan’s only previous entry into the World Cup notoriety having been for the re-cord defeat — crushed 145-17 by New Zealand in 1995.

Brave decision Japanese fans wept with joy after their team’s refusal to take three points and a draw with a kickable

penalty as time expired in order to go for the winning try, a decision former England coach Clive Wood-ward described as “the biggest in the history of the World Cup”.

Jones, whose Australia side were beaten by Woodward’s Eng-land in the 2003 World Cup final, predicted Japanese schoolchil-dren who might normally dream of playing baseball or football, could turn to rugby after seeing their he-roes stun mighty South Africa.

“There are kids at home who will want to play rugby at the next World Cup now,” said Jones, who has targeted a place in the World

Cup quarterfinals. “Kids who wanted to be the next (Masahiro) Tanaka at the New York Yankees or (Keisuke) Honda at AC Milan will now want to be Michael Leitch or Ayumu Goromaru.”

The memory of that monumen-tal defeat by New Zealand in 1995 had stalked Japan at every World Cup, until now. Around 200 guests sipping champagne at the South African embassy in Tokyo were left stunned as Japan exorcised their demons in spectacular fashion.

“The Japanese went nuts when they scored the winner,” said jour-nalist Jon Day, who attended the function. “There were lots of tears, and talk of how Eddie (Jones) is a genius.”

Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masu-zoe, an outspoken critic of the Olympic stadium fiasco, tweeted: “I’m overjoyed. I would like to do everything possible to make the 2019 World Cup a success.”

Eddie Jones: ‘stud!’ “Oh my God!” yelled 21-year-old student Kaori Ishibashi after watching a repeat of the match at a Tokyo bar on Sunday morning. “Goromaru is a stud! Eddie Jones is a stud!”

As social media lit up, several memes twisted the knife into South Africa, including one de-picting a springbok caught in a gi-ant pair of chopsticks.

“I ignored all my texts and didn’t know the result until watching the game on repeat,” Masaru Ikenoya said. “I bet Japan have stunned the world. It’s like the tiniest sumo wrestler knocking over a giant yokozuna — totally amazing!”

South African expats were shell-shocked. “I can’t believe we lost to Japan!” said Jim Bekker, a 26-year-old traveller looking the worse for wear. “But fair play to them, they deserved it.” - AFP

As bleary-eyed

fans awoke

with hangovers

across Japan, the

significance of the

seismic last-gasp

34-32 triumph over

the Springboks in the

early hours of Sunday

morning local time

was already being felt

BRIGHTON: As hard as it might be to wipe the grins off their faces, Japan readjusted their focus on the job in hand as the vagaries of the Rugby World Cup fixture means a second Pool B game just four days after their sensational win over South Africa.

Japan play Scotland in Gloucester on Wednesday with little time to recover from Satur-day’s thrilling 34-32 triumph at Brighton’s Community Stadium.

“We had a chat out on the field (after the win over South Africa) and reminded the play-ers we have two targets in this tournament and that is to reach the quarterfinals and be the team of the tournament,” said coach Eddie Jones after only a second victory in 25 World Cup games for the Asian nation.

“We made a splash against

South Africa but want to make a real dent in this tournament. We want to back up what we did when we play against Scotland. It will be a great occasion. Hope-

fully we’ll get crowd support as we did against South Africa.”

Jones had no complaints about having to play so quickly again. Three other Pool B teams

South Africa, Samoa and the USA have a seven-day break between their first and second outings at the tournament.

“When you are at the bottom of the feeding chain you just accept what you get, mate. The little fish at the bottom of the ocean just eat what they can get. That’s where we are. You accept it, that’s the schedule, we’ve known about it for two years. There’s no moaning about.”

The coach said his players were fit, as they showed in a never-say-die performance on Saturday.

“One thing about Japanese players they can keep rolling it out. They are used to training for three to four hours a day at high school; four to five-hours-a-day at university. We have a few guys we need to look after and Scot-land will be a tough.” - Reuters

Back to business for Japan after upsetting Boks

ON TARGET: Japan head coach Eddie Jones, right, and Kosei Ono celebrate after their victory over South Africa in Brighton on Saturday. – Reuters

South Africa reels from ‘humiliation’ by JapanJOHANNESBURG: The Spring-boks’ stunning defeat by Japan in their opening match of the Rugby World Cup has shocked South Af-rica, casting doubt on the team’s chances of progressing to the final stages of the tournament.

“Ultimate Bok Humiliation”, “Boks Humiliated” — were some of the headlines in South Africa’s main newspapers on Sunday.

The Sunday Times stated that the defeat by the team ranked 13 in the world “rocked the game to its very foundations” — South Africa are ranked No. 3 and have twice won the World Cup.

Under the headline “Bok heads to roll”, the newspaper said the future of coach Heyneke Meyer may be in doubt following the shock defeat.

It also said the explosive match exposed flaws in Meyer’s “old man” game plan.

Meyer’s team included World

Cup veterans like Victor Matfield and Bryan Habana and was the most experienced South Afri-can outfit ever to take the to field with a combined total of 851 caps across the 15 starters.

In his column, former Spring-bok Ashwin Willemse wrote that the impact of the defeat “may be so devastating that we might not even make it past the quarterfinals or be lucky to even reach that stage”.

As a rugby-mad country, the 34-32 defeat also drew widespread shock and surprise from fans, who expected the Springboks to cruise past a Japan side that had not won a World Cup match since 1991.

“I thought it was an absolute farce, I was expecting South Africa to win by a way, way big margin,” said Wayne Saralina, a 46-year-old fan.

The Springboks went to the

World Cup under the usual cloud of a race row over the selection of the team. Critics, including top government officials have repeat-edly accused the sport’s adminis-trators of maintaining elitism by mostly selecting white players.

The Sunday Times said “the pressure on the South African Rugby Union to transform the Springboks team will grow from many quarters”.

Even labour unions waded in, with the powerful confederation of trade unions, Cosatu lambast-ing Meyer.

“The ‘old’ injured white men were just useless and gave Japan the space to play a great game,” said a statement by the Western Cape branch of Cosatu.

“In the first half, Heyneke had all white players except the back three, and they were completely outplayed by Japan.” - AFP

S H O C K E D

Shocked supporters

Coach Meyer says sorryBRIGHTON: Shellshocked South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer apologised to the nation after the two-time champi-ons suffered the biggest Rugby World Cup upset ever against Japan on Saturday.

“It is by far the worst moment of my coaching career,” said Meyer. “This is a very big wake up call.”

The 47-year-old — whose side had already been hit by a historic defeat by Argentina in the Rugby Championship last month — said the Springboks must now lift themselves and win their remaining matches to try to top Pool B.

“We represent a proud nation and I apologise to the nation. We have got to take it on the chin and get back on track.

“It won’t be easy for us to do that. But I have to as coach take responsibility for this.”

Meyer watched powerless as the most experienced starting Springboks XV ever turned out were harried into errors.

“All credit to them (the Japa-nese) they did well and they hung in there,” said Meyer.

“We knew they were going to be tough but that we had to concentrate on the way we play. I thought four tries was going to be enough but our discipline was not good enough. Their de-fence was brilliant, we didn’t get good enough ball and were never on the front foot.”

Meyer denied that South Af-rica had been over-confident. “Definitely not, perhaps we paid them too much respect. They’ve beaten us and deserve all the credit, we never got going and chased the game.” - AFP

W O R S T M O M E N T

De Villiers asks players to step upBRIGHTON: South Africa’s expe-rienced players need to take a good hard look at themselves and step up if they are to rescue the coun-try’s Rugby World Cup hopes, said captain Jean de Villiers.

“The senior players have a mas-sive role to play. Each player must now step (up) and make himself counted,” said de Villiers. “It is a World Cup and we need to focus on things we believe we are strong

at, and it’s up to the senior players now to lift the group and set the tone for the work we need to do.

“Each player let himself down. It was a below-par performance and is not acceptable with the stand-ards we set ourselves. I don’t want to take anything away from Japan’s victory, but we have to take owner-ship of this performance and make ourselves accountable, we (the) players were on the field. - Reuters

C A P T A I N ’ S C A L L

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SPORTSM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

Samoa start their campaign with a win over the USBRIGHTON: With tougher tests ahead, Samoa started their Rug-by World Cup campaign with a 25-16 win over the United States in Pool B on Sunday and, after South Africa’s shock defeat to Ja-pan on Saturday, will be delighted to be safely over the first hurdle.

Kicks proved the difference as the teams scored two tries each but the US paid the price for giving away too many penalties after Samoa had established a 14-8 halftime lead in the midday sunshine in front of 29,178 at the Brighton Community Stadium, the scene of Japan’s stunning victory over the Springboks that blew the pool open a day earlier.

Tries from Tim Nanai-Wil-liams and Ofisa Treviranus and 12 points from the foot of flyhalf Tusi Pisi and another penalty by Mi-chael Stanley saw Samoa home.

The Americans stuck to their task throughout, though Chris Baumann’s try to cut the deficit to nine points came too late to have an impact.

Samoa have expectations of a quarter-final place for the first time since 1995, and with group matches to come against South Africa, Japan and Scotland, needed to make a positive start.

“It was tough but it has set us up for the next game. The South Africa loss to Japan showed that all teams at the World Cup have quality,” said Treviranus

All the early initiative with was Samoa, spending considerable

time deep in U.S. territory and drawing gasps of amazement from the crowd with the intensity, and sheer brutal force, of their hits.

But it was a clever grubber kick by Pisi rather than a line break that set up the first try after 20 minutes for fullback Tin Nanai-Williams, who only recently qualified to play for the country of his parents’ birth.

American flyhalf AJ MacGinty lead a speedy break from their own 25, cutting through the line to set up a try for Chris Wyles as the Americans replied with a try to trim the halftime score to 14-8.

Samoa’s second try came soon after the interval through Trevi-ranus after another little grubber kick from a line-out and some hesitant US defence.

But Baumann’s try kept the score tight and left the U.S to rue conceding too many penal-ties and battling with some the elementary aspects of the game such as throwing in straight at the line-outs.

“We physically matched them but discipline let us down and our execution at times,” said US captain Wyles.

“We were still in a position to win right to the end and that gives us a huge positive.”

Samoa top the pool alongside Japan with four points to the two of South Africa — who they face next in Birmingham on Sat-urday. The US play Scotland next Sunday. - Reuters

K I C K S T H E D I F F E R E N C E

Allen scores hat-trick, Wales down Uruguay

CARDIFF: Cory Allen scored a hat-trick as Wales laboured to a 54-9 victory over minnows Uru-guay and suffered new injury scares in the Rugby World Cup on Sunday.

It was not the avalanche of points against the world’s 19th ranked na-tion that the 71,800 crowd in the Millennium Stadium wanted. But it ensured a crucial bonus point in the battle with England and Aus-tralia for top place in Pool A.

The Welsh scored four first-half tries, Samson Lee’s effort pre-ceding Allen’s hat-trick. Hallam Amos, Gareth Davies (2) and Jus-tin Tipuric crossed in the second period, Rhys Priestland hitting seven conversions.

Wales now move on to much

tougher pool matches against Eng-land at Twickenham on Saturday, followed by Fiji in Cardiff on Oc-tober 1 and then Australia on Octo-ber 10, again at Twickenham.

Just the top two are guaranteed of automatic qualification for the quarterfinals from the so-called Pool of Death.

Wales coach Warren Gatland rested key forwards Alun Wyn Jones, Taulupe Faletau and Gethin Jenkins, and a crucial trio of backs in Dan Biggar, Jamie Roberts and George North, and in their absence the Welsh team struggled to click in a scrappy display against a team with just four professionals.

Uruguay held firm for almost 15 minutes, indeed leading 6-0, be-

fore Wales set-piece superiority started to show.

Uruguay, whose previous tour-nament appearances saw them notch up wins over Spain in 1999 and Georgia in 2003, got off to an ideal start with a second-minute Felipe Berchesi penalty after Tipuric failed to stay on his feet at the first ruck.

Third penaltyBerchesi, one of the rare Uruguay players to play in Europe — for Ca-racassone in France’s second divi-sion, failed with a 53-metre effort but was on target minutes later af-ter Jake Ball’s high tackle.

Priestland spurned two penal-ties from very kickable ranges to go for the corner, and from the second driving line-out, Lee crashed over for the opening try.

Allen was the recipient of a delicate Priestland dink over the South Americans’ defence, the centre squirming past Rodrigo Silva to score.

Berchesi kept Uruguay in the game with a third penalty after an-other high ball tackle before Allen was played in for his second after Scott Williams broke the line of a well-organised defence.

Worryingly for Wales, first prop

Paul James went off and then full-back Liam Williams, making his comeback from a long injury lay-off and seen as the natural successor to the injured Leigh Halfpennny.

Allen got his hat-trick on the stroke of half-time, Tipuric and Amos combining to hand the Car-diff Blues player the easiest of run-ins to guarantee Wales a bonus point in what promises to be the tightest of pools.

With Wales completely domi-nant on set-piece, Gatland brought Tomas Francis on for Lee, the tighthead having made a success-ful comeback from a ruptured achilles tendon in March.

Tipuric was denied a try early in the second period after a good cov-er tackle dislodged the ball as he crossed the line, but Amos was the beneficiary of a break by scrum-half Davies, the winger extending the home side’s lead.

Allen then limped off injured as a visibly flagging Uruguay stuck gamely to their task.

Davies darted over for two de-served tries of his own either side of a Tipuric five-pointer after the flanker was driven over as Wales again tested their attacking line-out options and gave a gloss to the scoreboard. - AFP

The Welsh scored four first-half tries, Samson

Lee’s effort preceding Allen’s hat-trick.

Hallam Amos, Gareth Davies (2) and Justin

Tipuric crossed in the second period, Rhys

Priestland hitting seven conversions

HAT-TRICK MAN: Wales’ Cory Allen runs with the ball before scoring their third try during their Pool A match of the Rugby World Cup at

Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Sunday. – Reuters

FIRST HURDLE CLEARED: Samoa’s Jack Lam tries to avoid a tack-

le from Alan MacGinty of the US during their Rugby World Cup

Pool B match at Brighton Community Stadium on Sunday. – Reuters

France wing Huget out of World CupPARIS: France suffered a first setback in their Rugby World Cup campaign when wing Yoann Huget was ruled out with a knee injury on Sunday.

Huget sustained an injury to his right knee’s cruciate ligaments in his team’s Pool D opener, a 32-10 win against Italy on Saturday, coach Philippe Saint-Andre told French TV channel TF1.

Saint-Andre then tweeted: “Big thoughts to Yoann Huget, Exem-plary player in his investment. Great lad. We are all with you, get well soon!”

A replacement, probably Remi Lamerat or Maxime Medard, is expected to be named later.

The 28-year-old Huget, who has 41 caps with Les Bleus, has

been a key member of the French squad since Saint-Andre took over from Marc Lievremont after the 2011 World Cup.

Four years ago, Huget had with-drawn from the World Cup squad after failing to provide his wherea-bouts to anti-doping authorities on three occasions. Earlier, France coach Philippe Saint-Andre urged demanding fans to rejoice in their opening World Cup win over Italy and that they avoided the shock defeat suffered by South Africa.

Saint-Andre was relieved that France, much criticised in recent months, averted the humiliation inflicted on South Africa earlier Saturday when they were beaten 34-32 by Japan.

“Italy just two weeks ago nearly

won in Cardiff. As we have seen today, there are no easy matches,” said Saint-Andre. Maybe it’s bet-ter to be on the French side than the South African side.”

He was delighted by the sup-port France received at the home ground of arch-rivals England.

“It was the first time I heard a ‘French’ Twickenham with the Marseillaise all throughout the match so I want to congratulate not just the team, but our public.”

France and Ireland, convinc-ing 50-7 winners over Canada in Cardiff, are favourites to top a pool where the runners-up could face the New Zealand defending champions in the quarter finals.

Italy coach Jacques Brunel, whose side were missing inspi-

rational captain Sergio Parisse because of a knee injury, was un-happy with the way South African referee Craig Joubert repeatedly penalised his side at the scrum.

The set-piece has long been the foundation of Italy’s game but with Joubert repeatedly pulling up Azzurri hooker Leonard Ghi-raldini, Italy’s stand-in skipper, they could not get into the game.

“The absence of Parisse, of course it is a big factor but it’s not the main factor in the difference in the score,” said Brunel.

“There was an imbalance in the scrum and we didn’t understand the referee,” the Frenchman add-ed. “There were 12 scrums, we’ve been penalised six times and five on our own put-in.”- Agencies

I N J U R E D

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SPORTSM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

India pick rookie all-rounder Gurkeerat, recall Aravind

BENGALURU: Rookie Pun-jab all-rounder Gurkeerat Singh Mann on Sunday earned his maid-en India call-up while Karnataka seamer Srinath Aravind staged a comeback after four years as In-dia announced its squads for the three T20 Internationals and the first three One-day Internationals (ODIs) for the upcoming home se-ries against South Africa.

The 25-year-old Gurkeerat was rewarded with a place in the ODI team for his consistent perfor-mance for India A in the recent limited overs matches while left-arm seamer Aravind got a surprise recall in the T20 squad to be cap-tained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Seasoned off-spinner Harbha-jan Singh retained his place in the T20 team as selectors picked the squad looking ahead at the ICC World T20, next March.

Veteran leg-spinner Amit Mishra was recalled in both ODI and T20 squads announced by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Anurag Thakur after a meeting of the se-lection committee here.

Barring Gurkeerat and Aravind’s inclusion, there were no major sur-prises with the selectors preferring to stick with recent pool of players who have done well for India.

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja

was a notable omission in both the squads while pacers Ishant Sharma and Varun Aaron, regarded as Test specialists, were not considered.

Seniors like Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dha-wan and Ravichandran Ashwin were automatic selections in both the teams. So were Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Mohit Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, all of whom have been integral part of India’s limited overs’ scheme of things.

Chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil said that the squads have been picked keeping the World T20 in mind and also clarified that there was no discussions on removing Dhoni from ODI captaincy.

“We have not discussed anything

about captaincy of ODIs. We are very happy in the manner Dhoni has led the side and we have total backing for Dhoni during the up-coming series,” Patil rubbished the reports that emerged in some quar-ters about Dhoni’s removal from captaincy in the 50-over format.

“We have always discussed the forthcoming World T20. We have also discussed the possibilities and the performances of players and who all will be useful,” Patil told media persons.

About Gurkeerat’s selection, Pa-til said, “We have kept in mind his all-round abilities and his recent performances. He is an exciting youngster. The ‘A’ series has gone well and we as selectors are happy

that a lot of exciting youngsters are coming up,” said Patil.

While Ishant Sharma was not considered for limited overs for-mat, Patil said that his name was indeed discussed.

“It’s not that we are considering Ishant for Tests alone. We have discussed about him for ODIs as well as T20s.”

Asked if picking Axar Patel in the ODI squad over Harbhajan Singh was a way of looking to-wards future, Patil said: “We try and select the best possible side and we leave the final eleven on team management and captain.”

“They would pick the final XI considering the conditions of the pitch. We discussed Bhajji for

ODIs but unfortunately we can only pick 15. We have to keep in mind the pitch while picking a team in order to to get a right com-bination,” said Patil.

T20 squad: MS Dhoni (capt and wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Stuart Binny, R Ash-win, Axar Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Bhu-vneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Amit Mishra, S Aravind.

ODI team (for first three matches): MS Dhoni (capt and wk), Shikhar Dha-wan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Gur-keerat Singh Mann, Amit Mishra, Bhu-vneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav. - PTI

Gurkeerat was

rewarded with a

place in the ODI team

for his consistent

performance for

India A in the

recent limited

overs matches

while Aravind got

a surprise recall in

the T20 squad to be

captained by Dhoni

NEW DELHI: Rohit Sharma is “practising seam bowling” to add to his aggressive brand of batsmanship, which he feels can be a vital asset in the days to come, at a time when India is struggling to churn out quality all-rounders.

“I have started practising seam bowling at the nets. It’s not an old thing as I started bowling seam-up stuff recently at the nets during our Test series in Sri Lanka. I am just bowling seamers and I need to speak to our bowling coach Bharath Arun to see how I can further improve,” Rohit said during an exclusive interview ahead of South Africa series.

“My idea is to add value to the side. If I can bowl 10 to 12 overs per day and could be that third or fourth seamer of the side according to conditions, my captain could be relieved. It is just that you need to constantly grow and add things in your armoury,” the stylish Mumbai batsman said.

While critics have panned him for not converting promis-ing starts in the Sri Lanka Test series, the 28-year-old believes that his performance was satisfying considering that his

twin half centuries came in a winning cause.

“I am satisfied with my per-formance in the Test matches. I know there was a chance to score a big hundred but my 50 in the third Test was satisfying. But I am not sitting on my lau-rels and would like to improve on it,” said Rohit, who has

scored 4,312 ODI and 870 Test runs, apart from 739 in T20s.

There had been times his dis-missals invited criticism, with some attributing it to his lazy elegance, but Rohit believes that it is not easy to tweak someone’s natural game.

“People can say whatever they like but I can’t change my natu-

ral game that has been there for 10 years. It’s not going to change overnight. May be my stance, head position, some little things I might be able to improvise.

“I understand how people and media react. They watch the match only and come to a conclusion about a player’s ap-proach.” - PTI

Rohit ‘practising seam bowling’ to add value to the team

NEW ADVENTURE: Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma poses with the only living white Rhinoceros

named Sudaan in Nairobi. – PTI

Pakistan coach Waqar upbeat ahead of England series

LAHORE: Pakistan coach Waqar Younis on Sunday said his side was “settled” and con-fident ahead of their upcoming series against a buoyant Ashes-winning England team.

Pakistan will face England in the first of three Tests in Abu Dhabi from October 13 with Pakistani hopes high after their 3-0 rout against the same oppo-nents three years ago.

Then, as now, England en-tered the contest having van-quished their arch-foes Aus-tralia, their most recent contest ending in a 3-2 scoreline for the hosts. But former fastman Waqar said his fourth-ranked team had been consistent in the game’s longer format and stood up well to third-placed England.

“I think recently we played a Test series in Sri Lanka and from that result I will not hesi-tate to say that we are a good Test side,” Waqar told media during a training camp.

Pakistan beat Sri Lanka 2-1, Bangladesh 1-0, Australia 2-0 and finished 1-1 against New Zealand in their last four Test series.

“Our batting has done well for the last one year or so and even before that we played Australia and New Zealand we did well, but we will not take England lightly and for that we need to play with the same passion,” he said.

Waqar praised the Ashes win-ners but singled out leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who took 22 wickets in Sri Lanka, as a key player for the series.

Shah made his Test debut in late 2014 but has risen fast and is currently placed number four in the Test bowler rankings

Before taking on England, Pakistan will tour Zimbabwe where they will play two Twen-ty20 and three One-day Inter-national matches from Septem-ber 27 to October 5. - AFP

‘ S E T T L E D ’

Waqar Younis

Raina ton helps India A clinch series against Bangladesh ABENGALURU: Senior bats-man Suresh Raina hit a stroke-ful century to help India A out-play Bangladesh A by 75 runs via Duckworth/Lewis method in the third unofficial, rain-hit One-day International (ODI) and clinch the series 2-1, here on Sunday.

Electing to bat, the Unmukt Chand-led side rode on Raina’s 104-run knock to post 297 for six in 50 overs. The bowlers then re-stricted the visitors for 141 for six in 32 overs when rain halted play for the second and final time.

The first rain interruption saw the chasing target being revised to 290 runs in 46 overs, while the second and final rain halt saw a mathematical revision of 217 runs in 32 overs.

Karnataka left-arm seamer Sreenath Aravind celebrated his India seniors call-up with two crucial scalps. But it was the bat-ting that did the trick for India A as Unmukt (41) stitched an 82-run second-wicket partnership with wicketkeeper-batsman San-

ju Samson (90) to give the team a solid start after losing opener Ma-yank Agarwal (4) early.

Raina, who is getting ready for the South Africa series, was under a bit of pressure after getting 16 and 17 runs in the first and second

match respectively, rose to the occasion with his 94-ball knock, laced with 9 fours and a six. The left-hander’s 116-run third-wick-et partnership with Samson also stood out. This was Raina’s sixth List A century.

The team saw a bit of a stutter in the middle but No. 7 batsman Rishi Dhawan finished off the in-nings in style with an unbeaten 51-ball 26 to help the hosts put up a challenging score.

In reply, the Mominul Haque-led side were never in the chase, as they lost regular wickets.

The middle-order tried to play savior, but the batsmen failed to convert their starts into bigger scores. Sabbir Rahman top-scored with an unbeatan 41, but the match was already lost by then.

Aravind (two for 14) two wick-ets in Rony Talukdar (9) and Ana-mul Haque (1) were followed by two scalps by chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav (two for 29) that finally broke the back of the Bang-ladesh A chase. - PTI

U N O F F I C I A L S O D I S

TIMELY TON: Suresh Raina

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Al Mouj Muscat finish on top at first ranking race of the season

MUSCAT: Youngsters from Oman Sail’s Omantel Youth Programme, sponsored by Oman Shipping Company, joined thousands of sail-ors around the world as part of this year’s ‘Bart’s Bash’, a global sailing event to commemorate sailing leg-end Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson.

Established in 2014, Bart’s Bash is a global sailing event in aid of the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foun-dation and brought together over 30,700 people from 52 countries worldwide to sail over 54,000 miles in its first year, setting the record for ‘largest sailing race in the world’, as verified by Guinness World Records.

This year, Oman Sail dedicated the first ranking race of the winter season on 19 September at Oman Sail’s sailing school in Musannah to the cause and joined the world-wide sailing community in pro-moting the virtues of sailing.

The group of 50 sailors aged 15 and under were out to impress and score points towards their national rankings in order to be selected for the Oman National Optimist Squad

ahead of a busy winter season. Rac-es took place in the Optimist, Laser 4.7 and, for the first time, Techno 293 windsurfing classes. In the Op-timist class, Al Moatasem Al Farsi finished first, with Mohammed Al Qasmi in second and Marwan Al Jabri completing the top three. Khamis Al Wahaibi triumphed in the Laser 4.7 class with Salim Al

Alawi second and Abdul Aziz Al Wahaibi third. In the debut wind-surfing ranking race, Abdul Majeed Al Hadhrami came out on top ahead of Abdullah Al Sarhi in second and Hammad Al Mujaini in third.

Overall, the school from Al Mouj Muscat topped the table with the best six results from all rank-ing races, the Mussanah Sailing

School finished in second with Marina Bandar Al Rowdha in third and Oman Sail’s newest sailing school in Sur finishing fourth.

This was the first time that Oman Sail’s young windsurfers have tak-en part in a ranking race. The debut comes ahead of the RS:X World Windsurfing Championships to be held in Mussanah next month

where 120 of the world’s best windsurfers will take to the waters from 17-24 October for an Olympic qualifier in preparation for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Oman Sail operates a windsurf-ing club with eight participants aged 12-15 currently part of the programme. The aim for Oman Sail is to train a squad capable

of representing Oman at future Olympic Games and participation in ranking races will form a key component of performance as-sessment ahead of competition.

Rashid Al Kindi, Oman Sail’s National Youth Team Manager, said: “Our young sailors appreci-ate that they are part of something bigger than themselves, and the ranking races provide a platform to showcase their talents and take the next step in their sailing ca-reers as part of the Oman National Squad in and compete in Optimist, Laser 4.7 and Windsurfing compe-titions around the world.”

He added: “Bart’s Bash is a won-derful opportunity to join the wid-er sailing community and show our shared passion for a sport that has transformed the lives of so many young people. Andrew Simpson was an Olympic Gold and Silver medallist, as well as an America’s Cup sailor.

“He believed that you should never give up on achieving your goals and through sailing, Oman Sail is able to create opportuni-ties for young Omani sailors to fulfil their dreams, represent the Sultanate internationally and give back to their country.”

Bart’s Bash is one of the valu-able fund raising events for the An-drew Simpson Sailing Foundation, which supports a wide range of sus-tainable sailing projects around the world. Eminent sailors including Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Sir Ben Ainslie, Tom Slingsby and former Oman Sail women’s programme mentor, Shirley Robertson OBE have joined forces in support of the event, and to help it to become the world’s biggest sporting event.

Omani youngsters

sail in honour of

sailing hero Andrew

Simpson as part

of global Bart’s

Bash event

VIRTUES OF SAILING: Omantel Youth Programme members celebrate ‘Barts Bash’. – Supplied photo

Bank Muscat announces 15 new beneficiariesMUSCAT: In step with the ‘Let’s Do More’ vision for the economy, community and environment, the Green Sports initiative launched by Bank Muscat to promote Oman as a sporting nation has gained mo-mentum as the flagship financial services provider has announced 15 new beneficiaries for 2015.

With this, the unique Green Sports social responsibility ini-tiative marking the successful fourth year has benefited a total of 49 teams across the Sultanate.

The 2015 Green Sports benefi-ciaries are Al Wast Sports Team of Al Khabourah; Al Jazeera Sports Team of Al Musannah/Widam Al Sahil; Al Genz Sports Team of Al Suwaiq; Al Tadhamun Sports Team of Adam; Al Qabasan Sports Team of Samail; Hayy Al Turrath of Nizwa; Al Nasr Sports Club of Bahla; Al Iraqi Sports Club of Ibri; Al Howayan Sports Club of Bidiya of Al Hawiyah; Al Khoudh Sports Club of Al Khoudh; Itihad Al Sahil of Qurayat; Al Lajal Sports Team of Wadi Al Maawil; Al Shabab Sports Team of Shinnas; Dhahir Al Fowars Sports Team of Yanqul; and Al Arabi Sports Team of Manah.

In 2015, the bank widened the scope of Green Sports initiative beyond greening of football fields. From this year, sports teams seek-ing Green Sports support can choose from four options to either green their football fields with nat-ural or synthetic turf, or avail sup-port to affix flood lights or water desalination equipment to facili-tate greening of fields in areas fac-ing problems of water salinity. The move is aimed at providing wider representation to teams to build sustainable sports infrastructure

in all parts of the Sultanate. The sports infrastructure facili-

ties are also serving as a meeting place for children and youth to be engaged in gainful activities. The facility is being used to host vari-ous youth activities, group wed-dings and other celebrations. Such community programmes are help-ing children and youth to develop strong positive character traits. Aimed at raising sporting heroes for the country, the bank remains committed to supporting all de-serving teams across the Sultanate.

The funding criteria for the Green Sports programme in-clude that sports teams should have been in existence for three years with a minimum member-ship of 300 youth from the local community. The bank recognises that local teams wield immense influence on neighbourhood communities, especially youth, hence teams with modern infra-structure facilities can help raise sporting heroes for the country.

The Green Sports initiative reiterates the bank’s support to Oman’s youth who represent the future of Oman, as also its commit-ment to sustainable development and protection of the environ-ment, thereby ensuring all-round development of Oman. Bank Mus-cat recognises that sustainable development has the potential for achieving long-term benefits span-ning economic, social, cultural and environmental dimensions.

Bank Muscat is proud to en-hance support for the Green Sports initiative as part of its strat-egy to further strengthen its lead-ership role in social responsibil-ity, inspired by the directive of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said to activate the role of the private sec-tor in social responsibility and de-velopment of Omani society.

The consistent progress of the Green Sports initiative confirms the bank’s commitment to the programme aimed at providing ample opportunities for young Omanis to develop their sporting talents in an ideal environment. The programme is expected to go a long way in developing the sporting skills and talents of Om-ani youth, thereby promoting the game of football in Oman.

Bank Muscat is committed to its ‘Let’s Do More’ vision for the economy, community and envi-ronment and is proud to have led the way in contributing to sustain-able development in Oman with various initiatives. As the nation’s leading financial institution, Bank Muscat aims to provide the impe-tus for youth to excel in all arenas and thereby contribute to the de-velopment and progress of Oman.

G R E E N S P O R T S I N I T I A T I V E

The unique Green

Sports initiative

marking the

successful fourth year

has benefited a total

of 49 teams across

the Sultanate

Vatsal downs Akshit to enter semisMUSCAT: Vatsal Manikandan held his nerve to earn a place in the semifinals of the under-10 singles at the on-going National Bank of Oman-sponsored Annual Badmin-ton Tournament organised by the Indian Social Club (ISC) Muscat.

In the quarterfinal, Vatsal over-came Akshit Ravindran 13-15, 15-12, 15-13 for a place in the last four.

In other quarterfinals, Aaryan

Punja won 15-2, 15-3 against Mo-hamed Adnan, Abheed Gupta swept past Jewel Manoj 15-7, 15-3 and Aseem Kunte defeated Kritika Gup-ta 15-8, 8-15, 15-8 to line up a semifi-nal encounter against Vatsal.

Gayathri Krishna and Ashpruha Patnaik entered the final of the girls under-15 singles. Gayathri overcame Nayan Anil 21-17, 12-21, 21-14 and Ashpruha defeated

Gauri Krishna with a brilliant 21-19, 21-23, 21-15 victory.

In the second round of the men’s singles, Vinod Abraham defeated Nandakumar MK 21-13, 21-15 and Domnic Kennedy overcame Yash Deshpande 21-11, 22-20. Kennedy also progressed in the men’s A sin-gles after seeing off Yogesh Narula 21-16, 21-8. Mohamad Nayaz over-came Arul Lobo 17-21, 21-18, 21-12.

I S C B A D M I N T O N

SINGAPORE: Ferrari’s Se-bastian Vettel won an incident-packed Singapore Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday after world champion Lewis Hamilton re-tired early for the first time this season and an intruder set heart rates fluttering when he strolled on to the track.

Hamilton was running fourth approaching the halfway point of the 61-lap race when he lost en-gine power, rapidly dropping back through the field before he was told to return to the garage and call it a night.

Starting from pole position, Vettel had no problems, leading all the way to take the chequered flag for the fourth time at the floodlit Marina Bay Street Circuit, despite twice losing the big advantage he had built up when the safety car was deployed.

Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo finished second for Red Bull, his best result of a frustrating year, while Vettel’s teammate Kimi Raikkonen crossed the line third.

“It must be one of my best races. It was pretty intense,” Vettel said. “Lots of pressure from behind; Daniel had a very good race look-ing after his tyres.

“Second stint I was dictating the pace. From then, I was trying to control the gap. We had a really great weekend.”

Nico Rosberg finished fourth for Mercedes to cut Hamilton’s championship lead to 41 points

with six races remaining.Vettel trails Hamilton by 49

and Raikkonen is 145 adrift with a maximum of 150 available. No other driver has a chance of win-ning the championship.

“If we have more weekends like this, yes we can catch Mercedes,” Vettel said. “Massive attack. Maybe we can make the impossible pos-

sible — we will definitely go for it.”Vettel’s win was the German’s

third this season and the 42nd of his career, enabling the quadruple world champion to overtake the late Ayrton Senna into outright third place for the most lifetime wins, trailing only Michael Schu-macher (91) and Alain Prost (51).

A proven master on the slow

and twisty Singapore track, Vettel gave his rivals no chance when he planted his foot on the accelerator and made a flying getaway from the front of the grid.

The 28-year-old opened up a three-second lead over Ricciardo on the opening lap and was never seriously challenged even when the safety car was introduced.

Its first appearance came on the 13th lap when Felipe Massa exited the pits and was hit from the side by Nico Hulkenberg who speared into a wall, wrecking his Force In-dia car and ending his race. The second came when a spectator walked on the circuit before climb-ing back though a hole in the fence.

“If there was no safety car we could have been close for the un-dercut but the two safety cars came at pretty crucial times,” Ric-ciardo said. “It was really good to back up qualifying. We matched Seb in race pace and we have got to be pretty happy.”

Hamilton, who needs one more win to draw level with his child-hood hero Senna, endured his worst weekend of the season.

The Englishman struggled with his tyres in qualifying, starting fifth on the grid, and his race came to an end just when it looked like he might be able to challenge for a spot on the podium.

“I was feeling super optimistic and easily keeping up,” he told the BBC. “I was hoping for a quick fix but it never came.” - Reuters

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Czechs past India into World GroupNEW DELHI: The Czech Re-public stormed into the elite World Group on Sunday after Jiri Vesely thrashed India’s Yuki Bhambri in the deciding reverse singles for a 3-1 victory in the Da-vis Cup playoff.

Vesely, the world No. 40, kept his cool in the sweltering heat for an emphatic 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 win over India’s No. 1 player at New Delhi’s R. K. Khanna Stadium.

The win helped seal the tie for the visitors, who were level fol-lowing the opening singles on Friday and who won the doubles on Saturday.

The teams decided not to play the last reverse singles sched-uled for later because of the hot

and humid conditions. India had managed to equalise 1-1 on Fri-day after the unfancied Somdev Devvarman shocked Vesely in the second singles.

But on Saturday the star pair of Leander Paes, fresh from his mixed doubles win at the US Open, and Rohan Bopanna lost to Radek Stepanek and Adam Pavlasek, handing the visitors a 2-1 lead.

Sunday’s victory helped the three-time Davis Cup champions keep intact their record of not dropping outside the competi-tion’s elite since 2006.

India, who last made it to the World Group in 2011, will now be relegated to play in the zonal competition. - AFP

T E N N I SMurray fires Britain into Davis Cup final

PARIS: Andy Murray fired Great Britain into a first Davis Cup final in 37 years where they will face Belgium, who defeated Argentina 3-2 after a tense deciding singles clash in Brussels.

World No. 3 Murray cruised to a 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 win over Bernard Tomic to give his team a 3-1 win-ning lead over Australia in their semifinal in Glasgow despite play-ing three days in succession.

The 28-year-old’s 25th win from 27 Davis Cup singles matches se-cured a first victory over old rivals Australia since 1978. It puts nine-time winners Britain on the verge of an historic first title triumph since 1936 when Fred Perry and Bunny Austin sealed a 3-2 victory over Australia at Wimbledon.

“Winning for your country and your team-mates means a lot. The crowd were unbelievable from the first ball to the last,” Murray told the BBC. “I didn’t feel great the whole weekend to be honest, I’ve been struggling with my back, but I just tried to disguise it.”

Great Britain captain Leon Smith hailed the impact of former Wimbledon and US Open cham-pion Murray.

“He’s quite good isn’t he? It’s pretty amazing watching Andy’s work over the whole weekend, he fights so hard and he’s got the qual-ity. He executed it perfectly today.”

It is a remarkable turnaround for a British team that have risen from being on the verge of relegation to Europe/Africa Group III, the lowest level of the competition, in 2010, to being World Group final-ists in 2015. Murray, who won both singles matches and the doubles with brother Jamie, is now looking to become only the fourth player ever to win the Davis Cup, Olympic gold and multiple Grand Slams.

In Brussels, world No. 15 David Goffin kept Belgium afloat against Argentina with a routine 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 win over Diego Schwartzman to level their semifinal at 2-2. Steve

Darcis outlasted Leonardo Mayer for 7-6 (5), 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-3 to help Belgium reach the final with a 3-2 victory.

“I’ve played a lot these last two days and I’ve got a few aches,” said 64th-ranked Darcis ahead of his meeting with Delbonis, one spot below the Belgian in the world rankings. But I’m going to give my all — it’s the match of a lifetime.”

Belgium are bidding to reach their first final since 1904 while Argentina are also yet to win the title, finishing runners-up on four occasions in all and three times since 2006.

In the play-offs, where the win-ners will feature in the elite World Group in 2016, Roger Federer de-feated Thiemo de Bakker 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 as Switzerland wrapped up victory over the Netherlands in Geneva.

In Tashkent, Jack Sock defeated Denis Istomin 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to give 32-time champions United States victory over Uzbekistan.

Italy also preserved their World Group status when Fabio Fognini defeated Teymuraz Gabashvili 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) to secure vic-tory against Russia in Irkutsk. In Gydnia, Poland clinched a World Group spot for the first time when Michal Przysiezny defeated Slova-kia’s Norbert Gombos in the decid-ing fifth rubber, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. - AFP

Murray’s 25th win

from 27 Davis Cup

singles matches

secured a first victory

over old rivals

Australia since 1978

DESERVING WINNERS: Andy Murray, second left, celebrates with

his Great Britain teammates after their victory over Australia in the

Davis Cup semifinal in Glasgow on Sunday. – AFP

IN ELITE GROUP: Czech Republic’s Jiri Vesely, centre, celebrates

after winning against India’s Yuki Bhambri in the reverse

singles match on the third day of the Davis Cup play-offs at the

R.K.Khanna Tennis Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday. – AFP

Vettel triumphs after Hamilton retires

S I N G A P O R E G P

POLE TO PODIUM: Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel celebrates on the

podium after winning the Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay

street circuit on Sunday. – Reuters

Martial sends Man United second, Liverpool held at home LONDON: Teenage striker An-thony Martial further endeared himself to Manchester United’s supporters with a nerveless brace as his side came from behind to win 3-2 at Southampton on Sunday.

Martial struck either side of half-time at St Mary’s after Grazi-ano Pelle had given Southampton a 13th minute lead.

Juan Mata added a third in the 68th minute and despite Pelle scoring again, United held on for a victory that propelled Louis van Gaal’s side up to second place in the Premier League table, two points below leaders Manchester City, who lost 2-1 at home to West Ham United on Saturday.

United’s old rivals Liverpool

continue to struggle, having seen their run of league games without victory extended to four following a 1-1 draw at home to Norwich City.

Daniel Sturridge made his first appearance since April after hip surgery and his side went ahead in the 48th minute when Danny Ings, a half-time replacement for Chris-tian Benteke, drilled home his

first Liverpool goal. But Norwich equalised 13 minutes later cour-tesy of a deft lob by centre-back Russell Martin — his third goal of the campaign.

The result left Brendan Rodg-ers’s Liverpool in 13th place, seven points below City, but a point above defending champions Chelsea, who beat Arsenal 2-0 on

Saturday in a game that saw Ga-briel and Santi Cazorla sent off for Arsene Wenger’s side.

Earlier, Son Heung-Min’s first Premier League goal earned Tot-tenham Hotspur victory over Crys-tal Palace. The South Korea inter-national struck in the 68th minute at White Hart Lane, moments after Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had

tipped a shot from Bakary Sako onto the post at the other end, to give the hosts a 1-0 win.

Son has now scored three goals in two games, after his debut brace against Qarabag of Azerbaijan in the Europa League, and Spurs coach Mauricio Pochettino hailed his impact following his move from Bayer Leverkusen. - AFP

P R E M I E R L E A G U E

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

GearSECTIONC L I F E S T Y L E M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

Automobiles are considered as one of the biggest marvels of science. Not only

did the advent of automobiles revolutionise how the world travelled, but also

shaped the industrial revolution. The loyal horse of the modern man, we bring

you the major advancements and breakthroughs in the amazing world of cars.

LIFESTYLEC8 M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

Automobiles may not have been born in the 20th century, but they were not yet out

of diapers when it began. Even after Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz introduced their

improved fourstroke internal combustion engine, autos in both the United States and

Europe were still poking along at a few miles an hour (a sizeable proportion of them still

running on electricity or steam). They could boast no battery starter, roof, or windows

and were priced only for the rich. Then Henry Ford fine-tuned the mass production of

his Tin Lizzie and the world drove off into the age of affordable transportation—forever

altering our notions of place, distance, and community. Here is a timeline of a few of the

major advancements that redefined the world of automobiles

1919 FIRST SINGLE FOOT PED-AL TO OPERATE COUPLED FOUR-WHEEL BRAKES

1966 ELECTRONIC FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM DEVELOPED

1914 FIRST CAR BODY MADE ENTIRELY OF STEEL

1960S EFFORTS BEGIN TO REDUCE HARMFUL EMISSIONS

1901 OLD AUTOMOBILE FACTORY STARTS PRODUCTION

1931 FIRST MODERN INDEPENDENT FRONT SUSPENSION SYSTEM

1980S JAPANESE POPULARISE “JUST IN TIME” DELIVERY OF AUTO PARTS

The Hispano-Suiza H6B, a French luxury car, demonstrates the first single foot pedal to operate coupled four-wheel brakes. Previously driv-ers had to apply a hand brake and a foot brake simultaneously.

An electronic fuel injection system is developed in Britain. Fuel injec-tion delivers carefully controlled fuel and air to the cylinders to keep a car’s engine running at its most efficient.

Dodge introduces the first car body made entirely of steel, fabricated by the Budd Company. The Dodge touring car is made in Hamtramck, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.

Automakers begin efforts to reduce harmful emis-sions, starting with the introduction of positive crankcase ventilation in 1963. PCV valves route gases back to the cylinders for further combustion. With the introduction of catalytic converters in the 1970s, hydrocarbon emissions are reduced 95 per cent by the end of the century compared to emis-sions in 1967.

The Olds automobile factory starts production in Detroit. Ransom E. Olds contracts with outside companies for parts, thus help-ing to originate mass production techniques. Olds produces 425 cars in its first year of operation, introducing the three-horsepower “curved-dash” Oldsmobile at $650. The car is a success; Olds is selling 5,000 units a year by 1905.

Mercedes-Benz introduces the first modern independent front suspen-sion system, giving cars a smoother ride and better handling. By making each front wheel virtually independent of the other though attached to a single axle, independ-ent front suspension minimises the transfer of road shock from one wheel to the other.

The Japanese popularise “just in time” delivery of auto parts to factory floors, thus reducing warehousing costs. They also popularise statistical process control, a method developed but not applied in the United States until the Japanese demonstrate how it improves quality.

1901 THE TELESCOPE SHOCK ABSORBER DEVELOPED

1926 FIRST POWER STEERING SYSTEM

1970S FUEL PRICES ESCALATE, DRIVING DEMAND FOR FUEL-EFFICIENT CARS

C. L. Horock designs the “tel-escope” shock absorber, using a piston and cylinder fitted inside a metal sleeve, with a one-way valve built into the piston. As air or oil moves through the valve into the cylinder, the piston moves freely in one direction but is resisted in the other direction by the air or oil. The result is a smoother ride and less lingering bounce. The telescope shock absorber is still used today.

Francis Wright Davis uses a Pierce-Arrow to introduce the first power steering system. It works by integrating the steering linkage with a hydraulics system.

Fuel prices escalate, driving a demand for fuel-efficient cars, which increases the sale of small Japanese cars. This helps elevate the Japanese automobile industry to one of the greatest in the world.

1922 FIRST AMERICAN CAR WITH FOUR-WHEEL HYDRAULIC BRAKES

1970S AIRBAGS BECOME STANDARD

The Duesenberg, made in Indian-apolis, Indiana, USA, is the first car with four-wheel hydraulic brakes, replacing ones that relied on the pressure of the driver’s foot alone. Hydraulic brakes use a master cylinder in a hydraulic system to keep pressure evenly applied to each wheel of the car as the driver presses on the brake pedal.

Airbags, introduced in some mod-els in the 1970s, become standard in more cars. Originally installed only on the driver’s side, they begin to appear on the front passenger side as well.

THE RISE

GREAT

In a move to take on micro-blog-ging site Twitter, which is the big-gest source of breaking news for journalists, Facebook has launched an innovative newsgathering tool that will help reporters scan and file stories from the ocean of infor-mation on Facebook and its photo-sharing site Instagram.

Called Signal, the free tool will help journalists track relevant trends, photos, videos, and posts from nearly 1.5 billion Facebook users and Instagram’s 300 million users for storytelling and report-

ing. “We have heard from journal-ists that they want an easy way to make Facebook a more vital part of their newsgathering,” posted Andy Mitchell, director of media partner-ships, on Facebook website.

“We are excited to introduce Sig-nal, for Facebook and Instagram, a free discovery and curation tool for journalists who want to source, gather, and embed newsworthy content from Facebook and Ins-tagram, across news, culture, en-tertainment, sports, and more - all in one place,” she wrote. With this

tool, journalists interested in see-ing what conversations are resonat-ing on Facebook can monitor which topics are trending and then quickly display related content that has been shared publicly from both peo-ple and pages for deeper context on those trends. “Search functionality makes it easy to surface content di-rectly related to a story or topic they are tracking,” Mitchell added

Journalists can access lists of public figures ranked by who is be-ing mentioned the most on Face-book, including real-time conver-

sations across politicians, authors, actors, musicians, sports teams, players and more.

“Using location-tag and topic-re-lated search functionality, journal-ists can search Instagram for public posts related to specific hashtags, associated with specific public ac-counts, or tagged with locations us-ing an interactive global map,” she further posted.

Every Facebook post, every In-stagram image or video, and every metric found in Signal can be easily saved for later use. -IANS

W E B T O O L

Facebook launches newsgathering tool for journalists

C9M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

FAMOUS MEN BEHIND THE AUTOMOBILE INVENTION

1902 STANDARD DRUM BRAKES ARE INVENTED

1934 FIRST SUCCESSFUL MASS-PRODUCED FRONT-WHEEL-DRIVE CAR

1985 ANTILOCK BRAKING SYSTEM (ABS) AVAILABLE ON CARS

Standard drum brakes are invent-ed by Louis Renault. His brakes work by using a cam to force apart two hinged shoes. Drum brakes are improved in many ways over the years, but the basic principle remains in cars for the entire 20th century; even with the advent of disk brakes in the 1970s, drum brakes remain the standard for rear wheels.

The French automobile Citroën Traction Avant is the first success-ful mass-produced front-wheel-drive car. Citroën also pioneers the all-steel unitised body-frame structure (chassis and body are welded together). Audi in Germany and Ford in the United States offer front-wheel drive.

The Lincoln becomes the first car to offer an antilock braking system (ABS), which is made by Teves of Germany. ABS uses computerised sensing of wheel movement and hydraulic pres-sure to each wheel to adjust pressure so that the wheels continue to move somewhat rather than “locking up” during emergency braking.

1908 WILLIAM DURANT FORMS GENERAL MOTORS

1935 FLASHING TURN SIGNALS INTRODUCED

1992 ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 1992 ENCOURAGES ALTER-NATIVE-FUEL VEHICLES

William Durant forms General Motors. His combination of car producers and auto parts makers eventually becomes the largest corporation in the world.

A Delaware company uses a ther-mal interrupter switch to create flashing turn signals. Electricity flowing through a wire expands it, completing a circuit and allowing current to reach the lightbulb. This short-circuits the wire, which then shrinks and terminates contact with the bulb but is then ready for another cycle. Transistor circuits begin taking over the task of ther-mal interrupters in the 1960s.

Passage of the federal Energy Policy Act of 1992 encourages alternative-fuel vehicles. These include automobiles run with mixtures of alcohols and gasoline, with natural gas, or by some com-bination of conventional fuel and battery power.

1908 MODEL T INTRODUCED

1939 FIRST AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM ADDED TO AUTOMOBILES

1997 FIRST AMERICAN CARMAKER OFFERS AUTOMATIC STABILITY CONTROL

Henry Ford begins making the Model T. First-year production is 10,660 cars. Cadillac is awarded the Dewar Trophy by Britain’s Royal Automobile Club for a demonstration of the precision and interchangeability of the parts from which the car is assembled. Mass production thus makes more headway in the industry.

The Nash Motor Company adds the first air conditioning system to cars.

Cadillac is the first American car-maker to offer automatic stability control, increasing safety in emer-gency handling situations.

faisal@timesofoman.com

1911 ELECTRIC STARTER INTRODUCED

1940 JEEP IS DESIGNED

Charles Kettering introduces the electric starter. Until this time engines had to be started by hand cranking. Critics believed no one could make an electric starter small enough to fit under a car’s hood yet powerful enough to start the engine. His starters first saw service in 1912 Cadillacs.

Karl Pabst designs the Jeep, work-horse of WWII. More than 360,000 are made for the Allied armed forces. Oldsmobile introduces the first mass-produced, fully auto-matic transmission.

1913 FIRST MOVING ASSEMBLY LINE FOR AUTOMOBILES DEVELOPED

1950S CRUISE CONTROL IS DEVELOPED

Ford Motor Company develops the first moving assembly line for automobiles. It brings the cars to the workers rather than having workers walk around facto-ries gathering parts and tools and per-forming tasks. Under the Ford assembly line process, workers perform a single task rather than master whole portions of automobile assembly. The Highland Park, Michigan, plant produces 300,000 cars in 1914. Ford’s process allows it to drop the price of its Model T continu-ally over the next 14 years, transforming cars from unaffordable luxuries into transportation for the masses.

Ralph Teeter, a blind man, senses by ear that cars on the Pennsyl-vania Turnpike travel at uneven speeds, which he believes leads to accidents. Through the 1940s he develops a cruise control mecha-nism that a driver can set to hold the car at a steady speed. Unpopu-lar when generally introduced in the 1950s, cruise control is now standard on more than 70 per cent of today’s automobiles.

OF TH

E

AUTOMOBILE

The French automobile Citroën

Nicolaus August Otto (1832-1891)One of the most important landmarks in engine design comes from Nicolaus Otto who in 1876 invented an effective gas motor engine. Nicolaus Otto built the first practi-cal four-stroke internal combustion engine called the “Otto Cycle Engine.”

Henry Ford (1863-1947)Sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production, revolutionis-ing the automobile world and making cars affordable for the common man.

Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900)In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler invented a gas engine that allowed for a revolution in car design. On March 8, 1886, Daimler took a stagecoach and adapted it to hold his engine, thereby designing the world’s first four-wheeled automobile.

Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913)Rudolf Diesel invented the diesel-fuelled internal combustion engine. The engine that bears his name set off a new chapter in the industrial revolution.

Charles Franklin Kettering (1876-1958)Charles Franklin Kettering invented the first automobile elec-trical ignition system and the first practical engine-driven generator.

Karl Benz (1844-1929)Karl Benz was the German mechanical engineer who designed and in 1885 built the world’s first practical automobile to be powered by an internal-combustion engine.

FIND-IT-ALLC10 M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

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

Hamdan 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

PRAYER TIMINGS

Dhuhr 12.05pmAsr 3.31pmMaghrib 6.10pmIsha 7.21pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 4.40am

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

CITY CINEMAContact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68. www.citycinemaoman.netfacebook.com/citycinemaoman

SHATTITHE MAZE RUNNER: SCORCH TRIALS (Action, Sci fi) (PG12)(3D)Cast: Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario2:00, 9:15, 11:45 pmTHE MAZE RUNNER: SCORCH TRIALS (Action, Sci fi) (PG12)(2D)Cast: Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario6:45 pmAmerican Ultra (Action, Drama)(12+)Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart5:00, 9:30 pmThe Transporter Refueled (Action)(PG12)Cast: Ed Skrein, Loan Chabanol4:30, 11:30 pmMOOMINS ON THE RIVIERA (Animation)2:00, 3:30 pm (PG)EDEN (Drama, Thriller)(12+)(2D)4:00, 5:45 pmCast: Jessica Lowndes, James RemarEVEREST (Adventure, Drama)(PG)(3D/IMAX)1:45, 9:30, 11:55 pmEVEREST (Adventure, Drama)(PG)(2D)Cast: Jason Clarke, Ang Phula Sherpa7:00 pmHARA MAZNOUKA (12+)(ARABIC)Cast: Ahmed Fathy, Ola Ghanem7:30 pm

MUSCAT GRAND MALLMaze Runner: The Scorch Trials: 3D (PG12)Timing: 10:00 AM, 9:30, 11:55 PMGold Class: 3:45, 8:45, 11:15 PMMaze Runner: The Scorch Trials: 2D (Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller) (PG12)4:45 PMAmerican Ultra: 2D (Action,Comedy) (12+)Cast: Jesse Eisenberg,, Kristen Stewart1:30, 7:15 PMEverest : 3D (Adventure, Drama, Thriller) (PG)Cast : Jason Clarke, Ang Phula Sherpa7:15, 11:45 PMGold Class: 1:15, 6:15 PMEverest : 2D (Adventure, Drama, Thriller) (PG)5:00 PM

Katti Batti(Hindi) : 2D (Romance) (TBC)Cast : Imran Khan, Kangana Ranaut9:15 PMThe Dead Lands : 2D (Action ) (15+)Cast : James Rolleston, Lawrence Makaore12:30 PMThe Transporter Refueled : 2D (PG12)Cast : Ed Skrein, Loan Chabano2:45 PMMoomins on the Riviera: 2D (Family) (PG)Cast : Maria Sid, Mats Langbacka10:15 AM, 12:00, 3:30 PM

AZAIBAMaze Runner: The Scorch Trials – 2D (PG12) Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller 5:30 PMMaze Runner: The Scorch Trials – 3D (PG12) Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller Cast: Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario2:30, 8:00, 10:30 PMUtopiayile Rajavu - 2D (PG) Family, Comedy Cast: Mammootty, Jewel Mary, K. P. A. C.8:00 PMMoomins on the Riviera – 2D (PG) 2:15, 3:45 PMMaya – 2D (15+) Horror Cast: Nayanthara, Aari, Amzath Khan5:15, 10:45 PM

Everest – 3D (PG) Adventure, Drama, ThrillerCast: Jason Clarke, Ang Phula Sherpa6:45, 11:15 PMEverest – 2D (PG) Adventure, Drama, ThrillerCast: Jason Clarke, Ang Phula Sherpa3:15 PMKatti Batti – 2D (TBC) Romance Cast: Imran Khan, Kangana Ranaut 3:45, 6:15, 8:45 PMThe Transporter Refueled - 2D (PG12) 2:00, 11:30 PMAmerican Ultra – 2D (12+) Action, Comedy12:15, 5:30 PMHero – 2D (PG12) Action, Drama, Romance9:00 PM

RUWISCREEN 1Katti Batti (Romance) – PG12Cast:Kangana Ranaut, Imran Khan3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PMSCREEN 2Welcome Back (Comedy) – 12+3.45 PM Everest (3D) (Adventure, Drama, Thriller) Cast: Elizabeth Debicki, Jake Gyllenhaal, Keira6.45, 9:45 PM (PG)SCREEN 3

Everest (2D) (Adventure, Drama) – PG3.45 PM Welcome Back (Comedy) – 12+6.45 PMPhantom (Action) – PGCast: Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif9.45 PM

SOHARThe Transporter Refueled - 2D (PG12) Cast: Ed Skrein, Loan Chabanol5:15, 10:10 PMAmerican Ultra - 2D (12+) Action, ComedyCast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart4:15, 11:30 PMHero - 2D (PG12) Action, Drama, RomanceCast: Sooraj Pancholi, Athiya Shetty6:00 PMEverest - 2D (PG) Adventure, Drama, Thriller Cast: Jason Clarke, Ang Phula Sherpa4:45 PMEverest - 3D (PG) Adventure, Drama, Thriller 2:30, 7:00, 11:45 PMMaze Runner: The Scorch Trials - 3D 7:00, 9:30, 11:55 PM (PG12)Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials - 2D (PG12) Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller 2:45 PM

Katti Batti - 2D (TBC) Romance9:15 PMMoomins on the Riviera - 2D (PG) Cast: Maria Sid, Mats Långbacka3:00, 4:30 PMMaya - 2D (T) (15+) Horror Cast: Nayanthara, Aari, Amzath Khan6:00 PMUtopiayile Rajavu - 2D (M) (PG) FamilyCast: Mammootty, Jewel Mary, K. P. A. C. 8:45 PMEden - 2D (12+) Drama, ThrillerCast: Jessica Lowndes, James Remar2:30, 11:55 PMHara Maznouka - 2D (Arb) (12+) ComedyCast: Ahmed Fathy, Ola Ghanem8:25 PM

BURAIMIMaze Runner: The Scroch Trails - 3D (Action, Sci-FI, Thriller) (PG12)5:00, 9:30, 11:55PMEverest – 3D (Adventure, Drama ) (PG)5:15, 7:20, 11:45PMAmerican Ultra – 2D (Action, Comedy) (12+)11:30PMThe Transporter Refueled– 2D (Action )5:30, 11:30 PM (PG12)

The Blood Lands – 2D (Horror) (12+)Cast: Pollyanna McIntosh, Lee Williams10:00 PMTekken Kazuya’s Revenge – 2D (Act) (15+)Cast: Kane Kousgi, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa10:00 PMKatti Batti – 2D (Romance/Comedy) (PG12)7:30PMMaaya – 2D (Horror) (15+)Cast: Nayantara, Aari, Amzath Khan7:15 PM

SURMaze Runner : the Scorch Trails (3D) (Action | Sci - Fi ) (PG12)7:00, 11:45 PMThe Dead Land (Action) (15+) CP#6:30 PMUtopiayile Rajavu (Malayalam)(Family ) Cast: Mammooty, Jewel Mary, K. P. A. C. 11:00 PM (PG)Katti Batti (Hindi) (Romance) (TBC) 8:30 PMAmerican Ultra (Action | Comedy) (12+)5:15PM Everest (3D) (Adventure | Drama) (PG) 4:15, 9:30 PM

SALALAHTekken: Kazuya’s Revenge (2D) (15+) Cast: Kane Kosugi, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa10:15AM, 2:00, 10:15PMEverest (3D) (PG) (Adventure/Drama/Thriller) Cast: Jason Clarke, Ang Phula Sherpa10:15AM, 7:00, 11:55PMEverest (2D) (PG) (Adventure/Drama/Thriller) 2:15PMMoomins on the Riviera (2D) (PG) 10:00AM, 3:45PMThe Transporter Refueled (2D) (PG12) 2:30, 11:30 PMMaze Runner: The Scorch Trials (3D) 11:30AM, 9:15, 11:45PM (PG12)Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2D) (PG12) (Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller) 4:30PM Katti Batti (2D) (PG12) (Romance) 12:00, 7:45PMAmerican Ultra (2D) (12+) (Action) 12:30, 4:15PMUtopiayile Rajavu (2D) (PG) (Malayalam) 8:45PMMaaya (2D) (15+)(Tamil) (Horror) 6:00PMHero (2D) (PG12) (Action/Drama/Romance) 5:15PM

BAHJA CINEMAFilm information 24540856 / Advance Booking 24540855Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com

Everest (Adventure/Thriller/Drama) Cast: Elizebeth Debicki, Jake Gyllenhal, Keira Knightly3.45, 7.30, 9.45 & 11.55 pmCP No: 2391 (PG)The Deadlands ( Action ) Cast: James Rolleston, Lawrence Makoare2.45, 10.00 & 11.55 pmCP No: 2392 ( 15+)Tekken 2 (Action) Cast: Kane Kosugi, Cary Heroiki Tagawa, Rade Serbedzija4.45 & 8.15 pmCP No: 2394 (15+)The Blood Lands (Horror/Mystery/Thriller) Cast: Pollynna Mc Intosh, Lee williams, Jonea Mitchel1.00 & 6.30 pmCP No: 2393 (12+)Zero Tolerance (Action) Cast: Dustin Nguyen, Scott Adkins, Sahajak Boonthanakit12.15 pmCP No: 2371 (12+)Moomins On The Riviera (Animation)Cast: Maria Sid, Mats Langbacka, Kristofer Gummerus2.00 & 6.00 pmCP No: 2395 (PG) STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776Website: www.isurf.co.om

Utopiayile Rajavu (Mal) ( Com )Cast: Mammootty & Jewel Mary3-30 & 9-30 pm Cinema Main; 6-45 pm Cinema-3Thani Oruvan (Mal) ( Act/Drama ) Cast: Jayam Ravi, Nayanthara & Arvind Swamy 3-30, 6-30 & 9-30 pm Cinema-2Maya (Tamil) ( Horror)Cast: Natanthara & Aari3-45 & 9-45 pm At Cinema-3;6-30 pm at Cinema MainLoham (Mal) (Drama/Act) Cast: Mohanlal, Andrea & Renji Paniker3-45, 6-45 & 9-45 pm at Cinema – 4NEXT CHANGE:Trisha Illana Nayanthara (Tamil); Rajni Murugan (Tamil) Programmes are subject to change

@MGM @SHATTI @SOHAR @RUWI

THE MAZE RUNNER: SCORCH TRIALS (Action, Sci fi) (PG12)(3D)

Cast : Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario

Timings: 2:00, 9:15, 11:45 pm

EVEREST : 3D (Adventure, Drama, Thriller) (PG)

Cast : Jason Clarke, Ang Phula Sherpa

Timings : 7:15, 11:45 PMGold Class: 1:15, 6:15 PM

MOOMINS ON THE RIVIERA - 2D (PG)

Voice Overs : Maria Sid, Mats

Långbacka

Timings : 3:00, 4:30 PM

KATTI BATTI (ROMANCE) – PG12

Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Imran Khan

Timings: 3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PM

WEATHER

370

Maximum

280

Minimum

TEMPERATURE

30-80%RELATIVE HUMIDITY

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 16 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to extra@timesofoman.com

PRISHA SHARMASeptember 21, 2010

JUDIT MARIA BINUSeptember 21, 2006

RIYAN SHARISeptember 21, 2006

DHRUV KOLTE September 21, 2007

TANVIR MUDISeptember 21, 2010

P. SRIMAN September 21, 2002

SONA GODWINSeptember 19, 2003

WITH LOVE

LIFESTYLEC11M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

Harry Potter Invisibility Cloak Now a Reality

TURNING science fiction that you must have witnessed in sci-fi film Star Trek or the Harry Potter series into a stunning reality, a team of US scien-tists has devised the first ever ultra-thin invisibility “skin” cloak that can wrap around an object and make it vanish in a jiffy. Although the cloak is only microscopic in size, the princi-ples behind the technology should en-

able it to be scaled-up to conceal macroscopic items as well. Working with brick-like blocks of gold nanoantennas, the re-searchers from the US Department of Energy (DOE)’s Berke-ley Lab and University of California (UC)-Berkeley “fash-ioned a “skin” cloak barely 80 nanometers in thickness. It was wrapped around a 3D object about the size of a few biological cells and arbitrarily shaped with multiple bumps and dents. It conformed to the shape of the object and concealed it from detection with visible light. “This is the first time a 3D object of arbitrary shape has been cloaked from visible light,” said Xiang Zhang, director of Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division and a world authority on metamaterials. “Our ultra-thin cloak now looks like a coat. It is easy to design and imple-ment,” he said in a paper that appeared in the journal Science.

Taking Selfies to a New Level, We Have Spoon Selfie

EVER fancied clicking a selfie while eating breakfast? Well, you can do that easily now thanks to a new “selfie spoon”. Introduced by Cinnamon Toast Crunch, the “selfie spoon” is a stick with a spoon at the end that ex-tends up to 30 inches so cereal eaters can take photos of themselves while eating cereal, TIME reported. The General Mills brand created this new spin on the selfie stick to solve the

first world problem of “choosing between eating and posting” a selfie, according to their ad. To use the selfie spoon, peo-ple would just have to turn on the Bluetooth feature on their smartphones so the white remote will be recognised — there is one grey button that takes photos on Android phones, and one that takes photos on iOS devices. Selfie spoons are free to order now on SelfieSpoon.com, though customers do have to pay for shipping. -IANS

BR I E FS

The recent unfortunate death of rising F1 IndyCar driver Justin Wilson, reminded

me yet again of life’s fragility. There he sat in his ride’s cockpit, all buckled safe and secure; and he didn’t even err — it was the nose cone of driver Sage Karam’s car which flew off after he crashed, and struck Wilson in the head, and Wilson paid the ultimate price.

This brings me to the point back in time when I used to be too care-less or, might I say, over-confident about my riding skills. I do recall how I did not always wear my mo-torcycle gear when venturing out on my sports-bike — the Kawasaki Ninja ZX 14R. I had all the right gear, a Bell helmet, good quality Alpinestar leather and textile jack-ets and a decent pair of ankle mo-torcycle boots, not to forget gloves. Yet, I always wore my everyday denim jeans along with just the helmet, and I was game.

Of course it occurred to me that I was not wearing the right gear, but I don’t think I was all that concerned. I was too confident that nothing untoward could befall me on the road, because I rode sensibly (that I always did), plus the jeans were comfortable; I felt relaxed in them and I looked good in them.

However, since I got the Vulcan 2000, I can honestly say, I always wear my motorcycle gear. I do find I am more vigilant these days when operating a high performance mo-torbike. Reason for the change of heart? An accident of my biker buddy, who was years senior to me in biking, and to whom I looked up as my Guru. All that confidence

was shattered instantly. For anyone who has ever ridden

a motorcycle on the open road you know what a fantastic feeling of freedom it can bring, but you also know that since we are sharing the roadway with other much larger and heavier vehicles it can also be dangerous.

Remember, unfortunate inci-dents are more often a result of negligence on part of that other rash, careless driver on the road — so better be not too confident of your abilities.

You can’t control what the other drivers on the road will do, but you can take some simple precautions to make sure you have a good shot at walking away if you are in an ac-cident. A good rider is one who is prepared in advance: alert enough to dodge, and prepared enough to avoid serious injuries, in case any nasty incident was still to happen.

The biggest blunder motorcycle riders commit is not wearing full protective gear. For most out there on the road, a helmet is all that pro-tective gear means. Unfortunately, for many, when they think of riding their motorcycle they are thinking of being free and looking cool and not about their own safety, which is why so many motorcyclists end up severely injured every year in road accidents. Wearing proper riding gear is more about prac-ticality and less about making a fashion statement. And to add to it, a rider actually looks hotter on his bike in full gear, than just in shorts and tees.

Many motorcycle accidents are easily preventable and often are

the direct result of riders not wear-ing the proper motorcycle protec-tive clothing. Injuries such as skin abrasions and lacerations from not wearing protective motorcycle clothing, hand and finger damage from not wearing gloves, broken ankles from not wearing motorcy-cle boots, could all be avoided.

Curb your excuses and bring a bit of a change in attitude. Yes, motorcycling is fun, adrenaline-fuelled and somewhat naughty, but also dangerous. It is a responsibil-ity to ride safely at all times. Part of riding safely involves wearing the right motorcycle protective gear. Have fun on your motorcycle, but be responsible too. They go hand in hand. Motorcyclists rarely come out on top when in a collision, so it is essential that you protect your-self by using motorcycle protective gear whenever you ride.

Just stop and think for a minute what it would feel like to slide across a roadway at 100kmph without adequate protection for your body and/head. Not good.

Whether you’re riding across town or across the country, always wear protective gear; that’s the best way to ensure you will be rid-ing for many more years to come. Cover up. Keep your skin where it belongs, not on the pavement.

There is no reason to take un-necessary risks. Enjoy the freedom of biking but protect yourself at the same time. Use motorcycle protec-tive gear every single time you ride. Don’t take foolish chances with your safety. Protect yourself. More next time — Ride Safe. faisal@timesofoman.com

Unfortunately, for many, when they think of riding their motorcycle they are thinking of being free and looking cool and not about their own safety, which is why so many motorcyclists end up severely injured every year in road accidents. Wearing proper riding gear is more about practicality and less about making a fashion statement

LIFESTYLEC12 M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

The decision comes af-ter a lawsuit first filed in 2012 in which Ap-ple claimed Samsung was using some of its

technology without proper per-mission. The case was decided in May 2014 when Apple was award-ed $120m (£76m) in damages.

At issue were Apple patents cov-ering autocorrect software, slid-ing a finger on a screen to unlock a phone and ways to turn text into hyperlinks.

Apple had appealed Samsung should stop selling phones using the disputed features. Judges disagreed as they believed the company had not demonstrated it had suffered signifi-cant harm from the infringement.

However, the latest ruling over-turns that decision. Now, two of the three judges reviewing the case have said Apple deserves an injunction to stop Samsung selling some phones.

This does not mean Samsung will be forced to stop selling phones that use the disputed technology right

away. The ruling means the case returns to the lower district court which will decide on whether an in-junction is appropriate.

Apple and Samsung have faced each other in court many times over technology patents they own. In late 2014, the two firms agreed to drop all the patent cases being fought outside the US.

Still at issue is a 2012 decision in a separate case that initially awarded Apple more than $1b in damages for Samsung’s use of its patented tech-nologies. Subsequent legal hearings reduced the damages to $930m but Samsung has appealed against this revised figure.

It is not clear though what impact the ruling will have on Samsung because it only covers phones, such as the Galaxy S3, that were sold in 2012 and have now largely disappeared from shop shelves. In addition, Samsung has updated the software on its hand-sets so newer models do not use the disputed features.— Agencies

Apple Wins Appeal Over Smartphone PatentsIn what could be a major blow, Samsung could

be forced to stop selling some phones after

Apple won an appeal in a US court

Phot

o: S

uppl

ied

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, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

RENT D2

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon

for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

FORRENT

Al Ahlia Real Estate L.L .C95957000/24504001/24504003

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

New 1/2 B/R RES/ Comm.

flats near Medical College Bausher

directly from owner.

Contact :92158031

Villas and flats for rent. Contact: 99120014.

www.dreamhomesoman.com

Deluxe 3 BHK Penthouse with

Seaview, ideal for office / residence

at Qurum near PDO.

Contact: 9772 1313 / 95070421

For rent : showroom / storage space

available (area 290 SQM, 6M height)

facing Al Mina street, Jibroo.

Contact: 99360631 / 96760819

Villa in Bausher 36 for Rent :

Mordent design, Mordent decora-

tions with spot lights, 4 bedrooms,

6 balconies, Kitchen, Store, 6 toilets,

full marble, full split unit.

Contact 94009600

New Building in Mutrah, 2 B/D

Room Flat + Setting Room,3 Baths+

Kitchen with split unit Ac’s. Behind

Khimiji’s main office/opposite to

Oman House Call 99419712

Wadi Kabir, 2 Bed Room Flat

with sitting Room, 2 Bath Rooms+

Kitchen. Opposite to Kuwaiti Mosque.

Close to Indian school.

Call 99419712/99261628

2BHK new flats in Al Khud rent

240/-. Contact: 97616158

Twin villa with basement for rent

AL Khuwair 25. Contact: 99359988 3 BHK, 3 bathrooms, 2 balconies

Nr Al Hassan, W/Kabir R.O 325/-.

Contact: 99384640

House for rent 4BR family hall,

fitting room, dining room, kitchen,

store with A/C & satellite reception

at Mawaleh south , behind Sultan

discount center rent R.O 550/-.

Contact: 93653311

VILLA IN AZAIBA – Four Bed Room

Villa, near Well Roundabout &

Umm Al Qura Mosque. Available

for sharing also. Call 92887809 /

98048207.

Flats in Ruwi, Muttrah, Mumtaz

area available. Contact: 24813822

Villa for rent - Al Seeb/Al Mawelah

- Block 5 - 4 bedrooms with attached

bathrooms , Majlis, 2 halls, kitchen

and storeroom. split Ac and carpark -

contact 99564616 / 99498448

1BHK Wadi Kabeer near Sana

RO 180/-. Contact : 95094028

Fully Furnished 2BHK Apartments

available at Bareeq Al Shatti.

Contact 92888063

2BHK with split AC near PDO Gate

No.2 Qurum available for immediate

renting. Contact : 94057023

D2 M O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

Room with A.C at AL Khuwair

R.O 120/-. Contact: 97799175

1BHK flat with A/C AL Khuwair

250/- R.O. Contact: 99358589 /

95570288

2 BHK Flats for rent Muttrah near

Oman house. Contact: 97007934 /

92629232

New flats 1 room and living room

with accessories & 2 rooms and

living room with accessories in

Wadi Kabir. Contact: 92130703 /

96045478

New flats for rent in Darsait,

Al Sahal. Contact : 99311525

Two shops in Muttrah Souq, for rent

more details pleas.

Contact: 91214849 / 95729711

Flat and show room for rent

Al Khuwair 33, Al Ghubrah, Darsait

and Jibroo. Contact: 24485240 /

24485241 / 93651633 / 92109563

1BHK near Al Nahdha Ruwi.

Contact: 99617786

1 & 2 bedroom flats available for

rent in wadi-kabir (opp: pencil bldg),

ideal for company staff / families -

bulk corporate deal possible.

Contact: 97677170

Furnished room for rent at

Al Khuwair R.O 225/- for family only.

Contact: 99251975

2 BHK with split AC Al Khuwair -33

for residential & commercial use.

Contact : 94057023

Rooms for rent in Al Khuwair near

Ibis Hotel with AC.

Contact: 95124975

Deluxe 1,2,3 bedroom flats in Wadi

Kabir , Ruwi, Mumtaz & Al Khu-

wair areas. Contact : 24707340 /

99472457 / 95282986

Deluxe villas at Al Hail.

Contact 95282986

Two shops in Muttrah Souq, for

rent more details please contact:

91214849 / 99364735

New flats for rent in Darsait

Al Sahal. Contact: 99777351

600 SQT commercial flat for rent

opposite Oman flourmill Darsait

more details. Contact: 91214849/

99364735

Flats, shops for rent in Ruwi, MBD &

Mumtaz area. Contact 97293708

Flats in Al Khuwair 33 with gym

free for tenants 2 BHK RO.425/-.

Contact 93161111

3BHK flat Darsait Near I.D card Med-

ical 450/- R.O. Contact: 99358589 /

95570288

1& 2 BHK flats for rent at Wadi

Kabir, Wadi Adai, Hamriya, Al Khoud

and Mabela and shop at Al Khoud

land line. Contact : 24834644

GSM 93994401/ 02/ 03, 3 lines

Twin villa 6BR hall, kitchen at

Al Ansab-2. Contact: 99747560 /

99444786

Available furnished meeting hall for

seminars on a hourly, daily,

monthly, yearly basis.

please contact 93203773 :

Email: mbdeast@gmail.com

Villa for rent: 6 bed rooms, 1 sitting

room, 2 halls, 1 kitchen and 1 pantry.

Al Mawaleh South phase 3 close to

Al Sahwah roundabout, first line

behind Amwag perfume factory.

Contact - 99360366

Shops for rent in Wadi Kabeer.

Contact: 99888390

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00

noon for next day’s publication.

* Subject to space availability

2BHK, 2 Baths, Split A/C, Wadi ka-

beer towards Al bustan, Near Indian

Elementary School.

Contact 99441193, 93004802

Spacious 2BHK with attached

bathroom near Lulu Wadikabir. Rent

– OMR 280/=. Contact 98759576 or

95822833

2 bedroom villa in Sidab.

Contact: 95755953 / 95555162

1BHK Ruwi & 3BHK Bosher. Contact: 99024730

2BHK new Amerat with AC 230/-

R.O. Contact: 99024730

Villa /room for rent Al Qurum

behind Mars. Contact: 95349530 /

99586517

2BHK close to Indian school kin-

dergarten Wadi Kabir R.O 320/-,

1BHK R.O 250/-. Contact: 99476728

/ 98484415

1BHK flats available for rent in CBD

area. Contact: 98116480

Flat for rent in Hamriya.

Contact: 99341112

Flats in Al Khuwair 2 BHK RO.350/-

Contact – 93161111.

Furnished flat in Bareeq Al Shatti

2 BHK RO.750/-. Contact 93161111

Commercial villa near Bareeq

Al Shatti 8 BHK + swimming pool

RO.2500/-. Contact 93161111

Villa in Madinate Sultan Qaboos

3BHK + maid room RO.1400/-.

Contact 93161111

Villa in Al Khuwair 4 BHK RO.600/-,

Flat in Madinate Sultan Qaboos

3BHK RO.600/-.

Contact 93161111

Flat in Qurum near PDO 2 BHK

+ 1 BHK RO.550/ – 375/-

Contact 93161111

Flats in Azaiba opp to Al Sahwa

Tower 2 BHK RO.450/- 1BHK

RO.350/-. Contact 93161111

Villa for rent in Al Khuwair 33, 8

bedrooms & 5 bathrooms with park-

ing area near Taimur Mosque.

Contact: 99366624

3BHK well maintained flat (villa

type) G. floor split A/C separate

entrance, parking, and compound

available in Al Khuwair behind

Sagar Polyclinic Way no. 3922,

Block 239, Villa No. 1839.

Contact: 99253125

DAILY GUIDEM O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5 D3

Gas cooker (4 burner) in good condi-

tion for immediate sale. #96027403

Ice Cream & juices shop in Ruwi good

location for sale suitable for beauty

parlor also. Contact: 92150455

Shop for sale at Ruwi High street

inside. Contact 96023492

Sale of Radiator of Cummins

C 1100D5B Generator presently lying

at M/s Al Ansari Yard in Ghala. For

further information, please contact

Mr. Deshpande on 99415504 M/s

Muscat Surveyors LLC on 24816579

Beauty Parlor for sale or rent.

Contact 99131775 / 96700192

For sale land in Amerat 3000 Sq.mt

with petrol pump permission.

Contact 99323957 / 92702891

FOR SALE

Near Mars Wadi Al Kabir spacious

room hatched bath room separate

kitchen facility (small family).

Contact: 95731543

Large room furnished sep / entrance

Wadi Kabir. Contact: 99336206

A big room in available near Ham-

riya R/A for Muslim couple / small

family / Executive bachelor rent

150/- per month including W+ E.

Contact: 99495131

Acc. available for a decent Expatri-

ate in Wadi Adai, Ruwi. Sharing

entrance, own: room, kitchen and

bathroom- fully furnished including

elect. RO 150. Contact 96243086

from 5pm

3 BHK Fully Furnished Villa for

(Family or executive bachelors) at

South Al Mawaleh (Behind Seeb

City Center). Gsm 92494923

Separate room with A/c, Small

Fridge and Bed, for non-cooking

Asian bachelor, behind Shell filling

station, Ghoubra round about.

Contact: 94263390

ACC. AVAILABLE

ACC. AVAILABLE

LOST

UNIVERSAL SCRAP BUYERS AT

AMAZING PRICESConvert ANY type of Scrap into Money by selling us the scrapGreat prices are guaranteed

for our clients!Call this number now for

urgent response - 96059470

*Kindly note that the scrap should be 50 tons onwards

AFFORDABLE QUALIFIED STAFF AVAILABLE:

Hurry and call this number now! 95967902

Our professionals give YOU:

CLASSY, CREATIVE AND AFFORDABLE INTERIOR DESIGN

Hurry now and call this number 91494149

SITUATION WANT-ED

M.V. FOR SALE

Toyota Yaris (Hatchback) - White,

2008, fully automatic, Expat used.

9206 6523

Mitsubishi Pajero 2006 model

Automatic, 1,22,000 km, insurance

+ registration valid till August

2016 black, well serviced, good

condition, OMR 2,800/-.

Contact: 94515102

Mercedes car – C 180, 2010 model

for sale, 160.000 KM, very good

condition, expecting around

R.O 6,000. Contact: 99751044

Lexus GX 460, 2013.

Contact : 99336093

Kia Cerato 2014 Model for sale

1300 kms Under agency warrenty

and service. Contact: 99634841

AVAILABLE

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirt-

ing, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery,

Crockery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes,

Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound Sys-

tems and spectacular lighting. Call

Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering and

Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound & Light.

ww.tunesoman.com,

E-mail: info@tunesoman.com FOR HIRE

Bobcat Grader and roller for rent.

Contact: 94584688

Volvo 12 Ton Truck for monthly

rent. Contact: 98713900

NRI

Brand new 3 bedroom flat in Er-

nakulam Vytila Bus terminal, 1500

sq ft, ready to occupy.

Contact 96947652

Ready to occupy (brand New)

3BHK,1200 sq ft apartment in

Mogappair at KG signature city-

direct from owner -No broker.

Contact Muscat-93210545,

Chennai 9840468313

Single room with separate bathroom

available opp. Al Nahdha Hospital for

Indian families. Contact : 92394614

Sharing accommodation for couples near Kims Darsait.

Contact: 94627458

Room for rent with sharing bath-

room & kitchen at Al Khuwair, behind

Golden Spoon Restaurant.

Contact 92994415

Semi furnished separate room for

non-cooking Asian bachelor, behind

Shell filling station, Ghubra round

about. Contact: 94263390

Large room with separate bathroom

& sharing available in Al Khuwair.

Contact 95250161

Furnished room (for Ladies)with

attached bath separate entrance in

Mabela. Contact :99634841

Vegetable & fruit counter in grocery

store in Saham available. Contact:

93006562 / 99417418

Muhammad Javed has lost Paki-

stani Passport No. CE8679191. Finder

please handover to ROP.

Sanih BT Sayat Oyen has lost

Indonesia Passport No. 85595575.

Finder please handover to ROP

MATRIMONIAL

RC, Keralite ( Kottayam) male,

27 yrs, Civil Engineer, working in

Muscat from decent family looking

for suitable alliance.

Contact : 95035953

Suitable alliance invited for a

Marar (ambalavasi) girl 24yrs 170cm

from thrissur, star rohini, shuddha

jathakam, MTECH (e&c), from

parents of boys belong to marar/

podoval/nair or related communities.

GSM: 00968 93691316

Email- smgkutty2006@yahoo.co.in

Seeking alliance for our son from

Muslim families. Interested families

Contact: 99889590

GOOD NEWS

Ayurvedic Treatment for joint pain,

backache, paralysis, massage, steam

bath, obesity, spondylitis , IDEAL CARE

Ayurvedic Clinic, 18 November Street,

Azaiba # 99639695 / 98342990

FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know

more about Islam, please call:

99425598, 99250777, 99353988,

99253818, 99341395, and 99379133.

For ladies: 99415818, 99321360,

99730723 Orvisit:www.islamfact.com

Ayurvedic massage backache,

joint pain, neck pain etc.

Contact 98254909

Ayurvedic treatment for backache,

paralysis, arthritis etc & massage,

All Season (Vaidyaratnam). Contact

24475280 / 95371664 / 92504980

www.siddhayur.com

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

CATERING

DAILY GUIDED4 M O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

DOMESTIC HELPER

DOMESTIC HELP

EDUCATION

ENGINEER/TECH/MECH

ACCOUNTANT

ADMIN

BEAUTICIAN

Looking for a female who can teach

and play with two kids at their home

in Gubrah. Candidate must be caring

and fluent in English.

Timing 2pm -6pm and salary RO120.

Contact: 93892656

Required housemaid for part time at

Ghubra.Contact:93267065

Urgent need Purchaser / Imports, Accounts Assistant. Candidates with

bachelors degree and 3 to 5 years

relevant experience. Please email CV

to trend1993@yahoo.com

DRIVER

MEDICAL

SKILLED LABOR

MANAGER

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

SALES / MARKETING

Urgently required Female Nurses with MOH license for a Polyclinic. At-

tractive Salary with accommodation.

Contact: 97091664 or 97327175.

Email: mmcmuscat@gmail.com

Required urgently General Physi-cian Gynecology, Pharmacist, LAB Technicians staff nurse. Contact: 95133572

Email: kunoozghala@gmail.com

Wanted Nurse for dental centre in Mawaleh South & Qurum.

Contact 93431024,

Email : drasyanaseem@gmail.com

Urgently needed female Dermatol-ogist with minimum 5 yrs experi-

ence. Send CV : elixirhealthcenter@

yahoo.com P.S. details of salary and

benefits will be sent after submitting

the CV

Wanted Pharmacist (B.Pharm), Staff Nurses (female) with or with-

out MOH license for a polyclinic near

Sohar. Excellent salary package.

Contact 99006915,

Email : alhinaee.clinic@yahoo.com

Required Pharmacies with license,

needed for clinic in Al Khoudh ,

Contact :+968 97696502 , mail CV to

towershr70@gmail.com

ADMIN

DRIVER

ARCHITECT

EDUCATION

A reputed Lebanese chain of Restau-rants requires Delivery Man in Mus-

cat. The person should have a two

wheeler driving license and must be

familiar with the Muscat city. Are you

interested to be a part of a reputed

group please call 92443104.

Driver with Oman driving licence

needed. Visa available.

Contact 94288863

Looking for an experienced house driver for an Omani family.

Interested candidates may

Contact: 96203333

Young Electrical Engineer looking

for suitable placement. Having spe-

cialization in electronics.

Contact 99227861

Project Manager (Interior fitouts dé-

cor & MEP) B.E. Arch having 8 years

experience looking for a suitable

position in a reputed company.

Local release is available.

Contact: 91528851

B.E Arch with 8 years experience

as 2 Project Manager in Interior fi-

touts décor & MEP works looking for

suitable. Local release is available.

Contact: 91528851

Indian male diploma in Civil Engi-neering with 20 years experience

in interior fitout with valid driving

license NOC and local release avail-

able. Contact: 98048410

Mechanical Engineer, male 28

yrs, Indian 2 yrs experience (L& T

Ports) as Maintenance Engineer

knowledge in protect planning &

management seeking for a suitable

job. Contact: 92685011

on visit visa.

Email: srinathvijayanavs@gmail.com

Reputed metal fabrication company

seeks fabrication supervisor, structural steel fabricator, Machine maintenance Technician and Electrician. Contact: 99102383

Email: hr@khancogroup.com

A Mechanical Engineer with sales-

manship experience of 5 years &

above preferable with Oman drivers

license and NOC. Please forward

your CV to almaadhi.trd@gmail.com

Housemaid (exp 20 years)

looking for English, family.

Contact: 99564133 / 96534195

MISCELLANEOUS

SALES / MARKETING

Experienced Denter, Spray painter, Mechanic, Outdoor sales person required. Contact 98045373

Fresher 24 years B.Com Gradu-

ate, Tally 7.2 & ERP9, looking for a

suitable placements in Accounts.

Contact: 97219505

ACCA finalist, Recent B.Com Gradu-

ate, Indian female, looking for full

time employment in Accounting and

Audit. +968 96964379,

sangeethaumesh5@gmail.com

Senior Finance Professional (CA, ICWA, CIMA), Indian, with more

than 25 years of varied experience

in finance and accounting, project

evaluations and business valuations

seeks suitable employment oppor-

tunities in Oman, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait

or Bahrain. Available for immediate

joining. Contact Gopal +971 50 508

2538, email – rajiraja@hotmail.com

Wanted urgently need two Tailors who can make curtains.

Contact: 98962888

Urgently required for a private

bilingual school at Al Ansab for

immediate placement - Physics, Maths, Librarian, Nurse, Special Educators. Please email your CV :

employment22013@gmail.com

immediately.

Post Graduate researcher required. Contact 99229700

Cooks & helpers for café. Contact: 95529970

Restaurant Staff urgently required Tandoor roti maker, waiter/ helper

required in restaurant in Saham.

Contact : 98029701 / 95821905

Required Catering Supervisor, Chef, Asst. Cook & Chapathi makers for a catering Company in

interior area. Apply with NOC.

SMS : 99242984

Required Filipina female Waitress-es & male Housekeepers in Dolphin

Hotel – Muscat. Only residents /

contact number: 24488192

please send C.V :

dolphinhoteloman@hotmail.com

Marketing Manager with Oman

experience & driving license.

Contact: 95766844

Sales Executive : required urgently

for an established Printing Press.

Minimum 3 years relevant experi-

ence and working knowledge of

printing process is expected.

Contact 99354681

Looking for qualified, good commu-

nication and computer skills candi-

date with experience for position of : Sales Manager to work in high-end

window tinting business. Minimum

academic requirements: bachelor’s

degree and own a driving license.

Kindly email your CV to

abdullah.alhinai86@gmail.com

Urgently required Sales Executives for construction materials with local experience, driving license and

NOC. Send the CV with photo to

grioman@gmail.com

Highly experienced & qualified

Finance Controller / Manager seeks

suitable position. NOC available. Can

join immediately. Contact: 92817797

Indian female 26 yrs B.Com CA Inter

with 4 yrs experience seek placement

in accounts. Contact : 94045427

Indian male 27 yrs, B. Com, MBA,

CA Inter ( pursuing final) with 7+

yrs experience, seeks suitable

placement in accounts, holds valid

Saudi D/L. Contact : 95358659

Chief Accountant, 12 years Oman

experience looking for suitable posi-

tion. Contact: 99513082

Accountant 7 Years Experience with

D/L and NOC. Contact 97712084

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 female, MSC physics B.ED

having 5 years experience in

teaching looking for suitable jobs.

Contact: 97367389

Bangladeshi light driver (AG) 48)

expe, 14 years, need job & visa have

release paper transpire.

Contact: 99165961

Light Vehicle Driver with 4 yrs exp

looking for job. Contact: 94241385

Light duty driver looking for job

more than 4 years exp in Oman.

Contact: 92602182

Driver. Contact: 95084826

Wanted driving job.

Contact : 97690766

Driver Pakistani available.

NOC available. Contact: 94356465

Pakistani male light vehicle driver

looking for job. Contact: 96474528 Driver with car. Contact :91452930

Wanted driver. Contact 95112461

Car with driver or without cat

specially Companies.

Contact 97943750 / 97408900

Driver job wanted. Contact: 99343782

Light duty driver 5 years exp in

Oman. Contact: 92602182

Urgently need Project Sales Execu-tive - Modular Kitchens, candidates

with bachelor’s degree and 3 to 5

years relevant experience,

please email CV to

trend1993@yahoo.com

Accomplished Advertising Sales & Business Development Execu-tives for leading Media Enterprise.

Enthusiastic Freshers also welcome.

jobs@interacoman.com

Required experienced Sales / Marketing Executives having light

license. Send your CV

ocean@omantel.net.om

AVON requires female Omani Nationals (bi-lingual) and Expatri-

ates to join their expanding local

Sales Team. Candidate must have

good communication skills, highly

organized with a commitment and

enthusiasm to be successful. Train-

ing will be provided. Valid Omani

D/L necessary. Send CV on

samiha-avon@mhd.co.om

Required Sales Executive for

Stationery Company with Oman

driving license. Send

Email: mipartjob@gmail.com

Required Sales Manager for a hotel

supply company with minimum

5 years experience.

Contact - 92035162

Senior Architect, Indian male

15yrs exp. having DL& NOC, Look-

ing for suitable position.

Contact: 97239313 Email:

abdul_muq2000@yahoo.co.uk

Indian male BBA Graduate 12 years

experience in Administration level

15 months exp in Oman having NOC

available looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact : 91458388

Indian 24 years BCA MCITP having

2 years exp as system administrator

looking suitable job.

Contact: 94170892

Filipina, 10 yrs experience in

Fashion Retail, Shipment, Logistics,

Inventory, Warehouse Control and

Store Management is seeking

employment. Call +971565833126

or 97728418.

14 years of gulf experience in HR /

Admin & logistics fluent in Arabic /

English with D/L looking for suitable

position. Contact: 95824598

Omani Receptionist required recep-

tionist, well presented with excellent

communications skills and telephone

manner, fluent in Arabic and English

required for Ruwi office. Candidates

should be familiar with MS English

and Arabic office suite. Send CV and

covering email to

mj-co@omantel.net.om

CATERING

Indian male B.A with Diploma in

Hotel Mgt with 15 yrs experience in

hotels & catering, having Oman D/L

seek suitable placement.

Contact: 95451547

Email: lijosaju@yahoo.com

Urgently required experienced Beautician. Contact 96616731 or

send CV to pbm.ibra@gmail.com

Indian female MBA fresher finance

& HR B.Com Computer on family

joining visa. Contact : 93839846

Email: abmiesunny92@gmail.com

Accountant with 8 years U.A.E

experience, on visit visa, looking for

a job. Contact : 96166512

Senior Accountant 10 years experi-

ence, looking for accounts parttime

works and finalization works.

Contact: 96247295

Indian female (BSc MBA) having

6 yrs exp in Garment industries

seeking suitable office oriented job.

Contact : 91317975

25 yrs female Indian with B.Com

MBA looking out for a job in finance

/ marketing / HR field with a work

experience of 1 year, 3 months at

Bank Muscat & 7 months at India.

Contact: 94657403 / 95537261

Indian male B.Com Graduate 24

years looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact: 97219505

Indian male 10 years experience, 6

years in Oman, with Oman driving

license, having NOC seeking suitable

job. Contact: 96012973

Jordanian Accountant (ACPA) with

more than 15 yrs experience in Oman

(Accounts, Purchase & finance.

Contact: 92881223

Email: kamal_sarhan@yahoo.com

Indian male, 27years, MCom,

having 2years experience in

Accounts looking for suitable position.

Presently on visit visa.

Contact 93455055|

gibingeorge88@gmail.com

Part time Accountant available.

Contact : 93438100

HOSPITALITY

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

DAILY GUIDEM O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5 D5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

MEDICAL

ITSALES / MARKETING

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

TIG+ARC welder Indian with 16yrs

middle est. exp in copper nickel.

Diplex, inconel, S.S, CS Now on visit

visa seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 96502282.

Email manuangola88@gmail.com

Pakistani Qualified 15 years experi-

ence in automobiles work shop

supervisor service advisor repair

estimator mechanical accidental

having UAE driving license on

express visa looking job please.

Contact : 96042322

Sudanese procurement Manager three years experience in Oman.

Contact: 93391008

Senior Manager Indian, 30 years in

FMCG Business in Oman looking for

better opportunity at management

level. Contact 99231513

Fabrication Manager overall 07

years of experience in fabrication of

Structural steel industry with NOC

& driving license looking for an op-

portunity available up to

25th September 2015.

Contact : 97004394 Email:

mohanmukund_mech@yahoo.co.in

22 years B.Com Graduate having

experience in trading of car accesso-

ries and also with valid GCC driving

license looking for a suitable job.

Contact 98504698

Indian Male 5 years experience

in Admin and Hospitality services,

seeks suitable placement

Contact:96461046

Email:chijilsidhan5@gmail.com

A GNM Nurse seeking suitable

placement in Hospital or clinic

having 11 yrs experience in Oman.

Contact 98766167, can ready to

work temporary or permanent.

Indian female BSc Nurse with

4 years experience with Oman

prometric 64% looking for suitable

placement in capital area. Contact:

95847286

Indian male, MSc, MPhil, BEd

Chemistry,2 Yrs Teaching experi-

ence and having experience in

lab analyst, currently on visit visa,

seeks suitable post.

Contact 90208673

MBA Graduate having 23 yrs of

experience as Sales Manager in

building materials trading looking

for a suitable opportunity, release

available. Contact 92106768,

Email : suvimasri@gmail.com

Business intelligence / Global Mar-

keting management specialist with

9 years of experience developing

brand value & managing overall pro-

jects to achieve business objectives

seeking suitable position on family

visit. Contact: 91902154

MBA 15 years experience in Sales &

Marketing in telecom, FMCG, pres-

ently in India C/O Saif Kazi.

Contact : 99625957

Email Id: a_kazi123@yahoo.co.in

Indian male 25 yrs BBM Graduate

3 yrs of experience Sales / Market-

ing in Oman looking in suitable

placement. Contact : 93185316

Email: karsh794@gmail.com

TOURS & TRAVELS

Five years experience in Travel

field ,BCom., IATA & pursuing MBA,

Presently working in the Travel

Desk of (ITC managed) Five Star

Hotel in India, looking for a suitable

position in the Middleeast.

pls contact 9470 5767

Software Programmer, 6 yrs exp in

software development (Java, PL/SQL

Unix) on visit visa.

Contact: 99487493

SAP BW Analyst : Indian male, 26

yrs, B.Tech (CS & E) from ASET, New

Delhi, worked as a Business

Analyst in Software Industry.

Contact 98008127 / 92878708,

vaisakh.bhaskar@gmail.com

Indian 24 years BCA MCITP having

2 years exp as System Administra-

tor looking suitable job.

Contact: 94170892

B.Tech Information Technology looking job in System work. MS

Office, Data Entry, Networking expe-

rience, 2 years experience in Linux

Admin. Contact: 92472137

Email: vairavel.inbaa@gmail.com

CCNA MCITP Network support/

Network technician with 2 yrs expe-

rience Indian male having bachelors

degree on visit visa.

Contact: 93080871,

email :sean.f.peters@outlook.com

Indian male 34 yrs M.Tech Indus-

trial biotechnology having teaching

experience seeking for job.

M. Ramkumar. Contact : 96674521,

0091-9940586051

Email: rmkumar28@gmail.com

BE, ECE Mumbai university skills

in C, C++, windows, linux, controller

and processor RTOS, Electronics,

Networking, 6 months experience in

embedded software seeks place-

ment. Contact : 917774864736

Email: sadatbtisekar@gmail.com

Bangladeshi Diploma Civil Engi-

neer 3 years experience in Bangla-

desh 2 years in Oman.

Contact: 93796905 / 97319361

Electronic & Communication

Engineer auto cad, 2 yrs Indian

experience in Instrumentation, cur-

rently on visit visa looking for

a suitable position.

Contact : 94493227,

Email: rijokokkadan@gmail.com

Female Civil Engineer with 3.5 years

experience looking for job in Muscat,

proficient in site execution, tendering

procedures billing, Quantity take off,

budgetary control have knowledge

in AutoCAD, SAP, Word, excel, power

point. Contact: 97207212

Email: ranjur20@gmail.com

Civil Engg, B.Tech fresher Indian

male currently on visit visa seeks

suitable placement. #91702450

Email: tijoct2015@hotmail.com

Civil Engineer, Indian M 29 5yrs

exp. having DL & NOC Looking for

suitable position.

Contact: 94576233

Email: suhailmullah@gmail.com

Pakistani diploma civil (Eng) 24 year

1.5 years experience in Pak)

2 years in (Oman). Contact: 97138320

Since March 2010 in Oman as a

building Construction Site supervi-

sor with Oman D/L looking for

suitable placement or small Omani

Construction Co. Contact 93061107

D.A.E (Civil) Engineer 5 years expe-

rience Infrastructure work + safety

officer cause (OSHA & IOSH) looking

for suitable placement.

Contact: 97850996

Degree Engineer Civil, 6 years expe-

rience Oman D/L, N.O.C available for

a suitable position.

Contact: 93523507 / 95961336

Indian male, 23 yrs, B.E in Mechanical post Graduation Diploma

in piping Engineering, seeking job in

relevant field. Contact : 94786570

Email: asim.hajwani6@gmail.com

A Senior Executive, Civil Engi-

neering professional is available

for multitask engagement, co-

ordination lead contract disposals in

consultancy or construction set ups.

Contact 99703972

Indian 22 years male, Mechanical

Engineer, B.Tech has done

internships, born and brought up in

Oman with Omani driving license,

seeking suitable jobs.

Contact 92791637 Email:

ashwinsureshkotturethu@gmail.com

Indian male Production Engineer

logistics supply chain seeks suit-

able placement, currently visit visa.

Contact : 97804481

Email: akshaygopi@hotmail.com

Indian male BE civil project Engi-

neer 15 years Oman experience in

building projects with valid D/L NOC

available. Contact: 92178471

B.Tech civil project coordinator

5 years experience of with different

ministry projects NOC available.

Contact: 94194393

Indian male software Engineer 2

years experience knowledge of Java

.NET C# ASP.Net. Contact: 99210940

working in techno park Indian

Trivandrum

Sudanese Telecom Engineer five years experience in Oman.

Contact: 93391008

Cisco certified Network Engineer

with license NOC 4+ years

experience looking for job.

Contact: 91703807

Email: ekrema.zia@gmail.com

BE Electrical Engineer 8 years

experience 4 years in Oman with

Oman driving license.

Contact : 96942032

Civil Engineer (Diploma) seeking

for placement. Contact: 95200650

B.E Civil job, Project Eng exp 11 yrs.

Contact: 95690780 / 95694048

Email: sadiq.asrar81@gmail.com

Civil Engineer (Diploma) 3.5 years

experience seeking for placement.

Contact: 96535084

Civil Engineer (diploma) 3.5 yrs

exp, seeking for placement.

Contact: 95200650

Indian male B.Eng. in

IT,CCNA,MCSA,MCSE, 2.5 yrs + exp.

in IT support, networking and server

support valid Omani D/L seeking

suitable placement in IT/Network/

Server support. Contact 92607532

Indian B.E Computer Science gradu-

ate 2012 passout. 1 .5 yrs exp. in

Accounting. Having good commu-

nication skills and mindset to work

in a team. Having NIIT certificate in

Diploma in Java Technology.

Contact: 9776 7894

Email: jinsonjacobjohn@gmail.com

Indian male 24 YEARS, B.Tech (Elec-

trical & Electronics), having 2 yrs. exp

as Electrical Site Engineer. Done IOSH

& NEBOSH- IGC certifications, 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 certifica-

tions, seeking for suitable placement

in any related industries. #98045482

ACCA finalist, recent B.Com Gradu-

ate, Indian female, looking for full

time employment in Accounting and

Audit. +96896964379,

sangeethaumesh5@gmail.com

27, male, ACCA finalist, have profes-

sional experience up to finalization

of Accounts, Statutory and internal

audit, expertise in using tally and

focus & Oracle Software, have 3.5

years experience in accounts till

finalization, seeking for permanent

replacement ,GSM-97654769,email

id-abdullah.nooralam@yahoo.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 male 22yr BBA with LOGIS-

TIC Diploma, exp in tally and data

entry seeking in suitable placement.

Contact; 90151739

email shakeeb.mp280gmail.com

Mechanical Draftsman, Indian male

27, Diploma in Mechanical Engineer-

ing having 7 years of experience

in Auto CAD looking for a suitable

placement. Contact : 97351786 /

96143708 E-mail :

mohammednazeer07@gmail.com

MECH. ENGG Indian male having

1 year exp & AutoCAD knowledge

looking for suitable job.

Contact: 92835957

Indian Mechanical Engineer 31 yrs, 8+ experience in sales & Bus.

Dev, having Oman driving license

& NOC. Contact: 97116858 Email:

menonamit1984@gmail.com

Electrician 3 years experience in

Building lines in Oman and other

related experience also. NOC avail-

able. Stay till 29.09.2015. Contact:

94057129 / 95964419 Email:

raheemdadbaloch@hotmail.com

Electrical Eng. Degree (MEP) need

suitable job of construction 12 yrs exp.

Email: mohd.ateeq.khan@gmail.com

C-SWIP 3.1 ASNT level 2 QC Mech.

Engr 5+ yrs exp Indian male 26 seeks

placement. Contact : 91823331

Email: kannasekhar46@gmail.com

Electrical and Electronics Engineer with one year experience and GCC

licence holder seeking a job

mail – shyjalpk@gmail.com

SUPERVISOR: Indian male site

supervisor (AIR CONDITIONING)

25 years of experience with valid Oman

Driving license, seeking suitable place-

ment. Contact: 97498809, 93391910

Email: hilariankj@gmail.com

Indian BE (MECH) aviation BE

degree diploma in material quality

management 17 years Navy aviation

13 years construction purchase stores

professional on visit.

Contact: 90205082 /98796982

Engineer with 3 yrs experience in

Indian in MEP, HVAC& mechanical

maintained field on visit visa looking

for suitable job. Contact 99191535

Email: fareed029@gmail.com

Btech computer science graduate

2015 passout.. Android application

marketing.. Having good communi-

cation skills and mindset to work in

a team. Contact 91024385

Indian male BE Mechanical currently on 2 yrs free visa with NOC

& local release. Looking for suitable

job in Muscat. Contact – 90296975 /

ali.syedausaf@gmail.com

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

22, Indian female,Chemical Engineer

with valid Omani driving license

seeking internship/job opportunities

in oil and gas/perfumery and cos-

metics sector. Currently on family

visa.Contact: 97242506

Indian male Oman 8 yrs exp look-

ing for any suitable vacancy for

accountant / Asst. Accountant office

admin local release available.

Contact : 98492752 Email:

atiduehzidve@rediffmail.com

B.Tech EEE with 4+ years experi-

ence in the field 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 five

years of experience in Finance &

Accounts including GCC, looking for

a suitable opening. Having UAE driv-

ing license. Contact no..91391802.

Senior Accountant. 8 Years experi-

ence. NOC available. Oman driving

license. Seek suitable opportunity.

GSM- 98184170

Chemical Engineer Indian 2 years

of experience in production field

Contact: 91247222

Email:sahadpoonchola@gmail.com

B.E Mechanical Engineer with 2

years’ experience in HVAC field 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

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

field. Contact:92700670

Email: jobcareer44@gmail.com

MBA Finance with more than five

years of experience in Finance &

Accounts including GCC, looking for

a suitable opening. Having UAE driv-

ing license. Contact no..91391802

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

Accountant 7 years experience with

D/L and NOC. Contact 97712084

ACCA Affiliate, OBU Degree, 2.5

years experience in audit and

finance in Big6 firm, Looking for

permanent placement. NOC release

available. Contact: #95140445,

a.saran891@gmail.com

Indian Male Nurse with Moh

licence & Noc seeking a job with

Family Status gsm:95817579.

E.mail:vasudevanv2005@gmail.com

Part- Time Accountant, well experi-

ence senior accountant ,doing all

type of accounting works,

Finalization, Budgeting available.

Contact 98803439

MBA - (F), M.Com, B.COM. Indian fe-

male having knowledge of accounts

with Tally looking for part time or

full time job. Presently on family

visa. Contact :- 91892264.

Email:- yv.dixit@yahoo.com

Sudanese/Bsc IT/26/2 years expe-

rience/excellent Eng-Arb speaking/

Omani driving license/96387227/

henrykarrar@gmail.com

Indian male Accountant, 12 years

experience, looking for a full time

or part time job, experience in tally

also. Contact 98983122

Pakistani, Male, Pak, Exp 14 Years

in IT Trainer / Computer Teacher,

looking for a better position in

Oman, already working in Prestig-

ious Construction Company.

Contact 95983711.

Join.mtmali@gmail.com

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

INDIAN MALE 24 YEARS,B. Tech

(Electrical & Electronic).Having 2

years experience as Electrical Site

Engineer in Constructions. Done

IOSH & NEBOSH- IGC certifications.

Seeking for suitable placement

in constructions or in any related

industries. Contact no: 98045482,

Email: shannu.hse@gmail.com

Admin, having 10+ years experi-

ence in Admin/HR/Logistics/Time

Keeper, in reputed companies. Pres-

ently working in Muscat.

Contact- 968 94369965

mail - satya1528@gmail.com

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D6 M O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTED

SITUATION WANTED

SIT.WANTED

Female MBA gold medalist, with

computer proficiency, Oman driving

license looking for job opportunity

in event management companies in

Muscat. Ph : 99012949

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, Indian

male,29 years.8 years experience

.Presently working in Oman as a

Senior Accountant with oman Driv-

ing license. NOC available. Seek suit-

able opportunity. GSM: 97705854

Two year experience in Oman,

experience in sales, purchase and

system admin, Having GCC license.

Contact number 97475860,

Yadhukrishnan08@gmail.com

Indian Male, 32 yrs, MBA-HR, Train-

er & Faculty worked on Omanisation

& nationals development activities

with 10 yrs of experience seeking

suitable job. Contact : 93891401

saiprasad_18@yahoo.com

Sudanese 29 male (Bsc computer

science,diploma computer engineer-

ing), 6 yrs. experience dba oracle pl-

sql , ms sql-server ,ms visual studio

vba,network Omani Driver licence

language English, Arabic

Tel: 91415886

Piping Design Engineer, Indian

male 27, looking for suitable place-

ment in Piping Design & Engineer-

ing. Having 7 years of experience in

AutoCAD. Also familiar with PDMS

(11.6 Version),CAESAR ll. Contact :

97351786 / 96143708/97357143

Indian female, 24yrs, M.COM (Ac-

counts) having 3 yrs experience

in Accounts, HR, Administration,

Customer Service. Good Computer

Proficiency seeking Suitable Posi-

tion. Visa Transfer/NOC Available.

Contact: 99654913

Diploma in civil engineering having

an experience 24years (20years

in Oman) experience in Estimator

/ quantity surveyor looking for a

suitable placement, willing to join

immediately Contact : 96328687

Indian male B.Eng. in IT,CCNA,

MCSA, MCSE, 2yrs + exp. in IT sup-

port, networking and server support

valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement in IT/Network/Server

support. Contact 92607532

Indian male, 14 yrs Experience in

Maintenance & Supervisor in hotel field

( Electrical. Ac Mechanical & Plumber )

N O C available #95253640 .

email = hareeshma24@yahoo.com

ME Civil- structural Engineer, 8 Years Structural engineer ex-

perience, Looking for Structural

Designer, supervisor or site engineer

Position. Iranian male. #93696929,

Email: mhsaz1359@gmail.com

Indian Male 26 years MCA, MCSE

2012 certified, Microsoft Exchange

Server Administration, having 1 year

experience in IT/System Administra-

tion looking for suitable placement.

Contact Mob : 00968 92745708

Email: nabeelmmkty@gmail.com,

Light duty driver, Young and honest.

Can speak Arabic, Hindi and under-

stand English. Release available.

Ph.92854775 / 93487450

Indian female with MBA on visit

visa seeking immediate placement.

Contact - 968-93316493

27,male,ACCA finalist, have profes-

sional experience upto finalization

of accounts, statutory and internal

audit, expertise in using tally and

focus & oracle software, have 3.5

years experience in accounts till

finalization and statutory audit,

seeking for permanent replacement

,GSM-97654769,email id-

abdullah.nooralam@yahoo.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, B.com, MBA, having

5 years experience (3 years in U.A.E)

is currently seeking suitable op-

portunities within finance/accounts/

admin dept.Contact:93953613,

allen.mathew83@gmail.com

B.Com graduate, 11 years experi-

ence in Accounts, 9 years Oman

experience , Oman valid driving

license, looking for suitable post.

Mob:92758404 NOC Available.

Indian male 27 years B.E & MS Me-

chanical Engineer working in Delhi

for last 4 years inJcb India pvt. ltd.,

seeks placement in Oman.

Contact: 93393768

Driver looking for job exp 2 yrs.

Contact: 98522914

Indian female B. Com MBA finance

,5 years experience in oman as an

account seeking suitable placement.

Contact 99044292

Indian Male 22 Years , Graduation

In Electronics Seeking Jobs In Su-

pervisory , Sales & Sales Co-ordina-

tion Fields , Good Communication

Skill Contact 96141317,

E-mail: akhilek5@gmail.com

DIPLOMA+B.E.(CIVIL ENGINEER),

Indian, 4 years of experience, cur-

rently on visit visa; Seeking Right

Position. GSM:91570703.

Indian male 23 years Graduate,

working as a sales coordinator cum

purchase & office coordination 2 yrs

in oman Having oman license & NOC

looking for suitable job in Muscat

Email:yadhukrishnan08@gmail.com,

GSM:97475860

ME. Civil Engineer, Structural

Designer, 3 Years Structural Design,

6 Years Str. Engineer Experience,

Looking For Structural Designer Po-

sition. Iranian Male. #93696929,

Email: mhsaz1359@gmail.com

Male Graphic designer cum anima-

tion, non linear editing VFX, seeking

suitable position.

Contact: 97792661 / 96229406

B-tech Electrical Engineer with

more than 2 years of experience in

erection and designing of HT and LT

electrical systems. Seeking for

suitable job in Muscat. #98269366.

Email: sijincleetus@gmail.com

Indian Female BSC nurse with 8+

years of experience including 3

years of GCC exp. Oman Prometric

passed with 57 %. Currently in Oman.

Contact : 98034384

Data Entry operator cum Buyer,

Indian male,26years.BA, Computer

proficiency :Operating system (Win-

dows 2000xp & Windows7) E plus

and Tally ERP9, 4 yrs Experience in

Oman seeks suitable placements.

Mob: 95360255

Senior Accounts Professional,

Indian Male, 36 years, M.Com, MBA

(Fin) 9 years in Oman, with valid

Oman DL and NOC available. Capable

to handle accounts up to finalization.

Contact 9602 3965.

Driver 5 years exp know English,

Arabic,& Hindi Education B.A.

Contact : 91615715 / 99512270

Indian Male 24 years, Looking for a

Suitable Job in Telecom / Network-

ing, 1 year sales experience. M. Sc.

Communications Engineering &

Valid Driving license. Ph: 91280121.

Email: jackrprasad@yahoo.com

Indian lady 30 years Graduate hav-

ing work experience in India and

Oman looking for Admin or any other

suitable job. Contact : 95676957

Indian male, 39 yrs, MSC Computer

Science 10 years experience IT sup-

port, FMS Engineer, bank experience

looking for suitable job. #94276449

Indian, presently on visit visa

in Salalah looking for job B.com

failed UAE experience in accounts,

commercial Admin & warehouse.

Contact: 92754071 /93346931

Email: sathyanathanuk@gmail.com

MBA (Marketing /HR) with 45 years

exp in business development and

marketing, having valid Oman driv-

ing license seeks suitable placement

currently available on family visa.

Contact 97618033

Email: vjgeorge12@gmail.com

Indian, male, 41 years, CA Inter,

Persuing CA final. Now on express

visa. 7 years of Experience in OMAN

as Finance and Accounts Manager in

Trading , Construction and Firefight-

ing industry. 21 Years of exp. seeking

suitable Managerial positions. No

visa issues. Immediate joining.

Contact 98469311

Email:sebin30@yahoo.co.in

Indian male 63 years have 30 years

Muscat experience all office work

sales business development insurance

administration accounts with Oman

driving license. Contact 99249412

Indian female LLB (Advocate) 2

years experience looking for suitable

post legal advisor company secretary

etc. # 93343190 / 94476387

Email: shafu1019@gmail.com

Indian Female Accountant, CA Final

(Group I cleared), 5+ year’s experi-

ence in the field of Accounts, Audit

and Financial ERPs. Currently avail-

able in Muscat and seeking suitable

job opportunities.Ph:94704800

email id: vinithsavith@gmail.com

B.E (IT) 1 year exp complete school-

ing in Muscat needs job in software

/ net working / java/ WEB design or

marketing. #97136248 / 99313821

Indian female, B.Sc, PGDCA, cur-

rently on family joining visa, 2 years

working experience in oman as

customer care / sales co-ordinator,

immediate joining seeks suitable

placements. Contact no. (968)

95573205 / 95949230 / 95800792

Indian male 22 years ACCA affiliate ,

BSc, Graduate in applied accounting 2

months working experience seeking

suitable placement in Finance / Ac-

counts / audit immediately. Contact:

97378607 / 92558734

B-tech Electrical Engineer with more

than 2 years of experience in erection

and designing of HT and LT electrical

systems. Seeking for suitable job in

Muscat. Contact: 98269366.

Email: sijincleetus@gmail.com

Project Manager / Senior Engi-

neer, Indian Male BE Civil, 21yrs

experienced including Oman looking

for the Job Contact +918939295181

Email I’D 58031_bala@yahoo.co.in

Indian male 26 , graduate in me-

chanical engineering having 2 years

experience in fabrication production

filed in India, looking for a suitable

job. mobile: +968-91384621

EMAIL : rmekhil@hotmail.com

Sr. Sales Executive, Indian Male,

Holding Valid Oman DL. Total experi-

ence in Oman of 15 years with 4 years

Rent a Car Co. experience. Looking

for Opportunities in any Industry for

similar sales role. # 95703233

email id “khetani_r@yahoo.com

29 years Indian female (MBA-

Finance) with 4+yrs experience

(Oman) in Accounts, seeking suit-

able placement in Accounts/Admin.

Contact:96141283

INDIAN MALE 23 YEARS,B. Tech

(Electrical & Electronic). Done IOSH

& NEBOSH- IGC certifications. Look-

ing for HSE engineer job in Oil Gas

Sector, constructions or in any re-

lated industries. Contact 98045482

Indian male. M.com holder with two

year working experience as an ac-

countant in India. Now at Muscat on

visiting visa. Seeks suitable place-

ment. Gsm:96947500,99463120,

:mohamedshafikk5@gmail.com

ACCOUNTANT, Indian male,29

years.8 years experience .Presently

working in Oman as a Senior Ac-

countant with oman Driving license.

NOC available seek suitable opportu-

nity. GSM: 97705854

Civil site coordinator, Diploma,

Male 25, now present in Oman, Seek-

ing job in Oman. Contact 92887561,

jubincivileng@gmail.com

B-tech Electrical engineer with more

than 2 years of experience in erection

and designing of HT and LT electri-

cal systems. Seeking for suitable

job in Muscat. Contact:98269366.

Email:sijincleetus@gmail.com

Indian Female B.Sc., B.Ed.(Maths),

M.C.A residing in Al-Ghubra seek-

ing a teaching position as a Math

Teacher GSM.- 94231633

Female, Indian, 35 Yrs- house maid

available for Full/Part time work in

Muscat. contact- 96754303.

Indian male, ERP Functional Con-

sultant (SCM, MM, HRMS), Seeks

employment.Contact: 98478928,

Email: anand.desai2408@gmail.com

Indian male , 14 yrs Experience in

maintenance & Supervisor in otel

field ( Electrical . Ac Mechanical &

Plumber ) N O C available#95253640

email hareeshma24@yahoo.com

Piping Design Engineer, Indian

male 27, looking for suitable place-

ment in Piping Design & Engineer-

ing. Having 7 years of experience in

AutoCAD. Also familiar with PDMS

(11.6 Version),CAESAR ll. Contact :

97351786 / 96143708, Email :

mohammednazeer07@gmail.com

Indian male 28YRS, 7Years exp. in

Architectural & structural Draughts-

man & 3d visualization, looking for a

suitable Post GSM: +971551965944.

Email:aboosufiyan@gmail.com

Site Supervisor/ L Driver, Pakistani

Male 33 with valid D/L, 4 years ex-

perience in Muscat, fluent in English,

Arabic looking for suitable place.

Contact: 97950869

Indian male B.Eng. in

IT,CCNA,MCSA,MCSE, 2.5 yrs + exp.

in IT support, Networking and Server

support with valid Omani D/L seeking

suitable placement in IT/Network/

Server support. Contact 92607532

Indian male auto cad draughtsman

(civil) 8 years experience

seeking for part time job

mobile no: 0096899070584,

email: remluvp@gmail.com

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

DAILY GUIDEM O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5 D7

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

Split & widow unit A.C servicing &

repairing. Contact: 99557080

Split & window unit A.C servicing

& maintenance.

Contact: 96236476

Window & split unit A.C servicing

& maintenance.

Contact: 93769089 / 95323517

Air condition maintenance instal-

lation window AC, split a/c, ducted

AC and package type units.

Contact: 98667326

Window & split unit A.C ser-

vicing & maintenance. Contact

93769089 / 95323517

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet

& sofa shampooing, Contact

99314807/24792998

Pest Control Treatments, Cockroaches, Ants, Rodents &

Termites, Ocean Center LLC.

Contact: 99344723/ 99357908

General cleaning &

Shampooing. Ocean Center LLC.

Contact: 99344723/99357908

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your

marble. #24793614/ 99314807

Used house & office furniture

& electronic items. Contact:

99834373 / 96642500

Supply fixing Wallpapers,

all carpets. Contact: 99834373 /

96642500

One stop shop business services : Public Relation (PRO) formation new

companies, LLC companies, Investor

visa, business setup, prepare busi-

nesses & companies accounts, legal

services, representing you and your

company. Contact: Saleh : 96723485

House shifting & packing. Contact: 99657644 /98518013

Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile pol-

ishing, pest control & anti-termite

treatment, general cleaning paint-

ing, Plumbing, Electrical, shifting.

Contact Mundhir Al-Rizaiqi trading.

L.L.C. # 24810137, 99450130

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. Contact ABU QABAS-

99320217 /24788722

WEBSITE

WEB, ERP and Business Intel-

ligence (BI) creation and man-

agement at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

COMPUTER

CLASSES

Water proofing ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

MANPOWER

SIT.WANTED

SIT.WANTEDRequired investors for different

projects. Contact: 99674870

We will register LLC trade license

for foreign investors and do all

actions. Contact: 92833566

SITUATION WANT-ED

BUSINESS

DRIVING

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation in Muscat.

Contact: 95530908

Transportation for saloon car&

delivery van. Contact : 95530908

Transportation. Contact 99508282

Transportation available. Contact -955 70 429

INDIAN MALE 23 YEARS, B. Tech

(Electrical & Electronic) having

4 years working experience as an

Electrical site Engineer. Looking for

suitable job in Oil Gas Sector or in re-

lated industries. Contact 98045482

Indian Female, M.Com & MBA with

1.5 years of experience in Reinsur-

ance Treaty seeking a good job

opportunity in Insurance & Reinsur-

ance Accounts or General Accounts.

Contact: +968 91920189, Email:

neethumano.manohar@gmail.com

CCNA MCITP network support / net-

work technician with 2 years experi-

ence Indian male having bachelors

degree on visit visa. #93080871

sean.f.peters@outlook.com

8 yrs exp 2d, 3d draughtsman

(HOLDING OMANI DRIVING LICENSE)

seeking job. Contact : 93790601

ME. Civil Engineer, Structural

Designer, 3 Years Structural Design,

6 Years Str Supervising Experience,

Looking For Structural Designer Posi-

tion. Iranian Male. # 93696929

Email: mhsaz1359@gmail.com

BSC Female Nurse having 8 years of

experience ( 3 years in gulf). Promet-

ric passed - 57%. Currently in Oman.

Contact : 98034384

ACCOUNTANT, Male, 8 years expe-

rience .Presently working in Oman

as a Senior Accountant with Oman

Driving license. NOC available seeks

suitable opportunity. GSM: 98184170

ACCOUNTANT, M.Com holder with

2 year working experience as an ac-

countant in Kerela-India, seeks suit-

able placement. GSM NO:96947500,

9 9463120, mail:

mohamedshafikk5@gmail.com

Indian Male 22 Years, Graduation In

Electronics Seeking Jobs In Supervi-

sory , Sales & Sales Co-ordination

Fields , Good Communication Skill

Contact 96141317,

E-mail: akhilek5@gmail.com

Sudanese.male 32 years.B.SC

mechanical engineer.7years

experience.5 years experiance in

Gulf.working now in water pipeline

projects.fluent Arabic and English.

have Omani driving license.looking

for good opportunity TEl:91117089

Filipino (male), 37 yrs. old, having

8yrs. experience in Operation (Ship-

ping & Logistics) currently on visit

visa looking for suitable job.

GSM: 97121525

Chartered Accountant with 7 years

of post qualification experience,

seeking challenging job opportunity.

Experience in auditing/accounts &

finance/taxation/IFRS, etc.

GSM +968 95763680

Indian Female Interior Designer, 4.5

yrs experience, seeking immediate

mid-senior level position with firm

having lady clearance. NOC Avail-

able. Contact 93033072

Indian Male 22 years, ACCA Af-

filiate with B..Sc. Degree in Applied

Accounting having three months

working experience seeking suitable

placement in Finance / Accounts /

Audit. Holding valid Oman D/L.

Contact 97378607 / 92558734

Indian female Nurse, Prometric

passed 64%, 5 years of experience,

MOH licensed, presently working in

Oman seeking a suitable placement

in reputed Hospitals, NOC available.

Contact: 98329941,

Email: ancyanish2011@gmail.com.

Female from India -MA. B.Ed. with

One year three months Teaching

experience. English seeking for a

urgent better placement, Now work-

ing in Oman. #93961142, 92184408

Email:-anoopkesavan78@gmail.com.

Driver with car seeking suitable

post. Contact : 916602662

Video Editor 29 years Indian male

with 8 years experience on visit visa

looking for a suitable placement.

Contact: 91275969 /

leomoorkoth@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

8 yrs exp 2d, 3d Draughtsman (HOLDING OMANI DRIVING

LICENSE) seeking job.

Contact 97449630

Indian male MBA + TALLY , 29 years

& 7years experience in Administra-

tion and Manager level in Reputed

companies, Seeking suitable place-

ment. Contact 96297709 /

+91 9066130371,

Email: jomonjohnm9@gmail.com

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D8 M O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

RENT A CAR

RENT A CAR

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise

with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain

Marine Tours Contact- 98029602,

92808636

TOURS

SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

SITUATION WANT-CARGO

SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

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