Founded 1975 . Volume 40 No. | Pages . Baisas 200 . Subscription OMR63 | ISO 9001:2008 Certifi ed Company | Chairman/Editor-in-Chief: Mohamed Issa Al Zadjali | Printed & Published by Muscat Media Group

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TARIQ ZIAD AL HAREMI tariqh@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Even as austerity has hit the Sultanate hard and many people may feel the pinch, the cliché “laughter is the best medi-cine” could provide a tempo-rary, if not permanent, cure for people’s gloom.

Joseph Sims, the founder of Oman Comedy Central (OCC), strives to entertain and make peo-ple laugh through his stand-up comedy acts, along with the mem-bers of the group.

Currently operating as a busi-ness manager and comedy trainer, as well as an active comedian, he discovered his talent by accident and was encouraged to audition for the 1001 Laughs comedy show, which led to establishing the OCC.

“It all started with the 1001

Laughs comedy show hosted by HI FM featuring several comedi-ans that were part of the Axis of Evil comedy tour. When I saw how many people came out for the au-ditions, I realised that there was an interest in the community for stand-up comedy,” said Sims.

After winning the auditions, he opened two shows which was his “fi rst real taste of doing stand-up” and proudly established Oman Comedy Workshop in August of 2009, which was later renamed as Oman Comedy Central to avoid confusion.

Currently, OCC has seven ac-tive comedians from Oman, the United States, Pakistan and India and Sims said that they are looking to recruit new people for the group.

However, not all subjects are deemed worth joking about as OCC has warned its comedians to

avoid talking about the Omani gov-ernment, government leaders, reli-gion and graphic depictions of sex.

Sims said the OCC is looking for new recruits and when asked about the process through which people can join, he explained that the group is open to all newcomers.

They have to go through a three minute stand-up audition where the group will “look at the struc-ture of their material to see if they have a feel for what is funny.”

“New people will receive train-ing, but they have to already have a feel for what is funny,” said Sims.

“We can teach them how to han-dle themselves on stage, but we can’t teach a person to be funny,” he added.

Way of lifeFor some people comedy is a way of life but unfortunately some do not get the big break they are look-ing for. Sims said that although

Oman doesn’t have any type of entertainment industry, it is not impossible for someone to make it from the Sultanate.

Advising aspiring comedians Sims said, “I would honestly ad-vise that they take up comedy as a ‘hobby’ while they maintain their day job. When and if they get that big break, they can com-mit full time. There are too many starving artists out there and you never know when or even if

you will get that big break.”He further added, “Almost all of

the comedians I have met in the Gulf Cooperation Council region are in it for the love of comedy. If you want to get rich, this is prob-ably not the best way to do it. But if you just love to entertain, then you can fi nd a place for that love with Oman Comedy Central.”

OCC’s next big show is planned for February 25 at the InterCon-tinental Hotel. They have also recently launched an Improv (im-provisation) comedy show, which takes place on the last Wednesday of each month at Buff alo Wings and Rings restaurant, which coin-cides with February 24.

OCC has promised a comedy boom in Oman as they have plans to expand and plant the seed of comedy in Omani soil for a future of laughter.

February 20, 2016 11 Jumada Al Ula 1437 AH

SATURDAY

307 28

Infrastructure gains extreme importance and is accorded top priority in some of these stages due to special circumstances and specifi c considerations that call for such action. Therefore, what some people often deem as more emphasis on infrastructure than human or social development in the past stages of development is not accurate, as such a view ignores the truth, the conditions that prevailed at that time and the priorities made necessary by the situation there and then. That view also ignores the tremendous attention, which was similarly accorded to the areas of education, health, commerce, industry, agriculture, fi nance and the economy at large.

Annual session of council of Oman,2012

FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTYTHE SULTAN

‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’

NIBALI REIGNS SUPREME AT GREEN MOUNTAINThe queen stage of the 2016 Tour of Oman was at the height of expectations and off ered a tremendous battle between the favour-

ites of the event all the way to the fi nish line on Jabal Al Akhdhar. Already a winner back in 2012 at Green Mountain, Vincenzo

Nibali made the best of the decisive climb, beating Romain Bardet and Jakob Fuglsang. — Times of Oman / JUN ESTRADA>A12

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

Motor insurance law changes to boost road safety

REJIMON Kreji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: New amendments in the motor insurance law will lead to safe driving and reduction in the number of accidents, said road safety and automobile in-dustry experts.

According to the new amend-ments, even if you have not lodged a claim during the insurance policy period, you are still eligi-ble to get a No Claim Discount (NCD), which eff ectively is a cer-tain reduction in the premium of the policy, during the time of its renewal.

“In the previous version of the law, the NCD was present. How-ever, it was not defi ned properly or mentioned in the policy form.

Now, the defi nition is clear. Also, a clear defi nition of other terms, for example, ‘Natural Disaster,’ ‘Trailer,’ ‘Prime mover’ etc. avoid any ambiguity,” Philip K Philip, group chief executive offi cer of the Muscat Insurance Compa-ny and Muscat Life Assurance Company, said.

On Sunday, the Capital Mar-ket Authority (CMA) had issued the new unifi ed motor insurance policy with amendments.

Welcoming the news, Mark Pudwell, training manager at Competence HR, said the move brings Oman on par with Europe-an countries, that have been off er-ing NCD to drivers who don’t lodge any claim on their car insurance.

“This often means that those older and usually more experi-enced drivers are rewarded for

their careful driving practices. However this should go hand-in- hand with higher insurance pre-miums for young and new driv-ers. This provides an incentive to young drivers to be safe on the roads and accrue an NCD,” Pud-well said.

Jaison Mathai, senior market-ing manager at Toyota in Mus-cat, also said this will defi nitely prompt safe driving on the roads.

“However, such kind rewards should be publicised well and reach each and every driver. I have heard about this practice in many other countries. Good that Oman is also going to make it happen. Good drivers should be rewarded with discounts in pre-miums and this can make others follow safe driving on roads in Oman,” Mathai added.

Speaking about the new version of the unifi ed motor insurance policy, Sheikh Abdullah Salim Al Salmi, executive president at the CMA, said the new amendments have been announced seven years after the issuance of the policy in 2008 as a standard form of insur-ance contract with minimum lim-its in the contract.

Quoting last year’s insurance indicators, the CMA offi cial said a unifi ed motor insurance policy aff ects the greatest segment of policyholders as motor insur-ance represents about 44 per cent of policy holders in the Omani market. >A3

If you have not

lodged a claim

during the insurance

policy period, you are

eligible for a cut in

the premium at the

time of its renewal

Stand-up comedians in Oman working to beat economic blues

L A U G H T E R I S T H E B E S T M E D I C I N E

HM sends condolences

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent two ca-bles of condolences to President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi of Egypt on the death of Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former UN sec-retary general and the journalist Mohammed Hassanein Heikal.

In his cables, His Majesty the Sultan expressed his sincere condolences and sympathy to President Al Sisi, the Egyptian brotherly people and the de-ceased’ families. -ONA

E G Y P T

A11Oman clinch thriller against Hong Kong

OMANKeep company of books, students told

1Spend time with books as it will widen your horizon, and make you good human

beings, students were told. >A2

OMANOmanisation in private institutes

2A Shura Council panel discussed Omanisation policies in private

universities and colleges. >A3

REGION40 militants killed in US air strikes

3 US warplanes carried out air strikes against IS -linked militants in

western Libya on Friday. >A4

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

Mwasalat bus trips to ease Muscat book fair gridlockStaff Reporter

MUSCAT: Mwasalat will oper-ate special buses to the Muscat International Book Fair, to ease traffi c congestion, Dr. Abdul Munim bin Mansour Al Hasani, Minister of Information, an-nounced on Wednesday.

Dr. Al Hasani added that the 21st Muscat International Book Fair 2016 will kick off at the Oman International Exhibition Centre on February 24 and con-tinue until March 5, under the auspices of Mohammed bin Al Zubair, Advisor to His Majesty the Sultan for Economic Plan-ning Aff airs.

He added that the fair is to include two sections, with ‘Al Farahidi’ being dedicated to of-fi cial agencies, along with Arab and foreign publishers displaying Arabic books. The second section

will be ‘Ahmed Bin Majid’, dedi-cated to those publishing houses displaying foreign, Arab and chil-dren’s books, as well as the fair’s associated events and activities.

“The fair, which stretches over 8,550 square metres, houses 950 pavilions. The total area of the last fair was 7,848 square me-tres, with 872 pavilions,” Dr. Al Hasani noted.

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

Indian worker killed in CBD accidentREJIMON K MOBIN MATHEW BLESSON

MUSCAT: One Indian worker has died and another is in criti-cal condition following a work site accident in Central Busi-ness District (CBD) around 1:30 pm in Ruwi on Thursday.

According to colleagues, one worker from eastern In-dian state of Bihar died on the spot and another Indian from Andhra Pradesh has been rushed to hospital with severe injuries.

Around 2pm, Public Au-thority of Civil Defence and Ambulance services (PACDA) tweeted about the accident stat-ing that one person died and an-other was in critical condition.

There were four ambulances and many PACDA personnel at the accident site for rescue.

A N O T H E R I N J U R E D

A2 S AT U R DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6

OMAN

Oman Modern March Exhibition

Keep company of books, Indian writer tells studentsTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Spend time with books as it will widen your hori-zon, and make you good human beings, students of Indian School Salalah were advised by a noted Malayalam writer.

Gently reminding the students of the crucial role that text books play in one’s life, famous Ma-layalam writer and social critic Zacahria said, “Still, I am weary of giving advices.”

It was a wonderful experience for the students to meet the au-thor who they knew only through his works. It was visible on the faces of class 9 and 10 students when Zacharia came to spend time with them in a 90-minute in-teractive session organised by the school’s Malayalam Department on February 14.

While Rishika Aneesh of class 10 welcomed the guest, Hridith Sudhev, another class 10 student, introduced the author.

The session started with a wel-come song penned by the Malay-alam teacher Saji Chandrodayam and rendered by the students who paid rich tribute to the famous poet O.N.V Kuruppu, who passed away the previous day.

“Step into the world of books to open your eyes wide to the won-ders of the world”, said the author at the outset. Taking examples from his own life, he said that it

was his passion for reading that brought him from Urulikkunnam, a remote village in Kerala born, to the world of words.

“I know you are up to your nose with advice from diff erent quar-ters,” he said, drawing loud ap-plause from the students.

During the session that fol-lowed, he fi elded many question from the students. “The students who sit in front of me are, in my opinion, one of the best ones so you can surely sweat a lot to reap the fruits of success” he replied when asked to express his fi rst im-pression for the students there.

Principal, T. R. Brown and the convener of School Manage-ment Committee, Suresh Babu jointly handed over a memento to the guest as a token of gratitude. Vinay Kumar, member SMC, Sanathanan and C.P. Surendran, coordinators of the cultural fi -esta ‘Aksharotsavam’, Omana Mathews, vice-principal, Srini-vasan, assistant vice principal, department heads, teachers and non-teaching staff also attended.

Deva Narayanan and Deva Priya moderated the session while Akhila Suresh delivered the vote of thanks.

E D U C A T I O N

Creative workshop for childrenTimes News Service

MUSCAT: A creative workshop for children of all ages will be hosted by Oman Avenues Mall, at the Silk Route on Ground level from 3pm to 8pm until March 9.

The workshops at the Sultan-ate’s largest shopping destination are free. Children are invited to paint anything that makes them think of their beloved country

Oman, with some great prizes.After the workshops are over, a

giant will be display erected in the ground fl oor atrium to showcase the paintings.

Ben Watson, the mall’s gen-eral manager said, Oman Avenues mall has always strived to be a destination for the Omani com-munity, and this was yet another step in that direction, as it gave a platform to children to showcas-

ing their skills, creativity and love for Oman.

The Oman Avenues Mall with its assortment of shopping op-tions has indeed lived up to its tag line of being a place for all. The mall’s varied choice of retail outlets - with the world’s leading brands operating their fl agship stores here - underpins its pre-mier position as the must-visit destination in Oman.

O M A N A V E N U E S M A L L

SHARING THOUGHTS: Meeting noted Malayalam writer and social

critic Zacahria was a wonderful experience for students of Indian

School Salalah. – Supplied photo

‘Glance on Oman Modern March Exhibition

2016’, where pictures of His Majesty Sultan

Qaboos bin Said, were displayed as seen

through the lens of Mohamed Mostafa.

A3

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New amendments increase personal accident benefi ts

If you have not lodged a claim dur-ing the insurance policy period, you are eligible to a certain reduc-tion in the premium at the time of renewal

While explaining the new amendments further, Muscat In-surance Company’s Philip said the new version has provisions off ering an increase in personal accident benefi ts, a hike in the additional benefi t limit for “trans-porting and safe guarding the damaged vehicle” and also slash-ing excess amount of payments signifi cantly, which is the main salient feature of the new unifi ed motor insurance law.

“At present the personal ac-cident benefi t claim is limited to OMR10,000. The amend-ment has the option to increase it to OMR15,000, OMR20,000 or OMR25,000,” Philip said.

According to Philip, the new amendment has substantially re-duced the excess amount, espe-cially for light commercial vehi-cles (LCV).

“The excess amount has been reduced substantially—especially for light commercial vehicles. The

LCVs are now split into two cat-egories. Non-driving school and non-rent-a-cars fall in one cat-egory. In the second category, rent-a-cars and driving school vehicles are included.

The non-driving school/non rent-a-car segment excess has been reduced from OMR600 to OMR150 for undeclared drivers below 25 years. Similarly, other ex-cess under this segment has gone down to the tune of 20 per cent to 50 per cent of what it was before,” he added.

The amended law also has a new provision for increasing the additional benefi t limit for “trans-porting and safe guarding the damaged vehicle.”

According to the unaudited fi -nancial statements of the CMA, the insurance sector in Oman has posted growth in the gross premi-um underwritten in 2015.

The underwritten direct pre-mium stood at OMR446 million; refl ecting a growth of 11 per cent, compared with OMR400 mil-lion in 2014. The data quoted by the Oman News Agency pointed out that despite the growth of the

gross premiums written in 2015, growth rates have varied among insurance branches.

Most insurance branches post-ed growth during the year except for three branches, which experi-enced a decline in varying degrees.

Other insurance agencies saw high growth rates (48 per cent) and the biggest decline was re-corded by engineering insurance (6 per cent).

The data pointed out that health insurance continued its growth and came on top of the other products in terms of growth rates, which stood at 30 per cent in 2015, compared with 2014.

Health insurance came second in terms of the gross premiums underwritten in 2015 with 24 per cent. Automobile insurance topped the list of other insurance with a 37 per cent growth rate.

The net direct premium un-derwritten in 2015 stood at about OMR249 million, compared with OMR222 million during the same period in 2014.

It should be noted that the growth of total premiums stood at 12 per cent, compared with 2014.

I N S U R A N C E L A W

< FROM

A1

Shura discusses Omanisation in private institutes

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Government’s involve-ment and investment in private universities and colleges in Oman was discussed on Thursday, during a meeting between the Education Committee of the Shura Coun-cil and offi cials of the Ministry of Higher Education.

According to a press statement of the Shura Council, require-ments for issuing a licence to institutes was reviewed, as well as Omanisation policies in ad-ministrative and academic de-partments within the institutes, college fees and government in-vestment in private institutes for higher education.

Labour marketThe participants at the meeting also discussed the challenges of meeting the requirements into-day’s labour market.

Offi cials of the Ministry said they face obstacles in the la-bour market, with too many au-thorities in charge of this sector, which makes it diffi cult to imple-ment the Ministry’s policies of Omanisation.

They noted that some private colleges or universities do not have a good partnership with the labour market, keeping in mind the fast changes in the market.

Attiya bint Said Al Ma’amariya, the Deputy Head of Quality As-surance, spoke about the licences needed by private educational institutes and the procedures to follow when seeking approval of academic programmes, as well as standards for these institutes and how to ensure the quality of the students’ education.

ScholarshipsAccording to Al Ma’amariya, the number of scholarships granted by private educational institutes in the academic year 2015-2016 has reached 102.

Dr. Assad Allah bin Ahmed Al Ajmi, Advisor for Academic Af-fairs to the Minister of Higher Education, said the quality of edu-cation in private institutes is con-nected to outside participation. He noted that the current economic situation calls for involvement from diff erent parties on the issue of scholarships, saying that the

private education sector has not adapted quickly enough to the cur-rent economic situation.

Also, the participants stressed the need for a clear strategy on higher education, the press re-lease said.

MessageChairman of the Majlis Al Shura received Mitsugu Saito, Ambassa-dor of Japan to the Sultanate.

The Japanese ambassador handed over a message to the Chairman of Majlis Al Shura. The message included an offi cial in-vitation from Tadamori Oshima, Speaker of the House of Repre-sentatives of Japan to visit Japan to enhance the bilateral relations between the two countries, partic-ularly in the parliamentary areas.

During the Meeting, Al Ma’awali gave the Japanese guest a briefi ng on the Majlis Al Shura and its leg-islative and regulative roles.

On his turn, the Japanese am-bassador stressed the importance of enhancing the relations be-tween the two friendly countries, particularly in the legislative and regulative sides. -With Inputs fromn ONA

The participants

at the Shura

Council meeting

also discussed the

challenges of meeting

the requirements

of labour market REVIEW MEETING: The Shura Council panel discussed the require-

ments for issuing a licence to private institutes. – Shura Council

CAIRO: A military funeral was held for the former Secretary-General of the United Nations Dr. Boutros Ghali, in Cairo Thursday. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, senior state offi cials, a group of Arab and foreign diplomats and in-ternational delegations partici-pated in the funeral ceremony.

The Sultanate participated in the funeral ceremony, as it was represented by Sheikh Khalifa bin Ali bin Isa Al Harthy, Sul-tanate’s Ambassador to Egypt and its Permanent Representa-tive to the Arab League, who off ered the condolences to his family and senior offi cials of the Egyptian State. -ONA

C A I R O

Chance for women in tourism sector to enhance skillsTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Thirty tourism com-panies ranging from interna-tional chain hotels, small and me-dium enterprises (SMEs), tour operators and tourism develop-ers, as well as other stakeholders are sending their prominent fe-male leaders to attend the second “Lady Leaders of Tourism Event” organised by the Oman Tourism College (OTC) on February 21.

The initiative of OTC aims to provide women in the tourism and hospitality industry with a network, learning resources and support, as well as inspire other women to join the industry.

The event comprises an in-formative seminar about the links between “Responsible Tourism and the Communities” conducted by Professor Dipra Jha from the University of Ne-braska-Lincoln, as well as about the “Corporate Social Responsi-bility Programmes as a Tool for Responsible Tourism” by Shaima Al Lawati, chief executive offi cer of Sustainable Square Oman.

Two examples for responsi-ble tourism will be showcased during the seminar: the Ritz Carlton Community Footprints Programme, and at the Misfat Al Abreen and Misfat Old House.

Ten non-governmental or-ganisations will be presenting their work as potential partners to the tourism businesses for the Corporate Social Responsi-bility Initiatives during the one hour refreshment break in the mini exhibition.

Responsible Tourism is in line with the new Oman Tour-ism Strategy and the event will be opened by the Undersecretary of Tourism, Maitha Bint Seif Al Mahrouqi.

The defi nition of responsible tourism is, “Tourism that creates better places for people to live in, and better places to visit.”

Tourism, for example, is ben-efi cial as it leads to the economic diversifi cation

Generating greater economic benefi ts for local people and en-hancing the well being of the host communities. Making positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage

Providing more enjoyable ex-periences for tourists through more meaningful connections with local people, and a greater understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues.

Is culturally sensitive, encour-ages respect between tourists and hosts, and builds local pride and confi dence.

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

Rise in passenger traffi c at Muscat, Salalah airportsMUSCAT: Total passenger traffi c (including transit & transfer pas-sengers) through Muscat Inter-national Airport increased by 20 per cent to 1,021,929 passengers during January 2016 compared to 851,588 passengers for the same period of 2015.

Statistics show an increase in the arrival of passengers by 22 per cent to 517,473 during Janu-ary this year compared to 425,045 passengers for the same period for 2015.

The number of departing pas-sengers also rose by 19 per cent to 501,946 during January this year

comparing to 420,629 passengers for the same period of 2015.

The increase in arrival and departure traffi c into Muscat International Airport is attrib-uted to the increase in the num-ber of fl ights operated by exist-ing airlines, such as Bangladesh Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines and SpiceJet Ltd.

In terms of Air cargo traffi c at Muscat International airport, Aviation Statistics indicate an increase in the total unloaded and loaded freight by 19 per cent, with total shipment (10,663 tonnes) compared to (8,996 tonnes) in

the same period in 2015.Salalah Airport also witnessed

an increase by 16 per cent in the total number of arrival and de-parture of passengers to 95,152 in January 2016 compared to 81,877 passengers during the same pe-riod in 2015.

As for the movement of Air Cargo at Salalah Airport, Freight traffi c recorded 17 per cent in-crease in total unloaded and loaded freight, bringing the shipment to ( 137 tonnes) dur-ing January 2016 compared to (117 tonnes) in the same period in 2015. -ONA

T R A N S I T & T R A N S F E R N U M B E R S

Responsible Tourism is in line with the new Oman Tourism

Strategy: -Pictutre used for illustrative purpose only.

MUSCAT: On behalf of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, His Highness Sayyid Asa’ad bin Tariq Al Said received in his of-fi ce on Thursday Paola Amadei, Ambassador of the Italian Re-public to the Sultanate to bid her farewell at the end of her tour of duty.

She expressed her thanks to His Majesty the Sultan for the support extended to her during her tour of duty from His Maj-esty, the government and the Omani people, which enabled her to carry out her duty.

She wished His Majesty good health, happiness and long life, and the Sultanate further pro-gress and prosperity under the wise leadership of His Majesty.

Sayyid Asa’ad thanked the ambassador for the eff orts she exerted in serving the good rela-tions between Oman and Italy, wishing her permanent success, and the Italian people further progress. -ONA

P A O L A A M A D E I

Sayyid Asa’ad bids adieu to Italy envoy

Oman takes part in funeral of ex-UN chief

A4 S AT U R DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6

REGIONSouth Sudan descended into civil war in December 2013 when a row between President Salva Kiir and his sacked deputy Riek Machar ended with fi ghting that often occurred along ethnic fault lines.

US air strikes target IS in Libya, more than 40 killed

TRIPOLI: US warplanes carried out air strikes against IS-linked militants in western Libya on Fri-day, killing as many as 40 people in an operation targeting a sus-pect linked to two deadly attacks last year in neighbouring Tunisia.

It was the second US air strike in three months against IS in Lib-ya, where the hardline militants have exploited years of chaos fol-lowing Muammar Gaddafi ’s 2011 overthrow to build up a presence on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

The mayor of the Libyan city of Sabratha, Hussein Al Thwadi, told Reuters the planes struck at 3:30am (0130 GMT), hit-ting a building in the city’s Qasr Talil district, home to many foreign workers.

He said 41 people had been killed and six wounded. The death toll could not immediately be con-fi rmed with other offi cials.

Photos released by the mu-nicipal authorities showed a mas-sive crater in grey earth. Several wounded men lay bandaged in hospital.

The air strikes targeted a house in a residential district about 8 km

(5miles) west of the centre, the mu-nicipal authorities said in a state-ment. The house had been rented to foreigners including Tunisians suspected of belonging to IS, and medium calibre weapons includ-ing machine guns and rocket-pro-pelled grenades had been found in the rubble, the statement said.

Tunisian security sources have said they believe Tunisian IS mili-tants have been trained in camps near Sabratha, which is close to the Tunisian border.

A US military offi cer said among those targeted in the air strikes was a senior Tunisian operative,

Noureddine Chouchane, believed to be connected to the attacks last year on a Tunis museum and the Sousse beach resort which killed dozens of tourists.

Offi cials have said those two attacks, both claimed by IS, were carried out by gunmen who trained in Libya.

“We are assessing the results of the operation,” said Colonel Mark Cheadle, spokesman for the Pen-tagon’s Africa Command.

The air strikes came just days after a warning by President Barack Obama that Washington intended to “take actions where

we’ve got a clear operation and a clear target in mind.

“And we are working with our coalition partners to make sure that as we see opportunities to prevent IS from digging in, in Libya, we take them,” Obama said on Tuesday.

Britain said it had authorised the use of its airbases to launch the attack.

“I welcome this strike that has taken out an IS training camp being used to train terrorists to carry out attacks,” Defence Sec-retary Michael Fallon said in a statement.

“I was satisfi ed that its destruc-tion makes us all safer, and I per-sonally authorised the US use of our bases.”

Thwadi, the Sabratha mayor, said some Tunisians, a Jordanian and two women were among the dead, and several Tunisians who had recently arrived in Sabratha were among survivors. He gave no further details.

Since Gaddafi was overthrown fi ve years ago by rebel forces backed by a campaign of NATO air strikes, Libya has slipped deeper into chaos with two rival govern-ments each backed by competing factions of former rebel brigades.

A UN-backed government of national accord is trying to win support, but is still awaiting par-liamentary approval. It is op-posed by factional hardliners and has yet to establish itself in the capital Tripoli.

Meanwhile, IS has expanded, attacks on oil ports taking over Gaddafi ’s home city of Sirte, now the militant group’s most impor-tant stronghold outside of its main redoubts in Syria and Iraq. Calls have increased for a swift West-ern response to stop the group es-tablishing itself.

Western offi cials and diplomats have said air strikes and special forces operations are possible as well as an Italian-led “security stabilisation” plan of training and advising.

US and European offi cials have in the past insisted Libyans must fi rst form a united government and ask for help, but they also say they may still carry out unilateral action if needed.. — Reuters

Senior militant

linked to Tunisia

attacks among those

targeted, says US

Egypt struggles to get subsidised food to poorCAIRO: “Any rice?” says the woman, leaning into a shop in Cai-ro and brandishing a green smart-card that carries her family’s food credits.

The shopkeeper shakes his head: “Only sugar.”

Behind him, more than half the shelves are empty. Rice and cook-ing oil are nowhere to be seen.

Tens of millions of Egyptians rely on state subsidies provided as credits on smartcards they re-deem against household staples each month. But in recent weeks, imported commodities like cook-ing oil have been in short supply as a dollar shortage makes it harder for state importers to secure regu-lar supplies.

Shortages persist across the capital and in cities from Alex-andria in the north to Minya in the south. “When we ask the gro-cer he says there’s nothing but sugar. Every day he says, tomor-row, tomorrow, but we are half way through the month now and it’s not resolved,” said Samia Mo-hamed, a housewife, at a grocery in southern Cairo.

“Prices elsewhere are expen-sive. We don’t know what to do.”

Aff ordable food is an explosive issue in Egypt, where millions live a paycheck from hunger and eco-nomic discontent has helped un-seat two presidents in fi ve years.

The dangers are not lost on President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, whose government has sought to protect poor Egyptians from the worst eff ects of double-digit infl a-tion. The smartcards are accepted at a network of government-run supermarkets as well as 26,000 privately owned grocers and grant each family member $2 (15 Egyp-tian pounds) of credits a week plus fi ve loaves of bread a day from par-ticipating bakeries.

The Supply Ministry also over-

sees a network of stores and ki-osks off ering subsidised food out-side the smartcard system.

Goods of all kinds are avail-able at ordinary supermarkets not participating in the smart-card scheme but poor consumers would have to fork out market prices that many can ill-aff ord.

But even at the discount shops, stocks are low.

At a kiosk, emblazoned with the Egyptian fl ag and the words “together against high prices” in a historic part of Cairo, a shelf la-belled “local rice, 3.25 per kilo” is bare. “Oil is in short supply. The supplies of oil aren’t stable,” said the manager of the kiosk, which opened in December as part of a government eff ort to ease food in-fl ation. “Sometimes we are short of rice, sometimes sugar... Some-times people don’t like the variety. We don’t get enough.”

Supply Minister Khaled Hanafi

said on Thursday that stocks at state food companies were being replenished with dozens of prod-ucts which would be available to smartcard-holders in March.

Though essential foods are high on the priority list, a foreign ex-change shortage has made it more diffi cult for Egypt’s state food im-porters to pay promptly over the past year. Worst aff ected by the shortages has been cooking oil, with payment problems putting suppliers off bidding in state ten-ders. Egypt’s state importers have cancelled three cooking oil ten-ders in the last three months alone after not receiving enough off ers or because prices were too high.

Traders say they now have to factor in the cost of expected de-lays, particularly after the govern-ment brought in measures which mean they are not paid for up to six months. “You are talking mil-lions of dollars here. These delays

are costly,” said one trader. “They make you feel like a beggar when you chase your money, not an-swering calls, not responding.”

Egypt has struggled to revive its economy since the 2011 pro-tests drove away tourists and for-eign investors. Foreign exchange reserves have more than halved since then, leaving Egypt with scarcely enough to cover three-months worth of imports.

Pressure has mounted on the central bank to devalue the pound but it has resisted a major adjust-ment for fear of stoking infl ation. Instead, it has imposed strict lim-its on dollar deposits and trans-fers, making it harder to clear shipments. A lack of clarity on rice policy has also caused confusion in the market. Egypt banned rice exports in 2008 but lifted the ban in October after a bumper harvest. It issued a rice import tender last month only to cancel it again and

grocers say there is not enough rice in state stores.

Occasional shortages have been the norm for the past year, but supply issues were compounded in recent weeks by a change in the rules surrounding unclaimed bread rations. Participating gro-cers source most of their goods from the state-run Food Indus-tries Holding Company (FIHC) but until this month would re-ceive cash from the Supply Min-istry equivalent to any unclaimed bread credits. They would then use the cash to buy other goods on the open market to meet the demand. Since February 1, they have been refused cash and been off ered goods supplied by the FIHC instead.

But grocers say the FIHC is unable to meet demand. “The is-sue is not one of oil and sugar. We used to buy 100 products and now we can’t fi nd 10... More than 50 per cent of the supply stores are empty and there are no goods,” said Majed Nadi, spokesman for the General Grocers’ Syndicate. “They expected to be able to meet all the needs but they couldn’t.”

Hanafi , the Supply Minister, said 2,000 tonnes of rice and 2,500 tonnes of oil were being supplied daily to replenish stocks in addi-tion to goods including pasta, tea, and canned tuna, which have not been in short supply.

FIHC bought 42,000 tonnes of sunfl ower and soy oils on Wednes-day. A previous shipment was due to arrive on February 10-20. Supply Ministry spokesman Mahmoud Diab said the change was intended to reduce prices because FIHC could secure economical bulk deals that individual grocers could not. “The idea is to bring citizens higher quality goods at lower pric-es,” he told Reuters. “It is for the good of the people.” — Reuters

D O L L A R C R I S I S H I T S H A R D

Tunisia to issue bonds worth $1.12b

TUNIS: Tunisia is preparing to issue euro-denominated bonds worth as much as $1.12 billion (1 billion euros) within a few weeks, a government offi cial said on Fri-day, as it looks to cover part of its budget defi cit.

The North African state is strug-gling with dwindling tourism rev-enue after three militant attacks last year, protests over unemploy-ment and slow progress on the economic reforms and cuts in pub-lic spending demanded by interna-tional lenders.

“We will go to the international market in few weeks... it should be between mid-March and May 2016, for between 750 million eu-ros and 1 billion euros,” the offi cial told Reuters, asking not to be iden-tifi ed because he was not author-ised to speak to the media.

He said the fi nancing would help cover part of the budget defi cit and the Finance Ministry had asked the central bank to start with the technical procedures for the bond operation.

Tunisia last went to the interna-tional market a year ago, with a $1 billion bond.

Tunisia’s economy has lagged since the 2011 uprising against for-mer leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali that sparked the protests across North Africa and the Middle East. Two attacks last year by militants targeted its tourism industry.

Protests over a lack of jobs that erupted in several towns last month also underscored demands for more economic opportuni-ties in under-developed areas and among disenfranchised youths who see the revolution brought them little benefi t. — Reuters

B U D G E T D E F I C I T

Fighting at UN compound in South Sudan kills 18: MSF

JUBA: Fighting at a United Na-tions compound sheltering people fl eeing confl ict in South Sudan has killed 18 people, including two Medicins Sans Frontieres work-ers, the international medical aid group said.

South Sudan descended into civil war in December 2013 when a row between President Salva Kiir and his sacked deputy Riek Machar ended with fi ghting that often occurred along ethnic fault lines. People have been taking refuge in UN-administered “pro-tection of civilian” sites, or POCs, since then. Thousands have been killed and more than 2 million people displaced from their homes since late 2013.

The UN peacekeeping mission, UNMISS, had said on Thursday fi ghting the night before between youths sheltering in the UN com-pound in Malakal had killed fi ve and wounded 30 after violence erupted between two ethnic groups. The UN secretary-gener-al’s spokesman said later at least seven people had been killed.

Armed confl ict“At least 18 people were killed in armed confl ict that erupted... in the Protection of Civilians site in Malakal... including two South Sudanese staff members of... Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) who were attacked in their homes,” the medical charity said in a statement.

MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said it had also treated 36 people wounded in the fi ghting, including at least 25 with gunshot wounds. — Reuters

V I O L E N C E

DESTROYED: A view shows damage at the scene after an airstrike by US warplanes against IS in

Sabratha, Libya on Friday. – Reuters/Sabratha municipality media offi ce/Handout via Reuters

DEPLETING STOCKS: A worker sells subsidised food commodities at a government-run supermarket

in Cairo, Egypt. – Reuters

A5

INDIAS AT U R DAY, F E B R UA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6

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Army called in as Jat quota stir turns ugly

ROHTAK (Haryana) One person was killed and 21 others were in-jured when a protest by Jats for quota turned violent here, prompt-ing the security personnel to open fi re on the rampaging mobs who attacked the house of state’s fi -nance minister besides indulging in arson.

Haryana DGP said army has been called in to control the situa-tion. The protesters who had gath-ered at the Rohtak bye-pass road of Delhi Hissar National Highway turned violent and allegedly at-tacked police vehicles which were parked there in which window panes were damaged, offi cials said.

The security personnel de-ployed there had to use force, in-cluding fi ring, to control the vio-lent mob which also attacked the nearby private residence of Hary-ana Finance Minister Abhimanyu.

A car parked outside the house was also set on fi re by the mob which pelted stones on the house besides attempting to set it on fi re, police said. Seeing the situation going out of control, security per-sonnel opened fi re in which one person was killed and around 21 others were injured, police said.

“There is one death of an uni-dentifi ed person because of (sus-pected) bullet injuries,” said

authorities of the Post Gradu-ate Institute of Medical Science and Hospital.

Twenty one injured people, in-cluding one critical, have been ad-mitted to the hospital, its authori-ties added. Police and paramilitary personnel used force against pro-testers after they allegedly turned violent and went on rampage.

The Circuit House and the of-fi ce of Inspector General of Po-lice (IGP), Rohtak were also at-tacked by the protesters who pelted stones on the buildings. A car parked at the IGP offi ce was also damaged, offi cials said.

A police vehicle and some pri-vate vehicles, including a two wheeler, were also set on fi re. The scooter of a person who was taking a sick to a local hospital was also set on fi re by the protesters.

Elsewhere in various places in the northern-Indian state of Har-yana, protesters defl ated tyres of cars of a number of people trying to travel on various National and State Highways in the state.

The main impact of the Jats’ agi-

tation is in various districts of the state including Rohtak, Jhajjar, Bhiwani, Hissar, Fatehabad, Kar-nal, Jind, Yamuna Nagar, Sirsa and Gurgaon where road transport has come to a halt.

Haryana Roadways has sus-pended its local and inter-state bus services in the aff ected districts.

Mobile Internet services have also been suspended in vari-ous districts including Rohtak and Jhajjar.

Besides Haryana Police, person-nel of Central Para Military Forces (CPMF) personnel have been de-ployed in various districts, includ-ing the worst aff ected Rohtak.

Senior civil and police offi cers held a meeting at the state head-quarters in Chandigarh to review the situation arising out of the vio-lence being reported from various parts of the state.

Reports of violence at various places started coming in shortly after the all party meeting con-vened by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

The participants at the meeting

besides raising the demand of res-ervation for Jats also appealed to people to maintain peace and law and order in the state.

Disruptions caused by the on-going Jat quota stir have caused a loss of Rs2 billion to the Indian railways as the schedules of more than 600 passenger and freight trains were hit, a railway ministry offi cial said.

According to railways, the run-ning of 124 passenger trains and about 500 freight trains has been aff ected since the launch of the Jat agitation on February 15.

The fi nancial loss so far due to cancellation of passenger trains and disruption of freight service is about Rs2 billion, a senior railway ministry offi cial said.

The agitation has aff ected train services in the Northern and North-West zones, the offi cial said.

“We had to cancel many impor-tant trains, including the Jammu Rajdhani and Vaishnodevi Katra train and Shatabdi trains to Chandigrah, Kalka and Amristsar,” said the offi cial. - PTI

Seeing the situation

going out of control,

security personnel

opened fi re in which

one person was killed

and around 21 others

were injured, police

offi cials said

UP IN ARMS: Members of the Jat community set fi re to a truck during their agitation for education and

job reservation in Rohtak on Friday. - PTI

FIR by Pakistan in Pathankot attack case a ‘step forward’NEW DELHI: Lodging of an FIR by Pakistani authorities in the Pathankot terror attack case is seen by India as a “step forward” in bringing the perpetrators of the strike to justice.

The FIR was fi led against “un-known persons” though India had named JeM chief Masood Azhar as mastermind of the strike.

The Pathankot attack had led to the postponement of India-Pakistan Foreign Secretary-level talks. It is a “step forward” in in-vestigation and to bring the per-petrators of the attack to book, offi cial sources said.

The FIR was registered at Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) centre in Gujranwala, Punjab province, on Thursday, after weeks of investigation into the case.

According to a CTD offi cial, the FIR was needed to start po-

lice and judicial proceedings on the basis of evidence collected in connection with the attack for which India has blamed on Jaish-e-Mohammed militant group.

India has identifi ed Azhar as the mastermind of the attack.

It has also blamed his brother Rauf and fi ve others for carrying out the attack.

The FIR has been lodged on the basis of information provided by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval that four attackers prob-ably crossed from Pakistan into India and attacked the airbase on January 2.

The FIR number 06/2016 was lodged under sections 302, 324 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code, and sections 7 and 21-I of the Anti-Terrorism Act. The FIR also mentions the telephone numbers contacted by the mili-tants during the attack. - PTI

T E R R O R A T T A C K

Top court seeks Salman’s reply in hit-and-run case

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Friday sought the response from Bollywood superstar Sal-man Khan on Maharashtra gov-ernment’s appeal against his ac-quittal in the 2002 hit-and-run case, observing that exoneration from the top court would “vindi-cate him once and for all”.

“Acquittal from this Court is important. If you (Salman Khan) are acquitted from here, you will be vindicated once and for all,” a bench comprising justices J. S. Khehar and C. Nagappan said while issuing notice to the noted actor on the plea of the govern-ment of Maharshtra.

Attorney General Mukul Ro-hatgi, appearing for the state, said the Bombay High Court had

erred on two points while acquit-ting the fi lmstar.

“Firstly, the High Court had erred in its fi nding by holding that there was ‘erroneous appli-cation’ of Section 33 of Evidence Act (relevancy of certain evi-dence for proving, in subsequent proceeding, the truth of facts therein stated) by the trial court,” he said.

Rohtagi said that on second count, the High Court had erred by holding that the prosecution witness Ravindra Patil, a consta-ble who was guarding the actor and had fi rst called the police, was not a “wholly reliable wit-ness” and his version needed corroboration with accounts of other witnesses. - PTI

M A H A R A S H T R A G O V E R N M E N T ’ S A P P E A L

A6

INDIAS AT U R DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6

We were also demanding action against BJP MLA Kailash Choudhary who made derogatory remarks against (Congress vice president) Rahul Gandhi when the ABVP activists clashed with us

Rakesh Meena, NSUI leader

JNU row: More protests break out as lawyers march in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Scores of lawyers, including Vikram Singh Chauhan and others who beat up journal-ists and JNUSU leader Kanhaiya Kumar in a Delhi court complex, on Friday took out a protest march here against those indulging in “anti-national” acts.

Clashes between rival student groups in Jaipur and police ac-tion in Hyderabad where several people were detained marked the protests in other cities.

In the national capital, the law-yers, mostly from Patiala House

and several other district courts, marched around the India Gate circle, shouting slogans and wav-ing the tricolour, amid heavy po-lice security.

Demanding actionThey were demanding action against those “indulging” in “anti-India” activities.

Some of the lawyers, includ-ing Chauhan, who were caught on camera leading brazen assaults on journalists and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students in Pa-

tiala House courts, on Monday and Wednesday were part of the pro-test and appeared to be unfazed by the outrage over their actions. Chauhan’s colleagues told the me-dia that the lawyers did not indulge in violence against anyone, includ-ing journalists.

Three lawyers, including Chau-han, have been summoned by Delhi Police in connection with Monday’s attack but they are yet to appear before it.

Members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-student wing, and Congress’ stu-dent wing National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) clashed during their protests over the JNU row outside Rajasthan University campus in Jaipur.

The groups of students clashed at the main gate of the University.

They were holding their respec-tive protests and demonstration on the JNU issue when the incident occurred, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) K Rastradeep said.

Police later dispersed the pro-testers, the DCP said, adding no one was injured in the incident and the situation was normal now.

“We were protesting to demand that the main accused in the JNU incident should be arrested be-cause there is no evidence against the JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar,” NSUI leader Rakesh Meena said.

“We were also demanding ac-tion against BJP legislator Kailash Choudhary who made derogatory remarks against (Congress vice president) Rahul Gandhi when the party student wing activists clashed with us,” Meena, who led the NSUI protest, said.

At least 52 activists of CPI and other Left organisations were tak-en into preventive custody when

they tried to march towards Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad demanding Kumar’s immediate and uncondi-tional release, police said.

Police took 10 advocates (from two diff erent groups) into preven-tive custody when they tried to gather in front of the Bar Coun-cil Offi ce over the JNU row on the premises of the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad for the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Charminar Division) K. Ashok Chakravarthy said.

“Out of the ten advocates, who were taken into custody, three of them are pro-Kanhaiya and re-maining are anti- Kanhaiya,” the ACP said, adding there is no per-mission either for holding proces-sion or organising meeting on the High Court premises.

Several CPI and Left-wing ac-tivists led by Telangana state CPI secretary Chada Venkat Reddy raising slogans attempted to take out a rally towards Raj Bhavan but were prevented by police on Khairtabad cross itself and 52 of them were placed under preven-tive arrests, Saifabad Police Sta-tion Inspector K Poorna Chander said. All those who were taken into preventive custody were later re-leased. - PTI

Clashes between

rival student groups

in Jaipur and police

action in Hyderabad

where several people

were detained

marked the protests

in other cities

Cryogenic engine test successful

T H I R U VA N A N T H A P U -RAM: India’s space agency ISRO on Friday successfully hot tested ‘Cryo CE 20’ engine for 640 seconds, with Chairman A. S. Kirankumar describing the feat as a “phenomenal achieve-ment in the shortest time.”

The test was completed suc-cessfully at ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC) at Mahendra-giri on Friday at 17.15 hours, an ISRO press release said here.

This engine is identifi ed for cryogenic stage hot tests for GSLV MkIII, according to the release. The engine has already undergone two short duration tests and demonstrated repeat-ability of engine ignition char-acteristics and steady state per-formance, it said.

The test was conducted with Mixture Ratio Controller in closed loop mode for the fl ight duration of 640 seconds, ac-cording to ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation).

Kirankumar, in his address to the gathering present at Ma-hendragiri, described it as “a phenomenal achievement in the shortest time”. The fully in-digenous engine development is a major step towards the launch of GSLV MkIII in December, the release said. - PTI

I S R O

Nepalese PM’s India visit to focus on mending ties hit by new constitutionNEW DELHI: In his fi rst over-seas trip after assuming charge of the top offi ce, Nepal Prime Minis-ter K. P. Oli arrived here on a six-day visit during which he will hold extensive talks with the Indian leadership with a major focus on mending ties hit by issues relat-ing to the Himalayan nation’s new Constitution.

External Aff airs Minister of In-dia Sushma Swaraj received Oli, accompanied by a 77-member delegation, at the airport, refl ect-ing importance India attaches to the visit.

Oli and Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi will hold extensive talks on a range of issues on Saturday following which both sides are ex-pected to sign a number of pacts to step up cooperation in several key sectors.

It is expected that India will ask Nepal to complete the “unfi nished task” of making the Constitution more inclusive to address the con-cerns of the Madhesi community which share close family and cul-tural ties with Indians.

Ties between the two countries had soured in the wake of agita-tion by the Madhesi community opposing Nepal’s Constitution, saying it failed to address their concerns over representation and homeland. The agitators had

blocked the trading points for al-most four months crippling sup-ply of petroleum products, medi-cines and other commodities by India to that country.

The blockade was lifted this month. It is the fi rst bilateral visit by a Nepalese Prime Min-ister here after the trip by the then premier Baburam Bhattarai in October 2011. Oli’s predeces-sor Sushil Koirala had attended Modi’s swearing-in ceremony in May 2014.

“Welcoming our Northern guest. EAM @SushmaSwaraj re-ceives Nepal’s PM KP Sharma Oli on his State visit to India,”

External Aff airs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted along with a photographs of Swaraj receiving him.

Oli is accompanied by wife Ra-dhika Shakya, Deputy Prime Min-ister and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa, Finance Minister Bishnu Poudyal, Energy Minister Top Ba-hadur Rayamaji and Home Min-

ister Shakti Basnet among others.The Nepalese Prime Minister

will stay at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Modi had paid a bilateral visit to Nepal in August 2014 which was the fi rst such trip by an Indian Prime Minister to the neighbour-ing country in 17 years. Modi had gone to Nepal again in November 2014 for the SAARC Summit.

Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will be among those who will call on the Nepalese Prime Minister.

Oli will also call on President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice Pres-ident Hamid Ansari. He will visit Dehradun on Sunday to inspect the Tehri hydel power project and will return here in the evening.

On Monday, he will address the Indian Council for World Aff airs and attend a business meeting.

He will leave for Bhuj in Gujarat on Tuesday to have a fi rst hand ex-perience of the earthquake recon-struction work there.

Nepal was struck by a devastat-ing quake in April last year and is currently in the process of carring out reconstruction work.

The same day he will leave for Mumbai from Gujarat and will meet Maharashtra Governor.

He will leave for Nepal from Mumbai on February 24. - PTI

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

WARM WELCOME: Nepalese Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Shar-

ma Oli, left, received by External Aff airs Minister, Sushma Swaraj,

as he arrives at IGI airport T3, in New Delhi on Friday. - PTI

Excess mobile use leaves teens prone to spinal problems

NEW DELHI: Fifty per cent of Indian children and teenagers are prone to spinal problems due to the too much use of mobile phones, said a study done by a hospital.

The problem may lead to per-manent damage to their cervical spines that could lead to lifelong pain, it said. The neck pain and physical damage sustained from the overuse of one’s mobile phone, tablet or other wireless devices has also been described as ‘Text neck’.

Conducted by Lilavati Hospi-tal, the study said 79 per cent of the population between the age group of 18 and 44 have their cell phones with them almost all the time, with only two hours of their waking day spent without their cell phone on hand. India has the world’s second highest mobile phone users with the fi gure stand-ing above one billion.

“People working on comput-ers most of the day, like software

professionals and bank employ-ees, are also prone to feel pain and slight numbness in their neck and shoulders,” said Nirad S. Veng-sarkar, orthopaedic surgeon at the hospital. Due to the overuse of phone, instead of a normal for-ward curve, patients can be seen to have a backwards curve which can be degenerative, often caus-ing head, neck, shoulder and back pain, said the study.

“The condition can also result

in emotional and behavioural changes as the stress can aff ect the release of happy hormones,” said the study.

“Resting the chin on the chest to look at the phone stretches the spi-nal cord and brain stem. This can aff ect respiration, heart rate and blood pressure. It can also mean that happy hormones, such as En-dorphins and Serotonin are not re-leased, meaning people can wake up anxious,” said the report. - IANS

S T U D Y

RAGE: Students stop a train during a protest over the Jawaharlal

Nehru University issue in Patna on Friday. - PTI

A7

PAKISTANS AT U R DAY, F E B R UA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6

Never occurred to me to stay away from Chitral: UK academicCHITRAL: Change is the unset-tling buzzword on British educa-tionist and Langland School and College principal Carey Schofi eld’s mind after she returned to Chitral after a hiatus of eight months.

“Since I left Chitral in May, the district has been aff ected by severe fl oods and what was probably the worst earthquake in its history,” Schofi eld told The Express Trib-une over email.

“Almost everybody has been af-fected in one way or another. [Al-though] a great deal of help has been provided, people are suff er-ing nonetheless.”

She added both natural disas-ters have negatively impacted the school. “Our building has been aff ected,” she said. “We had to move fi ve classes from one sec-tion by renting another house.” During these turbulent times, the educationist maintained contact with the school through email and telephone, and ran the aff airs of the school from her kitchen table in Chelsea.

Schofi eld, who became the prin-cipal of the institute in 2013 after Major Geoff rey Douglas Lang-lands retired from the post, was unseated from her position on June 26, 2015.

At the time, she was on a visit to London. Langlands returned to seize the reins of the school, saying it was not being run in an ef-fective manner.

Earlier on June 13, 2015 Lang-lands had visited Chief Minister Pervez Khattak to discuss man-agement issues at the school and received a favourable response

from him. Federal Interior Min-ister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan blocked Schofi eld’s application for a new work visa for Pakistan on the retired educationist’s advice.

Now, Schofi eld has been able to return to the country—which she did earlier on February 5—after a large number of teachers repeat-edly urged Langlands to put an

end to the dispute. “We are lucky to have very committed teach-ers who, through their loyalty and sheer hard work were able to avert crisis in my absence,” she said.

According to Schofi eld, her re-turn to Chitral was almost inevi-table and she was looking forward to coming back to a life she had left behind

“Chitral is my home,” she said.

“My job is here, my house is here [and even] my animals are here. How could I not return? It nev-er occurred to me to stay away from Chitral.”

Visa processRecalling the diffi culties she faced in returning to Chitral, she said the governing body of her school helped her through the ordeal.

“No one outside the governing body had any authority to inter-fere with my visa process,” she said. “We are lucky that our school has great supporters who helped and encouraged us during last year’s diffi culties.

“We are also grateful to the in-terior ministry who realised that wrong had been done and immedi-ately granted the visa.”

Schofi eld is eager to pick up from where she left off . “We [at the school] are hampered by a lack of money, electricity, water, commu-nication facilities,” she said.

Exploit experienceAccording to Schofi eld, the insti-tute is working to strengthen con-tacts with leading schools and ed-ucationists from across the world.

“We want to exploit experience and expertise from other parts of the world and bring the best of it to Chitral,” she said.

Schofi eld said these facilities will require money, time and dedi-cation. — Express Tribune

H I A T U S O F E I G H T M O N T H S

NOT GOING AWAY: Langland School and College principal Carey Schofi eld who became the principal

of the institute in 2013 after Major Geoff rey Douglas Langlands retired from the post, was unseated

from her position on June 26, 2015. — Express Tribune

We have a large number

of pupils with dyslexia

and dyspraxia who

have specific needs

not recognised by

locals. We now have

a dedicated learning

support coordinator

Carey SchofieldBritish educationist

Raheel pledges to protect Chinese project at any cost

ISLAMABAD: Army Chief Gen-eral Raheel Sharif vowed on Fri-day that security forces are ready to pay any price to turn the long cherished dream of China-Paki-stan Economic Corridor (CPEC) into reality.

“We are totally aware of all campaigns against the corridor and I vow that the security forces are ready to pay any price to turn this long cherished dream into re-ality,” the army chief said, accord-ing to a statement released by the military’s media wing, Inter Ser-vices Public Relations (ISPR).

The army chief was visiting the headquarters of the newly raised Special Security Division (SSD) for the security of CPEC in Dia-mer, Gilgit-Baltistan.

General Raheel urged coordina-tion of law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders to ensure security for the project.

The army chief also reiter-ated the commitment of Pakistan Army to provide security for the project and the workforce in-volved, terming it a game changer having the potential to transform

lives of people of the country. He also emphasised the need to

ensure peaceful environment to be able to push all planned devel-opment projects.

Earlier, the army chief was given a detailed briefi ng on the progress of raising of the force and wide ranging security aspects of the project.

The Gilgit-Baltistan govern-ment announced on Wednesday to “allocate a substantial piece of

land to Pakistan Army in Diamer district so it could set up head-quarters and ensure security for CPEC.”

Brigade stationedAccording to the offi cials, the site is situated in Thak Das, a barren piece of land near Chilas, where a brigade will be stationed.

Earlier on February 3, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, accom-panied by General Raheel, inau-

gurated Rs13 billion Gwadar-Tur-bat-Hoshab Road (M-8), a part of the CPEC.

The premier on the occasion said his government accorded top priority to development in Balochistan, and regarded the road construction as a dream come true.

He termed Pakistan’s pros-perity as the prosperity of Balochistan.

Nawaz said Central Asian re-

publics were keen to use the elab-orate network of roads in Pakistan to reach to the open seas, adding that the road linkage would bene-fi t as many as three billion people of the entire region.

He lauded the Federal Work Organisation team for complet-ing the road despite numerous challenges, and appreciated the army chief for his interest in the project, as well as overall peace in Balochistan. — Express Tribune

We are totally aware

of all campaigns

against the corridor

(China-Pakistan

Economic Corridor)

and I vow that the

security forces are

ready to pay any

price to turn this

long cherished

dream into reality

TREASURE CHEST: The army chief was visiting the headquarters of the newly raised Special Security Division (SSD) for the security of

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in Diamer, Gilgit-Baltistan. — Files

Details of loan to former top judge sought

ISLAMABAD: Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday directed the House Building Fi-nance Company Limited (HBFC) to provide details of the money lent to former chief justice of Paki-stan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary.

The parliamentary body had is-sued the directions after ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) member Sardar Ashiq Hussain Gopang asked the sums lent and whether any of it had been returned.

“Tell us how much money Jus-tice Chaudhary has borrowed?” Gopang asked as he cited state-ments of the ex-chief justice wherein he had admitted to taking loans from the body which pro-vides aff ordable housing solutions to low and middle income groups.

Position“You (HBFC) recover money from other defaulters forcefully, what was your position in this case where a former CJP happens to be a client?” Gopang went on to ask.

The questions were asked as HBFC Managing Director Pervez Said briefed the committee on au-dit paras of Ministry of Finance for fi scal year 2010-11.

He said that the additional sums it had collected from customers under the head of late payments and others were being kept as ‘charity’ in light with a Shariah de-cision in 1998.

When asked by PAC Chairman Khursheed Shah, Said explained they had collected between Rs900 million to a billion but it has never been disbursed. “You could not fi nd a poor man in Pakistan in the last 17 years,” asked Shah.

The committee also discussed several irregularities pointed out by auditors, such as Rs6.49 million disbursed among HBFC employ-ees as ‘recovery incentive’. Finance Secretary Dr Waqar Masood Khan defended the move, explaining that it had been given to motivate employees. “Recovery is their job and they are paid for this,” Gopang argued. — Express Tribune

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Institutions of US favouring the eliteJustin Fox

The late US Justice Antonin Scalia argued last year that there was something wrong with having a Supreme Court composed

entirely of people who had studied at Harvard and Yale law schools. You may disagree with the larger point he was making but you’ve got to admit that it’s pretty weird that the members of the nation’s highest judicial body are drawn from only two schools. (Ruth Bader Ginsburg got her law degree from Columbia, but spent two of her three law-school years at Harvard.)

The justices’ post-law-school careers have been similar too. From Adam Liptak in the New York Times: Three of the current justices are former Supreme Court law clerks. Only one has served as a trial judge, and none has served on a state court. Not one has run for public offi ce.

All of the justices but one are former federal ap-peals court judges. With one exception, those eight served on what might be called the court of appeals for the Acela Circuit, in Boston, New York, Phila-delphia and Washington. This isn’t the way things used to be. In the past, former governors, US sena-tors and even a former president (William Howard Taft) served on the high court; appellate experi-ence and fancy law degrees were not prerequi-sites. That’s partly because in the early days there were no appeals courts (Congress created them in 1891) or law schools (Harvard’s, eff ectively the oldest, was founded in 1817). But presidents kept appointing justices without law degrees well into the twentieth century -- the last such appointment was Robert H. Jackson in 1941.

The Supreme Court is an extreme case, but there are other examples of American institutions be-coming narrowly credentialist in their hiring ap-proach. Northwestern University professor Lau-ren Rivera caused a stir a few years ago with her research fi nding that elite investment banks, law fi rms and consulting fi rms seriously considered candidates from only a handful of top schools. And multiple studies have documented that to get an academic job at a prestigious university you have to have an academic degree from a similarly pres-tigious university.

You’d think the results-oriented business world would be more open to people from less prestig-ious schools, and to some extent it is. But look-

ing at chief executive offi cers of Fortune 500 and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index companies in 2015, the top three undergraduate alma maters were still Harvard, Princeton and Stanford, according to the executive search fi rm Crist Kolder Associ-ates. (Cornell came in fourth and the University of Michigan fi fth.) Chief fi nancial offi cers presented a more interesting mix, with the universities of Notre Dame, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Stanford and Illinois making up the top fi ve, in that order.

On the Bloomberg billionaires list, prestigious university affi liations are standard. Among the top Americans on the list, Bill Gates and Mark Zuck-erberg attended Harvard (although of course they didn’t graduate), Warren Buff ett went to the Uni-versity of Pennsylvania as an undergrad before transferring to the University of Nebraska and got a master’s degree from Columbia, Jeff Bezos grad-uated from Princeton, Bill and Charles Koch each got multiple degrees from the Massachusetts In-stitute of Technology, Larry Ellison dropped out of both the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago, and Sergey Brin and Larry Page were both Ph.D. candidates at Stanford when they founded Google. It’s not until you get to the three Walton siblings that you encounter people untainted by high-prestige- university affi liation (though one of the three, Rob, has a Columbia law degree).

The tendency toward fancy degrees is also ap-parent in national politics. Of the fi ve people who seem to have a real shot at winning a major party’s presidential nomination, only Marco Rubio (Uni-versity of Florida undergrad, University of Miami law) doesn’t have a high-prestige credential. The last presidential election in which neither candi-date had a degree from a current top-10 school was in 1984, when Ronald Reagan (Eureka College) beat Walter Mondale (Macalester College under-grad, University of Minnesota law).

Is this a problem? Scalia argued that if the Su-preme Court restricted itself to purely legal rul-ings it wouldn’t be, but since it also makes political decisions it ought to be more representative of the population. — Bloomberg View

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Only rich can protect children from mental illnessesThis refers to the report Kate uses Huffi ngton Post guest editor role to tackle mental illness stigma (February 17). It is nice too see the Duchess of Cambridge take action to make the world a better place.

Of course, as everything starts at home, she has to make sure her children develop men-tally without having any type of negativity. Such an eff ort is possible only with families having millions at disposal. In case of government, even Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron is not doing much to make things better. When it comes to reaction to-wards diff erent states of the mind humans generally like to consider only those like themselves to be sane. — Trevor Haynes, Ruwi

Need to put sporting bodies under governments for accountabilityThis refers to the report FIFA faces day of reckoning as threats mount (February 19). Since an year or so the world of football has been embroiled in all sorts of scandals. It is not possible this is the only sport where

offi cials are corrupt. It is likely that many offi cials of all other sports are engaged in similar activities. It is high time, sporting bodies come under governments and direct public scrutinies, such that they are periodically elected and appropriately made accountable. —Munira Bhatt, Ruwi

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Sayyid Saud opens meet on syllabus improvementMUSCAT: Sayyid Saud bin Ibrahim Al Busaidi, minister of educa-tion, opened at Crowne Plaza Hotel yesterday a working session on reform, improvement and management of educational syllabi in the Gulf region. The fi ve-day seminar is being organized by the Ministry of Education in association with the Omani Education, Culture and Science Commission (OECSCE) and the Unesco’s international offi ce of education. Dr Hamad Al Humamai, director general of syllabuses and training, said the seminar would discuss strategies of change in the school syllabuses, besides other relevant topics.

1906: Russian troops seize large portions of Mongolia.

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and their tortured searches for a new identity. That explains, at least

in part, why the polls were off before the Iowa caucuses.. These people are

not really “left,” they are left out

LEONID BERSHIDSKY

Ukraine is proving itself a nation prone to popular revolt and immune

to revolution. For evidence, see Tuesday’s political drama, when

a government and prime minister elected on the euphoria of the

Maidan “revolution of dignity” in 2014 were subjected to a vote of no-

confidence

MARC CHAMPION

Bottling glacier water is not the right way to quench China’s thirst.

A better alternative, would be to boost investment in treatment

facilities to make tap water safe in cities. Unfortunately, China seems

determined to remain on its current course, which could do irreparable

damage to Asia’s environment, economy, and political stability

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Vietnam protests China’s missile deployment on disputed island

HANOI/SYDNEY: Vietnam protested to China on Friday at a “serious violation” of its sov-ereignty over Beijing’s apparent deployment of an advanced mis-sile system on a disputed South China Sea island, while Aus-tralia and New Zealand urged Chinese restraint.

Tensions between China and its neighbours over maritime terri-tory have risen since Taiwan and US offi cials said Beijing had placed surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island, part of the Paracel archi-pelago it controls.

“Vietnam is deeply concerned about the actions by China. These are serious infringements of Vi-etnam’s sovereignty over the Paracels, threatening peace and

stability in the region as well as se-curity, safety and freedom of navi-gation and fl ight,” Foreign Minis-try spokesman Le Hai Binh said in a statement.

“Vietnam demands China im-mediately stop such erroneous actions.”

The statement said diplomatic notes had been issued to China’s embassy in Hanoi and to United

Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to protest at Beijing’s ac-tivities, including the building of a military helicopter base on Dun-can island.

Earlier, Australian Prime Min-ister Malcolm Turnbull had urged claimants to refrain from island-building and militarisation in the South China Sea.

“It is absolutely critical that we

ensure that there is a lowering of tensions,” said Turnbull, speak-ing after a meeting in Sydney with New Zealand counterpart John Key.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year and which is be-lieved to have huge deposits of oil and gas. Vietnam, Malaysia, Bru-

nei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.

The Philippines said it was “gravely concerned” about the re-ports of missiles being deployed on Woody Island.

“These developments further erode trust and confi dence and aggravate the already tense situa-tion,” its Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Australia’s Turnbull said if Chi-nese President Xi Jinping was serious about avoiding the so-called Thucydides Trap, a foreign policy metaphor inspired by an-cient Athens and Sparta in which a rising power causes fear in an established power that escalates towards war, he must resolve dis-putes through international law.

“President Xi is right in iden-tifying avoiding that trap as a key goal,” said Turnbull.

Beijing has been angered by air and sea patrols the United States has conducted near islands China claims. Those have included one by two B-52 strategic bombers in November and by a US Navy de-stroyer that sailed within 12 nau-tical miles of Triton Island in the Paracels last month.

Key said New Zealand, the fi rst developed country to recognise China as a market economy and to

sign a bilateral free trade deal, was leveraging its relationship with China to urge measures to lower tensions.

“Does that give us more oppor-tunities to make that case, both privately and publicly?... my view is yes,” said Key, noting that both Australia and New Zealand are now also part of the Beijing-led Asian Investment Bank.

The comments come after Aus-tralian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop visited Beijing, where she raised the issues of the missiles and the South China Sea in meet-ings with Chinese offi cials, includ-ing top diplomat Yang Jiechi.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Aus-tralia and New Zealand “are not countries involved in the South China Sea”.

“We hope the two countries can objectively view the historical de-velopments of the South China Sea, not neglect the facts, and not put forward proposals that are un-constructive,” Hong told reporters.

The Chinese government has off ered few details in response to the missile claim, while accusing Western media of “hyping up” the story and saying China has a legiti-mate right to military facilities on territory it views as its own. — Reuters

Australia and New

Zealand urged

restraint, resolve

disputes through

international law

Zika-hit Puerto Rico readies to import blood suppliesWASHINGTON: New guidelines barring the collection of blood in areas with outbreaks of the mos-quito-borne Zika virus will be put to the test fi rst in cash-strapped Puerto Rico, where health offi cials have two weeks to start importing the island’s supply.

The US Food and Drug Admin-istration said earlier this week that areas with active domestic transmission of Zika virus should stop collecting blood locally.

Puerto Rico has reported a small number of cases of local transmission, and US health of-fi cials expect many thousands of residents to be infected once the mosquito season reaches its peak this summer.

Local health offi cials fear switching to imports could un-dermine the island’s voluntary donation network, which pro-vides the bulk of its needs. The new guidelines will require Pu-erto Rico to obtain its entire sup-ply from the continental United States at a cost of up to $100,000 a week, said Jose O. Alsina, vice president and chief operating of-fi cer of Puerto Rico’s Banco de Sangre de Servicios Mutuos, the island’s largest blood bank.

The US territory is struggling with about $70 billion in debt and a 45 per cent poverty rate. The island has already defaulted on some debt payments and its Gov-ernor Alejandro Garcia Padilla has warned that the government is close to running out of money.

Alsina said its eight blood banks can’t aff ord to buy blood and make payroll, which includes about 400 drivers, phlebotomists, nurses and others. Blood bank offi cials are asking the government to help pay for the imports so they can main-tain their infrastructure until local collection can resume. They also have asked for extra time to collect blood locally before having to im-port it all. “Laying off people, even for a short time, would be devas-tating,” Alsina said.

The FDA said that it recognised the new rules would create hard-

ships but stressed they were nec-essary to ensure safety. The Zika virus has been found in blood, and experts are concerned about the possibility that it could be trans-mitted through transfusion.

FDA “is actively engaged in conversations with local health authorities and blood collection establishments in Puerto Rico in order to minimise the impact to the greatest extent possible,” said spokeswoman Tara Goodin.

The Zika outbreak began in Brazil last year and has spread rapidly through the Americas. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a global health emergency earlier this month because the virus is suspected of causing microcephaly, a birth de-fect marked by unusually small heads that can cause develop-mental disabilities.

President Barack Obama has asked Congress to approve $1.8 billion in supplemental emer-gency funding to help combat the virus, with $250 million desig-nated for Puerto Rico.Dr Thomas Frieden, director of the US Cent-ers for Disease Control and Pre-vention, has told lawmakers some of the funds should fi nance the development of a blood screen-ing test that he hoped could be

available in six to 12 months. In the meantime, researchers at the Blood Systems Research Insti-tute (BSRI), a unit of the blood and transfusion services compa-ny Blood Systems Inc, are evalu-ating the possibility of refi ning an existing Zika test to temporarily screen blood from Puerto Rico.

The test was developed nearly a decade ago by the CDC and has been used mainly for research purposes. Dr Michael Busch, director of the BSRI said he be-lieves his institute could refi ne the test and screen the Puerto Rican blood supply until a com-mercial test becomes available later this year.

Busch said the institute is in discussions with the FDA and be-lieves it could scale up capacity to test Puerto Rican blood donations and submit an application for ap-proval by the end of March. The CDC test could screen the aver-age amount of blood Puerto Rico uses per week but not much more, Busch said. The US Virgin Islands and American Samoa also have been identifi ed by CDC as areas with active Zika transmission, but both already import their blood supply from the continental United States and Hawaii, respec-tively, the FDA said. — Reuters

C A S H - S T R A P P E D

RISING TENSIONS: A protestor holds an effi gy symbolising a missile and placards during a rally out-

side the Chinese Consulate in Manila’s Makati fi nancial district in the Philippines, on Friday. – Reuters

NEW GUIDELINES: The US Food and Drug Administration said

earlier this week that areas with active domestic transmission of

Zika virus should stop collecting blood locally. – Reuters

A10

WORLD S AT U R DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6

The suspension will be in force until the government is satisfi ed with the manpower needs of the industries

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister

VIOLENT PROTESTKosovo police offi cers weraing gas masks inspect Parliament, after tear gas was released by opposition lawmakers, disrupting the fi rst parliamentary session

of the year on Friday in Pristina. Angry over a government deal with Serbia, the united opposition has eff ectively blocked parliamentary proceedings since

October with their tear gas protests. They are demanding snap elections. — AFP

Russia fomenting new Cold War, says Polish president

WARSAW: Polish President An-drzej Duda accused Russia of fo-menting a new Cold War through its actions in Ukraine and Syria, and said Poland was ready to help any future NATO eff orts in com-bating the IS.

In an interview with Reuters, Duda hit back at comments by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who last week de-scribed East-West relations as descending “into a new Cold War” and said NATO was “hostile and closed” toward Russia.

“If Mr Medvedev talks about a Cold War, then looking at Russian actions, it is clear who is seeking a new Cold War,” Duda, allied to Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) said in an interview in his presidential palace in Warsaw.

“If someone is undertaking aggressive military activities in Ukraine and Syria, if someone is

bolstering his military presence near his neighbours... then we have an unequivocal answer re-garding who wants to start a new Cold War. Certainly, it is not Po-land or the NATO alliance.”

The West says it has satellite images, videos and other evidence that show Russia is providing weapons to anti-government re-bels in Ukraine, following Rus-sia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Russia denies such accusations. Poland has long been one of the fi ercest critics of Russian actions and PiS is espe-

cially mistrustful. It wants a sum-mit in Warsaw this year to bolster NATO’s presence in central and east Europe by positioning troops and equipment on Polish soil.

Duda reiterated Polish ambi-tions for an “intensive” NATO presence on its territory to be agreed at the July summit, which would be “tantamount to a perma-nent presence” -- an arrangement that would be assured by troop rotations. Some NATO allies are reluctant, out of concern over the cost and the further deteriora-tion with Moscow that would be

likely to result. Duda’s unexpected election victory last May was the fi rst ballot win for PiS in almost a decade. It helped the party win a parliamentary vote in October on a campaign of conservative values and more economic equality.

A relatively unknown politician before the election, Duda, 43, sees himself as a spiritual and politi-cal heir to Poland’s late president, Lech Kaczynski. Kaczynski, the twin brother of PiS leader Jaro-slaw, died in a plane crash in 2010.

Local critics say Duda and Prime Minister Beata Szydlo

merely follow the lead of Jaroslaw Kaczynski rather than make their own policy -- an accusation he rejected in the interview, saying he was there to implement PiS’s agreed programme.

Duda said Poland was ready to participate in any NATO eff orts in Syria, but without sending troops, an off er the Polish govern-ment has made before. In return, it wants NATO to bolster its pres-ence in eastern Europe. “We are not shirking our responsibility here,” Duda said. “There are no de-cisions yet, but we are a member of the alliance.”

Duda said Poland would be willing to use some of its fl eet of F-16 fi ghter jets for reconnais-sance missions and to participate in training missions. A coalition led by the United States is bomb-ing IS targets in Syria and Iraq, where the militant group occupies swathes of territory. The United States is pressing NATO to play a bigger role in the campaign, put-ting Washington at odds with Ger-many and France. They fear the strategy would risk confrontation with Russia, which is conducting its own air strikes in the region in support of its ally, Syrian Presi-dent Bashar Al Assad.

All 28 NATO allies are already part of a 66-nation anti-IS coali-tion, so the United States is look-ing to NATO to provide equip-ment, training and the expertise it gained in Afghanistan, where Poland also had troops. — Reuters

President Andrzej

Duda said Poland

wants to join anti-IS

NATO eff orts, off ers

F-16s for patrol

missions

‘Bangkok airport a safety risk’

BANGKOK: International Air Transport Association (IATA) has warned that Bangkok’s main Suvarnabhumi Airport is a safety risk, with “serious” overcrowding soon to become a critical issue, and urgent expansion needed, the Nation daily reported on Friday.

Thailand is under pressure to improve its aviation standards after the US Federal Aviation Administration downgraded the country’s safety ratings in Decem-ber last year. “There are also safety concerns on the airport’s tarmac, taxiways and apron area because of soft spots,” IATA director-gen-eral and chief executive offi cer Tony Tyler said.

“Aircraft get stuck in the soft surface due to substandard ma-terials,” he told the newspaper in an interview in Bangkok, after returning from the Singapore Air-show. Thailand’s aviation industry is under scrutiny after the UN’s International Civil Aviation Au-thority (ICAO) downgraded the country in June 2015, giving it a red fl ag for missing a deadline to tackle safety concerns.

This week, the Thai civil avia-tion authority said a review by ICAO was likely to be delayed until early 2017 because it needed more time to improve the qualifi cation of Thai auditors. Tyler said the air-port, which handles 52 million pas-sengers each year, had a signifi cant regional and global role but needed urgent expansion of its terminal ca-pacity, the Nation said. — Reuters

I A T A W A R N I N G

Undeterred Austria says will further cut migrant quotasVIENNA: Austria, which angered other European Union states by announcing a daily cap on immi-gration and asylum claims, said on Friday it would have to introduce even stricter limits in future.

The daily limits of 3,200 mi-grants crossing the border and 80 asylum claims — announced on the eve of an EU summit — were widely seen as undermining Ger-many’s quest for a joint EU solu-tion to the bloc’s refugee crisis in tandem with Turkey.

European Commission Presi-dent Jean-Claude Juncker ex-pressed exasperation on Thursday, and the EU’s migration chief said the cap on asylum claims would break EU and international law.

But Austria, the last stop on the way to Germany for hundreds of thousands of migrants who have

fl ocked to Europe, appeared un-deterred, and its interior minister said the daily caps had been intro-duced on Friday.

“I am very happy with our deci-sion and we will stick to it,” Johan-na Mikl-Leitner told reporters at a conference on migration.

She said Austria had received around 11,000 asylum claims so far in 2016, putting it on course under the new daily limit to exceed its ceiling for the year of 37,500, less than half last year’s total.

“(So) we will have to reduce these upper limits further.” she said, adding that the daily cap on claims only applied to people ar-riving at the southern border on the main migrant route into Eu-rope. Austria also did not want to place too great a burden too soon on Balkan states between it and

Greece, with which Vienna is co-ordinating a “domino eff ect” of re-strictions, she said.

Austria has largely served as a conduit into Germany for the migrants who have streamed through the Balkans and onto its territory since the two countries threw open their borders to them in September. But, relative to its smaller population, Austria has taken a similar number of asylum seekers to Germany, and concerns about the infl ux have fuelled a rise in support for the far right in both countries.

Austria’s coalition government has progressively tightened border restrictions, at fi rst largely in step with Berlin and now apparently not. Germany suggested on Friday the Austrian measures may violate European law. Mikl-Leitner — who

says that Germany has for months had daily quotas of its own, which Germany has never confi rmed — brushed the criticism aside. “I do not understand Germany’s aston-ishment, since Germany invented these daily quotas,” she said.

Meanwhile, two migrants drowned off the coast of Sicily, Ita-ly’s coastguard said on Friday, add-ing to the thousands who have died in the Mediterranean in the last year. A coastguard helicopter saw the two corpses fl oating in the sea off the coast of Siculiana in West-ern Sicily, a spokesman said, adding that only one of the two bodies has so far been picked up. The helicop-ter was sent out after around 40 migrants who said they were from Libya and Tunisia were stopped by police after reaching shore in a wooden boat, he said. — Reuters

T O U G H S T A N D

Malaysia halts intake of foreign workers

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia on Friday said it would freeze recruit-ment of all foreign workers and re-view employment policies, follow-ing protests over its plans to bring in millions of workers to satisfy industry demand.

“The suspension will be in force until the government is satisfi ed with the manpower needs of the industries,” state news agency Ber-nama said, citing Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

The protests by Malaysian la-bour groups and fi rms followed reports that the Southeast Asian country planned to hire about 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers over three years to meet the demand from industry for labour.

Later the government clari-fi ed that its pact with Bangla-desh would only allow 1.5 million workers to seek jobs in Malaysia, and did not mean that all of them would be recruited.

Enforcement measures will also be stepped up against illegal for-eign workers throughout Malay-sia, Ahmad Zahid added.

“Foreign workers without valid documents or those who have overstayed will be arrested and sent back to their country of origin,” the agency quoted him as saying. Malaysia has about 2.1 mil-lion documented foreign workers, a fi gure that falls below its self-imposed cap of 15 per cent of for-eigners among a total workforce of about 15.3 million. — Reuters

E M P L O Y M E N T P O L I C Y

HITTING BACK AT MOSCOW: Poland’s President Andrzej Duda gestures as he speaks during inter-

view with Reuters at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland on Wednesday. – Reuters

INTRODUCING STRICTER LIMITS: Migrants are accompanied by

Czech police offi cers at the Macedonian Greek border near Gevgeli-

ja, Macedonia, on Friday. Austria infuriated European Union peers

on Thursday by insisting on capping the number of migrants it

takes in, undermining Germany’s push to seek a joint EU solution to

the bloc’s refugee crisis in tandem with Turkey. – Reuters

SPOR S

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2016

Paceman Henry replaces Bracewell for second TestCHRISTCHURCH: New Zea-land pace bowler Matt Henry will come in for the injured Doug Bracewell in the second Test against Australia, captain Bren-don McCullum said on Friday.

Bracewell has sustained a rota-tor cuff injury in his right shoul-der and will miss the fi nal match of the two-Test series, starting on Saturday at Hagley Oval. Austral-ia won the opener by an innings and 52 runs in Wellington earlier this week. McCullum, who will play his 101st and fi nal Test, said the only remaining decision to be made was whether they play four seamers or go with three front-line pace bowlers and off -spinner Mark Craig.

“Matt Henry will come in for Doug Bracewell and it’s just try-ing to work out whether we play Mark Craig or Neil Wagner and that’s the decision we’ve got to make,” McCullum told reporters on Friday. “The pitch looks good. It looks like it’s got a nice healthy

covering of grass I’m sure that both team’s bowling lineups will relish it.”

The pitch has been the subject of much debate since Australia exploited the best of the bowling conditions at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, reducing the hosts to 51-5 inside 12 overs after win-ning the toss.

“It’s probably not quite as hard as the Basin,” McCullum added. “I thought the Basin was a re-ally good cricket wicket. It did a lot in that fi rst session and then dried out a little bit quicker than what a team who’s been bowled out for 180 wanted. It’s not going to be necessarily a pleasant time out there with bat in hand (but) I think it will go around for a while.

“I’m sure this one will be a good conTest which will hopefully end up in a result. Hopefully for us.”

Pattinson inMeanwhile, James Pattinson has been recalled to Australia’ start

ing side. Patto obviously wasn’t right that fi rst Test match, and he’s been working hard since,” captain Steve Smith told report-ers at Hagley Oval in Christch-urch on Friday.

“He’s bowled a lot in the nets and we’re all confi dent he’ll get through this next test match and hopefully he can have a big im-pact for us. I think he had three or four sessions and bowled with good pace. Hopefully he can do some of the same this week and it looks like the conditions are going to suit him nicely.”

New Zealand (likely): Brendon McCullum (captain), Martin Gup-till, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson, Henry Nicholls, Corey Anderson, BJ Watling, Mark Craig, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Trent Boult.

Australia: Steve Smith (cap-tain), David Warner, Joe Burns, Us-man Khawaja, Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill, James Pattinson, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Jack-son Bird. - Reuters

T E S T S E R I E S

Gavignet galvanises SATT lead with off shore leg victory

MUSCAT: Reigning EFG Sail-ing Arabia – The Tour cham-pion Sidney Gavignet on Friday led his EFG Bank Monaco crew to their fi rst off shore win with victory in the sprint from Abu Dhabi to Doha. Gavignet’s team capitalised on a strong perfor-mance in the Abu Dhabi In-Port Race series to take the top spot in the testing 160nm leg after 26 hours at sea.

The stage was the second of fi ve that make up the 730-mile adventure around the Arabian Gulf (15-29 February).And al-though it’s still early days the French off shore sailing sensa-tion is making strides towards a third consecutive title.

EFG Bank Monaco edged Team Averda, Marcel Herrera’s talented Plymouth Univer-sity crew, off the top of the tour leaderboard following the Abu Dhabi In-Port Race series.

German-born Herrera, twice a runner-up to Gavignet in pre-vious editions of EFG SATT, won the opening Dubai In-Port Race series last Monday and the leg from Dubai to Abu Dhabi to take an early overall lead.

But a fl awless race from in-cumbent champions EFG Bank Monaco saw them lead out of Abu Dhabi and maintain their advantage over Team Averda the entire length of the leg.

Renaissance Services, skip-pered by Gavignet’s Omani pro-tégé Fahad Al Hasni, completed the leg 2 podium, their best re-sult of the tour so far. Dee Caf-fari’s Oman Airports-Al Thuraya Women’s Team fi nished eighth.

Stunning conditions of fl at seas and winds of around 10 knots saw the nine internation-al crews cross the Gulf faster than expected. However, when the wind vanished, race direc-tor Gilles Chiorri decided to end the stage early.

S A I L I N GOman clinch a thriller

MUSCAT: Oman’s Ajay Lalcheta held his nerve in the fi nal over to get rid of threatening Babar Hayat of Hong Kong and clinch the thrill-ing Asia Cup qualifying opener match by fi ve runs at Fatullah Sta-dium (Bangladesh) on Friday.

The match, which followed the upset win for United Arab Emir-ates (UAE) over Afghanistan, turned out to be a nail-biter.

The win has put Oman on top of the table with 2 points and UAE are second with same number of points.

However, full credit must be given to Hong Kong’s Babar Hayat, who almost took the match away from Oman single handedly and when he was caught by Jatinder Singh off Ajay Lalcheta in the fi nal his contribution read a masterly 122 (9 fours and 7 sixes).

Hong Kong, chasing 181 to win, needed just 15 runs off Lalcheta’s fi nal over, but could manage only 10 at the cost of Hayat’s wicket and there by losing by fi ve runs.

Hong Kong looked desperate with three overs to go and Hayat smashed four sixes in the 18th over bowled by the Zeeshan Maqsood to close in on the target.

However, Bilal Khan’s penulti-mate over cost only three runs and Lalcheta did the rest.

Earlier, Oman batsmen came into terms with cool-headed Jatin-

der Singh opening with Zeeshan Maqsood. There were no early hic-cups as both batted with élan lay-ing a good foundation for the rest to take on.

Jatinder (42 off 35 balls) added 34 with Zeeshan and 41 with Vaib-hav Wategaonkar to take Oman to 75 for 1 at the 10-over mark.

Later, Adnan Ilyas (23) and Aamir Kaleem (19) added use-ful runs, before Mehran Khan (28 not out off 16 balls) and Amir Ali (32 not out off 13 balls) provided a late fl ourish.

In a message from the stadium, Oman Cricket Chairman Kanak Khimji lauded Oman’s win. “It was a great eff ort by the boys. The last over was crucial,” he said.

Meanwhile, assistant coach Mazhar Saleem thanked Oman fans and praised the determina-tion shown by the team.

“We will do better in the next two games,” he said.

UAE winEarlier, Rohan Mustafa’s all-round performance helped the UAE beat Afghanistan by 16 runs. Musta-fa scored 77 runs with bat and bowled 2.5 overs for three wickets.

Chasing a target of 177 runs, Af-ghanistan fi nished at 160 for all in 19.5 overs.

Karim Sadiq gave hopes with 72 off 48 balls, including eight bound-aries and one six, but was out to Mohammed Naveed.

The other contributors for Af-ghanistan were Mohammed Nabi (23 off 18b; 2x6) and Najibullah Zadran (21 off 14b; 1x6).

Babar Hayat’s valiant

eff ort (122)went in

vain as Hong Kong

folded up fi ve runs

short of target in a

thrilling Asia Cup

qualifi er against

Oman, while United

Arab Emirates

caused a fl utter by

stunning favourites

Afghanistan

GREAT START: Team Oman opens account in Asia Cup qualifi ers with a thrilling win over Hong Kong

in Dhaka on Friday.

OMANZ. Maqsood c N. Khan b H. Amjad 17J. Singh c T. Afzal b N. Ahmed 42V. Wategaonkar c B. Hayat b N. Ahmed 14A. Ilyas lbw b N. Ahmed 23A. Kaleem b Chapman 19M. Khan not out 28A. Ali not out 32Extras (lb-4, w-1) 5Total (5 wickets; 20 overs) 180Did not bat: Sultan Ahmed, Munis Ansari, Bilal Khan, A. Lalcheta Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-75, 3-76, 4-114, 5-130Bowling: Nadeem Ahmed 4-0-27-3; Tanwir Afzal 4-0-33-0; Haseeb Amjad 4-0-38-1; Aizaz Khan 4-0-35-0; Anshuman Rath 3-0- 33-0; MS Chapman 1-0-10-1HONG KONGA. Rath st S. Ahmed b A. Ali 11KD. Shah c S. Ahmed b B. Khan 0

B. Hayat c J. Singh b Lalcheta 122MS Chapman run out (Aamir Kaleem) 8N. Khan st S. Ahmed b Z. Maqsood 0T. Afzal c A. Kaleem b Ansari 10A. Khan run out (Ansari) 15W. Khan not out 4H. Amjad not out 4Extras (lb-1) 1Total (7 wickets; 20 overs) 175Did not bat: C. Carter, Nadeem Ahmed Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-63, 3-77, 4-77, 5-104, 6-133, 7-170Bowling: Bilal Khan 4-0-28-1; A. Lalcheta 4-0-29-1; M. Ansari 4-0-30-1; Zeeshan Maqsood 4-0-54-1; Aamir Kaleem 3-0-27-0; Amir Ali 1-0-6-1Toss: Oman, who chose to batPoints: Oman 2, Hong Kong 0T20I debut: V. Wategaonkar (Oman)Umpires: Enamul Haque and BB Pradhan

S C O R E B O A R D

A12

SPORTSS AT U R DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6

Nibali supreme at Green Mountain, claims overall lead of Tour of Oman

MUSCAT: The queen stage of the 2016 Tour of Oman was at the height of expectations and of-fered a tremendous battle between the favourites of the event all the way to the fi nish line on Jabal Al Akhdhar.

Already a winner back in 2012 at Green Mountain, Vincenzo Ni-bali made the best of the decisive climb, beating Romain Bardet and Jakob Fuglsang.

While former leader Edvald Boasson Hagen lost over a minute on the day, the Italian winner of all three Grand Tours captured the overall leader’s red jersey.

With two stages to go Nibali has an interesting 15’’ lead over Bardet and is on pole position to win his fi rst ever Tour of Oman.

At the start of Stage 4 of the Tour of Oman, there were some con-cerned faces. Indeed the day would promise to be a hard one with the

fi nal climb up Jabal Al Akhdhar, also known as Green Mountain, especially because this year, the fa-mous climb would be longer with an extra 1.8kms.

Thankfully for the 139 riders, and unlike yesterday, there would be no thunder storms as they took off under a bright sun from Knowl-edge Oasis Muscat. The pack start-ed its 180-km eff ort at 11:00, head-ing south.

After just a kilometre two men took off : most agressive rider, Kenny Dehaes and his team mate Björn Thurau (WGG).

After having an 8’’ lead, they were caught six kilometres later. It was then the turn of Davide Cimo-lai (LAM) and Daniel Oss (BMC) to try their luck. The two Italians were rapidly caught by 8 other riders : Pfi ngsten (BOA), Keisse (EQS), Antonini, Stenuit (WGG), De Vries (ROP), Steels (TSV), White (UHC) and Reihs (SSG). The ten men saw the gap rapidly grow up to 3’20’’ at km 40.

At the fi rst intermediate sprint (km 82) claimed by Steels ahead of Keisse and Cimolai the gap grew to 4’15’’ and reached a maximum 4’25’’ at km 95.

Chased down by teams Astana, Dimension Data and AG2R La Mondiale, the breakaway riders could still count on a 2’55’’ with 20 kms to go.

At the second bonus sprint (km 163), won by Antonini ahead of Stenuit and Steels, the gap had dropped to 2’10’’. While Sten-

uit and Steels were the fi rst to be dropped, the leading group reached the bottom of the fi nal climb with a 40’’ advantage.

Eventually Oss was the last to survive. All his former compan-ions were indeed caught one after the other.

The Italian was fi nally gobbled up by the pack at km 176. With four kilometres to go two men, Brambil-la (EQS) and Weening (ROP) pow-ered away from a group of around twenty men including all the GC favorites.

Their lead grew to 10’’ over a bunch led by four Astana riders, but they were soon to be caught. It was then Jakob Fuglsang’s (AST) turn to give it a go taking with him Romain Bardet (ALM). Mean-while red jersey Edvald Boasson Hagen (DDD) started struggling.

Just under ten riders including Rui Costa (LAM), Nibali, Fuglsang (AST), Bardet, Pozzovivo (ALM), Sepulveda (FVC), Dumoulin (TGA), Kudus (DDD) and Canty (DPC) gathered together, while the overall leader was 23’’ adrift with 2 kilometres to go.

Again Bardet attacked alongside former Tour, Giro and Vuelta win-ner Vincenzo Nibali. Both men remained together with a slim ad-vantage over their rivals. The stage ended up with a sprint between both men.

While Bardet was the fi rst to take off with just over 100m to go, the Italian hung on to his wheel and eventually overtook him to capture victory. He crossed the line with a 9’’ lead over the French-man and 12’’ over Fuglsang, cap-turing his second win at Green Mountain after a fi rst success back in 2012 when he fi nished second of

the GC. Tenth of the day, Boasson Hagen crossed the line with a 1’10’’ defi cit, losing his leadership.

With two stages to go, Nibali takes command of the general

classifi cation and has a 15’’ lead over Bardet and 24’’ over Fuglsang. The Astana rider also leads the points classifi cation while prom-ising Brebdan Canty (DPC), 8th of

the stage, captures the white jersey for the best young rider.

The Most Aggressive rider’s jer-sey remains on the shoulders of Kenny Dehaes (WGG)

Already a winner

back in 2012 at Green

Mountain, Vincenzo

Nibali made the best

of the decisive climb,

beating Romain

Bardet and Jakob

Fuglsang, while Hagen

lost his Red Jersey

PROUD WINNER: Vincenzo Nibali made the best of the decisive climb to win Stage 4 at Jabal Al Akh-

dhar and clinch the Red Jersey. – Times of Oman / JUN ESTRADA

SCAN THIS QR CODE TO INSTANTLY VISIT

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

Aisha wins junior girls titleMUSCAT: Talented Omani play-er, Aisha bint Ali Al Suleimani won the junior girls title at the on-going ISC/Muscat Pharmacy Open Jun-ior Tennis Tournament organized by the Indian Social Club Oman.

Aisha captured the junior girls title after recording an emphatic 6-1, 6-0 victory over her challenger Charvi Attri.

Oman’s top junior player, Ab-dullah bin Hamdi Al Baarwani advanced to the fi nal of the boys unde-18 singles event. In the semi fi nal, the top seed coasted to a con-vincing 6-1, 6-1 victory over Zaka-riya Al Suleimani. The scoreline does not do justice to the fi ne eff ort put up by Zakariya. In a match of two hard hitters, Zakariya broke Abdullah in the very fi rst game but Abdullah’s superior frame of mind and variety of strokes made all the diff erence. Zakariya put in a good number of fi rst serves but was found lacking when it came to facing up to the superior ground-strokes from the top seed.

Second seed in the boys un-

der-18 singles, Younis bin Tufail Al Rawahi will take on third seed Subash Pillai in the second semi-fi nal. Younis advanced to the last four after overcoming Yash Tanna 8-4 in the quarter fi nal. At one stage Yash rallied from 0-3 down to level at 4-all but the left-handed Omani went into top gear to win

the next four games for a place in the last four. Third seed Subash Pillai advance to the semi-fi nal after notching up a convincing 8-3 victory over Muneer Al Rawahi in the quarter fi nal.

The top doubles team of Abdul-lah Al Barwani and Younis Al Raw-ahi progressed to the fi nal of the junior doubles event. In a thrilling semi-fi nal, the top seeds scored a brilliant 6-2, 6-4 victory the fourth seeded team of Tim Rutherford and Zakariya Al Suleimani. In a high-intensity doubles encounter, Tim and Zakariya made a brilliant at-tempt and posed anxious moments for the top seeds. Abdullah and Younis though settled down to gain control of the second set and won it for a place in the fi nal against the second seeded duo of Subash Pillai and Yash Tanna who demolished the duo of Hassan Haider and Avig-yan Bhattacharya in the semi fi nal. The boys under-14 singl and the junior doubles fi nal is scheduled to be played this evening (Saturday) starting at 7pm.

I S C T E N N I S

FINALISTS: Junior Girls’ winner

Aisha Al Suleimani, right, and

runner-up Charvi Attri.

Shami ruled out of Asia Cup, looks doubtful for World T20

NEW DELHI: Indian Pacer Mo-hammad Shami was on Friday ruled out of India’s squad for the upcoming Asia Cup, raising doubts about his participation in the mar-qee ICC World Twenty20 that fol-lows the continental tournament.

Seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been named as replacement for Shami by the selection committe. After a long injury layoff , post last year’s World Cup, Shami was re-called to the national squad for the tour Down Under, only to be ruled out again by a hamstring injury.

“The BCCI medical team con-fi rms that Mohammed Shami has been ruled out of Asia Cup, 2016. The decision has been taken to give him more time to recover from the Grade II injury to his left ham-string,” BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said in a statement. — PTI

C R I C K E T

Threat looms as FIFA

faces day of reckoning

ZURICH: The spotlight at next week’s FIFA Congress will fall on the presidential election - but the real key to the future of soc-cer’s beleaguered governing body is embedded in a document with the unglamorous title “Draft stat-utes - Congress 2016”.

Drawn up over the last eight months, it suggests changes to stop the scandals that have left the organisation supposed to lead the world’s most popular sport facing its greatest threat for decades.

The most obvious challenge is criminal investigations in the United States and Switzerland that have already resulted in the indictment of several dozen soc-cer offi cials for corruption, many of them serving or former presi-dents of national or continental associations.

U.S. prosecutors have con-tinued to call FIFA a victim of corrupt individuals. But if FIFA as an organisation were crimi-

nally charged, sponsors and other partners might be reluctant to do business with it.

But that is not the only con-cern. In the last month, talk has resurfaced among Europe’s most powerful clubs of a breakaway European Super League, as well as complaints about the amount of time players spend with na-tional teams.

National team competitions depend on a calendar agreed be-tween FIFA and the clubs, which commit to release players to their national teams on certain dates.

If the clubs, which are always eager for more opportunities to play lucrative friendlies abroad, were to pull out, it would throw international football into chaos.

There was similar discontent in the 1990s, when European soccer’s governing body UEFA became deeply critical of Joao Havelange, the Brazilian presi-dent of FIFA at the time. — Reuters

F O O T B A L L

BMARKE

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMS AT U R DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6

‘US BIG BANKS NEED TOSPLIT UP OR DOWNSIZE’When the US Federal Reserve’s newest policymaker Neel Kashkari dropped a bombshell with a call to break up big banks on Tuesday, it was met with a predictably indignant response from their lobbyists. >B2

Focus on oil’s new world order at Houston forum next weekHOUSTON: Saudis may go pub-lic, Opec’s in disarray, the United States is suddenly a global export-er, and shale drillers are seeking lifelines from investors as banks abandon them.

Welcome to oil’s new world or-der, full of stresses, strains and fractures. For leaders gathering in Houston next week at the IHS CERAWeek conference — often dubbed the Davos of the energy industry — a key question is: what will break fi rst? Will it be the bal-ance sheets of big US shale compa-nies? The treasuries of Venezuela and Nigeria? The resolve of Saudi Arabia, whose recent deal with Russia to freeze output levels of-fered the fi rst hint of a rethink?

Watching prices crashAfter watching prices crash through fl oor after fl oor in the worst slump for a generation, the industry is eager for answers.

Insiders say it’s not too hard to visualise what markets might look like after the storm — say fi ve years down the line, when today’s cost-cutting creates a supply vacuum that will push up prices.

But it’s what happens in the meantime that’s got them scratch-ing their heads.

“This is a weird thing for a mar-ket analyst to say because it’s usu-ally the opposite case, but I have more conviction in my fi ve-year outlook than my one-year out-look,” said Mike Wittner, head of

oil market research for Societe Generale. “Maybe I’m letting my head get turned upside down by the last couple months.”

Seeking clarity at closed-door sessions, happy hours and water-coolers in Houston will be some of the industry’s biggest players, from Saudi Petroleum Minis-

ter Ali Al Naimi to Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Offi cer Ben Van Beurden.

In a less volatile year, the long-term viability of fossil fuels might have been high on their agenda af-ter December’s breakthrough cli-mate deal in Paris.

But within the industry, that de-

bate has “fallen into the abyss of $27 oil,” said Deborah Gordon, di-rector of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s energy and climate programme.

Shale boomUS shale drillers had a key role in bringing prices that low, by adding four million barrels a day in less than four years — almost like a new Opec member materialising over-night. Natural gas has mirrored the pattern, with surging output and plunging prices.

Now the companies are victims of their own success. As many as 74 face signifi cant diffi cul-ties in sustaining debt, accord-ing to Moody’s Investors Service. The eff ective yield of the Bank of America Merrill Lynch High-Yield Energy Index rose to more than 21 per cent on February 11, the most since it was created in 1997.

Shale bankruptciesSo far, shale bankruptcies have been limited to smaller outfi ts like Magnum Hunter Resources and Swift Energy.

Some investors are worried that

Chesapeake Energy, the second-largest natural gas producer in the US, could be the fi rst big fi sh out of the water: its shares have plunged 90 per cent in the past year.

Opec OutputMeanwhile, on the international scene, the Saudi-Russian accord announced on Tuesday, to which Venezuela and Qatar have also signed up, would cap production at January’s levels — a record high in Russia’s case, and not far off for the Saudis.

Iran isn’t a party to the plan, and its imminent return to world mar-kets could add to the glut. Histori-cally the No. 2 Opec producer, the Islamic Republic is preparing to ramp up exports after sanctions were lifted last month.

Brent crude failed to sustain a rally after the plan was an-nounced, suggesting that traders don’t see any change in the under-lying picture: Suddenly, there’s oil everywhere. Without a rebound in prices, the consequences for governments — from Russia to Ni-geria to Venezuela — range from grim to catastrophic. — Bloomberg News

I H S C E R A W E E K F O R U M

Oil prices decline to about $30

LONDON: Oil dropped near $30 a barrel in New York after US crude stockpiles rose to the highest in more than eight dec-ades as Saudi Arabia and Russia propose to freeze output amid a worldwide surplus.

Futures lost as much as 2.3 per cent in New York, trimming the fi rst weekly advance this month. US supplies expanded to 504 mil-lion barrels, the highest level in data going back to 1930, accord-ing to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Iraq said on Thursday it backs any decision to support prices and balance the market without indicating wheth-er it would cap its own output.

“The market was caught by sur-prise by the rise in the US inven-tories,” Jens Pedersen, a Danske Bank A/S analyst in Copenhagen, said by phone. “We need both ad-justments on the supply side, for example producers scaling back on new investments which will lead to less supplies going forward,” and an improvement in demand, he said. Crude is still down about 19 per cent this year after the Or-ganisation of Petroleum Export-ing Countries (Opec) abandoned output targets in early December amid swelling US stockpiles and as Iran seeks to boost exports to re-gain market share after sanctions were lifted. Companies are con-fronting rating downgrades and oil-producing nations face bigger-than-expected withdrawals from wealth funds to cover budget defi -cits as energy revenues fall.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March delivery, which ex-pires on Monday, fell as much as 70 cents to $30.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $30.13 at 11:51am Lon-don time. Prices are up 2.5 per cent this week. Total volume traded was about two per cent below the 100-day average. The more-active April future was 57 cents lower at $32.36 a barrel.

Brent for April settlement de-clined as much as 70 cents, or two per cent, to $33.58 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Eu-rope exchange. Prices are 0.9 per cent higher this week. The Euro-pean benchmark crude traded at a premium of $1.36 to WTI for April.

Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the biggest US oil-storage hub, rose to a record 64.7 million barrels, the EIA said in a report on Thursday.

The site, which is the delivery point for WTI, has a working ca-pacity of 73 million barrels. Na-tionwide oil stockpiles rose 2.15 million barrels through February 12, the Energy Information Ad-ministration said. Inventories are at a record high in weekly data that started in August 1982. Supplies haven’t been at this level since 1930, based on monthly records dating back to 1920. — Bloomberg News

O I L S U P P L I E S US consumer prices rise ‘marginally’ in January

WASHINGTON: Cost of living in the United States excluding food and fuel increased in Janu-ary by the most in more than four years, refl ecting broad-based gains that signal companies may be getting some pricing power.

The so-called core consumer-price measure climbed 0.3 per cent, more than forecast and the

most since August 2011, after a 0.2 per cent gain the month be-fore, a Labour Department report showed on Friday in Washington. Total prices were little changed, depressed by the continued plunge in energy costs.

A tightening labour market and nascent signs of wage growth bode well for domestic demand, a

rebound in which could help stoke infl ation if energy costs stabilise.

The increase in infl ation will likely hearten Federal Reserve pol-icy makers, who are monitoring the US economy’s durability against headwinds such as stock-market turmoil and weaker foreign mar-kets. “Prices are fi rming up, and it’s across a fairly nice breadth,”

said Tom Porcelli, chief US econo-mist at RBC Capital Markets LLC in New York. “If that doesn’t con-vince people that infl ation is not dead, I don’t know what will.”

Total consumer prices were ex-pected to drop 0.1 per cent in Jan-uary from the month before based on the median of 82 economists in a Bloomberg survey. Estimates

ranged from a 0.2 per cent decline to a 0.1 per cent increase.

In the 12 months ended Janu-ary, the overall consumer price measure increased 1.4 per cent after a 0.7 per cent increase in the prior period.

Year-over-yearThe core index advanced 2.2 per cent from a year earlier, the most since June 2012.

The core gauge was projected by the Bloomberg survey to rise 0.2 per cent in January from the previous month.

Prices for rent, clothing, medi-cal care and new and used cars all advanced.

The CPI is the broadest of three price gauges from the Labor De-partment because it includes all goods and services. About 60 per cent of the index covers prices consumers pay for services from medical visits to airline fares, movie tickets and rents.

The Labor Department’s gauge of wholesale prices, which includes 75 per cent of all US goods and services, unexpectedly climbed 0.1 per cent in January from the month before on the back of higher food costs. A separate re-port last week indicated the cost of imported goods fell 1.1 per cent for a second month. — Bloomberg News

The so-called core

consumer-price

measure climbed

0.3 per cent, more

than forecast and the

most since August

2011, after a 0.2 per

cent gain the month

before, a Labour

Department report

showed on Friday

Saudi Arabian markets shrug off debt downgradeDUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s fi nancial markets barely blinked on Thurs-day after its debt was downgraded — a sign that a charm off ensive by Saudi economic offi cials, and determined action against specu-lators, have bought it time in the eyes of many investors.

In the last few weeks, offi cials of the central bank and ministries of fi nance, economy and oil have met privately with groups of foreign bankers and analysts to discuss the kingdom’s plans to cope with low oil prices.

The offi cials have reiterated their commitment to the Saudi riyal’s peg of 3.75 to the US dol-lar and described eff orts to di-versify the economy beyond oil, participants at the meetings told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. In contrast to past practice, the Saudis have been willing to provide lengthy answers to questions on the vulnerability of their economy. They have also stressed that they are prepared to deploy the central bank’s huge for-eign assets, which totalled $609 billion at the end of 2015, to with-stand economic shocks.

“The core message was that the Saudis are much better pre-pared to handle low oil prices — reserves are high and debt is low,” said one participant. “At the same time they are keen to show it’s not business as usual and they are making serious reforms to re-energise growth.”

The meetings did not eliminate

doubts about Riyadh’s ability to push through complex and dif-fi cult reforms that would boost non-oil revenues, foster new in-dustries and make the govern-ment more effi cient. Saudi Arabia has been drawing down its foreign assets at an annual rate of over $100 billion, suggesting it has a window of only a few years to get

the reforms right. Nevertheless, the meetings have helped to per-suade some investors that a de-valuation of the riyal is not on the cards, and that the world’s top oil exporter faces no imminent eco-nomic crisis, participants said.

Late on Wednesday, Standard & Poor’s cited the damage to state fi -nances from cheap oil when it cut Saudi Arabia’s long-term sover-eign credit rating by two notches to A-minus, with a stable outlook, from A-plus.

“The decline in oil prices will have a marked and lasting impact on Saudi Arabia’s fi scal and eco-nomic indicators given its high dependence on oil,” S&P said.

But the Saudi riyal fi rmed against the dollar in the forwards market on Thursday, while pric-es of Saudi fi rms’ international bonds barely moved and the cost of insuring Saudi sovereign debt against default ticked up only marginally.

The Saudi stock market headed for its fourth straight day of gains, in sharp contrast to S&P’s last downgrade of the kingdom in Oc-tober, when investors sold stocks.

SpeculatorsFinancial markets are fi rm partly because the Saudi central bank has acted aggressively to deter speculation against the riyal in the forwards market.

The riyal dropped to record lows in that market in January as banks hedged against the risk that authorities might devalue the currency to infl ate the value of their dollar oil revenues and reduce capital outfl ows. As it fell, investors in other markets be-came nervous, creating a cycle of worsening sentiment towards Saudi Arabia. The central bank responded by warning banks not to speculate and urging them not to conduct derivatives trades that would pressure the riyal. The threat of getting on the wrong side of the central bank and its huge reserves has worked for now; the riyal is stable at higher levels and forwards trade has slowed.

The offi cials’ charm off ensive has also helped because a main message in their meetings with bankers and analysts was that they saw no need to change the currency peg. — Reuters

R A T I N G C U T B Y S & P

INDUSTRY EXPERTS: Houston will see next week some of the industry’s biggest players, from Saudi

Petroleum Minister Ali Al Naimi to Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben Van Beurden. — Bloomberg fi le picture

BROAD-BASED GAINS: Total consumer prices were expected to drop 0.1 per cent in January from the

month before based on the median of 82 economists in a Bloomberg survey. — Bloomberg News

MARKET RISES: Saudi stock market headed for its fourth straight

day of gains, in sharp contrast to S&P’s last downgrade of the

kingdom in October, when investors sold stocks. - Bloomberg fi le picture

2 0, 2 0 6

OZE’

B2

MARKETS AT U R DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6

Wild markets are here to stay: Report

TOKYO: Strap in for more vola-tility in markets as the global economy slows and central banks dabble in the dangerous world of negative interest rates, says $1.4 trillion money manager Capital Group Cos.

Turbulence will probably per-sist as rates below zero and defl a-tion pose a “real threat” in Japan and Europe, Capital Group wrote in a note to clients this week. The risk of a US recession has in-creased, they say, which means the Federal Reserve probably won’t increase borrowing costs in 2016.

Investors have found few places to profi t this year as a rout in stocks that started with concerns about China’s economy and the tumbling price of oil spread to global bank shares, emerging-market curren-cies and high-yield bonds. Despite three days of gains of more than one per cent in four sessions, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is still down 6.2 per cent for the year, and earnings by its companies are set to drop for a third quarter.

“The big question is whether the US economy gets overwhelmed by problems overseas; we’ll have to see,” the report cited Capital Group fund manager Jim Lovelace as saying.

“At the very least, I expect the environment for US corporate profi ts to be challenging in 2016.”

After volatility on a measure of global equities rose last month to the highest since September, Capi-tal Group is advising clients to ride it out by diversifying across all as-set classes, including bonds. The MSCI All-Country World Index dropped 0.2 per cent as of 4:13pm in Tokyo on Friday.

Capital Group was the world’s seventh-largest asset manager at the end of 2014, according to a P&I/Towers Watson survey. The fi rm, with $1.4 trillion under man-agement at the end of December, is a long-term investor whose prod-ucts include American Funds, one of the largest mutual-fund families in the US by assets. — Bloomberg News

C A P I T A L G R O U P S T U D Y

Too much infl ation could be good, feels EU policy makerFRANKFURT: Too much infl a-tion, at least for a short time, could be a good thing for the European Central Bank (ECB).

An offi cial account of the cen-tral bank’s latest policy meeting on January 21 showed that at least one policy maker said that it would be “logical” to overshoot the ECB’s goal of keeping infl ation at just under two per cent “for a limited period,” after almost three years of falling short of it.

The account didn’t say whether this view was shared by any other Governing Council member, and it seems like a moot point with price pressures so muted. Even so, the mention of exceeding the ECB’s infl ation goal may signal the start of a debate among policy mak-

ers looking for ways to reinforce stimulus at a moment when ex-panding the current set of instru-ments — negative rates and asset purchases — risks yielding only diminishing returns. The idea be-hind overshooting is that it would allow prices to recover, at least in part, the ground lost after years of sub-par infl ation. It would also create room for policy makers to keep monetary policy easy even if infl ation were to start picking up.

“Words matter as well as deeds,’’ said Richard Barwell, senior econ-omist at BNP Paribas Investment Partners in London. “If accompa-nied by decisive action, this is the answer to the ECB’s problems. They have to commit to overde-liver.’’ The idea of overshooting to

make up for past periods of slow price growth evokes what econo-mists term “price-level target-ing,” where central banks aim for a specifi c level of prices rather than a yearly infl ation rate. ECB Vice President Vitor Constancio explicitly rejected the idea in a recent interview.

“I would never agree to price-level targeting. That is also not a consideration for us,’’ he told Ger-many’s Boersen Zeitung on De-cember 30.

Even so, other central banks have discussed the option. Chi-cago Fed President Charles Evans said in September there wouldn’t be “any serious costs of modestly overshooting our infl ation target — particularly considering how

long infl ation has been below our target.” A research paper from the San Francisco Fed earlier this week concluded that it might be “desirable to trade some future above-target infl ation for a faster recovery in economic activity.’’

Bank of England offi cials use the prediction of an overshoot to signal that policy might need to be tighter than the yield curve im-plies. Infl ation is currently at 0.3 per cent, and in the central bank’s February Infl ation Report policy makers predicted that price gains will exceed their two per cent tar-get after two years and then con-tinue to rise.

In reality, offi cials have looked through infl ation as high as fi ve per cent in the past. — Bloomberg News

E U R O P E A N C E N T R A L B A N K

Big banks need to split up or downsize: US Fed official

NEW YORK/LONDON: When the US Federal Reserve’s new-est policymaker Neel Kashkari dropped a bombshell with a call to break up big banks on Tuesday, it was met with a predictably indig-nant response from their lobby-ists. One described his comments as “blind.”

But while no one in the execu-tive suites of major global banks would want authorities to force them to split up or downsize, many top bankers acknowledge that their institutions might be better off smaller and simpler. They just worry that any major restructuring could go all wrong because of the way post-fi nancial crisis regulations are applied.

In interviews with Reuters, six senior bankers said they are strug-gling with the costs and restric-tions they face as a result of new regulations, as well as a weak glob-al economy and troubled fi nancial markets. The bankers, who are or

recently were in positions rang-ing from business division head to CEO, spoke on the condition of anonymity so they could be can-did without upsetting regulators or investors.

“Fundamentally, the business has to change,” said one veteran banker who was on the executive committee of a major European bank until recently. Big banks’ shareholder returns have sunk “too low,” he said.

These problems are not new, but they have fresh relevance as Deutsche Bank confronts ques-tions about its capital adequacy, Barclays faces pressure to break up and CEOs of big US banks struggle with a loss of investor confi dence in their stocks.

Management teams in the US and Europe are now taking a hard look at dramatic business model changes, but none of the options are particularly attractive, the bankers said.

Merging to cut costs and im-prove margins is out of the ques-tion, given the hurdles banks would likely face from regulators who do not want “too-big-to-fail” institutions getting any bigger. Splitting apart is complicated by capital requirements that would make standalone trading busi-nesses economically unfeasible — and by the fact that there are few, if any, buyers for the assets banks want least. Some top bankers say they are left with little choice but to muddle through what they fear will be a long, dark period of weak earnings, angry shareholders and gradual shrinkage.

The problem has gotten so bad that Deutsche Bank CEO John Cryan recently said on a public conference call that he’d much rather be CEO of a simpler, retail-focused bank like Wells Fargo & Co, which has only a modest in-vestment banking operation.

“Unfortunately,” he said, “there

are lots of things I wish for that are not going to come true.”

Ratcheting up capitalKashkari’s comments, in his fi rst speech as head of the Minneapolis Fed, were surprising because he is a former Goldman Sachs banker, a Republican, and was a senior Treasury offi cial in President George W. Bush’s administration during the fi nancial crisis.

They partly echoed the stance of Bernie Sanders, who has also called for big bank breakups and criticised Hillary Clinton, his rival in the struggle to be the Democrat-ic presidential candidate, for be-ing too close to Wall Street. Some of those vying for the Republican nomination have also criticised regulations brought in after the crisis, saying they would repeal the Dodd-Frank reform law.

In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Kashkari criticised Dodd-Frank’s so-called “living

will” rule, which requires banks to show how they can be dismantled in an orderly way if they fail, with-out creating risk to the broader fi nancial system. Kashkari said he believes the rule would not work in a crisis scenario — that banks would simply be bailed out again.

“I challenge anybody who thinks, in a stressed time, we would put these banks through resolution,” he said. “I really don’t think it will happen.”

One way to force large fi nancial fi rms to break up is to “aggres-sively ratchet up” their capital or leverage requirements, Kashkari said. He warned, though, that banks would likely fi ght hard against any such proposal.

Out of arrowsSecurities analysts and consult-ants say that banks are in an un-enviable position because moves they might have made in the past to improve profi tability have been hindered by regulation. As a result, they have struggled un-successfully for years to get their returns on equity above single digits. “In some ways, banks have become bad utilities,” said Fred Cannon, a bank stock analyst with KBW. “With utilities, you have strict regulation in what you can do and charge, but in the end in-vestors get a reasonable return. With banks, that last piece hasn’t happened.” Bank executives have long argued that weak returns are a “cyclical” issue that should go away when markets begin to fl ourish again.

But as the industry approaches the eighth anniversary of the fi -nancial crisis’s nadir, questions about whether they face a secular rather than a cyclical profi t prob-lem have only grown louder.

And top bankers are now won-dering how they can possibly grow revenue under a sprawling set of global fi nancial regulations that limit what they do, and sometimes confl ict with one another. — Reuters

But while no one

in the executive

suites of major

global banks would

want authorities to

force them to split

up or downsize,

many top bankers

acknowledge that

their institutions

might be better off

smaller and simpler MAKING A POINT: US Federal Reserve’s newest policymaker Neel

Kashkari. - Bloomberg fi le picture

I challenge anybody

who thinks, in a

stressed time, we

would put these banks

through resolution. I

really don’t think

it will happen

Neel KashkariUS Federal Reserve’s newest policymaker

AN OPEN QUESTION: Whether European Central Bank policy mak-

ers would show tolerance for any overshoot at all remains, for now,

an open question. — Bloomberg News

Sensex rises on late-buyingMUMBAI: Late-buying saved the day for markets on Friday as the benchmark Sensex overcame its early losses and advanced by a modest 60 points, helped by banking and blue-chips to log the best weekly gain since October.

Recovery in European markets in early trade too lifted mood.

The broader NSE Nifty topped the 7,200-level.

Investors were seen building

their positions in anticipation of reforms announcement in the forthcoming Budget.

Both indices registered their best weekly gains since October last year, with the Sensex soar-ing 723.03 points, or 3.14 per cent, and Nifty 229.80 points, or 3.29 per cent.

Higher levels, however, could not be maintained as participants locked in gains. The gauge had

gained 457.25 points in the pre-vious two sessions. The Sensex resumed the session lower at 23,640.32 and slipped further as renewed weakness in crude oil on oversupply worries hit sentiment.

But it staged a strong come-back on emergence of buying and covering-up of short positions by speculators before closing at 23,709.15, up 59.93 points, or 0.25 per cent. — PTI

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

B3S AT U R DAY, F E B R UA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6

MARKET

Citigroup plans to exit from Brazil, Argentina retail-banking business

NEW YORK: Citigroup plans to exit retail banking in Argentina and Brazil, where the company has maintained operations for more than 100 years, a person familiar with the matter said.

The departures will probably be announced in coming weeks, ac-cording to the person, who asked not to be identifi ed discussing

decisions that haven’t been made public. Liz Fogarty, a spokeswom-an for the New York-based bank, declined to comment on the plans.

Chief Executive Offi cer Michael Corbat has been scaling back Citi-group’s retail footprint to simplify the company, cut costs and boost returns. He announced plans in October 2014 to drop consumer banking in 11 markets, including Peru, Costa Rica and four others in Central and South America.

The bank won’t be exiting any lines of business in the institu-tional division as part of the new moves, according to a second per-son. When Citigroup agreed to sell its consumer- banking unit in Ja-pan to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. in 2014, it still provided cor-porate and investment-banking services to clients.

Citigroup, which gets more rev-enue from outside its home mar-ket than any of its US competi-

tors, operated branch networks in 24 countries as recently as September.

The decision to leave Argen-tina and Brazil retail banking is one of the most sweeping since consumer-banking chief Stephen Bird took over in June from Ma-nuel Medina-Mora, who retired. Jane Fraser, who had also been in the running for Medina-Mora’s job, runs the Latin America region from Miami.

Century-old unitThe Argentina unit opened in 1914 and was the bank’s fi rst non-US branch, according to Citigroup’s website. It has more than 2,700 employees in the country, 71 branches and 44.6 billion pesos ($3 billion) in assets, for the No. 12 ranking in the country, data from the nation’s banking associa-tion show. Argentina’s economy has been struggling after years of currency controls and policies

that discouraged investment. The country has been unable to tap in-ternational bond markets because of a feud with creditors left over from the nation’s 2001 default.

Argentina sued Citigroup’s local unit last year after it reached an accord with a hedge fund allowing the bank to make two bond pay-ments that the government said were illegal.

In March, the fi rm said it would quit the custody business in the country after the govern-ment threatened to revoke its operating licence.

Creditor dealsSince President Mauricio Macri took over the presidency in De-cember, he’s lifted currency con-trols and scrapped export taxes in a bid to attract more investment. While the country remains isolat-ed from international capital mar-kets, the government has reached deals with some holdout creditors left over from the 2001 default and is negotiating with others in a bid to resolve the decade-long dispute.

Citigroup had about 6,000 em-ployees in Brazil as of 2014, a com-pany executive said at the time. It operates 71 branches in Brazil, where it began banking in 1915, ac-cording to the website. Citigroup is the 10th largest commercial bank in the country, with 80.6 billion reais ($20 billion) in assets, ac-cording to central bank data.

Foreign lenders including Lon-don-based Barclays and Frank-furt’s Deutsche Bank have been pulling back from the South Amer-ican nation as it faces what’s pre-dicted to be the worst recession in more than a century. — Bloomberg News

Chief Executive

Offi cer Michael

Corbat has been

scaling back

Citigroup’s retail

footprint to simplify

the company,

cut costs and

boost returns. He

announced plans in

October 2014 to drop

consumer banking in

11 markets, including

Peru, Costa Rica and

four others in Central

and South America.

SCALING BACK PRESENCE: The decision to leave Argentina and Brazil retail banking is one of the most sweeping since consumer-bank-

ing chief Stephen Bird took over in June. — Bloomberg fi le picture

‘Domestic franchisees of McDonald’s are pessimistic on turnaround eff orts’CHICAGO: McDonald’s fran-chisees remained pessimistic about the company’s turnaround eff orts during the much-hyped rollout of all-day breakfast, ac-cording to an internal survey.

Only about 14 per cent of Mc-Donald’s domestic franchisees think the chain’s comeback plan is working, according to results from a survey of owner-operators obtained by Bloomberg News. And just 35 per cent of franchisees are confi dent in McDonald’s long-term future success, a drop from 46 per cent in the prior year. The survey, which the company con-ducts annually, was completed in October and November.

McDonald’s posted US same-store sales growth of 5.7 per cent for the fourth quarter, the best performance in almost four years. The company cited its shift to all-day breakfast, as well as mild winter weather, for helping fuel the gain. In October, the company

also reported positive sales in the US, lifted by a popular $2.50 meal deal. The stock jumped 8.1 per cent that day, the biggest increase in seven years. Chief Executive Of-fi cer Steve Easterbrook, who took over in March of last year, has said the company is committed to its turnaround plan, which includes

“running great restaurants, driv-ing operating growth, creating brand excitement and enhancing fi nancial value.”

“While we are pleased with the recent positive momentum in the US, it will take at least six more months of positive com-parable sales and guest count

growth to progress through the sustained and prolonged growth phases of our turnaround,” he said in January.

Lisa McComb, a spokeswoman for the Oak Brook, Illinois- based company, said the survey doesn’t refl ect the more recent progress the company has made.

“These results are hardly sur-prising given the survey was con-ducted before McDonald’s ended the year with momentum,” she said. “By refreshing old favorites, like our Egg McMuffi n, introduc-ing all-day breakfast and making other changes, we are beginning 2016 in a better place than where we were 12 months ago.”

McDonald’s ties with its fran-chisees are critical, especially in the US Of the company’s 14,000 domestic restaurants, about 90 per cent are independently owned. More than 3,000 domestic fran-chisees pay royalties and rent to the company. — Bloomberg News

O W N E R - O P E R A T O R S S U R V E Y

READY TO SERVE: McDonald’s posted US same-store sales growth Allianz fourth-quarter

profi t misses estimates

MUNICH: Allianz missed ana-lyst estimates for fourth-quarter profi t on claims from natural ca-tastrophes.

Net income at Europe’s biggest insurer increased to 1.42 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in the quarter from 1.22 billion euros a year ear-lier, the Munich-based company said in a statement on Friday. That compares with the 1.56 bil-lion-euro average of six estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

“Allianz steadily delivers strong results in increasingly challenging operating condi-tions,” Chief Executive Offi cer Oliver Baete, 50, said in the state-ment. “Our business is healthy and well-diversifi ed. This makes us confi dent that we will contin-ue to deliver strong earnings.”

Insurers in Europe are grap-pling with stricter regulatory capital requirements, low inter-est rates that hurt their invest-ment income and subdued prices in some of their markets. Still, Allianz wants to achieve an-nual earnings per share growth of fi ve per cent on average from 2016 to 2018. It is also targeting a return on equity of 13 per cent, adjusted to exclude unrealised capital gains on bonds and other items, by 2018.

Allianz plans to increase its dividend by 6.6 per cent to 7.30 euros a share for 2015. That’s less than the Bloomberg Dividend Forecast of 7.40 euros.

Some analysts had expected Allianz to announce a share buy-back on top of the dividend to help it reach its return on equity and earnings per share targets. The company hasn’t discussed

either of those strategies, Chief Financial Offi cer Dieter Wem-mer said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.

“We want to deliver 15 per cent EPS growth over three years,” he said. “There might be opportuni-ties in the market, there might be excess capital to be given back to shareholders.”

The insurer’s asset manage-ment unit, which comprises Pa-cifi c Investment Management Co. and Allianz Global Investors, has also seen upheaval after the departure of Bill Gross from Pimco in September 2014. Group third-party net outfl ows fell to eight billion euros in the fourth quarter compared with outfl ows of 141 billion euros a year ear-lier. Outfl ows at Pimco dropped by almost half last year while the Global Investors unit saw record infl ows.

Allianz’s full-year operating profi t rose 3.2 per cent to 10.7 bil-lion euros. That compares to a target of 10 billion euros to 10.8 billion euros. For 2016, the com-pany aims for 10 billion euros to 11 billion euros. Fourth-quarter operating profi t was impacted by claims from European storms and fl oods, the company said on Friday.

The property and casualty insurance unit’s spending on claims and other costs as a per-centage of premiums, known as the combined ratio, improved to 96.2 per cent from 96.5 per cent, missing the average analyst es-timate of 94.4 per cent. A ratio below 100 per cent means an in-surer is making a profi t from un-derwriting. — Bloomberg News

P E R F O R M A N C E

DIVIDEND RAISE: Allianz plans to increase its dividend by 6.6

per cent to 7.30 euros a share for 2015. That’s less than the

Bloomberg Dividend Forecast of 7.40 euros. — Bloomberg News

Don’t litter a beautiful

country like OMAN.

Ensure proper disposalof garbage.

B4

FEATURES AT U R DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6B4 S AT U R DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6

The lifting of sanctions on Iran as part of the nuclear deal with world powers may be a bonanza for com-panies in Europe and Asia,

but not so much for those in the US.The actions taken recently in Vienna

leave in place a number of US restric-tions on commercial dealings with Iran over its ballistic missile programme and support for terrorist groups that will block any swift fl ood of US busi-ness with the Islamic Republic and its roughly 77 million people.

One exception is Boeing Co. and other makers of commercial aircraft and parts. They will have authority to quickly do business as Iran revitalises its aging air-liner fl eet. For other companies, those in fi nancial services in particular, the deal only lifts sanctions imposed to pun-ish Iran on its nuclear programme. And it does not touch a sweeping ban on US trade and investment put in place by the Clinton administration in 1995. “There is not going to be a comprehensive law allowing all US companies to oper-ate in Iran anytime soon,” Majid Rafi -zadeh,  president of the International American Council on Middle East and North Africa and a member of the Har-vard International Relations Council, said in an e-mail. “This will make Ameri-can fi rms the biggest losers of the nu-clear deal.”

The agreement struck with the US and fi ve other world powers in July provided that sanctions tied to Iran’s nuclear programme would be lifted simultane-ously with a fi nding by the International Atomic Energy Agency that the govern-ment in Tehran had met commitments to curb its ability to develop a nuclear weapon. That will open up the $406 bil-lion Iranian economy for investment af-ter more than a decade of penalties.

Complicated and riskyBut the nuclear accord does not repair a US-Iran relationship ruptured by the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran in 1979, in which dozens of American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for over a year, and has been further frayed by Iran’s missile tests and support for terrorist groups.

“A sanctions regime very much re-mains in place with respect to Iran, making it very complicated and risky to do business” there, said Juan Zarate, chairman of the Financial Integrity Network, an advisory fi rm, and a sen-ior White House and Treasury Depart-ment offi cial during the George W Bush administration. “Any company going into Iran has to deal with a whole range of business and compliance risks, not to mention reputation risks,” Zarate said.

Airbus dealThe US and European airplane makers, such as Boeing and Airbus Group SE, stand to benefi t, according to a Bloomb-erg Intelligence report published on January 14. Aircraft leasing compa-nies such as AerCap Holdings NV and Air Lease Corp. may also gain business because the carve out includes leases as well as sales to Iran, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Caitlin Webber.

Airbus got a jump on Boeing even before the proceedings were fi nal-ised: Tehran agreed to buy 114 Airbus planes, the Tasnim news agency re-ported, citing Abbas Akhoundi, Iran’s transport minister. The deal includes a mix of new and used jets.

The country’s fl eet is ripe for re-placement, especially its narrow-body jets. Like automobiles in Cuba, planes in Iran have been frozen in time due to trade being halted with the regime. The average age of Iran Air’s 45 planes is 27

years -- practically antiques by indus-try standards -- with its Boeing 747s the oldest of the bunch, according to Plane-spotters.net. Iran is interested in Air-bus wide-body planes including A350s and the A380 double-decker, too, along with Boeing Co. 737 narrow-bodies and twin-aisle 777s for long-haul fl ying, ac-cording to an Iranian offi cial who asked not to be identifi ed because the details are private. US and European engine makers such as General Electric Co., Safran SA and United Technologies Corp. may also benefi t from airplane purchases.

Frozen assetsFor most US companies, however, little will change after the deal’s implemen-tation gives Iran access to more than $50 billion in cash frozen in overseas accounts and eases restrictions on Western business deals.

Foreign subsidiaries of US com-panies will get “some relief of as yet unknown quantity” under the gen-eral licenses issued by the Treasury Department when the agreement is implemented, said  Adam M Smith, an attorney who designed and enforced US sanctions when he worked at the Treasury Department and is now an at-torney with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Washington. Those licenses will clarify how much access private businesses with US ties will have to the Iranian market. Even if a US-based company is granted a license for a for-eign subsidiary, it will have to take great pains to ensure its American business is walled off from any Iranian entities still sanctioned under US law, said Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democ-racies in Washington and a supporter of tougher sanctions. “The large fi nan-

cial institutions, the large energy com-panies and industrial companies are going to have to be very, very cautious,” Dubowitz said in a telephone interview. “They’ll have to ask themselves ‘Is it re-ally worth the risk?”’

Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy na-tional security adviser, said the U.S. won’t be left behind by a sudden fl ood of investment and commercial deals from Europe and Asia after the lifting of international sanctions. “Some com-panies are going to wait and see: Is this going to hold? Are these guys going to stick to the agreement?” Rhodes said at a lunch with Bloomberg editors and re-porters on Friday. “So I think it will be a more incremental process.”

New penaltiesCompanies will have to consider po-litical calculations as well. Some US lawmakers are pressing for fresh sanc-tions that would punish Iran for recent missile tests. The House is set to vote on legislation that Democrats say is aimed at scuttling the nuclear deal - although some Democrats also favour new penal-ties. The leading Republican contend-ers to succeed Obama next year, in-cluding billionaire Donald Trump and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, have vowed to rip up the accord if they win offi ce. “President Obama now has less than 13 months left in offi ce, so you do not want to be on the wrong side of an enforce-ment action in 2017,” Dubowitz said. The lifting of sanctions, while not fully opening the Iranian economy to US companies, could help set the Washing-ton and Tehran on a path toward nor-malisation, said Rafi zadeh of the Inter-national American Council. “Business will facilitate political ties, and political rapprochement will expand bilateral trade,” he said. – Bloomberg News

IRAN

SANCTION

S

RELIEF

US FIRMS NOT TO BENEFIT

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

FamilySECTIONB L I F E S T Y L E S AT U R DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6

1. Reduce and recycle Go through drawers and get rid of paperwork and supplies you never use. Recycle paper-work and give unused supplies to co-workers or donate them to your community's schools. If you're never going to use these things, they're just taking up valuable space.

4. Keep supplies stocked Ninety-four percent of offi ce workers are less productive when they don’t have all the supplies they need to work. Order necessary supplies like Post-it Notes, fl ags, tabs, daily planners, professional notebooks and pens. Then, put coloured fl ags on the calendar to mark when you need to re-order supplies so you're never without the necessities.

7. Rethink your desktop A clean desktop is essential to productivity, however many people are guilty of having their desk covered with unnecessary items. If you don’t use it weekly, fi nd another place for it. That means unused folders, staplers, tape dispensers, and the like can go in a drawer.

2. An offi ce supply staple

Despite the rise of the digital offi ce, Post-it Notes are still an offi ce staple. On average, offi ce workers use 30 Post-it Notes per week. Keep these handy note pads close by so you can easily use them to mark paperwork or write your co-worker a note of encourage-

5. Place a jar Pens and other offi ce extras like scissors, let-ter openers and highlighters look tidy when placed in a jar on your desk. A big jar can hold everything or use smaller jars to sort each item into its own container. Clear glass jars makes it easy to see what’s inside.

8. Think vertically If you’re short on desktop space, think verti-cally. Walls provide ample opportunity for unique storage. One stylish and aff ordable option is to cut a peg board and place it in an open frame. This eye-catching wall hanging allows for easy access to offi ce essentials.

3. Write it down Sixty-two percent of offi ce workers prefer to manage their to-do list on a piece of paper rather than a computer or digital device. Write your task list on a Post-it Super Sticky Note and place it somewhere you’ll see it, such as the edge of your computer monitor or the front of your notebook. This visual reminder will keep you on-task throughout the day.

6. Don’t sweat the small stuff At a loss for how to organise paper clips, tacks and other small offi ce items? Small tins are a great way to sort and store these offi ce odds and ends. Place them in drawers so they are out of sight.

9. Systemise folders & Cut cord chaos Tackle that pile of folders in the corner and create a simple organizational system using Post-it Tabs. Colour code the folders based on your work responsibilities so each tab color is tied to a specifi c task or status of a project. Are you always digging under your desk for the right cord? Black binder clips typically used to hold paperwork together are also great for organising USB, cell phone chargers and other cables. Clip to the side of your desk and thread the chord through the metal to eliminate tangles.-BPT

Offi ce

Organisation

Tips To Boost

Productivity

Empty boxes, piles of paper, pens strewn about - everyone is guilty of offi ce disorganisation.

What most people don't realise is a messy, dishevelled offi ce space can actually dramatically

reduce worker effi ciency and productivity. A staggering 98 per cent of offi ce workers say

they'd be more productive at their jobs if their offi ces were more organised, according to a

2015 Post-it Brand Offi ce Organisation study in the US surveying 1,000 full-time offi ce work-

ers. That means it's time to get organised and these nine simple ideas will help you tidy up

your work area and stay on-task for good.

FIND-IT-ALLB6 S AT U R DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6

Dhuhr 12.26pm

Asr 3.43pm

Maghrib 6.10pm

Isha 7.20pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 5.21am

PRAYER TIMINGS

CITY CINEMAContact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68 www.citycinemaoman.netfacebook.com/citycinemaoman

SHATTI

Dead Pool (Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi) 12+Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin3:00, 7:15, 9:30 & 11:45PMHail, Caesar! (Comedy | Mystery) 12+Cast: Josh Brolin, George Clooney7:15PMCriminal Activities (Crime| Drama) 12+Cast: Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens3:00, 7:30, 9:30 & 11:45PMEl Americano - 3D (Animation| Action) PG3:30 & 5:30PMPride & Prejudice & Zombies (Action) 18+Cast: Lily James, Sam Riley, Jack Huston5:00 & 11:30PMThe Finest Hour - 3D (Action) PG12Cast: Christopher Whitelaw5:00 & 9:30PM

MUSCAT GRAND MALL

Dead Pool – 2D (12+) Action | Adventure Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin2:45, 9:00, 11:30 PMGold Class – 3:30, 8:45, 11:00 PMCriminal Activities – 2D (TBC) (Crime)Cast: Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens, Christopher12:30, 9:45, 11:45 PMGold Class – 6:30 PMPadre De Familia – 2D (12+) (Tagalog)Cast: Nora Aunor,Coco Martin, Julia Montes5:15 PMHail, Caesar! – 2D (12+) Comedy | Mystery |Cast: Josh Brolin, George Clooney.7:45 PMEl Americano – 3D (TBC) AnimationVoice over: Edward James Olmos, Rico2:00, 7:00 PMAlvin & the Chipmunks: The Road Chip - 2D (Animation) (PG)

12:00, 4:00 PM Theeb + Ave Maria – 2D (TBC) DocumentaryCast: Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat, Hussein Salameh Al-Sweilhiyeen5:45 PM

PANORAMA MALL

Dead Pool (action, Adventure)(MX4D)(12+)Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin3.30, 6.30, 8.30, 10.45 PMThe Finest Hours-3D (action, Drama)(PG12)-VIP LOUNGE7:00, 9:15 PM Dead Pool-2D (action, Adventure)(12+)Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin4:30, 9:45, 11:45 PM Dead Pool-2D (Action)(12+)-VIP LOUNGE3:30, 6:30, 8:45, 11:00 PM Criminal Activities-2D (Crime, Drama) (12+)Cast: Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens3:00, 7:45, 11:15 PM Black Track-2D (Drama, Thriller) (15+)Cast: Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens5:15, 11:30 PM Neerja-2D (Biographical)(PG12)

Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Sabana Azmi3:30, 6:30, 9:00 PM El Americano-3D (Animation, Action) (PG)2:30, 5:45 PM

AZAIBA

Dead Pool (2D) (Action|Sci-Fi) (12+) Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin12:45, 4:30, 7:15, 11:45 PMFitoor (2D) (Romance| Drama) (12+) Cast: Aditya Roy Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Tabu3:00, 9:15 PMGhayal Once Again (2D) (Action) (PG12) Cast: Sunny Deol, Tisca Chopra, Om Puri3:30, 6:30 PMNeerja (2D) (Biographical) (PG12) Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azami12:30, 2:45, 5:15, 7:30, 10:00, 11:30 PMIshq Forever (2D) (Romance) (TBC) Cast: Denzil Smith, Ruhi Singh6:30, 11:15 PMMiruthan (2D) (Action | Romance) (TBC) Cast: Jayam Ravi, Lakshmi Menon, Kali Venkat12:30, 9:05 PMMansoon Mangoes (2D) (Action) (PG) Cast: Fahadah Fasil, Vijay Raaz, Vinay Forrt

1:00, 9:00 PMEl Americano (3D) (Animation) (TBC) Voice over: Edward James Olmos2:30, 5:25 PM

RUWI

Screen 1

Neerja (Action / Biography) –PG12Cast : Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azmi3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PMScreen 2

Love shuddha (Romance / Drama) –12 +Cast : Girish Kumar, Tisca Chopra3.45, 9.45 PMSanam Re (Romance / Drama) –12 +Cast: Pulkit Samrat, Yami Gautam6.45 PMScreen 3

Ghayal Once Again (Action) –PG12Cast: Sunny Deol, Tisca Chopra, Om Puri3.45, 6.45 PMFitoor (Romance / Drama) –12 +Cast: Aditya Roy Kapur, Katrina Kaif, Tabu.9.45 PM

SUR

Dead Pool (Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi) (12+) Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin3:15, 7:15, 11:30 PM.Criminal Activities (Crime | Drama) (TBC) Cast: John Travolta, Michael Pitt, Dan Steven5:30, 10:00, 11:45 PM.Neerja (Biographical) (PG12) Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Sabana Azmi1:15, 3:30, 9:15 PMMansoon Mangoes (Mal) (Comedy) (PG) Cast: Fahadh Fasil, Vijay Raaz, Vinay Forrt.7:30 PM.El Americano - 3D (Animation) (TBC) Cast: Isla Fisher, Anson Mount, Gillian Jacobs.1:30, 5:45 PM.

SOHAR

Dead Pool– 2D (Action/Sc-Fi) (12+)Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin2:30, 7:00, 9:30, 11:45PMCriminal Activities - 2D (Crime) (12+)Cast: Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens 2:45, 9:45PMHail, Caesar– 2D (Comedy/Mystery) (12+)Cast: Josh Brolin, George Clooney5:00PMBack track – 2D (Drama/Thriller) (15+)Cast: Adrien Brody, Sam Neill, Robin McLeay4:30, 11:30PMEl Americano – 3D (Animation/Action) (PG)4:30, 11:30PMThe Finest Hour – 3D (Action/Drama) (PG12)Cast: Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster 11:30PMThe Finest Hour – 2D (Action/Drama) (PG12)Cast: Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster 6:30PMPride & Prejudice & Zombies – 2D (18+)Cast: Lily James, Sam Riley, Jack Huston5:00, 11:45PMFitoor – 2D (Romantic/Drama) (12+)Cast: Aditya Roy Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Tabu 7:15PMNeerja– 2D (Biographical) (PG12)Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Sabana Azmi 2:45, 9:15PMMiruthan– 2D (Action/Romance) (15+)Cast: Jayam Ravi, Lakshmi Menon, Kali Venkat7:15PMMansoon Mangoes – 2D (Comedy) (PG)

Cast: Fahadah Fasil, Vijay Raaz, Vinay Forrt8:45PM

BURAIMI

Dead Pool (Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi) (12+) Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Moreno Baccarin3:30, 9:15, 11:30PM.Criminal Activities (Crime | Drama) (TBC) Cast: John Travolta, Michael Pitt, Dan Steven5:15,7:30,9:30PM.Neerja ( Biographical ) ( PG12 ) Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Sabana Azmi3:15, 7:15, 11:15PM.Mansoon Mangoes (Comedy) (PG) Cast: Fahadh Fasil, Vijay Raaz, Vinay Forrt.9:00PM. El Americano - 3D (Animation) (TBC) 3:30, 5.30PM.Back track (Drama, Thriller) 15+Cast: Adrien Brody, Sam Neill, Robin McLeavy5:35, 7:00, 11:45PM.

SALALAH

El Americano (3D) (PG) (Animation| Action)5:00PMEl Americano (2D) (PG) (Animation| Action )11:15AM Dead Pool (2D) (12+) (Action | Adventure)Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin11:30AM, 2:00, 6:45, 9:00, 11:45PMHail, Caesar (2D) (12+) (Comedy | Mystery) Cast: Josh Brolin, George Clooney5:15PM Criminal Activities (2D) (12+) (Crime) Cast: Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens11:45AM, 1:15, 9:50, 11:15PMPride & Prejudice & Zombies (2D) (18+) Cast: Lily James, Sam Riley, Jack Huston3:15, 11:45PM Neerja (2D) (PG12) (Hindi | Biographical) Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Sabana Azmi2:30,9:15PM Mansoon Mangoes (2D) (PG) (Mal) Cast: Fahadah Fasil, Vijay Raaz, Vinay Forrt7:15PM Fitoor (2D) (12+) (Hindi | Romantic| Drama) Cast: Aditya Roy Kapoor / Katrina Kaif / Tabu4:15PM Miruthan (2D) (TBC) (Tamil) (Action)Cast Jayam Ravi, Lakshmi Menon, 7:00PM

CINEMA SCHEDULE CHILDREN BELOW THE AGE OF 3 YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE CINEMA | BOX-OFFICE COUNTER OPENS 30-MINUTES PRIOR TO THE SCREENING OF THE FIRST SHOW

ROYAL OMAN POLICE

Emergencies and inquiries: 9999

General Directorate of

Passport and Residence 24569603

Directorate General

of Customs 24521109

Traffic violations inquiries 24510228

Public Relations Admin 24560099

EMBASSIES IN OMAN

Afghanistan 24698 791/4

Algeria 24605 593

Bahrain 24 605 074/133

Bangladesh 24 698 660

Brazil 24640100

Brunei 24 603533

China 24 696782

Cyprus 24 699815

Egypt 24 600 982/411

France 24681 800

Germany 24835000

India 24684500

Indonesia 2469 1050

Iran 24 696 944/7

Iraq 24603642

Italy 24693727

Japan 24 601 028

Jordan 24692760/1/3

Kazakhstan 24 692418

Kenya 24 697664

South Korea 24 691490

Kuwait 24 699628

Lebanon 24 693208

Libya 24603466

Malaysia 24698329/643

Morocco 24696152/3

Nepal 24696177

Netherlands 24603706

Pakistan 24603439

Palestine 24601312

Philippines 24605335

Qatar 24 691 153/2/4

Russia 24602894

Saudi Arabia 24601705

Senegal 24694139

Somalia 24697977

South Africa 24647300

Spain 24691101

Sri Lanka 24697841/2

Sudan 24697875

Switzerland 24603267

Syria 24697904

Tanzania 24601 174

Thailand 24 602684/5

Tunisia 24603486

Turkey 24697050/1/2

UAE 24400000

United Kingdom 24609000

United States 24643400

Yemen 24600815

PHARMACIES

Round the clock

Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi 24783334

Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24782666

Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi 24702542

Salalah 23291635;

Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra 24503585

Muscat Region

Apollo, Al Hamriya 24787766

Muscat, A Seeb Market 24421691

Muscat, Al Khuwair 24485740

Muscat, Al Hail South 24537080

Dhofar Region

Muscat, Al Nahdha Road,

Salalah 23291635

HOSPITALS

Al Amal Medical & Health Care

Centre 24485052

Atlas Hospital

Ruwi 24811743/

Ghubra 24504000

Al Musafir Specialised

Medical Clinic 24706453

Hatat Polyclinic LLC,

Ruwi 24563641

Azaiba 24499269

Sohar 2683006

Al Raffah Hospital 24618900/1/2

Al Massaraat Clinic &

Laboratory 24566435

Al Makook Medical

Coordinance Centre 24499434

Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24787766, 24787780

Capital Polyclinic 24707549

Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic,

Ruwi 24799760/1/2

Capital Clinic, Seeb 24420740

Ceregem National Raak 24485633

Dr Harub’s Clinic 24563217

Elixir Health Centre 24565802

Emirates Medical Centre 24604540

1st Chiropractic Centre 24472274

Lifeline Hospital Salalah 23212340

International Medical

Centre LLC 24794501/2/3/4/5

Kims Oman Hospital 24760100

24 Hrs Emergency 24760123

Lama Polyclinic, Sohar 26751128

MBD 24799077

Al Khuwair 24478818

Magrabi Eye and

Ear Hospital 24568870

Muscat Private Hospital 24583600

Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment

Centre, Al Khuwair 24477666

Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC 22004000

AIRLINE OFFICES

Muscat Airport Flight information

(24 hours) 24519456/24519223

Aeroflot 24704455

Air Arabia 24700828

Air France 24562153

Air India 24799801

Air New Zealand 24700732

Biman Bangladesh Airlines 24701128

British Airways 24568777

Cathay Pacific 24789818

Egypt Air 24794113

Emirates Air 24404400

Ethiopian Airlines 24660313

Gulf Air 80072424

Indian 24791914

Iran Air 24787423

Japan Airlines 24704455

Jazeera Airways 23294848

Jet Airways 24787248

Kenya Airways 24660300

KML Royal Dutch Airlines 24566737

Kuwait Airways 24701262

LOT Polish Airlines 24796387

Lufthansa 24796692

Malaysian Airlines 24560796

Middle East Airlines 24796680

Oman Air 24531111

Pakistan International

Airlines 24792471

Qatar Airways 24771900

Qantas 24559941

Royal Jordanian 24796693

Saudi Arabian Airlines 24789485

Singapore Airlines 24791233

Shaheen Air 24816565

SriLankan Airlines 24784545

Swiss International

Airlines 24796692

Thai Airways 24705934

LISTINGS

LONG DISTANCE BUS TIMINGS (OMAN NATIONAL TRANSPORT COMPANY SAOC) *SUBJECT TO CHANGE

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (ROUTE 36)

15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily

15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily

15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily

06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily

08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri

13:00 Sohar 15:45 Daily

13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily

16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily

16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily

14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

08:00 Nizwa 10:20 Daily

08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55)

07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily

14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (ROUTE 62)

06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily

06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (ROUTE 100)

07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily

10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily

10:00 Salalah 23:30 Daily

19:00 Salalah 07:40 Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

06:00 Marmul 16:50 Daily

SALALAH TO DUBAI (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)

06:00 Sohar 08:30 Daily

06:00 Dubai 11:30 Daily

13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur

13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur

15:00 Sohar 17:35 Daily

15:00 Dubai 20:55 Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily

07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily

07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (ROUTE 36)

05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily

05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily

05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily

07:00 Ruwi 11:40 Daily

13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri

13:00 Sohar 14:55 Daily

13:00 Ruwi 17:40 Daily

13:00 Sohar 19:20 Daily

17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily

06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily

15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55)

06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily

14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)

12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily

12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (ROUTE 100)

07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily

10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily

10:00 Ruwi 22:30 Daily

19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

06:00 Marmul 16:30 Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Salalah 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)

07:30 Sohar 10:50 Daily

07:30 Ruwi 13:40 Daily

13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri

13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri

15:30 Sohar 18:45 Daily

15:30 Ruwi 21:35 Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH/SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily

16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily

16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

@SHATTI @PANORAMA

Hail, Caesar! (Comedy | Mystery) 12+Cast: Josh Brolin, George Clooney7:15PM

Black Track-2D (Drama, Thriller) (15+)Cast: Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens5:15, 11:30 PM

BAHJA CINEMAFilm information 24540856 / Advance Booking 24540855Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.comCriminal Activities: (Crime / Drama / Thriller)Cast: Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens4.00, 8.00, 10.00. & 11.55 PM CP No: 331 (12+)Hail, Caeser! : (Comedy / Mystery)Cast: Josh Brolin, George Clooney.4.30, 6.00 & 11.55 PM. CPT No: 332 (12+)Neerja: (Hindi / Biography / Drama)Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azmi2.00, 7.00. & 9.30 PM. CP No: 333 (PG12)Navy Seals: The Battle of New Orleans (Action / Horror):2.00 PMCP No : 322 (15+) STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776Website: www.isurf.co.om

Pavaada (Mal) (Drama\Comedy) Cast: Prithviraj Sukumaran & Miya George 3:00, 6:30 & 10:00 PM Cinema Main Miruthan (Tamil) (Act\Romance) (From Friday) Cast: Jayam ravi & Lakshmi Menon 3:30, 5:30, 7:30 & 9:30 PM Cinema -2 Monsoon Mangoes (Mal) (Com) Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Vinay Forrt & Iswaya Menon 3:45, 6:45 & 9:45 PM Cinema - 3Neerja (Hindi) (Act\ Drama) Cast: Sonam Kapoor , Uh-day Chopra & Shabana Azmi 3:45, 6:45 & 9:45 PM Cinema -4Visarani (Tamil) ( Act\ Drama) Cast : Dinehs & Anandhi 3:30, 6:30 , & 9:30 PM Cinema -2 Krishnashtami (Telugu) (Com) Cast: Sunil, Nikki Galrani & Dimple Chopade 3:45 PM Cinema -4\ 6:45PM Cinema 3 NEXT CHANCE: ACTION HERO BIJU

Programmes are subject to change

@RUWI

Screen 1Neerja (Action / Biography) –PG12Cast : Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azmi3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PM

WEATHER

250

Maximum

190

Minimum

TEMPERATURE

45-85%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

NIVEDYA VIJAYFebruary 20, 2008

B SHRI HARINI February 20

ALEN ABRAHAMFebruary 20, 2009

WITH LOVE

LIFESTYLEB7S AT U R DAY, F E B R UA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6

ACROSS1 Toothpaste buy 5 Military legal drama 8 Ump’s shout 12 Distance 13 Thurman of “The Golden Bowl” 14 Hydrox rival 15 Survey 16 Brightens up, as a face18 Skulked about 20 And, to Caesar 21 Gym iteration 22 Burned and looted26 Adjust the wheels29 Damage 30 Ms. Hagen of films31 Seethe 32 Geisha’s accessory 33 Wild guess 34 Rend 35 Tall vase 36 Draws the latch 37 Turn into bone 39 Fannie — 40 — -cal 41 Mechanic’s need 45 Leaves no trace 49 Go at an easy gait 50 Plan of action 51 1040 agcy. 52 Mr. Greenspan 53 Beowulf ’s drink 54 Foot the bill 55 Popular soft drink

Crossword Puzzle

Q u e s t i o n s & A n s w e r s

CDUR

It’s better not to argue with...

My Brother

If I had treasures I would

hide them...With my

laundry clothes

One thing that puts me off ...

If I have history exams the next day

One movie/book I can watch/

read over and over again...

Madagascar: Eu-rope’s Most Wanted

When I’m in doubt... I Google it

The scariest thing that I have done... Walk to my room

alone at night when all my family mem-bers are in the hall

One person I would trade

places with (real or fi ctional)

Barack Obama

I go crazy when... My brother doesn’t let me play on his

laptop

If I met an alien I would...

Ask him to give me mutant powers

The best way to my heart is...

Trust

If I win a lottery...Help the needy

If I have to describe myself

as a fl avour it would be...

Creamy Vanilla

If I could go back in history, I would

like to meetChanakya

Send your contributions to lifestyle@timesofoman.com. A good quality photo is compulsory. Lifestyle reserves the right to

publish the contributions.

VAISHNAV K.

DOWN1 Recipe amts. 2 Very soon after 3 Cotton unit 4 Blow up a picture 5 Plantation drink 6 Between 7 Silence 8 — voce 9 How — things? 10 Marshy tract 11 Dawn deity 17 Estate recipient

19 Purview 22 Rushed off 23 Ballet wear 24 Coup d’— 25 Applies makeup 26 Frizzy coif 27 “The Bridge of San — Rey” 28 Holy terrors 29 “Aqua Velva —” 32 Potato snack33 Trounce 35 Alien tour buses?

36 — Paulo, Brazil 38 Greek epic 39 Like a damp rock 41 Prefix meaning “trillion” 42 Jungle knife 43 Outback mineral 44 Lucy Lawless role 45 Robust energy 46 Lemon drink 47 PBS funder 48 In the know

AN

SWER

TO

PR

EVIO

US

PUZ

ZLE

One skill I would like to learn...

Painting

FACT FILE

(Exploring History, Science, and Nature)

Soap is made from natural a ingredi-ent which includes both plant and animal products and is used

for cleaning. It is made up of animal fat, such as tallow or veg-etable oil, such as castor, olive, or coconut oil.

It got its name from the latin word Sapo. The fi rst soap was made by Babylonians around 2800 B.C. It was used more to clean wool and textiles than for personal hygiene. Some people preferred smelling good to actu-ally being clean and thought per-fume did the trick nicely.

There are many types of soaps, both hard and soft. They are often used as cleansers or detergents. Personal soaps are made to wash skin or hair. Soaps made for bath-ing are called toilet soaps.

Detergents are designed to clean dishes or laundry. House-hold cleansers often have mild abrasives that can clean a variety of surfaces. Soaps that are used for personal hygiene are per-fumed soaps by adding a few ad-ditional ingredients and perfume.

Soap manufacturers add fra-grances, colours, germicides,

builders and active agents, de-pending on the purpose of the soap. The industry is always working to improve and create new formulas.

Other UsesAnd if you thought soaps are meant only for cleaning then think again. Soaps can be useful in many other ways.1. It helps to prevent the black

cooking marks on your iron cookware. All you need to do is to rub the bottom of the vessel with a soap.

2. You can deodorise your care by placing a little piece of a soap in a mesh bag and hang it from the rear-view mirror.

3. Tailors often use leftover piec-es of soap to mark the hem line.

4. Pack youe store clothes or lug-gage with a piece of soap and your clothes will smell fresh..

5. And last but not the least if a zipper gets stuck rub it with a bar of soap and it will get it moving.

Soap MakingThis soap-making process is very easy, but adult supervision is rec-ommended.

What you need:• Clear glycerine soap blocks

(found at craft stores)• Liquid food colouring • Stir sticks• Essential oil (optional)• Petroleum jelly or cooking spray• Microwave oven and microwav-

able container• Ice cube tray or candy mould or

soap mouldStep one: Coat an ice cube tray

or mould with petroleum jelly or cooking spray.

Step two: Place glycerine in a microwavable container. Heat in microwave oven. Time varies de-pending on microwave wattage. Stir every 10 to 15 seconds until completely melted.

Step three: Carefully remove the melted glycerine from oven and stir in a small amount of food colouring. If you wish, stir in a drop or two of scented oil.

Step four: Pour the melted glyc-erine into the tray or mould, fi ll almost to the top.

Step fi ve: Cool for an hour or so before removing from the mould. Placing them in the freezer can speed up this pro-cess. They should just pop out. — lifestyle@timesofoman.com

Soaps

B8

LIFESTYLES AT U R DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6

All the words below appear in the puzzle - horizontally, vertically,

diagonally, even backward. Find them and circle their letters.

The leftover word spells the Teleword.

How to playFill empty cells with the numbers 1 to 9, so that each number appears once in each row, column and area.

Answer to previous puzzle

SOLUTION

J F S S T C S U C C E S S U F E I P T Y A H O L L Y W O O D W L I N L R N A K N A W S F T E M R E P T U B R A E H U E E L S T G R O I X T I P R M L S S H P A R G O T U A S P I A E S P C R G S E D R L E M S D S T T A E O N U G L R S E A U U S E S R T M O O A E S R F L O A T L I T T O M M U S I A A H O N O Y O I E T A A E C S T T T N T H T N E L I L F H H I N T O P S T S C S O O E E I O E I M I T A T O R S D N S O N P P R E S S E I R A L A S N A F

TelewordSudoku

Adulation, Agents, Attention, Autographs, Biggest, Charisma, Clauses, Contracts, Famous, Fans, Fashion,

Films, Furs, Fuss, Hollywood, Imitators, Jewels, Luxury, Parties, Penthouses, Photographs, Poodles, Press,

Promotions, Riches, Role, Salaries, Smile, Style, Success, Swank, Temperament, Toasts, Tops, Trips.

Answer: Talented

CLUE: CELEBRITIES SOLUTION: 8 LETTERS

Art for the Ages Children’s Poetry

If Only I Could Fly

Trudie Bernie CrossGrade XIIIndian School Wadi Kabir

Coiled into my comfort zoneWondering if only I could fl y,After all my hopes and dreams are out there somewhere.

As sweet as raspberry cream,The taste of freedom and joyThe feel of chasing my dreams I’ll spread my wings and learn how to fl y,

It may not seem easy But I’m always ready to tryIf only I could fl y away from here I would do the impossible

Defy all the laws of critics Comments and nasty compliments Into my head shall not sow,But shall pave way for my accomplishments.

Send your poems to lifestyle@timesofoman.com

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Sarath Krishna, Grade 8, ISD Merin Tom, Grade 7, ISWK Mihika Saraf, Grade 3, ISG CBSE-I

Kavya Muralidharan, Grade 10, Indian School SoharAmith Sunil, Grade 6, ISWK

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

C

C4 VACANCY CARGO C7

S AT U R D AY, F E B R UA R Y 2 0 , 2 0 1 6

RENT C2

*Classifi ed Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication.

* Subject to space availability

*Tourist visa arranged

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifi eds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

C2 S AT U R D AY, F E B R UA R Y 2 0 , 2 0 1 6

DAILY GUIDE

FLATS FOR RENT

CONTACT : 93202733

1 BHK and 2BHK Flats with Split ACs - Opp. to MOD -

Near Lulu Darsait

Luxury flat for rent in Bareeq Al Shatti buildingSpacious 2 BHK with sea view, split A/Cs, fixed wardrobes,

kitchen appliance. Near Opera Gallery.

Rent RO.900/- negotiable. Contact - 94084335 / 96920789

Wadi Kabir new building 2 bed-

rooms rent. Contact: 99313274

Single rooms with kitchen

available at Ruwi. Contact:

91214897/98049288

For rent in Misfah near Oman

cement 600sqm shed.

Contact: 96177220

2 BHK fl at behind Nesto hyper-

market with split A/C R.O 220/.

Contact 91642157/97653524

2BHK Darsait R.O 300/-.

Contact: 92144045/7799175

1BHK Wadi Kabeer R.O 210/-.

Contact: 92144045/97799175

2 Bedroom centrally air condi-

tioned fl at in CBD Prime location.

Contact: 24714625/91173997

1.2 BHK Mumtaz R.O 250/- , 300/-.

Contact: 92144045 /97799175

2BHK AL Khuwair R.O 350/-.

Contact 92144045/97799175

2BHK Ghobrah R.O 325/-.

Contact: 92144045/97799175

2BHK Commercial AL Khuwair R.O 350/-. Contact:

92144045/97799175

5 BHK villa Qurum R.O 700/-.

Contact 92144045/97799175

1& 2 BHK M.B.D commercial.

Contact: 92144045/97799175

Studio Darsait R.O 130/-.

Contact: 92144045/97799175

1BHK Darsait I.S.D R.O 225/-.

Contact: 92144045/97799175

Al Ansab on main road, 8 rooms,

8 toilets, kitchen & store room.

Contact Owner: 96354553

Ghobrah. Big bedroom, bathroom,

huge terrace. Non-cooking Indian

female/male - Manager/Sr. Exec.

Vegetarian non-drinkers only.

#99283938

Shop Ruwi Rex Road. #95443207

2BHK /3 BHK OPP Star Cinema.

Contact: 92926199

1BHK Flat with spilt A/C near

star cinema 210/-. Contact:

99358589/95570288 /97079146

Sharing room rent near City

Centre Seeb. Contact: 99037669

Flat for rent south Al Mabela.

Contact: 95331177/95230355

Flats, 3 Rooms & AC, kitchen, hall,

in Al Mabela South, rent RO. 250/-

Contact - 99377290

Shop (rent 250/ 400) commercial

/ Residential building 1& 2 bed fl at

(fl at rent 350+ 250) available in

Wadi Kabir (Near Lulu) one bed fl at

200/- Wadi Al Kabir (near Toyota.

Contact: 92325212 /99451168

2 BHK fl at near Indian School

Wadi Kabir behind Sana for rent.

Contact: 92120539

Flat for rent, 3 bedroom, 2 bath

room, living room, 1 kitchen & store

240/- R.O at Darsait.

Contact: 92328142

Ware house for rent in Ghala

300sqmt. Contact: 99010741

/96007885

2 Bedrooms, kitchen, toilet, car

park R.O 200/- & 1 bedroom,

kitchen, toilet R.O 140 in

Al Khuwair. Contact: 95154331

Villa for rent 4 room, hall, 3 toilet

(upstairs) R.O 350/- at Al Khuwair.

Contact: 99382008

1 Bed room, sharing K& T, R.O 100,

2 bedrooms , sharing K& T R.O

200/- in AL Khuwair. # 95154331

House in Amerat near to Makah

hypermarket with 3 room+ 5 toilet+

hall+ living room+ kitchen. Contact

98885055/ 92744168

2 bed rooms fl at with hall,

2 bathrooms in Darsait near

Muscat Municipality.

Contact: 92584715/ 24700120

1000sqmtrs industrial land for

rent in Ghala suitable for

warehouse workshop etc.

Contact 24700120 /92584715

Warehouse at Wadikabir - total

area 3500 sqm - covered ware-

house (500sqm), offi ce,

accommodation (1000sqm), open

area (2000sqm) please contact:

99273774 - 99202278

Flats for rent at Mawaleh near

Omantel main offi ce opposite Lulu

bandar comprises 3 rooms,

2 toilets and one kitchen OMR 250/-

Per month. Contact: 93131497 or

99203435

WAREHOUSE AVAILABLE FOR RENT

IN BALADIA SANAYAH AMIRAT

(Floor area 600sqmtrs and mezzanine of 500sqmtrs)

1100sqmts fully cover warehouse

& staff accommodati onsPlease contact: G.S.M

99417229/92621039INDUSTRIAL LAND

FOR RENT (BARKA)

1100 SQ MTR free industrial land for

all purpose is available with compound and furnished

offi ce in BarkaContact:

24707088, 98283896

Shops for rent in Al Amerat on the

main road (express) opposite to

Mosque and a supermarket

Al Ehsan. Contact: 96434269

2 BHK fl at for rent Darsait near

Muscat Pharmacy, ISM.

Contact: 95158570

One / two B/R , RES / Comm fl at

near Bank Muscat Bausher directly

from owner. Contact: 92158031

We have 2BHK offi ce, fl ats for

rent in Ghobrah, Azaiba, Ghala Al

Khuwair prime location. Contact:

93782735/99208033

We have 1BHK, 2 BHK Flats in

Mabela 7 new building. Contact:

93782735 /99208033

Flat in Wadi Al Kabir 2 bedrooms, 1

living room, 1 family hall, kitchen & 3

bathrooms. Contact: 99277787

We have staff accommodation for

rent in Bousher 30 to 40 people can

stay commercial building. Contact:

93782735 /99208033

Modern and spacious 4 bedroom

twin villa for rent in Azaiba north

behind Nov 18st with detached

maids room. Contact 99317349

One large BHK in Al Khuwair near

Ibis hotel with A/C.

Contact: 95124975

DAILY GUIDES AT U R D AY, F E B R UA R Y 2 0 , 2 0 1 6 C3

FOR RENT

FOR SALE

FOR SALE

Running shop with paint machine for sale in kadra

- Prime locati on with good daily sales - 260 Square meters- Warehouse facility - Staff accommodati on

BUILDING MATERIAL SHOP FOR SALE

Interested parti es may call 9322 3382 or mail to cs@mpesllc.com

Beauty Saloon for sale in Al

Amerat interested party contact:

97028867/95878812

Building material shop behind

Honda Road Abu Zaki show room.

Contact: 97006687 /94079401

Single colorful Bed and Sofa

for Sale at Al Khuwair.

Contact 92881849 /

What`s up No 97290565

Heidelberg Off set 52x 74cm –

20 1/2 x 29 1/8 single Color – SORM

printing machine in good condi-

tion. Contact: 99369880

Restaurant for Sale - A running

Pakistani restaurant ideally located

at Saham for sale - for details

call 99417418

Space for printing press available

at wadikabir with or without

machinery. Contact 99328430

HD Scaff oldings, Shuttering

Jacks, Wooden Planks, Shuttering

wood assorted, Tower hoist (lift),

Concrete Mixer, Bending Machine,

Steel Fabrication Machinery

(Searing/Cutting, lathe & Welding)

including tools for immediate sale:

Contact 99273774/ 99202278

Steel Scrap materials for

immediate sale:

Contact 99273774/ 99202278

Special Dental Center for sale.

2 Dentist room, dental lab, full

brand instruments with external

public pharmacy in Muscat.

Contact no. 99019144

A well Established Indian restau-

rant with all necessary equipments

well qualifi ed staff furnished party

hall (capacity 150) is up for imme-

diate sale at MBD area.

Contact: 92978956

CHANGE OF NAME

LOST

ACC. AVAILABLE

In Al Khuwair 2 rooms, toilet, avail-

able for Indian family or working

woman. Rent R.O 150/- per month

only. Please Contact: 97884967

Single room at Walja, opposite MBD

area SPAR available for executive

bachelors inclusive of electricity and

water for OMR 110/-.

Contact: 98958586

Flats 3 bedroom available at

Ghobrah near Indian School.

Contact: 99236718

Room with attached bathroom and

sharing kitchen available for

Executive bachelor or small

family at wadikabir 9304 9849

Room available in Mumtaz area

1 room, 1 Bathroom, Kitchen &

1 room, common bathroom.

Interested please Contact:

92680041 Mr. Altaf

Commercial fl ats of 3 & 2 BHK

in Al Ghobra North 18 Nov street

RO.650/- & 450/- # 91776665

600 M2 showroom or offi ce in

Bousher in front of Dolphin com-

plex. RO.3.5 per m2. #91776665

Brand new villas in Al Ansab.

Contact - 94051789-97201688

Offi ces & Showrooms in Muttrah.

Contact - 94051789-97201688

Brand new 4 BHK villa in Al Fai

compound Al Khoud. RO.475/-

Contact – 91776665

Villa of 3 BHK and sitting area in

Al Ghobra North. RO.525/-

Contact – 91776665

Luxury and brand new semi

furnished 2 BHK fl at in Remalbow-

sher. RO.550/- Contact – 91776665

Spacious 1 BHK fl at in Al Wattaya

with all split A/C’s and parking.

RO.300/-Contact – 91776665

Flats in Darsait. Contact - 94051789-97201688

Flats in WadiKabir. Contact - 94051789-97201688

Fully Furnished apartments in

Boucher (35) Contact: - 94051789-

97201688

Offi ces in Qurum opposite City

Center.# 94051789-97201688

Duplex villa in Qurum 29.

Contact - 94051789-97201688

Mini Furnished Apartment in

Qurum. Contact: 94051789-

97201688

Offi ces & Showrooms in Al Khoud. Contact 94051789-

97201688

SCRAP COMPANYFOR SALE OR RENT

(BARKA)An excellent Grade 1 Scrap Company, fully certi fi ed is available with compound

and furnished offi ce, in Barka Industrial Area.

Contact: 24707088, 98283896

Villa is composed of 5 bedrooms

and sitting toilets and 5 living

room, kitchen and Seeb (North

Al Hail). Contact: 91130875

Villa 2bedroom, 1 sitting room,

small hall, Kitchen & 2 bath-

room behind Sultan center south

Mawalah 300/- O.R. Contact:

92757673 /99388138

For Rent near ONTC Bus stop Ruwi.

Contact: 99475052/99502708

Shop for rent near Al Nahdha Hos-

pital. #97380548 / 99680499

1/2/3 bedrooms fl ats at Al Hail

including utilities bills 92817777

2 Bed room fl at for rent in AL

Azaiba, well maintained, split A/Cs

300/- PM. Contact : 92447365

1B/R apartment executive fully

furnished at AL Khuwair 33 & 5

B/R villa unfurnished at Madinat

Al Ilam & 5 B/R villa furnished at

Madinat Al Ilam. Contact: Atlas

Real Estate & rent a car LLC 24834

888/99249069/92888376/94617

563 Email: info@alshahiintl.com

Flats for rent in Ruwi Mumtaz

area 2 bedroom. Contact:

91409667/24291500

Flat for rent in Al Hail

south 2 bedroom. Contact:

91409667/24291500

Luxury villa of 5 BHK in Al Khuwair

33 RO.650/- Contact – 91776665

Commercial offi ce at prime

location in Azaiba for rent. 171sq.

mtr. Contact: - 91398925

For rent 1 B/R Apartment Execu-

tive Fully Furnished @ Al Khuwair

33, 5 B/R Villa – Unfurnished @

Madinat Al Ilam 5 B/R Villa – }

Furnished @ Madinat Al Ilam

Please Contact: Atlas Real Estate

& Rent A Car LLC24834888/

99249069 / 92888376/94617563

/ Email: info@alshahiintl.com

2 BHK Flats for rent, Muttrah near

Oman house S/ AC.

Contact: 97007934 / 92629232

New fl ats for rent at Darsait near

to ministry of sports, Mumtaz area

the fl ats include 1 living room, 2

Bedroom, kitchen, 3 toilets every

room with split A/C & high Quality

fi nishing, rent per fl at is R.O 340/-.

Interested candidates please

Contact: 00968- 92225523

1 & 2 BHK Ruwi C.B.D.

Contact: 99024730

1& 2 BHK fl ats for rent at Hamriya Wadi Adai, Al Khoud,

Mabela & shop at Al Khoud & land

line Contact: 24834644 GSM

93994401/02/03 3 lines

FOR SALE

CAT Excavator with Bucket

Model: 330D, Year: 2007(Finance Available)

Contact: 99654205, 99338410

SITUATION WANTEDEDUCATION/COMPUTER/WEBSITE

Karate and self defense classes

at Azaiba 18 Nov Street. RO 10 per

month twice a week Monday and

Tuesday 6. 30 TO 7. 30. PM.

CONTACT 98294551

Spoken Arabic class for Non Arabic Speakers & English

class for Malayalam Speakers in Azaiba and Ruwi

• Learn in two months• Satisfaction guaranteed

Tel: 95244310

WEB, ERP and Business Intelli-

gence (BI) creation and man-

agement at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

Classes for Spoken EnglishTOEFL / GRE / GMAT / SAT

Excellent Guidance and Coaching Satisfaction Guaranteed

IELTS PREPARATION Target Band 8.0

EAGLES INSTITUTE92325542 | 93657915 | 93657917 | Email: engominst@gmail.com

3 BHK fl at near Darsait ID medi-

cal. RO 420/- Contact – 99358589

/ 97079146 / 95570288

Villa for rent in Al Khuwair.

Contact: 96571151

1BHK fl at near Star Cinema 220/-

Contact 99358589 /95570288

Flats two bed room for rent in

Al Khuwair. Contact: 96571151

2 clean & spacious fl ats with A/C,

fi rst fl at is behind City center Al

Seeb consist of 2 bedroom and liv-

ing room second fl at is in Al Khoud

3 consist of 1 bedroom and living

room. Contact: 93366421

I Manoj Kumar (holder of Indian passport No. J 94998229) Son of

Shishpal having permanent residence in E 101 , Bhagwati Garden Extn ,

Uttam Nagar , New Delhi- 110059 ( complete postal address in India ) and

presently residing in P.O Box 175, P.C 117 Wadi Kabir , Sultanate of Oman

(complete postal in Oman) intend to change my name from Manoj Kumar

(old name) to Manoj Ranghar ( new name) for all practical purpose. Any

objection towards my name change may please be communicated to Em-

bassy of India, Muscat, diplomatic Quarters, AL Khuwair, P.Box No, 1727

postal code 112, Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman.

Masuk Miah Late forman Ullha

has lost Bangladeshi Passport No. F

0023655. Finder please handover

to ROP

Fire rated portacabins and steel

caravans. ContacT: 94058574

*Classifi ed Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

DAILY GUIDEC4 S AT U R D AY, F E B R UA R Y 2 0 , 2 0 1 6

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED

SITUATION SIT. WANTED

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifi eds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

DRIVER

MEDICAL

MEDICAL

ADMIN

ADMIN

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

EDUCATION

DRAUGHTSMAN

SALES / MARKETING

Required urgently a Legal Consultant/ Lawyer for reputed

law fi rm in Sohar, Muscat. Can-

didates should have 5-7 years

experience as a Legal Consultant/

Lawyer with good knowledge of

Computer & should be fl uent in

English both written & spoken.

Email C V to shejaanil66@gmail.

com or Contact 99153620

between 8am to 1pm & 2pm to

5.30 pm on Sunday to Thursday

MBA Finance Indian lady 23

yrs currently on visit visa family

resident Oman seeking opportunity

for career enhancement in suitable

fi rms ready to join immediately.

Contact: 99872664 /92651331

Part Time Accounting, Accounts

Finalization as per IFRS, Audit

Preparation, Project Report, Training

for Accountants, Internal Audit,

Accounting System for New

Companies, Contact: 96975454,

email:ibfc.gcc@gmail.com

Indian male good experienced in

Accounts, ERP Tally 9 & Admin in

India & Oman, presently on visit

visa, looking for suitable placement.

Contact 94834687

Indian male 25 yrs, Graduate in

commerce, overall 5 yrs exp in ac-

counts/ fi nance fi eld. On visit visa.

Immediately available.

Contact – 92836216 /

muhammad.tausif623@gmail.com

Contact -91262604Email: chillapalli76@gmail.com

Wanted female GP, female Gynecologist, female Staff

Nurse, female X- Ray Technician With MOH license for Al Saadi

Specialized Medical Centre in Musanna.

DOMESTIC HELP

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

Indian male M.com with 7 years

of experience in running own busi-

ness , seeking for job currently on

visit visa. Contact : 91089088

CA with 16 years experience in

fi nance / audit, seeking suitable

senior position and available for im-

mediate joining. Contact: 96320588

Egyptian sr. Accountant / chief

accountant / accounts manager

with more than 10 years experi-

ence in construction have Oman

valid driver license on transfer

visa. Contact: 96131088

Indian female accountant 8 years

exp in Oman. Contact: 93726921

Indian male 5 yrs experience in

data entry & accounting assistance

seeks suitable placement NOC

available. Content: 94452346

Email: subishkuruvilla5@gmail.com

Indian male accountant B.com,

M.com with 7 years experience

including gulf on tourist visa.

Contact: 91651695

Email: danishpa2005@gmail.com

Indian female (25) M.com Finance,

3 yrs, exp in accounts / fi nance

seeks suitable position in corpo-

rate fi nance / Banking / consulting

purchase coordination / Admin now

in family visa. Contact: 96953705

Email: prapullasuvarna@gamil.com

Accounts fi nance Indian male

35 years B.com MBA (F)

7 years experience tally ERP9

valid Oman D/L family visa.

Contact: 93257426/95230114

Email: sibigeorgep@gmail.com

Indian female accountant having

more than 8 years of experience in

Oman. Can handle accounts inde-

pendently up to fi nalization. Good

knowledge of tally ERP9 and MS

Offi ce seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 91229415

Indian male MBA (F) with 6 years

of experience as accountant pro-

fi ciency in A/C software like tally,

focus, Sap (FICO) seeking suitable

placement. Contact: 98665219

Email: abdulhameed1527@gmail.com

Jordanian, Senior accountant, 15

yrs experience in Oman fi nance &

accountant. Contact: 92881223

Indian male M.Com with 10 years of

experience in Finance/accounting,

analysis, can do fi nalization inde-

pendently seeks suitable positions.

Contact 92839679 (can join imme-

diately- local release available)

Indian male 30 B.com, 6 yrs

accounts exp in East Africa & 1year

exp in Oman NOC available. Look-

ing for suitable placement.

Contact: 94613626

Email: sharis.shaheer@gmail.com

Accounts part time services

available to handle all accounts up

to fi nalization, on Monthly basis

fi nalization and consulting works.

Contact: 96247295

Part time up to fi nalization.

Contact: 91126314

Indian male accountant with 7

years experience in Oman seeking

for suitable placement NOC avail-

able. Contact: 95578150 Whatsapp

BBM graduate with 3 years expe-

rience looking for job in fi nance /

Admin / retail currently on visit

visa. Contact: 98993590 Email:

mohammedasitucm@gmail.com

Accounting Assistant, BBA

M.Com, tally, peach tree, can work

on current visa ph: 98269281

Indian male, B.Com with 6 years

experience as an Accountant,

looking for suitable placement.

Mob: 93903458 ,

Email : Akkandyrijesh@gmail.com

22 years experience in Oman for

accountants seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact: 99615920

Indian male bachelor degree

fi nance 3.5 years experience

in Oman handling cargo opera-

tion and accounts Oman driving

license holder seeking job in lo-

gistics account. Contac: 95137665

Email: shajeer002@gmail.com

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, with

13yrs experience, 6 yrs Oman in

manufacturing, trading & con-

tracting Cos, capable of handling

all accounting, fi nance, banking,

L/C, import, export & fi nalization

seeks placement. NOC Available.

Call+968-98932752,

mail:jjohnmuscat@hotmail.com

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT-M. Com

Finance-Indian with 7 years expe-

rience in Finance & Accounts up to

fi nalization. Currently employed

in Oman. Having D/L & NOC.

Mob: 94122464,

Email: cammk13@gmail.com

Accounting Services for small/

medium Businesses. Accounting

from Data Entry to preparation

of P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash fl ow

and complete reports for auditing

Contact: 99679247

Indian female 25 yrs, MBA HR &

Marketing, with one and half years

experience as accountant and

6 months experience in teaching,

now on a visit visa, seeking suit-

able position. Contact: 99624044,

mail: np.neethu1@gmail.com.

28/male/MBA - fi nance/B.Com -

Accountant with 4 years of Dubai/

India experience looking for a

suitable placement. #90187483

shobinkarikkan1987@gmail.com

Indian male 34 Yrs, Dual MBA

Finance and marketing with IT

skills, 7+ yrs of experience, Look-

ing for suitable placement.

Contact : 94879615,Email-

sajan_chacko1981@yahoo.com

Needs Sales Executives for oil

trading co. With Oman driving

license. Offi ce contact 24467177

E mail: fakhar@bestlubes.com

A Well reputed Media Company looking for professional market-ing ladies with experience,

visa available. Send CV to

job08080@gmail.com or

Contact: 98563312

Experienced Graduates/MBAs with pleasing personality, excel-

lent communication skills and

own car for sales & marketing with

leading media enterprise.

jobs@interacoman.com

A Leading trading group is looking for Sales executives / Outdoor sales Co-coordinator having experience in construction

equipment / Building materials

with driving license & Release /

NOC. Email CV to

alhajoil@omantel.net.om or

fax: 24701683

Urgently Required Steel Fabri-cated Products Salesman with

an experience in steel fabrication,

MUST have Oman driving license,

and immediately join. Apply,

fax 00968–24605955, emails

sbc@steelbuildingsllc.com,

sbeoman@yahoo.com

Building material company look-ing for a Marketer with experi-

ence. Contact: 95342240 &

send CV to Email:

venice.decoration@gmail.com

Urgently required Marketing Executive with driving license

for sales of furniture. Contact:

97164554 / 99452755

Email: aliasgar.tarwadi@yahoo.

com

Required male / female Market-ing person for man power Supply

Company with minimum 3 years

experience with valid GCC / Oman

driving license.

Contact: 97158893 / 94148972.

Kindly send CV at

Email: rastllcmuscat@gmail.com

Need master cutter, tailor for

tailor shop. Contact: 99825211

Audit Assistants. Email: aoabmuscat@gmail.com

QHSSE ADVISOR - Interna-

tional Oilfi eld Services Company

requires a NEBOSH qualifi ed

QHSSE Advisor (Omani National)

to ensure continual improvement

in our Muscat base. Main duties

to include Journey Management,

supporting implementation of

policies and procedures, mentor-

ing staff , training coordination,

reporting, audit & inspection and

risk assessment. Submit CV to

me-job@interwell.com

Required Cleaners & offi ce boys. Contact 24707833

Looking for Indian or Bangla-deshi cook and Porata, Chapatti, maker for restaurant at Misfah.

Contact: 95212017

Wanted experienced continental cook for reputed family in Qurum.

Contact: 99466062

CATERING

OFFICE/SECRE.

MISCELLANEOUS

URGENTLY REQUIREDMobile Technician

(keralites only)Contact:

91577519/99737812

Décor Company looking for an Engineer or Technician deco-

rated with experience. Contact:

95342240 & send CV to Email:

venice.decoration@gmail.com

Senior Factory Control Room Operator Required for a Manufac-

turing Company in Oman. Candi-

date should possess a Diploma in

Electrical and Electronics

Engineering with minimum

5 years of experience.

Candidates who have experience

in Oman are preferred. Kindly

forward relevant resumes to

info.companyoman@yahoo.com

Urgently required Sales execu-tives (2 Nos) & Graphic designer for signage/ print media with

minimum 1 to 2 years experience.

Please email your CV to –

info.kkllc@gmail.com

Contact - 91275555

Reputed company in Muscat

invites application for the following vacancies Admin Omani, good

communication skill in English &

Sales graduate, valid Oman driving

license. Kindly send CV at Email:

infooman@orchidinternational.ae

Building Material Salesman & Electrician cum plumber & C.CT.V Technician & maintenance work

super us or with D.L. #99383044

Local man power required for one

year for construction. #99340205

Email: omaniantrad@gmail.com

One of the leading Business

Groups in Oman is looking for

Secretary- male / Secretary – Fe-male / Accountant / Driver with

valid Omani license & Laborer (loading & unloading). Interested

candidates may apply to

muscat.supply@gmail.com

Wanted experienced English speaking Indian driver for reputed

family in Qurum.

Contact: 99466062

Urgently required heavy duty driver for trailer. Contact: Krishnan

99310859 or 24449345

ENGINEER

LOOKING FOR SALES EXECUTIVES &

SALES ENGINEERS WITH AT LEAST TWO YEARS EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD

OF EARTHMOVING EQUIPMENTS,

CRUCHERS, QUARRY & MINING INDUSTRY.

Email: applyinggchr@gmail.com

Required gynecologist GEN: practitioner lady lab Technician and pharmacologist immediately

for a clinic in Suwaiq.

Contact 95081010

Email: umchealthcare@gmail.com

Wanted lady Doctor with MOH li-

cense – A clinic at Ghala for morn-

ing shift. Contact : 99374541

Experienced CEO required

Kindly send your emails :- issa@nibras.om, kevin@nibras.om

Omani Based Group of companiesRunning a midsized successful holding organization

With multi discipline of fi elds is looking for an active CEO with minimum of ten years Experience

who has a global Business outlook, he should have strong leadership, and be able to give clear direction

and guidance to the management team.

FMCG is looking for a SALES SUPERVISOR - Bachelor ‘s degree on the same fi eld- 5 Years experience in the (FMCG) fi eld.- Minimum Age 30 to 40 years- Speaks English and Arabic- Driving license

Ready to directly of work Send your CV to Email :

receptionist@mescooman.com

Indian male 32 yrs with 9 yrs

experience in MIS & Administra-

tion good knowledge of MS .Offi ce

currently on visit visa looking

for suitable position.

Contact 99815835 Email:

rinumohan.842@gmail.com

A Female Postgraduate with over

5 years of working experience

in HR/Business Development/

Banking/Admin/Coordinative/

Secretarial duties seeks a suitable

placement.

Contact 99357522/92800281

26/Pakistani Male/MBA-HR

having 2 years of experience in

HR with MN Insurance Company

and banking industry is currently

in OMAN on VISIT VISA & looking

for a suitable job in HR, ADMIN or

FINANCE.

Email ahmadraja010@gmail.com

GSM 91716268/93228785

Young Omani male have experi-

ence 12 years as P.R.O , Clerk helper

supervisor Admin supervisor , H.R

Manager have diploma in H.S.E, IT

and P.D.O license looking for H.R

position or P.R.O license . Looking

for H.R position or P.R.O part time or

full time. Contact: 95933288

REQUIRED PROJECT MANAGER

For an Infra/ Bldg project in Duqm/Oman

Graduate Engineer with 20+ years experience preferably

in Oman/ GCC with valid D/L and transferable visa,

computer literate.

Send CV to Email : omanproject2011@gmail.com

REQUIRE Primavera

Project Planner for outside Muscat

Project. Civil Engineer with min 10yrs planning

experience in Infra/Building projects Please send CV to

capsspac@gmail.com

Leading Medical Services company in Oman is looking for General Practi ti oners, Nurses,

X-Ray Technician & Lab Technician

for immediate joining. Candidates with MOH license and NOC

only need to apply. Att racti ve salary package off ered to candidates who can

join us immediately.Send in your resume to

athirababylon@gmail.com. athira@babylon-om.com, info@babylon-om.com.

We are looking for Experienced Omani Receptionists for our

organization Ayaan Healthcare

centre. Contact - 93676708 Email:

jooprakash.mba@gmail.com

A well – known private school is

in need of Laboratory Assistant, Biology, Chemistry and Computer Teachers. Contact: 96910649

Email: staffi ng.oman@gmail.com

MEP DRAFTMEN Required with 4

to 5 Years Oman Experience. Mail

your CV @ trustllc@yahoo.com

Required General Practitioner doctor to open branches in Oman.

Contact 98116480

Required gynecologist GEN: prac-titioner lady lab Technician and pharmacologist immediately for a

clinic in Suwaiq. #95081010

Email: umchealthcare@gmail.com

Indian Male Accountant 10yrs Exp.

in OMAN Retail & Furniture Co. (Re-

lease Available) GSM.92564955

Young 24, ACCA affi liate,

Advanced diploma in Accounting

and Business, seeking suitable

placement in Accounts, Finance or

audit With valid driving license.

Contact - 92430152,

Email - rau_dey@yahoo.com

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

Required candidates for following

posts: Accountant, Storekeeper, Foreman Building Maintenance, Van-salesman (water), Helpers. Candidates with Omani driving

license preferred.

Contact 99273774/99202278

MISCELLANEOUS

DAILY GUIDES AT U R D AY, F E B R UA R Y 2 0 , 2 0 1 6 C5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

DRIVER

ADMIN

CATERING

DESIGNER/DRAUGHTSMAN

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

Cooks (Arabic Indian) gulf exp

looking job. Contact: 99531802

Finance / Project/Program Manager ProfessionalQualifi cati ons : MBA, PMP, Six Sigma

Country Exposure Canada & Middle East, Industry Any Nati onality

Canadian, In Person Interview on Sundays

Contact No: 97203531, +923352855176

Interior Designer 3 years

experience, AutoCAD 2D & 3D

Max & Photoshop.

Contact number: 99025312

Interior Designer 4 years experi-

ence design and supervision skills

(3D Max, AutoCAD Photoshop.

Contact: 95246737

Email: yassalnajjar@gmail.com

DOMESTIC HELP

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

Indian male Electrical Engineer, 7 years experience, valid GCC driv-

ing license, NOC available looking

for suitable job. Contact: 96137008

Email: joshuaruarkfernandez@gmail.

com

B.SC civil Engineer, road construc-

tion fi eld with 13 years experience

in Oman. Contact: 92200485

Indian Electronics Engineer female

24 M.Tech 9Communication) Engi-

neer and signal processing) with C,C

++ & matlab programming skills 7 1

year exp in teaching. Seeking suit-

able jobs, now on visit visa.

Contact – 91310557/

Email: aswanimidhun12@gmail.com

Electrical diploma Engineer with

1.5 years experience in AutoCAD

designing for LV constructions and

diesel generator maintenance look-

ing actively for job in Oman.

Contact: 92171858/90595609

Email: nelsondas213@gmail.com

Indian male – B.Tech -8 yrs exp in

Mfg (operations /material)

seek suitable placement urgently -

NOC & Oman D/L available -

Contact 99462068 /

Email: vale_jazib@yahoo.com

Indian male, 22 Chemical Engineer residing in Oman looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 92379181

Mechanical Engineer (B.Tech) with

QA / QC piping Engineering (ASNT)

level 2 (UT, RT, MPT, LRT) with

experience QC Inspector in a expan-

sion project of a refi nery. Currently

on visiting working for suitable job.

Contact: 00968 97697944

Email: arskpo7@gmail.com

Project Engineer (Civil) Indian Male

11 years in Building Construction.

Visa release & D/L available.

Contact: 93836362/94605415,

mathan.civil04@gmail.com

Mechanical Engineer (B.Tech) with

2 and half years experience Indian

male 24 years in visit visa. Contact:

96620482 / + 919605423272

Email: bijumonps@gmail.com

Civil Engineer having 7 years

experience in construction fi eld,

looking job in suite international

company with Oman driving

license. Contact: 91800277

Young Electrical and Electron-

ics Engineer Indian B.Tech male

24 seeking job presently in Oman

having one year experience in

design and estimation of Ht and Lt

Projects. Contact: 968 94851525

Email: rabeehbinrahman@gmail.

com

Electrical Engineer 4.5 years

experience oil & gas water projects

& subseries. Contact: 99525856

Mechanical Engineer 7 years

experience 4 years in pipe line

projects NOC is available.

Contact: 91117089

Indian male 23 years B.E in me-

chanical fresher and have CSWIP

certifi cation on visit visa seeking

employment foe mechanical jobs

as entry level. Contact 98422072

Email Id: j-joel92@yahoo.com

Mechtronics Engineer, Indian

male 2 yrs exp in industrial auto-

mation & maintenance, seeking

suitable job. Presently on visiting

visa. Contact – 97315735 / jith-

inm717@gmail.com

Omani HSE supervisor. Email:

jeebal3000@gmail.com

Sudanese Civil engineer - 4 years

experience – 98093544

27 years male diploma in Civil

Eng having 6 years Oman experi-

ence valid driving license seeking

suitable placement. Contact:

98809638 /98666735

Electrical Engineer with 18 years

exp in UAE. Contact: 98148034

Email: shassalih66@gmail.com

Civil Engineer with Oman experi-

ence and having driving license.

Contact - 91102892

Civil Engineer B.E 12 years

experience with valid Oman

driving license NOC available.

Contact: 93843448

Civil Engineer 6 years experience, 4

years in Oman, driving license avail-

able. Contact number 92553263

Telecom Engineer, Indian, M.Tech

(Communication System) 2 years

exp O& M of Ericsson BSC, RNC

equipments seeking suitable job,

presently on visit visa.

Contact: 968 93615443

Email: shabnaspk@gmail.com

Process Engineer Chemical Engi-

neer, MBA certifi ed in supply chain

(MGT) 6 years experiences in opera-

tion. Contact: +968 94690325 Email:

phahad.hashim@gmail.com

Indian male Electrical Engineer with MBA (Mktg) having 4 and half

years experience in technical com-

mercial and marketing fi elds with

valid GCC D/L, NOC available seeking

placement. Contact: + 968 96547828

Email: deva0234@gmail.com

Civil Engineer diploma, 4 yrsexp

seeks suitable position ina reputed

company. NOC available.

Contact – 96789711

HSE Engineer B.Tech (safety & fi re)

M. Sc 8 years experience

Indian 31 years presently occupied

on notice period available with clean

NOC, holds Oman driving license &

owns car. Contact: 94616721

Email: aibelg19@gmail.com

B.Sc Civil Engineer, 27 yrs Oman

experience as Project Manager,

Structure Engineer looking for suit-

able placement. NOC / LOCAL trans-

fer available. Contact: 99349578

Email: farooqatm@hotmail.com

Procurement Engineer (27 years

single male with Oman Driving Li-

cense) having 7 years experience

(UAE 2, Oman 3) with expertise in

MEP, Water, Electromechanical,

Instrumentation seeking suitable

placements. Contact 95852033,

mail: hemal1988@gmail.com

MANAGER

MEDICAL

MEDICAL

Male 24 from, India B.SC Comput-

er science with 2 years of network-

ing and IT help desk support expe-

rience and a Cisco certifi ed, came

to Oman on visit seeking a suitable

placement. Contact: 96910605

Diploma holder in computer hard-

ware and networking with more

than 9 years experience and with

driving license seeking suitable

placement. Contact: 95249087

BCA Indian male one years expe-

rience system Admin IT support

MCITP CCNA looking for suitable

job currently on visit visa.

Contact: 94821943

Email: basithmck0@gmail.com

Indian male 27 yrs master in

computer applications currently in

Muscat with Oman driving license

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 93191800

Email: vijilraj60@gmail.com

Indian Male, IT System Engineer

having 4 yrs of experience in sys-

tem administration.CCNA,MCSE,

Linux. Looking for suitable job.

Contact :91272867

Indian female 28 years, MCA,

B.com, 3 years experience in the

fi eld of computer hardware, ERP

software and windows network-

ing where planning, implementing

and troubleshooting with multiple

platform of OS Microsoft XP /7/8

on visit visa. Contact: 95089170

Email: anjuretnakar@gmail.com

Indian male 25 years BSC (C.S)

with basic hardware and software

knowledge seeks suitable place-

ment now on visit visa. Contact:

92319677

Email: ismabsc@gmail.com

Indian female, B.Tech graduate,

with one and half years experience

as ‘web developer’ interested in

web development and has experi-

ence working in HTML, CSS, Boot-

strap, JavaScript and Photoshop.

Contact : 9592 7075, e-mail id:

mariarosejacob90@gmail.com

AutoCAD draftsman experience 2 years.

Contact: 93738335 /95809393

Email: mammoosing@gmail.com

LOGISTICS

IT

Bangladeshi male light vehicle

driver looking for job.

Contact: 95601163

Pakistani male 38 years with 10

year experience in driving Omani

license (littlie).Contact: 93084806

Can with driving 3 years experi-

ence per time job.

Contact: 92041902

Needed light driver job urgently.

Contact: 94085449

Light driver with car.

Contact: 96379697

Wanted driver. Contact:

91025698

Looking for job driver K.S.A 7

years & Oman 5 years education

H.S.C. Contact: 93940319

Looking for truck visa.

Contact: 94087276

Looking for driving job.

Contact: 98255214

3 years driver experience in

Muscat Oman, language known:

English, Hindi Arabic & Bengali.

Contact: 97462781

Driver with car 2015 model,

speak British English.

Contact: 94039796

Pakistani light driver looking

for job with 5 years experience.

Contact: 92617293

Looking job for driving with car.

Contact: 90436094

Looking for job car driver.

Contact: 98388947

Light driver need job knows

Arabic & Hindi.

Contact: 95145988

Job for driving. Contact:

98982410

Indian House maid looking for

part time full time job perfect in

baby care, mother care, cooking,

cleaning etc. Contact 93675855

Housemaid (overseas) Indian

family looking for job.

Contact 99531802

Indian Male, 36 years, over 16

years’ Stores, Logistics and Import

Export experience with US based

MNC, seeks suitable placement.

Mob: 9822 6568

Civil Engineer (B.Tech), Indian

male 24 years with 1+years Indian

experience,(Certifi ed in Staad

Pro/ Quantity Survey/ Auto Cad).

Looking for a Suitable position.

Available In Sultanate of Oman

(Muscat) on Visit Visa.

Contact: 92835952. E-mail:

mohammedamair.bin@gmail.com

Indian male Electrical Engineer, having 6 years gulf experience in

designing, assembling, commis-

sioning execution etc having valid

GCC license too looking for a suit-

able. Contact: 00968-98052942

Email: azamjeelani78@gmail.com

Electrical Testing Engineer (B.Tech) having 7 yrs Gulf expe-

rience expertise in testing pre-

commissioning commissioning of

electrical systems, currently on visit

visa seeks suitable job in Muscat.

Contact: 90188231

Civil Engineer 8 years experience

in Oman as a project engineer for

governmental & private projects.

Contact – 90164912

Indian male, Mechanical

Engineer having 1year experi-

ence, on visit visa looking for

suitable job. Contact:97416564,

Email:jovinmathias@gmail.com

Mechanical Engineer male 26 yrs,

with 4 yrs of experience in manu-

facturing oil & gas retail, brand pro-

moting, marketing, logistics having

valid Omani D/L seeking for a suit-

able placement. Contact: 97098676

Email: ja237le@gmail.com

Civil Engineer 8 years experience

Structural buildings marine. Availa-

ble NOC release. Contact: 92451323.

Email: zubairali134@yahoo.com

Civil Engineer B.E (Indian) having

total experience 14 years in build-

ing construction NOC available.

Contact 92971284

Email: mkamran1508@gmail.com

Civil Engineer (B-Tech) 2 year In-

dian experience contact 90493674

email-

inayathhussainshaik@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer Indian male

30 years, having 5 years of experi-

ence in industrial automation and

utility maintenance in India (MRF

Tyres) holding valid Oman D/L.

Contact: 92789995 Email:

akhilabrahamlktr@gmail.com

Mechanical Engineer (4 years

exp) (3 years HVAC 10 months

Piping Engineer) job visa Indian

Muslim (27). Contact: 90486758

Email: afsalhyder@gmail.com

Chemical Engineer Sudanese

male 29 yrs. Master degree in

chemical engineering , Experience

1 yrs and 2 months OSHA Course

,HACCP Course , look for suitable

job in Oman. Contact 96533430

Indian male 26 yrs have 6 yrs

exp in technical assistant in tyre

production, visit visa at Ruwi.

Contact: 92600859

Iraqi Architect with 10 years of

experience in Engineering designs

and Construction Supervising

professional in 3Ds Max, AutoCAD

Photoshop. Contact: 96011716

Indian female (22) BE Computer

Science & pursuing MBA in sym-

biosis, looking for a job in HR & IT

with 2 years experience in IT fi eld.

Contact: 92649477 / 96043223

Bachelor Civil Engineer 6 Years

in Oman experience Valid Driving

License seeks suitable placement

Phone 97619722

Email – golamrob@yahoo.com

Indian female, 31 yrs, 7 yrs expe-

rienced as AutoCAD civil drafts-

man (2 yrs experience in Oman)

currently in Oman seeks suitable.

Contact 96789441

Email: simi5304@gmail.com

Civil diploma Engineer cum

quantity survey male 6 years

experience in Oman valid Oman

D/L. Contact: 93747759 Email:

jaleelvanimalkp@gmail.com

MBA with 18 years of experience in

Procurement, 2 years in Sohar, Oman

driving license with vehicle, looking

for suitable position.M:94047501,

ahmed16071974@gmail.com

Egyptian male fi nance manager

7 years experience release avail-

able. Contact: 95539923

The Business Development Man-

ager, Iraqi, Experience 15 Years

Inside and outside Oman follow-

ing activities: construction(Very

strong and qualifi ed to bringing

business for civil work Or any

type of the construction work for

many million per year with a good

experience in pricing and collect

payment and cash management of

the company & marketing projects

& investments& tenders & real

estate. Contact 92385033

MBA (marketing) with 17 years

experience in freight forwarding/

logistics industry in GCC & Oman.

Presently working as branch

manager in Muscat. Looking for a

suitable position. Release and NOC

available. Contact: 99856331

Indian male, with experience in

operations management, informa-

tion security, purchase & stores

mgmt, hold UAE driving license, on

visit visa, seeks suitable job.

Contact 91904541

Email: naushers@yahoo.com

The Business Development Manager, Iraqi, Experience 15

Years Inside and outside Oman

following activities: tenders& real

estate& construction & marketing

projects& investments &

transportation & Marine services&

companies management& develop

business. Contact: :- 92385033

MISCELLANEOUS

SALES / MARKETING

Bangladeshi male, University

M.Com, Working as an Accountant

& Administrator in Oman;

searching better job.

Phone: 94864966

Email: sunrisetoiqbal@gmail.com

A Filipina lady having experience

in call center, airline booking and

reservations, secretarial and real

estate is now looking for a job in

any fi elds. Contact: 93839304

Indian female on visit MBA

(International Business- Market-

ing & Logistics), BE (Computers &

Science Engg.) Trained in SAP-BI/

BW with 1 year experience

seeking for job

Contact: 90228586

Email:fathimasha16@gmail.com

Graduate, computer literate,

experienced in sales, credit

control, accounts, Omani D/L ,

seeks suitable placement.

Gsm 98805474

Indian female civil engineer B.Tech

having 3 years experience sound

knowledge of software, REVIT STAD

PRO structural detailing currently

on family visa seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact: 95345591

Mechanical Engineer with 3 Yrs

experience in international Oil

& Gas company looking for job

Contacts: Tel: 90164236 Email:

mustafaoshi-62@hotmail.com

Indian Electrical Engineer Btech,

female 24 seeking job, presently

in oman having 2 year experience

in design and estimation of Ht &Lt

projects. Contact 968 97436557,

Mail id : sibinanoop1@gmail.com

Diploma in Mechanical Eng piping system in AutoCAD work,

21+ years experience with Driving

license. Contact: 95267113

Email: rkakkaryil@gmail.com

Indian Male 23 years B.Tech

Civil having 2 years experience in

quantity survey and site manage-

ment looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact:- 95042656

Civil Engineer (BE) having total

5 years experience in building

construction looking for a suitable

placement. D/L available

Contact# 94450270

Road and Construction Engineer with 5 years exp in Oman.

Contact: 97667113

Mechanical Engineer M.Tech

2 years experience HVAC design

& site Engg revit MEP Auto CAD.

Contact: 90150913 Email:

mahmanmechengg@yahoo.im

7 Yrs Exp. PM in Mech. Engg in

the fi eld of Building Const. Oil &

Gas Seeking Job.94625598

Sudanese Telecom Engineer, 5 years experience, 3 years in

Oman PMP certifi cate.

Contact: 93391008 Email:

momen.awadallam@gmail.com

Civil Engineer 6 yrs Exp in Oman

with license. Contact: 98975518

Mechanical Eng. Diploma 31

years experience (22 Oman) Steel

fabrication, steel furniture, Powder

coating, Production and Planning.

Machine shop, looking for Mana-

gerial position in Sohar.

Contact 99314899

MEP Engineer 5 years exp in Gulf

driving license NOC.

Contact 97838220

Indian male 31 years with over 10

years sales & marketing experience

seeking suitable placement NOC

& Oman D/L available in addition

have profi ciency in Arabic language.

Contact: 95760969

Sudanese B.S.C Business admin-

istration experience 8 years sales

management purchases H.R market-

ing. Contact: 96112453

Indian male with Oman driving

license & NOC looking for Sales &

marketing / purchase job fl uent

English. Contact: 94742666

15 years of working experience

in Business development in Oman

& UAE & UK , marketing plans and

strategies & importing fi re woks for

festivals & preparing government

tenders , Operations and logistics ,

importing and international busi-

ness trading , CNC engineering &

industrial areas , I have dual na-

tionality ( I can travel abroad easily

without needing visa, for fi nalizing

business trading NOC available.

Contact: 94123939

Indian male UK- MBA (International

Business) having 2 years UK exp

with full UK D/L, now on visiting

visa. Seeking suitable jobs.

Contact – 96446013 /

mmmidhun777@gmail.com

MBA Indian male 4 years experi-

ence sales & marketing seeking suit-

able opportunities.

Contact: 96931719

Sales Engineer (M.Eng) Canada

fi ve + years Oman market experi-

ence with leading brands with D/L.

Contact: 93985140

Email: jbom628@gmail.com

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

Mason, SH / carpenter, steel fi tter

gulf & Indian exp looking job.

Contact: 95175192

Lady Secretary / Sales Co-co-

ordinator 12 years experience in

Oman in reputed companies, seek

immediate Employment.

Call: 95244761

Indian Female, MBA-HR having 8+

experience in Administration/HR,

Customer Support, Offi ce Coordina-

tor with good Computer skill, Now on

Visit Visa,looking for suitable posi-

tion.Contact: 90196235

Indian male MBA 33yrs having 10

yrs of exp seeking full time suitable

placement in Administration/ HR/

Operations/ Coordination/ Logistics.

Holding valid D/L.

Contact 99054786

Indian male MBA- UK 18 yrs Gulf

exp in Administration/ HR & Pub-

lic relationship. Fluent in Arabic/

English with D/L. Looking for suit-

able position. Contact - 99897280

Indian female, Masters in HR,

having 4 + years Oman experience

in media management and HR,

looking for openings in HR, Educa-

tion, Admin, Corporate communi-

cations. Contact 98252030

BBA Mare administration offi cer

with admin, Accounts purchase

experience valid Noc.

Contact: 91329571

Sri Lankan Engineer (27 Years

old) – B.Sc Engineering (Hon)

Mining / Geotechnical Presently

in Muscat, 1.5 years experience.

Contact 91295802 /

acmfaslan123@gmail.com

Hospitality/Hotel/ Restaurants

Dynamic result oriented hospital-

ity professional with 20 years of

international exp. MBA in Hotel

Management, specializing in Ho-

tel/Restaurant start ups, concepts

& Franchise development with

proven records. Seeking for Chal-

lenging positions in reputed groups

as GM/COO/CEO/Business Head.

(NOC available)

Contact: 96059470

Indian male hotel management

graduate above 12 yrs experience

in hospitality looking placement

GCC driving license and release

available. Contact: 94525463

HOSPITALITY

Male GP Doctor with NOC 6 yrs

experience in Oman for perm/locum

job. Contact : 97746074

Indian Bsc Female Nurse with

6.5 years exp, 4 years in KSA.

Passed Oman Pro Metric with 69%,

completed data fl ow. Presently in

Muscat in visit visa looking for a

suitable placement.

Contact 94744900, 94742834,

jincyalphonese@gmail.com

An experienced Sudanese female Dentist with MOH license look-

ing for job. Contact 96436517

/97396088

DAILY GUIDEC6 S AT U R D AY, F E B R UA R Y 2 0 , 2 0 1 6

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifi eds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTED

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

SERVICESWe Provide Cleaners,

Offi ce boys, Cleaning Contracts, General cleaning etc.

Al Mudakhir Nati onal Est. LLC Contact : 94277020

Split & window A/c servicing &

maintenance. Contact 93769089 /

95323517

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing,

Contact 99314807/24792998

Building maintenance. Contact: 96173326

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

LEGAL SERVICEAn Indian lawyer Provides all legal

services in company matt ers. Labour issues, contracts, agreements, LLC formati on, legal help for starti ng new business in Oman, Civil, criminal

cases,.service issues.Ibrahim Al Massalhi.legal consultancy

Sarafudheen, LLB, MBA,Legal Advisor

Muscat. GSM: 97351649

FURNITURE SHIFTINGMaintenance,

Dismantling, Packing, Shifting & Fixing furniture with expert technicians.Contact: 99041337

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your

marble.# 24793614/ 99314807

Marble, Grinding, Crystallization.Ocean Center L.L.C.

Contact: 99344723

Water proofi ng ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

A/C maintenance & servicing,

fridge, washing machine & dish

washer repairing, painting & clean-

ing services, electrical & plumbing.

Contact 99447257 / 97014234 /

24504281

Split A/C servicing

R.O 10 only. Contact: 94217681 /

99210141

Al farzdaq Al Fedi Trad and Cont

Maintenance services electric,

plumbing and A/C.

Contact: 96524904 / 94285064

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance.

Contact ABU QABAS- 99320217

/24788722

Pest Control Treatments Ocean Center L.L.C.

Contact: 99344723

Cleaning & Carpet Shampooing Ocean Center L.L.C.

Contact: 99344723

Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile

polishing, pest control & anti-ter-

mite treatment, general cleaning

painting,Plumbing, Electrical,

shifting. Contact Mundhir

Al-Rizaiqi trading. L.L.C.

Contact: 24810137, 99450130

Cad drafting architecture MEP

design MEP BIM – REVIT.

Contact: 91233975

Marble ti les grinding & polishing, Mosaic ti les grinding & polishing,

carpet shampooing, sofa shampooing, pest control treatment & general cleaning

of villa & building.Express Building Cleaning Services.Contact 98480070 / 94134784

House shifting. Contact: 99708138

House shifting packing.

Contact: 99657644 / 98518013

MATRIMONIAL

55 years widower looking life

partner Mangalore widows only.

Contact: 99014325

SALES / MARKETING TECHNICIAN /MECH.

Instrumentation & controls Technician with 2-3 years

experience preferably in water

sector and having valid driving

license call Ph:+968 99450811

Send CV to shiju@spec-link.com

Male 26 BBA studied in Oman

3 yrs exp in MNC and now on visit.

Contact: 98180071

Email: nikhildasin@gmail.com

Indian male with 27 years of rich

experience in sales/ marketing in

Oman with driving license and pro-

fi ciency in Arabic language, seeks

suitable placement. NOC available.

Contact: 96725458

Email: ranisadhu@yahoo.com

MBA graduate having 6 years exp

in Sales & Marketing, 4 years with

PEPSI, India, having international

driving license permit seeks suitable

placement. Contact : 95308167,

Email : samir.pag@gmail.com

Indian male pluming sanitary

ware & building materials experi-

ence in outdoor sales (9 years)

experience with D/L UAE valid

visit visa. Contact: 98723456

Sri Lankan lady experienced in

key accounts, Market Demand

planning & Communications,

Brand/Sales in multinationals

seeks placement in Muscat.

Contact 98250829

Indian sales marketing profession-

al highly experienced in business

development in ME India and Africa

seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 97897611

Indian male, Graduate, experi-

enced Sales person (FMCG) with

valid UAE driving license, on visit

seeks suitable position.

Contact 92419491 /

94881950,

Email : pranilpp76@gmail.com

Male 38 yrs Graduate 07 years

experience indoor / outdoor

electronic fi eld with D/License &

NOC available (as per new rule).

Contact: 92453375

Indian male, MBA Marketing

having 2.5 years Sales experience

immediately looking for

a suitable position.

Contact: 91415145,

Email: shariqs88@gmail.com

B.Com male 2 yrs experience in

sales Computer knowledge, seek-

ing suitable placement.

Contact: 98371144

email: nabilnazar22@gmail.com

Mechanical Engineer (Indian

Male, 24 Years) with three years

experience, looking for suitable

job. Currently on visit visa, ready

to join immediately. # 92175441,

BUYING

Bobcat available for rent.

Contact 97623299

Buying cars for cash.

Contact: 90202090

WANTED

WANTED

Required Sub –Contractors, we have

projects. Contact - 92926630

Land for sale 40 cents NH 47 road-

side opposite Pankaj theatre alleppy

town. Contact: 968- 99075495

Email: mathewneena@gmail.com

Land for sale 13 cents peroorkada

Trivandrum 12L per cent and

22 cents eroor Kochi.

Contact: 96892973928

Email: pmnayar1810@yahoo.com

Flat for sale KeralaThiruvananthapuram 3 bed room

Flat in cyber Palm (SFS)Area

1860sqf, Flat in cyber gate way

Area 1159,Cont no +91 99-95-674657

NRIAVAILABLE

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirt-

ing, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery,

Crockery, Glassware, Chafi ng Dishes,

Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound

Systems and spectacular lighting.

Call Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering

and Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound &

Light. ww.tunesoman.com,

E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

MV SALE

Volvo FHIZ 1997 with 1 year’s insur-

ance fl atbed tailors up to.

Contact: 99454425

Hyundai Tucson model 2011 No.2

and CC 2.4 light green colour prices

3800/- R.O . Contact: 99376544

2008 2ltr VW Passat, good condi-

tion, 115k km, 99659946, RO 2800

Chevrolet Ebica 2006 manual good

condition register 4.8.2016 550/-

R.O. Contact: 92802299

IELTS Coaching (academic)

required nearby wadi Kabir area.

Please call on mobile or msg on

Whats up.

Mobile no: 92927880/99012165

DAILY GUIDES AT U R D AY, F E B R UA R Y 2 0 , 2 0 1 6 C7

TOURS

TOURS

RENT A CAR

25 - 50 seater bus with PDO &

BP specifi cation for monthly rent

& small car with driver. Contact

99839898

SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

TRANSPORTATION

TRANSPORTATIONFrom Mabela to Mawaleh for school

student. Contact: 92757673

Transportation. Contact: 96248040

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with

Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain

Marine Tours contact 98029602,

92808636

We arrange tours & accommoda-

tion at all the beautiful places in

Oman. Contact 99839898

GOOD NEWS

GOOD NEWS

MANPOWER

DRIVING

SITUATION WANT-

ED

BUSINESS

FREE INFORMATION ABOUT IS-LAM. 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 treatment for backache,

paralysis, arthritis etc & mas-

sage, All Season (Vaidyaratnam).

Contact:24475280 / 95371664 /

92504980 www.siddhayur.com

Genuine Ayurvedic treatments

& massage, Ayurvedic clinic at

AL Khuwair. Contact: 24478618 /

97263637 / 93309131

Transportation. Contact :98505294

Transportation in Muscat.

Contact: 96004045

Transportation available Ruwi to

Al Khuwair, Ghubra & Azaiba.

Contact: 91103909Transportation. Contact 92015894

MATRIMONIAL

Ayurvedic treatment for joint

pain, backache, paralysis, mas-

sage, steambath, obesity, spondy-

litis. Ideal Care Ayurvedic Clinic,

18 November Street, Azaiba.

Contact: 99639695 / 97397320

Sunni Muslim girl, Mumbai origin,

24yrs BCA graduate from Oman,

homely with good religious value,

seeking alliance of age max 29 from

Muslim Sunni Mumbai origin family,

well settled in Oman or Middle East.

Contact: 94150040

C8 S AT U R D AY, F E B R UA R Y 2 0 , 2 0 1 6

DAILY GUIDEEmail: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifi eds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTEDDINING DELIGHTS