Founded 1975 . Volume 41 No. | Pages . Baisas 200 . Subscription OMR63 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company | Chairman/Editor-in-Chief: Mohamed Issa Al Zadjali | Printed & Published by Muscat Media Group

February 28, 2016 19 Jumada Al Ula 1437 AH

SUNDAY

5 40

FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTYTHE SULTAN

Collaboration and cooperation between all responsible bodies and direct coordination between the departments and the exchange of opinions and consultation among those in charge is the way that leads to the success of national plans and programmes in playing their desired role in comprehensive development and achieving its short and long-term goals in serving the present and future generations.

‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’

To the Council of Oman, 2011

f

MORNING MINUTE

Volunteers clean Al Dimaniyat beachHASAN SHABAN AL LAWATIhassan@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Volunteers of differ-ent nationalities took part in the cleaning of Al Dimaniyat beach in Oman this weekend.

Scores of volunteers from Oman, Austria, Hungary, Italy, In-dia and other countries, collected piles of junk, plastic and glass lit-tered across the natural reserve by uncaring visitors.

Despite the warning signs, many tourists and fishermen lit-ter the white sand of Junn island, which can be very harmful for tur-tles, birds and marine life, accord-ing to Antonia, a volunteer.

Cleaning driveOrganised by the Environment So-ciety of Oman (ESO) in coordina-tion with the Ministry of Environ-ment and Climate Affairs (MECA), the cleaning drive took more than

four hours at Junn island on Fri-day. It is a small 0.75km remote is-land located an hour drive from the Muscat coastline.

It is worth mentioning that ac-cess to the Dimaniyat islands, which are a string of nine small islands, is restricted as they have been declared a nature reserve.

No visitors are allowed be-tween the beginning of May and November on account of birds’ and turtles’ nesting season.

C L E A N I N G O P E R A T I O N

REMOVING GARBAGE: Volunteers from Oman, Austria, Hungary, Italy, India and other countries, collected junk littered on the beach.

Overloaded trucks big threat on roads

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Overloaded trucks on highway are a major safety hazard for motorists, with as many as 68 per cent of trucks plying on the Sultanate’s roads found to have violated the weight law in 2015, ac-cording to the statistics released by the Ministry of Transport (MoT).

Out of the 18,260 trucks, which were weighed last year, 12,410 were found to be violating the weight law.

Most violations were recorded

on the Al Rusail-Nizwa road fol-lowed by the Al Batinah road, data revealed.

Also, the highest number of vio-lations in 2015 was recorded in De-cember, with 1,290 trucks caught violating the law (80 per cent), as per the MoT statistics.

Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communications, said that since last year the ministry has been monitoring the goods carriers through mobile systems.

“As there are many alternative

routes, there are still some could have violated the rules. How-ever, along with the ROP (Royal Oman Police), we are trying our best to enforce it, but people are still exceeding. We expect it to go down and on the new roads, fixed stations will be used, which will improve enforcement of the rules,” he said.

Heavy loadMeanwhile, motorists and road safety experts said overloaded ve-hicles pose two types of threats.

“Fellow motorists may ram into the goods protruding from their platform especially at night and secondly, the axle and wheels may collapse, unable to bear the load,” they said.

Then there are chances that the driver of an overloaded ve-hicle may lose control and cause accidents. “This is simply be-cause its weight is not properly distributed across its axles,” a

safety expert said. Daryle Hardie, chief executive

officer, Safety First, said motor-ists should drive carefully when-ever they spot any overloaded trucks on the roads. “We have to remember that they can’t see us at times, but we can see them on roads,” he said, adding that it would be always wiser to keep a distance from them.

Residents said that instead of penalising the driver of the vehi-cle, the companies, which overload their vehicles to save trips, should be punished.

“I try to stay away from these trucks as much as possible when I’m travelling on the highway as their load seems too insecure and may fall at any moment. I feel that companies, which try to save mon-ey at the cost of people’s lives by overloading these trucks to save time and trips, should be heavily fined and punished,” said Moham-med Al Kindi, a resident of Sohar.

Despite a monitoring mechanism being in

place, some truckers give the slip and pose

threat to the lives of motorists in Oman

Mwasalat to hike fares from March 1

Staff Reporter

MUSCAT: Mwasalat plans to hike fares from March 1, the company tweeted on its official Twitter handle.

“As announced before, starting from March 1, fares will be updated,” Mwasalat said in the tweet.

One-stop route fare will be 200 baisas while that for a two-stop route will be 300 baisas. For three stop route, the charge will be 500 baisas.

Making the announcement, Ahmed Ali Al Bulushi, chief ex-ecutive officer of Mwasalat, said 5 million passengers are expect-ed to use the services this year.

Mwasalat is also working

with the Muscat Municipal-ity to provide some ‘park and ride’ areas.

The buses are disabled-friendly and eating and smoking is prohibited on the buses. They are equipped with cameras to monitor drivers.

According to Al Bulushi, around OMR7 million has been invested in the new buses and the investment is expect-ed to reach around OMR10 million if IT services, design, studies, stops and training costs are included.

The company currently has 700 staff and plans to increase the number to 1,000 in the fu-ture. The current Omanisation rate is 95 per cent.

C H E A P E R A L T E R N A T I V E

PUBLIC TRANSPORT: Around OMR7 million has been invested in the new buses. – Supplied photo

‘Oil and gas sector redeployment strategy needs to be reworked’DEEBA HASANdeeba@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: A revision in the ap-proach to the redeployment strat-egy in the oil and gas sector is needed in Oman, said a top official.

The Sultanate’s redeployment plans, which were introduced a couple of months ago to help save jobs of Omani workers, need to be reworked for effective results, Salim Al Aufi, undersecretary at the Ministry of Oil and Gas, said on the sidelines of an Oil and Gas

forum organised by the Oman Society for Petroleum Services (OPAL), in Muscat.

Ministerial decisionThe redeployment initiative was brought into place following a ministerial decision in the wake of the declining oil prices. A technical committee was set up and a policy was formulated in collaboration with the Ministry of Oil and Gas, the Ministry of Manpower, and the General Federation of Oman Trade Union.

The policy aims at creating a “safety net” for Omanis in the field of oil and gas. “I think we are faced with a lot of challenges with re-gards to matching the (workers’) skills to the needs of the market. There is a huge disparity between those who are released from exist-ing contracts and the skill sets that are demanded by other compa-nies,” Al Aufi said.

He also stressed the need to bridge the gap between the expec-tations of the employees and the jobs available in the industry.>A4

S A V I N G J O B S

A2Salalah ship blaze doused

OMANSummer flight fares to India skyrocket

2Crude oil prices have been low since mid-2014 but the

air fares for south Indian destinations for summer from the region continue to skyrocket as usual, digging a deep hole in Indian travellers’ pocket.>A5

MARKETPrivate deposits in Oman banks rise

3As of the end of December 2015, private deposits at commercial

banks in the Sultanate rose by 6.13 per cent to OMR11.88 billion, compared with OMR11.18 billion in the corresponding period last year, according to CBO. >B1

OMAN‘Bilingual school pupils fare better’

1Educational experts and employers said bilingual schools prepared children for better careers than students who study only one language curriculum. According to the official data,

only 27 per cent of schools in Oman, both public and private, offer English and Arabic education. >A3

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

SAFETY HAZARD: Out of the 18,260 trucks, which were weighed last year, 12,410 were found to be violating the weight law.

A2 S U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

OMAN‘Chance of Oman’s success with green economy bright’

MUSCAT: Oman’s chances of success in shifting to a green economy and achieving the goals of the 17 Sustainable Develop-ment Plan 2030 are bright, offi-cials and economists have said.

The plan was adopted on Sep-tember 25, 2015 at the United Nations (UN) Summit held in New York.

Reem Mohammad Al Najdawi, Head of Food and Environmental Policies at the Sustainable Devel-opment Division in the UN Eco-nomic and Social Commission for Western Asia, said in an in-terview with Oman News Agency (ONA): “The Sultanate has prov-en over the years that it is able to manage large and important files in terms of social and economic development”.

Committed to goalsShe added that the Sultanate is one of the countries committed to the international resolutions, including the implementation of the development goals and was one of the first countries that sub-mitted reports on the completion of those goals.

She believed that the Sultanate’s achievement towards the sustain-able development goals would be a commended achievement, and if plans are put in place for achiev-ing the objectives approved by the

New York Summit, it would mean putting the targets for a shift to-wards a green economy.

She pointed out that there are existing institutional structures that can be exploited to shift to-wards green economy, including research centres, Sultan Qaboos University, Innovation and De-velopment Centre, Business In-cubators, the Research Council and others.

Sustainable developmentShe further said: “We need to have a strategy at the interna-tional level and not at the sec-toral level, and I think that in-tersects significantly with the international trend to achieve goals of the 17 sustainable devel-opment, which were approved by countries taking part in the World Summit held in New York, including t he Sultanate”.

Al Najdawi explained that the Sultanate has great economic potentials to accomplish and achieve a significant progress in the upcoming years in the poli-cies driven by factors of stability, supportive government system, growing and enthusiastic pri-vate sector to contribute to the development and the desire of all sectors to achieve the best, expressing hope that the Sultan-ate is “the success story that we

pass to other countries”.

SurveyShe noted that a survey will be conducted for the selected sectors and their employees, as well as the policies carried out by the coun-tries from various concerned ministries, other parties, the pri-vate sector and academics, to see what has been accomplished and setting goals for measuring and to follow them up, in addition to establishing a government follow up and supervision committee that has the authority to moni-tor and evaluate the performance and therefore the presence of measurable quantitative and qualitative indicators, and ana-lysing them for the improvement and continuity work.

National reviewMohammed bin Salim Al Sa’adi from the Sultanate’s Office to the World Trade Organisation in Ge-neva, told Oman News Agency (ONA) that the national review of green export project is a fruit of a technical cooperation between the Sultanate and the United Na-tions Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

He added that the project aims to develop a clear action plan to bring the environmental dimen-sion on the target sector by en-hancing its competitiveness in global markets and improving the production methods, the sustain-ability of policies and legislations for the goals of the Sultanate’s sustainable development.

He explained that the first work-shop, which was concluded last Wednesday, aimed at selecting the most promising sectors by repre-sentatives of the government and private sectors, civil society and academics to listen to their opin-ions and suggestions about the major promising sectors. -ONA

The Sultanate has great economic potential

to accomplish a significant progress in the

coming years driven by factors of stability,

supportive government system and a

growing and enthusiastic private sector

Fire on board ship put outSALALAH: Fire on board a ship anchored at Salalah Port in the Dhofar Governorate was doused by a fire fighting team at the Pub-lic Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance.

No injury or loss of life was re-ported in the incident.

The operations department at the Public Authority for Civil De-fence and Ambulance received a

call about the fire on a commercial ship.

The ship with a crew of 25 of different nationalities was car-rying fuel derivates estimated at 400 tonnes and 6,000 tonnes of cement.

The fire fighting team at the Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance was able to put out the fire in almost five hours. —ONA

SALALAH

A3

OMANS U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Share your world with us on Instagram

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY SHARE YOURPHOTOGRAPHS

SALEH AL SHAIBANYsaleh@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Educational experts and employers said bilingual schools prepared children for bet-ter careers than students who study only one language curriculum.

According to the official data, only 27 per cent of schools in Oman, both public and private, of-fer English and Arabic education. A majority of them have their en-tire curriculum taught in Arabic.

It means that out of about 600,000 students, who get basic education in Oman, only 162,000 have their curriculum taught bilingually.

“In a very competitive job mar-ket we have today, these students, who take both English and Ara-bic in school, stand a much better chance to get better and well paid jobs than those who study only in Arabic. Students, who study in both languages, also have better opportunities of getting a pro-motion because they have the

advantage of communicating in both English and Arabic,” Ahmed Al Farsi, a retired principal of a public school told the Times of Oman (TOO).

Employers agreed saying that students, who attended bilingual schools, did a much better in job interviews and were preferred

than those who had only studied in Arabic.

“To start with, no company in Oman accepts a CV in Arabic. Those who have not studied both curriculums present an unprofes-sional CV. They also fail written tests, which are in English and do not do well in interviews. We are

reluctant to give jobs to graduates, who struggle to speak English, be-cause we deal with international companies,” said Abdulkareem Al Alawi, HR Manager at engineering company Carlton Enterprises.

Other experts argued that bilin-gual schools served the Omanisa-tion drive more efficiently than a one-language curriculum.

Foundation“We talk a lot about Omanisation, but we forget that basic education is the foundation of getting Oma-nis accepted in the private sector. Companies now increasingly pre-fer employees who are fluent in both English and Arabic. Parents need to make sure that their chil-dren attend such schools to ensure they get jobs quickly,” Rashed Al Habsi, director of Recruitment at Al Habsi Manpower Company, told TOO.

This has a significant effect on the development of the country when most Omanis are strong in Arabic, but considerably weaker in English.

“In international business,

where contracts, presentations and reports are written in English, Oman will continue to lag behind. Most Omanis working in both government and private compa-nies cannot write a good report in English. This is where we lose our competitive edge in the global businesses,” Al-Alawi added.

Al Habsi said a good command of English is also essential for Omanis when they deal with ex-patriates working in the Sultan-ate to improve efficiency in the workplace.

“Most Omanis have problems conveying ideas to their expatriate counterparts because of their Eng-lish language weakness. They lack effective communication skills and that creates frictions, conflicts and sometimes misunderstanding between them and their expatri-ate colleagues. So it is not about speaking a foreign language, but about breaking cultural barriers, winning trust and being tolerant.”

Schools that offer bilingual edu-cation teach mathematics, social sciences, physics, biology, chemistry and ICT in English.

In a very competitive job market we have

today, these students, who take both English

and Arabic in school, stand a much better

chance to get better and well paid jobs than

those who study only in Arabic

Employers agreed saying that students, who attended bilingual schools, did a much better in job interviews and were preferred than those who had only studied in Arabic

‘Toxic substances

in chewing tobacco

brand very harmful’

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Afzal, an illegal chew-able tobacco brand commonly used by Omani youth, contains alarmingly high levels of disease-enhancing molecules, new re-search has shown.

Two studies recently published in the Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal revealed that Afzal contains highly toxic nico-tine levels and elevated concen-trations of nitrate and chloride.

Two carcinogens identified in Afzal were also found to exceed in-ternational regulatory limits. Ab-sorption of these substances can lead to serious health problems for Afzal users, researchers stated.

“The results of these studies show that we must spread knowl-edge about the toxic substances found in Afzal and help educate the public that these kinds of products constitute a grave dan-ger to their health,” affirmed Dr Elsadig Eltayeb, one of the lead researchers involved in this re-search and a faculty member of the College of Science at the Sul-tan Qaboos University.

Eltayeb stressed that while some people in Oman believe that products, such as Afzal are a healthier alternative to smoking, this is not correct.

Afzal’s high concentrations of nitrate and chloride can lead to the formation of carcinogens and contribute to the development of heart disease or oral, lung and gastric cancers.

The studies also found that Afzal contains dangerously high levels of nicotine. This makes the chewable tobacco very addictive

and means that those who try to stop using it will likely experi-ence withdrawal symptoms.

Both studies concluded that more needs to be done in Oman to restrict the usage of Afzal among the public.

“Despite the fact that it is illegal to sell this product in Oman, the prohibited sale has no real influ-ence unless people are aware of its harmful effects,” stated Eltayeb.

“The better the health educa-tion among the community, the faster these kinds of problems will be solved or at least mini-mised in the existing unaccepta-ble situation.”

The researcher also suggested that addiction rehabilitation pro-grammes should be established in Oman to help Afzal users suc-cessfully quit the habit, and that tougher penalties should be im-posed on those who are caught selling Afzal.

In addition, education pro-grammes should be implemented among Omani students to spread awareness about the potentially fatal outcomes of Afzal use.

S T U D Y

Despite the fact that it is illegal to sell this product in Oman, the prohibited sale has no real influence unless people are aware of its harmful effects, said Dr Elsadig Eltayeb

‘Bilingual school pupils fare better’

A4 S U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

OMANNew pay structure causes bitterness

“A lot of the labour force that is released will be the low-skilled type, and the market expects some skills and unfortunately that gap is creating a big prob-lem for us to redeploy with ease. Also, there is a huge dispar-ity between the salaries Omani employees are getting from their current employers, and the salary structure of the new jobs, and that difference is cre-ating a lot of resentment among employees,” he noted.

It is not difficult for the gov-ernment to find jobs for every-one who has to be redeployed but it is hard to make people ac-cept those jobs, he added.

“We are able to find jobs for everybody but we are trying to convince them to accept the new salaries with probably some bridging compensation for a while and that is very tough. We have jobs but not the kind of jobs that people are expecting, so it is very dif-ficult from that perspective,” Al Aufi explained.

He also said the govern-ment might cut oil output levels by 5 to 10 per cent, but only if other major oil produc-ers do the same.

“Oman is ready to cut be-tween 5 and 10 per cent of its output with conditions, and those conditions are that every other producer matches that cut, otherwise we’ll not cut it unilaterally. The strategy is for the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Coun-tries (OPEC) to get everyone together and agree that a cut is an acceptable strategy, agree on a percentage and then get some sort of mechanism in the market to ensure that this is happening.”

If the current oil price trend continues, it might be difficult for Oman to maintain the cur-rent level of production, Salim Al Aufi noted.

Recently, a decision by the Ministry of Finance said thou-sands of expats and Omani em-ployees working at state-owned institutions, run with 50 per cent government funding or more, should have a number of benefits slashed.

R E D E P L O Y M E N T

< FROM

A1Study cites reasons why some children leave hospital early

Times News Service

MUSCAT: A new research has investigated the number of fami-lies, who get their children dis-charged against the instruction of their doctors at the Royal Hos-pital in Muscat.

The study, published in the latest issue of the Sultan Qa-

boos University Medical Journal, found that over a two-year pe-riod, 183 out of 11,482 children had left paediatric wards at Royal Hospital going against their doc-tors’ advice.

“It is encouraging to see that this number is relatively low, but we should be aiming for a preva-lence of zero — no child should be

discharged from the hospital be-fore the completion of their treat-ment,” stated Dr. Mohammed Al Ghafri, the study’s first author and a doctor at Royal Hospital’s Inten-sive Care Unit.

The study found that dissatis-faction with treatment and the de-sire to seek a second opinion were the main reasons that families were getting their children dis-charged against medical advice.

Al Ghafri clarified that the parents’ dissatisfaction often stemmed from delays in certain investigations or procedures being performed, as well as a lack of sin-gle rooms in the paediatric wards.

“Also, some people do not trust medical services in Oman and they feel a better service will be provided abroad. If they can af-ford it, some will take their child to countries, such as Thailand or India for a second opinion and treatment,” he added.

The other reasons identified in the study were social or personal issues, such as problems with finding child care for the family’s other children. Financial con-cerns were only cited by 4.4 per cent of the families, all of whom were non-Omani and did not have medical insurance.

In Oman, if a child is discharged contrary to the doctor’s instruc-tion, the parents need to sign a specific form and provide reasons for their decision. This protocol exists to protect hospitals against liability. In severe cases though, a legal order can be obtained by hospital staff in order to refuse a patient’s discharge request.

The consequences for leaving a hospital before the completion of treatment ranges from minimal to life-threatening, depending on the severity of the patient’s condition. According to Al-Ghafri, when a child’s treatment is stopped or

delayed, this can have dire conse-quences for their health, particu-larly those with sepsis or newly diagnosed malignant tumours.

He also asserted that while the Royal Hospital is doing very well in treating a high volume of pae-diatric patients, some with very complicated illnesses, there is still more that can be done to prevent families from discharging their children against medical advice.

“Better communication be-tween physicians and parents, avoiding unnecessary delays in performing investigations and procedures and having more pri-vate rooms in the paediatric wards might encourage more families to allow their child to continue care in hospital,” he continued.

The study concluded that fur-ther research should be done on the outcomes for children who leave paediatric wards before the completion of their treatment.

Published in the latest issue of the Sultan

Qaboos University Medical Journal, the

study found over a two year period, 183 out

of 11,482 children had left paediatric wards

at Royal Hospital against doctor’s advice

It is encouraging to see that this number is relatively low, but we should be aiming for a prevalence of zero — no child should be discharged from the hospital before the completion of their treatmentDr. Mohammed Al Ghafri, doctor at Royal Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit

Iranian firms to be hosted at Innovation ComplexMUSCAT: Innovation Com-plex Muscat of The Research Council (TRC) will host, start-ing from Tuesday, a delegation of representatives of several Iranian companies operating in the field of scientific research and development.

The delegation’s three-day visit to the Sultanate aims to dis-cuss aspects of cooperation and investment in the knowledge-based economy, the possibility of exploiting spaces available for investment in the complex, with the purpose of signing agree-ments for the establishment of centres for research and de-velopment in several areas of interest to the complex, includ-ing environment, water, health, food, biotechnology, energy and renewable energy areas.

The visit, overseen by Isfahan City for Science and Technol-ogy, will include a tour to the complex for familiarisation with its divisions, and the most important services it provides to researchers and innovators, as an incubating scientific en-vironment aimed at transform-ing ideas into tangible products. Presentations on economic fea-sibility of the planned projects, the laws and requirements of investment activity in the com-plex will be made by both sides.

Dr. Abdul Baqi bin Ali Al Khabouri, Director of the Sci-entific Precincts at TRC said that the visit is a reflection of the mutual and previous coop-eration between the two sides and it reveals the existence of a desire from the Iranian side in enhancing investment coop-eration between the two coun-tries and to serve the common interests. -ONA

S C I E N T I F I C R E S E A R C H

A5

OMANS U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Tweet all about it

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH TWITTER PAGE

Fares for summer flights to India spike despite low crude prices

REJIMON Kreji@timesofoman.com

MUNCAT: Oil prices have been low since mid-2014 but the air fares for south Indian destinations for summer from the region con-tinue to skyrocket as usual, digging a deep hole in Indians’ pocket.

A research by the Times of Oman found that a to-and-fro ticket to Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of south Indian state of Kerala, was costing between OMR300 and OMR385 from Muscat during the summer. This is the time when majority of them will be flying home as schools close for vacation at that time.

“Last year, when the ticket prices were high during the peak season, the airlines said that the dip in oil price has not helped them since they had purchased fuel much in advance when the prices were high. They assured that tick-et fares will come down gradually. However, that has still not hap-pened. Prices are the same as these were last summer,” a travel agent representative said on condition of anonymity.

To fly on July 1 to Thiruvanan-thapuram from Muscat and re-turn on July 30 from the same destination to Muscat, it will cost around OMR384 via Oman Air and OMR364 via Jet Airways.

Oman Air and Jet Airways are the only two airlines which fly di-rect between Muscat and Thiru-vananthapuram.

“All airlines practice some de-gree of price differentiation for seats on their flights. During low season, airlines seek to stimulate demand by discounting fares. Dur-ing high season, airlines tend not to discount fares but to charge nor-mal rates for travel,” a top official from Oman Air said.

Even a random check on air-fares from Dubai to Thiruvanan-thapuram reveals that the cost of a ticket ranges between OMR250 and OMR380.

On Etihad, a return ticket to Thiruvananthapuram from Dubai

will cost around OMR373, while on Emirates, it will be around OMR267. On Oman Air, it will be around OMR297.

A ticket during the low season to Thiruvananthapuram will cost around OMR120 from Muscat and Dubai.

“During low season, we fly at low rates. However, as this is a busi-ness, we have to increase the rates when demand is high. When other airlines are having high fares, we also are forced to have similar fares. It is purely business. De-mand and supply theory matters,” said Riyaz Kuttery, general man-ager, Oman, Jet Airways.

An official from Air India office in Muscat said apart from aviation fuel prices, other factors are also

involved in fixing the airfares.“Peak season fares help the air-

lines to compensate for the loss they incur in flying at low rates dur-ing off season,” the official added.

According to airline industry experts, jet fuel can account for between 20 and 50 per cent of an airline’s operating costs. Swings in oil prices can mean a huge boost or hit for the airlines’ profits.

Air India’s director of finance S Venkat said there were reports that the airline, for instance, which goes largely unhedged could have shaved as much as $375 million off its annual fuel costs of about $1.5 billion based on savings made since prices started to fall in June 2014.

“Still, Air India is starting to

consider hedging between 30 and 40 per cent of its fuel needs, or about 300,000 barrels a quar-ter at current jet fuel prices,” the report added.

In December, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said lower fuel prices could mean that airlines globally will report their strongest profit margins in more than five years in 2015.

Airlines typically hedge some of their fuel needs - or buy fuel in advance at pre-determined prices - to reduce the impact on earnings from wide swings in the market.

But many carriers, particularly in Asia, have been cautious about hedging since 2008, when airlines scrambled to lock in fuel costs as crude surged above $100 a bar-

rel for the first time and saw oil plummet to less than $40 before year-end.

According to customers, fly-ing to south Indian destinations through other Indian cities and other airports is the only option to deal with high fare tickets.

“However, the saddest part is that tickets on ‘via routes’ are also not available and the fares on those flights are also too high. Airlines are looting the people. Last year, they said the dip in oil prices will reflect in the ticket prices this year. However, it seems that has not happened. At least, Indian airlines should not loot their own citizens,” Shameer PTK, an Indian social worker, said.

“Due to the economic down-turn, many companies are paying airfares to expatriates in instal-ments and are also pushing them to postpone their travel dates to low season. As Indian schools close for summer vacation during June, July and August, everyone would love to fly to India. Indi-ans, especially those from south Indian states, are in a dilemma,” Shameer added.

Meanwhile, according to the International Air Transport As-sociation (IATA), demand for air travel in 2015 had surged in the last five years.

“Global passenger traffic results for 2015 showed that demand (revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose 6.5 per cent for the full year, compared to 2014. This was the highest since the post-global financial crisis rebound in 2010 and well above the 10-year aver-age annual growth rate of 5.5 per cent,” IATA announced in a re-cent statement.

“While economic fundamentals were weaker in 2015 compared to 2014, passenger demand was boosted by lower airfares,” the statement added.

According to IATA, Middle East carriers had the strongest annual traffic growth at 10.5 per cent.

As Indian schools

close for summer

vacation during June,

July and August,

everyone would love

to fly to India. Indians,

especially those from

south Indian states,

are in a dilemma

Female

Peak seasonairline fares

Source: Airline websites Graphics

From Muscat

Oman Air

Jet Airways

384(OMR)

364

Etihad

Emirates

373267

From Dubai

To Thiruvananthapuram

120OMR

Fares in normal season from Muscat and Dubai toThiruvananthapuram

Round trip

RISING TICKET PRICES: Last year, when the ticket prices were high during the peak season, the air-

lines said that the dip in oil price has not helped them since they had purchased fuel much in advance

when the prices were high. They assured that ticket fares will come down gradually. However, that has

still not happened.

Omantel, Ericsson sign network operation, upkeep services pactTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Omantel has part-nered with Ericsson to provide operations and maintenance services for its multi-vendor and multi-technology network.

The multinational telecom-munications company Ericsson will deliver this service using a secondment model wherein Om-antel, the leading provider of in-tegrated telecommunication ser-vices in the Sultanate, will second a group of its employees to Erics-son to build competence devel-opment. The partnership will be in place for a period of four years from 2016 to 2019.

With a focus on enhancing the customer experience and develop staff competence, Omantel made a conscious decision to choose Ericsson as a partner for its man-aged services with secondment for bringing in an industry-wide well respected, internationally recognised and highly reliable operational experience across the globe.

The OMS service shall en-compass multivendor and multi-technology with a prime objective of enhancing end to end network availability, network reliability and customer experience through automation and strong managed services platforms.

Remarking on the partnership,

Samy Ahmed Al Ghassany, Chief Operating Officer of Omantel not-ed, “We see Ericsson as a natural long-term partner for Omantel as they bring a vast knowledge, expertise, managed services plat-forms and experience for enhanc-ing the network quality, network reliability and customer experi-ence which are the pillars of our Strategy at Omantel.”

“At Omantel we priotrise net-work quality and customer satis-faction and choosing Ericsson for OMS with secondment shall pro-vide us the best possible results in terms of network reliability and staff competence development. In a rapidly changing technological ecosystem, Ericsson suits us best as a dependable managed servic-

es partner due to the adaptability and resilience that the company brings to the table.”

Omantel is the Sultanate’s first and leading integrated telecom-munications services provider, enabling the digital society to flourish, allowing new ways of doing business and delivering a world of information, news and entertainment. Investing in the future of the nation, Omantel con-nects even the most remote com-munities of the Sultanate to each other and the rest of the world. Today, Omantel boldly innovates to deliver the highest levels of customer satisfaction, the broad-est and most reliable nationwide network while investing for Oman’s future development.

T E L E L C O M

PARTNERSHIP PACT: The partnership will be in place for a period

of four years from 2016 to 2019. – Supplied photo

A6

OMANS U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Expanding operations on the Oman-India route is in line with our growth strategy outlined for OmanRiyaz Kuttery, general manager, Oman, Jet Airways

Jet Airways to launch new Muscat-New Delhi flight

Times News Service

MUSCAT: India-based private airline, Jet Airways will expand its operations from Oman with the launch of a new daily flight be-tween Muscat and Delhi.

Effective March 22, Jet Air-

ways will launch a daily flight be-tween Muscat and Delhi, provid-ing greater choice for passengers travelling to India.

With the launch of the new flight, Jet Airways will operate a total of four daily flights between

Muscat and India. This includes flights to Mumbai, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.

Riyaz Kuttery, general manager, Oman, Jet Airways said, “It is in-deed a proud moment for us at Jet Airways to launch our maiden

international flight between Mus-cat and Delhi. There is a strong demand for travel between Oman and India due to the existence of strong trade and tourism links between the two countries. The maiden flight to Delhi from Mus-cat will mark a significant mile-stone for enhancing such ties and also benefit the Indian diaspora residing in Oman. We are delight-ed to offer many more air travel-lers the opportunity to fly with us and strengthen our presence in the Middle East region.”

“Expanding operations on the Oman-India route is in line with our growth strategy out-lined for Oman. We are confi-dent that our new flight will be greeted with enthusiasm by ex-isting guests as it will offer even greater choice and convenience for both leisure and business travellers,” he said.

The airline will deploy a Boe-ing 737-800 aircraft for the new

service, offering Premiere and Economy guests an in-flight product that is among the best in its class, warm service, as well as delectable cuisine and conveni-ent schedules.

The flight will leave Muscat at 2.30 am in the morning and will arrive in New Delhi at 7 am, while it will depart from Delhi at 11.15 pm and arrive at Muscat at 1.30 am.

“India and Oman are linked by historical maritime trade link-ages and the important role of the Indian expatriate commu-nity in the development of Oman. Furthermore, Oman offers an attractive destination for travel and tourism. The connectivity offered by the new service will provide greater opportunity for expansion of business and tour-ism traffic between the two coun-tries,” Kuttery added.

9W 597; MCT; 02:30 DEL 07:009W 598 DEL 23:15 MCT 01:30 (+1).

Effective from March

22, Jet Airways’

daily flight between

Muscat and Delhi

will provide greater

choice to passengers

travelling to India

A proud moment for Jet Airways to launch maiden Muscat-Delhi international flight

Riyaz KutteryGM, Oman, Jet Airways

First two phases of Duqm Airport complete: PACA

MUSCAT: Work for the first and second phases of the Duqm Air-port have been completed, said Dr. Mohammed bin Nasser Al Za’abi, chief executive officer of the Public Authority for Civil Avi-ation (PACA).

He added that work is also underway for the third phase, which includes the construction of a passenger terminal, an avia-tion and meteorology complex, as well as the air traffic control (ATC) tower.

He pointed out that the work, which started at the end of 2015 is expected to be completed in early 2018 as the expected dura-tion for the project’s completion is two years.

“Activity on the Muscat-Duqm route operated by Oman Air is good and growing as the company now operates four weekly flights. The company is currently using a Boeing 737 to meet the grow-ing needs of passengers,” Dr. Al Za’abi added. -ONA

P A S S E N G E R T E R M I N A L

BSM holds science fair and exhibitionTimes News Service

MUSCAT: The Bangladesh School Muscat (BSM) held its Annual Science Fair and Exhibi-tion-2016 in a festive environment.

Students and teachers from all 12 departments of the school took part in the exhibition. Different innovative ideas and inventions of the students were presented by the departments concerned. The fair also received great apprecia-tion from the visitors.

Fatma Abdul Abbas Noorani, director general, Directorate of Private Schools, was the Chief Guest. Siddiqa Abdul Majeed Al Lawati, director, International School’s Office also accompanied her. Sekander Ali, ambassador of Bangladesh to the Sultanate also

attended the exhibition as the Guest of Honour and eminent ex-patriates enjoyed the vibrant ac-tivities presented by students.

Iftakher ul Hasan Chowdhury,

chairman, Board of Directors of the school, along with other mem-bers also witnessed the colourful exhibition. Innovative ideas, along with quality presentations from

the students, pleased the guests. Particularly, the presentations by the Department of Biology, Chem-istry and Physics impressed the guests the most.

Under the patronage of Princi-pal Lt Col Mahmud Ul Alam (Retd) PhD and the supervision of the Di-rector of Education Affairs, Major Nasir Uddin Ahmed (Retd), teach-ers and students of Physics, Chem-istry, Biology, Mathematics, ICT, Social Science, Economics, Ac-counting, Business Studies, Bangla, Arabic, English, and the Art Depart-ment took part in the exhibition.

“Apart from theoretical educa-tion, we are highly concentrated on practical experiments also. Because as we all know, practical experiments make the students perfect,” said the principal.

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

INNOVATIVE IDEAS: Students and teachers Bangladesh School Muscat took part in the exhibition.– Supplied photo

A7

REGIONS U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Rouhani, allies make gains in Iran’s elections

TEHRAN: President Hassan Rouhani won a resounding vote of support and his allies made a strong showing in elections that could speed Iran’s post-sanctions opening to the world, according to early partial results on Saturday.

Tens of millions thronged polling stations on Friday for a twin vote to the 290-seat par-liament and the 88-member As-sembly of Experts, which selects the country’s highest authority, the supreme leader.

An initial tally of 1.5 million votes counted in Tehran - fewer than one-fifth of the capital’s eli-bigle voters - showed Rouhani and his ally, ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, leading the race for the Assembly of Experts, according to Interior Ministry figures. Reformists and moder-ates also seemed set to make big gains in parliament. The twin poll was seen by analysts as a poten-tial turning point for Iran, where nearly 60 per cent of the 80 mil-

lion population is under 30. The elections were the first since a landmark nuclear deal last year that led to the removal of most of the sanctions that have damaged the economy over the past decade.

Of the top contenders for Teh-ran’s 16 Assembly of Experts seats, the partial count showed 13 were members of a list led by Rouhani and Rafsanjani, though some were consensus candidates also backed by hardliners. The three most prominent hardliners received lesser scores: Ahmad Jannati was 10th, the assembly’s current chair-man Mohammad Yazdi came 12th, and Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi was teetering on the edge in 16th place.

Preliminary results of the par-liamentary poll carried by the semi-official Fars and Mehr News agencies indicated reformists and independents linked to them were leading so far in several cities. Even if reformists do not emerge with a majority in the legislature, analysts say they will secure a big-ger presence than before.

A Reuters tally, based on official

results published so far, suggested the pro-Rouhani camp and allied independents were leading in the parliamentary vote. Some mod-erate conservatives, including current speaker Ali Larijani, sup-port Rouhani. Of the first 61 seats declared, 18 went to conserva-tives, 17 to reformists, 12 to inde-pendents and 14 will be decided in run-offs in late April because no candidate won the required 25 per cent of votes cast. Five of the initial winners were women.

Saeed Leylaz, a political analyst and economist who served as an adviser to former president Mo-hammad Khatami, said initial in-dications were beyond reformist expectations.

“It seems the number of candi-dates who belong to the reformist and independent groups will be the majority in parliament and I am hopeful that the new parlia-ment will be perfect for us,” he told Reuters.

“In the Assembly of Experts our initial expectation was 15 to 20 per cent but it seems it will be beyond that.” — Reuters

Initial tally of votes

counted in Tehran

showed President

Hassan Rouhani and

his ally, ex-president

Akbar Hashemi

Rafsanjani, leading

the race for the

Assembly of Experts

Angola proposes UN arms embargo on South SudanUNITED NATIONS: Angola said on Friday it has proposed that the United Nations Security Council impose an arms embargo on South Sudan, where more than 10,000 people have been killed in a two year civil war sparked by a political dispute between the country’s leaders.

The United Nations said last week that South Sudan’s warring parties are killing, abducting and displacing civilians and destroying property despite conciliatory rhet-oric by President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar.

“The situation evolves and you have to evolve with the situation.

Now what is necessary to do is an arms embargo,” said Angola’s UN Ambassador Ismael Abraao Gas-par Martins. “We have proposed, I hope everybody goes with it.”

Angola is an elected member of the Security Council.

British UN Ambassador Mat-thew Rycroft on Friday backed the proposed arms embargo.

“In South Sudan, half the popu-lation is in need of humanitarian assistance. It is clear that despite the peace agreement, the contin-ued fighting is further entrenching the humanitarian crisis. That is why the UK is calling for an arms embargo now,” he said.

Veto-power Russia said last month it was opposed to an arms embargo on South Sudan or black-listing Kiir and Machar as such moves were not helpful to the implementation of a peace deal agreed by the pair in August.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Kiir and Machar, who was reappointed to his old post this month, would face individual sanctions if they did not deliver on the peace deal, warning of a “critical moment for South Su-dan’s survival”.

The conflict in South Sudan has torn apart the world’s youngest country. — Reuters

W A R - T O R N N A T I O N

BALLOT COUNTING: Election officials count ballot papers after the

close of polling stations in Tehran on Friday. – Reuters/TIMA

A8

INDIAS U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

The HRD Minister has not only been economical with truth

but has also willfully misled Parliament on the unfortunate

suicide of a young Dalit student, Rohith Vemula

Mukul Wasnik, Congress general secretary

Opposition to bring privilege motion against Smriti Irani in Parliament

NEW DELHI: Escalating the bat-tle in Parliament, major opposi-tion parties on Saturday said they will bring privilege motion against Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani over her re-marks in Parliament on the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderbad central university.

Congress along with CPI(M) and Janata Dal (United) accused Irani of “willfully misleading” Par-liament, hitting back at the min-ister who had targeted Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and the Left during a debate on Jawa-harlal Nehru University and Hy-derabad University controversies.

“The HRD Minister has not only been economical with truth but has also willfully misled Parlia-ment on the unfortunate suicide of a young Dalit student, Rohith Vemula”, Congress general sec-retary Mukul Wasnik and senior

spokesperson Selja alleged.Wasnik told reporters that the

Congress planned to bring priv-ilege motion in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha soon, while CPI(M) leader Mohammad Sal-eem said he would be doing so on Monday.

“I will be giving a notice for breach of privilege against Irani to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Ma-hajan for misleading the House on Rohith Vemula issue,” Saleem said.

JD(U) leader and Rajya Sabha MP K. C. Tyagi said that he and nominated member KTS Tulsi will give privilege notice against Irani to Chairman Hamid Ansari on Monday.

“There are contradictions in many statements of Irani regard-ing Rohith Vemula case. This is

a fit case of breach of privilege,” Tyagi said.

They cited the outburst of Ra-dhika, Rohith’s mother, against the HRD Minister and accused the BJP of being anti-Dalit.

Radhika had attacked the HRD Minister questioning as to on what basis did she declare Rohith to be anti-national?

“Your Ministry had written that my Rohith and other Dalit students were anti-national ex-tremists. You said that he is not a Dalit.You accused him of getting a false certificate.”

They alleged that these strong words from a mother “who has lost her son to BJP and in particular the HRD Minister’s campus poli-tics is a stamp of how recklessly and ruthlessly their party is hell

bent on clamping down the voices of dissent.”

The HRD Minister had also insinuated that Rohith is “not a Dalit”, they said adding that this claim has also been rubbished by Radhika.

Wasnik said that it was believed that the HRD Minister would try to “heal” Rohith’s family but instead Irani has rubbed salt on their wounds.

Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said Irani was “too clever by half and then you get caught in your own web and that’s ex-actly what has happened to the HRD Minister”.

“She has been extremely crea-tive and economical with truth and that is why she will face a privilege motion,” he said. - PTI

Congress along with

CPI(M) and JD(U)

accused Irani of

“willfully misleading”

Parliament, hitting

back at the minister

who had targeted

Rahul Gandhi and

the Left during a

debate on Jawaharlal

Nehru University and

Hyderabad University

controversies

UP IN ARMS: Police detain NSUI students during a protest against HRD Minister Smriti Irani over the

suicide of Hyderabad’s Rohith Vemula, near her residence in New Delhi on Saturday. - PTI

NEW DELHI: With the Congress deciding to serve a breach of privilege notice against the union minister Smriti Irani for allegedly misleading parliament on the JNU controversy and the suicide by Dalit scholar Ro-hith Vemula, experts say the Minister could be hauled up if she had “knowingly” misled the two houses.

“Certainly, if she has done knowingly,” said former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said on the phone from Kolkata.

Human Resource Develop-ment Minister Smriti Irani’s claim that doctor and police were not allowed to reach Vemula’s room in hostel and the situation was used for political mileage has been contested by Hyderabad University’s medical officer, P. Rajshree, who had attended on the deceased and on his mother Radhika and others.

Rule 222 of the Lok Sabha’s Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business says: “A member may, with the consent of the Speaker, raise a question involving a breach of privilege either of a member or of the House or of a Com-mittee thereof.”

However, it is for the Lok Sabha speaker to allow the privilege notice.

The procedure is similar for Rajya Sabha, with the chairman having to give his consent.Rajshree has said that she reached the spot within five to seven minutes

after being informed of the suicide. By then, the scholar was already dead and there was no scope of reviving him.

Participating in debate in Lok Sabha on February 24, Irani had said: “...Nobody al-lowed a doctor near this child, to revive this child, to take him to the hospital. Nobody allowed a doctor near him. The police has reported that not one attempt was made to revive this child, not one attempt was made to take him to a doctor. Instead what was done was that his body was used as a political tool, hid-den. No police was allowed till 6.30 the next morning.…”

Former Lok Sabha secretary general Subhash Kashyap said: “If a person says on the floor of the house something which is incorrect or untrue and does so to will-fully, deliberately to mislead the house, then a question of privilege may be involved.Any member of the house can give notice to the speaker requesting that he may be al-lowed to raise it as a privilege. Thereafter, it will depend on the speaker.”

Not only has Irani’s ac-count of the events subse-quent to Vemula’s suicide been questioned, but even the organisers of a Mahishasura Divas on the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus have disputed a pamphlet that the minister had read out from in the two houses.

They have denied that the pamphlet was theirs. -IANS

‘Smriti could be hauled up if she knowingly misled parliament’

Kanhaiya: I was

beaten up, injured in

court before police

NEW DELHI: Jawaharlal Neh-ru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) President Kanhaiya Kumar has told a Supreme Court-appointed lawyers’ probe panel that he was beaten up, pushed to the ground and injured by men in lawyers’ robes before the po-lice, when he was brought to the Patiala House court premises on February 17.

“When the police brought me inside the court’s gate, a mob of men in lawyers’ robes attacked me. It appeared as if they were ready to attack and they were call-ing others also. I was assaulted.

“The police escorting me tried to save me but the police officials were also beaten up,” he said while narrating the sequence of events to the lawyers’ panel in a video shown on television chan-nels on Saturday.

The panel of six advocates —Kapil Sibal, Rajeev Dhavan, Du-shyant Dave, A. D. N. Rao, Ajit Kumar Sinha and Haren Raval, had visited the Patiala House courts premises on February 17 after the apex court was in-formed that Kanhaiya was beat-en up during his production be-fore the magistrate.

In another instance when he was attacked, the police, who were there, did not do anything, he said.

After Kanhaiya narrated the

incident to the panel inside the courtroom, Sibal called DCP Ja-tin Narwal and enquired from him about it.

“How did you allow the attack to take place inside court prem-ises? Your men were there. What were they doing? How he (man who attacked Kanhaiya outside the gate of the courtroom) was allowed to come inside,” the pan-el members asked the DCP. Re-sponding to it, Narwal said, “he came with the escort party and entered the room adjacent to the courtroom.”

The panel members then called other police officials and asked them about the incident and they replied that the person who at-tacked Kanhaiya had claimed that he was his lawyer. Kanhaiya told the panel that when he was assaulted, he fell down and sus-tained injuries and at that time he could not see what the police was doing.

To this, Sibal asked the DCP, “that means police was there and they did nothing.”

The student leader told the panel that the person, who had attacked him, had come to the ad-jacent courtroom and he had told his teacher about it.

Kanhaiya is arrested in a sedi-tion case for allegedly raising an-ti-India slogans inside the JNU campus of February 9. - PTI

J N U R O W

PROTEST RALLY: Activists of Patriotic Front of Assam taking out

a protest rally against the alleged anti-national activities at JNU

and Jadavpur University, in Guwahati on Saturday. - PTI

A9

INDIAS U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Love us on Facebook

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH FACEBOOK PAGE

India is a ray of hope in world economy: Modi

BELAGAVI (Karnataka): Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said if there was a ray of hope in the world economy, it was India, as he asserted that his government was committed to transform the lives of the poor and villages.

Addressing a farmers’ rally here, he also said that the Oppo-sition spoke of many issues but there was not an allegation of cor-ruption against his government ever since he has been serving as “pradhan sevak”.

“Today it is agreed that if there is a ray of hope in the world economy, it is India,” Modi said at the huge rally, organised as part of BJP’s na-tionwide outreach to farmers.

He cited ratings by various agen-cies and international institutions such as World Bank and IMF to buttress his point on India offering a “ray of hope”.

Modi said whether it was World Bank or IMF or world’s rating agency, all of them were saying in one voice that if there is any coun-try “where there is a ray of hope,

that ray of hope is India”.“In the whole world, the econo-

my is wavering. Even those coun-tries who say they are experts are also going through economic prob-lems,” he said.

In spite of disturbing environ-ment of slowdown, India is making rapid strides in growth, he said. On corruption, Modi said that when his government assumed office, the nation was tired of corruption.

Corruption“It’s been over 18 months since I’ve served you as Pradhan Se-vak. Opposition speaks of many issues but not on allegation of corruption.” He said when his government came to power, the entire country was disturbed by the issues of corruption.

“Only one issue was being heard in the air, on earth and water and that was corruption, corruption and only corruption.”

On the one hand, the trust in the country had fallen in the eyes of the world which was not prepared

to take India into account.India was also facing economic

problems with corruption destroy-ing the country like termites.

There was an environment of despair, he said.

Speaking about basing the coun-try’s development on the three pil-lars of agriculture, manufacturing and the services sector, Modi said “we have focused on how our poor and farmers become more pros-perous and more jobs, industries are created.”

“We’ve made many efforts in ag-riculture. The results are showing now, Our focus is irrigation. Give our farmers water and see wonders they can do,” he said. Stressing that one has to think of interlinked riv-ers, he said water management is the need of the hour.

“Per drop, more crop. New methods of irrigation are vital and have helped farmers immensely. Along with Jal (water) we have to take care of the Jameen (land) of the farmer,” he said and referred to the Soil health card scheme of

his government. Modi, who devoted a good

part of his speech to the recently launched ‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana’, an insurance scheme for farmers, said it has overcome shortcomings of the earlier crop insurance schemes.

Crop insuranceNoting that only 20 out of 100 people used to avail crop insur-ance, he urged the farmers to see that at least 50 per cent became its beneficiaries.

“Then you see the whole situa-tion will change. Thereafter there would not be any delay in reaching 100 per cent. The more you avail of the crop insurance, more money will flow from the coffers of the government. In spite of it, I want you all to join the crop insurance scheme,” he said.

Modi said that even if the coffers of the government are emptied, he wanted farmers to avail of the scheme. “To convey this, I have come to your doorsteps.” - PTI

Prime Minister

Narendra Modi

said whether it was

World Bank or IMF or

world’s rating agency,

all of them were

saying in one voice

that if there is any

country ‘where there

is a ray of hope, that

ray of hope is India’ REACHING OUT: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with MP B. S. Yeddyurappa at the Farmers’ rally in

Belgaum, Karnataka on Saturday. - PTI

Yadav and Bhushan

plan to ‘re-ignite’

anti-graft agitation

NEW DELHI: Accusing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of be-traying anti-corruption move-ment by bringing in a “weak” Lokayukta bill “which is unlikely to be approved”, leaders of Swaraj Abhiyan on Saturday announced plans to “re-ignite” the campaign and hoped they will get support from Anna Hazare.

Addressing the two-day ‘Na-tional Convention on Corruption’ here, the leaders, who had re-belled against Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly “patenting ways” to weaken anti-corruption laws and institutions.

They said Right to Informa-tion( RTI) activists and whistle blowers will join the “apolitical” campaign for which a “Citizens’ Whistle Blower Forum” (CWBF) will be formed.

“We had hoped the agitation (launched by activist Anna Haz-are) for Lokpal would broaden. After that a political party (AAP) was formed. Arvind Kejriwal be-came supremo of the party. The party moved out of its first gov-ernment saying it was not being allowed to bring in Lokayukta. “And eventually, when it did pass

a Lokayukta bill (during its pre-sent tenure), they drafted such a weak bill... they inserted a clause which will ensure it doesn’t be-come law. He (Kejriwal) betrayed the entire movement,” Abhiyan leader Prashant Bhushan said.

Hitting out at the AAP Govern-ment over the bill, Bhushan said it lacks transparency and noted its clause that Lokayukta will have powers to also investigate corruption matters relating Un-ion Ministers is “unlikely” to be accepted by Centre.

The noted lawyer added it was this “betrayal” that has necessi-tated efforts to launch the agita-tion afresh, which he added, will see participation by RTI activ-ists, whistle blowers and those working for a “flawless” Lokpal.

Bhushan targeted the Centre accusing it of trying to destroy RTI by bringing out agencies like CBI out of the Act’s ambit and planning amendments to the law.

“And the other way of weaken-ing any law is, which is patented by Modiji, is to not make appoint-ments to see the law is destroyed (by not implementing it),” he said claiming that in Modi’s home state Gujarat no Lokayukta was appointed for many years. -PTI

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

Two killed while making bombs in West Bengal

SURI (West Bengal): Two per-sons were killed allegedly while making bombs at Shibpur village under Lokpur police station of Birbhum district on Saturday.

“Two persons were killed in an apparent low intensity blast,” Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar said.

“Some materials used in mak-

ing crude bombs were found scattered at the spot,” he said. A part of the thatched shed where the bombs were being made was damaged in the explosion. - PTI

L O W I N T E N S I T Y B L A S T

UPBEAT : Swaraj Abhiyan leaders Yogendra Yadav, Prashant

Bhushan and Professor Anand Kumar join hands during Swaraj

Samvad at SKM Hall in Patna. Swaraj Abhiyan leaders on Satur-

day announced plans to “re-ignite” the anti-graft campaign and

hoped they will get support from Anna Hazare. - PTI file photo

A10

PAKISTAN S U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Government urged to resolve status of Afghan refugees

KALABAT (PAKISTAN): A sen-ior UN official has urged Pakistan to resolve the status of more than 2.5 million Afghan refugees liv-ing in Pakistan whose registration cards have expired or who remain unregistered.

While Europe has grappled with the exodus of people from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, Paki-stan hosts the world’s largest long-term refugee population, accord-ing to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), most of whom are Afghans who have fled more than three decades of war.

In December, registration cards providing temporary legal stay to more than 1.5 million Af-ghan refugees expired, and were granted a six-month extension by the government.

But Afghans say they are has-sled by police for carrying the ex-

pired cards, and members of the estimated one million Afghans who are still unregistered also face difficulties with the authori-ties, aid workers say.

The issue is now before Paki-stan’s cabinet.

UNHCR Assistant High Com-missioner George Okoth-Obbo said his agency was engaged in “continuing discussions” with the Pakistani government to re-solve the population’s uncertain situation.

“We await with a lot of interest the decision of the government on those questions,” Okoth-Ob-

bo told Reuters during a Friday visit to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, home to a large Afghan population.

Living for decadesMany Afghans living in Pakistan have been living in the country for decades and contribute sig-nificantly to the country’s la-bour force.

Since 2009, international do-nors have poured more than $30 million into improving basic ser-vices in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa communities that have hosted the their neighbours for decades.

“People have hosted (the Af-ghan refugees) for over 35 years,” Imran Zeb, Pakistan’s chief com-missioner for Afghan refugees, told Reuters after a ceremony in-augurating one of three schools in the area to have been refurbished with aid money.

Pakistan is committed to helping refugees voluntarily get back to Afghanistan, Zeb said, but: “There is definitely some host fatigue.”

The government is trying to improve education and oppor-tunities for the 70 per cent of the refugees who are under 25 so they

“can do something positive” and not fall into crime or recruitment by “elements that are not desir-able,” he said.

With security in Afghanistan deteriorating over the past year, many of the Afghans living in the Kalabat area have no interest in going home anytime soon.

“We have no option... We don’t have land. Where should we go?” asked Jawlai, a mother of five children who fled to Pakistan in the 1980s and, like many Afghans, uses only one name. “When the war is finished, then we’ll go,” she said. — Reuters

In December,

registration cards

providing temporary

legal stay to more

than 1.5 million

Afghan refugees

expired, and were

granted a six-month

extension by the

government. But

Afghans say they

are hassled by police

for carrying the

expired cards

NOWHERE TO GO: Afghan refugees gather outside the office of the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for registration in Rawalpindi on February 10, 2015. — AFP file photo

Markhor meat

being sold in

Gilgit-Baltistan,

says lawmaker

GILGIT: Lawmaker Rani Atiqa said meat of wild animals was available in markets as illegal hunt-ing of Markhor and other such ani-mals continues in the region.

“The wildlife department says there is no illegal hunting but I challenge this statement,” Atiqa said at the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) Assembly during proceed-ings chaired by Deputy Speaker Jafarullah Khan on Friday. “Ille-gal hunting continues and meat is being sold openly, right under the nose of the wildlife depart-ment officials.”

She also criticised the tour-ism department for not updating the website. “The information should’ve been uploaded by now –officials just waste time.”

Referring to her statement about hunting, Atiqa added she has done her job and it was up to the relevant officials to go after the criminals.

Rebutting her statement, Minis-ter for Forests and Wildlife Abdul Wakeel denied there was illegal hunting in the region. “The law-maker [Atiqa] should provide us with evidence and we will send the culprits to jail as we have done in a couple of cases.”

Check documentsHowever, lawmaker Shah Baig turned the tables on the minis-ter, accusing him of hunting two markhors with one licence.

“This man isn’t going to take action against criminals as he himself is involved in illegal hunting,” Baig said as lawmakers burst into laughter. “Recently he killed two markhors and paid the fee for just one.”

Wakeel rebutted the accusation and said he duly paid the fee before hunting. “You can check the docu-ments if you want to.”

The deputy speaker said, “The law is equal for all and every in-dividual must abide by it to avoid legal action.” — Express Tribune

I L L E G A L H U N T I N G

A11

ASIAS U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Stay ahead of the curve with

WhatsNews

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY INSTALL WHATSNEWS

Dozens killed in Afghanistan suicide attacks

KABUL: A Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up near the Afghan defence ministry in Kabul on Saturday, causing heavy casu-alties just hours after an attack in the eastern province of Kunar killed 13 people and put prospects for new peace talks in doubt.

The attack in Kabul, which occurred as defence ministry workers were leaving their of-fices, killed as many as 12 people and wounded eight, according to a ministry statement, although Kabul police said nine people had been killed and 13 wounded.

Witnesses at the scene, where a large plume of smoke spiralled into the sky, said they had seen a number of bodies on the ground.

The area was sealed off as police and army vehicles sur-rounded the blast site.

“I wanted to cross the bridge when I heard an explosion,” said a witness who gave his name as Zulgai. “I went to the area ... there were damaged cars and shattered windows everywhere.”

The Taliban claimed respon-sibility for the attack which the movement’s spokesman Zabihul-lah Mujahid said killed 23 officers and wounded 29 others. He said there were no civilian casualties.

The high-profile attack came as officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States and China have been pressing for a resumption of the peace process interrupted last year between the Western-backed government in Kabul and the Taliban. But it re-

mains unclear whether the Tali-ban, struggling to contain deep internal divisions, will take part in direct peace talks that the four-nation group hope will be held in Islamabad as early as next week.

In a statement issued after the attack in Kunar, President Ashraf Ghani said his government would not conduct peace talks with groups that killed innocent peo-ple and said security forces would step up the fight against terrorism.

Earlier on Saturday, a suicide bomber killed a local militia commander and at least 12 oth-ers outside the governor’s com-pound in Asadabad, the provin-cial capital of Kunar, near the border with Pakistan.

Provincial Governor Wahid-ullah Kalimzai said the bomber rode up on a motorcycle to the en-trance of the compound and blew himself up, wounding at least 40 people. - Reuters

The attack in Kabul,

which occurred as

defence ministry

workers were leaving

their offices, killed as

many as 12 people

and wounded eight

INJURED: An Afghan boy wounded in a suicide attack receives

medical treatment at a facility in Kunar province on Saturday. - AFP

SCAN THIS QR CODE TO INSTANTLY VISIT

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

ASEAN voices concern over rising tensions in disputed South China SeaVIENTIANE: Southeast Asian nations expressed serious con-cern on Saturday about growing international tension over disput-ed waters in the South China Sea.

China claims most of the sea but Southeast Asian countries Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Vietnam have rival claims. Friction has increased over Chi-na’s recent deployment of mis-siles and fighter jets to the disput-ed Paracel island chain.

“Ministers remained seriously concerned over recent and ongo-ing developments,” the 10-mem-bers Association of Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN) said in

a statement after a regular meet-ing of the group’s foreign minis-ters in Laos.

Land reclamation and esca-lating activity has increased tensions and could undermine peace, security and stability in the region, ASEAN said in the statement. The United States has criticised China’s building of arti-ficial islands and facilities in the sea and has sailed warships close to disputed territory to assert the right to freedom of navigation.

On Friday, the United States urged China’s President Xi Jin-ping to prevent the militarisation of the region.

Vietnam, which accused China of violating its sovereignty with the missile deployment, echoed the US call on Saturday.

“We call for non-militarisa-tion in the South China Sea,” Deputy Prime Minister and For-eign Minister Pham Binh Minh told reporters after meeting his ASEAN colleagues.

“We have serious concerns about that,” he said, when asked about China’s increasing military activity in the region. The group agreed to seek a meeting between China and ASEAN’s foreign min-isters to discuss the South China Sea and other issues, Cambodian

Minister Hor Namhong said.China’s maritime claims are

ASEAN’s most contentious issue, as its members struggle to bal-ance mutual support with their growing economic relations with Beijing. China is the biggest trade partner for many ASEAN nations.

Neighbours Vietnam and China compete for influence over land-locked Laos, which has no mari-time claims but finds itself in the difficult position of dealing with neighbours at odds over the South China Sea.

Laos is tasked with finding com-mon ground on the issue as the ASEAN chair in 2016. - Reuters

D E P L O Y M E N T O F M I S S I L E S

Baby born in China from an embryo frozen 12 years ago

BEIJING: A healthy baby has been born in China’s northwest Shaanxi Province from an embryo frozen 12 years ago, the country’s longest preserved test tube baby.

A 40-year-old woman named Li gave birth to her second son, weighing 3,440 grammes at birth, at the Tangdu Hospital in provin-cial capital Xi’an on Wednesday morning. She suffers from blocked fallopian tubes and polycystic ovary syndrome, a health problem that can affect a woman’s fertility and pregnancy.

Li began trying to get pregnant through IVF in 2003. That year doctors harvested 12 of her eggs and created 12 embryos with her

husband’s sperm. They implanted two fresh em-

bryos to her womb and froze seven that they considered viable.

Li gave birth to a healthy boy in 2004, and has since spent three yuan per day to store the embryos in the hospital in case of an emer-gency. Last year, when China dropped its one-child policy, she decided to have a second child.

Three embryos survived the thawing process.

“The success rate of implanted thawed embryos is more than 40 per cent in our hospital, so doctors usually place more than one em-bryo at a time,” Wang Xiaohong, di-rector of Tangdu Hospital said. - PTI

T E S T T U B E B A B Y

Founder:Chairman / Editor-in-Chief:

Deputy Editor-in-Chief:Chief Executive Officer:

Telephone: Fax:

E-mail:

Telephone: Fax:

E-mail:

Telephone: Fax:

E-mail:

Printed and published by: Post Box:

Postal Code:

E D I T O R I A L

A D V E R T I S I N G

C I R C U L A T I O N

Essa bin Mohammed Al ZedjaliMohamed Issa Al ZadjaliAnees bin Essa Al Zedjali Ahmed Essa Al Zedjali

2472666624813153editor@timesofoman.com

2472666624812624advertising@timesofoman.com

2472666624818270circulation@timesofoman.com

Muscat Media Group 770112

#TRENDING

Can India handle bad times better than China?Michael Schuman

The latest Indian budget will be released on Monday, and as usual, business leaders and economists will dissect its details for

an indication of where pro-market reforms might be headed. They’re likely to be disappointed. Each year, the world’s investors hope for faster change in India, and each year, they complain the govern-ment’s ambitions never go far enough.

That perennial letdown is part of the standard criticism about India, especially when compared to its high-octane neighbour, China. While the Chinese regime can in theory implement reforms with clinical efficiency, India’s tumultuous democ-racy ties up change in endless debates and dissent, making effective governance practically impossi-ble. Even hard-charging Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been stymied by parliamentary opposi-tion in his attempts to liberalise India’s over-reg-ulated economy. The results speak for themselves: China’s national output is five times larger.

Yet this distinction between China and India has always been simplistic, and in light of cur-rent events, it’s even less applicable today. As both countries confront economic headwinds abroad and structural weaknesses internally, India’s more flexible and transparent democracy is looking bet-ter suited to tackling many problems than China’s tightly-wound system. Meanwhile, the limitations of China’s centralised policy process are being ex-posed, to the detriment of the global economy.

Note, for instance, the different approaches the two countries are taking towards their strained banks. Bad loans, which present a threat to stabil-ity and growth, are rising in both sectors. Officially, India’s banks are in much weaker shape than Chi-na’s, with bad loan accounting for 5.1 per cent of the total, compared to less than 1.7 per cent in China.

But to a degree, that difference is the result of a more proactive policy on the part of India’s regu-lators. Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan launched a review of state banks’ balance sheets last year, forcing them to identify and de-clare suspect loans, with the aim of fixing the mess by March 2017. Mark Young, head of Asia-Pacific financial institutions at rating agency Fitch, says that Rajan’s aggressive stance is a “prime reason” why non-performing loans have been rising in re-cent quarters in India. “To the question of what comes first, clean up or growth, I think the answer

is unambiguously, ‘Clean up!’” Rajan said earlier this month. China, on the other hand, doesn’t seem particularly eager to shed light on what could well be a looming banking crisis. Private estimates of bad loans at Chinese banks run significantly higher than the official data. Yet when Chinese magazine Caixin conducted an extensive interview in Febru-ary with People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, the subject of the health of the banking system didn’t even come up. In fact, while Rajan is actively forcing Indian banks to acknowledge their problems and make provisions for them, Zhou and his comrades are running the risk of adding to Chi-na’s pile of bad loans. Hoping to prop up growth, the government has encouraged a hefty bout of new lending. The amount of new credit unleashed in January hit an all-time record. A good chunk of that money is probably going to heavily indebted state enterprises and moribund “zombie” compa-nies, to help them pay off current loans and thus stay afloat. Unless they can grow their way back to health — an unlikely outcome in the current envi-ronment — Chinese banks are going to face even steeper problems in the future.

These divergent approaches to the banking sec-tor should explode a couple myths about Indian and Chinese policy-making. First, investors erro-neously assume that India’s leaders are hamstrung by democratic politics while Chinese cadres, im-mune from such pressures, can craft policy in the best interests of the economy. But the continuing explosion of debt in China is very much the result of internal politics. President Xi Jinping must maintain high growth levels and employment in order to preserve the government’s political stand-ing. Local governments often resist efforts to close down zombie companies, which remain valuable sources of jobs. Secondly, India can benefit from the multifaceted nature of its governing system. Even if New Delhi is paralysed by political wran-gling, other players in the economy have the au-thority to step in and fix problems. Rajan can ha-rangue banks to clean up because he heads a truly independent central bank. In the Chinese system, Zhou enjoys no such freedom of action.

Nor is the increasing centralisation of power in China leading to better policies. Indeed, the more control Xi has claimed over the government, the slower reforms seem to be progressing. In that great contest between India and China, conven-tional wisdom doesn’t always apply. - Bloomberg View

Global powers need to destroy weapons This refers to the story US test-fires ICBMs, seeks to demonstrate nuclear arms capacity (February 27). I cannot imagine why the global powers want to develop more and more weapons. The leading

countries need to be prudent and start destroying their immense arsenal. The enemy of mankind is man itself and we need to stop this useless cycle of mayhem. If the weapons were to be destroyed then diplomatic solutions of problems would be easier. Also, by producing more and more sophisticated weapons countries like US and Russia are showing they want these to be sold. For this to happen they are follow-ing the well-tested policy of divide and rule.— Ameer Shahid, Wadi Kabir

UAE bowlers performing well as still unknown to batsmen This refers to the story Bangladesh thrash UAE (February 26). The Middle Eastern side is showing fighting capabilities, but the depth of the bigger sides is showing they cannot overcome the quality gap. UAE’s

bowlers performed very well against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh but they batted miserably. This is only because their bowlers are unknown and I am sure both India and Pakistan will post big scores against them. — Tanzeem Samir, Ruwi

T I M E S O F O M A NS U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6A12

ONLINE HOT PICKS

READERS’ FORUM

CLIPPINGS PICTOGRAPH

Financial affairs council holds meetMUSCAT: The Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council held its first meeting of the year yesterday under the chairmanship of Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki, minister of national economy, deputy chairman of the Finance Affairs and Energy Resources Council. The council reviewed the latest developments with regard to the chemical fertilizer project with the Indian government in the light of its recent approval to go ahead in implementing the project in the wilayat of Sur. The council also discussed the results of the new Sohar refinery project study and the poly propylene and recommended to continue the project study to find alternatives to implement it according to eco-nomic basis.

1936: The Japanese Army restores order in Tokyo and arrests officers involved in a coup.

1946: The US Army declares that it will use V-2 rocket to test radar as an atomic rocket defence system.

1994: US warplanes shoot down four Serb aircraft over Bosnia in the first North Atlantic Treaty Organisation use of force in the troubled area.

M O S T R E A DTIMESOFOMAN.COM

M O S T P O P U L A R V I D E O

M O S T S H A R E DFACEBOOK.COM/TIMESOFOMAN

Clinton and Sanders broadly agree on most things, and when they

differ, one or the other may end up further to the left: Sanders in his

attacks on Wall Street and call for free college tuition, Clinton in her advocacy of stricter gun laws and

pleas for more generous treatment of immigrants

SAM TANENHAUS

Airbnb is under threat in Japan. Regulation by Shinzo Abe regime

threatens to kill most of the subletting website’s business in that country. The key provision would require that Airbnb not offer rentals for less than one

week. It would certainly cut down a lot on usage of the service

NOAH SMITH

Russian President Vladimir Putin has intentionally

exacerbated crises. In addition to his adventurism in Ukraine, he has injected obstructionism into European politics through

his support of populist and euroskeptic parties, escalated the conflict in the Middle East by his

military intervention in Syria

GUY VERHOFSTADT

F R O M O U R A R C H I V E S

T O D A Y I N H I S T O R Y

Aid workers warn of Zika, dengue outbreaks in cyclone-ravaged areas of Fiji.

FEBRUARY 2001Scan this QR code to send letters to the Readers’ Forum, containing not more than 200 words with full name, address and telephone number, may be sent by e-mail (akhtar@timesofoman.com).

I N S T A G R A M O F T H E D A Y INSTAGRAM.COM/TIMESOFOMAN

TIMESOFOMAN.COM/VIDEOS

1 Rain falls in Muscat timesofoman.com/Oman

2 Expats in Oman weigh future amid move to cut staff benefits

timesofoman.com/Oman

3 Unplanned breeding threatens local Omani stock

timesofoman.com/Oman

4 Thousands in Oman to get their work benefits cut

timesofoman.com/Oman

5 Royal Oman Police refutes social media rumours

timesofoman.com/ Oman

1 Panorama, Oman’s newest mall, opens to people

timesofoman/Oman

2 ‘Suspected Mars product to be recalled from Oman market’timesofoman.com/Oman

3 Omran seeks 500 housing units for employeestimesofoman.com/Oman

4 Watch: Tear gas in parliament kills Kosovo vote, again

timesofoman.com/Multimedia

5 Flag set to go up on inspirational Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Oman

timesofoman.com/Sports

T I M E S O F O M A N . C O M / O P I N I O N

TOTAL PAGE LIKESTOTAL VIEWS

48,376,413 326,921

T W E E T W E L I K E

@bellebytesMy gorgeous #beach #view while having a Saturday afternoon snack. #oman https://www.instagram.com/p/BCSiSKpKjZ-/

«

SHARE THIS!

SourceNational Centre for Statistics and Information

From August to October 2015,in thousand cubic meter

DHOFARWATER PRODUCTION IN OMAN

August September October

3,165.4 3,250.3

0

3,220.4

Photo: Binoy Soman

NEW INDIAASSURANCE

“Insure withNew India andbe secure”

To design is to communicate clearly by whatever means you can control or master.MILTON GLASER

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

We invite our readers to write articles on topics

related to Oman. The articles should not exceed 800 words.

Send us your article along with your picture to

akhtar@timesofoman.com

Tel: 24838800 | Fax: 24838899 | Email: niamct@omantel.net.om | Website: www.newindiaoman.com

A13

WORLDS U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

ANTI-NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROTEST IN LONDON Thousands of protesters march with placards to demonstrate against a proposed renewal of Trident nuclear weapon system in central London on Saturday. A

decision is expected to be taken later this year on replacing the ageing submarines which carry the Trident missiles at an estimated cost of $43 billion. — AFP

Marchers honour slain Putin-rival Nemtsov

MOSCOW: Thousands of Rus-sians marched through Moscow to honour slain Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov on Saturday, the first an-niversary of his death, and to press their demand that the authorities find and punish the person who ordered his killing.

The 55-year-old Nemtsov, an op-position leader and former deputy prime minister, was gunned down near the Kremlin walls late in the evening of February 27, 2015, as he walked home with his girlfriend from a restaurant.

Investigators have charged a group of Chechen men with his murder.

But Nemtsov’s supporters say the suspects are just low-level operatives who were paid to kill the prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin.

They say the person who or-dered the hit has been neither identified nor arrested.

“Nemtsov was killed because he had exposed Putin for what he was in various reports,” one of the marchers, Irina Vorobyova, 60, told Reuters.”He was a worthy po-

litical opponent for Putin but he had insulted him.”

Chechen leaderVorobyova, like many on the march, said she thought Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, had ordered Nemtsov’s murder to please Putin.

Kadyrov denies any involve-ment, though he has praised one of the suspects as “a true patriot of Russia”.

The authorities locked down central Moscow for Saturday’s event, sealing in the marchers with metal fencing guarded by police, some of whom wore body armour and helmets. Police put the number of attendees at 7,500

people, but one group of observers put it at 25,000.Some opposition figures said up to 100,000 people had turned up.

A Reuters reporter saw one man being dragged away into a side street in handcuffs. “Killed for the truth,” read one banner.

Who is nextAnother, which showed the cross-hairs of a sniper’s gun, asked: “Who is next?”

Some carried portraits of Nemt-sov and chanted “Russia will be free” and “Russia without Putin”.

Similar events were staged in other towns across Russia.

Nemtsov had authored an exco-riating report on Putin’s rule and,

shortly before he was killed, had been working on a report examin-ing the Russian military’s role in Ukraine. Though revered by his supporters as an unpretentious man of the people, some Russians disliked him, associating him with the 1990s, an era of political tur-moil and painful reforms, when he served in the government of then-President Boris Yeltsin.

The authorities forbade the marchers from passing the spot where he was killed, on a bridge near the Kremlin.

But many went there after the march to lay flowers at an im-provised memorial that the au-thorities have repeatedly tried to destroy. — Reuters

Boris Nemtsov, a

Russian opposition

leader and former

deputy prime

minister, was gunned

down near the

Kremlin walls late

in the evening of

February 27, 2015

AWAITING JUSTICE: Russian anti-corruption campaigner and opposition figure Alexei Navalny, right,

and his wife Yulia visit the site of the murder of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov’s on the first

anniversary of Nemtsov’s death in central Moscow, Russia, on Saturday. — Reuters

Irish main parties consider unlikely alliance after pollsDUBLIN: Ireland’s two main po-litical foes were left considering an unlikely alliance on Saturday after exit polls suggested voters had rejected established parties — including the ruling coalition — in favour of protest groups and independents.

Enda Kenny’s government looked to be the latest victim of European voters’ growing an-tipathy to mainstream politics even though his premiership has seen Ireland bounce back from a bailout to become the continent’s fastest growing economy.

Exit pollsKenny’s centre-right Fine Gael captured 25 to 26 per cent of the vote, the exit polls said. That is far below the 36 per cent it won five years ago and the 30 per cent opinion poll rating it enjoyed at the start of campaigning.

With partners Labour in line to win just 7 to 8 per cent of the ballot, the only viable option for government appeared to be a problematic alliance between historic rivals Fine Gael and Fi-

anna Fail, whose vote the poll showed rose to 23 per cent.

“Either we could have another election now and do away with the count, or we’ll let them mud-dle around for a month or so and maybe they can think the un-thinkable,” said Michael Marsh, a professor of politics at Trinity College Dublin.

“It’s hard to see any kind of gov-ernment without Fine Gael and Fianna Fail getting together.”

No previous Irish election has seen Fine Gael and Fianna Fail -- heirs to opposing sides in a civil war almost a century ago -- fall below a combined 50 per cent of the vote.

Framed as a debate over how to distribute the profits of acceler-ating economic growth, Kenny’s campaign to “keep the recovery going” rang hollow with many voters yet to feel any impact after years of austerity. One Fine Gael junior minister said he would “of course” be open to a prospective deal with Fianna Fail after anoth-er exit poll late on Friday showed a similar result. — Reuters

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

DEADLOCK: Officials sort through ballot papers during a general

election count at the Count centre in Castlebar, Ireland on

Saturday. - Reuters

Farmers jeer Hollande at start of showPARIS: Francois Hollande was met with jeers from angry farm-ers at the start of the annual Paris agricultural show on Saturday, un-derlining the French president’s unpopularity in a week marked by a revolt within his Socialist party over labour reforms.

Television images showed Hol-lande being booed and whistled at as he slowly made his way with the help of security guards through crowds shouting insults.

They also showed scuffles, and a farm ministry stand that had been torn down.

“I hear the cries of distress,” Hollande said in images broadcast on French television.

”I prefer the anger to be ex-pressed during the show than outside it.”

Russian embargoFrench livestock farmers say thousands of them could go out of business as a Russian embargo on Western food and a downturn in global dairy markets exacerbate competition from neighbours such as Germany and Spain, which they see benefiting from lower taxes and lighter regulation.

“Did we expect to hear an ex-pression of anger? Yes, of course,” Farm Minister Stephane Le Foll later told French television, saying Hollande made the traditional vis-it to the politically important show as a “message of support”. — Reuters

A G R I C U L T U R A L S H O W

A14

WORLDS U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Share your world with us on Instagram

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY SHARE YOURPHOTOGRAPHS

Guns fall silent as Syria truce begins

BEIRUT: Guns mostly fell silent in Syria and Russian air raids stopped on Saturday, as a cessa-tion of hostilities appeared to hold for its first day, described by the United Nations as the best hope for peace in five years of civil war.

Under the US-Russian accord accepted by President Bashar Al Assad’s government and many of his enemies, fighting should cease so aid can reach civilians and talks can open to end a war that has killed more than 250,000 people and made 11 million homeless.

Russia, which says it intends to continue strikes against areas held by hardline fighters that are not covered by the truce, said it would suspend all flights over Syria for the first day to ensure no wrong targets were hit by mistake.

Rebels reported what they de-scribed as occasional government violations, and one commander warned that unchecked, the breaches could lead to the agree-ment’s collapse. A Syrian military source denied the Syrian army was violating the truce agreement.

State media described rocket at-tacks near Damascus and several deadly attacks by IS. But overall the level of violence was far re-duced. “Let’s pray that this works because frankly this is the best op-

portunity we can imagine the Syr-ian people has had for the last five years in order to see something better and hopefully something related to peace,” UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said at a mid-night news conference in Geneva.

He said he expected occasional breaches of the agreement but called on the parties to show re-straint and curb escalation.

The agreement is the first of its kind to be attempted in four years and, if it holds, would be the most

successful truce of the war so far.But there are weak spots in a frag-

ile deal which has not been directly signed by the Syrian warring par-ties and is less binding than a for-mal ceasefire. Importantly, it does not cover powerful militant groups such as IS and the Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria. IS claimed responsibility for a suicide car bomb in Hama province. Nusra has called for redoubled attacks.

Moscow and Damascus say they will continue to fight those groups,

and other rebels say they fear this may be used to justify attacks against them. The truce is the cul-mination of new diplomatic efforts that reflect a battlefield dramatical-ly changed since Russia joined the war in September with air strikes to prop up Assad. Moscow’s inter-vention effectively destroyed the hope his enemies have maintained for five years to topple him by force.

Like several other rebel figures contacted by Reuters, Fares Bay-oush, head of the Fursan Al Haqq rebel group which fights under the banner of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), said front lines were far quieter. But he added that viola-tions were taking place and if con-tinued could lead to the “collapse of the agreement”.

“There are areas where the bom-bardment has stopped but there are areas where there are viola-tions by the regime such as Kafr Zeita in Hama, via targeting with artillery, and likewise in Morek in northern Hama countryside.”

In early reports of violence, a Syrian rebel group in the north-west said three of its fighters had been killed while repelling an at-tack from government ground forces a few hours after the plan came into effect. Its spokesman called it a breach of the agreement.

Syria’s state media said at least six people were killed and several wounded in two suicide bomb at-tacks east of Hama city, includ-ing the car bomb claimed by IS.

Three children were killed and 12 wounded in an unspecified IS at-tack in Joura neighoburhood in Deir Al Zor province.

Fadi Ahmad, spokesman for the FSA First Coastal Division in La-takia province said government helicopters had dropped eight “bar-rel bombs” on the area in the early afternoon. Assad’s opponents have long accused the government of us-ing such bombs -- oil drums packed with explosives -- to cause indis-criminate damage in rebel-held areas, which Damascus denies. The Syrian Observatory for Hu-man Rights, a monitoring group, said government forces dropped five barrel bombs on the village on Najiya in Idlib province. The vil-lage is controlled by several groups including Nusra Front. The Syr-ian Kurdish YPG militia said IS militants had attacked Tel Abyad, a town near the Turkish border.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said it would suspend air strikes in a “green zone” — defined as those parts of Syria held by groups that have accepted the cessation of hos-tilities -- and make no flights at all on Saturday. “Given the entry into force of the UN Security Coun-cil resolution that supports the Russian-American agreements on a ceasefire, and to avoid any pos-sible mistakes when carrying out strikes, Russian military planes, are not carrying out any flights over Syrian territory on February 27,” the ministry said. — Reuters

The agreement is

the first of its kind to

be attempted in four

years and, if it holds,

would be the most

successful truce of

the war so far

London mayor urges UK cabinet to back BrexitLONDON: London Mayor Bo-ris Johnson urged British gov-ernment ministers to join the campaign to leave the European Union in a newspaper interview on Saturday, again defying Prime Minister and fellow Conservative David Cameron.

A political showman who is widely thought to be keen to succeed Cameron, Johnson said he wanted to change the minds of the majority of cabinet min-isters who favour voting to re-main in the EU in a June 23 ref-erendum on the issue. “People should look at the arguments. I have huge respect for what the Prime Minister is saying. But people I think should think about the arguments,” Johnson told the Telegraph.

DismissedIn a separate interview with the Times newspaper, Johnson dismissed the argument that a “leave” vote could spark last-ditch talks to achieve a better set-tlement for Britain inside the EU, resulting in a second referendum.

Asked whether there could be another referendum, John-

son told the paper: “No. Out is out.” Last week he had appeared to leave open the prospect of a second vote, arguing that the EU “only really listen to a popu-lation when it says No”. That prompted Cameron to tell par-liament on Monday that the idea of a second referendum was one “for the birds”.

Opinion polls have differed about the likely outcome of the referendum, with the uncertainty sending sterling to a seven-year low against the dollar this week.

The latest poll, published on Friday by ORB for the Independ-ent newspaper, showed support for the “out” campaign had risen to 52 per cent from 48 per cent from a month ago, while support to stay in the EU had fallen to 48 per cent from 52 per cent.

Cameron and Johnson have been friends since attending Ox-ford University together in the 1980s, but also rivals. In a thinly veiled jab at Johnson over the referendum, Cameron also told parliament on Monday: “I am not standing for re-election, I have no other agenda than what is best for our country.” — Reuters

C A M P A I G N T O L E A V E E U

KEEPING CLOSE WATCH: UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, right, during a meeting in

the operations centre which provides 24/7 communications and liaison support for the Ceasefire

Taskforce at the United Nations Office in Geneva. – AFP/United Nations/Jean-Marc Ferre

AU to send monitors

to Burundi: Zuma

NAIROBI: The African Union (AU) will send 100 human rights monitors and 100 military moni-tors to Burundi, South Africa’s president said on Saturday, after a trip to the tiny nation that is facing its worst crisis since a civil war ended a decade ago.

Jacob Zuma, delivering a state-ment by a delegation of African leaders that he led, did not say when the monitors would ar-rive or start work in the country, where more than 400 people have been killed since April. Zuma left Bujumbura after the remarks.

The violence has rattled a region with a history of ethnic conflict. Burundi’s civil war, that ended in 2005, largely pitted two ethnic groups against each other. Neighbouring Rwanda was torn apart by genocide in 1994.

AppealWestern powers have urged Af-ricans to act. The United States and European nations have with-held some aid to poor Burundi and taken other steps to try to put pressure on the government to resolve the crisis, but they say it has had little impact.

“We believe strongly that the solution to Burundi’s political problems can be attained only through inclusive and peaceful dialogue,” Zuma said in the state-ment, which also expressed “con-cerns” about the level of violence and killings.

The decision to send moni-tors suggests a compromise had been reached with Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza, who triggered the crisis in April when he announced a bid for a third term. He went on to win a disputed election in July, in the face of street protests and vio-lent clashes.

The new initiative falls far short of the African Union’s plan announced in December to send a 5,000-strong peacekeeping force, which Nkurunziza’s gov-ernment rejected.

Details about the new mission were not immediately clear. Dip-lomats said other African moni-tors that had been sent to Bu-jumbura last year had been stuck in their hotel unable to work be-cause Burundi refused to sign a memorandum allowing them to operate. — Reuters

V I O L E N T C L A S H E S

A15

WORLDS U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Buffett decries US candidates negative focus on economyNEW YORK: Warren Buffett be-moaned the “negative drumbeat” on the US economy from presi-dential candidates in his annual Berkshire Hathaway Inc share-holder letter on Saturday, saying they are misleading Americans into believing their children

will be worse off then they are. “It’s an election year, and candi-dates can’t stop speaking about our country’s problems (which, of course, only they can solve),” Buffett wrote, italicising “they” for emphasis. As a result of their dour outlook on the US economy,

many Americans now believe that their children will not live as prosperously as they themselves do, the 85-year-old Buffett said.

“That view is dead wrong: The babies being born in America to-day are the luckiest crop in his-tory,” Buffett said. — Reuters

M I S L E A D I N G A M E R I C A N S

All families in my upper middle-class neighbourhood regularly enjoy a living standard better than that achieved by John D. Rockefeller Sr. at the time of my birth. His unparalleled fortune couldn’t buy what we now take for granted, whether the field is - to name just a few - transportation, entertainment, communication or medical services

Warren Buffett, US philanthropist

A16

WORLDS U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Tablet lovers add us on Google +

dd +

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY ADD IN GOOGLE+

Mugabe birthday bash riles critics

MASVINGO (ZIMBABWE): President Robert Mugabe marked his 92nd birthday at a nearly $1 million party organised by sup-porters on Saturday, drawing criti-cism from opponents who said the celebrations in a drought-stricken area were an affront to ordinary Zimbabweans.

FrustrationAfrica’s oldest leader, Mugabe turned 92 on February 21 and shows no intention of stepping down, much to the frustration of feuding members of his ruling ZANU-PF party who have been long trying to position themselves

for his succession. Thousands of party supporters gathered next to the Great Zimbabwe ruins to pay tribute to Mugabe, the country’s only leader since independence from Britain in 1980.

CelebrationsMugabe, who was accompanied by his wife, Grace, and their children, released 92 balloons and sat listen-ing to poetry readings, songs and chants by supporters hailing him as an African icon and a visionary.

A giant cake made to look like the ancient ruins for which Zim-babwe is named was set out in a nearby marquee. School children, foreign diplomats, government ministers and security chiefs were also present.

Pupurai Togarepi, ZANU-PF’s youth leader said 50,000 people were expected to attend and de-fended spending $800,000 on the birthday celebrations.

“Money is not the issue here. You cannot put a price on the con-

tribution of President Mugabe to the history and development of this nation. All these things are worth more than money,” Togarepi told Reuters.

Mugabe’s lavish birthday par-ties have become an annual pil-grimage for loyalists and those seeking favours from the veteran leader, but this year’s celebration in the drought-battered Masvin-go province proved particularly controversial.

Mugabe said no-one would

starve as a result of a drought.In a characteristic gibe at West-

ern countries, he said Zimbabwe would not accept aid if it came with conditions that the country should accept gay rights. “If aid, as I undesterand, is to be given on the basis that we accept the principle of marriages, then let that aid stay were it is,” Mugabe said during an hour-long speech.

“We don’t want it. It is rotten aid, filthy aid and we won’t have anything to do with it.”

In Masvingo, 75 per cent of the staple maize crop was destroyed by the parched conditions, making it the hardest-hit in the southern African nation. Zimbabwe’s worst drought since 1992 has left three million people facing hunger and Zimbabwe has appealed for nearly $1.6 billion to help pay for grain and other food.

“ZANU-PF should be utterly ashamed of hosting an expensive birthday bash for their aging ruler whilst more than 90 per cent of Zimbabweans are wallowing in grinding poverty caused by dec-ades of Robert Mugabe’s misrule

and mismanagement of the econo-my,” Obert Gutu, a spokesman for the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said in a statement.

“The money that is being budg-eted for this ill-conceived birthday bash should actually be used to im-port maize to avert the impending starvation in Masvingo province and other parts of the country,” he added in Friday’s statement.

BlameCritics blame Mugabe for many of the problems facing the country. They say his policies, including the seizures and redistribution of white-owned commercial farms, drove one of Africa’s most promis-ing economies into nearly a decade of deep recession until 2008 that cut its output almost in half.

Mugabe, whose ant-Western rhetoric has won him cheers in Africa, on Thursday donated 300 cattle to the African Union, say-ing this would dissuade the conti-nent from over relying on external partners who bring donations with strings attached. — Reuters

Mugabe’s lavish

birthday parties

have become an

annual pilgrimage

for loyalists, but this

year’s celebration in

the drought-battered

Masvingo province

proved controversial

Turkey begins repairs on Iraqi Kurdish oil pipelineISTANBUL/DIYARBAKIR: Turkey has begun work to repair a pipeline taking crude oil from northern Iraq to the Mediterra-nean through its restive southeast and aims to restore flows soon, the Turkish energy ministry said on Saturday.

The pipeline, which has been repeatedly sabotaged in recent months, normally carries some 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude from Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region and the disput-ed Kirkuk oil fields to the port of Ceyhan for export.

Rising security threats in Turkey’s southeast mean Iraqi Kurdish exports to world mar-kets through the pipeline could remain halted for another two weeks, Turkish shipping and in-dustry sources said on Friday.

The energy ministry said the pipeline was most recently sus-pended on February 17 due to temporary security measures.

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, who have waged a three-decade insurgency in Turkey’s southeast, carried out a bomb attack on the pipeline in the Idil district of Sirnak province on February 25.

The ministry said there was no fire as a result of the bomb as the crude flow had already been stopped, but 40-inch and 46-inch diameter pipes were damaged. “The Ministry of Energy has launched work to repair the dam-age to the oil pipeline and the se-curity forces have taken necessary steps to ensure the pipeline’s safe-ty. We expect to restart the oil de-livery soon,” it said in a statement.

The outage, one of the longest in the past two years, is a major

blow to Iraq’s semi-autonomous region which depends on revenue from oil exports via the pipeline as it fights with IS militants and is struggling to avert economic collapse amid slumping energy prices.

Economic woesIt also highlights how intertwined Iraqi Kurdistan’s economic woes are with the deteriorating secu-rity in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast, engulfed in the worst violence since the 1990s after a two year-long ceasefire be-tween the state and Kurdish mili-tants collapsed last July.

Turkish security forces had detonated explosives set at sev-eral points along the pipeline, the ministry said. Security sources told Reuters the devices were set in the Yeni Mahalle district of Idil on the border with Iraq and Syria, one of the flashpoints in the latest violence.

The security sources said around 4,000 gendarmes and special force police officers had been involved in operations to clear barricades and ditches set up by militants in Yeni Mahalle. Drones were being used to locate the militants, who were then be-ing targeted by military shelling and snipers, they said.

The PKK, considered a terror-ist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, launched a separatist armed re-bellion against the Turkish state in 1984 in a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people, mostly Kurds.

The PKK says it is fighting for autonomy for Turkey’s large eth-nic Kurdish minority.

It has sealed off entire dis-tricts of some towns and cities in the southeast and declared autonomy, prompting the secu-rity forces to step up their op-erations. — Reuters

R E S T O R A T I O N

Artist Yoko Ono hospitalisedLOS ANGELES: The artist Yoko Ono, the widow of the late former Beatle John Lennon, was admit-ted to a New York City hospital on Friday after complaining of se-vere flu-like symptoms, her West Coast-based spokesman said.

Spokesman Elliot Mintz de-nied US media reports that Ono, 83, had suffered a possible stroke or heart attack, and said he under-stood she would be released from the hospital soon.

Ono had called her doctor, who said her symptoms sounded like the flu, and advised her to go to the hospital as a precaution, Mintz said. He did not know if she admit-ted herself or was taken by ambu-lance. Her career as an artist has spanned more than five decades. Last year, the Museum of Mod-ern Art in New York marked her achievements with an exhibition

of her early works showing how her ideas influenced the develop-ment of art in the city in the 1960s.

Ono, also an experimental mu-sician and film-maker, was once described by Lennon as “the world’s most famous unknown artist: everybody knows her name

but nobody knows what she does”.She and Lennon were married

on March 20, 1969, and their son, Sean, was born in 1975. Lennon was shot to death on December 8, 1980, outside the famed Dakota apartment building just west of New York’s Central Park. — Reuters

F L U - L I K E I L L N E S S

Critics blame

President Robert

Mugabe for many of

the problems. They

say his policies drove

one of Africa’s most

promising economies

into nearly a decade

of deep recession

until 2008 that cut its

output almost in half

Yoko Ono in New York in this file photo. – Reuters Files

STAND-OFF: People stand behind the security barriers at one of

the entrance of Sur district, which is partially under curfew, in the

Kurdish-dominated southeastern city of Diyarbakir, Turkey on

Thursday. – Reuters

MARKEWWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMS U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6B

DIGEST VIDEO

S CA N T H I S Q R CO D E TO I N STA N T LY L AU N C H T H E V I D EO

Top stories in one minute with our new daily Digest

Plastic takes 1,000 years or more to break down

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW. DON’T LITTER A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY LIKE OMAN.

MUSCAT: As of the end of De-cember 2015, private deposits at commercial banks in the Sul-tanate rose by 6.13 per cent to OMR11.88 billion, compared with OMR11.18 billion in the cor-responding period last year, ac-cording to a monthly statistical bulletin published by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO).

The gross value for these de-posits as of the end of December 2015 included time deposits that stood at OMR3.36 billion, savings deposits of OMR4.39 billion and demand deposits of OMR3.85 bil-lion, the report further added.

The bulletin pointed out that the total value for these deposits included OMR10.96 billion and OMR909 million in foreign cur-rencies. As for banking indicators for commercial banks as of the

end of December 2015, the bul-letin said the broad money and clearance of the deposits in riyals was 23.9 per cent. The combined money and clearance for the gross deposits was 20.9 per cent. The total percentage of loans to the deposits was 102.5 per cent.

The rate of foreign currency to the total deposits was 12.4 per cent. The rate of foreign assets to the total loans was 13.4 per cent. The rate of foreign assets to the total assets was 10.1 per cent. The ratio of foreign liabilities to total liabilities was 16.7 per cent.

The on-demand deposits to to-tal private deposits was 32.2 per cent. The capital and reserves to the total deposits was 18.4 per cent. The rate of allocations and the retained interests to the total credit was 3.4 per cent. — ONA

Gross value for these deposits by the end of

December 2015 included time deposits that

stood at OMR3.36 billion, savings deposits

of OMR4.39 billion and demand deposits of

OMR3.85 billion, latest CBO data reveals

ROBUST GROWTH: The combined money and clearance for the

gross deposits was 20.9 per cent. The total percentage of loans

to the deposits was 102.5 per cent. - Times file picture

Inflation slips back to zeroFRANKFURT: The euro area’s inflation rate probably slipped back to zero this month, ending a brief run of price gains and adding urgency to the European Central Bank’s (ECB) review of its stimulus.

The stagnation forecast by economists follows a 0.3 per cent increase in consumer pric-es in January. The deterioration may not end this month, with ECB policy makers saying that lower oil costs mean that price drops are on the cards in the coming months.

It’s not just headline infla-tion that’s weakening. Core price growth, which excludes volatile food and energy, prob-ably cooled to 0.9 per cent in February from one per cent in January, according to the Bloomberg survey.

The euro-wide number will follow disappointing data from Germany, France and Spain. In Germany, the European Un-ion-harmonised inflation rate dropped to minus 0.2 per cent from 0.4 per cent. — Bloomberg News

E U R O - A R E A

Private deposits at banks in Oman up 6.13%

B2

MARKETS U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Oman’s traditional fish catch grew 8.4% in 2015MUSCAT: Oman’s fish catch by traditional fishery registered a rise of 8.4 per cent in 2015 com-pared to 2014 figures. As much as 225,297 tonnes of fish landings were recorded last year, while the previous year’s quantity stood at 207,775 tonnes, according to the recent data published by the Na-tional Centre for Statistics and In-formation (NCSI).

Total value of fish landings on the other hand increased 15.1 per cent to OMR185.16 million by the end of 2015, from OMR60.94 mil-lion in the previous year.

Meanwhile, total fish landings using traditional, commercial and coastal fishing increased 8.8 per cent to 229,626 tonnes last year from 210,984 tonnes in 2014.

Coastal fishery registered a growth of 40.5 per cent over the period to 3,679 tonnes while commercial fishery witnessed a 10.1 per cent to 650 tonnes.

According to the report of the traditional fishery figures, it says that the Governorates of North and South Al Sharqiyah recorded the largest catch at 56,636 tonnes, marking a rise of 6.8 per cent as against 53,034 tonnes in 2014.

The Governorate of Al Wusta fol-lowed with fish landings of 52,599 tonnes, comprising a 6.5 per cent growth over 49,376 tonnes in the previous year. Landed fish in the Governorates of North and South Al Batinah logged a rise of 9.8 per cent, reaching 42,567 tonnes last year compared to 38,762 tonnes in 2014.

Fish landings at the Governo-rate of Muscat posted a growth of 7 per cent from 2014 figure of 17,374 tonnes to reach 18,597 tonnes last year. The Governorate of Dhofar recorded the highest growth rate in fish landings at 19.7 per cent, taking the catch to 35,775 tonnes from 29,891 tonnes earlier. How-ever, the Governorate of Musan-dam saw figures slumping by 1.1 per cent to 19,124 tonnes from 19,338 tonnes in 2014.

Small Pelagic fish formed the largest share of the traditional fish landings at 87,573 tonnes, but the quantity suffered a 2 per cent drop from 2014 catch of 89,377 tonnes.

Large Pelagic landings were the second highest at 67,115 tonnes posting a 39.4 per cent year-on-

year growth. Demersal fish land-ings, the third highest catch, grew 1.4 per cent to 53,389 tonnes dur-ing the period.

Benthic fish landings by tra-ditional fishery stood at 53,389 tonnes, comprising a rise by 1.4 per cent, compared to 52,647 tonnes in 2014. Sharks posted 27 per cent, reaching 9,391 tonnes as against 7,394 per cent in 2014.

Meanwhile, crustaceans and clams landings saw a whopping 830 tonnes of shrimps, 474 tonnes of lobster and 5 tonnes of squid while no Abalone landing yet be-cause its fishing season did not start yet. Fish landings by coastal fishing stood at 3,679 tonnes while landings through commercial fish-ing stood at 650 tonnes. — ONA

F I S H C A T C H

Focus turns to signs of growth momentum atG20 summitLONDON: Investors worried about the risk of a new global reces-sion are hoping that data over the coming week will show that some momentum remains in the world economy, eight years into its slow recovery from the financial crisis.

The Group of 20 (G20) econo-mies were unable to agree on a joint push for new stimulus meas-ures at a meeting which ended on Saturday, turning attention in-stead to upcoming business sur-veys from China, Japan, Europe the United States.

Central banks in Europe and Ja-pan may inject a little more stimu-lus into their economies later in March. But the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England look likely to sit tight for now, meaning hopes for a period of calm in the world’s volatile financial markets lie largely with the indicators.

“It seems economic data will have to bear the burden of sta-bili sentiment,” economists at Barclays said in a note to clients on Friday. A first reading of inflation in February for the euro zone on Monday will help shape expecta-tions of how much further below zero the European Central Bank (ECB) is likely to push its deposit rate the following week. - Reuters

G L O B A L E C O N O M Y First stage of Bidbid-Sur road project to be ready this year

IBRA: Ministry of Transport and Communications is currently exe-cuting several road projects in the Governorate of North Al Sharqi-yah, the most important of which are Bidbid-Sur dual-carriageway (first stage; two parts) and Sinaw-Mahout road (two stages).

The first stage of 115-km-long Bidbid-Sur dual-carriageway pro-ject starts from Al Rusayl-Nizwa dual-carriageway in the wilayat of Bidbid in the Governorate Al Dakh-iliyah and extends upto Masroon in the wilayat of Ibra in the Governo-rate of North Al Sharqiyah.

In 2015, the Ministry of Trans-

port and Communications partly opened for 62-km-long stretch for traffic, including, 18km of the first part and 44km of the second part or 56 per cent of the length of the first stage.

Eng. Salim bin Mohammed Al Nu’aimi, undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport and Com-munications for Transport said that the ministry’s projects in the Governorate of North Al Sharqi-

yah is progressing well as per the preset schedule and hopefully the first stage of Bidbid-Sur dual-carriageway project will be com-pleted by the end of 2016.

Bidbid stretchHe added that work is under-way in the remaining parts of the first stage from the beginning of the stage till Al Dasr area in the wilayat of Bidbid and the stretch

between Al Mukhtabiyah and Al Yahmadi in the wilayat of Ibra, in addition to the most important and difficult portion, which is part of Wadi Uqq.

“Work is also underway in the first and second part of the second stage of the project and hopefully some parts will be opened before traffic in 2016 including the 15-km ring road from after the wilayat of Al Qabil and till the crossroad of the

wilayat of Bani Khalid in the Gov-ernorate of North Al Sharqiyah, as well as the 12-km-long part from Saih Al Salb to Al Najd in the wilay-at of Al Kamil wal Wafi,” he said.

One of the major projects im-plemented by the ministry is the rehabilitation of Sinaw-Mahout Al Duqm road (181 km), especially the existing road is full of cracks and holes.

The 81-km-long ‘first stage’ and 70 per cent of the second stage (100km) of the project is expect-ed to be completed by the end of 2016. The project is expected to be fully completed by 2017.

The undersecretary of the Min-istry of Transport and Communi-cations for Transport said that the ministry is currently implement-ing Samad Al Shan-Wadi Endam (13km) road and internal roads in Al Aflaj Village (17km) in the wilay-at of Al Mudhaibi and works are expected to be completed this year.

“Ibra internal dual-carriageway is currently in study and design stage,” he said. — ONA

Ministry of Transport

and Communications

is currently

executing several

road projects in the

Governorate of North

Al Sharqiyah

Asia Express Exchange

relocates Bousher outlet

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Asia Express Ex-change, the leading money ex-change and remittance company in the region with 28 branches in Oman, has relocated their Boush-er branch to a more spacious and a conveniently accessible location at Lulu Hypermarket in Bousher on Thursday.

The new branch was inaugu-rated by Adeeb Ahamed, manag-ing director of Asia Express Ex-change in the presence of Sheikh Mohammed Hamed Ali Al Ghaz-ali, director and other officials of Asia Express Exchange.

Asia Express Exchange has over the years emerged as a pre-ferred exchange house providing fast and reliable money transfer worldwide and foreign exchange services to a cross-section of so-ciety, powered by a huge network, reputed partners and high stand-ards of customer care.

The Bousher branch reloca-tion comes with the company’s strategy to reinforce its growing presence in local markets while reaching out to its wide range of customers and providing easy and convenient access to its wide range of services.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the ceremony, Adeeb Ahamed said, “We are pleased to

move to this new location. The new branch’s location and ameni-ties allows us to better serve our esteemed customers and is in line with our continued efforts to bring convenience to our clients.”

Customer satisfactionAsia Express attributes its grow-ing success to its talented work-force of Omani and expat employ-ees who are equipped with the latest technologies in the field. Customer satisfaction being their ultimate goal, Asia Express thoroughly analyses the budding customer needs and wants and takes all such measures to cater to their demands.

The steadily increasing num-ber of Asia Express branches across the Sultanate serves as a proof of their success.

“Our culture of quality and standardization makes sure that every branch offers the same quality of service that we have become renowned for. It is our high caliber workforce backed by training and the latest technolo-gies that help us deliver the high-est standards of customer satis-faction. We will continue striving towards spreading our network to get as close to our customers as possible and keep offering the best of services and solutions,” added Adeeb Ahamed.

I N A U G U R A T I O N

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

WORK IN PROGRESS: The first stage of 115-km-long Bidbid-Sur dual-carriageway project starts from

Al Rusayl-Nizwa dual-carriageway in the wilayat of Bidbid in the Governorate Al Dakhiliyah and

extends upto Masroon. - ONA file

REVENUE RISES: Total value of fish landings on the other hand in-

creased 15.1 per cent to OMR185.16 million by the end of 2015, from

OMR60.94 million in the previous year. – Times file

B3S U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

MARKETJapan’s yen worries G-20 leaders

SHANGHAI: China’s currency was expected to be one of the main topics at this week’s Group of 20 (G20) meeting. Instead, Japan’s yen and monetary policy were identified as a source of concern for some officials from the world’s leading economies.

“The debate was also about Ja-pan, to be honest — there was some concern that we would get into a situation of competitive devalua-tions,” Eurogroup chief Jeroen Di-jsselbloem said in Shanghai. Once one country devalues it’s currency, “the risk is very large that another follows and we get into competi-tive devaluation,” Dijsselbloem told reporters.

The comments indicated in-creasing concern about the Bank

of Japan’s (BoJ) unprecedented monetary stimulus, which has weakened the yen against the dol-lar and driven bond yields to his-toric lows. The announcement of a negative rate policy last month surprised markets and spurred currency volatility.

Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda told reporters in Shanghai on Saturday that there was no opposition to the bank’s negative rate policy at the G-20 meeting, and that he got under-

standing from G-20 members. A Japanese Finance Ministry official told reporters on Friday that there weren’t any questions from other nations in response to Kuroda’s presentation to the G-20.

No surprisesIf devaluation is a consequence of monetary policy which is moti-vated by real macro-economic do-mestic reasons, then nations must make sure to inform and consult with each other so there are no sur-prises, Dijsselbloem said Saturday.

By contrast, one official from the G-20, who asked not to be identi-fied as the talks were private, said members were broadly reassured that China isn’t going to start weakening its currency. Chinese

policy makers have repeatedly said there’s no basis for long-term depreciation of the yuan. Brazilian Finance Minister Nelson Barbosa claimed credit for his country in convincing China to avoid com-petitive devaluation.

The BoJ in January followed the European Central Bank, the Swiss monetary authority and others in charging financial institutions interest on some of the reserves they keep at the central bank. The policy doesn’t target foreign ex-change rates, Kuroda said in par-liament on Friday before heading to Shanghai.

From the perspective of Japa-nese policy makers, they might not have had any choice, said one offi-cial from a G-20 emerging market.

Yet BoJ policy creates an impact around the region and there was concern about this, said the offi-cial, who asked not to be identified as the discussions aren’t public.

Meanwhile, global finance chiefs at G20 are stepping up their call for development lenders such as the World Bank to help support economic growth by further open-ing the infrastructure taps.

Multilateral development banks should present concrete actions by July, says a draft. - Bloomberg News

At 20 meet in China,

Bank of Japan’s

unprecedented

monetary stimulus,

which has weakened

the currency and

driven bond yields to

historic lows was a

matter of concern

Forum to discussOman economy and investment

MUSCAT: Fifth edition of Oman Economic Forum begin on March 23-24 at Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa, Muscat under the theme ‘Oman a bridge between Asia and GCC’.

The forum will discuss the latest developments in the Oman economy and the avail-able investment opportunities, as well as the Omani-Asian eco-nomic relations, and how they could be developed at all levels.

The forum is organised by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in conjunction with Al Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group, the State General Reserve Fund (SGRF), the Central Bank of Oman and Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The event will host over 500 participants, among whom in-vestors and businessmen from the Sultanate of Oman and the Arab and foreign states, includ-ing over 100 global investment funds as well as official and commercial delegations coming from China, Japan, Iran, Turkey and other Asian countries.

Global tradeMohsen bin Khamis Al Balushi, advisor of the Ministry of Com-merce and Industry said that the forum aims to support the devel-opment goals of the government and in particular the objective of promoting Oman’s position as a station for international trade and the movement of multi-modal transport between conti-nents, as well as a hub to attract international investments by providing the best environment attractive to them.

He stressed that the fifth fo-rum reflects the importance of this event and its success as a key and effective platform that gathers representatives of gov-ernment agencies and the rel-evant private sector, as well as domestic and foreign investors.

He explained that the forum is a proof of the confidence of lo-cal and international investors in the feasibility of investment in the Sultanate which, despite the drop in oil prices and rev-enues, has remained stable and growth during 2015.

The forum’s programme will tackle a range of topics includ-ing Oman’s economic outlook, Oman’s role as a bridge between Asia and the GCC, the key in-vestment opportunities in the Sultanate, the investment pros-pects in Iran, the main factors attracting investments and the enhancement of entrepreneur-ship through small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The forum will be spon-sored by Oman International Development and Investment Company (Ominvest). - ONA

F I F T H E D I T I O N

SCAN THIS QR CODE TO INSTANTLY VISIT

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

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

B4

FEATURES U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

One Indian construction firm has learned that rack-ing up debt to add an ex-ecutive jet and a coal mine to the mix maybe was not

a good idea.Punj Lloyd Ltd.’s Singapore

units filed for judicial manage-ment on February 17 after credi-tors rejected one of the two sub-sidiaries’ debt restructuring plans, as some oil and rail projects bled losses and attempts to diversify into other business areas back-fired. Unsecured creditors would get zero to half-a-cent on the dol-lar recovery based on liquidation scenario analyses on December 22, according to court documents seen by Bloomberg.

The builder’s financial strains provide a window into why In-dian banks are scaling back lend-ing as their stressed assets reach a 14-year high. Central bank governor Raghuram Rajan has given lenders until March 2017 to boost provisions, as soured loans

threaten to hamper economic growth after 11 state-run banks incurred losses last quarter.

Group of lendersA group of lenders has placed re-strictions on Punj Lloyd’s invest-ments to monitor its cash flow under a ‘corrective action plan,’ according to court documents. It is difficult to gauge the level of stressed assets from “corporates draining cash in poor invest-ments,” said Mehul Sukkawala, Singapore-based lead analyst for South Asia corporate ratings at Standard & Poor’s. “In many cases, it is investments which seemed to make sense at the time of making investment, though due to the change in commodity cycle or economic environment or regulations, start registering losses.”

“The company will work close-ly with the judicial manager, once appointed by the court, to solicit support” for a revised restructur-

ing plan, Punj Lloyd said in an e-mailed reply to Bloomberg on February 18. The potential recov-ery for creditors under the new plan is being assessed, it said. The New Delhi-based group intended to restructure S$230 million ($163.5 million) of debt owed to banks and unsecured creditors at Sembawang Engineers and Con-structors Pte and S$176 million at Punj Lloyd Pte, according to their restructuring documents. Creditors voted down the first, prompting the company to pull the second, according to a Janu-ary 18 company filing.

The interests of creditors out-side the Punj Lloyd group were not seriously taken care of in the proposals, said Soon Wei Min, a director at Singapore-based Mirador Building Contractor in Singapore, which has taken legal steps to recover its dues. The de-faulter had money but had cho-sen to settle inter-company debt ahead of suppliers, he added.

“Of course, we will be glad if Punj Lloyd Pte comes up with a better plan,” said Berry, a spokes-man who goes by one name at Top Zone Construction & Engi-neering Pte., one of the creditors. “We had wanted to support the scheme of arrangement but we could not beat the majority who opposed it. It’s better to recover some money than nothing at all.”

Branching outPunj Lloyd’s units in Singapore bought a $55 million Gulfstream G650 jet in 2008 and invested $41 million to develop a coal-mine in Indonesia 2011, both part-funded by loans from the parent company. The aircraft was sold to the parent for S$50 million in late 2014 to settle the loans, while the coal mine may be sold to repay debt, according to the restructuring documents.

“Punj Lloyd does not regret these investments that are made,” the company said in the e-

mail. “Both the investments have economic value which would be unlocked in due course.”

The listed parent sank deeper in the red in the nine-months through December 31, with gross borrowings at Rs.78 billion ($1.1 billion) against Rs.7.3 billion cash. In Singapore, it lost S$20.7 million building a petrochemical plant for Jurong Aromatics Corp. and faced late-delivery penalties on subway, waterworks and pris-on projects due to higher mate-rial costs, court documents show.

Indian banks had loaned Rs.12 trillion to companies involved in engineering, construction and infrastructure sectors as of the end of 2015, double the volume five years ago, according to cen-tral bank statistics. India’s loans growth has cooled to near the slowest pace in 20 years, while Junior Finance Minister Jay-ant Sinha estimated the size of stressed assets at about Rs8 tril-lion. – Bloomberg News

The New Delhi-based group intended to restructure S$230 million ($163.5 million) of debt owed to banks and unsecured creditors at Sembawang Engineers and Constructors Pte and S$176 million at Punj Lloyd Pte

DEFAULT HITS INDIAN BUILDER IN SINGAPORE

In many cases, it is

investments which

seemed to make sense

at the time of making

investment, though

due to the change in

commodity cycle or

economic environment

or regulations, start

registering losses.”

Mehul SukkawalaSingapore-based lead analyst

B5S U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

ROUND-UPLove us on Facebook

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH FACEBOOK PAGE

Renault launches special offers on its entire range of vehicles

MUSCAT: Renault Oman from Suhail Bahwan Group has an-nounced its exclusive Q1 offer on its sleek range of vehicles for cus-tomers which lasts till April 23.

Renault’s exclusive offer com-prises a plethora of benefits on most of its top selling models as well as its newly launched models last year, says a press release.

Renault’s sedan segment com-prises a prestigious lineup of vehi-cles that include the sleek Renault Fluence, the strikingly good look-ing Renault Safrane and the newly launched Renault Symbol and Re-nault Megane. The SUV/crossover range comprises the Renault Dust-er, Renault Koleos and the all-new

2015 Renault Captur and lastly the recently launched LCV vehicle – the Renault Dokker Van.

Exclusive offers include: The Renault Symbol 1.6l: Cus-tomers will be entitled to receive free registration, free periodic maintenance service up to two years/30,000km (whichever comes first), free unlimited war-ranty period of up to six years, AAA road side assistance card and a cash gift of OMR500.

The Renault Megane 1.6l SE CVT: Customers will be entitled to receive free registration, free periodic maintenance service up to two years/30,000km (which-ever comes first), free unlimited

warranty period of up to six years, AAA road side assistance card and a cash gift of OMR600.

The Renault Fluence 1.6l;and 2.0l: Customers will be entitled to receive free registration, free periodic maintenance service up to two years/30,000km (which-ever comes first), free unlimited warranty period of up to six years, AAA road side assistance card and a cash gift of OMR1,000.

Renault Safrane 2.0l, 2.5l and 3.5l: Customer benefits include free registration, free periodic maintenance service up to two years/30,000km (whichever comes first), free unlimited war-ranty period of up to six years, AAA road side assistance card and

a cash gift of OMR1,000. Renault Koleos 2.5l: Customers

will be entitled to free registration, free unlimited warranty period of up to six years free registration, free periodic maintenance service up to two years/30,000km (which-ever comes first), AAA road side assistance card, and a cash gift of OMR1,500.

Renault Duster 2.0l PE and SE model (2 wheel drive & 4 wheel drive) attractions comprise free registration, free unlimited war-ranty period of up to six years, free periodic maintenance ser-vice up to two years/30,000km (whichever comes first), AAA road side assistance card and a cash gift of OMR750.

The upbeat Renault Captur 1.2l Turbo PE, SE and LE models comes with free registration, free unlim-ited warranty period of up to six years, free periodic maintenance service up to two years/30,000km (whichever comes first), AAA road side assistance card and a cash gift of OMR1,000.

Renault Dokker LE 1.2l M/T model (with and without parti-tion) comes with free registra-tion, free periodic maintenance service up to two years/ 30,000km (whichever comes first), AAA road side assistance card and a cash gift of OMR500.

Financing options Suhail Bahwan Automobiles de-

signed the scheme to add to the pleasure and convenience of own-ing a Renault model and ensure hassle and worry-free driving at all times. Customers can also avail easy financing option with attrac-tive interest rates. Renault has always made pioneering efforts to offer world class facilities and services to its valued customers.

A world class brand Renault is a world class brand to-day, focusing mainly on the impor-tant aspects such as safety, style, performance, value and reliabil-ity - keeping alive the motoring heritage of Renault. The Renault principle of safety is outlined in four basic points: Prevent, correct, protect and educate.

SBA is largely committed to sup-porting Renault Oman’s growth in the Sultanate through major em-phasis on customer satisfaction and by providing world-class af-ter-sales services in Oman. With a national network of more than 80 outlets – showrooms, service cen-tres and parts outlets, SBA has fur-ther built upon its legacy of trust, excellent customer service and providing value for money to each of its customers.

Customers will be

entitled to receive

exclusive benefits

and assured cash

back up to OMR1,500

SOHAR participates at Gulfood 2016MUSCAT: SOHAR Port and Fre-ezone joined thousands of com-panies at Gulfood 2016 in Dubai — the world’s largest food and hos-pitality show, with over 90,000 vis-itors from 160 countries expected this year.

The show connects the global food industry, helping to bench-mark prices, quality, service and re-liability, while also unveiling the lat-est tastes, trends and innovations.

As SOHAR progresses with the construction of its Food Zone, the first of its kind in the region, the show was the perfect venue to meet international investors look-ing to play a part in Oman’s plans to expand its food-processing sec-tor, says a press release.

The new Food Zone offers a dedicated agro-terminal in one of the region’s best-connected ports, with world-class infrastructure and connectivity right across the Arabian Peninsula.

The new Food Zone will one day feature grain storage facilities and there are plans in place for

Oman’s first sugar refinery, which will largely eliminate the Sultan-ate’s current need to import over 120,000 tonnes of refined sugar a year. The new Food Zone will also play a major part in Oman’s plans to expand its food-processing sector.

“The combination SOHAR will soon be able to offer of available foodstuffs, abundant feedstock for packaging, and world-class logis-tics is a big draw for international

food companies looking for the perfect regional base in the Middle East. This combined with recent developments in road, air, sea and, soon, rail infrastructure, will un-doubtedly spur interest in SOHAR as a prime destination for further agro-industrial investments,” said Andre Toet, SOHAR CEO speak-ing at Gulfood.

Last year, the Sohar Food Clus-ter Company (SFCC) signed a

lease agreement for a 10-hectare plot located next to the new con-tainer terminal. Through SFCC, the UAE’s Essa Al Ghurair Invest-ment will create the basic infra-structure to attract international investors as partners in joint ven-tures to launch various food-relat-ed industries at SOHAR.

Other investments could look at opportunities in associated areas such as cold storage, warehousing and many other areas along the supply chain.

One such firm is an India-based agribusiness that has recently signed a joint venture agreement for the setting up of a rice and pulses storage, processing and packaging facility in SOHAR Food Zone. At an estimated cost of $39 million, the facility will feature a polishing, grading, blending and packaging unit for 100,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) of premium long grain rice and a state-of-the-art milling unit for 100,000 TPA of pulses. The project is expected to commence operations by 2017.

F O O D A N D H O S P I T A L I T Y S H O W

New silver jubilee block inaugurated at IS MuladhaMUSCAT: The new silver ju-bilee block was inaugurated at Indian School Muladha as part of the school’s 25th Annual Day celebration.

The chief guest Indra Mani Pandey, ambassador of India to the Sultanate of Oman, unveiled the block, says a press release.

Dr Kazi Arshad Jafar, presi-dent of the School Management Committee, Dr M. Madhusud-hanan, convenor, Siddique Has-san, treasurer, Felix Vincent Gabriel, Mustafa M. T., Sunda-ram Miller, School Management Committee members, S. I. Sha-reef, principal, V. S. Suresh, vice principal, Dr Lekha O. C., CC &

EC coordinator, HoDs of various departments and teachers at-tended the function.

The new block consists of 25 spacious classrooms, one smart-board room and also provided with a separate toilet block. The computer lab which is fully fur-nished is the main attraction of the building.

Pandey was given a cordial welcome on the school prem-ises and he was led to the silver jubilee block and computer lab for a formal inauguration of the new infrastructure which is yet another feather in its crown as the school is celebrating its 25th foundation day.

A N N U A L D A Y C E L E B R A T I O N

Nikon brings ‘Seeing Creatively’ tour to OmanMUSCAT: Nikon, the world lead-er in digital imaging, is presenting ‘Seeing Creatively’, a regional pho-tography tour that is inspiring and exciting photography enthusiasts across multiple cities in the Mid-dle East and Africa region.

The sessions are being conduct-ed by the world-renowned, multi-awarded commercial photogra-pher, Bryan F. Peterson (www.bryanfpeterson.com), author of 8 best-selling photography books published in 11 languages, says a press release.

Khimji Ramdas and Nikon have jointly built the photographic cul-ture in Oman for over three dec-ades now. In their quest for excel-lence in the use of professional photographic equipment, the two well-established brands have opened Nikon School; which today serves the growing needs of photo-enthusiasts by offering basic and intermediary courses regularly.

Commenting on the latest work-shop, Rohit Shah, general manager, Khimji’s Luxury and Lifestyle di-vision, said, “From its inception, Nikon School Muscat has set high standards by inviting world re-nowned photographers like Dan-iel Cheong, who visited Oman 13 months ago to attend the Photo Summit Event which saw famous Omani photographers like Ahmed Al Shukali participating in the dis-

cussions. This year we are happy to have the presence of photography maestro Bryan Peterson, who will further enrich the interaction of the Nikon School.”

The tour that commenced on February 5 and will end today, is providing both aspiring and pro-fessional photographers an oppor-tunity to enhance their skills and learn new techniques. The sessions were conducted across countries,

including Kuwait, Oman, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. The Oman event was held at Sultan Qa-boos University Conference Hall on February 10 in association with Oman Photographic Society.

Bryan Peterson expressed his excitement about the workshop: “I am eager to meet the aspiring photographers in the region and assist them in reaching their pho-tographic potential through the platform Nikon School has pro-vided. The sessions, open to every-one, will familiarise aspiring pho-tographers to the different aspects of photography and demonstrate how a simple shot can be turned into a creative image.” Takashi Yoshida, the managing director for Nikon Middle East, stated: “Through ongoing Nikon School initiatives, like ‘Seeing Creatively’, Nikon aims to spread support to ambitious photographers in the region as well as across the globe."

P H O T O G R A P H Y T O U R

Sale of Aston Martin DB10 provides vital funds to MSFLONDON: The highly coveted and incredibly rare Aston Martin DB10 made for the latest James Bond film, Spectre, went under the auctioneer’s gavel at Chris-tie’s in London recently. The bidding was tense and exciting before a final bid of an amazing £2,434,500.

The buyer now owns a true piece of automotive history; the only Aston Martin DB10 to be made available for public sale, says a press release.

The money raised by the auc-tion of the Aston Martin DB10 will benefit Médecins Sans Fron-tières (MSF). MSF - or ‘Doctors

without Borders’ – is a global hu-manitarian aid organisation that provides medical care and sup-port to victims of armed conflict, epidemics and other disasters.

Dr Andy Palmer, CEO - Aston Martin said: “The DB10 is one of the rarest cars ever created. Only 10 will ever be made and this is the only one that will be made available for sale. It’s great to see this DB10 raising vital funds for Médecins Sans Frontières, it is a fantastic charity that we are de-lighted to support.”

‘James Bond Spectre – The Live Auction’, was a unique col-lection of 10 lots.

H U M A N I T A R I A N A I D

B6 S U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

ROUND-UPFord’s compact Figo: A popular choice in Oman

MUSCAT: Ford’s peppy compact sedan – Figo is a popular choice for customers who desire the most out of a car for much less.

The compact sedan Figo de-lights consumers with its in-spired design, smart technology, advanced safety features, world-class quality and powerful, effi-cient engines.

In Oman, Figo is offered in three trim levels: entry-level Ambiente, mid-level Trend and top-of-the-line Titanium. Figo is available in 4-door configuration and offers a 1.5L pet-rol engine churning an impressive 105 hp and 138 Nm of torque @ 4,500 rpm, says a press release.

Ford Figo breaks all stereo-types and proves that a compact sedan can also have the best of everything – be it stunning design, smart technology, advanced safety and impressive fuel efficiency.

Reflecting the growing need for consumers to stay connected at all times, the Figo features excep-tional smart technologies that help customers integrate their car more easily into their digital lives. My-Ford Dock, a first-in-class feature, offers drivers a unique solution for storing, mounting and charging mobile phones, MP3 players and satellite navigation systems, and for integrating these devices into the car’s entertainment system. When not in use, the dock can be closed out of sight.

Those desiring even greater technological integration can choose a Figo equipped with SYNC, Ford’s advanced in-car

connectivity system. SYNC allows drivers to control their phone and entertainment hands-free using simple voice commands. To en-courage responsible driving, the new Figo features Ford’s MyKey technology. MyKey lets owners programme keys with restricted driving modes that encourage good habits, such as increasing seat belt use, limiting vehicle top speeds and regulating audio volume.

Designed from the ground up to protect occupants in the event of a collision, the Figo features a robust passenger cage created from high-strength steel, and first-in-class standard driver and pas-senger airbags across the range. Also for the first time in a com-pact sedan, the Figo offers up to six airbags – including side and curtain airbags – for an extra level of protection in the front and rear compartments. While on the road, the Figo helps instil confidence with available driver-assist tech-nologies that take the stress out of driving. When setting off on a steep slope the segment-first Hill Launch Assist feature holds the vehicle for up to three seconds as the driver’s foot moves from the brake to the accelerator.

During sudden manoeuvres, the Electronic Stability Program keeps the driver in command, braking in-dividual wheels as needed to keep the vehicle on course. An Anti-lock Braking System with Electronic Brake Force Distribution also helps drivers to stay in control, pre-venting wheel lockup and main-

taining stability while braking. A speed lip under the front of the car further enhances aerodynamic performance by deflecting air away from the underbody, where compo-nents can create significant drag, and the side mirrors have been optimised to minimise drag and re-duce wind noise. At the rear, sharp, clean edges on the deck-lid and tail lights help the Figo to slip smoothly through the air, reducing turbu-lence behind the car to reduce drag.

The sophisticated and stylish exterior of the Figo is matched by a modern interior that deliv-ers an extraordinary experience for a compact car. Intelligent and careful space management cre-ates a surprisingly roomy cabin emphasizing quality, comfort and convenience. All occupants will notice exceptional levels of crafts-manship, with colours and ma-terials carefully selected by Ford designers to create a refined and premium environment.

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

venient pen holder; three cup hold-ers for front seat occupants, and a convenient bin for rear passengers at the back of the centre console; seat-back pockets that can hold newspapers and magazines for rear-seat passengers; a handy tray with a rubber mat, ideal for hold-ing a mobile phone or sunglasses; a convenient coin holder that can be used to keep valuables out of sight; for the ultimate in security, a secret side compartment, only accessible when the driver’s door is open, that can be used to store valuables.

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

Those wishing to experience the exciting Figo are invited to visit any Ford showroom across the country.

In Oman, Ford vehicles are brought to you by Arabian Car Marketing Co.

The compact

sedan Figo delights

consumers with

its inspired design,

smart technology,

advanced safety

features, world-class

quality and powerful,

efficient engines

Malabar Group set

to launch $293m

Malabar Integrated

Township in Kerala

DUBAI: Malabar Group, which developed a strong reputation as a gold and diamond jewellery trade, is set to launch Malabar Integrated Township – a mixed-use master-planned community that will be built in Thrissur, cen-tral Kerala in India with a de-velopment cost of Rs20 billion (AED1.07 billion; $293 million). This landmark project is being developed by its property divi-sion – Malabar Developers, says a press release.

Malabar Integrated Town-ship, a city within a city where one can live, work and play, will create a community comprising information technology hub, a commercial business cluster, a large convention facility, a resi-dential community, a shopping mall and entertainment centre. It will also host a five-star hotel along with a business hotel and an iconic residential tower that will raise the profile of Kerala in urban landscape. IT profession-als will be able to live and work within the same community that will offer them a perfect work-life balance. Conveniently located on the National Highway 47, the project is situated closely from 90-minute driving distance of three international airports – Kochi, Coimbatore and Calicut. The project, that will create more than 50,000 jobs, will be built on a five million square feet area. About 40 per cent of the area will be for residential projects while 30 per cent of the area will be for the IT business park. The mas-sive project will take Malabar Developers, which has been de-livering real estate projects since 1995, to a new level and help ex-

pand the group’s capabilities to support and help realise the In-dian government’s vision to take the economy to the next level. Malabar Developers have been transforming aspirations and landscapes of a great nation and its people delivering over 1.8 mil-lion square feet in residential and commercial segments of India. Currently Malabar Developers has on-going projects of over 3 million sqft and another 10 mil-lion sqft earmarked for construc-tion which includes around 5,000 residential units within 8 cities across all categories of residenc-es. “Malabar Integrated Town-ship is going to change that. It will not only help retain and nurture the local IT talents, but also help attract those scattered across other IT hubs in the world,” said M. P. Ahammed, chairman of Malabar Group.

“Malabar Integrated Township will also attract investment in out-sourcing business – which due to a competitive environment world-wide – will look at more cost effec-tive destination. When it comes to cost advantage, no one could beat the cost competitiveness of Kerala. Our project has carefully been planned to offer a greater value to the global IT industry while looking at the economy of Kerala and India. The project, once delivered successfully, will become a model for the develop-ment of mixed-used integrated master-planned communities by the private sector developers.”

The project will offer office blocks on lease as well as sale for investors and IT companies. Mala-bar Developers plans to deliver the infrastructure and the full project.

L A N D M A R K P R O J E C T

Louis Vuitton strengthens ties with America’s Cup World Series 2016PARIS: Louis Vuitton’s longest standing partnership is one that over the years has become syn-onymous with daring endeavours and a quest for excellence.

Today, Louis Vuitton is re-newing its commitment to the America’s Cup by becoming the title partner of the America’s Cup World Series, the America’s Cup Qualifiers and Challenger Playoffs as well as the presenting partner of the 35th America’s Cup Match, says a press release.

“Since 1983, Louis Vuitton has continued to play a major role in the America’s Cup, but this agree-ment is the widest-ranging yet. Over time we have built a partner-ship that is quite unique in sports in terms of its longevity and our relationship is strengthened by more than 30 years of shared his-tory. But now is the right time to take a major step forward. Un-der this agreement, Louis Vuit-ton is extending its involvement throughout the entire event. Louis

Vuitton has been proud to part-ner with the America’s Cup over the years. Today we are making a comprehensive commitment, one that will allow us to work together on this mythical race,” said Har-vey Schiller, the commercial com-missioner of the America’s Cup.

The America’s Cup, the grail of yachting, sees challengers rac-ing across the oceans becoming a lifelong quest. The freedom, cour-age, skill and competence that it requires reflect the true spirit of

Louis Vuitton. Sailing, explora-tion, technology and design are part of our heritage that continues to push boundaries further.

“It is a great honour for us to be able to renew our partnership with the America’s Cup. Together, we are about to write a new chapter of our shared history,” said Michael Burke, CEO of Louis Vuitton.

Louis Vuitton will assume a prominent role in all aspects of the event, ashore, on the water, in international television broad-casts and on online platforms.

MoT, Oman Sail partnershipMeanwhile the Ministry of Tour-ism (MoT) of Oman has partnered with Oman Sail in bringing to Oman the first-ever Louis Vuit-ton America’s Cup World Series, which started yesterday at Al Mouj Golf, and hosting the crew, skip-pers and guests coming to the Sul-tanate for the race.

The two-day racing event will end today and will be open to the

public, with free entrance for all.Oman is considered one of the

world’s pioneering countries in seafaring. The America’s Cup serves as the perfect opportunity to celebrate and bring attention to the country’s rich maritime herit-age. Considered to be a pinnacle of sailboat racing with a long history, the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup event will help bring the spotlight onto Oman as one of the preferred sailing destinations in the world. It will also help promote all that the country has to offer as a tour-ism destination.

MoT is organising traditional Omani performances at the venue and arranging a traditional Omani welcome with dates and halwa for the visitors to experience the true Omani culture and hospital-ity. The guests can also get pho-tographed in traditional Omani clothing, with handicrafts, and women can choose to have some intricate henna designs applied on their hands at the village stalls.

T I T L E P A R T N E R

B7S U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

ROUND-UPLove us on Facebook

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH FACEBOOK PAGE

Doctors perform rare surgery at Al Raffah Hospital

MUSCAT: A rare hernia surgery was successfully performed on a 32- year-old man at Al Raffah Hospital recently.

Dr Swaroop Dundi and Dr Ab-himanyu Singh Rathore, both ex-perienced specialists in general surgery, Al Raffah Hospital, So-har, successfully performed the surgery, says a press release

Dr Swaroop Dundi, specialist general surgeon, who headed the team, said: “Unlike traditional abdominal wall hernias, Spigelian hernia occurs through slit like defect in the anterior abdominal wall adjacent to the semilunar line. Most of Spigelian hernias oc-

cur in the lower abdomen where the posterior sheath is deficient.

“Spigelian hernia is rare and moreover it is difficult to diagnose clinically. The diagnosis is even trickier in obese patients wherein the hernia sac may lie in an intra-parietal plane, masked by the ab-dominal subcutaneous fat.

“It has been estimated that it constitutes only 0.12 per cent of all abdominal wall hernias.”

Dr Abhimanyu Sigh Rathore, junior specialist general surgeon at Al Raffah Hospital, Sohar who was part of the team, said: “It was a technically challenging case as it was a very large irreducible

Spigelian hernia occupying most of the right lower abdomen and since the patient was morbidly obese with a body weight of 147 kg, it added to the complexity of the case.”

Dr Swaroop added that initially the patient was considering trav-elling to another country for his treatment, but then he was coun-selled and was convinced to get operated in Oman itself.

The surgery lasted about three hours; thanks to an efficient and dynamic anaesthesia team headed by Dr Benhur and Dr Ra-jeev both experienced specialist anaesthetists.

The patient has been dis-charged and is on the road to re-covery, the hospital said.

Aster Al Raffah, one of Oman’s leading hospital chains with over two decades of experience in healthcare, has always been a home to dealing with intricate and daunting health issues.

Since its inception, it has be-lieved in delivering quality care to the people of Oman and has set new benchmarks in the treatment and care of those battling with painful diseases.

Dr Swaroop Dundi and Dr Abhimanyu Singh

Rathore, both experienced specialists in

general surgery, Al Raffah Hospital, Sohar,

successfully performed the three-hour long

surgery, thanks to an efficient team

SA event promotes healthy lifestyle among employees MUSCAT: Sohar Aluminium (SA) conducted its annual fun run event recently. The gathering saw around 400 employees, contractors and their families as well as Al Batinah International School’s (ABIS) stu-dents and staff participate in run-ning and walking races.

The event is meant to give the participants an opportunity to en-joy having fun and spending qual-ity time with family members and colleagues outside working hours. It also aims at promoting healthy lifestyle and the importance of physical exercise to stay fit, says a press release.

Sohar Aluminium’s annual fun run is one of the most eagerly awaited events for SA employees, contractors and families since 2011, and always witnesses a large num-ber of participants taking part.

The event, having two categories:

running for 8 kilometres and walk-ing for 4 kilometres, saw healthy competition with good camarade-rie among all the athletes and the winners in the various categories proudly carried home their tro-phies. Children below the age of 16 had separate categories in running and walking for 4 kilometres.

Sohar Aluminium firmly be-lieves that people are its number one priority and thus has a number

of events and initiatives spread throughout the year focusing on its employees, their families and the wider community.

This comes as a part of SA’s se-ries of Key Stakeholder Engage-ment Events. These family ori-ented events give a personal face to the industry and constitute an excellent platform for sharing the company values and communicat-ing vital messages.

F U N R U N E V E N T

Al Bhaj Books participates in Muscat International Book FairMUSCAT: Al Bhaj Books, a lead-ing book distributor in the Sultan-ate of Oman, is participating in the 21st Muscat International Book Fair, which is being held from Feb-ruary 24 to March 5, at the Oman International Exhibition Centre in Seeb, says a press release.

Al Bhaj, which was formed more than 21 years ago in Oman, is the most preferred book distributor for leading publishers of Arabic,

English and regional languages around the world. It is the author-ised distributor of DC books (the first ISO 9000 certified Indian Publisher) which publishes over 10,000 titles in Malayalam and English, including children’s lit-erature, poetry, reference biogra-phy, self help, yoga, management titles and foreign translations. All kinds of educational support books like dictionaries, grammar,

essay books, school guides, world atlas, and general books will also be available at the fair.

This time Al Bhaj Books is add-ing more titles of books under dif-ferent categories of books for chil-dren and adults from UK, Malaysia like countries.

The fair will be open to the pub-lic between 10am and 10pm, while on Friday, the fair will be open from 4pm to 10pm.

B O O K D I S T R I B U T O R

ISG students win awards at MIT MUN conference

MUSCAT: Nandita Rad-hakrishnan and Vidya Suresh of Indian School Ghubra (ISG) brought laurels to the school by winning the most coveted ‘Best Position Paper’ and the ‘Verbal Commendation’ certificate at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) MUN Conference 2016, says a press release.

A team of 12 enthusiastic del-egates from ISG attended the MIT MUN Conference held at Boston recently. This unique and innovative high school MUN Con-ference is a platform for students to improve their debating and public speaking skills.

A C H I E V E M E N T

B8

ROUND-UPS U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Love us on Facebook

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH FACEBOOK PAGE

Majlis Meethaq hosts Talal Al Rahbi

MUSCAT: Meethaq, the pioneer of Islamic banking in Oman from Bank Muscat, hosted Talal bin Suleiman Al Rahbi, deputy sec-retary general of the Supreme Council for Planning, at the eighth Majlis Meethaq evening, a unique social forum aimed at facilitating interaction with prominent per-sonalities sharing inspirational aspects of their life and career as well as views and perspective on the economy and important social and cultural issues.

The gathering held at Bank Muscat head office was attended by dignitaries and a large turnout of corporate representatives, says a press release.

Talal Al Rahbi talked about the current economic crisis due to volatile oil prices and pointed out that the challenge to the gov-ernment was not new as similar developments had occurred ear-lier. Oman has the wherewithal to tackle this challenge from previ-ous experience, he added.

Touching upon personal experi-ences, Talal Al Rahbi pointed out that reading and travel provided valuable experiences. “We are re-sponsible for the choices we make in life and must not blame anyone for the consequences from our de-cisions. Youth must set ambitious goals in life and develop faith to achieve these goals. Everyone has a social responsibility and must make valuable contributions to community development,” he said.

Majlis Meethaq is a monthly gathering in which a well-known economic, social, religious or cul-

tural persona having influence on Omani society from the Sultanate or abroad is hosted.

The interaction between the guest and the audience is aimed at focusing on aspects of the pre-senter’s personal life, success in career and views on issues facing the country and community.

Sulaiman Al Harthy, deputy chief executive officer – Islamic Banking, said: “Meethaq is proud to host the Majlis forum aimed at presenting successful role models to community and highlight their achievements to motivate and in-

spire citizens, especially youth, to attain success in life. We thank Ta-lal Al Rahbi for addressing the ses-sion and enlightening the audience on opportunities and challenges he faced in making crucial deci-sions in life which led to success. Meethaq, as part of its social commitment, aims to develop the Majlis forum as an ideal plat-form to interact with prominent personalities and draw inspira-tion from their experiences in achieving success in life.”

Al Harthy added: “Meethaq is the leading Islamic financial ser-

vices provider in the Sultanate with many achievements contrib-uting to the growth and develop-ment of the Sultanate’s economy. Meethaq extends support to all key economic sectors in the Sultan-ate and is focused on developing as a benchmark Islamic financial institution in Oman and the re-gion. Within just three years of operations, Meethaq has attained the leading position in the Is-lamic banking industry in Oman in terms of financing receivables, branch network, products and services, IT infrastructure and human resources development. Meethaq not only provides bench-mark Islamic financial solutions to support the country’s develop-ment but also plays a key role in raising awareness and educating people on important aspects of Is-lamic banking and finance.”

As the pioneer of Islamic bank-ing in Oman, Meethaq has adopted the best practices in Islamic bank-ing and finance worldwide to com-bine a robust model which pro-tects customers and complements the Islamic banking industry.

The deputy secretary general of the Supreme

Council for Planning talked about the

current economic crisis due to volatile oil

prices and pointed out that the challenge

to the government was not new as similar

developments had occurred earlier

Al Jenaibi exhibits BT warehouse equipment at OpmexMUSCAT: The first edition of Oman Packaging and Material Handling Exhibition (Opmex) took place recently at Oman In-ternational Exhibition Centre showcasing the latest advance-ments in the field of material handling technology.

Al Jenaibi International Au-tomobiles (AJIA), an authorised dealer of BT warehouse equip-ment, offers extensive product range for all warehouse applica-tions. At Opmex, AJIA displayed various configurations of hand pallet trucks, power pallet trucks, stackers and reach trucks, says a press release.

For simple and effective opera-tions, the newest solution from BT is the BT Reflex B-series reach truck.

The RRE120B – 160B reach trucks have been specifically developed to perform best in un-complicated, low to medium in-tense operations. The series has lift heights of up to 8.5 m and a battery capacity of up to 650 Ah. Easy to use, tough and reliable, they are a practical solution suit-ed to multi-task operations and all-round drivers.

The BT Reflex B-series reach trucks have user-friendly, ac-cessible controls that are inte-grated in a logical way requiring minimum effort from the drivers. With fingertip control levers for all fork movements and smooth electronic steering for precise driving, handling a reach truck has never been easier without compromising the exceptional ergonomics, safety and quality. The steering system offers 360° flexibility and the conventional 180° is also available as an option.

A PIN-code start-up ensures that authorised drivers only have access to the truck. Addi-tionally, the seat and controls are fully adjustable to suit the driver and the cab floor height can also be adapted according to specific requirements.

Stacker trucks The new BT Staxio P-series in-cludes 11 models from 1.2 up to 2.0 tonnes and shares many char-acteristics with the award-win-ning BT Levio P-Series powered pallet truck.

Designed for horizontal trans-port and stacking in intensive applications, the adaptable BT Staxio SPE range offers the right model for each application. From

fixed support arm models for open pallet handling, to mod-els with elevating support arm for use on uneven floors or dou-ble load handling. The straddle support arm model works with different pallet sizes and the dedicated double stackers with a special narrow version for inten-sive loading and unloading ap-plications. With a vast amount of versatility, this range allows you to truly access all areas.

Compact, reliable and de-signed for intensive work the new BT Staxio P-series reaches 6m lift heights - highest in class - and 10km drive speed for quick ma-terial handling. This is achieved by the advanced truck technol-ogy that delivers superb stabil-ity when lifting. The SPE is built around the operator with low noise and vibration, 180° pow-ered steering with ergonomic handle and an adjustable steering arm height, which ensures that working with this range, is easy for operators.

BT Levio P-seriesThe BT Levio P-series powered pallet truck from BT has been designed to deliver exceptional efficiency Compact and power-ful at the same time, the latest BT Levio P-series models boast fea-tures that enable high efficiency in the most demanding horizon-tal transport operations. With load capacities of 2.0, 2.2 and 2.5 ton, these trucks are also typical-ly used in loading/unloading of Lorries and meet high standards on productivity, durability, drive-ability, safety and environment as required by a BT truck.

Productivity is enhanced by the trucks’ small size and high speed potential: the LPE250 can reach 12.5 km/h – the highest speed for a powered pallet truck in the market so far.

Easy to manoeuvre even in the tightest places, it offers great flex-ibility and maximises the pallets per hour performance.

BT’s mission is to be the first choice partner for all customers looking for materials handling solutions and to be widely rec-ognised for innovative products and services.

In Oman, Al Jenaibi Interna-tional Automobiles, authorised distributor for BT since 2002, has secured a market leadership position for over a decade, backed by specialised service support.

L A T E S T A D V A N C E M E N T S

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

SPOR SY O U R G A M E

SECTIONC S U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

INDIA SURVIVE AMIR SCARE TO BEAT PAKISTAN

>C3

INSIDE LIFESTYLE

>C5

STRETCHING IS IMPORTANT

Coutts praises young Omani sailors

MUSCAT: Sir Russell Coutts, a five-time winner of the America’s Cup and CEO of the America’s Cup Event Authority, heaped praise on youngsters from Oman Sail’s Youth Programme after watching them race off Muscat.

The national initiative is dedicat-ed to inspiring young Omanis to take up sailing, and is central to Oman Sail’s mission of reigniting the coun-try’s rich maritime heritage.

Since its launch in 2008 Oman Sail has introduced the sport of sailing to more than 20,000 Oma-nis through its programmes.

And on Saturday 30 of its most talented junior sailors took to the same waters that play host to the first Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series event of 2016 to show off just how good they are.

Sir Russell made time in his packed schedule to watch the rac-ing, in Optimist dinghies, before presenting the youngsters with

medals at a special prize giving ceremony on the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series main stage in front of the Omani crowds that flocked to the Race Village at Almouj to take in the action.

Commending Oman Sail for its Youth Programme, backed by national telecomms company Omantel, the New Zealander said he hoped to one day see an

Omani sailor winning gold at the Olympics or being picked for an America’s Cup team.

“I’m incredibly impressed with what Oman Sail and Omantel have achieved – it’s wonderful to see,” Sir Russell said. “The Youth Pro-gramme is a wonderful initiative for these young sailors and to bring back the rich nautical her-itage that Oman has.

“More than 20,000 young sailors have been put through the Youth Programme and that’s a fantastic achievement.”

“I had the chance to see these junior sailors racing this morning and I’ve got to say I was very im-pressed with the way they sailed and the skills they put on display.

“It’s my hope that we will see one of these young sailors go for-

ward and win an Olympic gold medal and perhaps one day be at the helm or crewing an Ameri-ca’s Cup boat. I think that would be fantastic.”

David Graham, CEO of Oman Sail, added: “The Oman Sail Youth Programme is at the heart of what we do at Oman Sail. It was won-derful to see these children out on the water racing today. This has

all happened because of Omantel and their continued investment in youth sailing.”

Talal Al Maamari, CEO of Om-antel, said: “Our country has a rich maritime history but the sport of sailing is quite niche here, so for that reason we are happy to sup-port organisations like Oman Sail to develop the young talent we have and reignite our history of sailing.”

A host of young

Omanis were today

tipped as sailing

stars of the future

by yachting hero Sir

Russell Coutts as

the country hosts

the Louis Vuitton

America’s Cup World

Series for the first

time ever

MUSCAT: The Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Oman, which brought the Amer-ica’s Cup, sailing’s most prestig-ious trophy, to the Middle East the first time, got underway at 2.00 p.m on the Sea of Oman in front of crowds of spectators at Almouj Race Village and Ben Ainslie and Jimmy Spithill had big recoveries to vault to the top of the leaderboard.

Ainslie and his team were the class of the field. After incurring a penalty for starting prema-turely in the first race, he sailed back up the fleet to salvage a third place finish.

Then, two victories. And Land Rover BAR finished the day four points clear.

Ainslie said it was anything but easy in the light winds.

“These conditions make it very challenging for everyone on board,” he said. “You need a decent start and to go the right way, so it’s tough on the tacti-cians. And then the big Code Zero headsails make for hard work for everyone else. It’s a big day for the team.”

ORACLE TEAM USA ap-peared to be in jeopardy at several points during the after-noon. But when the points were tallied, Spithill had his team in second place.

Emirates Team New Zealand sped away to a ‘horizon job’ victory in the first race, but fell back into the fleet later in the afternoon. For skipper Glenn Ashby it was “great racing out

there today,” he said. “It’s been so long since we all battled it out. It felt good. We had a great first race, but unfortunately we got bounced around a bit in the last one.”

SoftBank Team Japan skip-per Dean Barker found himself in familiar territory. His team flashed some brilliance, but couldn’t hold on through a full race for a strong finish.

Artemis Racing tactician Iain Percy had to take solace from the good moments as the team didn’t get any breaks, ending the day equal points at the bottom of the table with Groupama Team France.

Adam Minoprio, sailing in his first Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series event on the helm of Groupama Team France said he needs to get better starts

to earn better results at the fin-ish. Racing gets underway again on Sunday at Almouj from 2.00 p.m. The Race Village opens to the public at 11.00 and the prize-giving will be on the public stage just after 4.00 p.m.

Provisional Results: Race 1: Emirates Team NZ - 10

points; ORACLE TEAM USA - 9 pts; Land Rover BAR - 8 pts; Artemis Rac-ing - 7 pts; SoftBank Team Japan - 6 pts; Groupama Team France - 5 pts.

Race 2: Land Rover BAR - 10 pts; SoftBank Team Japan - 9 pts; Groupama Team France - 8 pts; Emirates Team New Zealand - 7 pts; ORACLE TEAM USA - 6 pts; Artemis Racing - 5 pts.

Race 3: Land Rover BAR - 10 pts; ORACLE TEAM USA - 9 pts; Artemis Racing - 8 pts; Groupama Team France - 7 pts; SoftBank Team Japan - 6 pts; Emirates Team New Zealand - 5 pts.

Points after 3 races: Land Rover BAR - 8, 10, 10 - 28 pts; ORACLE TEAM USA - 9, 6, 9 - 24 pts; Emirates Team NZ - 10, 7, 5 - 22 pts; SoftBank Team Japan - 6, 9, 6 - 21 pts; Artemis Racing - 7, 5, 8- 20 pts; Groupama Team France - 5, 8, 7 - 20 pts.

Land Rover BAR lead after first day of America’s Cup World Series Oman

INS

C2

SPORTSS U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Stay ahead of the curve with

WhatsNews

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY INSTALL WHATSNEWS

Raha post 21-run winover Passage to India

MUSCAT: Raha recorded a 21-run victory over Passage to India (PTI) in a Muscat Pharmacy and Stores-sponsored Premier Di-vision match at the Ministry of Sports Affairs ground during the evening session on Friday.

Batting first, Raha put on 163 for five in 20 overs. Shah Naeem top scored with an unbeaten 57. In rely, PTI were bowled out for 142 in 19.2 overs. Ahad Malek’s 56 went in vain. Rana Naeem claimed six wickets for Raha.

Brief scores: Raha 163 for 5 in 20 overs (Shah Naeem 57 n.o.) bt Passage to India 142 in 19.2 overs (Ahad Malek 56; Rana Naeem 6/14). Points: Raha - 2, PTI – 0.

Easy for Ooredoo A In a Khimji Ramdas-sponsored A Division match, Ooredoo A eased to an eight-wicket victory over OCT Al Amerat at the Municipality Ground I during the morning ses-sion on Friday. Batting first, OCT Al Amerat scored 164 for nine in 30 overs. Atif Yusuf top scored with 45. Kimberley Bentick claimed four wickets for Ooreedoo A. In reply, Ooredoo A put on 165 for two in 12 overs with Gustav Burger top scoring with an unbeaten 100.

Brief scores: OCT Al Amerat 164 for 9 in 30 overs (Atif Yusuf 45; Kimberley Bentick 4/17) lost to Ooredoo A 165 for 2 in 12 overs (Gustav Burger 100 n.o). Points: Ooredoo A – 3, OCT Al Amerat – 0.

Al Mardhuf down SARCOIn a Raha Poly Products-sponsored C Division match, Al Mardhuf de-feated SARCO by three wickets at the Municipality Ground II during the morning session on Friday.

Batting first, SARCO were bowled

out for 126 in 17.4 overs. Tousim Khan top scored with 35. Mansoor and Shoaib Al Balushi claimed three wickets each for Al Mardhuf. In reply, Al Mardhuf scored 127 for seven in 15.4 overs. Tejas Vageria top scored with 30. Jeetesha claimed two wickets for SARCO.

Brief scores: SARCO 126 in 17.4 overs (Tousim Khan 35; Mansoor 3/28) lost to Al Mardhuf 127 for 7 in 15.4 overs (Tejas Vageria 30; Jeete-sha 2/29). Points: Al Mardhuf – 3, SARCO - 0.

Batting first, Raha put

on 163 for five in 20

overs. In rely, Passage

to India were bowled

out for 142 runs in

19.2 overs

OOREDOO A STARS: Gustav Burger, right, and Kimberley G Bentick. – Supplied photo

Asia calls for unity

to drive FIFA reform

after Infantino win

SEOUL: Asian football said it was looking forward to working with new FIFA President Gianni Infantino, despite the region’s two candidates losing out to the Swiss in Friday’s election, and called for unity to help push the reform process forward.

Infantino beat Asian candi-dates Sheikh Salman bin Ebra-him Al Khalifa of Bahrain and Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin Al Hus-sein, as well as Frenchman Je-rome Champagne, to succeed Sepp Blatter in the vote at FIFA’s Congress in Zurich. The scandal-hit governing body is in the midst of the worst crisis in its 112-year history, with more than 40 in-dividuals and entities, includ-ing many former FIFA officials, charged with corruption-related offences in the United States.

However, the election marked an opportunity to begin the long road back to restoring its repu-tation, said Football Federation Australia chief Steven Lowy.

While Australia had come out in support of Prince Ali ahead of the vote, Lowy described the election as “the best day FIFA has had in many years”.

“The mood for change was in the air and the Congress voted

overwhelmingly to move forward with a new structure and new leadership to implement it,” he said in a statement on Saturday.

Lowy added that he and FFA Chief Executive David Gallop had been impressed by Infantino in previous meetings.

“David Gallop and I have met him several times in the past few months and have been impressed with his knowledge, his energy and his determination to lead FIFA into a new era,” he added.

“We will now move forward to continue playing a productive role as a member of the Asian Football Confederation and the world football community.”

While the Arab region rued yet another squandered chance to help elect their first FIFA presi-dent after their two candidates failed to cooperate, Sheikh Sal-man, president of the AFC, called for unity to help move the reform process forward.

“The AFC looks forward to working with the new-look FIFA and its new President Gianni Infantino in order to reform the world football governing body and to reinstate football’s cred-ibility globally,” he said on the AFC’s website. - Reuters

F O O T B A L L

Infantino election gives FIFA

time to start tackling problems

ZURICH: Gianni Infantino’s election as FIFA president should give soccer’s governing body the time it needs to begin tackling the corruption and other problems that have dragged it into the worst crisis in its 112-year history, cur-rent and former officials said.

As well as electing a new presi-dent to replace Sepp Blatter on Friday, FIFA signed off on a slew of reforms that may help restore its credibility, even as dozens of its personnel past and present face criminal investigations in the United States and Switzerland.

“This will be a new era for FIFA despite the problems it faces. Let him have time to settle, to see what needs to be done and let

everyone calm down a little,” Per Ravn Omdal, a former president of the Norwegian FA and FIFA executive committee member during Blatter’s early years in charge, said.

“He has a massive task of course, but he can start work in a totally different atmosphere than the one surrounding FIFA for the last few years.”

One FIFA insider who asked not to be named said it may also help that the organisation did not pick Sheikh Salman of Bahrain, who had repeatedly had to deny any role in his country’s crack-down on pro-democracy protests five years ago.

“If Sheikh Salman had won

this election, becoming presi-dent after allegations against him involving human rights abuses, the attention from the justice au-thorities would have been unre-lenting,” he said.

“The temperature would have gone past boiling point. We can all take a step back now.”

Greg Dyke, chairman of the English FA, also welcomed In-fantino’s win.

“The last thing FIFA needed was another president bringing a pile of suspicious baggage into the job,” he said.

“Gianni comes in clean, his re-cord as UEFA’s general secretary is first class and will stand him in good stead for his new job.” - Reuters

F O O T B A L L

C3

SPORTSS U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Saham blank Muscat to enter HM’s Cup semisMUSCAT: Saham Club came up with a dominant display to overturn a 1-2 quarterfinal first leg deficit to blank Muscat and advance to the semifinals of His Majesty’s Cup Football Champi-onship on Saturday.

In the second leg match played at the Sohar Sports Complex, Sa-ham outplayed Muscat for a 3-0 victory and stormed into the last four stage of the Sultanate’s pre-mier football championship.

In the remaining quarterfinal second leg matches to be played on Sunday, Al Khaboura take on Su-waiq and Fanja face Al Nasr.

In their first leg match played on February 15, record nine-team winners Fanja Club scored a 1-0 win over Al Nasr Club at Salalah Sports Complex.

On Sunday, Fanja take that one-goal advantage into the second leg match against four-time winners Al Nasr at Seeb Sports Stadium.

The match is scheduled to kick off at 8.30 pm.

Meanwhile, twice champions Suwaiq and Al Khabourah will be on equal terms when they clash in their second leg match at the So-har Sports Complex.

In the first leg match played at the same venue on February 15, Suwaiq and Al Khabourah played out a goalless draw.

Their second leg match will start at 5.30 pm on Sunday.

F O O T B A L LKohli leads India to win over Pakistan

MIRPUR: India recovered from three early jolts, inflicted by a dev-astating spell from Mohammed Amir, before notching up a five-wicket victory against arch-rivals Pakistan in the Asia Cup T20 tournament, here on Saturday.

Amir, who took three wickets for 18, rocked the Indian top-or-der with a fast and furious four-over spell but the small target of 84 was not good enough to stop the ‘Men In Blue’ who knocked off the runs with 27 balls to spare.

Indian bowlers had demolished the Pakistan batting line up with a superlative show as they bundled out the arch-rivals for a paltry 83 in only 17.3 overs after opting to field.

But it required the calm and class of Virat Kohli (49) to take India home without further set-backs as his 68-run stand for the fourth wicket with Yuvraj Singh (14 not out) proved to be decisive.

Kohli’s 51-ball innings had seven boundaries and he looked cut above any batsman, who fea-tured in Satuday’s game. This is their second win for India in the tournament and takes them a step closer to the final of the con-tinental championship.

What was supposed to be a

cakewalk turned out to be a brief nightmare for the Indians.

Rohit Sharma (0) and Ajinkya Rahane (0), replacing an injured Shikhar Dhawan, were beaten by sheer pace of Amir. They found the late movement at ferocious speed too hot to handle. The result was a couple of plumb leg-befores.

Suresh Raina’s (1) problems against short ball is well docu-mented and Amir started teasing him with deliveries that kicked up viciously from length. Raina cut a sorry figure with his hop, skip and jump technique and when Amir bowled full, the left-hander ex-pecting a shirt ball only lobbed it to Wahab Riaz at mid-on. India were tottering at three down for eight runs at that stage.

However, Pakistan captain Sha-hid Afridi had no choice but to fin-ish Amir’s spell, in order to get a couple of more wickets and stay in the game. But it was Kohli, who has been Pakistan’s nemesis for some time now, showed why he is among the best in the world. He shielded Yuvraj from Amir by taking bulk of the strike. His footwork was pre-cise and played close to the body.

In his final over Amir tried to change the tactic and Kohli promptly whipped towards square leg and cover drove him for two boundaries. Once Amir’s spell was over, it was a formality

for the Indians with Kohli gain-ing more confidence. Mohammed Irfan was deftly steered through third-man while Wahab was shown full face of the bat during the two imperious cover drives.

Yuvraj’s job was to chip in with the singles and stem the rot that set in due to top-order collapse and he did his job. By the time, Kohli was adjudged leg-before off Mohammed Sami’s bowling, In-dia were eight runs short of victo-ry. It was Dhoni, who cover drove Wahab to finish off the match.

Earlier, a collective effort from the Indians bowlers was backed brilliantly by the fielders as it be-came a ‘no-contest’ from the mo-ment India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni opted to field on a pacer-friendly wicket.

The Indian bowlers made good use of the conditions and the fielding unit also put relentless pressure to effect two run-outs as it threw Pakistani innings in disarray. Ashish Nehra (1/20) and Jasprit Bumrah (1/8) dealt initial blows while new sensation Hardik Pandya (3/8) kept up the pressure and recorded the best figures among the bowlers. Such was the pressure on Pakistan, that spin twins Ravindra Jadeja (2/11) and Ravichandran Ashwin were brought in the 12th and 13th overs respectively. - PTI

Three-wicket Amir

rocked the Indian

top-order with a fast

and furious four-over

spell but the small

target of 84 was not

good enough to stop

the Indians from

knocking off the runs

with 27 balls to spare

CLASS APART: India’s Virat Kohli plays a shot during their match against Pakistan in the Asia Cup

in Dhaka on Saturday. – AFP

PAKISTANM. Hafeez c Dhoni b Nehra 4Sharjeel c Rahane b Bumrah 7Khurram Manzoor run out 10S. Malik c Dhoni b Pandya 4Umar Akmal lbw Yuvraj 3Sarfraz Ahmed b Jadeja 25Shahid Afridi run out 2Wahab Riaz lbw Jadeja 4M. Sami c Raina b Pandya 8M. Amir b Pandya 1M. Irfan not out 0Extras (lb-4, w-11) 15Total (all out, 17.3 overs) 83Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-22, 3-32, 4-35, 5-35, 6-42, 7-52, 8-70, 9-83.Bowling: Ashish Nehra 3-0-20-1; Jasprit

Bumrah 3-2-8-1; Hardik Pandya 3.3-0-8-3; Yuvraj Singh 2-0-11-1; Ravindra Jadeja 3-0-11-2; Ravichandran Ashwin 3-0-21-0.INDIARohit Sharma lbw M. Amir 0Ajinkya Rahane lbw M. Amir 0Virat Kohli lbw M. Sami 49S. Raina c Wahab Riaz b M. Amir 1Yuvraj Singh (not out) 14Hardik Pandya c M. Hafeez b M. Sami 0MS Dhoni (not out) 7Extras (b-1, lb-3, w-8, nb-2) 14Total (5 wkts, 15.3 overs) 85Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-2, 3-8, 4-76, 5-76.Bowling: M. Amir 4-0-18-3; M, Sami 4-0-16-2; M Irfan 4-0-16-0; Wahab Riaz 3.3-0-31-0.

S C O R E B O A R D

Saham overturned a 1-2 first leg deficit to advance to semifinals

C4

SPORTSS U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

NAQVI FELICITATES INDIAN HOCKEY STAR SREEJESH

Indian hockey star P. R. Sreejesh, who was here on an invitation from United Thalaserry

Sports Club to preside over the Gulf Hockey Fiesta for Starcare Cup, called on popular

hockey personality SAS Naqvi at his residence on Thursday. The Indian national team

vice-captain showed keen interest in learning about Naqvi’s contribution to hockey and

eagerly went through the documents, photos and DVDs depicting the former Oman

team coach’s association with hockey and hockey legends like Major Dhyan Chand.

During his visit, Naqvi also felicitated Sreejesh and presented a memento to the Indian

team custodian. — Supplied photo

Indian team to camp in Bangalore

ISC Goan Wing cricket tourney

BENGALURU: The Indian men’s hockey team will undergo a coaching camp in Bengaluru from March 7 to April 8.

Probables: P.R. Sreejesh, Harjot Sin-gh, Akash Chikte; R.P. Singh, Pardeep Mor, Jasjit Singh Kular, Birender Lakra, V.R. Raghunath, Kothajit Singh, Sumit, Surender Kumar, Gurjinder Singh, Amit Gowda; Danish Mujtaba, Chinglensana Singh, Manpreet Singh, Sardar Singh, Satbir Singh, Dharamvir Singh, S.K. Uthappa, Devinder Walmiki, Nithin Thimmaiah; Affan Yousuf, Talwinder Singh, Mandeep Singh, S.V. Sunil, Lalit Upadhyay, Amir Khan, Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Nikkin Thim-maiah, Malak Singh, Yuvraj Walmiki.

MUSCAT: Indian Social Club (ISC) Goan Wing will organise their first eight-a-side MRI ball cricket tournament at Muscat Club on March 11.

Last date for registering the entries is March 3. For further details contact Nell (99004413), Santosh (97637272), Laxmikant (96791694) or Bhal (96793326).

H O C K E Y

C R I C K E T

Leicester’s dream stays alive with late Ulloa winnerLONDON: Leaders Leicester City belatedly grasped their gold-en opportunity to pile the pres-sure on their Premier League pursuers on Saturday as a late winner from Leonardo Ulloa sunk struggling Norwich City 1-0 at the King Power Stadium.

With closest challengers Tot-tenham Hotspur and Arsenal not in action until Sunday, Leices-ter had the stage to themselves to forge five points clear at the summit and made the most of their chance with a victory they scarcely deserved.

Despite producing one of their flattest performances of their surreal season, Ulloa’s 89th-minute contribution, sliding in to knock home Marc Albrighton’s cross, was decisive. It stretched Leicester’s advantage to five points over the north London duo although both second-placed Spurs, at home to Swansea City, and third-placed Arsenal, who visit Manchester United, can re-duce the deficit again on Sunday.

Champions Chelsea fought back with late goals from Cesc Fabregas and Branislav Ivanovic to earn an excellent 2-1 win at Southampton.

At the bottom of the table, As-ton Villa’s mission looked ever more impossible, still seven points adrift of the pack after a Marko Arnautovic double helped Stoke City beat them 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium.

In the day’s early game, West Ham surged into fifth place in the table in what has become their best-ever Premier League campaign in their final season at Upton Park, holding off a stir-ring fightback from Sunderland to win 1-0.

A fine curling shot on the half hour from winger Michail An-tonio sealed the points, yet for Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce, back at his former club, there was nothing but frustration as his side still lie 19th, a point behind New-castle United and Norwich. - Reuters

P R E M I E R L E A G U EAtletico derby victory virtually buries Real

MADRID: Atletico Madrid ex-tended their dominance over neighbours Real with a 1-0 derby win on Saturday that leaves the Bernabeu team virtually out of the Liga title race.

France striker Antoine Griez-mann scored the only goal in the 53rd minute to put Atletico within five points of leaders Barcelona in second place in the standings.

Third-placed Real, who were unbeaten in 11 matches and on a run of seven home wins going into the match, remain nine points be-hind bitter rivals Barcelona and will be 12 adrift if the champions

win at home to Sevilla on Sunday.Diego Simeone’s Atletico have

lost only once in 10 meetings with Real in all competitions while Zin-edine Zidane tasted defeat as Re-al’s coach for the first time in nine matches in charge.

“The league is over,” Zidane con-ceded. “To lose at home to Atletico is a hard blow.”

“We take it as natural to be able to win here at the Bernabeu,” Simeone told reporters.

Griezmann exchanged a one-two with left back Filipe Luis as he headed into the box and steered a sweet, low shot inside the near post past goalkeeper Keylor Navas for his 13th league goal.

It was Atletico’s first goal in three

matches after two 0-0 draws and their renowned steely defence held firm to allow Real only the odd sight-ing of their net and just three clear chances for Cristiano Ronaldo.

“This match defines us as a team and we will continue to try and im-prove,” Simeone said.

Just past the half hour, Ronaldo had a free-kick punched away by Jan Oblak then Karim Benzema was narrowly wide with a shot across the face of goal after the ball had come back into the box.

Griezmann had his first chance in the 41st with a shot from outside the box that was set to dip under the bar before Navas leapt to tip it over.

A minute later, the Costa Rica goalkeeper went down at the foot of his near post to turn a shot from midfielder Koke away for a corner.

Navas also saved well from right back Juanfran in the second half while the Real onslaught in the final quarter produced only two headers on target for Ronaldo, nei-ther of much trouble to Oblak.

Danilo, playing at left back in place of fellow Brazilian Marcelo who missed the match with mus-cle fatigue, started a break deep in the Real half and was just wide of the far post with the finish in the home side’s last hope of an equaliser. - Reuters

France striker

Antoine Griezmann

scored the only goal

in the 53rd minute

to put Atletico within

five points of leaders

Barcelona

WINNER: Atletico Madrid’s French forward Antoine Griezmann,

right, celebrates with teammate Koke after scoring a goal during

their Spanish La Liga match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in

Madrid on Saturday. – AFP

Champions Chelsea earned a 2-1 win at Southampton

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

HealthSECTIONC L I F E S T Y L E S U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

AFTER A LONG PERIOD of inactivity, especially after get-ting up from our sleep, we of-ten stretch instinctively. But have we ever thought is it a right thing to do or for that matter how important it is to incorpo-rate stretching in our everyday life as part of our exercise routine? As our body ages, our muscles and joints become stiff owing to lack of flexibility. And this further leads to poor posture causing several problems related to the spine, lower back, chest, and shoulders.

Doctors dealing with several stretch related issues say that a lack of flexibility makes a per-son more susceptible to muscle strains or other soft tissue inju-ries, thus hindering our day-to-day activities.

They say that stretching in-creases the blood flow to the muscles and thus reduce the muscle soreness.

But while we know the im-portance of stretching, do we know what the right way to do it is? There are several conflict-ing theories on stretching tech-niques and most people often do it incorrectly.

Recently two researchers, who reviewed about 20 years worth of stretching research published the results in the ac-ademic journal Applied Physiol-ogy, Nutrition, and Metabolism. They focused on the right ways of stretching and their report makes us rethink on everything that we knew about stretching.

According to David Behm, a research professor at the Me-morial University of Newfound-land’s School of Human Kinet-ics and Recreation in Canada, “Non-stretchers get tight mus-cles, causing pain, bad posture, and even less flexibility than you started with which only gets worse as you age”.

Highlighting on the stretches that we do involuntarily most of the time on waking up, David Behm says that it is not good for our muscles as in the morning, our muscles are the stiffest ow-ing to being inactive for hours and your body temperature drops when you sleep.

On similar note, Dr Mahmood Shehabullah, a sports medi-cine specialist in Oman, says that stretching is a must for all sorts of exercise. It stabilises the body’s natural balance and

posture and aligns the joints leading to better coordination. “For stretching age is no re-striction. People above 70 also can stretch their muscles but one should know how far they can stretch,” he says.

“But we should keep in mind that before we stretch we must warm up and should gauge the limit as well,” Dr Mahmood warns.

Here are the few significant benefits of stretching as per Dr Mahmood:

muscles.

balance and posture.-

ordination.

lower in harmony.

of lower limbs in front and back of the thigh i.e. quads and ham-strings as well as calf muscles which prevents cramps but the individual must be hydrated with formulated drinks.—swati@timesofoman.com

Do you know that regular stretching is just as important

as regular exercise? If not then it is time to include this

in your daily exercise routine as stretching has multiple

benefits for your body and mind.

STRETCHINGIS IMPORTANT

Must Do StretchesYou should be stretching all the major muscle groups to promote balance and overall well-be-ing, Dr David Behm says. At the very least, per-form a stretch (like the ones suggested below) for each of the areas listed below and hold for at least 20 seconds.

Shoulders: Extend one arm straight up overhead, bend the elbow and let the hand drop behind the head. Use your other hand to pull the elbow be-hind the head.Lower Back: Sit on the ground with both legs outstretched in front of you with your hands un-der softly bent knees. Use your hands to pull your upper body toward your legs.Quads: With one leg, take a large step forward. Keeping the back leg long  and front knee behind the front foot, bend the front knee and lower into a lunge. Repeat on the opposite side.Groin: Take a wide stance with both feet facing forward. Bend one knee to feel the stretch in the opposite leg. Repeat on the opposite side.Hamstrings: Sit on the ground with your legs apart and one knee bent with its heel against the opposite leg’s inner thigh. Keeping your extended knee locked down, reach toward  your extended foot. Repeat on opposite side.Calves: Stand in front of a wall with one leg stag-gered in front of the other. Place both palms on the wall and lean forward as you bend the back knee. Repeat on the opposite.

Story Swati Dasgupta

FIND-IT-ALLC6 S U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Dhuhr 12.25pmAsr 3.45pmMaghrib 6.14pmIsha 7.24pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 5.15am

PRAYER TIMINGS

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

SHATTIKings of Egypt – 3D (Adventure) 12+Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gerard Butler3:30, 9:00 & 11:30PMKings of Egypt – 2D (Adventure) 12+Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gerard Butler6:30PMDead Pool (Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi) 12+Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin3:00, 7:30, 9:30 & 11:45PMColonia (Mystery / Suspense / History) 15+Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin5:15, 9:30 & 11:45PMBarbie: Spy Squad (Animation | Family) TBCVoice Overs: Erica Lindbeck, Stephanie Sheh5:45PMZoolander 2 (Comedy) 12+Cast: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penélope Cruz3:45 & 7:15PM

MUSCAT GRAND MALLDead Pool – 2D (12+) Action | Sci-Fi |Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin3:35, 6:55, 9:30, 11:45 PMGold Class – 6:15 PMKings of Egypt – 2D (12+) AdventureCast: Brenton Thwaites, Nikolaj Coster12:00, 4:30, 9:00, 11:30 PMGold Class –3:30, 8:30, 11:00 PMZoolander 2 – 2D (12+) ComedyCast: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penélope Cruz2:30, 7:30 PMBarbie: Spy Squad – 2D (TBC) Animation Voice Overs: Erica Lindbeck, Stephanie Sheh2:05 PMAlvin & the Chipmunks: The Road Chip – 2D (PG) Animation | Adventure | ComedyVoice Overs: Jason Lee, Jesica Ahlberg12:15, 5:40 PM

PANORAMA MALLKings of Egypt (Adventure, Fantasy) (MX4D)Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gerard Butler3:30, 6:00, 8:30, 11:00 PM; (12+)Kings of Egypt-3D (Adventure) (12+)Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gerard Butler4:45, 7:00, 9:15, 11:45 PMKings of Egypt-3D (Adventure, Fantasy) (12+)-VIP LOUNGECast: Brenton Thwaites, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gerard Butler3:30, 6:15, 8:45, 11:15 PMZoolander 2-2D (Comedy) (12+)Cast: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penélope Cruz3:00, 5:00, 7:15 PMUnnatural-2D (Action, Horror) (15+)Cast: James Remar, Sherilyn Fenn5:30 PMColonia-2D (Drama) (15+)Cast: Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl, Michael Nyqvist3:15, 9:15, 11:30 PMDead Pool-2D (action, Adventure) (12+)Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin

2:30, 7:15, 9:30, 11:30 PM

AZAIBA Dead Pool (2D) (Action |Sci-Fi) (12+) Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin3:30, 6:30, 11:45 PMFitoor (2D) (Hindi) (Romance| Drama) (12+) Cast: Aditya Roy Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Tabu3:00, 6:15 PMKings of Egypt (3D) (Action | Adventure | Fantasy) (12+) Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gerard Butler3:00, 6:15, 9:00, 11:30 PMNeerja (2D) (Hindi) (Biographical) (PG12) Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azami2:45, 5:15, 7:30, 10:00, 11:30 PMKanithan (2D) (Tamil) (Action ) (TBC) Cast: Atharvaa Murali, Catherine Tresa8:45 PMAction Hero Biju (2D) (Mal) (Action) (PG12) Cast: Nivin Pauly, Anu Emmanuel, Devi Ajith9:00 PM

RUWIScreen 1Neerja (Action / Biography) –PG12

Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Shekhar Ravjiani3.30, 9.30 PMTere Bin Laden Dead or Alive (Comedy) –PG12Cast: Manish Paul, Pradhuman, Mia Uyeda, Ali Zafar6.30 PM

Screen 2Tere Bin Laden Dead or Alive (Comedy) –PG12Cast: Manish Paul, Pradhuman, Mia Uyeda, Ali Zafar3.45, 9.45 PMNeerja (Action / Biography) –PG12Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azmi6.45 PM

Screen 3Fitoor (Romance / Drama) –12 +Cast: Aditya Roy Kapur, Katrina Kaif, Tabu3.45, 9.45 PMSanam Re (Romance / Drama) –12 +Cast: Pulkit Samrat, Yami Gautam, Urvashi Rautela6.45 PM

SURKing of Egypt - 3D (Action | Adventure) (12+) Cast: Gerard Butler, Brenton Thwaites4:45, 7:10, 11:30 PMAction Hero Biju (Mal) (Action) (PG12) Cast: Nivin Pauly, Anu Emmanuel, Devi Ajith10:30 PMUnnatural (Action | Horror) (15+) Cast: James Remar, Sherilyn Fenn5:00, 8:45 PM.The Faith of Anna Waters (Horror) (15+) Cast: Matthew Settle, Elizabeth Rice7:00 PMDead Pool (Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi) (12+) Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin9:30 PM

SOHARDead Pool– 2D (Action/Sc-Fi) (12+)Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin2:45, 6:45, 11:30PMKings of Egypt-2D (Adventure) (12+)Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Nikolaj Coster2:45, 9:45PMKings of Egypt– 3D (Adventure) (12+)Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Nikolaj Coster3:30, 9:00, 11:30PMThe Benefactor – 2D (Drama) (15+)Cast: Richard Gere, Dakota Fanning5:00PMZoolander 2– 2D (Comedy) (12+)Cast: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penélope Cruz3:00, 7:15PMUnnatural – 2D (Action/Horror/Thriller) (15+)Cast: James Remar, Sherilyn Fenn5:00, 11:55PMColonia– 2D (Mystery/Suspense) (15+)Cast: Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl2:30, 9:30, 11:45PMTrumbo– 2D (Biographical) (PG12)Cast: Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren4:45PMNeerja– 2D (Biographical) (PG12)Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azmi6:45PMKanithan– 2D (Action/Thriller) (PG)Cast: Atharvaa Murali, Catherine Tresa,8:45PMMiruthan– 2D (Action/Romance) (15+)Cast: Jayam Ravi, Lakshmi Menon, Kali Venkat7:15PMAction Hero Biju – 2D (Action) (PG12)

Cast: Nivin Pauly, Anu Emmanuel, Devi Ajith

9:15PM

BURAIMIDead Pool (Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi) (12+) Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Moreno Baccarin7:05, 9.30, 11.30PMZoo lander 2 (Comedy) (12+) Cast: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penélope Cruz. 5.15, 7.30PMUnnatural (Action | Horror| Thriller) (15+) Cast: James Remar, Sherilyn Fenn9.50PM The Faith of Anna Waters (Horror) (15+) Cast: Matthew Settle, Elizabeth Rice5.30, 11.45PMKings of Egypt (3D) (Adventure) (12+) Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gerard Butler4.30, 9.05, 11.30PMAction Hero Biju- (Mal) (Action) PG12Cast: Nivin Pauly, Anu Emmanuel, Devi Ajith

7.15PM

SALALAHKings of Egypt (3D) (12+) (Action )Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Nikolaj Coster11:30, 2:15, 8:55, 11:30PMDead Pool (2D) (12+) (Action | Sci-Fi)Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin12:00, 2:25, 6:30, 11:55PMThe Faith of Anna Waters (2D) (15+) Cast: Matthew Settle, Elizabeth Rice4:15PMThe Benefactor (2D) (15+) (Drama) Cast: Richard Gere, Dakota Fanning4:45PMColonia (2D) (15+) (Mystery / Suspense) Cast: Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl2:00, 6:35, 11:35PMZoolander 2 (2D) (12+) (Comedy) Cast: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penelope Cruz11:45AM, 4:30PMNeerja (2D) (PG12) (Hindi | Biographical) Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azmi6:40PM Action Hero Biju (2D) (PG12) (Malayalam) Cast: Nivin Pauly, Anu Emmanuel, Devi Ajith9:05PMKanithan (2D) (TBC) (Tamil) (Action)Cast Atharvaa Murali, Catherine Tresa,8:45PM

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

@SOHAR @AZAIBA

Trumbo– 2D (Biographical) (PG12)Cast: Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren, Diane Lane4:45PM

Dead Pool (2D) (Action |Sci-Fi) (12+) Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller3:30, 6:30, 11:45 PM

BAHJA CINEMAFilm information 24540856 / Advance Booking

24540855

Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com

Kings of Egypt (Adventure / Fantasy)Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gerard Butler2.00, 5.30, 9.30 & 11.55 PM CP No: 341 (12+)The Faith of Anna Waters (Horror)Cast: Matthew Settle, Elizabeth Rice7.45 & 11.55 PM CP No: 342 (15+)Colonia (Drama / History / Romance)Cast: Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl, Michael Nyqvist2.00, 6.00 & 10.00 PM CP No: 343 (15+)Zoolander 2 (Comedy)Cast: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penelope Cruz4.00 & 8.00 PM CP No: 344 (12+)Barbie Spy Squad (Animation)Voice Overs: Erica Lindbeck, Stephanie Sheh, Jenny Pellicer4.15 PM; CP No: 345 (PG)

STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776

Website: www.isurf.co.om

Action Hero Biju (Mal) (Act\Comedy) Cast: Nivin Pauly & Anu Emmanuel 3:30, 6:30 & 9:30 PM Cinema Main Kanithan (Tamil) (Com \ Act) Cast: Atharvaa & Catherine Tresa 3:30, 6:30 & 9:30 PM Cinema –2 Neerja (Hindi) (Act\ Drama) Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azmi6:45 PM Cinema-4Pavaada (Mal) (Com\ Act) Cast: Prithviraj & Miya George3:45 & 9:45 PM Cinema -4 Aarathu Sinam (Tamil) (Act) Cast: Arulnithi & Aishwarya Rajesh 3:45, 6:45 & 9:45 PM Cinema -3Next Change: Puthiya Nitamam (Mal) on 3rd

March; Pokkiri Raja ( Tamil)

Programmes are subject to change

@PANORAMA MALL

Kings of Egypt (Adventure, Fantasy) (MX4D) (12+)Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gerard Butler3:30, 6:00, 8:30, 11:00 PM

WEATHER

280

Maximum

220

Minimum

TEMPERATURE

75-30%RELATIVE HUMIDITY

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 17 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to lifestyle@timesofoman.com

WITH LOVE

RIDA FATIMA RIZVI February 28, 2011

NIHAL M. BHATT February 28, 2008

LIFESTYLEC7S U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

ALTERNATIVEMEDICINE

Diet fads, new workout regimens, exotic health supplements — every day, people are inun-

dated with headlines about health trends. Out of the clutter and con-fusion a new, arguably more sen-sible, health movement is gaining traction: holistic living.

Taking a holistic health ap-proach means looking at your overall wellness from a big picture perspective. That means you take thoughtful steps to better your mental and physical health while doing things that bring you joy.

Wellness expert and culinary nutritionist Katie Cavuto em-braces holistic living and believes the best path to health is to look at each person’s journey through a broad lens. In honour of Almond Day 2016, she offers her best tips to help anyone get started living healthier by prioritising mind, body and earth benefits.

1. Savour Each Bite Take time to delight in the eating experience. Doing so helps you feel more satisfied with smaller portions of your favourite foods. Slow down to notice flavours, textures and changes as you chew each morsel.

2. Embrace Mindful SnackingFocusing the mind is nearly im-possible when hunger strikes. Almonds are the perfect portable snack to stave off hunger. Forget bland snacking by trying a new fla-vour of almonds to energise your taste buds.

3. Shift your Intentions Around Food Instead of focusing on dieting and will power, focus your energy on creating a nourishing, nutrient-dense plate of whole foods, and find bliss in your intention to care for yourself.

4. Try New Nutrient-Dense Ingredients From almond butter to almond milk, almond flour to whole al-monds, there are many ways to in-corporate almonds into your daily snacks and meals to ensure you’re consuming adequate amounts of key nutrients. Get easy ideas for wholesome meals and snacks at almonds.com.

5. Snack for Heart HealthScientific evidence suggests, but does not prove, that eating 1.5

ounces per day of most nuts, such as almonds, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease. One serving of almonds (28g) has 13g of unsaturated fat and only 1g of saturated fat.

6. Eat with Gratitude Gratitude practices can bring hap-piness. The same can be said for creating joyful eating experiences. Shared meals with loved ones can be uplifting and provide a positive boost to any day.

7. Create Convenience FoodsResist unhealthy vending machine temptations by preparing whole-some convenience foods. For ex-ample, just one serving of almonds contains 6 grams of protein. Keep servings in your car, gym bag, purse or office so you have a crave-worthy, crunchy snack on hand at all times.

8. Grow SomethingGrowing your own food is healthy and rewarding. Indoor container gardens are easy to maintain all year. Plus, the presence of plants in the home can improve air quality while reducing stress and anxiety.

9. Pre-Plan Breakfast Ensure you have time for this es-sential meal by preparing breakfast foods ahead of time. Make smoothie packets and store them in the freez-er, or blend up a smoothie the night before. Add a scoop of almond butter to create a more satisfying meal. -BPT

Older adults more positive about feelings

Adults above 60 have more positive response about feelings such as seren-ity, sadness and loneliness than young adults, a study has found. The research-ers found that older adults perceive emotion terms as most positive and more active than younger persons. Emotions overall may be more encour-aging for older than younger persons.

“Older adults report feeling more serenity than younger per-sons. They also have a richer concept of what it means to feel serene than younger persons,” said lead researcher Rebecca Ready from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the US. In the study, published in the journal of Aging and Mental Health, researchers recruited 32 older adults aged 60-92, and 111 younger adults aged 18-32 and then asked them to judge 70 emotion terms on whether the words had a positive or nega-tive connotation and if the words were activating or arousing. In a word grouping task, older adults associated more posi-tive emotional terms with serene, such as cheerful, happy and joyful than did younger people. The findings showed, word groupings were similar between older and younger persons for many words but they noted systematic differences for sad-ness, loneliness and serenity. “We were surprised to find that younger adults associated more self-deprecating terms with feeling sad and lonely, such as being ashamed or disgusted with themselves, than older persons,” Ready added.

Obese? You may become more forgetful

If you are obese, you are at risk of physical and psychological health prob-lems such as diabetes, heart disease, depression and anxiety. But, your high body mass index (BMI) is also likely to affect your episodic memory — the abil-ity to recall past events, warns a new study. A higher BMI was previously found to affect the structural and func-

tional changes in the brain. But, it may also be accompanied by a reduced ability to form and/or retrieve episodic memo-ries and also affect brain’s ability to perform certain cogni-tive tasks optimally, suggested the researchers. The results showed that obesity might also impair an individual’s ability to use memory to help regulate consumption. In other words, it is possible that becoming overweight may make it harder for an individual to keep track of what and how much he or she has eaten, potentially making one more likely to overeat. “The possibility that there may be episodic memory deficits in overweight individuals is of concern, especially given the growing evidence that episodic memory may have a consider-able influence on feeding behaviour and appetite regulation,” said Lucy Cheke, lecturer at the University. However, she cau-tioned that not all overweight people are necessarily forgetful. But if the results are generalised to memory in everyday life, then it could be that overweight people are less able to vividly relive details of past events — such as their past meals, the re-searchers explained in the study published in The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. Obesity has been previ-ously, linked with dysfunction of the hippocampus, an area of the brain involved in memory and learning, and of the frontal lobe, the part of the brain involved in decision-making, problem solving and emotions. Around 60 per cent of adults in Britain are overweight or obese: this number is predicted to rise to ap-proximately 70 per cent by 2034, the researchers noted. -IANS

H E A L T H N O T E S

Taking a Holistic Health Approach

Try this recipe to kick off your holistic living efforts with a burst of refreshing flavours:

Cucumber Salad with Lemon Almond Dressing Serves 4-6 Ingredients

Preparation

ingredients for the dressing.

with 1/4 cup of the dressing. Garnish with almonds.

LIFESTYLEC8 S U N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Keeps Infection AwayGarlic controls bacterial, viral, fungal, yeast, and worm infections. Fresh garlic prevents food poisoning by kill-ing bacteria like E. coli, Salmonella enteritidis and many others. Various scientific studies have confirmed the anti-fungal effects of garlic.

Prevents Clot Formation The anti-clotting properties of ajoene found in garlic help in pre-venting the formation of blood clots in the body. This is good for people with heart ailments and those prone to suffering from a stroke and other clotting disorders.

Keeps your BP in CheckAdd garlic to your daily meals to con-trol your blood pressure. You can also eat one pod of raw garlic on an empty stomach. It’s a safe natural therapy to curb hypertension as garlic has allicin which relaxes the blood vessels, thus reducing the pressure.

Protects your HeartWith age, your arteries tend to lose their ability to stretch and garlic can help maintain their elasticity. It also helps protect the heart from the dam-aging effects of free oxygen radicals.

Reduces Bad CholesterolThe allicin present in garlic helps moderately lower our blood triglyc-erides and total cholesterol. This compound also helps reduce arterial plaque formation.

Treats Throat InfectionThe daily use of garlic might reduce the frequency and number of colds. Its antibacterial properties help in treat-ing throat irritations. Garlic may also reduce the severity of upper respira-tory tract infections.

Relieves ToothacheIt can help relieve toothaches due to its antibacterial and analgesic properties. But be aware that it can be irritating to the gum. Simply put some crushed garlic clove directly on the affected tooth.

Helps you to Lose WeightGarlic helps us in losing weight. According to recent research, garlic may help to regulate the formation of fat cells in our body by converting pre-adipocytes to fat cells (adipocytes) by preventing the conversion.

Garlicand its many benefits

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

CONNECT H E D A I LY G U I D E

D

D4 VACANCY CARGO D7

S U N D AY, F E B R UA R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

RENT D2

*Tourist visa arranged

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

D2 S U N D AY, F E B R UA R Y 2 8 , 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 building

Spacious 2 BHK with sea view,

split A/Cs, fixed wardrobes,

kitchen appliance.

Near Opera Gallery.

Rent RO.900/- negotiable.

Contact - 94084335 / 96920789

Flat for rent at Al Khoudh behind

the Souq for families.

Contact: 95819528

Shop (rent 250/ 400) commercial

/ Residential building 1& 2 bed flat

(flat rent 350+ 250) available in

Wadi Kabir (Near Lulu) one bed flat

200/- Wadi Al Kabir (near Toyota.

Contact: 92325212 /99451168

Shop for rent Honda road, Ruwi.

Contact: 99481931

Flats for rent 2BHK sitting room,

3 bathrooms, kitchen, big balcony

split A/C Wadi AL Kabir 300/-

R.O. Contact: 99324402

Single bedroom flats behind Ger-

man embassy nearer to Al Nahdha

hospital. Contact: 99203954

One bedroom flat with two toilets

required near Al Falaj Rex road area.

Contact: 98411825/96245923

Flats in Darsait. 94051789-

97201688

Flats in Wadi Kabir. 94051789-

97201688

Fully Furnished apartments in

Boucher (35). 94051789-97201688

New building office for rent

Muttrah 2nd floor. Contact:

99364735/24714791/95729711

Single room with A/C & WIFI

having separate entrance for

non –cooking Indian execu-

tive, near Rawasco, AL Khu-

wair rent 130/- (W& E). Contact

92888691/95397442/97201100

Warehouse at wadi Kabir 300SQM

– 6 MTR, height. Contact: 99711949

Room Al Khuwair R.O 110/-.

Contact: 97799175

Spacious well maintained 2BHK

in Rex Road from 1st May.

Contact 92227165

Flat with two rooms with window

A/C, with toilets & car parking

way No: 1670 north Al Hail near

Dosteen restaurant 1KM Inside.

Contact: 99238334

2BHK split A/C 320/- monthly

& 1 BHK split A/C 250/- Ghobrah

south near Grand mosque.

Contact: 99342661

3 BHK flats 2Nos with A/C new

building behind Muscat

bakery opposite Mars supermar-

ket at Wadi AL Kabir. Contact:

99338133/92103604

2BHK split A/C 200/- Monthly

& 1BHK spilt A/C 150/- monthly

new building good location Barka

Market. Contact: 99342661

3BHK in Qurum P.D.O high 350/-

Monthly. Contact: 99342661

Flats in Muttrah. 94051789-

97201688

Offices in Ghala. 94051789-

97201688

2 Bedroom ground floor apart-

ment with sitting & 2 baths + big

kitchen close to Indian School near

to Maya supermarket Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 98011224

Offices & Showrooms in Muttrah.

94051789-97201688

For rent in Misfah near Oman

cement 600sqm shed.

Contact: 96177220

Duplex villa in Qurum 29.

94051789-97201688

Offices & Showrooms in

Al Khoud.94051789-97201688

1 BHK flat with split A.C, balcony

near Wadi Adai signal.

Contact: 95042855

Brand new villas in Al Ansab.

94051789-97201688

For rent and investment Land

industrial shops in Rusayl.

Contact: 99323957 / 95490842

2 bedrooms flat for rent in Azaiba

with split ac. 300/ monthly.

Contact- 92447365

Full furniture room for rent for

family monthly 200/- .

Contact: 99251975

Flats in Qurum. Contact

94051789-97201688

Villa is composed of 5 bedrooms

and sitting toilets and 5 living

room, kitchen and Seeb (North

Al Hail). Contact: 91130875

2 BHK flat for rent Darsait near

Muscat Pharmacy, ISM.

Contact: 95158570

One / two B/R , RES / Comm flat

near Bank Muscat Bausher directly

from owner. Contact: 92158031

3 Rooms, 2 Toilets Flat for Rent.

18 November Street. Near Mars Hy-

permarket and The Chedi. Ghobrah

-Good for Commercial or Residential

use. OMR 295/- month.

Call 94477222

2 BHK fully furnished flat at Ruwi

MBD area. Contact – 93211557 /

24814853

We have 2BHK office, flats for

rent in Ghobrah, Azaiba, Ghala Al

Khuwair prime location. Contact:

93782735/99208033

Villa in Al-Khuwair 33. Quality

Finishing. Consist 5 Bedrooms, 1

Living room, 3 Lounges, All with A/C,

Kitchen and storage.

Contact: 90665135

1BHK near medical Darsait R.O 180/-

Contact: 95076261

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

DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, F E B R UA R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 6 D3

FOR RENT

FOR SALE

FOR SALE

WAREHOUSE AVAILABLE FOR RENT

IN BALADIA SANAYAH AMIRAT

(Floor area 600sqmtrs and mezzanine of 500sqmtrs)

1100sqmts fully cover warehouse

Please contact: G.S.M

99417229/92621039

Running shop with paint machine for sale in kadra

- - 260 Square meters- Warehouse facility

BUILDING MATERIAL SHOP FOR SALE

9322 3382 or mail to cs@mpesllc.com

Scrap for sale to inspection. Con-

tact Mr. Ravi Nair: 99329514

Big shop for sale near K.M Trading

Ruwi. Contact: 99636476

Nursery School for sale. Well es-

tablished Nursery school running

for over 18 years in Muscat with

all Furniture, Play Equipments,

Licenses & Permits for immediate

sale. Whatsapp: 99353017

Email: nurserymuscat@gmail.com

Land for sale in a very excel-

lent location on the first line of

a common area of November 18

1892 adjacent to the company’s

life required 300 meters of the RO.

Contact: 96262686

Space for printing press available

at wadikabir with or without

machinery. Contact 99328430

Shop for sale in Al Khoudh.

Contact: 92820541

Shop for sale near Oman House,

Muttrah. Contact 99024362.

Porta cabin for sale in Misfah.

Contact: 99442438 / 96578789

Tailoring shop for sale Al Khuwair.

Contact: 96500940

Fire rated portacabins and steel

caravans. ContacT: 94058574

An optical outlet for sunglasses

and frames in a big hypermarket in

Ruwi with goods and scratch less

furniture with (or without) stock.

Contact: 98010203

Small business for sale in

reputable shopping center.

Contact 97207440

Very good furnished space for sale

in a busy hypermarket in Ruwi.

Contact: 98010203 Marble factory for sale

location Misfah. Contact:

99489453/99838439

Luxury Apartments in Bousher

(35). 95056808-97201688

Almost new beach/ garden lounge

chairs /bar stools/ counter. Photos

can be sent 95865457

Single colorful Bed and Sofa

for Sale at Al Khuwair.

Contact 92881849 / What`s up No

97290565

Commercial flats of 3 & 2 BHK

in Al Ghobra North 18 Nov street

RO.650/- & 450/- #91776665

Brand new villas in Al Ansab.

Contact - 94051789-97201688

Flats in WadiKabir. Contact - 94051789-97201688

Wadi Kabir new building 2 bed-

rooms rent. Contact: 99313274

2 BHK flat behind Nesto hyper-

market with split A/C R.O 220/.

Contact 91642157/97653524

Flats, 3 Rooms & AC, kitchen, hall,

in Al Mabela South, rent RO. 250/-

Contact - 99377290

2BHK Darsait R.O 300/-.

Contact: 92144045/7799175

1BHK Wadi Kabeer R.O 210/-.

Contact: 92144045/97799175

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

5 BHK villa Qurum R.O 700/-.

Contact 92144045/97799175

Office space 350 Sqm, C.B.D.

Contact: 99024730

1BHK Darsait I.S.D R.O 225/-.

Contact: 92144045/97799175

Flat, 1 bedroom, kitchen, toilet in

AL Khuwair family bachelors

R.O 160/-. Contact: 95154331

One flat with split unit A/CS, two

bedroom, sitting room and kitchen

Al-Ghobrah south, stadium side,

RO.315/- Contact - 99310551 (Said)

House in Amerat near to Makah

hypermarket with 3 room+ 5 toilet+

hall+ living room+ kitchen.

Contact 98885055/ 92744168

Ghobrah. Big bedroom, bathroom,

huge terrace. Non-cooking Indian

female/male - Manager/Sr. Exec.

Vegetarian non-drinkers only.

Contact 99283938

1BHK Flat with spilt A/C near

star cinema 210/-. Contact:

99358589/95570288 /97079146

Concrete Batching Plant for sale

A good running condition,

UK Pemat Mixer, 50CBM

Per hour production

capacity Plant for sale.

Interested parties may please call

Mr Mateen - 92892209Sreejith - 99478263

Contact : 24 70 30 60

FOR RENT RUWI :

Ware House - 630 M2

SPACIOUS -2 B H K FLATS

& 1 B H K

CBD: SHOWROOM & OFFICE-

Mezz.fl oor

1 No. Prado VX 8 SPL A/T (model 2008) KM: 350694

Colour: white pearl (petrol)

1 No. Corolla 1.8 XLI PWR A/T (model 2008) KM: 245071)

Colour: super white

desbyrne@omantel.net.om

FOR SALE

Flat for rent south Al Mabela.

Contact: 95331177/95230355

2 Bedrooms, kitchen, toilet, car

park R.O 200/- & 1 bedroom,

kitchen, toilet R.O 140 in

Al Khuwair. Contact: 95154331

1 Bed room, sharing K& T, R.O 100,

2 bedrooms , sharing K& T R.O

200/- in AL Khuwair.

Contact: 95154331

Luxury villa of 5 BHK in Al Khuwair

33 RO.650/- Contact – 91776665

Villa 2bedroom, 1 sitting room,

small hall, Kitchen & 2 bath-

room behind Sultan center south

Mawalah 300/- O.R.

Contact: 92757673 /99388138

Warehouse at Wadikabir - total

area 3500 sqm - covered ware-

house (500sqm), office,

accommodation (1000sqm), open

area (2000sqm) please

contact: 99273774 - 99202278

Flats for rent at Mawaleh near

Omantel main office opposite Lulu

bandar comprises 3 rooms,

2 toilets and one kitchen OMR 250/-

Per month. Contact: 93131497 or

99203435

Shop for rent near Al Nahdha

Hospital. Contact: 97380548 /

99680499

1/2/3 bedrooms flats at Al Hail

including utilities bills 92817777

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

2 BHK Flats for rent, Muttrah near

Oman house S/ AC.

Contact: 97007934 / 92629232

ACC. AVAILABLE

Furnished room attached bath for

Indian bachelor & lady Wadi Kabir

near Mars hypermarket.

Contact: 96202458/96761960

Bachelor room available in

Al Khuwair. Contact: 95250161

Sharing room partner required for

executive bachelor in Ruwi shar-

ing toilets, including (E& W) WIFI

is available in Ruwi, OPP Karama

hypermarket rent 60/- R.O.

Contact: 92205097/91384654

Execute bachelor room available

behind Kamat restaurant

Al Khuwair for nesses.

Contact 94271085 /92261906

Spacious room semi furnished

with attached bath neat Ruwi

roundabout. Contact: 96612979

Spacious semi furnished room with

separate bathroom for executive

bachelor opposite OC centre Ruwi.

Call: 92273779

Dental clinic for sale in Seeb.

Contact: 92882209/96373097

HD Scaffoldings, 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

Villas in Al Khoud. 95056808-

97201688

Well established coffee

shop / restaurant prime loca-

tion at AL Khoud. Contact:

92188777/98700760

A well Established Indian restau-

rant with all necessary equipments

well qualified staff furnished party

hall (capacity 150) is up for

immediate sale at MBD area.

Contact: 92978956

Steel Scrap materials for

immediate sale:

Contact 99273774/ 99202278

SALE OF OWNERSHIP OF INSTITUTE A new fully furnished institute with one UK brand

English learning franchise program with study

materials at prime location, near City Center,

near Shell Petrol Pump, Mawelah, Muscat.

Interested persons contact: infoduqumoil@gmail.com or call on

GSM 92828693

Contact Person

Mr.Mudassir :99314330

Mr.Joao Pereira: 99435952

RESTAURANT

AVAILABLE

FOR RENT Of area 500 Sq mts with well

equipped kitchen and dining

facility on Ground Floor at

DARVESH Building,

Near Royal Hospital.

Original Qualifying examination certificate of main secondary

examination of the years 2007, Roll

No. 6104803 and senior second-

ary examination, year 2009. Roll

No. 6203610 issued by CBSE has

been lost. Name of the candidate

shaimoon haque.

Contact: +968 93952538

600 M2 showroom or office in

Bousher in front of Dolphin

complex. RO.3.5 per m2.

Contact 91776665

Fully Furnished apartments in

Boucher (35) 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 flat in Remalbow-

sher. RO.550/-

Contact – 91776665

Mini Furnished Apartment in

Qurum. Contact 94051789-

97201688

Spacious 1 BHK flat in Al Wattaya

with all split A/C’s and parking.

RO.300/-Contact – 91776665

Offices & Showrooms in Al Khoud. Contact 94051789-

97201688

Offices & Showrooms in Muttrah.

Contact - 94051789-97201688

Flats in Darsait. Contact -

94051789-97201688

Offices in Qurum opposite City

Center. Contact 94051789-

97201688

Duplex villa in Qurum 29.

Contact - 94051789-

97201688

FOR RENT

Room for rent with furniture.

Al Bustan villeage.

Contact 93687466

Single rooms with kitchen

available at Ruwi. Contact:

91214897/98049288

Furnished bedroom with at-

tached bath and kitchen separate

entrance available for executive

bachelor for R.O 150/- All inclusive

in a villa opp star cinema.

Contact: 99314807

Room with attached bathroom

and sharing kitchen available for

Executive bachelor or small

family at wadikabir

Contact 9304 9849

Room available in Mumtaz area

1 room, 1 Bathroom, Kitchen &

1 room, common bathroom.

Interested please Contact:

92680041 Mr. Altaf

ACC. AVAILABLE

LOST

AVAILABLE

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirt-

ing, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery,

Crockery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes,

Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound

Systems and spectacular lighting.

Call Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering

and Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound &

Light. ww.tunesoman.com,

E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

ACC.WANTED

Accommodation required with

food for 1 month, bachelor for

March month.

Preferably Al Ghobrah area.

Contact: 99335742

DAILY GUIDED4 S U N D AY, F E B R UA R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

DRIVER

MEDICAL

ADMIN

ADMIN

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

DRAUGHTSMAN

SALES / MARKETING

SALES / MARKETING

Required urgently a Legal Consultant/ Lawyer for reputed

law firm in Sohar, Muscat. Can-

didates should have 5-7 years

experience as a Legal Consultant/

Lawyer with good knowledge of

Computer & should be fluent 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

firms 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

DOMESTIC HELP

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

Part time Accounting / Data entry services. Contact: 93477447 25 Years/Male Indian/B.com with

2 Years Experience/Seeking Job in

Finance and accounts/Skills Tally

ERP9/SAP-FICO/MS Office. Immedi-

ately Joining.

Contact No: +96897184087

Email: modi_harshal@ymail.com

Indian male Accountant look-

ing for a suitable placement in

Salalah. More than 20 years exp

in accounting job (up to finaliza-

tion of accounts) 8 years working

experience in middle east in Dubai,

Muscat & Salalah.

Contact - 91325029

24 Male/Indian/MBA finance

fresher /B.com seeking opportuni-

ties in corporate finance/Banking

.Immediately available.

Contact: 93990638

Email: sachu0318@gmail.com

Experienced Accountant seeks

suitable placement. NOC available.

Contact: 96902860

MBA male 7 Years GCC exp ac-

counts & admin. Valid Omani driving

license. Quick books n tally software.

Contact - 96763275

Indian male, 22 yrs B.SC gradu-

ate having computer knowledge

and valid Oman driving license

presently in Oman seeks suitable

placements in accounting field or

office. Contact: 92508069

Chief Accountant 25 years expe-

rienced looking for part/full time

accountant job.

Contact: 95598477/98803439

Sri Lankan Male, Holder of Diploma

in Management Accounting and

Student of Chartered institute of

Management Accountants (CIMA).

Have 3years accounting experience

I am available at Muscat on VISIT

VISA GSM: 90660764

E-mail:insafali92@gmail.com

Indian male 40 yrs knows M.S Of-

fice excel & Tally 2 yrs experience

in account & 2 yrs experience in

marketing valid D/L seeks suitable

placement in marketing.

Contact: 92409891

Email: danoman@yahoo.co.in

MBA finance with total experi-

ence of 4 years in finance opera-

tions (management information

system) sales / Marketing and

retail currently 3 month on visit

visa. Contact: +968 99739330 /

+968 91966020

Email: faiz.faisal3@gmail.com

M.com (finance) post gradu-

ate having 3 years experience in

processing, accounting customer

care with multinational companies

seeking suitable placement in

Oman. Contact: 92794845 Email:

sowas.peer@gmail.com

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

Finance Manager with 20 years

of experience in EPC contractors

looking for a suitable position

NOC/ visa transferable.

Contact: 93245973

Chartered Accountant - Indian

with 8 yrs + Exp in Finance/Ac-

counts/Auditing in Oman & UAE.

Seeking suitable position in Mus-

cat/Dubai and available immedi-

ately for joining. NOC Available,

urgent available till 29th Feb in

Oman. Contact #: 98707434

Email: casmart007@gmail.com

Indian Male 28, M. Com with 3 yr

Oman exp in Accounts with valid

D/L on visit Visa available to join

immediately. GSM: 94744575.

Email:sidharth673@gmail.com

Jordanian, Senior accountant, 15

yrs experience in Oman finance &

accountant. Contact: 92881223

Account Assistant, experienced,

BBA, M.COM, logistics diploma, can

work in current visa ph: 98269281

MBA in finance having 3 years

experience in India looking for job

as accountant. Cashier or store

keeping living in Oman in visit

visa. Contact: 99181193

Internal Auditor Presently in

Oman & having 2 years of Gulf

experience and 7+ experience in

accounts & Auditing with valid

GCC driving license looking for an

opportunity in Oman, Qatar, UAE.

Contact +968 99356707

Indian male 7 years Oman exp,

Tally ERP 9, Accounting, Inventory

Controller/Asset Supervisor & IT

Supports seeking suitable job. NOC

available. B.Com, PGDCA, location So-

har, having Oman D/L, #98317698.

Email: sukuanilkumar@gmail.com

Indian male, B.Com with 6 years

experience as an Accountant,

looking for suitable placement.

Mob: 93903458 ,

Email : Akkandyrijesh@gmail.com

Indian male 25 B.Com (graduate)

2 years experience as accountant

in country club India with ERP ora-

cle r12, tally knowledge. On visit

visa immediately available.

Email: shabi.hyd@gmail.com

Contact- 9042-1161

Indian male accountant B.com,

M.com with 7 years experience

including gulf on tourist visa.

Contact: 91651695

Email: danishpa2005@gmail.com

Accounting Services for small/

medium Businesses. Accounting

from Data Entry to preparation

of P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash flow

and complete reports for auditing

Contact: 99679247

Part time up to finalization.

Contact: 91126314

Indian female accountant 8 years

exp in Oman. Contact: 93726921

Accounts finance 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

Sri Lankan male 5yrs experienced

in Sales & Accounts, seeking

suitable position with NOC &

DL.Contact:93369940

Indian male MBA (F) with 6 years

of experience as accountant pro-

ficiency in A/C software like tally,

focus, Sap (FICO) seeking suitable

placement. Contact: 98665219

Email: abdulhameed1527@gmail.com

Indian Male Accountant 10yrs Exp.

in OMAN Retail & Furniture Co. (Re-

lease Available) GSM.92564955

Accounting Assistant, BBA

M.Com, tally, peach tree, can work

on current visa ph: 98269281

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, with

13yrs experience, 6 yrs Oman in

manufacturing, trading & con-

tracting Cos, capable of handling

all accounting, finance, banking,

L/C, import, export & finalization

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

finalization. Currently employed

in Oman. Having D/L & NOC.

Mob: 94122464,

Email: cammk13@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

Urgently required building mate-rials Sales Man with valid Oman

D/License. Contact: 91295985

Building material company look-ing for a Marketer with experience.

Contact: 95342240 & send CV to

Email: venice.decoration@gmail.com

Required experienced Plumber with knowledge in copper, G. I

pipe and U.P.V.C Drainage work & Electrician knowledge in cable tray,

trunking, cable termination works.

Contact: 24505708 / 92830203

Email: excelgrd123@gmail.com

Required gulf experienced Accountant cum Admin. Contact: +968 24494748,

Email:admin@aljazeeraglobal.com

Accountant with gulf experience

in construction field preferred with

Oman driving license. Interested

candidates send CV to:

Email: omanhari@yahoo.com

Gsm: 95892831/95197615

Account & finance exp 7 years

experience must have experi-

ence of service industry in billing

department with full knowledge

of accounts , valid Omani driving

license. Send your CV to email

address: info@albatnapp.com

QHSSE ADVISOR - Interna-

tional Oilfield Services Company

requires a NEBOSH qualified

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

Looking for a part-time cook-cum-housemaid in Azaiba.

Call 92450197.

Looking for full-time Housemaid - please call 99385119.

Required Cleaners & office boys. Contact 24707833

Looking for Indian or Bangla-deshi cook and Porata, Chapatti, maker for restaurant at Misfah.

Contact: 95212017

CATERING

MANAGER/SUPERVI.

MISCELLANEOUSCivil Engineer with minimum 5/8

years experience with valid Oman

driving license. Contact Interested

candidates send CV to:

Email: omanhari@yahoo.com

Gsm: 95892831/95197615

MEP Engineer minimum Diploma

5 years experience in building

construction and with driving

license. Contact- Fax- 24478522 /

Email – gh1.careers@gmail.com

Décor Company looking for an Engineer or Technician deco-

rated with experience. Contact:

95342240 & send CV to Email:

venice.decoration@gmail.com

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

Required candidates for following

posts: Accountant, Storekeeper, Foreman Building Maintenance, Van-salesman (water), Helpers. Candidates with Omani driving

license preferred.

Contact 99273774/99202278

Wanted driver. Contact: 91025698

Part or full time Driver Required

call us 91120552

Required a driver (light driver).

Contact: 92392979

ENGINEER

REQUIRED PROJECT MANAGER

FDuqm/Oman

20+ years experience preferably in Oman/ GCC with valid D/L

and transferable visa, computer literate. Send CV to Email :

omanproject2011@gmail.com

URGENTLY REQUIRED Muscat based Modular Kitchen

Company is looking for Sales & M E

Factory In charge

Must have minimum 2 years experience,

valid Omani D/ L and NOC Mob: 98989162, Email:

omansales2016@gmail.com

Required Civil Draftsman full time

/ part time. Contact: 99334706

MEP DRAFTMEN Required with 4

to 5 Years Oman Experience. Mail

your CV @ trustllc@yahoo.com

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

Required Gulf experienced Cleaning Supervisor, with /

without GCC driving license.

Contact: +968 24494748,

admin@aljazeeraglobal.com

Required Construction Forman Oman Driving License required, 2+

years’ Experience 93246786

Urgently wanted the following

staff for reputed Aluminium Com-

pany in Ghala Sales Manager & Factory Foreman. Please contact

– 96404166 / mail CV to –

mansoormohd2011@gmail.com

SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED

28/male/MBA - finance/B.Com -

Accountant with 4 years of Dubai/

India experience looking for a

suitable placement. #90187483

shobinkarikkan1987@gmail.com

Required Smart, dynamic Sales & Marketing Executive having 2-3

years sales experience in building

materials for Omani branded prod-

uct. Omani Driving License and NOC

is must. Apply with photograph to

E-mail: jobdsint@gmail.com.

Experienced Graduates/MBAs with pleasing personality, excel-

lent communication skills and

own car for sales & marketing with

leading media enterprise.

jobs@interacoman.com

Urgently required female person to work at the retail shop for imme-

diate appointment.Housemaid with

release may apply. For enquirers

please Whatsapp: 95907300

Required Salesman, Tailor and Barber. Contact: 96964767

Software company is recruiting

minimum 2-3 years experienced

Female Tele Sales Executive. Interested candidates are requested

to send their resume to-

omanerpsales@gmail.com

Wanted Marketing Personnel for Construction Company,

visa available. Contact: 95286741

Marketing Managers (girls for

Arabic restaurant) with mini-

mum 5/6 years gulf experience

with valid Oman driving license.

Preferred GCC people. Interested

candidates send CV to:

Email: omanhari@yahoo.com

Gsm: 95892831/95197615

Looking for Sales & Marketing Executive to represent one of

India’s leading builder, Real Es-

tate Experience - 2 Years Driving

License (Optional) please send CV

to Xpatindian.oman@gmail.com

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

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

Required Part- time Executive Secretary with Driving License,

capable of self-drafting letters

with financial & legal back ground.

Contact: 95634747

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE

GP doctor needed for reputed clinic.

Preferably with MOH license or with

Dataflow & Paramatics pass.

Contact 95388934

Urgently required Midwifery female Nurse 5 years experience

with 60%prometric first preference

to local release or local visit please

Bring complete CV.

Contact: 99376848 /99648532

Wanted orthodontist and female nurses for dental clinic muscat.

PH: 93756082.

email:dentmax25@gmail.com

Wanted Nurse for a dental centre in

capital area. Interested may contact

– 93431024 or send CV to –

drasyanaseem@gmail.com

Required gynecologist GEN: practitioner lady lab Technician and pharmacologist immediately

for a clinic in Suwaiq. #95081010

Email: umchealthcare@gmail.com

A Female Postgraduate with over 5

years of working experience in HR/

Business Development/Banking/

Admin/Coordinative/Secretarial du-

ties seeks a suitable placement.

Contact 99357522/92800281

Indian male MBA / HR and market-

ing 2 years experience in royal bank

of Scotland looking for opportunities

in banking operating marking and

HR services excellent communica-

tion Kills. Contact: 90661245

Indian male 40years experienced

about 12 years in banking credit

risk department UAE and INDIA

with UAE driving license, on visit

visa looking for suitable

opportunity, please contact

mobile# 91305978

E-mail Hani.leo@gmail.com

15 years of working experience in

Business development in Oman & UAE

& UK , marketing plans and strategies

& importing firewoks for festivals &

preparing government tenders , Op-

erations and logistics , importing and

international business trading , CNC

engineering & industrial areas , I have

dual nationality (I can travel abroad

easily without needing visa, for final-

izing business trading NOC available.

Contact: 94123939

Indian male 40 years MBA with 11

years experience in Admin & HR

as HR & Admin manager with valid

Oman license seeking suitable

placement release/ NOC available .

Contact: 97782843 Email: vinodh-

pkd@yahoo.com

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

Indian Female, MBA-HR having 8+

experience in Administration/HR,

Customer Support, Office 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 & Public

relationship. Fluent in Arabic/

English with D/L. Looking for suit-

able position. Contact - 99897280

8 years of intensive Oman experi-

ence in procurement & supply chain

management looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 97755488

Indian female, Masters in HR, hav-

ing 4 + years Oman experience in

media management and HR, look-

ing for openings in HR, Education,

Admin, Corporate communications.

Contact 98252030

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

Indian male 25 yrs, Graduate in

commerce, overall 5 yrs exp in ac-

counts/ finance field. On visit visa.

Immediately available. #92836216 /

muhammad.tausif623@gmail.com

Indian female (25) M.com Finance,

3 yrs, exp in accounts / finance

seeks suitable position in corpo-

rate finance / Banking / consulting

purchase coordination / Admin now

in family visa. Contact: 96953705

Email: prapullasuvarna@gamil.com

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 suitable

position. Contact: 99624044,

mail: np.neethu1@gmail.com.

Young 24, ACCA affiliate,

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

Accounts part time services

available to handle all accounts up

to finalization, on Monthly basis

finalization and consulting works.

Contact: 96247295

DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, F E B R UA R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 6 D5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

DRIVER

ADMIN

CATERING

DESIGNER/DRAUGHTSMAN

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

Cooks (Arabic Indian) gulf exp

looking job. Contact: 99531802

Finance / Project/Program Manager Professional

Country Exposure Canada &

Canadian, In Person Interview on Sundays

Contact No: 97203531, +923352855176

Interior designer 4years experi-

ence design and supervision skills

(3D Max AutoCAD Photoshop.

Contact: 95246737

Email: yassalnajjar@gmail.com

Autocad Drafting, part time/

full time, 2D & 3D, Architectural,

Structural, MEP, Shop drawing ,

experienced. Ph: 90189070

AutoCAD draftsman experience 2

years. Contact: 93738335 /95809393

Email: mammoosing@gmail.com

Autocad D/MAN, experienced,

2D & 3D, ARCH, Structural, Revit,

Interior Dwg PH: 93837973

Interior Designer 3 years

experience, AutoCAD 2D & 3D

Max & Photoshop.

Contact number: 99025312

DOMESTIC HELP

Indian male, 22 Chemical Engineer

residing in Oman looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 92379181

Indian Male, 24, B.Tech with electri-

cal & electronics & PG Diploma in

Automation & Scada with 2 years

KSEB experience is looking for a

suitable position. Contact 95340253

HSE Engineer (BE Mech + Dip in

Safety+ NEBOSH + OSHA), 10 yrs

exp, NOC Available, seeking suit-

able placement: Mob: 97061817;

email:jayanammu1977@gmail.com

Indian male senior electrical engi-

neer 10yrs experience in all kinds of

LV, HV works residential commercial

infrastructure looking for a suitable

position. Contact: 93676607

Indian male Electrical Engineer, 7 years experience, valid GCC driv-

ing license, NOC available looking

for suitable job. Contact: 96137008

Email: joshuaruarkfernandez@gmail.

com

HSE Engineer (B.E Mech+Diploma

Safety+NEBOSH+OSHA) over

10yrs. Exp, (Visa Release Letter

(NOC) available), seeking suit-

able placement, Mob:97061817,

Email:jayanammu1977@gmail.com

B.SC civil Engineer, road construc-

tion field with 13 years experience

in Oman. Contact: 92200485

Pakistani male 27 years IT En-

gineer computer skill ms office,

excel, word, net working installa-

tion for mating, window, intent and

data curtly, Oman experience

2 years. Contact: 94568628

B.S.C, MSC (IT) 7.4, 1 year Al

Eassa Al Dayssi L.L.C in Bahrain,

4 years Asma computers system

engineer, Chennai 32 age. Content:

+918608247110

Email: samad3301@gmail.com

SAP / ABAP certified, Indian female

(30 yrs), BCA, MCA, ASP.Net certified

having 1.5 yrs of experience seeking

placement. # 99109121

Email: ashamaryphilp@gmail.com

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 certified, came

to Oman on visit seeking a suitable

placement. Contact: 96910605

IT 8 yrs + GCC experience DW/

Business intelligence Sap oracle

data analyst informatica Qlik view

immediately available D/L.

Contact: 94504554

Email: shijasj@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

LOGISTICS

IT

IT

Pakistani male 30 years with

4 years experience in driving

license (Oman) light.

Contact: 97469730

Light vehicle driver GCC license

seeking for job.

Contact: 94801679

Looking for job driver 10 yrs exp.

Contact: 99035942

Indian light driver cum house

cleaner. Contact: 96255558

/99415443

20 years embassy experience

male driver looking for job valid

visa available. Contact: 94297820

Light driver for job experience

K.S.A & Oman 9 years.

Contact: 94297563

Looking for job driver K.S.A

7 years & Oman 5 years education

H.S.C. Contact: 93940319

L/V driving license experience

4 years in Oman 27 years old.

Contact: 99454890

Pakistani male light vehicle

driver looking for job.

Contact: 97690766

Bangladeshi male light vehicle

driver looking for job.

Contact: 95601163

Light driver with car.

Contact: 96379697

Driver with car 2015 model,

speak British English.

Contact: 94039796

Looking for job car driver.

Contact: 98388947

Looking for job as office boy. Contact: 94640906 Email:

angelchowdhury515@gamil.com

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

Mechanical Engineer (B.Tech Indian

male 5 years experience Indian and

Oman (PDO projects) currently on

visiting visa & NOC available (as per

new rule). Contact: 94258289

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

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 refinery. 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

Indian male Electrical Engineer with MBA (Mktg) having 4 and half

years experience in technical com-

mercial and marketing fields with

valid GCC D/L, NOC available seeking

placement. Contact: + 968 96547828

Email: deva0234@gmail.com

Pakistani male seeking job site

supervisor (civil) age 24 years

with 2 years experience ( Oman)

valid Oman driving (license ) light.

Contact: 94712273

Electrical Engineer, Indian male

23 years, 2 years experience HV/

LV design experience in Oman

based projects experience on visit

visa. Contact: 99729860

Email: vivekcet888@gmail.com

Indian Male Degree Holder BE (civil) having 11 years of Oman

experience with valid Oman driv-

ing license looking for a suitable

job .NOC available and ready to

join immediately.

Mobile: 93803950.

Mail:kavinvasi2007@gmail.com

Civil Engineer (B.sc) 5yrs exp. in

const. with Oman D/L.

Contact: 96045025

Email:talal.faroug@gmail.com

Indian male, 36 years, BE (electri-

cal), MBA 12 years exp

(maintenance of electrical equip-

ment, transformer, grid & sail, RSP

exp in India, looking for suitable

job in Oman, please

Contact: 00919437648101 Mail Id:

kushikkumarsahoo@rediffmail.

com

B.SC Civil Engineer 27 yrs Oman

experience as project manager,

structural Engineer looking for

suitable placement NOC/

LOCAL transfer available.

Contact: 99349578

Email: farooqatm@hotmail.com

BE Mechatronics and robotics

Engg and basic knowledge in

computers and CNC Operations.

multilingual skills age 23, looking

for a suitable placement.

Contact: 92552789

Email: ashwinreghu3@gmail.com

BE – Engineer looking for suitable

job experience in plant electrical

utility maintenance transformers

Plc drive panel

control wiring on crane A/R

Compressor ETC now on visit visa.

Contact: 90628814/93872441 Sudanese civil Engineer three

years experience with NOC.

Contact: 96297316

Email: abdallakoty22@gmail.com Diploma in Mechanical 75%

B. E mechanical 75% 5 years

Sresenthil Engineer Company

production planning designing.

Contact: +919003612305

Email: prabugn28@gmail.com

Mechtronics Engineer, Indian

male 2 yrs exp in industrial auto-

mation & maintenance, seeking

suitable job. Presently on visiting

visa. Contact – 97315735 /

jithinm717@gmail.com

Sudanese Civil Engineer - 4 years

experience – 98093544

MANAGER

MISCELLANEOUS

Indian B.E civil Engineer 25 years

experience in gulf looking for a

suitable placement with driving

license noc available.

Contact: 94867039

Aeronautical Engineer 1 year expe-

rience aviation industry/ experience

in quality assuring and technical

service in air India express looking

for suitable position in aviation in-

dustry / fluent in English . Contact:

9474563 /95128200

Email: fhcpaero@gmail.com

B. SC Building & architectural Engineer male 26 having 2 years

of experience in architectural de-

signing & construction supervision

of building projects currently on

visit visa seeking suitable position

in Muscat. Contact: 95626378

Email: waqasbashir65@yahoo.com

Mechanical Engineer (male) with

2 years experience in project &

production field seeking suitable

jobs now on visit visa.

Contact: 94823009/94223483

Email: jisso.joseph@outlook.com

Structural Engineer, 8 yrs expe-

rienced in flat slab, post tensioned

& slab-beam multi story building

design & supervision with driving

license. Contact: 98256860

Civil Engineer having 7 years

experience in construction field,

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 B.Tech with

4 years experience in India

available in visit visa looking

for suitable placement. Contact:

94741401/97239852 Email:

sobinthomask05@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer 4.5 years ex-

perience 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

certification on visit visa seeking

employment foe mechanical jobs

as entry level. Contact 98422072

Email Id: j-joel92@yahoo.com

Mechanical Engineer M.Tech

2 years experience HVAC design

& site Engg revit MEP Auto CAD.

Contact: 90150913 Email:

mahmanmechengg@yahoo.im

Hospitality/Hotel/ Restaurants

Dynamic result oriented hospital-

ity professional with 20 years of

international exp. MBA in Hotel

Management, specializing in Hotel/

Restaurant start ups, concepts &

Franchise development with prov-

en records. Seeking for Challenging

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

EXPERT ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE F

HR& CRM, appraise IT system for

Contact: Tel - 96500729

Omani HSE supervisor. Email:

jeebal3000@gmail.com

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

Civil Engineer (BE) having total

5 years experience in building

construction looking for a suitable

placement. D/L available

Contact# 94450270

Mechanical quantity surveyor (India male 25 years ) having

3 years experience in India I

Can do any sort of works look-

ing for a suitable placement.

Contact: 94864680 Email:

m.mohamedazik@gmail.com

Sri Lankan Engineer (27 Years

old) – B.Sc Engineering (Hon)

Mining / Geotechnical Presently

in Muscat, 1.5 years experience.

Contact 91295802 /

acmfaslan123@gmail.com

Electronics and Communication

Engineer (B.E) - Indian male-look-

ing for full time job. Corporate expe-

rience (2 years) - GSM 92916894;

Email: salu.mn555@gmail.com

Civil Engineer 5 Years exp 2 years

in Oman as QS. Seeking for part

time job as QS. Contact- 91507508

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

MEP Engineer 5 years exp in Gulf

driving license NOC.

Contact 97838220

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

Electrical Engineer with 18 years

exp in UAE. Contact: 98148034

Email: shassalih66@gmail.com

Civil Engineer 6 yrs Exp in Oman

with license. Contact: 98975518

Bachelor Civil Engineer 6 Years

in Oman experience Valid Driving

License seeks suitable placement

Phone 97619722

Email – golamrob@yahoo.com

Mechanical Engineer with 3 Yrs

experience in international Oil

& Gas company looking for job

Contacts: Tel: 90164236 Email:

mustafaoshi-62@hotmail.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

Indian female 29 yrs LLB, 6 yrs ex-

perience in Litigation Legal Counsel.

Looking for full time jobs.

Contact 96079342

Indian female, Law Degree, with 3

years experience seeking suitable

placement. Contact 91467937.

Email sajithapp@yahoo.com

Indian male 40 yrs degree and

diploma in logistics , having 16 yrs

experience 6 yrs GCC , including

Oman in storekeeping and mate-

rial management seeking suitable

placement NOC available.

Contact 98966849

A lady entrepreneur with BF Tech

1st Class (Fashion Technology)

since 2006 in Kerala like to make

change for better. Specialized in

designing, Production Management,

Fashion Art, Grading, Surface orna-

mentation, Garment Construction.

Email: prettyjinu08@gmail.com

Mobile: +919539397097.

Bangladeshi male, University

M.Com, Working as an Accountant

& Administrator in Oman; search-

ing 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 fields. 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, expe-

rienced in sales, credit control,

accounts, Omani D/L ,

seeks suitable placement.

Gsm 98805474

Civil Engineer diploma, 4 yrsexp

seeks suitable position ina reputed

company. NOC available.

Contact – 96789711

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

Civil Engineer (B.Tech), Indian

male 24 years with 1+years Indian

experience,(Certified 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

Indian Male, IT System Engineer

having 4 yrs of experience in sys-

tem administration.CCNA,MCSE,

Linux. Looking for suitable job.

Contact :91272867

IT Administrator B.Tech C.C.N.A,

M.C.S.A, 5 years experience look-

ing suitable placement. Contact:

92339064 (+919633836307)

Indian male 3 years experience

in IT as Linux Administrator and

1 year experience in Amazon EC2

cloud at Wipro technologies look-

ing for suitable placement.

Contact: 92889678

Email: amalpathikal@gmail.com

Indian female 28 years, MCA,

B.com, 3 years experience in the

field 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 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

20 years experience in Oman

plumbing Foreman N.O.C

Release available.

Contact: 93054511/95441583

Indian well experienced per-

sonal assistant/executive office

manager/ senior administrator /

commercial executive with license

looking for a change. release letter

available – 99168054

mbkishore@hotmail.com

The Business Development Man-

ager, Iraqi, Experience 15 Years

Inside and outside Oman follow-

ing activities: construction(Very

strong and qualified 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

Indian male 32 yrs with 9 yrs

experience in MIS & Administra-

tion good knowledge of MS .Office

currently on visit visa looking

for suitable position.

Contact 99815835 Email:

rinumohan.842@gmail.com

Egyptian woman resident in Muscat

bachelor in business administration

has an experience in the executive

secretarial, HR and all the adminis-

tration tasks very good in computer

skills, looking for a job in a company.

Contact: 97221126

Indian Male, B.Com, MBA with 3

years GCC experience seeks Admin-

istration job in Muscat. Valid Oman

& UAE D/L available.

Visit visa & can join immediately.

Contact: 00968 98896847

mail: tssavad@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

Civil Engineer 8 years experience

Structural buildings marine. Availa-

ble NOC release. Contact: 92451323.

Email: zubairali134@yahoo.com

7 Yrs Exp. PM in Mech. Engg in

the field of Building Const. Oil &

Gas Seeking Job.94625598

Sudanese Telecom Engineer, 5 years experience, 3 years in

Oman PMP certificate.

Contact: 93391008 Email:

momen.awadallam@gmail.com

Road and Construction Engineer with 5 years exp in Oman.

Contact: 97667113

Civil Engineer (B-Tech) 2 year

Indian experience

Contact 90493674 email-

inayathhussainshaik@gmail.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

Indian male 25 yrs, B.E in Electri-

cal & Electronics,4 and half years

experience in Procurement/

Electrical purchase. Looking for

suitable placement in oman.

contact:vvselvambe@gmail.com,

+91 9894049078.

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done

till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication.

* Subject to space availability

DAILY GUIDED6 S U N D AY, F E B R UA R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

GOOD NEWS

SITUATION WANTED

MANPOWER

SALES / MARKETING MISCELLANEOUS

MATRIMONIAL

Hindu Boy -30 Yrs MBA Finance

Graduate working in Muscat seeking

alliance of Hindu girl only.

Contact: 98278401

Kerala Kottayam RC male 28 years

Civil Engineer is seeking alliance

from suitable family, preference for

BDS, Eng & bank employees.

Contact – 95035953

Indian male Roman Catholic 40yrs divorcee working in Muscat.

Seeks suitable alliance from

widow/ divorcee/ single.

Contact: 96059801.

55 years widower looking life

partner Mangalore widows only.

Contact: 99014325

Ayurvedic treatment for joint

pain, backache, paralysis, mas-

sage, steambath, obesity, spondy-

litis. Ideal Care Ayurvedic Clinic,

18 November Street, Azaiba.

Contact: 99639695 / 97397320

FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know

more about Islam, please call:

99425598, 99250777, 99353988,

99253818, 99341395, and

99379133. For ladies: 99415818,

99321360, 99730723

Orvisit:www.islamfact.com

Ayurvedic treatment for back-

ache, paralysis, arthritis etc

& massage, All Season (Vaid-

yaratnam).Contact:24475280 /

95371664 / 92504980

www.siddhayur.com

Genuine Ayurvedic treatments

& massage, Ayurvedic clinic at

AL Khuwair. Contact: 24478618 /

97263637 / 93309131

NRI

Kovai properties by shakthe

builders premium villas at vel-

lalore, 39 lakhs onwards. Luxury

villas at Pattanam, 60 lakhs

onwards garden villas surrounded

by natural beauty at pollachi Con-

tact: - CBE Shakthe Builders LLP

Mariappan +91 9363216709

rajesh +91 9447783839

email - cbesbllb@gmail.com

New 3 BHK villas in Coimbatore

Tamil Nadu for immediate sale.

Contact: 95264562

Various small / medium sized

business units for sale in

Kerala serious buyers. Contact:

9447739495/9037780820

Email: sunilpg72@gmail.com

Flat for sale Kerala Thiruvanan-

thapuram 3 bed room Flat in cy-

ber Palm (SFS) Area 1860sqf Flat

in cyber gate way, Area 1159.

Cont no +91 99-95-674657,

00968 92967614.

MBA (UK) with 2 years experience

in Oman seeks placement in

Business development / sales.

Contact: 98108979

Indian male MBA (HR manage-

ment) bilingual (Arabic / English)

Oman experience HR & office man-

ager on visit. Contact: 94663657

Indian female having 10 years

experience in logistics & sales

coordinator exp in SAP Ms Office

valid D/L currently on visit visa

looking for suitable placement.

Contact 95251911

Indian male (31 yrs) sales super-

visor, total 9 yrs gulf exp, 4 yrs

in Oman with valid GCC D/L with

NOC, release & transferable visa.

Contact: 94014327 Email:

praveenkotian188@gmail.com

Indian male with 27 years of rich

experience in sales/ marketing

in Oman with driving license and

proficiency in Arabic language,

seeks suitable placement. NOC

available. Contact: 96725458

Email: ranisadhu@yahoo.com

Indian female, MBA Marketing

with 4 years experience with NOC

& D/L seeks employment with visa.

Contact: 92460623

Indian male 3 years as sales

representative looking for suitable

placements. Contact: 94420033

Email: ssildisking@gmail.com

Indian male 31 years with over 10

years sales & marketing experi-

ence seeking suitable placement

NOC & Oman D/L available in ad-

dition have proficiency in Arabic

language. Contact: 95760969

MBA / UGC, NET / Male /25 .2

years experience in channel sales

/ relationship management with a

leading Indian telecom company

schooling form Oman Now on visit

visa. Contact: 96914068

Email: mailanasap@gmail.com

Indian male experience six years

Oman sales & merchandise and

marketing qualification ply two.

Contact: 98656301

Email: shafeckmk.mk3@gmail.com

Indian male 35 yrs MBA having

11 yrs experience in G.C.C includ-

ing Oman in sales and marketing

of industrial products, heavy EQPT,

& construction machinery. Having

valid Oman driving license

NOC available.

Contact: 97296248 /91483978

Indian Male 28 MBA Marketing

with 4 years of experience in sales

with good communication skills

now available in Muscat on visit

visa. GSM 95840153

Mail akbarshareef786@gmail.com.

Sales Engineer (M.Eng) Canada

five + years Oman market experi-

ence with leading brands with D/L.

Contact: 93985140

Email: jbom628@gmail.com

MBA graduate having 6 years exp

in Sales & Marketing, 4 years with

PEPSI, India, having international

driving license permit seeks suit-

able placement. Contact : 95308167,

Email : samir.pag@gmail.com

Indian male, MBA Marketing

having 2.5 years Sales experience

immediately looking for a suitable

position. Contact: 91415145,

Email: shariqs88@gmail.com

Sri Lankan lady experienced in

key accounts, Market Demand

planning & Communications,

Brand/Sales in multinationals

seeks placement in Muscat.

Contact 98250829

Indian female 23 BA economics

with computer knowledge looking

for the post of Administration dept

or day care or sales please

Contact 96155921 or

Email- fysal.nellaya@gmail.com.

Male Locum Pharmacist with

MOH & Driving License. Avail-

able on request from March to

April 2016; Contact #: +968 9188

5485/+968 9943 8058.

Indian Female, 35years, Bach-

elor of Pharmacy (B. Pharm) with

6months experience and BSc &

MA seeking position as Insurance

Coordinator or suitable positions

in pharmacy, pharmacy stores,

hospital, polyclinic & pharmaceu-

tical companies or in front office/

administration office preferably

in hospital. Please contact on

90236481.

Indian Female, 24 MA Eng. Litr

with 2 yrs experience in teach-

ing & 14 months in Administra-

tion cum Secretary, Currently

on visit visa, seeks suitable job.

Contact: 92613704/99260702

Email:rohinis2010@gmail.com

Indian Male, 26 years, with 7 years

of experience in Sales Field in ship-

ping company in Dubai, looking for

suitable placement. Experienced

working in safety Marine equip-

ment and well versed with MS

Office. Contact: 90182494/

manojmallya999@gmail.com

18 years experienced in Shipping,

ShipChandling& Marine services.

Valied GCC D/L. Languages Known

as English, Arabic, Hindi & Malay-

alam.Now in Visit Visa.

GSM : 9053 5565

Indian male 28 years exp as sales

executive & asst accountant. With

valid Oman driving license .lan-

guages known Hindi and English.

Looking for any good job

Contact# 96175176

IT professional, B.E. in IT, CCNA,

MCSA, MCSE, 3yrs exp. in IT/

networking/server support/Indoor

sales, valid Omani D/L seeking

suitable placement in IT/Network/

Server support/Retail sales.

Contact 92607532.

Iraqi Civil Engineer with more

than 30 years experience in (Iraq

and G.C.C) looking for a job, (N.O.C.)

is available. Contact No. 96561306

iq.bgd.mnsr@gmail.com

Female Interior Designer 15

months experience design and

management skills ( 3D Max, Auto-

CAD , Photoshop, Illustrator, Coral

Draw (Basic) and Sketch up (Basic)

and well versed with M.S Office).

Email: - sasd_shirur@yahoo.com,

24789883

Indian male AUTO CAD Draughts-

man (civil) 8 years experience, seek-

ing for part time job.#- 99070584 /

email: remluvp@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,

Email: ihabeeb24@gmail.com

Male Indian 27, working as

finance Officer having three years

Oman experience with Driving

license looking for Finance/Audit/

Accounts position. Mob:98097009,

rameesnm@gmail.com

Indian male with three years of

experience in IT as system admin-

istrator seeking for IT administra-

tion job placements. Presently in

Muscat on visit visa. #90664136

email: szuheabikram@yahoo.com

Diploma (Electrical Engineering) from Government polytechnic.

Age 27 years, 6 years Experience

in troubleshooting and managing

and Technical in substation as a

Electrical Engineer. Seek suitable

placement. Contact - 92995899, MBA (F), B.COM. Indian female

having knowledge of accounts

with Tally looking for full or part

time job. Presently on family visit

visa. Contact: - 96259171. Email: -

bhumicapandya@gmail.com

BS in Civil Engineering Experience: 3 Year (Road Projects)

Omani license: 9 Years.

Contact: 97427701

Email: hassanrvc1989@gmail.com

Indian Male, total 8+years gulf

experience in Document Controller

/ Coordinator / Secretary. Looking

suitable position. Local release

available. CONTACT: 94524259

EMAIL: madhuppnair@yahoo.com

Mechanical Engineer (Indian

Male, 24 Years) with three years

experience, looking for suitable job.

Currently on visit visa, ready to join

immediately. Contact 92175441,

Email: ihabeeb24@gmail.com

Indian female, holds LLB

& Masters in business

administration(MBA),2 yrs oman

experience as HR & Admin, seeks

suitable placement in jobs @

SOHAR. Contact: 96541959

IT professional, B.E. in IT, CCNA,

MCSA, MCSE, 3yrs exp. in IT/

networking/server support, valid

Omani D/L seeking suitable place-

ment in IT/Network/Server sup-

port. Contact 92607532.

Indian male 23 years Diploma in

Mechatronic having 3years expe-

rience in production and mainte-

nance department looking for suit-

able placement #+919597008904

(sachin.valappil92@gmail.com)

Indian Male, 26 years, with 7

years of experience in Sales Field

in shipping company in Dubai,

looking for suitable placement.

Experienced working in safety

Marine equipment and well versed

with MS Office. # 90182494

Accountant. Having 6 years

experience in accounts in reputed

companies. Presently working in

Muscat (NOC Available)

GSM. 00968-97010584, Email -

usman7678@yahoo.com

Iraqi civil Engineer with more

than 30 years experience in (Iraq,

U.A.E. and Oman) looking for a job,

(N.O.C.) is available.

Contact No. 95626218

Email- amin.sarim007@gmail.com

Indian Male ,MBA Finance &

Marketing 28 yrs,6+ Exp, with

oman D/L & NOC, Hospital Pharma

,Herbal ,FMCG, F&B Market-

ing ,construction A/c & sales ,

93379044

Indian male MBA marketing 3 yrs

exp with D/L available.

Contact: 98904200

Email: haris.hameedali@gmail.com

Indian Male 34 yrs, having 5 yrs

FMCG experience as sales ex-

ecutive and sales supervisor with

valid GCC driving License

Contact- 92536979

Male 38 yrs Graduate 07 years

experience indoor / outdoor

electronic field with D/License &

NOC available (as per new rule).

Contact: 92453375

Indian sales marketing profes-

sional highly experienced in busi-

ness development in ME India and

Africa seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 97897611

B.Com male 2 yrs experience in

sales Computer knowledge,

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 98371144

email: nabilnazar22@gmail.com

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

Indian male with Oman driving

license & NOC looking for

Sales & marketing / purchase job

fluent English. Contact: 94742666

Sudanese B.S.C Business admin-

istration experience 8 years sales

management purchases H.R mar-

keting. Contact: 96112453

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

earn in two monthstion guaranteed

Tel: 95244310

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

WEB, ERP and Business Intelli-

gence (BI) creation and man-

agement at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

BUYING

Buying cars for cash.Contact:

90202090

WANTED

Required Sub –Contractors, we have

projects. Contact - 92926630

Local man power required for one

year for construction.

Contact 99340205

IELTS Coaching (academic)

required nearby wadi Kabir area.

Please call on mobile or msg on

Whats up.

Mobile no: 92927880/99012165

MANAGER

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

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

Operations & Accounts Manager

Indian male , 18 years experience in

Oman finance, purchase, transport,

sales Admin & H.R looking for

Sr. Position. Contact: 99889396

Email: srjobsinoman@yahoo.com

Egyptian male finance manager

7 years experience release avail-

able. Contact: 95539923

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

MEDICAL

Indian male Nurse 32 years Oman

parametric and data flow completed

8 yrs emergently experience.

Contact: 92463190

Indian female MBA in health care

service, BSN with MOH license

looking for a job in hospital.

Contact: 94876041

Doctor couple MOH license holders

25 years experience required job in

clinic. Contact: 92893243

1Year exp, orthodontist, looking

for job, prefers Barka, ready to give

exam. Contact -94369280

Indian male Orthodontist & female

BDS Prometric dataflow completed

looking suitable post.

Contact 90377433

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 flow. 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 looking

for job. # 96436517 /97396088

SALES / MARKETING

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

Mason, SH / carpenter, steel fitter

gulf & Indian exp looking job.

Contact: 95175192

A dynamic professional, female, MBA, 8 yrs MNC exp in

purchase,secretary,sales coordi-

nation, office assistant, logistics,

petty cash, stock, dispatch, project

management, documentation,

residing in oman with valid NOC

from current company, looking for

suitable job, ready to join immedi-

ately. Contact- phone:-94157662

Email: shiji4123@gmail.com,

Lady Secretary / Sales Co-coordi-

nator 12 years experience in Oman

in reputed companies, seek imme-

diate Employment. Call: 95244761

*Classified Advertisement

space booking with text,

should be done till 12.00 noon

for next day’s publication. *

Subject to space availability

DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, F E B R UA R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 6 D7

TOURS

TOURS

RENT A CAR

25 - 50 seater bus with PDO &

BP specification for monthly rent

& small car with driver. Contact

99839898

SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

TRANSPORTATION

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

DRIVINGSITUATION WANT-ED

BUSINESSSITUATION WANT-

EDBUSINESS

ONE STOP SHOP

BUSINESS SERVICES

Contact Saleh: 96723485

Public relation services (PRO), Formation new

companies, LLC companies, investor visa, business setup,

prepare business & companies accounts, legal

services, representing you and your company.

MV SALE

Honda CRV 2009 Dec model rend

for sale 78000 Km full options

price 4500/- R.O.

Contact: 96530006

Kia Cerato 2015 1.6 ex 16.000

km white - full automatic GSM:

95422443

2008 Nissan Mini Bus. Contact: 91203039

Transportation in Muscat area.

Contact: 94297820

Ruwi, Muttrah, Al Khuwair,

Muscat, Qurum, seek

transportation. Contact: 91132238

Transportation. Contact

99508282 /93113534

Transportation. Contact 99508282

From Mabela to Mawaleh for

school student.

Contact: 92757673

Transportation in Muscat.

Contact: 96004045

Transportation. Contact

92015894

Transportation available Ruwi to

Al Khuwair, Ghubra & Azaiba.

Contact: 91103909

Transportation. Contact: 99078967

Nissan sunny 2013 model, expat

lady driven & well maintained.

Contact: 97100419

Cars for Sale - Mercedes c230

2006 R.O 3600/- Geely Gx2 2015

AT 12400 km R.O 2300/-

Contact: 97312774

2008 2ltr VW Passat, good condi-

tion, 115k km, 99659946, RO 2800

BUYING

Bobcat available for rent.

Contact 97623299

D8 S U N D AY, F E B R UA R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

DAILY GUIDE Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

SERVICES

General cleaning etc.

Contact : 94277020

Split & window A/c servicing &

maintenance. Contact 93769089 /

95323517

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing,

Contact 99314807/24792998

All maintenance works such as

plumbing painting masonry inter-

lock fixing etc. Contact: 91278819

Water proofing ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

LEGAL SERVICE

L

new business in Oman, Civil, criminal cases,.service issues.

Ibrahim Al Massalhi.legal consultancySarafudheen, ,

L dvisor Muscat. GSM: 97351649

FURNITURE SHIFTING

Maintenance, Dismantling, Packing,

Shifting & Fixing furniture

with expert technicians.

Contact: 99041337

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of

your marble. Contact 24793614/

99314807

Marble Crystallization & Grinding, Ocean Center L.L.C.

Contact: 99344723

A/C maintenance & servicing, fridge,

washing machine & dish washer re-

pairing, painting & cleaning services,

electrical & plumbing. # 99447257 /

97014234 / 24504281

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

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

House shifting packing.

Contact: 99657644 /

98518013

House shifting. Contact: 99708138

Pest Control Treatments Ocean Center L.L.C.

Contact 99344723

Cleaning & Carpet Shampooing Ocean Center L.L.C.

Contact 99344723

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. Contact ABU QABAS-

99320217 /24788722

Al farzdaq Al Fedi Trad and Cont

Maintenance services electric,

plumbing and A/C.

Contact: 96524904 / 94285064

Split A/C servicing R.O 10 only.

Contact: 94217681 / 99210141

Building maintenance. Contact: 96173326

Contact 98480070 / 94134784

Pest control & Building cleaning all kinds of pest control

Marble polishing monthly/ Y

Contact: 98814733 /98814740 Al Husn Cleaning L.L.C

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability