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Oman’s beauty draws Indian producer

NISHAD PADIYARATH nishad@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Oman’s stunning tourism is once again in the spot-light as a top film producer, who is visiting Muscat, is on the hunt for beautiful locations in the country that could be featured in his next movie.

Speaking to Times of Oman in an interview, Ousepachan Val-akuzhy, a renowned filmmaker from Kerala, India, said he is very impressed by the beauty of Oman and has plans to feature the coun-try’s picturesque landscapes in his upcoming film, scheduled to being shooting next year.

“While I haven’t travelled around Oman, I found the city of Muscat to be quaint and charm-ing. I will come back again to talk with the authorities concerned who could give me permission to use these beautiful locales for my next project,” said Ousepachan, who is known for producing some of the biggest hits in South India, including Nokkethadhoo-rathu Kannum Nattu, Ramji Rao

Speaking and Hitler.Interestingly, Ousepachan’s

next project will be with the di-rector duo of Siddique and Lal, who are coming back to shoot a film together after 20 years of working separately.

Siddique and Lal, who created a number of hit movies, parted ways owing to reasons best known to them. While Lal went on to perform in many films as an actor, Siddique focused on direc-tion. Ousepachan, who played a key role in bringing the duo back together, said part of the film will also be shot in Qatar. “We had

been to Qatar last week and are satisfied with the facilities there,” he said.

The film, entitled King Liar and starring Dileep in the lead, will be scripted by Siddique and directed by Lal. It is touted to be a comedy and is expected to hit the screens in 2015. Expectations are run-ning high for the film since news of the reunion was announced, as the Siddique and Lal team earlier released some of the best comedy movies in Malayalam, including Ramji Rao Speaking, In Harihar Nagar, God Father, Vietnam Col-ony and Kabooliwala. >A3

L O C A T I O N H U N T I N G

REUNITED: Top film-makers of Malayalam cinema, Siddique,

Ousepachan Valakuzhi and Lal. – Supplied picture

‘Set realistic Omanisation target for contracting sector’ELHAM POURMOHAMMADIelham@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: The Omanisation target for the contracting sector should be set according to ground realities, said the chairman of the Oman Society of Contractors (OSC).

Dr Hamed Hashim Al Dhahab, who is also the chief executive of-

ficer of Al Watanyiah United En-gineering and Contracting Com-pany, said that he is one of the supporters of Omanisation but is against ‘ambitious’ figures.

Speaking to Times of Oman, he said that one of the challenges in the way of increasing the number of locals in the sector is the fact that the contracting sector is ‘la-

bour intensive’ and may not be at-tractive to many Omanis.

The environment for workers in this sector is tough, involves manual activities and the nature of working in this sector requires that workers shift from one place to another after the completion of each project, he said.

All this might not be construed

as ‘favourable working conditions’ by an Omani, added Al Dhahab.

In addition, the government is entitled to increasing the living standards of locals and the current salaries in this sector may not be satisfactory for Omanis, he noted.

According to him, the current Omanisation rate in this sector is 18 per cent. According to earlier

reports, the Ministry of Manpow-er had set the localisation target for the contracting sector at 30 per cent. Al Dhahab said there are certain measures that could be taken to make the sector more at-tractive but under the current cir-cumstances, a target of 25 per cent seems to be realistic and the sector is doing its best. >A3

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

Oman Society of Contractors chief

Dr Hamed Hashim Al Dhahab

Buckle up your child NOW

STAFF REPORTER

MUSCAT: Children in vehicles must be protected by a safety re-straint appropriate to their age, road safety experts have said on the occasion of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDR).

They indicated that by letting children travel in cars without proper safety precautions, par-ents and caretakers expose them daily to the risk of sudden and violent death.

The simple law of physics dic-tates that, upon impact, even at low speeds, an unsecured child will fly through the glass to certain death on the road or suffer devastating head or spinal

injuries, they said.Bernadette Bhacker-Millard,

lawyer and road safety profes-sional who founded the Salim and Salimah initiative 10 years ago to educate parents and communi-ties on the benefits of car seats for children, said, “In Oman, there is scarcely a family that has not been affected by the death of a loved one in a road accident. Approximately one in five victims is a child or a young man who has died in cars or while walking across roads. Their lives have been cut short by the negligence of a driver. Sadly, many of these deaths are preventable. Over the past 20 years, numerous countries around the world have dramatically reduced the death toll and serious injuries among

children and young people by passing and enforcing laws man-dating the use of child safety seats and seatbelts for older children.”

According to the Royal Oman Police (ROP) statistics in 2012, accidents claimed the lives of 122 children and injured 1,510, all aged between 0 and 16 years.

Latest figures from the ROP reveal that 642 people died and 7,187 were injured in 4,789 road accidents in 2014.

A, ROP official said, “World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims gives us an op-portunity to remind ourselves of the importance of practising safe habits on roads. We encourage citizens and residents to act as re-sponsible drivers and passengers. The importance of using seat belts should not be underestimated.

“We urge parents and caretak-ers to keep a watch on children behaviour in vehicles.”

He also reminded that traffic safety is now part of the private--public education activity in schools, colleges and universities.

“We are sure that it will nur-ture a generation that is aware of traffic rules and which contrib-

utes effectively to promoting road safety,” he said.

Though there is no law in place that insists on those in the back seat wear seat belt, experts say using it will make a difference.

Stressing the need for parents and caretakers to avoid high risk driving behaviour that exposes children constantly to the risk of death and injury, Bernadette said, “In a crash, a properly fitted child safety seat reduces the risk of death or injury to a baby or a small child by as much as 75 per cent.

“For an older child a seatbelt reduces the risk by more than 50 per cent. In all the cases, this is the difference between life and death.”

Corporate houses too have been stressing on the importance of buckling up.

Leanne Blanckenberg, cor-porate communications man-ager of BMW Group Middle East said, “BMW Group Middle East launched its ‘Stay Alert. Stay Alive’ road safety campaign in 2010 as part of its commitment to raise awareness on the impor-tance of wearing seatbelts.” >A3

By letting children travel in cars without

proper safety precautions, parents and

caretakers expose them daily to the risk of

sudden and violent death, experts warn

A3Loyalty march held in Darsait

OMANA taxi driver who embodies honesty

2An Omani driver has been returning lost valuables to passengers

since he got behind the wheels three decades ago. >A5

REGIONIraqi forces retake dam from rebels

3Iraqi forces have recaptured one of Iraq’s largest dams, another

success in efforts to wrest key facilities back from IS. >A7

OMANWhy Omanis quit private sector jobs

1Official statistics show that more Omanis are leaving their private sector jobs than

those who get employed, which raises a question. >A2

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

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Traffic on Sultan Qaboos Road was disrupted for a long time on Saturday after a truck overturned on the stretch

of the road near Ghubra. “The accident occurred near

the Public Authority for Con-sumer Protection (PACP) and resulted in chaos on the road,” said a resident of Ghubra.

A large number of paramedics and ROP personnel were seen in the area. Residents claimed they were stuck in traffic between Ghubra roundabout and Grand Mosque for more than an hour.

Road accident triggers jam

G H U B R A

A2 S U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 14

OMAN

Why thousands of Omanis quit jobs in private sector?

Official statistics show that more Omanis are leaving their private sector jobs than those

who get employed, which raises a question as to why a much bigger number of nationals quit their jobs than those who get into the workforce.

By September this year, 192,873 Omanis have been reg-istered as working in the private sector compared to 215,056 in the same month in 2013, accord-ing to the Ministry of Manpower statistical data.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Bakri, the Minister of Manpower, said earlier this year that 83,000 Omanis resigned from their jobs in the private sector between the period of January 2013 and May 2014. That computes to a shock-ing average of 4,882 resignations per month in 17 months. An interesting question nobody has an answer to is why thousands of Omanis resign from their private sector jobs every month?

The rate of employment is not exceptionally high considering that more than 52,000 people are looking for jobs. In the period between January and September this year, an average of 1,220 Omanis a month found jobs. It only means that fewer jobs are created while a large number of job-seekers are waiting in the wilderness of unemployment. What the statistics do not show is where the thousands of Omanis who resign every month go to? Finding the answer on why Oma-nis leave their jobs at an alarming rate is more important than to answer the question, why enough job opportunities are not created.

The question may be answered in two ways. But first let’s look at the attitudes of employers. The majority of the foreign compa-nies operating in the Sultanate view Omanisation as a way of paying back to the country for be-ing allowed to do business while Omani-owned corporate houses

employ nationals simply to fill a quota. On the other hand, some Omanis working in the private sector have a pessimistic view about their jobs. For nationals, it is not so glamorous to work in the private sector and employers exploit this attitude by simply not providing enough incentives that would make their Omani employees stay.

Too many Omanis are working at the minimum wage (about 40 per cent) when inflation is climb-ing higher all the time. A number of them are expected to work in the areas which are not in their competence level when they should have training to make them competent. They also get unrealistic targets to complete their tasks. This is especially true in marketing and retail sectors.

But not the entire blame is on employers. Omanis have their share of blame as well for not being patient enough to stay in their jobs. The government, on the other hand, needs to take re-sponsibility for putting too much pressure on private companies to employ an unrealistic number of Omanis who don’t have enough qualifications to fulfil the professional requirements of the employers.

For the Ministry of Manpower to get a true picture of the level of the problem the country is facing, it must contact as many Omanis who are quitting the private sec-tor and learn from their experi-ence instead of accepting the private sector’s word that they are simply ‘lazy’ or ‘uncoopera-tive.’ This way, the authorities can get both sides of the story that would help to find a new way to compromise and satisfy both parties. Also, the Ministry of Manpower should not work in isolation but collaborate closely with the Ministry of Education to introduce a vocational training programme at schools to prepare students for employment skills. Without any doubt, corrective measures must be made to boost Omanisation. But the process of Omanisation is not just to find an Omani national a job but it is about staff retention and career progression as well.

Young Omanis need to work on their attitude and employers on incentive giving. To take it a step further, the government, perhaps, needs to consider introducing na-tional service. It will give young people discipline which some of them lack now. The military workout they would receive in this important exercise includes training in various trades and crafts that would make them at-tractive to the private sector. For those who are already working, military training will give them focus and a new job perception to further their careers. saleh@timesofoman.com

COMMENTARY

SALEH AL SHAIBANY

SUNDAYBEAT

H AV E YOU R SAY AT T W I T T E R.CO M /T I M ES O F O M A N O R S CA N T H E CO D E TO I N STA N T LY P O ST YOU R T H O U G H TS .

The process of Omanisation is not just to find an Omani national a job but it is about staff retention and career progression

83,000 Omanis resigned from their jobs in the private sector between the period of January 2013 and May 2014Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Bakri, Minister of Manpower

A3

OMANS U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 14

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LOYALTY MARCHCitizens and residents organised a loyalty march at Darsait in Muscat on Saturday to show their loyalty to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, ahead of the National Day, which is celebrated on November 18 every year. Photo—Purhushothaman/Times of Oman

Remembering road victims“WDR provides us with a great opportunity to reinforce this messaging in line with such a credible global awareness day,” says the manager.

The automotive manufactur-er’s road safety campaign puts the following questions to drivers and urges them to buckle up: Do you buckle up as soon as you get in the car? Do you insist that your pas-sengers wear a seatbelt? Do your children have the right car seat safety restraints for their weight and age?

The World Day of Remem-brance for Road Traffic Victims is commemorated on the third Sun-

day of November each year – to re-member the many millions killed and injured on the world’s roads.

Bernadette says, “WDR is a day when we pause to reflect on the millions who have lost their lives in road accidents around the world and others who have often suffered life-long injury. “We also remem-ber those most profoundly affected by the loss of a loved one, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, broth-ers and sisters as well as men and women of the emergency services and medical staff who care for the dying and those suffering most grievous injuries.

She feels that today we should

also take a road safety resolve. “Regardless of the challenges, and there are many, decision makers in every field in Oman, whether in government or private sector, health, education, economy, fi-nance or corporate should commit resources to driving and this is-sue must be at the top of the road safety agenda.

“To reverse the trend of death and injury we need a collaborative effort on the part of government, private sector and NGOs to intro-duce laws and best standards of protection for all of Oman’s chil-dren in their daily journeys on the nation’s roads,” Bernadette says.

S A F E T Y F I R S T

< FROM

A1

Siddique, Lal to visit OmanExplaining how he convinced the two directors to reunite, Ousepachan, who produced their first film, Ram Ramji Rao Speak-ing in 1989, said, “I have known both of them since their initial days and I wanted them to come together for the sake of the indus-try. Both Siddique and Lal are not what they were 20 years back and both are very busy in their respec-tive fields. I made up my mind and first met Siddique, who thought for a while and agreed. I then met Lal, who gave a patient hearing to the idea and asked for two days to

ponder, after which he gave the green signal. We then sat to think over a subject that should entertain the audience.”

Speaking to Times of Oman over phone from India, Siddique, who proved his versatility, by entering the coveted Rs 1 billion club with the Salman Khan film Bodyguard, said the duo may come to Oman to explore locations.

“Both of us are busy with our own commitments. Soon after we may look to visit Muscat,” he stat-ed. On reuniting with his friend Lal after two decades, Siddique

hoped to recreate the old magic. “My only request to the fans is to judge us by the movies we did to-gether and not on the basis of this comeback. We are working hard to give the audience the best from us,” he added.

Lal, who won critical acclaim for his acting prowess, said although they had parted ways, their friend-ship remains intact. “We may not have worked together for long, but we meet and talk to each other frequently. It’s just that we are get-ting back professionally, after 20 years,” Lal noted.

S H O O T I N G I N O M A N

< FROM

A1Upgrade technology

Even now, most of the Oma-nis working in this sector are not doing manual jobs and are employed in other posi-tions, he added.

Al Dhahab noted that the infusion of technology in the execution of projects can make the sector more com-petitive and more attrac-tive for Omanis as the use of modern methods and equip-ment requires higher level of skills which would trans-late into higher salaries.

The realisation of this goal requires the collective effort of policy makers.

C O N T R A C T I N G S E C T O R

< FROM

A1

National Day Race CupTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Royal Horse Rac-ing Club will organise the 44th National Day Race Cup, which is the fourth race of the current season, at 2pm at Rahbah Farm Racecourse, in the Wilayat of Barka.

It will be held under the auspices of Sheikh Said bin Hilal Al Khalili, Head of Plan-ning and Human Resources Affairs at Royal Court Affairs.

R O Y A L H O R S E R A C I N G C L U B

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A4 S U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 14

OMAN 60young Omanis will hone their business skills at the Boot Camp, which coincides Global Entrepreneurship Week

Italian handbags that have Omani designs

ELHAM POURMOHAMMADIelham@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: For many women, love for accessories only leads to shopping for them, but for Sara Al Zadjali, an Omani creative direc-tor and designer, passion for vin-tage fashion is something to be both indulged in and turned into a business.

A banker by profession, Sara used to sketch handbags while she was in high school. Her grow-ing passion and skills brought her closer to realising her dream when she sketched a handbag she wanted to design on a weekend in London in 2010, where she was pursuing her Master’s.

Her ambitions finally material-

ised in February 2014, when her design turned to reality.

On Wednesday, she launched the first collection of her Italian made handbags, ‘Abeey Collection’, at Boutique Muscat at Jawharat Al Shatti, in the presence of the com-mercial attaché of the Italian Em-bassy, Maria M. Di Gaeta.

“I chose Italy because I consider

it a country of fashion where most of the big brands come from. They totally understood what I want-ed,” said Sara, whose handbags sport ‘unique’ shapes such as an oval, which are not seen much in the market.

Omani patterns Speaking to Times of Oman, Sara said that her handbags are crafted from materials such as leather and pony hair and she is considering infusing Omani patterns into her next designs.

Sara plans to venture into de-signing shoes and wallets as well in the future and is looking forward to a day when her designs can be turned into fine products here in Oman with the same quality. Now, she has to go to Italy whenever she wants to see a sample of her work.

The commercial attaché of the Italian Embassy hailed Sara’s work, saying, “I am very pleased to see this beautiful collection, a combination of Omani design and Italian production, which shows the collaboration between Italy and Oman.”

Italy has a long and rich history in designing and manufacturing of a wide range of products that include clothing, cars, furniture and machinery, the official told Times of Oman.

Sara Al Zadjali’s

ambitions

materialised when

her design turned

to reality. She now

plans to venture into

designing shoes and

wallets as well

UNIQUE COLLECTION: Sara Al Zadjali, an Omani creative director and designer, launched the first collection of her Italian made handbags, ‘Abeey Collection’.– Photos and videos: Shabin E/TIMES OF OMAN

Boot camp seeks to support young entrepreneurs

Times News Service

MUSCAT: A group of 60 young Omanis will take part in the En-trepreneurs Boot Camp hosted by the National Business Centre (NBC), which kicks off on Sun-day at the Knowledge Oasis Mus-cat (KOM) under the patronage of Ahmed bin Hassan Al Dheeb, undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The camp, which is being held in conjunction with Global En-trepreneurship Week, would continue until November 20. It is being organised in coopera-tion with Oasis 500, which is rec-ognised globally for conducting specialised training boot camps for budding entrepreneurs.

Malak Al Shaibani, director general of NBC, stressed that the boot camp seeks to assist entre-preneurs to become acquainted with the role played by marketing in achieving the overall objec-tives of their emerging compa-nies, as well as learn to develop and employ a marketing strat-egy equipped with effective tech-niques, tools, and expertise. The boot camp will also touch upon branding concepts, innovation, and creative thinking, in addition to different case studies.

The boot camp has gained support from many sponsors,

including BP Oman, ITA, Jusoor, Orpic, Oman Oil, Omran, Oman-tel, PASMED, Sohar Aluminium, Zeenah Group, Oman LNG, and Times of Oman.

Ali bin Saleh Al Hashar, CEO of Jusoor, said, “Through our par-ticipation, we aim at boosting ties between the private and public sectors in youth-related subjects. We hope that the training boot camp will produce ground break-ing ideas from the participating entrepreneurs and witness these ideas become a reality.”

Abdullah Al Farsi of Orpic said that its contribution with Jusoor, as a sponsor for the training boot camp, supports this pioneering field in Oman in order to create an inspiring generation in this arena. “The company undertakes continuous efforts to support the SMEs in the Sultanate. We are confident that talented Omani men and women are capable to compete internationally in the field of entrepreneurship,” Al Farsi pointed out.

Abdul Wahid Al Farsi, acting Chief Communications Officer at Omran, emphasised that Om-ran’s support aims at fostering a culture of entrepreneurship and support owners of SMEs, as well as providing advice and guidance to entrepreneurs, especially in establishing tourism projects.

B U S I N E S S I N N O V A T I O N

The boot camp seeks to assist entrepreneurs to become acquainted with the role played by marketing in achieving the overall objectives

Malak Al ShaibaniDirector general of NBC

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Two ships visit Salalah port

SALALAH: The Port of Sala-lah received this weekend, two cruise ships Star Pride carrying 255 passengers, and Voyager with 636 passengers on board.

These tourists will also visit other ports of the Sultanate, including the governorates of Muscat and Musandam during their cruise tour.

The programme for the pas-sengers included tours to the archaeological and historical monuments in the Governorate of Dhofar like incense trees in Wadi Adonab, Al Baleed Ar-chaeological Park, Museum of Frankincense Land, Taqah Fort, as well as visiting the beaches and traditional markets in the Wilayat of Salalah. –ONA

T O U R I S T F L O W

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OMANS U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 1 4

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Taxi driver who sums up honesty

ELHAM POURMOHAMMADI elham@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: In what can be a good example for other taxi drivers to follow, an Omani driver has been returning lost valuables to pas-sengers since he got behind the wheels three decades ago.

Saeed has been working as a taxi driver since 1985 and despite facing hardships at times in life he has never been tempted to keep the valuables that passengers for-get in his car.

Jewellery worth OMR3,000, several mobile phones, OMR400 in cash, and wallets with cash and credit cards inside them are among the things that he has re-turned to passengers, sometimes after spending a long time to find them. He has never accepted any-thing in return.

“I think if you bring in dirty money for your family, you will have to pay it back, even more than that, in another way in your life,” said Saeed, who asked to be identified only by his first name.

Saeed, who speaks English and Hindi fluently, believes the impression that foreign visitors

get from taxi drivers is really im-portant as they are among the first people visitors interact with when they enter the country.

The passengers using Saeed’s services describe him as ‘punctu-al’, ‘respectful’, ‘fair’ and ‘welcom-ing’, saying that his car is always clean and smells good.

“There are many people who call me during the day and are ready to wait if I am busy instead of hiring another taxi. It is not because I am a very good person. I think this is the way every taxi driver should be.”

The image mattersHe said that he feels ashamed of drivers who rip off foreign visi-tors and perhaps, mistreat them. “I have seen many taxi drivers overcharging passengers. It is not good for the image of the coun-try. The tourists will go back and tell others about their experience with Omani drivers.”

While appreciating the pro-gress of the country in different areas, Saeed is also displeased with some issues that he faces on a regular basis.

For example, he said that some-

times he sees private cars func-tioning as school buses and carry-ing more school children than the car can accommodate.

“Once I saw 12 school children coming out of a small car in front of a school. What will happen to them if there is an accident?”

Road chaosSaeed is also fed up with the large number of cars in Muscat, care-less drivers, traffic, prolonged and poorly executed construction projects blocking the way, and lack of police on the roads when their presence is required.

“Also, there are people who have more than one job and still work as taxi drivers. I know peo-ple who just spend a few hours at work and then drive a taxi, or re-port sick and work as taxi drivers when they should be in office.”

Saeed also believes that some form of social support should be provided to taxi drivers by the government, as many are strug-gling to earn a living.

“You can see that some taxi drivers are too old. But what else can they do? They need to earn money for their family,” he said.

Saeed has been

working as a taxi

driver since 1985

and despite facing

hardships at times,

he has never ever

kept valuables that

passengers forget in

his car

A6

OMANS U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 14

Quality-composition and packaging have

always been a problem for Omani dates to

compete in the international market

Sultan Qaboos University research team

Quriyat’s Al Sayra Tower combines Oman’s heritage with present

QURIYAT: Off the beach in the Wilayat of Quriyat, atop a rocky bump and surrounded by water on all sides, stands the historic Al Sayra Tower.

The location of the tower, in Al Sahel village, attracts visitors and speaks volumes about the ancient Omani civilisation. The construc-tion of the tower reflects the im-portance of such ancient towers in monitoring and controlling ma-rine tracks and ships that now pass the wilayat, and used to earlier stop at Quriyat port.

Al Sayra Tower’s strategic loca-tion also gives the wilayat a his-torical significance.

Sources indicated that the tower was built in the era of Imam Nasir bin Murshid Al Y’arubi. The maps

of the region indicate that the tow-er which had been existence much earlier, had been restored or re-built in the reign of Sultan Timour bin Faisal Al Busaidi in 1333AH /1914. It was also restored in 1995 in the reign of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said, and coincided with the establishment of the fish-ing harbour in the wilayat.

Today, Al Sayra Tower, apart from being an important historical landmark, also reflects the beauty of the brilliant Omani architec-ture. It attracts domestic and for-eign tourists and visitors through-out the year.

There is a parking and resting area close to the tower along with the umbrellas and seats along the shoreline next to the tower.

O M A N ’ S H E R I T A G E

SQU’s date research bags national award

MUSCAT: Five researchers from Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) have won the National Research Award (environmental and bio-logical resources category) for the year 2014, instituted by the Research Council (TRC) for a research paper on detecting sur-face cracks on dates using colour imaging techniques.

The researchers are Sawsana Al Rahbi, a PhD student in the Department of Soils, Water & Ag-ricultural Engineering (SWAE), Dr Manickavasagan Annamalai, assistant professor, SWAE, Dr Rashid Al Yahyai, associate pro-fessor, Crop Sciences Depart-ment, Dr Pulathisi Mahinda Alahakoon, post-doctoral fel-low, SWAE, and Dr Lazhar Khr-iji, associate professor, Depart-ment of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The paper titled ‘Detecting Surface Cracks on Dates Using Colour Imaging Technique’, was based on the outcomes of a TRC-funded research ‘Development of Computer Vision Technology for Quality Assessment of Dates in Oman’, led by Dr Manick-avasagan Annamalai.

The research explores the po-tential of using computer vision

(CV) technology as an alternative for a visual inspection method of quality assessment. In the CV method, various cameras are used to take images of the products and characterise their qualities (in-ternal and external).

This method is being used for various quality measurements with acceptable accuracy in de-veloped countries. “In spite of higher production of dates in Oman, the average annual export is only 2.5 to 3.5 per cent of the total production. Quality-compo-sition and packaging have always been a problem for Omani dates to compete in the international mar-ket,” said the researchers.

Dr Manickavsagan said that manual grading is generally fol-lowed in date factories in Oman. Visual inspection or manual grad-ing has many constraints such as subjectivity (personal percep-tion), influence of mental stress, influence of environment (light-ings) and efficiency of individu-als at various times of the shift among others. “In many devel-oped countries, the food sector is one of the top ten industries using CV technology. In our work we determined the efficiency of a CV system with the RGB colour cam-era in determining the surface quality (surface crack) of dates. A surface crack is a type of defect which depreciates date quality. In the current manual inspection, there is no standard method to estimate the extent of spread of these cracks on dates, or their per-centage cover, he said.

MUSCAT: The first phase of the graduation ceremony of the 25th batch of stu-dents of the Sultan Qaboos University will be held on Sunday, under the patron-age of Dr. Mohammed Al Zubair bin Ali, adviser for economic planning affairs to His Majesty.

Dr Ali bin Saud Al Bimani, vice chancellor of Sultan Qaboos University, has congratulated the graduat-ing students on the occasion and hoped that the new batch of graduates, like their predecessors, will contribute significantly to the exercise of nation building.

Commenting on the quality of the academic programmes at SQU, the vice chancellor said that many of them are subject to periodic academic accreditation by reputed international bodies.

“All the undergraduate programmes of the college of Engineering are accredited for the second consecu-tive term by the US-based ABET Inc. (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc.). The basic MD programme offered by the College of Medicine and

Health Sciences has been accredited by the Associa-tion for Medical Education in the Eastern Mediterra-nean Region (AMEEMR) in association with the World Federation for Medical Edu-cation (WFME),” he said.

Six undergraduate pro-grammes from the College of Education, and chemistry, geology and geophysics pro-grammes from the College of Science, have received na-tional recognition from the USA. The Tourism degree of-fered by the College of Arts & Social Sciences is UNWTO TedQual certified.

Speaking on infrastructure development at the univer-sity, Dr Al Bimani said that several new buildings have come up on campus within the last two years. “The new buildings for the proposed National Centre Blood Hereditary Diseases and Bone Marrow Trans-plant, Radiology block at SQU Hospital, and the College of Education Annex are nearing completion. Administration Annexe and College of Science laboratory block have been commis-sioned of late.

SQU graduation meet today

MAJOR LAND- MARK: The SQU team which won the national research

award for colour imaging technique on dates .–Supplied photo

Man falls in Wadi Bani Khalid pit; dies on way to hospitalTimes News Service

MUSCAT: One person drowned in one of the pits formed in Wadi Bani Khalid on Saturday.

Local citizens managed to rescue the victim but he died on the way to the Bidyah hospi-tal, said an official at the Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance (PACDA).

The official added that at-tempts by PACDA personnel to resurrect the victim failed.

In another incident, PACDA personnel doused a fire which gutted a house in the wilayat of Bausher on Saturday morning. Eight members of a family sus-tained light to medium injuries while another sustained serious injuries, said a PACDA official. Four ambulances and fire en-gines rushed to the spot to help the victims and control the fire.

A C C I D E N T

The research explores

the potential of using

computer vision

(CV) technology as

an alternative for a

visual inspection

method of quality

assessment

Al Sayra Tower’s strategic location gives the wilayat a historical significance. Apart from being an important historical landmark, also reflects the beauty of Omani architecture

A7

REGIONS U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 1 4

130km is the distance of Adhaim dam, form Baghdad. It has a width of 3,800 metres.

Iraqi forces retake one of country’s largest dams

ADHAIM DAM (IRAQ): Iraqi forces and majority sect militia-men have recaptured one of Iraq’s largest dams, another success in Baghdad’s efforts to wrest key fa-cilities back from the IS group. Pro-government forces ousted IS extremists from control of Ad-haim dam, which forms a lake that marks the border between the eastern provinces of Diyala and Salaheddin, earlier this week.

Commanders from the army and the Majority sect Badr militia

that jointly led the operation told an AFP journalist who visited the site on Friday that IS pulled out after a brief battle two days earlier.

“Thanks to the mujahedeen of the army and Badr, we have taken control of the site and have cleared it completely,” said Badr com-mander Kadhem Husseinawi. Ali Hussein, a soldier with the 5th Brigade, said the fighting only

lasted a few hours but that it would take some time to defuse all the booby-traps left behind.

Most of the dam’s vital infra-structure was intact, as was the administrative headquarters, but some of the staff lodgings that IS fighters had occupied were destroyed.

In the back yard of one of those houses, in a bunker the

IS used to store food and am-munition, Badr fighters wearing their trademark green bandanas flashed victory signs.

The pro-government forces seized at least 10 vehicles, includ-ing Humvees and armoured per-sonnel carriers, and destroyed four others during the operation, which involved mortar fire and strikes by helicopters and jet fighters.

Headless body One soldier said the operation be-gan with the capture from IS of two of the four mainly minority sect villages near the dam, with the other two being seized afterwards.

Ground troops advanced by communicating to helicopters the coordinates of suspected bombs planted on the road, which were fired on and detonated to clear the way for the forces.

The bodies of at least eight ex-tremists were still visible near the shores of the lake, including one whose head was missing.

Former minister Hadi Al Ameri, who commanded the Badr forces in Adhaim on Wednesday, claims that IS sometimes decapitates its own dead before pulling out of an area to prevent their identification.

Husseinawi showed a ware-house IS had used as a workshop

to rig vehicles with explosives for car bomb attacks.

One suicide bomber detonated a Humvee during the fighting on Wednesday, killing three soldiers, including a colonel, he said.

Adhaim dam, located about 130 kilometres (85 miles) northeast of Baghdad, has a width of 3,800 me-tres (2.4 miles).

Construction of the dam began in 1989 to provide hydroelectric power, as well as flood control and irrigation. However, work was never completed, and no electric-ity has ever been generated there.

A main focus for the govern-ment since it lost swathes of land in a bruising June offensive by the extremists has been to re-take or protect the country’s most vital facilities.

On Saturday, pro-govern-ment forces broke a months-old siege on Iraq’s largest oil refinery near Baiji.

And in August, Kurdish and federal troops backed by US air strikes retook Mosul dam, the country’s largest, in the north.

Significant Iraqi and foreign resources have been poured into retaining control of Haditha dam, one of the last areas still under government control in the western province of Anbar. -AFP

Commanders from

the army and Badr

militia that jointly

led the operation

said that the IS group

pulled out after a

brief battle two days

earlier

UAE lists Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist groupDUBAI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has formally designated the Muslim Broth-erhood and local affiliates as terrorist groups, state news agency WAM reported on Sat-urday citing a cabinet decree.

It has also designated Nusra Front and the IS, whose fight-ers are battling Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, as terrorist or-ganisations, along with other mi-nority sect militant groups such as the Houthi movement in Yemen.

Similar move Saturday’s move echoes a similar move by Saudi Arabia in March.

The UAE has designated Al Islah group, which is a lo-cal extremist group banned in the UAE, for its alleged link to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, as a terrorist group.

UAE authorities have cracked down on members of Al Is-lah and jailed scores of those convicted of forming an illegal branch of the Brotherhood.

Al Islah denies any such link, but says it shares some of the Brotherhood’s ideology.-Reuters

W A M R E P O R T

Iran nuclear deal possible, says RussiaBRISBANE: A deal could be reached this month between world powers and Iran on curbing the country’s nuclear programme if there is the will in Washington and Tehran, a senior Russian diplomat said on Saturday.

In Australia for a meeting of the G20 major and develop-ing economies, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters six world powers and Iran had never been so close to an agreement and it could be reached by a November 24 deadline. “Therefore, from (November) 18 to 24 there is enough time for such decisions to be taken,” he said. -Reuters

D I P L O M A C Y

IN CONTROL: Iraqi federal troops and members of their Kurdish and majority sect militia allies stand next to Adhaim dam after reportedly recapturing the dam from IS group militants in Diyala province, which borders Iran and is strategically important since it is a gateway to Baghdad, on Friday. -AFP

A8

INDIAS U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 14

Repatriation of black money is priority for Government: Modi

BRISBANE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday une-quivocally said that repatriation of black money kept abroad is a “pri-ority” for his government, as he sought close global coordination to achieve this objective.

Raising the black money issue at an informal meeting of lead-ers of the five-nation Brics bloc, Modi set the tone on this key issue ahead of the G20 summit in the wake of his commitment to bring back every penny of black money stashed abroad.

“Repatriation of black money kept abroad is a key priority for us,” Modi told the Brics leaders.

CoordinationCalling for close coordination on the issue of black money kept abroad, Modi also said this unac-counted money is also linked to security challenges.

As India makes attempts to re-trieve the black money, the prime minister has already made it clear

that close cooperation to retrieve the black money from abroad is a key issue for him.

The G20 host Australia Friday vowed a “very aggressive” crack-down on tax avoidance.

India is also seeking strong ac-tion by the Group of 20 industri-alised and emerging economies against tax havens.

“A key issue for me would be to highlight the importance of inter-national cooperation against black

money,” Modi had said, as he is set to renew the country’s commit-ment at the G20 summit to a global response to deal with cross border tax avoidance and evasion.

India is also expected to urge the G20 to pressure tax havens into revealing more information on black money from India to help retrieve this illegal money.

Meanwhile, making a strong pitch for speeding up the crea-tion of a Brics development bank,

Modi on Saturday said India hopes to ratify the agreement over the financial institution by year-end and 2016 should be set as the tar-get for its inauguration.

“The historic sixth Brics Sum-mit in Fortaleza delivered — the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement.

These signal our collective ca-pacities to create and manage global institutions,” Modi said at an informal meeting of leaders of the five-nation Brics bloc here.

Proposal“We propose that we should set the target of 2016 for inaugura-tion of this Bank. We hope to ratify the agreement by the end of the year. We would soon nominate our candidate for the post of the Presidency,” Modi said, making a strong pitch for the early opera-tionalisation of the bank.

India will hold the Presidency of the $100 billion New Development Bank for the first six years.

The bank will be based in Shang-hai, China’s financial hub.

India’s presidency will be fol-lowed by Brazil and Russia who will have five years term each un-der an agreement reached after in-tense negotiations among the five country-grouping BRICS -- Brazil,

Russia, India, China and South Africa. The decision to set up the bank and a $100 billion Currency Reserve Arrangement (CRA) that will help countries to deal with short-term liquidity pressures, was made at the 6th BRICS Sum-mit held in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza in July.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African Pres-ident President Jacob Zuma at-tended the informal meeting along with Prime Minister Modi on the sidelines of the G20 summit here.

Modi said that the bank and the CRA can be effective in promot-ing sustainable development and bridge infrastructure gaps.

“These measures send a strong message to the rest of the world about the efficacy of Brics,” he said in his speech.

“We can be more aligned to local conditions and requirements. We should focus on next generation in-frastructure. We can promote new models of governance and financ-ing, while maintaining the highest banking standards,” Modi said.

“We should also make it more participatory. We need to work towards their early implementa-tion,” he said. - PTI

Calling for close

coordination on

the issue of black

money kept abroad,

Modi also said this

unaccounted money

is also linked to

security challenges

REITERATING COMMITMENT: Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an informal Brics meeting ahead of

the G20 Summit in Brisbane, Australia, on Saturday. - PTI

Rahul demands probe into sterilisation deathsBILASPUR: Opposition Con-gress leader Rahul Gandhi de-manded on Saturday a “thorough probe” into the deaths of 13 wom-en undergoing sterilisation sur-gery as local media alleged the vic-tims were treated with antibiotics contaminated with rat poison.

Police announced on Friday the arrests of the head of a drug manufacturing company and his son on suspicion of destroying ev-idence in the cases of the women who died in central India after the sterilisation operations.

“This isn’t just a case of negli-gence but a case of corruption, of fake drugs which is the respon-sibility of the government,” said Rahul, whose Congress party suf-fered a crushing defeat in recent national elections.

Counterfeit or adulterated medicines are a significant health problem in the country, as well as for buyers of India’s drugs abroad, with the World Health Organisa-

tion calculating as many as one in five drugs made in India might be spurious.

“The first thing that needs to be done is a thorough probe of what

happened here,” Rahul added in televised remarks in the district of Bilaspur in central Chhattisgarh state where the deaths occurred.

The Hindustan Times daily reported an analysis of the anti-biotic, ciprofloxacin, given to the women found it had been adulter-ated with zinc phosphide, a chem-ical used in rat poison.

The deaths have triggered wide-spread criticism of government-run schemes offering poor women cash incentives to be sterilised, in what activists say are often hor-rifying assembly-line conditions. Police arrested the plant head and his son after raiding their drugs factory, Mahawar Pharma, in Chhattisgarh, where dozens more women were still in hospital after undergoing surgery. - AFP

B O T C H E D O P E R A T I O N S

Order on children sweeping streets challenged

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has refused to entertain a public interest litigation which challenged a government circular sent to schools and colleges ask-ing children to participate in Swa-cha Bharat Abhiyan (cleanliness campaign), initiated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sweep the streets of the country.

According to petitioner, M V Holamagi, a city-based lawyer, a circular had been issued asking

the children to sweep the streets for seven days from November 14.

He said this was illegal and not justified and was being done by political leaders to use children for their own interests. A bench of Justice Anoop Mohota and Nitin Jamdar pulled up the petitioner on Friday for not enclosing the circular with the petition.

‘Come fully prepared’“You must come fully prepared to

the court when the PIL is heard,” said the Judges and asked the pe-titioner to locate the circular and attach a copy thereof to the PIL.

Circular The petitioner had prayed that pending the hearing and final dis-posal of the PIL, the court may de-clare the impugned circular, ask-ing children to participate in the Swacha Bharat Abhiyan, as illegal and set aside the same. - PTI

S W A C H A B H A R A T A B H I Y A N

TALKING TOUGH: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi speaks

at the 125th birth anniversary function of Jawahar Lal Nehru at

Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi, on Thursday. - PTI

We propose that we should set the target of 2016 for inauguration

of this bank. We hope to ratify the agreement by the end of the year.

We would soon nominate our candidate for the post of the presidency

Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

A9

INDIAS U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 1 4

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Government to increase compensation for Bhopal gas victimsNEW DELHI: India’s govern-ment has promised to increase compensation for Bhopal gas dis-aster victims as the 30th anniver-sary of the tragedy looms, Amnesty International said on Saturday.

The pledge was given by Chem-icals Minister Ananth Kumar late on Friday in New Delhi to dem-onstrators demanding higher compensation for victims, the

rights group said in statement. Thousands of people were killed when 40 tonnes of lethal me-thyl isocyanate gas spewed from the Union Carbide chemi-cal plant in the central city of Bhopal on December 2, 1984.

The long-term impact of tox-ins released after the gas leak led to a string of diseases, which the the state-run Indian Council of

Medical Research (ICMR) said had killed 25,000 people by 1994. Amnesty called the Indian govern-ment’s enhanced compensation commitment a “major victory” for survivors. “India’s government has agreed to increase a multi-million dollar compensation claim against Union Carbide over the 1984 gas leak... which poisoned more than half a million people,” the London-

based organisation said. The group gave no details about the higher compensation, and the Indian government was not immediately available to comment.

But Amnesty said it welcomed the “important move” and called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “ensure the government’s pledge is honoured”.

According to Indian official fig-

ures, 3,500 people died within days of the accident. But the ICMR later estimated the immediate number of deaths at 8,000 to 10,000.

Survivors and their children say they are still afflicted by can-cer, vision problems, fatigue, heart disease and other ailments. Indian authorities blamed the gas leak on design and maintenance problems but Union Carbide attributed it to

employee sabotage. In 2012, the Indian government filed a Supreme Court petition asking for higher compensation from the company, which was set at $470-million in a settlement reached in 1989.

Dow Chemical which bought Union Carbide after the disaster, insists that all of the company’s liabilities were covered in a 1989 agreement. - AFP

TRAGEDY

Now, lodge your FIR from kiosks

AFTAB H. KOLAOur Correspondent

BANGALORE: Now a resident of the southern Indian city of Bangalore does not have to go to a police station and file a complaint.

The city, which is known for lev-eraging technology to tackle law and enforcement issues in the city since 2007, got India’s first remote First Information Report regis-tration system in collaboration with IT networking giant Cisco.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah dedicated the country’s first Remote Expert Government Services (REGS) to help aggrieved citizens lodge complaints against crimes using remote FIR registration kiosks.

REGS is part of Cisco’s

Smart+Connected Communities solutions portfolio. The pioneer-ing technology offers a new way for government services to be de-livered and how citizens interact with various government depart-ments and officials, in a truly im-mersive, collaborative experience.

The first such kiosk has come up at Mantri Square mall in Malleswaram and similar ki-osks will be rolled out in other parts of the city.

Exuding confidence, the chief minister said, “We hope it will be a huge success. Karnataka has been at the forefront of technol-ogy adoption with respect to pub-lic service delivery and REGS is another step in that direction. The solution from Cisco will make it easy for citizens to lodge

complaints. The initiative will help improve the citizen-police relationship in the State.”

CollaborationEquipped with a Cisco TelePres-ence system with high-definition video and high-quality audio, a touch screen, virtual keyboard and Cisco collaboration technol-ogy, the kiosk will allow citizens to launch a live collaboration session with a designated po-lice officer based at the Traffic Management Centre.

The complainant can sign, print and scan documents vir-tually as part of the experience. They will also get an opportunity to review the complaint with an expert, thus ensuring that the FIR filed is error-free. Once the FIR is filed, the citizen will receive a print copy of the FIR as an instant acknowledgement.

The kiosk will be accessible 24X7, from where citizens may interact face to face with a remote investigation officer to expedite the entire process of filing an FIR.

The kiosk will serve as the cen-tral location for FIRs related to 105 law and order police stations and 42 traffic police stations of the city. A citizen need not neces-sarily visit any police station to lodge an FIR.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah

dedicated the country’s first Remote Expert

Government Services (REGS) to help

aggrieved citizens lodge complaints against

crimes using remote FIR registration kiosks

A10

PAKISTAN S U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 14

‘3 days of talks end 13 years of differences’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Afghanistan pledged to begin a new era of economic coopera-tion on Saturday, with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani saying three days of talks had ended 13 years of differences.

Ghani and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said col-laboration on economic and en-ergy issues would form the basis of better security in the troubled region as US-led Nato combat troops leave Afghanistan after more than a decade of fighting the Taliban.

Testy relationsThe two countries have long en-dured testy relations, with former Afghan president Hamid Karzai

regularly accusing Pakistan of supporting Taliban insurgents trying to overthrow his regime.

Pakistan has accused Kabul of not doing enough to shut down bases on its soil for militants at-tacking Pakistani targets.

The fact that Ghani chose to make Islamabad the destination for his first bilateral visit since taking power in September is seen as an important sign of wanting to improve ties.

The former World Bank econ-omist arrived in Islamabad on Friday but aides had begun nego-tiations with Pakistani officials a day earlier.

After talks between Ghani and Sharif on Saturday, the two sides’ finance ministers signed a deal aimed at more than doubling trade between the two countries

to $5 billion by 2017, as well as simplifying customs protocols.

“I want to welcome the enor-mous steps that have been taken in the last three days to achieve progress on the economy,” Ghani said at a joint news conference with Sharif afterwards.

“We have overcome obstacles of 13 years in three days,” he said in an apparent dig at the troubles of the Karzai era.

Election battle The Afghan leader, who took the presidency in a power-sharing government after a protracted and bitter election battle against rival Abdullah Abdullah, said cooperation on gas and energy projects would be key.

“What we have agreed on is a shared vision where Pakistan

and Afghanistan would serve as the heart of Asia to ensure that economic integration in Asia be-comes a reality,” he said.

The two sides plan to work to-gether on the CASA-1000 elec-tricity line and the ambitious $7.6 billion dollar Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistani-India (TAPI) gas pipeline.

The 1,800-kilometre TAPI pro-ject aims to link the gas fields of Central Asia to energy-hungry markets in Pakistan and India, with international giants Exx-onMobil, Chevron, Petronas, BP and Total all interested, according to sources.

“Today we have taken funda-mental steps to ensure that South Asia connects with Central Asia and Central Asia connects to South Asia,” Ghani said. — AFP

Ghani and Sharif

said collaboration

on economic and

energy issues would

form the basis of

better security in

the troubled region

as US-led Nato

combat troops leave

Afghanistan after

more than a decade

I want to welcome the enormous steps that have been taken in the last three days to achieve progress on the economy

Ashraf GhaniAfghanistan president

TROUBLED TIMESInternally displaced residents of Bara, a town of the

Khyber Agency who have fled the military operation

against Taliban militants, arrive at a registration point

in Peshawar on Friday. Taliban on Saturday clashed

with government-backed tribal militia in Pakistan’s

restive northwest near the Afghan border, killing five

militants, officials said. The incident occurred in Speena

Danda area of Khyber tribal district. ‘Five Taliban were

killed and seven anti-Taliban militia members received

injuries in a clash with pakistani Taliban and their sup-

porters,’ a local administration official said. Intelligence

officials confirmed the incident and causalities. — AFP

The two sides plan to work together on the

CASA-1000 electricity line and the ambitious

$7.6 billion dollar Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-

Pakistani-India (TAPI) gas pipeline

A11

WORLDS U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 1 4

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NO LIMITS STUNT SHOWFreestyle stunt rider Jason Britton performs during the No Limits Stunt Show at the Progressive International Motorcycle

Show in Long Beach, California on Friday. The three-day event showcases more than 20 major motorcycle manufacturers as

well as custom bike builders and stunt shows. — AFP

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‘Ebola outbreak in Congo is over’KINSHASA: Democratic Repub-lic of Congo declared its three-month Ebola outbreak officially over on Saturday after 42 days without recording a new case of the disease.

Congo’s outbreak, which killed 49 of the 66 people infected in the remote northwestern Equa-teur province, is unrelated to the outbreak in West Africa, where at least 5,177 people are known to have died in the worst Ebola out-break on record.

“No new cases have been reg-istered since October 4,” Health Minister Felix Kabange told re-porters in Kinshasa.

“After 42 days of active search-ing, the government declaresthe end of the outbreak of the Ebola virus,” he added. Forty-two days is the internationally-accepted pe-riod for declaring Ebola over as it represents two full cycles of the maximum possible incubation period of the disease.

Congo acted swiftly to contain

the outbreak, partly as a result of having already faced six previ-ous outbreaks since the disease was first identified in the former Belgian colony in 1976.

West AfricaUnlike West Africa, where the dis-ease spread across most of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, reach-ing densely populated capital cit-ies, the epicentre of Congo’s out-break was in northwestern forests with little access. — Reuters

No new cases have

been registered

since October 4,

Health Minister

Felix Kabange told

reporters in Kinshasa

Thousands protest Georgian regime’s pro-Russia stanceTBILISI: Over 30,000 opposi-tion supporters rallied on Satur-day in the Georgian capital Tbilisi against the government’s Russia policy and the Kremlin’s backing of separatists in the breakaway Ab-khazia and South Ossetia regions.

Carrying Georgian and Ukrain-ian flags and placards that read “Stop Putin!”, the protesters gathered on the city’s main thor-oughfare, following the call of the former president Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement party (UNM).

Saakashvili addressed the rally by video link from Kiev as the cheering crowd chanted his name.

“Let’s show Georgia’s gov-ernment that the nation is united against the serious threat to its independence, its future,” he said.

Saakashvili’s UNM party has ac-cused the ruling Georgian Dream coalition government of not con-fronting what it claims is Russia’s creeping annexation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Backed by the Kremlin, the two regions broke away from Georgia after civil wars in the

1990s following the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Moscow officially recognised their independence after fight-ing a five-day war with Georgia in August 2008.

After that war, Moscow sta-tioned thousands of troops in the two separatist statelets in a move condemned by Tbilisi and its Western allies as an illegal occupation. — AFP

O P P O S I T I O N S U P P O R T E R S

Carrying Georgian and Ukrainian flags and placards that read ‘Stop Putin!’, the protesters gathered on the city’s main thoroughfare, following the call of the former president Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement party

Congo has launched a plan to train 1,000 Congolese volunteers to help West African nations fight the outbreak, which has now affected six nations in the region

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“It is like a terrible dream,” says a man who has just fled Mosul for Irbil, describing conditions in the city five months after Isis captured it in June. He adds that “from the day they started to blow

up the mosques people hated them”, referring to the destruction of the Mosque of Younis (Jonah) and other mosques denounced by Isis “as places for apostasy not prayer”.

The man, a small businessman who had been an army officer under Saddam Hussein and is now on a pension, was very nervous that anybody should learn his name. Some of his family have stayed on in Mosul to prevent their house being confiscated by Isis. Its officials check house-to-house demand-ing to see documents proving that the occupant is the owner. If they discover that the real owner has left the city, he is given 10 days to return or his house is confiscated by Isis.

He said actually crossing from Isis-controlled ter-ritory to that under the authority of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) had not been difficult. He had taken the road between Mosul and Kirkuk that was guarded by “a couple of 15- or 16-year-olds with guns” at a checkpoint. A Kurdish friend spon-sored him to enter the KRG.

Day-to-day life in the city he left behind was rap-idly deteriorating, he said. For 28 days people had no fresh water or mains electricity. They now rely on local generators. Crude oil from Mosul province goes to Syria where it is refined, but the fuel which comes back is poor quality and ruins the engines it is used to power. Some foodstuffs, such as tomatoes, are cheap because farmers have no customers aside from the markets in Mosul.

Life in Mosul for a Iraqi minority sect Arab – Christians and Yazidis have been forced to flee – is a mixture of normality, inconvenience and fear. Sur-prisingly, pensions are still being paid by the central government in Baghdad and the man I met at the weekend was still receiving his.

But there is the burden of complying with new rules and regulations as Isis imposes its fundamen-talist ideology. Some of these are inconvenient, such as the ban on smoking in public, or trivial, such as the removal of all pictures of Tom and Jerry from the walls of schools.

The imposition of the niqab, fully covering a wom-an’s face, is deeply resented. One woman in Mosul, whose name must also be concealed, writes: “Just this evening, with my old mom, I went out to shop and buy medicines in my car with a thin cloth show-ing my eyes only. What can I do?

“Last week, a woman was standing beside a kiosk, and uncovered her face to drink a bottle of water. One of them [Isis] approached her and hit her on the head with a thick stick. He didn’t notice that her hus-band was close to her.

“Her husband beat him up and he ran away, shoot-ing randomly in the sky as the people, in sympathy, chased him so they could share in beating him. This is just one story of the brutality we are liv-ing.” Such examples of open opposition to Isis are limited because people are terrified of savage re-taliation at its hands. The retired businessman said this sense of dread never left him, “though generally if you don’t interfere with them, they don’t interfere with you”.

But he recalled public executions in the middle of a roundabout, such as that of the lawyer Sameera Salih Ali Al Nuaimy, who had written on Facebook that the blowing up of mosques and shrines by Isis was “barbaric”. He says he stays mostly in his house, “going out 10 times in the past two months”.

“I was one of the people who hated [Nouri Al Ma-liki’s] army, but now I would like the Iraqi army to come back,” he says. “People in Mosul would wel-come them. Anybody would be better than Isis, even the Israelis. We are dying.”

Such words may be joy to the government in Bagh-dad and its supporters in Washington or Tehran. But while detestation of Isis is common in the minor-ity sect community in Iraq, so too is fear of the Iraqi army and the majority sect militias that are the main fighting force of the Baghdad government.

One of its few military successes has been to re-lieve the besieged majority sect Turkoman town of Amerli, but the 40 minority sect Arab villages near-by have been abandoned by their inhabitants.

There is no good option for the Iraqi minority sect community, which knows that it will be punished as likely Isis supporters by vengeful government sol-diers and militiamen if they return.

Isis is striking pre-emptively at local leaders in Mosul who might resist it in future. Imams from the mosques have been placed under house arrest and replaced by younger clerics supporting Isis.

It does not target potential opponents randomly, but has its own well-organised security service that seeks to eliminate potential enemies before they can act. When the former governor of Nineveh province, Atheel Al Nujaifi, announced last month that former army officers in Mosul were waiting for the Iraqi army to reach the city before rising up against Isis, the militants held a mass execution of army and po-lice officers it held.

Isis may be unpopular in Mosul, but it will be dif-ficult to dislodge. - The Independent

The brutal reality of life in Mosul under IS

There is no good option for the Iraqi minority sect community, which knows that it will be punished as likely Isis supporters by vengeful government soldiers and militiamen if they return

Letters, containing not more than 200 words with full name, address and telephone number, may be sent by mail (Times of Oman, P.O. Box 770, P.C. 112, Ruwi), by fax (24813153) or by e-mail (times@omantel.net.om)

WAR ZONE

Pakistan has a distinctly patchy record when it comes to the protection of rare breeds of fauna. Birds such as the houbara bustard are hunted by prominent people resident in the Ara-

bian Peninsula and the Gulf states. They are allowed to hunt the rare birds, courtesy permits issued by the Pakistani government. The irony of this is that Pakistan is a signatory to the Convention on the Inter-national Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This is an intergov-ernmental agreement, which aims to ensure that international trade in wild animals — and plants — is not a threat to their survival. The houbara bustard is an endangered species, a fact which does not pre-vent the Pakistan government from profiting by its annual slaughter by visiting Arab dignitaries and ‘influentials’.

Trafficking in rare breeds is also good business. It is unlikely that the man caught attempting to smuggle five rare falcons at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi will ever have heard of the CITES agreement. In his luggage were five birds, all falcons and according to the arrested man, all had their origins in Balochistan. They were bound for Dubai where the erstwhile smuggler works as a driver. Three of the birds were rare Saker falcons. Rare breeds command high prices internationally, and the Arab Spring is widely and reliably reported to have produced an upswing in demand, with countries like Pakistan, where controls are lax, happy to supply. Be they hunted or smuggled, any animal or bird that has a rarity value and lives in Paki-stan seems to be fair game. There are 42 species of birds identified as ‘endangered’ in Pakistan, as well as 24 mammals. Not all of them are trafficked or hunted, and those that are not are endangered by virtue of the destruction of their habitats, usually by human encroachment. Currently, the Indian Pangolin is one of our most at-risk species. Hunted for the keratinous scales that cover it and its body fat that is prized for its medicinal purposes in China, it is verging on extinction in Pakistan. Rare species have a global ownership, and we are clearly poor custodians. -The Express Tribune

Continuing rare-breed trade

The referendum may be over, and now the SNP conference, but the arguments about Scottish independence look as though they will not rest. The issue, the new SNP leader Nicola Stur-

geon made clear yesterday, is not settled for a generation, as union-ists hoped. For a party so recently defeated in what was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to achieve its central aim, the Scot Nats show little despondency. With good reason: the SNP may get another opportunity for a decision on devolution before long. On the one hand, in what is shaping up to become a historic betrayal, the main UK parties seem unable or unwilling to come up with a plan for “devo max” home rule for Scotland along the lines promised by them in the last stages of the referendum campaign. The Conservatives can be rightly blamed for linking further powers for Holyrood with the so-called English Question, or Evel – English votes on English laws. William Hague’s task is made all the more frustrating by the blatant politicking of the Labour Party, which still refuses to join the talks.

So the moral case for reopening the independence question grows ever stronger, and the SNP is making the most of the Westminster parties’ failures. Come next May, there could be a solid phalanx of SNP MPs returned to Westminster, displacing many Labour and Lib-eral Democrat members. That will add to the weight of its case; it will also prove a fine practical advantage in the near certainty of a hung parliament. It will, in short, be able to hold any Westminster govern-ment to ransom until a second referendum is granted. This time the referendum would have to have devo max as a clear option, but if by then it has not been delivered, it would be difficult to predict which way a scorned Scottish electorate might jump. It would not take very much resentment to convert the 45 per cent support a few months ago into a clear majority for independence in, say, a year’s time. In which case David Cameron and Ed Miliband will carry a heavy guilt for the debacle; they would not, and should not, survive such a turn of events.

What is more, the Conservative promise of a referendum on the EU also provides the SNP with a case for a further vote. As Sturgeon pointed out, it is “democratically indefensible” not to give Scotland another referendum if there was a vote to leave the EU in 2017. If Eng-land wants to get out of Europe but Scotland does not, then Scottish independence has to be the logical corollary. Miliband, for his part, will find it difficult. If he were to try a more nakedly social democratic approach, he would most likely lose yet more votes in England, where conservatism with both a lower-case and capital C is a more main-stream approach to politics than it is north of the border. Miliband’s party, in other words, looks in trouble in Scotland. Alex Salmond, one of the most talented politicians either side of the border, has be-queathed his successor an enviable legacy. -The Independent

The SNP could force

another referendum

PAT R I C K C O C K B U R N

News about His Majesty confirms his popularityThis refers to the news report, ‘His Majesty’s speech to the people of Oman crosses 1 million views on YouTube’. The news only confirms what Omanis and expatriates liv-ing in the Sultanate already know — that His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said is admired by all the people for what he has done for the country ever since he assumed its helm. His Majesty has been instru-mental in Oman’s development.Sundaram SubramanianMuscat

What punishment will parents, erring child get?This refers to the call for curbs on child drivers. When I read this ar-ticle, I was shocked to read of the teenager, who, with the permis-

sion of her irresponsible parents, hit a mother and her two children killing all three of them. I would like to know what punishment the parents and their daughter have received?Lina de FinaMuscat

Pakistan-Afghanistan ties hold key to regional peacePakistan and Afghanistan are two countries which not only share a common border but also religion and a number of social and cul-tural practices, especially in the border areas of both the coun-tries. The same tribes and clans often dwell on both sides of the border. There are cross border marriages, business, and other transactions. This has been going on for generations. These people

claim that they were divided in a conspiracy during the British rule for the sake of strengthening control over the northern part of India when a 2,400-km long line (Durand Line) was imposed on the Amir of Afghanistan in 1893. Since the division of sub-conti-nent in 1947, relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have seen many an ebb and tide and have hardly been cordial. During the Cold War, Pakistan stood on the side Afghanistan and fought against Russian invasion. As a result, the Taliban succeeded in establishing their government in Afghanistan and announced Mul-lah Umar as their Ameer. This government, however, proved too brutal for the people. After 9/11, except the last years of Hamid Karzai’s government in which a number of killings of security per-

sonnel occurred, both the coun-tries have mostly enjoyed friendly ties. The new government in Kabul, which has come after a democratic transition, seems in-terested in maintaining friendly and cordial ties with Pakistan. In this regard a recent meeting held between the top leaders of the two countries is a positive sign — indicating that a good working re-lationship will evolve eventually. If peace indeed prevails as a result of these efforts, a new trade corri-dor would likely open with central Asian states on one side and China and India on the other. This will bring much needed prosperity to the people of this region as it will enable cross-borders business. It will also lessen the sufferings of the Afghans.Nasir IqbalAl Rustaq

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PERSPEC IVET I M E S O F O M A N S U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 1 4T I M E S O F O M A N A13

Early on Sunday 20th July, we clambered wearily into the back of our ancient

stretch-Mercedes taxi and head-ed east, into the low, but already searing morning sun. Sweating into our body armour and wearing our helmets in the car, we drove in silence through ghostly streets towards Shajaiyah. The district, on the outer edge of Gaza City, had been under apocalyptic bombard-ment all night; we’d watched from a distance as hell rained down on a residential suburb.

As dawn broke, families trapped by the unremitting rocket-fire, were escaping down Shajaiyah’s narrow alleyways. Children were in shock, eyes wide.

Their parents talked of bloodied bodies littering the rubble-strewn streets they’d fled. Another shell exploded just nearby. A little girl we’d stopped to talk to said she wasn’t scared, but her father told me he was petrified.

More rockets crashed down behind the fleeing Shajaiyah refu-gees as we cautiously headed in. Our guide, as ever: Khaled Abu Ghali, my friend and freelance fixer for close to a decade now. When you work with someone long enough in such conditions you build a bond of trust of the sort that lasts a lifetime.

Stephen, my cameraman, An-na-Lisa, my producer and I were, quite simply, in his hands. We turned left, we turned right, down Friday Market Street. Khaled spoke to a couple of people, then beckoned us to follow. We filmed as we walked.

A few minutes later and Ste-phen’s camera catches a moment I still remember vividly. Khaled has suddenly stopped in his tracks. The two of us had been pacing up

an alleyway towards a destroyed house. Now his blue flak jacket blocks the camera. “No,” he said. “Stop. It isn’t safe.”

I stopped and turned. “What’s up?” “I don’t know. We just should not go up here,” Khaled said.

“OK.” I looked at him quiz-zically, but I’d learned to trust his judgment.

It’s all there, caught on camera. We turned and left and as we did so, small-arms fire broke out up the alley. It meant that Hamas street fighters were probably en-gaging Israeli snipers just nearby. I looked at Khaled, who grinned at me and shrugged. “You see? Let’s go!” he said, “al-hamdulillah!” Thank God.

This was not the only time Khaled Abu Ghali’s sixth sense kicked in and saved us. We weren’t the only Channel 4 News crew that long, hot, dangerous Gaza sum-mer, to have praised Khaled’s cool-headedness under fire.

He has worked with differ-ent crews through the wars of 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2014; and this year alone, he worked with five successive teams without a break, flat out for weeks.

He continued to so even when his own wife and children were

forced to evacuate their fam-ily home, when his married daugh-ter’s home was partially destroyed and when a close friend was killed in an Israeli air-strike. He just kept on, relentlessly; our Gaza field pro-ducer; shepherding, fixing, trans-lating... and helping to coordinate out Channel 4 News live broad-casts from Shifa Hospital.

This is why these teams of presenters, correspondents, pro-ducers and cameramen have unanimously nominated Khaled Abu Ghali for this year’s Martin Adler Prize, which honours a local freelancer who has made an exceptional contribution to newsgathering, as part of the Rory Peck Awards.

In doing so, we pay tribute to his professionalism, indefatiga-bility, his coolness in difficult and dangerous situations and to his infectious, mischievous sense of humour. Khaled is a big man in every way: big beard, big heart, big laugh. He has a way with children in particular; he makes even the seemingly inconsolable laugh with his ludicrous party tricks, as he comforts their par-ents after they’ve relayed their grim experiences to our cameras. -The Independent

TODAY IN HISTORY

OPINION POLL

1813 The British announce a blockade of Long Island Sound, leaving only the New England coast open to shipping.

1892 King Behanzin of Dahomey (now

Benin), leads soldiers against the French.

1902 A cartoon appears in the Washington

Star, prompting the Teddy Bear Craze, after President Teddy Roosevelt refused to kill a captive bear tied up for him to shoot during a hunting trip to Mississippi.

1992 Eric Lawes, searching for a hammer

near Hoxne, Suffolk, England, discovers the largest hoard of Roman silver and gold ever found in Britain.

SEMINAR ON CATEGORISATION OF DISEASES, SURGICAL OPERATIONSMUSCAT: A seminar on the 10th amendment of the international categorisation of diseases and surgical operations opened at Wattayah Health Science Institute yesterday. The undersecretary for administrative and financial affairs at the Ministry of Health, said the Sultanate in an endeavour to translate the slogan ‘Health for all by the year 2000’ had developed a consolidated and modern system for medical registers capable of providing required data for health institutions in the country.

FROM OUR ARCHIVES

All people in Myanmar, regardless of ethnicity or religion, deserve the same fundamental rights and freedoms

Myanmar is in the midst of changes un-paralleled in our history. Expectations are high, but the needs of our people are

even greater. We must succeed in our transition to peace, democracy and inclusive economic devel-opment. And for this to happen we need the rest of the world to appreciate the complexity of the chal-lenges that the Burmese government faces.

We live in the shadow of our past - a past shaped by colonial occupation and military dictatorships, and by our unique geography between Asia’s gi-ant civilizations of India and China, a geography that must be carefully managed. We suffer from extremely limited institutional capacity and even more from the mind-sets and mentalities that emerged under isolation and authoritarian rule. These are things that cannot change overnight.

One of our most important tasks at the moment is bringing about a just and sustainable end to 70 years of armed conflict - one of the longest-running internal conflicts in the world. We are committed to a federal union formed under the principles of democracy, equality and self-determination. We have been in talks with nearly two dozen differ-ent ethnic-based armed groups with the goal of a nationwide cease-fire agreement. We want an end to fighting that will allow displaced people to re-turn home and resume their livelihoods. We wish to open space for dialogue at all levels - including political talks at the highest levels - aimed at a final peace accord. These talks may well lead to con-stitutional reforms, including in the area of civil-military relations.

We are also determined to end the humanitarian crisis in our western Rakhine State, a site of recent communal violence. We will very soon release a final action plan to address the totality of issues in Rakhine State, one that conforms to accepted international standards in all respects, including on issues of humanitarian access, resettlement, livelihoods and citizenship. We are committed to heightened security to prevent any further vio-lence and will take the toughest measures under the law to prosecute those responsible for violence or incitement to violence. There will be no forced resettlement of people.

All people in Myanmar, regardless of ethnicity or religion, deserve the same fundamental rights and freedoms.

In a year’s time we will hold general elections.

We are committed to an electoral process that is totally free and fair, and are working hard to ensure the elections will be a major step forward in build-ing our democracy. We are in constant dialogue with political parties and hundreds of civil soci-ety organizations. We will not only allow domestic monitors but international election observers as well. We hope for elections that are not only free but that encourage substantive debates of policies, offering people real choices for the future.

We are committed as well to a free media. The newly established Myanmar Press Council is working hard to make this a reality and we under-stand fully the importance of a free, independent, and responsible media as a key component to any democratic society. Alongside all these political efforts, we are working as hard as possible on de-veloping our economy. Reducing poverty is a task that can be second to none. This requires many dif-ferent reforms - from currency reform to the crea-tion of a central bank to establishing a more liberal trade and investment system than previously ex-isted. It is essential that we expand our economy in an inclusive way and in a way that protects our natural environment at the same time as we em-bark on our political changes.

We are encouraged and heartened by the sup-port given by governments and international in-stitutions. America - both the United States gov-ernment and American friends and organizations - has played a critical role in moving us away from decades of dictatorship to a place where we can now at least see the light at the end of the tunnel. President Obama - who arrived in our country on Wednesday and leaves for Australia on Friday - and Secretaries of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Kerry have all been important, but so too have senators and representatives from both sides of the aisle in Congress.

Our interest is not in aid funding for our re-forms. What we want more than anything is that friends of Myanmar around the world understand the nuances of what is happening and be aware of the big picture: that we are a small nation between giant neighbors, poor and isolated for decades, with entrenched systems and views that have grown up over generations, now trying decisively to move toward peace and democracy. It is a grand experiment, but we are determined to succeed. -New York Times News Service

Democratic transition in Myanmar faces challenges

HISTORYNET.COM

G20 nations funding fossil fuel exploration

GraphicsGraphic News /

The G20 group of leading economies spend about $88 billion each year on fossil fuel exploration, increasing the risk of “dangerous climate change”, according to a report by the Overseas Development Institute.

GraphicsGraphic News /Source: ODI and Oil Change International, Rystad Energy

OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION EXPENDITUREIN G20 COUNTRIES (public and private), $ billions, 2013

Data includes all G20 members except European Union. All figures approximate

Canada United Kingdom

Germany0.08

India

Japan0.02

France0.04

Turkey0.15 Saudi

Arabia0.8

Mexico

Brazil Argentina1.3

South Africa1.0 Indonesia Australia

Italy0.2 Korea

0.01

Russia ChinaUnited States

35.0 7.02.4

2.6

3.5

2.2 4.3

12.0

12.0

3.8

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For a nuclear-power at an important geostra-tegic location — fight-

ing virtually, the world’s war against terror even as it is embroiled in taking on home-based militancy — yearning for stability and calm is under-standable. Yet that is not how an average cricket fan — the game is second only to religion for Pakistan’s teeming mil-lions — understands the battle is fought.

Cricket of course, is a mi-crocosm of what the political and social fare is like in this South Asian republic — peo-ple, like the leaders they elect or are foisted upon them, be-tray a certain impetuousness to get things done. Almost any which way, and quickly. As if there’s no tomorrow; more of-ten than not, there’s little by way of a plan, and rarely still, Plan B. May be I’ve laboured to make the point: just suggest-ing Pakistan is a Shahid Afridi nation in essence would have sufficed. With him, it’s an edge-of-the-seat ride for sure, but no-one, least of all Afridi him-self, knows how long it’s going to last, and it usually doesn’t, but the mere anticipation and thrill keeps the fans hooked.

One could push a volume here just extrapolating on the life and times of Afridi, but that Head & Shoulders com-mercial is enough to illustrate the point. He gets the shine, he takes the shine. And while shampooing removes the ap-parent dandruff from his hair, it doesn’t the chink in his ar-mour. The contrast is provided by the unsung Misbah-ul-Haq, who can perhaps, now justi-fiably lay claim to being the model Pakistani every sane compatriot can aspire to emu-late in more ways than one.

The market forces will squeal for, they have never had the time for someone with method to a madness, but in the interest of Pakistan crick-et —and even common sense — they can take a hike! At best, a degree in business manage-ment can help navigate the ship of one’s life reasonably well, but steering it in the turbulent waters of Pakistan cricket is a different kettle of fish. Few would know it better than Misbah.

Defying the odds, includ-ing the lengthening shadows of the afternoon of his life, the 40-year-old has restored

faith in Pakistan cricket, fit-tingly becoming his country’s most successful Test captain this week. Since victory has a thousand fathers it would be convenient for many to over-look how this very man has been lampooned from Karachi to Khyber for his method.

And what has been the man’s response to digs taken by the who’s who of Pakistan cricket to the average fan? A near Buddha-like poise; never giving in to the standard Paki-stani instinct to hit back, al-ways focusing on the job at hand, and resolutely going back to the vigil mode as the last man standing. Any cricketing fraternity with a slightly more reasoned approach and mind-ful of the circumstances in which Misbah has led all along would stand up and applaud the man for being such a faith-ful servant to his country.

Since he took over the mantle in 2010 following the unsavoury match-fixing saga in Tests and the ODI steward-ship after Shahid Afridi threw another one of his fits in 2012, Pakistan cricket has seen calm and stability despite the antics of the usual suspects that come to represent the ‘system’. If it is easy now to forget the events of 2010, credit must be given to Misbah for manfully, tak-ing on the responsibility of delivering a redemption on Pakistan cricket’s behalf. Four years down the road, there is an element of nor-malcy — that biggest miss-ing link about the state itself. Misbah has carved that niche by sweating it out in a crisis —often walking right into Hun-ger Games of the kind Jennifer Lawrence would be loathe to — but never complaining. It couldn’t have been easier; the pressure of being just one se-ries away from potentially be-ing dropped, and contenders rearing to serve the “national interest” at first opportunity.

But in their grudging accep-tance of the fittest 40 in the game, you now see “respect” that the millions of Pakistani fans are beginning to concede. His record as captain is unique because he has led in exile — all 33 Tests — since there has been no international cricket in Pakistan after the unfortu-nate attack on the visiting Sri Lankan team in 2009. Despite the massive handicap, Misbah rides on, typically soaking the pressure as a captain is wont to and doing with a bat whose consistency is such that it is in the event of a failure that it gets noticed. And when that happens, Pakistan is just gasp-ing for breath. Misbah etch-ing his mark is a reward for the self-belief of a man whose legacy is yet to be understood. The legacy of being patient in a crisis, of being judicious with limited resources, of never losing hope.

The author is a senior journal-ist based in Islamabad. All the views and opinions expressed in the article are solely his and not of Times of Oman.

Misbah: Theme for Pakistan’s dream

Why Khaled won Martin Adler Prize

K A M R A N R E H M AT

J O N AT H A N M I L L E R

U S O E T H A N E

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Muslims discovered Americas: ErdoganISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that the Americas were discovered by Muslims in the 12th century, nearly three centu-ries before Christopher Columbus set foot there.

“Contacts between Latin America and Islam date back to the 12th century. Muslims discov-ered America in 1178, not Chris-topher Columbus,” the president said in a televised speech during an Istanbul summit of Muslim leaders from Latin America.

“Muslim sailors arrived in America from 1178. Columbus

mentioned the existence of a mosque on a hill on the Cuban coast,” Erdogan said.

Erdogan said that Ankara was even prepared to build a mosque

at the site mentioned by the Ge-noese explorer.

“I would like to talk about it to my Cuban brothers. A mosque would go perfectly on the hill to-

day,” the Turkish leader said.History books say that Colum-

bus set foot on the American con-tinent in 1492 as he was seeking a new maritime route to India.

A tiny minority of Muslim scholars have recently suggested a prior Muslim presence in the Americas, although no pre-Columbian ruin of an Islamic structure has ever been found.

Metaphorical referenceIn a controversial article pub-lished in 1996, historian Youssef Mroueh refers to a diary entry from Columbus that mentions a mosque in Cuba.

But the passage is widely under-stood to be a metaphorical refer-ence to the shape of the landscape.— AFP

Muslims discovered

America in 1178,

not Christopher

Columbus, the

Turkish president

said in a televised

speech

Contacts between Latin America and Islam date back to the 12th century. Muslims discovered America in 1178, not Christopher Columbus said Tayyip Erdogan

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Comet probe shuts down as batteries fail

CAPE CANAVERAL: A pioneer-ing robotic spacecraft shut down on Saturday after radioing results of its first and probably last batch of scientific experiments from the surface of a comet, scientists said.

Batteries aboard the European Space Agency’s Philae comet lander drained, shutting down the washing machine-sized probe after an adventurous and largely unscripted 57-hour mission.

Deploy harpoonsCarried aboard the orbiting Ro-setta mothership, Philae floated to the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Thursday, but failed to deploy an-choring harpoons.

Upon contacting the comet’s unexpectedly hard surface, it bounced back up into space twice then came to rest at a still-un-

known location about 1 km (0.6 mile) from its original target.

Photos and other data relayed by Philae show it finally land-ed against a cliff or crater wall where there was little sunlight to recharge its batteries. Racing against the clock, scientists acti-vated a series of automated exper-iments, the first to be conducted from the surface of a comet.

Before dying, Philae defied the odds and radioed its science re-sults back to Earth for analysis.

Its last task was to reposition itself so that as the comet soars towards the sun, Philae’s batter-ies may recharge enough for a follow-on mission.

“Perhaps when we are nearer to the sun we might have enough solar illumination to wake up the lander and re-establish commu-nication,” spacecraft operations manager Stephan Ulamec said in a statement.

Scientists are particularly in-terested in learning about the

chemical composition of any organic molecules in samples drilled out from the comet’s body.

Comets are believed to be pris-tine remnants from the forma-tion of our solar system some 4.6 billion years ago. They contain rock and ice that have preserved ancient organic molecules like a time capsule and may provide in-sight into how the planets and life evolved. Philae’s drill descended more than 25 cm on Friday, pen-etrating the comet’s surface.

Rosetta in August became the first spacecraft to put itself into orbit around a comet. It will ac-company the comet as it travels towards the sun for at least an-other 13 months. — Reuters

Batteries aboard

the European

Space Agency’s

Philae comet lander

drained, shutting

down the washing

machine-sized probe

after an adventurous

and largely

unscripted 57-hour

mission

SETBACK: A handout photo released by the European Space

Agency (ESA) on Thursday shows an image taken by Rosetta’s

lander Philae. Rosetta’s lander Philae is safely on the surface of

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, as this CIVA image con-

firms. One of the lander’s three feet can be seen in the foreground.

— AFP/ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA

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

Scientists are particularly interested in

learning about the chemical composition of

any organic molecules in samples drilled out

from the comet’s body

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Journalists told to double up as delivery boys

SACRAMENTO: One of Cali-fornia’s largest newspapers has asked reporters and other em-ployees to help deliver papers on Sundays, according to a memo ob-tained by Reuters, the latest sign of the toll that financial woes are taking on print journalism.

The Santa Ana-based Orange County Register, which recently stopped contracting with rival Los Angeles Times for delivery services, is offering $150 gift cards to staff members if they de-liver 500 to 600 papers, according to the memo sent on Thursday, which was confirmed by the paper’s top editor.

“The entire company — all de-partments, including our news-room — has been asked to help during what has clearly been a dif-ficult situation,” editor Rob Curley said . “It’s strictly voluntary.”

Employees have also been asked to help out in customer ser-vice, personally telephoning sub-scribers who had not been able

to reach a live agent, according to the memo sent to the staff.

“It’s unusual, yes,” Curley said. “It’s frustrating that we’re even in this position. But it’s temporary. Bottom line: all of us want our loy-al readers to get their papers first thing in the morning.”

The Register’s parent com-pany, Freedom Communications Inc, emerged from bankruptcy in 2010 and was purchased two years later by Aaron Kushner, a greeting-card entrepreneur who initially poured millions of dollars into the paper, doubling the size of its reporting staff and vowing to rejuvenate the sagging business of print journalism.

Company’s struggleBut the company has struggled, and dozens of reporters and edi-tors have been let go in recent months. A much-ballyhooed Los Angeles edition was shut abruptly

in September.Earlier this month the Register re-

ported that two investor groups had told a judge in Delaware that the company was insolvent and asked the court to appoint a receiver to oversee the company’s finances.

The newspaper reported that the request was denied, but it said the investors pointed to problems with the delivery contract with the Los Angeles Times as adding to its financial woes.

The Times, which has itself been hard-hit by troubles in the newspaper business, has said Freedom owes it $2.5 million in fees for delivering the paper.

Register publisher Rich Mirman on Friday said that most of the pa-per’s delivery routes are now cov-ered, but that a few are “affected by intermittent or late delivery.”

Newspapers have been strug-gling for years amid the rise of online communications. -Reuters

The Santa Ana-

based Orange County Register,

is offering $150

gift cards to staff

members if they

deliver 500 to 600

papers, according to

an official memo

HARD TIMES: The newspaper’s journalists have also been asked

to help out in customer service. – Supplied picture

BMARKE

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Assets of commercial banks increase 9.5% to OMR24.6b

MUSCAT: Continued GDP growth and supporting monetary and financial policies had a favour-able impact on business growth and performance of commercial banks during 2014.

On the macroeconomic front, the Sultanate’s GDP at current prices grew by 3.7 per cent during the first

half (January to June) of 2014 as compared to the corresponding quarter in the previous year.

Annual inflation rate measured by movement in the average con-sumer price index (CPI) for the Sultanate stood at 1.1 per cent dur-ing January till August 2014.

The total assets of commercial

banks increased by 9.5 per cent to OMR24.6 billion in Septem-ber 2014 from OMR22.5 billion, a year ago. Of the total assets, credit disbursement accounted for 67 per cent and increased by 8.8 per cent as at end September 2014 to OMR16.5 billion.

Private sector creditCredit to the private sector in-creased by 8.9 per cent during the period to reach OMR14.4 billion at the end of September 2014.

Of the total credit to the private sector by end September 2014, the share of the non-financial corpo-rate sector stood at 47.9 per cent, closely followed by the household sector (mainly under personal

loans) at 45.4 per cent, financial corporations at 4.7 per cent and other sectors the remaining two per cent.

Overall investmentsCommercial banks’ overall invest-ments in securities increased by 19.8 per cent to OMR3 billion as at the end of September 2014 from OMR2.5 billion a year ago. Of to-tal investments, CBO CDs stood at OMR1.4 billion while investment in Government Development Bonds (GDBs) stood at OMR566.7 million as at the end of September 2014.

Investments by commercial banks in foreign securities in-creased in September 2014 by 14.1 per cent to OMR687.4 million.— ONA

Sultanate’s gross domestic product at current

prices grew by 3.7 per cent during the first

half (January to June) of 2014

Mobile phone subscriptions in Oman exceed 6m MUSCAT: The total number of mobile phone subscriptions in the Sultanate reached 6,001,241 in September 2014, compared to 5,617,426 registered at the end of 2013, growing by 6.8 per cent and adding 383,815 subscribers in the first nine months of the year.

Breaking down the subscrip-tion types, the number of post-paid mobile phone subscribers reached 515,431 subscribers by the end of September 2014 when compared with 495,703 subscribers by the end of 2013, reflecting an increase of four per cent. During the same period, pre-paid mobile phone subscrib-ers increased by 7.1 per cent to 5,485,810 subscribers when compared with 5,121,723 sub-scribers by the end of 2013.

A report titled ‘Number of Telecom Subscriber Service by Type’ recently released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) re-vealed that the total number of Internet subscribers increased by 6.8 per cent to 169,434 sub-scribers when compared with 158,678 subscribers by the end of 2013, this figure comprised of fixed broadband and dial-up In-ternet subscribers.

Breaking down the figures, the total number of fixed broadband subscribers increased by 7.8 per cent to 166,257 subscribers when compared with 154,290 sub-scribers registered by the end of 2013. Meanwhile, Internet dial-up subscribers declined by 27.6 per cent at the end of September 2014 to 3,177 subscribers com-pared to 4,388 subscribers regis-tered by the end of 2013.

According to the NCSI re-port, the total number of fixed telephone lines registered an in-crease of 3.5 per cent by the end of September 2014 to 363,610 lines when compared to 351,411 lines by the end of 2013.

The number of fixed post-paid telephone lines declined by 0.5 per cent from 271,400 lines by the end of 2013 to 270,025 lines by the end of September 2014. Fixed pre-paid telephone lines, however, increased significantly by 52.9 per cent to 39,480 lines when compared with 25,829 lines by the end of 2013. Mean-while, the number of public

phone lines remained stable with 6,801 telephone lines. Addition-ally, ISDN channels reached 45,496 channel and WLL Con-nections 1,808 lines.

The NCSI report ‘Main Tele-phone Lines by Governorate’ re-vealed that the the Governorate of Muscat registered the highest increase in number of fixed tele-phone lines by the end of Septem-ber 2014 totalling 177,880 lines compared with 168,676 lines by the end of 2013, an increase of 5.5 per cent. Other governorates also witnessed increases with the to-tal number of fixed lines increas-ing in Dhofar to 27,571 lines by the end of September 2014 when compared with 26,679 by the end of 2013, reflecting an increase of 3.3 per cent.

A’Dakhiliyah also recorded an increase in number of fixed lines by 1.9 per cent to 22,286 lines when compared with 21,872 lines by the end of 2013. — ONA

N C S I S T U D Y

CorrigendumIn the story titled ‘Batinah Ex-pressway tender floated again’ in the business section of Times of Oman dated November 13, the package number of the road pro-ject was wrongly reported as two. The correct package number of the expressway tender is eleven. The error is regretted.

MUSCAT: Allotment of cer-tificates of a deposit tender was held at the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) this week. The total amount allotted for issue No. 891 was OMR462 million.

A bulletin issued by the CBO stated that the average interest rate of these certifi-cates was 0.13 per cent whilst

the maximum accepted inter-est rate was 0.13 per cent. The tenor of these certificates is 28 days, so their maturity date is December 10.

The certificates of deposit issued to licensed banks by the CBO as a monetary policy instrument is aimed at ab-sorbing excess liquidity. — ONA

Central Bank of Oman issues tenders worth OMR462m

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Omantel hosts Global Settlement Carrier forum in MuscatTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Omantel, the leading telecommunication provider in the Sultanate, hosted the 23rd Global Settlement Carrier (GSC) forum in Muscat for the GSC Group from November 11 to 14, 2014.

Omantel is one of the latest op-erators who have joined this pres-tigious group of carriers in early 2013 to enhance its opportunities of international networking.

Commenting on this, Ingemar Jonsson from Wholesale Unit said: “We are pleased that Oman-tel hosted the GSC forum, which represents an opportunity for us as a telecom company to exchange

and discuss the hot topics with other telecom operators. Omantel is keen to be part and present in these forums and joined the GSC early in 2013. Being a part of this forum provides also a chance to share the development of telecom threads and enhance the inter-national networking between the members of the Group.”

“A majority of the 30 GSC mem-bers participated in the forum and discussed practical solutions to continuously improve Telco car-rier’s billing, settlements and re-lated business processes, foster inter-carrier business relation-ship, and to explore solutions to business demands and enable Car-riers to gain first hand insights on

market movements and upcoming trends,” he added. The GSC pro-vides a platform where Carriers trade experiences and knowledge critical to Telco operations and organisation. The GSC priorities are to serve the Carrier Members’ needs, provide a forum for sharing experiences and addressing chal-lenges, and to develop solutions that will assist Carrier Members on process improvements and ef-ficiency gains in their respective daily business operations.

The main reason for which the GSC Group is successful is that its main focus is on activities that falls outside the competition and there-fore, it allows an open source for knowledge and experiences shar-

ing for the Carriers to benefit from. As an Associate Member of the ITU (International Telecommu-nication Union), the GSC Group has been an active contributor to develop “best practice” guidelines which have been incorporated as new supplements in some of the ITU Recommendations. These sig-nificant milestones were achieved as a result of the GSC Members’ inputs via workshops.

Omantel is the pioneer of total communications solutions in the Sultanate of Oman with the widest choice of state of the art services with the broadest network cov-erage. As the only truly national network in Oman, Omantel offer innovative end-to-end commu-

nication solutions serving home, mobile and business customers.

In the international wholesale arena, Omantel is considered one of the most prominent and com-petitive wholesale telecommu-nication providers in the Middle East region. In addition, it is one of the leading companies in the field of submarine cable networks and a key participant in several submarine cables as well with di-rect terrestrial links, which link Asia, Europe and America passing through the Middle East region, meeting the international capacity requirements of clients locally and internationally, thereby sustaining the Company’s leading position among its competitors.

I N T E R N A T I O N A L N E T W O R K I N G E V E N T

Meet to focuson renewableenergy sources

MUSCAT: The Public Author-ity for Electricity and Water (PAEW) will organise at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Muscat a seminar on “Assessing the Readiness of the Sultanate for Renewable En-ergy and the Project of Install-ing Solar Cells on the Roofs of Buildings,” on Sunday.

Sheikh Dr Abdul Malik bin Abdullah al-Hinai, Adviser at the Ministry of Finance and Chairman of Public Authority for Electricity and Water Board of Directors, will sponsor the opening ceremony in the pres-ence of the Secretary General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

The seminar will discuss an assessment of the readiness of the Sultanate for renewable en-ergy, in cooperation with IRE-NA to study the current situ-ation of the Sultanate and the analysis of the available data for renewable energy sources as one of the steps that pave the way for the development of general and sustainable policy for renewable energy in the Sultanate.

The seminar would discuss the project of installing solar cells on the roofs of buildings, in collaboration with the German Centre for International Coop-eration and the German Insti-tute of Fran Hoover. — ONA

P A E W I N I T I A T I V E

Ingemar Jonsson. — Supplied picture

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Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft lobby to curb NSA spying

L E G I S L A T I O N Islamic finance projected to see sizeable growth in Oman

Times News Service

MUSCAT: As the Islamic finance industry enters a new phase of growth in the Sultanate, Dr Jamil El Jaroudi, chief executive officer of Bank Nizwa, joined government policymakers and regulators, in-dustry leaders and experts as well as representatives of financial ser-vices at the Oman Forum to reflect on Oman’s Islamic banking jour-ney to date and identify measures to further enhance the industry.

Attended by over 300 partici-pants, the 2014 edition of the fo-rum explored current opportu-

nities and challenges related to job generation and highlighted Islamic finance’s strategic role in contributing to Oman’s socio-economic development within the next four years.

Dr El Jaroudi stressed the need to build a regulatory framework that will work in tandem with that of conventional banking to over-come the challenges facing the industry’s performance and cus-tomer expectations.

He also said that the expand-ing geographical reach of Islamic finance across the Sultanate cou-

pled with increased awareness of the banking solutions available to citizens is expected to result in Islamic finance assets reaching 10 per cent of the total banking assets by 2018 in comparison to the cur-rent 4.5 per cent.

Helping SMEsThe customer response to Islamic finance in Oman has been phe-nomenal in such a short period of time. In order to ensure the in-dustry’s continued growth, it is essential to assess the takeaways and opportunities unveiled in re-

cent years, while looking to sup-port critical sectors such as small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which represent 90 per cent of reg-istered businesses in Oman, with financial solutions that can help them prosper,” he explained.

“The Islamic finance industry is registering a solid 15 per cent to 20 per cent year-on-year growth as of the incremental growth in the overall banking sector and it is es-sential for both users and provid-ers of Sharia-based products and services to capitalise on this op-portunity,” he added.

Today, Oman’s Islamic finance assets are estimated at OMR1.1 billion as of June 2014 and could reach up to OMR7.1 billion in a span of four years.

Bank Nizwa has been and will continue to be a key contributor to this organic growth as proven by its latest financial results which registered an increase in assets of 49 per cent to reach OMR257 million, a 349 per cent surge in its customer financing portfolio and a 204 per cent growth in depos-its to reach OMR101 million and OMR69 million respectively.

In addition to Dr El Jaroudi, the panel on Islamic finance also in-cluded Ali Hamdan Al Raisi, vice-president of the Central Bank of Oman (CBO); Sheikh Rashid bin Saif Al Saadi, chairman of Takaful Oman; Mohammed Al Kharusi, group director (Business Develop-ment) at Mohsen Haider Darwish (MHD) Group; and Abdul Samad Al Maskari, chief executive officer of Al Madina Financial and Invest-ment Services Company.

Islamic finance

assets are expected to

touch 10% of the total

banking assets by

2018 in comparison

to the current 4.5%,

says Bank Nizwa CEO

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HUGE POTENTIAL: Attended by more than 300 participants, the Oman Forum 2014 edition explored current opportunities and challenges related to job generation and highlighted Islamic finance’s stra-tegic role in contributing to Oman’s socioeconomic development within the next four years.– Supplied photo

WASHINGTON: Trade groups representing Facebook, Micro-soft and Apple are pushing the Senate to pass legislation limit-ing National Security Agency (NSA) spying before the Repub-lican majority takes control of the chamber.

A coalition of Internet and technology companies, which also include Google and Twitter are supporting a bill the Senate plans to vote on November 18 to prohibit the NSA from bulk collection of their subscribers’ e-mails and other electronic communications.

Many of the companies op-posed a Republican- backed bill the House passed in May, saying a “loophole” would allow bulk collection of Internet user data.

Members of the Consumer Electronics Association “have already lost contracts with for-eign governments worth mil-lions of dollars,” in response to revelations about US spying, Gary Shapiro, president and chief executive officer of the group that represents Apple, Google and Microsoft, wrote in a letter sent to all senators.

The clock is ticking. If a final bill isn’t reached this year, the process for passing legislation would begin over in January un-der a new Congress controlled by Republicans, many of whom support government surveil-lance programmes.

US Internet and technology companies are confronting a do-mestic and international back-lash against government spying that may cost them as much as $180 billion in lost business, ac-cording to Forrester Research.

Tech retaliationThe issue emerged in June 2013 when former NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed a programme under which the US uses court orders to compel companies to turn over data about their users.

Documents divulged by Snowden also uncovered NSA hacking of fiber-optic cables abroad and installation of surveillance tools into rout-ers, servers and other network equipment.

Apple and Google have retali-ated by offering stronger secu-rity, including on new smart-phones, that will automatically shield photos, contact lists and other documents from the gov-ernment. That, in turn, has heightened tensions with law enforcement agencies that want access to the data for criminal investigations.

The Senate bill would end one of the NSA’s most controver-sial domestic spy programmes, through which it collects and stores the phone records of mil-lions of people not suspected of any wrongdoing. The legisla-tion would allow companies to publicly reveal the number and types of orders they receive from the government. - Bloomberg News

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Don’t post ads for free on Facebook, marketers toldSAN FRANCISCO: Facebook is telling marketers to stop putting up posts that look like advertise-ments unless they actually are paid promotions.

The social network said in a blog post that starting next year, users’ news feeds will show fewer posts that prompt readers to buy a prod-uct, install an application or enter a sweepstakes.

Facebook already limits the number of promotions that appear in a feed. When free posts look like ads, it hurts a consumer’s experi-ence, the company said.

The move spells more bad news for companies that spent years building up the number of ‘likes’ on their Facebook brand pages,

only to see their free posts reach fewer people as the news feed be-came more crowded. Mark Zuck-erberg, chief executive officer of Facebook, addressed the issue in

a public question-and-answer ses-sion last week, saying that though he has ‘empathy’ for businesses that went through the change, pro-tecting the user experience on Fa-cebook is more important.

Organic distribution“Pages that post promotional crea-tive should expect their organic distribution to fall significantly over time,” Facebook said in the post. “This change is about giving people the best Facebook experi-ence possible and being respon-sive to what they have told us.”

Zuckerberg has said that Face-book members on average have 1,500 posts they can see each day. To be one of the few they see, a

business’s best bet is to pay for an ad, he said.

“Every day it becomes more and more clear that Facebook has aban-doned social marketing, and is just a place to buy old-fashioned ads,” Nate Elliott, an analyst at Forrester Research, wrote in an e-mail. “If you’re a brand, 98 per cent of your fans won’t see your next Facebook post, and 99.9 percent won’t engage with that post and this change will only make matters worse.”

The Menlo Park, California-based company also has been working to improve the quality of posts, including efforts earlier this year to limit click-bait. Facebook began limiting the frequency of ads last year. - Bloomberg News

S O C I A L M E D I A

Crude oil price slump fuels deal speculation

NEW YORK: Talks that could lead to oilfield services provider Halliburton buying rival Baker Hughes may herald increased deal-making in the energy busi-ness as companies bet on a pro-tracted drop in oil prices, industry bankers said.

Competing service companies including National Oilwell Varco and Weatherford International may also be targets, bankers and lawyers said. In any deal, the in-centives will be the same: consoli-dation would allow them to better weather the downturn and resist pressure from oil producers to slash prices.

The Baker Hughes/Halliburton talks have stalled after the com-panies weren’t able to agree on issues including price, people fa-miliar with the matter said.

As oil prices fall, oil field service companies get squeezed, one in-dustry lawyer said. That’s because when prices fall far enough, it’s no longer economical to get oil out of the ground. If it’s too expensive to drill, there’s no need to pay an oilfield service company. “The

services guys are the last marginal dollar,” the lawyer said.

While services companies are likely to feel the effect of lower oil prices sooner, overleveraged exploration and production com-panies may also be pushed to do deals over the medium term, bank-ers said. Such companies could in-clude Apache, Hess, Marathon Oil or Devon Energy, bankers said.

Four exploration firmsThose four exploration compa-nies along with the oil services companies including Baker Hughes, all have market values that range between about $20 bil-lion and $31 billion.

In the end, price expectations will decide whether upstream exploration and production com-panies turn into sellers.

If sellers’ management be-lieve the oil price will rebound fairly soon, sellers would wait until then, hurting chances for large deals. Brent crude traded at $79.60 a barrel on Friday, down from $115.06 on June 19.

Until prices stabilise, explora-tion and production company deals will likely remain asset-level deals in distressed situations such as Samson Resources’ sale of its Bakken assets. “Certainly there will be instances where you will find more compromised

balance sheet operators possibly being more inclined to sell their entire position,” said Ted Harper, a fund manager at Frost Invest-ment Advisors in Houston.

Pricing pressureNot all will be targets, he said. Some exploration and produc-tion companies will seek to buy at a discount additional potential reserves near where they are al-ready drilling “to enhance returns from existing production,” he said.

Because exploration and pro-duction companies will slow or stop drilling if they are not making money, there is enormous pricing pressure on oil field services pro-viders as oil prices fall. Indeed, the tumbling price may have pushed the companies into a dialog, es-pecially if Halliburton’s manage-ment believes that oil prices could remain low for some time.

While Halliburton ‘has first mover advantage’ in its bid to ac-quire Baker Hughes, “it’s common knowledge that Schlumberger made a run at Baker Hughes years ago to plug a major hole in (well) completions. That hole remains unfilled,” Bill Herbert, oilfield analyst at energy-focused invest-ment bank Simmons told clients.

“Further, General Electric is lurking in the shadows as well, manufacturing cultures are com-parable,” said Herbert. General Electric has a large oil and gas business. - Reuters

Talks that could lead

to Halliburton buying

rival Baker Hughes

may herald increased

deal-making in the

energy business

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PRICE EXPECTATIONS

In the end, price expectations will decide whether

upstream exploration and production companies turn

into sellers. If sellers‘ management believe the oil

price will rebound fairly soon, sellers would wait until

then, hurting chances for large deals

NEW MOVE: Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook members on average

have 1,500 posts they can see each day. To be one of the few they

see, a business’s best bet is to pay for an ad. – Bloomberg News

GOOD & BAD NEWS When free posts look like

ads, it hurts a consumer’s

experience, Facebook said

The move spells more bad

news for companies that

spent years building up the

number of ‘likes’ on their

Facebook brand pages

Sensex reaches 28,000-milestoneMUMBAI: Encouraging macro data and foreign institutional in-vestors acknowledging Indian stocks led the Sensex finally cap-ture the milestone of 28,000-level with Nifty too hitting fresh record highs during the week.

The feel good factors over-lapped the trading momentum this week due to fall in inflation numbers Consumer price Indices (CPI) and Wholesale Price Index (WPI) along with rebound in In-dustrial production growth bol-stered the market sentiment amid spurring up the hope that RBI would opt for early rate cut and real growth fundamentals.

The week also saw volatility and bouts of profit-booking at higher

levels as government hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel prices bringing back the fear inflationary pressure and returning of RBIs hawkish policy, though largely sidelined at the fag-end trade.

Sharp decline in global crude-oil prices which directly affect-ed country’s fiscal deficit also lifted the bourses. Good buying was seen in FMCG, auto, realty, banking, consumer durables, IT, metal and technology sectors along with shares of mid-cap and small-cap companies.

While profit-booking at higher levels were witnessed in oil & gas, power, capital goods and health-care segments. The Sensex re-sumed higher at 27,919.45 and ral-

lied to lifetime high of 28,126.48 and a low of 27,764.75 before clos-ing the week at 28,046.66, show-ing a smart gain of 178.03 points or 0.64 per cent.

The CNX 50-share Nifty also gained by 52.90 points or 0.63 per cent to conclude at 8,389.90, it touched the psychological 8,415.05 level during the week.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) continued their buying spree during the week by invest-ing net Rs27.72 billion as per the SEBI’s record including the provisional figure of November 14. Eighteen stocks out of the 30-share Sensex pack ended high-er while 12 others closed lower.

Major gainers from the sensex

pack were Bajaj Auto (4.28 per cent), ITC (3.53 per cent), Coal India (3.42 per cent), HDFC Bank (3.37 per cent), HDFC (2.27 per cent), Hero Motocorp (2.12 per cent), Wipro (2.01 per cent), Maruti (1.74 per cent), SBI (1.68 per cent), Axis Bank (1.67 per cent), Tata Steel (1.47 per cent), TCS (1.26 per cent) and Dr Red-dy’s Lab (1.06 per cent).

However, Cipla dropped by 6.42 per cent followed by ONGC 3.89 per cent, Tata Power 2.68 per cent, Larsen 1.91 per cent, Reli-ance Industries 1.20 per cent and Bhel 1.16 per cent. The total turnover at BSE and NSE rose to Rs177.87 billion and Rs862.55 billion respectively . - PTI

I N D I A N S T O C K S

S U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 14

ROUND-UPB5

Two-year cost-free motoring for Mitsubishi Attrage, Mirage buyers

MUSCAT: General Automotive Company (GAC), official distribu-tors of Mitsubishi Vehicles in Oman, has announced an amazing new deal that ensures two years of cost-free motoring. Customers who purchase the Mitsubishi Mi-rage or the Mitsubishi Attrage are in for a treat with two years free registration and insurance, free service for two years/30,000kms and free petrol for two years, says

a press release.“The Two Years Free Motoring

campaign is a part of our efforts to give customers a worry-free ownership experience for the new Mitsubishi Attrage and Mirage. Each of these cars have their own

appealing personalities and offer buyers safety and super fuel effi-ciency in equal measure, together with the high quality synonymous with the triple-diamond brand.

“This special offer comes com-plete with petrol vouchers worth

OMR180, two years free insurance and registration renewed at the end of the first year, and two years 30,000km service.

“Together with our Two Year Free Motoring campaign, each of these cars will make for the

perfect car for you and your fam-ily to enjoy,” said Rajesh Sharma, National Marketing Manager for General Automotive Company on the launch of this exciting offer.

Powered by the same newly developed EURO2, double over-

head cam, three cylinder 1.2 li-tre MIVEC engine and boasting ‘Green’ credentials, the Mirage and Attrage features class leading fuel economy, a low environmen-tal footprint, with very low carbon emissions, exceptional value for money and most of all a fun and easy to drive vehicles.

Both vehicles provide fun, styl-ish and attractive exterior designs perfect for people of all ages, whilst at the same time offering a balance of both performance and excep-tional fuel economy.

Valid from November 9, 2014 to January 8, 2015, the special offer only applies to the Mitsubishi Mirage and Attrage.

The Two Years Free

Motoring campaign

is valid till January 8,

2015

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Max opens new store in IbriIBRI: Max, the leading value fashion brand, has increased its presence in Oman by opening a brand new store in Ibri, its sixth in the Sultanate.

The new 17,000 sq.ft store lo-cated on Hafeet road will stock Max’s homegrown label of wom-en’s, men’s and children’s fashion — as well as home, footwear, toys, cosmetics and accessories, says a press release.

“We are really proud to have of-ficially opened our newest store in Oman. The new Ibri store is a testament to our commitment to bringing the brand closer to the people of Oman. As a retail brand we are always trying to identify and meet our customer’s needs and we are working hard to increase our presence in Oman which is evident from our future expansion plans within the country. The new store features brand new look and feel that offers customers an inter-national experience, while provid-

ing them with the latest styles and trends at affordable prices, and we’re confident that it will be re-ceived extremely well by the resi-dents of Ibri,” said, Ramanathan Hariharan, CEO, Max.

The latest Winter collection is now available in store, which in-cludes a huge variety of on-trend ladies wear, men’s wear and kids wear to choose from, offering cus-tomers ‘More Fashion, More Value’.

Max Fashions is part of Land-

mark Group, one of the largest retail conglomerates in the Mid-dle East and India. It currently operates in the UAE, Saudi Ara-bia, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Lebanon, Nigeria, Libya, Tanza-nia, Iraq and India.

Launched in the UAE in 2004, Max is the largest value fashion brand chain in the Middle East with over 280 stores across the Middle East, Africa and India.

S I X T H O U T L E T

OITE to host Masterclass on trade shows on November 17MUSCAT: Discover the right way to grow your business through ef-fective exhibiting by attending the ‘Transforming your Tradeshows Masterclass’ presented by John Blaskey, Founder and Managing Director of the Exhibiting Agen-cy Ltd, UK on November 17 at the Crowne Plaza Muscat, Sin-bad Ballroom from 9am to 4pm. The Masterclass is organised by Oman International Trade and Exhibitions (OITE), says a press release.

“The focus of the Masterclass is to highlight quality exhibitor experiences and will cover how businessmen can select the right show and the right location, plan for guaranteed success, execute strategies meticulously and capi-talise on their new business pipe-line,” said John Blaskey. He will offer attendees valuable tips on transforming their trade shows at

the upcoming Masterclass.Executive personnel and man-

agers involved in venue manage-ment, sales and sponsorship, business development, marketing strategies, corporate communica-tion, events and promotions and public relations will learn valu-able lessons on reducing costs, raising profiles and measuring results through the Masterclass. For those businesses planning to exhibit at a trade show and conference or already serial ex-hibitors in their own right, the Masterclass will provide multiple opportunities to step up the way

they approach their communica-tion programmes.

“Business organisations intend-ing to sharpen their marketing tac-tics and hone their communica-tion skills should not miss out on this Masterclass, especially from an invaluable figure with unlim-ited experience in the field,” said Tarek Ali, GM, Exhibitions, OITE.

“The Masterclass will indicate how businesses can avoid typi-cal pitfalls in marketing as well as ways to relate their marketing efforts to their business plans and techniques to measure their re-sults and outcomes,” said Blaskey.

Q U A L I T Y E X H I B I T O R E X P E R I E N C E

Business organisations intending to sharpen their marketing tactics and hone their communication skills should not miss out on this Masterclass

ISM toppers presented Gokaldas

Khimji Academic Awards

MUSCAT: Prestigious Gokaldas Khimji Academic Awards ceremo-ny was held recently in the school’s multipurpose hall. Nailesh Kanaksi Khimji and Minal Nailesh Kh-imji attended the occasion as chief guests, says a press release.

These exalted academic awards are given to the outstanding stu-dents from Classes VIII, IX, X, XI and XII every year. The chief guests honoured 163 intellectually gifted students who outshone hun-dreds of their peers in academic proficiency and were presented Academic Merit Certificates, med-als and cash awards. A great num-ber of dignitaries, guests and par-ents joined the celebrations of the magnificent event.

The function commenced with the lighting of the lamp by the chief guests accompanied by Wil-son George, Chairman, Board of

Directors, Indian Schools in the Sultanate of Oman, Cisily Wilson, Dr Avirat Vaishnav, president of the school managing commit-tee, Srinivas K Naidu, principal and Deep Wilson, Vice Principal, Senior Section. The school choir implored the blessings of the Al-mighty through a prayer song.

Deep Wilson, while welcom-ing the chief guests and the other dignitaries, lauded the selfless services rendered by Nailesh Kanaksi Khimji and his revered family to the Indian community and thanked him for instituting the academic awards to benefit the students and complimented the dynamic students, their ever sup-portive parents, and the diligent staff for producing spectacular results. He called the occasion magnificent and wonderful as it acknowledged and honoured the

meritorious scholars.In his address, Nailesh Khimji

hailed the benevolence of His Maj-esty Sultan Qaboos bin Said and his government towards the In-dian community and his family. He appreciated the students and the teachers for their exceptional job in both academic and co-cur-ricular activities.

Reminiscencing about his be-ing an alumni of ISM, he felts nostalgic and humbled because ISM made him who he is. He said he is proud of the exponential growth and achievements of his alma mater.

Later, Minal Nailesh Khimji honoured the meritorious stu-dents with awards and certificates.

The winners of the Inter-House English Drama Competition, one of the much-awaited events of Indian School Muscat, were also

honoured by the chief guest. Blue House’s play ‘The Miracle Work-er’, based on the life of Hellen Kel-ler, directed by Novena Augustine bagged the first position.

Satvik Anand of Red House and Hafsa Mattoo of Blue House re-ceived the Best Actor and the Best Actress awards respectively for their unmatched performances.

Nikhil Babu P. of Red House and Shravya Srinivas of Blue House won the second Best Ac-tor and Second Best Actress awards respectively. Ankita Sa-darjoshi of Red House won the consolation prize.

In addition to the first prize win-ning play, the folk song, folk dance and the drums performance by the senior students added colour to the evening’s celebrations. Ankita Sadarjoshi, School Head Girl, pro-posed the vote of thanks.

A C C O L A D E S

New Rolex Cellini now available at Khimji’s WatchesMUSCAT: At Baselworld 2014, Rolex presented the new Cel-lini collection — a contemporary celebration of classicism and the eternal elegance of traditional timepieces. Consisting of 12 clas-sically inspired models, this new collection combines the best of Rolex know-how and its high standards of perfection. And this collection is now available in Oman at Khimji’s Watches, says a press release.

“The lines are sober and re-fined, the materials noble, the finishings luxurious: every detail respects the codes of the art of watchmaking. But, this new col-lection is not suspended in an idealised past. Like the Italian Renaissance — one of whose most admired artists, Benvenu-to Cellini, goldsmith and sculp-tor to the popes, inspired the name of the collection — the Rolex Cellini models mark a return to the sources of clas-sicism, reinterpreting it in perfect harmony with con-temporary time,” commented Madhursinh Jesrani, general manager, Khimji’s Watches.

The new Cellini collection celebrates the most fascinating and exalting facets of watchmak-ing tradition. Here, elegance and nobility are absolute. The cases

are available exclusively in 18ct white or Everose gold cast by Rolex in its own foundry.

Their round shape and clas-sic 39mm diameter are marks of tradition, while the refined lugs, the polished finish and the dou-ble bezel — one domed and the second delicately fluted — add a touch of distinction. An emblem-atic Rolex feature, this fluting is also present on the case back, serving to screw it down.

The dials also bear witness to know-how and tradition. They are either lacquered or embel-lished with a black or a silver-plated classic guilloche motif and adorned with gold applique hour markers. The layout of the dials is determined by the watches’ dif-ferent functions, dividing the col-lection into three families.

The Cellini Time models are the quintessential expression of a watchmaking classic, the guardian of hours, minutes and seconds. The Cellini Date models add a date function via a hand on a small sub-dial, blending practi-cality and elegance. Finally, the Cellini Dual Time models indi-cate the time in two time zones simultaneously and feature an elegant sun and moon day/night indicator in an aperture on the sub-dial for the second time zone.

T I M E P I E C E S

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Oman Forum stresses need for job creation

MUSCAT: The private sector has to play a pivotal role in creating and sustaining job opportunities for the national workforce, by creating an environment condu-cive for career growth and skill development for Omanis. This was stated by a senior official from the Ministry of Manpower while expressing his views at Oman Forum 2014.

The forum was held recently under the patronage of Ministry of Manpower and Central Bank of Oman at Hotel Grand Hyatt. Oman Forum is an annual Arabic debate organised by the leading Arabic business magazine Alam al-Iktisaad WalA’mal (AIWA), published by United Media Ser-vices (UMS). Oman Forum in-volved the relevant stakehold-ers of the economy and society, and was aimed at contributing to the decision making on critical management and policy issues. His Highness Sayyid Taimur bin Asa’ad Al Said was the chief guest and Sheikh Khalid bin Omar Al Marhoon, Minister of Civil Service, was the guest of honour in Oman Forum 2014, says a press release.

Two panel discussions were conducted in Oman Forum 2014.

The first panel discussion, moder-ated by noted TV journalist Yusuf Al Hooti, focused on the subject – “Job Creation – The National Agenda”. The panel includedEng. Said Bin Naser Al Sadi, Advisor to the Minister of Manpower; Hamed Saif Al-Hadhrami, Learn-ing & Development Manager, Petroleum Development Oman (PDO); Nabhan Al Batashi, Chair-man, General Federation of Oman Trade Unions; Khalid Al Mahroo-qi, COO – Arkan Majan and Board Member – Oman Society of Con-tractors; and Said Mohammed Al Badaei, Director – HR & Omani-zation, MHD Group.

The leading companies in Oman had partnered with Oman Forum 2014. It was organised in partnership with Galfar Engineer-ing & Contracting, Bank Muscat, Omantel and MHD Group as Stra-tegic Partners; Takaful Oman as Islamic Insurance Partner; Duqm Special Economic Zone Authority (SEZAD), Al Madina Investment and Al Madina Takaful as Associ-ate Partners; and Petroleum De-velopment Oman (PDO), Jazeera Steel and Jindal Shadeed Iron & Steel as Support Partners.

The Ministry of Higher Educa-tion, Oman Chamber of Commerce & Industry, The Research Coun-cil and Sultan Qaboos Univer-sity also supported Oman Forum 2014. Apart from senior bureau-crats from the relevant ministries, around 200 strong audiences rep-resenting the senior-and-middle level leadership of private sector companies attended it.

Talking in the forum, Eng. Said Bin Naser Al Sadi from the Minis-try of Manpower said: “The Min-istry of Manpower accords top priority for creating job opportu-nities for Omani nationals both in the public and private sectors. There is no dearth of new oppor-tunities for talented Omanis, as the country witnesses tremen-dous growth in terms of infra-structure development and other potential economic activities which contribute significantly to create more jobs. There is no point in comparing and contrasting pri-vate and public sectors as they have different business models. However, the private sector has to play a pivotal role in creating and sustaining job opportunities for the national workforce, by creat-ing an environment conducive for career growth and skill develop-ment for Omanis.”

Nabhan Al Batashi of General Federation of Oman Trade Un-ions called on the private sector companies to introduce timely innovations to make themselves more attractive for Omani em-ployees, by creating better work-ing environment, bringing about parity with the public sector in multiple levels and giving more opportunities for training and skill development.

“There is a growing trend that people take private sector job as a temporary placement till they get their hand on a government job. Testifying to this is the increase in the number of resignations of Omani employees in the private

sector. The private sector compa-nies are responsible for prevent-ing the disproportionate level of migration from the private to public sector. They need to imple-ment both in letter and spirit all the rules and regulations stipu-lated by the ministry to create a working environment conducive for creating sustainable work-place for the nationals. In this re-gard, banking sector has created a good model for other sectors to replicate,” he said.

He added that it is high time that private sector gave back to the nation by developing itself as magnet for talented Omanis to work in and prosper.

Hamed Saif Al Hadhrami from PDO explained various measures adopted by the oil & gas major to enhance the skill sets and employ-ability of Omani graduates.

“Since its inception, PDO has been vigorous not only in em-ploying Omanis but also in giv-ing training to Omani youth and developing their skills, in order to identify the potential of the youth and train them to contribute to society. The company has special training programmes for gradu-ates to improve their technical ca-pabilities and it has increased the number of Omani college gradu-ates it recruits, from 50 to 200 as part of its technical Omanisation Programme,” he informed.

Khalid Al Mahrooqi of Arkan Majan called for upgrading the education system in the country to meet the demands in the job market. “There are plenty of op-portunities in the private sector for skilled employees, but unfor-tunately the young graduates are not skilled enough to meet this requirement. The number of new graduates is higher than the op-portunities available in the pri-vate sector. But when it comes to the skilled workforce, there is an acute shortage of those who can meet the specific demands in the market among the graduates from our universities and higher education institutes.”

Oman Forum

involved the relevant

stakeholders of the

economy and society,

and was aimed at

contributing to the

decision making on

critical management

and policy issues

Shah Nagardas felicitates employees for long serviceMUSCAT: The Management of Shah Nagardas Manji & Co. re-cently felicitated more than 20 of its Omani and expatriate employ-ees who have completed 25 years or more of service with the company.

The company felicitated each by presenting a silver memento as a token of appreciation and recog-nition for their services provided over the years, says a press release.One of the employee commended the occasion by saying, “This in itself speaks about the cordial rela-tionship, attitude and the employ-ment policies which the company adopts towards its employees.”

T O K E N O F A P P R E C I A T I O N

RECOGNITION: Shah Nagardas Manji & Co’s PRO Said Sulaiman Al Wahaibi receiving the silver memento from the directors and senior staff for having been with the company for more than 25 years. – Supplied photo

ISG retains Polemic Challenge trophyMUSCAT: Indian School Ghubra (ISG) proved itself once again, making a clean sweep in the Po-lemic Challenge, the inter school debate for the Ambassador’s Cup held at Indian School Wadi Kabir, says a press release.

Pavithra Ramesh and Rishab-Shetty who represented the school impressed the audience with their debating skills and emerged champions at the Ambassador’s Polemic Challenge 2014 and lifted the coveted trophy. Twenty six participants from 13 Indian schools in Oman took part in the event and showcased their skills debating on the topic ‘Technology has failed to foster world peace’. Pavithra won the awards for the best speaker and the best rebuttal.

I N T E R S C H O O L D E B A T E

ISWK hosts Polemic Challenge

MUSCAT: The Ambassador’s Cup instituted by the former In-dian Ambassador to the Sultan-ate, Anil Wadhwa, offers a podium to the Indian schools in Oman to demonstrate their declama-tory proficiency. Indian School Al Wadi Al Kabir hosted this annual inter school debate this year in its multipurpose hall recently, says a press release.

Twenty-six participants from 13 Indian schools participated in this competition. Pavithra Ramesh, Indian School Al Ghu-bra, bagged both the accolades of Best Speaker and Best Rebuttal and to top it up, Indian School Al Ghubra was also judged as the

Best School. Mamata Gopinathan of ISWK

was adjudged the Best Speaker first Runner-up and the Best Speaker second Runner-up was Merrin Elza John from Indian School Muscat.

The topic chosen for the Po-lemic Challenge for the Ambassa-dor’s Trophy was ‘Technology has failed to foster World Peace’

At the end of the debate, the chief guest J. S. Mukul, Indian Ambassador to the Sultanate, further enlightened the students about the topic. He suggested how technology could be used in a constructive manner.

Juliette Omonigho, one of the

judges for the occasion, gave use-ful tips on voice modulation and the use of microphone for effec-tive speaking. She agreed on the fact that technology could be both useful and harmful depending on each individual’s perspective.

Mementos were handed over by D. N. Rao, Principal of ISWK, to the judges — Mayank Singh, Omo-nigho and DTM George Thomas. Mathew Abraham, chairman of the Board of Directors of Indian Schools in Oman, Alex. C. Joseph, Assistant Educational Adviser of the Board of Directors and Leo Lobo, Academic Director, Indian School Al Wadi Al Kabir were aalso present.

A M B A S S A D O R ’ S C U P

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Kia sales surge in October

MUSCAT: Kia Motors Corpora-tion’s global sales figures — export sales, domestic sales and sales from overseas plants — for pas-senger cars, recreational vehicles (RVs) and commercial vehicles for October 2014, have recorded a total of 242,362 units sold, rep-resenting a 7.7% year-on-year in-crease, says a press release.

In October, Kia posted year-on-year sales increases in China, North America, General Markets (include the regions of Central and South America, the Caribbean, Asia (excluding China and Korea), the Pacific, Middle East and Afri-ca. ‘Europe’ includes both Western and Eastern European markets. and Europe of 22.5% (58,960 units

sold), 11.9% (50,704 units sold), 7.1% (44,438 units sold) and 0.1% (51,255 units sold), respectively.

Cumulatively, through the first 10 months of 2014, Kia’s global sales have increased by 4.3% year-on-year, reaching 2,397,878 units. China, North America and General Markets have experienced cumu-lative gains to date in 2014 of 15.6% (544,170 units sold), 6.1% (551,906 units sold) and 0.7% (436,416 units sold), respectively.

Kia Motors Corporation, a mak-er of quality vehicles for the young-at-heart, was founded in 1944 and

is Korea’s oldest manufacturer of motor vehicles. Over 2.7 million Kia vehicles a year are produced in nine manufacturing and assembly operations in five countries which are then sold and serviced through a network of distributors and deal-ers covering around 150 countries.

Kia today has over 47,000 em-ployees worldwide and annual rev-enues of $42 billion. It is the major sponsor of the Australian Open and an official automotive part-ner of Fifa – the governing body of the Fifa World Cup. Kia Motors Corporation’s brand slogan – “The Power to Surprise” – represents the company’s global commitment to surprise the world by providing exciting and inspiring experiences that go beyond expectations.

Reliable International Auto-

motive, the distributor for Kia in Oman provides a rewarding own-ership experience for customers. Excellent product attributes and unmatched 18 facilities easily en-sure their absolute satisfaction, every mile of the way. No wonder then that Reliable International Automotive has been ranked amongst the top Kia distributors worldwide and has been honoured with prestigious accolades includ-ing the Kia ‘Dealer of the Year’ award; Kia ‘Distributor of Distinc-tion’ award, ‘Family Like Care’ Ser-vice award and the ‘Zenith Club’ award for excellent performance.

The prestigious ‘Kia Award for Overall Excellence and Outstand-ing Performance’ amongst Kia dis-tributors worldwide was bestowed most deservingly.

Reliable International

Automotive, the

distributor for Kia

in Oman, provides a

rewarding ownership

experience for

customers

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Ram 1500 pickup: Robust and reliable

MUSCAT: With legendary at-tributes of reliability and power, the Ram 1500 offers best-in-class fuel efficiency, technology and features without sacrificing on its capability. Being Ram’s most recognisable pickup on the road, the Ram 1500 is a must-have for individuals who are in constant pursuit of enjoying life and travel, anywhere, says a press release.

“Equipped with a truckload of pioneering and fuel-saving sys-tems, and the legendary 5.7-liter HEMI V-8 engine that offers the best powertrain in the industry, the Ram 1500 has several acco-lades to its credit — and has been named a 2014 Automobile Maga-zine ‘All-Star USA’ by the publica-tion’s editorial staff for the second year in a row and the fourth time

in the past five years. Not just this, the Ram 1500 has also been named Motor Trend’s ‘Truck of the Year’ in 2013 and 2014, mark-ing the first time any vehicle has won this prestigious honour for two consecutive years, reaffirm-ing the fact that Ram has the best pickup truck on the road,” said Ismaeel Hassen, National Sales & Brand Manager at Dhofar au-tomotive, sole distributors of the Ram range in Oman.

The Ram 1500 features first-in-segment technologies: eight-speed automatic transmission, stop-start system, active aerody-namics that including grille shut-ters, active air suspension and a host of other features. An award winning interior and the next-generation Uconnect Access sys-tem keep passengers connected.

R E C O G N I S A B L E P I C K U P O N R O A D

Zubair Corporation sponsors official supporters of National Football TeamMUSCAT: The Zubair Corpora-tion announced its sponsorship of the official supporters of the Oma-ni National Football Team for the upcoming 22nd Gulf Cup, which is to be held in Saudi Arabia. The Zubair Corporation aims, through its sponsorship, to stand alongside the national team and cheer them in the various matches as they make their way to their 2nd cham-pionship, says a press release.

Commenting on the sponsor-ship, Mohammed bin Mubarak

Al-Hasni, chief communication officer of The Zubair Corpora-tion said: “This sponsorship is in line with The Zubair Corporation philosophy and policy of support-ing the Sultanate’s national teams in events that contribute towards highlighting the presence of the Sultanate on international stage. Supporting the National Team in the 22nd Gulf Cup is a national responsibility which The Zubair Corporation gladly embraces. Sponsoring the official support-

ers of the Omani National Foot-ball Team will help showcase the nation’s support and encourage the team to perform better and achieve their 2nd championship.”

“The Zubair Corporation’s strategy is to support a sport that encompasses sports clubs, local and national teams, sports asso-ciations as well as various sports programmes backed by the Min-istry of Sports Affairs. Supporting the official’s of the national team comes as part of this vision that is

aimed at developing sports and en-couraging sporting talent within the country,” he added.

Saleh Al Harasi, one of the official supporters, said: “We would like to thank The Zubair Corporation for their support and sponsorship. It will no doubt greatly facilitate our presence in Riyadh to cheer the National Football team. It is en-couraging for members to receive such support and has indeed helped us add more participants from different wilayats.”

B I G S U P P O R T

FRiENDi extends validity of lowest international call ratesMUSCAT: FRiENDi mobile has extended the validity of its offer on low international call rates to selected countries. The promo-tional offer had received excellent response from customers.

A steady growth in subscriber base was the motivation behind the initiative to extend the of-fer. The promotional rates will be valid till December 31, says a press release.

By offering the lowest inter-national calling rates ever in the Sultanate, FRiENDi mobile helps customers to stay connected with their loved ones beyond borders. Customers can benefit from the most affordable international calling rates as low as 42bz per minute to Bangladesh, India, In-donesia and USA. The offer has

also the lowest call rate to Paki-stan at only 52 bz per minute.

FRiENDi offers reasonable call rates of 62bz per minute to GCC Countries, Egypt, Jordan, Philip-pines, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and Yemen. Call rates to Iraq and Tanzania will be

97bz per minute. By extending the validity of the promotion, FRiEN-Di aims to reinforce its commit-ment to its valued customers to offer the best services at the most attractive rates to the destina-tions of their choice.

To enjoy the amazing rates, all existing and new FRiENDi cus-tomers need to dial *136*13#. They will be charged a one-time fee of 100 bz only to get the rates activated every day from 6pm to 6 am and full day on Friday. The off-peak timings included in the promotion are by far the most beneficial in the market.

Announcing the extended va-lidity of the new international call rates, Adnan Al Alawi, CEO, FRiENDi Oman said: We are in-deed very pleased to announce the

extended offer period, keeping in mind the constant efforts to sat-isfy our subscribers. We intend to help customers stay connected with their friends and family any-where in the world without run-ning out of money. The off-peak plan is another added benefit for customers to enjoy the company of their loved ones for a longer time and a perfect option for those who make most of their interna-tional calls during the night.”

“We would like to thank our customers for their continued support and loyalty. We are de-termined to continue our efforts to maximise customer satisfac-tion and strengthen our growing customer base through upgrad-ed services and new initiatives, Alawi concluded.”

P R O M O T I O N A L O F F E R

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‘Islamic Finance Personality of the Year’ award goes to Bank Nizwa CEO

MUSCAT: Bank Nizwa CEO Dr Jamil El Jaroudi was named ‘Is-lamic Finance Personality of the Year’ at the 4th annual Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) 2014 for his leadership in estab-lishing Oman’s first Islamic Bank.

Today, under his guidance, Bank Nizwa is a pioneer in the Is-lamic banking sector offering cus-tomers a suite of Shari’a-based products and services that com-pete with conventional banking, says a press release.

“It is a great honour to be recog-nised by one of the most prestig-ious awards in Islamic banking. This award reflects the dedica-tion and commitment of each and every individual in our team and their unparalleled efforts to make

Bank Nizwa, one of the most trusted and innovative banks in the Sultanate,” said Dr El Jaroudi.

“Islamic banking is relatively new to Oman and our journey to date tells a remarkable story as we pave the way for a thriving and robust industry,” he added.

Bringing over 35 years of ex-perience in the financial sector, Dr El Jaroudi joined Bank Nizwa ahead of its launch as the bank’s first Chief Executive Officer in 2012. He has successfully led the bank’s growth strategy focusing on increasing its customer base, expanding its branch network and offering forward-thinking Is-lamic banking solutions that em-power customers to enjoy finan-cially-secure lives. This recent win is yet another in the bank’s roster of accolades in 2014, which includes the ‘Best Islamic Bank in Oman’ by Islamic Finance News, ‘Best Islamic Financial Institu-tion in Oman’ from the London Sukuk Summit and the World Finance 100 Award.

Dr El Jaroudi went on to thank the bank’s customers for their trust and support, promising to continue delivering competitive propositions that meet commu-nity needs. In the period between December 2013 and September 2014, Bank Nizwa increased its customer relationships by 104% and since inception, the bank opened nine branches across six of the Sultanate’s Governorates and introduced an array of spe-cialised personal and corporate banking products and services.

In addition to his responsibili-ties at Bank Nizwa, Dr El Jaroudi is a member of the Governing Council of the International Cen-tre for Education in Islamic Fi-nance, the leading university in the world dedicated to offering academic and professional quali-fications in Islamic finance. He is also a Board member of the Beirut Islamic University and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Lebanese American University Institute of Family Businesses.

Under Dr Jamil El

Jaroudi’s guidance,

Bank Nizwa has

been a pioneer in

the Islamic banking

sector offering

customers a suite

of Shari’a-based

products and

services

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

SPOR SY O U R G A M E

SECTIONC S U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 14

MOMINUL TON SETS ZIMBABWE RECORD Mominul Haque scored his fourth Test century to leave Zimbabwe chasing a world record 449-run target to win the third and final Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong on Saturday. >C2

0 14

Le Guen blasts ref for denying Oman a penalty against UAE

RIYADH: After beginning their Gulf Cup campaign with a goal-less draw against defending cham-pions the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Friday, Oman’s Paul le Guen blamed the match referee for depriving his team the victory with some wrong decisions.

According to the French coach, the match referee made some wrong decisions while also deny-ing a penalty to Oman.

“We played a good match. But some wrong decisions by the ref-eree went against us. There was an obvious penalty which should have been awarded to us but the referee decided against giving it,” he said.

Le Guen also called for the need for the better referees to be given charge of the remaining matches.

Le Guen refused to talk about a disallowed goal scored by Oman right after the break during Friday’s match.

“I need to see the video many times before I decide about it. But as I said we were denied an obvi-ous penalty.”

However, Oman coach said he is satisfied with the team’s perfor-mance and winning a point against the title holder is a positive sign.

Asked whether there is any pressure after the draw, Le Guen said: “I am not under any pres-sure. I am a professional coach and I know how to deal with this kind of situations. Maybe some players

feel the pressure and we will deal with that before the next matches.”

His UAE counterpart Mahdi Ali said that his team played a good game. “The team played a good match. We created more chances than Oman,” he said.

“Oman team tried in the first 10 minutes to create some pressure but our players were up to that challenge.”

Mahdi Ali also praised veteran star Ismael Matar who came on in

the second half of the match.“Ismael is our trump card which

I wanted to use in the second half. He played a good game despite re-turning from his injury,” he said.

Ali also defended the level of the star midfielder Omar Abdul Rah-man. “Omar played a good game despite his low fitness. He didn’t play for a month so lacked match fitness. But want him to give enough time on the field to prepare him for the next matches.”

Points countMeanwhile, Kuwait’s Bader Al Motawa speaking about his team’s performance in their 1-0 win over Iraq said the three points are im-portant than performance.

“We needed to win this match. We are happy did against one of the title contenders,” he said.

“Personally I don’t care about the performance. What I care about is the three points. So I am happy we achieved that target.”

“Just like us, Iraq too had their chances same. But the difference is we utilised them and benefited from that,” he added.

On the other hand, his team-mate Walid Ali said both the teams had controlled the match in phases but they are delighted to have won full points against a strong and fa-vourite team like Iraq.

Iraq players, obviously disap-pointed with the result, refused to

speak to the press. However, Iraq coach Hakim Shaker said he was satisfied with the team’s perfor-mance despite losing the match to Kuwait by a solitary goal.

“We did everything in the match and played to win it. But unfortu-nately luck was against us and we lost three points in our opening match,” Shaker said.

“Players played a positive game and tried to attack the Ku-wait goal from all sides. But we couldn’t score the all-important goal,” Shaker said.

“Then we paid for our mistakes in the last minutes.”

Kuwait coach Jorvan Vieira ex-pressed delight at his team’s suc-cess against Iraq.

“We achieved an important win at the beginning of the tour-nament. The match was difficult for both teams but we succeed in organising ourselves towards the end and score a precious goal.”

After Saturday’s rest, the action continues today with two Group A matches when Qatar take on Yemen and hosts Saudi Arabia tackle Bahrain.

After Oman’s goalless

draw against the

UAE in their Gulf Cup

opener, Le Guen said

the match referee

made some wrong

decisions while also

denying a penalty to

the Sultanate’s squad

IN CONTEMPLATIVE MOOD: Oman team pictured along with Paul Le Guen’s coach staff during a training session in Riyadh yesterday. – ISMAIL AL FARSI/Times of Oman

POSITIVE ATTITUDE: Oman’s French coach Paul Le Guen, centre, shows his soccer skills during Oman’s training session.

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CHITTAGONG: Mominul Haque scored his fourth Test century to leave Zimbabwe chasing a world record 449-run target to win the third and final Test against Bang-ladesh in Chittagong on Saturday.

Mominul made an unbeaten 131 as Bangladesh, seeking a 3-0 sweep after winning the first two Tests, piled up 319 for five in their second innings before declar-ing in the post-tea session of the fourth day’s play.

The tourists ended the day on 71 for one still needing 378 runs more with nine wickets in hand to record an improbable win.

The highest fourth innings total so far that won a Test was 418 for seven by the West Indies against Australia in Antigua in 2003.

Sikandar Raza was unbeaten on 43 and Hamilton Masakadza was

on 26, the pair having put on 67 for the second wicket after open-er Brian Chari was leg-before to Rubel Hossain for zero.

Mominul, who was playing only

his 12th Test, hit 13 fours in his 189-ball innings.

He put on 113 for the second wicket with Tamim Iqbal, who missed the chance to become

the first Bangladeshi batsman to score centuries in both innings of a Test when he was bowled by Natsai M’shangwe for 65.

Tamim had made 109 runs in the first innings.

Mohammed Mahmuddulah hit 30 off 28 balls, Shakib Al Hasan made 17 and skipper Mushfiqur Rahim scored a brisk 46 off 30 balls to hasten the declaration.

The Test series between the two lowest-ranked teams will be followed by five One-day Interna-tionals. - AFP

Mominul made an

unbeaten 131 as

Bangladesh, seeking

a 3-0 sweep, piled

up 319 for five in

their second innings

before declaring in

the post-tea session

on the fourth day

Bangladesh 1st innings 503 Bangladesh 2nd innings Tamim Iqbal c M’shangwe 65I. Kayes c Mutumbami b Panyangara 15M. Haque not out 131M. Mahmudullah c Mutumbami b Panyangara 30Shakib c Ervine b M’shangwe 17M. Rahim c M’shangwe b Raza 46Shuvagata Hom not out 3Extras (b-8, lb-3, w-1) 12Total (5 wkts decl; 78 overs) 319Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-149, 3-204, 4-237, 5-308.Bowling: S. Masakadza 7-0-28-0, Panyangara 12-3-31-2, Raza 25-0-114-1, M’shangwe 18-2-77-2, Chigumbura 9-2-19-0, H. Masakadza 7-1-39-0 (w-1).Zimbabwe 2nd inningsS. Raza not out 43B. Chari lbw Rubel 0H. Masakadza not out 26Extras (lb-2) 2Total (1 wkt; 19 overs) 71Fall of wicket: 1-4.Bowling: Shafiul 4-0-8-0, Rubel 3-1-16-1, Taijul 6-1-17-0, Jubair 2-0-12-0, Shakib 3-0-16-0, Shuvagata 1-1-0-0.

S C O R E B O A R D

UNBEATEN TON: Bangladesh’s Mominul Haque Plays a shot during

the fourth day of their third Test against Zimbabwe at the Zohur

Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Saturday. – AFP

Clarke ruled out of South Africa ODIs

PERTH: Australia captain Mi-chael Clarke will miss rest of the One-day International (ODI) series against South Africa with a ham-string injury, the country’s cricket board (CA) said on Saturday.

Clarke re-injured his problem-atic left hamstring on Friday in Australia’s 23-run win over the Proteas in the first match in Perth and had scans on Saturday.

“Michael had scans today in

Perth for his ongoing left ham-string problem and as a result has been ruled out of the remaining matches in the... ODI Series,” CA team doctor Peter Brukner said in a statement.

“Michael will return to Syd-ney for further treatment and an update on his fitness for the first test in Brisbane will be made in due course.”

Perth also hosts the second

game One-day International on Sunday with George Bailey con-firmed to lead the home side, a role he is set to continue to play in the five-match series.

Clarke’s injury sidelined him for the entire one-day series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates and almost all of a preceding one-day tournament against South Africa and hosts Zimbabwe. - Rueters

I N J U R E D

Mominul’s century sets Zimbabwe record target

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SPORTSS U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 14

What a privilege it was to witness Rohit Sharma’s’

record breaking innings. That it came at the Eden Gardens made it even more special as the iconic ground was celebrating its 150th anniversary and it was just the kind of fireworks that it needed.

Pity that it wasn’t a full house, for then the noise levels would have been even more. Sharma’s knock had all the shots in the book plus some. The one where he walked towards the off-side and then bottom handed it over long on was the most ex-traordinary one of them all.

There were some glori-ous drives as well and the flicks, short arm pulls, sweeps and all, were such that every blade of grass at the Eden would have felt it being singed.

Thanks are in great meas-ure due to Thisara Perera, who in the modern way of falling down to make an easy catch look spectacular dropped it, as his palms opened as he fell down and reprieved Sharma.

Sharma got out to the final ball of the innings and 260 runs later, and nobody, maybe not even the Sri Lan-kans complained, for they too were witness to some superlative batting indeed.

There will always be cynics who will try and take credit away by pointing out to the Sri Lankan attack, but then they won’t be able to explain why the next best score was Kohli’s 66.

Whatever the quality of the opposition, the runs

still have to be scored, and if only one batsman has done that then he must be special.

India indicated that they wanted to be ruthless, and that’s what they have been, which is tremendous, for wins by such margins increases self belief and confidence in the team.

There were some wor-rying moments too, as the spin duo of Akshar Patel and Karn Sharma found out that they could be hammered too. Umesh Yadav, though, continues to impress, and his finding his rhythm before a big tour is a huge plus for India.

Dhawal Kulkarni also bowled well, as he finally got to play two games in a row instead of the one appearance and then out of the playing eleven as has been happening with him earlier.

Like in the batting, India now have options in the new ball department too, and that is only good for the team.

Virat Kohli has said that he wants the team to continue with good habits and keep winning, and that is what the approach should be for the final game in Ranchi. India let England win the last one-day in Eng-land and thereby spoil its record and hopefully that lesson has been learnt. We shall see soon enough. - PMG

Rohit provided fireworks at Eden Gardens anniversary

C O M M E N T A R Y

SUNIL GAVASKAR

SUNNY STROKES

India rest Raina for fifth ODI against Sri Lanka

RANCHI: India’s middle-order batsman Suresh Raina was rested for the fifth and final One-day International (ODI) against Sri Lanka, the team’s assistant coach Sanjay Bangar said on Saturday.

“Everybody has been getting opportunities more or less. For tomorrow’s game we have rested Suresh (Raina), so the boys who have missed out so far, have a very good chance to play,” Bangar was quoted as saying by bcci.tv.

The decision to rest Raina was made to open up opportunities for the fringe players in the squad and also keeping in mind India’s lengthy tour of Australia, starting with the Test series and culminating in the 2015 ODI World Cup, he said.

The Test series has been on the team’s mind even as they focus on inflicting a series whitewash on Sri Lanka.

“We have been preparing for the longer format simultaneously as some players who are part of the Test squad are also with this team. We have been practicing with the Test series in mind,” the 42-year-old said, ahead of the fifth ODI here on Sunday.

He pointed that some of the selection and strategising in this series have been done keeping in

mind the conditions that the team will face in the World Cup.

He said it was decided that the openers would look to get the team off to a solid start and focus on keeping wickets in hand.

“We spoke about the impor-tance of keeping as many wickets in hand as possible for the latter half of the innings,” Bangar said.

“That is the conscious effort we have made, especially keeping in

mind that we have two new balls and the conditions that we expect to face in Australia.”

He said the focus is on keeping the pacers fresh by rotating and resting them whenever possible.

“There is a lot of rotation happen-ing and bowlers who have played a lot in the recent past, people like Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Moham-med Shami, have been given rest. This is with the intention of having an all-fit pace attack in Australia,” the former India player said.

“The preparations have been spot on and the workload is moni-tored properly. We have probably the best seam attack going to Aus-tralia in years now.”

He expressed satisfaction with the team’s performance, saying the boys have managed to achieve the goals set for them.

“There have been a lot of posi-tives that have emerged. Earlier we thought there are not many spin-ners around. Here we see that there are four of five of them in conten-tion,” the former all-rounder said.

“Umesh (Yadav) has been a big plus and he has improved a lot as the matches have progressed. He has more control now and is giv-ing us wickets in the initial overs, which so crucial and is helping the team’s cause.”

He stressed on the return to form of the frontline batsman as the reason behind India’s recent impressive ODI form.

“One major reason why we have done so well in the matches after the England series is that a lot of our batmen have managed to get big scores. We have already seen seven hundreds being scored and they’re all from different bats-men. So, it’s great that everybody is chipping in with these vital contri-butions,” Bangar concluded. - IANS

The decision to rest

Raina was made to

open up opportunities

for the fringe players

in the squad

GEARING UP: Sri Lankan players pictured during a practice session

on the eve of their fifth One-day International match against India

in Ranchi on Saturday. – PTI

Pakistan spinners not unplayable, says New Zealand’s LathamDUBAI: New Zealand opener Tom Latham is convinced Pakistan’s spinners are not unplayable, but his team will have to adapt quickly if they want to level the series in the second Test starting in Dubai on Monday.

Pakistan won the first Test in Abu Dhabi by a big 248-run mar-gin to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. New Zealand’s tra-vails against spin will not lessen at the Dubai stadium where the pitch is more likely to turn.

Left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar took five wickets while leggie Yasir Shah took four in the Abu Dhabi Test. That came on the back of

Babar’s 14 and Shah’s 12 in the 2-0 rout of Australia that preceded the current series.

But Latham, who scored his maiden hundred in the first Test, was convinced Pakistan’s spinners can be negated.

“Pakistan’s spinners obviously have variations, the make up of their side is a left-armer and a leg-spinner and they do challenge us, but I don’t think they are unplay-able,” Latham said after New Zea-land’s practice on Saturday.

Latham said New Zealand’s tail put up a brave show against Paki-stani spinners on the final day.

“We showed that on the morn-

ing of the fifth day and Ish (Sodhi) and Trent (Boult) dug in,” said Latham of the tenth-wicket stand of 54 between Sodhi and Boult.

Sodhi made a career-best 63 while Boult remained not out on 19 runs.

“They played really well so if we get ourselves in those situa-tions and keep them (spinners) out for long then we can be able to put a big total on the board,” said Latham, whose father Rod also played for New Zealand.

“It’s a good opportunity to right some wrongs, we have shown that in the past in the West Indies after losing the second Test and then

come back by winning the third and win the series,” said Latham of New Zealand’s 2-1 win in June this year.

“The basic principle is to apply ourselves and you go out and if the ball is reverse swinging or spin-ning then we have to apply our-selves and try to adapt to the situa-tion as quickly as possible to those conditions,” said Latham.

Pakistan have retained the same squad for the second Test, minus opener Ahmed Shehzad who was ruled out of the Test series due to a minor skull fracture after being hit by a bouncer from seamer Corey Anderson. - AFP

S E C O N D T E S T

CONFIDENT: New Zealand’s Tom Latham smiles as he speaks

during a press conference after a net session at the ICC Cricket

Academy in Dubai on Saturday. – AFP

ODI winter primes England for World Cup success: CookLONDON: England captain Alastair Cook believes a diet of nothing but One-day Interna-tional (ODI) cricket this winter and the return of a number of rested key players will give Eng-land their best chance to win the World Cup.

Having not played any form of cricket since a T20 victory against India in early September, Eng-land’s weary team are rested after a testing year on and off the field.

Between now and the World Cup, in Australia and New Zealand starting in February, England’s schedule is made up entirely of limited overs cricket and Cook be-lieves that provides them with the perfect platform for success.

“Without a doubt, this is our best chance,” Cook told a press conference ahead of their seven-game ODI tour in Sri Lanka.

“This goes back a few years in planning and asking why our World Cups have not gone as well as they should have.

“Since 1992, we have not done ourselves justice in any World Cup. The ECB have planned to make sure we have the guys fresh and ready to go for the World Cup.

“We have a great opportunity and I, for one, am excited about playing one-day cricket without having Tests in the forefront.”

England have lost five of their

last six one-day series but the 29-year-old pointed to the ab-sence of key personnel on those occasions.

“We haven’t had our full-strength side since the Champions Trophy (in June 2013). Priorities change. We obviously had back-to-back Ashes series so a lot of the guys were rested from one-day cricket. That is not the case now.

“We have a full-strength side, we have guys who are desperate to get a World Cup spot and we have time to really focus on us as an England one-day side.”

England face Sri Lanka in the first ODI on November 26. - Reuters

B E S T C H A N C E

Alastair Cook

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SPORTSS U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 14

There was a fleeting touch of the wild about what Rohit Sharma did at the

Eden Gardens as he went about scripting history, but the quirky beauty of it was that the dash of the wild was so sneaky and quiet that it escaped the unsuspect-ing eyes until the moment when the swish of the tail ended in a mighty roar after the ambush and the kill. Like a tiger.

A tiger minus the rippling muscles or the glowing amber eyes, but with the fluid grace and poise that would help it to have the edge even over the king of the jungle if ever they came to an exchange of paws.

The transformation of Rohit Sharma from mild to wild was low and slow, but when it hap-pened spontaneously we were transfixed more by disbelief than by the thrill of the drama that unfolded.

The wild streak remained bot-tled up until that deep square leg single brought Rohit the century he was dreaming about to tell the selectors that he would love to open the innings and that they should not really mind the slow, lazy way he normally deals with the ball in the initial overs.

That was desperate to prove himself after getting back into the team was something even a kid watching the match would have no doubt about by the 10th over, but the animated punch into the air with the bat and the extended celebration that fol-lowed put it all in a new perspec-tive and context. That was when we got the first measure of his desperation.

The wild streak vanished just as swift as it made its presence felt, and Rohit was back in his mild pitch persona and kept his eyes more seriously than ever on the team scoreboard because “that’s how you build your innings”.

Fifty balls later, and just after driving Nuwan Kulasekara through covers for the four that made him the first, and only, player to hit two double centuries in ODIs, the wild side was up, and this time too loud and long to

miss. It was a roar, silent but still deafening, that went on and on. The tiger has made the killing.

The flick of the tail got more virulent and soon we found 250 inscribed against a player for the first time in One-day Internationals.

An Everest that’s going to chal-lenge, inspire and frustrate many in the coming years.

With the Eden Gardens epic, Rohit has sealed his place in the Indian team for the World Cup and perhaps the opening slot as well, but it will be unfair if we fail to hail two guys who helped the hero of the day enjoy his fair share in the sun.

And, ironically, both guys stood a tempting chance to reap handsome gains if they tried, overt or covert, to lead the hero up the garden path for the simple reason that the three Rs — Rohit, Rahane and Robin — were involved in a contest, healthy, of course, for their quarter of the World Cup cake.

Ajinkya Rahane may have lost his opening slot to Rohit after the Eden Gardens show and Robin Uthappa may now be as confused as he ever was about his luck to be part of the World

Cup pack, but their positive at-titude towards their team-mate and team India was inspiring.

When Rohit was struggling at the start of the innings, being dropped on four and scoring just six off 20 balls, it was Rahane’s aggressive pitch (28 off 22 balls) that helped Rohit hit the tempo.

And Robin Uthappa was happy with the 16 runs in a 128-run partnership.

Uthappa, himself an opening batsman, did not try to make the most of the opportunity he got by going after the hapless Lankan bowlers — rather, he was keen on giving the strike back to Rohit.

No prize for guessing who the winner would have been if there had been any prize for unselfishness.

So, what does it all really hint at? That there’s no crouching tiger or hidden dragon behind the rock in the dark for this team India led by Virat Kohli?

The writer is a freelance contribu-tor based in India. All the views and opinions expressed in the ar-ticle are solely those of the author and do not reflect those of Times of Oman

Without crouching tigers and hidden dragonsC O M M E N T A R Y

PRASAD PANICKER

BEYOND THE BOUNDARY

Ahmad focuses on positives after being forced out of season opener

MANAMA: Oman’s Ahmad Al Harthy took the steep learning curve of Porsche GT3 Cup Chal-lenge Middle East racing in his stride and is looking forward to the next race after being forced to re-tire from Race 1 of Round 1 at Bah-rain International Circuit.

The Season 6 opener was even-tually won by his UAE-based Cle-mens Schmid of Al Nabooda Rac-ing in what was a sensational start to the new series and the perfect advert for regional motor racing featuring local drivers.

A pointer to the excitement Season 6 is set to deliver the race showed just how competitive the series will be amongst the drivers in the championship but also in the team stakes with Al Harthy’s Al Nabooda Racing, SkyDive Dubai and the newly formed BuZaid GT/Frijns giving glimpses of what is set to be an absorbing series of six rounds running from November to April across the GCC.

After a promising performance in qualifying Al Harthy started Race 1 in fifth position but as the race got underway immediately showed why he has such a prom-ising future in the series, shoot-ing up to third after a solid start. The Omani then fell victim to the experience of SkyDive Dubai duo, Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum and Saeed Al Mehairi who have had considerably more time in the Porsche GT3 Cup car.

The pair pressured Al Harthy after the safety car allowed them to close the gap on him and even-tually squeezed past as he moved down to fifth. The Omani’s race then came to an end with just five laps to go following a collision with KSA driver Bandar Alesayi after which he was not able to contin-ue. It was a disappointing end to his first real outing of the season but the local driver can take heart from his encouraging lap times and strong start to the race.

Speaking after Race 1 Ahmad Al Harthy said: “Obviously it wasn’t the start to the season I

was looking for but there are a lot of strong points to focus on and I will take on all the learning possi-ble to ensure future success. I can take a lot of heart from my pace in testing, qualifying and the first half of the race.

“I am definitely not far off the competition and as I get to know the car better I am confident I can convert my form into podium fin-ishes. Being forced to drop out of the race was an unfortunate way to end it but there is another race in this round and I will be looking to make amends. The worst thing about not finishing is not being

able to contribute team points as they will be crucial to ensure our success. It’s a long season and I feel lucky that I can take this learning so early on.”

Marking his return to action af-ter painfully losing the Season 5 Championship in the final race by just one point Al Nabooda Racing’s Clemens Schmid was dominant in his return to BIC winning by a margin of just 0.931 seconds.

After qualifying first the UAE-resident held off late challenges from his Emirati rival, Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum, to take the chequered flag in an absorbing

race featuring the region’s finest talent showcasing their skills.

Al Maktoum started strongly from seventh place climbing up to fifth behind his SkyDive Dubai Fal-cons teammate Saeed Al Mehairi, as the duo took advantage of an early mistake by promising Qatar-based talent, Charlie Frijns.

Al Harthy also started well launching himself up to third in his first full season in the series. Al Maktoum and Al Mehairi were harking back to their old days in karting as the friendly rivalry be-tween them was magnified on to the big stage, the pair switching places

multiple times in what must have been a nervous few opening laps for their team bosses.

Finely balancing their driving between team attacks on Al Har-thy and personal pride the bat-tle between them began to cost time as Frijns found his form and closed the gap to within a few tenths of a second, before a flat tyre caused Sweden’s Magnus Ohman to crash out and the safety car was deployed.

As the action restarted the ex-perience of the SkyDive drivers told as the pair passed Al Harthy to take third and fourth. Al Har-thy eventually fell down the pack and collided with the car of KSA’s Bandar Aleyasi which meant the end of both their races and a sec-ond outing for the safety car.

Again the Porsche GT3 Cup cars were bunched together with just two laps to go but Al Maktoum capitalised on a lock up Zaid Ash-kanani to squeeze into second and pile the pressure on race leader Clemens Schmid.

As Schmid struggled with worn tyres Al Maktoum’s team mate was also pressing for third with Ashka-nani struggling as his rear brakes regularly locked.

The extra pushing told on Al Me-hairi’s tyres with a bald spot even-tually wearing away to force the Emirati driver out of the race with a flat tyre. Despite the pressure from second placed Al Maktoum, Schmid held on to take a deserved win with Ashkanani second.

After a promising

performance in

qualifying Ahmad

started Race 1 in fifth

position but as the

race got underway

immediately showed

why he has such a

promising future in

the series, shooting

up to third

SOLID START: Ahmad Al Harthy leads the pack during the opening race of Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge

Middle East’s Season 6 at Bahrain International Circuit. – Supplied photo

Saeed Ajmal getting

better by degrees

DUBAI: Suspended Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal has sub-stantially improved his suspect bowling action but he still needs work to return to being within the legal limit, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Saturday.

The 37-year-old was reported during the Galle Test against Sri Lanka in August this year and after a biomechanical analysis in Australia the master spinner was suspended until another official assessment by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has even hired former off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq to work on removing the flaws in Ajmal’s action. Under ICC rules a bowler is allowed 15-degree elbow exten-sion, a point visible to naked eye.

But August’s tests on Ajmal showed he extends his elbow nearly 43 degrees and, as a result, needed a major overhaul.

Before going for his official test with the ICC, the PCB sent Ajmal to Loughborough, England, to have an unofficial assessment as a precautionary measure and the Pakistan board said the unofficial test was satisfactory.

“After tests on November 10

at Loughborough University, an ICC-accredited facility for tests on bowlers with suspect actions, biomechanist Dr. Mark King has reported that Ajmal has modified his “bowling action substantially,” said the PCB.

“While there is clearly a sub-stantial improvement from the previous official test it is likely that with additional work the bowler can bowl within the 15-degree limit.”

Ajmal will remain in England for one more week and will con-tinue working with Saqlain.

Ajmal was one of seven bowl-ers reported after an ICC crack-down initiated in June this year.

Apart from Ajmal, Sri Lanka’s Sachitra Senanayake, New Zea-land’s Kane Williamson, Zimba-bwe’s Prosper Utseya and Bang-ladesh’s Sohag Gazi were also suspended.

Bangladesh’s paceman Al-Amin Hossain, also reported in Septem-ber, was cleared after a biome-chanical assessment last month while Zimbabwe’s Malcolm Waller was reported last week.

Pakistan is hoping Ajmal will be cleared before the World Cup in February. - AFP

C R I C K E T

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Arjay and Richard emerge men’s doubles champions

MUSCAT: Arjay Canoza and Rich-ard Martinez got the better of Matei Horia and Copil Rosvan in a clash of coaches to emerge the men’s doubles champions at the ongoing Oman Arab Bank (OAB) Open Ten-nis Championships at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.

In the summit clash, Oman Ten-nis Association coaches Arjay and Richard came up against inform Matei and Copil, Pro Tennis Oman professionals. But Arjay and Rich-ard managed to dictate the terms from the beginning and went on to win the match and title with a straight sets 6-4, 6-3 victory.

In the men’s B singles, Abdul-lah Al Barwani set up a title show-down with Khalid Ikram.

Abdullah advanced after his semifinal opponent retired with the former leading the match 6-0, 3-0. Khalid Ikram, on the other hand, had to thwart a late fight back by Subash Pillai to move up with a 6-0, 6-3 victory.

In the veteran singles, Srikanth Hemanth and Tinny Gallarde booked their places in the final with contrasting victories.

Hemanth came up against a

fighting Mohammed Al Yawer in the semifinal and had to survive some anxious moments before pulling off a 7-6, 7-5 victory while Tinny Gallarde eased past Robin Kleinveldt with a 6-1, 6-0 win.

In the under-10 (unisex) com-petition, Vivek Kulloru and Nao Nishino are scheduled to clash in the title match.

Vivek moved up after a 9-5 win over Marwan Al Khanjari and Nao

booked his place with a 9-5 victory against Tyler Blake.

Younis close to trebleA day earlier, Younis Al Rawahi completed a double after taming Nevil Philip in the boys under-18 final. Younis, who is eyeing a treble after winning the mixed doubles title in the company of Omani star Fatma al Nabhani, had to dig deep especially in the first set when

Nevil matched him shot for shot. But Younis went on to dominate the second set and clinched the match 7-5, 6-3.

Two Omanis girls, meanwhile, reached the finals of junior compe-titions. In the girls under-18 con-test, Maryam Al Balushi eased past Yashika Jain and into the final with a 6-1, 6-3 win. And in the girls un-der-14 category, Aisha Al Suleim-ani outlasted RafaellaSaa 6-3, 7-5 for a place in the summit clash.

In the boys under-14 double, Ab-dullah Al Barwani and Zakariya Al Suleimani reached the final after a 6-0, 6-0 win over Ayaan Malhotra and Amaan Kazi.

In the veterans doubles, Rbin Kleinveldt and Luis Torres reached final after a similar win over Imran Khan and Bruno Van Begin.

The annual championship, one of the biggest events to be organ-ised by Oman Tennis Association with participation of 260 players in various categories, concludes on Sunday when treble title seek-ing Younis Al Rawahi faces Matei Horia in the men’s pro singles final. The match is scheduled to begin at 7.00 pm after girls under-18 and veterans singles title matches.

Sheikh Saad bin Mohammed bin Said al-Mardhouf Al Saadi, the Minister of Sports Affairs, will pre-side over the final day’s proceed-ings and hand over the trophies.

The championships is sup-ported by one of country’s leading banks, Oman Arab Bank, as the ti-tle sponsor and is co-sponsored by Omantel and Pocari Sweat.

In the summit clash,

Arjay and Richard

came up against

inform Matei and

Copil but managed

to dictate the terms

from the beginning

and went on to win

the match 6-4, 6-3

WINNERS: Arjay Canoza and Richard Martinez pose for a photo after winning the men’s doubles final

against Matei Horia and Copil Rosvan at the OAB Open at SQSC. – FAISAL AL BALUSHI/OTA

Carlsen crushes Anand in 37 moves to grab leadSOCHI: Norwegian world chess champion Magnus Carlsen defeated the title challenger, India’s Viswa-nathan Anand, in the sixth game of their world title match on Saturday.

With two connected passers on the king’s side for Carlsen and down by whopping three pawns at the end of 37th move, Anand had no other option except to resign.

At the end of the sixth game, Carlsen leads the 12 game match with 3.5 points to Anand’s 2.5.

For Anand the defeat will be dou-

bly painful as he missed out a win-ning 26th Nxe5 move from a posi-tion that was very difficult to defend.

“No it can’t be termed a game of blunders. But it is rare that two top notch players making successive wrong moves. The pain will be more for Anand as his error cost him a win from a very difficult defensive position,” world No. 23, Indian Grandmaster P. Harikrishna said.

But what is true is that the sixth round of this world title match would be known as ‘Ne5’ game that

‘Kanned’ Anand. Carlsen opened the game moving his king pawn two squares to which Anand re-sponded with c5 the Sicilian de-fence and surprised the experts by opting for the Kan variation push-ing his pawn to a6.

The first exchange of pieces happened on the 8th move with Carlsen exchanged his knight for Anand’s queen side knight.

The next move Carlsen went for exchange of queens and in the process disturbed Anand’s castling

chances while pinning down the latter’s white bishop to its home square. The exchange of queens prompted Susan Polgar, a four-time women’s world chess cham-pion to tweet: “Basically white has very little initiatives in this line. Slow squeeze coming.”

She was referring to Carlsen’s specialty of playing long grinding game while the opponent tires out.

Incidentally in round four, Anand playing black refuted Carlsen’s attempts to exchange

the queens. In that game it was be-cause of the queen Anand was able to exert pressure on the champion and go in for a draw.

On move 12 Anand exchanged his black bishop for Carlsen’s re-maining knight. At this juncture, Carlsen’s had an open position whereas Anand’s pieces were somewhat cramped for want to squares for mobility.

“It was surprising that Anand went for this variation. It gives a passive position. It didn’t expect

the Kan variation. Further Carlsen chose the main line,” Harikrishna remarked.

“Something went wrong for Anand in the opening. Maybe he was unprepared and bluffed, or he forgot his lines, or his team didn’t analyse this variation properly,” world No. 3 Grandmaster Anish Giri said.

With Sunday being a rest day, the next round will be on Monday with Carlsen again having the ad-vantage of playing white. - IANS

W O R L D C H E S S C H A M P I O N S H I P

Advocaat quits as Serbia coachBELGRADE: Dutchman Dick Advocaat has stepped down as Serbia coach after a 3-1 home defeat by Denmark in the Euro 2016 qualifiers, the Balkan na-tion’s football association (FSS) said on Saturday.

“The FSS wishes to thank Ad-vocaat as he has shown utmost professionalism and we are dis-appointed that our cooperation with him ended so abruptly,” the soccer governing body said.

“We wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”

Advocaat said: “The pressure which was everywhere to be seen was too much to bear by this team and I had never faced such a difficult situation in my entire career.

“Serbia have to move on im-mediately and find a better way and I thank the FSS for their support throughout.”

Defeat by the Danes in an empty stadium left Serbia’s qualification hopes in the bal-ance. They have one point from two games, pending Uefa’s final verdict on last month’s home qualifier against Alba-nia, which was abandoned over crowd trouble.

Serb media have touted for-mer international midfielder Dejan Stankovic as a long-term successor, while Under-21 coach Radovan Curcic is ex-pected to step in for Tuesday’s away friendly with Greece.

Serbia’s next two qualifiers are away to Portugal in March and Denmark in June. - Reuters

F O O T B A L L

WAB AND OCC REGISTER RESOUDING VICTORIESWAB and OCC recorded resounding victories in the ongoing Oman Chamber of Commerce

and Industries-Companies Basketball Competition (OCCI-CBC) at the Sultan Qaboos

Sports Complex. WAB defeated Pepsi by a 95-34 margin while OCC routed Daleel 74-39.

On Sunday, STTE face TSC while OCC take on WAB. — Supplied photo

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SPORTSS U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 14

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CHEERS XI CLINCH TITLE AT RCC CRICKET TOURNAMENTCheers XI defeated

Bluestar XI to lift the

title at RCC cricket

tournament at Al Saada

ground in Salalah

recently. Elected to

bowl bat first in the 20-

over match, Cheers XI

bowled out Bluestar XI

for 136 in 18 overs. In

reply, Cheers XI chased

the target in 17.3 overs.

Shailesh, who top

scored with 36, was

declared the man of the

final. The best batsman

and man of the series

awards went to Sanu

of Al Seer. Shanu of

Telyboys was the best

bowler. — Supplied photo

Djokovic halts Nishikori’s debut run to reach final

LONDON: World No. 1 Novak Djokovic ended Kei Nishikori’s impressive debut at the ATP World Tour Finals with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 semifinal victory at the O2 Arena on Saturday.

The Serb was rattled by a mid-match onslaught from the Japa-nese who came back from a poor start to dominate the second set, only for his challenge to fizzle out in the decider.

Things could have been differ-ent had Nishikori, the first Asian man to qualify for the year-ender, converted the two break points he had in the first game of the decid-ing set. But Djokovic held firm and quickly regained control to march

towards a 31st consecutive victory on indoor courts.

He set up a match point with a searing crosscourt forehand winner and U.S. Open runner-up Nishikori double-faulted to end the contest after one hour and 27 minutes.

“Kei was playing great and this has been the best season of his life

but he made some crucial double faults in the third set,” seven-times Grand Slam champion Djokovic said. “Of course I will watch the semifinal (between Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka). I’ll get some popcorn and enjoy it from my bed.”

Djokovic had gone through the group stage with wins against

Marin Cilic, Stanislas Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych for the loss of a mere nine games, a tourna-ment record. When the pressure of the occasion appeared to get to Nishikori in a first set that last 23 minutes, the Djokovic juggernaut looked unstoppable.

Nishikori ballooned another

forehand long to drop serve at the start of the second set and the crowd, who paid big money for their tickets, looked like being short-changed.

Things turned in the next game, however, when Nishikori suddenly had a break point chance and Djok-ovic double-faulted — prompting huge cheers from the stands which clearly annoyed Djokovic who sar-castically applauded.

Suddenly world No. 5 Nishikori began to dictate the rallies and drag Djokovic out of his comfort zone. Leading 4-3 he set up a break point with a forehand winner and con-verted it after teasing Djokovic with a drop shot and then a topspin lob the Serb could only fend back into mid court where Nishikori ripped away another forehand winner.

Two aces helped Nishikori level the match and a grandstand de-cider looked in store after so many disappointing one-sided matches at the tournament. However, you squander opportunities against Djokovic at your peril and when the Serb dug himself out of trouble to move 1-0 ahead in the third set, the momentum swung back his way.

The 27-year-old, who has al-ready clinched the year-end world number one ranking, can become the first man since Ivan Lendl (1985-87) to claim three consecu-tive Tour Finals crowns if he wins on Sunday against either Roger Federer or Wawrinka, who face each other later in an all-Swiss semifinal. - Reuters

Djokovic was rattled

by a mid-match

onslaught from

Nishikori who came

back from a poor

start to dominate the

second set, only for

his challenge to fizzle

out in the decider

GAINING CONTROL: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic hits a return against Japan’s Kei Nishikori during their

semifinal match at the ATP World Tour Finals in London on Saturday. – AFP

NorthEast United, FC Pune City in goalless drawGUWAHATI: NorthEast United FC and FC Pune City drew 0-0 in a hard-fought Indian Super League (ISL) match at the Indira Gandhi Stadium here on Saturday.

Pune FC improved to 12 points from eight matches but remained in the third spot in the standings while NorthEast United FC stayed in the fifth spot with the draw, hav-ing accumulated 10 points from eight matches.

NorthEast enjoyed the upper hand against their opponents at the beginning of the match. They de-fended confidently and timed their attacks perfectly, forcing the visi-tors to sit deep in their own half.

They stretched the Pune de-fence and have managed to create goal-scoring chances. Midfielder Koke was sublime in his passes in the first half and at times it seemed it was a just matter of time before they went ahead.

But Pune managed to hold on

and went into the break with a 0-0 scoreline. The home team main-tained their supremacy after the break but the all-important goal proved elusive.

Pune became confident with the passage of time and came threat-ened to punish NorthEast for their inability to score.

Konstantinos Katsouranis provided the attacking inspira-tion to Pune.

He set up Nigerian striker Dudu, who tested goalkeeper Rehenesh with an on-target header and then played a neat through ball for Krisztian Vadocz who sent his shot wide.

As the match neared its end, Pune, spearheaded by Dudu, be-came dangerous.

They came close to breaking the deadlock on a couple of occassions but like their opponents did every-thing without finding the target, to settle for a draw. - IANS

I S L

HARD-FOUGHT BATTLE: Action from the match between the North East United FC and FC Pune City in

the Indian Super League at Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday. – PTI

‘Fifa must deal with crisis or risk credibility’BERLIN: The head of the Ger-man football league (DFL) said the crisis at Fifa over the 2022 and 2018 World Cup bid pro-cess could raise questions about its credibility and thoughts of Europe breaking away from world soccer’s governing body.

World soccer’s governing body was plunged into chaos this week when Fifa ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert said there were no grounds to reopen the controversial pro-cess which led to Russia being given the 2018 finals and Qatar the 2022 tournament.

Allegations of corruption and bribery surrounding the pro-cess have accompanied Fifa and the host nations ever since.

Three hours after Eckert’s statement, former U.S. prosecu-tor Garcia, who led the investi-gation over an 18-month period, said Eckert’s 42-page statement had misrepresented his report and that he would take the case to the Fifa appeals committee.

“It was a serious attempt to process the issues regarding the 2018 World Cup and 2022 World Cup,” DFL President Reinhard Rauball told ====== Kicker magazine on Saturday.

“The result is the commu-nication nuclear meltdown which rocks the foundations of Fifa as I have never experi-enced it,” said Rauball, who is not a member of Fifa.

The DFL is in charge of Ger-many’s top two professional divisions.

Rauball, who is also chairman of Borussia Dortmund, said Fifa should make the report public in order to see “what was accused and how it was evaluated.”

“Two things must happen,” Rauball said.

“Not only publishing the eth-ics commission decision but also the appeal by Mr Garcia so it is clear what is being accused and how it was evaluated.”

“Also what was not taken into account and if it was cor-rect to leave those things out,” Rauball added.

Rauball, who has been critical in the past of Fifa’s decision to award the World Cup to Qatar, said if that did not happen then questions would be asked about whether Fifa was the right body to lead football.

“If that does not happen and this crisis is not solved credibly then one has to think about the question whether one is still in good hands at Fifa,” he said.

“One option that would be se-riously considered is for Uefa to break away from Fifa.” - Reuters

F O O T B A L L

Henman wants Murray to question partnership with coach Mauresmo

LONDON: British great Tim Henman believes Andy Mur-ray might need to question his coaching relationship with Ame-lie Mauresmo unless the former Wimbledon champion can quickly return to peak form.

A disappointing 2014 cam-paign came to a suitably down-beat end for Murray on Thursday when he was eliminated from the ATP Tour Finals in humiliating

fashion after a 6-0, 6-1 thrashing by Roger Federer.

Former British No. 1 Henman has been frustrated by his lack of aggression in recent weeks and claims there could be cause for the Scot to reassess whether Mauresmo is the right person to revive a career which has stag-nated since he won Wimbledon last year.

“When you reflect on the

match, for me his game had no identity,” Henman said. “What was the plan out there? It was re-ally the Federer show.

“It’s about clarity of thought and that’s when you’ve got to take a step back and look at the whole set-up, the whole team and his whole lifestyle and see whether that is working as well as it can. At the end of the day, he’s the only one that can answer that.” - AFP

T E N N I S

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMSECTIONC S U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 14LIFE & STYLE

Purported negative effects such as addic-tion, increased ag-gression and various health consequences such as obesity and

repetitive strain injuries tend to get far more media coverage than the positives. I know from my own re-search examining both sides that my papers on video game addiction receive far more publicity than my research into the social benefits of, for example, playing online role-playing games.

However there is now a wealth of research which shows that video games can be put to educa-tional and therapeutic uses, as well as many studies which reveal how playing video games can improve reaction times and hand-eye co-ordination. For example, research has shown that spatial visualisa-tion ability, such as mentally ro-tating and manipulating two and three-dimensional objects, im-proves with video game playing.

To add to this long line of stud-ies demonstrating the more posi-tive effects of video games is a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Vikranth Bejjanki and colleagues. Their newly published paper demonstrates that the playing of action video games — the sort of fast-paced, 3D shoot-em-up be-

loved of doomsayers in the media — confirms what other studies have revealed, that players show improved performance in percep-tion, attention and cognition.

In a series of experiments on small numbers of gamers (10 to 14 people in each study), the re-searchers reported that gamers with previous experience of play-ing such action video games were better at perceptual tasks such as pattern discrimination than gam-ers with less experience.

In another experiment, they trained gamers who had little previous experience of playing action games, giving them 50 hours practice. It was shown that these gamers performed much better on perceptual tasks than they had prior to their training. The paper concludes: “The en-hanced learning of the regularity and structure of environments may act as a core mechanism by which action video game play in-fluences performance in percep-tion, attention, and cognition.”

In my own papers, I have point-ed out many features and qualities that make video games potentially useful. For instance, in an educa-tional context, video games can be fun and stimulating, which means it’s easier to maintain a pupil’s undivided attention for a longer period of time. Because of the ex-

citement, video games may also be a more appealing way of learning than traditional methods for some.

Video games have an appeal that crosses many demographic boundaries, such as age, gender, ethnicity, or educational attain-ment. They can be used to help set goals and rehearse working toward them, provide feedback, reinforce-ment, self-esteem, and maintain a record of behavioural change.

Their interactivity can stimu-late learning, allowing individu-

als to experience novelty, curios-ity and challenge that stimulates learning. There is the opportunity to develop transferable skills, or practice challenging or extraordi-nary activities, such as flight simu-lators, or simulated operations.

Because video games can be so engaging, they can also be used therapeutically. For instance, they can be used as a form of physio-therapy as well as in more innova-tive contexts. A number of studies have shown that when children play video games following chemotherapy, they need fewer painkillers than do others.

Video games have great educa-tional potential in addition to their entertainment value. Games spe-cifically designed to address a specific problem or teach a spe-cific skill have been very success-ful, precisely because they are motivating, engaging, interactive and provide rewards and rein-forcement to improve.

But the transferability of skills outside the game-playing context is an important factor. What’s also clear from the scientific lit-erature is that the negative conse-quences of playing almost always involve people who are excessive video game players. There is little evidence of serious acute adverse effects on health from moderate play. - Mark Griffiths/The Washington Post.

Whether playing video games has negative effects is

something that has been debated for 30 years, in much

the same way that rock and roll, television, and even the

novel, faced similar criticisms in their time

Because video games can be so engaging, they can also be used therapeutically. For instance a number of studies have shown that when children play video games following chemotherapy, they need fewer painkillers than do others

C8

EXTRAS U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 14

HOW OBESITY

TRIGGERS AUTO-IMMUNE

DISEASES

IN THE case of auto-immune diseas-es, the immune system attacks its own body rather than predatory invaders.

Obesity leads to a breakdown of the body’s protective mechanism, creating the optimal environment for auto-immune diseases, and creates an environment that may hinder its treatment, showed the study.

“We have been aware of a long list of causes of auto-immune disorders — infections, smoking, pesticides, lack of vitamins, and so forth. But in the last five years, a new factor has emerged that cannot be ignored: obe-sity,” said Yehuda Shoenfeld from the Tel Aviv University in Israel.

As around 35 per cent of the global community is overweight or obese and more than 10 auto-immune dis-eases are known to be associated with increased weight, it is criti-cal to probe obesity’s involvement in the pathology of such diseases,

noted Yehuda. Yehuda conducted a review of 329 studies from around the world on the relationship be-tween obesity, adipokines (com-pounds secreted by fat tissue and involved in numerous physiologi-cal functions including the immune response), and immune-related conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

“According to our study and the clinical and experimental data reviewed, the involvement of adi-pokines in the pathogenesis of these auto-immune diseases is clear,” added Shoenfeld.

“We were able to detail the meta-bolic and immunological activities of the main adipokines featured in the development and prognosis of several immune-related conditions,” con-cluded Shoenfeld.

The study appeared in Autoimmunity Reviews. - IANS

Around 35% of global community is overweight

and more than 10 auto-immune diseases are

known to be associated with increased weight

CHARLES Caleb Colton was an eccentric English cleric and author who died in 1832. He said, “Nothing more completely baffles one who is full of trick and duplicity than straightforward and simple integrity in another.”

This week, we are trying not to be baffled by trick one. In this deal, the North-South hands, the contract (three no-trump) and the lead (the spade six) are the same as yesterday’s. What should declarer do?

South starts with eight top tricks — one spade (given the lead), three hearts, two diamonds and two clubs. The ninth winner will come from clubs. Is there any danger?

Yes, if a defender gets on lead with the club queen, perhaps East-West will then cash too many spade tricks.

As we saw yesterday, declarer must start by playing dummy’s spade king, the honor from the shorter side first. Yesterday, the king held the trick, but not today — East wins with his ace and returns the spade nine. How should South proceed?

If the spades are 4-4, there is no danger, but if West has five or six spades, the contract is at risk. First, declarer must duck the second trick and take the third with his spade queen. Then the job is to try to keep West off the lead, the defender with the spade winners. This means that the club finesse is a red herring. South must cash his two top clubs. Here, the queen drops and the contract is home with an overtrick. But if the club queen does not appear, declarer plays a third round and hopes that East wins the trick.

Phillip Alder

C9

ENTERTAINMENT

The other side of the trick-one coin

B I G N A T E

B O R N L O S E R

M A R M A D U K E

A C E S O N B R I D G E

K I D S P O T H E A L T H C A P S U L EC R O S S W O R D

Ans

wer

to p

revi

ous

puzz

le

WITH LOVE

Previous puzzle Solution

HOW TO PLAY Fill the empty cells with the numbers 1 to 9, so that each number appears once in each row, column and area. — Seven Galaxies

S U D O K U

S U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 14

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 16 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to extra@timesofoman.com

25 Verdi opera26 Harvest 27 Bottom seams28 Glance over29 Twisted 30 Biggers’ sleuth32 Pita treat 38 Apache

language 40 Luxury resort42 “— So Fine”

44 Pyromaniac’s work

46 Barge pushers48 Hair curler49 Prefix for second50 Wine label info51 Interest amt52 Mauna — 53 PC button 54 Vive le —! 55 Turtle-to-be

ACROSS 1 Economic ind.4 School year

division 8 Stop up 12 Aurora, to Plato13 Helm position14 Cartoon shrieks15 Website clutter16 Flowering shrub18 Kind of rocket20 A, in Munich21 Playwright —

Simon 24 Percolate 28 Kangaroo pouches31 Command to

Rover 33 Catastrophic34 Elec. measure35 “Poison —

(Coasters tune of yore)

36 Monk’s title37 Persia, in modern

times 39 Knight’s title40 Weakens 41 Chatty starling43 Bathday cake?45 Poodle’s doc

47 Like much Seattle weather

51 Delights 56 Charlotte of

“Bananas”57 Blackjack58 Kind of dancer

(hyph.) 59 — — dare 60 Kind of salad61 Put one’s sig62 Fjord terr.

DOWN 1 Clock part2 Twig juncture3 Hey, you! 4 Lake near Reno5 Cathedral town

near Cambridge6 Tulip color7 Like a pittance8 Composed9 Drumstick10 Luau strummer11 Brownie’s org.17 Feel awful19 ER personnel22 Hieroglyphics

bird 23 Tee partner

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ALEEZA JOSEPHNovember 16, 2008

SAHANA SANTHOSH PILLAINovember 16, 2014

CHRISTINA PHILIPNovember 16, 2002

RADHA LAKSHMI TETALANovember 16, 2008

C10

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Nuzha Hotel Apartments: 24789199Oman Dive Centre: 24824240Park Inn: 24507888Qurum Beach House Hotel: 24564070Radisson Blu Hotel: 24487777Ramee Dream Resort Seeb: 24453399Ramee Guestline Hotel: 24564443Ruwi Hotel: 24704244Safeer Hotel Suites: 24691200Sheraton Oman Hotel: 24772772Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa: 24776666The Chedi Muscat: 24524400The Treasurebox Muscat Hotel: 24502570

AIRLINE OFFICESMuscat Airport Flight information (24 hours): 24519456/24519223Aeroflot: 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, Turkish Airlines: 24703033

MUSEUMSBait Al Baranda: Corniche (seafront opp fish market), Open from Saturday to Thursday 9am to 1pm and 4 to 6pmNatural History Museum: Al Khuwair, Tel: 24604957, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm; Thursday: 9am to 1pmMuseum of Omani Heritage: (former Omani Museum), Madinat Al Alam, Sat-Wed 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday - 9am to 1pm, Tel: 24600946Armed Forces Museum: Bait Al Falaj, Tel: 24312651, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm; Thurs 9-12pm and 3-6pm; Fri 9-11am and 3-6pm. Al Hoota Caves 24498258; Turtle Beach 96550606/96550707Children’s Science Museum: Shatti Al Qurum, Tel: 24605368, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pmOman-French Museum: near Muscat Police Station, Tel: 24736613, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm, Thurs: 9am to 1pmBait Al Zubair, Muscat: Tel: 24736688, Al Saidiya St., Muscatmuseum@baitalzubairmuseum.comOpen from Sat to Thurs: 9:30am to 6pm.National Museum Ruwi: Tel: 24701289, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pmSohar Fort Museum: Tel: 26844758, Open from Saturday to Wed: 8 to 1:30pm Thurs: 9am to 1pmMuscat Gate Museum: at Al Bahri Road, Muscat open from Sat to Wed 8am to 2pm

PRAYER TIMINGS

W E A T H E R

Dhuhr 11.57amAsr 3.05pmMaghrib 5.27pmIsha 6.40pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 5.03am

Sunset 5:22pmSunrise (Tomorrow) 6:20am

High tide 2:46am 1:53pmLow tide 7.29pm 9:22pm

OMAN

Max 30Min 20

Max 28Min 20

Max 28Min 20

Max 28Min 18

Max 28Min 19Max 27

Min 14

Max 28Min 14

Max 31 Min 21

Mainly clear skies over most of the Sultanate, chance of clouds advection along the coastal areas of Arabian Sea with isolated rain over Al-Hajar mountains tomorrow

tomorrow afternoon there are chances of clouds development as well.EXPECTED WIND: Along the coastal areas of Oman wind will be variable during night, becoming northeasterly light to moderate while it will be northerly to northeasterly light to moderate over rest of the Sultanate.

SEA STATE: Moderate along the western coasts of Musandam governorate and eastern coast of governorate of Al-Sharqiya south with maximum wave height 2.0 metres andslight along the rest of Oman coasts with maximum wave height of 1.25 metres.HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY: Good over most of the Sultanate becoming poor during rain. THE NEXT 48 HOURS OUTLOOK: Mainly clear skies over most of the Sultanate. Chance of early morning low level clouds or fog patches along the coastal area of Arabian Sea.

Max Min

GULFAbu Dhabi 28 22Doha 28 27Dubai 31 17Kuwait 29 18Manama 26 21Riyadh 26 15

WORLDAthens 17 14Baghdad 26 12Beijing 12 1Berlin 12 8Boston 10 2Cairo 23 15Colombo 30 25Frankfurt 9 4Hong Kong 28 18Istanbul 14 10Johannesburg 23 8Kuala Lumpur 30 22Lisbon 17 11Paris 11 7Perth 31 15Singapore 31 25Tokyo 16 9Toronto 2 1

WORLD

Max 9Min 5

Max 26Min 12

Max 19Min 11

Max 33Min 18

Max 24Min 12

Max 30Min 14

Max -3Min -6

Max 32Min 24

SUNDAYFLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA WY406 CAIRO  0005WY682 RIYADH  0005WY676 JEDDAH  0005WY648 KUWAIT  0010WY916 SALALAH  01054H585 DACCA  0115NL669 SIALKOT  0200TK776 ISTANBUL/BAHRAIN  0300QR1132 DOHA  0345ET624 ADDIS ABABA  0350EK866 DUBAI  0355EY384 ABU DHABI  0405GF560 BAHRAIN  0405FZ041 DUBAI  04154H586 DOHA  0600WY902 SALALAH  0630WY638 ABU DHABI  0650WY658 BAHRAIN  0700WY686 RIYADH  0700WY324 KARACHI  0700WY668 DOHA  0710WY674 JEDDAH  0730WY672 MEDINA  0745WY602 DUBAI  0805WY202 BOMBAY  0815WY102 LONDON-HEATHROW  0820WY422 BEIRUT  0830FZ043 DUBAI  0850NL768 LAHORE  0900G9114 SHARJAH  0915WY236 HYDERABAD  0920WY226 COCHIN  0930WY242 DELHI  0935WY252 MADRAS  0940EK862 DUBAI  0940WY212 TRIVANDRUM  0940QR1128 DOHA  1010EY382 ABU DHABI  1015IX549 TRIVANDRUM  10209W530 TRIVANDRUM  1035WY282 BANGALORE  1100WY342 LAHORE  1100WY272 JAIPUR  1100WY604 DUBAI  1110WY346 ISLAM ABBAD  1110G9841 RAS AL KHAIMA  1120PK223 PESHAWAR  1120WY372 COLOMBO  1140IX337 CALICUT  1155FZ037 DUBAI  1200WY384 MALE  1205WY332 KATHMANDU  1210WY904 SALALAH  1215WY3302 MUKHAIZNA  1230WY826 KUALA LUMPUR  1230WY818 BANGKOK  1235WY606 DUBAI  1330WY918 KHASAB  1440WY906 SALALAH  1445WY656 BAHRAIN  1530WY632 ABU DHABI  1535FZ045 DUBAI  1555WY664 DOHA  1625WY204 BOMBAY  1710WY292 CALICUT  1720WY3304 MUKHAIZNA  1730WY610 DUBAI  1730WY246 DELHI  1730WY264 LUCKNOW  1735WY232 HYDERABAD  1740QR1126 DOHA  1745EK864 DUBAI  1800GF564 BAHRAIN  1810WY646 KUWAIT  1900WY3922 DUQUM OMAN  1900G9116 SHARJAH  1915WY254 MADRAS  1920RG125 BATEEN AIRPORT OF AUH  1930TG507 BANGKOK/KARACHI  1935FZ047 DUBAI  1945WY914 SALALAH  1950WY434 TEHRAN  2000WY614 DUBAI  2030KL441 AMSTERDAM/DOHA  2120WY312 CHITTAGONG  2125AI973 DELHI  2125WY624 DUBAI  21256.00E+81 BOMBAY  21309W534 COCHIN  2140AI907 MADRAS  2200QR1134 DOHA  2210UL205 COLOMBO  2225WY338 KATHMANDU  2235GF566 BAHRAIN  2240EY388 ABU DHABI  2250BA073 LONDON-HEATHROW/ABU DHABI  2255AI985 AHMEDABAD/BOMBAY  2310WY662 DOHA  2315LX242 ZURICH/DUBAI  23209W540 BOMBAY  2325LH618 FRANKFURT/ABU DHABI  2330WY654 BAHRAIN  2330WY612 DUBAI  2335WY696 DAMMAM  2350WY910 SALALAH  2355WY717 ZANZIBAR/DARESSLAM  2355

MONDAYFLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA

WY682 RIYADH  0005WY406 CAIRO  0005WY676 JEDDAH  0005WY636 ABU DHABI  0010WY648 KUWAIT  0010WY816 BANGKOK  0015BG021 DACCA/CHITTAGONG  0100WY916 SALALAH  01054H583 DACCA  0115WY414 AMMAN  0125TK776 ISTANBUL/BAHRAIN  0300QR1132 DOHA  0345EK866 DUBAI  0355GF560 BAHRAIN  0405EY384 ABU DHABI  0405FZ041 DUBAI  0415WY142 MALPENSA  0630WY902 SALALAH  0630CLX732 LUXORE  0635WY638 ABU DHABI  0650WY658 BAHRAIN  0700WY686 RIYADH  0700WY412 AMMAN  0705WY668 DOHA  0710WY114 FRANKFURT  0715WY644 KUWAIT  0715WY122 MUNICH  0715WY154 ZURICH  0720WY692 DAMMAM  0725WY674 JEDDAH  0730WY132 PARIS  0800WY602 DUBAI  0805WY432 TEHRAN  0815WY202 BOMBAY  0815WY102 LONDON-HEATHROW  0820FZ043 DUBAI  0850G9114 SHARJAH  0915WY236 HYDERABAD  0920WY242 DELHI  0935EK862 DUBAI  0940WY252 MADRAS  0940QR1128 DOHA  1010EY382 ABU DHABI  10159W530 TRIVANDRUM  1035WY3302 MUKHAIZNA  1045WY272 JAIPUR  1100WY604 DUBAI  1110IX337 CALICUT  1155FZ037 DUBAI  1200WY314 CHITTAGONG  1210WY268 LUCKNOW  1210PA450 LAHORE  1215WY904 SALALAH  1215WY906 SALALAH  1325WY606 DUBAI  1330WY326 KARACHI  1355WY918 KHASAB  1440WY3304 MUKHAIZNA  1445WY812 BANGKOK  1525WY656 BAHRAIN  1530WY328 LAHORE  1550FZ045 DUBAI  1555WY632 ABU DHABI  1635WY204 BOMBAY  1710WY292 CALICUT  1720WY610 DUBAI  1730WY246 DELHI  1730WY232 HYDERABAD  1740WY216 TRIVANDRUM  1740WY664 DOHA  1745WY348 ISLAM ABBAD  1745QR1126 DOHA  1745EK864 DUBAI  1800GF564 BAHRAIN  1810WY284 BANGALORE  1810WY3306 MUKHAIZNA  1845G9116 SHARJAH  1915RG125 BATEEN AIRPORT OF AUH  1930FZ047 DUBAI  1945WY614 DUBAI  2030AI977 BANGALORE/HYDERABAD  2105WY386 MALE  2110KL441 AMSTERDAM/DOHA  2120AI973 DELHI  2125WY624 DUBAI  21256.00E+81 BOMBAY  2130WY914 SALALAH  2130WY224 COCHIN  21409W534 COCHIN  2140WY374 COLOMBO  2150WY254 MADRAS  2155WY814 BANGKOK  2200AI907 MADRAS  2200QR1134 DOHA  2210UL205 COLOMBO  2225WY338 KATHMANDU  2235GF566 BAHRAIN  2240EY388 ABU DHABI  2250BA073 LONDON-HEATHROW/ABU DHABI  2250WY908 SALALAH  2255SG061 AHMEDABAD  2300AI985 AHMEDABAD/BOMBAY  2310WY662 DOHA  2315LX242 ZURICH/DUBAI  23209W540 BOMBAY  2325WY654 BAHRAIN  2330LH618 FRANKFURT/ABU DHABI  2330WY612 DUBAI  2335WY636 ABU DHABI  2350WY696 DAMMAM  2350WY910 SALALAH  2355

FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD AI986 BOMBAY  0005LX243 DUBAI/ZURICH  0020BA072 ABU DHABI/LONDON- HEATHROW  00259W539 BOMBAY  0025LH619 ABU DHABI/FRANKFURT  0050WY671 MEDINA  0105WY685 RIYADH  0105WY211 TRIVANDRUM  0110WY251 MADRAS  0110WY201 BOMBAY  0120WY225 COCHIN  0125WY235 HYDERABAD  0135WY341 LAHORE  0150WY345 ISLAM ABBAD  0150WY601 DUBAI  0150WY241 DELHI  0155WY281 BANGALORE  0200WY657 BAHRAIN  0205WY637 ABU DHABI  0205WY371 COLOMBO  0210WY323 KARACHI  0210WY667 DOHA  0220WY383 MALE  02354H585 DOHA  0245NL772 PESHAWAR  0330WY271 JAIPUR  0350TK777 BAHRAIN/ISTANBUL  0350ET625 ADDIS ABABA  0450EK867 DUBAI  0455FZ042 DUBAI  0510QR1133 DOHA  0520EY385 ABU DHABI  05254H586 DACCA  0700GF561 BAHRAIN  0745WY903 SALALAH  0800WY603 DUBAI  0800WY3301 MUKHAIZNA  0800WY291 CALICUT  0920WY263 LUCKNOW  0920FZ044 DUBAI  0935WY231 HYDERABAD  0955WY245 DELHI  0955G9115 SHARJAH  1005WY815 BANGKOK  1010WY605 DUBAI  1030NL769 LAHORE  1030WY905 SALALAH  1030WY203 BOMBAY  1030WY253 MADRAS  1040WY311 CHITTAGONG  1040WY717 ZANZIBAR/DARESSLAM  1045WY717 ZANZIBAR/DARESSLAM  1045EK863 DUBAI  1055EY383 ABU DHABI  1105IX554 TRIVANDRUM  1110WY655 BAHRAIN  1110QR1129 DOHA  11159W533 COCHIN  1135WY917 KHASAB  1140G9842 RAS AL KHAIMA  1210WY663 DOHA  1210PK224 PESHAWAR  1220WY631 ABU DHABI  1225IX350 CALICUT  1255WY337 KATHMANDU  1310WY101 LONDON-HEATHROW  1325WY3303 MUKHAIZNA  1330WY645 KUWAIT  1340WY433 TEHRAN  1340WY113 FRANKFURT  1345WY141 MALPENSA  1400WY153 ZURICH  1405WY121 MUNICH  1415FZ048 DUBAI  1415WY609 DUBAI  1420WY131 PARIS  1420WY405 CAIRO  1430WY3921 DUQUM OMAN  1515WY913 SALALAH  1545WY675 JEDDAH  1630WY613 DUBAI  1700FZ046 DUBAI  1700WY413 AMMAN  1725WY623 DUBAI  1820WY681 RIYADH  1845QR1127 DOHA  1845GF565 BAHRAIN  1855WY647 KUWAIT  1900WY661 DOHA  1900WY695 DAMMAM  1910WY653 BAHRAIN  1910EK865 DUBAI  1915WY909 SALALAH  1940G9117 SHARJAH  2005RG126 BATEEN AIRPORT OF AUH  2015WY611 DUBAI  2025FZ048 DUBAI  2040TG508 KARACHI/BANGKOK  2040WY915 SALALAH  2050WY635 ABU DHABI  2050KL442 DOHA/AMSTERDAM  2230WY421 BEIRUT  22309W529 TRIVANDRUM  22406.00E+82 BOMBAY  2245WY411 AMMAN  2250AI908 MADRAS  2300AI974 DELHI  2310QR1135 DOHA  2320GF567 BAHRAIN  2325UL206 COLOMBO  2335WY673 JEDDAH  2350EY381 ABU DHABI  2350WY901 SALALAH  2350

FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD AI986 BOMBAY  0005LX243 DUBAI/ZURICH  0020BA072 ABU DHABI/LONDON-HEATHROW  00259W539 BOMBAY  0025LH619 ABU DHABI/FRANKFURT  0050WY685 RIYADH  0105WY251 MADRAS  0110WY201 BOMBAY  0120WY811 BANGKOK  0120WY235 HYDERABAD  0135WY601 DUBAI  0150WY241 DELHI  0155WY431 TEHRAN  0155WY643 KUWAIT  0200WY313 CHITTAGONG  0205WY637 ABU DHABI  0205WY657 BAHRAIN  0205WY667 DOHA  0220WY691 DAMMAM  02354H584 DACCA  0245BG022 CHITTAGONG/DACCA  0250WY271 JAIPUR  0350TK777 BAHRAIN/ISTANBUL  0350WY267 LUCKNOW  0355WY267 LUCKNOW  0355EK867 DUBAI  0455FZ042 DUBAI  0510QR1133 DOHA  0520EY385 ABU DHABI  0525WY3301 MUKHAIZNA  0715GF561 BAHRAIN  0745WY603 DUBAI  0800WY903 SALALAH  0800CLX732 HONG KONG  0805WY813 BANGKOK  0805WY325 KARACHI  0920WY327 LAHORE  0920WY905 SALALAH  0920WY215 TRIVANDRUM  0920WY291 CALICUT  0920WY823 KUALA LUMPUR  0930FZ044 DUBAI  0935WY385 MALE  0940WY231 HYDERABAD  0955WY245 DELHI  0955G9115 SHARJAH  1005WY283 BANGALORE  1010WY815 BANGKOK  1010WY373 COLOMBO  1020WY605 DUBAI  1030WY203 BOMBAY  1030WY347 ISLAM ABBAD  1040EK863 DUBAI  1055EY383 ABU DHABI  1105WY655 BAHRAIN  1110WY3303 MUKHAIZNA  1115QR1129 DOHA  11159W533 COCHIN  1135WY917 KHASAB  1140IX350 CALICUT  1255WY337 KATHMANDU  1310WY253 MADRAS  1315PA451 LAHORE  1315WY631 ABU DHABI  1325WY101 LONDON-HEATHROW  1325WY223 COCHIN  1325WY663 DOHA  1330FZ048 DUBAI  1415WY609 DUBAI  1420WY405 CAIRO  1430WY3305 MUKHAIZNA  1515WY675 JEDDAH  1630WY613 DUBAI  1700FZ046 DUBAI  1700WY913 SALALAH  1735WY623 DUBAI  1820WY907 SALALAH  1840QR1127 DOHA  1845WY681 RIYADH  1845GF565 BAHRAIN  1855WY661 DOHA  1900WY647 KUWAIT  1900WY695 DAMMAM  1910WY653 BAHRAIN  1910EK865 DUBAI  1915WY821 KUALA LUMPUR  1930WY909 SALALAH  1940G9117 SHARJAH  2005RG126 BATEEN AIRPORT OF AUH  2015WY611 DUBAI  2025WY635 ABU DHABI  2030FZ048 DUBAI  2040WY915 SALALAH  2050AI978 HYDERABAD/BANGALORE  2200KL442 DOHA/AMSTERDAM  22309W529 TRIVANDRUM  22406.00E+82 BOMBAY  2245AI908 MADRAS  2300AI974 DELHI  2310QR1135 DOHA  2320GF567 BAHRAIN  2325UL206 COLOMBO  2335WY673 JEDDAH  2350WY901 SALALAH  2350EY381 ABU DHABI  2350

A I R L I N E S

LISTINGS

BORN today, you are one of the most fun-loving individuals born under your sign, yet at the same time you are also one of the hardest working and most dedicated. When you spot a goal you think is worth pursuing, you will pursue it with everything you’ve got, even to the point of sacrificing daily enjoyment for the sake of great gains down the road. You are never one to turn away from a challenge. You believe that the harder one works, the more fun one can have — and the more fun one has, the better his or her work will be. You combine business and pleasure like no other, but only when it is appropriate to do so, and in ways that will attract admiration and imitation, not scrutiny or criticism.

You are not always fond of routine, but when it comes to daily chores, you prefer to leave them to someone else! Of course, that is not always possible, so there will surely be times when your own personal environment is something of a mess. You will take the time to straighten things up eventually!

Also born on this date are: Oksana Baiul, Olympic figure skater; Lisa Bonet, actress; Martha Plimpton, actress; Burgess Meredith, actor; Diana Krall, singer; Maggie Gyllenhaal, actress.

Something significant is likely to develop, demanding that you take action of a kind that you would not normally be comfortable with.

VIRGO [AUG. 23-SEPT. 22]

LIBRA [SEPT. 23-OCT. 22] LLLLLLLLLLLLLLL[S[S[S[S[[[S[[S[S[S[[S[S[SSS[SS[SSSS

SCORPIO [OCT. 23-NOV. 21] S[

SAGITTARIUS [NOV. 22-DEC. 21] S[[[[[[[[[[[[[

AQUARIUS [JAN. 20-FEB. 18]

You’ll be caught up in the interpretation of facts and figures throughout this busy day. Someone else provides a key to greater comprehension.

What you see and hear may challenge your belief system just enough that you feel the need to engage in some honest self-assessment.

You have something to offer today that others may not fully appreciate — until, of course, they become firsthand recipients.

Your unique methods will serve you well throughout the day, and you’ll have many people coming to you with special requests.

You don’t want to be uncertain in your approach to a personal dilemma. Get all the info you can before swinging into action.

A minor conflict is likely to turn into a major one if you aren’t very quick to pinpoint the cause and eliminate it.

If someone drops in unexpectedly, you’ll want to be ready to change your overall strategy to accommodate his or her desires.

PISCES [Feb. 19-March 20]

Communication is, once more, the key to success. Don’t let anyone charge ahead without being sure that all messages are received.

GEMINI [MAY 21-JUNE 20]

CANCER [JUNE 21-JULY 22]

LEO [JULY 23-AUG. 22]

CAPRICORN [DEC. 22-JAN 19]

Y O U R B I R T H D A Y

ARIES [March 21-APRIL 19]

TAURUS [APRIL 20-MAY 20]

Progress can be swift, but once you hit that first milestone, you may want to stop, look back and assess your methods — and your rewards.

Potential is very high for rewards. Someone is likely to step forward to offer you what you have been asking for all along.

You won’t be able to move in two directions at once, but you may be able to send another in your stead while you tend to personal issues.

-www.met.gov.om

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

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (Route 36)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (Route 36)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41)06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri13:00 Sohar 15:45 Daily13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily 16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily 16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41)07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily07:00 Ruwi 11:40 Daily13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri13:00 Sohar 14:55 Daily13:00 Ruwi 17:40 Daily 13:00 Sohar 19:20 Daily 17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily

TO SINAW (Route 52)17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily

TO SINAW (Route 52)07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54)14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54)06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54)08:00 Nizwa 10:20 Daily08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54)15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily

TO SUR (Route 55)07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily

TO SUR (Route 55)06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (Route 62)06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (Route 62)12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201)06:00 Sohar 08:30 Daily06:00 Dubai 11:30 Daily13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur15:00 Sohar 17:35 Daily15:00 Dubai 20:55 Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201)07:30 Sohar 10:50 Daily07:30 Ruwi 13:40 Daily13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri15:30 Sohar 18:45 Daily15:30 Ruwi 21:35 Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (Route 100)07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily10:00 Salalah 23:30 Daily19:00 Salalah 07:40 Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (Route 100)07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily10:00 Ruwi 22:30 Daily19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101)06:00 Marmul 16:50 Daily

SALALAH TO DUBAI (Route 102)15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101)06:00 Marmul 16:30 Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (Route 102)15:00 Salalah 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily 07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily 07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily 16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI) TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

C11

EXTRAS U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 14

Scientists have created the first device which allows people to turn genes in mice on and off at will using

only their brainwaves.In humans, the ability to reg-

ulate the expression of genes through thoughts alone could open up an entirely new avenue for medicine. A monitoring sys-tem that could pick up early neu-rological signs of an impending epileptic fit or a migraine, for example, could automatically trigger the manufacture and release of protein-based medica-tion within the body.

“Being able to control gene ex-pression via the power of thought is a dream that we’ve been chas-ing for over a decade,” said Dr Martin Fussenegger from ETH Zurich, who led the research.

The study made use of a human gene implanted in mice. A tiny chamber containing human cells and an LED light was inserted un-der each mouse’s skin. The genes had been genetically modified to be sensitive to light, which made it possible to trigger and manage their protein production through shining the near-infrared light from the LED on them.

The human test subjects were divided into three groups, and asked to either meditate, play a game of Minecraft, or watch the light coming from the mouse’s body. Their brain activity was cap-

tured by a headset and analysed to establish their state of mind. The resulting signal was transmitted to the mice in the form of an elec-tromagnetic field, which was able to light up the LED.

The quantity of protein created by the guest genes depended on whether the human wearing the headset was relaxing or concen-trating on playing Minecraft.

Those who were asked to keep their eye on the mouse were able to see the effect their brain activ-ity had on the red-coloured light, and thus on the genes within the implant. After some practice, this group learnt to exert conscious

control over the amount of pro-tein produced. They were able to alter their state of mind in or-der to change the output of the genes; a finding which gives the researchers hope that sim-ilar techniques could be used to influence implants within a person’s own body.

Fussenegger believes that the type of protein-based pharma-ceuticals that can be produced in this way match the natural work-ings of the body more closely than currently used drugs, and may overcome some of the limitations imposed by traditional medicine. - Elisa Criado/The Independent

Protein production of genes in mice can be altered

by human thought, confirm experiments

Controlling medication with your mind

RESEARCHERS have success-fully replicated a direct brain-to-brain connection between mul-tiple pairs of people as part of a scientific study on direct transmission of signals

Led by an Indian-origin sci-entist Rajesh Rao, the study in-volved six people and the team was able to transmit the signals from one person’s brain over in-ternet and use these signals to control the hand motions of another person within a split second of sending that signal.

New study “The new study brings our brain-to-brain interfacing paradigm from an initial demonstration to something that is closer to a deliv-erable technology,” said co-author Andrea Stocco, research assis-tant professor of psychology.

“Now we have replicated our

methods and know that they can work reliably with walk-in par-ticipants,” Stocco added.

Software to connect brains The research team combined two kinds of non-invasive in-struments and fine-tuned soft-ware to connect two human brains in real time. The pro-cess is fairly straightforward. One participant is hooked to an electro-encephalography ma-chine that reads brain activity and sends electrical pulses via internet to the second partici-pant, who is wearing a swim cap with a magnetic stimulation coil placed near the part of the brain that controls hand movements.

Using this setup, one person can send a command to move the hand of the other by simply think-ing about that hand movement.

“We will expand the types of information that can be trans-ferred from brain to brain, in-cluding more complex visual and psychological phenomena such as concepts, thoughts and rules,” said Rao.

The researchers are also ex-ploring how to influence brain waves that correspond with alertness or sleepiness.

Stimulating brain For example, the brain of a sleepy airplane pilot dozing off at the controls could stimulate the co-pilot’s brain to become more alert.

The project could also even-tually lead to “brain tutoring” in which, knowledge is trans-ferred directly from the brain of a teacher to a student. The study appeared in the journal PLOS ONE. -IANS

Direct brain-to-brain connection between humans established

The wireless optogenetic implant. - Martin Fussenegger & ETH Zurich

RESEARCH

C12

EXTRAS U N DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6, 2 0 14

W E D D I N G B E L L S

Salman invites top stars for sister’s wedding

TOP BOLLYWOOD stars will descend on Hyderabad Novem-ber 18 as Salman Khan’s young-est sister Arpita ties the knot with her long-time fiance and businessman Ayush Sharma at a gala ceremony.

Preparations for the wedding are in full swing at Taj Falak-numa, the luxury heritage hotel of the Taj Group located in the old city. The actor’s family has booked the entire hotel for two days, November 18 and 19, to ensure that nobody gatecrashes the festivities.

Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan top the long list of invitees to the wedding. While Amitabh has not yet confirmed his participation, King Khan and his wife Gauri are likely to make it in view of their close ties with Salman’s family.

Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif, Hri-tik Roshan, Deepika Padukone, Saif Ali Khan, his wife Kareena Kapoor, Dharmendra, his wife Hema Malini, Karan Johar, David Dhawan and several other film personalities have reportedly confirmed their participation.

Salman and his father Salim Khan have invited leading politi-cians, sportspersons and corpo-rate honchos for the ceremony. About 300 guests are likely to attend the wedding.

Bollywood celebrities usually head to Jodhpur for marriages at the opulent palaces-turned-luxury hotels but this is the first time that a leading Bollywood

family chose Hyderabad.Top Bollywood stars vis-

iting Hyderabad for shoots frequent Falaknuma, one of the most beautiful palaces of Nizam, the ruler of erstwhile Hyderabad State.

The palace, which the Taj Group converted into a luxury hotel and threw it open four years ago, has 60 lavish rooms, decorated halls and a 101-seat dining hall, said to be the biggest in the world. Its Durbal Hall, embellished with intricately

carved wooden ceilings, parquet flooring, regal walnut wood fur-niture and handcrafted mirrors, had once hosted guests like King George V and Czar Nicholas II.

Located five kilometres from Charminar, Falaknuma, or ‘mir-ror of the sky’ in Urdu, is the scorpion-shaped, all-marble palace and was once the resi-dence of Mir Mahboob Ali Khan (1869-1911), the sixth Nizam.

The Falaknuma stands apart in its splendour and majesty, of all the Nizam’s palaces. —IANS

The actress says if she has to choose be-tween Bollywood and Pakistan it will al-ways be the latter.

“If I have to choose between a Bollywood film and Pakistan film, it may sound clichéd but I will go with the script first. And if both the scripts are equally good, then I will choose Pakistan film,” she said in a group interview.

“Pakistani cinema needs us badly and I am ready to do any-thing for it. I believe the new gen-eration needs to step up and come out. I need to give back to that country,” she added.

The actress also expressed op-timistic views about the growth of the cinema in Pakistan and thinks the one drawback which was holding back it’s cinema has been eliminated.

“In next 10 years you will see a change in Pakistani cinema. We will not be trading drama and film but film and film. There was one drawback and that was people were not making films and that’s not there now. People are coming back to the country after studying

film making abroad and putting in their money and making movies,” she said. “The void has been filled. Right before, I left I had to say no to a film because I am doing an-other film. It is a rare thing in Pa-kistan,” she added.

Despite the successful run of the show on Zindagi channel, the actress has no plans to foray into Indian television.

“I can’t work in Indian serials

as they are too long — they run for years,” she said.

There were rumours of Mahira debuting on the big screen with actor Ranveer Singh. The actress quashed the rumours looking el-egant in a traditional look.

“I have not thought about Bol-lywood much. I think all the guys are really good but if I have to pick one it would be Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt amongst the girl’s

brigade, Mahira said. The actress, who is married to Ali Askari and has a son, says she has to cut down her work to justify the role of wife and a mother.

“I am very conscious of the time I spend outside. Hence in order to manage the role of wife and mother, I deprive my fans from constant back to back serials,” said the actress.

Acting is not the only thing that attracts Mahira. She wants to try her hand in production.

“I would love to do production despite knowing it is a big head-ache. I want to produce short film. I have not zeroed in on the theme but I like the idea of boy meets girl concept,” said the actress.

Mahira has crossed the border and won the hearts. The one thing that is evident in all her replies is the similarity between the neigh-bouring countries.

“Everything is the same. I be-lieve the thing that connects us is our language. If I am outside and hear a voice which is like me there is an instant connect. And I feel that is present between both the countries,” said the actress.

Pakistani cinema needs us:

The Pakistani actress not only enchanted the audience in her country but also in India

with her powerful, yet sensitive, performance in TV series ‘Humsafar’

MAHIRA KHAN

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, N O V E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 4

RENT D2

DAILY GUIDE Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

For rent apartments: An apart-

ment in old Muscat at Oman Arab

Bank’s building. 3 bedrooms + 3

bathrooms, dining room, living room

and a kitchen. Air conditioned apart-

ments. 2 bedrooms + 2 bathrooms,

living room, dining room area and

kitchen in an excellent location in Al

Khuwair opposite the court of first

instance. For further information

call 97072976

New deluxe 1&2 B/R, fully furnished

and unfurnished flats with free in-

ternet available Al Khuwair near KM

Hypermarket. Contact 99460330

ISM, Darsait, 3 minutes by walk,

very spacious 1 BHK flat, 2 bath-

rooms, brand new well maintained

building, ground floor-RO 275/- per

month. Contact 94150798 (ZIA)

Apartments in Al Khuwair new

area each apartment contains (2

bedrooms + living room) for RO 365.

Contact 93181111

Building in Ghala for rent with

24 apartments near Bank Muscat,

93181111

Villa in Al Azaiba contains (5 bed-

rooms + living room + hall)

for RO 900 located near Al Fair

Supermarket. 93161111

Villa in Bousher contains (5 bed-

rooms + living room + hall) for RO

900, 93161111.

Stores in Industrial Ghala opposite

Al Ghobrah garage with 550 m, RO 4

for each meter, 93161111

Villa in Al Azaiba with area of

1200 m, contains from (2 halls +

2 living rooms +5 bedrooms with

bathrooms+maids room+7 car

parkings+garden) for RO 2300,

92161111

Villa in Qurum contains (7 bed-

rooms living room hall) for RO 1500,

93161111

4 villas in Southern Al Hail with (6

bedrooms living room hall), each

villa is RO 1200, 93121111

D2 S U N D AY, N O V E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 4

Luxury villa in al Azaiba inside a

compound each villa contains (5

bedrooms living room dining room

car parking) each villa RO 1200,

93161111

Open space offices with 4 bathrooms

kitchen for each meter RO 7, 93161111

Villa in Al Mawaleh contains

(4 rooms + hall) RO 480.

Contact 93121111

Villa in Al Khoudh 7 with (5 bed-

rooms, living room, hall) for RO 600,

93121111

Shops for rent near Al Khoudh Souq

rental prices starts with RO 400,

93121111

Residential / Commercial Apart-

ments in Al Khuwair located on the

main street rental prices starts with

RO 450, 93121111

Commercial land in Al Misfah and

Al Jafnen for rent for rent starts with

4000 meter, each meter is RO 1.200,

93121111

Apartments in Al Khuwair near

Al Khuwair Souq each apartment

contains (2 bedrooms + living room)

for RO 325, 93121111

Showroom in Al Khuwair located

on the main street, 900 m, and each

meter for RO 12, 93121111

1,2 BHK in Wadi Kabir. RO 235/-, RO

300/-. Contact 97799175

For rent 2 bedrooms + hall + kitchen.

Location: South Mawaleh.

Contact 99870020

2 BHK flat for rent in Ruwi.

Contact - 99792181

2 BHK flat in Ghobrah.

Contact - 99792181

3 BHK flat Ghobrah close to ISG way

– 4041, building – 4390.

Contact – 99319880

Show room on the main road Saham

center total area 450 m sq. Contact:

99366558 / 99334226

5 BHK villa in MQ near Centre point

Al Khuwair (Rent or Sale), 1 BHK flat in

Darsait near Kims. Contact 92883001

Ground + Mezzanine floor suitable

for A Grade Restaurant at prime loca-

tion, MBD south. Contact 24714625 /

94460790

Deluxe 3 BHK family flat, 4 bed-

rooms bachelors villa at Al Ansab.

Contact 98458542

4 BHK for rent in Madinat Qaboos.

Contact - 99792181

1 BHK flat in Wadi Kabir. RO 180/-.

Contact 99376454

3 rooms, kitchen, store Rex Road

Ruwi behind Fathima Market. Con-

tact 91290464, 95490049

Big room attached bathroom,

kitchen near Sana Bldg, Wadi Kabir.

RO 125/-. Contact 95094028

Room attached bathroom, kitchen

near Kuwaiti Mosque, Wadi Kabir.

RO 200/-. Contact 95094028

An industrial land at Al Wasit of

11550 SQM for RO 900K. Contact

95330200

A 2 bedroom direct Marine view

apartment at the Wave for RO 210 k.

Contact 95330200

2 bedroom apartments available

for rent at Ghubrah near Grand Mall,

close to Atlas Hospital next to Di-

wan’s Office.#99833747, 24562526

For rent two bedrooms hall kitchen,

three bathrooms balcony, complete

split units, brand new deluxe flats

near Seeb flyover main road side.

Contact 97755586

New flat, Ghala near Royal Hospi-

tal, 3 BHK, hall, split A/C, RO 425/-.

Contact 92479515

Flat for rent in Mabela near express

road rent RO 300/-. #97695450

Office space (125 SQM) located in

prime area at 18 November street,

Al Azaiba. Contact 99261522

Office space with cassette type

A/C’s with free internet in Al Khu-

wair near KM Hypermarket. contact

99460330

Readymade office space for rent

(110 & 130SM) fully or separate, with

partition) in Bank Melli Iran Build-

ing, MBD area, Ruwi, Opposite center

point. Contact 99011352

2 BHK flat, brand new building

Ghala, 100 SQM open space offices,

Ghala, 40 SQM shop in Ghala, full

furnished business Centre, small

offices available in Ghala, 20

SQM, 25 SQM, 2 BHK in Ruwi,

Mumtaz, Darsait, Wadi Al Kabir, Rex

Road. #93782735 / 99208033

1 BHK, 2 BHK, brand new building

in Mabelah on main road, 450 SQM,

showroom available in Mabelah,

good price. Prime location good for

any business like showroom, restau-

rant, bank, supermarket, retail shop.

Contact 93782735 / 99208033

Café Shop for Rent at Ghubrah North.

Contact 99359755

DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, N O V E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 4 D3

FOR RENT

FOR RENT

BUYING/SELLING

Household & office furniture and

electronic items. Contact 99834373,

97102699

Looking for purchase of Used Portable Compressor (350 CFM,

7 Bar Pressure) powered with Diesel

run Generator.

Kindly Contact 99014686 or

operation@khancogroup.com

FOR SALE

FOR SALE

1+2+3 BHK, Darsait, near ISM.

Contact 99024730

2 BHK, Wadi Kabir. Contact

99024730

2 BHK, Al Khuwair. Contact

99024730

2 BHK 7 flats in Mabela, Road

No.2 for rent. Contact 99420591,

94354545, 99354340

2 BHK 2 flats at Muscat Hill for

rent. Contact 99420591, 94354545,

99354340

Independent rooms in Qurum / Hail.

Contact 95529970

A cold store (-26 degree C) with

office and temperature controlled

area is available for rent. Contact

24497570 / 99313046

Semi furnished office space of 200

SQM in Al Khuwair next to Al Meera

Hypermarket is available.

Call 99313046

BHK in Al Ghubrah North include

E/W and AC split RO 280. #95811110

House in Al Azaibah, 3 rooms, 2

halls, 4 bathrooms and kitchen, RO

480. Contact 95077881

Deluxe one, two, three bedrooms

flats Ruwi, Darsait, MBD, Wadi Kabir,

Wattayah.#24707340 / 99472457

LABOUR CAMP Space for rent at

YETI. Contact: 99221683/92830110

Furnished / unfurnished apart-

ments available for rent on long

term /short term basis, near Vacha’s

hypermarket in Ghala. # 97677211

1 BHK, 2 BHK new building in

Wadi Kabir. Contact 99313274

1 BHK for commercial, MBD.

Contact 97799175

1 BHK, ISD RO 225/-.

Contact 97799175

Big flat Al Azaiba near 18 November

Street, first floor, 5 BHK, hall, living

room, AC, family only, RO 500/-.

Contact 92479515

1, 2, 3 BHK flats & villas.

Contact 92144045

Flat, 3 BHK, hall, Al Khuwair near

Centre point, RO 425/-, family only.

Contact 92479515

ACC. AVAILABLE

Room with separate bath & kitchen

for small family or exec bachelor at

Al Khuwair. Contact 99224185

Fully furnished accommodation

for executive bachelor near Lulu

Darsait. Contact 93513986

Fully furnished room with attached

bath & sharing kitchen available

for single working lady in North Al

Ghobrah. Contact 95593795

2 BHK available, Mumtaz area,

Ruwi. Contact 99269751

Available furnished single room

with attached bathroom with shar-

ing kitchen for executive bachelor.

Contact 94478424

Bachelor sharing accommodation

available in villa, Rex Road Ruwi-

Contact- 94442157

Sharing accommodation available

for Executive bachelor near to Mut-

trah hotel. Contact 98132389

Single bedroom with attached

bathroom for executive bachelor

next to Indian School Ghobrah.

Contact 95259322

Sharing villa, large room with

kitchen, bath, dressing, Al Khuwair.

Contact 99743569, 97004265

Room for Sri Lankan, ex bachelor,

Al Khuwair. Contact 96536307

Executive bachelor in Al Khuwair.

Contact 98689559, 92125115

2 BHK available in Darsait near

Lulu RO 250/-. Contact 92383882

1 BR accommodation available at

Rex Road, suitable for bachelors.

Contact 99889590

Spacious room, separate bathroom,

sharing kitchen at Wadi Kabir,

Shell Pump rent RO 90/- & E/W RO

20/- per month for Muslim family.

Contact 97887620

Furnished single room with

bathroom, Al Khuwair area only for

ladies. Contact 96059431

Flat, Ghubrah, 2 BHK, hall, split AC,

RO 350, family only near Beiret Bank.

Contact 92479515

1 & 2 BHK Flat in Al Khuwair 33 near

technical college. Contact 99792181

100 + 140 +180 + 200 sqr mtrs office

space in Alkhuwair.

Contact 99792181

1,000 sq mtrs industrial land in Mis-

fah Industrial area near to Khanco.

OMR 1,500 Monthly. Electricity and

Boundary wall will be provided.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

2BHK Flat at Old Muscat. Contact:

91393005

Shop/ Office near Oman House, Mut-

trah. Contact 99233116

2 BHK villa, Mumtaz, RO 300.

Contact 97799175

2 BHK, Ghobrah, RO 300. #97799175

1 BHK Darsait commercial, RO 250.

Contact 97799175

3 BHK flats in Ruwi near Masjid

Sultan Qaboos.contact 99421637,

98546002

1st floor flat in Amerat 4 rooms,

3 bathrooms, family hall, kitchen

with A/C. Contact 95522405

Flat/rooms for rent in Mumtaz Area.

Contact 92502241 / 92245110

Room for rent in Ruwi.

Contact 95372192

Double bedroom flat near Wadi Kabir

Lulu# 99719471, 99639102

Flats/villas owned by ROP pension

fund available for rent in Muscat.

Contact 99349526

Flat and room for rent in Qurum near

park. Contact 99664703

23,886 Sq Mtrs Agriculture

land with water well in Al Salwa,

Barka. OMR 260 Thousand. Tel:

99333479 or 95215360

3 floor building in Muttrah behind

Police. Generating income of OMR

20 Thousand annually. Neat and

well maintained. Built on 197 sq

mtrs. 2 tailor shops on ground floor

and 6 flats total. OMR 269 Thousand.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

Jewellery Shop for sale in Seeb

Souq. Contact 93313312

Beauty Saloon for sale in Amerat 5

Tel. 95421739

Dental clinic, well equipped for sale

in Sohar please contact immediately

92625962 / 95904234 / 9547402

Apartment in Al Khoudh with 1 BHK

for RO 35000, 93121111

Used containers for sale.

Contact 95539929

Running studio for sale at Amerat

Souq. Contact 97621737

Sadolin paint mixing machine well

maintained, not much used with

tinters, location Mabela Sanaiya.

Contact – 96473187 / 95125790

Industrial Area land in Rusayl 5000

SQM and building with 8 shops.

Contact 95490842, 99323957

Well running coffee shop for sale in

Bausher and Al Khuwair. #94514314

Optical shop for sale. #93560765

Machines for sale: Articulated

dump trucks make: Volvo A35D (16

cum) model: 2005 & 25 ton AWM

Truck mounted crane model: 2008.

Contact 99207592, 99882570,

fax: 24593333

M.V. FOR SALE

Nissan Sunny, 1.6, 2007, fully

automatic, lady driven. Contact

99045803

Toyota Innova, 2010 model, manual

gear. Contact 968 92187371

PROTON GEN 2 FOR SALE: Manual

Gear.Good condition. Single owner.

Silver colour. 1st registered August

2009. Full insurance till Au-

gust 2015. Price OMR 1,680 Tel:

99333479 or 95215360

Toyota Innova white 2007.

Interested call: 99365361

Mitsubishi Canter model 2013 3

ton. Contact 92104057

Lexus GS300, 2006.

Contact 93218349

Mitsubishi Outlander - model

2005, silver grey, fully automatic in

excellent condition for sale.

Contact: 95867021

2013 November model Pajero,

38000 kilometers for sale. Price

negotiable. Please contact

96388496

Subaru Impreza 2.0 ltr 2000 model,

manual in super condition.

Contact: 99844601

2010 Toyota Yaris (automatic),

excellent condition.

Contact 99737879

Pajero 2013. Contact 99336093

M.V.WANTED

Required Nissan Tida / Toyota yaris /

Suzuki swift / hyundai/Kia hatchback

car in good condition.#95405033

AVAILABLE

Established Restaurant for rent

with sponsorship. #97628242

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. www.tunesoman.com,

E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

Plots available. Open land and plots

for yard and labor camps available

near Naseem Garden plot size 1000-

3000 SQM. Contact :

E mail- tchacko@alrahal.com.

GSM 99849644

New & Refurbished portable cabins,

Fabrication of car parks & all types

of fabric shade.

Contact 94475705

Shop for sale in Al Khuwair 33 with

office equipment security.

Contact 96024655

Flats For Sale in Boushar: OMR

35 Thousand 1 bedroom. OMR 45

Thousand 2 bedroom. Monthly

income 1 bedroom OMR 270 and 2

bedroom OMR 350. Tel: 99333479 or

95215360

Brand new split unit AC on excellent

cash rate. Contact 98458542

SHOP FOR SALE AT HONDA RD. CON-

TACT 99221683 / 92830110

Industrial Area land in

Rusayl 5000 SQM and building

with 8 shops. Contact 95490842,

99323957

Excellent flat for rent in Ruwi,

Mumtaz Area and Al-Hail South.

Contact 98051159

1 BHK flat near Star Cinema, Ruwi.

RO 240/-.Contact 97079146 /

95570288

For rent flat and showroom, Al Azai-

ba, Ghala, Ghubrah, Al Khuwair-33

and Mabelah. Contact 93651633,

24485240, 24485241

5 bedrooms villa, 2 halls, 4 bath-

rooms in Darsait, behind Khimjis

Mart. Contact 24700120 / 92584715

Building with four flats near Pizza

Hut Mawaleh. Contact 99044164

Flat for rent in Wadi Kabir.

Contact 99383569

1 BHK flat in Wadi Kabir. RO 215/-.

Contact 99358589

Small house for rent at Ghubrah.

Contact 95032152

DAILY GUIDED4 S U N D AY, N O V E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 4

DOMESTIC HELP

MICROBIOLOGIST

BEAUTY

DRIVER

ADMIN / HR

SKILLED / UN SKILLED

FOREMAN

HOSPITALITY

SECRETARIAL

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

MEDICAL

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

Require house boy having fair com-

munication skills in English with

experience in house or hotels. Age

limit required between 21 to 25 yrs

Contact 24707088,

Email : alyounistrading@gmail.com

ADMIN/HR

ADMIN/HR

ACCOUNT. & FINANCEACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

ENGINEERS

Required light driver cum Techni-cian. Contact 92341826

Telugu Driver Wanted-

Contact 95450157

Urgently driver wanted, Omani

(private light). Contact 99173812,

Star life Co.LLC

SALES / MARKETING

Required Sales Engineer having 1-2

year experience with Oman driving

license for an Oilfield trading com-

pany, please send CV to

info@patron-energy.com

Urgently required Sales Execu-tives, Senior Sales Managers, Sales Promoters, 3D-AutoCAD Designer. Candidates with minimum 2 years

experience in Oman and Driving

License may only apply –

Contact: 94151791,

Email: sales @dewdropoman.com

Urgently required Sales Executive IT Company with 2 years experi-

ence, driving license preferred

info@ibsoman.com

Need a Salesman for marketing job

for printing Company. Indian na-

tionality who has the ability to work

hard and has experience of mini-

mum 3 years with Omani Driving

License. We offer attractive package.

Contact 93645550,

email: hfms14@hotmail.com

Require an experienced Sales Exec-utive with NOC or GCC background

for Switchgear Company.

Contact 98005224/92105554.

Email amestllc@gmail.com

Wanted males/females Omanis

& expats as freelancers to conduct

Corporate & Individual Surveys in

Muscat, Batinah, Dakhliya, Salalah,

Sharqiyah, Duqum, Ibri, Buraimi

& Musandam on project to project

basis. Graduate fluent in English,

Driving license must.

Contact 24701430

We are looking for an experienced

Building Materials Sales Executive

having valid Omani Driving License

and NOC. Please send CV by email :

mcntllcoman@gmail.com

Urgently required Sales & Mar-

keting Executive for an Engineer-

ing company, minimum 2 year

experienced, with good communica-

tion skill & driving license. Email :

info@4dengineering.net

Tourism Company looking for

marketing person, salary RO 200/- &

commission, petrol & car free. (Also

for ladies part time RO 150/-).

Contact 91272676

Reputed Perfume Company requires promoters. Please contact 95663682.

Email: vhhussain@gmail.com

Required Tailor. Contact

95204145

Required for leading company

– one foreman (Indian). Email :

r.yass2020@gmail.com

Wanted experienced Indian Chef, age between 30-35, experience in

Indian & Continental food is must.

Good salary package. # 99466062

Business Development cum Outlet

Manager required for reputed Asian

Franchise in Muscat. 5 to 7 years of

experience in restaurant/catering

business with 2 years in supervisory

position. Self-driven people with

pleasing personality and good com-

munication skills. Call 93977533

Reputed trading company in Mus-

cat requires Female Receptionist

(Omani) and Sales Executive (any

Nationality). Interested candidates

please send CV’s to

infooman@orchidinternational.ae

Indian B.Sc. Maths+PGDCA - well ex-

perienced, seeks suitable placement

as Commercial/Logistic Executive

or Document Controller/Customer

Service Executive; expected on short

visit by Nov. 1st Week;

Contact 99702383.

Email: prabhapisharody@yahoo.com

A reputed LLC in Muttrah urgently required an Accountant Assistant, 2 years experience. Those who

are interested please forward your

resume to silverworld2006@gmail.

com or contact 99364735, 91214849

Nizwa Medical Complex, located at Nizwa is looking for Gynecologist, female GP, laboratory technician preferably with MOH license. Please

email your resume to nmc919@

hotmail.com or send to P.O.Box 1236,

Nizwa, Phone: 24512323 or call Mr.

Owen 99072287 between 10-12 am

and 6-8 pm

Urgently required Omani Account-ant: Minimum 2 years experience

in accounts must be able to handle

accounts. Good knowledge of MS

word, excel, Oracle based accounting

software or any other is must. Inter-

ested candidates may send in their

CVs to Fax # 24600217 or email to

starmail@omantel.net.om

One of the leading Business groups

in Oman is looking for an Accountant

with 5-8 years of experience prefer-

ably in industrial parts.

Contact 99428552

Lecturers for Admin & Accounts Graduate with 4 yrs. experience,

Lecturers for English graduate with

CELTA/TEFL/TESOL minimum 4 yrs.

experience, Lecturers for IT gradu-

ate with Experience in Network &

AutoCAD. (Preference will be given

to Philippine Nationals)Arabian

Institute – Willayat Suwaiq .

Mail CV to: jobs@aifas.net ,

aifasswq@gmail.com

Required for a leading company: 1.Qualified Accountant, salary RO

300 + accommodation, 2.English

typist, salary RO 175-200 + accom-

modation, 3.Full time driver

(light vehicles only).

Email : r.yass2020@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer, 3 yrs Gulf exp

required & plumber & electrician,

3 yrs Gulf exp required for Dubai

based Company.

Email : recruit.emarat@gmail.com

Required Civil Engineer minimum

3 to 5 years experience with GCC

Driving License may apply with

details to careershsa@gmail.com

Required for Al Shirawi Equipment

Company LLC, Sales Engineer with

fabrication experience, 5 to 7 years

(1 No.), experience in Tipping Trailer,

Flat bed, low bed, water tanker,

tipper. Contact 94226924

MECHANICAL/ TECH

Chief Accountant with 20 years

experience in reputed companies

looking for suitable placement.

Contact 97385562

Accountant / Computer expert 2 yrs

in Muscat & 2 yrs in Mumbai, NOC

available. Contact 98584498

Sr. Accountant M.Com (Finance) 14

yrs exp (1 year in Oman) in finance

& accounts. NOC available, immedi-

ately joining. Contact – 92404608 /

jin_75@rediffmail.com

20 yrs experienced Accountant

seeks employment, ACCA (UK),

CPA/MBA + Oracle Financials ERP,

Hyperion Planning, SAP & Advanced

Excel. Contact sanjeevcga@gmail.

com or 98934705

Male 27, 7+ years of experience in

Accounts and Administration, out of

4 years experience in Oman looking

for a suitable placement.

Contact 93531602

Part Time Accounting, Accounts

Finalization, Audit Preparation,

Internal Audit, Onsite Tally Train-

ing, Onsite Training for Accountants,

Inventory Management, Feasibility

Study and Project Reports.

Contact: 96975454,

email: ibfcoman@hotmail.com

Keralite M.Com lady having 4 years

exp looking for Assistant Accountant

job. Contact 91757086

B.Sc in applied Accounts, having 6

years of working experience in Gulf

and India seeking suitable place-

ment in Accounts, Finance or Audit

Department. Contact 94551480,

Email : vikas_asnani@yahoo.com

Accounting & Administration, Exp,

B com, Diploma in Mass Comn.

Ph : 97931505

Indian Male, 40- Senior Accountant

looking for a job.

Contact 98753366

Accountant Indian Female, MBA

(Finance), 1.5 years experience in

Oman looking for a suitable place-

ment. Contact 97349904, Email:

sweeta_varghese@yahoo.com

Indian male, 28 yrs, B.Com, 6 years

Accounts experience in East Africa

seeking suitable job. 3 months visit

visa. Contact 94613626

Indian male 26 yrs B. Com

(Accountant/Payroll Officer) 3 Yrs

experienced in Oman seeking for

a suitable position, release & NOC

available. Contact 97803996

M. Com, well experienced, working

knowledge with Tally n ERP, present-

ly working in Oman seeks suitable

placement. Release available

Ph: 99035707.

email:abraz78@gmail.com

Full or part time Indian male,

Accountant, 4 years experience in

Oman, NOC available. #96799714

Indian female, MBA in HR & Finance,

3 yrs experience in Accounts &

Administration seeking suitable

placement. Contact 93685717.

Email : anulins7@gmail.com

Indian Female, Senior Account-

ant with 10 years experience in

Accounts, Finance, Audit & Tax Man-

agement. Contact 96263157

Immediate placement for Phar-macist and Asst.Pharmacist, 2 nos

each with MOH or prometric pass.

Contact: 99338219

Vacancy for staff nurse with MOH

License, capital area.

Contact 99013372

Urgently required a GP doctor with MOH license for a leading

medical clinic.Contact 92008272 /

96602188

Required paed doctor Gyn doctor, dentist - assistant pharmacist. lab technician , X.ray technician staff nurse for polyclinic for Saham .

Contact:92406024 Email:

mohammedgoda21@hotmail.com

Private Dental Clinic in Burimi

city need a dentist have practice

license in oman

Mob : 98379121

Wanted Doctor with MOH license for

a Polyclinic. Excellent salary with

accommodation and commission.

Contact 99752442,

email : mmcmuscat@gmail.com

Urgently required GP Doctor with

MOH license for one month from

15.12.2014. Contact 93824902

Urgently required a Doctor for

leave vacancy, good payment with

commission. Contact 97091664

Urgently required Dentist manageribnalhaitham@yahoo.com

or call - 96721709

MOH licensed female nurse

required for clinic in Muscat for im-

mediate placement.

Contact 93538672

Pharmacist and Assistant Pharma-cist with MOH license are required.

Interested candidates

contact 97091664 or

mmcmuscat@gmail.com.

Good payment with incentives.

Urgently required Omani Administration Manager. Gradu-

ate with minimum 5 years experi-

ence good command over English

and good experience in M.S Office

and computers. Should be capable

of handling Administration depart-

ment, all type of correspondence &

routine office works independent-

ly. Interested candidates may send

in their CVs to Fax # 24600217 or

email to starmail@omantel.net.om

A/C duct man cum fabricator, A/C technician. Visa available.

Contact-95271668

Urgently required air condition Mechanical Engineer (diploma

holder) Contact no; 96407775.

Urgently required, Heavy Duty Drivers with Oman or GCC License,

Diesel Mechanics and Civil Labo-

ratory Technicians for a reputed

group. Candidates with Gulf expe-

rience may please forward their

CV’S to salesjob112014@gmail.

com or Contact GSM-99274321

for personal Interview

within 10 days.

Required Marine Mechanic with

3-5 years experience in maintain-

ing/ repairing outboard Engines,

Generators & AC of Boat with Driv-

ing license. Contact-24696130

Email- hrmedia123@gmail.com

Over 14 years of Gulf experience as

Administration/HR specialist fluent

in Arabic / English with driving

license, looking for suitable position.

Contact 95824598

Indian Male 35 Document control-

ler/Admin Assistant seeking employ-

ment for suitable position. (Release/

NOC) Available. MOB:-96345187

MBA in Material Management, 20

years experience in Gulf worked in

Admin, Stores, Inventory, Procure-

ment in charge, bilingual translator,

Arabic, English hold Omani and UAE

driving license, and release avail-

able seeks employment.

Contact 97418315

Indian female (26), B.Tech (CS),

1.6 years experience Banking sector

(Axis Bank Ltd) seeking job in pvt

firms/ banks in Administration/HR

/ Secretarial positions.

Contact 94525956,

Email : rekha.puzhakkal@gmail.com

currently on visit visa.

Over 15 years Oman experienced

Indian female Manager / Accounts

and Admin / Secretary.

Contact 96025193

Indian male MBA 32 yrs having

10 yrs of exp seeking suitable place-

ment in Admin/ HR/ Operations/

Coordination/ Logistics etc. Holding

valid Oman D/L .Contact - 99054786

Experience PRO Oman Male, 36

Yrs, 16 yrs experience in PRO/ HR

& Administration, Prefect English

language speaking & writing with

D/L, Seeks suitable placement,

Can join immediate. #91221773

Indian male, B.Com, 5 years Office

Executive experience sector Agency

seeking job in office/Company for

administration. Email : aneesh-

john28@gmail.com, currently on

visit visa. Contact 99846801

Young Omani male have experience

10 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 po-

sition or P.R.O part time or full time.

Contact 95933288

Indian Female, 25 yrs, B.Com Gradu-

ate, presently on visit visa having 6

yrs experience seeking good oppor-

tunity in HR Admin, HR Recruiter or

Office Secretary. Contact 91762061

Indian Male, MBA 2 years experi-

ence in Admin, Sales & Accounts

looking for suitable position.

Interested in Admin Sales Marketing

Accounts. Contact 94512430

Urgent male Omani Microbiolo-gist required for leading Commer-

cial Testing Lab in Muscat. Contact

93351031/92982665/ 93888576

A reputed Beauty salon requires hairdressers and receptionist. Please contact 92527238

Required salesman and tailor.

Contact 96964767

Legal adviser and consultant in

International arbitration (Egyptian

resident) legal and administrative

expertise and the Omani Labor Law

and drafting contracts.

Contact 99664890

Indian Male 32 yrs( MBA-HR) 9 yrs

of Exp (GCC,AFRICA) in EPC, Diversi-

fied industries, Seeking Suitable

placement in HR/Admin. Currently

on visit visa, NOC available,

join immediately.

Contact 94535618

Email:mdakhter5219@gmail.com

Omani female with 9 yrs exp looking

for PRO job with Oman D/L.

Contact 97917333

HR & Admin Assistant, 26 yrs Indian Male having

6Years of experience looking for suit-

able position.

Contact No: +968-93264616

Indian National working in Oman

since 6 years as Assistant Manager

HR & Operations. Will get NOC and

can join immediately.

Contact No. 97648333

Office Assistant with knowledge

of self correspondence, MS Office

& good command in English (Both

speaking & writing). Interested can-

didates may send resume to:

jobalkent@gmail.com

or fax to: 24799615

32 years Pakistani, MBA from UK

with 5 + years experience of Business

Development and Administration

seeks a suitable job.

Contact 95658916

Male, 27 years with MBA in HR/MKT

having 2 years exp in respective field

looking for suitable placement in

leading organization.

Contact 91705051

Pakistani Male, ACCA Fundamental

Level qualified, advanced Diploma

in Accounting and Business certified

accounting technician, 3 years expe-

rience as Accounts Officer.

Contact 99860453,

Email: khalid.ikram08@gmail.com

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text,

should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject

to space availability

DOMESTIC HELP

DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, N O V E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 4 D5

DAILY GUIDESITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

DRAUGHTSMAN

DESIGNER

DRIVER

DRIVER

Indian Male: B.COM, 4 years experi-

ence in Accounts, in Manufactur-

ing Co Oman, Working Knowledge

With Tally ERP- With Oman valid

D/L,Presently working in Muscat

NOC Available Looking for Suitable

position in Reputed Company,

Contact; 95745287 and Email:

raiforeveryone@rediffmail.com

EDUCATION

INFORMATION TECH

HOSPITALITY

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

MEDICAL

MEDICAL

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

Female Pharmacist B Pharm MOH

license seeking suitable position.

Contact 91391547 / 99538357

I have 7 years experience in Nurs-

ing Field (GNM) and I have Oman

Prometric also seeking suitable job

in Hospital or Clinic or Polyclinic.

Contact 98992469, 98036216

Male Pharmacist, 4+ yrs exp with

B. Pharm degree and MOH license.

Presently on visit visa, seeking suit-

able position. #91678103, 96522803

Lab Technician, Civil (8yrs Gulf ex-

perience) looking for a suitable job

(NOC available) Contact-93344378

25 yrs Indian female M. Sc Microbi-

ology MS Office 2 yrs exp seek-

ing suitable placement. Contact:

99032236 / 98049057

Indian female, 29 yrs , SENIOR

EXECUTIVE CLINICAL RESEARCH,

MSC Biotechnology & pursuing

Phd/ 4 Yrs total work experience/

on a visit visa/seeking for a suitable

placement/Contact # 95925881/

Email: remyadidi@gmail.com

Medical Laboratory Technologist,

4 years experience in UAE, Master

Degree holder. Contact 97007930

Indian Male GP with MOH License

and NOC, having 10 years of excel-

lent hands on experience in Oman

with corporate culture. #98140024

Email: drgpoman@yahoo.com

Nursing caregiver, qualified Nurse/

Asst. Nurse (male/ female) medical

staff seeks placement for Hospital/

clinic. Contact 92989109 (Oman),

0091 – 9555427742 (India),

medicoport@gmail.com

Telecom Engineer, Master Degree

in UK with seven years, UK, Gulf and

Sri Lanka experiences, Installation

Operations maintains and Project

Management. Presently on visit visa

looking for a telecom related role.

Contact 94626136,

Email: firnazmo@gmail.com

Mechanical Engineer with India’s

largest Construction Company,

planning, supply chain manage-

ment, operations. #99503895

Mechanical Engineer 21m Indian

fresher, seeking job, visit visa.

Contact: 99027468

Email: anshul493@gmail.com

BSc Civil Engineer, over 19 years

experience in Construction field with

Project Management skills, seeks

suitable placement. NOC available &

can join immediately.

Kindly contact 92198264,

Email: mdrana1970@gmail.com

Iraqi Civil Engineer, 3 yrs exp

(1 yr exp) in Oman looking for job.

Contact 92628850

Indian male B.Tech Civil Engineer

with 5 yrs exp in Gulf & India. Pres-

ently on visit visa looking for suit-

able placement at capital region in

Oman. Contact – 93453417 / Email –

mohammed.tajuddin.ksa@gmail.com

HSE and NDT Engineer, M.Sc in

radiation protection with more than

6 yrs experience in oil and gas fields

“OSHA-NDTLII” 95481430

Mechanical Engineer (B.E), 26

yrs, Indian Male with two years

experience as Production Engineer

in Manufacturing / Production pres-

ently on visit visa seeking suitable

placement, has good knowledge of

MS-Office, MS-Project and AutoCAD.

Contact 91685141 / 93101922, email:

siddiqui.taufiq@yahoo.com

Indian Male, 26 yrs, graduate in

hospitality science, with New Zea-

land business diploma and previous

Oman experience in Customer

service seeks suitable placement in

hospitality/salesmarketing/ logis-

tics/ admin. Contact 91383167

Indian male 28 completed

B.H.M.CT, 4 yrs exp in food & bever-

ages dept. looking for senior super-

visor position. Contact – 91018857 /

mirazhar.ali51@gmail.com

Having 7 years Europe experience

in the field of Hotel Management,

store keeper, Supervisor looking for

a challenging opportunity in Muscat.

Contact +96897376612, Email:

abdulshaks123@gmail.com

Male 22 Housekeeping front office

Hotel management degree course.

Contact 96732520

Indian Male, 36 yrs available on

visit visa, 14 yrs experience seeking

suitable placement in games devel-

opment / graphics industry.

Contact 98454245

Tunisian interior and furniture

designer, 8 yrs exp in Oman looking

for suitable placement. Local release

available (NOC). Contact 92038385

Graphic Designer for Sign Industry

(Preferably Omani National). Contact

admin@gulfneonsigns.com,

fax: 24812377

Piping Design and Drafting Diploma

with AutoCAD and Mechanical

Draughtsman in oil and gas sector.

Email id : ayaz.pangarkar@gmail.com

GSM: 94515084

Housemaid looking for job in Qurum

area. Contact No. 93623629

Civil Engineer, diploma, Indian Male,

8 years experience, Oman Driving

License with local release.

Contact 95320570,

Email: dipu.poulose@gmail.com

Land Surveyor 8 years experience

5.5 in Oman known all survey instru-

ments and handle AutoCAD for call

96531364&98904134).

Civil Engineer have 6 years Site

experience in both structural and

finishing works in Oman. Email :

menaadel21@gmail.com,

+968 95110820

Sudanese male, MEP Engineer, B.Sc,

3 yrs experience in Oman having

Omani Driving License looking for

job in any company.

Contact +968 99141958

Mechanical Engineer, 1.5 yrs experi-

ence with India’s largest Construc-

tion company, operations & supply

chain management, water pipeline

project. Contact 94627096

Indian male, B.E Mechanical with

4.5 years Quality Control, Sales &

Marketing. Email : sherjith@yahoo.

com. Contact 94620659

Indian, M.Tech Electrical Engineer

(Female), fresher in family visa seek-

ing suitable placements in Oman.

Contact 94306164

33 years Indian female B.E Com-

puter Science currently teaching in

Secondary School seeks suitable

opportunity in school or office.

Contact manins2010@gmail.com

BE Civil Engineer having 9 years of

experience in construction of build-

ings & roads in Oman looking for a

suitable job. Contact 91078499

BE (Civil), Indian male, 22 years

experience (12 years in Oman) in es-

timation, planning & execution seek-

ing suitable placement. #98314531

Young man looking for a job Com-

puter maintenance software, 10

years experience, Chemical Engineer

looking for job, experience fertilizers,

water treatment and quality control.

Contact 91114624

Civil Engineer with 5 years experi-

ence in various fields supervision,

design and geotechnical with Omani

license. Contact 97261086

Indian Female, 30 Years, B.Com, 3

years Oman experience in Bank-

ing and 5 Years India. Contact

96727030/96253400

Mechanical Engineer (B.E) - 4yrs

exp in manufacturing / production

seeking placement, on visit visa.

Contact: 93694953;

Email: alvinfxr@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer, 9 yrs experience

in Electrical Projects with Oman D/L,

NOC available, can join immediately.

Email: jobluk.om@gmail.com

Civil Engineer B.E., 5 years experi-

ence with valid Driving License,

consultancy job preference.

Contact 91693008

Project Engineer, 3 years experience

in primary substation OHL oil & gas,

AutoCAD, driving license available.

Contact 95120225, 99410588

Civil Engineer, 6+ years work experi-

ence in Oman, valid Omani D/L look-

ing for suitable placement. Contact

96936404

Sudanese Mechanical Engineer, 3

years experience (production, opera-

tion), driving license easy to transfer

immediately. Contact 91135140

Mechanical Engineer,(BTech in

Mechanical) with Certified quality

controller - NDT level 2 qualified as

per ASNT - SNT-TC-I A, with

1 & half yr exp. as quality control

engineer, presnetly in India seeks

suitable placement Cont : 95405033

suhylehameed@gmail.com

Indian Female, Software tester, 5 years experience in Oracle India

and Wipro Technologies having

knowledge in SQL and Data Ware-

house concepts looking for suitable

job vacancies. Contact 98605362,

Email : suma.s2t3@gmail.com

Indian Female, Computer Engineer

with 14 Years of IT Experience. Dual

Expertise both in Business / System

Analyst and Project Management

role. Looking for any IT opportunity

pertaining to Business Analyst /

Project Manager / Software Quality

Assurance role.# 968 92661857

Email : sknair7@hotmail.com

Young and energetic Indian holding

Oman driving license, having 6+

years experience in IT Industry

(4+ years in Oman) seeks placement.

Contact : 92687056, 92228414

Indian Female (25), married, MSc

(Software Engg), 2+ years of experi-

ence in leading MNC, IT skill include

HTML, CSS with the design and de-

velopment of web based application

using struts frame work, J2EE and

oracle with excellent communica-

tion skills looking for a suitable job

opening.# 95892587, 96265726

MBA (Operations) with 13 years

experience in IT Infrastructure

enterprises, voice network, unified

communication, MS Certified Lync

Avaya Polycom is on visit visa

seeking a suitable placement.

Contact 94535700.

Email: chetan.padole@gmail.com

Indian light driver looking for

placement immediately having

14 years exp in Oman.

Contact 97098133

I have experience, 8 years for Saudi

Arabia and Oman – 2 years. Contact

95382465 / 98939925

Bangladeshi driver looking for suit-

able job, KSA 12 years + Oman

3 years experience, 42 years.

Contact 95796030

Driver looking for job.

Contact 92715713

Driver looking for job.

Contact 96964634

Indian Female, Software tester, 5

years experience in Oracle India and

Wipro Technologies having knowl-

edge in SQL and Data Warehouse

concepts looking for suitable job

vacancies. Contact 98605362,

Email : suma.s2t3@gmail.com

Indian Executive L/D. Driver,

2 years exp. Contact 93078481

Indian driver looking for job, 2 yrs

exp. Contact 95151738

Bangladeshi man wants job.

Contact 97293149

Heavy driver, experience, 5 years,

nationality Pakistan.

Contact 92073175

Light motor vehicle looking for job,

3 years experience in Oman.

Contact 92117837

7 Years exp driver (Keralite).

Contact 93412587

SALES / MARKETING

Indian male, 32yrs b.Com, 6.5 Yrs

exp in purchase asst and store

keeper seeking suitable placement.

Contact 95318192.

Indian Male seeking Sales and

Executive Driver job have valid

Oman and UAE license. #91183634

A Graduate male looking for Mobile

Marketing job having 4 years expe-

rience in Oman & UAE with vehicle.

Interested persons please contact

94164657

Marketing Professional with 7

years Oman experience in Business

Development and ATL advertising

looking for a suitable placement.

Valid D/L Oman. GSM 93466033.

Email - kavit_asher@yahoo.com,

MBA Graduate with 2 years of

experience as working as Executive

assistant in Dubai is looking for a job

(full time) other than as an Executive

Assistant / Office Assistant.

Contact 91615322

Indian male, 25 years Graduate, 3

years experience in Sales in Delhi

(India) on visit seeking suitable

placement. Contact 98914220

MISCELLANEOUS

DIETICIAN

Female postgraduate Searching

suitable Job Contact 97792820

26 years Gulf experience plumb-

ing fire fighting Supervisor having

UAE D/L looking for job. Contact

97357960 / 91306037

5 years surveyor for pipe line, 8

years Construction/Projects experi-

enced Accountant, 5 years Drafts-

man to work in Salalah. Mail CV to

greatcontruction14@gmail.com

Indian male, experienced executive

secretary / Document Controller /

Admin Executive, looking for suit-

able job. Contract No. 91091963 /

99707262”

Indian male, 24 years experience

Senior Miller Flour Mills including

erection and QC, presently in India. #

00919744167051, 98657006

Sr. Procurement and logistics Ex-

ecutive with 8 years experience (in

middle east), in Oil and gas as well

as Industrial projects and an overall

16 years of total job experience

together in India and Qatar is on the

lookout for a suitable placement.

Valid GCC driving license.

Contact: 91750084.

20 years experience Division Man-

ager specialized in false ceiling &

partition in Oman.

Contact 93513986

Senior Position for CA with 24

years of experience: Managing Fi-

nance, Accounts, Audit, Bank Loans,

Budgeting, Business planning, Strat-

egy, Purchase and Sale management

of group of companies. SAOG

Mobile 91799262

Logistics Officer, Gulf Experienced,

knows MS office Ph : 99505934

Indian Male 25 MBA in Sports

Management; Looking for job in

Sports administration/Sports

events/sports facility management

and Sports related Organisations.

Exp. as sports development of-

ficer in schools,Project Manager in

Syncotts international Bangalore

& part of World Hockey Series of

India-2012 as Production Runner.

Presently on Visit visa in Oman.

Contact; 96398569.

Email : limshukachery@gmail.com

Indian Male, 25 years in Oman, FMCG business in Senior Manager

level looking for senior position.

Contact 99015946

Indian Female Dietician with an

experience of 3 yrs looking for suit-

able opportunity. Contact 94291727

or epsisekar@gmail.com.

Presently in Muscat.

Physical Science/Mathematics

female teacher with 6 years Indian

experience, seeking a position in a

reputed school/Institution. QUALI-

FICATION: B.Sc (Mathematics, Elec-

tronics & computer science), B.Ed

(Mathematics & English) Contact:

Kamaal. GSM: 94300026, email:

tahaniyath.sultana@gmail.com

MSc. Chemistry Teacher (5 y EXP.)

Pakistani female looking for

a job in School/college. #96580101

Indian Male 40 yrs, Legal advisor

and coroprate in house lawyer

currently working with a reputed

legal firm in Muscat having 7

years gulf eperience looking for

Legal Manager post in companies.

Experience in drafting agreements,

contracts, negiotation and dispute

settlement. Good knowledge in

Oman Labour Law and other laws.

NOC available . GSM: 99137569

Accountant BCom. 2yrs Oman

experience. NOC available. Joing

immediatley-93089367

Accountant, indian male, 31yrs,

M.com, 4 yrs experince in oman,

NOC available, Cont-93376130 ,

92398040

Accountant 3.5yrs.noc available.

joingimmediatly.mba(hr).98772358

hellogoush@gmail.com

Chief Accountant, M.Com + CA

articles completed.Having 5 yrs of

experience in Oman.Excellent com-

mand in IAS and IFRS.seeks proper

placement. GSM # 94387066

Welder Tig, 6g, Steel Fbrcn Gulf

Exp Ph : 93837973

MECHANICAL/ TECH

Part time Accountant with 19 yrs

exp in Accounting Management.

Contact 95857199

Indian Female Accountant with

1 year experience in Accounts.

Contact 98672945

Indian Female 29 Yrs, B-Com Gradu-

ate with Basic Computer Knowledge

and Tally, having 6 yrs experience in

accounting seeking for the placement

in Account Assistant, currently on

visit visa in Oman Contact: 95478149

Email: tnaik15@gmail.com

Indian female Senior Account-

ant with 10 years experience in

Accounts, Finance, Audit & Tax

Management. Contact 96263157

Indian male 30 MBA Graduate 8

Years of Experience in Accounts &

Finance Looking for Part time Ac-

counts job like Daily 2 Hrs or in week

end holidays. Contact 97181244

Accounts part time works and fina-

lization works. Contact 96247295

Sr. Accountant up to finalization

looking for part time job after 5 pm

(location prefer – Qurum to

Al Khoudh). Contact 92917574

Chartered Accountant Indian

(Female) having valid Omani DL and

work experience of 1 year in a Big

4 Audit firm (India) seeks suitable

placement. GSM: 99484368

Chartered Accountant with 10 yrs

of Gulf & MNC experience, in depth

knowledge in Financial statements

including consolidation, treasury,

MIS, AR/AP, Insurance, Taxation,

Payroll etc looking for Senior posi-

tion in finance, NOC available.

Email : prds1406@gmail.com.

Contact : 96293649

Indian male age 30 having 10 yrs

experience in Finance & Accounts

seeking suitable placement.

Contact 93675399

MSc (Applied Chemistry and Chemi-

cal Technology), 4 years experience

in Operations and Laboratory on

visit visa seeking for a suitable job.

Contact 91261365,

Email: shashokhan@yahoo.com

Indian Male, 24, B.Tech Electrical

and Electronics Engineering, 2+

years experience in Electrical field,

panel board designing, electrical

AutoCAD drawings and manage-

rial skills. Contact 92181106, email :

shonejthermadom@gmail.com

Civil Engineer with exp 5 years in

construction and roads. NOC avail-

able. Contact 97646908

BS Electronic engineer, Pakistani

Male, 23, specialize in Industrial

Automation (Siemens PLC, HMI),

embedded system design & instru-

mentation looking for suitable place-

ment in Oman. Contact 96271586

Male, Indian (now in Oman),

fresher, B.E. Civil Engineer.

Contact 98907359

Mechanical Engineer, Sudanese,

3 years experience in HVAC Site En-

gineer, driving license easy to trans-

fer immediately. Contact 91135140

A Filipino National seeking for the

job Vacancy as Safety Officer, Fire

Engineer, Fire Inspector, Fire and

Safety Instructor. Well experienced

in Offshore and Petrochemical Plants

with an IOSH Certificate. Please

contact 91718309 or 26855037

Sudanese Mechanical Engineer, male, 5 yrs experience looking for

job in Oman. Contact 91762602

Civil Engineer with 8 years experi-

ence and valid Omani D/L looking

for suitable placement. Ready to join

immediately. Contact 95326194 /

99525367

Indian Male, 29 years. BCA + ITI

Electronics, 8 years experience in

Electronic service and telecommuni-

cation networking, # 98689568

Instrumentation Engineer, Indian

male having 2 years experiences

in process instruments seeks

suitable placement.

Contact 95954385

Electrical Engineer having 2 yrs

of experience, substation/ mainte-

nance seeking for suitable place-

ment. # 97698493 / 99253909

Diploma in Electronics Engineering

with 5 years experience in Oman

as Customer Service Coordinator,

Inventory Control and Indoor Sales

Executive seeks suitable job. Speaks

Arabic, English & Hindi. #95681406.

Email nizampu@yahoo.co.in

Electrical Engineer, Indian, 2.5

years experience at Thermal Plant,

(erection and commissioning). Now

in Oman on visit seeking suitable

job. Contact 95836714.

Email – sarat.thalappil@gmail.com

BE Civil Engineer, fresh graduate,

male 24 yrs, Indian looking for a

suitable placement. # 95117509

Pakistani light driver cum sales-

man, experience, 6 yrs in Dubai.

Contact 96955798,

Email : ighaffar@yahoo.com

Driver is available for his personal

home, driver as a Company driver,

outhouse to go to UAE, please do not

hesitate to contact 96964343

Light driver. Contact 98537756

Light driver, 3 years experience in

Oman. Contact 94453093

Sri Lankan driver looking for job.

Contact - 97387112

Light driver looking for job, 5 years

exp in Saudi Arabia + Oman 2 yrs.

Contact 96088707

Female 21 yrs, Tally 1 year experi-

ence, looking for visa.

Contact 95330720

HOSPITALITY

Indian lady needs placement, MSc,

pure Chemistry. Contact 96749374

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D6 S U N D AY, N O V E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 4

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

INDIAN female having ten years

experience as cook. South Indian,

Gujarathi special. # 94224512

Homoeopathic Doctor, Indian

Female, with MOH License( to be re-

newed) (Nearly 2 years exp in Mus-

cat, Oman) seeks suitable place-

ment in Clinics/Hospitals in Muscat

area. Please Contact:92975815.

Male senior accountant with 20+

years experience readily available.

6 years experience in construction

industry Oman. NOC & Oman driving

license holder. 93969767/ gnana-

sathia@gmail.com

Electronics & communication

Engineer, having 3+years experience

(2Yeras GCC) in Security systems/

low current systems (FAS, CCTV,

ACS, PAVA etc) seeking suitable

Post in construction/manufactur-

ing/production/maintenance depts.

Contact: hashimjm@gmail.com

91001523

Dynamic Indian Female, Chemical

Engineer (fresher from NIIT),

holding Oman D/L seeks suitable

placement. Contact 97477127,

email: anjana.nanda@outlook.com

Indian Female, B.Com, Secretarial

skills, MS office, Oracle, 5 years

experience in Oman, as QA/QC As-

sistant, Administrator, Document

Controller, seeking placement.

Contact: 96465391 or

E-mail: alanns123@gmail.com

Indian female 29 Graduate/Comput-

er diploma 5-year work experience

as Manager Administration/HR in

Construction & Real Estate seeking

suitable placement .

On family Visa. Contact - 91191236

British Female with 4 years experi-

ence in Oman in Marketing and

Project Management.

Call 00974 3343 7619

Indian Male MBA & PGDFM 26

Yrs. having 3.2 yrs of exp. seeking

suitable placement in Admin/HR/

Accounts/Purchase co-ordinator etc..

Holding valid Oman driving license.

Contact No :93359371

Indian Male, 24 years old on visit

visa, 3 years Diploma in Civil Engi-

neering, 3 yrs experience.

Contact 98515106

Indian Male, B.Sc, Fashion & Ap-

parel Design having 4+ yrs of experi-

ence (in retail sector as Designer-

Visual Merchandising & Marketing)

seeking suitable placement.

Contact 94535866,

email: tomsjon@gmail.com

Indian female MCA., M. Phil in

computer Science having 5 yrs of

experience in teaching(as Lecturer)

seeking for teaching position in

school or college. Can join immedi-

ately. Contact :97765173.

Email:dtkthillai@gmail.com

Indian male 23YRS, 4 Years expe-

rienced in Architectural Draughts-

man looking for a suitable Post

GSM:96023726, Email :

jayan.mathew009@gmail.com

Indian Male having 10 years of

Experience in Oman having Valid

Omani Driving license working in

Purchase Dept looking for a suit-

able position. salary is negotiable.

obarla313@gmail.com

Mob: 94304324/92654817

Indian Male, 24 yrs on visit visa,

3 yrs Diploma in civil Engineering,

3 yrs experience. Contact 98515106

Female Candidate: Having

experience(ISRO) in Administra-

tion (seeking suitable opportunities

&presently in Oman

Mob:97239854,

Mail:asherlalitha@yahoo.com

PDO Approved in Contracts, Pro-

curement, Operations, Project Indian

Male PMP, CIPS, PGDBA, DME, Oil &

Gas with Exp-18+ Yrs. & having valid

Oman & PDO D/L Seeking job -

Contact 92560287 /

shaileshsyal@yahoo.com

Indian Female, M.Sc Software

Engineering having 2 yrs experience

in IT & Admin seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact 94391214,

anucherian@gmail.com

Mechanical Engineer (B.Tech), Indi-

an Male, with Oil Engg & Quality Con-

trol Systems, NDT-Level 2 qualified

as per ASNT, one year experience as

Site Engineer. Presently on visit visa,

seeking suitable placement. Contact

# 91260427, 95147671,

Email: akhilanandan@gmail.com

Indian male-26 having 2 years

experience in Oman as a store keeper

looking for the good placement, NOC

available by the current company.

Contact 96671102, email:

mohdparvez656@yahoo.com

57 Yrs. Old healthy person seeking

an opportunity in any area of works

(Shop sales man, Painting, Store asst,

traffic controller, Foremen, Control-

ler) .Saudi experienced.

Contact-97239854-Asher

Eight years experience in the field

of Sales, Marketing & Branch in

charge & Having Valid Oman Driving

License with NOC.Presently in Oman.

Seeking for Placements

Cont: Sumesh: 92718716

onsumesh@gmail.com

B.Sc (Bio-Technology) & MBA hav-

ing 4 years experience in Marketing

and Sales currently on visit visa

seeking suitable placement in Oman.

Email: meersameer768@gmail.com,

GSM: 94517678

Civil Engineer, Diploma, Male 25,

3 years experience in site, CAD, 3d,

MS Project, Seeking job in Oman.

Contact 92887561,

jubincivileng@gmail.com

Indian Male, 23 years MBA (Mar-

keting) (6 months experience as a

Sales and Operation Officer looking

for suitable job. Contact 99106181,

Email: akram8145@gmail.com

IT software professional looking for

a suitable position in Desktop/Web

application development. Visit www.

muhammedswafuvan.weebly.com for

more details. Reach me on

(+968) 98395032.

Part time accountant available.

Accounting experience up to finali-

zation and tally also. #96423671

Indian Male, 24 yrs, MBA in HR/

Marketing. More than 1 years experi-

enced in retail Banking

(Axis Bank) Presently in family

visit in Oman seeking for a suitable

placement# 99892082/ 997 43 709

MBA, Indian Male, 28 yrs, HR & Ad-

min, Marketing sales, 1 yr experience

in India. I have release looking for

any suitable job in Oman.

Contact 97484159

Pakistani male 32 years IT network

+ Computer Hardware professional

A+ MCSE Termination Technician

work Experience in Salalah airport.

10+ years experience in IT field and

2 years Oman working experience

looking for a suitable placement

contact no 96733205 Email

faisalzaman24@gmail.com

Indian Male having 20 years Ex-

perience in Travel Agency in Oman.

Looking for suitable placement.

Contact 95692050.

Indian Male, 38 years, Electron-

ics Engineer with 14 years of Oman

experience and proven track record

as Sales & Marketing Manager (Elec-

tronics, electrical & electro mechani-

cal products) with valid Oman D/L

for a suitable placement in a reputed

Organization. Contact 92208744,

email : ebpadmakumar@yahoo.com

Diploma in civil engineering having

an experience 23years (19years in

Oman) experience in Estimator /

quantity surveyor looking for a

suitable placement.

Willing to join immediately

Contact: 96328687.

Indian male Engineer (B.E in E&C,

MBA) with 5 years admin/profes-

sional experience looking for a

suitable placement in a reputed

company. Contact 91387463

email: i.career543@gmail.com

Experience salesman with 5 years

experience and vehicle looking for a

job. Contact 93079087

Civil Engineer, Indian Female, having

one year experience in Quantity Sur-

vey, also knows AutoCAD, primavera

etc seeks placement. #91690345

Senior Accounts Professional, Indian Male, 35 years, M.Com, MBA

(Fin) 8 years in Oman, with valid

Oman DL and NOC available. Capable

to handle accounts up to finalization.

Contact 9602 3965.

B Pharm, Indian female, Oman MOH

License holder, seeking job.

Email- shivallath@gmail.com.

Contact no: 99665183

Presales Engineer - IT 4yrs exp. en-

gineering graduate (Indian female)

currently on family visa looking

for opportunities as Sales/Presales

engineer or any suitable positions.

Contact: 0096895829278,

kalpanasingh69@gmail.com

Indian male with over 19 years of

qualitative experience in Automobile

field, expert in providing techni-

cal advice on repairs and servicing

seeks jobs in sales/ service in mane-

gerial capacity.

Contact 91-7736048460.

yamaharajesh@gmail.com

Experienced Salesman with 5 years

experience vehicle looking for job.

Contact 93079087

29 yr old indian male graduate 5yrs

oman exp in sales and marketing with

valid oman driving license looking

for suitable job.Noc available ready to

join immediately Contact 95136784

MATRIMONIAL

Kerala Nair girl, 28 years M.Tech

seeks suitable alliance.

Contact 91790746

A north Indian Muslim family

seeks alliance for their son, 26 yrs

old, MBA, a Businessman.

Contact 96176446

Mumbai based Keralite (Dheevara),

40 yrs male working in Oman since

3 yrs looking for suitable alliance.

Contact 93627279

38 years undergraduate Graphic

Designer, own business, alliance from

girls of any Christian denomination.

Contact 91296049 after 5.30 pm

Keralite Male, 178 cm, 26 years old,

Christian Marthomite working is

workshop foreman in Al Khoud look-

ing for suitable alliance.

Contact 92118245

Hindu Ezhava, family settled in

Muscat looking for suitable groom

for their daughter, 24 yrs, MBA-HR

presently working (preferably

BE, B.Tech, MBA Professional).

Contact 95693133

Keralite Hindu Nair, Male 33 yrs

divorcee 6.1, working in Ministry

as Administrator seeks suitable

alliance. Please send details on

kichu23009@gmail.com.

Contact 93139524

Mangalore Sunni Muslim, seek-

ing suitable bride (preferably from

Dakshina Kannada) for their son

working as Logistics Manager.

Contact 92198085

Indian Doctor, Businessman look-

ing for working lady in Oman for

marriage, any nationality, Muslim

preference self. Contact 96290792

Hindu, Brahmin – Iyengar boy, 36

yrs working as Service advisor in a

reputed company looking for Brah-

min Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Iyer /

Iyengar girls. Language no problem.

Contact 99786274 – Brother

NRI

9 Cents of residential vacant land in

Valencia for immediate sale.

Contact menezesa@omantel.net.om of

92034072

1750 SQ FT. Newly built house in 8

cent plot for sale Near Vadakkencher-

ry, Alathur, Palakkad District, Kerala.

Contact: vdnair2014@gmail.com

14 cents land with 2 HK house for

sale near Kakkanade Collectorate at

Cochin. Contact 968 92682970

For Astrological consultation, Jathakam. Contact: 99860435 /

97102599

2 BHK flat for sale in Bangalore,

Hebbal. Contact 96263157

Villa for sale 2200 sq ft in 8 cent. Kot-

tayam. Contact: 92652534

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

SITUATION WANT-ED

CHANGE OF NAME

ACC. WANTED

LOST

Wanted a two Bedroom Flat in and around Ruwi Area.

Gsm 99761216

Single room need in Ruwi.

Contact 91676434

Ramulamma Kurrapothula has

lost Indian Passport No. J9812145.

Finder please handover to ROP.

Sukhdial has lost Indian Pass-

port No. F0590853. Finder please

handover to ROP

Indian Male, 28 yrs, having 5

years experience in FMCG Sales in

visit visa, Looking for any suitable

jobs in Oman. Contact: 98531486/

98988824

Indian male, Graduate, 23 yrs on

visit visa looking for suitable posi-

tion in Sales and Marketing.

Contact 91757222,

email: danishdani460@gmail.com

Indian Male, Sales and Admin expe-

rience in India, 4 yrs now in Muscat.

Contact 91344706,

Email: wilsonvarghese1@gmail.com

Business Development Manager, Iraqi, Experience 14 Years Inside and

outside Oman following activities:

tenders& real estate& construction &

marketing projects& investments&

transportation & Marine services&

companies management& develop

business. Contact :- 93240027

Experienced FMCG Sales person

with 20+ years knowing Oman Mar-

ket as Business Development Man-

ager with D/L. Contact 98506377

29 years, Indian male with PGDM

and B.Com, experience 4.5 years in

administration, corporate sales and

marketing seeking suitable place-

ments, willing to join immediately.

Contact 91722610,

email : deepujoseph1985@gmail.com

Indian female having 8 years

experience in Sales & Marketing

in oil and gas field as commercial

manager, looking for a suitable

placement-NOC available -Contact -

Email- mvrajagd_d@yahoo.com

Mob: 96311709

10 years Oman experience in Sales

and Marketing with valid D/L and

NOC available from current sponsor.

Can join immediately.

Contact 96491505

Indian male, MBA (USA) having

5 years of International experience in

Sales and Marketing.

Contact 98853309.

Email : savincgnr@yahoo.com

Indian Male, MBA in Marketing and

Finance, 10 years’ Sales & Business

Development Experience with valid

D/L of Oman & UAE looking for a

suitable placement. NOC Available.

Contact: 93969961

e-mail abhilash.pvrk@gmail.com

Sales/ Marketing / customer

service release / NOC available UK

+ Oman experience valid Oman D/L,

excellent communication &

organizing skills,

can join immediately,

Email : plavon_ctg@yahoo.com,

gsm 92342060 / 96761225

SALES / MARKETING MISCELLANEOUS

Indian Female: Bachelor in Travel &

tourism.1 year experience in ticket-

ing and 6 month in cargo (CIAL).

Looking suitable placement.

Contact 95883404

TOURS & TRAVEL

B.E (Chemical), 23, Indian male with

1 year experience (production) in

Chemical Plant, on visiting visa seek-

ing for a suitable job. #94525650,

Email: nglsgy@gmail.com

Indian male 30 yrs seeking suit-

able placement to work as forklift

operator, having 5 yrs of exp. NOC

available. Contact – 94370085

Piping/Pipeline engineer, 3+ yrs

exp with B.E degree (Mech), familiar

with CAESAR-2, PDMS, AutoCAD,

stress analysis and piping of criti-

cal lines for hydrocarbon industry.

Contact: 95785479,

Email: mdshaji6105@gmail.com

Indian male 28, completed B.H.MCT 4 yrs exp in food &beverages

department. Looking suitable job for

senior supervisor.Contact – 9108857

mirazhar.al51@gmail.com

Civil Engineer 8 years Exp (2 in

Angola with DAR AL HANDASAH,

4 months in Oman) as a site engi-

neer. He holds a Diploma in project

management, fluent in English &

Arabic. Contact: 99170315

Indian Male, MBA, having 9 years

of logistics operation and market-

ing experience in Saudi Arabia

and India with valid Saudi Driving

License, looking for suitable place-

ment . Please contact 94525696

Indian Male, MBA in HR & Mktng

1yr exp. in India. Looking for suitable

jobs in Admin, HR, Store in charge,

Sales & Mktng. M: 96329315,

Email: vijayvals@gmail.com

I, Shoaib Ahmed Khan (name of

father as per the passport) son

of Khalil Ahmed Khan presently

residing in Ruwi P.B.No 333, P.C.No

117, Sultanate of Oman and

having permanent address in

India 02, Irrigation Colony, Ratlam

Pin : 457001, M.P., India (as per

present passport), holder of Indian

Passport No. K7162744 date of

issue 13.06.2013 place of issue

Bhopal hereby solemnly affirm

and declare that Madhaya Naz

(name of my wife appearing as

my passport) and the name of my

wife Madiha Naz appearing as per

her Indian Passport No. F3001431

are the same individuals and not

two different individuals. Any

objection towards change of name

of our minor child may please be

communicated to Embassy of

India, Muscat, Diplomatic

Quarters, Al Khuwair, P.B.No 1727,

Postal Code 112, Ruwi,

Sultanate of Oman.

*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, N O V E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 4 D7

DAILY GUIDESITUATION WANTEDCARGO

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with

Buffet, & Land Tours

Al- Ainain Marine Tours Contact-

98029602, 92808636

TOURS

RENT A CAR BUSINESS

Coffee shop business partner

required in Muscat. Contact

94542865

Increase your income on

commission basis with our land-

scaping & gardening services

provided for big, small projects &

maintenance contracts.

Contact +968 99242207

Email: bestgardens.om@gmail.

com

We assist in new business set up

local sponsorship, real estate ser-

vices, assist in company formation

services. Contact - 93166088

Learn Driving from professional

instructors. Contact 94022250

Driving School, automatic.

Contact 92245110

Learn driving automatic from

scratch. Contact 98599675

DRIVING

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation available-

Contact - 95570429

Transportation. Contact 98621075

Transportation. Contact 96248040

Transportation. Contact

91310107

Transportation. Contact

98518979

Transportation. Contact 97838217

Transportation available car with

driver. Contact 98475141

Transport. Contact 99664703

Transportation for women only from

Muscat area only.

Contact 97007934 / 92629232

Transportation available.

Contact: 95068976

Transportation available driver with

car-Muscat. Contact 97361454

Transportation. Contact

99508282

Transportation. Contact

96538078

Transportation. Contact:

97897833

Transportation Available

Contact: 97180655

MANPOWER

Housemaid , driver/operator (heavy & light Gulf D/L), house boy, cleaner, all skilled and un-

skilled categories process, (embassy

agreement and immigration).

Contact 95175192, EMAIL.

oman.manpower@yahoo.com

GOOD NEWS

Ayurvedic treatment for joint

pain, backache, paralysis, mas-

sage, steam bath, obesity, spondy

hills, ideal care Ayurvedic Clinic, 18

November Street, Azaiba. Contact

99639695 / 99117987

Ayurvedic treatment for backache,

paralysis, arthritis etc & massage,

All Season (Vaidyaratnam).

Contact 24475280 / 95371554 /

92504980 , www.siddhayur.com

FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know

more about Islam, please call:

99425598, 96050000, 99353988,

99253818, 99341395, and

99379133. For ladies: 99415818,

99321360, 99730723

Orvisit: www.islamfact.com

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

Indian Male, 24 years old on visit

visa, 3 years Diploma in Civil Engi-

neering, 3 yrs experience.

Contact 98515106

Senior Accounts Professional, Indi-

an Male, 35 years, M.Com, MBA (Fin)

8 years in Oman, with valid Oman

DL and NOC available. Capable to

handle accounts up to finalization.

Contact 9602 3965.

Female Candidate: Having

experience(ISRO) in Administration

(seeking suitable opportunities &

presently in Oman

Mob:97239854,

Mail:asherlalitha@yahoo.com

Indian male, 24 years MA Sociol-

ogy (Social science) B-Ed. 2year

experience in teaching, currently

on visit seeking suitable placement.

Contact 91632006, 91397505

Email- abdulnisar.kv@gmail.com

Post graduate in hospitality and

tourism, Indian ,male 26 , looking

suitable placement ,

in Muscat on visiting visa

contact 98861272

Indian male having 10 years of

experience in Oman having Valid

Omani Driving license working in

Purchase Dept looking for a suit-

able position. Salary is negotiable.

obarla313@gmail.com

Mob: 94304324/92654817

8 yrs exp 2d, 3d draughtsman

(HOLDING OMANI DRIVING LICENSE)

seeking job.#97449630

PDO Approved in Contracts, Pro-

curement, Operations, Project Indian

Male PMP, CIPS, PGDBA, DME, Oil &

Gas, Construction with Exp-18+ Yrs. &

Having valid Oman & PDO D/L Seek-

ing job - Contact 92560287,

E-mail: shaileshsyal@yahoo.com

Senior Sales & Marketing specialist

with 14 years of experience and proven

track record in Muscat looking for a

suitable placement in a reputed Com-

pany. Indian Male, 38 years (Electronics

Engineer) preferred industry (Electron-

ics / Electrical / Electro Mechanical)

having good exposure in access Control

& Automation systems, Lighting & Elec-

trical accessories etc. #92208744.

Email : ebpadmakumar@yahoo.com

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00

noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to

space availability

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D8 S U N D AY, N O V E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 4

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

SERVICES

CLASSES

WEBSITE

WEB, ERP and Business Intelli-

gence (BI) creation and man-

agement at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

COMPUTER

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

SITUATION WANT-SERVICES

GULF INTERNATIONAL LLC

all kind of pest control. #92326955

Truck body making, Misfah

Industrial Area. Contact 92326955.

BRIDGE GULFA LLC

House Shifting. Contact 99708138

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing,

Contact 99314807/24792998

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your

marble. # 24793614/ 99314807

For all your maintenance needs

including, Painting, Plumbing,

Electricity, Laying of Interlock

Tiles, Marbles etc. Tel: 99383574

Mr Chandran

Maintenance – A/C mainte-

nance & servicing, fridge wash-

ing machine and dishwasher

repairing, painting & cleaning

services, electrical & plumbing.

Contact 99447257 / 97014234 /

24504281

All types of curtain ventation,

Roman, vertical (blinds), sofa

shampooing. Contact 99539521

Pest Control Treatments, termites,

cockroaches, bedbugs. Ocean

Center LLC - Contact 99344723

Carpet and Sofa shampooing.

Ocean Center LLC – #99884591

For All Your Maintenance Solutions,

A/c Servicing & Fixing, Painting,

Cleaning, Electric. Contact. 99002390

Civil Maintenance, Painting Elec-

tric, Plumbing, Decor, Tile Fixing,

Lecithin Copra Board flat stifling ,

Carpet Cleaning and A/C Servicing.

Contact 97897831 (Indian keralite)

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. Contact ABU QA-

BAS- 99320217 /24788722

Door to Door Computers repair

specialist laptop software Website

cartridges. Contact 99199376

A.M Trading Pest control. Contact 99067923

Bus service available with experi-

enced driver on monthly basis for

2 yrs. Contract for companies only.

Contact 98605556, 92577588

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. Contact ABU QA-

BAS- 99320217 /24788722

Split & window A/C servicing &

maintenance. Contact 93769089

Civil maintenance, Electrical &

Plumbing work. Contact 99557080 /

96236476

Part time services available for

Arabic/Quran classes or transport in

the evening. Contact 92567848

Electrical Plumbing Painting

Contract and Maintenance.

Contact 98456535

Waterproofing, light weight Screed,

Antitermite and MS Fabrication.

Contact 92888337

Part time services available for

Arabic / Quran classes or transport

in the evening. Contact 92567848

Contract general cleaning for of-

fices. Ocean Center LLC - 99344723

Split & window unit AC servicing &

repairing. Contact 99557080

Window & split unit AC servicing &

maintaining. Contact 96236476

Civil maintenance, electrical &

plumbing work. Contact 99557080,

96236476

Pest Control and cleaning best

services – 1. Cockroach, ants, etc, 2.

Tiles cleaning, marbles cleaning,

floor cleaning, and carpet cleaning.

Contact 92108447, 99666505

Pest control service, bed bugs,

cockroach, termite, snake

RA+Rodent and all insects. Contact

95084939, 97914212

Key locked in Car or lost your house

keys. Help available anywhere

anytime. Save this number!! -

99414506

Catering services We do industrial

catering service, Canteen/ mess,

3 times packed meals,

and all types of catering events.

Contact 92188777/ 99249899

Painting Interlock plumbing

maintenance. Contact 92142319

For HT cable jointing and

termination works 33KV/11KV.

Contact 99056438 /

Email: npgoman@gmail.com

Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile pol-

ishing, pest control & anti-termite

treatment, general cleaning paint-

ing, Plumbing, Electrical, shifting.

Contact Mundhir Al-Rizaiqi trad-

ing. L.L.C. # 24810137, 99450130

Water proofing ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

FOR HIRE

TRUCK FOR HIREIsuzu 10 ton cargo body truck

(2012 FVR) with UAE experienced driver

available for long term / short term rent.

Contact: 95346950

We provide all heavy duty

equipment, tractor & trailers &

all type of trucks.

Contact 97722507

Running truck wash for rent in

Ouhi Sunia Sohar. Serious people

can. Contact on 97864747

50 seater bus with PDO specifica-

tion for rent or lease.

Contact 99839898

Window & split unit A/C servicing

& maintenance.

Contact 96236476

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00

noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to

space availability