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MONDAY, November 30, 2015 / 18 Safar 1437 AH timesofoman.com wtimesofoman.com facebook.com/timesofoman twitter.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company

We renew our call to the Omani Women’s Associations and other social organisations, to give a higher priority to instilling awareness in female citizens about the need to adapt to the realities of today. This will enable women everywhere to fulfil their vital role in society - a role for which we have endeavoured to prepare them from the very beginning.

On the occasion of the Opening of the Council of Oman, 1997

FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTYTHE SULTAN

‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’

HASAN SHABAN AL LAWATIhassan@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: To protect people from unscrupulous brokers in the Sultanate a new electronic system has been launched, ac-cording to the Oman Real Estate Association.

Labelling the new electronic system launched by the Minis-try of Housing (MoH) as a ‘game changer’, the Oman Real Es-tate Association has said that it would regulate the real estate

industry in the country. “We hail the MoH’s role in executing the Royal Decree, so that brokers will only be able to practice Real Es-tate brokerage after obtaining a licence, receiving proper training and completing a set of formali-ties,” said Hassan Mohammed Juma, Deputy Chairman of the Oman Real Estate Association.

Under the new rules, home-owners will still be able to buy and sell buildings, but only through a licenced real estate agent.

“This system will help bring better policies and regulations to the real estate sector, as the mar-ket today is not well organised and lacks professionalism,” he added, while noting that the asso-ciation is seeking to improve the standards of real estate broker-age, development and evaluation.

“Many unprofessional bro-kers who have been practicing the profession in an unethical manner have given the indus-try a bad reputation. But thanks to the electronic system, the landscape of the profession is going to change for the better,” Juma said. >A6

An online system,

designed to bring

transparency to

Oman’s real estate

market, has

been launched

An appetite for photographsof mouth-watering dishesHASAN SHABAN AL LAWATIhassan@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: For most photog-raphers nature is the best loca-tion for a photo opportunity, but Omani photographer Khamis Al Ghailani finds inspiration at restaurants and cafes where he “cooks” fresh food photographs.

Today, the Times of Oman proudly features yet another tal-ented youngster for its #Oman-Pride initiative.

After Al Ghailani orders his meal, the first thing he does is to capture its flavour, aroma, colour and texture through the camera lenses. “You should know how to see all these things together as a composite,” he explains. “It’s a matter of good taste,” says Al Ghailani who always tries to give his dishes a carefree summer feel.

“Who doesn’t like food?” won-ders Al Ghailani, who owns a mouth-watering Instagram page which exudes intimacy and a fine art of understanding food and beverage photography.

Khamis got his first camera in 2004, and only used to click fam-ily photos. A year later, he started practicing portraits and close-up photography.

“Food photography isn’t that easy for any beginner photogra-pher,” Al Ghailani said, while add-ing that his favourite food picture

ever was a snap of mini burgers at Casper & Gambini’s.

Asked about his role model, the young Omani artist said, “There are a lot of creative photographers who I am learning from. But the one in whose pictures I can see myself is a Kuwaiti photographer, named Ahmed Al Harbi.”

Al Ghailani’s gallery on Insta-gram features a variety of cuisines and sweets including cheese-cakes, macaronis, pistachios, spaghetti, ice creams, dates, Ira-nian sweets, French fries, luxury chocolates and his latest work, ‘karak’ tea.

More than 3,000 fans follow the photographer and he has posted 388 images till date. Al Ghailani hopes to open his own exhibition sometime in the future to show-case his art in food, landscape and portrait photography.

I N S P I R E D B Y R E S T A U R A N T S

RAIN IN MUSCAT GOVERNORATEMuscat, Sidab and Qantab received light rains on Sunday morning while it rained heavily in Quriyat, Sur and Al Kamil in the afternoon flooding wadis and waterlogging roads.— Supplied photos See also >A2

Oman’s dodgy property brokers targeted

New police hospital to help cut expat body repatriation timeFAHAD AL GHADANI REJIMON Kreji@timesofoman.comfahadnews@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Delays in embalm-ing the bodies of expatriates who have died in Oman, before their repatriation, will speed up, say officials, as a new police hospital being built in Muscat will have a dedicated department for the purpose.

“When the new Royal Oman Police (ROP) hospital comes up, there will be a special dedicated department to deal with such cas-es. It will surely ease the present situation,” the senior official said.

According to social workers from expatriate communities in Oman, often it takes 48 hours to have a body embalmed and com-plete other procedures before it is repatriated as there are only two embalming centres in Muscat.

“At present, the main embalm-ing facility is available only at the Muscat Royal Oman Police (ROP) hospital in Qurum. Every year, they are forced to deal with nearly 1,000 bodies. It means that ap-proximately, three bodies are em-balmed every day,” Shameer PTK, an Indian social worker in Oman who constantly assists in repat-riating bodies, told the Times of Oman.

“They are not to be blamed. But if the facility is expanded to regional government hospitals, it would be a great help and will speed up the repatriation process. Till the initial procedures are completed, the body is kept in one of the regional hospitals and only then is it transferred to Muscat,” he said explaining the process.

“If somebody dies in the inte-rior of the Sultanate of Oman at some place, the body has to be transported to Qurum. That itself takes time. If the facility is ex-panded to other government hos-pitals in Muscat, it would greatly help the expatriate community,” Shameer added. >A6

D E D I C A T E D D E P A R T M E N T

HM receives greetingsMUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has received more cables of congratulations on the occasion of the 45th Glo-rious National Day from the leaders of friendly countries.

In their cables, they expressed their sincere congratulations and best wishes of good health, happiness and a long life to His Majesty the Sultan, and the Om-ani people further progress and prosperity under the wise lead-ership of His Majesty.

His Majesty the Sultan re-ceived congratulatory cables from His Highness Sheikh Sa-bah Al Ahmed Al Jabir Al Sa-bah, Emir of Kuwait, President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhu-tan, President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, President Pierre Nkurun-ziza of Burundi, President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca of Malta and Mauritius Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth. -ONA

N A T I O N A L D A Y

C7Raging Goliath

OMAN‘Oman a second home for Bangladeshis’

1Oman is a second home for Bangladeshis, a Bangladesh minister has said. >A2

OMANTourism’s share in Oman GDP to rise

2Direct contribution of tourism to Oman’s GDP is expected to jump. >A4

MARKETTender for water projects floated

3A tender for supervisory consultancy services was floated. >B1

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

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OMAN50 illegal expatriates

arrested in Buraimi

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Department of Man-power, affiliated to the Ministry of Manpower, arrested 50 workers in Buraimi during the course of last month for being in violation of the labour law.

The arrests came in the light of the Ministry of Manpower’s ef-forts to regulate the job market, prevent secretive trades, monitor the violators and prevent viola-tions and the tendency in certain establishments to exceed the lim-its set by law.

Most violations revolved around commercial licences as 40 work-

ers were found in violation of the related norms. Nine workers were caught for pursuing private ca-reers and one was found working in agriculture sector.

After observing the necessary procedures, the ministry officials found that all the workers had ab-sconded. During the same period, 33 workers were deported.

The department also received 109 reports of workers having ab-sconded, while 78 were covered by the commercial license, 18 were private workers and the remaining 13 had agricultural licences.

These reports pertained to the month of October.

L A B O U R L A W V I O L A T I O N Rains in Oman leaveroads, wadis flooded

REJIMON K. reji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Rains fell in different parts of Oman resulting in over-flowing of the wadis and slowing of the traffic movement traffic on flooded roads.

“Light rains fell in the morn-ing in Muscat, Sidab and Qantab. However, late in the afternoon, it rained heavily in Quriyat, Sur and Al Kamil. There were also rains in Nakhal and Suwaiq,” Bader Ali Al Baddaei, an admin-istrator of www.rthmc.net, a local Web-based forum that discusses weather in Oman, said.

In its forecast, Oman Meteor-ology Department has predicted rain on Monday and Tuesday in Muscat, Nizwa and Khasab.

“It rained heavily in Quriyat in the afternoon.

“Roads are flooded. We had to close down our shops due to rain,” shop owners in Quriyat said. Last Tuesday also, rain fell in some parts of Muscat and Sohar.

Last Sunday itself, Meteorol-ogy Department predicted heavy rains in the northern parts of Oman, starting today and contin-uing till the end of the week.

In September, Dr Saeed Al Sarmi, the head of the Research Centre from the Public Author-

ity for Civil Aviation (PACA) told the Times of Oman, “It is expected that due to the El Nino effect, there will higher–than-normal rainfall in Oman, especially in the northern mountainous regions and interiors.”

The El Nino phenomenon oc-curs when the east and central Pacific seas’ surface temperatures become warmer than usual, which

often signals wide-scale climate change around the globe, affect-ing winds, precipitation, sea-level pressures and temperatures.

In Muscat, the annual rainfall is about 100 millimetres, falling mostly from December to April. In general, precipitation is scarce in Muscat and during several months, on an average, there is only a trace of rainfall.

El Nino effectAccording to the World Meteoro-logical Organisation (WMO), the United Nations’ weather-moni-toring body, the strength of El Nino was expected to peak between October last and January, and it could be among the four strongest El Nino events since 1950.

“El Nino has some correlation with the above-average rainfall expected in Oman in October and November. The combination of the strong El Nino and positive IOD could certainly lead to above normal rainfall across Oman later in October or November,” Jason Nicholls, the senior meteorologist from Accuweather.com said.

In its forecast,

Oman Meteorology

Department has

predicted rain on

Monday and Tuesday

in Muscat, Nizwa

and Khasab

Sultanate is second home for Bangladeshis, says ministerREJIMON K.reji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Oman is a second home for Bangladeshis and the country does not mistreat foreign-ers on the basis of colour or creed, a Bangladesh minister has said.

“Omanis treat us like brothers. That is why we are happily send-ing more and more Bangladeshis to Oman. Our workers are helping to build Oman and the money they remit helps our economy to flour-ish,” Nurul Islam, Bangladesh’s minister for expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment, told the Times of Oman in an exclusive interview.

Compared to other expatri-ate communities, the number of Bangladeshis in Oman is increas-ing every month and the statistics show that even though the Indi-ans still top the list, Bangladeshis’ numbers are inching closer.

According to the minister, around 3,000 Bangladeshis are boarding flights every day from the country for jobs abroad. “There are 9.4 million Bangla-deshis working abroad and they are remitting money equivalent to 13 per cent of Bangladesh’s GDP,” the minister added.

Bangladesh government’s data reveals that remittance from Oman was $0.7 billion in fiscal 2013-14. “We have set up train-ing centres for potential migrants. Our focus is now to send skilled workers,” the minister added.

October numbersIn 2010, while the number of Indi-ans in Oman was around 450,000, the number of Bangladeshis was 250,000. Now, it has changed. The October statistics show that there are 568,405 Bangladeshi workers in the Sultanate while there are 652,745 Indians.

By the end of 2014, while the number of Bangladeshis was 540,481, compared to 501,357 at 2013-end.

With 10.7 percent of the total Bangladeshi migrants preferring Oman, the Sultanate is their third favourite destination.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has the highest percentage of Bangladeshi migrants at about 28.2 percent while the UAE, rank-ing second, is currently home to more than 2.3 million Bangla-deshi migrants.

International Labour Organi-sation (ILO) data reveals that each year, more than 400,000 workers leave Bangladesh for overseas employment.

Jamal Hossen, a Bangladeshi construction worker in Mus-cat, said compared to other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Omani sponsors are more employee-friendly. “I have worked in other GCC countries also. Omani sponsors do not mis-treat us. They are more humane in nature, compared to others,” Jamal told the Times of Oman.

A construction company offi-cial said Bangladesh workers can be hired at cheaper rates and this may be one of the reasons behind the increase in the number of Bangladeshis in Oman.

“When compared to migrants from other nationalities, we can hire Bangladeshi workers at cheaper rate. Moreover, they work hard, too,” Sunil Kumar KK, a top official at Najamat Al Fujairah Trading and Contracting, said.

“Moreover, Indians now come only for white-collar jobs. So, from where else will we get work-ers who can build airports and bridges?” Sunil added.

Meanwhile, chairman of a non-

governmental organisation in Dhaka said for a majority of Bang-ladeshis, migration is not a choice but the only option for those look-ing for a better living.

Remittances“Bangladeshis migrate only be-cause there are no options at home for a decent life. Government is in-terested in sending more and more citizens abroad only because it brings in money. Officially, around 15 per cent of the GDP comes from remittances. Unofficially, it would be more,” Syed Saiful, chairman of WABRE, an organisation which works closely with Bangladesh government for the welfare of mi-grants, said.

“Moreover, lack of job opportu-nities and increase in poverty is pushing more and more Bangla-deshis to migrate,” Syed added.

According to Syed, the govern-ment has a lot to do and, at the same time, awareness among mi-grants should also be enhanced so that they do not land in trouble.

“For the welfare of migrants, many rules are in place, but hardly any are followed. For example, the government has told recruitment agencies that USD200 should be the fee charged for visa process-ing. But in reality, a potential mi-grant pays more than USD3,000 to get a visa,” Syed added. Syed says that the Bangladesh govern-ment should reach government to government deals for recruitment of workers to avoid any pitfalls.

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

MORE ARE COMING: Bangladesh government’s data reveals that

remittance from Oman to the country was $0.7 billion in fiscal

2013-14. – Times file

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

OVERFLOWING: In Muscat, the annual rainfall is about 100 millimetres, falling mostly from Decem-

ber to April period. In general, precipitation is scarce in Muscat and during several months, on an

average, there is only a trace of rainfall. - Supplied photo

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Indian cardinal to visit Oman

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Moran Mor Baselios Cardinal Cleemis Catholicos, the major archbishop and head of the Syro Malankara Catholic Church, will be the chief guest at the 15th anniversary celebra-tions of the Oman Syro Ma-lankara Catholic Community.

The anniversary is scheduled to be held from December 1 to 4. The main function will be or-ganised at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Ruwi, Muscat, on December 4 .

Bishop Paul Hinder., the ap-ostolic vicar of the Vicariate of Southern Arabia, is also expect-ed to take part in the function as guest of honor. The function will start by giving Liturgical reception to the dignitaries at 2pm followed by concelebrated mass by the two, along with the priests in Oman.

Cardinal Cleemis is at present holding the twin positions, the president of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India and Ker-ala Catholic Bishops’ Council. There will be 15th anniversary celebration of Oman Syro Ma-lankara Catholic Community in the Parish Hall which will be fol-lowed by an entertainment pro-gramme by the members of the community.

CELEBRAT I ONS

Moran Mor Baselios Cardinal Cleemis Catholicos

Medicine price cut move gets a mixed response

MOBIN MATHEW BLESSONmobinmathew@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: While pharmaceuti-cal companies and people have welcomed the government’s move to reduce the prices of drugs, a few distributors have met the govern-ment officials to convince them to revise the decision.

Many companies are of the opinion that the ministry deci-sion benefits the retailers more than the wholesalers. The reduc-tion will come at the cost of the profit margins of those in the pri-vate sector in the Sultanate.

“The government’s decision is good for the retailers but it will be a nightmare for the wholesalers,” Mohammad Osama Rawat, gen-eral manager of Oriental Pharma-cy, told the Times of Oman. “Now the profit margin is 55 per cent and retailer gets 22 per cent but

now it will vary,” he added.According to Rawat, the ser-

vice cost is much higher in Oman than in many other places. So the reduction in profit margin will af-fect the wholesalers badly. Rawat also said the distributors have al-ready discussed the issue with the director general.

“The distributors had met the director general and requested him that the decision of the gov-ernment be revised,” Rawat said. “The director general has neither said yes nor a no, but he has as-sured us to look into the problem,” he added.

Profit marginThe ministerial decision stipu-lates reducing profit margins on drugs in the private sector, mak-ing these between 35 to 43 per cent, instead of 55 per cent.

According to the ministerial decision issued by Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Saidi, minister of health, prices of a large number of drugs will be reduced from Janu-ary 1 next year. As per the minis-terial decision, the profit margin will be calculated based on the cost insurance and freight (CIF) price to Oman.

If the CIF price is less than OMR20, the profit margin will be 43 per cent, to be divided between the local agent (15 per cent) and the retailer (28 per cent). Further, if the CIF price is between OMR20 and OMR50, the profit margin will be 39 per cent, to be divided be-

tween the local agent (15 per cent) and the retailer (24 per cent).

In case, the CIF price is more than OMR50, the profit margin will be 35 per cent, with 15 per cent going to the local agent and 20 per cent to the retailer.

Another pharmaceutical com-pany manager also said they would follow the government’s orders as this was going to help the common people. People in the Sultanate also welcomed the gov-ernment’s decision to reduce the drugs’ prices.

“I usually buy medicines in my country (India) because of the high prices here. Now I can avoid the burden of bringing medicines from India and also save the time I spend at the airport,” said Abdul Kadher, a diabetic patient who has been residing in Oman for the past 15 years.

“The prices here are very high and a common man can’t af-ford these. We can buy the same medicines at half the rate in other places. I am happy to hear that the prices will come down soon,” Phil-ip Jose, a resident of Oman, said.

“(I am) happy to see the govern-ment decision because this is re-ally needed,” said Anwar Ali.

Prices of 4,246 drugs registered in the Sultanate will be reduced from next January. The Ministry of Health has asked all the phar-macies operating in Oman to pro-vide the list of prices of drugs so that consumers could compare the prices.

Many companies

are of the opinion

that the ministry

decision benefits the

retailers more than

the wholesalers

Sultan Qaboos voluntary work award function on December 5MUSCAT: Ministry of Social Development will celebrate the distribution of the fourth version of the Sultan Qaboos Voluntary Work Award to individuals, socie-ties and enterprises under the aus-pices of Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communications.

The event will take place on De-cember 5 at Al Bustan Palace Ho-tel, said an official.

Mubarak bin Ali Al Rahbi, head of the Office of the Minister of So-cial Development, member and rapporteur of the Award’s Main Committee said that the award does not only cover the organisa-

tions of the ministry, such as the societies, non-government organi-sations (NGOs) and individuals, but also the supportive categories that promote voluntary work in the Sultanate.

It will be also presented to per-sonalities that contributed to en-hancing voluntary work. - ONA

RECOGN I T I ON

Oman to take part in Kenya festival

MUSCAT: Oman, represented by the Ministry of Heritage and Culture, is taking part in Lamu Cultural Festival at Lamu Is-land, Kenya.

The participation comes as a boost to the historic relations between the Sultanate of Oman and the East Africa Coast, par-ticularly in the cultural field.

The ministry will take part in the festival represented by Al Ajial Band for Traditional Arts, which will present shows of the Omani folklore. - ONA

CULTURE

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OMAN‘Tourism to account for 5% of economy by 2020’

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Tourism sector’s di-rect contribution to Oman’s gross domestic product (GDP) is ex-pected to jump from two per cent to five per cent by 2020, Ahmed bin Nasser Al Mahrzi, minister of tourism, has said.

Al Mahrazi stressed that Oman, as part of its strategy for tourism, will develop a roadmap for the sec-tor for the next 30 years, to make it one of the important economic sectors for national income.

The minister pointed out that the growth indicators in the tour-ism sector saw a significant rise and the added value of the sector reached OMR724 million by the end of 2014, with the number of tourists exceeding two million.

He said the new Omani strategy for tourism will help diversify the sources of national income, point-ing out that a detailed strategy has been formulated, and discus-sion on work and executive pro-grammes has been held.

“We are going to start develop-ing a detailed outline for the Gov-ernorate of Dhofar. The Supreme Council for Planning has been directly supervising the imple-

mentation of the Governorate of Musandam strategy, including the tourism sector.”

He explained that the strate-gic vision for tourism is based on two foundations, the first being a series of tourist facilities in one location and the second being the distinctive tourist experiences that may attract tourists who can spend a number of days in specific geographic areas.

Such destinations offer unique and distinctive experiences that linger on in the visitors’ minds for a long time.

He also said that the number of job opportunities that many tourism projects provide in vari-ous governorates of the Sultanate have increased, pointing out that the Ministry of Tourism is seeking to accomplish more achievements in this vital and important sector.

The strategic objective remains diversifying income sources and reducing dependence on oil as a major source of national income.

In the framework of supporting and encouraging small and medi-um enterprises willing to operate and invest in the tourism sector, the minister reiterated that op-

portunities were granted to those enterprises to invest in the sites offered by the Ministry of Tour-ism in a number of governorates by facilitating the issuance proce-dures for tourist licensing.

Rotana HotelsTurning to the measures taken by the ministry in relation to the tourism sector in the past, he said, “The ministry signed a number of bilateral agreements and memo-randa of understanding with a number of government and pri-vate institutions in the Sultanate for the development of areas of work for small and medium-sized enterprises.”

Recently, Rotana Hotels had announced adding 1,500 rooms

in Muscat, Sohar and Salalah over the next five years. Nasser Al Nowais, chairman of Rotana, said there are plans to build three, four and five-star category hotels. “It will provide new job opportuni-ties for Omanis and help them cultivate and develop their skills in the tourism and hospitality sec-tor,” he had said.

There are 297 hotels located in all the governorates of the Sultan-ate of Oman.

“Hotels in Oman have 15,424 rooms, with a relatively high growth rate of 7.3 per cent during 2014, compared with the previ-ous year,” said Maitha bint Saif Al Mahrouqi, undersecretary of the Ministry of Tourism, said recently.

The Omani tourism sector has witnessed remarkable develop-ment over the past years, reflected in the surge in the growth rates of main indices that measure pro-gress in the sector.

Ahmed bin Nasser

Al Mahrzi, Minister

of Tourism said

that Oman, as part

of its strategy for

tourism, will develop

a roadmap for the

sector for the

next thirty years

PIA increases weekly flights, offers special fare to KarachiSHAHZAD RAZAshahzad@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: With the competition toughening up on the Pakistan sector, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has increased its weekly flights and is offering an enticing new fare to Karachi.

PIA operates as many as 15 weekly flights from Muscat to Pakistan, covering major destina-tions like Karachi, Islamabad, La-hore, Sialkot, Peshawar, Gwadar and Turbat with direct service. An increased baggage allowance of 40kg as well as the benefit of covering a third destination in Pakistan as a free connection are among a host of incentives the airline is offering its customers.

“With three flights to Karachi every week — Mondays, Wednes-days and Saturdays — PIA has launched a special fare of OMR38 (one way) and OMR104 (return), including taxes and service charge. The offer is valid till December 31, 2015,” Shahzad Paracha, country manager of PIA Oman, told Times of Oman on Sunday.

The airline has nearly doubled its Oman operations in one year, in-cluding its weekly flights from 8 in 2014 to 15 now. With direct flights to Pakistan from Salalah due to start soon, PIA is set to further expand its network in Oman. The airline has recently added state-of-

the-art Boeing 777 airplane to its flight operations in Oman and two more are expected to be operating before the year ends.

Muscat-Multan flightsThe Pakistani national carrier is now planning to start direct flights to Multan from Muscat. One of the major Punjab cities, Multan, also known as the city of

saints, is among the oldest cities in the world, dating back 6,000 years.

Passengers travelling on PIA enjoy the distinct advantage of paying little or no money to change the date of their return flight from Pakistan. Since other airlines do charge significantly for any change in travel dates, this does appear to be a major benefit to PIA customers.

A V I A T I O N

With three flights to Karachi every week — Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays — PIA has launched a special fare of OMR38 (one way) and OMR104 (return), inclusive of taxes and service charge

Shahzad ParachaCountry manager, Pakistan International Airlines Oman

Europa visits Salalah

MUSCAT: The tourist cruise ship, Europa, visited Salalah Port on Sunday, carrying 584 passengers on board. Of these, 297 passengers were part of tourist programmes with the Sultanate’s ports as their destination.

The passengers, who were trav-elling from Sharm Al Sheikh, Egypt,

to Sultan Qaboos Port, enjoyed the historical and cultural landmarks for which Dhofar is known. They also visited the beaches and the lo-cal market in Salalah.

Ships regularly visit the Sultan-ate’s ports, while cruising around the world, due to these ports’ stra-tegic location. - ONA

T O U R I S M

Al Rumhy conferred with Asian Business Leadership awardStaff Reporter

MUSCAT: Dr Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy, minister of oil and gas, has been conferred with Asian Business Leadership Forum (ABLF) 2015 Statesman Award to-day (Sunday) in Dubai.

The announcement was made in ABLF Series’ official twitter handle on Sunday. The award was received by Khalil bin Abdullah Al Khonji on behalf of Rumhy.

The ABLF Series is considered as Asia’s most prestigious annual business leadership event series.

The ABLF is well-attended by global leaders who are invested in the rise of the Asian century, and

brings together Asian leaders in conversation, celebration and col-laboration. The ABLF is headed by the Governors’ Board who are responsible for shaping and pro-jecting the vision, path and broad scope of the ABLF.

They are among the most elite members of government and busi-ness, defined by their years of ex-perience, knowledge and wisdom, devoted to lending their leader-ship and mentorship to the ABLF and Asia. Additionally, there is an Executive Council that takes strategic decisions for the ABLF’s workings, gives their valuable in-put towards panels, forums and selections of forum topics.

H O N O U R

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

NEW STRATEGY: The tourism minister said that the new strategy for tourism will help diversify the

sources of national income, pointing out that a detailed strategy has been formulated. – Times file

Is the added value of

the tourism sector by

the end of 2014, with

the number of tourists

exceeding two million

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1,549 students of SQU colleges receive graduation certificates

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Altogether 1,549 stu-dents from four humanities colleg-es of the Sultan Qaboos University received certificates on Sunday.

The first phase of the 26th grad-uation ceremony was held on Sun-

day at the university’s amphithea-tre under the patronage of Sayyid Mohammed bin Sultan Al Busaidy, Minister of State and Governor of Dhofar.

The number of graduates from each college was as follows: the College of Arts & Social Sciences, 502; the College of Economics and Political Science, 470; the College of Education, 430; and the College of Law, 147.

The ceremony for this year co-incides with the 45th National Day celebrations. The ceremony marks the graduation of the 7th batch of PhD graduates, the 20th batch of master’s degree holders, and the 26th batch of bachelor’s degree holders.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Ali bin Saud Al Bimani, the Vice Chancellor of the Sultan Qaboos University, outlined the achieve-ments of the university since its inception in 1986. Over the years, the SQU has received more than 72,849 students.

“The people of the Sultanate pin their hopes on the graduates of the Sultan Qaboos University who

are well qualified in different spe-cialisations to meet the job mar-ket requirements of the country, subsequently contributing to the development of Oman.

“During the current academic year, the SQU successfully con-ducted the Students Advisory Council’s elections, in order to meet the aspirations and ambi-tions of university’s students in their academic and university lives. The university inaugurated the Self Learning Centre, which provides various services for stu-dents such as courses, workshops and electronic services.”

Speaking about student achievements, Dr. Al Bimani said, “A student, Farah Abdullah Al Kas-bi, from the Department of Man-agement, College of Economics and Political Science, was selected to participate in the “X-culture” project at the University of North Carolina, USA. She was one among the best 100 out of the more than 3,000 students from across the world to participate in this global competition.”

“Students from the College of

Law bagged second place in the Second Regional Moot Court Competition in Arabic, which was held at Qatar University in col-laboration with the Doha Centre for Media Freedom. The student, Mohammed bin Ali Al Maktoomi, from the College of Arts and So-cial Sciences, was selected as the Ambassador for the Arab Thought for 2015. The SQU students won awards for the best integrated dis-play and the best actress at 10th Edition of the Fez Festival of Uni-versity Theatre for non-special-ised institutions,” he added.

AchievementsOutlining the achievements in re-search over the last one year, the Vice Chancellor said a research team from the Department of Li-brary and Information Science, College of Arts and Social Scienc-es won the best research award at the 21st International Confer-ence on Internet and Positive Change for Libraries and Informa-tion Specialists, which was held in the UAE.

Elaborating on the university’s

efforts in improving the quality of academic programmes, Dr. Ali Al Bimani said the Mass Communi-cation Department at the College of Arts & Social Sciences has initi-ated the procedures to receive ac-creditation from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journal-ism and Mass Communications.

“The UN World Tourism Or-ganisation’s accreditation of the Department of Tourism at the College of Arts and Social Sci-ences was renewed for the sec-ond term after completion of the first cycle of three years. The lat-est recognitions for the academic programmes at the College of Education included the academic recognition for the programme of teaching English from the Ameri-can Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages; and the recog-nition for the Early Child Educa-tion programme by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, ” the Vice chan-cellor added.

The vice chancellor further said that the university pumps well-qualified graduates into the labour

market, both in the public and the private sectors.

Since its inception, the humani-ties colleges have produced 31,258 graduates. These include 7,807 graduates from the College of Arts & Social Sciences, 1,509 gradu-ates from the College of Law, 5,994 graduates from the College of Eco-nomics & Political Science, and 15,948 graduates from the College of Education.

Sayyid Mohammed bin Sultan Al Busaidy, the chief guest and pa-tron of the graduation ceremony, said, “It is my pleasure to patron-ise the graduation’s ceremony of SQU students. The university has proved itself as one of the greatest achievements of the Omani Re-naissance led by His Majesty Sul-tan Qaboos bin Said. The gradu-ates of this university testify to the fact that the real development of a country depends on well-educated youth. Today, we are sharing the happiness with the graduates and I take this opportunity to con-gratulate His Majesty Sultan Qa-boos on the occasion of the 45th National Day.”

The first phase of

the 26th graduation

ceremony was

held on Sunday

at the university’s

amphitheater under

the patronage of

Minister of State and

Governor of Dhofar

Tamil film Mezhugu sweeps short film competition awardsTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Mezhugu, a Tamil short film about religious harmony with a strong social message of breaking barriers like caste and creed and highlighting virtues of helping mankind by all means has swept awards in the Short Film competition, conducted by ISC Tamil wing.

The function was held at the ISC Hall and the film, which was nomi-nated in almost all the categories. It won five awards, including those for the categories of Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Child actor and Best Supporting Actress.

Speaking to the Times of Oman, Tasleem Khan, Winning Director, of Mezhugu, said, “We are very glad that we have won these awards but the real joy will be when the mes-sage of the movie reaches audi-ences worldwide. We are planning to submit this movie to interna-

tional film festivals so that it can reach international audiences. We want Oman to be recognised by world cinema.” Majority of the artistes were debutants. CK Sang-eetha won the Best Actress award, Mrs. Ramya Rajasekhar won Best Supporting Actress and child art-ist Miss Tanisha Nasira, a Class II student at the ISG, hogged lime-light at the competition, bagging the Best Child Actress award.

This was the second consecu-tive time that she has won it. “I am very thankful to the organisers. I began making short films last year because of them and was recog-nised internationally at the Nor-way Tamil Film Festival for my debut movie Manasu, and at the STEPS Film Festival India.

My second movie Uravugal was selected for screening at ISFFI, India, among 1,300 movies. I also received recognition at NTFF, Norway where I was nominated as

the Best Short Film Director.Tasleem Khan won the Best Ac-

tor award for his other film “Vette-na pesel” while the Best Editing award went to Anirban for the same movie. Gaurav Narayanan,

a directior working in the Indian film industry, who was the chief guest and judge, said, “I am very happy to be in Oman for this pres-tigious film festival organised by the ISC Tamil wing.” He said the

content was really good and that he hoped that these amateur short film makers shine in the future by improving their technical skills. He also conducted a workshop on film making and screenplay writ-

ing for the local film makers.The Muscat Tamil film festival

was conceived by S.Srinivasan & Jawahar C. Its theme was based on Thirukkural, written by the great poet, Thiruvalluvar.

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

BIG WIN: The film won five awards, including those for the categories of Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Child actor and Best Supporting Actress. – Supplied photo

Envoy to launch Thai culinary delights at Grand Hyatt eventTimes News Service

MUSCAT: In a unique initiative started by the Grand Hyatt Mus-cat, the ambassador of Thailand is set to feature at the Marjan restau-rant on December 1.

Earlier this month, the hotel launched a culinary series of am-bassador guest chefs which began with Ambassador Greta C. Holtz presenting an all-American even-ing of grilled fare at the Safari Rooftop Grill House which was an immense success.

The second event will feature Ambassador Pornchai Danvi-vathana presenting ‘Discover Thailand’ on Tuesday.

‘Discover Thailand’ will run for three days, from December 1 to 3 December and will also feature renowned guest chef Supattra Boonsrang who will be joining the culinary festival from Park Hyatt Dubai’s The Thai Kitchen.

Oman Air is also a partner for the three-day Thai festival and generously agreed to sponsor two

return flights to Bangkok. The winners will be announced to-wards the end of the night.

‘Discover Thailand’ will feature specialty Thai dishes served a la carte with Ambassador Pornchai heading the kitchen alongside chef Supattra on the opening night. He will demonstrate a signature Thai dish, giving guests the opportunity to experience food prepared exclu-

sively by him. Ambassador Porn-chai said, “We invite everyone to join us at the Hyatt for a truly Thai experience. I look forward to presenting some of Thailand’s most popular dishes on the 1st of December and hope the hotel’s guests will have the opportunity to experience authentic Thai cuisine throughout the festival which will run until the 3rd of December.”

‘ D I S C O V E R T H A I L A N D ’

AUTHENTIC FOOD: Ambassador Pornchai Danvivathana.

YOUNG GRADUATES: The Sultan Qaboos University graduation ceremony for this year coincides with the 45th National Day celebrations. – ONA

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OMANM O N DAY, N OV E M B E R 3 0, 2 0 1 5

Oman Air is focused on ensuring reliability of our service

and so I am delighted that we have achieved such great

steps in enhancing our Business Continuity arrangements

Paul Gregorowitsch, Oman Air’s CEO

SAYYID SHIHAB TO TAKE PART IN CLIMATE SUMMITAssigned by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, His Highness Sayyid Shihab bin Tariq

Al Said arrived on Saturday in France to represent the Sultanate at the 21st International

Conference on Climate. The conference will be held in Paris from November 30 to Decem-

ber 11. -Salim al Hashli

Ensuring reliable service our focus, Oman Air CEO

Times News Service

MUSCAT: An award function was held at Golden Tulip Hotel Seeb recently in recognition of the commendable efforts of the 65-strong core team of Oman Air

Business Continuity personnel. The function was held under

the patronage of Mohsin bin Khamis Al Balushi, advisor Min-istry of Commerce & Industry, board member of Oman Air and in the presence of other dignitaries.

Lauding the great achieve-ments of the staff, Oman Air’s CEO, Paul Gregorowitsch, said: “Oman Air is focused on ensur-ing reliability of our service and so I am delighted that we have achieved such great steps in en-hancing our Business Continu-ity arrangements. Not only is this very valuable to Oman Air, but it provides a significant contribu-tion to wider resilience in Oman, an important reflection of our responsibility as the national car-rier “to become the best”.

“Oman Air has embarked upon this initiative to strengthen its ability to manage serious disrup-tions,’’ said Dr Khalid Abdul Wa-hab Al Balushi Senior Manager Government Relations & Sus-

tainability, who is also a certified lead auditor in Business Continu-ity Planning.

This pioneering Business Con-tinuity project involved a team undergoing training as Business Continuity Co-coordinators, be-sides the formulation and testing of comprehensive plans, designed to deal with a range of scenarios.

Expertise of consultantsThe project has drawn upon the expertise of consultants from the UK Cabinet Office’s Emergency Planning College (EPC).

Dr Mark Clegg, the EPC’s Head of Programmes and one of their senior consultants, Ms Charlotte Hems, have been working along-side the Oman Air personnel since August. There is always a per-manent and continuous follow-up with the employees who have been trained in order to make them aware of all the develop-ments in this sector, which is one of the basic pillars of this project.

The Business

Continuity project

involved the

training of a team of

Business Continuity

co-coordinators

and the testing of

comprehensive plans

HONOUR: An award function was held at Golden Tulip Hotel at Seeb recently in recognition of the

commendable efforts of the core team of Oman Air Business Continuity personnel. -Supplied photo

‘All transactions to be recorded’

Explaining how the new system can benefit all parties in the real estate sector, Juma noted that the system provides a bank of data where clients, brokers and all stakeholders can have access to the standards, procedures and documentation related to the real estate sector.

“We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the MoH, the Supreme Council for Plan-ning, and Ministry of Man-power for their support, which led us to where we are today, ” Juma added.

Further, according to Juma, this platform connects all registered companies and brokers under the MoH database, as all transactions will now be recorded.

Juma expects that the central system will help to better regu-late the market in the near future, as each property will be simul-taneously listed under a specific number of companies.

“This seems to be limiting a

property from being marketed properly, however, the system exposes real estate to many po-tential clients through the cyber world, which ultimately helps connect stakeholders and protect properties,” Juma added.

He said that this system will also help control the number of brokers, which will eventually provide better quality services, in addition to reducing the work load and waiting hours for the MoH employees.

Juma said he hopes this sys-tem will soon include rankings of each company based on the number of successful transac-tions made by each employee, so investors can choose their top se-lection accordingly.

B R O K E R S

Expatriates’ number has increased

According to Shameer, the Mus-cat facility was set up decades ago when the expatriates’ popu-lation was too low.

At present, the number of expatriates in Muscat itself is pegged at 828,510.

“Now, the number of expa-triates has hugely increased. So, we plead that the facil-ity should also be expanded,” Shameer added.

The other full-fledged em-balming centre is in Salalah.

On an average, between 500 and 600 Indians pass away in Oman every year. Indians form the largest expatriate commu-nity in the country.

“The government’s decision to have a dedicated department in the new hospital for embalm-ing and other procedures is a welcome move. Moreover, if the facilities are extended to other regional hospitals, then it would be a great move,” an official from the Bangladesh embassy said.

The official also added that the number of Bangladeshis dy-ing in Oman would be between 500 and 600 every year.

“To repatriate a body, em-balming is unavoidable. So, eventually, shortage of this fa-cility delays the procedures. We have pleaded with the embas-sies and the police department to consider our request and expand the facility to other hos-pitals, too,” Mohammed Sanual-lah, a Bangladeshi social worker in Muscat, said.

Bangladeshi community is the second largest expatriate community in Oman.

There are 1,888,479 expatri-ates in Oman.

E M B A L M I N G

< FROM

A1 < FROM

A1

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

MUSCAT: National Ferries Company (NFC) will undertake 67 trips during the National Day holiday from December 2 to December 5 for the tourists who want to spend the holidays in tourist places served by NFC in the various governorates of the Sultanate.

The company said that the increase in the number of trips in the holiday period comes as an extension of NFC operating policy aiming to meet the grow-ing demand from travellers and travel market, to support tour-ism and for the convenience of citizens who want visit family in the various governorates of the Sultanate. -ONA

N A T I O N A L D A Y H O L I D A Y

More trips to meet demand of tourists

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REGIONM O N DAY, N OV E M B E R 3 0, 2 0 1 5

Almost daily Palestinian stabbings, car rammings and shootings

have killed 19 Israelis and one US citizen since October 1. Israeli

forces have killed 94 Palestinians, many of whom were carrying

out assaults and others in clashes with police and troops

Germany to send soldiers to help fight ISFRANKFURT: Germany could send 1,200 soldiers to the Mid-dle East by the end of the year to support a coalition battling IS, Germany’s top defence official told a newspaper on Sunday as his minister backed an international alliance against the group.

Chancellor Angela Merkel promised to support the offen-sive against IS during talks with French President Francois Hol-lande, who called for more coun-tries to help fight the militants after the November 13 attacks in Paris. Germany’s defence minis-ter Ursula von der Leyen called for the alliance for a limited time to combat the militants in a com-mentary in an advance copy of the Bild newspaper due out on

Monday. She said the aim of what she called a “special purpose” al-liance was to “weaken ISIS, to limit its freedom for manoeuvre, to destroy its training camps, to win back city by city, destroy its

oil revenue and break the aura of invincibility”.

Germany’s troops plan, which still needs approval from parlia-ment and was outlined by Ger-many’s Chief of Defence Volker

Wieker in Bild am Sonntag, does not include direct involvement in the coalition’s air offensive.

Under the plan, a German frig-ate would accompany France’s Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, Wieker said in the interview. Ger-man planes would refuel the jets of the coalition as well as take photo-graphs in the region. “From a mili-tary point of view for the servic-ing of the planes and ships, about 1,200 soldiers would be necessary,” Wieker told the newspaper.

He said he hoped to obtain the necessary mandate by the end of the year. Wieker also said Germa-ny was in talks with Jordan and Turkey about stationing Tornado aircraft for reconnaissance in the region. — Reuters

S U P P O R T R O L E

Palestinian shot by Israeli police

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli border police shot dead a Palestinian who stabbed an of-ficer in occupied Jerusalem on Sunday, a police spokesman said, the latest attack in a two-month wave of violence.

Near a main gate of occupied Jerusalem’s walled Old City, the Palestinian pulled out a knife and stabbed a border policeman in the neck, moderately wounding him, before being shot by officers, the spokesman said.

Almost daily Palestinian stab-bings, car rammings and shoot-ings have killed 19 Israelis and one US citizen since October 1. Israeli forces have killed 94 Pal-estinians, many of whom were carrying out assaults and others in clashes with police and troops. Many of those killed have been teenagers. Palestinian allega-tions that Israel is trying to alter the religious status quo at a oc-cupied Jerusalem holy site has partly fueled the violence. Non-

Muslim prayer is banned around Al Aqsa and Israel has said it will not change that. But more visits in recent years by Jewish activists and ultra-nationalist Israeli poli-ticians to the complex have done little to convince Palestinians.

ConfiscatedOvernight in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, Israeli forces shut down and confiscated equip-ment from a Palestinian radio station, the third in recent weeks, that the military said has repeat-edly broadcast material which “promotes and encourages terror and acts of violence against Israe-li civilians and security forces”.

The station owner, Talab Al Jabar, told Reuters that the broadcaster, called Dream, was not inciting, rather reporting on events. “I can tell you that Dream radio will be back on air very soon and it will be strong-er,” he said. — Reuters

The Palestinian pulled out a knife and

stabbed an Israeli border policeman in the

neck, moderately wounding him, before

being shot by officers

KEEPING PROMISE: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, chats

with Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen in Berlin. – AFP

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OPTICS & EYECARE

SHAHZAD RAZAshahzad@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Daylight is one of the biggest blessings to enjoy life, but only in perfect proportion. In coun-tries like Oman the daylight is too bright for your eyes’ comfort and that calls for the need to take pre-cautions to protect our vision. The issue is compounded by a combina-tion of factors like ignorance and carelessness, which in some cases, result in serious damage, and even injuries, to our eyes. Experts advise taking strict precautions against ultraviolet (UV) radiation and sun-light is the major source of UV rays.

“Wearing sunglasses is an ab-solute must to protect your eyes before going out in bright daylight. These glasses will not only protect your eyes from harmful UV rays but from dust too, which is another main source of eye diseases,” said Dr Khurram Shehzad, an eye special-ist working with Ministry of Health since 1991. Currently, he is serv-ing at Al Nahda Hospital. Vision-related problems are quite com-mon in Oman and the country has advanced eyecare facilities at both government and private hospitals.

“We treat a lot of patients with a multitude of diseases and condi-tions on a daily basis and most of these cases are ignited by either ig-norance or plain carelessness. Peo-ple in Oman tend to take their eyes for granted and that is why the use of sunglasses or eyeglasses is not very high here, specially among those above 50. We have treated many drivers who do not wear eyeglasses despite having a weak eyesight,” added Dr Khurram. Suggesting nec-essary precautions, the doctor said maintaining good eye health was key to enjoying perfect vision.

“Apart from wearing sunglasses, eating food good for healthy eyes was equally important. Diet rich in Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins C and E could help in prevention of age-related vision problems. Regu-larly washing your eyes, using safety eyewear by those working in haz-ardous conditions, avoiding staring at computer screens for too long and regular eye check-up by a specialist

are some of the other tips to main-taining healthy eyes,” he explained.

The doctor advised the parents to ensure their children had regular eye check-ups in school age.

“Children may not always be able to notice changes in their vision. Some children develop squint in their eyes, which takes place due to imbalance in the muscles of their eyes. However, regular visits to an optometrist may help in early detection of even mild diseases which, if left untreated for long, may develop into a serious medical problem later,” he added.

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Choosing good sunglasses is as important as deciding to wear them in the first place. Pay attention to certain things while buy-ing the goggles to make the best use of your hard-earned money for protecting your assets. Here are Our tips to help you make the right choice:

Perfect fit: Wear it many times before you pay to ensure it fits perfectly on you. Ill-fit-ting sunglasses will not be able to stop UV rays from filtering into your eyes or skin.

Quality of lens: Read labels and ask questions to know your sunglasses provide enough protection against UV rays. In an age of gadgets, you’ll use

them no matter where you are. Wear your sunglasses in dif-ferent shades of light to ensure they don’t hinder your vision viewing screens.

Colour and type: Dark colour sunglasses may not always mean they will be your best protection against UV light. Read again and try different colours to see which

one serves you the best. The best sunglasses control the amount of UV light reaching your eyes. Now, should you go for the shatterproof glass? Or some plastic material? Well, it’s mostly a matter of personal choice, but wearing them will help you make the right deci-sion. You don’t want to wear something on your face that weighs heavier than desired.

PICK THE RIGHT SUNGLASSES FOR YOU

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Driven by the foremost need to achieve customer satisfac-tion, the Dar Optics Group has set a distinct example in the market of being a superior seller of eye care products. The Dar Optics Group was established in 1992, and is a clas-sic example of how entrepreneurial skills and customer orientation can help find success in one of the most rapidly growing markets in the world. It is supported by well trained professionals and serves a stable customer segment.

Vision It started with a vision to reach out to customers far and wide with su-perior eye care solutions. Today, as a multinational optical store chain across the Gulf, Dar Optics has lived up to the vision and even beyond.

“Aiming to serve the expanding customer needs, we satisfy their widely diverse tastes and prefer-ences with a continuously updated range of the world’s leading brands. Identifying the fast emerging mar-kets in the region, our calculated growth plan has enabled us to ex-tend our chain of outlets from the UAE to Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Canada and India. Our vi-sion and values have endeared us to our customer, whose faith and con-fidence has seen us stride ahead to success. Their trust and support is our greatest asset and inspiration for progressing into a more promis-ing future,” said a company official.

Mission

Dar Optics’ philosophy is centred around its customers. Every idea and activity is based around the fac-tor of customer satisfaction and its endeavour is to exceed customer’s expectations.

The Dar assurance

“We take pride in our reputation for quality, service and competitive prices. At every level of function, we make sure we offer our custom-ers only the best quality products. We add value by offering personal-

ized services at a cost that cannot be challenged. Your trust and pa-tronage have fuelled our phenom-enal growth over the years. We will strive to express our gratitude by enhancing the level of our service as we grow. This is Dar’s assurance for you,” he added.

Our focusThe wide brand of choices offered enables the customer to access the best alternatives for their eye care needs, fitting their tastes and budget, and Dar Optics brings them under one convenient roof, with the world’s most sought-after names in sunglasses, spectacle frames, lenses and accessories. A whole world of contact lens choices is available at its unique Contact Lens Centre.

Extensive branch network: Outlets across the region have built up customer confidence and loyalty, enabling them to get the best advan-tage without having to go far. Dar Optics has tied up with the region’s leading retail chains for faster ex-pansion.

Fair Prices: The magnitude of its business and, subsequently the economy of scale enables Dar Optics to extend the best price advantage to its customers. In addition to low prices, it also pursues frequent pro-motional programs with price-offs, premiums and prizes to enhance the customers shopping power. Nobody else can offer such value addition.

ServicesDar Optics’ success can be traced back to a strategic business vision, an excellent teamwork and amazing capability to adapt to market trends. In addition to this, there is an insist-ence on quality merchandise and total customer care.

Eye Exam: Dar Optics wants the family to see the world clearly. That is why it offers the latest in eye exam technology and highly skilled professionals for an eye exam. It believes that vision correction and healthy eyes can lead to better learning, more productivity and an improved lifestyle.

Contact lens fitting: Dar Optics offers more in-depth eye exams for contact lens wearers. “Not only do we suggest the right contact lenses to fit your lifestyle and preferences, we also offer professional advice and make sure that your eyes will stay healthy and perform at their best.”

Vision Screening: Dar Optics offers vision screening to conduct eye consultations in the comfort of your institution, with the help of its skilled eye professionals. This program is carried out at schools, universities, public and private companies.

Laboratory: “At Dar Optics, we make sure that one’s prescriptions are prepared with the utmost care and quality. Our workshops have the latest lens fitting equipment operated by our trained and skilled laboratory technicians. You are as-sured to get the best fitting faster if your ophthalmic lenses information is available,” said a company official.

Ophthalmic Lenses: The Dar Optics portfolio of ophthalmic lenses has redefined brand recogni-tion and value. This includes prod-ucts from Essilor, Rodenstock and Egma. These brands answer cus-tomer’s demand for eyewear that is comfortable, attractive, durable and lightweight.

Dar Optics offers customers plenty of choice, satisfaction

Diabetes, the worst enemy of your eyesO N E - S T O P S H O PH E A L T H C A R E

DR RUBY MISHRA

MUSCAT: Diabetes is a very com-mon disease which, over time, can lead to a host of complications affecting almost all of the body’s organs. One such complication is diabetic eye disease, which com-prises a group of serious eye prob-lems capable of causing severe vi-sion loss and even blindness. These complications can cause Diabetic Retinopathy, cataracts (clouding of eye lens) and glaucoma (high in-traocular pressure).

What is the retina?The retina is a nerve layer at the back of the eye that assists in send-ing images to your brain. When blood vessels in the retina are dam-aged they may leak fluid or blood and grow fragile, brush like branch-es and scar retinal tissue. This can blur the images that the retina sends to the brain.

Diabetic Retinopathy is the pro-gressive damage of retinal vessels and is one of the most common and serious complications affect-ing some 80 percent of all long term diabetic patients.

Who is at risk?Almost 80 percent of all long-term diabetic patients develop this disease.Women with diabetes become es-pecially prone during pregnancy.Those who develop diabetes ear-ly in life, or have high blood pres-sure or kidney damage.People of African, Mexican an-dAmerican descent.Some research shows that South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis andSri Lankans) have four to five times’ greater risks of developing diabetes than people from European commu-nities.

SymptomsDiabetic Retinopathy often is symptom-free during its initial stages, goingunnoticed for ex-tended periods of time. Once it advances, peoplemay notice visual changes, such as blurred vision, sudden loss in vision in one or both eyes, changes in vision throughout

the day, black spots,flashing lights and difficulty reading or seeing de-tailed work.

PreventionAs people may not be aware that there is anything wrong with their eyes until it is too late, having a reg-ular retinal screening is essential. Research shows that if retinopathy is identified early through retinal screenings, and treated appropri-ately, blindness can be prevented in 90 percent of those at risk.

Controllable factorsControlling blood sugar(glucose

levels)Carefully controlling blood

pressure.Controlling cholesterol levels.Keeping fit, maintaining a

healthy weight and giving up smoking are all part of controlling diabetes. Nerve damage, kidney and cardiovascular disease are more likely among smokers who have diabetes.Smoking increases blood pressure and raises blood sugar levels, which makes it hard-er to control diabetes. A diabetic clinic can offer information and support on living with diabetes

The most effectiveaction to prevent sight loss due to diabetic retinopathy is to schedule retinal screenings.

Early detection and treatment

can help to prevent sight loss.Uncontrollable factorsThe length of time a person has

had diabetes.This is a major risk for developing diabetic retinopathy.

A person’s age affects the pro-gression of diabetic retinopathy.

A person’s ethnicity.

DiagnosisThe best protection against dia-betic retinopathy is an examina-tion by an ophthalmologist.

During a screening for diabetic retinopathy, an ophthalmologist looks into a patient’s eyes through an instrument called an ophthal-moscope. The pupils may need dilation.

If an ophthalmologist discovers diabetic retinopathy, a special test, called fluorescein angiography, may be performed.

Fluorescein angiography is a test in which dye is injected into the body through an arm and pic-tures of the eye are taken at vari-able intervals.

TreatmentAn ophthalmologist will consider the age, medical history, lifestyle and damage to the patient’sretina.In many cases, treatment is not re-quired, but patients need to sched-ule regular eye exams. In other cases, treatment is required to stop

further progression of the disease and improve vision, whenever pos-sible.

Laser treatmentLaser treatments are performedto seal leaking blood vessels and con-trol swelling under the macula, while preventing the growth of new blood vessels.

This procedure is performed in a doctor’s office or eye clinic and only takes a few minutes. To control swelling of the retina, short bursts of laser are aimed directly at leak-ing blood vessels.This procedure is known as focal laser therapy. When the likelihood of blindness is high,scatter laser therapy is used to control the widespread growth of abnormal blood vessels; rather than hitting just one spot, the laser beam makes hundred of tiny burns over the retina surface. During this procedure, some side vision is sac-rificed to save a patient’s central vision.

Timely laser treatments can sta-bilise vision, but cannot restore lost sight or repair a damaged retina.

Vitrectomy is a procedure in which surgeon removes blood vit-reous from the eye and replaces it with a clear solution.Early vitrec-tomy is especially important for people who are likely to go blind as a result of large amount of blood leaking into the eye cavity.

Injections in eyesIf a central part of the retina is af-fected and vision becomes blurred, then anti-vegf injections are given in the eyes. The number of injec-tions and the interval between them depends on the severity of maculopathy and restoration of vi-sion following injections.

However, these treatments do notcure retinopathy, they only help indelaying the progression and complications of retinopathy

Patients cannot always prevent diabetic retinopathy. However, reg-ular eye exams, controlling blood sugar levels and blood pressure, and early intervention for vision problems can prevent severe vi-sion loss. — (Dr Ruby is an ophthal-mologist with International Medical Center – Sugar Apollo in Hamriya).

Picture of normal retina Picture of retina with diabetes

Tips on how to protect your eyes

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OPTICS & EYECARE

SHAHZAD RAZAshahzad@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Daylight is one of the biggest blessings to enjoy life, but only in perfect proportion. In coun-tries like Oman the daylight is too bright for your eyes’ comfort and that calls for the need to take pre-cautions to protect our vision. The issue is compounded by a combina-tion of factors like ignorance and carelessness, which in some cases, result in serious damage, and even injuries, to our eyes. Experts advise taking strict precautions against ultraviolet (UV) radiation and sun-light is the major source of UV rays.

“Wearing sunglasses is an ab-solute must to protect your eyes before going out in bright daylight. These glasses will not only protect your eyes from harmful UV rays but from dust too, which is another main source of eye diseases,” said Dr Khurram Shehzad, an eye special-ist working with Ministry of Health since 1991. Currently, he is serv-ing at Al Nahda Hospital. Vision-related problems are quite com-mon in Oman and the country has advanced eyecare facilities at both government and private hospitals.

“We treat a lot of patients with a multitude of diseases and condi-tions on a daily basis and most of these cases are ignited by either ig-norance or plain carelessness. Peo-ple in Oman tend to take their eyes for granted and that is why the use of sunglasses or eyeglasses is not very high here, specially among those above 50. We have treated many drivers who do not wear eyeglasses despite having a weak eyesight,” added Dr Khurram. Suggesting nec-essary precautions, the doctor said maintaining good eye health was key to enjoying perfect vision.

“Apart from wearing sunglasses, eating food good for healthy eyes was equally important. Diet rich in Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins C and E could help in prevention of age-related vision problems. Regu-larly washing your eyes, using safety eyewear by those working in haz-ardous conditions, avoiding staring at computer screens for too long and regular eye check-up by a specialist

are some of the other tips to main-taining healthy eyes,” he explained.

The doctor advised the parents to ensure their children had regular eye check-ups in school age.

“Children may not always be able to notice changes in their vision. Some children develop squint in their eyes, which takes place due to imbalance in the muscles of their eyes. However, regular visits to an optometrist may help in early detection of even mild diseases which, if left untreated for long, may develop into a serious medical problem later,” he added.

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Choosing good sunglasses is as important as deciding to wear them in the first place. Pay attention to certain things while buy-ing the goggles to make the best use of your hard-earned money for protecting your assets. Here are Our tips to help you make the right choice:

Perfect fit: Wear it many times before you pay to ensure it fits perfectly on you. Ill-fit-ting sunglasses will not be able to stop UV rays from filtering into your eyes or skin.

Quality of lens: Read labels and ask questions to know your sunglasses provide enough protection against UV rays. In an age of gadgets, you’ll use

them no matter where you are. Wear your sunglasses in dif-ferent shades of light to ensure they don’t hinder your vision viewing screens.

Colour and type: Dark colour sunglasses may not always mean they will be your best protection against UV light. Read again and try different colours to see which

one serves you the best. The best sunglasses control the amount of UV light reaching your eyes. Now, should you go for the shatterproof glass? Or some plastic material? Well, it’s mostly a matter of personal choice, but wearing them will help you make the right deci-sion. You don’t want to wear something on your face that weighs heavier than desired.

PICK THE RIGHT SUNGLASSES FOR YOU

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Driven by the foremost need to achieve customer satisfac-tion, the Dar Optics Group has set a distinct example in the market of being a superior seller of eye care products. The Dar Optics Group was established in 1992, and is a clas-sic example of how entrepreneurial skills and customer orientation can help find success in one of the most rapidly growing markets in the world. It is supported by well trained professionals and serves a stable customer segment.

Vision It started with a vision to reach out to customers far and wide with su-perior eye care solutions. Today, as a multinational optical store chain across the Gulf, Dar Optics has lived up to the vision and even beyond.

“Aiming to serve the expanding customer needs, we satisfy their widely diverse tastes and prefer-ences with a continuously updated range of the world’s leading brands. Identifying the fast emerging mar-kets in the region, our calculated growth plan has enabled us to ex-tend our chain of outlets from the UAE to Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Canada and India. Our vi-sion and values have endeared us to our customer, whose faith and con-fidence has seen us stride ahead to success. Their trust and support is our greatest asset and inspiration for progressing into a more promis-ing future,” said a company official.

Mission

Dar Optics’ philosophy is centred around its customers. Every idea and activity is based around the fac-tor of customer satisfaction and its endeavour is to exceed customer’s expectations.

The Dar assurance

“We take pride in our reputation for quality, service and competitive prices. At every level of function, we make sure we offer our custom-ers only the best quality products. We add value by offering personal-

ized services at a cost that cannot be challenged. Your trust and pa-tronage have fuelled our phenom-enal growth over the years. We will strive to express our gratitude by enhancing the level of our service as we grow. This is Dar’s assurance for you,” he added.

Our focusThe wide brand of choices offered enables the customer to access the best alternatives for their eye care needs, fitting their tastes and budget, and Dar Optics brings them under one convenient roof, with the world’s most sought-after names in sunglasses, spectacle frames, lenses and accessories. A whole world of contact lens choices is available at its unique Contact Lens Centre.

Extensive branch network: Outlets across the region have built up customer confidence and loyalty, enabling them to get the best advan-tage without having to go far. Dar Optics has tied up with the region’s leading retail chains for faster ex-pansion.

Fair Prices: The magnitude of its business and, subsequently the economy of scale enables Dar Optics to extend the best price advantage to its customers. In addition to low prices, it also pursues frequent pro-motional programs with price-offs, premiums and prizes to enhance the customers shopping power. Nobody else can offer such value addition.

ServicesDar Optics’ success can be traced back to a strategic business vision, an excellent teamwork and amazing capability to adapt to market trends. In addition to this, there is an insist-ence on quality merchandise and total customer care.

Eye Exam: Dar Optics wants the family to see the world clearly. That is why it offers the latest in eye exam technology and highly skilled professionals for an eye exam. It believes that vision correction and healthy eyes can lead to better learning, more productivity and an improved lifestyle.

Contact lens fitting: Dar Optics offers more in-depth eye exams for contact lens wearers. “Not only do we suggest the right contact lenses to fit your lifestyle and preferences, we also offer professional advice and make sure that your eyes will stay healthy and perform at their best.”

Vision Screening: Dar Optics offers vision screening to conduct eye consultations in the comfort of your institution, with the help of its skilled eye professionals. This program is carried out at schools, universities, public and private companies.

Laboratory: “At Dar Optics, we make sure that one’s prescriptions are prepared with the utmost care and quality. Our workshops have the latest lens fitting equipment operated by our trained and skilled laboratory technicians. You are as-sured to get the best fitting faster if your ophthalmic lenses information is available,” said a company official.

Ophthalmic Lenses: The Dar Optics portfolio of ophthalmic lenses has redefined brand recogni-tion and value. This includes prod-ucts from Essilor, Rodenstock and Egma. These brands answer cus-tomer’s demand for eyewear that is comfortable, attractive, durable and lightweight.

Dar Optics offers customers plenty of choice, satisfaction

Diabetes, the worst enemy of your eyesO N E - S T O P S H O PH E A L T H C A R E

DR RUBY MISHRA

MUSCAT: Diabetes is a very com-mon disease which, over time, can lead to a host of complications affecting almost all of the body’s organs. One such complication is diabetic eye disease, which com-prises a group of serious eye prob-lems capable of causing severe vi-sion loss and even blindness. These complications can cause Diabetic Retinopathy, cataracts (clouding of eye lens) and glaucoma (high in-traocular pressure).

What is the retina?The retina is a nerve layer at the back of the eye that assists in send-ing images to your brain. When blood vessels in the retina are dam-aged they may leak fluid or blood and grow fragile, brush like branch-es and scar retinal tissue. This can blur the images that the retina sends to the brain.

Diabetic Retinopathy is the pro-gressive damage of retinal vessels and is one of the most common and serious complications affect-ing some 80 percent of all long term diabetic patients.

Who is at risk?Almost 80 percent of all long-term diabetic patients develop this disease.Women with diabetes become es-pecially prone during pregnancy.Those who develop diabetes ear-ly in life, or have high blood pres-sure or kidney damage.People of African, Mexican an-dAmerican descent.Some research shows that South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis andSri Lankans) have four to five times’ greater risks of developing diabetes than people from European commu-nities.

SymptomsDiabetic Retinopathy often is symptom-free during its initial stages, goingunnoticed for ex-tended periods of time. Once it advances, peoplemay notice visual changes, such as blurred vision, sudden loss in vision in one or both eyes, changes in vision throughout

the day, black spots,flashing lights and difficulty reading or seeing de-tailed work.

PreventionAs people may not be aware that there is anything wrong with their eyes until it is too late, having a reg-ular retinal screening is essential. Research shows that if retinopathy is identified early through retinal screenings, and treated appropri-ately, blindness can be prevented in 90 percent of those at risk.

Controllable factorsControlling blood sugar(glucose

levels)Carefully controlling blood

pressure.Controlling cholesterol levels.Keeping fit, maintaining a

healthy weight and giving up smoking are all part of controlling diabetes. Nerve damage, kidney and cardiovascular disease are more likely among smokers who have diabetes.Smoking increases blood pressure and raises blood sugar levels, which makes it hard-er to control diabetes. A diabetic clinic can offer information and support on living with diabetes

The most effectiveaction to prevent sight loss due to diabetic retinopathy is to schedule retinal screenings.

Early detection and treatment

can help to prevent sight loss.Uncontrollable factorsThe length of time a person has

had diabetes.This is a major risk for developing diabetic retinopathy.

A person’s age affects the pro-gression of diabetic retinopathy.

A person’s ethnicity.

DiagnosisThe best protection against dia-betic retinopathy is an examina-tion by an ophthalmologist.

During a screening for diabetic retinopathy, an ophthalmologist looks into a patient’s eyes through an instrument called an ophthal-moscope. The pupils may need dilation.

If an ophthalmologist discovers diabetic retinopathy, a special test, called fluorescein angiography, may be performed.

Fluorescein angiography is a test in which dye is injected into the body through an arm and pic-tures of the eye are taken at vari-able intervals.

TreatmentAn ophthalmologist will consider the age, medical history, lifestyle and damage to the patient’sretina.In many cases, treatment is not re-quired, but patients need to sched-ule regular eye exams. In other cases, treatment is required to stop

further progression of the disease and improve vision, whenever pos-sible.

Laser treatmentLaser treatments are performedto seal leaking blood vessels and con-trol swelling under the macula, while preventing the growth of new blood vessels.

This procedure is performed in a doctor’s office or eye clinic and only takes a few minutes. To control swelling of the retina, short bursts of laser are aimed directly at leak-ing blood vessels.This procedure is known as focal laser therapy. When the likelihood of blindness is high,scatter laser therapy is used to control the widespread growth of abnormal blood vessels; rather than hitting just one spot, the laser beam makes hundred of tiny burns over the retina surface. During this procedure, some side vision is sac-rificed to save a patient’s central vision.

Timely laser treatments can sta-bilise vision, but cannot restore lost sight or repair a damaged retina.

Vitrectomy is a procedure in which surgeon removes blood vit-reous from the eye and replaces it with a clear solution.Early vitrec-tomy is especially important for people who are likely to go blind as a result of large amount of blood leaking into the eye cavity.

Injections in eyesIf a central part of the retina is af-fected and vision becomes blurred, then anti-vegf injections are given in the eyes. The number of injec-tions and the interval between them depends on the severity of maculopathy and restoration of vi-sion following injections.

However, these treatments do notcure retinopathy, they only help indelaying the progression and complications of retinopathy

Patients cannot always prevent diabetic retinopathy. However, reg-ular eye exams, controlling blood sugar levels and blood pressure, and early intervention for vision problems can prevent severe vi-sion loss. — (Dr Ruby is an ophthal-mologist with International Medical Center – Sugar Apollo in Hamriya).

Picture of normal retina Picture of retina with diabetes

Tips on how to protect your eyes

A10

INDIA M O N DAY, N OV E M B E R 3 0, 2 0 1 5

Government ready for discussion on issue of intolerance: Minister

VISAKHAPATNAM: At a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has struck a conciliatory note with opposition, Union Min-ister Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said the Centre was ready to dis-cuss the issue of intolerance in the ongoing session of Parliament if Opposition allows the House to function.

Naidu also alleged that Opposi-tion parties and some “pseudo-intellectuals” are “exaggerating” stray incidents that happened in states being “ruled by the Congress and their friends” with an aim to “tarnish” India’s image amid ef-forts to secure a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

“The BJP government is ready to discuss (the issue of ) intoler-ance if opposition shows tolerance and allows the House to function. Some of the so-called intelligent-

sia are worried that they are losing their grip over cultural and literary organisations,” the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said, adding the protests on the issue are being “manufactured”.

“Entire campaign on intoler-ance is nothing but part of a cam-paign to slander the democratical-ly-elected government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Political reasonsThose who could not defeat Modi in polls have launched the disin-formation campaign for political reasons,” he said.

Naidu said the Opposition and so-called intelligentsia are hurt-ing the interests of the country by “blowing the issue out of propor-

tion”. “They are thinking that they are hurting the Prime Minister and BJP, but they are hurting the interests of the country and they should understand that.

“They are using stray incidents of intolerance to portray it as a general condition...such incidents have been occurring in all coun-tries,” Naidu told reporters. The senior BJP leader also dismissed the protest by various celebrities who have returned their awards citing “growing intolerance” in the country.

“Out of 1,100-odd award win-ners, some 42 people have re-turned their awards and these people are trying to say that every awardee has returned the award, which is untrue.

“Where were these award win-ners when Emergency was im-posed, when Sikhs were massa-cred and when lakhs of Kashmiri Pandits were shunted out of Kash-mir...why they didn’t return their awards then?” Naidu asked.

Amid a raging debate over ‘in-tolerance’, Modi had asserted in Parliament during the ongoing Winter Session that the religion of government was “India first” and the Constitution its “holy book”.

The Prime Minister had also reached out to Opposition by meeting his predecessor Manmo-han Singh and Congress chief So-nia Gandhi at his residence to end the impasse on the controversial Goods and Services Tax Bill that has been hanging fire for long. - PTI

Amid the debate

over ‘intolerance’,

Modi had asserted in

the ongoing Winter

Session of Parliament

that the religion of

government was

‘India first’ and

the Constitution

its ‘holy book’

Out of 1,100-odd award winners, some 42 people have returned their awards and these people are trying to say that every awardee has returned the award, which is untrue

Venkaiah NaiduUnion minister

NEW DELHI: Congress leader P. Chidambaram’s ad-mission that the Rajiv Gandhi government’s decision to ban Salman Rushdie’s novel was wrong on Sunday found support from independent voices, while BJP wondered why it took him 27 years to say so and advised the opposi-tion party to be a “little tolerant”.

“The question arises that after close to nearly three decades why was there a need to do so (to admit the mistake). If it is reflective of Congress’ thinking, then one needs to see it in a larger perspective and everyone, which includes Congress par-ticularly, needs to be a little tolerant,” BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said.

He, however, said cau-tion needed to be exercised by all as “Constitution puts reasonable restrictions on the freedom of expression”.

Noted author Amitav Ghosh said he was glad that Chidambaram, who was Minister of State for Home in the Rajiv Gandhi govern-ment when it had banned Rushdie’s book in October 1988, accepted that it was a wrong decision. Lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan said he agreed with Chidam-

baram entirely. “These kinds of books are literary pieces and in my view there is no occasion to ban such book,” he said. Congress leader Manish Tewari said Chidam-baram was absolutely correct and that time had come for the country to move beyond proscribing books and other creative material. “We need to create tolerant ethos in this country,”he said.

“I have no hesitation in saying that the ban on Salman Rushdie’s book was wrong,” Chidambaram had said on Saturday.

He had also said the Emer-gency imposed by Indira Gandhi was also wrong and that the late prime minister had herself admitted as much.

Meanwhile, Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen on Sunday advised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to “learn” from Con-gress leader P. Chidambaram and admit it was “wrong” to stop broadcast of a TV serial scripted by her after funda-mentalists objected to it.

“Mamata B should learn from Chidambaram and say banning Taslima’s TV drama series is wrong. She should lift the ban and let the TV to telecast the series,” Nasreen said in a tweet. - PTI

BJP asks Congress to be tolerant after Chidambaram’s remark

‘Don’t think freedom of expression has ever been so threatened’PANAJI: After superstars like Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan stirred the hornet’s nest with their comments on the growing intol-erance in the country, critically-acclaimed actress and filmmaker Nandita Das says curbs on freedom of expression are taking a “danger-ous” turn and speaking up against such issues is the only way out.

The actress shared that the country needs to stand up and take a stance to save the democ-racy from fading away in the swirl of protests.

“I don’t think freedom of expres-sion has ever been so threatened. It is something which is dangerous and the only way to counter it is to not be fearful. It is time to speak up and when there are more of us speaking up then nobody is isolat-ed,” Nandita said on the sidelines of Film Bazaar here.

“A lot of my friends are telling me not to say too much, they are scared for my life. Why do I need to feel scared to speak my mind? But this level of fear I have not seen be-fore and I think we all have to come together and save this democracy

that we have taken for granted,” she added.

A wave of dissent has seeped into the country with many people expressing their opinions on the “extreme intolerance” in the coun-try. After Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan ruffled feathers over his re-

marks that his wife Kiran Rao had discussed moving out of India in view of growing intolerance.

Taking notice of these contro-versies, Nandita is still hopeful for betterment as she feels that not everything is so grim and disap-pointing.

“We have to remember that there are a few people scream-ing out loud and they do not rep-resent the whole country. I think the country is still secular, I think most people would want peace and are happy to co-exist with others who maybe different from them in

some way or another,” she said.Nandita, who had faced protests

over her socially moving and bold films like Fire, asserts that the problem is not new, but has inten-sified with time.

Space for dissent“Sadly, we are self-censoring our-selves. In the last one year things have become much worse. When Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pan-sare and M. M. Kalburgi are mur-dered in cold blood for defending free speech and rational thinking, it is unbelievable,” she said.

The actress added that she feels “personally violated” when artists’ freedom of expression is curbed.

“I feel personally violated when M. F. Husain’s paintings are van-dalized or the Tamil writer Peru-mal Murugan’s book is banned.

“What is happening to this country? Every second day you are hearing something like this... Voices are being silenced. In a de-mocracy you have to have a space for dissent,” she said.

Nandita has travelled across the globe with her work both on and

off the silver screen.Her films like Earth and

Bawandar have been lauded at home turf as well as on the foreign shores. So how has the image of In-dia changed internationally with the protests?

“They are shocked because they think ours is a very pluralist and diverse society. While we are eco-nomically a developing country, culturally we are rich, but by being so conservative and intolerant, we are telling the world that we are regressing and not progressing,” said Nandita, who is busy with her next project based on the life of Pakistani short story writer Sadat Hassan Manto.

According to her, the focus should be on painting an honest, instead of a good picture on the global map.

“Every country has its good and bad, so we need to be more honest in the portrayal of our country. I too have had my share of attacks over time during the release of Fire, shooting of Water and the marketing of Firaaq,” Nandita as-serts. - IANS

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

CANDID: Nandita Das who had faced protests over her socially moving and bold films like Fire, as-serts that the problem is not new, but has intensified with time. - IANS

I don’t think freedom of expression has ever been so threatened. It is something which is dangerous and the only way to counter it is to not be fearful. It is time to speak up and when there are more of us speaking up then nobody is isolatedNandita Das, Actress and filmmaker

A11

INDIAM O N DAY, N OV E M B E R 3 0, 2 0 1 5

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Grand alliance government will not last long: PaswanPATNA: Lok Janshakti Party boss and Union Minister Ram-vilas Paswan on Sunday said the Grand Alliance (GA) will not take long to collapse due to “ego clash” between the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Janata Dal(United) result-ing in mid-term poll in Bihar.

“The GA government may have got a landslide mandate, but it will not last long due to ‘ego clash’ be-tween the RJD and the JD(U) and a mid-term poll will follow,” Pas-wan told reporters.

Asked what made him say so, the Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister said everyone knew of the contrasting styles of function-ing of the RJD and the JD(U) and the strain between them would soon be visible.

Paswan, who presided over a review meeting of the poor perfor-mance of his party LJP, a constitu-ent of the NDA, in the Bihar poll, in which it could win only two seats out of 41 it contested, said it was a wave in favour of the ruling alli-ance which tilted the balance.

The GA hugely benefitted from transfer of voters by the constitu-ent parties to each other’s candi-dates, though there was not a size-able difference in the votes polled by the rival alliances with the rul-ing coalition getting about 1.70 crore votes against the NDA’s 1.30 crore, the minister noted.

Paswan observed that cracks would soon appear in the alliance to negate all the gains it had made in the election. He also flayed the Nitish Kumar government for do-ing little for the welfare of the dalit people in Bihar through the past decade and asked it to make public the funds spent for the downtrod-den section from the composite funds and tribal sub-plan. - PTI

B I H A R Fight against climate change is responsibility of all: Modi

NEW DELHI: Preparing to at-tend the world meet on climate change in Paris on Monday, In-dian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said it is the re-sponsibility of all to ensure that the Earth’s temperature does not rise as global warming is already creating disasters like recent heavy rainfall in Chennai.

He asked the people to adopt energy conservation and energy efficiency measures like the maxi-mum use of solar-powered items.

In his monthly radio pro-gramme ‘Mann Ki Baat’, Modi re-called his proposal for setting up a SAARC disaster response mecha-nism and said the recently-held

‘table talk exercise and best prac-tices seminar’ in Delhi was a good beginning in this regard.

Natural disasters“We keep receiving news about the natural disasters from every corner of the world. Such are the tragedies which have never been heard earlier or imagined. We are now experiencing the impact of fast-changing climate.

“In our own country, massive rains recently hit Tamil Nadu and caused losses to it as well as other states. Several people lost their lives. I offer my condolences to them,” he said.

“The whole world is worried about climate change. There are discussions everywhere over it and concerns are being expressed.

There is acceptance for it (cli-mate change) as an index before any work is done. The tempera-ture of the Earth should not in-crease now. It is the responsibility and concern of all,” he said in his 20-minute programme.

His emphasis on the responsi-bility of all assumes significance as the developed world is placing greater onus on developing na-tions like India in the fight against climate change.

India has been maintaining that the developed countries have been the major polluters over cen-turies and should assume greater role in fighting global warming by funding and transferring low-cost technology to developing nations.

The Prime Minister asked peo-ple to adopt measures for energy

conservation and energy efficien-cy so that global warming is avoid-ed. The government is running a number of schemes, like LED bulbs, Modi said, asking people to take advantage of these.

Giving examples of how some common people are contributing in their own way, he cited the case of one Noor Jehan of Kanpur who is apparently not much educated but has set up a factory of solar ‘laltains’ (lamps). These ‘lalteins’ are rented out to about 500 house-holds for Rs100 each per month while the charging costs about Rs 3-4 daily, he said.

Hailing Noor Jehan, Modi said she is working as per the meaning of her name — ‘giving light to the world’. “Her work can be an inspi-ration for all those want to fight

climate change,” he added.While talking about Chen-

nai rains and the disaster caused there, Modi said while the state government is trying to tide over the situation, the Centre is work-ing shoulder-to-shoulder with it.

DamageA central team has gone to Tamil Nadu to assess the damage, he said while expressing confidence that the state will keep moving forward despite this crisis.

In the context of climate change, a caller from Jalandhar highlighted the problem of burn-ing of crop residue.

Responding to this, Modi said the problem was not confined to Punjab and Haryana but it was there all over the country as farm-ers find it to be the easiest way to dispose of the crop residue.

He asked farmers to have a re-think on this while telling them that the residue can be used as fer-tiliser as has been done by many from the agriculture community.

Modi noted that till about 15 years back, the natural disaster was seen only in the context of crop failure due to drought.

“But now its form has changed.We have to build capacities at

all levels. Civil society, citizens and small organisations will have to build scientific capacities.”

He recalled that after Nepal earthquake earlier this year, he had called up Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and pro-posed that all SAARC nations should have a joint exercise for disaster preparedness.

“I am happy that a ‘table talk ex-ercise and best practices’ seminar was held recently in Delhi. This is a good beginning,” the Prime Min-ister said. - PTI

In his monthly radio

programme ‘Mann Ki

Baat’, Modi recalled

his proposal for

setting up a SAARC

disaster response

mechanism and said

the recently-held

‘table talk exercise

and best practices

seminar’ in Delhi was

a good beginning

in this regard

India has been maintaining that the developed countries have been the major polluters over centuries and should assume greater role in fighting global warming by funding and transferring low-cost technology to developing nationsELATED: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a cheerful mood during

the Diwali Milan at BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Saturday. -PTI

‘Kalam wanted to quit after Bihar Assembly dissolution was quashed’BHUBANESWAR: A P J Abdul Kalam had thought of quitting as the President in 2005 after the Su-preme Court quashed the procla-mation dissolving Bihar Assembly, according to S. M. Khan, who was his Press Secretary at that time.

“Though Kalam was reluctant, he signed the proclamation. He could have rejected it but would have had no option but to sign the same if it was sent to him for the second time,” Khan said while ad-dressing the students of Sikshya O Ansandhan University here on Saturday.

When the Apex court quashed the proclamation, Kalam was peni-

tent saying he should have rejected the Cabinet’s decision and thought of resigning from his post, Khan said, adding “He even consulted his elder brother in Rameswaram”.

Kalam later decided against any such step as it would have trig-gered a lot of constitutional prob-lems, said the former Press Secre-tary, who is at present the Director General of RNI, in his lecture titled ‘My Days with the Greatest Hu-man Soul Ever’. In 2005, the then Bihar Governor Buta Singh had recommended the dissolution of the Assembly which the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved and

forwarded to the President.Kalam, who was on a visit to

Moscow at that time, signed it there. It was challenged in the Supreme Court whose five-judge Constitution Bench, headed by Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, in a major-ity verdict held on October 7, 2005 that “the proclamation of May 23 dissolving the Bihar Assembly is unconstitutional.”

Describing Kalam, who passed away in July this year, as a person who was completely detached from material things, Khan said the late President did not own any-thing, be it a house, a car, a televi-sion or a refrigerator.

“Almost all his life as a scientist and teacher, he lived in hostels and guest houses. But his only posses-sion were his books.

“And he insisted that he should buy his books and never took any book from any one as a gift saying chances were that he would not read them,” he said.

Khan also recalled that the tech-nology-savvy President once in-formed prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee that he intended to meet his cabinet members as he wanted to explain to them about his vision for a developed India by 2020, a pet theme for him till the last, through a power point presentation.

Though the Prime Minister was not convinced, he agreed to the proposal and a cabinet meet-ing was held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Kalam took the PM and other ministers through the pres-entation spread over two hours, Khan said.

He had a penchant for power point presentations and would in-sist on the same even when he was meeting foreign dignitaries and head of states.

“When President George Bush visited him in 2006, he made him sit through a presentation,” said Khan who was present during the talk. - PTI

L E C T U R E

Espionage racket busted in Jammu, KolkataNEW DELHI: An espionage racket was busted in Jammu and Kolkata in two separate incidents on Sunday with the arrest of a serving BSF personnel and four suspected operatives from whom

classified information having implications on national security were recovered.

Kafaitullah Khan, a resident of Rajouri district in Indian-admin-istered-Kashmir, and BSF head

constable Abdul Rasheed, posted at the intelligence wing of Bor-der Security Force in the same district were arrested by Delhi Police from the railway station at Jammu, police said in Delhi. - PTI

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Richard Galustian

This event marks a major turning point in the Syrian fight and a major escalation in global tensions.

Turkey’s reasons for the shootdown are multi-faceted. However, a central question remains un-answered still. Did Turkey, as a NATO member, consult NATO HQ before their F-16s actions?

So, here is the background.First Russia has been violating Turkey’s air-

space repeatedly since it entered the Syrian con-flict over a month ago.

These incursions earned the ire of Ankara fi-nally when Turkish F-16s shot down the Russian jet after a mere 17 seconds allegedly in Turkish airspace “in accordance with the rules of engage-ment” the Turks stated, which resulted in the Rus-sian jet crashing on the Syrian side of the border.

For some, that might be described as an act of war. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in-sisted his country had the right to take “all kinds of measures” against border violations, and called on the international community to work toward “ex-tinguishing the fire that is burning in Syria.”

It should be noted that last month, Turkish jets shot down an unidentified drone, presumably Rus-sian, that Ankara said had also violated Turkish airspace. Second, Turkey has voiced concern over Russia’s bombing of ethnic Turkmen areas on their border with Syria — where IS oil trading routes ex-ist — and complained that the Russian operations have complicated the possibility of creating a safe zone in northern Syria to protect civilians, as well as moderate rebels fighting Assad and his regime.

A dubious claim.A final reason is that Turkey wants to be a key

power in the regional solution to Syria’s morass.Turkey’s position was thrown off kilter by the

June 2015 parliamentary election results that led to a second round of elections in November 2015.

With the new electoral outcome giving the AKP a clear majority, Ankara feels it is in the drivers seat in settling the Syrian question on Turkish terms. It is believed Turkey wanted to torpedo any grand coalition between Russia and France plus other Western states.

The attack, while Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Iran and, then, hosting Jordanian King Hussein in Russia, clearly illustrated a dra-matic shift in Turkey’s policy.

The fact that Putin made his highly anti-Turk-ish comments live on Russian television with the Hashemite King was highly significant and further is interpreted as a sign of unity.

Putin and Iran are now firmly aligned against Turkey; Jordan is joining the Russian side too which also pulls in the UAE and Egypt.

Ankara and apparently Riyadh are on the other side of this new, sharp fracture.

It must be noted that Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu a few days ago was in Cairo appar-ently working with the Al Sisi government for a joint campaign against IS in Sinai.

Thus, Russia intends to expand its anti-IS op-erations outside of the Levant.

Russia’s retribution against Turkey will include economic sanctions, the closing of borders to Turkish trucks, the deportation of dozens of Turk-ish businessmen in Russia, and restrictions on Russian tourists to Turkish resorts.

The visa regime particularly between the two countries is to be severely restricted.

What does this all mean for Turkey? Well, Tur-key, it appears, may have just shot itself in the foot.

With IS cells active throughout the country, and Russia hell-bent on exposing Ankara’s duplicity — which Putin noted during the G-20 summit last week — Moscow is looking to not only punish Tur-key for its dirty tricks but will likely to start fund-ing and arming the PKK via Armenia.

Erdogan and the AKP will be the subject of much criticism both inside Turkey - where outrageously journalists are being charged with treason - and outside the country, splitting NATO members.

We need to recall that NATO is already in over-stretch with Eastern Europe, specifically the Bal-tics and Poland, because of Ukraine, so NATO coming to Turkey’s assistance is, amazingly, un-likely given NATO’s Article 5.

Also many NATO members are privately behind closed doors extremely critical of Turkey’s down-ing of the Russian fighter.

All of this activity surrounding Turkey involves a scenario of Turkish domestic problems that sees more violence internally potentially splitting the country apart in 2016.

What happens next if an American plane gets shot down over the sky’s of Syria, by whomever, nobody can foretell.

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) is getting a little closer!

Unlicensed hoardings pose serious safety threatThis refers to the report ‘Notices to firms by Muscat Municipality over billboards without licence’, Times of Oman (November 28). It’s been part of the responsibility of individuals, establishments

and corporate organisations to seek prior approval for installing advertisement hoardings within the city and its suburban areas, as the violation of the norms can affect the authorities’ initiatives to give a fresh look to the Sultanate’s capital and its vicinity. The failure to meet the requirements may also prove to be serious safety hazards, which could lead to fatalities if proper pre-cautionary measures are not put in place at the right time. This applies mainly to the large and heavy hoardings that are mostly appearing on the roof of the buildings. The question is how safe are they for the buildings as well as pedestrians passing by. It is also very common to see across the city apartment buildings with marketing stickers stuck on their doors and glass windows spoiling the appearance of the

buildings. Notably most of these small stickers and marketing flyers have no proper registration numbers on them, which itself indicates non-compliance to the norms and regulations. I believe every resi-dent has the responsibility to keep the city neat and tidy. So sign-boards erected in an unsafe manner must be brought to the attention of authorities at any given time. - Ramachandran Nair, Ruwi

T I M E S O F O M A NM O N DAY, N OV E M B E R 3 0, 2 0 1 5A12

Implications of Russian fighter plane downing

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Increase in Omani workforceMUSCAT: Abdul Alim bin Musstahail Rakhyut, chairman of Omanisation follow-up and monitoring committee, has cited the Omanisation percentage in the private sector establish-ments as good, saying that Omanisation covered the various economic activities, particularly financial brokerage and in-surance activities. In a statement to the Al Wattan daily, he added that the difficulties encountering Omanisation were topped by the problem of the national workforce stability in the private sector’s establishments.

1974: India and Pakistan decide to end a 10-year trade ban.

1979: Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope in 1,000 years to attend an Orthodox mass.

1982: Thriller, Michael Jackson’s second solo album, released; the album, produced by Quincy Jones, became the best-selling album in history.

1995: Operation Desert Storm officially comes to an end.

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Recent reports by the ECB paint a picture of two Europes divided by a single currency. The first grouping

is composed of highly indebted countries, chief among them Italy

and France. The second, led by Germany, is the Europe of fiscally

conservative countries.bit.ly/neweuroqe

JEAN-MICHEL PAUL

I was in Beijing last month when the Chinese government released a preliminary summary of its 13th

Five-Year Plan. This is an important document for understanding where

China is headed in the 2016-2020 period. And yet China’s five-year

plans just aren’t what they used to be.bit.ly/chinafiveyearplan

MARTIN FELDSTEIN

The market economy forces us to be concerned about the needs of others, because it is their need

that constitutes the source of our livelihood. In some sense,

a market economy is a gift-exchange system; money merely

tracks the value of the gifts we give one another.bit.ly/importexports

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A video showing a white police officer fatally shooting 17-year-old black teenager Laquan McDonald in Chicago has been released to public.

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EXPATS WORKING WITHFAMILIES IN OMAN, 2014By nationality

Total

Source: National Centre for Statistics & Information

Indian

Bangladeshi

Pakistani

Indonesian

Ethiopian

Philipino

Egyptian

Nepalese

Sri Lankan

OtherNationality

1,510,393

Total

578,903

537,321

210,632

35,717

33,298

26,125

14,147

12,145

11,527

50,578

552,396

1,349,443

515,628

209,881

608

312

9,013

12,251

8,888

5,309

35,157

26,507

160,950

21,693

751

35,109

32,986

17,112

1,896

3,257

6,218

15,421

MaleFemale

Location: Sunrise Masirah Island/ Photo: Jenilee Sevilles

NEW INDIAASSURANCE

“Insure withNew India andbe secure”

When deeds speak, words are nothing.

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A delegation of Pakistani Pashtun political leaders currently visiting Kabul

met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday at the presidential palace

in Kabul and persuaded him to meet Premier Nawaz in an attempt to put

the acrimonious relationship between the two countries back on track.

Punjab authorities warn of possible IS-inspired attacks

LAHORE: Authorities in Punjab have warned of possible attacks by the ultra-orthodox IS militant group against high-profile targets in the province.

The Home Department issued an intelligence-based alert four days ago about the possibility of attacks on important political per-sonalities, and sensitive civil and military installations. The warn-ing also alerts all media houses to remain on guard.

The interior ministry had is-sued this warning to Punjab, after which the provincial department directed the relevant authorities to take preventive measures, an insider at the home department told The Express Tribune.

The authorities have asked the divisional police officers and the Counter-Terrorism Department to “ensure extreme vigilance and foolproof security measures at all levels. They were also told to take ‘special measures’ to avoid any untoward incidents.

Intelligence reportsCiting intelligence reports, the alert warned that police patrols, military vehicles and private es-tablishments were on the hit-list of the militants associated with

IS group. The home department specifically warned the Allama Iqbal International Airport man-agement to take pre-emptive measures for averting any unto-ward incidents.

Against external threats, the Airport Security Force was di-rected to remain on standby and enhance security while the Bomb Disposal Squad was told to screen the entire airport area for any ex-plosive devices.

As for internal threats, the warn-ing letter called for continuous monitoring through CCTV cam-eras at the facility, especially at the departure and arrival lounges. The home department also stated that IS militants might target army

vehicles, especially on Jalalpur-Jattan Road, and police patrols on GT Road in Gujrat district.

It also directed the police to en-sure foolproof security at the offic-es of all media houses, particularly in Lahore. The authorities also called for arranging safety drills for employees at the media houses in the near future to prepare them for any untoward situation.

Another home department of-ficial said while IS was not itself present in Pakistan, its name alluded to factions within the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Paki-stan (TTP) inspired by the Middle Eastern terror outfit.

In another letter for Lahore is-sued by intelligence agencies, the

authorities have been warned that ‘hostile intelligence agencies’ are planning to target Lal Pull near Dharampura, PAF Information Centre Cantt and the Chinese Consulate by “using trained indi-viduals from Afghanistan”.

High-level meetingIntelligence-based reports sug-gest a high-level meeting of the TTP leadership was held on No-vember 20 in the Kunar province of Afghanistan, where Mullah Fazlullah and Qari Amjad were accompanied by an NDS agent, Noor Karim.

Karim has reportedly handed over Rs20 million to Amjad to target government buildings,

like universities and colleges in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Mardan, the letter warned. Am-jad has meanwhile tasked some fighters with carrying out ter-ror activities in Bajaur Agency, Swat and Dir.

The alert further warned that a group of five terrorists had already reached Lahore, and planned to barge into private organisations. The intelligence report claimed that on October 7, militants of Haqqani Network, Al Qaeda, Taliban and IS held a meeting in Afghanistan and planned a mas-sive attack on the Canadian High Commission in Pakistan. Around 10 to 12 fighters have been as-signed the task. — Express Tribune

Intelligence-based

alert issued four

days ago warns of

possible attacks on

important political

personalities, and

sensitive civil and

military installations

Ghani ‘accepts invitation’ to meet NawazISLAMABAD: As formal diplo-macy failed to break the impasse in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, Pakistani Pashtun political leaders have convinced Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to meet Prime Min-ister Nawaz Sharif, Afghan media reported on Saturday.

Relations between the two neighbours hit the lowest ebb af-ter Kabul blamed Islamabad for an upsurge in Taliban violence that followed a bitter leadership row in the orthodox militia triggered by the confirmation of the death of its longtime leader Mullah Omar in July, this year.

A delegation of Pakistani Pash-tun political leaders currently vis-iting Kabul met the Afghan leader on Thursday at the presidential palace in Kabul and persuaded him to meet Premier Nawaz in an attempt to put the acrimoni-ous relationship between the two countries back on track. The del-egation discussed bilateral rela-tions, and peace and security in the region, according to private Pajhwok news agency. “President Ghani has accepted the invitation to meet Nawaz Sharif,” it quoted an unnamed official as saying.

Though there is no official word on when and where the two lead-ers will meet, there are indica-tions the meeting might take place in Paris on the on the sidelines of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 or CMP 11. The conference will begin on November 30 and continue un-til December 11.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said he has no knowl-edge of any scheduled meeting be-tween Ghani and Nawaz. “No such meeting was scheduled until the departure of our delegation from Islamabad,” Qazi Khalilullah told The Express Tribune when asked about the Afghan media reports. Sharif, who is currently in Malta for the Commonwealth Summit, will attend the opening ceremony of the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris on Monday. — Express Tribune

B I D T O B O O S T T I E S

STRICT VIGIL: The authorities have asked the divisional police officers and the Counter-Terrorism Department to “ensure extreme vigi-

lance and foolproof security measures at all levels. – File photo

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LOSING SHEEN: Gulls circle above a fish smoking facility in the

Fish Docks in Grimsby, Britain recently. – Reuters

Turkish PM vows arrest of Kurdish lawyer’s murders

DIYARNAKIR: Thousands gath-ered for the funeral of Tahir Elci, a Kurdish lawyer and human rights activist gunned down on Saturday in a southern eastern city at the centre of months of violence.

The funerals for the two police-men killed in the attack in Diyar-bakir also took place.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto-glu said on Sunday the gun found next to Elci’s body was the same weapon as used in the attack on the

police officers. He vowed to catch the killers. But Selahattin Demir-tas, co-chair of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), cast doubt on whether those re-sponsible would be exposed.

“Our scepticism is fair as so many similar sufferings have tak-en place on our land in this past,” he said at the funeral. “We were never able to say goodbye to them with our minds at ease thinking

those responsible will be caught.”Police surveillance camera

footage released on Saturday showed policemen being shot at from inside a cab, falling onto the ground before the passengers ran on. Another video shows plain clothed police shooting at two men running in the direction Elci was believed to be standing.

Elci, who was shot after speak-ing to journalists, was facing trial

for saying the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was not a terrorist organisation, as the gov-ernment describes it. He had, how-ever, denounced PKK violence.

Hundreds of people have been killed since a ceasefire between the PKK and Turkish security forces collapsed in July, reigniting a conflict in which some 40,000 people have died since it began in 1984. Elci’s killing was likely

to fuel further unrest in Turkey’s mostly Kurdish southeast.

A curfew had been called in the Sur district of Diyarbakir where the killing took place. On Sunday security forces continued operations to drive back the youth wing of the PKK, removing barricades and trenches, with occasional gunfire and explosions heard.HDP deputies and leaders of Turkey’s local bar associations gathered at the funeral, where a casket draped in red, with bright yellow flowers was carried by a dense crowd.

Members of the Diyarbakir’s Bar Association stood in front of the hospital from where the body was taken, holding a banned which said “We will not forget you,” in Turkish and Kurdish.

Four investigators have begun work to determine whether the death was an assassination or the result of crossfire. Elci’s brother Ahmet, however, was clear that Elci had been a target: “My brother is not our first martyr and neither will he be the last,” he said. -Reuters

Police surveillance

camera footage

released on Saturday

showed policemen

being shot at

from inside a cab,

falling onto the

ground before the

passengers ran on

IS group claims northern Iraq suicide attack

BAGHDAD: IS militant group said it was responsible for a sui-cide car bomb attack on a police checkpoint in the northern Iraqi town of Tuz Khurmatu on Satur-day which left seven people dead and 17 others wounded.

The hardline militant group said in an online statement distributed by supporters that the target was “rejectionists”.

The attack in Tuz Khurmatu, about 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, threatened to exac-erbate tensions between Kurdish and Turkmen communities in the town, which has seen deadly clash-es between paramilitary forces from each group in recent weeks.

Efforts to push back IS militants in northern and western Iraq have been complicated by such sectar-ian and ethnic rivalries.

Meanwhile, the United States and its allies conducted 19 strikes against IS in Iraq on Saturday, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement. Seven of the strikes in Iraq hit around Ramadi, destroying a machine gun position, two IS buildings and two weapons caches, and wounding an IS fight-er, the Combined Joint Task Force said on Sunday. The coalition also struck targets in 11 other Iraqi cit-ies, including Fallujah, Sinjar and Mosul. — Reuters

T U Z K H U R M A T U

EU quotas destroy livelihoods in England’s former fishing townGRIMSBY (ENGLAND): The European Union is not an ab-stract concept in Grimsby, an English port where many blame EU fishing quotas for destroying livelihoods, but views on whether Britain should quit the club are more nuanced than the decaying fish docks suggest.

Located on the estuary of the river Humber on England’s northeastern coast, Grimsby was home to a fleet of some 600 trawl-ers in its 1950s heyday, but now there are hardly any left and the town struggles with a legacy of poverty and unemployment.

The decline dates back to the 1970s, when Iceland, concerned by overfishing, closed its cod-rich waters to foreign vessels and the EU began setting quotas to pre-serve stocks in waters shared by Britain and other member states.

“It killed the town,” said Den-nis Avery, 73, former skipper of the Ross Tiger, a fishing trawler that is now a museum ship.

He now leads tours of the ves-sel, his weather-beaten face and tales of shipwreck bearing wit-ness to vanished glory days.

Malaise of many townsIn some ways, Grimsby epito-mises the malaise of many ailing British coastal towns, where a large number of people feel left behind by the globalisation of the economy and long for Britain to have more control over its own destiny. These are places where eurosceptic sentiment runs high. In Britain’s general election in May, the anti-EU party UKIP increased its share of the vote in Grimsby to 25 per cent, from 6 per cent in 2010. “UKIP are speaking for a lot of people,” said Avery, who will vote for Britain to leave the bloc in a referendum promised by Prime Minister David Cameron for before the end of 2017.

But many of those still making a living from the sea fear the un-

certainty that would come from quitting the club. Andrew Al-lard’s seven-vessel Jubilee Fish-ing Company is a rare success story. He is no great fan of the EU Common Fisheries Policy, but after decades operating with it he wants to know what would re-place it should Britain go it alone.

“Would it affect my investment in quota?” he asked, referring to money spent on boats with allo-cated fishing quotas.

UnlikelyIt is unlikely there will be a pre-cise answer to that question be-fore the referendum. Cameron is trying to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s EU membership ahead of the vote, but only the outlines of his demands are known. There is scant detail about the nitty grit-ty of what “Brexit” would entail.

“I’m not even sure seafood features on Cameron’s list of pri-orities,” said Steve Norton, chief executive of the Grimsby Fish Merchants Association.

The fish docks are a strange place, scarred by the collapse of fishing but also showing the re-silience of fish processing and the promise of new opportunities in offshore wind energy. A vast ice factory that closed down in 1990 lies abandoned, its ceiling col-lapsed and its Victorian brick-work crumbling.

Nearby streets once crowded with fishermen are derelict, with just a few small businesses left amid boarded-up windows. But there is also a modern fish mar-ket where 15,000 tonnes of fish are auctioned per year, roughly 80 percent of it from Iceland or Nor-way, 10 per cent local and the rest from elsewhere. — Reuters

H A R D - H I T

PAIN AND GRIEF: Nazenin Elci, daughter of slain Bar Association President Tahir Elci, cries during

the funeral of her father, in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, Turkey, on Sunday. – Reuters

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Turkey recovers body of Russian plane pilot

ANKARA/MOSCOW: Turkey recovered the body of a Russian pilot from northern Syria and pre-sented it to Russian diplomats on Sunday, five days after shooting down his warplane in an incident that wrecked relations between two of the main powers involved in Syria’s war.

A coffin carrying Oleg Peshkov arrived by ambulance on the tar-mac of Hatay Airport in southern Turkey near the Syrian border, a Reuters photographer said.

It was flown to the capital An-kara, where according to Russia’s

RIA news agency it was met at an airfield by Moscow’s ambassador and military attache. The Russian embassy declined to comment.

First known incidentThe shooting down of the Rus-sian fighter jet by NATO-member Turkey, the first known incident of its kind since the Cold War, has damaged efforts to forge a united front against IS militant group in the weeks since militants claimed responsibility for mass killings in Paris and blowing up a Russian airliner. Moscow has responded

towards Ankara with fury, calling the episode a pre-planned provo-cation. President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Saturday im-posing punitive economic sanc-tions against Turkey. Details of Turkish goods that will be banned and other measures under the de-cree are expected to be announced in coming days.

Turkey says Peshkov’s plane was in its air space and had ig-nored repeated warnings when it was shot down. Russia says it was flying over Syria and was struck unprovoked.

The navigator of the two-seat jet survived but another Russian service member was killed rescu-ing him from northern Syria.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutgolu said on Sunday that Peshkov’s body had arrived in Turkey overnight, but gave no fur-ther details of how it was recov-ered or brought across the border.

Turkey is part of a coalition of

countries led by the United States that have been bombing IS posi-tions in both Syria and Iraq, while also calling for Syrian president Bashar Al Assad to step down.

Russia, which supports Assad, launched its own separate bomb-ing campaign against Assad’s op-ponents nearly two months ago. While it says it is also targeting IS, most of its air strikes have been against other Assad opponents, including groups actively sup-ported by Turkey.

Davutoglu called for more mil-itary cooperation to prevent fu-ture incidents. “Communication and coordination in Syria opera-tions is needed in order to pre-vent further incidents, because two different coalition groups are conducting operations in Syrian air space always risk leading to similar incidents,” he said before getting on a plane to Brussels for a meeting on the migrant crisis with EU leaders. — Reuters

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed

a decree on Saturday imposing punitive

economic sanctions against Turkey

Tens of thousands march to pressure UN on climate summitPARIS: Tens of thousands of peo-ple from Sydney to London joined one of the biggest days of climate change activism on Sunday, telling world leaders gathering for a sum-mit in Paris there is “No Planet B” in the fight against global warming.

In the French capital, where demonstrations were banned by the authorities after attacks by IS militants killed 130 people on No-vember 13, activists laid out more than 20,000 pairs of shoes in the Place de la Republique to symbol-ise absent marchers.

Among the high heels and san-dals were a pair of plain black shoes sent by Pope Francis, who has been a vocal advocate for ac-tion to prevent dangerous climate change, and jogging shoes from

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. One activist, dressed in white as an angel with large wings, held a sign saying “coal kills”.

About 10,000 people also joined arms to form a human chain through Paris along the 3-km (2-mile) route of the banned march, organisers said. “This is a moment for the whole world to join hands,” said Iain Keith, campaign director for Avaaz, one of the organisers.

Elsewhere, more than 2,000 events were being held in cit-

ies including London, Sao Paulo and New York, making it perhaps the biggest day of climate action in history on the eve of the Paris summit which runs from Novem-ber 30-December 11 and will be attended by about 150 heads of government. Around the world, activists marched, dressed as po-lar bears or penguins at risk from melting ice, or chanted slogans such as “climate justice”.

In Sydney, about 45,000 people are estimated to have marched through the central business dis-trict towards the Opera House. Protesters held placards reading: “There is no Planet B,” and “Say no to burning national forests for electricity”.

US President Barack Obama

and China’s Xi Jinping will be among the leaders attending the start of the summit, which organ-isers hope will produce a first le-gally binding agreement to commit both rich and developing nations to curbing emissions of green-house gases, blamed for warming the planet, beyond 2020.

Hopes are high that the Paris

summit will not fail like the pre-vious such meeting six years ago in Copenhagen. But all sides say pledges made in Paris will be in-sufficient to limit a rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees Cel-sius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, widely viewed as a threshold for dangerous changes in the planet’s climate system.

Almost all the demonstrations were peaceful but, after the hu-man chain protest in Paris, riot po-lice fired tear gas and clashed with about 200 protesters, some wear-ing masks, in the Place de la Repub-lique. Demonstrators carried ban-ners calling for the defence of the climate and democracy. The square has been a gathering place for Pa-risians since the Nov. 13 attacks. Using the state of emergency rules, police put 24 green activists under house arrest ahead of the summit, saying they were suspected of plan-ning violent protests.

In Berlin, about 5,000 peo-ple marched with some dressed as penguins. One carried a huge “There is no planet B for pen-guins,” banner. — Reuters

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Britain’s Prince Harry takes a

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Pope Francis urges peace in Central African Republic

BANGUI: Protected by the heavi-est security ever seen on his trips, Pope Francis on Sunday preached reconciliation in the divided Cen-tral African Republic, a nation racked by bloodshed.

As the pope’s Alitalia plane touched down from Uganda to start his first visit to a war zone, attack helicopters patrolled the skies and armoured personnel carriers from French and UN peacekeeping forces waited out-side the airport.

Special security forcesSpecial security forces wearing patches of the yellow and white colours of the Vatican flag were on hand to help his normal Vatican security retinue.

In an unprecedented precau-tion for papal trips, a UN soldier armed with a rifle rode in each of the mini-buses carrying reporters accompanying the pope.

Bangui, the capital of the for-mer French colony, has seen a surge in clashes that have left at least 100 people dead since late September, according to

Human Rights Watch.France, which has around 900

soldiers deployed in the country, warned the Vatican this month that the visit could be risky

but the pope was determined to go to the nation.

Francis was driven in to the presidential palace, for much of the way in an open popemo-bile, and then to a camp housing nearly 4,000 people displaced by the violence.

“Work, pray, do everything for peace,” he said at the camp. “But remember, peace without love, friendship and tolerance is noth-ing. I hope that all Central Afri-cans can see peace,” he said.

Before being mobbed by the

crowd, he asked them all to shout out repeatedly in their native Son-go language: “We are all brothers”.

Cheering peopleTens of thousands of cheering people lined the route of his mo-torcade into the city and the presi-dential palace for a meeting with interim head of state Catherine Samba-Panza.

“We absolutely need forgive-ness because our hearts have been hardened by the forces of evil. We have lost the sincere love for others and we are henceforth an-chored in intolerance, the loss of our values and the disorder that is the result,” she told the pope.

“We await your messages to free us from our fear of each oth-er, to help us end our conflicts, to change our hearts and put us on the path to serenity, wisdom, brotherhood and peace,” she said.

Speaking slowly in French, he appealed for a “unity in diversity” that shuns divisions along politi-cal or religious lines.

Central African Republic’s government is deploying around 500 police and gendarmes to se-cure the visit. More than 3,000 peacekeepers from the MINUS-CA UN mission will also be de-ployed and French troops will be on alert as well.

Bangui is the final leg of his first African trip that has al-ready taken him to Kenya and Uganda. In Uganda, traditional singing and dancing gave way to a Western-style church choir as the Pope walked to the altar via a gangway over the lake, which was guarded by police scuba di-vers in dinghies. — Reuters

Before being mobbed

by the crowd, Pope

Francis asked

them all to shout

out repeatedly in

their native Songo

language: ‘We

are all brothers’

‘No more baby parts,’ US shooting accused saidCOLORADO SPRINGS: The man accused of opening fire at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado and killing three people said “no more baby parts” while he was being ar-rested, NBC News and other media reported, citing unidentified law enforcement sources.

The utterance from suspect Robert Lewis Dear, 57, apparently referenced the organisation’s health services, which include abortion, and its role in delivering fetal tissue to researchers.

It could hint at a possible motive for the rampage on Friday, though NBC, citing sources, said investi-gators had not confirmed any mo-tivation. Authorities have not dis-cussed a motive for the attack at the Colorado Springs clinic, which killed a police officer and two civil-ians and left nine wounded. Fed-eral law enforcement authorities referred questions to local police. Colorado Springs police could not be reached for comment.

“This unconscionable attack was not only a crime against the Colorado Springs community, but a crime against women re-ceiving healthcare services at Planned Parenthood, law en-forcement seeking to protect and serve, and other innocent peo-ple,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement. The wounded included five police of-ficers and four civilians.

Dear, a South Carolina native who appeared to have moved to Colorado last year, was taken into custody at the clinic after an hours-long standoff with police and jailed ahead of a Monday court appearance. — Reuters

C O L O R A D O S P R I N G S

Burkina Faso votes to choose new presidentOUAGADOUGOU: Burkina Faso voted on Sunday in an elec-tion to choose the country’s first new president in decades, a year after longtime leader Blaise Com-paore was toppled in a popular uprising in which demonstrators faced down the security forces.

A successful election would establish the country as a beacon for democratic aspirations in Af-rica, where veteran rulers from Burundi to Congo Republic have changed constitutions to pave the way for fresh terms in office.

It also represents a turning point for a West African nation ruled by leaders who came to power in coups for most of its history since independence from France in 1960.

Compaore took power in a coup and ruled for 27 years, win-ning four elections, all of which were criticised as unfair. He was ousted in October last year, when demonstrators protested against his attempt to change the consti-tution to extend his tenure.

“I am proud to have accom-plished my duty as a citizen... It’s the first time that I can be really sure that we won’t end up with Blaise Compaore,” said Ousmane Ouedraogo, as he cast his ballot in the capital Ouagadougou.

Long linesPeople formed long lines at vot-ing stations in the capital and other major centres. Turnout is expected to be heavy among the 5.5 million registered voters who will also choose deputies for the National Assembly.

Analysts say only two of the 14 presidential candidates stand a real chance of winning.

One is Roch Marc Kabore, prime minister and president of the National Assembly under Compaore. The other is Zephi-rin Diabre, who was minister of finance in the 1990s before stepping down to start an opposi-tion party.

Kabore heads the Movement of People for Progress (MPP), made up of disaffected allies of Com-paore who left the party months before he stood down. Diabre fronts the Union for Progress and Change (UPC), which was the formal opposition.

Kabore draws support from the business elite and, as a mem-

ber of the largest ethnic group, traditional chiefs. Diabre has international ties from his years at the United Nations Develop-ment Programme and at Areva, a French nuclear company.

“We must do everything to show that civilians can ensure the correct government of the country and restore it to demo-cratic normality,” Kabore said as he cast his ballot.

Economic growthMany people say they will vote for the candidate who has the best chance of promoting economic growth in a landlocked country that exports gold and cotton but remains impoverished.

The election was pushed back from October 11 because of an abortive coup in September by members of the elite presiden-tial guard, in which transition-al President Michel Kafando and his prime minister were taken hostage.

That coup cost more than $50 million in lost revenue, trimming growth by 0.3 percentage points. The guard has since been dis-banded. Kafando will step down once a new leader is sworn in.

Corruption and justice are also issues for voters, prompting a resurgence in the popularity of former leader Thomas Sankara, a Marxist revolutionary dubbed “Africa’s Che Guevara” who was assassinated in a 1987 coup led by Compaore. — Reuters

E L E C T I O N S

FIRST-EVER TRIP TO WAR ZONE: Pope Francis talks with children as he visits the refugee camp of Saint Sauveur in the capital Bangui, Central African Republic, on November 29, 2015. – Reuters

CASTING VOTE: Burkina Faso’s transitional president Michel Kafando casts his vote for the presidential election at a poll-ing station in Ouagadougou on Sunday. – AFP

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Consultancy tender for water projects floated

A E JAMESbusinesseditor@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: A tender for super-visory consultancy services was floated by Oman Power and Water Procurement Company on Sun-day for managing construction of two major water desalination pro-jects, which have a combined ca-pacity of 531,000 cubic metres per day (116.8 million imperial gallons per day). These projects are com-ing up in two locations on Oman’s

Batinah coast — Barka and Sohar.A consultant will provide pro-

ject management and technical consultancy services during the construction, commissioning and testing of Barka and Sohar inde-pendent water projects. Last date for submission for the consultan-cy tender is January 10, 2016.

The projects are being devel-oped by the winners on a build-own-operate basis under the terms of water purchase agree-ments with OPWP, the company

said in a tender announcement. Meanwhile, several multina-tional developers from Singapore, Japan, France and Spain are com-peting to bag the Sultanate’s larg-est independent water desalina-tion project.

The consortiums that have sub-mitted bids in August for building the venture are Abengoa Water, Itochu Corporation, JGC, GS Ini-ma Environment SA, Veolia Mid-dle East, Valoriza Agua SL and Hyflux Ltd, according to an earlier tender notification.

OPWP, the sole procurer of new power generation and water de-salination capacity, earlier floated the tender, inviting bids from major developers for building the project.

The water schemes in both pro-ject locations are slated for com-mercial operation by April 2018. New projects are expected to sub-stantially enhance the availability of potable water in the country’s

northern region, as the country has recently seen a shortage in water supply due to phenomenal growth in consumption.

The Barka IWP, with a planned desalination capacity of 281,000 cubic metres per day (61.8 MIGD), will be the larger of the two schemes.

The Sohar water desalination project, meanwhile, will have an estimated capacity of 250,000 cu-bic metres per day (55 MIGD) of water. As water-only schemes, the two projects will not have any new power generation facilities co-located on the site, but electricity will be supplied from the grid.

The seven transnational com-panies leading the consortiums have joined hands with 13 local companies in submitting their bids. For instance, Abengoa has tied up with National Power and Water Company and Mus-cat Overseas, while GS Inima has formed a consortium with

GS Engineering & Construction, Acciona Aqua and Oman Invest-ment Corporation. Likewise, Veolia has formed a consortium with Marubeni Corporation and Nippon Koei; Valoriza formed its ownconsortium with Oman Brunei Investment Company and Sogex Oman; and JGC with JGC Corporation and Tochu Corpora-tion formed a consortium with Degremont, International Power and W J Towell. However, Hyflux, which is developing the Quriyyat desalination project, is bidding for the project on its own. It is not yet officially announced the preferred bidders.

Further, GDF Suez, which was pre-qualified for the project, did not submit a bid for the project.

The demand for potable water in Oman’s northern region is pro-jected to grow by six per cent per annum in seven years, from 238 million cubic metres in 2013 to 349 million cubic metres in 2020.

The winning consultant will provide project

management consultancy services during

the construction, commissioning and testing

of planned water projects in Barka and Sohar

Sultanate’s inflation fallsMUSCAT: Oman’s inflation in terms of producer price index (PPI) declined by 13.9 per cent in the second quarter of 2015 com-pared to the same quarter last year, according to data released by National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

Prices of oil and gas products posted a 15.7 per cent year-on-year fall, while non-oil products prices fell by 3.6 per cent in the second quarter. Non-oil manufacturing and transportable goods registered a price decline of five per cent and 6.8 per cent respectively.

Food, beverages and textiles too experienced a price fall of 2.9 per cent. Under this, fish, fruits, veg-etables and oils saw prices tum-bling by 4.5 per cent, and dairy products by 10.7 per cent. Bakery and related products, and bever-ages experienced price rise of one per cent and 0.1 per cent in order, while textiles and footwear prices went down by 0.2 per cent.

However, prices of the mining, electricity and water subset logged a price rise of 1.4 per cent. — ONA

P R O D U C E R P R I C E I N D E X

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GlassPoint achieves better Omanisation

Times News Service

MUSCAT: GlassPoint Solar has announced that its Oman organi-sation has achieved 50 per cent Omanisation, in line with its ef-forts to contribute to local human capital development.

This year the company is ex-panding its national workforce and is on track to surpass 70 per cent Omanisation in the first quar-ter of next year.

“In less than a year, GlassPoint Oman has tripled its Omani head-count, filling key positions across all its main departments and func-tions. We are committed to hiring

and developing local talent to help achieve our vision of creating a world-class solar power industry right here in Oman,” said Hani Al Khusaibi, GlassPoint’s Middle East human resources manager.

Diverse teamAl Khusaibi added, “GlassPoint is pioneering solar powered oil production, which presents our diverse team with rewarding and challenging career opportunities. Our team members will develop greater expertise across solar technology innovation, project deployment as well as other sup-port services. These skills will help

diversify the economy and create a positive long-term impact on Oman and its people.”

Solar project MiraahGlassPoint and its partner Petro-leum Development Oman recently broke ground on the landmark so-lar project Miraah. Miraah, which means mirror in Arabic, will har-ness the sun’s energy to produce steam used to extract heavy and viscous oil at PDO’s Amal field in south Oman. Once complete, Mi-raah will produce more than one gigawatt of peak thermal energy, making it among the world’s larg-est solar plants of any kind.

Miraah will generate significant value for the Sultanate by creating new opportunities in supply chain development, manufacturing ca-pacity, employment and training.

GlassPoint established its re-gional headquarters in the Sultan-ate of Oman in early 2012.

Much of the executive team is now based in Oman, including the chief executive officer, chief finan-cial officer and chief operating of-ficer.

The company’s major share-holders include Royal Dutch Shell and the State General Reserve Fund (SGRF), the largest sover-eign wealth fund in Oman.

This year, the

company is

expanding national

workforce and is

on track to surpass

70% per cent

Omanisation in first

quarter of next year

Regulator launches e-compliance systemMUSCAT: Oman’s market watchdog Capital Market Au-thority (CMA) has launched an e-complaint system for those having business relation with the stock market and insur-ance sector. The system will facilitate the submission of com-plaints against the organisations supervised by CMA. Cus-tomers need not have to come to CMA to submit complaints in hand as they can submit them through CMA website (www.cma.gov.om) by selecting ‘services’ icon from the main page and then filling up the e-form from any place inside the Sul-tanate. The new e-system will shorten the procedures, save time and effort as the applicants will be automatically sent through the complaint system, which will also send SMS to the mobile phone of the complainer.

Al Jazeira Services rejects offer on subsidiary stakeMUSCAT: Al Jazeira Services said that the company had re-jected a final offer for divesting its stake in Al Anwar Ceramic Tiles. Company’s board met on November 29 to review the final offer of 300 baisas per share (amounting to OMR32.87 million) against the preliminary offer of 375 baisas per share amounting to OMR41.09 million, the company said in a state-ment on the Muscat Securities Market website. “After due consideration, the AJS Board declined this offer of 300 baisa per share for its entire stake in Al Anwar Ceramics Tiles Co,” the company statement added.

Dhofar University offers to buy-back its sharesMUSCAT: Dhofar University said it would repurchase its shares between December 1 and 31 at an offer price of OMR1.612 per share. Targeted acquisition will be 757,647 shares, which is equal to 5.4% of it’s issued capital. Shares will be bought from individuals and institutions holding less than 100,000 shares and will be carried out through Financial Ser-vices and Gulf Baader Capital Markets. — ONA/Times News Service

B R I E F S

MAKING A POINT: Miraah, which means mirror in Arabic, will harness the sun’s energy to produce

steam used to extract heavy and viscous oil at PDO’s Amal field in south Oman. - Supplied picture

DUBAI: Iran, Opec’s fifth-largest crude producer, has potential to generate more revenue from min-ing than it does from crude if the government puts more focus on developing the metals sector, ac-cording to Mojtaba Khosrowtaj, first deputy minister in charge of trade at Iran’s Ministry of Indus-try, Mine and Trade.

Metals such as copper and lead and higher-priced rare earth el-ements could be worth “much more” than the nation’s oil indus-try revenue of about $30 billion, assuming crude at $40 a barrel and exports of two million barrels a day, Khosrowtaj said in an inter-view. Iran is opening $30 billion

of energy projects and $29 billion of mining deals to investors once international sanctions are lifted.

Iran has more than 3,000 active mines, mostly privately owned, ac-cording to the US Geological Sur-vey. The sector is still using equip-ment developed 15 or 20 years ago because of lack of funds due to sanctions, Khosrowtaj said.

“We could use new technolo-gies,” he said. “Expansion of con-struction projects in oil and gas or mining is reliant on banks and in-surance companies, and sanctions have delayed them.”

Iran produced 2.7 million bar-rels a day in October, behind Sau-di Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab

Emirates and Kuwait, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. For metals in the region, Iran is the largest producer of iron ore, crude steel, manganese, lead, cement gypsum and copper, according to USGS data. Domestic and over-seas companies need to be encour-aged to develop the mining sector, Khosrowtaj said. “The Iran of the future is one where mining can gradually start replacing oil. We have asked potential investors to pay attention to the mining sector.”

Some 37 billion metric tonnes of minerals valued at $700 billion were discovered in Iran from ex-ploration work at 50 metres(164 feet) underground, he said.

Reserves may be greater if ex-ploration work is done deeper in the ground and on a larger scale, he further said.

The end of sanctions would lead to the unfreezing of assets worth at least $30 billion, access to in-ternational finance and foreign direct investment, higher energy exports and the chance to import more modern industrial technol-ogy. About a dozen European trade delegations have visited Iran since the nuclear pact was signed in July, including groups from France, Germany and Italy. “With lifting of sanctions, there will be new opportunities that will accelerate growth,” he said. — Bloomberg News

D I V E R S I F I C A T I O N

VITAL RESOURCES: An attendant hands over a customer’s change

in rial banknotes at a gas station in Tehran, Iran. Iran is opening

$30 billion of energy projects and $29 billion of mining deals to

investors once international sanctions are lifted. - Bloomberg file picture

Treasury bills worth

OMR23m issued

MUSCAT: A tender of Govern-ment Treasury Bills was held at the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) on Sunday.

The total value of the allot-ted treasury bills amounted to OMR23 million, for a maturity period of 91 days, from Decem-ber 2, 2015 until March 2, 2016.

The average accepted and the minimum accepted price arrived at 99.820 per OMR100. Whereas the average discount rate and the average discount rate and the av-erage yield reached 0.72198 per cent and 0.72328 per cent, re-spectively.

The treasury bills are short-term highly secured financial instruments issued by the CBO on behalf of the Government, which helps the licensed com-mercial banks to gainfully invest their surplus funds, with added advantage of ready liquidity through discounting and repur-chase facilities (Repo) offered by the Central Bank.

Furthermore, Treasury Bills

promote the local money market by creating a benchmark yield curve for short-term interest rates.

Additionally, the Government (MOF) may also resort to this instrument whenever felt neces-sary for financing its recurrent expenditures.

The interest rate on the Repo operations with CBO is one per cent for the period from Decem-ber 2, 2015 to December 8, 2015 while the discount rate on the Treasury Bills Discounting Facil-ity with CBO is 1.35 per cent, for the same period. — ONA

I S S U E N U M B E R 4 3 4

– Times file picture

Iran’s mining offers huge potential to beat crude revenue

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MARKET

DR FURQAN AHMED*

SMALL and medium enter-prises (SMEs) are main source of economic growth

for any country on a scale cover-ing creation of employment to inter-generational sustainability. Globally, SME contribution to total employment is estimated to be 43.5 per cent. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD (2014) the value added created by SMEs has been 56.3 per cent in Germany, 71 per cent in Italy and 54.6 per cent in Turkey. In Oman, latest data indicate that 40 per cent of the workforce is employed in SME firms with less than 5 per cent Omanis while the contribution to the gross domestic product ranges 15-20per cent.

Other important factors regarding SMEs are business opportunities for women and youth because of their ability to adapt faster to change resulting in the creation and enhancement of innovative solutions.

Industries like information

technology, Hi-tech, tourism or even a small retail shop repre-sents the versatility and scope of SME sector.

In Oman there are four major challenges identified for SMEs — access to financing and oppor-tunities, policy and institutional support, legal framework and infrastructure support

The top most constraint is the reluctance of financial institu-tions to finance SMEs due to high risk. It is also called The Financial Gap.According to the IFC Finance Gap Database, the total MSME financing gap in de-veloping countries is estimated to be $ 2.4 trillion out of which a gap of about $ 1.3 trillion exists in G20 countries.

Governmental organisations and large organisations have obligations to follow strict check and balance system which some-time causes delays in payments more than 60 days which may not be a problem for like compa-nies but for SMEs’ cash flows are most vital to run businesses with full potential where 56 per cent of the total payments to suppli-

ers are to be done in cash. Further, easy financial access

enables new SMEs to form which in Omanis just over 4 per cent. Total 56 per cent per cent of firms are self-funded, 20 per cent borrowed from friends, 18 per cent borrowed from banks and fi-nancial institutions, and balance

6 per cent from other sources.The strategy from Central

Bank of Oman (CBO) provid-ing easy access to finance is on strong grounds involving steps of self-involvement, enhancing commercial banks capacity, sup-porting entrepreneurs producing viable projects, and providing access to government contracts, however, there exists an op-portunity to further boost up the SME sector by involving Islamic banking and financing.

In a research published by the IMF, Ben Naceur, Barajas and Massara (2015) revealed that there is no significant impact for Islamic banking on financial in-clusion. IDB in Egypt organised a workshop for Islamic banks representatives in 2014 with the sole purpose of emphasiz-ing alternative Islamic finance products for SMEs, as most participants lacked exposure in Mudaraba or Musharaka.

Increased standardisation by authorities such as AAOIFI and local Sharia bodies in Oman may put a healthy impact for building a common Sharia understanding

and education for less experi-enced practitioners and SME end-clients.

SME is very cost sensitive sec-tor since it is based on small fi-nances and need shorter payback period to survive. Islamic banks should strive to reduce their documentation and financial costs to the maximum possible to attract SMEs.

According to De La Campa (2010), 78 per cent of assets of businesses in developing countries are movable assets in the form of machinery, equip-ment and vehicles. Proper legal framework is required to allow movable collaterals and maxim-ise their potential.

Economist Intelligence Unit commissioned by Kuwait Fi-nance House conducted a survey in 2012 to evaluate reasons of less demand for Sharia-compli-ant products and services, 86 per cent believe it is due to lack of professional management and awareness. Training is vital for the existing and future work-force working for Islamic banks’ SME sector. Currently, the

impression on general masses about Islamic banks is more religious in nature than welfare. There should be trainers who should have knowledge of both conventional and Islamic Sharia finance and can provide proper training to build a skilled force capable to make Islamic banks competitive to conventional banks with better welfare offer-ings.

Conclusively, it is obvious that financial growth need SME sector to grow. Central Bank of Oman is already a front liner in SME promotion. However, there is a potential for Islamic banks in Oman to involve more in SME growth by increasing practice of Mudaraba/Musharaka, stand-ardisation, cost reductions, legal framework for movable collater-als, and enhanced workforce trainings.

*Dr Furqan Ahmed has a PhD (Is-lamic Finance) from Pebble Hills University (USA) and currently working as administrator and senior lecturer in Pakistan School Muscat.

Islamic banks in Oman can support small and medium enterprisesC O M M E N T A R Y

Around 56 per cent of firms are self-funded, 20 per cent borrowed from friends, 18 per cent borrowed from banks and financial institutions, and balance 6 per cent from other sources

Govt agencies urged to join eTendering project

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Government enti-ties were encouraged to join the National eTendering Project at a recent workshop organised by the Information Technology Author-ity (ITA) as part of its ongoing eTransformation Plan.

The main objective of the meet was to interact with government entities which are not yet part of the system, address their con-cerns and challenges and take forward the implementation of the eTendering system in their re-spective ministries.

The workshop opened by a speech given by Eng. Yaqoob Dur Al Bulushi, deputy chief executive officer for infrastructure and eS-ervices, during which he stressed the importance of change man-

agement and the fact that the mindset towards the digitalisa-tion and electronic systems is what matters and what is needed to kick off a comprehensive ben-eficial and electronic tendering system in the country.

He also emphasised that the project will change the conven-tional way of working at the gov-ernment organisations in order to make the eTendering process simpler, faster and transparent for the concerned parties includ-ing government and participating companies.

The workshop reviewed suc-cess stories of government enti-ties which were part of the new

eTendering system and how this step changed the way processes normally go.

Experiences sharedExperiences from the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, Ministry of Housing and Sultan Qaboos University were shared and discussed.

The representatives of each en-tity highlighted the reduction of manual work and time saving in sale of tender documents, central-ised company information, easy evaluation reports, reduction in file processing and mainly ar-chived tender information avail-able to anyone 24/7.

They also stressed the need for the eTendering system and the fact that it should evolve more in the coming years to provide more data analyses for better control and monitoring of tenders and spending management for the government.

It is worth mentioning that 10 government entities are success-fully using the eTendering system for their internal tenders on a day to day basis with more than 100 tenders floated within six months since the inception of the system.

Currently, there are more than 300 successful online tender doc-ument sales taken place so far in the eTendering system.

Project will change

the conventional

way of working at

the government

organisations in

order to make the

eTendering process

simpler, faster and

transparent

MAKING A POINT: Ten government entities have been successfully using the eTendering system for

their internal tenders on a day-to-day basis with more than 100 tenders floated within six months

since it was launched. - Supplied picture

‘Gulf stock markets

are looking attractive’

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) equity markets are looking increasingly attrac-tive after the broad based sell off since the summer, says a new re-port.

In this context, the GCC mar-kets presently represent a buying opportunity, particularly with appealing stock valuations and stronger earnings momentum, according to a recent Bank of America Merrill Lynch research report titled, ‘MENA & Frontier Observer — Frontier markets screening increasingly more at-tractive: Focus on quality’.

Buying opportunities“There are broad-based buying opportunities, but stock selec-tion is becoming key. We retain our bias for markets with robust macro, attractive valuations, con-sistent earnings delivery and/or superior earnings growth. These factors make the UAE our most preferred MENA market and Kuwait as our preferred GCC

frontier market,” said Hootan Yazhari, head of Mena & Frontier Markets Equity Research.

“The sharp correction across frontier markets since the sum-mer has also yielded strong op-portunities across many other markets, including Saudi Arabia. In this context, we believe stock selection (rather than market selection) is becoming more cru-cial and advocate a focus on qual-ity and mispriced opportunities,” the expert noted.

Yazhari also said, “As our most preferred attractively valued GCC market, the UAE offers long-term potential and healthy earnings momentum. The UAE is the only market with net earn-ings upgrades year-to-date, and our top picks are Etisalat, Emaar and ADCB. While in Saudi Ara-bia, opportunities have risen as the market is no longer expensive but we believe it’s time to get se-lectively bullish. Within Saudi, the consumer space presents an attractive long term opportunity, and we reiterate our Buy ratings on Al Hokair and Al Othaim.”

R E S E A R C H R E P O R T

Kuwait oil minister resigns

DUBAI: Kuwait named Deputy Prime Minister Anas Al Saleh as acting oil minister to replace Ali Al Omair who became minister of public affairs and retained his role as state minister for parlia-mentary affairs, according to an official decree.

The change in portfolio comes days before Al Omair was due to represent Kuwait at the meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) on December 4 to discuss the group’s production level amid a slump in prices due to a global glut. Earlier this month, Al Omair swaped the chief executive officers of state companies Kuwait Oil and Ku-wait Foreign Petroleum Explora-tion, unit known as Kufpec.

Al Saleh, born in 1972 and holder of a bachelor degree in business administration from Portland University in the US, is also finance minister, according to the website of the official news agency Kuna. — Bloomberg News

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

Ali Al Omair. — Bloomberg file picture

Don’t litter a beautiful

country like OMAN.

Ensure proper disposal of garbage.

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MUSCATSECURITIES MARKET

SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29

REGULAR MARKET .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................OM0000002168 ............AL ANWAR CERAMIC TILES ................................ 50,000 ............ 16,300........................2 ........... 0.326 ........... 0.326 ...........0.326........... 0.326 .............0.324 ........... 0.002 ............. 0.617 ................0.326..............0.302...................0.324 ..................96,565,660 .........0.100OM0000001160 ............NATIONAL GAS ............................................................... 5,000 ............... 1,560........................2 ............0.312 ........... 0.312 ...........0.312 ........... 0.312 ............. 0.312............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.312 ............. 0.300...................0.324 ..................15,600,000 .........0.100OM0000001517 ............HSBC BANK OMAN ......................................................75,000 ...............8,425........................4 ............0.112 ........... 0.113 ............ 0.112 ............0.112 ............. 0.112 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.112 .............. 0.110................... 0.112 ................. 224,035,032 .......0.100OM0000001533 ............OMINVEST ............................................................................366 ...................165........................ 1 ........... 0.450 ........... 0.450 ...........0.450........... 0.450 .............0.450 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.450 ..............0.436...................0.450..................248,787,739 ........0.100OM0000001681 ............OMAN AND EMIRATES INV. HOLDING ........... 356,998 ........... 32,130..................... 10 ........... 0.090 ...........0.090 ...........0.090........... 0.090 .............0.090 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.090..............0.090...................0.095................... 10,968,750 .........0.100OM0000001889 ............SALALAH MILLS ..............................................................1,672 ...............2,341........................ 1 ............1.400 ........... 1.400 ...........1.400 ........... 1.490 ............. 1.490............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.400 ..............1.400...................1.450 ................... 71,762,965 .........0.100OM0000001962 ............AL MADINA INVESTMENT ................................... 102,120 .............. 5,772........................9 ........... 0.057 ........... 0.057 ...........0.056 ........... 0.057 .............0.057 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.056 ..............0.056...................0.057................... 11,807,629 .........0.100OM0000002275 ...........SHELL OMAN MARKETING ...................................10,000 ............20,000........................2 ........... 2.000 ...........2.000 ...........2.000 .......... 2.000 .............2.000 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................2.000 ............ 0.000...................2.000 ................ 190,000,000 .......0.100OM0000002374............UNITED FINANCE .........................................................2,250 .................. 254........................ 1 ............0.113 ........... 0.113 ............ 0.113 ............0.114 ............. 0.114 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 0.113 ..............0.103................... 0.113 ...................35,427,203 .........0.100OM0000002572 ...........OMAN OIL MARKETING ............................................... 800 ............... 1,560........................2 ............1.950 ........... 1.950 ...........1.950 ........... 2.000 .............2.000 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.950 ............. 0.000...................1.950 ..................122,550,000 .......0.100OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ..............................................................23,858 ............. 11,977........................6 ........... 0.502 ...........0.502 ...........0.502........... 0.502 .............0.502 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.502..............0.502...................0.504 ...............1,150,494,944 ......0.100OM0000003125 ............GLOBAL FINANCIAL INVESTMENT ................ 2,000,000 .... 208,000........................2 ............0.104 ........... 0.104 ...........0.104 ........... 0.104 .............0.104 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.104 ..............0.097...................0.103 ...................20,800,000 ........0.100OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................ 150,000 ........... 25,000........................3 ............0.170 ........... 0.170 ...........0.165 ............0.167 ............. 0.167............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.165 .............. 0.161...................0.164 ................. 240,720,480 .......0.100OM0000003661 ............VOLTAMP ENERGY .......................................................... 400 ...................166........................2 ............0.416 ........... 0.416 ...........0.416 ........... 0.428 .............0.428 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.416 ............. 0.400...................0.416 ...................25,894,000.........0.100OM0000004248 ...........SMN POWER HOLDING ................................................. 400 .................. 296........................ 1 ............0.740 ........... 0.740 ...........0.740 ........... 0.740 ............. 0.740 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.740 ..............0.740...................0.760 ..................147,730,344 ........0.100OM0000004735 ...........SEMBCORP SALALAH ................................................10,800 ............28,000........................4 ........... 2.600 ...........2.600 ...........2.500 .......... 2.595 .............2.600 ...........-0.005 ........... -0.192 ...............2.500 ............ 2.500...................2.600 ................. 247,711,421 ........1.000OM0000004925 ...........AL BATINAH POWER ................................................ 106,030 ............21,941........................9 ........... 0.207 ...........0.207 ...........0.205........... 0.207 .............0.208 ...........-0.001 ........... -0.481................0.205............. 0.200...................0.204 ................. 139,701,698 ........0.100OM0000004933 ...........AL SUWADI POWER .................................................. 225,081 ........... 46,592......................21 ........... 0.207 ...........0.207 ...........0.207........... 0.207 .............0.208 ...........-0.001 ........... -0.481................0.207............. 0.200...................0.205 ................. 147,882,112 ........0.100OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS .................................................. 55,318 ............ 22,546......................16 ........... 0.400 ........... 0.410 ...........0.400 .......... 0.408 ............. 0.410............-0.002 ........... -0.488 ...............0.400............. 0.400...................0.410 ...................21,420,000 .........0.100OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO....................................................................... 256,644 ......... 188,041..................... 37 ............0.736 ........... 0.736 ...........0.724 ........... 0.732 ............. 0.736............-0.004 ........... -0.543 ...............0.724 ..............0.724...................0.732 ..................476,491,176 ........0.100OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES ..................................... 350,500 ............ 57,182..................... 23 ............0.163 ........... 0.164 ...........0.163 ............0.163 ............. 0.164............-0.001 ........... -0.610 ...............0.163 .............. 0.163...................0.165 ................... 47,376,116 .........0.100OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ........................ 226,371 ......... 353,156......................31 ............1.565 ........... 1.565 ...........1.560 ........... 1.560 ............. 1.575 ............-0.015 ........... -0.952 ...............1.560 .............. 1.560................... 1.615 ................1,170,000,000 ......0.100OM0000002200 ...........AHLI BANK .................................................................... 500,000 ........... 97,500........................ 1 ............0.195 ........... 0.195 ...........0.195 ............0.195 ............. 0.197............-0.002 ............-1.015 ................0.195 ............. 0.000...................0.195 ..................277,882,048........0.100OM0000003711 ............SOHAR POWER ................................................................ 7,920 ............... 2,787........................4 ........... 0.354 ........... 0.354 ...........0.350........... 0.352 .............0.356 ...........-0.004 ............-1.124 ................0.350 ..............0.350...................0.366................... 77,795,520 .........0.100OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE .............. 446,498 ........... 73,038..................... 20 ............0.163 ........... 0.164 ...........0.163 ........... 0.164 ............. 0.166............-0.002 ........... -1.205 ...............0.163 .............. 0.163...................0.164 ...................32,800,000 ........0.100OM0000001087 ............OMAN UNITED INSURANCE ............................... 641,000 .......... 151,118........................8 ........... 0.238 ........... 0.238 ...........0.235 ........... 0.236 .............0.239 ...........-0.003 ............-1.255................0.235 ..............0.230...................0.234 ..................23,600,000.........0.100OM0000004669 ...........SHARQIYAH DESALINATION ................................65,868 ..........296,406..................... 24 ........... 4.500 ...........4.500 ...........4.500 .......... 4.500 .............4.580 ...........-0.080 ............-1.747 ................4.500 ............ 4.500...................4.700...................44,010,972 .........1.000OM0000001418 ............RAYSUT CEMENT ....................................................... 25,200 .............27,216........................5 ............1.100 ........... 1.100 ...........1.000 ........... 1.080 ............. 1.100 ............-0.020 ............-1.818 ................1.005 .............. 1.005................... 1.015 ................. 216,000,000 .......0.100OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 1,560,268 ......249,546......................81 ............0.160 ........... 0.162 ...........0.158 ........... 0.160 ............. 0.163............-0.003 ........... -1.840 ...............0.160 .............. 0.158...................0.160 ...................24,012,000.........0.100OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES ......................... 256,000 ............23,015......................13 ........... 0.090 ...........0.090 ...........0.089........... 0.090 .............0.092 ...........-0.002 ........... -2.174................0.089 ..............0.088...................0.090 ................... 5,295,890 ..........0.100OM0000003281 ............TAAGEER FINANCE .................................................. 40,000 ...............5,200........................5 ............0.130 ........... 0.130 ...........0.130 ........... 0.130 ............. 0.133............-0.003 ........... -2.256 ...............0.130 .............. 0.127...................0.000 ..................32,966,700 .........0.100OM0000002366 ...........AL BATINAH DEV. INV. HOLDING ........................10,000 .................. 860........................ 1 ........... 0.086 ........... 0.086 ...........0.086........... 0.086 .............0.088 ...........-0.002 ........... -2.273 ...............0.086 ..............0.083...................0.094 ...................2,580,000 ..........0.100OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. .................. 357,191 ............. 27,110..................... 36 ........... 0.078 ........... 0.078 ...........0.075 ........... 0.076 .............0.078 ...........-0.002 ........... -2.564 ...............0.075 ..............0.074...................0.075 ...................22,038,528 .........0.100OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING ........... 195,830............ 20,129......................16 ............0.105 ........... 0.105 ...........0.101 ........... 0.103 ............. 0.107............-0.004 ............-3.738................0.101 ..............0.100...................0.102 ....................9,270,000 ..........0.100OM0000002028 ...........GULF INTERNATIONAL CHEMICALS ..............56,240 .............14,081......................12 ........... 0.250 ........... 0.251 ...........0.250........... 0.250 .............0.260 ...........-0.010 ........... -3.846 ...............0.250..............0.250...................0.251 ....................5,250,000 ..........0.100OM0000002226 ...........AL JAZEERA SERVICES .......................................... 100,000 ........... 37,000........................4 ........... 0.380 ...........0.380 ...........0.360........... 0.370 .............0.400 ...........-0.030 ........... -7.500 ...............0.360............. 0.000...................0.360 ..................22,645,581 .........0.100.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 8,271,623 .......2,076,408 ............... 419 ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ TRADED SEC. ......36........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

PARALLEL MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000001608 ............OMAN PACKAGING .................................................... 11,000 ............... 3,190........................2 ........... 0.290 ...........0.290 ...........0.290 .......... 0.290 .............0.275 ............0.015 ............. 5.455 ................0.290............. 0.280...................0.290 ................... 9,406,399 ..........0.100OM0000001053 ............OMAN TEXTILE HOLDING ..................................... 93,051 ............ 33,507..................... 48 ........... 0.350 ........... 0.366 ...........0.350........... 0.360 .............0.350 ............0.010 ............. 2.857 ................0.362..............0.358...................0.362 ...................2,160,000 ..........1.000OM0000003075 ...........DHOFAR UNIVERSITY...............................................63,050 ............ 93,629......................16 ............1.485 ........... 1.485 ...........1.485 ............1.485 ............. 1.465 ............ 0.020 ............. 1.365 ................1.485 ..............1.320...................1.485 ...................20,790,000 .........1.000OM0000001368 ............CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IND. ................... 32,000 ...............1,029........................5 ........... 0.032 ........... 0.033 ...........0.032........... 0.032 .............0.032 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.032..............0.032...................0.033....................2,720,000 ..........0.100OM0000001400 ...........OMAN FLOUR MILLS ...................................................3,000 ...............1,422........................ 1 ............0.474 ........... 0.474 ...........0.474 ........... 0.474 .............0.474 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.474 ..............0.472...................0.474 ...................74,655,000 .........0.100OM0000001590 ............MUSCAT FINANCE ............................................................241 .....................33........................ 1 ............0.135 ........... 0.135 ...........0.135 ............0.135 ............. 0.135 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.135 .............. 0.135...................0.000 ..................33,968,494 .........0.100OM0000002564 ...........AL HASSAN ENGINEERING.................................... 98,513 ............... 7,307......................13 ........... 0.074 ........... 0.075 ...........0.074 ........... 0.074 .............0.074 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.075 ..............0.075...................0.076.................... 5,565,392 ..........0.100OM0000004776 ...........TAKAFUL OMAN INSURANCE ............................. 25,900 ............... 2,616........................2 ............0.101 ........... 0.101............0.101 ............0.101 ............. 0.101 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.101 .............. 0.101...................0.102 ...................10,100,000 .........0.100OM0000005963 ...........PHOENIX POWER ...................................................... 514,093 ............75,140..................... 52 ............0.146 ........... 0.147 ...........0.145 ........... 0.146 ............. 0.146............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.145 ..............0.142...................0.145 .................. 213,539,813 ........0.100OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ................................................................ 2,344,887 ..... 171,040..................... 63 ........... 0.074 ........... 0.074 ...........0.072........... 0.073 .............0.075 ...........-0.002 ........... -2.667 ...............0.072 ..............0.072...................0.073..................109,500,000 .......0.100OM0000004511 ............ALIZZ ISLAMIC BANK................................................ 76,130 ............... 5,061......................12 ........... 0.068 ........... 0.068 ...........0.066........... 0.066 .............0.068 ...........-0.002 ........... -2.941 ...............0.066 ..............0.066...................0.067...................66,000,000 ........0.100OM0000001566 ............OMAN FISHERIES .......................................................62,774 ................3,119......................11 ........... 0.050 ........... 0.050 ...........0.049........... 0.050 .............0.052 ...........-0.002 ........... -3.846 ...............0.050..............0.049...................0.050 ...................6,250,000 ..........0.100.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 3,324,639 ...... 397,093...................226 ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ TRADED SEC. ......12........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

BONDS AND SUKUK MARKET ...................................................................................................................................................................... OM0000004602 ...........BANK MUSCAT CONV. BONDS 4.5 ..........................4,649 ................... 511........................3 ............0.110 ........... 0.110............0.110 ............0.112 ............. 0.112 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.110 .............. 0.110...................0.000 ..................33,907,900 .........0.100OM0000004628 ...........BANK SOHAR BONDS 4.5 ..........................................66,100 ............... 6,610........................ 1 ........... 0.100 ........... 0.100 ...........0.100 ........... 0.100 .............0.100 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.100 ..............0.096...................0.100.................... 7,150,000 ..........0.100OM0000004867 ...........BANK MUSCAT C C B 4.5 .................................................194 ..................... 19........................ 1 ........... 0.100 ........... 0.100 ...........0.100 ............0.101 ............. 0.101 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.100 ..............0.100...................0.104...................32,283,910 .........0.100OM0000005971 ............B.MUSCAT COMPL. CONVR. B.B.3.5 .....................43,628 ...............4,057........................4 ........... 0.093 ........... 0.093 ...........0.093........... 0.093 .............0.093 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.093 ..............0.093...................0.000 .................. 30,147,030 .........0.100.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 114,571 ............. 11,198........................9 ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ TRADED SEC. ........ 4........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

ISIN ......................................SECURITY NAME .................................................................. VOLUME ..... TURNOVER ............TRADES ......OPEN PRICE ......HIGH ............. LOW ........ CLOSE PR. ...PREV. CLOSE...DIFF (RO).........DIFF % ............. LAST PR .....LAST BID .............LAST OFFER ........MARKET CAP .PAR VALUE

O M A N S T O C K S

INDICESIndex .................................................High .................Low ..................... Value ............... Prev . Value.......... Diff ...............Diff %MSM30 Index ........................................ 5,671.78 .............. 5,643.29 ................... 5,643.29 ...................5,668.40 ................ -25.11 .................. -0.44Financial Index ..................................... 6,817.72 ............... 6,779.75 ....................6,779.75 ....................6,817.72 ................ -37.97 .................. -0.56Industrial Index ................................... 6,975.42 .............. 6,946.53 ................... 6,946.53 ................... 6,971.49 ............... -24.96 .................. -0.36Services Index ....................................... 3,169.70 ...............3,154.04 ................... 3,154.04 ................... 3,174.50 ................-20.46 .................. -0.64MSM SHARIAH INDEX.......................886.44 .................. 881.91 ....................... 881.91 ....................... 887.11 .................. -5.20 .................. -0.59

Trading SummaryVolume ................ Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up ............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded11,710,833 ..................2,484,700 .....................654 ................14,776,610,178 .................. 4 ..................... 24 ....................24 .........................52

MSM index edges down

MUSCAT: Accelerated selling in index heavyweights weighed on the MSM30 Index, which re-treated 0.44 per cent to close at 5,643.29 points. The Sharia Index declined by 0.59 per cent to close at 881.91 points. Bank Nizwa was the most active in terms of vol-ume, while Oman Telecommuni-cations Company (Omantel) led in terms of turnover. Today’s top gainer was Oman Packaging, up by 5.45 per cent, while loss of 7.50 per cent made Al Jazeera Servic-es the top loser.

As many as 654 trades were executed on Sunday, generat-ing turnover of OMR2.4 million with 11.7 million shares changing hands. Out of 52 traded securi-ties, four advanced, 24 declined and 24 remained unchanged. Omani investors remained net buyers for OMR23,000 fol-lowed by foreign investors for OMR2,000 while GCC and Arab investors switched to net sellers for OMR25,000 worth of shares.

Financial Index declined by 0.56 per cent to close at 6,779.75 points. Al Sharqia Investments, Al Izz Bank, Bank Nizwa, Al Bati-nah Development and Taageer Finance declined by 3.74 per cent, 2.94 per cent, 2.67 per cent, 2.27 per cent and 2.26 per cent, respectively.

Industrial Index ended the day at 6,946.53 points, down by 0.36 per cent. Oman Textiles Packag-ing, Oman Textiles and Al Anwar Ceramics gained by 5.45 per cent, 2.86 per cent and 0.62 per cent, respectively. Gulf International Chemicals, Oman Fisheries, Gal-far Engineering, Raysut Cement and Al Maha Ceramics declined by 3.85 per cent, 3.85 per cent, 2.56 per cent, 1.82 per cent and 0.49 per cent, respectively.

Services Index was Sunday’s worst performer and closed at 3,154.04 points, down by 0.64 per cent. Dhofar University, up 1.37 per cent was the sole gainer. Al

Jazeera Services, Sharqiyah De-salination, OIFC, Sohar Power and Omantel declined by 7.50 per cent, 1.75 per cent, 1.20 per cent, 1.12 per cent and 0.95 per cent, respectively.

Regional stocks fallStocks in Abu Dhabi led most Middle East markets lower, even as Dana Gas PJSC, an energy ex-plorer based in the United Arab Emirates, soared after winning a court order over unpaid debts. Shares in Saudi Arabia and Egypt moved up.

Dana advanced 15 per cent, the most in almost a year, to 0.47 dir-ham at the close in the emirate, saying an international arbiter ordered the Kurdish government to pay the company and its part-ners about $2 billion for unpaid invoices. It was the most heavily traded stock on Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index, accounting for about 50 per cent of the volume. The gauge declined 1.1 per cent to the lowest level since November 16. Egypt’s EGX 30 Index gained 0.8 per cent as of 1:56 p.m. in Cai-ro and Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index rose 0.1 per cent.

The London Court of Inter-national Arbitration ruled the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq must pay Dana Gas and its partners for produced conden-sate and liquefied petroleum gas up to June 30 within 28 days, ac-cording to a statement to the Abu Dhabi stock exchange on Sunday, which was disputed by Kurdis-tan. The ruling is a boost to Dana Gas, whose credit has suffered.

The United Arab Emirates- based company failed to repay almost $1 billion in debt in 2012.

The award is final and binding, according to Dana Gas’s state-ment. The company said a fur-ther damages claim for “wrong-fully delayed” development of the fields will be heard in 2016.

- United Securities/Bloomberg News

As many as 654 trades were executed, with a

turnover of OMR2.4 million amid 11.7 million

shares changing hands.

Chinese investors confident of market rally despite volatilityBEIJING: Fang Zhengdao set up shop on a rainy day in mid-Novem-ber, a yellow umbrella in his hand and a handwritten sign by his side. Two months had passed since the great Chinese stock-market crash of 2015, and Fang figured it was time to start peddling equities again.

That no one seemed interested in money-management advice from a 67-year-old man on a dingy street corner in Beijing didn’t faze him. He’d be back again.

“I’m doing this, helping others to invest in the stock market, because I want to make some money for them and myself,” said Fang, a re-tired government engineer who’s been trading local shares since 1994. “It’ll take no time for the Shanghai index to climb.’’

As China’s $5 trillion equity rout gives way to a nascent recov-ery, Fang is a symbol of enduring optimism among the nation’s 97 million individual investors. Not only are old- timers sticking with the market, novice traders have also piled in every week since the crash. What’s more, some of the world’s biggest banks and money managers — including Goldman Sachs Group and Franklin Tem-pleton Investments — say they’re long-term bulls.

Optimistic stanceWhile an optimistic stance may be hard to fathom for observers of the gut-wrenching volatility in yuan-denominated shares this year, the market has been a surprisingly rewarding bet over the long run. Twenty-five years to the day after the founding of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the bourse’s benchmark index has delivered a 3,548 per cent gain, excluding dividends.

That compares with 348 per cent for the MSCI Emerging Mar-kets Index and 533 per cent for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index over

the same period.“If you look at the compound re-

turn for the A share market since it began in the 1990s, it’s actually not bad,’’ said Kinger Lau, a China eq-uity strategist at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong whose latest 12-month forecast implies a six per cent gain for the nation’s large-cap CSI 300 Index. “Maybe I’m biased, but I’m more forgiving.’’

Of course, those returns have been fueled by one of history’s greatest-ever economic booms, a feat that’s unlikely to repeat as China’s population ages. For stocks to keep climbing as growth slows, the ruling Communist Par-ty will have to follow through on pledges to improve the efficiency of state-owned enterprises and transform the primary driver of economic expansion from invest-

ment to consumption.

Valuation concernMark Mobius, who’s been invest-ing in emerging markets for more than four decades, says he’s confi-dent policy makers will deliver. In September, the government an-nounced long-awaited guidelines to make state-run firms more pro-ductive, stressing the need to re-form “zombie” companies and ac-celerate efforts to boost the role of private shareholders. While short on specifics, authorities pledged to release details by year-end.

The economic transition, mean-while, is already under way. Con-sumption accounted for more than 58 per cent of China’s expansion in the first nine months of the year, versus 43 per cent for investment. Retail spending climbed a faster-

than- estimated 11 per cent in Oc-tober, while Alibaba Group Hold-ing logged a record 91.2 billion yuan ($14.3 billion) in sales during its Singles’ Day e-commerce pro-motion on November 11.

“Admittedly, it’s not going to be easy,” Mobius, chairman of Tem-pleton’s emerging markets group, said in an interview in Bangkok. “But they are definitely moving in the right direction and that’s why it’s so exciting, because you see this transformation taking place.”

Sceptics worrySceptics worry that share prices already reflect a successful tran-sition. The ChiNext index, Chi-na’s gauge of smaller consumer and technology companies, has a price-to- earnings ratio of 81, four times more expensive than

America’s small-cap Russell 2000 Index, according to data com-piled by Bloomberg. The Shanghai Composite slipped 0.3 per cent on Thursday.

Boom bustSharp rallies in Chinese stocks — like the one that propelled the Shanghai Composite Index to a 60 per cent gain in the first half — have often been followed by extended periods of disappointing returns. The last downturn stretched for five years, with the benchmark in-dex sinking more than 40 per cent through the middle of 2014. China has had 55 bull and bear markets since 1990, more than six times as many as the S&P 500.

The frequency of boom-bust cycles partly reflects policy mak-ers’ failure to lure foreign and in-stitutional investors to a market where individuals still account for more than 80 per cent of trades, said Fraser Howie, the co-author of “Red Capitalism: The Fragile Financial Foundation of China’s Extraordinary Rise.”

International money managers cut holdings of mainland equities through the Shanghai-Hong Kong exchange link after policy mak-ers responded to this year’s crash by restricting bearish bets, allow-ing hundreds of companies to halt trading and banning large stake-holders from selling their shares.

“The scary thing is, back then and now, you have the Shanghai Stock Exchange dominated by small speculative investors,” said Howie, who first visited the bourse in 1992 when it was housed in an old hotel along the city’s historic Bund waterfront. “Few would have believed foreigners would have such a limited role 25 years later.”

This year’s intervention is part of a “three steps forward, one step back” process of reform that for-eign investors will have to learn

to live with, according to Kai Kong Chay, a senior portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management in Hong Kong. The important thing, he says, is that policy makers seem to be learning from mistakes and pushing forward.

Reform pathThey’ve already started winding back some of the intervention-ist measures introduced during the crash, including a ban on ini-tial public offerings and curbs on brokerages’ short positions. Au-thorities are planning to adopt a US-style system for IPOs as soon as next year, and they’ve already started testing an expansion of the Hong Kong trading link to China’s second-largest bourse in Shenz-hen. Locals have taken the volatil-ity in stride, with the total number of registered individual investors climbing for 28 straight weeks to a record on November 20. In another sign of optimism, traders are ramping up use of bor-rowed money to increase their buying power. Outstanding margin debt on lo-cal bourses, which shrank by half during the crash, has rebounded for seven straight weeks as the Shanghai Composite rallied 25 per cent from this year’s low in August.

For Fang, who’s been forced to liquidate his own holdings more than once during bear markets over the past two decades, the great thing about Chinese stocks is that they always seem to bounce back.

“I’ve seen it all, all the ups and downs,” he said. “I still have faith,” he further added. — Bloomberg News

C A P I T A L M A R K E T

UNCERTAIN TIMES: A trader sits in front of a computer at his work station at the Shanghai Stock

Exchange in Shanghai. Sharp rallies in Chinese stocks — like the one that propelled the Shanghai

Composite Index to a 60 per cent gain in the first half — have often been followed by extended periods

of disappointing returns. - Bloomberg News

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E- IMESTECH STUFFTECH STUFF

BKASPERSKY LAB 2016 PROJECTIONSKaspersky Lab experts anticipate that in 2016 they will see significant evolution in cyber-espionage tradecraft. There will be a dramatic change in how advanced persistent threats are operated. It is expected to see a decreased emphasis on ‘persistence’, with a greater focus on memory-resident or fileless malware, reducing the traces left on an infected system and thereby avoiding detection. — Times News Service

M O N DAY, N OV E M B E R 3 0, 2 0 1 5

SLOW DOWNENJOY THE RIDE

T E C H U P D A T E S

Earnings of HP firms decline on currency fluctuationsShares in the two publicly traded companies created from the split of Hewlett-Packard (HP) this month diverged after a disap-pointing earnings report on Tuesday, the final one as a combined company. HP fell 14 per cent to $12.64 at the close in New York after a fore-cast for the first fiscal quarter as a stand-alone company came in lower than analysts had anticipated, hurt by its dependence on the lackluster market for personal computers and printers after splitting up with its corporate-technology counterpart. Hewl-ett Packard Enterprise, the other half of the former company, sells equipment, services, and software to businesses. It gained 3.1 per cent to $14.12. HPE, as it’s known, also gave a quarterly profit forecast that fell short of analysts’ estimates, yet executives struck a more positive tone, pointing to revenue growth minus the impact of currency fluctuations. Meg Whitman, who became CEO of HPE in the split and is chairman of HP, advocated for the separation by touting the opportunities that independence offers each company, saying they can be more nimble and responsive to customers. While that bet may pay off, it also shines a bright light on the struggles HP faces in the shrinking PC market, even as HPE scouts out new areas for growth. For the fiscal first quar-ter, which ends in January, HP expects profit excluding certain costs to be 33 cents to 38 cents per share — falling short of the average analyst estimate for 42 cents, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. HPE profit will be 37 cents to 41 cents a share, the company said in a statement, compared with an average projec-tion for 44 cents. HPE reaffirmed its forecast for annual profit, before certain items, to be $1.85 to $1.95 a share. — Bloomberg News

Amazon plans to add other networks to its Prime Video

Xiaomi’s $45b valuation seen ‘unfeasible’ as growth cools

Amazon.com will soon let viewers of its Prime Instant Video service tap into other on-demand networks, ac-cording to people with knowledge of the plans. Prime customers will have the option of adding other online sub-scriptions to their accounts, including major, well-known movie and TV channels, and Amazon will also sell prepackaged bundles of its own creation, said the people, who asked not to be identified or disclose the names of the partners because the plans are private. They said the new feature may go live as soon as next month. The appeal of others’ programming may help lure new customers to Amazon Prime and give it as competes with Netflix and Hulu. The new feature would mark the next evolution in the online giant’s approach to home en-tertainment, combining its expertise in retail with its growing investment in video. Prime Instant Video would resemble some-thing between a cable-TV subscription, though without live pro-gramming, and the online array of video offered through devices from Roku, Apple TV or Amazon’s own Fire TV. — Bloomberg News

Things were going so well for Xiaomi. Customers were lining up, investors were swooning and the Beijing-based start-up closed funding at a $45 bil-lion valuation. That was last year. Now the high-flying smartphone maker is stumbling. Founder Lei Jun’s latest business, one of China’s most excit-ing startup stories of the past few years, is likely to miss its own goal of selling 80 million smartphones this year, according to two people with knowledge of its production plans. Suppliers also cut their internal targets for Xiaomi in anticipation of the shortfall, they said. Xiaomi’s falter shows the startup’s challenge in try-ing to maintain momentum after a meteoric ascent past Apple and Samsung Electronics in China. Investors bought into the company’s story of youthful disruption and online sales, yet the subsequent lowering of China’s growth target and the copying of its sales strategy by rivals have neutralised Xiaomi’s first-mover advantage, putting its high price tag in doubt. “All those expec-tations of growth aren’t being realised, which now makes that $45 billion valuation unfeasible,” said Alberto Moel, an analyst at Sanford C Bernstein in Hong Kong. “The argument was that their business is kind of like Apple and they’re growing very fast, but they’re no longer growing so fast and they’re not as good as Apple.” Xiaomi doesn’t provide exact shipment targets to its sup-pliers, instead working on a real-time basis with orders fulfilled as they come in on Xiaomi’s website. — Bloomberg News

Yahoo’s future will not come by e-mail

If you plan to share this ar-ticle, you’re more likely to use text, Twitter, Facebook, Slack, GChat or even Snap-Chat than e-mail.

e-mail, in other words, isn’t the main form of sharing in a world

increasingly dominated by smart-phones — which makes Yahoo’s an-nouncement recently that it plans to invest tens of millions of dollars in upgrades to its 18-year-old e-mail service a bit of a head-scratcher.

Yahoo’s thinking is that by improv-ing its e-mail service with features like password-less entry, it will drive more traffic to its sites and, by exten-sion, increase ad sales. But it seems as if Yahoo is fighting the previous war, one that it already lost.

Gmail is the only top e-mail ser-vice gaining traffic, with unique visitors up 13 per cent in the US since last September, according to ComScore data that include both mobile and desktop users. Yahoo’s e-mail traffic fell 10 per cent during the period.

While gaining access to e-mail

without a password is a nice feature, it’s probably not the key to improv-ing Yahoo’s fortunes. The company would be better served by focusing on its real need: a mobile-first ad strategy. In one telling compari-son, Facebook made 73 per cent of its ad revenue from mobile in the first quarter of 2015, while Yahoo made only 19 per cent, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

From 2011 to 2015, global In-ternet advertising revenue rose to $156 billion from $84 billion, a compounded annual growth rate of about 17 per cent. During the same period, Yahoo’s revenue, most of which comes from Internet adver-tising, has dipped to $4.8 billion from $4.9 billion.

Where the real action is going to be — mobile — the company has

been slower than its peers to make money. Its share of US mobile ad revenue was 3.3 per cent in 2014, according to eMarketer, compared with 36.9 per cent for Google and 18.5 per cent for Facebook. It is pro-jected to decline through at lease 2017. Yahoo’s total Internet adver-tising market share fell below four per cent in 2014, down from about 25 per cent in 2005, according to eMarketer.

Indeed, none of Yahoo’s mobile apps rank in ComScore’s top 10 apps by reach, an area dominated by Fa-cebook and Google.

Competing on mobile will be vi-tal for Yahoo, and it clearly has a long way to go. A revamped e-mail service, even one that doesn’t need a password, isn’t going to be the an-swer. — Rani Molla/Bloomberg News

From 2011 to 2015,

global Internet

advertising revenue

rose to $156 billion

from $84 billion, a

compounded annual

growth rate of about

17 per cent. During

the same period,

Yahoo’s revenue,

most of which

comes from Internet

advertising, has fell

to $4.8 billion from

$4.9 billion

Where the real action is going to

be — mobile — the company has

been slower than its peers to make

money. Its share of US mobile ad

revenue was 3.3 per cent in 2014,

according to eMarketer, compared

with 36.9 per cent for Google and

18.5 per cent for Facebook

NEW STRATEGY: Competing on mobile will be vital for Yahoo, and it clearly has a long way to go. A revamped e-mail service, even one that doesn’t need a password, isn’t going to be the answer. — Bloomberg file picture

Marissa Mayer, president and chief executive officer of Yahoo. — Bloomberg file picture

B6 M O N DAY, N OV E M B E R 3 0, 2 0 1 5

ROUND-UP14 students complete OJFA language course

MUSCAT: Fourteen students were felicitated at a special event on successful completion of the Japanese language course — a specialised language programme introduced by the Oman Japan Friendship Association (OJFA) in close cooperation with the Embas-sy of Japan in Oman, says a press release.

Saud Mohamed Bahwan, speak-ing on the occasion on behalf of Mohammed Saud Bahwan, chair-man, Oman Japan Friendship As-sociation, said: “I wish to extend my heartiest congratulations to each one of you on successful com-pletion of the Japanese language course. I also take this opportunity to specially thank Midori Asoh, who whole-heartedly devoted her-self to enriching you with fascinat-

ing elements of the Japanese cul-ture. Congratulations to you too on the success of your students.”

Briefly highlighting the efforts Oman Japan Friendship Associa-tion put in to increase the warm relationship between Oman and Japan, he said: “It’s not often one witnesses friendships that have grown from strength to strength over the decades, friendships whose bonds have been created through timeless shared values. One such beautiful example is the friendship between Oman and Japan. Two great nations divided by boundaries but united through cultures. While our two countries are constantly using every oppor-tunity to enhance the relations between us, also humbly playing a passionate role in enhancing and promoting the ties between the two great nations is the Oman Ja-pan Friendship Association.

“The association has conducted several cultural programmes and paved the way for improving peo-ple-to-people contacts working in close association with the Japa-nese embassy. Given the growing interest in Japanese language, cul-ture, and heritage among the peo-ple of Oman, I am happy that the Oman Japan Friendship Associa-tion in close cooperation with the Embassy of Japan in Oman, has introduced this comprehensive programme that encourages and assists enthusiastic students like you to learn and raise your profi-

ciency in the Japanese language.” The Japanese language course

consists of two modules - Begin-ners and Intermediate.

In this course all the necessary knowledge required for candidates to become well-versed with the lan-guage is imparted by a specially as-signed native teacher Midori Asoh.

Asoh has very impressive teach-ing credentials which include being a lecturer at various pres-tigious institutes across the globe like Shinjuku Japanese Language School, Japan; Instituto Privado Argentino Japones en Buenos Aires (Bilingual School in Argen-tina); Erciyes University (State University in Turkey); Sultan Qa-boos University and more. Asoh has won acclaim for consistently imparting knowledge creatively.

CelebrationSpeaking on the special occasion, Asoh said: “Today, I am very glad to be in this ceremony to celebrate the completion of the current batch of the Japanese Language Course and distribution of certifi-cates to the students. It is the first time for us to have assembled for such an occasion and all thanks goes to the Chairman of Oman Ja-pan Friendship Association.”

“To my students, from the depths of my heart, I would like to thank you for trying your best to learn the Japanese language and congratulate you for completing it. From now on, practice what you

have learned and challenge your-self to progress on it.”

Sharing interesting insights on the course she said: “The current batch is the 5th to finish the Japa-nese language course, in which there were students who started from Book 2 and continued to In-termediate Level. Also, there were students who almost finished Book 1 and moved on to Book 2. Of course, there were students who didn’t speak Japanese language at all and now I can confidently say that they can speak the language at the Beginners level.

“I am very glad and satisfied to see this progress in my students. I have found that most of the stu-dents, if not all of them, learn or get interested in Japanese language from Anime or Manga. Little by lit-tle, they make some progress and become very enthusiastic about Japan and its language. Further-more, for some of them, the aim is to complete their higher education in Japan or at least visit the coun-try once in their life. I am praying for them to fulfil their dreams. In fact, I feel that their dreams have become mine.”

Later in the evening, one enthu-siastic Japanese language course graduate remarked: “I was very pleased to attend the Japanese lan-guage course. During this course I was fortunate to learn interesting facts about Japan’s rich and mag-nificent culture.” “It was time well spent,” he concluded.

The Japanese

language course

consists of two

modules — Beginners

and Intermediate.

In this course all

the necessary

knowledge required

for candidates to

become well-versed

with the language

is imparted by a

specially assigned

native teacher

Top Indian brands to

showcase real estate

projects on Dec. 4, 5

MUSCAT: The most awaited and prestigious Indian Real Esate Pa-vilion showcasing India’s top real estate brands will be held on De-cember 4 and 5 at Al Falaj Hotel.

Pan-Eastern T & E Worldwide hosts its 54th edition of the In-dian Real Estate Pavilion at the Real Estate Development and Tourism Investment Exhibition showcasing India’s best real es-tate brands, says a press release.

The 54th IPRO-Muscat 2015 is hosted by Pan-Eastern T & E Worldwide, the leading overseas property show promoters of In-dia and organised locally by East Expo with media partners Times of Oman, the leading English dai-ly of Oman.

Pan-Eastern T & E Worldwide, an established and reputed name behind the popular brand IPRO-The India Property Show having completed a series of successful property shows in Oman for many years, brings to you the 54th edi-tion of IPRO-India Property Pa-vilion for non- resident Indians of Oman with exclusive real estate players from India.

After an overwhelming re-sponse in Qatar, Bahrain and USA recently, Pan-Eastern brings to Muscat an exclusive event with the best of Indian real estate with the unique Pan-East-ern Assurance, specially for their NRI network, in a market the host is closely associated with.

The Credai-Kerala Pavilion is being showcased exclusively at the Real Estate Development and Tourism Investment Exhibi-tion for the second time after its stupendous success last year, on December 4 and 5 at the Grande Hall of Al Falaj Hotel. This show will focus on exclusive and re-puted Indian developers from different parts of India with spe-cial focus on Kerala’s best real estate brands offering a range of projects from affordable to the luxury segment, ranging from as low as INR 900,000 to INR 80 million at various locations from across the country

“This is a must visit show for every Indian and a wonderful opportunity to own your dream home in India,” said an official.

5 4 T H E D I T I O N

Meethaq launches Hafawa Priority Banking service MUSCAT: Redefining exclusive and relationship based Islamic banking experience, Meethaq, the pioneer of Islamic banking in Oman from Bank Muscat, has launched Hafawa Priority Banking service for high saving Meethaq customers.

Built on the strong founda-tions of Meethaq Islamic Banking, Hafawa characterises the Islamic values and principles espoused by the flagship Islamic banking ser-vices provider in the Sultanate, says a press release.

Coinciding with the inaugura-tion of Meethaq branch in Qurum, the first Hafawa Priority Banking centre was opened by Amal Suhail Bahwan, managing director of Su-hail Bahwan Group. Presently, the Hafawa network includes eight centres in Meethaq branches in Qurum, Al Khoud, Seeb, Saham, Ibra, Nizwa, Buraimi and Salalah. Meethaq plans to further expand the Hafawa network to Sur this

year and Ruwi next year.Sulaiman Al Harthy, group gen-

eral manager – Islamic Banking, said: “Meethaq is proud to intro-duce Hafawa Priority Banking service for high saving Meethaq customers. Meethaq strives to fulfil the needs of customers with innovative Shari’a based products and the launch of Hafawa Priority Banking reflects the commitment and dedication to meet customer expectations for Islamic banking. Meethaq is contributing signifi-cantly to the growth and develop-ment of the Omani banking sector and we are witnessing an upswing in Islamic finance and investment compatible with the provisions of Shari’a laws. Meethaq is well posi-tioned to provide Islamic financial expertise to diverse segments and thereby promote the good of soci-ety as a whole.”

The Hafawa Priority Banking elevates personal and relationship

banking to a new level as high sav-ing Meethaq customers are served by dedicated Relationship Manag-ers (RM) at exclusive Hafawa cen-tres in Meethaq branches across the Sultanate. Leveraging its unmatched nation-wide branch presence, Meethaq offers Hafawa Priority Banking services across all regions through the network of Hafawa Centres.

The Hafawa relationship plat-form draws its strength from

proximity to customers, commit-ment to delivering outstanding service and dedication of relation-ship managers trained to deliver the right solutions. The bank has placed its relationship manager talent pool at the very heart of Hafawa strategy.

The Hafawa benefits include exclusive Hafawa Signature debit card with higher daily withdrawal and spend limits and wide choice of exclusive deals and benefits.

Providing a distinct identity, the card also facilitates global airport lounge access, travel benefits and global concierge services.

With Hafawa, customers need not worry about unforeseen events like lost or delayed baggage, missed or delayed flights as they are offered protection through a complimentary one year Travel Takaful package designed with the bank’s partner.

Hafawa customers get better returns on deposits with Meethaq Hafawa savings account. Moreo-ver, the account also serves as the smart money manager by au-tomatically transferring funds from current account to savings account, thereby providing better returns on deposits.

To secure the wellbeing of fam-ily, a complimentary life takaful cover is also provided along with the savings account. The takaful cover will be equivalent to the

average quarterly balance in Meethaq Hafawa savings account.

Hafawa customers can enjoy preferential pricing and waivers on basic banking services.

The merchant alliances pro-gramme facilitates unique ben-efits tailored to the lifestyle needs of Hafawa customers whether it be travel, dining, lifestyle or shop-ping. The exclusive Hafawa phone banking helpline on 24656665 en-sures direct access to phone bank-ing officers.

Meethaq has adopted the best practices in Islamic banking and finance worldwide to combine a robust model which protects customers and complements the Islamic banking industry. Every Meethaq product goes through the process of Shari’a compliance certification by the Shari’a Super-visory Board and is created in line with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Oman.

I S L A M I C B A N K I N G

Chez Sushi opens its new outlet

MUSCAT: Chez Sushi, one of the first fast-casual, Japanese dining concept restaurants in Oman, has opened its second outlet in Qu-rum. With this the total tally of Chez Sushi restaurants in the re-gion has come to six out of which two are in Oman.

Earlier this year the concept restaurant was chosen and listed as one of the top 20 restaurants to visit in 2015 by the Caterer Maga-zine Middle East. Founded in the UAE in the year 2013, Chez Sushi entered the Oman market through its first outlet in Al Mouj Muscat, says a press release.

Across the region the brand has had a strong following due to its exceptional service and delightful food. The restaurant at Al Mouj has been no exception in terms of offering customers an authentic Japanese experience right here in Oman. Customers can expect the same level of quality at the newly opened outlet in Qurum. In addi-tion to the great food, the restau-rant has earned more admirers due to its excellent ambience and

customer-oriented staff who are more than ready to introduce new-comers to the concept of sushi.

Delicacies from Chez Sushi can be enjoyed at the restaurant, or can be ordered as takeaway. Custom-ers can also get these delicious Japanese dishes home delivered.

The menu has a range of modern Japanese dishes and customers can customise the order as per their individual tastes.

This is to ensure that each Chez Sushi customer enjoys a personal-ised dining experience in a world-class ambience.

J A P A N E S E D I N I N G C O N C E P T

Sarco celebrates National DayMUSCAT: As the entire nation celebrated National Day in Oman and paid its tribute to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who with his wise leadership and unflinch-ing zeal has brought prosperity to

the nation, Sarco’s senior man-agement along with their team also joined the all round fervour and celebrated National Day with a staff get together in their office.

Ajay Ganti, CEO Sarco spoke

on this occasion and highlighted the achievements made by Oman under the able and wise leader-ship of His Majesty in the glorious 45 years of his rule, says a press release.

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Bank Muscat receives Asset Manager award

MUSCAT: In recognition of con-sistency in performance and stra-tegic investment decisions in the middle of challenging market con-ditions, Bank Muscat Asset Man-agement has won the ‘Oman As-

set Manager of the Year’ award by Global Investor, says a press release.

EndorsementAbdullah Al Hinai, DGM – In-vestment Banking & FIG, said: “Bank Muscat Asset Manage-ment is proud to win yet another endorsement from Global Inves-tor, reflecting the consistency in performance of our mutual funds and the innovative strategies used to consolidate our reputation in a tough market. The award reaffirms the proven ability of our fund man-agers in challenging situations. In spite of the difficult market condi-tions, we are optimistic about the growth prospects for the funds un-der our management.”

Bank Muscat Asset Manage-ment is the biggest fund manager in Oman, offering a variety of funds

investing in Oman, the Mena re-gion and international markets. The division manages $1.8 bil-lion worth of assets, 60 per cent of which are invested in equity mar-kets, 25 per cent in fixed income and the remaining 15 per cent in real estate and private equities.

Bank Muscat Asset manage-ment also offers discretionary portfolio management services, targeted to suit diverse clients, in-cluding pension funds, Sovereign Wealth Funds, high net worth in-dividuals, corporations and other entities. The Bank Muscat Asset Management maintains its lead-ership position thanks to its ex-perienced team, research-based decision making process, financial strength, and strong systems and processes.

Bank Muscat Asset Manage-

ment introduced the concept of mutual funds to Oman as well as index investing to the GCC.

The division has a fully auto-mated process for portfolio man-agement, trading, compliance monitoring, performance meas-urement and attribution. Incorpo-rating new investment strategies, Bank Muscat Asset Management continues to attract investors and increase its assets.

The paramount AUM position enjoyed by Bank Muscat Asset Management corroborates the bank’s reputation as a safe and reliable partner for financial in-vestment advice. Bank Muscat Asset Management is always on the lookout for strategic invest-ment products, enabling investors to create, manage and grow their wealth in a sustainable manner.

Bank Muscat Asset

Management is the

biggest fund manager

in Oman, offering

a variety of funds

investing in Oman

BEC celebrates 45th National DayMUSCAT: Bahwan Engineering Company (BEC) employees cel-ebrated the Sultanate’s 45th Na-tional Day at their head office in Muscat on November 18.

The event was organised to join in the celebrations of this joyous occasion and to thank His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said for his wise leadership, wisdom and vision for the development and prosperity of Oman, says a

press release.The celebration started with

the national anthem. Amar Khamis Al Gharbi compered the event. Thuraia Al Maamri in her speech highlighted the success-ful journey of His Majesty and the development of the nation.

The Omani poet Mohammed Al Breiki recited Kasida a short poem praising His Majesty the Sultan and the nation.

G R A N D O C C A S I O N

Indian envoy opens medical facility for Al Naba employeesMUSCAT: Indra Mani Pandey, the Indian Ambassador to Oman inaugurated the new state-of-the-art medical clinic in Ghala for Al Naba staff.

Sayyid Khalid, chairman of the group, paid tribute to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, whose wise leadership has changed the global outlook of Oman. He thanked Pandey for paying a visit to Al Naba’s fa-cilities including the head office, new medical centre and support functions, says a press release.

Sayyid Khalid reiterated Al Naba’s commitment to employee welfare and medical attention. He added that this new round the clock operational clinic is equipped with all requisite amenities standardised by the Ministry of Health. The clinic has dedicated doctors, nurses, and at-tendants to handle staff medical emergencies. The team has been supported with in-house phar-macy and ambulance, which is the first of its kind.

“Such facilities are also planned for our bigger regional centres like Sohar and Salalah.

Our objective is to provide a comprehensive congenial living space for every member of our family and these health centres will play a vital role in their great-er well-being. Our rating as the most preferred brand in the past years was solely due to these ded-icated ‘Men in Green’. We strive to provide the best facilities to all our staff across board,” he added.

The chairman also added that the backbone is the 9,000 plus workforce of Al Naba Holding, who relentlessly deliver com-mitted service in all core busi-ness activities like infrastructure development, catering services, trading and integrated facil-ity management. Pandey thanked Khalid for the care shown con-cerning the welfare of the Indians employed by the company.

Dr Lakshman, head of the Medical Services of Al Naba, said that the clinic is open to all its staff members and critical is-sues are handled in association with other leading hospitals. “We ensure that every employee gets best available medical attention in a short time span,” he said.

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Nerve-jangling win for Australia

ADELAIDE: Australia beat New Zealand inside three days to win cricket’s first ever day-night Test match, wrapping up a three-wick-et win on Sunday evening.

Paceman Peter Siddle struck the winning runs under the Adelaide Oval floodlights to seal the series-clinching victory after Australia all but collapsed late on day three of the third and final Test.

With the hosts reduced to 185-7 in pursuit of a modest victory tar-get of 187, Siddle pushed two runs past point and his injured batting partner Mitchell Starc hobbled up and down the pitch with a broken foot to complete a nervous three-wicket win.

“It was certainly a very tense finish. Thankfully we were on the right side,” Australia captain Ste-ven Smith told reporters, praising the inaugural day-night Test as a “great innovation”.

“(It was) a great spectacle. To get 123,000 people through the gates in three days is absolutely amazing.”

Australia took the series 2-0, ending New Zealand’s run of seven consecutive series without loss, dating back to 2013. Austral-ian batsman Shaun Marsh fell just

short of a half-century with victo-ry in sight but his 49 anchored im-portant stands with Adam Voges and his younger brother Mitchell.

Fired by a five-wicket haul by

seamer Trent Boult, who swung the specially developed pink ball with venom, New Zealand mowed through the top order and cap-tured late wickets to turn what

should have been a procession into a cliff-hanger.

The 187 runs ultimately proved too few to defend and Siddle’s inel-egant shot to seal the win sparked a thunderous roar from the crowd of 33,923. Paceman and man-of-the-match Josh Hazlewood was vital for the hosts, capturing a career-best 6-70 in the absence of injured spearhead Mitchell Starc to limit New Zealand to 208 in the third innings.

Boult dismissed Voges for 28 straight after the dinner-break but all-rounder Mitchell Marsh joined his older sibling at the crease and compiled a brisk 28 to push Aus-tralia within 26 runs of their target.

Mitchell Marsh bashed a six over the head of spin-bowling all-rounder Mitch Santner but was out swiping at the next delivery, the skied top-edge well-caught by a scrambling Kane Williamson.

Shaun Marsh grew jumpy as vic-tory and his 50 approached and he holed out with a needless push at a Boult delivery which ended in the slips and left Australia 11 runs short of their target. Wicketkeeper Peter Nevill also fell to Boult, caught be-hind for 10, before Siddle finally pushed Australia over the line.

The match was won earlier in the day, however, when Hazlewood took three wickets as New Zealand could only add 92 runs to their over-night total of 116-5. The 24-year-old struck with the ninth ball of the day to remove wicketkeeper BJ Watling for seven and had Mark Craig nick behind for 15. He later wrapped up New Zealand’s innings by bowling Boult for five, with Mitchell Marsh capturing 3-59.

“It’s pretty hard to separate the two teams over the last two Test matches,” New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum told reporters.

“We’ve got mantra. If you are go-ing to get beaten, then make it tough for the opposition to do so.” - Reuters

Paceman Peter

Siddle struck the

winning runs under

the Adelaide Oval

floodlights to seal

the series-clinching

victory after Australia

all but collapsed late

on day three of the

third and final Test

New Zealand 1st innings: 202 (T. Latham 50) Australia 1st innings: 224 (P. Nevill 66, S. Smith 53) New Zealand 2nd innings: (Overnight: 116-5) T. Latham c Nevill b Hazlewood 10 M. Guptill c M. Marsh b Hazlewood 17 K. Williamson c Nevill b M. Marsh 9 R. Taylor lbw b Hazlewood 32 B. McCullum lbw b M. Marsh 20 M. Santner st Nevill b Lyon 45 B. Watling c Smith b Hazlewood 7 M. Craig c Nevill b Hazlewood 15 D. Bracewell not out 27 T. Southee c Lyon b M. Marsh 13 T. Boult b Hazlewood 5 Extras (b-6, lb-2) 8 Total (all out, 62.5 overs) 208 Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-32, 3-52, 4-84, 5-98, 6-116, 7-140, 8-175, 9-192,10-208Bowling: J. Hazlewood 24.5-5-70-6, P. Siddle 14-6-35-0, M. Marsh 14-2-59-3, N. Lyon 10-1-36-1

Australia 2nd innings:D. Warner c Southee b Bracewell 35J. Burns lbw b Boult 11S. Smith lbw b Boult 14A. Voges c Southee b Boult 28S. Marsh c Taylor b Boult 49M. Marsh c Williamson b Santner 28P. Nevill c Watling b Boult 10P. Siddle not out 9M. Starc not out 0Extras (lb-2, w-1) 3Total (for 7 wickets, 51 overs) 187Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-62, 3-66, 4-115, 5-161, 6-176, 7-18Did not bat: J. Hazlewood, N. Lyon Bowling: T. Southee 16-1-58-0, T. Boult 16-3-60-5 (w-1), D. Bracewell 11-2-37-1, M. Craig 6-0-22-0, M. Santner 2-0-8-1Man of the match: J. HazlewoodMan of the series: D. WarnerUmpires: Richard Illingworth and Sundaram RaviTV umpire: Nigel Llong Match referee: Roshan MahanamaResult: Australia won by 3 wickets

S C O R E B O A R D

MAKING HISTORY: Australian team pose with the Trans-Tasman trophy following their series win

against New Zealand in Adelaide. – AP/PTI

ADELAIDE: Cricket’s inau-gural day-night Test between Australia and New Zealand finished within three days but bumper crowds helped to compensate for the pink ball’s dominance of the bat. Fears for the pink ball’s endurance undoubtedly played a part and the curator prepared a wicket cushioned with grass to ensure it would not degrade too quickly.

In the end no team came near to taking a new ball after 80 overs, with the longest in-nings lasting 72.5 overs.

The vagaries of the ball undoubtedly played a big part, however, and it swung more during the evening sessions when it was also tougher for the batsmen to see under the floodlights. While Smith shrugged off the bowlers’ dominance, opposing captain

Brendon McCullum felt there was room for fine-tuning.

Overall, he thought the match was an emphatic suc-cess. “As pink-ball cricket evolves, which I’m sure it will in the global game, I think we’ll see that pitches won’t have quite as much grass on them,” he said. “Under lights, the ball probably responded a bit too much, but I would say that as a batter.” — Reuters

Big crowds make up for teething issues for pink-ball debut

Battling Oman go down to Afghanistan in series openerMUSCAT: Oman fought well but failed to get the better of the more experienced Afghanistan in the first of their two-match Twenety20 bilateral series in at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

According to news posted on the www.icc-cricket.com web-site, Usman Ghani’s enterprising half century and combined efforts from the bowlers guided Afghani-stan to a 27-run win over Oman.

Oman came into the game hav-ing already beaten Hong Kong 2-1 in their first ever bilateral T20I series, but its batting collapsed against a spirited Afghanistan attack.

After being asked to bat first, Afghanistan rode on Ghani’s 54-ball 69 to post 159 for eight. Oman suffered due to lack of significant partnerships and folded for 132 in 18.1 overs.

After losing Mohammed Shahzad, the opener, in the first over, Ghani put on a 40-run sec-ond-wicket stand with Asghar Stanikzai, the captain.

Once Stanikzai was bowled by Ajay Lalcheta, Ghani associated with Karim Sadiq (26) for a 46-run third-wicket partnership.

Ghani then put on useful stands with Samiullah Shenwari (17) and Shafiqullah Naib (14), before becoming Mehran Khan’s third victim of the day. He struck nine fours and a six on his way to 69.

Mehran Khan was the most successful Oman bowler, return-ing 3 for 30 in three overs.

Afghanistan’s bowlers kept chipping away regularly.

The Oman batsmen found it tough to put together any partner-ship of note and were reduced to 97 for 7 in 14.5 overs.

Barring Adnan Ilyas (34) and Sultan Ahmed (27), none of the other batsmen managed to get past 19.

Sayed Shirzad was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 16 in just three overs, while Yamin Ahmadzai, Rokhan Barakzai and Shenwari claimed two wick-ets apiece.

The two sides will play the sec-ond T20I at the same venue on Monday.

T 2 0 S E R I E S

AFGHANISTANM. Shahzad c Z. Maqsood b B. Khan 4U. Ghani c A. Kaleem b M. Khan 69A. Stanikzai b A. Lalcheta 8K. Sadiq c J. Singh b Z. Maqsood 26S. Shenwari c B. Khan b M. Khan 17Shafiqullah c A. Kaleem b M. Khan 14G. Naib (not out) 14M. Nasim Baras run out (Maqsood) 1S. Shirzad run out (Bilal Khan) 1Y. Ahmadzai (not out) 1Extras (w-1, lb-3) 4Total (8 wikts; 20 overs) 159Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-44, 3-90, 4-120, 5-142, 6-142, 7-149, 8-151.Bowling: Bilal Khan 4-0-27-1; Munis Ansari 3-0-24-0; Mehran Khan 3-0-30-3; Ajay Lalcheta 4-1-18-1; Zeeshan Maqsood 4-0-38-1; Khawar Ali 2-0-19-0.OMANZ. Maqsood c M. Shahzad b S. Shirzad 19K. Ali c M. Shahzad b Y. Ahmadzai 2M. Khan b R. Barakzai 8J. Singh c A. Stanikzai b S. Shenwari 10

A. Ilyas c M. Shahzad b MN Baras 34A. Kaleem st M. Shahzad b R. Barakzai 11Z. Siddiqui st M. Shahzad b S. Shenwari 2S. Ahmed c & b S. Shirzad 27A. Lalcheta c sub b Y. Ahmadzai 16B. Khan c A. Stanikzai b S. Shirzad 0M Ansari (not out) 0Extras (w-2, b-1) 3Total (all out; 18.1 overs) 132Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-22, 3-31, 4-55, 5-78, 6-85, 7-97, 8-127, 9-127.Bowling: Yamin Ahmadzai 3.1-0-31-2; Sayed Shirzad 3-0-16-3; Rokhan Barakzai 3-0-22-2; M. Nasim Baras 3-0-17-1; Gul-badin Naib 2-0-11-0; Samiullah Shenwari 4-0-34-2.Toss: Oman, who chose to fieldSeries: Afghanistan led2-match series 1-0T20I debuts: Sayed Shirzad and Yamin Ahmadzai (Afghanistan)Umpires: BB Pradhan (Nepal) and RR Wimalasiri (Sri Lanka)Match referee: DT Jukes (England)Reserve umpire: Rabiul Hoque

S C O R E B O A R D

In the first of the two-match T20 series, Oman fought

well but Afghanistan drew on their experience to record

a 27-run victory. Barring Adnan Ilyas (34, in picture) and

skipper Sultan Ahmed (27) none of the Oman batsmen

showed the grit to resist the Afghanistan bowlers. Both

the teams face-off again on Monday at Sheikh Zayed

Stadium in Abu Dhabi starting 10am Oman time

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SPORTSM O N DAY, N OV E M B E R 3 0, 2 0 1 5

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India beat Bangladesh in U-19 final

KOLKATA: A stupendous bowl-ing effort coupled with a quickfire half-century by Sarfaraz Khan saw the India Under-19 team beat Bangladesh Under-19 by seven wickets in the tri-series final at the Jadavpur University ground here on Sunday.

Having bowled out Bangladesh U-19 for a paltry 116 runs, the Indi-ans were in a spot of bother at 42/3. But then Sarfaraz took matters in his own hands and clobbered the bowlers to all parts of the park to blast an unbeaten 27-ball 59.

The Bangalore Royal Challeng-ers batsman was well supported by captain Ricky Bhui who remained not out on 20.

The triumph would give the In-dians a huge morale boost before the U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in January next year. The hosts got off to a bit of a flyer here with open-ers Washington Sundar and wick-et-keeper Rishabh Pant taking the attack to the opposition.

But then Bangladesh struck back with three quick wickets.

But then it was all about the Sarfaraz show as the burly right-hander ensured whatever he could get to would either fly over the ropes or crash to the fence in turn smashed the fastest half-century of the tourney. The ones he mishit also flew past the fielders giving them no chance.

The effort also won him the man-of-the-match award. Earlier in the day, the visitors decided to bat after winning the toss, but the

Indian bowlers bundled them out for a mere 116. They picked up early wickets upfront which left Bangladesh struggling at 13/2.

The men in green and red recov-ered a little from the early struggle as Joyraj Sheik Imon and Najmul Hossain Shanto put on a partner-ship of 54 runs.

But Imon (28) got out thereafter and skipper Mehidy Hassan Miraz could not contribute anything to the scorecard.

Next to walk back to the pavilion was the well set Shanto (45) after which the Bangladesh batsmen could not even put up a five.

For the Indians left-arm off spinner Mayank Dagar bagged fig-ures of 3/32 which was the best of the game. - IANS

The triumph would

give the Indians

a huge morale

boost before the

U-19 World Cup

in Bangladesh in

January next year

GREAT DAY: India’s Sarfaraz Khan celebrates after completing his 50 with captain Ricky Bhui during

U-19 Tri-Series Final against Bangladesh at Salt Lake in Kolkata. – PTI

BANGLADESHM. Saif Hassan b S.K.K. Ahmed 8 P. Ghosh run out 2J.S. Imon c M.S.W. Sundar b S. Mavi 28M.N. Hossain Shanto b M.J. Dagar 45M.M.H. Miraz c Sundar b M.J. Dagar 0J.A. Anik lbw M.K. Lomror 24 M. Shaifuddin lbw M.J. Dagar 0S. Sarker c R. Pant b S. Mavi 0R. Pradhan c R. Bhui b A. Khan 0S.A.S. Gazi c I. Kishan b M.K. Lomror 1M.A. Halim not out 2Extras (w-5, lb-1) 6Total (all out; 36.5 overs) 116 Fall of Wickets: 1-10, 2-13, 3-67, 4-68, 5-96, 6-96, 7-113, 8-113, 9-114, 10-116Bowling: Avesh Khan 5.5-2-18-1; S.K.K. Ahmed 6-2-11-1; M.S. Washington Sundar

5-0-22-0; M.J. Dagar 9-0-32-3; Shubham Mavi 7-2-21-2; M.K. Lomror 4-2-11-2 Fall of Wickets: 1-10, 2-13, 3-67, 4-68, 5-96, 6-96, 7-113, 8-113, 9-114, 10-116INDIAM.S.W. Sundar b S. Sarker 12 R. Pant c S.A.S. Gazi b M.M.H. Miraz 26A.N. Khare c M.M.H. Miraz b S.A.S. Gazi 0 Ricky Bhui not out 20 S.N. Khan not out 59 Total (3 wickets; 13.3 overs) 117 Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-38, 3-42.Bowling: Saeed Sarker 30-0-23-1 Rifat Pradhan 2-0-15-0 Md.Mehidy Hassan Miraz 4-0-27-1 Saleh Ahmed Shawon Gazi 3-1-35-1 Mohammad Abdul Halim 1-0-16-0 Md. Najmul Hossain Shanto 0.3-0-1-0 Fall of Wickets: 1-38, 2-38, 3-42.

S C O R E B O A R D

KOLKATA: Adjudged man-of-the-match for his swash-buckling 59 from 27 balls, India Under-19 batsman Sarfaraz Khan said it was an innings he played to get out of pressure.

“In the last three matches, I could not quite perform. So to get out of pressure I chose to go after the bowlers in this game. As they say attacking is the best form of defence, so I did that. I went out to bat and saw that I was connecting the ball well, so I kept on playing my shots,” the 18-year-old told mediapersons here.

“Rahul sir told me to go out there and play my natural game and that is what I was trying to do,” he said.

Asked about Dravid he said, “Sir is such a legend. We can’t even believe now that he is really coaching us. When we turn on the television and see some old cricket matches, and we see him (Dravid) batting and now we have him as our coach, which is quite unbelievable.

“The best thing about him is that he is very calm. Whenever there’s a match, he does not hold a meeting right after it, he does it after a day, so that helps us regather our thoughts as well. I was having a rough patch through the last few games but he told me to try and learn from my mistakes and nothing else.”

The Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman, who had some impressive outings in last season’s Indian Premier League (IPL), also believes they would do well in the upcoming U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in January next year.

“We are a very good team, and we are confident of doing well. But you also have to have luck by your side, but I believe Rahul sir’s experience is going to help us there and hopefully we will do well,” Sarfaraz said.

He added that moving from Mumbai to Uttar Pradesh was a decision taken by his family and he has got no problems with it at all. “It was family decision, and I respect it. I love my family and whatever they have done is correct. I have no problems with it,” he concluded.

Core teamRahul Dravid said he was close to identifying the team for the upcoming World Cup in Bangladesh next year.

“This was a good tourna-ment as we start preparing for the World Cup in January.

Some of the boys have put in strong performances and we are close to identifying the core team for the World Cup,” Dravid said.

The former India captain also said there were a lot of decisive factors in the team which can help them in the long run.

“There are plenty of X fac-tors in the team now. Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan are just two of them,” he said.

Dravid also stressed on the fact that the India Under- 19’s need to play a lot more bilateral series to enhance their talent.

“One World Cup in two years is great. But there needs to but we need to play a lot more bilateral series,” he concluded. - IANS

It was an innings to get out of pressure, says Sarfaraz

MUSCAT: True to its commit-ment to support local communi-ties across the Sultanate, Oman Oil Marketing Company (oman-oil) sponsored the third annual November 18th Football Champi-onship which recently concluded at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Com-plex in Bausher.

Organised in celebration of the 45th National Day, over 16 teams from all over Oman took part in the tournament, which for the first time welcomed competitors from the private sector.

The weeklong contest drew to a close with The Palestinian Com-munity team defeating Bank So-har in the final round. Omanoil’s support for the tournament falls in line with its strategy of caring beyond the pump. Throughout the

years, the company has demon-strated that commitment through a number of footballing initiatives and activities that have helped the brand earn its place in the hearts

and minds of people in Oman. These initiatives include spon-

soring the 2015 edition of the King’s Tournament in Muscat, establishing a dedicated omanoil

Football School, and the omanoil Football Tournament for Muscat Schools, which was organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.

F O O T B A L L

omanoil sponsors National Day football

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SPORTSM O N DAY, N OV E M B E R 3 0, 2 0 1 5

OMAN WOMEN’S TEAM IN QATAR FOR GCC T20 CRICKET TOURNAMENTOman women’s cricket team arrived in Qatari capital of Doha to take part in the second GCC Women’s Twenty20 Champion-

ship. The tournament is scheduled to be inaugurated with a colourful opening ceremony at Asian Town Cricket Stadium on

Monday. The matches in the three-team and five-day event will be played on a double leg round robin format, after which

the top two teams qualify for the final to be played on December 3. The Sultanate had hosted the inaugural championship in

Muscat in 2014. — Supplied photo First things first. The umpiring in the Nagpur Test match was of the

highest class and no praise can be too high for the man-ner in which umpires Ian Gould and Bruce Oxenford dealt with the numerous ap-peals in the game. On a pitch where the ball was turning and with many fielders close in to the batsman and the goodly crowd being pretty noisy it was not easy to make decisions and yet they got every one correct. More importantly with their good humour they kept the tension down and saw that the game was played without any acri-mony. Well done ‘Gunner’ and Bruce. Take a bow. However the same cannot be asked of the batsmen of both teams for they contributed to their demise much more than the so called devil called the pitch.

Sure the pitch was not an ideal one but neither was it such that batsmen could not survive if they wanted to as Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis showed in the fourth innings. It was not a 400 plus pitch but neither was it a 79 all out one. Do you think that if India had Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly in their batting lineup that they would have folded so cheaply in both the innings? And if the Proteas had Graeme Smith, Gibbs and Kallis in their ranks would South Africa have been dismissed for 79 in the first innings? No way and with absolutely no disrespect to the batsmen of the current teams it has to be said that the patience and the technique required to bat on a pitch that helped spinners was not on evidence except for the time that Murali Vijay and Duminy in the first innings and Amla and du Plessis were batting. Unfortunately the rest all got out looking to play a limited

overs shot. Vijay got a beauty from Morkel in the first in-nings as did Amla in South Africa’s second innings but that is expected when one is playing Test cricket.

On the other side of the world 37 wickets fell in three days in the first day-night Test match but will anybody raise a question? The excuse will be made that the batsmen were out to a combination of top seam and swing bowling and also the current malady in Test cricket of batsmen not having the patience and skill to play on a pitch which was not the flat ones like they get in the limited overs format. So if the players are honest and do serious introspection they will realise that they need to work on their patience and their technique.

Both in Nagpur and in Adelaide it was inadequate to cope with pitches where the ball did not come straight at you. It’s as simple as that. - PMG

Today’s batsmen need to work on patience and technique

C O M M E N T A R Y

Sure the pitch was not an ideal one but neither was it such that batsmen could not survive if they wanted to as Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis showed in the fourth innings

Rosberg ends season on a hat-trick high

ABU DHABI: Nico Rosberg wrapped up the Formula One season on a winning high in Abu Dhabi on Sunday with team mate and triple world champion Lewis Hamilton second in a record 12th one-two finish of the year for dominant Mercedes.

The German’s third win in a row, from a sixth successive pole position, dashed Hamilton’s hopes of a 44th career victory in car 44 on the 44th anniversary of the founding of the United Arab Emirates.

The Briton, who clinched the ti-tle in Texas last month with three races to spare, finished 8.2 sec-onds behind after an attempt at a different strategy failed to pro-duce the desired result.

The win was the 16th in 19 rac-es for Mercedes.

“Austin (in Texas) was a tough

weekend and since then I’ve just come back a lot stronger,” said Rosberg from the podium after spraying the sparkling rosewater used instead of the usual bubbly.

“I’m excited about how the end of the season went and next year — it can come any moment, it could start tomorrow if it were up to me, no problem. I don’t need any holidays.”

Hamilton had asked over the team radio with 15 laps to go whether he could go to the end hav-ing made only one pitstop to Ros-berg’s two but was left in no doubt that such a move would not work.

He then pitted on the next lap, any hopes of a wheel-to-wheel battle over the final laps effec-tively disappearing into the night as he did so.

“In hindsight, once Nico had pitted I probably would have backed off a little bit and gone a bit longer...As that didn’t work out, the stop, going too long was prob-ably not the right thing to do, but we gave it a try,” he said.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen took third place ahead of team mate Sebastian Vettel, who started 15th, for only the Finn’s third po-dium appearance of the season.

Rosberg’s win was his sixth of the season, 14th of his career, and a hat-trick first for the German who had never before managed to win three races in a row.

Hamilton ended the cham-pionship with 10 victories, one fewer than in 2014, but he took more poles and fastest laps than anyone else.

“It’s always tough to race Lewis, he’s doing an awesome job,” said Rosberg. “So it’s an even better feeling to win. It’s a great battle internally all the time, that’s what I race for and I look forward to more next year.”

Mexican Sergio Perez finished fifth, with Australian Daniel Ric-ciardo sixth for Red Bull and split-ting the Force India cars with Ger-many’s Nico Hulkenberg seventh.

Brazilian Felipe Massa took eighth place for Williams, ahead

of Frenchman Romain Grosjean in ninth in his final race for Lotus before moving to 2016 newcom-ers Haas.

Russian Daniil Kvyat secured the final point for Red Bull.

Rosberg, who made a clean start and was never threatened, was only the second driver to win the day-to-night floodlit race from pole position since Abu Dhabi first appeared on the calendar in 2009.

Hamilton was comparatively slow off the mark on an opening lap that saw McLaren’s Fernando Alonso collide with Lotus’s Pas-tor Maldonado. The Venezuelan retired while Alonso, who cannot end McLaren’s worst-ever season fast enough, was given a drive-through penalty.

Finland’s Valtteri Bottas also fell foul of the stewards when Wil-liams released him into the path of Alonso’s team mate Jenson Button at the first pitstops, with the Finn losing half his front wing in the impact. - Reuters

The German’s third

win in a row, from

a sixth successive

pole position, dashed

Hamilton’s hopes of

a 44th career victory

in car 44 on the

44th anniversary

of the founding

of the United

Arab Emirates

GREAT FINISH: Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team’s German driver and winner Nico Rosberg drives during the Abu Dhabi Formula One

Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit. Below, he celebrates on podium with the trophy. – AFP

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Al Hail A prevail over Professional Trading

MUSCAT: OCT Al Hail A defeated Professional Trading by two wick-ets in an Enhance-sponsored D Division cricket match at the Mu-nicipality Ground II during the af-ternoon session on Friday.

Batting first, Professional Trad-ing were bowled out for 132 in 19.3 overs. Chaitanya R. top scored with 33 runs. Hisham and Ismail claimed two wickets each for Al Hail.

In reply, Al Hail A scored 135 for eight in 19.4 overs, with Waleed Al Balushi top scoring with 38 runs. Shine N.V. claimed two scalps for Professional.

Brief scores: Professional Trad-ing 132 in 19.3 overs (Chaitanya R. 33; Ismail Al Balushi 2/23; Hisham Al Bal-ushi 2/23) lost to OCT Al Hail A 135 for 8 in 19.4 overs (Waleed Al Balushi 38; Shine N.V. 2/30). Points: Hail A – 2, Professional Trading - 0.

Sayarti beat Abu Maather In an E Division match, Sayarti recorded a six-wicket victory over Abu Maather at the Municipality Ground III.

Batting first, Abu Maather scored of 173 for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs with Wasim and Nazim scoring 42 and 49 runs respectively. Parthiban claimed two wickets for Sayarti. In reply, Sayarti scored 174 for four in 16 overs for a bonus point win. Achin-tha and Sunil Kumar scored 48 and 76 not out respectively.

Brief scores: Abu Maather 173 for 5 in 20 overs (Wasim 42, Nazim 49; Par-thiban 2/34) lost to Sayarti 174 for 4 in 16 overs (Sunil Kumar 76 n.o., Achintha 48). Points: Sayarti 3, Abu Maather - 0.

White Lotus down Khurshid In an F Division match played at the Municipality Ground IV, White Lotus defeated Khurshid CT by 67 runs.

Batting first, White Lotus scored 170 for seven 20 overs. Sa-fir claimed two wickets for Khur-shid. In reply, White Lotus bowled out Khurshid for 103 in 16 overs for a bonus point victory. Shibu top scored with 50 for Khurshid. Sachin and Anup managed three

wickets each for White Lotus to complete the win.

Brief scores: White Lotus 170 for 7 in 20 overs (Praveen Shetty 41; Sa-fir 2/22) bt Khurshid 103 in 16 overs (Shibu 50; Sachin 3/16, Anup 3/28). Points: White Lotus - 3, Khurshid - 0.

OCT Mabellah win In a G Division match, OCT Ma-bellah recorded a six-wicket vic-tory over Prime Trading.

Batting first, Prime Trading scored 143 losing all their wick-ets in 17.3 overs. Makhdoom and Girish scored 34 and 30 respec-tively. Asif Abdul Samad claimed three wickets for Mabellah. In re-ply, OCT Mabellah achieved their

target in 19.4 overs with Shabbir Ahmed and Zafar top scoring with 32 and 56 not out.

Brief scores: Prime Trading 143 in 17.3 overs (Makhdoom 34, Girish 30; Abdul Samad 3/28) los to OCT Ma-bellah 146 for 4 in 19.4 overs (Shabbir Ahmed 32, Zafar 56 n.o). Points: Ma-bellah - 2, Prime Trading - 0.

MSE defeat Axis Group In an H Division, Mustafa Sultan Enterprises (MSE) defeated Axis Group by five wickets at the OAC Ground III.

Batting first, Axis Group scored 142 in 20 overs. Akhtar top scored with 30 runs. Mohammed Sajid claimed three wickts for MSE. In

reply, MSE scored 146 for five in 17.2 overs with Abdul Suhan and Mohammed Sherif scoring with 59 not out and 45 respectively. Sarath claimed two wickets for Axis Group.

Brief scores: Axis Group 142 in 20 overs (Akhtar 30; Sajid 3/29) lost to MSE 146 for 5 in 17.2 overs (Abdul Su-han 59 n.o; Mohammed Sherif 45; Sarath 2/15). Points: MSE - 2, Axis Group - 0.

Easy for Starcare In another H Division match, Star-care defeated Caledonian College by six wickets. Batting first, Cal-edonian College managed 147 for eight in 20 overs with Mohammed Sohail top scoring with 59. Sidhi Viswanatam and Meesham Ali

claimed three and four wickets re-spectively for Starcare.

In reply, Starcare scored 148 for four in 17 overs with Sarath C. and Pradeesh Kumar scoring with 48 and 41 runs each. Mohammed Ethisham claimed three wickets for Caledonian College.

Brief scores: Caledonian Col-lege 147 for 8 in 20 overs (Mohammed Sohail 59; Meesham Ali 4/10) lost to Starcare 148 for 4 in 17 overs (Sar-ath C. 48, Pradeesh 41; Mohammed Ethisham 3/18). Points: Starcare – 2, Caledonian College - 0.

Khalsa United winIn an I Division match, Khalsa United recorded a massive 152-run victory over Al Hail B at the SQU Ground.

Batting first, Khalsa United piled up 210 runs without losing any wickets in 20 overs thanks to a brilliant unbeaten 152 by Saifullah Younus and a solid 41 not out by Sushil Kadam.

In reply, Al Hail B were bundled out for 58 in 15.2 overs. Chetan Sharma claimed three wickets in Khalsa’s bonus point victory.

Brief scores: Khalsa United 210 for 0 in 20 overs (Saifullah Younus 152 n.o., Sushil Kadam 41 n.o.) bt Al Hail B 58 in 15.2 overs (Chetan Sharma 3/10). Points: Khalsa United – 3, Al Hail B - 0.

Bronze Rock shine In a J Division match, Broze Rock recorded a nine-wicket victory over OCT Al Nahdha at the SQU Ground.

Batting first, Al Nahdha scored 130 in 20 overs. Suman Bhowmick claimed six wickets for Bronze Rock. In reply, Bronze Rock scored the runs in 12 overs for the loss of just one wicket. Mohammed Am-ran and Suman Bhowmick scored 47 not out and 20 not out respec-tively to seal a bonus point win.

Brief scores: OCT Al Nahdha 130 in 20 overs (Suman Bhowmick 6/29) lost to Bronze Rock 132 for 1 in 12 overs (Mohammed Amran 47 n.o). Points: Bronze Rock – 3 , OCT Al Nahdha - 0.

Professional Trading,

who batted first, were

bowled out for 132 in

19.3 overs. In reply, Al

Hail A scored 135 for

eight in 19.4 overs

D DIVISION: OCT Al Hail A after their win over Professional Trading. E DIVISION: Sayarti celebrate their victory over Abu Maather. F DIVISION: White Lotus who defeated Khurshid. – Supplied photos

J DIVISION: Bronze Rock after their win over OCT Al Nahdha.

Asif Al Balushi Zafar Ghulam

STARCARE HEROS: Meesham Ali, Pradeesh, Sarath C and Sidhi. KHALSA UNITED STARS: Saifullah Pasha and Sushil Kadam.

AL AMERAT FIRST ALL-OMANI TEAM TO RECORD A DIVISION WIN OCT Al Amerat became the first all-Omani team to record a victory in A Division of the

ongoing Oman Cricket league season when they defeated Hassan Juma Backer

(HJB)in a Khimji Ramdas-sponsored A Division match on Friday. Batting first, HJB scored

218 all out in 29.4 overs with Daniel Rudolph top scoring with 82. Haitham Al Sabri

claimed three wickets for OCT Al Amerat. In reply, OCT Amerat scored 219 for the

loss of six wickets in 29.5 overs with Abdul Aziz top scoring with an

unbeaten 59. — Supplied photo

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Yousuf, Fatma emerge winners at Oman Skate Championships

MUSCAT: Yousuf Ali Al Balushi and Fatma Ali Al Shehi emerged men’s and women’s winners at the inaugural Oman Skate Champion-ships. The first ever roller skating championships was organised by Excellence Performance in co-operation with Oman Boys Skate (OBS) at the Oman Automobile Association (OAA) on Saturday.

The inaugural event attracted a total of 200 skate enthusists.

In the 8km men’s race, which attracted 79 skaters, Yousuf Ali Al Balushi clocked 27 minutes and three seconds (27:03) to clinch the top honours.

Abdulrazaq Said Rashid Al Bal-ushi, who timed 27:05, took the

second place while Idrees Juma Hamdoon Al Harthy settled for third place in 28:00.

Said Nasser Amour Al Manji (28:03) and Assem Juma Khamis Al Tamtami finished in fourth and fifth places respectively.

The women’s race, also an 8km affair, attracted four girls and only two — Fatma Ali Al Shehi and Balqes Ahmed Al Habsi, managed to complete the race.

Fatma clocked 36:5 to take the first place ahead of Balqes Ahmed Al Habsi who timed 39:08.

The other participants, Shahad

Suroor Al Saadi and Aryam Fahad Al Saadi failed to finish the race.

However, the organisers handed the duo valuable prizes to moti-vate them to participate in the future events. The organisers also conducted an open 3km fun race which attracted 52 skaters.

Muscat 2 MilesOn the sidelines of the skate cham-pionship, Excellence Performance in cooperation with the Oman Athletics Association (OAA) or-ganised Muscat 2 Miles running race to provide an opportunity for

Oman’s middle and long distance runners to show their talent.

After a tough competition, Salim Khalfan Al Shukaili won the race in nine minutes and 33 sec-onds (9:33).

He was followed by Balarab Shamis Al Hamhami (9:42), Abdul-lah Al Quraini (9:44), Younis Abdul-lah Al Jabri (9:53) and Amjad Khali-fa Al Balushi (9:55) in that order.

Fahad Abdullah Al Raisi, Direc-tor-General of Sports Develop-ment and Welfare at the Ministry of Sports Affairs, presided over the prize-giving ceremony and

handed over the trophies. Speaking on the occasion, Ex-

cellence Performance Executive Director Rashid Ibrahim Al Kindi said: “We are very proud to have or-ganised this event in the Sultanate.”

He also thanked all the sponsors for supporting the event and mak-ing it a grand success.

Results Oman Skate Championship: Men’s race 8kms: 1. Yousuf Ali Al Balushi (27 minutes and 3 sec-onds); 2. Abdulrazaq Said Rashid Al Balushi (27:05); 3. Idrees Juma

Hamdoon Al Harthy (28:00); 4. Said Nasser Amour Al Manji (28:03); 5. Assem Juma Khamis Al Tamtami (28:8).

Oman Skate Championship: Women’s race 8kms: 1. Fatma Ali Al Shehi (36:05); 2. Balqes Ahmed Al Habsi (39:08); 3. Shahad Suroor Al Saadi (did not finish); 4. Aryam Fahad Al Saadi (did not finish).

Muscat 2 Miles: 1. Salim Khal-fan Alshukaili (9:33); 2. Balarab Shamis Al Hamhami (9:42); 3. Ab-dullah Al Quraini (9:44); 4. Younis Abdullah Al Jabri (9:53); 5. Amjad Khalifa Al Balushi (9:55).

The first ever roller

skating event to be

organised in Oman

attracted over 200

skaters from across

the Sultanate

INAUGURAL WINNERS: Top finishers in men’s and women’s categories pose with their trophies and medals. – Supplied photos

OGC’s schools programme off to a successful startMUSCAT: The Oman Golf Committee (OGC) successfully launched their ‘pet project’ — the schools programme, the first phase of which was organised for six weeks in November and December at The Sultan’s School in Muscat.

As part of their golf develop-ment programme, the OGC in as-sociation with Muscat Hills initi-ated the school programme with the main objective of spotting new talent, and to nurture and build them as future golfers.

The programme is 50 percent subsidised by the OGC and the second six-week phase is sched-uled to be organised during the months of January and February in 2016.

Mundhir Al Barwani, the chair-man of the OGC, said: “We are delighted to introduce the school programme and this will certainly be our pet project.”

Jade Lucas, the PGA Pro from Muscat Hills Golf and Coun-try Club who is in charge of the programme, said: “I wrote to the schools, proposing the pro-gramme. Some of them took inter-est, some didn’t. So we approached those who were interested.”

Jade said: “I approached The Sultan’s School and they agreed to send their students for golf class-

es as an after-school activity.”The children picked up the ba-

sics of golf in the first six-week phase. After a round of evalua-tion, some among those students will be picked for the next phase of training.

“The response from the stu-dents has been very good. They are enjoying the game and taking interest in it. For them it is more fun now and we are making it fun so that the kids will take it up eas-ily,” the trainer said.

Abdullah Al Hashmi, a sixth grade student of The Sultan’s School, said: “I didn’t know much about golf before. I only used to watch it on television. Now I am taking interest after I have come to know how it really feels to hold a golf club. We are having real fun and I am thoroughly enjoying it.”

Abdullah came to know about this programme after his parents had an interactive session with Jade at the school premises.

He wants to continue his golf-ing venture in the next phase of the programme.

Sounding confident, Abdullah said: “I would tell my parents that I want to continue, let’s see if they permit me to do so.”

It’s same with fifth grade stu-dent Nouah Haddad.

He said: “I couldn’t ever think that I would get the opportu-nity to play golf. There could be nothing like getting a chance to play the sport after school at the school ground itself.”

Another sixth grade student of the school, Aisha Al Musafi re-veals: “I have told my father that I would like to be a member of a golf club. May be he will get me a membership in future. But defi-nitely I will continue to play for a long time.”

For those kids who couldn’t think of taking up golf seriously, the OGC has brought this oppor-tunity to them.

“This is exactly our mission. We are creating a scenario where the gear is provided, 50 percent fees are provided, training is pro-vided, only that the parents will have to take the decision that their kids should play golf,” said OGC chairman Al Barwani.

Al Barwani defines the par-ents’ role and has called upon the parents to take their kids to the golf course as an extra-curricular activity.

“Golf not only makes you fit, but it also helps in building up your character and lifestyle. It makes you a good, well-mannered hu-man being,” he said.

G O L F

PET PROJECT: Jade Lucas imparts training to the children at The Sultan School. – Supplied photo

Khalil is Asian player of the year

NEW DELHI: Ahmed Khalil of United Arab Emirates (UAE) got a modicum of revenge on Guang-zhou Evergrande captain Zheng Zhi when he pipped the Chinese to the Asian Football Confed-eration (AFC) Player of the Year award on Sunday.

Khalil’s Al Ahli club finished runners-up in the AFC Cham-pions League as Zheng guided Guangzhou to their second conti-nental title in three years.

But the 24-year-old Khalil won the individual battle in a glittering ceremony on the outskirts of the In-dian capital, denying 2013 winner Zheng a second AFC Player of the Year award and also beating compa-triot Omar Abdulrahman to emerge as the continent’s top player.

“I cannot explain my feeling,”

Khalil told reporters. “It means a lot to me. It’s not for me only, it’s for all the people of the Emirates.”

Khalil became only the third player to have won both the sen-

ior and youth individual accolades and the forward said he would like to play in Europe at some point.

“I have goals that I have set for the future and I will try my best to achieve them.

“I have ambitions to play in Eu-rope but presently I have a con-tract with my current club.”

Guangzhou won the AFC Club of the Year award, while their Bra-zilian recruit and AFC Champions League top scorer Ricardo Goulart won the AFC Foreign Player of the Year award.

Asian Cup champions Aus-tralia won the men’s team of the year award, while Japan claimed the women’s team honour. Ange Postecoglou won the top coach’s honour for masterminding Aus-tralia’s home triumph. - Reuters

F O O T B A L L

‘MEAN A LOT’: UAE’s Ahmed

Khalil, right, receives the player

of the year award from AFC

chief Shaikh Salman Al Khalifa.

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Muscat regain Dubai-Muscat Golf Challenge titleMUSCAT: The recently con-cluded Dubai-Muscat Golf Chal-lenge saw two teams with 14 com-petitors each playing one round at Muscat Hills and another round at Almouj Golf Club with the side from Muscat emerging trium-phant after a hard fought contest.

An initiative which started eight months ago with a group of associates, is now expected to form a part of the Dubai and Oman golf calendars.

The concept saw 28 players from varying business sectors, includ-ing the finance and the oil and gas sectors along with some regional entrepreneurs, all participating in a team match-play format.

The tournament was sponsored by National Bank of Oman, who continue to support wide rang-ing golf initiatives, more notably the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final and Road to Oman Rankings, but in more recent times supporting the “Swing to Perfection Execu-tive Programme” and the ladies golf programme.

The ladies golf programme is now an oversubscribed initiative encouraging female participation in golf and was a joint venture with the Oman Golf Committee and Muscat Hills Golf &Country Club.

The Dubai Muscat Challenge was another one of these golf ini-tiatives. The tournament was a friendly yet competitive event with the Muscat team securing 10.5 points to Dubai’s 3.5 on day one. Day two saw the Muscat team needing just four points from two matches to secure the win. They went on to lose just two points all day thus completing the match 23.5 vs 5.5 to regain the Dubai

Muscat Golf Challenge trophy that they had conceded to the Dubai team earlier this year.

Sharat Seth and Sanjoli Singh, the captains of the two teams said: “We would like to thank the sponsors NBO, as well as Moosa Abdul Rehman and Botek-ACE for sponsoring the prizes and sup-porting this initiative. We hope to continue this tradition for years to come and aim for the next Golf

Challenge to be held in Dubai in April 2016.”

The presentation ceremony was held at the Almouj Golf Club with Humayun Kabir, General Manag-er Wholesale Banking of NBO, giv-ing away the prizes to the winners.

Daily prizes: Day 1: Nearest the Pin: ManojKapur, Longest drive: Na-veed Munazir. Dat 2: Nearest the Pin: Pawan Singh (twice), ManojKapur and Veneet Mohan. Longest drive: Naveed Munazir.

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

FC Goa rout Kerala to enter semifinalsGUWAHATI: FC Goa’s Brazilian striker Reinaldo struck a hat-trick in a 5-1 mauling of Kerala Blasters here on Sunday to confirm their place in the Indian Super League (ISL) semifinals.

Pulga put the Blasters ahead in the second minute of action. Mid-fielder Joffre equalised 10 minutes later. Goa went 2-1 up in the 29th through Reinaldo who extended the margin on the 50th and the 61st minutes. Goa jumped to the second spot with 22 points from 13 match-es after the win. Bottom-placed Kerala Blasters remained stuck on 12 points from as many matches and they are completely out of the reckoning for qualification.

Blasters went ahead virtually as soon as the match began.

Spaniard Pulga was involved in a nice build-up play to the goal be-fore finishing the move with a vol-ley at the near post in the second minute. But they couldn’t hold on to their lead and conceded just 10 minutes later.

A cross from the right flank saw Brazilian striker Reinaldo lay the ball for an onrushing and unmarked Joffre who slotted home to score his

first goal of the tournament. Goa then seized momentum with their second goal in the 29th minute.

Reinaldo finished off with a deft left foot placement a superb interchange of passes also involv-ing Brazilian Leo Moura and left winger Mandar Dessai.

Blasters went into the break pre-serving their lead but also received a huge lift when their opponents were reduced to 10 men. Midfield-er Josu’s needless charge towards Joffre earned him straight red card.

Josu was fighting for the ball with Joffre, both men pushing and shoving each other when he punched Joffre on the chest to earn the eviction. The home side needed to galvanise themselves after the break being a goal and a man down. But instead conceded a third that virtually killed the contest.

Dessai utilised the space offered on the left side by the Blasters to es-say a through ball which Reinaldo simply rolled it in. His third goal was similar in style with C.S. Sabeeth providing an assist from the right.

Dessai inflicted more humility on the Blasters with a left-footed strike in the 64th. - IANS

I S L

Inspired Murray helps Britain seal Davis Cup

GHENT: The moment Andy Mur-ray has pursued with fanatical zeal arrived, unforgettably, on Sunday when an outrageous lob arced over Belgium’s David Goffin to seal Brit-ain’s first Davis Cup title for 79 years.

Fittingly for a player who has almost single-handedly guided his country to a 10th title, the inde-fatigable Murray ended Goffin’s in-spired resistance with a moment of sheer brilliance few could conjure to complete a 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 victory.

It gave Britain a winning 3-1 lead and started a party that hun-dreds of visiting fans decked out in union flags and Scottish saltires

will keep going long into the night in medieval Ghent.

Murray, who looked close to ex-haustion at the end of the three-hour contest that was far closer than the scoreline suggested, col-lapsed on to the claycourt before being swamped by his team mates and captain Leon Smith.

Sportingly he clambered to his feet to console Goffin who had gal-lantly clung on to the hope of keep-ing alive Belgium’s chances of win-ning the title for the first time.

Murray then saluted the ‘Barmy Army’, who roared his every win-ner over a weekend that rubber-

stamped his place in the chroni-cles of British sporting greatness.

“I never thought we would have the opportunity to do this and I can’t believe we have done it,” an emotional Murray, who became the first British man to win Wim-bledon in 77 years in 2013, said on court. “The atmosphere was phe-nomenal. I imagine we’ll have a party tonight.”

Absolute superstarWorld No. 2 Murray, whose re-turn to the Davis Cup team in 2013 sparked Britain’s rapid rise from the depths of the competition, has won 11 live rubbers in this year’s run, matching Ivan Ljubicic’s total for Croatia in 2005.

He has won all eight singles he played while teaming up three times with brother Jamie for cru-cial doubles wins, one of which came on Saturday to put Britain 2-1 ahead. The small Scottish town of Dunblane, where the Murray brothers grew up, could justifiably claim its name should be inscribed on the trophy.

“Andy has shown himself to be an absolute superstar. He will

be the first to say that it is a team thing but what he has done is as-tonishing. I am proud of everyone,” captain Smith said.

Murray was forced to play some of his best tennis against a danger-ous opponent who was roared on by a soccer-style crowd inside the claustrophobic arena.

Goffin squandered a break point at 2-2 in the opening set and Mur-ray then pounced, scorching a backhand winner off a weak sec-ond serve to move 4-2 ahead.

Murray wrapped up the first set with a forehand winner but there was no chance of Goffin’s chal-lenge fading. The Belgian world No. 16 played some sensational tennis to stay ahead in the sec-ond set but could not take the few chances that came his way.

Murray broke in the 11th game when Goffin netted a forehand and clinched the set with a stupendous forehand winner.

He wobbled briefly when he dropped serve early in the third set but the world number two re-sponded to move 5-3 ahead before providing the most spectacular of climaxes. - Reuters

Fittingly for a player who has almost single-

handedly guided his country to a 10th title,

Murray ended Goffin’s inspired resistance

with a moment of sheer brilliance few could

conjure to complete a 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 victory

Real defeat Eibar 2-0MADRID: A Gareth Bale header and a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty gave Real Madrid a much-needed 2-0 victory over Eibar in La Liga on Sunday, following their ham-mering by leaders Barcelona last weekend, and put them six points off the top of the standings.

The Welshman notched up his first goal since the end of August when he nodded in a Luka Modric cross two minutes before half time against the small Basque club who have surprised this sea-son and went into the game with one defeat from eight matches.

Real were made to work hard against a battling Eibar but Ron-aldo secured the win with a pen-alty after 82 minutes following a foul by Dani Garcia on Lucas

Vazquez. The win eases the pres-sure on coach Rafa Benitez fol-lowing defeats in La Liga against Sevilla and in the ‘Clasico’ last Saturday where they lost 4-0.

Third-placed Real now have 27 points from 13 games, two behind Atletico Madrid, while Barca have 33 points.

Getafe’s Angel Lafita scored one goal and set up another in a 2-0 victory over misfiring Villar-real, who now have just one win in seven La Liga matches.

Villarreal have lost their way after a bright start to the season and lie sixth on 21 points, behind Deportivo La Coruna on goal dif-ference, while Getafe are 13th and level with Rayo Vallecano on 14 points. - Reuters

L A L I G A

Chelsea toothless in 0-0 draw with SpursLONDON: Jose Mourinho dropped his disgruntled main striker Diego Costa for Chelsea’s Premier League visit to Totten-ham Hotspur on Sunday but the champions still proved toothless up front as they ground out an undistinguished goalless draw at White Hart Lane.

The Chelsea manager said be-fore the game that his out-of-sorts Spanish striker was lacking confi-dence and Costa certainly did not look a happy soul when, late on, he realised he was not going to be brought on as a substitute. Turning his back on the bench, he tossed his bib away behind him in disgust. It landed at Mourinho’s feet.

Mourinho told BT Sport after the game that “there was not an is-sue, not at all” with Costa, who did not warm up with the other sub-stitutes before nor after the game.

In midweek, Mourinho had said he shared “a few kisses and cuddles” with Costa after they argued during their Champions League win at Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Yet even having produced what Mourinho felt was the best Chel-sea performance of the season, a team with Eden Hazard as an unlikely target man still offered only intermittent threats in an unusually tepid London derby.

Spurs enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and chances and forced some decent work in the first half from Chelsea goalkeep-er Asmir Begovic as they went a 13th straight league game with-out defeat, their best run since a 14-match streak in 1984-1985.

A lively Hazard was handed Chelsea’s best opportunities, heading over the bar from a pin-point Oscar cross in the 20th minute when he should have done better and volleying crisply to force what the Belgian described as a “beautiful save” low down from Hugo Lloris in the 68th.

Yet still the Footballer of the Year saw his Premier League goal drought stretch to 17 games as Mourinho’s side still struggle in 14th place on 15 points.

Spurs, unbeaten since the opening-day loss to Manchester United, remain fifth on 25, four points shy of the top of the table.

On a cold, blustery afternoon which contributed to a much more mediocre affair than Spurs’ thrilling 5-3 win on New Year’s Day, Begovic had to be on his toes in the first half, keeping out a Son Heung-Min header and a Mousa Dembele drive. Yet it took Lloris’s brilliance to keep out Hazard’s sweet volley. - Reuters

E P L

RAGING GOLIATH

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

GearSECTIONC L I F E S T Y L E M O N DAY, N OV E M B E R 3 0, 2 0 1 5

Everything is big about the Triumph Rocket III Roadster — big performance; even bigger road presence, subduing everything else on the road. Maximum head-turns guaranteed with this big, bad, bawdy bike.

Story Faisal Mohammed Naim

LIFESTYLEC8 M O N DAY, N OV E M B E R 3 0, 2 0 1 5C8 M O N DAY, N OV E M B E RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR 3333333333333333333333333333333333 3333333 33333333 3 3333 3333 333 333 3333 33 3 3 3 33 3 0,00,0000000000,0,0,0,0,0,0000,0,000000000000000,0,0,000,0,0,000,0,0,0,0,00,,,,, 222222 2222 2 222222 222222 22222222222222 0 1 5

Newbies and the faint hearted step aside please, for this one is not meant at all for you. Its sheer size might play on your senses, and its brute power might snatch the breath out of you. Ever since muscle cruis-ers arrived on the scene, de-

livering the best of both worlds – plush comfort, and awesome power, this one has been the league’s biggest incarnation — the Triumph Rock III Roadster.

With sheer force of presence, the co-lossal Rocket III uses the world’s largest production motorcycle engine, a 2300cc inline-triple, to deliver a simply stun-ning riding experience unmatched on two wheels. At 367 kilos (wet) the bike is heavy, but all that seems to vanish the moment you settle in the settee seat. A long wheelbase and wide tyres help ease the weight on your legs.

The easily reachable handlebars instil much confidence, and things seem pretty

awesome while at it, with a huge flat and wide, fuel tank, burgeoning sideways, sit-ting between you and the bars, and glossy round instrument cluster sitting atop the handle, right in line with your eyes.

Push the ignition, and the bike awak-ens with smooth grunt. Frankly speak-ing, the grunt is just too smooth or a ma-cho ride like this. The engine revs pretty much like a car — nothing bikish about it, and I don’t know how to like it. And while I tried to gas it a bit to check the grunt at louder revs, I noticed the shaft driven bike gives a sudden jolt to the right, the moment you twitch the accelerator. Though nothing to worry for a man of my size (5ft10, 100plus kilos), it definitely might be a scary prospect for the lighter beings amongst us.

That said, I plonk the gear-stick, and set out on the road, and the amazement started. The rocket propels menacingly fast, and yet remains so nimble. The sur-prisingly light feel of the bike awakens

the speed devil in you as you battle the wind in your face faster and faster. The upright ride position is super-comfort-able. The foot-pegs are tucked in and nothing cruiser-like.

The only problem, again for the small-er riders, is the higher seating stance. At 29.5 inches the seat is pretty high for a big wide cruiser, and the not so vertically gifted might find it quite a daunting task finding ground comfortably during all those stops and halts.

The raging bull is powered by the 2.3 litre inline triple mill, which seethes out a gut churning 221Nm of torque, at just 2750rpm. Producing the biggest torque in the world of motorbikes, the Rocket has more torque at idle than most super-bikes at full chat.

All this power propels the giant jug-gernaut from 0-100kph in just 2.8 seconds, reaching the electronically governed top speed of 193kph in a few blinks. Highway fun is redefined —

whack the throttle to the max, and hang on. The Rocket III rewards with such monster acceleration, it is impossible to wipe the smile off your face.

The 16-inch rear rim wears a meaty 240mm tyre to give you enough trac-tion on the tarmac, enhancing the bike’s agility by leaps and bounds. Despite all the weight and width, the bike balances beautifully even at low speeds. The amazingly neutral steering gives you enough confidence to pace along the twisty roads, and smoothly manoeuvre hairpin bends.

The sports-bike like 43mm inverted forks are strong enough to cope with all the forces, the big rocket could deal out. You’ll specially enjoy the forks while riding out a bump at high speeds. You will be amazed how easily they eat it out, minimising the jolt. Four piston calipers grip the twin 320mm big disks and backed up by ABS to help stop the speeding giant efficiently and with great

ease. The rear single disk is 316mm.Few sights match the Rocket’s visual

impact — its muscular stance accentuat-ed by a massive engine and triple-chrome headers set against a blacked out silhou-ette grab the attention instantly. Char-acteristic twin headlamps and chrome detailing add the finishing touches to its laid back brutal charm.

The conical twin dial chromed instru-ment cluster compliments the signature twin headlights, and houses all the info you might need while on the ride, includ-ing fuel gauge, gear indicator, dual trip metre, and digital clock, among others.

The bike drew curious onlookers wher-ever I parked, seemingly in awe of the monster that it is. Many suffering from the Harley Syndrome went on to ask, which Harley it was. There’s nothing else like it out there: not to look at, nor to ride. Impervious to any intimidations, it in-vites sheer fancy or envy instantly.faisal@timesofoman.com

TECH SPECSTriumph Rocket III Roadster

ENGINE2.3ltr, in-line 3 cylinder

POWER 148bhp (5750rpm), 221Nm torque (2750rpm)

PERFORMANCE0 to 100kph – 2.8 seconds

Top Speed – 193kph

GROSS WEIGHT 367kg

Authorised Dealer in MuscatAl Fardan Motors LLC, Wattayah

+968 2456 3328+968 9118 6968

The Rocket III is designed to be an

arm-wrenching thrill to ride, yet easy

and unintimidating. The sweet handling chassis,

rigid frame, and sophisticated suspension give

you the confidence to sweep through corners

and change direction with an agility that

belies this roadsters’ size.

LIFESTYLEC9M O N DAY, N OV E M B E R 3 0, 2 0 1 5

BatteryThe Z5 Premium uses a large 3430mAh non-removable bat-tery that Sony claims will get you through two days. The Nexus 6P uses a slightly larger 3450mAh non-removable battery. Both have quick charging.

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium:

Huawei Nexus 6P:

Both the devices are simply awesome. Both have a lot in common; from size to weight to processor, and display, as well as their own unique features. The Xperia Z5 has a 4K display, expandable memory and is dust and water resistant.

The Nexus 6P has an AMOLED QHD display, Type-C reversible plug, quick charge, larger 8MP FFC, and the pure vanilla Android with the fastest updates possible. In short, both amaze equally. However, the 6P carries a much lower price tag than Z5, and that might be the clincher.

TOO Verdict: The Huawei Nexus 6P – equally exciting, but significantly cheaper.faisal@timesofoman.com

CONCLUSION

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

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium

SIMILAR YET DIFFERENT

DisplayThe Z5 Premium comes with a 5.5-inch IPS LCD 4K screen, having a resolution of 3840 x 2160, and an astounding density of 806 pixels per inch, which is unbeatable at the moment. Addi-tionally it has Triluminos colour enhancing technology and the X-Reality Engine to upscale the quality of images and videos.The Nexus 6P has a slightly big-ger Samsung derived 5.7 inch AMOLED QHD display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels and a density of 518 pixels per inch. The Nexus display runs full-time QHD, while the Sony’s IPS 4K runs 4K only when the content is compatible. Else it runs a 1080p display. Sony says it has done so to increase power efficiency.

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium:

Huawei Nexus 6P:

ProcessorHere too, both devices are on the same. There is the latest Qual-comm Snapdragon 810 chipset in the Z5 Premium coupled with an octa-core CPU with four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.5 GHz and four Cortex-A57 cores clocked at 2.0 GHz along with an Adreno 430 GPU. The Nexus 6P also has the same chipset. Huawei generally uses its own HiSilicon Kirn Proces-sor, but not this time.

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium:

Huawei Nexus 6P:

CameraThe 12.3 megapixel main camera on the Nexus 6P cannot keep up with the 23-megapixel camera on the Xperia Z5 Premium, which is faster and takes better quality images and video, combined with phase detection autofocus and an LED flash, but still no OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation). For the FFC (Front Facing Cam-era), the Z5 Premium uses a 5.1MP with wide-angle for selfies and video chatting, while the Nexus 6P sports a larger 8MP sensor.

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium:

Huawei Nexus 6P:

Memory The Z5 Premium uses 3GB of RAM and 32GB internal mem-ory, expandable upto 200GB via microSD. The Nexus 6P also uses 3GB of RAM, but does not have the memory expansion option. Instead it offers a default option of 32/64/128GB.

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium:

Huawei Nexus 6P:

DesignThe Xperia Z5 Premium has a met-al frame with glossy glass covered front and back. It has a fingerprint scanner, positioned at the side and integrated with a big power button, and also features FM Radio. The body of the device comes in three colours: gold, chrome, and black. Last, but not least, the device is water and dust resistant, with an IP68 rating, but cannot be sub-merged in water. 

The sturdier Nexus 6P has a full aluminium body and the only point of vulnerability is a small glass panel at its rear over the cam-era. It has rounded corners and the fingerprint scanner is more conveniently located at the back. The 6P also uses the Type-C re-versible microUSB port for faster charging and data transfer, and un-like the Z5, runs pure Android 6.0 Marshmallow ensuring the fast-est upgrades possible when new versions come out. As for colours, there are three options available: frost, aluminium, and graphite.

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium:

Huawei Nexus 6P:

Huawei Nexus 6P

vs

Two new devices join the al-ready much intensified smart-phone bandwagon – the Sony Xperia Z5 Premium and the Huawei Nexus 6P. The Xperia Z5 Premium is your typical Xperia design – squared off like a large slab, with great looks. The Nexus 6P is an all-metal design with round edges, mak-ing it quite comfortable to hold. Either one of these beauties should satisfy any smartphone enthusiast, still, which one is more advanced, and has better specifications and features among the two? Having a lot in common, we put the two phablets head-to-head. The powerful metal and glass Z5 Premium squares off against the new all-metal unibody Nexus 6P.

FIND-IT-ALLC10 M O N DAY, N OV E M B E R 3 0, 2 0 1 5

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

SHATTIThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay-2 (3D) (Adventure | Sci-Fi) (PG12) Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson7:30, 11:45 PMBridge of Spies (Drama | History) (PG) Cast: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda3:15, 6:00, 8:45, 11:30 PMHunting the Phantom (Action) (12+) Cast: Kristanna Loken, Armand Assante2:00, 3:45, 10:00 PMCreed (Drama | Sport) (15+) Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone4:00, 6:30 PMBound to Vengeance (2D) (Horror) (18+) Cast: Richard Tyson, Tina Ivlev, Amy Okuda11:45 PMBlinky Bill The Movie (2D) (PG) Animation2:00 PMTamasha (Hindi) (Drama) (PG12) Cast: Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor9:00 PM4 G Algeil Al Rabea (Arabic) (TBC) Cast: hmed Malek, Sherif Ramzy5:30 PM

MUSCAT GRAND MALLBridge of Spies (Drama | History) PGCast : Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda3:30, 9:00 & 11:30PMGold Class: 2:45, 8:15 & 11:00PMTamasha (Romance| Drama) PG12Cast : Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor12:45 & 8:45PMGold Class : 5:30PMCreed (Drama | Sport) 15+Cast : Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone6:15 & 11:45PMBlinky Bill The Movie (Animation) U11:45AM & 4:15PM

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-2 : 3D (Adventure/Sci-Fi) PG12Cast : Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson6:15PMSpectre : 2D (Action/Adventure) PG12Cast : Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz1:30PM

PANORAMA MALLHunger Games: Mockingjay part 2 (3D)Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson6:30, 11:30 pm (Action, Adventure) (PG12)Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 2 (Action, Adventure)(MX4D)(PG12)2:00, 5:15, 8:30, 11:45 pmCreed (Drama, Sport)(2D)(15+)Cast : Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone4:00, 9:00, 11:50 pmCreed (Drama, Sport)(2D)(15+)-VIP LOUNGECast : Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone6:00 pmBlinky Bill The Movie (Animation)(2D)(U)2:15 pmMiss You Already (Drama)(2D)(15+)Cast : Drew Barrymore, Toni Collette4:45 pm

Tamasha (Romance, Drama)(2D)(PG12)Cast : Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor2:00, 6:40, 9:15 pmBridge Of Spies (Drama)(2D)(PG)Cast : Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda3:00, 6:00, 8:45, 11:30 pmBridge Of Spies (Biography, Drama)(2D)(PG)- VIP LOUNGE3:15, 8:30, 11:15 pm

AZAIBA Tamasha – 2D (PG12) Romance, DramaCast: Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor2:30, 5:15, 8:00, 10:45, 11:30 PMPrem Ratan Dhan Payo – 2D (PG) FamilyCast: Salman Khan, Sonam Kapoor3:15, 8:30 PMInji Iduppazhagi – 2D (PG12) Romance Cast: Arya, Anushka Shetty, Sonal Chouhan6:15 PMBridge of Spies - 2D (PG) Drama, History Cast: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda2:45, 6:30, 11:45 PMBlinky Bill The Movie – 2D (U) Animation2:30, 4:30 PMAnarkali – 2D (PG) Romance, Thriller

Cast: Prithviraj, Biju Menon, Mia, Priyal Glor,5:25, 8:45 PMSpectra – 2D (PG12) Action, AdventureCast: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz11:45 PMThe Hunger Game : Mocking Jay Part 2 – 3D (PG12) Adventure, Sci-Fi Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson9:15 PM

RUWIScreen 1Tamasha (Romance/Drama) – PG12Cast: Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PMScreen 2Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (Family) – PGCast: Salman Khan, Sonam Kapoor3.45, 6.45, 9.45 PMScreen 3Spectre (Action) – PG12Cast: Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes

3.45 PMInji Iduppazhagi – Tamil (Comedy ) – PG12Cast: Arya, Anushka Shetty, Sonal Chauha

6.45, 9.45 PM

SURThe Hunger Game - Mockingjay 2 3D (Action | Adventure | Sci Fi ) (PG12) Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson7:00 PMHunting the Phantom (Action) (12+) Cast: Kristanna Loken, Armand Assante4:45, 11:45 PMBound to Vengeance (Horror) (18+) Cast: Richard Tyson, Tina Ivlev, Amy Okuda9:45 PMTamasha (Hindi) (Drama) (PG12) Cast: Ranbir kapoor, Deepika Padukone4:30, 6:30, 9:00 PMAnarkali( Malayalam) (Thriller) ( TBC) Cast: Prithviraj Sukumaram, Biju Menon, Mia11:30 PM

SOHARSpectre - 2D (PG12) Action |Thriller6:25 PMPrem Ratan Dhan Payo - 2D (PG) Family5:30 PMThe Hunger Game : Mocking Jay Part 2 - 3D (PG12) Adventure, Sci-Fi5:10 PMThe Hunger Game : Mocking Jay Part 2 - 2D (PG12) Adventure, Sci-Fi2:15 PMBridge of Spies - 2D (PG) Drama | HistoryCast : Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda2:45, 8:45, 11:30 PMTamasha - 2D (PG12) Romance| Drama Cast : Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor2:30, 9:15, 11:15 PMAnarkali - 2D (M) (TBC) Romance / ThrillerCast : Prithviraj, Biju Menon, Mia, Priyal Glor,7:45 PMMiss You Already - 2D (15+) Comedy Cast : Drew Barrymore, Toni Collette4:45 PMInji Iduppazhagi - 2D (T)(PG12) Romance Cast : Arya, Anushka Shetty, Sonal Chouhan9:15 PMCreed - 2D (15+) Drama | SportCast : Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone6:45, 11:45 PMBlinky Bill The Movie - 2D (U) Animation2:30 PM4 G Algeil Al Rabea - 2D (Arb)(TBC) Comedy Cast : Ahmed Malek, Sherif Ramzy

4:20 PMBound to Vengeance - 2D (18+) Horror Cast : Richard Tyson, Tina Ivlev, Amy Okuda11:55 PM

BURAIMI

The Hunger Game: Mocking Jay– 3D4:30, 9:00PM

Hunting the Phantom– 2D (Action) (12+)

4:30, 7:15, 9:30, 11:30PM

Bound to Vengeance– 2D (Horrory) (18+)

11:45PM

Creed– 2D (Drama, Sport) (15+)

4:45, 7:00PM

Tamasha– 2D (Romance, Drama) (PG12)

Cast: Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor

6:15, 11:15PM

Anarkali– 2D (Romance, Thriller) (PG)

8:45PM

SALALAHBridge of Spies (2D) (PG) (Biography ) Cast: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda 10:00AM, 1:30, 6:30, 11:45PMThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 2 (2D) (PG12) (Adventure/Sc-Fi) 11:00AM, 4:00PM Creed (2D) (15+) (Drama | Sport)Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone 12:30, 4:15, 9:15, 11:45PMPrem Ratan Dhan Payo (PG) (Family) Cast: Salman Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Neil Nitin3:05PMBlinky Bill The Movie (2D) (U) (Animation ) 10:15AM, 12:05PMMiss You Already (2D) (15+) (Comedy) Cast: Drew Barrymore, Toni Collette 2:00PM4 G Algeil Al Rabea (2D) (TBC) (Arabic) Cast: Ahmed Malek, Sherif Ramzy, Hassan 6:15PM (Comedy) Tamasha (2D) (PG12) (Romance| Drama) Cast: Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor, Javed Sheikh 9:00, 11:15PMInji Iduppazhagi (2D) (PG12) (Tamil) Cast: Arya, Anushka Shetty, Sonal Chouhan 6:45PMAnarkali (2D) (PG) (Malayalam)( Romance) Cast: Prithviraj, Biju Menon, Mia, Priyal Glor 8:15PM

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

ROYAL OMAN POLICE

Emergencies and inquiries: 9999

General Directorate of

Passport and Residence 24569603

Directorate General

of Customs 24521109

Traffic violations inquiries 24510228

Public Relations Admin 24560099

EMBASSIES IN OMAN

Afghanistan 24698 791/4

Algeria 24605 593

Bahrain 24 605 074/133

Bangladesh 24 698 660

Brazil 24640100

Brunei 24 603533

China 24 696782

Cyprus 24 699815

Egypt 24 600 982/411

France 24681 800

Germany 24835000

India 24684500

Indonesia 2469 1050

Iran 24 696 944/7

Iraq 24603642

Italy 24693727

Japan 24 601 028

Jordan 24692760/1/3

Kazakhstan 24 692418

Kenya 24 697664

South Korea 24 691490

Kuwait 24 699628

Lebanon 24 693208

Libya 24603466

Malaysia 24698329/643

Morocco 24696152/3

Nepal 24696177

Netherlands 24603706

Pakistan 24603439

Palestine 24601312

Philippines 24605335

Qatar 24 691 153/2/4

Russia 24602894

Saudi Arabia 24601705

Senegal 24694139

Somalia 24697977

South Africa 24647300

Spain 24691101

Sri Lanka 24697841/2

Sudan 24697875

Switzerland 24603267

Syria 24697904

Tanzania 24601 174

Thailand 24 602684/5

Tunisia 24603486

Turkey 24697050/1/2

UAE 24400000

United Kingdom 24609000

United States 24643400

Yemen 24600815

PHARMACIES

Round the clock

Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi 24783334

Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24782666

Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi 24702542

Salalah 23291635;

Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra 24503585

Muscat Region

Apollo, Al Hamriya 24787766

Muscat, A Seeb Market 24421691

Muscat, Al Khuwair 24485740

Muscat, Al Hail South 24537080

Dhofar Region

Muscat, Al Nahdha Road,

Salalah 23291635

HOSPITALS

Al Amal Medical & Health Care

Centre 24485052

Atlas Hospital

Ruwi 24811743/

Ghubra 24504000

Al Musafir Specialised

Medical Clinic 24706453

Hatat Polyclinic LLC,

Ruwi 24563641

Azaiba 24499269

Sohar 2683006

Al Raffah Hospital 24618900/1/2

Al Massaraat Clinic &

Laboratory 24566435

Al Makook Medical

Coordinance Centre 24499434

Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24787766, 24787780

Capital Polyclinic 24707549

Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic,

Ruwi 24799760/1/2

Capital Clinic, Seeb 24420740

Ceregem National Raak 24485633

Dr Harub’s Clinic 24563217

Elixir Health Centre 24565802

Emirates Medical Centre 24604540

1st Chiropractic Centre 24472274

Lifeline Hospital Salalah 23212340

International Medical

Centre LLC 24794501/2/3/4/5

Kims Oman Hospital 24760100

24 Hrs Emergency 24760123

Lama Polyclinic, Sohar 26751128

MBD 24799077

Al Khuwair 24478818

Magrabi Eye and

Ear Hospital 24568870

Muscat Private Hospital 24583600

Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment

Centre, Al Khuwair 24477666

Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC 22004000

AIRLINE OFFICES

Muscat Airport Flight information

(24 hours) 24519456/24519223

Aeroflot 24704455

Air Arabia 24700828

Air France 24562153

Air India 24799801

Air New Zealand 24700732

Biman Bangladesh Airlines 24701128

British Airways 24568777

Cathay Pacific 24789818

Egypt Air 24794113

Emirates Air 24404400

Ethiopian Airlines 24660313

Gulf Air 80072424

Indian 24791914

Iran Air 24787423

Japan Airlines 24704455

Jazeera Airways 23294848

Jet Airways 24787248

Kenya Airways 24660300

KML Royal Dutch Airlines 24566737

Kuwait Airways 24701262

LOT Polish Airlines 24796387

Lufthansa 24796692

Malaysian Airlines 24560796

Middle East Airlines 24796680

Oman Air 24531111

Pakistan International

Airlines 24792471

Qatar Airways 24771900

Qantas 24559941

Royal Jordanian 24796693

Saudi Arabian Airlines 24789485

Singapore Airlines 24791233

Shaheen Air 24816565

SriLankan Airlines 24784545

Swiss International

Airlines 24796692

Thai Airways 24705934

LISTINGS

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

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (ROUTE 36)

15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily

15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily

15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily

06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily

08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri

13:00 Sohar 15:45 Daily

13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily

16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily

16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily

14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

08:00 Nizwa 10:20 Daily

08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55)

07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily

14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (ROUTE 62)

06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily

06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (ROUTE 100)

07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily

10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily

10:00 Salalah 23:30 Daily

19:00 Salalah 07:40 Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

06:00 Marmul 16:50 Daily

SALALAH TO DUBAI (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)

06:00 Sohar 08:30 Daily

06:00 Dubai 11:30 Daily

13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur

13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur

15:00 Sohar 17:35 Daily

15:00 Dubai 20:55 Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily

07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily

07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (ROUTE 36)

05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily

05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily

05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily

07:00 Ruwi 11:40 Daily

13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri

13:00 Sohar 14:55 Daily

13:00 Ruwi 17:40 Daily

13:00 Sohar 19:20 Daily

17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily

06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily

15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55)

06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily

14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)

12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily

12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (ROUTE 100)

07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily

10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily

10:00 Ruwi 22:30 Daily

19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

06:00 Marmul 16:30 Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Salalah 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)

07:30 Sohar 10:50 Daily

07:30 Ruwi 13:40 Daily

13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri

13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri

15:30 Sohar 18:45 Daily

15:30 Ruwi 21:35 Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH/SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily

16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily

16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

@SHATTI @RUWI

Bridge of Spies (Drama | History) (PG) Cast: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan AldaTiming: 3:15, 6:00, 8:45, 11:30 PM

@PANORAMA MALL

Creed (Drama, Sport)(2D)(15+)Cast : Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa ThompsonTiming: 4:00, 9:00, 11:50 pmVIP Lounge: 6:00 pm

Tamasha – 2D (PG12) Romance, DramaCast: Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor, Javed SheikhTiming: 3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PM

Dhuhr 12.00pmAsr 3.04pmMaghrib 5.25pmIsha 6.39pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 5.11am

PRAYER TIMINGS

BAHJA CINEMAFilm information 24540856 / Advance Booking 24540855Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com

Hunting the Phantom (Action / Adventure)Cast: Kristanna Loken, Armand Assante, Jose Rosete2.00, 8.00, 10.00 & 11.55 pm CP No : 3027 (12+)Creed (Sports / Drama) Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson4.30, 9.30 & 11.55 pm CP No : 3026 (15+)Blinky Bill the Movie (Animation / Adventure) Voice Overs: Toni Collette, Rufus Sewell, Ryan2.00 & 6.00 pm CP No : 3024 (U)The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (Adventure / Sci-Fi) Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth7.00 pm CP No: 3015 (PG12)Tiger House (Action / Crime / Drama) Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Dougray Scott, Ed Skrein4.00 pmCP No: 3016 (12+)

STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776Website: www.isurf.co.om

Anarkali (Mal) (Rom/Drama) Cast : Prithviraj, Biju Menon, Mia & Priyal Glor 3-30 & 6-30 Pm At Cinema-2 ; 9-30 Pm Cinema Main Amar Akbar Anthony (Mal) (Act/Drama) Cast : Prithviraj,Jaya surya,Indrajith & Namitha 3-30 & 6-30 Pm Cinema Main; 9-30 pm Cinema -2Inji Iduppazhagi (Tamil) (Rom/Com) Cast : Arya, Anushka Shetty & Bharath 3-45, 6-45 & 9-45 Pm At Cinema-3 Size Zero (Telugu) (Rom/ Com)Cast: Arya, Anushka Shetty & Bharath3-45, 6-45 & 9-45 Pm At Cinema -4 NEXT CHANGE: Pathemari (Mal); Shankarabhara-nam (Telugu); Rajini Murugan (Tamil)

Programmes are subject to change

WEATHER

280

Maximum

220

Minimum

TEMPERATURE

35-80%RELATIVE HUMIDITY

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 17 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to extra@timesofoman.com

WITH LOVE

LIFESTYLEC11M O N DAY, N OV E M B E R 3 0, 2 0 1 5

T E C H T A L K

You have your motor-bike; you have the li-cence, and have miles of experience in your mirrors. You know all

the what-tos, and how-tos, safety tips and have all the confidence needed to roll the two wheels in you. In short you are nothing short of an awesome rider. But do you know what not to do with a motorcycle? Yes knowing that makes a perfect rider. And here they are:

Don’t Ride Beyond your LimitsYou must first know your lim-its. Most motorcycles can lean to

30-something degrees, do quar-ter-mile in seconds, and brake far faster than the average car. But can you handle that much is what matters more. Most motorcyclists will never reach the limits of their bikes. Know your limits, respect and ride within them.

Don’t Neglect YourselfPart of the joy of riding is being out with buddies, but the buddies will wear you down. Stay comfortable, hydrated, and fed at all times. Re-member, most motorcycle problems are caused by the nut that connects the handlebars to the seat.

Don’t Lose FocusDon’t lose sight of what’s important while riding. Ignore those attractive elements (yeah you know what I am talking about), as they pass by you in their flashy cars. Your crash on them could lead any truck’s rear to have a crush on you.

Don’t Look DownStuck in an unavoidable nasty situ-ation? Think you won’t make the corner, or have a feeling you’re going down? If you look down you’ll get there quick. Look where you want to go. It might even save you from the calamity actually.

Don’t Ride Someone Else’s PaceThis is the biggest dilemma of rid-ing in a group. You keep trying hard to keep up. It is good to learn from the more experienced riders in the group, but don’t feel obliged to keep up the pace, particularly through corners, rough roads, or bad weath-er. Ride at your own pace; you are not the same as them.

Don’t Lose your HeadDon’t let it grow faster than your skills. Riding a motorcycle can take you from zero to hero, especially when you have so many riders, riding along, some of them pretty unscrupulous.

Never let your ego swell in riding mat-ters. Never take up to any body’s chid-ing or challenge. Keep your calm and maintain your pace. Don’t even try to outrun yourself. Only you shall be defeated in any case.

Don’t Neglect your MotorcycleYour tyres can go bald, your brake pads can wear out, your fuel lines can clog, and your engine can suffer dam-age. Any of the above can cause seri-ous problems. Keep a regular check on your ride. Good riding skills combined with a bad bike are of no good to any-one. More next time. Ride safe.faisal@timesofoman.com

THE DON’TS OF MOTORCYCLING

It’s never just dos

that matter. The

don’ts matter equally

too – especially on

a bike. Remove your

helmet for a minute

and read on. It’s

really going to serve

the purpose

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

Berkeley researchers have discovered a simple way of mak-ing monolayer semiconductors - which are less than a nanome-tre thick - more efficient and de-fect free. The finding opens the door to the practical application of monolayer materials, such as MoS2, in devices like LEDs and high-performance transistors.

“One could develop high-performance LED displays, that are transparent when powered off and flexible using the ‘perfect’ optoelectronic monolayers produced in this study,” the researchers said.

Monolayer semiconductors have generated a great deal of buzz as they hold promise in the development of transparent LED displays, ultra-high effi-ciency solar cells, photo detec-tors and nanoscale transistors.

But the films are notoriously riddled with defects, killing their performance. The UC-Berkeley team found a simple way to fix these defects through the use of an organic superacid.

The chemical treatment

led to a dramatic 100-fold in-crease in the material’s photo-luminescence quantum yield, a ratio describing the amount of light generated by the ma-terial versus the amount of energy put in. The greater the emission of light, the higher the quantum yield and the bet-ter the material quality.

The researchers enhanced the quantum yield for molyb-denum disulfide, or MoS2, from less than one per cent up to 100 per cent.

“Traditionally, the thinner the material, the more sensi-tive it is to defects,” said prin-cipal investigator professor Ali Javey. —IANS

Transparent, brighter LEDs may soon become a reality

LIFESTYLEC12 M O N DAY, N OV E M B E R 3 0, 2 0 1 5

of riders in fatal crashes do not have a

valid motorbike driving licence

26% of fatal crashes occur

on weekends

44% of fatalities are single-vehicle crashes where no other vehicles are

involved

50%

Almost half of all fatal crashes involve alcohol and/or over-speeding

Causes of Motorcycle Accidents

Always Wear a HelmetChoose a helmet that displays

the DOT label, which indi-cates that it meets road safety

standards

1 7Be Seen

Avoid blind spots and always use your headlights day or night.

Also, wear vibrant clothing

6Signal

Always use the signal indicators while turning

5Keep Your DistanceNo one likes a tailgater.

Keep a safe distance between your bike and other vehicles.

Too close a distance often results in collision

4Know Your Limits

Both you and your motor-cycle have limits. Know them,

and act accordingly

3Watch Speed

Strictly honour posted speed limits

2Use Both Brakes

When braking use both brakes at the same time by applying

them slow and steady

Source: Bisnar l Chase, bestattorney.com

7

Safety Tips

A predominating cause of motorcycle accidents

is failure to recognise the motorcyclist in traffic

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

CONNECT H E D A I LY G U I D E

D

D4 VACANCY CARGO D8

M O N D AY, N O V E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 5

RENT D2

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication.

* Subject to space availabilityCONTACT : 990 49 722

FOR RENTNEAR AL FALAJ HOTEL-

DELUXE 1 BHK,SPLIT A/C.BUILT IN WARDROBE &

2 BATHROOM.WITH & WITHOUT

FURNISHING.

Business in Oman for Sale

Profi table business in Oman running since 20 years

having more than 3 outlets in various locations.

Serious parties may send email to :sprtnft ns@gmail.com

A Leading Marble Manufacturing Company in Sultanate of Oman having a vacancy for the post of

Electrical Engineer Th e candidate must be an university qualifi ed engineer or a higher degree diploma holder with a minimum industry experience of 3 years. Fluent in written & spoken English, knowledge about power, CPU, inverters & electrical panels

isrequired.

Suitable candidates may submit their complete CV with certifi cates to:

em-o@nassarstone.com or seniorpro@nassarstone.com Or Fax –on: 24446049

Nationality – Indian or Philippines (better if available in Oman)

*Tourist visa arranged

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

4 Bedroom Twin Villa for rent in

Al Hail South, easy access to

Sultan Qaboos Highway

Contact 98080822

Brand new 2 Bedroom apartment

with maid room for rent in Rimal

Bausher with private parking

Contact 98080822

One BHK with A/C and one large

room for rent in AL Khuwair near

Ibis hotel. Contact: 95724975

Rent one room, 1 toilet, big hall,

with air-condition Wadi Adai.

Contact: 99345137

One flats for rent 2 bedroom all

with bath al Ghobrah north near In-

dian school (hot burger restaurant)

tell 9976610

1BHK near medical Darsait

Muttrah house R.O 175/- & 2 BHK

R.O 220/-. Contact: 98748925

Showroom for rent at Wadi Kabir

perfectly suitable for travels,

money exchange, Auto parts up

holster advertising materials.

Contact: 94143636

D2 M O N D AY, N O V E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

Room for rent near Al Dasar Ruwi.

Contact 99797645/ 92099367

Villa for rent 4 BHK, plus 1 sitting

room and 1 extra servant room at

18 November road behind

Oman Oil. Contact: 99373290/

24815012

Flats for rent in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 99376454

1BHK flat near Hamriya hotel.

Contact: 96500860

4 BHK villa for rent Al Khuwair

650/- O.R Contact: 94232344

2 BHK Honda road Ruwi.

Contact: 99224748 /99332297

Room, kitchen & bath in north

Ghobrah include E/W & AC split

200/- R.O. Contact: 92811110

Excellent office 5 rooms Al Khu-

wair O.A. Bank building 850/-R.O.

Contact: 94232344

Flats in Qurum, Al Wallaj,

3 rooms, Majlis, dining room,

kitchen, 3 bathrooms.

Contact: 98044421

We have 3BHK villa fully furnished

in Ghobrah 18th November.

Contact: 93782735/99208033

We have open space offices in Ghala

new building.

Contact: 93329476/99208033

We have coffee shop for rent or sale

in Al Khuwair.

Contact: 93782735/99208033

We have 200sqm Basmat in

Al Khuwair. Contact: 93329476/

99208033

We have 2 BHK flats in Gho-

brah, Ghala, Azaiba. Contact:

93782735/99208033

We have fully furnished offices in

Ghala new building good price. Con-

tact: 93782735 / 99208033

We have office in Ghobrah main

road Prime location. Contact:

93782735/99208033

We have 2BHK flat in Ghala.

Contact: 93329476/99208033

2 BHK with spilt A/C in W.K behind

Sana fashion. Contact: 96708000

1 BHK with split A/C in Darsait

opposite Muscat Municipality.

Contact: 96708000

2 BHK with spilt /AC in MSQ oppo-

site AL Fair. Contact: 96708000

House for rent in AL Amerat oppo-

site office Justice, 3rooms, Majlis

, 4 toilets, living room ,food hall &

kitchen. Contact: 99252494

5 BHK villa at Mabela 7 for Rent.

Contact: 99428221/ 99269912

A Bedroom along with separate

bathroom available for rent for an

Executive Bachelor in Al Khuwair

(near Zawawi Mosque).

Contact 92138451

1BHK new bldg with A/C curtains

near Khimji mart MBD. Contact:

99061408 /99024039

House in Al Khoud commercial dis-

trict, 4rooms, Majlis, 2 kitchens,

3 bathrooms. Contact: 98044421

1.2 BHK M.B.D. Contact: 92144045

1BHK Darsait I.S.D school R.O 225/-

Contact: 92144045

Furnished rooms attached bath for

Indian bachelor Al Falaj area - Ruwi

& for lady in Wadi Kabir near Mars

Hypermarket -

Contact 96202458/96761960

Furnished office, accommodation

available Walja. Contact: 96246625

2.3 BHK Ghobrah R.O 350/- / 400/-.

Contact: 92144045

Shops in AL Amerat industrial area

near shell station.

Contact: 98044421

2 B/R Apartment Executive Fully

Furnished @ Al Khuwair 33

1 B/R Apartment Executive Fully

Furnished @ Al Khuwair 33

1 B/R Flat - Fully Furnished @

Salalah Near New Lulu.

2 B/R Flat - Fully Furnished

American standard @ Salalah.

5 B/R Villa - Fully Furnished @

Madinat Al Ilam, 5 B/R Villa -

Unfurnished @ Madinat Al Ilam

5 B/R Villa - Unfurnished @

Al Mawalah North Brand New

Please Contact: Atlas Real Estate

& Rent A Car LLC. 24834888,

99249069 / 92888376

92888374

Email: info@alshahiintl.com

For Rent Flats in Darsait -

94051789-97201688

For Rent Flats in Ghala Heights -

94051789-97201688

For Rent Fully Furnished

apartments in Boucher (35) -

94051789-97201688

For Rent Flats in Wadi Kabir -

94051789-97201688

For Rent flats in Muttrah-

Contact – 94051789-97201688

Offices for Rent Gala-

Contact –94051789-97201688

1BHK Mumtaz R.O 250/-.

Contact: 92144045

1.2.3 BHK flats 8 villas.

Contact: 97799175

1BHK flat near Star Cinema 220/-.

Contact 99358589 /95570288

2 & 3 BHK Al Khuwair.

Contact: 99024730

Flat for Rent 1/2 BHK Flat at Mut-

trah, near Oman flour mills, 10 min.

from Corniche.Equipped with split

unit ACs, internet points, free-to-air

dish connection, CCTV monitored,

basement parking. Rent RO.250/350

per month. Contact: 99229263;

93221054; 95215289

Studio in souk Al Khoud behind

of Al Ahali bank with 2 BR toilet+

kitchen in 2 floor 160RO.

Contact 99738881

Flats and shops for rent in Ruwi

Honda road Mumtaz area. Contact:

97293708 /92433127

New flats for rent Darsait Al Sahel.

Contact: 99311525 / 92533356

Villa with 5 rooms, two sitting

rooms, 5 toilets and kitchen at

Al Hail North. Contact: 91130875

Flat for rent at Wadi Al Kabir next

Al Hassan.co, 2 bedroom, 3 WS,

1 sitting room. Contact: 99210008

Single BHK flat available in Honda

road Ruwi. Contact - 24833972/

24833974/99367448

600 SQT commercial flat for rent

opposite Oman flourmill Darsait

more details. Contact: 91214849/

99364735

NEW FLAT FOR RENT

Contact : 99229263; 93221054;

95215289

Beautiful villa directly on beach in

best location in Shatti Qurum 1800

OMR. Contact: 95887572

One / two, B/R RES / Comm. direct-

ly from own ER near medical college

Bausher. Contact: 92158031

2 BHK in Al Meera MKT building in

Al Khuwair available. Rent RO420.

Contact 94047434

Sohar: 3BHK AND 4BHK FLATS, R.O 200 and R.O 215 respectively.

(New Building with CCTV camera

with Split A/C). Contact: 99881426 /

92123699

DAILY GUIDEM O N D AY, N O V E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 5 D3

FOR SALE

FOR SALE

Running furniture showroom for urgent sale.

Ladies beauty parlor

Contact - 91135930

Building material and jotun paint

shop for sale at Ruwi and Ghala.

Contact: 99421228

Urgent shop sale in Wadi Kabir

Sanaya. Contact: 95949668

Porta cabin for sale. Contact:

99883502/95398929

We have complete office furniture

for sale very nice like new rare use.

Contact: 93782735 93329476

Fully equipped running café for sale

at Wadi Al Kabir. Contact: 99636550

Coffee shop Mabela industrial area

for sale. Contact: 92253080

Running dental clinic in Quriyat for

sale Contact: 96534564

Beauty Salon for urgent sale in

Azaiba prime location behind

Al Fardan building. With sponsor and

1 staff and 1 ready visa clearance.

Call: 95318629 / 95169411

Ladies saloon with 2 staff for sale in

Mawalah. Contact 94197589

Sale house & office furniture & elec-

tronic items. Contact : 99834373/

96642500/22010080

For Sale Luxury Apartments in

Bousher (35) -Contact 95056808-

97201688

For sale Fully Furnished apartments

in Bousher (35) -

Contact- 95056808-97201688

A running restaurant for sale near

Oman oil petrol Pump Al Uqdah

(Barka). Contact: 99059013

For Rent Duplex villa in Qurum

29- 94051789-97201688

For Rent Offices & Showrooms in

Al Khoud- 94051789-97201688

For Rent offices in Qurum op-

posite city center- 94051789-

97201688

For Rent Mini Furnished Apart-

ment in Qurum- 94051789-

97201688

For Rent Flats in Mawalah

south-94051789-97201688

For Rent brand new villas in

Al Ansab- 94051789-97201688

For Rent Offices & Showrooms in

Muttrah -94051789-97201688

2 BHK flat available for rent in

Darsait. Contact: 99357586

RESTAURANT/ CAFÉ FOR SALE

95126949

GENERAL ELECTRONICS SERVICES LLC

CONTACT: 99627299 / 93327841

BRING HOME - LIVE MUSIC & CINEMA

HOME THEATER&

KARAOKE

FOR HIRE WITH OPERATORS1. Back Hoe Loaders (Shovels): 5 Nos2. 10 Tons Vibratory Roller Compactor: 1 No.3. 42 Mtrs. Concrete Pump Putzmeister: 1 No.4. 45 Cbm Tippers: 2 Nos5. 50 M height, 50 Boom tower cranes: 5 Nos.

Please contact – Mr. Ravi on 96529679Email – ravi@alliedoman.com / narayan@alliedoman.com

For sale 8 Apartments (Total area

850 SQM approximate) in “Bait Al

Noor” occupying two full floors

(7th and 8th floors). The building

is opposite to GMC car showroom

facing the main road (Sultan Qaboos

Road). Excellent location for best

visibility of signboard for any

corporate. Contact 94194071

for details.

Beauty parlor for sale Muttrah.

Contact: 93142676

For sale villas in Al Khoud -

95056808-97201688

ACC. AVAILABLEACC. AVAILABLE

Furnished room for non – cooking

bachelor near Softy ice cream Ruwi.

Contact: 93120054/91107383

Single room bathroom in Darsait R.O

140/-. Contact: 93289652

Furnished sharing accommodation

in ruwi near O.K. Center for

non-cooking indian bachelor.

Gsm 9880-5474

Large room with separate bathroom,

sharing available in Al Khuwair.

Contact - 95250161

Sharing room available for family

/executive bachelor, near Oman

house. Contact: 96753740

Furnished rooms attached bath for

Indian bachelor in Al Falaj

Ruwi & lady in Wadi Kabir.

Contact 96202458 /96761960

Single room for expat Indian bach-

elors near Al Aktham restaurant

Al khuwair for RO 120. Water and

electricity included.

Contact : 98803261

Single bid room with attached bath,

separate entrance, Honda road near

NBO for ex bachelors.

Contact: 91410434

ACC. WANTED

FOR RENT

Sharing Accommodation Required

for Non cooking Executive Lady in

Darsait /Ruwi/Wadikabir. # 99360615

Big room available near Hamriya

R/A for Muslim couple / small family

/ Executive bachelor rent 150/- per

month including W+ E.

Contact : 99495131

1 Bedroom with attached Bath, fully

furnished, separate entrance at

Mabela for ladies only.

Contact : 99634841

1 Bedroom with bathroom available

for rent. Only Indian female.

Contact - 92394614

3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, sitting

room, Kitchen & store including

utilities bills at Al hail.

Contact 92817777

1BHK fully furnished spacious for

rent CBD, ideal for family or two

bachelors easy access to Main road

near Sheraton hotel with all

electronics & furniture.

Contact: 96444400 /5pm -10pm

Room with bath for executive bach-

elor near A/C flat, hotel.

Contact: 99643845

SHARED OFFICE SPACE

FOR RENTAVAILABLE SHARED FULLY

FURNISHED OFFICE SPACE

FOR RENT WITH SEPARATE

ENTRANCE

PRIME LOCATION

IN AZAIBA.

TOTAL AREA 201sq.m.

FOR FUTHER DETAILS

PLEASE CONTACT ON

95621492/96554579

CLASSES

IELTS & TOEFL

Academic / General

Target Band 8

TQT Institute.

Ph # 24480800 / 99347202

Classes for bakery, cup cakes, icing

decorations. Contact: 96202458

/96761960

Karate and self defense classes

at Azaiba 18 Nov Street. RO 10 per

month twice a week Monday and

Tuesday 6. 30 TO 7. 30. PM

CONTACT 98294551

COMPUTER

Classes for Spoken EnglishTOEFL / GRE / GMAT / SAT

Excellent Guidance and Coaching Satisfaction Guaranteed

IELTS PREPARATION Target Band 8.0

EAGLES INSTITUTE92325542 | 93657915 | 93657917 | Email: engominst@gmail.com

Spoken Arabic class for Non Arabic Speakers & English

class for Malayalam Speakers in Azaiba and Ruwi

earn in two monthstion guaranteed

Tel: 95244310

WEBSITE

WEBSITE

LOST

WEB, ERP and Business Intel-

ligence (BI) creation and manage-

ment at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

Muhammad Jamil has lost Pa-

kistan Passport No. CJ 8202691.

Finder please handover to ROP

DAILY GUIDED4 M O N D AY, N O V E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

SITUATION WANTEDSIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

DOMESTIC HELP

CATERING

LAWYER

ADMIN

ENGINEER/TECH/MECH

DRIVER

MEDICAL

MEDICAL

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ARCHITECT

ARCHITECT /AUTOCAD

SALES / MARKETING

DRIVER

ADMIN

CATERING

WANTEDCivil Engineer (Building Construction) 2 Nos

Qualification: BE in Civil Engineering

Electro Mechanical Engineer (Building Services)1 No.

Qualification: BE in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering

Send detailed resume to

sskpvr@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS

Interior Designer Experienced

knows 3D max Photoshop:

Contact 93837973

AutoCAD D/man Experienced.

Contact : 93837973

Architect (B. Arch) 5 years experi-

ence seeking job. Contact 96146645

Email: anjuovil@gmail.com

Cooks (Arabic Indian)

gulf exp looking job.

Contact: 99531802

Required Aggressive Sales Execu-tive with B.Com /BBA. Preference to

bilingual applicants with experience

in luxury products. Interested

candidates please send CV to

hena_82@hotmail.com

Sales man / Interior Designer wanted for prestigious interior

design and office furniture Supply

Company. Experience and drivers

license needed excellent

remuneration package.

Email: tony@materials-plus.com

Senior HR , professional MBA ,

12 yr GCC experience at manage-

rial recruitment, administration

, policy formulator working with

a leading construction co (4000

plus employees) looking for a im-

mediate change over , NOC avail-

able. Contact: 94017306

Email: saneesh9181@gmail.com

10 years Gulf & 4 years Oman ex-

perience in HR / Admin & logistics

fluent in Arabic / English with D/L

looking for suitable position.

Contact 95824598

Male BBA graduate 5 years admin

HR document controller purchaser

account assistant (tally) experience

NOC. Contact: 97015178

MBA (HR & marketing) & B.Com,

Indian male 28 yrs, 2 years exp

in Qatar having Oman driving

license, currently on family visa in

Salalah (NOC available.

Contact: 98138376 Email:

subinabraham87@gmail.com

Indian female graduate over 6

years experience admin operations

service looking for suitable job.

Contact: 94231020

Indian male - 25 years - MBA

(HR & marketing) with one year

experience on visit visa looking

preferably for suitable HR/ ADMIN

/ marketing jobs .contact : Mr.

Harish Ravindranathan / mail ID

: payyazhihari1990@gmail.com /

90189964

Female Indian 9+ yrs experience

in administration customer sup-

port office coordination with good

computer skill now on visit visa

looking for suitable openings.

Contact: 99285440

Indian female, Masters in HR,

having 4 + years Oman experience

in media management and HR,

looking for openings in HR, Educa-

tion, Admin, Corporate communi-

cations. Contact 98252030

Indian male MBA- UK 18 yrs Gulf

exp in Administration/ HR & Pub-

lic relationship. Fluent in Arabic/

English with D/L. Looking for suit-

able position. Contact - 99897280

Indian Female, MBA-HR having

8+ experience in Administration/

HR, Customer Support, Office

Coordinator with good Computer

skill, Now on Visit Visa, looking for

suitable position.

Contact: 90196235

26 yrs male, MBA, 3+ years experi-

ence in Administration in MNC,

seeks suitable placement.

Contact 95041201

Email: noyel55@gmail.com

Looking for s

and Sales Engineers

Email: applyinggchr@gmail.com

Urgently required for a reputed

company in Oman (Tyre, Battery &

Lubricant division) Sr. Executives/Executive-5 nos (Sohar, Nizwa &

Muscat), Techno Commercial Pro-fessional-5nos, Driver (Omani)-1no.

Required minimum 3-5 yrs experi-

ence in the same field with market

exposure holding valid Omani driv-

ing license or GCC. Kindly fwd your

CV’s to ashwin@taasintl.org

Contact: (+968)93891700

ENGLISH TEACHERSWANTED IMMEDIATELY

FOR VARIOUS LOCATIONSMUSCAT | IBRI | SOHAR | NIZWA

SALALAH | BARKA | BURAIMIKHABOURAH | KHASAB

92325542 | 93657915 | 91321880engominst@gmail.com

BEAUTY

Branded salon in Muscat requires a beautician with skills of: Mani-

cure, Pedicure, Nails techniques,

Massage, Facial and waxing.

Contact- 98500222

Full time living House maid required for an Indian female in

Al Ghobrah. Contact: 97084023

Need excellent cook & house-keeper. Contact Whatsapp:

95887572

Small Omani family in Muscat

requires an educated House maid. Contact – 98500222

Urgently required a Kerala House maid for small family (2 members)

aged around 40-45 visa available.

Contact: 99324343

We are looking for Chief Finan-cial Officer, Male 40- 45 years old,

Bachelor of Science in Account-

ancy with 5 - 15 yrs. of experience.

Contact: +968 24702133

Email: admin-dept@daud.om

1. Service Administrator: A qualifi ed Electro/Automobile/Electric Diploma holder with

minimum 2 years’ experience on deskjobs such as preparing

quotation, supplier correspondence, warranty claims etc. Age between 25 – 30.

2. Accountant: A qualifi ed B.Com/M.Com/C.A. Inter accountant with minimum 4 years’

experience in accounting with banking knowledge.

Age between 25-30.

Attractive Salary and terms Off ered

VACANCY

Candidates with NOC or on visit visa can apply, please drop your CV at

careerhr1972@gmail.com

SECT. /OFFICE

Personal Assistant, 5yrs experi-

ence in Oman or GCC. MBA or

equivalent. Part-time preferred.

Call 95364625.

Chief Financial Offi cer

(CFO)Looking for dynamic and talented

individuals to join our team in

Oman for the position of

Chief Financial Offi cer.with at least 5 years experience in the

relevant fi eld for a group of

companies associated with Petroleum,

please apply, with confi dence and

send your C.V

issa@nibrasholding.com

Kevin.Dodd@OasisMaritimeServices.com

ASSISTANT RETAIL MANAGER

Use the email -recruitment@afl aggroup.com

REQUIRED A SUPERVISOR

F

Urgently Required One General Cook (Experience in Indian/

Chinese) for Hotel Apartment –

Tel: 99797170 /

Fax : 24490735

Email – hotapaz@omantel.net.om

Engineering consultancy office looking for Architect with experi-

ence in Oman (portfolio needed)

hr@touchcdc.com 96649374 -

99441122

Urgently required Omani Nation-als P.R.O & Merchandiser cum driver & 3 Ton truck drivers. Please send your resume to

foods@manappat.com

Contact: 99348211/93203550

A reputed construction company in Muscat urgently requires the

following candidates (Omani Nationals only) Civil Engineer & P.R.O & light duty driver. Send C.V to hr.azatllc@gmail.com

or call 99344896

Instrumentation & controls Technician with 2-3 years experi-

ence preferably in water sector

and having valid driving license

Send CV to shiju@spec-link.com or

call Ph:+968 99450811

Indian female, MBA HR & Finance,

having 1 year experience, seeking

suitable placement. Currently in

Oman. Contact: 96052366.

Indian male 25 yrs, Graduate in

commerce, overall 5 yrs exp in ac-

counts/ finance field. On visit visa.

Immediately available.

Contact – 92836216 /

muhammad.tausif623@gmail.com

12 years of Oman experienced

chief accountant looking for suit-

able position. Contact: 99513082

Accountant job wanted 8 years

experience, 5 years in India, 3

years in Oman knowledge of tally

ERP 9 NOC available.

Contact: 91162503

Indian male 9 years experienced

in storekeeper cum accountant

with D/L Oman & UAE.

Contact: 97085435

Email: sudhimohd@gmail.com

CA Final (Group I), Indian Female,

Accountant, 5+ year’s exp, in A/

Cs, Audit, Tally, ERPs. Available

in Muscat & looking job in A/Cs.

Ph:94704800 email id:

vinithsavith@gmail.com

Accountant with more than 30

years experience in construction

(experience in accounting/admin-

istration/HR/material manage-

ment) and with own car seeks

part time or full time assignment

preferably in construction either

in Oman or UAE.

Contact 94674031

Chief Accountant 25 years expe-

rienced, for the last 7 years work-

ing as Chief Accountant seeks

immediate placement.

Contact: 95598477/98803439

ACCA affiliate, fresher, Indian

male, valid driving license, look-

ing for full time employment in

Accounting and Finance, also

open to other opportunities,

Contact +968 91291520,

Email: shahidazeez5@gmail.com

Sr. Accountant ( CA- inter) Indian

male 31 years having 9 years

experience in finance & accounts

looking for suitable placement.

NOC available and valid Oman

D/L. Contact: 94108678 Email:

vijeshvasu@gmail.com

Finance controller 15 years

experience in Oman contracting,

consultancy, trading oil & gas

tourism IT etc project financing

feasibility ERP cost control.

Contact: 98571309

28/ male MBA – finance /B.com –

accountant with 4 years of Dubai

/ India experience looking for a

suitable placement.

Contact: 90187483 Email:

shobinkarikkan1987@gmail.com

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, with

13yrs experience, 6 yrs Oman

in manufacturing, trading &

contracting Cos, capable of

handling all accounting, finance,

banking, L/C, import, export &

finalization seeks placement. NOC

Available. Call+968-98932752,

mail:jjohnmuscat@hotmail.com

WASTE MANAGEMENT AND

WATER TREATMENT

SPECIALIST Looking for dynamic and talented

individuals to join our team in Oman for the position of

“waste management and water treatment specialist”

with at least 5 years experience in the relevant fi eld.

And one in-house specialist

issa@nibrasholding.comKevin.dodd@oasismaritimeservices.com

VACANCIES FORHEAVY DUTY TRUCK

DRIVERSA excellent grade company is looking for heavy duty

truck driver with valid driving license (Oman/ Dubai)

Please send CV with copy of license.

Fax: 24817276 Mob: 93728515

Email: pankaj@primetrading.co.om

VACANCYOil Service Company is

looking for Finance Manager: HSE Manager &

HR Specialist

With relevant experience in

oil industry.

Contact: kirill.muromtsev@me.borets.com

Urgently required Admin / Accountant with minimum

4 years experience with valid

Omani driving should be fluent in

Ms Office applications and tally.

Fax: 24564459

Email: mhca@mhabibgroup.com

Required locally available Indian

national light duty driver for

Omani House. Visa readily avail-

able. Contact: 99420752

Wanted heavy driver. Contact: 91770195

Heavy duty driver with valid

driving license and experience.

Contact: 94107090 or 95398929

Email: alkharusi.international@

gmail.com

Wanted driver. Contact

91025698

Seeking a well experienced diploma Engineer (electrical) with

valid Oman driving license kindly.

Contact: 99288664

Engineering consultancy firm in

Sur looking for graduate Civil Engineers. Interested candidates

apply to babupj@ gmail.com

or call 99318205

Instrumentation & controls Technician with 2-3 years

experience preferably in water

sector and having valid driving

license Send CV to

shiju@spec-link.com or

call Ph:+968 99450811

Civil Engineer with minimum five

years, PDO Experience, earth work

and building construction (PDO

driving license preferred.

Please send CV to

info@globaltechinternational.com

Contact: 99150203/91404425

Medical CARE Centre, Al Seeb,

requires General Practitioners and

Pharmacist, Please Mail CV-

sarita_h23@yahoo.com

or call 97884856.

Required General Physician, Gynecology, Lab Technician & Pharmacists. Contact: 95133572

Email: kunoozghala@gmai.com

Experienced Female Senior

Accountant looking for suitable

alternative. Contact: 99849325

Sr. accountant M.com (finance)

2 yrs in Oman seeking suitable

placement NOC Available with

immediate joining.

Contact 92404608

Email: jin_75@rediffmuil.com

Indain male Accountant, 8 years

experience 4 years In dubai,4 yrs

in Muscat. Additional knwoledge

in JDE and Tally.9, NOC available

ready to join immediately.

Contact: 95364896 /92912347

Email: bsdv1978@gmail.com

Indian male, 23 years, MBA fi-

nance MNC 2 years experience in

accounts, currently in Oman seek-

ing for suitable position. Contact:

Yahya Manager 96930855

Male Indian with 7 years experi-

ence in accounting & 6 years

experience in sales and marketing

very good knowledge of tally cur-

rently in Muscat on a visit visa.

Contact: 96148427

Email: jijokurianp@gamil.com

Indian lady, bachelor degree in

Preparatory Programme (BPP)

and Bachelor of Commerce

(BCom), completed training

course in MS Word, Excel, Power

Point and Outlook from KTI look-

ing for full time / part time job

opportunity in Oman.

Contact 92437568, 96795853,

Email: linda_navs@yahoo.com

MEP Engineer with minimum five

years PDO / ministry experience.

Please send CV to

info@globaltechinternational.com

Contact: 99150203/91404425

A group of well reputed Private Schools associated with Cambridge Programs in

Muscat – Sultanate of Oman Requires following teaching posts:

WELL QUALIFIED TEACHERS for IGCSE & CIP for (English, Maths, Physics, Chemistry, IT, lab assistant for Chemistry and

Physics) - MSc / BSc and M.Ed / B.Ed with (IELTs / TOFEL) and at least 3 years of teaching

experience with attested documents.Mail your CV at: wps1986@yahoo.com

Arab lawyer fluent in English with

five years experience for law firm.

Contact: 92424593

Required urgently an Indian Legal Consultant /Lawyer for

a reputed Law Firm in Muscat &

Sohar. Candidates should have 5-7

years experience as Legal Consult-

ant/Lawyer with good knowledge

of Computer & should be fluent in

English. Email C V to

shejaanil66@gmail.com or contact

99153620 between 8am to 5.30pm

Wanted Canary clinic MBBS Doctor with 3 years experience

MOH license holder gets, Good

offer salary. Contact 94395199

Email: canarymoh@gmail.com

e-mail : rgeorge@omantd.com ; atalibus@omantd.com

VACANCIES

Indian male driver 3yrs experi-

ence seeking for suitable placemen.

Contact: 93663493

REQUIRED

for a Contracting Co.

- Civil Engineer / Buildings

(with not less than 5 years experience).

- Mechanical Engineer Email:

haldun.yildirim@icc-oman.com

REQUIRED for a Contracting Co.

Freelance

Civil Engineer / QS Required for preparation of

SCHEDULE for completed project of

approx. area 10,463 Sq. M,

Contact – 97257060

A reputed Dairy Company in Oman is looking for following Vacancies.

Please forward your CV’s to

Van Salesman:

3 Year experience with NOC

Drivers – Omani National Only: 2 year experience with Valid

Omani D/L

Debt collector: Omani National with 4 years experience with Valid Omani D/L

Wanted Lab Technician with

MOH license for Ibra clinic.

Contact – 99373493/

Email: jmjmedicare@gmail.com

Wanted Nurse and Omani Re-ceptionist for a well established

dental centre in Mawalah South.

Contact – 93431024/ Email –

drasyanaseem@gmail.com

Urgently required Philipina Nurse with MOH license at pro-

metric parsed. Contact: 99724013

Wanted GP Doctor with MOH

license, job location in muscat

with good salary and benifits.

Drop ur cv at

careerhr1972@gmail.Com.

DAILY GUIDEM O N D AY, N O V E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 5 D5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

DRIVER

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

DESIGNER/DRAUGHTSMAN

Indian male, 29 years electrical

engineer, having 5+ years of ex-

perience in oil / gas and construc-

tion field (GCC) having valid GCC

license too, looking for a preferable

job. Contact: 00968-98052942

Email: azamjeelani@gmail.com

Civil Engineer (B.Tech), Indian

male 24 years with 1+years Indian

experience,(Certified in Staad

Pro/ Quantity Survey/ Auto Cad).

Looking for a Suitable position.

Available In Sultanate of Oman

(Muscat) on Visit Visa.

Contact: 92835952. E-mail:

mohammedamair.bin@gmail.com

Structural Draughtsman having

10 years experience in engineer-

ing consultancies N.O.C available.

Contact: 00968 97612846

Indian male 24, B.Tech electri-

cal & electronics engineer and

P.G. Diploma in automation &

SCADA with 2 years experience

Kerala electricity board, looking

for suitable placement. Contact:

95340253 /92914336 Email:

seanjohnson176@gmail.com

Indian male 21, B.Tech, Mech

Engineering + quantity analyzer/

controller looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 92914336/

96585010

Email: deenjohnson94@gmail.com

Indian male diploma civil engineer

13 years of professional experience

in projects and operations, seeking

suitable placement NOC available.

Contact: 96328643/96234670

3 years Oman experienced young

diploma civil engineer valued L/D

with release. Contact: 91978472

Civil Site Supervisor for telecom

tower projects across Oman. Send

CV to fyjo@spec-link.com or

call +968 9946 7227

7Yrs Exp. PM in Mech. Engg in the

field of Building Const. Oil & Gas

Seeking Job.94625598

B.E .Mechanical & Production, Indi-

an male with (QA / QC mechanical) 6

months exp as sales engineer, seek-

ing suitable placement on visit visa.

Contact: 94818333 / 99789512/

Email: fred61l@gmail.com

BSc Civil Engineer having 3 years

experience with Construction Com-

pany seeking suitable placement.

GSM-97409350.

GIS Certified Pipeline Engineer

with 3 years experience in diesel

power plants and heavy industry.

Contact: 93504812

Indian male (B.Tech mechanical)

1 year, experience in planning

drawing, inspection, administra-

tion looking for suitable job.

Contact: 94112207

Email: sabir49@gmail.com

Male, Electrical Engineer, ages

53 yrs, working since 8 years in

Oman. With a consultant, exp in

drawing / MAS work inspections,

post contract activities, with NOC

& valid Oman D/L,

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 968 96243401

Email: sathyugk@yahoo.com

B.E civil Engineer, 07 years expe-

rience in Oman having D/L, N.O.C

available looking for a

suitable position.

Contact 95961336/93523507

Email: eyousuf04@yahoo.com

B.E Electrical Engg with 5 yrs exp

in Oman with D/L.

Contact: 98425155 Email:

rajeevkalaivanan@yahoo.com

Hygiene Officer/QC, B.Tech Bio

tech. HACCP LVL. 2 &3.Experi-

enced in Food & water industry.

92940218

Electrical Engineer, B-Tech, with

4 Yrs experience in India, 3 YEARS

IN MRF and one year in KSEB.

Available in Visit Visa looking for

suitable Placement as an Engineer.

Contact: 94741401

Email:sobinthomask05@gmail.com.

Indian 30 yrs B.E civil Engineer

8 year experience with Oman D/L

& NOC available.

Contact: 95962450 Email:

solanki.ahmed@gmail.com

Experienced Light Duty Driver,

Fluent in English, Arabic Well

knowledge of Oman Areas Seeking

Suitable placement 97950869

2 years exp Light driver. Contact: 97132269

Light driver personal driving,

office boy, driver visa required 10

yrs exp N.O.C ready.

Contact: 96693290

Three years driving experience in

Muscat language known English,

Arabic, and Hindi, Bengali.

Contact 97462781

Light duty driver looking for job.

Contact: 98356230

Looking for driving job.

Contact 98219182

Driver looking for job.

Contact 91354803

Light driver, looking for job.

Contact: 98372745/99090362

Light driver. Contact: 95084826

Looking for Job driving.

Contact: 97418036

Driving with car, looking for job.

Contact: 97095200

Driver with new car looking for

job.contact: 95873286

Heavy duty driver (Exp 3years)

seeking suitable job.

Contact: 91372623

Driver (light & heavy duty) valid

gulf /Indian) looking job.

Contact: 95175192

25 years male BA. English ,

Qualified as mast in digital

animation having 5 yrs ex in

character animation special-

ized Auto Desk mago and motion

building software knowledge,

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 97917357

Professional architect 3ds max

(interior, exterior) looking for pri-

vate work. Contact: 96041201

Indian male B.Tech IT 3 years

experience windows / Ulinux /

network administration on visit

visa. Contact: 93311963

Email: sajal035@gmail.com

Experienced female D. Arch Engg

seeking job AutoCAD (2D, 3D), 3D

Max, and revit Photoshop.

Contact: 98907341

Email: susuhu@gmail.com

Female seeking job in graphic de-

signing, admin, MS office Photoshop,

CorelDraw, 3D Max.

Contact: 94536117

Email: shaiumarba@gmail.com

Female 26, B.E in computer

science, having 4 years MNC

experience as software developer,

seeking suitable position in

Muscat. Contact: 96784320

Email: preethasathya@yahoo.com

Indian male B.Tech (E& C) MCSE,

CCNA having 1.5 years of experi-

ence seeks job. Contact 99257702

mail: jithu.m.moolayil@gmail.com

Age 28 years experience 2years

& 8 month in IT accounting

technical skill, java, J.S.P tally

Peachtree M.S excel, SQL ,Working

java programmer India , account-

ant , Dubai ,Qualification MCA,

B.C.A mathematic visit visa.

Contact: 95673451

M.Tech Civil, certificate attested,

Indian, 18.8 year experience seeks

suitable position. Contact: 98327311

Email: sen.pangode@gmail.com

Civil Engineer 11 years experience

in construction, having driving

license & NOC. Contact: 94194399

Email: shiblyrock@gmail.com

B.E civil Engineer having 11 years

experience with NOC looking for

job. Contact: 95690780

Email: sadiq.asrar81@gmail.com

Indian male 24, B.E. Civil Eng’g

with 2 years experience as Struc-

tural Engineer looking for suitable

job in Muscat. 97355352

Indian male 27yrs, mechanical en-

gineer (energy engineering M.Tech

& HVAC diploma) with

4 yrs experience on visit visa,

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 98791735

Email: anilengandiyur@gmail.com

Indian male 25 years diploma in

mechanical engineering having 2.5

years experience in piping fabrica-

tion, plumping and fire fighting

knowledge in AutoCAD seeking

suitable placement.

Contact 92733482

Email: sonumm.m2@gmail.com Civil Engineer 8 years experience

in Oman as a project engineer for

governmental & private projects.

Contact – 90164912

Engineer Mechanical (BR) Indian

male, with NDT Level 2 (ASNT),

works, 2 years above experience

(as mechanical QC Engineer and

SME Engineer) seeking suitable

placement (on visit visa). Contact:

90249803 / 00919446048596

Email: naveenbasheer@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer 13 years ex-

perience HV/ LV in Oman 5 years,

Oman valid D/L to NOC.

Contact: + 0091- 9946570903

Email: shibualukka@gmail.com

Ref: no-Oman 97095094

Indian female M.Tech in electron-

ics Engg 2 yrs industrial exp in IT

& robotics research seeking oppor-

tunities in academy or industry.

Contact: 91306841,Email:

mariaannajoseph@gmail.com

IT

IT

Well experienced team available to provide feasibility reports & business solutions, product

development, risk management methods for startups, progressive,

defunct operations. Creating of ERP modules.

Contact - 93343251

A result oriented professional

E

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

MEDICAL

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

The Business Development Man-

ager, Iraqi, Experience 15 Years

Inside and outside Oman follow-

ing activities: construction(Very

strong and qualified to bringing

business for civil work Or any

type of the construction work for

many million per year with a good

experience in pricing and collect

payment and cash management of

the company & marketing projects

& investments& tenders & real

estate. Contact: - 92385033

MBA (marketing) with 17 years

experience in freight forwarding/

logistics industry in GCC & Oman.

Presently working as branch

manager in Muscat. Looking for a

suitable position. Release and NOC

available. Contact: 99856331

Manager MBA (Finance) 13+ yrs

experience in Oman with knowl-

edge of finance admin purchase

logistics costing looking for suitable

position with D/L. # 93826090

Email: jskanchan01@gmail.com

The Business Development Manager, Iraqi, Experience 15

Years Inside and outside Oman

following activities: tenders& real

estate& construction & marketing

projects& investments& trans-

portation & Marine services&

companies management& develop

business. Contact :- 92385033

An experienced Indian male GP

with MOH license and NOC, looking

for good placements in the capital

areas only. Pl contact 96386388

Palestinian dentist looking for job

in Muscat privet hospitals , poly-

clinics or dental centers – 15 yrs

experience out Muscat at privet

hospitals or polyclinics.

Contact: 96951750

Male Nurse, Experienced, Pass

Prometric (Oman) 93837973

Arabic male general practitioner

with MOH license looking for a

suitable placement in Muscat.

Contact: 95618680

Indian female , M.com gradate ,

7 years of experience in Oman in

accounts administration , secre-

tarial and sales coordination with

valid Omani driving license,

looking for a suitable placement.

Gsm 95134495

Purchase Officer with 8 years exp

in Oman having D/L & NOC looking

for urgently placement.

Contact 96174564

email: azhar_5012@yahoo.co.in

Graduate, computer literate, expe-

rienced in sales, credit control,

accounts, omani d/l , seeks suit-

able placement. Gsm 9880-5474

24 years Indian female MSC -

Biotechnology 1 year exp.in clinical

microbiology, worked in icrisat

for project work as Trainee, looking

for suitable job. Contact: 92619048

Email: anusreeg1991@gmail.com

EDUCATION

American female Master’s TESOL

12 yrs teaching exp. EFL Curricu-

lum Developer & Teacher Trainer.

Professional Development Specialist

& Educational Activity Coordinator.

Available February 1st 2016.

Email: dellacorte.esl@gmail.com

Contact: 99630244

Indian female M.SC B.Ed, 3 years

experience looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 94420033

Email: binitathanki@gmail.com

HOSPITALITY

Egyptian male B.S degree tourism

& hotels (10 years experience)

2 in Oman in hotels management

have Oman driving license

looking for suitable job.

Contact: 91695779

Email: bola.fahmi@gmail.com

Dutch male qualified commer-

cial pilot (Faa-ME-IR certified) is

looking for job openings in middle

east. rutjestom@outlook.com

Sudanese female Electrical En-

gineer graduated with distinction

excellent knowledge and inter-

ested in protection.

Contact: 98133281

Sri Lankan Engineer (27 Years

old) – B.Sc Engineering (Hon)

Mining / Geotechnical Pres-

ently in Muscat, 1.5 years experi-

ence.91295802 /

acmfaslan123@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer Indian male

29 years, having 5 years of experi-

ence in industrial automation and

utility maintenance in India (MRF

Tyres) seeking suitable place-

ment. Contact: 92789995 Email:

akhilabrahmlktr@gamil.com

Civil Engineer 6 yrs Exp in Oman

with license. Contact: 98975528

Mechanic Tractor Diesel Engines

& Hydraulic, 25 years Experience

in Multinational Companies.

Contact - 91685048

Civil Engineer (4 years ) having

total 5 years experience in building

construction ( 2 years , 8 months in

Oman) looking for suitable place-

ment D/L available.

Contact: 94450270

B.E Biomedical Engineer 5 years

experience in the subfield (hospi-

tal / company) looking for suitable

placement. Contact 92084807

Email: bonnygeorge1005@gmail.

com

Civil Engineer B.E , 06 years experi-

ence in Oman having D/L

seeking for a suitable position .

Contact 95961336

Email: eyousuf04@yahoo.com

Indian male MC.A 2 years

experience in software knowledge

of Java ASP Net, network in techno

park Kerala. Contact: 99210940

Male 31 Years, IT 6 year’s online

marketing experience in India

seeks suitable placement.

Contact-91175265

Net work Engineer with

experience degree in computer

science, CCNA, MCSA.

Contact: 92346191

Indian female, MCA, Oracle

& ACL certified, 5+ years of experi-

ence in Data Analysis,

IT Administration, Accounting and

Office Administration etc. holds

valid Oman driving license,

seeking suitable opening.

Mob: 98579241.

Indian male B.Com Graduate

looking for job in admin sales or

accountant with valid Oman driv-

ing license ready to join.

Contact: 98093949

Indian female, 26, M.sc biotech-

nology now in family visa seeks

suitable placement.

Contact: 95210498/

99850321/93093466

Omani national with bachelor in

management looking for suitable

placement please call: 91908052

or Email:

saidoburndi257@yahoo.com

Hospitality/Hotel/ Restaurants

Dynamic result oriented hospital-

ity professional with 20 years of

international exp. MBA in Hotel

Management, specializing in Hotel/

Restaurant start ups, concepts &

Franchise development with proven

records. Seeking for Challenging

positions in reputed groups as GM/

COO/CEO/Business Head. (NOC avail-

able) Contact: 96059470

SALES / MARKETING

12 years of experience in Oman;

marketing strategies & operations,

logistics, government tenders, public

relations & dealing with internation-

al companies -4 years of experience

in UK, engineering CNC & industrial

areas, have dual nationality, fluent

in English & Arabic speaking and

writing , (I can travel abroad easily

without visa, for finalizing business

or any other purpose).

Contact: 94123939

07 years Dubai 02 years Oman

experience in sales marketing MBA

in marketing diploma in marketing

with Dubai, Oman driving license

studied in S.E.O online sales & mar-

keting E-commerce looking for job.

Contact: 97367321

Indian male MBA 7 yrs ex in sales

& marketing with Omani D/L N.O.C

available. Contact: 93431039

Indian male, 24, MB Marketing

and HR, I year experience. On

visit visa. Looking for suitable job.

Contact 94014073

10 yrs exp in Oman in logistics/

purchase-have Oman D/L-looking

for suitable placement-

contact 96410767

email: harishkts@yahoo.com

Indian male 25 age, MBA market-

ing (fresher) PGDM (HR) fluency in

English, Arabic, Hindi looking for

suitable job currently in

Oman on visit visa.

Contact: 97127799

Email: vijnvijioo@gmail.com

Indian male 29 , BHM , 6 years

overall 3 yrs in Oman in sales with

D/L NOC available to join immedi-

ately. Contact: 92594055

Sales Engineer 5 years experi-

ence looking for a placement.

Contact: 91411043

DAILY GUIDED6 M O N D AY, N O V E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTED

SITUATION WANTED

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

Sales & Marketing/ Business

Development Executive: - B.Tech.

(Electrical & Electronics) MBA in

marketing having 9 years of expe-

rience seeking a suitable position.

Contact (97043494)

Purchase & Stores In charge – Hav-

ing continues 13 years experi-

ence in a single firm, looking for

a placement. Contact 99627427,

96154564

Indian male 23 years old graduate

with one year experience in Sales

& Marketing with valid Oman

driving license seeking suitable

opportunities.(NOC available)

Contact: +968 98240510 Gmail:

affanahamed0@gmail.com

Indian male, 29 years, B. Tech

Electronics & Communication Eng.

with 7 year’s experience seeking

for a suitable placement, currently

in UAE visit visa.

Contact 00971 552513735

Email: rahul.rn198@gmail.com

Indian male be electrical and pg

in power systems (transmission &

distribution) with one year experi-

ence on visit. Seeking placement

contact – 94669679/

email prsabarish@gmail.com

Sri Lankan male – 3.5 years

experience as a site supervisor

& Administration executive in

Oman / 2 years experience as an

HR executive with Oman driving

license. (English/Arabic/Urdu)/

NOC available 97281617

Civil Engineer 2 years experience,

major experience in Road work,

Culverts and structure.

Contact: 97427701

Female executive secretary

with 29 years experience with

financed services & top manage-

ment & valid Omani D/L, seeks

suitable placement. Contact:

96202458/96761960

BE electronics & instrumenta-

tion engineer, with one year of

experience. Looking for suitable

positions. On visit visa.

Contact-99339306, e-mail:

kannanr101@gmail.com

Looking for a part time accounting

& admin job. Contact 99196621.

Indian (Kerala) Male, 32yrs,

looking for a job as Accounts

Assistant/ Cashier/ Salesman

(indoor), having 5 yrs experience

in Oman. Currently on Visit Visa.

Contact-94410485,

Email: visanthvijay@gmail.com

Indian Male 33 yrs, BCA ,10 years

experience(India & Oman) IT

Support, System administrator/

supervisor looking for suitable Job.

#95448561.

Indian female accountant 5 years

of experience in accounting tally,

office coordination,And admin, cur-

rently on visit visa. seeking suitable

placement Contact: 95684179

Indian male 23yr BA TTM (travel

and tourism management) with

advanced diploma in supply chain

logistics and shipping manage-

ment, exp in logistics (cha) seek-

ing in suitable placement.

currently on visit visa(oman)

Contact;90291092

email: iyas.adhur@gmail.com

Marketing or Business develop-

ment-BSC in marketing 5 years

of experience looking for suitable

position. Contact (99522233)

Indian male, 19 years oman exp.

in purchase, material coordina-

tor in building/pipe line 9yrs &

factory production field 10yrs.good

computer skills & D/L & with NOC.

looking for suitable placement.

mr.victor2015@hotmail.com

Contact: 99008101

Part- Time Accountant, well

experience senior accountant,

doing all type of accounting works,

Finalization, Budgeting available.

Contact 98803439

Indian male B.Eng. in IT, MCSA,

MCSE, 3yrs exp. in IT support,

valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement in IT/Network/Server

support. Contact 92607532

Indian male B.Eng. in IT, MCSA,

MCSE, 3yrs exp. in IT support,

valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement in IT/Network/

Server support. Contact 92607532

Indian Males 32 years, Dip. In

Hardware & Networking with 10

years of hands-on experience.

Currently on visit visa seeking im-

mediate placement in IT Support

or relevant jobs. Good knowledge

of Hardware & Networking.

Contact: 9416 9341 /

haripulikal@gmail.com

Indian male, 19 years experience

in purchase, material coordinator

in building construction & factory

production field, have good com-

puter skills & driving license and

NOC. Looking for a suitable place-

ment. Contact: 99008101

Indian male accountant, 12 years

experience, looking for a full time

or part time job. Experience in tally

also. Contact-98983122

GOOD NEWS

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

8 years exp body fitter and electric

welder. Contact: 93015630

Mason, SH / carpenter, steel fitter

gulf & Indian exp looking job.

Contact: 95175192

Electrician, plumber (exp gulf / In-

dian) looking job. Contact 95175192

Indian male B.Eng. in IT, MCSA,

MCSE, 3yrs exp. in IT support,

valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement in IT/Network/Server

support. Contact 92607532

Indian male, 11 years exp. in

accounting, knowledge in tally

also. Looking for a part time job.

Contact. 98983122

Manager / Working Partner.

Indian M.Com with 20 years Dubai

experience in media advertising

industry, client service, marketing,

production, gifts trading, branding

with D/L. Contact -93031168

Indian male BE Electrical & elec-

tronics and pg in power systems

(transmission & distribution) on

visit, Seeking placement.

Contact – 94669679

Email prsabarish@gmail.Com

Sales & Marketing executive MBA

with 3 years of experience looking

for suitable placement.

Contact: 91345727

Indian male 42, 20 years experi-

ence building material sales man

sales manager seeks suitable

placement NOC available.

Contact: 97457331

Indian homeopathic doctor, 34

years, 8 years experience in medi-

cal industry, seeking job as insur-

ance medical officer / heath care.

Contact: 92428547

Email: ushus3@gmail.com

Indian 32 years completed M.A.

English, having three years expe-

rience in teaching filed searching

for the suitable job.

Contact: 99869535 Email:

sahadkeyi33@gmail.com

Accountant Indian male B.Com 15

years (8 years I Oman with valid

Oman driving license) experience

in accounts up to finalization NOC

available. Contact: 94117616/

91238272

Indian lady, B.com M.com (not

completed) with tally and ms of-

fice skills, with 8 years experience

in Oman in accounts up to fina-

lization seeks suitable position.

Contact: 93185841

Male Accountant Indian, B.com,

2 Year experience currently

working in Oman. NOC available,

doing accounts in Tally and Excel

searching for suitable Job. Email:

contactanand31@gmail.com /

91894487, 98789958

Electronics/Electrical/Instru-

mentation Design Engineer with

2+ years of experience, having a

Bachelors Degree in Instrumenta-

tion Technology. Seeking for a job,

currently on visit visa.

Contact- 90142166 /

Mail: aksafwan@gmail.com

Indian Mechanical Engineer (16

Yrs Exp), Knowledgeable in Moni-

toring of workshop setup, Work-

shop run, Business Development,

ISO certification, Quotation, Tender,

Account verification, Sohar Area,

Mb. 94215208’

Indian male, 27 BSC nurse 4.5

years experience in India. Pro

metric passed with 61% Data flow

processing, ACLS, BLS passed.

Now on visit visa.

Mob: 98926621, 94361049

e-mail: shemeermk@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer, B-Tech, with

4 Yrs experience in India, 3 YEARS

IN MRF and one year in KSEB.

Available on Visit Visa.

Contact: 94741401 :Email:

sobinthomask05@gmail.com.

Sudanese male...telecom engineer

11 yrs. exp in IT support, Network-

ing, Security systems, Server

support, IT sales and marketing,

management .Seeking suitable

placement. Contact 91182027

31 years, Indian male PG in HR

, with 5 yrs Professional experi-

ence in HR in Construction Oil &

Gas Oman seeking for a suitable

placement(NOC Available).

Contact me on 93488914, email-

Kaarthickshankar@gmail.com

FEMALE SYRIAN ARCHITECT

,new graduate have good experi-

ence in architect programs, auto-

cad 3d max ,sketch up , Photoshop

,sketch up, searching for a job full

time or part time, for

Contact : 97482871

Marketing Coordinator, Indian,

Advertising Agency experienced

person with D/L seeks good open-

ing. Contact 93031168

Sri Lankan male BSc (Physics) –

5 years experience as a site super-

visor & Administration executive

with Oman driving license. (Eng-

lish/Arabic/Urdu)/ NOC available

93214717

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT: Indian

male, Graduate & CA Article ship

completed. 18 Years of experience.

Currently on visiting visa. seeks

suitable placement.

Contact: 97498809, 98569025,

Email: hilariankj@gmail.com

Male 25 years, B.E. Mechanical

with CSWIP 3.1 and ASNT level

2, 3 yrs. of experience in QC in oil

and gas industry. Currently work-

ing in Oman, NOC available.

Contact 91262792.

vignesh1503@yahoo.com

The Business Development

Manager, Iraqi, Experience 15

Years Inside and outside Oman

following activities: tenders& real

estate& construction & marketing

projects& investments& trans-

portation & Marine services&

companies management& develop

business. Contact 92385033

Indian female dentist prometric

cleared seeking suitable open-

ings in Muscat.Contact 95585807,

92880267

Indian male 23yr BA TTM(Travel

and Tourism Management) with

Advanced Diploma in Supply

Chain Logisitics and Shipping

Management, exp in Logisit-

ics (CHA) seeking in suitable

placement, currently on visit

visa(Oman) Contact;90291092

email:iyas.adhur@gmail.com

Indian Electrical Engineer B. Tech,

female 24 seeking job. presently in

oman having 2 year experience in

design and estimation of

Ht &Lt projects.

Contact 96897436557,

Mail id : sibinanoop1@gmail.com

B.Tech (Electrical & Electronic)

with MBA in marketing having

9 years of experience seeking

a suitable position as Sales &

Marketing/Business Development

executive. Contact-(97043494)

SALES / MARKETING

Sales Manager having 12 years

experience M.B.A in sales & mar-

keting having valid GCC driving

license seeking suitable

placement, NOC available.

Contact: 98125226

Indian Male 32, MBA (Marketing &

Finance) with 10 years experience

in Marketing of Banking Products

& Insurance Industry. Seeking for a

Job in Oman.

Contact: 93576980, 97750460

Email: senthil.cbe83@gmail.com

Indian male MBA marketing 2

years Oman experience with valid

Oman driving license looking for

a suitable position NOC available.

Contact: 91202335

Email: mrishad90@yahoo.com

Marketing Executive/Merchan-

diser, Omani License, BA 8 years

Experience in Multinational

Groups. Contact 97601343

Indian male, B.E. mechanical, 16

yrs experience, for Quotation, Ten-

der, Accounts, Business develop-

ment, Sohar Area, Part Time. Mb.

94215208

Digital marketing / ad words/

analytics / SEO expert, exp 5 yrs

(male) certified) , (visit visa).

Contact: 93594114 (visit visa).

Email: abeyre@gmail.com

Hotel exp 4 years F+ B (service)

visit visa expires 13/11/2015,

B.A Hotel Management. Contact:

91987013 / 96971643 Email:

shinekls34@gmail.com

Civil Engineer B.Tech with Iosh,

Nebosh certification having valid

Omani driving license looking for

suitable job. Contact: 93631625

Mechanical Engineer (UK), 28

years, male having 3.5 years

experience, looking for suitable

placement with valid Oman driv-

ing license NOC available.

Immediate availability

Contact: +968 97612297

Email: ymirza11@caledonian.ac.uk

BE Mechanical Engineer, 23

years, Indian male on visit avail-

able for immediate placement

please contact: 96145820 or

arunsankar.10.92@gmail.com

Sales/marketing, Indian male 35,

years, having13 years experience,

in that 6 years experience of KSA

seeks for suitable placement, on

visit visa contact: 95954786,

Email:syedhameeduddin16@

gmail.com

9 years experience in construc-

tion Purchase seeking suitable

placement immediately, NOC

available. Contact: 97332401

Sudanese / civil engineering Di-

ploma / 5 years experience / deal

with most popular computer pro-

grams / good in English / fluent in

Arabic. Contact: 96995670

Accountant , Indian (Kerala) male,

more than 09 years experience in

Qatar (02 years) and New Delhi

experience upto finalization of

Accounts & expertise in using Tally

ERP-9, MS Office (Word & Excel).

Currently on visit visa, seeking

suitable placement.

Contact: 97864890 / 97268429

Email: vinodthomas80@gmail.com

Young 24 yrs, ACCA affiliate ,

advanced diploma in Accounting

business, seeking suitable place-

ment in accounts finance or audit

with valid driving license.

Contact 92430152

Email: rau_day@yahoo.com

Indian Male more than 10 years

gulf experience in Office / Sales

Coordinator, Admin, Secretarial

and purchase with good computer

skills. Having Driving license and

NOC available. Looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 95149624

MALE ACCOUNTANT, age 25

years, ACCA UK finalist with

4 years experience in accounting

& audit in Pakistan, now in

Muscat on visit visa seeking

suitable placement.

Contact 90197029,

muzammalhafiz16@gmail.com

Indian male 23yr BA TTM(Travel

and Tourism Management) with

Advanced Diploma in Supply

Chain Logisitics and Shipping

Management, exp in Logisit-

ics (CHA) seeking in suitable

placement, currently on visit

visa(Oman) contact;90291092

email:iyas.adhur@gmail.com

Senior Accountant ,NOC

avaliable,5yr.exp.in oman,

Accounting upto finalisation,

computer skills tally9, Sage

ERP accpac 500(6.0A), Vcams ,

Audit ,valid oman driving licence,

languages known english , arabic,

hindi. can join immediately.

Tel: (+968) 96339599, E-mail-

(ahmedmohdkhan@gmail.com)

Part time accountant, senior

accountant, doing all type of ac-

counting works, up to finalization.

contact.95254864

Indian Diploma Engineer, NEBOSH Qualified with valid

oman D/L, Seeks placement in

HSE. Contact: 97066980

FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know

more about Islam, please call:

99425598, 99250777, 99353988,

99253818, 99341395, and

99379133. For ladies: 99415818,

99321360, 99730723

Orvisit:www.islamfact.com

DAILY GUIDEM O N D AY, N O V E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 5 D7

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

A/C maintenance, installation spilt

A.C and maintenance window A/C

and ducted and package the reunites.

Contact: Asad Abbas 98667326

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing,

Contact 99314807/24792998

Cleaning Sofa shampoo

carpet shampoo house.

Contact: 92179395

Debt collection services your

money we collect value com-

mercial services. Fax: 00968-

24783669 Contact: 00968-

2479815 /00968- 24701422

/00968- 94665476 Email:

salim@valuedbtcollection.com

Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile

polishing, pest control & anti-ter-

mite treatment, general cleaning

painting,Plumbing, Electrical,

shifting. Contact Mundhir

Al-Rizaiqi trading. L.L.C.

Contact: 24810137, 99450130

Window & split unit A.C servicing &

repairing. Contact: 99557080

Split & window unit A.C servicing &

maintenance. Contact: 96236476

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of

your marble. Contact 24793614/

99314807

Window & split unit A.C ser-

vicing & maintenance. Contact

93769089 / 95323517

Split & window A/c servicing &

maintenance. Contact: 93769089 /

95323517

Cleaning & carpet shampooing, Ocean Center LLC.

Contact: 99884591

Pest control treatments. Ocean Center LLC.

Contact: 99344723

House shifting. Contact:

99657644/98518013

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. contact ABU QABAS-

99320217 /24788722

Water proofing ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

SERVICES

General cleaning etc.

Contact : 94277020

Ayurvedic treatment for joint

pain, backache, paralysis, massage

steambath, obesity, Spondylitis,

Ideal Care Ayurvedic Clinic,

18 November Street Azaiba.

Contact: 99639695 / 98342990

Ayurvedic treatment for backache,

paralysis, arthritis etc & massage,

All Season (Vaidyaratnam).

Contact 24475280 / 95371664 /

92504980 www.siddhayur.com

MANPOWER SITUATION WANT-ED

BUSINESS

MANPOWER

GSM: 96775023 / 96775024

TRANSPORTATION

Muttrah to Bausher. Contact:

99022790/24712088

Transportation. Contact: 96538078

Transportation. Contact 99508282

Transportation. Contact: 95190627

Transportation available Ruwi to

Al Khuwair, Ghubra & Azaiba.

Contact: 91103909

MATRIMONIAL

27 years Kerala boy, Hindu Ezhava

(Atham) diploma holder working

in Oman seeking suitable alliance.

Contact: 95606132

Ezhava divorcee, 37, 5.3”,

pharmacist in Muscat.

Contact - suryakv2010@gmail.

com,+919961176066

35 years Bombay based Sunni

Muslim divorcee girl (Degree

holder) seeking alliance.

Contact: 92886145

Indian male christian 40yrs.

working in muscat.looking for life

partner.divorced or single.

Contact :91429811

Keralite R.C. Boy, 30yrs, 161cm,

MBA (Finance) Working in

Oman seeking suitable alliance.

Contact: 92290247 / 97302978

35 Christian male, LLB, working as

project executive divorce.

Contact: 97413778

MV SALE

Cat – D8K, Model 1985, Scania wa-

ter tanker, model 1993, Mitsubishi

bus s28 seat, Model 2003, Hamm

roller, model 2003.

Contact: 99207592 & 99882570

BMW 318/ 2003 for sale.

Contact 96364990

Ford focus, automatic, 2010

model, silver colour, expat driven,

58000 kms, dealer serviced, regis-

tration till sep 2016, price ro 2750.

Contact- 93207590

AVAILABLE

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirt-

ing, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery,

Crockery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes,

Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound

Systems and spectacular lighting.

Call Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering

and Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound &

Light. ww.tunesoman.com,

E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

Available office space in Prime

location on 18th November Street,

Azaiba Kindly.

Contact: 99288664

RENT A CAR

Best Rates for Saloon. Tel: 99826300 / 97869042,

rentacar@modernreem.com

Al farzdaq Al Fedi Trad and Cont

Maintenance services electric,

plumbing and A/C.

Contact: 96524904 / 94285064

A/C Maintenance & servicing,

fridge, washing machine & dish

washer repairing, painting &

cleaning services, electrical &

plumbing. Contact: 99447257

/97014234 / 24504281

DRIVING

Learn driving with professional.

Contact: 94022250

NRI

GOOD NEWS

Plot with three BHK in Calicut

city, Kerala for details.

Contact: 99735584

Plot, propeties for sale in prime

location in pune

95272138,(+918390982975)

Available on rent 2 Bedroom fur-

nished flat in Koregaon Park, Pune

and Maharashtra, India.

Contact 99374187.

2BHK 1100SQMT flat with 300

SQMT Terrace allotted parking with

luxury amenities for sale in Dona

Paula Panjim Goa Indian price 95

lakes. Contact: 0091-9823674576 /

00968- 97488872

Luxurious villas in a Gated community with all the modern facili�es at

Vakathanam By-Pass (MC road-NH 220)Web: www.royalcastles.inemail: info@royalcastles.in

+968 92855909, +91 9961 11 9988

royal castles vakathanam, kottayam

D8 M O N D AY, N O V E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with

Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain

Marine Tours contact 98029602,

92808636

TOURS

SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

ABDULHAKIM AL BIMANI

TRADING & CONTRACTOR

Expert in Shipping cargo by sea & air

to Zanzibar, Pemba, Dar es Salam in

Tanzania, Burundi, Th e Philippines,

Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.

Reasonable price.

Contact: 97440625/95416662Email: abdulhakimalbimani@hotmail.com

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