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MONDAY, September 28, 2015 / 14 Dhul Hijja 1436 AH timesofoman.com wtimesofoman.com facebook.com/timesofoman twitter.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com ISO 9001:2008 Certifi ed Company

S CA N T H I S Q R CO D E TO I N STA N T LY

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

Advance rent demands hit tenants hard

FAHAD AL GHADANIREJIMON Kfahadnews@timesofoman.comreji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Omanis and expatri-ates say they are being increas-ingly hit by landlords demand-ing six months or even a year’s rent in advance, forcing tenants to take out loans and become mired in debt.

Responding to calls for au-thorities to keep property own-ers’ demands in check, a real-estate association chief has also urged landlords to be fair when demanding such a considerable advance.

“Property owners need to un-derstand the tenants’ situation and think further for better set-tled business,” urged Moham-med bin Salim Al Busaidi, Chair-man of the Omani Real Estate

Association (OREA) and a Majlis Al Shura member.

Risk to business“If the owners force the ten-ants to pay six months rents in advance and subsequently seek loans then he will put his busi-ness at risk for the future.

“The loan might aff ect the fi -nancial situation of the tenants and result in them struggling to pay the future rent,” Al Busaidi

told the Times of Oman.A number of cases of landlords

demanding a deposit of six to 12 months of rent in advance have been reported, in addition to a post-dated cheque to rent apart-ments, forcing tenants into debt.

Naushad Aziz and his family faced an eviction threat unless he paid six months’ rent in ad-vance, which his landlord de-manded for the renewal of his apartment’s lease.

The 44-year old Indian na-tional from Hyderabad says he had no choice but to apply for an OMR8,000 bank loan to cover the rent for his three-bedroom fl at in Ghubra.

“I could not come up with the cash and the bank loan was the only way out. My landlord insist-ed on the six-month down pay-ment and he threatened to evict me if I did not pay up. Hopefully, I will manage to pay the instal-ments and the usual domestic bills,” said Aziz, a college teacher.

Another Muscat resident also spoke of similar problems while trying to rent an apartment.

“I had been looking for a prop-er fl at for my small family, but got stuck with this condition,” said Salah Al Saadi, a Muscat resident.

The average rent in Muscat is OMR350, he added. “When the owner of the property demands six months’ rent in advance, it means I have to pay OMR2,100,” noted Al Saadi. >A6

A number of

cases of landlords

demanding a deposit

of six to 12 months

of rent in advance

have been reported

REJIMON K reji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Three Omani nation-als were killed and one suff ered injuries in a road accident in Ri-yadh, the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Aff airs offi ce in Muscat has said.

“The vehicle in question be-longed to one of the Omani Haj campaigns,” the ministry tweet-ed on Sunday morning.

According to Sultan bin Mo-hammed Al Hinai, Deputy Head of the Omani Haj Mission, the ve-hicle drifted off the road and col-lided with another vehicle, lead-ing to the death of three Omanis and injury to one.

“The Omani Haj Mission and the Sultanate’s Embassy in Ri-yadh is coordinating to complete

the accident-related formalities,” Sultan said in a statement.

In the statement, the Omani Haj Mission urged the drivers to remain cautious and ensure that they have had enough rest before driving while returning home from Saudi Arabia after perform-ing Haj.

Meanwhile, sources said the search for a pilgrim from Oman, who had gone missing after Thursday’s Mina stampede, was still continuing.

The stampede has claimed 769 lives, as per reports until date, with another 934 reported in-jured. Five pilgrims from Oman also suff ered minor injuries in the stampede.

By Sunday evening, pilgrims had started leaving Saudi Arabia after performing Haj. >A6

P I L G R I M A G E

PERFORMING SACRED DUTY: Pilgrims touch the holy Kaaba, at

the Grand Mosque in holy city of Mecca, late on Saturday. -AFP

Road accident kills 3 Omanis in Saudi Arabia

B5iPhones hit stores amid Apple growth concerns

OMANAccidents decrease in Eid Al Adha break

1There has been a big fall in reported road accident cases during this Eid

Al Adha break compared to previous years, according to an offi cial of the Royal Oman Police (ROP) offi cial. Increased awareness and shorter holidays could be among the reasons, he said. “I don’t have the statistics yet, but I can tell you with great confi dence that the number of accidents have decreased during this break,” he said. >A5

REGIONFrance makes first hits at IS in Syria

2France carried out its fi rst air strikes against the IS group in Syria on Sunday,

as Russia said it was seeking a “coordinated framework” to fi ght the extremists. President Francois Hollande said six French warplanes were involved in the operation to strike an IS training camp near the eastern city of Deir Ezzor and that more air strikes could follow. >A7

MARKETUAE remains Oman’s top import source

3United Arab Emirates (UAE), retained its position as the top

exporter of goods and services to the Sultanate in the fi rst fi ve months of 2015, with a share of 32.5 per cent or OMR1,471.5 million. The Sultanate’s total imports edged down by 2 per cent to OMR4,525.8 million in this period, from OMR4,620.2 million for the same period last year. >B1

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

Don’t leave your car engine running if stepping out: ROPTARIQ AL HAREMItariqh@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Do not leave your car engine running when you step out, even for a minute, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) has cau-tioned the drivers.

Drivers parking cars with their engines running, outside shops or ATMs for a quick purchase or money withdrawal, only provide an opportunity to thieves to steal and drive away a car with an al-ready running engine, according to the ROP. In an advisory, the ROP tweeted, “Leaving a vehicle with the engine running in public places, such as in front of a store or an ATM machine, makes it vul-nerable to theft.”

Speaking to the Times of Oman, an offi cial said that this year, among the reports about stolen vehicles, a majority were from Muscat. “In most cases, cars get stolen because people park the vehicle with its engine running outside a shop for a quick buy, or an ATM or even outside a laundry cleaner,” said the offi cial.

“You never know what could happen. The thief might have

been watching your every move before you step out of the vehicle. And when you do step out, your car is gone,” he added. The re-sponsibility for a car being stolen due to this reason can be traced back to the owner’s carelessness. It is just a matter of being aware.

“Some car owners have track-ing devices installed in their ve-hicles to deal with situations such

as these (car theft) but rarely have they successfully retrieved their vehicle,” he said.

In a 2013 report published by the ROP, it said, “People leave vehicles in a running state; they leave them out in the open; they leave behind the keys or valuables inside the vehicle; park the vehi-cle in dark or at abandoned places for long durations, or lend the ve-hicle to people not very close to them in which case the borrower can make a duplicate set of keys and steal it later. Such careless-ness often leads to vehicle thefts.”

According to the report, thieves almost immediately dispose of the vehicle after it has been stolen by smuggling it across the border. Many such attempts have been foiled by the border police. Alter-natively, the thieves sell the car to scrap dealers as scrap. The ROP is in cooperation with such scrap shops to catch the thieves and in many cases it led to their arrest.

The punishment, according to Article 279 of the Omani Penal Code, is imprisonment anywhere for between three months and three years, including a fi ne be-tween OMR10 and 500.

A D V I S O R Y

Omani rial fi ne and jail up to three years is the

punishment for car theft

500

This is an issue

between the owner

of the building and

the tenants, said

a reliable Muscat

Municipality source

A2 M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

OMANThe State-owned Haya Water is coming up with a new sewage treatment plant (STP) in Darsait with a capacity of about 50,000 cubic metres per day

Darsait wastewater plant to handle Muttrah sewage >A4

ELHAM POURMOHAMMADIelham@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: There is a plan to make screening facility available for all genetic disorders known in Oman, thus also expanding the scope of the existing pre-marital tests that are currently limited to inherited blood disorders.

“No decision has been made yet, but the move has been intro-duced in the 2016-2020 plan,” Dr Musallam Said Al Araimi, molec-ular and community geneticist at the National Genetic Centre, told the Times of Oman.

The programme would use the latest methods and technologies, Al Araimi said, adding that ge-netics-related services are highly important as many of the medical issues have a genetic basis.

Genetic centres The availability of genetic centres is one of the major criteria for the evaluation of the health system of each country, he added.

He also highlighted the impor-tance of public awareness about genetic disorders in curbing the rising number of people affl icted with such disorders in Oman.

“We need to put more eff ort in public education. We need to reach out to the people by using the right language and improving our skills. We also need to use the social media to help educate the people,” Al Araimi said.

Pre-marital testsIn addition, he advised prospec-tive couples to consult special-ists and go through pre-marital tests well in advance, especially if they have a family history of ge-netic disorders.

The tests for inherited blood disorders are available at all ma-jor hospitals across the country, Al Araimi said.

According to him, the common practice of marrying a close rela-tive, which is also known as con-

sanguinity or intermarriage, has resulted in the high prevalence of genetic disorders in the country.

The latest studies show that 24 per cent of Omanis marry their fi rst cousins, 11 per cent marry their second cousins and 22 per cent marry within the same tribe, he said.

Al Araimi attributes the rise in genetic disorders to ‘recessive patterns of inheritance’ where aff ected children are produced as a result of the marriage of two

‘carriers’ of defective genes, who may be healthy and symptomless themselves. The specialist ex-plained that apart from inherited blood disorders which are com-mon in the Omani population, 28 per cent of the population is af-fected by chromosome disorders and 21 to 24 per cent are aff ected by metabolic disorders.

Genetic disorder is a signifi -cant cause of death in either new-borns and infants or children be-low the age of 13, he said.

Plans to boost genetic testing in Sultanate

S C R E E N I N G F A C I L I T Y

We need to reach out to the people by using the right

language and improving our skills. We also need

to use the social media to help educate the people

Musallam Said Al AraimiMolecular and community geneticist

A3

OMANM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

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Majlis elections mark new era of transition

MUSCAT: Arab and regional an-alysts and observers consider Oc-tober 25 — the day elections will be held for the Majlis Al Shura in Oman — as an important and historic juncture in the history of the Omani, Arab and regional democracy.

Importance is being attributed to these polls mainly due to the qualitative leap that Omani par-liamentary democracy has made since the beginning of the blessed Renaissance.

The Omani Shura experience was guided by His Majesty Sul-tan Qaboos bin Said’s wise vision, which took into consideration the gradual progress in society.

The Omani Shura experience over the past years refl ected posi-tively on the stability of the Omani society, as well as on the political, social and cultural fi elds.

The Ministry of Interior said that as on August 25, the deadline for submitting applications for Majlis Al Shura polls, the number of candidates stood at 596, includ-ing 20 women.

The fi gures refl ect the good turnout for nomination for Majlis Al Shura membership, especially after it was vested with new pow-ers. The polling on October 25 is expected to witness a remark-able turnout that will refl ect the maturity of the Sultanate’s Shura experience, which witnessed a

qualitative leap starting from the 7th term (2011-2015).

The Royal Decree No. 99/2011, which amended some provisions of the Basic Law of the State, marked a new era for the Shura process as the Chairman of the Majlis Al Shura is now elected from among the Majlis members.

The members of the Majlis Al Shura now have wider powers that enable them to participate in considering the state’s draft budget, the fi ve-year development plans and approving the social and economic agreements, which the Sultanate intends to conclude or join. The members of the Maj-lis Al Shura may also interpellate

ministers if the Majlis Al Shura members believe that the minis-ters have gone beyond their legal powers. Besides other parlia-mentary work tools, the Majlis Al Shura members can also submit questions and applications for discussions.

The Majlis Al Shura can also propose draft laws that enhance the eff orts for national develop-ment and take part in developing the draft fi ve-year plans.

The Chairman of the Majlis is also a member of the Main Su-preme Committee for the Five-Year Development Plans, which develops the broad lines and basics of the plan and follows

up on its implementation.The Majlis Al Shura also dis-

cusses the fi ve-year develop-ment plan and the State’s General Budget in the presence of the re-spective minister who answers queries that the Majlis Al Shura members may raise.

Majlis Al Shura also consid-ers and gives opinion on subjects referred to it by His Majesty the Sultan or by the Council of Min-isters and returns such subjects, together with their recommenda-tions or proposals.

Majlis Al Shura also submits an annual report to His Majesty the Sultan on the outcomes of the work of the Council.

Majlis Al Shura is thus taking steady strides, guided by the Roy-al care of His Majesty the Sultan, to play its prospective role and ensure that the interests of the nation and the Omani people are safeguarded.

It also provides citizens with an opportunity to be involved in decision-making. It is thus very important for voters to carefully select their candidates to ensure that Majlis Al Shura meets the en-visaged aspirations, especially that the government has put everything in place to ensure the success and transparency of the upcoming Ma-jlis Al Shura elections.– ONA

Importance is being

attributed to the polls

due to the qualitative

leap that Omani

parliamentary system

has witnessed

Stage set for Pakistan Embassy sprawling complex in Muscat

SHAHZAD RAZAshahzad@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Ending the Pakistani community’s long wait, the Gov-ernment of Pakistan has signed a contract to build a sprawling Embassy of Pakistan complex in Muscat.

The much-awaited construc-tion of the complex is fi nally going to start on the piece of land allot-ted by the Government of Oman in 1994.

In 2006, the then foreign min-ister, Khursheed Mehmood Kas-uri, had fl own in from Pakistan to head the ground breaking cer-emony in the Diplomatic Enclave that houses many foreign mis-sions in Oman.

Since then, it has been a long wait as the construction plan has been facing one or the other hur-dle for nine years.

It has been learnt that a “very high-ranking offi cial” would again visit Oman to lay the foun-dation stone of the new embassy complex.

Confi rming the news, Ayaz Hussain, Ambassador of Pakistan to Oman, told the Times of Oman that he was extremely pleased

that the contract had been signed with the National Engineering Services Pakistan (Private) Lim-ited (NESPAK) as the project consultant and that the construc-tion would start soon.

“We are now trying our best to ensure that a top dignitary from Pakistan comes to inaugurate the construction project,” he added.

The large Pakistani communi-ty in Oman had been calling for a more spacious embassy building, equipped with better facilities which are needed to deal with the workload it faces on a daily basis.

Nestled between the Embas-sies of the USA and Jordan, the sprawling 12,600 square metre plot will house the main Pakistan Embassy building comprising various offi ces, a meeting facil-ity and a large consular hall to accommodate hundreds of daily visitors to the embassy. The com-plex will also comprise Pakistan House, the ambassador’s resi-dence, as well as a big Community Hall to host events.

Explaining the details, Naheed Naveed, Head of Chancery at the Embassy of Pakistan, informed the Times of Oman that the con-struction was likely to start in

January 2016. “We have all the necessary approvals now, the agreement with the consultant has been signed and the fi rst pay-ment made with a go ahead from the Foreign Secretary to start the project as soon as possible,” she said.

“According to the contract signed with NESPAK, the embas-sy complex would be constructed in two years’ time and we hope the new building would be ready by January 2018,” she added.

Replying to a question, the senior embassy offi cial said the complex would refl ect traditional Pakistani architecture.

“We have also felt the need to have our own place to host our cultural and social events. A mul-ti-purpose hall, equipped with quality sound system and con-ferencing facilities, will be part of the embassy complex with a seat-ing capacity of 350 people, and a stage,” she said.

NESPAK is likely to sub-con-tract the job to local contractors to complete the project within the stipulated time. The exact cost of the project would be known only after the tendering process is completed.

E X P A T F A C I L I T I E S

UPGRADING FACILITIES: Ayaz Hussain, Ambassador of Pakistan, and Engineer Mahmood A Malik,

General Manager NESPAK & Partners LLC, Oman.–Supplied photo

Social media users irked with SnapchatTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Social media enthu-siasts in Oman have expressed anger and disappointment over Snapchat’s decision not to feature Oman_live.

Last week, the photo and video sharing app had announced that Oman will be included next in its City Life story, but Snapchatters eager about the programme were shocked to see Namibia featured as the ‘last’ story of the tour.

With more than 100,000,000 dai-ly active users globally, multimedia users from various governorates in Oman was expected to be feverishly

using the app during Eid holidays, thus helping promote tourism. “Thanks Snapchat for letting us down,” said @omai90, who joined hundreds of disappointed users on Twitter to express their anger through the hashtag #Oman_live.

Snapchat, which is worth more than $19 billion, has not issued any statement till date to clarify the decision. “Since Oman story was supposed to be coinciding with the fi rst day of Eid Al Adha, I think Snapchat decided to postpone Oman as many snaps may have in-cluded graphic images of animals being slaughtered,” said Romila, a Sri Lankan expat.

O M A N T O U R I S M

WISE LEADERSHIP: The Omani Shura experience was guided by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin

Said’s wise vision, which took into consideration the gradual progress in society. – ONA

A4 M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

OMAN 1,390bundles of ‘khat’ were seized by ROP

offi cials after intercepting a boat

which was entering Omani waters

Indian ambassador to look into workers’ concernsTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Indian Ambassador to Oman, Indra Mani Pandey, has promised to look into issues re-garding the welfare of the Indian community, especially those re-lated to workers.

Addressing Indian Social Club Sohar members at the Jindal Shadeed Hall in Falaj on Friday, the ambassador said he would look into the need for cheaper and more fl ights between India and Oman.

He was in Sohar on the invita-tion of the Executive Committee of Indian Social Club Sohar.

Maiden visitThis was his maiden visit to So-har after assuming offi ce. He was received by the members of the Indian community. His address highlighted the role of Indian community in the development of Oman. A question and answer ses-

sion followed after the address of the ambassador.

On behalf of the Indian Social Club Sohar, its chairman Dr Rajiv Tandon welcomed the ambas-sador and wished him a very suc-cessful posting in Oman. He also hoped that the friendly ties be-tween India and Oman would be further strengthened.

Later in the day, the ambassador visited the premises of Larsen and Toubro Heavy Engineering/MFY and interacted with the workers.

He personally distributed sweets to each worker on behalf of the Indian Embassy, and also had lunch with the workers. The man-agement of the company as well as the executive members of the In-dian Social Club Sohar joined the Indian ambassador for lunch with the workers.

The ambassador planted a sap-ling in the compound of the com-pany to mark his visit.

E X P A T R I A T E A F F A I R S

CLOSER LINKS: Indian Ambassador Indra Mani Pandey visited Sohar for the fi rst time after assuming offi ce.–Supplied photo

Darsait wastewater plant to handle Muttrah sewage

Times News Service

MUSCAT: State-owned Haya Water is coming up with a new sewage treatment plant (STP) in Darsait with a capacity of about 50,000 cubic metres per day.

The STP is expected to be com-pleted during the fi rst quarter of 2017. “This new STP will replace the existing one and will serve the areas of Wadi Kabir, Hamriya, Ruwi and Darsait,” Hussain Has-san Abdul Hussain, CEO of Haya Water, has said.

The primary goal of the con-struction of this new STP is to connect most of the Muttrah ar-eas to the wastewater system, and apply the latest technologies in the fi eld of wastewater treatment.

“This will increase the water treatment capacity in these ar-eas. The New Darsait STP uses the reactor membrane technol-ogy which is considered one of the best in the world to ensure high-quality treated water free from any kind of pollutants. Two new tankers for reserving treated wastewater and a pumping station will be also constructed at the site. The contractor will also link the New Darsait STP with the control room at Al Ansab STP. The new STP will be completely covered and will have a ventilation system equipped with the state-of-the-art technology. This system will also purify any bad odours,” Hussain Hassan Abdul Hussain said.

He was enumerating the latest developments regarding the cur-rent and future projects and the plans of the company at an inter-action with the media recently.

This was the second such gath-ering featuring the media that Haya Water organised after the success of a similar gathering in 2014. The meeting was attended by Hussain bin Hassan Abdul Hussain, CEO of Haya Water, the general managers and a number of company offi cials. The event began with a welcome speech de-livered by Sulieman Al Rawahi, General Manager of Corporate Af-fairs at Haya Water.

After that, Hussain Hassan Ab-dul Hussain, CEO of Haya Water, said, “I am happy to meet you to-day and present to you the latest developments relating to waste-water treatment project being executed by Haya Water, which is considered one of the most com-plex projects in the region.”

Master planHe said Haya Water will also cover the rest of the governorates

in the Sultanate according to the company-approved master plan which takes into consideration the expansion of the cities and the rapid growth of population. “Haya Water is working hard to deliver the wastewater service to the wilayats of the Muscat Gover-norate covering 80 per cent of the areas by 2020,” he said.

On the other hand, Haya Wa-ter is currently treating approxi-mately 118,000 cubic metres per day of waste water in the Muscat governorate.

The company is also operating, at present, 11 Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), constructing two large modern STPs and expand-ing the two existing STPs with world-class standards. “These new plants are meant to raise the production capacity of the treated wastewater to 318,000 cubic me-tres a day by 2025. The company is currently executing wastewater networks projects in the wilay-ats of Seeb, Bausher, Amerat and Muttrah, and it is expected that the sewer networks will reach a length of around 3,500 km and the treated wastewater networks will cover about 680 km by 2025,” he said.

The company is now planning for the development, construc-tion and management of the wastewater systems in other gov-ernorates that were previously being managed by the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources. “The ministry has constructed 63 STPs con-nected to sewer and treated water networks with a total length of about 750 km spread over various governorates.”

The capacity of these STPs ranges from 30 cubic metres per day to 7,200 cubic metres per day.

Regarding the Bausher Waste-water Project, he said the total length of the current and existing sewer network projects is about 906.84 km. “The total length of the treated wastewater network is about 158.08 km. The main pump-ing station at Azaiba pumps the sewage water across the network to Al Ansab STP. The capacity of Al Ansab STP is expected to reach up to 140,000 cubic metres per day upon completion of the third expansion. The project will con-nect more than 25,647 buildings by 2019, thus taking into account the ongoing construction boom and the rapid population growth. Haya Water had started executing a number of projects by award-ing the contracts for Qurum and Madinat Al Ilam in 2012. The

wastewater network length is now about 112.5 km and the treated water network length is 12.95 km. The project is in its fi nal stages.

“The wastewater project in Al Khuwair is being awarded this year. The total length of the waste-water network will be about 106 km and the total length of the treated water network will be about 8.1 km.

“The wastewater network re-habilitation project in Madinat Sultan Qaboos was also awarded this year with a total wastewater network length of about 26.34 km and treated wastewater network length of 4.33 km. Also awarded this year is Al Ansab STP Expan-sion Project aimed at increasing the capacity of the plant to 125,000 cubic metres per day,” he said. For

Seeb Wastewater Project, he said it was aimed at connecting ap-proximately 30.122 buildings to the wastewater network.

“The Seeb STP is yet another component added to this vital pro-ject with a capacity of 60,000 cu-bic metres per day in its fi rst stage. This STP will treat the wastewa-ter fl owing across the sewer net-works from all Seeb areas. The total length of the current and fu-ture sewer networks projects will be about 1,765 km, which is twice the distance between Muscat and Salalah. This project also includes the construction of a treated wastewater network with a total length of about 182 km. The Seeb STP was commissioned in June 2014 and nearly 16,400 build-ings were connected by the end of August 2015. At the beginning of 2015, two wastewater network projects were awarded for a total of OMR 42.5 million,” he said.

For the Muttrah Wastewater Project, he said the wastewa-ter project covering the areas of Coastal Darsait, Ayant, Wadi Ka-bir, Hamriya, Ruwi, Bait Al Falaj, Mina Al Fahal and Wattayah in the Wilayat of Muttrah is consid-ered one of the most vital projects in Oman.

Muttrah project“This project aims to connect nearly 3,722 buildings. The length of the current wastewater net-work is about 710 km and it is ex-pected to reach about 812 km in the future.

These networks consist of main and sub-lines. The diameter of these lines ranges from 150 mm to 700 mm. In addition, the pro-ject includes a treated wastewater network with total length of 26 km. In 2014, two new pumping stations were built, one at Aynt and the other in Coastal Darsait, and 250 houses were connected. The old network was scrapped and the two existing pumping sta-tions in Aynt and Hamriya were shut off ,” he said.

About Amerat, he said the im-plementation of the wastewater project in Amerat will be taken up in phases, taking into account the population growth and the devel-opment of the area.

“The fi rst phase includes the construction of wastewater net-works, pumping stations, an STP and treated wastewater network. Four projects have been awarded in Amerat, including the con-struction of an STP with a capac-ity of 18,000 cubic metres per day and three wastewater net-work projects.”

The new sewage

treatment plant

(STP) at Darsait will

replace the existing

one and will serve

the areas of Wadi

Kabir, Hamriya,

Ruwi and DarsaitCIVIC ISSUES Haya Water will also cover the rest of the governorates in the Sultanate according to the company-approved master plan

which takes into consideration the expansion of the cities and the rapid growth of population.–Supplied photographs

Times News Service

MUSCAT: A boat entering Omani regional waters was intercepted by offi cers from the Directorate of Narcotics Controls last week and three smugglers on board were arrested.

An offi cial from the Royal Oman Police (ROP) said the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) was earlier informed about the boat’s entry into the regional wa-ters with narcotics on board. The smugglers intended to sell the drug to recipients waiting on a beach in Raysoot in the Wilayat of Salalah.

ROP offi cers seized 1,390 bun-dles of ‘khat’ from them. ROP foils entry of illegalsAn Omani citizen attempted to smuggle eight illegal Asians from Wilayat Sohar to Wilayat Buraimi through the Wadi Al Jizi border post, but was apprehended by of-fi cers at the post.

Commenting on the arrests, an ROP offi cial said: “When they arrived at the inspection bay, we found the passengers hiding be-tween bus seats. We later learned that fi ve of them were not carrying offi cial documents.”

Three held for theftTwo citizens were arrested for bur-glary by the Criminal Investiga-tions Department (CID) from So-har Police Department. An offi cial from North Al Batinah ROP said, “One of the citizens called the So-har Department and fi led a report on two people entering her house. They were able to steal money and gold jewellery before escaping in an unknown direction. Through our investigation, we were able to apprehend the suspects and they have since confessed the crime they are accused of.”

Meanwhile, in another case, ROP offi cers were also able to ar-rest a suspect accused of steal-ing money from a vehicle owned by a commercial company. The suspect confessed to his crime, as well as other crimes committed in Wilayat Shinas.

Drift cars seized in SoharAs part of the North Al Batinah ROP’s campaign to prevent drift-ing, the ROP raided a workshop that was being used to customise and install auto parts that are not compatible with standard speci-fi cations and conditions of safety and durability, as called for in the Traffi c Laws.

Police also seized 10 vehicles ready for drifting, as well as oth-ers with forged license plates. In addition, the ROP detained those responsible for the work, and legal procedures were followed prior to bringing the defendants to court.

R O P A C T I O N

Three khat smugglers arrested at Raysoot Port

DANGER SIGNALS: ROP offi cers

seized 1,390 bundles of ‘khat’.

The primary goal of the construction of this (Darsait)

sewage treatment plant (STP) is to connect most

of the Muttrah areas to the wastewater system,

and apply the latest technologies in the field of

wastewater treatment The New Darsait STP uses

the reactor membrane technology which is

considered one of the best

Hussain Hassan Abdul HussainCEO of Haya Water

A5

OMANM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

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Decrease in accidents during EidTARIQ AL HAREMI tariqh@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: There has been a de-crease in road accident reports during this Eid Al Adha break compared to previous years.

Speaking to Times of Oman, a senior ROP offi cial said there has been a marked decrease in the number of accidents during Eid Al Adha holiday break this year.

The offi cial said, this could be because of increased awareness. The shorter holiday period this year could also have been one of the reasons.

People have also travelled dur-ing the four-day break which eased traffi c fl ow.

In 2011, 28 people were killed

and 346 were injured in 234 acci-dents during the Eid Al Fitr break.

In Eid Al Adha in 2013, an acci-dent in Seeb resulted in fi re in one of the vehicles which caused the death of three occupants, in addi-tion to 13 who died in Eid Al Fitr during the same year.

“I don’t have the statistics yet, but I can tell you with great con-fi dence that the number of ac-cidents have decreased during this break,” reiterated the ROP offi cial.

The drop in road

accidents during this

Eid Al Adha break

could be attributed to

increased awareness.

The shorter holiday

period this year could

also have been one

of the reasons MEDICAL BACK-UP: A senior ROP offi cial said there has been a marked decrease in the number of ac-

cidents during Eid Al Adha holidays this year.–File photo

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‘Oman at Work’ seminar focuses on market, future job prospectsTimes News Service

MUSCAT: The tremendous progress in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) over the last 10 years has changed markets, products and processes, ushering in a new set of opportunities and challenges for Omani employers and profes-sionals alike.

Responding to these develop-ments and issues, the high-pow-ered, six-strong panel of Ithraa’s fourth and fi nal ‘Oman at Work’ seminar focussed on their impact on the Omani workforce and im-plications for jobs of the future while discussing trends in STEM education, the need to encourage more women in STEM fi elds.

Held at Bank Muscat’s Head Of-fi ce and moderated by Dr Nadiya Al Saady, Executive Director of the Oman Animal, Plant & Genet-ic Resources Centre (OAPGRC), the event attracted a capacity au-dience. “The skills required for STEM literacy, such as problem

solving, technological profi ciency and numeracy are fundamental to Oman’s economy and to the grow-ing interest in supporting start-ups and youth enterprise. In my view, STEM profi ciency is central to innovation, entrepreneurship and productivity,” explained Ta-leb Al Makhmari, Ithraa’s Assis-tant Director General of Market-ing & Media and organiser of the four ‘Oman at Work’ seminars.

While it is diffi cult to forecast trends in the labour market, gov-

ernment and business sector re-search projects that the demand for STEM-skilled workers glob-ally will continue to increase, as both the number and proportion of STEM jobs grow.

According to data from the US Department of Education, jobs for biomedical engineers will increase by 62 per cent by 2020, while jobs in software develop-ment and medical science are ex-pected to increase by 32 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively.

O M A N E M P L O Y M E N T

FUTURE POSITIVE: The skills required for STEM literacy are fun-

damental to Oman’s economy. – Supplied photo

A6

OMANM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

Owners should off er an extra privilege or maybe a discount to those capable of paying such a considerable advance. But, it should not be made compulsory for all the tenants

Mohammed bin Salim Al Busaidi, Majlis Al Shura member

< FROM

A1

< FROM

A1‘Some expatriate tenants leave without notice’

Al Saadi added that he is currently thinking of taking a loan to cover the fl at advance or he would have to look for a fl at outside Muscat.

Meanwhile, real-estate agents said they are now insisting on advance payments only from expatriates, who want to rent properties.

“We have had cases in the past where expats left the property without giving advance notice and simply disappeared. They usually leave large electricity and water bills unpaid, along with rent ar-rears. We are insisting on advance payment to protect us in case such an event happens again and to cover all the expenses that are left unpaid,” said Suhail Al Maamary, owner of Muscat Properties.

However, according to the Chairman of the Omani Real Es-tate Association, seeking such a big advance would be hard on young Omanis and expats with small families.

“Owners should off er an extra privilege or maybe a discount to those capable of paying such a considerable advance. But, it should not be made compulsory for all the tenants,” said Al Bu-saidi. He explained that the re-al-estate sector is a free market and no authorities interfere in how its run.

“If something can be done, it has to be by the Municipal Coun-cil. They represent the public and they can demand for a regulation

to limit the advance amount and make it not compulsory, but in re-turn of other advantages provided by the properties owners,” said Al Busaidi.

When Times of Oman con-tacted the Public Authority for Consumer Protection (PACP), an offi cial said they can inter-vene only in commercial building renting issues.

“We cannot interfere with rent-related disputes of individu-als,” the PACP offi cial added.

Salim Sarhan, the owner of a commercial and residential building in Amerat, said he usu-ally asks for six months rent in ad-vance from new tenants referring it to the current market value.

“Since most of the buildings demand such advance, why shouldn’t I benefi t from it too?” said Sarhan.

Money helpsHe added that for independent owners, such money helped in the construction of additional fl oors in a shorter period of time.

“I built three fl oors in my build-ing and based on the advance I got, and I plan to build another fl oor later,” he said.

Another building owner, who refused to be identifi ed, said his building is new and he wanted to guarantee his property.

“Such people, who can aff ord paying six months advance can better use the property,” said the

owner. He added that such money will compensate him in case of any damage made by the tenants during the initial months. “We have paid lots of money to con-struct our building and demand-ing such money is part of our rights,” said the owner.

Speaking to the Muscat Mu-nicipality, a reliable source ex-plained that there is no clear rule prohibiting such an act. “This is an issue between the owner of the building and the tenants. If they come out with an agreement, the Municipality has no reason to not approve their transaction, which is the rent contract,” said the source.

He added that the owner could demand any advance, as long as the tenants are ready to rent the properties.

“But, this is only applies to new rent contracts,” clarifi ed the source. He added that the owner cannot demand such an advance during the renting period without stating this clearly in the contract signed by the tenants.

“Most of the owners demand such an advance from new ten-ants, but in case a resident has been paying only a month’s rent in advance for some time and is later asked to pay more, he can re-port this to the Municipality and in turn the Municipality will take the necessary legal action against the owner,” said the source.

— With inputs from Saleh Al Shaibany

R E A L E S T A T E

Oman to be cancer prevention hub

MOBIN MATHEW BLESSONmobinmathew@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Oman will be a hub for the International Cancer Preven-tion Consortium (ICPC), founded by the University of Nebraska Medical Centre and Arab and East African countries.

Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Kenya Tanzania, Egypt, Zambia and Tunisia are the participants in this consortium.

The University of Nebraska Medical Centre (UNMC) is a well-recognised centre for medical re-search, patient care and biomedi-cal education in the United States.

“This is our second visit to Oman and we are discussing col-laboration with the Sultanate in cancer prevention,” Amr S Soli-man, MD, PhD, Professor and chair, department of epidemiology, College of Public health in UNMC, told the Times of Oman.

The UNMC is conducting stud-ies in diff erent Arab and East Afri-

can countries to prevent and con-trol cancer in these regions.

The team of experts of the UNMC had meetings and discus-sions with the Oman Cancer Asso-ciation, Royal Hospital and scien-tists working on cancer treatment and cancer prevention.

The UNMC team had discussed the needs of the members of the ICPC (Oman, the Gulf countries, and North- and East-Africa) in the fi eld of cancer prevention, es-pecially regarding the need for of cancer at diagnosis stage and im-proving the rate of survival.

“We are working together to help improve registries and data bases for understanding the exact burden of cancer in the region, uti-lise the registry data for research and use low-tech interventions for detecting of cancer and capac-ity building in Oman and the ICPC countries,” Dr. Soliman said.

“The best chance of surviving cancer is by detecting/intervening in the initial stage,” he added.

The University of Nebraska Medical Centre focuses more on breast cancer because it is the most common form of cancer among women in Oman.

According to local data, in Oman, a majority of the breast cancer cas-es are diagnosed at stages 3 and 4 that show lower survival patterns. The UNMC is working with the Oman Cancer Association (OCA) and other groups in the country to further understand breast cancer

affl icted patients’ access to care and early detection.

“If we fi nd 50 breast cancer cases, that doesn’t mean that these are all the cases in Oman. These are the patients who came to the hospital but there could be more cases that did not come for-ward for diagnosis or treatment,” Dr. Soliman said.

The UNMC will work in col-laboration with Oman and other ICPC member countries to better

understand the role of patient and providers (physicians and nurses), factors in late diagnosis of cancer, and the need to provide education to patients and professionals.

One of the main reasons for late diagnosis of breast cancer is because it does not cause pain in early stages.

“If a woman has a lump in her breast, it’s not painful in the early stages. In Arab countries, women usually don’t seek medical care unless the condition is painful,” Dr. Soliman explained.

According to Dr. Amr Soliman, the Oman Cancer Association is doing a great job to identify can-cer patients at early stages and provide care to them. “The Oman Cancer Association screens a large number of patients and the collab-oration with the ICPC will further the utilisation of the screening in-formation,” Amr said.

The Oman Cancer Association has screened more than 17,000 women for breast cancer. As per Dr. Soliman, screening should not be a onetime experience. Women have to be screened repeatedly every two years or as recommend-ed by the screening programme.

The UNMC wants to help the association in knowing why some women do not come for a second screening and why other women are not even coming for the fi rst screening.

The UNMC is also interested in linking the databases of the OCA

with the Royal Hospital to better understand if patients treated for cancer have gone through screen-ing or not and if patients referred by the association for treatment made it to the Royal Hospital for treatment.

The linking of the screening da-tabase of the association and the hospital will also show the success of the referral process.

“Oman is similar to other Gulf countries with respect to the most common cancers. Motivating more young Omani doctors to spe-cialise in cancer management (on-cology) will add to capacity build-ing and resources for combating cancer,” Amr Soliman said.

The UNMC will work in col-laboration with the local cancer community in Oman to transfer the scientifi c experience and im-prove the chances of survival, just as in other countries where sur-vival improved signifi cantly with early diagnosis and detection of the disease. “The fi ve-year survival rate in cases of breast cancer in the United States is approaching 95 per cent. That is to say, out of 100 women diagnosed with breast can-cer in the United States, 95 live for at least fi ve years after diagnosis because of early detection and ef-fective treatment at early stages,” Dr. Soliman said.

“We hope to transfer this expe-rience to Oman and other member countries of the ICPC,” Amr Soli-man added.

Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi, Ethiopia, Kenya,

Tanzania, Egypt, Zambia and Tunisia

are other participants in the

cancer prevention consortium

We are working

together to help

improve registries

and data bases for

understanding the

exact burden of cancer

in the region

Dr Amr S SolimanProfessor and chair, Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, UNMC

Oman’s tourism growth in last 10 years stood at 7.4%MUSCAT: Oman, along with the rest of the world, on Sunday marked the World Tourism Day, which falls on September 27 each year. The theme of this year’s cel-ebration is “One Billion Tourists, One Billion Opportunities.”

The tourism movement in the Sultanate witnessed a remark-able growth with statistical in-dicators pointing out that more than two million tourists visited the country last year. The annual growth during the past ten years (2005-2014) stood at 7.4 per cent.

Ahmed bin Nassir Al Mahrazi, Minister of Tourism, said the tourism industry has witnessed a rapid growth and played a promi-nent role in the development and progress of societies. He ex-plained that the Omani tourism sector is one of the main pillars for the country’s economic and social development.

He pointed out that the Minis-try of Tourism has formulated a series of plans and promotional

campaigns to promote the Sultan-ate as one of the world’s unique tourism destinations.

On her part, Maitha bint Saif al-Mahroqiyah, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Tourism, said the theme of this year’s celebrations stresses the importance of the

tourism sector in the economic and social development.

She explained that the Sultan-ate continues with its plans to di-versify the sources of income and supporting the tourism sector to play its vital role in the develop-ment process. -ONA

W O R L D T O U R I S M D A Y

TOURISM’S VITAL ROLE: The Sultanate continues with its plans

to diversify the sources of income and supporting the tourism

sector to play its vital role in the development process. – ONA

Omani Haj

pilgrims

returning

“A majority of the Omani Haj pilgrims will be returning to Oman by Sunday evening,” a Haj pilgrimage organiser in Muscat said.

“Already, some 300 pilgrims who had gone for Haj through us via chartered fl ights have re-turned,” the organiser said.

Pilgrims had streamed out of Mina after performing the ritual stoning of the devil for one last time on Saturday itself.

According to Saudi news re-ports, all roads leading out of Mina and Mecca were jammed with vehicles of all sizes.

The stampede was the second disaster to strike Mecca in two weeks, after a crane collapsed at the Grand Mosque, killing 109 people.

T R A V E L

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REGIONM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

France has been part of the US-led coalition bombarding IS targets in Iraq since September 2014, and has carried out 215 out of nearly 4,500 strikes there, according to French and US fi gures

PARIS: France carried out its fi rst air strikes against the IS mili-tant group in Syria on Sunday, as Russia said it was seeking a “co-ordinated framework” to fi ght the militants.

President Francois Hollande said six French warplanes were involved in the operation to strike an IS training camp near the east-ern city of Deir Ezzor, and that more air strikes could follow in

the coming weeks. The action came on the eve of the UN Gen-eral Assembly in New York where Syria is back in the spotlight after four years of a brutal war that has sent hundreds of thousands of refugees fl eeing to Europe.

President Vladimir Putin is set to unveil a plan to resolve the con-fl ict after boosting Russia’s mili-tary presence in Syria and taking a leading role in pushing for a political solution. “We have pro-posed to cooperate with the coun-tries in the region. We are trying to establish some kind of coordi-nated framework,” Putin said in an interview with CBS television.

“We would welcome a com-mon platform for collective action against the terrorists,” he said. Iraq said it had agreed with Russia, Iran and Syria to set up a unit in Bagh-dad to share intelligence on IS.

France has been part of the US-led coalition bombarding IS targets in Iraq since September 2014, and has carried out 215 out of nearly 4,500 strikes there, ac-cording to French and US fi gures. But until now it limited its air

strikes on the group to Iraq.Earlier this month, Paris cited

self-defence as its rationale for expanding its policy to Syria. Hol-lande has been under political pressure to take action against IS after a series of militant attacks in France, and fears over hundreds of citizens who have gone to wage jihad who could return home bat-tle-hardened and vengeful.

In January, extremists killed 17 people in three days of shootings in Paris and in August a gunman tried to attack a high-speed train but was thwarted by passengers.

After two weeks of surveillance fl ights, six French warplanes tar-geted the training camp in an op-eration done “autonomously” of the US-led coalition, but in coor-dination with regional partners.

“Our forces hit their target,” Hollande told a news conference at UN headquarters in New York.

The United States and its coa-lition partners including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and the UAE have carried out more than 2,500 air strikes in Syria, accord-ing to US fi gures. -AFP

President Francois

Hollande said six

French warplanes

were involved in the

operation to strike

an IS training camp

near Deir Ezzor

Star canopy dome placed on Abu Dhabi’s Louvre museumABU DHABI: The last of nearly 4,500 metal stars was placed on Sunday on the outer layer of the dome on Abu Dhabi’s Louvre mu-seum, expected to open by the end of 2016.

The fi nal star was added in the presence of prize-winning French architect Jean Nouvel, said Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC).

“The outer cladding consists of 4,481 stars which is now 100 per cent complete,” it said.

The giant 180-metre (yard) dome is perforated with designs that will project light patterns in the shape of palm trees onto the exhibition space below.

The outer canopy is part of eight layers of cladding comprised of 7,850 star-shaped pieces of alu-minium and stainless steel, the largest of which measures 13 metres in diameter and weighs 1.3 tonnes.

Stone fl ooringTDIC said major work was expect-ed in the next few months to lay the Louvre Abu Dhabi museum’s stone fl ooring, display cases for galleries and to complete the ad-ministration building.

Louvre Abu Dhabi, built on the island of Saadiyat in the oil-fl ush Emirate, is to have 9,200 square metres of art galleries. — AFP

O P E N I N G I N 2 0 1 6

FINAL STAR: Placing the fi nal

piece of the outer cladding of

the dome structure of the future

Louvre museum still under

construction on Saadiyat island,

near Abu Dhabi. – AFP/HO/WAM

ON A MISSION: A French Rafale fi ghter before taking off from a base as they embark for Syria on an

Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) mission as part of France’s Operation Chammal

launched in September 2015 in support of the US-led coalition against IS militant group. – AFP/ECPAD

France carriesout first air raidson IS in Syria

A8

INDIAM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

It is not in the interest of any country or society to focus itself on one individual or a family

Mahesh Sharma, Culture minister

Gandhi family legacy a fl ashpoint in ideological warNEW DELHI: A stately New Del-hi mansion, once home to India’s fi rst prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and now a museum to his life, has emerged as a fl ashpoint in the growing ideological war be-tween his heirs and the BJP-led NDA government.

Since trouncing the Congress party of the Nehru-Gandhi fam-ily in a general election last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chipped away at the dynasty’s grip on India’s post-colonial history.

For long-term dominance in the world’s second-most populous na-tion, Modi has to ensure his pro-business, conservative ideology prevails over the secular, socialist legacy bequeathed by Nehru.

Culture Minister Mahesh Shar-ma, who is in charge of oversee-ing the teak-panelled museum that preserves Nehru’s portraits, writing and the rooms he lived in, wants the institution to refl ect a wider range of India’s past and pre-sent leaders.

Earlier this month, the govern-ment of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata

Party (BJP) forced out the head of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, a historian seen as close to the Gandhi family.

The historian, Mahesh Rangara-jan, did not respond to requests for comment. A replacement has not yet been named.

“It is not in the interest of any country or society to focus itself on one individual or a family,” Sharma said in an interview.

“So many people have contrib-uted to this country and our insti-tutions should refl ect that.”

Starting with Nehru, an inde-pendence hero before becoming prime minister, the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty has been intertwined with India’s transformation from strug-gling developing nation to emerg-ing superpower.

Nehru and his descendants ruled India for more than half of the seven decades since independ-ence in 1947, and hundreds of pub-lic projects, airports, parks, uni-versities and stadiums are named after Nehru, his assassinated daughter Indira Gandhi and her

son Rajiv Gandhi, also murdered. They all served as prime ministers. Rajiv Gandhi’s wife Sonia is the current president of Congress, and her son Rahul is seen as a budding prime minister.

Before Modi, the BJP had only sporadically run India.

“We have elevated this family to royalty and built a personality cult around them,” said Mohan Gu-ruswamy, president of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, a think tank.

“What the BJP is doing is pure politics. But, at the same time, the need to give space to other people is justifi ed.”

Since Modi won power in May 2014, the names of Nehru and his descendants have been erased from about thirty government schemes or places and been re-placed mostly with the names of ideologues who view India as a Hindu nation.

Earlier this month, the govern-

ment discontinued publishing two postage stamps that featured Indira and Rajiv Gandhi from the ‘Builders of Modern India’ series, a decision that led to oppo-sition protests.

The government instead plans to feature stamps of the ideologi-cal founders of the BJP, who blame Nehru’s economic policies for many of India’s ills, including pov-erty and corruption.

At the end of last week, the Nehru museum for the fi rst time hosted celebrations for the birth of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, a nation-alist critical of Nehru’s economics.

The opposition Congress party has accused the government of di-minishing the legacy of one of In-dia’s greatest statesmen.

“The government is manipulat-ing historical facts and distorting truth only to serve their political agenda,” said Kapil Sibal, a lawyer for the Gandhis and a former gov-ernment minister. “You cannot be-little Nehru’s contributions.”

Modi has already moved far from Nehru’s economic moorings.

Earlier this year, the govern-ment named right-leaning econo-mist Arvind Panagariya to run a new policy bureau, after Modi scrapped a Nehru-era socialist planning commission.

In his fi rst full budget in April, Modi saved money on federal so-cial and subsidy expenditure, the hallmark of Congress governments, and pumped funds into an infra-structure stimulus he hopes will trigger a spurt in economic growth.

Under Modi, organizations that support the idea of a Hindu state have gained prominence.

His followers believe Nehru and his successors pandered to India’s minorities and crimped the aspira-tions of the Hindu majority.

“The BJP realise that this fam-ily enjoys a lot of political goodwill and they will need to destroy that if they want a free run,” said Satish Misra, a political analyst at the Ob-server Research Foundation.

“Historical and cultural insti-tutions are being used as prox-ies in the battle for the idea of India.” - Reuters

N E H R U M E M O R I A L M U S E U M A N D L I B R A R Y

BONE OF CONTENTION: A view of the Nehru Memorial Museum and

Library in New Delhi. - Reuters

Modi pitches for Digital India at Silicon Valley

SAN JOSE: Pitching his pet Digi-tal India initiative with the titans of the IT world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday prom-ised to make governance more ac-countable and transparent while assuring data privacy and security.

Speaking before a gathering of Silicon Valley CEOs, Modi an-nounced plans to create more public Wi-Fi spots including at 500 railway stations across In-dia and an aggressive expansion of the National Optical Fibre Network to take broadband to 600,000 villages.

“As our economy and our lives get more wired, we are also giv-ing the highest importance to data privacy and security, intellectual property rights and cyber secu-rity,” he said at a dinner interac-tion attended among others by Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayan, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Qualcomm executive chair-man Paul Jacobs and Google CEO Sunder Pichai.

“We will transform govern-ance, making it more transpar-ent, accountable, accessible and participative,” Modi said, adding that E-Governance is foundation of better governance — effi cient, economical and eff ective.

Inclusive developmentIn a nation of one billion cell phones, M-Governance or mo-bile governance has the potential to make development a truly in-clusive and comprehensive mass movement. “It puts governance within everyone’s reach,” he said.

He said Digital India is an en-terprise for transformation on a scale that is, perhaps, unmatched in human history. For nothing else will do in a country with 800 million youth under the age of 35 years, impatient for change and ea-ger to achieve it,” he said

“We have set up Ebiz portal to make approvals for businesses and citizens easy and effi cient so that they concentrate their energy on their goals, not on government processes. We are using technol-ogy to impart scale and speed to development,” he said.

Information, education, skills, healthcare, livelihood, fi nancial

inclusion, small and village enter-prises, opportunities for women, conservation of natural resources, distributed clean energy entirely new possibilities have emerged to change the development model, he said.

“But for all this, we must bridge the digital divide and promote digital literacy in the same way that we seek to ensure general lit-eracy. We must ensure that tech-nology is accessible, aff ordable, and adds value,” he said.

Modi said that by using space technology and Internet, 170 ap-plications have been identifi ed that will make governance better and development faster.

“Today, technology is advancing citizen empowerment and democ-racy that once drew their strength from Constitutions. Technology is forcing governments to deal with massive volume of data and gen-

erate responses, not in 24 hours but in 24 minutes,” Modi said.

To achieve the vision of Digital India, the government must also start thinking a bit like corporate world, he said.

“So, from creating infrastruc-ture to services, from manu-facture of products to human resource development, from sup-port governments to enabling citizens and promoting digital lit-eracy, Digital India is a vast cyber world of opportunities for you,” the prime minister said.

Economic hubsAlso Common Service Centres will be set up in villages and towns as also use information technolo-gy to build smart cities. “We want to turn our villages into smart economic hubs and connect our farmers better to markets and makes them less vulnerable to the

whims of weather,” he said. Stat-ing that access means content being made available in local lan-guages, he said that aff ordability of products and services is critical for success.

Quality, aff ordable products“We will promote manufacture of quality and aff ordable products in India. That is part of our vision of Make in India, Digital India and Design in India,” he said.

“Since my government came to offi ce last year, we have attacked poverty by using the power of networks and mobile phones to launch a new era of empowerment and inclusion: 180 million new bank accounts in a few months; direct transfer of benefi ts to the poor; funds for the unbanked; in-surance within the reach of the poorest; and, pension for the sun-set years for all,” he said. - PTI

Speaking before a

gathering of Silicon

Valley CEOs, Modi

announced plans to

create more public

Wi-Fi spots including

at 500 railway

stations across India

and an aggressive

expansion of National

Optical Fibre Network DINNER INTERACTION: Prime Minister Narendra Modi claps with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, John

T. Chambers, Executive Chairman of Cisco, Paul E. Jacobs, Executive Chairman of Qualcomm as

Google CEO Sundar Pichai, left, walks to his seat after his speech during the Digital India and Digital

Technology dinner function in San Jose on Saturday. - PTI

SAN JOSE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited Apple to set up a manufactur-ing base in India and its CEO Tim Cook responded posi-tively, offi cials said here on Sunday.

“The Prime Minister (in his meeting with Cook) said he would like Apple to start manufacturing in India. He mentioned the huge opportu-nities India off ered,” Ministry of External Aff airs Spokesman Vikas Swarup told reporters.

Foxconn, which is Apple’s largest manufactures, has de-cided to set up a manufactur-ing base in India, he noted.

“Cook responded positively.I think India does fi ts

into his long term plans. He particularly was interested in the whole App development economy, which he said could be a very very important factor

for entrepreneurship where individual app developers can just become part of the app universe,” he said.

Prime Minister Modi has been mentioning that there is the public sector, there is the private sector and there is the personal sector.

Personal sector he has been talking about people who can be self-made entrepreneurs, Swarup noted.

“Cook said by using the app development tools people can really become part of this huge industry. He gave the example of China where in fact we cre-ated 1.5 million jobs,” he said.

Indian Ambassador to the US Arun K. Singh said that during the meeting there was a sense that a lot of design inno-vation is happening in India.

“As Apple expands its presence in India including a

manufacturing presence there could be enhanced opportuni-ty for app development related to the apple platforms,” he said.

There was also some discus-sion on Apple Pay, how this can be part of Jan Dhan Yojana for instance and other such initiatives, Swarup said.

During the meeting, Cook said India has a very special place in the heart of every Apple employee for the simple reason that its co-founder Steve Jobs went to India when he was a young man for inspiration.

It was what he saw in India that inspired him to launch Apple. Cook expressed his great desire to be a partner in Prime Minister’s Digital India initiative, which he thought was a transformative ini-tiative, which could be a real game changer in India. -PTI

Modi invites Apple to set up manufacturing base in India

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INDIAM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

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‘Will achieve victory over terrorism’

LUCKNOW: Union Home Minis-ter Rajnath Singh on Sunday said that terrorism is a “challenge”, but the country will “get victory over it” even as he dismissed talk that IS was spreading its reach to India.

“As far as terrorism is con-cerned, it is a challenge, but India will get victory over it,” he told re-porters on the sidelines of an event at Manisha Mandir Ashram here.

Dismissing a question that IS terror group was expanding in several states of the country,

the Home Minister said, “Do not worry about it, there is nothing like this.”

Asked about reported claims by Pakistan that India was not ready for talks, Singh said, “Let them lev-el allegations. It has no meaning.”

Blaming Pakistan for waging a proxy terror war against India, the home minister said it was a big

challenge for the country. He also noted that Pakistan has been con-tinuously violating the ceasefi re agreement.

“Pakistan has waged a proxy ter-ror war against India and it is a big challenge before us. We have taken many countries into confi dence on this count...we are also taking dip-lomatic measures,” he said.

Citing the recent pact with UAE on cooperation on counter ter-rorism operation and intelligence sharing, Rajnath said it was a big diplomatic success.

Terming India’s borders with Pakistan and China as “very sen-sitive”, he said security arrange-ments had to be ensured keeping the situation in mind and as per

the requirements. Though the boundary with Nepal and Bhutan was peaceful and there was no problem, the borders with Bangla-desh and Myanmar were “active”, he said.

Terming infi ltration in Indian-administered-Kashmir as a big challenge, Singh said ever since the NDA government came to power in 2014, infi ltration cases dropped to 52 in 2014 and further to 15 this year from 264 in 2012 and 277 in 2013 and congratulated the Army and Paramilitary forces for it.

The senior BJP leader, mean-while, refrained from commenting on party MP R.K. Singh’s allegation that the party was giving tickets for Bihar Assembly polls to candidates with criminal antecedents.

Earlier, in his speech at the event, Singh said that the Naren-dra Modi government was making eff orts to address social concerns.

“Generally, the work of any gov-ernment is related to economic and strategic issues. But for the fi rst time in the history of the country, a government has come at the Centre which is fulfi lling social

concerns as well,” he said.Referring to the Swachh Bharat

Abhiyaan, Singh said, “Such a campaign by the government and eff orts being made to moti-vate people is not witnessed very frequently.”

The home minister added that with the prime minister having taken up the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ drive, the goal is now to balance the gender ratio to make the country prosperous.

“It is an irony that the gender ratio is not balanced in India. In all countries that are considered prosperous, gender ratio is bal-anced. A country and society where gender ratio is unbalanced can never prosper,” he said.

Singh said that while a man could be the patron of a single per-son, a woman is the protector of an entire family.

“Indian women have done won-ders internationally. They are CEOs of global companies. Kalpa-na Chawla reached space. They are playing an active, eff ective and fruitful role in paramilitary forces and police,” he said. - PTI

Home Minister

Rajnath Singh

dismissed a question

that IS group was

expanding in several

states in India

Generally, the work of any government is related to

economic and strategic issues. But for the first time in

the history of the country, a government has come at

the Centre which is fulfilling social concerns as well

Rajnath SinghHome Minister

BJP will abolish quota policy if it wins in Bihar, says Nitish

KHAGARIA (Bihar): Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday alleged that the BJP-led coalition at the Centre will abol-ish reservation for Other Back-ward Class, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes if it win assem-bly elections in Bihar as RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had called for re-view of the reservation policy.

“The RSS chief has publicly called for review of the reserva-tion policy which the BJP-led coalition at the centre may scrap if NDA gets power in Bihar,” Ku-mar alleged at an election rally in Parbatta Assembly constituency in Khagaria district.

The victory of the BJP-led al-liance will embolden NDA to toe the RSS line and scrap the exist-ing reservation policy, he alleged.

Kumar promised 35 per cent reservation to women in govern-ment jobs if his alliance (JDU-RJD-Congress) comes back to power at the hustings.

He also took umbrage to BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular for ridiculing him on his Rs 2.70 lakh crore vi-sion for development of the state over next fi ve years if his own alli-ance wins the election.

“You don’t worry about how we will raise resources. We have enough sources of revenue to fulfi l aspirations of the people on development front,” Kumar said.

The chief minister said he has charted out the vision document after taking into account various sources from which revenues will

be raised in coming years and not from any dole by anybody, he said referring to the Centre.

The prime minister had ridi-culed Kumar’s vision document last month and asked him from where he will raise funds to im-plement his development agenda.

The senior JD(U) leader, who launched the secular alliance’s campaign yesterday, fl ayed the NDA government for “non-ful-fi lment” of promises, including bringing back black money from foreign shores, and asked the Prime Minister what happened to his poll promise to distribute Rs1.5 to Rs2.0 million cash into bank account of every individual.

Kumar also slammed the ‘Gu-jarat Model’ of development, a plank on which Modi had won the Lok Sabha poll last year, and alleged the pitiable condition of women and prevalence of unem-ployment in the PM’s native state tell a diff erent story compared to the claims made about devel-opment there. In all, the Chief Minister addressed fi ve election meetings during the day.

Tough challengeMeanwhile, facing a tough chal-lenge from the JD(U)-RJD-Con-gress alliance in battleground Bi-har, the BJP-led NDA has decided to launch a campaign blitzkrieg by holding a staggering 500 ral-lies, with Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi alone addressing 20-22 big meetings.

Modi, a seasoned campaigner

and the alliance’s face for the polls in which it has not projected a chief ministerial candidate, will plunge into electioneering barely two days after his arrival from a visit to Ireland and the US on September 29.

Photo fi nishAll opinion polls have predicted a photo fi nish in the polls, a must-win for BJP after its Delhi deba-cle. A victory in Bihar will give the Modi government the heft it requires to push its reform agen-da, including introduction of the much-awaited GST.

Modi, who remains a big draw in the state, can give it an edge in the fi ght. Modi will return to the state, where he has already held four rallies so far, with a public meeting on October 2 at Banka followed by another on October 4 in Lakhisarai, both of which are going to polls in the fi rst phase on October 12.

BJP leaders said the party has made an elaborate plan which will also see a host of Union ministers criss-cross the state every day in the run up to polls.

Top BJP leaders will be seen in joint campaign with allies, LJP, RLSP and HAM (secular).The idea is to hold about 500 ral-lies which would be addressed by national and state-level leaders, sources said.

Bihar will have a fi ve-phase poll between October 12 and Novem-ber 5. Counting of votes will take place on November 8. - PTI

A S S E M B L Y P O L L S

Death toll of Indian pilgrims in Haj stampede rises to 35MINA: The death toll of Indian pilgrims in last week’s horrifi c stampede during Haj rose to 35 on Sunday as authorities identifi ed 13 more bodies among the victims of the worst tragedy to hit the an-nual pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

“Unfortunately, there are six more Indians taking the toll to 35,” External Aff airs Minister Su-shma Swaraj tweeted.

Earlier, seven more Indians were identifi ed among the dead

raising Saturday night’s death toll from 22 to 29.

The 13 Indian pilgrims who were among the dead, taking the death toll to 35, have been identifi ed by the Haj Consulate in Jeddah as Mansurul Haque (Jharkhand), Anvar Janha (UP), F. A.Muneer Veetil, Amina Beevi, Abdul Rahiman Asarithodi, P. V. Kunhimon and Moiuddin Abdul Kader (all from Kerala), Jaibun Nisha (Bihar), Nashima Khatoon

(Jharkhand), Mohamed Younus Rahimbhai Mansuri (Gujarat), Bibi Ismail (Gujarat), Mehrun-nisha Hanif (Gujarat), Mu-hammed Yusuf Sikandarmiyan Malik (Gujarat).

Saudi authorities have put the total death toll from the stampede during Haj to 769. The number of injured stands at 934. At least 13 Indians were among those injured. From India, 150,000 pil-grims performed Haj. - PTI

T R A G E D Y

WOOING VOTERS: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar being welcomed with a garland by JD(U) work-

ers at an election meeting in Kalyanpur at Samastipur on Saturday. - PTI

A10

PAKISTAN M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

PRIME MINISTER AT UNITED NATIONS Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif poses with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ahead of the United Nations General As-

sembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Sunday. - Reuters

A 41-year-old school that has no addressQUETTA: Despite tall claims of increasing funds for educa-tion in Balochistan, students and teachers were expelled from a government school in the provin-cial capital due to non-payment of rent.

Government Girls Primary School, which was established 41 years ago in Killi Shahnawaz Sar-iab area, has not been provided a permanent building and has been shifted 15 times from one place to another during the period of its existence.

According to sources, the own-er of the school building got the premises vacated by force for not receiving rent.

Nearly a year ago, Adviser to CM Balochistan on Education Sardar Raza Barech and secre-tary education had announced Rs2.7 million grant for the school, but the fund is yet to be released.

“Children are forced to study on a plain ground without any roof due to failure of the govern-ment to provide funds,” Abdul Qayyum, a teacher, said.

“For the last three years, we are running the school with just two rooms,” he added. The teacher

went on to say, “For the last 41 years we have been shifted to dif-ferent buildings 15 times but still we don’t have the government owned premises.”

Mostly students leave their studies due to lack of resources, he explained, but now owner of the building expelled teach-ers and students while the fu-ture of the 500 students is at stake. — Express Tribune

B A L O C H I S T A N

Government Girls

Primary School, which

was established 41

years ago in Killi

Shahnawaz Sariab

area, has not been

provided a permanent

building

In Peshawar, girls torn away from families and sold off PESHAWAR: On July 7, a con-stable at Khazana police received a call that couldn’t believe: A man was trying to sell his daughter at a market on Charsadda Road.

The police arrested the suspect, who identifi ed himself as Wasim and claimed the girl with him was his daughter. He went to on say he was a kidney patient, recent wid-ower and that poverty had driven him to, or at least attempt to, sell his daughter.

He further told the police he was an Afghan refugee living in Bajuar Agency but refused to share any information about his relatives.

Upon insistence, and presum-ably force, the police managed to get a confession out of him, which was remarkably diff erent from his initial admission.

The man was indeed an Afghan refugee but his family was settled in the Darmangi area of the Math-ra police station. His real name was Amir Shah and the girl whom he claimed was his daughter was actually a 4-year-old he kidnapped a day earlier.

WhereaboutsInitially refusing to provide the girl’s whereabouts at the time of the kidnapping, Shah eventu-ally revealed he abducted her from Sethi Town, following which the police was able to reach out to her neighbourhood.

Habiba is the seventh of Afghan refugee Gul Haider’s eight chil-dren. She had strayed out of her

house just after iftari on July 6. However, she is one of the lucky ones to return home.

Every year dozens of minor girls are kidnapped, cases of which are hardly ever reported in the media or registered given the lax attitude of the police. In Habiba’s case, too, an entry report was registered by

the Paharipura police rather than an FIR, while the police made ab-solutely no eff ort to locate the child after she was reported missing.

After Shah was caught, however, the police showed residents of the area pictures of Habiba, who was luckily identifi ed by her neighbor, recalls Gul Haider. He goes on to

say that upon contacting the po-lice and arriving at the police sta-tion at a given time to retrieve his daughter, he was arrested and put behind bars.

“Their attitude was completely inhumane and they refused to hand me over my daughter but luckily I have a police offi cer as a

neighbour and I called him, who then asked the another offi cial-and investigation team to hand her over [and release me],” he said while speaking to The Express Tribune. His daughter, he added, was lucky to return home even af-ter being recovered by the police.

The existence of human traffi ck-ing rings in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) that kidnap and buy girls under the guise of marriage and then sell them to rich people in Punjab and Afghanistan is com-mon knowledge. This trade is widespread throughout the prov-ince and yet, they manage to oper-ate without inviting any attention from concerned quarters.

Yet to be foundIn June, another Afghan refugee, Kher Baz’s nine-year-old daugh-ter Sakina went missing in the Scheme Chowk area within the jurisdiction of the Badhaber po-lice station. Despite her entire family’s tireless eff orts, she is yet to be found.

Kher Baz had to quit his job as a truck driver and take up an-other fulltime job: looking for his daughter.

“My daughter Sakina has gone missing and I have been search-ing for her for the past couple of months. How can I return to driving, leaving things in the present state?” the father of nine said, while talking to The Express Tribune.

Sakina is not the only girl who

disappeared in the same vicinity.On March 1, 10-year-old Ayesha

was kidnapped just outside her house in Ahmad Khel, Badhaber, and was taken to Khost, Afghani-stan, where she was sold her to a local leader for Rs200,000.

Kidnappers arrestedFortunately, Ayesha’s kidnappers were arrested by the Jalalabad po-lice. While in prison, they called their relatives in Peshawar. During the call, which was intercepted by intelligence agencies, one of the suspects informed his family that they had been arrested and had sold Ayesha in Khost. The infor-mation was shared with Ayesha’s family, who arrived in Afghani-stan, bought her back from the lo-cal malik and brought her home after several months.

Alarmingly, the police did not register reports against Ayesha’s kidnappers, who continue to threaten her family.

Human rights activist Uzma Mehboob said that like so many crimes, human traffi cking seems to be an established fact.

“Unfortunately in K-P, the po-lice and even the government wish to remain silent on such is-sues but that is not the answer,” she said, while speaking to The Express Tribune.

She pointed out that in Punjab, the media does not compromise on such issues and the government also takes appropriate action once a crime is reported. — Express Tribune

C R I M E

SAFELY HOME: Habiba was returned to her family after the police arrested her kidnapper. — Express Tribune

Tunnels over Attabad Lake to hit boatmen’s livelihood

GILGIT: Boatmen in Gilgit-Bal-tistan fear losing their livelihood after the completion of four large tunnels along the south shore of Attabad Lake.

“We are going to lose 50 per cent of our business, probably more,” said a 47-year-old boat operator, Malik Shah. “Maybe the tourists will still come for us, but we do not

know that, so maybe not.”In January 2010, a massive

landslide blocked the fl ow of Riv-er Hunza, creating a natural dam and burying 20 people beneath it. The rising water displaced thou-sands of residents and submerged

countless villages, fi elds, orchards a well as a 19-kilometre stretch of the Karakoram Highway (KKH).

During the last fi ve years, boat-men have carried people and cargo, including dead bodies, rare gemstones and fugitives,

between central Pakistan and China. Although the crossing is a pleasure for tourists, for vil-lagers, truckers and smugglers it was more of a bother since they had to take the hour-long ride in hand-made wooden boats several times a week.

Earlier this month, after several years of construction, Chinese en-gineers completed four large tun-nels along the south shore of the 13-mile-long Attabad lake.

Traffi c will now fl ow on the newly diverted Karakoram High-way which will cause hundreds of boat operators and day labourers to lose their livelihood.

The 20-foot boats are as col-ourfully painted as Pakistani trucks and are powered by two engines and steering wheels taken from junked cars control six-foot rudders.

These boats wait on each side of the lake, where the highway disap-pears under the water, for custom-ers who pay around $3 to $5.

These boats also transport cars, sport-utility vehicles which would drive directly onto the boats using boards as ramps, as well as, livestock.

However, trucks laden with cargo are too heavy to get on the wooden boats so the cargo is of-fl oaded onto the boat and then reloaded onto another truck at the other end of the lake.

The whole process took hours and created a lot of jobs for the people of that region, many of whom survive on just a few dol-lars a day.

“It was fi xed, permanent in-come,” said Ikram Ali, 32, who made about $350 a month offl oad-ing trucks. “Now, I wonder if I will stay penniless for days.”

Another problem for boatmen is that the lake, which was initially 350 feet deep, is now gradually being fi lled in by silt from glacial runoff . Many boats this summer ran aground near the shoreline.

“It’s fi lling in,” said Riazullah Baig, a local tour guide. “In anoth-er 10 years, it may just be a river-bed again.” — Express Tribune

During the last fi ve

years, boatmen have

carried people and

cargo, including

dead bodies, rare

gemstones and

fugitives, between

central Pakistan

and ChinaFEARFUL: Passenger boats ferry people, their belongings and

even cars from one side to the other, all through the day. Traffi c is

prohibited after dusk, and it becomes almost impossible to travel

in winter when the lake freezes over. - Express Tribune

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

MQM prepares list of executed party workers

ISLAMABAD: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has drawn up a list of 46 members it says were killed deliberately by paramilitary Rangers in Karachi, the fi rst time it has accused the force of a campaign of extrajudi-cial killings.

MQM has submitted the list to the offi ce of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, ratcheting up pressure on him to make the force, and the military to which it answers, more accountable.

The MQM has accused the mili-tary of illegally detaining members before, as the Rangers pursue a major crackdown on crime in Ka-rachi. But the list, which Reuters has seen, raises the stakes by docu-menting dozens of alleged extraju-dicial killings.

Neither the Rangers nor the armed forces responded to re-quests for comment on the list and Karachi operation, launched in late 2013 to tackle soaring crime rates.

Police spokesman Qamar Satti declined comment, except to say that some cases of alleged extraju-dicial killings were being investi-gated by a directorate set up by the Supreme Court. — Express Tribune

E X T R A J U D I C I A L K I L L I N G S

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ASIAM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

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Taiwan evacuates tourists as super typhoon approaches

TAIPEI: Thousands of tourists were evacuated from islands off Taiwan on Sunday as super ty-phoon Dujuan gathered strength on its approach to the island.

Taiwan’s weather bureau up-graded Dujuan to a “strong ty-phoon” — it’s top category — on Sunday evening as the storm ap-proached the island’s east.

Other regional weather bu-reaus, including the Hong Kong Observatory, categorised it as a “super typhoon” as it intensifi ed to reach gusts of 227 kilometres (141 miles) per hour.

Almost 3,000 people, most of them tourists, were evacuated from Taiwan’s Green Island and Orchid Island — popular with vis-itors — with heavy rains and high tides forecast.

The typhoon is due to make landfall in eastern Taiwan on Monday night.

“It is not likely to weaken in any signifi cant way before mak-ing landfall,” a spokesman for the weather bureau told AFP.

More than 24,000 troops are on standby for disaster relief and evacuations from areas prone to landslides and fl ooding.

Emergency response centres

have been set up in the north and east, where heavy rain is expected, as well as 100 shelters.

Dujuan was 500 kilometres off the coast of eastern Hualien

County at 5:30 p.m. (0930 GMT). The storm threatens long-

weekend plans for many as Tai-wan celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Moon

Festival, when families typically gather and moon-gaze.

Dujuan is set to hit the Japa-nese island of Ishigaki at around midday on Monday.

Mainland ChinaThe storm is on course to hit mainland China from Tuesday af-ter moving through Taiwan.

Japan’s meteorological agency has warned it could trigger waves 13 metres (42 feet) high when it strikes the country.

So far there have been no re-ports of damage or injuries in connection with the typhoon, but “winds are getting stronger now”,

an Ishigaki offi cial said by phone.At least three fl ights were can-

celled, Japanese news reports and airline offi cials said, and the country’s meteorological agency warned of possible landslides, high waves and heavy rain.

Typhoon Soudelor caused at least eight deaths in Taiwan last month as it fl ooded rivers, ripped up trees, and triggered landslides.

Toppled trees and signboards damaged electricity lines, knock-ing out power to a record 4.3 mil-lion households.

It went on to kill 21 people in China. — AFP

Taiwan’s weather

bureau upgraded

Dujuan to a ‘strong

typhoon’ — it’s

top category — on

Sunday evening

as the storm

approached the

island’s east

PRECAUTIONS: A tourist boat is lifted into the air to be secured in Pitan, a popular area in Xindian district in New Taipei City on Sunday

as super typhoon Dujuan approaches the northeast of Taiwan. — AFP

The storm threatens long-weekend plans for many

as Taiwan celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival, also

known as Moon Festival, when families typically

gather and moon-gaze

Haze forces Malaysia to close schools

KUALA LUMPUR: Thick white smoke from Indonesian slash-and-burn farming enveloped Ma-laysia’s capital and other areas on Sunday, triggering school closures for the following day as weeks of choking haze showed no sign of abating.

Pollution readings in Kuala Lumpur soared into the “very unhealthy” territory in the Malay-sian government’s hourly air-qual-ity index.

The Ministry of Education or-dered schools shut on Monday in the capital and three states due to health concerns, the second time this month it has had to issue such an order.

Malaysia, Singapore and large expanses of Indonesia have suf-fered for weeks from acrid smoke billowing from fi res on plantations and peatlands that are being ille-gally cleared by burning.

The fi res are located on Indo-nesia’s huge islands of Sumatra and Borneo.

The crisis grips the region near-ly every year during the dry season, but the current outbreak is one of the worst and longest-lasting in years.

Authorities have said tens of thousands of people in the three countries have been forced to seek medical treatment for respira-tory problems, and that dozens of fl ights have been cancelled or de-layed due to poor visibility.

Indonesia has faced pressure from its neighbours to address the problem since it fi rst emerged nearly 20 years ago.

But the issue has persisted, es-pecially as plantations expand to meet rising global demand for products like palm oil, a key ingre-dient in a vast range of everyday consumer products.

Singapore on Friday ordered rare school closures across the city-state as air reached “haz-ardous” levels there, with Envi-ronment Minister Vivian Bal-akrishnan saying the problem has lasted “for far too long”. — AFP

H A Z E F R O M I N D O N E S I A

Nepal imposes vehicle curbs over fuel shortageBIRGUNJ (NEPAL): Nepal on Sunday imposed nationwide re-strictions on vehicle use due to growing fears of a fuel shortage, as protesters seeking changes to a new constitution vowed to keep blocking a major border trade route.

Drivers are allowed on the roads only on alternate days, de-pending on whether their licence plates end in odd or even num-bers, to try to counter the eff ect of the blockade imposed on the India-Nepal border since Thurs-day night.

“The government has decided to limit the number of vehicles moving across the country due to the fuel shortage,” home ministry

spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal told AFP.

“We are facing a huge problem because of the blockade in the south and are trying to use the fuel we have eff ectively.”

Key hubHundreds of protesters called for amendments to the constitution as they blocked a bridge crossing in the town of Birgunj, 90 kilo-metres (55 miles) south of Kath-mandu, that serves as the key hub for oil and food imports into land-locked Nepal.

The protesters, from the Mad-hesi community, are angry about plans to divide the Himalayan na-tion into seven federal provinces

under the charter adopted on September 20.

More than 40 people have died in weeks of clashes between po-lice and protesters from the Mad-hesi and Tharu communities, ethnic minorities who say the new internal borders leave them under-represented in the nation-al parliament.

“I joined this protest to fi ght for my rights... and for the rights of my children and grandchildren,” Ajay Patel, a 40-year-old farmer, told AFP.

“Why does the state not treat us like citizens of this country?”

Madhesi leaders vowed to con-tinue the blockade until lawmak-ers agreed to their demands. — AFP

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Richard Galustian and Theodore Karasik

During a Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) meeting in Dushanbe on September 15, Rus-

sian President Vladimir Putin voiced his concerns about Syria.

“The state of aff airs there is very serious. The IS controls signifi cant stretches of territory in Iraq and Syr-ia.... Their plans include expanding ac-tivities to Europe, Russia, Central and Southeast Asia.”

Putin couldn’t be more correct. The IS threatens Russia and Central Asia spe-cifi cally. Even though the Kremlin sees the rise of the IS as the product of Ameri-can foreign policy and military operations that leave ungovernable holes later fi lled in by terrorists and transnational criminal groups, the Kremlin is intent on being a part of the solution to these problems.

Putin also blames American foreign policy for the migrant crisis currently engulfi ng Europe and has called for an international coalition against terrorism and extremism. The president stated that “This is a crisis which was absolutely ex-pected. We in Russia said several years ago that there would be massive problems if our Western partners conduct what I have always called the ‘wrong’ foreign policy, especially in regions of the Muslim world, the Middle East and North Africa, which they continue practically to this day.”

Russia is making its move in Syria, with the deployment of a forward operating base for fi ghter jets and drones, in support of the Syrian military.

More importantly, it is possible that the Russian presence in Latakia will halt Turkish and Israeli air fl ights over Syria. In other words, a no-fl y zone imposed by the Kremlin could emerge. Moscow has already started a humanitarian aid lift and network in the country.

Iran is part of Moscow’s plans in Syria. Tehran’s own military presence in Syria

is working in coordination with Russia to protect the Syrian government, espe-cially the security of Alawites in Latakia. Tehran seems to be wavering on Assad’s immediate future, which fi ts perfectly with the Kremlin’s plan. Iran may be persuaded to back Russia’s plan to ac-commodate the Americans somewhat by helping plan an exit strategy for the Assad family. Outlining his ideas on a potential diplomatic solution, Putin sug-gested that it be carried out in parallel with the fi ght against extremists and that Assad should play a role in the political process. Putin said that “The Syrian president, as a matter of fact, agrees with that, includ-ing holding early elections, parliamentary elections, and establishing contact with the so-called ‘healthy’ opposition, bringing them into governing.”

That argument is gaining traction in Eu-rope and with some Arab governments.

The Kremlin wants to stabilize the Syr-ian government through elections en-dorsed by a bulk of the Syrian opposition and form a new coalition of key regional states to attack and destroy the IS.

Yet, all is not rosy. The perilous state of Russia’s fi nances will play a major role in Russia’s foreign policy ambitions. With the collapse of oil prices, coupled with eco-nomic sanctions, Russia’s economy will continue to be in recession. There have also been reports that some Russian ser-vicemen are refusing to go to Syria.

These facts do not necessarily mean that Putin’s gambit with the Americans will not pay off in the future thanks to ongoing communication between US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter and Russian De-fense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Neverthe-less, the Kremlin sees a real need for Rus-sia to continue its involvement in Syria, on its own terms. — Special to Times of Oman

Richard Galustian is a Middle East security expert based in Libya. Theodore Karasik is a senior adviser at Gulf State Analytics

Safety should be the responsibility of everyoneThis refers to the news story, Safety worries after Oman building collapse kills one, (September 25). This incident shows the need for an immediate review of basic health and safety measures on work premises, especially at construction sites, and how they are applied for safeguarding the workers. The existing safety guidelines — fol-

lowed by construction establishments — have not been given suffi cient attention due to which incidents of this kind have happened in recent times. It has been seen that smaller building construction sites often lack adequate supervisions thus leading workers to ignore the safety norms. As experts are stressing, the awareness on health and safety needs an overall improvement with a view to pre-venting recurrence of such incidents in the future. Safety should be the responsi-bility of everyone. — Ramachandran Nair, Ruwi

Moscow need not suff er another debacle by intervening in SyriaThis refers to the online story, US reaches out to Iran as Syria strategy stumbles, (September 26). The policy of the Western countries is again in tatters. However, I fail to see why Russia is get-ting into this mess. This is someone else’s problem and Moscow need not suff er another debacle like that of its Afghani-

stan intervention. That said, probably Vladimir Putin’a bid to shore up Syrian President Bashar Al Assad through Tehran is the best bet to defeat the IS. — Naheed Saeedi, Muscat

T I M E S O F O M A NM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5A12

Will Putin pull off his Syria gambit?

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Workshop on legal illiteracy eradication beginsMUSCAT: Dr Thuwaibah bint Ahmed Al Barwani, under-secretary for social aff airs at the Ministry of Social Aff airs, Labour and Vocational Training, yesterday inaugurated a workshop on eradication of legal illiteracy yesterday. Rajiha bint Abdul Amir, undersecretary for development aff airs at the Ministry of National Economy, was also present at the inaugural ceremony. The workshop is organised by the Women’s Social Coordination Committee.

1916: Constance of Greece declares war on Bulgaria. 1939: Germany occupies Warsaw as Poland falls to Germany and the Soviet Union.

1942: Australian forces defeat the Japanese on New Guinea in the South Pacifi c.

2008: Shai Shigang becomes the fi rst Chinese to walk in space; he was part of the Shenzhou 7 crew.

M O S T R E A DTIMESOFOMAN.COM

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

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

US has gained mightily as a nation of immigrants. Each wave

— from the Mayfl ower pilgrims to the Irish, Germans and other

Europeans, from the Mexicans to the Vietnamese and other Asians

of today – has provided a fresh jolt of energy and diversity

bit.ly/usnationofmigrants

RUPERT CORNWELL

Only information that leads to accumulation of knowledge is true education. Information,

whose various layers are laden with propaganda, is anything but education. This has largely been

the case with the curricula in Pakistan

bit.ly/educationpakistan

DR RAZA KHAN

US House speaker John Boehner had to spend most of his time and energy barely keeping the peace

in his party. But he and other Republican leaders contributed to the root cause of his diffi culty

— which is that conservatives don’t know what they want

bit.ly/boehnergopconservatives

RAMESH PONNURU

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

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

Netherlands-based classical piano musician “Slava” Svjatoslav Presnyakov plays Beethoven’s classic composition “Für Elise” with a 1920s twist.

SEPTEMBER 2000

Scan this QR code to send letters to the Readers’ Forum, containing not more than 200 words with full name, address and telephone number, may be sent by mail (Times of Oman, P.O. Box 770, P.C. 112, Ruwi).

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SULTANATE’S TRADITIONALFISHING PRODUCTION

From April to June 2015(in tonnes)

Source: Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries Wealth

0

22,004

10,686

May JuneApril

20,862

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People eat at a restaurant in Lisbon, Portugal. Winning the vote of the cooks and waiters dishing out succulent grilled fi sh and spicy chicken at Portugal’s restaurants could make all the diff erence in the country’s tight October 4 election.

LISBON: Winning the vote of the cooks and waiters dishing out succulent grilled fi sh and spicy chicken at Portugal’s restaurants could make all the diff erence in the country’s tight October 4 election.

The restaurant sector is a huge provider of jobs in this food-worshipping southern European nation. It was also among the hardest hit by austerity imposed by centre-right premier Pedro Passos Coelho as part of eff orts to shake off the sovereign debt crisis that also affl icted Spain, Greece and Cyprus. Thousands of eat-eries went broke amid the larg-est tax hikes in living memory as many recession-hit Portuguese were forced to do the unthinkable and forego eating meals out.

So with opposition Socialists pledging to reverse the tax hikes, the mood behind the serving hatch will be a key test of whether Por-tuguese are ready to complete the austerity cure.

“The VAT increase was the last straw for many businesses,” Jorge Costa, who runs the tradi-

tional ‘Leitaria Anunciada’ res-taurant in central Lisbon, said of a 2012 hike in value-added sales tax to 23 per cent from 13 per cent which Passos Coelho’s gov-ernment said was needed to plug a soaring budget defi cit.

“From one moment to the next we were without clients.”

In a painful overhaul of business practices, Costa scraped through the crisis by fi ring three of his fi ve staff — leaving just himself and his cook — and adapting his menus to put the emphasis more on quality.

Others were also downsizing. The result was the loss of some 30,000 restaurant jobs, a 20 per cent fall in sales between 2008 and 2013 and the closure of 10,000 restaurants - just under 12 per cent of the country’s total of 74,660 establishments.

That mirrored the fate of the wider economy, which shrank 8 per cent over the same period while unemployment leapt to around 12 per cent now from un-der 8 per cent in 2008. National debt has doubled to hit 130 per cent of output last year.

With an economic recovery fi -nally taking root in 2014 and accel-erating now, Passos Coelho wants to convince voters that a vote for him is a bet on stability that will allow investment to take off and generate more growth.

Debt is due to fall to a still co-lossal 125 per cent of output by the end of the year. But with polls showing Pedro Passos Coelho’s coalition stuck in a dead heat with his Socialist challenger Antonio Costa, the jury is still clearly out.

“The sector went through a per-fect storm,” said Jose-Manuel Es-teves, director-general of the AH-RESP hotel and restaurant lobby group, describing Passos Coelho’s refusal to cut taxes if re-elected as an “aff ront and provocation” to res-taurateurs. Passos Coelho argues the tax revenues will help reduce Portugal’s defi cit and national debt pile, thus reassuring investors. But Esteves for one says that stability alone is not enough and endorses the Socialists’ platform of quickly cutting VAT for restaurants back down to 13 per cent.

Biggest job sectorsThat will appeal to many others in a sector which still employs about 211,200, one of the biggest job sectors in Portugal, and which generates about 5 per cent of gross domestic product on revenues of 6 billion euros ($6.8 billion). Still, the broadening economic recovery and, not least, soaring tourism, has already begun to benefi t many in the restaurant sector who adapted during the crisis by off ering qual-ity meals at reasonable prices.

At ‘Rubro’, off Lisbon’s main avenue, co-owner Luis Morais Pereira said his restaurant also suff ered but introduced changes to get through the crisis and is now even thriving. “What we did was reformulate our menu, to of-fer consumers more competitive alternatives, lowering the average ticket price,” said Morais Pereira as offi ce-workers streamed in for lunch of charcoal-grilled meat.

Like other restaurants that sur-vived, or new ones that have begun to open in the past year off ering niche products like quality burg-ers, Rubro has stuck to doing the basics well.

“We are an Iberian restaurant, we off er beverages, tapas and very good, matured grilled meat. I think the key to our success is the sim-

plicity and quality of the ingredi-ents at very good value,” Morais Pereira said.

He declined to say which he would vote on October 4. But re-gardless of the outcome of the election, Rubro has already de-cided to open two new restaurants this year — one to take advantage of growing tourism in Lisbon and another in the upmarket resort of Cascais not far from the capital. That is a formula not everyone will be able to replicate. “I don’t believe that a restaurant will sur-vive well unless it is located in a tourist zone,” said Costa, thankful his “Leitaria Anunciada” is in a tourist area that attracts Spanish, German and French visitors.

An as yet undecided voter, Costa hopes that all politicians will stop

treating businesses simply as a “point of collecting tax payments” and instead see their value as gen-erators of jobs.

Such frustration with Portu-gal’s leadership is common, with many — especially those not in a lucrative tourist spot — doubting any politician will really make a diff erence. At the old-fashioned, family-owned ‘Adega do Tio Pepe’ restaurant, Spanish-born Jose Su-arez says he has cut staff and open-ing hours and will probably sell soon, having no stomach to contin-ue with high taxes and dwindling clients, and uninclined to put his faith in the Socialists either.

“(Antonio) Costa talks and talks, and I don’t know if the prime min-ister, Mr Passos Coelho is any good or bad,” he said. - Reuters

WAITING FOR KEY TEST: Customers read the menu at the restaurant ‘Rubro’ in Lisbon, Portugal. Win-

ning the vote of the cooks and waiters dishing out succulent grilled fi sh and spicy chicken at Portu-

gal’s restaurants could make all the diff erence in the country’s tight October 4 election. – Reuters

HOPING FOR RECOVERY: Jose Suarez of the ‘Adega Tio Pepe’ restau-

rant invites tourists to enter his establishment in Lisbon, Portugal.

The restaurant sector is a huge provider of jobs in this food-wor-

shipping southern European nation. – Reuetrs

OFFERING QUALITY MEALS: The ‘Adega Tio Pepe’ restaurant in

Lisbon, Portugal. – Reuters

TESTING THEPORTUGUESE APPETITE FOR AUSTERITYThousands of eateries went broke amid the largest tax hikes in

living memory as many recession-hit Portuguese were forced

to do the unthinkable — forego eating meals out

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Polluted French capital hosts ‘car-free’ day for first time

PARIS: Paris staged a car-free day for the fi rst time on Sunday, with large parts of the increas-ingly polluted French capital taken over by cyclists, joggers and families with pushchairs on roads normally choked by vehicles.

The roaring traffi c of the world-renowned Champs-Elysees av-enue was replaced by people strolling in the late September

sunshine. Paris became the latest city worldwide to hold a car-free day as it prepares to host United Nations-led climate negotiations this December seeking to seal a post-2020 pact on curbing green-house gases.

All traffi c except taxis and emergency vehicles was banned in four central arrondissements, or districts, from 11am to 6pm.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said she would have liked cars to be si-lenced across the whole city.

“We didn’t get as wide a perim-eter as we’d have liked, we asked for the whole of Paris,” she said at the start of the event.

“But it’s a fi rst and I think next year it will be even bigger.”

Hidalgo was accompanied by the mayors of Brussels, Sao Paulo

in Brazil and Bristol in southwest England, which have also held car-free days.

Elsewhere in Paris, cars were asked to stick to a pedestrian speed limit of 20 kilometres (12 miles) an hour — although many drivers ignored the request.

Still, the initiative drew rave reviews from many of those who took advantage of the car-

free streets on Sunday. “It’s very pleasurable,” Randy, an American tourist, told AFP. “It’s wonderful to able to just ride freely and not worry about cars.”

French cyclist Renaud, echoed that sentiment, saying Paris need-ed to take more steps to stem the daily fl ow of vehicles.

“If we want a city that is clean, beautiful and green... I believe that we must not hesitate to ban and thus limit cars in the city,” he added.

Paris has struggled with an increasingly troubling air pollu-tion problem caused by vehicles, heating and heavy industry, which generate tiny fl oating particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs and the blood system, caus-ing health problems.

Twice in the past two years au-thorities have invoked drastic re-strictions — which had not been used since 1997 — that forced half the cars off the road in the French capital and its surroundings in an eff ort to curb smog.

The restrictions allowed driv-ers to take to the road every other day and were enforced by hundreds of police offi cers writ-ing citations carrying a fi ne of 22 euros ($25) to those who defi ed the rules. - AFP

Paris became the

latest city worldwide

to hold a car-free

day as it prepares to

host UN-led climate

negotiations this

December seeking

to seal a post-2020

pact on curbing

greenhouse gasesRIGHT MOVE: People walk on the Champs-Elysees, as Paris went car-free on Sunday. - Reuters

IS fi ghters’ attack Afghan police posts

JALALABAD: Self-proclaimed fi ghters from the IS group have for the fi rst time launched coordinat-ed attacks on police checkpoints in an eastern Afghan province, of-fi cials said on Sunday.

The raids on eight to 10 police posts began early on Sunday, Haji Ghalib, governor of Achin district in Nangarhar province, said giving no casualty fi gures.

“This is the fi rst time that Daesh (IS) fi ghters have launched coor-dinated attacks on police check-points in Nangarhar,” he said.

The attacks in Achin were con-fi rmed by the border police com-mander in eastern Afghanistan, Mohammad Ayoub Hussainkhail.

They came a day after a UN re-port warned that IS was making inroads in Afghanistan, winning over a growing number of sympa-thisers and recruiting followers in 25 of the country’s 34 provinces.

Afghan security forces told UN sanctions monitors that about 10 per cent of the Taliban insurgency are IS sympathisers, according to the report by the UN’s Al Qaeda monitoring team. Some insurgents, particularly in the restive eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar, have adopted the IS fl ag to rebrand themselves as a more lethal force as NATO combat troops depart after 14 years of war. - AFP

I N S U R G E N C Y

Swiss populist right gains ahead of pollsGENEVA: Switzerland’s popu-list right has seen its support swell ahead of parliamentary elections next month amid fears over the eff ects of Europe’s mi-gration crisis, a survey showed on Sunday.

A poll published by the Sonn-tagsBlick weekly showed 27.8 per cent of those questioned threw their support behind the anti-immigrant Swiss People’s Party.

This is 1.2 percentage points more than SVP, already the larg-est party in the wealthy Alpine nation, scored in the last elec-tions four years ago.

Immigration Another poll earlier this month showed that immigration and asylum issues topped the con-cern of Swiss voters ahead of the October 18 elections.

Immigration has long been a hot-button issue in the country, where foreign nationals make up about a quarter of its eight mil-lion inhabitants.

The arrival in Europe of some 500,000 migrants since the start of this year — most of them refu-gees fl eeing war and persecution in places like Syria — had fuelled concern in Switzerland.

Huge infl uxes While it has so far has been spared the huge infl uxes seen elsewhere, there has been a sharp rise in asylum requests, mainly from Eritrea.

For all of 2015, Switzerland

expects to receive some 29,000 asylum requests, up from 23,765 last year.

Most competent party Sunday’s survey, conducted by the OpinionPlus institute be-tween September 17 and 21 of 1,007 Swiss citizens planning to vote, showed a full third of those questioned believed SVP was the most competent party to deal with the refugee crisis.

The party, which in the past has illustrated its programme with a picture of white sheep kicking a black sheep off the red and white Swiss fl ag, said Friday it wanted a referendum on Swit-zerland’s new asylum law, which it warned was too lax and would act as “a powerful magnet for il-legal immigrants.”

Sunday’s survey meanwhile showed the leftwing Swiss So-cialist Party remains the coun-try’s second largest party with 19 per cent support, up 0.3 per cent from the 2011 elections.

SVP’s expected dominance in the polls does not mean it will dominate the next government.

Posts in the seven-member, fi ve party government, the Fed-eral Council, which has no prime minister, are traditionally shared among the major parties from right to left under a tacit decades-old agreement dubbed “the magic formula”. Despite being the larg-est party, SVP currently holds just one government post, with De-fence Minister Ueli Maurer. -AFP

S U R V E Y

Malaysia summons China’s ambassador over comments

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has summoned China’s ambas-sador to clarify his remarks crit-icising extremism and racism ahead of a planned pro-Malay rally in the capital.

Local newspaper The Star said on Friday Ambassador Huang Huikang had warned that Bei-jing had no fear of speaking out against actions that threatened its interests and aff ected the rights of its people.

Discrimination “The Chinese government op-poses terrorism and any form of discrimination against races and any form of extremism,” The Star quoted Huang saying.

Huang’s reported comments preceded a planned rally by a Malay-dominated, pro-gov-ernment group that was re-ported to demand more Ma-lay participation in Petaling Street, where most vendors are ethnic Chinese.

China’s Foreign Ministry did

not immediately respond to a re-quest for comment.

Malaysia’s foreign ministry said it would meet Huang on Monday to clarify comments that “attracted attention and caused concern to the Malay-sian public”.Huang made the comments during a visit to the popular Petaling Street market, known as Chinatown, on Friday.

Rally organisers said on Fri-day night they had cancelled the planned protest on advice from the police. Mostly-Malay ‘red shirts’ had taken the streets with 30,000 marchers in the middle of September to show support for Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is battling allegations of corruption and mismanagement at indebted state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd .But previous anti-government protests, crit-ics said, led by a pro-democracy group called Bersih and which attracted many urban Chinese people, had insulted the coun-try’s Malay leaders. - Reuters

P L A N N E D P R O - M A L A Y R A L L Y

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Saudi-led attack kills 25 civilians in Yemen village

SANAA: Air strikes by helicopters from a Saudi-led alliance killed 25 civilians in a Yemeni village on Sunday, residents and medics said, adding that most of the victims were women and children.

“People were fl eeing their homes as the helicopters pursued. They committed a massacre for no reason,” a resident who called himself Khaled told Reuters by phone. The incident in the village of Bani Zela, in Yemen’s Red Sea border area with Saudi Arabia, comes a day after the kingdom announced that three of its offi c-ers, including a general, had been killed along the frontier.

An Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia has been pounding the Houthi militia in Yemen from the air for six months, trying to eject the group from the capital Sanaa and restore President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi to power.

The campaign has resulted in several mass killings of civilians, including 36 people at a water bottling plant in August and 25 workers at a milk factory in April.

The attack on Bani Zela may signal an escalation in combat

along the border. The target of the strikes was unclear and a spokes-man for the alliance could not be immediately reached for com-ment. A Saudi brigadier general died in hospital of wounds suf-fered in an incident on the border with Yemen, the kingdom’s armed forces said on Saturday.

Ibrahim Omar Ibrahim Hamzi, deputy commander of the 8th brigade in Saudi Arabia’s south-ern Jizan province, was injured “defending the nation and its citi-zens,” the statement said, without providing any details.

His death follows the killing of two border offi cers along the fron-tier on Saturday. About 100 Saudi military personnel, including an-other general, have been killed along the border with Yemen since the Saudi-led campaign be-gan in March, according to a Reu-ters count. More than 4,500 Yem-enis have also died since March, according to UN fi gures.

In the latest fi ghting, coalition air strikes pounded suspected Houthi targets in the capital

around 25 times, residents said, and hit several other central prov-inces. Saudi-led troops and allied Yemeni tribesmen were fi ghting ground battles against militiamen and their allies in Yemen’s army in the desert province of Marib 120km (75 miles) east of Sanaa on Sunday.

Artillery fi reThe two sides exchanged artil-lery fi re in a coalition push for the strategic foothills leading to Sanaa on Saturday, backed by Arab air strikes. At least 20 bod-ies from both sides were seen on the battlefi eld, a local offi cial told Reuters. Hadi arrived in the southern port city of Aden on Tuesday, a week after his govern-ment’s formal return to Yemeni soil from Saudi Arabia. But he left the country again on Sunday, lo-cal offi cials said, en route to the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. It remains unclear whether he will return again to Yemen or go back to Saudi Arabia. — Reuters

Women and children

were among the

victims when

Saudi-led alliance

helicopters attack

the village of Bani

Zela in YemenRAGING BATTLE: The sky over Sanaa is illuminated by anti-

aircraft fi re during a Saudi-led air strike in Yemen’s capital Sanaa,

on Saturday. – Reuters

The attack on Bani Zela may signal an escalation in combat along the border. The target of the strikes was unclear.

ANKARA/BRUSSELS: Sev-enteen Syrian refugees drowned Sunday when their boat sank in Turkish waters on its way to Greece, local media reported, while the Italian coastguard said it had rescued some 500 migrants in the Mediterranean this week-end. The bodies of the dead Syr-ians — including fi ve children — were discovered by the Turk-ish coastguard inside the cabin of their wooden boat, which had set off from the holiday resort town of Bodrum for the Greek island of Leros, the Dogan news agency reported.

Another 20 migrants, who were on the boat’s deck and had been wearing life jackets, survived and swam back to the Turkish coast, Dogan said. They were taken to a morgue in Bodrum to identify their drowned relatives.

Among the dead was a three-

year-old boy named Yusuf, who was identifi ed by his grief-strick-en Syrian father, state news agen-cy Anatolia said.

The tragedy came as the Italian coastguard launched seven opera-tions in the Mediterranean over the weekend, plucking some 500

migrants from the water.On Saturday the German navy

frigate Werra and a boat run by medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) rescued 140 peo-ple from a giant dinghy, according to an AFP photographer.

The migrants -- who had set

sail from Libya three days earlier -- mainly came from the west Af-rican countries of Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and Sierra Leone. They were rescued about 80 kilometres off the Libyan coast.

In Greece, police said on Sun-day that an average of 5,500 mi-grants are crossing the border with Macedonia every day on their journey north. “Nearly 60 per cent of them are Syrians,” Vassilis Tsartsanis, a member of a local charity that is helping mi-grants on the border, told AFP.

Meanwhile, up to 20,000 people demonstrated in the Belgian capi-tal Sunday in support of refugees, demanding they be welcomed and

treated properly. The organisers, a collection of local and interna-tional rights groups, said there were “20,000 people in Brussels to say welcome to refugees.”

“Thanks for this fantastic ef-fort,” the ‘Citizens Platform for support of refugees in Brussels’ said on Facebook.

“Standing behind us are all the European citizens who are work-ing to help the refugees,” Elodie Francart of the Citizens’ Platform group was quoted as saying by the Belga news agency.

The marchers carried banners reading “Refugees Welcome” while many tweeted messages of support and encouragement. — AFP

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17 Syrians drown as migrant boat sinks in Turkish watersThe bodies of the

dead Syrians —

including fi ve

children — were

discovered by the

Turkish coastguard

inside the cabin of

their wooden boat,

which had set off

from the holiday

resort town of

Bodrum for the Greek

island of Leros

TOWARDS SAFETY: People help a woman as she arrives with other refugees and migrants to the Greek island off Lesbos after crossing

the Aegean sea from Turkey on September 27, 2015. — AFP

Obama to meet Raul on Tuesday

UNITED NATIONS: US Presi-dent Barack Obama will hold talks with Cuban leader Raul Castro on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, the White House said on Sunday.

It will be the second meeting between the two leaders, after a fi rst historic encounter in Panama in April.

Washington and Havana rees-tablished diplomatic relations in July after more than half a century of enmity.

The Cuban leader, who succeed-ed his brother Fidel in 2006, will make his fi rst-ever address to the UN General Assembly on Monday, only several hours after Obama takes the podium.

In an address to a UN develop-ment summit on Saturday, Cas-tro took aim at the US embargo against Cuba, describing it as the “main obstacle” to his country’s economic development.

“Such a policy is rejected by 188 United Nations member-states that demand its removal,” he said, referring to a UN resolution call-ing for the end of the decades-old embargo.

The 193-nation assembly has voted each year since 1982 to ap-prove a resolution calling on the United States to lift the embargo against Cuba, which has been in place since 1960.

Unfi nished businessCastro hailed the re-establishment of relations with Washington as a “major progress,” but stressed that the embargo was unfi nished business.

“The economic, commercial and fi nancial blockade against Cuba persists, as it has been for half a century, bringing damages and hardships on the Cuban people,” said Castro.

Since the rapprochement with Cuba, Washingtonhas expressed support for lifting the embargo, but the decision rests with Con-gress, where a Republican major-ity opposes the move. — AFP

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UAE remains Sultanate’s main exporter

A E JAMESbusinesseditor@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Oman’s neighbouring country, the United Arab Emir-ates (UAE), retained its posi-tion as the top exporter of goods and services to the Sultanate in the fi rst fi ve months of 2015, with a share of 32.5 per cent or OMR1,471.5 million.

The Sultanate’s total imports edged down by 2 per cent to OMR4,525.8 million in this peri-od, from OMR4,620.2 million for the same period last year.

According to the latest statis-tics released by the National Cen-tre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), Japan was the second leading market for Oman’s im-ports, followed by India, China and Saudi Arabia.

In fact, the Sultanate imported Chinese goods and services worth OMR249.6 million, showing a surge of 52 per cent over the same period last year.

Oman’s total imports last year stood at OMR11,267.7 million, with 32.5 per cent of these coming from the UAE. Also, it is generally believed that Chinese exports to Oman will surge in the coming months due to a fall in prices of Chinese goods in the aftermath of a huge devaluation of yuan.

As far as non-oil exports are concerned, Oman witnessed a 12.9 per cent fall at OMR1,338.1 million in the fi rst fi ve months of the current year, against the same period last year. The fall in export revenue was mainly on account of a plunge in commodity prices in international markets.

The UAE was also the top im-porter of Oman’s non-oil exports, followed by Saudi Arabia, the United States, China and India.

According to the latest statis-tics released by the NCSI, the UAE imported non-oil commodi-ties worth OMR276.7 million, out of the Sultanate’s total non-oil exports of OMR1,338.1 million in the fi rst fi ve months of 2015.

Oman’s export development agency, Public Authority for In-vestment Promotion and Export Development (Ithraa), is under-taking several initiatives to boost non-oil exports, especially to its target markets. These include vis-its of trade delegations, participa-tion in international exhibitions, business-to-business meetings and market studies in potential export markets.

Japan was the

second leading

market for Oman’s

imports, followed

by India, China and

Saudi Arabia, shows

NCSI’s latest data

Oman’s partly-owned fi rm opens Asia’s biggest biomass projectTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Oman Oil Company’s (OOC) partly-owned South Ko-rea’s power producer — GS EPS — has offi cially inaugurated the larg-est biomass power plant in Asia.

The project has a capacity of 105 megawatt, which was devel-oped with a capital expenditure of about $273 million. GS EPS is a joint venture in Korea between OOC (30 per cent) and GS Hold-ings (70 per cent), according to a press release.

GS EPS, Korea’s independent power producer has conducted a project completion ceremony for the Biomass Power Plantin the presence of executives of GS Group and OOC, at GS EPS’s Bo-gok Industrial Complex atDangjin, Chungnam Province, Korea.

“It is a great pleasure for OOC to witness the inauguration of the project completion with GS Hold-ings. This investment is part of the company’s integrated strategy to diversify its growing investments

internationally,” said Hilal Al Kharusi, vice-president of emerg-ing businesses at OOC.

“OOC plays a vital role to facili-tate the transfer of expertise and technology to form a knowledge-based economy, and aims to build the technological and operation-al capacities through strategic partnerships. In future, similar renewable energy project oppor-tunity can be explored in Oman,” he added.

GS EPS generates and provides electricity using natural gas and bio energy. The company oper-

ates LNG fi red combined cycle power plants in Dangjin, Chun-gnam Province, which has a ca-pacity of 1500 megawatt; biomass power plant in Shandong, China of 30 megawatt; and fuel cell power plant in Korea.

GS EPS Biomass Power Plant, which will use Palm Kernel Shell, an environmentally-friendly fuel for the plant and produce electric-ity by the steam turbine and Circu-lating Fluidised Bed Combustion type boiler. The Biomass Power Plant has capacity to generate electricity for 110,000 people.

P O W E R P R O J E C T I N K O R E A

SAFE SAILING: The Sultanate’s total imports edged down by 2

per cent to OMR4,525.8 million in the fi rst 5 months of 2015, from

OMR4,620.2 million for the same period last year. — Times fi le picture

JOINT VETURE PROJECT: GS EPS is a joint venture in Korea be-

tween Oman Oil Company and GS Holdings. — Supplied picture

B2

MARKETM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

Construction industry faces skills shortage in regionTimes News Service

MUSCAT: A shortage in labour is currently one of the biggest chal-lenges facing the Middle East con-struction industry, says a report.

In addition to technical skills, soft skills are said to be in increas-ing demand across the region, and in some cases are seen as being as important among increasingly se-lective employers.

“The implications of skills shortages in the GCC are such that project delays and costs are becoming a real possibility,” said Andy White, vice president of dmg events Middle East and Africa.

“However, when you consider that some skills shortages are emerging due to renewed confi -dence in construction, economic growth, rising populations, and a revival of projects put on hold during the global economic reces-

sion, the report is very positive,” she added. “It is also something we fully expected based on industry trends and feedback received from The Big 5 over the last few years,” Andy said.

However, while engineers rank highly among the top jobs held by expatriates, shortages are not pre-sent across the board. In fact, jun-ior and senior level skills are said to be readily available.

The Big 5 eventThese are the highlights of a report commissioned by the organis-ers of The Big 5, one of the largest and most respected construction events in the world.

The fact that strong growth in construction is driving diversifi -cation from oil means mid-level skills-gaps will need to be fi lled in countries like Saudi Arabia.

According to the report pro-

duced by Ventures Onsite on in-dustry trends, construction in Saudi Arabia registered the high-est non-oil GDP growth rate in the region, reaching 6.7 per cent in 2014. Saudi Arabia also retained the highest share of the regional construction market, with its 44 per cent, followed closely by 31 per cent in UAE.

Skills will also need to be fi lled as governments are poised to spend big on aff ordable housing, healthcare and education.

Bahrain, for example, has an-nounced plans to build 10 new schools in the next 3 years, with at least 40,000 social housing units to be constructed by 2022.

A further 45,000 aff ordable homes are planned for Kuwait, while the Dubai Municipality has allocated its own space for aff ord-able housing projects in the UAE emirate of Dubai.

M I D D L E E A S T

BP Oman hires 15 new trainees

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Eight production technicians and seven instru-mentation technicians have been hired by BP Oman as part of the company’s Technicians Develop-ment Programme.

The programme provides a world-class learning environ-ment for young and talented Omanis, recruited from local technical colleges and trained at a dedicated Technician Training Centre in Ghala.

As part of their induction, the new comers had a tour around the centre to learn about the technol-ogy used and to have an under-

standing of the equipment they will be trained on. In addition, they were briefed on the Khazzan project and BP’s activities, strate-gies, values and health and safety guidelines.

Launched in 2012, the BP Oman Technicians Training Programme so far has recruited over 90 tech-nicians to become qualifi ed in-strumentation, mechanical, elec-trical and production technicians over a fi ve-year programme.

The programme consists of 15 months foundation course fol-lowed by a post foundation pro-gramme providing operational experience mixed with technical assessments at an operational site

to achieve an internationally-rec-ognised competence qualifi cation. The technicians are equipped with skills and expertise to work on the Khazzan project once op-eration starts by end of 2017.

“This programmeis a great ex-ample of how we develop locals to become world-class technicians in the long term,” Yousuf Al Ojaili, president of BP Oman said.

“Recently, we have signed an agreement with Oman LNG to train a number of the techni-cians at Oman LNG plant in Sur. This collaboration demonstrates oil and gas companies’ eff orts to share their expertise for the ben-efi t of Oman,” he added.

BP Oman also recently wel-comed the new batch of its competency based programme known as BP’s global Challenge Programme, to train and develop fresh graduates.

Technicians Development Programme

provides a world-class learning

environment for young and talented Omanis,

recruited from local technical colleges

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

TRAINING CENTRE: The new recruits of BP Oman’s Technicians Development Programme

are trained at a dedicated Technician Training Centre in Ghala. – Supplied picture

STRONG GROWTH: The fact that strong growth in construction is driving diversifi cation from oil

means mid-level skills-gaps will need to be fi lled in countries like Saudi Arabia. – Supplied photo

India to reduce interest rateNEW DELHI: India’s central bank governor Raghuram Rajan may budge to government and in-dustry pressure to cut interest rate with a view to spur economic re-covery and mitigate the impact of slowing China on India.

Most of the bankers feel that benign infl ation and status quo by United States Federal Reserve has given room for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut short-term lend-ing (repo) rate by at least 0.25 per cent to 7 per cent.

Even federal fi nance minister Arun Jaitley last week asserted that common sense says the inter-est rates should come down. Jait-

ley had said infl ation is “very much under control” and the country is better prepared than most emerg-ing economies to weather the glob-al economic turbulence.

Global turmoilGlobal turmoil triggered by de-valuation of yuan and reports of slowing growth in China has impacted Indian currency and stock markets.

As regards the price situation, the wholesale price index (WPI) remained in negative territory for 10 months in a row and stood at (-) 4.95 per cent, while the retail infl a-tion (CPI) eased to a record low of

3.66 per cent in August. However, fi rst quarter GDP

number of 7 per cent was below the market expectation.

These macro-economic details would be taken into account by the RBI during its fourth bi-monthly monetary policy review of this fi s-cal on September 29.

According to State Bank of India chairman Arundhati Bhattacha-rya, there is a space for rate cut as the possibility of food prices going up in coming months is negligi-ble. “I do still believe that there is a space for rate cut in India. How much is diffi cult to state at this point of time,” she said. - PTI

E C O N O M Y

Indonesia trying for

Islamic banking boom

JAKARTA: Indonesian teacher Nina Ramadhaniah hopes for ‘blessings from Allah’ by open-ing a Sharia bank account — the sort of pious customer the world’s most-populous Muslim-majority country is praying for as it launch-es an Islamic fi nance drive.

Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, has a Muslim population of around 225 million but this huge number of faithful has not translated into success for Sharia banks, institutions re-quired to do business in line with Islamic principles.

Now regulators have launched a plan aimed at growing the sec-tor, which currently accounts for less than fi ve percent of banking assets, compared to a quarter in neighbouring, more developed Muslim-majority Malaysia and around half in Saudi Arabia.

Authorities believe it is a good moment, with many Indonesians getting wealthier after years of strong economic growth and an increasing trend towards piety across broad sections of society.

Many of those without bank ac-counts, estimated at about 40 per cent of the population, are soon expected to open one.

“The situation is an opportunity for the Islamic banking business to get bigger,” said Nasirwan Ilyas, a senior offi cial from the Islamic banking division of the Financial Services Authority (OJK).

Five-year roadmapThe OJK is spearheading the drive, and unveiled a fi ve-year roadmap earlier this year that included plans to educate the public about Sharia lenders and the establishment of an Islamic fi nance committee.

Key features of Sharia banking include the prohibition of inter-est on loans or customer deposits, and a ban on investing in “non-Is-lamic” businesses, such as those involving alcohol or some meat products. For teacher Ramadha-niah, who has an account with In-donesia’s biggest Islamic lender, Bank Syariah Mandiri, the ban on interest is a key attraction. - AFP

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

B3M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

MARKET

Oman’s projects on track to surpass last year’s $14.8b

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Oman’s projects market is set for another record-breaking year. After eight months of the year, the Sultanate has al-ready awarded more than $11 billion worth of contracts, and is on track to beat the $14.8 billion signed awards in 2014, which it-self was a record performance.

These are the latest estimates conducted by Meed Projects, the region’s leading online projects tracking service.

The pace has been set by a raft of major projects, including the multi-billion-dollar Khazzan and Makarem tight gas development, the $900million Yibal Khuff sour gas development, the $630million Salalah independent power pro-ject, and the estimated $600mil-lion Miraah solar power plant.

Also anticipated this year are awards on the fi rst segment of the Oman Rail project, expected to be worth in excess of $1 billion, the four multi-billion-dollar main

packages on the Liwa plastics scheme, and the Barka and Sohar independent water projects, val-ued at about $500million each, the Meed Projects noted.

Infrastructure,Updates on Oman’s major infra-structure, transport, power, wa-ter, social and tourism projects will be shared at this year’s Oman Projects Forum taking place on October 26 to 28 in Muscat. The forum is under the patronage of D. Ali Massoud Al Sunaidi, minister of commerce and industry. The Oman Projects Forum off ers criti-cal insight into Oman’s $140.6 bil-lion projects pipeline to help del-egates eff ectively penetrate and increase market share in Oman.

Representatives from the Sul-

tanate’s key project owners, devel-opers and contractors will partici-pate in candid discussions sharing critical insight into Oman’s capital expenditure plans and the scale of opportunities across these sectors.

“Whether Oman beats last year’s record for contract awards will largely depend on the award of a handful of major contracts by the end of 2015,” said Ed James, Meed Projects director of content and analysis. “However, with most of them at an advanced stage of tender evaluation, we are hopeful that awards will be made soon.”

Oman has traditionally been a small market by regional stand-ards, with about $8 billion worth of contracts awarded each year. However, the past 18 months have seen a steep change in activity in

the Sultanate as the government looks to proceed with a number of key projects such as the Muscat International Airport, the mod-ernisation of the Sohar refi nery and the planned railway network.

Oil price slumpHowever, in light of the oil price slump, concerns are growing over whether current spending lev-els can be maintained into 2016 and beyond with the government under pressure to cut expendi-ture. “Like most Gulf Coopera-tion Council countries, Oman is reliant on oil income and will be under pressure to cut spending,” added James.

“If it is to maintain a steady fl ow of new projects, then the Sultan-ate may well have to look at new

ways of raising fi nance such PPP-type deals and bond and sukuk is-suances,” he added.

These issues along with the prospects for the current and fu-ture projects market will be dis-cussed at Meed’s Oman Projects Forum, where stakeholders in-cluding Oman Airport Manage-ment Company, Ministry of Man-power Oman, Omran, Oman Air, Ministry of Transport and Com-munications, Sohar Port and Fre-ezone and more will share their plans for 2015 and beyond.

After eight months

of the year, the

Sultanate has

already awarded

more than $11 billion

worth of contracts,

according to a survey

by Meed Projects

Oman fl oats tenders to develop housing project in Liwa areaTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Oman’s Ministry of Housing on Sunday fl oated three separate tenders inviting excel-lent grade contracting fi rms reg-istered with the Tender Board to build single and twin villas in Liwa residential area.

The tenders are fl oated for three diff erent zones — B, C and E — which will consist of several housing units in a newly developed residential area.

The last date for submitting bids is on November 30, and it will be opened on the same day. Oman has been investing heavily on housing units to resolve housing problems of its citizens.

According to recent reports, the Supreme Council for Plan-ning (SCP) is studying setting up of modern residential complexes to deal with the problem of scat-tered housing developments that are posing challenges to municipal bodies. The traditional practice of building houses on land allocated by the Ministry of Housing has led to scattered development causing diffi culties in providing utilities and other services.

Retail sectorThe retail sector is likely to benefi t from a drive by the government to ensure that more planning is put into new housing development, including allied community ser-vices. The new housing scheme,

which will come under the ninth Five Year Plan, will take the form of residential complexes across the governorates that will be easier to serve.

A cluster approach to housing will also open the door to commu-nity-level retail developments to meet the needs of residents. De-mand for such centres is likely to gain momentum as offi cials look to reduce the Ministry of Housing’s waiting list through an organised township policy as part of the new fi ve year plan.

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

HOUSING PLAN

The tenders are fl oated for three diff erent zones - B, C and E - and it will consist of several single and twin villas in a newly developed residential area in Liwa.

Renaissance subsidiary Topaz to buy two modern subsea vessels from VardTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Renaissance Services subsidiary, Topaz Energy and Marine (Topaz), a leading inter-national off shore support vessel company, on Monday announced the acquisition of two modern sub-sea vessels from Vard Brattvaag in Norway at a purchase price of ap-proximately $115 million.

Specifi cally developed for light subsea construction with inter-vention duties, the vessels will be of VARD 3 08 design and are scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of 2017 and the fourth

quarter of 2017. Topaz retains an option for two

more vessels. René Kofod-Olsen, chief ex-

ecutive offi cer of Topaz Energy and Marine, said: “We have con-fi dence in the growth of the Sub-sea sector and accordingly we’re reinvesting in our subsea-capable fl eet with these innovative and fi t-for-purpose vessels. By build-ing in what is a challenging time for the industry we have mini-mised costs, and believe that at the time of delivery the market will have rebalanced suffi ciently to be generating healthy demand.

These highly capable, energy ef-fi cient and cost-eff ective vessels will benefi t Topaz and our global clients immensely.

Global designer“Vard is one of the leading global designers and shipbuilders of high-end off shore supply vessels (OSVs). Their longstanding ship-building traditions, cutting-edge innovation and technology cou-pled with an integrated design house, made us comfortable in en-trusting this project to Vard.”

The DP2 class vessels will have a 120-tonne active heave compen-

sated off shore crane with the ca-pability to reach working depths of 3,000 metres. Subsea equip-ment can be lowered down onto the seabed through a moon pool or over the shipside. In addition, both vessels will be prepared for two Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs), which are deployed via Launch and Recovery Systems (LARS) in the ship’s side.

The vessels will be built accord-ing to the latest Special Purpose Ship (SPS) regulations, with die-sel electric engines and the ability to accommodate up to 82 persons in high standard cabins.

O F F S H O R E V E S S E L S

MAJOR PROJECTS: Updates on Oman’s major infrastructure, transport, power, water, social and tourism projects will be shared at this

year’s Oman Projects Forum taking place on October 26 to 28 in Muscat. – Times fi le picture

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

DELIVERY IN 2017: The two modern subsea vessels will be of VARD 3 08 design and are scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of

2017 and the fourth quarter of 2017. – Supplied picture

Ethiopian entrepreneurs overcome obstacles

ADDIS ABABA: The large open plan offi ce with staff behind sleek computers looks like any newly-started modern business.

But Ethiopia’s fi rst online restau-rant delivery service, Deliver Addis, must contend with major hurdles that would stall many entrepre-neurs in more developed nations.

Setting up any business is a challenge, but in Ethiopia, those range from daily operating head-aches such as on-off Internet — stalling the highly time-sensitive orders on which it depends — to even more fundamental business challenges.

Banking systemAs the country’s banking and pay-ments systems are still in their infancy, electronic payments are impossible, thus creating a huge hurdle for growth. “The Internet goes out a couple of times a week -- when that happens, there is not much we can do but rely on phone lines to take orders,” said Feleg Tsegaye, manager of Deliver Addis.

But he also believes the Horn of Africa nation — the second most populous on the continent — off ers enormous opportunities.

Tsegaye was born and brought up in the United States but moved to Ethiopia, the homeland of his parents, hoping to tap into a still largely untapped but swiftly grow-ing market he believes is one of the most promising on the continent.

“The IT sector is still in its infancy — typically in these markets there is a way to transfer money very quickly and very easily, but here that doesn’t exist quite yet,” he added. “Once you have a way for entrepreneurs to make money through technol-ogy, I think you are going to see that change very quickly.” - AFP

B U R E A U C R A C Y

B4

MARKETM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

MUSCATSECURITIES MARKET

SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27

REGULAR MARKET .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

OM0000001533 ............OMINVEST .................................................................... 2,112,556 ...1,056,278........................9 ........... 0.500 ...........0.500 ...........0.500........... 0.500 .............0.480 ........... 0.020 ............. 4.167 ................0.500..............0.480...................0.506 .................276,430,821 ........0.100

OM0000003125 ............GLOBAL FINANCIAL INVESTMENT ................. 70,000 ............... 7,855........................7 ............0.109 ........... 0.115 ............0.109 ............0.112 ............. 0.110 ............ 0.002 ..............1.818................. 0.111 .............. 0.110................... 0.111 .................. 22,400,000 ........0.100

OM0000002374............UNITED FINANCE ....................................................... 39,159 ................5,181........................5 ............0.130 ........... 0.133 ...........0.130 ........... 0.132 ............. 0.130............ 0.002 ............. 1.538 ................0.133 ..............0.130...................0.133 ...................41,020,972 .........0.100

OM0000002226 ...........AL JAZEERA SERVICES ............................................55,000 ............ 22,670........................8 ............0.412 ........... 0.414 ...........0.412 ........... 0.412 .............0.406 ........... 0.006 ............. 1.478 ................0.412 ..............0.408...................0.412 ................... 25,216,160 .........0.100

OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING ........... 198,510 .............21,645......................18 ............0.110 ........... 0.110............0.109 ........... 0.109 ............. 0.108 ............0.001 ............. 0.926 ................0.109 ..............0.109................... 0.110 .................... 9,810,000 ..........0.100

OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................ 200,992 ........... 32,559........................3 ............0.160 ........... 0.162 ...........0.160 ........... 0.162 ............. 0.161 .............0.001 ............. 0.621 ................0.162 .............. 0.161...................0.167 ..................233,513,280 ........0.100

OM0000003000 ...........ALMAHA PETROLEUM PRODUCTS MAR. ....... 11,500 ............ 22,770........................2 ............1.980 ........... 1.980 ...........1.980 ........... 1.980 ............. 1.970.............0.010 ............. 0.508 ................1.980 ..............1.900...................0.000 .................136,620,000........0.100

OM0000001483 ............NATIONAL BANK OF OMAN .................................. 30,000 ...............8,880........................ 1 ........... 0.296 ........... 0.296 ...........0.296........... 0.296 .............0.295 ............0.001 ............. 0.339 ................0.296............. 0.290...................0.296 .................396,850,234 .......0.100

OM0000001517 ............HSBC BANK OMAN .................................................... 100,000 ............11,400........................2 ............0.114 ........... 0.114............ 0.114 ............0.114 ............. 0.114 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 0.114 .............. 0.110................... 0.114 ..................228,035,658........0.100

OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE ............... 50,000 .............. 8,200........................2 ............0.164 ........... 0.164 ...........0.164 ........... 0.164 ............. 0.164............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.164 .............. 0.162...................0.164 ...................32,800,000 ........0.100

OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 756,924 ..........131,876.....................40 ............0.174 ........... 0.176 ...........0.173 ............0.174 ............. 0.174 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.173 .............. 0.173................... 0.174 ................... 26,113,050 .........0.100

OM0000001962 ............AL MADINA INVESTMENT ....................................117,017 ............... 7,021........................7 ........... 0.060 ...........0.060 ...........0.060........... 0.060 .............0.060 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.060..............0.060...................0.061 ...................12,429,083 .........0.100

OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ..........................62,109 ..........100,870......................15 ............1.625 ........... 1.625 ...........1.620 ............1.625 ............. 1.625 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.620 .............. 1.610...................1.620 ................ 1,218,750,000 ......0.100

OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES ......................................... 7,200 ................1,151........................3 ............0.160 ........... 0.160 ...........0.159 ........... 0.160 ............. 0.160 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.160 ..............0.160...................0.162 ...................46,504,163 .........0.100

OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. .................. 309,314 ........... 29,088......................16 ........... 0.094 ........... 0.095 ...........0.094........... 0.094 .............0.094 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.094..............0.093...................0.094 .................. 27,258,180 .........0.100

OM0000003661 ............VOLTAMP ENERGY ....................................................... 6,214 ...............2,547........................6 ........... 0.406 ........... 0.410 ...........0.406........... 0.410 ............. 0.410............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.410 ..............0.410...................0.432...................24,805,000 ........0.100

OM0000003711 ............SOHAR POWER ............................................................ 516,486.......... 175,809......................13 ........... 0.340 ...........0.342 ...........0.340 .......... 0.340 .............0.340 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.342..............0.342...................0.350...................75,143,400 .........0.100

OM0000001749 ............OMAN CEMENT ............................................................ 19,190 ............... 8,727........................2 ........... 0.454 ........... 0.456 ...........0.454........... 0.454 .............0.456 ...........-0.002 ........... -0.439 ...............0.456 ..............0.456...................0.500 .................150,216,210 ........0.100

OM0000002200 ...........AHLI BANK .................................................................... 201,932 ............39,981........................3 ............0.198 ........... 0.198 ...........0.197 ........... 0.198 ............. 0.199............-0.001 ........... -0.503 ...............0.197 .............. 0.197...................0.198 .................. 282,157,157 ........0.100

OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO......................................................................... 29,774 ............ 22,273........................5 ............0.740 ........... 0.752 ...........0.740 ............0.748 ............. 0.752............-0.004 ........... -0.532 ...............0.752 .............. 0.736...................0.752 ................. 486,906,284 .......0.100

OM0000001087 ............OMAN UNITED INSURANCE .................................15,000 ...............3,450........................ 1 ........... 0.230 ...........0.230 ...........0.230........... 0.230 .............0.232 ...........-0.002 ........... -0.862 ...............0.230..............0.227...................0.232 ..................23,000,000 ........0.100

OM0000003141 ............ACWA POWER BARKA ...............................................23,100 ............ 18,942........................3 ........... 0.820 ...........0.820 ...........0.820........... 0.820 .............0.828 ...........-0.008 ........... -0.966 ...............0.820..............0.820...................0.824 .................131,200,000........0.100

OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES ......................... 105,000 ............10,348......................14 ........... 0.099 ........... 0.099 ...........0.098........... 0.099 .............0.100 ...........-0.001 ........... -1.000 ...............0.098 ..............0.098...................0.099.................... 5,825,478 ..........0.100

OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT .............................................................. 56,217 .............29,221........................5 ........... 0.524 ........... 0.524 ...........0.518 ........... 0.520 .............0.526 ...........-0.006 ............-1.141 ................0.520..............0.520...................0.526.................1,191,747,750 .......0.100

OM0000004768 ...........AL MADINA TAKAFUL .............................................. 26,000 .............. 2,242........................4 ........... 0.087 ........... 0.087 ...........0.086........... 0.086 .............0.087 ...........-0.001 ............-1.149 ................0.087 ..............0.086...................0.087...................15,050,000 .........0.100

OM0000001681 ............OMAN AND EMIRATES INV. HOLDING ............ 82,000 ...............8,286........................6 ............0.101 ........... 0.103 ...........0.101 ............0.101 ............. 0.103............-0.002 ........... -1.942 ...............0.103 .............. 0.101...................0.103 ................... 12,309,375 .........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 5,201,194 ... 1,789,268.................. 200 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ......26........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

PARALLEL MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ................................................................ 290,376 .............17,871..................... 24 ............0.061 ........... 0.062 ...........0.061 ........... 0.062 ............. 0.061.............0.001 ............. 1.639 ................0.062.............. 0.061...................0.062 ..................93,000,000 ........0.100

OM0000001368 ............CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IND. .................... 11,500 ...................391........................ 1 ........... 0.034 ........... 0.034 ...........0.034........... 0.034 .............0.034 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.034..............0.034...................0.035....................2,890,000 ..........0.100

OM0000001566 ............OMAN FISHERIES ...................................................... 30,000 ............... 1,530........................2 ............0.051 ........... 0.051 ...........0.051 ............0.051 ............. 0.051............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.051 .............. 0.051...................0.054 ...................6,375,000 ..........0.100

OM0000005963 ...........PHOENIX POWER ...................................................... 502,822 ........... 74,920..................... 65 ............0.149 ........... 0.149 ...........0.149 ........... 0.149 ............. 0.149............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.149 .............. 0.149...................0.150 .................. 217,927,618 ........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 834,698 ............94,712..................... 92 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ........ 4........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

BONDS MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000004628 ...........BANK SOHAR BONDS 4.5 .............................................1,458 ...................146........................2 ........... 0.100 ........... 0.100 ...........0.100 ........... 0.100 .............0.100 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.100 ..............0.100................... 0.110 .................... 7,150,000 ..........0.100

.............................................SUM: .......................................................................................1,458 ...................146........................2 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. .........1........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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 ........................................5,784.42 ...............5,765.40 ....................5,775.03 ................... 5,765.42 .................... 9.61 ................... 0.17Financial Index .....................................6,914.67 .............. 6,866.88 ................... 6,907.05 ................... 6,867.07 ................. 39.98 ................... 0.58Industrial Index .................................... 7,351.37 .............. 7,348.24 ................... 7,348.53 ...................7,348.24 ....................0.29 ...................0.00Services Index ...................................... 3,229.27 .............. 3,223.94 ...................3,226.25 ...................3,226.22 ....................0.03 ...................0.00MSM SHARIAH INDEX.......................906.81 ..................905.30 ...................... 906.35 ...................... 906.66 .................. -0.31 .................. -0.03

Trading SummaryVolume ................ Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up ............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded6,037,350 .....................1,884,126 .................... 294 ............... 14,540,185,273 .................. 9 ........................9 .................... 13 .........................31

Index rises marginally

MUSCAT: Amid thinly traded volumes, the MSM30 Index closed at 5,775.03 points, up by 0.17 per cent. The MSM Sha-ria Index closed at 906.35 points, down by 0.03 per cent.

Oman International Develop-ment and Investment Company (Ominvest) was the most active in terms of volume as well as turno-ver. Ominvest, up by 4.17 per cent, was the day’s top gainer while Oman & Emirates Holding, down by 1.94 per cent was the top loser.

As many as 294 trades were executed during the trading session generating turnover of OMR1.8 million with over 6 million shares changing hands. Out of 31 traded securities, 9 advanced, nine declined and 13 remained unchanged. Omani investors were net buyers to the tune of OMR46,000 while for-eign investors were net sellers at OMR46,000 followed by GCC and Arab investors.

Financial Index advanced 0.58 per cent to end at 6,907.05 points. Ominvest, Global Financial In-vestment, Bank Nizwa, United Finance and Al Sharqia Invest-ments gained by 4.17 per cent, 1.82 per cent, 1.64 per cent, 1.54 per cent and 0.93 per cent, respec-tively. Oman & Emirates Holding, Al Madina Takaful, Bank Muscat, Gulf Investment Services and Oman United Insurance declined by 1.94 per cent, 1.15 per cent, 1.14 per cent, 1 per cent and 0.86 per cent, respectively.

Industrial Index ended at 7,348.53 points, unchanged from the previous session. Oman Ce-

ment, down by 0.44 per cent, was the only sector mover. Services Index remained fl at at 3,226.25 points. Al Jazeera Services and Al Maha Petroleum gained 1.48 per cent and 0.51 per cent, respec-tively. ACWA Power and Ooredoo declined by 0.97 per cent and 0.53 per cent, respectively.

UAE stocks retreat United Arab Emirates stocks fell amid a slump in trading as mar-kets struggled to gain momentum following a two-day holiday.

With most Middle East stock exchanges still closed, the DFM General Index dropped 0.6 per cent to 3,612.70 at the close. Emaar Properties, the developer of the world’s tallest tower, led the declines with a 0.8 per cent decrease. About 61 million shares changed hands in the emir-ate, the lowest since December 2012, compared with an average of more than 440 million. Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index fell 0.4 per cent as 48 out of 64 shares on the gauge didn’t move.

With so many markets still closed, “I’m not expecting a strong move,” said Sebastien Henin, the head of asset management at The National Investor in Abu Dhabi. Oil prices were able to maintain their levels, so it’s “business as usual” in the region, he said.

Bloomberg’s GCC 200 Index, comprising 200 of the biggest stocks in the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council, has dropped 24 per cent in the past 12 months as the price of oil.

– United Securities/Bloomberg News

Ominvest, up by 4.17 per cent, was the day’s

top gainer while Oman & Emirates Holding,

down by 1.94 per cent, was the top loser

‘Uberisation’ of economies pinching state tax revenuesPARIS: With ‘sharing economy’ services like Uber, Blablacar and Airbnb spreading among consum-ers, state tax collectors risk expe-riencing a revenue pinch as these new collaborative players capture market share from traditional businesses.

The so-called ‘Uberisation’ of commerce is both rising in vol-ume and spreading across an ever-larger number of sectors — rang-ing from apartment, car and power tool sharing to money lending and food services.

Increasingly popular trade di-rectly between individuals is chal-lenging the paradigm of traditional service businesses, and forcing na-

tional tax authorities to scramble for a way to get their piece of the action. “People speak of a digital revolution, but you also have to talk about a fi scal revolution,” said Bernard Lalande, a Socialist sena-tor in France.

Sharing servicesHe is among those who fear that many individuals generating in-come through Internet-based sharing services will not declare them for taxation as required. “It’s very easy with these sites to gen-erate extra income that escapes taxation... and since development of the sharing economy is being encouraged, losses by the state will

increase automatically,” said Vin-cent Drezet, who heads the main labour union at France’s fi nance ministry. Michel Taly, a tax lawyer and former director of fi scal legis-lation at the ministry, agreed, say-ing “the Internet allows the return of the barter economy on a large scale”. “If that leads to entire sec-tors exiting the traditional econo-my, we can really start worrying,” Taly said.

Beyond spreading “Uberisation” of sharing services, tax authorities are even more concerned about the wider booming digital economy, and challenges it presents to en-sure all web merchants contribute their fair share to the public pot.- AFP

T R A D E

Crude slackness aff ects banks in Norway, says Credit SuisseCOPENHAGEN: As Norway falls deeper into an oil-induced slump, its fi nancial watchdog is adjusting rules on how much cap-ital banks must hold to cope with such shocks.

According to Credit Suisse, the changes will mean higher capi-tal requirements for Norwegian banks and fewer rewards for in-vestors, as the Oslo-based Finan-cial Supervisory Authority (FSA) imposes some of Europe’s tough-est standards.

From 2016 onward, Norwe-gian banks will need to anticipate the fallout of stressed economic conditions on their operations, including losses from asset sales and increased funding costs. The adjustment marks an overhaul by the FSA of an eight-year-old framework now deemed out of step with the climate in which banks are operating.

“The FSA’s ambition is to strengthen the capital levels in Norwegian banks,” Jan Wolter, a director at Credit Suisse’s Europe-an banks team, said in an e-mailed response to questions. “We be-lieve the extra capital requirement could dilute long-term returns in the Norwegian banking market.”

Under the new measures, banks will also have to evaluate risks from excessive debt accu-mulation. The government has imposed a 1 per cent counter-cy-

clical buff er, an additional layer of capital imposed when regulators worry credit growth is too fast.

It’s set to rise to 1.5 per cent next year, as offi cials look for ways to deal with growing household debt levels.

Additional rulesThe FSA’s additional rules, which cannot be met using hybrid in-struments, may raise the mini-mum core Tier 1 equity require-ment for Norway’s biggest bank, DNB, to as much as 15.5 per cent of risk-weighted assets, Wolter said. The bank reported a 13 per cent ratio in the second quarter.

While DNB generates enough profi t to be able to meet the higher requirements, the new standards put its dividend policy at risk, ac-cording to Credit Suisse.

“A 50 per cent pay-out ratio already in 2016, as consensus expect, could be too optimistic,” Wolter said. “Rather, we see a 30 per cent pay-out ratio in the next three years as more likely.”

The fallout of lower oil prices has had a huge impact on the economy of Norway, western Europe’s biggest producer. Its central bank unexpectedly cut in-terest rates last week to a record low, and signaled it may ease fur-ther, as a 50 per cent drop in Brent crude over the past year kills jobs.

The FSA published the revi-sions to its 2006 and 2007 frame-work last month. The changes are to the internal risk and capital as-sessments that regulators require banks to conduct.

The agency also revealed its own methods for setting capi-tal needs in excess of minimum global requirements to make the process for determining.

- Bloomberg News

E N E R G Y P R I C E

Under the new

measures, banks will

also have to evaluate

risks from excessive

debt accumulation.

The government has

imposed a 1 per cent

counter-cyclical buffer

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

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMSECTION

E- IMESTECH STUFF

TECH STUFF

BGOOGLE UNDER ANTITRUST SCRUTINY Google is back under US antitrust scrutiny as offi cials ask whether the technology giant stifl ed competitors’ access to its Android mobile-operating system, said two people familiar with the matter. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reached an agreement with the Justice Department to spearhead an investigation of Google’s Android business, the people said. — Bloomberg News

M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

T E C H U P D A T E S

Samsung Electronics targets

expansion in logic chips

Samsung Electronics, the world’s second-biggest chipmaker, wants to get bigger and is targeting an ex-pansion in logic chips as part of its eff ort to add to its leading position in memory. The company intends to sell more chips to other com-panies and won’t put the needs of Samsung divisions ahead of its potential external customers, said Kim Ki Nam, head of the compa-ny’s logic chip business. The South Korea-based chipmaker also is the world’s largest maker of smartphones, leading supplier of TVs and among the top suppliers of liquid-crystal displays and other components. “We believe we have plenty of room to grow,” Kim said. “If you have a fab (plant) to operate it doesn’t matter whether your customer is internal or on the outside. Whoever buys our capacity is the primary customer.” Samsung on Thursday opened a new chip research-and-design centre in Santa Clara, California. The one million square-foot building, close to the headquarters of companies such as Cisco Systems and Intel, is aimed at keeping Samsung competitive with Sili-con Valley companies in its ability to recruit engineering tal-ent, Kim said. Asia’s largest electronics maker has suff ered de-clining sales over the past year and a half as its Galaxy line of mobile phones has lost share to Apple’s iPhone and face low-er-priced competition from Chinese newcomers. — Bloomberg News

iPhones hit stores amid Apple’s growth concerns

Foxconn near deal for control

of Sharp’s key LCD business

Groupon to lay off 1,100 people

Foxconn Technology Group has signed a letter of intent to buy a stake in Sharp’s liquid-crystal dis-play (LCD) business in a deal that would give Foxconn management control as the Japanese electron-ics maker spins off the unit, ac-cording to people familiar with the plan. The companies still need to complete price negotiations and due diligence, and there is no guarantee a fi nal deal will be reached, said the people, who asked not to be identifi ed because the plan hasn’t been announced. Taipei-based Foxconn would get management control under the preliminary terms, though it won’t necessarily hold a majority of equity in the unit, which makes display panels for mobile phones and tablets, they said. Sharp, a supplier to Apple and Xiaomi, is under fi nancial pressure to reach a resolution for the LCD business after years of negotia-tions without result. Sharp said Friday it would miss its fi rst-half profi t forecast, confi rming a Bloomberg News story on Thursday and sending shares down as much as 10 per cent. “We are con-sidering a variety of options for reforming the LCD business and have not entered detailed negotiations with a specifi c company,” said Yoshifumi Seki, a spokesman for Sharp. Chu Wen-min, a Foxconn spokesman, declined to comment. — Bloomberg News

How many iPhones can Apple sell? That’s a question facing Chief Executive Offi cer Tim Cook as the lat-

est batch of handsets began landing in stores worldwide on Friday. The company has hit sales records with each annual release. Yet the newest models, following a hugely popular design overhaul last year, may not match the success of previous re-leases, according to analysts.

From Sydney to San Francisco, some of the Apple faithful waited in lines for more than two weeks to be among the fi rst to receive the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Cook greeted shoppers at the company’s store in Washington.

Before the new iPhones went on sale, demand appeared lower than last year, “Possibly meaningfully so,” said Andy Hargreaves, an analyst at Pacifi c Crest Securities who studied Google search data, shipment times and third-party surveys. Analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein and RBC Capi-tal Markets also raised concerns about iPhone growth. It’s a good problem to have. Since 2013, iPhone sales have increased an average of about 35 per cent each quarter. In October to December last year, Apple sold 74.6 million iPhones — about 34,000 iPhone purchases per hour. Expectations are tempered partly because the gadget is at the point in its two-year design cycle that entails less dramatic changes. In the fi rst year, Apple generally overhauls the device’s hardware, including its look and feel. For the following year’s model, designated with an “s” tacked on to the num-ber, the Cupertino, California-based company makes more subtle im-provements. The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus resemble last year’s versions but sport new features such as 3D Touch, which provides a shortcut for checking mail, taking pictures and other functions when the user presses down on the screen. Apple also added an improved camera and zippier processor.

Upgrade timeThe new models reached stores on Friday in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, France, Germany, the UK, Canada, the US and Puerto Rico.

They will go on sale in more than 130 countries by year-end, accord-ing to Apple. At New York’s fl agship store on Fifth Avenue, Jaime Gon-zalez took two weeks off from work to wait in line for 16 days.

“I never had an iPhone before,” said the 38-year-old truck driver from Corona, Queens. “I see all my friends playing with their iPhones and new devices, and I said, ‘You know what, maybe it’s time for me to upgrade,”’ said Gonzalez, who has been using an HTC handset.

Customers around Asia lined up to be among the fi rst to get their hands on the device. Stores in China — Apple’s largest market outside the US — drew faithful buyers like Wu Kai, who picked up two phones from a packed Apple outlet at Beijing’s Xidan Joycity mall.

“Apple products are becoming family members,” the 17-year-old student said, explaining how he and his parents rely on every Ap-ple product from the Mac Pro to the iPad. “It’s just good product that’s shaping our everyday life.”

Cook has said he expects the world’s second-largest economy to eventually become Apple’s largest market. Greater China accounted for 27 per cent of rev-

enue in the June quarter, more than all of Europe, and remains a swing factor for the company’s iPhone-reliant earnings.

Sydney, BerlinIn San Francisco, a line stretched down the street from the company’s location near Union Square. Hun-dreds also waited outside the store in Palo Alto, California, near the campus of Stanford University. One of the shoppers was a robot con-trolled by a person in San Diego.

In Sydney, hundreds braved heavy rain outside Apple’s city-centre store. Freelance technol-ogy journalist Lindsay Handmer, 32, waited for 18 days in front of the shop to be the fi rst, showering at a local gym and using the toilets at a McDonald’s. He plans to auction his two new phones for a charity that helps the homeless. In Berlin, about 400 people waited under clear skies on the main shopping boulevard Kurfuerstendamm. First in line was Helge Bruhn, a 47-year-old Berliner who had camped outside the Apple store for seven days.

“It’s the atmosphere, and about meeting new friends,” he said, shortly before the shop opened to cheers from the customers.

About 200 people waited out-side Apple’s store on London’s Re-gent Street, then cheered and ap-plauded as the doors opened. First customers sported beaming smiles and gave out high-fi ve’s, hugs and handshakes while pumping their fi st in the air and holding up their purchase proudly. “I’ve queued up for past iPhone launches all around the world — last time it was in New York,” said Moey Shawash, 31, who fl ew in from South Africa to be the fi rst in line. “I am so excited about its new colour, re-engineered model, 3D Touch and camera.”

A heavyweightA smooth release is critical for Ap-ple, which generates more than 60 per cent of its revenue from the phone. Cook is attempting to expand other businesses, but the portion of sales coming from the iPhone con-tinues to grow. The Apple Watch hasn’t become a mainstream suc-cess and iPad sales are in decline.

The iPhone’s weight in Apple’s re-sults has put further investor focus on the device’s performance. The stock through Thursday was down 14 per cent from its high in Febru-ary, in part because of concerns that the device can’t sustain its run of unprecedented growth. The shares were little changed in New York.

Apple last week predicted it would top last year’s opening-weekend sales record of 10 million units, although that fi gure is boosted by availability this year in China, which wasn’t part of the initial roll-out last year. A better gauge for how the device is selling will come in January, when the company reports sales for the holiday quarter.

“The biggest area of interest for investors is the December quarter. The major concern is whether they won’t be able to grow off that very diffi cult comparable to last year,” said Walter Piecyk, an analyst at BTIG in New York, who is predict-ing an eight per cent rise in ship-ments to 80 million. “If you can’t grow the number of phones you’re selling, you’re not going to grow earnings.” — Bloomberg News

Since 2013, iPhone

sales have increased

an average of about

35 per cent each

quarter. In October

to December last

year, Apple sold 74.6

million iPhones —

about 34,000 iPhone

purchases per hour

In the latest sign of the decline of “daily deal” sites, Groupon said on Tuesday that it is laying off 1,100 people worldwide, or nearly 10 per cent of its workforce, and closing operations in six countries. Grou-pon is pulling out of Morocco, Panama, The Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Uruguay as well as Puerto Rico, according to a blog post from the company. “We saw that the investment required to bring our technology, tools and marketplace to every one of our 40(plus)+ countries isn’t commen-surate with the return at this point,” wrote chief operating offi cer Rich Williams. The company also recently pulled out of Greece and Turkey and sold a controlling stake of its India unit to venture capi-tal fi rm Sequoia. The job cuts will come primarily from the inter-national team that helped put together deals and customer ser-vice, according to the blog post. And the restructuring will cost the company. It expects to pay a pre-tax charge of $35 million, which will cover employee severance and compensation costs as well as other costs, according a statement fi led with the Securi-ties and Exchange Commission. The company’s stock fell 2.5 per cent in morning trading on Tuesday to about $4 a share. But its stock has lost half its value so far this year. Groupon was once at the forefront of sites hailed as a revolution for local commerce: They off ered subscribers heavy discounts at businesses and typi-cally took a cut of the deals sold. At fi rst, businesses fl ocked to them and a crowd of similar services cropped up. — Washington Post-Bloomberg News

SLOW DOWNENJOY THE RIDE

New models reached

stores on Friday in New

Zealand, Australia, Japan,

Singapore, China, Hong

Kong, France, Germany,

the UK, Canada, the US

and Puerto Rico. They will

go on sale in more than

130 countries by year-end,

according to Apple

B6 M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

ROUND-UP

Malabar Gold launchesdiamond exchange off er

MUSCAT: Malabar Gold & Dia-monds, the premier jewellery re-tailer, unfurled the details of its exclusive and unique campaign– ‘Diamond Exchange Off er’ giving the customers a golden opportu-nity to upgrade their old diamond jewellery and buy new ones which are certifi ed by IGI.

This 18 days long campaign started from September 23 and will run until October 10. The jew-ellery chain is off ering an oppor-

tunity to exchange and buy new diamond jewellery by giving the highest value on your old diamond jewellery, says a press release.

Exclusive off er‘This is truly an exclusive off er which no other jewellery retailer has provided to customers and I recommend all customers who want to exchange and upgrade their old diamond jewellery to make full use of this opportunity,

said Shamlal Ahamed, managing director – International Opera-tions of Malabar Gold & Diamonds.

Through this special exchange off er, customers can upgrade their old diamond ornaments to new ones which are certifi ed by IGI. You can also be assured of obtain-ing the highest value on your ex-change as a part of the off er. Any diamond ornament can be ex-changed with the classic, trendy and unique designs available at Malabar Gold & Diamonds. The diamond collection at Malabar Gold & Diamonds off er high inter-national standards with highest value on exchange and cash back facility as well.

Customers can buy their favour-ite jewellery by using their credit/debit cards without paying any ad-ditional charge. Also Malabar Gold & Diamonds gives their customers the advantage of converting their jewellery purchase into ‘easy pay-

ment plans’ in association with various banks through which they can enjoy fl exible payment options for up to 12 instalments without paying any interest.

Customers can also browse through the new jewellery assort-ment added in to the most admired exclusive brands in the jewellery segment that includes Ethnix — handcrafted designer jewellery; Era — uncut diamond jewellery; Mine — diamonds unlimited; Di-vine — Indian heritage jewellery; Precia — precious gem jewellery and Starlet — kids jewellery.

Malabar Gold & Diamonds has always diff erentiated itself from other jewellery retailers by of-fering customer friendly policies which are unique like exchange policies and free lifetime mainte-nance service.

Their convenient gold exchange schemes ensure quality service and customer satisfaction.

The jewellery chain is off ering an opportunity

to exchange and buy new diamond jewellery

by giving the highest value on your old

diamond jewellery until October 10

ahlibank announces MyHassad winnersMUSCAT: ahlibank announced the names of the three MyHassad daily prize draw winners.

Ali Hassan Ali Al Lawati from main branch, Asad Abdulla Mo-hammed Al Qasmi from Sohar branch and Fahad Said Ham-dan Al Maqbali from Sohar branch, were the lucky winners of OMR1,000 each for the week, says a press release.

MyHassad savings account continues to successfully satisfy the existing customers and at-tract new ones.

MyHassad Saving Scheme was introduced in July 2008 as an extension of the bank’s tradition of product innovation. Open-ing MyHassad Saving account is simple and easy. Customers need only to open their MyHassad ac-count with OMR100 for their chance to win OMR1,000 in the next working day’s draw hence their chance to “open today and win tomorrow” continues. Fur-ther enhancements in March

2009 allow customers to partici-pate in the OMR10,000 monthly draw, by maintaining a minimum OMR250 during the month.

Eff ective from June 2010 cus-tomers can also transfer their salaries to MyHassad saving ac-count and will be eligible to enter in the daily, monthly draw as per the balance maintained. This highlights the commitment of the bank to its long-term MyHassad account holders.

As one of the leading banks in the Sultanate, ahlibank pledges to provide innovative, effi cient and secure products and services to give their valued customers a convenient banking experience.

Opening an account with ahli-bank is the fi rst step towards smarter and convenient bank-ing services. ahlibank accounts deliver an extensive and com-prehensive range of benefi ts, personal banking services and instant access through Online and SMS Banking.

S A V I N G S S C H E M E

Mars distributes prizes to promo winnersMUSCAT: Mars International, the authentic initiators of Mars hypermarkets and shopping cen-tres, conducted the prize distribu-tion ceremony of their recent mega promotion ‘Mars Money Rain’ at Mars Hypermarket Al Azaiba.

The mega prize winner Ahmed Saleh bin Khalfan Al Rawahi (coupon No: 241526) received OMR10,000. The fi rst prize, OMR5,000 was won by Sudhakar (coupon No: 544053), second prize of OMR2,000 each won by Khalil bin Ibrahim Al balushi (coupon No: 095066) and Sulaiman Ibrahim (coupon No: 918740). The winners of third prize of OMR1,000 for fi ve persons each and fourth prize of 10 numbers of OMR100 were also an-nounced, says a press release.

The gathering witnessed the prize distribution ceremony at-tended by Naveej Vinod, executive director Mars International, and other members of senior manage-ment and staff , in the presence of media and local dignitaries.

“It was a wonderful evening. We got our gifts, more than that we witnessed the celebrations Mars organised here and we all enjoyed it,” said the winners on the occasion.

The venue that was fi lled with the winners and local attendees showed the success of the event.

Mars is organising such promo-tions regularly to give the custom-ers maximum value for money and enable them to win exciting

prizes. With frequent promotions and off ers, Mars is always add-ing value to their loyal customers’ money. Their main attractions are garden fresh vegetables, fresh fi sh and butchery and oven hot bak-ery items with least price. Mars

is known for its concentration on providing the convenience shop-ping experience at most aff ord-able and competitive prices. Their new project in Al Khoud is nearing completion and is expected to re-ceive customers by January 2016.

‘ M A R S M O N E Y R A I N ’

Urology department at Kims now off ers comprehensive careMUSCAT: In line with its mis-sion to provide the highest level of healthcare, Kims Oman Hospi-tal (KOH) off ers full urology care from the newborn to the elderly at its urology department.

Recognised by its highly skilled and experienced doctor, Dr Arun Panackal, Specialist, MD, FCS (Urology), Kims Oman Hospital off ers comprehensive care at its urology department along with surgical urology packages as part of its commitment to off er high-est level of healthcare at aff ord-able costs to all people in Oman, says a press release.

Dr Arun Panackal is highly skilled in endoscopic removal of kidney stones, ureteric stones and bladder stones, transure-thral (endoscopic) surgery for prostate (TURP) and bladder disease (TURBT), female urology (Including stress incontinence), treatment for male infertility, and erectile dysfunction.

“We are extremely proud of

having a highly specialised and experienced urologist like Dr Arun Panackal in our medi-cal team. Having a high degree of specialisation and technical profi ciency, Dr Arun is highly skilled in applying innovative clinical care and treating com-plex urologic problems,” said Dr Hussam Akoum, chief operating offi cer at KOH.

Kims Oman Hospital is commit-ted to providing high quality health care services with care, compas-sion and courtesy to its patients.

H E A L T H C A R E

Suzuki picks 1st winner of Gold Rush off erMUSCAT: Suzuki announced the fi rst winner of the most exciting off er in town — the Suzuki Gold Rush off er.

Mohammed Abdul Rahman Al Kharusi, who purchased a Suzuki Grand Vitara 4WD Deluxe Model, was the fi rst lucky winner of 10 tola gold bar. The draw was held on the Suzuki showroom premises in Wattayah, says a press release.

Suzuki off ers the opportunity to win 100 tola gold in 10 draws of 10 tola each. The excitement is even more if you buy early, said Anil Sethi, general manager of Suzuki.

“The early you buy, the more your chances to win, so why wait. There are 10 draws in total, mean-ing a draw almost every two weeks, throughout the scheme period.

Furthermore, you are absolutely assured of one tola gold with every purchase, which proves an instant delight to our valued customers,” added Anil.

Also on cards are ever attractive prices on the entire Suzuki range, backed with ‘Cash-Gift’ promotion of up to OMR1,500, which also has been the key contributing factor for the huge success of the scheme.

“So hurry! Make the most of the ‘Suzuki Gold Rush off er’ to enjoy the benefi ts of Suzuki’s exciting models, attractive prices, guaran-teed gift of gold, cash-gift and am-ple chances to win 100 tolas of gold in 10 draws,” he added.

Moosa Abdul Rahman Hassan & Co. is the sole distributor of Suzuki vehicles in Oman.

P R O M O T I O N

New orthopaedic specialist joins Badr Al SamaaMUSCAT: Badr Al Samaa healthcare group has announced the joining of Dr Sajjad S., MBBS, D.Ortho, DNB (Ortho) as ortho-paedic surgeon in Badr Al Samaa hospital, Al Khoud.

Dr Sajjad did his graduation and post graduation at govern-ment medical colleges in Kerala, India. After a short stint of ser-vice in government health de-partment, he worked as ortho-paedic surgeon in the private hospital in Kerala, India.

He did his special training in arthroscopy and arthroplasty un-der orthopaedic surgeons of re-pute in Kerala. He has also done training in hip and knee replace-ment at Tartu University Hospi-tal, Estonia, Europe under Prof. Martsen who is a leading replace-ment surgeon of Europe, says a press release.

Since 2007 Dr Sajjad has been doing hip and knee replace-ments, shoulder, sports injury (arthroscopic and open) surger-ies in India. His special interest in trauma cases has yielded good results in complex fractures in-cluding spine and pelvic frac-ture fi xations. His core area of expertise is in the fi eld of sports medicine, foot and ankle surgery, lower limb arthroplasty, complex trauma and arthroscopic surgery.

He has presented various pa-pers at state ortho conferences and has also held public educa-tion programmes. He has attend-ed many talk shows on television channels and published various articles on magazines on topics related to orthopaedics.

The directors Abdul Latheef, V. T. Vinod and P. A. Mohammed expressed their happiness in in-ducting Dr Sajjad to Badr Al Sa-maa group who is an authority in his respective fi eld.

His presence will defi nitely help patients who are in need of hip and knee replacements, shoulder and sports injury (ar-throscopic and open) surgeries. In addition, it will also enhance their Orthopaedic department which is already well known for its excellence.

Orthopaedic department is supported by a team of 18 doctors across their nine medical estab-lishments in the Sultanate. Or-thopaedic department at Badr Al Samaa Hospital, Ruwi is support-ed by a visiting senior consultant for trauma and orthopaedics.

Dr Sajjad is available on all working days from 9am to 5pm.

S U R G E O N

Customers delighted with new Best Cars website

MUSCAT: Online support is vital to your search for a quality used vehicle and Best Cars website does just that. The smartly spruced and updated Best Cars website ‘www.bestcar-soman.com’ is a very convenient way to search for a dream car, says a press release.

“Imagine being able to visit Oman’s largest pre-owned vehi-cles facility sitting at home! Now with the updated Best Cars web-site customers can enjoy these conveniences and more,” said a delighted customer.”

For example, without moving from the desk, a customer can surf for the required vehicle be it a PC, CV, 4WD of any brand. The search is also possible brand-wise, model-wise, model year wise and budget-wise.

Furthermore, if one wants to sell a pre-owned vehicle, an easy form is provided, just fi ll and click on send. Best Cars representative will promptly contact the customer.

The website has been tastefully designed and features a logical, user friendly fl ow which naturally leads the customer to the infor-mation area of choice. Not only is the navigation extremely easy, the site is packed with updated infor-mation — a boon for buyers and sellers, alike.

“Once you decide, it is just a matter of driving down and mak-ing a deal — either to buy or to sell,” was the response from one of the fi rst customers who approached Best Cars through the website.

An added advantage for those who don’t immediately fi nd the car of choice is that once they register their requirements, they will get an alert through mail whenever the right vehicle becomes available.

Best Cars off ers a choice from popular brands including Lexus,

Toyota, Ford, Kia, Daihatsu, to name a few. Models are promi-nently displayed with price and features of every single vehicle —ready for test-drive and sale. Daily new arrivals are updated on the website on which a customer can log in and view all details along with the vehicle’s photograph. Customers can also register their requirement and once the required model arrives, they promptly get the reply mail along with person-alised, courteous services of the sales staff .

“All our cars are fully checked by our trained team of professional technicians, giving customers the confi dence that they are making a good investment. With these added benefi ts, it’s no wonder that more people are turning to Best Cars,” added the spokesperson.

U P D A T E D V E R S I O N

www.bestcarsoman.com has been tastefully designed and

features a logical, user friendly flow which naturally leads

the customer to the information area of choice

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The happiest life is

that which constantly

exercises and educates

what is best in us.

— Hamerton

Executives owe it

to the organisation

and to their fellow

workers not to tolerate

nonperforming

individuals in important

jobs.

— Peter Drucker

NBO customers can benefit from updated Internet banking portal

MUSCAT: National Bank of Oman (NBO) has now redefi ned how its customers use the Internet banking portal to transform their modern banking experience.

The updated portal, which is available in both Arabic and Eng-lish, is designed for an intuitive customer-friendly experience, providing new ways for its custom-ers to interact digitally with the bank through innovative features, to make banking more accessible than ever for NBO’s customers. The extensive content available on the Internet banking platform has been specifi cally designed to help clients apply for products easily and browse the bank’s multitude of services allowing them to ben-efi t from a better understanding of

their own personal fi nances, says a press release.

John Chang, chief retail banking offi cer of NBO, said: “At National Bank of Oman, we put our cus-tomers at the heart of everything we do. With digital channels be-coming increasingly important to our customers, we want to ensure our customers receive the best banking experience and service digitally. As such we are pleased to launch NBO’s updated Internet banking portal in line with this strategy. The feedback we have re-ceived on the design and function-ality of the new portal has been very positive. We can confi dently say that the bank is delivering the best digital banking experience in the Sultanate.”

Customers now have more ca-pability than ever before to make and initiate banking transfers (including international trans-fers) and apply for everyday bank-ing products including accounts, home loans, personal loans and credit cards.

The updated NBO Internet banking portal is seamlessly in-teractive and provides easy access to essential information, such as branch and ATM location. Other key features include the ability to request for e-Statement registra-tion, the ability to protect cheque payment by linking current ac-counts to savings accounts, as well as the chance to repeat or re-do previous transactions with a single click.

Development of

a state-of-the-art

portal is aligned with

bank’s commitment

to deliver customer

service excellence

through technology-

driven innovation

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Bank Muscat launches Tadhamun initiative

MUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the fl ag-ship fi nancial services provider in the Sultanate, in line with its ‘Let’s Do More’ vision and commitment to partnership in social responsi-bility, launched the annual Tad-hamun programme to distribute basic electronic home appliances to social welfare families across the Sultanate.

The CSR initiative launched by the bank in association with the Ministry of Social Development has already benefi ted over 300 families. The initiative is a fi ne ex-ample of the public-private part-nership launched by the bank to support weaker sections of society, says a press release.

In the coming days, the Tadha-

mun programme will continue for benefi ciaries from social welfare families identifi ed by the Ministry of Social Development.

The bank will distribute es-sential electronic home appli-ances, including air-conditioner, refrigerator, deep freezer, cooking range and television, for benefi -ciary families.

Bank Muscat is a pioneer of CSR activities in the banking sector in Oman. Over the years the bank has implemented several initia-tives benefi ting various segments of society. The bank has identifi ed key areas to empower communi-ties, accomplishing the objective of giving back to society through innovative CSR programmes. In its ongoing commitment to deliver

long-term benefi ts to the com-munity, Bank Muscat CSR pro-grammes are focused on key areas, including sports, youth, education and the economically disadvan-taged sections of society.

CommitmentThe Tadhamun programme un-derscores the bank’s commitment to complement the government’s eff orts in social responsibility and thereby strengthen the hands of underprivileged segments in soci-ety. Refl ecting the ‘Let’s Do More’ vision, the bank seizes every avail-able opportunity to channel re-sources for creating sustainable, positive changes in communities by investing in their welfare to equip them for a better life.

The initiative is a fi ne example of the public-

private partnership launched by the bank to

support weaker sections of society

OAB conducts Eid carnival at Avenues MallMUSCAT: Oman Arab Bank (OAB) celebrated this year’s Eid Al Adha with another fun and exciting carnival for all its Has-sad customers and the public at Oman Avenues Mall. Children were involved with many activi-ties and shows at the event, says a press release.

In addition to highlighting the bank’s services, OAB arranged a fun fi lled event that staged a one of a kind ‘science show’ by a Cana-dian company along with various games and prizes for kids.

Hanaa Fahd Al Hinai; assistant

general manager, head of Wealth Management, Liabilities & Ban-cassurance, said: “OAB takes great pride in organising exciting events for the community. This Eid Al

Adha OAB carnival delivers to our customers and the public the per-fect fun and entertaining evening out with family and friends. The carnival has showcased an educa-

tional and thrilling science show along with giving the chance to 10 lucky children to win cash prizes each and open a ‘Hassad’ account to start saving for their future.”

As a new addition to the ‘Has-sad’ draw for this year’s scheme, OAB has introduced a lucky winner of OMR10,000 weekly and a lucky regional winner of OMR20,000 monthly.

OAB is a leading bank in Oman where it owns a wide network of branches consisting of 67 branches and offi ces and 120 ATMs and CDMs.

C E L E B R A T I O N

Bank Sohar weekly draw held at Shinas MUSCAT: Continuing to off er more chances, more winners and more prizes for its customers, Bank Sohar conducted its 24th Al Mumayaz Savings Scheme Weekly Draw at its Shinas branch recently. The draw witnessed A.S.F. of the bank’s Salalah branch win OMR5,000 while the dedi-cated Branch Draw lucky winner of OMR1,000 was Nasser Hilal Al Mamari from Shinas branch.

As part of the bank’s year-long branch-wide tour, the 24th weekly prize draw event was held under the auspices of Sheikh Ali Mohammed Al Balushi, one of Bank Sohar’s VIP customers and was attended by Rashid Saif Al Maskry, Batinah district manag-er and Badriya Sultan Al Jahwari, senior branch manager of Shinas, in addition to other senior staff members and VIP customers.

The event was inaugurated with a welcome speech followed by an overview of the 2015 Al Mumayaz Savings Scheme by Rashid Saif Al Maskry. Following the presentation, the chief guest conducted the draw to identify the names of the two lucky cus-

tomers. The event concluded with the handover of a token of appreciation to Sheikh Ali Mo-hammed Al Balushi on behalf of the bank.

Commenting on the response the bank has received for the Al Mumayaz Savings Scheme 2015, R. Narasimhan, DGM and head of Retail Banking said, “We are committed to providing excel-lence in all our services and fol-lowing best international bank-ing practices whilst seeking out innovative ways to reward our valuable customers. Similar to the previous years, this year’s Al Mumayaz Savings Scheme has been very well received by cus-tomers with many appreciating the signifi cant increase in num-ber of prizes and chances to win.

“On behalf of Bank Sohar, I would like to congratulate A.S.F and Nasser Hilal Al Mamari our lucky winners of last week’s draw. I would also like to wish all our customers the best of luck in the upcoming draws and encourage them to continue saving to in-crease their chances of winning,” added Narasimhan.

A L M U M A Y A Z S A V I N G S S C H E M E

Linen Club opens at Avenues Mall

MUSCAT: Linen Club’s show-room at Oman Avenues Mall was inaugurated recently by Indra Mani Pandey, Indian Ambassador to Oman.

Linen Club, a premium brand of Aditya Birla Group, a multi-billion dollar Indian business conglomerate, is a popular brand in India for the largest collection of linen fabric and also recently launched ready-made garments.

The brand is now being marketed outside India and Al Arifa Fash-ions has opened the fi rst overseas showroom of Linen Club brand in Oman, says a press release.

Linen, the incredible fabric, is the oldest fabric woven on earth. The human civilization reached a pinnacle of achievement when linen was discovered. Linen has a wealth of properties that almost no other natural fabric can boast

of. Linen symbolises a regal el-egance that defi nes the erstwhile royal fabric, once widely worn by the monarchs of the world.

“Browse through our carefully designed collection of linen fab-rics in diff erent colours. Fabrics include Pure linen; linen rich blends with cotton, silk, wool, rayon, lyocell and a lot more —something for every style, taste and budget.

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Hamilton equals Senna’s tally

SUZUKA: Lewis Hamilton won the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday to equal the late Ayrton Senna’s tally of 41 Formula One victories and move 48 points clear of Mercedes team mate Nico Ros-berg with fi ve races remaining.

On a sunny afternoon at Suzuka, in marked contrast to the dark and tragic 2014 race that he also won, the double world champion seized the lead from pole-sitter Rosberg at the start and never looked back.

The win was the Briton’s eighth of the season, with Rosberg anchor-ing the eighth one-two fi nish for dominant Mercedes as the champi-ons returned to form after a myste-rious dip in Singapore last weekend.

“For me to come here to a race where I used to love watching Ay-rton drive, to match his wins... I can’t really describe it. It doesn’t feel real at the moment,” said Hamilton after saluting the fans from the podium.

Rosberg took the chequered fl ag 18.9 seconds behind Hamilton with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, the winner in Singapore, fi nish-ing third in an exact repeat of last year’s top three at Suzuka.

Hamilton now has 277 points to Rosberg’s 229 with Vettel drop-ping back on 218 but refusing to give up his championship hopes until mathematically ruled out.

“It’s not done until it’s done. So, the chance is there — and what kind of racing driver would I be if I stopped believing?,” said the German. “You have to keep believing otherwise I guess it’s pointless trying to fi ght.”

Mercedes, who have now won 11 of 14 races, moved a step closer to retaining their constructors’ title with 506 points to Ferrari’s 337.

If last year’s post-race ceremo-nies were muted in the aftermath of the late Jules Bianchi’s horrifi c and ultimately fatal accident, only a brief microphone failure pre-vented Hamilton from expressing his joy on the podium this time.

“I am so happy right now,” he said, before Vettel poured cham-pagne over his rival’s head. “The team did a fantastic job this week-

end, it’s great to be back up here as a team with a one-two. The car was beautiful to drive today.”

Rosberg had gone into the fi rst two corners side by side with Ham-ilton but was forced wide to avoid a collision and dropped to fourth as Hamilton made his getaway.

“Lewis just got a better start, fair play and it was a good battle into turn two,” said the German. “He had the inside and just made it stick and that was the end of it there. Then it was great to fi ght to second place. “Second was the best possible after that so I’m happy with the fi ghtback.”

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was fourth with fellow-Finn Valtteri Bottas fi fth for Williams, whose other driver Felipe Massa was in-volved in a fi rst-lap collision.

That incident left both Massa and Ricciardo, who was overly op-timistic in going for a gap between the Brazilian and Raikkonen, limp-ing back to the pits with punctures.

“I haven’t seen the footage and don’t want to put the blame on any-one so we’ll call it a racing incident for now,” said Ricciardo.

Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg was sixth for Force India, with the Lotus duo of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado seventh and eighth in a boost for the fi nancial-ly-troubled team.

Dutch hotshot Max Verstap-pen who turns 18 next week com-pleted his last race as a 17-year-old in the points, taking ninth place for Toro Rosso ahead of Spanish team mate Carlos Sainz. There was disappointment and dismay for McLaren at engine partner Honda’s home track, with Spaniard Fernan-do Alonso making his feelings pain-fully clear for the Japanese manu-facturer on the way to 11th place.

“I am getting passed down the straight like a GP2 (car),” he ex-claimed angrily. “This is embar-rassing, very embarrassing.”

The double world champion re-turned to the theme later as Verstap-pen passed without problem to drop him out of the points: “GP2 engine, GP2 engine,” he exclaimed. - Reuters

On a sunny afternoon at Suzuka, in marked

contrast to the dark and tragic 2014 race

that he also won, the double world champion

seized the lead from pole-sitter Rosberg at the

start and never looked back

For me to come here to a race where I used to love

watching Ayrton drive, to match his wins... I can’t

really describe it. It doesn’t feel real at the moment

Lewis HamiltonMercedes

ROCKET ON THE ROAD

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Li Na thrills fans at Wuhan stadium openingWUHAN: China’s two-time Grand Slam winner Li Na opened a new 15,000-seat stadium at the Wuhan Open in central China Sunday to huge cheers from her hometown fans.

The new stadium has been built on the back of Li’s career success — she was the fi rst Asian to win a Grand Slam singles — that saw the popularity of tennis surge in Chi-na. Huge applause echoed through the stadium as Li, now retired, stepped onto the court wearing a red dress and was joined by the tournament’s defending champi-on Petra Kvitova to open the new stadium offi cially.

Similar in capacity to Wim-bledon’s centre court, the new stadium is dwarfed only by the US Open’s Arthur Ashe stadium which has a capacity of 23,000. It has a retractable roof and a metal and glass structure reminiscent of the iconic “bird’s nest” stadium in Beijing, the centrepiece of the 2008 Olympics.

Czech Kvitova, the world num-ber four, won the inaugural Wom-en’s Tennis Association (WTA) Wuhan Open last year, and is

joined for the 2015 edition by 18 of the world’s top 20.

“I am very happy to be here again and the stadium looks won-derful and I will try my best to fi ght for the title,” Kvitova said.

She added that Li, who was a

close friend when they were both on the circuit, has promised to let her meet her new daughter Alisa, who was born in June. Mention of the baby’s name prompted more excited applause from the crowd.

Li, who has rarely appeared in

public since retiring and giving birth, said: “One year ago, I came here for the farewell ceremony, now one year later, I’m standing on this court as mother.”

During her career, Li famously opted out of China’s state sports system and has previously been accused of a lack of patriotism during a sometimes rocky rela-tionship with domestic press.

But in her home city of Wuhan she is a local hero and has been in-fl uential in the WTA tour’s growth in Asia.

Li now has plans to open her own tennis academy. “Now it’s under preparation, so please be patient,” she told the crowd.

The WTA fi rst opened an of-fi ce in Beijing in 2008, when there were only two events in mainland China.

This year there were 10 profes-sional women’s tournaments in China, and 23 in the Asia Pacifi c region, nearly half of the WTA’s 55 annual events.

The Wuhan Open with a $2.4 million purse, is the penultimate qualifying tournament before the WTA Finals in Singapore. - AFP

T E N N I S

ALL SMILES: Former Chinese star Li Na, left, smiles as she talks

to Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic during the opening cer-

emony at the Wuhan Open tennis tournament. – Reuters

Kipchoge ‘shoes’ in but misses record in BerlinBERLIN: Eliud Kipchoge failed in his bid to set a third straight world record at the Berlin mara-thon on Sunday after winning in an offi cial time of two hours, four minutes.

Kenya’s Kipchoge had targeted compatriot Dennis Kimetto’s world record of 2:02:57 set in Ger-many’s capital last year, which in turn had bettered Wilson Kip-sang’s previous record of 2:03:23 from 2013.

It was not to be for Kipchoge, this year’s London marathon winner, who was hampered by a shoe problem early on, but still went on to run the world’s fast-est marathon time this year and a personal best. “At some point, the insole came out of my shoe, but I had no time to sort it out and it made things hard as it gave me some pain,” explained Kipchoge.

“It wasn’t pleasant on impact with the ground during the race.

“I am happy to have run my per-sonal best, but I had wanted to run the world record. I will come back to try again next year.”

Kenya’s Eliud Kiptanui was second at one minute, 21 seconds back and Ethiopia’s Feyisa Lilesa took third at 2:57.

Having fi nished second in Ber-lin in 2013 behind Kipsang, the 30-year-old Kipchoge has now added Berlin to his marathon vic-tories in Hamburg, Rotterdam, Chicago and London.

Kipchoge has turned himself

into a long-distance expert having won the 5,000m title at the 2003 world athletics championships in Paris, then earned an Olympic bronze over the distance in 2004.

The lead group of elite run-ners in Berlin passed through the halfway point at 61:53 minutes — down on the world-record pace of 61:30 they had hoped for.

Kipchoge took charge at the 32 kilometre stage, leaving training partner Emmanuel Mutai, who

fi nished second here in 2014, and Lilesa trailing 30 metres behind him. The winner passed under Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate in Kimetto’s winning time from last year, several hundred metres short of the fi nish line.

After a Kenya one-two in the men’s race, compatriot Gladys Cherono took the women’s title in 2:12.25 ahead of Ethiopia’s Aberu Kebede at 1:23 back, and Meseret Hailu, at 5:08. - AFP

M A R A T H O N

SHOE TROUBLE: The insoles of Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge’s running shoes are seen slipping up to his

ankles, after he crosses the fi nish line to win the men’s 42nd Berlin marathon, in Germany. – Reuters

THE WINNERS: Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge and Gladys Cherono,

right, celebrate during the victory ceremony after winning the

men’s and women’s 42nd Berlin marathon in Germany. – Reuters

Victorious Lorenzo closes gap on Rossi

ALCANIZ: Spain’s Jorge Lorenzo won his third race on home soil this season at the Aragon Grand Prix to cut the gap on Yahama teammate Valentino Rossi in the fi ght for the world championship to just 14 points.

Rossi fi nished third as he failed to get passed Honda’s Dani Pedro-sa despite a series of attempts.

However, defending world champion Marc Marquez’s hopes of a third consecutive title are all but over as he crashed out on the second lap.

For Marquez to clinch the title he would have to win each of the last four races, and Rossi and Lor-enzo to hit a run of poor form.

Marquez started on pole at his self-confessed favourite race afer setting a blistering new track re-cord in qualifying. However, he had already been overtaken by Lorenzo by the time he pushed too hard on the second lap and was un-able to get his bike going again af-ter running into the gravel.

“As always I made a good start, so my strategy was to ride at the maximum,” said Lorenzo.

“I think it worked well because Marquez was at the limit to try and follow me. On the second lap I think he recovered some of the gap, but I didn’t expect him to crash.

“When I saw that he had crashed I could breathe more deeply. Any-way I had Dani at between 2.7 and three seconds, but I couldn’t open a bigger gap. I really needed to push all the race to keep this distance.”

Lorenzo was then allowed to ride easily to his sixth win of the season with the real action tak-ing place behind him as Pedrosa bravely held off Rossi.

The Italian passed Pedrosa on fi ve occasions, but each time the

Spaniard was able to respond im-mediately to prevent Rossi picking up an vital extra four points in the title race.

“It was really hard to focus on keeping the lap time but also clos-ing the door because Vale was fast-er on many corners,” said Pedrosa.

“I tried to fi ght, I tried to stay in front because I knew that was the key fi nish second. In the end, it was a good battle because I don’t know how many times we overtook each other but it was nice to race to the end and fi nish second today.”

Nine-time world champion Rossi hasn’t won a world title

since 2009 and he was left to la-ment what could be an important four points lost come the fi nal Grand Prix of the season in Valen-cia in November.

“I tried everything, but unfor-tunately Dani was able to over-take me in the next corner. After I would try another time but he was always able to come back,” said Rossi. “I knew it was diffi cult to beat Dani because he had very good pace, but I tried and I am not very happy because I needed that four points more for the second place. Today was not possible, but anyway it was a good result.” - AFP

Defending world

champion Marc

Marquez’s hopes of

a third consecutive

title are all but over

as he crashed out

on the second lap

ECSTATIC: Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo of Spain holds his

trophy after winning the Aragon Motorcycling Grand Prix at Motor-

land race track in Alcaniz, northern Spain. – Reuters

C3

SPORTSM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

Frank ‘Typhoon’ Tyson is no moreLONDON: Former England fast bowler Frank Tyson has died at the age of 85, his former county Northamptonshire announced on Sunday. Northamptonshire an-nounced the news on their web-site, stating that Tyson has passed away in hospital in Australia — where he emigrated after retiring — following a period of ill health.

Nicknamed ‘Typhoon’ due to his ferocious pace, Tyson notably picked up 28 wickets in fi ve Tests during the 1954-55 Ashes series in Australia, which England won 3-1.

“Northants Cricket off ers sin-cere condolences to Frank’s fam-ily and friends at this sad time,” Northamptonshire said.

Born in Lancashire, Tyson played 170 matches for Northamp-tonshire, claiming 525 wickets at an average of 20.94, and took 76 wickets in 17 Tests for his country.

His 28-wicket haul in the 1954-55 Ashes included 10 wickets in the second Test in Sydney, as well as seven for 27 in Australia’s sec-ond innings in Melbourne.

After retiring due to injury at the age of 30, Tyson moved to Austral-ia and became a school headmas-ter, whilst also working as a coach, commentator, journalist and writ-er. “Frank ‘Typhoon’ Tyson will

forever be remembered as a great of English cricket,” said Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland in a statement.

“Throughout his career he struck fear into the hearts of bats-men around the globe.

“But once his playing days were over he chose to settle here in Aus-tralia, the country where he had become a household name.

“Over many years he became a much-loved and greatly admired member of the Australian cricket community where he coached and mentored countless players in Vic-toria and Queensland.

“He also made a wonderful con-tribution to the coverage of the game in Australia as a broadcaster and cricket writer.

“Cricket Australia mourns his loss and extends its deepest sym-pathies to his wife Ursula, family and friends at this sad time.”

England Cricket tweeted: “Very sad to hear of the passing of England and @NorthantsC-CC paceman Frank Tyson. RIP Typhoon Tyson.”

Lord’s Cricket Ground also ex-pressed its condolences, writing on Twitter: “Sad to hear that former @englandcricket bowler Frank Tyson has passed away.” - AFP

E N D O F A N E R A

Australia to seek security assurancesSYDNEY: Cricket Australia said on Sunday it would seek assur-ances from its Bangladesh coun-terpart before proceeding with the team’s October tour, amid government fears that “militants may be planning to target Austral-ian interests”.

CA chief executive James Sutherland late Saturday an-nounced that the team’s departure from Sydney on Monday would be delayed after the Department of Foreign Aff airs (DFAT) told him there was a potential security risk to Australians.

CA’s head of security was en route to Dhaka to get some “un-dertakings and understandings of what the situation is there in Bangladesh before we make fur-ther decisions,” Sutherland told

reporters in Brisbane on Sunday.“This is obviously coming very

suddenly and we have needed to make this response,” Sutherland added. “Our preferred position is to continue with the tour but the safety and security of our players and staff is the absolute priority and the fi rst priority for us is to secure that.”

Bangladesh Home Minister As-aduzzaman Khan rejected any se-curity threat as “groundless” and said he was hopeful of the tour go-ing ahead.

“Our country is now secure and there is no scope for rise of any militant outfi ts. So their report about a security concern in our country is groundless,” the minis-ter told reporters in Dhaka.

“We do not have any risk and

security problems for local and international matches played in our country,” he said.

Bangladesh prides itself on be-ing a mainly moderate Muslim country. But the gruesome kill-ings of a series of atheist bloggers this year rocked the country and sparked a crackdown on local hardline Islamist groups.

Sutherland said the meetings in Bangladesh would start on Mon-day and stretch over a few days.

“We will then make a judge-ment on what the likely scenario, in terms of the team’s departure or not is, and then make decisions from there,” he said.

DFAT said it updated the travel advice for Bangladesh on Friday to state that “militants may be planning to target Australian in-

terests in Bangladesh”.“DFAT is aware of Cricket Aus-

tralia’s decision to delay the de-parture of the Australian tour to Bangladesh,” the government said in a statement Sunday.

“We remain in close contact with Cricket Australia and Bang-ladesh authorities on this matter.”

The updated travel advisory also said: “Australian offi cials in Bangladesh have been advised to limit their movements in public places.”

Bangladesh are due to host Aus-tralia for the fi rst Test from Octo-ber 9-13 in Chittagong and the sec-ond from October 17-21 in Dhaka. The Australians were originally scheduled to play a three-day warm-up match in Fatullah begin-ning on October 3. - AFP

T O U R O F B A N G L A D E S H

India A in commandBANGALORE: India A took command of their unoffi cial three-day game against Bangla-desh A by scoring 161/1 in their fi rst innings after dismissing the visitors for 228 on the opening day here on Sunday.

Leading the Indian charge was skipper Shikhar Dhawan who marked his return from an injury-induced break with a blistering unbeaten century (116 not out) as he dominated a fi rst wicket stand of 153 with Abhinav Mukund (34).

Earlier, batting fi rst, Bangla-desh did well to recover from 6/4 to post 228, thanks in the main to an unbeaten century by Shabbir

Rahman (122 not out) as he put on 132 runs for the sixth wicket with Shuvagata Hom (62) to res-cue the side. The visitors were rattled by some hostile bowing by paceman Varun Aaron (4 for 45) who made early inroads while off -spinner Jayant Yadav (4 for 28) sliced through the lower-or-der to put the home team on top.

Brief scores: Bangladesh A (1st innings): 228 all out in 52.5 overs (Shabbir Rahman 122 not out, Nasir Hossain 32, Shuvagata Hom 62, Varun Aaron 4/45, Jay-ant Yadav 4/28) vs India A (1st in-nings): 161/1 in 33 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 116 not out, Abhinav Mukund 34).

C R I C K E T

FINE KNOCK: India A batsman Shikhar Dhawan celebrates his un-

beaten century on Day One of the three-day match against Bangla-

desh A at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. – PTI

Wasim stars as Pakistan snatch exciting victory

HARARE: Left-armer Imad Wasim took four wickets to spin Pakistan to a 13-run victory over Zimbabwe in the fi rst of two Twenty20 internationals at Ha-rare Sports Club on Sunday.

Although Zimbabwe put in a disciplined performance with the ball after losing the toss and restricted Pakistan to 136 for eight, they were unable to contend with Wasim’s bowling on a slow pitch and crumbled to 123 for nine in reply.

The 26-year-old Wasim fi n-ished with fi gures of 4 for 11 from four overs, and was named man of the match having also contributed 19 runs from just 12 balls.

“Everything I touched turned

into gold today,” Wasim said. “I tried to bowl wicket-to-wicket and the basics paid off .”

Such a comfortable victory was not always on the cards for Paki-stan, who slumped to 29 for three early in their innings as seamer Chamu Chibhabha grabbed three wickets in six deliveries.

Their recovery was led by Shoaib Malik, who scored 35 from just 24 balls before he was bowled by a skiddy Sean Williams deliv-ery, and was fi nished off by Mo-hammad Rizwan’s unbeaten 33.

Chibhabha fi nished with fi g-ures of 3 for 18 from three overs, and also took an outstanding catch in the outfi eld to dismiss Pa-kistan captain Shahid Afridi late in the innings.

That helped Zimbabwe prevent the onslaught at the death that their bowlers have been vulner-able to this year, but they lost in-form Chibhabha to Wasim in the

fi rst over of their reply.Hamilton Masakadza’s steady

25 kept the hosts in the game as they headed towards the halfway stage of their chase, before Wasim returned to take a wicket in each of his remaining three overs and leave Zimbabwe’s lower order with too much to do.

Captain Elton Chigumbura’s 31 took the match into the last over with Zimbabwe needing 16 to win with two wickets in hand, but deb-utant Imran Khan held his nerve to secure the win for Pakistan.

“We just lost too many wickets at the end,” Chigumbura refl ected.

“The wicket was a bit slow and diffi cult, but requiring six runs an over, it was good enough to bat on.

“We have come close on many occasions but we keep on losing.”

The second T20 international takes place at the same venue on Tuesday, and will be followed by three One-day Internationals. - AFP

Although Zimbabwe

put in a disciplined

performance

with the ball after

losing the toss and

restricted Pakistan

to 136 for eight,

they were unable

to contend with

Wasim’s bowling

on a slow pitch and

crumbled to 123

for nine in reply

PAKISTANA. Shehzad b Chibhabha 17M. Ahmed c Masakadza b Chibhabha 4S. Maqsood b Chibhabha 6S. Malik b Williams 35U. Akmal c Masakadza b Cremer 14M. Rizwan not out 33I. Wasim c Ervine b Jongwe 19S. Afridi c Chibhabha b Panyangara 2Wahab Riaz run out 0Extras (2-lb, 3-w, 1-nb) 6Total (8 wkts, 20 overs) 136Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-25, 3-29, 4-71, 5-87, 6-133, 7-136, 8-136Did not bat: Imran Khan, Sohail Tanvir.Bowling: Utseya 4-0-32-0, Chibhabha 3-0-18-3, Panyangara 2-0-8-1, Jongwe 2-0-9-1, Cremer 4-0-21-1, Williams 4-0-34-1, Sikandar Raza 1-0-12-0.

ZIMBABWEH. Masakadza c Mukhtar b Wasim 25C. Chibhabha b Imad Wasim 0C. Ervine lbw b Sohail Tanvir 11Sikandar Raza lbw b Imad Wasim 13S. Williams lbw b Imad Wasim 14E. Chigumbura run out 31R. Mutumbami run out 9L. Jongwe run out 2G. Cremer c Afridi b Wahab Riaz 0P. Utseya not out 12T. Panyangara not out 1Extras (2-lb, 3-w) 5Total (9 wkts, 20 overs) 123Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-27, 3-49, 4-60, 5-66, 6-77, 7-90, 8-90, 9-121.Bowling: Imad Wasim 4-0-11-4, Sohail Tanvir 4-0-24-1, Wahab Riaz 4-0-27-1, Imran Khan 4-0-29-0, Shahid Afridi 3-0-23-0, Shoaib Malik 1-0-7-0.Toss: PakistanUmpires: J. Matibiri and Russell Tiffi nTV umpire: Langton Rusere (ZIM)Match referee: David Jukes (ENG)Result: Pakistan won by 13 runs.Series: Pakistan lead the two-match series 1-0.

S C O R E B O A R D

MAN OF THE MATCH: Pakistan bowler Imad Wasim celebrates

after claiming a wicket. – AFP

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SPORTSM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

Renshi Kumar gets Dan V gradingMUSCAT: After years of hard work and dedication, Muscat-based Renshi Kumar was awarded the DAN V (Black belt V certifi ca-tion) by the Isshinryu World Kara-te Association of Okinawa, Japan.

Kumar received the award from Grandmaster Kichiro Shimabuku who heads the Isshinryu World Karate Association.

Kumar represented Bodhidhar-ma Martial Arts Academy, which is currently situated at White Rose Institute in Ruwi.

After receiving the Dan V status, a delighted Kumar said: “I dedicate this achievement to the students of Bodhidharma Martial Arts Academy Muscat and their par-ents. Their encouragement and support has been phenomenal.”

“I wish to pass the advanced concepts to my beloved students of Muscat Branch and wish to see them scale greater heights.”

Kumar’s quest for DAN V com-menced fi ve years ago, to be pre-cise in the middle of 2010.

“Dedication, practice and focus are the three vital elements need-ed to succeed,” said Renshi.

Renshi departed for Okinawa at the end of July this year where he qualifi ed for the fi nal assess-ment after four weeks of rigorous training.

The training comprised 11 hours of hard practice on daily ba-sis — six hours in the morning and

fi ve in the evening — and it also in-cluded 10kms of jogging followed by ‘kata’ practice and an hour’s practice of sparring.

After successfully completing the training and impressing the judges during the fi nal assess-ment to gain DAN V status, Ku-

mar said: “Getting trained by the Grand Master himself and even-tually receiving the honours from him is a dream come true.”

Kumar also owns a world re-cord in ‘Breaking 4,000 tiles at a stretch’, which is certifi ed by Lim-ca Book of Records.

K A R A T E

Assarain CT celebrate with A Division trophy

MUSCAT: Assarain Cricket Team celebrated with the A Divi-sion trophy after being presented with the prestigious cup during the annual Oman Cricket Awards Gala recently.

During a ceremony organised at their offi ce, the team manager

Vinu Mathew presented the tro-phy to Managing Director Ibra-him Said Al Wahaibi.

It may be mentioned that As-sarain team emerged the cham-pions of A Division last season for their second consecutive title triumph.

C R I C K E T

MUSCAT: As part of the their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme, Bank Nizwa honoured young Omani swim-mer Ka’ab Al Riyami from the Wilayat of Nizwa, after he helped Oman’s National Team secure second place in the U-10 4x50 meter freestyle relay during the 25th GCC Swimming Champion-ships in Qatar recently.

The nine-year-old silver med-allist is a member of the Junior Centre for Swimming in Nizwa, which is sponsored by the Bank.

“Bank Nizwa believes in nur-turing the skills of gifted young people and boosting their moti-vation to excel in sports, educa-tion and other disciplines,” said Dr. Ashraf Nabhan Al Nabhani, General Manager Corporate Sup-port at Bank Nizwa.

“Ka’ab is one of many success stories that promise to inspire other talented children to repre-sent Oman in regional and inter-national sporting events as role models of hard work and strong contributors to society.”

C S R P R O G R A M M E

TEAM ICC CLINCH TERMINATOR CRICKET TITLETeam ICC got the better of Salalah Royals to win the top honours at the Terminator cricket tournament. In the fi nal match,

played at Al Saada ground Salalah last Friday, ICC won the toss and elected bowl fi rst. They restricted Salalah Royals to 55 for

eight wickets in 12 overs. Sunil took three for 16. Team ICC chased the target in 10.5 overs for the loss of four wickets thanks to

an unbeaten 26 by captain Mrijesh. — Supplied photo

Blatter and Platini risk suspension amid probe

GENEVA: The future of embat-tled FIFA President Sepp Blat-ter and his heir-apparent Michel Platini was in play on Sunday, as they faced scrutiny by the football world body’s Ethics Committee that could end with suspension.

Committee spokesman Andreas Bantel said he could not comment on individual cases, and refused to confi rm reports that the commit-tee had opened a probe against the two most powerful men in football.

But he emphasised that “if there is an initial suspicion, the Investigatory Chamber of the Eth-ics Committee initiates a formal proceedings.”

“These rules apply to all people

in football regardless of their posi-tion or name,” he wrote in an email.

And there is plenty of suspicion to go around with the ethics commit-tee due to meet in the coming days.

In a dramatic escalation of the corruption scandal engulfi ng world football since May, Swiss investigators swept into FIFA’s headquarters on Friday as they turned their attention to Blatter and Platini.

Authorities said a criminal investigation had been opened against Blatter on suspicion of criminal mismanagement, while UEFA chief Platini, who was fa-vourite to win an election to fi nd a successor to Blatter, had come un-

der scrutiny over a murky multi-million-dollar payment.

Swiss prosecutors said Friday that Blatter was being investigated over the 2005 sale of World Cup television rights to the Caribbean Football Union, then run by his for-mer ally Jack Warner, a deal which had been “unfavourable for FIFA”.

Suspended within days?Blatter, who has denied any wrongdoing, was also suspected of making a “disloyal payment” of two million dollars to Platini in February 2011 allegedly made for work the Frenchman carried out for FIFA between 1999 and 2002.

The UEFA chief defended the payment as compensation for work he conducted under contract with FIFA, but did not explain why it arrived nearly a decade after he completed the work.

Friday’s stunning development came after months of probes fol-lowing raids in Zurich which led to the indictment of more than a dozen top offi cials. The FIFA eth-ics committee moved quicker back then, waiting barely 24 hours to suspend the offi cials snapped up in the May 27 dawn raid.

Media was awash Sunday with

speculation over how long 79-ye-aer-old Blatter could hold on, and if Platini, his 60-year-old former ally, still had a chance to take his place.

“If Blatter does not step down himself, he will be suspended within days,” the Sonntags Zeitung weekly wrote, citing an inside source.

The Sonntags Blick weekly meanwhile said Blatter could step down as early as Sunday. A for-mer FIFA insider, who requested anonymity, however stressed that a probe by the Ethics Committee did not necessarily mean Blatter would face suspension.

“It is not automatic, neither for him, nor Platini,” he said.

If Platini is suspended he could be barred from standing in the Feb-ruary 26 election to succeed Blatter.

If Blatter were to be suspended, meanwhile, he would likely be forced to step down before the February vote, bringing a rapid and ignomious end to his 17-year FIFA reign. He was re-elected to a fi fth term at FIFA’s Congress in May in Zurich but then announced on June 4 that he would stand down in February.

If Blatter leaves, Cameroon’s FIFA vice-president Issa Hayatou would temporarily take over. - AFP

FIFA Ethics Committee spokesman Andreas

Bantel said he could not comment on

individual cases, and refused to confi rm

reports that the committee had opened a probe

against the two most powerful men in football

Bank Nizwa fetes Omani swimmer

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Oman Optimist sailing squad head to Algeria

MUSCAT: Oman Sail’s six strong optimist youth squad is heading to Oran, Algeria to compete in the International Optimist Dinghy Associations Optimist African Championships 2015 where they will face 70 other sailors from 10 nations. With two members of the team reaching 15, the upper age limit for IODA Optimist rac-ing, and graduating to Laser 4.7, this race will see the introduc-tion of Ghassan Al Hosni, aged 10, and Mohammed Al Qasmi, 11, to the squad.

Al Hosni and Al Qasmi will join other members of the Oman-tel’s Youth Programme, which is co-sponsored by Oman Shipping Company, Zakariya Al Wahaibi, Samiha Al Riyami, Almotasem Al Farsi and Marwan Al Jabri who are all now seasoned Optimist campaigners after spending up to three years in the class.

After the squad’s success in 2014, where Al Jabri achieved 24th in the fl eet racing competi-tion and Oman beat 12 other na-tional teams from across Africa, Asia and Europe to come second in the team racing event, hopes are high that results in 2015 will be even better.

“Both Zakariya and Marwan are reaching the upper age limit so this will be one of their last events before they embark on diff erent sailing classes that are appropriate for their age. We see this as an op-

portunity for our new young talent to take on the mantle,” Rashid Al Kindi, Oman Sail’s National Youth Team Manager, said.

“Last year we were second in the team racing so now we would

like to at least repeat that and also improve on our fl eet racing perfor-mances. We are quite confi dent we can do that but our focus must also be on giving our new youngsters Ghassan and Mohammed some

exposure to international compe-tition since they will be our main protagonists in 2016.”

Pre-race campThe squad will arrive in Oran, a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, four days before the champion-ships start for a training camp to acclimatise them to the condi-tions. Each day, they can expect a sea breeze to kick in giving them between 15 and 20 knots of wind and up to 30 degrees heat.

“They have not sailed in Alge-ria before so they will be able to get used to Mediterranean condi-tions,” Abdulaziz Al Shidi, Oman’s Optimist national coach, said.

“This training will be valu-able because they will have to sail against the best sailors from the other countries. We are confi dent because our team has been com-peting since 2012 and we improve every year.”

Racing in the 2015 Optimist Af-rican Championships will start on October 2 following a practice race on Thursday with the fi nals sched-uled for October 7.

A six-member

optimist youth squad

will be competing

with 70 other sailors

from ten nations

while hoping to better

Oman’s second place

fi nish in 2014

GEARING UP: Some of Oman’s Optimist fl eet in action at a recent racing event. – Supplied photo

Last year we were

second in the team

racing so now we would

like to at least repeat

that and also improve

on our fleet racing

performances

Rashid Al KindiOman Sail’s Youth Team Manager

TELY BOYS CLINCH TOP HONOURS AT OASIS CLUB BOX CRICKET TOURNAMENTTely Boys defeated Sri Lanka Lions

in a keenly-contested fi nal to lift the

title at Oasis Club Night Box Cricket

Tournament played at the Oasis Club

Salalah. The tournament attracted 16

teams. In the fi nal, Tely Boys, after

electing to fi eld fi rst, restricted Sri

Lankan Lions to 24 in six overs. Then

they chased down the target in 5.4

overs losing three wickets. Antony,

Manager of Oasis Club Salalah,

handed over the trophies and cash

awards. Hamras of Tele Boys emerged

the best bowler while Shashika of Sri

Lankan Lions was the best batsman

of the tournament. — Supplied photo

Ashpruha downs Sanjana to claim U-13 girls crownMUSCAT: Ashpruha Patnaik clinched the girls under-13 sin-gles title at the on-going National Bank of Oman-sponsored Annual Badminton Tournament organ-ised by the Indian Social Club (ISC) Muscat.

In the fi nal, Ashpruha was in her elements and showed no mercy on the way to retaining the under-13 title with a masterly display. Ashpruha played with confi dence and dominated the match and gave nothing away to defeat Sanjana Kulkarna with a convincing 21-8, 21-7 scoreline.

Ashpruha also reached the fi -nal of the girls under-15 singles where she was scheduled to take on Gayathri Krishna.

In the fi rst round of Open men’s singles, Sharath defeated Omani player Mohamed Fa-jwani 21-13, 21-13. Shebaz Nasar downed Vishal Dhavale 21-16, 21-17, Prabhu AR posted a fi ne 21-15, 21-14 victory over Hitendra Joshi and teenager Leon D’Souza proved too strong for P. Balasu-bramanian in a 21-3, 21-2 verdict.

Mathew Thomas beat Prakash

Mohanty 21-7, 21-14 and Geemon Baby was a 21-14, 21-7 victor over Pradeep NP.

Jarnail Singh and Bished Singh Bhalla showed good teamwork in their 21-15, 21-19 victory over the team of Justin Thomas and Sunil to advance to the second round of the men’s A doubles event.

The team of Anoop and Salim were the fi rst to advance to the sec-ond round of the open men’s dou-bles when the duo overcame Mo-hamed Nayaz and Ameenuddin in three games 21-9, 17-21, 21-11.

In other fi rst round matches, the Pakistani duo of Adeel and Rizwan beat Vishal Dhavale and Hitendra Joshi 21-14, 21-19, Vineesh M. and Rajesh were deadlocked at one game all before defeating Manoj Varghese and Hari S. in the tie-breaker 20-22, 21-18, 15-9.

Geemon Baby and Dipu eased past Pradeep NP and Anil Mathew 21-7, 21-3, Sharath and Sajan de-feated Ramesh Ekambaram and Vishnu Vijayan 21-14, 21-8 and Jhonney VO and Srinivas beat Jaimon and Sajesh 21-17, 21-12.

I S C B A D M I N T O N

FINALISTS: Ashpruha Patnaik, right, and Sanjana Kulkarni

Bangladesh eves

to tour Pakistan

DHAKA: Bangladesh wom-en’s cricket team said Sunday they were pushing ahead with matches in Pakistan after re-ceiving assurances about secu-rity, becoming the fi rst Bangla-desh side to tour its neighbour since a 2009 attack.

Captain Salma Khatun said the 15-member squad were looking forward to playing two T20 Internationals and two ODIs starting on Wednesday all in of Karachi.

There are currently no plans to send the Bangladesh men’s side to Pakistan. - AFP

N O S E C U R I T Y F E A R S

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SPORTSM O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

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A rugby prince but World Cup pauperLONDON: Jean de Villiers once dryly remarked he had been to two World Cups and spent only two nights in the team hotel such has been his ill fortune with inju-ries at the rugby showpiece.

The 34-year-old dashing South African centre managed a few more nights this time, but on Sunday his third and fi nal World Cup campaign came to an end with a fractured jaw suff ered in the Pool B game against Samoa.

This could mean the end of his international career.

“Jean is not only our captain and one of the most experienced players in the squad, but he is also the glue of this team and to lose him is very sad,” said coach Heyneke Meyer.

His fate and that of Meyer’s were indelibly linked, especially after Japan infl icted the greatest upset in World Cup history a 34-32 victory last week.

As usual de Villiers, just as he did on the 109 occasions he donned the green Springbok jer-sey, did not shirk his part in the traumatic defeat. “We are a very proud nation. What saddens me is to see how a loss like this can break the country apart,” he said on the eve of the Samoa game.

“Rugby is a game, but in South Africa it has become so much more than just a game and we carry that responsibility with us every single time we enter the fi eld,” added de Villiers, whose appearance at the World Cup was a little miracle because of his re-peat injuries.

Fractured career He had feared he would never walk again after a serious knee injury suff ered in November last year. Having recovered from that he broke his jaw a fi rst time in August. The father of two daugh-ters, who married his university sweetheart Marlie, can look back on a career that brought him rec-ognition as one of the fi nest cen-tres in the world and 27 Test tries.

However, the World Cup cup-board — in which most great players would wish to leave a mark — is bare thanks to a rotten timing of injuries.

De Villiers — whose Test debut in 2002 lasted just seven minutes before suff eirng a serious knee in-jury — missed the 2003 edition be-cause of a shoulder injury, and the

most bitter of all a biceps injury in the fi rst pool game of the 2007 tournament resulted in him miss-ing the victory in the fi nal although he stayed with the squad and re-ceived a medal at the ceremony.

“It was a very empty feeling,” he told the Guardian last year.

“I’m fortunate to have a World Cup winners’ medal but I don’t think I deserved it. I was very happy for the team and my friends but I was empty inside.

“I never look at the medal now.”In 2011 he injured a rib in the

opening game and only returned for the fi nal pool match before playing in the losing quarterfi nal to Australia. Out of the wreck-age of his own World Cup expe-riences, de Villiers will have to make do with the one World Cup memory he and the whole of the nation treasures.

The emotional win at home over favourites New Zealand in 1995, principally because of the image of post-apartheid presi-dent Nelson Mandela handing the trophy to white captain Francois Pienaar in a sport seen as the last preserve of the white minority.

“I was only 14-years-old when we won the World Cup and I would never forget the image of Madiba (Mandela) walking out at Ellis Park with his Springbok jersey on with the No 6 on the back,” he said in 2013 following Mandela’s death.

“And then the image of Fran-cois actually holding the World Cup at the end, with Madiba standing in the background wav-ing his cap and dancing. He was such a joyful person.”

Sadly for de Villiers with his lucky charm gone on Saturday brought him the stark realisation the World Cup gods would never smile on him. - AFP

R U L E D O U T

Jean de Villiers

Barca’s Messi blow a likely relief for Leverkusen

BARCELONA: With Barcelona’s squad already stretched, the loss of talisman Lionel Messi is a major blow but for the Bayer Leverkusen players there will no doubt be sighs of relief ahead of their Champions League tie on Tuesday.

Among the Argentine’s vast list of exploits he became the fi rst play-er to score fi ve goals in a Cham-pions League match when Barca hammered Leverkusen 7-1 at the Camp Nou in 2012, but the treble winners will have to cope without

him for the next two months. Mes-si suff ered knee ligament damage in Barca’s La Liga victory over Las Palmas on Saturday and they take on Leverkusen in their Champions League Group E clash with limited options to replace him in attack.

The FIFA transfer ban for sign-ing underage players that prevented Barca bringing in reinforcements over the last two transfer windows along with the sale of Pedro to Chel-sea and the long term injury for Rafi nha has left them with mainly

youth players as back-up.“It is always sad when a player

is injured. In the case of Messi it is not necessary for me to say what we all know that he is very impor-tant to the team,” Barca coach Luis Enrique said. “Without Messi we lose a lot of things from our style of play that we will now have to rear-range collectively.”

Leverkusen still have to deal with Neymar and Luis Suarez, the other components of an attacking trident that bagged 122 goals last season

and Luis Enrique feels the absence can even be an opportunity for the team as a whole to show its value.

“This team will cope fi ne and will deal with this,” he said. “It is capable of doing so well because it has personality and courage. It can be seen as a test and a stimulus.”

Leverkusen lead Group E having won their fi rst game against BATE Borisov and face Barca on the back of two straight wins in the Bun-desliga having overcome Werder Bremen 3-0 on Saturday. - AFP

C H A M P I O N S L E A G U E

Australia’s second string crush UruguayBIRMINGHAM: A second-string Australia ran in 11 tries to hammer Uruguay 65-3 at Villa Park on Sun-day and ease to the top of Rugby World Cup Pool A ahead of their crunch encounters with England and Wales.

The twice former champions, who opened their campaign with a 25-13 victory over Fiji on Wednes-day, made hay in the bright Bir-mingham sunshine to score fi ve tries before halftime and secure the bonus point.

Two tries in fi ve minutes at the start of the second half from wing-er Drew Mitchell, his 11th and 12th

at World Cups, gave the Austral-ians the points diff erential they needed to ease ahead of Wales, conquerors of England the previ-ous evening.

Flyhalf Quade Cooper converted only fi ve of the tries and did nothing for his chances of replacing Bernard Foley in the number 10 shirt for next week’s clash with England by spending 10 minutes of the match in the sin bin for a high tackle.

In his absence, Uruguay had their best moments of another brave performance but were only able to produce a single penalty goal from fl yhalf Felipe

Berchesi in the 23rd minute.Outstanding Wallabies open-

side fl anker Sean McMahon had already opened the scoring off the back of a rolling maul in the seventh minute and winger Joe Tomane scored the fi rst try by an Australian back at the tournament three minutes later.

Stand-in captain Dean Mumm, centre Henry Speight and loose forward Ben McCalman also crossed after Cooper’s return to give Australia a comfortable 31-3 lead at the break.

After Mitchell’s double strike, which helped to subdue the Uru-

guayans after their bright start to the second half, McCalman and man-of-the-match McMahon also grabbed second tries to push Aus-tralia over the 50-point mark.

Centre Matt Toomua added the 10th try after Cooper showed what he can do against tired opponents with a searing break up the middle in the 70th minute.

Uruguay’s desperation to get a try on the board saw them camped on the Australian line for much of the last 10 minutes but the fi nal word went to the Wallabies with a try from replacement back Tevita Kuridrani. - Reuters

E A S Y O U T I N G

Scotland battle back for bonus-point win over US

LEEDS: Scotland managed to turn around a fi rst-half defi cit to secure a 39-16 bonus-point victory against a physical United States at Elland Road in Leeds on Sunday and return to the top of Pool B.

The Scots were left to rue missed kicks and errant passes as they trailed 13-6 at the break, but they struck back with fi ve tries to earn the extra points that could prove so crucial in a group that also contains South Africa, Japan and Samoa.

The United States scored through prop Titi Lamositele in the fi rst half but were eclipsed by tries from Scotland wingers Tim Visser and Sean Maitland, prop Willem Nel and replacements Matt Scott and Duncan Weir.

Having comfortably dispatched South Africa’s conquerors Japan

in their fi rst game, Scotland ar-rived at a sun-drenched Elland Road in confi dent mood but were guilty of overplaying in the open-ing exchanges.

The Scots dominated early pos-session and built a slender 6-3 lead midway through the half but their quest for an opening try was under-mined by some sloppy handling. The United States had struggled on their own lineout throughout the fi rst 20 minutes but a success-ful set piece laid the platform from which prop Lamositele burst over for a converted try.

After Scotland twice missed

kicks to cut the defi cit, Alan MacGinty knocked over a penalty to open up a seven-point for the Americans towards the end of an exciting fi rst half.

With the second half less than 90 seconds old Scotland fi nally showed their cutting edge when Visser collected Stuart Hogg’s pass and surged down the left wing to score. Flyhalf Finn Rus-sell missed the conversion but was at the heart of a patient move that yielded Scotland’s second try, his quick break and offl oad putting in British and Irish Lions winger Maitland adjacent to the posts.

The Scots had upped the tempo noticeably and a charge down from Tim Swinson created the fi eld po-sition for replacement Nel to barge over before fellow substitute Scott cut a superb line to score the bo-nus-point try. The United States never gave up and were unlucky not to snatch a second try before Weir dummied his way to Scot-land’s fi fth try at the death.

Worryingly for Scotland, how-ever, playmaker Russell limped off midway through the second half — a potentially heavy blow if he were to miss next Saturday’s clash with South Africa in Newcastle. - Reuters

The Scots were left to

rue missed kicks and

errant passes as they

trailed 13-6 at the

break, but they struck

back with fi ve tries to

earn the extra points

SCOTS FIFTH TRY: Scotland’s Duncan Weir celebrates with his

teammates after scoring a try during their Pool B match against the

US at Elland Road in Leeds. – Reuters

Wood in anxious wait over possible citingTWICKENHAM: England may have to wait until as late as Monday morning to discover if Tom Wood will be cited for the incident that left Wales full-back Liam Williams unconscious at Twickenham on Saturday.

England lost a thrilling ‘Pool of Death’ match 28-25 to leave them in danger of becoming the fi rst World Cup hosts not to reach the knockout stages and

that defeat could be compounded by any disciplinary action that may be taken against blindside fl anker Wood. Williams went off 14 minutes from time when he was struck on the head by Wood’s shin as the back-row forward at-tempted to hack a loose ball to-wards Wales’ line.

After several minutes treat-ment, Williams left the fi eld on a medical cart. - AFP

R U G B Y

LONDON: Keith Earls scored two tries to equal Brian O’Driscoll as Ire-land’s leading try scorer in Rugby World Cups as they eased to a 44-10 victory over Romania at Wembley on Sunday.

The 27-year-old took his total to seven tries in the competition — saw fellow wing Tommy Bowe also score two tries with Rob Kearney and Chris Henry getting the others. - AFP

Ireland win

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

GearSECTIONC L I F E S T Y L E M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

Excitement runs

high among bike

enthusiasts, as

the world’s fi rst

supercharged bike

comes to Muscat

— the Kawasaki

Ninja H2, arguably

the world’s fastest.

Sit tight.

By Faisal Mohammed Naim

LIFESTYLEC8 M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

The battle for the fastest has been long on in the world of motorbikes, with one edging the oth-

er out by the minimum of a second. However, the latest man missile from the Japanese giant Kawa-saki, is a class apart that would claim the battle of supremacy: once and for all – as the company puts it – “the most exciting and fastest motorcycle ever, to revo-lutionise how people think of motorcycles, to create a motor-cycle of the future, that is still new, 10 years from now”.

The current year has been bring-ing many happy surprises for bike lovers in Muscat, with nearly all bike brands adding newer models and facelift versions of their ex-isting models.

But this one blithe bundle has thrown the afi cionados into a thrill-ing frenzy, as the superfast and super sleek, special anniversary model Ninja H2 comes to Muscat.

Marking the 30th anniversary of the iconic Ninja brand, the limited edition supercharged bike comes in two variants – the supercharged 998cc Ninja H2 R track bike, along with road-going brother the A-spec H2.

Being dubbed the most extreme production motorcycle ever made, the brand claims the bike off ers a sensory experience surpassing anything that riders have ever felt. And that I absolutely vouch for. Yes, I got the chance to ride this mean machine recently. Although the authorised dealers (Fairtrade Auto) couldn’t lend me a new one, as there was only one in stock and booked already.

But they were good enough to call a customer and ask if he could let me have the bike for a few hours. The amazing guy obliged, and there I was with the most ulti-mate babe underneath me.

Quite honestly, this is the ulti-mate bike I’ve ever come across. It is entirely a class of its own. Looks like a rocket, and defi -nitely shoots like one too. It is pure thrill to even have a glance at the beauty. The bike’s sinister

performance and devilish looks make it dangerously addictive.

The bike borrows its name from another epoch-making model of the 70s: the “H2” (also known as the 750SS Mach IV), powered by a 2-stroke 748 cm3 Triple, which too had an intense acceleration that made it a worldwide sensation.

You have got to be real careful with the accelerator (forget the Busas and the Fireblades, you are on a completely diff erent turf with this one). There I was at the Al Khuwair Centre Point traffi c signal, and the moment the sig-nal turned green, I twitched the throttle, like I usually did on my Ninja ZX 14 (mind you the 14 is second to none, if we leave the H2 apart). The bike almost snatched the breath out of me – it propelled ahead with such brute force.

Instantly I adapted, and I impro-vised and switched myself to saner mode. It has got the quirkiness of a 1000cc, and the raging bull power of the hypersports, making it a dan-gerous cocktail, lethal for many.

And despite its 238 kilos of dry weight, the bike handles amazing-ly well. Packed with a tubular trel-lis steel chassis, and single-sided swingarm, the bike is super agile, fl icking into corners and carving with the best.

On the safety part, the bike comes equipped with KTRC (Ka-wasaki Traction Control), selecta-ble through three levels of intru-sion, and can cut power when it doesn’t trust you, KLCM (Kawa-saki Launch Control Mode), which makes you look like a hero off the stoplight, the KIBS (Kawasaki Intelligent Anti-Lock Brake Sys-tem), engine-brake control, and an Öhlins electronic steering damper that changes steering weight based on speed.

Still remained the eternal itch of testing the bike’s wits, now that it had tested mine. Straight I headed to the long and unwinding Al Am-erat road (after Amerat – Bausher road). Giving it a full throttle, un-leashed a whirlwind, and I went fl ying from naught to hundred in under 3 seconds.

Again, the response was too in-sane for me to hold on to my wits. The bike screamed and rammed forward with such force, that I was jolted back into the seat, and neck pushed and locked backwards. It reached the electronically re-stricted top speed of 300 kmph in no time, as I held on tightly to the grips, tried to hide under the wind-shield, gasping for life – the entire 2km stretch was covered in less than 30 seconds. Yes you heard it right. It was an empty stretch at three in the morning, and fi nally I was relieved of the itch.

In order to achieve intense ac-celeration, and ultra-high top speed, coupled with supersport-level circuit performance, Kawa-saki installed a supercharger on the engine to produce big power, and at the same time keeping it lightweight and compact.

Aside from minor diff erences in the engine unit (210bhp), and in-take and exhaust systems tailored for street use to ensure it meets noise and emissions standards, the supercharged engine on the H2 is essentially the same as that of its track-legal-only sibling, the H2R, delivering an intense acceleration unlike anything you can experi-ence on a naturally aspirated bike.

The H2R is a closed-course model that allows an unadulter-ated pursuit of performance, free of the limitations that street riding would impose. Sinister in every approach, the bike has a lethal out-put of 326bhp, and an earth pound-ing torque of 165 Nm, all that at just a weight of 216kg. How I wish we had a track out here in Oman, and then an H2R as well to tear the tarmac apart.

The entire body was designed by Kawasaki’s Aerospace Com-pany and is made of superlight yet strong carbon fi bre, as well as the dual intake air duct and the back of the engine. Each part of the body was designed with aerody-namics in mind and a closer look will reveal many resemblances with jet fi ghters.

Seriously mean in its black-chrome mirrored fi nish, the new H2 looks like something never seen before and sets new stand-ards in its class in terms of style, technology and performance. ‘Built Beyond Belief’, as goes the slogan… - faisal@timesofoman.com

MADE TO BLOW AWAYA supercharger pushes additional air into an engine. Increased airfl ow into an engine allows the engine to burn more fuel, which results in increased power output of the engine, throughout the range.

The roll on power of a supercharged motor will be far superior to natu-rally aspirated.

The H2’s supercharged engine was designed with know-how sourced from many arms of the company, including as-sistance from the KHI Gas Turbine & Machin-ery Company, Aerospace Company, and Corporate Technology Division.

This is the ultimate bike

I’ve ever come across. It is

entirely a class of its own.

Looks like a rocket,

and definitely shoots

like one too

KAWASAKI NINJA H2

EngineSupercharged 998cc,

inline four

Max Horsepower210 bhp

Torque140 Nm

Curb Weight238kg

Transmission6-Speed, return, dog-ring,

(supposedly very fast), with

slipper clutch

KAWASAKI NINJA H2 R

EngineSupercharged 998cc,

inline four

Max Horsepower326 bhp

Torque165 Nm

Curb Weight216kg

Transmission6-Speed, return, dog-ring,

with slipper clutch

Available atFairtrade Auto, Al Khuwair

Contact No: +968 9744 5272

LIFESTYLEC9M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

ConclusionThe Ray Ban Wayfarer has been around for more than 50 years,

and they’ve never really gone out of style. The Ray Ban has played with the style, some off ering diff erent colour frames and lenses. Stylewise, they’re classic, timeless, and understated, and

they’ll go with your wardrobe today and tomorrow.Frogskins, rather than being timeless and understated like

the Wayfarer, are more disruptive and bold, and they’re more popular among surfers, race drivers, and those who don’t mind

the spotlight. They are also made of better material and are more durable than the Wayfarer. But that does not translate into

the Ray Bans being inferior in any way.Generally speaking, it’s hard to go wrong with either. But

given the same or similar colour combination, Wayfarers tend to be a little more reserved, and Frogskins tend to be bolder.

Whichever you choose, you’ll get great style, and great protec-tion for your eyes year-round.

TOO Verdict: Looking for a classic, goes-with-everything pair of shades that looks great on most people? It’s hard to go wrong

with the Wayfarer.

faisal@timesofoman.com

MaterialRay-Ban Wayfarers are made from acetate which is pure plastic and a bit heavier than the Frogskins. The Frogskins are made from nylon based plastic (O-matter,) much lighter.

Wayfarer: Frogskins:

LensesThe Wayfarers use standard glass lenses while Oakley’s signature iridium lenses are ANSI Z87 certifi ed; a more scratch and impact resistant lens variety.

Wayfarer: Frogskins:

ControllerFrogskins are made from Oakley’s patented O-matter material, which is lighter than the acetate used in Wayfarers. Also, the ear pieces snap in and out, so if you’re hard on hinges, Frogskins might last you longer than Wayfarers. It’s easier to break the arms on a pair of Wayfarers than Frogskins.

Wayfarer: Frogskins:

DurabilityWayfarers still use metal hinges that have anchor points and drilled and glued into the frame. Frogskins have ear-stems that snap into the frame. The Frogskins are an easier frame to fi x when it comes to temples (arms) if they fall, etc.

Wayfarer: Frogskins:

Iconic statusThe Ray Ban Wayfarer has been around for more than 50 years, and they’ve never really gone out of style. The classic Wayfarer can be seen on everyone from the stylish young mom to the surfer to the retired businessman.

More disruptive and bold, the Frogskins were introduced in the 1980s and have made a comeback in recent years. For those born in the 80s, Frogskins are classic, while older people would consider them more “retro” than classic.

Wayfarer: Frogskins:

If you’re searching for an “always right” pair of sunglasses and you’re torn between Ray Ban Wayfarer and Oakley Frogskins, you’re not

alone. Both these styles are hot, and for good reason. They look great on men and women, and they go well with many facial shapes. Both brands do have one thing in common: Heritage. A rich history ties both brands

together and you can be sure that these sunglass heavyweights will be around for many years to come. No matter which side of the fence you sit on, Ray Ban or Oakley, both are produced to the highest possible stand-ards and the technology that goes into them is second to none. Here are a few things to consider when making your choice between these two.

Wayfarer Frogskinsvs

FIND-IT-ALLC10 M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

PRAYER TIMINGS

Dhuhr 12.03pm

Asr 3.28pm

Maghrib 6.03pm

Isha 7.13pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 4.42am

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

Hamdan Hospital 23212340

International Medical

Centre LLC 24794501/2/3/4/5

Kims Oman Hospital 24760100

24 Hrs Emergency 24760123

Lama Polyclinic, Sohar 26751128

MBD 24799077

Al Khuwair 24478818

Magrabi Eye and

Ear Hospital 24568870

Muscat Private Hospital 24583600

Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment

Centre, Al Khuwair 24477666

Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC 22004000

AIRLINE OFFICES

Muscat Airport Flight information

(24 hours) 24519456/24519223

Aeroflot 24704455

Air Arabia 24700828

Air France 24562153

Air India 24799801

Air New Zealand 24700732

Biman Bangladesh Airlines 24701128

British Airways 24568777

Cathay Pacific 24789818

Egypt Air 24794113

Emirates Air 24404400

Ethiopian Airlines 24660313

Gulf Air 80072424

Indian 24791914

Iran Air 24787423

Japan Airlines 24704455

Jazeera Airways 23294848

Jet Airways 24787248

Kenya Airways 24660300

KML Royal Dutch Airlines 24566737

Kuwait Airways 24701262

LOT Polish Airlines 24796387

Lufthansa 24796692

Malaysian Airlines 24560796

Middle East Airlines 24796680

Oman Air 24531111

Pakistan International

Airlines 24792471

Qatar Airways 24771900

Qantas 24559941

Royal Jordanian 24796693

Saudi Arabian Airlines 24789485

Singapore Airlines 24791233

Shaheen Air 24816565

SriLankan Airlines 24784545

Swiss International

Airlines 24796692

Thai Airways 24705934

LISTINGS

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

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (ROUTE 36)

15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily

15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily

15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily

06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily

08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri

13:00 Sohar 15:45 Daily

13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily

16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily

16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily

14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

08:00 Nizwa 10:20 Daily

08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55)

07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily

14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (ROUTE 62)

06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily

06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (ROUTE 100)

07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily

10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily

10:00 Salalah 23:30 Daily

19:00 Salalah 07:40 Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

06:00 Marmul 16:50 Daily

SALALAH TO DUBAI (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)

06:00 Sohar 08:30 Daily

06:00 Dubai 11:30 Daily

13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur

13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur

15:00 Sohar 17:35 Daily

15:00 Dubai 20:55 Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily

07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily

07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (ROUTE 36)

05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily

05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily

05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily

07:00 Ruwi 11:40 Daily

13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri

13:00 Sohar 14:55 Daily

13:00 Ruwi 17:40 Daily

13:00 Sohar 19:20 Daily

17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily

06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily

15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55)

06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily

14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)

12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily

12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (ROUTE 100)

07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily

10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily

10:00 Ruwi 22:30 Daily

19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

06:00 Marmul 16:30 Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Salalah 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)

07:30 Sohar 10:50 Daily

07:30 Ruwi 13:40 Daily

13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri

13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri

15:30 Sohar 18:45 Daily

15:30 Ruwi 21:35 Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH/SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily

16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily

16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

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

SHATTI

Sicario (Action, Crime)(12+)(2D)Cast: Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro12:00 pm /07:00 pm /09:30 pm /11:55 pm The Visit (Comedy, Horror) (15+)Cast : Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould2:30 pm /11:45 pmThe Intern (Comedy)(PG12)Cast : Anne Hathaway, Robert De Niro12:15 pm /03:45 pm /07:45 pmHotel Transylvania 2 (Animation)(3D)PGCast : Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg12:15 pm /06:00 pmHotel Transylvania 2 (Animation) (3D)PG2:00 pmPay The Ghost (Horror,Thriller) (15+)Cast : Nicolas Cage, Sarah Wayne Callies, Alex Mallari Jr.5:00 pm /10:00 pm /11:45 pmThe Maze Runner: Scorch Trials (Action) Cast : Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario4:30 pm /09:15 pm (PG12)(3D)Everest (Adventure, Drama)(PG)(3D/IMAX)Cast : Jason Clarke, Ang Phula Sherpa 2:30 pm /07:00 pmEverest (Adventure, Drama)(PG)(2D)7:00 pm

MUSCAT GRAND MALL

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials: 3D (Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller) (PG12)Cast: Dylan O’Brien, Thomas Brodie03:15, 11:45 PMGold Class: 06:30 PMSicario (Action, Crime, Drama) (12+)Cast: Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro12:15, 07:45, 11:55 PMGold Class: 02:00, 09:00, 11:15 PM Moomins on the Riviera : 2D (Animation) Cast: Maria Sid, Mats Langbacka (PG)10:00 AM, 1:30 PMEverest : 3D (Adventure, Drama, Thriller) (PG)

Cast : Jason Clarke, Ang Phula Sherpa 4:45 PMHotel Transylvania-2 : 3D (Animation) (PG)10:00, 11:45 AM, 02:30 PMGold Class: 12:15 PMCalendar Girls (Hindi) : 2D (Drama) (15+)Cast : Akanksha Puri, Ruhi Singh, Kyra Dutt9:30 PMPay the Ghost : 2D (Horror, Thriller ) (15+)Cast : Nicolas Cage, Sarah Wayne Callies 5:45, 10:00 PMThe Intern: 2D (Comedy ) (PG12)Cast : Anne Hathaway, Robert De Niro7:00 PM; Gold Class: 04:15 PM

AZAIBA

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials – 3D (PG12) Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller Cast - Dylan O’Brien, Thomas Brodie4:30, 11:55 PMEverest – 3D (PG) Adventure, Drama, ThrillerCast - Jason Clarke, Ang Phula Sherpa 2:15, 11:30 PMSicario – 2D (12+) Action, Crime, Drama Cast – Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin4:00, 06:15, 10:45 PMPay The Ghost - 2D (15+) Horror, Thriller

Cast – Nicolas Cage, Sarah Callies, Veronica2:15, 11:45 PMHotel Transsylvania 2 – 2D (PG) Animation, Cast – Selena Gomez, Adam Sandler2:00 PMHotel Transsylvania 2 – 3D (PG) Animation 3:30, 05:10 PMKis Kisko Pyaar Karoon – 2D (PG) Cast: Kapil Sharma. Elli Avram, Simran Kaur2:00, 06:45, 09:15 PM (Romantic)Calendar Girls – 2D (TBC) Hindi, DramaCast: Kyra Dutt, Akanksha Puri, Avani Modi 6:45, 09:00 PMKunji Ramayanam – 2D (PG) Comedy Cast: Vineeth Shrinivasan, Aju Verghese4:30, 09:30 PMTrisha Illana Nayanthara - 2D (PG) Comedy Cast: GV Prakash Kumar, Anandhi7:00 PM

RUWI

Screen 1Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon (Comedy) – PGCast: Kapil Sharma, Elli Avram, Simran Kaur Mundi, Manjari Phadnis, Arbaaz Khan3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PMScreen 2

Jawani Phir Nahi Aani (Comedy) – 12+Cast: Humayun Saeed, Javed Sheikh, Mehwish Hayat 3.45, 6.45, 9.45 PM Screen 3Calendar Girls (Drama) – 15+Cast: Akanksha Puri, Avani Modi, Kyra Dutt, Ruhi Singh, Satarupa Pyn, Suhel Seth, Ronit Roy3.45, 6.45, 9.45 PM

SOHAR

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials - 3D (PG12) Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller Cast : Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario4:30, 11:45 PMPay the Ghost - 2D (15+)Horror | ThrillerCast : Nicolas Cage, Sarah Wayne Callies 2:45, 10:00, 11:55 PMAhwak - 2D (Arb) (TBC) Drama6:45 PMThe Intern - 2D (PG12) ComedyCast: Anne Hathaway, Robert De Niro12:30, 04:30 , 07:20 PMHotel Transsylvania 2 - 2D (PG) Animation| 2:45 PM

Hotel Transsylvania 2 - 3D (PG) Animation| 01:00, 05:45 PMSicario - 2D (12+) Action|Crime| DramaCast : Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin12:30, 02:45, 07:00, 09:15, 11:30 PMKis Kisko Pyaar Karoon - 2D (PG) ComedyCast : Kapil Sharma, Elli Avram, Simran Kaur12:15 , 07:30 , 11:15 PMCalendar Girls- 2D (TBC) DramaCast : Akanksha Puri, Ruhi Singh, Kyra Dutt03:00, 9:30 PMKunji Ramayanam - 2D (M) (PG) ComedyCast : Vineeth Sreenivasan, Aju Varghese9:00 PMTrisha Illana Nayanthara- 2D (T) Romantic Cast : G. V. Prakash Kumar, Anandhi, Manisha5:00 PM (PG)

BURAIMI

Sicario 2D (Action, Drama, Crime) (12+)7:00, 9:15, 11:30PMMaze Runner: The Scroch Trails - 3D4:45, 11:30PM (Action, Sci-FI, Thriller) (PG12)Everest – 3D (Adventure) (PG)4:30PMHotel Transylvania 2 – 3D (Animation) (PG)4:30, 6:15PM

Pay the Ghost – 2D (Horror, Thriller) (15+)10:00, 11:55PMTale of Tales – 2D (Fantasy, Romance) (12+)Cast: Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel6:45PMKiss Kisko Pyaar Karoo– 2D (Romantic) 9:15PM (PG)Kunji Ramayanam – 2D (Comedy) (PG)8:00PM

SUR

Sicario (Action | Crime | Drama) (12+) 4:45, 07:00, 11:45 PMMaze Runner : the Scorch Trails (3D) (Action) 8:15 PM (PG12)Hotel Transylvania (3D) (Animation) (PG) 4:15 PMKunji Ramayanam (Mal)(Family) (PG) 10:45 PMKis Kisko Pyaar Karoon (Hindi) (Romance) 9:15 PM (PG)Everest (3D) (Adventure ) (PG) 6:00 PM

SALALAH

Pay the Ghost (2D) (15+) (Horror/Thriller) 12:30/10:10/11:55PMEverest (3D) (PG) (Adventure2:15PMHotel Transylvania 2 (3D)(PG) (Animation) 10:00AM/02:00/3:45PMSicario (2D) (12+) (Action/Crime/Drama) 10:15AM/07:00/09:15/ 11:45 PMThe Intern (2D) (PG12) (Comedy) 11:45AM/5:30PMMaze Runner: The Scorch Trials (3D) 4:30/11:30PM (PG12) Kiss Kisko Pyaar Karoo (2D) (PG) 10:45AM/ 07:45PMThe Visit (2D) (15+) (Fantasy/Romance) 1:15/ 10:00PMAhwak (2D) (PG12) (Arabic) (Comedy) Cast: Tamer Hosny, Ghada Adel, Mahmoud5:30PMTale of Tales (2D) (12+)( Fantasy/Romance) Timings: 03:00PMKunju Ramayanam (2D) (PG) (Mal)(Comedy) 7:45PM

BAHJA CINEMAFilm information 24540856 / Advance Booking 24540855Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com

The Visit (Comedy/Horror) Cast: Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan12.00, 2.15, 6.15 & 10.00 p.m.CP No: 2445 ( 15+)Pay The Ghost (Thriller) Cast: Nicolas Cage, Sarah Wayne Callies, Alex Mallari Jr.8.00, 10.15 & 11.55 p.m.CP No: 2446 (15+)The Intern (Comedy ) Cast: Anne Hathaway, Robert De Niro, Nat Wolff12.00, 1.45 & 8.00 p.m.CP No: 2447 ( PG 12)Ahwak (Arabic) (Comedy) Cast: Tamer Housney, Ghada Adel, Mahmoud Heimeida, Amal Rizki5.45 p.m.CP No: 2451 (PG 12)Everest (Adventure/Drama/Thriller)Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Elizebeth Debicki, Keira Knightly4.00 p.m.CP No: 2434 (PG)The Deadlands (Action) Cast: James Rolleston, Lawrence Makoare, Te kohe Tuhaka4:00, 11.55 p.mCP No: 2435 ( 15+ )

STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776Website: www.isurf.co.omKunji Ramayanam (Mal) (Dram/Com) 3-30, 6-30 & 9-30 Pm At Cinema MainCast: Vineet Srinivasan, Aju VargeesTrisha Illana Nayanthara (Tamil) (Act/Com) 3-45, 6-45 & 9-45 Pm Cinema-3Cast: G.v Prakash Kumar, AnandiSubramanyam (Telugu) (Act/Rom)3-30 & 6-30 Pm Cinema-2Maya (Tamil) (Horror) 6-45 Pm At Cinema-4 ; 9-30 cinema -2 Utopiayile Rjavu (Mal) (Drama/Com) 3-45 & 9-45 Pm At Cinema-4NEXT CHANGE: Pulli (Tamil) Rajni Murugan (Tamil) Singh Is Bling (Hindi) Programmes are subject to change

@MGM @RUWI

SICARIO(Action, Crime) (12+)Cast : Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del ToroTimings : 12:15, 7:45, 11:55 PMGold Class: 2:00, 9:00, 11:15 PM

@SHATTI

THE INTERN (Comedy) (PG12)Cast : Anne Hathaway, Robert De Niro, Rene RussoTimings : 12:15, 3:45, 7:45 pm

@SOHAR

KIS KISKO PYAAR KAROON - 2D (PG) Cast: Kapil Sharma, Elli Avram, Simran Kaur Mundi, Manjari Phadnis, Arbaaz KhanTimings : 12:15, 7:30, 11:15 PM

CALENDAR GIRLS (DRAMA) – 15+Cast: Akanksha Puri, Avani Modi, Kyra Dutt, Ruhi Singh, Satarupa Pyn, Suhel Seth, Ronit RoyTimings: 3.45, 6.45, 9.45 PM

WITH LOVE

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

SATKRUTI SRIRAMSeptember 28, 2013

ANSHUK R. N.September 28, 2011

GAURIKA M. NAIRSeptember 26, 2012

GLEN VICTOR MARTINSSeptember 28, 2003

SRIDHAR RAGAVENDRASeptember 28, 2004

EMMIE KAITHLNSeptember 28, 2014

WEATHER

340

Maximum

280

Minimum

TEMPERATURE 30-70%RELATIVE HUMIDITY

LIFESTYLEC11M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

VW in legal mess after emissions scandal

SINCE the EPA revealed a week ago that VW used software in its diesel-powered cars to cheat on emission tests, there have been 89 federal lawsuits fi led against VW across the United States alone.

Most of those suits have been on behalf of car owners and Volk-swagen dealers who argue the value of their cars has been hurt by VW’s deception. Another suit has been fi led on behalf of Volk-swagen’s US shareholders. The automaker’s stock has lost more than 30 per cent of its value since the EPA fi rst alleged VW was cheating last week.

VW has since admitted that the software in its diesel cars allowed them to pass emission tests even though they were dumping 40 times the allowed levels of nitro-gen oxide into the air when they

were on the road.Recently, VW disclosed that

the problem involved 11 million cars worldwide and that it had set aside $7.3 billion to deal with the scandal. The EPA said that VW could face civil fi nes of up to $18 billion for violations of the US Clean Air Act. Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn apologised for the deception and resigned, but claimed he had not been aware of the cheating.

According to Forbes, the net present value of the cost of the entire “Dieselgate” scandal for Volkswagen — taking into ac-count factors like, loss of future sales, private settlements, recall expenses, and government fi nes and settlements, could reach to the tune of $34.5 billion. — Agencies

VOLKSWAGEN

M o t o M y t h - B u s t e r sWe’ve all heard the tall stories about what will happen to you if

you ride a motorcycle; the weird things you can do to make your

bike faster or what to do if you crash. Most, if not all, are sheer

misconception. Here are a top few motorcycle myths and legends:

You should lay down your bike if you’re going to crashIt’s never going to happen. For one thing most accidents happen so quickly that as a rider you’re simply not going to have the time to think about doing this. The only thing that works is the body refl exes, and not the brain’s situation gauging abilities. It is all that instant. It’s also a bit odd that you should try and crash before potentially hitting whatever risks you’re about to encounter. Never even try to lay your bike down. It’s not at all going to help. Instead, shed as much speed as you can, stay upright and use both your brakes.

Race tyres will make your bike faster on the roadNo, in fact they will make riding your bike more risky with no treads on them, resulting in reduced or no traction. Motorcycle race tyres are completely diff erent from road tyres. They have diff erent compounds and properties and are designed to work best when really hot to create grip. You’re rarely going to get a set of race tyres up to proper race temperature out on the highway. The chances are, after setting off on your bike, you’re going to probably fall off , at the fi rst intersection. Stick to road tyres for your bike for anything apart from track days.

It’ll never happen to meYes, it will. Just because you’ve ridden for years without falling or getting into an ac-cident on a motorcycle doesn’t mean that it’s never going to happen. Always ride prepared for the unexpected and remem-ber that it’s never a case of if it happens, but when it happens. Never venture out without proper riding gear and a fi t bike.

Traction control on a motorcycle will help me go fasterYes and no. If you’re new to riding and not that confi dent yet, you’re never going to be aware of what traction control does. If

you’re an all out racer and ride really hard, then the chances are traction control is actually going to get in your way and slow you down, even when set on the least interfering mode. If you fi t somewhere between these two groups then it’s good to have traction control as a sort of safety net, if you fi nd yourself going a little faster than expected into and out of the corners. It will be there to help you out of trouble.

New tyres come with a coating which is to be removed by riding them for a few miles under infl atedNo. You’re going to fall off and hurt yourself or maybe get killed. Most new motorcycle road tyres look like they have a coating on them but in eff ect that’s because that’s what they look like when they come out of the mould at the factory. Never, ever reduce the pressure in the tyres to try and scrub them in. Riding on under infl ated tyres causes them to fl ex, damages the sidewall and potentially could cause a blow out throwing you off the bike and down on the road. Don’t do it.

Buy the bike of your dreams as your fi rst bike and you’ll grow into it as a riderThis depends on what your dream bike is. Just because you’ve set your heart on a particular bike doesn’t mean you should go straight out and buy it. Do your home-work. Talk to friends who ride and peo-ple who know. Try and test your riding skills at some riding club (Oman Riders Club for example), and only then buy a bike that matches your skills. Gradu-ate to the most ultimate bike if you are a novice. Start with a smaller capacity one. Simply loving a Busa, and buying it right away, without knowing how to ma-noeuvre it is not at all going to help. For-get enjoying it, you’d rather be busy get-ting it fi xed most of the time, that way. faisal@timesofoman.com

LIFESTYLEC12 M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

BY THE NUMBERS

Apple–Leading The Way

iPhones

iPhones per minute

Apple

Microsoft

billion

billion

Intel

eBay

Netfl ix

Facebook

Yahoo

(End 2014 stats)

APPLE’S G

REAT

ER CH

INA

SALES

INT

EL’S GLO

BA

L SALES

$16.1$14.7

40%

61%

Revenue

Gross Margin

Quarterly Earnings

Units Sold

Cash Reserves

Apple

Microsoft

$18.0 billion

$5.9billion

$5.5billion

$3.7billion

$0.9billion

$0.8billion

$0.7billion

$0.2billion

IBM

Apple’s cash and investments:

$178 billion - 6 times the market value of Netfl ix

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

CONNECT H E D A I LY G U I D E

D

D4 VACANCY CARGO D8

M O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

RENT D2

FORRENT

Al Ahlia Real Estate L.L .C95957000/24504001/24504003

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifi eds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

New 1/2 B/R RES/ Comm.

fl ats near Medical College Bausher

directly from owner. contact:

92158031

2BHK fl ats & shops available for rent

at Honda road in a brand new build-

ing (dish & split A/C provided in

fl ats). Contact: 91165807 / 92976611

Shops for rent at City Seasons hotel

Al Khuwair. Contact: 24394800

Small offi ce space for rent near

Ruwi Mosque & Badr Hospital. Con-

tact : 99512270

Flat for rent in Wadi Kabir near

Indian Primary School 2B and 1k.

Contact : 92222922

Flats for rent near Indian School in

Wadi Kabir. Contact 99777122

Single room available for Ex-

ecutive bachelor near Zakhar mall

behind Kamat Restaurant. contact

94271085

Villas and fl ats for rent. Contact: 99120014.

www.dreamhomesoman.com

Deluxe 3 BHK Penthouse with Seaview,

ideal for offi ce / residence at Qu-

rum near PDO. contact 9772 1313 /

95070421

For rent : showroom / storage space

available (area 290 SQM, 6M height)

facing Al Mina street, Jibroo.

Contact: 99360631 / 96760819

Villa in Bausher 36 for Rent :

Mordent design, Mordent decora-

tions with spot lights, 4 bedrooms,

6 balconies, Kitchen, Store, 6 toilets,

full marble, full split unit. contact

94009600

New Building in Mutrah, 2 B/D

Room Flat + Setting Room,3 Baths+

Kitchen with split unit Ac’s. Behind

Khimiji’s main offi ce/opposite to

Oman House Call 99419712

Wadi Kabir, 2 Bed Room Flat with

sitting Room, 2 Bath Rooms+ Kitch-

en. Opposite to Kuwaiti Mosque.

Close to Indian school.

Call 99419712/99261628

Twin villa with basement for rent

AL Khuwair 25. Contact: 99359988

House for rent 4BR family hall,

fi tting room, dining room, kitchen,

store with A/C & satellite reception

at Mawaleh south , behind Sultan

discount center rent R.O 550/-.

Contact: 93653311

600 SQT commercial fl at for rent

opposite Oman fl ourmill Darsait

more details. Contact: 91214849/

99364735

D2 M O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

Flats, shops for rent in Ruwi, MBD &

Mumtaz area. Contact

97293708

3BHK fl at Darsait Near I.D card

Medical 450/- R.O. Contact:

99358589 / 95570288

1& 2 BHK fl ats for rent at Wadi

Kabir, Wadi Adai, Hamriya, Al Khoud

and Mabela and shop at Al Khoud

land line. Contact : 24834644

GSM 93994401/ 02/ 03, 3 lines

Twin villa 6BR hall, kitchen at

Al Ansab-2. Contact: 99747560 /

99444786

Room with A.C at AL Khuwair

R.O 120/-. Contact: 97799175

1BHK fl at with A/C AL Khuwair

250/- R.O. Contact: 99358589 /

95570288

New fl ats for rent in Darsait,

Al Sahal. Contact :

99311525

Two shops in Muttrah Souq, for rent

more details pleas.

Contact: 91214849 / 95729711

Flat and show room for rent

Al Khuwair 33, Al Ghubrah, Darsait

and Jibroo. Contact: 24485240 /

24485241 / 93651633 / 92109563

1 & 2 bedroom fl ats available for

rent in wadi-kabir (opp: pencil bldg),

ideal for company staff / families -

bulk corporate deal possible.

Contact: 97677170

Computer training centre for sale.

contact 94412557

Ladies parlor for sale at Ansab.

Contact: 98806430

Ice Cream & juices shop in Ruwi good

location for sale suitable for beauty

parlor also. Contact:

92150455

Shop for sale at Ruwi High street

inside. Contact 96023492

For sale land in Amerat 3000 Sq.mt

with petrol pump permission.

Contact 99323957 /

92702891

Furnished room for rent at

Al Khuwair R.O 225/- for family only.

Contact: 99251975

VILLA IN AZAIBA – Four Bed Room

Villa, near Well Roundabout &

Umm Al Qura Mosque. Available

for sharing also. Call 92887809 /

98048207.

Villa for rent - Al Seeb/Al Mawelah

- Block 5 - 4 bedrooms with attached

bathrooms , Majlis, 2 halls, kitchen

and storeroom.

split Ac and carpark - Contact

99564616 / 99498448

Fully Furnished 2BHK Apartments

available at Bareeq Al Shatti.

Contact 92888063

2BHK with split AC near PDO Gate

No.2 Qurum available for immediate

renting. Contact : 94057023

2 BHK with split AC Al Khuwair -33

for residential & commercial use.

Contact : 94057023

Rooms for rent in Al Khuwair near

Ibis Hotel with AC.

Contact: 95124975

Two shops in Muttrah Souq, for

rent more details please contact:

91214849 / 99364735

New fl ats for rent in Darsait

Al Sahal. Contact: 99777351

FOR SALE

Single room, bath Darsait R.O 140/-.

Contact: 93289652

Sharing accommodation for Indian

family Ruwi high street. Contact :

99895616

Large room furnished sep / entrance

Wadi Kabir. Contact: 99336206

A big room in available near Ham-

riya R/A for Muslim couple / small

family / Executive bachelor rent

150/- per month including W+ E.

Contact: 99495131

3 BHK Fully Furnished Villa for

(Family or executive bachelors) at

South Al Mawaleh (Behind Seeb

City Center). Gsm 92494923

Room for rent with sharing

bathroom & kitchen at Al Khuwair,

behind Golden Spoon Restaurant.

Contact 92994415

Semi furnished separate room for

non-cooking Asian bachelor, behind

Shell fi lling station, Ghubra round

about. Contact:

94263390

Furnished room (for Ladies)with

attached bath separate entrance in

Mabela. Contact :

99634841

ACC. AVAILABLE

Available furnished meeting hall for

seminars on a hourly, daily,

monthly, yearly basis.

please contact 93203773 :

Email: mbdeast@gmail.com

Villa for rent: 6 bed rooms, 1 sitting

room, 2 halls, 1 kitchen and 1 pantry.

Al Mawaleh South phase 3 close to

Al Sahwah roundabout, fi rst line

behind Amwag perfume factory.

Contact - 99360366

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirt-

ing, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery,

Crockery, Glassware, Chafi ng Dishes,

Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound Sys-

tems and spectacular lighting. Call

Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering and

Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound & Light.

ww.tunesoman.com,

E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

Shops for rent in Wadi Kabeer.

Contact: 99888390

FOR HIRE

Bobcat Grader and roller for rent.

Contact: 94584688

Volvo 12 Ton Truck for monthly

rent. Contact: 98713900

NRI

Brand new 3 bedroom fl at in Ernaku-

lam Vytila Bus terminal, 1500 sq ft,

ready to occupy. Contact 96947652

2BHK, 2 Baths, Split A/C, Wadi ka-

beer towards Al bustan, Near Indian

Elementary School.

Contact 99441193, 93004802

Spacious 2BHK with attached

bathroom near Lulu Wadikabir. Rent

– OMR 280/=. Contact 98759576 or

95822833

2 bedroom villa in Sidab.

Contact: 95755953 / 95555162

1BHK Ruwi & 3BHK Bosher. Contact: 99024730

2BHK new Amerat with AC 230/-

R.O. Contact: 99024730

2BHK close to Indian school kin-

dergarten Wadi Kabir R.O 320/-,

1BHK R.O 250/-. Contact: 99476728

/ 98484415

Villa for rent in Al Khuwair 33, 8

bedrooms & 5 bathrooms with park-

ing area near Taimur Mosque.

Contact: 99366624

1BHK fl ats available for rent in CBD

area. Contact: 98116480

Flat for rent in Hamriya. contact

99341112

Vegetable & fruit counter in grocery

store in Saham available. Contact:

93006562 /

99417418

3BHK well maintained fl at (villa

type) G. fl oor split A/C separate

entrance, parking, and compound

available in Al Khuwair behind

Sagar Polyclinic Way no. 3922,

Block 239, Villa No. 1839.

Contact: 99253125

Flat for rent, 2 bedrooms, 1 sitting

room, 3 toilets next to

Al Hassan Company in W/K.

Contact: 99210008

2 BHK fl at in Al Khuwair.Contact 99792181

3 & 4 BHK villa in Al Khuwair.

Contact 99792181

100 & 700 sqr mtrs offi ce space in

Al Khuwair. Contact 99792181

2 BHK fl at in Rex Road (Ruwi).

Contact 99792181

Room Al Khuwair R.O 120/-.

Contact : 97799175

1BHK Mumtaz R.O 250/-.

Contact: 97799175

1,2 BHK Darsait. Contact :

97799175

2BHK Ghubra RO 325/-.

Contact: 97799175

1BHK Ghubra R.O 275/-.

Contact : 97799175

2 BHK Wadi Kabeer R.O 300/-.

Contact : 97799175

DAILY GUIDEM O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5 D3

GOOD NEWS

UNIVERSAL SCRAP BUYERS AT

AMAZING PRICESConvert ANY type of Scrap into Money by selling us the scrapGreat prices are guaranteed

for our clients!Call this number now for

urgent response - 96059470

*Kindly note that the scrap should be 50 tons onwards

AFFORDABLE QUALIFIED STAFF AVAILABLE:

Hurry and call this number now! 95967902

Our professionals give YOU:

CLASSY, CREATIVE AND AFFORDABLE INTERIOR DESIGN

Hurry now and call this number 91494149

SITUATION WANT-

ED

M.V. FOR SALE

Mitsubishi 10 ton Truck 2006

model company body, registra-

tion valid till May 2016 for sale.

Contact: 95150329

Toyota Yaris (Hatchback) -

White, 2008, fully automatic,

Expat used. 9206 6523

Mitsubishi Pajero 2006 model

Automatic, 1,22,000 km, insur-

ance + registration valid till

August 2016 black,

well serviced, good condition,

OMR 2,800/-.

Contact: 94515102

Lexus GX 460, 2013.

Contact : 99336093

Kia Cerato 2014 Model for sale

1300 kms Under agency

warrenty and service.

Contact: 99634841

*Classifi ed Advertisement space

booking with text, should be done

till 12.00 noon for next day’s

publication. * Subject to space

availability

MATRIMONIAL

RC, Keralite ( Kottayam) male,

27 yrs, Civil Engineer, working in

Muscat from decent family looking

for suitable alliance.

Contact : 95035953

31 years RC boy, M. Com MBA - work-

ing in Sohar - Seeks alliance from

Christian families -

Contact 94219830

Seeking alliance for our son from

Muslim families. Interested families

Contact: 99889590

GOOD NEWS

Genuine Ayurvedic treatments &

massage, Ayurvedic clinic at

Al Khuwair. Contact: 24478618 /

97263637 / 93309131

FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know

more about Islam, please call:

99425598, 99250777, 99353988,

99253818, 99341395, and 99379133.

For ladies: 99415818, 99321360,

99730723 Orvisit:www.islamfact.com

Ayurvedic massage backache,

joint pain, neck pain etc.

Contact 98254909

Ayurvedic treatment for backache,

paralysis, arthritis etc & massage,

All Season (Vaidyaratnam). Contact

24475280 / 95371664 /

92504980

www.siddhayur.com

Ayurvedic Treatment for joint

pain, backache, paralysis, massage,

steam bath, obesity, spondylitis ,

IDEAL CARE Ayurvedic Clinic,

18 November Street, Azaiba

Contact: 99639695 /

98342990

Zareena Mohammed has lost

Indian Passport No. J 5399051.

Finder please handover to ROP.

Ayub Ali has lost Bangladeshi

Passport No. AG 0216337. Finder

please handover to ROP

Jehirul Islam has lost Bangladeshi

Passport No. E 1992388.

Finder please handover to ROP

LOST

MANPOWER

Want regular fi nancing for profi table

small projects. Contact : 92162623

Required investors for diff erent

projects. Contact: 99674870

We will register LLC trade license

for foreign investors and do all

actions. Contact: 92833566

SITUATION WANT-

ED

BUSINESS

Leading manpower agency to hire Recruiter from India housemaids. Contact: 99226093,

Email: fesalwardi48@gmail.com

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation in Muscat.

Contact: 95530908

Transportation for saloon car&

delivery van. Contact : 95530908

Transportation. Contact 99508282

Transportation available. Contact -955 70 429

CLASSES

DRIVING

COMPUTER

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

CATERING

HOSPITALITY

DAILY GUIDED4 M O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifi eds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

DESIGNER

DOMESTIC HELP

DRAUGHTSMANDRAUGHTSMAN

EDUCATION

ENGINEER/TECH/MECH

ADMIN

BEAUTICIAN

DRIVER

MEDICAL

MEDICAL

SKILLED LABOR

MANAGER

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED

SALES / MARKETING

Urgently needed female Dermatologist with minimum 5 yrs

experience. Send CV :

elixirhealthcenter@yahoo.com

P.S. details of salary and benefi ts will

be sent after submitting the CV

ADMIN

ADMIN

DRIVER

ARCHITECT

Driver with Oman driving licence

needed. Visa available. #94288863

Looking for an experienced house driver for an Omani family.

Interested candidates may

Contact: 96203333

BE (Civil) Indian male with 20 years

experience with reputed consul-

tancy companies & working for one

of the prestigious project of Muscat

since 2008 seeks suitable position.

Contact: 92511428, Email: manoj_

t2000@yahoo.com

Mechanical Engineer, 24 having

knowledge in HVAC looking for suit-

able placement. Contact: 95434381

Email: shuhaibusman313@gmail.

com

Agriculture Engineer Egyptian in

Oman available till 10th Oct experi-

ence 5 years. Contact: 90155723

Sudanese Telecom Engineer 5 years experience in Oman.

Contact: 93391008

Urgently Required: MEP Engineer-

Degree holder and with 7 years

experience in building construction,

MUST have NOC and immediately

join. Apply, fax 00968–24605955,

emails sbc@steelbuildingsllc.com,

sbeoman@yahoo.com

Biomedical Engineer is required, preferably with Oman exp.

Contact: 99337840

Reputed metal fabrication company

seeks fabrication supervisor, structural steel fabricator, Machine maintenance Technician and Electrician. Contact: 99102383

Email: hr@khancogroup.com

A Mechanical Engineer with sales-

manship experience of 5 years &

above preferable with Oman drivers

license and NOC.

Please forward your CV to

almaadhi.trd@gmail.com

Housemaid (exp 20 years)

looking for English, family.

Contact: 99564133 / 96534195

MISCELLANEOUS

Required Salesman, Store keeper,

Private driver, preferably with good

experience and communication

skills. Contact: 91408759 Email:

hanaa.alritaj@gmail.com

A leading Construction Company in Muscat urgently requires the

following candidates: - 1) Electrome-chanical Supervisors 2) Electrical Foreman 3) Plumbing foreman 4) Electricians 5) Plumbers. Send CV : hr.azatllc@gmail.com

or call 99344279

Building material Salesman, Electrician cum Plumber & C.C.T.V Technician. Contact: 99383044

Fresher 24 years B.Com Gradu-

ate, Tally 7.2 & ERP9, looking for a

suitable placements in Accounts.

Contact: 97219505

Part time Accountant, up to fi na-

lization, looking for job after 5 pm

(location prefer – MSQ to AL Hail).

Contact: 95694737

Srilankan male, 5 years experi-

ence, presently working in Oman as

a Senior Accountant. NOC available.

seeking suitable opportunities.

Contact 00968 95522109

ACCA fi nalist, Recent B.Com Gradu-

ate, Indian female, looking for full

time employment in Accounting

and Audit. +968 96964379,

sangeethaumesh5@gmail.com

Accounting B.Com male Diploma

in computerized professional Ac-

counting, professional & manual

accounting, 25 yrs, Indian, 25

yrs, Keralite, India. Contact:

0091 9746838659

Email: jijesh567@gmail.com

Finance Manager 26 years experi-

ence including 22 years Oman

with NOC. Contact : 91302906 /

91335205

Accountant Indian female on

visit visa, degree B.Com exp Tally

ERP-9 fi nalization of Accounts, Tax

Accounting, Stock maintenance,

pay roll, etc. Contact : 91551164 /

91175456, mk.jothipriya@gmail.

com

Chief Accountant, 12 years Oman

experience looking for suitable

position. Contact: 99513082

Accountant with 8 years U.A.E

experience, on visit visa, looking for

a job. Contact : 96166512

Senior Accountant 10 years experi-

ence, looking for accounts parttime

works and fi nalization works.

Contact: 96247295

Accountant 7 Years Experi-

ence with D/L and NOC. Contact

97712084

25 yrs female Indian with B.Com

MBA looking out for a job in fi nance

/ marketing / HR fi eld with a work

experience of 1 year,

3 months at Bank Muscat & 7

months at India.

Contact: 94657403 / 95537261

Jordanian Accountant (ACPA) with

more than 15 yrs experience in Oman

(Accounts, Purchase & fi nance.

Contact: 92881223

Email: kamal_sarhan@yahoo.com

Indian male, 27years, MCom,

having 2years experience in

Accounts looking for suitable posi-

tion. Presently on visit visa.

Contact 93455055|

gibingeorge88@gmail.com

Dynamic result oriented hospitality

professional with 20 years of inter-

national exp. MBA in Hotel Manage-

ment, specializing in Hotel/Restau-

rant start ups, concepts & Franchise

development with proven records.

Seeking for Challenging positions

in reputed groups as GM/COO/CEO/

Business Head. (NOC available)

Contact : 96059470

Wanted urgently need two Tailors who can make curtains.

Contact: 98962888

Post Graduate researcher required. Contact 99229700

A well – known private School require English, Mathematics, Science, Computer and KG Teachers. Contact: 96910649

Email: staffi ng.oman@gmail.com

Cooks & helpers for café. Contact: 95529970

Restaurant Staff urgently required Tandoor roti maker, waiter/ helper

required in restaurant in Saham.

Contact : 98029701 / 95821905

Required Catering Supervisor, Chef, Asst. Cook & Chapathi makers for a catering Company in

interior area. Apply with NOC.

SMS : 99242984

Looking for a Staff has experi-

ence in Oman in real estate and real

estate valuation. Interested Contact:

mobile: 99109094

Email: aburashid94dd@gmail.com

Marketing Manager with Oman

experience & driving license.

Contact: 95766844

Looking for qualifi ed, good commu-

nication and computer skills candi-

date with experience for position of : Sales Manager to work in high-end

window tinting business. Minimum

academic requirements: bachelor’s

degree and own a driving license.

Kindly email your CV to

abdullah.alhinai86@gmail.com

Required experienced Sales / Marketing Executives having light

license. Send your CV

ocean@omantel.net.om

Required Sales Executive for

Stationery Company with Oman

driving license. Send

Email: mipartjob@gmail.com

Sales Executive : required urgently

for an established Printing Press.

Minimum 3 years relevant experi-

ence and working knowledge of

printing process is expected.

Contact 99354681

Indian Mechanical Engineer, 30, having 8yrs of UAE Sales/Busi-

ness Development. experience in

Electromechanical and Irrigation

sectors. Contact no- +971558763220

email id-sangowri@outlook.com

Bangladesh 24 years, 2 years expe-

rience. Contact: 97806144

Light driver with car Hyundai

Accent 2016. Contact : 94039796

Bangladeshi light driver (AG) 48)

expe, 14 years, need job & visa have

release paper transpire. #99165961

Driver. Contact: 95084826

Pakistani male light vehicle driver

looking for job. Contact: 96474528

Driver with car. Contact :91452930

Wanted driver. Contact 95112461

Car with driver or without cat

specially Companies.

Contact 97943750 / 97408900

Driver job wanted. Contact 99343782

Light duty driver 5 years exp in

Oman. Contact: 92602182

Required Sales Manager for a hotel

supply company with minimum

5 years experience.

Contact 92035162

Senior Architect, Indian male

15yrs exp. having DL& NOC, Look-

ing for suitable position.

Contact: 97239313 Email:

abdul_muq2000@yahoo.co.uk

Indian male BBA Graduate 12 years

experience in Administration level

15 months exp in Oman having NOC

available looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact : 91458388

Indian Female MBA, 3 years expe-

rience in Admin MIS, family Visa.

Contact 98234427,

jkjsmith01@gmail.com

M.Tech BE civil 9 yrs experience

Project Management Indian male

(34 yrs) with NOC seeks suitable

in construction industry. Contact

: 99156291 / 95281545 (What-

sapp) 00919579666999 Email:

kashidss@gmail.com

HSE Engineer (Indian, 26 yrs),

B.Tech Mechanical, Nebosh, 5 yrs

experience in oil & gas construction.

Contact 94616721

Young Electrical Engineer looking

for suitable placement. Having spe-

cialization in electronics.

Contact 99227861

Project Manager (Interior fi touts dé-

cor & MEP) B.E. Arch having 8 years

experience looking for a suitable

position in a reputed company.

Local release is available.

Contact: 91528851

B.E Arch with 8 years experience

as 2 Project Manager in Interior fi -

touts décor & MEP works looking for

suitable. Local release is available.

Contact: 91528851

Indian male diploma in Civil Engi-neering with 20 years experience

in interior fi tout with valid driving

license NOC and local release avail-

able. Contact: 98048410

Professional Civil Engineer 25 yrs

experience with N.O.C Management

and Supervision with D/L.

Contact: 97290338

Bangladeshi Diploma Civil Engi-

neer 3 years experience in Bangla-

desh 2 years in Oman.

Contact: 93796905 / 97319361

Civil Engg, B.Tech fresher Indian

male currently on visit visa seeks

suitable placement.

contact 91702450

Email: tijoct2015@hotmail.com

Civil Engineer, Indian M 29 5yrs exp.

having DL & NOC Looking for suitable

position. Contact: 94576233

Email: suhailmullah@gmail.com

Since March 2010 in Oman as a

building Construction Site supervi-

sor with Oman D/L looking for

suitable placement or small Omani

Construction Co. Contact

93061107

Degree Engineer Civil, 6 years expe-

rience Oman D/L, N.O.C available for

a suitable position.

Contact: 93523507 / 95961336

Indian male, 23 yrs, B.E in Mechanical post Graduation Diploma

in piping Engineering, seeking job in

relevant fi eld. Contact : 94786570

Email: asim.hajwani6@gmail.com

Indian 22 years male, Mechanical

Engineer, B.Tech has done intern-

ships, born and brought up in Oman

with Omani driving license, seeking

suitable jobs. contact

92791637 Email:

ashwinsureshkotturethu@gmail.com

Indian male BE civil project Engi-

neer 15 years Oman experience in

building projects with valid D/L NOC

available. Contact: 92178471

Omani Receptionist required recep-

tionist, well presented with excellent

communications skills and telephone

manner, fl uent in Arabic and English

required for Ruwi offi ce. Candidates

should be familiar with MS English

and Arabic offi ce suite. Send CV and

covering email to

mj-co@omantel.net.om

CATERING

Indian cook, Tandoori cook experi-ence in Indian looking for a cook job

in hotel, Restaurant. The candidate is

in India (brother). Contact: 98744307

B.Tech civil project coordinator

5 years experience of with diff erent

ministry projects NOC available.

Contact: 94194393

Indian male software Engineer 2

years experience knowledge of Java

.NET C# ASP.Net. Contact: 99210940

working in techno park Indian

Trivandrum

BE Electrical Engineer 8 years

experience 4 years in Oman with

Oman driving license.

Contact : 96942032

Civil Engineer (Diploma) seeking for

placement. Contact: 95200650

Civil Engineer (diploma) 3.5 yrs exp,

seeking for placement.

Contact: 95200650

Indian Mechanical Engineer 31 yrs, 8+ experience in sales & Bus.

Dev, having Oman driving license

& NOC. Contact: 97116858 Email:

menonamit1984@gmail.com

Electrician 3 years experience in

Building lines in Oman and other

related experience also. NOC avail-

able. Stay till 29.09.2015. Contact:

94057129 / 95964419 Email:

raheemdadbaloch@hotmail.com

Electrical Eng. Degree (MEP) need

suitable job of construction 12 yrs exp.

Email: mohd.ateeq.khan@gmail.com

C-SWIP 3.1 ASNT level 2 QC Mech.

Engr 5+ yrs exp Indian male 26 seeks

placement. Contact : 91823331

Email: kannasekhar46@gmail.com

Electrical and Electronics Engineer with one year experience and GCC

licence holder seeking a job

mail – shyjalpk@gmail.com

SUPERVISOR: Indian male site

supervisor (AIR CONDITIONING)

25 years of experience with valid Oman

Driving license, seeking suitable place-

ment. Contact: 97498809, 93391910

Email: hilariankj@gmail.com

Engineer with 3 yrs experience in

Indian in MEP, HVAC& mechanical

maintained fi eld on visit visa looking

for suitable job. Contact 99191535

Email: fareed029@gmail.com

Btech computer science graduate

2015 passout.. Android application

marketing.. Having good communi-

cation skills and mindset to work in

a team. Contact 91024385

Indian male BE Mechanical currently on 2 yrs free visa with NOC

& local release. Looking for suitable

job in Muscat. Contact – 90296975 /

ali.syedausaf@gmail.com

Indian BE (MECH) aviation BE

degree diploma in material quality

management 17 years Navy aviation

13 years construction purchase stores

professional on visit.

Contact: 90205082 /98796982

Urgently required experienced Beautician. Contact 96616731 or

send CV to pbm.ibra@gmail.com

A leading Construction Company in Muscat urgently requires Draughtsman (Civil).

Send CV : hr.azatllc@gmail.com or

call 99344279

Wanted a Lab Technician with valid

M.O.H license and N.O.C to work in

a polyclinic. Salary R.O 450/- per

month (package).Contact: 96493058

(2 pm to 4 pm).

Email: ap_sdsudhi@yahoo.com Required Graphic Designer (mini-

mum 2 years experience) Client Ser-

vice Executive with Omani license

(minimum 2 years experience) visa

available. Contact: 96727631 send

CV to dollydhian@gmail.com

Indian Civil Auto cad Draftsman looking suitable placement 5 years

experience. Contact: 97465102

Required urgently General Physi-cian Gynecology, Pharmacist, LAB Technicians staff nurse. Contact: 95133572

Email: kunoozghala@gmail.com

Wanted Nurse for dental centre in Mawaleh South & Qurum.

Contact 93431024,

Email : drasyanaseem@gmail.com

Required Pharmacies with license,

needed for clinic in Al Khoudh ,

Contact :+968 97696502 , mail CV to

towershr70@gmail.com

14 years of gulf experience in HR /

Admin & logistics fl uent in Arabic

/ English with D/L looking for suit-

able position. Contact: 95824598

Indian 17 yrs experience in Admin

and have knowledge in Accounting

seeks job. Have driving license and

release. Contact : 99573353

Indian 24 years BCA MCITP having

2 years exp as system administrator

looking suitable job.

Contact 94170892

Filipina, 10 yrs experience in

Fashion Retail, Shipment, Logistics,

Inventory, Warehouse Control and

Store Management is seeking

employment. Call +971565833126

or 97728418.

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

DAILY GUIDEM O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5 D5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

MEDICAL

IT

SALES / MARKETING

SALES / MARKETING

MISCELLANEOUS

SECRETARIAL & OFIC.

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

Omani female Arabic and English

speaking searching for job. Contact

92387170

TIG+ARC welder Indian with 16yrs

middle est. exp in copper nickel.

Diplex, inconel, S.S, CS Now on visit

visa seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 96502282.

Email manuangola88@gmail.com

Project Manager (B.E. Arch) in

Interior décor fi t outs & MEP having

8 years experience looking for a

suitable post in a reputed fi rm. NOC

is available. Contact: 91528851

Sudanese procurement Manager three years experience in Oman.

Contact: 93391008

Senior Manager Indian, 30 years in

FMCG Business in Oman looking for

better opportunity at management

level. Contact 99231513

22 years B.Com Graduate having

experience in trading of car accesso-

ries and also with valid GCC driving

license looking for a suitable job.

Contact 98504698

Indian male Nurse, prometric

passed seeks suitable placement.

Contact 97284508I

33 years, Indian male Dentist hav-

ing 7 years of experience with MOH

license is seeking suitable place-

ment. Contact: 91559265

Email: praveengp_82@yahoo.com

A GNM Nurse seeking suitable

placement in Hospital or clinic

having 11 yrs experience in Oman.

Contact 98766167, can ready to

work temporary or permanent.

Indian male, MSc, MPhil, BEd

Chemistry,2 Yrs Teaching experi-

ence and having experience in

lab analyst, currently on visit visa,

seeks suitable post.

Contact 90208673

Filipino lady looking for Reception-

ist Sales girl having good experience

in Muscat. NOC will be available

ready to join immediately. Contact:

92664896 / 91107941. After October

1st week. Contact: + 639759460269

Wanted salesman job, with driving

license. Have exp. ins selling goods,

experience in shops special experi-

ence in car parts seeking any job

related to selling. Contact: 94162434

Indian male 35 years BBM, diploma

in A/C, 5 years experience as Sales

Executive in Oman with valid D/L

and NOC seeking suitable placement

in Muscat area. Contact : 92683606

Email: abhi.abrahm09@gmail.com

MBA Graduate having 23 yrs of

experience as Sales Manager in

building materials trading looking

for a suitable opportunity, release

available. Contact 92106768,

Email : suvimasri@gmail.com

Business intelligence / Global Mar-

keting management specialist with

9 years of experience developing

brand value & managing overall pro-

jects to achieve business objectives

seeking suitable position on family

visit. Contact: 91902154

MBA 15 years experience in Sales &

Marketing in telecom, FMCG, pres-

ently in India C/O Saif Kazi.

Contact : 99625957

Email Id: a_kazi123@yahoo.co.in

Indian male 25 yrs BBM Graduate

3 yrs of experience Sales / Market-

ing in Oman looking in suitable

placement. Contact : 93185316

Email: karsh794@gmail.com

TOURS & TRAVELS

Five years experience in Travel

fi eld ,BCom., IATA & pursuing MBA,

Presently working in the Travel

Desk of (ITC managed) Five Star

Hotel in India, looking for a suitable

position in the Middleeast.

pls contact 9470 5767

Software Programmer, 6 yrs exp in

software development (Java, PL/SQL

Unix) on visit visa. #99487493

SAP BW Analyst : Indian male, 26

yrs, B.Tech (CS & E) from ASET, New

Delhi, worked as a Business

Analyst in Software Industry.

Contact 98008127 / 92878708,

vaisakh.bhaskar@gmail.com

Indian male 25 years MCA, CCNA

Certifi ed MCSE2012 having 16

months experience in network and

system administration looking

for suitable placement. Contact

97703253 / 92365310 Email: al-

binmperakkattu@gmail.com

Software Engineer, 6 yrs exp in

software projects & development

(Java,PL/SQL Unix) on visit visa.

Contact: 99487493

Indian male, 29 yrs, B. Eng in CS,

CCNP, JNCIA, MCSA, MCITP, ISO/

IEC27002, 8 yrs exp in IT, Network-

ing and Server support. #98285401

Email: maneshm3@gmail.com

Indian 24 years BCA MCITP having

2 years exp as System Administrator

looking suitable job. #94170892

BE, ECE Mumbai university skills

in C, C++, windows, linux, controller

and processor RTOS, Electronics,

Networking, 6 months experience in

embedded software seeks place-

ment. Contact : 917774864736

Email: sadatbtisekar@gmail.com

CCNA MCITP Network support/

Network technician with 2 yrs expe-

rience Indian male having bachelors

degree on visit visa.

Contact: 93080871,

email :sean.f.peters@outlook.com

Indian female, MBA, 25yrs Having

4yrears of experience in MNC, hands

of experiences in recruitment and

administration, fl exible for any suit-

able job placements currently in

visting visa. Contact Tel : 98864639

Email : neethuvijayan06@gmail.com

Indian Male, 26 Yrs, Business

Management, 6 years in Oman.

Knowledge of MS Offi ce and Arabic

Language. Seeks suitable position.

Contact 93931935

Indian Mechanical Engineer, 30, having 8yrs of UAE Sales/Busi-

ness Development. experience in

Electromechanical and Irrigation

sectors. Contact no- +971558763220

email id-sangowri@outlook.com

Indian male, with fi nance and Law

degree, having more than 25 years

of experience in Finance/ Accounts /

Audit (5 years of Oman experience)

seeks suitable placement. NOC avail-

able. Contact: 98421619.

E-mail: talemadhamu@yahoo.com.

Indian male Executive Secretary

having vast experience in admin,

logistics & procurement well versed

with computer seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact : 99514286

Pakistan Male: 24 years,M.Com

Finance having 2.5 year experience

as a accountant & marketing execu-

tive looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 97670816,

E.mail: naeem.ahsan68@gmail.com

Civil Engineer B.Sc -6 years experi-

ence with constructions companies

- 1 years in Oman - qualifi ed as Site

Engineer & Planning Engineer .

Contact+968-94682217

ACCOUNTANT: Indian male 25 hav-

ing 4 years experience in accounting

& having well knowledge in tally.

Contact:968094535881,

0091 9037622048,

Email: vishnuraj889@gmail.com

31 year Indian male PG in HR ,with 5

yrs Professional experience in HR in

Construction Oil & Gas Oman seek-

ing for a suitable placement. Kindly

contact me on 93488914, email-

Kaarthickshankar@gmail.com

Sudanese/26/Bsc Computer Sci-

ence /3 years exp/skills Excellent

knowledge in operating systems

and maintaining computers Java

Programmer Web Developer Linux

SMS solutions Android developer/

email khalid.omx@gmail.com/con-

tact no 944958080 and 99758186.

Civil Autocad Draughtsman part

time work for job mob :96023726

Chemical Engineer Indian 2 years

of experience in production fi eld

Contact: 91247222

Email:sahadpoonchola@gmail.com

Indian male B.Eng. in IT,CCNA,

MCSA,MCSE, 2.5 yrs + exp. in IT sup-

port, networking and server support

valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement in IT/Network/Server

support. Contact 92607532

Indian B.E Computer Science graduate

2012 passout. 1 .5 yrs exp. in Account-

ing. Having good communication skills

and mindset to work in a team. Having

NIIT certifi cate in Diploma in Java

Technology. # 97767894

Email: jinsonjacobjohn@gmail.com

Indian male 24 YEARS, B.Tech (Elec-

trical & Electronics), having 2 yrs.

exp as Electrical Site Engineer. Done

IOSH & NEBOSH- IGC certifi cations,

seeking for suitable placement in any

related industries.

Contact 98045482,

Email: mastanshaik1008@gmail.com

Indian male, 24 years, HSE Engineer

having 2 years of Indian experience.

Done IOSH & NEBOSH- IGC certifi ca-

tions, seeking for suitable placement

in any related industries.

Contact 98045482

27, male, ACCA fi nalist, have pro-

fessional experience up to fi naliza-

tion of Accounts, Statutory and in-

ternal audit, expertise in using tally

and focus & Oracle Software, have

3.5 years experience in accounts till

fi nalization, seeking for permanent

replacement ,GSM-97654769,email

id-abdullah.nooralam@yahoo.com

M. Tech VLSI design, B. tech Elec-

tronics and instrumentation, Indian

female,3 years teaching experience

for graduation level students,

seeking suitable placements .

Ph:00968 92904155.

email-achusooraj@gmail.com

Indian male 22yr BBA with LOGIS-

TIC Diploma, exp in tally and data

entry seeking in suitable placement.

Contact; 90151739

email shakeeb.mp280gmail.com

Mechanical Draftsman, Indian male

27, Diploma in Mechanical Engineer-

ing having 7 years of experience

in Auto CAD looking for a suitable

placement. Contact : 97351786 /

96143708 E-mail :

mohammednazeer07@gmail.com

Indian male Oman 8 yrs exp look-

ing for any suitable vacancy for

accountant / Asst. Accountant offi ce

admin local release available.

Contact : 98492752 Email:

atiduehzidve@rediff mail.com

ACCA Affi liate, OBU Degree, 2.5

years experience in audit and

fi nance in Big6 fi rm, Looking for

permanent placement. NOC release

available. Contact: #95140445,

a.saran891@gmail.com

B.Tech EEE with 4+ years experi-

ence in the fi eld of it, networking,

ex-tonics etc. presently working in

Amazon India development centre as

a content quality associate seeking

for suitable jobs in Oman. Contact :

+91 9940514005, 93116402

email: mail2nbn@gmail.com

Indian female with MBA in fi nance

seeking immediate placement.

Contact: 968-93316493

MBA Finance with more than fi ve

years of experience in Finance &

Accounts including GCC, looking for

a suitable opening. Having UAE driv-

ing license. Contact no..91391802.

Senior Accountant. 8 Years experi-

ence. NOC available. Oman driving

license. Seek suitable opportunity.

GSM- 98184170

B.E Mechanical Engineer with 2

years’ experience in HVAC fi eld on

visit visa looking for suitable job.

Contact: 93442296

Email Id: sal201091@gmail.com.

MBA (F) B.COM Indian female

having knowledge of accounts with

Tally looking for full or part time

job. Presently on family visit visa.

Contact: - 96259171. Email: -

bhumicapandya@gmail.com

Indian Male, MBA, Talented

management expert having 6 year

experience at U.A.E, India and Oman

in luxury goods and Retail. Seeking

suitable openings in related or same

fi eld. Contact:92700670

Email: jobcareer44@gmail.com

MBA Finance with more than fi ve

years of experience in Finance &

Accounts including GCC, looking for

a suitable opening. Having UAE driv-

ing license. Contact no..91391802

Indian 26M, B. Tech Computer Sci-

ence graduate, 3 years exp in India,

looking for suitable job in Muscat.

Contact : 93125669,

Email : amritrajGT18@gmail.com

Indian Male Nurse with Moh

licence & Noc seeking a job with

Family Status gsm:95817579.

E.mail:vasudevanv2005@gmail.com

Part- Time Accountant, well experi-

ence senior accountant ,doing all

type of accounting works,

Finalization, Budgeting available.

Contact 98803439

Sudanese/Bsc IT/26/2 years expe-

rience/excellent Eng-Arb speaking/

Omani driving license/96387227/

henrykarrar@gmail.com

MBA - (F), M.Com, B.COM. Indian

female having knowledge of accounts

with Tally looking for part time or full

time job. Presently on family visa.

Contact- 91892264.

mail: yv.dixit@yahoo.com

Indian male Accountant, 12 years

experience, looking for a full time

or part time job, experience in tally

also. Contact 98983122

Pakistani, Male, Pak, Exp 14 Years

in IT Trainer / Computer Teacher,

looking for a better position in

Oman, already working in Prestig-

ious Construction Company.

Contact 95983711.

Join.mtmali@gmail.com

Indian Male (Diploma in electronics

Engineering and CCNA.) having 9

years of experience in Networking, 5

years’ experience in Oman. Looking

for a suitable Placement. NOC avail-

able. GSM- 93787098,

Email –anishktr@gmail.com

INDIAN MALE 24 YEARS,B. Tech

(Electrical & Electronic).Having 2

years experience as Electrical Site

Engineer in Constructions. Done

IOSH & NEBOSH- IGC certifi cations.

Seeking for suitable placement

in constructions or in any related

industries. Contact no: 98045482,

Email: shannu.hse@gmail.com

Admin, having 10+ years experi-

ence in Admin/HR/Logistics/Time

Keeper, in reputed companies. Pres-

ently working in Muscat.

Contact- 968 94369965

mail - satya1528@gmail.com

Site Supervisor/ L Driver, Pakistani

Male 33 with valid D/L, 4 years

experience in Muscat, fl uent in

English, Arabic looking for suitable

place. Contact: 97950869

Indian male B.Eng. in

IT,CCNA,MCSA,MCSE, 2.5 yrs + exp.

in IT support, Networking and Server

support with valid Omani D/L seeking

suitable placement in IT/Network/

Server support. Contact 92607532

Indian male auto cad draughtsman

(civil) 8 years experience

seeking for part time job

mobile no: 0096899070584,

email: remluvp@gmail.com

Indian Male, 25, Chartered Ac-

countant, working with ICICI Bank

India. On a Visit Visa in Oman.

Staying with parents at Azaibah.

Ph:24492638.

Email: shyamal008@gmail.com

Indian male more than 10 years

gulf experience in Offi ce / Sales

Coordinator, Admin, Secretarial and

purchase with good computer skills.

Having Driving license and NOC

available, looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact 90135063

Tunisian shoes designer wuth

40years expereince in designing

and manifacturing loocking for a job

in a related fi eld contact : 97816917

Indian Male, 28, B.Com, 6+ yrs exp in

Accounts, 2 yrs in Oman with Valid

Oman D/L, NOC available.#9719 4864

Indian male post graduate.2 years

experience in sales. currently in

oman on visit visa.seeks suitable

placement.Gsm 92388346

Civil site coordinator, Diploma,

Male 25, now present in Oman,

Seeking job in Oman. contact

92875345, jubincivileng@gmail.

com

Male Indian 27, working as fi nance

analyst having two years Oman ex-

perience with Driving license looking

for suitable position. Mob: 98097009,

rameesnm@gmail.com

FRESH - B.Com Graduate on Family

Visa, looking for any suitable Job.

Contact : 92567020 / 95322175,

Email: shwayanad@gmail.com

Admin Executive, Indian Female

having 10 years Gulf experience

in seeking suitable placement cur-

rently working in Muscat.

Email: meenafajar@yahoo.com,

Mobile 0096893211402

Indian female MBA Finance cur-

rently on visit visa seeks immediate

placement. Phone: 968-98430089

Indian male,27, IT/Telecom Engi-

neer, 2 yrs exp in Oman, with valid

Oman D/L, NOC Available. contact

93938727

Egyptian very good marketing and

sales skills experience 10 years in

tourism. Contact : 90155723

Indian Female, MBA-HR having 8+

experience in Administration/HR,

Customer Support, Offi ce Coordina-

tor with good Computer skill, now

on Visit Visa ,looking for suitable

position. Contact: 90196235

29 years Indian female (MBA-

Finance) with 4 yrs experience in

Accounts, seeking suitable place-

ment in Accounts/Admin/HR. NOC

available. Contact:96141283

ACCOUNTANT: Indian male 25

having 4years experience in ac-

counting & having well knowledge in

tally. Contact:968 094535881, 0091

9037622048. Email: vishnuraj889@

gmail.com

ACCA fi nalist, Recent B.Com Gradu-

ate, Indian Female, looking for full

time employment in Accounting and

Audit. Contact +96896964379,

sangeethaumesh5@gmail.com

Admin, having 10+ years experi-

ence in Admin/HR/Logistics/Time

Keeper, in reputed companies. Pres-

ently working in Muscat. Contact-

94369965 ,mail - satya1528@gmail.

com

Indian male . 14 yrs experience in

maintenance & Supervisor in hotel

fi eld ( Electrical . Ac Mechanical &

Plumber ) N O C available mob : 95

25 36 40 . email = hareeshma24@

yahoo.com

Indian male B.Eng. in

IT,CCNA,MCSA,MCSE, 2.5 yrs + exp.

in IT support, networking and server

support valid Omani D/L seeking

suitable placement in IT/Network/

Server support. Contact

92607532

ACCA Affi liate, Indian Male, Fresher,

looking for full time employment

in Tax and Audit.+968 91291520,

shahidazeez5@gmail.com

Indian Male, 24 years old recently

completed M.Tech in Off shore Struc-

tures from NIT Calicut, looking for

suitable position. Contact : +91 9833

2485 68, Email: shihabpatel91@

gmail.com

Store Supervisor or Site Supervisor,

Indian male 30 years, looking for

suitable placement in any reputed

company. Having 5 years of gulf ex-

perience with good communication

skills. Willing to work in any GCC

country. Contact: 00968 97756269,

Email: razzakbmt@gmail.com

Chartered CIPD HR, MBA having 5+

years of experience in Oman and 7

years in GCC looking for job opportu-

nities. Call 97728418

Store Supervisor or Site Supervisor

. Indian male 30 years age.

Looking for suitable placement in

any reputed company. Having 5

years of gulf experience with good

communication skills. Willing to

work in any GCC country. Contact

97756269 , Email: razzakbmt@

gmail.com

32 years Indian Male MSC, MBA-

HR having 7+yr Exp(HR and SAP

operations) with Oman valid driving

license, seeking suitable opening in

Human Resource & Admin/backend

jobs.Contact: 00968-99322978

Iranian male. ME Civil- structural

Engineer, 8 Years Structural engineer

experience, Looking for Structural

Designer, supervisor or site engineer

Position. Contact: 93696929

Email: mhsaz1359@gmail.com

Indian looking for a part time ac-

counting or Internal Auditing job,

contact 99196621.

Land Surveyor experience 6 years

in landscape , construction and

roads for contact : 0096895244840,

0096899703488, e-mail:

eng.amr_salama@yahoo.com

Indian male 27, looking for suit-

able placement in Piping Design

& Engineering.Having 7 years of

experience in AutoCAD. Also familiar

with PDMS (11.6 Version),CAESAR ll.

#97351786 / 96143708/ 97357143

Indian female, 25yrs Bsc nursing

with MHA (Master of Hospital Ad-

ministration) looking for a suitable

placement. Currently on visit visa

valid up to 25 November 2015.

Contact: 9951 3267, email:

alinaelshaddai@gmail.com

Pakistani, Male, Pak, Exp 14 Years

in IT Trainer, looking for a better

position in Oman, already working in

Prestigious Construction Company.

#95983711. Join.mtmali@gmail.com

Civil Engineer Indian 20 years expe-

rience (1 year in Oman) in manage-

ment and construction seeks suitable

placement. Contact: 91718976 ,

email : mdnaveed71@gmail.com

ACCA Affi liate, Oxford Brookes

Bsc, 2.5 years experience in audit,

fi nance in Big 6 and oil industry,

NOC release available.

a.saran891@gmail.com, 95140445

Light duty driver, 23yrs. Can speak

Arabic, Hindi, Bangla and under-

stand English. Release available.

Ph.92854775 / 93487450

B.com .5 yrs exp. of oman Looking

for an Accounts job work, preferred

to do from home. Well versed with

TALLY Accounting software.

Contact 95482970

Pakistan Male: 24 years, M.Com

Finance having 2.5 year experience

as a accountant & marketing execu-

tive looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 97670816,

e.mail: naeem.ahsan68@gmail.com

Male, 32 years M.A. English M.Sc

Psychology and B.Ed in English

having 4 years experience in

teaching present company

is ready to issue release letter.

Contact : 99869535

Email: sahadkeyi33@gmail.com

Civil Engineer Indian 20 years expe-

rience (1 year in Oman) in manage-

ment and construction seeks suitable

placement. Contact: 91718976

Filipino (Male), 33 yrs/old, 9 yrs.

experience in marine transporta-

tion (seaman/deck crew), & 3 yrs. in

sales (electronic devices) currently

on visit visa & looking for a suitable

employment. GSM: 94750459

Pakistani, Male, Pak, Exp 14 Years

in Computer Teacher, looking for

a better position in Oman, already

working in Prestigious Construction

Company. Contact:- 95983711,

join.mtmali@gmail.com

ME Civil- structural Engineer, 8 Years Structural engineer

experience, Looking for Structural

Designer, supervisor or site engineer

Position. Iranian male, #93696929

Email: mhsaz1359@gmail.com

ACCOUNTANT, Male, 8 years experi-

ence, presently working in Oman

as a Senior Accountant with Oman

Driving license. NOC available, seeks

suitable opportunity. GSM: 98184170

Indian male, 14 yrs Experience in

Maintenance & Supervisor in hotel

fi eld ( Electrical . Ac Mechanical &

Plumber) N O C available

Contact 95253640

email-hareeshma24@yahoo.com

Senior Accountant Indian male

Graduate CA Articleship completed

18 years of experience currently on

visit visa seeks suitable placement

contact.97498809,93391910

Email.hilariankj@gmail.com

Electrical Maintenance Engineer,

29, Indian Male, having 7+ years exp.

in reputed companies. Seeking suit-

able placement in Oman.

Contact - 98440637. Mail ID :

venkatbadri23@gmail.com

Having 9+ years exp. in Admin &

HR in reputed companies. Presently

working in Muscat and seeking for

suitable placement.

Contact No.: 97693456. email :

muralimahdav77@gmail.com

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D6 M O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTED

SITUATION WANTED

SIT.WANTED

Female MBA gold medalist, with

computer profi ciency, Oman driving

license looking for job opportunity

in event management companies in

Muscat. Ph : 99012949

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, Indian

male,29 years.8 years experience

.Presently working in Oman as a

Senior Accountant with oman Driv-

ing license. NOC available. Seek suit-

able opportunity. GSM: 97705854

Two year experience in Oman,

experience in sales, purchase and

system admin, Having GCC license.

Contact number 97475860,

Yadhukrishnan08@gmail.com

Indian Male, 32 yrs, MBA-HR, Train-

er & Faculty worked on Omanisation

& nationals development activities

with 10 yrs of experience seeking

suitable job. Contact : 93891401

saiprasad_18@yahoo.com

Sudanese 29 male (Bsc computer

science,diploma computer engineer-

ing), 6 yrs. experience dba oracle pl-

sql , ms sql-server ,ms visual studio

vba,network Omani Driver licence

language English, Arabic

Tel: 91415886

Piping Design Engineer, Indian

male 27, looking for suitable place-

ment in Piping Design & Engineer-

ing. Having 7 years of experience in

AutoCAD. Also familiar with PDMS

(11.6 Version),CAESAR ll. Contact :

97351786 / 96143708/97357143

Indian female, 24yrs, M.COM (Ac-

counts) having 3 yrs experience

in Accounts, HR, Administration,

Customer Service. Good Computer

Profi ciency seeking Suitable Posi-

tion. Visa Transfer/NOC Available.

Contact: 99654913

Diploma in civil engineering having

an experience 24years (20years

in Oman) experience in Estimator

/ quantity surveyor looking for a

suitable placement, willing to join

immediately Contact : 96328687

Indian male B.Eng. in IT,CCNA,

MCSA, MCSE, 2yrs + exp. in IT sup-

port, networking and server support

valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement in IT/Network/Server

support. Contact 92607532

Indian male, 14 yrs Experience in

Maintenance & Supervisor in hotel fi eld

( Electrical. Ac Mechanical & Plumber )

N O C available #95253640 .

email = hareeshma24@yahoo.com

ME Civil- structural Engineer, 8 Years Structural engineer ex-

perience, Looking for Structural

Designer, supervisor or site engineer

Position. Iranian male. #93696929,

Email: mhsaz1359@gmail.com

Indian Male 26 years MCA, MCSE

2012 certifi ed, Microsoft Exchange

Server Administration, having 1 year

experience in IT/System Administra-

tion looking for suitable placement.

Contact Mob : 00968 92745708

Email: nabeelmmkty@gmail.com,

Light duty driver, Young and honest.

Can speak Arabic, Hindi and under-

stand English. Release available.

Ph.92854775 / 93487450

Indian female with MBA on visit

visa seeking immediate placement.

Contact - 968-93316493

27,male,ACCA fi nalist, have profes-

sional experience upto fi nalization

of accounts, statutory and internal

audit, expertise in using tally and

focus & oracle software, have 3.5

years experience in accounts till

fi nalization and statutory audit,

seeking for permanent replacement

,GSM-97654769,email id-

abdullah.nooralam@yahoo.com

Sudanese male, 31 years, have 3

year Diploma in electrical engineer

, 6 year experience in construction

and electrical production plant .

Mobile No ; +96894549609

Indian male, B.com, MBA, having

5 years experience (3 years in U.A.E)

is currently seeking suitable op-

portunities within fi nance/accounts/

admin dept.Contact:93953613,

allen.mathew83@gmail.com

B.Com graduate, 11 years experi-

ence in Accounts, 9 years Oman

experience , Oman valid driving

license, looking for suitable post.

Mob:92758404 NOC Available.

Indian male 27 years B.E & MS Me-

chanical Engineer working in Delhi

for last 4 years inJcb India pvt. ltd.,

seeks placement in Oman.

Contact: 93393768

Driver looking for job exp 2 yrs.

Contact: 98522914

Indian female B. Com MBA fi nance

,5 years experience in oman as an

account seeking suitable placement.

Contact 99044292

Indian Male 22 Years , Graduation

In Electronics Seeking Jobs In Su-

pervisory , Sales & Sales Co-ordina-

tion Fields , Good Communication

Skill Contact 96141317,

E-mail: akhilek5@gmail.com

DIPLOMA+B.E.(CIVIL ENGINEER),

Indian, 4 years of experience, cur-

rently on visit visa; Seeking Right

Position. GSM:91570703.

Indian male 23 years Graduate,

working as a sales coordinator cum

purchase & offi ce coordination 2 yrs

in oman Having oman license & NOC

looking for suitable job in Muscat

Email:yadhukrishnan08@gmail.com,

GSM:97475860

ME. Civil Engineer, Structural

Designer, 3 Years Structural Design,

6 Years Str. Engineer Experience,

Looking For Structural Designer Po-

sition. Iranian Male. #93696929,

Email: mhsaz1359@gmail.com

Male Graphic designer cum anima-

tion, non linear editing VFX, seeking

suitable position.

Contact: 97792661 / 96229406

B-tech Electrical Engineer with

more than 2 years of experience in

erection and designing of HT and LT

electrical systems. Seeking for

suitable job in Muscat. #98269366.

Email: sijincleetus@gmail.com

Indian Female BSC nurse with 8+

years of experience including 3

years of GCC exp. Oman Prometric

passed with 57 %. Currently in Oman.

Contact : 98034384

Data Entry operator cum Buyer,

Indian male,26years.BA, Computer

profi ciency :Operating system (Win-

dows 2000xp & Windows7) E plus

and Tally ERP9, 4 yrs Experience in

Oman seeks suitable placements.

Mob: 95360255

Senior Accounts Professional,

Indian Male, 36 years, M.Com, MBA

(Fin) 9 years in Oman, with valid

Oman DL and NOC available. Capable

to handle accounts up to fi nalization.

Contact 9602 3965.

Driver 5 years exp know English,

Arabic,& Hindi Education B.A.

Contact : 91615715 / 99512270

Indian Male 24 years, Looking for a

Suitable Job in Telecom / Network-

ing, 1 year sales experience. M. Sc.

Communications Engineering &

Valid Driving license. Ph: 91280121.

Email: jackrprasad@yahoo.com

Indian lady 30 years Graduate hav-

ing work experience in India and

Oman looking for Admin or any other

suitable job. Contact : 95676957

Indian male, 39 yrs, MSC Computer

Science 10 years experience IT sup-

port, FMS Engineer, bank experience

looking for suitable job. #94276449

Indian, presently on visit visa

in Salalah looking for job B.com

failed UAE experience in accounts,

commercial Admin & warehouse.

Contact: 92754071 /93346931

Email: sathyanathanuk@gmail.com

MBA (Marketing /HR) with 45 years

exp in business development and

marketing, having valid Oman driv-

ing license seeks suitable placement

currently available on family visa.

Contact 97618033

Email: vjgeorge12@gmail.com

Indian, male, 41 years, CA Inter,

Persuing CA fi nal. Now on express

visa. 7 years of Experience in OMAN

as Finance and Accounts Manager in

Trading , Construction and Firefi ght-

ing industry. 21 Years of exp. seeking

suitable Managerial positions. No

visa issues. Immediate joining.

Contact 98469311

Email:sebin30@yahoo.co.in

Indian male 63 years have 30 years

Muscat experience all offi ce work

sales business development insurance

administration accounts with Oman

driving license. Contact 99249412

Indian female LLB (Advocate) 2

years experience looking for suitable

post legal advisor company secretary

etc. # 93343190 / 94476387

Email: shafu1019@gmail.com

Indian Female Accountant, CA Final

(Group I cleared), 5+ year’s experi-

ence in the fi eld of Accounts, Audit

and Financial ERPs. Currently avail-

able in Muscat and seeking suitable

job opportunities.Ph:94704800

email id: vinithsavith@gmail.com

B.E (IT) 1 year exp complete school-

ing in Muscat needs job in software

/ net working / java/ WEB design or

marketing. #97136248 / 99313821

Indian female, B.Sc, PGDCA, cur-

rently on family joining visa, 2 years

working experience in oman as

customer care / sales co-ordinator,

immediate joining seeks suitable

placements. Contact no. (968)

95573205 / 95949230 / 95800792

Indian male 22 years ACCA affi liate ,

BSc, Graduate in applied accounting 2

months working experience seeking

suitable placement in Finance / Ac-

counts / audit immediately. Contact:

97378607 / 92558734

B-tech Electrical Engineer with more

than 2 years of experience in erection

and designing of HT and LT electrical

systems. Seeking for suitable job in

Muscat. Contact: 98269366.

Email: sijincleetus@gmail.com

Project Manager / Senior Engi-

neer, Indian Male BE Civil, 21yrs

experienced including Oman looking

for the Job Contact +918939295181

Email I’D 58031_bala@yahoo.co.in

Indian male 26 , graduate in me-

chanical engineering having 2 years

experience in fabrication production

fi led in India, looking for a suitable

job. mobile: +968-91384621

EMAIL : rmekhil@hotmail.com

Sr. Sales Executive, Indian Male,

Holding Valid Oman DL. Total experi-

ence in Oman of 15 years with 4 years

Rent a Car Co. experience. Looking

for Opportunities in any Industry for

similar sales role. # 95703233

email id “khetani_r@yahoo.com

29 years Indian female (MBA-

Finance) with 4+yrs experience

(Oman) in Accounts, seeking suit-

able placement in Accounts/Admin.

Contact:96141283

INDIAN MALE 23 YEARS,B. Tech

(Electrical & Electronic). Done IOSH

& NEBOSH- IGC certifi cations. Look-

ing for HSE engineer job in Oil Gas

Sector, constructions or in any re-

lated industries. Contact 98045482

Indian male. M.com holder with two

year working experience as an ac-

countant in India. Now at Muscat on

visiting visa. Seeks suitable place-

ment. Gsm:96947500,99463120,

:mohamedshafi kk5@gmail.com

ACCOUNTANT, Indian male,29

years.8 years experience .Presently

working in Oman as a Senior Ac-

countant with oman Driving license.

NOC available seek suitable opportu-

nity. GSM: 97705854

Civil site coordinator, Diploma,

Male 25, now present in Oman, Seek-

ing job in Oman. Contact 92887561,

jubincivileng@gmail.com

B-tech Electrical engineer with more

than 2 years of experience in erection

and designing of HT and LT electri-

cal systems. Seeking for suitable

job in Muscat. Contact:98269366.

Email:sijincleetus@gmail.com

Indian Female B.Sc., B.Ed.(Maths),

M.C.A residing in Al-Ghubra seek-

ing a teaching position as a Math

Teacher GSM.- 94231633

Female, Indian, 35 Yrs- house maid

available for Full/Part time work in

Muscat. contact- 96754303.

Indian male, ERP Functional Con-

sultant (SCM, MM, HRMS), Seeks

employment.Contact: 98478928,

Email: anand.desai2408@gmail.com

Indian male , 14 yrs Experience in

maintenance & Supervisor in otel

fi eld ( Electrical . Ac Mechanical &

Plumber ) N O C available#95253640

email hareeshma24@yahoo.com

Piping Design Engineer, Indian

male 27, looking for suitable place-

ment in Piping Design & Engineer-

ing. Having 7 years of experience in

AutoCAD. Also familiar with PDMS

(11.6 Version),CAESAR ll. Contact :

97351786 / 96143708, Email :

mohammednazeer07@gmail.com

Indian male 28YRS, 7Years exp. in

Architectural & structural Draughts-

man & 3d visualization, looking for a

suitable Post GSM: +971551965944.

Email:aboosufi yan@gmail.com

MOH Indian Dentist 10 years experi-

ence in Oman. Can speak Arabic, has

driving license. Contact

98995321 or

ventureoman007@gmail.com

Having 9+ years exp. in Adminis-

tration & HR in reputed companies.

Presently working in Muscat and

seeking for suitable placement.

Contact No.: 97693456. Email :

muralimahdav77@gmail.com

Omani , female, have diploma in

quantity survey, bachelor in Constitu-

tion management, seeking situated

placement at Sohar. Tel 94454180,

Mail nhlmct@yahoo.com

ACCOUNTANT, Indian male, 29

years.8 years experience .Presently

working in Oman as a Senior Ac-

countant with oman Driving license.

NOC available. Seek suitable oppor-

tunity. GSM: 98184170

DAILY GUIDEM O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5 D7

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

Split & widow unit A.C servicing &

repairing. Contact: 99557080

Split & window unit A.C servicing

& maintenance.

Contact: 96236476

Window & split unit A.C servicing

& maintenance.

Contact: 93769089 / 95323517

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet

& sofa shampooing, Contact

99314807/24792998

House shifting & packing. Contact: 99657644 /

98518013

General cleaning &

Shampooing. Ocean Center LLC.

Contact: 99344723/99357908

Water proofi ng ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your

marble. #24793614/ 99314807

Air condition maintenance instal-

lation window AC, split a/c, ducted

AC and package type units.

Contact: 98667326

Window & split unit A.C servicing

& maintenance.

Contact 93769089 / 95323517

Used house & offi ce furniture

& electronic items. Contact:

99834373 / 96642500

Pest Control Treatments, Cockroaches, Ants, Rodents &

Termites, Ocean Center LLC.

Contact: 99344723/ 99357908

Supply fi xing Wallpapers,

all carpets. Contact: 99834373 /

96642500

One stop shop business services : Public Relation (PRO) formation new

companies, LLC companies, Investor

visa, business setup, prepare busi-

nesses & companies accounts, legal

services, representing you and your

company. Contact: Saleh :

96723485

WEBSITE

WEB, ERP and Business Intelligence (BI) creation and management at

rock bottom price. Contact: http//webviewoman

SIT.WANTED

SIT.WANTED

SIT.WANTED

Indian male Nurse 5 years ICU

experience prometric 63% and BLS,

ACLS puss, looking for suitable job

currently on visit visa.

Contact: 93894049 Email:

basilbabybasilbaby@gmail.com

Indian male 29 years B.Tech & MBA

with 1.2 years experience in Oman

as Electronic Engineer seeking for a

suitable job. Contact:

92085082 Email: suhailece.61@

gmail.com

BE Civil Engineer with 11 years of

experience in building construc-

tion with valid Oman DL, looking for

suitable placement, NOC available.

Please contact 91329910

Indian female, B.Sc, PGDCA, cur-

rently on family joining visa, 2 years

working experience in oman as

customer care / sales co-ordinator.

immediate joining seeks

suitable placements. contact no.

(968) 95573205 /95949230/

95800792

Indian Male, 25, C.A., 2 years experi-

ence as Credit Manager with ICICI

Bank India on Visit Visa. Staying

with parents at Azaibah.

Ph: 24492638. Email:

shyamal008@gmail.com

27,male, ACCA fi nalist, have profes-

sional experience upto fi nalisation

of accounts, statutory and internal

audit, expertise in using tally and

focus & oracle softaware, have 3.5

years experience in accounts till

fi nalisation and statutory audit,

seeking for permanent replacement

GSM-97654769, email id-

abdullah.nooralam@yahoo.com

Indian Male, 29, 9 years exp in

Sales in Oman (Buraimi) with valid

D/L looking for suitable placements,

NOC available .Ph: 9360 1947

INDIAN MALE 23 YEARS, B. Tech

(Electrical & Electronic) having

4 years working experience as an

Electrical site Engineer. Looking for

suitable job in Oil Gas Sector or in re-

lated industries. Contact 98045482

Indian Female, M.Com & MBA with

1.5 years of experience in Reinsur-

ance Treaty seeking a good job

opportunity in Insurance & Reinsur-

ance Accounts or General Accounts.

Contact: +968 91920189, Email:

neethumano.manohar@gmail.com

CCNA MCITP network support / net-

work technician with 2 years experi-

ence Indian male having bachelors

degree on visit visa. #93080871

sean.f.peters@outlook.com

8 yrs exp 2d, 3d draughtsman

(HOLDING OMANI DRIVING LICENSE)

seeking job. Contact : 93790601

ME. Civil Engineer, Structural

Designer, 3 Years Structural Design,

6 Years Str Supervising Experience,

Looking For Structural Designer Posi-

tion. Iranian Male. # 93696929

Email: mhsaz1359@gmail.com

BSC Female Nurse having 8 years of

experience ( 3 years in gulf). Promet-

ric passed - 57%. Currently in Oman.

Contact : 98034384

ACCOUNTANT, Male, 8 years expe-

rience .Presently working in Oman

as a Senior Accountant with Oman

Driving license. NOC available seeks

suitable opportunity. GSM: 98184170

ACCOUNTANT, M.Com holder with

2 year working experience as an ac-

countant in Kerela-India, seeks suit-

able placement. GSM NO:96947500,

9 9463120, mail:

mohamedshafi kk5@gmail.com

Indian Male 22 Years, Graduation In

Electronics Seeking Jobs In Supervi-

sory , Sales & Sales Co-ordination

Fields , Good Communication Skill

Contact 96141317,

E-mail: akhilek5@gmail.com

Sudanese.male 32 years.B.SC

mechanical engineer.7years

experience.5 years experiance in

Gulf.working now in water pipeline

projects.fl uent Arabic and English.

have Omani driving license.looking

for good opportunity TEl:91117089

Filipino (male), 37 yrs. old, having

8yrs. experience in Operation (Ship-

ping & Logistics) currently on visit

visa looking for suitable job.

GSM: 97121525

Chartered Accountant with 7 years

of post qualifi cation experience,

seeking challenging job opportunity.

Experience in auditing/accounts &

fi nance/taxation/IFRS, etc.

GSM +968 95763680

Indian Female Interior Designer, 4.5

yrs experience, seeking immediate

mid-senior level position with fi rm

having lady clearance. NOC Avail-

able. Contact 93033072

Indian Male 22 years, ACCA Af-

fi liate with B..Sc. Degree in Applied

Accounting having three months

working experience seeking suitable

placement in Finance / Accounts /

Audit. Holding valid Oman D/L.

Contact 97378607 / 92558734

Indian female Nurse, Prometric

passed 64%, 5 years of experience,

MOH licensed, presently working in

Oman seeking a suitable placement

in reputed Hospitals, NOC available.

Contact: 98329941,

Email: ancyanish2011@gmail.com.

Female from India -MA. B.Ed. with

One year three months Teaching

experience. English seeking for a

urgent better placement, Now work-

ing in Oman. #93961142, 92184408

Email:-anoopkesavan78@gmail.com.

Driver with car seeking suitable

post. Contact : 916602662

Video Editor 29 years Indian male

with 8 years experience on visit visa

looking for a suitable placement.

Contact: 91275969 /

leomoorkoth@gmail.com

Syrian male 3yrs. exp in IT support,

Networking, Security systems, Serv-

er support, IT sales and marketing.

Valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement. Contact 91033395

8 yrs exp 2d, 3d Draughtsman (HOLDING OMANI DRIVING

LICENSE) seeking job.

Contact 97449630

Indian male MBA + TALLY , 29 years

& 7years experience in Administra-

tion and Manager level in Reputed

companies, Seeking suitable place-

ment. Contact 96297709 /

+91 9066130371,

Email: jomonjohnm9@gmail.com

Accountant 7 years experience

with D/L and NOC. #97712084

Indian Male 24 years, Looking for

a Suitable Job in Telecom / Net-

working. 1 year sales experience.

MSc. Communications Engineer-

ing & Valid Driving license.

Ph: 91280121.

Email: jackrprasad@yahoo.com

Finance Manager / Chief Ac-

countant / Audit Manager, C.A ,

MBA ,ACCA , CPA..15years in GULF

, Expert in Banking ,Financing,

Profi t Maximizations , Admin &

Management, Business Develop-

ments , ERPs Software’s, Audit Exp.

with Big 5 , NOC & Driving License

Call 94403270 or 94504505

29 years Indian female (MBA-

Finance) with 4+yrs experience

(Oman) in Accounts is seeking

suitable placement in Accounts/

Admin. Contact:96141283.

MEP Quantity Surveyor-Estima-

tion-Project, 10 Years Experience

(3 years in Oman). Having NOC &

Oman D/L. Looking for suitable job,

Contact – 98291626

ACCOUNTANT, Indian Male, 25

years old, 5 years Experience (2

years in Oman & 3 years in India)

Presently working in Oman. Going

exit on this week with NOC.

Seeking suitable opportunities.

GSM : 97018783

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, Indian

male,29 years.8 years experience

.Presently working in Oman as

a Senior Accountant with oman

Driving license. NOC available.

Seek suitable opportunity. GSM:

97705854

*Classifi ed Advertisement space booking with

text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s

publication. * Subject to space availability

Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile pol-

ishing, pest control & anti-termite

treatment, general cleaning paint-

ing, Plumbing, Electrical, shifting.

Contact Mundhir Al-Rizaiqi trading.

L.L.C. contact 24810137, 99450130

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. Contact ABU QABAS-

99320217 /24788722

Indian male Auto cad Draughtsman

(civil) 8 years experience seeking for

part time job. contact 99070584,

Email: remluvp@gmail.com

Indian male 27, looking for suitable

placement in Piping Design & Engi-

neering, having 7 years of experience

in AutoCAD. Also familiar with PDMS

(11.6 Version), CAESAR ll. Contact :

97351786 / 96143708, E-mail :

mohammednazeer07@gmail.com

Indian male having 14years of

experience in HR, Purchase Dept,

having Oman driving license

looking for a suitable position at

Salalah. Noc available.

Contact : 91182907

Mail: Madhuvtk@ gmail.com

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT Indian male

55 years. 30 Years experience, pres-

ently working in Oman as a Senior

Accountant last 10 years.

NOC available, seek

suitable opportunity. GSM

99685800.

Email:- sanatoman@gmail.com

Female, BE(hons) Systems Admin-

istration, 2 years teaching experi-

ence. Seeking suitable placement in

Higher Education/Training industry.

Email: sadia_fatima@hotmail.com

Contact:96447091

Indian male, 27 years, BCom CA In-

ter, Pursuing CA fi nal and MBA with

5 years work experience (2 years

GCC), currently working

as a cost accountant

seeks suitable placement. Contact:

94390660

Indian male B.Eng. in IT,CCNA,

MCSA,MCSE, 2yrs + exp. in IT sup-

port, networking and server support

valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement in IT/Network/Server sup-

port. Contact 92607532

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

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RENT A CAR

RENT A CAR

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise

with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain

Marine Tours Contact- 98029602,

92808636

TOURS

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SITUATION WANT-CARGO

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