times of oman - january 28, 2016

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

January 28, 2016 18 Rabi Al Thani 1437 AH

THURSDAY

288 40

On the occasion of the 29th National Day, 1999

FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTYTHE SULTAN

We urge the international community to work wholeheartedly to find solutions to all problems that are distressing the world and endangering peace. These solutions must relieve the oppressed from tyranny, establish security and stability, harmony and co-operation among all nations; God will help us.

‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Temperature is ex-pected to drop from Wednesday as northern parts of Oman will witness dust and sandstorms in the coming three days, reducing the visibility, according to the Meteorological Department.

“The latest analysis from the Multi Hazard Early Warning Centre showed that the north-ern parts of the Sultanate will be affected by an upper air trough starting from Wednesday that will continue for the next three

days,” the Meteorological Depart-ment said in an advisory issued on Wednesday.

Fresh north-westerly winds are expected to blow over most of Oman, associated with a notice-able decrease in temperature and dust rising winds.

“The sea is expected to be moderate to rough along most of the coasts, with maximum wave height ranging between two and three metres,” the advisory added.

The Public Authority for Civil Aviation has advised citizens and residents to take precautions

during low visibility. “We also advise that the fisher-

men and sea-goers should make sure that the sea conditions are not unstable and they should fol-low the latest updates from Na-tional Multi Hazards Early Warn-ing Centre,” an official said.

In its 24-hour outlook, the Meteorological Department said that the weather is expected to be cloudy over the Musandam gov-ernorate, coastal areas of the Sea of Oman and Al Hajar Mountains, with chances of isolated rain from Wednesday until Thursday night.

Weatherforecast Wednesday

27

Day Night

Thursday28

Friday29

Saturday30

Sunday31

Monday1

January February

Tuesday2

30

20

25

15

0102030

Source: The Weather Channel | Oman Meteorological Department Graphics

Temperature(in degrees Celsius)

(Muscat)

Wind speed (Km/h)

18

26 26

16 161517

20 20

23 2322

2924 21 21 211826

2221

6:35am

5:35pm

100% ownership for foreign investors?

REJIMON K [email protected]

MUSCAT: Expatriates will be al-lowed to start a business without an Omani partner and no mini-mum capital requirement will be necessary if a draft law prepared by the Ministry of Commerce and

Industry (MoCI) is approved by the government. The new foreign capital investment law, which is in its third and final drafting stage, will allow 100 per cent for-eign ownership and remove the minimum capital requirement to provide foreign investors with an open market in Oman.

“A number of multination-als are unwilling to have a local shareholder for their own reasons including, commercial, opera-tional, legal, etc. Therefore, such multinationals, that are reluctant to invest in Oman due to this re-quirement, will be attracted under the new law to invest in Oman,”

Ahmed Amor Al Esry, managing partner at Ernst and Young (EY) Muscat, told the Times of Oman.

Under the current law, foreign investors are required to have a local shareholder, with at least a 35 per cent stake.

On Monday, the ONA had re-ported that in collaboration with the World Bank, the MoCI has completed the third draft of the new foreign investment law and the revision of the foreign invest-ment map.

Quoting Sheikh Hamad bin Jabr Al Mahrouqi, director gen-eral of Planning and Follow-Up, at the MoCI, ONA reported that the new law would provide a condu-cive environment for investment and make Oman more attractive for investments. >A6

Expats may no

longer need an

Omani partner to

open a businessT O P T H R E E I N S I D E S T O R I E S

A3A makeover for traditional jewellery

Dust, sandstorms to hit Oman; temperature expected to drop

W E A T H E R A D V I S O R Y

Omani rial is currently the minimum capital

requirement for a foreign investor to start

business in Oman

150,000

MORNING MINUTE

HM STRESSES ON ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATIONHis Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said presid-ed over the meeting of the Council of Minis-ters at Bait Al Baraka yesterday. His Majesty the Sultan emphasised the need for economic diversification and en-couragement to invest-ment. See also >A6Photos by Mohammed Mustafa

HM receives thanksMUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has received a cable of thanks from President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania in reply to His Maj-esty’s congratulatory cable on the occasion of his country’s 55th Independence Anniversa-ry. In his cable, President Ould Abdel Aziz expressed his utmost thanks for His Majesty the Sul-tan’s sincere feelings, praying to Allah to grant His Majesty a good health and happiness and the Omani people further pro-gress and prosperity. -ONA

M A U R I T A N I A

Times News Services

MUSCAT: Oman’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) has directed one of the insurance companies in Oman to stop charging a new type of insur-ance fee, according to the CMA’s official Twitter account.

The CMA said the decision had been taken following a number of complaints about the new vehicle insurance fees, fol-lowing which CMA had ordered the insurance company to stop levying the new fee and stick to the old system.

The regulatory body tweeted that it had also asked the insur-ance company to provide docu-ments justifying its move to apply the new vehicle insurance fee.

OMANA treat for stargazers

1 Stargazers can watch a celestial phenomenon involving five planets if they

climb a mountain. >A3

OMANOmantel’s TV service

2Omantel announced the launch of OmantelTV+ service. >A6

MARKETDeal for car unit

3A car manufacturing facility has been planned in Duqm. >B1

Firm told to scrap new insurance fee on vehicles

C M A

A2 T H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

OMAN

Indian violin maestro to perform in SultanateTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Indian violin maes-tro, Dr L Subramaniam, will be the highlight of the gala dinner hosted for the speakers of the .Open Minds conference at the Shangri La Barr Al Jissah on February 10 and 11.

The dinner, which is being held in honour of the speakers of the two-day thought festival, will be held at the Turtle Beach—a se-cluded beach located on the edge of the mountain—of Shangri La on the evening of February 10.

Virtuosity of styleSubramaniam, hailed as the “Pa-ganini of Indian classical music” is known to combine the seren-ity of Indian classical music with the magnetism of western music to conquer audiences with the el-egance and virtuosity of his style.

He is the only musician, who has performed and recorded South Indian classical music,

western classical music, both or-chestral and non-orchestral and also composed for and conducted major orchestras; he has scored

for films and collaborated with a wide range of musicians from different genres of music. Critics cite him as a, “musical force that is strongly India, but universal in nature and approach.”

Subramaniam is all set to daz-zle with a “fusion music perfor-mance” at the dinner.

Top global speakersThe .Open Minds thought lead-ership forum will see top global speakers, including Entrepre-neur Chris Gardner, Princess Beatrice of York, Dutch football legend Ruud Gullit and other thought and change leaders.

The event is presented by Areej Vegetable Oils and Deriva-tives (AVOD). Merge and Al Wis-al are the radio partners and the Times of Oman and Al Shabiba are the media partners.

For more information and registration, contact: 99620757, 95122430; email: [email protected]

. O P E N M I N D S C O N F E R E N C E

Dr L Subramaniam is known to

combine the serenity of Indian

classical music with the mag-

netism of western. – Supplied photo

34 arrested in a day for labour law violations

Times News Service

MUSCAT: An inspection team formed by the Ministry of Man-power in Tiwi in South Sharqiyah Governorate on Tuesday arrested 34 non-Omani individuals for vio-lating the labour law.

A joint inspection team of the ministry monitored the non-Om-ani workforce for five days.

The campaign included Seeb, Baushar, Muttrah and Amerat, which concluded with the arrest of 20 labour law violators.

In similar news, a joint inspec-tion team from the ministry ar-rested 384 people found in viola-tion of the labour law between January 17 and 23.

Of these, 309 worked in the commercial sector, 26 in farming and 49 were domestic servants.

Going through the violations of those arrested, 180 of them had ab-sconded, 162 were relieved of their duties, while 35 were referred to the ministry from other parties.

M I N I S T R Y O F M A N P O W E R

Race to encourage cycling in OmanERIK PRINS [email protected]

MUSCAT: Spreading aware-ness about the benefits of cycling in Oman is one of the aims of the Trans Hajar Mountain Bike Race, which is being organised by the Oman Cycling Association (OCA) next month.

To be held from February 22 to 25, the 321-kilometre route will take riders across some of the Sul-tanate’s most spectacular and rug-ged landscape, with challenging climbs, descents and customised single-track racing through the eastern Hajar Mountains.

Saif bin Sabaa Al Rushaidi, di-rector of the OCA, said during a press conference that one of the

aims of the four-day race will be to spread awareness about the im-portance of cycling and its health benefits. He said young Omanis in particular will be encouraged to take part in the race, whatever their experience may be.

This year, there is also the possi-bility of local schools being allowed to participate in the race, Rob Gard-ner, manager of the race, explained. Gardner said schools will have to make bikes available for children to use on an alternative track. “Chil-dren will be able to meet profes-sional riders and their local idols, giving them someone to look up to and to show them what kind of ded-ication is needed to excel.”

In addition, locals might also be allowed to come and join the race

for a day. The race is now also open to non-competitive riders, who want to join in the fun, he added.

Chris Boardman, a famous cy-clist from the United Kingdom, and an advocate of increasing the role of cycling as a means of transport, told the Times of Oman (TOO) that events, such as the Trans Hajar Race, make cycling visible to the general public.

“Such races encourage people to go and try the sport themselves or simply start cycling to work. It normalises cycling, as it is con-stantly visible,” he added.

Noting the health benefits of cycling, Boardman stressed the potential of Oman for developing a healthier lifestyle by using bicycles.

“What you need in a car-orient-

ed society, which has the desire to change into a more cycle- oriented society,” he added.

Boardman said the change would also help counter the prob-lem of obesity, just as it does in the United Kingdom.

Events, such as the Trans Hajar Race and the Tour of Oman have already helped to create awareness and improved cycling infrastruc-ture in Oman. Al Rushaidi, direc-tor of the OCA, told TOO.

“Oman is not yet a cycling nation, but awareness has gained momen-tum and we are on track to improve the infrastructure,” he stated. Al Rushaidi said that the creation of new cycling paths in Muttrah, Azai-ba and Seeb are just the beginning of such improvements.

384 is the number of people found

in violation of the labour law

between January 17 and 23.

MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE: To be held from February 22 to 25, the

321-kilometre Trans Hajar Mountain Bike Race will take riders

across some of the Sultanate’s most spectacular and rugged

landscape. -Jun Estrada

A3

OMANT H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

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Giving Omani jewellery a modern makeoverTARIQ AL HAREMI [email protected]

MUSCAT: Diamonds or gold are usually considered a woman’s best friend, but semi-precious stones are quickly climbing up the trend ladder in women’s jewellery.

Boutique Tariq features in to-day’s #OmanPride, where a vi-sionary owner modernises tradi-tional Omani jewellery, such as necklaces, bracelets and earrings, using semi-precious stones and pure Omani silver.

Tariq Mohammad Abu Bakr Al Balushi, the owner and the man behind the intricate designs, has been working on innovative and modern jewellery with an Omani twist for 20 years at the store his father opened 45 years ago.

“This was my father’s business and I took over after he passed away. We used to sell big, chunky (Omani) jewellery, until I had the idea of integrating semi-precious stones with Omani silver,” said Al

Balushi. “We keep changing the designs and making new pieces; and every six months we display a collection… more-so whenever the time is right,” he added.

Each design is unique and one-of-a-kind. Customers leave the store knowing they purchased a piece of jewellery that has not been duplicated, nor existed anywhere other than in their possession.

When Tariq first started carry-ing out his ideas, he handcrafted the jewellery himself. Today he owns a workshop with five trained employees to make his designs come to life.

Stones, such as amethyst, tur-quoise, quartz, marjan, amazonite and aquamarine, as well as pearls, are added to traditional Omani sil-ver jewellery to give it the pop and modernity that today’s trend in jewellery is showing.

Tariq uses 925 pure Omani sil-

ver. He explained that he has a large cache of silver, such as tra-ditional anklets, bracelets and old Omani silver coins, which his staff melts and uses for their Omani-inspired silver designs.

It is unfortunate that the stones used are from around the world

and not Omani, Tariq stated. He travels to Hong Kong twice a year to attend a jewellery exhibition, buys the stones himself from sev-eral dealers and brings them back to the Sultanate for his designs.

He expressed his frustration that mining or retrieving stones from Omani soil is banned by the gov-ernment. “We have plenty of stones in Oman. The mountains are filled with amazing stones, kile turquoise and granite. The only problem is we are not allowed to take them.

“Besides, if I wanted to take a rock, I’m going to need machines to cut the stones and special tools,and such requests are not granted, since collecting precious stones is banned,” Al Balushi stated.

His boutique is located on the narrow alleyway leading inside the market, near the gold market build-ing of Muttrah Souq, lane 1427, shop number 1494. It is open from Saturday to Thursday from 10am to 1pm and 4pm to 10pm. Prices range from OMR25 – OMR600.

T R E N D S

Climb peaks to get good view of rare planetary event

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Stargazers will have to trek up the mountains of Oman if they want to have a good view of five planets that are currently visible simultaneously in the sky, an event that had last occurred 11 years ago.

Speaking to the Times of Oman, Mohammed Yahya Al Hijri, mem-ber of the Oman Astronomical Society, said this is a rare treat for those, who like to watch the night sky.

“During the next few weeks, citizens and expatriates of Oman can witness at least three to four planets from Oman if not five in the early hours of morning,” he

revealed. The five planets—Mer-cury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn—appear along an arch in the sky called the ecliptic. Gener-ally, only a few of these planets are visible in the sky at the same time.

What is rather special about the current alignment is that the five planets are currently on one side of the Sun, which means dur-ing a certain period of the night, they will all be in the sky together. “But from Oman it would be hard to see Mercury as it will be close to Sun,” Al Hijri said.

He also pointed out that the best place to spot the planets is from

the mountains of Oman, such as Jebel Shams. “People can watch this extravaganza where there is more darkness,” he stated.

HoursTechnically, the planets will be visible in the sky in the early morning hours during the next few weeks.

“The best time to see them to-gether will be the first week of February,” he said.

That is because Mercury, the smallest of the planets, which is also the nearest to the Sun, is currently too close to the hori-zon. “But during the first week of February, Mercury will be located a little higher on the horizon. So, all the planets will have a clear view an hour before sunrise,” they added.

This celestial event had last occurred between December 15, 2004 and January 15, 2005. The alignment will soon repeat itself in August this year, when these planets appear in the evening sky.

Some of the planets, of course, will be up in the sky much before dawn. Planets rise and set roughly along the same path as the Sun and the Moon. Jupiter will be the first to rise, followed by Mars after midnight and then Saturn, Venus and Mercury.

Mountains of

Oman like Jebel

Shams offer the

best vantage point

for the celestial

extravaganza

What is special about the cur-

rent alignment is that the five

planets are on one side of Sun.

Noted poet laid to restSHAHZAD [email protected]

MUSCAT: Many eyes were moist yesterday when a large number of Omani and Pakistani community members laid to rest Qazi Muhammed Yousuf, an Omani businessman and a leading literary figure, at the Al Amerat graveyard.

Yousuf died on Tuesday, just two days before his 98th birth-day, after a prolonged illness. He was a known writer and poet, whose work was published in literary magazines in Pakistan.

He was widely respected by the Pakistani community too for his meritorious services over six decades in Oman. “It’s a great loss for us. May Allah Almighty rest his soul in eternal peace,” said Ayaz Hussain, Pa-kistan’s ambassador to Oman.

Yousuf was awarded the Ex-cellence Award by the Pakistan Social Club Oman (PSC) on August 14 last year in recogni-tion of his life-long services to the community. “We have lost a great friend and patron. Qazi Yousuf was a major inspiration for those wanting to work for others,” said Mian Mohammed Munir, chairman, PSC Oman.

Q A Z I M U H A M M E D Y O U S U F

A lot in Oman yet to

be explored: Official

Staff Reporter

MUSCAT: Oman is one of the key tourist destinations among the GCC countries and tourists need to continue exploring the Sultanate, says Rafeeq Moham-med, Chief Operating Officer of ITL world.

Oman is a natural tourist des-tination and its vast serenity has to be explored more, Mohammed told the Times of Oman on the sidelines of the opening of their 35th office, which is the first in the Sultanate.

“We are looking to bring people from all around the world to this beautiful land and to explore the natural beauty which Oman is blessed with,” he added.

According to Rafeeq Moham-med, ITL World has begun a pro-gramme to promote Oman as a wedding destination.

The company is also develop-ing sports packages.

“To encourage sports enthu-siasts, we are putting together football packages which will be promoted around Oman,” he said.

“This unique product would provide a platform to play friend-ly matches with local Omani clubs, and explore the culture and hidden treasures of Oman,” Mo-hammed added.

Omani football superstar Ali Al Habsi officially opened the new office, which is located in Al Khu-wair behind Home Centre and opposite Muscat Bakery. At the opening, Ali Al Habsi wished ITL world success in Oman.

“We offer a wide portfolio of travel solutions,” noted Siddeek Ahmed, the Chairman & the Managing Director of the ERAM Group of companies, which ITL World is part of.

T O U R I S M

‘Farm insurance soon’

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Farmers in Oman may soon be covered by agricultural in-surance, Oman Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (OCCI) said.

The OCCI on Tuesday invited the Capital Market Authority (CMA) and insurance companies to discuss the development of new insurance products for the agricul-tural sector, a press release from the Chamber said.

On Monday, a meeting had taken place at OCCI between the Cham-ber, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and the CMA to discuss proposals to activate agri-cultural insurance by implement-ing recommendations issued at a forum organised by the Chamber last December.

These recommendations were established with the cooperation of leaders and specialists in both

the government, as well as the pri-vate sector, the press release said.

Redha Al Saleh, vice president of OCCI and head of Insurance, said the Chamber during last De-cember’s forum had recommend-ed taking serious steps to help farmers cover the risk of damage to their crops and products.

Al Saleh said after Gonu and other tropical storms, farmers experienced major losses, as they were not insured. Many farmers’ associations complained that their members were not covered for such damage.

“Many of them do not have in-surance, as insurance companies do not see it as a profitable sector,” he said.

Al Saleh said the insurance com-panies will have to be convinced to cooperate with the sector, as they currently do not have products that cover agriculture.

O C C I I N I T I A T I V E

NEW OFFICE: Omani football superstar Ali Al Habsi officially

opened the new office, which is located in Al Khuwair. – Jun Estrada

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

INNOVATION: Tariq Mohammad Abu Bakr Al Balushi has been

working on innovative and modern jewellery with an Omani twist

for 20 years at the store his father opened 45 years ago. – Tariq Al Haremi

Oman’s fight against graft reflected in global ranking

BERLIN: Oman was ranked 60th on the world level, accord-ing to the Corruption Percep-tion Index (CPI) for the year 2015. It is a report published annually by the Transparency International, a non-profit or-ganisation established in 1993 and based in Berlin.

In assessing the Sultanate’ ranking in the index, Transpar-ency International ranking re-lied on the data and reports of Bertelsmann Foundation, Econ-omist Intelligence Unit, Global Insight, Political Risk Services, World Economic Forum.

Four-place gainDuring the past year, the Sul-tanate ranking improved by four rankings to 60th in 2015 compared to 64th in 2014.

The State Financial and Ad-ministrative Audit Institution (SFAAI) follows up the corrup-tion perception indicator and join hands with other state in-stitutions to improve, develop performance and improve the Sultanate’s ranking in the inter-national indices.

Transparency International, a leader in combatting corrup-tion in the world with branches in more than 100 countries, pro-motes awareness of the mani-festations of political and ad-ministrative corruption.

The CPI cast light on the mis-use of power, the confidential transaction and bribery, prac-tices that affect the welfare of communities all over the world.

Two-thirds corruptAt the CPI for the year 2015, more than two third of the countries under review scored less than 50 on the scale from 0 to 100 which means that these countries have high corruption perception and that they need to take necessary measures to address such high CPI. -ONA

T R A N S P A R E N C Y

A4 T H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

For detailed coverage log on to www.timesofoman.com

New attraction: Illuminated VillageThe dazzling lights

of Illuminated Village

at Naseem Garden

is a new attraction

this time for Muscat

Festival visitors. The

centre piece features

an illuminated

traditional Omani

dhow in the middle of

a lake. Surrounding

the area are

illuminated figures

of the Sultanate’s

wildlife such as

turtles, dolphins,

camels and gazelles.

The organisers

have also included

some non-Omani

features such as the

Dutch tulips and Fly

Amanita Mushrooms

(Red with white

spots). These are

some of the

images taken by

Tariq Al Haremi

A5


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Startup Oman to host Dubai entrepreneur

Times News Service

MUSCAT: The Sultanate’s only online platform created by en-trepreneurs for entrepreneurs— Startup Oman—will be hosting Dubai-based entrepreneur, Lou-

lou Khazen Baz, founder of Nab-besh at The Lounge on Sunday, January 31 at 6:30 p.m.

Baz is the winner of the United Arab Emirates’s (UAE’s) real-ity TV show “The Entrepreneur” (2012), securing dirham 2 million in funding, and is one of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) re-gion’s most successful and recog-nisable female entrepreneurs.

“The idea behind hosting this event is to inspire Omani entre-preneurs to think big and beyond their borders,” said Sherry Col-bourne, managing partner, Start-up Oman.

The theme of Startup Oman’s January events is focused on fe-male entrepreneurship, starting with their caribou chats event, which featured Jokha Al Hu-saini of Shamookh Engineering and Ayesha Al Shoily, a licensed springboard trainer and coach.

“Hosting Khazen Baz wraps up

the month on a high note leaving Omani SMEs looking forward to next month’s focus on technology as Startup Oman exists to inspire an entrepreneurial movement in Oman,” Colbourne said.

Global communityStartup Grind is a global entre-preneurial community made up of 215,000 entrepreneurs in 175 cities and 80 countries around the world. Founded by Derek An-derson in Silicon Valley, Startup Grind educates, inspires and connects entrepreneurs around the globe.

“We are excited to bring this calibre of event to Oman as the Startup Grind format infuses attendees with the community and energy needed to build glob-al, successful businesses,” said Mahmood Zeyad, managing di-rector of Startup Oman and event moderator.

Baz is the winner

of UAE’s reality TV

show and is one of

the MENA region’s

most successful and

recognisable female

entrepreneurs

Drunk man kills liquor vendor

Times News Service

MUSCAT: An argument between a customer and a liquor vendor ended in the death of the vendor after he was reportedly knifed by the inebriated customer in Sohar.

The murder occurred in Falaj Al Qaba’il in Sohar, where the vic-tim was said to have been selling alcohol from the dormitory of the company he works for.

Lieutenant Colonel Abdullah Al Zaydi, Director of Inquiries and Criminal Investigations at the North Al Batinah Police De-partment, said the authorities

arrest the murderer, who is an Asian national.

Another expatriate was also arrested, along with the murder-er, for withholding information about the murder.

Five arrestedA senior Royal Oman Police (ROP) official from the Hafit Po-lice force affiliated with the Burai-mi Police Department said they have arrested five Asian nationals for detaining a woman against her will and assaulting her.

The source added that the victim was able to escape from

the farm and filed a report with the police.

She said that she had arrived in Muscat on a domestic worker visa but escaped to Nizwa. She fi-nally settled in Buraimi. A person detained her in one of the farms and assaulted her along with other suspects.

When the ROP questioned the suspects about their crimes, they confessed and were referred to the public prosecution to contin-ue legal procedures.

The woman was also arrested for absconding and violating the labour law.

SOHAR

A6


We are excited to introduce OmantelTV+ to our home customers,

where they can enjoy for the first time in Oman, watching their

favourite TV channels through our Home Internet service

Talal Al Mamari, chief executive officer of Omantel

His Majesty presides over cabinet meeting

MUSCAT: Omantel announced the launch of OmantelTV+; a unique TV broadcast home ser-vice, based on internet protocol using Home Internet.

The new OmantelTV+ service will enable subscribers to watch news, sports, entertainment and the latest movies, with 450+pop-ular TV channels, 1,100+ movies and 3500+ TV series. In addition, they can also enjoy watching 3D and HD channels with the ability to record and rewind what they are watching.

Commenting on the launch of OmantelTV+, Talal Al Mamari, chief executive officer of Omantel said, “We are excited to introduce OmantelTV+ to our home custom-ers, where they can enjoy for the first time in Oman, watching their

favourite TV channels through our Home Internet service.”

He added, “Enabling digital smart home services is part of our broader digital strategy, a key area of growth in the years ahead. Our new strategy goes beyond the rollout of OmantelTV+ across Oman, and indeed touches every aspect of our operational ap-proach, both for retail consumers and corporate clients. We aim to be the nation’s digital partner of choice, helping bridge the digital divide across all sectors of soci-ety and pioneering the rollout of the digital home eco-system.”

Subscribers of OmantelTV+ will receive a decoder, which will allow them to watching pre-mium and free to air channels and movies.

O M A N T E L T V +

Omantel launches unique TV service

Investment boost

According to Manjot Singh Chug, a Business Tax Advisory Servic-es expert at Ernst & Young, the new law will recognise Oman’s investment obligations and in-ternational agreements that the Sultanate has entered into, or concluded.

“This is expected to increase investor confidence by ensuring consistency and avoiding con-flict with international trade ar-rangements and agreements,” Chug said.

“However, a ‘negative list’ (re-strictive list) will be prepared to safeguard certain areas, where the government may wish to restrict foreign investment to safeguard national security or interests,” Chug added.

In addition to 100 per cent for-eign ownership, MoCI has also proposed the removal of a mini-mum capital requirement for foreign investors to stimulate investment.

“The removal of minimum cap-ital requirement follows interna-tional best practices on an overall basis and, therefore, should have a positive impact,” Al Esry said.

At present, OMR150,000 is the minimum capital required for a foreign investor to start a business in Oman.

The law will also allow tax in-centives and exemptions will be removed from the new investment law as it is more appropriate for such incentives to be addressed in the income tax law.

“In the modern dynamic envi-ronment, such bureaucracy is not healthy for the economy. Normal-ly, tax incentives and exemptions form a part of the income tax law of a country and not the invest-

ment law. From an administrative and consistence perspective, it is easier to administer the law as any subsequent amendments do not necessarily require amending an-other law,” Al Esry said.

Meanwhile, commenting on the proposed new foreign investment law, a chamber of commerce offi-cial said the government should be more cautious while implement-ing this law.

“We welcome the foreign in-vestment. It is needed. The mar-ket should grow. However, at the same time, the area of investment should be allowed after proper study. Local small time investors and businessmen should not lose their opportunities. The compe-tition should not kill the small ones,” Mohammed Al Ansi, a sen-ior official from the Oman Cham-ber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) said.

An Omani investor in Muscat also echoed the same opinion.

“The government should be cautious. Small businessmen should not lose their opportunity,” Anvwar Al Balushi, chairman of the Anvwar Asian Investment Group, said. “Removing the mini-mum capital requirement will definitely affect small time Om-ani businessmen. We know that OMR20,000 or OMR30,000 is not at all a problem for expat busi-nessmen,” Al Balushi said.

However, allaying concerns, Al Esry noted that the new law has been drafted, based on interna-tional standards and the team that has assisted the MoCI in draft-ing the law has vast experience and had been involved in drafting similar laws in other countries in the world.

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

< FROM

A1

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said presided over the meeting of the Council of Ministers at Bait Al Baraka yesterday. At the outset of the meeting, His Majesty the Sultan thanked the Almighty Al-lah for the numerous bounties and appealed to the Almighty Allah to preserve such bounties over Oman and all countries in the world.

His Majesty the Sultan reviewed local, regional and international situations. At the local level, His Majesty the Sultan expressed his complete satisfaction over the ef-forts undertaken by the government and state institutions in the wake of fall in crude oil prices and for sus-taining the level of services provided to citizens. His Majesty the Sultan emphasised the need for economic diversification and encouragement to investment in productive projects of public interest and for develop-ment of SMEs.

His Majesty the Sultan also praised the commencement of the execution of the 9th five-year devel-opment plan 2016- 2020, which has taken into account the social and economic dimensions of develop-ment for ensuring sustainability and stability of economy and maintain-ing appropriate rates of GDP along with optimal priority to human de-velopment in all spheres.

On the regional and international

developments, His Majesty the Sultan reaffirmed the Sultanate’s cooperation in terms of all the ef-forts aimed at peaceful resolution of the issues witnessed in the re-gion through dialogue for the sake of peace, security and stability and for the interest of all the people of the region.

In his speech, His Majesty the Sultan tackled a number of issues of concern to citizens and issued his directives to all institutions of the state to continue with their efforts for achievement of the aspired goals, wishing all success for the further progress and prosperity of the Sul-tanate and citizens. —ONA

Photos— Mohammed Mustafa

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REGIONT H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

A ‘new chapter’ has begun in Iran’s ties with EU: Rouhani

DUBAI/PARIS: Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on his ar-rival in Paris on Wednesday that a new chapter had began in Teh-ran’s relations with the European Union, after the lifting of sanc-tions on Iran.

“A new chapter has began in Tehran relations with the EU, including France,” Rouhani was quoted as saying by Iran’s ISNA news agency.

Rouhani arrived in France on Wednesday with the bosses of oil major Total and aircraft maker Airbus among top executives he was due to meet as the two coun-tries look to revive business ties.

On his first trip abroad since a sanctions-ending nuclear ac-cord took effect, Italy this week already rolled out the red carpet for the Iranian president and his 120-member delegation of busi-ness leaders and cabinet minis-ters, signing a raft of deals.

OpportunitiesNevertheless, since July, French economic and political delega-tions have travelled to Tehran to explore opportunities. Officials have said certain “commitments” could now be agreed, although how definitive they are is unclear. Rouhani begins his trip to Paris by meeting some 20 company execu-tives. He is due to deliver a speech to business leaders on Thursday

at a Franco-Iranian forum, where Iranian ministers will outline their plans.

Face-to-face talks are sched-uled with the Total and Airbus bosses, diplomatic sources said. Several agreements are due to be announced after a meeting with President Francois Hollande.

Iranian officials have said they are poised to agree on a deal for Airbus aircraft. Carmakers Peugeot and Renault may also agree contracts.

Airport design and construc-tion talks may be on the agenda

too, potentially involving build-ers Bouygues and Vinci and air-ports operator ADP. Although many sanctions relating to Iran’s nuclear programme have been lifted, most US measures remain in place. Companies are worried about the sanctions snapping back if Iran violated the terms of the agreement and are including this scenario in their risk analysis.

“Investing in Iran is not ex-actly like investing in Holland or Denmark,” a French diplomatic source said. “Everyone wants to be certain that there’s no Damo-

cles Sword hanging over them be-fore investing.”

Earlier in the day in Rome, Rou-hani said that the United States cannot solve any problems in the Middle East without Iran’s help and should drop its “hostile” stance towards Tehran.

“It’s possible that Iran and the United States might have friendly relations. But the key to that is in Washington’s hands, not Teh-ran’s,” Rouhani told a news con-ference, saying he would be happy to see US businessmen in Iran.

“I would like to see the Ameri-

cans set aside their hostility and chose another way, but inside the US there are some problems, there is no unified voice,” he said.

He also rejected accusations that Iran was funding terror or-ganisations. “It is clear that Iran is a country opposed to terror-ism and a country that fights terrorism,” he said. “The Ameri-cans know very well that when it comes to important regional issues they cannot achieve any-thing without Iran’s influence or say,” Rouhani said, speaking through a translator. — Reuters

Iranian President

Hassan Rouhani

arrived in France on

Wednesday as the

two countries look

to revive trade ties

Qatar’s Emir names new foreign ministerDOHA: Qatar’s emir issued a de-cree on Wednesday replacing the foreign minister and merging some portfolios, the state news agency Qatar News Agency said, in what was seen as a move to cut costs after a sharp drop in oil prices.

The world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, Qatar is one of the Gulf’s richest countries, al-though the value of its energy ex-ports almost halved last year.

The new foreign minister was named as Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, a member of the royal family.

Khalid Al Attiyah, the outgoing foreign minister whose father was the founder of the Qatari armed forces, will become state minister for defence affairs.

The Emir, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who took over in 2013 after his father stepped down, holds the post of de-fence minister.

MessageLate on Wednesday Sheikh Tamim said that Qatar needed to diversify its income and he urged an end to corruption. He said citizens should not “fear or panic” about the tum-bling price of hydrocarbons.

“As citizens your responsibili-ties are greater due to the low oil prices; however, citizens’ welfare and way of life should not be af-fected by the situation,” he said in a speech carried by QNA.

Sheikh Tamim, like his Gulf neighbours, is seeking to diversify the economy to reduce Qatar’s de-pendence on oil and gas, which the International Monetary Fund says constitute 90 per cent of govern-ment revenues.

He has used the slump in oil prices to emphasise that the gov-ernment can no longer “provide for everything” for its population, and to encourage private sec-tor employment. Qatari is set to spend around $200 billion (£131 billion) on infrastructure projects over the next decade, many relat-ed to its hosting of the 2022 soc-cer World Cup. — Reuters

C A B I N E T R E S H U F F L E

Algeria suspends flights to Libya

ALGIERS: Algeria has suspend-ed flights to Tripoli, a few days after it detained hundreds of Mo-roccans trying to travel to Libya having arrived at the internation-al airport in the capital Algiers.

Libya has become a regional concern since IS militants gained ground there and called for for-eign recruits, especially from North Africa. Algeria is an im-portant US ally in its fight against

armed groups in the region. The decision to suspend flights to Tripoli was taken by the Alge-rian civilian aviation authority on Tuesday. No reason was given for the suspension. “The decision will be effective on January 29,” according to a statement from the aviation authority. Algerian offi-cials did not say when they would resume flights to Tripoli.

The authorities fear that Mo-

roccans entering Algeria to then cross into Libya may be planning to reinforce the IS militant group, which has set up a base in the Lib-yan city of Sirte, security analysts say. The decision to suspend the flights was taken hours after the new Libyan prime minister, Fayez Seraj, who heads a UN-backed na-tional unity government, travelled to Algeria where he met President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. — Reuters

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

The new foreign minister of Qatar was named

as Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, a member of the royal family.

BOOSTING BUSINESS: Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, left, attends a meeting with French employer’s body MEDEF union leader Pierre

Gattaz, right, and French business leaders and politicians at a hotel in Paris, France on Wednesday. – Reuters

T I M E S O F O M A NT I M E S O F O M A NT H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6 T H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6T I M E S O F O M A NT I M E S O F O M A N A9A8

TIMES NEWS SERVICE

P eople of Oman are beginning to feel the latest edition of Mus-cat Festival is special, probably the best

ever since its inception in 1998. With the theme “E’sh Oman” (Live Oman), the Muscat Festival com-menced on January 14 and will continue to showcase the Sultan-ate and its rich culture and herit-age through a wide spectrum of art and activities till February 13.

The venues for the festival in-clude the Al Naseem Park, the Al Amerat Park, Al Hail Beach, Oman Automobile Association, Al Ma-dina Theatre, Oman Cultural Club and several others.

Muscat Festival is currently showcasing a variety of activities, including entertainment, shop-ping, sports, social and cultural events. It is also presenting spe-cial entertainment activities for women and children, and attract visitors from all over the world.

During its 16th edition, the Muscat Festival will host par-ticipants from several Arab and international countries at several locations. The festival is offering a variety of activities and entertain-ment to meet different interests and tastes of the community, such as a cultural village, a dinosaur village, an Omani fashion show and the 6th Oman triathlon. Mu-sic concerts featuring prominent Omani artists, as well as children’s plays, are also being performed for the public.

The Omani Cultural Village is considered the most important aspect of the Amerat Park, and has been designed as a replica of a traditional Omani village. It is also considered an open museum,

where visitors can live and re-live their experience by walking around the village, which includes a traditional art competition as part of the entertainment.

A technology exhibit entitled, “One Thousand and One Inven-tions” is a platform for promot-ing Arab and Muslim inventions. Folklore performances from India, Lebanon, Kazakhstan, Turkey and the Philippines, including fire per-formances, acrobatics, clown per-formances and illusionists, among many others, are being presented.

Naseem Public ParkSeveral activities are being held at the Naseem Park, which aims to highlight children’s talent in art and science through educational and cultural programmes in agri-culture and sports, as well as dif-ferent sciences, including stage and floor performances.

The Family Village and Chil-dren’s Theatre is also hosting a number of arts and cultural events for children. The theatre will also present programmes from popu-lar children’s channels. The Jun-gle Village is a part of the newest attraction of the Muscat Festival 2016. It showcases anthropo-morphic models of animals with sound and light effects.

The Jungle is equipped with light and sound effects to give you the feel of being in a forest. It in-cludes replicas of trees and plants found in jungles, as well as Omani land and sea animals, including a display of a Japanese Zen garden.

Theatre Events include an en-tertaining balancing and fireball dance performed by experienced artistes. The arena also has plenty of comic and cartoon characters to entertain every visitor. The Oma-ni Wildlife Show exhibits the rich

biodiversity of Oman with speci-mens of plants, animals and fish. The Amusement Park is brim-ming with activities and shows. Colourful fireworks brighten up the skies during the weekends. The commercial exhibition area has more than 400 shops. Besides, seven restaurants have been set up, including one specializing in Omani cuisine. There will be 24 stalls selling snacks and bever-

ages; all of this contributing to a great family outing full of fun, information, education and all-round entertainment.

Al Amerat ParkThe Cultural Village is an open air museum that features a model for a traditional Omani village. Visi-tors get a chance to visit the tra-ditional market and watch tradi-tional art inside the village, which

aims to promote Omani heritage. The exhibition “One Thousand

and One Inventions” throws light on science, technology and civi-lization. The Folk Dance exhibit includes performances by folk dance bands from India, Leba-non, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and Philippines.

Theatre Events is an oppor-tunity to watch exhilarating balancing act and fireball dance. The arena also has plenty of comic and cartoon characters to entertain all visitors. The Dino-saur Village is the place where children are having a lot of fun in a place that features life-size dinosaurs. With plenty of shows and activities, the Amusement Park has turned out to be one of the highlights of the festival.

The Muscat Festival is a per-fect platform for promoting Oman’s tourism. Informative material, including maps, com-pact discs and brochures are be-ing distributed among visitors and their inquiries are being answered. The booklets feature useful information about Oman’s various governorates, useful Ara-bic words and phrases, means of travel, popular tourist sites, such

as markets and forts, customs and traditions, wildlife and na-ture, seas and lagoons, mountains and dunes, outdoor activities, food and places to stay.

In a desert-like area set up featuring the Bedouin way of life, visitors are greeted with tra-ditional Omani coffee brewing on fire and get a chance to bet-ter understand traditional cof-fee making, living in a tent and breeding camels.

A group of young Omani engi-neers has collaborated to spread love for science among children visiting the Muscat Festival ven-ue at Al Amerat Park.

The Science Lab, the first of its kind in Oman, designed and built by Omani experts, provides a platform to introduce various aspects of science to children in an entertaining way. The Sci-ence Lab is a collaboration be-tween the Innovation Factory, a research and development com-pany, and the Innovation Group, an event coordinating company.

In addition to a wide range of cultural activities, such as tra-ditional Arabic poetry, Omani clothing shows and folk dances from outside the Sultanate, there

will be a number of lectures tak-ing place at both venues.

The lectures include: YouTube programmes and their impact on public opinion, the unity and in-tellectual tolerance of the Omani society, the impact of the oil price decline on the national economy; the Muscat Festival through the eyes of photographers, and an awareness course for families entitled, “Family disintegration and its impact on children’s be-haviour,” an awareness course for children entitled “How can I pro-tect myself.”

A Cultural Workshop for people with special needs and healthy people is also being held, along with Traditional Poetry, Musical Poetry, an Omani Fine Arts Pioneers Forum, a literary symposium on writing histori-cal fiction called “Safe Journey Workshop.”

On the other hand, sporting activities include: a vehicles and motorbikes show at the Oman Automobile Association, Wa-ter Sports and Sailing organised by the Royal Navy of Oman and Shabab Oman Ship, Tattoo Shows (Red Helmets) at Royal Guard of Oman, Traditional Art and Folk Bands, Parachutist Shows, Sail-ing Experience — Oman Sail, Marathon Race, Triathlon Race, Acrobatics, balance shows, com-ics, clown performances and car-toon characters, inflatable games for children, basketball, as well as a Tour of Oman, which will be held from February 16 to 21.

Programmes on traffic aware-ness targeting children and young people are being organised at the Naseem Public Park. Areas have been marked out for such activities that include competi-tions and displays on road safety.

Muscat Festival 2016 continues toshowcase rich tapestry of Oman

Don’t waste a beautiful country like OMAN.Ensure proper disposal of garbage.

A10

INDIA T H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

The Governor is supposed to act on the

advice of the council of ministers. But when

he acts as an RSS agent, it is very destructive

Fauzia Khan, NCP’s women wing president

President’s rule in Arunachal ‘darkest’ day in history: NCP

ITANAGAR/NEW DELHI: Na-tionalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday termed imposition of President’s rule as the “darkest” day in the history of Arunachal Pradesh.

Expressing solidarity with rul-ing Congress in the state, party’s women wing President Fauzia Khan told reporters at Arunachal Press Club here that the party would protest the hasty decision of the Centre.

“The political situation in the state is very delicate and democ-racy has been sidelined,” she said adding, the party is with Congress.

Criticising Governor Jyoti Pra-shad Rajkhowa for his decision to advance the assembly session, Khan alleged that the Governor had transformed the Raj Bhawan into the office of BJP.

National issue“This is no more a local issue but a national issue. If Raj Bhawan works as an office of BJP, it is very damaging for a democratic coun-try,” she said adding, the Governor cannot summon an assembly ses-sion without consulting the coun-cil of ministers.

“The Governor is supposed to act on the advice of the council of ministers. But when he acts as an RSS agent, it is very destructive,” she added.

When her attention was drawn

to the feud among ruling Congress MLAs which led to the crisis, Khan said dissidence among party MLAs was a different issue but dissident activities being engineered by an-other political party had created chaos in the peaceful state. Asked on the cases being in the Supreme Court on the issue, the NCP leader said that the party would honour

whatever judgement the court would pronounce.

On her party’s stand if mid-term poll is announced, Khan said that political parties are always ready for any polls.

Meanwhile, Congress on Wednesday said it has an “open mind” in reaching out to party re-bels in Arunachal Pradesh, insist-

ing that even now it commanded a majority in the northeastern state which was brought under Presi-dent’s rule on Tuesday night.

AICC General Secretary V. Narainsamy and party spokesman Raj Babbar, however, refrained from making any comment on President Pranab Mukherjee giv-ing his approval to the recommen-

dation of the Union Cabinet to bring the state under central rule.

“We do not want to make any comment on that because what-ever the President decided, it is on record,” Narainsamy said at the AICC briefing.

Babbar also spoke likewise on queries on the issue. Replying to questions whether the party will approach rebel MLAs, he re-marked, “We have an open mind. We will not shut our doors.”

The Congress general secretary dismissed suggestions whether the party would parade its MLAs before the President.

He said that Supreme Court judgement in the SR Bommai case has made it clear that Raj Bhawan is not the place where the majority has to be proved.

At the same time, both the Con-gress leaders claimed that the par-ty has majority in the Assembly.

“Take the case of 47 MLAs (out of a total 60) — they are all of the Congress. None of them have joined any other political party. 14 have been disqualified by the Speaker which was upheld by the Guwahati High Court.”

“The remaining 31 are Con-gress-men even today. How can the BJP say that we have no major-ity? This all is ploy created by the BJP to dislodge the duly-elected Congress government in the state,” Narainsamy said.

ConcernHe expressed concern over ap-pointment of only RSS-backed, RSS-minded persons as gover-nors in the northeast whether it is Nagaland, Tripura, Meghalaya or even Assam.

“This shows the sinister design of Narendra Modi government to dislodge constitutionally elected Congress governments in the northeastern state. They wanted to test and Arunachal Pradesh is the first case,” he added.

“Congress has full faith in the judicial process and in Supreme Court, which is currently hearing the matter. Constitutional norms, democracy and federalism will win at the altar of justice. Conspiracy to debunk democracy and murder of federalism will be defeated sub-stantively,” Narainsamy and Bab-bar said in a statement. - PTI

Expressing solidarity

with ruling Congress,

Nationalist Congress

Party’s women wing

president Fauzia

Khan told reporters

that the party would

protest the hasty

decision of the

Central governmentPOLITICAL CRISIS: Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge with party leaders Ghulam

Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal and V. Narayanasamy addressing the media after meeting President Pranab

Mukherjee on Arunachal Pradesh issue, in New Delhi on Monday. - PTI

NEW DELHI: The imposi-tion of President’s rule in crisis-hit Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday came under the scanner of the Supreme Court which sought the report of Governor Jyoti Prasad Ra-jkhowa recommending central rule in the state, saying “it is too serious a matter”.The remark by a five-judge bench headed by Justice J.S. Khehar came when Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi raised a preliminary objection con-tending that the notification on promulgation of President’s rule has not been challenged

in the fresh plea.The bench asked the At-

torney General not to raise “technical objections” when he persisted with his plea ar-guing that “rules are rules” and they apply equally to all.

It posted the matter for February one asking the Governor and the Ministry of Home Affairs to file responses by Friday on petitions filed by Congress leaders including the plea of Rajesh Tacho, Chief Whip of Congress Legislature party in the state assembly which is now kept under sus-pended animation.

The bench allowed the peti-tioners to amend their plea by Friday.

When Additional Solicitor General Satpal Jain, appear-ing for the Governor, sought to maintain secrecy of the report and the recommendation for the President’s rule, the bench said, “He will only mention the date of report recommending President’s rule to opposite parties during the course of the day.” However, the bench for its own perusal sought in a sealed cover the report and recommendation on imposi-tion of the President’s rule. - PTI

President’s rule comes under Supreme Court scrutiny

Solar accused targets Chandy, power minister

KOCHI: The Congress-led UDF government in Kerala was on Wednesday at the receiving end with Chief Minister Oom-men Chandy facing the heat in the Solar scam with a prime ac-cused alleging that bribes of over Rs2 crore had been paid to him and a minister in his cabinet, even as the Opposition demand-ed Governor’s intervention.

The development comes barely days after the resignation of excise minister K. Babu hours after a vigilance court directed registering of an FIR against him in the bar bribery case. The storm over the resignation, the second in the case after senior-most legislator and finance minister K. M. Mani was forced to quit in the same case, was yet to subside, when a fresh wave of embarrassment hit the Con-gress government, months be-fore the assembly polls.

Kicking up a political storm on Wednesday morning, Sari-tha, who appeared before the Justice Sivarajan Commis-sion at Kochi, trained her guns against the CM and his senior cabinet colleague and Power minister, Aryadan Muhammed.

She alleged that Rs 1.90 crore had been given to Chandy’s key aide to set up mega solar pro-jects in Kerala and about Rs 40 lakh had been given to the Per-sonal Assistant of Aryadan.

Both Chandy and Aryadan have denied the charges. Chan-dy said it was “an attempt by Saritha to wriggle out” of the case after the scam broke out.

“Let her state what benefit she got after allegedly bribing us?”, Chandy told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram. -.PTI

K E R A L A

UNDER SCANNER: Solar Panel

Scam accused, Saritha Nair

arrives to appear at Solar

Commission office in Kochi

on Wednesday. - PTI

India’s ranking improves nine points in global corruption indexBERLIN: India has climbed nine points to rank 76th in this year’s global corruption index launched here on Wednesday topped by Denmark, with watchdog Trans-parency International calling graft a global “blight”.

According to Transparency In-ternational’s International Cor-ruption Perceptions Index 2015, India is placed at 76th position along with Thailand, Brazil, Tu-nisia, Zambia and Burkina Faso out of 168 countries. India has im-proved its past year’s position of

85 and has a grade index score of 38 out of a possible 100 which in-dicates the least corrupt, said the report topped by Denmark.

DataThe index was prepared by us-ing data from institutions includ-ing the World Bank, the African Development Bank. According to Berlin-based Transparency Inter-national, 68 per cent of countries worldwide have a serious corrup-tion problem and half of the G20 are among them.

“Not one single country, any-where in the world, is corruption-free,” the report said.

“The 2015 Corruption Percep-tions Index clearly shows that cor-ruption remains a blight around the world. But 2015 was also a year when people again took to the streets to protest corruption. Peo-ple across the globe sent a strong signal to those in power: it is time to tackle grand corruption,” said Jose Ugaz, Chair, Transparency International, global watchdog on graft and abuses of power.

Denmark tops of the index for the second consecutive year as the country perceived as least corrupt.

It scored 91 points, while North Korea and Somalia remained at the bottom with unchanged scores of 8. The US rose one spot this year to 16th place with a score of 76, tying with Austria. The UK rose three spots to place 10th, with a score of 81 that tied it with Germa-ny and Luxembourg. The other top spots, from second to ninth, were occupied by Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway,

Switzerland, Singapore and Cana-da. Brazil and Turkey were among nations that tumbled the most.

BriberyBrazil slid to 76th place, shar-ing its position with India, down from 69th last year. Turkey fell two spots to 66th, continuing its de-scent from 53rd place in 2013.

“Dealing with many entrenched corruption issues, Brazil has been rocked by the Petrobras scandal, in which politicians are reported to have taken kickbacks in exchange

for awarding public contracts,” the report said.“Corruption can be beaten if we work together. To stamp out the abuse of power, bribery and shed light on secret deals, citizens must together tell their governments they have had enough,” Ugaz said.

Global corruption index, a com-posite index that draws from 12 surveys to rank nations around the globe, has become a benchmark gauge of perceptions of corrup-tion and is used by analysts and investors. - PTI

7 6 T H R A N K

‘BJP’s rivals politicising Rohith

suicide to defame government’

HYDERABAD: Amid the row over suicide by a Dalit research scholar at Hyderabad Central University, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday al-leged that BJP’s political rivals are trying to gain political mileage out of the tragedy instead of ad-dressing the core issue.

“When an unfortunate incident happens, instead of condemning it, going into its roots as to why this unfortunate incident hap-pened, why a youth lost his life, how the discrimination is to be eliminated, what are the changes to be made, what changes are to be brought in thinking, what changes are to be brought into the system, making it into a political pilgrimage and making it a tool of vote bank politics (is condemn-able), the world is looking at this amazed,” he said.

BJP’s political rivals are trying to gain political capital by try-ing to “defame” the government when such incidents (like al-leged suicide of Rohith Vemula in HCU) happened, he alleged.

Taking a dig at Congress, he asked what did “those in power for 50-60 years” do for Dalits.

“When 10 or 20 students com-mitted suicide then, had govern-ments intervened, then the situa-tion would not have come to this.

Why did it not intervene then? People are asking those who are going on (political) pilgrimages now and making political speech-es. But they do not have an an-swer,” Naidu said.

Such parties are only trying to “hurt” the country’s image by “polluting” social atmosphere, he charged.

“It is a challenge for us if some-body commits suicide due to caste discrimination. Everybody needs to introspect. All need to focus attention on how to change the system.’ Sarva Dharma Sama-bhavana’ is our policy. Our (BJP) slogan is ‘sab ke saath, sab ka vi-kas’,” he said. - PTI

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

PROTEST: Students march towards office of HRD Minister Smriti

Irani to demand her resignation during a protest against the

death of Rohith Vemula in New Delhi on Wednesday. - PTI

A11

INDIAT H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

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‘People’s confidence in Modi stronger now’

NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Ja-nata Party(BJP) on Wednesday claimed that people’s confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi had become “stronger” since he was voted to power, while react-ing to an opinion poll that rated his government “above average” but said Modi was more popular

than his dispensation.The opinion poll, conducted by

ABP News-Nielsen, says 46 per cent of the respondents had rated the government as very good or good but Modi got a rating of very

good or good from 54 per cent of those polled.

“The confidence people had shown in Narendra Modi in 2014 has become stronger as his gov-ernment has been successful on

all fronts, be it external affairs or economy or agriculture,” par-ty’s national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

CondemnedHe said India’s and Indians’ stand-ing had “risen” in the world under Modi and referred to comments made by the United States and France on Pathankot terror attack that was condemned like the Paris attack.

“Economy is sluggish every-where but India is rising fast. Even China is undergoing a slowdown but our growth rate is increasing. It is a big success of the Modi gov-ernment and people acknowledge it,” the party’s media department head said. Corruption has been curbed by the government, he said, adding that graft at the top has “disappeared”.

He also referred to the crop insurance plan launched by the government, saying this was the first time such a vast insurance cover was given to crops at such a low premium.

According to the opinion poll, if the Lok Sabha elections were to be held tomorrow, NDA is likely to get 38 per cent vote share which will give it 301 seats as against 339 seats in May 2014 polls. - PTI

The opinion poll,

conducted by ABP

News-Nielsen, says

46 per cent of the

respondents had rated

the government as

very good or good

but Modi got a rating

of very good or good

from 54 per cent

of those polledPOPULAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses during the

inauguration of Interim Secretariat of the International Solar Alli-

ance and foundation stone laying ceremony of International Solar

Alliance Headquarters in Gurgaon, Haryana on Monday. - PTI

Alert sounded after

reports of big balloon

over IGI airport

NEW DELHI: An alert was sounded at Indira Gandhi Inter-national airport here on Wednes-day after authorities received a call about a “big balloon” hover-ing over it.

Police said the call centre of the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) received a call about spotting of the big balloon fol-lowing which the airport was put on alert. DCP of IGI airport D. K.Gupta said all security agencies have been informed about the in-formation though police has not spotted the object.

“The airport was put on high alert after the DIAL call centre received a call about a big bal-loon spotted near the airport this evening. The call was received around 5pm and the caller said that the big balloon was heading from the airport to Arya Nagar following which an alert was is-sued at the IGI and all security agencies have been informed about it,” Gupta said.

A US-made helium-filled bal-loon that was shot down by a Suk-hoi-30 fighter aircraft over Rajas-than had come in from Pakistan and could have been an attempt to gauge India’s response time, top government sources said on

Wednesday. The Defence Minis-try has now written to the Minis-try of External Affairs informing it about the incident.

The shiny 3 metres in diame-tre balloon, with “Happy Birth-day” written on it, was flying at a height of about 25,000 feet in Jaisalmer district when it was picked up by the air force radars which were on high alert in view of Republic Day celebrations.

“Our radars picked up a shiny flying object entering our air space. A fighter jet was quickly scrambled which intercepted it and shot it down,” Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said without elaborating, when asked about Tuesday’s incident.

The Indian Air Force said in a statement, “Due to heightened security alert, the balloon was shot down as it would have been carrying unknown payload.

However, on analysis of the de-bris it was established that there was no dangerous payload.”

Meanwhile, government sources said that balloon, made by an American company, was flying at an altitude higher than that of an helicopter (18,000 feet) and hence leaving nothing to chance, it was shot down. - PTI

O B J E C T N O T S P O T T E D

Four threat calls at Delhi, Bengaluru airports; three flights grounded

NEW DELHI: Four bomb threat calls received in quick succession at Delhi and Bengaluru airports forced aviation authorities ground three flights, including two inter-national, sending a panic wave among fliers.

While Air India and Jet Air-ways flights to Kathmandu were grounded at Indira Gandhi Inter-national Airport (IGIA) here, no-frills airline AirAsia’s Goa flight

from Bengaluru also failed to take off on scheduled time due to simi-lar reasons.

The Kathmandu-bound flights of Air India and Jet Airways, which were scheduled to take off at 1315 hours and 1325, were halted and sent to the isolation bay just before they were readying for departure after the airport police received a bomb threat call.

“Around 1pm, the airport police

received an anonymous call, saying that there were bombs inside two laptop (bags), kept in the planes of Air India and Jet Airways,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGIA) D K Gupta said.

Immediately, the authorities decided to ground both the flights, which were to carry 121 and 122 passengers respectively and take the two aircraft to the isolation bay for an extensive search of

the baggage, cargo and aircraft, sources said.

Security alert“Jet Airways flight 9W 260, sched-uled to depart from Delhi for Kath-mandu at 1325 hours, has been delayed due to a security alert. All 122 guests and 7 crew have been taken to the departures waiting area at the airport,” Jet Airways said in a statement. The Air India

flight finally took off at 1950 hours after receiving clearance from the security agencies.

“#AI215 DEL-KTM, which was delayed due to bomb threat, took off at 1950 hrs with a change in air-craft after security clearances,” Air India tweeted.

Before this, the flight was de-layed for the second time just when security agencies were car-rying out the search.

“#AI 215 DEL-KTM has been further delayed due to a fresh threat call & will take off only after security clearances,” the airline had tweeted.

At the same time, budget car-rier AirAsia India’s flight to Goa from Bengaluru, which was to fly 141 passengers and 4 infants, was also delayed following a similar bomb scare on its incoming flight from Jaipur. - PTI

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Realising 2020 vision by national funding strategyMohammed Mahfoodh Al Ardhi

The global economy has entered a new phase that is different in its essence and challeng-es from all the other phases witnessed by

global markets before.This is not solely the result of the drop in oil

prices as some experts and economic analysts claim; it is rather due to a structural defect in the global economy that was largely apparent during the 2008 financial crisis.

The fall in oil prices has come about as a natu-ral consequence of the crisis and its effect on both productive and consumer economies.

The most effective approach to exit this phase safely is not through discussing ways to raise oil prices but through assessing the reasons behind the current scenario.

Meeting the challenges emerging from glob-ally falling oil prices is a good starting point. These challenges include economic diversity, specialised sectoral focus in each country, and innovating a new mechanism to fund sovereign projects by re-lying on national funding initiatives.

Oman has already implemented a few measures in this regard. First of all, it has kept a low public debt ceiling that amounts to only 10 per cent of its GDP. This enables the country to borrow from global financial markets to fund the deficit when necessary without exceeding reasonable public debt levels. In addition, government bonds enjoy an A1 credit rating according to Moody’s data, which is a highly regarded and positive rating.

It is worth noting that at a time when debts have become one of the critical challenges trou-bling large global economies, keeping low pub-lic debt levels is a positive indicator and must be maintained.

However, the government still needs to spend on sovereign and infrastructure projects in or-der to create an environment that encourages investments.

Such projects include completing the railway and transport network that will transform the Sul-tanate to a logistical hub for export and re-export and will facilitate further communication inter-nally among all development projects. The country also needs to keep spending on developing non-oil sectors to achieve the 2020 Vision, which aims to reduce the oil sector’s contribution to GDP from 46 per cent to a mere 9 per cent.

These projects need a healthy amount of capital and we must examine financing options and iden-tify the most suitable ones.

A few options worth considering include secur-ing multiple revenues for sovereign projects, sell-ing foreign assets, selling some public sector com-ponents to private companies, resorting to public debt, or creating new tax systems.

However, all these options exclude one impor-tant choice that may become a main financing method in the long term, especially amidst the complexities of economic globalisation and the relation of debts to certain political consequences that affect the country’s sovereignty.

This golden choice is the contribution of indi-viduals in boosting the GDP through saving with certain financial instruments, such as public secu-rities or sukuk.

Following the global financial crisis, many coun-tries have relied on the savings of their citizens and national companies to fund their sovereign projects and stimulate their national economies. Some countries have even issued what is called ‘Development Sukuk’ or ‘Development Bonds’ which basically represent equal shares in current projects that are bought by citizens.

Therefore, individuals can now contribute to financing projects in return to receiving revenues for their shares as determined by the number of sukuk or bonds that they own.

This choice may not be enough to bridge the gap between financial deficit and the country’s mini-mum capital spending. However, it is enough to reduce the country’s reliance on other options that could very well lead to a public loss in the long run. Leveraging this choice does not necessarily mean that a country should not raise taxes; however, we should be careful and attempt to not harm the investment environment or add further financial burdens to citizens.

Oman’s great potential for non-oil sector devel-opments is the greatest motivating factor towards the search for national funding methods. These developments will contribute largely to reducing our reliance on oil.

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Need to better quality of education in Indian schools I am concerned about the thriving private home tuition business, which are used to teach Indian school students in Muscat. This puts into question the quality of education the schools provide. A large

number of individuals including school-teachers are engaged in private tuition and the fee charged is very high. In some build-ings the presence of students assembled in groups causes inconvenience to the dwell-ers. Basically the quality of education in Indian schools is poor in recent times and could be a reason for people depending on private home tuition mostly run by house-wives. I do not know whether these people are qualified enough to teach important subjects. Being a parent, it is an additional expense particularly for people with fixed incomes. I hope that the new school man-agement board to look into this seriously to improve the quality of education. — Ganga Varma S, Seeb

Indian film plots need to be real This refers to the story‚ ‘Airlift’ encourages

Akshay to do films on real-life stories. The fact that Bollywood movies are crude copies of Hollywood storylines is well known. However, such a state of affair might be ignorable in the fiction genre. However, this movie is based on facts, which in it somehow resemble the plot of Ben Afleck’s Argo. — Monica Lewis, Qurum

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1757: Ahmed Shah, the first King of Afghanistan, occupies Delhi and annexes the Punjab.

1921: Albert Einstein startles Berlin by suggesting the pos-sibility of measuring the universe.

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benchmark theories, and ease up in their adamant rhetoric in favour of

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Whatever a Trump nomination would say about political science

theories, however, the far more important point is that it would be a failure of the Republican Party,

signalling unpredictable changes to what that party has been for the last

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JONATHAN BERNSTEIN

Biofuel technology improves energy security, recycles waste,

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4 Foreign investment law to create jobs, woo investors to Oman

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5 Oman hospital had confirmed MERS in citizen, says Ministry of Health

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PAKISTANT H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Humanitarian activist bags global award in maternal health

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani wom-an has been awarded the first-ever Global Humanitarian Award for Women’s and Children’s Health for her contributions to Pakistan’s health and education sector.

Chairperson of the Aman Foun-dation, Fayeeza Naqvi, along with her husband Arif Naqvi was hon-oured as one of the four winners of the first-ever Global Humani-tarian Award for Women’s and Children’s Health at the 2016 In-ternational Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) in Nusa Dua, In-donesia. Upon winning the award, Fayeeza said, “Aman is dedicated to promoting the centrality of fam-ily, and dignity of life for all.

“The ‘Sukh’ programmme was created with this mission in mind, and seeks to foster gender equal-ity, by giving women the power of choice.

“Aman aims to develop pro-

grammes that convene interna-tional partners to bring best prac-tise and expertise in collaboration with local government to ensure a sustainable impact,” she said.

“I am honoured to accept this award on behalf of the Aman Foundation and look forward to working closely with my fellow awardees in furthering the cause of family planning and maternal health,” she added.

The ICFP, a four-day event which kicked off on Monday, was co-hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the National Population and Family Planning Board of Indonesia (BkkbN).

The award paid tribute to Aman Foundation’s work in the area of

women and children’s health ex-emplified by programmes devel-oped by Aman Health and its dedi-cated family planning programme, ‘Sukh’, which was launched as a concrete outcome for the London Summit on Family Planning, the press release read.

Challenging areasSukh was established as a joint collaboration between the Gates, Packard and Aman Foundations. The programme covers a popula-tion of one million in some of the most under-served and challenging areas of Karachi. Jose “Oying” Ri-mon II, an ICFP official said, “We are honoured to count Fayeeza and Arif Naqvi among the recipients of the 2016 Global Humanitar-ian Awards for Women’s and Chil-dren’s Health.” — Express Tribune

Aman Foundation’s

chairperson Fayeeza

Naqvi said The ‘Sukh’

programmme seeks

to foster gender

equality, by giving

women the power

of choice

HEAVY WEAPONS SEIZED Pakistani soldiers pose for photographs alongside seized automatic weapons as they are

displayed for media in Peshawar on Wednesday. Security forces seized heavy weapons

and ammunition during a raid against suspected militants. — AFP

We believe that healthy, educated and empowered women build strong families and productive communities

Fayeeza NaqviChairperson of the Aman Foundation

Ferry services between Karachi, Gwadar and Chabahar soonISLAMABAD: Port and ship-ping authorities have finalised ar-rangements to start ferry services between Karachi and Gwadar and also to Chabahar, Iran from both the Pakistani port cities.

The service is set to begin by mid-March, aiming to promote tourism and safe transportation to pilgrims heading to Iran.

The decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting on Tuesday. Federal Ports and Ship-ping Minister Kamran Michael chaired the huddle.

For the Karachi to Gwadar fer-ry, a deal with Silangan Express-1 is at the final stage. This carrier has a capacity of 419 passengers and will take 14 hours for the jour-ney. It will allow 100kg of luggage for each passenger and will make three trips in a week.

Transporting pilgrimsFor transporting pilgrims to the port of Chabahar in Iran, arrange-ments are being finalised with another carrier, Samsun Ferry, which has a capacity of 600 pas-sengers. The service will run from Karachi and Gwadar ports.

The ferry service will cost

about 40 per cent less than the Rs45,000 for a return air ticket to Iran via Dubai. About one million pilgrims travel to Iran from Paki-stan every year.

The federal minister has di-rected the relevant officials to

complete all arrangements by the end of February so the service can be launched in March.

Kamran said the government might face losses but it wanted to facilitate pilgrims and promote tourism. — Express Tribune

T R A N S P O R T A T I O N

CONNECTIONS: The service is set to begin by mid-March, aiming

to promote tourism and safe transportation to pilgrims heading to

Iran. — Express Tribune

Charsadda varsity officials blamed for lapse in securityPESHAWAR/CHARSADDA: The vice chancellor (VC) and the person in charge of security at Bacha Khan University (BKU) in Charsadda have been blamed by district officials for the security lapse which led to the death of 21 people on last Wednesday.

This was said during a crisis conference held in Charsadda on Tuesday to discuss the security situation in the district.

Participants at the meeting claimed only four of the 55 secu-rity personnel were on duty at the time of the attack. They insisted the culprits be taken to task to set an example for others. According to the district councillors, the mil-itants managed to carry out the attack even though the govern-ment and the security forces were aware of an impending attack. They criticised the provincial government for failing to provide security and maintaining peace

in the region. During the confer-ence, the provincial government, BKU’s VC and security head were criticised for their inability to avert the attack. While meetings are being held and statements are being made a large number of schoolteachers in Peshawar have voiced reservations about secu-rity arrangements.

Azizullah Khan, a teacher at an institute in Gulbahar, said the ad-ministration of his school has not received funds to improve securi-ty. “The government has provided one gun for two guards deployed at the school’s gate,” he said.

“Following the Charsadda at-tack, I carry a pistol when I leave for school,” said Liaquat Ali, a teacher in Daudzai.

“There is a looming fear I might not return home.”

Kamran Khurram, a teacher at a school in Cantt, said Army Pub-lic School and Bacha Khan Uni-

versity attacks resulted in uncer-tainty and fear.

“Students cannot stay in school grounds and all teachers have weapons in hands,” he said. “This tense situation has greatly affect-ed education.”

According to Rifaqat Ali, a teacher in Mathra, the adminis-tration lacks funds to purchase guns and CCTV cameras.

However, the Peshawar district government has constituted a committee to ensure security at private schools in the city.

Insiders familiar with the mat-ter said, owners of private schools, representatives from the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education and police officials will be part of the committee.

The committee will coordinate with the provincial government to guarantee security and moni-tor such arrangements across the district. — Express Tribune

A I R S P A C E U S E

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DRILLING IN NORTH SEA REDUCED Drilling rigs are parked up in the Cromarty Firth near Invergordon, Scotland, Britain on Wednesday. Falling prices have reduced demand for drilling work in the North Sea and has led to the laying up of the rigs. — Reuters

US, China ‘agree’ on new UN action against North Korea

BEIJING: US Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese For-eign Minister Wang Yi agreed on Wednesday on the need for a significant new UN Security res-olution targeting North Korea after its January 6 nuclear test, though there were few signs of concrete progress.

Kerry, on a two-day visit to Bei-jing, had been expected to press China, North Korea’s lone major backer, for more curbs on Pyong-yang after it said it had success-fully conducted a test of a minia-turised hydrogen nuclear device, though the United States has voiced scepticism as to whether it was that powerful.

China has insisted it is already making great efforts to achieve denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula and Wang rejected any “groundless speculation” on its North Korea stance, following re-

marks from US officials that Chi-na could do more.

New resolution“We agreed that the UN Security Council needs to take further ac-tion and pass a new resolution,” Wang told reporters at a joint briefing with Kerry.

“In the meantime, we must point out that the new resolu-

tion should not provoke new ten-sions.” Kerry said the two sides had agreed to an “accelerated ef-fort” at the UN to reach a “strong resolution that introduces sig-nificant new measures” to curtail North Korea’s ability to advance its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

“It’s not enough to agree on the goal. We believe we need to agree

on the meaningful steps neces-sary to get the achievement of the goal,” Kerry said.

Pressure PyongyangThe exchange of goods and ser-vices between China and North Korea was one area where steps could be taken to pressure Pyong-yang back to talks, he said.

Kerry also said that shipping,

aviation, trade of resources, in-cluding coal and fuel, and security at border customs, were key areas in the sanctions debate.

North Korea is heavily reli-ant on China for oil, gasoline and trade.

“All nations, particularly those that seek a global leadership role, share a fundamental responsibil-ity to meet this challenge with a united front,” Kerry said.

He added that the US would take “all necessary steps” to hon-our security commitments to al-lies, signalling that the US was prepared to continue ramping up its military presence in the region, a move that would likely unsettle Beijing.

The 15-member UN Security Council said at the time of North Korea’s test that it would be-gin working on significant new measures in response, a threat diplomats said could mean an ex-pansion of sanctions. Since then, diplomats said Washington and Beijing have been primarily nego-tiating on a draft resolution, but when asked on Saturday if they were nearing agreement, US Am-bassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said no.

In a sign that Beijing could be reluctant to take a more hardline stance on North Korea, state news agency Xinhua said it was “unre-alistic to rely merely on China to press the DPRK to abandon its nuclear programme, as long as the US continues an antagonistic ap-proach wrought from a Cold War mentality”. — Reuters

On January 6,

Pyongyang claimed

it had carried out

successfully a test

of a miniaturised

hydrogen

nuclear device

DIPLOMACY: US Secretary of State John Kerry, left, talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday. - AFP

US experts call for swift WHO response to Zika virusCHICAGO: US researchers called on the World Health Organisation on Wednesday to take swift ac-tion on the Zika virus that is linked with thousands of birth defects in Brazil and is rapidly spreading in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Georgetown University re-searchers urged WHO Director-General Margaret Chan to heed the lessons of Ebola and act quick-ly to combat the mosquito-trans-mitted disease.

Emergency sessionSpecifically, they called on the UN agency to convene an emergency session of health and infectious disease experts to consider how to respond to the outbreak.

Just convening the meeting would focus attention on fund-ing and research, they said in a

viewpoint article published on Wednesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The Zika virus has been linked to brain damage in thousands of babies in Brazil. There is no vac-cine or treatment for Zika, which is a close cousin of dengue and chi-kungunya and causes mild fever, rash and red eyes.

An estimated 80 per cent of peo-ple infected have no symptoms, making it difficult for pregnant women to know whether they have been infected.

Until recently, the virus was seen as a mild disease, but concern has been elevated after the recent discovery of a possible link to birth defects in some affected countries and also to Guillain-Barré syn-drome, a rare but serious condition that can cause paralysis.

Recent models for how the disease is spreading predict “sig-nificant international spread by travelers from Brazil to the rest of the Americas, Europe, and Asia,” Dr Daniel Lucey, an infectious dis-ease expert, and Lawrence Gostin, a global health law expert, wrote in the viewpoint article in JAMA.

Ebola crisisThe WHO’s leadership admitted to serious missteps last April in its handling of the Ebola crisis, which was focused mostly on three West African countries and which killed more than 10,000 people.

They pledged reforms, with Chan declaring the WHO had “learned lessons of humility” after the agency was strongly criticised for acting too slowly to declare an outbreak. — Reuters

W A R N I N G

CRISIS: A child takes a picture as employees of the Peruvian Health Ministry display data on Aedes aegypti mosquitos that transmit Zika, Dengue and Chikungunya virus in Lima on Wednesday. — AFP

Kenya to remain in AU’s Somalia peace forceELDORET (KENYA): President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Wednes-day Kenya was committed to re-maining part of an African Union-led peacekeeping force in Somalia, after Al Shebaab militants said they killed more than 100 soldiers in an attack on an army base.

The extremist militants at-tacked the remote base close to the border with Kenya on Janu-ary 15, killing soldiers and seizing military equipment. Kenya has de-clined to say how many died.

“This is not the time to waiver or to listen to the voices of de-feat and despair,” Kenyatta told a televised memorial service for the dead soldiers, attended by So-mali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud and Nigeria’s Muham-madu Buhari.

“We fight because our cause is just, because we want to restore a productive peace in Somalia and we also wish to protect ourselves from an enemy that would seek to destroy us.”

Withdrawal of troopsThe main opposition party in Ken-ya has called for the withdrawal of troops from Somalia but Keny-atta said Kenya was committed to bringing stability to the neigh-bouring country.

African Union troops, now numbering about 22,000 from several African nations, have spent nearly a decade battling Al Shebaab extremists in Somalia, a country mired in conflict since civil war broke out in 1991. — Reuters

V I O L E N C E B Y A L S H E B A A B

12 killed in north Nigeria explosionsMAIDUGURI (NIGERIA): At least 12 people were killed on Wednesday when two fe-male suicide bombers blew themselves up in a market in the northern Nigerian town of Chibok where Boko Haram militants abducted more than 200 girls almost two years ago, police and residents said.

Boko Haram has been waging a six-year armed campaign in Nigeria’s remote north.

Thousands have been killed and more than two million peo-ple displaced by the campaign.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the attack bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram, which has been using suicide bombers since the army expelled the group from much of the northern territory.

Chibok market“Two veiled girls suspected to be suicide bombers entered Chibok market at about 12.54 pm today,” a police official said, asking not to be named.

“Afterwards we heard an ex-plosion at the heart of the mar-ket and people fled.

Some minutes later another blast came just at the edge of the market,” he said.

The official said he had count-ed eight bodies at the market, while four others had died on the way to the hospital. — Reuters

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

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WORLDT H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

EU nations warn Greece of more border controls

BRUSSELS: The European Un-ion (EU) executive concluded on Wednesday that Greece could face more border controls with other states of the free-travel Schengen zone in May if it does not fix “serious deficiencies” in its management of the area’s ex-ternal frontier.

EU countries have been in-creasingly critical of Athens’ han-dling of the continent’s worst mi-gration crisis since World War II, with more than a million migrants reaching Europe last year, mainly through Greece. “If the necessary action is not being taken and de-ficiencies persist, there is a possi-bility to... allow member states to temporarily close their borders,” European Commission Vice Pres-ident Valdis Dombrovskis told a news briefing. He was speaking after the executive accepted a re-port saying cash-strapped Athens had “seriously neglected” its obli-gations to fellow Schengen states.

Reinstalling controlsThe use of that phrase could pave the way for EU governments to exercise the option of reinstalling controls on their national borders for up to two years once short-term measures currently in place expire in May.

Several EU member states have

instituted emergency controls on their borders and warned they may effectively suspend Athens from the passport-free zone. Most of the irregular migrants arriving in the EU have come from Turkey via Greece and trekked northward to Germany.

Dombrovskis said Greece was not identifying or registering people arriving effectively, not uploading fingerprinting data to relevant bases systematically, and not checking travel documents properly and against key data-bases. EU border agency Fron-tex says its latest mission to the Greek island of Lesbos in January showed improvements in regis-tration procedures.

But EU officials carried out an assessment in Greece in No-vember that lead to Wednesday’s conclusion that there were “seri-

ous deficiencies” in Greek fron-tier control. The step of imposing border controls, under the as yet unused Article 26 of the Schen-gen code, can be taken for up to six months and can be renewed up to three times for a total of two years.

Dombrovskis said the Com-mission was intent on preserv-ing Schengen, one of the EU’s key achievements, and said Greece had improved its border controls since November - but not enough.

Majority voteThe next step in the process would be for Schengen member states - 26 countries, most of which are also in the EU - to confirm the Commission’s conclusions in a majority vote. The executive would then recommend reme-dial measures and assess by May whether Athens had complied.

Greece has no land borders with the rest of the Schengen zone, so installing new frontier checks would affect only air and sea ports.

Diplomats and officials de-scribed the move to penalise tour-ism-dependent Greece as a way to raise pressure on Athens, which is already mired in a financial crisis, to better implement EU measures intended to identify and register all those arriving from Turkey.

The EU is also looking into us-ing Frontex more to help guard the border between Greece and Macedonia, which is not a mem-ber of the EU or Schengen. Some Frontex personnel are already at Greece’s northern border, but the agency’s mandate does not allow for interventions in third countries.

Some diplomats said countries could send more police or border

guards to Macedonia on the basis of bilateral agreements.

Frontex has a precedent from 2006, when it ran a naval mission in territorial waters off Senegal and Mauritania to prevent Afri-can migrants reaching Spain’s Ca-nary Islands. That operation was carried out on the basis of bilat-eral agreements between Spain, Dakar and Nouakchott.

“Details would need to be worked out but there seems to be very little opposition to this idea, apart, of course, from Greece,” said one EU diplomat involved.

Athens says the influx is im-possible to control and its migra-tion minister, Yannis Mouzalas, warned this week that sealing his country off from Schengen would create a humanitarian crisis with thousands of people trapped in Greece. — Reuters

EU countries have

been increasingly

critical of Athens’

handling of the

continent’s worst

migration crisis since

World War II

Turkey widens curfew in southeast as 23 killedDIYARBAKIR (TURKEY): Se-curity forces killed 20 Kurdish militants in southeast Turkey while three Turkish soldiers died in a rebel attack, the military said on Wednesday, as authorities wid-ened a curfew in the mainly Kurd-ish region’s largest city, Diyarbakir.

Hundreds of locals, including children and the elderly, fled cur-few-bound areas of Diyarbakir’s Sur district as gunfire and blasts resounded and police helicopters flew overhead, a Reuters witness said. Some people cried as they carried away possessions.

The southeast has endured the worst violence in two decades since a two-and-half-year-old ceasefire between the state and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants collapsed in July, reviv-ing a conflict that has killed 40,000 people since 1984.

The army said 11 PKK members died in the town of Cizre, near the Syrian border, and nine more in Sur on Tuesday, bringing the mili-tant death toll in the two towns to some 600 since security opera-tions began there last month.

AttackIt said three soldiers were killed in a militant attack in Sur, where security sources said militants opened fire with rifles and a rocket launcher. The ancient Sur district, enclosed by Roman city walls, has suffered extensive damage in the fighting and much of it has been under a round-the-clock curfew since December 2.

The district governor’s office said the curfew was extended to five more districts so security forc-es could remove explosive devices and barricades and fill in ditches set up by militants.

Turkey, the United States and the European Union all classify the PKK as a terrorist organisa-tion. The PKK says it is fighting for autonomy for Turkey’s Kurdish minority. — Reuters

C L A S H E S

Hundreds of locals, including children and the elderly, fled curfew-bound areas of Diyarbakir’s Sur district as gunfire and blasts resounded and police helicopters flew overhead, a Reuters witness said.

THREATENED: Refugees and migrants arrive aboard the passenger ferry Nissos Rodos at the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece on Wednesday. Several EU member states have instituted emergency controls on their borders and warned they may effectively suspend Athens from the passport-free zone. – Reuters

MARKEWWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMT H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6B

Muscat

4,953.98 + 19.75

+ 0.40%

Dubai

2,753.07+ 54.64

+ 2.02%

Abu Dhabi

3,827.82+ 27.80

+ 0.73%

Saudi Arabia

5,697.75+ 60.44

+ 1.07%

Kuwait

4,969.25+ 32.74

+ 0.66%

Bahrain

1,158.59 + 2.76

+ 0.24%

Qatar

8,979.50+ 230.88

+ 2.64%

CURRENCY RATES* DRAFT RATES (OMR1)* GOLD PRICES*Forex rates vs OMR1*

US Dollar .................................2.58

Euro ............................................2.36

Pound ............................................1.76

Indian Rs ............................. 175.69

Pak Rs ....................................267.59

Bangla Taka.......................201.05* Rates are as of Jan. 27

Source: Bank Muscat

Indian Rs ...................................176.65

Pakistan Rs ..............................272.15

Sri Lanka Rs ............................371.75

Bangla Taka........................... 203.20

Phil Peso .................................... 124.10

* Rates as of Jan. 27 Source: Oman UAE Exchange

Muscat 24ct per gm (OMR) .......14.40

Muscat 22ct per gm (OMR) .......13.90

Dubai 24ct per gm (Dh) ........... 135.00

Dubai 22ct per gm (Dh) ............ 128.00

* Rates as of Jan. 27

Source: Malabar Gold & Diamonds

Type ............................Delivery...........Price

Oman Crude ............. (Spot) ........$26.86

Dubai Crude ............. (Spot) ........$26.36

Murban Crude ........ (Spot) ........$29.52

Arabian Light ......... (Spot) .........$25.21

N.Sea Brent ............... (Spot) ..........$31.19

West Texas Int ....... (Spot) ........ $30.70

CRUDE OIL PRICE

DIGEST VIDEO

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

Top stories in one minute with our new daily Digest

Bank Muscat proposes 25% cash, 5% stock dividendTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the lead-ing financial services provider in the Sultanate, has proposed a 30 per cent dividend payment to share-holders for 2015.

Continuing the bank’s strong dividend payment track record, the board of directors has pro-posed a 25 per cent cash dividend for 2015, which is consistent with the cash dividend paid in the last five years.

In addition, a 5 per cent dividend

in the form of bonus shares has also been proposed. The bank has retained a sufficient level of prof-its to further strengthen the capi-tal base and be better positioned for possible future challenging market conditions.

A meeting of the board of direc-tors chaired by Sheikh Khalid bin Mustahail Al Mashani, chairman, on January 26, approved the 2015 financial results and dividend pay-out, subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) and shareholders of the bank.

“Amid the challenging economic and financial situation marked by low oil prices, the key business lines of the bank recorded healthy performance on expected lines,” said Sheikh Khalid bin Mustahail Al Mashani.

Shareholders will receive a cash dividend of OMR0.025 per ordi-nary share of OMR0.100 each ag-gregating to OMR57.29 million on the bank’s existing share capital. In addition, they would receive bo-nus shares in the proportion of one share for every 20 ordinary shares

aggregating to 114,591,130 shares of OMR0.100 each amounting to OMR11.46 million. The proposed cash dividend and issuance of bo-nus shares are subject to the for-mal approval of the annual general meeting of the shareholders and regulatory authorities.

Net profit growthThe bank had posted a net profit of OMR175.45 million in 2015, compared to OMR163.23million reported in 2014, reflecting an increase of 7.5 per cent. The

basic earnings per share were OMR0.077 in 2015, against OMR0.071 in 2014. The banks’ capital adequacy ratio stood at 16.10 per cent as on December 31, 2015 after appropriation for pro-posed dividend for the year 2015 against the minimum required level of 12.625 per cent as per Basel III regulations issued by CBO.

Net loans and advances from conventional operations increased by 4.9 per cent to OMR 6,695 mil-lion as against OMR6,386 million, as of December 31, 2014. Custom-

er deposits, including CDs from conventional operations increased by 6.2 per cent to OMR6,738 mil-lion as against OMR6,345 million as of December 31, 2014.

Islamic financing receivables amounted to OMR635 million as of December 31, 2015, com-pared to OMR400 million during the same period of 2014. The Is-lamic banking customer deposits amounted to OMR625 million as of December 31, 2015, compared to OMR283 million reported on December 31, 2014.

F U L L Y E A R R E S U L T S

Kuwait plansto issue bonds for funding $100b projectsKUWAIT CITY: Kuwait Petro-leum Corporation (KPC) is con-sidering selling bonds to help pay for a planned investment of $100 billion over the next five years to boost oil output, echoing plans by Saudi Arabia to maintain spending on energy projects as global pro-ducers compete for market share.

State-run KPC is looking at is-suing bonds and Islamic securities known as sukuk, the company’s chief executive officer Nizar Al Ad-sani said at a conference in Kuwait City. KPC had announced plans earlier this month to arrange a $10 billion loan to expand refineries to make cleaner-burning fuels.

Expanding productionKuwait, Organisation of Petro-leum Exporting Countries’ (Opec) fourth-biggest producer, plans to expand its crude production ca-pacity to 4 million barrels a day by 2020, he said.

Al Adsani’s remarks came a day after Khalid Al Falih, chairman of state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Company, said his company, the world’s biggest producer, has formulated a new strategy in re-sponse to cheaper crude and is keeping up its investments.

Together, the comments of both officials suggest that at least two of Opec’s core Arab producers are doubling down in long-term bets on their energy assets.

“The world market will need around 5 to 6 million barrels a day of new crude annually,” Al Adsani said. “This shows the importance of continuity in investments in upstream globally for the sake of stable market supply and to avoid volatility and spikes in oil prices.”

Opec outputKuwait, with fellow Arab produc-ers in the Gulf including Saudi Arabia, led the Opec to abandon output limits on December 4 amid efforts to squeeze higher-cost pro-ducers such as Russia and United States shale drillers from the mar-ket. The small nation of 3.7 million people holds 101.5 billion barrels in crude reserves. Its production rose by 50,000 barrels a day to 2.9 million barrels a day in December, according to data.

Kuwait will study other means of financing its oil-investment push, including bonds, sukuk, and project bonds, Al Adsani said. “This will open up the possibility for KPC to be rated by internation-al credit agencies,” he said.

Saudi AramcoOil producers in the Gulf region shouldn’t reduce output and risk losing buyers, Ali al-Jarwan, chief executive officer of state-run Abu Dhabi Marine Operating said. Crude prices will remain low for a long period, he said, without speci-fying prices or the length of time.

Benchmark Brent crude tum-bled 35 per cent last year and an additional 16 per cent. - Bloomberg News

D E B T Iranian firm signs deal for $200m-car unit in Oman

ELHAM POURMOHAMMADI [email protected]

MUSCAT: A first-of-its-kind car manufacturing facility with a cap-ital expenditure of $200 million is planned in Duqm through the es-tablishment of an Iranian-Omani joint venture, targeting Oman and neighbouring regional markets.

A memorandum of understand-ing (MoU) was signed by Oman Investment Fund (OIF), Iran’s leading car manufacturer Iran Khodro and an Omani investor for the creation of the joint venture during Iran’s second solo exhibi-tion on Wednesday.

Khalid Al Yahmadi, investment director at OIF, said that a prelimi-nary study had been conducted before the signing of the MoU and a detailed study will be carried out within the next three months about the requirements of Oman and other target markets as well as the brand and types of the cars required.

As per the initial plan, it will be a new brand that will be created with the support of Iran Khodro, he told reporters.

The project will start with an assembly unit but the objective is to have a full manufacturing facil-ity, Al Yahmadi explained.

The initial capacity of the unit will be around 20,000 cars per year, the official said, adding that the total investment at the full

stage is going to be around $200 million. Around OMR5 million will be invested in the assembly line, he stated, adding that the ground breaking for the assem-bly line is expected by the fourth quarter of this year.

Job creationHe noted that it will take sev-eral years for other local ancil-lary industries, such as produc-tion of tyre, glass, batteries and brake pads, to be developed ei-ther through the private sector in Oman or other government enti-ties to transform the unit into a full production facility.

Al Yahmadi said that around 100 to 300 jobs will be created in

the assembly line but definitely more employment opportunities will be created by a full-fledged project. A portion of the cars will be sold in Oman but a majority of the cars will be exported to other markets including the Gulf Coop-eration Council (GCC) countries and some African markets.

Issa Al Riyami, chairman of Al Riyami Automobile and Al Orkid Automobile, said the share of OIF in the joint venture is 57 per cent, Iran Khodro 20 per cent, Al Riy-ami Automobile 20 per cent and Al Orkid Automobile 3 per cent.

He noted that the cars will start to be sold to the market in 2017, adding that 20 per cent of the cars will be sold to the local market

and 80 per cent will be exported to other countries.

Economical cars Mehdi Akbar, regional director of Iran Khodro in Gulf countries, said that the company has partici-pated in the exhibition with Dena, Runna, Soren and Samand pas-senger cars. He said that the cars manufactured by Iran Khodro, one of the largest car manufactur-ers in the Middle East, are on the economical scale and are among the best in the world in terms of fuel consumption.

Akbar noted that the project is planned to start with the Dena brand and good after-sales servic-es will be offered. Asked when the assembly will start, he said that it is expected within 14 months from now.

Duqm gate Commenting on the importance of the project, the official said that Duqm will become a major gate for exports to other countries such as African countries in the near future. According to him, the project will positively affect the trade ties between Iran and Oman and will mutually benefit both countries.

“We are going to transfer the knowledge of the production to the Omanis,” he said, adding that a number of Iranian experts will

help initiate the project but Oma-ni staff will be used in the unit.

Akbar noted that a ‘great change’ is being seen in the activi-ties of Iran Khodro after the lifting of the economic sanctions against Iran and the company is expected to sign cooperation agreements with a number of major interna-tional companies.

The signing ceremony was at-tended by Ali bin Masoud Al Su-naidy, Oman’s minister of com-merce and industry; Mojtaba Khosrotaj, Iranian deputy minis-ter of industry, mine and trade; Ali Akbar Sibeveih, Iran’s ambassa-dor to the Sultanate, and a number of other officials.

Speaking to reporters, Al Su-naidy said that the exhibition would help enhance trade be-tween the two countries.

There are direct shipping line services between Sohar and Iran once every two weeks as the level of direct bilateral trade was still low but with this kind of exhibi-tions and enhanced trade of prod-ucts, that particular line is going to expand, the minister further added.

An MoU was signed

by Oman Investment

Fund, Iran’s car

manufacturer Iran

Khodro and an Omani

investor to create

a joint venture for

car manufacturing

facility in Duqm

Etihad suspends tender process for railway lineDUBAI: Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Rail has suspended the tender process for stage two of the pro-ject, which is due to take the line west to the UAE’s border with Saudi Arabia and east to Dubai and Oman, according to a state-ment on Tuesday.

The richest of the UAE’s seven emirates derives 51 per cent of its gross domestic product from oil, putting state spending under pressure after the price of crude

slumped to $30 a barrel. HSBC this month trimmed its

2015 growth estimate for the UAE as a whole to 2.3 per cent from 2.4 per cent.

Etihad Rail, which has pledged to spend Dh40 billion ($11 billion) on its part of the pan-Gulf net-work, put the bidding on hold af-ter suggesting on January 17 that tenders were in their final stages, even after the company dismissed one-third of its workforce, citing a need to streamline operations.

“We have been working closely with our partners and stakehold-ers to assess our strategic priori-ties for the year,” chairman Nasser

Alsowaidi said in Tuesday’s re-lease. Stage two of the plan is now frozen while the company pon-ders “the most appropriate timing for this investment,” he said.

No impact on stage oneThe decision will have no impact on the stage one route, which re-cently commenced commercial operations after safety clearances were granted in December and links a number of industrial in-

stallations west of Abu Dhabi city, Etihad Rail said.

The Gulf Cooperation Council Rail Network aims to span the six GCC nations, running from close to the borders of Iraq in Kuwait via the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, with links to Qatar and Bahrain, into the UAE and on to Oman.

A notional deadline of 2018 for the work still stands, though some of the countries have yet to start laying down track. – Bloomberg News

S T A G E T W O

HAVE YOUR SAY Send us your comments at facebook.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com [email protected]

PARTNERS IN PROGRESS: From left, Issa Al Riyami, chairman of

Al Riyami Automobile and Al Orkid Automobile; Mehdi Akbar,

regional director of Iran Khodro in Gulf countries and Khalid Al

Yahmadi, investment director at the Oman Investment Fund,

signing a Memorandum of Understanding. - SHABIN E./Times of Oman

MOVING FORWARD: A portion of the cars will be sold in Oman but

a majority of the cars will be exported to other markets, including

the GCC countries and some African markets. – SHABIN E./Times of Oman

IN A NUTSHELL Car project will start with an assembly unit, but the

objective is to have a full manufacturing facility

Initial capacity of the unit will be 20,000 cars per year

OMR5 million will be invested in the assembly line

Nearly 100 to 300 jobs will be created in the unit

Company will start selling cars in 2017

20% of the cars will be sold in local market and 80% will

be exported

B2

MARKETT H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

MUSCATSECURITIES MARKET

SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27

REGULAR MARKET .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................OM0000002374............UNITED FINANCE ...................................................... 38,000 .............. 4,260........................5 ............0.111 ........... 0.114............ 0.111 ............0.112 ............. 0.107............ 0.005 ............. 4.673 ................ 0.114 .............. 0.110................... 0.114 ...................34,805,673 .........0.100

OM0000001483 ............NATIONAL BANK OF OMAN ................................. 943,360 .........214,239..................... 42 ............0.216 ...........0.230 ...........0.216 ........... 0.227 .............0.220 ........... 0.007 ............. 3.182 ................0.230..............0.229...................0.231 ..................304,341,227 .......0.100

OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 1,054,385 ...... 155,327..................... 78 ............0.149 ........... 0.149 ...........0.146 ............0.147 ............. 0.143............ 0.004 ............. 2.797 ................0.147 .............. 0.147...................0.148 ...................22,061,025 .........0.100

OM0000001319 ............NATIONAL ALUMINIUM PRODUCTS ............. 2,692,938...... 555,314..................... 59 ............0.201 ........... 0.216 ...........0.201 ........... 0.206 .............0.201 ........... 0.005 ............. 2.488 ................0.210 ............. 0.208...................0.210 .....................6,915,719...........0.100

OM0000002549 ...........BANK DHOFAR ............................................................ 973,264 ......... 214,318..................... 54 ........... 0.230 ...........0.230 ...........0.220 .......... 0.220 ............. 0.216............ 0.004 ............. 1.852 ................0.220 ............ 0.220...................0.225 ................ 339,840,280 .......0.100

OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE .............. 126,279 ............21,068..................... 25 ............0.166 ........... 0.168 ...........0.166 ............0.167 ............. 0.164............ 0.003 ............. 1.829 ................0.167 .............. 0.166...................0.167 ...................33,400,000.........0.100

OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ............................................................ 4,096,407 .. 1,659,103................... 178 ........... 0.400 ...........0.408 ...........0.400 .......... 0.406 .............0.400 ........... 0.006 ............. 1.500 ................0.402............. 0.400...................0.402 .................930,479,974 ........0.100

OM0000004735 ...........SEMBCORP SALALAH .............................................. 1,013,506 .. 2,483,090..................... 10 ........... 2.450 ........... 2.450 ...........2.450........... 2.450 .............2.420 ........... 0.030 ............. 1.240 ................2.450..............2.450...................2.500 .................233,870,128 ........1.000

OM0000001517 ............HSBC BANK OMAN .................................................... 110,100 .............10,762........................5 ........... 0.097 ........... 0.098 ...........0.097 ........... 0.098 .............0.097 ............0.001 ..............1.031.................0.098 ..............0.092...................0.098..................196,030,653 ........0.100

OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES .......................................64,447 ............... 7,347........................ 1 ............0.114 ........... 0.114............ 0.114 ............0.114 ............. 0.113 .............0.001 ............. 0.885 ................ 0.114 .............. 0.114................... 0.119 ................... 33,134,216 .........0.100

OM0000001087 ............OMAN UNITED INSURANCE ............................... 193,191 .............31,949..................... 36 ............0.164 ........... 0.166 ...........0.164 ............0.165 ............. 0.164.............0.001 ............. 0.610 ................0.165 .............. 0.165...................0.167 ...................16,500,000 .........0.100

OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ........................ 142,396 .........203,806..................... 42 ............1.430 ........... 1.450 ...........1.425 ........... 1.430 ............. 1.425............ 0.005 ............. 0.351 ................1.430 ..............1.420...................1.430 ................1,072,500,000 ......0.100

OM0000001145 ............PORT SERVICES CORPORATION ........................... 1,300 ...................156........................ 1 ............0.120 ........... 0.120 ...........0.120 ........... 0.120 .............0.120 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.120 .............. 0.116...................0.120 ...................11,404,800 .........0.100

OM0000001418 ............RAYSUT CEMENT ..........................................................2,600 ...............2,475........................ 1 ........... 0.952 ........... 0.952 ...........0.952........... 0.952 .............0.952 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.952 ............. 0.940...................0.952................. 190,400,000 .......0.100

OM0000001533 ............OMINVEST .................................................................... 266,112 ........... 119,765........................6 ........... 0.452 ........... 0.452 ...........0.450........... 0.450 .............0.450 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.450 ..............0.450...................0.460 .................248,787,739 ........0.100

OM0000002028 ...........GULF INTERNATIONAL CHEMICALS .............. 11,000 ...............2,850........................5 ........... 0.259 ...........0.260 ...........0.259........... 0.259 .............0.259 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.260............. 0.260...................0.265.................... 5,439,000 ..........0.100

OM0000002226 ...........AL JAZEERA SERVICES .............................................. 5,000 ................1,175........................ 1 ........... 0.235 ........... 0.235 ...........0.235 ........... 0.230 .............0.230 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.235 ..............0.235...................0.240 ..................14,076,983 .........0.100

OM0000002275 ...........SHELL OMAN MARKETING .................................. 60,000 ...........117,900........................9 ............1.965 ........... 1.965 ...........1.965 ............1.965 ............. 1.965 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.965 ..............1.800...................1.960 ..................186,675,000 ........0.100

OM0000003000 ...........ALMAHA PETROLEUM PRODUCTS MAR. ......... 5,542 ...............9,532........................3 ............1.720 ........... 1.720 ...........1.720 ............1.720 ............. 1.720 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.720 .............. 1.720...................1.800 ..................118,680,000 ........0.100

OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. .................. 764,386 ............39,786......................11 ........... 0.052 ........... 0.053 ...........0.052........... 0.052 .............0.052 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.052 ..............0.052...................0.053................... 15,078,993 .........0.100

OM0000003661 ............VOLTAMP ENERGY ........................................................2,651 ............... 1,103........................5 ............0.416 ........... 0.416 ...........0.416 ........... 0.410 ............. 0.410............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.416 .............. 0.416...................0.428 ..................24,805,000 ........0.100

OM0000003711 ............SOHAR POWER ......................................................................20 ....................... 7........................ 1 ........... 0.350 ........... 0.350 ...........0.350........... 0.352 .............0.352 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.350 ............. 0.000...................0.350................... 77,795,520 .........0.100

OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO....................................................................... 203,000 ......... 126,232........................7 ........... 0.620 ........... 0.624 ...........0.620........... 0.620 .............0.620 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.624.............. 0.612...................0.624 .................403,585,423 .......0.100

OM0000004248 ...........SMN POWER HOLDING ....................................................20 ..................... 15........................ 1 ............0.740 ........... 0.740 ...........0.740 ........... 0.740 ............. 0.740 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.740 ............. 0.000...................0.740 ..................147,730,344 ........0.100

OM0000004768 ...........AL MADINA TAKAFUL ............................................... 16,700 ............... 1,162........................3 ........... 0.070 ........... 0.070 ...........0.068........... 0.070 .............0.070 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.068 ..............0.068...................0.070...................12,250,000 .........0.100

OM0000004925 ...........AL BATINAH POWER ................................................ 854,820 ......... 162,416......................16 ............0.190 ........... 0.190 ...........0.190 ........... 0.190 ............. 0.190 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.190 ..............0.190...................0.193 ..................128,228,612 ........0.100

OM0000004933 ...........AL SUWADI POWER .................................................. 10,000,000 1,910,000........................ 1 ............0.191 ........... 0.191 ............ 0.191 ........... 0.190 ............. 0.190 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 0.191 ..............0.190................... 0.191 .................. 135,737,205 ........0.100

OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS ........................................................532 ...................178........................2 ........... 0.334 ........... 0.334 ...........0.334........... 0.340 .............0.340 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.334..............0.334...................0.344 .................. 17,850,000 .........0.100

OM0000001822 ............UNITED POWER ..............................................................1,183 ............... 3,051........................2 ........... 2.550 ...........2.600 ...........2.550........... 2.580 .............2.595 ...........-0.015 ........... -0.578 ...............2.600............. 2.600...................2.700....................2,064,000 ..........1.000

OM0000002176 ............AL JAZEERA STEEL PRODUCTS ..........................35,000 ...............5,230........................7 ............0.146 ........... 0.150 ...........0.146 ........... 0.149 ............. 0.150............-0.001 ........... -0.667 ...............0.150 .............. 0.141...................0.150 ................... 18,609,796 .........0.100

OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................ 200,403 ........... 24,668..................... 25 ............0.124 ........... 0.124 ...........0.123 ............0.123 ............. 0.124 ...........-0.001 ........... -0.806 ...............0.123 .............. 0.123...................0.126 .................. 177,297,120 ........0.100

OM0000002168 ............AL ANWAR CERAMIC TILES .................................60,832 ............. 17,033......................12 ........... 0.280 ...........0.280 ...........0.280 .......... 0.280 .............0.283 ...........-0.003 ........... -1.060 ...............0.280............. 0.280...................0.288 ..................82,939,831 .........0.100

OM0000001707 ............OMAN CABLES INDUSTRY ...................................... 73,748 .......... 106,985........................6 ............1.450 ........... 1.455............1.450 ............1.450 ............. 1.500 ...........-0.050 ........... -3.333 ...............1.455 ..............1.460...................1.495 ..................130,065,000........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 24,013,122 .....8,212,301 ...............660 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ......33........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

PARALLEL MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000005963 ...........PHOENIX POWER ...................................................... 819,093...........110,336..................... 35 ............0.134 ........... 0.136 ...........0.134 ............0.135 ............. 0.133............ 0.002 ............. 1.504 ................0.136 .............. 0.136...................0.137 .................. 197,451,197 ........0.100

OM0000001228 ............OMAN HOTELS AND TOURISM ........................... 22,880 ............... 5,514........................2 ............0.241 ........... 0.241 ...........0.241 ........... 0.241 .............0.240 ............0.001 ............. 0.417 ................0.241 ............. 0.240...................0.000 ..................13,255,000 .........0.100

OM0000001400 ...........OMAN FLOUR MILLS ................................................... 1,390 .................. 567........................ 1 ........... 0.408 ...........0.408 ...........0.408........... 0.408 .............0.408 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.408..............0.408...................0.000 ................. 64,260,000 ........0.100

OM0000001723 ............OMAN ORIX LEASING ................................................. 2,100 .................. 286........................ 1 ............0.136 ........... 0.136 ...........0.136 ............0.138 ............. 0.138............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.136 ............. 0.000...................0.000 ..................33,310,998 .........0.100

OM0000002564 ...........AL HASSAN ENGINEERING.................................. 147,770 ...............8,845......................13 ........... 0.060 ...........0.060 ...........0.058 ........... 0.060 .............0.060 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.059 ..............0.056...................0.059.................... 4,512,480 ..........0.100

OM0000004511 ............ALIZZ ISLAMIC BANK.................................................. 1,000 .....................56........................ 1 ........... 0.056 ........... 0.056 ...........0.056 ........... 0.055 .............0.055 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.056 ..............0.055...................0.056...................55,000,000.........0.100

OM0000004776 ...........TAKAFUL OMAN INSURANCE ....................................150 ..................... 15........................ 1 ........... 0.100 ........... 0.100 ...........0.100 ........... 0.095 .............0.095 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.100 ..............0.090...................0.100....................9,500,000 ..........0.100

OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ................................................................ 1,695,925 ......104,550.....................40 ........... 0.062 ........... 0.063 ...........0.061 ........... 0.062 .............0.063 ...........-0.001 ............-1.587................0.061 .............. 0.061...................0.063...................93,000,000 ........0.100

OM0000001566 ............OMAN FISHERIES ..................................................... 623,300 ............28,139..................... 36 ........... 0.046 ...........0.046 ...........0.045........... 0.045 .............0.046 ...........-0.001 ........... -2.174................0.046............. 0.044...................0.046 ...................5,625,000 ..........0.100

OM0000001368 ............CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IND. .................. 1,004,000 ........27,253..................... 49 ........... 0.028 ........... 0.028 ...........0.027........... 0.027 .............0.029 ...........-0.002 ........... -6.897 ...............0.028..............0.027...................0.028 ...................2,295,000 ..........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 4,317,608 ......285,560................... 179 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ......10........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

BONDS AND SUKUK MARKET ...................................................................................................................................................................... OM0000005971 ............B.MUSCAT COMPL. CONVR. B.B.3.5 ....................... 1,608 ...................153........................3 ........... 0.095 ........... 0.095 ...........0.095 ........... 0.095 .............0.095 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.095 ..............0.095...................0.099................... 30,795,353 .........0.100

.............................................SUM: ...................................................................................... 1,608 ...................153........................3 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... 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 ....................................... 4,962.19 .............. 4,934.23 ...................4,953.98 .................. 4,934.23 .................. 19.75 ...................0.40Financial Index ..................................... 5,919.31 .............. 5,858.23 ................... 5,898.00 ...................5,858.23 ..................39.77 ................... 0.68Industrial Index ....................................6,416.57 .............. 6,392.44 ................... 6,395.57 ................... 6,415.95 ................-20.38 .................. -0.32Services Index ...................................... 2,849.86 .............. 2,840.14 ...................2,848.93 ...................2,840.14 .................... 8.79 ................... 0.31MSM SHARIAH INDEX.......................801.99 ..................798.80 .......................799.59 ...................... 801.99 ..................-2.40 .................. -0.30

Trading SummaryVolume ................ Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up ............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded28,332,338 ................. 8,498,014 .................... 842 ............... 15,276,885,276 ................ 14 ........................8 ....................22 .........................44

MSM index ends higher

MUSCAT: Dividend announce-ments in banking stocks lifted the MSM 30 Index to 4,953.98 points, up 0.40 per cent. The MSM Sha-ria Index closed at 799.59 points, down by 0.30 per cent.

Al Suwadi Power was the most active in terms of volume while Sembcorp Salalah led in terms of turnover. United Finance, up 4.67 per cent, was the top gainer on Wednesday while Construc-tion Materials was the top loser, down 6.90 per cent.

As many as 842 trades were executed on Wednesday, generat-ing turnover of OMR8.49 million with 28.3 million shares chang-ing hands. Out of 44 traded secu-rities, 14 advanced, eight declined and 22 remained unchanged. Omani investors were net buy-ers to the tune of OMR1.83 million worth of shares, while foreign investors remained net sellers at OMR1.67 million, fol-lowed by GCC and Arab investors who sold shares amounting to OMR158,000.

Financial Index advanced 0.68 per cent to close at 5,898 points. United Finance, NBO, Al Anwar Holding, BankDhofar and Bank Muscat gained 4.67 per cent, 3.18 per cent, 2.80 per cent, 1.85 per cent and 1.50 per cent, respec-tively. Bank Nizwa and Bank Sohar declined 1.59 per cent and 0.81 per cent, respectively.

Industrial Index declined by 0.32 per cent to close at 6,395.57 points. National Aluminium, up 2.49 per cent, was the only gainer. Construction Materials, Oman Cables, Oman Fisheries, Al Anwar Ceramics and Al Jazeera Steel de-clined by 6.90 per cent, 3.33 per cent, 2.17 per cent, 1.06 per cent and 0.67 per cent, respectively.

Services Index ended the ses-sion at 2,848.93 points, up 0.31 per cent. OIFC, Phoenix Power, Sembcorp Salalah, Renais-sance Services and Oman Ho-tels & Tourism gained by 1.83

per cent, 1.50 per cent, 1.24 per cent, 0.88 per cent and 0.42 per cent, respectively. United Pow-er, down by 0.58 per cent, was the sole loser.

Emerging stocksEmerging-market stocks rose before the Federal Reserve concludes its first policy meet-ing of the year and amid specu-lation counterparts in Europe and Japan will bolster their record stimulus.

Shares in Russia, South Korea, the Middle East and the Philip-pines rose at least 1.4 per cent. Malaysia’s ringgit jumped as Prime Minister Najib Razak was cleared in a corruption probe, while Turkey’s lira gained for a second day and Russia’s ruble erased earlier losses. The extra yield investors demand to own developing-nation debt over US Treasuries narrowed for the first time this week.

Emerging markets took some respite after concern over Chi-na’s worsening economic outlook spurred a selloff that erased more than $2.5 trillion from the value of equities in developing nations this year. The turmoil has led traders to push back bets on the Fed’s rate increase, while Eu-ropean Central Bank President Mario Draghi signaled last week further stimulus may be neces-sary in March. The Bank of Japan meets on Friday.

“Sentiment has turned more positive, which was almost inevi-table, considering how negative it had become,” said Tony Hann, the head of emerging equities at Blackfriars Asset Management Ltd. in London, who broadly prefers Indian shares and stocks of southeast Asian countries in-cluding Indonesia.

The MSCIEmerging Markets Index rose 1.1 percent to 715.79 at 12:55 p.m. in London.

- United Securities/Bloomberg News

United Finance, up 4.67 per cent, was the top

gainer on Wednesday, while Construction

Materials, down 6.90 per cent, lost the most

Sensex gains; rupee plunges again MUMBAI: Sensex oscillated for the most part of the session, but notched up gains for the third straight day as investors played safe ahead of the January deriva-tives expiry on Thursday amid a mixed trend overseas.

Sustained outflows by foreign funds and a mixed global trend ahead of the outcome of the US Fed’s two-day policy meet.

The 30-share barometer, which had gained 523.74 points in the

previous two sessions, inched up 6.44 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 24,492.39 at the close. It moved be-tween 24,645.70 and 24,458.13. The broader Nifty settled higher by 1.60 points, or 0.02 per cent, at 7,437.75.

Rupee slumpsExtending losses for the second day, the rupee on Wednesday plummeted by another 22 paise to close at a new 29-month low of 68.05 per dollar on sustained de-

mand for the American currency from banks and importers amidst lower greenback overseas.

The month-end dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners, affected the rupee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said.

The rupee resumed lower at 67.90 per dollar as against Mon-day’s closing level of 67.83 and fell further to 68.08 before closing at 29-month low at 68.05, showing a loss of 22 paise. - PTI

I N D I A N M A R K E T S

B3T H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

MARKETNew record for Oman crude oil contractTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Dubai Mercantile Exchnage (DME), the premier international energy futures and commodities exchange in the Mid-dle East, on Wednesday achieved a new open interest record for its flagship Oman Crude Oil Futures contract of 31,492 lots, which is equivalent to 31.5 million barrels of Omani crude oil. The previous record was set on August 28, 2015 when open interest was 27,107 lots.

Wednesday’s record highlights the increase appetite for com-mercial players to trade on the exchange and get their crude oil delivered through DME due to its transparent trading platform and its delivery mechanism that allows DME to deliver between 15 and 22 million barrels every month from Mina Al Fahal port in Oman.

Owain Johnson, managing di-rector of DME said: “The new record today indicates that our offering is highly appreciated by major global commercial players. We have witnessed strong physi-cal delivery volumes recently and this is due to the ever-growing ap-petite among oil traders to trade the DME Oman contract, both to participate in price discovery and also in physical delivery through the exchange.”

““An increase in open interest is the best indicator of the health of a futures contract and so we are delighted to set a new record. Trading volumes also continue to grow strongly on the exchange, so DME has made an excellent start to 2016,” Johnson added. DME recently registered a 30 per cent increase year-on-year in physical delivery volumes.

O I L M A R K E T Toyota retains top slot for fourth year in global sales

TOKYO: Toyota stayed the world’s top-selling automaker for the fourth straight year and only company to deliver more than 10 million vehicles as Volkswagen fell back amid its emissions scandal.

Global sales for Toyota, includ-ing its Hino Motors and Daihatsu units, fell 0.8 per cent to 10.15 mil-lion vehicles last year, according to a company statement. Volkswa-gen earlier this month reported a 2 per cent drop to 9.9 million, while General Motors’ deliveries rose 0.2 per cent to 9.8 million.

Toyota’s result caps a year in which Volkswagen (VW) led its Japanese rival through the first six months, only to relinquish the top spot amid an unprecedented cri-sis. Already dealing with slump-ing sales in China, Volkswagen’s emissions scandal has forced it to halt sales of diesels in some mar-kets and scramble to repair 11 mil-lion vehicles.

The German company also has to mend its reputation and rethink the goal of surpassing Toyota, a key objective under former chief executive officer Martin Winter-korn, who resigned in the wake of revelations the company had em-ployed defeat devices to cheat on exhaust tests.

“Toyota’s hegemony will prob-ably not be challenged for the next few years after the big setback for VW,” Zhou Jincheng, a Nago-ya-based analyst at researcher Fourin, said by phone. “The gap will only get wider and wider be-cause VW will take time to adjust its strategies for markets such as the United States and Europe.”

To make it five wins in a row, Toyota is considering a move that could improve its position in emerging markets.

The automaker may buy the rest of its 51 per cent-owned Daihatsu unit, giving it full control over the leading maker of minicars for Ja-pan and compact cars in Indone-sia and Malaysia.

Redesigned PriusToyota also is introducing its first redesigned Prius compact in al-most seven years. The carmaker boosted the fuel economy of its top-selling hybrid and has outfit-ted the model with driver-assist features like automatic emer-

gency braking. Although Volkswa-gen’s European recall is due to be-gin this month, the company has yet to agree to a fix with regulators in the US, where it’s been forced to halt sales of diesel models. The au-tomaker has so far set aside €6.7 billion ($7.3 billion) for repairs to engines that were rigged to pass emissions tests, and it faces hun-dreds of lawsuits and fines from regulators. – Bloomberg News

Japanese carmaker

was the only auto

company to deliver

more than 10

million vehicles

as Volkswagen fell

back amid its recent

emissions scandal

Apple forecasts fallin revenue as salesgrowth declines

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple fore-cast its first revenue drop in 13 years and reported the slowest-ever increase in iPhone ship-ments as the critical Chinese market showed signs of weaken-ing, suggesting the technology company’s period of exponential growth may be ending.

The slowdown comes as Wall Street analysts worry the com-pany does not have another blockbuster product to replace the iPhone. Apple does not report Watch sales, but it does not ap-pear to have the makings of being a hit on the same level as the iP-hone a year after launch.

And while the company is re-portedly working on a car, what it plans to do in that area and when are still unclear. The company’s shares, which have fallen 5 per cent this year, bounced around in after-hours trading and were down more than 2.6 per cent.

iPhone growth slows“It’s disappointing to see them miss on an already downward ad-justed sales number and the fact is that with their iPhone growth slowing what was needed was a product to be excited about,” said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade. “Pressure on the shares will continue without a well-defined plan to grow sales or a new product.”

The company said on Tuesday it sold 74.8 million iPhones in its fiscal first quarter, ended De-cember 26, the first full quarter

of sales of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. The 0.4 per cent growth in shipments was the lowest since the product was launched in 2007.

IPhone sales were expected to fall for the current quarter com-pared with the same quarter last year, chief executive officer Tim Cook said on a conference call with analysts. But suggesting there is still room for growth, 60 percent of people who had an iP-hone prior to the launch of the iP-hone 6 have yet to upgrade to an iPhone 6 or 6S, Cook said.

Shift in economyAnd iPhones remain popular with American consumers. Ac-cording to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, 86 per cent of iPhone owners were somewhat or very likely to buy another iPhone. Of those likely to buy a phone, 15 per cent are currently looking to upgrade and 17 per cent will when the next iPhone is released. The January poll had a credibility interval of 2.0 percentage points.

While revenue in Greater China rose 14 per cent in the last quarter, Apple is beginning to see a shift in the economy, particu-larly in Hong Kong, Apple chief fi-nancial officer Luca Maestri said. “As we move into the March quar-ter it’s becoming more apparent that there are some signs of eco-nomic softness,” Maestri said.

Apple forecast second-quarter revenue of $50 billion to $53 bil-lion, below analysts’ average fore-cast of $55.5 billion. - Reuters

C O R P O R A T E

BankDhofar to pay 25% dividendTimes News Service

MUSCAT: BankDhofar posted a net profit growth of 15.62 per cent in 2015 at OMR46.77 million as against OMR40.45 million in 2014.

And the bank’s board of direc-tors have recommended a cash div-idend of 15 per cent amounting to OMR23.17 million and 10 per cent bonus shares aggregating to 154.47 million shares of OMR0.100 each, of the share capital of the bank, subject to regulatory approvals.

The full year net loans, ad-vances and financing to custom-ers reached OMR2.73 billion, showing a significant growth of 21.33 per cent from OMR2.25 bil-lion at the end of December 2014. The customer deposits mobi-lised by the bank achieved a pru-dent growth of 4.43 per cent from OMR2.48billion at the end of 2014 to reach OMR2.59 billion at the end of 2015. The key profitability indicators also showed positive growth with net interest and financing in-come achieving a solid growth of

17.47 per cent to reach OMR90.21 million for 2015 compared to OMR76.79 million achieved in 2014, the bank said in a statement on Wednesday.

Non-interest and non-financing income such as fees and commis-sion, foreign exchange profit, in-vestment and other income have grown 13.39 per cent to reach

OMR25.02 million in 2015as compared to OMR22.06 million achieved in the previous year.

The cost-to-income ratio during the year 2015 improved to 44.43 per cent as compared to 46.69 per cent in 2014.

In line with loan growth and regulatory requirement, the provi-sion for loan impairment, net of re-covery, during the year 2015 stood at OMR8.78 million, as against OMR6.93 million in 2014.

Dividend proposedThe impairment of investments due to downward market move-ments during the year is OMR 2.74 million, the bank said.

In recognition of its commit-ment to customers, BankDhofar has received 18 prestigious awards from local and international insti-tutions including:

ABF Retail Banking Awards 2015, SME Bank of the Year – Oman, Islamic Bank of the Year – Oman 2015, and the OER Fi-nance Summit & Top 20 Awards, amongst other awards.

P E R F O R M A N C E

Emirates plans to add 37 planes

to strengthen Asian operations

DUBAI: Emirates, the world’s biggest long-haul airline, plans to add 37 new planes to its fleet in the fiscal year beginning April as it expands operations in Asia with new destinations.

The airline will receive 21 Air-bus A380 superjumbos and 16 Boeing 777s in the year ending March 2017, chief commercial officer Thierry Antinori said on Wednesday in Singapore. The

aircraft are worth $14.5 billion at list prices.

Emirates already serves about 150 destinations in about 80 countries using the industry’s biggest wide-body fleet. The air-line will begin operations to Pan-ama in February in what will be the longest nonstop commercial flight by any carrier, overtaking Qantas Airways’ service to Dallas from Sydney. - Bloomberg News

A V I A T I O N

TOP-SELLING BRAND: Global sales for Toyota, including its Hino Motors and Daihatsu Motor units,

fell 0.8 per cent to 10.15 million vehicles last year. – Bloomberg News

TOKYO: Toyota is con-sidering a buyout offer for its Daihatsu Motor unit, which would give the world’s biggest au-tomaker full control over a company that excels in minicars and emerging markets.

Toyota holds a 51 per cent stake in Daihatsu and is constantly con-sidering a number of possibilities including making it a fully owned subsidiary. Daihatsu said it’s cooperating with Toyota and that the buy-out is an option. Shares of Daihatsu rose 16 per cent, their biggest gain since November 1999, at the close in Tokyo.

At Daihatsu’s current market value, the portion of the company Toyota doesn’t already own is worth about ¥360.8 bil-lion ($3 billion). The deal would give Toyota full say over a company that competes with Suzuki Motor in Japan’s minicar segment. - Bloomberg News

Plans to acquire entire Daihatsu ownership

HAVE YOUR SAY Send us your comments at facebook.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com [email protected]

FARES WELL: BankDhofar said it posted a net profit growth of 15.62

per cent in 2015 at OMR46.77 million as against OMR40.45 million

in 2014 – Times file picture

SALES GROWTH SLOWS: Apple said it has sold 74.8 million

iPhones in its fiscal first quarter, ended December 26, the first

full quarter of sales of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. – Bloomberg News

B4

FEATURET H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

SHAPING THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

OF the myriad challenges

the world faces today, perhaps the most overwhelm-

ing is how to shape the Fourth In-dustrial Revolution that began at the

turn of the century. New technologies and approaches are merging the physical, digital,

and biological worlds in ways that will funda-mentally transform humankind. The extent to

which that transformation is positive will depend on how we navigate the risks and opportunities that

arise along the way. The Fourth Industrial Revolution builds on the Third Industrial Revolution, also known as

the Digital Revolution, which entailed the proliferation of computers and the automation of record keeping; but the

new wave of transformation differs from its predecessors in a few key ways. First, innovations can be developed and

diffused faster than ever. Second, falling marginal produc-tion costs and the rise of platforms that aggregate and con-centrate activity in multiple sectors augment returns to scale. Third, this global revolution will affect – and be shaped by – all countries, and have a systems-level impact in many areas.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has the potential to em-power individuals and communities, as it creates new oppor-tunities for economic, social, and personal development. But it also could lead to the marginalization of some groups, exac-erbate inequality, create new security risks, and undermine human relationships. If we are to seize the opportunities, and avoid the pitfalls, of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we must consider carefully the questions that it raises.

We must rethink our ideas about economic and social development, value creation, privacy and ownership, and

even individual identity. We must address, individually and collectively, moral and ethical issues raised by

cutting-edge research in artificial intelligence and biotechnology, which will enable significant life

extension, designer babies, and memory extrac-tion. And we must adapt to new approaches

to meeting people and nurturing relation-ships. The scale of the challenge should

not be underestimated.The Fourth Industrial Revolu-

tion could lead to forms of human augmentation

that cause us

to question the very nature of human existence – and even sooner than one might imagine. Consider the impact that mobile technology has already made on our lives and relationships. As the nov-elty of wearable tech gives way to necessity – and, later, as wearable tech becomes embedded tech – will we be deprived of the chance to pause, reflect, and engage in meaningful, substantive conversations? How will our inner lives and ties to those around us change? These are weighty questions, about which debate will probably intensify in the com-ing years. In this effort, new forms of collaboration and governance, accompanied by a positive shared narrative, will be essential. To this end, three key steps are needed.

First, we must continue to raise awareness and under-standing of the issues at stake. Decision-making cannot oc-cur in isolation. We need an inclusive approach that brings together top minds from all over the world, from both the pub-lic and private sectors. Second, we must develop comprehen-sive, constructive narratives about how the Fourth Industrial Revolution should develop.

For example, we should ensure that values and ethics are at the heart of our individual and collective behaviors, including in capital and financial markets. We must move beyond toler-ance and respect to genuine care and compassion, with em-powerment and inclusiveness becoming guiding principles of our actions.

Third, we must move to restructure our economic, social, and political systems. It is clear that our current govern-ance structures and dominant models of wealth creation are not equipped to meet current or, more important, future needs. What is needed now is not small-scale adjustments or marginal reforms, but comprehen-sive and innovative systemic transformation.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution can com-promise humanity’s traditional sources of meaning – work, community, family, and identity – or it can lift humanity into a new collective and moral conscious-ness based on a sense of shared destiny. The choice is ours. — KLAUS SCHWAB/Project

Syndicate

THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

BUILDS ON THE THIRD INDUSTRIAL

REVOLUTION, ALSO KNOWN AS THE

DIGITAL REVOLUTION, WHICH ENTAILED

THE PROLIFERATION OF COMPUTERS

AND THE AUTOMATION OF RECORD

KEEPING; BUT THE NEW WAVE

OF TRANSFORMATION DIFFERS

FROM ITS PREDECESSORS

IN A FEW KEY WAYS

THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL

REVOLUTION HAS

THE POTENTIAL TO

EMPOWER INDIVIDUALS

AND COMMUNITIES,

AS IT CREATES NEW

OPPORTUNITIES FOR

ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT.


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ISM celebrates 67th Republic Day of India

MUSCAT: Indian School Muscat (ISM) celebrated India’s 67th Re-public Day on January 26 with fer-vour on the school premises.

Dr Avirat Vaishnav, president, School Managing Committee (SMC), unfurled the tricolour in the presence of the SMC members, principal Srinivas K. Naidu, vice principals, teachers, parents and students. The school ground, well adorned with national flags, enliv-ened the settings and ambience of the occasion, says a press release.

The nationalistic passion in-duced by patriotic song sung by the school choir, the video presenta-tion glimpses of the Republic Day celebrations of the yesteryears and the confluence of Indian classical dance forms, fascinated and filled everyone with intense reminis-cences of the motherland.

Dr Avirat received the salute as

the school band played the Indian national anthem with precision. He read out the excerpts of Indian President’s address to the nation on the eve of the 67th Republic Day.

ISM family felicitated its Best Teacher Award winners for the academic year 2015-16 and felt proud as two of its staff members won the Best Teacher Awards af-ter going through a meticulous se-lection procedure.

Speaking on the occasion, the principal lauded the dedicated ser-vices of the teaching community and observed that the academic year 2015-16 was the year of suc-cess and excellence for Indian School Muscat, and excellence did not happen just like that, but it was the outcome of the constant and continuous efforts of individuals.

The following teachers were fe-licitated for receiving awards and for their exemplary services to the school. Eskalin Gonsalves, assis-tant vice principal, Middle Section was felicitated for receiving the Best Teacher Award and Sripriya Sundar, head of English Depart-ment for receiving the Certificate of Excellence in the Primary Sec-tion Category, Deepak Roy, head of Co-curricular Activities Depart-ment, for his exemplary contribu-tions in enabling six students to secure 100 percent in Sculpture in the CBSE examinations in 2015, Biju Varghese of the Department of Social Sciences, Senior Section for coordinating various school programmes, in particular, helping the school get the International School Award (ISA) from the Brit-

ish council, Johns Abraham for coaching the school Athletic Team and winning gold for the 4x100 metres relay and Bronze for the 4 X 400 metres relay in the CBSE National Meet in India, and Ashu-tosh Pant for training the school Badminton Team to clinch a silver medal at the CBSE National Meet held in Chennai.

Dr Avirat, Rakesh K. P., co-con-vener and chairman of the Pur-chase Subcommittee and Riyaz Kuttery, Sports Sub-committee Chairman jointly bestowed the awardees with shawls, mementos and Certificates of Excellence.

On this joyous day, taking the school a step ahead in the tech-nological realm, Rakesh officially launched the mobile applica-tion of ISM on Android platform, the technological utility to make the parents comfortable to do all transactions with the school.

ISM family felicitated

its Best Teacher

Award winners for

the academic year

2015-16 during the

celebrations

WCAS graduation ceremony set to be held on February 9MUSCAT: Waljat College of Ap-plied Sciences (WCAS) is set to conduct its graduation cer-emony on Tuesday, February 9, at 6.30pm at A’Noor Plaza, Ma-dinat Al Sultan Qaboos under the patronage of Saud bin Salim Al Balushi, undersecretary for Education Planning and Human Resources Development at the Ministry of Education.

Dr Omar bin Abdul Munim Al Zawawi, the founder of WCAS, Dr M. K. Mishra, the vice chan-cellor, Birla Institute of Tech-nology, India, Dr Zuhoor Abdul-lah Al Khanjari, chairman and members of the Trustee Council of Waljat College, Dr S. L. Gupta, dean of the college and other of-ficials from the institute would be attending the ceremony, says a press release.

Vital roleWaljat College of Applied Sci-ences is considered one of the best colleges in the Sultanate of Oman due to the quality of edu-cation and training given in the field of engineering, information technology and business man-agement. The college aims to develop students to be aware of their responsibility and to play an important role in various sectors of the economy.

In 2015, the number of gradu-ate students were 371 students: 295 students with bachelor’s de-

gree, 41 students with diploma degree and 35 master’s degrees.

Prominent placeHard work and dedication by col-lege graduates give them a promi-nent place in their field, whether in the government sector or the private sector or even as an en-trepreneur at national level. 3,400 students have graduated from WCAS so far in diploma degree and bachelor of business administration, biotechnology, computer science, electronics and communications engineer-ing, in addition to the master of business administration.

Best project awardLast year, the college established ‘Best Project Award for Bach-elor’s Degree’ to encourage stu-dents to learn about innovation and quality of research in order to stimulate a culture of research and innovation and invention among students in the college. Therefore, the winners are awarded a certificate of apprecia-tion and a cash award during the graduation ceremony.

Students who have graduated with the highest levels of aca-demic performance in the field of management, engineering and computer applications for the academic year 2015, will be also given gold medals and apprecia-tion certificates.

A C A D E M I C S

High performance of Daewoo trucks delights customersMUSCAT: Few trucks can stand tall amongst the league of proven heavy-duty truck brands in Oman today. Even fewer can muster up the grit and might to pass the 400 HP barriers and roar into the ranks of legendary European gi-ant brands.

The ‘Proudly made in Korea brand’ Daewoo trucks has done it all. Low initial and maintenance costs make them stand out among many of their kind. Today, Daewoo trucks are becoming the first pref-erence of many discerning cus-tomers, more than 2,000 trucks are already plying on Oman roads and the numbers are rapidly in-creasing, says a press release.

The high performance of Dae-woo trucks is delighting customers in Oman. Several fleet owners us-ing Daewoo trucks for various ap-plications bear testimony, the best performing trucks in their fleets are Daewoo trucks.

Riasat Ali from Al Hadera Al Muttahida said: “Their strong built and powerful engine pro-duces high performance in tough rugged terrain and are the best performers uphill, in fact equiva-lent to or better than European brands. They are the best perform-ing trucks in my fleet.”

A proud Mohammed Abdul Alim Gazi of Gulf Modern Trading & Marketing stated: “Our drivers love Daewoo trucks for their trou-ble free operations. The comfort, safety, easy drivability and ease of maintenance are combined fea-tures that are hard to beat. Daewoo trucks are without doubt the most versatile trucks in my fleet.”

Another delighted business owner Musabbah Abdulla Hamed Al Sanidi said: “Daewoo trucks are very user friendly, their power-ful Doosan and Cummins engines have helped us deliver more cargo, we now make more trips and we all know more trips mean more profit. Certainly the most productive trucks in my fleet.”

While appreciating the reliability of Daewoo trucks, Mohammad Re-tab Issa from Al Wahat Al Wardiya Trading, commented: “Trucks are the lifeline of my rental business, they must operate without trou-ble. The very reliable time tested transmission, axle and other major components in Daewoo trucks have brought peace of mind; they are the most dependable in my fleet.”

Commenting on drivers’ com-fort, Hilal Yarub Majid Al Saifi from Al saifi Trading and Con-struction, said: “What counts in long distance transport is having plenty of space and a well laid driv-ing position. Daewoo trucks offer very comfortable cabins, which add to the overall driving com-

fort of the trucks. A happy driver increases productivity; these are definitely the most driver friendly trucks in my fleet.”

Tariq Ali Al Shaihani of Ali Shaihani Group of Industries, em-phasised that for his business to run smoothly, his trucks need to run consistently and constantly. Continuous running of the truck results in increased wear and tear and requires high maintenance all the time. “Thanks to the strong build quality and low maintenance of Daewoo trucks. They run longer, require less maintenance and are considered the most cost-effective trucks in our fleet.”

Abdullah Al Hashmi from Al Ozon for Engineering & Projects

commended Al Hashar for their customer support. “I really appre-ciate the commitment of team Al Hashar, from ensuring timely de-livery to onsite service, everything is done perfectly. Excellent war-ranty support, I am glad to have chosen Daewoo trucks backed by the caring after sales support of Al Hashar.” Daewoo Trucks deliver ‘Absolute value for money’ and that’s why customers choose them, commented a spokesperson from Al Hashar. “Daewoo trucks truly maximise the revenue of the owner by less initial investment and main-ly low running cost,” he concluded.

With all these attributes and qualities, it is easy to understand why Daewoo Trucks generate

higher revenues and profits for its owners making them smile.

Daewoo rigid trucks are avail-able in 20.5 tonne to 48 tonne GVW capacity in 4x2, 6x4 & 8x4 drive configurations. Prime movers are available in the 45 tonne, 85 tonne and 100 tonne GCW capacities. 100 tonne prime mover is also available with Automatic transmission.

The 6 & 8 cylinder Doosan and Cummins engines powering the trucks produces 225 to 480 horse power and are perfectly qualified for the task assigned to the truck. Electric cab tilting system pro-vides easy access to the engine for maintenance and repair.

All Daewoo trucks are subjected to rigorous tests under tough con-ditions to check the reliability and durability of the truck before it is launched in the market. This is further cemented with a warranty of 2 years or 200,000km directly from the manufacturer offering ‘Peace of mind’ to customers.

Daewoo trucks are distributed by Al Hashar, one of Oman’s pre-mier trading companies with an experience of over four decades in the field of automobiles.

Daewoo trucks are backed by a nationwide network of sales and after sales facilities.

D E P E N D A B L E C H O I C E

ISG students display

creativity at exhibition

MUSCAT: It was indeed an hon-our that ISG was invited to partici-pate in the exhibition organised by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs and Ministry of Education recently at the Oman Avenues Mall, Al Ghubra, as part of Oman Environment Day cel-ebrations, says a press release.

Malak Jamal of Class VIII pre-sented a project based on ‘Energy from Salt Water’. The main aim of this project was to generate power without polluting the environ-ment, using cheap technology and minimum infrastructure.

Lukshya Ganjoo and Subodh Satish Dalvi of Class VII exhibited a ‘Miniature Smoke Purifier’ - a

simple, affordable, portable device which purifies smoke by removing carbon and can be implemented effectively in houses, automobiles and factories. The aim of this pro-ject was to maintain a clean and healthy environment.

Both the projects were highly appreciated by the dignitaries who visited the exhibition.

Papri Ghosh, principal, Indian School Al Ghubra, on behalf of the management committee and the staff, appreciated the commend-able effort of the students which would definitely help to raise pub-lic awareness and involve people from all the sectors in environ-ment preservation.

O M A N E N V I R O N M E N T D A Y

Grand Republic Day celebrations held at ISD

MUSCAT: The 67th Republic Day of India was celebrated with unprecedented joy, brimming fervour and enthusiasm at Indian School Darsait (ISD).

The chief guest Indra Mani Pandey, ambassador of India to the Sultanate of Oman, unfurled the national flag. He also re-ceived the Guard of Honour from the March Past contingents of four houses: Bapu, C. V. Raman, Tagore and Vivekananda, says a press release.

The Indian Diaspora that wit-nessed this iconic moment and attended the occasion included Sushma Indra Mani Pandey, of-ficials from the Embassy of In-dia, the Vice Chairman of BoD, Kiran Asher, a number of digni-taries from the Board of Direc-tors of Indian schools, President of SMC, Abdul Rahim Kasim, esteemed Members of SMC, Dr Sridevi P. Thashnath, principal, former chairman of the Board, former presidents of the SMC, school administrators, staff, stu-dents and a good number of par-ents and well wishers.

The ambassador read out the gist and highlights of the address of the President of India to the nation on the eve of the Republic

Day. Addressing the gathering, the chief guest implored the audience to exhibit their commitment to the enduring democratic institu-tion that the country represents.

“The need of the hour is to in-culcate critical thinking and tap the intellectual intelligence of the young minds,” he added.

Indra Mani emphasised on in-stilling in the students, respect for diverse cultures and various religions and urged all to imbibe the spirit of unity in diversity and work for communal peace and harmony.

He congratulated the school for playing its role beautifully well in shaping the future gen-eration and thus contributing to-wards nation building.

Some of the attractions of the day were the melodious patri-otic songs by the choirs from both primary and senior sec-tions of the school. They were indeed meaningful glimpses that aroused patriotic fervour and love in one and all.

A scintillating dance tableau tuned to the rhythm and beats of ‘Vande Mataram’ fused with the exposition of the burning issues of the time and the vision of a nation resounded in every ear invoking great feelings of patriotism and national pride beyond expression. It further conveyed a message that we should stand for India which is free from corruption, atrocities

and harassment in the name of caste, gender and religion.

This year’s celebration was a remarkable one with colourful decorations with the school clad in tricolour invoking the patri-otic ambience. Above all, the little ones with their faces painted in tricolour stole the show of the day.

The ambassador also planted a sapling on the school premises to commemorate this historic day. The releasing of 67 tricolour he-lium balloons by him and other dignitaries amid the echoing of Jai Hind and waving of tricolour flags marked the closing of this year’s Republic Day celebration at Indian School Darsait.

The celebrations concluded with a cake cutting with the rever-beration of a live orchestra by Ma-lavika Harish, Aromal Shaji, Srad-ha Prasannan, Devika B. R., Nanda I. S. and Archana N. S. aroused the spirit of patriotism in all present. Sweets were distributed to all who attended the celebrations.

The chief guest appreciated the school for rising to the occasion and putting up a well organised programme and commended the efforts of all in making the 67th Republic Day a truly splendid and remarkable occasion.

P A T R I O T I C F E R V O U R

B6 T H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

ROUND-UPBank Muscat commits to finance Mazaya project

MUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the flag-ship financial services provider in the Sultanate, and Mazaya com-pany signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to provide attractive baituna home finance for Mazaya project in Baushsr.

Abdullah Tamman Al Mashani, deputy general manager – Insti-tutional Sales & Products Devel-opment, and Dr Mohammed Al Wahaibi, promoter of Mazaya com-pany, signed the MoU at the bank’s head office, says a press release.

Al Mashani said: “Bank Mus-cat is proud to be associated with Mazaya project and facilitate at-tractive baituna finance for pro-spective home buyers. The real estate sector is a major component of the national economy and Bank Muscat is committed to extending all possible support to achieve the objective of a ‘home for every fam-ily’, especially youth. baituna home finance is aimed at offering citi-zens and residents easy access to mortgage finance, thereby enhanc-

ing the role of the real estate sector in the national economy.”

Al Wahaibi said: “We are happy to join hands with Bank Muscat to provide attractive home deals for citizens. The association between the two institutions will give a boost to the real estate sector and benefit citizens across Oman to fulfill their dream homes. Mazaya project comprises 24 sophisticat-ed apartments and is expected to be handed over by July 2017.”

The attractive features of bai-

tuna home finance include low interest rates with maximum loan tenure up to 25 years for Omani customers. With extended loan tenure and low interest rate of 4.25% pa during Muscat Festi-val, Bank Muscat facilitates the best home finance deals in the Sultanate. Citizens and residents can avail easy and convenient credit approval across the bank’s branches in the Sultanate.

baituna home finance is de-signed to help families fulfil their dream homes, offering convenient mortgage plans to suit everyone’s needs with simplified documenta-tion, flexible repayment options, insurance coverage and process-ing across the bank’s extensive network of branches. All leading property developers are associ-ated with the bank, hence baituna facilitates access to prime residen-tial projects in Oman.

baituna facilitates purchase and construction of new homes as well as land for residential use. Mortgage finance is offered to Omani nationals, GCC nationals and expatriates.

A memorandum of

understanding was

inked by the bank to

provide baituna home

finance for Mazaya

project

Science and arts expo held at PSM

MUSCAT: Fareeha Pervez Shaheed Intra School Science, IT and Art Exhibition was held re-cently at Pakistan School Muscat. The exhibition was named in the loving memory of one of the mar-tyred students of Pakistan School Muscat, says a press release.

The exhibition proved to be a great platform where the stu-dents manifested their under-standing of concepts engulfed with their creativity in model making. Students from Pakistan School Muscat, Pakistan School Sohar, Pakistan School Musan-nah and Pakistan School Seeb participated in the exhibition.

Syed Ayaz Hussain, ambassa-dor of Pakistan to the Sultanate of Oman, was present at the event. He visited each stall and com-mended the efforts put in by the

students in model designing and their presentations.

A huge number of parents, stu-dents and members of different communities visited the exhibi-tion. Three judges from different institutes were part of the exhibi-tion to pin down the best of the models and the presenters.

Students, participants as well as visitors availed this oppor-tunity of conducive learning to combine their vision with their understanding. Be it the unique incubator functioning with light of bulb, the model of animal cell, model of greenhouse effects; eve-rything was awe-inspiring in the event for the visitors.

The exhibition proved to be a milestone for the inquisitive minds to explore, experiment and implement their ideas.

E X P E R I M E N T I N G I D E A S

Oman UAE Exchange ties up with SBI for FLASHremitMUSCAT: With an aim to make money transfer a seamless experi-ence for its customers, two entities came together to join hands. Oman UAE Exchange partnered with State Bank of India (SBI), one of India’s largest and trusted public sector banks, for FLASHremit, a real time account credit facility.

With this facility, customers residing in Oman can instantly transfer money to any SBI account in India in a secured manner, says a press release.

Commenting on the strategic tie-up, Boban MP, chief executive officer, Oman UAE Exchange, said: “Our partnership with State Bank of India is another step towards bringing convenience and value to our customers remitting to India.

The FLASHremit service empow-ers the customers to transfer mon-ey to their loved ones in real time. Another value-added service being provided to the customers is the instant SMS notification that will reach both the sender and receiver once the amount is credited.”

“Oman is emerging as a strong

market in the remittance industry. We are glad to partner with Oman UAE Exchange as the integration of FLASHremit in our bouquet of ser-vices will enable the customers to remit home in a more convenient, instant and secured manner,” said J. V. Ramanan, deputy general man-ager (GLS), State Bank of India.

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

Majan College honours ACCA graduatesMUSCAT: Majan University Col-lege arranged a ceremony for its students who recently acquired the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) certification. The ceremony was attended by the Director of Stud-ies, ACCA faculty, students and parents, says a press release.

The graduates were awarded certificates of appreciation by the dean. These students joined Ma-jan’s ACCA tuition programme after completing senior second-ary school/higher school diploma and have achieved the ACCA qualification within a period of three to four years.

The proud students, Ishita Vi-jay Mithani, Divya Ratan Ram-chandhani, Zeba Zafar, Mushtaq Ali Meera and Yousuf Ahmed Khan thanked the college for providing an excellent academic environment and highly qualified

faculty to deliver the programme.The Dean, Dr Maha Kobeil,

congratulated the students for achieving this milestone in their life and wished them all the best in their future careers. She also appreciated the efforts of the parents in ensuring that their children had all the support they needed during their studies.

Majan University College is a gold status tuition provider for the ACCA programme. The col-

lege relaunched the programme in 2009/2010 and many of its graduates are already employed.

Ikram Ul Haq, director of the programme at Majan and a fel-low of ACCA affirmed that the college applies very comprehen-sive and examination focused teaching strategy to ensure students get strong conceptual knowledge and are able to apply the knowledge gained on given examination scenarios.

C H A R T E R E D C E R T I F I E D A C C O U N T A N T S

With FLASHremit facility, customers residing in Oman can instantly transfer money to any SBI account in India in a secured manner

Bank Sohar honoured by Al Amal AssociationMUSCAT: In recognition of its continual support to the Al Amal Association which has resulted in a four-year-long partnership, Bank Sohar has received a token of ap-preciation from the association at an annual ceremony held recently at the Al Mouj Golf Tent in Muscat.

The event was held under the patronage of His Highness Sayyid Faisal bin Turki Al Said, chairman of the Al Amal Association. Rep-resenting Bank Sohar and receiv-ing the token of appreciation was Maha Hussain Al Lawati, Events & Promotions manager at Bank So-har, says a press release.

Commenting on the bank re-ceiving the token of appreciation, Munira Abdulnabi Macki, GM of HR and Corporate Support at Bank Sohar said: “Our corporate social responsibility commitment guides us towards understand-ing that each and every child is a vital part of our community. In 2015, our contribution to the as-sociation was aimed at providing children with intellectual dis-abilities a comprehensive training programme to enhance their skills and further develop their talents. We have supported the association for four consecutive years now

and at the onset of the New Year, it gives us great pleasure to be a part of their annual honouring ceremo-ny, and we look forward to an en-during relationship with Al Amal Association in the future.”

The event, which took place recently, began with a recitation from the Holy Quran and followed by a short speech by Faisal Al Said. This was followed by an entertain-ment and musical show, in addi-tion to the felicitation ceremony honouring the supporters of Al Amal Association.

Expressing his appreciation for Bank Sohar’s support, Faisal Al Said remarked, “It is always very encouraging when private sec-tor companies come forward to undertake their responsibility to-wards the community. On behalf of the association, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Bank Sohar for their support over the years in uplifting the lives of special members of our society by helping them to enjoy confident, dignified and self-reliant lives – and hope that other organisations

will follow Bank Sohar’s lead.”Bank Sohar strives to ensure

that its contributions are carefully planned and evaluated in order to diversify and reach out to the maximum number of people, espe-cially those who most need it, of-fering recipients positive support to make a meaningful life change.

R E C O G N I T I O N

We have supported the association for four consecutive years now and at the onset of the New Year, it gives us great pleasure to be a part of their annual honouring ceremony

Munira Abdulnabi MackiGM of HR and Corporate Support at Bank Sohar

Muscat Lightings announces National Day sale winners

MUSCAT: Muscat Lightings an-nounced the names of 45 winners of the lucky draw as part of the National Day Sale, recently.

The lucky winners were host-ed at the showroom of Muscat Lightings located at Al Hail, and were welcomed by the directors of the company. National Day sale attracted a large number of customers. Besides quality prod-ucts and services, a chance to win Samsung LED TVs were given to customers, on the purchase of goods of just OMR25, says a press release.

“This promotion to commemo-rate the country’s 45th National

Day was simply fantastic, as massive number of customers showed very strong interest in the products displayed at the showrooms, across the Sultan-ate. This clearly demonstrates Muscat Lightings’ commitment to turn each and every customer’s experience into one that is pleas-ant, as well as rewarding,” a com-pany’s spokesman commented.

Muscat Lightings, the mar-ket leader and trendsetters in Oman’s Lighting Industry, is one of the most renowned com-pany, with the privilege of hav-ing largest lighting showrooms all over Oman.

L U C K Y D R A W


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Barka customer wins ‘Hassad’ grand prize

MUSCAT: In the vibrant ambi-ence of Muscat Festival 2016, Oman Arab Bank (OAB) hosted a colourful ceremony to announce the grand prize of OMR50,000 for a lucky ‘Hassad’ savings scheme customer.

Barka branch customer was the winner. The event was held at Amerat public park and included exciting games and performanc-es for a wide audience, says a press release.

The draw was held in the pres-ence of Fahd Amjad, GM Retail Banking, along with a number of senior bank officials.

“Hassad is our flagship savings scheme through which we en-courage the habit of saving in our customers. We selected Muscat Festival as our appropriate set-ting to make winner announce-

ments as the festival continues to attract visitors with fun activities for families. Our event comple-mented the theme with entertain-ment and recreational activities for one and all. We invite all our customers to participate in “Has-sad” savings scheme as we have now introduced bigger and better chances to win for everyone,” said Fahd Amjad.

OAB has increased the monthly regional prize from OMR20,000 per winner in 2015 to a greater

prize of OMR40,000 per winner in 2016. ‘Hassad’ also continues to reward its younger segment and female savings account hold-ers by offering them higher value prizes. Five lucky female winners will win OMR1,500 each every month increased from OMR1,000 in 2015.

Five lucky child account hold-ers will also win OMR1,000 each every month increased from OMR500 in 2015. ‘Hassad’ sav-ings scheme will end the year

with a mega draw of OMR50,000 for two lucky winners each.

The new exclusive customer segment to reward for their sav-ings within ‘Hassad’ prize scheme is OAB’s newly established Elite Priority banking segment. Elite customers will be eligible to win a whopping prize draw of OMR100,000 in both June and December each. The Elite Priority Banking customers maintaining a minimum balance of OMR35,000 are eligible to participate in all ‘Hassad’ prize draws, in addi-tion to exclusive prize draws ear-marked for them.

‘Hassad’ celebrates the Sultan-ate’s special occasions with spe-cially designed draws for Eid Al Fitr, Women’s Day and National Day. Customers will be rewarded on Eid Al Fitr with five winners winning OMR1,000 each. Wom-en’s Day will reward five female winners OMR1,500 each and celebrating National Day with 46 winners winning OMR1,000 each.

Hana Al Hinai, AGM Wealth Management, Bancassurance and Liabilities said: “With the new ‘Hassad’, OAB is looking to reward various segments for our custom-ers be it parent saving for a child’s future or an Elite customer in-vesting his life savings with OAB. We encourage everyone to invest with ‘Hassad’ account and enjoy the excitement of winning one of our exclusive prizes this year.

The OAB event was

held at Amerat Public

Park and included

exciting games and

performances for a

wide audience

Zeitoun promises authentic taste of Mediterranean

MUSCAT: Zeitoun is a lively new restaurant from Al Balushi Food Group, inspired by the tradition of the Mediterranean basin, rustic Roman pizzeria, and local haunts. Zeitoun celebrates the Italian tradition of cooking seasonal specials “alla brace” — over open embers. Zeitoun also focuses on seasonal product and high quality ingredients.

The culinary journey at Zeitoun Omani & Mediterranean, extends beyond the cuisine, beginning with unique restaurant design and car-rying through to fine ingredients presented on each plate. Guests can enjoy fine dining, fresh cock-tails, elegant afternoon tea and other delectable experiences at their seating location at Seeb, says a press release.

Zeitoun is Mediterranean and Omani upscale casual, energetic, everyday restaurant in the heart of Seeb just off city centre is located at the Boulevard complex in the growing neighbourhood north of Mawaleh and a walk away from Holiday Inn Seeb. The restaurant also offers complimentary park-ing. As you walk through the giant traditional nailed wooden door, you are welcomed by architectur-al details, including the Alicante Spanish marble, the steal and

blown glass bar, the magnificent blown glass fresque designed by Sadika Keskes a well known Tu-nisian artist and romantic arched booths. The restaurant’s warm walls, wood extension, candlelit tables and plush interiors lend themselves to an elegant dining experience that is both comfort-able and cosmopolitan.

Chef Samir of the restaurant draws inspiration from many cui-sines around the Mediterranean to create a menu that is truly unique to Muscat dining scene. Drawing inspiration from historic Omani dishes such Pablo, Mazrouta and Shuwa just to name a few always using what is local and in season, Chef Samir puts a healthful, dis-tinctive spin on classic Omani dishes. Aiming to become known for their tapas and the town’s best outdoor dining, they promise to offer exceptional food at a great value. Their menu features lo-cal Omani specialities, tapas and paellas, artisan pizzas from their wood-burning oven.

From Bread Rolls made in house daily, to the selection of local sea-food, to Pastry Chef Loni’s incred-ible desserts, each dinner at Zei-toun celebrates the region we call home all complemented by their signature cocktails.

U N I Q U E

Jotun Paints campaign educates school students about road safetyMUSCAT: Jotun Paints, the lead-ing paint brand in Oman and rep-resented in over 100 countries across all continents, is known for various corporate social responsi-bility initiatives in Oman.

Recently, the company had launched the ‘Drive Safely’ cam-paign to educate school students about road safety and in turn in-fluence their parents about ob-serving traffic rules.

The Jotun team has been visit-ing various schools in Muscat and has explained to over 6,000 school children about the importance of road safety through educational leaflets, says a press release.

Beautifully illustrated, the leaf-lets show the importance of all passengers in a vehicle wearing seat belts, following the speed limit and avoid using the cell phone while driving which dis-tracts the driver from concentrat-ing on the road.

Seat belts are designed to se-cure the occupant of a vehicle

against harmful movement that may result while applying the breaks suddenly or during colli-sion. These safety devices help save lives by preventing passen-gers from making contact with

the interior of the vehicle or from falling out.

The leaflet also shows the bene-fits of parents slowing down their vehicles and allowing children to cross the road safely.

Speaking about the ‘Drive Safely’ campaign, Bjorn Skjelby, general manager, Jotun Paints Oman, said: “At Jotun, safety is of paramount importance, even at our work place, at home and while driving. Our effort is to influence the safety habit at a very young age in school children and spread the message to parents.”

Jotun Paints Oman cares for children, having earlier been as-sociated with painting competi-tions for the young minds.

Celebrating 30 years of excel-lence in Oman, Jotun Paints Oman is synonymous with offering a host of innovative and environment-friendly products that protect property. The company is commit-ted to reducing the carbon foot-print throughout the whole value chain. Jotun Green Steps help create a more colourful world by taking steps towards being a little greener through reducing emis-sions, hazardous materials, energy consumption and waste.

‘ D R I V E S A F E L Y ’ C A M P A I G N

Visitors benefit from unique Renna promotion

MUSCAT: Renna Mobile (Majan Telecommunication) is Oman’s and the Middle East’s first mobile reseller and in its continuous en-deavour to maintain a dedicated customer base has announced its active participation in this year’s Muscat Festival.

Renna Mobile has simultane-ously also launched a unique pro-motion for its patrons, making its services even more effective and efficient, says a press release.

Renna Mobile’s presence at Muscat Festival this year is a step towards deepening the connec-tion with visitors at the festival ground. In its continuous efforts

to provide the public with the best services and products, Renna mobile has gained a positive re-sponse from customers through their special promotions during the festival.

The ongoing Renna promotion

boasts of a competitive edge over its competitors giving existing and new customers many bene-fits. When a new customer buys a Renna SIM, they will be receiving 1GB immediately after activation, this 1GB is valid for 1 month. Af-ter the activation, if the customer subscribes for 1GB or higher data bundle, they will instantly get 1GB free. This 1GB includes 250MB (Day) and 750MB (Night). To avail this offer, customers will have to subscribe to data bundle within 60 days of activation.

In addition to this, if custom-ers purchase a Renna SIM at the Renna Stall at Muscat Festival

grounds, they qualify to enter a lucky draw to win exciting Renna merchandises like T-shirt / water bottle / key chain / sling bag etc.

“Muscat Festival reflects Oman’s legendary history, culture and traditions attracting thou-sands of people from within and outside the Sultanate every year,” said Raed Haddadin, CEO, Renna Mobile. “Our participation this year represents Renna Mobile’s commitment to the strengthening of cultural and social foundation of the Omani society and to pro-vide our customers the best ser-vices and promotions from Renna Mobile,” he further added.

M U S C A T F E S T I V A L

B8

ROUND-UPT H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

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Leading poets promise memorable International Mushairah tonight

SHAHZAD [email protected]

MUSCAT: All is set for tonight’s International Mushairah with a star-studded lineup of poets from various countries promising to en-tertain what is expected to be a full house at Al Falaj Hotel.

Set to start at 8 pm, the Mushai-rah is being organised by Alpha Events Oman and presented by It-tfaq Travel and Tourism and Dou-ble Road Tyres of Best Ittfaq.

Mohsin bin Khamis Al Balushi, adviser to the Ministry of Com-merce and Industry, will be the chief guest, while Syed Ayaz Hus-sain, ambassador of Pakistan to the Sultanate of Oman, will be the guest of honour.

In another first, Mian Mu-hammed Munir, presenter of the International Mushairah, who is also chairman of Pakistan Social Club-Oman, will honour legendary poet Anwar Masood with the first ‘Muscat Urdu Adab Award’ along with a gold medal. Daily Times of Oman is the media partner of this grand literary event.

“Alpha Events Oman has taken a wonderful initiative by launching Muscat Urdu Adab Award (Mus-cat Urdu Literature Award) and I will continue to support this award in future too,” said Munir.

“It has always been our endeav-our to offer high quality events and we hope to deliver another memo-

rable evening tonight,” said Fahad Awais Munir, managing director of Alpha Events Oman.

The event will see the presence of a variety of poets with varied moods and style and they are all looking forward to tonight’s event.

“Nothing pleases me more than the pace at which Oman is pro-gressing under the exemplary leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said. I have always enjoyed the love and hospitality of the people of Oman during my countless visits here. This time I am grateful to the organisers as well as Mian Mohammed Munir for honouring me with the award as well as a gold medal,” said An-

war Masood, who will also preside over the Mushairah.

One of the highlights of today’s event will be the presence and par-ticipation of immensely popular Indian poet Popular Meeruthi.

“I have always received great applause, attention and affection from the very distinct and discern-ing Muscat audience. I am sure this International Mushairah will prove to be another milestone in a long list of memorable literary events hosted by Muscat,” com-mented Meeruthi, who has deep fan following in Oman.

Wasi Shah, a poet, writer and TV anchor, is among the biggest names in today’s event. “I still re-

member the wonderful welcome and amazing hospitality I expe-rienced at Muscat International Airport and throughout the Omani capital during my last visit here. I have been greatly impressed by the sagacious leadership of His Majes-ty Sultan Qaboos who has turned Oman into a developed country in a short span of time.

“The lovely people of Oman are enjoying the fruits of his dedicated rule. I promise another memorable session at International Mushai-rah and will be expecting the same applause from the Muscat audi-ence I received the last time I was here,” said Wasi, who is sure to at-tract a large number of youngster

to the Mushairah.Leading poetess Rehana Qamar

from the USA has fond memories of poetry evenings in Oman.

“It is always a pleasure com-ing to Oman, a country endowed with breathtaking beauty and very friendly people. I am sure Mus-cat’s discerning audience will once again enjoy my poetry and encour-age me as generously as it did in my previous visit to Oman,” stated Rehana Qamar, a thinking poet whose poetry is going to be one of the highlights of this Mushairah.

Abbas Tabish, one of the hottest properties in Urdu Mushairahs all over the world, is looking forward to another memorable evening in Muscat. “I feel privileged to have got the opportunity to participate in a Mushairah being hosted by Muscat, a place where poets ex-pect a very learned crowd. I was equally impressed by the sights and people of Salalah where I spent a few memorable days dur-ing my last visit. I congratulate the whole team for organising a Mushairah of this scale and appre-ciate the initiation of Muscat Urdu Adab Award,” Tabish added.

Other poets in the lineup in-clude Sarwat Zahra (UAE), Am-breen Haseeb Ambar (Pakistan), Khalid Sajjad Ahmed (Kuwait), Arshad Meena Nagri (India) and Adnan Baig (UK). Sohar Poly In-dustries (SPI) is leading the event supporters as platinum sponsor.

The event will have

the presence of a

variety of poets with

varied moods and

style and they are all

looking forward to

tonight’s event

ZTC wins accolades at Mercedes-Benz Levant Sales and Marketing AwardsMUSCAT: Zawawi Trading Com-pany (ZTC) scooped four top prizes at the 2015 Mercedes-Benz Middle East and Levant Sales and Market-ing Awards: ‘Best Target Achieve-ment’, ‘Best Ever Sales Results’, ‘Best Social Media Activation’, and ‘Best SUV Sales Performance’.

Dubbed the ‘Night of the Stars’, the stellar event held in Dubai rec-ognised the successes of the iconic brand’s 11 general distributors in the Middle East and Levant as they pursued the Mercedes-Benz philosophy of ‘The Best or Noth-ing’, says a press release.

Accepting the four awards on behalf of ZTC, Clive Hammond, CEO, enthused: “It’s a true honour to receive this major recognition in these extraordinarily competitive categories. These accolades are the culmination of a remarkable year for Mercedes-Benz in Oman, one in which we have reinforced our commanding position in the luxury automotive sector thanks

to an outstanding line-up and an incredible set of new launches.

“We look forward to continuing to set standards and enthralling the market in the coming year as we introduce more exciting new models and continue our activities across various media and social

media platforms.”The CEO concluded by thank-

ing Daimler Middle East and Le-vant and adding: “I also like to ac-knowledge the contribution of the ZTC Sales and Marketing Team who are relentless in their pursuit of best customer experience every

single day. This is no easy feat, especially in a market of connois-seurs like Oman where they will settle for nothing but the best.”

Following a remarkable twelve months of continuous growth and building on the tremendous sales figures of 2014, Mercedes-Benz Oman closed 2015 reporting an in-credible overall increase of 20 per cent as a whole compared to the previous year.

The extraordinary success was due in no small part to the new stars introduced to the iconic brand’s line-up, which ranged from three ground-breaking SUVs and the first Mercedes-Benz crossover to an ultra-luxury se-dan and a thoroughbred sports car. 2016 promises more from Mer-cedes-Benz with five thrilling new launches to come, along with four new editions of current models, all of which will drive Zawawi Trad-ing Company towards achieving the Mercedes-Benz 2020 Vision.

S T E L L A R E V E N T

DHL Express Oman

renovates QCC branch

MUSCAT: Taking forward its vision to expand services in the Sultanate, DHL Express Oman announced the renovation of the branch located in Qurum City Centre (QCC), Muscat.

Providing convenience to the customers of nearby areas look-ing for logistics services, the branch provides sorting and dis-tribution services for shipments and logistics, says a press release.

Commenting on DHL Express Service centres, Ali Thabet, gen-eral manager of DHL Express Oman, said: “Adding to the strong presence of DHL in the region as leaders of logistic services industry, we are expanding and improving our network to accel-erate transport operations and double our capacity. The devel-opment of our logistics services is in pace with the economic de-velopment in Oman and we are confident that many customers – individuals and businesses will

benefit from the unique location of the QCC branch.”

“With the increased demand of the services provided by DHL, we are expanding our branches especially in the strategic areas, this renovated outlet will be able to cater to the needs of a wider range of customers, and provide high quality services at a com-petitive rate,” he added.

B E T T E R S E R V I C E S

NBC bags Entrepreneurship Award

MUSCAT: National Business Centre (NBC), which falls under the umbrella of the Public Estab-lishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE), was awarded with Best SMEs Development Initiative at the second edition of the Entre-preneurship Award held recently, says a press release.

Speaking about this achieve-ment, Malak Al Shaibani, direc-tor general of NBC, said: “This achievement comes as a result of the efforts made to develop and provide an apt entrepreneurial environment in the Sultanate. Since its inception, NBC has been offering promising Omani entre-preneurs a platform to develop their business ideas and advance them into growing ventures in practice. This award indeed is a great honour and gives further re-sponsibility to double the efforts and continue to serve this prom-ising sector in the Sultanate.”

Al Shaibani noted that in 2015, the National Business Centre organised 10 events as part of various initiatives of the centre targeting different segments of entrepreneurs, including Reyooq event which aspires at presenting an ultimate platform for Omani entrepreneurs to network with experts, and learn about entre-preneurship to get innovative and creative ideas for their busi-nesses. “In addition, a series of Najihat sessions were organised to utilise the skills and knowledge of Omani women and highlight

inspiring stories of successful women leaders in the business field, as well as encourage other talented entrepreneurs to start their own ventures. Besides, NBC organised a series of events to mark the Global Entrepreneur-ship Week (GEW) for the third consecutive year in cooperation with a number of local institu-tions that support entrepreneur-ship. GEW week was organised in line with the 45th National Day,” she pointed out.

New initiativesThe National Business Centre is introducing new value add-ing initiatives this year. “We are introducing Mashoura initiative which will consist of a series of workshops that focus on provid-ing specialised consultancy in business for the incubated com-panies. Mashoura, which will be held quarterly a year, will be presented by experts in various fields. Topics that will be dis-

cussed in these workshops in-clude entrepreneurship and law, tenders and contracts, company values, among others,” Al Shai-bani pointed out.

She added that another initia-tive called ‘Reyooq with CEO’ will be organised this year, which will consist of quarterly a year visits to high profile Omani companies and factories to meet their CEOs. GEW Week will also be organised by NBC next November. NBC is an initiative launched by PEIE at the Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM) to offer promising Omani entre-preneurs a platform to develop their business ideas and advance them into growing ventures.

The centre offers a premier plat-form for Omani entrepreneurs by providing business development support and guidance, training and mentoring, access to markets and industry experts, and state-of-the-art and fully equipped office space, meeting rooms and presen-tation facilities.

‘ B E S T S M E S D E V E L O P M E N T I N I T I A T I V E ’

Hamdan Exchange opens branch in Yanqul

MUSCAT: Hamdan Exchange opened its 19th branch in Yanqul (Al Dhahirah Governorate) re-cently in the presence of a large number of customers and digni-taries from the management of Hamdan Group Holdings, says a press release.

“The management of Hamdan Exchange is pleased to open its branch in Yanqul to serve the cus-tomers from the area. Until now people from the area had to travel long distances to avail the services of money exchange. The branch will surely reduce their ordeal,” said Ammar Al Ghafri, managing director, Hamdan Exchange.

“We have plans to open more branches in the current year so as

to reach to a wider customer base very soon. We are also introduc-ing new services for the conveni-ence of our customers. The agree-ment for remittance tie up with Federal Bank in India had already been signed and the services will

be available to the customers very soon,” he added.

The new branch is located in a strategic location to offer better services to the expatriate commu-nity as well as Omani nationals in the area.

E X P A N S I O N

Providing convenience to the customers of nearby areas looking for logistics services, the branch provides sorting and distribution services for shipments and logistics

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

SPOR SY O U R G A M E

SECTIONC T H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

BUMRAH SHOULD BE INVESTED BY INDIAN TEAM, SAYS FLEMING>C2

INSIDE LIFESTYLE

THE WAGES OF GRATITUDE

>C7SO TO SPEAK BY SALEH AL-SHAIBANY

Murray, Konta advance into semis

MELBOURNE: British hearts swelled with pride at Melbourne Park on Wednesday as Andy Mur-ray battled into the Australian Open semifinals after compatriot Johanna Konta swept into the last four of the women’s tournament.

Murray won a typically attri-tional slog against Spaniard David Ferrer 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-3, while Konta eased past Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai 6-4 6-1 to become the first British woman in more than 30 years to reach a Grand Slam semifinal.

The pair gave Britain two play-ers in a Grand Slam semi-finals for the first time since 1977 but they will need to muster more bulldog spirit to reach the final.

Second seed Murray, who booked his sixth semi-final in Mel-

bourne, will face Milos Raonic with the Canadian 13th seed in the form of his life.

Raonic’s 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Frenchman Gael Monfils made him Canada’s first male semi-finalist at Melbourne Park.

Konta will face seventh seed

Angelique Kerber, who stunned twice former champion Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 7-5 in the opening match at Rod Laver Arena.

The fall-out from match-fixing allegations that rocked the tour-nament’s opening day continued to rumble. There was nothing

suspect about the commitment of the combatants in the third sin-gles match, however, as Ferrer and Murray engaged in a taxing three-hour and 20-minute dog-fight.

A classic baseline hustler, Ferrer stunned all with a rare dash to the net and a volleyed winner that con-

jured a set point during the second set tiebreak. Murray surrendered the set with an unforced error but from there the match turned in the Scot’s favour. The weather turned thoroughly British as rain clouds gathered, and after a break in play, Murray ended the match

under a closed roof. “I like playing indoors,” Murray, who has lost four finals in Melbourne, said court-side. “I grew up in Scotland and the weather is not as good as here so I grew up playing most of my tennis indoors.”

Australians woke groggily a day after celebrating their national public holiday, and Sydney-born Konta reminded locals of what they had lost.

The 24-year-old closed out the first set after an epic game at 5-3 and ran away with the match to end Zhang’s own fairytale run as a 133rd-ranked qualifier.

Konta is the first British woman to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since Jo Durie at the 1983 U.S. Open and just the third to reach the last four in Australia in the pro-fessional era after 1972 champion Virginia Wade and Sue Barker.

“I’m just so happy that I’m en-joying what I’m doing. That is me living my dream,” said Konta.

With Murray’s brother Jamie also reaching the last four of the men’s doubles with Brazilian Bru-no Soares, Britain could have three finalists at the same tournament.

Kerber poses a formidable road-block to Konta, the German having floored former world number one Azarenka in their quarter-final.

The 28-year-old faced three set points when trailing 5-2 in the sec-ond set, and another two at 5-4, but stormed home to book her maiden semi-final at Melbourne Park.

Nearly 17 years have passed since Steffi Graf won Germany’s last Grand Slam title, and Kerber said she had sought inspiration from the 46-year-old in Las Vegas last year. - Reuters

Murray won a

typically attritional

slog against Spaniard

David Ferrer 6-3,

6-7(5), 6-2, 6-3, while

Konta eased past

Chinese qualifier

Zhang Shuai 6-4 6-1

to become the first

British woman in

more than 30 years

to reach a Grand

Slam semifinal

AGGRESSIVE: Britain’s Andy Murray reacts during his quarterfinal

match against Spain’s David Ferrer. – Reuters

EASY PASSAGE: Britain’s Johanna Konta hits a shot during her

quarterfinal match against China’s Zhang Shuai. – Reuters


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

MELBOURNE: Indian ten-nis ace Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis stormed into the final of the women’s doubles event of the Australian Open after notching up a comfortable straight-set win here on Wednesday.

However, Rohan Bopanna’s campaign ended with a shock defeat in the mixed doubles quarterfinals with partner Yung-Jan Chan of Chinese Taipei.

Sania and Martina, who are on a record winning streak, continued to rule the roost as they brushed aside Julia

Goerges and Karolina Pliskova, the 13th seeds, 6-1, 6-0 in just 54 minutes at Rod Laver Arena to enter their third successive doubles Grand Slam final.

The top seeded Indo-Swiss pair will take on the seventh seeded Czech combination of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in the summit clash.

They continued their superb form this year, extending their unbeaten run to 35 with Wednesday’s semifinal win.

Earlier, the third seed Bo-panna and Chan lost 2-6, 5-7 to Slovenia’s Andreja Klepac and Philippines’ Treat Huey. — PTI

Sania-Martina enter final; Bopanna’s campaign over

GREAT PARTNERSHIP: India’s Sania Mirza listens to partner

Switzerland’s Martina Hingis during their women’s doubles

semifinal match. – AFP

Anti-corruption unit to be reviewed after ‘fixing’ scandalMELBOURNE: Tennis offi-cials on Wednesday launched an independent review into their anti-corruption practices after allegations the sport’s watchdog had not done enough to stamp out possible corruption in the game.

The announcement at the Aus-tralian Open came in the wake of media reports criticising the Ten-nis Integrity unit (TIU) for not adequately investigating some 16 players repeatedly flagged over suspicions they had thrown matches in the past decade.

Recent corruption scandals in-volving the world governing bod-ies of soccer and athletics have thrown those sports into turmoil and tennis was not keen to follow them down that path, Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Chairman Chris Kermode said.

“We are in a toxic environment for sport at the moment, in terms of it’s an easy target for people to have a go with recent allegations at other governing bodies,” Kermode told reporters in Melbourne.

The review would address is-sues of transparency and resourc-ing at the TIU, structural or gov-ernance issues, and how to extend the scope of tennis’ anti-corrup-tion education programmes.

Tennis authorities repeated they felt the allegations made in the report by the BBC and Buzzfeed News were historical, but could help the sport in the long run.

Tennis great Martina Navrati-lova, who won 51 grand slam ti-tles, said she was sceptical about the match-fixing reports and wanted proof. “The first report was a bunch of baloney, because there were no specifics,” she told reporters at Melbourne Park.

“The only way to control it is for the ATP, WTA and ITF to work together and put money into the integrity unit, because they need more resources. “But ultimately it’s up to the players.”

Prominent London barrister Adam Lewis QC will head the in-quiry and its report will be made publicly available.

“This should have been done a long time ago,” said one UK-based professional gambler, who spoke

on condition of anonymity. “I think they are just telling people what they want to hear.”

Grand slam overshadowedAllegations of match-fixing sur-faced at the Australian Open when a global bookmaker suspended

betting on a mixed doubles match last Sunday after unusually large amounts were bet on it.

The players have denied any involvement and International Tennis Federation (ITF) Presi-dent David Haggerty said they had spoken to the TIU afterwards.

The review will also examine the sponsorship of tennis by betting com-panies. One prominent bookmaker is an official partner to the Australian Open and some players have ques-tioned the relationship.- Reuters

T R O U B L E D T I M E S

ANNOUNCING REVIEW: International Tennis Federation (ITF)

President David Haggerty. Tennis Integrity Board Chairman Philip

Brook and Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Chairman

Chris Kermode address a press conference. – AFP


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

MELBOURNE: Former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic says players are being hounded like “serial killers” and demanded proof of the match-fixing allega-tions that have rocked the sport at the Australian Open.

Tennis officials have been forced onto the back foot at the season opening grand slam after media reports alleged the anti-corruption watchdog had failed to prop-erly police the game.

Ivanisevic said statistics and numbers were not enough to prove guilt. “You need

proof. Show me that some-body did something wrong then I will believe you.”

Ivanisevic, however, said irregular betting patterns on matches only resulted in players being placed on a ‘maybe list’.

“Maybe I am going to have a date with Angelina Jolie,” the tall Croat added. “Maybe not. How can you say maybe? It’s a serious thing, worse than taking drugs, worse than killing somebody. Don’t give me a maybe, don’t give me the mathematics, give me proof.” — Reuters

Ivanisevic demands proof

C2

SPORTST H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

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How do you hang in there and swallow the hurt when you

are hit for a flawless six? You could freeze yourself in the follow-through sneering at the batsman with a devilish smile lurking on the lips, like Ashish Nehra did as David Warner pulled him over deep midwicket.

You could walk limply back to the top of you run-up won-dering where to pitch the next ball in and, like the debutant Hardik Pandya, eventually end up sending another wide down the leg side, which was actually his fourth in the 11-ball over that leaked 19 easy runs.

Or, you could run in completely nonchalant and rattle the woodwork with a vicious, monstrous yorker, like Jasprit Bumrah did after James Faulkner slogged him over midwicket.

The sweet, comprehensive “team victory”, as skipper MS Dhoni termed it after the game, in the first T20 match against Australia in the three-match series could inspire the Indian team to do things that looked impossible mid-way through the ODI series.

The closest on the list of things that now look possible for India is making a dash to the top of the T20 rankings, which could come about if the team win the remain-ing two matches. The next, of course, is winning again the T20 World Cup, and the momentum the Indians have now discovered is quite good to last as long and beyond.

The victory in the fifth ODI chasing a massive target has done wonders. It has reunited the team and the fresh faces have brought to the team, and more importantly, to Dhoni, a can-do spirit and belief that has been missing for quite some time. All of a sudden, Dhoni finds himself with exciting options to get things done.

The energy Virat Kohli brings to the team is incom-parable, but that alone hadn’t been winning games. Dhoni had been hit hard by the absence of a go-to guy among his bowlers. Bumrah em-braced the role in his debut match, and his performance in the first T20 match showed he was no one-game wonder, and that’s perhaps the biggest positive Dhoni merrily stum-bled upon in the twilight days of his career.

Neither Aaron Finch nor Warner looked happy against Bumrah, and the Australian backroom guys must now be busy running the tapes for clues to solve this unor-thodox puzzle.

The Australians may eventually find a way to tackle Bumrah, but the youngster could stay ahead in the hunt if he keeps himself fit and just

as disciplined with his line and length. He seems to show maturity and intelli-gence Umesh Yadav failed to get a grip on even after play-ing dozens of international matches.

In recent years, Indian fast bowlers seldom generated an air of expectation about them, either in the captain, or in the rest of the team, or in the In-dian fans. That’s why Bumrah looks more special than he ac-tually is. Ever since he bowled his first two tight, tidy overs, and claimed his first wicket in his third over when Steve Smith, after getting desperate facing three dot balls in a row, threw away his wicket going for a stupid pull, Bumrah looked like taking a wicket every time he ran in with the ball. That’s some excitement for Indian fans. Something they get to experience only with their spinners, and that too when they are bowling on their home dustbowls.

The double blow — the fail-ure in the fifth ODI to defend a 330-plus target and the in-ability to chase a big score in the first T20 — will obviously force the Australians to take the field at Melbourne tomor-row with determination to win but doubts about how they could really do it.

Gone with the double blow is the rock-hard confidence mouthed by Finch after suc-cessfully chasing massive totals in the first three ODIS, and the all-aggression streak in Warner who, upon landing in Melbourne yesterday, sought to get his mates hooked to the new ground reality, that the size of the ground does matter and that the way to go about it is in twos and down the ground, with the odd big shots.

Now we know it’s a battle of equals.

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

Double blow dents Australian ego. And the man in focus is Bumrah

C O M M E N T A R Y

Dhoni had been hit hard by the absence of a go-to guy among his bowlers. Bumrah embraced the role in his debut match

ADELAIDE: Former Australia paceman Damien Fleming says that India should invest in some-one like Jasprit Bumrah to add to their fast bowling arsenal as he found the youngster very impres-sive in the two games he has played so far against the hosts.

In an encouraging start to his in-ternational career, Bumrah bagged two wickets in the fifth ODI and also made it count in his first T20, returning a three-wicket haul.

Fleming believes that India should back youngsters like Bum-rah for success abroad.

“I liked the look of him. He was the bowler of the match for me in Sydney, and he has done very well here in Adelaide too. He obviously isn’t lacking in confidence after playing for Mumbai Indians’ In-dians in the IPL. He has a unique action and I hope his body holds up well in international cricket,” said Fleming.

“Because he is quick and has good bounce, and he even bowled

well in the death overs (in both matches), and Indian cricket should be investing in someone like that.”

Fleming said investing in youth was the way forward for India so that the players can back them-selves in tough situations later on.

“And India have been helped in this because there hasn’t been a lot of assistance for spinners in the pitches on this tour. There hasn’t been a lot of swing around, but nothing at all for the spinners, per-haps leaving the Melbourne ODI and here in Adelaide.

“So someone like R Ashwin will be disappointed that he didn’t play at the MCG, but ended up playing in the first two ODIs. In the end, it helped India test some young players.”

Fleming said addition of Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra to the side was an indication that India’s preparations for the upcoming World Twenty20 are in full swing.

“This T20 series is obviously more important than the ODIs pri-or. And this is why they have flown the senior, more experienced play-ers in, to start ticking some boxes for the World T20, especially the players they definitely want for that tournament. It’s pretty evi-dent India would want to win it at home,” Fleming said. - PTI

In an encouraging

start to his

international career,

Bumrah bagged two

wickets in the fifth

ODI and also made

it count in his first

T20, returning a

three-wicket haul

IMPRESSIVE: India’s sensational pacer Jasprit Bumrah celebrates a

win during their T20 International against Australia in Adelaide.

– AP/PTI

I liked the look of him (Jasprit Bumrah). He was the bowler of the match for me in Sydney, and he has done very well here in Adelaide too. He obviously isn’t lacking in confidence

Damien FlemingFormer Australia fast bowler

Need to tackle Indian spinners better: WarnerMELBOURNE: Holding the team’s batting failure responsible for the opening T20 loss, Australian bats-man David Warner on Wednesday said the hosts need to play smarter cricket against the Indian spinners and take full advantage of the big stadiums Down Under.

Apart from skipper Aaron Finch’s 44, the rest of the Australian batting surrendered meekly against the Indian attack. And Warner, who fell to debutant medium-pacer Jas-prit Bumrah (3-23) for 17, wants to learn from his mistakes.

“During those middle overs a lot of us get carried away trying to play too many big shots and not trying to take advantage of the big fields in Australia.

I think in India you can actually get away with trying to hit bounda-ries cause it’s a bit smaller and with either side of the fielders around the bat, you can actually get a more value for your shots,” Warner told reporters here ahead of the second T20 game at the MCG on Friday.

“But definitely your basic bat-ting wasn’t there last night (in Ad-elaide) and that’s trying to get twos on the big field.”

Shane Watson (2-24) was the pick of the Australian bowlers in India’s tall score of 188 for three in the first T20 match and Warner welcomed his teammate’s return to the international fold.

“Obviously his form over the last

18 months hasn’t been as good as he would like. He knows that; we all know that. We always want him performing to the best of his abil-ity and the one thing I think he’s at strength is his bowling. “It’s such a great thing to see him work harder than that. In the Big Bash also he scored a lot for his side. Last night (in first T20) I saw glimpses of him actually bringing it back a little

bit for us. In the end his addition would be fantastic for us through-out middle overs and we know what he is capable of with the bat,” said Warner.

Warner was also all full of praise for Steven Smith’s contribution as a leader (in ODIs and Tests) and as a batsman.

“I think Steve Smith is probably going to bag well and truly. He’s been a fantastic player in the last 24 months,” Warner said about Smith’s chances of bagging back-to-back Allan Border medals.

“The way he’s matured and ap-peared in time. He feels no pressure out there when scoring runs. He’s got a free mind when he goes out there. It’s a great thing for the team at the moment and he deserves the accolades he gets,” he said.

“I hope one day a bowler can get all this (awards) as they work off their backsides especially in these years, very, very tough for them. They always get my vote on these tough wickets,” Warner added. - PTI

C R I C K E T

LEARN FROM MISTAKES: Australia T20 captain Aaron Finch.

Invest in Bumrah, Fleming tells India

C3


AB de Villiers ponders but Proteas see revival signs

CAPE TOWN: For the first time in a decade, South Africa have been forced to acknowledge they are on the decline following back-to-back series losses to India and England that have knocked them off the top of the Test rankings.

And things could get worse still if their captain, AB de Villiers, de-cides that his future lies away from the five-day format of the game in the coming months.

However, following South Af-rica’s 280-run win over England at Centurion Park on Tuesday, there is a growing hope that they can re-verse their recent slide as a number of much needed pieces in the puzzle have started falling into place.

The emphatic victory does need to be placed into context — Eng-land had already claimed the four-Test series and played with less intensity, while South Africa won a crucial toss on day one.

But there were some outstand-ing individual performances from the home side that answered a number of their most pressing

questions. Not least the 13 wickets for 20-year-old fast bowler Kagiso Rabada, who has all the attributes to become a match-winner for the side over the next decade.

He is one of the most exciting pace prospects to hit the Test scene in a number of years and, with Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander ex-pected to return from injury for the next Test series against New Zealand in August, the fast bowling stocks look healthy.

There were excellent centuries too for debutant opener Stephen Cook and young wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock, who has the po-

tential to bat higher than his cur-rent seventh position, possibly al-lowing for an extra bowler.

Cook, at 33 years of age, is not a long-term solution to the team’s opening batting woes but he is or-ganised enough to hold the fort for the next few years until a longer term replacement can be found.

Temba Bavuma showed matu-rity and no shortage of skill with an unbeaten 78 in the second in-nings at Centurion Park to follow his hundred in Cape Town.

Perhaps the biggest factor in South Africa’s renaissance, though, will be the decision that de

Villiers makes about his own fu-ture amid uncertainty created by his own words.

He has spoken of a desire to lighten his workload and should he end up retiring from the five-day format, Test cricket would cer-tainly be poorer for it.

De Villers’ departure would not only significantly weaken the South African top six but also be a crippling blow to morale at a time when they have recently also lost two giants of the game in Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis.

South Africa can ill afford to lose another. - Reuters

Following South

Africa’s 280-run

win over England at

Centurion Park on

Tuesday, there is a

growing hope that

they can reverse

their recent slide as

a number of much

needed pieces in the

puzzle have started

falling into place

UNCERTAINTY: The biggest factor in South Africa’s renaissance, though, will be the decision that AB

de Villiers makes about his own future amid uncertainty created by his own words. – AP/PTI

Radad and Akran win

top places in Riyadh

Two Omanis make it to Asian volleyball panels

Cole moves to LA Galaxy

MUSCAT: Radad of Ahmed Ab-dullah Al Mahrooqi, ridden by Asaad Al Siyabi, and Arkan of Abdullah bin Rashid Al Saadi, ridden by Al Mutasim Al Balushi, won the second and third places respectively in the 1800metre race at Prince Sultan bin Ab-dulaziz International Horse Race

organised at Al Khalidiyah Farm Track in Riyadh on Tuesday.

The event saw participation of teams from Oman, Qatar, Bah-rain, Kuwait and France.

Radad had earlier won the title Qatar International Horse Race while Arkan finished second at Qatar International Derby.

MUSCAT: Two Oman Volleyball Association (OFA) officials have made to the different committees of the Asian Volleyball Confed-eration (AVC).

Dr. Amer bin Humaid Al Tooqi

won the membership of the ref-erees committee while national coach Ali bin Sulaiman Al Bal-ushi won the membership of the coaches committee of the Asian Volleyball Confederation. - ONA

NEW YORK: Former Arsenal, Chelsea and England left-back Ashley Cole has signed for LA Galaxy, the Major League Soccer (MLS) team said on Wednesday.

Terms of the deal were not dis-closed. Cole left Serie A team AS Roma this month after his con-tract was cancelled by “mutual consent”. The 35-year-old had made just 11 league appearances for the Italian club after signing for them in July 2014.

Cole will link up in Los An-

geles with his former England teammate Steven Gerrard and 32-year-old Belgian defender Jelle Van Damme, who signed for the club on Tuesday.

“Ashley is one of the world’s most successful defenders and has played at the highest level of com-petition throughout his career,” said Galaxy coach Bruce Arena. “He can provide our defense with valuable experience. We look for-ward to his contribution to our club this season.” - Reuters

H O R S E R A C I N G

V O L L E Y B A L L

F O O T B A L L

AL NASR HOLD FANJA, SUWAIQ MOVE TO SECONDFanja were held to a goalless draw by a battling Al Nasr in week 16 action of the Oman Football Association Omantel Profes-

sional League at Seeb Sports Stadium on Wednesday. The result meant, Fanja (26 points) have dropped to fourth in the table.

Suwaiq, meanwhile, moved to second place taking their points tally to 29 after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Al Nahda at Sohar

Sports Complex. Defending champions Al Arouba currently occupy the top spot with 30 points while Dhofar are in third with

27 points. In Wednesday’s other matches, Muscat blanked Al Khabourah 2-0 at Seeb Sports Stadium while Saham and Al

Shabab were involved in a 1-1 draw at Sohar Sports Complex. — ISMAIL Al FARSI/Times of Oman

C4


Ghala Golf Club to organise open tourney in memory of Sayyid Kais

MUSCAT: To honour His High-ness Sayyid Kais bin Tariq Al Said and his supreme commitment to the game of golf in Oman, Ghala Golf Course will hold a free open tournament under the patronage of His Higness Sayyid Taimur bin Assad Al Said.

Teeing off on Saturday, the event will host competitors, spectators and patrons from across the re-

gion, in celebration of HH Sayyid Kais Al Said’s passion for golf.

“The landscape of golf in Oman transformed through the zeal of His Highness Kais Al Said, mov-

ing from a leisurely game played by few to a competitive platform of countless nationalities. We will now come together and revel in the dream that was delivered to

us by Kais’ legacy,” remarked Ibra-him Al Wahaibi, Vice-President of Ghala Golf Club.

Sponsored by HH Sayyid Taimur Al Said, the event com-

memorates what the game has be-come in and for the Sultanate.

As an open tournament in the Stableford format, the event was designed to offer all local handi-

cap bearing golfers the opportuni-ty to be a part of this momentous occasion.

Fully bookedLeon Sassen, Events Coordina-tor at Ghala Golf Club, said: “The tournament has received an as-tounding amount of attention and is naturally fully booked by players from across the nation. We have 156 players registered and even more on the waiting list.

“This will be the largest shotgun start that I have coordinated to date in Oman. We anticipate noth-ing short of a spectacular turnout from players and fans alike, as the competition has drawn talent from every corner of the Sultanate, offering people a chance to demon-strate and admire the flare that His Highness lived to inspire.”

Whilst the sporting and social benefits of Golf continue to be observed nationwide, Oman is further developing the game by capitalising on it as a prominent tourism attraction.

With the exponential growth of golf across the Asian continent, the game, combined with the al-lure of the Sultanate’s shores, has opened the door to economic op-portunities comprised by a $20 billion industry.

As an open

tournament in the

Stableford format,

the event was

designed to offer

all local handicap

bearing golfers

the opportunity

to be a part of this

momentous occasion

PICTURESQUE LOCATION: A view of Ghala Golf Club course where the an open tournament will be held in honour of late HH Sayyid Kais

bin Tariq Al Said. – Supplied photo

INDIAN AMBASSADOR HONOURS SAS NAQVIPopular hockey personality SAS Naqvi, former coach of Oman national team and the consultant of Oman Hockey Association,

was honoured by Indian Ambassador Indramani Pandey during the Republic Day of India Hockey Festival organised by Friends

of Naqvi Group and Team Coorg Muscat at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex recently. The honour for Naqvi comes just a few

days after he was conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award by the visiting Asian Hockey Federation CEO ‘Dato’ Tayyib Ikram

for his contribution to the development of hockey both in India and Oman. The hockey veteran has received many awards in

the recent past in Oman and as well as India. — Supplied photo

RAHRC to host 3-ON-3 basketball meet on Friday

ISC to give cash prizes for winners of ISC Junior Open

MUSCAT: Ras Al Hamra Recre-ation Club (RAHRC) is all geared up to host the 3-on-3 basketball tournament on Friday.

A total of 26 teams will be seen in action in three different cate-gories. The one-day league-cum-knock-out tournament is sched-uled to begin at 8.00 a.m. and run till 5.00 p.m.

The event is expected to draw in a large crowd and the organis-ers have lots of spot prizes, DJ – Live, The Mirch Girls and other surprises in store.

The event is mainly sponsored by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), Al Hajiry Group, Al Turki Enterprise and Seven Seas and is supported by Pocari and Red Bull.

The tournament will feature

three categories: men (over 19 years), boys (under-18) and girls competitions.

List of participating teams:Men (above 19 years): 1. The Hustlers; 2. XPATZ; 3. Intimacy; 4. Shisha Smokers; 5. The Eagles; 6. Lens Buddies; 7. Vocablix; 8. BBC Oman; 9. WANN4, 10 i3.

Boys (below 18 years): 1. Hawks; 2. Self Esteem Destroy-ers; 3. Manila Arsenal; 4. Team Clutch; 5. Buckets and Chill; 6. Hot Shots; 7. Supersaiyans; 8. Team Crazy Handles; 9. The Pa-triots Legacy; 10. KAPITANS.

Girls: 1. MT Lions; 2. Al Ta’awun; 3. Baseline Leaners; 4. Ballers Squad; 5. AND1; 6. The Dream Team.

MUSCAT: Winners and run-ners-up at the forthcoming ISC Open Junior Tennis Tournament will receive prize-money, ac-cording to the Indian Social Club (ISC) Muscat.

The members of the organis-ing committee of the ISC-Muscat Pharmacy Open Junior Ten-nis Tournament, who met on Wednesday to finalise arrange-ments, confirmed that winners and runners-up at the tourna-ment will receive cash prizes.

The tournament, which has become a regular feature of the tennis calendar in Muscat, will get underway on February 1.

The tournament includes sin-gles events for juniors in the un-der-10, under-12, under-14 and

under-18 categories. A junior doubles event is also included.

The tournament is open to players of all nationalities, Oma-nis as well as expatriates resid-ing in Oman. Entry forms are available at the Indian Social Club (ISC) in Darsait as well as at the Oman Tennis Association in Baushar and all training cent-ers. The deadline for submission of entries is 6.00 p.m. on Thurs-day. More information and en-try forms can be obtained from the ISC Darsait (Tel. 24701347 or 24797921) from 11.00 a.m. to 11.00 p.m.

Muscat Pharmacy & Stores LLC together with brands Pocari Sweat and Horlicks are the main sponsors of the tournament.

P O P U L A R E V E N T

T E N N I S

Chelsea’s Cahill wants move to save England career

LONDON: England centre back Gary Cahill is so frustrated by a lack of first-team football at Chel-sea that he wants to leave the club in an attempt to safeguard his in-ternational place at the European Championship in the summer.

The England vice captain has played more than 170 games for the Premier League champions but has made only 12 league ap-pearances this season as Kurt Zou-ma and John Terry have become the preferred starters.

Cahill fears he might miss out on the Euros this summer if he is still not playing regularly, a source close to the player told Reuters.

While it could be too late to make the move before the current trans-fer window closes on Monday, Cahill is resigned to leaving the champions to ensure regular top-flight football. The highly regarded defender, who cost Chelsea around £7 million ($10.02 million) when he joined from Bolton Wanderers in January 2012, says he may be at the “crossroads of his career”.

The 30-year-old made 10 starts at the beginning of the season be-fore Jose Mourinho was sacked after 16 league games.

He has played only twice since Guus Hiddink took temporary charge on December 19 — and one

of those was in the FA Cup against third-tier Scunthorpe United.

The source said Cahill — who was appointed England vice-captain in September 2014 — was genuinely concerned about his chances of playing for his country in the European Championships in France if he is not playing regu-larly for his club.

While Cahill has been in and out of the Chelsea side, he has been a mainstay in England’s success-ful march to the Euros, playing in eight of their qualifiers as they won all 10 to sweep into the finals. The defender captained his country for the first time in October’s Eu-

ropean Championship Qualifying victory over Estonia at Wembley.

He won his 40th cap in the 2-0 friendly win over France in Novem-ber but the emergence of Everton’s John Stones — a Chelsea target in the summer — and Manchester United’s Chris Smalling means he will have to fight for his place in the Euros. Cahill in May last year be-came the fastest player in Premier League history to win all five pos-sible major club trophies.

It took him a little over three years to clinch winners’ medals for the FA Cup, Champions League, Europa League, League Cup and Premier League. - Reuters

F O O T B A L L

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

CultureSECTIONC L I F E S T Y L E T H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

STRIKING THE RIGHT

CHORD

Singer-turned composer Reju Joseph

spells out the inside story of his

transformation and how he is making

a mark in the world of music.

It is a struggle to thrust your neck out from the vast ocean of music and get no-ticed, but Reju Joseph has left an imprint with hard

work and dedication. Having carved a niche for him-

self as a lawyer and singer, Reju, who hails from Kochi, in the In-dian state of Kerala, has added one more feather to his illustrious cap when he composed music for soon-to-be released Malayalam movie, Thank You Very Much.

“The opportunity came quite unexpectedly,” said Reju, who sang super hit Malayalam songs Ozhukukayayi from Achanuranga-tha Veedu) and Kaattadi thanalum from Classmates.

“Director Sajin Lal told me about his new movie and inquired if I would recommend any music direc-tors. I sincerely obliged, but to my surprise Sajin asked me to compose the songs and I readily agreed.

“I have completed all the four songs, which includes a lullaby to a new-gen-styled number. Sound tracks were composed in less than two months based on elements of Carnatic and Hindustani ragas. I have provided melody to the beau-tiful lyrics with an aim to cater to all age groups.

The audio will be released in the second week of February and I’m confident that people will hum these songs for a while,” he added.The shooting is at its final stages and the movie is expected to hit theatres in March. “We are ex-tremely thrilled and anxiously counting down on days, as we get closer to the release date,” said Reju, who will also score the back-ground music.

On asked how it felt to turn into a composer after crooning hit numbers for other composers, Reju replied: “I’m a very versatile person. The music bug caught me very young. I have been learning, performing, and expanding my talent since then. I love all aspects of music such as singing, compos-ing, directing, conducting, back-ground scoring, recording, mixing, mastering,etc.”

He highlighted further that his first music composition was in 1994 (when he was studying Law) for the album Nilavintai Nattil.

“In 2011, I composed music for the album Kurumbintai Koottu-kari, which had eight songs. I felt honoured to compose and sing to the lyrics of O.N.V Kurup, Gireesh Puthenchery, Shibu Chakravarthy, Rafeeq Ahammed Santhosh Var-ma, and R.K.Damodaran.” All the songs were recorded and mixed at his own Sarangy Studio in Kochi.

“I focussed on voice training and performing during my initial years. Having established myself as a play-back and Ghazal singer, I shifted my focus to owning a state-of-the-art recording studio.

The music composition was just a natural next step. I was fortunate to work with well-known music direc-

tors like Devarajan Master, Ousep-pachan, to name a few. I also assisted Alex Paul on 22 films,” Reju took a trip down the memory lane.

Though he is a hardcore musi-cian and creative person, Reju is well aware of his strengths and weaknesses.

“I weigh in multiple factors, such as my adaptability and tim-ing, before accepting a project. For instance, the script, lyrics, theme, timing, and team of Thank You Very Much resonated well with me and I thoroughly enjoyed doing it.”

Reju wishes to create unique and trendy music with roots in Carnatic/Hindustani ragas be-cause those melodies are not easy to compose and they can stand the test of time.

“For example, hit film songs like Malarai, Kannondu mindanu, Mazhakondu mathram are based on Carnatic / Hindustani raga with some western flavour (fusion ver-sion),” he remarked.

On his future plans, Reju said: “Discussions are underway to compose music for the next movie. I have a stage show in Kuwait on February 5 organised by AMICOS. My studio is almost booked for dif-ferent ventures. Above all, if time permits, I would like to create few albums with my signature style composition and singing.”

One may wonder how he con-tinues his love affair with music while practicing as a lawyer at the Kerala High Court. “I always pushed boundaries to have fun and I continue to do that even to this day. My goal is to get into every aspect of music and test different waters. Along the way, I decided to be a lawyer. I believe my creative and analytical mind-set along with my interpersonal skills complements my profes-sion as musician and as a lawyer.”

Music has been Reju's life for the past 40 years. He started learn-ing Carnatic music at age of seven from gurus Annapoorneshwari and Perumbavoor G. Raveen-dranath and later from Cherthala Gopalan Nair, M.R. Madhusood-hana Menon and Pandit Ramesh Narayan for Hindustani. He con-tinues to practice Carnatic mu-sic under N.P. Ramaswami and Hindustani classical under Ustad Fayas Ghan.

“I had topped the District and State Youth Festivals while at school. I had also won University of Kerala Youth Festival six years in a row,” said Reju, who is the recipient of Top Grade in Light Music from All India Radio. He also was recent-ly inducted to the Malayalam audi-tion board of All India Radio.

Reju’s wife Manju, owns a bou-tique and his son Jagan, an en-gineering student, essayed the younger version of Thilakan in the film Ustad Hotel. His second son Joel, a Grade IX student, of Rajagiri Public School, is a singer and plays [email protected]

STORY T.K. MOHANDOSS

FIND-IT-ALLC6 T H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Dhuhr 12.25pmAsr 3.33pmMaghrib 5.55pmIsha 7.08pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 5.31am

PRAYER TIMINGS

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

SHATTIAlvin & the Chipmunks:The Road Chip (2D) (Animation) (PG) CP#Voice over: Jason Lee, Jesica Ahlberg.2:30, 4:30, 6:30 PMAmerican Hero (2D) (Action ) CP#Cast: Stephen Dorff, Eddie Griffin, Bill Billions2:45, 8:15, 11:45 PMRide Along 2 (2D) (Action) (15+) CP# Cast: Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter11:30 PMStandoff (2D) (Thriller) (12+) CP#Cast: Thomas Jane, Laurence Fishburne.5:00, 10:00, 11:30 PMConcussion (2D) (Drama) (12+) CP#Cast: Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks6:30,8:45 PMSisters (2D) (Comedy) (18+) CP#Cast: Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph4:45 PMOcean 14 (Arabic) (2D) (Drama) (15+) CP#Cast: Amr Mostafa Metwally, Nermine Maher.7:00 PMAirlift (2D) (Drama) (12+) CP# Cast: Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kaur9:00 PM

MUSCAT GRAND MALLConcussion (Biography | Drama | Sport) 12+Cast : Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks3:00& 9:15PMGold Class - 8:45PMAlvin & the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (Animation)Cast : Jason Lee, Jesica Ahlberg, Josh Green12:00,1:45,3:30 &7:15PMGold Class - 5:15PMAmerican Hero (Action | Sci-Fi) 15+Cast : Stephen Dorff, Eddie Griffin, Bill Billions1:00, 9:30&11:30PMGold Class - 3:30,7:00 &8:45PM

Brooklyn (Drama) TBCCast : Saoirse Úna Ronan, Emory Isaac Cohen5:15PMRide Along 2 (Action | Comedy) 15+Cast : Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter7:30&11:30PMThe Good Dinosaur-3D (Animation) U5:15PM

PANORAMA MALLAlvin & The Chipmunks – The Road Chip (Animation)(MX4D)(PG)Voice over: Jason Lee, Jesica Ahlberg,3:00,5:00,6:45 ,8:45,10:30PMAlvin & The Chipmunks – The Road Chip (MX4D)(PG)2:30,5:15 PMConcussion (Biography, Drama)( (2D)(12+)Cast : Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks2:30,7:00 ,11:30 PMConcussion(12+)-VIP LOUNGE6:30PMExposed(Drama)(2D)(12+)Cast : Ana de Armas, Keanu Reeves5:00,9:15PMExposed (Drama)(2D)(12+)-VIP LOUNGE11:00 PM

American Hero (Action, Comedy)(2D)(15+)Cast : Stephen Dorff, Eddie Griffin, Bill Billions4:30,7:00 ,11:45PMAmerican Hero (2D)(15+)-VIP LOUNGE3:30 ,9:00PMAirlift(2D)(12+)Cast : Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kaur2:45,,6:15,8:45 ,11:15PMThe Revenant (Adventure, Drama)(2D)(12+)Cast : Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy8:45 PM

AZAIBA Saala Khadoos – 2D (12+) Drama/ Sport)Cast: R Madhavan, Nasser, Radha Ravi2:30,4:45,7:00,9:20,11:30PMAirlift – 2D (PG12) Drama/ History/ ThrillerCast: Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kau2:45, 4:40, 6:55,9:10,11:30PMStandoff – 2D (12+) ThrillerCast: Thomas Jane, Laurence Fishburne3:15,10:00,11:45 PMAlvin & the Chipmunks: The Road Chip – 2D (PG) Animation | Adventure | Voice over: Jason Lee, Jesica Ahlberg2:45,5:00PMAmerican Hero – 2D (15+) Action| Comedy

Cast: Stephen Dorff, Eddie Griffin, Bill Billions5:15,11:45 PM2 Countries (Malaylam) – 2D (PG12) ComedyCast:Dilip, Mamta Mohandas7:00 PMAranmanai 2(Tamil) – 2D (15+) Horror Cast: Sidharth, Trisha Krishnan.6:45, 9:15 PM

RUWIScreen 1Saala Khadoos (Drama / Sports) –12+Cast :R.Madhavan, Nasser, Radha Ravi2.30,8.30PMAirlift (Action / Thriller) –12+Cast :Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kaur5.30,11.30PMScreen 2Airlift (Action / Thriller) –12+Cast :Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kaur2.45,7.15,9.30PMSaala Khadoos (Drama / Sports) –12+Cast :R.Madhavan, Nasser, Radha Ravi5.00,11.45PMScreen 3Wazir (Action / Thriller) – PG12Cast :Amitabh Bacchan, Farhan Akhtar

3.45,11.45PMAranmanai 2 (Tamil) (Horror | Comedy) – 15+Cast:Sidharth, Trisha Krishnan6.45,9.15PM

SURAmerican Hero ( Action) (15+) CP#Cast: Stephen Dorff, Eddie Griffin, Bill Billions.3:15,7:45,11:30PM.Airlift - (Hindi)( Drama ) ( 12+ ) CP#Cast: Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kaur,5:00,9:30PMStandoff (Action | Thriller) (12+) CP#Cast: Laurence Fishburne, Thomas Jane.4:40,9:55,11:45PMAlvin and the Chipmonk- The Road Chip (Animation) (PG) CP#Voice over: Jason Lee, Jesica Ahlberg.3:00, 6:05, 7.25 PM

SOHAR

The Fifth Wave - 2D (PG12) Adventure

Cast:Chloë Grace Moretz,Nick Robinson

4:30,11:30PM

Airlift - 2D (12+) Drama | History | Thriller

Cast : Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kaur

8:45,11:15PM

2 Countries- 2D (M) (PG) Comedy

Cast : Dilip, Mamta Mohandas

6:45PM

American Hero - 2D (15+) Action | Sci-Fi

Cast:Stephen Dorff, Eddie Griffin, Bill Billions

3:00,7:00,11:45PM

Standoff - 2D (12+) Thriller

Cast:Thomas Jane, Laurence Fishburne

2:45,5:15 ,9:45 ,11:30PM

Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Road Chip -

2D (PG) Animation | Adventure

3:00, 5:00PM

Sisters - 2D (18+) Comedy

Cast : Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph

5:00 PM

Saala Khadoos - 2D (12+) Drama/ Sport

Cast:R Madhavan, Nasser, Radha Ravi

7:00 PM

Concussion - 2D (12+) Biography | Drama

Cast:Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks

2:45 ,09:25 PM

Ocean 14 - 2D (Arb) (15+) Drama

Cast : Amr Mostafa Metwally, Nermine Maher

6:45 PM

Aranmanai 2- 2D (T) (15+) Horror | Comedy

Cast : Sidharth, Trisha Krishnan8:45 PM

BURAIMIStandoff – 2D (Thriller) (12+)Cast: Thomas Jane, Laurence Fishburne,5:00, 7:00, 11:30PMExposed– 2D (Drama) (12+)Cast: Ana de Armas, Keanu Reeves3:45, 7:30PMAlvin & the Chipmunks: The Road Chip – 2D (Animation) (PG)3:15, 5:45, 8:45PMAmerican Hero – 2D (Action/Comedy) (15+)Cast: Stephen Dorff, Eddie Griffin, Bill Billions3:15, 7:15, 9:30, 11:30PMAirlift – 2D (Drama, History) (12+)Cast: Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kaur5:00, 9:00, 11:15PM

SALALAHStandoff (2D) (12+) (Thriller)Cast: Thomas Jane, Laurence Fishburne,

2:00,7:00,11:45PM

American Hero (2D) (15+) (Action)

Cast: Stephen Dorff, Eddie Griffin, Bill Billions

11:15AM,3:45,7:30,11:55PM

Ride Along 2 (2D) (15+) (Action | Comedy)

Cast: Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter

5:30PM

Exposed (2D) (12+) (Drama)

Cast: Ana de Armas, Keanu Reeves.

12:45,4:50PM

Sisters (2D) (18+) (Comedy)

Cast: Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph

11:45AM, 2:40PM

Concussion (2D) (12+) (Drama | Sport)

Cast: Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks

2:45,9:15PMAirlift (2D) (12+) (Drama, History, Thriller) Cast: Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kaur.8:45, 11:15PM 2 Countries (2D) (PG12) (Malayalam) Cast: Dileep, Mamta Mohandas8:40PM Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (2D) (PG) ( Animation)11:00AM,1:00,5:15PMOcean 14 (2D) (TBC) (Arabic) (Drama) Cast: Amr Mostafa Metwally, Nermine Maher, Bayoumy Fouad, Lotfy Labib6:45PM

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

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Muscat Region

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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 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 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



TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)


SALALAH TO DUBAI (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)



13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur

13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur



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)



13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri





TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)


TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)



TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)



TO SUR (ROUTE 55)



TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)

12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily


TO SALALAH -MARMUL (ROUTE 100)





TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)


DUBAI TO SALALAH (ROUTE 102)


TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)



13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri

13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri



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

@PANORAMA @SOHAR

Concussion (Biography, Drama)( (2D)(12+)Cast : Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks2:30,7:00 ,11:30 PM

@SHATTI

Ocean 14 (Arabic) (2D) (Drama) (15+) CP#Cast: Amr Mostafa Metwally, Nermine Maher.7:00 PM

American Hero - 2D (15+) Action | Sci-FiCast:Stephen Dorff, Eddie Griffin, Bill Billions3:00,7:00,11:45PM

BAHJA CINEMAFilm information 24540856 / Advance Booking

24540855

Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com

Standoff: (Thriller)

Cast: Thomas Jane, Laurence Fishburne.

4.00, 8.00, 10.00 & 11.55 PM

CP NO : 138 (12+)Exposed: (Drama)

Cast: Ana de Armas, Keanu Reeves,

4.00., 10.00. & 11.55 PM

CP NO: 139 (12+)

Sisters: (Comedy)

Cast: Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph

2.00. & 6.00 PM.

CP NO: 137 (18+)

Ocean 14: (Arabic / Comedy)

Cast: Omar Mustafa Metwally, Nirmen Maher,

2.00. & 6.00 PM

CP NO: 140 (15+)

Ride Along 2: (Action / Comedy)

Cast: Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter

8.00 PM

CP NO : 112 (15+)

STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776Website: www.isurf.co.om

2 Countries (Mal) (Drama/Comedy) Cast: Dileep & Mamta Mohandas3:00,10:00 PM Cinema Main\ 6:30 PM cinema- 2 Irudhi Suttru (Tamil) (Sports\Drama) Cast: R.Madhavan, Ritika Singh & Nassar 3:30,9:30PM Cinema - 2 \6:30PMCinema MainAranmanai 2 (Tamil) ( From Friday)Cast:Sidarth, Trisha & Hansika Motwani 3:45 ,6:45 & 9:45 PMcinema -3 Airlift (Hindi) (Act\ Thriller) Cast: Akshay Kumar & Nimrat Kaur 6:45 & 9:45 PM cinema- 4 Soggade Chinninayana ( Telugu) ( Drama)Cast : Nagarjuna ,Ramya Krishna 3:45 PM Cinema-4 Rajini Murugan( Tamil) ( Comedy\ Drama) Cast : Sivakarthiyan & Keerthe Suresh 3:45, 6:45 & 9:45PM cinema -3 (Only Thursday)Programmes are subject to change

WITH LOVE

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 16 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to [email protected]

WITH LOVE

SONA MANOJJanuary 28, 2010

BHARAT SUBASH January 28, 2010

SARTHAK ANAND KUNDU January 29, 2009

ARSHEEN AFZAL ADENWALAJanuary 28, 2008

GYANADA SUBHASHJanuary 28, 2008

WEATHER

270

Maximum

170

Minimum

TEMPERATURE

60-80%RELATIVE HUMIDITY

LIFESTYLEC7T H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

GHAWIBAZAAR

Alka is a natural chewing gum, which is very popular in Dhofar.

The thin, white, crispy, and disc-shaped product is made from either the resin

of frankincense or tishkot tree (scientific name: Euphorbia Balsamifera).

PHOT

OGR

APH

Y: T

.A. A

MEE

RUD

HEE

N

WHAT

Frankincense is known as the divine sap of Dhofar

and has been widely used as a medicine to ease

inflamed joints to congestion and anxiety. The resin

is also used to make Alka. People chew it during

family gatherings and special occasions. A prominent

scientist from Dhofar, Mohsin Al Amri, says it

strengthens gum and prevents tooth decay.

WHO

Women in Dhofar region make Alka. They collect

resin from frankincense or tishkot. It is then manually

rolled and flattened into thin disc-shape before

drying it under sun for a few days. The properly dried

slices are then packed in polythene bags before being

taken to the markets.

WHERE

The chewing gum is easily available in all souqs in

Dhofar region, but it has minimal presence in other

souqs in Oman.

HOW MUCH

Each slice costs 500 baisa. Regular customers

buy it in bulk and stock it at home. Amina, who

manufacturers Alka and supplies in Dhofar souqs,

says regular customers buy the product for a

minimum of OMR 20 as they are worried about its

availability. —[email protected]

BUY LOCAL: ALKA (NATURAL OMANI CHEWING GUM)

The Wages of GratitudeONE DOES not have to be a great scholar to teach another person a great lesson. I learned mine from a weather-beaten surrounding where sweat and hard work was the order of the day. I learned it from a barefooted man who could not spell his name and who earned his living with his unskilled hands.

It was during school breaks that I had befriended this porter who was as cheerful as the sun itself. He worked hard at the do-ckyard, in the same terminal I worked as a tally clerk. He was always there at the stroke of the hour when the clock struck six in the morning.

Some 50 years separated us but he always shared some aspect of his life with me. It was one of tho-se days when no ships had called at the small harbour that he sat on an old stool between two ware-houses, hoping that someone would come and ask for his ser-vice. Since it also meant that I had no job that day, I would go home and he would always say, “bring back better luck tomorrow, son”.

It would be a year later that I would know that he had eleven children to feed from the meagre, unsecure earnings. I would watch

him kiss the palm of his right hand whenever he got paid af-ter a hard day’s work and raised his hands to the heavens in deep gratitude. He taught me, in a very humble way, that it was impor-tant to be grateful even if nothing was earned during the day.

“Gratitude,” he once said as we were breaking for lunch, “makes you forget the ingra-titude of others towards you. Nothing hurts a person more than envying others who have a more secure livelihood.”

Well, I still think he was a great philosopher, for, his words ring true even today. He went on to teach me another lesson — one he had to learn the hard way — but I had to wait for another summer for that lesson to begin. He was sitting on the same old stool but his face wore a droopy look and his usual cheerfulness was mas-ked by sorrow. I feared the worst and when I inquired, he said, “the accountant said goodbye to me yesterday because he is reti-ring. He’s decided to call it a day and said he was looking forward to a peaceful life and a pension.”

I heaved a sigh of relief that nothing bad had happened to

him or his family, but still was puzzled. “It may be a happy occa-sion for him, but why are you so sad?” I gently asked.

He wiped his face with his head cloth and then looked at his hands, feet and other parts of his body.

“I won’t be getting any pension when I am too old to work because I am a daily wage labourer,” he said. And I have eleven children to feed.”

That summer came and went and a few others too.

On my final year at school, the old man met with a tragic acci-dent. He broke an arm and frac-tured his thighbone. I went to see him and he told me that part of the tools of his trade — the two broken limbs — would never mend properly.

Was he sad? No, instead, he said, “something would come up sooner or later.” And he was right. Six months passed and I saw him again limping in a marketplace with a group of young muscular men. “One of the dockyard con-tractors hired me to supervise young porters for a government project,” he said giving me a toothy grin. Something indeed had come up for the man who was always grateful.

SO TO SPEAK

SALEHAL-SHAIBANY

‘Fast and Furious 8’ to film big explosion in Iceland

Director F. Gary Gray will reportedly film a few sequences of Fast and Furious 8 in Arkanes, Iceland. Town mayor Re-gina Asvaldsdottir confirmed the report by Icelandic news site Visir and said that actor Vin Diesel and the film crew members would arrive in April, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Of what scene would be filmed in Arkanes, the news outlet reported that the crew planned to make “the largest explosion ever in Iceland”. In addition to shooting in Arkanes, the director will re-portedly film Fast 8 in Cuba and Russia.

“Surely, this is a major project and will affect retail and service in town,” Regina told the news outlet regarding

the positive effect of the movie on her town. Local residents are reported-ly excited after learning that the sequel to Furious 7 will partly be filmed in their town. In Fast and Furious 8, Diesel will reprise his role as Domi-nic Toretto. Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Jason Statham and Kurt Russell also star in the movie. The street-racing movie will be released in North America on April 14, 2017.

Sylvester Stallone to be feted at Santa Barbara film festival

Actor Sylvester Stallone has been tapped by the jury of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for this year’s Montecito Award. The honour will be presented following a career retrospective on February 9, reports va-riety.com. “Sylvester Stallone’s perfor-mance in Creed has reminded us of what a true talent he is and what a joy it is to share in his successes as the many be-loved characters he has created,” Roger Durling, executive director, Santa Bar-bara International Film Festival, said in a statement.

“Since he first hit the silver screen as Rocky Balboa nearly four decades ago, he has been a force in the industry

both on film and behind the scenes. He is a true legend in our field,” Durling said in a statement. The Montecito Award, named after a posh nearby community in Santa Barbara that luminaries like Oprah Win-frey, Jeff Bridges and Google’s Eric Schmidt call home, is annually re-served for “a person in the entertainment industry who has made a great contribution to film.” Stallone is also nominated in the Actor in a Supporting Role category at this year’s Oscars, which will take place on February 28.

New ‘Spider-Man’ movie set for Imax releaseA yet-to-be-titled Spider-Man movie has been set for release in Imax Theatres along with the film’s worldwide date on July 7, 2017. Sony Pic-tures Entertainment is teaming with Marvel Studios to produce the sixth movie in its franchise, which has grossed $4 billion worldwide, reports variety.com. Tom Holland will star as Peter Parker and Marisa Tomei will play his Aunt May. Jon Watts is directing the franchise re-boot from a script by the team of John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. “Imax’s long-standing relationship with Marvel and Sony first began with Spider-Man in 2002, establishing the ultimate way for fans to be transported into the world of their favourite characters like Peter Parker,” Imax’s Greg Foster said in a statement.-IANS

H O L L Y W O O D B U Z Z

Gratitude makes you forget the ingratitude of others towards you. Nothing hurts a person more than envying others who have a more secure livelihood.”

LIFESTYLEC8 T H U R S DAY, JA N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Razha, the

quintessential folk

dance of Oman, is a

major highlight of

the cultural festival

at the Muscat

Festival. Performed

by men during

special occasions,

including Eid and

weddings, the

dance is attracting

people attending

the festival.

A T M U S C A T F E S T I V A LRAZHA DANCE

PHOTOGRAPHY:

Talib Al Wahaibi

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

CONNECT H E D A I LY G U I D E

D

D4 VACANCY CARGO D7

T H U R S D AY, J A N UA R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

RENT D2

USED VEHICLES FOR SALE1. Toyota Land Cruiser. Model 2008 in good running condition.

Vehicle regularly serviced by authorized service dealer.

2. Hino 7T Tipper. Model 2010 regularly serviced and in running

condition

3. Toyota Yaris. Model 2006 regularly serviced and in running

condition

Place of inspection: Barka.

Last date of submitting the quotation: 4th February 2016

Interested buyers may please contact on Phone: 26883543, Mobile : 99440306

PDO APPROVED PORTABLE OFFICE FACILITIES

ON SALE

Contact Person - S. Sundaram- 00968 93221934

- Viral Desai - 00968 93221397

PORTA CABIN OFFICE – 1200 SQ.M – 32 SECTIONS



PORTA CABIN OPEN HALL – 500 SQ.M – 14 SECTIONS

*Tourist visa arranged

Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

D2 T H U R S D AY, J A N UA R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

DAILY GUIDE

1/2/3 BHK Flats & Showrooms at

CONTACT :

93202733

1 BHK and 2BHK Flats

with Split ACs - Opp. to

MOD -

Near Lulu Darsait

FLATS FOR RENT

Brand New 4-Bedroom Ground

Floor House for Rent in Al-Ansab

(Bousher) . Easy access to main

road. House is constructed with

high quality finishing and elegant

doors design. 4 Bedrooms with

in-situ bathrooms. Marble floor.

Specious kitchen. For rent @ 600

OMR/Month (Negotiable).

Please contact Mr. Ali 92755663.

Villa 2 room, 1 sitting room, 1 lob-

by, 2 bathrooms at South Mawalleh

behind Discount Supermarket.

Contact: 92757673 / 99388138

Al Khuwair 17/2, 4 rooms,

4 bathrooms. Contact: 97300123

Al Khuwair 33, 3 rooms, 2 bath-

rooms. Contact: 97300123

Flat for rent in Al Ansab 1, 2

rooms, living room, kitchen & A/C.

Contact: 91256340 Flat in Wadi Al Kabir 2 bedrooms, 1

living room, 1 family hall, kitchen & 3

bathrooms. Contact: 99277787

Flat in Hamriya. Contact 99341112

Flat for rent in Wadi Al Kabir next

5 Al Hassan company, 2 bed room

& 3 toilets. Contact: 99210008

Luxurious villa for rent in Al

Athaiba, a new luxurious G+2

floors villa in Al Azaibs. All rooms

W/ Splt unit ACs, close to Wave

Muscat & shopping centers.

Contact: 95965445

Apartments & shops for rent in Al

Amerat & brand new apartments &

shops for rent in Al Amerat.

Contact: 95965445

1000 sqm industrial land with

compound wall & two rooms at

Misfah. Contact: 99342733 /

99795241

Newly build luxury residen-

tial villas for rent in Al Khoud.

Contact: 98116480 / 99447002 &

99358724

02 BHK Commercial / Residential

(with split AC) flat at Honda road.

Contact: 99342733 / 99795241

Single room attach bath with

kitchen in Muscat 100/- R.O.

Contact: 95094028

Villa in Al Khoud for staff accommo-

dation, like nurses or teachers can

accommodate 30 to 35 people.

Rent RO.1200/-. Contact - 91178282

Villa for rent in Al Khuwair.

Contact: 96571151

Sharing accommodation at Ruwi

near family shopping center,

please call after 6:00 pm .

Contact: 93394653

02 BHK Residential flat opposite

to Al Nahdha hospital.

Contact: 99342733 / 99795241

Empty plot at Al Wadi Al Kabir

industrial area 550 sqm.

Contact: 95909020

Bosher Rimal 1, building appt for

rent 2BR, Maid room, sitting room,

full appliance, kitchen, 4 toilets.

Contact: 99349910

New flat in Wadi Kabeer.

Contact: 98185135

Flats shops & store for rent in

Ruwi MBD Honda road.

Contact: 92433127 / 97293708

Flat for rent in CBD area - Ruwi

Two rooms and a large hall•Office spaces for rent in Al Hail on

the main road On the same building

of Al Khamis Shoes at Al Hail

•2 bed room flats in Qurum 29 for

rent next to ABA New building

-split AC - Good location

Contact No: 96177505

Luxury flat for rent in Bareeq Al Shatti building

Spacious 2 BHK with sea view,

split A/Cs, fixed wardrobes,

kitchen appliance.

Near Opera Gallery.

Rent RO.900/- negotiable.

Contact - 94084335 / 96920789

STORE FOR RENT

500 sqm store with 200 sqft offi ce & 200 sqm

covered shed for rent at Mabella Ind No-11 on main road,

direct from owner.

CONTACT - 99278002

RUWI : Ware House - 630 M2

SPACIOUS -2 B H K FLATS

NEAR AL FALAJ HOTEL:FURNISHED DELUXE

1 B/RM WITH 2 bathrooms,

SPLIT A/C, BUILT IN

ARDROBRE, PRIVARE

TERRACE.

High quality

Warehouses

for rent at Mizfa

550 sqm to

3400 sqm.

Contact

96046951 / 99332291

DAILY GUIDET H U R S D AY, J A N UA R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 6 D3

FOR RENT

Furnished sharing accommoda-

tion in ruwi near O.K. Center for

non-cooking indian bachelor.

Contact - 98805474

FOR RENT

BUILDING

FOR SALEMUMTAZ AREA

(NEAR RUWI HOTEL)

CONTACT - 99353931

Flats two bed room for rent in

Al Khuwair. Contact: 96571151

Residential cum commercial

2BHK available in MBD at 280/-.

Contact: 96332793

1& 2 BHK flats for rent at Hamriya Wadi Adai, Al Khoud,

Mabela & shop at Al Khoud & land

line Contact: 24834644 GSM

93994401/02/03 3 lines

1&2 BHK flat in Walja.

Contact: 98218279

New flats for rent at Darsait near

to ministry of sports, Mumtaz area

the flats include 1 living room, 2

Bedroom, kitchen, 3 toilets every

room with split A/C & high Quality

finishing, rent per flat is R.O 340/-.

Interested candidates please

Contact: 00968- 92225523

3BHK flat for rent in Ghubra.

Contac: 99328070

Flats shops & store for rent in

Ruwi, MBD area & Honda road. Con-

tact: 92589235/ 94579531

Flats in Muttrah. Contact - 94051789-97201688

Offices in Ghala. Contact - 94051789-97201688

2BHK flat for rent Darsait near ISM.

Contact: 95158570 / 99102255

2 bedrooms, kitchen, toilet, car

park R.O 220/- & 1 bedroom,

kitchen, toilet R.O 140 in

Al Khuwair. Contact: 95154331

One flats for rent 2 bedroom

all with bath al Ghobrah north near

Indian school (hot burger restau-

rant) Tel. 9976610

Flats for rent in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 99376454

600 SQT commercial flat for rent

opposite Oman flourmill Darsait

more details. Contact:91214849/

99364735

FOR SALE

Commercial flats of 3 & 2 BHK

in Al Ghobra North 18 Nov street

RO.650/- & 450/-

Contact – 91776665

600 M2 showroom or office in

Bousher in front of Dolphin

complex. RO.3.5 per m2.

Contact – 91776665

Brand new 4 BHK villa in Al Fai

compound Al Khoud. RO.475/-

Contact – 91776665

Luxury villa of 5 BHK in

Al Khuwair 33 RO.650/-

Contact – 91776665

Villa of 3 BHK and sitting area in

Al Ghobra North. RO.525/-

Contact – 91776665

Luxury and brand new semi

furnished 2 BHK flat in Remalbow-

sher. RO.550/- Contact – 91776665

Spacious 1 BHK flat in Al Wattaya

with all split A/C’s and parking.

RO.300/-Contact – 91776665

Flats in Darsait. Contact - 94051789-97201688

Flats in WadiKabir. Contact - 94051789-97201688

Flat for Rent 1/2 BHK Flat at

Muttrah, near Oman flour mills,

10 min. from Corniche.Equipped

with split unit ACs, internet points,

free-to-air dish connection, CCTV

monitored, basement parking.

Rent RO.250/350 per month.

Contact:99229263; 93221054;

95215289

2BHK Sitting room, 3 bathrooms,

split AC big balcony 300/- R.O in

Wadi Kabeer. Contact: 99324402

3 BHK flat near Darsait ID medical.

RO 420/- Contact – 99358589 /

97079146 / 95570288

1BHK Mumtaz R.O 250/-. Contact: 97799175 / 92144045

2 Room + hall & kitchen ,3 toilets

in Bareeq Al Shatti 750 RO.

Contact: 99314314

7 Bedrooms villa in Ghobrah North.

Contact - 96420432

Profs/ Jack. Contact 93219378

1,2 BHK Ghubra R.O 300/-, 325/- &

350/-. Contact: 97799175

1BHK flat near Star Cinema 220/-

Contact 99358589 /95570288

Single BHK flat available

in Honda road Ruwi.

Contact: 24833972/ 24833974/

99367448

Household items & furniture in

excellent condition for sale. Indian

expat leaving for good.

Contact Ravi : 93380408

Beauty Salon for urgent sale in

Azaiba prime location behind

Al Fardan building. With sponsor

and 1 staff and 1 ready visa clear-

ance. Call: 95318629 / 95169411

Kingsize 7x7 double cot, dining

table good as new. # 98796982

Restaurant items for sale.

Contact: 96772479 /98428507

Filling material for sale in

Muscat. Contact: 93299940

Villas in Al Khoud. Contact -

95056808-97201688

3Ton Forklift, Special made for

Oman market, Japanese Isuze

C240 Engine, Cascade side shifter,

High amount exhaust, 3m lifting

height, Solid tyres, One year war-

ranty. Contact: 98883445

3 Bedroom flat in Wadi Kabeer.

Contact 95755953 / 95555162

BHK apartment for rent in

Al Khuwair near Ibis Hotel.

Contact: 95124975

4 BHK with terrace near Raymond

Ruwi in market on road.

Contact: 99065900/99354975

Family flats in Wadi AL Kabir, Ham-

riya, Muttrah, Al Khuwair, Ghubrah,

Bowshar, Al Hail North & Al Seeb.

Contact: 95250300 / 92125648

FOR SALE

Excavation contracts worth RO 2

million + Big Volvo Excavators &

2015 Astra 5 tippers for sale.

Contact: 99120532 / 98867530

Dialysis Machine(DBO7) - Available

10 Units for Sale .

Contact : 94306662 or

Email : [email protected]

Luxury Apartments in Bousher

(35). Contact - 95056808-

97201688

ACC. AVAILABLE

ACC. AVAILABLE

A big room available for Muslim

couple / small family executive

bachelor near Hamriya R/A rent

130/- OMR, including water /

Electricity. Contact: 99495131

2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, sitting

room, hall, kitchen with parking

space for rent in Mawalah, behind

City Centre. Contact 93930352

Fully furnished room with attached

bath for Executive bachelor behind

Al Meera Hyper market, Azaiba

150/- R.O. Contact: 99455735

Spacious room semi furnished with

attached bath near Ruwi rounda-

bout. Contact: 96612979

Ghubra. Beautiful Room. Indian

Lady/Couple/Bachelor. Non-cook-

ing, Vegetarians. Contact 99283938

Accommodation available at

Hamriya roundabout for executive

bachelors (no kitchen, furniture

and A/C) including water and elec-

tricity RO 130. Contact 98145825,

98949724.

Furnished room with a/bathroom

in Al Khuwair33 for Indian Execu-

tive. Call: 95234062

Furnished room & bath Darsait

R.O 140/-. Contact: 93289652

Fully Furnished apartments in

Boucher (35)

Contact - 94051789-97201688

Offices in Qurum opposite City

Center. Contact - 94051789-

97201688

Brand new villas in Al Ansab.

Contact - 94051789-97201688

Offices & Showrooms in Muttrah.

Contact - 94051789-97201688

Mini Furnished Apartment in

Qurum. Contact - 94051789-

97201688

Duplex villa in Qurum 29. Contact

- 94051789-97201688

Offices & Showrooms in Al Khoud.

Contact - 94051789-97201688

Spacious semi furnished room

with separate bathroom for execu-

tive bachelor opposite OC centre

Ruwi. Call: 92273779

Single bedroom flat behind

German Embassy, near Al Nahdha

Hospital. Contact 99203954 Room available in Mumtaz area 1

room, 1 Bathroom, Kitchen & 1 room,

common bathroom. Interested

please Contact: 92680041 Mr. Altaf

Room for rent with furniture.

Al Bustan villeage. # 93687466

2 rooms, toilet in Al Khuwair pref-

erable for Indian couple or working

woman rent R.O 190/- only include

Ele & water. Contact: 99546410

Room , B/Room & Kitchen for

Executive in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 99336206

Furnished room available with

attached bath & balcony near MBD.

Contact: 97636432

Room available for executive

bachelor in MBD with kitchen on

sharing basis. Contact: 96332793

Furnished room at Hilat Al Saad

with TV, AC, fridge near main road.

Contact : 95714202

Semi furnished spacious room

with attached washroom separate

entrance near Indian school

Al Ghobrah for non cooking

Executive Indian bachelor.

Contact: 95146361/92657598

Spacious semi furnished room

with separate bathroom for execu-

tive bachelor opposite OC centre

Ruwi. Call: 92273779

Single room for expat Indian

bachelors near Al Aktham restau-

rant Al khuwair for RO 120.

Water and electricity included.

Contact 98803261

Furnished room in new building for

working Muslim lady/

Muslim couple only. Location AINT,

Darsait. Contact - 99008069

DAILY GUIDED4 T H U R S D AY, J A N UA R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED

Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

ENGINEER/TECH/MECH

CATERING

BEAUTY

DESIGNER

SKILLED LABOR

DRIVER

DRIVER

MEDICAL

MEDICAL MISCELLANEOUS

DRIVER

ADMIN

ADMIN

CATERING

DESIGNER/DRAUGHTSMAN

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

SALES / MARKETING

SALES / MARKETING

DOMESTIC HELP

Cooks (Arabic Indian) gulf exp

looking job. Contact: 99531802

We are looking for Chief Financial Officer, Male 40- 45

years old, Bachelor of Science in

Accountancy with 5 - 15 yrs. of ex-

perience. Contact: +968 24702133

Email: [email protected]

Required Full Time Light Driver for an Omani Family. Indian or Philippine national are preferred.

Send SMS only to 97711577

Reputed Construction Company

require experienced light Vehicle Driver. Contact 95526871

Immediate Requirements for ex-perienced Tailors (Designer wears,

casual clothing). Please call for

interview 99471085

Civil AutoCAD Draughts man 5 years experience on visit visa.

Contact: 99759284 Email:

[email protected]

A lady entrepreneur with BF Tech

1st Class (Fashion Technology)

since 2006 in Kerala like to make

change for better. Specialized in

designing, Production

Management, Fashion Art,

Grading, Surface ornamentation,

Garment Construction.


Mobile: +919539397097.

25 years male BA. English , Quali-

fied as mast in digital animation

having 5 yrs ex in character

animation specialized Auto Desk

mago and motion building

software knowledge,

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 97917357

Indian male good experienced in

Accounts, ERP Tally 9 & Admin in

India & Oman, presently on visit

visa, looking for suitable placement.

Contact 94834687

Indian male 25 yrs, Graduate in com-

merce, overall 5 yrs exp in accounts/

finance field. On visit visa. Immedi-

ately available. Contact – 92836216 /

[email protected]

Looking full time job. Contact:

99153378

Well reputed Marble Company looking for

3 SALESMEN

Requires minimum 3 years experience

and valid Omani driving license.

Interested candidates please Fax your CV to 24601724 or

Email on [email protected]

Contact -91262604Email: [email protected]

Wanted female GP, female

Gynecologist, female Staff

Nurse, female X- Ray Technician

With MOH license for Al Saadi

Specialized Medical Centre

in Musanna.

DOMESTIC HELP

Housemaid required for Keralite

family. Contact 95405033

Looking for housemaid urgently clearance available good salary

yearly ticket. TEL 24446920 /

99238121,

mail: [email protected]

Civil Site Supervisor for telecom

tower projects across Oman. Send

CV to [email protected] or

call +968 9946 7227

Indian male, 28, Post Graduate, 6

years exp. in Oman in Sales and

Credit Control , with valid Oman D/L

looking for suitable placements.

NOC available. Ph: 9206 6523

Wanted marketing personnel for acquiring Premium customers for

MNC. Should have communication/

sales skills and must possess Oman

DL. Contact 96545020.

Wanted Sales Supervisor with

Oman experience in FMCG for a re-

puted company. Send your C.V to our

email: [email protected]

Salesman require for building

material with driving license &

10 years working experience.

Fax your C.V 24833043.

(Mustafa Hardware Store)

Sales for a printing press What-

sapp Only. Contact: 95955729

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

Require LAB TECHNICIAN ,The

desired candidate must be a grad-

uate/diploma in Civil Engineering

with minimum experience of 3 to

5 years as Lab Technician having

Experience of testing construc-

tion materials on Building/ Road

projects. Send your CV to:

[email protected].

Required X RAY Technician, Lab Technician, General Practitioner, Gynecology, Staff Nurses. Contact: 95133572


Wanted GP Doctor with MOH

license, job location in Muscat

with good salary and benefits.

Drop your cv at

[email protected].

Wanted B- Pharmacist (female)

for a pharmacy in Sohar.

Contact : 99767605

Urgently required GP, Gynecolo-gist, Dentist, Staff Nurse, Lab Technician, Pharmacist, For a

medical centre in Muscat.

Tel: 92603863

Email : [email protected].

Urgently required Office Staff/ Manager for medical equipment

import office in Ruwi.

Tel: 92603863


Wanted Gynecologist, General Practitioner, Assistant Pharmacist for immediate appointment.

Contact 97884856/ mail CV to –

[email protected]

Wanted urgently lady Doctor GP or DGO for immediate appoint-

ment. Contact : 99310590


Part Time Accounting, Accounts

Finalization as per IFRS, Audit

Preparation, Cost Control and Man-

agement, Training for Accountants,

Internal Audit, Accounting System

for New Companies,

Contact: 96975454,

email:[email protected]

Indian male having good experi-

ence in accounts and in accounting

and in accounting software’s ready

to join immediately.

Contact: +91 9444965126

15 years experienced in finance &

treasury management CPA, CMA,

ACCA, MBA, qualified Chartered

Accountant available for immediate

joining as head of finance, financial

advisor, financed consultant.

Contact: 94872345


Indian male B.com accountant with

9 years ( 8 yr Oman) experience

seeking suitable placement

immediately ( NOC available ).

Contact: 98624850

Chief Accountant Indian male

44 years B.Com Graduate PGDVA

total 13 years in GCC, 7 years in

Oman & knowledge in Tally, ERP9,

Peachtree MS Office having NOC

seeks placement

Contact: 97060826


Accountant MBA (finance)

masters (accounting) 2 yrs Exp

looking for suitable placement,

having NOC & valid D/L .

Contact: 92491009,


Young 24, ACCA affiliate, Ad-

vanced diploma in Accounting

and Business, seeking suitable

placement in Accounts, Finance or

audit With valid driving license.

Contact - 92430152,

Email - [email protected]

Part time Accountant, up to fina-

lization, looking for job after 5pm

(location prefer – MSQ to

Al Hail). Contact: 95694737

Finance & Accounts Indian male

35 years B.Com MBA (F) 7 years

experience tally ERP9 with valid

D/L family visa.

Contact: 93257426 / 95230114


Indian male B.Com with 1 year

experience in Oman as Account

having driving license seeks

suitable placement.


[email protected]

Chartered Accountant with 1.5

years of experience looking for

job. Currently in Oman on visit

visa. Contact - 91520687 Email: [email protected]

Accounting Assistant, BBA, M.

Com (pursuing), tally, peach tree,

valid visa available.

Contact : 98269281

Indian male (25) B.com 6 years

experience in accountant seeking

suitable placement accountant,

admin, sales visit visa.

Contact: 98437731


Indian Accountant well experi-

enced in construction accounts

(Financial and Cost) and also

administration and HR seek suit-

able placement (Full/Part time) in

Oman or UAE. Contact 98598099

Part time accounts qualified

experience accountant.

Contact: 91126314

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT-M. Com

Finance-Indian with 7 years

experience in Finance & Accounts

up to finalization. Currently

employed in Oman. Having D/L &

NOC. Mob: 94122464,


Chinese / Arab/ Grill, cooks. Contact: 95529970

28/male/MBA - finance/B.Com -

Accountant with 4 years of Dubai/

India experience looking for a

suitable placement. #90187483

[email protected]

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, with

13yrs experience, 6 yrs Oman in

manufacturing, trading & contract-

ing Cos, capable of handling all

accounting, finance, banking, L/C,

import, export & finalization seeks

placement. NOC Available.

Call+968-98932752,

mail:[email protected]

Part-time accounting, tax report,

auditing & bank loan assistance.

Contact 91720465

Indian male, MBA (finance),

1 year experience in Oman having

Oman D/L and NOC on visit visa

looking for a suitable job.

Contact 94103975

Indian Male Accountant 10yrs

Exp. in OMAN Retail & Furni-

ture Co. (Release Available)

GSM.92564955

Experienced Light Duty Driver,

Fluent in English, Arabic Well

knowledge of Oman Areas

Seeking Suitable placement

Contact 97950869

Bangladeshi driver want job.

Contact: 93822195

Looking for driver job with own

car, education, B.A, can speak

English, Arabic, Urdu & Hindi.

Contact: 96728056 / 98031620

Light driver looking for job expe-

rience in Oman 6 years & K.S.A 5

years’ education H.S.C.

Contact: 93940319

Omani male need driver job for

part time. Contact: 92296607

Light duty driver experience

4 years suitable job. Can speak

English, Arabic & Hindi.

Contact: 98393692

Driver with car looking for job or

part time. Contact: 96023492

Light driver need job knows

English, Hindi & Arabic.

Contact: 92820309

Job for driving. Contact: 98982410

27 years, 1 year experience,

with D/L. Contact: 97369716

Indian female, M.Tech electron-

ics 6.5 IELTS experience as VLSI /

Electronics project trainer & institute

administration currently in family

visa. Contact: 90195131 /24551290


Indian female Graduate 7 years as

Secretary Office Assistant Admin

seeks placement.

Contact: 99073789

Indian female PGDHRM MSW hav-

ing 5+ experience in HR Assistant

Administration customer support

good computer skill DOA, CIT Tally

now on family visit visa looking for

suitable position. Contact: 95352527

Indian female 25 years Graduates

in BBM (HR) currently on visit visa

looking for suitable job.

Contact: 92065248


young Omani male have experi-

ence 12 years as P.R.O , Clerk helper

supervisor Admin supervisor , H.R

Manager have diploma in H.S.E, IT

and P.D.O license looking for H.R

position or P.R.O license . Looking

for H.R position or P.R.O part time

or full time. Contact: 95933288

14 years of Gulf experience in HR/

Admin & logistics fluent in Arabic

& English with D/L looking for

suitable position, NOC available.

Contact: 95824598

Indian male MBA- UK 18 yrs Gulf

exp in Administration/ HR & Public

relationship. Fluent in Arabic/

English with D/L. Looking for suit-

able position. Contact - 99897280

Filipino male with 13 years HR and

Administration managerial experi-

ence. MBA & CIPD holder. Currently

looking for job in Oman. Interested

employer pls call 97728418.

SITUATION VACANT(Omani Candidates only)

Required Store Keeper to manage an offi ce store

in Ghala

Minimum 5 years

experience handling stores

with working knowledge

of English

Send CV to [email protected]

Experienced Sales Man

for Al-Rawas Marble & Granite.Located at

Al Rusayl Industrial.

SALES / MARKETING Urgently required

Please forward your cv at oure mail :

[email protected]

Beauty expert required to work

in Salon in Al Amerat.

Contact : 93336061

FASHION DESIGNER specializing

in western attire and traditional

wear required for a Boutique in

Capital area. Female candidates

with 4 to 5 years experience in

GCC are advised to revert at

9321 8210 or [email protected]

Furniture company urgently re-

quired : 2 Outdoor sales people, 1 Interior designer. Previous

experience in furniture field will

be an added advantage. Interested

candidates please send CV :


Urgently required for a reputed

company in Oman (Tyre, Battery

& Lubricant division) Sr. Execu-tives/Executive-5 nos (Sohar,

Nizwa & Muscat), Techno Com-mercial Professional-5nos, Driver (Omani)-1no. Required minimum

3-5 yrs experience in the same

field with market exposure hold-

ing valid Omani driving license

or GCC. Kindly fwd your CV’s to

[email protected]

Contact: (+968)93891700

Sales Ladies wanted for Ladies Boutique. Age: 20-35 yrs. Al

Khoudh. Call -91159905 Send CV

to [email protected]

URGENTLY REQUIRED

Qualifi ed & experienced

male B.SC holder

CIVIL ENGINEER With 10 -15 years experience

for a Muscat based well known

construction company.

Email:

[email protected]

Fax: 24479675

Wanted Driver. Contact:

91025698

Orthopedician, Nurses, Physiotherapist, Asst. Pharmacist, Gynecologists to work in a clinic at

sur. M/F, any nationality with MOH

license or prometric pass 60% and

above can apply to

[email protected]

We have a batch of skilled Omani candidates in Administration, HR,

Account & Reception ready to join diff erent companies in a month

We will also provide training for Omani candidates as per your need

like Cashier, Teller, HR, Admin, Sales, Stores, Customer service etc.,

FOR COMPANIES SEEKING OMANI EMPLOYEES

select the suitable candidates in consultation with your offi cials.

training the company will not incur any cost like salaries & training.

program.

For any queries contact us: 26862210, 93677745 & 93677795

Fax: 26861710 email: [email protected], www.aifas.net

Candidate must have a minimum 2 to 3 years’ experience in assembly,

installation, maintenance and repairs of automotive refrigeration,

air-conditioning systems and chiller units.

He should be well conversant in repair and troubleshooting of electrical

faults and experienced in using computerized diagnostic systems.

He should be ITI/DME (Auto) qualifi ed.

Auto Electrician cum A/c Mechanic for Workshop

Interested candidates email cv on

[email protected] or contact on 99440518

Experienced Sales Man

for Al-Rawas Marble & Granite.Located at

Al Rusayl Industrial.

SALES / MARKETING Urgently required

Please forward your cv at oure mail :

[email protected]

LIBRARIAN

REQUIRED PART-TIMEFor organizing and maintaining a private library

in Qurum, Muscat.

Interested persons who arequalifi ed and experienced, please respond to:

[email protected]

Or Fax: 24614144

P.O.Box 200, P.C. 100, Muscat

Required Philippine Sales lady for women’s shoes and bags store.

Arabic speaking advantage.

Send CV with current picture.


Indian Female, MBA-HR having

8+ experience in Administration/

HR, Customer Support, Office

Coordinator with good Computer

skill, Now on Visit Visa,looking for

suitable position.

Contact: 90196235

Indian female 27 yrs with 5 yrs

HR /Admin experience seeking

suitable placement with valid

Oman driving license.

Contact: 98236033

Indian female, Masters in HR,

having 4 + years Oman experience

in media management and HR,

looking for openings in HR, Educa-

tion, Admin, Corporate communi-

cations. Contact 98252030


SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

DRIVER

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

B.Tech Mechanical, Diploma in

industrial health and safety, NE-

BOSH (IGC) , working experience

4 years (Construction, oil and Gas) .

Contact: 94750413


Indian female (B.Tech/ Mechani-

cal Engineering) 4 yrs Oman ex-

perience in project coordination in

water, sewerage and infrastructure

sector , Having valid Omani D/L


Local release available.

Contact: 95297449

B.Tech Chartered Electrical

Engineer, AMIEI with 5 years of

experience in electrical power

transmission and distribution in

industrial, residential & com-

mercial sectors. Expertise in

load designing BOQ, Estimations,

transformer and switchgear

selections. Leadership skills in

project execution & management.

Contact: 94638744


Computer Network and Hardware

Engineer with driving license and

20 years of experience in Oman

looking for a suitable position.

Contact: 98388431


Civil Engineer with 8 yrs exp in

construction having license and

NOC. Contact: 97986606

Telecom Engineer Sudanese on

visit visa have 1 year experience

in installation and have diploma

in Tally ERP & excel and one year

experience. Contact: 91991215

Indian female Computer Science

Engineer having two years experi-

ence in teaching and programming

C .CCP Java VB HTML, Sql, Php

currently on visit visa seeks suit-

able placement. Contact: 91168733

Syrian Civil Engineer graduated

2012, 1 year experience in Oman.

Contact: 92967785

Aeronautical Engineer with MBA in

Operations Management having 4

yrs experience in reputed Aviation &

Oil Companies, now on visit.

Contact 91864047 / 92791625

B.E .Mechanical Engineer Indian

over 4 yrs of exp in HVAC design

auto cad drafting on visit visa .

Contact 90305596. Email:

[email protected]

7 years teaching experience in

Political Science at University

level, 5 years experience as Intel-

lectual property lawer 20 years

experience of Arabic / English visa

versa , translation / interpretation /

Editing , 20 years of experience in

management, Tri lingual (Arabic /

English / French)

Contact : 92175153

Indian female civil engineer B.Tech

having 3 years experience sound

knowledge of software, REVIT STAD

PRO structural detailing currently

on family visa seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact: 95345591

Indian male Electrical Engineer with MBA (Mktg) having 4 and

half years experience in technical

commercial and marketing fields

with valid GCC D/L, NOC available

seeking placement.

Contact: + 968 96547828


Mechanical Engineer (B.Tech) with

2 and half years experience Indian

male 24 years in visit visa. Contact:

96620482 / + 91 9605423272


Civil Engineer 8 years experience

Structural buildings marine. Availa-

ble NOC release. Contact: 92451323.


Civil Engineer diploma, 4 yrsexp

seeks suitable position ina reputed

company. NOC available.

Contact – 96789711


in Oman as a project engineer for

governmental & private projects.

Contact – 90164912

Civil Engineer (B.Tech), Indian

male 24 years with 1+years Indian

experience,(Certified in Staad

Pro/ Quantity Survey/ Auto Cad).

Looking for a Suitable position.

Available In Sultanate of Oman

(Muscat) on Visit Visa.

Contact: 92835952. E-mail:

[email protected]

B.Tech Civil, 25 yrs female, 3 yrs

exp in qty survey have valid GCC

license. Contact: 91309475

Indian male 5 years experience in

piping (Site Engineer / Supervisor)

Indian and Oman (PDO Project) &

looking for suitable post currently

on visiting visa, NOC available.


[email protected]

Road and Construction Engineer with 5 years exp in Oman.

Contact: 97667113

Sudanese Civil Structure Engi-neer, 3 years experience with resi-

dence and Omani license, good at

AutoCAD Etabs Staad. Pro looking

for suitable job. Contact: 97906770

Civil Engineer 3 years diploma

holder having 7 years experience,

building construction & oil & gas

field with driving license.

Contact: 93294965

Mechatronics Engineer 26, MSc

with 3 years industrial experience,

looking for suitable placement.

NOC available. Contact 94887665


Electrical Engineer Indian (29) ,

7 years exp in Oman, 33KV, 11 KV

projects in MZEC & MEDC having

CEP 1 & NOC with D/L.

Contact: 99822373

Sr.HSE Engineer (B.E Mech+ Diplo-

ma Safety + NEBOSH+OSHA) over

10yrs. Exp, (Visa Release/Transfer

Letter (NOC) available),


Contact - 97061817, Email:

[email protected]

Highly experienced mechanical/

steel structural fabrication engi-

neer looking for suitable place-

ment. NOC available.

Contact: 99860714,

[email protected].

Networking Engineer having

10 years experience with 3 years

in Oman having valid driving li-

cense and NOC, presently in Oman

needs immediate placement.

Contact - 95783383

Diploma in Electronics, 2 years

exp in telecommunication.


telecommunicationvishnumadhull

@gmail.com

10 years experience in Dubai

& Bangladeshi as a BSC En-

gineer on structural designer

& construction having Dubai

municipality approval & driving

license. Contact: 91206763 Future

008801758846027 Email: engr.

[email protected]

Mechanical Engineer (B.Tech) In-

dian male, with good knowledge in

HVAC on visit visa looking for suit-



HSE & Fire Safety Engineer

4 years experience air port opera-

tional safety, power & chemical

industry. Contact: 94374241

7 Yrs Exp. PM in Mech. Engg in

the field of Building Const. Oil &

Gas Seeking Job.94625598

Indian male Diploma Civil En-

gineer have 1 yr. experience, on

visit visa looking for suitable job

(certificate attested).

Contact: 92667406 / 99210411,


Indian Male 23 years B.Tech

Civil having 2 years experience in

quantity survey and site manage-

ment looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact:- 95042656

Sudanese Telecom Engineer, 5 years experience, 3 years in

Oman PMP certificate.


[email protected]

Sudanese Structure Civil Engi-

neer 2 years experience resident

Omani license. Contact: 94393880

Civil Engineer / QS engineer,

9 years experience in Oman free-

lance visa, searching for a suitable

job in Oman. Contact: 97299165

Need job for experienced mason,

electrician & welder.

Contact: 93015630

M.Tech in Manufacturing Engi-

neering with 2 years of experi-

ence, on visiting visa looking for

a suitable job. Contact: 91417949


BE Mech specialization welding

technology 11 yrs quality cont

Engineer by Steel Cons EPL

Installation desalination plant

(Gulf). Contact: 96603299

Electrical Engineer: Indian male,

30 yrs having 5 yrs of experience

in industrial automation & utility

maintenance in India (MRF tyres),

holding valid Oman D/L.

Contact 92789995, email :

[email protected]

Instrument Engineer B.Tech

Indian male, 24 yrs, 1 yrs experi-

ence in reputed oil & gas compa-

nies, currently on visit visa,

seeks suitable job.

Contact: 92007218


Civil Engineer (Diploma) having

11 years experience in building

construction, looking for a suitable

placement , having Oman driving

license. Noc available.

Contact: 95075365


Indian Electrical Engineer Btech,

female 24 seeking job, presently

in oman having 2 year experience

in design and estimation of Ht &Lt

projects. Contact 968 97436557,

Mail id : [email protected]

Electrical Engineer with 18 years

exp in UAE. Contact: 98148034


Civil Engineer (BE) having total

5 years experience in building

construction looking for a suitable

placement. D/L available

Contact# 94450270

E

EDUCATION

Indian female masters in comput-

er science and Engineering B.Tech

in information technology , M.B.A

( Systems) 3 years experience

teaching in college , having good

knowledge in C++ , java oracle now

on visit visa looking for openings

in Educational institutions.

Contact: 91812419/96935426


Indian male Electrical Engineer, having 6 years gulf experience in

designing, assembling, commis-

sioning execution etc having valid

GCC license too looking for a suit-

able. Contact: 00968-98052942



in construction having driving

license & NOC. Contact: 94194399


B. Sc Civil Engineer, having 27 yrs

Oman experience as Project Man-

ager, Structure Engineer looking

for suitable placement, consulting,

contracting co. NOC & local transfer

available. Contact : 99399578


Indian male 26 yrs BE- Me-chanical Engineering, CSWIP 3.1

certified welding inspector + ASNT

level in UT, RT, MPT, LPT with 3.5

yrs experience in QC Inspector-

Welding. Looking for a suitable job.

E-mail: [email protected]

Civil Engineer 6 yrs Exp in Oman

with license. Contact: 98975518

Diploma in Mechanical Eng piping system in AutoCAD work,

21+ years experience with Driving



Mechanical Engineer M.Tech

2 years experience HVAC design

& site Engg revit MEP Auto CAD.


[email protected]

Bachelor Civil Engineer 6 Years

in Oman experience Valid Driving

License seeks suitable placement

Phone 97619722

Email – [email protected]

Mechanical Engineer with 3 Yrs

experience in international Oil

& Gas company looking for job

Contacts: Tel: 90164236 Email:

[email protected]

Sudanese Architectural Engineer

2 years experience in Oman, Revit,

AutoCAD 3Ds max Archicad look-

ing for suitable job.

Contact: 94722356


Sri Lankan Engineer (27 Years

old) – B.Sc Engineering (Hon)

Mining / Geotechnical Presently

in Muscat, 1.5 years experience.

Contact 91295802 /

[email protected]

Indian female, 31 yrs, 7 yrs expe-

rienced as AutoCAD civil drafts-

man (2 yrs experience in Oman)

currently in Oman seeks suitable.

Contact 96789441


HOSPITALITY

Indian male B.A Degree & diploma

in hotel management with 16

years experience as restaurant &

catering manager in Oman & Saudi

with V/L Oman D/L seeks suitable

placement. Contact: 92100141

Hospitality/Hotel/ Restaurants

Dynamic result oriented hospital-

ity professional with 20 years of

international exp. MBA in Hotel

Management, specializing in

Hotel/Restaurant start ups, con-

cepts & Franchise development

with proven records. Seeking for

Challenging positions in reputed

groups as GM/COO/CEO/Business

Head. (NOC available)

Contact: 96059470

Senior Management

Executive With over 18 years of

experience in Retail,

Distribution, FMCG &

Electronics across GCC markets

seeks GM / VP / Vertical Head

position for Group Companies

Management and P&L deliveries.

Contact +968 9791 2950

[email protected]

Sri Lanka (BSC) quantity survey-or, having 3 years GCC experience

is looking for a suitable placement

1 such as QS/ Contract administra-

tor / estimator / project coordina-

tor has knowledge in Fidic and

construction standard available

in visit visa. Contact: 96301107

/94292198


Mechanical Engineer male 26 yrs,

with 4 yrs of experience in manu-

facturing oil & gas retail, brand pro-

moting, marketing, logistics having

valid Omani D/L seeking for a suit-



Indian male, Mechanical

Engineer having 1year experi-

ence, on visit visa looking for

suitable job. Contact:97416564,

Email:[email protected]

Procurement Engineer (27 years

single male with Oman Driving Li-

cense) having 7 years experience

(UAE 2, Oman 3) with expertise in

MEP, Water, Electromechanical,

Instrumentation seeking suitable

placements. Contact 95852033,

mail: [email protected]

IT

IT

A young CA (ACA & ACCA qualified)

with 4 years experience in one of top

audit firms in UK & KSA seeks suit-

able placement in Oman. Contact:

Kamran [email protected],

+44 7480 1196 74/ +968 93595050

Hardware & networking, 2 years

exp. Contact: 96244031

Indian female (30 yrs) , BCA ,

MCA,ASP NET certification, SAP

ABAP certification 2 yrs experi-

ence, seeking placement family

visa. Contact: 99109121 Email:

[email protected]

Indian male 26 years with BBA,

tally and hard ware networking,

having 3 years of experience as

an accountant, seeking for suitable


5yrs experience in software

and 1yr in admin, looking for a

part-time or work from home jobs

Contact: 91711326

Sudanese Network Administra-

tor 1 year experience with (MCSA,

CCNA, CCNP) have valid driving


Network Engineer degree Com-

puter Science CCNA, MCSA experi-

ence NOC. Content: 92346191

Indian male 26 years BSC IT with

4 years experience currently on

visit visa looking for IT support

job knowledge of networking,

programming languages, windows

/ Linux environment.

Contact: +968 95369856 /

24781651 Email:

[email protected]

MEDICAL

Male Indian Dentist BDS with 9

years experience, prometric exam

cleared, looking for job.

Contact 97768187/

[email protected].

Indian female BDS with MOH

license looking for job.

Contact 95347894

Female Ayurvedic therapist.

Contact: 97263637 An experienced Sudanese female Dentist with MOH license look-

ing for job. Contact 96436517

/97396088

Light driver Ruwi.

Contact: 95779594

Pakistani male light driver 10 yrs

in UAE & 1 yr in Oman.

Contact: 93709393

Driver (light & heavy duty) valid

gulf /Indian) looking job.

Contact: 95175192

Driver with new car looking for

job.contact: 95873286

Indian Male, IT System Engineer

having 4 yrs of experience in

system administration.CCNA,MCSE,

Linux. Looking for suitable job.

Contact :91272867

Dynamics AX 2009 / 2012 R2/

R3 Microsoft certified professional

MCA & BCA Having 15 yrs of total

exp & 6 yrs of relevant exp

seeking for suitable position.

NOC is available.

Contact: 93469493


MANAGER

MANAGER

Procurement Manager / Commer-

cial Manager / G.M Indian male

having 26 years of experience in

Import, procurement, logistics,

Commercial activities, Warehousing,

TRD & Sales. Contact: 90502724


Indian female having 17 years of

Dubai work experience in Business

Process Management & Quality As-

surance (ISO 9001) is looking for

job in Muscat (Full time/Part time/

Consultant). Experienced in devel-

oping, training & implementation

of business process documenta-

tion, leading the organization

to ISO 9001 certification, Qual-

ity Audits and Business process

improvements & controls. Contact:

97903127. Email : ravichandran.

[email protected]

The Business Development Man-

ager, Iraqi, Experience 15 Years

Inside and outside Oman follow-

ing activities: construction(Very

strong and qualified to bringing

business for civil work Or any

type of the construction work for

many million per year with a good

experience in pricing and collect

payment and cash management of

the company & marketing projects

& investments& tenders & real

estate. Contact 92385033

The Business Development Manager, Iraqi, Experience 15 Years

Inside and outside Oman following

activities: tenders& real estate&

construction & marketing projects&

investments & transportation & Ma-

rine services& companies manage-

ment& develop business.

Contact :- 92385033

MISCELLANEOUS

Sri Lankan (male) having 14 years

experience as a Store keeper in an

imports exports firm, looking for suit-

able position presently in Muscat.

NOC available. Contact: 91494225


Filipina lady very urgently look-

ing job only in boutique, release

available ready to join immediately.

Contact: 97122152 / 91240759

Looking for job with car education

O level exp 6 yrs English, Arabic &

Hindi. Contact : 99640986

Indian male having experience

more than 13 yrs, 4 years in Oman

as Store keeper, Procurement in

reputed company looking suitable

placement release available.


[email protected]

Female business graduate from

UK with four years corporate Ex-

perience in procurement purchas-

ing expediting logistics and sup-

ply chains in UAE Seeks suitable


10 years experience in Oman in

logistics / purchase have Oman

D/L looking for suitable placement.

Contact- 96410767


Purchaser, experience 9.5 years

in Oman, Indian male, Driving

License available with own car.

Currently working with ARDISEIS

Oman Branch (Seismic work for

PDO Oman) as a purchaser. Han-

dling all type purchase, logistic,

petty cash, stock, dispatch. Work-

ing with SAP application. Educa-

tional qualification - Post Graduate

in MA (Economics) Salary – Nego-

tiable seeks suitable Placement.

Contact 99458569 Email :

[email protected].

Indian female on visit MBA

(International Business- Market-

ing & Logistics), BE (Computers &

Science Engg.) Trained in SAP-BI/

BW with 1 year experience

seeking for job Contact: 90228586

Email:[email protected]

Graduate, computer literate, expe-

rienced in sales, credit control, ac-

counts, Omani D/L , seeks suitable

placement. Gsm 98805474

MBA (marketing) with 17 years

experience in freight forwarding/

logistics industry in GCC & Oman.

Presently working as branch

manager in Muscat. Looking for a

suitable position. Release and NOC

available. Contact: 99856331

Indian male, with experience in

operations management, informa-

tion security, purchase & stores

mgmt, hold UAE driving license,

on visit visa, seeks suitable job.

Contact 91904541


SALES / MARKETING

Indian male 32, MBA (Marketing &

Finance) with 10 years experience

in Marketing of Banking Products

& Insurance Industry. Seeking for

a Job in Oman. Contact: 93576980,

97750460


Indian sales marketing professional

highly experienced in business

development in ME India and Africa

seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 97897611

Indian male 28 yrs having 6 years

experience in Oman in Sales &

Marketing & Office Administration,

looking for a suitable placement.

Contact: 99142314

Indian male B. Pharm 15 years

sales experience MOH Pharmacist

license driving license looking

for opportunities in Pharmacy or

Sales and marketing can get NOC.

Contact: 99694865

Indian male, BBM, MBA, having 3

years experience in Sales looking

for suitable job. Contact: 92796046

DAILY GUIDED6 T H U R S D AY, J A N UA R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

Indian male, Graduate, 9 yrs experi-

ence in FMCG – UAE, valid GCC driv-

ing license on visit seeks suitable

position. #92419491 / 94881950,


A dynamic professional, Female,

with 8 years of experience in

PURCHASE,SALES COORDINATION

,OFFICE ASSISTANT, residing in

Oman with valid NOC from current

company,looking for a suitable job,

Ready to join Immediately”.

Contact:[email protected]

Phone:- 94157662

South Indian hold 12 years Omani

residency – B.E, MBA, PGDM, MCIM,

result oriented self starter - Techno

commercial Executive 15 years core

experience in business develop-

ment/ marketing oil & gas (all

streams) & manufacturing. seek-

ing suitable placement. Contact

99277816/ [email protected]

Indian male 22 BBA Graduate one

year experience in Oman with val-

id Oman driving license looking for

a placement. Contact: 96357787

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

Mason, SH / carpenter, steel fitter

gulf & Indian exp looking job.

Contact: 95175192

TECHNICIAN /MECH.

TOURS/TRAVELS

Instrumentation & controls Technician with 2-3 years

experience preferably in water

sector and having valid driving

license call Ph:+968 99450811

Send CV to [email protected]

Looking for immediate sales and

marketing 3 years GCC experience

with valid driving license now on

visit visa till Feb 12.

Contact: 99642611


B.Sc Graduate with 4.4 years work

experience in Sales, Marketing and

Business Development looking for a

job. Currently in Oman and ready to

join immediately.

Contact : 00968-95096284

A dynamic professional, female,

with 8 years of experience in PUR-

CHASE, SALES COORDINATION ,

OFFICE ASSISTANT, residing in

Oman with valid NOC from current

company, looking for a suitable

job, Ready to join Immediately.

Contact:- [email protected],

Phone:- 94157662

27 years old male MBA Gradu-

ate having 1.5 years experience

in Marketing seeking for good

opportunities in sales & marketing.

Contact: 90572132


Indian male B.Eng. in IT, CCNA,

MCSA, MCSE, 3yrs exp. in IT/net-

working/server, valid Omani D/L

seeking suitable placement in IT/

Network/Server support. Contact

92607532

22, Indian BBA graduate, 1 year

experience, presently on visit visa,

looking for suitable placement.

Contact 91881053

Highly experienced mechanical/

steel structural fabrication engineer

looking for suitable placement. NOC

available. Contact: 99860714,

[email protected].

B.Com 5yrs experience good

command on tally, Excel sheet on

family visa. Contact: 98002428


SALES / MARKETING

Purchase Executive Professional,

Indian male having 6 Years of

Experience in Oman Having Valid

Driving Licence working as a Pur-

chase officer, Looking for a suitable

Position, NOC/LR Available.

Contact: 95132564/96456071,


Indian male 26, on vist visa, 2+

yrs of experience with UAE D/L,

IATA-FIATA,BBA looking for any

suitable job. Contact 91324567

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

Water proofing ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

For wooden Aluminum door, windows. Contact:

98796982

Pest Control Treatments. Ocean Center LLC.

Contact: 99344723

Cleaning & Carpet Shampooing, Ocean Center LLC.

Contact: 99344723

Al farzdaq Al Fedi Trad and Cont

Maintenance services electric,

plumbing and A/C.

Contact: 96524904 / 94285064

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of

your marble.Contact 24793614/

99314807

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing,

Contact 99314807/24792998

Split & window A/c servicing &

maintenance. Contact 93769089 /

95323517

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

SITUATION WANTEDEDUCATION/CLASSES/TRAINING/COMPUTER/WEBSITE

Classes for Spoken EnglishTOEFL / GRE / GMAT / SAT

Excellent Guidance and Coaching Satisfaction Guaranteed

IELTS PREPARATION Target Band 8.0

EAGLES INSTITUTE92325542 | 93657915 | 93657917 | Email: [email protected]

Karate and self defense classes

at Azaiba 18 Nov Street. RO 10 per

month twice a week Monday and

Tuesday 6. 30 TO 7. 30. PM.

CONTACT 98294551

Spoken Arabic class for Non Arabic Speakers & English

class for Malayalam Speakers in Azaiba and Ruwi

earn in two monthstion guaranteed

Tel: 95244310

WEB, ERP and Business Intelli-

gence (BI) creation and man-

agement at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

M

AVAILABLE

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirt-

ing, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery,

Crockery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes,

Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound

Systems and spectacular lighting.

Call Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering

and Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound &

Light. ww.tunesoman.com,


FURNITURE SHIFTING

Maintenance, Dismantling, Packing,

Shifting & Fixing furniture

with expert technicians.

Contact: 99041337

Building maintenance. Contact: 96173326

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. Contact ABU QABAS-

99320217 /24788722

A/C maintenance & servicing,

fridge, washing machine & dish

washer repairing, painting & clean-

ing services, electrical & plumbing.

Contact: 99447257 / 97014234 /

24504281

Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile

polishing, pest control & anti-ter-

mite treatment, general cleaning

painting,Plumbing, Electrical,

shifting. Contact Mundhir

Al-Rizaiqi trading. L.L.C. Contact:

24810137, 99450130

MBA Indian male 2.5 yrs exp

in marketing & sales presently

on visit visa seeking immediate

placement. contact :91725539.


Indian male 26, with more than

4 years experience in Sales and

Marketing having valid GCC

license on visit visa seeks suitable

position. Contact: 92423161

Indian male, MBA Marketing

having 2.5 years Sales experience

immediately looking for a suitable

position. Contact: 91415145,


MBA graduate having 6 years exp

in Sales & Marketing, 4 years with

PEPSI, India, having international

driving license permit seeks suitable

placement. Cont : 95308167,


B.Com male 2 yrs experience in

sales Computer knowledge,


Contact: 98371144

email: [email protected]

Indian 15 yrs Marketing exp with

visa D/L looking for senior job.

Contact: 90390862

Indian male Sales Engineer 18

years experience (pneumatics,

electric, air compressor, garage

equipments etc) including 5 years

Gulf experience currently employed

in Oman with D/L looking for suit-

able position, NOC available.

Contact 94425942 Email:

[email protected]

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 treatment for back-

ache, paralysis, arthritis etc &

massage, All Season (Vaidyarat-

nam).# 24475280 / 95371664 /

92504980 www.siddhayur.com

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done

till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication.

* Subject to space availability


TOURS

TOURS

RENT A CAR

Car available with driver on

daily rent and Monthly. Contact:

96728065 / 98031620

25 - 50 seater bus with PDO & BP

specification for monthly rent &

small car with driver.

Contact: 99839898

SITUATION WANT-ED

TOURS

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

TRANSPORTATION

We need transport from Mabella

to Mawalleh for student &

employee. Contact: 92757673

Transportation.Contact: 99099714

Transportation Al Khuwair.

Contact: 92711421

Transportation available Ruwi to

Al Khuwair, Ghubra & Azaiba.

Contact: 91103909

Transportation. Contact 96173326

Transportation. Contact

94510847

DRIVING

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with

Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain

Marine Tours contact 98029602,

92808636

We arrange tours & accommoda-

tion at all the beautiful places in

Oman. Contact 99839898

Plot for sale Shadnagar Munici-

pality, Mahboob Nagar District,

walk able distance to existing

colonies, national highway and ba-

sic amenities at reasonable price.

Contact – 0091 8686631669

One bedroom flat in Guruvayoor

Kerala, 2 minutes walk to Guruvay-

oor temple direct owner.

Contact: 00968 99466800

Plot, propeties for sale in

prime location in pune Contact

95272138, (+918390982975)

NRI

MATRIMONIAL

Hindu nair age 64,

looking for a suitable girl.

Contact: 0091 755900189

SITUATION WANT-ED

BUSINESS

An Investing partner needed

for a printing press.

Contact 99498949

MV SALE

NOTICE

Hiace Toyota van for sale, model

2010. Contact: 94203204

Rav4 ,2015,38000 km No.2 O.R

8200. Contact : 96474787

Hummer H2 model 2006, 178000

km, Full options Number 1 Army

edition.OMR 7200.

Contact -99466773

Chaverlet Epica 2004 model

RO -700, for sale. Contact 92194205

BMW 318/ 2003 for sale.

Contact 96364990

WANTED

BUYING

LOST

FOR HIRE

Bobcat available for rent.

Contact 97623299

IELTS Coaching (academic)

required nearby wadi Kabir area.

Please call on mobile or msg on

Whats up.

Mobile no: 92927880/99012165

Buying cars for cash.

Contact: 90202090

Accordance with Article 13 of the

Commercial Companies Law No.

4/74 . Sukhoor Al Khaleej for Cont

joint company which is recorded

under the commercial register

number 1076033 is going to

change its legally shape from joint

company to limited Responsibil-

ity company. This is to inform any

body who concerns about that to 2

months from the date publishing

this advertising

Asael Saham Al mumiyzah for Trad ASSO company which is re-

corded under the commercial reg-

ister number 1203657 is going

to change its legally shape from

ASSO company to joint company

And in accordance with Article

13 of the Commercial Companies

Law No. 4/74 . This is to inform any

body who concerns about that to 2

months from the date publishing

this advertising.

Husna Ally Omary has lost Tanza-

nia Passport No. AB 609157. Finder

please handover to ROP.

Obayed Mobarok has lost Bang-

ladeshi Passport No. AB 6051049.

Finder please handover to ROP.

D8 T H U R S D AY, J A N UA R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

DAILY GUIDE Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTEDDINING DELIGHTS

times of oman - january 28, 2016

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