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SUNDAY, January 10, 2016 / 29 Rabi Al Awal 1437 AH timesofoman.com wtimesofoman.com facebook.com/timesofoman twitter.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company

Oman seeks foreign loans to ease economic pressure

A E JAMESbusinesseditor@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Oman government’s plans to borrow as much as OMR900 million from overseas markets will ease pressure on both domestic liquidity and inter-est rates in the country.

Although the total foreign bor-rowing is estimated to be OMR1.03 billion, OMR130 million will be used for repaying maturing loans

this year, resulting in an estimat-ed net flow of a OMR900 million fund, according to a state budget document made available to the Times of Oman (TOO).

“The plan looks very clear since only 10 per cent of the defi-cit financing will come from lo-cal borrowing, which can easily be accommodated,” said a senior market analyst, on the condition of anonymity.

“Borrowing from the local market is only OMR300 million, which will not disturb domes-

tic liquidity. This will give some comfort to local banks,” added the market analyst.

Debt-to-GDPAlso, Oman’s debt-to-gross domes-tic product (GDP) ratio (a common parameter used for measuring the indebtedness of a country) is around 4 per cent, which is quite low when compared with most economies in the world, said Anil Kumar N, senior vice-president, Asset Management, the Financial Corporation (FinCorp).

“The country is in a comfort-able position to raise funds from overseas markets. The govern-ment will be in a better position to borrow funds from wherever it is cheaper and available,” add-ed Kumar.

“There is scope for going ahead for additional borrowing plans, which will help raise funds for development projects,” noted S Suresh Kumar, head of research at Al Maha Financial Services.

Of the total estimated deficit of OMR3.3 billion for 2016, OMR600

million will be from net grants, OMR900 million from foreign borrowing, OMR300 million from domestic borrowing, and OMR1.5 billion from general reserves.

LiquidityIn fact, there was considerable pressure being exerted on liquid-ity in the financial system during the last few months after the gov-ernment raised funds by way of development bonds and a maiden sovereign sukuk (Islamic bond) issue. >A6

There has been

considerable

pressure on liquidity

in Oman’s financial

system recently,

after the government

raised funds by way

of development

bonds and a maiden

sovereign sukuk

Speech of His Majesty at the opening of the 5th term of the Majlis Oman, 2011

FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTYTHE SULTAN

We have always believed it is important that there should be a wide range of different ideas and opinions, and that people should not be prohibited from thinking freely, because this is evidence of a community’s strength and its ability to benefit from these opinions and ideas to serve its aspirations for a better future and finer, happier life. However, freedom of expression does not mean that any one party has the right to force its opinions on others or suppress the rights of others to express their ideas freely, since this has nothing to do with democracy or law; and keeping up with the times does not mean imposing one’s ideas on other people.

‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’

Electronic registration to regulate real estate, end price manipulation Times News Service

MUSCAT: Manipulation and rais-ing real estate prices will be a thing of the past following the launch of the Ministry of Housing’s elec-tronic registration of real estate brokers, which will also provide listings of employment opportuni-ties in real estate.

Salim Al Balushi, Director Gen-eral for Real Estate Development at the Ministry of Housing, an-nounced during the fourth quarter of 2015, that all legal articles would be written to organise the work of real estate brokerage offices and regulate the urban and real estate

growth in the country.On November 18, 2015, the min-

istry, represented by the Directo-rate General of Real Estate Devel-opment, launched the electronic

registration of real estate brokers so that working offices are able to register via the Ministry of Hous-ing’s website.

Brokerage proceduresThe system will first start opera-tion in the Muscat Governorate, and the other governorates will follow suit. The participating of-fices will be registered by the min-istry and will ensure that their work and brokerage procedures, and work in the real estate mar-ket, follow the regulations of the law promulgated by Royal Decree (78/86) and its amendment issued by Royal Decree (91/2010).

Al Balushi also said that the aim of these procedures is to register and organise the work of real es-tate brokers.

It will identify those offices that follow the laid down regulations in the brokerage profession.

The procedures will further protect the real estate sector from speculation, contributing to illegal manipulation and the raising of prices which are inconsistent with supply and demand.

Such abuses affect the credibil-ity of the real estate market, due to the absence of a supervisory and controlling authority that is sup-posed to regulate the process. >A6

M I N I S T R Y O F H O U S I N G

REJIMON Kreji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: A group of Indian ex-patriates in Buraimi no longer visit vegetable shops. From green leaves to tomatoes to bitter gourds, they have succeeded in growing these vegetables on their own for the last three years.

“It all started in a small way. Our aim was to have fresh and pesti-cide-free produce. Slowly, more and more like-minded people are joining the group. Now, there are at least 45 families in Buraimi, co-ordinating our farming mission,” Krishnadas Menon and his friends, who are all Buraimi residents,” told the Times of Oman (TOO).

“Growing vegetables in Oman is quite difficult. Climatic conditions are not that favourable. However, planning well in advance helps

us. During summer, extra care is needed, especially, when it comes to watering and all. In other sea-sons, it’s a little bit easy,” the group said. Depending on the season and farming calendar, the group brings seeds from India and other coun-tries too.

“Whoever, returns from their annual leave brings in seeds for farming. In the past, we used to visit those returning from their home countries to collect medicines or sweets. Now, we eagerly wait to collect seeds. Some people land in trouble at the airport while bring-ing in seeds. However, when police officials get convinced about our

aim, they let us go,” Biju Thomas, who is part of the group, explained.

The group is also getting good support from nationals.

“Many were sceptical while we began farming. However, now, they are quite impressed in seeing our success. Some have even come forward to support our efforts to cultivate pesticide-free vegeta-bles,” Ismail, another farmer from the group, said.

“We use only organic farming methods. It’s the future on farm-ing,” Ismail added.

For the group, farming is also a lesson that needs to be passed on to the future generations.

“Our children join us in farm-ing, and learn how to remain con-nected with nature. It’s a chance for them to teach us how they can nurture nature and grow together,” Asbel Justin, another member of the group, said.

The group uses social media networks to share ideas and coor-dinate farming in addition to con-ducting online research.

“It all began in a small way. Now, apart from buying onions, we nev-er go to the vegetable shops. Our group is growing. Many nation-als are also interested in house farming methods,” Menon and his friends added.

O R G A N I C F A R M I N G

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Beginning today, some 53,490 students will appear for the General Education Diplo-ma (GED) exams, for the 2015-2016 academic year, the Ministry of Education has announced.

The exams will be held in sev-eral governorates of the Sultan-ate on January 10. The first exam will be for the students of Islamic Education. Dr. Zuwaina bint Saleh Al Maskari, general direc-tor and supervisor of the exams, said 362 examination centres had been chosen which are quite safe.

The ministry has established committees that will monitor the maintenance of the centres.

Al Maskari added that all stu-dents must abide by the rules and regulations as published in a ministerial decision in 2015, es-pecially regarding cheating and other malpractices.

The ministry will punish those who cheat or offer help to do so, be it the candidates or those who supervise the exams.

During the previous academic year of 2014-2015, the Ministry had penalised those who did not abide by the rules, by cancel-ling the grades of the subjects in which the candidates were found to have breached the rules.

Al Maskari said that candi-dates can only bring those tools that are allowed in the exams, i.e.

pens, rulers and erasers, in addi-tion to any tools needed for the respective courses.

Candidates may not take any of the following into the exami-nation centre — any electronic devices, such as phones, pagers, cameras, personal computers and data storage devices; newspapers and magazines; study books and diaries; anything related to the exam; handbags; sharp instru-ments and all sorts of weapons.

Civil ID cards Candidates must take with them their civil ID cards or whatever proves their identity. Those who fail to do so will not be granted access to the exam.

As for the possibility of review-ing the exam documents for stu-dents who would like to do so af-ter the publication of the results, Al Maskari confirmed that after the publication of the results, it would be possible for students to hand in their applications to re-view the papers.

“Students can apply for a re-view of three courses only, appli-cations will be accepted during the first week after the publica-tion of the results, the student does not have the right to have access to his exam papers, the Ministry has formed commit-tees to review the correction of the requested exam papers,” Al Maskari pointed out. >A6

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

A4Nizwa, a hotspot for tourists

OMANOman must keep employing expats

2The economic challenges arising out of low oil prices will

probably last the whole year but Oman must retain the backbone of its expatriate workforce for the economy to boost growth. This is not the time to reinforce the Omanisation process. >A3

MARKET‘Subsidy revision to impart fiscal stability’

3Revamping the fuel subsidy will reduce financial risks posed

to Oman and impart stability, a World Bank expert said. The expert said the ministry has prepared the budget to enhance the efficiency of public spending. >B3

OMAN‘Steps taken to tackle dropout of students’

1Various measures are being taken by the Ministry of Higher Education to address

the dropout issue in Oman, said a senior official. “The Ministry supervises the colleges to address this issue,” said Minister of Higher Education. >A2

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

NEW BEGINNING: The group uses social media networks to share ideas and coordinate organic farm-

ing in addition to conducting online research. – Supplied photo

53,490 to appear for exams today

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

For the cause of pesticide-free vegetables

Source: State Budget 2015 and State Budget 2016, Ministry of Finance Graphics

600 Net grants

900 Net foreignborrowing

300 Net domesticborrowing

1,500 Financingfrom reserves

302.943.8 40.2 78.4

2005 2006 2007 2008

-680.3

-48.8 -113.2 -80.6 -82.6

20102009 2011 2012 2013

-1,064.3

-2,500

2014 2015 2016

-3,500

-3,000

-2,500

-2,000

-1,500

-1,000

-500

0

500

-3,300Budget surplus, deficit2005-2016In million rials

Surplus Deficit

A2 S U N DAY, JA N UA RY 1 0, 2 0 1 6

OMANHousemaid, partner arrested for stealingTimes News Service

MUSCAT: An Asian housemaid and her partner were arrested in Al Musanaa for allegedly stealing OMR12,000 worth of jewellery, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) re-ported on Saturday.

According to an ROP source, the accused were arrested after offic-ers received a report about a theft in the Al Khayran area.

Following investigations, the housemaid was caught in Al Mu-sanaa with cash and gold jewellery worth OMR12,000.

Her partner, a man of the same nationality, was also arrested on

the charges of assisting in the crime and violations related to labour law.

Drug smuggling foiledMeanwhile, police officers foiled an attempt to smuggle drugs at the Muscat International Airport, the ROP reported on Saturday.

Six Asian nationals, includ-ing two women, were arrested on charges of possession and smuggling Marijuana and other narcotics.

Five Omani nationals and an Asian expat were arrested in a house in Al Seeb for possession, smuggling and trafficking of drugs.

C R I M E F I L E New measures taken to check student dropouts

ELHAM POURMOHAMMADIelham@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Various measures are being adopted by the Ministry of Higher Education to address the dropout issue in Oman, said a sen-ior official.

“The Ministry of Higher Edu-cation supervises the colleges of applied sciences, private univer-sities and colleges, and internal and external scholarship pro-grammes. To address this issue, the ministry has dealt with drop-out cases in the colleges of applied sciences from different aspects,” the Minister of Higher Educa-tion, Dr. Rawya Saud Al Busaidi, stated in an interview with Times of Oman.

Academic advisor“Following admission to a col-lege, each student has an aca-demic advisor, whose role is to help him or her discover their potential and capabilities, and assist in exploring alternative paths to the degree if for any rea-son the normal pace of the degree

is disrupted, and to help develop a remedial plan on academic pro-bation,” she explained.

She added that students, who fall under academic probation with a GPA of below 2.0, have three chances or semesters to get out of academic probation.

“Instead of withdrawal from the college, the student who does not meet the requirements for removal from the status of academic probation, but satisfies the requirements to receive a di-ploma may exit the college with a higher education diploma,” the official said.

A student contemplating full withdrawal from the college for other reasons must consult their academic advisor prior to formal-ising the decision in order to en-sure that all alternatives are con-sidered, Al Busaidi stated.

Commenting on external schol-arships, the minister said, cultural attachés at Omani embassies abroad provide the students with the best possible living condi-

tions, reception and transport upon arrival, medical care and appropriate accommodation on their first arrival in the country.

“To prevent dropouts, the Min-istry of Higher Education rep-resented (by) cultural attachés follow up on the progress made by Omani scholarship students and advise them to enrol in areas of study that are compatible with their capacities and aptitude,” Al Busaidi explained.

MessageIn her message to those who plan to drop out, the minister said, “They should seek advice from their academic advisor and other counselling bodies at the institu-tion when facing issues concern-ing their studies.”

“They should also think care-fully and assess the pros and cons of leaving the college by compar-ing the living standards of gradu-ates and the living standards of the dropouts, keeping in mind that they need to help their families fi-

nancially through employment,” Al Busaidi noted.

Out of the total number of stu-dents who left their studies dur-ing the 2013-2014 academic year, 649 were studying at the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), 4,042 at private institutes, 23 at insti-tutes of health science, nursing and pharmacy, 1,970 at higher col-leges of technology, 675 at colleges of applied sciences, and 29 at the College of Sharia Sciences.

The total number of students enrolled in higher education insti-tutions during the 2013-2014 aca-demic year stood at 119,331. Out of this number, 68,786 were women and 50,545 were men.

The highest numbers of stu-dents belonged to private insti-tutes (61,957), higher colleges of technology (34,165) and the Sul-tan Qaboos University (13,847). During the 2012-2013 year, a total of 6,618 students did not continue with their studies, out of whom 2,241 were female and 4,377 were male. Concluded

The total number of

students enrolled

in higher education

institutions during

the 2013-2014

academic year stood

at 119,331, of which

68,786 were females

and 50,545 were

males

To prevent dropouts, the Ministry of

Higher Education represented (by)

cultural attachés follow up on the

progress made by Omani scholarship

students and advise them to enrol in

areas of study that are compatible

with their capacities and aptitude

Dr. Rawya Saud Al BusaidiMinister of Higher Education – Supplied picture

119,331 Was the number of students who enrolled

in higher education institutions during

the 2013-2014 academic year.

A3

OMANS U N DAY, JA N UA RY 1 0, 2 0 1 6

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The challenges aris-ing out of the falling oil prices will prob-ably last the whole of 2016, but the

Sultanate must retain its back-bone in the form of its expatriate workforce for the economy to stand any chance of revival.

This is not the time to rein-force the Omanisation process. This is a challenging time to endure economic hardship and keep all resources intact. With oil prices at their lowest level since July 2014, the govern-ment’s actual revenues are expected to drop by as much as 60 per cent this year, compared with last year.

But it is wrong to predict doom and nail the problem in the petrochemical sector. Oman has other resources to tap into. Oman must learn from countries such as Iran that have managed to remain afloat in troubled waters and through a decade of crippling sanctions. Iran adapted quickly and learned to hold on to its resources.

This is the time when Oman must look deeper and tap into its natural wealth, other than its oil resources, such as mining, farming and fisheries. Tourism is vastly under developed and so is property development.

Manufacturing, after the hype of the 1980s, has never really taken off. The retail business is another area that enjoys a lot of lip service, but not in practical terms. Financial cut backs are important during these times, but the efforts should be concen-trated on wastefulness and not on essential services. Expatri-

ates must not only be encour-aged to stay, but more of them are needed for diversification in areas other than oil, for the expansion of the economy.

Expatriate job lossesData shows that about 1.8 mil-lion expatriates live in Oman and if just 30 per cent leave the country in the coming months, as is envisaged now, the move will take away the purchasing power of the local markets of over half a million people.

Since most of these expatri-ates live in Muscat, the retail business in the city will take a severe knock. The absence of thousands of rials of spend-ing in a short time will hit the economy hard, making it difficult to make a quick recovery. It will also have the opposite effect on the Omanisation process. Retail businesses will not be able to

employ any new Omani recruits because their profits margins will be severely hit. The exodus of expatriates will also hit the small to medium enterprise (SME) projects.

A reasonably high number of customers of SMEs are expatri-ates. At the same time, SMEs also depend on expatriates as employees.

The Ministry of Manpower is also going to tighten employment visas of expatriates this year to encourage Omanis to fill the vacancies left by foreign workers. The decision is expected to hurt businesses, as well as the coun-try’s own corporate sector.

While it is understandable that companies want to keep as few expatriates as possible to cut back expenses, Oman will lose its international appeal.

The local corporate houses will also lose the essential exper-tise that expatriates bring in into the country. The latter is much needed in the current times to overcome the stagnation of the economy.

One thing that both the private and public sectors must re-member is that expatriates have

always been an important source of economic development.

However, on the other side of the coin, expatriates, once they see the net tightening, will volun-tarily leave anyway because they see no job security.

UncertaintyThe uncertainty will further derail the economy. It will also undoubtedly send a message to investors that Oman is no longer a destination of business prosperity. That will hurt foreign direct investments and put back years of the government’s efforts aimed at attracting much needed capital.

Statistics also reflect that only a small number of expatriates work in the oil sector. If that is the case, then why should expa-triates, who are working in other sectors, bear the brunt of the cut back?

Most of these sectors, such as retail, property, finance and tourism, do not directly depend on the government’s contracts. Whatever happens during the next 12 months, it will be a chal-lenging year for both workers and employers.

Sultanate must try to retain expat workforceC O M M E N T A R Y

SALEH AL SHAIBANY

SUNDAYBEAT

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

VITAL MANPOWER: Expatriates must not only be encouraged to stay, but more of them are needed for diversification in areas other than oil for the expansion of the economy. - Times file picture

Audit findings report submittedMUSCAT: In accordance with related articles in the State Ba-sic Law, issued by Royal Decree No. 99/2011 and the Financial and Administrative Audit Law issued by Royal Decree No. 111/2011, the State Administra-tive and Financial Audit Insti-tution presented the Majlis Al Shura, the State Council and the Council of Ministers with copies of its 2014 audit findings report submitted to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said.

The 2014 annual report has covered the audit findings of the state apparatus units in terms of revenues, public spending, the internal regulations, the final ac-counts and the state financial po-sition among other aspects.

A number of state apparatus units audited by the State Ad-ministrative and Financial Au-dit Institution have positively responded to correction of vio-lations and have carried the re-medial measures and necessary adjustments.

The State Administrative and Financial Audit Institution has also followed a new method by inviting the heads of the state ap-paratus units and senior officials to attend video presentations or-ganised by it on its audit results.

The State Administrative and Financial Audit Institution has also coordinated with the Public Prosecution with regard to the violations and cases stated in its reports. — ONA

2 0 1 4 A N N U A L R E P O R T

Research Council organising major regional workshopMUSCAT: A regional meeting of the Global Research Council (GRC) for the Middle East and North Africa (GRC–MENA), will be hosted by The Research Coun-cil on January 10-11.

The meeting will see the par-ticipation of representatives from regional and international re-search and academic institutions supportive to scientific research. The meeting will also be attended by a number of representatives of the regional and Arab members states of GRC.

Best practicesThe meeting aims to exchange expertise and best practices on research and research compe-tence at the local, regional and international levels. It also aims

to further develop the scientific research environment and tech-nology at the regional an interna-tional level.

The meeting also aimed to encourage research in basic sci-ences and exchange of expertise and cooperation for the common interest in the field. — ONA

G R C – M E N A E V E N T

Meeting aims to encourage research in basic sciences and exchange of expertise

A4 S U N DAY, JA N UA RY 1 0, 2 0 1 6

OMAN

HISTORICAL NIZWA A TOURIST HOT SPOTLocated about 160

kilometres from Muscat,

the ancient city of Nizwa retains

its charm in the form of its old

and cramped bylanes, mud

structures, and the forts. Our

photographer, A R Rajkumar, recently captured the charm of

the city in his lens. The histori-

cal remnants are now a hot spot

for tourists and documentary

and movie makers alike.

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

The days they used to come for construction work have

gone. Majority of them are coming as skilled workers.

Moreover, the situation in India has changed a lot.

Shaji Sebastin, Indian social worker >A5

A5

OMANS U N DAY, JA N UA RY 1 0, 2 0 1 6

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Sultanate’s diversifying economy changing expatriate demographics

REJIMON Kreji@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: As the nation’s econ-omy becomes more diverse, it is causing changes to the demo-graphics of expatriates in Oman, according to those in the business community and social workers.

“Since the government has shift-ed its focus to non-hydrocarbon revenues, as part of its move to di-versify its economy, there has been a surge in construction activities in Oman. This is one of the main reasons that is causing changes to expatriate demographics,” Ali Mo-hamed Taqi Abdul Reza, chairman of Njamat Al Fujra Trading and Construction, said.

When compared to the situa-tion a few years back, an increase in the number of Bangladeshis coming to Oman can be seen, even as Indians remain the largest number of expats.

According to National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) data, in November 2013 the number of Bangladeshi in Oman was 496,761, by November

2015 they had risen to 572,340.Meanwhile, the number of In-

dians in November 2013 was 600,349, while in November 2015 they had reached 659,576.

Educated Indians“Now, Indians come to Oman look-ing only for above mid-level jobs. Educated Indians are not migrat-ing to perform low-paid jobs. It is Bangladeshi workers who are fill-ing that gap,” Ali Mohamed added.

An official from the ministry also confirmed that the number of Bangladeshis coming to Oman is high, when compared to Indians.

The NCSI data notes that in contrast to other expatriate workers, those with only prepar-atory level educations are top-ping the list.

The NCSI’s recent data reveals that almost 33 per cent, or 613,147 expatriates out of 1,906,040, have completed only preparatory level education.

While in November 2013 the number was only 537,969 out of 1,520,714 total workers, in No-vember 2014 the number rose to 566,607,and the total number of workers were 1,558,452.

And in November 2015, the number again rose to 620, 206, with the total number of workers being 1,682,752.

“India is now in a better eco-nomic condition. Workers receive salaries in the same range as sala-

ries being offered in their home country. So, they are migrating less often. This is one reason that we changed our focus to Bangladesh to recruit workers,” Shahswar G Al Balushi, CEO, Oman Society of Contractors, told Times of Oman.

“Moreover, other than certifi-cate holders, workers need skills. Skilled workers to build Oman are in demand. So, this may be the rea-son that workers with preparatory level educations are coming more often,” Shahswar added.

Meanwhile, an Omani union leader said the merging of the needs of Oman and Bangladesh are the two main factors in the chang-es in expat demographics.

“Currently, Oman needs work-ers who can build more infrastruc-ture. So, this may be the reason that more and more Bangladeshis are coming to Oman. Moreover, as Bangladesh’s economy is now more dependent upon remittances from migrants, they are promoting migration,” said Mohammed Khal-di, a board member of the General Federation of Oman Trade Union.

Meanwhile, the president of the Bangladesh social club said that as Bangladesh has realised the potential of migration and its benefits for its economy, there are more concentrated efforts to pro-mote migration.

“Bangladeshi migrant workers have sent home $15.31 billion in remittances in fiscal 2015. It is

not only the highest in the coun-try’s history, but also it contrib-utes to 15 per cent of the GDP. The country is benefiting from remittances and, moreover, the lives of those who are migrating are changing in a positive way,” said Mohammed Shafiqul Islam Bhuiyan, president of the Bang-ladesh Social Club Muscat.

“Efforts from the Bangladesh government to promote migra-tion is resulting in the increase of Bangladeshi migrant workers. And, moreover, Oman now needs more manpower for these pro-jects. As Bangla people are capa-ble to take up the responsibilities, they are being preferred more,” Shafiqul added.

Additionally, a Bangladeshi so-cial worker in Oman said that pov-erty and unemployment are caus-ing higher levels of migration to Bangladesh.

“Poverty and unemployment are pushing migration to higher levels in Bangladesh. Oman is con-sidered to be a preferred migrant receiver country. So, Bangladeshis prefer to migrate to Oman,” Mo-hammed Sanaullah, a Bangladeshi social worker, said.

Recently, Nurul Islam, Bangla-desh’s minster of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, told Times of Oman that the government is sending 3,000 workers as migrants to dif-ferent parts of the world every day.

Talking about the rise in the numbers of expat workers, San-aullah said that the increase in the number of construction works needed in Oman is the main rea-son behind the surge in arriving Bangladeshis.

“The boom in the construction sector all over Oman is resulting in the increase in the number of Bangladeshis coming to the coun-try,” Sanaullah added.

There are currently 641,032 ex-patriate workers in the construc-tion sector, topping the list of dif-ferent job categories in Oman.

Shaji Sebastin, an Indian social worker who has been a resident of Oman for the last three decades, said that Indians are now arriving in search of mid- and senior-level positions.

“The days they used to come for construction work have gone. The majority of them are coming as skilled workers. Moreover, the situation in India has changed a lot. For skilled workers, there are jobs available back in India itself and, moreover, the payment is also good. So, this may be the rea-son why there is not a huge mi-gration happening from India,” Shaji added.

While analysing the NCSI data, it indicates that the numbers from other communities com-ing to Oman are not increasing at the levels of the Bangladeshis and Indians.

Not changed significantly For instance, from November 2013 until November 2015, the number of Pakistanis coming to Oman has not changed significantly. For in November 2013,the number of Pakistanis stood at 223,422, while in November 2014 there was a de-crease to 215,909, and in Novem-ber 2015 the numbers remained at 215,909.

Also, the number of Ethiopian workers have decreased, as in 2013 there were 44,838, in 2014 they fell to 35,692 and in 2015 there were 24,796. Further, since 2013, Oman has put tight controls on the recruitment of Ethiopian house-maids. Also, even though there has been an increase in the number of Indonesians coming to Oman since 2013, the 2015 data shows that there are only 33,651 Indone-sians working in Oman.

In 2013, the number of Indone-sians in Oman was 28,548, and by 2014 it had declined to 35,738.

Additionally, since March 1, 2015 the employment of Indone-sian domestic workers in Oman has been suspended.

However, the number of Filipi-nos in Oman is increasing, reach-ing 33,964 in November 2015, while in 2013 it was 28,447 and in 2014 it was 30,933.

The other expat communities in Oman are Egyptians, Nepalese and Sri Lankans, totalling some 70,000.

Since Oman’s

government has

shifted its focus to

non-hydrocarbon

revenues, as part of

its move to diversify

its economy, there

has been a surge

in construction

activities in

Sultanate. This is

one of the main

reasons causing

changes to expat

demographics

Special Unicode regional forum to be held next monthTimes News Service

Muscat: A special Unicode workshop focusing on the Middle East, Africa, Central and South Asia will be held at the German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech) from February 14 to 16.

The workshop is to be organ-ized by GUtech and sponsored by The Research Council (TRC).

According to the organisers, a group of top-level computer scientists from Silicon Valley in the US and other countries will provide presentations about the creation of Unicode for the inter-net. Unicode has allowed for the writing of different languages for Internet usage.

“This tutorial workshop is a three-day event designed to famil-iarise the audience with Unicode and the concepts of internation-alisation. It is the first Unicode event to be held in the Middle

East,” said Dr. Hussain Al Salmi, Deputy-Rector for Administra-tion and Finance at GUtech.

Unicode provides a unique number for every character in the internet — no matter which platform, program, or language is being used. Linguists, cultural experts from different countries and many others contributed to the success story of the Internet Unicode.

According to Lisa Moore, Vice President of Unicode, Unicode has been developed by the world-wide Internet community. It started in 1991 with 7000 charac-ters; today Unicode has encoded more than 130,000 different ele-ments of writing. Throughout the three day workshop, experts will offer insights into Unicode.

Among the speakers, Richard Ishida of W3C Internationalisa-tion Activity Lead will present a talk on the unique characteristics of non-Latin writing systems, and

illustrate the problems involved in using such scripts in products.

According to the organisers, his talk will not provide detailed cod-ing advice, but offer the essential background information to un-derstand the fundamental issues related to Unicode deployment across a wide range of scripts.

Unicode also created bidirec-tional algorithms, so that the Ara-bic language can be transcribed into English characters.

Addison Phillips, the principal engineer and internationalisation architect at Amazon.com, will speak about internationalisation and how to incorporate interna-tionalisation into the design, im-plementation, and delivery of a software product. Amazon.com’s internationalisation architect de-mystifies this process for partici-pants. This session is designed to provide an introduction to the topics of internationalisation, lo-calisation and globalisation.

T H R E E - D A Y E V E N T

DISCIPLINED WORKERS: There are currently 641,032 expatriate workers in the construction sector, topping the list of different job categories in Oman. - Times file picture

Top universities at career fairMUSCAT: A number of lead-ing universities from the United Kingdom, the United States, Mal-ta, and Pakistan will participate in a three-day exhibition organ-ised by Oman International Trade and Exhibition.

Global Higher Education Exhi-bition — GHEDEX & the Omani-sation Career Fair (OCF) — 2016, will begin at Oman International Exhibition Centre on April 19.

Some of the educational insti-tutions in the Sultanate will also be participating in the expo.

The exhibition aims to provide an opportunity for Omani and ex-patriate students seeking quality education and opportunities for evolvement through internships and related career planning pro-grammes to pursue their higher education goals.

Interview job seekersThe exhibition is the only plat-form that provides for all the companies the opportunity to interview job seekers from all disciplines under one roof. It also

provides an opportunity to new graduates and other profession-als the possibility of developing their careers by working in major private and public companies op-erating in the Sultanate.

Last edition of GHEDEX breaks 16 years record by attracting over 25,000 visitors, over 200 top-notch universities and colleges from over 23 countries, as well as 170 educational bodies and institutions accounting for inter-national participation and 30 for local participation. — ONA

H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N E X H I B I T I O N

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OMANS U N DAY, JA N UA RY 1 0, 2 0 1 6

Indian school students shine in creative writing

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Students of Indian School Muscat (ISM) displayed class and elegance at the national level of the Regional Writer’s Workshop organised by non-profit organisation KATHA.

Four students, Siddiqa Zaid, Heera Sen, Harleen Oshan and Eunice Thambiraja won grand prizes at the workshop, which was held at Sanskriti School, New

Delhi from December 26 to 29. More than 500 selected students displayed their creative writing skills at the workshop.

This literary award was con-ferred upon a few selected stu-dents, who had gone through a series of rigorous selection rounds.

Firstly, through the regional literary workshops conducted for shortlisted school students, who had submitted original entries in various genres and received a special invitation for the Regional

Writers Workshop. They then underwent a thorough

mentoring process by their respec-tive mentors for a specific genre; submitted their final entries and were then chosen to represent their re-spective schools for the grand finale.

According to ISM officials, the student’s performance was a mo-ment of pride. Four students of ISM were shortlisted to attend the Regional Writer’s workshop held in October last year and were again selected for the finale, where

all of them became recipients of the Grand Prize in their chosen genre—Fiction-Prose, Poetry and Non-Fiction.

Principal Srinivas K. Naidu, Vice Principal Deep Wilson and Assis-tant Vice Principal Geeta Chauhan expressed their appreciation for the participants and wished them success in all their ventures.

They also lauded the efforts of the Department of English and the School Literary Club for the selec-tion and training of the participants.

Four ISM students,

Siddiqa Zaid,

Heera Sen, Harleen

Oshan and Eunice

Thambiraja won

grand prizes at the

workshop, held at

Sanskriti School, New

Delhi, from December

26 to 29HONOUR: The literary award was conferred upon students who had gone through a series of rigorous

selection rounds. – Supplied photo

MUSCAT SINGERS’ SPRING SEASON STARTS ON JANUARY 17 After their hugely successful concert in December, Muscat Singers said their spring season

will begin on Sunday, January 17. Although the choir has attracted many new members since

the arrival of its new Musical Director, Dr. Michael Buck, they are still keen to attract more

talent. No previous singing experience is required, only a great deal of enthusiasm. Rehears-

als take place at TAISM (The American International School, Muscat), Azaiba, every Sunday

evening, from 7:30pm to 9:30pm. Anyone interested in joining can visit the venue on Janu-

ary 17 or get more information from the choir’s website: www.muscatsingers.org.

Oman Tourism College library opened to studentsTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Renovated and ex-panded library at the Oman Tour-ism College has been officially opened to students.

Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Sarmi, undersecretary for the Ministry of Higher Educa-tion, inaugurated the library in the presence of Sheikh Khalid Al Massan, chief executive officer of the Oman LNG Development Foundation. Dr Abdulkarim bin Sultan Al Mughairi, the college dean, as well as faculty and of-ficials from the college, also at-tended the function.

Al Sarmi congratulated Oman LNG for its commendable efforts in enriching the academic envi-ronment at Oman Tourism Col-lege. Al Massan reaffirmed the LNG Development Foundation’s commitment to contributing to community development.

Al Mughairi thanked Oman LNG for its support, and re-quested the students to utilise the library to achieve their aca-demic goals and fulfil profes-sional aspirations.

The entire library renovation project was funded by the Oman LNG Development Foundation, as part of its Corporate Social Re-

sponsibility programme.

Wi-Fi enabledThe library is Wi-Fi enabled and now boasts of a host of world-class facilities, such as a search-and-work area equipped with 63 new computers, a state-of-the-art computer lab for assignments, training and conference rooms, e-readers, touch screens for ef-ficient book search and retrieval, and a self-borrowing machine.

The library has a rich collec-tion of books and publications,

including magazines and jour-nals from regional and interna-tional publishers. Publications that highlight various aspects of the Sultanate of Oman are other attractions.

Books available at the library cover a wide range of topics, in-cluding economics, banking, busi-ness, information systems, travel and tourism, hospitality, food and beverages, communication and languages, personality develop-ment and leadership, marketing, and fiction.

C O M M U N I T Y D E V E L O P M E N T

ENRICHING THE ACADEMICS: Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al

Sarmi, undersecretary for the Ministry of Higher Education, inau-

gurated the library. - Supplied photo

Sovereign sukukAlthough budget estimates for domestic and foreign borrowings were pegged at OMR600 million (OMR200 million net borrow-ing from foreign markets and OMR400 from domestic market) for 2015, the actual borrowing was much higher in the after-

math of falling oil revenue.The maiden sovereign sukuk

issue from the government alone collected OMR250 mil-lion, while more than OMR400 million was raised by way of several development bond is-sues last year.

B U D G E T E S T I M A T E S

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Al Balushi added that the new organisation would provide em-ployment opportunities for those seeking work in real estate.

Applicants would be required to pass a training course before re-ceiving a licence, in coordination with the Ministry of Manpower.

He pointed out that no indi-vidual or real estate office will be permitted to practice real estate brokerage without a li-

cense, which must be obtained after registration and passing the training course, provided that the individual or company has a valid commercial registra-tion, which includes real estate brokerage.

The practicing offices will be linked electronically to the min-istry, in order to follow up on their activities and monitor supply and demand in the real estate market.

N E W R E G U L A T I O N S

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Result notificationThe Ministry will also notify the students of the result after the committees have finished their work.

While addressing the students, Al Maskari said they had to take

into consideration their studies first and foremost and not stay up late, especially during the night before the exam. She stressed that candidates must arrive at the examination centres on time.

M I N I S T R Y

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Masirah waves attract surfers from world

MASIRAH: It is a tourist attrac-tion where people flock to enjoy the weather, the beautiful beaches of the island, most notably surf-ing, because the waves there are the highest in the Middle East.

Masirah Island in the Governo-rate of South A’Sharqiya has re-cently flourished as a tourist des-tination. Masirah has received a lot of bounty in the form of Bless-ed Renaissance in all fields.

Hotels in the wilayat experi-ence an intense turnout of visi-tors, especially on vacation days. The most important of these ho-

tels are the “Masirah Hotel,” “Ma-sirah Resort,” “Dana Gulf” and “Serabis Hotel” in addition to a new hotel, which is now ready for operations and located in the cen-tre of the city.

Many important islands There are also many important islands in the wilayat of Masirah, perhaps the largest island is (Mar-sis). It has an abundant number of birds, and the most famous bird is locally called “Taraa.”

There are other islands, such as ‘Shaanzi,’ ‘Kalban’ and ‘Sur Ma-

sirah,’ which is frequented by for-eigners, who practice surfing and hold paragliding competitions.

The tourists are attracted most-ly by the turtles scattered along the beaches of Masirah and those, which come out during the lunar days. The most famous turtle is ‘Al Rimani,’ which lays some of its eggs on the sands of soft beach and then returns to sea, travelling long distances in the depths of oceans and seas, reaching faraway countries of the world.

One of the famous tourist land-marks on the island is the “Mar-

sis Old Fort,” which is a witness to the history of the wilayat since olden times. The fort is located in the village of ‘Marsis,’ and it is one of the most important forts on the island.

An important monument on the island is the Islamic cemetery, which is located in the village of “Safaij,” where a German mission had discovered a number of an-tiquities, reported in a book about discoveries in the Arabian Sea, on the island of Masirah and the Al Halaniyat Islands, which was published in English.

That book is the result of sur-veys, archaeological and ethno-logical studies (that compare and analyse the characteristics of different peoples and the rela-tionship between them) between the island of Masirah and the Al Halaniyat Islands carried out by the German archaeomining ex-pert Gerd Weisgerber of the Ger-man Mining Museum (Bochum) and Ali bin Bakhit Al Shanfari, former director of Antiquities at the Ministry of Heritage and Cul-ture through surveys and archae-ological excavations conducted in these islands and the documenta-tion of existing social life. -ONA

T O U R I S T D E S T I N A T I O N

NATURAL BOUNTIES: Tourists come to the Masirah Island to enjoy the weather, beautiful beaches

and surfing. – ONA

Masirah in the Governorate of South

A’Sharqiya has received a lot of bounty in the

form of Blessed Renaissance in all fields.

Masirah a paradise for tourists

Job opportunities

in real estate

A7

REGIONS U N DAY, JA N UA RY 1 0, 2 0 1 6

Air strike kills 39 in Syria as UN envoy visits Damascus

BEIRUT: An air strike reportedly killed dozens of people in a rebel-held town in Syria on Saturday as a UN envoy visited Damascus to advance preparations for peace talks planned this month despite opposition misgivings.

Agreement was also reached for aid to be delivered on Monday to an opposition-held town besieged by pro-government forces where United Nations says there have been credible reports of people dying of starvation, sources said. Aid will be sent simultaneously to two villages blockaded by rebels.

The Syrian Observatory for Hu-man Rights said at least 39 people were killed in the air strike, which hit a court house and adjoining prison in the town of Maarat Al Numan in Idlib province. It did not say whether the air strike was carried out by Syrian or Russian jets, which have both bombed

the area. The building was struck with four missiles and the num-ber of dead could increase due to the large number of wounded, the Observatory said. Syrian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

The war has raged on since last month when the Security Council endorsed a plan for peace talks, a rare case of US-Russian agree-ment over a conflict that has killed 250,000 people. The talks are due to begin on January 25 in Geneva.

The Syrian government told

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura on Saturday it was ready to par-ticipate but wants to know who would take part from the opposi-tion, Syrian state media reported.

Foreign Minister Walid Al Moualem also said it was impor-tant to see a list of groups that would be classified as terrorists as part of the new diplomatic pro-cess, flagging another potential complication.

Damascus views all the groups fighting to topple Assad as ter-rorists, including rebels who sup-

port a political solution and are represented in a recently formed opposition council tasked with overseeing the negotiations.

Useful meetingA statement from de Mistura’s office described Saturday’s meet-ing as useful and said the envoy had outlined preparations. “The Special Envoy is looking forward to the active participation of rel-evant parties in the Geneva talks. He will be continuing his consul-tations in the region,” it added.

Syrian rebels and opposition politicians have expressed doubts over whether the peace talks will begin as planned. Their concerns over the diplomatic bid include the absence of any mention of As-sad’s fate.

Earlier this week, they told de Mistura that before negotiations the Syrian government must stop bombing civilian areas, release detainees and lift blockades im-posed on opposition-held areas.

“Can the international commu-nity achieve the implementation of this pre-negotiation stage in the few remaining days? If it can, there is no problem. But I doubt they can,” Riyad Naasan Agha, a mem-ber of the opposition council, told Reuters. Another opposition offi-cial said on Friday the opposition would not name its negotiating team until the government did so.

The aid deal agreed on Saturday will result in humanitarian sup-plies being sent to the opposition-held town of Madaya at the Leba-nese border, and to two villages in the northwestern province of Idlib that are blockade by rebels.

Aid agencies have warned of widespread starvation in Madaya, where some 40,000 people are at risk. The United Nations said on Thursday that Damascus had agreed to allow access to all three areas, but did not say when the de-livery would take place.

“Both date and time have been set. Aid will go to three towns on Monday morning, all at the same time,” said a source familiar with the matter. A second, pro-Syrian government source confirmed the details. — Reuters

Syrian government

told UN envoy

Staffan de Mistura

on Saturday it was

ready to participate

but wants to know

who would take part

from the opposition

Iraqi prime minister Abadi vows to stamp out corruptionBAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minis-ter Haider Al Abadi on Saturday pledged to stamp out corruption this year amid criticism from the nation’s top cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, that his government has done little to combat graft.

Sistani enjoys high stature among millions of followers and wields authority few Iraqi politi-cians would openly challenge.

Corruption within the officers

corp was one of the reasons of the Iraqi army’s failure to oppose the sweaping advance of IS in 2014, according to the findings of an ad-hoc parliamentary committee.

“2016 is the year of eliminating corruption, there is no such things as acceptable corruption and non-acceptable corruption,” Abadi said in a speech at a ceremony to cel-ebrate the anniversary of the Iraqi police force in Baghdad.

Sistani on Friday renewed his calls to the government to reform the administration and combat corruption. “A year has lapsed and nothing has been achieved on the ground,” his representative, Sheikh Ahmed Al Safi, told the people in Karbala, south of Baghdad.

Meanwhile Abadi said more than 60 per cent of sorties against IS are carried out by the nation’s air forces and about 40 per cent by

the US-led coalition. Iraq’s army last month scored its first success against IS when it recaptured, with air support from the coalition, the city centre of Ramadi. Until then, it was the militias that were leading the fight against the hardline mili-tants. Speaking at a ceremony in Baghdad broadcast live on state TV, Abadi said Iraq still needed foreign assistance for air cover, training and armament, but not for ground

operations. Abadi renewed his call for Turkey to withdraw troops de-ployed in the region of Mosul, the largest city in northern Iraq which has been under IS control since 2014. “This is a frank invitation to Turkey our neighbor to pull out its forces from Iraq,” he said. “We will deploy every effort permitted by our rights and international law to make them leave,” he added.

Turkey deployed around 150

troops last month at the Bashiqa base, where it is training an Iraqi militia to fight IS, citing height-ened security risks. Turkish Presi-dent Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said Turkish troops repelled an IS attack on the base, killing 18 militants, adding that this incident vindicated the presence of the pro-tection force. The Iraqi army later denied that any clash happened recently. — Reuters

R E N E W E D P L E D G E

GCC condemns interference in the regionABU DHABI: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries on Sat-urday condemned what they said was Iranian interference in the in-ternal affairs of Saudi Arabia and the region.

“The ministerial council strong-ly denounced these acts by Iran and stated that Iran carries the responsibility for these terrorist acts,” it said in a statement after an extraordinary called to discuss tensions.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said on Saturday that Saudi Arabia may take further measures against Iran after cutting ties this week. Jubeir’s comments came in a press conference after an ex-traordinary meeting of the GCC foreign ministers. “We are looking at additional measures to be taken if it (Iran) continues with its cur-rent policies,” Jubeir said, without elaborating on what these meas-ures could be.

“The escalation is coming from Iran, not from Saudi Arabia or the GCC .... We are evaluating Iran’s moves and taking steps to counter them..things will be clearer in the near future,” Jubeir said.

Jubeir also said his country had asked the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, of which Iran is a member, to convene an extraor-dinary meeting to discuss the ag-gression against its embassy.

Iran has said Saudi Arabia is to blame for the diplomatic crisis.

In a letter to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon published by Iranian news agencies earlier on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minis-ter Mohammad Javad Zarif com-plained about Saudi Arabia’s “prov-ocations” towards Tehran. — Reuters

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

AIR STRIKES: Residents help an injured man in a site hit by what activists said were air strikes in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret Al Numan town in Idlib province, Syria on Friday. – Reuters

2016 is the year of eliminating corruption, there is no such things as acceptable corruption and non-acceptable corruptionHaider Al Abadi, Iraqi Prime Minister

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INDIAS U N DAY, JA N UA RY 1 0, 2 0 1 6

I believe that 50 publishing houses and 9 eminent authors bring with them to this World Book Fair around 5,000 titles so that through this exchange our people across both nations can be enrichedSmriti Irani, Human resource minister

NIA focuses on 10 points to unravel Pathankot attack plotNEW DELHI: Ten key points top the NIA’s agenda as it probes the audacious terrorist attack on the IAF base at Pathankot in Punjab that has caused fresh strains in India-Pakistan relations.

The National Investigation Agency, which took over the case on January 4 from Punjab Po-lice, is to uncover the sequence of events from the time the terrorists, sneaked into India to the attack.

Some 36 hours of fighting at the base left seven security person-nel dead. All six terrorists were also killed. The key points the NIA is investigating include mo-bile phone conversations between the terrorists and their suspected handlers in Pakistan, a Jaish-e-Mohammad letter, DNA samples of the terrorists, and their voice record samples.

Other issues being focussed on include ammunition the terrorists carried, their strategy, suspected involvement of locals, the route the terrorists took from the India-

Pakistan border, the accounts given by a Punjab Police officer, his friend and cook after their abduc-tion by the terrorists just before the attack, and a Pathankot map found from the police officer’s car, an NIA officer said.

“A 20-member team of NIA, led by an inspector general, has been camping in Pathankot to supervise the investigation. Our focus is on the key points,” the officer said.

An officer of the rank of super-intendent of police has been ap-pointed the chief investigating of-ficer of the case, he said.

The NIA took over the case by filing three separate First Infor-mation Reports (FIRs).These were filed in connection with the abduc-tion of Gurdaspur Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh, along with his jeweller friend and cook, the earlier killing of taxi driver Ik-agar Singh, and the terrorist strike at the Indian Air Force station.

Another NIA officer said that the lapses by the Border Security

Force (BSF) in preventing the in-filtration from Pakistan into Bami-yal sector adjoining Gurdaspur in Punjab and Kathua in Indian-administerd- Kashmir were being investigated at the highest level.

The failure of Punjab Police, which looks after the security of areas near the border, was also under the scanner, the NIA source said. The NIA is also trying to es-tablish the identity of local resi-

dents who provided army fatigues and a walkie-talkie to the six ter-rorists after they infiltrated into Punjab, possibly on December 30.

The NIA officer said the DNA samples of the terrorists have been sent to Pakistan for establishing their identity. Voice samples of the terrorists have also been sought from Pakistan.

Lie detector testsThe statements of the police of-ficer, his friend Rajesh Verma and cook Madan Gopal were being thoroughly analysed, the officer said. All of them will soon face lie detector tests.

The statement of the officer’s personal security officer, Kulwind-er Singh, has also been taken.

The officer said the calls made from the mobile phone of the ab-ducted victims were being ana-lysed along with the number be-longing to the dead Innova driver, Ikagar Singh.

The NIA team on Wednesday

took police officer Salwinder Singh to the place near Kolian village, 25 km from Pathankot, from where he was allegedly abducted in his car along with the two others.

The NIA team also took the of-ficer to the place where he was dumped by the terrorists and to the spot where his car was found abandoned.

The NIA team is looking at what the officer did for nearly three hours after he and the others alleg-edly left a shrine in Kathua district at 9.30pm on December 31 — till they were allegedly abducted on the midnight of January 1.

The superintendent, who was transferred from Gurdaspur last week, had claimed that he, along with Verma and the cook, were stopped and abducted by four or five heavily armed terrorists near Kolia village.

He claimed that his senior offic-ers did not initially take his infor-mation on the presence of terror-ists seriously. - IANS

S E Q U E N C E O F E V E N T S

SECURITY CHECK: Punjab police personnel frisk a passenger dur-ing checking at a bus stand in Patiala on Saturday in the wake of the terrorist attack at Indian Air Force base in Pathankot. - PTI

Modi visits Pathankot air base, reviews situation

PATHANKOT: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visit-ed the strategically important IAF base here and reviewed the situa-tion with the Air Force chief and other top officials in the aftermath of last Saturday’s brazen attack by suspected Pakistani terrorists.

Modi spent about 90 minutes at the air base during which he was briefed about the attack and secu-rity measures put in place at the facility in its wake.

Air Force chief Air Marshal Arup Raha and National Security Guard officials briefed the prime minister about the attack and the counteroffensive launched against

the perpetrators with the help of maps, aerial pictures and op-erational photographs, defence sources said.

“Noted with satisfaction the decision-making and its execu-tion, the considerations that went into our tactical response,” Prime Minister Office tweeted after his visit to the airbase.

“Also noted coordination among various field units. Lauded brav-ery & determination of our men & women on the ground. They are

our pride,” it said in another tweet.

Cache of weaponsModi also went around the scene of the audacious attack that ex-posed the chinks in the armour of the Indian security establish-ment and was shown the huge cache of weapons and ammuni-tion recovered from the six slain perpetrators. Seven Indian se-curity personnel were also killed during the assault.

The prime minister was taken

around the Military Engineering Service Yard where the terrorists were first engaged by the security forces and the two-storey billet for airmen’s accommodation where the last two terrorists were killed after the structure was blown up by the security forces, before un-dertaking an aerial survey of the forward positions along the India-Pakistan border.

The base was kept out of bounds for the media.

An official press release said in

Delhi that National Security Advi-sor Ajit Doval, Army chief Dalbir Singh and chiefs of NSG and BSF were present during the visit.

Officials of the National Inves-tigation Agency, which has taken over the probe into the attack, also briefed the Prime Minister on the progress of the investigation.

Combing operationSecurity forces had on Friday de-clared the sprawling Air Force station fully sanitised after a mas-sive combing operation spanning over three days.

“The combing operation at the Air Force station is over,” a senior IAF official said, adding the entire area has been sanitised.

Six terrorists, believed to owe allegiance to Jaish-e-Mohammed were gunned down by the security forces after a four-day gun battle.

The operation to ensure that no terrorist was hiding was car-ried out jointly by Army, NSG and IAF’s Garud commandos.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had also visited the base on January five and admit-ted to “some gaps” that made the attack possible. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had called up Modi and promised action against the perpetrators of the brazen attack.

India has said it has handed over specific and actionable in-formation regarding Pathankot attack to Pakistan. - PTI

Prime Minister

Narendra Modi spent

about 90 minutes at

the air base during

which he was briefed

about the attack and

security measures

put in place at the

facility in its wake

TAKING STOCK: Prime Minister Narendra Modi watches a presentation on counter-terrorist and combing operation by the Defence Forces, at Pathankot Airbase, on Saturday. National Security Ad-viser Ajit Doval, Chief of Army Staff General Dalbir Singh, and Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha are also seen. - PTI

‘Jungle raj is back’ in Bihar after cop shot dead: PaswanNEW DELHI: Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Saturday at-tacked Nitish Kumar government over the murder of an assistant sub-inspector of police in Hajipur, claiming a string of such killings showed that “jungle raj is back” and the chief minister is “helpless”.

“There are three ministers from Vaishali region in Nitish govern-ment including two sons of RJD chief Lalu Prasad of whom one is also Deputy Chief Minister.

“Still, all this is happening in Vaishali. What will happen to the security of people when the po-lice are not safe in Bihar? Why the chief minister is so helpless and si-lent on all this?” Paswan, who is an MP from Hajipur, asked. Paswan will be visiting his constituency on Sunday to take stock of the situa-tion. Training his guns at the rul-ing coalition in the state, the Lok Janshati Party chief claimed that this is the third such incident in Hajipur alone.

“He (Nitish) used to take pride in being called Sushashan Babu. After engineers, doctors and trad-ers, now even policemen are not safe. There is no government in Bi-har. Extortion is being done openly.The situation in the state has be-come worse than what it was in 1990 when RJD ruled the state.

When we used to say that jungle raj will be back if Lalu Nitish com-bine came to power, they used to react strongly. - PTI

S T R I N G O F K I L L I N G S

Delhi World Book Fair opens with China as guest of honour countryNEW DELHI: Human Resource Minister Smriti Irani on Saturday inaugurated the 43rd edition of the New Delhi World Book Fair which commenced here with China as the guest of honour country and a theme presentation of the cultural heritage of India.

The nine-day fair, touted as the largest in Asia, is hosting about 30 countries in which a series of pro-grammes including panel discus-sions, dramas, classical and folk dances, workshops, discussions, authors’ meets, conferences, semi-nars and cultural programmes will be held.

Talking about the Chinese par-ticipation, Irani said, “I believe that 50 publishing houses and 9

eminent authors bring with them to this World Book Fair around 5,000 titles so that through this exchange our people across both nations can be enriched.”

China was invited to be the guest country after the visit of Chi-nese President Xi Jinping here last year where he signed a memoran-dum of understanding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“During the visit of President Xi Jinpeng an MoU was signed with China’s role in WBF and I am happy to note that promise that we made through paper has fructified in person,” the minister said.

Referring to the growth of pub-lishing business in both the coun-tries the minister said, “Today we

celebrate the exponential growth of the publishing business both in India and China.”

Emphasising on the importance of publishing exchanges between China and India, Sun Shoushan, Vice Minister SAPPRFT said, “As one of the key international book fairs the NDWBF has set up an important platform for cultural exchanges of Indian classic and contemporary works which is now going on smoothly.

“The important publishing ex-changes between China and India have played an important role in cementing the friendship between people and promoting cultural exchanges between the two coun-tries,” he said.

This year the fair has introduced a special ‘Navlekhan’ programme which seeks to promote and pub-lish young authors under the age of 40 writing in Indian languages.

Referring to the same Human Resource minister said, while this year they are being published in 6 regional languages by next year she assured that books in 22 lan-guages recognised by the Consti-tution of India will be published.

Tickets to the fair, which is be-ing held at the sprawling Pragati Maidan, will be priced at Rs 20 and sold from 9am till 5pm at 47 sta-tions of the Delhi Metro network from January 9-17.

Schoolchildren and disabled are permitted free entry. - PTI

4 3 R D E D I T I O N

ELATED: Girl visitors pose at a pavilion during the 43rd New Delhi World Book Fair at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, on Saturday. - PTI

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INDIA S U N DAY, JA N UA RY 1 0, 2 0 1 6

Your achievements in the countries of your adoption are a matter of pride... It is our responsibility to protect you and take care of you. Indeed, we are you and you are usSushma Swaraj, External affairs minister

FRESH SNOWFALL IN HIMACHALSnow covered mountains glisten in the sun in Shimla on Saturday after recent fresh snowfall. Himachal Pradesh capital Shimla and its nearby hills on Friday witnessed sleet, pushing down the mercury by several notches. According to the weather office, western disturbances will be active again on January 11, resulting in more snowfall and rains. - PTI

Delhi government not to extend odd-even scheme beyond January 15NEW DELHI: Amid reports that the odd-even scheme may be ex-tended, Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai on Saturday asserted that the government has no inten-tion to take the road-rationing ex-periment beyond January 15.

The pilot plan for cutting ve-hicular emission was launched on January 1.

Rai said that some confusion is also being spread that the plan was illegally imposed by the govern-ment, and claimed that under Sec-tion 115 of the Motor Vehicle Act, they have power to implement this scheme as such provisions were also made during the Common-wealth Games as per this law.

“Government is neither going to extend odd-even scheme beyond January 15 nor finish it before the 15-day trial period,” Rai said here, terming some of media reports of extending the car-rationing scheme as “false”.

He further said the traffic-re-striction is just only for 15 days and after the trial period, govern-ment will study the data collected through it and will do a proper analysis,adding, it will then be able to take a final decision.

Rai, who on Saturday at his resi-

dence held a meeting of Coordina-tion Committee with officials con-cerned on the scheme, said from January 1-8, traffic police, trans-port and revenue departments have issued 5,893 challans for the violation of odd-even rules so far.

“Out of these numbers, 2,912 challans were issued by SDMs and 2,260 by traffic police. Besides, en-forcement wing of the transport department has issued 721 chal-lans for violating odd-even rules so far,” he said.

Apart from this, 1,943 challans were issued by the transport de-partment to auto drivers for dif-ferent violations including refusal to drive. The government has also received 13,528 calls on its two helplines in the last one week and most of them were related to que-ries about the scheme.

Out of these calls, 395 were re-lated to complaints against bus, auto drivers, and other issues.

According to the minister, in view of traffic rush on some road stretches during peak hours, gov-ernment has decided to deploy ad-ditional teams of transport depart-ment and traffic police to manage traffic there from Monday.

The areas include, ITO, Ring

Road, Outer Ring Road, Con-naught Place, Mathura Road, Ash-ram, New Friends Colony, Nehru Place, Sarai Kale Khan, Hanuman Mandir Marg and Dhaula Kuan.

“Government has also decided to do a close monitoring on the as-signed works of civil defence vol-unteers. Teams of SDM have also formed in this regard,” he said.

The fate of the odd-even vehicle scheme will be decided on January 11 by the Delhi High Court which had on Friday reserved its order on various pleas challenging the AAP government’s ambitious pilot pro-ject which will continue till then.

A bench of Chief Justice G. Ro-hini and Justice Jayant Nath re-served the order after the Delhi

government informed it that the pollution level of particulate mat-ter across the national capital showed a declining trend due to implementation of the scheme.

Meanwhile, seeking to promote cycling in the national capital, Del-hi government on Saturday said it will provide subsidy on purchase of cycles, from the money collect-

ed as challans during the odd-even scheme’s implementation period.

Rai said that once the car-ra-tioning pilot plan is wrapped up, the government will constitute a committee to work out further mo-dalities of the this proposed idea.

Subsidy on cycle purchase“We have decided to give subsidy on purchase of cycles using the money collected through challans for odd-even violations, to promote cycling in the national capital. The government’s move is aimed at motivating people to use cycles as part of its drive of making Delhi pollution-free,” he said.

The penalty amount collected through violation of odd-even rules will be utilised to give subsi-dy to those who want to buy cycles, Rai further said.

“There are no cycle tracks on main roads in Delhi, but govern-ment appeals to people to at least use cycles in their colonies, mohal-las where they can easily ride them and where the possibility of road accidents are also less.

“Instead of using bikes, peo-ple can use cycles for their small household works like buying milk,” he said. - PTI

R O A D - R A T I O N I N G E X P E R I M E N T

RALLY FOR A CAUSE: Aam Aadmi Party workers hold placards during the human chain to mark pollu-tion free Delhi at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Saturday. - PTI

Government considering Aadhaar Card for NRIs

NEW DELHI: The government is considering giving Aadhaar cards to Non-Resident Indians and a decision on it will be taken soon, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Saturday while inviting the diaspora community to actively participate in India’s growth story.

In her address to the first lim-ited edition of Pravasi Bhartiya Divas, External Affairs Minister said it has been decided that wom-en workers will be allowed to go to Gulf countries for employment only through government agen-

cies to ensure they are not duped by recruiting agents or firms.

The PBD, webcast by almost all Indian Missions and Posts, was organised for the first time by External Affairs Ministry (MEA) after the government’s decision to merge Ministry of Overseas In-dian Affairs (MOIA) with it.

Earlier MOIA used to host the event. January 9 was chosen as the day for PBD as it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the “greatest Pravasi”, returned home from South Africa to lead India’s freedom struggle.

Asking the diaspora to partici-pate in government’s various flag-ship programmes including Skill

India, Digital India and Clean Ganga initiatives, she said Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants the Aadhaar card scheme to be ex-tended to NRIs.

“So far Aadhar card has been given to those Indians who live in India. It is not for non-resident Indians. But you will be happy to know that the Prime Minister wants the card to be given to the NRIs the way it is issued to people living in India.

“He even wants it for OCI (Overseas Citizens of India card) holders. The matter is under our consideration. No decision has been taken as discussions on it are underway. I hope soon you will

hear about it,” Swaraj said during an interaction following her ad-dress. The government has so far issued Aadhaar cards to over 92 crore citizens.

Under the programme, every citizen is to be provided with a 12-digit unique identification number for which biometric in-formation is collected.

On restricting women from go-ing to Gulf countries through the recruiting agencies, she said the decision has been taken to stop them from getting duped.

“We will send women only through government agencies,” Swaraj said during an interac-tive session with Indian missions

abroad. Calling upon the diaspora to be part of the India growth sto-ry, she said “It is time for you to come back to India.”

Effusive in praise of the prime minister, Swaraj said India’s en-gagement with the overseas In-dians has increased manifold be-cause of his constant endeavour to reach out to the community.

Swaraj also mentioned Modi’s Madison Square address in the US and at the Wembly in London.

“Your achievements in the countries of your adoption are a matter of pride... It is our respon-sibility to protect you and take care of you. Indeed, we are you and you are us,” she said. - PTI

Asking the diaspora

to participate in

the government’s

flagship programmes

like Skill India, Digital

India and Clean

Ganga initiatives,

Sushma Swaraj

said Prime Minister

Narendra Modi

wants the Aadhaar

Card scheme to be

extended to NRIs

Nine injured in Meghalaya market blast

SHILLONG: Nine persons, in-cluding a woman, were injured when militants triggered an IED blast at a busy market place in Meghalaya’s East Garo Hills dis-trict on Saturday, police said.

The police have evacuated the area as precautionary measure and an intensive operation was launched to search the market place to detect presence of any other explosive, IGP (Operations) G. H. P. Raju said.

The injured have been shifted to a civil hospital, Raju said.

The powerful improvised ex-plosive device (IED) went off at around 12:45pm at the weekly market destroying portions of a liquor shop and its adjacent rooms and injuring the nine persons, he said. According to police, pro-scribed Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) militants planted the IED in the crowded market targeting civilians.

Raju said police will intensify counter insurgency operations in the coming days to flush out GNLA militants from this area.

The GNLA is an outlawed armed militant organisation active in the Garo Hills region since 2010. - PTI

M I L I T A N T A T T A C K

BLAST SITE: Securitymen at the spot after militants triggered an improvised explosive device (IED) blast at William Nagar market in Meghalaya’s East Garo Hills on Saturday. -PTI

Governor’s rule imposed in J&KNEW DELHI/SRINAGAR: In-dian-administered-Kashmir was on Saturday night placed under Governor’s rule with the process of new government formation following the death of chief min-ister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed taking some time.

“Governor’s rule has been imposed in the state of Jammu and Kashmir,” a Home Ministry spokesperson said in Delhi.

The president cleared the rec-ommendation of the Union Home Ministry for imposing Governor’s rule on the basis of a recom-mendation from J&K Governor N. N. Vohra.

The state had to be put under Governor’s rule in view of the reluctance of Mufti’s daughter Mehbooba to take oath during the mourning period though her party has already conveyed to the Governor that 28 MLAs of the PDP legislature party backed her for the chief minister’s post.

Seventy-nine-year-old Sayeed

died on Thursday after a brief illness and since then there is a Constitutional vacuum.

PDP’s coalition ally BJP has also indicated that it would take a decision on new government for-mation once the four-day morn-ing period is over on Sunday. PDP and BJP dismissed specula-tion about any differences or new conditions between them over formation of new government.

“There are certainly no condi-tions from our side and there was no meeting of our leaders on gov-ernment formation.

“We respect the right of the bereaved family of Mufti Sahib to mourn his death,” BJP state president Sat Paul Sharma said.

“There is no hurry on this is-sue. We will definitely be meeting after tomorrow’s ceremony for Mufti Sahib and take a decision,” he said. Sharma said it was a “his-toric” coalition between the BJP and the PDP in the state and “we would like it continue”. - PTI

D E A T H O F M U F T I M O H A M M A D S A Y E E D

SPELLING OUT: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj delivers a speech at Pravasi Bhartiya Divas as Britain’s Minister for Employ-ment Priti Patel looks on, in New Delhi on Saturday. - PTI

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Russia, Pakistan to jointly set up LPG air-mix plants

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Rus-sia have agreed to deepen cooper-ation in the energy sector as they will jointly set up liquefied petro-leum gas (LPG) air-mix plants in an effort to tackle the persisting energy crisis.

“For establishing the LPG air-mix plants in Pakistan, Russia has nominated its company RusGaz

Engineering; technical discus-sions have already been held and the two sides have proposed May 2016 as the timeframe for making the plants operational,” an official aware of the developments said.

Pakistan and Russia are already working closely in the area of liq-uefied natural gas (LNG) and have signed a government-to-govern-

ment deal for laying the North-South pipeline from Lahore to Karachi for LNG supply. However, a commercial agreement has not yet been inked.

State-run gas utilities have a huge pipeline network to provide locally produced natural gas to consumers across the country, but they fall way short of meeting the

growing demand.The LPG air-mix plants will

discourage the laying of new pipe-lines. Already, Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) has set up LPG air-mix plants in Balochistan.

In order to keep a check on LPG prices that normally go up during winter when demand rises, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natu-ral Resources has sent a summary to the Council of Common Inter-ests (CCI) seeking approval for regulating the consumer prices of LPG, officials say.

The government believes that fixing of LPG prices by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), like other petroleum products, will lead to a fall in rates.

During the previous govern-ment of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the LPG air-mix plants were approved at a higher rate which sparked controversy. At that time, Ogra estimated that LPG air-mix could be injected into the SSGC system at $25 per million British thermal units (mmbtu) as prices were high.

The PPP government had planned to calculate LPG prices on weighted average basis and as a result all consumers, except for do-mestic consumers, were expected to face a price rise of up to 9.9 per cent with the injection of 50 mil-

lion cubic feet of LPG air-mix per day as approved by the Economic Coordination Committee.

However, now LPG prices have come down and the government is going to regulate the market to make the commodity affordable for the consumers. Therefore, officials suggest, it would be fea-sible to inject LPG into the pipe-line network of gas utilities when prices stand lower.

In the past, Ogra had opposed the scheme, arguing that the LPG air-mix plants would lead to a sharp increase in the cost of gas for the end-consumers. The regu-lator, however, insisted in order to protect the consumers, the air-mix plants should work as a stan-dalone and not be made part of the larger system.

Still, the regulator pointed out that mixing of LPG and air was not feasible and the method had not been adopted for the same reason in other parts of the world. Only Argentina has installed such plants, its officials told the ECC. — Express Tribune

Pakistan and Russia

are already working

closely in the area

of liquefied natural

gas and have signed

a government-to-

government deal for

laying the North-

South pipeline from

Lahore to Karachi for

LNG supplyTIE-UP: State-run gas utilities have a huge pipeline network to provide locally produced natural gas to consumers across the country, but they fall way short of meeting the growing demand.

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

Graft probe launched against ex-army chief Kayani’s brotherISLAMABAD: The National Ac-countability Bureau (NAB) has launched an investigation against the brother of former army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani over his alleged role in a Rs17 bil-lion Defence Housing Authority (DHA) City Lahore scam.

The DHA City project was launched in 2009 primarily to ac-commodate and facilitate the fam-

ilies of “shuhada (martyrs), war wounded and soldiers of Pakistan armed forces by allotting them small size plots in recognition of their services for the country.”

Kamran KayaniKayani’s brother Kamran Kayani of Elysium Holding and Hammad Arshad of Globaco offered their services to facilitate DHA Lahore

to carry out the project by acquir-ing land.

However, they failed to deliver the plots to soldiers and families of shuhada and general public even after six years. This prompted DHA to lodge a formal complaint against Kamran Kayani and Hammad Arshad with NAB.

According to DHA officials, the

housing authority accepted the of-fer in good faith. However, Kamran and Hammad ‘played dirty’ and embezzled the hard earned money of the general public, they said.

DHA sources said Kamran played the lead role in getting the project due to his ‘obvious’ close-ness to concerned quarters. When the contract was awarded to Glo-baco and Elysium Holding, Gener-

al Kayani was the country’s army chief.

NAB sources said the names of the concerned had been put on the Exit Control List and properties owned by them had been frozen.

It is pertinent to mention here that the same group is also involved in a corruption scandal in DHA Is-lamabad which NAB is investigat-ing as well. —Express Tribune

P R O P E R T Y S C A M

Kayani’s brother Kamran

Kayani of Elysium Holding

and Hammad Arshad of

Globaco offered their

services

Blast kills two coast guards in BalochistanQUETTA: Two Pakistani coast guards were killed on Saturday when a bomb exploded under their vehicle, police officials said, in a town in the southwest which has been hit hard by years of separatist violence.

The blast, which also injured three coast guards, completely de-stroyed the vehicle during a patrol on the outskirts of Jiwani town in Balochistan province, the police officials said.

No one has claimed responsibil-ity for the explosion.

Jiwani lies in Gwadar district, whose port is at one end of the pro-posed $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor stretching from the Arabian sea to China’s Xinjiang region.

Separatist groups in Balo-chistan have waged violent cam-paigns over the past decade, saying the Pakistani state has failed to develop the impoverished region and instead plundered its natural resources.

Much of the separatist violence over the past decade has targeted government personnel and secu-rity forces as well as non-Baloch ethnic groups.

Baloch activists say thousands of people have disappeared and there have been hundreds of extra-judicial killings in security force crackdowns. — Reuters

I N S U R G E N C Y

Curriculum secretariat to be launched in FebruaryISLAMABAD: Ministry of Edu-cation and Professional Training is all set to establish a national curriculum council secretariat to develop the “minimum stand-ards” and structure of school cur-ricula for centre and all the feder-ating units.

The council secretariat will start functioning after a go-ahead from the inter-provincial educa-tion ministers committee (IP-EMC), which meets in Islamabad on February 10-11.

The government has already approved a budget of Rs100 mil-lion for the council.

A delegation headed by Min-ister of State for Federal Edu-cation and Professional Training Balighur Rehman also briefed President Mamnoon Hussain about the initiative on Thursday. Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who is looking after a schools devel-opment and upgradation pro-gramme in the capital, also at-tended the meeting.

Provincial subjectProvinces, particularly Sindh

and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, have been skeptical of the proposal maintain that the education was a provincial subject. The minister, it seems, has been successful in allaying their concerns and bring-ing all stakeholders on the board.

Rehman said Sindh govern-

ment had a few reservations but in essence agreed to the proposal.

He said the secretariat will co-ordinate with federating units on development of minimum stand-ards and will conduct seminars and workshops on curriculum

development. It will also provide professional and technical exper-tise to provinces and other units in curriculum development.

Rehman said that education was a provincial subject under the 18 Constitutional Amendment. He, however, said that this forum was important to have minimum and basic standards of education.

“We will cooperate and move forward along with the federat-ing units and help them imple-ment the curriculum standards,” he said.

Senate Chairperson Mian Raza Rabbani criticised federal govern-ment last week for not fully de-volving the health and education sectors to provinces as per the 2010 constitutional amendment.

Rehman said ideology of Paki-stan, religion, religious tolerance, culture and traditions will be part of curricula in addition to prob-lem solving, creativity, innova-tions and character building.

According to the documents shared with the president, four working groups have deliber-ated on social sciences, natural sciences, languages and policy and planning.

“We are not getting control of anything in education but coor-dinating with provinces to pro-vide a level-playing field to every student in the country,” he con-cluded. — Express Tribune

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

Minister of State for

Federal Education and

Professional Training

Balighur Rehman

said the ideology of

Pakistan, religion,

religious tolerance,

culture and traditions

will be part of curricula

in addition to problem

solving, creativity,

innovations and

character building

Campaign helps cover 42 manholesKARACHI: After days of cam-paigning against Sindh, the man behind Karachi’s “Sleeping Beau-ty” campaign claims to have cov-ered 42 manholes in the city.

Alamgir Khan, a member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), began the campaign on January 4, against the inability of author-ities to cover the metropolis’s manholes that were left open for too long.

Having also faced the wrath of

the concerned authorities – who as claimed by Alamgir called his father to tell him that his car had been registered in a hit-and-run case – the young man kept on working on his campaign.

However, he himself took the initiative of providing covers to the city’s manholes after being supported immensely by the citi-zens on social media who praised Almagir’s passion.

‘Sleeping beauty’ campaign

gathers momentum as canton-ment board takes notice

“Thanks to Allah. We fixed 42 caps of manholes at Main Uni-versity Road, Karachi. It took six hours (3pm-9pm) for this op-eration. It cost just Rs13,000.” he posted on his Facebook account on Saturday.

Hundreds of his followers then lauded him and his initiative and pledged their support to his cause. — Express Tribune

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Taming India’s elitesSanjeev Sanyal

It has been more than a year and a half since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power on a promise to build

a new India, one founded on a radical break with the past. It is still too early to gauge the impact of his economic and foreign policies, but there is one area where his government is making palpable progress: taming India’s entrenched elite. India has a population of 1.2 billion people, but it has long been dominated by a tiny elite: A couple of hundred extended families, totaling perhaps 4,000-5,000 peo-ple. Many countries have powerful elites with outsize influence, but in India, dynastic elites control the top echelons in every sphere of public life: Politics, business, the media, and even Bollywood.

Many of these dynasties have roots that stretch back to the colonial era, implying at least seven decades of dominance. Every point of leverage — from government contracts and industrial licences to national awards — is used to maintain this ecosystem of power.

Over time, ties of patronage and marriage have fused these dynasties into a discernable class, concentrated in central New Delhi, with a few pockets in Mumbai and a small presence in other parts of the country. Exclusive Eng-lish-language schools, holiday homes in Goa, and summers in London or Switzerland have given them a shared world-view. Occasionally, new faces are admitted, but only if they do not interfere with the system’s perpetuation.

Unsurprisingly, the result has been the creation of a class of people with a strong sense of entitlement, who react to even mi-nor challenges by closing ranks. They flaunt their power so often (usually with some vari-ant of the phrase, “Do you not know who I am?”) that even those who do not “belong” sometimes use similar lines to try to bluff their way out of trouble.

One of Modi’s more symbolic blows to the old establishment has been his government’s success in evicting high-status squatters from hundreds of government bungalows in central Delhi. Few of the occupants of these sprawl-ing official residences had the right to live in them. In some cases, they had been there for generations; when faced with eviction notic-es, some families argued that the bungalows had effectively become memorials to their fa-

mous ancestors and that they should thus be allowed to remain.

An even more visible change is the sudden increase in criminal charges — ranging from corruption to sexual offenses — being filed against members of the old elite. The homes of several senior civil servants have been raided recently as part of corruption investigations, and serious accusations of sexual harassment have been leveled against India’s top environ-mentalist, Rajendra Pachauri, who headed the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change when it received the Nobel Peace Prize.

Meanwhile, banks have begun to demand repayment from large borrowers accustomed to having their loans rolled over. Vijay Mallya, a businessman famous for his colourful life-style and string of failed ventures, is being in-vestigated as a willful defaulter.

Much of this would have been unthinkable until a few months ago. And, inevitably, many accuse the government of carrying out politi-cal vendettas. On December 19, Sonia Gandhi, President of the Congress party, and her son, Rahul Gandhi, the party’s vice president, were forced to appear in court on corruption charg-es. In response, their party’s MPs brought legislative activity to a halt for days. The two were quickly released on bail.

The case against the Gandhis — as well as many other high-profile investigations — is likely to drag on for years. And, of course, in some cases the accused will be exonerated. But the very fact that members of the old elite can be investigated and questioned is unde-niable progress in a country where they have long enjoyed impunity.

What remains to be seen is whether Modi is able to cement these gains. The elite can be remarkably resilient, retaining the power to strike back at the first sign of weakness. History — from post-revolutionary France to modern Thailand — has repeatedly shown that it is a mistake to write off the old estab-lishment. - Project Syndicate

Sanjeev Sanyal was Deutsche Bank’s Global Strategist and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. He is the author of The Indian Renaissance: India’s Rise After a Thousand Years of Decline and Land of the Seven Rivers: A Brief History of India’s Geography.

Root cause of student dropout needs to be addressed This refers to news story, Call to stem high student dropout rate (January 9 ). In Arabic, we say, Yad Wahida La Tasafuq (One hand does not clap). The high dropout rate of students is a serious con-

cern for Oman, something that must be stemmed. Being an educationist in Oman, I have witnessed the high dropout of students. The mentors and teachers must know how to motivate students so they can continue with their education. Teach-ers are leaders — the speed of a leader is the speed of his team. If the team fails, it is a failure of the leader. The management and faculty must find out the root cause of the high dropout rate of students. The student body is partly responsible for this as leaving school in such circumstances has a ripple effect. — Munawar Hameed Managalwala, Muscat

Why should only elite countries have the right to launch tests? This refers to the story, Pressure grows on China to rein in North Korea after nuclear

test (January 8). I can’t understand why there is such a hue and cry when countries carry out missile or satellites tests. It is ridiculous to say that only the elite countries have the right to do so. These countries should acknowledge that their imperialism has not ended until now. — Bert Owens, Sur

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Council of State office holds fourth meetingMUSCAT: The Council of State office yesterday held its fourth meeting of the year under the chairmanship of Sheikh Hamoud bin Abdullah Al Harthy, president of the Council. Af-ter approving the minutes of the previous meeting, the council reviewed the list of procedures taken to implement the deci-sions of its past meeting. The council office then reviewed the letter it had received from the council of ministers on the draft law on regulating tourism and the Majlis Al Shura’s report on it, the office referred it to the legal committee to study it.

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MINISTRY OF HEALTHCURRENT EXPENDITURES

(In million rials)

2010 20142011 2012

0

2013

711.2

530.6

0

341.5

441.7

377.1

Photo: Graham Speller

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200,000 families affected by the quakes in Nepal are still living in

temporary shelters at an altitude above 1,500 metres, where

harsh winter conditions will continue through February

FISHING IN A FROZEN RIVERAn aerial view shows people fishing for trout through holes in a frozen river in Hwacheon, south of the demilitarized

zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, in this handout picture provided by Hwacheon county office and released by Yonhap

on Saturday. - Reuters

Sri Lanka kick-starts

process to formulate

its new constitution

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan parlia-ment on Saturday began a pro-cess to formulate a new constitu-tion with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe presenting a resolution to set up Constitu-tional Assembly of all members for the purpose.

In a special session on Satur-day, Wickremesinghe moved the resolution in parliament to set up Constitutional Assembly (CA) of all members and a steering com-mittee of 17 members to draft the new constitution.

“We will have the whole parlia-ment formulating the constitu-tion unlike the previous instanc-es when the constitutions were drafted outside parliament,” he said. The new constitution will replace the current executive president headed constitution adopted in 1978.

The resolution noted that there shall be a Committee of Parlia-

ment referred to as the “Consti-tutional Assembly” which shall consist of all MPs, for the purpose of deliberating on, and seeking the views and advice of the peo-ple, on a new constitution for Sri Lanka, and preparing a draft of a Constitution Bill for the consid-eration of Parliament in the ex-ercise of its powers under Article 75 of the Constitution.

It said the Speaker of Parlia-ment will be the Chairman of the Constitutional Assembly and there will be seven Deputy Chairmen of the Constitutional Assembly, who shall be elected by the Constitutional Assembly. A Steering Committee consisting of the Prime Minister (Chairman), Leader of the Opposition, Leader of the House, the Minister of Jus-tice, and not more than 11 other Members of the Constitutional Assembly will be appointed by the Constitutional Assembly. - PTI

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

Propaganda is pushing us to ‘brink of war’: North Korea

SEOUL: South Korea’s loudspeak-er broadcasts aimed at North Ko-rea push the rivals to the “brink of war,” a top North Korean official has told a propaganda rally, in the isolated country’s first official re-sponse to the sonic barrage across its border.

North Korea’s fourth nuclear test on Wednesday angered both the United States and China, which was not given prior notice, although the US government and weapons experts doubt the North’s claim that the device it set off was a hydrogen bomb.

In retaliation for the test, South Korea on Friday unleashed an ear-splitting propaganda barrage.

The last time South Korea de-ployed the loudspeakers, in August

2015, it triggered an exchange of artillery fire.

“Jealous of the successful test of our first H-bomb, the US and its followers are driving the situ-ation to the brink of war, by say-ing they have resumed psycho-logical broadcasts and brought in strategic bombers,” Kim Ki Nam, head of the ruling Workers’ Party propaganda department, said at Friday’s rally.

State media published images of the rally which appeared to show thousands of people gathered in central Pyongyang, holding signs glorifying leader Kim Jong Un, whose birthday was also on Friday.

Kim Ki Nam’s comments, which

are in line with routine propagan-da rhetoric, were the North’s first official response to the South’s broadcasts, which it considers in-sulting. The broadcasts, in rolling bursts from walls of loudspeakers at 11 sites along the heavily mili-tarised border, blared criticism of the North’s regime and “K-pop” music. North Korea later respond-ed with its own broadcasts.

DeploymentA South Korean military official said Seoul and Washington had discussed the deployment of US strategic weapons on the Korean peninsula after the test, but de-clined to give details.

Media said these could include B-2 and B-52 bombers, and a nu-clear-powered submarine.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said he had told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that China’s approach to North Korea had not succeeded.

Wang also held talks with his South Korean counterpart, Yun Byung-se. Yun pushed Wang to “sternly punish” North Korea over the test, the South Korean foreign ministry said.

China is North Korea’s main economic and diplomatic backer, although relations between them have cooled in recent years.

South Korea’s nuclear safety

agency said it had found a minus-cule amount of xenon gas in a sam-ple from off the country’s east coast but needed more analysis and sam-ples to tell if the trace came from a nuclear test.

South Korea said TV footage released by the North on Friday of what appeared to be a submarine launch of a ballistic missile was probably manipulated.

The deployment of such a weapon is some years away, said a military official who asked not to be identified. The images showed Kim Jong Un on the deck of a ves-sel watching a missile emerge from the water in a short and heav-ily edited clip. - Reuters

US and its allies

have resumed

psychological

broadcasts and

brought in strategic

bombers, a top North

Korean official told a

propaganda rally, in

the isolated country’s

first official response

to the sonic barrage

across its border

MASS RALLY: People take part in mass rallies held across the country vowing to carry out tasks set forth by North Korean leader Kim

Jong Un, in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on Friday. - Reuters

Afghanistan turns abandoned NATO camp into drug treatment base

KABUL: Afghan officials have opened a new drug treatment centre in an abandoned NATO military base in Kabul, in the latest attempt to stamp out the country’s massive problem of drug abuse.

Afghanistan is one of the world’s biggest sources of opium, produc-ing around 3,300 tonnes last year, despite a drop of 48 per cent in output. With the economy in ruins after decades of war and unable to provide jobs for young Afghans, demand for the temporary relief provided by drugs is high.

Camp Phoenix, a former train-ing camp on the edges of Kabul set up by the US army in 2003, will take in around 1,000 homeless drug addicts who will receive food, medical attention and treatment, said Public Health Minister Fero-zuddin Feroz.

45-day course“We give them a proper shave, they will take a shower, winter clothing and treatment will follow,” he said, showing reporters around the fa-cility, which offers a 45-day course

of treatment for homeless addicts.“We will return them as normal

members of society.”The effort is the latest in a long

series of anti-drug initiatives backed by the government and its international partners, but it is only a very small step to tackle a sprawling problem, and many re-main sceptical.

Police regularly round up ad-dicts who shelter in areas such as the Pul-e Sokhta bridge in the western part of the capital, but successive governments have been powerless to resolve the problem.

In May, a US-funded report said around 1.9 million to 2.4 million Afghan adults may be drug users, from among a population of about 30 million, with drugs found in more than 30 per cent of homes.

To counter this situation, the country has just 123 treatment centres, sufficient to treat just over 10 per cent of opium and heroin users. But even addicts who go through the centres often fall back into drug use.

“I have received five rounds of

treatment already, but am still us-ing,” said Sayed Dawod, one of the addicts at the new centre.

“There is no proper treatment in Afghanistan.”

Ministers say they are aware of the threat from the drug problem, not just to public health but also how it feeds endemic corruption in the government, from police of-

ficials on up. Feroz was himself at-tacked on Sunday by a dealer who tried to stab him with an infected needle during an operation to col-lect addicts and take them to the

new centre for treatment.But officials have only limited

ability to curb a billion-dollar in-dustry protected by powerful re-gional interests and controlled in part by warlords and Taliban mili-tants who use the proceeds to fund their insurgency.

Committed“Leaders of the unity government know the threat illegal drugs pose to our society and they are com-mitted to dealing with this,” said Salamat Azimi, the counter nar-cotics minister.

The failure of past efforts leaves many uncertain of success this time, however.

Najibullah, an addict who, like many Afghans, goes by one name, was dubious as he saw how few ad-dicts got on the buses going to the treatment centres.

“This is for show,” he said.”If the government wants to bring about change and treat addicts properly, they have to put more pressure on police to arrest those who sell ille-gal drugs.” - Reuters

D R U G A B U S E

REHABILITATION CENTRE: People sit in lines at a newly-opened treatment centre at Camp Phoenix,

after a police round up of suspected drug addicts in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 27, 2015. Afghan

officials have opened a new drug treatment centre in an abandoned NATO military base in Kabul, in

the latest attempt to stamp out the country’s massive problem of drug abuse. - Reuters

Nepal to start reconstruction work for a million homes

KATHMANDU: Nepal will start repairs and reconstruction next week for nearly a million homes damaged by last year’s deadly earthquakes, the head of a state agency said on Saturday, nearly nine months after the disaster left hundreds of thou-sands homeless.

Two tremors last April and May killed 9,000 people, injured more than 22,000 and damaged or destroyed more than 900,000 houses, forcing many to brave freezing temperatures living in temporary shelters made from tarps and corrugated iron sheets.

“We realise that the victims are very much in trouble. We’ll start the reconstruction work from January 16,” Sushil Gye-wali, chief of the National Re-construction Authority, said.

The agency was launched in September but political squab-bling has delayed the deploy-ment of $4.1 billion pledged by foreign donors for reconstruc-tion. UNICEF estimates that more than 200,000 families affected by the quakes are still living in temporary shelters at an altitude above 1,500 metres (4,920 feet), where harsh win-ter conditions will continue through February.

The delay has been blamed for more than a dozen deaths since the onset of winter, mostly of people over 65, according to domestic media reports. Gye-wali said the agency would start training engineers, masons and other technicians and dispatch them to districts ravaged by Ne-pal’s worst disaster. Kathmandu has said it needs to train 50,000 people and has pledged up to $2,000 for each home destroyed by the quake. - Reuters

D E A D L Y Q U A K E

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BRITAIN: Large flocks of starlings fly at dusk over the Somerset Levels near Glastonbury in Britain, on Friday. Despite a steady decline in annual winter visiting numbers of the migratory bird in recent years,

the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds estimates that approximately half a million are currently roosting in this area of south west England, providing spectacular daily murmurations as they arrive and

leave their roosting spots.— Reuters

UAE: A modified off-road vehicle catches fire during sand dune drag racing event on Friday, as part of the Liwa 2016 Moreeb Dune Festi-

val in the Liwa desert, some 250 kilometres southwest of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The festival includes a variety of races (cars,

bikes, falcons, camels and horses) or other activities aimed at promoting the country’s folklore. — AFP

GERMANY: Fog is seen in the mountain valleys near the small Bavarian village Irschenberg, southern Germany, during warm winter

weather with temperatures by four degrees on Saturday.— AFP

IRAQ: Iraqi policemen take part in a ceremony marking the 94th

anniversary of the creation of the Iraqi police in the capital Bagh-

dad on Saturday. —AFP

SOUTH KOREA: A participant reacts after catching a trout with his

hands during an event promoting the Ice Festival on a frozen river

in Hwacheon, South Korea, on Saturday. — Reuters

CHILE: An aerial view shows smoke and ash rising from the Chillan

volcano, south of Santiago, Chile, on Friday. — Reuters/Stringer

THAILAND: A girl has her helmet adjusted on the top of a tank dur-

ing the Children’s Day celebration at a military facility in Bangkok,

Thailand on Saturday. — Reuters

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PUTIN PRACTISES JUDO Russia’s President Vladimir Putin practises with

Musa Mogushkov of Russian national judo team during

a training session in Sochi, Russia, on Thursday.

— Reuters/Sputnik/Kremlin

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Criminal migrants should lose asylum rights: Merkel

COLOGNE / MAINZ (GER-MANY): Migrants who commit crimes should lose their right to asylum, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday, toughening her tone as police in Cologne confronted right-wing protesters venting their anger at mass assaults on women on New Year’s Eve.

Police in the western city fired water canon to disperse protesters

from the PEGIDA movement, which has seized on the alleged involvement of migrants in the New Year attacks and stepped up its calls for a halt to the influx.

Nearly two dozen asylum seek-ers were among those suspected of carrying out the attacks, police said this week, heightening ten-sions over immigration and fuel-ling criticism of Merkel’s refusal

to place a limit on the numbers of migrants entering the country.

“The right to asylum can be lost if someone is convicted, on proba-tion or jailed,” Merkel said after a meeting of the leadership of her Christian Democrats (CDU) party that was overshadowed by the at-tacks in Cologne and other cities.

“Serial offenders who repeat-edly rob or repeatedly affront women must feel the full force of

the law,” Merkel told journalists in Mainz, promising a reduction over the longer term in the flow of migrants to Germany.

The remarks were in stark con-trast to her earlier optimism about the influx to Germany, which has taken in far more migrants than any other European country.

Welcoming stanceHer welcoming stance and ‘we can do it’ slogan irritated many Germans, uneasy about the ar-rival of some 1.1 million migrants last year.

Under German law, asylum seekers are now typically only deported if they have been sen-tenced to at least three years in prison, and providing their lives are not at risk at home.

In Cologne, riot police fired wa-ter canon at PEGIDA protesters after some threw firecrackers and beer bottles at officers, a Reuters witness said.

Two people were injured in the clash, and police made a number of arrests.

Police had called on demonstra-tors, some of whom had chanted “Merkel must go”, to return to a square near the city’s train sta-tion, from where they had set out

on a march through the city.A police spokeswoman said the

PEGIDA protest had attracted some 1,700 people, half of whom she described as coming from the ‘hooligan scene’.

In all, about 1,700 police offic-ers were on the streets of Cologne, where more than 3,000 people at-tended the PEGIDA rally and a ri-val demonstration.

The overall police presence dwarfed the number on duty on New Year’s Eve, when at least 120 women were robbed or sexually molested amid scenes of wide-spread chaos.

Site of attacksAt a separate left-wing protest, a group of mostly women gathered close to the train station where many of the assaults happened.

Merkel’s conservative party said it wanted to reduce and con-trol migration to Germany, and send those who had been refused asylum home promptly.

“We want to reduce the hurdles for the deportation and expulsion of foreigners who have commit-ted a crime,” the party said in a statement.

Such a move would require a change to German law. — Reuters

The remarks were

in stark contrast

to Merkel’s earlier

optimism about the

influx to Germany,

which has taken in

far more migrants

than any other

European country

More towns evacuated as 2 killed in Australia bushfirePERTH: Two people have been killed, at least one other remains unaccounted for and more than 121 buildings have been destroyed by a bushfire that continues to burn out of control in Western Australia, police said on Saturday.

The remains of two men were found by authorities search-ing burnt-out buildings in the historic timber milling town of Yarloop, 120 km (75 miles) south of the capital, Perth, which was destroyed by the fire on Thursday, police confirmed. The men, both believed to be in their 70s, haven’t been formally identified.

A state of emergency has been declared and residents evacuated from five nearby towns in the ma-jor beef and dairy farming area. Dairy farmers near the fire have been forced to dump thousands of litres of milk since Thursday as road closures prevent tankers be-ing able to reach farms and power cuts prevent production.

Holiday makers in nearby coastal resorts have also been

evacuated by ferry as exit roads remain cut and damaged by the fire.

The fire, ignited by a lighten-ing strike on Wednesday, has now burned through some 67,000 hectares (166,000 acres) of land, is uncontained and has a 222

km perimeter. Firefighters have flown in from New South Wales to relieve fatigued local crews. Another large fire in the state’s south east, west of the town of Esperance, is also burning out of control and threatening homes.— Reuters

I G N I T E D B Y L I G H T N I N G S T R I K E

Protesters set fire to Kosovo government headquartersPRISTINA: Demonstrators in Kosovo fought running battles with police and briefly set fire to government headquarters on Saturday in the latest violence in the young Balkan country over an accord with its former ruler Serbia.

The seat of government in the capital Pristina caught fire after it came under a hail of petrol bombs. Firefighters quickly doused the blaze and police used tear gas to drive back several thousand oppo-sition demonstrators.

They were rallying against a deal brokered by the European Union to give Kosovo’s ethnic Serb minority greater local powers and the possibility of financing from Belgrade.

Police pursued the protesters, who threw petrol bombs, stones and bottles and set light to an ar-moured police car.

Kosovo, which is majority Alba-nian, declared independence from Serbia with Western support in 2008, almost a decade after NATO air strikes drove out Serbian secu-rity forces accused of killing and expelling civilians from the ethnic Albanian majority during a coun-ter-insurgency war. — Reuters

A T O D D S W I T H S E R B S

Turkey kills 18Kurdish militantsDIYARBAKIR (TURKEY): Turkish security forces have killed 18 Kurdish militants in southeast Turkey, the military said on Saturday, in the latest clashes to blight a region still reeling from the collapse of a two-year ceasefire last summer.

Security sources said five peo-ple, four of them soldiers, had also been wounded in separate gun and bomb attacks in Diyar-bakir, biggest city in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

The armed forces said in a statement that 16 PKK fighters had been killed on Friday in the town of Cizre, near the Syrian border, and another two rebels had been killed in the historical Sur district of Diyarbakir.

In Sur, one soldier was shot while another three soldiers and a public sector worker were also wounded in a bomb attack on Sat-urday, security sources said.

In the town of Silopi, near the Iraqi border, security forces seized 24 militants seeking to leave the town with local citizens, the military statement said.

The army said a total of 426 militants have been killed in the towns of Cizre, Silopi and the Sur district of Diyarbakir - all sub-ject to a round-the-clock curfew - since security force operations began there around a month ago.

Turkish security forces have been battling militants of the

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) since 1984 in a conflict that has cost more than 40,000 lives.

The PKK is considered a ter-rorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

A recent shift in fighting from the countryside to urban cen-tres has left civilians caught in the middle.

According to figures from the pro-Kurdish HDP party, 72 civil-ians in the three southeastern towns under the curfew have been killed since December 14.— Reuters

I N S U R G E N C Y

LIVES IN DANGER: Smoke clouds from a large bush fire are seen

behind a police road block at the turn off onto the South Western

Highway near Pinjarra, Western Australia, on Friday. - Reuters/AAP

HEIGHTENED TEMPERS: Police use pepper spray against support-

ers of anti-immigration right-wing movement PEGIDA during a

demonstration march, in reaction to mass assaults on women on

New Year’s Eve, in Cologne, Germany, on Saturday. - Reuters

Security sources said five people, four of them soldiers, had also been wounded in separate gun and bomb attacks in Diyarbakir, biggest city in the mainly Kurdish southeast

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Mexican drug boss returns to jail

LOS MOCHIS (MEXICO): Mex-ico recaptured the world’s top drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in a pre-dawn shootout and chase through drains on Friday, returning him to the same prison he escaped from six months ago, in a boost for the beleaguered government.

The head of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel was captured in a car wear-ing a filthy vest after fleeing through tunnels and drains from a raid on a safe house in the city of Los Mochis, in his native northwestern state of Sinaloa.

“Mission accomplished: We have him,” President Enrique Pena Ni-eto said on his Twitter account. “I want to inform all Mexicans that Joaquin Guzman Loera has been arrested.”

TraffickerFor Pena Nieto, the capture of a trafficker who twice slipped out of Mexican prisons is a sorely-need-ed victory after his presidency was tarnished by graft and human rights scandals and the shame of the kingpin’s flight from the maxi-mum security Altiplano prison in July. It also provides relief to US-Mexico relations, strained by suspicion of high-level collu-sion given the apparent ease with which Guzman gave Mexican au-thorities the slip after the United

States requested his extradition.Guzman now faces possible ex-

tradition to face trial in the United States. That process could take months, although US Republican party presidential hopeful Marco Rubio was among those calling for Washington to immediately pur-sue extradition.

Once featured in the Forbes list of billionaires, Guzman led a cartel that has smuggled billions of dol-lars worth of drugs into the United States and fought vicious turf wars with other Mexican gangs.

He was caught early on Friday after Mexican marines raided his safe house, killing five and cap-turing six of Guzman’s hench-man. They pursued the drug lord

through the northern city’s drains and caught him after a car chase through the outskirts, Attorney General Arely Gomez said.

He was flown to Mexico City and later transferred in a naval heli-copter back to the Altiplano.

Guzman, whose nickname means “Shorty”, first escaped pris-on in 2001 by bribing prison offi-cials, and went on to dominate the world of Mexican drug trafficking.

EscapeHe was recaptured by Pena Nieto’s government in 2014 but escaped in July by capitalising on the drug-tunneling skills his cartel honed on the US border. A mile-long tunnel equipped with electric lights, rails

and a motorbike came out directly into the shower of his prison cell and he simply slipped away. The escape heaped embarrassment on Pena Nieto, who had resisted a US request to extradite Guzman and had said previously that an escape would be “unforgivable”.

Dozens of people were arrested over the jailbreak, though details of who Guzman bribed and how his accomplices knew exactly where to dig into the prison re-main scarce.

His recapture on Friday in-volved Mexican marines, the US Drug Enforcement Administra-tion (DEA) and US Marshals, a senior Mexican police source and a US source said.

After stopping his getaway car, the Marines took Guzman and waited for reinforcements at Ho-tel Doux, a motel on the outskirts of town. Los Mochis residents described gunfire and explosions from about 3:30am (0930 GMT).

Schools were closed as helicop-ters clattered overhead.

“The teachers were coming out terrified because they had heard the rumours that he was fleeing in the city’s drains,” said Ana Ber-totti, 30, a housewife who crossed town to find her child’s kindergar-ten closed.

PhotographOne photograph widely circulat-ed on social media, but that could not be independently verified by Reuters, appeared to show Guz-man sitting handcuffed on a ho-tel bed, in a room that resembled those shown on the Hotel Doux website. He was wearing a vest and a poster was pinned on the wall behind him.

Another photo appeared to show Guzman without handcuffs and wearing the same vest in the back of a vehicle next to one of his top assassins. US officials and the DEA, which has had a bumpy re-lationship with its Mexican coun-terparts since traffickers tortured a US agent to death in 1985, took no credit and congratulated Mexi-co on the capture. “This notorious criminal is - and will remain - be-hind bars, until he faces justice in a court of law,” said DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg.

After coming under fire for fail-ing to send Guzman to the United

States before he escaped the last time, Mexico said in July it had ap-proved an order to extradite him north of the border.

On Friday, the US Justice de-partment said its previous request to extradite Guzman to the United States still stands.

A senior Mexican official said the attorney general’s office would quickly move to determine how Guzman could be extradited, but that it could be months before he was sent out of the country.

Guzman’s lawyer in October ap-pealed against possible extradition in case his client was captured.

Guzman is wanted by US au-thorities for various criminal charges including drug smuggling and money laundering.

In 2013, Chicago dubbed him its first Public Enemy No.1 since Al Capone, the gangster who won no-toriety in the 1920s.

Believed to be 58 years old, Guz-man was born in La Tuna, a village in the Sierra Madre mountains in Sinaloa state where smugglers have been growing drugs since the early 20th century. After Guz-man’s first prison break, violence began to creep up in Mexico. The situation deteriorated during the 2006-2012 presidency of Pena Ni-eto’s conservative predecessor Fe-lipe Calderon, when nearly 70,000 people lost their lives in gang-re-lated mayhem.

After he managed to outma-noeuver, outfight or out-bribe his rivals to stay at the top of the busi-ness for over a decade, some secu-rity experts see in Guzman’s cap-ture new hope for Mexico.

“This gives important cred-ibility to the Mexican government. And the fact is, they’re starting to move forward in implementing the rule of law,” said Mike Vigil, former head of global operations for the DEA. — Reuters

Fugitive Joaquin

‘El Chapo’ Guzman

is captured at motel

in an operation that

killed five

British aviator completes epic flight in biplaneSYDNEY: British aviator Tracey Curtis-Taylor flew her open-cockpit biplane across Sydney Harbour and landed at the city’s international airport on Satur-day, completing a three-month journey from England to retrace a pioneering feat of early aviation.

The 53-year-old aviator set out from Farnborough on October 1 to follow the flight path of legendary aviator Amy Johnson, who in 1930 became the first woman to fly solo between Britain and Australia. “I need a drink,” Curtis-Taylor told waiting media as she climbed from her 1942 Boeing Stearman.

“Seeing all the most iconic landscapes, geology, vegetation, just the best view in the world,” she said. “Very few people get to fly it like I just did.”

Braving sea spray and smog in her “Spirit of Artemis”, a recondi-tioned piston-engine plane, Cur-tis-Taylor crossed 14,000 miles (22,000 kilometres) and 23 coun-tries using 8,000 litres (2,100 gal-lons) of fuel. She had struggled to secure supplies of “avgas”, or avia-tion gasoline, not readily avail-able at many modern airports, and relied on a support plane that followed behind. “In doing some-thing like this you have to be abso-lutely self-sufficient,” Curtis-Tay-lor told Reuters in an interview before her arrival. “We have done something like 54 stops and that is what takes the time.”

Her challenges included scroung-ing for fuel with the help of Abo-rigines after an impromptu land-ing in the Australian outback,

and spending a day scraping salt off her propellers after flying over the Timor Sea.

In the post-9/11 world of avia-tion security she also encoun-tered wary airport officials, es-pecially after the Paris attacks in November and the downing of a Russian airliner in Egypt the month before that. “Everything is in high alert,” Curtis-Taylor said.

Bad weather in Romania held the flight up for days, and she had to fly around war-torn Syria. She has met royalty and took a Saudi princess for a spin in the aircraft. In Jordan, girls she met were amazed by her audacity at under-taking the journey at her age. It is a far cry from the world of 1930. At that time, most of Johnson’s stops lay within the British empire. Red tape was minimal. Johnson was just 26 and her flight ended in Darwin, Australia, which her suc-cessor Curtis-Taylor reached on January 1 this year. — Reuters

S Y D N E Y H A R B O U R F L Y O V E R

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman is escorted by soldiers during a presentation at

the hangar belonging to the office of the Attorney General in Mexico City, Mexico on Thursday. – Reuters

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THREE-MONTH JOURNEY: British aviator Tracey Curtis-Taylor

pilots her biplane past Australia’s Uluru rock formation during

her historic England-to-Australia journey, in this handout picture

taken on Wednesday. – Reuters/Handout

HISTORIC FLIGHT: British avia-

tor Tracey Curtis-Taylor. – Reuters

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Insurance sector set to grow 14% in Saudi

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Saudi insurance sector is set to maintain a strong annual growth rate of 14 to 17 per cent during the next five years, fuelled mainly by the enforcement of regulations, according to Arqaam Capital, the specialist emerging markets investment bank.

Jaap Meijer, managing director and head of equity research at Ar-qaam Capital said, “We expect the Saudi insurance sector to be the least affected by weaker oil prices, budget cuts and the tightening li-quidity as the enforcement of ex-isting regulations will propel mo-tor and medical premiums growth at a rate of 15 to 25 per cent and 14 to 16 per cent respectively.”

“We estimate that SAMA’s (Sau-di Arabian Monetary Agency) en-forcement of mandatory medical

and Third-Party Liability (TPL) insurance would account for half of the growth during the next five years, adding 3.5 million medical policyholders and 3 million in-sured vehicles,” Meijer noted.

“Motor holds the most growth potential as it lags considerably behind medical in enforcement, pricing and penetration. Com-pared to the current regulation, enforcement rate in medical of accounts for.70 to 75 per cent, mo-tor TPL enforcement stands only at 40 per cent.

“There is a potential for the number of motor policyholders to double in size but at a lower average of SAR 1,200 per policy instead of the current sector av-erage of SAR 1,750. We see the segment doubling premiums by 2018 on re-pricing, cost of infla-tion and additional two million

insured vehicles,” he added. “But the Saudi insurance sector has still to grapple with a number of issues. A key weakness of the sector is its inadequate pricing, which means that more than half of insurers incur underwriting losses. Many barely profitable insurers rely on investment income or unwind-ing claims to remain profitable. We expect higher interest rates to boost earnings by 5 to 8 per cent as well. Furthermore, participation in the government bonds program, if allowed by SAMA, may offer the largest upside potential,” the ex-pert explained.

Risk criteriaSAMA made actuarial pricing com-pulsory for all insurance compa-nies in 2013, mandating insurers to price premiums in line with clearly defined risk criteria af-

ter intense competition pushed prices down, weighting heavily on underwriting profitability.

“The fragmentation of the sec-tor and the depletion of capital are two other major challenges with many small insurers falling short of securing the necessary scale to generate sufficient profits and to maintain top-line growth in line with the market, ceding market share to insurers with more robust solvency and better economies of scale. In our view, consolidation in the sector could be a viable option in the future,” Meijer concluded.

Arqaam Capital

official said that

the enforcement of

existing regulations

would propel

motor and medical

premiums growth at

a rate of 15-25% and

14-16% respectively

We expect the Saudi insurance sector to be the least affected by weaker oil prices, budget cuts and the tightening liquidity as the enforcement of existing regulations will propel motor and medical premiums growth at a rate of 15-25% and 14-16% respectively

Jaap MeijerManaging director and head (Equity research), Arqaam Capital

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

Bank Muscat Al Jawhar privilege banking evokes strong responseTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Providing a distinct banking experience centred on the unique lifestyle of the cus-tomer segment, Bank Muscat Al Jawhar Privilege Banking has evoked a strong response. In keep-ing with the bank’s ‘Let’s Do More’ vision, Al Jawhar is the first-of-its-kind privilege banking service in Oman.

In the vibrant world of privilege banking, the distinctive identity says it all. Reflecting the elegant lifestyle of clients, Al Jawhar is an affirmation of the preferen-tial treatment designed around their unique lifestyle and banking requirements. Customers with a monthly salary of OMR1,000 and above or savings deposit of OMR10,000 and above can avail Al Jawhar services.

Al Jawhar value proposition is based on three pillars of commit-ments to customers — Recogni-

tion, Convenience and Experi-ence — that form the imprint of premium products and services.

The value proposition of rec-ognition places Al Jawhar cus-tomers in a league of their own. Notably, Al Jawhar Platinum

debit card is the key to a world of exclusive services. With world-wide acceptance, Al Jawhar Plat-inum debit card has daily cash withdrawal limit of OMR800 in Oman and OMR250 for foreign transactions outside the Gulf Co-

operation Council (GCC).

Platinum debit cardHighly secure, the platinum debit card features the Chip and PIN technology, ensuring added secu-rity for all transactions.

Al Jawhar Platinum credit card offers 1 per cent cash back on all transactions in addition to spe-cial offers and discounts at select merchant outlets. Adding value, Al Jawhar credit card benefits include airport lounge access and free travel insurance.

Designed to elevate privilege banking to unparalleled heights, Al Jawhar opens a new world of opportunities as preferential treatment and fast track service in branches make the experience truly rewarding.

With the widest reach in serv-ing customers through a network of 137 branches in the Sultanate, excellence in service is the hall-mark of Al Jawhar experience.

B A N K I N G

Yahoo to reconsider

sale of web business

NEW YORK: Yahoo! is consid-ering an outright sale of its busi-ness, marking what could hasten a significant shift in the compa-ny’s thinking as it faces pressure from activist shareholders.

Just last month, Yahoo execu-tives put forward a plan to spin off its main Internet business, the latest of several strategies they’ve proposed over the past year to deal with slowing reve-nue. Now, that idea may be aban-doned in favor of a sale, people familiar with the matter said. The company may need a new plan in the face of an expected proxy fight by an activist inves-tor, said the people, who asked not to identified because a final decision hasn’t been made.

Yahoo still hasn’t concluded that it has to sell and hasn’t hired a bank to run an official process or contacted potential buyers, they said. The Dec. 9 announce-ment was a strategic move by Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer to buy time to shape Yahoo into a more sellable asset, includ-

ing cutting costs, said the people.“There is no determination by

the board to sell the company or any part of it,” Yahoo chairman Maynard Webb said in a confer-ence call when the plan was un-veiled in December.

Yahoo assetsSarah Meron, spokeswoman for Santa Clara, California-based Ya-hoo, declined to comment. Yahoo shares rose 1.6 per cent to $30.63 at the close in New York. The stock fell 34 per cent in 2015.

By waiting longer, the market may also readjust its view of what Yahoo is worth, two of the people said. After accounting for a $27.7 billion stake in Alibaba, $7.96 billion stake in Yahoo Japan and $5.88 billion in cash and equiva-lents, Yahoo’s market value of $28.9 billion shows that investors consider the main business to be worth zero or less.

Starboard Value and stakehold-ers have been pushing for Yahoo to separate the Alibaba assets from its main business. - Bloomberg News

S L O W I N G R E V E N U E

FIRST OF ITS KIND: Bank Muscat Al Jawhar Privilege Banking is

the first-of-its-kind service in Oman. Al Jawhar Platinum debit

card is the key to a world of exclusive services. – File picture

US hiring surges,

but fails to ignite

growth in wagesWASHINGTON: American labour-market juggernaut rolled unabated at the end of 2015, cushioning the United States economy from weak-ness abroad, but failing to ignite the wage growth sought by Federal Re-serve policy makers.

Employers added 292,000 work-ers to payrolls in December, ex-ceeding the highest estimate in a survey and putting the gain for all of 2015 at 2.65 million, a Labour Department report showed on Fri-day. The unemployment rate held at a seven-year low of 5 pe rcent as almost a half million people entered the workforce, a separate survey of households showed.

While the surge in hiring is putting a dent in the pool of job-less workers, they still number in the millions, meaning companies don’t have to bid up pay to attract staff. The lack of more substantial wage growth helps explain why Fed officials have said they will nurture sustained gains in em-ployment by raising interest rates only slowly.

“One reason we’re not seeing a lot of wage pressures is that there’s still a fair amount of slack,” said Nariman Behravesh, chief econo-mist in Lexington, Massachusetts, for IHS. “Wages over the course of the year will begin to accelerate, but very gradually.”

Stocks tumbled in a late-after-noon selloff that sent major eq-uity indexes to their worst weekly declines in more than four years, as investors found little relief in

the job market’s resilience amid unease over China’s efforts to re-store calm to its sinking markets. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 1.1 per cent to 1,922.03 in New York.

December payrollsThe 2015 increase in hiring fol-lowed a 3.1 million gain in 2014, for the best back-to-back years since 1998-99. The December advance in payrolls followed a 252,000 increase in November that was stronger than the previously es-timated 211,000. Labour Depart-ment revisions added 50,000 jobs in November and October.

The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 92 econo-mists called for a 200,000 gain in employment. Estimates of econo-mists polled ranged from increases of 135,000 to 250,000. The unem-ployment rate for all of 2015 aver-aged 5.3 percent, the lowest since 2007, when it was 4.6 per cent.

While employers continue to aggressively add to headcounts, worker pay has yet to show a sus-tainable pickup. Hourly earnings in December were $25.24 on aver-age, down one cent from the prior month. They increased 2.5 per cent from a year earlier, less than the 2.7 per cent gain projected in a survey of economists.

The pool of available workers, those who are unemployed and those not in the labour force but want a job, totaled 13.8 million in December. - Bloomberg News

E C O N O M Y

JOB INTERVIEW: The December advance in payrolls followed a

252,000 increase in November that was stronger than the previ-

ously estimated 211,000. Labour Department revisions added

50,000 jobs in November and October. – Reuters

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MARKET

Larsen & Toubro Oman bags $93m deal to build Sohar airport terminalTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Larsen & Toubro (Oman) has been contracted to construct the terminal building and associated facilities for a re-gional airport in Oman, which is said to be Sohar.

“Larsen & Toubro (Oman), a subsidiary of L&T, has bagged an order worth $93.1 million from a prestigious client to construct a regional airport in the Sultanate of Oman. The scope of work includes the construction of a passenger terminal building, an air traffic control (ATC) complex, cargo and other service buildings, including mechanical, electrical and plumb-ing (MEP) works, special systems and external works,” L&T India said in a stock market filing on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Although the statement did not mention the regional airport, it is learnt that it is the Sohar airport, which was awarded by the Tender Board few months ago. The project

is scheduled to be completed in two years.

This will be the third airport project to be executed by L&T in the country, after Salalah and Duqm. Like the Duqm regional airport, the terminal building of the Sohar airport is designed to handle half a million passengers per annum and the scope of work

(of third package) includes two air bridges connecting the terminal with aircraft.

First and second packagesThe first and second packages of the Sohar airport project were completed in 2015, which followed Oman Air starting its regular ser-vice to Muscat using a temporary

terminal building. The first two packages of the Sohar airport work included civil works and infra-structure work, such as construct-ing a four kilometre-long runway, 30 kilometres of airport service roads, as well as a rainwater pro-tection system, the outer fence of the airport, a security fence, power plants, a wastewater treatment plant, pumping stations for water distribution network, a commu-nications network, a fire system, a protection system of Aflaj, the final layers of the runway, aircraft taxi-ways, roads, a fuel station, runway lighting systems, an aircraft fill-ing system and setting up equip-ment required for the operation of the airport.

The development of three ad-ditional regional airports — Sohar, Duqm and Ras Al Hadd — is part of a major government initiative to build airport infrastructure to meet the increasing travel demand of tourists, businessmen and the local community.

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

Apple registers automobile domain namesCALIFORNIA: Apple has reg-istered domain names related to automobiles, adding to specula-tion about the company’s plans to develop an automobile.

The iPhone maker registered the domain names, which include apple.car, apple.cars and apple.auto in December, according to do-main information provider Who.is. (http://bit.ly/1JzNbX9)

MacRumors had first reported the news on Friday, but said the domain names could be related to Apple’s CarPlay, which lets drivers access contacts on their iPhones, make calls or listen to voicemails without taking their hands off the steering wheel. (http://bit.ly/1Oh5LzP)

Car technologyWhile never openly acknowledg-ing plans to build a car, Apple has been aggressive in recruiting auto experts from companies such as Ford or Mercedes-Benz.

Car technology has become a prime area of interest for Silicon Valley companies including Goog-le Inc, which has built a prototype self-driving car.

United States’ Apple shares snapped their three-day losing streak and were up 1.8 per cent, giving the biggest boost to the three major indexes. - Reuters

T E C H N O L O G Y

THIRD PROJECT: This will be the third airport project to be execut-

ed by L&T in the country, after Salalah and Duqm. - File picture

‘Revision in fuel subsidy to help impart fiscal stability’

MUSCAT: Revamping the fuel subsidy will greatly reduce finan-cial risks posed to Oman’s govern-ment and impart stability, a World Bank expert said.

Lubna Abdulatif, a World Bank expert at the Ministry of Finance, said the ministry, in collabora-tion with a multilateral bank, has prepared the state budget in a bid to enhance the efficiency of pub-lic expenditure, reduce financial risks, which in turn impart finan-cial sustainability.

She said revising public ex-penditure policies is of paramount importance as it gives priority to the policies that enhance the wel-fare of the Omani family, promote economic diversification, develop the private sector and create job opportunities. She also pointed out that revising the energy subsi-dy and lifting the subsidy on fuels is of great importance.

Abdulatif added that some be-lieve that the welfare economy’s philosophy is the one which pro-vides subsidy to energy.

Experience has proved that the subsidy on education, healthcare and economic diversification will have greater effect on enhancing social welfare.

Negative effectShe also pointed out that provid-ing greater subsidies for energy creates undesired social and eco-nomic effects. In the medium to long run, huge subsidies result in a substantial financial imbalance, have a negative effect on the pri-orities of the public expenditure and change the allocation of re-

sources by encouraging excessive consumption, capital-intensive industries and accelerating the exhaustion of natural resources.

World Bank official noted that the studies conducted by the bank between 2012 and 2014 found that energy subsidies need to be revised and that lifting such subsidies is good for the society as a whole.

“The World Bank studies also pointed out that the value of en-ergy subsidy in the Middle East region stood at $237 billion (OMR91.25 billion), which repre-sents 48 per cent of the total sub-sidies at the global level. The Mid-dle East countries paid almost 8.6 per cent of their gross domestic product or 22 per cent of their

revenues for subsidy — a very high level, compared to the world aver-age, which ranges between 0.7 per cent and 2.1 per cent respectively,” she added.

Oil-exporting nations“Oil-exporting countries in the Middle East have borne the big-gest share of this cost, which af-fected their abilities for financial sustainability and made them bear great financial risks.

he equilibrium price for an oil barrel in 2015 for Bahrain and Oman, as estimated by World Bank, was more than $100,” add-ed Abdulatif.

“Subsidies distort the market price and affect the proper alloca-

tion of resources. They encourage the smuggling of fuel, which may lead to a shortage of subsidised products. It is also a universally acknowledged truth that subsi-dies lead to excess consumption, streaming resources away from alternative uses and consequently affect expenditure on education, healthcare and infrastructure. It also leads to low energy efficiency and encourages capital-intensive technology, which in turn has a negative effect on the growth of employment opportunities.”

Abdulatif also said that in the medium-to-long-term, lifting subsidies would have a positive effect on growth and efficiency, which would also help absorb the possible effects on inflation in the short term.

High fuel prices would encour-age companies to create job op-portunities for the youth and en-courage the growth of small and medium enterprises. Moreover, it would also encourage companies to rely on more efficient technology to address the energy of price hikes.

As per the simulation model provided by the World Bank to Egypt in 2014, reducing an energy subsidy by 25 per cent increases job opportunities and wages by 1 per cent. The experiences of many countries show that subsidies are not an effective tool for the distri-bution of income. - ONA

A World Bank official

said that studies

conducted by the

bank between 2012

and 2014 found that

lifting of energy

subsidies is good for

society as a whole

World’s billionaires lose $194 billion in first trading weekBOSTON: World’s 400 richest people lost almost $194 billion this week as world stock markets began the year with a shudder on poor economic data in China and falling oil prices.

Forty-seven billionaires lost $1 billion or more during the worst week for United States stocks since 2011, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The combined drop was almost seven times the $29 billion lost in the first five trading days of 2015. The 400 people on the index had a combined $3.7 trillion at the end of the week, compared with more than $4 trillion a year ago.

Amazon.com founder Jeff Be-zos, the best-performing billion-aire in 2015, lost the most, his fortune dropping $5.9 billion this week as shares of the world’s larg-est online retailer fell more than 10 per cent. Bezos is the world’s fourth-richest person with $53.7 billion and more than doubled his net worth in 2015 as investors cheered profits at Amazon.

The world’s richest person, Bill

Gates, fell $4.5 billion to $79.2 bil-lion, while Spain’s Amancio Orte-ga, the second-richest, dropped $3.4 billion to $69.5 billion.

Global stocks tumbleThe combined loss among the billionaires represents a 4.9 per cent dip in their total wealth, ac-cording to the index, a slightly better performance than world equity markets so far this year. Global stocks tumbled 6.2 per-cent for the week, according to the MSCI ACWI Index.

There were 11 billionaires among the 400 whose fortunes rose this week, including the five heirs to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The five Waltons added a com-bined $2.5 billion as Wal-Mart gained a little over $2 a share. Jim Walton, son of company founder Sam Walton, had the biggest gain, a $759 million increase.

The combined net worth of the 400 people on the index is $3.7 trillion, about equal to the gross domestic product of Germany.

- Bloomberg News

N E W Y E A R

INFLATION FEARS: In the medium-to-long-term, lifting subsidies would have a positive effect on

growth and efficiency, which would also help absorb the possible effects on inflation in the short

term, the World Bank expert said. – Times file picture

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

LOST THE MOST: Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, the best-per-

forming billionaire in 2015, lost the most, his fortune dropping

$5.9 billion this week. – Bloomberrg News

B4

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The Ghosts of Baha MarT H E S T O R Y O F H O W A $ 3 . 5 B I L L I O N R E S O R T W E N T B U S T

Beyond the tropical waters, across palm- fringed sands and behind locked gates, looms Baha Mar — the larg-est and, at $3.5 billion, prici-

est resort in the Caribbean.Here, no one frolics pool-side,

pina colada in hand, or hits irons on the Jack Nicklaus golf course. No slot machines jingle-jangle. The Flamingo, the Brasserie des Arts and the Cartier boutique lie dark. On this bright October morning in the Bahamas, all 2,200 guest rooms are empty.

The quiet is almost spooky here on the outskirts of Nassau, where the waterscape frills of nearby Par-adise Island give way to the vast ghost-resort that is Baha Mar.

Just how the place ended up like this — in a bankruptcy so colossal that it’s jeopardising the Bahamas’s credit rating — is the biggest busi-ness story to hit this Caribbean na-tion for as long as anyone here can remember. It stretches far beyond the white beaches and across time zones, to none other than the State Council of China.

Turns out that even in paradise,

local aspirations can collide with China’s global ambitions. Baha Mar may have been dreamed up in the vacationland of the Bahamas, but the central government in Beijing controls the development bank and construction giant that will deter-mine its fate.

And China, some Bahamians say, is playing tough as its state-run en-terprises project money and influ-ence around the world, including to this small island 180 miles off the coast of Miami.

Time is short. Bahamian officials have been counting on Baha Mar to invigorate the tourist economy. The developers claimed the resort could single-handedly generate 12 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product — provided it ever opens.

Understanding the island’s pre-dicament requires going back more than a decade to 2005 when Prime Minister Perry Christie reached an agreement with a local business-man named Sarkis Izmirlian to help revitalise Cable Beach, the most popular beachfront destination on New Providence Island.

Izmirlian, then just 32, seemed a

natural choice. He’s from a wealthy family — his father is Armenian peanut tycoon Dikran Izmirlian — and lives on nearby Lyford Cay, a billionaire enclave. Izmirlian sank nearly $900 million into Baha Mar and recruited marquee-name part-ners like a Caesars Resort hotel.

Then the 2008 financial crisis hit, and would-be partners balked. When China State Construction Engineering, the world’s second-largest contractor, approached Izmirlian about stepping in, he said yes. The company directed him to Export- Import Bank of China, or Exim, which promotes trade and investment under the direction of Beijing.

Seeing a way into United States markets, China State Construction promptly invested $150 million. Exim kicked in $2.45 billion in con-struction loans — with the proviso that Izmirlian could never fire the Chinese builder, no matter what, and that workers from China would do the job. Flush with Chinese mon-ey, Izmirlian declared four Baha Mar hotels would open by 2014.

All this was documented in court

filings, and supported by interviews with Christie and other Bahami-ans. The Chinese and Izmirlian de-clined interview requests.Endless haggling complicated by language barriers ensued -- about payments, invoices, workmanship, on and on. Deadlines were set and promptly broken. Emails flew back and forth to Beijing.

BankruptcyIn May 2014, Izmirlian appealed to an independent mediation service based in Washington, but the trou-bles multiplied. Pipes burst when inspectors tested the fire sprinklers and faulty balcony railings had to be reinforced, people with knowl-edge of the construction said. When Izmirlian complained, China de-layed its money, one said.

As construction dragged on, Izmirlian and Christie flew to Bei-jing. There, officials assured them the resort would be ready to open on March 27. Upon his return, the developer hired 2,070 hotel work-ers, ran a global ad campaign and stocked the casino with $4.5 mil-lion in cash.

Baha Mar filed for bankruptcy in Delaware on June 29 — and all hell broke loose. China State Construc-tion accused Izmirlian of disrupt-ing the project with endless design changes. “Baha Mar’s decision to file for bankruptcy is the direct re-sult of its failure to secure adequate financing and its mismanagement,” the Chinese company told the court.

As the dispute dragged into Sep-tember, a Delaware judge dismissed the US bankruptcy and a Bahamian judge put provisional liquidators in charge, rendering Izmirlian’s $900 million investment nearly worthless. In October, they hosted negotiations at a nearby hotel. It was a bizarre scene, with Bahamian dancers gyrating in hot pants in the lobby as Chinese men in black suits hunched over laptops.

For now, Baha Mar faces mould and corrosion as it bakes in the trop-ical heat. Its pink and cream towers are ringed by a chain-link fence and blue tarps cover unused supplies. At night, lights pop on in several rooms — a move the Bahamians hope will ward of the desolate air of this Car-ibbean ghost. - Bloomberg News

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New Renault Fluence makes driving easier

MUSCAT: Suhail Bahwan Auto-mobiles, the exclusive importers and distributors of Renault vehi-cles in Oman, houses the upbeat Renault Fluence that comes in a new look with the 1.6 16V 115 CVT X-Tronic automatic gearbox and the 2.0 16V 140 CVT X-Tronic au-tomatic gearbox.

Fitted with a new petrol en-gine that is powerful and dynamic (117hp and 156Nm), Fluence sparks with energy. With the CVT X-Tronic next-generation auto-matic gearbox, the 2.0 16V 140 combines responsiveness and low fuel consumption. CVT technolo-gy – Continuously Variable Trans-mission – allows for smooth gear shifting with instant responses and no bumps. The new Fluence is comfortable, dynamic and lively with low fuel consumption, says a press release.

The fantastic Fluence With its flowing and modern lines, the Renault Fluence features new, confident and more dynamic fron-tal design identity. Inside, the cab-in carries over the major themes of the previous version but delivers finishes that are more sophisticat-ed and a more high-tech ambience.

The redesigned front end en-hances the new Fluence’s unique character which takes its inspira-tion from the Renault F1 and the aerodynamics of the F1 cars.

The focal point at the front is a prominent logo set vertically to a gloss black and chrome strips background. Meanwhile, the new Renault Fluence’s curvier lines and

full surfaces ensure a more dynam-ic, assertive stance, underlining the model’s status-enhancing look.

Exterior featuresThe other exterior features in-clude LED lights that enhance the overall appeal of the rear of the vehicle. To exalt the design of the Fluence, the vehicle comes with 17” Akihiro two tone alloy wheels in the LE version.

The reassuring side panels fa-vour fluid, energetic lines. The de-sign of the front bumper is bolder, with a large lower air intake that broadens towards the base: fog lights set against a gloss black sur-round have the effect of visually widening this lower intake, giving the front a sporty touch.

Finally, wheel arch openings that are two centimetres tighter than on the previous version pro-vide the 2015 Fluence with an even more dynamic allure.

The insides of the headlamp units have been reworked in order to convey a more expressive and more upmarket effect. The head-light module is equipped with a lens, which concentrates the beam of light and ensures superb quality illumination at night. The metal-effect ‘eyelid’ and dark-coloured headlight mask add further depth to New Renault Fluence’s look.

The higher-end equipment levels are distinguished by the addition of a series of gloss black trim features, as well as bright-effect chrome.

High-end technologyThe new Renault Fluence is packed with high-end technolo-gies designed to make driving simpler. The principal instru-ment inside the cabin incorpo-rates a large round LCD screen, the main function of which in-cludes a digital speed display and the white segments around the circumference of the LCD screen indicate the settings of the cruise control and the speed limiter sys-tems. The multimedia functions on the new Renault Fluence in-clude hands free mobile phone connectivity and audio stream-ing music with Bluetooth or with USB / Jack connection.

The Renault Fluence also offers a range of driver-assistance tech-nologies, including the hands-free key card for no-touch locking and unlocking of doors, as well as push-button ignition in LE version. On the higher equipment level, the parking assist system of the new Fluence features four rear-park-ing sensors neatly integrated into the rear bumper. Another intelli-gent feature is the automatic park-ing brake, which applies itself as soon as the ignition is turned off and released once the engine is running again.

Notably, the Renault Fluence is equipped with climate control system that is specially designed to cope with the intense sunlight and high levels of humidity in the Oman market. In addition, an au-tomatic dual-zone climate con-

trol system is offered as standard equipment on the higher-end ver-sion LE.

The Renault Fluence builds on the quality and safety standards of its predecessor. Reliability and durability have been the focus of detailed design work, guaranteed with extreme endurance testing, to meet the specific needs of the Oman market.

From its entry level model, the new Renault Fluence offers ABS with electronic brake force distri-bution, emergency brake assist, three-point front safety belts with pretensioners and load limiters, driver and front passenger air-bags, three-point Isofix child seat anchorage for the outer rear seats and projector headlights. Available as standard or optional, depending on the equipment level, are safety key features such as stability con-trol (ESP) with under steer con-trol, front side airbags, as well as front and rear curtain airbags.

A world class brand SBA is largely committed to sup-porting Renault Oman’s growth in the Sultanate through major emphasis on customer satisfac-tion and by providing world-class after-sales services in Oman. With a national network of more than 80 outlets – showrooms, service centres and parts outlets, SBA has further built upon its legacy of trust, excellent customer service and providing value for money to each of its customers.

Fitted with a new

petrol engine that

is powerful and

dynamic (117hp and

156Nm), Fluence

sparkles with energy

BMW showcases its Vision Car at Las Vegas eventDUBAI: At the Consumer Elec-tronics Show (CES, 6 to 9 Janu-ary 2016) in Las Vegas, the BMW Group is presenting a Vision Car to demonstrate what the interior and the user interface of the fu-ture might look like.

The rapid advance of net-working between driver, vehicle and environment is becoming increasingly intensive and is facilitating new services. One example of new technologies in seamlessly networked vehicles is provided by AirTouch. This fea-ture empowers intuitive control of entertainment, navigation and communication functions using simple gestures made with a flat hand, says a press release.

AirTouch allows the display in a vehicle to be operated like a touchscreen without actually having to make contact with the surface. Sensors record the hand movements in the area between the central console and the inte-rior mirror. This enables drivers or passengers to change the focus on the surface of the large pano-rama display. Simple confirma-tion selects the relevant menu item or activates an icon.

Sensors on the instrument dashboard permit 3D control. One year ago, BMW already pre-sented the new gesture control at the CES. This enables simple movements of a finger to carry out actions such as adjusting the loudness or accepting phone calls. Meanwhile, this technol-ogy is available as BMW Ges-ture Control in the new BMW 7

Series. AirTouch is now taking another big leap forward. Sen-sors are installed in the area of the instrument dashboard which respond to hand movements here and therefore permit three-di-mensional control. A movement of the hand or a gesture activates the surfaces on the large pano-rama display.

AirTouch has another option to confirm an action. A concealed AirTouch button is located on the rim of the steering wheel. It is on the left and easy to reach with the thumb, and it lights up when a menu or icon can be activated. One tap is sufficient to activate the desired program or change a setting. The passenger also has a button like this positioned on the side sill in the door area. Pas-sengers are therefore able to use one hand to navigate through the menu and the other hand to con-firm inputs very quickly.

The intelligent AirTouch menu control reduces the number of steps needed to make a selection. For example, when activating the phone pad, the system automati-cally brings up contacts or call lists to the top select level so that a call can be made with just one further action.

AirTouch recognises which selection and control steps are required next and displays them in advance. This allows the driver to focus all their concentration on the road ahead or offers addi-tional convenient control options when the vehicle is travelling in highly automated mode.

C O N S U M E R E L E C T R O N I C S S H O W

Emirates set to launch second daily service to Los AngelesDUBAI: Emirates announced that it plans to launch a second daily service from Dubai International Airport (DXB) to Los Angeles In-ternational Airport (LAX) on Fri-day July 1.

The second Los Angeles flight will be operated with an Emirates’ Airbus A380-800ULR aircraft in a 3-class configuration with 14 private suites in First class, 76 seats in Business class and 401 seats in Economy class, says a press release.

The new service, flight EK217, will depart Dubai at 3pm and ar-rive in Los Angeles at 8pm. The return flight, EK218, will depart Los Angeles at 10:30pm and arrive in Dubai approximately 16 hours later at 1:30am.

The new service will supple-ment the current EK215 Airbus A380-800 flight departing Dubai at 8:55am and landing in Los Ange-les at 1:55pm. The existing return flight, EK216, departs LAX 4:45pm and arrives in Dubai 7:35pm the following day.

The complementary flight times of Emirates’ new 2nd daily service will serve the growing customer demand for travel between Dubai and the western United States, as well as for those passengers con-necting to Emirates’ vast global network of onwards destinations.

“Our existing service provides $677 million in annual economic benefit to LA and the surrounding area, contributes over $270 mil-lion in annual spending by visi-tors, and helps to support nearly 6,000 US jobs,” said Hubert Frach, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Commercial Opera-tions, West.

“So our additional service to LAX not only doubles our capac-ity to meet demand for our award winning service, but also increases our positive economic impact to the Los Angeles area.”

Los Angeles, California is the 2nd largest city in the United States. Commonly referred to as

the City of Angels, Los Angeles is a global city with a diverse economy in entertainment, culture, media, fashion, science, sports, tech-nology, education, medicine and research. While most often asso-ciated with its world renowned en-tertainment industry, LA is one of the largest manufacturing centres in the western US and supports a thriving aerospace sector as well. In fact, LA County has 56,239 peo-ple employed in the aerospace and defence industry, according to the Los Angeles County Economic De-velopment Corporation.

A major export from Los An-geles is fruits and vegetables and these account for the largest por-tion of Emirates’ cargo exports out of Los Angeles, transported both in the belly hold of the airline’s wide body A380 aircraft as well as through two Emirates Boeing 777-200F freighters each week.

The vast majority of these ex-ports are transported to Dubai and Kuwait. Emirates also facilitates transport of garments, automo-biles, machinery, and agricultural cargo to the Middle East, as well as medical equipment to Mumbai.

“Our new flight will create more choices and shorter connection times for many passengers travel-ling via Dubai and onwards to Los Angeles and surrounding areas,” continued Frach.

“Passengers wishing to travel beyond Los Angeles to nearby destinations in the US can take ad-

vantage of our partnerships with Virgin America and Alaska Air-lines. For example, through Alaska Airlines, passengers can connect from LAX to cities such as Med-ford, Mammoth Lakes, Monterey, Portland, and Santa Rosa.”

More choices and shorter connection timesPassengers travelling to Los An-geles via Dubai from several cit-ies such as Basra, Tehran, Kuwait, Dhaka, Karachi, Sialkot, Delhi, Kolkata, Kochi, Colombo, and Sey-chelles as well as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Bangkok will experi-ence improved connectivity.

Passengers travelling from Los Angeles via Dubai to Lahore, Peshawar, Mumbai, Chennai, Trivandrum, Ahmedabad, Colom-bo, Cape Town and Mauritius, as well as Singapore, Bangkok, and Hong Kong will also experience more choices and shorter connec-tion times.

The new return flight, EK218, that will depart Los Angeles at 10:30pm for Dubai provides sev-eral opportunities for business and leisure travellers.

This later departure time will provide business travellers with a full day in Los Angeles before returning to Dubai in the evening. Leisure travellers will also appre-ciate the full day they have in Los Angeles for sightseeing, shopping, or visiting friends and relatives, before returning to Dubai.

B E T T E R C O N N E C T I V I T Y

Waljat College felicitates its staffMUSCAT: Waljat College of Ap-plied Sciences felicitated its staff members, who completed 10 and 15 years of service by presenting a memento and certificate of recog-nition recently.

The certificates were given in the presence of Dr Zuhoor Abdul-lah Salim Al Khanjari, chairper-son of the Trustee Council, Dr S. L. Gupta, Dean of Waljat College, and M. M. Khan, Tanmay Mehta, Mohammed bin Mirza Al Balushi, Salem Al Bortmany, Saif Al Shme-li, Trustee Council members, says a press release.

The college extended congratu-lations to all on reaching this im-portant service milestone. The loyalty, professionalism and com-mitment of the staff to the success of the college do not go unnoticed.

“The college acknowledges the hard work and dedication, and supports their contribution for its growth and success,” said Dr Zuhoor Abdullah Salim Al Khanjari.

The following staff members have been awarded appreciation and recognition certificates from Omzest. Suleiman Al Harrasi (Library), Suha Mohammed Al Zadjali (Admission & Registra-tion Department), Binu Zachari-ah (IT Support), Dr Sadaf Zahra, Atiya Tabassum (Bio-Technol-ogy Engineering Department), Vijaya P., Sanjay Kumar, Shahid Ali, Vallikannu R. M., Sinymol S. B., Rajshree Deshpande (Com-puter Science and Engineering

Department), Shyam Sunder Purohit, Vikash Sharma (Elec-tronics & Communication En-gineering Department), Smita Prasad (English Department), Mithun Srivastava, Sayeed Aulia (Management Department).

Congratulating the faculty and staff members Dean, Dr Gupta stated, “The sole credit of this success goes to the hard work and dedication of the faculty the other staff members of this college.”

The college presently offers Bachelor of Engineering pro-grammes in Biotechnology, Com-puter Science and Electronics and Communication Engineer-ing, Bachelor of Computer Ap-plications, Bachelor of Business Administration at graduate level and Master of Business Adminis-tration and Executive MBA pro-grammes at post-graduate levels.

Approximately 3,000 students have so far graduated with De-gree, Advanced Diploma and Di-

ploma certificates and are serving with distinction in government and private sectors.

Many of them have made a mark as entrepreneur within and outside the country. WCAS grad-uates have made their presence felt globally by hard work, dedica-tion and high level of competence.

Waljat College of Applied Sci-ences (WCAS), Muscat was established in the year 2001 in academic partnership with Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, India — one of the top Deemed University pursuing academic ex-cellences for more than 60 years.

The vision of the founder, Dr Omar Zawawi was to provide world class academic programmes with international recognition in the field of Engineering, IT and Management in the Sultanate of Oman in order to train and de-velop future leaders in emerging professional areas in tune with the needs of the nation.

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ROUND-UP‘Kia on Tour’ roadshow gets excellent response

MUSCAT: ‘Just Test Drive a Kia and Win a Trip to Australia’ stated an innovative and exciting road-show campaign from Kia, bringing droves of people even closer to its popular models.

The roadshow campaign ended and the grand raffle for ‘Trip to Australia’ was held recently, says a press release.

“The response to our roadshow campaign was very enthusiastic,” the Kia spokesperson confirmed and added that apart from the Aus-tralia trip, there were many other exciting prizes such as Apple iPad Air, Samsung Tab, Wrist Watches, Microwaves, Bluetooth speaker, Power Bank and Kia souvenirs.

Kia’s much awaited annual ‘Kia on Tour’ Roadshow went around Oman covering Salalah (Gardens Mall), Nizwa (Lulu Hypermarket),

Avenues Mall- Muscat and Sohar (Safeer Mall). The latest Kia mod-els were made available for test-drive at all the venues.

Visitors also participated in a ‘Kia QR code Contest’ at the roadshow venues or at the show-rooms for a chance to a Samsung S5 Mini phone. Participants just needed to scan the QR codes and answer 3 simple questions cor-rectly to be able to win Samsung S5 Mini phone.

Simultaneously, there was an-other Kia Quiz contest running on Kia Oman Facebook page, where one needed to just answer 3 simple questions correctly to win online Roumaan vouchers, upto OMR60 every week.

The unbridled response to the roadshow was amply evident in the happy remark by a lucky win-ner, “I am an ardent Kia fan and I often visit the Kia showroom in Wattayah. I got to know about the ‘Kia on Tour’ promotion from their friendly staff and like every year, I made sure that I attended the event. I am lucky this time that I won, as well!”.

Kia’s range of vehicles has built a strong reputation for embracing some of the most advanced tech-nologies and luxury.

Thus allowing customers the privilege of indulging in the future while living in the present. Many of Kia’s class-leading features and technologies have been the subject

of inspiration for many automo-bile manufacturers eager to enjoy a fan base as vast as Kia.

Reliable International Automo-tive (RIA), the distributor for Kia in Oman provides a rewarding ownership experience for custom-ers. Excellent product attributes and unmatched facilities easily ensure their absolute satisfaction, every mile of the way. No wonder then that Reliable International Automotive has been ranked amongst the top Kia distributors worldwide and has been honoured with prestigious accolades includ-ing the ‘Good Partnership award, ‘Family Like Care’ Service award’, and ‘Kia ‘Distributor of Distinc-tion’ award.

The latest Kia models

were made available

for test-drive at all

the venues

Middle East College

GFP admissions

close on January 28

MUSCAT: Admissions and reg-istration processes are going on at the Middle East College for the Spring Semester intake of students to various programmes offered by MEC in Engineering, Science & Technology and Busi-ness Studies.

The Spring 2016 admission to the General Foundation Pro-gramme (GFP) closes on January 28 and the admission to under-graduate programmes closes on February 18, says a press release.

MEC offers 19 programmes in both full time and part time in various specialisations like Civil Engineering, Mechanical En-gineering, Electronics and Tel-ecommunication Engineering, Supply Chain and Logistics, Hu-

man Resources, Software Tech-nology, Multimedia Technology, Database Management Systems to name a few.

Moreover, the college also offers three Postgraduate pro-grammes: MBA IT, MSc IT and MSc Electronic Engineering.

It is worth to be mentioned that MEC always seeks to pro-vide the students with the best student experience through its vibrant campus life, diverse pro-grammes and state-of-the-art fa-cilities. It is affiliated with Coven-try University, UK and University of Wolverhampton, UK and has collaborations with many edu-cational institutions around the world for International Student Exchange programmes.

G E N E R A L F O U N D A T I O N P R O G R A M M E

‘Blood Donation Drive’ held as part of Nissan Oman community initiativesMUSCAT: Nissan from Suhail Bahwan Automobiles concluded their ‘Blood Donation Drive’ in association with the Ministry of Health to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles in Oman across their leading branches in Salalah, Ni-zwa, Sohar and Qurum.

The initiative was part of Nis-san’s commitment towards the community which was a huge success and was supported by an overwhelming response from vol-unteers from the community, says a press release.

SBA, since the past decade, have emerged pioneers in introducing new schemes, programmes and events that keep them at par with current technological advance-ments keeping in mind their moral

social responsibility too. A spokesperson from the min-

istry said, “We were thrilled to see the positive response from the lo-cal community who came forward to support the initiative. The par-ticipants and volunteers from the local community were enthusiastic and supported the drive. The event wouldn’t have been a success with-out the assistance and active par-ticipation from SBA officials.”

A senior SBA official said, “The initiative was an absolute success with over 90 employees, custom-ers and members of the public who participated in the blood donation. As an auto brand, we remain com-mitted to playing an active role in supporting our broader commu-nity in the Sultanate and helping those in need.”

The blood donation drive was in-itiated by the Ministry of Health in response to the increasing need for medical emergency cases and blood disorders such as blood cancer, tha-lassaemia, sickle cell, and anaemia.

Senior SBA official added, “The aim of this blood drive is to con-

tribute to building up the blood stock which is desperately needed when donations drop down due to people being away. It is of critical importance to ensure that people actively think of regular blood do-nations; the process takes a little time and effort, yet, it can abso-

lutely save lives.”SBA has been conducting such

activities which is indicative of its social (moral) presence in Oman. This goes to show that SBA has been successfully growing in oper-ations and is consistently spread-ing its network throughout the Sultanate of Oman.

“Excellence in customer ser-vice can only be fully achieved by having an organisational culture and value system which places the customer at the heart of eve-rything that an organisation and its people do. At Suhail Bahwan Automobiles this philosophy is a way of life. This is reflective of our relentless efforts towards our valued customers whom we provide with some of the best ser-vices all year round,” commented

a key spokesperson from Suhail Bahwan Automobiles.

“When it comes to providing good service, the firms that are able to build strong relationships with their customers are more likely to maintain a solid core of enthusiastic supporters.

“Quickly resolving issues and going beyond customers’ expecta-tions encourages repeat business from patrons, and in many cases, we go further than that. High qual-ity customer service helps to cre-ate customer loyalty. Customers today are not only interested in the product they are being offered, but also all the additional elements of service that they receive starting from the greeting when they enter a retail outlet,” the key spokesper-son opined.

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Bank Sohar supports Al Noor Association

MUSCAT: Within the framework of its corporate social responsibil-ity (CSR) activities and having al-ready supported Muscat, Dhofar and Nizwa branches of the Al Noor Association for the Blind, Bank So-har has now extended its support to the Sohar Branch; marking its fourth contribution to the associa-tion during the year 2015.

This latest donation which was delivered to the association recently, will contribute towards the purchase of Perkins reading systems for its members, says a press release.

The donation cheque was handed over at Bank Sohar branch in Wilayat of Sohar to Mohammed Ismail Al Balushi, chairman Al Noor Associa-tion for the Blinds in Al Batinah and Buraimi Region, by Mazin Mahmood Al Raisi, Sr. AGM &

Head of Marketing and Custom-er Experience at Bank Sohar.

Commenting on the bank’s con-tribution to the association, Mu-nira Abdulnabi Macki, GM of HR and Corporate Support at Bank Sohar said, “As one of the most prominent local banks within the Sultanate, we strongly believe in our capacity to contribute towards the betterment of the lives of those in need within our community. We also aim to ensure that our con-tributions bring about a positive and sustainable change with long term benefits to the community as a whole. By assisting associations

such as the Al Noor Association for the Blind, we can ensure these objectives are met. Their efforts over the years have successfully contributed towards the proper development of the visually im-paired, helping them enhance their vision and thereby granting them access to better opportunities and choices in life.”

Thanking Bank Sohar for its continuous support, Yasser Said Al Zuhli, Board Member at Al Noor Association for Blind, said, “Bank Sohar has been one of our most prominent and consistent supporters since 2009. Their con-

tributions have greatly assisted us in helping people with vision impairments by providing them with the tools to make their jour-ney towards a normal life a little easier. In doing so, several of our members have, over the years, turned their lives around and be-come much more self-sufficient.”

Bank Sohar strives to ensure that its contributions are careful-ly planned and evaluated in order to diversify and reach out to the maximum number of people espe-cially those in most need of it, of-fering recipients positive support and making a meaningful change.

The donation

made to Al Noor

Association for the

Blind in Sohar will

contribute towards

the purchase of

Perkins reading

systems for

its members

McDonald’s introduces new dessert

MUSCAT: Winter has just got a lot sweeter at McDonald’s Oman with the introduction of its all new dessert, CuppaCake.

Irresistibly warm and deli-cious, the new addition to the dessert menu will be available all day long in all stores for a limited time only and will be available until stocks last, says a press release.

CuppaCake offers a delicious treat with its hot chocolate sponge cake, laid on top of a rich hot chocolate sauce, topped off with vanilla ice-cream for a per-fect combination of warm and cool indulgence. The CuppaC-ake is conveniently a portable snack, to be enjoyed via take away or in restaurant dining.

“We strive to offer high qual-ity innovative products that ca-ter to our customers’ tastes and we are thrilled to introduce this special dessert, which is per-fect for winter here in Oman,” said Ali K. Daud, Development Licensee and President of Mc-Donald’s Oman.

N E W A D D I T I O N

AXA Gulf appoints new senior executives DUBAI: AXA Gulf announced the appointment of Cedric Char-pentier as the new Chief Execu-tive Officer for AXA Insurance in the Gulf. He replaces Jerome Droesch, who has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of AXA Partners based in the UK. Cedric Charpentier will report to Jad Ariss, the Chief Executive Officer for AXA Middle East and Africa, says a press release.

AXA Gulf has also announced the appointment Vincent Pluchet who will be assuming an extend-ed role as Chief Financial Officer for AXA Middle East and Africa, reporting to Jad Ariss, as well as continuing his current Gulf Chief Financial Officer responsibilities reporting to Cedric Charpentier.

Furthermore, AXA Gulf has also appointed Franck Heimburg-er as Chief Sales and Distribution

Officer and member of the AXA Gulf Executive Committee, re-porting to Cedric Charpentier.

These appointments came into effect as of January 1, 2016 and are in line with AXA Group’s commitment to investing tal-ented resources in key markets to further strengthen its brand positioning as the leading pro-vider of diversified insurance so-lutions in the region.

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

‘Grihapravesh’ property

expo set to be held on

January 22 and 23

MUSCAT: India Property On-line Pvt. Ltd., is one of India’s leading portal in the online real estate space.

Having redefined property shows in India and top interna-tional destinations like Dubai, Sin-gapore and USA, IndiaProperty.com is all set for its 1st edition of Grihapravesh in Muscat on Janu-ary 22 and 23 at Hotel Al Falaj, Ruwi, says a press release.

Over 50 top builders from In-dia will showcase their projects this year from all the major cities in India like Kerala, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad. There would be some-thing for everyone who wants to buy a house in India – from apart-ments, plots, villas and gated com-munities to projects ranging from INR 3 lakhs to 5 Crore.

Grihapravesh, the property expo conducted by IndiaProperty.com is the most trusted and longest running realty expo in India and abroad. It brings together the best selection of builders and projects under one roof and helps you make the right property buying deci-sion while being far away from the country. For NRIs who are looking to invest in India, Grihapravesh

becomes the crucial link to the best of the realty industry in India. With a lot of positivity surround-ing 2016, it might be the right year to make your dream of buying a home in India a reality.

IndiaProperty.com offers one-stop property marketing solu-tions serving builders, real estate agents and home owners, to sell or rent their properties, while of-fering a feature rich interface for property buyers to search and identify properties that match their requirement.

India Property has pioneered several innovations such as Assist-ed Property - India’s first online assisted buying service, Griha-pravesh - India’s first series of vir-tual and offline property shows, 3D Virtual Tour and India’s first aug-mented reality based Real Estate Mobile Application amongst oth-ers. The portal has over 5 million registered users with over 700,000 property listings and 8000+ build-ers and agents using the platform to market properties.

Founded on the core promise of ‘We get you Home’, they constantly strive to simplify and add value to the property buying experience by providing an end-to-end purchase experience for the buyer.

I N D I A P R O P E R T Y O N L I N E

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Porsche Sport Driving School brings race track theory to life

Times News Service

DUBAI: In every Porsche there is a sports car and at the Porsche Sport Driving School (PSDS), cus-tomers and enthusiasts alike learn more about the capabilities of the two-door and four-door models produced by the Stuttgart-based manufacturer on a race-track.

Managed by certified instruc-tors, PSDS combines the theory of handling a powerful sports car, with the practice of driving in a controlled environment.

Focusing on fine tuning and honing driving skills, the training programme takes a participant through practical sessions start-ing with the basics of vehicle con-trol, right through to mastering the race track and becoming a certified Porsche driver.

Porsche hosted some of the best automobile journalists from the GCC countries for a training at the Dubai Autodrome recently.

Designed to accommodate vary-ing levels of ability and driver needs, PSDS features four course levels: Precision, Performance, Master and Master RS. The Pre-cision stage consists of a one-day course for first time participants, where they are instructed on the basics of driving dynamics and how to respond correctly during critical scenarios. Fundamentals such as effective braking, basic principles of the racing line, lap-

ping, oversteering and understeer-ing are all covered in a range of ex-ercises throughout the day.

The next stage of progression for participants is performance, a course level that aims to further build on improving vehicle control, by introducing the importance of driving dynamics and vehicle control at low and high speeds. Here drivers are also instructed on how to minimise unwanted load-changing reactions.

Conducted in small groups, with performance analysed using video and data recordings, both the Mas-ter and Master RS levels are de-signed to further advance driving skills obtained in earlier stages of the programme. The Master RS phase also includes a workshop covering both theoretical and practical aspects, such as learn-ing about the chassis and tyres in order to successfully transfer the power of a Porsche model to the road in the most efficient manner.

Ensuring that each participant

is able to extract every aspect of driving pleasure on offer, the PSDS instructor team consists of industry-leading experts who are constantly involved in the test-ing, racing and development of the Porsche’s sports cars.

Each course features a mini-mum of two instructors, advising,

monitoring and optimising the learning experience.

Porsche driver training modules take place on race tracks around the world, an environment where thanks to the brand’s unrivalled racing heritage and technology transfer philosophy – a process where technology developed on

the race track is implemented into its road legal sports cars – the brand’s sports cars are at home. Whether sitting behind the wheel of a two-door or four-door model, attendees are able to experience the technologies that make Por-sche models true race-track per-formers. For example, the Porsche

Doppelkupplung (PDK) – originat-ing from advancements in the Por-sche 956 race car, in 1984 and first debuted in the 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera sport car — is transmis-sion technology which is available in the majority of models today.

When utilised on a race track, it enables the driver to maximise gear change opportunities when-ever required, ensuring that the car’s performance is always at the optimum level.

Participants have the option of renting or bringing their own Por-sche vehicle to the event, regard-less of whether it is a two or four-door sports car.

For instance, the sporty Cay-enne GTS with a 3.6-litre, V6 bi-turbo engine, which produces 440 hp and 600 Nm of torque, truly showcases during a PSDS that eve-ry Porsche is indeed a sports car.

Participants wishing to enrol on a PSDS course should con-tact their local Porsche Centre for details.

Porsche hosted

some of the

best automobile

journalists from the

GCC countries for a

training at the Dubai

Autodrome recently

Huawei launches Mate 8 Smartphone DUBAI: The Huawei Con-sumer Business Group glob-ally launched the Huawei Mate 8 smartphone, a productivity-driven device with significantly enhanced power, efficiency and battery life at Consumer Elec-tronics Show (CES) 2016.

The Mate 8 continues Huawei’s track record of delivering high-end devices that reflect global con-sumer demand and inspire loyalty

in their users, says a press release. Featuring the most powerful

chipset, a high-capacity battery and stylish design – including a unique mocha brown colour op-tion – the Huawei Mate 8 is the ideal smartphone for today’s on-the-go professional.

The Mate 8 is designed from the ground-up for productiv-ity and its hardware and software have been fine-tuned to provide

an elegant, efficient experience. “With the Mate 8, we have de-

livered a device that meets the needs of a new style of business. With this fast, impeccably de-signed smartphone, users can work more efficiently and free up valuable time to spend with friends, family and on personal pursuits,” said Kevin Ho, presi-dent, Handset Business, Huawei Consumer BG.

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PREPARINGFOR THE FLU SEASON

Azarenka sounds Australian Open warning with Brisbane triumph

BRISBANE: Victoria Azarenka displayed the form that could lead her to a hat-trick of Australian Open titles this month by brushing aside German fourth seed Angel-ique Kerber 6-3, 6-1 in the Brisbane International final on Saturday.

The former world No. 1 has been plagued by injury over the last two years but, now ranked 22nd, she showed little sign of rust on her way to a second Brisbane crown.

The Belarusian dropped 17 games over five matches during the tournament to claim her first title since the Cincinnati Masters in August 2013.

The 26-year-old, who won her maiden Brisbane title in 2009, took control of the match against world No. 10 Kerber after an early trade of breaks and peppered the court with her powerful groundstrokes.

“I’m not sure I feel relief,” Azaren-ka told reporters.

“I wanted to win the title, but I didn’t feel, if this doesn’t happen the world is going to end. I just feel re-ally excited and happy that I’m doing the right things. I’m excited to keep working hard.

“It just gives extra motivation to keep working hard and achieve better things.”

Kerber, the highest seed left after the withdrawals of Maria Shara-pova, Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza, had three break points

in the opening game of the sec-ond set but once Azarenka fended them off, she did not look back.

“I don’t know, but for me it’s al-ways tough to play against her,”

Kerber said after her sixth loss against Azarenka. I hope one day will come where I can beat her.

“Vika was the better player to-day, that’s all that I can say.”

Azarenka won back-to-back Aus-tralian Open titles in 2012 and 2013 and has reached the U.S. Open final twice, losing both to world No. 1 Serena Williams. - Reuters

The Belarusian

dropped 17

games over five

matches during the

tournament to claim

her first title since the

Cincinnati Masters in

August 2013

SECOND CROWN: Victoria Azarenka of Belarus celebrates with the

winner’s trophy after defeating Angelique Kerber of Germany in the

women’s singles final at the Brisbane International tennis tourna-

ment in Brisbane on Saturday. – Reuters

BRISBANE: The world’s top women tennis pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis started the New Year on a brilliant note by clinching the women’s doubles title of the $1 million Brisbane International at the Queensland Tennis Centre here on Saturday.

The top seeded pair took just an hour and 10 minutes to beat German wild card pair of Angelique Kerber, who lost the women’s singles final earlier in the day to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, and Andrea Petkovic 7-5, 6-1 at the Pat Rafter Arena.

This is the Indo-Swiss pair’s 26th win in a row and the first title of 2016. They have now won six titles on the trot — the longest winning streak in the category since the 1994 season when Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva were on a 28 match-winning streak.

Also, this is the 29-year-old Sania’s second victory here after partnering American Bethanie Mattek-Sands all the way to the title in 2013 while Martina was the defending champion, having sealed the crown with German Sabine Lisicki last year.

The world’s top ranked com-bine took off well by breaking their opponents in the second game to go 2-0 up. But the wild card pair fought well and broke Sania and Martina twice to take a 4-2 lead. The first set turned out to be quite topsy-turvy with both pairs regu-

larly failing to hold on to their service games. However, Sania and Martina first levelled the score at 4-all and then won on their serve to take a 5-4 lead one more time in the set.

Serving at 5-6 down and try-ing to push the set into the tie-breaker, Angelique and Andrea failed to do so with the top seeds taking the set in 46 minutes.

Unlike the vigorously fought first set, the second one turned out to be more or less a walko-ver with Sania and Martina racing away to a 5-0 lead.

The German girls somehow managed to win the sixth game on their serve but it was a little too late as the Indo-Swiss pair clinched the crown with ease in the next few minutes. - IANS

Sania, Martina start 2016 with title win

SIX ON THE TROT: India’s Sania Mirza, left, Switzerland’s

Martina Hingis celebrate the trophy after defeating Germa-

ny’s Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic in their women’s

doubles final match at the Brisbane International in

Brisbane on Saturday. – AFP

Kyrgios helps Australia Green lift Hopman CupPERTH: Nick Kyrgios continued his impressive run of form ahead of this month’s Australian Open by powering the host nation to the mixed team Hopman Cup title against Ukraine in Perth on Sat-urday. Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilo-va, playing for Australia Green, one of two teams representing the host nation, won their singles matches in straight sets against Alexandr Dolgopolov and Elina Svitolina respectively.

Kyrgios, who defeated world No. 2 Briton Andy Murray during his

four-match winning run this week, brushed aside the challenge from Dolgopolov 6-3, 6-4 after the 36th ranked Gavrilova had opened with a 6-4, 7-6 (6) win over Svitolina.

Australia’s only previous Hop-man Cup title came in 1999 while the last time they reached the final was 13 years ago.

The victories at the Perth tour-nament will boost the confidence of world No. 30 Kyrgios as he prepares for the first Grand Slam of the season beginning in Mel-bourne on January 18.

The 20-year-old took the first set against Dolgopolov in 26 min-utes before an early break in the second allowed him to cruise to victory. Kyrgios dedicated the win to Australian coach Darren Tandy, who died last month of co-lon cancer.

“It means a lot. It’s my first real title that I’ve won,” Kyrgios said.

“It’s the perfect way to start off the year. I haven’t lost a match yet. I’m riding a lot of confidence going into the Aussie summer. I’m just really happy.” - Reuters

T E N N I S

IMPRESSIVE SHOW: Nick Kyrgios, right, and Daria Gavrilova of the Australia Green team celebrate. – AFP

Radwanska triumphs in Shenzhen

Djokovic routs Nadal in Doha final

SHENZHEN: Poland’s Ag-nieszka Radwanska celebrated her rise to the top four of the world rankings with a 6-3, 6-2 thumping of Alison Riske in the Shenzhen Open final on Satur-day, her 18th WTA career title.

Radwanska had ensured she will replace Russian world No. 4 Maria Sharapova in Monday’s rankings by reaching the final of the tournament in China and backed that up with a routine win over her American opponent.

The former world No. 2 will now head to Sydney for her final warmup before the first Grand Slam of the season. “It’s the be-ginning of the year, so we’re all fresh compared to the end of the year. I’m feeling good,” the 26-year-old added. - Reuters

DOHA: Novak Djokovic moved ahead for the first time in his long-running rivalry with Ra-fael Nadal when the world No. 1 thrashed the Spaniard to win the Qatar Open in Doha on Saturday.

Serbian Djokovic, appearing in his 16th consecutive final, won 6-1, 6-2 in little more than an hour and now has 24 career wins over Nadal, compared to 23 for the former world No. 1.

Djokovic dominated the 2015 season, winning three of the year’s four Grand Slams, and looks in the groove in the build-up to this month’s Australian Open.

Nadal has now lost nine of his last 10 matches against Djoko-vic in what is the most prolific rivalry in men’t tennis in the professional era. - Reuters

S H E N Z H E N O P E NQ A T A R O P E N

Spirited Stephens bags Auckland title as Melbourne tourney loomsAUCKLAND: Sloane Stephens ground down unseeded German Ju-lia Goerges 7-5, 6-2 to win the Auck-land Classic on Saturday, the Ameri-can ending a busy day at the office with a confidence-boosting triumph ahead of the Australian Open.

The world No. 30, a former semifinalist at Melbourne Park, secured her second WTA title, having made her long-awaited breakthrough at Washington in August. Although she overpow-ered the German in a dominant second set, Stephens was made to work hard for the title, needing to first wrap up her rain-interrupted semifinal with former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 7-6 (3) earlier on Saturday.

Their semifinal was suspended the previous evening with fifth

seed Stephens leading 5-2 in the first set. Stephens quickly sealed the opener upon resumption be-fore prevailing in a second-set dog fight on a windswept centre court

to set the platform for her triumph later in the day.

“You can never prepare for play-ing a set and then rain, then finish-ing the match the next morning

and coming back again in the after-noon,” Stephens. “You just have to keep going and do your best.”

The American, who stunned compatriot Serena Williams on her way to the Australian Open last four in 2013, was naturally delight-ed to claim an early-season title tri-umph ahead of the first grand slam of the season starting on Jan. 18.

“We have a really long season -- I have to play all the way until Octo-ber — so to win a tournament in the first week of the year is amazing,” said Stephens, who later pulled out of next week’s Hobart Internation-al with a viral illness.

“But I’m going to have many more opportunities throughout the year, and I’m looking forward to all of them. It’s easier to look at it that way.” - Reuters

T E N N I S

SECOND WTA TITLE: Sloane Stephens

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Indian bowlers star in win over Western Australia XI

PERTH: Rohit Sharma and Man-ish Pandey sparkled with half cen-turies but rest of India’s batsmen put up a lacklustre performance before the bowlers came good to hand the team a 64-run win over a second string Western Australia XI in the warm-up one-day cricket match on Saturday.

Having won the first practice Twenty20, the Indians once again managed to hit the right notes in bowling after an erratic batting performance at the WACA. After managing 249 all out in 49.1 overs, the Indians packed WA XI for 185 in 49.2 overs.

Electing to bat, the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side did not have the best of starts, losing two quick wickets but Rohit Sharma (67)

and Ajinkya Rahane (41) stitched an 88-run third-wicket partner-ship to help the visitors put up a respectable score.

Shikhar Dhawan (4) and Virat Kohli (7), who were top- scorers in the first warm-up T20 game on Friday, failed to get going as they fell to new-ball bowler Drew Por-ter, who bagged a five-wicket haul.

The WA bowlers kept pegging things back with regular wickets

and Rahane’s departure once again spelt trouble for the Men in Blue.

Pandey then put his hand up to contribute with a well-made 58 and stake his claim for a place in the middle-order in the absence of Suresh Raina.

Pandey, who hit three fours in his 59-ball stay, managed a 60-run seventh-wicket partnership with Ravindra Jadeja (26) to pace up the innings.

But the tail failed to wag and Rishi Dhawan’s (0) run-out didn’t help matters and the visitors could not last their full quota of 50 overs.

Porter (5-37) made life difficult for the Indian batsmen on a fast and bouncy track while leg-spinner James Muirhead chipped in with two scalps. Pace spearhead Da-vid Moody and leg-spinner Liam O’Connor bagged a wicket apiece.

In reply, the William Bosisto-

led side started on a cautious note against a disciplined Indian attack led by Umesh Yadav (one for 29), but soon hit a rough patch after losing a couple of wickets.

Yadav drew first blood with the wicket of Bosisto (13) and Ravi-chandran Ashwin (two for 32) soon sprung into action to send back D’Arcy Short (10).

Ravindra Jadeja (two for 38) and Rishi Dhawan (two for 28) also struck in quick succession as WA soon started losing their way. Jadeja trapped opener Jake Carder lbw for 45.

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel (two for 29) got wicketkeeper-batsman Josh Inglis for 17, while Ashwin struck again to get Porter (10) caught behind.

Jaron Morgan, No.7 batsma, made a fighting 50, but his innings came too late in the day with the asking rate and the target beyond their reach.

Jadeja, Patel and Gurkeerat Singh then bagged a wicket each to wipe off the tail.

Both the teams were allowed to play all 14 members of their squad in the 50-over game with only 11 allowed to bat and field at a time.

The first of the five One-day In-ternationals (ODIs) starts January 12 at the same venue. - PTI

After managing 249

all out in 49.1 overs,

the Indians packed

Western Australia XI

for 185 in 49.2 overs

BOWLERS TO THE RESCUE: India’s Ravichandran Ashwin, centre, celebrates with teammates after dismissing Western Australia’s Darcy Short during their warm-up one-day match in Perth on Saturday. – AFP

PERTH: Pacer Mohammed Shami was on Saturday ruled out of India’s limited-overs cricket series against Australia due to a hamstring injury and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will replace him for the ODIs and Twenty20s starting here on January 12.

“The BCCI medical team confirms that Mohammed Sha-mi has been ruled out of India’s tour of Australia due to injury. He sustained a Grade II injury

to his left hamstring, which will restrict him from playing active cricket for about four to six weeks,” BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur said in a statement.

“The All-India Senior Selec-tion Committee has named Bhuvneshwar Kumar as the replacement, who will join the team tomorrow,” he added.

Shami sustained the injury during a training session be-fore the warm-up Twenty20 game against Western Aus-

tralia. The latest breakdown is a massive setback for Shami, who had returned to the side after being sidelined for nine months owing to injuries.

It can be considered a lucky break for Bhuvneshwar, who was dropped following a poor home series against South Af-rica last year. The 25-year-old had claimed his seven wickets from five matches at an aver-age of 49.57 and an economy rate of 7.13. - PTI

Injured Shami ruled out, Bhuvneshwar in

Stokes better than I was at 24, says BothamLONDON: Former England all-rounder Ian Botham has hailed current international Ben Stokes’ talent and said that he feels the youngster is better than what he was at 24.

Stokes broke Botham’s record and scored the quickest Test dou-ble century by an England player in the second game at Cape Town during the ongoing series against South Africa, bringing up his 200 in just 163 balls. He was eventually run out on 258 off 198 deliveries in England’s first innings during that drawn Test. It was the quickest ever score of 250 in Test cricket.

Botham held the earlier English record, reaching his double cen-tury in 220 balls in the third Test against India at The Oval in 1982.

Lot to achieveStokes’s innings was also the sec-ond fastest double century in Test cricket history, with former New Zealand opener Nathan Astle heading the list. Astle had reached his double century off 153 balls against England in 2002.

Statistically, however, Stokes has a lot to achieve still, to match Botham. By the time Botham was 25 he had taken 14 five-fors and

scored six Test hundreds. To top it all he was the skipper of the side.

But Botham thinks otherwise.“Ben Stokes could open the

bowling like Fred did and will get more five-fors. He is probably bet-ter as a player, full stop. As a player he’s probably better than I was at 24, I don’t know. He’d certainly be up there,” Botham was quoted as saying by the British media.

“What I did was yesterday’s news, what he did is today’s news.”

The 60-year-old said the young all-rounder is getting better with time in all three departments of the game.

A massive fan“He is not a jack of all trades and master of none. He is actually probably master of the three most important assets you need: batting, bowling and fielding,” Botham said.

“His bowling can only get bet-ter. He has all the attributes: he has pace; he can swing the ball; he can reverse it; he can bowl or-thodox. And he is terrific fielder close to the bat, in the covers or midwicket, backward point, on the boundary.”

Botham says he has no resent-ment that his record was over-hauled. “I held that record for 33

years, so it was about time it got broken,” Botham said.

“I enjoyed watching Ben Stokes. I have been a massive fan of his since I first saw him on the inter-national scene. I think he has got tremendous, enormous potential to go all the way,” he added.

“That was one of those moments when you can just say ‘I was there’. When you think back to Head-ingley ‘81, I know there were only about 10,000 people in the ground but I have met three-and-a-half million who say they were.

“Well, I was there for Ben Stokes.” - IANS

C R I C K E T

Shakib returns to training after time with family in US

F1’s first ever female driver passes away

DHAKA: Bangladesh cricketer Shakib Al Hasan has returned to the country after spending some quality time with his fam-ily in the United States.

The all-rounder was supposed to return on January 9 but flew back on Wednesday night and practiced at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Thursday, reports bdnews24.com.

Shakib’s sabbatical started after the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) when he attend-ed to some commitments here before flying to the U.S. on De-cember 28.

His wife Umme Ahmed Sh-ishir had given birth to a daugh-ter, their first child, at a hospital in New York in November last year during Zimbabwe’s limited overs series against Bangladesh.

He flew to the U.S. immedi-ately after getting the news of Shishir’s admission to hospital and received the news of his daughter’s birth on the way. He then came back for the BPL.

Shakib was in a lighter mood as he spoke to journalists about his daughter, Alaina Hasan Abri, who is about two months old now.

“I had never been too close to children before. But this baby girl was with me, sleeping on my chest. Doing the little things for my daughter felt good in a different way,” he said on Friday.

Shakib also surprised his wife on her birthday with a tour of New York on a helicopter. “Trav-elled a lot, had a blast. The vaca-tion was great.” - IANS

ROME: Maria Teresa de Filip-pis, best known as Formula One’s first ever female driver, passed away at the age of 89 on Saturday.

The Italian started in three Grands Prix in 1958 with her only finish coming at her de-but at Spa in Belgium where she was the last classified fin-isher in 10th. Earlier that year she had failed to qualify her Maserati 250F in Monaco and again failed to make the grid a year later for Porsche, reports autosport.com.

De Filippis walked away from the sport following the death of her team owner Jean Behra lat-er that year, saying in an inter-view to The Observer in 2006: “Too many friends had died.”

Her introduction to racing came as a result of a bet between her brothers over how fast she could drive which resulted in her entering — and winning — her first event in a Fiat 500. De Filippis said men were initially doubtful of her ability, although the only time she experienced true prejudice came in France.

“The race director said ‘the only helmet a woman should wear is the one at the hairdress-er’s’ — that was the only time I was prevented from racing. Apart from that I don’t think I encountered any prejudice — only surprise at my success,” she told The Observer.

After starting a family, de Filippis returned to motorsports when she accepted an invita-tion in 1979 to join the Club Internationale des Anciens Pilotes de Grand Prix F1 for re-tired drivers. - IANS

C R I C K E T

M O T O R S P O R T

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Enhance ease to victory over Sinha

MUSCAT: Enhance CT eased to a seven-wicket victory over Sinha in a Muscat Pharmacy and Stores-sponsored Premier Division match at the MOS Ground during the morning session on Friday.

Batting first, Sinha were bowled out for 126 in 29.2 overs. Nalinda scored 26 while Dhammika made 21. Zafar Iqbal claimed four wick-ets while Fayaz and Nester bagged two scalps each for Enhance.

In reply, Enhance batted for 23.2 overs to score 127 for three and

claim the bonus point too. Ravi Baradkane and Khawar Ali scored 39 runs each. Niluka Dilshan claimed two scalps for Sinha.

Brief scores: Sinha CT 126 in 29.2 overs (Nalinda 26; Zafar Iqbal 4/9) lost to Enhance CT 127 for 3 in 23.2 overs (Ravi B. 39, Khawar Ali 39; Niluka Dilshan 2/12). Points: Enhance CT - 3, Sinha CT – 0.

Renaissance beat Al AmeratIn a Khimji Ramdas-sponsored A Division match, Renaissance

scored a seven-wicket victory over OCT Al Amerat at the Municipal-ity Ground I during the morning session on Friday.

Batting first, OCT Al Amerat were all out for 113 in 24.2 overs. Abdul Aziz top scored with 32

runs. Asmeer claimed four wickets for Renaissance.

In reply, Renaissance raced to 115 for three in 11.4 overs to claim the bonus point victory. Jahanzer and Waruna top scored with 43 and 32 runs respectively.

Brief scores: OCT Al Amerat 113 in 24.2 overs (Abdul Aziz 32; Asmeer 4/35) lost to Renaissance 115 for 3 in 11.4 overs (Jahanzer 43, Waruna 32; Nasser 2/38). Points: Renaissance – 3, Al Amerat – 0.

Uday Khimji down PDO In an Al Ansari Group of Compa-nies-sponsored B Division match, Uday Khimji defeated PDO by four wickets at the Municipality Ground II during the morning ses-sion on Friday.

Batting first, PDO put on 177 for the loss of four wickets in 20 overs. Abdul Naveed scored a brilliant un-beaten 121.

Faraz Ahmed claimed three wickets for Uday Khimji.

In reply, Uday Khimji scored 178 for six in 19.2 overs with Adil Abbas top scoring with 50. Shoab Mohammed and Manoj chipped in with 35 and 33 not out respectively.

Brief scores: PDO 177 for 4 in 20 overs (Abdul Naveed 121 n.o; Faraz

Ahmed 3/29) lost to Uday Khimji 178 for 6 in 19.2 overs (Adil Abbas 50; Zahir Khan 2/28). Points: Uday Khimji – 2, PDO - 0.

Al Mardhuf Shopping winIn a Raha Poly Products-spon-sored C Division match, Al Mardhuf defeated Oordedoo B by six wickets at the Municipal-ity Ground III during the morning session on Friday.

Batting first, Ooredoo B put on 145 for six in 20 overs. Gaurav top scored with 52. Vijay claimed two wickets for Al Mardhuf.

Al Mardhuf completed their bo-nus point victory by scoring 146 for four in 15.2 overs. Noushad and Vishal top scored with 36 and 34 runs respectively. Vinod claimed three scalps for Ooredoo.

Brief scores: Ooredoo B 145 for 6 in 20 overs (Gaurav 52; Vijay 2/17) lost to Al Mardhuf 146 for 4 in 15.2 overs (Noushad 36, Vishal 34; Vinod 2/21). Points: Al Mardhuf – 3, Ooredoo B – 0.

Batting first, Sinha were bowled out

for 126 in 29.2 overs. In reply, Enhance

reachedtheir target in 23.2 overs scoring

127 for the loss of three wickets

RENAISSANC STARS: Asmeer, left, and Waruna. – Supplied photos

PREMIER DIVISION: Enhance CT pose for a group photo after their victory over Sinha. – Supplied photo C DIVISION: Al Mardhuf Shopping celebrate after their victory over Ooredoo B. – Supplied photo

NAPCO to host second Men’s Tradition Golf tourneyMOBIN MATHEW BLESSON mobinmathew@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: National Aluminium Products Company (NAPCO), one of the leading extruders of alumin-ium profiles in the GCC, is all set to organise the NAPCO Men’s Tradi-tion Golf Tournament.

The event will take place at the Muscat Hills Golf and Country Club on February 11 and 12 with a gala dinner and prize giving scheduled for the evening of the second day.

A two-man team can participate in the event. It has two different formats and will be played over two days. As the name indicates only men are eligible to play in the event.

“We want to establish this event as a tradition in Oman,” said Rob-ert Holtkamp, CEO of NAPCO told Times of Oman.

Key players from the various industries like construction, oil and gas, banking and automobile industries will attend the event. None of them are professionals.

Speaking about how the game of golf has been added to the cor-porate calendar of NAPCO, the CEO said: “Golf is usually part of the corporate sporting calendar for most big companies and it is no different for us. Key industry figures usually play golf so this is a good way to get everyone together.”

The format makes this event dif-ferent from the other corporate golf-ing events. The two formats are 2 man scramble and 2 man betterball.

“There is no other tournament in Oman like this. We raise the bar by bringing in top support partners that assist in making this a suc-cessful golf event,” Robert said.

According to him the first edi-

tion of the event was a great suc-cess. More than 100 players ex-hibited their skill in the two-day event, which offered exciting hole-in-one prizes like a Harley David-son motorcycle and First Class tickets to London.

“The success of the inaugural tournament has prompted us to organise this year’s edition; many of the players said it was one of the best ones they had ever played.” CEO said.

“As we promised last year, excit-ing prizes are waiting for the local golfing community,” he added.

Speaking about the prizes, Rob-ert said: “There is a major differ-ence in the hole-in-one prizes. In the first year we had a Harley

Davidson as a hole in one prize on hole 3 which had never been done before in Oman. In 2016, we will have an Infiniti Q50 sedan plus a Harley Davidson on two separate holes as hole-in-one prizes. No other tournament in Oman does it like this.”

He is also happy to organise the Men’s Tradition at the Muscat Hills Golf & Country Club because of its service and its infrastructure.

“It is the ideal place for the golf event,” Robert said.

This year NAPCO is expecting a participation of more than 110 players.

Other than the Men’s Tradition, NAPCO is also organising a Mixed Doubles Golf Tournaments at the

Muscat Hills Golf and Country Club every month.

The monthly tournaments, which last till May this year, are the first golf events to be held Oman that feature mixed teams of men and women golfers playing as teams.

NAPCO has introduced the con-cept of Mixed Doubles in golf with an aim to get more women to get involved in sport.

Robert Holtkamp, CEO of NAPCO, said: “This format will promote the development of the game in the country. Aside from providing amateur golfers with a platform to display their talent, it will encourage women golfers to improve their game.”

Oman Air, Infiniti, Harley Da-vidson, Millennium Hotel Resort Al Musannah, Tanuf Water, Zainal Baqer Mohebi Cigars, Oman Sail and Gloria Jeans Coffee are the official partners of the second edition of Men’s Tradition. “This event will not be possible without their support,” Robert said.

He thanked each of them for the support.

NAPCO also support Sami Al Saidi, a prominent Omani mara-thon runner, in his global mara-thon races.

NAPCO also contributes to the activities of Dar Al Atta and other welfare associations like Oman Cancer Association and Oman As-sociation for Disabled.

O M A N G O L F

A GRAND SUCCESS: A file of photo shows participants and winners posing for a group photo at the end of the first edition of NAPCO Men’s

Tradition Golf Tournament. – Supplied photo

The success of the

inaugural tournament

has prompted us to

organise this year’s

edition. Many of the

players said it was one

of the best ones they

had ever played

Robert HoltkampCEO, NAPCO

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FIFA ethics panel tells Blatter, Platini why they were bannedZURICH: FIFA’s ethics panel said on Saturday it had formally given outgoing President Sepp Blatter and European soccer head Michel Platini the reasons for their eight-year bans from the game, information both men could use in an appeal.

Blatter and Platini were banned last month amid the worst cor-ruption scandal in the history of world soccer’s governing body.

“After receiving the grounds for the decisions, both officials may lodge an appeal with the FIFA Ap-peal Committee,” the adjudicatory chamber of the ethics committee said in a statement, without giving details on the information it sent.

A lawyer for Platini, suspended head of European soccer body UEFA, said he would appeal.

Platini withdrew from the race to succeed Blatter this week..

“We will immediately lodge an appeal with the FIFA appeal com-mittee, before going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport as soon as possible,” Platini lawyer Thibaud d’Ales said in Paris.

He added that “the FIFA appeal committee being a FIFA body, we do not have high hopes that making an appeal there will change things”.

Platini had initially been seen as the favourite to replace Blatter in the February 26 election.

D’Ales said FIFA had now com-pletely dropped accusations of corruption and only talks about “a possible conflict of interest and lack of loyalty”. “We will fight these arguments strongly.”

Blatter and Platini were both banned over a payment of 2 mil-

lion Swiss francs ($2 million) made to the Frenchman by FIFA with Blatter’s approval in 2011 for work done a decade earlier.

The committee said the pay-ment, made at a time when Blatter was seeking re-election, lacked transparency and presented con-

flicts of interest, though both men denied wrongdoing.

The sport faces criminal in-vestigations in Switzerland and the United States, where 41 soc-cer officials and sports entities have been indicted on corruption charges. - Reuters

F O O T B A L L

A lawyer of Platini said ‘we will immediately lodge an appeal with the FIFA appeal committee, before going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport as soon as possible’

Eastleigh denied FA Cup shock, Arsenal progress

LONDON: Minor league East-leigh suffered FA Cup heartbreak when they conceded a late equal-iser to four-time winners Bolton Wanderers on a gluepot pitch at

their snug Ten Acres ground on Saturday. The Hampshire part-timers were on the verge of caus-ing the day’s big shock when they led through Dorian Dervite’s own

goal but debt-ridden Champion-ship side Bolton levelled three minutes from time through Dar-ren Pratley to set up a replay.

On a day of 25 ties, holders Ar-senal, bidding to become the first club to win the trophy three times in succession since Blackburn Rovers in the 19th century, came from goal down to beat Premier League strugglers Sunderland 3-1.

Manchester City and Everton also made it through to the fourth round, City winning 3-0 at Nor-wich City in one of four all top-flight clashes and Everton ending the hopes of fourth- tier Dagen-ham and Redbridge with a 2-0 win at Goodison Park.

League two (fourth tier) Wy-combe Wanderers made sure their name will be in the hat for

the fourth round with a 1-1 draw at home to the Premier League’s bot-tom club Aston Villa who have now gone 16 matches without a win.

Hartlepool, also representing the fourth tier, took the lead against former English champions Derby County but lost 2-1 while Ports-mouth, FA Cup winners in 2008 but now floundering in League Two, earned a 2-2 draw at Champi-onship club Ipswich Town.

Watford beat Premier League rivals Newcastle United 1-0, Crys-tal Palace overcame Southampton 2-1 and West Ham United edged past Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 at Upton Park. Premier League West Bromwich Albion needed a last-minute equaliser to steal a 2-2 draw at home to Championship side Bristol City. - Reuters

Eastleigh were on the verge of causing

the day’s big shock when they led through

Dorian Dervite’s own goal but debt-ridden

Championship side Bolton levelled three

minutes from time through Darren Pratley

to set up a replay

COME-FROM-BEHIND WIN: Olivier Giroud scores Arsenal’s third goal during their FA Cup third round match against Sunderland at Emir-ates Stadium in London on Saturday. – Reuters

Messi treble lifts Barca to the top

‘Ronaldo’s going nowhere’

MADRID: Lionel Messi netted his first hat-trick in 10 months as Barcelona swept aside strug-gling Granada 4-0 to climb above Atletico Madrid to the top of La Liga on Saturday.

Arda Turan, making his La Liga debut for the Spanish and Euro-pean champions, set Messi up to score the opening goal from close range in the eighth minute at the Nou Camp.

The Argentina forward, who missed two months at the end of last year with a knee injury, made it 2-0 six minutes later from a clever Luis Suarez assist and a dominant Barca wasted several chances before halftime. Grana-

da saw more of the ball at the start of the second half before Messi completed his treble in the 58th minute after Neymar’s shot came back off a post, ending his longest hat-trick drought in six years.

Neymar added a fourth goal seven minutes from time when Messi, who was in an offside po-sition, let the ball run through to the Brazilian and he lifted it over Granada goalkeeper Andres Fer-nandez into the roof of the net.

Barca, who have a game in hand over their main rivals, lead on 42 points, with Atletico a point behind in second ahead of their game at fifth-placed Celta Vigo on Sunday. - Reuters

MADRID: Real Madrid’s new manager Zinedine Zidane has said that his side’s star forward Cristiano Ronaldo will not be leaving the club any time soon.

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal had said a few months back that he wanted to have Ronaldo back at Old Traf-ford where he had played from 2003-2009.

“Cristiano is more than non-transferable,” Zidane was quoted as saying by the BBC on Friday. “He is the soul of the team. He’s going nowhere.”

In November last year, van Gaal had said: “We are looking at all players, not just Ronaldo. But these players are mostly un-get-table. “With Ronaldo, let’s wait and hope.” - IANS

L A L I G A

F O O T B A L L

HAT-TRICK: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, right, Neymar celebrate during La Liga match against Granada at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on Saturday. – AFP

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

HealthSECTIONC L I F E S T Y L E S U N DAY, JA N UA RY 1 0, 2 0 1 6

Winter is the season for colds and flu and this is the time of the year

when infections tend to become prevalent. According to Dr Ramez Albakouni, Internal Medicine; He-matology; and Oncology Special-ist, at KIMS Oman Hospital, flu season is an annually recurring time period characterised by the prevalence of outbreaks of influ-enza (flu). The season occurs dur-ing the cold half of the year in each hemisphere.

“Influenza activity can some-times be predicted and even tracked geographically. While the beginning of major flu activity in each season varies by location, in any specific location these mi-nor epidemics usually take about three weeks to peak and another three weeks to significantly di-minish, he said.

In the United States, the flu sea-son is considered October through May. It usually peaks in February. In Australia, the flu season is con-sidered May to October. It usually peaks in August.

Flu seasons also exist in the tropics and subtropics, but are usually less sharply defined. In Hong Kong, which has a humid

subtropical climate, the flu season runs from December to March, in the winter and early spring.

During this season, colds are picked up by the virus getting from one person to the next. This can be simply by someone coughing or sneezing in your face, but a lit-tle known fact is that germs can be spread via hand contact — some-one with a cold puts the virus on to their hands (while sneezing, coughing or using a tissue) and then transfers the virus to a sur-face (such as a desk, a keyboard, and a surface on the train) which is then picked up by someone else.

But a regular case of flu usu-ally resolves itself in three to seven days, though symptoms like a cough and fatigue may linger longer. Dr Ramez explains that most people with flu have mild ill-ness and do not need medical care or antiviral drugs. If you get sick with flu symptoms, in most cases, you should stay home and avoid contact with other people except to get medical care.

If, however, you have symptoms of flu and are in a high risk group, or are very sick or worried about your illness, contact your health care provider.

Certain people are at high risk of serious flu-related complications (young children, people aged 65

and above, pregnant women and people with certain medical con-ditions like diabetes and patients who receive any kind of chemo-therapy or immunosuppressants) and this is true both for seasonal flu and novel flu virus infections, he said. Dr Ramez advises to avoid close contact with people who you doubt have flu or cold. Staying at home when you are sick and tak-ing enough rest is always a better option if you are infected.

Covering mouth and nose, clean hands regularly, avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth are good ways to resist the illness. Clean and dis-infect frequently touched surfaces at home, work or school, especially when someone is ill.

Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food, Dr Ramez adds.

Cold or flu?It’s important to know the dif-ference between flu and cold symptoms. A cold is a milder res-piratory illness than the flu. While cold symptoms can make you feel bad for a few days, flu symptoms can make you feel quite ill for a few days to weeks. The flu can also result in serious health problems such as pneumonia.shafeeq@timesofoman.com

EASING FLU SYMPTOMS1. Stay home and get rest.2. Drink plenty of fluids.3. Treat aches and fever.4. Take care of your cough.5. Breathe in steam. Sit in

a steamy bathroom.6. Run the humidifier.7. Saline nose drops or

sprays can be helpful. Consult a doctor before using them.

8. Ask for an antiviral.9. Call the doctor if

you have any of the following symptoms:

from ear.

forehead along with thick yellow or green mucous for more than a week.

or higher in an infant less than 3 months of age.

children or adults.

or a cough that won’t go away.

or won’t go away

There is a nip in the air and the flu

one can avoid falling sick.

STORY MOHAMMED SHAFEEQE

FIND-IT-ALLC6 S U N DAY, JA N UA RY 1 0, 2 0 1 6

Dhuhr 12.19pmAsr 3.22pmMaghrib 5.42pmIsha 6.57pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 5.31am

PRAYER TIMINGS

CITY CINEMAContact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68 www.citycinemaoman.netfacebook.com/citycinemaoman

SHATTIExtraction (2D) (Action | Thriller) (12+) Cast: Bruce Willis, Kellan Lutz, Gina Carano2:45, 8:15 PMThe Revenant (2D) (Thriller) (12+) Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy2:30, 5:30, 8:30, 11:30 PMPoint Break (3D) (Action | Sports) (12+)Cast: Édgar Ramírez, Luke Bracey7:15 PMWazir (Action | Crime | Thriller) (PG12) Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar, Aditi Rao Hydari5:15, 9:30 PMThe Forest (Horror) (15+) Cast: Natalie Dormer, Eoin Macken, Stephanie Vogt10:00, 11:45 PMLost in the Sun (2D) (Action) (12+) Cast: Josh Duhamel, Josh Wiggins3:00, 11:30 PMDaddy’s Home (2D) (Comedy) (12+) Cast: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg4:30, 6:15 PM

MUSCAT GRAND MALLThe Revenant ( Drama | Thriller) 12+Cast : Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy12:15, 8:45 & 11:30PMGold Class: 3:00 & 8:00PMWazir (Hindi | Action| Thriller) PG12Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar3:15 & 9:30PMGold Class: 6:00 & 11:00PMFathers and Daughters (Drama) 12+Cast: Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Jane Fonda5:15PMExtraction (Thriller) 12+Cast : Bruce Willis, Kellan Lutz, Gina Carano7:30 & 11:45PM

Snow Time - (Animation | Family) PG3:00PMThe Peanuts Movie - (Animation) PG1:15 & 4:45PMThe Good Dinosaur-3D (Animation) U11:15PM & 6:45PM

PANORAMA MALLThe Revenant (Adventure, Drama)(2D)(12+)Cast : Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy2:45, 5:45, 11:45PMThe Revenant (Adventure, Drama) (2D) (12+) VIP LOUNGECast : Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy3:00, 6:00, 11:00PMLost In The Sun (Action, Drama)(2D) (12+)Cast : Josh Duhamel, Josh Wiggins5:15, 11:15 pmDaddy’s Home (Comedy)(2D)(12+)Cast : Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg7:00, 9:15 pmWazir (Hindi, Action)(2D)(PG12)Cast : Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar3:45, 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pmWazir (Hindi, Action)(2D)(PG12)-VIP LOUNGE9:00 pmSnow Time (Animation)(2D)(PG)

Cast : Angela Galuppo, Mariloup Wolfe5:45 pmStar Wars (Action, Adventure)(MX4D)(PG12)Cast : Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac3:45, 6:30, 9:00, 11:30 pmPoint Break (Action, Crime)(3D)(12+)Cast : Édgar Ramírez, Luke Bracey3:00 pmBajirao Mastani (Drama)(2D)(PG12)Cast : Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone8:45 pm

AZAIBA Wazir – 2D (PG12) Hindi | Action| Thriller Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar1:00, 2:30, 4:30, 6:30, 8:30, 10:30, 11:45pm Charlie – 2D (PG12) Comedy/ RomanceCast: Dulquer Salman, Parvathi Menon12:15, 6:30, 9:00 PMDilwale – 2D (PG12) Action, Romantic Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhavan5:45, 8:30 PMGet Squirrely – 2D (PG) Animation Cast: Victoria Justice, Will Forte3:00, 4:45 PMBajirao Mastani – 2D (PG12) Drama, History,Cast: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone

2:45, 8:45, 11:30 PMThe Revenant – 2D (12+) | Drama | ThrillerCast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy2:30, 5:30, 11:30 PM

RUWIScreen 1Wazir (Action / Thriller) – PG12Cast : Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PMScreen 2Bajirao Mastani (Romance/Drama) – PG12Cast : – Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh3.30, 9.45 PMHo Mann Jahan – Pakistani (Drama)– TBCCast: –Mahira Khan, Sheheryar6.30 PMScreen 3Ho Mann Jahan – Pakistani – Urdu - (Musi-cal/Drama) – TBC3.45, 9.45 PMDilwale (Action/Romance) – PG12Cast: – Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan6.45 PM

SURGet Squirrely ( Animation ) ( PG ) Cast: Victoria Justice, Will Forte5:10 PMEcho Effect ( Action | Thriller ) ( 12+ ) Cast: Michael Jai White, Max Ryan3:30, 5:20, 8:45 PMWazir - (Hindi)( Action | Thriller ) ( PG12 ) Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhta3:30, 6:45, 9:45 PMCharlie (Malayalam) (Comedy) (PG12) Cast: Dulquer Salman, Parvathi Menon10:30 PMThe Revenant (Adventurer) ( 12+) Cast : Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy7:00, 11:45 PM

SOHARDilwale - 2D (PG12) Action | Comedy Cast : Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan6:45 PMPoint Break - 3D (12+) Action | Crime | SportCast : Édgar Ramírez, Luke Bracey5:30 PMThe Good, the Bad and The Dead - 2D (15+)Action| Thriller | WesternCast : Johnny Messner, Dolph Lundgren7:45 PMThe Revenant - 2D (12+) Adventure | Drama Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy2:30, 8:45, 11:30 PMWazir - 2D (PG12) Action| ThrillerCast : Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar3:00, 9:30, 11:30 PMThe New Adventures of Aladin - 2D (PG12) Cast : Kev Adams, Jean-Paul Rouve5:00 PMEcho Effect - 2D (12+) Action | ThrillerCast : Michael Jai White, Max Ryan7:00, 9:45 PMLost in the Sun - 2D (12+) Action | Drama Cast : Josh Duhamel, Josh Wiggins2:45, 7:00, 11:45 PMThe Forest - 2D (15+) HorrorCast : Natalie Dormer, Eoin Macken3:00, 11:30 PMGet Squirrely - 2D (PG) Animation | Cast : Victoria Justice, Will Forte5:00 PMCharlie - 2D (M) (PG12) Comedy/ RomanceCast : Dulquer Salman, Parvathi Menon9:00 PM

BURAIMIEcho Effect – 2D (Action, Thriller) (12+)Cast: Michael Jai White, Max Ryan5:45, 7:15, 11:30PMThe Revenant– 2D (Adventure, Drama, Thriller) (12+)Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter3:00, 9:00, 11:45PMThe Forest – 2D (Horror) (15+)Cast: Natalie Dormer, Eoin Macken , Stephanie Vogt5:15, 9:45, 11:30PMGet Squirrely – 2D (Animation) (PG)Voice Overs: Victoria Justice, Will Forte3:30, 5:45PMWazir – 2D (Action, Thriller) (PG12)Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar3:45, 7:30, 9:30PMCharlie– 2D (Comedy, Romance) (12+)Cast: Dulquer Salman, Parvathi Menon, Aparna Gopinath7:15PM

SALALAHThe Revenant (2D) (12+)( Action| Thriller) Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy11:45AM, 3:15, 8:45, 11:45PMFathers and Daughters (2D) (12+) (Drama) Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Jane Fonda4:30PMDaddy’s Home (2D) (12+) (Comedy) Cast: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg11:30AM, 6:45PMExtraction (2D) (12+) (Thriller)Cast: Bruce Willis, Kellan Lutz, Gina Carano2:45PMWazir (2D) (PG12)( Action| Thriller) Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar1:15, 3:00, 9:15, 11:15PMDilwale (2D) (PG12) (Action | Romantic ) Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Kriti Sanon6:15PM Lost in the Sun (2D) (PG12) Action | Drama )Cast: Josh Duhamel, Josh Wiggins11:15AM, 7:00PMCharlie (2D) (12+) (Malayalam)( Comedy) Cast: Dulquer Salman, Parvathi Menon9:00PM Snow Time (2D) (PG) (Animation) Cast: Angela Galuppo, Mariloup Wolfe 1:15PM

CINEMA SCHEDULE CHILDREN BELOW THE AGE OF 3 YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE CINEMA | BOX-OFFICE COUNTER OPENS 30-MINUTES PRIOR TO THE SCREENING OF THE FIRST SHOW

ROYAL OMAN POLICE

Emergencies and inquiries: 9999

General Directorate of

Passport and Residence 24569603

Directorate General

of Customs 24521109

Traffic violations inquiries 24510228

Public Relations Admin 24560099

EMBASSIES IN OMAN

Afghanistan 24698 791/4

Algeria 24605 593

Bahrain 24 605 074/133

Bangladesh 24 698 660

Brazil 24640100

Brunei 24 603533

China 24 696782

Cyprus 24 699815

Egypt 24 600 982/411

France 24681 800

Germany 24835000

India 24684500

Indonesia 2469 1050

Iran 24 696 944/7

Iraq 24603642

Italy 24693727

Japan 24 601 028

Jordan 24692760/1/3

Kazakhstan 24 692418

Kenya 24 697664

South Korea 24 691490

Kuwait 24 699628

Lebanon 24 693208

Libya 24603466

Malaysia 24698329/643

Morocco 24696152/3

Nepal 24696177

Netherlands 24603706

Pakistan 24603439

Palestine 24601312

Philippines 24605335

Qatar 24 691 153/2/4

Russia 24602894

Saudi Arabia 24601705

Senegal 24694139

Somalia 24697977

South Africa 24647300

Spain 24691101

Sri Lanka 24697841/2

Sudan 24697875

Switzerland 24603267

Syria 24697904

Tanzania 24601 174

Thailand 24 602684/5

Tunisia 24603486

Turkey 24697050/1/2

UAE 24400000

United Kingdom 24609000

United States 24643400

Yemen 24600815

PHARMACIES

Round the clock

Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi 24783334

Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24782666

Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi 24702542

Salalah 23291635;

Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra 24503585

Muscat Region

Apollo, Al Hamriya 24787766

Muscat, A Seeb Market 24421691

Muscat, Al Khuwair 24485740

Muscat, Al Hail South 24537080

Dhofar Region

Muscat, Al Nahdha Road,

Salalah 23291635

HOSPITALS

Al Amal Medical & Health Care

Centre 24485052

Atlas Hospital

Ruwi 24811743/

Ghubra 24504000

Al Musafir Specialised

Medical Clinic 24706453

Hatat Polyclinic LLC,

Ruwi 24563641

Azaiba 24499269

Sohar 2683006

Al Raffah Hospital 24618900/1/2

Al Massaraat Clinic &

Laboratory 24566435

Al Makook Medical

Coordinance Centre 24499434

Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24787766, 24787780

Capital Polyclinic 24707549

Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic,

Ruwi 24799760/1/2

Capital Clinic, Seeb 24420740

Ceregem National Raak 24485633

Dr Harub’s Clinic 24563217

Elixir Health Centre 24565802

Emirates Medical Centre 24604540

1st Chiropractic Centre 24472274

Lifeline Hospital Salalah 23212340

International Medical

Centre LLC 24794501/2/3/4/5

Kims Oman Hospital 24760100

24 Hrs Emergency 24760123

Lama Polyclinic, Sohar 26751128

MBD 24799077

Al Khuwair 24478818

Magrabi Eye and

Ear Hospital 24568870

Muscat Private Hospital 24583600

Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment

Centre, Al Khuwair 24477666

Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC 22004000

AIRLINE OFFICES

Muscat Airport Flight information

(24 hours) 24519456/24519223

Aeroflot 24704455

Air Arabia 24700828

Air France 24562153

Air India 24799801

Air New Zealand 24700732

Biman Bangladesh Airlines 24701128

British Airways 24568777

Cathay Pacific 24789818

Egypt Air 24794113

Emirates Air 24404400

Ethiopian Airlines 24660313

Gulf Air 80072424

Indian 24791914

Iran Air 24787423

Japan Airlines 24704455

Jazeera Airways 23294848

Jet Airways 24787248

Kenya Airways 24660300

KML Royal Dutch Airlines 24566737

Kuwait Airways 24701262

LOT Polish Airlines 24796387

Lufthansa 24796692

Malaysian Airlines 24560796

Middle East Airlines 24796680

Oman Air 24531111

Pakistan International

Airlines 24792471

Qatar Airways 24771900

Qantas 24559941

Royal Jordanian 24796693

Saudi Arabian Airlines 24789485

Singapore Airlines 24791233

Shaheen Air 24816565

SriLankan Airlines 24784545

Swiss International

Airlines 24796692

Thai Airways 24705934

LISTINGS

LONG DISTANCE BUS TIMINGS (OMAN NATIONAL TRANSPORT COMPANY SAOC) *SUBJECT TO CHANGE

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (ROUTE 36)

15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily

15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily

15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily

06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily

08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri

13:00 Sohar 15:45 Daily

13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily

16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily

16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily

14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

08:00 Nizwa 10:20 Daily

08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55)

07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily

14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (ROUTE 62)

06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily

06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (ROUTE 100)

07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily

10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily

10:00 Salalah 23:30 Daily

19:00 Salalah 07:40 Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

06:00 Marmul 16:50 Daily

SALALAH TO DUBAI (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)

06:00 Sohar 08:30 Daily

06:00 Dubai 11:30 Daily

13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur

13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur

15:00 Sohar 17:35 Daily

15:00 Dubai 20:55 Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily

07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily

07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (ROUTE 36)

05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily

05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily

05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily

07:00 Ruwi 11:40 Daily

13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri

13:00 Sohar 14:55 Daily

13:00 Ruwi 17:40 Daily

13:00 Sohar 19:20 Daily

17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily

06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily

15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55)

06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily

14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)

12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily

12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (ROUTE 100)

07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily

10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily

10:00 Ruwi 22:30 Daily

19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

06:00 Marmul 16:30 Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Salalah 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)

07:30 Sohar 10:50 Daily

07:30 Ruwi 13:40 Daily

13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri

13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri

15:30 Sohar 18:45 Daily

15:30 Ruwi 21:35 Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH/SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily

16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily

16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

@SOHAR @SHATTI

Charlie - 2D (M) (PG12) (Comedy/ Romance)Cast : Dulquer Salman, Parvathi Menon, Aparna Gopinath9:00 PM

@MGM

Wazir (Hindi | Action| Thriller) PG12Cast : Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar, Aditi Rao Hydari3:15 & 9:30PMGold Class: 6:00 & 11:00PM

The Revenant (2D) (Thriller) (12+) Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter2:30, 5:30, 8:30, 11:30 PM

BAHJA CINEMAFilm information 24540856 / Advance Booking 24540855Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com

Echo Effect (Action / Thriller) Cast: Michael Jai White, Max Ryan, Steve Austin4.00, 8.00, 10.00 & 11.55 pm CP No : 3060 (12+)Daddy’s Home (Comedy)Cast: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Linda Cardellini3.45, 7.30 & 9.15 pm CP No: 3061 (12+)Fathers and Daughters (Drama)Cast: Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Jane2.00 & 6.00pm CP No: 3062 (12+)Get Squirrely (Animation / Comedy / Family)2.00 & 5.30 p.m. CP No: 3063 (PG)Dilwale (Action / Comedy)Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan 11.00 p.m. CP No: 3047 (PG12)

STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776Website: www.isurf.co.om

Charlie ( Mal) ( Drama\Comedy) Cast : Dulquer Salmaan & Parvathy 3-30, 6-30 & 9-30 pm Cinema Main Su Su Sudhi Vatmeekam (Mal) (Drama\Com) Cast : Jayasurya , Mukesh & Shivada 3-30 & 6-30 pm Cinema -2 Wazir ( Hindi) (Act Cast : Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akthar & Aditi Rao Hydari 3-45, 6-45, & 9-45 pm Cinema-3 Bajirao Mastani (Hindi) (rom\ Act \ drama ) Cast : Ranveer Singh , Deepika Padukone & Priyanka Chopra 6-45 pm Cinema-4 Pasanga 2 ( Tamil) ( Drama \Comedy) Cast : Surya & Amala Paul 3-45, & 9-45 pm Cinema -4

Programmes are subject to change

WEATHER

250

Maximum

180

Minimum

TEMPERATURE

55-85%RELATIVE HUMIDITY

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 17 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to lifestyle@timesofoman.com

WITH LOVE

AVANTIKA SHANKARJanuary 10, 2009

GOPIKA MANOJJanuary 10, 2000

LIFESTYLEC7S U N DAY, JA N UA RY 1 0, 2 0 1 6

ALTERNATIVEMEDICINE

Mud bath is a detox therapy, which has become ex-tremely popular around the globe.

Until rather recently, many Euro-pean practitioners promoted mud baths as a treatment for arthritis. This back to the basics, relatively simplest of alternative therapies, tends to help relax muscles, soothe aches, improve blood circulation, and smoothen the skin. With today’s emerging trends mud baths are of-ten recommended to help reduce stress and leave us feel rejuvenated at the end of the session.

Skin and DetoxificationConscious detoxing is a great way to achieve optimum health. The best ways to detox is through the skin. Detoxification is one of the most ef-fective methods to eliminate toxic substances that build up through-out our system. The toxins present in the environment constantly at-tack the body. These toxins get ac-cumulated in the body’s fat layers. Accumulation of toxins in the body cause harm to the biological pro-cesses. Hence, it becomes essential to remove the toxins regularly from

the body otherwise; a high toxin load may cause skin problem, fre-quent or recurring colds, chronic pains, low energy levels, allergies and other illness.

The skin is the largest breath-ing human organ. Keeping the skin healthy promotes general health and well being. Taking a hot bath or sauna promotes sweating that flushes the toxins away from the body. Mud baths draw out the toxins and impurities from the body, exfo-liating and nourishing the skin.

Mud and ClayMud is an element of the earth that is said to possess therapeutic prop-erties. It is made of a combination of soil, silt, clay, and water. It is rich in vitamins, minerals, and plant substance. Scholars believe that it was the Romans who discovered the therapy of Mud baths as early as 120 B.C. Today we know that Mud, helps to draw out excess heat and cool the body. Its property of water solubility allows the skin to absorb nourishing nutrients when applied. One of the additional benefits with mud is that due to its nature other ingredients can be added to the mixture to fur-ther boost treatment results.

Clay like mud comes from the earth. However, due to its com-position nature it has a tendency to soak up or dry, hence it is used in cosmetic products as a drying agent. It is a component found in many cosmetic products like foun-dation and powders. Clay has the ability to remove matter suspended in liquid, as its natural property is oil balancing. Thus, clay helps to assist the body in the systemic re-moval of many industrial chemi-

cals that the body would otherwise have difficulty eliminating.

Types of Mud Across the WorldMud is used as a healing agent for cracks, bites, burns, and other skin afflictions. Pure mud helps to de-toxify, remineralise and is anti-in-flammatory. Every region on earth, according to its geographic and climatic conditions produces mud that is unique in its mineral and bio-logical content. Depending upon the region, where the mud is obtained it may contain high concentrations of iron, manganese, zinc, copper or selenium. This can be used to treat various ailments, when used in a va-riety of combination.

Dead Sea Mud: Jordan Rift ValleyMoor Mud: Around EuropeVolcanic Mud Bath: Calistoga (California) Great Salt Lake Mud Body Wrap Hungarian Wellness MudClay BathsIschia Mud: ItalyBad Wilsnack: GermanyAyurvedic Mud Bath: IndiaMultani Mitti : India lifestyle@timesofoman.com

BACK TO NATURE

Mud is used as a healing

agent for cracks, bites,

burns, and other skin

afflictions. Pure mud helps

to detoxify, remineralise

and is anti-inflammatory

M O V E O F T H E W E E K

Take Intervals in Workout RoutinesWhen you alternate high-intensity cardio workout routines with moderate-intensity recovery periods, you boost your calorie burning and increase your fitness level. This will help you breakthrough plateaus. Here’s how:

Warm up for

5 MINUTESThen

or resistance onthe machine for

2-5 minutes

INCREASE SPEED

Return to your

for 5 minutes, then con-tinue with short bursts

interspersed with a moderate pace for the

rest of yourfitness workouts

USUAL PACE Boost in calories burned:

per 45 minutes

300-450CALORIES

When you’re ready to progress, make the

work part of the interval longer and decrease

the recovery time (but never to less than 30

seconds). For example, you could do 6 minutes at a higher speed and

rest for 3 minutes

for 5 minutesat a slower pace

COOL DOWN

Late menopause lowersrisk of depression in later life

MENOPAUSE at an older age lowers the risk of depression for women in later life, says a new study. The study found that men-opause at 40 or older compared with premature menopause was associated with a decreased risk for depression. Older age at men-opause and a longer reproductive period mean a longer exposure to endogenous (produced within the body’s cells) sex hormone

estrogens. “This meta-analysis suggests a potentially protective effect of increasing duration of exposure to endogenous estro-gens as assessed by age at menopause as well as by the duration of the reproductive period,” the researchers said. The study was published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

Increased light exposure may make children overweight CHILDREN who spend too much time on tablets, mobile phone or television are more likely to gain unhealthy weight not just because of physical inactivity but also due to increased exposure to light, says a new study. Timing and intensity of light exposure is critical for metabolic functioning and weight status, the findings showed. “Artificial lighting, including light given off by tablets, mobile phones, night lights, and television, means modern children are exposed to more environmental light than any previous generation. This increase in light exposure has paralleled global increases in obesity,” said said one of the researchers Cassandra Pattinson from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Good bacteria help prevent pneumonia and ear infectionTHE PRESENCE of a harmless bacterium found in the nose and on the skin may negatively impact the growth of a pathogen that commonly causes middle ear infections in children and pneumonia in children and older adults, says a new study.

The study provides evidence that Corynebacterium accolens (C. accolens) helps inhibit Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneu-moniae) — a major cause of pneumonia, meningitis, middle ear infection, and sinusitis.

The results pave the way for potential future research to determine whether C. accolens might have a role as a beneficial bacterium that could be used to control pathogen colonisation.

According to the World Health Organisation, S. pneumoniae leads to more than one million deaths each year, primarily in young children in developing countries. Although most people that host S. pneumoniae do not develop these infections, coloni-sation greatly increases the risk of infection and transmission.

The study was published in the journal mBio.

Hormonal therapy helpful in postnatal depressionTREATMENT with a hormone that plays an important role in labour and breast-feeding can improve behaviour of mothers suffering from postnatal depression, a common disorder affect-ing 10 to 20 percent of mothers, says a study.

The researchers focused on the role of the hormone oxytocin in improving the behaviour of women with postnatal depres-sion. “Oxytocin is potentially useful in improving parental behaviours of mothers with postnatal depression,” said re-searcher Beth Mah from Hunter Medical Research Institute, in New South Wales, Australia. Some studies have suggested that parental behaviour may improve after treatment with oxytocin, the researcher said.

Parenting becomes more challenging for women suffering from postnatal depression. Children cared for by such mothers are at a high risk of adverse outcomes, with increased rates of psychiatric disorders and developmental problems. -IANS

H E A L T H N O T E S

LIFESTYLEC8 S U N DAY, JA N UA RY 1 0, 2 0 1 6

Split PeasFibre: 16.3 grams per cup, cooked

A staple in Indian cooking, split peas form a terrific, protein-

rich base for soups, stews, and dals. It is healthy, satisfying,

and super filling.

LentilsFibre: 15.6 grams per cup, cooked Lentils are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fibre. They

are of special benefit in managing blood-sugar disorders since their high fibre content prevents blood

sugar levels from rising rapidly after a meal.

Black BeansFibre: 15 grams per cup, cooked

Black beans have high concentrations of soluble fibre which has been proven to help lower blood cholesterol. It also

decreases the risk of heart disease.

Lima BeansFibre: 13.2 grams

per cup, cooked Lima beans might sound

unappetising, but when paired with leeks, puréed into a soup, and topped with sour cream, they’re pretty darn delicious.

ArtichokesFibre: 10.3 grams per

medium vegetable, cookedArtichokes are curiously

underused in most people’s kitchens. Get creative

and try with lime, garlic, and black pepper.

PeasFibre: 8.8 grams per cup, cooked They are good sources of protein,

vitamins, and soluble as well as insoluble fibre. Dried peas help lower cholesterol, they are also of special benefit in managing

blood-sugar disorders.

BroccoliFibre: 5.1 grams

per cup, boiled Broccoli is packed with soluble fibre that draws

cholesterol out of your body. It also keeps your whole body less acidic, which has a host

of health benefits.

Brussels SproutsFibre: 4.1 grams per cup, boiled

Brussels sprouts can provide you with some special cholesterol-lowering benefits.

The fibre-related components do a better job of binding together

with bile acids in your digestive tract.

RaspberriesFibre: 8 grams per cup, raw Delicious raspberries are

low in calories and fats. They are rich source of dietary fibre,

and antioxidants. With the help of coconut, oatmeal, and vanilla, they make a relatively

healthy desserts.

BlackberriesFibre: 7.6 grams per cup, raw

Blackberries are packed with numerous plant nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants,

and dietary fibres that are essential for optimum health.

Best HighFibre

Foods

10

A high-fibre diet can reduce the risk of stroke, hypertension, and heart

disease along with normalising bowel movements. Experts

recommend that men under 50 eat about 38 grams of fibre each day and

women consume 25 grams. Adults over 50 require less fibre (30 grams for men and 21 grams for women)

due to decreased food consumption. To put that into perspective, a young

man is supposed to eat the same amount of fibre found in 15 slices of

whole-wheat bread every day.

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

CONNECT H E D A I LY G U I D E

D

D4 VACANCY CARGO D8

S U N D AY, J A N UA R Y 1 0 , 2 0 1 6

RENT D2

Contact : 24 70 30 60

FOR RENTAL KHUWAIR :

5 BED ROOM VILLA -

SPLIT A/C - MAID ROOM

RUWI : Ware House - 630 M2

SPACIOUS -2 B H K FLATS

*Tourist visa arranged

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

D2 S U N D AY, J A N UA R Y 1 0 , 2 0 1 6

DAILY GUIDE

1/2/3 BHK Flats & Showrooms at

Contact : 99229263; 93221054; 95215289

FOR RENT2BHK,

3 washroom Flat with

Split Air Conditioners -

Near Lulu Darsait

CONTACT :

93202733

Apartment and room for rent in

Al Khuwair near IBIS hotel.

Contact: 95724975

3 Bedroom flat for rent near ONTC

Ruwi. Contact: 99653336

Flats for rent Direct from the

owner: 2BHK flats with A/Cs at

Ruwi MBD area, Way No. 3526,

Pizza Muscat building.

Contact: 99333110 / 24814853

3 bedroom flat in Wadi Kabeer.

Contact 95755953 / 95555162 To let rooms in Qurum.

Contact: 99664703

House for rent Mabela.

Contact: 99204400

Store / warehouse for rent 52 sqm

at Maabela Sinaiya.

Contact: 92454170

02 BHK Commercial / Residential

(with split AC) flat at Honda road.

Contact: 99342733 / 99795241

02 BHK residential flat opposite to

Al Nadha hospital.

Contact : 99342733 /99795241

Flat for rent in Darsait 3 BR, 2

toilets, sitting room R.O 250/-.

Contact: 92328142

In a Luxury Building

in Al Seeb Market

Near Police station

FLATS

FOR RENT

Call:

99888007 - 99473500

10,000 Sqm Industrial Land/Plot in

Sumail - Leveled with Full Drawing

and Full Permission from Govt. for

only RO 30,000 Contact : 99012201

2 BR flat with 1 sitting room, 1

family hall with 3 attach bathroom

in Wadi Kabir. Contact 99277787

1000 sqm industrial land with

compound well & two rooms

at Misfah. Contact: 99342733/

99795241 Commercial / residential flats

in a new building for rent near

Muttrah Police Station residential

1BHK / 2BHK more details. Contact:

99364735 / 95729711

2BHK flat opp. star cinema &

3BHK office. Contact 92926199

1000sqmtrs industrial land for

rent in Ghala suitable for ware-

house workshop etc. Contact

24700120 / 92584715

Flats for rent in Muscat.

Contact: 99262605.

2BHK flat for rent Darsait

near ISM. Contact: 95158570 /

99102255

Independent room with Kitchen

& Bathroom attach near Mabellah

BP Petrol Pump R.O 100/- , without

Elect & water. Contact: 91516775

Only for serious people a Res-

taurant for rent or sale at excel-

lent site in Al Ghubra area with

all its equipment & approval to

bring workers. Contact: Numan

95094062

Flats for rent in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 99376454

2BHK at Al Nahdha Hospital be-

hind MHD Building.

Contact: 99224748 / 99332297

Furnished villa for rent in Barka-

Rumes, 3 big BRooms + Majlis + Sa-

loon + kitchen. Contact : 98999667

Residential Commercial building

consists of 30 Flats in Al Khoud 6

the following details: 20 flats with

2 rooms and a hall, bathroom and

kitchen. 10 flats with room and hall

and 2 toilet. Shop 500 square me-

ters. for total 30 Flats rent 7,000 RO

per month and rent the exhibition

10 RO per m2 Contact 99314314

500 sqm Basement Godown/ware-

house For Rent in Mabela industrial

area. CALL: 99366008 / 99236455

Labour camp accommodation

facilities near Sohar Gardens for

1500-2000 peoples. All modern

facilities & natural atmosphere will

provide as per customer require-

ment, interested people can con-

tact 93221277 for further details.

as per the client requirement, we

will make all facilities within

short period.

2 rooms, Bathroom, kitchen near

Muscat OR 110/-.

Contact: 95094028

2bedrooms flat with hall, 2

bathrooms in Darsait near Muscat

Municipality. Contact: 92584715 /

24700120

House in old Muscat town near

Bab Al Mathaib, 5 bedrooms, living

room & kitchen. Contact 99319829

1 BHK new bldg with A/c curtains,

near Khimji Mart, MBD.

Contact 99061408 / 99024039

Profs/ Jack. Contact 93219378

2 BHK Flats for rent Muttrah near

Oman house S/ AC.

Contact: 97007934 / 92629232

Flat new Al Wadi Kabir. Contact:

92130703 / 99733992

2 Room + hall & kitchen ,3 toilets

in Bareeq Al Shatti 750 RO.

Contact 99314314

For rent 1bed room flat, near In-

dian school (ISD) at Darsait.

Contact: 94776771/ 99669216

Luxurious, 2 BHK flat with 3 toi-

lets, store, equipped kitchen, split

ACS , Gym, party hall& 24 hours

security at Mumtaz area Ruwi rent

RO 375/-. Contact: 92622506

2BHK commercial RO 375/-, 350/-

Contact: 97799175 / 92144045

Shop for rent behind building be-

hind whole center Al Amerat good

for offices or stores only space

11x4 meters R.O 250/- PER month.

Contact : 92877449

2BHK Al Khuwair R.O 375/-.

Contact: 92144045 / 97799175

2BHK Ghubra R.O 300/- , 325/-.

Contact: 92144045 / 97799175

Duplex villa in QURUM 29.

Contact - 94051789-97201688

Show room / shop for rent area

155 sqm at 600/-R.O shops at

160/- R.O. Contact 97714433 /

92822437

1BHK Mumtaz R.O 250/-. Contact: 97799175 / 92144045

3 BHK flat near Darsait ID medical.

RO 420/- Contact – 99358589 /

97079146 / 95570288

7 Bedrooms villa in Ghobrah North.

Contact - 96420432

1& 2 BHK flats for rent at Hamriya

Mabela and Al Khoud shop at

Al Khoud. Contact: 24834644 /

GSM : 93994401 /02/03/3lines

Flats shops & store for rent in

Ruwi Honda road Mumtaz.

Contact: 97293708 / 92433127

Brand new apartments opp Oman

flour mills MUTRAH 1,2,3 BHK

with private parking, suitable for

bachelors call 95450450

Offices & Showrooms in Al Khoud.

Contact - 94051789-97201688

Fully Furnished apartments in

Boucher (35) Contact 94051789-

97201688

DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, J A N UA R Y 1 0 , 2 0 1 6 D3

FOR SALE

ACC. AVAILABLE

Large size room in Al Falaj with

attached bathroom for Executive

bachelor (non cooking) with A/C,

rent RO 150 inclusive Electricity &

Water. Contact Mr. Hari : 24821717

/ 99657906

Independent rooms in Qurum RO

140/- & 160/-. Contact 95529970

Veg Couple or bachelor room in

Wadi Kabir. Contact: 99014325 /

91165580

2 rooms with separate bathroom

near Lulu Darsait for couple /

bachelors. Contact: 98929665 /

99352320

Family sharing 3 B/R, hall,

2 toilets in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 99336206

FOR RENT 3BHK along with

furnitures in Ruwi.

Contact: 99738104

Semi furnished spacious room

with attached washroom separate

entrance near Indian school

Al Ghobrah for non cooking

Executive Indian bachelor.

Contact: 95146361/92657598

Single room for expat Indian

bachelors near Al Aktham restau-

rant Al khuwair for RO 120.

Water and electricity included.

Contact 98803261

Single bedroom flat near

Indian School Ghubrah.

Contact 99203954

Single bedroom flat behind

German Embassy,

near Al Nahdha Hospital.

Contact 99203954

Furnished room in new building

for working Muslim lady/

Muslim couple only. Location

AINT, Darsait.

Contact - 99008069

Room for rent with furniture.

Al Bustan villeage.

Contact 93687466

MV SALE

Toyota Innova family, 2011 model,

fully automatic, white color expat

driven , kms-84500. dealer main-

tained, no accident. good condi-

tion. Contact 99001726

Mercedes Benz E-300, Model

2010-Advantgrade, Color Obsidian

Black Not in Working Condition.

Interested parties can see the car

at Embassy of India premises dur-

ing 1000 hrs to 1600 hrs and send

offers in sealed envelopes latest

by 15.01.2016 addressed to HOC,

Embassy of India, Muscat.

Contact: 24684577

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

FOR SALEDozer Kom 355A -3Dozer Kom 155A- 3

Grader Champion 780Excavator PC 400 with breaker

Man green water tanker 5000 IGAll are in good condition

99310448/99612010/95208455

Furnished sharing accommoda-

tion in ruwi near O.K. Center for

non-cooking indian bachelor.

Contact - 98805474

NRI

Plot for sale Shadnagar

Municipality, Mahboob Nagar

District, walk able distance to

existing colonies, national highway

and basic amenities at reasonable

price. Contact – 0091 8686631669

Plot, propeties for sale in prime

location in pune # 95272138,

(+918390982975)

FOR RENT

WANTED

BUILDING

FOR SALEMUMTAZ AREA

(NEAR RUWI HOTEL)

CONTACT - 99353931

Hall type & Individual

Portacabins (100 nos.)

for immediate sale in

Muscat area.

Contact 93208398 /

93215830

BULK SALE

AVAILABLE

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirt-

ing, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery,

Crockery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes,

Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound

Systems and spectacular lighting.

Call Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering

and Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound &

Light. ww.tunesoman.com,

E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

MATRIMONIALMATRIMONIAL

Christian Orthodox girl 24 yrs,

BSC MLT working in Government

Hospital Thiruvalla, seeking suitable

alliance from Orthodox family.

Contact: 99734325 / 99898130

AL RAZI AYURVEDIC CLINIC

Ayurvedic treatment for back-

ache, paralysis, arthritis etc

& massage, All Season (Vaid-

yaratnam). Contact 24475280 /

95371664 / 92504980

www.siddhayur.com

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 joint

pain, backache, paralysis, massage

steambath, obesity, Spondylitis,

Ideal Care Ayurvedic Clinic,

18 November Street Azaiba.

Contact: 99639695 / 98342990

GOOD NEWS

Office furniture, fixtures & electric

appliances for urgent sale.

Contact: 92122705

Used home furniture and household

appliances in good condition

for sale. (Else 3bhk can be taken for

rent along with furnitures.)

Contact: 99738104

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

3 BHK flat in Greater Muttrah

Dar Al Maha for immediate sale.

Contact: 95061994 / 96435858

Dental equipments sparingly

used for sale. Contact: 91232778 /

99722457

Exercise cycle for sale.

Contact – 92847957

Full dental unit for sale.

Contact: 00968 92737149

Email: drpkabbas@yahoo.co.in

Used Portacabins. Contact: 94521205 Godown Rack sets (shelf).

Contact: 94521205

Luxury villa for sale at Al Hail South

building area 375m land area 323,

6 rooms, 3 halls, 7 toilets.

Contact 99839898

Luxury Apartments in Boucher

(35). Contact - 95056808-97201688

Mangalorean restaurant at Wadi

Kabir & shop at Ruwi for sale.

Contact: 98428507 / 93655003

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

Fully Furnished apartments in

Boucher (35) Contact -95056808-

97201688

FOR HIRE

Bobcat available for rent.

Contact 97623299

Low bed Trailer (PDO – SPC)

available monthly / daily for Rent.

Contact: 96633970

Second hand cup lock scaffolding

system required any sellers please

Contact: 99340205

IELTS Coaching (academic) required

nearby wadi Kabir area. Please call

on mobile or msg on Whats up.

Mobile no: 92927880/99012165

600 SQT commercial flat for rent

opposite Oman flourmill Darsait more

details. # 91214849/ 99364735

Flats in Darsait. Contact 94051789-97201688

One flats for rent 2 bedroom

all with bath al Ghobrah north near

Indian school (hot burger restau-

rant) Tel. 9976610

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.

#99229263; 93221054; 95215289

1BHK flat near Star Cinema 220/-

Contact 99358589 /95570288

Flats in Wadi Kabir. Contact -

94051789-97201688

Flats in Muttrah. Contact -

94051789-97201688

Offices in Ghala. Contact

94051789-97201688

Brand new villas in Al Ansab.

Contact - 94051789-97201688

Offices & Showrooms in Muttrah.

Contact - 94051789-97201688

Mini Furnished Apartment in

Qurum.# 94051789-97201688

1,2 BHK Ghubra R.O 300/-, 325/- &

350/-. Contact: 97799175

Offices in Qurum opposite City

Center. # 94051789-97201688

Single BHK flat available in Honda

road Ruwi. Contact - 24833972/

24833974/99367448

DRIVING

SITUATION WANT-ED

BUSINESS

Looking for investor in steel fabri-

cation plant. Contact 98667442 /

98119694

Canadian Consultancy company

(recruitment & immigration) is look-

ing for a partner company in Oman.

For contact 00973 39990830

eurogulf.ca@gmail.com,

Low firm office in Shatti Al Qurum

looking for an Indian legal advi-

sor has got 5 years experience in

Oman and good contacts with the

big companies and banks in Oman.

Email: rahbi.lawyers@gmail.com

We will register LLC. trade license

for foreign investors and do all

actions. Contact: 92833566

Proposal invited for employed

BSc Nurse in Muscat for her,

Remarriage age 28 years Chris-

tian Jacobite. Contact: 93262428

DAILY GUIDED4 S U N D AY, J A N UA R Y 1 0 , 2 0 1 6

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

SITUATION WANT-SIT.WANTED

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

ENGINEER/TECH/MECH

ENGINEER/TECH/MECH

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

SKILLED LABOR

MISCELLANEOUS

DRIVER

MEDICAL

MEDICAL

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

CATERING

BEAUTY

DESIGNER

IT

SALES / MARKETING

SALES / MARKETING

ADMIN

We are looking for Chief Finan-cial Officer, Male 40- 45 years old,

Bachelor of Science in Account-

ancy with 5 - 15 yrs. of experience.

Contact: +968 24702133

Email: admin-dept@daud.om

Driver available with release.

Contact: 93885404

Reputed construction Co. require experienced light vehicle driver. Contact 95526871 / 24485154 /

24486099

Personal Driver for reputed family

in Muscat. Requirements is flu-

ent in English, valid GCC driving

license, age must be 28 to 35.

Contact: 99466062

Wanted HEAVY DUTY DRIVER for

an Electro-Mechanical Company.

Pl mail resume to

heavydutydrivermuscat@gmail.

com or call 92343611. Local can-

didates need to have an NOC.

Reputed Construction Company

require experienced light Vehicle Driver. Contact 95526871

Looking for an Indian experi-enced house Driver for an Omani

family. Interested candidates may

call: 96203333

Asian Oriental / BBQ cook. Contact: 95529970

Indian Chinese Tandoor cooks required for hiring.

Contact: 95061994 / 96435858

A fast food restaurant in Muscat

required experience:- (i). Social Media service provider. (ii). Part time Marketing and Forward CV :-

fastfoodoman2014@gmail.com

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 : hkamran112@gmail.com,

+44 7480 1196 74, +968 93595050

Indian male 37yrs, (M.Com

Finance) with 12 yrs experience

(9 yrs in Oman) in accounts up

to finalization can join immedi-

ately having NOC & Oman driving

license looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact: 90194907

Email: ke.jinson@gmail.com

Male 15yrs experience as Senior

Accountant with D/L seeking suit-

able placement. Contact: 91176085

Email: sahil_70@hotmail.com

28/male/MBA - finance/B.Com -

Accountant with 4 years of Dubai/

India experience looking for a suit-

able placement.

shobinkarikkan1987@gmail.com

Contact 90187483

Part time accountant, up to finali-

zation of accounts, looking for job

after 5PM (Location prefers –n MSQ

to AL Hail) Contact: 95694737

Accounts & finance Indian male

35 years B.Com M.B.A (F) 7 years

experience valid Oman D/L

family visa N.O.C available.

Contact: 93257426 / 95230114

Email: sibigeorgep@gmail.com

Chartered Accountant - Indian, 9

yrs + Exp (7 yr in Oman & UAE ) in

Finance, Accounts & Auditing, seek-

ing suitable position in Muscat/

Dubai, Can Join Immediately, NOC

Available , Contact #: 98707434 /

Email: casmart007@gmail.com

Indian, well experienced in UAE

and Oman, in construction ac-

counts and administration with

own car seek part time/full time

placement. Contact 98598099

Indian Male, 24 yrs, BBM, 3+

years’ experience as an assistant

Accountant & Assistant Audi-

tor, now on visit visa, looking for

suitable placement in Accounts /

Sales / Stores. Contact 93498293

Email:kevingieven@gmail.com

MBA (Banking & Finance) Paki-

stani male-37 yrs, 15 years experi-

ence (12 years in banking Industry

with Omani D/L) Seeking suitable

position, Contact : 93865002,

madeelazhar@gmail.com

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT-M. Com

Finance-Indian with 7 years expe-

rience in Finance & Accounts up to

finalization. Currently employed

in Oman. Having D/L & NOC.

Mob:94122464,

cammk13@gmail.com

28 years, female, 4 years experi-

ence in finance currently in Oman,

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 94743790

Part time Accountant with 15 yrs

exp. in Accounts Finance, Tax Au-

dit Management.Contact 95857199

Accounts part time services

available to handle all accounts up

to finalization, consulting & audit

works. Contact: 96247295

25 years Oman experienced, who

can handle accounts up to finaliza-

tion, job costing, timely follow for

receivable & timely settle payable

looking for suitable opening.

Contact : 94070799

MBA (finance) one year experience

in Oman, have Oman license looking

for a good job. Contact 94103975

Accountant Indian female, 26 yrs,

B.Com 2 yrs experience in account-

ing, purchase vouchers, bank recon-

ciliation. Contact: 95690207

Email: pereira.rita08@gmail.com

Indian lady, bachelor degree in

Preparatory Programme (BPP) and

Bachelor of Commerce (BCom),

completed training course in

MS Word, Excel, Power Point and

Outlook from KTI looking for full

time / part time job opportunity

in Oman.

Contact 92437568, 96795853,

Email: linda_navs@yahoo.com

Young 24, ACCA affiliate,

advanced diploma in Accounting

and business, seeking suitable

placement in accounts, finance or

audit with valid driving license.

Contact: 92430152

Email: rau_dey@yahoo.com

Immediate Requirements for ex-perienced Tailors (Designer wears,

casual clothing). Please call for

interview 99471085

Looking for experienced construction laborers as a subcontractor for a villa

construction in Mawaleh.

Contact: 96203333Urgently required Medical Staff

only male LAB Technician, Radio Tech, Assistant pharmacist, Dental Tech. Must be with 5 years

experience along with 60% pro-

metric. # 92412429 / 99648532

Wanted urgently lady Doctor GP or DGO for immediate appoint-

ment. Contact : 99310590 Email:

tjmaluke@gmail.com

Wanted a female Nurse for a

dental clinic in capital area.

Contact:-99855050

Urgently required General Prac-titioners (male), lab technician, Staff Nurse & Receptionist (female,

Arabic & English speaking) for a

reputed Medical Centre, Salalah.

Email : hrmdimc2010@gmail.com

Required General Practitioners male & female with MOH license to

work in a polyclinic in the Capital

area. Contact 99372860

Required female Nurse with MOH

license dental clinic in Al Khuwair.

Contact: 99010755

Email: akdmuscat@hotmail.com

Female marketing for medical

centre in Al Khuwair with driving

license. Contact: 99010755

Email: akdmuscat@hotmail.com

Required experienced Dentist with MOH license to manage den-

tal clinic in Muscat.

Email: akdmuscat@hotmail.com

Wanted Nurse for a Dental centre

in capital area. Interested may

contact 93431024 or send CV to –

drasyanaseem@gmail.com

Urgently requited Indian Gulf experienced Beautician al Hail,

good salary & allowances.

Contact: 96175350

Required experience Beautician. Contact 99619409

A reputed Interior and Kitchen (Domestic & Commercial) compa-

ny urgently required well experi-

enced Sales & Marketing Execu-tive having minimum3 years of

experience at the related job with

valid Omani driving license. send

CV to suresh@saharaintl.net

Male Sales Executive wanted:

age 24-32 yrs, minimum 2-5 yrs

experience in sales, preferably in

furniture / interior design / turn-

key contracting business. Salary

commensurate with experience.

Any degree with GCC driving

license preferred.

Apply to fax : 24560806

careers@teejanequipment.com

Wanted Sales Executive for

IVMS, experienced minimum 1

year in the same field. Interested

Candidate can email the details to:

sameeh@cyclonellc.net

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 Accountant look-

ing for a suitable placement in

Salalah/ Muscat. More than 20

yrs experience in Accounting job

(upto the finalization of accounts).

8 yrs working experience in

Middle East in Dubai, Muscat &

Salalah. Contact 91325029 URGENTLY REQUIRED FOLLOWING STAFFS FOR A LEADING ENGINEERING CONSULTANCY

1. DESIGN ENGINEER ROADS AND BRIDGE - BTECH CIVIL +MINIMUM 10 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

2. SENIOR QUANTITY SURVEYOR - BTECH CIVIL +MINIMUM 12YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IS CIVIL & MEP

3. STRUCTURAL ENGINEER - MTECH STRUCTURE +MINIMUM 8 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN BUILDINGS

4. ELCTRICAL ENGINEER - BTECH ELCETRICAL +MINIMUM 12 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

5. PROJECT PLANNER – BTECH CIVIL + PSP CERTIFICATION +MINIMUM 12 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

All the above position required Experience in Huge Medical City Construction

REPLY IMMEDIATELY EMAIL :- vacancyamec@gmail.com

Wanted GP Doctor with MOH

license, job location in Muscat with

good salary and benefits. Drop your

cv at 0careerhr1972@gmail.com.

Urgently required Lab Tech & Radiologist for medical Center in

ruwi interested candidate kindly

send short CV bmdcsg@yahoo.com

or cont: 95220350

Urgently required full time fe-male Nurse (with MOH), Recep-tionist (Omani) for Dental clinic

in Muscat (Ruwi). Candidates in

Oman only need to apply.

Contact 93582582,

abbas@essacogroup.com

Staff Nurse required for a reputed

dental centre in Muscat. Send the

CV to omandentalnurse@gmail.com

Indian male B.Com accountant job

6 years experience in Oman looking

suitable placement.

Contact 95741442

navaskamaru944@gmail.com

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:jjohnmuscat@hotmail.com

28/ male MBA – finance /B.com –

accountant with 4 years of Dubai

/ India experience looking for a

suitable placement.

Contact: 90187483 Email:

shobinkarikkan1987@gmail.com

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 saab2803@gmail.com

1. Occupational Health Advisor (with OH qualifi cations & 5 years oil fi eld or relevant

experience)

2. Lead Emergency Physician (10 yrs experience in emergency medicine in remote work

(occupational) setting.

Have ACLS, ATLS, PHTLS & food safety level 4.

REQUIRED

Email : medicalinformation2016@gmail.com

A Leading Manufacturing Company in Muscat has immediate

Requirement

W

A reputed Interior and Kitchen

company urgently required well

experienced supervisor having

minimum 5 years of experience

in Carpentry related job with valid

Omani driving license. Send CV to

suresh@saharaintl.net.

A reputed Interior company urgently required Interior Designer having well experience for

self-design, AutoCAD, 3D max,

Photoshop & V-ray

Email: suresh@saharaintl.net

Urgently required Electrical fore-man with driving license. electri-

cian with electrical license for an

electrical company in Muscat.

Contact 93284291

BE Civil Engr - 5-10 yrs Exp

Diploma Civil Engr - 5-7 yrs Exp

Civil Foreman - 10-15 yrs Exp All

must have valid DL send CV to

jnstpmco@gmail.com

URGENTLY REQUIRED

Contact – 95020704

Sales Ladies wanted for Ladies Boutique. Age: 20-35 yrs.

Al Khoudh. Send CV to

sameer916@hotmail.com

or call 91159905

Urgently required for a reputed

company in Oman (Tyre, Battery

& Lubricant division) Sr. Execu-tives/Executive-5 nos (Sohar, Ni-

zwa & Muscat), Techno Commer-cial 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

ashwin@taasintl.org

Contact: (+968)93891700

Instrumentation & controls Technician with 2-3 years experi-

ence preferably in water sector and

having valid driving license Send

CV to shiju@spec-link.com or

call Ph:+968 99450811

Part Time Job Seekers mail your

timejoboman@gmail.com

An excellent Grade company requires Foreman / Supervisor for their false ceiling division. Min

5 to 8 years experience in han-

dling the projects & execution,

kindly send CV to

hrjobs1679@gmail.com

Salesman require for building

material with driving license &

10 years working experience.

Fax your C.V 24833043.

(Mustafa Hardware Store)

Looking for a foreign staff has

experience in Oman in real estate

field. Contact

Email: aburashid94dd@gmail.com

A Chemical trading Company is looking for Salesmen with

diploma certificate, 3 years expe-

rience, with valid driving license

and a car. Send CVs to

greatstar@omantel.net.om

DOMESTIC HELP

Looking for housemaid urgently clearance available good salary

yearly ticket. TEL 24446920 /

99238121, mail: ravi.ztc@omzest.com

Required male Omani, Age: 24

– 35 as Operations Coordinator.

Fluent in English, should closely

communicate and follow up Onsite

requirement coordination.

Contact 99358667

An excellent grade company requires Sales Executive for their

Aluminium division. Min 3 to 5

years GCC experience in the same

field with D/L may kindly send CV

to info@sunubunited.com or

sunubunited@gmail.com

Indian Female MBA, 3 Year expe-

rience in Admin MIS, Family Visa.

Contact 98234427,

jkjsmith01@gmail.com

Indian lady, having NOC seeking

admin or accounts asst or show-

room sales job. Contact 94417080

Young Indian male, MBA Graduate

with valid Omani driving license

looking for suitable placement,

currently on visit visa. Contact:

91966286 / 92126618

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 & Pub-

lic relationship. Fluent in Arabic/

English with D/L. Looking for

suitable position.

Contact - 99897280

Indian female Graduate over 6

years of Admin operations experi-

ence looking for similar jobs.

Contact: 94231020

Indian female 29 MBA (HR) BSc

Oman & India, 3 years exp in

Admin & HR seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact: 95619537

13 years Gulf experience in FMGC

& CFD administration dept with

GCC valid D/L looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 93553051

Indian female 27 yrs with 5 yrs

HR /Admin experience seeking

suitable placement with valid

Oman driving license.

Contact: 98236033

Gulf experienced (7 years in UAE)

as Site Administrator/Document

Controller/Site Secretary/Site

Store Keeper in visit visa seek

suitable placement.

Contact 94674031

Pakistani female Graduate plus

Post Graduate diploma in logistics

6 years experience in shipping, of-

fice administration and customer

service. Fluent English and very

presentable on visit visa.

Contact: 91528567

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

Male Graduate , worked 19 years

experience in U.A.E , Oman , Qatar ,

Saudi, Kuwait in the field of docu-

mentation as a document control-

ler , planning Asst & some part of

admin seeking suitable placement

& ready to join immediately.

Contact: 93220534

Email: aniyer789@gmail.com

Filipino male with 13 years HR

and Administration managerial

experience. MBA & CIPD holder.

Currently looking for job in Oman.

Interested employer pls call

97728418.

Indian Female, MBA-HR having

8+ experience in Administration/

HR, Customer Support, Office Coor-

dinator with good Computer skill,

Now on Visit Visa,looking for suit-

able position. Contact: 90196235

Indian having more 15 years of

experience (7 years in UAE) in

construction as site administrates

for / document controller / HR as-

sistant / store assistant presently

on visit seek suitable placement.

Contact: 92196001/98598099

Crankshaft Grinding Technician, Engine block boring Technician, turner

required urgently for immediate

appointment. call or whatsapp

98898273

Wanted Market Research Expert with experience in Feasibility

Studies. Kindly send your resumes

to advance@omantel.net.om or

Fax us at +968-24792175.

Civil Site Supervisor for telecom

tower projects across Oman. Send

CV to fyjo@spec-link.com or

call +968 9946 7227

Indian male 25 yrs, Graduate in

commerce, overall 5 yrs exp in ac-

counts/ finance field. On visit visa.

Immediately available.

Contact – 92836216 /

muhammad.tausif623@gmail.com

by a leading Internal Designer Company in Muscat.

Interested candidate can send their CV at

Required male Omani / Filipino, 24 – 35 yrs as IT Coordinator. Fluent in English, to handle all

Web Designing aspects,

Mail Campaigns management,

Technical Support / Troubleshoot-

ing. Contact: 91371231

ARCHITECT

India Architect (B.arch) with

5 years working experience

available in Muscat on visit visa.

Contact 92774992 ,

Email: shabnaarch@gmail.com

Architect looking for freelance

work in (design plans and 3dmax).

Contact: 96041201

DESIGNER/DRAUGHTSMAN

25 years male BA. English ,

Qualified 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

DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, J A N UA R Y 1 0 , 2 0 1 6 D5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

DESIGNER/DRAUGHTSMAN

CATERING

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

MISCELLANEOUS

HOSPITALITY

DOMESTIC HELP

Cooks (Arabic Indian) gulf exp

looking job. Contact: 99531802

Indian, male, MBA with over 10

year Oman experience in MEP /

HVAC Procurement and Stores

looking for suitable placement.

NOC available. Contact 94048474.

Civil Engineer B.E 12 years ex-

perience with valid Oman driving

license. Contact: 93843448

Mechanical Engineer with 3

years experience and possess

valid Omani driving license seeks

suitable placement.

Contact: 97411523 Email:

malvindevachan@gmail.com

Electrical designer Indian male

25 yrs experience of oil & gas field

in Oman seeking suitable place-

ment. Contact: 99605127

Email: gerard.baptist@gmail.com

Civil Engineer (Diploma) having

11 years experience in building

construction, looking for a suitable

placement , having Oman driving

license. Noc available.

Contact: 95075365

Email: azharraaz@gmail.com

Civil Diploma 5years exp in Oman

solid building construction +

AutoCAD, holding Omani driving

license. Noc available looking for

suitable job. Contact: 99012590

Email: yousaf.engi2010@gmail.

com

Electrician, have driving license.

Contact: 95600418

B.Tech Civil Eng with 3 years

experience in the field of quan-

tity survey skilled in the areas of

Primavera, AutoCAD, MX excel.

Contact: 94853061 Email:

arunmohan.13990@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer (B. Tech) 6

years experience in Oman, exper-

tise in medc/mzec projects, valid

oman D/L. Contact : 99281715

Indian Electrical Engineer Btech,

female 24 seeking job, presently

in oman having 2 year experience

in design and estimation of Ht &Lt

projects. Contact 968 97436557,

Mail id : sibinanoop1@gmail.com

Civil Engineer 6 yrs Exp in Oman

with license. Contact: 98975528

B. Tech Mechanical Engineer

fresh Graduate, on visit

visa looking for opportuni-

ties. Contact:94743373

email:akasharavind1@gmail.com

B.Tech Civil Engineer Indian

male having 1 year experience in

home country, having Indian driv-

ing license. Contact 92367429 /

918801851806

Civil AutoCAD Draughtsman 12

years experience 9 years Gulf ex-

perience. Contact: 93528255

Diploma in Electronics, 2 years

exp in telecommunication.

Contact: 94519571 Email:

telecommunicationvishnumadhull

@gmail.com

Male B.S.C Engineer Civil total 10

years experience 7 years in Oman

2.5 years as Contractor Engr and

4.5 years as Consultant Engr, total

7 years in Oman seeking a job.

Contact: 95540721

Email: sheikcuet@gmail.com

Senior Telecom Engineer 4 years

experience in Oman valid driving

license MBA project management.

Contact: 95688953

Email: johan.joy@gmail.com

Male (23) BE Electrical Engineer

looking for job as Electrical Engi-

neering job experience 6 months

in MEP designing & electrical

designing job. Contact 98209070

Email: punivinlal@gmail.com

B.Tech (IT) Indian male 2 years

Oman experience in I.T & Network-

ing, holding Oman Driving License,

presently on employment visa,

seeks for a suitable placement.

Ready to join immediately. NOC

available. Contact: 92462578

email: kiren88@gmail.com

Indian Civil Engineer 2 yrs exp in

building construction /knowledge

in staad PRO primavera / apostille

attested certificate seeking immedi-

ate placement. Contact: 96637494

Civil Engineer (BE) male 3 years

experience (2 yrs in India) seeks

placement, NOC available.

Contact 98639039

Sudanese Architectural Engineer

2 years experience in Oman, Revit,

AutoCAD 3Ds max Archicad looking

for suitable job. Contact: 94722356

Email: maya40999@hotmail.com

Civil Engineer, 2 years GCC expe-

rience seeking job in construction

& infrastructure industry.

Contact: 97309549

Civil Engineer (Diploma) having

total 11 yrs experience in building

construction looking for suitable

placement having Oman driving

license, NOC available.

Contact 95075365,

Email : azharraaz@gmail.com

Civil structural Engineer 6 years experience Oman license.

Contact: 96380693

Civil Engineer 11 years experience

in construction having driving

license & NOC. Contact: 94194399

Email: shiblyrock@gmail.com

Male 29 years (BE) MEP Engineer

8.5 years of experience in building

construction. Seeking a suitable

job. Contact -95119765/ Email id

jayachandranmep@gmail.com

NOC available

Civil Engineer (B.Tech), Indian

male 24 years with 1+years Indian

experience,(Certified in Staad

Pro/ Quantity Survey/ Auto Cad).

Looking for a Suitable position.

Available In Sultanate of Oman

(Muscat) on Visit Visa.

Contact: 92835952. E-mail:

mohammedamair.bin@gmail.com

B.Tech (IT) Indian Male 2 years

Oman experience in I.T & Network-

ing, holding Oman Driving License,

presently on employment visa,

seeks for a suitable placement.

Ready to join immediately. NOC

available. Contact: 92462578

Indian male Electrical Engineer, having 6 years gulf experience in

designing, assembling, commis-

sioning execution etc having valid

GCC license too looking for a suit-

able. Contact: 00968-98052942

Email: azamjeelani78@gmail.com

Indian Male, IT System Engineer

having 4 yrs of experience in sys-

tem administration.CCNA,MCSE,

Linux. Looking for suitable job.

Contact :91272867

Indian female B.Tech IT with

2 years experienced in HCL pres-

ently on family visa.

Contact: 90357203 Email:

ammupravda123@gmail.com

IT Coordinator 6 years experience

in hardware & networking diploma

(2 yrs) in Hardware & net working

on visit visa. Contact: 99610415

Bachelor of Computer Applica-

tions, 27 years, Male, excellent

communication skills in English, 2

years experience as Administrative

Assistant, seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact GSM: 93985563,

Email: wazim86@gmail.com

B.Tech (IT) Indian Male 2 years

Oman experience in I.T & Net-

working, holding Oman Driving

License, presently on employment

visa, seeks for a suitable place-

ment. Ready to join immediately.

NOC available.

Contact: 92462578

Indian male, 26 yrs, having 5

yrs Gulf experience as pre sales

Engineer in IT field, looking for

suitable job. NOC available, having

Oman driving license with own

car. Contact 96929899, Email :

umeshreshmiya2@gmail.com

Indian male, Mechanical Engineer

with 6 yrs experience in MEP field,

seeking for a job, on visit visa with

GCC license available.

Contact 98086267,

Email : khaleel1586@gmail.com

Instrument Technician (diploma),

Indian male, 24 yrs, 3 yrs experi-

ence in reputed oil & gas compa-

nies, currently on visit visa, seeks

suitable job. Contact: 92007218

Email: ahmed0515@gmail.com

Diploma in Mechanical Eng piping system in AutoCAD work,

21+ years experience with Driving

license. Contact: 95267113

Email: rkakkaryil@gmail.com

Indian male, BE, Mechanical, with

trainee level experience at Galfar

& autoCAD, Creo, Ansys, certified

individual looking for suitable

placement in Oman.

Contact 91232147,

Email : shamil21siraj@gmail.com,

Mr. Shamil Siraj.

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 :

akhilabrahamlktr@gmail.com

Fresher Graduate looking for job

(Electrical & Electronics Engineer-

ing), special course (Simatic P/C).

Contact 97304565

Sudanese Civil Engineer with

5 years experienced AutoCAD

primavera & GIS Arabic & English

language looking for a suitable

job. Contact: 91340584

29 yrs Indian male B.E (ECE) with

more than 5 yrs experience in

Oman with valid D/L.

Contact: 96652145

Mechanical Engineer M.Tech

2 years experience HVAC design

& site Engg revit MEP Auto CAD.

Contact: 90150913 Email:

mahmanmechengg@yahoo.im

Indian female, 31 yrs, 7 yrs expe-

rienced as AutoCAD civil drafts-

man (2 yrs experience in Oman)

currently in Oman seeks suitable.

Contact 96789441

Email: simi5304@gmail.com

Network Engineer BA: CS with

experience CCNA, MCSA.

Contact: 92346191

7 Yrs Exp. PM in Mech. Engg in

the field of Building Const. Oil &

Gas Seeking Job.94625598

Indian male (B.Tech EEE) 31 yrs

having managerial skills AutoCAD

quality control electrical fault de-

bugging 6 yrs experience in elec-

tric field & good communication

skills. Contact: 90181566 Email:

jittoandrewsnesto@gmail.com

Bachelor Civil Engineer 6 Years

in Oman experience Valid Driving

License seeks suitable placement

Phone 97619722

Email – golamrob@yahoo.com

Road and Construction Engineer with 5 years exp in Oman.

Contact: 97667113

Diploma in Mechanical Engineer-

ing, 36 years, Male, Indian, having

16 years of experience in machine

maintenance & machine break-

down, worked with reputed com-

panies in India, currently on visit

visa seeking suitable placement.

Contact- 99011507

E-mail: rsdengroman@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer with 18 years

exp in UAE. Contact: 98148034

Email: shassalih66@gmail.com

IT

IT

Interior designer Indian male

with 4 years experience / 3Ds

Max, AutoCAD .Now on visit visa

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 94886507

Email: vizhue07@gmail.com

Hospitality/Hotel/ Restaurants

Dynamic result oriented hospital-

ity professional with 20 years of

international exp. MBA in Hotel

Management, specializing in

Hotel/Restaurant start ups, con-

cepts & Franchise development

with proven records. Seeking for

Challenging positions in reputed

groups as GM/COO/CEO/Business

Head. (NOC available)

Contact: 96059470

Procurement Engineer (27 years

single male with Oman Driving Li-

cense) having 7 years experience

(UAE 2, Oman 3) with expertise in

MEP, Water, Electromechanical,

Instrumentation seeking suitable

placements. Contact 95852033,

mail: hemal1988@gmail.com

BE Electronics, Female with 2

years experience in Oman with

Omani D/L. NOC available.

Contact 95143294

Indian male, Mechanical Engi-

neer having 1year experience, on

visit visa looking for suitable job.

Contact:97416564,

Email:jovinmathias@gmail.com

DRIVER

Full time Malayalee House maid.

Contact: 90178404 / 94451344 /

93000935

Experienced Light Duty Driver,

Fluent in English, Arabic Well

knowledge of Oman Areas Seeking

Suitable placement 97950869

Looking for light driving job,

2 years exp. Contact: 91625977

Light duty driver with 3 yrs exp

Pakistani seeks placement.

Contact: 98004139

Bangladeshi male light driver

exp 14 years need job and visa

transfer, release paper available.

Contact: 99165961

Driver looking for a job. NOC

available 95154610

Looking for heavy duty driving

job 5 years experiences in G.C.C,

with heavy duty license.

Contact: 97474978

Light driver Pakistani male 32

years with valid driving license

seeking placement required visa.

Contact: 97106232

Driver with new car looking for

job.contact: 95873286

Indian light driver having 2

years experience in Oman know

language Hindi, English & Arabic

need job. Contact: 97366822

Light driver 6 years exp educa-

tion CO level language English,

Arabic, Hindi looking for office

driver. Contact: 99640986

Looking for job driver with car.

Contact: 99154473

Bangladeshi male 48 yrs, light

driver 14 yrs of exp, need job &

visa. Contact - 98326656 Driver (light & heavy duty) valid

gulf /Indian) looking job.

Contact: 95175192

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

Purchase MGR / Transport in

charge 9 yrs exp in Oman having

D/L & NOC join immediately.

Contact: 90187891 Email:

mohammedshariff35@gmail.com

Indian male, MBA Graduate, GCC

with valid D/L, currently working

as branch Manager in Muscat, 4

yrs Oman experience in Admin &

HR Executive trainer, customer

service, sale supervising account-

ing, fluent in Arabic, English, Hindi

looking for suitable placement.

Release & NOC available.

Contact 97644108, email :

basheervision21st@gmail.com

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, 40 yrs, 16 yrs in Gulf,

Supervisor in steel fabrication

company, seeks suitable placement-

98667442 / 98119694

Indian HSE Manager Grad IOSH &

I Dip NEBOSH with 18 years expe-

rience presently working in Oman

seeking suitable HSE jobs Oman

driving license & NOC available.

Contact: 94401830

Email: hseoman101@gmail.com

The Business Development Man-

ager, Iraqi, Experience 15 Years

Inside and outside Oman following

activities: construction(Very strong

and qualified to bringing business

for civil work Or any type of the

construction work for many million

per year with a good experience in

pricing and collect payment and

cash management of the company &

marketing projects & investments&

tenders & real estate.

Contact 92385033

Indian male M.B.A with 7 years

Oman experience in Insurance

sector with D/L, NOC available

seeking suitable position.

Contact: 99278672

Indian male, with experience in

operations management, informa-

tion security, purchase & stores

mgmt, hold UAE driving license,

on visit visa, seeks suitable job.

Contact 91904541

Email: naushers@yahoo.com

Purchase/Planning & Logistics

Manager, MBA (Finance), 14yrs.

Oman Exp. with D/L, NOC avail-

able, looking for suitable position.

Contact : 93826090,

Email: jskanchan01@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS

Indian Female, 24 Years - MSc

Biotechnology. Worked in Inter-

national Crops Research Institute

For The Semi Arid Tropics for pro-

ject work as trainee. Looking for

suitable job. Mobile: 92619048,

Email: anusreeg1991@gmail.com

Indian female on visit MBA

(International Business- Market-

ing & Logistics), BE (Computers &

Science Engg.) Trained in SAP-BI/

BW with 1 year experience seek-

ing for job Contact: 90228586

Email:fathimasha16@gmail.com

Indian female with experience in

Physiology & logistics, currently as

Logistic Coordinator seeks suitable

placement. Contact 96400107,

Email : amiablesheru@gmail.com

Graduate, computer literate,

experienced in sales, credit control,

accounts, Omani D/L ,

seeks suitable placement.

Gsm 98805474

CALL +968 97912950

Project Engineer, BSc, 6 years

experience in Oman, building con-

struction Fluent Arabic, English

and good Hindi Release and NOC

Available). Tel: 97858589

Indian male, 25 yrs, Diploma in

Hardware & Network Engineering

having 4 yrs experience now in

Oman, on visit visa seeking suita-

ble placement. Contact 98779754

/ 92720311

Civil Engineer diploma, 4 yrsexp

seeks suitable position ina reputed

company. NOC available.

Contact – 96789711

Civil Engineer 8 years experience

in Oman as a project engineer for

governmental & private projects.

Contact – 90164912

B.Tech C.Eng. AMIEI, Electrical Engineer with 5years experience in

the field of electrical power system

(transmission & distribution) area

expertise in design Ele-SLD, prepar-

ing BOQ, LS & estimation transform-

ers switchgear selection installa-

tion testing & commissioning in all

sectors. Contact: 94638744,

EMAIL : ceng.shaz@gmail.com

Civil Engineer 6 yrs Exp in Oman

with license. Contact: 98975528

Indian Male 23 years B.Tech Civil

having 2 years experience in quan-

tity survey and site management

looking for suitable placement.

Contact:- 95042656

Mechanical Engineer with 3 Yrs

experience in international Oil

& Gas company looking for job

Contacts: Tel: 90164236 Email:

mustafaoshi-62@hotmail.com

Civil Engineer (BE) having total

5 years experience in building

construction looking for a suitable

placement. D/L available

Contact# 94450270

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

Sri Lankan Engineer (27 Years

old) – B.Sc Engineering (Hon)

Mining / Geotechnical Presently

in Muscat, 1.5 years experience.

Contact 91295802 /

acmfaslan123@gmail.com

Diploma in Electrical Engineer-

ing with 6 years’ experience in

Electrical Automation, Program-

ming, Project, Power, Energy

and Supervision in Civil Work.

Currently in Oman and looking for

suitable position, Please contact

94873560/92406652.

Civil Engineer 6 yrs Exp in Oman

with license. Contact: 98975518

MEDICAL

Indian female 27 years, BSC ML

T 3 years experience as lab techni-

cian currently in Muscat looking

for job. Contact: 91849807

Email: jeethaiype63@gmail.com

10+ yrs experience as Optical

Practice Manager, Diploma in

Ophthalmic Assistant,

BCA seeking for good placement.

Email : udayasuresh87@gmail.

com, 99576403 / 91 9962888824

Dentist Indian female with MOH

license working in Oman since last

2 yrs & worked in India for 5 yrs is

looking for a suitable placement

in Sohar urgently. NOC available.

Contact : 94227073

An experienced Sudanese female Dentist with MOH license look-

ing for job. Contact: 96436517

/97396088

Professional with 12 years experi-

ence in Export industry. Dealt with

markets across US, EU, Latin Amer-

ica & Asian countries for business

development, sourcing & supply

chain in the made-to-order business

inclusive of product development

& marketing. Currently employed

in Oman with driving license. NOC

available. Contact 96931557.

Sales and marketing job with 10

years experience locally available

on visiting visa. Contact: 99293494

Email: bavas264@gmail.com

Indian female (M.Tech in Power

system) having Gulf experience

seeking suitable placement in

Oman, now in family visa.

Contact: 94306164 / 91001194

Indian Male B.com, PGDCA &

Tally,14 years’ experience in

Customer Care, Operations, Sales,

Coordination, Accounts & Admin.

Seeking suitable position.

Currently on Visit Visa

Contact – 94871963 or 99440152.

Email: rajeshkv.pmna@gmail.com

MBA graduate having 6 years exp

in Sales & Marketing, 4 years with

PEPSI, India, having international

driving license permit seeks suit-

able placement. Cont : 95308167,

Email : samir.pag@gmail.com

B.Com male 2 yrs experience in

sales Computer knowledge, seeking

suitable placement. # 99648334

14 yrs MNC Sales /Marketing Man-

ager experience with D/L visa NOC.

Contact: 90205082

SALES / MARKETING

10 years Oman experience ICT

Sector, capable of handling large ac-

counts, looking for suitable Senior Ex-

ecutive position. Contact: 98987654

Indian female, 28 yrs, MCA, B.

Com, 3 yrs experience in the

field of Computer hardware, ERP

Softwares & windows networking

where planning, implementing

& trouble shooting with multiple

platform of OS Microsoft XP / 7/

on visit visa. Contact 95089170,

email : anjuretnakar@gmail.com

Communication Network CCNA

fresh Graduate. Contact: 98194924

Indian male MCA, Oracle , orion ,

ERP, 15 years experience , 5 years in

Oman with NOC. Contact: 95398567

Email: anasa4@gmail.com

Senior IT Engineer Sudanese male

9 years experience in Govt./ Private

sectors. Contact: 94675984

Senior IT Engineer Sudanese

male 9 years experience in Govt. /

Private sectors.Contact: 94874758

Hardware & net working, 2 years

exp. Contact: 96244031

Indian male 8 yrs exp in Oman

working as housekeeping supervi-

sor in star hotel, seeking for a job

NOC available. Contact – 91753210

25 years Gulf experienced

Manager in operations, projects,

properties, holding valid Oman

driving license, with NOC, looking

for suitable opening.

Contact: 91283701

The Business Development Manager, Iraqi, Experience 15

Years Inside and outside Oman

following activities: tenders& real

estate& construction & marketing

projects& investments& trans-

portation & Marine services&

companies management& develop

business. Contact :- 92385033

DAILY GUIDED6 S U N D AY, J A N UA R Y 1 0 , 2 0 1 6

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

SALES / MARKETING

B.Tech MBA 13 years in sales &

service on power tools pumps (Oman

license) & NOC available.

Contact: 95321814

Email: manoraj81@gmail.com

Looking for immediate sales &

marketing job with 7 yrs Gulf expe-

rience and driving license till 12 Feb

16. Contact: 99642611

Email: kashif_lam@yahoo.com

Indian (keralite) male 25 yrs MBA

in marketing & logistics ,2 yrs

marketing exp presently in Oman

in residential visa (NOC could

obtained) with Oman D/L seeks

suitable placement.

Contact :90263368,

Email: getintouchtst@gamil.com

MBA ( HR & Marketing), B.Com,

Indian male, 28 yrs, 2 yrs exp.

in Qatar, having Oman driving

license, presently on family visa

in Salalah (NOC available), looking

for HR, Admin (NOC available),

looking for HR, Admin, Assistant

Accountant, Marketing & sales

job in Salalah. Contact 98138376,

Email: subinabraham87@gmail.com

Indian male 5 years experience in

Store keeping & driving license, re-

lease available. Contact: 95197065

Sales & Marketing Executive MBA

with 3 years experience in sales

looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 91345727.

Indian male, 25 yrs, MBA, Market-

ing with 1 yr experience in Sales &

Marketing looking for immediate

placement. Contact 91945577

30 yr old experienced available

with NOC & Oman driving license

6+years experience in chemicals

Industry. Contact: 96675065

Indian male B.Com Graduate having

14 yrs Gulf experience in indoor sales

and shop management currently on

visit visa seeking suitable place-

ment in Oman. Contact : 94873251

Email: imtiazsulthan@gmail.com

Indian male, 24, MBA Marketing

and HR, I year experience. On visit

visa. Looking for suitable job.

Contact 94014073

Marketing Executive/Merchan-

diser, Omani License, BA 8 years

Experience in Multinational

Groups. Contact 97601343

Indian male, 28 yrs, 3 yrs In Oman,

B.E. Instrumentation, 5.5+ yrs

experience in oil & gas projects,

proposals, EPC, sales & marketing

preferred, profile – sales & market-

ing status married can join immedi-

ately. Contact 91 9650336344,

prashant.colligator@gmail.com

Graduate, computer literate,

experienced in sales, credit control,

accounts, Omani D/L , seeks suit-

able placement. Gsm 9880-5474

Indian Male 32, MBA (Marketing

& Finance) with 10 years experi-

ence in Marketing of Banking

Products & Insurance Industry.

Seeking for a Job in Oman.

Contact: 93576980, 97750460

Email: senthil.cbe83@gmail.com

Dedicated professional with over

18 yrs experience in sales market-

ing business development & new

product launches with Oman

driving license & NOC with 4 yrs

experience in Oman looking for

suitable openings.

Contact 93575165 / 99254080

Indian male 34 Yrs, Dual MBA

Finance and Marketing with IT

skills, 7+ yrs of experience, looking

for suitable placement. Contact :

94879615. Email-

sajan_chacko1981@yahoo.com

5 years experience in Sales

currently looking for a placement.

Contact: 93458869

Indian male, MBA Finance &

Marketing 28 yrs,6+ Exp, with

Driving license, Hospital Phrma

Herbal Marketing, construction

A/c & sales , F&B industry,

Contact : 93379044

Indian male 23 years with 4 years

experience in Purchase and Sales,

graduate in EC, currently on visit-

ing visa, seeking suitable job in

Oman. Contact: 96761020. Email:

adikmuthumuttam@gmail.com

Indian male, MBA Marketing

having 2.5 years Sales experience

immediately looking for a suitable

position. Contact: 91415145,

Email: shariqs88@gmail.com

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

Mason, SH / carpenter, steel fitter

gulf & Indian exp looking job.

Contact: 95175192

Indian male Senior Safety Officer (NEBOSH) 9 years experience, valid

GCC license looking for suitable job .

Contact: 96586672

Email: mrudul.v2008@gmail.com

37 years, Indian male, X- Ray

welder 7 years experience, looking

for job on visit visa now. Contact:

91360190 / 98223683

Electrician, plumber (exp gulf / In-

dian) looking job. Contact 95175192

TOURS & TRAVELS

Indian female BSC IATA, 14 years

exp in travel & tourism in Oman

looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 96433490

Email: indu623@yahoo.co.in

TECHNICIAN /MECH.

Instrumentation & controls Technician with 2-3 years

experience preferably in water

sector and having valid driving

license call Ph:+968 99450811

Send CV to shiju@spec-link.com

MISCELLANEOUS

Indian, male-28 yrs, E & I Engi-

neering Diploma (3 years), 7 years

exp.(India, Oman, KSA) in electri-

cal and instrumentation with

driving license, looking suitable

job #91051803

Indian male B.Eng. in IT, CCNA,

MCSA, MCSE, 3yrs exp. in IT/

networking/server support, valid

Omani D/L seeking suitable place-

ment in IT/Network/Server sup-

port. Contact 92607532

Indian, M.Com with 20 years Gulf

experience in Marketing Commu-

nications, ATL& BTL branding exp.

with Oman D/L. Contact 93031168

Bangladeshi male 37 yrs B. Com ,

B.Ed Gulf exp 7 yrs fluent English

, Hindi & Arabic , I know computer

skill seeking suitable placement

NOC available. Contact: 92495928

Indian male Accountant with 10

years experience in Oman. NOC

available with driving license for

immediate joining.

Contact: 99720602

Indian male 25 years (Electrical

Engineer) 3 years working experi-

ence in MNC company India, cur-

rently on visit visa seeking suita-

ble placement. Contact: 94864680

Email: m.mohamedazik@gmail.

com

Pakistani male 23 years with 2

years experience in office Admin,

computer skills & teaching experi-

ence NOC available for immedi-

ate joining. Contact: 94453981 /

93253759

34 years Bangladesh male with

8 yrs sales man experience & with

driving license. Contact: 95650478

MBA Marketing & finance, Indian

female, 10 years experience in

business development, consulting,

product management in banking,

IT, sustainability on visit visa.

Contact: 95431357

Indian male having 8 years Oman

experience in Administration /HR,

office coordinator with excellent

MS Office skills seeking suitable

position, NOC available.

Contact: 95407303

Electrical foreman Indian male

38 yrs total 19 yrs exp in electrical

field, electrical foreman, exp 4 yrs

in Oman seeking suitable place-

ment. Contact: 97379290

HR Manual, Employee Hand-

book, Recruitment, Training, HR

Consultancy. Are you looking for

freelancer HR professional.

Contact: 97914669

Sudanese diploma holder in civil

engineering with experience 5

year. Tel: 96995670

Accountant, Indian female B.com,

M.com (incomplete) tally, MS of-

fice skills, 8 years experience in

Oman , up to finalization seeks

suitable position. #92712559

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

Indian female 25 years com-

puter science Engineer with 3 yrs

experience in IT support, seeking

job presently available in Oman.

Contact: 95933507

Email: neenuhar189@gmail.com

Indian male 26 yrs accountant,

MBA finance having 3 years expe-

rience in Oman with Oman license

NOC available seeking job suitable

positions. Contact: 94282980

Email: msjob4578@gmail.com

Indian male fresh civil engineer-

ing graduate from Muscat College

with D/L seeks suitable position

with employment visa.

Contact: 93121505

Indian male 26 yrs electrical

engineer with 3 years of expert

engg looking for suitable employ-

ment. Contact: 92953046 Email:

divinmathew007@gmail.com Marketing executive qualification

B.com MBA with 3 years of experi-

ence in sales looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 91345727

Purchase & Stores In charge

– Having continues 13 years

experience in a single firm, look-

ing for a placement. # 99627427,

96154564

34 years vast experienced in

Oman as Sales & Marketing, any

suitable senior position. NOC

available. Can join immediately.

Contact: 9986 8330 / 9984 8831.

E-mail: rwahedi458@gmail.com

Indian male B.Eng. in IT, CCNA,

MCSA, MCSE, 3yrs exp. in IT/

networking/ server support,

valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement in IT/Network/Server

support. Contact 92607532

Planning Engineer: B.E (Electri-

cal and Electronics Engineering):

Indian Male 33 yrs with 10 years

of exp. in UAE & Muscat. Skilled in

the areas of project coordination,

planning & procurements. Contact:

00971503529608 Email Id:

saravananbe44@gmail.com

Electronics Technician , 4 Years

experience as Electronics service

engineer. Knowledge in all type of

Electronics items. Looking for

suitable placement.

Contact 99105043

Indian Male Diploma + MBA in

Project Management with 7+ years

of experience in Construction

company oman as a maintenance

supervisor cum site In charge.

Having valid Omani D/L seeking

suitable position.

Contact: 90318757

SOFTWARE ENGINEER, 24 years,

B.Tech in computer science. 2

Years of experience in technical

support, software development,

networking, troubleshooting and

managing. seek suitable place-

ment. Contact GSM- 98184170

Indian Female, Diploma in Avia-

tion and Hospitality management

(IATA), Having 4 years experience,

seeking for a suitable Job,

Contact 99104529.

Male B.com with 15 years of expe-

rience in Production, Administra-

tion and Operations Management

seeks placement

Contact: 92369241

Diploma civil Engineer (Main-

tenance/Facility Management)

having 10 years exp. presently in

Oman with Oman driving License.

Cont: 95346983

Mail: asherlalitha@yahoo.com

Indian male Accountant, 12 years

experience, looking for a full time

or part time job, experience in

tally also. Contact 98983122

Indian male M.com looking for

part time job in accounts including

finalization, date entry, financial

guidance please contact:97433387

Indian, M.Com with 20 years Gulf

experience in Marketing Commu-

nications, ATL& BTL branding exp.

with Oman D/L. Contact 93031168

Light Driver looking for job.

Contact:99594946

Female B.SC B.ED MA (Physics)

with 10 years of experience in

teaching and 3 yrs in counseling.

Looking for suitable position

Contact: 92369316

Chief Accountant looking for full /

part time job. Contact :95598477 /

98803439

Indian female, MBA HR & Finance,

having 1 year experience, seeking

suitable placement. Currently in

Oman. Contact: 96052366.

B.E. Chemical, Total 12 yrs experi-

ence, QA/HSE experience in Engg.

Consultancy/ Construction/ ISO

Management Systems, Lead Audi-

tor for ISO 9001, 14001 & 18001

seeking suitable placement. NOC

Available. Contact: 9415 7131, E-

Mail: samirtrivedi_01@yahoo.com

INDIAN MALE, 24 years, B.Tech

in computer science.3Years of

experience in technical support,

software development, trouble-

shooting and managing, seek suit-

able placement. # 98184170

Indian male, 26 years, With 7

years of experience in Sales Field

in shipping company in “Dubai”

looking for suitable placement.

Experienced working in safety

Marine equipment and well

versed with MS Office.

Contact 90182494,

manojmallya999@gmail.com

Indian Male Diploma + MBA in

Project Management with 7+ years

of exp. in Construction company

Oman as a Maintenance Supervi-

sor cum site In charge. Having

valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

position. Contact: 90318757

B.Tech EEE with 4+ years experi-

ence in the field of it, networking,

ex-tonics etc. Presently working

in amazon india development

centre as a content quality as-

sociate. Seeking for suitable jobs

in oman. Contact number : +91

9940514005, 0096893116402,

Email: mail2nbn@gmail.com

Indian Male, 28 Yrs, M.Tech hav-

ing 5+ years experience (3 Year

Industry+2 years Lecturer),Now

on visit visa, looking for suitable

position. Contact 94885747

Indian, Male, 24years, Bachelor’s

degree, Two and half years experi-

ence with Oman driving license.

NOC Available. Looking suitable

opening. Currently on visit visa.

GSM: 95484101.

Sudanese male 31 years, have 3

years Diploma in Electrical Engi-

neer, 6 years and 1 year in Oman

experience in building construc-

tion and electrical plants , have

oman drive license.

Contact : 94549609

26 Years oman experienced ex-

ecutive in automobiles, showroom

& workshop areas seeks suitable

replacement. Currently working as

general manager in a reputed LLC”

Contact +968-2009700

/91494707

Indian Female Electronics Sys-

tem Eng. UK Graduate. Program-

mer Micro Controller Robot, Eng.

Analysis, Instrumentation &

Control, Eng. Projects, Integrated

Circuit Eng., Electrical and Fluid

Drives, Analogue Electronics,

Wireless Systems.

Seeking suitable post.

Contact: 97848075,

s.dinesh1508@gmail.com

Indian male B.Eng. in IT, CCNA,

MCSA, MCSE, 3yrs exp. in IT/

networking/server support, valid

Omani D/L seeking suitable place-

ment in IT/Network/Server sup-

port. Contact 92607532

DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, J A N UA R Y 1 0 , 2 0 1 6 D7

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

SITUATION WANT-SERVICES

SITUATION WANTEDEDUCATION/CLASSES/TRAINING

Contact : 94277020

Split & window A/c servicing & main-

tenance. #: 93769089 / 95323517

Water proofing ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

Catering for Party & Birthday ser-

vice Cnt 97196675

Cleaning & Carpet Shampooing, Ocean Center LLC.

Contact: 99344723

Pest Control Treatments. Ocean Center LLC.

Contact: 99344723

House shifting. Contact:

99657644/98518013

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

TOURS

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

Al farzdaq Al Fedi Trad and Cont

Maintenance services electric,

plumbing and A/C.

Contact: 96524904 / 94285064

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles polishing, carpet

shampooing, maintenance.

Contact ABU QABAS- 99320217

/24788722

Marble grinding resurfacing &

ceiling crystallization / polishing

general cleaning of villas & flats.

Terrazzo floor scrubbing,

ceiling, polishing & buffing.

Contact: 98598280 /94134784

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your

marble.# 24793614/ 99314807

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing,

Contact 99314807/24792998

SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED

Classes for Spoken EnglishTOEFL / GRE / GMAT / SAT

Excellent Guidance and Coaching Satisfaction Guaranteed

IELTS PREPARATION Target Band 8.0

EAGLES INSTITUTE92325542 | 93657915 | 93657917 | Email: engominst@gmail.com

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

WEBSITE

WEB, ERP and Business

Intelligence (BI) creation and

management at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

COMPUTER

FOR LADIES

Special offer for ladies only, All beautification for 15 RO. Al Doom

beauty parlour in Ruwi. (Home

service also) Contact 99619409

We provide loading unloading

helper for contracting.

Contact: 94777137

31 year Indian male PG in HR

with 5 yrs Professional experi-

ence in HR in Construction Oil &

Gas Oman seeking for a suitable

placement(NOC Available).Kindly

contact me on 93488914, email-

Kaarthickshankar@gmail.com

Pakistani male: MSc Environmen-

tal Engineering, Diploma Hazard

risk reduction and Occupation

Safety Health Authority, having

more than 5 years’ exp. as a Health

Safety supervisor looking for a

better placement. #97682745

email: hussain349@gmail.com

D8 S U N D AY, J A N UA R Y 1 0 , 2 0 1 6

DAILY GUIDE Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

RENT A CAR

RENT A CAR

RENT A CAR

Car available with driver for

monthly, weakly, daily rent.

Contact 96728056 / 98031620

Al Sharouq rent a car. Contact:

99222617

Silver car, car rental at good rate.

Contact: 96166155/93530540

TRANSPORTATION7 Ton/ 10 Ton- Trailer

Local transport- MCT- UAE

Contact96609857

Amir Ali

TRANSPORTATION

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation available Ruwi to

Al Khuwair, Ghubra & Azaiba.

Contact: 91103909

Transportation. Contact

99508282

Transportation. Contact:

99664703

Transportation. Contact

96173326

Transportation. Contact

94510847

Transportation Contact:

99077395

25 - 50 seater bus

with PDO & BP specification for

monthly rent & small car

with driver.

Contact 99839898

Pick & drop anytime in

Al Khuwair. Contact 99764307

Transportation taxi mini bus.

Contact: 93091106