Times of Oman - June 16, 2016

Founded 1975 . Volume 41 No. | Pages . Baisas 200 . Subscription OMR63 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company | Chairman/Editor-in-Chief: Mohamed Issa Al Zadjali | Printed & Published by Muscat Media Group

June 16, 2016 10 Ramadan 1437 AH

THURSDAY

4099

RAMADAN PRAYER TIMINGS

Dhuhr 12.13pm

Asr 3.31pm

Maghrib 7.00pm

Isha 8.23pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 3.52am

IFTAR

7.00PM

FAJR

3.52AM

MORNING MINUTE

FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTYTHE SULTAN

To Senior State Officials, 1978

There is no place in our society for anyone who steps out of line or fails to perform his duties in the manner required of him.

‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’

HM sends condolences to Obama

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of condolences to US President Barack Obama for the victims of Orlando shooting in Florida.

In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan has expressed his sin-cere condolences and sympa-thy to President Obama, the US people and families of the victims, wishing the injured a speedy recovery. -ONA

O R L A N D O A T T A C K

Take care on longest

day fast, say doctors

RAHUL [email protected]

MUSCAT: Precautions must be taken when the longest fast-ing day arrives on June 21, say city doctors.

According to the Oman As-tronomical Society, (OAS) citi-zens and residents will fast for 15 hours and eight minutes on Tuesday. It is to be noted that the fasting times do not tally with the sunrise and sunset times.

“There will not be much dif-ference as people are already fasting for more than 15 hours now,” Mohammed Yahya Al Hi-jri, member of Oman Astronom-ical Society, said. Doctors, said

that precautions should be taken by fasting people. “People should drink plenty of water before fast-ing and should avoid going out in sun while they are fasting,” Dr Pradeep Maheswari, special-ist of internal medicine at the Atlas Hospital, Ruwi said.

He also advised people to eat light and non-oily food dur-ing fasting. The sun will rise at 5.21am and set at 7.01pm in Mus-cat on Tuesday. Sunrise and sun-set has a time difference of a few minutes in Oman.

“But people will start fasting from 3.53am and will be able to break their fast at 7.01 pm on Tuesday,” according to the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs. >A8

J U N E 2 1

Inflation rate in May grows 1.14% compared to last yearMUSCAT: Inflation in the Sul-tanate grew by 1.14 per cent in May compared to the same period a year ago, according to the lat-est data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Infor-mation (NCSI) on the consumer price index.

When compared with the infla-tion rate in April this year, May’s figure slipped 0.02 per cent.

The increase in the price index in May from the corresponding month last year could be attrib-uted to an appreciation in the main groups, such as housing, wa-ter, electricity, gas and other fuel groups (1.02 per cent), the trans-port group (4.83 per cent), shoes

and textile group (0.46 per cent) and home appliances and mainte-nance group (0.8 per cent).

Data also indicated that the groups, which reflected a fillip, are the health group (1.44 per cent) education group (3.03 per cent), restaurants and hotel group (0.1 per cent) and commodities and services group (0.23 per cent).

Drop in some groupsThe same data also showed groups, which reported a drop in inflation, namely the foodstuff and non-alcoholic group (0.67 per cent), the communication group (0.26 per cent), and the culture and entertainment group

(0.33 per cent).On the governorate level, the

Governorate of Dhofar saw the highest inflation rate at 2.37 per cent, followed by the Governorate A’Dakhiliyah (1.31 per cent) the Governorates of North and South A’Sharqiyah (1.19 per cent), the Governorate of North Al Batinah (1.11 per cent), the Governorate of Muscat (0.94 per cent), the Gov-ernorate of Al Dhahirah (0.48 per cent) and the Governorate of Al Buraimi (0.52 per cent).

Compared with April this year, the consumer price index fell by 0.02 per cent as the foodstuff and non-alcoholic group declined 0.23 per cent. -ONA

D A T A

A7Salalah airport marks first anniversary

OMANBhiku dies; body to be sent back home

2The body of Bhiku Prasad, the undocumented Indian

worker who passed away on Tuesday night, will be flown back to India at the Indian government’s expense, a senior embassy official said. Bhiku was battling for his life in a hospital in Muscat. >A6

MARKETMuscat Finance aims OMR5m bond issue

3Muscat Finance, one of the leading leasing and hire purchase companies

listed on the MSM, plans to raise OMR5 million by way of a bond issue on private placement basis. The company plans to convene an extra ordinary general meeting of shareholders. >B1

OMANInjured Indian doctor recovering slowly

1An Indian doctor, who suffered multiple fractures and a brain injury during a

road crash in Muscat, is showing signs of recovery, his wife said. The doctor was injured in an accident on June 4 and was airlifted to India last week for treatment. Binoy was working as an assistant cardiologist at Badr Al Samaa Hospital, Ruwi. >A2

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

DEEBA HASANHASAN SHABAN AL [email protected] [email protected]

MUSCAT: Tourism and invest-ment will be negatively affected by Oman Air’s decision to cancel its weekly flights to Sohar, according to business leaders.

“Investors may think twice before investing in Sohar. Busi-nessmen may reconsider invest-ing in the wilayat after this deci-sion. They were earlier excited to come and invest directly but now they will be forced to stop in Muscat and then drive all the way to Sohar,” said Hilal Al Sidra-ni, Shura council representative from Sohar region. >A8

O M A N A I R

Sohar flight cancellation to hit tourism

REJIMON KHASAN SHABAN AL [email protected]@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Missing fuel station at-tendant John Philip has been found dead and a murder investigation is underway, police have confirmed.

Philip, an Indian employee, had been missing since Friday night and police have been searching for him since Saturday morning after a col-league reported him missing.

“His body was found. He was murdered,” a senior police official told Times of Oman.

According to John’s company of-ficials, money between OMR4,000 and OMR5,000 is missing from the station, at Sunaina, near Ibri, around 270km from Muscat.

Staff reported seeing bloodstains on the walls inside the office and CCTV cameras were damaged on Friday following his disappearance.

John, from the south Indian state

of Kerala, had been working in Oman for the last 13 years.

Police initiated a probe after a colleague reported for duty on Sat-urday morning. The colleague who informed the police was taken into custody and was released on Mon-day. John is survived by his wife Binu and two children.

John’s eldest son is a Class XII student and younger daughter studies in Class V. John’s rel-atives had approached the state government and the Indian central govern-ment to find him.

On Tuesday, his worried wife Binu had pleaded with the authorities in Oman to help find her husband.

She said: “Find my missing husband as early as possible. It is the fourth day now. I don’t have anything else to say.”

MURDER HUNT AS MISSING MAN FOUND DEADThe mystery behind the

disappearance of Indian

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SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES

21

20

19

18

17

16

JUNE

JUNE

JUNE

JUNE

JUNE

JUNE Total Hours: 13:35:04

Total Hours13:35:20

Total Hours13:35:26

Total Hours13:35:29

Total Hours13:35:31

Total Hours13:35:32

13:35 : 00(HH:MM : SS)

15 30 45 60

SUNRISE: 05:20 SUNSET: 18:55






Source: timeanddate.com Graphics

A2 T H U R S DAY, J U N E 1 6, 2 0 1 6

OMAN He is still in a semi-conscious state. He is responding to commands, but to bring him back to normal life may take a few more monthsAngel Binoy, wife of injured Badr Al Samaa medic Dr Binoy

Accident-hit Badr Al Samaa doctor shows recovery signsREJIMON K [email protected]

MUSCAT: An Indian doctor, who suffered multiple fractures and a brain injury during a road crash in Muscat that left his mother dead, is showing signs of recovery, his wife said.

The doctor was injured in an accident on June 4 and was air-lifted to India last week for ad-vanced treatment.

“He is still in a semi-conscious state. He is responding to com-mands, but to bring him back to normal life may take a few more months,” Angel Binoy, the wife of

Binoy said.Binoy, who was working as an

assistant cardiologist at the Badr Al Samaa Hospital in Ruwi, was left fighting for life after the ac-cident that took place last Friday near Wattayah in Muscat.

“He has suffered a brain in-jury, a fractured rib and injured his facial bone. However, his current situation is better than what I saw after the accident,” Angel revealed.

“There will be difficulty in managing the motor ability, how-ever, we hope for the best,” Angel, who is a dentist and is currently completing her higher studies

in India, said. Angel had flown to Muscat following the accident.

Binoy’s mother, who was killed in the accident, had been living with him for the last six years in Muscat. According to a report by the National Centre for Statistics and Information released in May, traffic accidents in Oman have de-creased by 32.5 per cent.

“The number of such accidents stood at 1,413 by the end of April this year. They resulted in 210 deaths and 903 injuries. While the number of injuries has also dropped by 22.8 per cent, data showed that the death rate rose by 1.4 per cent,” the report added.

S E M I - C O N S C I O U S

MUSCAT: A report on priva-tisation of some services pro-vided by the government was discussed at a meeting of the Economic Committee of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and industry (OCCI).

The government will super-vise and follow up the perfor-mance of the privatised sectors.

The report was discussed at the second meeting of the Com-mittee for 2016 held at Bank Muscat Main Branch and head-ed by Qais bin Mohammed Al Yousef, Member of OCCI Board and Head of the Committee.

Al Yousef presented a work-ing paper on the role of e-gov-ernment in the logistics sector in which he discussed the ob-stacles and challenges that are faced by companies operating in this field with the relevant gov-ernment agencies, noting that there are a lot of procedures that should be completed faster than the way they are done now. -ONA

O C C I P A N E L M E E T I N G

Logistics sector discussed

TODAY’S VERSE

“If you are grateful, I will give you more.”

(13:26, Surah Ibrahim, Verse 7)

WHERE TO SPEND YOUR ZAKAT The literal meaning of Zakat is ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’. In the Islamic faith, Zakat means purifying your wealth for the will of Allah; to acknowledge that everything we own belongs to Allah and to work towards the betterment of the Muslim Ummah. According to Islamic regulations, Zakat is 2.5% of one year’s total cumulative wealth. Zakat is not always financial, and can include everything from volunteering your time to giving an encouraging word, but when it comes to financial donations to the less fortunate, it can be difficult to decide which causes speak most to your heart. Here we will highlight worthy causes to help you decide.

{ Spotlight: Social Care }W H AT T H E Y D O

The main objective of Oman Charitable Organisation is supporting and financing social care programmes, which support and finance children, orphans, the disabled, and the elderly. The

organisation also provides emergency relief during disasters such as fires and natural calamities.

WHEREBased and registered in Oman in Al Khuwair, with projects focusing on Oman for social care, and occasional international disaster relief.

FIND OUT MORE AND DONATE Oman Charitable Organisation

Sultanate of Oman - MuscatChairman Office: +968 2429 7913

Reception: +968 2429 7993, +968 2429 7992oco.org.om

PLACE OF WORSHIP

This Ramadan is a great opportunity to go pray in beautiful houses of worship that you might not otherwise take the time to see. Whether for

Taraweeh prayers or Dhuhr, pay a visit to one of Muscat’s architectural monuments of faith.

{ Jama’a Al Rawdha }

Al Rawdha Mosque is located near the beach in North Al Hail. It is strategically tucked between a few houses near the

corniche. Its exterior is eye-catching and very interesting; it’s covered with marble in different shades of brown and beige and features interesting elements such as metal grills dyed

grey and black and Duaa verses in gold adorning the main gate. The most appealing element is the hand carvings on the walls,

which were expertly crafted by Moroccan master, Ahmed Al Maghrebi.

FASTING HEALTH TIP

During the month of fasting, those who have chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, renal, cardiac, or

liver problems should always consult a doctor for proper guidelines. Dosage of some of the medications may need minor adjustments. Long acting daily drug formulations

are available, which may be more convenient and safer for fasting persons.

IFTAR

7:00GLOBAL RAMADAN RECIPES

MALI

{ Chicken-Peanut Stew }

I N G R E D I E N T S2 medium white onions, sliced

2 carrots, peeled and cut into 5cm pieces2 Scotch bonnet chillies,

cut in half, seeds and ribs removedOne 8cm piece ginger,

peeled and sliced2 bay leaves

6 white peppercorns4 cups water

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, each cut into 4 pieces

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, each cut into 4 pieces

2 cups unsalted peanuts3 tablespoons olive oil

2 baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 5cm cubes

4 tomatoes, cut into quarters, or 2 cups roughly chopped

canned tomatoes1 teaspoon salt

1 pound spinach, tough stems removed, washed

cooked yellow rice, option for serving

P R E PA R AT I O NCombine the onions, carrots, chillies, ginger, bay leaves,

peppercorns, and water in a medium pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, add the chicken

thighs, and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Add the chicken breasts and simmer until cooked, about 10 minutes.While the chicken is simmering, toast the peanuts in a small

dry sauté pan over medium heat until golden brown and fragrant. Let cool, then grind 1 cup of the toasted peanuts in

a blender to a smooth paste. Set aside.

Using tongs, remove the chicken from the cooking liquid and set aside. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the vegetables

to a food processor; discard the bay leaves. Puree the vegetables until smooth; set aside.

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. When it begins to shimmer, add the potatoes and sauté until they

are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add the chicken pieces and brown them on all sides, about 10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in vegetable puree, the peanut puree, and the remaining cup of whole peanuts along with the tomatoes, chicken, and potatoes. Bring to boil, then reduce and simmer until heated

through, about 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and season to taste with salt. Add spinach and stir until spinach is wilted.

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Funds for charities swell in Ramadan

TARIQ ZIAD AL [email protected]

MUSCAT: Charities in Oman are witnessing the blessings of the holy month, as an abundance of donations are delivered to them at a rate greater than any other time of the year.

According to the online dona-tions portal donate.om, the public has donated OMR43,469.25 since the beginning of Ramadan and continuing through June 15.

Further, donations since the start

of the year reached OMR38,017.89 for Sadaqahs followed by Zakat, which reported OMR33,026.94, Or-phans Care with OMR27,211, Syria Help Campaign with OMR22,796 and the fifth largest amount of donations was delivered to the Ramadan Iftar Meal, in which OMR11,756 was raised through June 15.

Wijdan Ahmed, Marketing Ex-ecutive at Dar Al Atta’a, noted that people are more generous during the holy month of Ramadan.

“It generally peaks during this

time of the year, since it is a month of blessing and giving,” said Ahmed.

Further, Abdullah Al Haji, Man-ah Charity Team Coordinator add-ed, “There is a noticeable increase in donations during Ramadan, compared to other months, as hap-pens every year.”

He said most donations go to-wards helping underprivileged families.

Saleh Al Qanoobi, Deputy Head of Charity and Alms Fund of Su-waiq, also acknowledged the large amount of donations that his or-ganisation is receiving.

“Ramadan has its own quality

and uniqueness, whether it is giving donations or doing good deeds. It is a special month,” said Al Qanoobi.

When asked what they do with the donations, he said the fund-ing is used for the Social Research Committee, where research is performed so the Committee can identify underprivileged families in the region to determine wheth-er they are eligible for charity and other assistance.

The Committee currently has over 1,000 families listed in their database, and who are receiving assistance, with the list being up-dated every 2 years.

Most of the donations are for Sadaqa, Zakat, helping families, creating school bags for children, Iftar meals and more. “We encour-age people to donate because, in the end,donations are good deeds. Whether it is Sadaqa or Zakat, it is the duty of every individual to help the underprivileged,” said Al Haji.

The public has donated OMR43,469.25 since

the beginning of Ramadan and continuing

through June 15

New water network announced for the port of DuqmTimes News Service

MUSCAT: A new 25 kilometre water network to supply potable water to the port of Duqm is un-derway.

The Public Authority for Electricity and Water (PAEW) has commissioned the project in partnership with the Special Economic Zone Authority at Duqm (SEZAD).

Obaid bin Said Shukri, projects director at PAEW said, “A local company has been selected to im-plement the project according to the criteria approved for techni-cal controls. The company began work on the project at the begin-ning of April 2015 and is expected to finish the project during the first quarter of next year.”

The network will cover a large area of the port and serve pro-

jects that have been completed or those that are planned for the near future.

The next three years will be crucial for the Port of Duqm to complete development work and begin full-fledged operations.

The $484 million port of Duqm, situated on the southeast-ern seaboard of Oman, overlook-ing the Arabian Sea and the Indi-an Ocean beyond, is the principal anchor for SEZAD.

I N F R A S T R U C T U R E

Advance planning helps firms

avoid Ramadan productivity dip

TARIQ ZIAD AL [email protected]

MUSCAT: Companies that plan ahead of time won’t need to worry about the slow work environment during the holy month of Ramadan as implementing company strate-gies specific to this month could help curb dips in productivity.

Anvwar Al Balushi, chairman of Anwar Asian Investment, said shorter working hours would in-crease productivity, but not dur-ing Ramadan.

He added that the dip in pro-ductivity is time related due to the delays in processing certain requests.

“Some private sector compa-nies are connected to the public sector and their work timings during Ramadan are only five hours so there isn’t much you can do in that time span, let alone plan your schedule,” said Al Balushi.

He added, “Also, another factor in the traffic. During Ramadan, most of the cars are on the roads, so even if you want to get somewhere to process your work, for example a visa, you will need to wait and it won’t be done until 12 pm.”

He further clarified that delays are causing a dip in productivity and not businesses themselves.

A parliamentary member of Oman also expressed his opin-ion, saying that some companies’ low productivity is based on the work attitude of its employees.

The member said some locals take Ramadan as an extended holiday and ask customers to come back the next day to pro-cess their requests.

While some businesses will be struggling during Ramadan, oth-ers will have a strategy in place that will help them through the tough month.

Ahmad Al Hooti, member of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), said, “It depends on the companies’ strategies.”

“If there are companies that depend on a certain work ethic to get the job done and give their em-

ployees time off, then they will be (negatively) affected; while other companies that do not require the employee to be available for long hours or can finish the work quick-ly is given a holiday, and this would not affect the company,” he added.

Some companies have devised a fail safe method to keep their heads above water in order to get through the month.

Retail, beauty and fashion stores will see a rise in sales and business will be booming during the final two weeks of Ramadan as the general public prepares for Eid-Al-Fitr.

B U S I N E S S

While some businesses will be struggling during Ramadan, others will have a strategy in place that will help them through the tough month

Ramadan charity campaignTimes News Service

MUSCAT: A month-long charity campaign is being hosted at City Centre Muscat and City Centre Qurum in celebration of the holy month of Ramadan.

The ‘Make A Difference’ cam-paign encourages the community to donate generously in associa-

tion with Dar Al Atta’a - a non-profit volunteer- based charity in support of the poor.

The annual charity campaign with official hashtag #ShareA-PartOfYou, is part of Majid Al Fut-taim’s regional charity initiative.

The campaign started from the first day of Ramadan and will end on auspicious Eid-Al-Fitr. Visi-

tors can donate wearable clothes, non-perishable food, books, and toys – items that are truly usable and beneficial for those in need.

“We hope this campaign breaks the yearly results to reach the maximum number of ben-efiters (sic),” said May Al Bayat, head of Marketing Department, Dar Al Atta’a.

C I T Y C E N T R E M U S C A T A N D C I T Y C E N T R E Q U R U M

A6


Ailing undocumented Indian worker dies; embassy to repatriate bodyREJIMON [email protected]

MUSCAT: The body of Bhiku Prasad, the undocumented In-dian worker who passed away on Tuesday night, will be flown back to India at the Indian govern-ment’s expense, a senior embassy official said.

Bhiku was battling for his life in a hospital in Muscat for the last few days.

“We will fly back his body to In-dia. His medical bill and expenses for the repatriation of the body will be taken care of by the Indian Embassy,” a senior official told the Times of Oman (TOO).

Prasad, from Uttar Pradesh in In-dia, had come to the Sultanate hop-

ing for a new life on a visitor visa.After three months of looking

for a job, he got one. However, after joining the com-

pany, he collapsed on the third day at work. As his papers were still be-ing processed, he was classified as an ‘undocumented’ worker.

Without the correct papers, he was stuck in a bureaucratic limbo, with no one ready to pay his medi-cal bills. Had he come to Oman through the proper channels, his hospital treatment would have been covered.

According to medics, from day one, Prasad was in a critical state.

“There was bleeding in his brain,” medics said.

TOO had reported Prasad’s story last Sunday. On Sunday night, Su-

shma Swaraj, the Indian Minister for External Affairs, responded to the story and tweeted that if med-ics permit, he would be flown back.

Retweeting TOO’s news report on Prasad, the minister said medics in Oman had denied the Indian gov-ernment permission to fly him back home as he was too ill to be moved.

“We wanted to fly Bhiku Prasad of Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh in India. Oman doctors have denied permission. We are bearing his expenses because he is an Indian national,” the minister tweeted. However, Prasad passed away on Tuesday night.

The Indian government had implemented the e-Migrate sys-tem in August 2015, to ensure safe migration.

M I S F O R T U N E

Pakistan mangoes hit market shelves

SHAHZAD [email protected]

MUSCAT: There is a sweetness in the air and an aromatic buzz in town. The number of shoppers at the sprawling fruit and vegeta-bles market in Mawaleh has sud-denly increased.

Pakistani mangoes have ar-rived, led by what is colloquially called ‘King Chaunsa,’ one of the best varieties of mango found around the world.

Following in the footsteps of the ‘Alphonso,’ the popular In-dian variety of mango that hits Omani markets first — from April to July every year — Paki-stani mangoes take Oman’s fruit shops by storm during the June to early September period.

While people wait anxiously for their favourite fruit, Pakistani mangoes come in great variety and taste. Chaunsa is proudly accom-panied by the equally illustrious and popular varieties of Sindhri, Anwar Ratol, Dusehri, Langra, Fa-jri and Lal Badshah. Fruit vendors

in the Mawaleh market are report-ing roaring business.

“I want six gift packs of Chaun-sa and make sure I get the freshest and spotless pieces,” a company executive wanting to please his clients tells the sales staff at Zah-rat Sunny Trading, a leading fruit importer from Pakistan at the Mawaleh market, known to sup-ply Pakistani mangoes in card-board gift packs.

Busy seasonJahangir Khan, the general man-ager of Zahrat Sunny Trading, has been in business since 1999 and is fully prepared for a busy season ahead.

“Oman received the first ship-ment of Pakistani mangoes in May this year. We are the only company that brings them by air, which gives us an edge over our competitors, who receive Paki-stani mango varieties much later,” claimed Khan while talking to the Times of Oman.

Pakistan has had a bumper mango crop this year and its ex-ports to the Gulf region are likely to increase. Its mango production

is likely to cross 160,000 tonnes during this season due to an im-provement in production amid better weather conditions. The country earns handsome for-eign exchange through its mango exports to the world. In 2013, it shipped 165,000 tonnes of man-goes, valued at $60 million, com-pared with $38 million a year ago. After a poor 2015, Pakistan is ex-pecting to earn $75 million from its mango exports.

While many fruit suppliers im-port Pakistani mangoes directly from Pakistan, some of them import it from the United Arab Emirates, which is a major centre for Pakistani fruits and vegetables in the region.

First crop“The first crop of Pakistani man-goes comes to Oman from vari-ous parts of Sindh, led by Sindhri, which is a popular choice for milk shake. The next shipment comes when mangoes in Rahim Yar Khan are ready, followed by the last crop from Multan. This will help expand the tenure of their presence in Oman by a little this year,” Khan explained.

Some supermarkets which import mangoes by air will offer Chaunsa but at comparatively higher prices than those selling shipped varieties. The Al Das-sar Supermarket in Ruwi, the Lulu hypermarkets and Zahrat Sunny Trading are some of the places where better varieties of Pakistani mangoes are available. Those wanting to order mango gift packs can contact Jahangir Khan at 99738489 or Zahrat Sun-ny Trading at 94830995.

Fruit vendors are

reporting roaring

business as season’s

Pakistani mangoes

including Chaunsa

hit the Omani market

TRAGIC DEATH: Bhiku was battling for his life in a hospital in Muscat for the last few days.

Buraimi man arrested on drugs charges

Times News Service

MUSCAT: One person has been arrested by the Royal Oman Police on charges of pos-sessing drugs.

Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Di-rectorate at Buraimi Police arrested a citizen on charges of possession of narcotic sub-stances, the police said. More than 40 tablets of psychotropic substances were recovered from the accused. He was re-ferred to the public prosecution for further legal action .

ROP has called on citzens and residents and inform about any activities of drugs dealers by contacting the hotline number 1444 or emergency phone 9999.

C R I M E

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

A7


Salalah Airport celebrates first anniversary of its operations

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Salalah Airport yester-day celebrated its first anniversary, one year after the first flight landed at the airport on June 15, 2015.

The airport represents one of the most important recent devel-opments in Oman under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said.

Commenting on the occasion Salim bin Awadh Al Yafei, Direc-tor General of Salalah Airport said, “The Civil aviation sector in Oman has witnessed tremendous growth. It is one of the most promi-nent sectors to have achieved qual-itative and quantitative growth in various areas.

“These achievements reflect the importance and support given to the sector by the government, stemming from their comprehen-sive national strategic vision.

“This celebration marks the first anniversary of the vital sec-ondary aviation gateway into the Country after Muscat Interna-tional Airport.

Cultural landmark“The Salalah Airport has also become one of the cultural land-marks of the region, reflecting the success of the Omani Renaissance and the economic and social sig-nificance of the Dhofar region.”

Thanking the institutions that played an important role in the development and operation of the airport, Salim Al Yafei said: “On this occasion we would like to ex-

tend our thanks to the Ministry of Transport and Communication for providing the infrastructure necessary for the development of the airport.

“We would also like to thank our strategic partners including PACA, ROP, and Oman Air for their efforts, all of which have re-flected positively in the success of

Salalah Airport’s operations.“OAMC staff along with our

strategic partners are proud to cel-ebrate this occasion, marking the first anniversary of the landing of

the first ever aircraft at the Salalah Airport on June 15, 2015.

The airport, which was officially launched in November 2015, has since played a prominent role

in driving economic and tourist growth in both the Dhofar region and the Sultanate as a whole. We are confident that the role played by the airport will be gradually enhanced in the coming years,” he added.

Two million passengersThe Salalah Airport can currently accommodate as many as two mil-lion passengers annually, and has already catered to 1, 002,653 pas-sengers from the time it opened for operations in June 2015 until the end of April 2016. However, given the expected rise in tourism, plans are already in place to increase the capacity of the airport to 4-6 mil-lion passengers in the future.

The airport is equipped with 24 kiosks to facilitate the comple-tion of travel procedures, includ-ing an area dedicated to Oman Air flights, an area for other flights and an additional two independent self-service kiosks. The airport is built on an area of 65,638sq.m with a new runway area of 4,000x 60m capable of accommodating aircraft of various sizes, including the Airbus380.

The old runway is now used as a secondary runway.

Eight gatesThe airport is also equipped with four passenger boarding bridges (PBB), complemented by two gates each, totalling eight gates leading to the passenger arrival and departure halls.

The PBB are state-of-the-art facilities used for the first time in Oman. They contribute sig-nificantly in the increase in pas-senger satisfaction, allowing pas-sengers to board and disembark without having to go outside and thereby also improving the reli-ability factor.

State-of-the-art technology was also implemented for the bag-gage handling system of the air-port. This system significantly improves the capacity of baggage handling at the airport while im-plementing a more reliable and ef-ficient sorting system.

Additionally, a new system was also established at the Airport Op-erations Coordination Centre with the aim of improving operation response, and to facilitate future developments.

The system integrates opera-tional teams in the new airport, providing accurate and instant in-formation regarding flights to and from Salalah Airport.

It also helps in identifying and customising parking processes for the aircraft.

The system also controls the travel information screens used in different areas of the terminal.

The airport, which

was officially

launched in

November 2015,

has since played a

prominent role in

driving economic and

tourist growth in both

the Dhofar region and

the Sultanate as a

whole, said Director

General of Salalah

Airport Salim bin

Awadh Al Yafei

Oman Air plans 11 daily flights between Salalah and MuscatStaff Reporter

MUSCAT: Oman Air will operate 11 daily flights between Salalah and Muscat with a capacity in-crease of 15,000 seats compared to the previous year, the national airline said in a statement.

The airline has deployed Boe-ing 737, Boeing 787 and an Air-bus 330 aircraft on the Salalah/Muscat/Salalah sectors to in-crease the availability of seats on the route.

Paul Gregorowitsch, Chief Ex-ecutive Officer of Oman Air, an-nouncing the expansion, said that Salalah is becoming an increas-ingly important destination for visitors from the Gulf region and throughout Oman Air’s interna-tional network, especially during the Khareef season.

Increase“We are delighted to be expand-ing Oman Air’s services to the city this summer, from both Mus-cat and Dubai. In fact, we will be increasing the available number of seats on the Salalah/Dubai route alone by nearly 22,000,” the official said.

“As a result, tens of thousands more travellers will have the op-portunity to enjoy the area’s cool and refreshing weather, which contrasts so sharply with the hot, dry climate to be found elsewhere within the region.

Visitors will also be able to

make the most of Dhofar’s re-nowned hospitality, ancient culture and awe-inspiring land-scapes,” he added.

“And to ensure that as many people as possible can experience this thrilling destination, Oman Air will be making a range of spe-cial offers available.

Competitive pricesThese will enable customers to appreciate Oman Air’s award-winning interiors, onboard ser-vice and in-flight dining whilst flying from a range of destina-tions across our network at highly competitive prices. We look for-ward to announcing the details soon,” he added.

“The Dubai/Salalah route will witness the operation of one daily flight in the months of July and August.

“Furthermore, from Septem-

ber 1, Oman Air will deploy Boe-ing 737s on the Salalah to Dubai route, replacing smaller Em-braer 175 regional jets which are currently in use,” the state-ment added.

Warm hospitality“This will enable increased num-bers of customers from the UAE to enjoy both Oman Air’s out-standing passenger experience and the warm hospitality offered to visitors in Salalah,” the state-ment added.

From January to December 2015, a record 52,274 seats were offered by Oman Air on flights be-tween Salalah and Dubai.

“In 2016, Oman Air will in-crease that number to 74,176 seats (42 per cent),” the state-ment added.

Previous offers on flights to Salalah have included ‘Two fly for the price of one’ tickets, short-term sales on Business Class and Economy Class fares, and a range of Economy Class promotional fares.

The Khareef season runs from June to September and sees monsoon mists and rains sweep across the southern tip of the Ara-bian Peninsula. The cool, damp weather attracts thousands of visitors every year, especially from more northern parts of the Gulf region, where summer tem-peratures can rise to more than 50 degree Celsius.

B O O S T I N G T O U R I S M

EXPANSION: The airline has

deployed Boeing 737, Boeing

787 and an Airbus 330 aircraft

on the Salalah/Muscat/Salalah

sectors to increase the avail-

ability of seats on the route

We are delighted to be expanding Oman Air’s services

to the city this summer, from both Muscat and Dubai. In

fact, we will be increasing the available number of seats

on the Salalah/Dubai route alone by nearly 22,000

Paul Gregorowitsch, Chief Executive Officer of Oman Air

A8


Decision to affect business“The whole concept of launching this airport was to boost business activity in the wilayat and facili-tate transportation to and from Muscat, but this decision will have a reverse impact.

“We still hope that the airport will become an international hub and operate flights to Salalah, and all over the world. The huge amount of money, and the mil-lions spent on this airport should be questioned, where is the feasi-bility study and plans?” he asked.

Oman Air’s one-way ticket fare from Muscat to Sohar was OMR18, while a return ticket cost OMR25, before the national car-rier cancelled its flights earlier this week.

Another businessman and Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) member ex-pressed his disappointment with the decision to cancel the flights.

“Everyone already had their plans in place, and many hotels had started operations there af-ter learning about the plans for the airport. However, if Oman Air does not fly to Sohar, it will affect tourism and investment activities in the area. Restaurants and other tourism related businesses will also suffer. Everyone was antici-pating the airport project, howev-er with the flights now cancelled, their hopes are shattered.

“I don’t think this is going to

have a direct impact on business-es, but it will affect the future plan for development. Oman Air only flew to Sohar three times a week, so that doesn’t hurt much, but the plans for future developments will be affected,” he said.

“We were also expecting the airport to become an interna-tional one in the next two or three years, as Oman Air was already flying in and that would have en-couraged other carriers too. Last year, I flew from Sohar to Muscat and then London, it was a great experience, but at the same time they need to do something about marketing and promotions for Sohar flights and advertise this in newspapers. I am not happy with the withdrawal,” he added.

While businessmen and deci-sion makers are not happy, the development does not seem to matter much for residents, such as Mohammed Al Balushi.

“I haven’t taken the flight to Muscat as I think the flight and travelling by car takes the same amount of time. We need to head to the airport an hour before the departure time, then it takes a while in the flight and then pick-ing up your luggage and getting out of the place, that makes it approximately two hours, the same time it takes to travel by car,” he said.

Al Balushi also pointed out that

the return ticket price of OMR25 was too expensive.

Where the national carrier can-celled its flights to the industrial hub, other airlines were still ex-ploring feasibility plans to fly to Sohar. Flydubai, the United Arab Emirates-based budget airline, said on Wednesday that they are still interested in flying to Sohar airport. “We are still conducting the feasibility study to start op-erations to Sohar from the Dubai international airport,” an official said.But he refused to put a time frame on when the operations will start. Responding to social media comments about Oman Air’s decision to stop flights to Sohar, the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) said the Sohar airport’s construc-tion costs mentioned by some so-cial media activists is incorrect.

“The original cost is OMR63 million for the first and second phases, while the third phase (Terminal) cost around OMR36 million,” the Ministry wrote in response to other tweets on its of-ficial Twitter account.

“The airport is still in the ex-perimental phase and operational ineffectiveness of a certain airline does not reflect the futility of the airport,” the ministry added.

“It is too early to say that the airport has no economical feasi-bility,” MoTC tweeted.

O M A N A I R

< FROM

A1‘Eating heavily can cause problems’

Known as the summer solstice, this phenomenon occurs when the Earth’s North Pole points right at the sun. At this time of the year, people living in the north of the Arctic Circle will see the sun all day and night, while those in Ant-arctica will not see the sun at all.

Doctors also said eating heavily and uncontrollably during Iftar, as well as the type of food eaten, could cause major complications, such as severe gastrointestinal prob-lems, abdominal upsets, abdomi-nal discomfort, among many other

ailments when you are fasting for long hours.

“So you have to take care of your food especially during Ramadan and if someone falls sick they should consult the doctors imme-diately,” Maheshwari said.

Residents, however, said that they have got adjusted to the new routine.

“So fasting for more a few min-utes doesn’t really affect us on the longest day,” said Mohammed Akram, an Indian expat who has been fasting in Oman for few years.

A D V I C E

< FROM

A1Majlis panel reviews private varsities’ statusMUSCAT: Team of the Educa-tion and Scientific Research Committee at Majlis Al Shura reviewed its final report on its study about the status of pri-vate universities and colleges in the Sultanate.

The report included several chapters that contained the rea-sons behind studying the status of private universities and col-leges, objectives of the study, outcomes, recommendations and proposals of the team after paying several field visits to the universities and colleges. -ONA

O B J E C T I V E S

Sports stars endorse yoga

REJIMON [email protected]

MUSCAT: Oman’s top racing driver Ahmad Al Harthy and ten-nis player Fatma Al Nabhani have endorsed practice of yoga in a vid-eo made by the Indian embassy in Muscat for 2nd International Yoga Day which falls on June 21.

International Yoga Day or sim-ply Yoga Day, was declared to be internationally recognised by the United Nations General Assembly

(UNGA) on December 11, 2014.Under the title ‘Yoga for de-

stressing’, Al Harthy says that yoga helps have better physical health, endurance, strength and flexibility.

“It leads to peace and happi-ness,” Al Harthy said while urg-ing everyone to practice yoga every day.

Meanwhile, Fatma by focusing on the benefits of health gain by practicing yoga, said that to be fit yoga can help a lot.

Yoga is a physical, mental, and

spiritual practice or discipline that originated in India. The In-dian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his UN address sug-gested the date of June 21, as it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and shares special significance in many parts of the world.

Last year, the Indian embassy had celebrated the 1st Interna-tional Day of Yoga with the theme ‘Yoga for Healthy Oman’ wherein hundreds of Omani and Indian yoga enthusiasts, practitioners,

and beginners participated. The event was a great success in dis-seminating the benefits of yoga amongst Omanis and expatriates.

According to a statement for the embassy, this year, thousands of participants, including digni-taries, ambassadors, diplomats and members of Indian commu-nity in Oman are expected to join the event.

“The yoga session will follow a common yoga protocol, which will be practiced under the guid-ance of qualified instructors,” the

statement added. Common yoga protocol is de-

signed in a manner that partici-pants need not have prior knowl-edge of yoga. The digital version of the protocol is available on online on YouTube. Participation in the session is free.

Last year, the

Indian embassy

had celebrated the

1st International

Day of Yoga with

the theme ‘Yoga

for Healthy Oman’

wherein hundreds

of Omani and Indian

yoga enthusiasts,

practitioners,

and beginners

participated

THUMBS UP: Yoga helps have better physical health, endurance, strength and flexibility, says Oman’s top racing driver Ahmad Al Harthy. – Supplied photo

ACE STAR: Yoga can be a great fitness help, says tennis player tennis player Fatma Al Nabhani. – Supplied photo


omanoil plans to enrich lives of peopleTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Celebrating the values of Ramadan, the second edition of Oman Oil Marketing Company’s (omanoil) At’a campaign has been launched to enrich the lives of peo-ple across the Sultanate during the holy month.

Under the theme ‘Together We Give More’, omanoil will donate 10 per cent of all its sales from select ahlain convenience stores in the Governorates of Muscat, Al Bati-nah, Al Sharqiyah, Ad Dakhiliyah and Dhofar from the June 16 to June 25, 2016.

This year, the At’a initiative also features a nationwide media campaign, charitable donations and social media competitions all aimed to instill a culture of giving through lending a helping hand and acts of kindness.

Taking the company’s care be-yond the pump to new levels, the campaign kicked off with a series of special videos that highlight the principles of generosity and com-passion. Social media personality Ahmed Al Abri (@abu_aflah) has also joined At’a to drive the cause.

Jaber Sulaiman Al Busaidi, Cor-porate Affairs Manager at Oman Oil Marketing Company said, “Since our inception, omanoil has maintained its long-held commit-ment to enhancing the lives of peo-ple in the Sultanate. At’a is about giving back and supporting those less fortunate.”

D O N A T I O N S

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UNDER REPAIR Workers repair the facade of the headquarters of the Lebanese Blom Bank, where an explosion occurred outside the bank on Sunday, in Beirut, Lebanon on Wednesday. — Reuters

‘Falluja abuses hard to prevent’

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s interior minis-ter said it was difficult to prevent attacks against people fleeing the IS-held city of Falluja, but denied that such actions were system-atic and pledged to punish anyone

proven guilty of abuses.A regional governor said this

week that 49 men had been ex-ecuted after surrendering to a supporting the army offensive to retake Falluja, and more than 600

had gone missing between June 3-5 after escaping the city.

Interior Minister Mohammed Al Ghabban, a senior member of the powerful political party the Badr Organisation, said paramili-tary fighters from the Popular Mo-bilisation Forces (PMF) had been referred to court over the alleged violations but that no police per-sonnel appeared to be involved.

Badr is part of the government’s ruling coalition and has long been criticised for controlling the Inte-rior Ministry. Its military wing, a leading force in the PMF, is par-ticipating in the campaign to re-take Falluja, an hour’s drive west of Baghdad.

Sohaib Al Rawi, governor of Anbar where Falluja is located, accused PMF fighters on Sunday of detaining, torturing and killing civilians fleeing Falluja amid the battle to drive out IS.

Ghabban told Reuters in an in-terview late on Tuesday that such

behaviour was not systematic but that he could not guarantee it would not occur, noting that vio-lations by US-led coalition forces during their nine-year occupation of Iraq did not amount to a policy of rights abuse.

Some IS fighters disguise them-selves as civilians, he said, “mak-ing it very difficult to distinguish between actual civilians and those who are pretending”.

“The diversity of formations, the large battlefield and its in-tersection with civilian areas is a challenge in itself which could lead to infringements, individual behaviour, violations of human rights or abuses.”

Ghabban said he supported in-vestigating the claims and pun-ishing anyone proven guilty, but warned against jumping to con-clusions before the cases went to court.

“We do not want to get ahead of events and regard these as facts

before they are confirmed, nor do we want to be negligent and gloss over any crime,” he said.

IS, which has been pushed back from several key cities it seized in 2014 during a lightning sweep across Iraq’s north and west, has used residents as human shields to slow the troops’ advance and thwart a US-led air campaign backing them.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s initial decision to assault Falluja appears to have gone against the plans of his US allies, who would prefer the government concentrate on the northern city of Mosul.

But a string of bombings last month in Baghdad which killed more than 150 people in one week, the highest death toll this year, cranked up pressure on Abadi to do something about Falluja, just 50 km west of Baghdad and seen by many Iraqis as an irredeemable bulwark of militancy. — Reuters

Sohaib Al Rawi,

governor of Anbar

where Falluja is

located, accused

Popular Mobilisation

Forces fighters on

Sunday of detaining,

torturing and killing

civilians fleeing

Falluja amid the

battle to drive out IS

group extremists

ON THE RUN: Displaced Iraqi people, who fled from Mosul because of IS violence, gather at a refugee camp in the Makhmour area near Mosul, Iraq, on Wednesday. — Reuters

Libya repels IS rebels in battle for Sirte cityTRIPOLI: Forces backed by Libya’s unity government said on Wednesday they had consolidated positions on the edge of Sirte, re-pelling sniper, tank and mortar at-tacks as they seek to oust IS from its North African stronghold.

Fighting resumed on Wednes-day near Sirte’s port, which gov-ernment-backed forces captured last week.

There have also been intense clashes in the “700” neighbour-hood and around the Ouagadou-gou conference hall, just south of a 5 km by 5 km area still controlled by IS, security sources said.

The campaign in Sirte is led by brigades from the western city of Misrata that are aligned with Libya’s UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA).They launched a counter-attack against IS just under a month ago, rap-idly recapturing positions on the coastal road west of Sirte and ad-vancing to the outskirts of the city.

A brigades’ statement on Wednesday said they had “resisted IS attacks that used mortar fire and tanks backed by snipers posi-tioned on tall buildings”.

They said they had been work-

ing to clear areas now under their control from mines and explosives and were preparing to launch a ra-dio broadcast that would “respond to the widespread lies and decep-tions of Daesh (IS)”.

Five brigade members were killed and more than 30 wounded on Tuesday, officials said.

More than 120 have died in the past month’s fighting, with more than 500 wounded.

The brigades say they have in-flicted heavy losses on IS, though the militant group is still thought to have hundreds of fighters in-side Sirte.

Most of Sirte’s residents have fled, with dozens more families leaving the city last week as the GNA-backed forces advanced.

The GNA is meant to replace two competing governments that were set up in Tripoli and eastern Libya in 2014 during a conflict between loose alliances of rival armed factions.

IS exploited the political tur-moil to start building a presence in Libya the same year. It took full control of Sirte in 2015, but has struggled to retain territory else-where in the country. — Reuters

A N A R C H Y

Damascus says German special forces in Syria

BEIRUT: The Syrian govern-ment said on Wednesday that German special forces were present, alongside French and American military personnel, in northern Syria, an accusation de-nied by Germany.

Syrian state media said the gov-ernment strongly condemned the presence of French and German forces in Ain al-Arab, also known as Kobani, and Manbij.

“Syria... considers it explicit and unjustified aggression to-wards (Syria’s) sovereignty and independence,” state news agen-cy SANA quoted the foreign min-istry as saying.

The US-backed Syria Demo-

cratic Forces (SDF) are staging an offensive against Islamic State near Manbij, while Kobani is under the control of the Syr-ian Kurdish YPG militia, part of the SDF.

Germany’s defence ministry said repeated claims by the Syr-ian government that German spe-cial forces were in northern Syria were not and had never been true.

“There are no German special forces in Syria. The accusation is false,” a ministry spokesman said.

The Britain-based Syrian Ob-servatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syrian civil war now in its sixth year, said French special forces were

building a base for themselves near Kobani.

France’s defence minister said last week that there were special forces operating in Syria helping the SDF advance towards Manbij.

The Observatory also said German, French and American military advisers, and French and American special forces, were assisting the SDF in its fight against IS but had so far re-mained in a support role and not fought on front lines.

A spokesman for the SDF-allied Manbij Military Council said there were no German forc-es operating alongside them on the ground. — Reuters

C O N F L I C T

DEADLY STRIKE: Rescuers and civilians inspect a site hit by an airstrike in the rebel-controlled city of Idlib, Syria on Wednesday. — Reuters

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Pranab seeks new avenues for Indian businesses in Africa

ABIDJAN: Scouting for new avenues for Indian businesses, President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said that a considera-ble amount of the capital generat-ed in India seeks new destinations outside the country, including in resource-rich Africa.

Recalling ancient trade and eco-nomic linkages between India and Africa, the president said business and economic activity has always been a major driver of India’s close and friendly ties with Africa.

Addressing the Business Forum of local businessmen, Mukher-jee said Cote D’Ivoire is expected to grow at a rate of 9.6 per cent which makes it a prime destina-tion for investment in Africa and second fastest growing economy after Ethiopia.

“For Ivorian businessmen, the opportunities offered by India are not new. India has recorded a steady growth at the rate of 7.6 per cent each year — for over a

decade now. The comprehensive reforms introduced in key areas of our economy have enhanced the ease of doing business in India,” he said.

Foreign investmentThe President said country’s for-eign investment regime has been liberalised through simplified procedures and the removal of several restricting provisions.

Mukherjee said in 2014, India

recorded 32 per cent growth in investments and late it emerged as emerged as one of the biggest global investment destinations.

“India as economy has grown and matured; a considerable amount of the capital generated in India seeks new destinations outside the country, including in Africa. Indian investors are aware of the potential of Cote D’Ivoire; with its large land mass, rich natu-ral resources and youthful demog-raphy, as an important investment destination,” he said.

Mukherjee said India looks for-ward to partnering Cote d’Ivoire — particularly in the agricultural processing sector and the explo-ration and mining of minerals. He asked businessmen of Cote D’Ivoire to take advantage of the Indian Government’s initiatives such as Make in India.

“India is the 5th largest trading partner of Ivory Coast — and yet, we continue to see that despite the positive environment of growth in our two countries, our bilat-eral trade has remained at modest levels. It has not grown beyond $840 million, which is far below the true potential that we can and must fully realise,” he said.

President Pranab Mukherjee has been accorded the highest

honour of Cote D’Ivoirie by its President Alassane Ouattara on his maiden visit here.

After an elaborate reception accorded at the airport, Mukher-jee attended a banquet last even-ing hosted by Ouattara where he was accorded with Grand Cross National Order of the Republic of Cote D’Ivoirie in a simple ceremo-ny in the President’s Palace. It is the first such honour accorded to Mukherjee, Press Secretary to the President Venu Rajamony said.

He said while Mukherjee has received number of honorary de-grees, it is first such honour ac-corded to him by a country. In his speech at the banquet, Mukher-jee who is on the second leg of his three-nation visit to Africa, said it is rightly believed that the mutual goodwill between India and Cote D’Ivoirie is inversely proportional to the geographical distance sepa-rating the two countries, long-standing friendship and fruitful cooperation has made it irrelevant.

“I feel greatly honoured, Excel-lency, by your gesture of confer-ring on me the National Order of the Republic of Cote D’Ivoirie. I consider it to be emblematic of the long standing mutual friend-ship between the peoples of our two countries,” he said. - PTI

President Pranab

Mukherjee said Cote

d’Ivoire is expected

to grow at a rate of

9.6 per cent which

makes it a prime

destination for

investment in AfricaHONOUR: President Pranab Mukherjee being honoured by Ivory

Coast President Alassane Ouattara, right, with the National Order

of the Republic of Ivory Coast, the highest civilian award of the

West African country at the Presidential Palace in Republic of Cote

D’Ivoire, Abidjan on Tuesday. - PTI

30 killed as bus falls into gorge in MeghalayaSHILLONG: At least 30 people were killed and 11 injured when a bus they were travelling in skid-ded off the road and fell into a deep gorge near Sonapur in East Khasi Hills district of east Indian state of Meghalaya, police said on Wednesday.

The accident took place at about 9:45pm. The bus was coming from Silchar to Guwahati in Assam, Meghalaya Director General of Po-lice Rajiv Mehta said.

Eleven bodies have so far been retrieved from the accident site and Border Security Force person-nel along with local people were making efforts to recover the rest.

The injured were admitted to a hospital in Shillong.

Expressed deep painPrime Minister Narendra Modi expressed deep pain over the loss of lives in the bus mishap in Meghalaya and said his prayers are with the families of the deceased.

“Deeply pained by the loss of lives caused by a bus mishap in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills District,” Modi tweeted.

“My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the deceased in this hour of grief,” he said in an-other tweet. -PTI

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Learning from Namibia’s successJoseph E. Stiglitz & Anya Schiffrin

Sandwiched between Angola and South Africa, Namibia suffered mightily during the long struggle against apartheid. Yet,

since winning independence from South Africa in 1990, this country of 2.4 million people has achieved enormous gains, especially in the last couple of years.

A big reason for Namibia’s success has been the government’s focus on education. While people in advanced countries take for granted free primary and secondary education, in many poor countries, secondary education, and even primary schools, require tuition. Indeed, governments are often ad-vised to impose tuition as a form of “cost recovery.” In Namibia, however, public primary education is free; and, as of the current school year, so is pub-lic secondary education. Namibia’s government is also proactive in other important ways. Malaria eradication efforts have reduced annual cases by 97 per cent in about a decade. Bucking the global trend of increasing inequality, Namibia’s Gini co-efficient (the standard measure of inequality in an income distribution) has fallen by some 15 points since 1993 (admittedly from one of the highest levels in the world). And the poverty rate has been more than halved, from 69 per cent in 1993 to un-der 30 per cent , with extreme poverty (the number of people living on less than $1.90 a day) falling by a similar margin, from just under 53 per cent to less than 23 per cent .

Namibia also has Africa’s highest ranking for press freedom from Reporters Without Borders – well ahead of the United States and other wealthy economies. The country also has favourable rat-ings – among the highest in Africa – on Transpar-ency International’s Corruption Perceptions In-dex.Even as commodity prices have been falling, Namibia has managed to maintain strong GDP growth – an estimated 4.5 per cent in 2015, fol-lowing average growth of nearly 4.2 per cent from 1991-2014. At the same time, its debt-to-GDP ra-tio, at around 25 per cent , is less than a third of the debt ratio in Europe or the US.

Of course, Namibia has its problems. The un-employment rate, at least as conventionally meas-ured, remains stubbornly high, at nearly 28 per cent . And, like other countries in the region, it faces a high level of HIV/AIDS – nearly 17 per cent

of the population are HIV-positive.The World Bank classifies Namibia as upper

middle income, but the authorities insist that theirs is in fact a developing country. Namibia certainly has some of the difficulties we associate with less-developed economies. It has to develop a very large and arid country with a small popula-tion. This includes isolated desert communities of nomadic hunter-gatherers, who somehow must be integrated into a modern society without los-ing their identity. Integrating people who a quar-ter-century ago were on the fringes of the global economy would be an enormous task for any coun-try. For Namibia, it is even harder: as much as any country in the world, it is confronting head-on the effects of climate change.

Nonetheless, Namibia has taken these problems in stride as it creates a diversified economy and cohesive society. Remarkably, rival political fac-tions of the country’s freedom struggle have come together to work for the common good.

Indeed, Namibia provides low-cost health care not only for its own citizens, but also for its neigh-bours. Some 15-20 per cent of health-care visits in the north of Namibia are Angolan citizens. The manager of the hotel where we stayed, just across the border, regularly sends a little boat across the crocodile-infested river to bring over Angolans who want to buy provisions at the hotel canteen or see the visiting Namibian health-care workers.

No one in Namibia talks about building a wall between their country and its poor and corrupt neighbors. Rather, the Namibians we met under-stand that you can’t pick your neighbours, so it’s best to work with them by sharing scarce water re-sources, cooperating on regional health efforts, en-couraging investment, and exchanging students.

Moreover, Namibia’s government has wisely un-derstood that abundant natural resources can eas-ily become a curse, enriching a few at the expense of the many. The authorities know that unless Na-mibia’s natural wealth is invested in infrastructure and its people’s productive capacities, resource ex-haustion will leave the country poorer, not richer. - Project Syndicate

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Deliver vehicle registration card through Omanpost Congratulations to Royal Oman Police for introducing mobile application for vehicle registration renewal.I would suggest going a step further and delivering the registration card through Omanpost to vehicle owner’s doorstep. This will ensure that the owner does not need to step out from his home or office at all. This will take hundreds of vehi-

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VVIP choppers deal: ED files fresh charge sheet; names MichelNEW DELHI: Enforcement Di-rectorate has filed a fresh charge sheet, delving specifically into the role of British national and alleged middleman Christian Michel James and his few Indian associ-ates, in connection with its money laundering probe in the Rs36 bil-lion VVIP chopper deal.

The over 1,300 page prosecution complaint (ED’s equivalent for charge sheet) has been placed be-fore a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court here early this week and it has said that agency’s investigation into the case has found that Michel re-ceived euro 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from Ms AgustaWest-land which was nothing but “kick-backs” paid by the firm to execute the 12 helicopter deal in favour of the firm in “guise of” of genuine transactions for performing multi-ple work contracts in the country.

The court is expected to soon take cognisance of the supple-mentary charge sheet, agency sources said.

Interpol Red Corner NoticeMichel is one of the three mid-dlemen being probed in the case, apart from Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, by the Enforcement

Directorate and the CBI and both the agencies have also notified an Interpol Red Corner Notice (RCN) or the global arrest warrant against him after court issued a non-bailable warrant against him.

Michel was extensively inter-viewed by Indian media in Dubai recently and both the agencies want him to join probe.

This is the second charge sheet filed in the case by ED which goes into the detailed role of Michel in the deal, his multiple visits to India and his transactions.

The first charge sheet was filed by the agency in the case in No-vember, 2014.

It is understood that filing a charge sheet against Michel was

necessary as ED has sought his ex-tradition from the UK and hence such a court complaint against an accused is necessary in order to execute the treaty between the two countries.

RemittancesThe agency has also brought on record, in the charge sheet, that the three middlemen “managed to” make inroads into the Indian Air Force in order to influence and subvert the stand of the air force regarding reducing the ser-vice ceiling of the helicopters from 6,000-metres to 4,500 metres in 2005 after which AgustaWestland became eligible to supply the dozen helicopters for VVIP flying duties.

ED investigations have found that remittances made by Michel through his Dubai-based firm Ms Global Services, FZE to a media firm he floated in Delhi, along with two Indians, were made from the funds which he got from Ms Agus-taWestland SpA through “crimi-nal activity” and corruption being done in the chopper deal that led to the subsequent generation of pro-ceeds of crime.

The PMLA probe found that AgustaWestland CEO Bruno Spagnolini was paying “kick-backs” to Michel and the two other middlemen in the guise of numer-ous “consultancy contracts” and Michel alone received euro 30 million in his Dubai company ac-

counts and others under this ar-rangement.

The agency has also detected that the media firm floated by Michel in Delhi, along with two Indians, was nothing but a “shell company” to “launder the pro-ceeds of crime.”

At least two other associates of Michel in Delhi and the media firm, whose assets were attached by ED last year, have been named in the charge sheet along with the statements made by various peo-ple connected to him including his driver Narayan Bahadur.

The probe also found that Michel had hired a firm to provide to him from India an analysis of market publications related to manufacturing industry active in Indian defence arena, the econom-ic and financial trends in the coun-try and overall views on private sector participation in Indian de-fence and manufacturing industry.

The probe in the deal had been in news recently after a Milan (Italy) based court sentenced Ital-ian defence and aerospace major Finmeccanica’s former chief Gi-useppe Orsi and Spagnolini on corruption charges in the sale of these helicopters to India.

The Milan court order also men-

tions the name of former IAF chief S. P. Tyagi at several points.

Post this, both the agencies be-gan a fresh round of questioning the accused and collection of fur-ther evidences.

Scrapped contractED had registered a PMLA case in this regard in 2014 and named 21 people including Tyagi in its mon-ey laundering FIR. It had also ar-rested Delhi-based businessman Gautam Khaitan in the case and he is out on bail at present.

It had earlier submitted that Khaitan was on the board of Chan-digarh-based company Aeroma-trix which was allegedly a front firm for the financial dealings in the chopper deal.

On January 1, 2014, India scrapped the contract with Fin-meccanica’s British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore by it for securing the deal.

ED and Central Bureau of In-vestigation had also issued Letters Rogatory (judicial requests) to multiple countries to gather more leads and evidences in this case. - PTI

M O N E Y L A U N D E R I N G P R O B E

On January 1, 2014, India scrapped the contract with AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs423 crore by it for securing the deal

22% rain deficiency due to slow-progress of south-west monsoon

NEW DELHI: The slow progress of the south-west monsoon has led to overall deficiency of rains by 22 per cent over the last fortnight, the MeT department on Wednesday said.

According to the India Mete-orological Department (IMD), from June 1 to 15, the country has received overall 43.6mm of rain-fall as compared to normal level of 55.7mm —an overall deficiency of 22 per cent. The progress of the south-west monsoon has been relatively slow as it is not getting a favourable system to move for-ward and is held up at Karwar and Gadag in Karnataka and Ongole in Andhra Pradesh.

It is only the southern penin-sula that has recorded 27 per cent excess rainfall while other parts of the country have seen deficient

rains. The eastern and north-eastern part of the country have received 90.4mm of rainfall as compared to the normal level of 138.7 mm, while north-west India has recorded only 13.6 mm of pre-cipitation, which is 36 per cent less than normal.

Similar is the case with central India that has recorded rainfall of 27.3mm as against the normal pre-cipitation of 43.5mm, a decrease of 37 per cent.

The onset of monsoon was sev-en days late this year as against its normal arrival date of June 1.

Since conditions are not favour-able for speedy progress of mon-soon, north and central India will witness a delay in its arrival.

The normal date of arrival of monsoon in Mumbai is June 10

and July 1 in Delhi.Meanwhile, the south-west

monsoon has further advanced into remaining parts of Bay of Ben-gal and some parts of sub-Himala-yan West Bengal and Sikkim.

“Conditions are favourable for further advancement of south-west monsoon into some more parts of central Arabian Sea, en-tire Goa, some parts of Konkan, south Madhya Maharashtra and Marathawada, remaining parts of North Interior Karnataka, Ray-alaseema and Coastal Andhra Pradesh, some parts of Telangana, remaining parts of Bay of Bengal and some parts of Odisha, Ganget-ic West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar during next 4 to 5 days,” the IMD said.

Monsoon was active over sub-

Himalayan West Bengal and Sik-kim since Tuesday.

Mercury hovered around nor-mal levels as rain lashed many ar-eas of northern and eastern India on Wednesday even though high levels of humidity caused discom-fort to people.

In the national capital, maxi-mum temperature was recorded at 38.4 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal, while the minimum tem-perature settled at 30.5 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season’s average, a MeT depart-ment official said.

However, high humidity, which oscillated between 73 and 48 per cent, caused discomfort to the people. Rains lashed many areas in Punjab and Haryana, leading to drop in day temperatures. - PTI

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

New aviation policy pushes for affordable, convenient flying

NEW DELHI: In a major reform of the aviation sector, government on Wednesday scrapped the 5/20 overseas flying norm for domes-tic carriers in its new civil avia-tion policy while capping fares at Rs2,500 for one-hour flights and imposing a “small levy” on pas-sengers towards regional connec-tivity fund.

The new policy which got ap-proval from the Union Cabinet was aimed at ease of doing busi-ness for airline operators, and “af-fordable, convenient and cheaper” travel for fliers at large, Civil Avia-tion Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju told the media.

As part of the policy, the minis-try will come out with initiatives to develop new airports, separate regulations for helicopters and measures to boost skill develop-ment in the aviation sector.

Airlines will also get tax incen-tives for operating on unserved routes under the regional con-nectivity scheme. The govern-

ment has scrapped the decade-long controversial 5/20 norm and now any domestic airline can fly overseas provided they deploy 20 planes or 20 per cent of their total capacity for domestic operations.

There has been a high decibel debate over the continuance of 5/20 norm — whereby only local airlines having at least five years of operational experience and a fleet of minimum 20 aircraft are allowed to fly overseas.

About the decision to scrap the rule, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “A question-able legacy has been thrown into the dustbin.”

Amid concerns over an earlier proposal to auction additional bi-lateral rights, the government has also decided that a final call on ad-ditional rights would be taken by a committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary.

The ministry said the 5/20

norm is being replaced by a “for-mulation which provides a level playing field and allows airlines, both new and old, to commence international operations provided they continue to meet some obli-gations for domestic operation”.

In efforts to increase air traffic into the country and ensure im-prove ease of doing business, the regime of bilateral rights and code share agreements would be liber-alised. “Open skies will be imple-mented on a reciprocal basis for SAARC countries and countries beyond 5,000km from Delhi,” the ministry said in a release.

A committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary would decide on allotment of additional capac-ity entitlements for overseas car-riers wherever designated Indian airlines have not utilised 80 per cent of their bilateral rights but the foreign counterparts have utilised their quota and are look-

ing for more. Seeking to provide a boost for the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) segment, the ministry would persuade state governments not to levy VAT on such activities.”

Airport royalty and additional charges will not be levied on MRO service providers for a period of five years from the date of approv-al of the policy,” the release said.

The Route Dispersal Guidelines (RDG) have been rationalised by making the criteria for declar-ing a route as Category I (trunk route) more transparent. “The criteria proposed for a Category I route are a flying distance of more than 700km, average seat factor of more than 70 per cent and an-nual traffic of 5 lakh passengers,” the release said. According to the ministry, the percentage of Cate-gory III would be reduced in view of regional connectivity scheme coming into operation.

Civil Aviation Secretary Rajeev Nayan Choubey said the idea is to enhance regional connectivity through fiscal support and infra-structure development. As part of this scheme, the government would connect under-served and un-served destinations for which the fares have been capped at Rs2,500 for one-hour flights.

Besides, regulator DGCA would be given necessary administrative and financial flexibility to ensure that an effective aviation over-sight system is in place.

A transparent single window system for all aviation safety-re-lated issues would also be set up.

Choubey said the aim is to in-crease domestic passenger tick-eting to 300 million in five years from current level of 80 million.

At present, India is the fastest growing aviation market in the world with 22 per cent growth re-corded in 2015-16. - PTI

Civil Aviation

Minister Ashok

Gajapathi Raju said

the new policy was

aimed at ease of

doing business for

airline operators,

and ‘affordable,

convenient and

cheaper’ travel for

fliers at largeBRIEFING: Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajpati Raju, MoS for Civil Aviation Mahesh Chandra Sharma look on as Union Minister

IT and communications, Ravi Shanker Prasad during a press conference on national civil aviation policy which approved by cabinet in

New Delhi on Wednesday. - PTI

INUNDATED: Vehicles and rickshaws wades through the water

logged area after a heavy rains in Guwahati on Wednesday. - PTI

300,000 children to be vaccinated after polio strain foundNEW DELHI: India plans to ur-gently immunise around 300,000 children against the crippling po-lio virus after a strain of the highly contagious disease was detected in sewage in the southern city of Hyderabad, the ministry of health said on Wednesday.

India was declared polio free by the World Health Organization in March 2014 after an almost two-decade long, multi-million dollar effort -- lauded as one of the coun-try’s biggest public health achieve-ments in recent times.

A health ministry statement confirmed media reports that a strain of the virus was discovered in a sewage sample taken near Hy-derabad’s Secunderabad railway station, but said that no children in area were found to be affected.

“India continues to be polio free as the country has eradicated wild polio virus and the last case was seen on 13th January, 2011, and it is more than five years that no wild polio virus has been detected,” the health ministry said.

The statement said a recent sur-vey of the area found 94 percent of children had received at least three doses of the oral polio vac-cine and therefore transmission was unlikely.

However “as a precautionary measure” a special immunisation drive would be held from June 20 in the high-risk districts of Hyderabad and Rangareddy, tar-geting around 300,000 children between the ages of six weeks and three years, it said. Vaccination booths will be set up, the ministry said, and parents encouraged to get their children injected with the Inactivated Polio Vaccine which will provide additional protection against all types of polio. Afghani-stan and Pakistan are the only countries left in the world where the virus remains endemic. - Reuters

C O N T A G I O U S D I S E A S E

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PAKISTANT H U R S DAY, J U N E 1 6, 2 0 1 6

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Zulfikarabad to bring a revolution in Sindh, says Qaim Ali ShahKARACHI: The establishment of the new residential, industrial and recreational city of Zulfikarabad between twin districts of Sujawal and Thatta will bring about a revo-lution in residential and commer-cial activities in the province, said Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, adding that it will provide easy access to the coal rich Thar-parkar district.

He was presiding over a meeting on the proposed city at CM House. Chief secretary Siddique Memon, principal secretary to CM Alamud-din Bullo, Board of Revenue senior member Rizwan Memon, addition-al chief secretary for development Mohammad Waseem, irrigation secretary Zaheer Hyder Shah and others attended the meeting.

Zulfikarabad Development Au-thority (ZDA) managing director Ali Mumtaz Zaidi, while giving a presentation to the chief minis-ter, proposed an alternative site of Haleji-Kohistan area, spreading over 60,000 acres, for Zulfikarabad city as it is close to the National and Super highways.

He added that it will carry the distinction of becoming the first city of the province that offers a lake view. The development of the new city will convert the deserted landscape of Haleji and Kohistan

into resorts and horticultural and residential areas, said Zaidi.

Zaidi also proposed a cargo air-port in private sector along the lines of Sialkot private cargo air-port for the new city. He added that Karachi is getting more popu-lated with each passing day, posing enormous problems to the citi-zens. He was of the view that plan-ners should think about lessening the population pressure.

Economic zoneThe economic zone of Zulfi-karabad city has already been des-ignated at Shah Bandar, Kharoch-han, on the east of River Indus. The possibility of establishing a port and shipyard at Keti Bandar on the west of River Indus was also discussed during the presentation. The chief minister said that he has urged the federal government to include Keti Bandar sea port project into the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. “I hope it will be included [considering] its stra-tegic, geographic and commercial importance,” he said.

During the presentation, it was also proposed that the site of the 44-kilometre-long Shaheed Zulfi-kar Ali Bhutto Expressway and six-kilometre-long bridge on River Indus. - Express Tribune

N E W C I T Y

BLACK SCORPIONS SEIZED AT AIRPORTA wildlife official displays a black scorpion, which was seized with other black scorpions at the airport in Karachi by anti-

narcotics force while being shipped to Hong Kong, at a wildlife department in Karachi, Pakistan, on Wednesday. — Reuters

Pakistan troops fire heavy artillery at Afghan forces

PESHAWAR: Pakistani troops fired heavy artillery at Afghan forces at their main Khyber Pass border crossing on Wednesday, the Pakistani military said, an escalation after days of clashes that have killed four people and stranded thousands on both sides.

Relations between the United States allies have never been close but have been strained over the past 15 years by Afghan accusa-tions that Pakistan supports the Taleban who are fighting to unseat the US-backed government in Ka-bul. Pakistan denies that.

The countries have blamed each other for the fighting that broke out on Sunday at the main cross-ing point between them over the construction of a new border post on the Pakistani side. “When our people began construction work on the gate on Wednesday, Afghan

forces again opened fire at our troops and construction workers,” said a Pakistani security official who declined to be identified.

He said Pakistan had retaliated

with long-range artillery and mor-tars. There was no word on any casualties. The Pakistani military spokesman’s office confirmed the Wednesday fighting.

Afghan officials, however, denied any fighting on Wednesday, but said an Afghan border guard was killed and five were wounded overnight on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear if the officials were talking about the same incident.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office sum-moned the Afghan ambassador to demand that Afghanistan put an end to the ‘unprovoked firing’ and to protest against the death of a Pakistani army major, shot on the border in a clash this week.

The US State Department on Tuesday urged ‘a calm resolution to the tension’.

Pakistan says the border gate it is building is well on its side of the border and it will help stop militants from crossing and help fight drug trafficking. Pakistan’s

foreign policy chief, Sartaj Aziz, expressed concern over what he called the Afghan army’s attempts to ‘disrupt border management ef-forts; by Pakistan.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been particularly strained in recent months over Afghan anger with what it sees as insincere efforts by Pakistan to help with peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taleban.

Pakistan says it is trying to en-courage the Taleban to talk to the Kabul government but has limited sway over the militants.

The United States on Wednes-day urged Afghanistan and Paki-stan to peacefully resolve ongo-ing tensions at Torkham border as cross-fire continued for a third day, an Express Tribune report.

“We are all watching the ten-sions very closely,” US State De-partment spokesperson John Kirby said during his weekly press briefing. The spokesperson said the US was in touch with officials on both sides. The US State De-partment spokesperson further said the United States did not want to see violence or escalation in tensions. “Special Representa-tive for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Richard Olson, who was in the region at the time of the incident, shared these senti-ments,” Kirby said.

Olson met with government of-ficials, including Adviser to prime minister on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif in Islamabad and discussed a range of bilateral, re-gional issues,” the spokesperson added. - Reuters

Afghanistan and

Pakistan have

blamed each other

for the fighting that

broke out on Sunday

at the main crossing

point between them

over the construction

of a new border post

Earthquake jolts parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-BaltistanISLAMABAD: An earthquake jolted parts of Khyber Pakh-tunkhwa, including Peshawar and Swat on Wednesday. The magni-tude and epicenter of the earth-quake is not yet known. Tremors were felt in Bunir, Malakand, Swat and Peshawar.

At least six people were killed when a powerful earthquake rocked parts of Pakistan in April. Five people died in various remote regions of the northwestern prov-ince of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the National Disaster Management Authority said in a statement, and at least 20 homes were damaged.

One man was killed in the north-ern region of Gilgit-Baltistan when he was hit by falling rocks in the town of Chilas, an official said. The 6.6-magnitude quake struck neigh-bouring northeast Afghanistan at a depth of 210 kilometres at 2.58pm.

It was felt in the Afghan capital Kabul 282km to the south of the epicentre and in Islamabad, where some residents evacuated apart-ment blocks after tremors shook ceiling fans and furniture.

In April this year, at least five people were killed and many oth-ers injured in Pakistan as earth-quake with a magnitude of 6.6 struck South Asia.

At least three died when tremors caused a landslide on the Karakar mountain range connecting Swat and Buner. Two others passed away in Shabqadar Shahbaz Khan Korona of district Charsadda when a boundary wall collapsed.

The earthquake hit parts of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa near the Afghan border, shaking buildings in the Afghanistan and Pakistan capitals. - Express Tribune

T R E M O R S

Bidding terms for China-Pakistan corridor projects waived offISLAMABAD: The government has permanently waived off the condition of international com-petitive bidding in Chinese deals and approved to award the con-struction contract of Eastbay ex-pressway to link Gwadar port with coastal highway to one of three Chinese bidders.

It also gave legal cover to gift four horses of high breed to royal families of Qatar and Saudi Arabia in a non-transparent manner. In its meeting, the Economic Coor-dination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet approved the sale price formula of re-gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RNLG), passing on the cost of system’s inefficiencies and extra expenditures on import to the consumers.

The ECC also allowed hand over of Heavy Mechanical Complex

(HMC) to the military’s Strategic Plan Division (SPD), taking it from the Ministry of Industries.

Headed by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, the ECC made certain decisions that carry far-reaching implications for execution of the China Pakistan Economic Corri-dor (CPEC) in addition to setting the base for future projects.

The ECC, once for all, settled the issue of international competitive bidding in execution of the CPEC projects. It approved a report of a sub-committee, which establishes the federation’s authority to over-ride Public Procurement Regula-tory Authority (PPRA) Ordinance of 2002 in execution of strategic nature projects.

The subcommittee cited the Constitution’s Articles 90 and 99 that deal with exercising federa-

tion authority and conduct of busi-ness. The ECC allowed the Gwadar Port Authority to proceed with the procurement of one of the three listed Chinese Companies as well as preference for the use of the Chinese equipment, in accordance with the CPEC Framework Agree-ment, said the Finance Ministry.

The proposed 19km expressway will be constructed at an estimated

cost of $140 million and connect the Gwadar Port with the Makran Coastal Highway, passing along the Eastbay of Gwadar city. Since China is providing interest free loan for the project, the contracts will be awarded in government-to-government mode, waiving off the condition of international com-petitive bidding. However, there will still be a competition among

Chinese state-owned companies and Beijing has forwarded a set of three names.

The competition will be among China Communication Construc-tion Company, China State Engi-neering Construction Company and CATIC Civil.

Horses giftThe government approved a gift of four horses to the royal fami-lies of Qatar and Saudi Arabia in a dubious manner. Each of the royal families will get two horses of high breed. The horses have already been exported after finance min-ister gave anticipatory approval, as chairperson of the ECC.

He asked the ECC to regularise and give ex-post facto approval. The government did not circu-late the summary among the ECC

members. The ECC approved transfer of HMC to the Strategic Plan Division (SPD). The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission will administer the HMC on behalf of the SPD.

The HMC, which manufactures high-end engineering goods, was highly mismanaged by the Ministry of Industries. The ECC assured that the HMC’s employees would be ful-ly protected. It approved Rs500 mil-lion to cover essential expenditure of the company and paying salaries till the end of this month.

The ECC approved sale price formula of RLNG, which passes every kind of cost under the roof to the consumers including cost of inefficiency and leakages.

The sale price will be worked out by adding up delivered ex-ship price of the LNG. - Express Tribune

E C O N O M I C C O R R I D O R

CRISIS: Pakistan’s army spokesman, Asim Saleem Bajwa addresses media representatives about the

details of Torkham border gate, in Rawalpindi on Wednesday. — AFP

LONG WAIT: A driver reacts while looking at trucks carrying goods

while waiting to cross into Afghanistan at a compound in Pesha-

war, Pakistan, on Wednesday. — Reuters

ORLANDO/WASHINGTON: The wife of the gunman who killed 50 people at an Orlando nightclub was likely to face criminal charges after a federal grand jury was con-vened to study possible wrong-doing by her, a law enforcement source said.

Omar Mateen’s wife, Noor Sal-man, knew of his plans for what became the deadliest mass shoot-ing in modern US history, said the law enforcement source, who has been briefed on the matter.

US Senator Angus King, a mem-ber of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which received a briefing on the investigation into Sunday’s massacre, told CNN it appeared Salman had “some knowledge” of what was going on.

“She definitely is, I guess you would say, a person of interest right now and appears to be coop-erating and can provide us with some important information,” King said.

Salman was with Mateen when he cased possible targets in the past two months, including the Walt Disney World Resort in April, a shopping complex called Disney Springs and the Pulse nightclub in early June, CNN and NBC report-

ed. Salman could not be reached for comment.

The gunman’s father, Seddique Mateen, declined to comment spe-cifically on the investigation on Wednesday, saying, “The FBI, they always do a professional job and to the maximum extent of my ability I will support them.”

The younger Mateen, a New York-born US citizen of Afghan heritage, was shot dead by po-lice after a three-hour rampage

through the Pulse nightclub.The attack was the deadliest on

US soil since the hijacked plane at-tacks on New York and Washing-ton on September 11, 2001.

Federal investigators have said Mateen, who was 29 and worked as a security guard, was likely self-radicalised and there was no evidence he received any help or instructions from outside groups such as IS. Salman’s mother, Ek-bal Zahi Salman, lives in a middle-

class neighbourhood in Rodeo, California, about 25 miles (40 km) north of San Francisco.

A neighbour said Noor Salman visited her mother only once after she married Mateen.

Noor Salman’s mother “didn’t like him very much. He didn’t al-low her (Noor) to come here,” said neighbour Rajinder Chahal.

He said he had spoken to Noor Salman’s mother after the Orlando attack and she “was crying, weep-

ing.” The shooting raised ques-tions about how the United States should respond to the threat of violence from militant extremists at home and abroad.

The Federal Bureau of Investi-gation questioned Mateen in 2013 and 2014 for suspected ties to ex-tremist militants but concluded he did not pose a threat. The shooting reverberated through the presi-dential election campaign.

President Barack Obama slammed Republican candidate Donald Trump for reiterating his proposed ban on Muslims enter-ing the United States, joining fel-low Democrat Hillary Clinton in portraying Trump as unfit for the White House.

Sunday’s attack followed a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, in December in which a married couple inspired by IS killed 14 people.

US Senator Pat Toomey, a Re-publican who joined forces with Democrats in an unsuccessful push for gun control legislation af-ter the killing of elementary school children in Connecticut in 2012, is now working on a bill to keep guns out of the hands of people on ter-rorism watch lists, a gun control group said on Wednesday.

Lizzie Ulmer, a spokeswoman for Everytown for Gun Safety, a group that has the backing of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said her or-ganisation was involved in talks with Toomey on producing a bill that could pass Congress.

Toomey’s office could not be reached for immediate comment.

Gun purchasesTrump said he would meet with the powerful National Rifle Asso-ciation lobbying group, which has endorsed him, to discuss a similar idea for restricting gun purchases.

That marked a break with Re-publican Party orthodoxy, which typically opposes any restrictions on gun ownership. — Reuters

A15

WORLDT H U R S DAY, J U N E 1 6, 2 0 1 6

Orlando club massacre inquiry focuses on gunman’s wife NoorGunman Omar

Mateen’s wife, Noor

Salman, knew of

his plans for what

became the deadliest

mass shooting in

modern US history,

was likely to face

criminal charges

after a federal grand

jury was convened

to study possible

wrongdoing by her,

a law enforcement

source said

MEMORIAL: People hold up their cellphones instead of candles as names of those killed are read aloud

during a memorial service at the University of Central Florida for the victims of the Pulse nightclub

shooting where Omar Mateen killed 49 people on Tuesday in Orlando, Florida. — Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP

Mateen made multiple calls to 911 emergency services during his rampage, which he used to declare his allegiance to various extremist militant groups, some of which are at odds with one another. He also called local channel, News 13, the station revealed on its website

MANILA: A senior Philippine army general on Wednesday re-sumed a push for martial law to be imposed on a troubled southern island where extremist militants beheaded a Canadian captive, de-spite a recent decision by Presi-dent Benigno Aquino not to adopt such curbs.

On Monday, militants of Abu Sayyaf, a small but brutal group linked to Al Qaeda, executed Rob-ert Hall on the remote island of Jolo, the second Canadian captive to be killed following John Rids-del, after their ransom demand went unheeded.

“Declare martial law, that is a right move,” said a senior Philip-pine army general, who declined to be identified as he was not au-thorised to speak to the media.

“If you want to immediately solve the problem, there should be a total control by the military in the area.”

Emergency powers were need-ed because the Abu Sayyaf was us-ing its ransom proceeds to buy the loyalties of the surrounding com-munity, he added.

Aquino said he considered de-claring martial law on Jolo three weeks ago but decided against it because there was no guarantee it would work.

“You would need a large force to implement martial law and there

is no guarantee it will produce positive results,” he told reporters on a visit to Jolo to inspect troops pursuing Abu Sayyaf militants.

“It might generate more sympa-thy for the Abu Sayyaf.”

Aquino said he spoke with the

prime ministers of Canada and Norway by telephone, thanking them for their understanding and support of his government’s no-ransom policy. He said he apolo-gised to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the death of Robert Hall and John Ridsdel, who was executed in April.

No paymentTrudeau has condemned Hall’s execution, but said Canada can-not, and will not, pay ransom in such cases because it could en-courage additional kidnappings.

Abu Sayyaf had initially de-

manded one billion pesos for each of the detainees, but cut that to 300 million early this year.

Hall’s family backed the Cana-dian government’s policy.

“Our family, even in our darkest hour, agrees wholeheartedly with Canada’s policy of not paying ran-som,” it said in a statement. Abu Sayyaf is known for kidnapping, beheadings and extortion.

Security is precarious in the southern Philippines despite a 2014 peace pact between the gov-ernment and the largest Muslim rebel group that ended 45 years of conflict. — Reuters

A16

WORLDT H U R S DAY, J U N E 1 6, 2 0 1 6

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General calls for martial law in southern PhilippinesAbu Sayyaf executed

Robert Hall on

Monday in the

remote island of

Jolo, the second

Canadian captive to

be killed following

John Ridsdel, after

their ransom demand

went unheeded

HOPEFUL: Philippine President Benigno Aquino, third right, speaking while Interior Secretary Senen Sarmiento, right, and military of-ficials listen at a press conference inside a military camp during a visit to Jolo town, Sulu province on the southern island of Mindanao. President Aquino said on Wednesday he still hopes to recover foreign hostages in the hands of extremists despite the beheading of two Canadians in recent months. — AFP/BENHUR ARCAYAN/MPB

‘Brexit leave vote to force Scots to hold referendum for secession’

EDINBURGH: Britain’s referen-dum on European Union member-ship is on a knife edge and if Eng-land backs an exit that drags Scots out of the bloc against their will, Scotland may call a new vote on in-dependence, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said.

Opinion polls have in the past few days shown unexpectedly strong support for leaving the Eu-ropean Union in a June 23 referen-dum, a step that could rock the EU, test the unity of the United King-dom and unleash turmoil on global financial markets.

“Clearly the referendum is on a knife edge across the UK,” Stur-geon, the pro-EU leader of Scot-land’s devolved government, told Reuters in an interview in the Scottish Parliament.

Voted to staySturgeon said that if England pulled the United Kingdom out of the EU and Scotland voted to stay, there would probably be sharp rise in support for calling a vote on Scottish independence. She de-clined to give any timescale.

Scots rejected independence by 55-45 per cent in a referendum in September 2014, though the vote energised Scottish politics and support for Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party (SNP) has surged seen then.

Because of the potential po-litical uncertainty that a so-called Brexit would cause, it is unclear how much support there would be for secession if Scots were to vote on the issue again. — Reuters

B R I T A I N O N K N I F E E D G E

Nicola Sturgeon

MARKEWWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMT H U R S DAY, J U N E 1 6, 2 0 1 6B

Muscat

5,826.46 - 12.41

- 0.21%

Dubai

3,324.70- 5.01

- 0.15%

Abu Dhabi

4,340.93- 45.49

- 1.04%

Saudi Arabia

9,763.72- 37.68

- 0.38%

Kuwait

5,390.36- 21.78

- 0.40%

Bahrain

1,118.26 - 5.05

- 0.45%

Qatar

9,768.65+ 12.27

+ 0.13%

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

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

Euro ............................................2.29

Pound ...........................................1.82

Indian Rs ............................. 174.34

Pak Rs ................................... 267.02

Bangla Taka.......................201.53* Rates are as of June 15

Source: Bank Muscat

Indian Rs ................................... 174.35

Pakistan Rs ..............................271.40

Sri Lanka Rs ..................................N/A

Bangla Taka........................... 203.55

Phil Peso ................................... 120.20

* Rates as of June 15 Source: Oman UAE Exchange

Muscat 24ct per gm (OMR) .......16.40

Muscat 22ct per gm (OMR) ....... 15.75

Dubai 24ct per gm (Dh) ............155.25

Dubai 22ct per gm (Dh) ............. 145.75

* Rates as of June 15

Source: Malabar Gold & Diamonds

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

Oman Crude ............. (Spot) ........$45.64

Dubai Crude ............. (Spot) ........$45.44

Murban Crude ........ (Spot) ........$48.46

Arabian Light ......... (Spot) ........ $45.79

N.Sea Brent ............... (Spot) .........$49.16

West Texas Int ....... (Spot) .........$47.82

CRUDE OIL PRICE

DIGEST VIDEO

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

Top stories in one minute with our new daily Digest

Oman’s bonds get better rating on low level of indebtednessTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Oman’s recent dol-lar denominated bond issu-ance has received a better rating from Moody’s Investors Service. Moody’s Investors Service has assigned a definitive Baa1 rating to the Government of Oman’s US dollar bond issuance.

The issuance consisted of two

tranches - $1 billion due in 2021, and $1.5 billion due in 2026 - mark-ing the first international bond is-suance by the government since 1997. Moody’s definitive rating for these debt obligations follows the provisional rating assigned on June 3, 2016, according to a press release issued by the rating agency.

Oman’s Baa1 long-term govern-ment bond and issuer rating with

stable outlook is supported by high levels of wealth, fiscal space offered by relatively low levels of general government debt and still sizable government financial as-sets, and comparatively low risk that contingent liabilities from the banking system or wider non-financial public sector will crystal-lise on the government’s balance sheet as growth slows.

Although Moody’s expects gov-ernment debt to rise to 33 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2017 from less than 5 per cent at the onset of the oil price shock in 2014, Oman’s fiscal buffers which the rating agency estimates at around 85 per cent of GDP in 2015 will provide support through the process of fiscal and external adjustment. Oman’s oil exports ac-

counted for an average 67 per cent of total goods exports in 2010-15, while oil and gas revenues con-stituted 87 per cent of total gov-ernment revenues over the same period. Upward pressure on the rating would stem from faster-than-currently expected progress on containing government defi-cits and debt and diversifying the economy and state finances.

M O O D Y ’ S R A T I N G

Muscat Finance plans bond issue of OMR5m

A E [email protected]

MUSCAT: Muscat Finance, one of the leading leasing and hire purchase companies listed on the Muscat Securities Market (MSM), plans to raise OMR5 mil-lion by way of a bond issue on pri-vate placement basis.

The company plans to convene an extra ordinary general meet-ing (EGM) of shareholders to seek approval for the unsecured non-convertible subordinated bond issue on June 30 at Hotel Inter-continental. Each bond has a face value of OMR1.

“At this point of time, we are seeking shareholder approval for

bond issue on private placement. Post shareholders’ approval and other regulatory approval, we will open the issue,” Bikram S Rishi, chief executive officer of Muscat Finance, told Times of Oman.

The proceeds of the bond issue are for diversifying the company’s sources of funding and to help create a robust bond market in the

country, added Rishi. The EGM will decide on the bond interest, tenor of the bond and the mini-mum subscription.

Referring to the advantages of the bond issue, he said; “We nor-mally source funds from Omani and offshore banks and a bond issue gives us one more option of sourcing our funds.”

The overall availability of funds seems to have improved margin-ally as oil prices have risen and due to the government’s efforts to source offshore funds.

Meanwhile, Muscat Finance has achieved a net profit of OMR1.21 million for the first quarter of 2016, against OMR1.26 million for the same period of last year.

The company grew the debt-ors’ portfolio by 13 per cent to OMR157.27 million by end-March 2016, while operating ex-penses have reduced by 4 per cent to OMR820,000 for the first quar-ter of 2016.

The company plans

to convene an extra

ordinary general

meeting (EGM)

of shareholders

to seek approval

for the unsecured

non-convertible

subordinated bond

issue on June 30ADDITIONAL FUNDING: The proceeds of the bond issue are for

diversifying the company’s sources of funding and to help create

a robust bond market in the country, — Times file picture


Orpic chief executive

officer Musab resigns

Oil industry to slash

$1 trillion in spending

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Stated-owned Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) on Wednesday said that its chief ex-ecutive officer Musab Al Mahruqi resigned from his current position.

“We would like to inform you that Musab Al Mahruqi, CEO - Orpic steps down from his position,” Orpic tweeted.

The company added that Al Mah-ruqi informed the Board of Direc-tors of his intention to step down as the CEO of Orpic.

“The board accepted Musab’s decision,” Orpic said, adding that he will be leaving the company by

the end of the year, latest.The board will select a new chief

executive officer to lead the com-pany thereafter.

The new CEO will be announced at a later stage and until then, Al Mahruqi will continue in his posi-tion as the CEO.

LONDON: The oil and gas in-dustry will cut $1 trillion from planned spending on exploration and development because of the slump in prices, leading to slower growth in production, according to consultant Wood Mackenzie.

Worldwide investment in the

development of oil and gas re-sources from 2015 to 2020 will be 22 per cent, or $740 billion, lower than anticipated before prices plunged in 2014, with the deepest cuts in the US, Wood Mackenzie said in a report on Wednesday.

— Bloomberg News

C E O R E S I G N S

W O O D M A C K E N Z I E R E P O R T

OMAN CRUDE DECLINESOman Crude (August delivery) fell by 24 cents to $46.17 per barrel, said Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME). The average price of Oman Crude (June delivery) stabilised at $39.40 per barrel, $3.06 higher than May delivery. - ONA

Musab Al Mahruqi. — Times file picture

B2

MARKETT H U R S DAY, J U N E 1 6, 2 0 1 6

MUSCATSECURITIES MARKET

SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15

REGULAR MARKET .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................OM0000001681 ............OMAN AND EMIRATES INV. HOLDING .............62,401 ............... 8,752..................... 10 ............0.138 ........... 0.141............0.138 ........... 0.140 ............. 0.138............ 0.002 ............. 1.449 ................0.140 .............. 0.138................... 0.141 ...................17,062,500 .........0.100

OM0000004768 ...........AL MADINA TAKAFUL ...............................................36,790 ...............2,722........................3 ........... 0.074 ........... 0.074 ...........0.074 ........... 0.074 .............0.073 ............0.001 ............. 1.370 ................0.074 ..............0.073...................0.075 ...................12,950,000 .........0.100

OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS ................................................. 64,980 .............29,710........................9 ........... 0.454 ...........0.460 ...........0.454........... 0.458 .............0.452 ........... 0.006 ............. 1.327 ................0.460..............0.456...................0.460 ..................24,045,000 ........0.100

OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. .................. 677,400 ............75,815..................... 46 ............0.113 ........... 0.113 ............ 0.111 ............0.112 ............. 0.111 .............0.001 ............. 0.901 ................ 0.111 ...............0.111................... 0.112 ................... 32,477,831 .........0.100

OM0000001160 ............NATIONAL GAS .............................................................95,075 ............ 50,373......................15 ........... 0.530 ........... 0.530 ...........0.526........... 0.530 .............0.526 ........... 0.004 ............. 0.760 ................0.530 ..............0.524...................0.530...................29,150,000 .........0.100

OM0000003125 ............GLOBAL FINANCIAL INVESTMENT ..................10,000 ...............1,360........................ 1 ............0.136 ........... 0.136 ...........0.136 ............0.136 ............. 0.135 .............0.001 ..............0.741.................0.136 .............. 0.135...................0.136 ...................27,200,000 .........0.100

OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 710,007 ..........135,573......................61 ............0.189 ........... 0.192 ...........0.189 ............0.191 ............. 0.190 ............0.001 ............. 0.526 ................0.190 ..............0.190................... 0.191 ...................33,425,469 .........0.100

OM0000001418 ............RAYSUT CEMENT ........................................................14,000 .............18,480........................2 ............1.320 ........... 1.320 ...........1.320 ........... 1.320 ............. 1.320 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.320 ..............1.320...................1.330 ................. 264,000,000 .......0.100

OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE .............. 359,013 .............71,095......................12 ............0.198 ...........0.200 ...........0.198 ........... 0.198 ............. 0.198............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.200 ............ 0.200...................0.205 ..................39,600,000.........0.100

OM0000001533 ............OMINVEST ........................................................................ 3,629 ............... 1,996........................ 1 ........... 0.550 ........... 0.550 ...........0.550 ........... 0.570 .............0.570 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.550 ..............0.550...................0.570................. 362,400,806 .......0.100

OM0000001707 ............OMAN CABLES INDUSTRY ......................................15,000 ............ 27,300........................ 1 ............1.820 ........... 1.820 ...........1.820 ........... 1.820 ............. 1.820 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.820 ............. 0.000...................1.820 ..................163,254,000 .......0.100

OM0000001749 ............OMAN CEMENT .............................................................. 7,060 ...............3,332........................4 ........... 0.472 ........... 0.472 ...........0.472 ........... 0.472 .............0.472 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.472 ..............0.470...................0.472.................. 156,171,919 ........0.100

OM0000001962 ............AL MADINA INVESTMENT ................................... 148,413 ...............9,202........................6 ........... 0.062 ........... 0.062 ...........0.062........... 0.062 .............0.062 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.062..............0.062...................0.063...................12,843,386 .........0.100

OM0000002028 ...........GULF INTERNATIONAL CHEMICALS ................ 2,750 ...................701........................4 ........... 0.255 ........... 0.255 ...........0.255 ........... 0.250 .............0.250 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.255 ..............0.250...................0.253....................5,250,000 ..........0.100

OM0000002275 ...........SHELL OMAN MARKETING ......................................7,100 .............13,206........................2 ............1.860 ........... 1.860 ...........1.860 ........... 1.860 ............. 1.860............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.860 ............. 0.000...................2.045 .................176,700,000 ........0.100

OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING .............69,647 ............... 9,790......................14 ............0.141 ........... 0.141............0.140 ............0.141 ............. 0.141 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 0.141 .............. 0.141...................0.142 ...................12,690,000 .........0.100

OM0000002549 ...........BANK DHOFAR ............................................................ 222,760 ............52,571........................3 ........... 0.236 ........... 0.236 ...........0.236........... 0.236 .............0.236 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.236 ..............0.234...................0.236..................401,011,530 ........0.100

OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ............................................................ 279,779.......... 108,892......................15 ........... 0.390 ...........0.390 ...........0.388........... 0.390 .............0.390 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.388 ..............0.388...................0.390 ................. 973,537,601 ........0.100

OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES .............................. 9,713 ................1,136........................2 ............0.117 ........... 0.117 ............ 0.117 ............0.117 ............. 0.117 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 0.117 ...............0.117................... 0.119 .................... 6,884,656 ..........0.100

OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ......................... 72,044 ........... 116,351........................4 ............1.615 ............1.615 ............ 1.615 ............1.615 ............. 1.615 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 1.615 ...............1.615...................1.630 ................ 1,211,250,000 ......0.100

OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES ..................................... 100,000 ........... 29,500........................8 ........... 0.295 ........... 0.295 ...........0.295........... 0.295 .............0.295 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.295 .............. 0.291...................0.294 .................. 85,742,051 .........0.100

OM0000003281 ............TAAGEER FINANCE .........................................................750 .....................95........................ 1 ............0.126 ........... 0.126 ...........0.126 ........... 0.126 ............. 0.126............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.126 ..............0.120...................0.126 ...................31,952,340 .........0.100

OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO.............................................................................. 500 .................. 352........................ 1 ........... 0.704 ........... 0.704 ...........0.704 ............0.748 ............. 0.748............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.704 ..............0.708...................0.748 ................. 486,906,284 .......0.100

OM0000004735 ...........SEMBCORP SALALAH .............................................. 305,000 ............74,725......................12 ........... 0.245 ........... 0.245 ...........0.245........... 0.245 .............0.245 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.245..............0.235...................0.245 .................233,870,128 ........0.100

OM0000003711 ............SOHAR POWER .............................................................. 15,300 ...............4,621........................5 ........... 0.302 ...........0.302 ...........0.302........... 0.302 .............0.304 ...........-0.002 ........... -0.658 ...............0.302............. 0.290...................0.300 ..................66,745,020 .........0.100

OM0000001517 ............HSBC BANK OMAN .................................................... 4,246,250 ..... 428,581......................31 ............0.102 ........... 0.102 ...........0.100 ............0.101 .............0.102 ...........-0.001 ........... -0.980 ...............0.101 ..............0.100................... 0.101 ..................202,031,592 .......0.100

OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................ 1,749,387.......306,035.....................44 ............0.176 ........... 0.176 ...........0.174 ............0.175 ............. 0.177 ............-0.002 ............-1.130 ................0.174 .............. 0.174................... 0.176 ..................280,787,385 ........0.100

OM0000001087 ............OMAN UNITED INSURANCE ............................... 262,000 ........... 66,500..................... 10 ........... 0.255 ........... 0.255 ...........0.250........... 0.254 .............0.257 ...........-0.003 ............-1.167 ................0.250.............. 0.251...................0.255...................25,400,000.........0.100

OM0000002200 ...........AHLI BANK .................................................................... 634,170 ..........107,166........................9 ............0.170 ........... 0.170 ...........0.168 ............0.169 ............. 0.172............-0.003 ............-1.744 ................0.168 .............. 0.168...................0.170 ..................240,831,108 ........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 10,180,918 ......1,755,933 ...............336 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ......29........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

PARALLEL MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000004511 ............ALIZZ ISLAMIC BANK.............................................. 336,000 ............19,977......................11 ........... 0.059 ........... 0.061 ...........0.059 ........... 0.059 .............0.058 ............0.001 ............. 1.724 ................0.059 ..............0.059...................0.060 ..................59,000,000.........0.100

OM0000001566 ............OMAN FISHERIES ...................................................... 72,000 ...............4,392........................4 ............0.061 ........... 0.061 ...........0.061 ........... 0.061 .............0.060 ............0.001 ............. 1.667 ................0.061 ..............0.060...................0.062 ................... 7,625,000 ..........0.100

OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ................................................................ 723,467 ........... 54,760......................18 ............0.075 ........... 0.076 ...........0.075 ........... 0.076 .............0.075 ............0.001 ............. 1.333 ................0.076 ..............0.075...................0.076..................114,000,000........0.100

OM0000001152 ............OMAN NATIONAL ENGINE. INVT. ............................126 .....................25........................ 1 ............0.195 ........... 0.195 ...........0.195 ............0.195 ............. 0.195............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.195 ............. 0.000...................0.195 ...................19,500,000 .........0.100

OM0000003265 ...........NATIONAL DETERGENT ......................................... 37,690 ............ 24,423........................9 ........... 0.648 ........... 0.648 ...........0.648........... 0.648 .............0.648 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.648 ............. 0.000...................0.648................... 11,024,100 .........0.100

OM0000005963 ...........PHOENIX POWER ........................................................ 53,981 ...............8,330........................9 ............0.155 ........... 0.155 ...........0.154 ........... 0.154 ............. 0.155 ............-0.001 ........... -0.645 ...............0.155 .............. 0.155...................0.156 ................. 225,240,625 .......0.100

OM0000002564 ...........AL HASSAN ENGINEERING....................................59,090 ...............5,022......................11 ........... 0.085 ........... 0.085 ...........0.084........... 0.085 .............0.086 ...........-0.001 ............-1.163 ................0.085 ..............0.084...................0.085....................6,392,680 ..........0.100

OM0000001368 ............CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IND. .................. 427,918 .............13,278..................... 10 ........... 0.032 ........... 0.032 ...........0.031 ............0.031 .............0.032 ...........-0.001 ............-3.125................0.031 ..............0.030...................0.032 ...................2,635,000 ..........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 1,710,272 .......130,206..................... 73 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ........ 8........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

BONDS AND SUKUK MARKET ...................................................................................................................................................................... OM0000005971 ............B.MUSCAT COMPL. CONVR. B.B.3.5 ........................ 3,117 .................. 299........................5 ........... 0.096 ........... 0.096 ...........0.096........... 0.100 .............0.100 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.096 ..............0.096...................0.100................... 32,416,161 .........0.100

.............................................SUM: ....................................................................................... 3,117 .................. 299........................5 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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

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

O M A N S T O C K S

INDICESIndex .................................................High .................Low ..................... Value ............... Prev . Value.......... Diff ...............Diff %MSM30 Index ........................................5,839.74 .............. 5,824.80 ................... 5,826.46 ...................5,838.87 ................ -12.41 .................. -0.21Financial Index .....................................7,403.16 ...............7,373.08 ................... 7,378.42 ...................7,402.38 ................-23.96 .................. -0.32Industrial Index ................................... 7,344.62 ...............7,332.78 ....................7,341.29 ................... 7,332.78 .................... 8.51 ................... 0.12Services Index .......................................3,253.57 ...............3,252.61 ................... 3,253.52 ................... 3,253.57 .................. -0.05 ...................0.00MSM SHARIAH INDEX.......................886.49 ..................885.06 ...................... 886.49 ...................... 885.09 .................... 1.40 ................... 0.16

Trading SummaryVolume ................ Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up ............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded11,894,307 ..................1,886,438 .....................414 ............... 17,033,323,248 ................ 10 ........................8 ....................20 .........................38

MSM index ends lower

MUSCAT: Shares on the Mus-cat bourse continued its fall amid lack of any trigger factor to prop up the sentiment. The MSM30 Index continued to witness low trading volumes and ended at 5,826.46 points, down by 0.21 per cent. The MSM Sharia Index in-creased by 0.16 per cent to close at 886.49 points.

HSBC Bank Oman was the most active in terms of volume and turnover. Wednesday’s top gainer was Al Izz Bank, up by 1.72 per cent, while the top loser was Construction Materials, with a loss of 3.13 per cent.

As many as 414 trades were executed on Wednesday, generat-ing turnover of OMR1.89 million with 11.9 million shares changing hands. Out of 38 traded securi-ties, 10 advanced, eight declined and 20 remained unchanged. Omani investors remained net buyers for OMR165,000 while GCC and Arab investors were net sellers for OMR102,000 fol-lowed by foreign investors for OMR63,000 worth of shares.

Financial Index declined by 0.32 per cent to close at 7,378.42 points. Al Izz Bank, Oman & Emir-ates Holding, Al Madina Takaful, Bank Nizwa and Global Financial Investment gained 1.72 per cent, 1.45 per cent, 1.37 per cent, 1.33 per cent and 0.74 per cent, respec-tively. Ahli Bank, Oman United Insurance, Bank Sohar and HSBC Bank declined by 1.74 per cent, 1.17 per cent, 1.13 per cent and 0.98 per cent, respectively.

Industrial Index ended at 7,341.29 points, up by 0.12 per cent. Oman Fisheries, Al Maha Ceramics and Galfar Engineer-ing increased by 1.67 per cent, 1.33 per cent and 0.90 per cent, respectively. Construction Ma-terials and Al Hassan Engineer-ing declined by 3.13 per cent and 1.16 per cent, respectively. Ser-vices Index stayed flat at 3,253.52 points. National Gas was the only sector gainer.

Sohar Power and Phoenix Power declined by 0.66 per cent and 0.65 per cent, respectively.

— United Securities

Top gainer was Al Izz Bank, up by 1.72 per

cent, while the top loser was Construction

Materials, with a loss of 3.13 per cent.

Dubai traders see UAE dirham peg unchanged in 2016: PollDUBAI: The United Arab Emir-ates won’t bow to investors bet-ting low oil prices will force it to drop its currency peg this year, a Bloomberg survey of Dubai-based currency professionals shows.

The survey, conducted on May 26, showed 86 per cent believe the UAE’s dirham will remain pegged

to the dollar in 2016, with 41 per cent saying it would “definitely not” be broken.

Currency fixings in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have been the subject of increasing speculation after the drop in oil prices over the past two years slashed revenue for govern-

ments highly dependent on crude exports.

Some investors are betting it may become too expensive to maintain the pegs as the GCC bat-tles to plug fiscal shortfalls the International Monetary Fund says will total almost $900 billion through 2021. — Bloomberg News

C U R R E N C Y S U R V E Y

As cities swell, West Africa’s appetite for rice is growingABIDJAN: Rice is fast becom-ing West Africa’s preferred food. After four decades of importing the staple, the region now aims to grow enough rice to meet domestic demand.

Rice harvests in West Africa will probably reach an all-time high of 14.9 million metric tonnes this year, up from 14.6 million tonnes last year, when Senegal and Ghana produced record crops, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisa-tion (FAO). Mali’s crop is forecast to expand about 8 per cent, while output in several countries in-cluding Ivory Coast and Sierra Le-one has climbed every year since 2011, the organisation said.

West African governments be-gan investing in rice farming in the wake of the 2008 food crisis, when a worldwide spike in prices for food items triggered violent protests in cities in Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Burkina Faso, Concepcion Calpe, an economist

at the FAO, said from Rome.“We saw a big surge in imports

and at the same time in produc-tion, because there was this much higher price in the international market,” Calpe said.

“The fear that the food crisis provoked led a lot of West Afri-can countries to invest heavily in production.”They’re trying to meet a growing appetite for rice that’s coming at the expense of traditional staples such as cassa-va and corn. West Africa has been dependent on rice imports from Asia since 1975, when consump-tion by a fast-growing population began to outpace production.

Today, as incomes rise and Af-rican cities swell, more and more people eat rice because it’s easy to store and easy to prepare, accord-ing to Yacouba Dembele, head the National Office for Rice Develop-ment in Ivory Coast.

“Rice is tailored to city life,” Dembele said in an interview in the commercial capital, Abidjan.

Consumption in West Africa is forecast to rise to 53 kilograms (116.6 pounds) per person per year by 2025, from 44 kilograms in 2011, according to the Wash-ington-based International Food Policy Research Institute. In 1990, West Africans consumed on average 32 kilograms of rice per person.

There’s of course a variety of consumption patterns: in some countries, including Mali, local rice is more popular, while the Senegalese prefer imported rice, according to AfricaRice, an Abid-jan-based international research institute.

Senegalese President Macky Sall said that governments should consider boosting rice farming because it’s become a “strategic food” since China began import-ing the staple. Sall has repeatedly pledged to make Senegal self-suf-ficient in rice by 2017, a plan that has been criticised by the opposi-tion as unfeasible. — Bloomberg News

P R E F E R R E D F O O D

Muscat Securities Market. – Times file picture

B3T H U R S DAY, J U N E 1 6, 2 0 1 6

MARKET

Ooredoo and Ericsson partner for major projectTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Ooredoo is set to start the trial of an innovative new tel-ecommunications technology that addresses the anticipated surge in demand for data for video stream-ing, online gaming, social media and more across Oman, supported by the Telecommunications Regu-latory Authority (TRA).

The first of its kind in the region, the trial will test Microwave Solu-tions in E-Band (80 Ghz) technol-ogy, or microwave backhauling, across Ooredoo’s recently complet-ed nationwide fibre backbone, pro-viding the Gigabit capacity to de-liver unparalleled premium speeds and unrivalled superior quality to

fast increasing numbers of data hungry customers.

Ooredoo will collaborate with internationally renowned tel-ecommunications giant Ericsson on this exciting project, sharing expertise and technical know-how to demonstrate the enormous ad-vantages and possibilities of the innovative system to operators in the Gulf and beyond.

“Ooredoo is constantly re-sponding to changes in customer needs and providing them with the products, services and offers they want, through both mobile and fixed offerings,” said Wolfgang Wemhoff, chief technology officer at Ooredoo Oman.

“Our partnership with Erics-

son on this regionally important ground-breaking project will allow us to pioneer new methods and de-liver exciting new possibilities to meet the fast-evolving needs of our current and future customers and businesses in all sectors across the Sultanate of Oman,” he added.

Rafiah Ibrahim, president and head of Ericsson Region Middle East and Africa said; “We expect Microwave Backhaul to experi-ence major growth and represent up to 20 per cent of new deploy-ments in 2020. Our collaboration with Ooredoo Oman enables us to showcase the benefits of Mi-crowave Backhaul for operators around the region, while empow-ering Ooredoo Oman to pave the

way for innovative traffic manage-ment solutions.”

Ooredoo is a leading data and In-ternet services provider, focused on bringing new products and ser-vices to Oman and enriching the lives of the people of the Sultanate through better communications services. It forms alliances and partnerships to accelerate its pro-gress and to better meet the needs of its customers.

With a multi-year strategy of setting ambitious but achievable goals, it emphasises operational execution with consistency and continuity and places the cus-tomer, their satisfaction, wants and needs at the heart of all of its activities and plans.

N E W T E C H N O L O G Y

Wolfgang Wemhoff. — Supplied picture

Iran clinches deal to acquire Boeing planes

DUBAI/PARIS: Iran said it had reached an agreement with Boe-ing for the supply of jetliners on Tuesday, reopening the country’s skies to new US aircraft for the first time in decades under an in-ternational deal to ease sanctions.

Details of the agreement were left vague, but Western and Mid-dle East sources said that once it is approved, it would involve the flag carrier Iranair acquiring more than 100 Boeing jets, both directly from Boeing and from leasing companies.

“In coming days details of the deal with this company will be

announced,” Roads and Urban Development Minister Abbas Akhoundi said, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

The sources said the agreement was so far only a broad outline of what a formal deal would look like once Boeing has the neces-sary US government approvals to sell planes to Iran, which has been banned from buying US jets for al-most 40 years.

So far, Boeing has only been granted permission to present its products to Iranair and a handful of other airlines as it tries to catch up with Europe’s Airbus, which earlier this year won a provisional deal for 118 jets worth $27 billion.

“We have been engaged in dis-cussions with Iranian airlines approved by the US government about potential purchases of Boeing commercial passenger

airplanes and services,” a Boeing spokesman said by email.

Ongoing conversations“We do not discuss the details of ongoing conversations we are having with customers, and our standard practice is to let cus-tomers announce any agreements that are reached. Any agreements reached will be contingent on the US government approval.”

Reuters reported last week that Iran was edging towards a historic deal to buy jetliners from Boeing for a deal for more than 100 air-craft could be reached fairly soon.

Chairman of Iranair said it was also talking to Boeing about pro-viding support for its elderly fleet under last year’s deal between Tehran and six major powers to ease sanctions in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear activities.

Hurdles remainIran needs an estimated 400 jets to renew its fleet after decades of sanctions and prepare for project-ed growth, according to Iranian and Western estimates.

Two senior Iranian officials said last year that Iran was ex-pected to buy 100 jets from Boeing once sanctions were lifted.

Both Airbus and Boeing would need US export licences to carry out their deals, due to the use of significant US technology in all modern jetliners.

Uncertainty over financingEven then, industry sources cau-tion that both deals could take some time to implement because of uncertainty over financing, with the US financial system still closed to Iran.

The Airbus deal is priced in euros instead of dollars, the cur-rency usually by planemakers, but many banks remain reluctant to finance it because they fear los-ing their claim to the underlying assets if sanctions are re-intro-duced, bankers say.

BOC Aviation, a Singapore-based leasing company in which Boeing recently invested as part of its stock market debut, is in discussions with Boeing about fi-nancing part of the deal, two peo-ple familiar with the matter said.

BOC Aviation was not immedi-ately available for comment.

Secretary of State John Kerry said in April Washington was not against foreign banks doing busi-ness with Iran under the nuclear deal, but Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ac-cused Washington of not being committed to the accord. — Reuters

Details of the

agreement were left

vague, but Western

and Middle East

sources said that

once approved,

it would involve

flag carrier Iranair

acquiring more than

100 Boeing jets, both

directly from Boeing

and from leasing

companies.

MEGA DEAL: Reuters had reported that Iran was edging towards a deal to buy jetliners from Boeing for a deal for more than 100 aircraft could be reached fairly soon. — Bloomberg file picture

$100m fund unveiled to boost liquidity on Bahrain stock marketTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Investors in the Bah-rain bourse are expected to see greater liquidity in future af-ter a new fund was launched on Wednesday with the aim of en-hancing the market’s depth.

The Bahrain Liquidity Fund is supported by a number of market participants and has been vest-ed with $100m of assets in cash and shares. The fund will act as a market maker, providing two way quotes on most of the listed stocks with a reasonable spread to al-low the investors to actively trade their stocks.

To ensure high governance standards, the fund’s activities and performance will be evaluated and monitored on timely basis by a su-pervisory board representing the seed investors.

Improving liquidityBy improving liquidity, the fund aims to address one of the primary concerns that has made investing in stocks listed on Bahrain Bourse less attractive, albeit the prevail-ing attractive valuations. Re-stricted liquidity currently causes securities to trade at a discount to their underlying value and re-gional peers – the introduction of the Bahrain Liquidity Fund aims to help reduce that discount over the medium to long term.

Attract new investorsThe fund will help attract new in-vestors and deepen Bahrain’s capi-tal markets and is anticipated to help local businesses raise capital and have greater access to alter-native courses of financing other than bank lending, making it easi-er for them to find the right fund-ing to help them grow.

Bahrain Bourse has seen a num-ber of initiatives in recent months, aimed at enhancing local capital

markets. These include the intro-duction of the Bahrain Islamic Index (the GCC’s first Sharia-compliant index), the introduction of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) rules and the offering of Bahraini government bonds and treasury bills.

Create more jobsSh. Khalifa bin Ebrahim Al Khali-fa, Chief Executive Officer of Bah-rain Bourse, said: “Capital markets have a very important role to play in funding the growth throughout Bahrain. They have the potential to enable businesses to grow faster and create more jobs and greater prosperity, but they will only be able to do this if they have enough liquidity. “The Bahrain Liquidity Fund is part of a series of reforms that will help to enhance and deepen Bahrain’s capital markets, helping the market to reach its potential and bringing benefits to businesses and investors.”

Najla M. Al Shirawi, Chief Ex-ecutive Officer of Securities & Investment Company (SICO), also commented: “As the first ap-proved market maker on the Bah-rain Bourse, we are delighted to announce the launch of Bahrain Liquidity Fund. This has been collaboration between SICO and a number of prominent market participants,with the support of the Central Bank of Bahrain and Bahrain Bourse. I would like to thank everyone for their contribu-tion and unprecedented support in realising this initiative.

“More liquid capital markets can provide real benefits to the economy. They are the heart of any economy through which savings are deployed into long-term investments. A well devel-oped and vibrant capital market will contribute immensely to higher economic growth and a more diverse economy.”

M A R K E T L I Q U I D I T Y

BIG BOOST: Bahrain bourse has seen many initiatives in recent months, aimed at enhancing local capital markets. - Bloomberg file picture

Shell chief executive faces long haul in bid to surpass Exxon as top oil majorLONDON: Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Officer Ben Van Beurden spelled out his main goal last week — surpass Exxon Mobil to become the best-performing oil major. “I am determined to get us to that number one place,” he said after outlining the company’s long-term strategy in London. “I want to create a world class in-vestment case for Shell and our shareholders.”

There are signs Van Beurden is winning over some investors following his record $54 billion acquisition of BG Group. Shell has closed the gap on Exxon for total shareholder returns, which ac-

counts for share prices, dividend payouts and buybacks, after lag-ging behind for five years. Still, the Anglo-Dutch explorer trails its US rival on a range of other metrics from return on capital and assets to cash flow.

“In the past 15 to 20 years Shell has fallen behind Exxon, and now Ben is coming with the determi-nation to take the company back up there,” said Iain Armstrong, a London-based analyst at Brewin Dolphin. “But it could take years for Shell to become the bench-mark for the industry that Exxon is. It won’t happen this decade.”

To meet his target, Shell will

focus on increasing free cash flow per share, improving its re-turns and running its finances in a “conservative way,” according to Van Beurden, who is resetting the company to perform with lower oil prices.

To achieve this, Shell will cap annual capital investment at $30 billion until the end of the decade even if crude prices rise, Europe’s biggest oil company said June 7. If prices remain at the current level of $50 a barrel, or drop, Shell can cut spending below the lower end of its target range of $25 billion.

Shell plans to slow new invest-ments in its liquefied natural gas

business as it seeks to increase cash flows. The BG deal gave it LNG assets from Australia to North America and consolidated its top position with liquefaction capacity more than double that of its nearest rival Exxon.

“Everybody really liked the focus on cap on capex and the re-duced emphasis on investments in LNG because they’ve made a big investment already by buy-ing BG,” said Iain Reid, analyst at Macquarie Capital. “They’ve got a good chance” of surpassing Exxon “if they can change the business in the way they outlined last week.”

— Bloomberg News

N E W T A R G E T

B4

FEATURET H U R S DAY, J U N E 1 6, 2 0 1 6

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s website crashed for less than a minute, brought down by a barrage of web traf-fic on May 12. When a hacker claimed

responsibility on Twitter, it placed the attack as part of hashtag #OpIcarus, an as-sault the group Anonymous has been waging against global central banks.

In a world of escalating cyber risks, such hacktivist web page interruptions no longer top the Fed’s worry list. Of greater concern than reputation-damaging events such as website overloads are online criminals’ threats to conducting monetary policy and providing services to banks — key central-bank functions that keep the heart of the US financial system to keep on pumping.

“What we look at more is: What are the things that will impact us from achieving our mission?” said Don Anderson, chief information officer at the Boston Fed. “That’s where we really focus most of our efforts now — on the crown jewels of the organisation.”

Fed cyber security con-fronts mounting threats from sophisticated attackers and heightened scrutiny in the wake of a massive theft from Bangladesh’s central bank. And while the Fed doesn’t disclose specifics on how procedures and technology are evolving, it says it is plac-ing a very heavy emphasis on defending information and payment systems.

Biggest challenge“The biggest challenge for us is that this is a threat that is becoming more and more sophisticated, with a lot of money behind it, and obviously, at times, foreign governments,” John Williams, president of the San Francisco Fed, said last month in New York, explaining that the Fed invests heavily in making its systems as “bulletproof” as possible. “This is not the kid in Berkeley living in his parent’s garage anymore — we are way, way beyond that.”

Between 2011 and 2015, the Fed’s National Incident Response Team reported 51 cases that it labeled “infor-mation disclosure,” based on a Freedom of Information Act records request. The documents only cover attacks

against the Fed’s Board of Governors in Washington, excluding incidents at the 12 regional Fed banks, which are not subject to FOIA requests.

NIRT also reported one in-cident labeled “property loss/theft,” based on the heavily redacted, 2,239-page docu-ment, which is first reported by Reuters on Wednesday.

Robust securityThe Fed’s security programme and processes for detecting and countering attacks are robust, a Fed Board spokes-woman said, and its critical operations have never been affected despite the attempts.

That’s good news: Preserv-ing the security of the Fed’s vast payment system is vital to financial stability because it helps to underpin the interconnected global banking system. Protecting sensitive information surrounding monetary policy is essential to the fair functioning of mar-kets, because early clues about rate decisions could allow hackers to profit by trading in everything from Treasuries to stocks and currencies.

Major issue“If there was a breach that could drain the funds out of a major central bank, that’s a major issue,” said Ted Tru-man, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute in Wash-ington and a former director of Division of International Finance at the Fed Board. “At a minimum, it would be very damaging to the reputation of the bank.”

Such a scenario seems increasingly less far-fetched. News broke in March that hackers stole $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank’s account at the New York Fed, the biggest known cyber-heist in history. The regional Fed has said that the instruc-tions to make the payments were authenticated by the Swift message system, which is widely used by financial institutions.

“It is important to note

that the recent incident with the Bangladesh Bank was not caused by a breach or compromise of the New York Fed’s systems,” the reserve bank said in a statement after the incident. Still, it said it had taken a “comprehensive look at its processes” and they had enhanced monitoring for some jurisdictions and trans-action types.

That’s hardly a detailed description of what’s being done to avert crisis, but the Fed is vague about the system security for a reason — to avoid providing a road-map to would-be criminals.

Tight-lippedThe Fed doesn’t break out spending on cyber secu-rity clearly in its financial accounts, nor does it disclose data on system-wide cyber at-tacks. While the Board of Gov-ernors does report informa-tion technology expenditures, that is a broader category.

The central bank’s cyber security program is fairly centralised with common standards. The Fed has a National IT group run out of the Richmond Fed, and a National Incident Response Team located mostly in East Rutherford, New Jersey. That team handles more serious events, according to a 2012 Office of Inspector General report, though what level of threat merits passing a case to NIRT isn’t made clear.

“Organisations with data are pretty tight-lipped about how they’re protecting it,” said V.S. Subrahmanian, a profes-sor of computer science at the University of Maryland who specialises in big-data analyt-

ics. He said that’s reasonable. “It’s a little bit like going to someone’s house and asking where the security camera is.”

Though public scrutiny of the Fed’s initiatives is limited, the central bank’s information security is reviewed by the Board’s Inspector General — and a 2015 audit underlined problems. While the chief information officer at the Fed Board in Washington had made progress in developing a risk management program, it said “the Board will face chal-lenges in implementing the program Boardwide.”

It also found that some services from third-party providers didn’t meet all of the Board’s information security standards to follow.

New York reviewThe cyber framework at the New York Fed could soon come under closer examina-tion. House Science Com-mittee Chairman Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican, on Tuesday sent a letter to New York Fed President William Dudley asking for a briefing and information related to the Bangladesh bank theft.

While acknowledging that the Bangladesh bank’s systems “appear to have been the weak link” in that case, the Smith letter states that it’s Congress’s responsibility to ensure that the New York Fed is “taking all precautions to protect American finances and aggressively execute its own role as overseer of Swift.”

A New York Fed spokes-woman said that the bank plans to respond to the request, but provided no other details. The Fed is constantly adapting and evolving along-side online threats and learns from attacks against other institutions, Boston’s Ander-son said. When it comes to the attacks like those coming from Anonymous, “we have controls in place that when they do that, usually within a minute or two we recover, and again it hasn’t been anything critical to the Fed.”

But a possible attack on core activities “is one of our top risks,” he said.

“If we were to have a cyber event, it could have an opera-tional impact on our ability to do monetary policy, our ability to run the payments network, but it also would have a repu-tational impact, and people may lose trust in the Fed.”

— Bloomberg News

CYBER SECURITY IN A HIGH-RISK WORLDOf greater concern than reputation-damaging events such as website overloads are online criminals’ threats to conducting

monetary policy and providing services to banks — key central-bank functions that keep the heart of the US financial

system pumping.

B5T H U R S DAY, J U N E 1 6, 2 0 1 6

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Amazing offer on Kia Optima 2.4L EX SPL

MUSCAT: A sleek fusion of bold style, heart-pounding perfor-mance and advanced technology, the Kia Optima confidently push-es the boundaries of the midsize sedan, with plenty of attitude to spare. Now, this winsome sedan is available on a limited period offer.

According to a company spokes-person, the highly desirable Kia Optima 2.4L EX SPL is available with an equally tempting offer dur-ing the 'Waffer Ma Kia' promotion. “Every customer is presented with a cash gift of OMR1,300,” ex-plained the spokesperson, “Before that, the customer has already been treated to 0% interest on EMI (2 years) or 2.99% interest on EMI for up to 5 years. It does not end there… the customer further gets a chance to participate in a grand raffle of OMR5,000 and in four raf-fle draws of OMR1,000. There also is an assured Scratch & Win cou-pon ‘Cash for Fuel’ up to OMR100.” (Conditions apply. Please contact showroom for exact details)

“Truly an incredible offer that can make anyone’s day,” said a cus-

tomer at the showroom.The Optima is truly a great

catch. A beautifully shaped, sleek automobile that has the power and performance to match. It is pow-ered by a 2.4 L, 4 Cylinder, DOHC, Dual C.V.V.T Engine that generates 176 HP @ 6000rpm and torque of 23.2kgm @ 4000 rpm. The Optima is equipped with an Around View Monitor (AVM), which is a sup-port technology that assists driv-ers to park more easily by better understanding the vehicle’s sur-roundings through a virtual bird’s-eye view from above the vehicle. The Around View Monitor helps the driver visually confirm the ve-hicle’s position relative to the lines around parking spaces and adja-cent objects, allowing the driver to manoeuvre into parking spots with more ease. The Optima also offers Navigation system for the car and the crisp instructions are heard from the exclusive Harman Kar-don Speakers (apart from some enthralling music, of course!) Op-

tima has many more delightful fea-tures that include a smartphone wireless charger, smart key with push button start ignition, power driver memory seat, adaptive front lighting system, blind spot detection, lane departure warning system, ABS (Anti-lock Brake Sys-tem), ESC (Electronic Stability Control), BAS (Brake force Assist System), VSM (Vehicle Stabil-ity Management), HAC (Hill-start Assist Control), and much more.

The Optima is passionately designed and obsessively crafted with European styling, a refined premium interior and significant ride and handling improvements. Kia’s best-selling nameplate chal-lenges the midsize sedan segment with all these features set in a roomier, more luxurious cabin that features an impressive level of craftsmanship.

“Now is the time to own the Kia Optima 2.4L EX SPL with the Waffer Ma Kia offer before it is all gone,” said the spokesperson, “It is

a good deal on a good car and that says it all!”

Reliable International Automo-tive (RIA), the distributor for Kia in Oman provides a rewarding own-ership experience for customers. Excellent product attributes and unmatched facilities easily ensure their absolute satisfaction, every mile of the way. No wonder then that Reliable International Auto-motive has been ranked amongst the top Kia distributors worldwide and has been honoured with pres-tigious accolades including the ‘Good Partnership award, ‘Family Like Care’ Service award’, and ‘Kia ‘Distributor of Distinction’ award.

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

“You can like us on www.face-book.com/kiaoman and follow us on @kiaoman Twitter for the lat-est happenings on Kia in Oman,” invited the spokesperson.

Kia Optima 2.4L EX

SPL is available with

a tempting offer

during the 'Waffer Ma

Kia' promotion

OAB Elite customers network over IftarMUSCAT: Under the auspices of Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Shahi, Minister of Regional Municipali-ties and Water Resources, Oman Arab Bank (OAB) recently organ-ised a special Iftar gathering for its Elite Priority Banking customers at the Grand Hyatt Muscat.

Attended by over 250 Elite customers including government officials, private sector business leaders and other high-profile dignitaries as well as the bank’s senior management, the dazzling event enabled the OAB team to foster stronger relationships with its clients in a unique Ramadan Iftar setting, says a press release.

“We are continuously iden-tifying ways of enhancing the banking experience of all our cus-tomers with the aim of ensuring every moment with OAB is rich and filled with unique value,” said Amin Al Husseini, CEO Oman Arab Bank.

“The Iftar we organised served as a platform to take the ties that bind us with our stakeholders to new heights and foster deeper relationships while expressing our gratitude for their continued

dedication and support.”The colourful event began with

a renowned French artist, who surprised the guests by drawing a very stunning piece on stage that embodied the essence of Elite Priority Banking.

To add to the excitement, OAB also announced the name of the lucky winner of the OMR100,000 Hassad Savings Scheme Elite prize for June 2016. Attendees concluded the night by walking away with gifts designed to allow them to experience a day at Al Mouj Golf or the Shangri La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa.

Rashad Al Shaikh, DGM Re-tail Banking at Oman Arab Bank, added, “We take pride in our-selves for providing a second to none premium banking propo-sition that promises customers a world of benefits, services and in-depth expertise to grow their wealth. Elite Priority Banking is more than just a product; it is an exclusive way of life that has been designed to fulfil the spe-cial requirements of high-net-worth individuals and meet their evolving needs.”

S T R E N G T H E N I N G B O N D S

AHLIBANK RAMADAN CAMPAIGNQais Al Hasni, (right) branch manager of ahlibank Oman Avenues Mall Branch presents a cheque to an official from Al Noor Association for the Blind – Muscat as part of the bank’s annual Ramadan campaign. — Supplied image

Award-winning Mazda MX-5 finds another fan in OmanMUSCAT: After capturing hearts globally, setting a Guinness World Record and winning the coveted TWCOTY & Best Design award, the 2016 Mazda MX-5 finds an-other fan in Oman.

“The all-new Mazda MX-5 is delightful to drive, beautiful to see and reliable to buy. It is shorter and lighter than the model that came before, with an excellent fuel economy and safety. It also looks fabulous and feels great and most importantly, it is a fantastic value for money,” said Zeyad Salim Al Mashjari, who bought the first new Skyactiv engineered Mazda MX-5 Roadster, out of the two available at Towell Auto Centre (TAC), a leading regional automobile dis-tributor in Oman.

The Mazda MX-5, a sporty two-seat, fourth-generation convert-

ible is a fun-to-drive car that is al-most as light as the original rolled out in 1989.

With the Skyactiv technology, it offers outstanding agility and driv-ing dynamics with great fuel econ-omy. Its thrilling rear wheel drive and the in-car connectivity adds to the excitement that an iconic sport car has to offer.

A senior spokesperson of TAC commented: “Our heartiest con-gratulations to Zeyad on being the first proud owner of an iconic roadster. The Mazda MX-5 has won many coveted titles and is popular as the best-selling two-seater convertible in the world. With 3 generations, 25 successful years and many accolades associ-ated with the Mazda MX-5, we hail #LongLiveTheRoadster”.

The Mazda MX-5 is all about

pure driving pleasure, respond-ing to the driver with Jinba Ittai dynamics as though it were an extension of your own body. The first car built with the new Sky-

activ technology, the 2016 Mazda MX-5 is significantly lighter than the previous generation, with a sleeker, more rigid body and the lowest centre of gravity to date.

The advanced safety features of-fer an extra protection with help-ful alerts, so you can just focus on enjoying the ride.

It boasts of rear vehicle moni-toring system, traction control, Mazda connect with commander controls, touch screen 7 inch dis-play screen, navigation system, cruise control, blue tooth, smart keyless entry with push start igni-tion, premium audio Bose speak-ers grafted on the seats, reverse parking sensors, LED signature lighting with day time running lights, gun metal finished alloys and paddle shift gears making this roadster a delight for those looking for a feature loaded package.

The all-new Mazda MX-5 has also evolved with Mazda’s award-winning KODO: Soul of Motion de-sign language to appeal to all your

senses. Its muscular stance and piercing LED headlights provide a captivating presence on the roads. Elegant proportions and smooth contours flow from the exterior into the car’s interior, giving it a sense of continuity and oneness. Its stylish interior design features high qual-ity craftsmanship, from the sporty seats to the intuitive controls in the driver’s cockpit.

Offering the trendiest of Japa-nese cars, the brand Mazda has brought in a lot of excitement in Oman’s automobile industry with their ‘stylish, spirited and insight-ful’ branding. These three unique qualities lie at the core of each Maz-da you spot on the streets and form the brand’s DNA and TAC makes owning a Mazda extra pleasant with its efficient after sales service and quick response time.

P R I Z E D P O S S E S S I O N

Bank Sohar extends support to Al Amal AssociationMUSCAT: As part of its ongoing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, Bank Sohar has extended support to the Spe-cial Olympics Oman Association formally known as Al Amal Asso-ciation for a fifth consecutive year by sponsoring membership for a comprehensive gymnasium train-ing programme enabling children to enhance their skills and further develop their talents.

The donation cheque was hand-ed over at the Bank Sohar’s head office in MBD to His Highness Sayyid Faisal bin Turki Al Said, the chairman of the Special Olym-pics Oman Association, by Mazin Mahmood Al Raisi, Sr. AGM – head of Marketing & Customer Experience, says a press release.

Munira Abdulnabi Macki, GM of HR and Corporate Support at Bank Sohar said, “We at Bank So-har have always been deeply com-mitted towards helping improve

the quality of life of those in need within the community. Through such support, we aim to give back to the society we serve, and sup-port selfless organisations such

as the Special Olympics Oman Association and their various ini-tiatives. The training programme has proved itself to be extremely useful in helping the students of the association develop and culti-vate new skills that they can now more effectively utilise in their day-to-day lives. Given its success last year, we are glad and hon-oured to sponsor the programme once again this year.”

Sayyid Faisal said, “On behalf of everyone at the Special Olympics Oman Association, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Bank Sohar for their support over these past five years. Their sup-port of the programme was a great help not just to the association, but also to our students as well.”

S P E C I A L O L Y M P I C S O M A N A S S O C I A T I O N

B6 T H U R S DAY, J U N E 1 6, 2 0 1 6

ROUND-UPUnlimited Ramadan benefits from Nissan Oman on wide sedan range

MUSCAT: Reinforcing its commit-ment to customers, Nissan Oman from the house of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles (SBA), has announced unlimited Ramadan benefits on its sedan range as part of the ongoing ‘Season of Rewards’ offer.

With a variety of attractive value propositions on offer, Nis-san patrons stand to profit much from Nissan Oman’s ‘Season of Rewards’ deal while opting for the sedan range. Giving more benefits than ever before, ‘Season of Re-wards’ offer which started on May 15 will continue till July 14. The exciting offer is valid on all sedan range models purchased for per-sonal use, says a press release.

Nissan Oman is offering attrac-

tive cash gift, free periodic main-tenance service package, fuel card, free registration and six years ex-tended mileage warranty on select sedan range models apart from chance to participate in a grand raf-fle. There are additional benefits on purchase of second vehicle in fami-ly as well as a part of loyalty scheme.

Commenting on the promotion on Nissan sedan range, a senior of-ficial of SBA said, “We are pleased to offer unlimited benefits to our customers which underscores Ni-ssan Oman’s commitment to them. We have taken into consideration the needs of a new car shopper while putting together the offer. Sense of comfort, style, safety and innovation abound in Nissan’s sedan range and with great value deals on offer this is the right time to own this brand.”

Under the ‘Season of Rewards’ offer, Nissan sedan customers can avail assured cash gift ranging from OMR500 to OMR2,500 vary-ing model-wise.

Customers buying any Nissan se-

dan vehicle will get a scratch and win card which will entitle them for two assured gifts comprising free peri-odic maintenance service upto life-time of the car (minimum assured 1 year/ 10,000km PMS; offer includes new service intervals of 10,000km) and free fuel up to OMR1,000 (mini-mum assured of OMR50).

Nissan sedan customers can enjoy extra benefits such as free registration (on select models), 6 years unlimited mileage extended warranty (on select models), loy-alty card benefits among others.

Loyal customers stand to enjoy additional benefits on purchase of a second Nissan vehicle in the fam-ily. To avail additional benefits un-der the scheme, the second car can be purchased either in the name of existing Nissan owner or his/her immediate family members.

Nissan patrons have a chance to win two X-Trails 2.5S 7STR CVT 16 MY in the “grand SMS and win raf-fle draw” that will be held on June 20 and July 18, 2016 at Qurum show-room. Anybody can SMS to 90466

to enter the contest.SBA has designed some easy

and convenient financing options to ease the convenience of owning a Nissan sedan. Flexible EMIs can also be tailor-made for any indi-vidual requirement from in-house auto finance team.

Nissan AltimaNow with an EMI starting from OMR133 (terms and conditions apply) customers can own a Ni-ssan Altima. Besides under the ‘Season of Rewards’ offer, cus-tomers can avail an assured cash gift of OMR1,500 on buying Nis-san Altima. Customers of Nissan Altima will also get free periodic maintenance service package, fuel card, free registration and six years extended mileage warranty among other benefits.

Nissan Tiida The vehicle now comes with EMI starting from OMR101 (terms and conditions apply). Besides under the ‘Season of Rewards’ offer, cus-

tomers can avail an assured cash gift of OMR750 on buying Nissan Tiida. Customers of Nissan Tiida will also get free periodic mainte-nance service package, fuel card, free registration and six years ex-tended mileage warranty among other benefits.

Nissan Micra Customers can avail a special EMI rate of OMR71 (terms and condi-tions apply) on Nissan Micra. Un-der the ‘Season of Rewards’ offer, customers can avail an assured cash gift of OMR500 on buying Ni-ssan Micra. Customers of Nissan Micra will also get free periodic maintenance service package, fuel card, free registration and six years extended mileage warranty among other benefits.

Nissan Sunny The Nissan Sunny is now available with EMI starting from OMR75 (terms and conditions apply). Un-der the ‘Season of Rewards’ offer, customers can avail an assured

cash gift of OMR750 on buying Ni-ssan Sunny. Customers of Nissan Sunny will also get free periodic maintenance service package, fuel card, free registration and six years extended mileage warranty among other benefits.

Nissan Sentra A special EMI rate of OMR98 (terms and conditions apply) is available for customers planning to buy Sentra. Customers also get an assured cash gift of OMR1,000 on buying Nissan Sentra 1.6L and 1.8L models. Customers of Nissan Sentra will also get free periodic maintenance service package, fuel card, free registration and six years extended mileage warranty among other benefits.

Nissan Maxima Customers can own a Nissan Maxima with a special EMI rate of OMR174 (terms and conditions apply). Customers can avail an as-sured cash gift of OMR1,000 on buying Nissan Maxima known for its comfort quotient, smoothness and power.

Customers of Nissan Maxima will also get free periodic mainte-nance service package, fuel card, free registration and six years ex-tended mileage warranty among other benefits.

SBA is largely committed to supporting Nissan’s growth in the Sultanate through major emphasis on customer satisfaction and by providing world-class after-sales services in Oman.

With a variety of

attractive value

propositions on

offer, Nissan patrons

stand to profit much

from Nissan Oman’s

‘Season of Rewards’

deal while opting for

the sedan range

IMC-Sugar Apollo appoints new dermatologistMUSCAT: IMC – Sugar Apollo has strengthened its ‘Unique Spec-trum for Social Cause’ programme by adding new faculty in the De-partment of Dermatology, Venere-ology and Cosmetology.

Dr Vandana Jadia, Specialist (dermatology, cosmetology & ve-nereology), joined International Medical Center – Sugar Apollo, Ruwi. Dr Vandana did her MBBS from MUHS Nashik-India univer-sity and PG Mumbai- College of Physician & Surgeon from Mum-

bai University, says a press release.Speaking on the occasion Shyam

Shailesh, director of IMC-Apollo Sugar said, “Her vast practical professional expertise in a wide range of dermatology, cosmetol-ogy and venereology procedures like, Botox injections for sweating, wrinkle and anti-aging. Dermal fillers for cheek, nasal fold and hands. Platelet rich plasma (PRP) injections for facial rejuvenation, extreme hair loss treatment, hy-per pigmented skin and under

eye circle. In addition to above Dr Vandana is an expert at treating Melasma & Acne with hyper pig-mentation. Full body whitening & polishing and all types of laser treatments, Vein laser treatment, Surgical mole, wart soft fibroma (skin tag) removal. Treatment for vitiligo, treatment for under eye-dark circles. Lips, cheeks and had augmentation, treatment for lus-terless nails and nail avulsions.

Shyam added that Dr Vandana is also an expert in treating post

surgery scars, in treating Alopecia & skin Carcinoma and also in skin rejuvenation & lip enhancement procedures. “We have a system where the patients are getting a comprehensive care through the consultation of dermatologist and endocrinologist which will help the patients for a more effective and result oriented treatment as the hormone related aspects of the conditions also are taken care along with the dermatology and cosmetic procedures.”

S P E C I A L I S T

A’Saffa’s social initiative receives

positive response on Facebook

MUSCAT: A unique social initi-ative launched by A’Saffa Foods - ‘Let Us Achieve Their Dreams - 3’ has been making waves all over Facebook.

The one-of-its-kind gesture from A’Saffa, that will help make dreams come true for 10 children living in special care homes has garnered an extremely positive response from Facebook users throughout the Sultanate; with an overwhelming number of them lending their support to the cause that will bring to life the dreams of 10 children, says a press release.

A’Saffa Foods ‘Let Us Achieve Their Dreams - 3’ campaign works towards the milestone of positive-ly impacting the lives of 10 chil-dren. The company began the ini-tiative with helping five children achieve their dreams in its first year, and decided to extend the same to 10 children belonging to the age group of 5 years to 7 years since last year.

“A’Saffa Foods has been com-mitted to helping children within the Sultanate with hope and op-

portunity right from the time of its inception, as the company believes that children are an integral part of society and the future of tomor-row,” said Sidhartha Lenka, head of Sales and Marketing, A’Saffa Foods. “The organisation’s social outreach programme – ‘Let Us Achieve Their Dreams’ hence fo-cuses its efforts on helping chil-dren live better lives by making their dreams come true.”

He continued, “To participate

and do your bit towards fulfilling the dreams of the 10 selected children this year, A’Saffa Foods urges one and all to visit our Facebook page and ‘Like’ the post with the theme – ‘Let Us Achieve their Dreams - 3’ until July 6. Every ‘Like’ will gener-ate 100 baisa that will be donated by A’Saffa Foods towards presents (bicycles and Play Stations) for the children: Abdullah, Nasser, Ham-ood, Issam, Majed, Ahmed, Yousuf, Assad, Muhannad, Idris.”

‘ L E T U S A C H I E V E T H E I R D R E A M S - 3 ’

GBM Oman appoints new CGMMUSCAT: Gulf Business Ma-chines (GBM), the region’s num-ber one provider of IT solutions, has announced the appointment of Iyad Al Chammat as its new coun-try general manager (CGM) for GBM Oman, says a press release.

“To be appointed the new coun-try general manager for GBM Oman is both a tremendous hon-our and challenge. We have a very strong team at GBM Oman and I believe we will have a very success-ful future together,” said Chammat.

C O U N T R Y G E N E R A L M A N A G E R

Awasr recognised with two bronze Transform awardsMUSCAT: Awasr, Oman’s pio-neer provider of specialised broadband Internet services, announced that its brand has re-cently been recognised with two Transform awards.

Transform Awards Middle East and North Africa 2016 rec-ognises excellence and innova-tion in branding and provides an important platform from which to benchmark and showcase crea-tive brand work done by Mena companies and advertising agen-cies. Through the recognition process, it provides special impe-tus on brand strategy, execution and content.

Awasr won both bronze awards, alongside Bellwether Consultan-cy who helped them in the brand-ing, for ‘Best Use of Typography’ and ‘Best Naming Strategy’. At-tended by regional as well as glob-al companies, the ceremony took place at a glittering event held in Dubai, says a press release.

Impressed by the result of the collaboration initiative, the judg-es lauded the word mark and bold

use of capitals of Awasr brand, which reflects speed, nimbleness and fluidity. Bellwether effective-ly employed well capitalised sans serif typeface with semi-joined letters to express agility, friendli-ness and speed.

The judges spoke highly of the strategy Bellwether employed to create and design the Awasr brand despite the challenges it had faced, given the saturated Omani telecommunications mar-ket. The name ‘Awasr’, meaning ‘bonds’ or ‘family relations’ in Arabic emphasises the compa-ny’s ability to build relationships through communications simul-taneously differentiating them-selves from competitors.

“We are proud to have been

recognised with these two awards despite our relatively short his-tory. We worked closely with Bellwether to create a brand and a strategy that would innova-tively reflect the values Awasr represents and the comprehen-sive solutions it delivers. We are a brand that fortifies its presence in local and global markets and this is further reflective of that,” commented Ghaith bin Moham-med Al Darmaki, chief technology officer, Awasr, who accepted the awards on the company’s behalf.

Expressing his happiness for this incredible achievement, Al Darmaki thanked loyal custom-ers and congratulated all his col-leagues for their outstanding performance, stressing the com-pany’s unwavering commitment to continuing providing first-class services to all customers across the Sultanate.

Issam Al Ismaili, head of Mar-keting, Awasr, said: “This award reflects the company’s clear vi-sion and enhances its relation-ship with customers.”

A C C O L A D E S

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Exclusive discounts and special offers with BankDhofar credit & debit cards

MUSCAT: To further enrich its customer experience, BankDhofar has announced new tie-ups with various outlets where customers can enjoy exclusive discounts and special offers when using BankD-hofar debit or credit cards.

A wide array of products and services is available to BankDho-far customers in the Sultanate, ranging from hotel services, health and wellness outlets, dining, bou-tiques, travel, leisure and enter-tainment, says a press release.

Ali Taqi, senior executive man-ager of Cards Services Centre at BankDhofar - highlighted the sev-eral benefits offered to BankDho-far card users.

“As part of our efforts to provide the best customer experience, we work constantly to expand our outreach and cater for the customers’ needs and requirements wherever they are. BankDhofar has excelled in

banking experience with its full-fledged collection of products and services, and to further boost that we tied-up with different outlets across Oman,” he noted.

Special offers include exclusive

discounts that range between 5% and 50% when using BankDhofar debit or credit cards.

The diverse range of services available to BankDhofar card users also include, but not lim-

ited to, cash withdrawal in OMR (AED & USD in some ATM’s), requests for mini statement, bal-ance inquiry, self-fund transfer, third party transfer, card-less cash withdrawal. Additionally, BankD-

hofar has an extensive network of Cash Deposit Machines (CDM) to further ease transactions such as cash deposit in OMR, bill payment (water, electricity, internet and phone bills), mobile phone top-up, donation to registered charities that maintain an account with the bank, credit card payment, Ameri-can Express card payment and cheque deposit.

Aspiring to be the best bank in the Sultanate and the wider Gulf area, BankDhofar is committed to provide its customers with the best banking experience. Today it is considered one of the fast-est growing banks, with a strong presence in Corporate Banking, Consumer Banking, Treasury and Project Finance.

The bank has an extensive net-work of branches across the Sul-tanate, in addition to ATM and CDM facilities located in all parts of Oman.

A wide array of

products and

services is available

to BankDhofar

customers in

the Sultanate,

ranging from hotel

services, health and

wellness outlets,

dining, boutiques,

travel, leisure and

entertainment

Shoexpress opens outlet in Oasis MallMUSCAT: Shoexpress has in-creased its presence in Oman by opening a new store in Al Khu-wair. This is the 8th store in the Sultanate, shortly after opening in Nizwa in March 2016.

The new 4,316 sq. ft store locat-ed on ground floor in Oasis Mall showcases women’s, kids’ and men’s fashion value footwear and accessories, says a press release.

The new store features the brand new look and feel that offers customers an international shop-ping experience, while providing them with the latest styles and trends at affordable prices.

Catch the new collection this Spring 2016 and be season savvy than the usual with impressive range of styles in a very competi-tive price, starting from OMR2.9 for ladies’ footwear, OMR5.9 for men’s shoes and OMR2.2 for kids’ footwear. Shoexpress provides an extensive collection of fun, fash-

ionable and eye-catching accesso-ries, including costume jewellery, handbags and purses, as well as socks and belts for the entire fam-ily that are definitely affordable and are on trend.

Started in 2009, Shoexpress aims to offer customers a real

value experience, through an ex-tensive assortment of fashionable footwear and accessories at truly unbelievable prices. I

t currently operates more than 100 stores across the Middle East & North Africa with plans of opening a number of new stores each year.

The Shoexpress store design and concept is fresh, attractive and very efficient in its approach. It uses open stock concept in which shoes are displayed neatly within each department, allowing customers to easily browse and find what they’re looking for.

E X P A N S I O N

Bank Sohar, Dar Al Atta’a distribute Ramadan ration packs in BidbidMUSCAT: As part of its ongoing partnership with Dar Al Atta’a for the holy month of Ramadan, Bank Sohar staff in partnership with Dar Al Atta’a volunteered and participated in the distribution of Ramadan ration packs to families in the Wilayat of Bidbid.

This is the second in a series of distributions that took place in various wilayats of the Sultanate, with the first distribution having taken place in Wilayat of Quriyat, says a press release.

Commenting on the bank’s par-ticipation in the charity initiative, Munira Abdulnabi Macki, GM of HR and Corporate Support at Bank Sohar said, “Bank Sohar has always been a community-oriented organisation. It is also

great to see that our aspirations as an organisation are shared by our valued staff. Furthermore, char-ity drives such as these, operating in partnership with organisations such as Dar Al Atta’a, provide a great opportunity for our staff to connect with the community and truly understand how rewarding charitable work can be.”

The charity drive provided an opportunity for the volunteers rep-resenting the organisations to con-nect with the low-income families and understand the special chal-lenges they face during the holy month. For the volunteers it was a chance to experience the reward-ing nature of charity work and strengthened their commitment to future volunteering projects.

C H A R I T Y D R I V E

Omantel’s Humax H1 to bring a summer of sporting actionMUSCAT: Oman’s sports enthusi-asts are delighted as the Sultanate’s leading telecoms provider, Oman-tel, announced the launch of Hu-max H1 – an Android set-top box that bundles popular content pro-viders including beIN Sports, IC-FLIX, Starz Play, Mavshack, OSN GO, Kids content and YouTube.

Humax H1 marks the begin-ning of a new era of home enter-tainment in the Sultanate where all content, including live sport, movies and series, is streamed through a smart Over The Top (OTT) device that gives viewers the ability to access it at any time from any smart phone, tablet, PC or TV screen, says a press release.

To welcome customers to Hu-max H1, Omantel is providing a limited time bundle offer for new subscribers that includes

one month free access to Starz Play, OSN GO and Mavshack and twelve months free access to ICF-LIX. Significantly, the bundle of-fer also includes the sought-after beIN Sports Summer Pass that enables viewers to watch the most anticipated sporting events of the season live including the Euro Cup, COPA America, Tour de France and Wimbledon and more, for three months completely free.

Saleh Al Maimani, senior man-

ager of Product Developmentat Consumer Business Unit noted, “The Humax H1 is yet another addition to the various entertain-ment options that we offer to our customers. We areexcited for ena-bling the customers to explore the world of features that this service brings. The set-top-box bundled with content rich offeris the first-of-its-kind in Oman and provides an unmatched experience for live and on-demand entertainment. Humax H1 will change how we view content here in the Sultan-ate, it literally brings a world of entertainment straight to your home at the touch of a button.”

“Humax H1 marks a further step in our digital revolution. Rolling out digital smart home services is part of Omantel’s broader strat-egy ‘Omantel 3.0’, and a key area of

growth in the years ahead. We aim to be the nation’s digital partner of choice, helping to bridge the digital divide and pioneering the move towards rollout of the digital smart home eco-system,” Saleh Al Maimani added.

Introducing a number of nev-er-before seen and convenient features to aid viewing pleasure, Humax H1 enables customers to use their mobile touchscreen to search and type rather than the cumbersome remote. What’s more, the smart box’s multiscreen function enables viewers to ac-cess the different content provid-ers simultaneously on different devices, making it perfect for the whole family where members want to watch sport, movies and children’s programmes at the same time.

A N D R O I D S E T - T O P B O X

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Bank Muscat unveils Zeinah charity initiative at Iftar gathering for media

MUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the flag-ship financial services provider in the Sultanate, as part of its corpo-rate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives coinciding with the holy month of Ramadan, unveiled ‘Zeinah Cares’, a first-of-its-kind initiative in association with the Ministry of Social Development, to support charitable organisations in the Sultanate.

Bringing together the bank’s wom-en customers, the ‘Zeinah Cares’ ini-tiative blends banking convenience with charity and community service in a seamless fashion.

Bank Muscat and the Ministry of Social Development signed a mem-orandum of understanding (MoU) to streamline the ‘Zeinah Cares’ do-nations to charitable organisations. Abdullah Tamman Al Mashani, DGM - Institutional Sales & Prod-ucts Development, and Khalfan bin Hareb Al Jabri, director-general of Planning and Research at the Min-istry of Social Development, signed the MoU at the bank’s head office, says a press release.

Bank Muscat women customers holding a Zeinah savings account can sign up for ‘Zeinah Cares’, wherein the baisas available in

their account balance at the end of the month will automatically get transferred and donated towards charity. The participation is vol-untary and optional.

The accumulated amount from all Zeinah customers will be trans-ferred to Zeinah charity account and donated to charity organisa-tions recommended by the Minis-try of Social Development.

The unique ‘Zeinah Cares’ ini-tiative was launched at the bank’s

annual Iftar gathering hosted for media and marketing repre-sentatives. The bank’s top man-agement team members led by Waleed Al Hashar, deputy chief executive officer, were present at the Ramadan social gathering at-tended by chief editors, journal-ists, media and marketing rep-resentatives of leading print and electronic media houses.

The occasion was an opportu-nity for the media and the bank’s

management team to interact with each other.

Khalfan bin Hareb Al Jabri com-mended Bank Muscat for launch-ing unique charitable initiatives that contribute to social develop-ment across the Sultanate. “The Ministry of Social Development and Bank Muscat enjoy strong cooperation in the field of social responsibility and these pro-grammes have yielded successful results, benefiting social welfare

families. We wish the ‘Zeinah Cares’ charity initiative by Bank Muscat women customers all success,” he added.

In his address, Abdullah Tam-man Al Mashani thanked the me-dia for the strong support extended to the bank to positively reflect its performance and achievements. The Ramadan social gathering marks yet another affirmation of the close relations between the bank and the media houses in Oman, which are key partners in the progress of Oman, he added.

Women customers opening a new Zeinah account can fill the ‘Zeinah Cares’ form to support the charity initiative. Existing Zeinah customers can also join the ini-tiative by filling the ‘Zeinah Cares’ form available at all branches.

Oman is witnessing the increas-ing role of women in workplace and education. As women manage their financial responsibility, the need for new and specific bank-ing products and services has emerged. Zeinah women’s account

addresses this need, offering a per-sonal and comfortable banking en-vironment for women.

The Zeinah suite of products and services is based on the prem-ise that women prefer to use spe-cial banking services that preserve their privacy.

Catering to the unique needs, Zeinah offers privacy and a relaxed atmosphere for women at Bank Muscat branches. The specially designed Zeinah suite of products include exclusive debit and credit cards, auto finance and a unique health and beauty finance scheme.

Aimed at providing a distinct banking experience, Bank Muscat offers exclusive rewards for wom-en in al Mazyona Savings Scheme. Targeted at Zeinah customers maintaining a minimum balance of OMR100, al Mazyona offers two weekly prizes of OMR1,000 each, in addition to an exclusive Zeinah draw coinciding with the Omani Women’s Day offering a total of OMR100,000 to be shared by 10 winners.

Bank Muscat and the

Ministry of Social

Development signed

a memorandum

of understanding

(MoU) to streamline

the ‘Zeinah

Cares’ donations

to charitable

organisations

NDC picks 34 more winners of ‘Win with Bahar’ promotionMUSCAT: National Detergent Company (NDC) has announced the remaining 34 winners out of 64 winners of ‘Win with Bahar’ sum-mer promotion. The second draw was held at The Sultan Center in Amerat recently.

Lucky winners will take home from the range of gifts announced as part of ‘Win with Bahar’ summer promotion, which includes four iPhone 6 Plus, 10 Samsung Gal-axy phones, 25 Samsung 40 inch LED TVs and 60 Samsung mobile phones, says a press release.

The two-month promotion, which began on March 28, contin-ued till June 5. It was made avail-able in all leading outlets like Lulu Hypermarkets, Nesto Hypermar-ket, The Sultan Center, Mars Hy-permarket, Karama Hypermarket and K M Trading.

In the first draw that took place in April, 30 lucky winners won attractive prizes including five Samsung Galaxy S7 phones, 10 Samsung 40 inch LED TVs and 15 Samsung mobile phones.

A. K. Shaji, head of Business Development and Regional Sales, NDC, said: “We are delighted with the success of ‘Win with Bahar’ summer promotion. It offered our customers an opportunity to win valuable prizes. We will con-tinue to provide customers with value-added promotions and deals

throughout the year.”To enter the raffle draw, custom-

ers had to purchase NDC products worth OMR 3, which entitled them to a scratch and win card, and a raf-fle coupon. One additional coupon was given on purchase of Bahar/ No.1 48-medium pack. There were 100 Samsung mobile phones and 22,000 other gifts as scratch and win prizes. The full list of winners has been published in the NDC website, Facebook page and in se-lected hypermarkets.

Commenting on the ‘Win with Bahar’ summer promotion, An-war Sadath, Commercial manager, Lulu Hypermarket, said: “We at Lulu make it a point to support local products like Bahar by giv-ing them prominent display at our outlets. As witnessed over the last few years, customers visiting Lulu have been impressed by the amaz-ing promotions offered by Nation-al Detergent Company.”

National Detergent’s promo-tions are supported by Public Es-tablishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE). Through its Origin Oman campaign, PEIE promotes prod-ucts manufactured in the Sultan-ate. The campaign creates aware-ness and increases the visibility of Omani products while encourag-ing residents to buy made in Oman products and avail of the quality services available in the country.

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

MGM to host blood donation driveMUSCAT: Muscat Grand Mall (MGM), Sultanate’s leading retail and entertainment destination, announced a blood donation drive to be held by Jawad Business Group, in co-ordination with the Department of Blood Services, Ministry of Health.

As a part of its corporate social responsibility, the mall recently organised the group’s maiden blood donation camp.

Sameer Al Oufi, HR/PR Man-ager from Jawad Business Group mentioned, “We personally be-lieve that every individual has the responsibility towards his nation, business organisation, family and children, but also has to fulfil his/her responsibility towards the society. In line with this thought, we are very proud to be organising this event in association with the Ministry of Health and Muscat

Grand Mall – and invite everyone to visit our camp and do their bit towards the community.”

He also added, “We all want our younger generation to be healthy for which it is our prime respon-sibility today to ensure that we fulfil our duties in contributing towards health care. One of the simplest and easiest methods to fulfil this social responsibility is to donate one’s blood.”

S O C I A L R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y

We are delighted with the success of ‘Win with Bahar’ summer promotion. It offered our customers an opportunity to win valuable prizes. We will continue to provide customers with value-added promotions and deals throughout the year

A. K. ShajiHead of Business Development and Regional Sales, NDC

Malabar Gold reveals first 4 winners of ‘Win up to 10kg of Gold’ campaignMUSCAT: Malabar Gold & Dia-monds, the renowned jewellery retailer revealed the first four lucky winners of the ‘Win up to 10 kilos of gold’ campaign which is running in its all the outlets in the GCC until July 24.

The four winners who won 1/4 kg gold each so far in the ongoing campaign were Febina Shabnam, an Indian tourist in UAE; Viswa-nath M., an Indian citizen resid-ing in Oman; Aslam Riaz, an In-dian citizen residing in UAE; and Dr Mercy Zachariah an Indian citizen residing in Oman, says a press release.

The campaign gives customers once in a life time opportunity to change their future. Through the campaign, customers can win up to 10 kilos of gold with purchase of gold and diamond jewellery. With every purchase of gold jew-ellery worth OMR50, customers get a chance to enter raffle draws to win 1/4 kg of gold each in a week. Those who buy diamond jewelry worth OMR50 will get two raffle coupons, doubling their chances to win.

Adding to the above, the cus-tomers can update any of their old ornaments purchased from GCC with the brand new enticing collection of Malabar Gold & Dia-monds without any loss. Any 22K old gold ornaments purchased from GCC can be exchanged

with Malabar Gold & Diamonds designs by paying only making charges ensuring they don’t lose any value on the rate of gold.

The customers also get a fabu-lous chance to buy 22K 8 gm gold coins with absolutely no mak-ing charges from any of Malabar Gold & Diamonds outlets in GCC during this period.

Customer satisfaction and convenience is the top priority at Malabar Gold & Diamonds. Keep-ing this in mind, it also provides additional services like unique exchange offers, buyback policies, lifetime free repair and mainte-nance service for all its products.

Adding more sparkle to the glit-ter of gold, Malabar Gold & Dia-monds’ has also incorporated the latest designs in its collections to

suit the tastes of its multicultural customer segments. Customers can buy their favourite jewellery by using their credit/debit cards without paying any additional charge. Malabar Gold & Diamonds also gives its customers the ad-vantage of converting their jewel-lery purchase into ‘Easy Payment Plans’ in association with various banks through which they can en-joy flexible payment options for up to 12 instalments without paying any interest.

This holiday season, Malabar Gold & Diamonds’ provides cus-tomers with the most attractive offers, definitely not worth a miss. its mesmerising collection and exclusive offers can be availed in all outlets of Malabar Gold & Dia-monds’ in the Gulf.

L U C K Y W I N N E R S

T H U R S DAY, J U N E 1 6, 2 0 1 6SECTIONC SPORTS LIFESTYLEWWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

YOUNG OMANI SAILORS GEAR UP FOR KIEL WEEK IN GERMANY >C4

ART OF HEALING >C6

IN the chorus of those complaining about the quality of this Euro-

pean Championships, you won’t hear my voice. Even rank outsiders like Wales, which beat Slovakia 2-1 thanks to a free kick scored by Gareth Bale, as well as North Ireland (1-0 losers to Poland), Albania (1-0 losers to Switzerland) and Iceland (1-1 draw against Portugal) have played respectably well. There is genuine qual-ity there. And the 2-0 win by reigning World Champi-ons Germany over Ukraine was also a close affair. The match could have ended in a tie if it hadn’t been for the acrobatic artistry of defender Jerome Boateng in clearing a ball at his own goal line.

What was surprising was the 2-0 win by Hungary over their neighbours Aus-tria, who were the heavy favourites. The two nations have played each other 136 times, a figure matched no-where else in Europe. This time I suffered along with the Austrians.

They were a bit too over-ambitious, wanting to decide the match immedi-ately. Even though they had a full 90 minutes, they were too hectic in their pace, and so at the end their strength was waning.

But now that the first round of matches in all six groups is finished, I didn’t see a single team that downright failed. In a major tournament, teams are a bit tentative in the opening match which often becomes one of watching and waiting. All the same, these first matches were truly exciting.

Italy actually rose above themselves in their highly-deserved 2-0 win over Belgium, many people’s dark horse favourites. And this with a starting team of an average age of 31.17 years making it the oldest one in the world. Of course, goalie Gianluigi Buffon with his 38 years does considerably boost the overall average. But age also brings experi-ence. Other teams field young, hungry players who, however, lack tournament experience. You have to have the right combina-tion such as the Italians, the Spaniards and also the Germans.

Defending European champions Spain in fact is playing without their virtual national hero, Iker Casillas, in goal. And Fernando Torres and Diego Costa are not even in the team roster. Yet things appear to be working out. Coach Vicente del Bosque, that old fox, has found a good mixture of tried and true players from FC Barce-lona, augmented by players like Sergio Ramos, in charge

of the defense, who is the only Real Madrid player in the starting formation, though the roster also has Lucas Vazquez from Real Madrid.

Then there are a number of new players, of whom only one can be said to be truly young -- the 23-year-old forward Alvaro Morata from Juventus Turin. This is a great mixture of players and the Czechs didn’t stand a chance when Gerard Pique scored the winning 1-0 goal after an outstand-ing cross from Andres Iniesta, who appears to be in the form of his life.

Croatia is also well-staffed, what with Luka Modric of Real Madrid and Ivan Rakitic of Barcelona being two playmakers who can maintain a high pace, even though the 1-0 win over Turkey was a tough grind. In any event I am keenly watching this Group D with Spain, Croatia, the Czechs and Turkey. Some-thing is brewing there.

Given the tensions in France and the overall mood in the country it would be good if the French team could free itself of the blockade that was all too ap-parent in their 2-1 win over Romania to open the tour-nament. People reminisce fondly about the year 1984 when France, who were also the tournament hosts, won the championship, led on the field by midfield magician Michel Platini. This year, however, the French side appears to be still pretty young for such a tournament.

Ahead of the match against Portugal, Iceland trainer Lars Lagerback was hoping to provoke superstar Cristiano Ronaldo with comments about his being like a Hollywood actor on on the field.

Okay, one can’t take such pre-game comments too seriously. Ronaldo does polarise, and looks like he feels insulted when an op-posing player even dares to touch him.

But such moments actually make him human. For all his great class, he is vulnerable. And it is great for a team to have such a personality in its ranks - the best, or second-best after Lionel Messi, footballer in the world. But, once again, as seen in the mere 1-1 draw against Iceland, it appears that Ronaldo won’t reach the very top with Portugal the way he is used to doing with his club Real Madrid. Not even if he manages to grow beyond himself. — dpa

For all his great class, Ronaldo is vulnerable

C O M M E N T A R Y

Switzerland on the brink of last 16 after Romania drawPARIS: Switzerland were on the brink of the Euro 2016 last 16 on Wednesday after they salvaged a 1-1 draw against Romania in a lively Group A clash at the Parc des Princes.

The Swiss, who owe their point to Admir Mehmedi’s second-half strike, have four points from two games while Romania have one after Bogdan Stancu opened the scoring in the first half.

Hosts France, on three points, will be the first team to reach the knockout phase if they beat Albania, who have yet to get off the mark, in Marseille later on Wednesday.

Although the Swiss have a good chance to qualify, at least as one of the four best third-placed teams, they may regret missing several chances in a game that could have

seen them move into their first Eu-ropean Championship knockout phase. Romania, instead, earned a lifeline ahead of their final game against Albania.

After a 2-1 defeat in the tourna-ment opener versus hosts France, Romania started cautiously, al-lowing their opponents to pick up momentum.

In the seventh minute, Swit-zerland’s Haris Seferovic beat de-fender Vlad Chichires in the box but his right-foot effort then went just wide.

The forward had another chance nine minutes later, only for goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu to deny him with his left foot.

Romania, however, scored with their first chance.

Stancu penaltySwitzerland captain Stephan Li-chtsteiner grabbed Alexandru Chipciu’s shirt in the area and Stan-cu converted the resulting penalty, putting Romania ahead in the 18th minute against the run of play.

Stancu, who also netted from the spot against France last Friday, became the first Romanian player to score two goals at a European Championship. Two minutes later, Tatarusanu tipped Fabian Schaer’s fierce 20-metre volley over the bar as the game got livelier.

Romania had a huge opportuni-

ty to double their tally but Cristian Sapuranu’s shot went just wide.

Blerim Dzemaili’s header was off target as Switzerland missed yet another chance before half-time.

Romania defended well but there was nothing Tatarusanu could do in the 57th minute when Mehmedi drilled a half-volley into the far side of the net.

Switzerland continued to push and coach Vladimir Petkovic sub-stituted Seferovic just past the hour mark for 19-year-old Breel Embolo, who had no impact in a disappointing performance.

Romania will start with the ex-perienced Claudiu Keseru up front after coach Anghel Iordanescu made four changes to the team who lost 2-1 against hosts France in the tournament opener - Reuters

M A T C H R E P O R T

Slovakia make life difficult for Russia

LILLE: Slovakia deepened Rus-sia’s woes with classy first-half goals from Vladimir Weiss and the outstanding Marek Hamsik secur-ing a tense 2-1 victory in their Euro 2016 Group B clash on Wednesday.

For the second game in a row, the Russians managed only two at-tempts on target and their waste-ful finishing cost them dearly, with substitute Denis Glushakov’s 80th minute goal proving too little too late for them.

Their profligacy leaves Russia needing to beat Wales in their final group game if they are to have any chance of progressing but there was only joy for Slovakia, as they marked their debut at a European Championship finals with a first win.

Just 24 hours after UEFA told Russia it would be expelled from the tournament if their fans caused more crowd trouble, the Slovaks outplayed them for large parts of a match contested under a closed roof because of forecasts of heavy rain.

Man of the match Hamsik gave an early taste of what was to come when he fired a thundering shot just over in the 10th minute but the Russians had plenty of chances of their own in the first half-hour which they failed to convert.

Winger Fedor Smolov was par-ticularly wasteful, often deciding

to shoot when passing would have been a better option, and firing chance after chance wide

Slovakia, who made three chang-es from the side that lost their opening game 2-1 to Wales, took the lead in the 32nd minute when Hamsik hit a superb long ball to Weiss, who cut in from the left edge

of the box past two defenders and curled his shot inside the far post.

Just before halftime Hamsik got on the scoresheet himself, picking up a short corner from Weiss on the left and striking his own su-perb curling shot across the goal and in off the right hand post.

“It was a collective effort, we

fought for it,” Hamsik said after the final whistle. “It is the first Euro win for Slovakia in history. We are happy we were able to get it.”

With the Russian attack in dis-array, the Slovaks appeared to be heading towards a comfortable victory for much of the second half, but the game changed direc-tion dramatically in the last 10 minutes. Glushakov threw his side a lifeline in the last 10 minutes when he reduced the deficit, head-ing home Oleg Shatov’s cross. Sud-denly, Slovakia were on the back foot and the Russians looked capa-ble of grabbing an equaliser.

Jan Durica in the centre of the Slovakian defence continued to throw himself about, chasing, har-rying and covering shots in a des-perate effort to protect his side’s slender lead. Glushakov had a chance to pull his side level late on but fired just wide, and an injury-time corner for Russia was headed clear as the final whistle went.

Despite the disappointing re-sult for the Russians, there was no repeat of the scenes that fol-lowed Saturday’s draw with Eng-land when their fans charged at opposition supporters after the final whistle in Marseille. Instead, the Russian fans left the stadium quickly while the jubilant Slovaks danced in front of their ecstatic supporters.

The result leaves Russia with just a single point from a draw with England, and coach Leonid Slutski has not yet given up hope of making the knockout stages. “The situation is pretty unclear. Everyone is still in with a chance,” Slutski told re-porters. Slovakia top the group on three points ahead of Wales on goal difference. The Welsh take on Eng-land in Lens on Thursday. - Reuters

Just 24 hours after

UEFA told Russia it

would be expelled

from the tournament

if their fans caused

more crowd trouble,

the Slovaks outplayed

them for large parts

of a match contested

under a closed roof

because of forecasts

of heavy rain

> C2

6

> C2

DISAPPOINTED: Russia’s Fedor Smolov looks dejected at the end of the match against Slovakia. – Reuters

RUSSIA 1SLOVAKIA 2

JUBILATION: Slovakia’s Martin Skrtel and Jan Durica celebrate at the end of the match against Russia. – Reuters

tSSWITZERLAND 1ROMANIA 1

It was a collective effort, we fought for it. It is the first Euro win for Slovakia in history and we are happy

Marek HamsikSlovakia

THE EQUALISER: Switzerland’s Admir Mehmedi, left, celebrates with Blerim Dzemaili after scoring the equaliser against Romania. – Reuters

C2 T H U R S DAY, J U N E 1 6, 2 0 1 6

ITALY CAN OVERCOME IBRAHIMOVIC THREAT TO BEAT SWEDEN: DE ROSSI

Germans know there’s more to Poland than ‘Lewa’

EVIAN: World champions Ger-many have warned that there is more to their biggest Euro 2016 group rivals Poland than Bundesliga top scorer Robert Lewandowski.

The Germans, fresh from their impressive 2-0 win over Ukraine, take on their neighbours in Paris on Thursday, knowing the Poles also made a winning start in Group C with a 1-0 victory over Northern Ireland.

Poland are led by captain Le-wandowski, who scored 13 goals

as his country became the highest-scoring team in the qualifiers with 33. They finished second in their qualifying group, a point behind the Germans who they beat for the first time ever.

‘Lewa’ earned his second Bun-desliga top scorer title this sea-son after netting 30 times in the league and securing the domes-tic league and Cup double with Bayern Munich.

“The Poles are very good op-ponents but if we pull our game through I am confident we will win,” defender Jerome Boateng told reporters.

“But we have to be careful. They have good forwards — and not just Lewandowski.”

The Poland captain did not score in their opening win, with 22-year-old forward Arkadiusz Milik, who also struck six times in the qualify-ing campaign, grabbing their win-ner against Northern Ireland.

“They have made a big leap in the past years, many players play abroad and more youngsters are coming up,” said Germany’s Pol-ish-born forward Lukas Podolski.

“They are the most dangerous opponents in our group. I hope we will advance to the next round, with Poland in second place.

“They want more than just playing in the group stage. They have the quality to go beyond the round of 16.”

Germany coach Joachim Loew could have central defender Mats Hummels back fit, which would mean Shkodran Mustafi, who scored their opening goal against Ukraine, could return to the bench.

Loew may decide to bring in forward Mario Gomez, in place of attacking midfielder Mario Goe-tze who looked uncomfortable in the striker’s role against the Ukrainians.

Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny picked up a thigh injury in the opening game but is ex-pected to be fit to play.

The Germans may have lost to Poland in the qualifiers but for Le-wandowski they remain the team to beat.

“Germany are in my opinion the favourites for the whole tourna-ment,” Lewandowski said. “We know how strong they are at the moment but anything can happen.

“We have to remain calm and self-confident, just like against Ireland. No fear, no stress and if we get a chance we can make it. But we should not forget to enjoy ourselves.” - Reuters

Poland are led by

captain Robert

Lewandowski, who

scored 13 goals as his

country became the

highest-scoring team

in qualifiers with 33

Northern Ireland need attacking spark against UkraineLYON: Northern Ireland need to come out of their shell in Thurs-day’s Euro 2016 Group C clash against Ukraine if their first ma-jor tournament appearance for 30 years is not to end in an anti-climax. Both sides are promising a more attacking approach than in their opening games, where the Northern Irish went down 1-0 to Poland and Ukraine were dis-patched 2-0 by Germany.

The Ukrainians can at least take heart from the fact that they held the world champions to 1-0 until Bastian Schweinsteiger came on as substitute and scored in stoppage time. They also cre-ated chances of their own, at one point forcing a spectacular goal-

line clearance. Northern Ireland, by contrast, were a shadow of the side that qualified unexpectedly as winners of their group. They never looked like scoring against Poland and striker Kyle Lafferty, a lonely figure up front, lamented: “We didn’t turn up today.”

Coach Michael O’Neill has said the squad was devastated by the death of a 24-year-old fan, Darren Rodgers, in a fall from a sea-front railing in Nice early on Monday, and wants to make Thursday’s game a “fitting tribute”.

With Germany waiting as their next opponents, the Ukraine fix-ture is Northern Ireland’s best and perhaps only chance to pick up points. “We have to be more ag-

gressive,” defender Jonny Evans told reporters on Tuesday.

Ukraine have strong attacking options of their own, through pacy wingers Andriy Yarmolenko and Yevhen Konoplyanka.

“We are still thinking about the starting line-up. There is time to choose the right tactics for the game but one thing is clear: we will attack. At the same time, we need to be accurate, especially at the back,” assistant coach Andriy Shevchen-ko told the Football TV channel.

Ukraine midfielder Ruslan Rotan underlined the high stakes. “North-ern Ireland plays purely a British style, with great physical prepara-tion, strong flanks, high crosses and lots of scrambling,” he said. - Reuters

P R E V I E W

RIVAL MASTERS: A combination of pictures shows Ukraine’s coach Mikhail Fomenko, left, and Northern Ireland’s coach Michael O’Neill. – AFP

Lewandowski won his second Bundesliga top scorer title this season after netting 30 times

C3T H U R S DAY, J U N E 1 6, 2 0 1 6

RONALDO SULKS AFTER DRAW, PORTUGAL BLAME DOUR ICELAND

Anglo-Welsh rivalry to reach new peak

LENS: A rivalry dating back 137 years will reach a new level of in-tensity in Lens on Thursday when England and Wales meet at a ma-jor tournament for the first time.

The fixture began in January 1879 and for exactly 100 years from 1884 was part of the now dis-banded British Championship.

As the Welsh won their open-ing Group B game 2-1 against Slo-vakia before England conceded a last-minute goal in a 1-1 draw with Russia, they go into this encounter looking down on their neighbours, which has not often been the case.

Wales have won only 14 of more than 100 previous meetings — the last in 1984 — and lost all four Eu-

ropean Championship qualifying matches, in 1966-67 and 2011.

Annual matches in rugby un-ion, which the Welsh regard as their true national sport, fuel even greater passions based on complex socio-economic and cultural fac-tors going back centuries to when the English invaded Wales and im-posed their laws and language.

But those feelings will never have received greater outlet on a football pitch than in Thursday’s

game. Asked about the Welsh dis-like of their neighbours, England midfielder Jack Wilshere was quoted in British media as saying, “We know that Wales don’t like us. Do we like them? Not really!”

If that seemed harsh on his friend and fellow Arsenal mid-fielder Aaron Ramsey, he was right in summing up what is likely to be the nature of the match.

“We know it is going to be a tough game and there are going

to be tackles. We know a lot of the players — most of them play in the Premier League. It is going to be like a derby,” he said.

That will apply off the pitch too for a match being played in the second smallest of the tourna-ment venues.

England manager Roy Hodgson and captain Wayne Rooney have appealed to supporters to behave and Wales coach Chris Coleman is expected to follow suit at his pre-

match news conference.When England played their oth-

er neighbours Ireland (in 1988 and 1990) and Scotland (1996) at past European Championship or World Cup tournaments, the football was passionate but mostly lacking in quality. Neither side will mind this time if they emerge with the right result, which in England’s case means a first Euro 2016 victory, whereas Wales probably could af-ford a draw. - Reuters

Wales have won

only 14 of more

than 100 previous

meetings — the last

in 1984 — and lost

all four European

Championship

qualifying matches,

in 1966-67 and 2011

TRAINING HARD: From left, England’s James Milner, Gary Cahill, Chris Smalling, Wayne Rooney, Jamie Vardy and Dele Alli attend a train-ing session in Chantilly, France. – AFP

LENS: Wales will need to defend deep if they are to stifle England captain Wayne Rooney’s influ-ence on their European Championship clash on Thursday, midfielder Aaron Ramsey has said.

Rooney was given a midfield role in England’s 1-1 draw with Russia.

Ramsey said the differ-ent role for Rooney would allow him more time on the ball and Wales had to make sure he did not pick them apart.

“Rooney is a fantastic player. He has great abil-ity on the ball and a range of passing,” the Wales midfielder told reporters in France.

“We will have to look out for him, be wary of that. Hopefully we can keep him quiet.” - Reuters

Wales must drop deep to cope with new Rooney role: Ramsey

Del Bosque reveals pain in dropping Casillas for De GeaLA ROCHELLE: Vicente del Bosque has said that leaving goal-keeper Iker Casillas on the bench for Spain’s Euro 2016 opener against the Czech Republic on Monday was the most “painful” decision he has ever made during his tenure as Spain coach.

Del Bosque waited until the last minute before announcing that Manchester United’s David de Gea would start the Group D game against the Czechs instead of the national team captain, who had been Spain’s first-choice keeper since 2002.

“That Iker doesn’t play is pain-ful for me,” Del Bosque told Span-ish channel Be Mad TV of his line-up for the 1-0 victory in Toulouse.

“He is a player that we have to respect because he has been here for 14 years,” he added. “I tried to approach things as normally as possible. I had a talk with him be-cause I felt he deserved it. He has more than 160 caps (167).

“We always try to make the best choice and the difference (be-tween them) is minimal.”

Casillas, who left long-time club Real Madrid last year to join Porto, started for Spain’s title-winning sides at the Euro-pean Championships in 2008 and 2012, as well as for the victorious 2010 World Cup campaign.

However, he arrived at Spain’s

training camp last month know-ing his starting place was no long-er assured.

De Gea, who made his sen-ior debut in June 2014 and was included in Spain’s World Cup squad that year but did not fea-ture, had only started in three of the country’s Euro 2016 qualifiers with Casillas still preferred.

Del Bosque, however, felt it was in everyone’s best interest to not reveal who would start against the Czechs until the day of the match.

“Even my children would ask me whether Iker or David would play, perhaps to boast that they knew, but I always told them that

they had to wait and see,” Del Bosque added.

“It’s my duty to be discreet until the last minute and I didn’t do it as a game.”

Del Bosque praised the 35-year-old Casillas and believes the goal-keeper remains important to the side. “I liked how Iker acted on the bench,” Del Bosque said.

“I saw he was very serene and relaxed. It’s good to see the substi-tutes living the game and feeling the success as if they were on the pitch. He can help us a lot.”

Spain take on Turkey on Friday in Nice and end the group stages against Croatia on June 21 in Bordeaux. - Reuters

S P A N I S H C O A C H S P E A K S

That Iker doesn’t play is painful for me

Vicente del BosqueCoach, Spain

Belgium can’t afford mistakes against IrelandPARIS: Belgium can not afford any mistakes against Ireland in their second Euro 2016 Group E match on Saturday if they are to make up for the disappointment of their opening loss to Italy, strik-er Divock Origi has said.

Considered one of the tourna-ment favourites by many, Belgium were outfoxed by a resolute Ital-ian side in the 2-0 defeat on Mon-day, while Ireland were generally the better team in a 1-1 draw with

Sweden at the Stade de France earlier in the day. “We have to be ready for the next game. We know it will be tough because we have a lot of respect for Ireland and we’ll have to look at how we play the game tactically,” Origi said.

“It’s going to be an important game for us. We have to be ready. After the loss against Italy, we’re obviously disappointed but we know that Ireland are a good team and we’ll have to be at 100 percent

to beat them, that’s for sure.”Forward Romelu Lukaku was

unable to find the back of the net against Italy and his poor display was highlighted by coach Marc Wilmots, who said he “didn’t have a particularly happy night”.

“A lot of people were talking be-fore the tournament about what we can do but we had a reality check against Italy and sometimes that’s good to know you still have a long way to go,” Lukaku said. - Reuters

M U S T W I N

THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 2016

SPOR S

KHIMJI RAMDAS FELICITATE MUSCAT CRICKET TEAMThe directors of Khimji Ramdas felicitated the members of the Muscat Cricket Team for their commendable performances in

the 2015-16 cricket season. The team won second place Oman Cricket Premier League 50-overs tournament, T20 League and

50-overs invitational knockout tournament. — Supplied photo

Brown handed wildcard

LONDON: Dreadlocked German Dustin Brown will have the chance to follow up last year’s Wimble-don heroics after being handed a wildcard for the championships on Wednesday. Brown, ranked 87th in

the world, provided the shock of the tournament 12 months ago when he came through qualifying before overwhelming twice Rafael Nadal in the second round with a scintillating display of attacking tennis. - Reuters

W I M B L E D O N

Confident India eager for good show against Aussies in Champions TrophyLONDON: A first-time entry into the final at stake, a confident India would aspire to rise to the challenge of taking on Australia in their last league outing of the 36th Hero Champions Trophy here on Thursday.

India were beaten by four goals in two encounters against Aus-tralia in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup tournament in Ipoh, Malay-sia, two months ago, but are eager to produce a better show against the reigning world champions, who have already secured their place in the title match, at the Lee Valley Hockey Centre.

World No. 1 Australia pre-vailed 5-1 in their league fixture of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup

against India and then, when the teams again met in the final, the dominant side from Down Under triumphed 4-0.

India are drawing inspiration from their victory last year in a Test match at home, ahead of the World League Finals in Raipur.

India’s most notable perfor-mance against Australia recently was in the 2015 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup where striker Nikkin Thim-maiah’s hat-trick spurred them to victory, but that was an experi-mental Australian team.

Ahead of the Olympic Games, Australia have fielded a very strong side here, but are in a di-lemma over penalty corner shoot-er Chris Ciriello’s fitness.

“The match against Australia is a very tough outing. We have to produce our best performance to put up a good contest,” said In-dian coach Roelant Oltmans, who is happy to see the Indians stay in the hunt for a medal.

“A medal at the Champions Trophy was the target we set our-selves when we set off for London. I’m happy that our game has im-proved with every tournament,” said Oltmans.

Australia are heading the round-robin league standings with 10 points from four outings, followed by India on seven from four matches.

A victory over Australia on Thursday would put India into the

final of the Champions Trophy, something they have not achieved so far, but even a draw could boost their prospects of making the ti-tle encounter. Great Britain and Belgium are the other teams that can win their last league match to edge out India from the final.

These two teams will clash in the last league engagement and will have the luxury of playing af-ter the Australia-India fixture.

Britain are currently on five points and Belgium are on four. If Australia defeat India, hosts Brit-ain will just need a win over Bel-gium to overtake India on points, but Belgium too can finish second on goal difference if they prevail in this match. - PTI

H O C K E Y

India whitewash Zimbabwe

HARARE: A dominant India pre-dictably completed a 3-0 whitewash by bulldozing a sub-par Zimbabwe by 10 wickets in the final One-day International (ODI) cricket match here on Wednesday in what turned out to be one of the most one-sided series in recent times.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s boys outclassed the hosts in all depart-ments by first bowling them out for their lowest total of 123 in the se-ries with Jasprit Bumrah grabbing four for 22 and then romping home in 21.5 overs. Openers KL Rahul (63 not out) and debutant Faiz Fazal (55 not out) flayed with what seemed like a club-level bowling attack to guide India home.

India also completed a hat-trick of whitewashes against the hosts, having won earlier ODI series by 5-0 and 3-0 margin in 2013 and 2015 when Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane led the sides respectively.

For Dhoni, there were two mile-stones that he achieved from the series. With 107 wins as captain, he equalled Allan Border for the sec-ond highest number of wins in ODI history behind Ricky Ponting (165). Also he became the first Indian wicketkeeper-batsman to complete 350 dismissals in 50-overs cricket.

However, there wasn’t much else to draw from the three match-es as it was one rare series where only four batsmen — namely open-ers Rahul, Karun Nair, Fazal (this match) and Ambati Rayudu — got a decent hit in the middle.

The entire middle-order — skip-per himself, Kedar Jadhav, and Manish Pandey (two balls) — did not get a chance to bat thanks to the impressive effort by the bowl-ers led by Jasprit Bumrah with nine wickets from three games.

The nature of the contest has been of very poor quality as there

was only one team which had its foot on the pedal. While chas-ing, Rahul enjoyed the pedestrian bowling attack helping himself to a half century, his second 50 plus score after a hundred on debut

while old domestic warhorse Faiz Fazal celebrated his maiden India cap with a polished knock.

With only 124 to get, the Indian openers did not need to take any risks yet scored runs at a quick clip

to finish off the formalities with minimum fuss.

Left-handed Fazal looked ele-gant as he hit a few gorgeous shots through the cover as well as back past the bowler. Fazal lifted skip-per and leg-spinner Graeme Cre-mer for a straight six. While Fazal’s innings had seven fours and a six in 61 balls, Rahul was more partial towards the cut shot and he also hit some cover drives.

When Cremer tried to flight the ball, the Mangalore-lad was quick to pounce on it hitting him into the sightscreen for a six. He hit anoth-er six off Chamu Chibhabha over long-on. In all he hit four bounda-ries and two sixes in 70 balls.

The century stand came in 113 balls while Fazal finished the match with a pulled boundary.

Rahul finished the series with 196 runs from three innings that had a century and a half century. - PTI

There were two

milestones for Dhoni

— with 107 wins as

captain, he equalled

Allan Border for

the second highest

number of wins in

ODI history behind

Ricky Ponting (165)

and he also became

the first Indian

wicketkeeper-

batsman to complete

350 dismissals ONE-SIDED SERIES: Indian players celebrate with the trophy after completing a 3-0 series triumph against Zimbabwe at the Harare

Sports Club on Wednesday. – AFP

ZIMBABWEH. Masakadza c Rahul b Kulkarni 8C. Chibhabha c Bumrah b Chahal 27V. Sibanda c&b Chahal 38 T. Maruma b Bumrah 17 M. Waller run out 8 E. Chigumbura c Dhoni b Bumrah 0 R. Mutumbami c Rahul b Bumrah 4 G. Cremer lbw A. Patel 0 N. Madziva not out 10 T. Mupariwa c M. Pandey b Bumrah 1 D. Tiripano run out 2 Extras (lb-3, nb-1, w-4) 8 Total (all out, 42.2 overs) 123 Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-55, 3-89, 4-104,

5-104, 6-104, 7-104, 8-108, 9-110.Bowling: B. Sran 8-0-40-0 (w-1); D. Kulkarni 6.2-1-17-1 (w-2); J. Bumrah 10-1-22-4 (nb-1, w-1); A. Patel 10-2- 16-1; Y. Chahal 8-0-25-2.

INDIAL. Rahul not out 63 F. Fazal not out 55 Extras (b-1, lb-1, w-6) 8Total (no loss, 21.5 overs) 126 Bowling: D. Tiripano 5-1-15-0 (w-3); N. Madziva 5-0-5- 0 (w-2); T. Mupariwa 6-0-43-0 (w-1); G. Cremer 4-0-26-0; C. Chibhabha 1.5-0-15-0.

S C O R E B O A R D

C5

SPORTST H U R S DAY, J U N E 1 6, 2 0 1 6

ISC HOLDS KARATE GRADINGThe Indian Social Club (ISC) Karate Do held its periodic grading ceremony for the train-

ees undergoing training under Karate Coach Sensei Jinil. Among those who received the

grading certificates and belts were Parth D. Purecha, Brown Belt I, Sharin Rose Augustine

(Brown II), Nikhil Shankar (Brown IV). Sreya Sreekumar, Sai Shreya Kishore, Amrutha S.

Ganti, Amita S. Ganti and Nikilesh Matta received the purple belt while Aarthi KM received

the blue belt. Joel Joby, Jenson Joby, Aarush D. Rao and Karishma Rajashekhar received the

green belt. Orange belts were awarded to Shinjin V. Mathew and Mannat Ajmani and Anuj

Nagarhali and Nisarga Hangarge received the yellow belt. Imtiaz Usman, Sports Secretary of

the ISC, distributed the certificates while coach Jinil handed over the belts. — Supplied photo

Omani sailors gear up for Kiel Week

MUSCAT: Trained and nurtured under the Omantel Youth Pro-gramme at Oman Sail, seven of Oman’s most promising young sail-ors will take a step towards fulfilling their Olympic dreams when they compete at the Kiel Week inter-national regatta in Germany next week. Sixteen-year-old Zakariya Al Wahabi, who two years ago became

Oman’s first ever Optimist national champion, and 16-year-old Mar-wan Al Jabri, his longstanding Op-timist rival, have joined together to campaign a 29er, which represents the next class up on the traditional Olympic racing pathway.

Another pair joining in this class is 16-year-old Khamis Al Wahaibi, who achieved Oman’s best result at last year’s Laser 4.7m World Championships, and crew mem-ber Ahmed Al Wahaibi, also 17, who has also shown great promise.

Kiel Week, part of ISAF’s World Cup and one of the last Olympic class event before the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, will be the first official competition for Al Wahabi and Al Jabri following a recent training camp in Oman where they sailed the 29er for the first time.

Earlier this year Al Wahabi showed his versatility when he swept to a resounding win in the Laser 4.7m class at Mussanah Race Week, with four straight wins from 12 races. Marwan Al Jabri was also in action and came fifth.The four team members will be competing against the most promising young 29er sailors around the world with the 2016 entry list showing 83 sail-ors entered from 12 nations.

“This will be a great opportunity for our sailors to get used to racing in a large fleet and all that entails,” explained Mohsin Al Busaidi, Oman Sail’s Youth Team Manager.

“So far they have experienced Mussanah Race Week but Kiel is a different league and it will be good for them to improve their skills at

this level before the 29er Worlds in Medemblik in Holland at the end of next month.”

In the highly competitive 96-strong Laser 4.7m class, Salim Al Alawi (aged 15) will be repre-senting Oman’s best hopes.

Also in action from Oman are AbdulAziz Al Araimi (aged 16) and Mansoor Al Mahrouqi (aged 17) who started sailing Optimists in 2012 and have already had a taste of international competition after competing in the Laser Ra-dial class at the ISAF Youth World Championships in 2014.

All three youngsters will be vying for selection as part of the Omani squad for the Laser 4.7m Youth World Championships, which will also be held in Kiel in July and August.

Hamdan Moosa Hamdan Al Harasi, Caretaker VP, Corporate Strategy Unit at Omantel, said: “Kiel Week will be a valuable op-portunity for our sailors to fast track their learning and develop-ment and see how they compare to

others. We wish them all the best and we look forward to welcom-ing them back to Oman enriched by this new experience. Omantel, as the leading telecom operator in Oman and one of the biggest inves-tors in the community, continues to support youth programmes in various sectors and we are proud to be part of the Omani society”.

Kiel Week, which runs from June 8 to June 26, is Northern Europe’s largest sailing regatta, attracting more than 3,500 sailors every year. In 2014, Oman Sail’s MOD70 Musandam-Oman Sail set a new Kiel Week Welcome Race Record and returned last year to flag up Oman’s Ministry of Tourism’s new pavilion which was making its European debut.

The list of the competitors in Kiel Week (name, age, class): 1. Zakariya Al Wahabi, 16 years, 29er; 2. Marwan Al Jabri, 16, 29er; 3. Khamis Al Wahaibi 17, 29er; 4. Ahmed Al Wahaibi, 17, 29er; 5. Salim Al Alawi, 15, Laser 4.7; 6. AbdulAziz Al Oraimi, 16, Laser 4.7; 7. Mansoor Al Mahrouqi, 17, Laser 4.7.

Kiel Week is part of

ISAF’s World Cup

and one of the last

Olympic class event

before the 2016

Games in Rio de

Janeiro

BIG CHALLENGE: Oman’s young sailing hopefuls are preparing for a

major test in Kiel. – Supplied photo

Hamilton hoping for another first

BAKU: Formula One takes a step into the unknown this weekend with its first grand prix in Azer-baijan but triple world champion Lewis Hamilton hopes the race will take him back to familiar territory.

A win in Baku would not only complete a hat-trick of victories for the Briton but would also see him overtake Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg at the top of the standings for the first time this year.

After winning the last two races in Monaco and Montreal, while championship leader Rosberg finished off the podium, Hamil-ton slashed the gap between them from 43 points to nine.

If Hamilton makes it three in a row by winning a race billed as the ‘European Grand Prix’, Rosberg must finish second to avoid falling behind his rival, who has beaten him to the championship for the

last two years. “We need to try to keep on a roll if possible,” Hamil-ton said after winning in Canada on Sunday for the fifth time. “On-wards and upwards, hopefully.”

Closing the gapRosberg, winner of the first four races of the season as well as the last three of 2015, needs to hit back in Baku. He won last season’s ‘new’ race, the Mexican Grand Prix that was returning for the first time since 1992, but Hamilton had just won his third title and taken his foot off the gas.

“Canada unfortunately didn’t work out as planned. But that’s how things go when you’re push-ing the limits and I’m not going to change my approach or start backing down,” said the German after making a quick getaway from Montreal. “I’m in this champion-

ship battle to win it, not to settle for second best.”

While the spotlight remains on the fierce duel between the two Mercedes drivers, who have clashed on the opening lap twice in the last three races, the champions are no longer in a battle of their own.

Ferrari and Red Bull have closed the performance gap and could be a real threat in Baku with its long straight and tight turns around the old city. “The speed of both the Ferrari and Red Bull is pretty much where we are now,” com-mented Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff after Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel made a lightning start in Canada and finished second.

“We are seeing the convergence of performance between teams that naturally comes with stable regula-tions, and that has made the com-petition tougher than ever.” - Reuters

B A K U G P

Leicester begin title

defence at Hull City

LONDON: Champions Leices-ter City will begin their Premier League title defence with a trip to newly-promoted Hull City and Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United reign kicks off at Bourne-mouth. The release of the fixtures on Wednesday threw up some meaty first-day tussles with last season’s runners-up Arsenal host-ing Juergen Klopp’s Liverpool.

The 2016-17 season kicks off earlier than usual on August 13.

Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester, who stunned the football world by claiming the Premier League title last season at pre-season odds of 5000-1, have a testing opening six weeks with Arsenal visiting them before away trips to Liverpool and Manchester United.

Leicester are listed as 25-1 sev-enth favourites to retain the title.

Pep Guardiola will make his league debut as Manchester City manager when his team, already marked out as favourites for the title, host Sunderland. Mourinho, who replaced Louis van Gaal as United manager last month, will be aiming to maintain his record of never having lost any of his seven opening-day fixtures in England.

He will not have to wait long to renew his old rivalry with Guar-diola either, with the first Man-chester derby being held at Old Trafford on September 10.

The drastic managerial shake-

up in the Premier League means Chelsea also venture into a new era with Antonio Conte, current-ly in charge of Italy at Euro 2016, at the helm.

His first assignment in English football will be a feisty London derby against West Ham United at Stamford Bridge. West Ham’s first match at their new Olympic Stadium home is against Bourne-mouth on August 20.

Mourinho will return to his old stomping ground when Chelsea host Manchester United on Oc-tober 22, a week after the Portu-guese’s former club host Leices-ter City. Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur, who pushed Leicester for the title before fin-ishing third, begin at Everton, who named Ronald Koeman as their manager on Tuesday.

Arsenal will host Tottenham in the first north London derby on Nov. 5 while the other eagerly anticipated derby clash, between Merseyside clubs Liverpool and Everton, takes place at Goodison Park on December 17.

Opening day fixtures (Aug 13): Arsenal vs Liverpool; Bournemouth vs Manchester United; Burnley vs Swan-sea City; Chelsea vs West Ham United; Crystal Palace vs West Bromwich Albi-on; Everton vs Tottenham Hotspur; Hull City vs Leicester City; Manchester City vs Sunderland; Middlesbrough vs Stoke City; Southampton vs Watford. - Reuters

P R E M I E R L E A G U E

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

CultureSECTIONC L I F E S T Y L E T H U R S DAY, J U N E 1 6, 2 0 1 6

Raluca Oprescu helps many people in the Sultanate improve quality of their inner life and understand personal emotions through art therapy workshops

WWW.TIMESOFOMAAN.COMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Not many in Oman would have heard about art therapy before Raluca Opres-cu’s arrival three

years ago. Since then, the Roma-nian-born management gradu-ate, who went through a deep self development process before becoming a proponent of the in-novative therapy, has been busy conducting workshops in differ-ent parts of the Sultanate, helping people improve quality of their inner life, and understand their personal emotions.

“Art therapy helps people raise awareness level, using their crea-tivity as a platform,” she delves into the unique therapy, which is very popular in Australia, US, Canada and many countries in Europe.

According to her, art therapy will help people understand what’s going on within their bod-ies. “If you have a physical ail-ment, that means there are ail-ments at other levels as well, as everything is related in human

body,” says Oprescu, who had worked with people suffering from cancer and diabetes.

However, the most interesting aspect is that one doesn’t need to be an artist or have artistic tastes to undergo the therapy. “I started discovering my art after getting hooked to art therapy. It’s for any-one who is trying to understand more about him/her and about life. You need not be an artist, but if you are an artist, definitely this kind of process will add up to your creativity. You will discover new sides of yourself that you didn’t know, unlike the way you were taught in an art school. In self de-velopment process you will dis-cover that the art techniques are just restrictions and you will real-ise you are a far bigger artist than that,” she says.

That is why Oprescu believes art therapy doesn’t care about con-ventional artistic values. “Art is self expression and nothing more. We are interested only in personal meanings. Each material you use

– acrylic or crayons — might lead to a certain theme that you can ac-cess. In a workshop, we have fixed themes like polarities, masculine and feminine sides in oneself, vo-cations and discovering shapes and colours. Each colour inter-acts with us emotionally. Today you may like red and tomorrow you may find it disturbing. There’s a connection, and we can interact with that. People don’t really un-derstand the importance of col-ours or what do they really mean. Through this therapy, we discover our own associations with the colours,” she says.

Though the therapy uses artis-tic expressions, Oprescu says it should not necessarily enhance one’s artistic skills. “Actually art therapy places a mirror in front of you. Then if you discover there’s something that has to do with art, you can be an artist. But it hap-pens very rarely. It happened in my case, but it’s not the main pur-pose. Art therapy is just a method to access self development.”

Then how does the healing happen? “Healing happens not just in the process of painting, but when one talks about im-ages and again become aware of things,” she says. Art therapists work with the images of the soul, the images inside us and now they are out on a paper. “Look at the picture of burning inner fire done by one woman who needed a change in her career,” she says pointing at the picture on the wall, and adds: “The theme had been ‘five elements’ and she un-knowingly chose fire and depicted her inner fire that will goad her to make the changes.” Oprescu says art therapy work well with children. “Usually it works with children above seven years. Psy-chologically, their system needs to be defined. I even worked with a four-year-old boy and art ther-apy came handy in case of abused children. However, it’s with adults and teenagers you achieve the best results.”

While working with children,

art therapists use mediums of wa-ter colours, oil pastels, plain cray-ons, black crayons and sometimes clay in special workshops. “Clay process is very deep as you are in direct contact with the material. But these are not complicated mediums. I tell them to use them as they wish, touch the material and be playful with it to explore it in any way they wanted. And they do so. When you enter the pro-cess you feel inside a force that’s trying to move you. It’s the move-ment of life, as we call it. You have to follow it and if you don’t, you will end up in creating something which your mind wants to create. You have to surpass the mind lev-el and it’s the impulse you have to follow. Pick a certain colour, make a certain movement and follow it without thinking why you chose to do so,” she says.

Contact Raluca OprescuArt therapist, Life coach & Holis-tic Healer. Phone: +968 9137 5197—[email protected]

One doesn’t need to be an artist or have artistic tastes to undergo the therapy. But if you are an artist, definitely this kind of process will add up to your creativity. You will discover new sides of yourself that you didn’t know

Art of Healing

Story: T.A. Ameerudheen

Photography: Shabin E

FIND-IT-ALLC7 T H U R S DAY, J U N E 1 6, 2 0 1 6

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SHATTINow You See Me 2 (2D) (Action | Comedy | Thriller) (PG12) Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson9:00, 11:30 PMRoad Games (2D) (Thriller) (12+) Cast: Andrew Simpson, Joséphine de La Baume, Frédéric Pierrot11:45 PMYoga Hosers (Comedy | Fantasy | Horror) (12+) Cast: Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis, Lily-Rose Melody Depp9:45 PMThe House on Pine Street (Drama | Horror) (15+) Cast: Emily Goss, Taylor Bottles, Cathy Barnett11:45 PMMe Before You (2D) (Drama) (15+) Cast: Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Janet McTeer9:30 PM

MUSCAT GRAND MALLNow You See Me 2 - (2D) (Action | Comedy |Thriller) (PG12) GOLD CLASSCast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson9:00 & 11:30PMNow You See Me 2 - (2D) (Action | Comedy |Thriller) (PG12)Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson9:00 & 11:15PMYoga Hosers - (2D) (Comedy | Fantasy | Horror) (12+)Cast: Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis, Lily-Rose Melody Depp9:30PMRoad Games - (2D) (Thriller) (12+)

Cast: Andrew Simpson, Joséphine de La Baume, Frédéric Pierrot11:45PM

PANORAMA MALLNow You See Me 2 - (2D) (Action | Comedy |Thriller ) (PG12) VIP LOUNGECast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson10:30PMNow You See Me 2 - (2D) (Action | Comedy |Thriller ) (PG12)Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson9:15 & 11:45PMYoga Hosers - (2D) (Comedy | Fantasy | Horror) (12+)Cast: Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis, Lily-Rose Melody Depp9:45 & 11:30PMRoad Games - (2D) (Thriller) (12+)Cast: Andrew Simpson, Joséphine de La Baume, Frédéric Pierrot11:15PMWarcraft - (4D) (Action| Adventure | Fantasy) (PG12) MX4DCast: Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster

10:30PMThe Jungle Book - (3D) Adventure | Drama| Family) (PG)Cast: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley9:15PM

AZAIBA Kammati Padaam (Mal) (2D) (Crime | Drama) (12+) Cast: Dulquer Salmaan, Vinayakan, Shine Tom Chacko10:30 PMDhanak (Hindi) (2D) (Drama) (TBC) Cast: Hetal Gada, Krrish Chabria9:15, 11:30 PMTeen (Hindi) (2D) (Thriller) (PG12) Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vidya Balan9:00, 11:35 PMHouseful 3 (Hindi) (2D) (Romance | Comedy) (PG12) Cast: Akshay Kumar, Jacquline Fernandes, Ritesh Deshmukh, Abhishek Bachchan9:10, 11:45 PM

RUWIScreen 1Te3n (2D) (Suspense / Thriller) –TBCCast : Amitabh Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Nawazuddin Siddiqi9.15, 11.45 PM

Screen 2Dhanak (2D) (Drama) –TBCCast : Hetal Gada, Krrish Chabria9.30 PMHousefull 3 (2D) (Comedy / Drama) –PG12Cast : Akshay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh, Nargis Fakhri, Jacqueline Fernandez11.45 PM Screen 3Housefull 3 (2D) (Comedy / Drama) –PG12Cast : Akshay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh, Nargis Fakhri, Jacqueline Fernandez9.15 PMDhanak (2D) (Drama) –TBCCast : Hetal Gada, Krrish Chabria11.55 PM

SURNow You Can See Me 2 ( Action | Comedy |

Thriller ) ( PG12 ) Cast : Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson9:00, 11:30 PMRoad Games ( Thriller ) ( 12+ ) Cast : Andrew Simpson, Josephine de La Baume, Fredric Pierrot9:15 PMKammatti Paadam ( Malayalam | Crime) (12+) Cast : Dulquer Salman, Shaun Romy11:00 PM

SOHARNow You See Me 2 - (2D) (Action | Comedy |Thriller ) (PG12)Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson9:15 & 11:45PMYoga Hosers - (2D) (Comedy | Fantasy | Horror) (12+)Cast: Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis, Lily-Rose Melody Depp9:45 & 11:30PMRoad Games - (2D) (Thriller) (12+)Cast: Andrew Simpson, Joséphine de La Baume, Frédéric Pierrot

9:30PMKammatti Paadam - (2D) (Malayalam | Crime) (12+)Cast: Dulquer Salman, Shaun Romy10:00PMThe House on Pine Street- (2D) (Drama | Horror) (15+)Cast: Emily Goss, Taylor Bottles, Cathy Barnett11:15PM

BURAIMINow You See Me 2 PG 12 (Action | Comedy |Thriller)Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson9:15 & 11:45 PMYoga Hosers TBC (Comedy | Fantasy | Horror)Cast: Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis, Lily-Rose Melody Depp9:45 PM Road Games TBC (Thriller)Cast: Andrew Simpson, Joséphine de La Baume, Frédéric Pierrot11:00 PMKammatti Paadam 12+ (Malayalam) (Crime)Cast: Dulquer Salman, Shaun Romy10:00 PM

SALALAHNow You See Me 2 (PG12) (Action | Comedy |Thriller) Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson9:15, 11:45 PM Yoga Hosers (12+) (Comedy | Fantasy | Horror) Cast: Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis, Lily-Rose Melody Depp9:30 PM Kammatti Paadam (12+) (Malayalam | Crime) Cast: Dulquer Salman, Shaun Romy10:15 PM Road Games (2D)(12+) (Thriller) Cast: Andrew Simpson, Joséphine de La Baume, Frédéric Pierrot11:15 PM

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

BAHJA CINEMAFilm information 24540856 / Advance Booking

24540855

Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com

Now You See Me 2: (Action/Thriller)Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo,Woody Harrelson9.30 & 11.45 p.m.CP No: 1254 (PG12)Road Games: (Thriller)Cast: Andrew Simpson, Josephine De La Baume, Federic Pierrot11.45 p.m.CP No: 1253 (12+)Yoga Hosers ( Comedy/Horror) Cast: Johny Depp, Lily Rose Melody Depp, Harley Quinn Smith9.30 p.m.CP No: 1255 ( 12+)

STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776

Website: www.isurf.co.om

Kammati Paadam ( Mal) (Act\Drama) Cast : Dulquer Salmaan & Vinayakan 10-00 Pm Cinema MainGentleman (Telugu)(Thriller\Romance) (From Friday) Cast: Nani & Surabhi Thomas 9-45 pm Cinema -4 Enakku Innoru Per Irukku ( Tamil) ( Act\ Comedy) (From Friday) Cast: G.V. Prakesh Kumar & Anandhi 9-30 pm Cinema -2 Aa.AA (Telugu) (Comedy\\Drama) (Only Thursday) Cast: Nithin & Samantha 9-45 Pm Cinema -4Jacobinte Swargarajyam ( Mal) (Comedy\Drama) Cast: Nivin Pauly Renji Panicker & Lakshmi Ramakrishna 9-30 pm Cinema -2 Iraivi ( Tamil) ( Act) (Only Thursday) Cast: Vijay Sethopathy & Anjali 9-30 pm Cinema -2Next Change: Udta Punjab (Hindi) Programmes are subject to change

@ SHATTI

The House on Pine Street (Drama | Horror) (15+) Cast: Emily Goss, Taylor Bottles, Cathy Barnett11:45 PM

@ PANORAMA MALL

Yoga Hosers - (2D) (Comedy | Fantasy | Horror) (12+)Cast: Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis, Lily-Rose Melody Depp9:45 & 11:30PM

@ AZAIBA

Kammati Padaam (Mal) (2D) (Crime | Drama) (12+) Cast: Dulquer Salmaan, Vinayakan, Shine Tom Chacko10:30 PM

@ MGM

Now You See Me 2 - (2D) (Action | Comedy |Thriller) (PG12)Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson9:00 & 11:15PM

WEATHER

370

Maximum

310

Minimum

TEMPERATURE

80-35%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 [email protected]

WITH LOVE

MYESHA SHAFIJune 16, 2015

LIFESTYLEC8 T H U R S DAY, J U N E 1 6, 2 0 1 6

The impacts of inter-national cruise tour-ism on one of Mus-cat’s most enduring attractions – Mutrah

Souq – have been spotlighted in a special edition of the Finnish aca-demic publication, Fennia Interna-tional Geography Journal.

A tourism researcher based in Oman, Manuela Gutberlet, PhD candidate in Cultural Geography at RWTH Aachen University (Ger-many) and PR Manager at GUtech, contributed to this special issue with an article on cruise tourism. Her paper entitled, ‘Socio-cultural impacts of large-scale cruise tour-ism in Mutrah Souq, Sultanate of Oman’, highlights the importance of the social level of tolerance and the local empowerment of all stake-holders in tourism development.

“Tourism is a large and growing global-scale phenomenon with a wide range of socio-cultural, eco-nomic, ecological and political im-pacts. While it has various elements and dimensions, tourism as an activity is often seen – sometimes solely – through an economic lens,” commented Prof Dr Jarkko Saarin-en of the Department of Geography, University of Oulu, Finland, in a preface to the special issue on Tour-ism and Development.

“Tourism is a form of govern-ing localities with implications for local livelihoods, ways of living, socio-political networks, culture, biopolitics, access to resources and the environment, and so on,” Prof. Jarkko Saarinen, who is a board member of the International Geography Union (IGU), stressed.

Mutrah Souq is one of the top tourist destinations in the Sultanate

of Oman. However, with an increase in tourist numbers, for example through mega cruise tourism, socio-cultural impacts become more ap-parent, developing the space into a so-called “tourist bubble”.

In 2015 a total of 146,509 cruise tourists arrived in Oman, which is a sharp increase com-pared to only 25 cruise ships in 2005. One year later, in 2004 the first mega cruise liner arrived in Muscat. As a consequence, “the souq is crowded when mega cruise liners carrying more than 1,800 passengers and crew are in the port,” stressed Manuela Gut-berlet while adding that “it seems the increase in number of cruise tourists arriving has been unex-pected and surprising for the local resident community.” According to the locals in Mutrah Souq who were interviewed during her study, “there is no more room for more tourists inside the souq”.

The overall identity of the Mut-rah Souq is changing. The local community perceives mega-cruise

tourists as low-spenders. “They just do a tour and then go,” said shopkeepers in Mutrah. Manuela’s survey revealed that 40% of the tourists did not spend any euros in the souq. Most of the tourists buy non-local products, such as pash-mina scarves, bought by 43% of the tourists, postcards or other small items like magnets or key-chains. “The majority just looks around and takes photos. This is similar in other destinations worldwide,” said Manuela. With an increase in tourist numbers in Mutrah Souq and a low spending behaviour the vendors have changed their selling approach. “Vendors along the main street of Mutrah Souq approached us in an aggressive way…we just wanted to leave,” said a tourist during an interview. Ac-cording to Manuela, unfortunately old shops that were selling per-fumes, herbs and spices and have been in the souq for 150-200 years have left their locations.

The tourists were also unhappy with the crowded space. “More than

60% of the tourists surveyed stated that there were too many people inside the souq,” said Manuela who conducted her field research between 2012 and 2014. A ques-tionnaire survey in German was filled out by 830 German-speaking tourists. “To avoid crowding and to release social pressure, a quota for large-scale mega cruises could be introduced and strictly moni-tored. This is also an important aspect for the safety of tourists,” said Manuela. Moreover, a special Tourist Souq inside the port could help to release further pressure on Mutrah Souq. However, most German-speaking tourists wish ‘to explore’ the destination and go for a walk or take an excursion.

With the redevelopment of Mutrah area in the coming years, in the long term Manuela thinks that “citizens may feel increas-ingly alienated as their city is transformed into a tourist at-traction, focusing on tourist needs rather than those of the lo-cal multi-ethnic community, who

live there and come for shopping to Mutrah Souq.” As mentioned in the paper, “Commercial pres-sure dominating the development of the souq, including the chang-ing product range, leads to a loss of heritage and should be avoided.”

For a more responsible tourism development, Manuela suggests to es-tablish a so-called “Mutrah Tourism Committee” including members of vari-ous ministries and the local male and female resident community. Such a committee could then develop indicators for responsible tourism development in Mutrah Souq.

Manuela Gutberlet will be part of a panel discussion on impacts of tourism and whether tourism is a help or hindrance to global awareness and understanding, to be held during the next Geography Conference of the International Geography Union (IGU) in Beijing in August this year.

(The entire issue on Tourism and Development and the article on Mut-

rah Souq is available online: http://ojs.tsv.fi/index.php/fennia/index)

IMPACT OF CRUISE TOURISM ON MUTRAH SOUQ

PERHAPS it is time to reflect on our achievements during Rama-dan, now that the Holy Month has begun. Do we care enough to reach for the needy or we just go through the ritual of staying hungry and thirsty just because it is a religious obligation? Are we cleaning our souls with goodness of knowing that we lived another year and enjoyed the bounty of God in the last twelve months?

Are we reflecting on our achievements and learning something from our mistakes so we can improve our failings by becoming good husbands, wives,

children, and responsible mem-bers of the society? The lines of people sitting on the mats out-side the mosques waiting for the Iftar across the world are not getting shorter. It means that more people are in need of food. And some of us, who stay in the comforts of our own homes, take it for granted.

The good Samaritans who are sitting all day in the shopping malls waiting for you to drop in money for the poor are wondering whether the faith of Muslims is only limited to prayers, reading the Holy Quran and not eating all day. Perhaps there is

a misconception that if you do all that then you would win the grace of God and you do not need to part with your money to help the or-phans and those in rags.

These charity boxes come in everyday empty and hardly gain any weight when the malls are closing. It is the culture of shoppers which takes prec-edence and the cash end up in the till instead, as people leave shops with bags of items, half of them they don’t need. The char-ity people say that people take pain of avoiding the donation stations and look sideways pre-tending they are not there.

I was joking with my wife that people who actually devote their time raising funds for the poor as they feel the pangs of hunger will be on the first line on the Gate of Heaven than those who closed

their wallets and slept in the mosques asking for repentance. What a better way of repenting your sins than to put a smile on hungry mouths by generously do-nating to the good cause. Spend-ing excessive time on asking God’s favour or forgiveness is like stay-ing too long in the office then you need, just to earn more money for yourself. The extra money will not do any good and in a way, there is a question of selfishness if you consider that you could have di-vided that time to raise funds for the needy.

Am I speaking out of context here? I am not sure but since we share the world with other peo-ple then the best way to please God is to work for all. Let’s look at it this way, the showers of blessings need to sprinkle to your neighbours and community and

what a better way than to use your effort and cash to make sure it happens. I am forever amazed that, some people would buy new cars and furniture in Ramadan when their relatives cannot even afford a decent Iftar.

I am more amazed when I hear people saying that “I work so hard that I need to reward myself”, as if God is only favouring them and not their hungry neighbours. When the Imams of mosques say in their ser-mons to worshippers that you “are meant to share God’s blessings with others,” they would perhaps answer “others need to work hard, too, to get what we have”.

Yes, they are right but they would have been more right if they make sure that people around them are properly looked after be-fore they go on a spending spree to celebrate the coming Eid.

COLUMN

The overall identity of the

Mutrah Souq is changing.

The local community

perceives mega-cruise

tourists as low-spenders.

Most of the tourists buy

non-local products, such

as pashmina scarves,

postcards or other small

items like magnets

or key-chains

SO TO SPEAKSALEH AL SHAIBANY

A Real Test of Your Faith

Phot

ogra

phy

Shab

in E

.

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

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P124, 4x4 HZ 2007 model with

12” class DTH Hammer & 500 mm

bit. Atlas Copco Air compressor

XAHS 536 (25Bar, 1136 CFM) in

good condition, prices negotiable.

Contact: 95244907 / 95229292

Book Shop in a busy shopping

mall for sale, interested parties

please contact 99851255

Shop for sale near Oman House,

Muttrah. Contact 99024362.

Shop for sale at Ruwi high street.

Contact: 98787853

Furnished office at Ruwi near Sher-

aton Hotel. Contact: 93993897

1No brand new containerized

package type STP 100 m3/ day

with blower equipments (suitable

for camps). Serious Buyers may.

Contact: 99445367

FOR SALE

LOST

CHANGE OF NAME

Dental chairs for sale sparingly

used dental units for sale.

Contact Mr. Ansari 92616343.

Kumar 99570284

Single colorful Bed and Sofa for Sale

at Al Khuwair. Contact 92881849 /

What`s up No 97290565

Steel Scrap materials for immedi-

ate sale. # 99273774/ 99202278

Space for printing press available

at wadikabir with or without

machinery. Contact 99328430

Almost new beach/ garden

lounge chairs /bar stools/ counter.

Photos can be sent 95865457

Villa for sale in Mabela 6 rooms,

living room & hall. #91763665

Urgent sale of steel scrap only

serious buyers kindly contact

+968 96725423 for viewing the items.

Clinic license for Sale and Phar-macy for lease : specialized Clinic

license with Pharmacy license for

sale. Send your enquiry:

[email protected]

Contact: 97092099 / 97253669

1 Bed room, sharing K& T, R.O 100,

2 bedrooms , sharing K& T R.O

200/- in AL Khuwair.

Contact: 95154331

Warehouse at Wadikabir - total

area 3500 sqm - covered ware-

house (500sqm), office, ac-

commodation (1000sqm), open

area (2000sqm) please contact:

99273774 - 99202278

Flat in Al Khuwair opp

grand mall 4 room 3 toilet + hall

kitchen in 3 floor 400.

Contact 99420346

2 bed rooms flat with hall,

2 bathrooms in Darsait near

Muscat Municipality.

Contact: 92584715/ 24700120

02 BHK residential flat opposite

to Al Nahdha hospital.

Contact: 99342733 /99795241

5 BHK Villa in Al Khuwair, for

Staff Accommodation.

Contact 99792181

2 & 3 BHK Flat in Al Khuwair &

Ghubra. Contact 99792181

1700 sqr mtrs open Land + small

store + garage for Rent in Ruwi.

Contact 99792181

4 BHK Villa in Bowsher Heights.

Contact 99792181

Flat for Rent 2 bed room Near ISM

muscat Indian Scoole Dar sate

Tel : 00 968 95158570

Furnished office (61M2) for sale

/ rent Al Khuwair near Zawawi

Mosque. Contact: 95611569

FORRENTContact

96177505

In MSQ. Near ABA school one villa for rent 6 rooms

+ 4 bathrooms+ house maid room +AC split unit + swimming pool

One fl at in CBD 2 bedrooms + sitting room + 2 bathrooms + Kitchen

One fl at in Qurum 29 – two rooms + AC split unit + 2 bathrooms + Kitchen

In Al Hail one offi ce space – (Near Main Road) one room attach with bathroom and kitchen.

FOR SALESHUTTERING

PLYWOOD

SIZE : 4’ X 8’ X 18MM

GSM:92835445,93205253,93205423

I, THOMAS ABRAHAM NETTI-KADAN (holder of Indian Passport

No.F7857133) son of N.K.THOMAS

having permanent residence in

NETTIKADAN MELOOR, CHA-

LAKUDI, TRICHUR, KERALA and

presently residing in MUSCAT,

P.O.BOX 1832, PC:112, RUWI (com-

plete postal address in Oman)

intend to change my name from

THOMAS ABRAHAM NETTIKADAN

(old name) to ABRAHAM NETTI-

KADAN THOMAS (new name) for

all practical purpose. Any objection

towards my name change may

please be communicated to Em-

bassy of India, Muscat, Diplomatic

Quarters, Al Khuwair, P.Box No.1727,

Postal Code 112, Ruwi, Sultanate of

Oman.

ACC. AVAILABLE

Separate entrance attach bath for

exertive bachelor.

Contact: 93231403 /93324458

Sharing accommodation (fur-

nished & with A/C) with kitchen

facility available near Al Falaj hotel

in Ruwi. Contact 92704439

Furnished apartment for rent,

two rooms, majlis, hall, kitchen.

Near Carrefour al-mawalah.

Contact 99336776

One room available in 2BHK in Al

Falaj area for Executive bachelor

only. Contact 99131742.

Furnished room attached bath

for Indian bachelor, Al-Falaj

Ruwi & lady Wadi Kabir near

Mars hypermarket. Contact:

96202458/96761960

Sharing Accommodation avail-

able for working ladies opposite

Al Nadhah Hospital. Preferably

Indians. Room with seperate toilet

and sharing kitchen.RO.90.

Contact 96524717

Room available in Mumtaz area

1 room, 1 Bathroom, Kitchen & 1

room, common bathroom. Inter-

ested pleasecontact 92680041

Mr. Altaf

Room for rent in Qurum attached

bathroom and kitchen.

Contact: 99664703

Sharing accommodation

near ISD. Contact: 99657340

Furnished sharing accommoda-

tion available at Walja family /

Ex bachelor. Contact: 93223278

Room, bath room for executives in

Wadi kabir. Contact 99336206

Room available for family / bachelor

opposite to o.K. Center, Ruwi.

Gsm 942-888-63

ACC. WANTED

Urgently required Villa with 8

rooms near Bausher/Ghala/Al

Ansab area for accommodation of

Staff from a reputed company in

Oman. Interested party may

contact - Mr. Pramith 99694150

Accommodation Wanted for an

Executive Bachelor, Single Flat /

Sharing Room @ Wadi Kabir. Pls call:

93883674 / 98103169

AVAILABLE

Party & Wedding equipment rent-

als. Full line, from Tables, Linen

& Skirting, Chairs & Chair covers,

Cutlery, Crockery, Glassware, Chaf-

ing 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: [email protected]

Mani has lost Indian Passport

No. M 6753023.

Finder please handover to ROP

MV SALE

Mitsubishi Outlander 2008

model 4 cylinder, 2.4lt, Metallic grey

, 135000km , excellent condition ,

expat driven , single owner Price R.O

3.500/- Neg. Contact: 99330486

2 No 40 feet flat trailers 50 Ton

capacity with grill prime movers

Volvo 97 & Mercedes 9.

Contact: 99454425

Mazda Cx 9 (2013 model) 89,000

KM and Geely Emgrad (2015

model) 24,000 KM. Both cars in

excellent condition, single owner,

company serviced. Please call

94194071 (Pradeep)

for immediate sale

Toyota Yaris, 2008 model, full

automatic 1, 50,000km, RO 2.200.

Contact: 91013604

Nissan Qashqai 2013 Kms 30,000 VGC comprehensive

Insurance UAE / Oman.

Contact: 96995430

Prado 2011. Contact: 99336093

NRI

NRI Property for Sale: 774Sq . 2

BHK flat with OC ready at Palava

City Casa Rio, Dombivili, Mumbai

Contact : 97003326, 96791085

For immediate sale an attractive

3 BHK villa with servant room plus

adjoining plot at Lonavala, India.

Contact 91 8308009040

BUYING

Used office house furniture

& electronic items. Contact:

99834373 / 96642500

Bobcat available for rent.

Contact 97623299

Buying cars for cash.

Contact 90202090

Room with attached bathroom for

a family in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 97167857

Room available for Executive

bachelor at Al Hail.

Contact 96234708

Furnish bedroom with attach

bathroom for executive bachelor.

Contact: 97704794

1 BHK appartment for rent in

Al Khoud Shabiya near mazoon

mosque for rent (next to alkhoud

medical center and squ)

MOB: 93913224

Room with attached bathroom

and sharing kitchen available for

Executive bachelor or

small family at wadikabir.

Contact 93049849

DAILY GUIDED4 T H U R S D AY, J U N E 1 6 , 2 0 1 6

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED

Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

DRIVER

DESIGNER

MISCELLANEOUS

ENGI./TECH./MECH.

ACCOUNTS

CATERING

BEAUTICIAN

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE

TOURS/ TRAVL

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

DOMESTIC HELPER

ARCHITECT

MEDICAL

MEDICAL

IT

Required Indian Mason – 5 nos., eligibility (minimum 5 yrs experi-

ence in road construction field).

Contact: 99882127


Required Shop Sales man + Hard-ware Technician for IT Company

with minimum 2 years experience.

Contact: 98825806 / 98825806,


ADMIN

House maid cooking cleaning

experienced with babies required

immediately. Contact: 95584060 /

98920399

Required candidates for following

posts: Accountant, Storekeeper, Foreman Building Maintenance, Van-salesman (water), Helpers. Candidates with Omani driving

license preferred.

Contact 99273774/99202278

Required urgently driver, experi-

ence Omani or expat drivers with

P.D.O. license. Contact: 98242478

Urgently required heavy duty Drivers with licence.

Contact 99344112

Wanted a experience Driver for Capital and Interior work.

Gsm : 942-888-63

Required Omani Driver

for a restaurant. Contact 95929911

Looking for a full time driver with

valid Omani license.

Contact: 95454033

Fabrication Engineer to run fab-

rication workshop on commission

basis. Email: [email protected]

CCTV & Burglar alarm Technician. Urgently looking for an Expatriate

with minimum 5 years experi-

ence with NOC. Email your CV with

recent Photograph to:

[email protected]

Building materials company need Sales Engineer with engineering

graduate Omani driving license

good experience, speak

English fluently. Please send the

CV through below mail

[email protected]

Testing / Protection Engineer with minimum 05 years of experi-

ence and should have

Oman DCRP license, Interested

candidates send resume to

[email protected]

Urgently required for a Medical Centre (male / female) GP Doctor, Pediatrician, Gynecologist with

MOH license, for job or

running the clinic. Send your CV

[email protected]

Contact: 97092099 / 97253669

Orthodontist for Dental Center in Muscat, Specialist Endodontist & General Dentist with MOH license

from Oman. Nurses & Marketing

female Executive. Contact:

[email protected]

Care Medical Centre Al Seeb

requires Gynecologist and General Practitioner. Mail CV to:

[email protected]

Wanted Staff Nurse for

a dermatology clinic in Muscat .

Must have MOH license and NOC.

Attractive salary offered. Email:

[email protected]

Urgently required experienced female Lab Technician, with knowl-

edge of histopathology & cytology,

with MOH release, for a well-known

laboratory in Al Khuwair. Contact:

95271561/98893034

Required gynecologist GEN: practitioner lady lab Technician and pharmacologist immediately

for a clinic in Suwaiq.

Contact 95081010


SALES / MARKETING

Advertising & interior company required Sales Executive with

driving /L send CV to

[email protected]

Urgent Required, Outdoor sales 3-5 years of experience in spare

part. - Store Keeper 2 years experience. -Accountant 2-3 years experience.-4 Store labors. All Candidates should be Indian,

English speakers. NOC is a must.

Email: Muscat.supply13@gmail.

com Fax: 24504723

Require Salesman with D/L for

construction, Ind materials,

hydraulic hoses & fittings.

Contact 99221683 / 92830110

Branch Manger required to

manage entire Business.

[email protected] 99110080

A new Sanitary ware Company looking for a Salesman who has

experience in Oman markets not

than 5 years. Send C.V :

[email protected]

Required marketing / PR manager

for a modern restaurant group in

Oman , proficient in illustrator &

Photoshop charismatic , proactive ,

creative & flexible excellent writing

/ Editing skills degree in relevant

area fluent in English. Send CV to

[email protected]

Required smart, young, dynamic Sales & Marketing Executive hav-

ing 2-3 years sales experience for

a reputed manufacturing company

in Oman, having its Head Office in

Ruwi. Experience in building mate-

rials is an added advantage. Omani

Driving License and NOC is a must.

Attractive remuneration package.

Apply with photograph to

E-mail: [email protected]

Required female person to work

at the retail shop/Marketing.

Please send your CV on e mail:

[email protected]

Shawarma / grill / Salad / Asian Cook. Contact: 95529970

WANTED Female Gynaecologist,

Female GP- Two Female Staff Nurse

(From India or Pilipino)and One

Female Dental Assist and

Female Lab Technician. With MOH Licence and Data Flow for

Al Saadi Specilised Medical Centre, Musanna.

Contact # 92025033, Email : [email protected]

An Omani Audit firm is seeking audit partner to join the firm, the

candidate should be completed

any certificate course CIA,CPA,

CA, ACC, and 4 years’ experience,

interested candidates to submit

their CVs to :

[email protected]

An Omani Audit firm is seeking audit partner to join the firm, the

candidate should be completed

any certificate course CIA,CPA,

CA, ACC, and 4 years’ experience,

interested candidates to submit

their CVs to :

[email protected]

Urgently required operator for a

new stationary block factory. Send

CV to [email protected]

Contact: 97092070

ACCA qualified professional lady with 5 years experience in finance

management accounts is looking

for a suitable placement NOC can be

Contact: 94521899

Part Time Accounting, Audit

Preparation, Internal Audit, Monthly

Reports, Accounting set up for new

companies, GSM: 96975454, email:

[email protected]

Chief Accountant, well experienced

available. Contact: 95598477

Indian male 43 yrs accountant pres-

ently on tourist visa looking for suit-

able placement in a company 18yrs

experience in managing finance in

Indian and abroad.

Contact: 90190648

Young Indian male 28 years CA

Final first group completed MBA

finance BBM 3 years CA training

experience looking for suitable

placement currently in visiting visa.

Contact: +968 99782750 Email:

[email protected]

Accountant Indian male, 6 years

experience up to finalization in tally

with reporting knowledge & good

knowledge of payroll, having Oman

D/L, NOC. Contact: 92540313

Accountant , female , 1 &half

years experience up to finalization

in tally, good knowledge in report-

ing, pursuing ACCA, valid D/L.

Contact: 95373751

Chief Accountant/Finance Man-

ager – Indian male, CA Finalist,

having 20 years’ experience in

Finance, Accounts, Audit, Finaliza-

tion of Accounts, preparation of

Project Reports etc., looking for

immediate placement. 12 yrs. in

Oman in Construction and Consul-

tancy co., have Omani D/L,

knows Tally. Contact 94041048,

Email : [email protected]

Part time accounting workers up

to finalization, on monthly basis &

yearly finalization works.

Contact : 96247295

28/male/MBA - finance/B.Com -

Accountant with 4 years of Dubai/

India experience looking for a suit-

able placement. Contact 90187483

[email protected]

Accountant available with NOC,

7 years experience in Oman.

Ready to join immediately.

Contact 98263394

Indian male 36 yrs B.Com having

10 yrs experience (5 yrs in K.S.A)

with valid GCC License accounting

(Tally) & Marketing looking for suit-

able placement available in Oman

visit visa. Contact: 95352176


Construction Company looking for Architect with experience in

Oman. Contact 97192707

Urgently required a Gulf experi-enced professional hair dresser cum beautician (lady) for a

reputed beauty salon. Immediate

appointment. Contact: 99816262

/ 98557585 Fax: 24796211 Email:

[email protected]

Beauty salon needs lady for

henna. Contact: 93336061

Indian male Accountant 2.5 years

exp in Oman with valid D/L NOC


Indian male, B.Com MBA, 4 yrs in

L&T total 26 years Gulf experi-

enced English, Arabic speaking

driving license with NOC.

Contact: 95588565

Indian male Chartered Account-

ant 2 years experience in Oman

having Oman driving license

looking for suitable placement in

finance or audit field NOC avail-

able. Contact : 96357827


Accountant Having 5 Years expe-

rience in reputed companies.

Currently working in Muscat

(NOC AVAILABLE) GSM.91367217

Email [email protected]

Indian/MBA/male Chief Accountant 18Yrs Experi-

ence, MIS, C.Flow, Budgeting,

ERP, Cost accounting &Liasing

with auditors. NOC available.

Contact: 92254691/97826674

email: [email protected]

SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED

Architect looking for a freelance

work in designing am modeling

in 3D program and architecture.

Contact: 96041201

Architect Engineer seeking for

suitable job, 8 years experience.

GSM : 96075000, Email :

[email protected]

Indian female diploma architect

6 years exp in Oman Engineering

consultancy, valid Oman driving

license. Contact: 96683293 /

97750870

Architect female 5 years experi-

ence seeking job. Contact: 96146645


ARCHITECT

WANTED SALES ENGINEER A REPUTED TRADING COMPANY DEALING

WITH AGENCY PRODUCTS IN OIL & GAS, PETROCHEMICALS AND POWER

SECTORS, IS LOOKING FOR A SALES ENGINEER

HAVING AN EXPERIENCE OF 2-3 YEARS IN DEALING WITH PIPING MATERIALS,

VALVES, INSTRUMENTATION ITEMS, CABLES, FLARE PACKAGES ETC.

HAVING VALID OMAN DRIVING LICENCE AND CANDIDATES WHO CAN GET A NOC

FROM THE CURRENT EMPLOYER MAY APPLY TO :

[email protected]

URGENTLY REQUIRED

PROJECT MANAGER for a Construction Company.

The candidate should be a

Civil Engineer Graduate with

minimum 10 years Oman

experience with valid driving

license. He should have a

proven track record in the fi eld.

Please send CV to -

[email protected]

Procurement ManagerSale Manager/B2C Expertise

Marketing Manager/ B2B ExpertiseShowroom Manager Store Manager

Warehouse Assistant Graphic Designer Cashier

Excellent grade construction company requires the following for its building material showroom

Kindly check conditions on our website & upload your CV in career page

WWW.DURAT.OM

WE URGENTLY REQUIRE

Ladies only for our new beauty salon in Al Amerat, Mahaj 5 near

Sultan Center. Applicants must have a minimum of 2 years experience in beauty salon

to competent applicants. If interested submit your CV with

recent color photo to: [email protected] or

Contact - 97233041

IMMEDIATE

REQUIREMENT

Sales Engineer For reputed IT Company

Preferred NOC and

Oman Driving Licence

Apply to :

[email protected]

ACCOUNTANT-

PART TIME

[email protected]

Qualifi ed Person (Female/Male) on a part time basis is required to audit, supervise

and complete all accounts work up to fi nalization on a day- to-day basis. Th e location is near

Oman House-Mutt rah. Apply to

Fmajor malls in Muscat.

Please apply with recent photograph on our email: [email protected]

Indian male 27 yrs, MBA finance

with 4 years experience currently

in Muscat on visit visa seeking

suitable placement in finance /

admin. Contact: 90921724

Indian (Male) having 17+years

Experience in Trading & Health-

care seeking senior Position in

Accounts (11 years GCC Experi-

ence)currently on Resident Visa

(NOC Available) and has a valid

Omani Driving Licence. Contact:

91335026; [email protected]

Indian male age 26, Accountant

one year experience in accounts

looking for suitable job. Contact -

Email: Anishkhan991867@gmail.

Com Mobile: +968 9565 9415

Qualified and experienced MBA

post graduate with proven work

exposure in Middle East & India,

having more than 5.5 years of rich

experience in accounts , project

coordination and administration in

(3.5 years UAE experience) oil and

gas projects is currently looking for

suitable job. Contact 93953613,

[email protected]

Indian male 25 yrs, Graduate in

commerce, overall 5 yrs exp in

accounts/ finance field. On visit

visa. Immediately available.

Contact 92836216 /

[email protected]

URGENTLY REQUIRED

Fax # 24600217 or

email on: [email protected] & [email protected]

Customer Service Executive, for

immediate employment we are

looking for a Filipino male with

a minimum experience of one

year or more in customer support.

Candidate should be well versed

in English with good computer

knowledge. Please send your CV

to info@venusinternationalgroup.

com or contact us on: 99189303

Ticketing assistant, for immedi-ate employment we are looking

for a Filipino male good knowledge

of computers and communication

skills our travel agency in Ruwi,

Please send your CV to

info@venusinternationalgroup.

com

Urgently required a Graphic designer with 2 years experience

in graphic designing, Photoshop,

illustrator. Send CV to


Urgently required Pharmacist for a Pharmacy in Barka.

Contact: 99452755

GP doctor needed for reputed clin-

ic. Preferably with MOH license or

with Dataflow & Paramatics pass

Contact: 95388934

Indian male, 34 years, B.Com,

experience in Accounts, Market-

ing & Administration over all more

than 9 years of experience in GCC

(Bahrain & Oman) is currently

looking for suitable job having D/L

& NOC. Contact: 99548543

Well experienced Account M.Com

available with NOC, Tally & ERP.

Contact : 99035707

Indian female 28 yrs B.Com 4 yrs

experience in MNC’s currently in

Muscat seeking suitable place-

ment in Finance / Admin.

Contact: 94743790

Indian male 34 yrs, M.Com –

Finance with 5 yrs experience in

Accounts in India, presently in

visiting visa looking for a suitable

placement. Contact: 93671785


Indian male 34 Yrs, Dual MBA

Finance and marketing with IT

skills, 7+ yrs of experience,

Looking for suitable placement.

contact 94879615,Email-

[email protected]

Sudanese Accountant, Alexandria

University Graduate bachelor of

commerce Diploma of Marketing

professional photographer worked

in PR and social media for 2 years

looking for a job in public relations

media, social media or marketing.

Contact: 96976240

ACCA member with 6 yrs of experi-

ence in Oman looking for a suitable

job in finance. Contact: 99284193

Accountant 8Years Experience

with D/L and NOC.

Contact 97712084

Accountant MBA finance with 8

years experience on a visit visa.

Contact: 968 91736849

Indian, Kerala Male B.COM & B.PE,

Currently on Visit Visa. Looking for

a suitable job in Accounts,

Store Keeper, Sales etc.

Ready to join as early as possible.

Contact: 96988923

email:- [email protected]

Young Omani male have experi-

ence 12 years as P.R.O, CLERK

Helper Supervisor Admin Supervi-

sor, H.R Manager have diploma in

H.S.E, IT and P.D.O license, looking

for H.R position or P.R.O part time

or full time. Contact: 95933288

Indian Male MBA (UK), 9 years experience in Dubai/London/

Mumbai in Management Consulting,

Sales & Marketing, Business

Development for Real Estate/Banking

seeks similar placement with D/L.

Contact: 95168205


SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

EDUCATION/TRAINING

DESIGNER/DRAUGHTSMAN

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

IT

IT

Indian male 24 years dynamic &

professional B.Tech (Mech. Engg)

with 1 year experience working

on BPCL project in India seeks

opening for suitable post, currently

in Oman. Contact: 93672286 /

97772272

B.E Mechanical Engineer, age 24

with almost 1 year experience as

Production Shift Engineer, has

achieved training on HVAC

Engineering design and has good

hands on software like AutoCAD

and HAP.Currently in Oman on a

visit visa, looking for a suitable

placement.Contact: 95065955


Mechanical diploma, Indian male

26, 4 years experienced MEP

supervisor seeks suitable openings

NOC / Release available.

Contact: 97901559

Indian male , 31yr , M.Tech electri-

cal engineer , PGDBM , 2 years

electrical experience , 4 years

teaching , Oman valid driving

license looking for suitable.

Contact: 93221395

Mechanical Engineer graduate

graduates in business Admin 20

years experience in wood work-

ing industry managers position

needed. Contact 94304757

Indian male 25 years experience

with engineering dept Secretary –

Document- controller – technical

office with Oman driving license

seeking better placement.

Contact: 92968712


Indian mechanical supervisor (diploma) 17 yrs experience in pet-

rochemical construction (fabrica-

tion erection) in all steel structural

and mechanical jobs, on visit visa

seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 90924467


Mechanical Engineer, B.Tech (Post

Graduate) looking for suitable


mail: [email protected]

Civil Engineer holder three years,

exp UAE & Oman 9 years, I want

job in civil work civil site Engineer.

Contact: 95714327


Automobile Mechanic ITI 3 years

experience marine mechanical

fitter 2 yrs experience.

Contact 93674847

Mechanical Engineer 2 years

experience as HVAC design &

drafting, CAD, MEP Engg.

Contact: 90150913

Civil Engineer diploma, 4 yrsexp

seeks suitable position ina reputed

company. NOC available.

Contact 96789711

Civil Engineer 8 years experience

Structural buildings marine.

Available NOC release.

Contact: 92451323.


Indian male Electrical Engineer, having 6 years gulf experience in

designing, assembling, commission-

ing execution etc having valid GCC

license too looking for a suitable.

Contact: 00968-98052942 Email:

[email protected]

HSE Engineer (B.E Mech+Diploma

Safety+NEBOSH+OSHA) over

10yrs. Exp, (Visa Release Letter

(NOC) available), seeking suit-

able placement, Mob:97061817,

Email:[email protected]

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 92157694. E-mail:

[email protected]

An Iraqi civil with more than

30 years experience in (Iraq and

G.C.C) looking for a job, (N.O.C)



Indian male, Mechanical

Engineer having 1year experi-

ence, on visit visa looking for

suitable job. Contact:97416564,

Email:[email protected]

Civil Engineer 8 years experience

in Oman as a project engineer for

governmental & private projects.

Contact – 90164912

Young Indian, Engineering in

Bio-technology, Bio-chemical and

Chemical, looking for a challenging

placement in Oman.

Contact 97607000. Email:

[email protected]

ADMIN

Filipino Cabin steward / Linen

vallet is looking for suitable job in

Oman. Contact: +968 91065438 or


CATERING

Mechanical Engineer (B.Tech)

Indian male with 1 year experience

on visit visa looking for job, quali-

fication in QA-QC, HVAC& piping

engineering.

Contact: 90510800 Email:

[email protected]

Electrical Engineer 1 year experi-

ence driving license, NOC avail-

able. Contact: 94879092

Highly experienced mechanical/steel structural fabrication Engineer

looking for suitable placement. NOC

available. Contact: 99860714,

Email: [email protected].

Civil Engineer fresh Graduate with

Omani driving license looking for

job in any construction company.

Contact: 91745797 / 99190898


8 years experience electrical

engineer have knowledge MEP

project have driving license can

join shortly. Contact: 96535204

Civil Engineer (QS) 2 yrs exp

seeking job UAE D/L.

Contact: +96895641991

Quantity Surveyor / Site Engineer

6 years experience in Omani have

valid driving license release avail-

able looking for immediate place-

ment. Contact: 96394948

Chemical Engineer with MBA &

experience looking for job.

Contact: 94908977

A Sudanese Mechanical Engineer Graduate from Malaysia, 6 years of

work experience in projects, fluent

in English & Arabic. NOC is avail-

able valid Omani driving license.

Contact: 95569340

Indian, B.Tech Civil Engineer, fresh, seeking suitable job.

Contact 99105402 / 91426175,

Email : [email protected]

Indian male 24 ,B.E ( E.C.E ) grad-

uate with 3 years of experience in

the fields of BMS and Low current

systems and has good knowledge

about Electronic Security Systems,

currently working in Oman, NOC

Available. Contact:-94737033/

[email protected]

Indian female 25years M.E (pow-

er electronics) 3years experience

in teaching profession looking for

suitable job. Contact no 97003267

& 94214909


HSE Engineer / Advisor safety

Fire Engineering Nebosh, OSHA

& PDO HSE courses 15 years exp.

NOC available seeking suitable



Electrical & Electronics Engr,

knows autocad & revit.

PH: 93837973

Mechanical Engineer 7 years

experience HVAC, plumbing, fire-

fighting, metal formation, fluency

in Arabic & English, driving license


MANAGER/SUPER.

Chief Accountant/Finance Manager

– Indian male, CA Finalist, having

20 years’ experience in Finance,

Accounts, Audit, Finalization of

Accounts, preparation of Project

Reports etc., looking for immediate

placement. 12 yrs. in Oman in

Construction and Consultancy co.,

have Omani D/L, knows Tally.

Contact 94041048,


Indian male 33 yrs, having 10 yes

GCC experience (Oman, Qatar, UAE)

in business development with

driving license seeks suitable op-

portunity. Contact: 98260607

mail: [email protected]

HOSPITALITY

MEDICAL

MISCELLANEOUS

Indian male MBA Finance & Marketing 25 yrs

having 1.9 years of experience

Finance & Marketing

Contact: 95206140/ 96992013 Email:

[email protected]

ENGINEER With 2 years exp in Telecom sector, currently on visit visa, looking for suitable placement.

Contact : 93919943 [email protected]

Sudanese Male 35 yrs B.Sc Electronic System Engineering

services management.

Email: [email protected]:+97450475034

Female B. Ed English teacher, 7 yrs exp seeking suitable

placement. Contact : 99739415 /

92091528

Indian male, M.Tech Graduate in

Chemical Process Control Engineer-

ing looking for lecturing jobs, cur-

rently in Oman. Contact : 98352288

Indian male in English, M.Phill,

B.Ed with 5 years experience in

College teaching & good admin-

istrative skill is looking for a

suitable placement in Education

Institutions or offices.

Contact: 98260529 / 97297939


B.E Mechanical Engineer, age

33 with 6+ years experience in

GCC in MEP building construc-

tion field (execution and design of

HVAC,firefighting,plumbing),

with D/L, NOC available

Contact 96978380,


Diploma Engineering Instrumenta-

tion Technician, 2 years experience

skills calibration & installation etc.

Contact: 98963344 / 96946408


Construction Machinery repairs

Engineer, 5 years, driving license,

Contact - 94001961

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 female MBA / HR, 2.5

experience seeking suitable job.

Contact: 99257214

Indian female, 27, MCA, 2 yrs

experience in Administration and

HR in India & Oman. Currently in

family visa seeking suitable jobs

preferably in Muscat.

Contact.99417993

Indian/ 23yrs female/ 5yrs GCC

experience with NOC looking for

a suitable position in HR/Admin/

Accounts/BD.

Contact: +96890656997

Indian female with nearly 10

years of Oman experience in

Administration & HR, seeking suit-

able placement. NOC available.

Contact: 99242841

Filipino HRD especialist / material

controller supervisor with 18 yrs

experience looking for suitable job

in Oman. Contact: (+968) 98037142

/ (+968) 92659817

Indian male 31yrs old with hotel

management degree,03 yrs experi-

ence in F&B services at 5 star hotel

Dubai, 05 yrs in American 06 star

cruiseliner has butler. Has oman driv-

ing licence. Contact No 99859150.

Indian male 28yrs Bcom 3yrs exp.

in warehouse operations (including

pharmaceutical). Well knowledge in

WMS & ERP, looking for suitable job.

Ph. 95576686,

E: [email protected] (UAE visa

holder, currently in Oman)

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE

Indian, 20 years experience in

Oman as personal assistant / office

manager / executive secretary /

administrator / business develop-

ment asst. seeks job change. Release

available. Contact 99168054.

Secretary coordinators 16 yrs

experience Indian male 42 yrs ow-

ing Oman driving license release


Lady Secretary / Sales Co-coordi-

nator 12 years experience in Oman

in reputed companies, seek imme-

diate Employment. Call: 95244761

Looking for part time job Secre-tarial / Data Entry / Documenta-

tion available every day after 5:00

pm Friday / Saturday full day area

preferred Ruwi/ CBD/ MBD /

Al Khuwair. Contact: 90414827

Indian male GYM instructor fitness

trainer on visit visa looking for a

suitable job. Contact : 92802307

Indian male, 28, post graduate,

6+ yrs exp in Oman in sales (back

office) & credit control with valid

Oman D/L looking for suitable lace-

ments. NOC available. # 92066 523

Mechanical Engineer (B.Tech)

Indian male with 2 year experi-

ence, AREA OF INTEREST

Work on Oil Rigs, Work as an QA/

QC inspector, Ultrasonic testing,

Radiographic testing.

Contact: +91 9567526566


DRIVERSudanese male bachelor geology

and mining with 3 years experi-

ence in MUD logging and training

in soil investigation. Contact:

92956848

BS in Electrical Engineering, Experience: 5 years(Power Plants).

Contact: 92475206 Email:

[email protected]

Indian female dentist specialized

Endodontist, looking for suitable

placement. Parametric completed.

Contact: 96410448

D- Pharm Pharmacist 17 years

experience Ayurvedic Panchakar-

ma Masseur’s 3 years experience.

Contact: 93672452

Senior female staff Nurse with

MOH license, over 25 years

experience in Operation Theatre,

Gynaecology, Anaesthesia, General

, Plastic and reconstructive surgery

looking for suitable opportunities

in Oman. NOC available.

Call: 92098423

Veterinary Doctor 7 years experi-

ence Indian male wife in MOH with

family visa need job. # 98107162


Architectural Draftsmen diploma

in construction technology with 6

years experience in drafting and

detailing as per British standard

in Oman with valid Omani license

looking for suitable opportunity

Noc available. Call 94375897.

Autocad works freelance, MEP, Civil

works, Interior, 2d/3d, BOQ etc.

Contact 97103168

Revit, Autocad D/man, expected

salary 200 OMR PH :92279784

Filipino Senior Revit/AutoCAD

Draftsman with 20 years profes-

sional experience is looking for suit-

able job in Oman. Please Contact:

96489798, (+974) 66653780.

An MBA (M Finance)W

experience seeks suitable placement

Gsm: +968 98103247

A O G

I

experience seeks suitable placement.

Gsm:+958 98103250

An MBA (M Finance)

Full or part time driver available.

Contact 93540898 /91624908

Driver with light duty license 10 yrs

exp. Contact: 94566432

13 years experience driver.

Contact 95068976

Experience driver 12 years experi-

ence in GCC, seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact: 93722881

Search job for light driver, experi-

ence 3 years, language Hindi, Eng-

lish & Arabic. Contact: 92458526/

97941771

Looking for job heavy license P.D.O.

Contact: 92073175 / 95606146

Looking for driver job (private).

Contact: 98053733

Looking for driving job. Contact: 93650209

Driver with car Subaru 2008 model.

Contact: 99640986

Looking for driving job.

Contact: 99518533

Bangladeshi driver looking for job.

Contact: 97418036

Looking for driving job light 2 years exp.

Contact: 91625977

Filipino Male: 35 yrs, with 3yrs

Technical & Customer Service,

2yrs Online Ad Serving, 1yr dmin-

istrative work experiences looking

for suitable job. Contact 97852816

Indian female MCA having 3 yrs

experience in teaching looking for

any suitable job in reputed organic

station on visit skilled in program-

ming language VB, JAVA ,C,C,TT &

also WEB development. #90595322

Indian Male, MCA Graduate, 15

yrs exp in ERP, CSM Certified,

seeking suitable role.NOC Avail-

able. Contact : GSM : 90189284


Indian male 3 years experience in

IT as Linux Administrator & 1 year

experience in Amazon EC2 Cloud at

Wipro Technologies Bangalore seek-

ing for a suitable placement.

Contact: 92889678


Indian female M.Sc Computer

Science seeking suitable place-

ment in Muscat area.

Contact: 98660672

SAP Business Objects / Data

Warehousing professional. 10

years experience with top 5 IT

global companies (HP and Accen-

ture) in team leading roles. Oman

family visa. Looking for jobs in

Muscat. Phone: 91487199

Indian male Networking Techni-

cian having 8 years experience

(6 years in Gulf) seeking suitable

jobs. Currently on visit visa.

Contact: 98269614


Indian male 4 years experience in

IT as Programmer / Web Support/

CCNA/ Network on visit visa seek-

ing placement. Contact: 93069694


3 years experience in IT Software

field, seeking suitable jobs.

Contact: 96350234, Email :

[email protected]

4 years as Network Engineer (CCNA- MCTIP) very good in Ara-

bic & English, having valid license.

Contact: 99813988

Indian male diploma in hotel

management with 16 years of

experience in Oman & Saudi , hav-

ing Omani D/L seeking for suitable


/92221956

Indian male Civil Engg. 11 years

experience having Omani driving

license, NOC available.

Contact: 95797286


Sr. Quantity surveyor B.Tech (Civil

Tech) above 8 years (7 years in

Oman) having driving license NOC


Mechanical Engineer experience

maintenance of pumping stations

production line machinery turbine

for power plant good communica-

tions skills, planning follow up

Engineer projects HSE awareness

trained multiple design software

looking for job. Contact 949064473 / 96654019

Civil Engineer, young Indian

having almost 2 years experience

looking for a challenging position

seeks suitable position in Oman/

GCC. Please contact 92718490,

Email ID: [email protected]

Instrumentation Engineer, Indian

male 25 years having over 2 years

experience in calibration, testing

and maintenance of field instru-

ments, looking for a suitable posi-

tion, available in Oman for visit.

Contact: 91228010

Civil Engineer with 6+ years in

Supervision designing & Q.C expert

in much civil softwares,

NOC available. Contact: 90719263

Mechanical Engineer (Sudanese)

3 years experience : Fire fighting,

HSE, Design, Production.

Contact: 93642704


Pakistani male Diploma Civil

Engineer 4yrs exp in Oman bull-

ing & mega projects, valid license

Oman.Contact:98921022

Indian male, Structural Engineer

looking for job in structural design

field. Having 6 years of experience in

design field. Residing in Muscat. Con-

tact: 91176187 [email protected]

Electrical Engineer Indian male

30 years having 5 years of experi-

ence in industrial automation &

utility maintenance in India,

holding valid Oman D/L.

Contact: 92789995 mail:

[email protected]

Sr. Electrical Engineer with17+ yrs

of exceptional exp in spear head-

ing strategic planning and project

management initiatives & execut-

ing various high rise residential

& commercial building as well as

roads and highway project with

proficiency in installation, seeking

a challenging position in a dynamic

organization. Contact 96570891

Electrical Engineer with 16 years

experience in switchgear / trans-

former / over head lines & trading,

looking for sales / procurement &

project planning & Execution with

NOC & D/L. Contact: 95994727


Senior Land Surveyor 23 yrs Oman,

UAE & Egypt GPS, T.S

Construction roads infrastructure oil

feed electric works OHL, UGC grid ,

primary substation processing data.

Contact: 95326927 / 92928981


Civil Engineer (Indian male)

5 years experience in Oman with

valid Omani driving license & NOC

looking for suitable opportunity.

Contact: 93101283

Indian male B-tech 8 years experi-

ence as senior electrical project

engineer / QC engineer on visit

visa seeks suitable placement.

Contact 94094543


Site Supervisor, Diploma in

Civil Engg (cert attested) knows

autocad revit, salary exp: 250

Ph : 92279784

Indian male 40 years BSc & diplo-

ma in logistics, 16 yrs experience

(6 yrs in GCC) in logistics, store-

keeping & spare parts, seeking

suitable placement. NOC available.

Contact: 98966849

IT Support Engineer, Exp 3 years

in Oman 2 years in India.

Contact: 94672759

DAILY GUIDED6 T H U R S D AY, J U N E 1 6 , 2 0 1 6

Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

GOOD NEWS

FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to

know more about Islam, please

call: 99425598, 99250777,

99353988, 99253818, 99341395,

and 99379133. For ladies:

99415818, 99321360, 99730723

Orvisit:www.islamfact.com

Ayurvedic treatment for back-

ache, paralysis, arthritis etc

& massage, All Season (Vaid-

yaratnam). Contact:24475280 /

95371664 / 92504980

www.siddhayur.com

Ayurvedic treatment for joint

pain, backache, paralysis, mas-

sage, steambath, obesity, Spondy-

litis, Ideal Care Ayurvedic Clinic,

18 November Street, Azaiba.

Contact: 99639695 / 97397320

SITUATION WANTEDCOMPUTER/WEB./ EDUCATION/CLASSES

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

Indian female having D/L with

12 years experience in corporate

/ retail sales & B/D. Looking for a

suitable job in training / IT / Edu-

cation companies.

Contact: 91751077


Indian male 24 B.com, 2years of

experience in sales & admin & profi-

cient in M.S Office, Excel.

Contact: 98613373


Indian male MBA 5 yrs experience

in Oman and India seeking suitable

position in marketing & sales NOC

available. Contact: 93059175 Email:

[email protected]

Indian male 1.5 yrs exp a sales &

merchandising in Oman looking

for best opportunity NOC available.

Contact: 93039342

Indian male 1 yr exp in sales

automotive (TBL) looking for best

opportunity , NOC available.

Contact: 97793879


Sales & Marketing executive MBA

with 3 years exp , 6 months exp in

Oman with NOC , looking for suit-

able placement. Contact: 91345727

Indian female, BSC, Bed, MBA (Mar-

keting) 3years experience, seeks

suitable in the marketing section.

Contact: 95041134


Sales & Marketing Executive Indian

national with valid Omani D/L with

good command of languages, 18 yrs

exp in Middle East. Looking for suit-

able placement. Contact - 98103829

MBA - HR. 10+ years of experience

(Age:29). Training, Team Manage-

ment, Client Relationship Manage-

ment and Customer Service. on

visit visa - Sunil Balu 95434193

Indian male 24 yrs Sales cum

Driver, 3 years experience in Saudi

with valid Saudi D/L, on visit visa.

Contact: 98154352

Experienced Salesman looking

for job with Omani D/L.

Contact 97900338

Indian male 25, brought up in

Oman, with MBA from UK & 2yr

W/E in Oman. Valid Oman D/L &

readily available to join. Presently

in visit visa. Looking for suitable


Indian driver with car or car or

without needs jobs as a driver or

sales with good command of Lau-

rence and familiar in market.

Contact: 98103829

Indian male 5+ years of experience

as a sales & marketing executive

with valid Oman D/L.

Contact: 95434902

Seeking suitable placement in

purchase stone with 8 years expe-

rience in Oman, now in visit visa.

Contact: 97332401

B. Com 2 years experience in Sales

Marketing Logistics Accounts and

Front office Contact 95506048

Sales 2 years B.Com male 24 yrs,

Indian. Contact: 00968 94212636

[email protected]

B.Com, Sales Executive 30 yrs,

5 years experience with D/L.

Contact: 94501264

Email: [email protected] /

[email protected]

Indian Male MBA, 5 years Build-

ing Materials Project Sales experi-

ence in Oman, NOC available,

seeking for placement.

Contact - 90655903,99325544

35 years male, Lebanese holding

British passport, 10 years of experi-

ence in procurement, Omani Govern-

ment tenders, setup marketing plans

& strategies, importing, Organizing

events, management, have car, NOC

available. Contact 94123939


Looking for job Executive

purchase logistics 10 years

experience with NOC & d/license.

Contact: 91432512

Indian Male, MBA marketing 5 yrs

exp. in sales & 4 yrs in FMCG

sector, looking for best opportunity.

NOC available. Contact: 96001877

Indian female 29 years Post Grad-

uate with computer Knowledge

2 years of Oman experience in

coordinator & 5 years of experience

in customer service, client relation

officer with excellent communica-

tion skill seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 95337665

SALES / MARKETING

FOR LADIES

Contact 99619409

Offer!! Treading Gold Facial &

Pedicure just for 10 RO,

Home service available, (Threading, facial, waxing,

Head massage) R0. 20

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

SITUATION WANT-SERVICES

SITUATION WANT-SERVICES

SERVICESWe Provide Cleaners,

General cleaning etc.

Contact : 94277020

Pest control & Building cleaning all kinds of pest control

MYearly contracts available.

0 Al Husn Cleaning L.L.C

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing,

Contact 99314807/24792998

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

All Maintenance and services

electric, CCTV Camera, Plumbing

A/C service and gas installation,

painting tiles. Contact: 96524904 /

94285064

Split unit A/C & window unit A.C

servicing & maintenance.

Contact: 96236476

Split unit & window unit A.C ser-

vicing & maintenance.

Contact: 93769089 / 95323517

Al farzdaq Al Fedi Trad and Cont

Maintenance services electric,

plumbing and A/C. Contact:

96524904 /94285064

Window & split unit A.C servicing

& repairing. Contact: 99557080

A/C Maintenance & Servicing,

Fridge, Washing machine & Dish

washer repairing, Painting & Clean-

ing services, Electrical & plumbing.

Contact 99447257 / 97014234 /

24504281

House shifting. Contact

99708138

WE SERVE OMAN

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of

your marble. Contact 24793614/

99314807

Marble crystallization & grinding, Ocean center LLC

Contact: 99344723

Pest control treatments, Ocean center LLC

Contact 99344723

Filipino Male, 28 years Old. Looking

for job, Have experience in Rent a Car/

Cargo & Logistics / Real Estate/ Cus-

tomer Care Executive / Sale Executive

& Marketing/ Shop In- Charge. Hard

working w/ good computer and com-

munication skill. GSM: 97761075

Split & window A/C servicing,

repairing, installation ducted, pack-

age etc. Contact Abbas : 98667326

Water proofing ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. Contact ABU QABAS-

99320217 /24788722

CAD drawings Archi/ MEP

CAD – comply BIM.

Contact: 91233975

A/C servicing maintenance.

Contact: 92279370

Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile

polishing, pest control &

anti-termite treatment, general

cleaning painting,Plumbing,

Electrical, shifting. Contact Mun-

dhir Al-Rizaiqi trading. L.L.C.

Contact: 24810137, 99450130

Marble crystallization & grinding, cleaning & carpet shampooing.

Ocean center LLC.

Contact 99344723

Pest control Gulfa international.

Contact: 92326955

House Shifting Packing. Contact: 99657644 / 98518013

MANPOWER

Indian male 37 years MBA gradu-

ate in marketing with 9yrs of

experience in UAE in field of brand

promotions & marketing with UAE

D/L on a visit seeking suitable

position. Conatct 95792820

Indian Male, 26 M.Com with

4 yrs of Experience in Accounting

& Administration in a Financial

Company in India, seeks suitable

job, Currently in India.

Contact: India:-+918907212253

Akhil:-93626288, Email:

[email protected]

Indian male Graduate with 18

years of Marketing experience

presently in Oman on family visit

visa, looking for best opportunity.

Contact: 96168687



TOURS

TOURS

RENT A CAR

25 - 50 seater bus with PDO &

BP specification for monthly rent

& small car with driver. Contact

99839898

Al Ibtisama rent & leasing. Contact: 91374879 / 96627562/

99382001/ 24751177/

24751188

SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

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

DRIVING

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation available Ruwi to

Al Khuwair, Ghubra & Azaiba.

Contact: 91103909

Transportation available Al Khu-

wair, Ghobrah, Azaiba, Al Hail & Al

Khoud. Drop & pick.

Contact - 95250161

Transportation. Contact:

96538078

Transportation. Contact

94510847


99508282


92015894

Transportation required from

Qurum to WadiKabir at afternoon

only 1 PM. Contact -

99012165

SITUATION WANTEDBUSINESS

Omani investor has a real estate com-

pany in Shatti Al Qurum, looking for a

financial investor to participate in the

real estate company. For more details

contact me by 00968 96225852


INVESTOR PARTNER REQUIRED

Please contact – 95213273Email:

muscatcoff [email protected]

For a successfully Catering Restaurant

Investor cum Partner is required.

Investor with fi xed returns also welcome.

ONE STOP SHOP BUSINESS

SERVICES

Public Relation Service (PRO)

Document Clearance,

Business setup,

Formation new Companies,

LLC Companies,

Investor Visa, Legal Services.

Contact Saleh:

96723485

MATRIMONIAL

SITUATION WANT-MATRIMONIAL

For rent or investment garage full

equipment in Al Misfah Bousher.

Contact: 99284707

WEB, ERP and Business Intel-

ligence (BI) creation and manage-

ment at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

Nair boy, MBA, 28/173 cm, Rohini,

Pathanamthitta (district) working

in Oman, seeks suitable alliances,

Contact: 93722512/90651920

Ezhava male, 31yrs, height 5.6,

star Magham, B. Tech aeronautical,

administrative professional, par-

ents in Oman, native Aluva (ekm).

Mob-99550870

Ezhava male, 31yrs, height 5.6,

Star Magham, B-Tech Aeronauti-

cal, administrative professional,

parents in Oman, native Aluva

(Ekm). Contact 99550870

Indian male Roman Catholic 40yrs divorcee working in Muscat.

Seeks suitable alliance from widow/

divorcee/ single.Contact 96059801.

Parent of Thrissur based Hindu

Ezhava girl aged 20, Slim,Atham

star, Studying for B. Pharm seek-

ing alliance from well employed

Graduates, preferably in Engineer-

ing Contact :96425102

Malankara Catholic Male Nurse (28) from Thiruvalla working in

Nizwa Private Co. Alliance invites

parents/nurses working in Oman.

Contact 968 98267338,

0091 9287215726

Kerala Christian male 28, work-

ing as Admin & Support in MNC

Muscat. Contact: 95826707

WANTED

Partner / investor 20% - 30%

share transfer running building

construction company.

Contact: 93163157

Urgently required looking to

immediately buy used Grit blasting

& airless spray equipment 1 No each.

Contact: 968 24810930 / 93203772

/ 93203773 / 93203778

IELTS Coaching (academic)

required nearby wadi Kabir area.

Please call on mobile or msg on

Whats up.

Mobile # 92927880/99012165

Parents of 28 yrs, Indian Boy

from Mumbai, ACCA working as

a senior accountant in Muscat,

seeks alliance from an Indian

Sunni Muslim family. Contact

no.(parent): 96408642 email id:

[email protected]

D8 T H U R S D AY, J U N E 1 6 , 2 0 1 6

DAILY GUIDE Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

Times of Oman - June 16, 2016

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Transcript of Times of Oman - June 16, 2016