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SATURDAY, May 2, 2015 /13 Rajab 1436 AH timesofoman.com wtimesofoman.com facebook.com/timesofoman twitter.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com ISO 9001:2008 Certifi ed Company

The Information Technology Authority signed a contract with HCL Technologies to implement the Mobile Applications Development Centre during COMEX 2015 that ended on Friday. >A2

ITA SIGNS DEAL FOR MOBILE APPS CENTRE

Health comes before all else for Omanis

Staff Reporter

MUSCAT: For Omanis health is the most valuable thing, a survey that shows what people around the world value most, has found.

It is followed by life satisfaction, income, environment, and educa-tion, along with housing, safety, community, jobs, civic engage-ment and work-life balance, the survey conducted by the Organi-sation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Called the Better Life Index, the survey hopes to allow view-ers to compare well-being across countries, based on the 11 topics the OECD recognised as vital, in the areas of material living condi-tions and in the quality of life.

“Both Omanis and expatriates

living here are more conscious about their health. We medics have realised that they never compromise on that. Even though the cost is a little high when com-pared to Asian countries, people are not reluctant to spend on healthcare,” Shibu Mohammed, a medic at Badr Al Samaa, told the Times of Oman. “They look at health as wealth,” he added.

“Since it was founded in 1961, the OECD has helped govern-ments design better policies to improve the lives of their citizens. More recently, the OECD has been keenly involved in the de-bate to measure well-being.

Based on this experience, these 11 topics refl ect what the OECD has identifi ed as essential to well-being in terms of material living conditions (housing, income,

jobs) and quality of life (com-munity, education, environment, governance and health, apart from life satisfaction, safety and work-life balance),” according to the website.

Regional variationsIn the region, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) valued “safety” as most important, Qatar and Saudi Arabia gave top billing to jobs. Kuwait valued income as important and Bahrain voted for life satisfaction.

More than 80,000 users of the Better Life Index around the world have shared their views on what makes for a better life. If they explore the interactive map viewers can fi nd what well-being topics are rated highest, and where. >A3

When it comes

to spending on

healthcare, people in

Oman do not hesitate

even though the cost

is a shade higher

compared to other

Asian countries

GLITTERING LIKE GOLDAn aerial view of the shimmering Wadi Kabir at night captured by Times of Oman photographer Shabin E. Share your pictures with

Times of Oman via our instagram account or email webeditor@timesofoman.com

OMANOmani artist to team up with Italian master

1Omani painter Mohammed Al Maamari will be teaming up with a prominent Italian

artist, Attilio Forgioli, in a joint exhibition that opens on May 4 in Milan, Italy, just in time for the start of EXPO 2015. The exhibition, ‘In the Shade, In the Sun,’ compares the works of a great master of Italian painting and those of a young Omani artist. It’s is being organised in collaboration with Ministry of Tourism and OmanAir. >A3

WORLDUp to 1,000 Europeans missing in Nepal

2 Nepali and foreign offi cials were struggling on Friday to locate thousands of

people still missing after last week’s massive earthquake, as food and other relief supplies began to trickle through to those stranded in remote parts of the country. Up to 1,000 Europeans are among the missing, mostly around popular trekking routes, the head of the EU delegation in Nepal said. “We don’t know where they are, or they could be,” said EU ambassador. >A10

MARKETSaudi Aramco restructured

3Saudi Aramco created a supreme board to oversee the state-run company’s

aff airs as the world’s biggest oil exporting nation continues a reorganisation of its energy industry. The 10-member board will be led by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who’s also chairman of Saudi Arabia’s Council of Economic Aff airs and Development, Saudi Aramco said in a statement on Friday. >B1

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

GraphicsSource: OECD Better Life Index

Health is top priority for people in OmanOman

HealthLife satisfaction

IncomeEnvironment

EducationHousing

SafetyCommunity

JobsCivic engagementWorklife balance

UAE SafetyQatar Jobs

Saudi Arabia JobsKuwait Income

Bahrain Life satisfaction

Valued first

2.7 % is the share of health expenditure in the GDP

OMR 1.6 billion health sector grant in budget

81.1 % of total health expenditure

83.1 % of hospitals

92.5 % of hospitalbeds

62.2 % of out-patient services

94.5 % of in-patient services

Oman government coversA6The super fight cheat sheet

British School Muscat launches Phase 1A of expansion planTARIQ AL HAREMItariqh@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: A ground-breaking ceremony was organised on the British School Muscat (BSM) premises to launch the Phase 1A of the school’s development.

Phase 1A is the fi rst of several development projects the BSM has planned which focuses on a new car park with a drop-off point where currently the football pitch exists. The football pitch will be shifted above the car park.

“Where the present football

pitch is, you will have a car park, and above the car park you will have a football pitch, which is of a higher specifi cation and is better than the present one,” said Liam McAuliff e, project manager from Douglas OHI.

FIFA standardsThe 96-metre long, Astroturf foot-ball pitch is designed to the Fédé-ration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Under-16 standards with a running strip around. The pitch is equipped with quality fl oodlights and capacity to

accommodate 700 spectators.The car park will fi t 180 vehicles

and can accommodate up to 24 cars at the drop-off bay.

When asked about the future projects with the BSM, McAuliff e said, “We have huge plans going forward. Phase 1B will be coming up next year, and it will see a couple of more sports halls, restructuring of the existing swimming pool and installation of a tournament-size swimming pool.”

“There are very progressive plans for the school in the next four to fi ve years,” he said, and add-

ed that plans for a performing arts auditorium and an amphitheatre could make the BSM one of the best British schools in the world.

Commenting on the close rela-tionship between Douglas OHI and the BSM, Maqbool Hameed, chair-man of Douglas OHI said, “We are very proud of the work done. We did a good job, our past record was good, we delivered on time and the client was very happy.”

Phase 1A, which includes the car park and new football pitch, is scheduled for completion on De-cember 21 of this year.

G R O U N D - B R E A K I N G C E R E M O N Y

Focus on entrepreneurship as Oman pursues diversifi cationTARIQ AL HAREMItariqh@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Diversifi cation of the economy and raising the share of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in it by boosting entre-preneurship were discussed at a conference held on Thursday.

Titled ‘The dynamics of entre-preneurship’, the conference was held under the patronage of Dr Rashid Al Huraibi, chairman of the Tender Board of Oman and hosted by the National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

Leading speakers, including in-dustrialists, corporate executives and businessmen discussed en-trepreneurship in the Sultanate in course of the conference.

The thought-provoking pres-entations and panel discussions by private and public sector lead-ers addressed the importance of the SME community in Oman and deliberated on the key issues faced by them.

Injaz, one of the key present-ers of the conference, spoke of its determination to train stu-dents to become entrepreneurs and leaders.

Mindset“The real reason we started this project is to infuse the spirit of entrepreneurship and bring about that change in the mind-set. Regardless of where you end up, starting your own business or working for an organisation,

in the end you will have the spirit of entrepreneurship within you,” said Shabib Al Mamari, executive director of Injaz Oman.

Dominic De Sousa, founder of privately owned CPI Media Group stated that “Oman has become a regional champion of SME evolu-tion with unrivalled innovation, debate and commercial develop-ment in the SME sector.”

“With a strong diversifi cation agenda, terrifi c public-private partnership models and fl our-ishing tourism sector, Oman is a great place to do business,” said De Sousa.

The Dynamics of Entrepre-neurship is dedicated to celebrat-ing the eff orts of the Omani com-munity and fostering its growth.

Although SMEs make up 65 per cent of businesses in Oman, they only contribute 15 per cent to the Sultanate’s GDP, which is a factor that needs to be addressed and changed signifi cantly in the next seven to eight years. >A3

C O N F E R E N C E

INNOVATIVE PLANS: Maqbool Hameed, chairman Douglas OHI, left,

with British School Muscat Principal Kai Vacher, right. -Jun Estrada

businesses in the Sultanate come under

the SME category, but their contribution

to the GDP is only 15 per cent

65%

S CA N T H I S Q R CO D E TO V I S I T I N STAG RA M ACCOU N T O F T I M ES O F O M A N

A2 S AT U R DAY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5

OMAN

Mobile apps set to boost e-services

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Mobile apps are the best platform for eServices and to provide the right infrastructure for the public and private sector to develop these services, the In-formation Technology Author-ity (ITA) has signed a contract with HCL Technologies to imple-ment the Mobile Applications Development Centre.

The contract was signed at COMEX 2015 by Dr Salim Sul-tan Al Ruzaiqi, CEO of ITA, and Arindam Sengupta, director, Middle East and Turkey, HCL Technologies Ltd.

The contract is valid for three years and is worth about OMR2 million. The ITA will provide training to three batches every year with 54 trainees in each batch. They will receive training

for three months after which 10 trainees from each batch will go for a 6-month advanced training programme.

The centre aims to develop mo-bile applications in Oman through skill development and by creating an industry demand in the region. It also seeks to establish the eco-system for local talent to get incu-bated into mobile application de-velopment and develop them into becoming freelancers, entrepre-neurs or industry professionals.

The Mobile Applications De-velopment Centre will also serve as an advisory for local SMEs and start-ups by establishing industry standard best practices and subse-quently off ering mobility services to various SMEs in the region.

With the Ministry of Health committed to providing seamless health-care services, and in line with its eTransformation plan, it unveiled its new contact centre mobile app at COMEX 2015 under the patronage of Dr Ali Bin Talib Al Hinai, undersecretary for planning aff airs at the Ministry, in the pres-ence of Dr Al Ruzaiqi.

To ensure accessibility of health services to everyone in the Sul-tanate, anywhere and at anytime, the mobile app service, which complements the call centre, was launched by the ministry recently.

It has a health database that can be accessed by specialists, researchers and administrators. In addition, the app is linked to the patient’s record to provide the right services once requested.

ITA signed a OMR2

million contract

to implement the

Mobile Applications

Development Centre

at the COMEX which

concluded on Friday

Times News Service MUSCAT: Besides the exhibits showcased by large companies’ and institutions’ at COMEX 2015, Omani school students also put their own innovations on display.

Robots created by Omani school students stood out among these technologies and innovations, as support provided by the Ministry of Education(MOE), represented by the Department of Develop-ment and Educational Tech-nologies (DDET), motivates creative students to excel at IT and helps them to participate and compete at both local and international levels.

Quba’ School for Basic Education (5-10) is one of the schools participating in the school innovations corner at COMEX2015, where they displayed The Space Robot. The robot works to reduce pollution in space and measures the hu-midity and temperature inside spaceships.

Iman Al Rubaie, Sara Al Rushaidi, and Noor Al Ghdani carried out the project and its programming under the super-

vision of their teacher, Laila Al Sa’di. Speaking about the tasks handled by the Space Robot, Iman, an 8th grade student, said, “The robot does compli-cated tasks performed by the crew, such as humidity and temperature measurements.”

This project was also entered in the competition organized by the World Robot Olympiad

national committee in Oman in September 2014 and won fi rst place, and was then nomi-nated to represent Oman in the 2014 World Robot Olympiad in Russia. Competing with a large number of participating projects from various countries, the Space Robot project won sixth place among other 45 projects. Iman Al Rubaie added,

“We really feel proud that we placed Oman’s name in the frontier, as it was the only Arab country to win such a prestig-ious ranking.” She continued, “Our ambition is to achieve fi rst place, and we are working to reach this goal.” The students are now improving the Space Robot by adding more features, she added.

Omani school students show their skills with robots

New technologies pitch for support to diff erently-abled at COMEXTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Some people might be unlucky to have a disability, but that should not stop them from leading normal lives or even get-ting the same education as other people do.

At COMEX 2015, several such educational tools, devices, soft-

ware and technologies for the diff erently-abled have been showcased.

Assistive technology refers to devices such as hearing aids, electricity powered wheelchairs and many more items that allow individuals with disabilities to lead more fulfi lling, integrated and independent lives. The White

Hands Centre (WHC) for assistive technology and complementary therapies, the fi rst of its kind in Oman, provides assistive technol-ogy needs for children and adults with disabilities and learning diffi culties.

People with mobility, vision or hearing impairments, or intellec-tual and learning disabilities such

as cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome, and even age-related disabilities like Alzheimer’s, will be able to get appropriate treatment there.

‘Byadi Aqra’ (with my Hands, I Read) is a website developed by the College of Arts and Social Sciences at the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) to help visually impaired

students get the course materials in accessible formats.

One of the main goals of this ap-plication is to facilitate and handle the conversion of course materials and books from hard copy to soft-copy by volunteers, then upload-ing them directly to the e-library which can be accessed at any time.

This application serves as a

complete archive storing a wide number of e-books and academic courses that can be found at any-time from anywhere. It made the academic life of many visually im-paired students easier and simpler by providing them with any aca-demic course they asked for, in a short time in a manner suitable for their needs.

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

TECH FUTURE: Robots created by Omani school students stood out among the technologies and

innovations shown at the exhibitions.–Supplied photos

With assistive technology tools, we can enhance the lives of people with disabilities and empower them to be as productive as any member in the society

Abdullah Al FasariStudent working on Byadi Aqra, (With My Hands, I Read) website

A3

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Omani artist to team up with Italian master in Milan for EXPO 2015SARAH MACDONALDsarah@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Omani painter Mo-hammed Al Maamari will be team-ing up with a prominent Italian artist, Attilio Forgioli, in a joint exhibition that opens on May 4 in Milan, Italy, just in time for the start of EXPO 2015.

The exhibition, ‘In the Shade, In the Sun,’ compares the works of a great master of Italian painting and those of a young Omani artist. It’s is being organised in collabo-ration with Oman’s Ministry of Tourism and OmanAir at La Per-manente Museum in Milan and promoted by JunGlam Advice. It will run from May 4 to 27.

“It’s something prestigious. It’s something unique for an Omani artist to have this chance,” Al Maamari told Times of Oman.

Al Maamari, who was born in 1981, paints scenes of Oman’s rich culture and heritage, while Attilio Forgioli, born in 1933, paints and draws colourful, modern images based on landscapes and still life.

Organised in the fi rst month of EXPO 2015, the exhibition will be an opportunity to compare the cul-tures of Italy with that of Oman. Al Maamari, who will be in Milan for the opening, said he hoped visitors would see how rich Oman’s tradi-tions are thanks to his paintings.

“They will get a diff erent im-age of Oman. They will see a lot of cultural scenes of Oman, like the amazing camels and camel races, the people, and all these things,” Al Maamari added.

In October ‘In the Shade, In the Sun’ will be exhibited in Muscat with the support of the Italian Em-bassy in Oman.

E X H I B I T I O N

ART CONNECTIONS: Organised in the fi rst month of EXPO 2015, the exhibition will be an opportunity to compare the cultures of Italy with

that of Oman. Al Maamari, who will be in Milan for the opening, said he hoped visitors would see how rich Oman’s traditions are thanks to

his paintings.–Supplied photo

Comedy shows must be rich in content: Vivek

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Comedy shows should be rich in content, said south In-dian actor Vivek, known for his comic roles.

Vivek is in Muscat to perform at the mega comedy-cum-musi-cal evening organised by Muscat Arts in association with Majan Events at the City Amphitheatre on Saturday.

Vivek, a comedian par-excel-lence, is hailed as one of the all-time great comic actors of south-ern India’s Tamil fi lm industry. With his very unique and amaz-ingly natural brand of comedy, he has been entertaining fi lmgo-ers for over 25 years. He has a

unique style of dialogue-delivery and body language, and an impec-cable sense of timing – all hall-marks of a great comedian. His mere presence on screen evokes spontaneous laughter.

Introduced to the screen by none other than veteran fi lm direc-tor, the late K. Balachander, Vivek left his mark on every single role that he essayed, and soon became a sensation, storming the fi lm world with not just his comedy but also his thought-provoking social messages delivered unobtrusively through his performances.

In an interview, while speaking about the quality of the comedy in Tamil fi lms, Vivek said, “Comedy

without content will not live long. That is my humble opinion.”

When asked what was special about the May 2 show he said, “I am special about today’s show be-cause this is my fi rst visit to Mus-cat. I am going to anchor some parts of the show and also enact a few skits and play a musical in-strument as well.”

“Beware, my dear audience,” he warned.

Speaking about his mentor K Balachander he said, “My guru was known for his perfection, sincerity and innovative ideas. I am a prod-uct of his school. He introduced more than 75 new faces to the fi lm industry. He is the creator of su-

perstar Rajnikanth and the men-tor of Kamal Hassan Sir. Without his guidance his guidance and advice, I would not have reached these heights.”

Describing Samy as one of his favourite fi lms because the hu-mour in the fi lm dealt with numer-ous social issues, he said, “It was appreciated by one and all.”

On the directors who have really made the best use of his abilities, he said, “Undoubtedly Balachan-der sir and Shankar sir.”

“’Muscateers’ can get set for an evening of rib-tickling com-edy while treating themselves to a repertoire of hit songs,” said the organisers.

Vivek is in Muscat to

perform at the mega

comedy-cum-musical

evening organised

by Muscat Arts in

association with

Majan Events at the

City Amphitheatre

on Saturday

Government leads health care drive

“The responses, updated daily, have been grouped by country, age and gender, and displayed on the interactive map above,” ac-cording to the OEC website.

The health care system in the Sultanate is characterised by its universal coverage for both citi-zens and expatriates. Total health expenditure accounts for 2.7 per cent of Gross Domestic Products (GDP) at market prices.

Health-care is provided in fa-cilities mainly owned and run by the government. The gov-ernment covers about 81.1 per cent of total health expenditure, providing 83.1 per cent of hos-pitals, 92.5 per cent of hospital beds, 62.2 per cent of out-patient services and 94.5 per cent of in-patient services.

In the present budget, Oman has allocated OMR1.6 billion to the health-care sector. There are plans to set up 11 new hospitals.

Talking of life satisfaction, both nationals and expatriates said that political and economic stability makes Oman the best place to make a living.

“Even during the present oil price dip, which is triggering economic turbulence, there is life satisfaction in Oman. In ad-dition to that, decisions taken by the government, both local and regional, are making life easier here,” said Mohammed Faisal, a national working in a private company. “Payments and other benefi ts are decent too,” he added.

Meanwhile, an expatriate busi-nessman said that compared to other countries in the region, Oman is the best place to live.

“We feel safe, and we are able to maintain the work-life balance,” said Jose Chacko, an Indian busi-nessman and fi nancial analyst.

Natural beautyWhile talking on the prospects of the natural beauty of Oman, which is valued by nationals and expatriates at fourth place, a travel agent said that none of the other countries in the region can beat Oman’s natural beauty.

Recently, ‘Skift’, an interna-tional website which is affi liated to a major American company, chose the Sultanate as the world’s best tourist destination for 2015.

According to the largest global provider of information and data related to the travel and tourism sector, the outstanding tourism elements off ered by the Sultanate for tourists combines the nobility of traditional Arab culture and modernity.

S O C I A L W E L F A R E

Red Bull starts photo contest

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Photography enthusi-asts, whether amateur or profes-sional, have the opportunity to reveal their talent at the Red Bull 5 Pics contest.

To compete at the photo contest, all you need to do is shoot fi ve pho-tos showing what you love about Oman and collect votes to win.

“Red Bull 5 Pics is a creative platform for anybody, whether amateur or professional to express themselves through their photos. All you need to do is snap fi ve pho-tos from your phone or camera, showing us what you love about Oman with the theme ‘Unseen Oman’. Rack up as many votes as you can and take home the prize,” according to the Red Bull website.

You can tell a story with fi ve best photos of Oman and upload them to the Red Bull 5 Pics website. If your pictures are among the fi n-est you could get a chance to show them off at a gallery exhibition. Winners will be announced on May 27 at Bait Al Zubair gallery.

This promotion is only open to residents of Oman of all nationali-ties and 16 years or above. Those interested can submit one album throughout the duration of the promotion which ends on May 13.

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RED BULL SITEW W W.T I M E S O F O M A N . C O M

SMEs face market hurdlesDiscussing the challenges SMEs face while competing against the public sector, Nader Al Rawahy, director, account business de-velopment leader, Government and Private Sector of Ernst and Young, said, “SMEs in Oman face high operational costs, which is a big burden on them, as well as marketing limitations, market-ing weaknesses and ineffi ciency, and a lack of suffi cient initiative for local products to compete with imported products.”

“SMEs also face recruitment challenges due to Omanisa-tion percentages and mini-mum wages paid to Omanis,” he further said.

It is a well known fact that

Omani youth would prefer join-ing the government sector as op-posed to the private sector due to greater benefi ts and job security off ered by the former.

In Qatar, 97 per cent of busi-nesses are run by SMEs but they only contribute 3 per cent of the country’s GDP, whereas in the United Arab Emirates, SMEs run 62 per cent of the businesses and have contributed 67 per cent to the local economy in a time-frame of nine years.

“Oman is at a critical junc-ture in the development of the SME universe and it maybe a relatively short time before we see a much greater proportion of diversifi cation in the SME

space,” said Paul Godfrey, group director of Editorial. Comment-ing on Oman’s 15 per cent GDP contribution compared to the UAE, Al Rawahi said, “I know it is a very low percentage, but I be-lieve that initiatives such as this and having the right people in the right place and having them discussing and seeing challenges from the beginning will be game-changers in the next few years.”

During the event, CPI Media Group and PWC also signed an exclusive deal for the CPI - PWC Insight Series, through which the parties will collaborate and produce world-class reports that will benefi t the SME communi-ties in the region.

O M A N E C O N O M Y

I am special about today’s show

because this is my first visit to

Muscat. I am going to anchor some

parts of the show and also enact

a few skits and play a musical

instrument as well

Vivek Acclaimed South Indian comedian

NCSI to e-survey foreign fundsTimes News Service

MUSCAT: To create a compre-hensive database for decision makers, the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) will begin conducting its annual e-survey on foreign investment in the Sultanate for the fi scal year ending December 2014 on Sunday.

The database survey, which will continue through the end of this year, seeks to build a com-prehensive database on foreign investment in the Sultanate to

enable decision makers to form necessary policy frameworks to create an environment for at-tracting signifi cant investments in Oman.

Technical systemThe survey will be electroni-cally carried out by a special-ised technical system designed exclusively for this project, and will primarily identify the role of foreign investment in the cur-rent and future development of the Sultanate.

It will focus on economic

sector-wise distribution of for-eign investment and its eff ect on them.

Yet another objective of the survey is to gain insights into the extent of the impact of for-eign investment in the fi elds of manpower, exports, imports and international services.

The data collected in the survey will be dealt with confi -dentially and not used for any purpose other than statistics, according to the statistical law set forth in Royal Decree No.: 29/2001.

N A T I O N A L D A T A B A S E

< FROM

A1

The health-care

system in Oman

is characterised

by its universal

coverage. Total health

expenditure accounts

for 2.7 per cent of GDP

< FROM

A1

A4 S AT U R DAY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5

REGION

Fuel shortage threatens to halt Yemen relief operations

ADEN: The UN and Red Cross warned fuel shortages are threaten-ing to halt relief operations in Yem-en and urged warring sides to spare hospitals, as Saudi-led air strikes entered a sixth week on Friday.

The latest strikes and clashes on the ground killed 47 people in second city Aden, where the Red Cross also scrambled to evacuate staff and patients from a hospital when it became a front line.

And after a meeting in Riyadh, Gulf Cooperation Council coun-tries foreign ministers rejected any moves to hold peace talks be-tween Yemeni rivals at a neutral venue. The confl ict escalated in March when a Saudi-led coalition launched strikes against Houthi rebels who overran much of the country, forcing President Abe-drabbo Mansur Hadi to fl ee.

Virtually haltedThe bombing has virtually halted the delivery of humanitarian aid and other goods, including fuel, with the International Committee of the Red Cross describing the situation as “alarming”.

“After a month of air strikes and fi ghting, Yemen’s health system is struggling to cope and there are severe shortages of essential

items especially food and fuel,” the ICRC said in a statement.

The World Food Programme said it was halting its food dis-tribution due to the shortage of fuel in Yemen where most of the stocks are in the hands of rebels.

“Humanitarian operations will end within days unless fuel sup-plies are restored,” UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned.

Ban called for an “immediate resumption of fuel imports to avoid making the already cata-strophic humanitarian situation in Yemen even worse.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that as of Monday 1,244 people had been confi rmed

killed in fi ghting in Yemen since March 19.

The Red Cross deplored the health care situation in Yemen, where doctors say they are under huge strain to operate hospitals and care for patients with dwin-dling supplies and almost no fuel.

“The surgical team from the ICRC and all local staff and pa-tients were forced to evacuate Aden’s Al Jumhurriya hospital when the building itself became a front line in the fi ghting,” it said. The ICRC’s mission chief in Yem-en said hospitals should be spared.

“We are shocked by the lack of respect for the hospital, as a neu-tral health facility, by the fi ghting

parties,” said Cedric Schweizer.Doctors in the capital Sanaa, in

statements reported by the Red Cross, also spoke of the hardships they are up against.

“We are running out of diesel. Our ambulances can no longer transport patients. Only half of our staff can come to work as the hospital buses have stopped run-ning,” said Issa Alzubh, head of Al Kuwait hospital in Sanaa.

In Aden, Doctor Adel Al Yafyi told AFP his hospital was no longer able to care for ordinary patients because it was being fl ooded by those wounded in com-bat or air strikes. The WHO said the collapse of access to health

care had also fanned the spread of epidemic diseases, with 44 alerts of suspected outbreaks of dis-eases including measles, dengue fever and meningitis. Last week, Riyadh announced a halt to the coalition air war but it has kept up its strikes every day since.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Ab-dulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia and his son and Defence Minis-ter Prince Mohammed have said repeatedly that it will go on until the rebels concede. At Thursday’s meeting in Riyadh, Gulf countries foreign ministers insisted UN-bro-kered peace talks must only take place in the Saudi kingdom. — AFP

The latest strikes

and clashes on

the ground killed

47 people in the

country’s second

biggest city of Aden

Rebels battle Syrian army close to Assad’s ancestral home

AMMAN/BEIRUT: Hardline re-bels and the Syrian army fought fi erce battles in Latakia prov-ince overnight close to President Bashar Al Assad’s ancestral home, the army and rebels said, after weeks of insurgent gains in the country’s northwest.

Rebels seeking to topple Assad have in the past sought to bring their four-year-long insurgency close to coastal areas in govern-ment-held Latakia, heartland of Assad’s minority Alawite com-munity. An army source told state news agency SANA fi ghter jets hit insurgent hideouts in the northern Latakia countryside with “tens killed and wounded.” Latakia is the main port in Syria and along with the capital Damascus is one of the most important government-held areas in the country. The violence follows advances in neighbouring Idlib province by the hardline Ah-rar Al Sham group and Syria’s Al Qaeda wing Nusra Front as well as other allied fi ghters.

Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Syrian Observatory for Hu-man Rights monitoring group, said the Latakia battles started with an army off ensive on Thursday, backed by local militias, aimed at pushing the insurgents out of the province in order to advance on captured areas of neighbouring Idlib. The Observatory, which col-lects information from a network of sources on the ground, said at least fi ve insurgents were killed and an unidentifi ed number from the pro-government side.

Two rebel sources said the fi ght-ing in Latakia was near the moun-tains of Jabal Al Akrad, close to some of the highest peaks in Syria including Nabi Younis that over-look Alawite villages and close to Qardaha, hometown of the Assad family. — Reuters

W A R W I T H I N C O U N T R Y

ICC mulls opening war crimes probe against PalestiniansOCCUPIED JERUSALEM: The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) chief prosecutor has said she is weighing opening war crimes investigations into Palestinians as well as Israelis after Palestine joined the tribunal’s jurisdiction last month.

Fatou Bensouda rejected Israeli fears of bias by the court, prom-ising to consider the evidence “independently and impartially without fear or favour,” in an inter-view published by Israel’s liberal Haaretz newspaper on Friday.

“We will of course look into the alleged crimes committed by all sides to the confl ict. I have made this clear to both Israeli and Pales-tinian offi cials,” she said.

Bensouda said that so far her de-liberations were still at a prelimi-nary stage and no investigation had been opened into anyone from either side.

“At this stage we are not inves-

tigating, as a decision on whether to open an investigation in the situation of Palestine has not been made,” she said.

Bensouda began a preliminary examination in January of wheth-er there was suffi cient evidence to warrant opening war crimes investigations into last summer’s confl ict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Palestinian movement Hamas. Israel branded her deci-sion “absurd”.

A UN report released on Mon-day found Israel responsible for seven deadly strikes on UN schools used as shelters during the confl ict, but also found that Pal-estinian fi ghters had used vacant schools as weapons stores and possibly also as fi ring positions.

Palestine formally joined the ICC on April 1, extending its juris-diction to the occupied West Bank, including annexed east Jerusalem, as well as Gaza. — AFP

P R E L I M I N A R Y E X A M I N A T I O N

Syrian government fi ghter jets hit rebels’ hideouts in the northern Latakia countryside with ‘tens killed and wounded’

SANA, Syrian State news agency

CLASHES: Palestinian protester uses a slingshot to throw stones towards Israeli troops during clashes near Israel’s Ofer Prison, close to

the occupied the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Friday. – Reuters

DEMOLISHED DWELLINGS: People stand amidst the rubble of houses destroyed by an overnight Saudi-led air strike on a residential

area, in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, on Friday. – Reuters

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Do not take unfair advantage of liberal tax system: Jaitley

NEW DELHI: Warning corpo-rates not to take unfair advantage of the liberalised tax environment, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said the world is moving to-wards a more transparent regime that would remove the veil of se-crecy from unlawful transactions.

“I think, for every assessee, every person in the commercial business also, it is a judgement call that in a liberal economic envi-ronment of reasonable and lower taxation rates, ‘go straight’,” he said at the foundation day celebrations

of the Enforcement Directorate. “And, therefore, if you transact within the limits of law, it is much safer. If you breach it, gone are the days where off ences would go undetected.”

Jaitley also said that the G20 group of countries’ initiative on automatic transmission of infor-mation will make every monetary transaction transparent by 2017.

“Each country would go out of the way to cooperate with others.

The Americans have particu-larly taken a strong initiative in

their domestic law. They want every country to sign an arrange-ment with them with regard to the transmission of information,” the fi nance minister said.

Arrangements“Both these arrangements, by 2017, are going to make extremely risky for anybody to have unlawful assets or unlawful transaction of money. We, in India, have to pre-pare our people for that,” he added.

Last month in Washington, Jait-ley sought urgent implementation

of the automatic exchange of fi -nancial account information.

“We strongly feel that there is a need to ensure that the common reporting standards on automatic exchange of information should be implemented on a fully reciprocal global basis,” he said at the week-end’s annual Spring Meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

“... and those countries which have not yet committed to the timeline of 2017 or 2018 should do it without any further delay.”

At the G20 Brisbane summit last November, leaders endorsed a new global transparency standard by which more than 90 jurisdictions will begin automatic exchange of tax information using a common reporting standard by 2017-18.

In this connection, Jaitely said on Friday that the Income Tax department had fi led 121 cases of prosecution against those entities whose names have appeared in the HSBC Geneva bank list.

“If I understand correctly, the assessment of 100 of those cases has been completed and 121 pros-ecutions have been fi led by the tax department against those who were caught with the accounts abroad,” he said.

A senior offi cial said here the 121 cases were fi led before the March 31 deadline after which these cas-es would have become time-barred and thus could not be prosecuted by the department.

Jaitley, who said he would move th Undisclosed Foreign In-come and Assets (Imposition of New Tax) Bill, 2015, in Lok Sabha next week.

India has no offi cial estimate of illegal money stashed away over-seas, but unoffi cial assessments put it somewhere between $466 billion and $1.4 trillion. - IANS

He said that the

G20 initiative

on automatic

transmission of

information will

make all monetary

transactions

transparent by 2017

Ramdev rebuts allegations on ‘son bearing’ medicineNEW DELHI: A day after oppo-sition MPs demanded a ban on a medicine from his pharmacy, yoga guru Ramdev on Friday re-butted allegations that it was be-ing sold for conceiving a male child and claimed that he was be-ing targeted through “lies” to de-fame the Indian prime minister.

However, he said a disclaimer will be added on the package of the medicine ‘Putrajeevak Beej’ that it does not promise a male child and claimed it is named so after the scientifi c name of the herb ‘Putranjiva roxburghii Wall’.

“MPs who have no clue about Ayurveda should be ashamed and should apologise to the nation.The medicine (pack) does not say anywhere that it helps in produc-ing a son,” he told a press confer-ence here, and demanded an apol-ogy from Janata Dal(United) MP KC Tyagi, who raised the issue in Rajya Sabha on Thursday, accus-ing him of resorting to “lies”.

The yoga guru, who has courted several controversies in the past, also took a jibe at Samajwadi Par-ty MP Jaya Bachchan saying she was demanding a ban on his phar-macy products as she was “not getting any opportunity to act in movies these days”.

“The name has simply been de-rived from its scientifi c name ‘Pu-tranjiva roxburghii Wall’ and has

got nothing to do with the prom-ise of a son. Lying in the Parlia-ment is a national crime,” he said.

Calling himself a “fakir” (ascet-ic), Ramdev, who had openly sup-ported Narendra Modi’s prime ministerial campaign, repeat-edly invoked the prime minister’s name and said not only he but the PM was being “unfairly” targeted through these “falsehoods”.

“On one hand there is the fa-kir and on the other hand there is the wazir. It’s being said that when the prime minister is saying ‘Beti Bachao’, his closest man is saying‘Beta Badhao’. Essentially insult the fakir and and tarnish

the wazir’s name is the method,” he said.

According to Ramdev, the op-position was latching onto every issue to target Modi, who, he said was focusing on developing the manufacturing sector as well ag-riculture.

“While Modi is trying to fi nd a balance between the two, the Op-position wants him to fail on both the fronts. He should be given time,” he said, evading a direct re-ply on the Land Acquisition Bill.

Meanwhile, amid a controversy over an Ayurvedic medicine from Ramdev’s pharmacy, Haryana government, which has made the yoga guru the state’s brand ambas-sador, on Friday said it had asked him to change the name of the product as it may mislead people.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, however, said that the state government was satisfi ed with his clarifi cation that the drug had nothing to do with conceiving a male child and was only named after a herb.

“We told him (Ramdev) wheth-er the name of this medicine (Pu-trajeevak Beej) could be changed.

But he said that it was an an-cient name which was not given by him and therefore it was not his right to change its name,” Khattar said while addressing re-porters here on Friday. - PTI

‘ P U T R A J E E V A K B E E J ’

CONTROVERSIAL MEDICINE:

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev poses

with an Ayurvedic health prod-

uct during a press conference

in New Delhi on Friday. - AFP

If you transact within

the limits of law, it

is much safer. If you

breach it, gone are the

days where offences

would go undetected,

Jaitley cautioned

the corporatesENGROSSED: Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley with Revenue Sec-

retary Shaktikanta Das at the Enforcement Day function, in New Delhi

on Friday. -PTI

‘BJP leaders’ divisive commentsis a reality’

NEW DELHI: With a US Con-gress-established panel criticis-ing attacks on minorities in India, Congress on Friday said it was a “ground reality” that Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have been making “divisive and communal” statements but Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking no ac-tion against anyone.

“We are not here to support (any such report). India needs no lessons from any foreign country,” party spokesman Ab-hishek Singhvi told reporters here when referred to the report.

At the same time, he said, “It echoes what you and me are seeing as ground reality.”

The “sad truth” of Modi gov-ernment is that BJP leaders, MPs, MLAs have been making “divisive and communal” state-ments, Singhvi said, adding the Prime Minister resorts to some general rhetoric “but there is not single action against anyone”. A US Congress established panel has said religious minori-ties in India have been subject-ed to “violent attacks, forced conversions” and ‘Ghar Wapsi’ campaigns by groups like RSS after the Modi government as-sumed power in 2014. -PTI

U S R E P O R T

T I M E S O F O M A NS AT U R DAY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5 T I M E S O F O M A NA6

WORLD

1 7 3

1 6 9

HOW PACQUIAO WOULD COUNTER A DEFENSIVE ORTHODOX FIGHTER

F I G H T I N G

3 6AGE:

4 0 76 4 S E C O N D S

ROUNDS BOXED:FASTEST KNOCKOUT:

MA

NN

Y P

AC

QU

IAO

REACH: 1 7 0 C M Mayweather has a longer rePacquiao — an edge of 13 cm. ThMayweather to hit Paquiao from where Pacquiao could not reachhas larger fists than Mayweath

would play an advantage as larglarger bone structure thus m

SOUTHPAW

Right hand and right foot forward, leading with right jabs, and following with a left cross right hook.

A normal stance for a left-handed boxer.

Typically, it’s harder to train for a fight against

a southpaw than an orthodox due to the fact the ratio between lefties and righties are big (9:1).

It’s just unconventional to fight a southpaw if

you have been training with orthodox fighters.

Basically, there are more orthodox boxers

than southpaws.

SOURCE: badlefthook.com, ESPN.com, boxrec.com, HBO, wikipedia, money.cnn.com, latinpost.com

FIST: 2 5 . 4 C M

2014

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YEAR

2009

2003

2013

2007

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Pacquiao would sidestep to the right, encircling his opponent, distracting him from his shoulder roll defence.

Pacquiao would then feint a jab so that his opponent is forced to face him.

As the opponent turns his body, Pacquiao would quickly connect his left hook — giving him a killer blow.

S U P E R B A N TA M W E I G H T (122 lbs)Lehlohonolo Ledwaba / T K O

F E AT H E R W E I G H T (126 lbs)Marco Antonio Barrera / T K O

S U P E R F E AT H E R W E I G H T (130 lbs)Juan Manuel Márquez / S D

J U N I O R W E LT E R W E I G H T (140 lbs)Ricky Hatton / K O

S U P E R W E LT E R W E I G H T (154 lbs)Antonio Margarito / U D

W E LT E R W E I G H T (147 lbs)Miguel Ángel Cotto / T K O

L I G H T W E I G H T (135 lbs)David Díaz / T K O

F LY W E I G H T (112 lbs)Chatchai Sasakul / K O

Pacquiao is the first and only champion who has competed in eight divisions, in which he has won ten world titles, as well as the first to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes.

W E I G H T C L A SSOpponent / R E S U L T

T I T L E D B O U T S

KO : KNOCK OUT or when a fighter gets knocked unconscious and such fight is ended

T KO : TECHNICAL KNOCK OUT or when the referee stops the fight to prevent injury to a fighter who can’t defend himself anymore

U D : UNANIMOUS DESISION or when three judges agree on which fighter won the match

S D : SPLIT DECISION or when two judges rank one fighter as the winner while the third judge scores for the other fighter

THE SUPER FIGHTomorrow’s fight will go down in history as the two of the wo

Billed as ‘The Fight of the Century’, this long awaited s

D A T E3 May 2015 / 5 am to 9 am (Oman time)

T I T L E S O NUnified WBA (Super), WBC, WBO,

HEIGHT DIFFERENCE 4 CM (ACTUAL SCALE)

Holyfield vs Foreman / 1 9 9 1

Tyson vs McNeeley / 1 9 9 5

Tyson vs Holyfield / 1 9 9 6

Holyfield vs Tyson / 1 9 9 7

Lewis vs Tyson / 2 0 0 2

Mayweather vs de la Hoya / 2 0 0 7

Pacquiao vs Mosley / 2 0 1 1

Mayweather vs Cotto / 2 0 1 2

Mayweather vs Alvarez / 2 0 1 3

Mayweather vs Pacquiao / 2 0 1 5

8 0 M I L L I O N D O L L A R S9 6

7 7 . 91 0 0 . 2

1 1 21 3 6

7 5

9 41 5 0

T O P T E NR I C H E S T F I G H T S I N H I S T O R Y

RANK #11World’s Highest Paid Athlete (FORBES 2014)

S A L A RY/ W I N N I N G S : $41 MILLIONE N D O R S E M E N TS : $800,000

AVERAGEPUNCHES PER ROUND

35%

AT T E M P T S69

H I T S24

R E C O

5

38

WI

LOS

KNOCK

DRA

57

2

TITLED NO TITLE

P A C Q U I A O ’ S E D G E

E X P E R I E N C E Collectively, Mayweather and Pacquiao have fought 111 times professionally. Pacquiao has 64 career fights with 57 victories. Mayweather has 47 career fights, all wins. Despite being two years younger, Pacquiao has a slight edge in experience because he is more battle tested, has 10 more wins and has fought all around the world.

P O W E R While Mayweather has the speed, Pacquiao has the power. Pacquiao has 38 knockouts in his 64 career fights — a knockout rate of 59 percent. Mayweather has 26 knockouts in his 47 fights — a knockout rate of 55 percent. If Pacquiao can consistently connect with his left jab, it could spell trouble for Mayweather.

O F F E N C E The big x-factor in this fight will be Pacquiao’s left hand. A lot of people think the only way Pacquiao can win is by knockout, thus not leaving it up to the judges. If Pacquiao can dominate the scorecard with overwhelming power hits throughout the fight, the judges won’t have a choice but to reward Pacquiao with a victory.

L E F T FO OT

L E F T A R M

R I G H T A R M

R I G H T FO OT

T I M E S O F O M A N S AT U R DAY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5T I M E S O F O M A N A7

C M

C M

1 6 0 C M

1 7 0 C M

1 5 0 C M

S T A N C E

HOW MAYWEATHER WOULD COUNTER AN OFFENSIVE SOUTHPAW FIGHTER

3 8AGE:

3 6 37 2 S E C O N D S

ROUNDS BOXED:FASTEST KNOCKOUT:

FL

OY

D M

AY

WE

AT

HE

R

each or armspan than he long reach would allow m relatively safe distanceh him. However, Pacquiao

her, which experts believe er fists meant that he has

more punching power.

ORTHODOX

Left foot further in front of the right foot, thus having his weaker side closer to the opponent.

FIST: 2 0 . 3 C M

REACH: 1 8 3 C M

As the opponent would start to attack, Mayweather would counter it with his left hook — possibly hitting him in the chin.

Mayweather would then make a quick follow up by stealing a right hand lead.

If the opponent fights back, he could quickly cover himself using a shoulder roll.

2014

2008

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S U P E R F E AT H E R W E I G H T (130 lbs)Genaro Hernández / R T D

L I G H T W E I G H T (135 lbs)José Luis Castillo / U D

S U P E R L I G H T W E I G H T (140 lbs)Arturo Gatti / T K O

W E LT E R W E I G H T (147 lbs)Zab Judah / U D

S U P E R W E LT E R W E I G H T (154 lbs)Oscar De La Hoya / S D

Mayweather is the undefeated pound-for-pound champion in five divisions, having won ten world titles and the lineal championship in four different weight classes.

HT CHEAT SHEETorld’s greatest boxers will face off in the ring for the first time. showdown is yet the most expensive fight ever staged.

V E N U EMGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, USA

N T H E L I N E, and The Ring welterweight titles

0 2 5 0 400+

FIGURES ARE BASED ON PAY-PER-VIEW REVENUES AND TICKET SALES

It is projected to reach up to $400 million. The pay-per-view cost is $100 (high definition). According to price

tracker SeatGeek, the median price of tickets sold so far online has been $10,500, with sales ranging from $4,650 to $17,850. There are floor seats listed

for $50,000, while cheapest ticket on the secondary market is about $5,000.

Four expensive bouts were fought by Pacquiao and Mayweather

RANK #1World’s Highest Paid Athlete (Forbes 2014)

S A L A RY/ W I N N I N G S : $105 MILLIONE N D O R S E M E N TS : $0

AVERAGEPUNCHES PER ROUND

45%

AT T E M P T S38

H I T S17

O R D S

NS

SSES

KOUTS

AW

47

0

26

0 None

M A Y W E A T H E R ’ S E D G E

S P E E D Mayweather is undefeated at 47-0 because he avoids getting hit. Mayweather throws far less punches per fight than his opponents and uses his legs to win. If he stays on his feet and uses his quickness to avoid Pacquiao’s hard punches, he has a great chance to come out on top.

S I Z E The match will be a standard 147 pound Welterweight fight, but Mayweather has an advantage in overall size. He is taller and has a reach advantage. Mayweather will try and work the long-distance jab, like Lennox Lewis famously did against Mike Tyson in 2002.

D E F E N C E Mayweather is arguably the best defensive fighters. He wins fights because of his speed and his ability to avoid getting hit. His excellent speed is his defense. Pacquiao may have to back Mayweather into a corner to stop him from running around the ring.

R I G H T A R M

L E F T A R MR I G H T FO OT

L E F T FO OT

COMMEN ARYT I M E S O F O M A N

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AMRIT SINGH

A8 S AT U R DAY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5

Recent revelations that the US killed an innocent American in a drone strike in Pakistan confi rm what a new study, “Death by Drone,” of civilian harm caused by US drone strikes in Yemen shows —

that claims about the precision of drone strikes are overstated. The revelations also underscore the stark asymmetry between how the US treats drone strikes that kill its own citizens and those that kill others. While the Obama administra-tion has now publicly acknowledged that it has recently killed three US citizens in drone strikes, it has refused to acknowledge count-less other drone strikes around the world which have killed non-US civilians.

In Yemen, the US has been conducting drone strikes since at least 2002, with estimates of the total number of strikes ranging from 91 to 203. While the American and Yemeni governments have lauded the drones’ precise targeting, they have refused to meaningfully disclose key details about the strikes, including how many have been conducted, who has been targeted, or, crucially, the number and identities of civilians killed. In a May 2013 speech at the National Defence Uni-versity, Obama off ered assurances that, outside the Afghan war theatre, no drone strike would be carried out unless there was “near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured.”

Obama also claimed that the US targets only “terrorists who pose a continuing and imminent threat to the American people,” and that it does not launch drone strikes when it has “the ability to capture individual terrorists.”

“Death by Drone,” which includes fi rst-hand testimony from eyewitnesses and survivors of drone strikes in Yemen, tells a diff erent story. The nine case studies documented in the report, four of which cover attacks that came after the 2013 speech, provide credible evidence that US drone strikes have killed and injured Yemeni civilians, suggesting that the “near-certainty” standard is not being eff ectively implemented.

The report also casts doubt on Obama’s other claims, with evidence indicating that targets of drone strikes, though perhaps posing a threat to Yemen, may not have posed a direct threat to the US, and that their capture may have been pos-sible. In other words, Yemeni civilians have suf-fered and died from drone strikes that may not have been necessary.

More generally, the report provides a window into the experiences of Yemeni civilians directly aff ected by US drone strikes. The testimonies of these individuals, vital for assessing the US drone programme, are all too easy to overlook because these individuals are poor and have no

political infl uence, and because the strikes are conducted in secret, far away from the US.

As Yaslem Saeed bin Ishaq, whose son was killed in a US drone strike in Wadi Sir on August 1, 2013, observed, “They just kill. They do not know what havoc their missiles have caused. They are unaware of the suff ering they create for our families.”

Indeed, if the US never acknowledges the spe-cifi c strikes, how can ordinary Americans possi-bly know that Rasilah Al Faqih, a pregnant Yem-eni woman, was killed in Walad Rabei’, along with her husband and ten-year-old daughter, as they headed home from a visit to the doctor?

Or that Abdoh Mohammed al-Jarraah’s house in Silat Al Jarraah had 19 people, including women and children, inside when it was hit by a US drone strike?

The US’ refusal to acknowledge drone strikes that kill foreigners is sending a damaging mes-sage in Yemen and beyond. As Moqbel Abdullah Ali Al Jarraah, a villager from Silat Al Jarraah, put it: “I believe that America is testing its lethal inventions in our poor villages, because (it) can-not aff ord to do so at any place where human life has value. Here, we are without value.” In every incident recorded in this report, the families of Yemeni civilians killed in US strikes want to know why they were targeted. As the father of Nasser Mohammed Nasser, one of four inno-cent civilians killed in a US drone strike on April 19, 2014, lamented: “My son and those who were with him had nothing to do with Al Qaeda. They were simply on their way to earn a living. Why, then, did the American aircraft strike them?”

But the US has given Nasser no answers. It has not even acknowledged that it killed his son.

In February 2013, then-White House coun-terterrorism chief John Brennan testifi ed at his Senate confi rmation hearing to become CIA Di-rector that, “in the interest of transparency,” the US must acknowledge mistaken killings pub-licly. Later that month, he recognised that the US government “should make public the overall numbers of civilian deaths resulting from US strikes targeting Al Qaeda.” The US has done neither. It should come as no surprise, then, that civilians like Nasser, who have lost mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters in US strikes, are outraged not only at the US, but also at the Yem-eni government, which consented to the attacks. They believe that instead of making Yemen and the US safer, drone strikes only strengthen sup-port for Al Qaeda As “Death by Drone” shows, the US drone programme is fundamentally fl awed and should not be perpetuated. The Obama administration’s recent admissions that its drone strikes killed its own citizens only un-derscore this fact. - Project Syndicate

Did American drone strikes lose Yemen?

The report provides a window into the experiences of Yemeni civilians directly affected by US drone strikes. The testimonies of these individuals, vital for assessing the US drone programme, are all too easy to overlook because these individuals are poor and have no political influence

Letters, containing not more than 200 words with full name, address and telephone number, may be sent by mail (Times of Oman, P.O. Box 770, P.C. 112, Ruwi), by fax (24813153) or by e-mail (times@omantel.net.om)

COMMENTARY

Apologies for anything by sitting US presidents are exceeding-ly rare, and the body language of President Barack Obama as he apologised for the killing of two hostages in a drone strike

spoke of his extreme discomfort at fi nding himself forced into such a position. An American national, Warren Weinstein, and Italian, Gio-vanni Lo Porto, had both been long held by al Qaeda and were both killed in a drone strike in January 2015.

The Americans were unaware of the hostages’ presence in the building they hit, which as far as they were concerned held only al Qaeda operatives. In a further development, it is revealed by Foreign Policy magazine that the government of Pakistan was in touch at vari-ous points with the captors of Mr Weinstein and has “facilitated” the payment for him of a privately-raised ransom of $250,000 and trans-ferred the money to the group holding him. There was an expectation that he would be released, but the kidnappers reneged on the deal and Mr Weinstein’s life ended as collateral damage.

A host of questions arise, not the least of these being that if the government was able to be involved in the payment of ransom for Mr Weinstein, then why was it not able to rescue him as presumably it had more than a vague inkling of where he was?

Of equal weight is the question not only of the legitimacy or other-wise of American drone strikes in Pakistan, but the rules of engage-ment surrounding them. These were recently relaxed by President Obama, according to The Wall Street Journal. Specifi cally, the CIA operating in Pakistan is no longer required to demonstrate that its targets pose an imminent threat to the US or its interests. Had that ex-emption not been granted, the CIA would have been required to gather further intelligence before a strike was authorised. All this has only emerged into the public domain on the belated admission of an own-goal by an American drone. Sadly, the questions raised are never likely to have an answer. - The Express Tribune

A deadly own-goal

The riots that devastated urban America during the 1960s were often ignited by acts of police brutality that infl amed poor Af-rican-American communities where the police were seen not

as protectors but as an occupying force. These same tensions resur-faced last year in the suburban St. Louis community of Ferguson, Mo., where riots broke out after a white police offi cer shot and killed Michael Brown, a black teenager. They have now erupted on a larger stage, in Baltimore, after the death of Freddie Gray, a young black man who suf-fered a catastrophic injury while in police custody. President Obama has condemned as inexcusable the looting and arson that spread across the face of the city after of Gray’s funeral. But he also implied that the Baltimore Police Department had “to do some soul-searching.” Indeed it does: A well-documented history of extreme brutality and miscon-duct set the stage for just this kind of unrest.

Proof can be found in a meticulously reported investigation by The Baltimore Sun of lawsuits and settlements that had been generated by police-brutality claims. The victims included a 15-year-old boy riding a dirt bike, a 26-year-old pregnant woman who had witnessed a beating, a 50-year-old woman selling church raffl e tickets, a 65-year-old church deacon and an 87-year-old grandmother aiding her wounded grandson. The report, published last fall, detailed what it called “a frightful human toll” infl icted by the police: broken bones, head trauma, organ failure, and even death, occurring during questionable arrests. It found that judges and prosecutors routinely dismissed charges against the victims and that city policies helped to hide the extent of the human damage. Settlements prohibited the victims from making public statements. The Sun estimated that the cash-strapped city had spent $5.7 million on settlements and $5.8 million on legal fees since January 2011.

Baltimore residents were familiar with these and other stories of police abuse when Gray’s case fell into the public spotlight earlier this month. The police chased and apprehended him on April 12, allegedly because he had “made eye contact” with a lieutenant and then ran away. Cellphone videos of his arrest showed him being dragged into a police van, appearing limp and screaming in pain. The police have acknowl-edged that they delayed in calling for medical help. When he arrived at the police station, medics rushed him to the hospital, where he slipped into a coma and died a week later.

The Baltimore Police Department has a particularly egregious history and has entered into a voluntary reform agreement with the Justice Department. But there is no reason to believe that it is unique in terms of its toxic relations with the people it is meant to protect. Indeed, over the last fi ve years, the Justice Department has opened 21 investigations into local police departments around the country and is enforcing reform agreements with 15 departments, some investigated by previous administrations. - The New York Times News Service

What came before

the Baltimore riots

We have created an entire generation of zombiesHave we created a generation of zombies? I am afraid, we have. We have denied our children their childhood, restricted them from going out and playing in the fi elds, we have told them not to mix with boys and girls of the lo-cality and we have given them a few gadgets so that they can play and spend their time at home. We gave them the video games and then we have given them mobile phones to play with. In the process we have created an entire generation of extremely selfi sh, self-centred, insensi-tive, unimaginative people who are completely cut off from the world and are bad citizens of tomorrow. I blame myself when I see teenagers, early adoles-cents and even young men and

women, regardless of where and whose company they are in, glued to their mobile phones like possessed people. We have cre-ated these creatures because as parents we failed in our primary task of off ering a good grooming.Minu DuttaMuttrah

Even democracy now is in a process of changeExplosions of anger and defi -ance of authorities seen in Egypt, Turkey and Brazil ought to be seen as ingredients of the process of evolution democracy is currently undergoing. Time has changed; we are into twenty fi rst century. Aspirations of people, especially those who were born in late eighties and early nineties, have changed. Their perception of

governance, the concept of public probity and expectations from their governments are diff erent today. They want to be consulted, informed and have their wills respected.Anu ShaikhWadi Kabir

Statelessness has only made the world poorerStatelessness of millions has cost the world dearly. Rough estimates and random studies suggest that the global economy is denied at least four per cent growth because the stateless persons do not contribute. For-mer US secretary of state Hillary Clinton appeared too well aware of the problem. She said, “When you deny a population the oppor-tunity to participate, you deny

them the opportunity to contrib-ute.” She was right. The world’s most prominent stateless popu-lations include the Palestinians, the Romas, the Tibetans, the Kurds and the Bidoons. And by denying them to participate in the economic activities the world has not become any richer but certainly poorer. Anubhav ChoudhuryMuscat

Dhoni is the best cricket captain that India hasI am in agreement that Chen-nai Super Kings under Dhoni snatched a miracle victory from Kolkata Knight Riders (April 30). Today, Dhoni is arguably the best captain that India has.Ashok PanickerSeeb

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PAKISTANS AT U R DAY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5

MAY DAY RALLYPakistani Labour Union workers chant slogans during a May Day rally, in Lahore, on Friday. Hundreds of trade, labour and fac-

tory workers staged Labour Day rallies in Pakistan on May 1, calling for better working conditions and hike in their wages. - AFP

Tax collection target falls short by Rs100bISLAMABAD: A further steep cut in the development budget is imminent, as tax authorities have failed to achieve even the down-ward revised 10-month revenue collection target and fallen short of the goal by Rs100 billion, high-lighting the urgency of reforms in the tax machinery.

Against the July-April 2014-15 thrice revised tax collection tar-get of Rs2.075 trillion, the Feder-al Board of Revenue (FBR) could collect Rs1.975 trillion, according to provisional results compiled by the authorities till Thursday.

In April alone, the FBR could pool only Rs200 billion, said offi -cials. The IMF had given Rs1.846 trillion tax target to the FBR for the fi rst nine months but the FBR could collect only Rs1.775 tril-lion, a gap of Rs71 billion.

The shortfall further wid-ened by Rs30 billion in April as the FBR collected Rs200 billion against the monthly target of Rs230 billion. It achieved 13 per cent growth in revenues from July through April, which is not suffi cient to reach the annual

target of Rs2.691 trillion. In the July-April period of last fi scal year, the FBR had pooled Rs1.745 trillion in taxes.

Despite the resistance put up by FBR Chairman Tariq Bajwa, the government had given the Rs2.810 annual target for the cur-rent fi scal year.

Dismal performanceAfter seeing the dismal perfor-mance, it fi rst revised the target to Rs2.756 trillion and then to Rs2.691 trillion.

Besides lowering the target, the government has so far im-posed fi ve mini-budgets in an at-tempt to touch the revised fi gure.

The indications are that the FBR may collect Rs2.6 trillion at best, said a senior offi cial.

He said the authority was using the Rs2.6 trillion base for deter-mining next year’s tax collection target. The offi cial said Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was repeating the same mistake and despite the opposition, he wanted to fi x the target at Rs3.2 trillion for fi scal year 2015-16. - Express Tribune

1 0 - M O N T H P E R F O R M A N C E

DSP killed in KarachiKARACHI: Deputy Superinten-dent of Police (DSP) bin Qasim Abdul Fateh Sangri was killed on Friday in Gulshan-e-Hadeed area of Karachi, Express News reported.

According to police, unidenti-fi ed assailants opened fi re on the car of the deceased and fl ed from the scene. Two other policemen, Nazeer and Farooq, were also killed in the incident.

District East SSP Pir Muham-mad Shah said the miscreants shot the deceased at least 22 times with 9mm pistols, killing the victims on the spot.

The outlawed Tehreek-e-Tal-iban Pakistan (TTP) claimed re-sponsibility for the attack.

“DSP Fateh was number 37 on our hit-list,” the TTP spokesper-son, Muhammad Khorasani said.

The bodies were shifted to Jin-nah Postgraduate Medical Cen-

tre. Fateh was reportedly present at the press conference held by SSP Rao Anwar on April 30 dur-ing which the SSP had alleged that the Muttahida Qaumi Move-ment (MQM) maintains connec-tions with an spy agency from a neighbouring country, Express News reported.

He was later suspended by the Inspector General Sindh (IGP) for making such comments.

Chief Minister Sindh Qaim Ali Shah condemned the attack and sought a report from the IG Sindh over the incident.

The IG Sindh said initial inves-tigations reveal that the attack was an act of terror, adding that he has ordered the security per-sonnel to arrest the culprits im-mediately. The deceased police offi cial was posted at Bin Qasim police station for the past two years. - Express Tribune

P R O B E O N Criticism of army will not be tolerated: Bajwa

KARACHI: The Pakistani mili-tary on Friday lashed out at the leader of one of the country’s big-gest political parties, in rare cen-sure of a civilian politician for his sharp criticism of the army.

The dispute marks a low in de-teriorating relations between the military and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which controls Kara-chi, Pakistan’s biggest and richest city. Residents fear a confronta-tion could spark violence.

“Altaf Hussain’s speech on TV, containing remarks about the army and its leadership, was un-called for and disgusting,” military spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa said on his Twitter feed, re-ferring to the leader of the MQM.

“Such reference to army or its leadership as reaction to arrest of criminals, who may have links with any political party, won’t be tolerated,” he said, vowing to pur-sue the matter legally.

The military has ruled Pakistan for about half its history and re-tains power over foreign relations and security, even during civilian rule. But it rarely gets openly in-volved in day-to-day politics, pre-ferring to be seen as above the fray.

The military has vowed to drive criminals out of the southern port city of 18 million people, scarred by violence unleashed by insur-gents, drug lords and kidnappers.

The MQM, Pakistan’s fourth largest party, has long held sway

over Karachi, which is home to the main stock market and central bank and generates half of govern-ment revenue.

AccusedLaw enforcement agencies have accused the MQM of retaining power through mafi a ties, accusa-tions the party denies. Political insiders say the military is deter-mined to shatter the MQM’s grip on Karachi. A military operation against criminals is really directed at the MQM, the party says.

Hours before the spokesman’s comments, MQM leader Altaf Hussain accused the military of targeting his supporters, asking why it had not rooted out criminals

and militant sympathisers from its own ranks.

“How many retired army men were caught in bank heists?” Hus-sain asked in a televised speech from London, where he has lived in self-exile since fl eeing arrest in the 1990s. Hussain was enraged by an accusation from a senior Karachi policemen on Thursday, that his offi cers had captured two MQM workers acting as spies for India. - Reuters

Military spokesman

Major General Asim

Bajwa said Altaf

Hussain’s speech

on TV, containing

remarks about

the army and its

leadership, was

uncalled for

and disgusting

Income of farmers stagnant despite bumper crop: ReportISLAMABAD: The Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) has noted that despite bumper crops for three consecutive sea-sons, farmers have not seen a marked increase in their income because of low agriculture prod-uct prices in domestic and inter-national markets.

This was stated by Federal Minister of Food Security and Research Sikander Hayat Khan Bosan at a press conference here on Thursday, after chairing an FCA meeting for the Kharif 2015-16 season.

The FCA, a top inter-govern-mental consultative body for the agriculture sector, reviewed the performance of Rabi crops (2014-15) and the production plan for Kharif crops (2015-16).

The committee observed that there was lower demand for wheat, rice, potato and sugar-cane in the international market, which also had an impact on the domestic market.

“Keeping in view the current situation, we are recommending

to the government to reduce the cost of production of agricultural products,” Bosan said.

“It looks like the sole solu-tion in order to compensate the growers amid low prices of their produce in domestic and interna-tional markets.”

The committee was informed that wheat production in 2014-15 was estimated at 25.03 million tons from an area of 9.17 million hectares as revised estimates brought the target down from

25.48 million tons.Representatives of provincial

agriculture departments empha-sised the need of adequate supply of urea and phosphate fertilisers during the Kharif season.

The production target for rice was fi xed at 6.90 million tons from an area of 2.84 million hectares.

The target for maize crop 2015-16 was set at 4.61 million tons and for moong crop the output was ex-pected to be 102,000 tons.

The Meteorological Depart-ment reported that the data of Indus River System Authority (Irsa) showed that water levels in the reservoirs would be better than last year.

The department was of the view that rain prospects were also better in all parts of the country.

The committee was informed that certifi ed seed availability had increased in this year’s Kharif season. A representative of the State Bank of Pakistan said the allocation of credit for agricul-ture purposes had substantially increased. - Express Tribune

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

Such reference to army

or its leadership as

reaction to arrest of

criminals, who may have

links with any political

party, won’t be tolerated

Major General Asim BajwaMilitary spokesman

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

320kg explosives seized

PESHAWAR: Two suspected terrorists were arrested from Pe-shawar with 320kg of explosives on Friday.

Acting on a tip-off , the police and counter-terrorism depart-ment (CTD) raided a house in City Town, Paharipura and ar-rested both men.

They were Afghan nationals and were allegedly involved in the assembly of explosive devic-es. At least 30 bags of explosives, 11 detonators, 72 prima-cords, a bag of urea nitrate, 62 electronic cables, a UPS and a toy bomb were recovered from the house.

Other equipment used to man-ufacture explosive devices was also found on the premises.

Development“This is an important develop-ment as the group was involved in recent attacks on law-enforce-ment agencies in the city,” a po-lice offi cial said.

According to the offi cial, both terrorists have been shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation.“We hope to iden-tify other members of the gang during the investigation pro-cess,” he added. - Express Tribune

R A I D

TOUGH LIFE: Women plant

paddy at a fi eld in Lahore.

The production target for

rice was fi xed at 6.90 million

tonnes. - AFP fi le photo

WORLDS AT U R DAY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5A10

SCAN THIS QR CODE TO INSTANTLY VISIT

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

Off icials struggling to locate thousands missing in Nepal

KATHMANDU: Nepali and for-eign offi cials were struggling on Friday to locate thousands of peo-ple still missing after last week’s massive earthquake, as food and other relief supplies began to trickle through to those stranded in remote parts of the country.

Up to 1,000 Europeans are among the missing, mostly around popular trekking routes, the head of the European Union (EU) del-egation in Nepal said.

“We don’t know where they are, or they could be,” Ambassador Rensje Teerink told reporters. Of-fi cials said it was hard to trace the missing because many backpack-ers do not register with their em-bassies in the country.

However Nepal’s home minis-try said it had not been informed the number of EU citizens miss-ing could be that high.

“If that is the case then why are the embassies not informing us? Why have they not contacted the Nepal government?,” home min-istry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal told Reuters.

The number of people missing from France, Italy and Spain is 221 according to checks Reuters

made with their governments, while other European nations are yet to provide an updated fi gure on how many of their citizens are un-accounted for.

The confi rmed death toll from last Saturday’s disaster has risen to 6,250, with 14,357 injured ac-cording to the government. There is no number for the missing, but bodies are still being pulled from the debris of ruined build-ings, while rescue workers have not been able to reach some remote areas.

In the capital Kathmandu, many unclaimed bodies were be-ing quickly cremated because of pressure on mortuaries. Besides the possibility of disease, the stench of the corpses was spread-ing through localities where buildings had collapsed.

Many bodies could be migrant workers from neighbouring In-

dia, who would be living alone in the Himalayan nation, local offi -cials said.

Morgues full“Morgues are full beyond capacity and we have been given instruc-tion to incinerate bodies imme-diately after they are pulled out,” said Raman Lal, an Indian para-military force offi cial working in coordination with Nepali forces.

Aid was beginning to slowly reach remote towns and villages nestled in the mountains and foothills of the impoverished na-tion. But government offi cials said eff orts to step up the pace of deliv-ery were frustrated by a shortage of supply trucks and drivers, many of whom had returned to their vil-lages to help their families.

“Our granaries are full and we have ample food stock, but we are not being able to transport sup-

plies at a faster pace,” said Shrim-ani Raj Khanal, a manager at the Nepal Food Corp.

Army helicopters have air-dropped instant noodles and biscuits to remote communities but people need rice and other in-gredients to cook a proper meal,he said.

Many Nepalis have been sleep-ing in the open since the 7.8 mag-nitude quake, with survivors afraid of returning to their homes because of a series of powerful af-tershocks. According to the Unit-ed Nations (UN), 600,000 houses have been destroyed or damaged.

Information Minister Minen-dra Rijal said the government would provide $1,000 in immedi-ate assistance to the families of those killed, as well as $400 for cremation or burial.

The UN said 8 million people in the country of 28 million were

aff ected, with at least 2 million needing tents, water, food and medicines over the next three months. Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat said Nepal would need at least $2 billion to rebuild homes, hospitals, government of-fi ces and historic buildings and appealed for help from interna-tional donors.

“This is just an initial estimate and it will take time to assess the extent of damage and calculate the cost of rebuilding,” Mahat told Reuters. Prime Minister Sushil Koirala told Reuters earlier this week the death toll from the quake could reach 10,000.

That would surpass the 8,500 who died in a 1934 earthquake, the last disaster on this scale to hit the Himalayan nation sandwiched.

Home ministry spokesman Dhakal said that though the 1934 quake was more powerful, there were fewer people in the Kath-mandu valley then. “The scale of reconstruction will be unprec-edented,” Dhakal said.

Slow aid distributionAnger over the pace of the rescue has fl ared in some areas, with Ne-palis accusing the government of being too slow to distribute inter-national aid that has fl ooded into the country.

“There have been cases where villages have pelted stones on trucks carrying aid and food sup-plies. They must have been really hungry and angry to do so,” said Purna Shanker, who works at the government’s commodity trading offi ce. In Sundarkhula, a village close to the quake’s epicentre west of Kathmandu, villagers said they were searching their destroyed homes for food.

Bharat Regmi, 28, said he jumped out of the fi rst fl oor as the quake lifted his house from its foundations. When he went back a few days later, he and two of his friends found a bag of potatoes in the rubble. — Reuters

Up to 1,000

Europeans are

among the missing,

mostly around

popular trekking

routes, the head of

the European Union

(EU) delegation

in Nepal said

Tear gas fi red on May Day protestersISTANBUL: Turkish police on Friday used water cannon and tear gas to disperse May Day protesters in Istanbul as tens of thousands of labour activists turned out world-wide to defend their rights at a time of austerity.

Turkish police had blocked all vehicle access and cut public transport to prevent protests on Taksim Square in the centre of Istanbul, the traditional focus for protests in the country’s largest city. Police moved in on the pro-testers close to the shores of the Bosphorus as they tried to head to-wards the square, using water can-non trucks and spraying tear gas, an AFP correspondent said.

Even before the police moved in on the Besiktas protesters, Istan-bul’s police chief Selami Altinok had said that 136 people had been arrested in various points in the city during the day.

This is the fi rst May Day in Tur-key, a national holiday in the coun-try, to be marked after parliament passed a controversial security bill this year giving the police greater powers to crack down on protests.

President Recep Tayyip Erdog-an’s administration -- shaken by weeks of deadly anti-government protests in May-June 2013 cen-tred on Taksim Square -- is hugely nervous about public demonstra-tions ahead of June 7 legislative elections.

“If fi nd that this insisting on

(protests in) Taksim is wrong and has a purpose. Having a meet-ing in Taksim means basically paralysing all Istanbul,” Erdogan said in a speech at his Ankara presidential palace.

By contrast, thousands of people packed into the centre of Athens in response to a call from public and

private unions, joined by the coun-try’s controversial anti-austerity Finance Minister Yanis Varoufa-kis. In Moscow, around 140,000 workers and students paraded on Red Square, waving Russian fl ags and balloons, a spectacle harking back to Soviet times.

In the Russian capital, some marchers wore T-shirts with the face of President Vladimir Putin while in Saint Petersburg oth-ers held portraits of Putin and wartime tyrant Josef Stalin and placards reading “Homeland, freedom, Putin”.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people were expected to pro-test later in the afternoon in Milan against the opening on Friday of the Expo 2015 in Italy’s fi nancial centre. Opponents of the project have accused the authorities of a needless waste of public funds by hosting the show at a time of austerity. In South Korea, tens of thousands of workers held May Day rallies, vowing to wage an “all-out general strike” if the gov-ernment pushes through with planned labour reforms. — AFP

T U R K E Y

Mass graves found in

Thailand jungle camp

BANGKOK: Authorities in Thailand uncovered a mass grave in an abandoned jungle camp on Friday believed to contain the remains of migrants from Myan-mar and Bangladesh, a grisly fi nd in a region notorious for people-smuggling routes.

The discovery was made at a remote camp in Sadao district, in Songkhla province bordering Ma-laysia, and comes as Thailand’s junta cracks down on human traf-fi cking following accusations that offi cials have been complicit in the trade. The border area with Ma-laysia is notorious for its network of secret camps where smuggled migrants are held, usually against their will until relatives pay up hefty ransoms.

“There are 32 graves, four bod-ies have now been exhumed and are on their way... to hospital for an autopsy,” Sathit Thamsuwan, a rescue worker who was at the scene soon after the site was found, told AFP, saying it was un-clear how they had died.

“The bodies were all decayed,” he said, adding a single emaciated man from Bangladesh survived and was being treated at a hospi-tal in nearby Padang Besar.

Virtual prison campNational police chief General So-myot Poompanmoung described the site as a virtual “prison camp” where migrants were held in makeshift bamboo cells.

“There are 32 places that look like graves and whether there is one body or several bodies in those graves, we will we have to wait and see,” he said.

He said the smugglers were be-lieved to have abandoned the sick man when they moved Rohingya migrants across the border into Malaysia two days ago.

Local media said the camp and its lone survivor were stum-bled upon by villagers looking for mushrooms. The hospital con-fi rmed the Bangladeshi man had survived and said he was in a sta-ble condition. — AFP

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

Death row Filipina’s family criticises Aquino’s governmentMANILA: The family of a Filipi-na on death row in Indonesia re-turned home on Friday with scath-ing criticism of the Philippine government’s alleged mishandling of her case.

Mary Jane Veloso’s mother said President Benigno Aquino should not be credited for the 11th hour reprieve that saved her daugh-ter from death by fi ring squad on Wednesday. But the family none-theless expressed hope that Indo-nesia would commute her death sentence or free her after the Filipina maid’s alleged recruiter turned herself in to authorities this week. Indonesian President Joko Widodo stayed Veloso’s exe-cution after Aquino asked that she be made a witness against a human traffi cking ring that duped her into smuggling drugs.

Veloso was caught with 2.6 kilo-

grammes (5.7 pounds) of drugs at Yogyakarta airport fi ve years ago. She claims the drugs were sewn into her suitcase lining without her knowledge. “We’ve returned home to the Philippines for pay-back... This is not about money. The government owes us because they tricked us,” 55-year-old Ce-lia Veloso, wearing a “Save Mary Jane” shirt, told reporters.

In an apparent reference to Aquino, she said: “He is telling the whole world that he helped save my daughter’s life. That is not true. Get ready, we are here to charge you. We will fi ght you.”

Veloso’s sister, Marites Veloso-Laurente, told AFP the Philippine government failed to provide her with a capable interpreter during her trial.

“Had the government not been remiss, my sister would not have

been in trouble,” she said.Presidential spokeswoman Abi-

gail Valte denied the charge, saying that as early as 2011, Aquino asked then president Susilo Bambang

Yudhoyono for clemency.Aquino also asked Widodo for

clemency and a review of Veloso’s case twice, Valte told AFP. “The re-cords will bear out the president’s

actions very clearly... It is not an issue of who gets credit, but more importantly, Mary Jane was able to get a reprieve for her sentence,” she said.

Veloso’s alleged recruiter, Cris-tina Sergio, is under police custody after she sought protection citing death threats. The justice depart-ment is studying whether a human traffi cking and fraud complaint against her would merit fi ling in court. “We owe it to the Indone-sian government to undertake and complete the investigation as soon as possible,” Philippine foreign af-fairs spokesman Charles Jose said this week.

Depending on the outcome of the investigation, Jose said the Philippines may again seek clem-ency for Veloso.

Her sister thanked Widodo for the reprieve as she renewed an ap-

peal for compassion. “President Widodo, please study my sister’s case very carefully. Please keep an open mind and heart,” she said.

Marites Veloso said the family last saw Mary Jane at Yogyakarta prison on Thursday.

“There were lots of hugging and laughing. There was no trace of sadness or worry in Mary Jane’s face,” she said.

“We left prison with smiles on our faces because we know that we will see her again soon,” she said.

While Veloso was spared, seven other foreign drug convicts and an Indonesian were executed as Widodo defi ed global anger.

Among those executed were Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, ringleaders of the so-called “Bali Nine” drug ring, prompting Canberra to recall its ambassador from Jakarta. — AFP

A L L E G E D M I S H A N D L I N G

Afghanistan delegation to meet Taliban men in Qatar

KABUL: An Afghan delegation is headed to Qatar for “open dis-cussions” with representatives of Taliban insurgents over the next few days aimed at ending Afghanistan’s long war, offi cials said on Friday.

The scheduled meeting would mark a signifi cant step towards opening formal talks to ending the war, but it was not clear on Friday whether the Taliban’s re-clusive supreme leader had ap-proved them.

Pakistan’s army chief told Af-ghan President Ashraf Ghani in February that senior fi gures in the Taliban were open to direct talks with Kabul to end the war, but un-til now there had been little sign of progress.

Preliminary talksThe 20-member Afghan delegation will attend preliminary talks set for Sunday and Monday, said Attaullah Ludin, deputy chief of the country’s High Peace Council. “The open discussions are based on peace in Afghanistan. There will be repre-sentatives from Afghanistan, Pa-kistan, the Taliban and some other organisations,” Ludin said.

He added that members of the High Peace Council would be meeting the Taliban in Qatar and also two representatives of Hizb-i-Islami, another militant group fi ghting Afghanistan’s US-backed government that also has a politi-cal wing. A senior Taliban offi cial in Qatar confi rmed that a meet-ing was set for the next several days with Afghan fi gures, as well as some from Pakistan and other countries.

Top secretThe Taliban offi cial also said that Hizb-i-Islami fi gures would par-ticipate in the meeting. He spoke on condition of anonymity be-cause he was not authorised to reveal the talks. “It’s top secret so far,” he said. — Reuters

O P E N D I S C U S S I O N S

REDUCED TO RUBBLE: Nepalese resident Nomita Khadka leans on her crutches as she looks at the

remains of her home, in Kathmandu, on Friday. Nomita escaped with only a twisted ankle after a

devastating earthquake hit the Himalayan nation on May 25. – AFP

TEMPORARY REPRIEVE: Cesar Veloso, left, father of Mary Jane

Veloso, a Philippine domestic worker on death row who was given

a temporary reprieve by Indonesia, sits with his daughter Marites

Veloso-Laurente, right, and other family members upon their return

from Jakarta, in Manila, on Friday. – AFP

VIOLENT PROTEST: A man lies on the ground as Turkish police use

a water cannon to disperse protestors during a May Day rally near

Taksim Square, in Istanbul, on Friday. – AFP

SPOR S

S AT U R DAY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5

Tamim, Imrul record stand thwarts Pakistan

KHULNA: Openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes hit unbeaten cen-turies to lead a brilliant fi ghtback by Bangladesh on the fourth day of the fi rst Test against Pakistan in Khulna on Friday.

The left-handed pair put on their nation’s highest partnership for any wicket as Bangladesh, trail-ing by 296 runs on the fi rst innings, closed the day strongly at 273 for no loss in their second knock.

Tamim was unbeaten on 138 to become the fi rst Bangladesh bats-man to score seven Test centuries. He beat former captain Mohammad Ashraful’s tally of six hundreds.

It was Tamim’s third century in as many Tests, having made identical scores of 109 in the last two matches against Zimbabwe in November.

Imrul scored 132 not out, his third hundred, as the bowlers toiled on the placid wicket at the Sheikh Abu Naser stadium that has already produced 1,233 runs and just 20 wickets over the four days.

The pair batted through just over two sessions to surpass the previous Bangladesh record of 267 by Ashraful and current skip-per Mushfi qur Rahim for the

fi fth wicket against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2013.

Tamim and Imrul had put on an opening stand of 224 during Bang-ladesh’s previous Test — against Zimbabwe in Chittagong — and carried on in the same manner on Friday.

Fears that Bangladesh may struggle to bat out two days to save the match, after Pakistan ran up 628 in their fi rst innings, proved unfounded as the openers settled in to tame the bowling.

Tamim reached his century after tea with two consecutive boundaries off Junaid Khan. Im-rul swept Zulfi qar Babar for a sin-gle soon after to bring up his own landmark in front of some 5,000 delighted home fans.

Tamim has so far hit 13 bounda-ries and four sixes. Imrul has 15 fours and three sixes.

Earlier, the tourists took their

overnight score of 537 for fi ve to 628 before they were all out short-ly before lunch.

The overnight pair of Asad Shafi q (83) and Sarfraz Ahmed (82) carried their sixth-wicket partnership to 126 to build a size-able lead for Pakistan. Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam picked up three of the fi ve wickets in the morning session to fi nish with creditable fi gures of six for 163.

Debutant fast bowler Moham-med Shahid claimed his fi rst Test wicket when he ended the sixth-wicket stand by having Sarfraz caught at mid-on by substitute fi elder Litton Das.

Taijul bowled Wahab Riaz for zero in the next over and then trapped Yasir Shah leg-before that gave the 23-year-old his third fi ve-wicket haul in six Tests so far.

Between those two wickets, star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan

claimed his lone success in the in-nings when he took a return catch to dismiss Shafi q.

Tajiul wrapped up the innings when wicket-keeper Mohammad Mahmudullah, standing in for the injured Rahim, stumped Zulfi qar Babar. The second and fi nal Test begins at the Sher-e-Bangla sta-dium in Dhaka from May 6. — AFP

The left-handed pair

put on their nation’s

highest partnership

for any wicket as

Bangladesh, trailing

by 296 runs on the

fi rst innings, closed

the day strongly at

273 for no loss in

their second knock

Bangladesh 1st innings: 332 (Imrul Kayes 51, Mominul Haque 80, Mohammed Mahmudullah 49, Wahab Riaz 3-55, Yasir Shah 3-86, Mohammad Hafeez 2-47).Pakistan 1st innings (overnight 537-5):M. Hafeez c Mahmudullah b Shuvagata 224Sami Aslam c Rahim b Taijul 20Azhar Ali b Shuvagata 83Younis Khan b Taijul 33Misbah-ul Haq c Rubel b Taijul 59Asad Shafi q c and b Shakib 83Sarfraz Ahmed c sub (Das) b Shahid 82Wahab Riaz b Taijul 0Yasir Shah lbw b Taijul 13Zulfi qar Babar st Mahmudullah b Taijul 11Junaid Khan not out 0Extras (b-5, lb-8, w-3, nb-4) 20Total (all out, 168.4 overs) 628Fall of wickets: 1-50 (Aslam), 2-277 (Azhar), 3-339 (Younis), 4-402 (Hafeez), 5-468 (Misbah), 6-594 (Sarfraz), 7-595 (Wahab), 8-617 (Asad), 9-617 (Yasir), 10-628( Zulfi qar).Bowling: Rubel 22-3-82-0 (3nb), Shahid 19-4-59-1 (1nb), Taijul 46.4-4-163-6, Shuvagata 34-1-120-2 (w3), Shakib 37-4-146-1, Mahmudullah 4-0-30-0, Soumya 1-0-2-0, Mominul 5-0-13-0.Bangladesh 2nd innings:Tamim Iqbal not out 138Imrul Kayes not out 132Extras: (w-1, nb-2) 3Total (for no loss, 61 overs) 273Bowling: Junaid 8-0-44-0 (nb2), Zulfi qar 16-0-60-0, Hafeez 9-0-46-0, Wahab 13-2-57-0 (w1), Yasir 15-0-66-0.Position: Bangladesh trail by 23 with 10 wickets in hand.Toss: BangladeshUmpires: Nigel Llong (ENG) and Ran-more Martinesz (SRI)TV umpire: Paul Reiff el (AUS)Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)

S C O R E B O A R D

RECORD PARTNERSHIP: Bangladesh cricketers Tamim Iqbal, right,

and Imrul Kayes, left, run between the wickets during the fourth

day of the fi rst cricket Test match. – AFP

England struggle after Holder double strike

BRIDGETOWN: England suf-fered early setbacks in reach-ing 71 for three at lunch on the opening day of the third and fi -nal Test against the West Indies at Kensington Oval on Friday.

Skipper Alastair Cook, who won the toss, will resume fol-lowing the interval on 31 in partnership with the in-form Joe Root (19 not out) after com-ing together with their side la-bouring at 38 for three.

Jason Holder dispelled doubts about his fi tness with two important wickets after opening bowler Jerome Taylor exploited Jonathan Trott’s vul-nerability to fast, short-pitched bowling. Stretchered off the fi eld on the last day of the sec-ond Test in Grenada a week ear-lier when he appeared to turn over his left ankle badly while bowling, Holder showed no ill eff ects of that injury.

Playing on his home ground, the tall fast-medium bowler uprooted Gary Ballance’s mid-dle-stump and then induced an indeterminate prod from new batsman Ian Bell with a slower delivery to take a sharp catch off his own bowling before the prolifi c right-hander had scored. — AFP

T E S T S E R I E S

Brilliant return by Zaheer as Delhi trounce PunjabNEW DELHI: Zaheer Khan made an impressive comeback from a year-long hiatus comple-menting Nathan Coulter-Nile brilliantly as Delhi Daredevils spanked Kings XI Punjab by 9 wickets in an Indian Premier League cricket tournament match, here on Friday.

Chasing a paltry target of 119, Daredevils romped home with 6.1 overs to spare as openers Mayank Agarwal (52 not out) and Shreyas Iyer (54) put on a comfortable 106-run partnership for the fi rst wicket to seal the issue in style.

The home team could not have asked for a better performance from their bowlers in their last home match as they restricted Punjab to 118 for eight after win-ning the toss.

Coming into bowl in a competi-tive match after 363 days, Zaheer removed Virender Sehwag (1) off the second ball and Manan Vohra (1) in his very next over as he fi n-ished with fi gures of 2/17 from

four overs. After Zaheer blew the top two away, Coulter-Nile caused a lot of damage in the mid-dle and lower order with fi gures of 4/20 in four overs as it deserv-ingly earned him man-of-the match award.

There was not much KXIP could have done after putting on board such a total and Delhi eas-ily crossed the fi nishing line with-out much fuss. Needing under six runs an over, Iyer and Agarwal went abut their business calmly. Iyer’s 54 came off 40 balls with four fours and three sixes while Agarwal?s faced 40 balls in his knock and hit six fours and six.

Delhi now have eight points and they moved up to number four, re-placing Royal Challengers Banga-lore (7) while Punjab remained at the bottom with 4 points.

The Kotla pitch had good bounce to assist the bowlers even as there were no demons in it and largely Punjab batsmen were re-sponsible for team’s misery as

they did not apply themselves well. KXIP can thank David Miller (42) and Axar Patel (22) as their 57-run partnership for seventh wicket helped them cross the 100-run mark as they were tottering at 45 for six at halfway stage.

Apart from the duo, only skip-per George Bailey (18) reached the double-digit mark before be-ing trapped by Amit Mishra.

Miller’s 42-run knock fi ve boundaries, including a six.

In all Punjab batsmen hit only 12 boundaries of which three were maximums.

Their start to the innings was disastrous but the ended the in-nings with Anureet Singh whack-ing Imran Tahir for a long-on six.

Earlier, comeback-paceman Zaheer struck twice in his three-over spell.

Brief scores: Delhi Daredevils 119 for 1 (Iyer 54, Agarwal 52 not out) beat Kings XI Punjab 118 for 8 (Miller 42, Coulter-Nile 4-20, Zaheer 2-17) by nine wickets. — PTI

I N D I A N P R E M I E R L E A G U E

Mumbai survive

Samson scare

MUMBAI: Hosts Mumbai Indians (MI) successfully de-fended 187 against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Pre-mier League (IPL) 2015 to en-hance their chances. They won the close encounter by just eight runs after surviving a Sanju Samson scare. Samson played the main innings for the Royals scoring a fl uent and measured 76, however Mitchell McClena-ghan stole the game away from Royals with three crucial wick-ets including Samson.

Earlier, a late cameo from Am-bati Rayudu (53; 27b, 4x4 3x6) ensured that Mumbai Indians reached a challenging total at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai In-dian got off to a fl ying start with openers Parthiv Patel and Lendl Simmons striking the ball to all parts of the park scoring at over nine runs per over in the fi rst four.

Rohit, who scored 27 off 21 balls, completed 2,000 runs for Mumbai Indians. For Roy-als, Kulkarni was the pick of the bowlers, fi nishing with two for 26.

Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 187 for 5 (Lendl Simmons 38, Ambati Rayudu 53; Dhawal Kulkarni 2 for 26) beat Rajasthan Royals (Sanju Samson 76, Shane Watson 28; Mitchell McClenaghan 3 for 31) by eight runs. - Agencies

T 2 0 C R I C K E T

England 1st innings (at lunch)A. Cook not out 31J. Trott c Permaul b Gabriel 0G. Ballance b Holder 18I. Bell c and b Holder 0J. Root not out 19Extras (nb-3) 3Total (3 wickets, 25 overs) 71To bat: Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Chris Jordan, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.Fall of wickets: 0-1 (Trott), 2-38 (Bal-lance), 3-38 (Bell).Bowling: Taylor 7-4-17-0 (3nb), Gabriel 4-1-6-1, Holder 6-1-15-2, Samuels 6-1-18-0, Permaul 2-0-15-0.

S C O R E B O A R D

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SPORTSS AT U R DAY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5

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Fighting for boxing’s future

LAS VEGAS: When Floyd May-weather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao enter the ring on Saturday the stakes could not be higher, even for a bout already labelled the “Fight of the Century.”

The richest prize fi ght of all-time will give each fi ghter a multi-million-dollar payday and smash pay-per-view numbers while eye-popping ticket prices, out of reach for all but the rich and famous, will see the 16,800-seat MGM Grand Garden Arena rival the Super Bowl in gate receipts.

There is a garish champion-ship belt embossed with 3,000 emeralds on the line along with the mythical title of world’s best pound-for-pound fi ghter but more signifi cantly it is a bout that could cement a boxing legacy and a fi ght on which the future of the sport could hang.

Five-plus years in the making, all the hype and elements are in place to elevate the welterweight showdown into one of those memorable watershed sporting moments.

Or it could be a fl op, providing

another blow for a sport that is just starting to lift itself back off the canvas.

“This fi ght has been talked about for so long the anticipation now people are really looking forward to it and willing to pay any price to watch it,” Oscar De La Hoya, one of the few boxers to fi ght Mayweath-er and Pacquiao, told Reuters.

“It this fi ght is dull, if it’s a dud then that can really aff ect the over-all game but if it is an exciting fi ght, a fi ght people want to see again, it can take boxing to new heights.”

With tickets on the resale mar-ket commanding over $100,000 for ringside seats and close to 3 mil-lion people expected to pay $100 on pay-per-view, the undefeated Mayweather (47-0) and Filipino southpaw (57-5-2) will be expect-ed to produce a spectacle worthy of such princely price tags.

The fi ght will be a classic match-up of boxing styles.

Considered one of the best de-fensive fi ghters of all-time, May-weather is crafty with a superior ring intelligence that has allowed him to survive nearly two decades in the ring by avoiding danger.

In contrast, Pacquiao brings an all-out attacking style to the show-

down, a hard puncher capable of landing a knockout shot that could hand Mayweather his fi rst profes-sional defeat. While the fi ght is the most anticipated in decades, for most boxing experts it comes a half-decade too late with both fi ghters past their prime.

The 38-year-old American may not be as slick or fast as he was while there are questions about Pacquiao’s power, the 36-year-old having not scored a knockout win since 2009 when he fl oored Briton Ricky Hatton in the second round.

“The ingredients are there and it is only because of Pacquiao,” said De La Hoya, who lost to both men. “We know what Mayweather is go-ing to do, we’ve been there, we’ve done that but the one person who can make this fi ght an exciting one is Pacquiao.

“He has a relentless style; he will be the one pressing the action.

“It all depends on Pacquiao.”For Mayweather, it will be his

11th consecutive fi ght at the MGM Grand but it is Pacquiao who will have an entire nation in his corner.

A politician, philanthropist, re-cording artist and action movie star, Pacquiao is a national hero in his homeland where his image has

featured on a postage stamp and video games.

His rags-to-riches story of a young man who once lived on the hard scrabble Manila streets is inspiring, a source of motivation Pacquiao routinely draws upon,

“I can’t imagine the boy who was starving and sleeping on the street has become what I am now,” said the eight-division world champion known as Pacman. “I have a good feeling for this fi ght. For me, it’s about how we can make the fans happy. They are paying big money ... so they deserve to have a good fi ght.”

For Mayweather the fi ght is one that will defi ne his legacy and place among the pantheon of boxing greats.

Even if Mayweather were to re-tire with an unbeaten record there would have always be a question mark hanging over his career if he never clashed with his great Filipino rival.

“This fi ght is about one fi ghter who is at the top fi ghting another fi ghter who is at the top. It’s about giving you guys excitement,” said Mayweather. “We don’t know how this fi ght is going to play out, but I believe in my skills. I believe I am going to be victorious. - Reuters

The richest prize fi ght

of all-time will give

each fi ghter a multi-

million-dollar payday

and smash pay-per-

view numbers while

eye-popping ticket

prices, out of reach

for all but the rich

and famous, will see

the 16,800-seat MGM

Grand Garden Arena

rival the Super Bowl

in gate receipts

READY FOR THE BOUT: Undefeated WBC/WBA welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., left, of

the US and WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines pose with the WBC cham-

pionship belt during a fi nal news conference at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas. – Reuters

LAS VEGAS: Freddie Roach is the quintessential trainer, an Irish-American who lives and breathes boxing and is happiest when he has the mitts on while putting his fi ghters through their paces in his Wild Card Boxing Club.

Voted trainer of the year by the Boxing Writers Asso-ciation of America on seven occasions, Roach is best known for the success he has achieved in partnership with Manny Pacquiao, a Filipino southpaw he has transformed into a complete fi ghter.

“I recognised he needed to add a right hand, but anybody who has walked into a gym more than once would have been able to tell him that,”

said Roach, while playing down his own part in Pac-quiao’s transformation.

“It was up to Manny. He’s such a great athlete and he’s so dedicated, he just listened to what I said and went out and made the change on his own. That’s a Manny Pacquiao thing, not a ‘me’ thing.” - Reuters

Modest Roach plays down role in Pacquaio transformation

Freddie Roach.

LAS VEGAS: When Floyd Mayweather Jr. steps into the ring to face Manny Pacquiao in what has been dubbed the ‘Fight of the Century’, in his corner will be his father Floyd Sr., who once used his young son as a human shield against an angry gunman.

It would seem almost certain Mayweather Sr. will never win father of the year honours but with victory on Saturday his son could ce-ment his legacy as one of the greatest fi ghters of all time with the man who sparked that dream looking on with pride. But for all the strain and long periods of estrange-ment, the two Mayweathers have developed an unbeatable game plan and on Saturday it will be Floyd Sr. in his son’s corner mapping out the strat-egy to beat Pacquiao.

“I don’t think it is going to

be much of a fi ght. the fi ght is already won,” declared Mayweather Sr. on Thurs-day. “They (Pacquiao) were scared. We wasn’t scared. I’m just here to tell you whatever it is, it’s going to be one-sided. Good night.”

In what has been a surpris-ingly polite buildup, it has been left to the abrasive Mayweather Sr. to stir the pot with a boorish and relentless attack on Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach. — Reuters

Mayweather Sr. looks for poetic victory

Floyd Mayweather Sr.

Oman Air, The Wave well placed after fog lifts in QingdaoMUSCAT: The fog lifted just enough in Fushan Bay in Qingdao, China, to get some racing in on Day 2 of the Extreme Sailing Series and cleared the way for Oman Air and The Wave, Muscat to climb the leaderboard.

The Wave, Muscat’s trade-mark consistency was slow to surface but mid-way through the nine races, the two-time Extreme champions, who won in Qingdao in 2012 and 2013, hit their straps to close the day with three outright wins under their belt and a second place to improve on over the re-maining two days.

Drizzly and cold conditions meant plenty of warm layers for the crews but skipper Leigh Mc-Millan identifi ed the starts as the key challenge today for him and his team of Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Ed Smyth and Nasser Al Mashari.

“So much of this is down to the starts and we were slow to nail them today,” he explained.

“But otherwise, we were fairly solid around the course. We had two OCS (on course side) which cost us a lot of points and that was the diff erence between us and SAP who are at the top of the leader-board with an eight-point advan-tage. “We had a good end to the day though, with a second and two

wins in the last three races so it was nice to fi nish on a bit of a high. There is still plenty to do.”

Stevie Morrison and his crew on Oman Air, racing in only their third event, also made a tentative start but by Race 9 enjoyed an in-tense battle with The Wave, Mus-cat for the lead and although they came second on this occasion, the tussle gave a fl avour of things to come between Oman Sail’s highly competitive crews.

By the end of the day Oman Air had climbed to fi fth place and the

crew of Nic Asher, Ted Hackney, Ed Powys, and Oman’s Ali Al Balushi were confi dent of improving on their rankings over the coming days.

“We also had a slow start which wasn’t what we had planned but we learned a lot and got better as we went along,” said Stevie.

“The last four races were really good, although we had a penalty in the last race after a close situation with The Wave, Muscat and that was a shame since it cost us a few points but there is a long way to go until the end of the regatta.”

E X T R E M E S A I L I N G S E R I E S

GOOD GOING: Sultanate’s boats The Wave, Muscat and Oman Air

performing well on the second day. – Supplied photo

MUSCAT: Oman Air became the Offi cial Airline Partner to the Extreme Sailing Series as part of the Sultanate’s national carrier’s plans to expand its network into China and across the world. This major agree-ment with series organisers OC Sports was unveiled on the opening day of Act 3 of the Extreme Sailing Series in Qingdao, China, where

Oman Sail’s high performance Extreme 40 sponsored by Oman Air, skippered by Britain’s Stevie Morrison and featuring Omani sailor Ali Al Balushi, UK sailors Ed Powys, Nic Asher and Ted Hackney from Australia, was preparing for four days of hard and fast racing.

China represents Oman Air’s 49th destination, explained Abdulrahman Al Busaidy, Chief Operating Offi cer and the partnership represents an important platform for further growth. “We are excited to announce Oman Air as the

Offi cial Airline Partner of the Extreme Sailing Series. It is especially signifi cant to make the announcement in China, which will become our 49th destination as we continue to invest in our fl eet and expand our network.

“As the Sultanate’s national carrier we have an opportunity to unite the seafaring past with its future as a high-end tourist destination and promote the Sultanate of Oman to new audiences. We look forward to a

long and successful partnership with the Extreme Sailing Series, both on and off the water.”

Andy Tourell, Extreme Sailing Series Event Director, welcomed Oman Air on board and said it was an honour for their world-class sailing event to be associated with a world-class airline.

“The importance of securing a new partner is testament to the commercial value the Series can off er as the only an-nual global circuit in sailing.”

Oman Air becomes off icial airline partner

PARTNERSHIP: Andy Tourell, Extreme Sailing Series Event

Director with Stevie Morrison and Ali Al Balushi of Oman Air.

BMARKE

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMS AT U R DAY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5

SONY PROFIT SET TO QUADRUPLE THIS YEAR TO $2.7 BILLIONKazuo Hirai, leading Sony on a comeback after years of losses, is giving himself plenty of room to deliver more good news in the future. He said operating profi t will more than quadruple to 320 billion yen ($2.7 billion) this fi scal year. >B3

US manufacturing logs weakest growth since 2013WASHINGTON: Manufacturing in April held at the weakest pace in almost two years, prompting fac-tories to pull back on hiring as they await stronger demand in the US and abroad.

The Institute for Supply Man-agement’s (ISM) index was un-changed at 51.5, the lowest since May 2013, a report from the Tem-pe, Arizona-based group showed on Friday. Readings above 50 sig-nal expansion, and the April fi gure was less than the median projec-tion of 52 in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

The lack of improvement re-fl ects the lingering eff ects of a stronger dollar and low oil prices on capital spending and exports that caused the economy to nearly stall in the fi rst quarter. While the ISM’s report showed factory em-ployment was the weakest since 2009, readings on orders and pro-duction advanced as goods began to move following labour-related delays at West Coast ports.

“For the most part, the rebound may not be as strong as people are expecting,” Gennadiy Goldberg,

a strategist at TD Securities in New York, said before the report. “There currently are considerable downside risks to the second quar-ter.” Estimates of 85 economists in the Bloomberg survey ranged from 50.3 to 54. Readings greater than 50 indicate growth.

Manufacturing around the world remains tepid. Growth at UK factories dropped to a seven-month low in April, according to a Markit Economics Ltd. index. China’s offi cial Purchasing Man-agers’ Index was little changed at 50.1 last month, the China Federa-tion of Logistics and Purchasing in Beijing said April 30.

The ISM’s measure of US fac-tory employment decreased to 48.3, the weakest since September 2009, from the prior month’s 50 reading.

Orders increaseThe group’s new orders gauge climbed to a four-month high of 53.5 from 51.8, and a measure of production rose to 56 from 53.8. The index for orders waiting to be fi lled held at 49.5.

The measure of export demand rose to 51.5 last month from 47.5 in March. The report also showed the index of prices paid increased to 40.5 from 39.

The advance in the dollar since mid-2014 and the global drop in

oil prices have already taken a toll on investment and export demand, which has fallen for four consecu-tive months through February.

A wider trade defi cit subtracted 1.25 percentage points from fi rst-quarter economic growth. Gross

domestic product, the volume of all goods and services produced, rose at a 0.2 per cent annualised rate, the weakest in a year, after advancing 2.2 per cent in the prior three months, according to Com-merce Department data released on Wednesday.

Corporate investmentCorporate fi xed investment de-creased at a 2.5 per cent annual-ised pace, the worst performance since the end of 2009, the GDP fi gures also showed. Investment in nonresidential structures, includ-ing offi ce buildings and factories, dropped by the most in four years, refl ecting weakness in petrole-um exploration. Halliburton, the world’s second-biggest provider of oilfi eld services, said it expects to reduce capital spending by 15 per cent this year and accelerated the pace of job cuts ahead of its takeo-ver of Baker Hughes.

That’s one reason Federal Re-serve offi cials signaled this week after a two-day meeting that they’re in no rush to begin raising interest rates.

At the same time, there are signs household demand is improving. Consumer spending climbed in March by the most since Novem-ber, helping to end a weak fi rst quarter on a more hopeful note. A strong labor market and some improvement in wages may help usher in a US rebound.

Economic forecastsEconomic growth may pick up to a 3.1 per cent pace in the second quarter, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey conducted April 3 to April 8. For all of 2015, the economy is projected to expand 2.9 percent on average.

Automobile sales are holding up. Honeywell International, a Mor-ris Township, New Jersey-based manufacturer, sees greater de-mand for its turbocharger technol-ogy as vehicle purchases rise.

“Lower prices at the pump, im-provements in employment, and overall positive consumer senti-ment have driven greater demand for autos,” Thomas Szlosek, chief fi nancial offi cer, said on an April 17 earnings call. — Bloomberg News

E C O N O M Y

Opec output unchanged as Saudis show no letup

LONDON: Opec oil production was little changed in April near the highest level since November 2012 as Saudi Arabia pumped 10 million barrels a day.

Production by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) slipped 1,000 barrels to 31.295 million a day, according to a Bloomberg survey of oil compa-nies, producers and analysts.

March’s total was revised

267,000 barrels higher to 31.296 million a day, mostly because of a change to the Saudi estimate.

Prices tumbled the fi rst quarter of this year as US output surged to the highest level in more than four decades and Opec members pumped more barrels.

The 12-member group left its production quota unchanged at a November meeting, prompting speculation that it would let crude slide low enough to curb shale de-velopment in the US.

“The high Saudi number is what sticks out,” Julius Walker, senior consultant at JBC Energy in Vi-enna, said on Thursday by phone.

“The consensus view is that the Saudis are going to continue with their present policy. The market

continues to be substantially over-supplied.”

Trimmed outputSaudi Arabia, Opec’s top producer, trimmed output by 100,000 barrels a day to 10 million in April. March output was revised 330,000 bar-rels a day higher to 10.1 million.

The country sold oil at a higher-than-projected rate in March as a result of the biggest discounts in at least 15 years.

The oil market is in “excellent” condition, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s deputy oil minister, said on Monday. Oil Min-ister Ali Al Naimi stressed earlier this month that the kingdom won’t yield market share to higher-cost producers. — Bloomberg News

Production by the

Organisation of

Petroleum Exporting

Countries slipped

1,000 barrels to

31.295 million a

day, according to a

Bloomberg survey of

oil fi rms, producers

and analysts

Saudi Aramco restructured

LONDON: Saudi Aramco created a supreme board to oversee the state-run company’s aff airs as the world’s biggest oil exporting na-tion continues a reorganisation of its energy industry.

The 10-member board will be led by Deputy Crown Prince Mo-hammed bin Salman, who’s also chairman of Saudi Arabia’s Coun-cil of Economic Aff airs and Devel-opment, Saudi Aramco said in a statement on Friday.

The Supreme Petroleum Coun-cil (SPC), which previously set oil policy and was led by the king, will be dissolved, according to the statement.

Saudi Arabia is pumping near-record amounts of crude, leading the Opec in a policy of maintain-ing output to pressure suppliers outside the group to help tackle an excess. At the end of January, oil analysts anticipated little change to the nation’s production and ex-port policies.

“The vision and mission of Ara-mco is now becoming bigger with this Supreme council,” Moham-med Al Ramady, professor of eco-nomics at King Fahd university for petroleum and minerals in Dhah-ran, Saudi Arabia, said by phone.

“The establishment of Aramco’s supreme council completes the economic restructuring and cen-tralisation of authority and over-sight of the key critical Saudi pil-lars of the economy.” — Bloomberg News

S U P R E M E B O A R D C R E A T E D

Europe weighs pipeline for Turkmen gas through IranASHGABAT (Turkmeni-stan): EU energy boss Maros Sefcovic said late on Thursday Europe could import natural gas from ex-Soviet Turkmenistan via Iran as Brussels ramps up ef-forts to break its dependence on Russian-sourced energy.

Speaking after a meeting with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov in the capital Ashgabat, Sefcovic, vice president of the European Commission for Energy Union, also said he ex-pected that imports of Turkmen gas via a pipeline built under the Caspian sea could begin as soon as 2019. Sefcovic said the two had discussed the “possibility of build-ing a pipeline through the Caspian as well as through Iran, since dip-lomatic relations with Iran are de-veloping positively”.

“The EU hopes that negotia-tions between the big six and Iran conclude successfully,” he added, speaking in comments aired on Turkmen state television late on Thursday night.

Offi cials in Iran, which shares

the inland Caspian sea with Azer-baijan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan, have repeatedly said the Trans-Caspian pipeline is uneconomic and that building a land-based pipeline transiting its own territory would be a bet-ter option.

But with talks over Iran’s nu-clear programme involving the permanent fi ve members of the UN Security Council plus Ger-many hanging in the balance ahead of a June 30 deadline, Sef-covic stressed the Caspian link.

The pipeline could cost up-wards of $5 billion and would funnel gas under the disputed sea from Turkmenistan to Azerbai-jan before connecting with the existing South Caucasus pipeline and the planned Trans-Anatolian pipeline through Turkey.

“The European Union expects natural gas supplies from the Caspian region to Europe to begin in 2019-2020,” Sefcovic said.

He added that environmental risks connected to the proposed pipeline could be mitigated.

In addition to Iran, the Trans-Caspian pipeline would face op-position from Russia, which met around a third of the EU’s gas needs in 2014.

Currently it is planned that the Trans-Caspian pipeline would transport up to 30 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year to the EU.

No blueprint exists as yet for a pipeline transiting Turkmen gas through Iran, although EU com-missioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Canete con-fi rmed it was being considered as a supplier in plans for “southern corridors” that bypass Russia.

Turkmenistan, which borders Iran, has the fourth largest re-serves of natural gas in the world but suff ers from a lack of pipeline infrastructure.

The Central Asian country currently supplies around half of China’s total natural gas con-sumption through a pipeline built by the China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) that began shipping gas in 2010. — AFP

N A T U R A L G A S S U P P L I E S

INDEX UNCHANGED: Institute for Supply Management’s index was

unchanged at 51.5, the lowest since May 2013, a report from the

Tempe, Arizona-based group showed. — Bloomberg fi le picture

– Bloomberg fi le picture

LONDON: Iraq exported the most oil in more than three decades last month, overcoming violence and instability to ship more than three million barrels a day to world markets.

Opec’s second-largest producer shipped 92.3 million barrels in April, Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said by text message on Friday. That’s equivalent to 3.077 million barrels a day, compared with 2.98 million in March.

Iraq, with the world’s fi fth-biggest oil reserves, is rebuilding its energy indus-try after decades of war and sanctions, while fi ghting mil-itants who seized a swathe of the country’s northwest. The increase of more than three percent from March shows Iraq is achieving more stable exports following weather

disruptions that hampered shipments in February, said Richard Mallinson, an analyst at Energy Aspects in London.

Higher volumes“Iraq is managing to put out higher volumes than the av-erage last year,” Mallinson said on Friday. “Given all the instability and violence that is happening in the centre and northwest of the coun-try, and the political and eco-nomic challenges that come with a lower oil price, that is an impressive achievement.”

About 78.8 million barrels were exported from Iraq’s southern oil fi elds, while 13.5 million barrels came from the north, Jihad said. The exports were sold at an aver-age price of $51.70 per barrel, generating $4.8 billion in revenue. — Bloomberg News

Iraq raises April oil exports to highest in three decades

LE

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B2

MARKETS AT U R DAY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5

China’s manufacturing activity gains for second straight month

BEIJING: China’s manufactur-ing activity expanded modestly in April for the second straight month but the rate of growth failed to accelerate, the government said on Friday, as the world’s second-largest economy struggles to pick up steam. The offi cial Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) released by the National Bureau of Statis-tics came in at 50.1 last month, the same result as March when the gauge showed growth for the fi rst time this year.

Key barometerThe index, which tracks activity in factories and workshops, is seen as a key barometer of the country’s economic health. A fi gure above 50 signals growth, while anything be-low indicates contraction.

January’s reading of 49.8 was the fi rst shrinkage in more than two years and added to worries about China’s economic outlook.

Some analysts, however, were cautiously optimistic.

“The continued expansion of the offi cial PMI suggests that the growth momentum is picking up,

though modestly, thanks to the rise of newly started projects and mon-etary policy easing,” ANZ econo-mists Liu Li-Gang and Zhou Hao wrote.

China’s economy, a key driver of global growth, expanded 7.0 per cent in the fi rst quarter of 2015, against 7.3 per cent in the fi nal three months of last year, in the worst result since 2009 at the height of the global fi nancial crisis.

The economy is also slowing on a longer-term basis. Gross do-mestic product (GDP) expanded 7.4 per cent in 2014, the worst full-year result since 1990, when China was hit by international sanc-tions after the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Chinese authorities are happy to accept a slowdown however, as they seek to rejig the country’s

economic model away from reli-ance on heavy investment and make consumer spending the main growth engine. But they are sensitive to it getting out of hand and have unveiled several stimulus measures to support the economy, including two interest rate cuts since November and twice this year reducing the amount of cash banks must keep in reserve.

Economists broadly expect more such measures this year.

Risk of defl ation“As the economy still faces strong headwinds and the risk of defl a-tion has not diminished, the au-thorities will need to continue to roll out easing measures in the coming months,” the ANZ econo-mists added.

There are concerns about weak

infl ation in China, though the consumer price index (CPI) held steady in March at 1.4 per cent, the same as February. The CPI had slumped to 0.8 per cent in January, the lowest since November 2009.

But the producer price index — a measure of costs for goods at the factory gate and a leading indicator of the trend for CPI — declined for the 37th straight month in March, falling 4.6 per cent year-on-year.

Nomura economists also said that offi cial measures appear to be having some positive eff ect, though the overall outlook re-mains shaky.

“It seems policy easing may have kicked in and fi rms may have begun to increase investment ex-penditures,” Zhao Yang, Nomura’s chief China economist, and col-leagues said in a note. — AFP

Offi cial Purchasing

Managers’ Index

released by the

National Bureau of

Statistics came in at

50.1 last month, the

same result as March

when the gauge

showed growth for the

fi rst time this year

CONTINUED EXPANSION: The economy is also slowing on a longer-term basis. Gross domestic product

(GDP) expanded 7.4 per cent in 2014. — Bloomberg fi le picture

SYDNEY: China has for the fi rst time overtaken the Unit-ed States as Australia’s largest source of foreign investment, according to offi cial data, laying out Aus$27.7 billion (US$21.8 billion) in 2013-14 as real estate purchases more than doubled.

The Asian economic giant’s spending in Australia for the year ending June 30, 2014 far outstripped the Aus$17.5 billion from the United States — which was the biggest in-vestor for more than a decade — and Canada’s Aus$15.4 bil-lion, the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) said in its annual report.

The Chinese surge was driven by Aus$12.4 billion in approved investments in property, the report released on Thursday said. That com-pares with Aus$5.9 billion in the previous fi nancial year.

“For the fi rst time, China was the largest source of proposed foreign investment in Australia, mainly driven by a large increase in residential real estate approvals,” the report said.

The new report followed the Australian government’s move in February to enforce foreign investment rules as concerns grow that foreign buyers are squeezing local house seekers out of the market.

Chinese investment for 2013-14 also included Aus$3.3 billion in the manu-facturing sector, Aus$5.7 billion in mining and Aus$6.2

billion in services.Rounding up the top fi ve

foreign investors were Ma-laysia at Aus$7.2 billion and Singapore at Aus$7.1 billion.

The Australia government in February highlighted plans to crack down on illegal prop-erty purchases and charge application fees on all foreign investments.

Cashed-up foreigners, many from China, have been blamed for driving up prices in Australian property markets, particularly Sydney and Melbourne, and placing home ownership out of reach of many locals.

In March, the government ordered China’s Evergrande Real Estate Group to sell a Sydney mansion worth Aus$39 million, saying it was bought illegally under foreign investment rules.

The FIRB’s annual report said overall approved foreign investment in residen-tial real estate in 2013-14 was Aus$34.7 billion from Aus$17.2 billion in the previ-ous corresponding period.

China is already Australia’s largest trading partner, with the nation’s key mining sector dependent on its Asian neigh-bour’s demand for resources.

China’s total investment in Australia for 2012-13 was at Aus$15.8 billion, which had made it the third-largest investor behind the US and Switzerland, with the Euro-pean nation’s spending driven by a Aus$15.8 billion splurge in mining. — AFP

China surpasses US as largest foreign investor in Australia

Japanese infl ation ticks up in MarchTOKYO: Japanese infl ation picked up in March for the fi rst time in 10 months, data showed on Friday, but household spend-ing tumbled in a worrying sign for consumer confi dence.

Core infl ation, excluding vola-tile fresh food prices, hit 2.2 per cent year-on-year, accelerating from the previous month for the fi rst time since May 2014, and of-fering a sliver of hope for Tokyo’s war on defl ation. However, strip-ping out the impact of a sales tax rise last year, the rate was a tepid 0.2 per cent, well short of the cen-tral bank’s 2.0 per cent target.

Monetary easingAnalysts say central bank poli-cymakers will almost certainly be forced to expand its monetary easing scheme to jack up prices and counter a downturn in the world’s number three economy.

Sustained infl ation is a corner-stone of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s drive to conquer stagnant or falling prices and revive growth.

“Infl ation is still close to zero and could drop in the coming months,” said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.

“The reading was a little bit pos-itive, but worries (for the Bank of Japan) have not disappeared.”

Separate fi gures showed house-hold spending in March dropped almost 11 per cent, the worst on record since comparable data

started in 2001 and steeper than an 8.2 per cent on-year decline in March 2011, when Japan was hammered by a quake-tsunami disaster and nuclear crisis.

Original timelineOn Thursday, the BoJ conceded the original timeline for hitting its price target would be missed, as it cut its growth and infl ation forecasts.

Japan’s gross domestic prod-uct will expand 2.0 per cent in the year to March 2016, while the in-fl ation rate is seen at 0.8 per cent, the BoJ said in a semi-annual re-port. That compares with a previ-ous estimate of 2.1 per cent and 1.0 per cent respectively.

Tepid spendingThe report — which followed a meeting where policymakers held fi re on fresh stimulus — pushed back an already murky timeline for hitting the bank’s infl ation tar-get to the fi rst half of fi scal 2016, which runs from April through September next year. The ambi-tious goal was originally supposed to have been achieved around two years after the launch of the BoJ’s stimulus in April 2013.

But the bank has, over time, loosened that timeline as the data suggested it was unattainable.

Weighed by a plunge in oil pric-es and tepid consumer spending, Japanese infl ation stalled in Feb-ruary for the fi rst time in nearly

two years. “It is true that the tim-ing for achieving the 2.0 per cent infl ation target has been delayed,” BoJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda told reporters on Thursday.

Trends improving“But price trends are improving steadily and that is expected to continue. We don’t see additional (easing) measures being neces-sary at this point.”

Kuroda has previously ac-knowledged that falling oil prices hurt eff orts to drive infl ation, and he warned of the possibil-ity of zero infl ation as attempts to reverse of years of defl ation proved to be “very challenging”. Consumers tightened their purse strings after Tokyo hiked Japan’s sales levy last April and the econ-omy fell into a brief recession. It emerged from the red in the last quarter of 2014. Also Friday, the internal aff airs ministry said the unemployment rate edged down to 3.4 per cent in March from 3.5 per cent in February.

Minami further added that BoJ policymakers could have decided to off er fresh easing measures on Thursday if they had wanted to act pre-emptively. — AFP

E C O N O M Y

GDP EXPANDS: Japan’s gross domestic product will expand 2.0

per cent in the year to March 2016, while the infl ation rate is seen

at 0.8 per cent. — Bloomberg fi le picture

UK manufacturing growth down in MarchLONDON: Growth at UK fac-tories unexpectedly cooled last month as the stronger pound hit demand for British goods abroad.

A Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to a seven-month low of 51.9 from 54 in March, Markit Economics said on Friday in Lon-don. Economists had forecast an increase to 54.6 from a previous reading of 54.4. New export or-ders shrank for the fi fth time in seven months.

The pound has risen seven per

cent this year against the euro, the currency of Britain’s biggest trading partner, as the European Central Bank buys government bonds to stoke infl ation. Markit’s report adds to signs the economy may be losing steam a week before the general election, after data on Tuesday showed growth slowed in the fi rst quarter.

“A slowing global economy and strong sterling-euro exchange rate are hurting the competitive-ness of exporters,” said Rob Dob-

son, a senior economist at Markit in London. “A key challenge for the next government is to revive manufacturing and help it at least regain its pre-crisis peak.”

Markit’s headline gauge has now held above 50, the dividing line between expansion and con-traction, for just over two years. Though its index of new orders fell to 52.9, the lowest since Sep-tember, the expansion was driven by domestic activity.

Employment at manufacturers

increased for a second full year, while a drop in output prices re-fl ected weaker demand.

On the input side, prices de-clined in part due to the ben-efi ts of the weaker euro, Markit said. However, the pound’s slide against the dollar lifted the price of dollar-denominated imports. Sterling fell as much as six per cent against the greenback this year, and has rebounded in recent weeks amid signs the US economy has faltered. — Bloomberg News

P M I I N D E X

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Lloyds net profi t fallsLONDON: Britain’s state-rescued Lloyds Banking Group announced on Friday that net profi ts sank by a fi fth in the fi rst quarter, after tak-ing a charge against the disposal of its TSB retail division.

Earnings after taxation slid to £913 million ($1.40 billion, 1.25 billion euros) in the three months to the end of March, compared with £1.148 billion a year earlier, Lloyds said in a results statement.

However, pretax profi t before exceptional items rose 21 per cent to £2.2 billion in the reporting pe-riod boosted also by falling bad debts. That beat expectations of £2.0 billion, according to analysts polled by Bloomberg. Lloyds — almost 21-per cent state-owned after a bailout in the global fi nan-cial crisis — took a £660-million charge linked to the sale of TSB to Spain’s Banco de Sabadell. — AFP

F I R S T Q U A R T E R R E S U L T S

S AT U R DAY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5

MARKETB3

Sony operating profi t set to quadruple to $2.7b this year

TOKYO: Kazuo Hirai, leading Sony on a comeback after years of losses, is giving himself plenty of room to deliver more good news in the future.

The chief executive offi cer says operating profi t will more than quadruple to 320 billion yen ($2.7 billion) this fi scal year. That fore-cast given on Thursday is about 20 per cent less than analysts pro-jected as Sony tries to shake its years-long reputation for disap-pointing investors.

Cutting costsHirai is cutting costs and focus-ing on profi tability in businesses where Sony has an advantage. That approach, coupled with Chief Financial Offi cer Kenichiro Yoshida’s emphasis on account-

ability, has helped boost the stock 103 per cent in the past year. “We have revised our forecasts down 15 times in the past seven years, and that’s not something we want to repeat,” Yoshida said in Tokyo. “The profi t forecast takes into ac-count a considerable risk from foreign exchange fl uctuations.”

The outlook for the current year includes 35 billion yen in restruc-turing charges and a negative im-pact from foreign exchange of 150 billion yen.

Sales will be 7.9 trillion yen this

year, Sony said. Net income will reach 140 billion yen, marking the fi rst annual profi t in three years. Analysts projected revenue of 8.2 trillion yen and profi t of 189.9 bil-lion yen.

‘Minimum’ targets“The targets announced are the minimum line, and the point is how much can Sony increase them during the year,” said Yas-uaki Kogure, chief investment offi cer at SBI Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. “Sony will be in

trouble if it makes a downward revision as it’s in the process of rebuilding trust.” Sony forecast a 17 per cent surge in revenue from devices, the unit that makes image sensors, and a 16 per cent increase in the pictures division. New re-leases this year include “Spectre,” the latest instalment in the James Bond franchise.

The earnings revival comes after Hirai sold Sony’s personal-computer business, pruned its smartphone lineup and placed the TV manufacturing business into a separate structure to boost performance after years of losses. It also started selling the PlaySta-tion 4 console in China to tap the world’s biggest game market.

TV profi tThe TV making unit had a profi t of 8.3 billion yen in the year ended March — its fi rst in 11 years. The business will post earnings of fi ve billion yen in the current year, Sony said.

Hirai forecast in February that operating profi t will climb to 500 billion yen in the year ending March 2018. That’s the highest since 1998, when the company featured cathode-ray tube TVs and one of its biggest music sellers was the “Titanic” soundtrack.

Sony forecast a 40 billion-yen operating profi t in the games di-vision this year. The PS4 has sold almost twice as many units as Microsoft’s Xbox One, accord-ing to VGChartz, making it the most successful of the latest gen-eration consoles. The company is strengthening its game streaming service, purchasing the patents of OnLive. PlayStation Now is avail-

able in North America for stream-ing content on Bravia TVs and other Sony devices.

Smartphone revamp“The target of operating profi t is conservative,” said Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Insti-tute in Tokyo. “Investors expected too much so Sony is trying to low-er their expectations.”

Sony stopped developing new smartphones for China and culled the Xperia lineup as it struggled to compete with Apple, Samsung Electronics and Chinese vendors. The company took a 180 billion-yen charge in the business last fi scal year. The company is mov-ing its mobile-phone operations from its Tokyo headquarters to save on rent, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg.

The company boosted invest-ment in semiconductors by 150 billion yen this year to tap surging demand for the sensors that pow-er cameras in Apple and Samsung smartphones. It’s also shifting 220 employees involved in developing and producing chips for gaming consoles to the sensor business and other operations. Sony said it will restore its dividend and plans to pay out 10 yen per share in the fi rst half of the year. In September, the company scrapped its annual dividend for the fi rst time since listing in 1958. — Bloomberg News

That forecast

given on Thursday

is about 20 per

cent less than

analysts projected

as Sony tries to

shake its years-

long reputation

for disappointing

investors

LinkedIn fails to meet estimates, shares dip 27%

SAN FRANCISCO: LinkedIn’s shares plunged as much as 27 per cent after the company delivered quarterly revenue that missed an-alysts’ estimates for the fi rst time, shaking confi dence in a histori-cally stable business plan.

The professional-networking website also forecast sales that missed projections for the second quarter and cut its guidance for an-nual revenue, citing the strong US dollar and slower-than-predicted growth. “This is an extraordinary miss for a company that has by and large avoided any major blowups since going public,” said Paul Sweeney, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

Since its debut as a public com-pany in 2011, LinkedIn has stead-ily surpassed estimates for sales until now. The company, with its mix of job-related tools for con-sumers and businesses, has been expanding its off erings every year under Chief Executive Offi cer Jeff Weiner, through acquisitions and rapid hiring. Those eff orts aren’t translating to as much revenue growth as expected, Sweeney said.

Second-quarter revenue will be $670 million to $675 million, the company said on Thursday. Ana-lysts had predicted $718.3 million, on average, according to data com-piled by Bloomberg. LinkedIn also trimmed its forecast for annual revenue to $2.9 billion, from $2.93 billion to $2.95 billion.

Growth was also hurt by cur-rency-exchange rates, as LinkedIn generated 39 per cent of its revenue from outside the US. The Bloomb-erg Dollar Spot Index, a measure of the US currency against 10 major peers, gained 6.2 per cent in the fi rst quarter. — Bloomberg News

P E R F O R M A N C E

Tesla forays into energy storage with batteries for utilities, fi rms, homesLOS ANGELES: Tesla Motors on Thursday unveiled Tesla Ener-gy — storage systems or batteries for homes, companies and utili-ties that will expand its business beyond electric vehicles and tap into a fast-growing area of the en-ergy industry.

Chief Executive Elon Musk said the company’s goal was to “fundamentally change the way the world uses energy on an ex-treme scale.” He introduced the products to a crowd of business partners and journalists at a Tesla facility near Los Angeles.

In Tesla’s view, such storage systems could become part of a fossil-fuel-free lifestyle in which people can have solar panels on their roof generating electricity to power their home and recharge their electric car batteries.

The smallest battery unveiled on Thursday, known as Power-wall, is housed in a six-inch-wide container that is meant to be hung

inside a garage or on the outside wall of a house.

At $3,500 for a 10kWh model, excluding inverter and installa-tion prices, the Powerwall can be used for backup power or to store solar energy.

Tesla’s lead installation partner for the home battery will be So-larCity, the solar installer backed

by Musk. The company will also partner with many others, Musk said. Tesla has several hundred batteries installed with SolarCity systems in California already. The growth of those projects has been helped by a subsidy from Califor-nia’s public utility regulator.

Utilities have also been seeking out energy storage to help manage

increasing amounts of renewable energy on the grid. To address that market, Musk unveiled what he called the “power pack,” a 100 kWh battery block that is meant to help smooth out power from in-termittent solar and wind energy production or add energy to the grid quickly when demand levels are high.

Tesla already has several utili-ty-scale batteries deployed on the grid in California, which requires its biggest utilities to source large amounts of energy storage.

Musk told reporters Tesla ex-pected to have a low but growing gross margin in battery products in the fourth quarter of this year and added that battery products would be “materially profi table” some time next year. Tesla will initially manufacture the batter-ies at its automobile factory in California but will move produc-tion to its planned “gigafactory” in Nevada next year. — Reuters

E N E R G Y I N D U S T R Y

Visa profi t declinesNEW YORK: Visa, the world’s biggest payments network, said profi t fell three per cent on a strengthening US dollar and re-vised its full-year forecast for earnings-per-share growth. The stock slid in late trading.

Net income for the fi scal second-quarter ended March 31 dropped three per cent to $1.55 billion, or 63 cents a share, from $1.6 billion, or 63 cents, a year earlier, adjusted for a stock split, the Foster City, California-based company said on Thursday in a statement. The av-erage estimate of 34 analysts sur-veyed by Bloomberg was 62 cents a share.

Visa, led by CEO Charlie Scharf, 50, is investing in new technology aimed at accelerating mobile and other forms of digital payments and striking deals with merchants as consumers demand more re-wards. Spending on the network increased even as consumers spent less at the pump amid lower gas prices in the US.

“While the negative impacts from the strengthening of the US dollar and lower gasoline prices

continued to exert pressure on revenue growth, our results and volume trends have remained strong,” Scharf said in the state-ment. Visa revised its EPS growth forecast for the fi scal year end-ing on September 30 to the “low-end of the mid-teens range,” from “mid-teens” on January 29.

Visa shares dropped two per cent to $64.72 at 4:35pm in New York. The stock climbed 0.8 per cent this year through the close of regular trading, compared with the 4.7 per cent advance of Mas-terCard, the second-biggest pay-ments network. Visa announced a 4-for-1 stock split in January that took eff ect March 19. — Bloomberg News

F I S C A L S E C O N D - Q U A R T E R

– Bloomberg fi le picture

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk. — Bloomberg News

Sony Chief Executive Offi cer Kazuo Hirai. — Bloomberg fi le picture

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FEATURES AT U R DAY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5B4

Would you buy stock in a company that doesn’t regu-larly record its debits and credits? Or one that admits it lacks accounting skills?

How about one that couldn’t account for some of its expenses?

Apparently you would.About 30 per cent of companies

that went public last year acknowl-edged they were at serious risk of incorrectly reporting their fi nancial information, according to a study by New York law fi rm Proskauer Rose. That’s up from 17 per cent of issuers in 2013, the study shows.

Yet investors weren’t bothered. The 32 companies — from GrubHub to GoPro — that reported material weaknesses in their accounting sys-tems last year have surged an aver-age of 42 per cent since their stock debuts. The lack of concern is part and parcel of the risk-taking mindset that has seen investors overlooking earnings and valuation metrics in the hottest initial public off ering market since the dot-com bubble, said Lise Buyer, partner at Class V Group, an IPO advisory fi rm.

“Whenever you have a robust IPO market, it defi nitely signals that in-vestors are willing to take on risk,” she said.

The requirement to report mate-

rial weaknesses goes back to passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002. Public companies must prove to au-ditors that they have the processes and people in place that can prevent or detect accounting errors. If they can’t, they need to disclose as such.

GrubHub seamless“If the auditors are saying there’s a material weakness, they’re saying you’re not set up like a public compa-ny should be yet,” said Frank Lopez, co-head of global capital markets at Proskauer, which helped conduct the IPO study.

GrubHub, a food-delivery and pick-up website, disclosed in its prospec-tus that before merging with Seam-less Holdings in 2013, the site had neglected to regularly document its review of journal entries. Since the Chicago-based company’s debut last April, the stock has surged 58 per-cent, giving it a market value of $3.4 billion.

Zoe’s Kitchen, a Mediterranean restaurant chain, disclosed it didn’t have adequate accounting resources before its IPO last year. Installed Building Products, a provider of resi-dential insulation, had to make seven fi nancial adjustments. Zoe’s market value has climbed to $592 million as of Thursday’s close, from about $289

million based on the debut price. Both stocks have gained more than 80 per cent since their IPOs.

GoPro, which makes video cameras used by adventure-seekers, said in its IPO prospectus that it lacked ac-counting skills, monitoring activities and review processes prior to 2013. Before GoPro’s $491 million IPO in June, the company said in the fi ling that it’s implementing better internal controls, although cautioned these eff orts still may not be enough to pre-vent errors. GoPro’s stock has more than doubled since the IPO, giving it a market value of $6.7 billion.

Over lawyeringOften times, material weaknesses don’t amount to much — which is one reason some investors say they aren’t deterred by such disclosures. While they can increase a company’s risk profi le, the warnings are often a result of advisers being too protective, said Eric Jackson, who runs a hedge fund in Naples, Florida.

“One reason it’s rising is over-lawyering/CPA creep,” said Jackson, president of Ironfi re Capital. “Just throw everything in there along with the kitchen sink for the risk factors. ‘What does it hurt?’ is probably what the lawyers would say.”

In some cases, though, material

weaknesses can create serious issues. Among the worst-case scenarios hap-pened to Groupon.

In August 2011, two months after fi ling an IPO prospectus, the com-pany abandoned its controversial ac-counting method and subsequently restated 2010 results because it had counted the total amount of its daily-deal sales as revenue, including fees paid to merchants. After going public in November 2011, Chicago- based Groupon reported a material weak-ness in its fi nancial controls and had to reduce fourth-quarter revenue by $14.3 million.

Biotech industryThe stock, which reached a high of $26.19 two weeks after the IPO, never recovered. The shares are currently trading at nearly one-quarter of their record: $6.92 each.

“We’ve had accounting frauds eve-ry fi ve to 10 years, and people always seem to forget what’s taken place and engage in investment activities with-out taking certain precautions,” said Edward Ketz, an associate professor of accounting at Pennsylvania State University.

The biotechnology industry, fi lled with unprofi table companies with no revenue, accounted for seven of the 32 fi rms in the study. The remaining

25 companies came from industries including technology, consumer, en-ergy and fi nancial services.

Valuation jumpThe surge in initial fundings last year, which reached $88 billion, the most since 2000, was accompanied by a steep jump in valuations. The median debut price-to-sales ratio of 7.2 was the highest in seven years, according to data compiled by the University of Florida.

The trend continues this year as well. Etsy, the decade-old online marketplace for handmade and vin-tage goods, went public after disclos-ing two material weaknesses, includ-ing that it wasn’t able to account for some non-income tax-related ex-penses. While the company is work-ing to remedy the issues, it said in the IPO prospectus that it’s still vulner-able to errors.

Etsy’s stock surged 88 per cent on day one, although it has since de-clined. The company now has a mar-ket value of $2.5 billion.

The disclosures “only add fuel to the fi re that some of these IPO names are lower quality and maybe the IPO market is getting frothy,” said Mi-chael Scanlon of John Hancock As-set Management. — LESLIE PICKER / Bloomb-

erg News

BLINDI N V E S T O R S I N I P O A L L E Y

LACK OF CONCERN IS PART AND PARCEL OF THE RISK-TAKING MINDSET

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMSECTIONB LIFE & STYLE S AT U R DAY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5

As the world woke up on Sunday April 26 to horrifi c images of death and destruction in Nepal,Kiran Joshi sat in a hotel room in Beijing feeling sick to his

stomach. Joshi had just been in Kathmandu 12 hours earlier. Now he watched his home-town burn on the TV news. But there was another reason Joshi was so sickened by the scenes from Kathmandu. He had seen them all before — in his own movie.

“We thought we were exaggerating the damage when we made our documentary, but now I watch the news and the devasta-tion is even worse,” Joshi told The Washing-ton Post on Monday. “It’s chilling.”

Joshi is a Hollywood insider turned Nepa-lese innovator. He helped create classics in-cluding Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King during an 18-year career with Walt Disney, but left in 2008 to found Nepal’s fi rst special eff ects and animation studio.

Now, however, he has the disturbing dis-tinction of having foreshadowed his own hometown’s collapse on fi lm.

Joshi was born in Kathmandu: a computer nerd who struggled to get the latest equip-ment in Nepal. He left the coun-try when he was 19 to study in the US and then joined Disney, where he helped programme complex animations sequences in Aladdin, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Atlantis.

But even though he married and had a kid in the United States, Joshi felt pulled back to Nepal.

“The year 2007 was the turn-ing point in his life,” according to a 2010 profi le. “When he had come to Nepal for the funeral of a relative, his friend Sanjeev Rajbhandari suggested opening a studio in Nepal. He then spent three weeks in small animation boutiques and was impressed to see the portfolios of skilled and passion-ate young artists. He met a 19-year-old boy who showed his portfolio and said that his passion was animation but due to pressure from his parents, he had been studying management. He asked Kiran for help, so realising the level of this boy’s passion, he decided it was time to open an animation studio in Nepal.”

In 2008, he founded Incessant Rain Ani-mation Studios, the fi rst of its kind in Kath-mandu. Initially, the company focused on animating fi lms for Hollywood. But in 2010, when a 7.0 magnitude earthquake levelled Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Joshi realised there was important work to be done about Nepal, which sits on a seismic fault line.

The United Nations, Red Cross and other development agencies poured money and resources into Nepal in order to raise aware-ness about disaster preparation and rescue procedures. But Joshi didn’t think the mes-sage was reaching everyone. “There was a lot of preparation done in terms of educating people at a higher level,” he said, “but due to circumstances in Nepal, which is very poor, it hasn’t reached everybody.”

So Joshi teamed with the Red Cross and the American embassy to produce a series of animated public service announcements. In the videos, a heroic red panda — a local animal — teaches people how to prepare for an earthquake as well as what to do during and after a disaster.

“The red panda is like our version of Smokey the Bear,” Joshi explained. “We’re trying to teach people about safety.”

In January, Joshi debuted a diff erent pro-ject: a documentary called Moving Moun-tains. The fi lm featured interviews with the few remaining survivors from Nepal’s last devastating earthquake, an 8.2 magni-tude tremor on January 15, 1934. More than 10,000 people died in Nepal — mostly in Kathmandu — with nearly as many perish-ing across the border in Bihar, India.

But Joshi wanted to do more than remind the Nepalese of the previous earthquake. He wanted to stir them to take action to prevent

another disaster. (“Their past could become our future” is the movie’s tagline.) So he en-listed his animators in creating dramatic scenes of the potential ruin another pow-erful earthquake could cause modern-day Kathmandu.

“Basically, through animation we de-stroyed many of Kathmandu’s most famous monuments, including the Dharahara Tow-er, our number one monument,” he said. “In our documentary we levelled that off . We were trying to say, ‘This is how bad the dev-astation could be.’”

Joshi said he and his team debated long and hard about just how graphic to make the scenes in the movie.

“That was the biggest thing we discussed: to what level do we portray those visuals?” he said. “On one level you don’t want people to panic, but on another level you want to wake them up. If you show just a few houses get-ting knocked down, people won’t care unless it is their house. But if you are showing some signifi cant landmarks of the country, it will send a very strong message.”

Joshi’s digitally animated fi lm didn’t pre-pare him for the destruction that Kathman-

du suff ered on Sunday, however.“That was the most devastat-

ing part,” he said. “When I saw the news and I saw that the tow-er was completely knocked off .”

From his hotel room in Bei-jing, Joshi eventually contacted several of his co-workers in Kathmandu. None of his em-ployees were seriously injured in the earthquake, but large cracks appeared in the offi ce walls.

“We were very lucky,” he said. “One artist comes from the epicentre area. He said his whole village is pretty much levelled off .”

As of now, the death toll stands at more than 6,300 and

thousands are still missing. But Joshi said there are other costs.

“It’s very sad,” Joshi added. “I think Ne-pal and Kathmandu will never be what they were before. Besides losing so many lives, lots of our culture is in our buildings and monuments. They are completely damaged. What I love about Nepal is its rich culture. Everyone of those temples and monuments has a history why they were built. I know they will build back the city, but some of the charm about these old, antique buildings will be gone.”

From 1996 until 2006, Nepal was gripped by confl icts between government forces and Maoist insurgents. Since then, political squabbling has often shut down the govern-ment and stymied progress, Joshi said. He hoped the solidarity he had seen since the earthquake would push the poor, Himalayan country past such problems.

“The political structure is really messed up, he said. “The parties are always fi ghting and trying to create ethnic divides, but divid-ing the country along ethnic lines is not good for the country.

“Now we are coming together and re-building our lives after the earthquake,” Joshi said. “I hope politicians realise the value of being one nation. I hope that some-thing good comes out of this tragedy and Nepal rebuilds itself, not just from an infra-structure standpoint but also pulling itself together as a people.”

Joshi said he couldn’t be sure that his public service announcements or even his apocalyptic movie helped save anyone’s life in Nepal. But he felt that his movies might be able to play a role in rebuilding Kathmandu by reminding people of what has been lost.

“The good thing about animation is that whatever you have in your mind you can cre-ate,” he said. “So many world heritage sites have been destroyed. I hope we can recreate them 3-dimensionally.

“If we reconstruct those temples on fi lm,” he said, “maybe that can be a way of getting the stakeholders to realise what could be in the future.” — Michael E. Miller/The Washington Post

Kiran Joshi, a Nepalese animator

who has worked with Disney, was in Nepal just before the

earthquake

THE NEPALESE MOVIEMAKER WHO ENVISIONED

KATHMANDU’S COLLAPSEBEFORE IT HAPPENED

Kiran Joshi, who founded Nepal’s fi rst special eff ects

and animation studio after an 18-year career with

Walt Disney, now has the disturbing distinction of

having foreshadowed his own hometown’s collapse

ENTERTAINMENTB6 S AT U R DAY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5

Henny Youngman, a London-born American

comedian and violinist who died in 1998, said, “I told the doctor that I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places.”

In this grand slam, South starts with 12 top tricks: seven spades, two hearts, two diamonds and one club.

There are two places to go for the extra winner. Where are they? How should South play after West leads the heart queen?

I strongly approve of North’s three-diamond

response, showing his good fi ve-card suit and at least eight points. This way, both players know it is (almost certainly) a slam deal. South’s fi nal bid is a gamble because he does not know where the club queen will go. However, he can anticipate the grand will be at worst on a fi nesse.

After West leads the heart queen, South should realise that he will make his contract if the club fi nesse works or the diamonds break 4-4. He should try the diamond option fi rst.

So, after taking the fi rst trick, declarer plays

a trump to dummy’s seven, ruff s a low diamond with the spade jack, crosses back to dummy with a trump to the eight, ruff s high a second low diamond, and draws East’s last trump by leading his nine to dummy’s 10. Now South cashes the diamond ace-king, discarding his two low clubs.

Are the diamonds 4-4? If so, declarer throws the club queen on the 13th diamond. If not, he takes the club fi nesse. Altogether, the odds of success are an acceptable 66.38 per cent.

— By Phillip Alder

�Can you see your two options?

B I G N A T E

B O R N L O S E R

M A R M A D U K E

A C E S O N B R I D G E

C I N E M A S C H E D U L E

K I D S P O T H E A L T H C A P S U L EC R O S S W O R D

Answer to previous puzzle

WITH LOVE

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 16 years) whose birthday you are

celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number

and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi

or through e-mail to extra@timesofoman.com

P. KAVIN KARTHIKApril 30, 2009

MOHD AFFAN AWAIS ANWERApril 30, 2003

ANISH MAHESHWARIMay 2

SYED SALMAN SHARIEFMay 2, 2006

ACROSS

1 Computer programme glitch

4 Humerus neighbour 8 Tijuana locale12 Lyricist — Gershwin13 Breakfast dining area14 Famous last word15 Bob Hope was one

(hyph.)17 Usual food18 “Blue — Shoes”19 They rent quarters21 UK part23 Formerly known as24 Covered

passageways28 Crunchy

32 That woman33 Gives the go-ahead35 Weep audibly36 Enterprise offi cer39 Strait’s opposite42 Long time44 Memorable decade45 Scold49 Desert plant53 Pate de — gras54 Eastwood’s “Pink —”56 Clay jar57 007’s alma mater58 Volcanic dust59 Hawk60 Called up61 Voice vote

DOWN 1 Prejudice 2 Lahore language 3 Squall 4 Relax 5 Slow pitch 6 Playwright —

Coward 7 Rubber city 8 Long-clawed animal 9 Yves’ girlfriend10 Mock11 Aardvark snacks16 Notion20 Solstice mo.22 Thermal lead-in24 Happy sighs25 Gym iteration26 — -Magnon

27 Travel on powder29 Dogma30 Not worth a —31 “Sesame Street”

channel34 Flight dir.37 Breakfast fare38 RV haven40 Irksome41 Move freight43 More polite45 Foreign visitors?46 Axis extremity47 Cap visor48 Spreadsheet fi ller50 Plaid wearers51 Home, to Jose52 Stiff and sore55 Grandee’s title

C I N E M A S C H E D U L E

BAHJA CINEMA

STARS CINEMA

Film Information - 24540856 / Advance Booking - 24540855Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com

For More Information 24789032, 24786776 Website: www.isurf.co.om

Film information 24791641 / 24786776

FAST & FURIOUS 7 (Act/Crime ) Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, 11.55 pm, CP No : 819 ( 12+ )BARELY LETHAL ( Act / Adv) Cast: Samuel L.Jackson, Sophie Turner, Jamie King10.00 pm, CP No: 1077 ( 12+ )CYMBELINE (Drama) Cast: Ethan Hawke, Ed haris, Milla Jovovich 4.00 pm. CP No: 1076 (12+)SHE’S FUNNY THAT WAY (Com / Dr)Cast: Oven Wilson, Imogen Poots, Jennifer Aniston2.00 & 6.00 pm, CP No: 1121 (15+)MAY IN THE SUMMER (Dr / Ro) Cast: Hiam Abbas, James Garson Chick, Cherien Dabis 2.00, 6.00 & 8.00 pm. CP No: 1122 ( 12+ )LEMON TREE PASSAGE (Horror) Cast: Jessica Tovey, Nicholas Gun4.00, 8.00, 10.00 & 11.55 pm CP No : 1123 ( 15+ )

Oru Vadakkan Selfi e (Mal) (Rom/ Com)

Cast: Navin Pauly, Manjima, Vineeth

Sreenivasan and Aju

10-00 PM at Cinema Main; 3-30, 6-30,

3-45 & 6-45 PM at Cinemas- 2, 3 & 4

Uthama Villain (Tamil) (Rom/Com)

Cast: Kamal Hassan, Jayram, Pooja Kumar

and Urvashi

3-00 & 6-30 PM at Cinema Main; 9-30 &

9-45 at Cinemas 2, 3 & 4

Next change: Dohchay (Telugu)

Avengers Age Of Ultron (3D) (Action, Adventure)(PG12)Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruff alo12:50, 2:15, 6:10, 8:50, 11:30 pmAvengers Age Of Ultron (2D) (Action, Adventure)(PG12)Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans3:30 pmShe’s Funny That Way (Comedy) (15+)Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Esposito, Imogen Poots12:30, 6:45 pmFast & Furious 7 (Action, Crime) (12+)Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson6:45 pmTracers (Action)(12+)Cast: Taylor Lautner, Marie Avgeropoulos, Adam Rayner5:00, 11:45 pmLemon Tree Passage (Horror)(15+)Cast: Jessica Tovey, Nicholas Gunn, Pippa Black4:00, 11:45 pmGabbar Is Back (Action, Crime) (PG)Cast: Akshay Kumar, Shruti K. Haasan, Kareena Kapoor1:30, 9:15 pmUttama Villain (Comedy) (TBC)Cast: Kamal Haasan, Dr. K. Viswanath, K. Balachander8:30pm

Avengers Age Of Ultron(2D) PG12Cast : Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruff alo10:00 amAvengers Age Of Ultron (3D) (PG12) Gold ClassCast : Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruff alo1:15, 6:00, 8:35, 11:15 pmShe’s Funny That Way (15+)Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Esposito, Imogen Poots12:40, 2:15 pmLemon Tree Passage (15+)Cast: Jessica Tovey, Nicholas Gunn, Pippa Black2:30, 11:45 pmGabbar Is Back (PG) (Hindi)Cast : Akshay Kumar, Shruti K. Haasan, Kareena Kapoor9:15 pmUttama Villain (Tamil) (Comedy) (TBC)Cast: Kamal Haasan, Dr. K. Viswanath, K. Balachander6:00 pm

Fast & Furious 7 (12+)Cast : Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson11:30 amAvengers Age Of Ultron (3D)PG12Cast : Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruff alo4:00, 6:35, 9:10, 11:45 pm

SCREEN 1

Gabbar Is Back - Hindi (Action/Drama) – PGCast: Akshay Kumar, Shruti K. Haasan, Kareena Kapoor, 1.00, 3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PM

SCREEN 2Avengers: Age of Ultron (3D)( Action, Adventure, Fantasy)– PG12Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruff alo1.00, 10.00 PMUttama Villain – Tamil ( Comedy)– PG12Cast: Kamal Haasan, Parvathy Nair, K. Viswanath, Urvashi3.30, 6.45 PM

Fast & Furious 7 - 2D (12+) Act/CriCas : Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne6:30 PMAvengers: Age of Ultron – 2D (PG12) Action |Adventure |Sci-Fi Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans1:00 PMAvengers: Age of Ultron – 3D (PG12) Action |Adventure |Sci-Fi 3:40, 6:15, 8:50, 11:30 PMTracers - 2D (12+) ActionCast: Taylor Lautner, Marie Angelopoulos, 6:50, 11:45 PMShe’s Funny That Way -2D (15+) (Comedy)Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Esposito, Imogen Poots3:00, 5:00 PMMay in the Summer - 2D (12+) Com |DrCast: Hiam Abbass, James Garson Chick, Cherien Dabis2:30, 4:45 PMLemon Tree Passage – 2D (15+) Horror |Mystery | ThrillerCast: Jessica Tovey, Nicholas Gunn, Pippa Black3:00, 6:45, 11:45 PMOtt We Far - 2D (Arb) (PG12) ComCast: David Walliams, Pudsey, 4:30 PMOru Vadakkan Selfi e - 2D (M)(PG) ComedyCast: Nivin Pauly, Aju Varghese, 11:50 AM, 9:00 PMGabbar is Back- 2D (TBC) (Act |Cri |Dra)

Avengers: Age of Ultron- 3D (PG12)Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruff alo3:15, 6:45, 9:15, 11:45 PMAvengers: Age of Ultron- 2D (PG12)12:30pmIn Fear (2D) (15+)Cast: Iain De Caestecker, Alice Englert, Allen Leech3:00, 5:25, 11:30 PMShe’s Funny That Way (2D) (15+)Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Esposito, Imogen Poots7:00 PMGabbar is Back (2D/PG)Cast: Akshay Kumar, Shruti K. Haasan, Kareena Kapoor4:30, 8:45, 11:20 PMUttama Villain – Tamil ( Comedy/Drama)– PG12Cast: Kamal Haasan, Parvathy Nair, 12:15, 2:45, 8:25 PMOru Vadakkan Selfi e (2D) (PG)Cast: Nivin Pauly, Aju Varghese, Vineeth Sreenivasan12:15, 5:45 pm

Avengers: Age of Ultron (3D) (Act | Adventure | Sci-Fi) (PG12) Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruff alo6:30, 9:00, 11:30 PMAvengers: Age of Ultron (2D) (PG12) Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans,

Avengers :Age Of Ultron (3D)(PG12)(Action, Adventure,Sci-Fi) Cast: Robert Dwney Jr,Chris Evan2:45, 6:30, 9:00, 11:35pmAvengers :Age Of Ultron (2D)(Action) 10:45AM; (PG12)Tracers (2D)(12+) (Action) Cast: Taylor Lautner, Marie Avgeropoulos, Adam Rayner10:30AM, 7:00, 10:05PMFast & Furious 7 (2D) (12+) (Act/Crime) Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson; 12:10, 4:30PMShe’s Funny That Way (2D)(15+) (Comedy) Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Esposito, 1:00, 2:45, 5:15PMLemon Tree Passage (2D) (15+) (Hor ) Cast: Jessica Tovey, Nicholas Gunn 1:15, 5:00, 11:45PMGabbar is Back (2D)(PG) (Action/Crime) Cast: Akshay Kumar, Shruti K. Haasan, Kareena Kapoor10:45AM, 2:35, 11:20PMOru Vadakkan Selfi e (2D)(PG) (Comedy) Cast: Nivin Pauly, Aju Varghese8:45PMUttama Villain (2D)(PG12)( Comedy) Cast: Kamal Haasan, Dr. K. Viswanath, K. Balachander7:00pm

Mark Ruff alo, 11:30 AMGabbar is Back (Action ) (PG)Cast: Akshay Kumar, Shruti K Haasan, Kareena Kapoor; 2:00, 8:45 PMShe’s Funny That Way ( Com) (15+) Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Esposite, 4:20 PMOru Vadakkan Selfi e (Malayam) (Comedy) (PG)Cast: Nivin Pauly, Aju Varghese, Vineeth12:45, 6:05 PMUttama Villain (Tamil) (Comedy) Cast: Kamal Haasan, Dr. K. Viswanath, K. 3:25, 11:15 PM

SCREEN 3Avengers: Age of Ultron (2D)(Action)– Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruff alo4.15, 6.45 PM; PG12Uttama Villain – Tamil ( Comedy/Drama)– PG12Cast: Kamal Haasan, Parvathy Nair, 1.00, 9.45 PM

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Shruti K. Haasan, Kareena Kapoor12:30, 8:45, 11:15 PMUttama Villain – Tamil ( Comedy/Drama)– PG12Cast: Kamal Haasan, Parvathy Nair, 11:50 AM, 8:30 PM

FIND-IT-ALL

PHARMACIESRound the clockAl Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24783334; Appolo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24782666; Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24702542, Salalah: 23291635; Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra: 24503585; Ruwi 24811715Muscat RegionApollo, Al Hamriya. Tel: 24787766Muscat, A Seeb Market. Tel: 24421691Muscat, Al Khuwair. Tel: 24485740Muscat, Al Hail South. Tel: 4537080Dhofar RegionMuscat, Al Nahdha Road, Salalah. Tel: 23291635

HOSPITALSAl Amal Medical & Health Care Centre: 24485052Atlas Hospital: Ruwi: 24811743/ Ghubra: 24504000Al Musafi r Specialised Medical Clinic: 24706453Hatat Polyclinic LLC,Ruwi: 24563641, Azaiba: 24499269, Sohar: 2683006Al Raff ah Hospital: 24618900/1/2Al Massaraat Clinic & Laboratory: 24566435Al Makook Medical Coordinance Centre: 24499434Apollo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24787766, 24787780Capital Polyclinic: 24707549Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic, Ruwi: 24799760/1/2Capital Clinic, Seeb: 24420740Ceregem National Raak: 24485633Dr Harub’s Clinic: 24563217Elixir Health Centre: 24565802Emirates Medical Centre: 246045401st Chiropractic Centre: 24472274Hamdan Hospital: 23212340International Medical Centre LLC: 24794501/2/3/4/5Kims Oman Hospital: 24760100

24 Hrs Emergency: 24760123Lama Polyclinic, Sohar: 26751128, MBD: 24799077, Al Khuwair: 24478818Magrabi Eye and Ear Hospital: 24568870Muscat Private Hospital: 24583600Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, Al Khuwair: 24477666Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC: 22004000

ROYAL OMAN POLICEEmergencies and inquiries: 9999General Directorate of Passport and Residence: 24569603Directorate General of Customs: 24521109Traffi c violations inquiries: 24510228Public Relations Admin: 24560099

ACCOMMODATIONAl Bahjah Hotel: 24424400Al Bustan Palace: 24764000 Al Khuwair Hotel Apartments: 24478171Al Madina Holiday Inn: 24596400Al Maha International Hotel: 24494949Al Fanar Hotel: 24712385Al Falaj Hotel: 24702311Al Qurum Resort: 24605945Azaiba Hotel Apartments: 24490979Beach Hotel: 24696601Bowshar Hotel: 24491105Coral Hotel Muscat: 24692121Crowne Plaza Muscat: 24660660Crystal Suites: 24826100Golden Tulip Seeb: 24510300Grand Hyatt Muscat: 24641234Haff a House Hotel: 24707207Hotel Muscat Holiday: 24487123InterContinental Muscat: 24680000Majan Continental Hotel: 24592900Marina Hotel: 24711711Midan Hotel Suites: 24499565Mina Hotel: 24711828Muttrah Hotel: 24798401

Nuzha Hotel Apartments: 24789199Oman Dive Centre: 24824240Park Inn: 24507888Qurum Beach House Hotel: 24564070Radisson Blu Hotel: 24487777Ramee Dream Resort Seeb: 24453399Ramee Guestline Hotel: 24564443Ruwi Hotel: 24704244Safeer Hotel Suites: 24691200Sheraton Oman Hotel: 24772772Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa: 24776666The Chedi Muscat: 24524400The Treasurebox Muscat Hotel: 24502570

AIRLINE OFFICESMuscat Airport Flight information (24 hours): 24519456/24519223Aerofl ot: 24704455, Air Arabia: 24700828, Air France: 24562153, Air India: 24799801, Air New Zealand: 24700732, Biman Bangladesh Airlines: 24701128, British Airways: 24568777, Cathay Pacifi c: 24789818, Egypt Air: 24794113, Emirates Air: 24404400, Ethiopian Airlines: 24660313, Gulf Air: 80072424, Indian: 24791914, Iran Air: 24787423, Japan Airlines: 24704455, Jazeera Airways: 23294848, Jet Airways: 24787248, Kenya Airways: 24660300, KML Royal Dutch Airlines: 24566737, Kuwait Airways: 24701262, LOT Polish Airlines: 24796387, Lufthansa: 24796692, Malaysian Airlines: 24560796, Middle East Airlines: 24796680, Oman Air: 24531111, Pakistan International Airlines: 24792471, Qatar Airways: 24771900, Qantas: 24559941, Royal Jordanian: 24796693, Saudi Arabian Airlines: 24789485, Singapore Airlines: 24791233, Shaheen Air: 24816565, SriLankan Airlines:

24784545, Swiss International Airlines: 24796692, Thai Airways: 24705934, Turkish Airlines: 24703033

MUSEUMSBait Al Baranda: Corniche (seafront opp fi sh market), Open from Saturday to Thursday 9am to 1pm and 4 to 6pmNatural History Museum: Al Khuwair, Tel: 24604957, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm; Thursday: 9am to 1pmMuseum of Omani Heritage: (former Omani Museum), Madinat Al Alam, Sat-Wed 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday - 9am to 1pm, Tel: 24600946Armed Forces Museum: Bait Al Falaj, Tel: 24312651, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm; Thurs 9-12pm and 3-6pm; Fri 9-11am and 3-6pm. Al Hoota Caves 24498258; Turtle Beach 96550606/96550707Children’s Science Museum: Shatti Al Qurum, Tel: 24605368, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pmOman-French Museum: near Muscat Police Station, Tel: 24736613, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm, Thurs: 9am to 1pmBait Al Zubair, Muscat: Tel: 24736688, Al Saidiya St., Muscatmuseum@baitalzubairmuseum.comOpen from Sat to Thurs: 9:30am to 6pm.National Museum Ruwi: Tel: 24701289, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pmSohar Fort Museum: Tel: 26844758, Open from Saturday to Wed: 8 to 1:30pm Thurs: 9am to 1pmMuscat Gate Museum: at Al Bahri Road, Muscat open from Sat to Wed 8am to 2pm

Dhuhr 12.09pm

Asr 3.34pm

Maghrib 6.40pm

Isha 7.56pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 4.12am

Sunset 6:35pm

Sunrise (Tomorrow) 5.33am

High tide 7:53am 8.55pm

Low tide 2.04pm 2.28am

PRAYER TIMINGS

B7S AT U R DAY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5

W E A T H E R

OMAN

Max 37Min 26

Max 37Min 26

Max 38Min 28

Max 41Min 26

Max 40Min 29Max 41

Min 26

Max 40Min 26

Max 33 Min 27

Mainly clear skies over most of the Sultanate with existence of clouds over Dohfar coastal areas with chance of dust rising wind over the desert and open areas. Chances of late night

to early morning low level clouds or fog patches over governorates of Dohfar and Al Wusta.EXPECTED WINDS: Winds will be northeasterly light to moderate during day becoming southwesterly light to moderate at night along the coastal areas of Oman Sea while along the coastal areas of Arabian Sea the winds will be southerly to southeasterly light to moderate occasionally fresh, while it will be northwesterly light to moderate over

the rest of the Sultanate.SEA STATE: Slight to moderate along the coastal area of Arabian Sea with maximum wave height of 1.5 metres, and slight along the rest of the coasts with maximum wave height of 1.0 metre.HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY: Good over most of the Sultanate becoming poor during fog and dust rising wind.THE NEXT 48 HOURS OUTLOOK: Mainly clear skies over most of the Sultanate. Chance of early morning low level clouds or fog patches along the coastal areas of Arabian Sea.

Max Min

GULFAbu Dhabi 39 25Doha 37 29Dubai 37 24Kuwait 39 21Manama 36 29Riyadh 41 29

WORLDAthens 25 17Baghdad 37 21Beijing 26 18Berlin 18 8Boston 16 8Cairo 29 19Colombo 31 26Frankfurt 18 9Hong Kong 27 22Istanbul 22 14Johannesburg 23 7Kuala Lumpur 31 24Lisbon 22 18Paris 17 14Perth 23 11Singapore 32 27Tokyo 25 13Toronto 17 9

WORLD

Max 20Min 11

Max 39Min 24

Max 16Min 12

Max 41Min 29

Max 26Min 14

Max 21Min 17

Max 21Min 12

Max 34Min 26

LONG DISTANCE BUS TIMINGS (OMAN NATIONAL TRANSPORT COMPANY SAOC) *SUBJECT TO CHANGE

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (Route 36)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (Route 36)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41)06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri13:00 Sohar 15:45 Daily13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41)07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily07:00 Ruwi 11:40 Daily13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri13:00 Sohar 14:55 Daily13:00 Ruwi 17:40 Daily13:00 Sohar 19:20 Daily17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily

TO SINAW (Route 52)17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily

TO SINAW (Route 52)07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54)14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54)06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54)08:00 Nizwa 10:20 Daily08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54)15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily

TO SUR (Route 55)07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily

TO SUR (Route 55)06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (Route 62)06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (Route 62)12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201)06:00 Sohar 08:30 Daily06:00 Dubai 11:30 Daily13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur15:00 Sohar 17:35 Daily15:00 Dubai 20:55 Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201)07:30 Sohar 10:50 Daily07:30 Ruwi 13:40 Daily13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri15:30 Sohar 18:45 Daily15:30 Ruwi 21:35 Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (Route 100)07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily10:00 Salalah 23:30 Daily19:00 Salalah 07:40 Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (Route 100)07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily10:00 Ruwi 22:30 Daily19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101)06:00 Marmul 16:50 Daily

SALALAH TO DUBAI (Route 102)15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101)06:00 Marmul 16:30 Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (Route 102)15:00 Salalah 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI) TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

LISTINGS

Source: www.met.gov.om

SATURDAY

FLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA WY406 CAIRO  0005WY648 KUWAIT  0005WY672 MEDINA  0005WY424 BEIRUT  0005WY676 JEDDAH  0005WY682 RIYADH  0010WY914 SALALAH  0020WY916 SALALAH  0120TK774 ISTANBUL  01354H583 DACCA  0200PK225 KARACHI  0215GF560 BAHRAIN  0325QR1132 DOHA  0345ET624 ADDIS ABABA  0350EK866 DUBAI  0350EY384 ABU DHABI  0400MS930 CAIRO  0410FZ041 DUBAI  0415WY114 FRANKFURT  0515WY658 BAHRAIN  0635WY638 ABU DHABI  0640WY902 SALALAH  0645WY644 KUWAIT  0650WY154 ZURICH  0700WY144 MALPENSA  0705WY668 DOHA  0715WY692 DAMMAM  0715WY132 PARIS  0735WY674 JEDDAH  0735WY102 LONDON HEATHROW  0740FZ043 DUBAI  0800WY602 DUBAI  0805WY432 TEHRAN  0805WY346 ISLAM ABBAD  0815WY202 BOMBAY  0835WY236 HYDERABAD  0900G9114 SHARJAH  0905WY282 BANGALORE  0910PK191 TURBAT  0930EK862 DUBAI  0930WY210 GOA  0935WY242 DELHI  0935WY252 MADRAS  0955IX549 TRIVANDRUM  0955QR1128 DOHA  1000EY382 ABU DHABI  1010IX443 COCHIN  1020WY844 MANILA  1020WY652 BAHRAIN  10409W530 TRIVANDRUM  1045WY604 DUBAI  1115WY918 KHASAB  1115GF562 BAHRAIN  1130FZ037 DUBAI  1140IX337 CALICUT  1155WY384 MALE  1210PA450 LAHORE  1215WY705 DARESSLAM-ZANZIBAR  1215WY822 KUALA LUMPUR-SINGAPORE  1215WY818 BANGKOK  1220WY634 ABU DHABI  1220WY904 SALALAH  1230BG023 DACCA  1230PK291 ISLAM ABBAD  1235WY670 DOHA  1250WY324 KARACHI  1300NL771 PESHAWAR  1300WY332 KATHMANDU  1305WY606 DUBAI  1340WY3302 MUKHAIZNA  1350WY906 SALALAH  1440WY920 KHASAB  1445FZ045 DUBAI  1535SV532 JEDDAH  1550WY344 LAHORE  1605WY656 BAHRAIN  1615QR1126 DOHA  1650WY204 BOMBAY  1655WY632 ABU DHABI  1710WY292 CALICUT  1710WY216 TRIVANDRUM  1745EK864 DUBAI  1745WY232 HYDERABAD  1750WY246 DELHI  1750WY694 DAMMAM  1805WY664 DOHA  1805GF564 BAHRAIN  1810G9116 SHARJAH  1905WY274 JAIPUR  1910WY374 COLOMBO  1915WY386 MALE  1935FZ047 DUBAI  1940WY908 SALALAH  2000PK259 PESHAWAR  2000RG125 ABU DHABI  2005WY646 KUWAIT  2010WY224 COCHIN  2025WY614 DUBAI  2025WY338 KATHMANDU  2040FZ049 DUBAI  2100WY124 MUNICH  2105KL441 AMSTERDAM-DOHA  21059W534 COCHIN  2115AI973 DELHI  21256.00E+81 BOMBAY  2130BA073 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI  2140WY624 DUBAI  2150WY254 MADRAS  2150UL205 COLOMBO  2155WY684 RIYADH  2200AI907 MADRAS  2200WY264 LUCKNOW  2200WY312 CHITTAGONG  2210LX242 ZURICH-DUBAI  2225QR1134 DOHA  2225GF566 BAHRAIN  2240LH616 FRANKFURT-DOHA  2245WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM  2250WY328 KARACHI  2250EY388 ABU DHABI  23009W540 BOMBAY  2315AI985 BOMBAY  2325WY662 DOHA  2335WY654 BAHRAIN  2340WY636 ABU DHABI  2340WY928 SALALAH  2345WY816 BANGKOK  2350WY696 DAMMAM  2355WY612 DUBAI  2355

SUNDAY

FLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA

WY406 CAIRO  0005WY648 KUWAIT  0005WY676 JEDDAH  0005WY672 MEDINA  0005WY682 RIYADH  0010WY914 SALALAH  0020WY916 SALALAH  0120WY910 SALALAH  0130TK774 ISTANBUL  01354H585 DACCA  0200NL669 SIALKOT  0200PK225 KARACHI  0210GF560 BAHRAIN  0325QR1132 DOHA  0345ET624 ADDIS ABABA  0350EK866 DUBAI  0350EY384 ABU DHABI  0400FZ041 DUBAI  0415WY114 FRANKFURT  05154H586 DOHA  0600CV732 LUXORE  0635WY658 BAHRAIN  0635WY638 ABU DHABI  0640WY902 SALALAH  0645WY326 KARACHI  0650WY644 KUWAIT  0650G9841 RAS AL KHAIMA  0655WY686 RIYADH  0655WY154 ZURICH  0700WY144 MALPENSA  0705WY692 DAMMAM  0715WY668 DOHA  0715WY674 JEDDAH  0735WY132 PARIS  0735WY102 LONDON HEATHROW  0740FZ043 DUBAI  0800WY602 DUBAI  0805NL768 LAHORE  0830WY272 JAIPUR  0830WY202 BOMBAY  0835WY3932 SOHAR  0840WY236 HYDERABAD  0900G9114 SHARJAH  0905WY282 BANGALORE  0910WY226 COCHIN  0920EK862 DUBAI  0930WY210 GOA  0935WY242 DELHI  0935WY212 TRIVANDRUM  0950WY252 MADRAS  0955IX549 TRIVANDRUM  0955QR1128 DOHA  1000IX817 MANGALORE  1010EY382 ABU DHABI  1010IX443 COCHIN  10209W530 TRIVANDRUM  1045WY3922 DUQUM OMAN  1045WY3302 MUKHAIZNA  1110WY604 DUBAI  1110WY918 KHASAB  1115GF562 BAHRAIN  1130FZ037 DUBAI  1140IX337 CALICUT  1155WY384 MALE  1210WY822 KUALA LUMPUR-SINGAPORE  1215WY818 BANGKOK  1220WY634 ABU DHABI  1220WY904 SALALAH  1230WY670 DOHA  1250WY324 KARACHI  1300WY332 KATHMANDU  1305WY652 BAHRAIN  1330WY606 DUBAI  1340KU677 KUWAIT  1405WY906 SALALAH  1440WY920 KHASAB  1445WY348 ISLAM ABBAD  1515FZ045 DUBAI  1535WY3304 MUKHAIZNA  1550WY344 LAHORE  1605QR1126 DOHA  1650WY204 BOMBAY  1655WY632 ABU DHABI  1710WY292 CALICUT  1710WY264 LUCKNOW  1740WY664 DOHA  1745EK864 DUBAI  1745WY246 DELHI  1750WY232 HYDERABAD  1750WY610 DUBAI  1800GF564 BAHRAIN  1810WY656 BAHRAIN  1820TG507 BANGKOK-KARACHI  1900G9116 SHARJAH  1905WY374 COLOMBO  1915WY646 KUWAIT  1920FZ047 DUBAI  1940WY908 SALALAH  2000WY614 DUBAI  2025WY848 JAKARTA  2035WY338 KATHMANDU  2040WY386 MALE  2045WY434 TEHRAN  2055FZ049 DUBAI  2100WY124 MUNICH  21059W534 COCHIN  2115AI973 DELHI  21256.00E+81 BOMBAY  2130WY254 MADRAS  2135BA073 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI  2140WY624 DUBAI  2150UL205 COLOMBO  2155AI907 MADRAS  2200WY312 CHITTAGONG  2210QR1134 DOHA  2225LX242 ZURICH-DUBAI  2225GF566 BAHRAIN  2240LH616 FRANKFURT-DOHA  2245EY388 ABU DHABI  2300WY414 AMMAN  2300WY910 SALALAH  23109W540 BOMBAY  2315AI985 BOMBAY  2325WY662 DOHA  2335WY654 BAHRAIN  2340WY636 ABU DHABI  2340WY928 SALALAH  2345WY816 BANGKOK  2350WY696 DAMMAM  2355WY612 DUBAI  2355

FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD 9W539 BOMBAY  0020AI986 BOMBAY  0020SG062 AHMEDABAD  0030WY657 BAHRAIN  0055WY637 ABU DHABI  0105WY281 BANGALORE  0110WY235 HYDERABAD  0110WY201 BOMBAY  0115WY251 MADRAS  0120WY643 KUWAIT  0120WY345 ISLAM ABBAD  0125WY601 DUBAI  0145WY431 TEHRAN  0155WY123 MUNICH  0200WY901 SALALAH  0215WY241 DELHI  0215WY667 DOHA  0225WY691 DAMMAM  0225TK775 ISTANBUL  0230WY383 MALE  0230WY209 GOA  02554H584 DACCA  0300PK230 LAHORE  0315WY331 KATHMANDU  0350ET625 ADDIS ABABA  0450EK867 DUBAI  0450EY385 ABU DHABI  0500MS931 CAIRO  0510FZ042 DUBAI  0510QR1133 DOHA  0515WY651 BAHRAIN  0645GF561 BAHRAIN  0715WY903 SALALAH  0750WY603 DUBAI  0750WY917 KHASAB  0815WY669 DOHA  0835WY323 KARACHI  0835FZ044 DUBAI  0845WY373 COLOMBO  0900WY633 ABU DHABI  0900WY215 TRIVANDRUM  0900WY815 BANGKOK  0905WY343 LAHORE  0915WY291 CALICUT  0915WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM  0940WY821 SINGAPORE-KUALA LUMPUR  0945WY385 MALE  0945G9115 SHARJAH  0955WY3301 MUKHAIZNA  1000WY231 HYDERABAD  1000PK192 TURBAT-GWADUR  1015WY905 SALALAH  1020WY605 DUBAI  1020WY203 BOMBAY  1025WY245 DELHI  1040EK863 DUBAI  1045IX554 TRIVANDRUM  1045WY337 KATHMANDU  1050QR1129 DOHA  1100EY383 ABU DHABI  1105IX442 COCHIN  1120WY311 CHITTAGONG  1140WY919 KHASAB  11459W533 COCHIN  1145GF563 BAHRAIN  1215WY223 COCHIN  1215WY655 BAHRAIN  1220WY273 JAIPUR  1220FZ038 DUBAI  1225IX350 CALICUT  1255WY253 MADRAS  1310PA451 LAHORE  1315WY113 FRANKFURT  1320WY693 DAMMAM  1330PK292 ISLAM ABBAD  1335WY631 ABU DHABI  1345WY131 PARIS  1345WY663 DOHA  1350WY143 MALPENSA  1350WY263 LUCKNOW  1400BG024 CHITTAGONG-DACCA  1400WY101 LONDON HEATHROW  1400WY153 ZURICH  1420WY927 SALALAH  1430NL668 SIALKOT  1430WY405 CAIRO  1440WY645 KUWAIT  1440WY907 SALALAH  1540WY675 JEDDAH  1615FZ046 DUBAI  1620WY683 RIYADH  1620SV533 RIYADH-JEDDAH  1650WY671 MEDINA  1705WY613 DUBAI  1710QR1127 DOHA  1750WY327 KARACHI  1810WY681 RIYADH  1840WY623 DUBAI  1840WY647 KUWAIT  1845GF565 BAHRAIN  1855EK865 DUBAI  1910WY695 DAMMAM  1915WY661 DOHA  1920WY653 BAHRAIN  1920G9117 SHARJAH  1955WY913 SALALAH  2000WY635 ABU DHABI  2015FZ048 DUBAI  2025WY611 DUBAI  2035RG126 ABU DHABI  2045PK226 KARACHI  2100WY915 SALALAH  2100WY909 SALALAH  2110FZ050 DUBAI  2145KL442 DOHA-AMSTERDAM  2220WY817 BANGKOK  22259W529 TRIVANDRUM  22306.00E+82 BOMBAY  2245AI908 MADRAS  2300UL206 COLOMBO  2305AI974 DELHI  2310LX243 DUBAI-ZURICH  2325GF567 BAHRAIN  2325QR1135 DOHA  2330BA072 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW  2330WY673 JEDDAH  2350EY381 ABU DHABI  2355LH617 DOHA-FRANKFURT  2355

FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD AI986 BOMBAY  00209W539 BOMBAY  0020WY657 BAHRAIN  0055WY225 COCHIN  0105WY637 ABU DHABI  0105WY235 HYDERABAD  0110WY281 BANGALORE  0110WY211 TRIVANDRUM  0110WY685 RIYADH  0115WY201 BOMBAY  0115WY643 KUWAIT  0120WY251 MADRAS  0120WY271 JAIPUR  0135WY601 DUBAI  0145WY123 MUNICH  0200WY325 KARACHI  0210WY847 JAKARTA  0215WY241 DELHI  0215WY901 SALALAH  0215WY691 DAMMAM  0225WY667 DOHA  0225WY383 MALE  0230TK775 ISTANBUL  0230WY209 GOA  02554H585 DOHA  0300PK260 PESHAWAR  0310NL772 PESHAWAR  0330WY331 KATHMANDU  0350ET625 ADDIS ABABA  0450EK867 DUBAI  0450EY385 ABU DHABI  0500FZ042 DUBAI  0510QR1133 DOHA  0515WY3931 SOHAR  06354H586 DACCA  0700GF561 BAHRAIN  0715WY3921 DUQUM OMAN  0745G9842 RAS AL KHAIMA  0745WY903 SALALAH  0750WY603 DUBAI  0750WY3301 MUKHAIZNA  0800CV732 HONG KONG  0800WY917 KHASAB  0815WY347 ISLAM ABBAD  0830WY669 DOHA  0835WY323 KARACHI  0835FZ044 DUBAI  0845WY373 COLOMBO  0900WY815 BANGKOK  0905WY291 CALICUT  0915WY343 LAHORE  0915NL769 LAHORE  0930WY651 BAHRAIN  0935WY263 LUCKNOW  0940WY821 SINGAPORE-KUALA LUMPUR  0945WY843 MANILA  0955G9115 SHARJAH  0955WY231 HYDERABAD  1000WY605 DUBAI  1020WY905 SALALAH  1020WY203 BOMBAY  1025WY385 MALE  1040WY245 DELHI  1040EK863 DUBAI  1045IX554 TRIVANDRUM  1045WY337 KATHMANDU  1050QR1129 DOHA  1100IX818 MANGALORE  1100EY383 ABU DHABI  1105IX442 COCHIN  1120WY311 CHITTAGONG  11409W533 COCHIN  1145WY919 KHASAB  1145GF563 BAHRAIN  1215FZ038 DUBAI  1225WY3303 MUKHAIZNA  1230WY253 MADRAS  1255IX350 CALICUT  1255WY633 ABU DHABI  1300WY113 FRANKFURT  1320WY663 DOHA  1330WY631 ABU DHABI  1345WY143 MALPENSA  1350WY645 KUWAIT  1350WY655 BAHRAIN  1400WY101 LONDON HEATHROW  1400WY153 ZURICH  1420WY927 SALALAH  1430WY405 CAIRO  1440WY413 AMMAN  1440WY433 TEHRAN  1445WY609 DUBAI  1445KU678 ABU DHABI-KUWAIT  1505WY907 SALALAH  1540WY675 JEDDAH  1615FZ046 DUBAI  1620WY671 MEDINA  1705WY613 DUBAI  1710QR1127 DOHA  1750WY623 DUBAI  1840WY681 RIYADH  1840WY647 KUWAIT  1845WY909 SALALAH  1850GF565 BAHRAIN  1855EK865 DUBAI  1910WY695 DAMMAM  1915WY653 BAHRAIN  1920WY661 DOHA  1920G9117 SHARJAH  1955WY913 SALALAH  2000TG508 KARACHI-BANGKOK  2005WY635 ABU DHABI  2015FZ048 DUBAI  2025WY611 DUBAI  2035WY915 SALALAH  2100FZ050 DUBAI  2145WY421 BEIRUT  2215WY817 BANGKOK  22259W529 TRIVANDRUM  22306.00E+82 BOMBAY  2245AI908 MADRAS  2300UL206 COLOMBO  2305AI974 DELHI  2310WY705 DARESSLAM-ZANZIBAR  2310GF567 BAHRAIN  2325LX243 DUBAI-ZURICH  2325QR1135 DOHA  2330BA072 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW  2330WY673 JEDDAH  2350EY381 ABU DHABI  2355LH617 DOHA-FRANKFURT  2355

A I R L I N E S

BORN today, you are one of the most conscientious and trustworthy individuals born under your sign. Your word is your bond. You seek the higher things in life — goodness, honour, respectability — and you most often fi nd them not far from home, for they are the very mainstays of your existence. You strive for that which is so often sought by others as well, but where they fail, you usually succeed. Your secret? You have a way of seeing things in a simple, straightforward way, with few or no complications. In this way, you keep your life from becoming tangled and confused. You live in the world, but you don’t let the world get the better of you.

You are never one to shy away from diffi culty, even when that diffi culty is not of your making. You will immerse yourself in tricky situations with one motive, and only one: to help those who cannot help themselves. You are quite caring and generous.

Also born on this date are: Dwayne Johnson, wrestler and actor; David Beckham, soccer player; Engelbert Humperdinck, singer; Christine Baranski, actress; Manfred von Richtofen, World War I pilot; Theodore Bikel, actor; David Suchet, actor; Hedda Hopper, columnist; Larry Gatlin, singer; Dr. Benjamin Spock, paediatrician and author.

Keeping others on track may actually be easier than keeping yourself on the straight-and-narrow — but both must be done!

VIRGO [AUG. 23-SEPT. 22]

LIBRA [SEPT. 23-OCT. 22] LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL[S[[[S[S[S[[S[SS[SSSS[S[[[[SSSSSSSSSS

SCORPIO [OCT. 23-NOV. 21] S[

SAGITTARIUS [NOV. 22-DEC. 21] S[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

AQUARIUS [JAN. 20-FEB. 18]

The time has come for you to attempt what others claim cannot be done. Ingenuity and inspiration will count for much.

You may discover that breaking one of your own rules can actually prove benefi cial to you — at least temporarily.

You may slip and slide a bit, but you’ll regain stable footing before long. Someone you’ve just met may prove helpful to you.

You may be in for a long day, though the creativity involved is likely to keep you in good spirits throughout the entire process.

You may fi nd yourself grappling with some diffi cult facts and fi gures. When you get the right answer, make a record of it!

While you are waiting for others to join you in a certain endeavour, make sure that you have done all you can to anticipate developments.

You may be surprised to learn that you are not being held accountable for a recent error — though you were, indeed, a responsible party.

PISCES [Feb. 19-March 20]

The earlier you are able to start, the more you will be able to get done — and not merely because you’ll have more hours to work with.

GEMINI [MAY 21-JUNE 20]

CANCER [JUNE 21-JULY 22]

LEO [JULY 23-AUG. 22]

CAPRICORN [DEC. 22-JAN 19]

Y O U R B I R T H D A Y

ARIES [March 21-APRIL 19]

TAURUS [APRIL 20-MAY 20]

Your personal relationships demand some special attention. It’s not what you’ve been saying, but how you’ve been saying it.

You’re ready to tackle something that you know will not be easy, yet you are confi dent that others will fi nd it even harder than you do.

Let someone guide you throughout the day, especially if you fi nd yourself unable to anticipate coming events.

B8

EXTRAS AT U R DAY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5

‘Bajirao Mastani’ makes Priyanka feel blissful

ACTRESS Priyanka Chopra has loved shooting for a song for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani in which she shares the screen space with Deepika Padukone. “Finally done... The bliss of fi nishing a momentous task is so relieving. #Bajirao-Mastani. Back to #AyeshaMehra for #DDD tomorrow. Kashi bids gn,” Priyanka tweeted. Bajirao Mastani marks actress Priyanka’s fi rst period fi lm, which is based on the love story between Maratha warrior Peshwa Bajirao I (Ranveer Singh) and his second wife Mastani (Deepika Padukone). Priyanka plays Kashibai, the fi rst wife of Peshwa Bajirao. The Mary Kom actress also thanked the team behind the song. “Thank u Sanjay sir @remodsouza_1 @shampa_s Kruti @deepika-padukone and #TeamBajiraoMastani for an awesome song shoot. See u on set next sched,” she shared.

Cool to play 80-year-old in ‘Sanam Re’: Rishi Kapoor

VETERAN actor Rishi Kapoor, who surprised everyone with his impres-sive act as Rauf Lala in Ag-neepath remake, will now play an 80-year-old man in Divya Khosla’s upcoming fi lm Sanam Re. The actor has found his look in the fi lm cool and took to his Twitter page to share the news. “This picture is from Sanam Re, play an eighty year old man. Cool (sic),” he tweeted on Friday. Re-portedly, the veteran actor

will play a grandfather in the fi lm. Produced by Bhushan Ku-mar, Sanam Re also features Pulkit Samrat, Yami Gautam and Urvashi Rautela. Meanwhile, the actor is busy shooting for All Is Well that will see him alongside Abhishek Bachchan.

Won’t change my writing style for Bollywood: Bhagat HIS BOOKS have found visual translation in Hindi mov-ies, but author Chetan Bhagat remains unmoved by the glitz and glamour of the tinsel town and says he won’t change his style of writing to suit Bollywood’s sensibilities. “I don’t want to change my writing style. I want to write books as books. I don’t want to change my books because of some fi lm-related reason. I will continue to make my books as they are,” Bhagat said. Most of his books like The Three Mistakes of My Life, Five Point Someone and 2 States: The Story of My Marriage impressed Bollywood fi lmmakers enough to turn these into fi lms. The adaptations have garnered mixed response at the box offi ce. While 3 Idiots, and 2 States, raked in a good busi-ness, Kai Po Che, a take on The Three Mistakes of My Life, got only tepid response. Hello, was a dud at the boxoffi ce. Now two fi lms based on Revolution 2020 and Half Girlfriend are in works. It’s often seen that fi lms aren’t able to do justice to the storyline in the book. But Bhagat notes that he “has been lucky” in that case. “People have liked the fi lms and I feel fi lm-makers have done justice to the book,” he said. -IANS

When Anupam Kher got jealous of Hrithik RoshanBOLLYWOOD actor Hrithik Roshan’s chiselled body and looks of a Greek deity has given veteran actor Anupam Kher a complex. “When you meet someone who looks like @iHrithik you suddenly discovered god has been a little unkind to you,” Anupam tweeted. Anupam, who is back with second season of his TV show The Anupam Kher Show... Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai, also shared a photo-graph with Hrithik. In the image, both of them are looking sophisticated and classy in all-black outfi ts. -IANS

BR I E FS

BOLLYWOOD

HEALTH

That’s the thing about fashion trends to-day: Their lifecycles are short. And with everything moving

faster, retailers are increasingly looking for ways to keep up with what you want to wear, right this minute.

Google thinks it has found a way to help. On Monday, the search gi-ant released its fi rst fashion trends report, which analysed billions of searches to fi gure out what shop-pers are interested in this season and how that has changed relative to previous years.

Google’s full report is a fascinat-ing read for any fashion junkie. Midi skirts? They’re just starting to surge in popularity.

But perhaps one of its most noteworthy fi nds is on the trajec-tory of skinny jeans. Google says this trend is “expected to decrease

in demand every year.” After years of getting bruised by the emerg-ing “athleisure” trend, projected weakness for the skinny silhou-ette may at fi rst glance seem det-rimental to the denim industry. If the most popular women’s jeans style of the past decade is losing its appeal, how is denim going to stay relevant?

Dig deeper into Google’s report, though, and you’ll fi nd some pos-sible answers. Searches for “boy-friend jeans” — a baggier style that’s meant to look like you bor-rowed it from your guy’s closet — surged 89 per cent year over year and were conducted in higher volume than searches for skinny jeans. (Google does not share the precise number of searches con-ducted for any of its keywords, but it does provide a “volume index” that gives a sense of how the volume of searches within an

apparel category compares withone another.)

Searches for biker jeans were up 552 per cent, while searches for ripped jeans were up 107 per cent.

Here’s one way to interpret those fi ndings: Skinny jeans have been the go-to denim silhouette for about a decade, and that is challenging for denim sellers. If a woman has a great pair of skin-nies, she has little motivation to open her wallet for new jeans until the styles shift dramatically. And so retailers have been gently push-ing us to try something new: Re-member the crop of high-waisted jeans and wide-leg styles that hit stores a couple of seasons ago? Seen some culottes at the mall this year? Those pieces are all nudges to get you to change up your jeans.

With these fi ndings, it appears that retailers might fi nally be get-ting their wish: Women indeed seem to be getting tired of skinny jeans, and they’re looking for something new.

Athleisure wear will continue to present a challenge to denim brands. Google found that “jogger pants” have experienced “steady growth” lately, and says they are

a trend that is “about to take off .” It found strong interest in these stylish sweatpants across various demographics — men, women, boys and girls — suggesting wide appeal.

But if denim brands give women something new and show them appealing ways to style it, they just might start seeing fresh momen-tum.

One of Google’s fi ndings doesn’t seem to refl ect a change in fash-ion trends so much as it serves as an eye-popping testament to the power of viral Web content. Remember the debate over the white-and-gold (or was it blue-and-black?) dress that clogged your Facebook and Twitter feeds for a couple of days in February? Google found that searches for “white and gold dress” skyrock-eted 51,493 per cent this season and searches for “blue and black dress” shot up an astonishing 215,408 per cent.

Also, “white and gold dress” and “blue and black dress” both out-indexed wedding dresses, an item that women generally research heavily before buying. — Sarah Halzack/

The Washington Post

Now log in to Google forupdates on the season’s latest fashion trendsThe search giant's first fashion trends report

analysed billions of searches to figure out

what shoppers are interested in

SKINNY

CORN BISCUITS for breakfast; veggie dogs for lunch; okra, to-mato and black-eyed peas for tea. It’s probably not a diet to tempt most Americans into shedding a few pounds.

But swapping westernised eat-ing habits for the high-fi bre diet of millions of people living in rural southern Africa could dramati-cally cut the risk of bowel cancer in the West, according to an inno-vative ‘diet swap’ study.

In research which saw 20 Americans switching diets with 20 South Africans living in rural Kwazulu, scientists saw dramatic eff ects on bowel cancer risk indi-

cators after just two weeks. Bowel cancer – one of the biggest cancer killers – is considered a ‘western-ised disease’ and risk is height-ened by a diet high in red and pro-cessed meat and low in fi bre.

Impact of diet To test the true impact of diet, re-searchers led by cancer specialists at Imperial College London re-cruited 20 Americans from Pitts-burgh, and gave them a meal plan based on a ‘traditional’ African diet high in fi bre and low in fat, centred on corn-based products, vegetables, fruit, and pulses.

Meanwhile, 20 volunteers liv-

ing in rural South Africa were given a typical Western diet, with plenty of red meat, but precious little fruit and vegetables or other sources of fi bre. All participants had colonoscopy examinations before and after the diet swap, to look for infl ammation and polyps – abnormal growths in the lining of the bowel that can be an indi-cator of cancer risk. At the start of the study, nearly half of the Americans, and none of the South Africans, had polyps.

But after only two weeks, the American group was found to have signifi cantly reduced infl am-mation in the colon, or large bow-

el, while in the South Africans, measurements indicating cancer risk dramatically increased, the study authors said.

Surprising“What is really surprising is how quickly and dramatically the risk markers can switch in both groups following diet change,” said Pro-fessor Jeremy Nicholson, the study team leader from Imperial’s department of surgery and cancer.

“These fi ndings also raise con-cerns that the progressive west-ernisation of African communi-ties may lead to the emergence of colon [large bowel] cancer as

a major health issue.” The new study, which is published in the journal Nature Communications, suggests that changing diet may aff ect cancer risk by altering the balance of bacteria found in the gut – known as the microbiome.

At the start of the study the Afri-can group consumed between two and three times less animal pro-tein and fat than the Americans, but consumed signifi cantly more carbohydrate and fi bre. This led to higher levels of butyrate, a by-product made by the body when it metabolises fi bre. Butyrate is thought to have anti-cancer ef-fects, and higher levels were seen

in the Americans after two weeks on the African diet.

Diet swap: What thevolunteers ate on day oneA high fi bre, low fat rural South African diet for the Americans including: corn fritters, spinach and red pepper for breakfast; corn dogs, fried potatoes and mango for lunch; and okra, tomatoes, corn muffi ns and black-eyed peas for dinner. A high fat, high protein American diet for the South Afri-cans including: beef sausage and pancakes for breakfast; burger and chips for lunch; and meatloaf and rice for dinner. —The Independent

Adopting high fibre diet could dramatically cut risk of bowel cancer

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

CONNECT H E D A I LY G U I D E

D

D4 VACANCY CARGO D7

S AT U R D AY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5

RENT D2

DAILY GUIDEEmail: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifi eds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

500 Square meters workshops,

ready to use, with electricity

& shaded work space, ideal for

vehicle repairs , welding and other

small industrial units, Misfah

industrial area block 2 near Baladi-

yah Camp. Contact 94030816

Deluxe 1, 2 BHK fl ats in Dar-

sait, AL Khuwair 1deal for offi ce

& residence.contact 99369081

/99142314

2BHK with split AC in W. K behind

Sana Fashion. contact 96708000

1BHK fl at near star cinema with

split A/C 230/- O.R. Contact -

99358589/ 97079146/

95570288

Studio fl at Wadi Kabeer 160/-O.R.

Contact - 99358589 / 97079146/

95570288

New fl at at Wadi Kabir near Indian

school 1bedroom + 1 sitting, 2 at-

tached bathrooms and big kitchen.

Contact 98011224

Covered space available near Mis-

fah INDL, NCPT 100sq, mtr, ideal

for ware house. Contact 93965831

Fully furnished school for rent,

with license or not and 1BHK near

Al Fair super market Al Khoud Souq.

Contact 95490049/91290464

2 BHK Muttrah behind Oman

house. Contact 95915154

Flat for rent in Ruwi 3 BHK spa-

cious semi furnished fl at , with

dining room, 3 toilets split & win-

dow A/Cs fridge , cooking range &

fully automatic washing machine.

Contact 91174070

Furnished fl ats for rent in Al

Buraimi, daily, weekly, monthly.

Contact 97819981 / 93593336

2BHK available Ghubra near

Indian School, 1BHK Mumtaz Ruwi.

Contact 99269751

2 BHK spacious fl at for rent in Al

Khuwair prime location.contact

99262279

Shop & workshop for rent opp.

gmc showroom Al Gubrah. Contact

Vekariya 99252176

Al Hail villa for rent. suitable for

family or staff accommodation,

near Dosteen Hotel RO 600 /- per

month. Contact 94439250.

New furnished fl at at Amerat3B-

HK, 3Toilets RO230 pm.#95113797

1 Bedroom bachelors, sharing K &

T in Al Khuwair R.O 100/-. contact

95154331

Furnished A/C Offi ce for rent in

MBD with Meeting Room and other

facilities. Rent R.O.200/ per month.

Contact: 99232271/99624180.

Bath attached room for rent Al

Khuwair. Contact 99743569

Furnished room attached bath for

Indian bachelor - Al Falaj area &

for lady at Wadi Kabir (al Maya) -

95941515.

2 & 3 BHK fl at in Al Khuwair. Con-

tact - 99792181

D2 S AT U R D AY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5

4 BHK villa in Madinat Ilham.

Contact - 99792181

2 BHK fl at in Bowshar. contact

99792181

3 BHK fl at in Azaiba. contact

99792181

2 BHK in Al Khuwair 33.contact

99792181

2BHK 3 toilets Mumtaz Ruwi, in

building cinema and gym, card

excess, 425omr contact 97707007

2 B/R Apartment Luxury Fully

Furnished @ Azaiba Near Zubair

Showroom. 2 B/R Apartment Executive Fully Furnished @ Al

Khuwair 33. 1 B/R Apartment

Executive Fully Furnished @ Al

Khuwair 33. 3 B/R Apartment

Executive Fully Furnished @ Al

Khuwair 25. 5 B/R Villa - Fully

Furnished at Madinat Al Ilam.

Contact - Atlas Real Estate & Rent

A Car LLC / 24783341- 24834888/

99249069 / 92888376/ 93201688

Email: info@alshahiintl.com

2BHK fl at available for rent,

near Hamriya roundabout con-

tact-99366191

Flats and villa for rent in North

Ghubra, the fi rst line on 18 Novem-

ber Street opposite of chedi hotel

suitable for offi ces. #96130361

Room main road, Al Khuwair R.O

110/-. Contact 97799175

New 3 bedroom fl ats split AC,

attached toilets available behind

Kims Oman Hospital. contact

95225662

Shop for rent Misk house bldg

Walja area near Honda road. Con-

tact 99312674 / 96917934

3000 sq mtrs Industrial landß,

in Barka Sanaiya, with electricity

400KW, shed, staff accommoda-

tion and offi ce. Ready to start any

kind of factory. Contact 99384255.

Flat for rent at Al- Khuwair 33/1, 3

Bedrooms, Dining room, Family hall,

3 Bathrooms, Kitchen with store

with split A/C units. #99315515

Offi ce size 160 Sq.M. available in

Jasmine Towers Al Khuwair @ OMR

- 7/- per Sq. M. Please#99335093

1BHK R.O 250, Bldg # 1619 Way #

1322 adjacent to Indian Nurs-

ery Darsait.contact 99476728 /

24705453

Villa in Al Khuwair and Seeb.

Contact 95250300/ 99119699 /

92125648

Industrial land for rent in Wadi

Kabir 7000 Sq mtrs. #99354340

2BHK with A/C Al Khuwair 325/-.

Contact 99358589/95570288

Labour camp for Rent in Wadi

Kabir. Contact 99797422

Family fl ats in Wadi Kabir, MBD,

Ruwi, Muttrah, AL Khuwair, Al

Hail and Seeb. Contact 96055889

/95250300 / 92125648

Flat No3 fi rst fl oor AL Khuwair 33

may no 4712 H. 866. Contact Awad

: 95525509 /Ahmed : 99486805

Room with attached bathroom

AL Khuwair 33 area. contact

96059431

Villa for rent in Al Khuwair 33,

8 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms with

parking area near Tuimur Mosque.

Contact 99366624

Big room attach bathroom Sep:

kitchen Wadi Kabeer nr Kuwaiti

mosque OMR 125/-. #95094028

Villa for rent with 4 bedroom at

Al Khodh, Rent 750/-RO.#92888115

Flat at Darsait. contact 99326879

One BHK fl at for rent in Ghobra

with attach and common bathroom.

For Indian family. #- 92322096

1 Bedroom fl at in Azaiba. Contact

99385835/99428143

3 Offi ce space available between

120-142 sqm, with data cable,

pantry, cassette AC, parking, @ RO.

5/- per/sqm. At Jibroo Muttrah. 2

BHK fl at at Azaiba, behind Al Meera

Hypermarket. RO. 330/-.Contact:

93221054, 99229263, 95215289

Flat 1BHK for rent, OPP. Abu

Haroon furniture, bldg No 1057,

Way 5917, Hamriya, Rent 170/-P.M.

Contact 99350946

For rent fl ats, shops, villas in Al

Hail, Mawalih, Ruwi, Khuwair,

special prices, fast service. Contact

98588240 / 24487033

Flats shops and store for rent

in MBD area, Honda rood and

Rex Road. Contact 92433127 /

97293708/ 95150632

1 / 3 BHK Flat Ghobrah, close

to ISG Way 4041, building 4390

#99319880

Ghubra near Al Maha hotel &

Indian school (2BHK with 5 split

ac units). contact 94652485/

99273774 / 99202278

Flat for rent 1 & 2 bedroom avail-

able behind Zaker Mall Al Khuwair.

Contact - 99530405

1BHK with A/C Al Khuwair 225/-.

#99358589/ 97079146/ 95570288

250 Sqr mtrs offi ce space in CBD.

Contact 99792181

1 Bhk fl at in Near Cornich (mutrah).

Contact 99792181

1 Bhk Flat in Ghobra. contact

99792181

New one B/R directly from owner

Behind Bank Muscat Bausher.

#92158031

1BHK with A/C in Ghubra 250/-

R.O. Contact 97799175

2BHK at Azaiba, 2 bedrooms, 1

hall, dining, 3 bath rooms. Contact

99224748 / 99425665

2BHK at Honda road, 2 bedrooms,

1 hall, 2 bath rooms. Contact

99224748 / 99332297

Flat for rent 2 bedroom +1sitting

room + 3 bathroom + 1 kitchen with

store + store room in Ruwi-Mumtaz

area 95135445

1BHK with A/C near star cinema

250/-. Contact 970790146/

99358589/95570288

New 2B/R fl ats with split unit D/C

& free Internet & offi ce space availa-

ble at Al Khuwair near Mustafa Sul-

tan Philips showroom. #99460330

Spacious Ground fl oor 3 BHK, fl at

with, 3 toilets in Wadi Kabir, AL Has-

san R.O 325/-. Contact 92622506

One room with bath at Al Khuwair.

Contact 99382008

2BHK near medical Darsait R.O

260/-. Contact 98748925

FOR RENT

DAILY GUIDES AT U R D AY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5 D3

ACC. AVAILABLE

ACC. AVAILABLE

ACC. WANTED

Wanted a family sharing accom-

modation for Keralite in Ruwi area.

Please contact: 92558541

Sohar, 2/3, B/R, fl at /villa, re-

quired. Contact 93031168

Near Ghala / azaiba, require shar-

ing accommodation for executive

bachelor contact : 99138352

FOR SALE

FOR SALE

BUSINESS

Local company based in Ghala

requires business development Man-

ager with good experience and driv-

ing license.#99166930 / 93782735

A construction company since

2008 with 40 employees is look-

ing for a construction engineer as

business partner. #99373727

Required business Researcher.

contact 99229700 Email: kjaaraimi@

hotmail.com

Business consultant, feasibility study.

Contact 99229700

We have some companies for rent with

the following activities: press publishing

& advertising, information consul-

tancy, organizing event management

& conference, real estate, landscaping,

maintenance etc contact 93946622 /

91408005

1,000 sq mtrs industrial land in

Misfah Industrial area near to Khan-

co. OMR 1,500 Monthly. Electricity

and boundary wall will be provided.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

4 BHK with 4 bathrooms near

Darsait municipality. Rent RO 550/-.

Cont. 92883288

4 fl ats for rent at Sidab Opp. Petrol

pump each fl at consist of 2BR, 1

STRM, 2 toilets, rent each fl at R.O

250/- P. M 12 Cheques monthly off

comm. 5% for one year agreement.

Contact Abdullah 99445880

2 BHK + 3 bathrooms + balcony near

MCT Bakery Wadi Kabir. Contact

99357660 / 96453506

Spacious 2 BR fl at in MBD. #99713489

Flat for rent 3bedroom, 2 toilets

in Mobillah front of Palm project

near Nesto Hyper market. Contact

96034110 / 92773350

Residential land for sale 21000

sqm, best for housing complex at Al

Harm – Barka, opp to Khimji logistic.

Contact 99438397

2BHK Flats for families at Azaiba

next to Al Meera Hyper Market.

Contact : 96457757

2 BHK & studio fl at at Darsait 1SM.

Contact 99024730

Flats/villas owned by ROP pension

fund available for rent in Muscat.

Contact 99349526

Spacious 2 BHK fl ats in Ruwi MBD

area only on 350/- OMR.Contact –

95122188 / 96441499

AVAILABLE

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirt-

ing, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery,

Crockery, Glassware, Chafi ng Dishes,

Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound Sys-

tems and spectacular lighting. Call

Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering and

Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound & Light.

www.tunesoman.com, E-mail: info@

tunesoman.com

BUYING / SELLING

Used household & offi ce furniture and electronic items. #99834373,

97102699

Single room with A/C separate toilet

at AL Hail highway side, shell pump.

Contact 94611224

Fully furnished single room with all

amenities available behind Sheraton.

Contact 92162623

Sharing accommodation available

Wadi Kabir attached room with shar-

ing, kitchen. Contact 96575016

Spacious master bedroom attached

Bath, balcony for rent near MBD.

Contact 92600922

Single room available in Qurum from

1/May/2015 for exe male female.

Contact 92988746

Used Furniture of Ready made

showroom for Sale.contact

24704370, 99798452 (Ashwin)

Port cabin new & refurbished –

porta cabin for sale & rent. contact

96723468 / 97775501 / 97775502

The used household items like

Refrigerator, Washing Machine, Sofa

Set, Dining Table & Chairs and other

items are available for disposal on

“as is where is basis”. Interested

parties are requested to contact GSM

95475591 for further details.

Used supermarket shelvings (Gan-

dolas), tube light fi ttings, window

A/C. Contact 97752395

Barber shop for sale in Al Khuwair

good running business & located

in main location, location near AL

Aktham restaurant. Contact:

+968-99616650

2,560 sq mtrs industrial land in

Wadi Kabir. First line on way to Al

Bustan hotel. Possible to make petrol

station or hotel. OMR 1 Million. Tel:

99333479 or 95215360

5 Flats of 1 bedroom for Sale in

Bousher: OMR 35 Thousand each.

Monthly income OMR 270 Tel:

99333479 or 95215360

2 residential Lands together, one

610 and the other 600 sq mtrs, in

Al Haram on way to Barka. OMR 49

Thousand both. Tel: 99333479 or

95215360

3 fl oor commercial building in

Muttrah behind Police. Generating

income of OMR 18 Thousand annu-

ally. Neat and well maintained. Built

on 197 sq mtrs land. 2 tailor shops

on ground fl oor and 6 fl ats. OMR

207 Thousand. Tel: 99333479 or

95215360

23,886 Sq Mtrs Agriculture land

with water well in Al Salwa, Barka.

OMR 260 Thousand. Tel: 99333479

or 95215360

558 Sq mtrs residential land in

Barka (Al Jenainah) near Lulu and

near to school. OMR 32 Thousand.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

Expat leaving used furniture, elec-

tronics, A/Cs and many other things.

Contact 99556962 Pic On Whatsapp.

Beauty parlour for sale. Serious buy-

ers. Contact 99609265

Shop for sale Al Khoudh. contact

92820541

For running beauty saloon for sale.

Contact 97786792 / 96914627

Coff ee shop for sale in North

Al Ghobrah. Contact 95256009

A building in CBD opposite to the

central bank of 3100sqmtr built up

area of experienced rent of 205000

per annum for 1 million 350Thou-

sands. Contact 95330200

Restaurant for sale Al Hail North.

Contact 94148970 / 94148972

Restaurant for sale well running

with open area and good parking

area. 3 new clearance also in Wadi

Kabeer near Mars hyper market.

Contact 99656863

1B/R available for bachelors in

REX ROAD, Ruwi. contact 99889590

Bed sharing for Keralite bachelor

close to Majan intercontinental hotel,

Ghala. Contact 98001451

2Bedrooms fl at in Al Hail with utili-

ties 92817777

Furnished room with bath at AL

Khuwair for non- cooking bachelor.

Contact 95875735

Semi furnished room with attach

bath for non cooking Ex. bachelor in

South Al Hail near Nissan Show-

room. Contact 98343250

Single room for Executive bach-

elor near Al Falaj Hotel. contact

99643845

Sharing acc. Available in Mut-

trah behind Oman house.contact

99354340

Sharing family accommodation in

Wadi Kabir. Contact 99335057

3 Bedrooms, with spacious hall &

3 bathrooms near ISM, Darsait

from 1st April 2015. Gsm 94288861

Accommodation available for South

Indian family, one bedroom with

attached toilet, kitchen, hall in a villa,

Al Ghubrah. Contact 99209160

Room for rent in fl at for bachelor /

bachelors near ISWK primary wing,

Way 6930 rent 100 OMR per month.

Contact 97687055 / 98001645

M.V. FOR SALE

Nissan Sunny 2007, 1.6, automatic,

good condition km 1,48000. #99781671

Mercedes delivery van 2002. Con-

tact 99755644

Hyundai Elantra model 2015 km

37712, 1.6 cc, 10 months used, price

4650. Contact 99170202

2 Prime Movers Man 2008 with 40 ton

petrol tank each working at the moment

in Al Maha. Price OMR 35 Thousand

each. #97000155 or 92688692

Land Cruiser 2012. #99336093

Toyota Yaris 2008, 1.5 cc Automatic,

White, 84,000 k.m, accident free,

well maintained & sparingly used by

diplomat. All services done through

Toyota. Contact 24684512/13.

Toyota Camry 2010, 55000km full

option white colour. #99738373

Mazda 3 model KMS 140,000 fully

automatic single driven company

maintained. Contact 92302159

MAZDA CX9 39000KM 2012 Grey

Color No.1 FULL OPTION for sale.

Contact 99752695

DRIVING

CLASSES

GOOD NEWS

Ayurvedic treatment for backache,

paralysis, arthritis etc & massage,

All Season (Vaidyaratnam). Contact

24475280 / 95371554 / 92504980

www.siddhayur.com

Ayurvedic treatment for joint pain,

backache, paralysis massage, steam

bath, obesity, spondylitis IDEAL ,

CARE Ayurvedic Clinic 18 November

street, Azaiba.#99639695 / 99117987

FREE INFORMATION ABOUT IS-LAM. If you would like to know more

about Islam, please call: 99425598,

96050000, 99353988, 99253818,

99341395, and 99379133. For ladies:

99415818, 99321360, 99730723

Orvisit: www.islamfact.com

Varkey s Saloon & SPA off ers Summer

discount on Hamam Spa, pedicure &

manicure massages with steam bath,

Jacuzzi, facial treatments.#92935679

Taimour Ayurvedic Clinic, Ruwi

off ers genuine & eff ective treatment

for back pain, paralysis, cervical

and lumbar spondylitis, osteoarthri-

tis, joint pains, sinusitis, migraine,

allergic problems, varicose vein and

all other health related problems.

Kerala massage and rejuvena-

tion package available. For details

please#92197920/ 24799689

CHANGE OF NAME

I Chinna Ashayya Ushanna Bumenna (holder of Indian passport No. J

5404429) Son of Ushanna having permanent residence in Banda Linga

PURAM ( Tost) Karihimpatnam( M) (DIST) , Telangana (A.P) India Telangana

complete postal address in India ) and presently residing in A lhajiry Trad-

ing LLC Wadi Kabir , Oman (complete postal in Oman) intend to change my

name from Chinna Ashayya Ushanna Bumenna (old name) to Bommena . Ch-inna . Ashaiah (given name) Ushanna (sur name) (new name) for all practical

purpose. Any objection towards my name change may please be communi-

cated to Embassy of India, Muscat, diplomatic Quarters, AL Khuwair, P.Box

No, 1727 postal code 112, Ruwi , Sultanate of Oman.

Anwar AL Fajar AL Satea trading (associated) registered with the commercial

register secretariat ministry of commerce and Industry under the number

1206971herebx announces that it is in the process of changing its name to

read Anwar Al Fajar Al Satea contracting (associated)

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation. contact 94087276

Transportation. Contact

98178135

Pick & drop anytime in Al Khuwair.

Contact 99764307

Transportation. Contact

99664703

Transport to ISWK. E93172589

Pick & Drop any time.contact

97014786

MATRIMONIAL

Wanted Groom- Alliance invited from a

middle class Hindu Nair girl 20 years,

5.5 H/ 45 kgs/ Thiruvathira/ BBA.

Currently staying with family in Oman.

Contact – 96283490 / 95273175 /

Email – tharayilrk@gmail.com

We are Muslim family seeking alli-

ance for our son interested families.

Contact 97664009

COMPUTER

*Classifi ed Advertisement space booking with text,

should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication.

* Subject to space availability

DAILY GUIDED4 S AT U R D AY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

MEDICAL

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifi eds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

MANAGER/SUPERVISOR

CATERING

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ARCHITECT

ADMIN

BEAUTICIAN

SALES / MARKETING

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

Wanted 2 waiters, 3 cleaners, 1

driver & 3 cooks all rounder. Contact

95356276

Young experienced English speak-

ing telephone operator wanted.

Contact 99466062

SITUATION WANT-

EDSIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANT-

EDSIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANTEDSIT. WANTED

Wanted Nurse for polyclinic in

Mabella South ph 97339965

Urgently required qualifi ed two

male home Nurses. Email:

jvacancy05@gmail.com

Required Nurse for a clinic in

Al Buraimi, S. Of. Oman. Contact

00968 92737149 CV to

drpkabbas@yahoo.co.in

Female Nurse with MOH license

required for clinic in Al Khoud.

Contact 93538672

Immediate placement ( with

or without MOH) A. Pharmacist

- 3 nosB. Asst.pharmacist - 2

nos CONTACT..Tel.99338219 ,

93240949

Urgently required, general practi-

tioner (Male), gynecologist, pedia-

trician, LAB, technician, Philippine,

nurses, marketing executive for

a reputed medical center Salalah.

Email: hrmdimc2010@gmail.com

Urgently required Staff Nurse,

Pharmacist and endodontist Fe-

male Staff nurse, Pharmacist and

endodntist with MOH License/Pro-

metric exam passed with 60% and

above#24780088, 97374459

Email : karamadental@gmail.com

Wanted female Gynecologist,

female Staff Nurse -2 no, Dentist,

Dental Technician with MOH

license for Al Saadi specialized

Medical Centre in Mussana.con-

tact 92025033

Urgently required an Architect

with experience. Contact email:

engineering_district@yahoo.com

Female beautician required. Con-

tact 94050001

Urgently require a foreman with

Omani driving license to handle plants

nursery and do marketing of agricultural

items. Contact: 93831805, Email:

jobs.mgc13@gmail.com

Accountant, Indian male 10 years

experience, 6 years in Oman with

Oman driving license, seeking

suitable job. Contact 96012973

MBA Graduate with 6 yrs exp in

fi nance/accounts/ auditing. Spe-

cialized in accounts payable dept,

Oracle app user, profi cient in Sap

(fi co) end user & tally 9.0. lean &six

sigma certifi ed trainer on visit visa.

Contact – 91967213 / 99064780

Senior Accountant Indian male 43

years B.Com Graduate + DCA. Total

15 years exp, 7 years in Oman, 4

years in Bahrain knowledge in tally

9, Peachtree & MS Offi ce having

NOC, seeks placement. #97060826

Email: tomnedum71@yahoo.co.in

Indian male 22 yrs B. Com Graduate 1

year exp in Accounts, currently on visit

visa. Looking for suitable job. #94341848

/ Email – mohdhaji7272@gmail.com

Finance / Accounts Manager 12 years

experience at senior position in lead-

ing companies 9 years in Oman CPA

– USA& modern accounting certifi cate

from AUC. Contact 99139926

Indian male with total 5 year

experience (2 years experience in

Accountant cum sales co ordinator

in a FMCG Company in Oman) in ac-

counts fi eld and NOC available

Looking for suitable job #92130188

Indian male 35 , B.com /MBA

having 5 yrs experience in Oman ,

in accounting , auditing , taxation ,

accounts receivables, payables , up

to fi nalization , knowledge in tally

and other oracle packages. NOC

available. Contact 93240480

MBA (international business) from

London, 4 years of UK experience in

banking operational, looking for suit-

able position. Contact 91710075

B.E /MBA fresher looking for suit-

able positions in IT fi nance and

Administration visit visa valid up to

18/05/2015.#94384120/99867536

Email: jkjithin123@gmail.com

Pakistani male 27 years, MBA fi nance,

4 years experience in fi nance / ac-

counts & procurement on tier 1 ERP

oracle EBS ( RIZ) . Looking for suitable

position for long term relation. Avail-

able in Oman or visit visa.#95830415

ACCA affi liate & B.Com hons with

NOC, morc than 5 years of experience

in accounting & fi nance looking for

a suitable job car join immediately.

Contact 97012146

Masters Criminology with experi-

ence of 1.5 years in Litigation & Re-

covery department with Standard

Chartered Bank in Karachi is look-

ing for a job. Contact # 94677814

Indian male management (bank-

ing & fi nance) worked with mul-

tinational bank skill in MS Offi ce

SQL etc. Contac 94693310

MBA Graduate specialized in

fi nance with one years experi-

ence seeking placement. contact

96725204 Email: ameen.1915@

gmail.com

MBA (fi nance) Indian female currently

under family visa B/B in Muscat. BBA,

MBA studied in Muscat (Birla) 2 years

experience in Oman, having Oman D/L.

Contact 96504080

Indian male MBA having more

than 5 years experience in Indian

automotive fi nance construction

having valid UAE, D/L currently

on visit visa seeking suitable job.

Contact 96787992 Email: reeyaso-

ceekey@gmail.com

Indian male 25 years with 3 years

experience having MBA, degree

on visit visa, seeking suitable

placement in accounting. Contact

98822072/91689977

ADMIN/HR

Required Salesman for a press

and preferably if he has valid driv-

ing license. Kingdom of Creative

Press. Contact 99520777 Email:

alibda.d@gmail.com

Urgently required Omani person

(English knowledge) with valid

Oman driving license for deliv-

ery purpose of children’s English

educational product. Contact

99452215

Requires a Sales and Marketing

person (Female) for Home linen

Company with minimum experi-

ence. Please send your CV on e-

mail zeyanaalharmaly@yahoo.com

A leading Marble & Granite Trad-

ing company looking for Experi-

enced Sr. Sales Executive with D/L.

Send CV with details : jskan-

chan01@gmail.com immediately.

A REPUTED TRADING & CON-

TRACTING CO. requires urgently

sales Executive (male) having at

least 3 years experience of build-

ing material products specially in

paints in Oman, with valid driving

license. Send CV through Fax

24495411 or email:

info@styletrading.net

Wanted young and energetic

sales executive having Oman work

experience good communication

skill and valid D/L. Email: info@

mwpoman.net

Media company need for sales-

man having drive license + car.

Contact 94216866 /94221420

Email: magicfi ngerprint1@gmail.

com

Required IT, sales / marketing

executive driving license Oman

3-5 years experience. contact

99329216 Email: sales@aditsllc.

com

Experience Sales Executive

required - for leading building

materials company. Please email

CV to maganjam@gmail.com

Urgently needed Senior Marketing

Executive for modular kitchens de-

partment (male only) for a leading

building materials trading company,

Graduates with 5 to 7 years relevant

experience and D/L only. Email CV

to yourfutureinoman@gmail.com

Software company looking for

Telesales Executives – Female, with

minimum 2 years of experience. Suit-

able candidates can send their resume

to omanerpsales@gmail.com

Wanted Salesman with driving

licence and car. Gsm : 98805474 or

email id: jobssales2015@gmail.com

A leading Building Materials dis-

tributor seeks Outdoor Salesman (2

Nos) with Valid Omani D/L, 5 years

of Oman experience, & profi cient in

English, Arabic and Hindi. Candi-

dates with local release may forward

your resume to talent@mpesllc.com

ENGI./ELECT./TECH..

Need one Auto Electrician qualifi -

cation must Diploma or ITI. Contact

98983951 / 98668697 or send CV

hilat.tech@gmail.com

Sales Executive for IT Firm. Di-

ploma in Computers 3 years Oman

experience & D/L. Email: admin@

enetstorage.com

Looking for civil engineer with

Diploma from India, Pakistan

Indonesia or any of these Southern

Asia countries to work with small

company in Ibri, Oman.contact

99251428 email: almarshoudi4@

gmail.com

Indian Civil Diploma. 3-5yr Oman

Exp with DL: nfw.civil@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS

TOURS

Required urgently qualifi ed

and skilled candidates for below

jobs: A/C technician with GCC

driving license, duct fabricator,

accountant, HR Manger. Lotus

golden international LLC. Contact

97087835/97087845

Wanted an experienced person in

reservations and ticketing using

airlines Sabre system for a new

travel agency; please send your CV

to sunairways1@gmail.com

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE

Required Offi ce Assistant

160+25+Acc, Contact 99454425

Required Sales man - 1 Person Quali-

fi cation. Gulf Experienced - Minimum

5 Years with Oman Driving Licence

Language - English Education:- Any

Degree Further Contact :Mr. Abdul Ha-

meed Nashabat - Mobile No: 97414307

and -92807399 amn@yaqeeneng.com

Master in economics having

9 years banking experience in

fi nance, operations and audit with

Bank Al falah Pakistan, looking

for suitable job. Contact 91960412

artaqvi@hotmail.com

Indian CA,( Finance Manager )

More than 8 Yrs Exp ( Oman, UAE,

India) in Accounts, Audit, Finance,

seeking suitable senior position in

Muscat, Can Join Immediately, NOC

Available , Contact casmart007@

gmail.com/98707434

Part- time Accounting 15 yrs quali-

fi ed experience Chief Accountant,

fi nalization, auditing, consultancy.

Contact 96759385

Part time Accountant with 15 years

experience in accounts, fi nance

tax, audit management. contact

95857199

Indian male 28 years MBA fi nance

experience in accounts / fi nance

and knowledge in SAP, FICO & tally ,

seeking suitable placement on visit

visa. Contact 97409606 Email:

mujtabaalam7@gmail.com

M.Com, CA (article ship), 15 years

Gulf experience looking for suitable

position in fi nance & accounts, visit

visa valid up to 10/07/2015 Contact

97135855 / 94097305 Email:

altabhossain2008@hotmail.com

India Accountant: Male, M com,

7 Yrs experience in Accounts up to

fi nalization, having knowledge of

ERP, Tally, seeks suitable placment.

contact 93950138 Email:

lijinrajan123@gmail.com

Indian male, 32 years, M. Com.

7 out of 9 years experience in Oman

in Accounts/fi nance. Having NOC

and valid Oman D/L.

contact 98277143,

Email: anzarks@gmail.com

Professional Accountant Finance

Manager, Chartered Accountant,

15 years experience in ERPs,

MS offi ce. Contact 96264969

Finance Manager, CPA, with more

than 15 yrs. of experience in GCC.

Fully knowledgeable in Finance,

General & Management Accounting .

NOC available. Contact 96209331

DRIVER

CATERING

DESIGNER

DESIGNER

AUTO CAD

HOSPITALITY

Your Bangladeshi male 26 know-

ing coff ee shop work as waiter or

sandwich maker or juice maker,

presently in Bangladesh if any

employer need. Contact with his

brother 92278538

Interior Designer Syrian National-

ity one year experience in design.

Contact 95246737 Email:

yassalnajjar@gmail.com

Female architect bachelor, 4 yrs

experience (internal & external

design, project coordinate, offi ce

management) with valid Oman D/L

NOC available. Contact 94348074

Indian male draft man, 3 D visual-

iser, 18 month experience in Oman

driving license. Contact 96285891

/ 98414107 Email: prasadvv4u@

gmail.com

Indian male 25 years diploma

Auto CAD draughtsman inte-

rior design 5 years exp here on

visit visa looking for job. Con-

tact98360268/99881264

Indian male 18 yrs hotel experience

Dubai procurement logistics stores

suitable position NOC available.

Contact + 968 96573591 Email:

namraj1973@rediff mail.com

Indian male, 30 yrs, MSW, total 6.7

yrs experience 2.5 yrs in Qatar as

Welfare and Recreation Coordina-

tor with an MNC seeking suitable

man management jobs in top –

notch hotel / restaurants, Labour

camps etc . Contact 97460880

Email: jjkam8@yahoo.com

Driver looking for job. Contact

99748264

Indian male looking for driver job.

Contact 93051674

Light Vehicle Driver requires job

in any transportation / private co.

Contact 96015617

Driver with car. Contact 91452930

Driver looking for job. contact

94435912

Light duty driver 2 years experi-

ence in Oman looking for job. contact

93131542

Driver looking for job. contact

92137431

Driver with 6 years experience

looking for job. contact 99280685 /

99120956

Light duty driver looking job

experience 4years Oman. contact

96088707

Indian male 24 years, Mechanical

Engineer,pdms.1 yr experience in

pipeline,16years in oman seeking

immediate placement #95775742

B.E (Mechanical), Indian male 8

years experience (HVAC – 4 years,

operation / production / mainte-

nance, 4 years) looking suitable

position. Contact 96696190 Email:

faisalmnz@gmail.com

Indian male 2+yrs oman exp in HR.

joing immediatly. release available.

Contact :93671437

Omani experience in the legal,

administrative, public relations,

education. Contact 97243393

Email: mwm3003@gmail.com

Indian Male 25 years, BBM (MBA),

2+yrs exp. in Administration/

Finance on visit visa seeking suit-

able position. Contact:

92726769

Indian female graduate 7 years

work experience admin operation

retail customer service looking for

suitable job. Contact 94231020

B.A graduate with 8 years experi-

ence (2 years in Oman) in admin

/ business development and sus-

tainably (green buildings) on visit

visa. Contact 91626216

Indian male 26 yrs MBA/HR Gradu-

ate 1 year’s exp in Administration

seeking placement. #99151280

Female 26, 3 yrs exp in HR & Admin,

with Oman D/L, looking for a suitable

opening. Contact 98236033

Indian female, MBA with 3 years

of experience in admin MIS,family

visa. Contact 98234427 Email:

jkjsmith01@gmail.com

ADMIN/HR

EDUCATION

Indian female M.A, B. Ed profession-

ally qualifi ed currently on visit visa,

seeks suitable placement in the fi eld

of education. Contact 96753257

Email: sreechitrarmohan2@gmail.

com

Indian female 32 yrs, BSc, MCA , 3+

years teaching experience in India

and 3 yrs exp in technical side

in Muscat, Oman seeks suitable

placement in teaching. Contact

96124929

Bioinformatics Lecturer: Master

Degree, 5+ years experience from

FRANCE & INDIA as a Lecturer

in Bioinformatics and Research,

looking for suitable position.

Indian, Male on visit visa, contact

98898781/ anoopys@gmail.com

B.Ed & BCA Indian female with 5 yrs exp

in teaching primary section in Dubai cur-

rently looking for appropriate placement in

teaching. Email: rani_sweet786@live.com

contact: 97384206

Civil Engineer 25 years Indian 2

years experience in Oman with valid

GCC D/L, NOC available. contact

96732869 Email:

hizbullaareekara@gmail.com

Sudanese male BSC electronic

Engineer 2 years experience in GSM,

10 years experience in oil industry

(Drilling & Measurements).contact

91198104 Emails: Husseintalat@

hotmail.com

Sudanese BSC industrial Engineer

experience 4 yrs in QA /QC and 8 yrs

in production. Contact 94041960

Email: mekkimedani@hotmail.com

/ mekkimedani78@gmail.com

DOMESTIC HELPER

Lady from Mumbai available for

household work only in Al Khuwair.

Contact 95896415

Housemaid (overseas, Goa and

Mangalore) Looking job Indian

family only. Contact-99531802

House maid looking for full time

job Sri Lankan. Contact

99865938

Wanted for immediate appoint-

ment HSE offi cers - degree in

safety engineering, Electrical site

engineers- degree in electrical en-

gineering, linemen class C- trans-

mission – basic qualifi cation. Gulf

exp is preferred for all posts. Apply

with bio data to – hr_oman1@

yahoo.com immediately

MISCELLANEOUS

Indian male MBA, HR& Market-

ing experience in multifunctional

management business develop-

ment marketing /HR experience in

Oman & Dubai with valid Oman &

UAE D/L seeking suitable opportu-

nity. Contact 96052953

Indian female with 10 yrs of experi-

ence in HR/Banking/Operations

seeks a suitable placement. Can be

contacted on 98919015 or

sherianne.coelho@gmail.com

Indian Female 34 yrs, currently

under family visa, B.Com, seeking

placement as accounts assistant, HR

or suitable position. 99199710

B.A Graduate with 6.5 yrs of exp in

Administration Presently working as

Admin (Operations) looking for suit-

able position. Contact 93075375

5 years of experience as a Graph-

ics designer with valid driving

license in Oman qualifi cation B.A

degree. Contact 91452730 Email:

sanjaymuralik@gmail.com

DAILY GUIDES AT U R D AY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5 D5

DAILY GUIDESITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

Land Surveyor Indian 2.7 years ex-

perience seeking suitable placement.

Contact 95141554 /91977142

Indian female 23: young Engineer-

ing Graduate looking for assistant

executive, purchase executive, sales

co-ordination, social network brand-

ing or web design and development

jobs. Call: 97062261

Network / system Engineer B.E

/ ECE + CCNA & Ms certifi edwith

4+ yrs exp looking for a job. cur-

rently in Oman on visit visa.contact :

92589502 Email :

jeganscareer@gmail.com

Indian, M 25 yrs BE mechanical

3 yrs exp in Oil & Gas now on visit

visa. Contact 96487013 Email: ri-

arun.007@gmail.com

Electronics & Communication Engineer with 14 yrs exp (10+ yrs

Oman) experienced in sales & mar-

keting of extra low voltage systems

(CCTV, Structured Cabling, PA

system, access control etc. Contact

99771815 Email: teledata1978@

rediff mail.com

Diploma in Civil Engineering 9 years

experience 7 years in Oman 2 years

in home country having valid Omani

D/L, seeking a suitable placement.

Contact 97430353

Sudanese fresh Graduate with a

degree in Mechatronics Engineer-

ing from Malaysia fl uent in Arabic

(Native), English (IELTS 7.5) and

intermediate in German. #95667610

Fresh Graduate holder of bachelor

degree in mechatronics Engineering

from Malaysia, Sudanese holder of a

valid driving license, fl uent in Arabic

and English. Contact 96322507

Civil Engineer 8 years experience

estimating and costing good knowl-

edge stabling B.O.Q.S. #97468213

B.Tech, instrumentation Engineer,

Indian male with 4 yr experience in

EPC and Sales / 2 yr Oman experi-

ence having valid Oman driving

license. Contact 94145460 Email:

jgeevarughese@gmail.com

Management professional with

25+ years of gulf ( UAE) experience

in operations inventory manage-

ment supply chain warehouse

management with SAP , SBO

experience seeking opportunity in

Oil & Gas FMCG industrial automo-

bile construction industry. Contact

97100682 Email: m367.kareem@

gmail.com

BE Civil 35 yrs experience with con-

sultant seeking senior level position

in project management with client

consultant structural Engineering

background NOC available. contact

95455681 Email: sm_comp@hot-

mail.com

Electrical engineer (construction)

diploma with 11 years experience ( 2

years GCC + 9 years Indian job

seeking from India. Contact

0091-994309844 Email:

ganesh_dectrical@yahoo.com

B.Tech biomedical Engineering hav-

ing Omani driving license. Contact

91352248

Civil Engineer ( B.Tech) Indian

female, 2 years experience as Q.S in

Oman, knows primavera (P6), Au-

toCAD etc seeks placement. contact

93911895

Quantity surveyor (diploma civil) 2

yrs exp in Oman seeks job on work

visa or free lanner. #96936793

IT

IT

Project (Electrical) Engineer with

BE 10 years of experience (8 years

in Oman).Driving license and NOC

available. Looking for job. GSM-

92197288

Civil Engineer Female, 3 yrs experi-

ence in structural design, on visit

visa seeking suitable placement.

#99195433

Indian Engineer B.Tech & diploma

in instrumentation & control having

one & half years experience seeking

for suitable post. Contact 98873416

Email: afsalp_06@gmail.com

Male civil Engineer 6yrs experience

4 yrs in Oman (B.B.S and steel shop

drawing prepare, M.Q.C sit manage-

ment, D, W, M report) with valid

Oman D/L NOC available. contact

99870370

B.Sc Mechanical Engineering,

17 yrs exp in Oman, 30 yrs exp in

production management, erection

and maintenance of refi neries, stock

piling equipments, belt convoying

systems structures, power trans-

mission equipments gear boxes

- #98214442; Email: mohusak@

gmail.com

Diploma in electronics & Telecom,

Engineering with 5 years experience

in Engineering & sales, marketing.

Contact 95932219

Indian female, B.Tech biotechnol-ogy with strong computer skills

and 2 years experience as associate

research analyst (Media Monitoring)

in Nasdaq Oman seeking growth

oriented jobs. Contact 92044603

/918056169148 or

angeline.babithac@gmail.com.

Indian male, Diploma in Mechanical

Engineering having 13 yrs experi-

ence in Oman as Estimation / Project

Engineer in the fi elds of storage

tanks structures, pressure ves-

sels etc seeks suitable placement.

#95656871. Email : akp.paul@yahoo.

com

Education +2 Diploma Mechanical

Engineering skills 2 C (Non destruc-

tive testing) experience 1 year 6

months company GB Engineering

Pvt Ltd S.D Engineering pvt ltd. Posi-

tion Production Engineer, Production

Supervisor. Contact 99799237

BSc Electronics, C.C.T.V, Electronic

Welding Mech. Contact 99803912 /

97364750 Email: bijumonjk1@gmail.

com

Civil Engineer (B.E) having 5 years

experience in building construction,

looking for suitable placement, valid

D/L available. Contact 91253392

Indian female Electronics and Com-

munication, 2 years experience, 27

yrs. Contact 93190373

Indian male Instrumentation Engi-

neer having 2 years experience in

process instruments, seeks suitable

placement. Contact 95954385

An electrical Engineer had two

years experience as a project Engi-

neer good experience in electrical

installations electrical tests and

computer skills. Contact 96209298

Electrical electronics Engineering

8 month experience in India came

for visit visa urgently seeks. contact

94087414 /91575300 E mail:

guntistddharth@gmail.com

Electrical and Electronics Engineer

(BE) 1+ year of experience now on

visit visa seeking suitable opportu-

nities Email: djnitheesh@gmail.com

Contact 99254469

25 yrs (f) B.Tech (Civil) 2 yrs in

Oman (QS & Tendering) Estimation.

Contact 91228615

Indian Male, IT Support Engineer,

2 yrs in Oman & 5 yrs Indian experi-

ence. Contact 97311847

Electrical Engineer: Indian male 29

years having 5 years of experience

in industrial automation and utility

maintenance in India (MRF Tyres)

seeking suitable placement. Contact

92789995 Email:

akhilabrahamlktr@gmail.com

Electrical Eng. Degree (MEP) need

suitable job of construction 12 yrs exp.

Email: mohd.ateeq.khan@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS

SECRETARIAL/OFFICE

Indian male more than 10 years

Gulf experience in Offi ce / Sales

Coordinator, Admin (employees visa

processes), Secretarial and purchase

coordination with good computer

skills. Having Driving license and

NOC available. Looking for suitable

placement. Contact 99709336

MEDICAL

Lab Technician, Civil (8yrs Gulf ex-

perience) looking for a suitable job

(NOC available) Contact-93344378

Well experienced MOH Licensed

Indian GP Doctor looking for lo-

cum / permanent position in the

Capital area. Contact 98140024

email:drgpoman@yahoo.com

Doctors available for immediate

placement Internist MBBS, MD with

Oman MOH license with NOC and

release and a lady Paediatrician.

Available immediately.

Contact 96276347

nadakkavil1984@gmail.com

GNM male Nurse, 30 yrs with 8

years of experience in ICCU, TCVS &

emergency with prometric passed

(with Gulf experience). Contact

93907230 / 93806822

Indian female, 24 yrs, B.Tech

Engineer excellent academic

qualifi cation 2 yrs experience at

IBM India, SAP- ABAP, currently

under dependent visa, looking

for suitable placement. Contact

99450960 Email: sajyodine@

gmail.com

B.Tech mechanical Engineer +

QAQC, NDT (level-2) done hvac

course and work at HVACs project

Engineer seeks job with a year of

exp on visit. Contact 98235575

Email: sajinclement12@gmai.com

Indian male, mechanical Engi-

neering, two years experience in

fabrication and erection of heavy

structures as a project Engineer

now on visiting visa seek suitable

placement. Contact 92151818 Email:

krishnakumarkk9@gmail.com

Indian male, B.E ( computer science

engineer), MBA (fi nance), OCA certi-

fi ed, having 5 years of experience

in oracle Dba/ oracle apps Dba,

seeks a suitable position in the fi eld

of IT. Contact: 96212062 email:

zubairkhan11@gmail.com

Indian male graduated with over 8

yrs exp in Oman in purchase logis-

tics exports & imports having Oman

D/L seeking placement. Ready to

joining immediately NOC providing

.contact:96247344

Indian Graduate (32) computer lit-

erate seeks any offi cial job presently

on visit visa. 95697715

Indian male 26 yrs PGDM, B.com,

2yrs exp. Contact 91694170

Indian Female, BE in EEE having

3 yrs exp in IT Industry & experi-

ence in Admin in Muscat, looking for

suitable placement. Available to Join

Immediately. Contact 93422434

Storekeeper, 26 yrs, Gulf experi-

ence 4 yrs in Oman company release

available. Contact 97657823 Email:

rusaikmzm_2009@yahoo.com

Indian male 36 years with visit visa

having 16 years experience in train-

ing (soft skills) Admin marketing

looking for a suitable job. Contact

99644501 / 96974356

Indian male 22 yrs fresher BCA

young and energetic seeking good op-

portunites contact 00919567722270

Indian female B.Tech in computer

science specialization web design &

PHP development.#92725547

SALES / MARKETING

Indian male B.com 24 years, 2 years

experience in sales operations in In-

dian on visit visa. Contact 97032977

Indian male 24 years, B.Com + ACCA

level 1 on visit visa seeking for suit-

able job. Contact 91883811

Sales & marketing professional

with 14 years exp in Oman market

seeking for a suitable placement.

Immediate release available (NOC).

Contact 92679055

Egyptian male 11 years in fi ve

stars international hotels manage-

ment sales marketing D/L available

residency visa. Contact 93577497

Email: elkomy82@hotmail.com

Graduate Indian male 25 with Good

communication skill looking for suita-

ble placemen in sales or marketing fi eld

in a reputed organization. #98558648

Email: risham54@gmail.com

Pakistani male 34 yrs Intermedi-

ate 2 yrs exp in sales & marketing

in Oman. Looking for suitable job.

Contact - 92146864

Indian male- 26 yrs - MBA (Market-

ing) - 2 yrs exp in sales & mktg-

seeks suitable placement - on visit

visa - contact 96436686

Purchasing Offi cer 26 yrs Gulf expe-

rience 4 yrs in Oman company release

available. Contact 99103269 Email:

rusaikmzm_2009 @yahoo.com

13 years experienced in Sales of

Industrial, Automotive & hydraulics

of Parker is now available in Muscat

looking for suitable opportunity.

Contact 00968 97032761

Indian male having more than 17

years experience in Sales Purchas-

ing and Administration department

in Saudi Arabia having transferable

driving license seeking suitable

placement. Contact 94260129 Email:

shajahanayyaril@gmail.com

Indian male 29 yrs MBA with 9 yrs exp

in business development, sales looking

for suitable opening.#96731462

Seven-years Oman experienced

Indian sales and marketing person,

28, with driving license; fl uent Ara-

bic and Hindi; knowledge of English

seeks immediate placement. NOC

available. Contact: 95803430.

Sri Lankan male 28 yrs old complet-

ed degree business with marketing

in UK having experience in business

operations, Hospitality management

and IT products & solutions on visit

visa. Contact : 93592653

Indian male 45+ yrs , 20 yrs exp as

sales supervisor in India looking for

indoor sales /stores /cashier or any

suitable placement can speak Hindi

, English, Malayalam, Tamil, kannada

can join immediately on visit visa.

Contact 93086105/33016546

Indian 45 years Sales Manager for

European Modular kitchen & furni-

ture. Contact 92284856

Indian male Graduate 9+ years

experience in hardcore sales & cus-

tomer - service & documentation in

various industries (shipping, Bank-

ing, Building Materials) (PPE) from

G.C.C, India valid Oman D/L on visit

visa looking for better opportunity in

Oman. Contact 97132606

Indian male MBA 7 years experi-

ence in Hospitality industry, opera-

tion, sales & marketing looking for

suitable vacancy. contact 92115860

Email vibin.py@gmail.com

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

Looking for senior management

position C- level leader with more

than three decades of achievements

in multi industry environment of

manufacturing, trading, application,

restructuring. NOC available. Contact

93343251 Email: shantiappa@gmail.

com / shantiappa@yahoo.com

Well reputed Kitchen Fabrication

company urgently required Light

Driver, Draftsman & Site Supervi-

sor with fl uent English & Arabic

speaking with Oman valid driving

license. May Contact: 94106361

E-mail: aqayum@me.com

Joinery & Interior Manager seeking

opportunities Indian male 10 years

industry experienced, excellent

knowledge in technical line, produc-

tion, materials and machinery. Good

experience in business strategy,

well experience in factory set-

ting up. Contact 93974701 Email:

gemct2015@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

Indian female MBA fi nance cur-

rently on visit visa, seeks immediate

placement# +(968) 9843 0089

IT works, IT maintenance (OFC ca-

ble splicing) data cable CCTV, works,

5 years, GCC 3 years India job seek-

ing from Indian.#0091-9751761084

Email: spsathiya1@gmail.com

Indian female 25 yrs - Software

Engineer (ME-Comp.Sc)-5 yrs exp-

looking for suitable opening-contact

-96745422; Email: sruthi.k38@

gmail.com

Network system Engineer B.E /

ECE + CCNA & Ms certifi ed with

4+ yrs exp looking for a job. Cur-

rently in Oman on visit visa. Contact:

92589502 Email: jegaanscareer@

gamil.com

IT System Support Engineer,28

Years, Indian male,7.8 years experi-

ence,3 years from Oman, NOC avail-

able, having driving license, ready to

join immediately, Mob : 93551182,E-

mail: aniljose4u@gmail.com

IT Network and Security Engineer

with a master degree, CISCO and

Linux red hat certifi ed seeking a

suitable job in a good company.

Contact 99818601

Diploma holder and 1 year experi-

ence in Computer hardware and net-

working seeking suitable placement.

Contact 95249087

Store manager 6 years experience

in Oman (BCS) good knowledge of

ERP seeking placement. Contact

95197303

Media/Brand Manager 20 years Gulf

exp. in Media Advertising Industry.

Contact 93031168

Omani mechanical engineer, has

3 years experience ,has HSE, H2S,

Riggers/Banks men Permit, Drawing

/ cad, SCBA, Safety Leadership and

Initial Fire Response Courses. good

with computer and English language

looking for suitable job. Contact

99224319-98454500

Indian Pune based 29 years look-

ing for job in Travel industry or

any good company as a front offi ce

reception. Email: rufi nabhavania@

gmail.com

Indian female, B.Com. knowledge of

Ms. Offi ce & Tally, 4yrs experience

in A/Cing & admin dept .looking for

good placement in any fi eld. Con-

tact.98928220

Accountant, Indian Male 24 , 2

Years successful experience in

Oman with Oman Driving License.

NOC Available seek a suitable op-

portunity. GSM : 9340 9315

An Indian expatriate female,

Graduate with TEFL certifi cate seeks

suitable openings with Language

centres or schools. Email : writ-

e2nishanair@gmail.com, Contact :

97216963

Indian male 21 Diploma in Mechani-

cal Eng with HVAC certifi ed having 6

yrsexp and seeking job in HVAC fi eld

as a supervisor. Currently on visit

visa.#92835952/ 92734863

Indian Female: MCA, 3 Years Exp. as

Asst. Professor, Specialization in C #

(sharp).net, Data Comm.& Network-

ing, Knowledge about Web Develop-

ment, ASP.Net, Oracle, SQL,VB.net.

Seek Immediate Placement. Now on

Visit Visa.9588 7051

ashwininakod@gmail.com

Indian female, B.Com. Knowledge

of MS Offi ce &Tally, 4yrs experience

in accounting & admin dept. looking

for good placement in any fi eld.

Contact.98928220

Indian male, 28 years, 7 years

experience in transporting & heavy

equipment renting company. Having

Omani driving license seeks suitable

positions. Contact 94410485

Sudanese/Bsc IT/26/2 years experi-

ence/excellent Eng-Arb speaking/

Omani driving license/96387227/

henrykarrar@gmail.com

Sudanese / 29 years old / Bsc

English language and Translation / 3

years experience in Oman teaching

& translation / have driving license.

94211377. hosam.karar.1@gmail.com

Indian Male 27, Piping Design

Engineer looking for suitable place-

ment in Piping Design & Engineer-

ing. Also familiar with PDMS (11.6

Version),CAESAR ll, AutoCAD. Con-

tact : 97351786 / 96143708, E-mail :

mohammednazeer07@gmail.com

Indian female B.Com graduate,

4years experience in accounts & ad-

ministration department looking for

suitable placement. #98928220

Mechanical Engineer B.E fresher(

QA, QC , Piping & NDT + 1 month

practical training in production & oil

fi eld) seeking immediate placement

currently on visit visa. Contact –

0096896107833, Email - albinalbin.

thomas@gmail.com

Civil Autocad draughtsman looking

for part time job. Mobile: 95218737

Indian Male 33 looking for Scaff old-

ing Supervisor vacancy in Oil & Gas

fi eld in Oman. Having 5 years experi-

ence in CCC Qatar and 3 years in

Saudi” contact fysal.nellaya@gmail.

com or 96155921

23 yrs old Pakistani bachelor in

accounts and marketing 3.5 yrsexp

2 yrsexp in Oman, looking for a job.

Contact- 99374062

Well experienced hair dresser/

beautician required, visa available.

Contact – 96524717

Sharing accommodation available

for ladies opposite Al Nahda hospital.

Contact - 96524717

Indian male, 34 yrs, ca inter pass,

with 14 yrs experience, is seeking

suitable placement, currently on

visit visa & ready to join immediate-

ly. Contact: 95585069 or 95630747

26 years Indian male with MBA &

PGDFM, Total 3.8 years experience

in Administration, seeking suit-

able placement in any gulf region.

Holding Oman valid driving license.

Contact :93359371

Indian female 25 yrs MBA fi nance

currently on visit visa seeks immedi-

ate placement. # +(968) 9843 0089

Indian Male 58yrs, Oman experi-

ence 31yrs in Multifunctional Man-

agement, Administration, Business

Development, Purchase & Opera-

tions, seeking suitable Manager/

Supervisory Position. Visa transfer/

NOC Available. GSM: 95036410

Indian male 27 years, MBA, hav-

ing more than 5 yrs experience in

sales and marketing, looking for

suitable job. Contact no.99224057,

+919824823734

Sales/ Marketing Executive : 35 years old Indian male, MBA,

having experiences in UAE and

India in sales and marketing fi eld,

presently on visit visa, looking

for a suitable job in Salalah or in

Oman.#91233648

Indian male, 14 yrs Experience in

Maintenance & Supervisor in hotel

fi eld ( Electrical . Ac Mechanical &

Plumber ) N O C available mob :

95 25 36 40 . email =

hareeshma24@yahoo.com

Part- Time Accountant, well versed

with all accounting, Finaliza-

tion, Budgeting available.contact

98803439

ACCA affi liate,male,2.5 years experi-

ence in an audit fi rm in Finance &

Audit, looking for suitable immedi-

ate placement. Release available.

Contact 95140445, a.saran891@

gmail.com

Indian female MBA fi nance cur-

rently on visit visa seeks immediate

placement. contact

+(968) 9843 0089

ACCA affi liate, male, 23, 2.5years

of vast experience in fi nance &

audit in audit fi rm,seeking suit-

able placement immediately. Con-

tact+96895140445,

a.saran891@gmail.com

30 years Indian male with hotel

management degree, 02 years

experience in F&B service at fi ve

star hotel in Dubai and 05 years

in American 6 star cruiseliner as

Butler . Currently in Muscat on visit

visa. Contact 91075704

Indian Female looking for an Intern-

ship or Part time opportunity in any

Interior Design, Architectural or

Design Firm . Contact 95811820

Male - B.E Mechanical Engineer

fresher( QA, QC , Piping & NDT + 1

month practical training in produc-

tion & oil fi eld ) seeking immediate

placement currently on visit visa.

Contact - 0096896107833 Email -

albinalbin.thomas@gmail.com

Senior Accounts Professional,

Indian Male, 35 years, M.Com, MBA

(Fin) 8 years in Oman, with valid

Oman DL and NOC available. Capable

to handle accounts up to fi nalization.

Contact 9602 3965.

25yrs experienced indian market-

ing mangr seeking suitable position.

.presently working as a General

Manager one of the leading Hyper

Market Group in Oman.valid omani

driving licence. Release available .

contact number.92205026.

aparayath@Gmail.Com

Indian male executive secretary

having vast experience in admin,

logistics & procurement well versed

with computer seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact : 99514286

Indian female, B.Com graduate, 2

years experience in admin depart-

ment looking for a suitable place-

ment. Contact 92531929

Young male, 22 years, B. Arch. Gradu-

ate with 12 months training experience,

seeks suitable entry-level position in

an architecture fi rm or architecture

and engineering consultancy. Currently

on visit visa, ready to join immedi-

ately. Phone no. 92488990 Email: jay.

kay.92@gmail.com

Indian Male, B.Tech Mechanical

Engg 29 Yrs old,4 year experi-

ence,2.5 year experience as Lifting

Inspection Engineer in Qatar. Look-

ing for suitable placement. NOC

available. Contact No.93269839,

Email: saneersainu@gmail.com

Indian male 21 IT Engineer Net-

working & Computer hardware

course 01 yr experience currently

on visit visa looking for suitable job.

Contact 96036273, E mail

faizanfarooqui23@gmail.com

Diploma in Fire and Safety Engi-

neering, Completed IOSH and have

PDO passport. Having experience

of 3.5 years as Safety Advisor in

Oman. Have valid Omani driving

license. For further information

please contact me on 96896176872,

9689808527

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D6 S AT U R D AY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Car-

pet & sofa shampooing, Contact

99314807/24792998

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of

your marble.contact 24793614/

99314807

WINDOW & SPLIT unit A.C servic-

ing & repairing. contact 99557080

SPLIT & WINDOW A.C servicing &

maintenance. contact

96236476

SPLIT & WINDOW A.C servicing &

maintenance.contact 93769089 /

95323517

We do building maintenance all

kind of works. Contact 99247663

Learn driving with professional

only automatic. Contact 94022250

A/C maintenance & servicing.

Fridge, washing machine & dish

washer repairing. Painting & clean-

ing services & electrical & plumb-

ing. Contact 99447257/97014234/

24504281

Sewage remove tanker sewage

tank cleaning & block remove all

maintenance sewage tanks. Con-

tact 97412505 / 98852238

Professional web graphic design-ing, updates, video editing. mobile

applications, computer softwares

very aff ordable for limited time.

Contact 97276004

Electric, Plumbing, painting & all

kinds of building maintenance.

Contact 93896787 / 97924862

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance.#ABU QABAS-

99320217 /24788722

Repairing and services of split,

cassette, stand A.C, Window A/C.

Contact 99540621 / 97145652

House shifting. #99708138

House shifting packing. Contact 99657644/ 98518013

WEBSITE

A/C maintenance split A/C servic-

ing. RO. 10 only. contact 94217681/

99210141

MANPOWER

Housemaid, driver, house boy,

electrician, plumber, a/c me-

chanic, Mason, carpenter, helper

skilled and unskilled categories.

All agreement service from India,

Sri Lanka, and Philippine. Contact

Al Aidi manpower. Contact -

95175192 & 99531802 email -

oman.manpower@yahoo.com

SITUATION WANT-

EDSIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANT-

EDSIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANT-

EDSIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANT-

EDSIT. WANTED

CANADIAN MANPOWER CO.

based in Oman Recruitment for

legal jobs - Hotel staff ,Construc-

tion staff , Medical staff ,Gas & Oil

Free consultancy, 2 years contract,

work visa, free tickets, accommo-

dation, social & medical ins. Con-

tact us on 93392630 , pls send CV

to margholdingoman@yahoo.com

Water proofi ng ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile

polishing, pest control & anti-

termite treatment, general clean-

ing painting, Plumbing, Electri-

cal, shifting. Contact Mundhir

Al-Rizaiqi trading. L.L.C. contact

24810137, 99450130

Split & window A.C servicing &

maintenance. Contact 93769089

/ 95323517

Indian male, 29 yrs, MBA in

Marketing, 6 yrs exp. in Market-

ing/ Sales presently on family visa

seeks suitable placement. Contact

92345569, Email : tapankumaru-

padhyay@gmail.com

Tunisian women looking for

job, knows english, frensh, Italian

and arabic. Contact: 91171838

Indian Accounts / Audit assistant

with 2 years of experience currently

on a visit visa looking for suitable job

openings.# 94677338, 97041086

Email: ajeeshkcy1989@gmail.com

Indian Male, 27 yrs MBA (Fin),

SAP, 4 Yrs Exp in Finance Seeking

Suitable Job with a Reputed Firm

Currently on Visit Visa #92481230

A Fresh ACCA Affi liate, Pakistani

male, 24 yrs, open for positions of

Accounts, Audit and fi nance.

Contact : 94541539

email: wasiqnasir_3@yahoo.com

WEB, ERP and Business Intel-

ligence (BI) creation and

management at rock

bottom price. Contact:

http//webviewoman

NRI

L.L.C upgrade and formation of for-

eign investor company. contact

95586937

6.5 cents north & east faced prime

plot for sale at Coimbatore – gated

community. Most of the plot own-

ers are NRIs. Contact 95277505

Luxurious 4 B/R villa (BUA 3600sq.

ft, 4 fl oors, 3 Livings, 4 bathrooms,

maid’s room with separate bathroom

& a car park) for sale at JP Nagar,

Bangalore. Asking Price: INR 2.75 Cr.

Contact Ph: 97903127. Email: ravi-

chandran.mangala@gmail.com

For sale 3BHK 1205’ builtup at

Goregaon Mumbai. +96899850753

2pm – 4pm.

Indian Female, MBA with 2.5 years

of experience in Marketing seek-

ing a suitable placement in sales/

media/administration. Have Oman

experience & valid driving li-

cense.#92460623

Indian male, 14 yrs Experience in

Maintenance & Supervisor in hotel

fi eld (Electrical . Ac Mechanical &

Plumber). N O C available contact

25 36 40

Indian female,available on visit

visa,knowledge in AutoCAD 2012,Re-

vit 2012,Adobe photoshop C3, Google

sketchup,seeking suitable position.

Email:dhiyana.mhmd@gmail.com.

Indian male experience in electrical

and plumbing looking for a suitable

position. Contact 92282845

Indian female Looking for an Ac-

counts part time job, preferred to

do from home. Well versed with

TALLY , Accounting software. contact

95482970.

Indian male, 14 yrs Experience in

Maintenance & Supervisor in hotel

fi eld (Electrical, Ac Mechanical &

Plumber) N O C available. contact

95253640

Female B. Sc Maths, B. Tech, Comput-

er science CCNA, RHCE, MCP 7 years

experience. Email : devi2571997@

gmail.com presently in India

Indian male- 32, 6 years’ experience

in store incharge in Africa seeks

suitable job, contact 97385874

Indian ,Male 43,CA/ISA, Experience

in Retail, NBFC, Logistics, Banking,

Automobile, Investment and Facility

Management seeking for a change.

Valid D/L. Release available. Contact:

aurosun@gmail.com

Indian Male, B.Tech Mechanical Engg

29 Yrs old, 4 year experience, 2.5

year experience as Lifting Inspection

Engineer in Qatar. Looking for suitable

placement. NOC available#93269839/

Email: saneersainu@gmail.com

Indian Male- 29 BCA & Diploma, IT

document controller & database.8

years’ experience in India seeks suit-

able job. Contact: 97385864

Indian female, B.Sc, PGDCA currently

on family joining visa. immedi-

ate joining seeks suitable place-

ments. contact no. (968) 95573205

/95949230/ 95800792

Indian female having 10 years as

cook looking for part time job, expert

in gujarati & south indian food..con-

tact 96733187

Female Junior Architect Graduated

from School of Planning & Archi-

tecture, Vijayawada. Excellence

in Autocad, Sketching & Model-

ling. Motivated, Hardworking and

Result Oriented. Internship - KHAM

Designs, Bangalore.Presently with

Atulya Architects & Associates.

Email saatvika.frozenmusic@gmail.

com Contact 00968-94057427

Electronics System Eng. UK Graduate.

Indian Female with relevant work

experience. Eng. Analysis, Instru-

mentation and Control, Power & Heat,

Electrical & Fluid, Drives & Actuators

etc. Looking for an entry level position.

Email s.dinesh1508@gmail.com. con-

tact 97848075, +91-8105413827

Indian Female- MCA:-3 years

Teaching exp. in IT. Seeking im-

mediate placement in Teaching in

IT or in Management like Customer

Service Executive, Front Desk, HR/

Admin Executive. Contact 9588 7051

, ashwininakod@gmail.com

Pakistani male, 25 yrs, MBA

Finance, 1.6 yrs exp in Accounts

seeking placement in Accounts,

Administration or Business Manage-

ment.contact 92651927 / 94250149

Sudanese/ 23 yrs old/ Bachelor degree

is software ENG./ Sudan University of

Science and Technology/ 1 to 2 years

experiences/ 95527435 or 99385542

Pakistani Male having 5 years

Experience Valid Omani Driving

license working as a Logistic Offi cer

looking for a suitable position. salary

is negotiable. Email :

naveedmuhammad037@gmail.com

Mob: +968 93363316/ 94202746

Indian female 25 years MBA fi nance

currently on visit visa. Seeks im-

mediate placement. Contact: +(968)

9843 0089, +(968) 97851940

Indian Male, B.Com Graduate, 23,

with experience in Sales looking for

suitable placements. Ph: 9837 1144

Indian Male, BBM, with experience in

Sales & Accounts on visit visa looking

for a suitable job.contact 98797898.

Diploma in Fire and Safety Engi-

neering. Completed IOSH. Has PDO

PASSPORT also. Currently work-

ing as Safety Advisor for past 3.5

years in Carillion Alawi. Have valid

Omani driving license. For further

information please contact me at

96896176872,9689808527.

Indian Male, Accountant, 2 years

experience in Accounts, Supply

Chain Management, Oil Accounting

and expertise in using ERP softwares.

Looking for suitable placement.Con-

tact no: 96534120. Email:

miruknuddin@gmail.com

indian male, 11 years exp. in account-

ing, knowledge in tally also. looking

for a part time job. contact 98983122

Indian female, B.Com. knowledge of

Ms. Offi ce & Tally, 4yrs experience

in A/Cing & admin dept. looking for

good placement in any fi eld. Contact.

98928220

Accountant, Indian Male 24 , 2 Years

successful experience in Oman with

Oman Driving Licence . NOC Avail-

able. Seek a suitable opportunity.

GSM : 9340 9315

3 year experienced male seeking

job related to safety. M. Tech in HSE.

Nebosh, iosh certifi ed. Ph: 94653264

Indian female 25 years MBA fi nance

currently on visit visa. Seeks im-

mediate placement. Contact: +(968)

9843 0089 / +(968) 97851940

12 Years of experience as a store

keeper with valid driving license in

Oman. Looking for suitable place-

ment. Qualifi cation : Diploma in Civil.

Contact details: +968 96147340. E-

mail id: ktbinu_555@yahoo.com

24 year Indian Chartered Account-

ant male with 3yrs of experience

is seeking suitable placement in

Muscat, currently on visit visa &

ready to join immediately. Kindly

contact him on 98201476 or email at

lokeshkaluri@ gmail.com

Senior Accounts Professional, Indian

Male, 35 years, M.Com, MBA (Fin) 8

years in Oman, with valid Oman DL

and NOC available. Capable to handle

accounts up to fi nalization. contact

9602 3965.

Indian female with 10 yrs of experi-

ence in HR/Banking/Operations

seeks a suitable placement. Can be

contact on 98919015 or

sherianne.coelho@gmail.com

ACCA fi nalist and BSc from Oxford

Brookes University UK, having 18

months working experience, cur-

rently in Muscat on visit, seeking

immediate and suitable position.

Contact : 95375282

Indian male MBA 32 yrs having

10 yrs of exp seeking suitable place-

ment in Admin/ HR/ Operations/

Coordination/ Logistics etc. Holding

valid Oman D/L .Contact - 99054786

Indian female, well experienced in

secretarial, administration, customer

care & supervisory jobs. 5 years

experience in Muscat. Immedi-

ately available for joining. contact

92139298

DAILY GUIDES AT U R D AY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5 D7

DAILY GUIDESITUATION WANTEDCARGO

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise

with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain

Marine Tours Contact- 98029602,

92808636

RENT A CAR

RENT A CAR

TOURS

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D8 S AT U R D AY, M AY 2 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

Party booking & sugges�ons 99320065, 99341643

Indian, Arabic, Chinese dishes, Buffet Lunch

(On Friday)Indoor & Outdoor, Catering, Party hall

availableTake Away & Home Delivery